LIBRAt* 
 
 F CALIFORNIA 
 
 TiAVIS 
 
fit 
 

 
THE PEOPLE 
 
 BY 
 
 jonpl MCDOWELL LEVITT, D.D. 
 
 FjBYIEW 
 
 OP THE 
 
 AND 
 
 OP LiEHIGH 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFOR1&4 
 PAVJS 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1885, by 
 
 JOHN S. WILLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY,. 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE writer of these books has been impressed with 
 the conviction that only FICTION can reach certain mon 
 strous evils in our American Society. He has, in the 
 Saviour Himself, an example of the inimitable use of 
 the imagination for the loftiest spiritual ends. Who 
 can estimate the blessing of those marvelous creations 
 of the Baptist Tinker which have shed light on the 
 path of so many pilgrims to the celestial city ? Nor 
 does the humor detract from the power and solemnity 
 of the lesson. De Foe, in his Robinson ' Crusoe, has 
 given fresh charm to childhood, and a purer and 
 brighter halo to home. Dickens and Thackeray have 
 not only amused, but improved mankind. Uncle Tom's 
 Cabin was an agency of genius in rending the 
 chains from millions of slaves, and proved thus one of 
 the regenerators of a nation. Smile and tear in man 
 
 lie close together, and hence, in those immortal works 
 V v 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the Comic and the Tragic Muse have been equally 
 employed for the most beneficent moral purposes. 
 
 In a distant way, the author of these tales would 
 follow in the path of writers, who, through fiction, have 
 accomplished good. He has had peculiar opportunities 
 for the study of the evils he seeks to rebuke and to 
 mitigate. Each striking incident and character in both 
 novels can be verified from his own observation and 
 memory. To the suggestive second chapter he bea*rs 
 special personal witness. In satirizing the shocking 
 perversions of church relations to unscrupulous worldly 
 ends, he would assist that Christianity which he believes 
 can alone save men and nations. The great object of 
 his life has been to prove the inspiration and authority 
 of the Bible. And now, after thirty-five years in the 
 ministry, in virtual retirement from clerical and colle 
 giate work, he asks aid of all good citizens in this 
 effort to correct some of the enormous social abuses 
 of our nation. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 KINGS OF CAPITAL; 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Arlington Castle: 
 
 English Investments in American Securities Middle Men 
 Landlordism Free Trade or Protection " Jobbers Never 
 Make Heroes " Royal Figure-Heads The American Eagle 
 turned Buzzard A Nation, Young in Years, but Old in 
 Corruption. - - 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Sam Slykes: 
 
 American Sharpness " Money's the Go, Church and State" 
 Making Money on Borrowed Piety The Modern Press, 
 its Use and Abuse Financial Intoxication. - 37 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Livingstones: 
 
 The Mirror of a Lifetime Reputation versus Duty Buying 
 Legislation Municipal Rings and Corrupt Corporations. 61 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 Poverty: 
 
 The Helplessness in Poverty of those once Rich "O! 
 Poverty, among the many bitter ingredients that thou hast 
 in thy most bitter cup, thou hast not one so insupportably 
 bitter as that which brings us in close and hourly contact 
 
 with bustling, plotting, planning, human vulgarity." - 80 
 
 vii 
 
y jjj CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 Yillont's Den : 
 
 " You Own the Man whose Crime you Know." 92 
 
 CHAPTER YL 
 Brother and Sister : 
 
 Dreams, Confessions and Conclusions. - 102 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 Railway Conference : 
 
 Seeing Sharp but not Far Passionate Folly versus 
 Passionless Prudence. .... 117 
 
 CHAPTER YIIL 
 Lord Arlington's Death : 
 
 Courtesy Veils a Vicious Heart From High Fortune to 
 Abject Wretchedness Pampered by Wealth, Schooled by 
 Poverty. - - 128 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Judge Livingstone's Study : 
 
 Pen Picture of a Happy Home Abandonment of Purpose not 
 only Misses its End but Injures the Character Manhood in 
 America must Stand on Itself, not on the Accidents of Birth 
 or Estate Monied Snobbery. - 144 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Sam Slyke's Courtship : 
 
 Palaces are ofttimes Monuments of Sorrow " Strength never 
 Fails to Find its Test" With Woman, to Hesitate is 
 to Yield - - ;.. - . _ , .' 158 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Dr. Solomon and Mrs. PilMlson : 
 
 Elevated Railroads Corporate Infringement of Private 
 Eights. - - 176 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Lyman Risk's Marriage : 
 
 "O, how Guilt opens Graves along Evil Lives and brings 
 forth Skeletons to Mock and Leer; Our very Thoughts 
 become our Tormentors." - - . - - 193 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Inter-Oceanic Safe Entered : 
 
 "Fortune Befriends the Bold" Working and Trusting 
 Removing the Masks. - 206 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 The Divorce: 
 
 Duped and Victimized Our Friend the Tool of our Enemies 
 Friends in Need Conscience Amply Rewards those who 
 do their Duty Rising Equal to the Occasion " Bestowed 
 by Affection; Torn away by Fraud; Restored by Chivalry." 217 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Inter-Oceanic Depot Conflagration: 
 
 The Recklessness of Despair. ... 235 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 Newport: 
 
 " True Love Levels Mountains " " The Missing Link between 
 the Extremes of Society" "John Bull's Idea of Uncle 
 Sam." - - - - - ... 249 
 
x CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XYIL 
 Feast in a Jail: 
 
 " With Four Hundred Thousand to my Credit in Europe, I 
 Don't Fear any Penitentiary in America " Reminiscences of 
 Criminals. - - 266 
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. 
 Love on the Moonlit Sea: 
 
 The Union of True Hearts the Foundation of Society. - 281 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 The Queen's Letter: 
 
 Eoyal Eecognition Corporate Tyranny Worse than Kingly 
 Oppression Tendency to Communism Assassinations 
 Never Help Liberty Party Bolters as Powerless and 
 Solitary as our Obelisk The Instincts of our People the 
 Guide of our Nation America the Outcome of the Wis 
 dom of the World. - - 291 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Frank and Lucy at Arlington Castle: 
 
 Conclusion. ----... 300 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The Battery: 
 
 The Stolen Children Begging for Masters Money or the 
 Lash The Stranger and the Nihilist. - 299 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Eagle: 
 
 The Model Locomotive The Mechanic's Triumph Cutting 
 Wages Discontented Workmen Down with Capital and 
 Up with Labor The Great Strike Dynamite won't take 
 in America The Laborer becomes a Capitalist. - 311 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Brothers: 
 
 "Born in the same Hour, Nurtured at the same Breast, 
 Kissed by the same Lips, Tried by the same Tempta 
 tions, the One becomes the Impersonation of all that is 
 Good in Human Nature, the Other of all that is Evil." 328 
 
 CHAPTER IY, 
 Edward Stewart: 
 
 The Link between Muscle and Brain Predictions Money 
 Cannot Create Talent Impersonation of American Snob 
 bery The Kespect won by a Citizen greater than the 
 
 ' Obeisance accorded to a Monarch. - 345 
 
 xi 
 
x j- CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 Washington- 
 
 Our National Capitol A Criticism on American Art The 
 Last and Best Type of Manhood Produced by the Com 
 mingling of Nations No National Name for Americans 
 Public Responsibility of Universities Carl; le Snarling 
 from his Gloom "Might is Right " at once Justifies the 
 Tyrant and the Assassin. ... 364 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 On the Ocean: 
 
 Waifs of Misery are Drifted to our Shores by Currents of 
 Sorrow from all Lands "Ah 1 Nations Rubbin agin' one 
 another makes Blades Bright and Edges Keen." - 384 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 Belle Standfast: 
 
 Wealth Gives Social Position Riches a Shield for Vice 
 Playing with Fire I Love Him but Cannot Trust Him 
 A Temple of Pleasure. .... 404 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 The Anvil: 
 
 Good Ends by Wrong Means Standing between Capital and 
 Labor The Responsibility of Position The Security of 
 Society Rests on the Prosperity of the Masses Contentment 
 of Labor Better than Anxiety of Riches. - - 419 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Naval Academy: 
 
 Life on the Ocean Wave Overwork and Under-grub White 
 Sails and Black Hulls Public Benefaction by Private 
 Oppression The Mastery of Genius Political Menagerie 
 Ode to the Stars of the Republic. - - - 432 
 
CONTENTS. Xlil. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Faded Beauty: 
 
 The Wages of Sin The Passions of a Moment "Wreck a 
 Life Man's Inhumanity to Woman The Joys of Nature 
 Mock the Sorrowing Heart. ... 450 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 The Sunny South: 
 
 The Harmony of Youth and Nature Liberty Awakes Joyous 
 Notes A Child's Belief in Books The Theology of 
 Children. - ... 461 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Marriage and Madness: 
 
 An Evil Associate Worse than a Loathsome Disease Evil 
 Follows Good, Grief Follows Joy, Despair Follows Hope, 
 and Death Follows Life Evil Deeds are Links in a 
 Continuous Chain. - - - 472 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 The Little Wanderers 111: 
 
 Gallantry toward Women a Pledge of Universal Refinement 
 American Courtesy A Key to the Negro Problem The 
 Negro in Office The Emancipation of the Negro a Benefit 
 or an Injury. - - - 491 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 The Great Strike's Triumph and Defeat: 
 
 Sons of Capital and Daughters of Labor Money Defeated 
 by Principle " Conscience Makes Cowards of Us All" 
 Vice Misinterpreting Virtue Millions of Money, but Not 
 One True Friend Cutting Wages and Raising Work 
 The Nihilist's Speech, Blood and Fire Virtue Heaven's 
 Shield. - 517 
 
X J V CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 Amid the Gold Mountains: 
 
 America, the Home of the Oppressed The Yale of Para 
 dise A Young Hero. - - 543 
 
 CHAPTER XYL 
 St. Petersburg: 
 
 Winter in Russia The Prince and the Bishop The Eman 
 cipation of the Serfs Recruiting Nihilists The Princess 
 and the Engineer. - - 565 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 The Palace of the Czars: 
 
 Nihilists in Committee One Century Avenging Another 
 Nihilists Arraignment of the Czar His Throne Not the 
 Altar of God. - 585 
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. 
 The Emperor of Russia: 
 
 Empires Watching the Republic Americans Win Recognition 
 Abroad The Imperial Arraignment of the Nihilists. 597 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 A Russian Archbishop: 
 A Change of Heart Liberty, Fraternity, Equality. 607 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 The Russian Cathedral. - - - - 612 
 
STEEl-PLSTE ENGRSYINGS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 NIAGAEA FALLS . 2 
 
 EARL OF ARLINGTON 23 
 
 SARATOGA LAKE . 261 
 
 HELL GATE 299 
 
 TIPPOO 305 
 
 LILLIE 467 
 
 SABBATH DAY POINT 613 
 
 xv 
 
LIST OF FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAR. 
 
 * 'Crowning the old turrets with a dying glory " 18 
 
 "With steam and sail, dashing over the Atlantic" ....... 31 
 
 "Along a street of the American metropolis " 86 
 
 " Shammius Chapel pays " . . 42 
 
 "The last thing extinguished in a degraded soul is the light of a pure Christian 
 
 home" 45 
 
 " I spent one pious Sunday " 49 
 
 " Money is the go, Church and State " 53 
 
 " Like a good angel in her young beauty crowned with a halo of love and light " 60 
 
 " I never saw them after I left the ship " 70 
 
 " O Poverty ! how fearful thy face ! more than death thou art the dread of our 
 
 humanity!" 78 
 
 " Trouble and sorrow established between them confidence and sympathy " . .82 
 
 " From twilight to midnight the hoarded sums were counted with gloating eye " 90 
 
 " You own the man whose crime you know " .96 
 
 " To rush people through the air across and around our city " .... 115 
 
 "A leader in Parliament " 135 
 
 " What more comfortable than a warm bright study in a chill November evening " 141 
 " If young America wants to fly he don't care who pays for the wings " . .172 
 
 " The Inter-Oceanic Railway Depot was a ruin " 231 
 
 " The music of the sea came to her ears " 245 
 
 "The face of the king is like his selfish and oppressive reign " .... 257 
 
 xvii 
 
LIST OF FULL PAGE ILLUSTKATIONS. 
 
 44 With Four Hundred Thousand to m'y credit in Europe, I don't fear any peni 
 tentiary in America " . . 270 
 
 "A letter beautifully written, signed, ' Victoria ' " 286 
 
 " They've cut me down to a dollar a day " 314 
 
 " In the morning he walked forth with the dawn to calm his soul "... 344 
 
 " Yon sublime dome is a national triumph" 363 
 
 U A nation in tears " 375 
 
 " She stands out under full canvas down the bay to the ocean " . . . .385 
 " We have health, comfort and a good conscience " . . . . ., .460 
 
 "Alas, for poor human hearts and hopes " 479 
 
 44 In her grave of waters " 486 
 
 " Covered by the cold clods forever from the sun " ....... 488 
 
 " He had retired to spend his last days in the old mansion and on the old estate " 500 
 u In every section of the Republic were experienced the ruinous effects of the 
 
 Great Strike" 516 
 
 41 Not in Europe are Kings and Princes worse in their oppression than these rail 
 road tyrants" 532 
 
 4 'Dynamite bombs won't take in America" . . . . . . .536 
 44 The Vale of Paradise, amid those gigantic mountains, standing like monarch 
 
 sentinels robed in eternal verdure " 542 
 
 " The spectacle of the troops had inspired him " . 564 
 
 The Palace of the Czars V ..... 581 
 
 44 Never had Alexander looked more like himself " 596 
 
 " The first beams of the sun were burning and dancing around the dome of St. 
 
 Isaac's" .... .606 
 
Crowning the old turrets with a dying glory." 
 Page 19. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 ARLINGTON CASTLE. 
 
 RLLNGTON CASTLE stands on an 
 eminence of Western England 
 which commands a view of the 
 opposite coast only in the clearest 
 sunlight. It is a mediaeval struc 
 ture, originally stern and stately, 
 but now softened into grace and beauty 
 by the touch of modern art. 
 
 At the opening of our story, the sun, just 
 sinking below the sea, was flashing and 
 flushing from the gorgeous windows, and 
 crowning the old turrets with a dying 
 glory. The white surf, breaking over the rocks, was 
 gleaming in the last beams of day, and the thunder of 
 the sea was heard among the hills. 
 
 The Earl of Arlington was sitting on the northern 
 piazza, and his venerable form and locks were also 
 transfigured in the farewell splendors of the sun. In 
 the circuit of that day its light had not shone into a 
 more benevolent face or over a nobler person. 
 
 As he arose and applied his telescope to his eye, 
 you saw in him the best traits of an ancestry which 
 had seldom abused their aristocratic privileges.. Indeed, 
 
20 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 with all his lordliness, there was in the old noble 
 that touching kindness which wins the poor man's 
 
 heart. 
 
 As his granddaughter, Lucy Neville, came smiling 
 round an angle of the tower, the Earl, still gazing 
 through his telescope, addressed her: "Are you sure, 
 Lucy, that Clare's telegram said that your father would 
 arrive in the last evening train ?" 
 
 " I am certain, grandpapa," she replied, and, giving 
 him the message, added, "you can see for yourself." 
 
 Dropping his glass and glancing over the paper, the 
 Earl exclaimed, "Yes, you have made no mistake." 
 Then, raising his telescope and adjusting its tubes, he 
 gazed intently into the distance, and soon said: "And 
 there he comes. Just on the summit of the mountain ! 
 I see the smoke of the locomotive, and now you can 
 faintly hear the scream of the whistle." 
 
 While the Earl spoke, a pair of splendid black horses 
 whirled the carriage around the southern buttress of 
 the castle, and dashed up to the great door, which 
 was standing hospitably open. A lady came hurriedly 
 out and entered the vehicle. Soon the rumbling of 
 wheels and the tramping of horses were lost in the 
 distance, and there was a race for the station be 
 tween two fiery steeds and the rushing locomotive. 
 
 "Emily," said Lord Arlington, "will be too late to 
 welcome Oscar as he steps from the train. She always 
 splits her seconds so as to leave too little on her own 
 side. But I know no one better fitted to compete with 
 steam and lightning. " 
 
ARLINGTON CASTLE. 21 
 
 "Ma will not fail," said Lucy, with a slight laugh 
 and a quiet assurance in her tone. " Prince and Duke 
 catch her spirit and will fly along the road. I am sure 
 that they will be at the station, with a minute to 
 spare." 
 
 Just then the headlight of the locomotive was seen 
 around a curve of the mountain, glancing and quiver 
 ing through the evening gloom, and not long after, the 
 carriage, flashing through the gate and over the white 
 gravel of the green lawn, stood again at the door of 
 the castle. Lucy darted forward, rushed over the piazza, 
 and was speedily in the arms of her father, and show 
 ering him with her tears and kisses. Lord Arlington 
 followed, and if not so demonstrative and enthusiastic, 
 was as sincere and as truly ardent in his welcome. 
 
 The violence of Mrs. Neville's feelings had subsided, 
 and she was resting and luxuriating in the silent tran 
 quillity of her joy. 
 
 While the party are continuing their caresses and 
 making and answering inquiries, we will take occasion 
 to acquaint the reader with the persons who have 
 been the subject of this brief recital. 
 
 Captain Oscar Neville and his bride had gone to 
 India many years before and seen there the rough 
 trials of military life, and mingled in the most fearful 
 perils and the most daring adventures of the Sepoy 
 war. She was then the youngest and fairest of the 
 daughters of the Earl of Arlington, and was now their 
 sole survivor, all her sisters having been followed to 
 the grave in her absence. 
 
22 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Lucy had been born in the sacred city of Benares, 
 on the banks of the Ganges, under the gleam of cres 
 cents and the shadows of pagodas. She had passed 
 with her parents through the horrors of Lucknow, and 
 the raptures of the relief, and many other scenes of 
 blood and famine. Captain Neville himself had fought 
 with heroic valor in all the most memorable battles of 
 the campaign and been made a colonel for his 
 bravery, with a prospect of speedy promotion, and 
 even knighthood, and the very highest honors of the 
 military profession. Mrs. Neville and her daughter had 
 returned to England to recover from the exhaustions 
 of war and climate, and had taken the places of the 
 departed in the home of Lord Arlington. Her brother 
 Clare, now a member of the House of Commons, was 
 the only heir between herself and the estate. Owing 
 to the necessities of the military situation, the return 
 of Colonel Neville had been delayed, first from month 
 to month, and then from year to year, until, after a 
 long and painful separation, Arlington Castle was at 
 last made joyful by his presence. The surrounding 
 neighborhood had heard of the arrival, and the lawn 
 was swarming and darkening with a noisy and happy 
 multitude, while the lights from trees and windows 
 and turrets illuminated the hills and blazed far out 
 over the ocean. 
 
 On the next morning, Lord Arlington and Colonel 
 Neville stood on the lawn in eager conversation. They 
 had evidently found some topic of mutual and exciting 
 interest, and their eyes and faces glowed and kindled 
 as they talked. 
 
[EAD3IL tf A 03 IL OKI If -Ma 
 
ARLINGTON CASTLE. 25 
 
 "Are you sure/' inquired the Earl, "that Clare said 
 that it would be necessary for you to visit America ? 
 This is most unexpected and extraordinary." 
 
 "It is nevertheless painfully true," answered Colonel 
 Neville, and added, laughing a little bitterly. "A 
 soldier's fate pursues me. I scarcely touch the shores 
 of England from the East, when I am instantly 
 ordered to the far West." 
 
 "But what did Clare say?" asked the Earl. "It 
 seems almost incredible. Indeed, I do not think that 
 any danger of mere pecuniary loss will justify your 
 absence." 
 
 "He told me," answered Colonel Neville, "that 
 Emily's one hundred thousand pounds in the INTER 
 OCEANIC EAILWAY would probably be lost unless I could 
 go in a week. As this is our only independent fund 
 I must make a sacrifice to secure it. Clare can not 
 leave on account of the Irish Church Bill, without los 
 ing his influence in Parliament, and as I am used to 
 obeying orders, I propose to sail next week." 
 
 " So soon," exclaimed the Earl, with pain and sur 
 prise. "I will hardly permit it. The trial will be 
 too great for Emily. I think she will scarcely consent 
 after so long a separation." 
 
 "O," answered Neville, "that is already arranged; 
 you may imagine how; Emily and Lucy will accom 
 pany me to the United States. We expect to tele 
 graph this morning for state-rooms in the Britannia, a 
 noble ship, which leaves Liverpool next Wednesday." 
 
 The Earl was startled and grieved by this announce^ 
 
26 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 ment. His blood flushed over his cheeks and up into 
 his forehead, and his eyes flashed sparkles, like those 
 they had known in his young manhood. He had 
 anticipated with silent delight the arrival of his son-in- 
 law, expecting him to shed light and joy over his 
 home, and now before him was the prospect of sudden 
 desertion and abandonment to entire loneliness. Subdu 
 ing, however, his excitement, he folded his arms, stood 
 a moment in deep meditation, and then gazed over 
 the landscape. Colonel Neville was annoyed, and 
 charged himself with abruptness and precipitation. 
 After some minutes of thought and silence, the Earl 
 recovered his composure and suddenly began : 
 
 "Neville, do you see that house crowning the little 
 eminence just above the stream, flashing back to us 
 the beams of the morning sun ? " 
 
 "I do, most plainly," replied the Colonel, "and a 
 more picturesque spot is not in this whole valley." 
 
 "That house," continued the Earl, "is often in my 
 mind, and in a way and for reasons you cannot even 
 imagine. Do you know who lives in it ? " 
 
 "Twenty years since," said Colonel Neville, smiling 
 at the strangeness of the Earl's manner and inquiry, 
 "I might have answered in the affirmative. Now, 
 however, I must confess my ignorance." 
 
 "I will tell you, Neville," replied the Earl. "That 
 is the home of the agent of the Arlington Estate. 
 He collects the rents from my fields, my mines and 
 my manufactories. Now, I fear that just such fellows 
 are undermining old England and producing our panics 
 
ARLINGTON CASTLE. 27 
 
 and depressions. You think our peril is from Russia, 
 and I think our peril is from the United States." 
 
 Colonel Neville was more surprised than ever. He 
 perceived in Lord Arlington's mind a species of double 
 operation, and knew while he was talking on one sub 
 ject he was thinking of another, and also that he was 
 drifting toward some unexpected conclusion. With a 
 puzzled look, at last he said: 
 
 " My lord, you speak in riddles. I cannot under 
 stand you." 
 
 "I will explain myself," returned the Earl. "Do 
 you remember the American who, twenty years since, 
 just after your marriage, visited Arlington Castle ? " 
 
 "I had utterly forgotten him/' said the Colonel, 
 "but now his image rises before me, as I speak, with 
 unusual distinctness." 
 
 "Well," answered the Earl, "that man, standing 
 on this spot, made an impression on me I can never 
 forget. ' He was certainly one of the most remarkable 
 persons I have ever known during my long and varied 
 life." 
 
 "Remarkable, as I remember," rejoined Neville, "for 
 his assurance and the part his nose played in his con 
 versation. I can now recall his insufferable impudence, 
 and the disagreeable twang of his sharp Yankee tones." 
 
 "I do not wonder at your disgust," said the Earl, 
 with a gush of laughter, "nor the vividness of your 
 memory. He went about with his hands in his pock 
 ets, and asked more questions about the Arlington 
 Estates than their owner would have ventured. Still, 
 I fear the fellow was a prophet." 
 
28 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "Will you be pleased to throw some light on his 
 profound vaticinations ? " asked Neville, with a slight 
 curl of his lip and nostril. 
 
 Without noticing the ironical expression of his son- 
 in-law, the Earl resumed. 
 
 "I will comply with your request. Standing just 
 here," he said, pointing with his finger to the precise 
 spot, " Ellis concluded a long conversation, with a dis 
 sertation, almost as I will now repeat his words : My 
 lord, in that agent's house dwells the true secret of your 
 British future. He stands between capital and labor. 
 The rents collected by such men support the expensive 
 throne and aristocracy of England. Now, in America 
 our farmers have no such burden. They own the land 
 and pay no rents. Their improvements are their own. 
 When our railway transportation and ocean navigation 
 become sufficiently advanced they will undersell your 
 grain, your mutton and your beef, and perhaps even 
 your butter and your cheese, and drive you from your 
 own markets. And mark it, my lord, when our man 
 ufacturers have learned from you lessons of intelli 
 gence, which are inevitable, and our lawmakers give 
 us a sound currency, you will curse your boasted 
 system of Free Trade and come over to America to 
 buy your clothes, your cutlery and eventually your 
 machinery and your steamships. Neville, I fear that 
 prophecy is now coming true, and I wish to study 
 the question for myself in the United States. For if 
 Ellis proves right, there will be both a social and 
 political revolution which will seriously affect the value 
 
ARLINGTON CASTLE. 29 
 
 of these Arlington Estates, and the future of you and 
 your wife, and your children, and of all my posterity 
 for generations." 
 
 Colonel Neville was astonished. He had never before 
 reflected on these questions. Now, however, that the 
 argument had been clearly presented, he seized its 
 import at a glance. After musing for a moment he 
 inquired : 
 
 " Is there no solution for this problem ? It threatens 
 
 % 
 our wealth and power at home, and therefore the 
 
 ascendency of our empire abroad. You will oblige me 
 by giving your opinion." 
 
 The Earl paused, placed his cane under his chin, 
 and kept it there a moment, and then, abruptly striking 
 it on the ground, replied : 
 
 "In my opinion the Yankee was right. As our 
 visitor expressed it, Cobden was a crank, and Bright 
 is Cobden with another twist. The repeal of the Corn 
 Laws was a political suicide. FREE TRADE is for the 
 millennium, but until that happy period of universal 
 benevolence, each nation must protect itself against its 
 neighbor's greed, and old England never needed more 
 protection than now." 
 
 "I am astonished at your conclusions," replied Neville, 
 "and by no means ready to follow the Yankee. He 
 is a bird of ill-omen, and I don't like his prophetic 
 croak." 
 
 " But this is not the worst of it," said the Earl. 
 "We have more serious troubles before us. To keep 
 India, England must have Egypt. We must own our 
 
3Q KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 highway to Calcutta, and to own it we must fight for 
 it. Now, a commercial people wont fight, and we are 
 becoming a commercial people." 
 
 "There we can agree," said Neville, "that's in the 
 line of my profession. An empire made by the sword 
 must be kept by the sword, and only our old aris 
 tocracy can infuse into a British army the spirit which 
 makes the sword effective." 
 
 " Yes," responded the Earl, " as our laboring and 
 commercial people multiply, they will demand parlia 
 mentary representation, and all our foreign relations 
 will be regulated by the balance sheet. The men of 
 pounds, shillings and pence will only wage war for 
 mercantile profit. Then the doom of the empire is 
 certain. Jobbers never made heroes." 
 
 "I can see all this," said Neville. "Our Queen is a 
 figure-head and the Lords are fast becoming puppets. 
 The people will not be willing long to pay such vast 
 annual sums to support the wooden figures in this costly 
 royal puppet-show." 
 
 "We are on the eve of a social and political revo 
 lution," said the Earl, "and I want to study these 
 questions in the United States, where they were solved 
 a century ago." 
 
 "But if reports are true," said Neville, laughing, 
 "our American cousins are no improvement on our 
 selves. Their legislatures are bought like sheep in the 
 market. Each town and city is a prey to rascals. 
 Nearly every man has his price. New York is a 
 carcass covered by devouring vultures. Jackals and 
 
ARLINGTON CASTLE. 33 
 
 hyenas are eating the heart of the Republic. The 
 American eagle has turned a buzzard. Monarchical 
 England is bad enough, but deliver me from the kites 
 and crows of a young people already old in corruption 
 and crime. I saw by a New York daily that last 
 year there were fifteen hundred murders committed 
 in the country, and less than one hundred murderers 
 hung." 
 
 " I have read all these things, too," replied the 
 Earl, "in their own papers, and the same accounts 
 with the British spice of our London journals. It 
 looks badly, indeed, for a young country. But, although 
 an old English aristocrat of a Norman descent before 
 the battle of Hastings, I have yet a generous faith in 
 the American Republic. The present is a passing 
 phase of her life. Her young strength will cast off 
 these putrid excrescences. I believe in her future, 
 and want to study her for myself. Besides, you and 
 I have a personal interest in the matter. Yankee 
 ingenuity and enterprise in agriculture and manufac 
 tures are foes more to be dreaded than Russia or the 
 Socialists. You see," he added, laughing, " I may be 
 converted into a Republican, and transport my Arling 
 ton estates into America. At all events I am deter 
 mined to visit the land of the Yankee." 
 
 "But," urged Neville, with alarm, "is not your 
 resolution hasty and venturesome ? At your advanced 
 age, it seems to me, that you should not be exposed to 
 the sufferings of ocean navigation, and the inconven 
 iences of a young country, and the journey might 
 
Along a street of the American Metropolis " 
 Page 37. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SAM SLYKES. 
 
 LONG a street of the American 
 Metropolis, in the early evening 
 gaslight, could be seen a peculiar 
 individual. 
 
 He was sharp in his chin, sharp 
 in his nose, sharp in his eyes, sharp 
 in his forehead, sharp in his expression, 
 sharp even in the little pointed silk hat 
 he wore tilted on one side of his head. In 
 his whole air and manner and movements 
 he was unmistakably sharp. In his hand 
 was a sharp stick, he had a slight, sharp 
 moustache and a tuft of sharp reddish beard. He 
 was small, agile, quick and sharp in soul and in body. 
 The star presiding over his birth must have had the 
 sharpest of points, and the angel recording his destiny 
 the sharpest of pens. You saw before you the im 
 personation of American sharpness. The cuffs, the bosom 
 and shirt collar of this sharp person were covered with 
 flaring red figures, his neck-tie flashedi with crimson, 
 an enormous diamond blazed on his breast, and from 
 his fingers shone the light of a magnificent ruby. 
 His clothing was in the height of the style, but sat on 
 his small person with, a gigantic vulgarity. 
 
38 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 The man paused before a chapel, whose style of 
 architecture was questionable as that of his own dress. 
 What affinity between him. and such a place remains 
 to be seen. He stood before the door. He gazed. 
 He chuckled. He punched his own ribs, twirled his 
 slender moustache, fondled his little pointed beard. 
 He flourished his cane and laughed outright as if 
 overcome with his pleasant recollections. He moved 
 forward and looked backward, and the grin and leer 
 of his pleasure remained on his face, until, turning a 
 corner, he came before another smaller and more un 
 pretentious ecclesiastical edifice, which changed his 
 whole expression. He frowned. He shook his stick 
 in anger. He scolded under his breath, and shall I 
 say it he muttered low curses before the sacred place. 
 He was evidently in a tempest of disdain, disgust and 
 displeasure. 
 
 Now, my reader, can you give me the clew to this 
 strange conduct ? What a mysterious interest in 
 silence ! How impressive a human being, when his 
 lips utter no intelligible words, and you judge him 
 only by the dumb show of his actions ! Let him 
 speak articulately! The spell is broken, and he is 
 reduced to the level of our ordinary humanity. When 
 you have penetrated the secret of his soul, the 
 interest dissolves. I almost hesitate to lift the veil, 
 lest I may dispel the curiosity I have excited towards 
 this singular personage. 
 
 He passed rapidly into the blaze of the most crowded 
 avenue of the city. After a few blocks, made a detour 
 
SAM SLYKES. 39 
 
 to the left, and reached finally an immense edifice on 
 which, gleaming in the gaslight, above dim statues of 
 stone, shone in great gilded letters INTER OCEANIC 
 RAILWAY. 
 
 This mysterious being in human shape stopped before 
 a private door, took from his pocket a night key, 
 applied it to the lock, and entering, ascended two 
 flights of stairs to a front room brilliantly lighted, and 
 expensively, but gaudily and flaringly furnished. 
 
 Lounging on a sofa, with his heels on a table and 
 above his head, was a man puffing smoke from his 
 lips, until he resembled a young volcano.. The clouds 
 rose in graceful and widening circles, floated about 
 through the room, and then slowly dissolved into the 
 ever-thickening air. Our new acquaintance is a man 
 of mark. His enormous disproportioned head, hung 
 around with dark, short, grizzled curls ; his projecting, 
 massive brow; his firm lips and thin pale face and 
 full black contrasting beard, with the sparkle of his 
 large clear gray eyes, notwithstanding a slender, stooping 
 and somewhat ungainly form, impress the beholder with 
 a sense of overmastering intellectual power. The voice 
 is an instant and sensitive index of culture, and in 
 the notes soon to be heard were the unmistakable 
 proofs of early educational discipline. 
 
 As the first personage we described entered the 
 apartment, the second personage, whom we have just 
 discovered, changed his feet rapidly from the table to 
 the floor, and burst out into a loud laugh, lasting for 
 some moments. When his hilarity had somewhat sub 
 sided, he exclaimed : 
 
40 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "Well! Sam, I have at last been in St. Shammius 
 Chapel and spent one pious Sunday. I saw you there 
 in the front pew beside your fellow pilgrim, Mrs. Slykes, 
 who seemed a true sheep of the fold, while you, I must 
 confess, looked like a boy's goat with one horn and 
 half a beard, and pummeled into meekness for his hard 
 work. The immense crowd, the stunning music and 
 the flash of the sermon attested the success of your 
 Christian beneficence." 
 
 ''A regular run," responded Sam Slykes. "Up to 
 time, I tell you. Reminds me of the fast old days, 
 before I took to the law, when I was runnin' train- 
 engineer. No let up yet ! Shammius Chapel beats 
 my old locomotive, "Fire Fly," mended, packed, 
 greased and rubbed like a teapot, track straight, pine 
 knots under biler, whizzin' sixty mile an hour." 
 
 "Spec, old fellow, spec," replied Planning, "Sham 
 mius Chapel pays! Your down-town building sold well, 
 and your up-town edifice will rise in value every day. 
 After paying parson, sexton, incidentals and charitable 
 uses, you will have fifty per cent, on investment. 
 Sharp, Sam, commercially and ecclesiastically sharp, 
 sharp as that fox on your canehead." 
 
 Slykes, pleased with the compliments and the recol 
 lections of his social and financial success, flourished - 
 his stick with delight, and, looking affectionately on 
 the animal there represented, burst out with evident 
 spontaneity : 
 
 "Have a fellow-feelin' with the brute, Coolie Plan 
 ning, that's a fact ! He's a sort of brother of mine, 
 
SAM SLYKES. 43 
 
 some great, great, great grandpapa in old times. Our 
 scientific humbugs talk monkey, but give me a fox for 
 my ancestor." 
 
 Planning laughed heartily, not boisterously. He 
 had deeply studied the questions of the day to which 
 Slykes had ignorantly alluded. With a curl of his 
 thin lip, he said : 
 
 " I am not yet prepared, like other distinguished 
 scientists, to be fathered by a monkey, nor would I 
 pursue the line of your ancestors, or of my own, fearing 
 it might be vegetable hemp rather than from a living 
 animal. But I will ask you a more practical question : 
 How do you fill Shammius Chapel with such crowds ? 
 You seem to run a church even better than you ran a 
 locomotive." 
 
 The eye of Slykes twinkled with cunning. A gleam 
 spread over his face. His form dilated and quivered 
 with his nervous excitement as he whirled his cane in 
 rapid circles, and said, in his abrupt slang, always 
 filled with images drawn from the vocation he left, and 
 rarely containing an allusion to the profession he had 
 more recently embraced : 
 
 " Thing's plain as a steam gauge ! Parson in trouble 
 family big expensive wife and daughters bills and 
 vacations long cash and visits short scandals with the 
 women. Pews wouldn't sell, income bad, congregation 
 slim, and a general grumble. Then comes in Sam 
 Slykes, my boy, to foreclose his mortgage on Shammius 
 Chapel and drive the old failure off. He gets a flash 
 preacher, hires opera-singers, paints inside, puts steam 
 
44 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 on front organ and electricity on back, puffs preacher 
 in dailies. Pews sell like strawberries. Crowd comes 
 back like sheep to Spring pasture. Sam Slykes is the 
 biggest toad in the puddle. He walks about with his 
 hands in his pockets and says : l Here's the boy that 
 runs this concern." 
 
 Planning was hugely diverted. He absolutely shook 
 from hea<J to foot with suppressed laughter, and then, 
 to prolong the amusement, said : 
 
 " But, Sam, one thing I cannot comprehend. You 
 don't belong to the church, and I often wonder how 
 you are permitted to take so prominent a part in 
 ecclesiastical affairs." 
 
 "Money is the go, Coolie, Church and State! Don't 
 need any other capital. Mrs. Slykes is pious enough 
 for both trade on her share I give cash and she gives 
 religion joint stock concern for the benefit of the 
 public. Where expenses are big, debts heavy and 
 affairs in a snarl, when money comes in, members 
 smile, deacons wink, and parson shuts his eyes like 
 a pious 'possum. Sam Slykes carries pews and pulpit 
 in his pocket, and an awful row they make some 
 times." 
 
 Even J. Coolie Planning heard this recital with 
 disgust. He knew its absolute truth, and blushed for 
 the degradation of that Christianity which, despite his 
 sins, he believed to be true. The image of his father 
 and the tender memories of his mother had not yet 
 forsaken him. Almost the last thing extinguished in 
 a degraded soul is the light of a pure, Christian home. 
 
" The last thing extinguished in a degraded soul is the light of a pure Christian 
 
 home." Page 44. 
 
SAM SLYKES. 47 
 
 Planning said, with a tone of mingled sadness and 
 cynicism : 
 
 "If I remember right, you have driven off three 
 parsons one because he was too pious, another because 
 he was not pious enough, and a third you forced, in his 
 death-chamber, to sign his resignation, because he 
 married a singing-girl. In all heathendom, I have read 
 of nothing so merciless as your own chapel in its 
 treatment of clergymen." 
 
 "Fact, Coolie! Hard as a new steel rail! I told 
 you myself about our fust parson face long and black 
 as a smoke stack. Our second spiritual boss got clean 
 crazy down on railroads a reg'lar hobby screamed at 
 us every Sunday like a steam-whistlesaid we lied, 
 we bribed, we watered stocks, we cheated widows, 
 robbed orphans and stole from Johnny Bull hide, hoof 
 and horns. Raised my dander, Coolie ! Sam Slykes 
 swore he must leave, and soon drove the old monk off. 
 He went away three blocks and set up again. Yester 
 day sent down our sexton to count noses just one 
 hundred and eighty-nine in his pews to our fifteen 
 hundred and one. 
 
 " Our third parson was a good fellow, handsome and 
 sentimental. Set the women a flutterin' and a cryin', 
 and they scared him off with tears, soft sodder and 
 slippers. It was our fourth shepherd that made the 
 mistake in marriage, and who we forced to back out 
 before he died." 
 
 "You have, then, compelled three clergymen to 
 leave, and your women have frightened off a fourth! 
 
48 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Admirable, Sam ! Bible Christianity this, old boy, 
 Eh?" 
 
 " Coolie, the man who draws the crowd should get 
 the credit. Look at this pocket-book! Greenbacks did 
 the business! Greenbacks is the power, Church and 
 State! Greenbacks is the go in America; above stripes, 
 stars or spread eagle! Greenbacks is as necessary as 
 wood to a locomotive to make fire and steam. When 
 Sam Slykes goes down in a panic, Shammius Chapel 
 goes down with him, sure as fish-blades !" 
 
 While this singular conversation was progressing, a 
 man entered the room we must pause to describe. He 
 was much above the middle height, with broad shoul 
 ders, an ample chest and a slender waist. His limbs 
 were rounded into graceful fullness, contributing to the 
 elegance of his person, while his carriage was striking, 
 and his bearing easy, cordial and manly. Large feet 
 and rough hands marred, when perceived, the first 
 favorable impression of his appearance. His forehead 
 was broad and high ; his nose regular and slightly 
 Roman, with a wide and sensuous nostril; his lips were 
 just too thick; his teeth white, healthful and beautiful; 
 his neck red and animalistic, and his jaw powerful 
 and projecting, yet not repulsive. A black beard, 
 neatly trimmed, corresponded to his dark eyes, and 
 contrasted pleasingly with the rich bloom of his fine 
 face. 
 
 You perceived, at a glance, in his form, his features, 
 his manners, his movements, the warring elements of 
 strong intellections and strong passions. Lyman Risk, 
 
I spent one pious Sunday." 
 Page 40. 
 
SAM SLYKES. 51 
 
 the President of the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY, was 
 indeed a handsome fellow. All but the most refined 
 ladies would have pronounced his appearance singularly 
 attractive, and even some of them might, for a time, 
 have been deceived into believing him a man of 
 education and of gentle birth. The instincts of the 
 most discerning would have recoiled from him in an 
 instant, with a painful doubt whether he was ruled 
 by the angel of light or by the angel of darkness. 
 There had been a moment when the paths to good 
 and evil were before him, and consciously in his 
 choice. He then made the irrevocable decision which 
 stamped forever his character and his destiny. 
 
 What that decision was our story is yet to show. 
 We omitted that Risk's dress was in the latest style 
 and in the perfection of taste, save that his ring, 
 breastpin, and watch-chain betrayed an immodest tend 
 ency to glitter and excited a strong suspicion of 
 vulgarity. 
 
 As Lyman Risk approached his confederates J. 
 Coolie Planning, Vice-President, and Samuel Slykes, 
 Esq., Assistant Attorney of the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY 
 he walked more slowly, occasionally glancing over the 
 top of the paper he was reading when attracted by a 
 special loudness of tone or merriment of laughter. 
 Something in the sheet had evidently excited an 
 unusual interest. He seemed reflecting deeply. As he 
 joined his friends, a smile of intelligence and of satis 
 faction illuminated his features. 
 
 "Ah! Lyman," began Planning, "I noticed you 
 
52 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 when you first entered the room. Your cigar is out, 
 and that means thinking. You kept running your 
 fingers through your hair, as if you would pull from 
 your head some new speculation not quite ready to 
 come out. Lyman Risk and that daily oracle, ' YOUNG 
 AMERICA,' mean business. Money's in it, I'm sure. 
 Give us your new idea ! " 
 
 "Out with it, Lyman," said Slykes. "Just bought a 
 pious weekly myself to advertise the INTER OCEANIC. 
 Can spatter parsons like a fast car wheel on a rainy 
 day will soon conduct the ecclesiastical train, and 
 whistle through it Yankee Doodle and the last opera, 
 from Maine to Texas. Next to a chapel, Sam Slykes 
 wants a newspaper." 
 
 " Gentlemen," said Risk, with a self-conscious superi 
 ority of intelligence, "my little pear is not yet ripe. 
 But I tell you I have just found half a million in this 
 same copy of ' YOUNG AMERICA." 
 
 As he ended these words he tapped the paper 
 affectionately with the end of his extinguished cigar. 
 
 "Let me ask," inquired Planning, "in what particu 
 lar part of that honest sheet have you discovered so 
 rich a treasure ? " 
 
 "Not yet, Coolie. I've had a private cable from Eng 
 land ; you shall know in time. My secret is my own 
 until the money is sure. You will be glad enough when 
 you find what help I'll bring the INTER OCEANIC., But 
 why sneer at * YOUNG AMERICA ' ? It shows me every 
 clay, like a weathercock, how the wind blows in poli 
 tics, business and religion, and is better for me than 
 
" Money is the go, Church and State." 
 Tage 48. 
 
SAM SLYKES. 55 
 
 thermometer, barometer and telegraph together, to 'Old 
 Probabilities, and the American Public." 
 
 "Yes," interposed Slykes, with a sly and significant 
 chuckle, "a regular steam-guage shows our republican 
 locomotive steam high or steam low quivering and 
 trembling like a magnetic needle and always tellin' 
 how the machine runs." 
 
 Planning arose from his chair. Indeed for the 
 moment he resembled some old orator flaming with 
 virtuous indignation. There was in him a wealth of 
 argumentative eloquence, and a reproving conscious 
 ness, yet lingering, that he had perverted his shining 
 gifts in his mad chase for money. Occasionally the 
 fire would burst forth and show the brilliance of 
 powers which might have graced the bar and adorned 
 the senate. He said, with a flash in his eye, a curl 
 on his lip and a quiver in his tone: 
 
 " An infernal humbug, as we three well know ; 
 founded on the idea that every man is a knave or a 
 fool, and made by nature to enrich the proprietors of 
 ' YOUNG AMERICA.' That sheet in your hand is for 
 pimps and parsons, cooks and doctors, coachmen and 
 attorneys, waiting-maids and fine ladies, gamblers 
 and merchants patronized alike by honest mechanics 
 and convicted criminals democratic, republican, cath 
 olic and protestant in the same issue in one corner 
 sermons and religious notices, and in another advertise 
 ments for assignations and abortions news from Lon 
 don manufactured in this metropolis reports about 
 things never seen and lies about things really heard 
 
50 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 a catch for all fishes, minnows, sharks and whales. 
 That paper flourishes on the follies and rascalities of 
 the community it purposely demoralises. A vulture 
 feeds on the carcass as it is found; your daily bird 
 of prey has the devilish art of corrupting the corpse 
 with which it stuffs its maw." 
 
 " Whew ! " exclaimed Slykes, in a tone of astonished 
 admiration. " Fine as a Shammius preacher when he 
 knows the reporter is takin' down his sermon ! Coolie 
 thunders like a locomotive runnin' down a mountain. 
 We'll give you a chance, old boy, in our pulpit some 
 Sunday." 
 
 "Hard on ' YOUNG AMERICA/ Planning," said Risk, 
 "and no man uses its columns to better advantage 
 than yourself ; you abuse your best friend with your 
 cant. We get what we want out of it, and have no 
 right to complain if it suits other people. Men scold 
 at it and read it ; scorn it and pay for it ; relieve 
 their consciences by saying that it should be driven 
 out of the world and use their pockets to keep it in. 
 Til bet a case of champagne and a box of Havanas 
 that the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY makes a half million 
 out of this number in my hand." 
 
 Risk held up the paper in the light, shook it 
 mysteriously, and looked at his confederates with a 
 glance o'f superior foresight. 
 
 "Nonsense, Lyman," replied Planning. "You're 
 crazy. Til stop my preaching and take your bet, and 
 smoke and drink at your expense, with the greatest 
 pleasure." 
 
SAM SLYKES. 57 
 
 " I'll go it double against you, Coolie," cried Slykes. 
 " Lyman always wins ! Hurrah for Mr. President and 
 a half million for the INTER OCEANIC." 
 
 While apparantly flourishing, the Railway was, in 
 fact, tottering to its ruin, and exhausting all the arti 
 fice and energy of its officers to prevent it from falling. 
 It resembled a vast balanced rock that a touch may 
 topple over. Its plans had been too extended. In 
 the purchase of tributary roads and mines and manu 
 factories and docks and ships, and in a gigantic effort 
 to control the trade of both Asia and Europe, from 
 the Pacific to the Atlantic coast, the INTER OCEANIC 
 RAILWAY had piled over itself a mountain of indebt 
 edness, which, shaken by the earthquake of a recent 
 panic, seemed destined to crash down in one universal 
 destruction. Its owners had been deluded by visions 
 of boundless wealth and power. Indeed they projected 
 on the Pacific coast what was virtually an occidental 
 empire whose magnificent metropolis would have real 
 ized the wildest, oriental dreams. 
 
 In the exigency of these affairs the officers of the 
 Road watched every advantage and resorted to every 
 expedient. Risk and Planning were not unusually bad 
 men, but they were driven to extremities and thought 
 that they could not afford to inquire too scrupulously 
 into questions of morals. The former just now seemed 
 blazing out into an extraordinary excitement. His 
 eyes dilated, his lips and nostrils quivered, and a fire 
 appeared burning in him as he exclaimed wildly: 
 
 " Half a million ! Half a million ! Half a million 
 
58 
 
 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 for the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY." He rushed with 
 frantic haste to the telegraphic instrument clicking in 
 the farther corner of the room. He was a master of 
 the keys. Sitting down, his fingers glanced with an 
 inconceivable speed. The message almost spoke from 
 his eyes and his motions. Lightning was in the man 
 as well as in the battery. Both were surcharged. 
 No telegram ever flashed to Boston from more heated 
 fingers or in fewer seconds. Lyman Risk with that 
 subtle fluid was writing destinies. 
 
" Like a good angel, in her young beauty, crowned with a halo of love and light ' 
 
 Page 65. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE LIVINGSTONES. 
 
 DNA," said Frank Livingstone to his 
 sister, "will you do me a favor?" 
 "Anything in my power," she 
 replied. "But what's the matter? 
 You look as grave as if you were 
 trying to make a jury think white is 
 black." 
 
 " And I feel as grave as I look," he 
 answered soberly. "The truth is, I thought 
 I knew myself and I find that I was mis 
 taken. Indeed, I sometimes believe another 
 man's soul has come into my body. I am 
 just now everything I have said I never would be. 
 You must interpret me to myself, and tell me honestly 
 what you think about me." 
 
 "You impose upon me rather a difficult task," said 
 Edna, gurgling into a laugh. "Possibly if I hold the 
 mirror too faithfully before you, you may not admire 
 the imago it reflects. Pause before you repeat the 
 request." 
 
 "I know that your looking-glass never flatters me, 
 however it may be partial to yourself," Frank rejoined, 
 brightening into good humor, "and I am ready to see 
 
(32 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 what I will not admire. Besides, I have an object. 
 Do not fear; I am waiting to study myself in your 
 glass. Hold it up, whatever it may show ! " 
 
 "I must begin with the features of your early life," 
 answered Edna, quizzically. -"If I remember correctly 
 the family traditions, you were taught to read at the 
 unusual age of two, and you gave a precocious promise 
 not yet realized." 
 
 "Right," said Frank, slightly blushing and wincing, 
 "however mortifying the consciousness of disappoint 
 ment to myself and my friends." 
 
 "You attacked Latin at six," continued Edna, smiling 
 at her brother's just noticeable discomfiture ; " Greek 
 at seven ; Algebra at eleven ; Geometry at twelve ; had 
 completed Homer and Horace at fourteen, and graduated 
 at seventeen with a brilliant valedictory, exciting hopes 
 of a splendid eloquence, so far in your career not 
 realized." 
 
 " I perceive," said Frank, confused and a little 
 wounded, "that your mirror is not modern quick 
 silvered glass, but hard, old polished Roman metal, 
 fused from spears, swords and hatchets. It reflects on 
 me sharply, but tells the stern truth. I see that you 
 have studied my life chronologically; tabulated my 
 faults, recorded my failures and that your mirror takes 
 pleasure in the pain it inflicts." 
 
 "You asked me to be faithful, and I must perform 
 my promise to you," answered Edna, with a sweet, 
 sisterly smile. " I am like a sworn witness of yours 
 in court, obliged to tell the truth, the whole truth and 
 
THE LIVINGSTONES. 63 
 
 nothing but the truth. Besides, a mirror cannot be 
 bribed. You may break it, but, while clear and whole, 
 it will not lie. It gives back just what it receives." 
 
 "Go on," cried Frank, laughing. "I confess your 
 glass cut me a little; but its reflections are true. I 
 have worked hard and fallen below my own ideal and 
 the hopes of my family, and the consciousness of the 
 fact makes me more sensitive than I had supposed." 
 
 " Now, let me drop the mirror and ask you a plain 
 question," said Edna, " How do you keep your law 
 papers ? " 
 
 "Labeled, tied, arranged, numbered, pigeon-holed, 
 and boxed annually, with all the scrupulous accuracy 
 of a premature old bachelor of twenty-eight. But 
 what connection this has with your purpose or mine I 
 do not yet perceive. Enlighten me ! " 
 
 " Be patient, brother," she replied, with mischief in 
 her look. "Your judge must be deliberate, if you want 
 a sound opinion. I have heard papa say that your 
 addresses to court and jury have none of that glow 
 of the imagination which shone through your youthful 
 essays and orations. He remarked the other morning 
 at breakfast that, in accordance with the spirit of this 
 age of iron, you deal only in hard facts and solid 
 arguments." 
 
 "True," replied Frank, "and sometimes I reproach 
 myself for not following my original bent. Possibly 
 my flight would have been higher had I not clipped 
 my own wings. But I sacrificed my reputation to my 
 sense of duty." 
 
64 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "You are too fast, Frank," Edna continued. "We 
 are not yet ready for our conclusion. I will resume 
 your history and complete your portrait. You have 
 traveled over Europe, stood on the pyramids, explored 
 Jerusalem, looked down over India from the Hima 
 layas, said good-morning to Hong Kong, good-evening 
 to Tokio, and shaken hands with San Francisco on 
 your way back to New York. You have all the indi 
 cations of a practical character. You love whist, chess 
 and science ; read only the best novels and attend only 
 the best plays ; eat and drink sparingly and cultivate 
 your club moderately ; dance well and waltz better ; 
 have never been in love, yet incline to the ladies ; are 
 even fond of making calls with your mother and 
 sister ; don't scold when they make you wait and escort 
 them kindly in their shopping. Now, with this preface, 
 I am prepared to exhibit your portrait and prove to 
 yourself that you are a model American young gentle 
 man, with the splendid future you deserve to be 
 exceeded by a brilliance beyond your wildest dreams." 
 
 Edna playfully took her brother's hand, and, leading 
 him to the farther end of the room, unexpectedly 
 confronted him with his own image in the mirror, 
 saying : 
 
 "There, Frank! Behold yourself! Read your char 
 acter in more faithful lines and colors than I or any 
 painter or writer can draw on canvas or sketch by 
 words." 
 
 Frank did not hesitate to obey the direction of his 
 sister. He looked straight into his own face and 
 
THE LIVINGSTONES. 65 
 
 interpreted himself to himself. The lesson was unmis 
 takable. That strong and graceful person, just below 
 the middle size ; those honest, manly curls ; that clear, 
 piercing, intelligent eye ; that open, noble brow ; those 
 compressed lips ; that countenance, breathing and kin 
 dling with purpose, integrity and intellect, were revela 
 tions to his inmost soul that he had mistaken neither 
 
 himself nor his vocation. His sister at his side smiled 
 
 i 
 on him like a good angel, in her young beauty, and 
 
 seemed now in his eyes almost crowned with a halo 
 of love and light. Her nose, artistically perfect in its 
 Grecian outline, the delicate bloom in her cheek, the 
 grace of her form and the expression of her pure face, 
 beaming from a womanly heart and a noble mind, 
 thrilled him with a joy and gratitude unfelt before. 
 He kissed and embraced her with a sweet, fraternal 
 tenderness and pride. 
 
 After this expression of his affection, Frank Living 
 stone placed his sister's right arm in his own left, 
 conducted her through the hall, over the piazza and 
 across the lawn until they stood on a green and lofty 
 bank overhanging the Hudson. 
 
 It was an early morning in June. The young sun 
 was just leading the day over the hills, flashing into 
 gold the waves of the river, and burning and glittering 
 from sword and musket as the cadets on the West 
 Point shore marched and manceuvered in their early 
 review, while the music of the band came softly over 
 the waters and was echoed in mellow notes among 
 the hills. 
 
(Jg KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 The rose, fresh in the morning dew, shed fragrance 
 from its bloom, and the lilac and the honeysuckle, and 
 the just mown grass, breathed on the air a delicious 
 sweetness. 
 
 Nature encircled that brother and sister with a 
 canopy of love and beauty, and poured around them 
 an incense from her heart. 
 
 "Edna," began Frank, after gazing long on the scene, 
 "I thank you for what you have done. All things 
 are coming back to me in their true light. You now 
 deserve to have my secret, never yet divulged." 
 
 "I am ready to hear it, brother," she replied, with 
 the tenderest affection, "and hope that you will never 
 regret the confidences of this morning." 
 
 Earth and heaven were smiling to each other. A 
 fish leaped out of the water in its joy. The mocking 
 bird was thrilling forth its most passionate raptures. 
 Indeed, the whole feathered orchestra was singing 
 around them. 
 
 "You spoke, Edna," he said, "of the unfulfilled 
 expectations excited by my boyish eloquence. I deter 
 mined early to control my exuberance as an example 
 of culture and restraint in our young country, and to 
 form myself after the classic models, ancient and 
 modern. Moreover, I resolved to advise my clients 
 where possible to compromise, never to confuse an 
 honest witness, however detrimental to my case, and 
 never to appeal to the prejudices and passions of a 
 court or jury. My ambition was to show the world 
 that the son of an old and wealthy family could be a 
 
THE LIVINGSTONES. 67 
 
 gentleman and yet have the most brilliant professional 
 success. As a consequence I have seen unscrupulous 
 and uncultured men blazing over me into a dazzling 
 but temporary prosperity. Still, I have been sustained 
 by a consciousness of right and an assurance, ulti 
 mately, of wider and more enduring influence. My 
 dreams are over. Since my return from Europe I have 
 found myself a fool." 
 
 "You astonish me, Frank," cried Edna, in alarm. "I 
 cannot understand this. This is some strange halluci 
 nation." 
 
 " Just now I thought so, under the influence 
 of your words. But the cloud comes back again. I 
 am a dunce, a block, an idiot, and I know not 
 whether I may not in the end be a hopeless lunatic." 
 
 " Frank, this is sheer craziness," said Edna, more 
 puzzled than before. " Explain your meaning." 
 
 " You do not know, sister, that I am neglecting my 
 office, abandoning my clients, sacrificing all the aims 
 and ambitions of my life, and stultifying myself to 
 myself, and chasing shadows like a boy, or rather like 
 a madman." 
 
 "My dear, dear Frank, you must instantly disclose 
 to me all that is in your heart. Are you in love?" 
 
 The question was so abrupt and so unexpected that 
 young Livingstone was startled and confused. All the 
 blood of his body seemed rushing into his face. He 
 became crimson as the rose at his feet. Recovering 
 himself he burst out." 
 
 "In love? I am as uncertain on this point as 
 
fig KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 on every other. I can neither affirm it nor deny it. 
 Even if I were, this, under the circumstances, would 
 only be additional proof of my folly or my lunacy. 
 For a fellow who never felt the flame before, to turn 
 madman just this side of thirty and rave after a girl 
 he scarcely ever saw and whom he never heard 
 converse, is an idiocy without hope, and to which I 
 never believed a sensible lawyer, and above all a 
 Livingstone, could be reduced." 
 
 Edna smiled with a feeling of relief. She saw 
 that there was no desperate peril in her brother's 
 case. Taking his hand she said : 
 
 " Tell me the whole truth, Frank, as you promised. 
 The physician must understand the patient's disease 
 and the confessor the penitent's sin. Ha ! light begins 
 to dawn ! I have a vision : Steamer Britannia on the 
 wide Atlantic ; a fair English girl ; morning walks 
 and moonlight talks ; looking over the ocean and 
 spying sails together with a glass ; a novel in the 
 afternoon ; whist and chess in the saloon in the 
 evening. Yes, your look betrays you. I have the 
 secret without the confession." 
 
 Edna paused in her playfulness, alarmed at the pain 
 and gloom in her brother's face. His solemnity 
 impressed her almost with awe. 
 
 "You have, indeed, my sister, begun at the right 
 place and yet you are greatly in error. I will give 
 you a plain recital of facts. Just before we sailed 
 from Liverpool a special tender, late in the evening, 
 brought four persons on the Britannia, known appar- 
 
" I never saw them after 1 left the ship." 
 Page 72. 
 
THE LIVINGSTONES. 71 
 
 ently only to the Captain. For several days they did 
 not leave their staterooms. When at last they appeared 
 011 deck I was astonished to see persons who bore 
 every mark of rank and distinction. The eldest, a 
 man of seventy, nearly resembled Washington in his 
 stature, form and countenance, having in his aspect 
 the same mingling benevolence and majesty. Without 
 comparison, the younger gentleman was the handsomest 
 man on whom I ever looked and was evidently an 
 eminent military officer. And what shall I say of the 
 ladies ? You will think I have turned poet or fool. 
 If the elder, a brunette of forty, represented the glory 
 of womanhood, the girl not twenty, and a contrast in 
 everything to her mother, typified its sweetest classic 
 beauty. Now comes the saddest experience of my 
 life so sad that I have not ventured before to tell it 
 even to you. 
 
 The Britannia encountered a fearful storm. Both 
 ladies were lashed in their chairs to enjoy the terrific 
 spectacle, and the officer was standing before them, 
 when a lurch of the ship threw him over the railing 
 into the ocean. We saw him hang for a moment on 
 the crest of a mountain wave and then sink for ever. 
 Rescue was impossible in such a fury of the elements. 
 But, O God, who shall describe what followed ? The 
 speechless agony ; the sobs, the moans, the cries, the 
 frenzied gestures imploring help, and then the silence 
 and impotence of despair ! I saw the ladies a few 
 times afterwards on deck. Niobe is grief in stone 
 theirs was agony in living hearts. When our vessel 
 
72 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 landed in Boston harbor, they and the venerable man 
 I have described must have remained on board to 
 escape observation. I never saw them after I left the 
 ship, and could learn nothing of them by inquiry." 
 
 Edna heard this recital breathless and in tears. 
 She now comprehended the reason of her brother's 
 recent abstraction and silence, and inclination to soli 
 tude. Tenderly kissing him, she said : 
 
 " Frank, I thank you for this confidence. It draws 
 us together by a closer tie. Our own lives seem 
 involved in this mysterious narration. Your words are 
 solemn as destiny. And you have no clew whatever to 
 these persons ? " 
 
 None ! I feel that I have no right to intrude on 
 their privacy, and yet I am irresistibly impelled to dis 
 cover who and where they are. I agree with you, that 
 they are in some way to be linked with our own future. 
 Indeed, their images so fill my mind that I can do 
 nothing in my business. I neglect my office, and I 
 and my affairs seem rushing to destruction. It is for 
 this I reproach myself and have sought advice from 
 you. Surely it is not wise for mere fancies and 
 impressions so to abandon the practical affairs of life." 
 
 " All will be made plain," said Edna, with confi 
 dence. " Heaven, in its own time, will reveal to you 
 the path of your duty. Under the circumstances, I 
 do not think your conduct either erratic or culpable." 
 
 " Thank you, Edna ; thank you, my sister. Your 
 words are full of light, strength and inspiration. A 
 cloud is lifted from me. Last night I dreamed that 
 
THE LIVINGSTONES. 73 
 
 I saw the two ladies and the aged gentleman standing 
 together on the verge of a frightful precipice and over 
 a roaring cataract, while human demons were leering 
 and grinning above them in the clouds. A voice, 
 shrieking my own name, awoke me from my sleep." 
 
 " This, Frank," Edna exclaimed, with great resolu 
 tion and animation, ' ' is another indication that you 
 have a work to perform in regard to these English 
 strangers. Go forward ! you will find your help and 
 your reward from Heaven. It is your destiny." 
 
 The brother and sister now joined their parents at 
 the breakfast table. When the meal was finished, Judge 
 Livingstone asked his son into his study. 
 
 "Frank," he said, "you must go to Albany on the 
 evening train." 
 
 His son started and showed an evident disinclina 
 tion for departure on so short a notice. 
 
 "Father," he replied, "is it absolutely nepessary ? 
 I have on my mind a matter in the city of the utmost 
 importance." 
 
 " I am not surprised," answered the Judge, " at this 
 unusual disinclination, since I have noticed for some 
 weeks that you seemed some person other than your 
 self. Whether your affair be of the head or of the 
 heart, I am unable to decide ; but I know that the 
 urgency of the case in Albany is extreme." 
 
 "May I inquire what the particular necessity may 
 be?" 
 
 " Do you know Jude Oilip ? " asked the Judge. 
 
 "I know that he is a rascal who lives by bribing 
 
74 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 other rascals, and has built, from the proceeds of his 
 villanies, one of the most splendid houses on the Avenue. 
 He drives the finest horses in the Park." 
 
 " Well ! Jude is now in full blast at the Capitol. 
 He no longer works secretly. Indeed, he seems to 
 glory in his vocation as a lobbyist, openly boasting 
 that he buys the Legislative donkeys, and owns them, 
 ears and all, and drives them and whips them as he 
 pleases. Unlike all other animals, food only stimulates 
 their appetites. The more you pay the more you have 
 to pay. This legislative greed is insatiable. And Jude 
 is secure in his conscious ownership. When bought, 
 a man is in the power of his purchaser and ready for 
 the next more desperate villany." 
 
 "Is there no escape?" asked Frank, anxiously. "I 
 know that there are some honest men in the Legisla 
 ture. Where are the Courts ? Can nothing be done ? " 
 
 " We have a personal interest in that question," 
 answered the Judge. " Unless we bestir ourselves, 
 this INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY will obtain its charter, 
 and for its depot confiscate this very home of our 
 fathers. Such tyranny would shake any throne in 
 Europe." 
 
 " This is abominable," exclaimed Frank. " I fear, 
 too, that our municipal corporations, in every part of 
 this country, are taxing and borrowing most recklessly, 
 while most of their money, instead of improving and 
 beautifying our towns and cities, is in the pockets and 
 palaces of these shameless villains. Our own metrop 
 olis owes more than a hundred millions of dollars, and 
 
THE LIVINGSTONES. 75 
 
 yet her docks and streets and parks are a disgrace to 
 civilization." 
 
 "Too true, my son; too true !" said the Judge sadly. 
 " The cloud over our country was never blacker even 
 during our civil war. No mediaeval barons were more 
 daring in their plunder or more ruthless in their 
 tyranny than our municipal rings and corrupt corpora 
 tions ; and yet in every community, in every legislature, 
 at the bar and on the bench, are to be found honest men 
 who will yet save us from ruin. The malady, after 
 all, is not in the blood of the body politic. And Frank," 
 he added, rising from his chair and looking like the 
 impersonation of resolute and indignant virtue, " I will 
 never cease fighting the rascals until the right tri 
 umphs." 
 
 "I am glad to hear you say so, father," exclaimed 
 Frank, kindled into a fresh enthusiasm of courage. 
 " Such words from you have great weight and inspire 
 strong hope. I will co-operate in every possible way. 
 It is now exceedingly inconvenient and disagreeable for 
 me to go to Albany, but I will make immediate 
 preparations and be ready for the next train." 
 
 "Right, my son, right," said the Judge, warmly 
 shaking Frank's hand. "I perceive that you are true 
 to the lessons of your youth. We have a great work 
 to accomplish, but Heaven will prove our help and our 
 shield. Farewell! farewell!" 
 
 Judge Livingstone represented one of the oldest and 
 wealthiest families in the country. He had vast 
 estates, including a noble mansion, with ample and 
 
76 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 beautiful grounds, on the Hudson, and an almost palatial 
 home in the city. His ancestors had been long faithful 
 adherents to the king, and then revolutionary patriots, 
 after the conservative type of Washington and Hamilton. 
 Nor was he without admiration for the refinements of 
 a court, the security of an aristocracy, and the stability 
 of a monarchy, founded on the popular intelligence 
 and guarded by constitutional provisions. But he knew 
 that the social and political institutions of Europe were 
 impossible in America. He was, therefore, absolutely 
 faithful to the Republic. What he most dreaded was 
 an ignorant and vulgar monied aristocracy, whose bale 
 ful monopolies would be crushing as even slavery itself. 
 This he believed the worst curse of any nation. In 
 him, it excited not only opposition, but repugnance and 
 loathing. It was to extend and energise his influence 
 that he accepted judicial office and trained Frank for 
 the bar. He and his son also mingled in the primary 
 assemblies of the people, and were always ready, by 
 their pens, their speeches, their time and their money 
 to promote the great object of their lives. The ladies 
 of the family shared their spirit, and while there had 
 never been any formal explanation or agreement, yet 
 all were acquiring popular instincts and working 
 together toward a popular end. Thus their aristocratic 
 traditions were gradually exchanging themselves for 
 more kindly democratic sympathies, which in the end 
 would identify them with the people. 
 
O Poverty ! how fearful thy face ! more than death thou art the dread of our 
 humanity!" Page Iii8. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 POVERTY. 
 
 ; YMAN RISK had interpreted a few 
 lines in " YOUNG AMERICA," an 
 nouncing the death of Colonel 
 Neville and the arrival of the 
 jiQ family in Boston, with an almost 
 preternatural sagacity. It was 
 a mere reportorial hint which the Living 
 stones never saw. By means of it, with 
 one quick glance, Risk had pierced the 
 situation. An examination of the rail 
 way books recording the shares confirmed 
 his impressions. He followed his telegram 
 by his person in the Victoria palace-car to 
 Boston without communicating the secret of his 
 purpose to his confederates. The Nevilles were 
 discovered with some difficulty and he had the address 
 to win their confidence and convey them to the Me 
 tropolis in a style splendid even to their aristocratic 
 English tastes. 
 
 Lord Arlington had been paralyzed into feebleness 
 by the fatigues and excitements of the voyage and was 
 placed on a couch in the car in a state of dumb and piti 
 able impotency. All these things made Risk's services 
 
30 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 more needful and acceptable, and enabled him gradually to 
 introduce to the family Planning, and even Slykes, with 
 out exciting suspicion or disgust. The physician was their 
 paid tool, and all the business and correspondence of 
 the Nevilles passed into their hands. The helplessness 
 of these noble ladies, in a strange land, and the ill 
 ness of the Earl, greatly aided the plans of their pre 
 tended friends, who took every means of increasing the 
 barriers between them and all the world. They had 
 been established in a commodious and attractive house, 
 in a retired, but fashionable avenue, where they lived 
 absolutely unknown, except to Risk and his confed 
 erates. Mrs. Neville had already parted with her rail 
 way shares at an enormous sacrifice, and also with all 
 her jewels and other valuables, except her diamond 
 ring, and was now confronted with the necessity of 
 selling even that precious gift from her husband and 
 removing with her helpless old father and her lovely 
 daughter to more economical and obscure lodgings in 
 an unpleasant region of the city. Trouble and sorrow 
 had compelled her to make Lucy the sharer of her 
 counsels, and this established between them a premature 
 confidence and sympathy. The fair fingers and bosom 
 of the daughter, too, had been gradually stripped of 
 adorning gems and gold, but she was only the more 
 charming in the light of her own native grace and 
 simple beauty. 
 
 "Lucy," said her mother, in tears, "we have parted 
 with everything except this brilliant on my finger, and 
 I confess that I have not the courage to remove it." 
 
Trouble and sorrow established between them confidence and sympathy : 
 
 Page 80. 
 
POVERTY. 83 
 
 " Oh, mamma," the girl replied, with bitter sobbings 
 and the deepest anguish, "this is dreadful! Can you 
 not prevent it? Wait a few days. We will surely 
 soon obtain remittances from England." 
 
 " I have written and waited, my daughter, and 
 waited and written in vain. Some mysterious influence 
 seems around us and against us. First your father's 
 death, and then your grandfather's helpless suffering ! 
 A barrier rises to separate us from all we love, and 
 we appear to be deserted by God and man. Poverty 
 stands glaring in our eyes. It seems more than human 
 nerves and souls can bear. Soon we will be forced to 
 leave this house and seek one cheaper and less burden 
 some. Oh, how I dread this, on my dear father's 
 account ! We are sinking into hopeless abysses of 
 misery." 
 
 "Can I not write, or teach, or sew, or do anything 
 for our support?" cried Lucy, overcome by her emotions, 
 and, above all, by her sense of helplessness. "Oh, I 
 feel so weak, and so ignorant of all that could help 
 us!" 
 
 "Alas, my Lucy!" replied Mrs. Neville, with a 
 shiver of terror at the thought of her daughter's 
 exposure. "What could you do in this strange city? 
 You know nothing of its perils and have never been 
 taught to labor. Nothing so deplorable as our aristo 
 cratic tastes and habits, with nothing for their support ! 
 I am in despair ! Oh, I would rather tear my heart 
 from my body than this ring from my finger! But, 
 alas, my flesh can bring us no relief, and the gold 
 
g4 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 and the gem will support us, perhaps, until aid comes 
 from home." 
 
 "But, mamma, that diamond is the gift of dear 
 papa. He placed it on your finger. To remove it 
 would be too terrible. Oh, never, never take it off ! " 
 
 The girl wept in her sorrow, and the tears, more 
 precious than gems, sparkled on her cheek, while love 
 breathes new charms over her splendid beauty. Hearts 
 so melted can never be ice again. Only suffering 
 turns to sympathetic drops the hard crystal of a soul. 
 
 While Lucy was weeping there was a sharp, quick, 
 impatient ring at the door-bell, and she had just time 
 to retire as Mr. Samuel Slykes entered the room. 
 
 "Good-morning, Mrs. Neville," that gentleman 
 exclaimed, in his high, nasal tone, and with a pecu 
 liar twitch of his brow and gleam of his eye. "Good- 
 morning ; sorry to see you so sad. This world is as 
 hard as a steel-rail, and that's well thumped and 
 pounded by our train-wheels, I tell you." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Slykes; my troubles have been almost 
 beyond endurance. Is there no more money in the 
 bank?" 
 
 "Not a red, madam, not a red. Your bank ac 
 count's like a tender without wood or water. I have 
 done all in my power sold stocks and jewels and 
 other ornaments to best advantage, but you draw 
 checks as if you owned the Bank of England. You 
 must learn to shut down the brakes on your expenses, 
 or you'll be flyin' the track in spite of me. Can't 
 keep you on without more economy." 
 
POVERTY. 85 
 
 "Mr. Slykes," she replied, with a repelling and 
 offended dignity, " your tone and your words are not 
 agreeable. Such interference with my affairs I will not 
 permit. I perceive in you a familiarity you never 
 before attempted. Do not repeat it again. Remember 
 that this house is mine, and you remain in it on the 
 condition of your respectful behavior." 
 
 "Pardon me, madam. No offense intended, as the 
 locomotive said to the cow it smashed." 
 
 "Then," returned Mrs. Neville, despite her sorrow, 
 smiling at the queerness of the man and the quaint- 
 ness of his speech, "I must infer from your own com 
 parison, that you, Mr. Samuel Slykes, are the murder 
 ous machine, while I am the innocent and unsuspecting, 
 but slain and mangled victim. Possibly, there may be 
 more in your suggestion than you wish me to com 
 prehend at present." 
 
 Even Slykes, in his stupendous assurance, had to 
 admit to himself that for once in his life his slang 
 had betrayed him into a blunder. Usually, he was 
 happy in a consciousness of superlative merit and an 
 infallibility more secure and serene than any Pope ever 
 enjoyed. He knew that, without clearly meaning it, 
 the lady had expressed the exact truth. All the 
 plunder from her stocks and gems and gold had passed 
 to the account of the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY, to help 
 it through its gigantic struggle for existence. Slightly 
 coloring and hesitating, for the first time in his honor 
 able existence, he exclaimed : 
 
 "No, Mrs. Neville, no! Sam Slykes ran off the track 
 
gg KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 for once clean throwed over by a lady. I have been 
 the blessin' of your life in raisin' money, and Lyman, 
 Coolie and myself will bring you through your troubles 
 like three locomotives on a coal train." 
 
 "All this may be true, Mr. Slykes, and I will not 
 now question your assertion. At all events, I am 
 placed in circumstances where I am compelled to trust 
 you, but I am not quite ready to take this ring from 
 my finger." 
 
 "Bound to come, madam; bound to come," replied 
 Slykes, with a brutal assurance and indelicacy. " Old 
 England has forsaken you. She never answered a 
 letter. Your expenses here are big, I must tell you 
 doctor's bills, nurse's bills, baker's bills, butcher's bills, 
 eatin' bills, drinkin' bills, wearin' bills, washin' bills, 
 servant bills, and all the other bills that take dollars 
 out of a bank, like blood out of a sick man, or steam 
 out of a locomotive, runnin' without wood or water at 
 the rate of fifty mile an hour." 
 
 " Mr. ;Slykes, this is more offensive than ever. I 
 insist that you change your manner towards me. You 
 are not justified by circumstances in using such words 
 to me." 
 
 " Can't help it, Mrs. Neville. If I pay your bills, 
 that ring is bound to come off bound to come, as your 
 dollars were bound to go out of the bank. You now 
 owe Sam Slykes a gentle thousand, advanced out of 
 his own pocket, and he must have his money, sure as 
 a steam biler won't hiss without fuel." 
 
 JVlrs. Neville was .aroused to intense indignation and 
 
POVERTY. 87 
 
 disgust by such a coarse and loathesome speech. 
 There was something in this vulgar villain and his 
 eager assertion of his power which excited her anger 
 more than her fears. 
 
 A horrible suspicion flashed over her that she had 
 been betrayed, fleeced and ruined by a gang of rascals. 
 She saw that if Slykes was a villain, Risk was a villain, 
 and Planning was a villain. In the excitement of her 
 suspicion and the keenness of her agony, she said all 
 she should have concealed, and all that could tempt the 
 cupidity of a rogue like Slykes. 
 
 "Do you know, sir," she inquired, "the value of 
 this jewel you are so eager to secure?" 
 
 As she spoke, she extended her hand, and her white 
 finger passed throug'h a brilliant gleam of the morning 
 sun, streaming in between the openings of the curtains. 
 It was a spectacle to be remembered. The magnificent 
 diamond burned in a blaze of glory, and flashed and 
 glittered as if showering from itself, in an exuberance 
 of conscious wealth and joy, the sparkles of innumerable 
 suns. In the eyes and face of Slykes were responsive 
 gleams of eager and voracious delight. 
 
 Oh, thou beautiful gem, born in the ages of the past, 
 from dark carbon and bright flame, amid the volcanic 
 throes of a forming world, why didst thou come forth 
 from thy depths to awaken the greed of men ? What 
 passions rage around thee ! What plots and wiles and 
 wars ! The envy of beauty, the avarice of wealth, the 
 ambitions of kings are kindled in thy innocent light ! 
 How often hast thou been bought with the blood of 
 
gg KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 murder and even the carnage of battle, until around 
 thy beauty is a red glare of ruined hearts and lives ! 
 Glorious as thou art, perhaps it had been better to 
 have slept in thy native darkness than to have 
 delighted human eyes while arousing human passions, 
 and setting in motion such trains of guilt and miseries. 
 
 Mrs. Neville continued: "This jewel has a history. 
 It has sparkled on the brow of Indian kings. My 
 Oscar snatched it with his heroic hand from the flames 
 of Delhi and obtained it as a reward from the British 
 Government, had it set in this ring, and placed it him 
 self around this finger. Mr. Slykes, I am not prepared 
 to remove it; and I must say to you plainly that, after 
 your manner this morning, it shall never be given to 
 you. When my mind is ready and the exigencies inex 
 orable, I will send a note to Mr. E!sk. He will behave 
 with the kindness and delicacy due to a lady in distress." 
 
 Having thus spoken, Mrs. Neville retired with an 
 inexpressible dignity, and Sam Slykes slunk out of the 
 door and down the street, and to his own house, con 
 founded and overpowered by such an exhibition of 
 virtuous indignation, excited by injustice and distress. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 VILLONT'S DEN. 
 
 .HORTLY after the events we have 
 related, Slykes could have been seen 
 passing down the most crowded 
 street of the busy city. He was 
 thinking, and twirling, as he walked, 
 his sympathetic cane. Darting from the 
 street he ran up a flight of stairs, made 
 some brief inquiries, hastened down and 
 mingled once more with the human 
 stream. After pursuing his way for 
 many blocks, he turned into an obscure 
 and narrow street, and, twisting and 
 winding, stood at last before a tall, ungainly building, 
 whose cheerless ugliness caused a chill in the beholder. 
 Mounting story after story, he pushed himself along 
 dirty, dismal passages, until he stopped and knocked 
 at a massive door. There was a rustle within. A 
 chair scraped on the floor. At last the door swung 
 noiselessly open, and Slykes stood within. A singular 
 being confronted him. Raising his voice, he cried out, 
 in his peculiar tone : 
 
 " Counting your day's profits, my sallow beauty ? 
 
92 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Sly fellows, you detectives. Sly as a tramp stealing 
 his ride under a freight train " 
 
 " Monsieur, Sleeks," replied Villont, with an impish 
 laugh. "You, sare, and I, sare, know dis world, and 
 dat hombog in your beesness and in mine is von 
 good cape-tal, and we both have von great huge 
 in-ves-tee-ment." 
 
 The deformity laughed, or rather grimaced after 
 this hit. His fiery, piercing eyes gleamed under his 
 shaggy brows with a species of hideous delight. Every 
 wrinkle of his yellow face twitched and twisted. His 
 crooked mouth showed his unsightly teeth, as he leered 
 with an almost infernal grin, while the spectacles 
 across his wizzened brow grew tremulous with excite 
 ments of the skin, and his small, nervous fingers 
 jerked the tassels of his worn and disproportioned 
 gown. 
 
 " Must be up to thieves to nab them, my detective 
 innocent," said Slykes. " Rascality's the capital in 
 catchin' rascals, and no man has bigger stock in trade 
 than you, Villont. You're packed full as a freight car 
 in grain movin' season. But where's Midge that 
 .little angel in the devil's den?" 
 
 The Frenchman started back as if he had been 
 struck. Only one light was left in his wicked old 
 heart it was Midgetto. He trained the boy to his 
 vile arts, 'often with a cruel sternness, not sparing hard 
 blows ; but, after all, he loved him, and worked for 
 him, and intended for him his accumulating wealth. 
 And Midge was a beautiful child. His Italian face 
 
VILLONT'S DEN. 93 
 
 was more suitable to palaces than the dark hole in 
 which he lived, and he seemed like some cherub who, 
 by a fatal mischance, had been lured into the service 
 of the pit. 
 
 "Sare," he almost shrieked, "you let my Midge 
 alone you speak not his name he and you must be 
 far apart as de poles ; as de star from de earth ; as 
 de ends of de universe." 
 
 Slykes, thrusting his hands down deeply in his 
 pockets, stood staring into the face of Villont, whose 
 little, fiery, cross eyes darted their flames in opposite 
 directions. 
 
 "Old tight-fist," cried Sam, "I want Midge myself, 
 and sure as a steam-whistle I'll have him." 
 
 "No, no," replied Villont, shaking his head and 
 hands to enforce his negative. " Midge me light, me 
 comfort, me little child ; you indulge von vast joke." 
 
 "Mistaken, my. French beauty," said Slykes, with 
 an impudent and aggravating coolness; "give him or 
 hang, old money bags ! Sam Slykes, just now, is a 
 working locomotive, bent on business. He knows what 
 he's after and what he can do. He'll have Midge, 
 sure as you studied Jesuit under the Pope." 
 
 Villont started at this allusion and trembled vio 
 lently. He was not usually taken off his guard, but 
 Slykes had unnerved him in a moment. With a vio 
 lent effort to recover himself, he said: " Vot dat you 
 mean, Monsieur Sleeks ? Villont study vit de holy 
 fathers in de Eternal Citie. Ha ! too funnie, too 
 f unnie ! Villont Jesuit Priest ! Imposseebeel ! " 
 
94 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 " Fifteen years learnin' piety with the Pope's folks, 
 and a precious saint they made of you ! Why did 
 you leave them, old virtue ? Tell me, or give me 
 Midge." 
 
 Villont glared on his tormentor with fury and with 
 terror. Slykes was gaming the ascendency over him 
 with a serpentine fascination. His attenuated frame 
 shook as he stared and trembled. Lifting his broken 
 voice, he almost shrieked : 
 
 "A lie, Sam Sleeks, von deevileesh, helleesh lie; 
 von lie from the black pit of sat-tan ! Leave dis 
 appartemen'." 
 
 "Not gone yet," said Slykes, surveying him with 
 his peculiar look of cool and unequalled impudence. 
 " Not gone, as the balked locomotive said when the 
 boys greased the rails. Sam Slykes sticks to his 
 friends like whale oil to a steam slide. Why did 
 you leave Rome, old piety ? Why did you say good- 
 by to your shovel hat ? Why did you take off your 
 black gown and stop goin' round the holy city like a 
 hungry crow ? Why did you come to America and 
 play Jesuit in the detective business ? Tell me 
 that ! " 
 
 Slykes stepped nearer his victim and looked into 
 his dilated eyes with a sharp stare, adding : 
 
 "I know a thing or two. A woman's in the 
 case, Villont ! Ha ! yes ; a woman, my Jesuit innocent." 
 
 Villont shrank into himself. His face turned black 
 with hate and fear. He would have leaped through 
 the floor out of the window into the sea anywhere 
 
VILLONT'S DEN. 97 
 
 to hide himself. In an impotence of doubt and 
 terror he burst forth : 
 
 " Sleeks, you be von imp, von demon, von foul 
 feend, von deveel, von sat-tan himself, come up from 
 de flames." 
 
 Slykes looked and laughed as if he properly 
 answered to these personages one and all. 
 
 "Yes, Villont," he resumed, "a woman in the case; 
 countess, young, rich, beautiful ; came to confession ; 
 told you her story ; touched your soft heart ; pitied 
 her for her sins, and fled with her to Arno Castle ; 
 caught, tried, convicted by the Holy Church, and 
 came to America. Unfrocked, my venerable good 
 ness. Had a son born here ; our pretty Midge the 
 boy I want and the boy I'll have. Where's the 
 woman, my cut-throat ? Sam Slykes knows all 
 about it. Give me Midge, my poison-dropper, and do 
 my work, or hang by the neck until you're dead, 
 dead, dead." 
 
 You own the man whose crime you know. He 
 becomes your slave. No longer his own, you can use 
 him as your property, your tool, your thing, and you 
 can lead him on and on and on, into deeper gloom, 
 guilt and danger. Such is the penalty of sin. If 
 man cannot escape man, how much less Omniscience ! 
 
 A dark history, in an instant, passed in blood and 
 flame before the soul of Villont. He saw it all, and 
 he saw himself. The events of his life flashed over 
 him like lightning. His bright childhood, his pious 
 youth, his vow, his discipline, his sacred studies, his 
 
98 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 cell, where he saw the fires of the pit and heard its 
 screams, and then witnessed the dropping blood of the 
 crucifixion, followed by the ascending triumph ; his 
 fraternity, the chair and bed and table and stone-floor ; 
 his beads and matins and vespers ; his pious works ; 
 his peace of conscience, and his serene, priestly joy ; 
 contrasting with these the fair face of the confessing 
 girl, her penitent tears and tones, the dark temptation, 
 the final seduction ; the brief whirl of guilty pleasure ; 
 the detection, the trial, the condemnation ; the flight, 
 the birth of Midge, the first thought of murder, the 
 resolve, the plan, the midnight drop, the reproving 
 look, the gasp, the agony, the death, the burial, the 
 grave all rushed and glared and burned and shrieked 
 about him, until he staggered and leaned against the 
 wall. Then were visible the wonderful effects of those 
 long, stern years of discipline. He recovered by one 
 strong effort of his will, and stood as calm, as keen, 
 as cold, as when he heard the first knock at the door, 
 which was the prelude to this scene of terror. 
 
 " Monsieur Sleekes," he repeated, with a slow, firm, 
 and easy determination, "you want de boy de leetle 
 Midge. You shall have him with pleashure de greatest 
 pleashure posseebel ! " 
 
 But the task of subjection was not yet completed. 
 Slykes went straight to the wall. He touched a spring. 
 A concealed door flew open. Yillont's treasure-room 
 was revealed. With the leer and cunning of a fiend 
 the torturer pointed within the place, saying : 
 
 "A hundred thousand for a rainy day! Sly fox, 
 
VILLONT'S DEN. 99 
 
 Villont ! Ha ! a prudent old piety ! Sam Slykes can 
 hang you by the neck and take your gold and green 
 backs for the benefit of the state, getting one-half for 
 his precious information. He can explode you like a 
 signal-cap under a train- wheel." 
 
 Villont stared and glared in a bewildering amaze 
 ment. His power of resistance was gone. He passed 
 under the dominion of his base and remorseless employer 
 until the hour of vengeance should strike in his favor 
 its hoarse and hollow notes. 
 
 "Villont," resumed Slykes, "hear me and mind me. 
 No triflin' or dodgin'. Tell Midge to act as I say, 
 and send him to-morrow to live in a family at five 
 hundred on the avenue." 
 
 " Eight, Monsieur Sleekes, right ; all right, sare. It 
 shall be as you wish." 
 
 "Now, I want the truth from you, my honeymoon 
 bright as a headlight when the reflector's rubbed. 
 Has Frank Livingstone employed you to find two 
 English ladies and an old English gentleman?" 
 
 " Certairiement, me good sare. We search de citie 
 in all de various directions everywhere, everywhere." 
 
 "Have you found them?" 
 
 "No, no; dey baffle us! No trace of dem at all any 
 where." 
 
 "Sit down, now," says Slykes, "at that telegraph 
 tell the lightnin' Sam Slykes wants it, and click off, 
 through your detective room, a message to Frank Living 
 stone, in these words, exact as the figgers on a steel 
 rail: 'The English ladies have gone to Chicago.'" 
 
100 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Yillont took his place at the instrument to flash 
 along its innocent wires the confusing lie destined to 
 mislead the man who was devoting himself to the 
 rescue of tried and suffering virtue. The thin fingers 
 moved over the keys with a light but sure touch, 
 afraid to disobey the tyrant commanding their skilled 
 and flying motions. When the message had been tele 
 graphed, the hideous operator paused in his compelled 
 work, still retaining his seat. Planting himself before 
 Villont, Slykes, with a brazen and remorseless voice 
 and look, gave his parting directions : 
 
 "My own monk, don't you forget! Midge goes to 
 morrow into service of the English people at five 
 hundred on the avenue they want him for waiter and 
 errand boy, and I want him to bring here to your 
 honest hands all their letters to and from England; 
 and you, old true heart, must give them to my mes 
 senger for me me, mind you, no one else no copyin', 
 no sellin' out to Frank Livingstone, no treachery of 
 any kind for love, money or revenge none of it, my 
 gray-haired goodness, or that little yellow neck will 
 make acquaintance with ten feet of hard rope, and 
 that fair carcass be swung, as it deserved to be twelve 
 years ago, up towards heaven by a gallows length, and 
 then Sam Slykes will be into your money bags. If 
 you turn false, my sweet reliability, you had better 
 have a cow-catcher fly through your ribs when the 
 lightnin' train's making up for lost time." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BROTHER AND SISTER. 
 
 
 HE LIVINGSTONES usuaUy came 
 to their seat on the Hudson just 
 before the bloom of the rose in 
 June and left it after the glory of 
 the foliage of October had vanished. 
 An occasional week at Saratoga and 
 Newport varied the monotony of their 
 country life. Their Summer home was 
 also an attraction to many charming 
 and distinguished people both from 
 Europe and America. The season just 
 passed had been particularly gay and 
 agreeable, although Frank Livingstone had been fre 
 quently absent and noticeably inclined to abstraction 
 and solitude. All the yellow of the hickory and the 
 chestnut had disappeared, the brilliant and varied tints 
 of the maple were no longer visible, even the mingled 
 red and green of the oak had been replaced by a dull 
 russet-brown, and the magnificence which blazes from 
 an autumnal American forest had been exchanged for 
 those dry leaves and naked limbs that show nature to 
 be preparing for the chill and gloom of Winter. One 
 evening in November, in the the parlor of their city 
 
102 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 residence, Frank and Edna were sitting together, when 
 the latter said, with a bright laugh, 
 
 "Brother, you seem to have turned all the sober 
 Livingstone heads in the family in your wild chase 
 after two unknown English ladies and an equally 
 unknown English gentleman. Even mamma and I 
 have begun to dream about them." 
 
 " Ha ! Edna," said Frank, startled into an intense 
 interest, "that is indeed strange. I hope that you 
 will tell me me your dream." 
 
 " My Ivanhoe, my Richard Coeur de Lion, my Don 
 Quixote, my flower of chivalry and sword of knight 
 hood, my brave hero of romance, engaged in the 
 deliverance of wronged and oppressed beauty if you 
 will confess yourself in love I will relate my dream. 
 Only the tender passion, with its sacred flame, could 
 inspire such exploits and adventures." 
 
 " Nonsense, Edna, nonsense. You are taking advan 
 tage of my secret to bring down my bachelorhood to 
 the dust. You know that a practical fellow like myself 
 could not really fall in love after a few glances at a 
 pretty girl." 
 
 "Yet the fact remains, my chivalric brother! Even 
 one look may set a heart on fire, and especially that 
 of a self-confident bachelor. Did ever benevolence 
 toward human nature in general make a young fellow- 
 desert his office, forsake his clients, dream about beauty, 
 and chase its shadows over the world ? You might as 
 well tell me that the unknown knight would have 
 entered the lists against Brian de Bois Gilbert had he 
 

 BROTHER AND SISTER. 103 
 
 never seen the fair Rowena. I wonder that a young 
 lawyer should have less knowledge of human nature 
 than a girl like myself." 
 
 "Edna, I am not yet prepared to make such a con 
 fession, whatever you may extort from me hereafter. 
 I admit that I am acting like a lunatic, and giving 
 the lie to all the actions and maxims of my life. But 
 that I should be in love, under such circumstances, is 
 an excess of idiocy I am not ready to concede." 
 
 " Frank, I will make a supposition : Had there been 
 three steerage passengers, or three ugly, vulgar women, 
 or three rough men, wronged, not in imagination, but 
 suffering before your eyes, would you have interposed 
 on the spot for their rescue and defense ? I fear your 
 benevolence would not have been acutely excited. It is 
 a pair of bright eyes which lure you onward. You 
 are crazy after a beautiful face. At last, Frank, you 
 are in love ; yes, in love ! The cynic, the bachelor, 
 the philosopher caught without even a word ; brought 
 by a glance and a smile to the level of our despised 
 and ridiculed humanity ! " 
 
 "I am a fair target for your arrows, Edna. Put 
 me up ! Shoot at me ! Hit me in the eyes ! Pierce 
 me through and through with your shafts, but do not 
 try to convict me of love. I am a fool on my own 
 account, but not cupid's fool. That a fellow of my 
 age should be bewitched with a pretty face and form, 
 without exchanging a sentence, and in ignorance of 
 character, culture, history and position, is not probable. 
 It is at war with all ' that I am and all that I have 
 
104 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 been, and a species of boyish madness I should 
 despise in myself." 
 
 " But, Frank, look into those wayward thoughts of 
 yours, or rather into that deceitful heart ! Do you see 
 oftenest there the venerable English Washington ? or 
 even the more matured beauty ? Tell the truth ! The 
 girl's face, the girl's lips, the girl's blue eyes, the girl's 
 soft smile and graceful form these, these live in your 
 memory and lead you astray. Be honest ! You have 
 dreamed of the others once, but you have dreamed of 
 her a dozen times. I dare say you dreamed of her 
 last night. Ah ! your color betrays you. Caught 1 my 
 cynic, caught." 
 
 "Edna, this has gone too far and becomes unendur 
 able, positively disagreeable. If you do not stop, I will 
 leave the room. You have a way of piercing a fel 
 low just where he squirms most." 
 
 " Touching him in his tender point, my errant 
 brother ! You have v made the admission I demanded, 
 by your threat to retire from the scene of action. 
 Only the vanquished leave the field. Now, as victor, I 
 can fulfill my promise and relate my dream. Last 
 night, upon my bed, when my sleep was deep upon 
 me, I thought I saw two beautiful women and an 
 aged man standing on the side of a ship in flames. 
 They were stretching out their hands in a silent agony 
 of despair. Fierce fires were raging all around them. 
 Just as the masts and sails were falling, a boat 
 appeared flying over the ocean to their rescue, impelled 
 by some invisible power, and steered by a person 1 
 
BROTHER AND SISTER. 105 
 
 had seen before. I beheld three forms leaping from 
 the ship into the waves. The pilot stooped down, 
 took them out of the water and they were saved. 
 There, Frank, my dream is as mysterious and romantic 
 as your own." 
 
 "Yet, Edna, you are not in love; you have given an 
 answer to your own arguments ; you dream and are 
 not in love. So I have dreamed and may not be in 
 love." 
 
 " Resort to syllogisms is a desperate expedient, my 
 wounded knight ! I dreamed of three persons, you last 
 night dreamed of one. Oh, I see again the proof of 
 my suspicions in your cheeks." 
 
 At this point of their gay and amusing badinage, 
 they chanced to turn and perceived Mrs. Livingstone, 
 who had approached unseen and paused for a proper 
 place to interrupt their conversation. 
 
 "I think," she began, "that Frank has made us 
 all crazy as himself. Since he told me his story 
 about the ladies on the Britannia, I cannot drive them 
 from my thoughts. Every moment they are intruding 
 themselves, and last night I, usually dreamless, had a 
 most vivid vision." 
 
 " You, mamma, you dream " ; "they exclaimed toge 
 ther. 
 
 "Yes, my children," she answered with a smile. "I, 
 even I, who sleep so soundly, was visited during the 
 night by a wild and exciting dream. I seemed to be 
 walking near the top of a mountain. Suddenly it 
 burst into flames like a volcano. On a lofty rock, 
 
106 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 surrounded by fire while yet beyond its power, were 
 two women and an old man. I could not discern 
 their features in the distance. They seemed to be in 
 the utmost terror, but their voices could not reach me. 
 I beheld distinctly their frantic gestures. Soon there 
 appeared an opening in the sky, and angels came 
 down and bore them away, while a crowd of demons 
 pursued with the utmost speed and malignity." 
 
 " Wonderful ! wonderful ! most wonderful, " said 
 Frank and Edna together. 
 
 " Yes, I must confess," continued Mrs. Livingstone, 
 "much as I have always despised superstition, this 
 dream has made a profound impression on me, and I 
 cannot quite laugh at Frank's insane performances. Jn 
 my opinion, we had better retire to the study and lay 
 the whole subject before your father." 
 
 Mrs. Livingstone led the way, followed by her chil 
 dren who could not but admire her matronly beauty 
 and dignity, and thank Heaven for such a union of 
 love and wisdom in one who was the light and joy of 
 the household. 
 
 As the group approached, the Judge laid aside his 
 pen, removed his glasses and gave them a smile of 
 welcome. In every respect he was that typical Ameri 
 can gentleman we all love to remember for his urban 
 ity, his polish, his courtliness of manner and, above all, 
 sturdiness of integrity, amplitude of view, and practical 
 sense. And more than any other profession, the legal 
 has produced men of the class described. 
 
 Frank Livingstone, at the request of his mother, 
 
 
BROTHER AND SISTER. 107 
 
 narrated to the Judge what had occurred in regard to 
 the unknown persons who had so excited his interest. 
 Nor did he forget the dreams and their strange and 
 suggestive similarities. When he had concluded, he 
 said : , 
 
 "And now, sir, we wish your advice. I do not 
 desire any longer to pursue phantoms, and, knowing 
 your experience and wisdom in the affairs of life, I 
 will be guided wholly by your opinions." 
 
 The judge at first smiled, evidently amused at the 
 adventures of his practical son and the tragic visions 
 of torrents, flames and billows which had so strangely 
 disturbed the other members of his family. Soon, 
 however, his face assumed a graver aspect. He 
 pulled his watch chain. He took up and laid down 
 his glasses. His face had a judicial expression and 
 looked as if he was about to decide an important case 
 on the bench. When the silence was becoming 
 embarrassing, he interrupted it by saying : 
 
 " I confess that the facts you relate are remarkable, 
 and not to be passed over without reflection. The 
 dreams are easily explained. No necessity arises for 
 supposing any preternatural interposition. Such expe 
 dients . are weak and even despicable, and always 
 misleading where the circumstances are explicable on 
 the ordinary principles of our nature. Frank was 
 interested in the ladies, more especially the younger,' 
 he added with a mischievous look and emphasis. 
 " He dreamed of them. He told his mother and sister. 
 They became interested and they also dreamed. This 
 
108 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 is all intelligible. But there are other things in the 
 . narration about which I wish to inquire." 
 
 We should state that Frank Livingstone included in 
 his story many incidental facts which we have not 
 recorded here, but which will be understood ,as the 
 conversation proceeds. 
 
 " First, then," said the Judge, "have you, my son, 
 taken into your confidence any persons but your 
 mother, your sister and Villont, the private detective ?" 
 
 "Not one person beside these in the world," 
 replied Frank. 
 
 "Did Villont," pursued the Judge, "seem willing to 
 undertake the business of finding these unknown 
 persons ? " 
 
 " I gave the old rascal one hundred dollars and 
 promised him five hundred more, if he succeeded. His 
 little cross eyes sparkled, his yellow wrinkles relaxed, 
 and every spring in his dry French carcass was set 
 in motion by the money he received and the reward 
 he expected. He'll be true to my interests until some 
 greater lunatic promises him a larger sum." 
 
 " That is not probable," said the Judge, with a dry 
 laugh, "as he will not perhaps find your equal in 
 insanity, or benevolence. I know him well, and just 
 how far we may trust him. But Villont, beyond 
 question, has taken several subordinates into this 
 service." 
 
 "This," Frank answered, "would, of course, be 
 unavoidable." 
 
 " And such scoundrels," said the Judge, " are always 
 
BROTHER AND SISTER. 109 
 
 looking for a bribe, and either the principal or his 
 agents may have betrayed your secret. You are sure 
 that your telegram came from Villont ?" 
 
 " This is absolutely certain." 
 
 "And you followed the direction and went to 
 Chicago?" 
 
 "Yes, in the next train." 
 
 " There you received another telegram announcing 
 that the ladies and the gentleman had gone to St. 
 Louis." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and when I reached St. Louis, an 
 unknown person gave me another message from Villont 
 saying they had gone to New Orleans. Suspecting 
 something, arid not wishing to be fooled farther, I 
 telegraphed to New Orleans and waited in St. Louis 
 until I ascertained that no such persons had arrived 
 in New Orleans. I also stopped at Chicago a day on 
 my return. After careful examination, not a vestige 
 of them could be found there. I then took the first 
 train for this city. 
 
 " The most sensible thing you have done throughout 
 the entire transaction," rejoined the Judge, laughing, 
 while the ladies joined in the merriment. 
 
 Blushing, Frank said, a little piqued : 
 
 "Sir, I do not see that." 
 
 " I will very soon show you that I had cause for 
 that remark. Did you see Villont after your return ? J? 
 
 " I did, immediately." 
 
 "How did he behave?" 
 
 "He seemed confused; evaded my questions; acted 
 
HO KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 like an old treacherous scoundrel, and abandoned my 
 case." 
 
 "That signifies," resumed the Judge, "that he 
 has sold his information to others who are, therefore, 
 proved to be conspiring against these ladies, and who, 
 knowing that you are searching after them, have 
 bribed this Frenchman by his false telegrams to give 
 you a false scent, and throw you off their track. 
 Your mistake was, not to have found Yillont and sub 
 jected him to a rigid cross-examination before you started. 
 Having begun wrong, you continued wrong through 
 your chase." 
 
 " I see it plainly, sir, and confess my error. Your 
 more experienced sagacity will untie this knot and 
 bring some infernal scoundrels to justice I hope to 
 prison." 
 
 " Yet, Frank, while you have certainly made these 
 mistakes, the great fact remains that there is something 
 for us to do. I am glad that you have not been 
 shown to be chasing phantoms like a silly schoolboy 
 in love." 
 
 Edna looked at Frank and smiled as she saw him 
 redden into a most guilty confusion. 
 
 "Now/' resumed the Judge, "you say you have 
 received four different newspapers, announcing that two 
 English ladies, accompanied by a venerable old gentle 
 man, have left this city, and proceeded through Chicago 
 and St. Louis to New Orleans ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir, I have said so, and I have the papers in 
 my pocket." 
 
BROTHER AND SISTER. Ill 
 
 " Did you examine the wrappers for the post 
 marks ?" 
 
 "I regret, sir, to say that I did not think of it." 
 
 " Another mistake, Frank. It would not do to be 
 caught in this way before a jury. I begin to fear 
 that your heart has confused your head, and your 
 benevolence toward mankind has urged you forward 
 too fast." 
 
 Another burst of merriment from the ladies ! The 
 Judge shared the amusement when he perceived the 
 embarrassment of his son. 
 
 " I will enjoy the joke with you, sir," said Frank, 
 " since your judicious wisdom is disentangling this 
 skein and conducting us to the truth. Fortunately, I 
 opened the papers in your study, and threw their 
 wrappers into your waste-basket." 
 
 Saying this he stooped, picked up the crumpled 
 envelopes, and examining them carefully, exclaimed : 
 
 " They were all mailed in this city, sir." 
 
 " That helps us amazingly," said the Judge. " I 
 believe the conspirators to be in this city. In this 
 city, too, are the persons we are to seek. Our work 
 is, therefore, in this city, and you will find that 
 Villont holds the clew to the mystery. The rascal has 
 sold your confidence to a higher bidder." 
 
 Light broke upon the mind of Frank Livingstone. 
 So far he had gone forward in the darkness. He had 
 no guide through the maze. Often he was blaming 
 himself as the dupe of his fancies and his dreams. 
 He could not justify his conduct, and yet could not 
 
112 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 abandon his course. Henceforward he was to have 
 the sympathy of his mother and sister, and, more than 
 all, aid from the keen sagacity and practical wisdom 
 of his father, so long trained on the Bar and on the 
 Bench in that healthful common sense for which lawyers, 
 above all men, are distinguished. A midnight was 
 dispelled from Frank. His face beamed with joy, hope 
 and encouragement, and through his whole expression 
 and bearing shone that quiet assurance which was the 
 token of victory. 
 
 Nor was the Judge himself without relief. He 
 had noticed for months the change in his son, but 
 had thought it wiser not to solicit a confidence which 
 he was sure in the end would be given. When at 
 last it came, he was startled without betraying his 
 surprise. As all the facts of the case came gradually 
 before him, he was glad to know that his son had not 
 been in a senseless chase of the mere shadows of his 
 fancy or dreams from his heart. Mrs. Livingstone 
 and Edna shared the feelings of the Judge, and possi 
 bly in them all had mingled something of the family 
 pride. Thus all the members of a household, remark 
 able alike for sense, culture and calmness, found 
 themselves aroused into a mystery of overpowering 
 interest in three strangers, whose names, even, were 
 not known to them, and who had been casually seen 
 by one of their number on a steamship. More than 
 once in the history of our humanity has Heaven, by 
 such a secret spell and irresistible power, moved to 
 deeds of disinterested charity. Happy are the just 
 
BROTHER AND SISTER. 
 
 113 
 
 and innocent selected as instruments of blessing in 
 our dark and suffering and guilty world! 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 RAILWAY CONFERENCE. 
 
 T was a day of mists and occa 
 sional showery rains. The clouds 
 hung low and lowering, and while 
 motionless near the earth, through 
 huge rifts were visible immense 
 black masses driving onward 
 through the lofty air, with a wild and 
 immeasurable fury. The city was saturated. 
 Houses dripped, horses dripped, cars, cabs 
 and omnibuses dripped, umbrellas dripped, 
 men and women and children dripped, and 
 nature herself seemed in one state of 
 * universal drip. Then came down on the 
 
 world that gloom of soul produced by the misty and 
 moistening air in this state of everlasting dripping. 
 
 Risk and Planning sat in a dark room of the INTER 
 OCEANIC RAILWAY Depot. They seemed under the 
 influence of the air and sky without them. A shadow 
 was on their faces, indicating discouragement ; their 
 hats were drawn over their brows ; their voices sank 
 down into low, deep tones, indeed, at times, even into 
 whispers, with occasional pauses between their com 
 munications to each other. Everything about them 
 gave token of anxious dejection. 
 

RAILWAY CONFERENCE. 117 
 
 After a brief interval of silence, Planning burst out 
 into a louder tone. 
 
 " Lyman, you see sharp, but you don't see far." 
 
 "What do you mean, Coolie?" inquired Risk, with 
 manifest displeasure. 
 
 "Mean! I mean what I say. Your headlight is 
 bright enough close by, but don't shine far enough 
 along the track, and I am afraid the INTER OCEANIC 
 will smash up before we know it and carry us down 
 in the wreck." 
 
 "I don't like this, Coolie," said Risk, with a rising 
 tempest of indignation. "I don't like it, and I won't 
 stand it. You must explain yourself." 
 
 "Well, to be plain, you ought to have told me 
 what took you to Boston. You followed your telegram 
 in the Victoria palace-car like a boy after a butterfly or 
 a soap-bubble, and since these English women came 
 here, under your benevolent escort, everything has gone 
 against us." 
 
 "Planning," rejoined Risk, pale, quivering and 
 flushing with anger ; touched in that sensitiveness to 
 precedence often felt by a superior to a subordinate 
 excelling him in will and intellect. " Planning, this 
 is an insult. I don't know that the President of the 
 INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY is compelled always to make 
 a confident of his Vice-President." 
 
 "Don't be offended, Lyman," responded Planning, 
 soothingly. "I did not intend to wound you. This 
 is no time for quarrels among us. We are in great 
 peril. I cannot help thinking you made a mistake in 
 
118 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 bringing these English women here. Only misfortune 
 came with you in that train." 
 
 Lyman Kisk was instantly calmed into gentleness 
 by the tones and words of his confederate. 
 
 "Oh, Coolie," he exclaimed, "is that all? Tell me, 
 old boy, what we made out of their INTER OCEANIC 
 shares?" 
 
 " Two hundred and fifty thousand." 
 
 " And what did we realize from their rings, chains, 
 pins, necklaces and trumpery in general from rubies, 
 topazes, garnets, emeralds, diamonds, and such valueless 
 stones, and then from silver and gold, and stocks high 
 and low, too numerous to mention ? Tell me, Coolie, 
 tell me that, and then blame me, if you dare ! " 
 
 " One hundred and fifty thousand more, I confess, " 
 replied Planning, with his usual coolness. "But that 
 don't change my opinion." 
 
 "And did you ever notice," inquired Risk, with a 
 sparkle in his black eye, "that whaling diamond on 
 her white fingers ? It flashes like a young sun. She 
 told Slykes that her husband got it in the flames of 
 Delhi, and that it was once worn in the crowns of 
 Indian kings. We'll have it, old fellow ; we'll have 
 it, and it will make the gains of that Boston pleasure 
 trip mount up to a round half million for the INTER 
 OCEANIC. This money has helped us through the 
 tightest squeeze we ever knew and saved us from 
 certain ruin." 
 
 "I don't know that, Lyman. The dollars have 
 disappeared like fishes in a whale's maw, which is just 
 
RAILWAY CONFERENCE. 119 
 
 as hungry as ever, and now we have to meet the 
 danger of the whole thing." 
 
 "You seem jealous of me, Coolie, and instead of 
 blaming me, you should thank me for my brains and 
 pluck." 
 
 "But I tell you there's danger ahead. My head 
 light shows me trouble on the track. When the 
 decision of old Justice at Albany is announced, con 
 fiscating property for the addition to our Grand Depot, 
 the Livingstones, the Pilkilsons and all the owners 
 will be after us like a pack of wolves, bears, hyenas 
 and tigers. Barks, growls and yells will fill this 
 country. We may yet regret our prices to legislators, 
 lawyers and judges for this confiscation act. .The 
 danger was enormous before, and now I fear these 
 women will bring all England down on us. There 
 never was such a tempest gathering over us as at this 
 moment." 
 
 "What do you mean, Planning, by all this stuff? 
 I do not understand what you are driving after. You 
 seem to me like a locomotive screaming in a misty 
 night." 
 
 " Yes," replied Planning, " screaming, because the 
 bridges are down and the embankments tumbling, and 
 danger everywhere. I repeat what I said at first. 
 You see sharp, but you don't see far. Do you think 
 that the Lord of the Arlington Estate can disappear 
 from the world without inquiry from friends and 
 relatives ? Can two beautiful . women be lost in 
 America, and no search be made after them ? Will 
 
120 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 not the Government itself interfere and set in motion 
 all the detective forces at home and abroad ? Do you 
 believe you can carry on this system of plunder and 
 not be called to account for it ? That would be un 
 natural and impossible. Even now the Livingstones 
 are after us like bloodhounds, and if we do not get 
 them off our track, will soon be at our heels. Ad 
 vertisements before long will be blazing in the news 
 papers, rewards will be offered, and the whole world 
 will be in chase, and, I am afraid, not affectionately, 
 about our throats. You have never thought of this, 
 Lyman Kisk." 
 
 But he saw it now saw it with a vision clear as light 
 saw it in characters of fire staring over him in mocking 
 ruin. Every nerve in him trembled. He seemed 
 ready to drop from his seat and sink through the 
 floor. His eyes had the look and light of blood as 
 he gasped rather than spoke : 
 
 "What in the name of Heaven shall we do? It 
 seems to me black as midnight. My dreams this 
 week have been full of horrors." 
 
 "Nonsense, Lyman," said 'Planning, laughing. 
 " Your mercury flies too quick from freezing to boiling 
 point. Brave it out. Don't be a fool. We must 
 meet the danger like men. Fight it out. old fellow, 
 fight it out. Whistle up your courage and say, ' Come 
 on, grave clothes/ as the boy said to the ghost when 
 his knees shook and his teeth chattered." 
 
 Risk, under the influence of a superior mind and 
 will, instantly aroused himself. The transformation 
 
RAILWAY CONFERENCE. 121 
 
 was wonderful. Oh, what a subtle mystery is this 
 spell which men weave around each other ! A word 
 has changed a coward into a hero. A look has 
 inspired armies and saved empires. A magic tone has 
 moulded human souls, and shaped destinies that are 
 everlasting. 
 
 Lyman Risk stood forth another man. You would 
 have supposed him a trained soldier equal to any 
 emergency. Pointing to a package of letters on the 
 table, and drawing up his form to its full and com 
 manding height, he said, with a ringing voice of 
 triumph : 
 
 " There, Coolie, there ; see those letters ; money's in 
 them ; I tell you money's in them. They'll bring us 
 all through, as a good engine drives a steamship in 
 spite of wind and wave. The letters ; yes ; the letters ! 
 They've cost Lyman Risk many a night's hard thinking 
 and have been got through many a danger. But he 
 has them. Deliverance is in them for us all, and the 
 INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY into the bargain, Read them! 
 You'll find Lord Clare's dead ; Mrs. Neville is next 
 heir to the estate, and if Lyman Risk wins her, he'll 
 be Lord Arlington, and in the British Parliament, if 
 money buys Peers as it buys our virtuous law-tinkers. " 
 
 J. Coolie Planning shook his head. His vision was 
 not to be thus confused. Indeed, he read the situation 
 with an almost prophetic glance. 
 
 "Worse than ever, Lyman Risk," he exclaimed, in 
 a most emphatic tone. " The motive now will be 
 a hundred fold stronger to find Lord Arlington and these 
 
122 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 ladies ; and piiblic attention will be directed towards 
 them by an increased force. The letters may prove a 
 bomb-shell to explode us all to fragments. Tear them 
 into pieces ; scatter them to the winds ; give them to 
 the flames. Anything and everything to get them 
 out of the world. Even then the peril is great, for 
 that old traitor, Villont, may have taken copies which 
 will blow our fortifications flying through the air." 
 
 Risk arose in a demoniacal rage. His eye shot 
 out the fires of frenzy. A white foam was on his 
 lips. He brought his hand down on the table and 
 roared in the fury of his volcanic passion : 
 
 " Never, Coolie ; by Heaven, never ! They cost me 
 too much. You shall have my blood first." 
 
 In such an earthquake of anger, Planning perceived 
 that it would be vain to reason with his confederate. 
 He realized the enormous risk of the letters, but also 
 knew that the infuriated President was wholly beyond 
 his powers of persuasion. What would he not have 
 given to have converted into smoke and ashes that 
 little pile of destiny ! Those innocent letters ; what is 
 in them ? Money, and honor, and power, and success ; 
 or defeat, disaster, disgrace, perchance a prison-cell, a 
 prison jacket, and a prison gloom, down to a prison 
 grave ! Who can tell ? A spark would destroy the 
 whole peril. One click of a match ; a little burst of 
 flame ; one touch of fire, and then a brilliant blaze of 
 the ignited papers. But Risk's rage was in the way. 
 Passionate folly was stronger than passionless prudence; 
 not a spark would be applied. 
 
RAILWAY CONFERENCE. 123 
 
 Looking at the letters and then at Risk, Planning 
 said slowly : 
 
 " Where will you keep that powder-keg, Lyman ? 
 I fear it. Hide it in some place where fire cannot 
 reach it. It will explode yet, I tell you, and blow 
 us into the sky." 
 
 Risk replied with a look of intense satisfaction : 
 
 " Coolie, don't be frightened ! I'll keep this package 
 all right. It is to be in the deepest part of our INTER 
 OCEANIC safe, and no man besides myself and our 
 confidential clerk, John O'Brien, has the keys and 
 the combination." 
 
 Planning looked anxious. He saw here more danger 
 and inquired nervously : 
 
 "Do you think you should trust John O'Brien with 
 the keys and the combinations ? I would trust no 
 man living." 
 
 "You find fault," replied Risk, peevishly, "with all 
 I do, and because I do it. O'Brien is true as a 
 steel-rail, and has been in our employ for years." 
 
 " It may not do, then," Planning replied, musingly, 
 " to show a lack of confidence by removing him ; but 
 bring him down on his knees ! Put a pistol to each 
 ear ! Swear him by all the saints and angels in his 
 popish calendar ! After all, a few dollars may buy 
 him and prove our ruin." 
 
 "I'll see to that," said Risk, taking up the package 
 and placing it carefully in the bosom pocket of his 
 coat. "Lyman Risk can attend to his own business 
 and ask no man's advice." 
 
124 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Planning now resumed abruptly, without noticing 
 the fling of his confederate : 
 
 " I believe you were all wrong in getting into this 
 trouble. But now, there's only one way out. It is a 
 bold move, and a coward never wins. You must 
 marry this widow ! That may save us ! It will give 
 you a title to her person if not her estate, and indi 
 rectly, wealth and influence to stand around us and 
 protect from the storm like a wall of defense." 
 
 " That's just what I brought you here to talk 
 about," said Risk, with manifest pleasure, "when you 
 shot off like a lightning train on another subject. I 
 am in love with the widow and don't know how to 
 win her." 
 
 At this unexpected communication, Planning laughed 
 until the glass seemed to rattle in the windows. 
 
 "Lyman Risk in love! What will Jane Slag say? 
 Will Olive Neilson give consent ? The Woman's 
 Rights will have a word on that question, and the 
 Independent Theatre will be all thunder and lightning. 
 Trouble all round us, Lyman ! But go on ; it is our 
 only chance ! In love ! an old roue like you in 
 love ! Tell it to the wild cats, Lyman; if they don't 
 believe it, tell it to a lunatic asylum." 
 
 " You may laugh as you please, Coolie ; but it is 
 nevertheless a fact. Even while necessity drives me 
 to spoil this woman, I adore her as if she were a god 
 dess, and rob her with the resolution, by my marriage, 
 to repair her losses and spend my life in making her 
 happy. The greatest pleasure I ever knew is to be 
 
RAILWAY CONFERENCE. 125 
 
 near her and to look into her face. But I have not 
 learned how to gain her and feel baffled and confused 
 at every approach. I want your advice, and, indeed, 
 for this appointed our interview. 
 
 " Well, my friend," said Planning thoughtfully, 
 "talk little and act kindly." 
 
 "But explain to me why you give such strange 
 advice," Risk answered, with a look of bewildering 
 uncertainty. 
 
 " As our interests are so vast and so united, I will 
 be entirely frank. Between educated and uneducated 
 minds is a chasm nearly impassable. Something in tone 
 and manner indicates the mysterious and indefinable 
 difference. Now, Risk, I must be plain with you. 
 Your talk sometimes betrays you. These women are 
 from the highest circles of English refinement, and will 
 notice in you ways and words hidden from yourself. 
 Remember, too, the enormous descent from station and 
 wealth to poverty and dependence, and the suspicions 
 she will sometimes inevitably entertain. Your difficul 
 ties are stupendous, but not insuperable. Be attentive 
 to the old Earl ; please the girl by every delicate kind 
 ness ; talk with the widow seldom and in the softest 
 tones; let your presents be few, but thoughtful 
 and costly; possibly, in the end, you may allay her 
 prejudices, and, when you have brought her down 
 to the last extremity, she may consent to be your 
 wife." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 LORD ARLINGTON'S DEATH. 
 
 VEN before the conversation just 
 related, Risk had instinctively shaped 
 his course toward Mrs. Neville ac 
 cording to this shrewd advice of 
 Planning. During her removal to 
 her new dwelling in a more obscure 
 street, and among coarse and vulgar people, 
 he had been constant in his attentions. 
 He had shown great tact and delicacy, not 
 only in his assistances, but also in many 
 soothing and gentle sympathies. Indeed, 
 there was in his nature much latent benevo 
 lence, and had education and religion controlled his 
 passions, he would have been a noble man. He had 
 also been tender and judicious in his manner toward 
 Lucy, and invaluable in superintending the transfer of 
 the helpless Earl of Arlington to his apartment in the 
 new abode. In a thousand nice and acceptable ways 
 he had promoted the comfort of the household, paying 
 many bills and persistently refusing the money when 
 offered. Thus insensibly he had wound himself into 
 the confidence of the family, and made himself useful, 
 and almost indispensable. It was not strange, therefore, 
 
LORD ARLINGTON'S DEATH. 127 
 
 that he should be seen by them, softened in the light 
 with which he was invested by so many acts of 
 sympathetic kindness. The heart often creates the 
 medium through which the head sees facts and forms 
 conclusions, as the earth from her bosom gives forth 
 the mists which envelop her in the golden glory of 
 the morning. Yet, such are the contrarieties of our 
 nature, that this very man, who was strewing a path 
 way of sorrow with so many 'flowers, was at the same 
 time planting along it sharp thorns to lacerate, most 
 cruelly, pure and trusting hearts. 
 
 Risk had suggested the employment of Midgetto, 
 who, while hastening the dark ruin, had been also a 
 ray of light in the household. He was, indeed, an 
 almost speechless little beauty. While diminutive in 
 size, his form was exquisitely moulded, his features 
 delicately Roman, and his immense liquid black eyes 
 shone over a complexion where the bloom of the rose 
 mingled with the brown of the olive. You could 
 scarcely help thinking of him as a wingless angel 
 from the canvas of Raphael. In America, he was an 
 evident exotic. He should be in Rome, and under an 
 Italian sky. Midge, as he was now familiarly called, 
 under the terrible discipline of Villont, had been edu 
 cated into silence, control and submission. A word 
 scarcely ever escaped from his lips. He was a beau 
 tiful pantomime of grace and sympathy. In his per 
 son he had inherited all the charms of his aristocratic 
 Italian mother, unmingled with a single trace from 
 the deformed and repulsi^-e Villont. Moreover, the 
 
128 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 genius of his maternal blood had bloomed out into 
 artistic tastes. He loved to sketch with pen and 
 pencil, and reveled in form and color. Both Mrs. 
 Neville and Lucy had spent many hours of quiet joy 
 in giving him instruction, and he showed all the 
 creative instincts of the artist. Everything lovely in 
 him was thus nurtured, and he grew daily in beauty 
 and intelligence. While the unconscious and innocent 
 boy was conveying the letters of the family to the den 
 of Villont, he as little knew the ruin he was working 
 as coral insects, building from their branching white 
 ness a tropical island in the deep ocean, are aware of 
 the tempests and the billows far above their own 
 peaceful domain. 
 
 The affairs of the new dwelling in a few days 
 moved forward with entire regularity. But life's 
 demands are inexorable. Our perishable flesh must be 
 fed or die. The household of the Nevilles resembled 
 an island crumbling incessantly before the hoarse and 
 hungry waves. The bills were increasing, and the 
 deposit in the bank was diminishing. Addition and 
 substraction were united in the ruin. The rattle of a 
 grocer's cart, suggesting expense, shook the nerves of 
 Mrs. Neville, and an account from shop or store made 
 her shiver with a chill of approaching destitution. An 
 enormous expenditure was necessary for the Earl alone, 
 who required the care of a nurse and the skill of a 
 physician. 
 
 O Poverty, how fearful thy face ! How cold thy 
 remorseless eye ! How pitiless thy look ! Thy breast 
 
LORD ARLINGTON'S DEATH. 129 
 
 is brass, and thy heart is iron, and around thy gaunt 
 form is the iceberg's winter 1 More than death, thou 
 art the dread of our humanity ! Not only dost thou 
 blight bodies to the grave, but wither hearts, kill 
 hopes, blast love, dwarf genius, darken homes and 
 brutalize millions, casting thy shadow over this world, 
 and beyond it the mystery of an everlasting darkness. 
 
 Before thy spell, these fair women and this frail old 
 man were suffering agonies unutterable. A trial pecu 
 liarly sharp was creeping like a shadow towards Mrs. 
 Neville. Day by day she marked its dark approach. 
 She was moving steadily toward the inexorable time 
 when poverty would tear from her finger the diamond 
 placed there by the affection of her Oscar, and the 
 sparkle of whose light of love was to vanish from her 
 eye, most probably, forever. 
 
 The day, the hour, the moment came ! Often she 
 rivetted on the brilliant a glassy stare. Sometimes her 
 eyes darted flames. Again, she had a dreamy and 
 distracted look, followed by tears. Her bosom would 
 swell and palpitate with its agony. Oh, how the image 
 of her Oscar rose before her soul ! She saw him as 
 he brought to her the splendid gem, told her its thrill 
 ing history, expressed to her his love and admiration, 
 then bent his knees and placed it on her finger, kissed 
 her and embraced her, and thrilled her with that exquisite 
 joy which only the tenderness of affection can excite in 
 a human bosom. She could almost feel again the 
 warm imprint of his lips, and hear the tones of his 
 manly voice, 
 
130 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Shall she herself remove her Oscar's gift from her 
 finger ? Shall she sell the token to strangers ? Shall she 
 prostitute this most sacred emblem of a mutual love ? 
 Shall she devote it to meet life's lowest wants ? Shall it 
 pass to vulgar hands, be seen by vulgar eyes, possibly 
 sparkle on some vulgar brow ? Shall it be divested of 
 every tender association, and be henceforth in memory 
 a thing hideous and loathsome, and to be torn, if pos 
 sible, out from the history of her life ? Again and 
 again she pulled it to the tip of her finger. As often 
 she thrust it back with impetuous violence. The task 
 seemed impossible. Once she fell* prostrate on the floor 
 and remained insensible for hours. Her heart was 
 breaking. The removal of her ring involved in it the 
 agony of a farewell to the rank and wealth and bright 
 ness of her beautiful past. 
 
 But the needs of her condition were too strong for 
 Mrs. Neville. The gleams of her diamond could not 
 feed the flame of her life. The magnificent jewel is at 
 last removed. Not a gem is left on her hand. Every 
 vision of joy has grown dark in her soul. 
 
 She sent the priceless ring in a note by Midge to 
 Risk. 
 
 Even in his breast it awoke a pang. He longed 
 to restore it to its place. But with him the necessi 
 ties were as cold and as dark and as terrible as with 
 her. Dollars alone could keep from staring ruin the 
 voracious INTER OCEANIC monster. Risk regrets, but 
 he will have to sell. He, too, may postpone the evil 
 day. It will come, unless a worse arrives first to stop 
 
LORD ARLINGTON'S DEATH. 131 
 
 his hand. He deposits the jewel in his safe, pretends 
 its sale, and places a few paltry thousands to the 
 credit of Mrs. Emily Neville, representing on the books 
 of an American bank her whole earthly hope in a 
 land of strangers, where villains are plotting her 
 destruction. 
 
 After these exhausting struggles, Mrs. Neville was 
 lying on her bed in comparative calmness. The agony 
 was over, and nature demanded relief. Her father 
 was below in his usual place. After the fearful and 
 unexpected death of Colonel Neville, the Earl on the 
 vessel had been partially paralyzed. His motionless 
 limbs ceased to be under the control of his will, and, 
 indeed, volition itself was suspended. Since that time 
 his eyes had not been once opened, and had it not 
 been for his low breathing, the slight heaving of his 
 chest, and an occasional twitching of his lip and 
 cheek, he might have been considered a statue, or a 
 corpse. In this condition he had been conveyed from 
 the vessel, and then in the car, and thence to the 
 former dwelling, and afterwards to the present home. 
 
 What a spectacle of ruin ! The strong man living 
 while dead. Those active, powerful limbs weaker than 
 infancy. That mighty and manly frame, one breathing 
 mass of impotence. In the eye no flash, and in the 
 face no fire. Only a lingering glory around the 
 expansive and venerable brow. And the soul the 
 poor, wandering, uncertain soul, in its dubious intelli 
 gence and fearful imbecility ! The pride of our 
 humanity brought lower than by the grave. 
 
132 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 While in a light slumber, Mrs. Neville thought she 
 heard a voice. Is it a dream ? Her name is re 
 peated. She hears, although not fully awake, again 
 and again " Emily, Emily, Emily!" Now,- the tone 
 grows louder: " Emily !" There can be no room for 
 doubt. She springs from her bed in terror and amaze 
 ment. It is the voice of her father, clear and strong 
 as it ever rang through the halls and across the 
 piazzas and over the lawns of Arlington Castle. She 
 was stunned and staggered by what seemed a sum 
 mons from the grave. A resurrection of the Earl 
 from his sepulchre could not have more surprised and 
 startled her. She flew down the stairs and to his 
 room. There he sat in all the strength and majesty 
 of his grandest day. He had thrown a splendid 
 Afghan, almost the only memento from the castle, 
 around his shoulders. His face indicated perfect com 
 posure, and all the faculties of his mind and his body 
 were, for the moment, restored. Mrs. Neville rushed 
 toward him, and flung herself frantically on his 
 breast, pouring forth an agony of tears. The foun 
 tains of a human soul were broken up, and those 
 streaming floods subdued the volcanic fires which would 
 have hardened it forever into the granite of despair. 
 She wept and wept and wept, and found relief on the 
 breast of a father whose dying lips kissed away her 
 tears. No infant on the bosom of a mother ever ex 
 perienced a more soothing comfort. " Emily," began 
 the Earl, in a low tone of intense paternal affection, 
 " Heaven, for a few moments, has restored my strength 
 
LORD ARLINGTON'S DEATH. 133 
 
 that I may support you in your suffering, and give you 
 the sympathy of a father." 
 
 "Oh, papa, papa," she burst forth in her overflow 
 ing anguish, "my heart is breaking, breaking, break 
 ing." 
 
 "I know the cause," said the Earl. "No time 
 need be spent in explanations. While lying here with 
 closed eyes and seemingly insensible, my mind has 
 been always on the wing. I have heard your con 
 versations, and become acquainted with the trials of 
 your situation. I comprehend your sorrows from my 
 own." 
 
 "Oh, can this be true ?" she cried out with increased 
 emotion. " Oh, that I could have known it ! I might 
 have then poured my griefs into your ear." 
 
 " No," replied the Earl, "this could not have been. 
 I could have made no response, and would have been 
 oppressed with the feeling of my imbecility. My 
 peace would have been disturbed, and my bright visions 
 clouded. This is the hour for an interview predestined 
 by Heaven." 
 
 "Why, oh, why," exclaimed Mrs. Neville, "have we 
 been afflicted by the vengeance of some remorseless 
 power who sports with our sufferings ! " 
 
 " Hush, hush, my daughter," said the Earl, tenderly 
 and solemnly, but reprovingly. "All is ordered in 
 eternal light and love, and in a way far above our 
 poor earthly wisdom. Was I an arrogant man, 
 Emily?" 
 
 Mrs. Neville was astonished at such a question from 
 
KIXGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 a father who had in his family been signally esteemed 
 for his modesty, his urbanity and his benevolence. 
 
 "Oh, no. 110, papa," she responded impetuously. 
 " How could you ask such a question ? ~ 
 
 * Because," he said, ** I have seen myself in a new 
 light. On this bed I have read the secrets of my 
 soul Was I not the Earl of Arlington ; the descend 
 ant of Saxon and Xorman nobles ; the lord of a vast 
 estate ; a leader in Parliament ; a counsellor <>f sover 
 eigns : starred and gartered and ribbonded with honors? 
 Unconsciously and insensibly, in such a state, man feels 
 he is not a common mortaL Here I have learned 
 that L, too, am dust. Yes ! I am only the brother- 
 worm of millions, I have been reduced to the level 
 of my humanity, and now, before men and before God, 
 I esteem myself as I am a mortal in his own proper 
 personality. All the paltry distinctions of life seem 
 as nothing compared with its eternal interests and rela 
 tions. The silent lesson has been terrible. But it 
 has been learned. The bitterness is over, and the cup 
 exhausted, I now live only to strengthen you for a 
 similar experience.^ 
 
 'Oh. my father," she cried, "I, too, have been 
 passing down, down, down, amid the thorns and rocks 
 of this dreadful abyss of our humanity. Kor have I, 
 as you, yet reached its depths. Rank, wealth, beauty, 
 fashion, leisure, servants, luxuries, all that gave charm 
 and grace to my life, went down with my Oscar into 
 the ocean, and I am left in this new and strange land 
 to feel that I am alone and myself. I am surrounded 
 
LORD ARLINGTON'S DEATH. 137 
 
 by all that is hard, uncouth, vulgar and repulsive, and 
 possibly by fraud and villainy. Yet I believe that I 
 will emerge from the midnight of this deep with 
 gifts better than station can bestow." 
 
 Mrs. Neville grasped again the hand of her father, 
 and fell over him as in a spasm of agony. 
 
 " Go forward," resumed the Earl, imprinting a long 
 kiss on her forehead. "Go forward, my daughter, in 
 the path of trial you are still to tread. Only such 
 suffering can melt the ice of your soul, and bring 
 you into sympathy with our humanity, and fit you 
 for your future work in the world." 
 
 "I see it all," she cried; "all, all, and I accept it 
 all." 
 
 A halo now seemed encircling the brow of the Earl. 
 His face shone in the light of more than a terrestrial 
 glory. The very room was illuminated. His voice 
 resembled the music of heaven, as he said : 
 
 "I have not only seen the vanity of earth, but also 
 the celestial brightness. The veil has been lifted. On 
 the throne of the universe I beheld the form of the 
 Ineffable. Around His human person was the glory 
 of His Divinity. Cherubim and Seraphim were there 
 with innumerable men in angelic shapes. Oh, the 
 light, the song, the beauty, the everlasting beatitude ! 
 I faint, I fail ; my work is almost over." 
 
 "Oh, father!" exclaimed Mrs. Neville, reflecting his 
 countenance in her own, "I feel a tranquillity unknown 
 before. Help will come in my last extremity, and I 
 will conquer." 
 
138 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "The false glitter shall be taken out of thy life, 
 my daughter," whispered the Earl feebly, "and the 
 everlasting gold shall be thy inheritance. Call my 
 Lucy." 
 
 She was near. Lucy, too, had heard the voice of 
 her grandfather, but, finding her mother already con 
 versing at his side, stood in the passage listening to 
 all that had been said. She now flung herself on his 
 breast and found comfort in her tears. How beautiful 
 the spectacle of this fair girl, weeping on the heart of 
 the old dying Earl ! Summoning his last remaining 
 strength, while his face was irradiated with the celes 
 tial light, he said to her : 
 
 "My power is almost gone. It was given me for 
 your mother and yourself. Remember what you have 
 already heard. Your trials will soon be over and 
 bring you good in the end. My only advice is : Trust 
 your Saviour and marry your deliverer!" 
 
 The Earl's life was nearly over. One more burst of 
 the flame and its light on earth is out forever ! 
 Raising himself with an inexpressible majesty, he said, 
 with a dignity august and almost superhuman : 
 
 " It would not be fit that I should be buried in a 
 strange land. An Earl of Arlington should sleep in 
 the soil of England. Embalm my body and carry me 
 to my dear native country. Farewell ! I leave you 
 for Paradise ! " 
 
 As he spoke, his eyes closed and he fell back on his 
 bed. His noble features were illuminated by a ray 
 from the glory of the setting sun, which turned to 
 
LORD ARLINGTON'S DEATH. 
 
 139 
 
 gold his venerable hair, seemed on his forehead a 
 saintly halo, and transfigured his countenance into a 
 celestial beauty. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 JUDGE LIVINGSTONE'S STUDY. 
 
 HAT more comfortable than a warm 
 bright study in a chill November 
 evening ! Cheerful lights ; a 
 sparkling fire ; rows of com 
 panionable books, lounge, desk, 
 afghan, and all the little or 
 naments suggesting that woman's taste 
 and woman's love have been there to relieve 
 the bald monotonous masculinity ! Add the 
 persons of the ladies sitting at the hour of 
 coffee after dinner with needles, and the 
 blue and crimson and gold of embroidery, 
 and the tone of affection, and the smiles from 
 satisfied hearts, and the face of beauty, while gentle 
 smoke curls upward and hangs in almost a conscious 
 canopy over the scene, and gentlemen in caps and 
 gowns and slippers, and all the allowable privileges 
 of their own domain, puff so leisurely and enjoyingly, 
 and the story, and the song, and the repartee, and 
 the merry laugh, give token that the aroma of domestic 
 life is in that literary centre of the dwelling toward 
 which all gravitate with such a magnetic influence. 
 Take a vote as to what is the most attractive 
 
"What more comfortable than a warm bright study in a chill November 
 evening." Page 142. 
 
JUDGE LIVINGSTONE'S STUDY. 143 
 
 room in the house, and the white balls will say 
 STUDY. So thought the Livingstones, father and mother 
 and son and daughter, as they realized in its ideal 
 the picture I have described. 
 
 "Well, Frank," began the Judge, "you have fought 
 dragons, and windmills, and had adventures enough 
 by land and by sea to satisfy any ordinary errant in 
 his chase after beauty. Yet you seem far as ever 
 from the rescue. I suppose you now feel like taking 
 off your armor, hanging up your sword, helm and 
 votive shield, and abandoning the chivalric pursuit for 
 the business of your office and the society of your 
 clients." 
 
 " Sir, you may laugh at me, and I deserve it," said 
 Frank, with a tone and air of determination; "but the 
 further I go the more I am resolved. I must move 
 forward. Having advanced thus far, I must proceed 
 to success, or lose all I have accomplished. Besides, 
 he who stops short of his purpose, not only misses his 
 object, but injures* his character. More than ever, 
 * CONQUER' is my motto." 
 
 "I am glad to hear this, my son, and commend 
 your persistence. You will find in our city and over 
 our country the wrecks of old and wealthy families, 
 who have lost everything through sensitiveness, indo 
 lence and irresolution, while the bold and the bad 
 have mounted on their ruins to fortune. In this 
 republic, if not everywhere, manhood must stand on 
 itself, and not on the accidents of birth and estate. 
 Primogeniture here should be no guard to wealth, and 
 
144 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 only those who acquire by activity should long hold 
 fortunes in their grasp. 
 
 " Your courage is a pledge that we may yet found 
 in our Republic an order of merit, which will sup 
 plant or overshadow our mere monied snobbery. But I 
 must not be carried away by my favorite topic. 
 We will address ourselves to business. While the 
 ladies work and listen we will discuss the situation. 
 And first, what about Villont ? " 
 
 "All you suggested, sir, has so far proved true. 
 Our detectives have reported that Slykes often inquires 
 at his up town office, and has been seen at least once 
 in his down town room." 
 
 "Ha!" said the Judge, looking up with a gleam 
 of hope and intelligence, "that is an important fact 
 and may lead to results. Proceed ! " 
 
 " I have also ascertained that a small boy, supposed 
 to be Midge, Villont's reputed son, has repeatedly 
 brought to the post-office letters for England, and taken 
 away letters from England. The delivery clerk, how 
 ever, is not perfectly certain of the person of the lad, 
 and could not give satisfactory proof in court." 
 
 "Still," responded the Judge, musingly but encour 
 agingly, "small straws become sure signs when they 
 all blow in the same direction. I have the dawn of 
 a theory which will soon be clear of mists. Every 
 thing yet known points forward to the same persons 
 dimly yet harmonizingly. Did you ask for the lists 
 of the English letters for the last few months ? " 
 
 " I have, sir, and, with the utmost care, I have 
 
JUDGE LIVINGSTONE'S STUDY. 145 
 
 found that they included the name of EDWARD ARLING 
 TON, and the clerk also has a confused recollection 
 that his was the address for which the little boy in 
 quired. I forgot to say that the boy looked like an 
 Italian, which answers to Midge." 
 
 The Judge had visibly started while his son spoke. 
 He placed his hand on the side of his forehead in 
 deep thought. A sudden light broke over his face, as 
 if some buried memory had been evoked from its 
 darkness. At last he inquired eagerly : 
 
 " Have you the old book containing the names of 
 the INTER OCEANIC stockholders used in our suits against 
 the corporation ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir; I kept it as a memento of your legal 
 
 > 
 
 life you might value on the bench and after your 
 retirement. I placed it myself on the top shelf in the 
 northern corner of your library. There it is now ! I 
 can tell it by its large size and great gilded letters." 
 
 Frank instantly seized the library steps, mounted 
 them, reached toward the volume, grasped it, blew 
 away the dust, leaped down, and, placing it on the 
 table, turned to a page near the beginning, and* 
 hastily glancing his eye over the lists, exclaimed : 
 
 "Here, here is something of importance ! You 
 have directed me to another link in this chain of testi 
 mony. I find the name of Lord Arlington, and 
 opposite, five thousand shares for the benefit of Mrs. 
 Emily Neville." 
 
 " I have it," said the judge quickly ; " at least, I 
 think I have it all. But I must not be as eager as 
 
146 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 you were in your Chicago chase. An old lawyer 
 never runs where he ought to walk. Edward, as I 
 now remember, is the christened name of Lord 
 Arlington. I have heard of his majestic appearance 
 and resemblance to Washington, and also of the beauty 
 of his daughter and granddaughter, and of the splendid 
 face and form of his son-in-law, Colonel Oscar Neville. 
 It is flashing through me like sunlight that this is the 
 party you saw on the Britannia. Most probably the 
 Earl is traveling under his real name Edward 
 Arlington and that the correspondence of the party is 
 under that name. Moreover, I suspect that these 
 INTER OCEANIC rascals have discovered these facts, and 
 sought the plunder of their rich English stockholders. 
 It was Colonel Neville who was hurled into the ocean, 
 and his death and the Earl's age have facilitated their 
 infamous scheme. I will not affirm that my theory is 
 yet proved by the facts, but I believe that it will yet 
 be proved by the facts." 
 
 Frank burst forth with a cry of joyful relief. The 
 evidence was not indeed sufficient to establish the 
 supposition. It was, however, a solution of almost 
 every difficulty of the dark problem, and seemed to 
 pour around him a clear and fresh light. He said : 
 " I have 4 sometimes had a glimmer of this truth, 
 but it has been reserved for your wisdom to discover 
 and suggest it. This, I feel, is the clew to this 
 mystery." 
 
 "Do not be too rapid," replied the cautious Judge. 
 "Kemember Chicago and St. Louis ! To the legal 
 
JUDGE LIVINGSTONE'S STUDY. 147 
 
 certainty of the result is yet a long journey. Villont 
 is at present the key to the situation. The old villain 
 knows everything." 
 
 While this conversation was progressing, the ladies 
 listened with the most eager interest. You could 
 measure the intensity of their minds by the speed of 
 their flying fingers, as their needles glanced and glit 
 tered in the light, and the beautiful flowers grew in 
 size and color under each magic feminine touch. 
 Occasionally they exchanged glances, and whispered 
 words, diffusing over the serenity of the legal scrutiny 
 the sweet light of the affections. After a few minutes, 
 of silence Frank resumed : 
 
 "In one particular, I fear that I have gone too fast 
 and too far. I hate the meanness of the spy, and yet 
 my anxiety may have betrayed me into what I have 
 despised from my youth. Suspecting Villont and 
 Slykes, I employed an old client of ours, now on the 
 police force, to hire an apartment next to the French, 
 scoundrel, to pierce his wall and watch his movements. 
 When I receive a telegram I am to proceed to the 
 place myself." 
 
 "Excellent," said the Judge, "by all means! Were 
 your end unworthy, the act would be contemptible. 
 You are only employing an officer of the law to do 
 the work of the law in unearthing villains. I commend 
 your foresight, and believe it will promote our success." 
 
 While the Judge spoke, a servant entered with a 
 telegram for Frank. Opening and reading it hastily, 
 he exclaimed : 
 
148 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "Here is my summons. I have been expecting it 
 and must leave instantly. Excuse me ; I will report 
 soon." 
 
 He passed into the hall, snatched his cap and over 
 coat, and threw himself into a waiting vehicle. The 
 cab flew down the streets, the horse striking sparks 
 from the stones, and was driven furiously until within 
 three blocks of Villont's dwelling, where Frank emerged, 
 and, walking cautiously along under the shadows of the 
 bouses, soon arrived where Villont lived and plotted. 
 He found the officer at his post, watching through the 
 hole. He himself applied his eye. The spectacle was 
 not soon to be forgotten. 
 
 The room was a carpetless den, dim with dust, and 
 festooned with cobwebs. A single lamp gave a ghastly 
 light. The day in that sombre place seldom heard the 
 buzz of the companionable fly, and the night was a 
 stranger to the chirp of the cheerful and domestic cricket. 
 There the spider had his congenial haunt, and, like the 
 owner, wove for himself his webs of plunder and death. 
 Had entrance been possible, you would have found there 
 the evening bat and the solitary owl, while the wolf, 
 the lynx and the hyena would have been fitter guard 
 ians than the faithful and affectionate dog. 
 
 All around the apartment were recesses of iron like 
 huge pigeon-holes, in which were placed boxes of iron 
 within boxes of iron, and these protected by bolts of 
 iron. Iron, iron, iron everywhere to guard the miser's 
 gold. Each interior box held the treasure, which was 
 in bright American eagles. From twilight to midnight, 
 
JUDGE LIVINGSTONE'S STUDY. 149 
 
 the hoarded sums were counted with gloating eye and 
 eager finger by Villont. This was the recreation of his 
 strange life. Into the empty boxes he dropped the 
 earnings of the day, and counted the full boxes, until 
 the midnight stroke of twelve summoned to his wretched 
 bed. For him this was intenser joy than was afforded 
 to others by club, or theatre, or opera, or lecture, or 
 all the glitter and luxury, and companionship so 
 attractive to our humanity. 
 
 Villont had secured his den by other defences 
 besides bolts and bars. Let the robber enter; a touch, 
 a click, and the miser's secret exploding machines will 
 have blown the intruder to fragments. See how cau 
 tiously he moves about his own apartment ! He fears 
 his own weapons of protection. A spring carelessly 
 touched may kill him among his treasures. 
 
 Villont sat in the midst of his den. On a small 
 table was a package of copied letters. Gold could 
 scarcely have given him greater satisfaction. He looked 
 at them, tapped them, took them fondlingly, and said 
 in tones of hate and with a look of grim joy : 
 
 " Sleekes, Sammie, Sammie Sleekes ! Villont's day 
 is coming ! He'll pay your impudence in von prison- 
 jacket, in de nice locksteps, in von leetle pleasant 
 black cell. Dese letters be your von big ruin : your 
 huge destruction. Sammie deveel Sleekes, von dyna 
 mite to blow into leetle beets your Sat-tan's Railway ! " 
 
 The wretch arose, and danced around his treasure 
 with the antic glee of a Satyr anticipating his fresh 
 feast of blood. 
 
150 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 There was a slight sound without the door. Villont 
 started, and, seizing the package, thrust it into the 
 pocket of his gown. Slykes entered. By some mystery 
 of neglectfulness the door had been left ajar. An 
 enemy was there to take advantage of the oversight. 
 Slykes was always on the watch, and, with the genius 
 of a juggler, improved his opportunities. Putting his 
 hands into his pockets, drawing up his small person, 
 and speaking in his shrillest twang, he said, with 
 elevated brows and cool impudence : 
 
 " Good evenin', money chest ! Among them Ameri 
 can eagles, sure as a spider among dead flies ! Piles 
 of gold in your den, my old dollar snatcher." 
 
 Villont stared at his tormentor with the leer and 
 grin of a horrible hate. Had he dared, he would have 
 struck him dead. 
 
 " Dis von appartemon be mine, sare ! Veel you 
 please leave it, sare ?" 
 
 " Not a bit of it, old wrinkles; not a bit of it ! as 
 we say when a biler busts and we can't find the pieces. 
 No ! my man-screw ; Sam Slykes is here for business 
 will leave when he gets what he comes for." 
 
 "Vat's dat you come for, sare! Tell me dat and 
 begone ! " 
 
 " Come for," said Slykes, with a survey of the most 
 provoking coolness; "come for! Something you'll stick 
 to like a forty-ton locomotive to a new, straight track ! 
 Something you like better than a money-box, or your 
 own benevolent heart, or even your friend and bene 
 factor, Sam Slykes." 
 
JUDGE LIVINGSTONE'S STUDY. 151 
 
 " Well, sare, vat dat ting is you deseere ? Tell me 
 now and I will give it, if posseebel, and see you never 
 here once again ! 
 
 "See them letter-copies sticking out of the pocket 
 of your gown, like sleepin' car-pillows airin' at the win 
 dows ! I want them," screamed Slykes, "and I'll have 
 them. I'll stick to you like boiler-crust, my venerable 
 boy ! Shut your door ! Sam Slykes will open it ! Draw 
 your bolt ! Sam Slykes will pull it back ! Hide in a 
 money-box ! Sam Slykes will drag you out and your 
 eagles with you ! Touch that key and Sam Slykes will 
 teach you that a bullet flies quicker than rusty iron ! " 
 
 Noticing Villont moving to snatch a huge key on the 
 table as a weapon for attack, Slykes quickly drew and 
 cocked his revolver, and pointed it at his enraged but 
 defenceless victim, who screamed out in his despair : 
 
 "Now, sare, at once let me know your leetle bees- 
 ness, and I'll obleege you if in my abilitie." 
 
 " Out, then, with the copies of those English letters 
 out with them now, my gold-bag ; out with them from 
 the pocket of that gown ; out with them, old true soul, 
 or Sam Slykes will hang your head above your heels, 
 invite the crows to your flesh, make one-half your 
 eagles fly into Uncle Sam's pocket, and the other half 
 come screamin' for joy into the pocket of Sam Slykes, 
 as sure as steam whizzes through an open throttle- 
 valve." 
 
 Villont saw that there was to be no end to this. 
 While Slykes lived he was to be a victim a miserable 
 .slave down to a miserable grave. His rage was that 
 
152 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 of a demon in despair. Seizing quickly the key he 
 flung it at his foe, and, missing him, closed in a last 
 fatal struggle. By a sudden nervous and powerful 
 effort Slykes hurled him on the opposite side of the 
 room. A flash, a report ; the head of Villont is 
 exploded into pieces. He had fallen on one of his own 
 secret springs. Smoke filled the apartment. The blood 
 and the brains were scattered round on his own money- 
 chests, and there he lay, a poor, mangled, ghastly, 
 frightful human ruin ! Slykes rushed through the door, 
 taking the precaution to close it, and fled down the 
 stairs, and along the street in an agony fierce as that 
 with which he had ever shaken his mutilated victim 
 an agony, not of remorse, but of terror. 
 
 Frank Livingstone stood for a moment aghast. 
 Recovering himself, he and the officer proceeded to the 
 fatal spot. The door was forced open, and they 
 entered. A thick smoke, the red glare of the lamp, 
 and the torn and bloody head of Villont made a sick 
 ening spectacle. But the claims of duty were first. 
 The officer took possession of the body, and removing 
 the letters from the pocket of Villont, gave them to 
 Livingstone, who thus had what Slykes so eagerly 
 coveted, and so brutally demanded. He at once 
 returned to his waiting cab, and was driven rapidly 
 home. Under other circumstances he would have 
 entered the house with the joy of triumph, and col 
 lected the family, and held aloft his prize, and made 
 the hour memorable- by the exultations of his victory. 
 But he passed into the study awed and soleminized 
 
JUDGE LIVINGSTONE'S STUDY. 153 
 
 by what he had seen and heard. In a few brief 
 words, he narrated to his father what had happened 
 and placed before him on the table the package of the 
 copied letters. 
 
 There it was at last. They saw it ; they touched 
 it ; they opened it ; they read its contents. Yes ! 
 there it was ! Time, money, toil, peril, had been 
 required to secure it. But there it was ! A clew to 
 the mystery ! A proof of all they had feared and sus 
 pected ! 
 
 All was now revealed. The letters were examined 
 so far as circumstances made it necessary, collected 
 and arranged according to their dates. Evidently they 
 were exact letterpress copies. The earliest, so far 
 as they permitted themselves to peruse, they discovered 
 to be mere letters of news and of affection. Expres 
 sions of surprise on both sides succeeded at the long 
 mutual silence. Astonishment and bewilderment -grew 
 as time advanced. Then came requests for money 
 and remittances of money. 
 
 Finally there was disappointment, and that despair 
 of results which had evidently closed the painful corres 
 pondence. 
 
 After sufficiently mastering and noting the contents 
 of the package, Frank raised his head and said to 
 his father. 
 
 " I suppose, sir, tnat we are now ready to arrest 
 Risk, Planning and Slykes." 
 
 "I am not certain of that," replied the prudent 
 Judge. 
 
154 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "You surprise me," said his son; " it seems to me 
 that the proofs are complete, and that we incur risks 
 by delay." 
 
 "I will give you my reasons/' answered the Judge, 
 after some minutes of deep reflection. "My first 
 objection might have been expected from you. Our time 
 should be occupied in discovering and relieving the 
 ladies. When they are found, the case will be far 
 more complete. It has now assumed a national 
 importance. We are about to enter into a struggle with 
 a vast corporation, which will fight with all the energy 
 of despair. Remember, too, that these are mere copies, 
 and that Villont is not here to connect them with the 
 officers of the Railway. Should Midge be recovered, 
 he is too young to have much influence with a jury. 
 You must use all your energies to recover the origin 
 als, which, doubtless, are in the safe at the rooms of 
 the INTER OCEANIC Depot. We are now masters of the 
 situation, and can afford to wait and work. Our com 
 plete success seems certain/' 
 
 Frank was convinced by his father's reasons. At 
 the bottom of the package was a paper which, not 
 being a letter, had not yet been examined. It proved 
 to be the last will and testament of Villont, bequeath 
 ing his entire property to his son Midgetto, who, at 
 his majority, would thus have an estate worth one 
 hundred thousand dollars. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SAM SLYKES' COURTSHIP. 
 
 ITTING by her mother's side, in their 
 plain little parlor, Lucy Neville said, 
 " I wish to speak to you on a subject 
 painful to us both." 
 
 " Do not hesitate, my daughter. 
 Tell me all that is in your mind and 
 heart. We must have no reserves between 
 us in our present trying circumstances. I 
 ,> have been so busy with your grandpapa, 
 and so unhappy and perplexed that I have 
 not been able to converse with you as 
 much as I desired." 
 "I never told," said Lucy, "how much I suffered 
 when your jewels were sold, and, above all, our beau 
 tiful dresses, and when I put on what I am now 
 wearing." 
 
 "You did not, my dear; nor was it necessary. I 
 understand my Lucy's sufferings by the keen intensity 
 of my own." 
 
 "Oh, mamma, I thought my life was going out of 
 me, and that I was bidding adieu to all that was 
 lovely forever. In my present clothing, and in this 
 ugly place, and amid these people, I no more feel like 
 
156 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Lucy Neville ; and yet," she added, with a look of 
 strength and lofty determination, "I am Lucy Neville, 
 and I will be Lucy Neville. But it is dreadful, dread 
 ful, dreadful!" 
 
 " My Lucy, only those who have been in such a 
 furnace can realize how fierce and terrible the flames. 
 They scorch through the flesh into the very soul. 
 Take from our kings and nobles the tokens of 
 their birth, their titles, their estates and all the outward 
 splendors of their rank and power, and they little 
 know how soon in their feelings they would be reduced 
 to the level of our ordinary humanity. Only those 
 who go down from the brilliance above into the dark 
 ening abyss can know the agonies of the pas 
 sage. When we remember their changeful histories, 
 monarchs, as a class, will not be envied. How many 
 palaces of Europe are the monuments of their sor 
 rows ! Alas ! I fear, more will be ! " 
 
 " At first," resumed Lucy, "I thought my Arlington 
 and Neville blood would be superior to everything. My 
 spirit seemed a flame of fire, and I did not let you see 
 how it blazed within me. My resolution was fixed 
 never to be vulgarized. However, I soon found that 
 vulgar people and vulgar associations were producing 
 their effect, and that I must sink down to the vulgar 
 level around me. Do you know what stopped me in 
 my descent, mamma ? " 
 
 " Tell me your secret, my daughter ; for, alas ! I, 
 who should be your guide and your help, feel myself 
 surely plunging down into the hateful, hateful chasm." 
 
SAM SLYKES' COURTSHIP. 157 
 
 " Well, mamma, I found aid where I did not expect 
 it. There was something in the dying words and 
 majestic look of dear grandpapa that seemed to inspire 
 and transform me. Light shone around me as from 
 another world, and the splendors from his face illum 
 inated my very dreams. I feel in me now a strength 
 that can conquer everything, and, like an eagle, soar 
 above the cloud and tempest." 
 
 " Oh, my daughter!" exclaimed Mrs. Neville, "that 
 I had your simple and beautiful trust ! I feel sinking, 
 sinking ; still and ever sinking. My Arlington spirit 
 has not been equal to the battle. I thought my family 
 pride invincible. Alas ! alas ! I am like a broken ship, 
 drifting before wind and wave. Yet ! oh yet, at the 
 last, I shall be recovered, and resemble the strong 
 vessel, under steam and sail, dashing aside the billows, 
 and defying the storms while rushing gallantly onward 
 to her harbor." 
 
 Mrs. Neville sank back on the sofa and relieved 
 herself by tears. When her paroxysm had subsided, 
 Lucy resumed : 
 
 " In your present distress, mamma, I hesitate to 
 speak to you, and yet there is something pressing 
 heavily on my mind. May I venture my advice ? " 
 
 "Certainly, Lucy, certainly. Our present circum 
 stances demand mutual confidences. Speak fully and 
 freely." 
 
 "I feel strongly, dear mamma, that we should break 
 away from all future associations with Mr. Risk, Plan 
 ning, and that odious Slykes. While we were such 
 
158 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 strangers, and grandpapa was so ill and helpless, it 
 seemed necessary, but now we ought to take care of 
 ourselves, and as that is the right thing we will be 
 sustained in doing it." 
 
 The noble girl, as she spoke, unclasped her arms 
 from the neck of her mother, and stood before her the 
 impersonation of all that is lovely in young female 
 beauty. She seemed radiant as she Uttered her plea. 
 There was something grander than the Arlington in 
 her. It was a ray from the glory of the celestial 
 light illuminating her womanhood. 
 
 "How can we work ?" replied Mrs. Neville, plaintively, 
 and with an expression of disgust. " I cannot do it, 
 and you cannot do it. We do not know how. It is 
 absurd. Oh, I seem abandoned by earth and by 
 Heaven ! Although we have so many friends abroad, 
 here we may be a prey to enemies. My heart is be 
 coming iron ; I weep, but my tears are as drops of hail ; 
 I pray, but my words vanish into air; I look upward, 
 but soon turn my face downward to the darkness of 
 inevitable despair." 
 
 "O, mamma, do not yield thus," cried Lucy, with 
 an heroic energy. "I cannot sink my spirit. Some 
 thing in me .is immortal and unconquerable. I am 
 determined to act for myself, and break away from 
 these men whom I sometimes fear to be bad and 
 treacherous, and the real cause of our ruin ; I shrink 
 from them ; yes, shrink from them as I could not 
 from honest vulgarity." 
 
 "Be careful, my daughter; I beseech you, be care- 
 
SAM SLYKES' COURTSHIP. 159 
 
 ful;" said Mrs. Neville, in alarm. "Your independence 
 may be a mere sentiment and fail in its efforts, so 
 as to make our situation more terrible than ever. 
 What shall I do! Oh, what shall I do!" she burst 
 out with passionate energy, and wringing her hands, as 
 if in despair. 
 
 " No, mamma," said Lucy, with increased fervor 
 and resolution ;" the time for such cautious fears has 
 passed. I feel that if I am bold I will be strong. 
 The performance of my duty will bring with it more 
 courage. Some divine power, some invisible force is 
 leading me onward. At once and for ever I will dis 
 miss Mr. Slykes, and oh, permit me to say it, you are 
 on a precipice. Dark waters are below. Oh ! I pray 
 you, I pray you, do not permit Mr. Risk to continue 
 his attentions. I feel that he may plunge us over the 
 brink into a sea of miseries. Let us make ourselves 
 free and trust to our Father in Heaven." 
 
 As the young girl uttered these noble words, she 
 looked upward, and stood before her mother with 
 clasped hands and eyes full of light and beauty. Her 
 face shone with an almost heavenly expression, and 
 her lips were closed with the might of a conquering 
 will. The spirit of independence transfused her soul 
 and her body. The contrast was singular. Mrs. 
 Neville's black eyes had naturally all the Arlington 
 fire. Thoroughly feminine in person and character, 
 she had yet an unconscious arrogance in her bearing, 
 while Lucy, delicate, fragile, and sometimes even pen 
 sive and unusually retiring, would never have suggested 
 
160 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 the superior power of character she was now evincing. 
 She, in the bloom of her beautiful youth, rose to the 
 situation her mother, in the maturity of her woman 
 hood, sank below it. The one resembled the fair 
 plant bending up against the storm, and the other 
 the trembling tree yielding to the might of the 
 tempest. 
 
 Lucy was to be tried sooner than she supposed. 
 Such strength never fails to find its test. Looking 
 out of the window Miss Neville saw Mr. Slykes on the 
 steps. She read his purpose in his look, and his 
 attire, and formed her plans accordingly. As poverty 
 had dismissed their waitress, she answered the ring 
 herself, and opened the door with her own hand, and 
 then, extending it, said, with a frank but dignified 
 cordiality, 
 
 " Good-morning, Mr. Slykes. Will you not come in? 
 We will be pleased to have you in the parlor." 
 
 " Good-mornin', Miss Neville ; that's what I'm here 
 for," responded the encouraged and delighted gentle 
 man. 
 
 He entered the hall and passed into the parlor, which 
 Mrs. Neville had abandoned in disgust and alarm, 
 while the daughter, excusing herself for a moment, 
 left the aspiring widower alone. 
 
 Sam Slykes was at his best, and more particularly 
 than ever Sam Slykes. His necktie was particularly 
 blazing ; his ruby was particularly red ; his diamond 
 was particularly flashing ; his foxhead was particularly 
 sly and sharp ; his clothes were particularly stylish, 
 
SAM SLYKES' COURTSHIP. 1G1 
 
 and his face, look and manner particularly Slykey, 
 vulgar and repulsive. . He stands before the glass, 
 brushing first his thin moustache and then his slight 
 beard. See ! he now slicks his recently dyed hair, and 
 gazes at his mirrored image in complacent triumph, 
 and then nods and talks to it in low whispered and 
 approving words : 
 
 ' * Spry and smart you look, my boy brass bright 
 as a new locomotive ! Now's your chance my hand 
 some widerer ! Stocks down ! Money gone ! House 
 mortgaged ! INTER OCEANIC on a bust generally ! Marry 
 the gal, and the things t'other way, like a reversed 
 train backin' away from a broken bridge and runnin' 
 for life. Marry the gal ! Lord Clare's dead and Mrs. 
 Neville's next heir. Estates large ; family big ; genuine 
 aristoc ! So marry the gal ! Will be like a parlor 
 coach in a passenger train. Ha ! may be Samuel 
 Slykes, Esq. ! Sir Samuel Slykes ! Lord Slykes ! Markiss 
 Slykes ! Earl Slykes ! Duke Slykes ! Therefore, marry 
 the gal ! Among the big bugs of old England, and 
 Sam Slykes the biggest bug in the pile ! " 
 
 While Slykes stood before the mirror talking thus 
 admiringly and encouragingly to his own responsive 
 image, which answered with looks equally inspiring 
 &nd approving, Miss Neville entered and stood enjoy 
 ing the conversation, which, however, she imagined 
 rather than heard. When that gentleman turned from 
 the glass, he confronted her without the least embar 
 rassment, expecting that she would be as much pleased 
 with him ,as he was pleased with himself. 
 
162 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Laughing, she said : "I am glad to find you in 
 such pleasant company, Mr. Slykes. While alone, 
 you are yet not alone. You are evidently enjoying 
 the conversation with that charming person, and, 
 doubtless prefer his society to my own. Pardon 
 me ; shall I retire, and leave you in your admira 
 tion?" 
 
 "No, Miss Neville, no," said the unabashed Slykes ; 
 "my business is with you, entirely with you. I 
 didn't come to talk to a lookin'-glass." 
 
 "Yet, Mr. Slykes, you seemed remarkably happy in 
 what the looking-glass was saying to you, and to enjoy 
 every look and smile of your inimitable friend." 
 
 " Seemed, only seemed. Miss Neville ! All right, but 
 a little sad ; sorter down lonely, like, you understand." 
 
 "A young girl like myself, Mr. Slykes, far from 
 home, having lost her father at sea, and witnessed so 
 recently her grandfather's death, with a widowed 
 mother, among strangers, and brought, as you know, 
 from affluence to poverty, can certainly comprehend 
 something of the word lonely" 
 
 "Glad to hear you talk this way, Miss Neville. It 
 will bring our hearts together like a cross-tie. You 
 know that I am a widerer?" 
 
 "That is a fact in your history, Mr. Slykes, I must 
 say I have never learned. I have no doubt the late 
 Mrs. Slykes was a worthy woman." 
 
 "A lady, Miss Neville, a lady nice as a drawin'- 
 room-car-chair afore the picters get wore off, and 
 blessin' all sittin' on it, and I'll tell you how I got 
 
SAM. SLYKES' COURTSHIP. 163 
 
 her. She was Mrs. Slimsy lost her husband I helped 
 her put flowers on his grave and she found another over 
 his slumberin' bones found me, Miss Neville. Yes ; she 
 was pious ; always goin' to church and feedin' the 
 poor, as a full tender feeds a workin' engine. But 
 she's gone, and this world to Sam Slykes is a smokin' 
 tunnel when the train's jist out." 
 
 "I most sincerely compassionate your misfortunes, 
 Mr. Slykes, and only wish my ability to assist you 
 equalled my sympathy with your situation." 
 
 "But, Miss Neville, you can help me, and make this 
 breakin' heart smart as a new engine." 
 
 "I cannot even imagine, Mr. Slykes, how a poor, 
 friendless girl like myself can do anything toward 
 mending such broken machinery." 
 
 " You can, Miss Neville ; indeed, you can," said 
 Slykes, tenderly and emphatically, drawing near the 
 beautiful girl as she moved further away in her rising 
 disgust. She, however, was devoid of fear, and 
 resolved so to play her part that the repulsive absurd 
 ity should never be repeated. Slykes would have 
 seized her delicate hand, but even his assurance per 
 ceived the time had not yet arrived for so affectionate 
 a demonstration. He was perfectly certain it would 
 come. 
 
 "Miss Neville," he resumed, with a forced tender 
 ness in his tone, and whining into her face his manu 
 factured grief ; " I said I was a smokin' tunnel when 
 the train's jist out. The figger is not strong enough. 
 You have fine locomotives at home ! So I have heard 
 
164 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 from Lyman and Coolie. Good as ours in America ? " 
 continued Slykes, becoming softer in his tone. 
 
 "None, sir, better in the world than those in India 
 and in England. They've rushed me many times like 
 lightning along the Thames and the Ganges." 
 
 "Splendid sight," exclaimed Slykes, rising with dila 
 ted eye and brightening face, as if seeing what he 
 described. " Splendid sight is a locomotive, under full 
 steam, flyin' over plains, windin' up mountains, dashin' 
 through tunnels, flashin' across bridges, and a blowin' 
 and a yellin' and a snortin' like an Arab steed, with 
 his breath smoke, his eye fire, and his step thunder 
 and lightning; rushing through the country and excitin' 
 all about, and makin' the very dogs run after it 
 barkin' mad." 
 
 " A most vivid picture, Mr. Slykes. Well done, I 
 assure you," said Lucy, laughing. 
 
 Slykes was encouraged and delighted. He was like 
 a bantum cock almost ready to crow and clap his 
 wings. While sinking his voice to its most melting 
 tones, he yet felt in his heart the glow of anticipated 
 triumph as he exclaimed with ridiculous lugubriousness: 
 "But the picter has another side, Miss Lucy! See 
 that same locomotive again after a smash up ! One 
 cylinder crushed and the t'other patched, and the 
 engine moovin' now like a man with his leg off, a 
 poor, creepin', puffin', pantin', laboring lonely thing ! " 
 Then sinking before her on his knees and placing 
 both his hands on his heart, he added : 
 
 "That's Sam Slykes, the widerer ! And he begs 
 
SAM SLYKES' COURTSHIP. 165 
 
 you, Miss Neville, on his knees, he begs you to be his 
 other cylinder through life, and he'll take you on all 
 right, faster nor you ever went along Thames or 
 Ganges." 
 
 The girl expected to be amused. She grew indignant. 
 Her blue eye shot fire as she arose above the bending 
 Slykes, and looked down on him with all the disdain 
 that could blaze and scathe from the whole race of the 
 Nevilles and the Arlingtons. 
 
 " Absurd, Mr. Slykes ; ridiculous and disgusting ; Miss 
 Neville declines to be the other cylinder with Mr. Samuel 
 Slykes in the journey of life. The proposition casts 
 suspicion on all your intentions. Sir, I now begin to 
 fear that you have caused our misfortunes to take 
 advantage of them. You are a villain, sir ; you are a 
 villain. Leave this house and never enter it again." 
 
 Having spoken these words, she left the room with 
 a look of mingled disgust and dignity. 
 
 All the hereditary pride of generations had flashed 
 and flamed into that moment, and after she retired the 
 contemptible rascal remained on his knees as if he had 
 been struck by lightning. 
 
 For the first time in his impudent existence he was 
 brought consciously down to the low level of his own 
 vulgarity. He resembled some cock of inferior blood, 
 who, intruding on the domain of his superior, has lost 
 comb, spurs and feathers in his battle, and been left 
 sprawling in wounds r and humiliation. 
 
 Slykes was still on his knees when Lyman Risk 
 entered who at once comprehended the situation. 
 
166 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "What, Sam, making love to the sofa? Ha! my 
 good fellow, does it return your affection ? Better pillow 
 your head on your bride, my boy, than kneel to her 
 in that style." 
 
 Slykes arose, at last, his natural self Sam Slykes, 
 and nothing more. 
 
 "Why, Sam," Risk resumed, as his confederate 
 slowly became himself again, "what's the matter? 
 You look like my old peacock, sneaking off after some 
 hen turkey has pecked out his tail. Your fine feathers 
 gone, at last, my modesty." 
 
 "Fact Lyman, I'm done for," he whined out; "worse 
 than when my old locomotive bust a biler, and threw 
 me on a bank, arm broke, face scalded, head bruised, 
 legs smashed, eyes bunged and in a mess generally. 
 Yes ! worse than death of Mr^. Slykes and widder- 
 ship, Lyman. Sam Slykes knocked to bits, burst to 
 flinders, nothing left but his smoke stack, and that 
 black and battered, I tell you ! " 
 
 "But what brought you here, Sam?" inquired Risk. 
 "You have not told me your errand, and I cannot 
 understand what you mean." 
 
 " I went for the gal, Lyman, and left the widder 
 for you. I was throwd into the mud, and left stick- 
 in', head down and heels up. But now's your time, 
 Lyman Risk. Be smart with the widder ! You'll be 
 Lyman Risk, Esq., Sir Lyman Risk, Baron Risk, Lord 
 
 Risk, Markiss Risk, Earl Risk, Duke Risk among the 
 
 
 
 first toads of the British puddle and bellowin' near 
 the queen frog." 
 
SAM SLYKES' COURTSHIP. 167 
 
 Having thus delivered himself, Sam Slykes 
 retired from the room, took his hat and walked 
 from the house, and in five minutes the fresh air 
 made him Sam Slykes again. The mercury of his 
 impudence was never long rising, after an unexpected 
 zero, to the extreme fever heat of his vulgar and 
 incurable assurance. Risk was not encouraged by 
 what had just happened, and yet had strong hopes of 
 success. He was playing his last card. Black Friday 
 had blown all others from his pack, and left the 
 INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY in a condition which must 
 soon be made public and bring destruction. Another 
 month would be ruin. Risk was fascinated by the 
 woman and driven onward by an energy inspired by 
 his terrible situation, while on her part she had long 
 been dependent on his services, was herself on the 
 verge of blank poverty, and shattered in nerves and 
 discouraged in soul. 
 
 Mrs. Neville entered the room, and he arose to 
 meet her. It was a crisis with them both. From 
 opposite regions of the world the currents of those 
 lives had flowed onward to this meeting point. 
 Shall they mingle for ever or shall they for ever 
 recoil and separate ? In her plain attire, Mrs. Neville 
 was still superb in her beauty, and you could scarcely 
 find in the country a physically finer looking man 
 than Lyman Risk. 
 
 The interview had been arranged to settle the 
 question of their marriage, so that there was no need 
 of explanation or circumlocution. 
 
168 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Risk sat near her, and they long conversed in sub 
 dued tones. 
 
 He did not dare to touch her hand, or even her 
 person, but he exerted on her weakened and exhausted 
 nature the secret, but potent, energy of his over 
 mastering masculinity. After talking almost an hour, 
 he said, earnestly : 
 
 " Mrs. Neville, I think we should now and forever 
 determine our course toward each other. My dis 
 traction of mind disturbs everything in my life. It is 
 a serious injury to my business ; and you, surely, in 
 your loneliness are needing my sympathy and protection." 
 
 "Alone, with no friend to consult, and no oppor 
 tunity of inquiring about yourself, having my daughter's 
 happiness to consider as well as my own, you will not 
 wonder that I am bewildered, and almost distracted. 
 I seem," she added, " like a ship tossed about by varying 
 winds and conflicting tempests, yet ever nearing some 
 fatal whirlpool." 
 
 " It is this very peculiarity of your situation that 
 is the most powerful argument which urges your 
 consent," responded Risk, with a tender and con 
 straining energy. "While you will be relieved and 
 defended, our marriage will call out in me all that is 
 best. I feel that it will make me another man. You 
 will refine me, you will elevate me, you will save 
 me." 
 
 He arose, as he spoke these words with an eloquent 
 earnestness. Mrs. Neville replied in tears : 
 
 "Mr. Risk, I am inclined to your proposal, and yet my 
 
SAM SLYKES' COURTSHIP. 169 
 
 nerves are so lacerated, and my mind so wearied by 
 misfortunes, that I am in no proper condition to decide. 
 It appears to me that we should wait until my light 
 grows clear. A mistake would be terrible. Delay 
 until my judgment recovers its serenity, and then my 
 decision will be final." 
 
 "Do not postpone your answer again," said Risk, 
 stooping imploringly towards her. " Do not, I beseech 
 you. Here is my heart ! It beats with love for you. 
 Here is my breast ! It will afford the shelter you need. 
 Here is my arm ! It will give you defense and support. 
 I will make your life bright and happy." 
 
 An assurance in his tone gave him power. They 
 stood face to face. Weeping, she exclaimed, in a 
 voice of agonizing doubt. 
 
 "What shall I do? What, what, shall I do? Will 
 not Heaven tell me what I shall do ? I am afraid to 
 accept you, and afraid to reject you. It seems to me 
 that under this cloud of doubt a promise would not be 
 best." 
 
 The struggle, however, was speedily over. A woman 
 thus expressing herself soon yields. She gave her 
 consent, reluctant and hesitating but she gave it. 
 When the word passed her lips, she would have recalled 
 it. It was sealed by no kiss. It was followed by no 
 caress. It was hallowed by no token of endearment. 
 No light was shining there. Rather all around was the 
 shadow of a dubious darkness. Risk bade her farewell, 
 relieved, not happy ; and scarcely had he left her 
 presence, when she repented what she had done, and 
 
170 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 threw herself on the sofa in an agony of bewilder 
 ment and almost of despair. Arising, she paced the 
 apartment, often sobbing and wringing her hands 
 violently. 
 
 "Yes! over me is the shadow of a terrible doubt! 
 Oh ! Oscar, am I false to thee ? Husband of my 
 youth, pity my distress ! Forgive, if I mistake ! 
 Smile down from Paradise on thy wretched owife ! She 
 is urged forward to this frightful abyss. She pauses, 
 draws back, returns, retreats, and yet lingers again 
 over the mysterious chasm ! My resources are exhausted. 
 The heavens are brass, and the earth iron, cold, cold. 
 Oh ! how, how cold ! Are these men friends or plun 
 derers ? Have their artifices walled me round to possess 
 my property, and does Risk now want my person ? 
 Oh, Poverty, thou art a strong leveller and a merci 
 less tyrant ! My Oscar, forgive me ! Oh, forgive, 
 forgive ! I see thee stand so nobly on the steamer's 
 deck ! A lurch. Heavens, thou art out on the mad 
 billows ! I hear thy cry ! I see thee sink ! Lost ! to 
 me for ever lost ! Horrible sight ! Memory, burn my 
 heart no more, or my brain will whirl in fire ! Do not 
 reproach me, Osca,r ! Remember my extremity and my 
 agony ! " 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 DR. SOLOMON AND MRS. PILKILSON. 
 
 Y dear," said Judge Livingstone 
 to his wife, "did you ever hear 
 of an elevated railway ? " 
 
 "An elevated railway!" re 
 plied the lady, " Never ! Of 
 course, it signifies a railway above the 
 ordinary level, but beyond this general 
 notion I have no conception of it what 
 ever. Will you explain it to me ? " 
 
 " Certainly," said the Judge amused at 
 her bewilderment. " I saw by the morning 
 papers, that a charter had been obtained, 
 and that it had been decided to sink iron 
 posts in some of our principal streets and avenues, to 
 lay a track supported by these, and to rush people by 
 steam through the air over the tops of houses and along 
 third-story windows, across and around our city. What 
 do you think of taking a ride, Edna ? Will you buy a 
 ticket?" 
 
 "Yes," answered Edna, laughing, "a good many 
 tickets. I shall be delighted to be so near the sky, 
 look down on mortals below and feel that I am flying 
 as fast as steam can carry me. I believe in it, papa. 
 
174 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 and all young America will agree with me. You will 
 find such a railway immensely popular." 
 
 "No doubt," replied Mrs. Livingstone, "Edna is 
 right in saying that it will have the favor and support 
 of the public. But will it not darken and obstruct our 
 streets, and deafen us with the roar and rattle of 
 wheels ? It seems to me that we will have to scream 
 when we shop ; stop our ears when we walk ; strain 
 our voices, crack our throats, and become hardened and 
 roughened by noise, rush and excitement." 
 
 "Besides," continued Edna, "I should prefer not to 
 be on a sick bed, with a train thundering by my win 
 dow and shaking the floors and walls of the house. 
 I must confess, with all my partiality for the scheme, 
 that it would be hard for weak nerves, and almost 
 insufferable for the neighborhood. But if young 
 America wants to fly, he don't care who pays for the 
 wings." 
 
 "You joke, Edna," said the Judge, seriously; "yet, 
 after all, you have touched the true objections. Such 
 an enterprise is an injustice. It will, indeed, be delight 
 ful and exhilarating to have so swift and lofty a race, 
 and feel that sense of power and superiority so agree 
 able to us Republicans. But the injury to property 
 will be enormous and beyond any possible compensa 
 tion. Every post will be planted in wrong ; every 
 train will rush over ruined rights and wrecked estates, 
 and its thunders will excite in men tempests of indig 
 nation and revenge. No European city would tolerate 
 such a scheme. It would hurl down any throne in 
 
DR. SOLOMON AND MRS. PILKILSON. 175 
 
 Europe, except the Czar's, and shake that if the 
 Nihilists prosper." 
 
 " Why, papa," cried Edna, in her merry, ringing voice, 
 " you are turning monarchist. We shall be swearing 
 allegiance to Queen Victoria yet. On what street shall 
 we live in London ?" 
 
 "Not so fast, daughter," said the Judge, smiling, as 
 his indignation expended itself. " We are not quite 
 ready for Belgravia. I never loved my country so 
 well and never had such faith in her mission and her 
 future. But I do her most service by discriminating 
 between her faults and her virtues. It is my work 
 in life to fight villainy and promote justice, however 
 great the trouble, or the peril." 
 
 " Do you think such a railway would be long toler 
 ated ? " inquired Mrs. Livingstone. " It seems to me 
 that it would be unnatural and fall finally by its 
 own weight." 
 
 "This is my own opinion," said the Judge, thought 
 fully. " Perhaps it would stand for years. But I 
 should fear accidents. Suppose a train should leap a 
 track, crash through a wall, set a house on fire, 
 explode a boiler and scatter around flames, ruin and 
 death ! Such a catastrophe might end the enterprise. 
 Still, I foresee that the ELEVATED RAILWAY will have 
 its day. It will be for years a great popular success. 
 But at last will be heard the rumble of powder in 
 the rocks below our streets. We will dig an honest 
 tunnel beneath our city, and take our honest ride by 
 honest gaslight, and if not so fast and jolly a people, 
 
176 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 we will be more sensible and reliable, and wonder at 
 our past frolics in the air." 
 
 While the Judge was speaking, Frank entered the 
 room with an unusually sober face. He held the 
 evening paper in his hand, and was evidently reflect 
 ing on what he had been reading. 
 
 "Why Frank," said Edna, merrily, "what has 
 happened ? Instead of an aspiring young lawyer, 
 with bright prospects before him, you look serious as 
 a judge who has been on the bench ten years, and 
 doubts his re-election by our Sovereigns." 
 
 "And I have good reason to be serious," said 
 Frank, becoming excited as he spoke. " You will feel 
 as sober as I look when you hear the evening news. 
 Father, please read that," he exclaimed, while his eye 
 flashed. 
 
 The Judge took the extended paper, cast his eyes 
 hastily over the columns, arrested his gaze for an in 
 stant, and then burst out with violent indignation : 
 
 " The infamous INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY ACT has 
 passed. All our efforts have failed. We shall be 
 driven out of this house." 
 
 "Impossible!" cried Mrs. Livingstone; "such injus 
 tice is impossible." 
 
 "What can you mean, papa?" exclaimed Edna, in a 
 state of mingled alarm and confusion. "Be driven 
 out of our own house in which Frank and I were 
 born, and where our ancestors have lived for so many 
 generations ! " 
 
 "Just what I mean, my daughter," said the Judge, 
 
DR. SOLOMON AND MRS. PILKILSON. 177 
 
 with suppressed anger. " My blood boils at the 
 thought. Our home is to be confiscated by a legis 
 lative act to make place for a vast addition to the 
 grounds and depot of the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY." 
 
 "What we all expected," cried Frank, in a storm 
 of passion. "The nominating convention was bribed; 
 the voters were bribed ; the legislators were bribed ; 
 even the Judges and the Executive were bribed. ' We 
 have resisted the corrupt and overshadowing monopoly 
 at every step. So far it has beaten us ; but I will 
 never quit the fight until I see its ruin." 
 
 " There spoke a Livingstone, my son," said the 
 Judge, with a gleam of pleasure and triumph. " I 
 pledge myself with you in the battle. In the end 
 victory will be ours. Still, our house will have to be 
 surrendered to the robbers." 
 
 "Our house! Mr. Livingstone! This house! this 
 place, sacred in our hearts, and endeared by so many 
 family histories and recollections ! Surely you jest or 
 dream," said Mrs. Livingstone, in utter wonder. 
 
 " Neither one nor the other, my dear," replied the 
 Judge. " For have I, just now, any special disposition 
 for jokes or fancies. Here have the Livingstones 
 been born and have died for generations. Wash 
 ington, Jefferson, Jay, Hamilton, and other founders 
 of our Government, have often been under this 
 roof. No American home is hallowed by so many 
 historical associations. Behold that picture of my 
 father ! I almost see indignation burn on those 
 features at the thought of being taken down and borne 
 
178 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 away at the command of public plunderers. This old 
 furniture will be carried out. These old walls will be 
 torn down. Even the old foundations will be removed. 
 Over the ruins of our home will rise the GRAND INTER 
 OCEANIC DEPOT. The locomotive will soon be hissing 
 and screaming on the very spot where we are now 
 talking." 
 
 Mrs. Livingstone began to comprehend the facts. 
 At first, the result seemed incredible. Her vivid 
 woman's fancy now pictured the dismantled dwelling, 
 and towering over the consecrated place a gigantic 
 edifice erected by fraud and tyranny. She exclaimed : 
 
 "And this is liberty! That of robbers to take what 
 they will. Our land is called a refuge from oppression. 
 Here are worse than European tyrannies. We still 
 boast that over our soil float the stars which waved 
 above heroes. They are dimmed and darkened by a 
 midnight of fraud, black as the gloom of the civil 
 war. Yet, I trust in Heaven. Deliverance will come 
 for this fair and noble land. Our country, hallowed 
 by the blood of martyrs, will never be cast out like a 
 carcass, and devoured by birds of prey. Stand by 
 her, my husband and my son ! Stand by her in every 
 extremity ! Light will come ! Truth will triumph ! 
 Our flag will float over not only a united but a pure 
 and Christian people." 
 
 This eloquence thrilled every heart. Mrs. Living 
 stone, as she spoke, seemed to glow again into the 
 beauty of her youth. Her presence was majestic, and 
 .her words never to be forgotten. Indeed, their influ- 
 
DR. SOLOMON AND MRS. PILKILSON. 179 
 
 ence was destined to extend beyond the sanctities of 
 that home, and be left on the country forever. Yes ! 
 in that hour, woman's faith kindled an unquenchable 
 flame, and led onward to a noble victory. It was a 
 crisis in the history of the nation which seemed sink 
 ing in a sea of corruption. The triumph of the 
 INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY would have perpetuated the 
 reign of fraud for generations. 
 
 Judge Livingstone and Frank Livingstone were to 
 be the saviors of the country, and it was the courage 
 of this wife and mother which, in an hour of 
 extremity, inspired them for the battle. 
 
 But the solemn grandeur of this domestic scene 
 was now suddenly and boisterously disturbed by numer 
 ous quick, nervous jerks at the door-bell. 
 
 " Why," exlaimed the Judge, " who can be at the 
 door ? That bell seems jerked by a madman. Worse 
 and worse ! Surely some excited spirits are frolicking 
 with our wires." 
 
 The noise ceased and was followed by a hush of 
 expectation. Soon, through the open door, came two 
 persons, whom it becomes our duty, as faithful chron 
 iclers of those times, to describe. 
 
 Dr. Solomon Pilkilson and Mrs. Dorothea Pilkilson 
 were coming down the farther extremity of the Living 
 stone drawing-room. 
 
 That gentleman was enormous in all his proportions. 
 His stature was gigantic, and his corpulent rotundity 
 swelled out like a hogshead. His mouth seemed from 
 ear to ear ; his nose was wide, long and round below to 
 
180 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 beefiness ; his cheeks protuberant : his forehead broad, 
 red and high ; his eyes small, deep-set, gray, and 
 twinkling beneath huge, overhanging, shaggy brows, 
 while his feet and hands were almost hideous in their 
 vast unsightliness. About his back and breast was a 
 great, grizzled overcoat, hanging with armless sleeves, 
 as if thrown on in haste, and greatly increasing his 
 appearance of ponderous magnitude. When he laughed, 
 his elephantine ears moved and flapped with an ele 
 phantine peculiarity. He looked like a man who could 
 devour a beef and empty a beer-barrel in the least pos 
 sible time and with the greatest possible satisfaction. 
 Above his overcoat was a shawl, and around his throat 
 a heavy woolen scarf. His large winter gloves and 
 huge overshoes did not detract from your estimate of 
 his size. Good nature beamed over his great face, while 
 cunning twinkled in his small, restless, piercing eyes. 
 
 Mrs. Dorothea Pilkilson was a feminine Dr. Solomon 
 Pilkilson, pressed down into a lower stature and propor 
 tionally bulged out in breadth, with a pug nose in the 
 midst of her broad face, and in all respects precisely 
 the wife for a husband she loved and adored. Arm- 
 in-arm they resembled two of their own largest pill- 
 barrels, moving or rather rolling down the room. 
 
 When the mighty pair, panting, puffing, and per 
 spiring, reached the Livingstone group, they stood a 
 moment in all their gigantic redness, width, and 
 height. Then, as from the depths of a human hogshead, 
 issued a loud and grating voice the ear never more 
 forgot, but which the pen fails to describe. 
 
DR. SOLOMON AND MRS. PILKILSON. 181 
 
 " Good-evening, Judge Livingstone and Mr. Frank! 
 Excuse me for coming at this hour and to your house 
 instead of your office. Let me present my wife, Mrs. 
 Solomon Pilkilson ! " 
 
 The two gentlemen bowed and shook the pon 
 derous hands of the great physician and his wife. 
 
 " Let me now present you," said the Judge to his 
 huge client and his spouse, "to Mrs. Livingstone and 
 my daughter, Miss Edna. My son, I believe, you 
 both know." 
 
 Mrs. Solomon Pilkilson seemed for a moment con 
 fused. She was evidently making a heavy draft upon 
 her memory. She has it ! A recollection, flashing 
 over her, illuminates her features, and she bursts out 
 in a coarse, unfeminine voice, full of honest good 
 nature : 
 
 " La, I remember now ! Dr. Solomon and me was 
 driving out in our dog-cart in the park, when the 
 horse scared, and spilled us out in a heap. You're the 
 very young gentleman what helped me get up, sat Dr. 
 Solomon on his legs, and druv us home in your 
 carriage. We shall be quite at home here, now. 
 Dr. Solomon, let me take that shawl off your face ! 
 I'll hold your gloves. He's hotter nor a kitchen range 
 or a patent furnace. I bundled him up to keep the 
 cold out. Don't be excited, Dr. Solomon, I'll fan 
 you." 
 
 She removed the shawl ; she held the gloves ; she 
 plied the fan, not with the grace of a Diana, but 
 with a heartiness which evinced her affectionate idol- 
 
182 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 atry towards the great physician. Nor for one moment 
 during the interview did she relax the fury of her 
 exertions. 
 
 Judge Livingstone perceived that there was an 
 unusual tempest stirring his magnitudinous old client. 
 
 "My good doctor," he said, "what has happened 
 to disturb you so violently ? " 
 
 " Happened, Judge ! Happened, did you say ? " he 
 magnificently inquired. " Look on your table ! Before 
 your very eyes, as we doctors say professionally, is 
 the excitin' cause of my nervous irritability and the 
 stimulant to the heated action of my venous and 
 arterial blood." 
 
 "On my table, Doctor," said the Judge in surprise. 
 " On my table. I cannot understand you. I did not 
 think that in all my house there could be anything 
 offensive to you." 
 
 " Yes, Judge, I say, yes ! " he exclaimed with 
 emphasis and rising excitement. " No fault of yours. 
 Yet, on that table lies what has stirred my heart, 
 riled my liver, fired my blood, and made my system 
 fulminate like a barrel of dynamite. In that Evening 
 Gazette is the spark that exploded me. The INTER 
 OCEANIC CONFISCATION ACT, that is to tear away my 
 palatial manshun that has fired me up worse than 
 when they counterfeit my pill-labels, and sell under 
 my name their quack mixtures : injurin' society, 
 enfeeblin' human constitutions, and affectin' the busi 
 ness and the reputation of Dr. Solomon Pilkilson, and 
 makin' him tremble from his shirt-bosom down through 
 
DR. SOLOMON AND MRS. PILKILSON. 183 
 
 his pockets to the skirts of his coats and other gar 
 ments." 
 
 "It is, indeed, a trial to all honest men," replied 
 the Judge. " We, ourselves, are fellow sufferers, and 
 are to be expelled from the house of our fathers. The 
 law is infamous ; but, for the present, villains must 
 triumph. We must fight these fellows, however, until 
 we conquer and make their rascally corporation known 
 in history as the 'BROKEN RING.'" 
 
 " My father and myself," cried Frank, with enthu 
 siasm, " have to-night renewed our vows of devotion to 
 our cause and country. The ladies share our spirit, 
 and help us by their faith and courage. Our family 
 stands united and we expect to triumph." 
 
 These words rekindled the whole group. Mrs. 
 Pilkilson grinned and shook with her huge, honest 
 delight. She burst out : 
 
 " We'll jine you, Judge ; we'll jine you, Mr. Frank ; 
 we'll jine you, ladies. We'll jine you with our words ; 
 we'll jine you with our deeds ; we'll jine you with 
 our money ; we'll jine you with our hearts and heads. 
 We'll jine you, yes, with the last pill." 
 
 Dr. Pilkilson caught the flame. He could no 
 longer sit, but, suddenly rising, threw down the 
 gloves, shawl and the fan, held by Mrs. Solomon, and, 
 as she stooped to pick up the scattered articles, Dr. 
 Solomon Pilkilson cleared his throat, blew his nose, 
 and made sundry other oratorical preparations. With 
 his gruff voice and the most earnest expression in 
 face, eye and gesture, he made his whole gigantic 
 
134 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 person tremble with the deep roar of his guttural 
 eloquence, and delivered a speech, which will be 
 remembered with the grander efforts of Demosthenes, 
 Cicero and Daniel Webster. 
 
 "Yes, Mrs. Solomon," he began, " to the very last 
 pill. My father, Judge, was a vetrinary physician 
 and a vaccinery surgent, and, by the shades of all 
 the patients he bled, purged, and mended, I'll give 
 my profeshnul talents and my parsonal energies and 
 my public influence to the task of expurgatin' these 
 varments gnawin' on the vitals of our country, 
 and of dispellin' out the pisin from the corrupted 
 veins and arteries of the diseased body politic. Yes ; 
 truly, Mrs. Solomon, that sentiment was healthful. I 
 agree with you. I, too, am in to the last pill. Pills 
 made me what I am. Pills brought me to this 
 expandin' Metropolis. Pills made my bank stocks, my 
 railway securities, my minin' shares. Pills built my 
 magnificent store and erected and furnished my spa- 
 ^cious, ample, and elegant manshun. Pills bought my 
 carts, wagons, sleighs, buggies, carriages and other 
 vehicles. Pills feeds my wife, cook, coachman, foot 
 man, gardener, children and other servants, besides 
 numerous widows and orphans. Pills have advertised 
 my name over this planet, and placed in grand and 
 even sublime proportions the phiz and figger of Dr. 
 Solomon Pilkinson over the roarin' Niagra, the blus- 
 terin' Atlantic and sleepin' Pacific, on rocks, roofs, 
 fences, sign-boards, rails, stables, stakes and curb-stones, 
 and even over walkin' men and women and numerous 
 
DR. SOLOMON AND MRS. PILKILSON. 185 
 
 city wagons, on mountains, down valleys, acrost plains 
 and prairies yes, fernentz the very temple of St. 
 Peter's in the Etarnal City. Pills is to me clothes, 
 house, food, fame, flesh, fortune in this life, and after 
 death under the shadow of a Pill on the top of my 
 mausolyum will sleep the dust and bones of Dr. Solo 
 mon Pilkilson." 
 
 " Why, Doctor, " interrupted the Judge, with seeming 
 surprise, " I thought that globe on your monument 
 in the city of the dead represented your world-wide 
 reputation." 
 
 "For once and only once, mistaken, my learned 
 friend," he replied, with solemn emphasis. "A pill; the 
 pill ! I may say, last pill, a sign for the dead and 
 an advertisement for the living useful and orna 
 mental an emblem of my profeshun and a proclama 
 tion of my business and yet I'll sell that monumental 
 pill, and that monumental pile, rather than we shall 
 want a dollar to swamp this pluriderm' Railway." 
 
 " While Dr. Solomon Pilkilson was discoursing with 
 such characteristic eloquence, there was another inter 
 ruption from the region of the front door, which 
 caused Judge Livingstone to say. 
 
 " I am sorry, sir, that this noble burst of patriotic 
 and professional indignation has been interrupted in so 
 loud and unpleasant a manner. Our very bells seem 
 maddened by our wrongs." 
 
 The Judge had scarcely spoken these words, when 
 Mr. Samuel Slykes appeared at the door, and not in 
 the least diminished in his effrontery by any of his 
 
186 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 recent experiences. He moved down the drawing-room 
 with the most brazen assurance, and, standing before 
 the group, nodded his head in a patronizing style, 
 saying : 
 
 " Good-evenin', gentlemen and ladies fine speech, 
 Dr. Solomon, as the stoker said to the steam whistle 
 when it called him to dinner. Honest sentiments and 
 weighty as a forty ton locomotive hard on the INTER 
 OCEANIC, but she can stand the abuse on her own 
 property." 
 
 " Her own property, sir," exclaimed the Judge,, 
 stirred into sudden storm ; "do you insult me in 
 my own house by claiming it for that rascally 
 corporation ? The impudence is intolerable. If you 
 are an agent of that devouring monster, let me inform 
 you that my office and not my parlor is the place 
 where I transact my business." 
 
 "All right, Judge," said the unabashed Slykes ; "will 
 call there next time preferred the first interview at 
 your home wanted to see how property looked; found 
 Dr. Solomon was here, and concluded to serve notice 
 on you together and save time." 
 
 "Serve me!" cried the Judge, with tempestuous 
 anger. "You do not mean to say that at this hour, 
 and in this parlor, you have come to give me notice 
 to quit my own premises ? You dare not carry your 
 impudence so far ! " , 
 
 " No offence intended, Judge," said Slykes, taking 
 two papers from his pocket, and examining them for 
 an instant. "Here's documents for you and Pilkilson ; 
 
DR. SOLOMON AND MRS. PILKILSON. 18? 
 
 so long as you're served, what's the difference ? If the 
 boiler makes steam, it doesn't ask what wood's in the 
 fire." 
 
 "But, Mr. Slykes, I positively decline being served 
 here, and if you persist, will order you from my 
 house," exclaimed the Judge, with increased indig 
 nation and a more irate emphasis. 
 
 " Can't help it, sir," Slykes replied, with a face 
 hard as the brass of a locomotive. "The INTER 
 OCEANIC my first duty here are the two papers one 
 for you and the other for the Doctor. If you don't 
 receive them, will read them and leave the premises." 
 
 "You shall not read them, sir," cried Judge 
 Livingstone, rising. " I forbid you. If you do not 
 leave my house I will call my servants and order them 
 to thrust you from the door." 
 
 Frank Livingstone now leaped from his chair and 
 approached Slykes to enforce his father's threat, 
 saying : 
 
 "You villain; this is unendurable; leave this room; 
 there is the door ; leave instantly ; leave, I say leave, 
 or you will be sorry while you live for every moment 
 you remain."^ 
 
 The ponderous frame of Dr. Solomon Pilkilson was 
 now seen slowly lifting itself from the chair, when 
 Mrs. Pilkilson, bursting into a blaze, anticipated her 
 husband by yelling out, with appropriate gestures, the 
 following not very refined words : 
 
 " Sarve us, if you dare. Get out, you varmin ! 
 Clear off or I will be in your hair ; I'll tear you into 
 
188 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 bits; I'll crush you like a cockroach; I'll mash you 
 like a musketer." 
 
 Slykes saw that the physical and moral power were 
 against him. He retreated, but was not vanquished. 
 Closing and then locking the parlor door, he stood in 
 the hall, master of the situation, leaving the Judge 
 and his party prisoners within and burning with indig 
 nation. He now lifted up his voice and, with shrill 
 impudence, read this provoking notice in the following 
 terms : 
 
 "Henry Livingstone and Solomon Pilkilson are 
 hereby notified that the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY is 
 empowered by an Act of Legislature to seize and 
 use their dwellings, and the land on which they are 
 erected, for its new depot, and they are required to 
 vacate the premises in ten days from this date." 
 
 Then, to a'ggravate the insult, the rascal cried : 
 
 "Sam Slykes won't forget this treatment. Good-by, 
 ladies and gentlemen ! May you have a pleasin' intro 
 duction to our new grand INTER OCEANIC DEPOT ! You 
 must soon leave our premises like hot steam from a 
 safety-valve. So put on the brakes, and stop your 
 infernal scoldin'. Good-by, old Hospitality ! " 
 
 Slykes now went to the hall-door and opened it so 
 as to leave a way to retreat. He then put on his hat 
 and gloves with the utmost deliberation, and, unlocking 
 the parlor-door, and thrusting it sufficiently ajar, flung 
 in the notices on the floor. After this performance he 
 left with all convenient speed. This farewell impudence 
 raised indignation into rage. Passion, however, was 
 
DR. SOLOMON AND MRS. PILKILSON. 
 
 189 
 
 soon followed by a sense of the ludicrous in the gro 
 tesque scene, and Judge Livingstone, laughing, said : 
 
 "What a curious mixture of farce and fight! How 
 nearly the most opposite feelings of human nature lie 
 together, like the smile and the tear which express 
 them ! We laugh and we rage in the same moment. I 
 mourn over the degradation of my country and ridicule 
 the instruments of her humiliation. Yet, in the excite 
 ment we now feel, I perceive the indications of a rising 
 popular tempest, destined to purify our social and 
 political atmosphere and sweep from the earth colossal 
 corruptions reared by private fraud and corporate vil- 
 lany." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 LYMAN RISK'S MARRIAGE. 
 
 HE two women, were merry that 
 morning. It was as if the lark 
 and the robin had formed an 
 alliance of song and of joy to make 
 field and wood musical. Their room 
 was fragrant and beautiful with flowers. 
 A decanter of wine stood glittering in 
 the light. Every preparation had been 
 made for a day of private festal delight. 
 "Jane Slag," inquired Olive Neilson, 
 "didn't I hit him harder than ever? I 
 seemed to myself on the stage last night 
 like a human porcupine letting arrows fly 
 in every direction and each tipped with the flame of 
 poison." 
 
 " Olive," replied Jane, " you never before approached 
 last night's performance. Every part of that little 
 body talked, laughed and blazed. It was wonderful. 
 The house clapped, yelled, roared in an ecstacy of 
 surprise, delight and admiration. Never will the muse 
 of tragedy suffer the night to 'be forgotten." 
 
 "I felt it in me, Jane," the actress resumed, "and it 
 had to come out. It was all reality ; nothing was 
 
LYMAN RISK'S MARRIAGE. 191 
 
 simulated. It was feeling rather than acting, and 
 word, tone, face and gesture were the true interpreters 
 of my soul. Some destiny was blazing in me. My 
 spirit seemed fire darting light into others. And when 
 I made allusion to him, hate inspired me with an 
 overmastering power. I must have spoken and acted 
 like a fiend. Oh, it was a glorious triumph." 
 
 Yes, it was ! Olive Neilson was a genius. In her 
 the histrionic art had found its feminine ideal. In 
 the pleasure she expressed were neither vanity nor 
 pride. Her genius bubbled and sparkled unconscious 
 as a fountain or a star. She now danced and 
 pranced, and leaped and laughed at the recollections of 
 the evening, until the thought of him spread a cloud 
 over her countenance. 
 
 After a brief but painful pause, Jane abruptly 
 asked : 
 
 "And what did you think of my last article in 
 Woman's Rights ? " 
 
 The face of Olive Neilson changed instantly into 
 light. It was like a shadow lifted from a landscape. 
 Laughing and clapping her hands airily and gracefully 
 she said : 
 
 "Capital! splendid! masterly! a credit to our sex. 
 You exceeded yourself. No masculine performance in 
 America ever approached the vigor and originality of 
 Jane Slag's leader of yesterday. It sparkled with wit, 
 and bristled with argument. How you hit him ! Every 
 shaft tipped with fire ! May the points pierce and 
 burn until he ends his miserable existence by suicide." 
 
192 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 The two women capered and exulted like a pair of 
 happy lunatics. They kissed, they smiled, they laughed, 
 they embraced. Why not? It was their way and 
 day of joy. 
 
 The two women sat down to their coffee after the 
 excitements of their exuberant delight. 
 
 ''And you saw them, Olive?" inquired her friend, 
 with an expression of doubt. "Yes," answered the 
 actress with a world of significance in look and nod ; 
 "I saw them both!" 
 
 " Tell me what they are like," said Jane, sipping 
 her coffee, and then putting down her cup and bending 
 toward Olive a keen, fierce, inquiring gaze that made 
 her gray eye have the glance of an eagle. 
 
 "The elder/' replied Olive, "resembled a queen and 
 the younger a princess. Both are superb in their English 
 beauty, although plain in their attire and pale with 
 sorrow. They looked as if they ought to live among 
 kings and nobles, and inspired me with the deepest 
 admiration and respect. There is some secret in their 
 history." 
 
 "But how," inquired Jane, "could you gain access 
 to them after so many failures ?" 
 
 "By persistence," answered Olive; "persistence," she 
 repeated, with her histrionic emphasis, "that key to all 
 success and even heaven itself. First, I assumed the 
 guise of a female bookseller and failed. Then I resolved 
 to change my dress and occupation until I succeeded. 
 Finally, after repeated repulses, a needle unlocked the 
 door." 
 
LYMAN RISK'S MARRIAGE. 193 
 
 "A needle?" exclaimed Jane, in a voice of amused 
 wonder; "you surely jest; explain to me your mean 
 ing." 
 
 "Yes," replied Olive, smiling; "a needle was my 
 key, but I did not place it in the lock and turn the 
 bolt. The ladies happened to want that small, pointed 
 necessary, and so, when I last presented myself with 
 my box, they admitted this little imposition that they 
 might make a purchase. In this way I had an excel 
 lent view of them. They are splendid women, mother 
 and daughter. Imagine a mature crimson and a young 
 white rose together, and you have my conception of 
 their beauty." 
 
 " Oh, how I pity them," said Jane Slag, with a tear 
 in her cold eye ; "I would save them if I could, but it 
 is destiny." 
 
 "Why should we weep?" exclaimed Olive fiercely. 
 " For me the time for tears has gone. My heart is 
 rock and winter. A drop would freeze on my eyelid. 
 I am flame only when I think of him. We have 
 watched, Jane, and waited for this day. Its hour has 
 struck. You have written and I have acted with one 
 burning purpose which has married our lives. You 
 will see this night what you will remember. Yes ! 
 the day is here the hour will come, and then the 
 moment. I hear the note in the air. It sounds like 
 doom. Not Heaven stops the hammer when fate 
 ordains the stroke. To-night ; Jane, to-night ! Oh, 
 to-night ! You cannot now have my secret. But 
 to-night you will see. You will hear, you will never 
 
194 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 forget ! It will live in the history of the city. It 
 will be trumpeted through the country. It will be 
 flashed over the world. Nay ! in future times, it will 
 be the theme of poets, novelists and orators, and thrill 
 thousands on the stage. To-night! All is predeter 
 mined, Jane ; It is our destiny and his." 
 
 As Olive Neilson spoke, her excitement kindled her 
 into the ideal of her own art. 
 
 The two women ! Who are they ? What is the 
 meaning of this conversation ? What is the secret 
 of their lives ? The two women ! They dwelled 
 together in the eighth story of a lofty edifice and 
 were lifted up and dropped down by an elevator. 
 
 What a difference in habits wrought by steam ! 
 Once we lunched in the low, dark, damp, disgusting 
 basement, looking out against ugly walls, and into 
 the gloom of black vaults, and breathing sickening and 
 oppressive odors. Now, magic transportation ! Step 
 into an elevator ! A rope is touched ! You are lifted 
 upward in a steady ascent, easily and noiselessly, story 
 after story. Again the touch of a rope; you stop at 
 your desired floor; you step into the hall; you move 
 toward a window. What a view ! You gaze over 
 the tops of houses; over the bright bay; over the 
 towns and villages beyond; far, far away to the green 
 fields and the distant mountains. Sit down now to 
 your airy and inviting table ! How refreshing ! You 
 are fanned by Summer breezes through the opened 
 windows, and surrounded by the clear light of heaven ! 
 Steam has lifted you from the earth nearer to the 
 
LYMAN RISK'S MARRIAGE. 195 
 
 sky, as it is elevating humanity itself to a better and 
 brighter existence. 
 
 Jane Slag and Olive Neilson had found this secret 
 of modern life, and taken lofty apartments, where they 
 could see the sun, watch the clouds, gaze over the 
 waters, and on the mountains, and into the blue of 
 heaven, and freshen and brighten the lonely existence 
 to which they had consecrated themselves. 
 
 Tfie two women! I will tell you who they are. 
 
 Jane Slag was a plain girl and the daughter of a 
 farmer. She had loved, trusted and been betrayed. 
 Coming to the Metropolis, she worked, studied and 
 persisted, developing unusual intellectual abilities, and 
 at last establishing and editing a weekly paper which 
 had become a power in the land, and which she used 
 as a battering ram against the lofty fortifications of 
 the man, who had left her in her ruin. 
 
 Olive Neilson was in every respect the opposite of 
 Jane Slag. She was the daughter of a wandering 
 Italian harpist, and went over the country singing and 
 dancing for her father, until he died. One day, she 
 was weeping under a tree, near a road. A coach 
 rolled by. The driver, compassionating her lonely 
 condition, invited her to ride on the box. She con 
 sented. He afterwards educated her, promised to 
 marry her and then betrayed her. She, too, came to 
 the city; grew into extraordinary beauty, and shone 
 as a genius on the stage ; becoming in the Metropolis 
 the celebrity of the hour. These were the two 
 women. It was the same man who had taken advan- 
 
196 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 tage of their trust. Since, they had led lives of virtue, 
 and consecrated themselves to overthrow the villain 
 by whose arts they had fallen. He was the person 
 to whom they were constantly alluding, but never 
 with a mention of his name, which, with a feminine 
 loathing, they avoided, as too infamous for their lips. 
 
 Day was wearing away and night approached. 
 The sun gleams across the bay and sinks behind the 
 mountains. Jane Slag and Olive Neilson sit at a 
 window, gazing at the sails gliding like phantoms 
 through the evening gloom. Venus fades in the west. 
 Now Jupiter blazes forth, and Saturn shines dimly, 
 and hanging near the Pleiades is the red light of 
 Mars, and soon the stars are glittering, and the moon 
 is coming up out of the waters with a face cold as 
 destiny, and the two women are warned that the hour 
 is near. 
 
 They attire themselves elegantly and with scrupulous 
 care, and as the elevator has ceased its daily journey- 
 ings, they climb slowly down the stairs. See ! they 
 have reached the street. A splendid carriage awaits 
 their descent, and soon they are rolling along the 
 avenue, whirling by houses, and flashing under gas 
 lights, until, far up into the city, they stop before a 
 church. Entering together, they pass down the aisle, 
 and occupy a side pew near the chancel. 
 
 Evidently it is the occasion of a great wedding. 
 The lights are yet dim, but you can discern, from 
 column to column, the brilliant bloom of festooning 
 flowers. Roses blush in clusters on font, and altar, 
 
LYMAN RISK'S MARRIAGE. 197 
 
 and pulpit, mingling their fragrance with the sweet 
 ness of mignonette and honeysuckle. The air is 
 breathing with perfume. 
 
 Now the crowd begins to assemble. The pews are 
 soon filled. Even the aisles become crowded. A 
 bright blaze bursts over the church, and music peals 
 from the organ the notes of marriage joy. At every 
 entrance people turn their heads in expectation. The 
 two women gaze eagerly toward the door. Attired 
 in his white surplice, the clergyman waits behind the 
 chancel rail. 
 
 A loud rattle of wheels; a hush in the assembly; a 
 quiet turning of faces, and a flutter at the door. 
 Lyman Risk comes down the aisle with Mrs. Neville 
 on his arm, and Lucy at her mother's side both pale 
 and agitated. 
 
 They stand before the clergyman and the solemn 
 service begins. Nothing unusual occurs until he 
 reaches the words: "Whom God has joined together, 
 let no man put asunder." This sentence ended, a 
 sound seemed to burst down from the roof of the 
 church. Now it moves along the arches toward the 
 front, it lingers on the top of the pillar, and, returning 
 toward the chancel, is heard above the altar; then it 
 shrieks over the head of the bride and groom ; rising, 
 sinking, whispering, quivering, thrilling, screaming, 
 roaring, until every part of the edifice, vocal with the 
 sounds, is repeating, as with an invisible and ubiquit 
 ous tongue, "Whom man hath joined together, God 
 will curse asunder." 
 
198 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 The bride, screaming in agony, fell to the floor, and 
 her daughter knelt terrrified at her side. 
 
 Lyman Risk felt no fear, but was kindled into an 
 inextinguishable hate and rage. That voice wakened 
 murder in his soul. Blood was in it. He knew the 
 cause. Stepping hastily toward Jane Slag and Olive 
 Neilson, he stooped and whispered fiercely: 
 
 "Stop this infernal noise or I will kill you both." 
 
 There was a moment's cessation, but when Risk 
 turned away from the two women the sounds com 
 menced again with fresh vigor and variety. 
 
 The people began to leave the house in alarm, and 
 the vast edifice was speedily empty. Risk lifted Mrs. 
 Neville from the floor, and bore her to the carriage, 
 followed by Lucy. He did not enter, but gave direc 
 tions that the ladies should be driven to his house on 
 the avenue. In the meantime, Jane Slag and Olive 
 Neilson, mingling with the retiring crowd, disappeared. 
 
 Soon, however, they could be seen in their carriage 
 driving furiously toward the great edifice in which 
 were their lonely apartments. Reaching it, they 
 ascended in silent gloom the lofty stairs, flight after 
 flight, and entering their room, sat down without a 
 word. 
 
 A shadow from destiny was over the place. The 
 stars were hid and the moon was gone, and in a low 
 dark cloud was a lightning glare, succeeded by a 
 hoarse rumble of thunder. Dread, not delight was in 
 the scene. The two women had been temperate in 
 their habits and correct in their lives. But they 
 
LYMAN RISK'S MARRIAGE. 199 
 
 could not endure the oppression of their hearts. Seiz 
 ing the decanter, they poured out the sparkling wine 
 and soon felt its exhilaration. Here was the inspira 
 tion they needed, and cup was drained after cup. 
 
 Now the two women were happy. Their festal joy 
 had come. Fierce triumph gleamed from their eyes, 
 flushed in their cheeks and flamed in their tongues. 
 They drank to Lyman Risk. They drank to his bride. 
 They drank to the marriage. They drank to them 
 selves, and drank and drank. As the wine began to 
 heat the blood and whirl the brain, Jane Slag cried: 
 
 "Oh, Olive, how unfailing the resources of thy 
 unmatched genius ! What gay wedding sounds ! More 
 suitable than the scent and bloom of flowers, and the 
 peal of the organ ! How charming for the bride ! 
 How delightful for the groom ! What pleasant mem 
 ories for both ! The angel of vengeance made thee 
 his trumpet, Olive, and truly didst thou blow the wild 
 notes of destiny ! " 
 
 "Yes," she replied, the excitement of the wine 
 kindling in her a tragic fire. "Pale and shivering as 
 a ghost stood and swooned the bride, while the guilty 
 groom stalked and trembled like a spectre of darkness. 
 Oh, the mad joy of the moment ! My tongue was the 
 voice of fate. In my words was doom, doom, doom ! " 
 
 The two women rose, kissed, shrieked, embraced, 
 sang, danced, exulted, until, exhausted by exertion and 
 excitement, they sank into each other's arms on the 
 bed, and were soon buried in slumbers. 
 
 Where was Risk ? He has lied, cheated, plotted, 
 
200 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 plundered, lived for this hour. He stands by his 
 glorious bride in triumph. Not only was her magnifi 
 cent beauty his, but with her he dreams of the 
 Arlington title and the Arlington estate. His wildest 
 youthful fancies had never aspired so high. Flowers 
 are there ; music is there ; friends are there ; Church 
 and State are represented there to consummate his 
 bliss. Hope waves her golden wings and smiles over 
 the head of Risk. But above him stands the angel 
 of vengeance glaring on the man. Before he reached 
 the place his old life was there. Jane Slag and Olive 
 Neilson were there. The ghosts of his sins were there, 
 shrieking around the sacred edifice in judgment and 
 in ruin. 
 
 Oh, how our deeds follow us ! How our very 
 thoughts become our tormentors and punishers ! How 
 guilt opens graves along evil lives, and brings forth 
 skeletons to mock and leer and blast the transgressor ! 
 Eyeless and tongueless skulls arise to flame and thun 
 der into the conscience ! 
 
 Lyman Risk wandered from street to street like a 
 spectre. He sought rest and found none. Instead of 
 sleeping in the arms of his bride, he was like a 
 ghost gliding- through the midnight. By some mys 
 terious attraction, he is drawn unconsciously on and on, 
 always in the- same direction ; on and yet on toward 
 the building where the two women are asleep. He 
 knew it well. Often, when writhing under their assaults, 
 he had gone there, foaming and raging, to vainly beg 
 and threaten. No mercy was ever found for him in 
 
LYMAN RISK'S MARRIAGE. 201 
 
 those breasts. His pleas were disregarded, and he was 
 by them ridiculed and made contemptible. Now he 
 enters the great door, and ascends the stairs not many 
 hours before pressed by their weary feet. See ! he is 
 at the top. With no special purpose, he moves down 
 the hall. He stands before the lonely bedroom door 
 which destiny has left open. The gas-jet is ablaze 
 and the two women are sleeping in its bright light. 
 
 Risk saw the scattered flowers, the emptied decanter, 
 the signs of the festivity, and the flushed and glow 
 ing cheeks of his tormentors clasped in affectionate 
 embrace. The devil rose within him. He had come 
 for no evil purpose. But the sight was too much for 
 him. He can have revenge for the past and quiet for 
 the future, and no man shall know it. His face grows 
 black with rage, and his eyes blaze fierce with joy, 
 and, without time for thought, he has clutched with 
 an iron grasp the throats of his victims. So strangled, 
 they cannot scream. Indeed, under the sudden pres 
 sure of blood they do not see. But they twist and 
 writhe with a fearful energy. 
 
 The man is too strong for them. He seems armed 
 with an infernal power. Now, his fingers close with 
 a tightening clasp. Resistance grows feebler and 
 feebler. Those two faces swell and blacken ; those 
 two spirits pass from their bruised flesh together ; those 
 two still bodies lie ghastly before him, and Lyman 
 Risk is a MURDERER. 
 
 He had not intended it. But when a soul begins 
 an evil career, and the doors of the citadel are left 
 
202 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 open, and the walls unguarded, and passion and 
 appetite hold revel within, spirits of darkness, drawn 
 by a kindred attraction, soon enter, and Satan is the 
 master of the man, to rule his slave forever. 
 
 For a moment, Risk gloated over the ruin he had 
 wrought. The joy was brief. He turned away, but 
 feared to pass down the stairs into the street, and 
 looked out from a window. Escape there was hope 
 less. He turned out the light, groped through the 
 darkness, descended three flights, climbed out on a 
 roof, and ran wildly over the tops of the houses, like 
 a flying maniac. The moon, suddenly shining from a 
 cloud, revealed the wretch rushing onward in an agony 
 of terror. Coming to a lower house, he clambered 
 down a lightning rod, and continued his race. 
 Obstructed again, he stood a moment on the edge of 
 a roof, and leaped through the air into a pile of sand, 
 into which he sank and sank, until it suggested his 
 grave ; and then he flung himself out in speechless 
 fear, covered with the glittering particles, and, wander 
 ing until morning, returned to his house like a 
 spectre. 
 
 Of all living mortals, he alone may know that 
 murderous deed but he will know it forever. 
 
 It will be in Lyman Risk an eternal memory and 
 an eternal torment. 
 
 * 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 INTER OCEANIC SAFE ENTERED. 
 
 the night of the wedding Frank Liv 
 ingstone had been sauntering down 
 the avenue for exercise. His 
 thoughts, as usual, were busy with 
 plans to complete the legal proofs 
 against the INTER OCEANIC conspirators. As 
 he walked leisurely before a church, a 
 screen and carpet indicated a wedding within. 
 He knew nothing farther of the occasion, 
 and concluded at a venture to enter. 
 Mingling in the stream he soon found him 
 self in a rear pew on the middle aisle. The lights 
 were blazing and the organ pouring forth its jubilant 
 music. Attracted by approaching footsteps, he turned 
 his head and instantly his heart was beating in wild 
 tumult. There SHE WAS the object of his dreams and 
 his plans. Their eyes met in recognition, as hindered 
 by others she almost touched him. 
 
 Her cheek, flushing in the light, was more radiant 
 
 than ever, and, although plainly attired, the grace of 
 
 
 
 her form and motion made her beauty exquisite. His 
 image had followed her as her image had followed 
 him. Memory in each had been faithful to its trust. 
 
204 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 So occupied was he with the daughter that, until the 
 service had begun, he did not notice the mother. Nor 
 did he, for some time, recognize Risk. Suddenly, 
 the whole horrible truth glared before him. He was 
 too late to prevent the catastrophe. When his excite 
 ment was becoming furious, the fearful noise shivered 
 and shrieked about the church, and he saw Mrs. 
 Neville fall, and Lucy kneeling over her. While the 
 people scattered in alarm, he remained, and, as the 
 mother was carried down the aisle, he stood before the 
 daughter, and said to her in a few low, hurried 
 words : 
 
 " I am Frank Livingstone, son of a distinguished 
 Judge of this city. Perhaps, you may remember me 
 as a fellow passenger on the Britannia. Will your 
 mother receive an important communication from me ? 
 If so, please mention the time and the place." 
 
 Miss Neville perceived instantly the importance of 
 such a friend, and replied in the same tone : 
 
 " We will see you on to-morrow morning at eleven 
 o'clock at the house of Mr. Risk on the avenue." 
 
 Frank Livingstone took no time to call a carriage. 
 He ran to his father's house, reached it breathless, 
 and, rushing into the study, found the Judge occupied 
 in writing an opinion, to be delivered next morning. 
 Looking up from his paper, he was surprised to see 
 his son agitated and exhausted, and said to him, 
 smilingly : 
 
 "Why, Frank, what has happened? Is the city in 
 flames ?" 
 
INTER OCEANIC SAFE ENTERED. 205 
 
 "No, sir," replied Frank, greatly agitated; "but you 
 perceive that I am." 
 
 "I see it, clearly. You are on fire," replied the 
 Judge, with a suspicious laugh. "Something more 
 about the English ladies. You are always trembling 
 and breathless when they are involved. Tell me what 
 has occurred." 
 
 " I have seen the ladies seen them both seen them 
 within fifteen minutes," Frank cried, with the greatest 
 agitation. 
 
 "That is, indeed, important news," said the Judge, 
 laying down his pen, and lifting his glasses back on 
 his brow. "I fear it will delay my opinion which the 
 lawyers expect at the opening of our morning session. 
 Narrate to me, at once, what you have seen.* 5 
 
 Frank Livingstone then gave a clear and brief 
 account of what happened at the church. When he had 
 finished, the Judge exclaimed : 
 
 " This is, indeed, extraordinary. An event certainly, 
 and to be long remembered. What caused the sounds ? 
 Spirits, I suppose." 
 
 "A spirit," replied Frank; "but a spirit with the 
 help of lungs, lips and tongue. I saw there Jane 
 Slag and Olive Neilson, who so mercilessly lash Risk. 
 The latter is, I suspect, a ventriloquist, and has taken 
 some sharp revenge in these hideous and unearthly 
 sounds." 
 
 "Doubtless the true solution, but I fear the marriage 
 was consummated." 
 
 "That does not admit of question," said Frank, with 
 
206 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 a flush of indignation. "What should now be our 
 course?" 
 
 "That we must consider immediately and carefully ;" 
 and then, smiling, the Judge added: "I do not believe 
 you like so near a connection with Risk. You will be 
 prolific in expedients to untie this knot." 
 
 Frank's color deepened as he answered : 
 
 "I hope my exertions are not wholly selfish. But 
 this is not the time to weigh our motives ; we want 
 action instant action." 
 
 "The case is now clear and our course plain," said 
 the Judge, with decision in every line of his face and 
 tone of his voice. "A crisis has arrived. At all 
 hazards, you must secure the original letters, and you 
 must secure them this night." 
 
 " My own opinion," answered Frank, with an expres 
 sion of keen pleasure, "but it will be a hard task to 
 accomplish." 
 
 "It must be done," said the Judge, "and you must 
 begin immediately. Mrs. Neville, committed by this 
 marriage, will have every motive to defend herself 
 and her husband. The testimony must be overwhelming. 
 Now, the letterpress copies, without other proof, fix 
 nothing. They might have been made by innumerable 
 persons without the aid of the conspirators. Indeed, 
 copies by the pen would be far more available for us, 
 as we could then identify the handwriting. The 
 originals we must have and have at once." 
 
 "But how, is the question," answered Frank, 
 anxiously. "Where do you suppose the letters are?" 
 
INTER OCEANIC SAFE ENTERED. 20? 
 
 "You, a lawyer, and ask that question, Frank. 
 What is the most secure place these plunderers could 
 have for so valuable a depositum." 
 
 "Their safe, of course, and from their safe we 
 must have them." 
 
 "You said John O'Brien, our old client, had the 
 keys and the combination ? " 
 
 " He has, sir ; having been long confidential clerk. 
 He is at present rooming in the building ; he has 
 everything in his trust." 
 
 "Then John O'Brien is your man. Find him and 
 secure him." 
 
 "But the risk is fearful. Should we fail, we will 
 be liable in damages and in imprisonment." 
 
 " Undoubtedly, my son ; that I well know. I am 
 most cautious until a crisis is reached, and then I feel 
 no fear. We must go forward or fail. Only the 
 bold are rewarded. Go to my friend, Judge Whit- 
 taker ; procure on your affidavit a warrant of arrest 
 for Risk, Planning and Slykes ; take this to the Chief 
 of Police and obtain from him two faithful men ; find 
 access to the building under their authority ; secure 
 John O'Brien, and get into the safe and take the 
 letters. I will stand by you in every peril." 
 
 Pointing to the papers before him, he continued : 
 
 "Do you see this opinion? I expect to complete it 
 this night. Now, when the clock strikes one, and I 
 have written the last word, I wish that package of 
 original letters to be on this table, here, just here, 
 Frank," said the Judge, tapping the green cover with 
 
208 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 his gold spectacles; "on this very spot where you see 
 me now striking." 
 
 The son was astonished and delighted by the shrewd 
 ness and boldness of his noble old father. His own 
 faith and courage were stimulated, and his enthusiasm 
 kindled into a blaze. Rising from his seat, he stood a 
 moment before the venerable man, and then falling on 
 his knees, with a tear in his eye, he exclaimed : 
 
 "Your blessing, sir." 
 
 The hand of the Judge was extended, silence 
 ensued, and, with the gentle pressure on his head, 
 Frank Livingstone experienced an increase of hope 
 and of resolve. Indeed, he felt in himself the assur 
 ances of victory. Leaving his father's presence, he 
 soon secured the writ and the two officers, and pro 
 ceeded to the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY DEPOT. 
 
 The edifice rose before him in its grand and stately 
 proportions, visible in the light of the moon which, 
 just bursting through a rift of a cloud, poured down 
 her glory over wall and turret, and turned the glass 
 of the roof into glancing gold, illuminating the marble 
 statues of President Risk and Vice-President Planning 
 standing high above Frank Livingstone. 
 
 He and the two officers stood before the door in a 
 brief whispered conversation. When this was finished 
 one of the latter gave a gentle tap on the window. 
 This being unanswered he increased the force. Very 
 eoon a gruff voice within was heard asking, 
 
 ".Who's there?" 
 
 The elder officer replied, "Friends." 
 
INTER OCEANIC SAFE ENTERED. 209 
 
 "What are your names?" inquired the voice, in a 
 low, hesitating tone. 
 
 "I am Henry Clamp, Captain of this ward, and 
 James Stout, my assistant, is with me, and also Mr. 
 Frank Livingstone. We wish to see you on business." 
 
 There was a moment's pause, a bar was withdrawn. 
 Then a key was heard turning in a lock. Lastly, 
 bolts were unfastened at the top and bottom, and the 
 door swung open. 
 
 John O'Brien, confidental clerk of the INTER OCEANIC 
 RAILWAY, stood before them in the light of the moon. 
 
 "John," said Clamp, "we want to have a private 
 talk with you in the chief office." 
 
 "I see no harm in that," answered O'Brien. Come 
 along with me." 
 
 They entered. The door was shut and fastened, 
 and the four men proceeded to the room. The gas 
 was now turned up until the place was dimly lighted, 
 and there, before Frank Livingstone, was the door of 
 the huge safe, containing the treasure he so much 
 desired. 
 
 "John," began Clamp, "I believe you know Mr. 
 Livingstone." 
 
 "Oh, yes," replied O'Brien; "I have known him 
 long and well, and have reason to remember him, 
 since he once saved my life." 
 
 " John O'Brien is an old client of ours," said Frank, 
 taking the man's hand. "Once, when unjustly accused, 
 my father and I defended him, and saved him from 
 the gallows." 
 
210 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "Thankful," answered O'Brien, with a beaming face 
 and a tear in his eye, " am I and all my family to 
 you both. But for you I would have swung sure, and 
 disgraced my blood and left Bridget O'Brien a widow, 
 and my boys and girls fatherless orphans in the world." 
 
 Clamp and Stout now took the clerk into an adjoin 
 ing apartment to get from him what they wanted. 
 They showed the warrants of arrest for Risk, Plan 
 ning and Slykes, whom the man knew to be plunder 
 ing knaves. It was a great advantage that he had 
 confidence in the Livingstones, and that he had no 
 confidence in his employers. 
 
 It was a long conference. Frank could hear the 
 voices of the three men in earnest conversation. His 
 chair was immediately before the door of the safe, and 
 he sat looking at it. Shall it open ? Shall he see the 
 key inserted and hear it turn in its place, and then 
 catch the glad sound of withdrawing bolt and swinging 
 hinge ? Shall he enter that dark, mysterious vault ? 
 Can it be possible that he will penetrate into the inmost 
 recesses of the great corporation, and snatch his treas 
 ure from its most secure hiding place ? It seems 
 impossible to pass that grim barrier. He hears the 
 tick of the large railway clock, and sees in the low 
 light the motion of the hands, and remarks the meas 
 ured swing of the brass pendulum. A solitary cricket 
 utters an occasional chirp, and then the tooth of a 
 mouse gnaws gently the floor. Now, as he sits in the 
 visible gloom, he recalls the history of the past few 
 months the voyage on the Britannia, the faces of the 
 
INTER OCEANIC SAFE ENTERED. 211 
 
 ladies, Lord Arlington, Colonel Oscar Neville and his 
 frightful death on the wild billows ; the scene of 
 agony that followed ; his efforts at discovery ; the 
 tragedy in Villont's den ; the body of the mangled 
 wretch ; the marriage just witnessed, and the strange 
 voice, even yet shrieking in his ears ; the prostrate 
 form of Mrs. Neville ; the beauty of Lucy bending 
 over; the appearance of Risk, and the two female 
 fates sitting near him; his brief interview in the aisle 
 of the church; his father's advice and blessing in the 
 study these and a thousand other events passed before 
 him, pictured as in a moving panorama. Often his 
 thoughts were interrupted by voices, now subdued, 
 now rising, pleading, threatening, inquiring, answering, 
 persuading running through the whole marvelous 
 gamut of human tone, and human purpose, and 
 human feeling. Hours seem to pass. The clock struck 
 eleven, and after a long interval rang out twelve, 
 and still the voices continued, and the current of his 
 thoughts rolled on and his mind seemed more vivid 
 and vigorous than ever. A silence ensues. The argu 
 ment is over. What settled the point he never knew. 
 But O'Brien had yielded. He came from the room, 
 took out his keys, turned the lock, pulled open the 
 door, struck a match and lighted a lamp, passed into 
 the safe, remained perhaps a minute, and returned, 
 placing in the hands of Frank Livingstone a package 
 of letters. Not a word was spoken, but the prize 
 was none the less secure. 
 
 The four men proceeded to the door, and, after 
 
2\2 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 thanks and good night, separated. In ten minutes 
 Frank Livingstone was again in his father's study. 
 
 The Judge did not look at his son as he stood 
 before him, but continued rapidly writing. His pen 
 flew over his paper. Many minutes passed, still his 
 pen flew. Minutes more elapsed. His pen flew faster. 
 Frank could hear every scratch on the paper, and still 
 his pen flew, until just as the clock struck one, the 
 Judge stopped and said: "Frank, put that package 
 down there, just there where I directed. My 
 opinion is finished, the clock has tolled the hour and 
 here are the letters. I have sought higher aid than 
 yours or mine and I expected this result. Heaven has 
 heard and given us the victory." 
 
 Frank, in an ecstacy of grateful joy, laid the package 
 in the precise spot indicated. 
 
 Yes; there were the letters the coveted letters, the 
 original letters letters from Mrs. Neville, from Lucy, 
 from Lord Clare Arlington, from numerous friends 
 letters taken from the safe of the INTER-OCEANIC 
 CONSPIRACY and fixing in characters of flame the brand 
 of guilt on the infamous Risk, Planning and Slykes. 
 The proofs were complete and escape was impossible. 
 Arrest will follow. An examination showed that the 
 sales of the Railway stocks, the proceeds from jewels 
 and other property, and the amounts of the remittances, 
 after deducting the sums allowed Mrs. Neville, exceeded 
 half a million of dollars. This was clearly evinced by 
 memoranda in the handwriting of Risk. 
 
 The Judge now took up a small envelope and 
 
INTER OCEANIC SAFE ENTERED. 213 
 
 proceeded to open it. It was unsealed, and while in 
 his hands there rolled out on the table a ring containing 
 a magnificent diamond, whose brilliance, flashing in the 
 light, startled them. Even in the gas-jet, it burned 
 and flamed as if the volcanic fires stored in it during 
 centuries were now blazing forth in glories proportionate 
 to the cycles of their accumulation. 
 
 "Ha," exclaimed the Judge, with a beaming and 
 dilated eye, " what a jewel fit for the brows of kings ! 
 It would not surprise me, if it proved some famous 
 Indian celebrity ! Examine it, my son ! " 
 
 Frank took the ring and, glancing his eye within its 
 circle of gold, said : 
 
 "I find inscribed here, 'Oscar Neville to Emily 
 Neville, Delhi, 1857!'" 
 
 " It is a sacred relic," replied the Judge ; " doubtless 
 made precious by love and battle. Perhaps it was 
 rescued by heroic valor from the flames of the old 
 Mogul Metropolis, and placed by the hand of affection 
 on the finger of beauty. Frank, I give it to your 
 custody, and trust that before long you will be enabled 
 to restore it to the delighted owner, and see it shine 
 in her smile with a brilliance equal to that of your 
 own hopes." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE DIVORCE. 
 
 RS. NEVILLE had been carried 
 insensible from the church to 
 the house of Lyman Risk. She 
 was thus spared all questions 
 as to the choice of her resi 
 dence. Lucy, of course, could 
 
 only accompany her wronged and suffer 
 ing mother, who was conveyed imme 
 diately from the carriage to her apart 
 ment. The agony of the terrible scene 
 in the church was succeeded by the 
 apathy of exhaustion, and she spent the 
 night in slumber, but with interruptions 
 
 from frightful dreams. 
 
 With the morning sun, the consciousness of her 
 
 situation rushed upon her, so that the light was but 
 
 a revival of her misery. 
 
 Throwing round her person a loose wrapper, and 
 
 ordering her coffee, she reclined on a sofa near a 
 
 window of the avenue. 
 
 The bright beams, trembling through the curtains, 
 
 and glittering on the floor, seemed in mockery of her 
 
 agony, and the glory of the creation was an aggravation 
 
 of her distress. While Mrs. Neville was lying silent 
 
THE DIVORCE. 215 
 
 and tearful she heard a gentle foot-fall. Opening her 
 eyes, she saw the beautiful face of Midge. He stood 
 like a statue with his arms folded awaiting her 
 awakening. In his dark eyes and boyish face were 
 the tokens of a kindred sorrow. 
 
 Midge, as we have seen, under the gracious care of 
 the ladies, had developed like a flower transported from 
 darkness and sterility to a place where all conditions 
 of soil and air and light are favorable to bloom. 
 
 He was silent as a sunbeam, but as bright and 
 as animating. Villont's stern Jesuitical discipline had 
 taken out of him the joyousness of youth, but, under 
 the culture of lovely women, he was growing morally 
 and intellectually, and his life was becoming a lesson 
 of quiet delight. He resembled an ideal of childhood 
 in stone converted into flesh, and animated with a 
 soul, yet gliding over the world in its living beauty 
 as speechless as ever. In his young heart was a 
 sorrow often bringing a tear to his eye, and a cloud 
 over his face. 
 
 "What do you want, my little Midge?" said Mrs. 
 Neville, with half-opened eyes, looking dreamily and 
 languidly at the boy. 
 
 "I want you to forgive me, Mrs. Neville," replied 
 the boy in a low voice, while the drops began to steal 
 out from his eyes. 
 
 "Forgive you!" exclaimed Mrs. Neville, looking at 
 him with awakened interest and surprise. "Why, 
 Midge, you have never done me any wrong, nor can I 
 conceive how you could harm me ! " 
 
216 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 These words cut into the heart of the boy, and from 
 hidden springs let forth all the floods of his sorrows. 
 He wept convulsively. He shook with the intensity of 
 his feelings. It was plain that only a powerful cause 
 could excite such a tempest. 
 
 Mrs. Neville saw that something important was in 
 the moment. She was instantly aroused from the 
 apathy of her exhaustion, and said: 
 
 "My little Midge, it will be better for you to tell me 
 the whole truth." 
 
 The boy began again and again, but was interrupted 
 by his sobbings and his tears. Yet, from a word here 
 and there, Mrs. Neville at last extracted from him the 
 story of the letters and complicity of Slykes in the 
 fraud, and she saw clearly that Risk and Planning 
 must have been participators, if not the authors, of the 
 whole infamous scheme. She was a dupe and a victim. 
 The whole truth, like a flash of morning light, darted 
 through her soul. First, she had been plundered ; then 
 married to her plunderer. How she thanked Heaven 
 for that awful voice which had kept the villain from 
 her arms ! 
 
 So strange is the heart, and so inexplicable, that 
 the certainty of the imposition, instead of crushing her, 
 aroused her spirit. She arose from her sofa an Arling 
 ton again. Mrs. Oscar Neville stood forth in her own 
 personality, awakened suddenly to a capacity for at 
 least one stupendous act of courage. No human spirit 
 could be more resolved. 
 
 The tempest was succeeded by a sudden composure 
 
THE DIVORCE. 217 
 
 and command, which transfused themselves into Midge, 
 and he became capable of answering her questions. 
 
 "Why, Midge," she began, "did not you tell me this 
 before ? You know how kind we have been to you, 
 and I feel very badly to think you could have deceived 
 and wronged us. Had you made this known before, 
 oh, how much you might have saved me !" 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Neville," he said, amid floods of grief ; 
 "my father threatened my life, and Mr. Sly kes took me 
 to his room, placed a pistol at each of my ears, and 
 swore he would shoot me if I did not do as he directed, 
 or if ever I told any one in the world. So, you see, I 
 was afraid." 
 
 "I cannot blame thee, Midge," she said, with an 
 infinite sadness, clasping her hands, and with a strong 
 effort suppressing the rising weakness of her tears. 
 ".Thou wast the compelled and, therefore, guiltless agent 
 of old and murderous villains, who shall yet be over 
 taken by the vengeance of Heaven ; but, oh, what seas 
 of agony I would have escaped ; what pangs, what 
 horrors unutterable, had I known what I have now 
 gleaned from thee ! Yet, on the other hand, I would 
 have missed that deep knowledge of myself and that 
 tenderness toward misery which have resulted from 
 my sufferings." 
 
 After this soliloquy, Mrs. Neville inquired anxiously : 
 
 " Hast thou ever told this to another ; if thou hast, 
 I must know the truth." 
 
 "Oh, no, no, Mrs. Neville," answered the boy, sadly 
 and eagerly. "I went once to his office to tell Mr. 
 
218 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Frank Livingstone, but he was not in, and so I never 
 tried again." 
 
 "Why, my child, tell a stranger rather than myself, 
 who am your friend ? " 
 
 "Because," said Midge, "he was my father's lawyer, 
 and when I sometimes went to his office he was kind 
 to me, and he is good and rich, and every person loves 
 him, and his father is a great Judge, and I thought 
 it better to ask his advice." 
 
 "Enough, my little fellow! Thy answer shows thy 
 heart was right, and thy intentions make me love thee, 
 much suffering as thou hast caused us," replied Mrs. 
 Neville, with a sigh. " Speak on this subject to no 
 other person. I forgive thee. Go down stairs and await 
 my call." 
 
 Mrs. Neville remained in a strange tranquillity. A 
 fire was kindled which consumed the sources of tears, 
 and when the flame subsided she was left strong as a 
 volcanic rock. Now she is capable of great deeds. Her 
 feminine weakness is overpowered by the invincible 
 might of a conquering purpose. 
 
 Lucy had already informed her of the request of 
 Frank Livingstone, whose name had been so strangely 
 mentioned by Midge. She had been trying to recall 
 his image, but found her memory wholly confused. 
 Several hours passed in calmly revolving her plans 
 when Midge brought her a card, saying, "Oh, Mrs, 
 Neville, Mr. Frank Livingstone is here, and wants to 
 see you. He is so good and kind and rich, and I 
 know will be a true friend." 
 
THE DIVORCE. 219 
 
 "Request him, Midge, to come here to my sitting- 
 room, where we can be private, and do you remain in 
 my bedroom, and come instantly when I ring my 
 bell." 
 
 Mrs. Neville arose from her sofa, retired for a few 
 moments, and returned with a pistol which she placed 
 in a drawer of her stand. 
 
 A knock was heard, and, after her response, Frank 
 Livingstone entered. 
 
 Her eye assisted her memory, and she recognized 
 him as having been seen by her on the vessel. 
 
 " Sir," she said, extending her hand, " I could not 
 recall you until I saw your face and person ; now, 
 however, that you are before me, my recollection grows 
 distinct." 
 
 Taking her hand, Frank answered in a tone of the 
 deepest respect : 
 
 ''Madam, you are right. I was a passenger with 
 you during your voyage on the Britannia." 
 
 '"My little Midge," she replied, with a sad smile, 
 "has just been speaking so loudly in your praise that 
 he has quite prepared me for this interview. You will 
 not hesitate to make freely any communication you 
 may deem proper. Although my confidence has been 
 so cruelly betrayed, I feel assured that I can trust 
 you." 
 
 Frank Livingstone then related briefly his strange 
 interest in the ladies, his efforts to discover them, his 
 father's participation in his plans, their difficulties, 
 perseverance, and final success in obtaining first the 
 
220 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 copies and then the originals of .all the letters between 
 Mrs. Neville and her English friends. 
 
 She listened with absorbing attention, but without 
 visible emotion. The fire was too deep to be seen on 
 the surface. After long musing she suddenly and 
 impetuously exclaimed : 
 
 " Pardon me, Mr. Livingstone ; my mind was so 
 engaged that I forgot the most sacred duty of my 
 life. To you and your father my obligations are 
 unspeakable. Your nobility and generosity have soft 
 ened a heart which treacherous villains have nearly 
 converted into rock. Oh, how I thank you both ! 
 My whole future life shall be a testimony to my grat 
 itude." 
 
 " Madam," said Frank, with solemnity and manly 
 directness, " we have only done what Heaven com 
 manded as our duty. Our path seemed so plain that 
 we had to walk in it. Besides, we have found ample 
 reward in the acts themselves." 
 
 "But that, sir," she replied, "does not diminish 
 my obligation. Such disinterested deeds are not com 
 mon in the world, and they shed the only true light 
 through its deep and awful darkness." 
 
 Pausing for a moment, and with a visible effort to 
 preserve her control, she added : 
 
 "Can I see the letters?" 
 
 "Madam," said Frank, "if it be your wish, it is 
 certainly your right. They are your exclusive prop 
 erty. I have brought them in this sealed package, 
 and hereby restore them to their lawful owner. Some 
 
THE DIVORCE. 221 
 
 of them we were compelled to read, but I trust that 
 we never exceeded the bounds of delicacy and neces 
 sity." 
 
 He placed a bundle on the table before her, and 
 untied the tape around it, then, removing the exterior 
 wrappings, delivered the letters into her hands. She 
 received them, held them for a moment, scrutinized 
 them, and then, laying the package down, broke the 
 seal and commenced reading. Not an emotion appeared 
 on her face. A man of business could have perused 
 with no less seeming surprise his ordinary morning 
 mail. She looked through them all, and noticed espe 
 cially the memoranda of Risk. When the examination 
 was completed she said : 
 
 "Mr. Livingstone, I know that you will pardon me 
 for thus absorbing myself from you. These letters, 
 the testimony of Midge, and your own statements, 
 make the conspiracy plain in all its vileness and mon 
 strosity. Have you calculated the amounts these men 
 have realized through their villainies?" 
 
 "Madam," answered Frank, "as far as my father 
 and myself can calculate, not less than half a million 
 of dollars in our currency." 
 
 "Has the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY the means to 
 pay such a sum ? " she inquired with composure. 
 
 "Their circumstances are desperate, Madam," Frank 
 answered. " Indeed, it is a bankrupt corporation. But 
 they have just mortgaged their new depot and obtained 
 money in other ways, so that now they happen to 
 have an immense sum at their disposal, most prob- 
 
222 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 ably with a view to bankruptcy, and for the benefit 
 of a few principal officers." 
 
 At this intelligence there was a glance of fire in 
 the eye of Mrs. Neville, and on her face the light of 
 a conquerless determination. 
 
 "In what bank," she inquired, "is this money?" 
 
 " In the American Railway Bank, madam." 
 
 "Mr. Livingstone, have you a blank check?" 
 
 " Yes, madam," said Frank, taking out and opening 
 his pocket-book, "one on that very bank." 
 
 " Now," she said, quietly, " oblige me by filling out 
 the date on that check and making it payable to your 
 own order for a half a million of dollars." 
 
 " I must willingly do what a lady commands," 
 replied Frank, bowing and smiling, "although I can 
 not see your object, and fear that the paper will be 
 as valueless after as before." 
 
 "Still," she persisted, "I must ask you to comply 
 with my request." 
 
 Mrs. Neville took a pen and an inkstand out of 
 the drawer, and, placing them before Frank, he filled 
 out the check and left it on the table. 
 
 "Thanks, Mr. Livingtone," she resumed; "many 
 thanks for this and all your kindness ! But I must 
 bring myself under additional obligation. You notice 
 my determined self-possession. It is given me for my 
 work. Heaven has strengthened me for what is just 
 before me. When I have accomplished the task 
 assigned me, nature will assert herself and I shall 
 long be confined as a sufferer, and, perhaps, be carried 
 
THE DIVORCE. 223 
 
 to my grave. Should I attain my purpose, this 
 money will be at your command, and I request you 
 to provide for my illness, and to solicit your noble 
 mother to have some care for my Lucy. I am sure 
 that you will wish to complete the task you have so 
 generously begun." 
 
 " Most gladly," replied Frank, with a manly and 
 respectful cordiality. "Any wish you may express 
 will be executed, if it be within the power of our 
 family." 
 
 "Again," she said, " my thanks from a full and 
 grateful heart. But once more I must trouble you. 
 My name, Mr. Livingstone, my hated name. Tell me, 
 oh, tell me, how can I be rid of it forever ? " 
 
 " If you command us, madam, my father and myself 
 can obtain an act of the Legislature, which will give 
 you relief. Under the peculiar circumstances, we deem 
 this better than application to our courts." 
 
 She clasped her hands as if delivered from a secret 
 torture. A mountain of flame was lifted from her. 
 Her eyes spoke the thanks she dared not trust to 
 words. Frank never forgot that unutterable look. 
 After this unexpected tempest of soul her previous 
 self-command was restored. 
 
 "Mr. Livingstone," she resumed, "I am piling into 
 heaven the mountains of my obligations. I thought I 
 had finished, and now I make yet another request. 
 The carriage shall be ordered to my door. Please 
 remain in the drawing-room until you obtain, through 
 Midge, my direction how to use it." 
 
224 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "Gladly, Mrs. Neville," exclaimed Frank, " will I 
 comply with your request. One thing yet remains," 
 he continued after a pause; "with the package of 
 letters was a small envelope containing this diamond 
 ring." 
 
 He took from his pocket the brilliant gem. Oh, how 
 it gave back its splendors to that morning sun, flash 
 ing its light into the face of Mrs. Neville, who seemed 
 kindled into an overpowering joy. She was speechless 
 in the excess of her emotion, and unable to receive 
 the jewel, which continued to sparkle in the hand of 
 Livingstone. After a long pause, Mrs. NeviUe was 
 capable of saying : 
 
 ''Sir, words would be poor and unavailing in such 
 a joy as mine. The intensity of my delight and 
 gratitude is inexpressible. Next to my Oscar and my 
 Lucy, that gem to me is precious. When it left my 
 finger, my life went with it, and when restored, my 
 life will return. My torn heart will now be healed. To 
 testify what I feel, I will select you, sir, to perform 
 the most sacred office possible to me, and which 
 carries me back again to the spirit of my Oscar. I 
 request you to place that ring on my finger." 
 
 She held down her hand, and extended her finger. 
 Livingstone was on his knees in a moment. No 
 knight of chivalry ever glowed more fervently in the 
 presence of wronged and delivered beauty, than he, 
 as he delicately placed on the fair finger the oriental 
 brilliant, bestowed by affection, torn away . by fraud, 
 and now restored by a stranger, selected by Heaven 
 
THE DIVORCE. 225 
 
 for the office. Livingstone soon after bade Mrs. 
 Neville a respectful good-morning, and she was left to 
 herself. 
 
 The ring on her finger ! The letters on the table ! 
 What histories ! She gazed on them, and gazed and 
 gazed, and continued to gaze, with feelings too deep 
 for words, or tears, or acts, or anything but a 
 motionless silence. 
 
 After many minutes of profound stillness she rang a 
 bell. Its silvery tinkle was a relief and soon brought 
 Midge to her side. 
 
 " Midge," she said, "tell Mr. Risk that I wish to 
 see him at once in this room." 
 
 The boy departed and she was again alone. She 
 drew on her gloves, removed the package from view, 
 took the pistol out of the drawer, and thrust it into 
 her wrapper pocket, placed the table in the middle of 
 the room with a chair before it, laid on it the check, 
 and near the pen and the inkstand, and then seated 
 herself on the sofa. 
 
 Scarcely had these preparations been completed, 
 when the door opened, and Risk slowly and reluc 
 tantly entered. 
 
 His hair was white as winter; his very beard was 
 gray ; and he had the aspect of a man snowed with 
 sudden age. In his eye was an almost frenzied stare. 
 It wandered, and then suddenly fixed itself on some 
 image it was shaping. Risk, too, was bowed in form 
 as with the weight of years. 
 
 Confronted with the woman he had wronged, he 
 
226 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 dared not sit, but stood before her like a culprit 
 awaiting doom. 
 
 Taking the pistol from her pocket, she cocked it 
 and placed her finger on the trigger. Looking steadily 
 in his face, she said slowly : 
 
 " Lyman Risk, we separate." 
 
 These words seemed to call the wretch back to life. 
 Instantly everything returned to him but the color of 
 his hair, whose white contrasted with the momentary 
 glow of his recovered manhood. He saw he was on 
 the chasm's brink, and that his only hope was in 
 the woman. Summoning his blasted energies, he 
 exclaimed : 
 
 " I hope you will not think of this. Do not regard 
 too much the occurrences of last evening. Those words 
 were from the lips of a ventriloquising actress, who 
 has sworn my ruin." 
 
 "Painful and mortifying as was that scene," she 
 replied, "it makes no part of the reasons impelling me 
 to my resolution." 
 
 "Perhaps," he suggested dubiously, "you may have 
 heard of the embarrassments of our Railway, and our 
 pecuniary difficulties may be affecting your mind." 
 
 " Not in the least," she said, with an imperious smile. 
 "Poverty could never be sufficient ground for divorce, 
 nor cause me to abhor an honest name." 
 
 "Tell me your reasons," he said, as if afraid she 
 would comply with his request. 
 
 "Your name is odious," she answered, with rising 
 fierceness. "Risk, Risk, Risk! A shriek in my ear; 
 
THE DIVORCE. 227 
 
 a blot on my life ; a haunting ghost wherever I go. 
 I despise it ! I abhor it ! Yelling in my ears since our 
 marriage, I hear some devil scream, Risk, Risk ! Mrs. 
 Lyman Risk ! This is torture." 
 
 Her words waked a fiend in the man. He glared 
 on her like a tiger. Blood was in his eye and murder 
 in his heart. But her look, as she stood with pointed 
 pistol, subdued him. He cowered under her gaze. 
 
 "Come to the point, Mrs. Risk," he urged, "and let 
 me know plainly and immediately what has changed 
 your purpose." 
 
 " Call me by that hated name at your peril," she 
 burst out with a terrible emphasis of indignation. "I 
 will never hear it from you or any other person. I 
 have overwhelming proofs of your villainy. All you 
 have done is by fraud, and your marriage has no value 
 before the law. Already I have taken measures to 
 remove from my life this detestable stigma." 
 
 Risk flamed again into fury, and was only kept 
 from violence by his own conscious villainy and her 
 Arlington courage, which she was prepared to support 
 by a pistol. He cried out. 
 
 "Beware! Hell is rising in me! I can scarcely 
 keep my hands from your throat ! You will drive me 
 to desperation and murder. Persevere in this course, 
 and we are ruined. Desist, and we may be happy." 
 
 "Never!" she replied, with all her energy. "Never, 
 never! Your name I will never bear." 
 
 "Once you were glad enough to have it!" he cried, 
 like a madman. "Do not repeat what you have said, 
 
228 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 or I will not be responsible for the consequences. Law 
 and muscle are on my side." 
 
 "But on my side are Justice and Heaven," she 
 answered, with a noble dignity. " I am prepared for 
 you. A bullet is swifter than your arm, and makes 
 me superior to your brute force. A ftiarriage, con 
 ceived and consummated by such fraud, is void before 
 God and man. All the proofs of your infamy are in 
 my hands. This is a sufficient explanation of my 
 conduct. My sole wish in life is to be relieved of the 
 disgrace of your name and have back that of my noble 
 husband. To die called Risk would be the worst part 
 of death to have Risk on my coffin, like the torment 
 everlasting." 
 
 "I cannot deny," he said, with a beseeching and 
 apologetic tone, "that circumstances seem against me. 
 But give me time for explanation. I implore you not 
 to drive me to vengeance and despair." 
 
 "Ha! you beg!" she cried, with scorn. "You have 
 committed the crime and would evade the penalty. No 
 uncommon thing for culprits. You shall make restitu 
 tion. Sign that check on the table for half a million 
 of dollars or take the consequences ! " 
 
 "And what, if I refuse," he roared forth, with all 
 the recovered energy of his nature. 
 
 "Where were you last night, Lyman Risk?" she 
 inquired, with a look piercing into his soul. "Why 
 did you not claim your bride ? Why were you not in 
 your house ? Why did I see you stealing here in the 
 morning gloom like a guilty ghost ? Because you 
 
THE DIVORCE. 229 
 
 knew that you had obtained my hand by fraud and 
 had none of the rights of a lawful husband. Where 
 were you ? What were you doing ? Tell me, if you 
 dare ! " 
 
 Mrs. Neville knew not the import and effect of her 
 own words. Risk shrieked, cowered and trembled. 
 All the look of age came back to him in an instant, 
 and he seemed bent and pitiable in his decrepitude. 
 Holding his hands before his eyes, he averted his face 
 as if to avoid some image of blood and horror. To 
 him were visible two writhing shapes not seen by Mrs. 
 Neville, who had unconsciously thundered into his 
 guilty soul. He staggered and almost fell, and then, 
 going in silence to the table, took the pen and signed 
 his name to the check. Having done this, he placed 
 his hands on his face, and, leaning on the desk, uttered 
 a groan that seemed to come out of hell. 
 
 Mrs. Neville was touched with this extremity of 
 suffering. But she could not leave her work half 
 accomplished. 
 
 "Now," she said, with a commanding voice and 
 dignity, "you must leave this house. I cannot go 
 away until the divorce is procured and I will not live 
 with you under the same roof. I must therefore say 
 to you leave, and leave immediately." 
 
 The ruined wretch arose and looked around him 
 with a blank and beseeching despair. Tottering 
 through the door, he descended the stairs and left 
 the dwelling. Mrs. Neville touched the bell for Midge, 
 and sank down exhausted on her sofa. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 INTER OCEANIC DEPOT CONFLAGRATION. 
 
 his departure from his home, 
 Lyman Risk proceeded at once to 
 his apartments in the INTER OCEANIC 
 DEPOT. Planning and Slykes, by a 
 species of sympathetic instinct, had 
 also taken refuge there, so that the three 
 confederates found themselves living to 
 gether at the chief center of their business 
 and their power. Indeed, the place and 
 a desultory life were most in harmony 
 with the tastes and habits of the men who 
 appeared to be reduced to their proper 
 position and dimensions. Their palatial homes were, 
 after all, not suitable for their residences. 
 
 When Risk was first seen by his friends, they were 
 astounded by his changed appearance, and especially 
 at the color of his hair. 
 
 "Why, Lyman," burst forth Slykes, in amazement, 
 "what's the matter, old fellow? What has happened 
 to you ? Your hair's white as cold steam on a frosty 
 morning." 
 
 "Stop your nonsense, Sam," said Risk, peevishly. 
 "I am in no mood for such talk and I won't stand 
 
INTER OCEANIC DEPOT CONFLAGRATION. 233 
 
 it. We are in great danger. It's no time for jokes." 
 " But it's a fact, old boy. You're like a goose 
 berry bush in an October snow. What's done it ? 
 Frightened white by wedding music ! At this rate, 
 you'll be bald as a brass cylinder in a month." 
 
 "You're a fool, Slykes, and I'll have none of this," 
 Risk replied, suddenly rising and ready to strike his 
 friend to the floor. 
 
 "But," interposed Planning, "Sam is right, Lyman. 
 You should not be angry in this way. We have 
 enough to do without fighting each other. The change 
 is remarkable, and the sooner you know it the better. 
 Step to the glass." 
 
 He had not seen himself in a mirror since the 
 dreadful occurrences we have related. A glance at 
 his image struck horror to his soul. He saw not 
 Lyman Risk, but a bowed old man, with a hoary 
 head, a white beard, and cheeks sunken and ghastly. 
 The sight was so appalling that he sank down on a 
 chair with a groan, and lifted his hands before his 
 eyes, which were staring at some spectacle of terror to 
 others invisible. He sat for some minutes in a pro 
 found and despairing silence, which made his friends 
 speechless in his presence. Suddenly arousing him 
 self, Risk cried : 
 
 "Brandy, Coolie, for Heaven's sake, brandy!" 
 The bottle was brought, and he drained glass after 
 glass, until his nerves were strengthened, without pro 
 ducing the slightest intoxication, Under ordinary cir 
 cumstances, he would have been fevered and frenzied 
 
234 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 by such potations. Rallying himself with a prodigious 
 effort, he said : 
 
 "Now to business. Our affairs are in a most dan 
 gerous condition. We will sit around this table and 
 discuss the situation." 
 
 The three confederates seated themselves in their 
 accustomed places, and began to talk as usual. In 
 their most serious affairs had always been mingled 
 jokes and jollities. Before coming to the perils of the 
 hour, Planning, attempting to excite his President to 
 greater cheerfulness, said, in a bright and bantering 
 tone : 
 
 "Lyman, you look blue as well as white. Your 
 honeymoon showing horns already ! Pushing you out 
 of your own house ! Rather soon for such a tumble." 
 
 "Coolie," he replied, fretfully, "I am sore on that 
 subject ; I do not wish you to name it." 
 
 Planning was not to be so easily baffled. Before 
 getting under the shadow of their troubles, he deter 
 mined to evoke a flash of good humor, and, turning 
 to Slykes, said : 
 
 "Then I'll take my fun out of Sam. He, too, is 
 in the dumps. Failed to make up his matrimonial 
 losses ! Can't get another cylinder, my locomotive 
 widower ! Like a broken engine waiting for repairs ! 
 Long time before you're mended and on the road 
 again." 
 
 "I confess, Coolie, I feel black as a furnace when 
 the fire's out," said Slykes, for the first time showing 
 despondency. "Not Widdership, but the INTER OCEANIC 
 
INTER OCEANIC DEPOT CONFLAGRATION. 235 
 
 bothers me. Stocks depreciated, bonds worthless, credit 
 tumblin', debts pressin', rollin' stock ruined, track shaggy, 
 bridges shaky, engines crazy, workmen grumblin', shops 
 shut and mobs along the line folks now on streets 
 hootin' at us ! INTER OCEANIC must soon be busted 
 and fragments fly in' all over this planet." 
 
 " Bad enough," Planning answered, with an assumed 
 hopefulness of courage ; ' ' but we will work on and 
 work ever, and in the end conquer. By mortgaging 
 our depot to old Pilkilson, and taxing all our other 
 resources, I have succeeded in placing a million in the 
 bank, which Lyman Risk can draw on at any moment. 
 Not so bad, Mr. President." 
 
 "A lie, Coolie, an infernal lie," roared Risk, in 
 desperation. 
 
 "What do you mean, Lyman?" said Planning, out 
 raged and disgusted. " This language to me ! You 
 must be crazy." 
 
 " I am crazy, and I will be crazy," screamed Risk, 
 frantically. "My hair's white and my hands are red, 
 and I see what you don't. It's a lie, a ruinous lie." 
 
 Planning was astounded and alarmed in earnest. 
 He said, almost beseechingly : 
 
 " Lyman, you must stop this ! I hope you will not 
 give me the lie again. This must lead us all into 
 trouble. I deposited the money myself, and here is 
 my bank book to show it." 
 
 "And I drew out a half a million," shrieked Risk, 
 wildly. " I have married the devil, and she made me 
 sign the check with a pistol at my head. It was 
 
236 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 made payable to Frank Livingstone's order, and he 
 got the money. It's a hot spike to swallow, and it's 
 burning me through and through." 
 
 " Who'd' ve thought it of you, Lyman Risk?" cried 
 Sam Slykes, with his hands in his pockets, and his 
 head thrown back in utter wonder. "Crazy as a 
 locomotive, steam hissin', throttle valve open, engineer 
 tumbled off, and flyin' along a precipice with death 
 waitin' below in the waters. INTER OCEANIC bust 
 up, and president gone mad." 
 
 "Yes, mad, Sam; raving mad," yelled Risk, in fury. 
 <f Three she hell-cats have ruined me ! They screech 
 in my ears ! They show their teeth and claws ! They 
 glare at me with red eyes ! Blood is on their lips, and 
 they are screaming to gnaw my heart. I'm mad, and 
 I have a right to be mad, and I'll be more mad yet, 
 and curse the man who denies it." 
 
 Risk rose from his seat as he spoke, and, for the 
 moment, looked a maniac. His confederates placed 
 their hands on his shoulders, and, by soothing tones and 
 cheerful words, sought to allay the fire and tempest of 
 his soul. 
 
 "Take heart, Lyman," said Slykes, slapping him on 
 the back in a rough, good-natured way. "We'll stick 
 to each other and to the train while there's a tie on 
 the track, or a screw in the engine." 
 
 "Yes," said Planning, with a look of determined 
 courage, "we'll stand together. If we go down, we'll 
 sink from the same last plank into the bottom of the 
 sea. I'll telegraph at once to the American Railway 
 
INTER OCEANIC DEPOT CONFLAGRATION. 237 
 
 Bank to transfer our remaining half million to London, 
 and then we'll burn our books, and let the stockholders 
 whistle for their dues and shares." 
 
 " But," said Risk, with despair in his tones, " we 
 can't get our books. I have lost the keys of the 
 safe, and forgotten the combination." 
 
 " Worse and worse," cried Planning. 
 
 " Like losing the lever tha.t works the throttle 
 valve," said Slykes, with a momentary cloud on his 
 face. 
 
 " Send for John O'Brien," rejoined Planning, cheer 
 fully. " He has the keys and combination send for 
 him at once." 
 
 A messenger was dispatched. In the meantime, 
 the confederates procured another bottle of brandy and 
 a box of cigars, and sat for many minutes drinking 
 and smoking in silence and gloom. Risk often started, 
 groaned and held his hands before his eyes. The 
 tick of the great clock sounded loudly, as if tolling 
 out some coming doom. At last, the messenger 
 arrived, and reported that O'Brien had not been seen 
 during the day at his house or the depot, and it was 
 rumored that he had left the city. 
 
 This struck a chill into every heart. The silence 
 became deeper, and the face of Risk more wild and 
 maniacal. After a long stillness, Planning began : 
 
 "I fear this means trouble. That infernal letter 
 package, Lyman, is my dread. An open keg of 
 dynamite in that safe, with the thermometer at blood- 
 heat, wouldn't give me such anxiety. O'Brien's absence 
 
238 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 means treachery. Those letters in the hands of our 
 enemies will land us in the penitentiary.''' 
 
 " Stripes on our garments sure as brass-bands round 
 a cylinder," said Slykes. " We'll manufacture loco 
 motives yet for the benefit of the public." 
 
 "Shoot me, Slykes," cried Risk, frantically. ''Stab 
 me, Coolie ! Strike me dead, and make me happy. 
 I can't stand it any longer. I have brought this 
 trouble on you. Since the English women came from 
 Boston, we have been driving on to ruin. Lyman 
 Risk has murdered the INTER OCEANIC, and sees blood 
 and fire. Kill him ! kill him ! kill him now ! " 
 
 Having spoken these words, the wretch fell back, 
 exhausted by his own frantic violence. 
 
 While Risk was in a stupor, and even Slykes 
 benumbed, Planning was stimulated into new energy. 
 He realized the importance of destroying the perilous 
 package. A doubt haunted him. He feared its abstrac 
 tion, and that it would rise up a witness against himself 
 and his friends. Mechanics were sent for, and the 
 room was filled with the jingle of keys and the 
 ring of hammers. These were followed by the smell 
 of powder. Planning stood over the men, suggesting 
 expedients and stimulating exertion. Hours of labor 
 ensued. Noon had long passed and evening approached. 
 The efforts had been frantic pounding, cutting, bor 
 ing, sawing, filing, twisting, exploding. Little effect 
 had been produced. There stood the grim custodian 
 in its iron strength, defying the men who made it, 
 and refusing to yield its treasures. 
 
INTER OCEANIC DEPOT CONFLAGRATION. 239 
 
 Planning ordered an enormous charge of powder. 
 A long train was laid. There was the click of a 
 match, the application of the flame, and a low, thun 
 derous sound, with the vibrations of an earthquake. 
 The vast edifice trembled to its foundations. Windows 
 were shattered, the wall was bulged out, and around 
 were marks of prophetic ruin. But the safe was torn 
 open. The door hung down on one hinge, the sides 
 were grim and blackened, and the vault was filled 
 with the smoke and odor of powder. 
 
 Planning lighted a lamp and stepped over the 
 wreck into the dark passage. He examined every 
 thing. Drawers were opened. Books, papers, bundles, 
 were searched. The examination was a failure. Not 
 an English letter was to be found. Planning emerged 
 from the gloom and even his spirit began to sink. 
 Returning to his confederates, he said : 
 
 " Our search has been vain. The package is gone 
 and we must prepare for the worst. It is now evening 
 and we had better dismiss the workmen, lock and 
 bolt the doors, and secure ourselves against attack. 
 The mob will be on us, and I have prepared for our 
 escape." 
 
 Nor was Planning a moment too soon. The sound 
 of the explosion had startled the city. It had also been 
 rumored that the INTER OCEANIC deposit of a million 
 had been withdrawn from the bank, and the people 
 knew that this signified the wreck of the corporation 
 and the loss of their stocks and debts. The unpaid 
 workmen of the Railway were specially furious 
 
240 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Already the mob was collecting, and bonfires were 
 blazing in the streets, and casting their glare into the 
 windows and over the walls of the Depot. Planning 
 rose with the occasion and showed an unconquerable 
 spirit. He cried : 
 
 "No hurry, boys ! I have provided a way of escape 
 through a vault of our cellar. Before we leave, we 
 will have the dainties of the season and I'll make you 
 a speech. I was born an orator and the light of 
 these fires is kindling my genius. Sam, go to that 
 closet, bring out the champagne and the eatables, and 
 don't forget the box of Havanas." 
 
 The table was soon spread and the bottles uncorked, 
 and even Risk began to partake of the cheer and join 
 in the desperate merriment. 
 
 Mounting a chair in the wildness of his exhilaration, 
 Planning cried : 
 
 "Now, boys, for my speech. Hear the American 
 Demosthenes, who ought to be thundering in the 
 Senate instead of a Railway Depot. My theme : 
 DIVORCE and KEROSENE ! Young people in this country, 
 like Lyman, marry for the honeymoon, and that over, 
 separate by Divorce. If an old fellow would send 
 away his aged companion, Divorce brings a blooming 
 maiden to his arms. When men and women would 
 exchange wives and husbands, DIVORCE does the 
 business. Mr. President, DIVORCE will make you happy, 
 and if it don't, then try KEROSENE. KEROSENE, in 
 America, is a popular remedy for pecuniary diseases. 
 When a man is near protest and has his house insured, 
 
INTER OCEANIC DEPOT CONFLAGRATION. 241 
 
 KEROSENE saves his credit. If his policy is large on 
 ship and cargo, and he can't scuttle, the next best 
 thing is KEROSENE. Even the marriage tie, Lyman, 
 can be dissolved by KEROSENE, if you can fasten the 
 woman in the building before it burns. KEROSENE, 
 therefore, is comfort to the afflicted, a preventive of 
 bankruptcy, a savior of credit, and a friend to all 
 classes except the rascally Insurance companies who 
 deserve their losses. And KEROSENE, gentlemen, will 
 increase the last and brightest glory of the INTER 
 OCEANIC RAILWAY." 
 
 As the champagne began to have effect, Risk and 
 Slykes grew boisterous in their mirth. 
 
 "Go it, Coolie," cried the latter; "go it, like a train 
 afire. You were meant for one of Uncle Sam's syrup- 
 soothers. You could sugar-coat the old fellow's pills, 
 and steal from his pockets while he thanked you for 
 it." 
 
 " DIVORCE and KEROSENE ! " screamed Risk. " That's 
 what we want ! They'll cure Lyman Risk ! Flames ! 
 I say, Flames ! Hurrah for Coolie ! Hurrah for Sam ! 
 Hurrah for Lyman Risk ! Hurrah for Divorce ! Hurrah 
 for Kerosene ! Hurrah for Hell ! Fire will burn out 
 blood! Hurrah for Fire!" 
 
 And while he shouted, the wretch also leaped and 
 danced in the red glare of the flames whose rising 
 brightness flashed from the street below through the 
 shattered windows. 
 
 "Now," exclaimed Planning, with a voice of 
 command, "This fire below isn't fast enough. Sam, go 
 
242 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 to that closet ! Take out those bottles ! Pile up the 
 books and papers of the INTER OCEANIC ! Soak them 
 well with kerosene ! Pour it over that balustrade ! 
 Let it run down along the halls ! Don't be sparing ! 
 Old Pilkilson pays the bills ! " 
 
 Slykes obeyed. The kerosene had been amply 
 provided. Bottle after bottle was flung down the stairs 
 and broken over the floors until the place became 
 slippery and almost unendurable by its odors. 
 
 "All done as you ordered, Coolie," cried Slykes. 
 "You're conductor of this train now, and she'll burn 
 well, I'll tell you. A blazing INTER OCEANIC bridge 
 won't be a candle to this Depot." 
 
 "Here's a match," yelled Risk, as he pulled open 
 his box. " I'll touch the oil. The President kindles the 
 fire and makes flames, flames, flames." 
 
 "Hold on, Lyman," said Planning, "till I make a 
 speech from the window. When I finish, apply your 
 match and we'll run for the vault. Hear their yells ! 
 Pilkilson sits in his carriage ! The Livingstones are in 
 theirs. Curse them all I Ha ! Old Pills, you gave us 
 the money on the mortgage. Your policy expired 
 yesterday, and this building burns at your expense. 
 He looks at me ! Good ! He grits his teeth ! Better ! 
 He shakes his fist ! Best ! A race for our lives ! They 
 rush for the door ! Now they pound it ! Touch your 
 match, Lyman ! All right ! We'll soon be safe ! 
 Good-by, DEPOT ! Your smoke will ascend to heaven, 
 where we don't expect to meet it." 
 
 Lyman Risk obeyed Planning's command. As they 
 
INTER OCEANIC DEPOT CONFLAGRATION. 23 
 
 ran down the stairs and lifted the stone from a con 
 cealed vault, and replaced the covering, the flames 
 burst along the halls and out from the windows of the 
 lofty edifice. The mob, in affright, ceased their blows 
 and retired to a distance. 
 
 So effectual had been the work of the incendiaries 
 that efforts to suppress the fire were seen to be useless. 
 Crowds stood around in the glare, gazing with a dumb 
 and paralyzed wonder. Night had come. Fanned by 
 the winds, the flames roared and leaped with thunderous 
 sounds toward the lurid clouds, illuminating for miles 
 the city and country. 
 
 The building was one sheeted blaze. Soon the fury 
 of the conflagration subsided ; the flames sank, the roof 
 and pillars and walls tumbled through the fire and 
 smoke, and the INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY DEPOT was a 
 ruin. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 NEWPORT. 
 
 RS. NEVILLE, after the excitements 
 we have described, long remained 
 insensible. She was found by 
 Lucy where she had fallen after 
 the expulsion of Risk. A phy- 
 
 sician was called, and all the skill of 
 the medical art brought into requisition. 
 But nature was exhausted by the trials of 
 many months, culminating in the terrible 
 scenes we have depicted. 
 
 At the suggestion of Frank Livingstone, 
 his mother called and offered to Lucy 
 her services, which were gladly accepted 
 by the lonely and friendless girl. After the acquaintance 
 had ripened and the divorce had been secured, it was 
 deemed advisable that Mrs. Neville should be removed 
 from a place which would recall so much suffering. 
 
 When she had gained sufficient strength, under the 
 careful superintendence of the physician, she was 
 finally conveyed to the house of Judge Livingstone, 
 and Lucy, of course, had to accompany her mother. 
 Nothing could be more wonderful than this sudden 
 change from the power and presence of enemies to a 
 home among devoted and congenial friends. Even 
 
"The music of the sea came to her ears." 
 Page 252. 
 
NEWPORT. 247 
 
 while insensible to external things, Mrs. Neville seemed 
 to revive under these favoring influences. 
 
 Weeks passed before the powers of nature could be 
 visibly rallied. Soul and body had been under the 
 greatest conceivable strain. Not only had the mind 
 been torn and the heart lacerated, but fierce passions 
 had been aroused, which left behind them the agitations 
 of the tempest. Weeks of unconsciousness were the 
 only conditions of recovery. 
 
 Mrs. Livingstone was incessant in her attentions to 
 the suffering lady, whose eyes, when first opened, 
 beheld this new and faithful friend. By degrees Mrs. 
 Neville was made acquainted with the change of her 
 situation, and when she became able to converse, an 
 intimacy commenced between the ladies which was to 
 endure while they lived. 
 
 After her strength was sufficiently restored, she 
 was conveyed to the villa on the Hudson, and thence 
 taken to Saratoga. Finally, it was advised by the 
 physician that she should try the virtues of New 
 port, and in this most charming place she rented a 
 beautiful cottage adjoining to that of the Livingstones. 
 Lucy Neville soon became acquainted with all the 
 membeis of the family. She and Edna were drawn 
 together by a similarity of years and tastes, and their 
 intercourse bloomed into an enthusiastic friendship. 
 While the Judge and Mrs. Livingstone were warm in 
 the praises of the fair English girl, we need not record 
 how Frank felt and acted under the circumstances. 
 
 At Newport, Mrs. Neville rapidly recovered. She 
 
248 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 declared that no place in Europe was more lovely, and 
 no society more attractive. The sea was magic in its 
 influence, soon bringing back into her cheek its Eng 
 lish bloom. Also the consciousness that she was once 
 more among cultured and refined people, soothed and 
 healed her lacerated spirit. 
 
 Sitting on a rock beneath her cottage, Mrs. Neville 
 would gaze silently for hours over the ocean toward 
 her native land. While thus engaged, one morning 
 shone on her with a peculiar loveliness. The music 
 of the sea came to her ears in the waves 
 murmuring on the sands at her feet, and in the 
 louder roar of the breakers dashing their foam against 
 an opposite crag. In the heavens, the sun poured 
 down a cloudless but softened splendor. The blue of 
 sky and sea gave intense whiteness to the gliding 
 sails, and all around were sounds and scenes which 
 breathed into her a mild and healing comfort. Her 
 heart melted, and her eyes suffused, and all the bitter 
 ness of the past faded out of her in the purifying joy 
 of that memorable hour. She was long absorbed in 
 her meditations, when she heard a gentle foot-fall, 
 and, lifting her eyes, saw Mrs. Livingstone, who, 
 fearing intrusion, began to withdraw, but- was earnestly 
 requested to remain. 
 
 "Pardon me, Mrs. Neville," she exclaimed, as she 
 stood ready to retire, "I had not intended to disturb 
 you in this secluded place. Indeed, I did not know 
 that you were here. Let me return to the cottage, 
 and leave you once more alone." 
 
NEWPORT. 249 
 
 " By no means, Mrs. Livingstone," she replied, with 
 an affectionate cordiality, " I was this moment thinking 
 of you. Take a seat beside me, and we will converse 
 on a subject of mutual interest." 
 
 Mrs. Livingstone accepted the invitation, and the 
 ladies were soon absorbed in each other. 
 
 "It is strange," began Mrs. Neville, "that in all my 
 trials I have scarcely ever thought of my own 
 country. My sufferings were so intense, that my mind 
 was always occupied by the present anxiety or the 
 coming agony. The spectacle of the sea has recalled 
 Old England. My heart throbs with love, and yon 
 wide expanse connects me with my native shore." 
 
 A tear dropped from her eye and rolled down her 
 cheek. 
 
 "I can understand perfectly what you mean," 
 answered Mrs. Livingstone. " Oh, as you look over this 
 ocean, how lovely to your view must be the scenes 
 you have left behind, and, towering over all, grand 
 old Arlington Castle." 
 
 "Yes; images of England, fresh and fair, rise 
 before me with the vividness of pictures. But, sad to 
 reflect, that of the four persons who left Arlington, 
 one is in the depths of yonder sea, and the other lies 
 embalmed in his coffin to be transported over its 
 treacherous waves." 
 
 These words awakened a storm of grief only con 
 trolled by the severest effort. When the violence of 
 her feelings had subsided, Mrs. Livingstone said: 
 
 "We alone seem gainers by your misfortunes, since 
 
250 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 they have brought to us friends who will live in our 
 hearts during all the changeful scenes of our myste 
 rious earthly existence, and we trust afterwards and 
 for ever." 
 
 "Yes, oh, yes," exclaimed Mrs. Neville, embracing 
 Mrs. Livingstone, and weeping profusely; " Heaven 
 gave you to us as our deliverers. While villains 
 were plotting our ruin you were planning our rescue. 
 I know nothing more wonderful than the invisible 
 spell which drew you to strangers, and urged you for 
 ward under so many obstacles, and, at last, so signally 
 and triumphantly accomplished your benevolent pur 
 poses. Eternity will not suffice to express our gratitude. 
 Your noble husband and son appeared to be selected 
 and inspired in their generous efforts by the ever 
 lasting love and wisdom." 
 
 " We found our pleasure," answered Mrs. Livingstone, 
 glowing with joy, " in the deed itself, and are more 
 than rewarded by our recollections of it, and our 
 delight in finding such true and worthy friends." 
 
 " Do you know," inquired Mrs. Neville, looking up 
 with a hesitating expression, "that the tie which is 
 to unite us in the future may be closer than any we 
 have yet named ? I presume you understand what I 
 mean." 
 
 " Surely," replied Mrs. Livingstone, with pain and 
 embarrassment, " my son has not added to the trials 
 of your situation ! His heart has certainly been 
 exposed by his conduct ; but I cannot believe that his 
 lips would express what, under the circumstances, 
 
NEWPORT. 251 
 
 would be extremely indelicate and improper. I 
 believed that he would restrain himself, at least, while 
 you were under our roof." 
 
 " And he did show the very delicacy to which you 
 allude," said Mrs. Neville, " by not mentioning the 
 subject while we were your guests. You forget that 
 we are now in our own cottage." 
 
 Mrs. Livingstone was indeed relieved by this sug 
 gestion. 
 
 "Still," she replied, "it might have an appearance 
 of turning to his advantage obligations you seem to 
 be under, and thus placing yourself and your daughter 
 in a situation of extreme embarrassment. I did not 
 suppose that he could be guilty of so thoughtless a 
 precipitancy." 
 
 " Nor has he been," said Mrs. Neville, firmly. " He 
 has a true and noble nature, and has shown in every 
 way a manliness even his careful mother must approve. 
 Lucy and he are formed for each other, and I believe 
 that Heaven intends and will approve their marriage." 
 
 "But may there not be insuperable difficulties in 
 the way ? " asked Mrs. Livingstone, anxiously. " Frank 
 is an American citizen, Lucy must reside in England. 
 Questions also of property and succession may arise 
 which will make interminable trouble." 
 
 "I think not," replied Mrs. Neville, thoughtfully. 
 "True love levels mountains. The mingling currents 
 of the affections sweep away all obstacles. You will 
 find that apparent difficulties will adjust themselves, 
 and in the end prove helps and encouragements." 
 
252 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "Then you give your consent cheerfully and with 
 out reserve?" inquired Mrs. Livingstone, rising. "And 
 your approval is not enforced by your obligations, but 
 flows out freely from both your heart and your 
 judgment." 
 
 "I have no doubt and no hesitation," said Mrs. 
 Neville. "I have been sitting here to reflect on the 
 request, and I not only approve it, but it delights 
 me. No knight of chivalry ever more gallantly won 
 his lady-love, and he deserves her as a reward of his 
 labor and courage, while she feels an affection as 
 true and as ardent as his own. To him we owe all 
 we have, and are, and expect to be, and to enjoy, in 
 the future of our lives. The debt cannot be cancelled, 
 but we will do what is in our power toward its dis 
 charge." 
 
 There, on that ocean shore, with the sea and the 
 land and the sky as witnesses, the ladies again 
 embraced, and the houses of Arlington and Livingstone 
 were united in their clasping arms. After this 
 exchange of tokens and pledges of affection, and alli 
 ance they resumed their seats, and, after a long 
 pause, Mrs. Neville remarked : 
 
 " I am just beginning to comprehend something of 
 the meaning of my trials. Since the death of my 
 brother, Lord Clare, the Arlington estates pass to me 
 as the only surviving heir, and I believe I have 
 been disciplined for the trust." 
 
 "Will you explain," asked Mrs. Livingstone, "in 
 what particular way; if, indeed, I may be permitted 
 
NEWPORT. 253 
 
 to inquire. Perhaps, I may be intruding on thoughts 
 and feelings too sacred for another." 
 
 " Not at all," answered Mrs. Neville, warmly; " on 
 the contrary, my heart will find relief in pouring 
 itself into your own. The dreadful scenes of blood 
 and famine in India hardened my soul, and long 
 separation from my Oscar made me bitter and cynical. 
 When he returned, I was so filled with the idolatry 
 of my love, that I became insensible to the claims 
 and sufferings of others. My trials have melted my 
 heart. The woes of others now wake the tear in 
 me. I shall live henceforth to mitigate human 
 misery, and I shall have leisure and money for my 
 charitable plans. This seems to be the meaning of 
 what I have endured." 
 
 Mrs. Livingstone, with deep feeling, said : 
 
 " Surely a fountain has been opened by your sorrows, 
 whose streams are preparing to flow forth in blessings 
 to thousands. Bright and healing may be the waters! 
 Long may you live to enjoy the exquisite pleasure of 
 shedding light and love over this dark world." 
 
 As she concluded these words, Judge Livingstone 
 was seen standing on the shore of the ocean, and 
 gazing, with his glass, keenly over the blue waters. 
 Noticing the ladies, he closed his telescope and 
 came over the sand toward them. As he drew near, 
 he exclaimed, in his gay, cheerful voice : 
 
 "Mrs. Neville, I thought you might like to see 
 once more the flag of old England. I have been 
 trying to make out that ship, which. I believe, belongs 
 
254 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 to the British navy, and flies from her mast-head the 
 ensign of St. George." 
 
 Adjusting his glass, and gazing long, in silence, he, 
 at last, took it from his eye, saying : 
 
 "And I am right ! Behold the banner of your 
 country ! " 
 
 Mrs. Neville, trembling with emotion, seized the 
 telescope, and looked, and looked, until her eye 
 moistened and her bosom heaved. It was, indeed, an 
 animating spectacle. Yes ! there, above that splendid 
 ship, in the light and breeze of the brilliant morning, 
 floated, bright and free over the sea, the flag of 
 England. 
 
 The joy of Mrs. Neville was inexpressible. She 
 felt kindling within her a renewed desire to return to 
 the land she loved, and to begin the work to which 
 she proposed devoting her fortune and her life. Filled 
 with these thoughts, she gave Judge Livingstone the 
 glass, and asked, somewhat abruptly, a question, 
 suggested by a previous conversation : 
 
 "Judge, let me inquire what, in your opinion, is 
 the missing link between the extremes of society." 
 
 " Sympathy," he responded, instantly and emphatic 
 ally. 
 
 "Is that all?" she inquired, anxiously. 
 
 "In my opinion, all," he replied, firmly. 
 ~ "But will you not explain yourself more fully?" 
 she asked, gazing intently into his face. 
 
 "That requires a speech," he answered, with his 
 animating laugh; "and what an Englishman most hates 
 
NEWPORT. 255 
 
 is an American speech. Johnny Bull's idea of Uncle 
 Sam is a talkative bore, with brass in his face, a 
 twang in his nose, his cigar in his mouth, and his 
 hands in his pockets." 
 
 "And my conception of him," replied Mrs. Neville, 
 with a gay smile, " is an American Judge, whose 
 heart is full of kindness, and whose lips are full of 
 wisdom." 
 
 "Enough, enough!" said the Judge, taking off his 
 hat and bowing gallantly. " Such a compliment may 
 make my remarks longer than your patience." 
 
 " Beware," interposed Mrs. Livingstone, " how you 
 encourage Mr. Livingstone. Should he begin on this 
 subject, do not expect luncheon until late in the after 
 noon ; perhaps, not until time for dinner, and remember 
 that this sea-air whets the appetite." 
 
 " But my curiosity is aroused," answered Mrs. Neville. 
 " There is an intellectual as well as a physical appetite 
 which is to be satisfied. So I will take the risk and ask 
 the Judge to explain how sympathy is the missing, 
 social link." 
 
 "I will commence," said the Judge, "like Plato* 
 Socrates and Uncle Samuel, by asking a question. Did 
 you ever see, madam, the black and ruined walls of 
 the Tuileries and the Hotel de Ville, in the beautiful 
 city of Paris ? " 
 
 " I know nothing sadder, Judge," she answered, 
 "and I have often stood before them awed and 
 solemnized by my reflections." 
 
 "And did you ever observe," he continued, "the 
 
KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 hard, and selfish, and repulsive face of Louis the XIV. 
 in the pictures and statues of France ? " 
 
 "I have more than once studied it," she said, "on 
 wall and pedestal. Especially at Versailles was I 
 chilled and repelled by the countenance of the ambi 
 tious tyrant. But what connection between the face 
 of the monarch and the ruins of the palaces ? " 
 
 "Closer than you imagine," the Judge replied, with a 
 thoughtful expression. "The face of the king is like 
 his selfish and oppressive reign, whose wars and luxuries, 
 followed by the vices and the feebleness of his succes 
 sors, made the condition of France insufferable. Had 
 that royal family always been kind and just and wise, 
 would the torch of revolution have consumed the 
 monuments of the country ? Never ! When Love holds 
 the sceptre, Sovereigns rule with an unquestioned 
 sway. Witness your own Victoria! She lives in the 
 affections of her people, and hence the throne of Eng 
 land, during her reign, will be firm as the mountain 
 rocks. If the people are tigers, mouthed in blood, 
 they must be shot like tigers ; but it is not surprising 
 that they sometimes tear the kings who make them 
 tigers. Sympathy melts down the social barriers. Any 
 government, monarchy or republic, is secure with it, 
 and no government is secure without it, and through it 
 must be accomplished all the good possible from class 
 to class. But remember, it must not be that simulated 
 feeling, which is but the offspring of condescending 
 selfishness." 
 
 "But do you .suppose, Judge, that sympathy will 
 
"The face of the King is like his selfish and oppressive reign." 
 Page 256. 
 
KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 please see that it is not you instead of I who will 
 bring our luncheon late in the afternoon." 
 
 Waving his hat, the Judge retired with a merry 
 ring in his laugh, and left the ladies to continue the 
 conversation. After a long pause, Mrs. Neville resumed : 
 
 "Judge Livingstone has touched the deepest springs 
 of my being, and revealed me to myself. I perceive 
 that I never had any true sympathy. My whole 
 soul centered in itself. All my actions revolved about 
 myself. No wonder the poor who received my charities 
 detested the hand bestowing them. I felt I was an 
 Arlington. I spoke like an Arlington. I acted like 
 an Arlington. The Arlington pride was the poison- 
 drop in all I did. Yes ; he is right ! he is right ! 
 Sympathy is the key to the human heart and the 
 bond of human society." 
 
 "When Mr. Livingstone and myself began life," 
 said Mrs. Livingstone, " we, too, had the haughtiness 
 of wealth and rank. Suffering also did in us its sharp 
 work. The Judge accepted office, to place himself as 
 a man of practical labor in sympathy with his country 
 men, and this is the reason of his vast influence. And 
 with the same views we have educated our children. 
 Nor have we found it in any degree necessary to 
 sacrifice the refinement proper to our position. Indeed, 
 this would have weakened our power for good. Our 
 rule has been to accept the position in which we have 
 been born, and from that make our usefulness flow out 
 as its fountain." 
 
 "I see it all and see myself, oh, in how clear a 
 

NEWPORT. 261 
 
 light!" exclaimed Mrs. Neville; "you have been not 
 only my deliverers, but my teachers. I perceive that, 
 by the style and manners suitable to my position, I 
 must preserve the tie binding me to my own social 
 class, and by kind deeds, from the sympathy of love, 
 must distribute the beneficence of my wealth to those 
 in another social class. Noble mission ! For this I 
 have been disciplined, and I am thankful for every 
 trial which has prepared me for such a work ! " 
 
 Forgetful of Judge Livingstone's injunction, the 
 ladies prolonged their conversation during hours. The 
 luncheon stood untasted, and, in despair, the Judge 
 called Lucy, Edna and Frank, and sat down, with many 
 a joke at the expense of the absent talkers. As the 
 shadows of the evening began to gather, Mrs. Neville 
 and Mrs. Livingstone arose from their seats. During 
 that afternoon, their hearts were melted into each 
 other, and they felt the glow of a pure and lasting 
 friendship. When the sun was sinking into the sea 
 and the witnessing stars began to look out from heaven, 
 and the great waves were sending in the subdued music 
 of their evening thunders, the ladies resumed their 
 conversation on the piazza, of the cottage, and English 
 and American hearts became united in the same work 
 to be carried on in monarchy and republic, showing 
 that in all governments and in all circumstances, Love 
 is the spring of our best deeds, and our purest hap 
 piness. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FEAST IN A JAIL. 
 
 HE three confederates, as we have 
 seen, having applied the torch to 
 their DEPOT, fled down the stairs, 
 lifted a cover from a concealed vault, 
 and disappeared. Planning entered 
 last, drawing back the iron lid, to prevent 
 suspicion should the building be entered. 
 Placing himself at the head of the 
 party, he drew forth and lighted a 
 pocket-lantern, and they proceeded under 
 his leadership through the darkness. 
 
 They soon passed into a large city 
 sewer, in which the odor was almost 
 insufferable, and were compelled to bend low that they 
 might avoid the top of the arch. Occasionally they 
 had to crawl through the liquid filth, while the fierce 
 noise of disturbed rats was not consoling or agreeable. 
 Where the lantern did not shine too brightly through 
 the deep midnight gloom, the fiery stare of little red 
 eyes suggested that the place would be comfortable 
 neither for sleeping nor dying. 
 
 Risk was wholly discouraged. He had to be kept 
 between Planning and Slykes, who alternately led and 
 
FEAST IN A JAIL. 263 
 
 pushed him, and in some instances had to carry his 
 heavy and helpless body. It was weary toil through 
 the smells, the darkness, and the vile compounds. On 
 and on and on they went, winding and twisting, now 
 erect, now stooping, and now creeping, always in 
 silence, broken only by their own footsteps and the 
 rabid shrieks and struggles of their vermin companions. 
 
 Would it never end ? Yes ! there is a glimmer in 
 the weary distance ! Even Risk is encouraged. Is it 
 the light of day ? They approach the opening, and 
 emerge, not into the beams of the moon and of the 
 stars, but the glare of red flames still leaping to the 
 clouds, illuminating the misty air, and sending wide 
 around, in messages of fire, the news of the ruin of the 
 INTER OCEANIC RAILWAY. 
 
 It was not an attractive spectacle presented by the 
 conspirators. They were dripping with slum, foul with 
 odors, and shivering with cold. In this pitiable condi 
 tion, tormented, too, by fear, they found refuge in an 
 empty freight-car, and stole a ride over a track along 
 which they had rolled in the pride of princes of the 
 land. 
 
 After a few miles, they secretly left their hiding 
 place, and, spying a skiff, by another theft crossed 
 the river, and made for the hills. A mountain cave 
 afforded them brief refuge. But the telegraph had 
 flashed their escape. The country was up. Officers 
 were on their track. They were compelled to flee. 
 Pursuing their way through the most remote and unin 
 habited districts, they reached Canada, and embarked 
 
264 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 thence to London. Here they drew and divided one 
 hundred thousand dollars of their money. Risk went 
 to Constantinople, Planning to Melbourne, and Slykes 
 to Hong Kong. The lightning followed them to 
 Turkey, Australia and China. Frank Livingstone, 
 guided by the Judge, was tireless. Secret detectives 
 were dispatched, and in a few months the confederates 
 were all arrested and lodged in the jail for trial. 
 
 Indictments were found for their numerous offences. 
 The day came when they had to appear in court. 
 Crowds assembled to see the fallen kings. 
 
 Frank Livingstone was there, like an avenging 
 angel, and they knew that behind him was the legal 
 wisdom of his father. 
 
 They plead not guilty, until confronted with the 
 fatal letters taken from their own safe, and with the 
 memoranda of Risk. Hopeless, they threw themselves 
 on the mercy of the Court, and found it Justice. 
 
 All the world was against their villainies, and as 
 they stood before the people they had plundered, the 
 hate was intensified into exasperation which cried for 
 vengeance. 
 
 Nothing protected them from violence but the power 
 of the State. The Judge sentenced them to terms 
 of imprisonment greatly exceeding the length of their 
 lives, and gave them from the bench a scathing and 
 memorable rebuke. They were led back to the jail 
 amid the jeers of the mob and the execration of the 
 country. 
 
 While Risk was overwhelmed, Planning and Slykes 
 
FEAST IN A JAIL. 265 
 
 remained bold and defiant. By means of a few gold 
 pieces, they secured the room of state in the jail, and 
 found spread for them a generous repast. The lights 
 were brilliant, the fire blazed merrily, the wine spark 
 led, and the table stood loaded with a farewell feast. 
 Sitting around, the jollity began. With a huge effort 
 toward cheerfulness, and excited by the decanters, 
 Planning said : 
 
 "Well, boys; we had a jolly bonfire, a jolly run, a 
 jolly ride, a jolly tour around the world after the 
 latest fashion, a jolly trial, and now we are having a 
 jolly adieu to our old life, and will have a jolly intro 
 duction to the penitentiary to-morrow. Here's health 
 to striped jackets ! " 
 
 " Coolie," cried Risk, in a tone of melancholy and 
 despair, "stop this stuff, you know it's all a sham! 
 Our day is over, and we are doomed to prison. Ha ! " 
 he screamed, " I see two black faces in my cell. 
 They'll follow me there ! " and the wretch shivered in 
 his fears. 
 
 " Lyman Risk ! " said Slykes, with supreme contempt 
 for this craven cowardice of his superior, "you disturb 
 my gravity, as the locomotive said to the open draw 
 it fell through. You sit there tremblin' like a shaky 
 bridge under a freight train. Up old fellow ! The INTER 
 OCEANIC is bust into bits finer than boiler scraps, but we 
 ain't gone up yet ! We are on our mother earth and 
 will yet be flying over her maternal bosom, like good 
 babies, at the rate of a hundred mile an hour." 
 
 "What would you have better than this, Mr. 
 
266 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 President?" asked Planning, draining his glass. "Eat, 
 drink and be jolly ! Do you want the best wines in 
 America ? Go to jail with money in your pocket ! 
 Do you crave the delicacies of the season ? Go to jail, 
 but don't forget your money ! Would you be well 
 served at table ? Still the jail, and have your money 
 ready for a tip ! Would you flourish at the top of 
 the pile in Young America ? Get appointed Executor, 
 or Bank President ; rob widows and orphans ; compromise, 
 and pay them with regrets ; avoid the luxury of suicide, 
 and bring your money to jail ! Or is this too slow 
 for republican enterprise ? Then trade in a hero's name, 
 make a patriotic fervor; lie bonds and stocks into your 
 vaults, hide your plunder, and then if you can resist 
 the pleasure of blowing your brains out, come to jail 
 for a better time and a bigger steal. If you'd have 
 women crying over you, reporters writing about you, 
 the country talking of you, commit a murder, set up 
 a plea of insanity and get the privilege of going to 
 jail; but be certain not to leave your money behind 
 you!" 
 
 "True as St. Shammius preaching," said Slykes, 
 with his Slyky grin. " Old Pills pays our bills and 
 makes our little ills in jail, after all, not so bad as 
 your smashed carcass in a lightnin' train. I tell you, 
 this frolic is like a California palace-car with kitchen 
 in one end and bar all the way through." 
 
 "Planning!" shrieked Eisk, "you said murder! It's 
 an infernal lie ! I didn't strangle them. Don't say so 
 again or I may hurt you." 
 
FEAST IN A JAIL. 267 
 
 "What's the matter?" inquired Planning, with 
 amazement. "No English women here, Lyman, to 
 scratch your face, tear your eyes out and make you 
 sign checks and confessions with a pistol at your 
 head." 
 
 "Nor two hags," said Slykes, with his leering laugh, 
 "to face you at your wedding, and make music like 
 the devil's steam whistle." 
 
 Risk arose in his fright. His eyes were like balls 
 of blood glaring into space, and he moved his arms 
 in frantic gesticulations, crying : 
 
 " It's a lie and I'll not stand it. I didn't do it. It 
 was Lyman Risk's ghost, but not Lyman Risk. Find 
 the ghost ! Try the ghost ! Hang the ghost, but let 
 Lyman go free ! " 
 
 After these wild words, he sat down, chattering and 
 shivering like a frightened idiot. His friends were 
 puzzled and astonished that the man who had been 
 their leader in daring should be the first to sink under 
 the mountain weight of their calamities. Still looking 
 at him with his foxy, inquisitive eye, Slykes said : 
 
 "Why, Lyman, we'll begin to think you stopped 
 with your own hand them female organ-pipes on the 
 night of your musical marriage. No man before ever 
 suspected that it was you took the wind out of the 
 women's throttle-valves." 
 
 In his madness, Risk seized a decanter and threw it 
 at Slykes, who, stooping, escaped the blow and the 
 bottle was dashed to fragments against the wall of the 
 jail. 
 
268 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "You lie, Sam Slykes!" he yelled frantically. "Say 
 , that again and I'll murder you. No man saw me do 
 it. You're trying to bring me to the gallows, and 
 you'll hang there yourself for it." 
 
 The two men sought to quiet Kisk. Clearly now 
 they saw his coming insanity. Trouble and guilt were 
 driving him mad. Yet neither they nor any other 
 persons really suspected his crime. The revelation of 
 that was reserved for the judgment. As he increased 
 his potations his terror subsided, but wine could not 
 dispel the deep gloom of his soul. He said, with a 
 pitiable melancholy in his look and tone : 
 
 "Coolie and Sam, you are fools to make sport of 
 our troubles. We have been arrested for conspiracy 
 and arson, tried and convicted by a jury, and to-mor 
 row we leave for life in a state prison, and yet you 
 joke and laugh like stage drivers changing horses at 
 an old-fashioned tavern. If Sol. Pilkilson gets his 
 money from us in London you'll both be desperate as 
 I am." 
 
 Slykes burst out with a shout of derisive triumph : 
 
 " Old Quack can't come it, Lyman ! His pill boxes 
 are too slow for our fast train. We'll snap our 
 fingers, and dine and wine on his cash. We're like 
 my old locomotive, ' Nancy.' She ran off a bridge 
 and threw train into a gully. Some smashed, some 
 scalded, some bruised, some drowned, some groanin', 
 some shriekin', some prayin', some cursin', and death 
 about generally. Sam Slykes crept out of the wreck, 
 climbed back on the track, and waved his red rag to 
 
With four hundred thousand to my credit in Europe, I don't fear any penitentiary 
 
 in America." Page 269. 
 
FEAST IN A JAIL. 271 
 
 stop another train, and was soon rushin' on jollier than 
 ever, to make up for lost time. And INTER OCEANIC 
 in some way will come out of this crash, from jail 
 and penitentiary, and be the fastest and richest cor 
 poration in Young America." 
 
 "All right, Sam," replied Planning, as his brain 
 began to burn and whirl. " All right ; don't lose heart, 
 Lyman, over breaking stone and walking lock-step in 
 a stripe jacket; it won't last long. Money failed with 
 juries, witnesses and judges, but has not lost power 
 over guards and wardens. Money is a golden key 
 which has unlocked many an American prison. Money 
 is a golden ladder up which has climbed from disgrace 
 many a dishonored corporation. Money opens golden 
 paradises for rich bankrupts until they can repair 
 their broken fortunes. With four hundred thousand 
 to our credit in Europe, I don't fear any penitentiary 
 in America." 
 
 "I can't take that view of the question," said Risk, 
 sadly. "All looks to me hopeless and terrible. Your 
 efforts at fun only add to our misery and despair. 
 The past is fire, and the present and the future flame; 
 red and mocking flame." 
 
 " Nonsense, Lyman," urged Slykes ; " drown your 
 troubles in champagne ; pure stuff, and nothing else ; 
 cork popped out with a jolly noise. How the bubbles 
 come creepin' up to the rim in this lamp light ! Them 
 sparkles look like the mountain dew when the train's 
 flashin' past, and the sun's just climbin' the mornin'. 
 But they're better, old fellow. They've life in them, 
 
272 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 hope in them, joy in them. They warm heart and 
 brain, while mountain dew is only good for the eyes 
 of picnic misses on an excursion train. Here's resur 
 rection to the INTER OCEANIC!" 
 
 After they had drunk and Risk seemed revived, 
 Planning said : 
 
 "I never thought Frank Livingstone had such pluck 
 in him. How did he get that package ? Without 
 the letters we could not have been convicted. I 
 always dreaded them like destiny. Young Livingstone 
 threw the shell that exploded us to ruin. Curse him 
 for it ! " exclaimed Planning, gnashing his teeth and 
 repeating the words with a frightful emphasis of hate, 
 " curse him and all the brood to a thousand genera 
 tions!" 
 
 Lyman Risk sat in suppressed and tormenting silence. 
 Occasionally he appeared gazing into vacancy and 
 then would compress his eyelids as if he did not wish 
 to see. 
 
 After a brief quiet, Sam Slykes burst out : 
 
 " Frank Livingstone flung the shell, but the Judge 
 put in the powder and laid the train. The old man 
 in his study threw the INTER OCEANIC off the track, 
 and kindled the fire that burned it up." 
 
 "Now," said Planning, " I have a proposition to 
 make. The excitements of our trial are over and we 
 have plenty of time to-night. Let us relate our adven 
 tures in foreign countries. A tour around the world 
 is all the rage, and we have accommodated ourselves 
 to .the reigning fashion. Let us light fresh cigars, 
 
FEAST IN A JAIL. 273 
 
 take another drink, and then, Sam, do you begin with 
 your veracious story." 
 
 The conspirators readily complied with the sugges 
 tion, and Slykes soon began : 
 
 "That mile of rats astonished me, a screechin' and 
 a creepin' round my feet, with their eyes glarin' like 
 young headlights ; came out of sewer like a spattered 
 locomotive ; a tramp's ride in a freight car, and a 
 scatter from our cave like wreckers from a train 
 they've keeled over by a cross tie. After our meetin' 
 in Canada and pleasure sail to London, Sam Slykes 
 brought up in Hong Kong. Lived among the only 
 celestials he'll ever know, and sported a pig-tail. 
 Never had a better time. Like an excursion picnic 
 every day. Worshipped Uncle Joss, burned papers to 
 him, offered sweet cakes to the ghosts of my ancestors, 
 fed with chop sticks, and played the dumb man that 
 couldn't speak his vernacular. Wouldn't do. Uncle 
 Sam's lightnin' was too smart for me ; caught me by 
 my pig-tail, shot me over the Pacific ocean, landed 
 me in California, and hurried me to this flourishing 
 Metropolis, to drink champagne in jail. But I'll soon 
 raise the stars and stripes over the INTER OCEANIC, 
 and we'll be flyin' over the world with the best of 
 them yet." 
 
 "And I," cried Planning, with a gleaming eye and 
 a clear, piercing tone, " will tell you what you never 
 heard before. After our separation at the cave, I 
 came out at the river, with the whole country, yelling 
 like bloodhounds, at my heels. I made for a high 
 
274 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 rock, climbed it, and stood on a jutting crag, from 
 which I leaped a hundred feet sheer into the water. 
 Striking the bottom, I sprang back to the surface, swam 
 and reached the opposite shore, pushing on until I joined 
 you in Canada. After leaving London, I took steamer 
 for Melbourne, and played the Englishman, and hid 
 in a gold mine. It wouldn't answer. One evening, 
 after a hard day's work, amid the infernal chill and 
 gloom in the lamp-light from my cap, as I emerged 
 in my soiled suit, I was arrested, taken to the 
 Australian capital, ironed in the hold of a vessel, and 
 brought to this jolly feast, where J. Coolie Planning 
 swears he'll persevere until he is crowned Railway 
 King of America. Curses on his takers, and deliver 
 ance when our time comes ! " 
 
 ''Do you think, Coolie, we'll ever get out," asked 
 Sam, despondingly. " Slim chance in my opinion. 
 Whistle to keep courage up, but it's all gammon. But 
 hope or no hope, Sam Slykes will stand by the throttle 
 valve, while there's a stick in his tender, a coal in 
 his furnace, a pound of steam in his boiler, a screw 
 in his engine, or a rail on his track. When he 
 leaves it, you'll find some collidin' train has flung his 
 handsome body from the cow-catcher higher toward 
 heaven than his soul will ever be." 
 
 " That's spirit, Sam," roared Planning, grasping 
 Slykes' hand, and, under the power of wine and 
 brandy, nearly shaking his sharp fingers off. "I like 
 your pluck, and I'll fight, if I'm to live chained in a 
 cell and to be swung out of life on a gallow's rope." 
 
FEAST IN A JAIL. 275 
 
 " True grit, Coolie," said Slykes, in turn wildly and 
 violently shaking the hand of Planning. "Your 
 words ring sharp as a sound car wheel under a steel 
 hammer." 
 
 "Now, Lyman," resumed Planning, "let us have 
 your story, last and best, to crown our feast. Imagine 
 yourself, after a full glass, on your old coach-box, 
 whip and rein in hand, stage full, passengers jolly, 
 horses fed, rubbed and champing for a start, road 
 smooth, birds singing, and all nature laughing and 
 saying, ' Go it, boys ! ' Better, after all, those slow 
 days than our fast times. If the stage-horse was a 
 snail beside the steam-horse, he made fewer smash- 
 ups, and was a good deal honester animal. Lyman 
 Risk was happier on his coach-box than on the throne 
 of the INTER OCEANIC." 
 
 "Don't talk of it, Coolie!" cried Risk, in an agony. 
 "You're driving me crazy. The thought of my happy 
 old stage, Amelia, kills me. And them horses, them 
 free, jolly, honest horses. The memory of it burns me 
 like fire. Then those girls loved me and I ruined 
 them. It's too much. The English woman brought 
 more trouble, and I went down, down, down, to this 
 jail. In Constantinople I dyed this white head black, 
 and my beard, too. I put on a turban and a Turk's 
 dress, and went to the mosque to say my prayers and 
 ask Heaven to forgive me. I tell you, it wouldn't do. 
 The two women stood over me, and my prayers 
 couldn't get above them. They shut me out of heaven 
 into flames, flames, flames ! This room is fire ! Put it 
 
276 
 
 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 out ! I'm fire myself. I say, put it out ! Fire, fire, 
 fire ! Stamp it out, Sam ! Water, water ! Throw it 
 on, Coolie! Quick, quick! Fire, fire, fire!" 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 LOVE ON THE MOONLIT SEA. 
 
 SUMMER moon, red, large, and 
 round was sailing up out of the 
 sea, like a spirit of the light, and 
 flinging its silver over the waves. 
 The evening star beamed, bright 
 in the heavens, and all the glit 
 tering host sparkled in the blue of the sky 
 and of the ocean, while between the bril 
 liant concaves glided a sail, and in the stern 
 of a white, graceful boat could be seen a 
 man and woman in low, earnest conver 
 sation. The waves broke in music at the 
 bow of the slight craft, while behind it was a trail of 
 splendors blazing into gold. 
 
 Frank Livingstone and Lucy Neville are the persons 
 we have noticed, and were taking an evening sail. 
 The lights of Newport could be seen glancing in the 
 distance. Indeed, the keen gaze could detect the misty 
 outlines of the shores in the brightening moonlight. 
 The low thunder of a steamer's wheels boomed across 
 the waves, her sails were dimly visible, and her green 
 and red lights, moving rapidly, gave interest and 
 animation to the scene. 
 
278 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 "I am considered a practical fellow, Lucy," said 
 Frank Livingstone. " A lawyer by profession and prefer 
 ence, seeing constantly human nature in its worst 
 aspects, and yet I believe that there is nothing so true 
 as the true love of true hearts. Nor is this with me 
 either fancy or sentiment. I believe it on the facts." 
 
 "Well, Frank," replied the beautiful girl, smiling 
 in the moonlight, "I am not disposed to doubt your 
 proposition. Before this particular tribunal you will 
 not have to establish it by any labored argument. I 
 have seen the proof of it all my life in my own 
 father and mother, and my woman's instincts tell me 
 thart it is so." 
 
 "But," continued Frank, "it must be love founded 
 on mutual sympathies. It implies subtle and mys 
 terious affinities beyond the power of words. Where 
 these exist, the tie between hearts is immortal. And 
 yet there is so much sham in the married state, so 
 many separations and divorces, so much misery, so 
 many bleeding hearts and dishonored lives, that our 
 theory is rudely shaken. I do not wonder that 
 cynics snarl and satirists ridicule, and that the world 
 pronounces marriage founded on affection, a myth, and 
 what you and I believe, romantic and sentimental 
 stuff." 
 
 "This is true," said Lucy; "but I find my answer 
 at home. Oh, could you have seen the devotion of 
 papa at Delhi, his anxiety, his courage, his tender 
 ness to mamma, his delicacy and generosity during 
 years, and her return in confidence and admiration, 
 
LOVE ON THE MOONLIT SEA. 279 
 
 I had almost said adoration, you could no more doubt 
 the power of love than the power of mind or the 
 power of muscle. I have seen it from my infancy, 
 brightening their lives, and know as well that its light 
 shone over our home as I know that yon moon is 
 illuminating these waves." 
 
 As she spoke, she pointed upward to the luminary 
 flinging glory over the sea. 
 
 "Yes," answered Frank, "I have had similar proof 
 in my own home. Affection gives it a charm noth 
 ing else can bestow. I could as easily believe those 
 stars will drop this instant, to be extinguished in the 
 waves, as that love could fade out of the hearts of 
 my father and my mother. I am not insensible to 
 gifts of birth, wealth and culture, but, above all, I hold 
 the union of true hearts to be the only foundation 
 for a household. This is the ordination of Heaven, 
 and lies deep in the nature of man." 
 
 "Dear Frank," she replied, looking sweetly into his 
 face, and speaking in a low, tender tone, "I believe 
 we have found this secret of life. Until we have 
 been tested, it is not becoming to boast, yet I think 
 our marriage will bring enduring happiness. You 
 have won me, Frank and you deserve me, and I will 
 be glad ever to testify my grateful love, and prove 
 in our hard and cold age that the bloom of the affec 
 tions is as real as that of the flowers, yet not fragile, 
 nor perishing, but eternal." 
 
 " Lucy, may I tell you a secret you Jiave not 
 known?" inquired Frank, laughing. "I- fear my 
 
280 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 devotion was not any particular benevolence, or rather 
 it was the most intense form of selfishness. Once on 
 the Britannia I caught your eye looking into mine. 
 It was a casual glance. But it shot a fire through 
 me, that has burned ever since, and I, the cynical 
 young bachelor, went over the world chasing you, as 
 wildly as any old mediaeval knight errant ever rode 
 and fought in behalf of the lady of his heart and 
 vow. Now the thing is out. There was no benevo 
 lence in it, and no mystery whatever. I was simply 
 a fellow in love. Lucy Neville on my shield was the 
 inspiration of this generous and chivalrous hero. But 
 don't tell your mother, or mine, or the world at large, 
 or my exploits will lose half their glory with the 
 British nation." Frank laughed until the boat shook, 
 while the sounds of his merriment rang out far over 
 the waters. 
 
 "You compliment me, indeed," cried Lucy, "at the 
 expense of ma and yourself, but I am not willing to 
 believe that your actions did not spring from the 
 sympathies of a kind heart. Your persistence was 
 most wonderful. Oh, without you, where, where, should 
 we have been ! I tremble to think of the chasm down 
 which we were sinking. It was frightful. The very 
 memory of it overcomes me, and you, you Frank, 
 were our deliverer." 
 
 Tears trembled on the eyelids of the girl, her 
 bosom heaved, and she leaned her head on the breast 
 of her lover. 
 
 "You must not forget, Lucy," said Frank, looking 
 
LOVE ON THE MOONLIT SEA. 281 
 
 down on her with a manly tenderness, "that without 
 my father, my efforts would have been unavailing. 
 Until I called him to my aid, I went blundering on 
 sadly. He untwisted the tangled skein of your lives. 
 His keen sagacity was wonderful. I often marvelled 
 that a shrewd old Judge of sixty, beyond dreams and 
 fancies, should have been so engaged in what seemed 
 a romantic and hopeless chase." 
 
 ''Yes," cried Lucy, with increased emotion, "it is 
 amazing ! Heaven inspired and guided you. Oh, how 
 terrible the coil wound around ^us ! What helpless 
 strangers we were ! How strong and merciless our 
 enemies ! Think of two frail women in the power of 
 such dreadful men ! Never can we repay the debt 
 we owe you and your noble father and mother." 
 
 Lucy was again entirely overpowered. Never did 
 the cold moon sparkle on purer tears, or the bright 
 stars gaze down on a more grateful heart. The very 
 waves seemed to dance and gleam and gurgle with an 
 answering sympathy of joy. "Now, said the lovely 
 girl, as her face brightened through her tears, "I 
 have a secret to tell you. Are you prepared for it ? 
 It is not less strange and impressive than any of the 
 most marvelous events of this most marvelous year of 
 our family histories." 
 
 " You excite my curiosity, Lucy," cried Frank, 
 eagerly; " tell it to me at once ! " 
 
 "Just before Grandpa Arlington's death," she 
 resumed, with deep and pathetic solemnity in her voice 
 and manner, " he was aroused from the stupor in 
 
282 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 which he had been for months. All his strength 
 seemed suddenly restored. His voice became clear 
 and powerful. Having called mamma to his side he 
 spoke to her words that were full of the glory of 
 Heaven which indeed was shining around his face and 
 head. He then requested me to come to him, and his 
 dying command was. " Lucy, trust your SAVIOUR and 
 marry your deliverer." She could speak no more, but 
 fell back into Frank's arms. Long she lay there 
 sobbing and looking through her tears at the celestial 
 lights beaming so ^renely above her. Frank could 
 not interrupt the silence. At last he said, in a whis 
 pered tone : 
 
 "This is not the least remarkable part of the 
 strange history of our mingled lives, and seems to put 
 the eternal seal of Heaven on our marriage." 
 
 He embraced her, and their hearts were forever one. 
 
 " I have something more of importance to communi 
 cate, Lucy," Frank began again. " I have been pass 
 ing through a great struggle, about which I have 
 thought it best not to speak to you, or any other per 
 son. Nor has the storm passed away. I cannot yet 
 see a ray through the cloud." 
 
 " What has disturbed you, Frank ? However great 
 the tempest within, you seem all sunshine." 
 
 "Lucy, I have been trying to give up the old 
 flag." 
 
 " And has Young America succeeded ? But why 
 make the attempt ?" 
 
 "You, Lucy, are the cause of my troubles." 
 
LOVE ON THE MOONLIT SEA. 283 
 
 "I, Frank, I!" she exclaimed. "What connection 
 can an English girl like myself have with your Amer 
 ican flag ? Am I a star or a stripe, in your eye ? 
 But tell me your difficulties." 
 
 " Knowing, Lucy, that I could not ask you to 
 leave England, I have been trying to shift my alle 
 giance from the flag of my country to the banner of 
 St. George." 
 
 " Oh, I see it all," cried Lucy. " A descendant of 
 old General Livingstone, who fought the British through 
 the revolution, canjt be drawn over to England by the 
 attractions of any British magnet. Well, then, Frank, 
 I'll settle the question. The magnet will come to 
 America. I have been before you, and thought out 
 the whole subject. Frank, you are my country, my 
 title, my estate, my banner, my everything." 
 
 " Thank Heaven ! " he exclaimed, embracing her ; 
 "but it seems impossible." 
 
 "It's true, Frank," she cried. "I am yours wholly 
 and forever. Your home is my home, and your life 
 is my life." 
 
 Just then was heard a louder roar of wheels, and 
 the noble steamer was seen to be approaching. Splen 
 didly she rushed through the waters in the moonlight. 
 She appeared glowing and palpitating with life. Out 
 from her mast the stars and the stripes gallantly 
 floated. Frank Livingstone stood upright and pointed 
 to the flag of his country. 
 
 "Lucy," he said, "I fought under that banner 
 during four years of civil war. I have seen it flying 
 
284 
 
 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 amid the smoke of battle. Torn with bullets and wet 
 with blood, I have seen it go down in defeat. Again 
 I have seen it float in triumph amid the shouts of our 
 exulting army. I have seen it wound around my 
 comrades and buried with the heroes in their graves. 
 Flung out over the captured capital of the Confeder 
 acy, I have seen it blazing in the glory of its triumph, 
 the emblem of a free, happy and united people. Oh, 
 thank Heaven, with you I can now live under it, 
 die under it, and be buried under it an American 
 citizen." 
 
 Frank Livingstone sat down, exhausted by his strong 
 feeling and passionate words. The noise of the 
 steamer grew fainter, and the flag could be seen 
 dimly in the gathering haze of the sea, as he turned 
 his boat to the shore, gliding onward in a profound 
 stillness only broken by the plashings of the waves. 
 
 He was about to realize his dream, and to contribute 
 to the eternal union of the North and the South under 
 the banner which he loved. 
 
A letter, beautifully written, signed 4 Victoria.'' " 
 Page 288. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 QUEEN VICTORIA'S LETTER. 
 
 ITTLE Midge was standing beneath 
 a great tree, and looking at the 
 moon shining and shimmering 
 through the leaves. His artistic 
 eye perceived the beauty of a 
 spectacle scarcely surpassed in 
 nature. When Frank's footsteps were heard 
 approaching, the boy stepped out before him 
 to tell him that his father wished to see 
 him in the cottage library. Having delivered 
 his message, Midge glided away among the 
 shadows of the elms. 
 
 The Judge's sea-side study was a cozy 
 place. Everything was diminutive in scale, but full 
 of grace, beauty and comfort. When Frank entered, 
 the venerable man laid down his book, removed his 
 glasses, and began : 
 
 "My son, I have some matters of importance to 
 communicate. And first, I have received a telegram 
 from old Pilkilson, informing me that he has secured 
 the London money, and taken their last possible hope 
 from those INTER OCEANIC knaves. Now, we will 
 
288 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 leave them forever, and pass to the society of decent 
 people." 
 
 "Permit me, first," answered Frank, "to express my 
 joy that our work has thus been crowned and consum 
 mated. I am glad there is no prospect in life for 
 the scoundrels but a penitentiary cell." 
 
 "I have received gratifying news also from England," 
 said the Judge, abruptly. " News strange as anything 
 in this year's eventful history." 
 
 "Indeed!" exclaimed Frank, with a start of sur 
 prise. " May I inquire from whom ? " 
 
 "From the Queen," replied the Judge, with a look 
 of keen satisfaction. 
 
 "The Queen!" said Frank, in astonishment. "What 
 can the Majesty of Britain and Empress of India have 
 to say to us plain republicans ? There seems no end 
 to surprises." 
 
 The Judge arose, went to a desk, opened a drawer, 
 and took from it a letter, beautifully written, signed 
 " VICTORIA," and emblazoned in gold with a crown, 
 supported by two unicorns rampant. 
 
 Her Majesty recited the way in which Judge Living 
 stone and his son had rescued the daughter and grand 
 daughter of the Earl of Arlington, a British Peer of 
 high birth and great esteem, and then expressed the 
 royal admiration and gratitude for conduct so noble 
 and disinterested. 
 
 " This is truly most marvelous, most unexpected, 
 and most gratifying," cried Frank, overwhelmed with 
 astonishment and delight. "In my wildest dreams I 
 
QUEEN VICTORIA'S LETTER. 289 
 
 never conceived that such a compliment could be paid 
 to our family." 
 
 "I confess," said the Judge, "I feel pleased. This 
 letter will draw more closely together England and the 
 United States. It has even a national significance, 
 and yet," he continued, with an equivocal smile, "I do 
 not see that it relieves you. Difficulties surround you 
 from which there seems no escape." 
 
 "To what do you refer?" answered Frank, blushing. 
 
 "When a man's heart runs away with his head, he 
 is always in trouble. I fear, my son, that is your 
 unfortunate case." 
 
 " My heart, sir, has won Lucy Neville, and that, 
 I'm sure, my head could never have done. Such a 
 prize proves the heart better than the head." 
 
 "Yes," answered the Judge. "But it is your very 
 success makes the trouble. You can neither follow 
 your prize to England, nor keep it in America." 
 
 " This time you are mistaken, father. Lucy has 
 settled the question and decided to live in this country." 
 
 "Surely, Frank," said the Judge, excitedly, "you 
 have not asked such a sacrifice ? After what you 
 have done for her, the request would have been a 
 cruel and ungenerous compulsion. Your heart has 
 betrayed you after all." 
 
 "You should know me too well, sir, to suppose 
 that I would have placed Lucy, even by a hint, in 
 such a position. Her choice is voluntary. She prefers 
 America. With all her noble blood and aristocratic 
 connections she admires our republican manhood. She 
 
290 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 is fascinated, too, with the scenery of the country. 
 In truth, she is a natural democrat, and takes to us 
 as a lark to the morning air." 
 
 "Ah! I perceive," said the Judge, "this young 
 Arlington is, after all, a woman. She looks at our 
 country through her lover, and at her lover through 
 her heart. You, Frank, have given color to our 
 landscapes and polish to our manners. I only hope 
 that her decision will not prove the caprice of a love 
 sick maiden." 
 
 " I will trust my whole life to it as the choice of a 
 wise and true woman. We have just learned that 
 the Arlington title perishes in Lord Clare, and part of 
 the estate will be lost to Mrs. Neville. But she will 
 inherit the castle, the London house, and about thirty 
 thousand pounds a year. We are to be married in the 
 little church near Arlington Castle, and after a voyage 
 round the world in the late Earl's steam-yacht, we 
 are to settle in my own native city. You must acknowl 
 edge in my case the heart has managed affairs rather 
 successfully. But perhaps you would have been better 
 pleased if I could have secured the title also." 
 
 " Not at all, Frank ! I do not aspire to have you 
 Earl of Arlington. I have something better for you in 
 our own country. I am about to give you some advice 
 that will startle you." 
 
 "I feel, father, that I deeply need your counsel, 
 and more especially as I have finally decided to 
 abandon the Law, and in the field of politics devote 
 myself to the service of my country." 
 
QUEEN VICTORIA'S LETTER. 291 
 
 " She needs you, my son. You have vast wealth 
 and now your training in the study and practice of the 
 Law will enable you to accomplish much for our 
 Republic. On this very point I wish to advise you." 
 
 "And on this very point," interposed Frank, "I 
 most need your advice." 
 
 "Never presume on your birth and wealth to 
 patronize the people. Meet every citizen on the basis 
 of an equal political manhood. Let whatever deference 
 is paid you be the spontaneous tribute to your merit. 
 In no other way can you secure true esteem and 
 confidence. Some of our rich upstarts grasp a poor 
 man's hand as a condescension, and hold office as if 
 they were doing a favor to the country. To succeed 
 politically you must forget rank and riches, and 
 stand on your manhood. From the ways of nobles 
 and monarchs we were separated by the revolution." 
 
 " I shall not forget the lesson," said Frank. "It is 
 better to be a MAN than a Livingstone. I will try to 
 make the thought mold my character and guide me 
 in my conduct." 
 
 "It will be your business, Frank, not to follow, 
 but to fight these apes of English aristocracy. Coun 
 terfeit coin is always avoided by honest men. Take 
 the peacock plumes from our American Jackdaws ! 
 How many of these vulgar plunderers imitate the 
 style of lords ! Indeed, many kings cannot boast 
 greater luxury and splendor. Modern monarchs would 
 lose their thrones if they perpetrated half the iniquities 
 of our Republican despots. Fight them till you die. 
 
292 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 Tumble their crowns into the ditch. If I talk longer 
 I will turn socialist and advocate the commune. I 
 sometimes think that every man possessing more than a 
 fixed sum should be forced to give the whole income 
 of the excess to the support of schools and colleges. 
 Certainly, to relieve the poor, we who are rich should 
 bear greater burdens of taxation. Yet I am afraid to 
 advocate such measures in these days of dynamite. 
 As the people outnumber kings and monopolists they 
 will suffer most from these indiscriminate explosions. 
 Besides, assassinations never helped liberty. Still I 
 would like to clip the wings of rich rascals in some 
 undiscovered way that would stop their flight, and 
 make their stripped feathers useful." 
 
 "Father," cried Frank, "your heat astonishes me. 
 You quite bewilder me. What do I hear ? You, a 
 Livingstone, a descendant of Federalists, a traditional 
 conservative, avowing principles so radical and almost 
 revolutionary ! Why do you not withdraw from your 
 party, and in your solitary integrity bear witness 
 against the times." 
 
 "Never, Frank, never!" said the Judge, evidently 
 wincing. "Like a young racer, your impetus carries 
 you beyond the goal. You must not place too much 
 stress on what I utter, from the ardor of the moment, 
 to my own son, and in the privacy of my study." 
 
 "Well, soberly, would you advise me to work for 
 my country independently of party entanglements ? " 
 
 " By no means, my son ! No man in our republic 
 can be isolated. Separated from party, his influence 
 
QUEEN VICTORIA'S LETTER. 293 
 
 is lost. In every great issue, you must stand by 
 your party, otherwise you will be as solitary as our 
 obelisk, and as powerless. Only through men can you 
 reach men. You cannot move the world from a 
 wilderness. I never knew a man leave his party on 
 the ground of superlative virtue who did not become 
 a cynical Pharisee, declaiming against errors he had 
 made himself helpless to correct. The loftier your 
 position, the wider your influence." 
 
 "But suppose there are party measures I cannot 
 approve ? Shall I yield to the whip ? Shall I be 
 lashed into a vote for evil men and evil ends, or 
 shall I withdraw, be execrated, and lose my influence ? 
 This is the dilemma I foresee." 
 
 "I confess, my son, a difficulty here. Great tact 
 is needed to follow my rule. Each case will furnish 
 its own clew to your course. But I shall advise you, 
 except under extraordinary circumstances, never to 
 sever your party ties. A reformer may easily become 
 an errant Quixote, and spend his life in fighting wind 
 mills." 
 
 "Thank you again; father, thank you for your wise 
 counsel. Strong in great principles, I can yield in 
 particular measures. The tree sturdiest in root and 
 trunk may have the most pliant branches." 
 
 "And Frank, with all the monstrous villainies of 
 politicians and monopolists, have faith in the people. 
 Their instincts guide our nation right. Surely they 
 are as much to be trusted as kings ! The Georges, 
 the Charles', the James', the Henries of England were 
 
294 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 not lights in our world. Usually, the French monarchs 
 were no better. Spain, Italy, Austria ! their kings 
 were neither saints nor heroes. From Julius and 
 Augustus, the Caesars had a rapid descent to the 
 Neroes, the Caligulas and the Domitians. Nor do the 
 sculptures of Egypt and Assyria improve our opinion? 
 of Oriental potentates. TRUST THE PEOPLE ! Whatever 
 our delinquencies, our constitution is founded on eternal 
 right, and theoretically our government is the best 
 possible. We are the outcome of the wisdom of the 
 world." 
 
 "Father, after our battles with corruption, I am 
 glad to hear these inspiring words. I do not want my 
 souPs eye blinded by the mists of our political marshes, 
 He who walks amid filth is in danger of soil. Much 
 with rascals, a man doubts himself. This conversation 
 has. purified me. I am like a traveler bespattered 
 on his journey, who has bathed in a mountain stream, 
 and who breathes an Alpine air, and I must try to 
 keep my flesh and my garments pure." 
 
 "Another word, my son! Do not let go the anchor 
 of your faith in Christianity. An old lawyer is not 
 likely to be deceived. After an examination of the 
 modern objections of science and criticism, I am firmer 
 than ever on the Eternal Rock. The Bible is the only 
 foundation for a man or for a government. It will 
 yet fill the world with light, love and peace." 
 
 Overcome with emotion, Frank Livingstone knelt 
 before his father. The old man placed his hands on 
 his son's head, and gave him his blessing. 
 
QUEEN VICTORIA'S LETTER. 295 
 
 The effects of that hour were never lost. They 
 perpetuated themselves in the character and career of 
 young Livingstone, and through him elevated his 
 country and spread out over the world. 
 
 The center of the circle of human influence is a 
 point its circumference an eternity. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 FRANK AND LUCY AT ARLINGTON CASTLE. 
 
 OT long after the events we have 
 narrated, a happy party is on the 
 steamer Republic, in the New York 
 harbor. Judge and Mrs. Living 
 stone are there ; Mrs. Neville and 
 Lucy are there ; Frank Livingstone 
 is there ; and who is that gentleman 
 and lady standing at a little distance 
 and admiring together a passing yacht ? 
 Surely we have seen her before ! Is it 
 not Miss Edna Livingstone ? It was 
 Miss Edna Livingstone. But her patro 
 nymic has been lost to her forever. She 
 is now the joyous bride of Mr. Henry 
 Roosevelt, Frank's former law partner, and his successor 
 in business. 
 
 And who is that splendid little fellow gazing across 
 the blue waters .of the Hudson and glancing his great, 
 black, kindling eyes over the beautiful proportions 
 of the graceful ship ? It is our Midge, bound for 
 Rome, to be educated for an artist, and happy in the 
 prospect of his ample fortune. 
 
 The morning is brilliant. Not a cloud flings down 
 its shadow over the bay. At the mast-head, in friendly 
 
FRANK AND LUCY AT ARLINGTON CASTLE. 297 
 
 folds, fly the English and American flags, together 
 streaming in the breeze. See, the vessel is drawing out 
 from the dock ! The panting tug takes her into the 
 midst of the broad bay. Handkerchiefs wave on ship 
 and shore. Soon the Republic is through the narrows^ 
 out on the wide ocean, and in a few uneventful days 
 lies anchored in the Mersey. 
 
 Not long after, the Church of St. Mary's, near 
 Arlington Castle, witnesses a gay scene. The cross 
 is gleaming in the morning sun. Floods of joyous 
 brilliance pour through the stained windows, and 
 color arch, and altar and pillar, mingling their hues 
 with the bloom of fragrant flowers. Such a gay and 
 distinguished assemblage has seldom met in the quiet, 
 little church. 
 
 Frank Livingstone and Lucy Neville stand before 
 the chancel, which is wreathed in roses, while the organ 
 peals forth its exulting notes. 
 
 Hark ! the clergyman is heard, and the stillness 
 becomes intense and universal. The solemn service 
 proceeds. A venerable relative gives away the bride. 
 Frank and Lucy are pronounced man and wife, and 
 then succeed the congratulations of relatives and friends. 
 
 At night, Arlington Castle is brilliantly illuminated. 
 Buildings and trees are in a blaze, casting their light 
 around over the land and out over the sea. Nobles in 
 the house and people on the lawn are feasting and 
 dancing in celebration of the glad occasion, which is 
 uniting two great nations by another bond. 
 
 Mrs. Neville was true to her discipline and her 
 
298 KINGS OF CAPITAL. 
 
 vocation. Her princely benefactions in London were 
 wisely directed by herself, and fruitful in immense 
 good to the bodies and souls of the ignorant and 
 suffering poor. The Arlington pride had been effect 
 ually subdued, and she moved among the lowly with 
 the hand and smile of a sympathizing, Christian love. 
 Nor were her charities confined to the British metrop 
 olis. They flowed out in streams of wise beneficence 
 over the earth. 
 
 After a voyage round the world, Frank and Lucy 
 lived in America. They, too, had learned in suffering 
 the lessons of humility and sympathy, and had, also, 
 before them the noble examples of Judge and Mrs. 
 Livingstone. In all their relations they were happy. 
 The people saw and recognized their merit. Despite 
 their aristocratic blood, they became most admired 
 proofs of the elevating and ennobling effects of our 
 republican institutions. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE BATTERY. 
 
 PRING, at the opening of our sequel, 
 was just giving its last tint of green 
 to the grounds about the Battery and 
 developing the leaves into their Sum 
 mer luxuriance. A soft haze lay 
 on the Orange Mountains. Staten Island 
 seemed retiring into the distance, and 
 floating in a golden glory shed down from 
 an evening cloud. On the Bay, the lazy 
 sails were gleaming in the setting sun, 
 and a huge steamer, as if panting with 
 its load, drew its dark length through the 
 blazing waters. Even the sharp sounds of the cars 
 above and stages below appeared to sink away in the 
 murmurs of the tranquil air. Over all, bathed in the 
 light, rose the spire of old Trinity. In the stillness 
 could be heard low bursts of occasional applause escap 
 ing from an eager crowd, who watched the form of 
 a girl, balanced on a rope, stretched from the street 
 to the roof of one of those red houses, near Broadway, 
 now occupied by offices of the great steamship com 
 panies, but which, in the days of Washington, were 
 tenanted by the federalistic aristocracy of New York. 
 
300 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the grace of the young performer, 
 as she stood on the point of her toe, grasping her pole 
 in both her hands, and then running to the eave of 
 the building and returning toward the ground with 
 an agility which might belong to an inhabitant of a 
 celestial sphere. Her exquisite limbs, her light, flowing 
 hair, her blue eye, her perfect features, touched with 
 a most pensive expression, her shape shown to the 
 greatest advantage in her bright oriental costume as 
 she moved aloft like a creature of the air, altogether 
 awakened, even in the rudest spectator, an inexpressible 
 interest and curiosity. 
 
 Beneath the girl, and gazing at her with a dark 
 glittering eye, was a lad whose cheek showed the 
 brown of an Indian sun, and who had just concluded 
 some of those marvelous, almost magical tricks, which 
 reach their perfection only in the islands of Japan and 
 along the shore of the Ganges. He was now eliciting 
 from a species of oriental guitar some sad and sweet 
 notes harmonizing with the perilous occasion, and 
 which, unconsciously to his audience, breathed over 
 them a mysterious influence. The whole scene was 
 surrounded by a subdued, undefinable charm, and the 
 actors were evidently beings of another blood and 
 another clime. 
 
 Apart from the crowd, and looking with intense 
 interest, were two men, both, also, foreigners. One, 
 a Chinaman, with all the marked features of his 
 nation, and gigantic in his stature, was in the dress 
 of an American workman. The other, a gentleman, 
 
THE BATTERY. 301 
 
 tall, stately, noble in face and refined in expression, 
 with an aspect singularly benevolent, was attired in 
 the style of our country, yet with a view to his dis 
 guise. His English was so nearly perfect that it would 
 be impossible to express on paper the slight peculiar 
 ities of his tones and accents. 
 
 "A vision of beauty ! " he exclaimed, with a most 
 agitating emotion. " I have traveled over the world, 
 and never have seen a more exquisite grace. What 
 say you, Ling ? " 
 
 Employing the address he had been instructed to 
 use, he replied in a strange mingling of Chinese mis 
 pronunciation and American slang : 
 
 "Siree, no Melliken girlee like that lookee. She 
 from land of flowers, or from moon down brightee. 
 Me tjnkee her hair and her eyes from your own 
 countree, suree, certinee." 
 
 "From my country, Ling, did you say?" exclaimed 
 the gentleman, with visibly increased agitation. " Who 
 knows ? Can this, indeed, be she whom I seek in 
 such a vocation, in this strange city, far from her 
 princely home ? Oh, Heaven, can it be she ? Nay ! 
 it is but a dream. Impossible ! Yet I feel in my 
 heart a strange warmth and trembling." 
 
 "May Ling ask how oldee she when she leftee 
 you ? This she be boutee twelvee years." 
 
 "Just her age after whom I have traversed all 
 lands during so many weary, disappointing years of 
 exile. And her eyes were blue, and her hair flaxen. 
 Surely, those features might belong even to an empress. 
 
302 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 All things answer to my recollections. And who can 
 be that dark youth, her companion, with those black, 
 wonderful eyes ! He is about thirteen, and has, in his 
 face and form, a surpassing beauty and refinement. 
 In neither of them appears the degradation of their 
 calling." 
 
 "Better we waitee," interposed Ling, "and see wheree 
 they hencee go. Me you folloree when you sayee." 
 
 "I will walk after them," said the gentleman, 
 "and do you keep a short distance behind. Possibly, 
 there will be peril in our way, and you will be 
 needed. On no account lose sight of me." 
 
 The giant smiled out of his small eyes, and a ripple 
 of light seemed to pass over his yellow skin, as he 
 answered : 
 
 "Life of me from de sea you savee and losee nealee 
 your own true me to you as to de ghostee of him 
 who lifee me gavee true all de timee 'til in de gravee 
 me go too." 
 
 While they spoke, two policeman appeared and pro 
 duced a visible alarm in the girl and in the lad. The 
 latter, with quick skill, by a dexterous jerk, detached 
 the rope from its lofty fastening, formed it into a 
 coil, grasped it in his right hand, and his guitar 
 in his left, and the two together passed through the 
 opening and admiring crowd. They walked a few 
 steps along Broadway, turned suddenly down a narrow 
 street, wound their way through the most obscure 
 places, until they at last entered a tall shabby brick 
 house above Fulton Market and fronting Water Street. 
 
THE BATTERY. 303 
 
 The gentleman followed unobserved, and Ling further 
 behind. Now the former stood in a small alley, hid 
 den by the gathering shadows of the evening, and so 
 situated that he could see and hear what transpired 
 through the open door opposite. 
 
 On a low platform, beneath a raised window, sat a 
 large man in his shirt sleeves fanning himself, but 
 reeking with perspiration. He had a princely nose 
 and forehead, and in all his features, and in his 
 portly form, were the faded traces of a superb manly 
 beauty, except that in his restless eye and his equivocal 
 mouth and chin were sure indications that a weak 
 conscience and debasing appetites had obtained the 
 dominion of his better nature. His hard, cold, terrible 
 expression chilled and alarmed the beholder. The 
 youthful pair walked toward him with trembling fear, 
 and stood like culprits in his presence. 
 
 "Ha! Tippoo ! Lillie ! come at last! But you 
 are late, what has kept you ? " he burst forth in a 
 loud, harsh voice, distinctly heard by the listener. 
 
 "We were near the Battery, the crowd was big, 
 and we kept on longer than we thought," faltered the 
 lad. in tones just faintly intelligible. 
 
 " A long stay makes more pay," he answered with 
 a low, savage laugh. 
 
 "No!" said Tippoo, frightened and embarrassed, 
 "Diable, we have only brought you a dollar this 
 evening." 
 
 As the boy spoke he counted over the money in 
 small change, and gave it to his master. 
 
304 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "You rascal/' cried the man in fierce anger, "this 
 all ? I have taught you to call me Diable and Diable 
 I will be. You are a pair of thieves. You have 
 been loitering and lounging. You have spent my money 
 at the candy-stands and pie-shops. I will have it 
 out of your flesh, you drones ! Off with your shirt, 
 Tippoo ! " 
 
 Saying this, he seized a small whip with a sharp 
 lash and was about to inflict a stinging blow, when 
 the boy, uttering a cry of fear and agony, said : , 
 
 " No, Diable, we have not eaten one thing since 
 we left you this morning. Here is all, every cent. 
 The police came at our last performance, and we had 
 to leave before we could pass my cap. Is not this so, 
 Lillie ? " 
 
 The girl lifted toward him her blue eyes and 
 beautiful face, down which was rolling a tear, and 
 said, in a plaintive, beseeching, tone, "Yes, Diable, 
 Tippoo says true. That is all we have taken. We 
 were hungry, 'but we never spent one cent. We have 
 not deceived you to-day, and we never have deceived 
 you but twice, when we were so faint and tired we 
 were nearly dead for food, and a little pie did so 
 tempt us." 
 
 Her appeal, so touching and truthful, might have 
 softened a soul of stone. It seemed rather to exas 
 perate Diable. He appeared almost to foam and flash 
 with rage, as he said, in a suppressed, inhuman growl, 
 such as a ghoul might have uttered : 
 
 " You lie ! You both lie ! You agree together to 
 
" NJ? 01 CAPITAL AND KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
THE BATTERY. 305 
 
 cheat me. You are drones and thieves, and you force 
 me to the lash. If I don't have money, I will have 
 blood. I have kept you and trained you for years, 
 and now is the time when I must get back what I 
 spent, with interest. You must bring home every 
 night twice as much as this. Do you hear ? twice as 
 much, or make up the difference by your flesh." 
 
 Saying this, he struck Tippoo several blows which 
 made him writhe with pain, and was just beginning 
 to inflict barbarous treatment on the more tender form 
 of his young companion, when there was an interrup 
 tion in a way I will now proceed to relate. 
 
 The gentleman had called Ling to his side, and 
 both were observing what we have narrated. In half 
 soliloquy, the former said, as he gazed : 
 
 "Surely I have seen that brute's face. Ha! it 
 seems to float back from the dim and far past. But 
 it is impossible ! A Prince of the House of Ruric 
 could never be so degraded. It is a fancy, silly and 
 impossible. This cannot be the man I have seen in 
 his ancestral halls, and among the proudest in the 
 palace of the Emperor. Yet I cannot be mistaken ! 
 Degraded as this savage is, his features I can still 
 recognize. It is he it is certainly he and the girl! 
 I tremble to think she may be the object of my 
 search, now sunk into such an abyss of horror and 
 debasement." 
 
 While these words were escaping almost unconsciously 
 from the lips of the speaker, the gathering rage of 
 Diable had begun to expend itself on his victims, and 
 
306 KNIGHTS OP LABOR. 
 
 the flesh of the girl was quivering under his first blow 
 as she writhed in a pain, the more touching, because 
 dumb and suppressed. 
 
 "By Heavens, Ling," resumed the gentleman, "I 
 can stand this no longer. I will go to the rescue, 
 and save that fair young creature from the villain's 
 lash. We will come, I foresee, to bitter blows, but 
 under no circumstances leave your watch in this place, 
 even if I am in danger of my life, until you hear my 
 old signal, the whistle." 
 
 Having finished these words, he crossed the street, 
 entered the door, and passed down the low, long, dark 
 room, to the spot where the children stood before their 
 tormentor. Seeing a stranger approach, Diable looked 
 up with amazement. Such an intrusion on his domain 
 he deemed an impossible hazard and effrontery. He 
 scowled on the daring invader with face and eye of 
 vengeance. In his turn the stranger met the glance 
 of the tyrant with an equal defiance. The two men 
 stood thus in silence staring at each other. A hate 
 of generations seemed blazing in their breasts and 
 flashing from their eyes. Finally the stranger inter 
 rupted the silence by saying : 
 
 "Your evil name suits your evil nature. Only a 
 wretch would inflict such cruelty on unresisting chil 
 dren. Touch them again and I will fell you to the 
 floor." 
 
 " Who are you ?" burst out Diable. "How dare you 
 
 come here and interfere with me ? These children are 
 
 mine bought with my money and trained by me, and 
 
THE BATTERY. 307 
 
 are my means of living. Begone ! Out of my house, 
 or I will kill you!" 
 
 "I will not leave," calmly answered the gentleman, 
 " until you give me your assurance that you will cease 
 this violence. I am pledged before Heaven to relieve 
 suffering, and to punish cruelty whenever and wherever 
 they may be found. Beside, I now know who you are, 
 and I know who is this child you call Lillie. I claim 
 her as her lawful protector." 
 
 Nothing could exceed the amazement of Diable. 
 Indeed, he was transformed almost into a demon. He 
 shrieked: "Where do you come f rom ? " with a look and 
 tone of mingled wonder and hatred. "You set up a 
 right to my flesh and blood ! " he continued. " Let me 
 see you, that I may find out who and what you are." 
 
 Again the two men regarded each other with a fixed 
 and intense gaze. In silence there was a recognition 
 which fed to additional ardor the flames on each 
 breast. Diable at length broke forth : 
 
 "Begone! I know you. I hate you. Leave 
 instantly or you die !" 
 
 "Diable, you know that I will not leave without 
 this girl. Give her to me and I will depart. If you 
 refuse, I will take her by force." 
 
 As he uttered these words, Diable exclaimed : 
 "Your blood be on yourself," and sprang with a low 
 cry upon his adversary, flinging against him the whole 
 bulk of his vast body. The stranger stood the shock, 
 and amid the screams of the girl, the two men were soon 
 clasping each other in a fearful struggle. In the des- 
 
308 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 perate contest, the walls shook and the windows 
 rattled. Diable became first exhausted, owing to the 
 superior skill and power of his adversary, and, under a 
 rain of terrible blows, w^as covered with blood and lay 
 almost dead on the floor. The stranger arose, felt the 
 pulse of his prostrate foe, and, seeing that life was not 
 in peril, turned round with anxious gaze to find the 
 girl. His heart sank as he perceived her gone. The 
 object of his search, just in his grasp, had vanished, 
 perhaps forever. Years of weary waiting were in the 
 agony of his glance. Perceiving pursuit impossible, he 
 retired, and joining Ling, was followed by him to the hotel. 
 
 While this deadly contest had been progressing, the 
 Chinaman, remembering the orders of his master, and 
 not hearing his whistle, dared not interfere. Knowing 
 the marvelous skill, strength and agility he had often 
 seen displayed, he never for a moment doubted the 
 issue. But as he had stood in the shadow of the 
 alley, a lad of about eighteen, had paused before him, 
 arrested by the noise of the struggle, and who seemed 
 about to cry for help or to interfere, when Ling laid 
 on the shoulder of the youth his giant hand, and 
 held him fast in his grasp. 
 
 "Be stillee you!" he cried. "Stayee here you! Not 
 one wordee sayee you ! No Melliken youee, I see from 
 Japan, youee your namee tellee me." 
 
 "Tojo!" answered the lad, trembling with fear and 
 anger. 
 
 "From Tokio, youee!" said Ling. "How Ion gee in 
 Mellika, youee ?" 
 
THE BATTERY. 309 
 
 "I came from Japan when a child," replied Tojo, 
 "and have been nearly ever since with Diable. Let 
 me go and help him, or I will yell for the police." 
 
 "Youee no doee it," answered Ling, shaking the 
 boy terribly, by way of warning. 
 
 The lad thus threatened was compelled to remain a 
 quiet observer of the fierce fight. Soon, however, it 
 had ended, and being released from the giant's grasp, 
 he ran over the street, entered the door, and bent over 
 his bleeding and prostrate master. 
 
 ' 'Are you much hurt, Diable?" he inquired, as he 
 stooped and held his ear near the lips of the bruised 
 and bloody wretch, who faintly gasped, "Water! 
 Tojo! Water!" 
 
 The lad sprang for a pitcher, poured out some 
 water into a cup, and gave it to Diable, at the same 
 time wetting a handkerchief and wiping the blood from 
 the face and forehead of the suffering man. Diable 
 soon revived, and rising and staggering to a rude bench, 
 threw himself on it with a fearful imprecation on his 
 conqueror. 
 
 "Curse him!" he exclaimed. "Curse his eyes, his 
 heart, his head ! Curse his family, his race, his 
 country ! Curse his emperor ! Curse them all, to a 
 thousand generations. Death to kings and aristocrats 
 everywhere ! The old shall pass away in blood to 
 make place for the new. I will leave nothing, nothing ! 
 Ruin for the world shall be my cry forever ! " 
 
 Having expended his muttered rage, with the tone 
 and look of a demon he said : " Tojo ! here ! Tojo ! " 
 
310 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 The lad, starting at the sound of the savage voice, 
 replied : 
 
 "Here I am, Diable! What do you want?" 
 
 "We must leave this place, Tojo!" he answered. 
 " Leave this very night. That has just happened 
 which will discover all and ruin all." 
 
 "But, Diable," urged the boy, "it can't be done. 
 Your word is pledged. Don't you remember you hired 
 me to-night for the big house on the avenue. Dan 
 Death and Billy Bully were to meet me when the 
 clock struck one, and I was to climb up the back 
 piazza, walk along the eave, open a fourth story 
 window, go down stairs and unlock the front door, 
 and bag a third of the catch. It can't be, Diable. 
 Our word was given, and I want the work and the 
 stuff." 
 
 "Curse your word!" cried Diable, in a rage. 
 "You shall play 'kid' no longer. This night ends 
 such business. I have enough for us both and we will 
 retire while we can. My time and soul shall be given 
 to vengeance against my enemy, and to killing kings, 
 aristocrats and monopolists. I'll never spare again. 
 Tippoo and Lillie must leave the city immediately. 
 We will go from this place this minute and seek new 
 and better quarters, and in the morning I will explain 
 to vou my plans." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE EAGLE. 
 
 HAT a glorious creature is a loco 
 motive ! Did you ever feel it 
 under you, as it flashed and 
 thundered along the track, thrill 
 ing you with a sense of joy and 
 power ? It seemed to you a 
 living thing. It breathed, it drank, it was 
 fed, it ran, it palpitated with its giant 
 force. Surely, these are the attributes of 
 vitality ! On the locomotive, you think you 
 are on some vast obedient animal, and when 
 the crash comes in blood, and death, and 
 horror, it is the madness of the creature, rebelling 
 against human control, which dashes to ruin all 
 around it in a paroxysm of insane vengeance. The 
 locomotive is yet the uniter of nations, the prophet of 
 peace, the messenger of civilization, the herald of 
 millennium, the conqueror of humanity, and the John 
 the Baptist of Christianity, raising the valleys, level 
 ing the mountains, and making the crooked straight 
 and the rough plain for the monarch of the universe. 
 It is hence the spell of its mystery penetrates into 
 the consciousness of mankind. 
 
312 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 It is not, therefore, strange that there was a holiday 
 in Alma, when the largest and swiftest locomotive 
 ever built in the country was pushed forth finished 
 from the shop, and stood on the track in its majesty. 
 Indeed, it had a royal look ! In its very silence was 
 a spell. What a contrast between that slumbering 
 power and the fiery energy which was to fly through 
 the air and flash over the earth ! How bright each 
 plate and band of brass ! See those monster wheels, 
 towering above the tallest men ! A flame is beginning 
 to glimmer in the furnace ! Now, a circle of smoke 
 rises, for the first time, from the stack and floats 
 away into the heavens ! Steam hisses ! All will soon 
 be ready for the thrilling race ! A long expected hour 
 has come, and a large group of workmen are survey 
 ing, with hope, love and admiration, the machine on 
 which they have bestowed so much thought and labor. 
 
 John Standfast, master of the Alma shops, looked 
 affectionately at the Eagle, examined a joint here and 
 a plate yonder, peeped into the furnace, tried the 
 steam-gauges, worked the lever of the throttle-valve, 
 and went around, and under, and over the stately 
 locomotive. 
 
 "Well! she is a beauty!" he exclaimed, with a 
 species of paternal satisfaction. " She'll beat lighthin' ! 
 Reg'lar time, sixty mile an hour, and ninety on a 
 pinch." 
 
 "Yes! John," said Jim Fly, "you've made an 
 Eagle in our Alma shops that'll leave out of sight a 
 Rocky Mountain bald-head, when he's flyin' for his 
 
They've cut me down to a dollar a day." 
 Paw 3'.o. 
 
THE EAGLE. 315 
 
 breakfast. I've seen many a fellow in the clouds 
 that couldn't go as fast as I propose this mornin'." 
 
 "If our Eagle beats the Almighty's," impiously 
 growled Ben Bunce, "who gets the profit? We do 
 the work and our masters take the pay. Who put 
 the hard knocks into this machine ? The men, who 
 get nothin' for their pains." 
 
 "Why, Bunce," replied Standfast, "is there no pleas 
 ure in makin' such a thing, and feelin' that you can 
 make it ? I've spent many a night in thinkin' it out, 
 and many a day in workin' it out, and I wouldn't 
 change my part in it for any stock or office of the 
 company. We have health, comfort and a good 
 conscience, and that's more than the fellows you scold 
 always have." 
 
 "Curse 'em!" said Bunce. "They've cut me down 
 to a dollar a day, and brought my wife and children 
 to tough grub and rough wear, but their own cham 
 pagne flows on, and their women's silks and dimons 
 are jist as before these hard times hard times for us 
 slaves, but not for our owners." 
 
 A murmur of discontent, excited by these words, 
 ran through the crowd. At this point Jim Fly, who 
 was to be engineer of the Eagle on this grand trial- 
 day, mounted the steps of the splendid machine, and, 
 with a cock of his hat, a toss of his head, and a 
 knowing squint, having first thrust out his cheeks with 
 his tongue, said: 
 
 "Boys, it wont always be so. We fixed that fact at 
 our meetin' last night, sure as John Standfast makes 
 
316 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 you drive a boiler-rivet true. What I tell you now is 
 
 certin as the noise sent before by a locomotive, when 
 
 i 
 she whizzes at her best to tell you she's acomin'. 
 
 We'll turn up owners after while, and I'll run this Eagle 
 on my own account and have a jolly ride, responsible 
 to Jim Fly." 
 
 "Take care, Jim," replied Standfast, "that's dan 
 gerous talk, and smacks of that infernal Diable. You'll 
 strike yourself into trouble, strike money out of your 
 pocket, strike your family into rags, and out of a 
 good home. That's always the end of it, after all 
 your meetins', and brags, and flags, and drinkins', and 
 marchins'. You may have one ride of your own on 
 the Eagle, but you'll pay for it with the loss of your 
 place, and your character, and never get over it for 
 the rest of your life." 
 
 " So you always talk," said Bunce, with a scowl 
 on his face. " Your heart is on our side, but your 
 head is with our owners. We are their slaves, and 
 they grind out of us their big fortunes, and their good 
 times, and, I tell you, American Workingmen are goin' 
 to be free. In six months, a time is comin' that'll 
 startle you. You can't stand fast with us, John, 
 unless you stand loose from the monopolists." 
 
 Looks and words of approval were on the faces and 
 lips of the gathering crowd of toilers, and were only 
 repressed by the unpropitious time and place. The 
 steam would soon be sufficient for the engines, and 
 the President and his associates make their appearance, 
 and enter their car already in waiting. 
 
THE EAGLE. 317 
 
 Just here said Sam Fead the fireman, who had 
 been silently scouring a steam box : 
 
 "Boys, I've a word to say. Let Jim Fly tell us 
 where the screw is we'd like to loose to-day, and I'll 
 give it a few twists with his wrench, and let her 
 jump the track, and pitch off the monopolists at the 
 rate of sixty mile an hour, and bury our wrongs with 
 'em in the mud. Curse 'em, I'd like to see 'em heads 
 down and heels up, stickin for the next ten year." 
 
 " You fool," answered Jim Fly, "aint you and me 
 in the same craft ? Where'll be our blood and brains, 
 while they're turnin' summersets and landin' skulls in 
 the earth and toes in the air ? You don't catch me 
 beatin' in my head for the fun of breakin' theirs." 
 
 "Yes!" cried Tim Driver, "many a time, when 
 they've been flyin' in their palaces, and a dinin' and a 
 winin' at our expense, I'd've let go a loose rail, or 
 pulFd out a bad spike, if it had'nt been that our own 
 fellows were at the brakes, the furnace, and the 
 throttle-valve, and that I did'nt want to spill their 
 blood in the general crash. But they've pull'd down 
 our pay agin while they keep up their own, and I'll 
 find a way to be even with them yet, or I aint Tim 
 Driver." 
 
 The sympathies of the men were evidently with 
 this wild and wicked speech. One red-eyed, reckless, 
 rollicking old man, and several young madcaps, all 
 ready for change, whiskey and plunder, cried in 
 suppressed tones : 
 
 " Down with the 'nopolists ! down with aristocrats I 
 
318 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 down with capital and up with labor ! Down with our 
 masters and, curse 'em ! we'll wipe 'em out, and get 
 our own in spite of money-bags and bagonets ! Hur 
 rah for Diable and the Nillists ! " 
 
 Standfast was alarmed at what he saw and heard. 
 He knew that danger was brewing all over the coun 
 try, but could not have believed the storm so near, 
 as these advanced mutterings indicated. It was clear 
 to him at a glance that the GRAND STRIKE had been 
 organized, and that before many months, tempest and 
 earthquake might be loosed in universal ruin. He 
 saw, too, that European emissaries had been sowing 
 evil seeds among the men, and that the baleful har 
 vest would soon be ripe. Now his only hope was to 
 extricate from the combination the laborers in his 
 own shops, and possibly along the line of the road. 
 While the Eagle was flaming and panting like a racer, 
 eager for the strife and the prize, he mounted one of 
 the steps, and said earnestly to the men, by whom he 
 was trusted and respected : 
 
 "Boys, you're goin' wrong and you'll make your 
 selves trouble. Diable has been among you. I know 
 his tracks. He's bad all through as his namesake. 
 Keep clear of the devil and he'll keep clear of you. 
 It may do to kill aristocrats in Europe, but I tell you 
 dynamite- bombs won't take in America. They'll blow 
 your own brains out. Diable tells you to wipe out 
 the old in blood, and let the world begin over again. 
 We have begun over again in this country. The Rev 
 olution was our new start. Every man here has his 
 
THE EAGLE. 319 
 
 rights, rich or poor, and a chance for the best our 
 country .can give. Manhood wins at last. Your sons 
 may have the highest offices in the gift of the people, 
 and you know it. Black and white, furrener and 
 native-born are the same before the law, and God 
 Almighty will take care of a country built on right 
 and justice. Every man in this land may have a 
 livin', and if he fails, the fault's his own. In no 
 place on earth has the workman such comforts and 
 privileges. Keep to your posts, boys ; do your duty, 
 and all will be well." 
 
 Standfast was one of themselves. An uneducated, 
 silent, gifted man, who had risen by his own talent 
 and energy. The men loved and respected him, and 
 every word of his had weight, and more especially, 
 since he was a thinker, and, usually, most sparing of 
 his speech. 
 
 Jack Ruff, however, a sturdy and growling English 
 man, esteemed for his skill in the foundry, was not 
 to be silenced. He grumbled out : 
 
 "John, if we can't have better pay here, give me 
 king, queen and nobility, as we 'ave in Hingland, 
 above your mush-room railroaders. I respect an hold 
 hoak more than a gourd that comes hup in a night 
 and dies next mornin'. Down with your smoke-stack 
 haristocracy ! Tumble 'em into the ditch, and let 'em 
 lie where they fall ! If I'm to be ruled by haristocrats, 
 I'll go back to hold Hingland, where kings are born 
 to crowns, and nobles 'ave hancestors." 
 
 "And me to auld Ireland," said' Shanty O'Brien. 
 
320 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "I'll be a goin' in a week, if the pay isn't bether. 
 They're dhrivin' out the landlords, and pushin' Johnny 
 Bull into the Irish sae, and, when it's over, I'll be 
 gettin' an esthate myself. An Irish pell, with a little 
 pouther, is good for arishtocrats, and a midnight dose 
 they'll have in Amirica if they schrew down me pay 
 another rid cent." 
 
 "Yah!" said Dutch Hans, "that be von trut ; dey 
 grind us in mine country, and dey grind us in dis. 
 Te mills-stones be all de same here and tare. As te 
 Diable say, te cure is der blood dey must be viped 
 out clean, and no seen more tan dat steam ven it is 
 lost in te air." 
 
 Just here the venerable General Adam Sparker, 
 President of the Company, with his son, Walter, and 
 his son-in-law, Dr. Saul Bidman, appeared, and ended 
 this dangerous conversation. All words and looks of 
 discontent vanished instantly. The very sight of the 
 General hushed every tempest. He was an old man 
 of eighty, who had organized and established the road, 
 but whose advanced age compelled him to resign the 
 active duties of his office to his son, a young man of 
 twenty-five, as first Vice-President, and to his son-in- 
 law, long a widower, as second Vice-President. His 
 ability, integrity and benevolence commanded universal 
 respect. The old-fashioned, bright brass buttons of his 
 blue cloth swallow-tail were not so lustrous as his 
 reputation, and would have been yet more emblem 
 atical had they been silver, or even gold. The General 
 was tall, slender and still erect, with a keen, eagle 
 
 
 
THE EAGLE. 321 
 
 eye, a fine Roman nose, a thin, firm lip, and the 
 benevolent expression expected in a patriarch. He had 
 not forgotten the anvil and hammer, with which he 
 had first forged his fortune, and his gold had never, 
 therefore, been a barrier between him and the people. 
 Indeed, his was a model of Christian manhood. The 
 Eagle had awakened in him the ardor of his youth, 
 and he had summoned all his failing energies for this 
 swiftest run ever made on the continent. 
 
 As General Sparker ascended the steps of his 
 beautiful private car, supported on the right by Walter 
 and on the left by Dr. Saul Bidman, cheers long and 
 loud burst from the lips of the workmen, and when he 
 reached the platform he acknowledged the compliment 
 by a graceful wave of his hat, and the sparkle in his 
 eye, and the smile on his countenance. Afterwards, 
 when his two associates came out for a moment in 
 the view of the crowd, an instantaneous change was 
 visible on all faces. It seemed like the shadow of a 
 cloud sweeping over fields brilliant in the beams of a 
 summer sun. 
 
 Standfast took his place on the locomotive, with Jim 
 Fly and Sam Fead, for the purpose of directing them 
 and assuring the greatest attainable speed and safety. 
 Amid the delighted shouts of the men the Eagle moved 
 off gracefully, but ran slowly while testing and warming 
 for her fiery race. 
 
 The quick eye of old General Sparker had detected 
 discontent in the faces of the men, even when they 
 were most vociferous in their cheers, and pressing the 
 
322 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 little bell-tap on the side of his car, Standfast 
 immediately responded to his call. 
 
 "John," he began, "I saw in the countenances of 
 some of the Alma men what I did not like. I fear 
 they mean mischief. Tell me the whole truth." 
 
 "General," replied Standfast, "I do not know all, 
 but I know enough. I am afraid we are on the edge 
 of an earthquake. A Railway strike has been organized 
 over our land which must end in trouble we have 
 never seen before. Some of the men talk wildly of 
 even killing, burning and getting possession of the 
 country. 
 
 " You surprise me, John," said the General. " What 
 are your proofs ? I can scarcely believe it, and yet I 
 forget that I am so far outside of active duty that my 
 opportunities of observing are not great. It is strange 
 that Walter and the Doctor have given me no hint of 
 this." 
 
 "I have too many proofs," replied Standfast. "Our 
 only hope now is to keep our own fellows out of the 
 combination. They have perfect faith in you, and love 
 you much. But you know that they are children and 
 easily drawn aside. There is a Nihilist called Diable 
 who will come among them, and who does great harm." 
 
 "John," answered the General, "we have no time to 
 talk of this now, but you will stand by me, I am sure, 
 whatever may happen. I will see you again about it. 
 Here, take my hand and pledge me that you will be 
 faithful to me and the Road." 
 
 Standfast extended his hand, which was grasped by 
 
THE EAGLE. 323 
 
 that of the General, and both men knew that this 
 signified fidelity even unto death. 
 
 "Now," resumed the noble old man, "I want to 
 talk a little with Walter and Dr. Bidman. In about 
 ten minutes I will be through, and then you must put 
 the Eagle to her best speed and beat all America this 
 morning." 
 
 John retired as requested, having first called Walter 
 Sparker and Dr. Saul Bidman from the opposite end of 
 the car to chairs near the General. 
 
 "Walter," began his father, "my curiosity is excited. 
 Did you notice that fine-looking young man and 
 beautiful girl standing in Standfast's door as our 
 carriage drove by this morning ? If you know, tell 
 me who they are ? " 
 
 Young Sparker was visibly embarrassed. He 
 blushed and stammered, but at last said with great 
 constraint : 
 
 "I saw there Edward Stewart, our new mechanical 
 engineer, and Belle Standfast, the only daughter of 
 John. These, I suppose, are the persons you mean." 
 
 " That young fellow pleased me greatly," replied the 
 General, musingly. "He has a marked and noble face, 
 and I must inquire about him. My interest is unusual, 
 and I cannot but think he is to be useful to the road. 
 The girl is the prettiest picture I ever saw. I did not 
 know John had such a daughter. Another proof how 
 fast I am getting out of the way of this world. And 
 now, Bidman, I must express my surprise that I have 
 never heard anything of this threatened strike." 
 
324 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 " I did not wish to trouble you, General, and we are 
 prepared for the rascals," replied Bidman, morosely. 
 
 "Prepared!" said the General, displeased and 
 alarmed. " Prepared ! Have matters gone so far, and 
 I in ignorance of everything ! I do not like this at 
 all!" 
 
 Bidman answered sullenly : 
 
 "I thought we could manage the affair, and it would 
 only distress you for nothing. If the rascals try to 
 carry out their plans, they will soon be wiped out. 
 We have made arrangements both with the State and 
 Federal authorities, and my house is already like a 
 fort." 
 
 "Walter!" burst out the General, "are you party 
 to this concealment ? And, pray, if the peril is so 
 great, why have I not been notified ? I don't like 
 this mystery ! " 
 
 "Father!" said Walter, trembling with fear and 
 embarrassment ; " I have already had guns and cartridges 
 placed in our attic." 
 
 "Guns and cartridges!" thundered the General, with 
 all the fiery energy of his early manhood, "and I know 
 nothing of it ! In my own house, too ! The authorities 
 apprised, and I ignorant ! I tell you there shall be no 
 appeal to arms. Our men can be controlled by kindness 
 and wisdom. You will see, old as 1 am, that my influ 
 ence is not buried, although you treat me as if my body 
 was." 
 
 " General," replied Bidman, with an impatient scowl, 
 " I have studied this question, and there is but one way 
 
THE EAGLE. 325 
 
 to settle it. If these fellows burn and kill, as they 
 threaten, we must meet them with balls and bayonets. 
 I am ready for the rascals. I'll shoot down like a dog 
 any man who attacks me or my property." 
 
 " You are going wrong, Bidmao," said the General, 
 subduing his anger with a great effort, "and you are 
 leading others wrong. I must see to this myself. 
 Beware of what you do and say ! Your plans and 
 feelings will lead to blood and ruin. You cannot govern 
 men in this way. Only can you control them by justice 
 and benevolence. Let me say to you, as if with my 
 dying lips, never depart from the principles on which I 
 have founded our company ! Never discriminate in 
 freights, either for individuals or corporations ! Never 
 force a man to sell you his property because you chance 
 to want it ! Never manufacture an article for your 
 own profit at the expense of other stockholders ! Never 
 declare a dividend you have not earned ! Never defile 
 yourselves or others by bribes ! Never seek to destroy 
 men that you may rise on their ruin ! Above all, avoid 
 combinations to control prices ! The Universal Oil Com 
 pany will blast you if you touch it. Always remember 
 that wo are common carriers, bound by law and right 
 to convey all freights at reasonable prices ! Do not 
 forget that I myself am sprung from the people, and 
 bound to our workmen by the strongest sympathies ! 
 Be just and fear not ! Another panic will sweep this 
 country like an earthquake, and engulf nearly all our 
 great railway companies, and nothing will save us from 
 the general ruin but the honesty and wisdom of our 
 
326 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 management. This is the policy that I bequeath to 
 my family, and I demand that it be observed." 
 
 The General spoke with the glow and vehemence of 
 an old prophet, while Walter Sparker and Dr. Saul 
 Bidman looked confused and almost confounded. But 
 just here the designated ten minutes had expired, and 
 the Eagle was beginning to feel the effects of the 
 command to John Standfast. 
 
 Yes; the speed was indeed, wonderful. General 
 Sparker, kindled into new strength by his own true 
 words, seemed to have returned to him the ardor and 
 vigor of his youth. He insisted on standing with 
 the men on the locomotive, and enjoying fully the 
 sense of his triumph. It was a glorious moment for 
 the venerable man the crown and consummation of a 
 noble, active life. See him with his beaming eye, 
 his dilated nostril, his erect form, as he stands with 
 folded arms, and his white locks streaming in the 
 wind created by the flight of the Eagle ! The 
 people along the line have been notified by telegram, 
 and at all the stations are gazing and shouting with 
 excitement. A whirlwind is rushing by. The engines 
 are frantic ; the wheels flash like the lightning ; 
 beneath is a tempestuous vortex, dangerous as a mael 
 strom. First, a warning noise, then an instant thunder, 
 and all is silence again, while the Eagle has vanished 
 in the opposite direction. No bird of Jove above 
 cloud or mountain summit, had ever so swift a flight, 
 unless when dropping down through the air like the 
 lightning-bolt on its prey. 
 
THE EAGLE. 327 
 
 All were exhilarated by the triumph, and when the 
 Eagle returned in the evening, she had attained a speed 
 unexampled in America. A telegram had announced 
 the splendid achievement, and she was saluted with cries 
 of victory. Alma was illuminated, and in the blaze 
 of torch and window, the whole population abandoned 
 itself to entertainments generously provided by the 
 Company. While the lights flamed and the cheer 
 was distributed, no signs could be traced of the dis 
 content which was to result in a fearful commotion of 
 the social and political elements. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE BROTHERS. 
 
 I ABLE, on the very night of 
 the fierce battle I have pre 
 viously described, moved into 
 furnished apartments he had 
 examined a few days before, 
 
 and which were in an old brick house 
 on the Avenue near Washington Square. 
 His sudden improvement in fortune was 
 owing to an investment in a Colorado 
 mine, whose stock had been surpris 
 ingly advanced by discoveries of gold, 
 which proved to be exhaustless and almost 
 fabulous. In his neat and airy rooms, and new 
 attire, he could scarcely be recognized, even by the 
 police, and in consequence of his transformation, 
 we will hereafter call him by his true name, 
 Ruric, which he had inherited in a land where rank 
 and wealth had promised him a splendid future. 
 But while changed in situation and appearance, burn 
 ing in his heart was the same wild flame of hatred 
 and revenge. He dreamed of the ruin of the present 
 over which he always saw a cloud, red with blood. 
 Indeed, he had become a maniac of destruction. He 
 
THE BROTHERS. 329 
 
 would make the world like an extinct volcano, and 
 sink it into abysses from which it would arise with 
 another soil, and for another life. All his increased 
 resources were but enlarged means of ruin. Lillie, 
 Tippoo, Tojo, were no longer necessary for his living, 
 but he henceforth had for them other plans, caused by 
 the knowledge that the mysterious stranger, whom of 
 mortals he most detested, was a foe whom he had to 
 baffle, or be himself destroyed. Torture and death 
 were preferable to the triumph of his enemy. His 
 chief aim now was to get Lillie out of the way of a 
 vigorous and vigilant pursuit he saw inevitable. 
 Calling Tojo to his room, after long reflection, he said 
 to him : 
 
 "My boy, you must leave your old ways and friends. 
 Drop your slang, and talk as you were taught in the 
 Public School before you began to play 'kid.' I shall 
 need all the intelligence your early education gives 
 you. Unite your Japanese wit to your American train 
 ing, and forget everything in your past, but your lessons 
 of obedience to my commands. Hereafter call me 
 'Master,' and tell Lillie and Tippoo to do the same." 
 
 It was marvelous how speedily, in consequence of 
 this direction, the apt lad transformed himslf in dress, 
 speech and manners, and accommodated his whole nature 
 to the requirements of his changed conditions. 
 
 Not long afterwards Kuric said to him : 
 
 "Tojo, do you remember the Chinaman whose big 
 hand grasped your shoulder and held you back on the 
 night I had my fight with that infernal stranger ? " 
 
330 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 The lad's face grew black with rage and he ground 
 his teeth as he replied : 
 
 "Remember him! Master, I have his marks on 
 my flesh. He is my enemy and must feel my knife. 
 Once, when I was a child, a Chinese junk anchored 
 before our village, which the sailors burned, after 
 killing my father and my mother and taking captive 
 my sister. We were of noble blood, but that night 
 brought us to ruin. I alone escaped by hiding in a 
 cave of a mountain. Ling's hand brought back the 
 wrongs of my boyhood, and renewed my hatred of his 
 race." 
 
 " And the stranger he serves," exclaimed Kuric, " is 
 my deadliest enemy." 
 
 "If he is yours, Master, he is mine," cried To jo. 
 "We will hate them together and have our revenge." 
 
 " That, now, is our business," said Ruric. " You 
 must not fail to obey me, as you have always done ; 
 our change of plans and circumstances has made this 
 even more necessary than before." 
 
 "Master," answered Tojo, "it will be hard to forget 
 the lessons I have been so many years learning. They 
 have been well beaten into me, I think." 
 
 "I am satisfied," said Ruric, smiling grimly. "Have 
 you taught Lillie and Tippoo what I expect them to 
 do ? Unless we have them under good control before 
 they start, the birds will take wing and leave us 
 when I lift my hand from their string. I incur a great 
 hazard in sending them away so far from me on this 
 expedition, and yet it seems the best course possible." 
 
THE BROTHERS. 331 
 
 "Master," replied To jo, "they have had their 
 lessons day and night, and they are scared lambs, I tell 
 you, sure as ever I was a kid. Often I threaten them 
 with death if they run away, and fire a pistol over 
 their heads to frighten them. In the night I waken 
 them by rolling a cannon ball over the floor above 
 them and make hideous noises, shrieking, howling, 
 groaning, until they are nearly crazy with fear. Just 
 before they start I will let them have it worse than 
 ever, and I hope you will scold and scare them like 
 thunder." 
 
 "I am satisfied, Tojo," said Ruric. "You have 
 managed admirably and I have no doubt can be en 
 trusted with our difficult enterprise. I will give you 
 more careful instructions and the exact route to be 
 pursued. Let Tippoo take his harp, and Lillie her 
 guitar, and teach them all the tricks you can to help 
 them pay their expenses and keep them employed. 
 Now go, and call them to me." 
 
 After Tojo had left him, Ruric paced the floor in a 
 fearful agitation. It had been difficult to decide how 
 he might elude the pursuit of the girl. Solitary con 
 finement would be attended with many dangers, and 
 escape over the ocean by even more. After long hesi 
 tation, it was decided to send the children together 
 into different parts of the country, disguised and with 
 their instruments, under the occasional supervision of 
 Tojo, while Ruric himself was to hold in his own 
 hand the threads of all movements and give his 
 directions from* New York. But the course was full 
 
333 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 of perils. Could Lillie and Tippoo be controlled ? 
 Would not their new and wide liberty break down 
 their old and powerful habits of obedience ? Would 
 they not escape ? Might not Tojo himself prove false 
 and sell his information for a bribe certain to be large 
 and tempting ? Ruric considered and answered all 
 these questions. He was not prepared himself to leave 
 the country on account of his Nihilistic schemes. For 
 the girl he had reserved a fate too terrible for mention, 
 and which was to bring the bliss of a supreme 
 revenge. All evil passions were clouding his soul and 
 working in his face when the boy and the girl appeared 
 in answer to his summons. He burst out upon them 
 as they stood trembling before him : 
 
 " You imps, you drones, you thieves, you devils, do 
 you know what I want with you ? " 
 
 "Yes, Master," said Tippoo. "Tojo has told us all and 
 we understand it." 
 
 "Will you obey me, you vermin?" he cried. "Will 
 you work as hard for me when I cannot see you as 
 here where I made you settle every night ? Will you 
 send me all the money you earn ? Or will you try 
 to run away ? Beware ! Go where you will, Diable 
 will see you with his eye and reach you with his 
 hand. The lightning will be too quick for you. Be 
 sides, Tojo will visit you when you least expect it, 
 
 ; 
 
 and if he finds you loitering, or cheating, I'll tumble 
 you into the fire and burn your heads off. Be careful," 
 he thundered, "or I'll kill both of you and throw you 
 to the dogs." 
 
THE BROTHERS. 333 
 
 The children grew pale before this savage rage 
 which revived all the horrors of their servitude during 
 so many years. Ever had they been haunted, even 
 in their dreams, by the image of Diable, and they 
 feared him as they dreaded ghosts and goblins. 
 Across even a continent, they were to feel his spell 
 shaping their acts and molding their lives. Tippoo 
 stammered out : 
 
 "You know, master, we dare not disobey you. We 
 would be afraid in any part of the country, knowing 
 your eye is always on us. You could find us deep 
 in the ground or in the bottom of the ocean. Do not 
 beat us, for we will do what you say without it." 
 
 "Don't lie to me," he shrieked. "I'll watch you, 
 night and day. My spies will be always about 
 you. The telegraph will not let you hide or run. In 
 a few hours the railway can take me anywhere. 
 You are just as safe for me in San Francisco as in 
 New York. Do you know where you are to go for 
 the next three months ? " 
 
 "We do, master," said Tippoo. 
 
 "And when you stop in a town, what are you to 
 do first ? " 
 
 "Go to the Post Office." 
 
 "And what next?" 
 
 "Inquire at the Telegraph Station." 
 
 "And what third?" 
 
 "Send our money every Saturday by mail to Tojo in 
 New York." 
 
 "'In what places are you going to stop?" 
 
334 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "Where you tell us on your paper, or send word 
 by Tojo." 
 
 "Well! I see you understand. Whether you get it 
 by letter, or by telegram, or in thunder and in light 
 ning, or the devil hands it to you in the storm, remem 
 ber that my will is your law and your life. Disobey 
 me, and you will not forget it soon ! Begone and 
 beware ! " 
 
 The children left the apartment in haste and pallid 
 with their fright. 
 
 While these things were occurring in the house, you 
 might have seen, walking down the avenue, a man 
 who was the image of Ruric in face and form, but 
 who, in expression, differed from him widely as pos 
 sible. He wore the dress of a Priest of the Russian 
 Church, and his countenance breathed peace and 
 beamed benevolence. People gazed at him as a superb 
 specimen of manhood. In his port and person was 
 that majesty which often distinguishes the highest 
 order of Russian noblemen. He was evidently a twin 
 brother of Ruric. Having rung the bell, he stood 
 waiting on the step with an anxious and bewildered 
 look, until, the servant appearing, he sent up his card, 
 and soon received an invitation to a private parlor. 
 He took a chair, gazed around with surprise, and 
 then seemed absorbed in his meditations. Soon Ruric 
 entered, and, holding out his hand, said gruffly : 
 
 " Good morning, Nicolai !" 
 
 "Good morning, brother," was the response, with a 
 sweet tone and smile. 
 
THE BROTHERS. 335 
 
 "I suppose," returned Ruric, "that I am indebted 
 to my changed situation for this unexpected visit." 
 
 " You do me injustice," replied Nicolai. " Did I 
 not persist in going to your old home until you for 
 bade me ? Death alone can sever the tie between us. 
 Can we forget our father, our mother, our home, our 
 happy boyhood ? No more can I forget you. Differing 
 as we do in our principles and our practice, you are 
 yet always my brother." 
 
 Hard as was the heart of Ruric he was touched by 
 the tone and look of fraternal affection. All the ten 
 der recollections of the past rushed before him, and 
 he was visibly moved. Love thus brings some sym 
 pathetic drop from the rock of the most abandoned 
 soul. 
 
 "It might not have been thus," he said, sadly; "it 
 might not have been thus. But you know my wrongs, 
 my sufferings, my deep and terrible provocations." 
 
 "I know all," replied Nicolai, "and I sympathise 
 with all. The mystery of your misery is too deep 
 for me. But we are born into this world not to 
 know so much as to learn. A dark cloud obscures 
 this human life of ours. In endurance I have found 
 rest. Otherwise, I should be like yourself, a volcano 
 without, ice ; within, fire and ruin." 
 
 "Did I not begin," interrupted Ruric, " in the univer 
 sity with golden visions ? Russia was my dream ; when 
 emancipation came, how gladly I sacrificed my serfs 
 and my lands to the will of my Emperor ! I impoverished 
 myself for liberty. What followed ? Terrified by the 
 
336 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 burst of the waters he had released, the tyranny of 
 the Czar erected more formidable barriers. Trial by jury, 
 discussion in our local assemblies, the freedom of the 
 press, the privileges of the universities, were suppressed, 
 and Kussia was ruled by the spy and the soldier. 
 My enthusiastic words for liberty, excited by the 
 Emperor himself, were turned against me by the fears 
 of the tyrant. I was seized in my youth, and buried 
 in the solitudes of polar forests, and doomed to labor 
 like a slave and a criminal in the depths of the earth. 
 Then came the long, horrible months of my wander 
 ings amid snows and savages, until my soul swam in 
 visions of blood. Exiled in this land of liberty, I 
 have been forced to earn my bread by mingling with 
 thieves and murderers. Who robbed me ? who cursed 
 me ? who degraded me ? who banished me ? who made 
 me what I am ? And what is left to us ? We have 
 no armies. All governments, monarchical and repub 
 lican, combine against us in upholding wrong. Poison, 
 bullet, dagger, dynamite, death to kings and aristo 
 crats ruin to all creeds and governments the old 
 obliterated for the new in this despair is our hope. I 
 live for blood and vengeance." 
 
 "But, Ruric," replied Nicolai, "I have suffered 
 deeply and darkly as yourself. Exile, poverty, cold, 
 hunger, imprisonment, were mine as well as yours. 
 Yet, in forgiveness and submission, I have found peace. 
 I am taught by the Church to obey my rulers, and in 
 this I have rest and deliverance. Joy shines over the 
 altar. Hope of a better life enables me to endure the 
 
THE BROTHERS. 337 
 
 evils inseparable from this. Earth can only be 
 reformed by those fires of its dissolution which are to 
 convert it into heaven. Here ! oh, here alone can be 
 hushed forever the billows and the tempests of any 
 human soul." 
 
 " This solution may suit you," he replied savagely, 
 " but it does not suit me. I hate your Bible ; I curse 
 your Church ; I would obliterate your God ; I hope, like 
 a bubble on the ocean, to sink back into the abyss, 
 and mingle myself with the unconscious universe from 
 which I sprang. Nature is my God, and my immor 
 tality in our perpetuated humanity." 
 
 "You will see this differently hereafter," said 
 Nicolai, with touching sympathy. "After years of 
 agony, perhaps of madness, your eyes will be opened 
 to the truth." 
 
 "Never! Nicolai, never!" he exclaimed, with a 
 fearful emphasis. "The same air and soil makes the 
 poison that kills and the nectar that exhilarates the 
 same food is converted into a snake or into a man, 
 and by a similar arrangement of your benevolent Deity, 
 what has sunk me into a devil has exalted you to an 
 angel. I must follow this kind and wise ordination. 
 My path lies through blood to ruin, and when my 
 ghastly work is over, the gases, solids and liquids of 
 this huge human carcass will resolve themselves into 
 the unconscious earth and air from which they arose." 
 
 "Brother!" said Nicolai, with the sigh and expres 
 sion of an ineffable sadness, " I feel your taunt, although 
 I will not answer it, as I sympathise with your suffer- 
 
338 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 ing, although I cannot relieve it. Your time has not 
 yet come, and my arguments now would be vain. But 
 we are of the same blood and home, and the same 
 loves and memories must linger together in our hearts. 
 Do you recollect the little chamber up the winding 
 stair of the old tower, in which we slept side by side 
 when children ? " 
 
 "Do I recollect it?" he answered, with a smile like 
 sunshine through a cloud. "Yes, well! And the 
 beautiful view of the wide river, the rich valley, the 
 fringe of forest, and the blue hills beyond ! " 
 
 "Whose step was it, Ruric," Nicolai resumed, "we 
 heard gently on the stairs ? Who, in the darkness, 
 entered the chamber when we were supppsed to be 
 asleep ? Who, placing on each brow a soft, white hand, 
 while kneeling at our bed, commended her boys to 
 Heaven ? It was our mother ! Oh, the sweetness and 
 purity of that moment ! You have not forgotten it, 
 brother. Those prayers will save. Our good angel 
 smiles on you now from Paradise, watches your steps, 
 and follows you with blessings." 
 
 Lost to almost all other tender feelings, the Nihilist 
 yielded to the spell of a mother's name and memory. 
 His lip quivered, and the tear was on his cheek as he 
 turned away his face to conceal his emotion. Recover 
 ing himself with a strong effort, he said : 
 
 " Mcolai, I will hear no more of this. My heart 
 shall not betray my head. I am signed, sealed, and 
 delivered to my work. A recollection of childhood 
 cannot disturb a purpose dark and deep as death. You 
 
THE BROTHERS. 339 
 
 may move my tears, but you cannot shake my resolve 
 or turn me from my mission." 
 
 "Oh, Ruric," replied Nicolai, tenderly, "art thou 
 the representative of thine own opinions ? Nothing 
 lives in thee but hopeless misery. What, then, the root 
 bearing such a fruit ? Once there was above thee the 
 sun of thy youth, shining over earth and sky, with 
 what a brilliance of glory ! Now, all around thee is a 
 midnight." 
 
 "I feel my degradation," he said, fiercely. "I have 
 been driven for bread to herd with the vilest of the 
 land, and to make revenge the goal of my life. But 
 it is not thus with my compatriots at home. Nobles 
 and peasants have enlisted together in our cause. 
 Youths near the throne stand with the ploughman and 
 the artisan. Girls of princely birth and in the flower 
 of beauty are ready with pistol, shell, dagger, poison, to 
 extirpate tyrants. Their lives are pure, their aims are 
 lofty, their souls are consecrated to their dream and 
 idol humanity. The best of the empire are animated 
 with the sublime despair of martyrs. Nor are we 
 confined to Russia. We are banded over the world to 
 destroy the old and consummate the new. To such 
 extremities are we driven by our tyrants." 
 
 "Alas, brother," said Nicolai, "I feel more and more 
 how powerless my arguments and my persuasions. The 
 sacred emotions I have excited are soon succeeded by 
 your passions, while your purpose is unchanged. Peni 
 tence lies deeper than the tear. Will and conscience 
 are at the roots of human character. And now I am 
 
340 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 forced to touch the most sensitive spot of your 
 nature." 
 
 "Nicolai, beware!" he cried. "You are beginning 
 to talk like an American Protestant. I want no 
 preachings, since I believe neither in your Church nor 
 your God. Like the torrent, I must rush forward to 
 the abyss, and make the plunge my fate ordains." 
 
 "But will you not do right, brother?" inquired 
 Nicolai. "Simply do right. Begin with your enemy, 
 and restore what is his by the most sacred ties of 
 nature." 
 
 " Ha ! I understand you now," he exclaimed, with 
 rising rage. "You are in league with my foe, and 
 came here by his counsel and for his interest as his 
 emissary. This cancels all my obligations and changes 
 all the fraternal feeling you kindled in my heart. 
 I renounce you and I reject your mediation." 
 
 "Ruric, I implore you to give me the girl this very 
 moment. You have made her mother a maniac, and 
 sent her to her grave ; you have turned her home to 
 desolation, and driven forth her father an exile and a 
 wanderer for years. Only within a few days have we 
 discovered that you are the cause of these agonies. 
 Surely you have revenge enough. Now be just and 
 restore, and your future will yet have light and peace." 
 
 At these words a cloud from below seemed to 
 envelop Ruric, and through it his rage flamed like the 
 storm-lightnings. He was at first too much agitated 
 for utterance, .but after a few moments of ominous 
 silence the tempest burst forth. 
 
THE BROTHERS. 341 
 
 "You have learned from my enemy the secret of my 
 life. For this, as I hate him, so will I hate you. You 
 may have my flesh, my blood, my eye, my heart, my 
 life a thousand times, but the girl, never ! " 
 
 "Pause, brother," interposed JSTicolai, gently. "A 
 mother crazed and killed, a house ruined, a father 
 miserable in his despairing sorrow this should glut 
 even thy vengeance ! But these are not the arguments 
 I would use. I would start you on a new path 
 beginning in the right, and which will terminate in 
 heaven itself." 
 
 "You preach in vain," he answered, furiously. "I 
 will hear no more. I know no right, no obligation, 
 since I believe in no God and no hereafter. The drop 
 your affection elicited from the rock has frozen into 
 ice harder than the old flint itself." 
 
 "But consider your danger, Ruric," he replied with 
 firmness. " Pursuit is inevitable. Your life will be 
 searched, your connections here discovered, and your 
 misdeeds punished. The police will soon be on your 
 track. I am here not only to save you from your sin, 
 but to warn you of your peril, and deliver you from 
 the doom of a criminal. All the power of two great 
 nations will be combined against you, so that escape 
 will be impossible." 
 
 " I defy them all," he exclaimed, with fierce triumph, 
 " and I will baffle them all. You have suspicions, but 
 no proofs. If there were a hell and I on the edge of 
 its flames, heaven could not tempt me from my prize. 
 I have watched her for years as the gardener nurses the 
 
342 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 bloom and flavor of the ripening peach, and soon the 
 hour of supreme bliss and vengeance will be mine. 
 You cannot rob me of Paradise." 
 
 As he spoke these words the fiend in him suppressed 
 all that was good and hurled him back into the old 
 abyss of his frightful passions. Hell ruled him as her 
 own. His look of lust, mingled with diabolical hate, 
 pierced the soul of Nicolai. He saw the terrible 
 chasm at the feet of the girl, while above it and 
 gazing down on the irretrievable ruin stood a father in 
 the agony of despair. 
 
 "Ruric," he cried, with ineffable sorrow and disgust, 
 "you cannot mean this. It cannot be that you are 
 gloating at once over the wreck of the daughter and 
 the pang of the father. This is the work of a devil. 
 It is more black than hell itself." 
 
 "But it is my joy and prize, Nicolai. I glory in 
 it. Your Almighty shall not stop me. I swear I will 
 have the vengeance for which I have so long toiled 
 and waited." 
 
 "And I swear," said Nicolai, "that I will defeat 
 you. My God will help me, and snatch your victim 
 from your. arms. I will triumph. Mark it, I will 
 triumph." 
 
 The brothers parted. Born in the same hour, 
 nurtured at the same breast, kissed by the same lips, 
 taught by the same maternal love, and tried by the 
 same temptations, the one was the impersonation of all 
 that was good in human nature and the other of all 
 that was evil. 
 
I 
 
 u In the morning he walked forth with the dawn to calm his soul." 
 
 Page 455. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EDWARD STEWART. 
 
 MID the blood and storm and flame 
 of the French Revolution, men, 
 themselves destined to the guillo 
 tine, founded the Polytechnic School, 
 of Paris, making thus a place and a 
 work in the world for thousands who 
 would have otherwise been intellectual orphans, 
 but who, as engineers, have been a power in 
 our modern society. Technical education had 
 its birth in the throes of a social and polit 
 ical earthquake. It trains not only mind, 
 but muscle ; it follows the lecture-room by 
 the workshop, and, with a discipline equal to the clas 
 sical in breadth and strength, it graduates youth who 
 are at once brothers to the scholar and brothers 
 to the laborer, and thus creates new links, binding 
 together the extremes of society. 
 
 As an engineer, Edward Stewart was the outgrowth 
 of such a technical school. His father was a naval 
 officer, who had died in battle, and left his widow 
 means just sufficient to educate her son. Thus, with 
 the refinements of good birth and a lovely home, 
 he had every stimulus to manly exertion. For math- 
 
346 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 ematics, mechanics and drafting, he had distinguished 
 ability. Indeed, he just missed the creative genius of 
 the artist, as shown by his exquisite skill in caric 
 ature. His trained faculties, joined to the shrewd 
 and long experience of John Standfast, had given a 
 new impulse to the Alma shops, destined to excel 
 those of the whole country. The two men, so differ 
 ent in birth, gifts and education, soon learned to 
 respect each other, and became confidential friends. 
 
 Stewart was nearly six feet in height, healthful and 
 muscular, with a slight stoop in his shoulders, and a 
 nose, chin, mouth and moustache, ladies, young and 
 old, pronounced perfect. A quiet humor lurked in his 
 eye and on his lip, and often would sparkle through 
 his natural reserve, to enliven what he said and wrote. 
 He was manly, courageous, and, while modest and 
 unobtrusive, equal to any emergency. Although a 
 collegiate graduate, his strong sense and kind heart 
 gave him a control over the workmen superior to that 
 even of Standfast. Having received a message from 
 General Sparker, Edward was now awaiting in the 
 parlor the appearance of that venerated gentleman, 
 who had been strangely drawn to him by the first 
 passing glance, and who, now entering, said : 
 
 " Good-morning, Mr. Stewart. I am sorry to have 
 detained you, but you know that age is sluggish in 
 its motions, and that I can now plead eighty years 
 as my numerous apologies." 
 
 " Good-morning, General," answered Edward, with a 
 look and voice of profound respect. " Do not think 
 
EDWARD STEWART. 347 
 
 of the delay. I am in your employment and my 
 whole time and service are at your disposal." 
 
 " I have examined your drawings, Mr. Stewart. 
 Your touch is fine, and your eye trained and delicate. 
 Your inventions will be of great value. The first is 
 a vast improvement on our old air-brake, and the last 
 will obviate the jolting and jangling of stoppage bet 
 ter than anything I have ever seen. But the best 
 proof is success, and I am determined to witness the 
 experiment myself." 
 
 "You do me great honor," said Edward, glowing 
 and blushing with pleasure. "I will do all in my 
 power to vindicate your judgment and fulfill your 
 prediction." 
 
 "When can you have three cars and a locomotive 
 prepared so as to ensure your experiment ? " inquired 
 the General. 
 
 "A week will give me ample time." 
 
 "Let it be so, Mr. Stewart. It will suit my health 
 and strength better to be with you in the morning." 
 Then, looking at his watch, the General continued: "It 
 is now just ten o'clock. Be ready precisely one week 
 from this hour. You know that with me punctuality 
 is a virtue. It has been a chief element of my 
 success." 
 
 "You may depend upon me, General," said Edward. 
 " Every energy of brain and muscle shall be taxed to 
 meet your appointment." 
 
 "And now," resumed the wise and venerable man, 
 "I believe that you have inventive genius and complete 
 
348 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 education. These are great gifts seldom united. I will 
 drop in your ear a hint which results from my long 
 experience. Apply yourself to discoveries in electricity 
 as a motive power. It is destined to light the world, 
 to heat the world, and to drive the world. The expense 
 of acids and metals is objected, but see there, Mr. 
 Stewart ! " said the General, with a sparkling eye and 
 illuminated face, pointing through the window. " See 
 yon clouds ! What power flashes from one to the 
 other ! No acid, no zinc, no copper ! Only two strata 
 of mists ! The upper cold, the lower warm ! Hence 
 unequal temperature develops the fluid. What nature 
 does there now in yon heavens science can and will 
 do in moving the locomotive, the steam-vessel, and all 
 the machineries of our world. As water has furnished 
 steam, so water will furnish electricity, and be the 
 mother of light, heat and power in the operations of 
 man which are to make a millennial rest for our 
 humanity." 
 
 This was the simple eloquence of truth. General 
 Sparker glowed as he spoke like an old prophet. 
 Stewart felt his heart beating with a sympathetic joy. 
 What a fire the enthusiasm of age kindles in the 
 generous and responsive breast of youth ! How sacred 
 the tie created in that memorable hour ! General 
 Sparker would have given his whole fortune had his 
 only son, Walter, possessed the natural and acquired 
 gifts of Edward Stewart, and been capable of the same 
 noble thoughts, feelings and aspirations. But money 
 can no more create talent than it can conquer death. 
 
EDWARD STEWART. 349 
 
 After a few other words the men parted, and 
 Edward Stewart went to the shops to prepare for his 
 toil and his triumph. 
 
 But he was to encounter difficulties. No bright 
 morning was ever unfollowed by a midnight. Evil 
 lurks in everything. Bidman, like a genius of spite, 
 had overheard in the study the conversation of the 
 parlor. Envy, jealousy, rage, were burning in his 
 sinister heart. His beefy chin and neck grew red 
 with rising blood, and the features of his face reflected 
 the passions of his soul. Descended from a long line 
 of ignorant doctors, celebrated for practices by steam, 
 roots and herbs, he was, like them, an adventurer in 
 the world. He had endeavored to ground a medical 
 education on an uncultured mind, but finding his 
 diploma no passport to success, he soon followed his 
 congenial bent toward artful bargains, and rose to 
 wealth by plausible cunning and a marriage to the 
 daughter of General Sparker, whom he had long since 
 fretted and disgusted to her grave. The General 
 himself soon measured the man, and the alliance was 
 the thorn and blot of his life. In addition to his 
 cold greed and selfishness, Bidman was intensely and 
 amusingly ashamed of his family history, and longed 
 to obliterate it from his own memory and that of 
 society. He was the most loathsome type of the 
 American snob. 
 
 Bidman, leaving General Sparker's mansion, walked 
 in haste to the office of Walter, who, seeing his agita 
 tion, said : 
 
350 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 " What's the matter, Saul ? You look as if some 
 man had punched a hole in your pictures, or hurled a 
 brick-bat into your conservatory, or cast a reflection 
 on your ancestors." 
 
 "Curse you, Walter," he said sharply. "It's no 
 time for fun, I tell you. Edward Stewart will be your 
 ruin and mine yet, before the General gets under 
 ground." 
 
 "Nonsense, Bidman," returned Walter, laughing. 
 "You're scared, as sometimes when you've a, fit of the 
 colic, and lie swearing and shivering from fear of 
 your shroud and coffin." 
 
 "Stop this, Walter," he cried, in his annoyance and 
 rage. "If we don't get ahead of this upstart he'll 
 toimble you and me into a ditch like a train off the 
 track." 
 
 "Why, Saul," replied Walter, with a curl of his lip, 
 " fear and suspicion make you a fool. Tumble you 
 and me into the ditch ! Yes ! When he can kick yon 
 forty-two ton locomotive from that bridge into the 
 river. What's up now ?" 
 
 "Your father has examined the fellow's cursed 
 drawings, given him an order for three cars and a 
 locomotive for his experiment, and appointed a day for 
 a trial which he is to witness himself. I heard their 
 conversation in his study and they are becoming faster 
 friends than is for your interest or mine." 
 
 "That is serious," said Walter. "I have a fear of 
 harm, myself. But what are you going to do about 
 it, brother Saul ? I want to know." 
 
EDWARD STEWART. 351 
 
 "Do you remember, Walter, when Prince Tolono 
 visited our Alma shops ? " 
 
 "I do that," replied Walter, amused at the recollec 
 tion. " We expected the coming Majesty of a Euro 
 pean Kingdom, uniting in himself the royal blood of 
 Bourbons, Hapsburgs, and Braganzas, to appear in 
 some state, even in this republican land, worthy of 
 his illustrious throne and ancestry. I remember his 
 slouched hat, his ungloved fingers, and unravelled 
 pantaloons, as he emerged from a trap-door after 
 examining greasy machinery, . rubbing his princely 
 hands with a great wad of oakum." 
 
 " Well ! " replied Bidman, true to the inherted in 
 stincts of ancestral root-doctors, herb-doctors, and 
 steam-doctors, "I hated the sight of him from the 
 first. Too democratic for my tastes, Walter ! " 
 
 "Yes! Saul, he did look common beside your topaz 
 watch-seal, diamond breast-pin, and republican make 
 up generally. But what is all this to the point ? " 
 
 "And your father, when he dined in the car, would 
 not invite me to the table," said Bidman, scowling at 
 the recollection, " where this royal upstart sat alone 
 bolting his meal, like a hungry track-mender after a 
 day's round over the rails. But I had my revenge on 
 them both." 
 
 "What, Saul," replied Walter, "on father and Prince 
 Tolono?" 
 
 "Yes, on them both," answered Bidman with a 
 low leer. 
 
 "But how, Saul. Tell me how?" 
 
353 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "It was a hot July morning. The old man and 
 the Prince were walking side by side, looking and 
 feeling large. My coachman, Sam, was driving me a 
 little behind them with my splendid carriage and gold- 
 mounted blacks. I gave him a touch and a wink, and 
 on he drove like a train behind time, and raised a 
 cloud of dust that powdered the General and his noble 
 guest as if they had been dragged on their backs 
 along a dry road in Summer for a half-a-mile. I tell 
 you, it was one of the sweetest moments of my life, if 
 it was your father, who has never loved me any more 
 than I have loved him." 
 
 "Well, Saul," replied Walter, "I don't like this. 
 If you have no affection for father, I have, and, bad 
 as I am, curse me, if I don't venerate him as if 
 he were an old Scripture Patriarch. Still, I don't like 
 this alliance with Edward Stewart whom he prefers to 
 me, his own flesh and blood. But I don't see the 
 point of your story yet." 
 
 "It's this, Walter," replied Bidman, with an ex 
 pression of mean cunning. " We must throw dust 
 once more in the old man's eyes, and blind Edward 
 Stewart, so that they'll both fall into the ditch together 
 and lose their love for each other. We must spoil 
 this pretty experiment." 
 
 "Well, Saul," replied young Sparker, musingly and 
 sadly. "You know and I know that I ought to please 
 my father and not deceive him. Yet I seem sold to 
 you and the devil. I neglect my business, pursue my 
 pleasure, make my position uncertain, and then use your 
 
EDWARD STEWART. 353 
 
 tricks to make it secure and myself worse. But I follow- 
 my evil genius with my eyes open, and swear I'll 
 blow up this infernal Stewart, if you and I explode 
 with him, and come down from air to earth in bits of 
 flesh .and bone small as your eyes or even your soul." 
 
 Bidman winced under the insult, but as his purpose 
 was gained said nothing. 
 
 "Walter," he began, "what workmen will Stewart 
 want to help him ? " 
 
 "Ned Taylor and Jack Jones." 
 
 "Send down an order to transfer them to the shops 
 at the other end of the road." 
 
 "All right! I'll do it." 
 
 "Then see that the cars and the locomotive on 
 which he wants to operate are removed too. That 
 will bring him behind time, disorder his calculations, 
 and incur your father's displeasure, and the old man 
 will not likely venture another experiment. When 
 he's out of the game we can easily dispose of your 
 friend Stewart." 
 
 " Worthy of yourself, Saul," said Walter with a 
 sneer. "You can beat your master, Satan, in a trick 
 any day, and fool me into it against sense, heart and 
 conscience. Our pay-day will come, and you and I go 
 to protest before we know it. Yet, curse me, this 
 Edward Stewart is after my place and my girl, and 
 I'll ruin him, if I kill myself." 
 
 "Ha!" said Bidman with surprise. " Belle Stand 
 fast's in the case, too ! Better and better ! Now I'm 
 sure we're on the right track. In three months this 
 
354 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 fellow will be out of the shops, and leave the way 
 clear for love and beauty." 
 
 We have seen what a glow the encouragements 
 of General Sparker had kindled in Edward Stewart. 
 He was neither excitable nor imaginative, but to .have 
 his inventions approved by so celebrated a Railway 
 President, and ordered for their trial was a signal 
 triumph for so young a man. But his bright visions 
 were soon clouded. Suddenly mountains closed him 
 round. 
 
 John Standfast, in an adjoining room, had been 
 compelled to overhear the conversation between Saul 
 Bidman, and Walter Sparker. He instantly resolved 
 to assist Stewart, and not suffer him to be the 
 victim of a plot so infamous. When he had com 
 municated his information, for a moment, his friend 
 stood aghast. An abyss was opening at his feet, and 
 gloom gathering over his head. Envy, jealousy, hatred 
 were combining for his overthrow. But he felt strong 
 in his manly innocence. His path was to be through 
 trials and bitter oppositions. Yet his whole soul was 
 aroused to perseverance and to triumph. 
 
 "Well, Mr. Stewart," said John, after a long silence, 
 "you seem like a locomotive after a collision, when 
 it finds it convenient to stand still." 
 
 "What can I do, Mr. Standfast ?" cried Edward. 
 I cannot give it up, and yet, if I enter into a contest 
 with the first and second Vice-Presidents I seem 
 almost certain to be wrecked. General Sparker is 
 too old to protect me. I feel that this is to be the last 
 
EDWARD STEWART. 355 
 
 service he can render me. When he is out of the 
 way, Bidman and young Sparker will be omnipotent 
 for ruin." 
 
 " I have a plan for you," answered Standfast, 
 quietly ; " and I know that you will win in the end. 
 As a practical mechanic, I have examined your inven 
 tions, and, like General Sparker, am sure of their suc 
 cess. It is not likely that too such old heads as 
 ours will be misled by a sham. Besides, I understand 
 you, and respect you, and feel that it is my duty to 
 help you against two men I know to be bad. Bid 
 man is chiefly 'to blame, and if he is not stopped he'll 
 soon wreck Walter Sparker, and the road along with 
 him." 
 
 "Thank you, John," said Edward, grasping his 
 friend's hand; " thank you a thousand times. This is 
 a debt I can never pay. Where you might have met 
 me with suspicion and jealousy as a rival you treat 
 me as an old friend. God bless you for your gener 
 osity ! You have lifted a mountain off my heart 
 already. What do you propose ?" 
 
 "When the order comes to remove the men," replied 
 Standfast, " say nothing but let them go. In the 
 same way make no objection to sending off the loco 
 motive and the three cars assigned by General Sparker 
 for your experiment. There are two old passenger 
 coaches, a sleeper called Victory and a locomotive 
 named Experiment, all so much out of repair no 
 one will think of them. You and I will work at 
 nights and quietly prepare these. No one will dream 
 
356 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 of examining them or noticing our improvements. 
 When General Sparker presents himself to witness the 
 experiment we will be ready for him, and without 
 having had any trouble with your enemies." 
 
 "But, Mr. Standfast," said Edward, shaking his 
 head with a look of distress, "trouble will come soon 
 enough, and not only for me but for you. This will 
 be known, and you will excite the deadly hatred of 
 two men who have wealth and power, and who may 
 ruin you and your family. If General Sparker had 
 long to live, you would be safe under his shadow, but 
 alas ! the noble old patriarch is fast tottering to his 
 grave. I cannot suffer you to sacrifice yourself for 
 me. It would be selfish and contemptible." 
 
 " Mr. Stewart, replied John Standfast, with his 
 quiet smile and look of decision and kindness, "I have 
 thought it all over and over, turning the subject round 
 in my mind, as I would a valve in my hand to see that 
 the plates were smooth and the joints tight, and I have 
 come to my conclusion. In my experience, I have 
 always found it pay to do right, and take the conse 
 quences. General Sparker is the chief officer of our 
 company, and his will is my law. Besides, he was my 
 friend when I was a poor lad. To him I owe all I 
 am in the world, and I love him as a father. I can 
 have no greater duty or pleasure than to carry out his 
 plans." 
 
 "Standfast and Stewart did not have to embrace, 
 or even to shake hands. They were not demonstrative 
 men. Each stood in his place for a moment, silent 
 
EDWARD STEWART. 357 
 
 and motionless. Without an outward expression, 
 they felt their inmost souls pledged to each other in a 
 perpetual bond of affection and fidelity. Nothing in 
 the universe can be stronger than the tie which unites 
 two natures so noble and generous. 
 
 The order for the transfer of workmen, locomotive 
 and cars came from Walter Sparker precisely as Saul 
 Bidman had advised, and as John Standfast and 
 Edward Stewart expected. With its issue and 
 enforcement, the two Vice-Presidents gloated over the 
 ruin of their victim as an assured fact. 
 
 During the next week, while the machinery was in 
 motion, John and Edward accomplished, unobserved, 
 all their needed work. About midnight, a lamp began 
 to glimmer in the Alma shops. Often it would dart 
 mysteriously about, and occasionally be taken out under 
 the stars to an adjoining shed. Two forms moved 
 silently around, casting unwonted shadows. Occasion 
 ally could be heard low voices, whose whispers were 
 accompanied by nods and looks of intelligence. Then 
 clinked through the air the subdued noise of a ham 
 mer. Other sounds familiar in shops were so muffled 
 as not to attract attention. Thus the work steadily 
 grew in the light and in the darkness, and advanced 
 to its completion. When the expected day arrived all 
 was ready. 
 
 His enemies marveled at the acquiescence of Stewart, 
 and supposed that, filled with alarm and despair, he 
 had told his patron that his task was impossible, and 
 abandoned it. Conceive their fear and rage when the 
 
^o8 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 time appointed came, and showed General Sparker, 
 with his feeble gait and venerable locks, supported 
 along the street on the arm of Edward Stewart ! This 
 in the village was an event. All eyes and faces 
 welcomed the grand old man as he passed through the 
 place created by his own genius and enterprise. No 
 European nobleman, amid his ancestral halls and estates, 
 ever had so true and enthusiastic a greeting. It was 
 the reward of talents and virtues such as could only 
 have grown to their splendid maturity under the 
 shadow of republican institutions. 
 
 As General Sparker passed their offices, his son and 
 son-in-law were compelled, in decency, to come down 
 and speak to him, but their faces betrayed their gloom, 
 hatred and disappointment, while toward Edward 
 Stewart, they darted glances full of satanic malignity. 
 
 " Doctor, are you ready?" inquired the General, with 
 much of his old vigor and animation. " Come along, 
 Walter," he continued, "this may be my last ride on 
 our road, and I want you both to enjoy it with me." 
 
 The two guilty and abashed men stammered out 
 their excuses, and the quick eye of General Sparker 
 noticed their confusion. 
 
 "What does this mean?" he inquired. "I do not 
 understand it." 
 
 "We did not know," said Saul Bidman, with the 
 most perplexed embarrassment, "that you were to 
 be out this morning." 
 
 "Not know it!" cried the General, in surprise. 
 "And you, too, Walter! Were you ignorant?" 
 
EDWARD STEWART. 359 
 
 "Until we saw you on the street," he replied, with 
 a painful hesitation, "we did not suppose that you 
 would he here at all." 
 
 "Why, my son," inquired the General, "did not 
 Mr. Stewart inform you what I directed him to do, 
 and that I wished you to go with us." 
 
 "General," interposed Bidman, with his recovered 
 assurance, "there is some mistake. We have not 
 made our arrangements to witness your experiment, 
 hut we will explain all when you return. I will call 
 this evening and make everything clear." 
 
 " Well," said the General, seeming quite bewildered, 
 "this is most extraordinary, and I must understand 
 fully what it means. Be sure to come as you have 
 appointed, and make a full explanation." 
 
 Nothing escaped the eagle eye of General Sparker. 
 Already he suspected a conspiracy. But the whistle 
 of the locomotive was now heard, and the train was 
 soon waiting to receive him. Taking again the arm 
 of Edward Stewart, he walked with him to the coach, 
 was helped by him up the platform, and sat with him 
 on the seat before the eyes of Saul Bidman and 
 Walter. 
 
 "Mr. Stewart," said the General, "I was sorry at 
 first not to have my own private car, with the Eagle, 
 to fly with us to success. However, I am now satisfied. 
 The locomotive is, I perceive, called Experiment, and 
 this old sleeper Victory. Both are significant names, 
 suitable to the occasion, and I believe are omens of 
 our triumph." 
 
300 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 Just then, as the train started, the whistle shrieked 
 out into what seemed a wild signal of victory. It 
 pierced the ears and cut into the hearts of Saul and 
 Walter, and excited in them fearful passions, whose 
 effects we are yet to record. 
 
 The experiment was wholly successful. Both inven 
 tions proved of inestimable value in the opinions of 
 both General Sparker and John Standfast. It was to 
 Stewart, of course, an hour of joy and triumph one 
 t)f the brightest in his whole life, and big with 
 momentous results he never could have anticipated. 
 On the return, when the train stood opposite the offices 
 of Saul Bidman and "Walter Sparker, while they sat 
 looking from their windows, the General emerged from 
 the door of the car again, supported by Edward 
 Stewart ; and adjusting his glasses, read from a paper 
 in his hand, in a loud, clear voice, an order he had 
 prepared while stopping at a station : 
 
 "The first and second Vice-Presidents are hereby 
 directed to have the two inventions of Mr. Edward 
 Stewart, which I have just examined and tested, intro 
 duced along the trunk line and all the branches of 
 our Railway. ADAM SPARKEK." 
 
 A group of workmen and villagers had again col 
 lected to greet the aged veteran, and now their accla 
 mations burst into the air, and Edward Stewart was 
 received with all the noisy demonstrations of a public 
 triumph. This was the last official act of the vener 
 able President. Its results amply justified his wonderful 
 wisdom. 
 
EDWARD STEWART. 361 
 
 By the General's direction, Edward Stewart carried 
 the order to Bidman and young Sparker. He delivered 
 it with a quiet dignity, yet I will not say that there 
 may not have been a look in his eye and a smile on 
 his lip that faintly indicated the mighty exultation 
 which was burning and bursting in his breast. After 
 he left the room, the tempest came forth in cries and 
 curses. 
 
 " Curse the upstart I" exclaimed Walter, fiercely. 
 "He shall pay for this!" 
 
 " Give me your hand to that," growled Bidman, 
 like a hyena disturbed over his midnight bone. " I 
 ewear vengeance." 
 
 "I go your oath better a million times," cried 
 Walter, as he tore his father's order into fragments. 
 Some pieces he threw into the fire, some he tossed 
 out of the window, and others ground with his heel 
 on the floor, uttering terrible imprecations. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 HEN ISTicolai left Ruric, he went at 
 once to the stranger who wished 
 to be called Mr. Petrovich. He 
 was overwhelmed by the degra 
 dation of his brother, and, with 
 whatever toil and sacrifice, re 
 solved to rescue the girl. After exhausting 
 all the ingenuity and energy of the New 
 York police, it occurred to him, while pass 
 ing along the street, that the Russian Ambas 
 sador, at Washington, had better be con 
 sulted. Nicolai himself had been in the 
 country, as a priest, more than ten years, and under 
 stood perfectly the ways and spoke beautfully the 
 language of the American people, whom he greatly 
 loved and admired. But he thought that some official 
 notice should be given of the important pursuit on 
 which he was now so determined. Besides, the ambas 
 sador might make some invaluable suggestions. When 
 Mr. Petrovich learned the refusal of Ruric and the 
 exposure of Lillie to ruin, by the lust and vengeance 
 of the Nihilist, he, at first, suffered the keenest 
 agonies, which, however, subsided into a calm and 
 
WASHINGTON. 365 
 
 deathless purpose to defeat the wretch and save the 
 girl. 
 
 Inquiries, as we have seen, were first long and 
 diligently made in New York, and, these proving 
 fruitless, arrangements were completed for a difficult 
 search which might last for years. 
 
 Nicolai, having suggested that the aid of an adver 
 tising office be secured, to such a place he and his 
 friend repaired. In a spacious, gloomy room, they 
 found three sides, from floor to ceiling, filled with 
 large pigeon-holes, containing newspapers from every 
 town and city in the land morning dailies, evening 
 dailies, weeklies, bi-weeklies, tri-weeklies, monthlies and 
 bi-monthlies, flimsy magazines and ponderous reviews, 
 blazing with tremendous advertisements in staring 
 capitals and with flaming pictures, contrived to sell the 
 stocks of the Fortuna Mining Company, and proving, 
 with amazing facts, that the purchaser of its invaluable 
 certificates must be a modern Midas with power to 
 turn what he touched to gold, and thence into jewels, 
 greenbacks, lands, houses, necessaries, luxuries, and 
 whatever can grace and gild life in this crowning part of 
 our grand nineteenth century. It was supposed that the 
 children would be sent to some distant part of the 
 country, and that by examining these numerous news 
 papers, sooner or later, some hint would be obtained 
 as a guide in tracing their movements. 
 
 When these arrangements were completed, and every 
 inquiry possible exhausted in New York, Mr. Petrovich 
 and Nicolai took the cars for the national capital. 
 
366 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 Here they had already had their consultation with the 
 Russian Ambassador, and by him had been presented 
 to the President, the Chief-Justice, the members of 
 the Cabinet and, indeed, to the principal personages 
 of the city, which they had explored in all directions. 
 Unable to obtain any information in regard to the 
 objects of their search, and now intimately acquainted 
 with each other, as they sauntered along the avenue 
 toward the Capitol, they concluded to employ their 
 leisure in an examination of that famous edifice, and 
 compare their views of the Government and of the 
 people. 
 
 "Washington," said Mr. Petrovich, "and especially 
 yon Capitol, afford the truest pictures of the Americans. 
 Let us compare, as we walk, our observations and 
 conclusions." 
 
 "Agreed!" cried Mcolai. "We need scarcely go 
 beyond yon Capitol itself. It is indeed a suggestive 
 edifice. Yes, there it stands, the type of the Republic." 
 
 The two gentlemen now paused arm-in-arm before 
 entering the grounds, and surveyed the stately edifice 
 to obtain a deeper and fuller impression. 
 
 Mr. Petrovich, interrupting the silence, began by 
 saying: "Now, my friend, give me first your opinion 
 of the effect of the building as a whole." 
 
 "Since you insist," answered Nicolai, "I will 
 express a conclusion formed after the observations of 
 many years. Yon dome Is the grandest in the 
 world. I have seen the Mosque of St. Sophia, the 
 Church of St. Peter's at Rome, the Duomo of Florence, 
 
WASHINGTON. 367 
 
 the 1'Eglise des Invalides of Paris, St. Paul's in London, 
 and in our own St. Petersburg, St. Isaac's flashing in 
 the frost and glittering in its lofty gold but that 
 republican creation, with its sweep and symmetry, stands 
 sublimest in its matchless majesty." 
 
 "An enthusiastic preference for a Russian imperialist," 
 said Mr. Petrovich, smiling. "Yet, granting what you 
 say, the dome does not grow up out of the building, 
 but looks set upon it rather than a part of it, resembling 
 a man with a magnificent head on an insufficient 
 body." 
 
 "True!" replied Nicolai ; "but the same objection 
 applies to nearly every dome and edifice I have 
 mentioned, and seems to arise from some difficulty as 
 yet insuperable to architecture." 
 
 "My republicanized friend," said Mr. Petrovich, with 
 a yet broader smile, "your Capitol fronts the wrong 
 way. That it may face the sun, like an Oriental 
 temple, it turns its back on Washington, which ascends 
 the rear stairs, and enters the rear door. The architect 
 will be immortal who wheels the noble front round to 
 this side, so that rising above that hill it may appear 
 in all its majesty. These colonnades would then shine 
 in their true beauty and magnificence. While copies, 
 like the dome, they are yet improvements on their 
 European originals." 
 
 The gentlemen now mounted the steps and pursued 
 their way to the rotunda. "This is certainly noble in 
 its conception and in its effect," said Nicolai. "To 
 such grandeur you cannot deny artistic skill." 
 
368 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "Yet, after all, how inferior this interior to that of 
 the dome of St. Peter's, St. Paul's, or our own St. 
 Isaac's ! See those eternally tomahawking Indians, in 
 the act of dealing death, stiff and expressionless as 
 their defunct victims ! Nearly as bad are these 
 gigantic painted platitudes, with their numerous arms 
 and legs squared by rule and compass. In the 
 adjoining room, those limbs and features in marble 
 belong to corpses instead of men, while, in opposite 
 extreme, at the eastern entrance, the statues are 
 ludicrous in the excess and agony of their action. But 
 above all," he exclaimed, pointing with a laugh to the 
 pictured allegories over their heads, "behold yon absurd 
 mixture of ancient forms, robes and ideas with modern 
 figures, costumes and conceptions ! Ceres sits on a 
 patent-reaper! Mercury stands in the midst of ware 
 house clerks, bales and boxes ! Minerva is advising 
 school girls, school boys, and school mistresses ! Burly 
 Vulcan, a blacksmith in the divine purple, stands by 
 a nineteenth century anvil ! Last of all and worst of 
 all, see Washington, in an old woman's skirt, serenely 
 floating in a circle of flying and trumpeting nymphs ! 
 Horses, chariots, machines, trucks, warehouses, cannon, 
 cannon-balls, mortals, immortals, supposed to be in serial 
 suspension, but looking as if they would tumble down 
 on our heads ! In American Art, as in American 
 Literature, I fear, what is good is exotic and what is 
 bad is indigenous." 
 
 "I am sorry, Mr. Petrovich," rejoined Nicolai, 
 becoming excited in his tone and look, "so widely to 
 
WASHINGTON. 369 
 
 differ from you. To a certain extent, I admit your 
 criticism. But yon sublime dome is a national triumph. 
 It alone points to a glorious future in every domain of 
 creative genius. Considering the newness of the 
 country, and the magnitude of its material interests, 
 both Literature and Art are bright with promise. 
 Science, too, here is in its youth mature, while in 
 agriculture and manufactures this republic leads the 
 world. 
 
 "I find in this country much polished taste and 
 much correct judgment," rejoined Mr. Petrovich. 
 "Americans profit by their intercourse with Europe, 
 and are quick to borrow and even improve. But in 
 Literature and Art the very spring of genius is 
 wanting." 
 
 "You amaze me!" said Nicolai, with a surprised and 
 bewildered expression. "May not your imperialistic 
 prejudices affect your opinions ? In these Americans 
 meet all the marks of physical and intellectual supe 
 riority." 
 
 " This, too, I concede," answered Mr. Petrovich amused, 
 "and my own Russian bias also. But in this hard 
 and sharp Republic is wanting that IDEAL which is the 
 impulse of the imagination. Without it, genius dies. 
 Here in pictures, statues, music, poetry, architecture, is 
 absent that immortal aspiration which alone sublimes 
 and glorifies. All is materialistic narrowed to earth 
 keen as a bargain and correct as a contract never 
 a vision of the Eternal. This was the breath of Greek 
 Art, the inspiration of mediaeval cathedrals, the light 
 
370 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 in the marbles of Angelo and over the canvas of Raphael. 
 Not an edifice in this land represents a national con 
 ception. The temple at Jerusalem, the Parthenon of 
 Athens, the Capitol in Rome even the Ottoman St. 
 Sophia St. Peter's, St. Paul's, St. Isaac's, Notre Dame 
 each was erected to express the religious conscious 
 ness of a people. A Republic, by a necessary law, 
 dethrones God and Immortality. Hence it is the tomb 
 of creative genius." 
 
 " I confess that I am startled at your opinions," 
 rejoined Nicolai. "May I suggest a partial answer 
 to one of your arguments ? Old democratic Athens 
 was the cradle, not the grave of the beautiful." 
 
 "But the glory of her art," said Mr. Petrovich, 
 sadly, " was brief as splendid. It scarcely survived the 
 life of Pericles." 
 
 "I see," said Nicolai, "that in defence of my 
 American friends I must turn prophet. Christianity 
 lives in the national consciousness of this people. Its 
 vision of the immortal will kindle the sublime and 
 the beautiful into original forms which will give new 
 luster to art and illuminate humanity with their 
 splendor. The commingling nations here will mold the 
 past of the world into the ideal of its future, and 
 furnish the type of its last and best manhood." 
 
 The color flushed over the cheek and into the fore 
 head of Mr. Petrovich as he said, with evident dis 
 pleasure : 
 
 "Such an opinion is scarcely to be reconciled with 
 your loyalty to Russia." 
 
WASHINGTON. 371 
 
 "ParJon me, your I mean Mr. Petrovich if I have 
 spoken with too much enthsiasm. While I admire 
 the young Republic, my life is yet consecrated to 
 Russia. To me, my own dear country is more pre 
 cious than all earth besides." 
 
 "Use your liberty while you have it," said Mr. 
 Petrovich, smiling; "but be careful how you eulogize 
 republics under the shadow of his Majesty's throne. 
 One other remark I will venture, even if you think 
 me cynical. As in this republic there is no religious 
 symbol, so there is no national name. In the land of 
 the Czar, or of the Emperor, or the Queen, a citizen says : 
 'I am a Russian, a German, an Englishman.' Here 
 he may style himself a Georgian, a Virginian, a Penn- 
 sylvanian ; but when he could speak of himself in his 
 supreme political relation as a citizen of the Republic, 
 he must call himself an American a word to which 
 the Canadian, Mexican and Esquimaux have the same 
 title. To say, ' I am a citizen of the United States,' 
 in the awkward circumlocution, dissipates the passionate 
 love which would have been kindled for a land giving 
 a name to its people." 
 
 "Yet, in no country," said Nicolai, thoughtfully, "is 
 the national feeling more intense, or the national flag 
 more loved. During the late war, its stars and stripes 
 excited an overmastering enthusiasm, which was the 
 inspiration of victory. This country, like Russia, has 
 a continuous territory, which promotes unity, and when 
 the British Empire, composed of scattered and distant 
 provinces, shall be exploded to fragments, the great 
 
372 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 monarchy of the East, and this great republic of the 
 West, will, together, be the lights of the world, and 
 Bhed over humanity its millennial glory. Now, you have 
 the dream to which I have devoted myself." 
 
 When Nicolai had thus expressed his vision in 
 words, he paused and seemed suddenly excited and 
 alarmed. Glancing his eye to the opposite side of the 
 rotunda, he said, with a painful effort for control : 
 
 "Excuse me, Mr. Petrovich ! I see a man with 
 whom I wish to speak. If you will remain on this seat 
 I will return in a few minutes." 
 
 Crossing the rotunda rapidly, he passed into a hall, 
 keeping still in his view his brother Ruric, whom he had 
 seen, and now followed down the stairway into the 
 basement of the Capitol. Concealing himself behind a 
 pillar, he overheard the conversation of his brother with 
 two men, whom he soon discovered to be New York 
 Nihilists. One said, in a low whisper : 
 
 "It can't be done this morning. The House is in 
 committee and the Speaker not in his chair." 
 
 "And the Vice-President," said the second, "has not 
 yet' returned. I can't kill a man a hundred miles 
 away." 
 
 "Well!" said Ruric, "I'll wait no longer." Holding 
 up his pistol in the shadow of the pillar, he continued, 
 with the leer and look of a fiend : " The cold lead in 
 this social adjuster weighs just two hundred grains. It 
 must be warmed in the presidential heart this morning. 
 I see blood, and I must have it, if I hang. Now's my 
 chance ; you may take yours to-morrow." 
 
WASHINGTON. 373 
 
 The two murderous villains walked down the hall 
 and left the brothers on the opposite sides of the pillar. 
 How antagonistic the characters separated by that 
 marble ! From the same womb, yet differing as Hell 
 from Heaven ! Each unconscious of the presence of the 
 other, they stood in profound silence, one meditating 
 the murder which the other sought to prevent. How 
 sharp and terrible the contrasts of this mysterious 
 human existence ! 
 
 The fiendish plan rushed across the vision of Nicolai 
 in pictures of flame. He saw that it was intended to 
 leave no Executive for the nation, and plunge it into 
 universal anarchy. Satan alone instigated a plot so 
 diabolical. Nicolai found himself trembling in the 
 presence of this frightful iniquity, but, by a strong 
 effort, subdued his tremor, and brought his nerves 
 under the control of his will. All his faculties of body 
 and soul now calmly concentrated themselves into one 
 supreme purpose. He suddenly moved round the pillar 
 and confronted Ruric, who started and became livid 
 with his hideous rage. 
 
 " Curse you. Nicolai ! " he exclaimed, while his eye 
 was bloodshot as a tiger's. "You have heard me. One 
 of these balls is for you." 
 
 But he was too slow. Nicolai quickly knocked the 
 pistol out of his hand, and threw his arms around the 
 Nihilist. The brothers were face to face and heart to 
 heart in mortal struggle, as if the Good and the Evil 
 were fighting for final victory. Some supernatural 
 power seemed to convert into steel the sinews of Nicolai, 
 
374 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 His embrace was that of the lion or the anaconda. 
 He felt as if his arms were crushing into the flesh and 
 breaking the bones of his antagonist, who, relaxing his 
 grasp, and almost palsied in his limbs, fell headlong, 
 like a smitten bullock, to the floor. As he lay there, 
 exhausted, with staring eyes and drooping head, Nicolai 
 seized his pistol. He took the weapon to a vault that 
 was near, threw it down through the gloom, and as it 
 was cocked, it exploded by striking a beam in its 
 descent. The smothered report went through the base 
 ment corridors, and could have been heard even in the 
 rotunda, dreadful as the last groan of murder, while 
 the flash illuminated the deep darkness of the loath 
 some abyss in which it found a suitable resting place. 
 
 When Nicolai returned, a glance through a window 
 showed him the President on the steps of the Capitol 
 passing to his carriage. A sight of the intended victim 
 brought vividly before him the naked hideousness of 
 the conspiracy, and all the horrors from which he 
 had so strangely delivered a nation. Grateful to Heaven 
 for the escape, and excited by the magnitude of the 
 projected crime, he stooped over his fallen brother, who 
 gradually regained his consciousness and his strength. 
 
 " Oh, Ruric," he exclaimed, when the Nihilist was 
 enabled to stand, " how could you think of a thing 
 so terrible ! The blood, the pain, the death of your 
 victim ; the agony of the wife, the bereavement of 
 the children, the woe of a great people could not these 
 move you ? Is the Nihilist dead to every feeling of 
 humanity ? Truly, he regard? neither God nor man." 
 
A n:ition in tears." 
 Pjiffe 383. 
 
WASHINGTON. 377 
 
 "Who cared for me," he cried, wildly; "beggared, 
 disgraced, crushed by a tyrant, a slave, a criminal, 
 toiling in mines, and starving in forests, a wanderer, 
 with a mark on my forehead, banished and execrated ? 
 The world is against me and I am against the world. 
 Your God is against me and I am against your God. 
 Eye for eye ; blood for blood ; life for life ! The greater 
 the sufferings in others, the greater the revenge for 
 me!" 
 
 " Son of my mother, bone of my bone, flesh of my 
 flesh, nourished at the same breast, rocked by the 
 same hand, watched by the same love," exclaimed 
 Nicolai in tears, "Ruric, my brother, will thou be an 
 assassin, delighting in secret murder, the enemy of 
 mankind, the desolator of homes, the destroyer of 
 nations ! Prison, gallows, hell, surely these await 
 thee!" 
 
 The wretch seemed touched for a moment. 
 
 "Nicolai," he cried, with a maniacal emotion, "I 
 cannot help it ! Like the tiger, I love blood. It has 
 become my nature. Does the beast mouth himself in 
 the gore of his victim ? I tell you I, too, must have 
 blood. Everything looks red before me. You have 
 your feelings, I have mine. Each, like this uncon 
 scious breeze, is borne onward to his destiny." 
 
 "But worse even than murder," replied Nicolai, "is 
 the crime which is the crown and consummation of 
 your evil plans. To steal a young girl, to watch her 
 growth to womanhood, to wait your occasion through 
 years that you may ruin her innocence for your lust 
 
378 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 and your revenge this seems to me the perfection of 
 Satanic wickedness. Oh, begin to purge thy soul, by 
 renouncing thy purpose, and pledging to me the sur 
 render of the child." 
 
 "Stop!" Ruric burst forth. "Stop! no more! You 
 have fooled me in this, but you shall not fool me in 
 that. I will have my reward, if it costs your life and 
 my own. We part to meet no more. You have again 
 shown yourself my enemy." 
 
 " I vow to my God to defeat you," said Mcolai, 
 with a serene confidence. 
 
 "And I swear, at whatever cost, I will accomplish 
 my purpose," replied Ruric, with an expression of 
 fiendish resolve, and then walked slowly down the hall. 
 
 When Nicolai attempted to climb the stairs, on his 
 return to the rotunda, he had more than once to lean 
 ^against the wall to prevent himself from falling. He 
 was exhausted by the tempest through which he had 
 passed. Mr. Petrovich, observing the pallor on his face, 
 inquired : 
 
 " What ails you, my friend ? Your cheek is color 
 less, and your whole body trembles." 
 
 " Since I left you," replied Nicolai, with deep feeling, 
 " I have lived an age. A few minutes have marked 
 life more ineffaceably than ordinary years." 
 
 " Explain to me ; explain immediately ! " said Mr. 
 Petrovich hastily. " I perceive in your conduct the 
 shadow of some painful mystery." 
 
 "I have seen Ruric since I parted from you here." 
 "Ruric, and in this Capitol!" 
 
WASHINGTON. 379 
 
 "It is too true! I noticed him across the rotunda 
 before leaving you, and following him, I saw him 
 meet two men behind a column. On approaching, I 
 heard their whispers, concealed by the base, and ascer 
 tained that they had agreed this morning, in this 
 edifice, to kill the President, Vice-President, and 
 Speaker of the House, and thus plunge the country 
 into anarchy. Fortunately, the latter two were absent, 
 and the other men, evidently New York Nihilists, had 
 to abandon their part of the scheme. Ruric, however, 
 was bent on blood, insisting that he would shoot the 
 President. When his accomplices withdrew I confronted 
 him, and grasped him in my arms, which seemed 
 converted into steel. He trembled in my embrace, 
 relaxed, and fell to the floor, when I took away his 
 pistol and flung it into a vault. Soon after, to my 
 relief, I saw the President leave the Capitol and enter 
 his carriage." 
 
 "This is indeed marvelous," exclaimed Mr. Petrovich, 
 excitedly. "Such an escape deserves a Te Deum. 
 You have saved a Chief Magistrate from death, a 
 family from unutterable woe, a country from anarchy, 
 your own name from infamy, and Russia from a cloud 
 which would have blackened over her through all 
 history." 
 
 "Nihilism is a poison diffused through the social 
 atmosphere of the world. What a disgrace to my 
 family ! What a stain on my country ! What a blot 
 on my race!*' exclaimed Nicolai, passionately. "Men, 
 drifted from Christianity, with no faith in a God or a 
 
380 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 hereafter; maddened to despair by the inevitable and 
 inexplicable sufferings of humanity, become the prey of 
 their passions, and are ready for any dark work of 
 Satan. What wonder if such waifs of the universe 
 are the sport of its tempests and its billows, and, more 
 than all, of the malice of its lost spirits!" 
 
 " There you speak like a priest," said Mr. Petrovich, 
 laughing. "But I, you know, speak like a statesman 
 and a philosopher. Our universities are responsible for 
 this modern madness for blood. If they are seats of 
 learning, they are often also the sources of moral death. 
 Folly is never more pleased than when she sees her 
 cap and bells on these solemn old owls called professors. 
 Hegel is the father of Nihilism. Its fountain is the 
 German University Pantheism. Carlyle, snarling out 
 from his gloom that ' might is right,' at once justified 
 the tyrant and his assassin ; and now, in one of the 
 oldest universities in this republic, on a commencement 
 occasion, before its assembled youth and famous 
 scholars and divines, hear these words of a most 
 distinguished orator, and hereafter blame the murderer 
 less than his defender and instigator." 
 
 Having uttered these thoughts with a most burning 
 earnestness, Mr. Petrovich unfolded the New York 
 morning paper, and read as follows : 
 
 "Nihilism is the righteous and honorably resistance 
 of a people crushed under an iron rule. Nihilism is 
 evidence of life. When ' order reigns in Warsaw ' it 
 is spiritual death. Nihilism is the last weapon of 
 "victims choked and manacled beyond all other resist- 
 
WASHINGTON. 381 
 
 ance. It is crushed humanity's only means of making 
 the oppressor tremble. God means that unjust power 
 shall be insecure, and every move of the giant pros 
 trate in chains, whether it be to lift a single dagger, 
 or stir a city's revolt, is a lesson in justice. One 
 might well tremble for the future of the race if such 
 a despotism did exist without provoking the bloodiest 
 resistance. I honor Nihilism. Of all the cants that 
 are canted in this canting world, the cant of Ameri 
 cans bewailing Russian Nihilism is the most disgusting." 
 
 Nothing can exceed the detestation, the horror, the 
 amazement, depicted on Nicolai's face as he exclaimed : 
 
 " Mr. Petrovich, you have astounded me. I confess 
 that I have had strong tendencies to republicanism, 
 and that I have admired the people of this country, 
 believing that here, at least, Nihilism could only flourish 
 amid professed robbers and murderers, who had no 
 interest in society but its plunder. The experiences of 
 this morning have excited my alarm, and I can now 
 have some sympathy with the repressive measures of 
 our Emperor." 
 
 " I am glad to hear this," replied Mr. Petrovich. with 
 evident pleasure ; " and more especially as I have 
 resolved to take you home with me. Your democratic 
 preferences in Russia would have made you trouble 
 and impaired your influence." 
 
 The gentlemen now ascended the long and laborious 
 stairway, and soon stood on the balcony which circles 
 the dome. Below them the city, with its wide 
 avenues and superb public buildings, the broad Potomac 
 
382 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 flashing in the sun, the distant hills rising gradually 
 into the blue sky, together forming a magnificent 
 panorama, excited bursts of enthusiasm. 
 
 Pointing upwards, Mr. Petrovich cried, "See yon 
 image of liberty, exalted over the dome of the Capitol ! 
 It will not propitiate Nihilism. Our Russian fanatics 
 despise what they style American conservatism. 
 Wretches will urge themselves forward to a desperation 
 which will imperil Presidents as well as Emperors. About 
 the Executive mansion may yet be seen the flash of 
 the bayonet and the plume of the officer, as hired 
 guards watching to defend the life of the Chief of 
 the Republic. Should that day arrive, a crown may 
 become a necessity. To escape the rule of the mob and 
 the perils of frequent elections, hereditary monarchy 
 may be a refuge of this boastful Democracy, and 
 England the model of America." 
 
 "Never, in my opinion," firmly rejoined Nicolai. 
 " Monarchy in this country is an impossibility. Nay, the 
 whole tendency of the world, in our age, seems 
 to be in favor of republican institutions. I do not 
 speak of what I approve, but of what is obvious and 
 inevitable. " 
 
 This remark terminated the conversation. The 
 gentlemen, descending the stairs, left the Capitol, 
 walked silently down the Avenue, entered their hotel, 
 and retired to their apartments. 
 
 That night on his bed, in the darkness, Nicolai had 
 a fearful vision. His mind seemed flaming with light. 
 In the mystic illumination, things stood before him as 
 
WASHINGTON. 383 
 
 living forms. Fancies glowed into realities. He imag 
 ined he heard the report of Ruric's pistol. In a vision, 
 he saw the President fall, pierced by a bullet. Vividly 
 before him, were the prostrate form, the pallid face, 
 the ghastly wound. Men appearing, rushing to arrest 
 the murderer. He saw an agonized wife, weeping 
 children, a nation in tears, a world tilled with alarm, 
 sorrow and amazement. Over the land and on the 
 sea, were sobs and tears and anguish, save where the 
 Nihilists celebrated their hellish triumphs over success 
 ful assassinations. Now appeared the chamber of 
 death, the solemn funeral pageant, the republic in 
 mourning, the black drapery of woe beneath lowered 
 flags as a badge of universal sorrow. Beyond, a cell, 
 a trial, a conviction, a sentence, an execution his 
 brother swung from the gallows, amid the execrations 
 of nations. As the weird picture passed before him, 
 his heart swelled with grateful joy that, by the inter 
 position of his own hand, the vision was not a reality, 
 but only a sketch of his excited imagination. 
 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON THE OCEAN. 
 
 HEIST Ruric had first reached New 
 York, although infuriated by the 
 memory of his wrongs, he was 
 not yet wholly degraded. While 
 his money lasted he had lived 
 decently, and treated kindly the 
 child borne away in revenge to pierce the 
 heart of her father his enemy. The sweet 
 beauty of little Lillie touched the Nihilist, 
 and had not poverty driven him to despera 
 tion, might have preserved his heart fresh 
 and tender. But soon lank hunger, staring, 
 pinched him and the child, and he sent out the pretty 
 creature, with her blue eye and sad smile, to beg on 
 the streets. This was a step toward her degradation 
 and his own. Near him was an old Italian iniquity, 
 who trafficked in human flesh, buying and selling 
 boys and girls, waifs of misery drifted to our shores 
 by currents of sorrow from all lands, to be purchased 
 and disciplined by savage masters as itinerant beggars, 
 jugglers and musicians. Such fate for children is the 
 darkest mystery of our inscrutable human existence. 
 Encouraged by the success of Lillie, from the stock 
 
She stands out under full canvas down the bay to the ocean." 
 Page 389. 
 
ON THE OCEAN. 387 
 
 of the Italian, Ruric had added Tippoo, and, soon after, 
 Tojo to his household the latter, being much older, as 
 a species of assistant. The education of these children 
 was not wholly neglected. Ruric, on Sundays, 
 instructed them for his amusement and to perfect 
 himself in English, and also because he argued that 
 their quickened intelligence would increase his gains. 
 Partly from policy, and partly from a savagery ever 
 growing fiercer with his social and moral debasement, he 
 treated the children with habitual cruelty, often inflict 
 ing terrible blows, permitting them no food during the 
 day's long toil, and keeping them in servile terror 
 by a deliberate system of espionage and subjugation. 
 Associating with the degraded, amid the slums of a 
 vast city, with innumerable temptations to deceit, the 
 two younger children strangely preserved their purity, and 
 were, under the circumstances, wonderfully kind, honest 
 and truthful. This, however, was partly due to the 
 influence of an old missionary, Mr. Archer, who, during 
 years, watched and instructed them, as he happened to 
 meet them on the streets, with a most paternal Christian 
 interest and fidelity. But drudging wearily through 
 the week, confined on Sundays, half-fed, scolded, 
 beaten, youthful joyousness fled from the little slaves, 
 existence became a dull burden, and their minds 
 benumbed and insensible to almost everything in nature. 
 Lillie had an exquisite voice as well as beauty, and 
 Tippoo, besides an engaging exterior, possessed a genius 
 for jugglery, inherited from his Indian ancestors. Tojo 
 was a sharp Japanese rascal who loved to live by his 
 
388 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 wits, and play "kid" to thieves and robbers, whose 
 society he preferred. 
 
 Confiding in the thoroughness of the subjection of 
 Lillie and Tippoo, and the keen superintendence of Tojo, 
 Ruric, partly to relieve himself of their presence, and 
 also as a means of eluding the expected pursuit, had 
 decided to send the children, with harp, guitar and their 
 other equipments, to distant portions of the country. 
 Passage was secured in the brigantine Mermaid, to 
 carry them around by the ocean and up the Chesa 
 peake to Annapolis, the vessel intending to return with 
 a cargo of Severn sand from near Round Bay, a few 
 miles above the quaint capital of Maryland, where 
 Tojo was to meet them by rail, and direct their future 
 movements according to circumstances. 
 
 On an evening in early June, see them, with their 
 instruments, and their rough box, and their library 
 a small Bible and a book of "Songs of all Nations," 
 purchased by their meagre savings at an antiquated 
 book-stand. Tojo has taken leave with dreadful threats 
 and curses should they retain any money beyond their 
 necessary wants, or use their liberty to escape. He 
 yet stands on the wharf, with his hands in his pockets 
 in American style, occasionally shaking a fist and 
 muttering a farewell oath. 
 
 The hawser is loosed. A dwarf of a tug begins .to 
 puff, pant and worry the water, and then march down 
 East River, amid the shipping, drawing the vessel with 
 the pride of a very small boy doing a very big thing, 
 or of a Bantum rooster strutting before a great Shanghai 
 
ON THE OCEAN. 389 
 
 hen. At first the children are stupefied. They can 
 not believe it. Not once, within memory, have they 
 been without the limits of the crowded city. From 
 infancy, they have been every day under the eye and 
 lash of Ruric. Can he permit this ? Why has he 
 allowed it ? Are they indeed free ? Rather, are they 
 themselves ? Is it a dream ? No ! it is all real. 
 There is Tojo just visible in the distance, there is 
 the advancing tug, there is the receding city, there 
 they are themselves Lillie and Tippoo, with harp, 
 box and guitar, and there can be no longer a mistake. 
 See the Mermaid parts from her escort ; her sails are 
 flung to the evening breeze ! She stands out under 
 full canvas down the bay to the ocean ! Lillie sits 
 by her harp, and Tippoo by his guitar in bewildered 
 silence, which the latter interrupts with an amazement 
 no longer controllable, bursting out with the ques 
 tion : 
 
 " Thunder, Lil ! do you mind the bird last week 
 that flew'd out of a window, where we were singin' 
 and play in' near the park?" 
 
 "Yes, Tip, I do. A boy and a man in livery 
 followed it. It behaved queer at first as if it didn't 
 know what was the matter, and would hop away, and 
 then they'd chase it, till at last it know'd it was free, 
 and flew'd up on a tree, and began to sing a jolly 
 song." 
 
 "Well, Lil, I tell you; you and me's like that bird 
 when it jist got out of its cage. I feel as if I didn't 
 know about it no way. But my wings will be movin' 
 
390 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 easy afore long, and my throat tuned up pretty well 
 too." 
 
 "But," she replied, in the utmost terror, " don't try to 
 fly away. Ruric has his string to us after all, and I 
 tell you he can pull us back, and take our heads and 
 arms off, too, if he chooses." 
 
 "You bet I know that," said Tip, with a boyish 
 swagger, thrusting his hands in his pockets, as if a 
 native American, and looking wise. " Old thunder and 
 lightnin' won't forget his babies. Telegraph wires and 
 railway tracks are better nor strings to keep us in his 
 hand, and I don't love his leather lash enough to go 
 back to it, and give it another coat of red to improve 
 its looks. But let Ruric go to Jersey and live on 
 mosquitoes ! Our captain here's another sort. Look 
 at his mouth and eye ! He's jolly and his wife's 
 jollier yet, and these sailors are jolly, and I'll bet we'll 
 have a jolly time on a jolly ship." 
 
 "All right, Tip," said Lillie, softly. "I'll do all I 
 can to help the fun if you'll only promise not to run 
 away. Ruric would kill us. It makes me shake when 
 I think of him. He has struck me, and made my 
 blood run a thousand times. I fear his horrid face 
 and voice more than his lash, and his eye seems 
 lookin' through me all the time." 
 
 "Well, Lil," replied Tip, with a gay smile and 
 whistle, " that's all over now. Hurrah for ourselves ! 
 No telegraphs over these big waves, nor railroads 
 either ! We are safe till we meet Toj at Annapolis, 
 and now for one good time. This old Captain and his 
 
ON THE OCEAN. 391 
 
 big wife will give us a chance, if you'll let me manage. 
 So begin ! Everything in a first appearance. Programme 
 Mock-Bird, from 'Songs of All Nations,' accompanied 
 by Lil on the harp and Tip on the guitar. That book's 
 a good investment them six cents '11 make us friends 
 wherever we go, land or sea. So strike up while the 
 breeze's good ! " 
 
 The children tuned softly their instruments and then 
 sang together the following song from their companion 
 able volume : 
 
 My little Mock-Bird, why so gay, 
 Merrily singing on yon spray? 
 I love to hear thy tuneful throat, 
 Wild warble joy in each clear note. 
 
 Oh, gay am I, because my wing 
 No more on bars I madly fling; 
 See, I can mount the morning air, 
 And thrill out freedom's music there. 
 
 But, little Mock-Bird, who will give 
 The grains and drops that make thee live ? 
 The hawk, I fear, from yon clear sky, 
 His talon in thy blood will dye. 
 
 I sip the nectar of the dew; 
 
 I pick the seed where first it grew. 
 
 And Heaven, that makes the world my home, 
 
 Forgets me not where'er I roam. 
 
 The breeze was brisk but light, the sails were full, 
 and all on board could listen in silent admiration. 
 Lillie was born with the genius of song, and each tone 
 
392 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 of her musical voice was mellowed by suffering. 
 Notwithstanding her vocation, her beauty always excited 
 attention, and there lingered about her a charm of 
 mystery. A tear was on Captain Jack's rough cheek. 
 Even Commodore Beck, as the sailors called his wife, 
 felt her thick lips quiver, and old black Tom Tar, 
 Ned Soft, Dan Heave and Bill Jump, and all the rest 
 of the crew, while the song lasted, never moved a quid 
 in their mouths. Mr. Rylance, the only passenger, a 
 young graduate of Yale, taking a sea-voyage for his 
 health, was amused and astonished. A magic sympathy 
 warmed all hearts toward the little wanderers. 
 
 The sun had sunk behind the Orange Mountains, 
 but the gold and purple of the clouds lingered, and left 
 their mingling glories on the islands, and kindled with 
 their light the waters of the bay, while before them 
 the moon rose out of the sea in the beauty of her 
 summer brightness, and the evening star glittered with 
 a yet more beaming splendor. Such a spectacle had 
 never before been observed by the young travelers. 
 Indeed their slavery since childhood had sealed by 
 suffering the vision of nature from those two wronged 
 souls. A new world was suddenly born in their breasts, 
 tinged with those hues of religion inseparable from 
 human nature. They were profoundly impressed, and 
 indeed awed into silence. 
 
 " Thunder!" at last Tip burst out. " Lil, isn't this 
 Paradise ? It must be, since it don't look like any 
 thing I ever saw before." 
 
 " It is ! it is ! " exclaimed the girl, in a whisper of 
 
ON THE OCEAN. 393 
 
 admiration. "This is what our old street missionary 
 told us about. There's an angel ! Look, Tip ! I see 
 him on that cloud ! " 
 
 "And I see another," said Tip, "at the end of the 
 cloud. He has a harp, by thunder ! " 
 
 "I see some dancing," cried Lil. "There they are, 
 one, two, three ! " 
 
 "And some on the top are flying out," Tip exclaimed, 
 pointing with his finger, while his eye kindled and 
 his face beamed. 
 
 Thus the imaginations of the children peopled the 
 clouds with shapes of beauty so different from the 
 loathsome and distorted forms of want and sickness 
 they had daily seen through so many years of their 
 cramped and wretched lives. It was marvelous how 
 the teaching of Ruric and Tojo, the casual instructions 
 of old Mr. Archer, the study of their pocket Bible, 
 and book of songs, had given them the use of words, 
 purified their taste, and preserved them from the slang 
 of slums. Some superior blood, and ages of ancestral 
 refinement have surely helped to produce such a result. 
 
 Commodore Beck now came forward and expressed 
 in words and deeds the kind feelings of her large, 
 womanly heart. 
 
 "Wall! I guess you be ready for your evenin' 
 grub. I hearn your talkin' and 'twas queer for such as 
 you be. But you can't live on clouds and angels at 
 sea, nor land either for matter of that. I've brought 
 your grub on deck, and I s'pose your used to takin' 
 where you can get it." 
 
394 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "Thanks," said Tip, politely; "thanks! We are very 
 hungry, and it will be jolly to eat it here." 
 
 "Thanks," added Lillie, "many thanks! "We are 
 so glad to get it. Many times we eat on a step, or a 
 curb-stone, or wherever the people are kind to us, and 
 sometimes walking along the street." 
 
 The Commodore then gave the children some hard 
 crackers, and two large slices of cold ham, which, 
 followed by a cup of water from the barrel, constituted 
 a comfortable supper, after which they rested their 
 heads on their instruments, and composed themselves 
 for the slumbers of the night. Stars watched over 
 them, glittering in the sky and mirrored in the sea, 
 while the moon smiled down from the heavens in her 
 queenly majesty. 
 
 Hark ! the scraping of a fiddle ! the hum of merry 
 voices ! the beating of heavy feet on the deck ! Captain 
 Jack and his ponderous spouse are whirling and sweat 
 ing in the dance, while Tom Tar draws his black 
 hand vigorously over the strings of his violin, and all 
 the other sailors unite in the strange frolic, and in a 
 way which would shatter the discipline of any other 
 ship. But Captain Jack has his own theories. We will 
 see what they are hereafter, and how they succeed. 
 No vessel ever floated on a wave was managed like 
 our Mermaid. 
 
 After the sound sleep produced by health and weari 
 ness, Lillie first awoke. Around her was the illimit 
 able circle of the sea, touched by the circle of the 
 sky swelling sublimely into its vast ethereal dome. The 
 
ON THE OCEAN. 395 
 
 luminaries of heaven have now changed their places. 
 The sun is lifting his face above the ocean in the 
 east, and the moon opposite is just visible over the 
 western waves ; no cloud stains the blue sky, except 
 one dark, rising mass, circled over by a magnificent 
 bow whose painted glories dye the deep on which they 
 stand like celestial pillars. Lillie was entranced. She 
 was speechless. At last, her amazement was expressed 
 in ejaculations. 
 
 "What is it?" she whispered to herself. "What 
 can it be ? I never saw or heard of it before. Who 
 made it ? Tip, Tip, get up ! See there ! " 
 
 She shook the boy energetically, who rolled his eyes 
 and muttered his displeasure. 
 
 "What do you knock a fellow up in this way for?" 
 he growled. " I was having a jolly dream and you 
 spoiled it. Just let a fellow be/' 
 
 "But, look round, Tip," replied the girl, with a 
 species of rapture, while her eye and face seemed 
 beaming with the new light in her soul. " Look, and 
 tell me quick what it is ! I must know." 
 
 " Thunder ! " said the boy, amazed as he gazed. 
 "I never saw it before, any more than you. It's pretty 
 as a picture. How round and bright it is, and higher 
 nor Trinity spire, and wider nor North River." 
 
 "Oh, Tip, this must be Paradise. See the ocean! 
 Beautiful colors are flying over everywhere ! I never 
 felt so before. Oh, I wish I knew what that glorious 
 thing is." 
 
 Mr. Rylance had been taking his morning constitu- 
 
396 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 tional on the deck, and had overheard this strange 
 conversation. Approaching the children, he said to 
 them : 
 
 "I can tell you what you wish to know." 
 
 "Thanks, thanks, sir," they eagerly replied together. 
 
 "But have you never really seen that before?" 
 he inquired. " It seems incredible." 
 
 " We have not, sir," replied Tip. " We would not 
 sham with you for the world." 
 
 " I think something has taken place in me," said 
 Lillie, "I feel so changed. Everything looks so 
 beautiful." 
 
 Mr. Rylance, more interested than ever, determined 
 to employ every opportunity to instruct these apt, but 
 neglected children. 
 
 "That is the rainbow," said he, kindly, "and is 
 formed on that cloud by the sun shining on the drops 
 of rain." 
 
 "Oh, sir," replied Lillie, clapping her hands, "that 
 explains my little song." Then taking out her treasured 
 volume from her pocket, she added, "I thought a bow 
 was what I had seen on Broadway in the archery 
 shops, and I could not tell how it could be on a cloud 
 and over a billow." 
 
 " And, sir," said Tip, laughing, " a bow's one of 
 them dandy fellows on Broadway, and I'd like to see 
 him up there where the song says. He wouldn't stay 
 long, I'm sure." 
 
 "Now, sir," continued Lillie, with increasing anima 
 tion, "I understand, by looking at the ocean, every- 
 
ON THE OCEAN. 397 
 
 thing in the song, and it all seems plain and 
 beautiful." 
 
 "Let me see your book," said Mr. Rylance, more 
 and more pleased with the children. He took the 
 volume from Lillie's hand, and, glancing his eye over 
 the song, added: "Yes, you are right. Since you 
 left New York, you have seen everything mentioned 
 here, and can now understand it better than ever. 
 But now, let me hear the song. You have excited 
 my curiosity, and I want it in your best style," 
 
 The children complied with alacrity. Having tuned 
 their instruments, Lillie sang with a low, sweet, rich 
 plaintive voice, that touched all hearts. The roughest 
 sailors listened with visible pleasure, showing that bard 
 and uncultured natures will respond to the most 
 refined sentiments when expressed in simple musical 
 words. 
 
 My Mary, cold and bright yon moon 
 
 Shines o'er the fitful sea, 
 And glitters on this harp I tune, 
 
 To sing alone of thee. 
 
 And as yon wave, whose breaking crest 
 
 Flies sparkling o'er the deep; 
 Mary, thus fickle in thy breast 
 
 The love o'er which I weep. 
 
 Delusive on yon cloud a bow 
 
 Wild billows hangs above; 
 But when its glories brightest glow, 
 
 Pales, Mary, like thy love. 
 
398 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 Nor moon whose beam is on the sea, 
 
 Nor painted bow, nor wave, 
 So fair and false as thou to me, 
 
 Whose smile mocks when I rave. 
 
 After the song, Tippoo said to Mr. Rylance, who 
 stood near listening. 
 
 " Sir, it is so strange to be in the middle of a circle 
 on the ocean." 
 
 " And this big dome over us is stranger yet," added 
 Lillie, pointing and looking upward. "Everything is 
 so queer at sea." 
 
 "And what is the sun, Mr. Rylance, and the moon, 
 and the stars?" inquired Tippoo. "I never thought 
 of them much on land. But here they look different, 
 and I want to know." 
 
 Mr. Rylance, after a little reflection, answered : 
 
 "Wait a moment, and I will explain so that you 
 will never forget it." 
 
 He disappeared below, and soon emerged with his 
 hands and arms full of lemons and oranges of various 
 sizes. With these and the aid of a few sticks he 
 extemporized a planetarium, and made visible the revo 
 lutions of the earth and the planets round the sun, 
 of the moons about the planets, and the planets on 
 their axes ; and showed how eclipses were produced, 
 and day and night, and the seasons. He also explained 
 the reasons of the circle of the horizon, and the 
 rotundity of the heavens. Before the voyage ended, 
 these children could answer questions in such a way 
 as to show they comprehended the subject perfectly. 
 
ON THE OCEAN. 399 
 
 After the morning lesson had been completed Tippoo 
 said : 
 
 "Now, sir, let me show my teacher something he 
 never saw." 
 
 He took a pack of cards, and amazed Mr. Rylance 
 and the sailors by his marvelous dexterity in countless 
 tricks. 
 
 When he had concluded his exhibition, Tip said, 
 with a laugh : 
 
 " Lillie's song was rather grave ; let me sing you a 
 funny one." 
 
 Without his instrument, he then sang, and with such 
 gesture and expression as to convulse his audience, 
 another selection from his unfailing book. 
 
 The owl. the owl, is the bird for me: 
 I love his note from the midnight tree, 
 Where he winks, 
 And he blinks, 
 And he blinks, 
 And he winks, 
 And looks so wise 
 From his two big eyes. 
 
 The owl, the owl, he loves not the sun; 
 But, prudent, waits till the heat is done, 
 When he winks, 
 And he blinks, 
 And he blinks, 
 And he winks, 
 And he looks so wise 
 From his two big eyes. 
 
400 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 The owl, the owl, when the morning Dreaks, 
 Ah! Wise from the light his way he takes. 
 As he winks, 
 And he blinks. 
 And he blinks, 
 And he winks, 
 And he looks so wise 
 From his two big eyes. 
 
 The applause was prodigious. Clapping, stamping, 
 laughter, rewarded the performer's musical and dramatic 
 genius. 
 
 "Now, Lillie," said Mr. Rylance, "we have had the 
 owl. I see in your book a song to the lark, quite a 
 different bird, and I have a notion that the lark will 
 beat the owl any day." 
 
 " A song, a song ! " echoed from every direction. 
 
 Lillie then sat down to her harp, and complied with 
 the request of her audience in the following words, 
 which she sang with a most exquisite pathos and 
 expression : 
 
 See, the lark has left his nest! 
 'Twas a sunbeam broke his rest, 
 Touch'd him with immortal light, 
 Wing'd him from our human sight! 
 He has spurn'd these mists of earth, 
 Claiming his celestial birth. 
 Lo, he fades now from our view, 
 Mingling with his heav'n's own blue! 
 But, unseen, we hear him sing 
 Like some bright cherubic thing. 
 
ON THE OCEAN. 401 
 
 Yes! The higher he will soar, 
 Louder will his music pour, 
 Since alone his native light 
 Tunes his soul of flame aright. 
 Hark! His last best note he tries 
 Hid sublimest in his skies, 
 Proving, as he drops below, 
 Heav'n on earth would lose its glow 
 
 The storm of approval was more enthusiastic than 
 ver, and kindled into encouragement Lillie, who, over 
 mastered by the pride of her vocation, suddenly left 
 her harp, ran up the ropes with a grace and agility 
 which astonished the spectators, climbed the mainmast, 
 and on one foot stood balanced on the very top, sway 
 ing with the motion of the ship. Even Captain Jack 
 gazed up at her aghast. The sailors were speechless. 
 
 There she stood between sea and sky, high in the 
 air, outlined in the blue of heaven, with a grace and 
 beauty which betokened some creature of a celestial 
 origin. 
 
 While Lillie was descending, Captain Jack, rolling 
 his quid with an expression of marine wisdom, said to 
 Mr. Rylance : 
 
 " Rum children, them ! They'd beat us Yankees out 
 of clocks and nutmegs, and make our boys and gals 
 down in the feathers like chickens in a December 
 rain." 
 
 " They are, indeed, remarkable," answered Mr. 
 Rylance. "They learn with wonderful ease and 
 rapidity. I don't think we have seen all that is in 
 
402 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 them yet. Before our voyage ends we will know 
 
 more." 
 
 "New Yorkers is bright," said Captain Jack. "They 
 beats the world. A New Yorker '11 set his sails, and 
 run round another man before he's unclewed. Breakers 
 or no breakers, and barometer showin' a hurricane, 
 he'll have every rag out, and take his chances." 
 
 "But these children are not natives," answered 
 Rylance. " The girl is from a northern and the boy 
 from a southern climate. They have had some educa 
 tion, and their life on the streets has wonderfully 
 sharpened their wits. There is a mystery in them I 
 cannot yet explain." 
 
 "Furreners in New York," said the Captain, with a 
 knowing eye and quid, "become sharp as native-born. 
 All sharper nor honest. Fact is, people from all 
 nations rubbin' agin one another make blades bright 
 and edges keen." 
 
 Here a look of anxiety began to gather over Captain 
 Jack's face, and pointing to the south-west he said: 
 
 "Yon cloud's a weather-breeder. See! that 
 barometer's goin' down like a sailor's grog ! " 
 
 "It looks like a squall," answered Mr. Rylance. 
 "I felt a little afraid last night." 
 
 "Yes, once," said the Captain, "we had a thumpin' 
 sea, calm as it is now. I 'spose your heart went like 
 a loose barrel in a ship's hold." 
 
 "No, 110 Captain," replied Mr. Rylance, smiling, 
 "I was born too near the sea for that. It was your 
 dancing disturbed me. I was afraid you might relax 
 
ON THE OCEAN. 403 
 
 discipline by indulging with your men in such 
 sports." 
 
 " Oh, that's all ! " replied the good-natured Captain. 
 "Never fear! When this blow's over I'll explain my 
 theories on that subject, but just now the Mermaid 
 needs me." 
 
 He now took his trumpet, stationed Tom Tar at the 
 wheel, and ordered all hands aloft to take in sail. 
 Soon the vessel with her almost naked masts and arms 
 was ready for the tempest. Nor was she one moment 
 too soon. 
 
 The cloud, mass on mass, rolled up its blackness to 
 the zenith. In the far distance growled the deep 
 thunder, and the sheet lightnings flashed vividly around 
 the horizon. There was a boding stillness in the air, 
 more ominous because the ocean began to be agitated 
 although not a breath was stirring. Hark ! a shriek 
 like a demon's yell ! A peal shakes the heavens. 
 The skies are on fire with blinding flashes. Now the 
 loosed tempest rages with a demon's fury, and the 
 mountain billows toss the ship as if sporting with her 
 puny distress. Amid this battle of the elements, 
 Tippoo and Lillie stand together, gazing with estatic joy 
 as sea, sky and air lash themselves into madness. The 
 little wanderers seem born for the billow and the 
 tempest. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BELLE STANDFAST. 
 
 IDMAN had predicted that in three 
 months Edward Stewart would be 
 out of his place. He was a shrewd 
 man and expected to see that his 
 prophecies would be fulfilled, but 
 in this instance he proved to be 
 mistaken. Only a mean and evil 
 nature, helped by wealth and the influence 
 and position it gives, could have ever con 
 trived the tricks, insults and annoyances to 
 which he exposed the man he had resolved 
 to ruin. But Stewart seemed to root him 
 self more securely by means of the very 
 violence of the malignant opposition. Bid- 
 man and Walter Sparker were baffled, they 
 could not tell how, and hence the more terribly 
 enraged. As they sat together, looking out of the 
 window of their Alma office, the former said : 
 
 "You and Stewart seem running a tilt for Belle 
 Standfast. Who's ahead?" 
 
 "Curse the fellow!" cried Walter, scowling. "I 
 hate him more and more. He crosses me everywhere. 
 When he's not with Belle he's with father; and he's 
 
BELLE STANDFAST. 405 
 
 like a snake in my path that will bite if I don't 
 scotch him. He has just invented an electrical engine 
 for the old man, who pets and nurses the thing like 
 a child. He dotes on Stewart, and they are conferring 
 and confabulating every day, and trying their experi 
 ments. I am driven from the table and almost from 
 my home by this upstart's infernal impudence." 
 
 "I tell you, it looks bad," growled Bidman, pulling 
 his hat over his brow and puffing more vigorously at 
 his cigar. Then, after a moment's silence, bringing 
 his hands violently together, he exclaimed : "By Heaven, 
 it's got to stop ! There's something in the fellow I 
 can't understand. He's like a leaded pith-ball tumble 
 him over, and he's on his feet again before you can 
 snap your fingers. He and Standfast are thicker than 
 ever. " 
 
 "Yes," replied Walter, with a darker frown; "I 
 owe John a grudge for the help he gave this inter 
 loper with those cursed inventions which so won 
 fathers heart. I begin to hate the one as bad as 
 the other." 
 
 "But you are after his daughter," said Bidman. 
 "I can't understand it." 
 
 " Ah ! " answered Walter, with an air of mystery, 
 " Saul, you're not so blind as you pretend. But there 
 is something in it you don't see. The mother's on my 
 side, but John's dead against me." 
 
 "Surely," exclaimed Bidman, with astonishment, 
 " you're not mad enough to marry the girl. You 
 -would disgrace our family. Belle Standfast, daughter 
 
 
406 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 of a mechanic, the wife of Walter Sparker! It 
 wouldn't hurt us in Alma, but it would destroy us in 
 Newport and Saratoga. We should have to sell our 
 cottages in those places and move out of society." 
 
 "What do you mean, Bidman?" said Walter, with 
 a sneer. "My family fountain is in a blacksmith's 
 shop, and yours in a root-doctor's office. Let us wait 
 a few generations before we talk of contaminating 
 our blood and staining our respectability. I stand on 
 my railroad stock and nothing else. There's no sham 
 there. But you needn't fear ; I have no thought of 
 marrying." 
 
 "Well, Walter," replied Bidman, "you're venturing 
 pretty near. All the village is talking about it. The 
 women gossip at home, and the men in the shops are 
 betting which will win Edward Stewart or Walter 
 Sparker." 
 
 " To the dogs with the village, Saul ! Don't you 
 see, in this pretty little picture of a girl, I can tease 
 Standfast and Stewart at the same time. I am only 
 sticking a few pins into them, as a boy into his 
 bench-fellows at school, to see them squirm, and 
 perhaps scream a little." 
 
 "It's dangerous game, I tell you," said Bidman, 
 "and may make you more trouble than you're calcu 
 lating. But that's your business, not mine." 
 
 " And I'm in a dangerous mood, brother Bidman," 
 exclaimed Walter, passionately. "These two men 
 have driven me nearly crazy ; and while I mean no 
 harm to the girl, I feel we are both within the circles 
 
BELLE STANDFAST. 407 
 
 of a whirlpool, and may go down together. Some 
 times I fear that you are the very man who makes me 
 a cursed rascal; and yet I drive on with a hot heart 
 and a wild eye. But I'm going to cut the bridge 
 behind me, and leap right down into the dark chasm. 
 Will you take my railway stocks and give me Govern 
 ment securities in exchange ? I don't want any man 
 to know my affairs by looking at our books, and this 
 trade will set me free." 
 
 "You're a lunatic, Walter," said Bidman, with sur 
 prised delight. "Your father would be distracted, should 
 he hear of this transaction, and never forgive me. 
 But if you decide to do it, and take the responsibility, 
 it's a bargain." 
 
 " Yes ! he'd say I am crazy, and going to the devil. 
 But it's my fancy. I want to be free, and feel the 
 world is before me, so that I can go where I please, 
 quick as a telegraph click. Hand me over your cer 
 tificates and I will give you mine." 
 
 Of all things this was what Bidman wanted. He 
 expected that it would require years to ripen the 
 fruit, and lo, it is suddenly matured in the torrid 
 heats of Walter Sparker's passions, and dropping unso 
 licited into his mouth. The absence of the young 
 man from the country, he foresaw, at a glance, would 
 soon follow from his wild and desperate mental state, 
 and that, with his stocks in possession and the proxies 
 of his father, he would at once be the virtual, and 
 soon the actual, president of the road. This was the 
 dream of his life, the prize of his ambition, the cen- 
 
408 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 ter toward which had tended the plans and villainies 
 of years. The exchange was speedily made. 
 
 "Now," began Walter, recklessly, while placing the 
 certificates in his large pocket-book, " these are my 
 charters of freedom. Neither you nor the old man 
 can know what I spend. Curse consequences ! My 
 office to the owls ! I'm my own master ! The world 
 is before me, and with the interest of half a million 
 paid quarterly by Uncle Sam, I can have what 1 want 
 in any country I may honor with my innocent pre 
 sence. No danger of a poor-house, although I may 
 bring up in a lunatic asylum. I'll do as I please 
 snatch the present hour and let the rest go to the 
 devil, and I with it, if I choose." 
 
 As he concluded these words, he looked out of the 
 window and saw Edward Stewart escorting Belle Stand 
 fast along the street, and, pointing to them, exclaimed: 
 " There, Saul Bidman, look there! If you want to 
 build on my ruin, now's a chance ! That's the first 
 temptation the devil addresses to my new liberty. 
 Yon fellow's the spark that always sets me on fire. 
 I'll spoil that game before his Yankee legs can carry 
 him two more blocks/' 
 
 While Walter Sparker is getting his hat, cane and 
 gloves, we will recount what had occurred between 
 Belle Standfast and Edward Stewart but a few minutes 
 before. But as she trips by his side along the street 
 let me describe the girl. 
 
 She was a petite creature an airy, pretty thing in 
 her way perfect a brilliant toy, an animated doll 
 
BELLE STANDFAST. 409 
 
 graceful as a bird, and as full of nerve and flame 
 her bloom rich and delicate as the morning her shape 
 exquisite in its symmetry, and all her motions charm 
 ingher features regular, except a slight plebeian 
 upturning of the nose her eyes varying in color, 
 according to the feelings they expressed her taste in 
 dress corresponding to her form bright, fitful, spark 
 ling, with smiles and tears equally at her command. 
 She could kiss John Standfast and persuade Mary 
 Standfast into anything. If they had not for her 
 niche and shrine and altar, she was no less the divin 
 ity of their home. The defect of her character was, 
 that in Belle Standfast taste was a substitute for con 
 science. She had her mother's French mercury, 
 with the freedom of our American quicksilver, instead 
 of the delicate restraints of the land of her maternal 
 ancestors. Her mother and father were both unedu 
 cated, and this excited in her a sense of superiority, 
 and in them a consciousness of inferiority, because 
 Belle had enjoyed all the advantages of a modern 
 school. She thus grew up without that subjection to 
 authority which lies at the root of both principle and 
 refinement and of all family felicity, and without 
 which men and women are drifted hither and thither 
 on the changeful currents of this stormy human exist 
 ence. 
 
 Belle Standfast, with all her faults, was fascinating, 
 and Edward Stewart, so differently born and educated, 
 had been now three months under her spell. That' 
 such a grave, sensible, and superior man should be 
 
410 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 dominated by such a mercurial piece of pretty female 
 flesh is a phenomenon in our nature impossible to 
 explain. One glance at his splendid, aristocratic 
 mother, and her family history and educational 
 principles, would have increased the difficulty of 
 the problem. Yet, the fact remained. Stewart had 
 been for months madly in love with the daughter, and 
 was the intimate and confidential friend of the father. 
 She mingled with all his thoughts, colored all his plans, 
 and was the beautiful center of his life. For him 
 she had an instinctive, profound, sisterly respect. 
 
 That very morning, Edward had resolved to settle 
 the question of his heart. He could wait no longer. 
 Walter Sparker, during the same period, had been 
 equally devoted, and it seemed as yet impossible to 
 decide which the girl preferred. Possibly, she scarcely 
 knew herself. Just before leaving her house, the 
 following conversation occurred, which was conclusive 
 of the whole subject. 
 
 As they were seated together in the parlor, after 
 a long, gay, discursive conversation, Edward, pausing, 
 suddenly said : 
 
 " Miss Standfast, can you be serious for a single 
 moment ?" 
 
 "Mr. Stewart," she replied, with an arch, dimpling 
 smile, "can you be jolly for a single moment? I'll 
 make a bargain, and well exchange natures, and thus 
 your request will be granted." 
 
 " But," said Stewart, gaily, "I do not want you to 
 change, but to be always just as you are. If you 
 
BELLE STANDFAST. 411 
 
 were anybody else, I would not have it in my jieart 
 to say anything." 
 
 ' ' That, I suppose, you intend as a compliment, and 
 to bribe me into being serious," she replied, playfully. 
 "Well, I accept the price and close the bargain." 
 Then, dropping her head, and looking amusingly 
 demure, she added: "See how serious I am!"' 
 
 Stewart was embarrassed by her coy ways and 
 looks, but at last contrived to say : 
 
 "I have been with you a great deal for the last 
 three months. Do you know what I mean ? " 
 
 " So has Walter Sparker," she said, tossing her curls, 
 with a coquettish grace, "and what does he mean?" 
 
 For a moment Edward blushed, and was confounded, 
 but at last he resumed : 
 
 " The time has come for you to choose, Miss 
 Standfast." 
 
 "It is impossible, Mr. Stewart. I can't do it. My 
 heart can no more be fixed than a drop of quicksilver. 
 You are too grave for a merry doll like me, and would 
 soon become tired of me, like a little girl with her 
 painted toy." 
 
 " Never, Miss Standfast, never," he replied, earnestly 
 and firmly. 
 
 "Oh, what shall I do ?" she exclaimed, wringing her 
 hands, in assumed distress. "Papa always praises 
 you, and mamma always praises Walter Sparker, and 
 cook declares for Mr. Edward, and our waitress for 
 Mr. Walter. All my cousins and relatives are equally 
 divided. One of them told me the men in the shops 
 
412 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 are having their bets about me a poor, innocent, little 
 lamb, who is not responsible for the storm, and yet 
 suffers because it blows." 
 
 "Miss Standfast," answered Stewart, slightly off ended, 
 "let me ask you not to jest." 
 
 "But I can't help it," she replied, pettishly. "I 
 laugh just to see you looking so grave. Oh, I'm like 
 the poor little bird which can't tell on which tree to 
 find shelter, and drops down on the ground to soil its 
 bright, pretty feathers." 
 
 " Miss Standfast," said Edward, rising and almost 
 angry, "if this continues I will have to leave you." 
 
 "No, no, Mr. Stewart," answered the gay girl, 
 sobered instantly ; " let me beg you not to be hasty. 
 Shall I tell you, truly, what I think and feel?" 
 
 "As you value my happiness and my whole future 
 life, Miss Standfast," he said, with great emphasis of 
 tone and manner. " I find myself neglecting my 
 business, and in a very unpleasant situation, and I 
 hope that you will answer me plainly and instantly." 
 
 " Mr. Stewart," she replied, with the most suitable 
 gravity, " I have thought over this subject as deeply 
 and as often as yourself. Seriously, I am not suitable 
 to be your wife. You would forever regret that you 
 married me." 
 
 "You must let me take the risk of that!" he said, 
 with a look of bitter disappointment. 
 
 "Oh, no sir. I, too, am a party to this contract, 
 and your unhappiness would be my own. Your mother 
 would never cordially consent, and between her and 
 
BELLE STANDFAST. 413 
 
 my family there would be an unpleasant barrier. 
 Besides, I am less of a bee than a butterfly. I could 
 not help you in the struggle before you. Gay wings 
 do not bring honey to the hive. Plain as my parents 
 are, my tastes are expensive. Instead of economizing 
 in your household, I would be a useless and extrav 
 agant plaything, and you would soon become weary 
 of toiling for my support. I know you, and I know 
 myself, arid I know that I am right. You think that 
 you love me so as to justify marriage. This is a 
 dream and an error. I feel that even now I am 
 piercing the bubble and dispelling the bright vision." 
 
 It was so. The girl's instincts were right. Edward 
 Stewart felt it as she spoke. A veil seemed suddenly 
 lifted, and he saw her and saw himself, and saw peril. 
 Walter Sparker was a vain, weak, unprincipled gallant, 
 and Belle Standfast's intimacy with him would become 
 dangerous the moment his own counteracting influence 
 was withdrawn. 
 
 This the girl perceived also. She felt a secret 
 terror in drifting from the true heart of a man whose 
 arm could always be relied on for her protection, 
 and in flinging herself into the power of a man whom 
 she might love but could never trust. Indeed, it was 
 the crisis of her existence. Her whole future was in 
 the decision of that brief moment. 
 
 Belle, looking into Edward's eye and grasping nerv 
 ously his arm, said, almost beseechingly : "Mr. Stewart, 
 you will be my brother ! I know you will ! I will 
 need you ! I feel that I will need you ! " 
 
414 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 He gazed steadily into her large and beautiful eye, 
 and saw it dimmed with a tear. This was the fare 
 well glance of his first youthful affection. He then 
 said, sadly : 
 
 "Miss Standfast, you have understood our relation 
 better than I. We will be to each other brother and 
 sister. You will always find me a faithful friend." 
 
 "You know, Mr. Stewart," she resumed, "that I am 
 a spoiled child, and rule my papa and my mamma, 
 and, hence, I need a kind adviser. I hope that you 
 will always be my true and loving brother. And now 
 begin your new duties by escorting me to the store," 
 she added, with her former girlish gaiety. Thither 
 they were proceeding when they encountered Walter 
 Sparker. After the salutations of the morning, Edward 
 left them together. Returning from the village store, 
 they soon entered the parlor of John Standfast, and 
 occupied the seats so recently left vacant. Yet how 
 changed in a few minutes all the relations and circum 
 stances within those same silent walls ! 
 
 With the amazing and dangerous freedom of our 
 American life, these young people call each other 
 familiarly by their christened names. 
 
 "Belle," began Walter, flirting his glove jauntily 
 against her blooming cheek, "I have a favor to ask of 
 you." 
 
 "But don't begin that way, Walter," she said, 
 pettishly; "I don't like it. You are too free with that 
 glove, which you like to exhibit as a proof of your 
 dainty, little aristocratic hand." 
 
BELLE STANDFAST. 415 
 
 "Nonsense, Belle," he said, blushing; "your arrows 
 are very small and nicely pointed, but you intend them 
 to be sharp as needles," he replied, drawing on his 
 glove. 
 
 "Well, Walter," she answered, "needles are more 
 suitable than daggers to wound delicate young fellows 
 who can't bear much." 
 
 As she said this, she innocently picked to pieces a 
 lovely rose, and scattered over the floor the bright 
 leaves, filling the air with their fragrance, and lying 
 at her feet the gay types of the fading and broken 
 visions of youthful hope and love. 
 
 "By the way, Belle," said Walter, "I think that 
 you are about as hard on your friends as your little 
 fingers are on that rose. You scatter us right and left 
 like leaves, but I don't think you get quite as sweet a 
 scent as from that flower." 
 
 "Use more cologne and better quality," she replied, 
 laughing. "You must either disguise yourself or sign 
 the temperance pledge." 
 
 " I have made a pledge, my fairy," he said, with a 
 reckless air; "but it is a pledge never to take a pledge, 
 and to be free to get all the honey I can out of life, 
 and as little of the sting and poison as possible. Now, 
 I want you to sign with me right on the spot." 
 
 " But what am I to sign ? Explain," she added, 
 "and I will please you if I can." 
 
 "We are to have a jolly season," he answered; 
 " plays, concerts, operas in endless number and varieties, 
 with the brightest stars ever seen in New York. My 
 
416 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 private car is always at my disposal. Now, what's the 
 use of eternally asking your parents whether you shall 
 go with me, and having a family discussion ; your father 
 on one side and your mother on the other ; servants 
 ditto ; and this whole infernal village babbling over 
 our affairs. Quit making people quarrel and take the 
 matter into your own* hand. Assert your liberty, and, 
 little despot that you are, after a short fuss everybody 
 will yield and leave you to your own will, and we'll 
 have a grand old winter." 
 
 "Walter," she said, not with firmness, "that 
 wouldn't look well. It offends my taste. I know 
 that I am giddy and reckless, but I hate what 
 seems improper. Yet it is a bother to have all you do 
 talked over and fussed over until the heart is out of 
 your frolic. Before I can do anything I am always 
 sick of the trouble it costs. Liberty would be a very 
 nice thing." 
 
 "Make a declaration of independence, Belle," he said, 
 with a wdnk and a laugh. "Run up your own colors 
 for a free fight. You are sure to win. You always do. 
 You must be queen, whatever you attempt, and rule 
 others as you rule me. I am going to-night to Booth's to 
 see lago. Accept my invitation and inform your mother 
 that the engagement's made. She'll make it all right 
 with your father, and you'll reign in this house and do 
 as you please." 
 
 "I won't promise, Walter," she replied; "'but I will 
 accept your invitation, and think over it whether I will 
 ask permission, or announce my royal pleasure. It is 
 
BELLE STANDFAST. 417 
 
 a bold step and means a great deal, and I'm not quite 
 ready for it." 
 
 '' Agreed," said Sparker. "Be prepared for the 
 seven o'clock train. My carriage will call for you. 
 We must be at the theater by eight. I will telegraph 
 for a box." 
 
 It is needless to say that Belle followed the 
 suggestion of Walter. She proclaimed her independence. 
 During the whole season she was her own mistress. 
 Her parents no longer interposed a restraint or even 
 made an inquiry. A gay gallant and a splendid car 
 were always at her disposal. She could not be 
 insensible to such a tribute to her beauty. The enter 
 tainments were brilliant. Genius never sparkled 
 brighter. All that money could command from two 
 continents blazed through the winter in the Metropolis. 
 After the musical or dramatic enjoyments, Walter and 
 Belle had the most costly dainties and expensive wines 
 Delmonico could furnish. .The pleasures of sense 
 followed the excitements of the imagination. That 
 season was one whirl of delights. The young man 
 and woman surrendered themselves to the joys of the 
 hour, reckless of consequences. Life swept them along 
 its swift current, on either side of its banks gay and 
 beautiful flowers, aloft on the gorgeous clouds the 
 temple of pleasure, in the breeze music, and on the 
 wave exhilaration, and in the beat of every pulse the 
 intoxication of youth and health. While the guardian 
 angel gazed sadly from the shore, a demon leered over 
 them in the dimming distance, and just around the bend 
 
418 
 
 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 of the stream were the roar and the plunge of the 
 inevitable cataract. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE ANVIL. 
 
 DWARD STEWART was greatly dis 
 turbed by the increasing intimacy 
 between Walter Sparker and Belle 
 Standfast after the events described 
 in our last chapter. Many nights 
 of every week they spent amid the gaieties 
 of New York. Stewart sometimes gazed on 
 John Standfast, wondering if he was as in 
 sensible to the peril of his daughter as he 
 appeared. And Mrs. Standfast ! Was she 
 blinded by her ambition ? Over them all a 
 dark cloud seemed gathering. 
 
 With so many doubts and fears he was relieved, 
 when John Standfast desired a confidential conversation, 
 but even more alarmed when he discovered that the 
 subject of it was not to be Belle, 
 
 "Mr. Stewart," began John, "I wish to have your 
 advice about a most difficult question. My duty is not 
 plain. A mist seems settling over everything and I 
 have lost my way. I somehow feel in talking to you 
 I will see what I ought to do." 4 
 
 "You know, John," said Edward, "I am always at 
 your service. You were my friend in need, and I 
 
420 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 must be your friend indeed. State your -case and I 
 will give you all the help in my power." 
 
 "I was invited last night to attend a meeting of 
 the strikers, and I went." 
 
 ' ' That, indeed, astonishes me. I thought your great 
 purpose was to defeat their plans, and that you would 
 have no communication with them. To have found 
 myself in their midst would not have amazed me 
 more." 
 
 "You are both right and wrong," replied John, 
 thoughtfully. "I think that capital often oppresses 
 labor, and that labor has a right to protect itself 
 against capital. I sympathize with the end proposed 
 by the strikers, while I wholly disapprove the means 
 they employ. Standing thus between Capital and 
 Labor, and, in my position as master mechanic, nearly 
 equally connected with both, it becomes my duty to 
 do what I can to reconcile their conflicting feelings 
 and interests. In the midst of war, I seek peace 
 between the parties." 
 
 "Well spoken, John, and like yourself!" cried 
 Edward. "I see your position, and I honor it. Nor 
 is it dissimilar to my own. How can I assist you ?" 
 
 "Some New York Socialists were at the meeting last 
 night, and, worse than all, Ruric, the Nihilist," replied 
 Standfast. "Many dangerous and abominable things 
 were said and done which General Sparker ought to know. 
 There is peril all around us to life and property. I 
 can't trust Bidman, and to tell him what occurred 
 would be the act of a traitor to men whose invitation I 
 
THE ANVIL. 42t 
 
 accepted. But is it not otherwise with General Sparker ? 
 He is my true and tried friend, the President of the 
 road, and a man in whom I can confide. Besides, I 
 am under no pledge of secrecy. Would I violate my 
 honor by confiding to General Sparker the proceedings 
 of a meeting attended under the circumstances I have 
 described ? " 
 
 "I confess, that is a hard question," answered 
 Edward, puzzled for a moment. "You do not want 
 to feel you have betrayed the men, and you do not 
 want to keep from your friend and employer a knowl 
 edge of his danger." 
 
 "That is it!" said Standfast. "I am entirely in 
 doubt. I do not know what to do. My way seems 
 dark." 
 
 "I think I have it!" exclaimed Edward, in a cheer 
 ful and confident tone. "Your first obligation is to the 
 road, and to General Sparker as its representative. Life 
 and property are involved, and also the peace, and, indeed, 
 the very existence of society. You did not ask the secrets 
 of the men, and you did not promise silence. It is a 
 most extraordinary case, and requires extraordinary 
 conduct. Hesitate no longer. In my opinion, your 
 obligation arising from your position is paramount." 
 
 "Thank you, thank you," answered John, as if a 
 mountain was suddenly lifted from him. "It is all 
 plain now. A mist seems to have cleared from my 
 brain. I felt sure in talking with you I would recover 
 my path. I will go, and you must go with me." 
 
 "I doubt that, John." 
 
422 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "But I do not," said Standfast, with a firm and 
 assured look and voice. " General Sparker is too old 
 for action, and he will need us both. Bidman and 
 Walter he can never trust. They are enemies to his 
 whole policy, and the men despise and detest them, so 
 that they could do nothing but make the strife more 
 bitter and dangerous. In this crisis we must fall back 
 on you. Besides, I want you for a witness. If I go to 
 General Sparker on this business, you must go with me." 
 
 "Agreed!" said Edward. "Name your time." 
 
 "This evening at eight o'clock at the General's 
 house. I will send him notice." 
 
 The men separated, and at the appointed hour were 
 together in the library of the veteran President. He 
 was in a neat, plain, ample gown, which showed his 
 person to the best advantage as he sat in his great 
 chair beside a table covered over with various kinds 
 of electrical apparatus, including a recent invention of 
 Edward Stewart. The grand old man did not use the 
 privilege of age to live in the past, or even in the 
 present. His intellectual strength was now devoted 
 to a future he would never live to see. This caused 
 the fire of youth to burn unchilled by the snows of 
 eighty years. His face was t thin, but his form unbent, 
 and his eye bright with intelligence and enthusiasm. Ris 
 ing from his chair he extended his hand and gave 
 his friends a warm welcome, saying : 
 
 "I was glad, John, to receive your note. I am 
 still more glad to see you both here. It is, indeed, a 
 pleasure to have you with me this evening." 
 
THE ANVIL. 423 
 
 After a short desultory conversation, Standfast said : 
 
 " General, after consulting Mr. Stewart, I thought it 
 was my duty to tell you some matters of great import 
 ance. But I am afraid to trouble and perhaps I 
 might alarm you." 
 
 "Alarm me!" said the General, smiling. "I think 
 I am too old to be frightened. Do you remember 
 nearly a quarter of century since, when our men sought 
 to mob our shops and I went into a crazy crowd to 
 talk with the fellows ? Two rascals seized me and threw 
 me into the river. I swam out, went back to the 
 same spot, and began where I left off. They repeated 
 the experiment a second time, and I, dripping, com 
 menced again. After a third bath, I succeeded in 
 dispersing the rabble." 
 
 "Yes," answered John, laughing heartily. "They 
 doused you under, and you swam like a beaver, and 
 talked like a preacher, minding the water no more 
 than a Newfoundland dog." 
 
 "And next night, John, do you recollect how they 
 surrounded the house with torches to burn us up, 
 yelling like demons ?" 
 
 "Well! General, well! You and old Colonel 
 Fleming sat still and finished your game of cards 
 without raising an eye or moving a muscle. I could 
 see you through the windows, in the glare of the 
 torches. All those mobbers were looking, too. Your 
 courage subdued them, and saved you." 
 
 "So, Mr. Stewart," said the General, addressing 
 Edward with his beaming smile, "you see that I 
 
424 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 was threatened with water one day, and fire the next. 
 Drowning and burning ! Yet here I am to laugh 
 over the adventure ; after such a life as mine, there is 
 not much cause to be alarmed. Besides," he added, 
 solemnly and reverently, "my trust is in one who 
 rules the universe better than I can do." 
 
 "All right," exclaimed John; "I have no more fears 
 on the subject. You shall know what I have seen and 
 heard." 
 
 "And I shall tell you," said the General, "what I 
 think of your communication." 
 
 " I attended last night the meeting of the ' Labor 
 Club,'" resumed Standfast. "Some present were mere 
 boys, ready for a frolic. Others were idle, drinking, 
 worthless fellows, deeply in debt, and who gain by 
 any change. A third class was composed of indus 
 trious men, of hot passions and prejudices, ignorant 
 and badly disposed, and wrought into frenzy by a few 
 New York Nihilists, until they are ready for fire, 
 blood, and ruin. These fellows are sure to make us 
 trouble." 
 
 " But," said the General, with an expression of 
 pain and disappointment, " where are the men who 
 own their homes and have wives and children to 
 support ? I have relied on these to control the rest. 
 Their property and their families make them conserva 
 tive. And then have they lost all regard for me ? 
 Have they forgotten what I have done for them ? My 
 life seems a failure, and human nature without hope." 
 Not so, General," cried Standfast, earnestly. 
 
 . . 
 
THE ANVIL. 425 
 
 "Your policy is indeed sorely tried, but it will 
 , triumph. You are universally loved and respected. 
 Your school, your college, hospital and infirmary are 
 proofs to all of your benevolence. The ignorant you 
 teach, the sick you cure, the wounded you heal, the 
 aged .and infirm you support by your noble charities, 
 are daily lessons and make their powerful impression. 
 But others, just now, are shaping the policy of the 
 road, and many evil influences are conspiring to cause 
 danger everywhere. The Nihilists, too, are busy as 
 devils, and will turn this world into hell if they can." 
 
 "I had hoped for quiet," said the General, sadly, 
 "but the storm has come, and we must meet it. I 
 think Dr. Bidman is mistaken, and his views increase 
 our difficulties. His house is like a fort, bristling 
 with guns ; and he boasts he will shoot down these 
 men like dogs. Such talk only infuriates them, 
 especially when they see he is ready to follow his 
 words with bullets. Oh, that my dear son, Walter, 
 was fitted to stand by the side of his old father, and 
 support him with his young strength ! " 
 
 A tear dropped from the eye of the General as he 
 said this, and his friends were deeply moved. Their 
 hearts were linked to him by a stronger tie than ever. 
 
 During the conversation I have recorded, Edward 
 Stewart had remained silent. He now said : 
 
 " General, may I not venture a suggestion ? Would 
 it not be better for you to have arms in your own 
 house, and a guard around it ? " 
 
 "Never, Mr. Stewart," replied the noble man, with 
 
426 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 the utmost vehemence. " Never ! I will burn first. 
 My plan has been to govern by justice and by benevo 
 lence. If these fail me, I wish to die. Perish this 
 hand, before it would level a weapon against one of 
 my workmen, even the most murderous ! I am too old 
 now for a stain of blood in my own defence. None 
 are dependent on me. I stand alone, and am responsible 
 but for myself. Let the solitary trunk be cut down, 
 but injure none as it falls upon its mother earth." 
 
 The breasts of his friends heaved as they heard these 
 simple, eloquent words, and they could with difficulty 
 restrain their tears. Edward at last summoned resolu 
 tion to begin again. 
 
 " I honor your courage, General, admire your wisdom, 
 and think that you are right as regards your own 
 property. But may I not ask if a different rule should 
 not apply to the property of the Company ?" 
 
 "There, I think," he replied, "the case is different, 
 and I should act not according to my own private 
 views and feelings, but the opinions and wishes of the 
 stockholders and directors." 
 
 "Will you not, then, sir," inquired Stewart, "direct 
 us precisely what to do. We must act by authority, 
 and yours is the highest." 
 
 "Do this," he replied immediately. "Provide pistols, 
 rifles and powder, and a water-tank for the roof of 
 the shops. Have two or three men keep guard at 
 night, and telegraph both to the State and the Federal 
 authorities for troops in case assistance be needed. Let 
 all be arranged secretly, but promptly and efficiently. I 
 
THE ANVIL. 42*? 
 
 suspect this Strike will convulse the whole country. It 
 will be a social and political earthquake." 
 
 "You shall be obeyed to the letter," said John, "and 
 what you have directed is all that can be done. Now, 
 General, that we have disposed of these important 
 matters, I have a small personal favor to ask of you." 
 
 "Ask, John," he replied; "it shall be granted, to 
 the half of my kingdom,'' he added, with a benevolent 
 smile. " I can deny nothing to a faithful friend like 
 you, and you are never unreasonable. What is it ? 
 
 "I want to see the anvil on which you wrought in 
 the early years of your manhood," said Standfast, with 
 one of his quiet, quizzical looks. 
 
 "Your request shall be granted," answered the 
 General, pulling the bell. He gave directions to the 
 servant that the gardener and coachman should bring 
 the anvil down from the attic, where it had long stood, 
 worn by work, and rusty with age. When the men 
 carried it into the parlor and placed it on the table of 
 the General, he viewed it with deep emotion, and his 
 friends examined it with the most profound interest and 
 attention. 
 
 "What a comment on my life!" began the venerable 
 man. " My father and my grandfather beat that anvil 
 with their honest sledges and bedewed it with the 
 sweat of their toil ! How often, when a child, I saw 
 the sparks fly from it ! This arm of mine struck on it 
 many a hard blow , and brought from it a living for my 
 young wife and two children during the five happiest 
 years of my existence. I love and honor it as the 
 
428 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 foundation of the colossal fortune with which I have 
 been blessed by Heaven ! It reminds me that I was 
 myself a laborer, recalls, as such, my toils and trials, 
 and keeps me in sympathy with every humble work 
 man in the world. Poverty and wealth are visible 
 together in that anvil, and it unites my own heart to 
 the two opposite extremes of society. Pardon me, my 
 friends," he added, as if ashamed of his own excited 
 feeling, which might seem vanity. "Pardon me! I have 
 said too much, and will change the subject. Mr. 
 Stewart, I have heard a great deal about this Nihilist, 
 Ruric. Have you ever seen him ? I should like to 
 know something of his history and character." 
 
 "I have seen him a few times," replied Stewart, 
 "and he is a wonderful man. His appearance is most 
 striking. He is a noble, portly-looking fellow. In 
 size, shape and bearing, fit for the throne of the Czar, 
 but with a villainous leer in the eye, and a passion in 
 his speech that results from some partial insanity." 
 
 "What is the secret of his influence?" inquired the 
 General. " I am told that his words kindle the men 
 into the wildest frenzy, and that he is the soul of this 
 social movement which threatens such wide ruin." 
 
 "It is not the eloquence of mere general declamation," 
 said Edward, "which produces these effects, although he 
 possesses the greatest fluency and is a master of our 
 own language." 
 
 "Tell me, then," said the General, with awakened 
 curiosity, "what is the spell he wields with so much 
 power." 
 
THE ANVIL. 429 
 
 " He points to himself, General/' replied Edward. 
 " He intensifies his arguments by his own experience. 
 He claims to be a visible proof of the hate and rage 
 of tyrants. It is the tale of his wrongs which lashes 
 our men into fury, and makes them ready for fire and 
 blood and the very destruction of society. I hap 
 pened once to hear him at a street corner, and I do 
 not wonder that ignorant laborers are excited and 
 deluded by his words." 
 
 "Tell, tell me," said the General, "what he says of 
 himself. I wish to hear his story." 
 
 "He proclaimed himself to be a Russian nobleman," 
 answered Edward, " who, after the emancipation, gave 
 more than half his estate to the Commune for the 
 benefit of the liberated serfs, and who was willing to 
 give all to secure liberty in Russia. After granting so 
 much to the people trial by jury, a free press, the 
 right of speech in local assemblies thus exciting 
 enthusiasm for a brilliant future, he says the Emperor 
 became alarmed, fixed again his royal fetter on every 
 movement, quenched the very hopes he had kindled, 
 filled the land with spies, and, on their testimony, the 
 mines and prisons of Siberia with exiled wretches to 
 whom life was made torture. He declares that he, 
 himself, punished for the illusions of youth created by 
 the Czar, lived in a charnel house, clammy with 
 fungus, every moment ready to drop on him in ruin, 
 the air fetid, and the dirt deadly in his loathsome den. 
 Once he was flogged until he fainted, recovered with 
 a dash of water, then felled to the earth with a 
 
430 KNIGHTS OF LABOK. 
 
 prison key, and afterwards tied with other wretches, 
 beaten, bruised and bloody, and flung in one heap of 
 human misery in the yard of the prison. He escaped, 
 and after months of toil, hunger and suffering, which 
 seemed to have nearly crazed him, he found an Amer 
 ican ship, and succeeded in reaching this country. I 
 confess, when I heard him, my own blood boiled and 
 burned, and I could understand how men in despair 
 might be driven into any crime that would end their 
 lives and their miseries." 
 
 " This is, indeed, interesting," said the General. 
 " But true progress never came from assassination. It 
 must spring from intelligence and virtue. The con 
 sciousness of mankind must always array itself against 
 secret murder, which is forbidden, both by the law of 
 man and by the law of God. Whatever is right, 
 that is surely wrong. Assassination is a dastardly 
 crime and can bear no good fruit." 
 
 "Of course, I agree with you," said Edward. " Yet, 
 we cannot wonder that our thoughtless and ignorant 
 workmen are misled by this eloquent maniac, made 
 such by tyranny. Like a demon, he hungers for blood. 
 He flies over this country with the torch of a fury, 
 and will kindle a flame difficult to extinguish. 
 Indeed, General, my only hope is in your own honest 
 work. The best answer to these fanatics is in the 
 wisdom and benevolence of your own character, and 
 the institutions you have founded for the good of the 
 laborer. The storm will gather most violently here, 
 and here we must be ready to break its force. If 
 
THE ANVIL. 
 
 431 
 
 we can conquer here, order will soon be established 
 through the entire country. In the social and politi 
 cal freedom of our Republic, and the justice and phil 
 anthropy of its great capitalists is to be found the 
 remedy for that destruction coveted by the blind and 
 furious Nihilists." 
 
 These three men now parted, feeling that they were 
 united by a deathless purpose, conscious that their 
 loyalty to truth and duty would soon be severely tested, 
 and yet believing that they would conquer, and in 
 their victory achieve a triumph for their country and 
 the world. 
 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NAVAL ACADEMY. 
 
 S the Mermaid with all sail set and 
 a spanking breeze stood into the 
 Chesapeake, Captain Jolly said to 
 Mr. Rylance : 
 
 "I promised to tell you about 
 this sea-business and now I'll do it. 
 I have been followin' it some years, lull and 
 blow, and I ought to know." 
 
 "One thing I must confess," answered Mr. 
 Rylance; "my fears for your discipline were 
 groundless. A sailor's hoe-down, danced with 
 Mrs. Commodore, Captain, and crew, to Tom 
 Tar's fiddle, did not hinder your men from obeying 
 orders during a storm and bringing your ship out of 
 great peril. The fellows could not have behaved better." 
 "I'd like to see 'em do anything else. Obey orders! 
 I can use a handspike or belayin' pin about as strong 
 as the next master, if they'd dare to disobey me. 
 But you see it's seldom necessary." 
 
 "Well, I will admit at the outset, that you and 
 
 Mrs. Jolly in the fun, with old Tom's merry face and 
 
 fiddle, help rather than harm your control of your ship." 
 
 "Look back, Mr. Rylance," said the Captain; and 
 
NAVAL ACADEMY. 433 
 
 .both men turned and gazed over the stern of the brig. 
 " See out there on that ocean, in full view, twenty 
 sail ! Nice sight sich an evenin' ; no cloud to tell of 
 storms to-night ; the sun shinin' bright on yon white 
 canvas ; every rag out ; jib and topsail, and sky sail, 
 and all bellyin' in the breeze ! Nothin' in a sailor's 
 eye than that nearer heaven. That's outside ! Inside 
 you find hell afloat in nineteen of them twenty. I 
 have been five times round the globe, and it's the 
 same in every part of this world. Hell in the 'tother 
 may be in the fire, but here it's on the water, as I 
 know from seeing it." 
 
 'You surprise me, indeed," exclaimed Mr. Rylance. 
 "I have shared the common opinion that sailors were 
 just the j oiliest fellows living." 
 
 " Jolliest !" he replied, "jolliest! Yes! after a 
 tough voyage, comin' hungry and desperate into port, 
 to be devoured by land-sharks, who leave enough to 
 spend for two days on bad women and bad whisky, 
 and then dragged back, drunk, in chains, for another 
 cruise, where they're happy as devils, for that's jest 
 what they've been made, and nothin' else. Their mad 
 frolics drown their miseries." 
 
 "I am astonished more and more," said Mr. Rylance, 
 " at your picture ; it is so entirely different from the 
 popular belief." 
 
 "I tell you again," burst out the Captain, "generally 
 a ship's a hell, and no mistake. Scarcely a master 
 dares show himself without dirk and pistol, or stand 
 a minute where his men could have a chance to pitch 
 
434 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 him over the bulwarks to feed the fishes for not 
 feedin' his crew." 
 
 " I hope you will explain yourself," replied Mr. 
 Rylance. " You are quite unintelligible to me." 
 
 "All's plain in two words," replied the Captain, 
 thrusting his rough hands deeper into his great pockets, 
 and rolling his quid with more emphatic fury " Over 
 work and undergrub ! There, you have it ! With the 
 owners, big profits make poplar captains. Hence, few 
 men and poor grub, to swell the ship's earnin's and 
 please the big wigs. All comes out of limbs and 
 stomachs of the crew. Work a sailor sixteen hours out 
 of twenty-four, on bad pork, spoiled biscuit, and rye 
 coffee, with no appetizer but oaths and blows, and you 
 don't make him an angel. He's ready to please the 
 devil by any villainy, but first of all by givin' the captain 
 to the sharks, and teachin' him, by goin' down their 
 maws, his moral duty to feed the hungry. It stands to 
 natur' ! Overwork and undergrub will make any ship 
 a hell, and if the sailors get a chance, pitch any master 
 to the fishes. Give your men good tack, sound bacon, 
 lively coffee, and a little whisky in a blow to keep off 
 rheumatics ; let 'em have, on a fair evenin', a jolly 
 dance to jolly music, and, at the right time, spice 'em 
 with any other fun, and sailors will die for their 
 masters, instead of flingin' them overboard. You'll 
 get more work out *cf them, besides, and they'll thank 
 you for lettin' 'em do it." 
 
 " I think you have sound philosophy on your side, 
 Captain Jolly, and I am perfectly satisfied. I will 
 
 ^tobwu^e. 
 
\ 
 NAVAL ACADEMY 435 
 
 never fear old Tom's fiddle, nor your own heels, any 
 more. Innocent frolic relieves the monotony of the 
 voyage, and preserves sympathy between your men 
 and yourself." 
 
 " So the owners think, now," said the captain, with 
 a self -approving smile on his good-natured face. "I've 
 converted them. At first they growled, and swore 
 Jack Jolly had too many men and gave 'em too 
 expensive grub ; but they've learned better, and now 
 they let him have his own way ; and their women 
 will visit the families of my boys when they're sick, 
 and send them a Christmas turkey, and that makes 
 good feelin' that shows itself on deck, and most in 
 many a hard blow, blusterin' to sink us in the sea." 
 
 " This is a most interesting conversation," interposed 
 Mr. Rylance, "full of manly sense and right feeling, 
 and I will never forget it, I assure you." 
 
 "Yes! it's true," replied the XJaptain; "true as Gos 
 pel. You must send honest grub, kind hearts and 
 pleasant words afore Bibles, tracts and missionaries, if 
 you'd convert sailors. Its policy after all. Not a 
 ship in New York harbor pays such profits as this 
 Mermaid." 
 
 "I most sincerely hope," replied Mr. Rylance, ear 
 nestly, "that you will convince all ship-owners of the 
 truth of your views. It would work a mighty change 
 for good." *, 
 
 "Yes!" answered Jolly, "I know one company with 
 a fleet of twenty ships, employing hundreds of men. 
 The President lives on the avenue in a palace, spends 
 
436 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 half his time in Europe, as if America was'nt good 
 enough, and got great reputation by building a 
 church. But his sailors are worked and starved into 
 devils to pay for his piety. If he'd feed his men bet 
 ter, and drive 'em less, he'd be nearer heaven, accord 
 ing to my thinking. Let him spend less on his palace 
 and build a hospital for the poor fellows when sick, 
 old and broken, and the Nihilists wouldn't make half 
 the trouble with their pisin and their dynamite." 
 
 Not long after this conversation, when the Commo 
 dore and the Captain were in the cabin, they heard 
 a gentle knock at the door, and they soon admitted 
 Tip and Lil, who looked embarrassed. Noticing their 
 modest hesitation, the woman said : 
 
 "Wai ! don't be sceered ! Speak out your minds ! 
 Nothin' so dreadful in me and the Captain." 
 
 Thus encouraged, Tip ventured to say : 
 
 "Captain, I have heard that your ship stops for 
 repairs at Delaney, the next port on the bay. I 
 think I can make some money there, if you'll let 
 me." 
 
 "Yes, my lad, it's true, I'm sorry to own," 
 answered Jolly. "That storm tumbled the Mermaid 
 considerable, and thumped through her stomach in an 
 unkind way. We must stop the cracks or she'll take 
 more water than's good for her digestion, and she 
 may sink in a fit- of the colic in the next blow and 
 carry us along with her among the sharks. We've 
 got to stick three days in that tobacco hole mendin' 
 our ways, and fixin' up for another noreaster." 
 
NAVAL ACADEMY. 437 
 
 " Will you give me that old elastic hose, Captain 
 Jolly?" timidly inquired the boy. " The mate says 
 it's useless, and I can make money out of it, I'm 
 sure." 
 
 " Money out of it," exclaimed Jolly, in astonish 
 ment. "It wouldn't sell for a ship's nail. You 
 might as well try to get a cent for this old pipe of 
 mine which I mean to toss into the big pond when 
 I go next on deck. So you can have the hose in 
 welcome, and if you can make a copper out of it, 
 you may take Jack Jolly's tarpaulin." 
 
 " Thank you, Captain; thank you ever so much," 
 replied the boy. 
 
 "And Mrs. Commodore," interposed Lil, in her low 
 musical voice, " Tip wants three pans and your 
 gold fish. Won't you lend them to him to-morrow 
 evening ? " 
 
 "Pans and fish," cried the laughing Jolly, almost 
 splitting himself with his merriment. 
 
 " Pans and fish," said Mrs. Commodore, in absolute 
 dismay and bewilderment. " Don't mean to have a 
 fry, boy ? My goldies were never meant to be 
 swallowed. Can't do it, Tip, can't do it; by no 
 means." 
 
 Her gold fish gilded the childless life of the Com 
 modore into all the poetry it ever knew. An expen 
 sive and splendid glass globe was their home, so 
 suspended as to swing with the ship and avoid the 
 motion of the sea. There now sported the glittering 
 creatures ! One was gliding around the vessel, another 
 
438 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 was panting at the surface, a third on balanced fin 
 was in the middle, while the fourth, apparently fright 
 ened, was swimming swiftly round with his gold flash 
 ing and his crimson flushing in the brilliant beams of 
 the morning sun which poured down from a sky-light. 
 Perhaps this alarmed fish had understood the conver 
 sation, or had a prescience of the adventurous change 
 of habits for which he was solicited, and was therefore 
 seeking flight. 
 
 Looking at her beautiful pets displaying their glories 
 in that swinging globe, we cannot wonder at the sur 
 prise of the Commodore. After her blank and indignant 
 refusal, all was embarrassed silence until, recovering 
 her faculties, she again exclaimed : 
 
 "Pans and fish! You little rascal, would you break 
 fast on these beauties, and smack your lips over them ? 
 I'll see you to the bottom first." 
 
 "Oh, Mrs. Commodore," interposed Lil, at once 
 amused and alarmed; "Tip won't hurt your fish. You 
 don't understand him. Please wait until he explains. 
 He'll make more gold out of your fish than is shining 
 on their scales." 
 
 "Yes!" said Captain Jack, always happy in the 
 atmosphere of a joke and ready to help it on, " that's 
 fair. Mrs. Commodore mustn't smell frying pans too 
 soon. Tell us, lad, jest what you want." 
 
 "If the Mermaid stops for repairs a few days at 
 Delaney," answered Tip, persuasively, "I want an 
 exhibition for Lil and me. She'll dance on the rope, 
 sing and play, and I'll perform my tricks, and so 
 
 
NAVAL ACADEMY. 43$ 
 
 we'll make a lot of money, and give you and the crew 
 a half." 
 
 "A fair offer," replied the Captain; "but afore I 
 agree, I want to know what you propose with them 
 hose, pans and gold fish." 
 
 " If you'll let me get the hose and the pans, I'll 
 soon show you," said Tip, running eagerly to the 
 door and speedily returning with the articles in 
 question. 
 
 "You see," he resumed, "these three pans are of 
 different sizes, so that one fits in another, and I can 
 hold them all under my left arm. The hose I'll cut 
 into three pieces and wind each piece around my body, 
 and have for each a stopper I can pull out. I will fill 
 all of them with water, and in one will put the gold 
 fish, and over all wear my magician's gown. Then I'll 
 stand out on the platform, away from every person, 
 and take out the stopper from the first hose, and let 
 the water into my pan, and show it to the people. 
 I'll do the same with the second pan and hose, and 
 the third time I'll bring out the gold fish, and I know 
 they'll clap me and pay me well." 
 
 "Fust rate!" burst out the captain. "That trick '11 
 bring you into port, and sell your cargo beside for 
 ready cash. We'll advartis you well, and get all the 
 town to see your performance, and help you, too, our 
 selves. 
 
 "But," said Lil, in her most* winning tones and 
 with her sweetest looks, "Tip wants, too, the Com 
 modore's tame rabbits, one of her ducks, lots of eggs, 
 
44:0 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 some cabbages, carrots, and ever so many more 
 things." 
 
 "Why, you're crazy as porpoises afore a storm/' 
 exclaimed Mrs. Jolly, in astonishment and consterna 
 tion, "when they jump out of the sea, because they 
 can't stay in, and behave like ocean-lunies." 
 
 "And, Captain Jolly," said Tip, kindled with the 
 enthusiasm of his profession ; " I'll want that old cup 
 board, and the carpenter to fix it, and the Mermaid's 
 swivel, too ! " 
 
 "Stop, lad, stop!" cried the Captain; "don't you 
 want my masts and anchors ? P'r'aps you'll take 
 me, too. Better ask for the Mermaid, crew, cargo, 
 and good- will of the craft." 
 
 "Oh, you're the head of the ship," said Lil, laugh 
 ing; "it wouldn't do to take away the head, for that 
 would kill everything." 
 
 "Head," replied the Commodore, with a feminine 
 sneer. "Head! yes! figger-head ! I'm the rale thing." 
 
 "The Captain masters the ship, and the Commodore 
 masters the Captain," said Jolly, with a merry, ringing 
 laugh. 
 
 However, it was all at last arranged, and Tip had 
 his own way, and was soon the soul of the occasion. 
 Mr. Rylance also came into the spirit of the sport, and 
 everything on the Mermaid was in preparation for the 
 novel exhibition in Delaney. 
 
 How marvelous t^is mastery of genius ! How every 
 thing submits to its sway ! How it multiplies and 
 glorifies into success the few and mean agencies around 
 
NAVAL ACADEMY. 441 
 
 it ! Tip was endued with the gifts of his race, and had 
 improved them by three times seeing the performances 
 of the famous Hermann, and meditating on his observa 
 tions until he felt in himself the power to accomplish. 
 His quick glance seized his opportunity, and the Mer 
 maid Commodore, Captain, crew, passengers, and every 
 thing on board was suddenly transformed into a place 
 of preparation for the coming exhibition, while, amid 
 all, this mere lad was the acknowledged director, 
 imparting to every movement intelligence and enthu 
 siasm. 
 
 When the Mermaid touched the port of Delaney, 
 Mr. Rylance, imbued with the spirit of the young 
 leader, immediately went ashore, secured a large tobacco- 
 warehouse for the exhibition, had advertisements inserted 
 in the paper, and posted through town and country, and 
 thus contributed all in his power to the success of the 
 novel enterprise. 
 
 When the eventful day arrived, many mysterious 
 articles were carried, with various concealments, by the 
 sailors through the village, and thus increased the public 
 expectancy. At last, the hour appointed comes. The 
 streets swarm with people. Both town and country 
 swell the crowd. Every seat is taken, and the large 
 building packed. 
 
 Tip and Lil first performed on guitar and harp, and 
 then united in a song with an accompaniment on their 
 instruments. Bursts of rude applause gave token of 
 complete success. Next, the youthful magician retired 
 a moment behind the screen, and then introduced 
 
442 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 himself by a brief speech, at once modest and amusing. 
 Attired with his loose gown, with his glittering eye 
 and bright face, he soon brought all under his spell. 
 He took packs of cards from the mouths, noses, sleeves 
 and pantaloons of astounded rustics. He cooked an 
 omolette in his hat, and drew out of it eggs, turnips, 
 cabbages, strewn and piled on the floor, and finally 
 the two white rabbits of the Commodore, who sat laugh 
 ing and clapping in uproarious excitement, while Cap 
 tain Jolly himself seemed one broad grin of pleasure. 
 Now, from the same small but exhaustless receptacle, 
 Tip unrolled scores of yards of telegraph paper, and out 
 from the whirl of the confusing circles leaped the old 
 duck which had quacked and waddled over the deck of 
 the Mermaid. When the lad, standing by himself, 
 produced the three pans of water from his person, the 
 last containing the gold-fish swimming around in their 
 unconscious beauty, the spectators were dumb in their 
 amazement. 
 
 Tip then pointed to the cupboard on the rear of the 
 stage, exclaiming : 
 
 "See that! Look under it! Its legs are just three 
 feet high. No man can get out of it, and you not see 
 him. I'll turn it round. Examine it well ! Tom Tar, 
 come forward ! Here you are ! Ivory set in ebony ! 
 Jump in, old Africa ! All safe ! Light as a sugar-cask 
 in a Maryland pantry ! Can no more get out than 
 cousin monkey caged with his happy family." 
 
 While Tip continued in this vein, Tom ran grinning 
 through the front door and down the aisle, and leaping 
 
NAVAL ACADEMY. 443 
 
 on the platform, waived his old tarpaulin amid the 
 cheers of the astonished people. He had emerged 
 through a secret door in the back of the cupboard, 
 slid along a board concealing him from view, and 
 climbing out a window, soon made his appearance, as 
 we have described. 
 
 When the applause had subsided, Tip came grace 
 fully forward and began again : 
 
 "Now for the best of the evening! Here's a hat 
 taken from Captain Jolly's head ! Look at it ! I tear 
 it in pieces ! Captain, I ram your property, bit-by-bit 
 into the Mermaid's cannon ! All is down ! I point 
 the gun upward ! Look well ! I swing round this 
 lighted coal ! One ! two ! three ! fire ! Explodes like 
 thunder ! Captain Jolly ! Look aloft ! Your hat is 
 hanging on yon roof, and I'll send up Tom Tar to 
 bring it down." 
 
 Tip had dexterously substituted another hat for that 
 given him by the Mermaid's master, and while occupying 
 the attention of the people, one of the sailors had 
 conveyed the real article by an outside ladder to the 
 roof of the building, and hung it on the inside by 
 means of a small trap door. 
 
 Lil now made her appearance in her brilliant 
 costume, sang, danced, tumbled, and then ran up and 
 down a rope stretched from the floor to the roof of the 
 building, balancing herself with her pole, and displaying 
 her exquisite grace and agility, until she seemed to 
 those wondering spectators like a celestial visitant sent 
 .at once to delight and astonish their favored village. 
 
444 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 Mr. Rylance concluded the evening by reciting a 
 poem written for the occasion, and which excited roars 
 of laughter and thunders of rude approbation. 
 
 A political menagerie of beasts, both tame and wild, 
 I'll show now to the public which here on me has smiled; 
 Lo, from every land and clime the curious creatures come, 
 And all so very hungry, and most so very dumb. 
 
 See! Appears the Eel Political, which can so turn and twist, 
 Which slips out from your fingers, and glides e'en from your fist. 
 And when the fellow's peel'd and skinn'd he wriggles in the pot, 
 Both squirming when he's living and squirming when he's not. 
 
 The Political Hyena, like his brother, o'er a grave 
 Will he scent the flesh he wants below, and looks so very brave! 
 How fierce and shrill his midnight yell! what flashes in his eyel 
 But let the daylight on his bone, and see the coward fly ! 
 
 Next, Political the Peacock, why aloft his tail in air; 
 
 Because the gaping people will at his colors stare. 
 
 He struts and spreads his feathers, and he looks, so proud and fine, 
 
 And all to show the stolen hues that in his plumage shine. 
 
 And the wily Snake Political, a serpent in the grass, 
 Which even in republics will wind and twist, alas ! 
 You think his glitter beautiful, 'till, with a glare and hiss, 
 He darts out swift his poison-fang, and seldom makes a miss. 
 
 Oh! Political, the Lion, he will fare the very worst; 
 
 His nature, so magnanimous, e'en seems to make him curst; 
 
 Since, in their fury, will the wild beasts, rush on him, yell and bite, 
 
 'Till sinks their king majestic, just weary of the fight. 
 
NAVAL ACADEMY. 445 
 
 And Political, the People, are ye like the ass or mule, 
 That such a mean and filthy crew forever you befool? 
 Oh, Political, the People, be ye wise, and hencefoith show 
 That ye citizens are men, and not like brutes below! 
 
 When her repairs had been completed, the Mermaid 
 sailed before a splendid breeze between the shores of 
 the exquisite Chesapeake. On the second day from 
 Delaney she entered the lovely Severn to touch at 
 Annapolis. It was evening and the light had just 
 began to flash over the waves from Greensbury Point, 
 while Tolley's Point reflected the golden glory of the 
 west. Far up the river, the bordering hills of Round 
 Bay were tinged with a scarce visible purple. One 
 by one, the gas-lamps began to gleam from the streets 
 of the ancient Capital of Maryland and from among 
 the trees on the charming grounds of the Naval 
 Academy. Over all was seen the bright face of the 
 old clock, and, owing to a lull in the wind, nine 
 strokes from its slow and solemn hammer pealed over 
 the waters before the Mermaid was out of the Chesa 
 peake. Now, above the blue misty shores of Kent 
 Island rose, in full glory, the circle of the moon, flinging 
 her soft radiance over the dancing waves, and, when 
 slightly obscured by a thin white cloud, leaving here 
 and there patches of brilliant light, through which 
 would glide into the gloom a silent, ghostly sail. 
 
 Mr. Rylance, Tip and Lil bade farewell to the 
 Commodore, Captain and crew of the Mermaid, and 
 were rowed by two lusty fellows to the pier of the 
 Naval Academy. Just as they disembarked a man 
 
446 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 emerged from the shadow, and gazed curiously and 
 earnest] y at the company. Apparently satisfied with 
 his observations, he advanced toward them saying : 
 
 "Ry lance, is this you?" 
 
 "Rob Sheldon, glad to see you," he replied, extending 
 his hand and grasping that of his friend. 
 
 "All well at home?" inquired Rob, in a subdued 
 voice. 
 
 "Yes! when I saw them two weeks since," replied 
 Mr. Rylance, also in a whisper. "Did you get my 
 note?" 
 
 "What else brought me here, old fellow?" answered 
 Rob, with a low laugh. "At your old tricks! Never 
 thought you would be after this sort of fun with your 
 sheepskin in your pocket." 
 
 "This is my last chance, Rob," said Rylance. "After 
 this I will reform, and stop playing the boy. I thought 
 I would have one more, and I knew you were ready 
 for it." 
 
 "All right," whispered Rob. "Will this boy and 
 girl do ? A mistake would explode us like a bursted 
 Parrott. You have told them what to do." 
 
 " Yes," said Rylance, "just as I explained in the 
 letter. All is arranged. You may rely on them. They 
 gave a wonderful performance at Delaney." 
 
 At this moment the boom of the evening gun 
 rolled over the waters, up the Severn, and down toward 
 the Chesapeake, and, thundering and reverberating, told 
 the people on the Eastern Shore, thirty miles away, 
 that the pointers on the face of the Naval Academy 
 
 _* 
 
NAVAL ACADEMY. 447 
 
 clock indicated the hour of half-past nine. Scarcely 
 had the report died into silence when a blaze of 
 illumination burst from the trees and buildings on 
 the grounds, and streamed into the sky, and flashed 
 far over the sparkling waves. Then the glad music of 
 the band proclaimed that over the floor of the old 
 Gymnasium were the whirling forms of hundreds of gay 
 dancers assembled from every part of the land for the 
 grand occasion of the June Ball. 
 
 "Come with me," said Rob Sheldon to Tip and Lil, 
 who, arrayed in their most brilliant costumes, stood in 
 the light of the moon with harp and guitar, and their 
 mysterious box, awaiting orders. "You must do just 
 as I tell you," he added, as the party walked along the 
 sea-wall road to the armory, under whose shadows they 
 halted. Kob, in a low voice, gave the most minute 
 instructions to the young performers, and, as the music 
 was about to cease, he proceeded with them to the door 
 of the Gymnasium, which was always used for these 
 annual brilliant festive occasions. 
 
 Our young cadet midshipman, as the dancing ceased, 
 escorted Tip and Lil up the stair and within the splendid 
 room with the most business-like sincerity. He and 
 they stood unabashed in the blaze of the assemblage, 
 where appeared the President of the Republic, the 
 members of the cabinet, foreign ambassadors in their 
 jeweled magnificence, and foreign generals in the glitter 
 of their orders, military and naval officers of the 
 republic in their crimson scarfs and gold epaulettes, 
 and the beauty of the land smiling and beaming with 
 
448 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 gems and grace and joy, and inspiring an enthusiasm 
 of admiration. 
 
 Tip and Lil were now left to their own resources. 
 The company supposed them in disguise, and a part of 
 the performance and their appearance excited surprise 
 and pleasure. Inspired by the brilliant scene, they 
 played and sang with unusual beauty and power. Lil 
 danced on her rope with more than her ordinary grace, 
 and, poised in mid-air, really appeared some angelic 
 shape, sent to awaken celestial thoughts in this 
 terrestrial sphere. 
 
 The strange performance closed, amid the wildest 
 applause, by an ode composed by Mr. Rylance, and 
 sung by Tip and Lil, with harp and guitar : 
 
 Hurrah! Our stars are o'er the seaj 
 
 Yon flag our sires unfurled ! 
 They shed their blood for it, that we 
 
 Might bear it o'er the world. 
 
 Hurrah! Our stars gleam from our mast! 
 
 Our foemen we defy ! 
 
 'Mid tempest rage, with skies o'ercast, 
 
 Our banner still shall fly ! 
 
 Hurrah ! Our stars shall guard our ship, 
 
 And shine by day and night! 
 Let triumph burst from every lip, 
 
 Since Heaven helps freemen fight! 
 
 Hurrah! Our stars beam o'er the free! 
 
 Our banner floats for them! 
 
 i 
 A sign to earth of liberty, 
 
 And every staj a gem ! 
 
NAVAL ACADEMY. 
 
 Hurrah ! Our stars o'er sailors wave, 
 Whose blood in death shall flow ! 
 
 Hurrah! Our thunders Freedom save! 
 Our hearts with Freedom glow! 
 
 Hurrah ! hurrah ! Men of the sea ! 
 
 What glories in our past! 
 What ocean-heroes bled, that we 
 
 Might make those glories last! 
 
 449 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 FADED BEAUTY, 
 
 HAT sadder than a faded rose ! 
 Bloom gone, fragrance vanished, 
 its little day of beauty passed 
 forever ! One thing is sadder. 
 A faded heart ! Especially a 
 heart faded in its youth. The 
 color taken prematurely from the cheek and 
 the light from the . soul ! Burdens, intol 
 erable for age, weighing on young years ! 
 Hope dead ! Joy fled ! A sigh on the lip 
 and in the look hollow despair ! Pressing on 
 the conscience a leaden weight, and piercing 
 it a poison-sting ! Each glance on friends, yet 
 unconscious of the coming blot, a keen anguish. 
 Tears on the pillow ! Sleepless nights and torturing 
 days, and the dull dread of worse miseries ! Clouds 
 over the whole horizon of the spirit, and all this agony 
 succeeding a brilliant dream of pleasure, where every 
 pulse was joy, every breath an exhilaration, every sen 
 sation a thrill of delight, and every vision bright with 
 the morning hues of hope and health. 
 
 What a change in Belle Standfast ! Care on her 
 brow, her face thin, her cheek pale, her limbs relaxed, 
 
FADED BEAUTY. 451 
 
 and out of her voice that tone which fell on the ear 
 with pleasure, and brought a smile to the lip, and 
 light into the eye, and shed a magnetic joy over every 
 circle in which she moved. Her family wonder, and 
 her friends fear, and her enemies shake their heads 
 with a malignancy of suspicion. 
 
 Belle had an engagement with Walter Sparker for 
 one more gay night at the opera, in New York. But 
 there was no bright anticipation of pleasure. She 
 rushed in the splendid car, rather as a garlanded 
 victim was taken to the ancient altar. Suddenly, the 
 paint had disappeared from the faces of the performers, 
 who stalked like the phantoms of a troubled dream. 
 The most exquisite music had a mocking sound, and 
 the very lights burned with a hideous and blinding 
 glare. Walter Sparker, in the midst of the scene, 
 seemed the genius of ruin who had wrought the terrific 
 metamorphis. 
 
 As the train went thundering forward over the rails, 
 Belle felt her lips sealed. There was a benumbing 
 coldness in her heart, although her face was red and 
 flushed. She could not lift her eyes. Even with the 
 color in her cheek, she looked like a beautiful corpse. 
 
 Walter Sparker took from his pocket a small case, 
 richly ornamented, and, opening it, held before her eyes 
 a locket, sparkling with gems. Even gold and brilliants 
 flashed in vain She felt that it would have been as 
 suitable to dangle them over a grave. 
 
 "Here, Belle," said Walter, gaily, "is a present. 
 Isn't it a beauty ? " 
 
452 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 Pearl and diamond glittering in the light awoke no 
 response. At last, she exclaimed, slowly, and with 
 painful effort : 
 
 "Take it away, Walter! I don't want it." 
 "Don't want it!" he said, with surprise. "What do 
 you mean ? You must be somebody else." 
 
 "I am somebody else, Walter," she replied, with an 
 infinite sadness in her tone. " You have made me 
 somebody else. Belle Standfast is no more. That 
 locket burns my eyes. Put it away ! " she added, 
 passionately, "put it away!" 
 
 "But, Belle," he said, with great tenderness in his 
 persuasive tone, " let me hang it around your neck ! 
 Wear it for my sake ! " 
 
 He placed the bright bauble about her neck, and 
 kissed her, and played with her ringlets, and she 
 submitted as a lamb to the flower-wreath that decks 
 it for its death. Perceiving her suffering, he in 
 quired, with alarm : 
 
 "Belle, what ails you? Your lips are cold as ice, 
 and your cheek as pale as death." 
 
 "I am worse than dead, Walter," she answered, 
 with a torrent of hot tears. "I wish I could die. I 
 long to be in my grave. I feel like a living corpse 
 that ought to be buried out of sight. I am ruined 
 father, mother, all are ruined ruined, Walter, ruined." 
 
 As she concluded these words, she wrung her hands 
 in agony, and fell back on the seat as if the life had 
 really gone out of her body. 
 
 Walter Sparker now began to realize the anguish 
 
FADED BEAUTY. 453 
 
 he had caused. The first dark shadow from the future 
 had fallen around him. A thorn suddenly started from 
 his bed of roses to pierce quivering into his flesh. 
 Out from the light and music of his dream of joy was 
 this voice of woe ! He ran for water ; he moistened 
 the lips of the girl, he bathed her temples, he whis 
 pered words of love and encouragement, and as these 
 fell on her ear, a languid smile began to play over 
 her features, and hope to spring anew in her breast. 
 She looked at him long, in silence, and, at last, said 
 faintly, and with a tone of mild reproof : 
 
 "Walter, you never promised. I took all for granted. 
 Save me!" she burst out, with the beseeching of 
 despair. "Save me, Walter; save me ! Save my father!' 
 Save my mother ! Save us all from disgrace worse- 
 than death!" 
 
 The man was moved in his inmost soul. All that- 
 was best in him was touched by this pleading girl. 
 His lips were preparing to make the irrevocable vow. 
 Oh, Heaven, that such a resolution should be suffered 
 to yield before a temptation suddenly presented ; that 
 human frailty should be so beset with fatal snares, 
 that even a virtuous endeavor in a feeble soul should. 
 be stifled by the breath of blasting evil ! 
 
 At the instant when the binding word would have 
 been spoken, Walter Sparker, turning his face, saw 
 Edward Stewart looking through the window in the 
 car-door. The eye of his foe waked in him all that 
 was bad. A sudden revulsion passed over him. His 
 good resolution died out of his heart, and his promise 
 
454 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 faltered on his lips. He replied, with a carelesa, 
 defiant air : 
 
 "Belle, I'll think about it. I am going away for 
 about two weeks, and when I come back, I'll give 
 you my answer." 
 
 She sprang at him with passionate energy, and 
 struck him in the face a stinging blow. 
 
 "You don't mean it, Walter Sparker ! You can't 
 mean it ! Are you a villain ? Have you intended 
 my ruin ? The mask is falling off. I see into your 
 heart. You have taken the honey from the flower, 
 and now do you fling it down and trample it under 
 your feet? Oh, God, how I have been deceived, deluded, 
 destroyed ! Take care, or you will wake murder in 
 me. A bullet will fly to your heart, or to mine, or 
 to both. If you do not promise, blood will flow, and 
 death will be in your crime." 
 
 Walter was frightened at the outburst. He never 
 dreamed that such a tempest could be evoked from so 
 frail and joyous a creature. In his surprise and alarm, 
 he changed his manner, and, by persuasive looks and 
 tones, succeeded in calming the storm he had excited, 
 so that Belle, inspired by hope, witnessed the opera 
 almost with her usual interest, and returned to her 
 home in part relieved of her oppressive fear. 
 
 Edward Stewart had come from the city in the 
 same train with Walter and Belle. After retiring, he 
 felt on his heart an inexpressible weight. A nervous 
 dread spread a cloud over his soul. He tossed as in 
 a fever during long and weary hours, and often rose 
 
FADED BEAUTY. 4*5 
 
 and gazed from the window. The cold moon mocked 
 him, the stars glittered serenely over his distress, the 
 summer air seemed stifling, and the midnight hush of 
 nature grew insupportable. In the morning he walked 
 forth with the dawn to calm his soul in the breath of 
 the dewy air and the beams of the young sun. The 
 very joy of the earth -and the sky was saddening. 
 As he wandered near General Sparker's house, Walter 
 came out with his satchel in his hand, evidently 
 prepared for a journey, and, absorbed in his thoughts, 
 encountered Edward on a narrow path in a clump of 
 trees, while pressing hurriedly to the station. The two 
 men were startled as they thus unexpectedly confronted 
 each other. Walter flushed crimson with his anger, 
 and flinging his satchel on the ground, said, in a low, 
 fierce voice, 
 
 "Stewart, you are a spy." 
 
 "What do you mean, Mr. Sparker?" inquired Edward, 
 in astonishment. 
 
 "Mean! I mean what I say!" cried Walter. "I 
 curse you and brand you as a contemptible spy ! " 
 
 " Have a care, sir ! " said Edward, excitedly. " I 
 will not bear much more. For your father's sake, I will 
 endure this, but you must not repeat those words. I say 
 you must not." 
 
 "For my father's sake!" said Walter, kindling into 
 increased rage. "Have you not alienated my father 
 from me ? Are you not closeted with him every day ? 
 Have you not tricked me out of his heart ? Am I 
 not almost banished from my home by your disgusting 
 
456 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 presence ? I hate you ! I dare you I I curse you ! 
 You are a spy!" 
 
 "Mr. Sparker," replied Edward, with an indignation 
 almost beyond his control, "I never sought your father. 
 He always sends for me. I have used no mean arts 
 to gain his esteem, and you know it. I will bear 
 these insults as long as I can, but you must beware ! 
 There is a limit beyond which my manhood will not 
 suffer you to pass." 
 
 "Your manhood, Stewart!" answered Walter, taunt 
 ingly. "Your manhood, indeed! You are a coward 
 as well as a spy. Did you not peep into the window 
 of my car last night, and see what you had no right 
 to ? Answer me that ? " 
 
 " I was late, ran for the train, and in my haste 
 mistook the car, and tried to get in yours," said 
 Edward, with attempted calmness. "I saw you hang 
 a necklace around Miss Standfast's neck and kiss her, 
 and was sorry for the sight." 
 
 "I said, Stewart," cried Walter, "that you were a 
 spy and a coward, and now I add that you are a 
 liar." 
 
 Edward shook with anger. His black eye shot fire. 
 Again and again he lifted his arm and brought it to 
 his side. At last, with a powerful exertion, he was 
 able to say : 
 
 "Mr. Sparker, I want no trouble. I will bid you 
 good morning. You have my explanation, if you 
 choose, my apology. With that you must be satisfied." 
 
 " You cannot escape in this way ! " shrieked Walter, 
 
FADED BEAUTY. 457 
 
 flinging himself before Edward as he began to move 
 forward, and pulling his nose, and striking a staggering 
 blow. Stewart instantly recovered himself, and running 
 against his antagonist, hit him in the forehead with 
 all the concentrated energy of his young manhood, 
 aroused at last into frantic fury. 
 
 Walter Sparker fell to the ground with a quivering 
 and convulsed motion of the limbs, while the blood 
 poured forth in red streams from his lips and temple. 
 His face soon had the pallor of a corpse. He ceased 
 to breathe, and seemed to be dead. Edward knelt 
 beside him in agony, placed his cheek to his lips, felt 
 his pulse, and then ran to a spring, and filling his hat 
 with water, sprinkled the face of the apparently lifeless 
 man. Had he killed the son of his friend ? Was 
 human blood to be a spot on his life ? Would he be 
 to himself an eternal reproach and an exile from his 
 home and country ? All rushed before him in a 
 picture of flame, like the glare of a hideous vision. 
 When stooping his head he heard a faint whisper : 
 "Take me home. Say I fell. Send for a doctor." 
 It was enough. Walter lived. It was for Stewart 
 now to preserve the vital spark, and save from ruin 
 an everlasting spirit. He threw his arms around the 
 prostrate body, lifted it as if it were weightless, bore it 
 through the wood, carried it over the field, along the 
 road, over the lawn, across the piazza, up the stairs, and 
 laid it gently on the bed which it had so recently left 
 glowing with life. The servants were called, the 
 explanation made, the physician summoned, and soon 
 
458 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 the wound was pronounced not fatal, and Walter 
 Sparker out of immediate danger. 
 
 During all this fierce conflict of hate and blood, 
 involving life and death, a mocking-bird on General 
 jSparker's piazza, had been pouring forth his wild and 
 varied ecstacies. He chattered like a magpie, called 
 in the pert tones of the jay, cried in the excited voice 
 of the woodpecker, uttered the caw of the crow, and 
 pealed the clarion of the cock, mimicked the hoarse and 
 screeching sounds of his gaudy neighbors the parrot 
 and the peacock, then exceeded the music of the lark, 
 and rivalled the passion of the nightingale, running 
 through all the gamut of fun and joy and woe, and flood 
 ing the air with sounds profuse as the beams of the 
 life-inspiring sun, as if to deride the strifes and suffer 
 ings of his superior mortals, and to relieve his own 
 panting breast of nerve and flame in his tuneful efforts. 
 
We have health, comfort and a good conscience." 
 Page 315. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE SUNNY SOUTH. 
 
 
 
 FTER the singular conclusion of the 
 Naval Academy Hop, Tojo, in 
 alarm, had hurried Tip and Lil by 
 rail into the valley of Virginia, 
 and in a few weeks they wander 
 ed to the extremity of the Old 
 Dominion. What a contrast between their 
 liberty, with the fresh breath of nature 
 around them, and the sights and sounds to 
 which they had been accustomed amid the dens 
 of the great Metropolis ! Their distance from 
 Kuric imparted a secret joy. By their con 
 tact with varied things and persons, their intelligence 
 had been quickened, and more especially by the instruc 
 tions of Mr. Rylance and their observations in Annap 
 olis. Each thing of earth and sky was an object of 
 wonder. Life was one succession of surprises. Now 
 a flower, now a field, a bird, a snake, a cloud, a 
 mountain, would awake their exclamations. Every 
 where was the spell of a new beauty. The little 
 pocket Bible, and the book of songs were read in a 
 new light, and had become not only companions but 
 instructors. The children played, sang, performed 
 
462 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 before farm houses, in towns and in villages, and 
 always excited a strange interest in the people. 
 Their earnings were by no means contemptible, and 
 what exceeded their moderate wants was faithfully trans 
 mitted to Ruric, whose mystic power pursued them in 
 all their wanderings. They slept sometimes on a lawn, 
 again in a wood, or a field, on the bare earth and 
 beneath the broad sky, and in the towns could always 
 find a suitable accommodation. Their lives thus com 
 posed a poem. In an age of iron and lightning, amid 
 the excesses of our civilization, here was the nearest 
 approach possible to the nomadic habits of a primitive 
 people. Song, harp and guitar, completed the picture. 
 The children, one morning, were pillowed on the 
 roots of a patriarchal oak, whose vast circumference of 
 leaves afforded a royal shelter. In the distance stood 
 the Blue Mountains, whose hazy summits formed a 
 line on the sky, unbroken by a single visible depres 
 sion. Between, was a wide, undulating plain, covered 
 with farms and villages, with here and there a spire 
 lifted into view, while the green of meadows and the 
 yellow of grain-fields gave the charm of contrast. 
 Toward the left, the receding summits, frowning with 
 opposite rocks, showed a stream had forced a cleft 
 through its mountain-barriers that it might wind fer 
 tilizing through the meadows. On the right, two 
 beautiful rivers mingled fraternally their sparkling 
 waters, and were traceable by long lines of white mists 
 brightening in the sun. Indeed, over the entire land- 
 Scape was spread a thin haze, which, like the veil 
 
THE SUNNY SOUTH. 463 
 
 of a bride, heightened the loveliness it partially 
 concealed. 
 
 As the wanderers took their simple morning meal 
 by the side of a clear spring, bubbling out from the 
 roots of an oak, a squirrel ran out on the branch of a 
 neigboring hickory, and sat with a nut between its 
 fore-paws, and its tail curled gracefully over its back. 
 When the chippings of the nut began to rain down 
 on the leaves, Lil cried, in an ecstacy, pointing to 
 the gay and frolicsome creature : 
 
 " Tip, see, see ! What a beauty ! How smooth his 
 gray coat ! How lovely his tail ! How much prettier 
 than the poor prisoner who turned his cage in our den 
 like a little slave ! He's full of joy, just because he's 
 free, like you and I are now." 
 
 "Not so free as you think," said Tip. "I tell you, 
 we're pretty well caged, after all. We go where Ruric 
 says, and do all the work and give him the money. 
 We're to meet Toj in Halidon for orders, and then we'll 
 know how we grind round for Ruric, like his old pet 
 squirrel, with one eye out, a lame leg, and the hair off 
 its back." 
 
 "Don't ever talk that way, Tip," cried Lil, quite 
 terrified. "You scare me, and you must stop. Last 
 night I dreamed of Ruric, and thought he seized me 
 by the hand, and shook me, and beat me with his 
 leather lash. Whenever I think of him it makes me 
 tremble." 
 
 "Well, Lil," said Tip, gently, "I'll stop, for your 
 sake. I mean to see Toj once more, but I won't 
 
4G4 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 stand this long. We can make our own living, and 
 no thanks to anybody. See ! that squirrel on the 
 top of the tree ! How his tail whisks about ! He 
 looks his joy, and runs and leaps, and I believe it's 
 because he's free to work or play, and pay no taxes 
 to his owner ; and I'll be like him before long, and 
 let old Ruric do his best. I tell you I will, and I 
 mean it." 
 
 Lil looked gravely on the ground, but soon burst 
 forth with childish glee. 
 
 " Here, Tip ! Just see ! How queer ! These black 
 ants have something white in their mouths. What 
 can it be, and what are they doing ? " 
 
 "Thunder!" exclaimed Tip, gazing curiously, "it 
 is queer ! One line of ants carries the white things, 
 and the other goes back empty ! How quick they 
 run ! I'll follow them. Here they go ! I've found 
 their nest in the hole of this old tree. I'll tell you, 
 they're movin', like the folks in New York on the first 
 of May." 
 
 After observing the little black toilers a few 
 minutes, our two wanderers took their breakfast and 
 started forward ; Lil with her heavier harp, and Tip 
 with his guitar and a small tin box containing their 
 dresses and articles needed in some of their perform 
 ances. Now they admired a rose, again plucked a 
 violet, chased an insect, gathered wild flowers, enjoyed 
 the scent of a clover-field, or asked for an apple or a 
 melon to refresh them on their journey. Their music 
 always made them friends among the simple people. 
 
THE SUNNY SOUTH. 465 
 
 These were to be the happiest hours of their existence. 
 Every sense was an avenue of the keenest pleasure. 
 
 About noon, as they were crossing a mountain, 
 standing on a crag, gazing, Lil cried, Suddenly : 
 
 " Tip, there's the grandest thing yet ! That must 
 be an eagle ! See him circling up the sky ! Now he 
 drops on that bird that screams and lets fall a fish ! 
 See ! see ! The eagle shoots like lightning, and catches 
 the fish before it reaches the ground." 
 
 "Well done, old fellow!" shouted Tip. "Thunder, 
 how he fell ! That's the way Euric gets the fish we 
 catch in his own beak and claws. But he can't fly 
 like that," added the boy, as the monarch-bird wheeled 
 sublimely to a mountain crag, and folding his pinions, 
 devoured the spoil taken in his bold robber-flight. 
 
 "Do you think an angel could sail more beauti 
 fully?" said Lil, sadly. "Oh, I wish I had wings, to 
 fly above the earth, through the clouds, and be at rest 
 somewhere ! I'm so tired ! " she exclaimed, bursting 
 into tears. "I want a father and a mother. I think 
 of them all the time. I dream of them, and it seems 
 so lonely for a girl to be wandering over the world 
 and to have no home." 
 
 "Don't cry, Lil," said Tip, in a most soft and tender 
 tone. "Wipe your eyes. I can't stand your tears, 
 110 way. It is lonesome for you, but it'll be all right 
 some day. I'm sure it will." 
 
 Above them, as an emblem of hope, a vast white 
 cloud, fringed with silver and gold, seemed to fill the 
 heavens with its ineffable glory. 
 
466 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 As she gazed, the shadow vanished from the face 
 of the girl, and she smiled through her tears. 
 
 "Tip," she began, after a little hesitation, "I have 
 a secret. You'll keep ' it, won't you ? Nobody knows 
 it but me, and it seems as if I must tell you." 
 
 "Thunder!" cried Tip, with an eager emphasis of 
 earnestness, "you know I never blab." 
 
 The girl paused, pressed her bosom as if to feel 
 something concealed by her dress, and then lifted out 
 from her collar a locket secured by a small gold chain. 
 
 "There's something," she said, "you never saw 
 before. I've worn it for years, unknown to Ruric, 
 or he'd have taken it and beat me to death." 
 
 "What a beauty!" cried Tip, taking the locket and 
 gazing on it with admiration. " That's pure gold ! the 
 sparklers are diamonds, I'm sure ! and their gems green 
 and white ! A gentleman and a lady ! Handsome as 
 a king and queen ! Lil, you are like her, as one rose 
 is like another." 
 
 "And see, Tip, what's written here," Lil exclaimed, 
 with a species of mysterious wonder; "but its some 
 language I can't understand." 
 
 "Now, its my turn," said Tip, with a sly laugh. 
 " Look here ! this is queer as yours, and about as pretty, 
 and as valuable. You can't have all the secrets, Lil, 
 nor the beautiful things either." 
 
 The boy now took from its concealment a locket, even 
 more rich and brilliant than that of Lil. It gleamed in 
 the southern sun with an oriental splendor, and flashed 
 around its bright glancing rays from jewels most costly 
 
THE SUNNY SOUTH. 467 
 
 and magnificent. A princely face, a turbaned head, a 
 long, flowing beard, eyes large, black and glittering, a 
 kingly air of command, with characters in a strange 
 language, might well impress the children with a 
 feeling of mysterious wonder rising into awe. They 
 gazed and gazed in long silence. Thoughts too deep 
 for words arose in their young souls. Whose were 
 these faces ? Whence came the lockets ? What was 
 their own past, and what would be their future ? The 
 fountain of their being ! In what land did it first 
 flow ! Father ! Mother ! A cloud over all ! Around, 
 impenetrable mystery ! The children descended the 
 mountain without an utterance. Suddenly, as they 
 passed a field, the spell was broken by a bound 
 of youthful impulse. Just before them, on a yellow 
 bloom, was a magnificent scarlet butterfly, edged with 
 black and spotted with green, blue and purple. It 
 flew over the fence. Lil started in full chase and Tip 
 clapped his hands, laughing, as she ran. Now the 
 splendid creature would alight on a clover-blossom, and 
 then sail away on its bright wings, while the girl again 
 and again snatched at it and missed it, until at last it 
 flew aloft and vanished in the air, like some mocking 
 human hope, whose gay colors provoke pursuit only 
 to end in cheating disappointment. 
 
 Tired with the chase, Lil was glad to recline with 
 Tip under the ample shadow of an ancient beech. 
 Here they slept until toward evening, when the former, 
 starting up from her dreams, exclaimed : 
 
 " What's that ? I never heard such a song. Tip, get 
 
468 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 up ! I want you to hear what beats our Central Park 
 bird out of its feathers." 
 
 The boy awoke and listened, and then exclaimed, 
 almost in an ecstacy: 
 
 "The North's nothing to that Southern warbler, I tell 
 you. Never heard anything like it. It's free ! that's 
 the reason, and our birds up North are caged. Hurrah 
 for liberty!" 
 
 "Is it all the same bird, " cried Lil, "that makes 
 these notes ? " 
 
 "I guess it be, as the Yankees say, or I reckon it 
 is, as they say about here. That's like the screech- 
 owl we heard last night." 
 
 "That's the lark we heard this morning." 
 
 "And there's a jay!" 
 
 "By thunder, a robin!" 
 
 "A cock!" 
 
 "A sparrow !" 
 
 "A thrush!" 
 
 "A peacock!" 
 
 "A rooster!" 
 
 " Every bird in the world," at last, exclaimed Tip, in 
 an outburst of joy, "and the last mimicked best! That 
 beats itself," he added, as the songster, in a supreme 
 effort, poured forth a flood of melody that seemed to 
 thrill the earth and the air, and to kindle into flame 
 the souls of the two listeners. 
 
 As now they sauntered along, evening lavished all her 
 richest colors over the Southern landscape, touching 
 everything into a glow of beauty. A giant oak 
 
 
THE SUNNY SOUTH. 469 
 
 reached out its gnarled boughs, and a poplar lifted its 
 lofty stature into air. The purple bloom of the mimosa 
 emitted its peach-like fragrance. Above was the white 
 of the magnolia, and below the scarlet of the cactus. 
 Over a wall hung the flowers of a climatis, and along 
 the limbs of a huge ailantus wound a brilliant Virginia 
 creeper, and aloft on the very top was visible the 
 splendor of a wisteria, while near, a vast pile of sweet- 
 briar exhibited a luxuriance of green leaves and scented 
 roses. As the light of evening faded, the moon arose, 
 and soon heaven glittered over with the glory of the 
 stars. 
 
 Tip and Lil laid themselves down for their night's 
 sleep amid the gathering shadows of a wood. Harp 
 and guitar were their pillows. Instead of a lamp, they 
 had the moonbeams shimmering through the leaves. 
 The girl, before closing her eyes, gazed upward and 
 exclaimed- 
 
 " I know who made all these beautiful things!" 
 
 "That's more than I do," said the skeptical Tip. 
 "I wish I did." 
 
 "Our little Bible tells me," replied Lil, "and I 
 believe it. I can't help it. Something says to me it 
 can't lie." 
 
 " Thunder ! " replied Tip, with a sort of masculine 
 disdain, "you're a girl, and that's a book for girls." 
 
 "I don't care, and I'm glad I am," said Lil, "if 
 that makes me believe. My book tells me a spirit 
 made everything, and it's so." 
 
 "Gammon," said Tip, shaking his head. "That 
 
470 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 won't stand muster. A spirit ! why it has no body, 
 no hands, or feet, or anything you can see. It couldn't 
 make heavy rocks and them big mountains any more 
 than breath or wind. It couldn't be," he concluded, 
 with a philosophic emphasis and assurance. 
 
 "But the book says so," cried the girl, earnestly, 
 "and it must be so. And the spirit who made all 
 became a man who died on the cross, and rose out of 
 his grave, and went up into heaven, and is king of 
 everything. Oh, if I couldn't believe this, I would 
 want to kill myself," and the big tears on the young 
 pilgrim's cheek glistened in the moonlight, and her 
 low sobs were breathed out on the evening breeze. 
 
 "Well! Lil," answered the boy, in a tone of 
 responsive sympathy, " I wish I could believe it, 
 because you do. But I can't. It seems to me these 
 things just all grow of themselves. They come and 
 they go away again. See this little violet," he added, 
 reaching out his hand in the light of the moon and 
 plucking a delicate flower, "it'll die and turn to dust, 
 and others will grow and bloom and fade and fall to 
 the earth, and so on and on, and so will beasts and 
 birds and fishes and men maybe sun, moon and 
 stars just like the bubbles we saw on the ocean, one 
 minute bright as rainbows and the next just nothing 
 at all. That's my thinking." 
 
 "Tip, that's too bad," said the girl, sobbing. "It's 
 against my book, and my book is all right. Our 
 Saviour is so good and kind and beautiful ! He 
 couldn't lie ; he died and he lives ; and I hope to be 
 
THE SUNNY SOUTH. 471 
 
 with him, and that's enough. It helps me bear every 
 thing when I'm lonely, and want my father and mother, 
 and feel just like lying down on the side of the road, 
 never to get up again, and to be out of trouble." 
 
 As Lil concluded this childish confession of her 
 faith in the solitary moonlit wood, she fell asleep, over 
 come by her weariness, but angels were awake watch 
 ing over the place, and spreading their wings for her 
 protection. Tip, too, was soon in deep slumber. How 
 interesting the picture both to earth and Heaven ! 
 
 Did the creed of the fathers reproduce itself in the 
 children? Was it her ancestral faith that thus dawned 
 on the soul of Lil, while over Tip grew the dark 
 shadow of ancestral unbelief ? 
 
 To the one, the First Cause was a spiritual person 
 ality, and to the other an eternal materialism. Deism 
 and Pantheism ! The roots of these are in all souls ! 
 In the one or in the other, each of us will finally seek 
 rest. Deepest in men, they form the great dividing 
 line ! From faith in a Personal Creator the way is 
 easy to faith in a Personal Saviour, and through Him 
 to belief in the Life Everlasting. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MARRIAGE AND MADNESS. 
 
 HE wounds of Walter Sparker had 
 brought to Belle Standfast intense 
 disquietude. His absence would 
 have had a determinate limit, but 
 his recovery may be in the far 
 future. Should he linger for 
 months ! Should he die ! What, then, will 
 become of her ? Her honor hangs on the- 
 uncertainties of his condition, and her hope 
 fluctuates with the flying reports. Joy 
 " x and fear alternate in her soul like lights 
 and shadows from the summer clouds. 
 Her own blighted life would be buried in 
 her betrayer's grave. Should he survive, will he pre 
 vent her disgrace by an honorable marriage ? Her 
 hope was thus bound up in him, and her heart rose 
 and fell with every passing breath. When, at last, 
 his recovery became assured, she felt that she had 
 left her one more golden opportunity. That gone, and 
 she was lost. Subdued by suffering, and, under his 
 father's roof and influence, if ever, Walter Sparker 
 would now do what was right, and save his victim 
 from the dishonor she dreaded dishonor, compared 
 
MARRIAGE AND MADNESS. 473 
 
 with which, death was nothing. But let the auspicious 
 moment pass ! Let the man plunge into his old 
 pleasures, and, more than all, be again under the shadow 
 of Bidman, and he would become harder than ever, 
 and she be left to her fate. 
 
 She perceived, with a woman's instinct, that only 
 General Sparker and Edward Stewart could aid her in 
 her dark distress, and after many tears and struggles, 
 to the latter she concluded to address a note. 
 
 When, in answer to her request, Edward reached 
 the house, he found Belle in a room with the curtains 
 drawn and the doors closed, so that the gloom of the 
 apartment corresponded to the sorrow of her heart. 
 The salutations of the day having been exchanged, she 
 said, in a low, sad voice : 
 
 " Do you remember, Mr. Stewart, that in this place 
 you promised to be my friend ?" 
 
 "I recollect our conversation well," replied Edward 
 promptly and cheerfully. "Nor have I forgotten my 
 pledge. I engaged to be to you more than a friend 
 I was to be a brother." 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Stewart, thank you, from my 
 heart," she said, with tears. "Your face and tone 
 assure me that you will redeem your word. Alas, alas, 
 neither you nor I could then know what was involved 
 in that promise. I never thought I could ask you to 
 do what I want now." Wringing her hands, she added : 
 "But my misery is intolerable, and you are my only 
 hope." 
 
 "Miss Standfast," he answered, with a kind and 
 
474 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 sympathetic look, "my promise had no limit, and my 
 performance shall equal it. Whatever the nature of 
 your difficulties, my hand, my heart and my head 
 are all ready to help you. Speak to me freely, and 
 consider me at your disposal." 
 
 "Oh, you are indeed true and kind," she exclaimed, 
 with a heaving bosom. " I know that I can trust 
 you. But how, oh, how can I explain to you what 
 I wish ! It is terrible, too terrible ! " 
 
 "Do not speak and feel thus, Miss Standfast," he 
 said, with deep emotion. "Remember that I am your 
 brother your only brother." 
 
 "How can I tell you, Mr. Stewart," she exclaimed, 
 with faster-flowing tears, "tell you, in this place, where 
 you offered me your noble, manly heart, that your 
 rival, whom I preferred, has been my destroyer ? Only 
 marriage with a man who has been my ruin, and 
 whom I can never love, never respect, never trust, can 
 save me and my family from a blot darker, deeper, 
 more dreadful, than any other that can stain a 
 woman ! " 
 
 As she uttered these words, she sank down on the 
 sofa, pale and helpless, and it seemed that the agony 
 of the moment had exhausted the springs of her life. 
 
 " Miss Standfast," began Edward, as soon as she 
 revived, " what is done, is done ; we cannot change 
 it. Tears cannot obliterate stern facts. Let us accept 
 the situation just as it is, and tell me precisely what 
 you desire." 
 
 These words strengthened her, and, smiling sadly 
 
MARRIAGE AND MADNESS. 475 
 
 into his manly face, and still reclining on the pillow 
 of the sofa, she said : 
 
 "Mr. Stewart, I have no faith in Walter Sparker. 
 He is naturally weak and fickle, and under the influ 
 ence of Dr. Bidman he becomes far worse than he is 
 by nature. I have no hope but in his father, and 
 with his father you alone can plead my cause." She 
 could say no more, choked by emotion. 
 
 Edward answered immediately. " I perceive all at 
 a glance, Miss Standfast. You need not add another 
 word. I will speak to General Sparker, and do all in 
 my power to make Walter see and feel his duty. You 
 are right in saying that Bidman is most to be dreaded. 
 He is the evil genius of Sparker, and darkens round 
 his victim with a' shadow black as hell. But we will 
 try to defeat his villainies. I acknowledge the cloud 
 is thick and dark, but I can see light glimmering 
 through it ; the edges are already fringed and all will 
 soon be once more bright." 
 
 The girl sprang to her feet. Hope once more 
 dawned in her heart. She seized the hand of her friend, 
 and poured forth such words of gratitude as it would 
 be impossible to record. 
 
 Edward Stewart proceeded at once to the house .of 
 General Sparker, who appeared to be in deep grief. He 
 was bent and worn with some sorrow which had pierced 
 his heart, and the change in him was painful. The 
 snows and storms of his advanced years had suddenly 
 left on him the white and blight of winter. Stewart 
 was awed and embarrassed before these visible tokens 
 
476 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 of an old man's misery. After some preliminary conver 
 sation, he at last said : 
 
 " General, I am sent here on a painful subject, and 
 hesitate to add to the troubles of your venerable age, 
 and yet I am under an obligation I cannot escape." 
 
 " Proceed, Mr. Stewart, proceed," answered the 
 General, with an effort that indicated the foreboding 
 of his mind. 
 
 " I have a message to you from Miss Belle 
 Standfast," returned Edward, looking steadily into the 
 eye of his aged friend, who startled and trembled, while 
 the blood flushed into his pale and haggard face. 
 After a moment's pause, he said, slowly : 
 
 " I know all, Mr. Stewart, and I know the cause 
 of my son's wounds." 
 
 It was Edward, now, who was surprised and 
 embarrassed. He started and his face became crimson. 
 
 "How can this be? I have never mentioned our 
 struggle to a living being. I supposed, too, that Miss 
 Standfast's condition was a profound secret." 
 
 "I am sure there was no betrayal on your part, Mr. 
 Stewart," said the General, kindly. "My knowledge 
 came from Walter himself." 
 
 ."For this I am indeed thankful," replied Edward. 
 "It encourages me to believe he will do right and 
 repair the injuries to Miss Standfast." 
 
 "Alas!" answered the General. "My information 
 was not from the conscience of my son, but from his 
 fever. When his mind was in a delirium I entered his 
 room, and, when his eyes were closed, and he was 
 
MARRIAGE AND MADNESS. 477 
 
 ^evidently asleep, perhaps dreaming, I heard him relate in 
 the most vivid words what transpired in the car with 
 Miss Standfast your look through the window, and 
 'the fight next morning. I soon saw the real state of the 
 case, and came to the conclusion that you were not at 
 all to blame." 
 
 "I assure you, General," said Edward, earnestly, 
 *' nothing but a blow, indeed an assault on my life, 
 could have induced me to strike your son. I have 
 never felt anything so intensely, and until his recovery 
 was assured I thought madness would be my doom. 
 There is no man on earth I so love and respect as 
 yourself, and the blood of Walter on my life would have 
 been more than I could bear." 
 
 The General extended his hand, and said: "I know, 
 Mr. Stewart, that what you say is true. All is under 
 stood and settled between us. What relates to Miss 
 Standfast is, indeed, painful. It is the most terrible 
 blow of my life, and has nearly crushed my heart.' 
 There was but one honorable course, and that I have 
 compelled Walter to pursue. He has made promise of 
 marriage, the day is fixed, and even the hour and the 
 place. This afternoon he is to see Belle in his room. 
 I hope that this will be satisfactory to all parties. I 
 myself will be present at the Church." 
 
 Edward arose, his face glowing with joy, and shook 
 the General's hand, exclaiming : 
 
 " I knew you would do this. It is like yourself. 
 What a ruin you have lifted from a young and 
 wretched heart. From what a blot you have saved a 
 
478 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 worthy family ! God Almighty will bless you for this 
 act of justice." 
 
 Nothing could exceed the thrill in the soul of Belle 
 Standfast when she heard from the lips of Edward 
 what had been required by General Sparker, and 
 promised by Walter. Her tears flowed in gratitude to 
 Heaven that afternoon in the chamber of her affianced 
 husband. The scene was indeed touching and sacred. 
 Walter was in earnest, and made happy in the conscious 
 ness that he was willing at the altar to deliver his 
 victim. Now the shadows seem dispersed from those 
 uniting lives. The gloom of midnight was succeeded 
 by the brightness of morning. John Standfast and 
 his wife felt as if they had escaped from some over 
 hanging rock about to fall on them from the height of 
 a precipice and crush them to fragments. 
 
 Alas ! for poor human hearts and hopes. Misery 
 darkens over man. A spectre leers amid his very 
 festivals. At the bottom of his cup of joy is always 
 some drop of poison hid by the sparkles of the wine. 
 Even in the bosom of the most radiant cloud is a 
 concealed thunderbolt. What blight is on a world 
 framed by the eternal love and wisdom ! Philosophy, 
 solve the mystery ! Evil follows good, despair follows 
 hope, grief follows joy, death follows life ! On the 
 universe a shadow everlasting, and behind all, mercy 
 and justice on the throne together ! We cannot wonder 
 that man, unaided, maddens at the spectacle. 
 
 Did General Sparker hear Walter's ravings for good ? 
 Also Saul Bidman heard them for evil. The breast of 
 
" Alas for poor human hearts and hooes ! " 
 : j ae 478. 
 
MARRIAGE AND MADNESS. 481 
 
 the one stored for his happiness the words of the sick 
 man, and the breast of the other stored the very same 
 words for his destruction. 
 
 That night the shadow of the spectre was in the 
 room of his victim, and stood at the side of his bed to 
 wake in him every bad passion and purpose. Death 
 was in his mission, although he knew it not. 
 
 "Walter," began Bidman, with satanic art, "so 
 Belle struck you in the car ? Nice for a bride ! Did 
 she leave the marks of her sweet little fingers ? She 
 is an affectionate creature, and will make you an 
 amiable wife." 
 
 " For Heaven's sake, stop, Saul!" cried Walter, in a 
 helpless and beseeching tone. " Don't open that matter. 
 It's all arranged, and I feel as if a locomotive was 
 lifted off my breast. I've promised father, and I've 
 promised Belle. Don't unsettle me." 
 
 "And Edward Stewart," resumed Bidman, with a 
 sneer and a scowl, "was observing your caresses 
 through the car window, and saw you give her a 
 necklace and a kiss as a reward for her blow. These 
 are good friends to drive you into a promise of mar 
 riage on your sick bed." 
 
 " Bidman," said Walter, raising himself on his 
 elbow, and speaking in a tone of even painful suppli 
 cation, "don't tempt me! You must stop this! I can't 
 stand it. You'll drive me crazy." 
 
 "Now I see it all," continued Bidman, with the 
 same mocking manner. "Edward Stewart brought you 
 to terms with his fist. You yield to your enemy 
 
482 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 when he knocks you down. Every drop of blood he 
 brings from your flesh is a warm argument in favor 
 of his proposition. Scars and bruises have forced you 
 to accept his terms." 
 
 "Saul, you'll kill me," exclaimed Walter, almost 
 distracted. "I feel the devil rising in me now. You're 
 waking a tempest that will destroy us all. If you let 
 hell loose out of my heart, I warn you, that you will 
 be the first to burn in its flames." 
 
 " Your father," burst out Bidman, with a keener 
 irony than before, " General Adam Sparker, an old 
 man, .stands beside his wounded son, takes advantage 
 of his feebleness, and extorts from him a promise to 
 marry a dishonored woman, and forces him to wear 
 for life a yoke he will loathe. A charming parental 
 affection ! " 
 
 Walter sat upright in his bed. He stared round 
 wildly, and then struck his hands together and exclaimed : 
 
 "Do you think it was fixed up, Saul? Did they 
 play on my fears, and impose on my weakness ? " 
 Then, holding up his hands before his eyes as if to 
 shut out the view of some horrible spectre, he added, 
 fiercely : 
 
 "I see it all, and I'll be even with them." 
 
 " That's like yourself, Walter," said Bidman, encourag 
 ingly. " Now I know you again, old fellow. Before, 
 it was some person else lying on that bed. You'll 
 soon be well again, now that your old blood is in your 
 veins, and your old courage in your heart. A pretty 
 wife Belle would make you. Could you trust her ? If 
 
MARRIAGE AND MADNESS. 483 
 
 she yielded to you, she would yield to another. Would 
 you ever feel safe ? They've imposed on you, and I 
 have come here to deliver you from a life-long bond-' 
 age. It's all an infernal conspiracy, and you shan't 
 be caught in it while Saul Bidman can save you." 
 
 "But what shall I do?" inquired Walter, with a 
 most piteous hesitation. " It's all arranged. I have 
 given my word to father and Belle, and I can see no 
 way out of it." 
 
 "Do!" said Bidman, "do! Leave that to me! Let 
 the ocean be your bride on your wedding day. Marry 
 England, Ireland, Scotland, France, all Europe, and the 
 rest of the world beside. Have a free time instead of 
 wearing this cursed yoke. I'll telegraph and engage 
 your passage on the Aurona. She leaves New York 
 at the very hour you were to have been enslaved. 
 When you are out on the ocean, a free man, with all 
 this planet before you, and money enough to pay 
 your bills, you'll thank Saul Bidman that you're not 
 wearing a chain which would make you a treadmill 
 slave, with Edward Stewart and all the rest of them 
 laughing at you, while you grind for life at the 
 side of the virtuous Belle Standfast." 
 
 Good and evil still struggled in that feeble soul. 
 Fierce passions painted themselves on the face and 
 writhed in the form of Walter Sparker. He tossed on 
 his bed, under the stare of Bidman, like a demoniac. 
 Now he is quiet. The storm is over. Pride has^ 
 triumphed. The solemn pledge is under his feet. In 
 his soul he spurns it, and tramples on it, as he ground 
 
484 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 before beneath his heel the written order of his father. 
 Indeed, the one sin had prepared the way for the other. 
 Evil deeds are always links in a continuous chain. 
 The fatal resolution of Walter Sparker had but flowered 
 under the fiery heats of his passions from the seed he 
 had been planting during years of idleness and dissi 
 pation. 
 
 Walter said, at last, calmly, to his tempter : 
 
 " Bidman, you always conquer, and lead me to the 
 devil, just as you please, and Fm only too willing to 
 follow. Telegraph, and I'll play them a trick that 
 will be revenge, even if it sends me to hell ! " 
 
 Having uttered these words in a tone of sullen 
 defiance, Walter Sparker turned on his side, with his 
 face to the wall, and Bidman left his room with a 
 leer of satanic triumph. 
 
 The day arrived. The bloom and fragrance of 
 flowers were in the modest parish church. A smile 
 played over everything. Music pealed its joy from the 
 organ. Old General Sparker was in his pew. John 
 Standfast was there to give away the bride. His wife 
 sat near with a smirk of satisfaction. Edward 
 Stewart and other friends were in waiting, and his 
 stately mother appeared in matronly beauty and dignity. 
 Crowds of villagers, including workmen and their fam 
 ilies, were present. Belle came to the church, fragrant 
 with orange blossoms, bright with hope the glow on 
 her cheek and joy in her heart, although the shadow 
 of a terrible fear would occasionally fall over her 
 spirit. Walter Sparker did not arrive. There was a 
 
Covered by the cold clods forever from the sun." 
 Page 488. 
 
MARRIAGE AND MADNESS. 489 
 
 long waiting, a painful suspense, a dismal foreboding. 
 The surpliced clergyman, with his opened book, stood 
 at the rail of the chancel. More than once the organ, 
 with obvious effort, strove to relieve the embarrass 
 ment. But the groom appeared not. Finally, the 
 dreadful truth broke on the soul of Belle Standfast. 
 She was not only betrayed, but openly insulted and 
 irretrievably ruined. She shrieked, rushed from the 
 church, leaped into the carriage, ordered the coachman 
 to drive home, and reached her room a maniac ! 
 
 That night, as Edward Stewart sat at his window, 
 he saw a white figure glide, like a ghost, beneath the 
 glimmer of the stars, and vanish in the darkness. He 
 started, a thrill pierced his soul, he had an intuition 
 of a frightful fact. He rushed down the stairs, and 
 ran under the smile of the mocking moon as she 
 sailed out from a dark cloud. As he reached the 
 shadow of a wood he heard a shrill cry, never to be 
 forgotten, and then a sudden splash. Quickening his 
 speed, he approached a little lake, the circles of whose 
 waters were sparkling in the brilliant midnight beams, 
 while quivering and flashing beneath the surface, the 
 stars seemed in a wild dance of death. He plunged 
 in, waded around for some minutes, and soon saw the 
 white garments and upturned face of Belle Standfast. 
 She was dead. A smile played over her features. In 
 her grave of waters, the poor maniac had found rest 
 from the pangs of life, and, we may trust, forgive 
 ness from her merciful Creator. Stewart lifted the 
 cold, wet, dripping form in his strong arms, bore her 
 
490 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 to her father's house, and laid her on her bed, yet 
 warm with the heat of her body. 
 
 The frantic grief in that home we may not attempt 
 to tell. That arrow which killed the daughter pierced 
 the mother's heart, inflicting a fatal wound, and left 
 in the soul of the silent father a pang, which can 
 only be assuaged in his grave. A few days after the 
 sad events we have just related, in the place where 
 had begun the marriage joy, and where Belle should 
 have stood a happy wife, she was seen in her coffin, 
 the bride of death, and, amid the sad strains of the 
 funeral dirge, was carried out of the church, to be laid 
 in the earth, and covered by the cold clods forever 
 from the sun. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 
 
 FEAR, after all, that I may be 
 chasing a phantom," said Mr. 
 Petrovich to Mcolai, as they sat 
 smoking together in their parlor in 
 Washington. "My heart seems 
 leading my head. When I pause 
 and let reason control fancy, I cannot jus 
 tify myself in thus expending my time and 
 my money." 
 
 "Pardon me for differing from you," 
 answered Nicolai, very deliberately knocking 
 the ashes from his cigar. "Many facts con 
 cur to prove that Lillie is the person you 
 seek. Ruric, himself, admitted it." 
 
 "And at first," replied Mr. Petrovich, "that, of 
 itself, appeared to settle the question. But he may 
 have assumed to acquiesce in what he saw we believed, 
 merely to inflict on me the keenest torment. He has 
 succeeded too. Whoever Lillie may be, I have been 
 tortured with the dread of his lustful vengeance, fear 
 ing even the possibility of ruin to one who may be 
 bound to me by a tie so sacred." 
 
 "Had you seen, as I did," answered Nicolai, agitated 
 
492 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 by the recollection, "his eye and face, and heard his 
 terrible words of revenge, the impression would have 
 been overwhelming. Since that moment, my suspicion 
 has risen into certainty." 
 
 "You must, however, remember," said Mr. Petrovich, 
 smiling, "that you have not so much involved as I. 
 With me, it is not a mere matter of the heart. 
 Sentiment will not avail before the tribunals. I must 
 have judicial proof before the child can be restored to 
 her home, her estate and her title, and, so far, you 
 must admit that nothing approaches the necessary 
 legal evidence." 
 
 "True! I grant it," replied Nicolai, disturbed by 
 the shadow of a doubt. "But, on the other hand, we 
 must remember that beside our present pursuit we 
 have no trace whatever. Lillie is our sole clew. 
 Abandon her and we abandon all. If we stop, we are 
 in darkness. My advice is to press onward in the 
 path that we have chosen. Light will soon come. I 
 will stand by you and go with you to the end. Let 
 me implore you not to pause or falter now. The 
 night has been long and wearisome, but I am per 
 suaded that the dawn is near." 
 
 "I am moved, I fear," said Mr. Petrovich, "more 
 by your earnestness than your argument. Still, the 
 last consideration you urged determines. We have 
 really no other way and no other hope, and we must 
 wait here until the time comes to go forward. Besides, 
 I have a command from his Majesty to observe the 
 country, make notes, and report to him, and I know 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 493 
 
 no more effectual way to study the people and their 
 government than in our Quixotic search." 
 
 After this conversation the gentlemen threw away 
 their cigars, drew on their gloves, took their hats and 
 canes, and sauntered forth to the square opposite the 
 Presidential mansion. Occasionally walking, oftener 
 seated, they continued talking most earnestly, and, for 
 the moment, oblivious of the great work to which they 
 had just before consecrated anew their energies. 
 
 Mr. Petrovich, standing in front of the White House, 
 and pointing to it with his cane, exclaimed : 
 
 " What a shocking place for the residence of the 
 Sovereign of a great people ! Surely neither beauty 
 nor comfort were consulted in the plan. See those 
 pillars, lean as Uncle Sam in Harper ! Yesterday, 
 when I pulled the bell, the fastening of the handle 
 came loose from the wall ! Nor is the interior better 
 than the exterior ! What horrid minglings of colors- 
 in the shabby old Green Room ! Compare the bare, 
 dingy, unsightly East Room with any corresponding 
 apartment in the Winter Palace ! " 
 
 " Of course, it is all absurd," answered Nicolai, with 
 a slight appearance of mortification. "I can defend 
 much in the young Republic, but the White House is 
 quite too hard for me." 
 
 "Moreover," said Mr. Petrovich, gratified with his- 
 triumph, "it seems to me to have been placed near 
 yon malarious marshes just to make the Constitution 
 more democratic, by shortening the term of the Exec 
 utive, and rendering frequent elections necessary. An 
 
494 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 American fever is nearly as certain and as fatal to 
 these republican monarchs as European dynamite to our 
 kings and emperors." 
 
 "Bad enough, I admit," replied Nicolai, "but the 
 evil will be cured by a single sacrifice, while our 
 Nihilists demand many victims. When one President 
 dies of marsh-disease, Congress, if he has been popular, 
 will become magnanimous, and build a suitable mansion 
 in an eligible locality." 
 
 "But," interposed Mr. Petrovich, cynically, "the 
 style of the house is no worse than the style of the 
 occupants, and that cannot be cured without the death 
 of many generations. Vulgarity is in the blood of 
 republics. Yesterday I saw, in that Executive mansion, 
 a servant in his shirt-sleeves. Coatless democracy ! 
 More abominable yet, on the day before, I saw a lad 
 on the avenue stop the Presidential carriage, and 
 deliver a telegram to the mistress of the nation. I 
 cannot but contrast the manners of this White House 
 with the elegance of our Winter Palace." 
 
 "I cannot assert," replied Nicolai, hesitatingly, "that 
 a republic promotes refinement among the higher ranks 
 of society. Here a monarchy has the superiority. A 
 Court is a model for an empire. But, on the other 
 hand, nowhere in the world are the middle and laboring 
 classes so polite and obliging as in this country, while 
 everywhere there is that chivalric gallantry toward 
 woman which is a pledge of universal refinement in 
 the future. With all the boasted courtesy of France, 
 the working people of Paris are often insulting and 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 495 
 
 disgusting in their behavior toward those they envy 
 as superiors." 
 
 " Yes ! Since the Republic," dryly observed Mr. 
 Petrovich. " Look at the three democratic rulers of 
 the French Republic, in their three old palaces, and 
 compare their style with the imperialistic splendor of 
 the Tuileries when there was a single sovereign ! " 
 
 " The obstacles to refinement of manners," said 
 Nicolai, earnestly, in reply, " are here temporary. 
 Besides, I know old families in this country as lovely 
 and as charming as any I have seen in Europe." 
 
 "You say old families," replied Mr. Petrovich; 
 " that is, those who have inherited their tastes and 
 manners from the monarchical times of the colonies. 
 I tell you, refinement here is impossible, in the present 
 constitution of society. See these members of Con 
 gress ! Many come from the lowest places in life. 
 How rough and uncouth in their ways ! Yet their 
 position must be recognized, and they leave their 
 impress everywhere. Other things, to my imperialistic 
 feelings, are shocking. Why, at the President's 
 Saturday reception, I saw three thick-lipped negresses 
 grinning next to the wife and daughters of the Secre 
 tary of State. The mistress of the mansion, to ensure 
 her popularity at her reception, passes among her 
 guests, vulgarly introducing them, instead of waiting 
 in her place for a dignified presentation. This repub 
 lican mixture is my abhorrence. Odi profanum vulgus ! 
 Reverence is impossible in the people without magnifi 
 cence in the sovereign." 
 
496 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "Pardon my boldness, Mr. Petrovich, and do not 
 remember my offense when I return to the court of 
 the Czar," exclaimed Nicolai. "I must again defend 
 the Republic. Among the people, I have usually found 
 the greatest kindness and even courtesy. The Pres 
 ident, indeed, cannot forget that he has been elevated 
 by the votes of the humblest citizens, and he must, 
 therefore, give access to the lowly, even if they may 
 be black. But, in return, how safe his person ! He 
 requires no guard against nihilistic assassins. No need 
 for him to hide amid the cold magnificence of a royal 
 palace ! In this, what noble dignity ! Peril and seclu 
 sion are now the price of the pomp and glory of 
 monarchy. There goes the President ! He is walking 
 in the dress of a citizen. Yet, he is sovereign of one 
 of the greatest nations of the world. To me, in this 
 republican simplicity, there is somthing more impressive 
 and sublime than in all the splendors of kingly 
 majesty." 
 
 Mr. Petrovich was displeased with the boldness of 
 his friend, and not inclined to continue the subject. 
 A fortunate interruption here prevented further embar 
 rassment. 
 
 In the distance, an immense man was seen running. 
 Soon the giant, Ling, was recognized approaching in 
 fiery haste, panting and perspiring, his whole soul 
 beaming in his face. His small eyes sparkled ; his 
 grin of joy disclosed his white, regular teeth ; his 
 cheek bones appeared to assume increased prominence, 
 and his yellow skin glistened with his delight. Even 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 497 
 
 his pig-tail had an ecstasy in its vibrations. Eager as 
 he was, he did not forget his oriental politeness. 
 Standing before the gentleman, he crossed his arms 
 over his breast, and made an obeisance, so that his 
 forehead almost touched the ground. This accomplished, 
 the suppressed fire broke forth : 
 
 " Me habee foundee 'em. Thesee papers see. In 
 'Nappolee, time one time two, in Halidonee Yirginee 
 Mellika can'tee hide now themee themee we habee 
 certinee." 
 
 He gave to Mr. Petrovich an Annapolis weekly 
 which had an account of the scene we have described 
 at the annual hop of the Naval Academy, and then a 
 paper recording the performances of Tip and Lil in 
 Halidon, and several other villages of southern Virginia. 
 Mr. Petrovich read the narratives with profound 
 interest and emotion, and then gave them to Nicolai, 
 who ran his eye over them with even keener atten 
 tion. 
 
 After a few moments of deep reflection, Mr. Petro 
 vich inquired : 
 
 " Where did you find these papers, Ling ? This is, 
 indeed, opportune and wonderful. The light we wished 
 shines amid our deepest gloom. Tell me, tell me, 
 how and where did you obtain these newspapers ? " 
 
 "New Yorkee ! " answered the giant. "In paper- 
 place me readee manee, manee, manee, very manee 
 this 'Nappolee one me findee ; go there firstee. No 
 Tippee, no Lillee, no Tojee, no nobodee me to New 
 Yorkee ; come hackee readee, readee, readee, three days 
 
498 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 readee then this Virginee paper me findee here me 
 come soonee mustee go to Halidonee soonee, certinee." 
 
 "What do you think, Nicolai ?" inquired Mr. Petro- 
 vich, when that gentleman had finished the papers. 
 
 "Think!" he responded; "think! think! Surely our 
 prayers are answered ! We have the clew we sought. 
 How marvelous ! Noonday has come into our mid 
 night ! Onward, I say, onward ! Our reward is near." 
 
 " I am by no means so enthusiastic," said Mr. 
 Petrovich ; * ' yet I am impelled forward by circum 
 stances. Besides, I wish to see the South once more 
 before I meet the Emperor. Ling, engage our places 
 for the next train, through Richmond to the station 
 nearest Halidon." 
 
 The giant again drew up his enormous stature, 
 crossed his hands, made his deep reverence, and 
 departed to execute the commands of his master. 
 
 On the next morning, the gentlemen and the 
 Chinese servant were in Halidon. Inquiry proved that 
 Tip and Lil had spent several weeks in the neighbor 
 hood. Many persons described them so minutely that 
 mistake was impossible. It was finally ascertained that 
 they had been last seen at the house of the Rev. Mr. 
 Wellington, several miles distant, and thither the 
 pursuers repaired. Entering the lawn, they were struck 
 with the imposing old brick edifice an impressive 
 monument of the plantation times spacious and 
 venerable, with its immense green wooden shutters, its 
 gigantic piazza, its ample halls, and lofty parlor, and 
 large library, stored with volumes of sterling literature, 
 
"He had retired to spend his last days in the old mansion and on the old estate." 
 
 Page 501. 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 501 
 
 which, unlike the house, will never be antiquated. On 
 either side of the front walk, two splendid mimosas, in 
 full bloom, spread their wide branches and gave forth 
 their sweet odors ; around many of the greatest trunks 
 climbed the luxuriant ivy, and high amid their leaves 
 flashed the brilliant creeper-flower. Noble magnolias 
 delighted to display their southern glories. More 
 imposing than all, a vast oak, like an aged patriarch, 
 stretched out his arms of blessing, and threw around 
 his refreshing circumference of shade. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Wellington, an Episcopal clergyman, 
 was a gentleman of English descent and Yankee educa 
 tion. He had married a superior Virginia lady of 
 distinguished family, and, after many years of active 
 service, had retired to spend his last days in the old 
 mansion and on the old estate. But benevolence in him 
 was a flowing fountain, whose streams would gush 
 round in blessing. His Master's work was still supreme. 
 All his spare time and strength were devoted to the 
 education of the colored people. He thus gilded his 
 declining years with the light of love, and his very face 
 beamed with the brightness of his soul. Conservative 
 by nature, but with habits of keenest observation, no 
 man in the country had so deeply and thoroughly mas 
 tered the southern social and political problems. 
 
 Mr. Petrovich and Nicolai, ascending the steps of the 
 piazza and ringing at the door, were ushered by a 
 colored servant into a reception-room, and immediately 
 refreshed with ice-water. Their cards were soon 
 answered by Mr. Wellington himself, who met them 
 
502 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 with the cordial southern hospitality. After some 
 explanations and general inquiries, Mr. Petrovich 
 proceeded to the business of his visit. 
 
 "And now, reverend sir," he began, "will you pardon 
 my intrusion on your time and privacy, and give me 
 information on a subject to me of supreme importance." 
 
 "Place me at your disposal, gentlemen," answered 
 Mr. Wellington, with his frank smile ; "I promise to do 
 for you everything in my power." 
 
 "Thank you, sir; thank you," said Mr. Petrovich. 
 "We have to ask you concerning a boy and a girl, 
 whom, we are informed, were at your house some weeks 
 since. They were wandering over the country, one with 
 a guitar and the other with a harp, and we were told 
 in Halidon that they had been in your own house." 
 
 "I am, indeed, glad that I can assist you," replied 
 Mr. Wellington. "The children you seek were sick 
 here for more than two weeks, and I learned many 
 things about them of most curious interest." 
 
 " Wonderful," exclaimed Nicolai. "Now I am certain 
 that we are on the right path. The solution of the 
 mystery is not far away." 
 
 "You will oblige me exceedingly," rejoined Mr. 
 Petrovich, "by relating fully all you saw and heard 
 that you may deem important of those two young wan 
 derers. If you can aid me in my search, you will 
 confer -a lasting obligation, and not on me alone, but 
 also -on his Majesty of Russia." 
 
 " About a month since," resumed Mr. Wellington, 
 now deeply interested, " while sitting in my piazza, I 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 503 
 
 heard a sweet girl's voice in a song accompanied by 
 harp and guitar. The music was so superior to the 
 ordinary itinerant grind and whine that I called the 
 performers to me, and gave them some compliments, 
 and a small piece of money. In a day or two they 
 both returned and I perceived in them the symptoms 
 of a burning fever. They implored my help and pro 
 tection with such childish earnestness and simplicity 
 that I could not repel them from my house. The 
 fever soon became fierce and dangerous. Often they 
 were in a delirium, and haunted by frightful visions of 
 a man they called Ruric. Then their shrieks were 
 terrible and their agony most pitiable." 
 
 "That identifies them beyond a doubt," interrupted 
 Mr. Petrovich, " as the persons for whom we are mak 
 ing inquiry. Ruric was their cruel master and their 
 greatest dread." 
 
 "That I discovered," said Mr. Wellington. "The 
 girl especially would hold up her hands as if pursued 
 by a spectre, and beg, in the most touching tones, for 
 deliverance." 
 
 " Did she give any hint who she was, or where she 
 came from, in her ravings?" asked Mr. Petrovich, with 
 intense anxiety. 
 
 "Oh, yes," answered Mr. "Wellington. "She talked 
 of her father and mother incessantly, but in an inco 
 herent way, and the boy fancied himself an Indian 
 prince. But I attributed what they said to the effects 
 of their fever." 
 
 "Did nothing else transpire to shed light on their 
 
504 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 history?" inquired Mr. Petrovich, more eagerly than 
 ever. 
 
 "Your question suggests an important circumstance," 
 answered Mr. Wellington, " I had strangely forgotten. 
 When the physician examined them in their sleep, on 
 each was found a most costly and beautiful locket." 
 
 "Locket?" exclaimed the gentlemen, startled, to 
 gether. 
 
 "Yes! it is, indeed, surprising," said Mr. Wellington, 
 " one on each. That worn by the girl was in two 
 oval parts of gold, united by a hinge, having on one 
 side the face of a lady, on the other of a gentleman. 
 The gems were most precious, and the workmanship 
 exquisite. On the back were the words in French 
 Ma petite filled 
 
 " This is, indeed, of consequence," exclaimed Mr. 
 Petrovich, while his eyes sparkled and his face glowed 
 with excitement. "What became of this locket?" 
 
 "Of course," replied Mr. Wellington, "I had no 
 right to keep things so precious. We thought it not 
 best even to tell the children what we discovered, and 
 both lockets, after examination, were hung again on 
 their necks." 
 
 "May I inquire," said Nicolai, " what was the ap 
 pearance of the locket on the boy? We have no 
 immediate interest in him, but the information may 
 have a collateral value." 
 
 " The locket of the lad," responded the clergyman, 
 "was even more valuable and beautiful than that of 
 the girl. It glittered with gems. On it was the 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 505 
 
 face of a man with a flowing beard and a turbaned 
 head, and evidently a prince, if I might judge by his 
 royal look. Beneath, in Arabic, was the name Hyder 
 AIL" 
 
 "What became of the children?" asked Mr. Petro- 
 vich, with overwhelming interest, " I suppose they 
 went away together." 
 
 " Yes ; after their recovery," responded Mr. Welling 
 ton. " I saw them in that wood in eager conversation 
 with a lad who was either a Japanese or a Chinese. 
 They came back to the house, offered me a compensa 
 tion, which, of course, was refused ; thanked me, with 
 tears in their eyes, and, taking their instruments, 
 started forth sadly on their journey." 
 
 After this conversation, ceaseless efforts were made 
 to discover in what direction Lil and Tip had gone. 
 All was in vain. The pursuit was once more baffled, 
 and a cloud again settled over everything. Ling, 
 however, was never discouraged. He seemed armed 
 with an invincible patience, affirming that another 
 paper from his confederate in New York would soon 
 arrive and shed light on their path. 
 
 While thus compelled to wait, Mr. Petrovich and 
 Nicolai called on Mr. Wellington, to thank him for his 
 kind offices. The clergyman said to them : 
 
 " Would you not like to see the commencement of 
 my colored school ? Our year is just closing, and I 
 think you will be interested in the exercises which are 
 to be held in a church, of itself a curiosity. I strongly' 
 advise you to come with me. You will learn much that 
 
506 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 will enable you to understand better our complicated negro 
 problem." 
 
 The gentlemen gladly assenting, they were soon on 
 their way to the place. 
 
 Crowning a hill, they saw a cruciform edifice made 
 of hewn pine logs. The roof was steep, and the wide 
 eaves appeared almost to reach the ground. Ivy 
 wreathed itself over the gables of the building and parts 
 of the sides, climbing here and there to the apex, and 
 the chatter of birds told that they had found a wel 
 come home. The pine, the maple, the oak, and the 
 chestnut stood around with their mingling shadows, and 
 just below was a sparkling spring. A rustic altar, 
 and a chancel-rail of twisting vines, and a lecturn and 
 pulpit in a corresponding style, evinced the taste of both 
 the architect and the clergyman. 
 
 Many people had assembled in and around the edifice. 
 The spectators were mostly colored, but some whites 
 were looking curiously, perhaps a little cynically. The 
 exercises began with a brief prayer and a few verses 
 from the Bible. Then occurred an exhibition, until our 
 own age, impossible in the history of the world. Little 
 colored children, almost infants, emitted from between 
 their shining teeth short speeches, and lisped through 
 simple dialogues ; the larger boys declaimed creditably ; 
 four preachers, black, and grave heads of families, who, 
 after years spent as religious teachers had first learned 
 to read, stumbled through their parts one mulatto girl 
 declaimed Hiawatha, kneeling in her tragic agony, 
 clasping her hands, and lifting her eyes toward 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 507 
 
 heaven. The orator of the occasion, whose name was 
 White, although dark as ebony, proved himself quite 
 an African Demosthenes. 
 
 After these intellectual exercises, followed a more 
 animalistic employment. Beneath the trees, an ample 
 luncheon was spread by the negroes, and to which they 
 invited the gentlemen, waiting on them with delicate 
 and dignified courtesy, and afterward partaking them 
 selves with the most eager and evident satisfaction. A 
 procession through the grove, with songs wild and 
 loud, closed the exercises of the day, and then, men, 
 women and children, seated in groups, discussed busily 
 what they had seen and heard. 
 
 Mr. Petrovich and Nicolai, standing by Mr. Welling 
 ton, under the limbs of a great tulip poplar, watched 
 the scene with profound attention. The first gentleman 
 exclaimed : 
 
 " This is, indeed, a picture ! A scene never to be 
 forgotten ! We may read here the future of a race 
 and of a continent. I can scarcely believe it possible 
 that any of these people were ever slaves. Here I 
 behold the only possible solution to the negro problem. 
 Its key is a Christian education." 
 
 " That is my conclusion," answered Mr. Wellington, 
 greatly gratified. "Many questions, social and political, 
 arise, which I cannot answer. But upon the duty of 
 educating, there can be but a single opinion." 
 , "I am astonished," continued Mr. Petrovich, "at 
 the exercises of this day, which, while sometimes 
 amusing, were certainly creditable and encouraging." 
 
508 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "The aptness of some of my scholars," said Mr. 
 Wellington, "is often surprising. Generally, they are 
 quick to learn. A few have decided talent, and others 
 are hopelessly stupid. They are governed much more 
 easily than white children, are naturally more religious, 
 and in refinement of feeling they are remarkable." 
 
 "Are they the equals of the Saxons?" inquired 
 Nicolai. 
 
 " In quickness of intelligence and delicacy of percep 
 tion, they are," replied Mr. Wellington, decidedly; 
 "but by no means in courage, in enterprise, in intel 
 lectual depth and breadth, and in power and loftiness 
 of character. And yet, even in these respects, there 
 are individual instances of a high endowment. The 
 Saxons have those attributes which will always make 
 them the dominant race." 
 
 " But I see faces here indicating rugged and 
 invincible purpose," said Mr. Petrovich. "The lines 
 cannot be mistaken." 
 
 "You are right," answered Mr. Wellington. "I 
 spoke only in general terms. See that great, black 
 fellow, laughing, near the door ! He was half his life 
 a slave. Yet after ten years of labor and economy, 
 he has made his last payment, and obtained clear title 
 to a large farm, which is the best managed and most 
 productive in the neighborhood. His wife has been his 
 equal in thrift and industry." 
 
 ''Are such instances numerous?" inquired Mr. 
 Petrovich. 
 
 " I am sorry to say they are not," said Mr. 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 509 
 
 Wellington. "Usually the negro cannot think thus for 
 himself. Yet there are instances of rare independence 
 of character. Mark that clerical-looking man, with his 
 white tie and distinctive African features ! He is forty 
 years of age, and has two grown daughters. A year 
 since he was an itinerant preacher who could not read. 
 He sold his horse, and came here to learn his letters, 
 and is now well advanced in the elementary branches 
 of knowledge." 
 
 "Remarkable, indeed!" exclaimed Nicolai. "Do the 
 women ever show the same desire to learn ? " 
 
 " I can point to you in these groups," replied Mr. 
 Wellington, " six married women, one a grandmother, 
 who have walked many miles every Saturday for a 
 year, and now each one of them can read her Bible." 
 
 "Surely, your neighborhood must be a remarkable 
 one, and your own methods of teaching unusually 
 fruitful ! " interposed Nicolai again. 
 
 "In this region the masters were almost invariably 
 kind," said Mr. Wellington, " and they have left their 
 traces on the entire population. About the towns, 
 the negroes are almost hopeless pilferers, idle and dissi 
 pated, and, in the far South, seem often simply bestial 
 and irreclaimable pagans. All that relates to the race 
 is complicated and bewildering." 
 
 "How merry and ringing is that laugh !" remarked 
 Mr. Petrovich. "Many of these people certainly have 
 great humor. The eye often gleams, the thick lips 
 have a peculiar grin, and every feature is stamped 
 with jollity." 
 
510 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "Wit, too, they sometimes exhibit," said Mr. 
 Wellington, "as well as humor. See that little 
 weakened negress at the foot of the maple ? That is 
 Aunt Elsie. She /ras once praying in her cabin, in 
 great distress, for bread. Some mischievous boys, 
 hearing her, resolved to answer her supplications. 
 They obtained a few loaves, and rolled them down her 
 chimney. When they tumbled on the floor at her feet, 
 she was at first astonished, and then she burst out into 
 words of pr&ise and gratitude. While thus ecstatic, 
 the rogues, opening the door, cried, 'Oh, Aunt Elsie, 
 it wasn't the Lord ! We rolled them down the 
 chimney ! ' Looking at the boys earnestly a moment, 
 and then lifting her spectacles, the pious old negress 
 replied, 'Wall, du Lawd sent dat bread, if de debel 
 brought it.'" 
 
 ''Good, indeed!" exclaimed Nicolai. "Pious and 
 pointed ! The wit of Voltaire and the theology of St. 
 Gregory ! " 
 
 The gentlemen laughed heartily, and many eyes 
 turned toward them their white inquiring balls. 
 
 "On the other hand," resumed Mr. Wellington, "we 
 have instances of the most hopeless stupidity and igno 
 rance. Sometimes conscience seems absolutely dead. 
 Voters sell themselves for trifles. In office, the negro 
 has been an absurd and grotesque failure. His mis 
 takes were amusing and his peculations monstrous and 
 astounding. One very funny thing I must relate to 
 you. Do you see that ebony giant at the head of the 
 table, burying his black face in a huge melon ? He 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 511 
 
 was elected sheriff of our county. Shortly after a man 
 was committed to jail in the usual form for thirty 
 days. It was just after the war and the jail was 
 exceedingly out of repair. Our prosecuting attorney, 
 anxious to hear how the prisoner had been kept in so 
 insecure a place, inquired: 'Uncle Tom, how did you 
 manage with Bill Dickey in that old jail, so that he 
 didn't give you the slip?'' 
 
 "Easy, Massa ! berry easy, sare," answered Uncle 
 Tom. " Bill Dickey honest fellow. He went home 
 ebbery night, and comes back next mornin'." 
 
 " But, Uncle Tom, was that carrying out the sentence 
 of the court ? " 
 
 " 'Zackly, Massa, 'zackly," replied our wise jailer. 
 "Judge said thirty days, said nuffin' 'bout nights.'" 
 
 After the gentlemen had enjoyed their laugh, Nicolai 
 inquired .- 
 
 "Are not the negroes fanatical in their religious 
 dispositions ? I have heard it asserted that, after all 
 their professions of Christianity, they are in their hearts 
 and lives still heathen." 
 
 " A great mistake," said Mr. Wellington. " Often, 
 indeed, their meetings are scenes of the most frenzied 
 excitement. Their screams seem diabolical and their . 
 actions those of demoniacs. This madness many think 
 religion, and never connect it with a good conscience 
 and a right life. One minister, in the midst of the 
 most tumultuous uproar, excused himself, and five 
 minutes after was shot dead in a neighbor's crib in the 
 act of stealing his corn. An old apostate white 
 
512 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 who mocked his former faith by baptizing an opossum 
 in the name of the Trinity, can even now stir them 
 into furious religious excitements. Yet, in the midst 
 of these excesses, I find examples of the most perfect, 
 beautiful and intelligent piety. I wish some of our own 
 extreme clergymen were half as well grounded in the 
 orthodox faith as many of these very negroes. Their 
 knowledge of Scripture is often wonderful, and their 
 perceptions of duty clear and powerful." 
 
 "May I venture a question, suggested by the con 
 dition of our own freed serfs ? " inquired Mr. Petrovich. 
 *I expect to report your answer to his Majesty. Has 
 the emancipation of the negro been a benefit or an 
 injury ? " 
 
 *<! answer, without hesitation, ' A benefit ! ' " replied 
 Mr. Wellington, instantly. "Freedom is right and 
 therefore* best. Yet, in particular cases, it often appears 
 otherwise. On many of our old plantations, life was 
 truly patriarchal. Frequently I have seen a wise and 
 kind master, almost a type of human happiness, and his 
 slaves apparently as contented as mortals can be in this 
 world of evil and anxiety. I could draw in bright 
 colors some beautiful pictures of the ancient plantations. 
 But by a few owners in this region, and often in the 
 rice, sugar and cotton fields of the distant south, the 
 slave was cruelly worked. Occasionally he was the 
 victim of a mere tyrant. Lust, too, was debasing and 
 ruinous. Besides, in his most favored condition, there 
 was always over the slave the shadow of a fear, lest 
 the death or pecuniary necessities of a good master 
 
THE LITTLE WANDERERS ILL. 513 
 
 might force sales and separations. Dark a3 are some 
 of the difficulties yet before us, I believe that emanci 
 pation will prove a blessing to both races and to our 
 entire country. Under a common flag we will now 
 work out a great and noble destiny." 
 
 " I fear that I have wearied you," said Mr. Petrovich, 
 smiling; "and yet I am tempted by my great interest, 
 and that of my country, in these questions, to make 
 another inquiry. Do you think the races will com 
 mingle, and the negroes ever lose their distinctive 
 color, form, and physiognomy ? " 
 
 " Never! in my opinion," answered Mr. Wellington, 
 decidedly. " The barriers seem to me impassable. I 
 infer the future from the past. After two centuries, 
 the races are still distinct." 
 
 "Then, it seems to me," replied Mr. Petrovich, 
 "that the negro problem is not only unsolved, but 
 insolvable. In the emancipation of our serfs, time will 
 overthrow the separating barriers ; while with you, 
 there is a difference of races, and consequently of social 
 classes and political interests, made by the Almighty 
 himself, ineradicable in our human nature. This is, 
 to me, the most ominous and mysterious aspect of the 
 whole bewildering subject." 
 
 "This I concede," said Mr. "Wellington, sadly and 
 thoughtfully. "My only hope is in doing right. 
 Freedom is right, education is right, social elevation 
 is right. Beyond this I have no sure light. Nothing 
 can be more trying than our practical difficulties at 
 this moment. The negro has a legal title to vote and 
 
514 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 hold office. Give him his rights, and we have all the 
 absurdities and monstrosities, in some States and many 
 counties, of negro rule ! Hence, to keep him from the 
 ballot-box, fraud and violence are practised by men 
 otherwise reliable and excellent. It is hard to blame 
 them, and hard to excuse them. I have one hope in 
 the future. Soon the South will invite Northern capital 
 and foreign immigration, and be a hive of industry, 
 in which the white population will preponderate and 
 control the negro, and thus give us, in effect, a homo 
 geneous society and government. As colored men 
 increase in intelligence and property, they will be more 
 and more inclined to escape their embarrassments here 
 by migrating to those noble states yet to be founded 
 amid the beautiful lakes and healthful mountains of 
 interior Africa. If this be a dream, I feel certain 
 that Heaven will open some better way, and that our 
 Flag will float forever, a symbol of union, over our 
 whole glorious land." 
 
 The gentlemen now separated, and we will soon 
 relate what ensued after this most interesting conver 
 sation. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 
 
 OVEMENTS of minds sometimes 
 resemble those of avalanches. See 
 in the mountain gorge that glitter 
 ing pile, waiting the touch of one 
 more sunbeam before it thunders 
 over its precipice and whitens the valley 
 with its ruin ! Ages formed it, but a 
 moment lets it loose. 
 
 Over the whole country was a vast 
 organized strike. Local associations of 
 ; the toilers, in their successive gradations, 
 communicated with each other, and finally 
 were brought under one supreme directing 
 Head. Funds were abundant. There were signs and 
 countersigns, and, over all, a certain mystery specially 
 attractive to the uneducated. Labor contemplated 
 bringing Capital into subjection. It was intended to 
 obstruct railroads, stop the way of trade to markets, 
 foreign and domestic, and, if necessary, overthrow the 
 Government itself. And the plan seemed feasible. It 
 relied on the power of numbers, and their essential 
 daily work in supplying the essential daily needs of 
 the country. The conspirators argued that, without 
 
518 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 blood, the body politic must expire, and that labor 
 was the blood of the body politic, whose life or death 
 were at their disposal. Over the whole land, the 
 stupendous scheme had extended itself. The avalanche 
 was in suspense. A touch, a ray, a breath, will start 
 its gigantic mass. 
 
 The impulse was not long wanting. Saul Bidman's 
 advice to Walter Sparker was the remote cause of the 
 ruin. Its immediate cause was the death of Belle 
 Standfast. The fiery passions awakened by her wrongs 
 precipitated the strike, already organized and awaiting 
 such a propulsive power. Workingmen identified them 
 selves with her family. A son of Capital had 
 wantonly seduced, disgraced, and destroyed a daughter 
 of Labor. Socialistic orators were keen to take advan 
 tage of the fact, and trumpet it abroad. The father, 
 indeed, said nothing, but he was a silent man, and it 
 was taken for granted that he was ready for revenge, 
 and would act with the orders against the class from 
 which had proceeded such a mortal injury. The air 
 was full of flame. Ruric seemed inspired with a 
 demoniac eloquence. He was a torch over the land. 
 His hour had come. An angel of ruin could not have 
 been better qualified for his work. Mobs were incited, 
 shops were occupied, railroads were seized, trains were 
 plundered, depots were destroyed, cities were in a 
 blaze. Capital, for the hour, was prostrate before 
 Labor. States were paralyzed. Even the Federal 
 Government doubted whether it could protect the lives 
 and property of its citizens. Belle Standfast's name 
 
THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 519 
 
 was a watchword over the land. It started the 
 avalanche. 
 
 On the night before the strike was to burst over 
 Alma, two men might have been seen moving stealthily 
 in the shadows to the house of General Adam 
 Sparker. They evidently wished to avoid observation, 
 and, stepping lightly over the porch, they tapped at 
 the rear door, and were admitted. After waiting a 
 few minutes, Edward Stewart and John Standfast 
 . found themselves in the library of General Sparker 
 who sat in his customary chair, but looking sad and 
 worn. 
 
 The old President and his trusted shop-master had 
 not met since the tragic day appointed for a wedding, 
 and made preparative for a funeral. Each, as ever, 
 esteemed the other. Explanations were unnecessary. 
 Death lacerates, but cannot divide true hearts. John 
 Standfast knew that Adam Sparker abhorred the con 
 duct of his son, and had done all in his power to 
 repair the infamous wrong. This was sufficient. The 
 eyes of the friends met, and their hands grasped in 
 all the warmth of their old love, esteem and confi 
 dence. 
 
 "Well, John," began the General, after a brief and 
 impressive silence ; " the hour you foresaw has arrived. 
 You were a true prophet. We will soon be in the 
 midst of tumult, violence and bloodshed. To me this 
 is a fearful disappointment. I had hoped better things, 
 and believed that our men would not desert me. 
 However, I have long since found in this world that 
 
520 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 we must accept the situation, and do not as we would, 
 but as we can." 
 
 "Yes, General," answered John, "it is worse than 
 I predicted. This Strike covers the whole country. 
 Even some of our most reliable men are caught in the 
 snare. Nearly all seem on fire. Ruric has stirred 
 their worst passions, and many are eager for blood 
 and flames." 
 
 "This grieves me deeply," cried the General, with 
 a tear in his eye. "Mr. Stewart, I understand that 
 you sent telegrams to the Governor and the President 
 for troops to protect the property of the Company." 
 
 "I was forced to take the responsibility, General," 
 replied Edward. "But the soldiers of the State can 
 not be relied on. The hearts of our militia are with 
 the mob, and, when the crisis comes, rather than fire 
 they fraternize, and even turn their muskets against 
 those they were sent to protect. Our Federal troops 
 cannot reach us on account of the obstruction on the 
 railroads." 
 
 "Then, it seems, we are utterly abandoned, and at 
 the mercy of the mob," exclaimed the General. "Who 
 will defend our shops and. the other property of the 
 Company ? It is even worse than I feared." 
 
 " But, General," interposed John, hastily ; " I have 
 one comfort for you. Ten of the men relieved in your 
 hospital, and the three old fellows supported by your 
 
 Veteran's Fund have offered their services, and swear 
 
 % 
 
 they will die in your defense. Indeed, they now stand 
 guard, and will shed their blood, if necessary." 
 
THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 521 
 
 "This is, indeed, one bright ray in our gloom," 
 said the General, as the tears rained from his eyes, 
 and his voice and form trembled with emotion. "I am 
 glad of this. After all, I have not mistaken human 
 nature. We will triumph in the end. I have relied 
 on justice and benevolence as my arms, and Heaven 
 will give us the victory, perhaps at the sacrifice of 
 my own life." 
 
 ' ' And do you remember drunken Pat Corrigan ? " 
 inquired John. " Against the protests of all your 
 friends, you gave him work on your lawn, and kept 
 his family from beggary. He has sworn away from 
 whisky at last, confessed to the priest, taken the com 
 munion once more, and, I believe, that he will fight 
 for us, until the last drop Stewart says of whisky, 
 but I think of blood. To-morrow will prove who 
 is right. Drunkard as Pat is, he has a warm and 
 true Irish heart." 
 
 " I take hope from this, slight as it may seem," 
 answered the General, slowly and thoughtfully. " It is 
 pleasant to know that we are not wholly betrayed and 
 abandoned. You, my friends, I knew could be trusted, 
 under all circumstances. What do you propose for 
 to-morrow ? " 
 
 "We have the ten hospital men, the three veterans, 
 Pat Corrigan, John and myself in all, sixteeen and 
 we are resolved to defend our post while we have a 
 charge of powder and a bullet for the mob, should 
 they be numerous as wolves and fierce as tigers. Your 
 three old rheumatic fellows hobbled to the shop on their 
 
522 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 crutches, and I believe the very sight of them will 
 scare or shame a hundred wild beasts." 
 
 The General smiled. He was contented. Such 
 fidelity shed a beauty and a glory over his closing 
 life. 
 
 "Thank you, my friends," he exclaimed, grasping 
 their hands. " Thank you. My heart is full. Your 
 loyalty has saved my old age from despair. Now I 
 am willing to die, and I feel that my departure is 
 near. It is but a step to Paradise." 
 
 "But, General," interposed Standfast, "will you not 
 accept part of our guard for yourself ? We are willing 
 to divide. At least take the veterans," he added, 
 laughing. 
 
 "Never, John! never!" said the General vehemently. 
 "I would not have one of their crutches, much less 
 their muskets. For myself, I trust in the Almighty. 
 I need no other shield. Powder and lead will never 
 be used by me against my men, even should they 
 make me their victim." 
 
 "Your words suggest to me," interrupted Edward, 
 "what had not occurred before. Dr. Bidman is in 
 mortal peril. The hatred toward him is without a 
 limit, and on him the storm will first discharge itself. 
 His house is a fortress, but, his guards are not to be 
 trusted. Even his money cannot bribe them into his 
 defense. At the first appearance of the mob, he will 
 be deserted." 
 
 " Ha ! " exclaimed the General, " I had not thought 
 of that. This is, indeed, terrible. I fear the worst, 
 
THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 523 
 
 and see no escape for him. He that taketh the sword, 
 it seems, is to perish by the sword. What is your 
 opinion, John ?" 
 
 "I agree entirely with Mr. Stewart," answered 
 Standfast. 
 
 " Then," said the General, " we must make an effort 
 to save him. I can tell you what to do, but it is 
 necessary to communicate to you a great secret, known 
 only to three persons. The Doctor, in his alarm, 
 caused a subterranean passage to be dug from his house 
 to mine, by a workman sworn and paid never to dis 
 close the fact. John, will you not go and persuade 
 him to make his refuge with me ? Here he will have 
 at least a chance for his life, whereas, there, death is 
 certain. I fear that he will not be convinced, and I 
 know that he has no title to your kindness." 
 
 "Do not think of that, General," replied Standfast, 
 at once. "I will save him if I can." 
 
 He received from his aged friend the keys of the 
 door of the passage, listened to his directions, struck a 
 match, seized and lighted a lamp he saw on the table, 
 and proceeded on his errand. Groping in the dim rays, 
 beneath the earth, he at last emerged into the cellar 
 of his enemy, and, mounting the stairs, knocked at the 
 room where he supposed Bidman most likely to be 
 found. Nor was he mistaken. A hollow voice bade 
 him enter. Before him was his foe in ghastly terror. 
 Yes ! Bidman is confronted by the father whose daugh 
 ter had been disgraced, frenzied, killed by that fatal 
 advice to Walter Sparker. Blood was on the soul of 
 
524 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 the coward, and he thought that the hour of vengeance 
 had now come. In his insane alarm, he seized, cocked, 
 and levelled his revolver, crying : 
 
 " John Standfast, stop ! Come no nearer ! Why 
 are you here ? Explain ! Advance another step and 
 I will shoot you." 
 
 "I am here by the command of General Sparker 
 for your own good. A ball from your pistol through 
 my heart would destroy your last hope of life." 
 
 "How did you come?" gasped Bidman, in horrible 
 fear. " Did my guards admit you against my orders ? 
 Have you bought them ? or have they deserted ? Tell 
 me how you got here and what you want." 
 
 As he talked, his teeth chattered and his flesh quiv 
 ered in his fright. 
 
 "I came through the underground passage by the 
 General's direction," answered Standfast, gazing into the 
 eye of his foe. 
 
 "It's a lie! "howled Bidman. "General Sparker 
 lies. You lie yourself. It's a cursed plan to ruin me." 
 
 "But Doctor," said John, "here is the proof of my 
 commission. In my hand I hold the keys of the pas 
 sage given me by your father-in-law. I have come to- 
 inform you that your guards will not suffer your 
 escape, and yet will betray you when the moment of 
 peril arrives. These men have sworn to have your 
 life, and you are wholly in their power. Your only 
 safety is with General Sparker. His influence may 
 protect you. I advise you to come with me through 
 the secret way to his house." 
 
THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 525 
 
 "Another lie!" exclaimed Bidman, aghast and 
 scarcely knowing what he said. " You are all against 
 me and mean my ruin. My money will keep my 
 men true. Nothing else will. Gold, I tell you, gold 
 is my hope. I am safe, by Heaven, I am safe in 
 this place. I can't die, and I won't die, and I'll never 
 leave. Go ! I don't want your help ! Begone ! The 
 sight of you crazes me ! Out of my room, John 
 Standfast." 
 
 " I will obey you, Doctor, in a moment," answered 
 the noble man, unmoved by the insult. " But first I 
 would persuade you. Don't throw away your only 
 chance of life. The State soldiers have proved treach 
 erous, the Federal troops cannot reach us, and when 
 the mob attacks you they will show no mercy. I 
 have come to save you, only to be met with insults 
 and a pistol, and I can only once more beg you to 
 follow my advice, and not fling away your only chance 
 of flight and safety." 
 
 "John," replied Bidman, in a more subdued tone. 
 " I acknowledge that I suspected you where, I hope, 
 you intended me no harm. But I must decline your 
 offer, and remain in my own house, which is so 
 strongly fortified that I believe I can hold out until 
 the troops come for my rescue." 
 
 Having said this, Bidman paused, evidently desiring 
 no further interruption, and Standfast had to leave him 
 to his fate. 
 
 It seemed impossible for the doomed wretch to con 
 ceive in the breast of the man he had wronged any- 
 
526 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 thing except the hate and vengeance which burned in 
 his own. His dark soul made him suspect that even 
 General Sparker was a confederate for his injury. 
 How dreadful is guilt thus left to itself! The rich 
 rascal is alone in the world ! Not one to help him ! 
 How vain the gold on which he depends for his life ! 
 He has realized the dreams of his ambition ! The 
 place he coveted he has reached ! His wealth is 
 fabulous. Yet not on earth one friend, and in Heaven 
 vengeance instead of defense ! Success crowns a 
 spectre rather than a man ! The ghosts of an evil 
 past are rising round to mock him in his lonely, help 
 less misery. Who can estimate his tortures as he 
 walks restlessly through his splendid mansion ? Those 
 ample rooms, those stately halls, that costly furniture, 
 pictures, vases, statues what gilded trumpery now ! 
 The flowers of his conservatory, in their innocent 
 beauty, seem laughing at him. He starts and trembles 
 as he sees his ghastly face in a magnificent mirror ! 
 One night has done the work of years, and he gazes 
 on an old man. His words to Walter Sparker, coun 
 selling desertion and dishonor, are burning about him 
 in a glaring flame that points his path to destruc 
 tion. 
 
 The eventful day began in gloom. Occasional clouds 
 drifted over the sun, and the air was chilled by thick 
 mists. As the morning advanced the whole sky became 
 obscured. Great masses of black clouds piled to the 
 zenith their threatening forms, often quivering with 
 lightnings, and growling with low thunders. Not a 
 
THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 527 
 
 sound is in the shops. The puffing engine, the rattling 
 band, the cutting drill, the shrill file, the clinking ham- 
 marall are ominously silent. No fire glows in the 
 furnace of a locomotive and no smoke ascends in sign 
 of active work. Whole trains of cars are on the 
 sidings and stretched in lines along the road. Over all 
 are the chill and gloom and silence of desertion and 
 death. In every section of the Republic were experi 
 enced the ruinous effects of the Great Strike. 
 
 After breakfast some few workmen assembled, pipe 
 in mouth, and stood around, with hands in pockets, 
 discussing the situation. Each moment the numbers 
 increase. Now the grounds are filled. A few of the 
 men have rifles, many pistols, nearly all knives, or 
 daggers. While talking, their looks are dark and 
 sullen, and they pull at their pipes with a savage 
 earnestness, speaking in low tones, and often shaking 
 their heads with gestures of discontent, and even of 
 vengeance. Young drinking lads, and red-eyed, bloated 
 men are specially noisy and blasphemous. Let us 
 approach and hear from their lips what passes in their 
 hearts ! 
 
 " Hurrah!" cried Ned Bunce. "Our day's come, and 
 we'll have it all our own way now ! Capital can't do 
 without Labor more nor a man without his legs. Let 
 the legs walk away from him, and the fellow tumbles, 
 sure. Hurrah for the legs ! They're a walkin' off with 
 the whole country ! " 
 
 "But," said Jack Slow, slyly, "suppose the legs go 
 and don't come back agin to the body, where'll they 
 
528 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 git their blood. Seems to me legs needs the body 
 much as the body needs the legs." 
 
 Flint was puzzled at this extension of his comparison, 
 and scratched his head over the conclusion, but could 
 not draw out an idea, and remained silent. Dick Sharp 
 came to his assistance, saying : 
 
 "Curse you, Ned; you're on the side of Capital or 
 you wouldn't talk in that style. I think the legs is 
 doin' mighty well jist now they're walkin' off with 
 everything and will make their own way in the world, 
 sure. Let 'em run away with all they can git from 
 the Big Bugs, and have a good time while 1 they can. 
 Legs is up 1 Hurrah ! " 
 
 Here Bill Driver interposed. 
 
 "Who cares for legs? I'm in for champagne five 
 dollars a bottle. I dreamed last night I heard a 
 hundred corks pop, and that I was swimmin' and 
 drinkin' in Bidman's cellar with the jolly stuff a 
 sparklin' down Bill Driver's throat like water from a 
 full tank into an empty tender." 
 
 "Champagne for arhistocrats ! " cried Brian O'Shanty. 
 " Whaskey for me, the ould Irish crathur, sich as Father 
 Tom gave the Poope when he smhacked his houly lips, 
 and all Roome heard the swate noise. Brian O'Shanty'll 
 be in fur Bidman's whaskey, and Bidman's whaskey'll 
 be into Brian O'Shanty, sure as there's a dry throat in 
 Purgathory." 
 
 "Nah! Nah!" interposed Dutch Hans, with Teutonic 
 disgust. " Te lager is'h te bhetters ! Tat's vich I 
 vants ! Is'h dreamed too, last night, and it vas tat 
 
THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 529 
 
 mine troat vas von mile long, and tat Bidman's lager 
 vas runnin' down all te vay, and I'se vokes up happier 
 nor von king." 
 
 " His money chists for me," roared out Steve Clutch. 
 "Money's champagne, whisky, lager, and every liquor 
 you can think of. Money's house, dresses, vittles, 
 edication, wife, children, coach, horses, driver, and all 
 that makes the bug big, paints his wings and helps 
 him fly higher nor his neighbors. Give me money, 
 and I'll beller louder nor any frog in the puddle, 
 Europe or America. They've lowered my pay and 
 raised my work, and Steve Clutch proposes this mornin' 
 to be even with 'em, and get what'll lift up his family, 
 and ask nobody's leave." 
 
 "All wrong!" bellowed Andy Tinker, the shop- 
 philosopher. "The State is everything, and none of us 
 is nothing. Let the State sell out capital for the benefit 
 of labor cars, locomotives, houses, lands, all property of 
 every kind and divide the proceeds. Labor made it 
 and labor ought to have it each man his share. That's 
 fair and square and my doctrine. Let labor have a 
 good time, stay on top and keep capital down at the 
 bottom, and then hurrah for freedom, short hours and 
 equality ! " 
 
 While these exchanges of wishes and opinions were 
 progressing, a shrill whistle was heard in the distance. 
 Hark ! a low, thunderous rumble, interrupted by louder 
 screams, re-echoed amid the mountain rocks. A head 
 light shows its broad glare through the mists, and with 
 increasing noise the Eagle sweeps round a curve and 
 
530 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 stops in the midst of the gathering crowd. Jim Fly, 
 with his hand on the lever, leans forward, puts his 
 face out of the window, and cries : 
 
 " Hurrah, boys ! I've done more nor I promised. I've 
 run on my own account from the Hudson to the Mis- 
 sissipi, and back again, in spite of Uncle Sam and the 
 Railroad Big Bugs. The Eagle's free, and a jolly bird 
 for a fast fly. Labor's ahead in this race, and Capital 
 stands a lookin' on, with its hands in its pockets. It's 
 a comfortable feelin' to have when you know no man's 
 your master, and Capital pays your bills. Hurrah for 
 the Eagle ! Hurrah for Liberty ! Hurrah for Labor ! 
 Three groans for Capital ! " 
 
 The men responded loudly, and as they cheered, grew 
 wild with excitement. Then followed hisses, groans, 
 and shouts of derision. When the fury was greatest, 
 and the noise loudest, the door of the passenger-car 
 opened, and Kuric stood on the platform. As soon as he 
 was seen the tumult ceased, and the men gazed on him 
 in surprise and silent wonder, mingled with a feeling of 
 mysterious awe. His long hair streamed in the morning 
 winds ; his beard was shaggy and disordered ; his 
 cheek hollow ; his eye had the look of blood ; his face 
 was flushed with fierce passions ; and, altogether, he 
 seemed like some avenging fury just ready to hurl the 
 torch and let havoc loose. Pausing a moment to survey 
 the crowd, he cried in clear, but sepulchral and ominous, 
 voice : 
 
 "Men, your hour has come ! Your battle has been 
 fought and won. Capital is in the dust, and triumphant 
 
THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 533 
 
 Labor waves its banner over the whole land. Not in 
 Europe are kings and princes and nobles worse in their 
 oppressions than these infamous railroad tyrants, who 
 grind you more despotically than even Czars and Empe 
 rors. You have been their slaves. You have reared 
 their colossal fortunes. You, by your sweat and toil, 
 have built their palaces and created their luxuries. 
 Now you can take your back-pay. Have it to the last 
 cent ! Revenge yourselves in fire and blood. Blot out 
 the tyrants ! Destroy the old and bring in the new ! 
 Begin society over again, and found it on the rights of 
 labor ! See in me the victim of tyrants ! Know in me 
 what your masters will do ! Whipped, chained, impris 
 oned, worked in dark mines, starved, mangled, banished, 
 driven to despair by a despot in the old world, I have 
 a right to advise you in the new to leave nothing, to 
 wipe out the past ! Strangle the vipers, destroy their 
 nests, and kill their young ! Begin this morning with a 
 pistol in one hand and the torch in the other ! Blood 
 and fire ! Your first victim should be Bidman. Remem 
 ber Belle Standfast ! A son of capital has dishonored 
 a daughter of labor ! Revenge ! " 
 
 This spark kindled the magazine. The men recog 
 nized in Ruric their leader. His insane and murderous 
 passion kindled the crowd into a blaze of inextinguish* 
 able excitement. Wild cries rent the air. 
 
 " Revenge ! Down with Capital ! Up with Labor ! 
 Let the workman have his own ! Hurrah for the right I 
 Bidman ! Belle Standfast ! Blood ! Fire ! Vengeance ! " 
 
 Ruric, with his rifle in his hand and his dagger and 
 
534 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 pistols in his belt, leaping down from the car, placed 
 himself at the head of the furious men. He led them 
 directly to the house of Bidman. As they approached 
 they met his six paid guards deserting their employer, 
 and who, mingling with his assailants, increased the 
 rage and noise of the tumult. 
 
 The miserable owner of the superb mansion had also 
 witnessed the treachery of his hired defenders, and the 
 sight drove him to despair. Already the armed crowd 
 surrounded his dwelling, and escape was impossible. 
 He saw vengeance in their looks, heard vengeance in 
 their yells, and knew that his advice to Walter Sparker, 
 in which was the blood of Belle Standfast, was hurled 
 back on him by Heaven in vengeance. 
 
 Now he thought of the secret passage, through 
 which he had disdained escape when suggested by 
 John Standfast, the man he had wronged, and from 
 whose lips he would receive no counsel. Perhaps the 
 door might be open ! He flew to it ! The bolt was 
 tight ! He tried to undo it, but it was obstinately and 
 fatally fast. Discouraged, he attempts to force the 
 door from its hinges, and then to break through a 
 panel. All his efforts are vain. He ascends the 
 stairs. He goes to a window. Twenty pistols are 
 leveled at his head. Shouts of execration salute his 
 ears. He ran to the top of the house, lifted a trap 
 door, and thrust out his head. A ball from Ruric's 
 rifle crashed through his jaw, and he fled, howling, 
 below, amid the jeers and curses of the mob. Now 
 he rushed frantically through the halls, swearing, 
 
THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 537 
 
 yelling, raving, wringing his hands, tearing his hair. 
 What there fixes his eye ? How he stares and glares ! 
 His breath stops. He sees an uplifted hand bearing a 
 torch, and the flames creeping up the pillars of his 
 piazza. Ha ! his house is in a blaze ! Fire and smoke 
 are in league to burn and stifle him ! In his frenzy, 
 he rushes again to the roof. Soon as he is seen a 
 hundred guns flash and crack, and his body is pierced 
 with balls. Lo, a report like thunder ! Both earth and 
 heaven seem to shake, and the blazing fragments of 
 the house are scattered widely and wildly through the 
 air. The powder in the cellar has caught a spark 
 and exploded. Thus the very agent provided by Saul 
 Bidman for his safety has turned against him, and 
 not a bone, not a nail, not a hair, not an atom of 
 his body was ever seen by mortal eye. 
 
 Next, the crowd passes to the house of General 
 Sparker. The old man is on his piazza! Courage is 
 in his heart, his eye, his face. By the negligence of 
 the servants, after John Standfast's inspection, the 
 anvil of the patriarch had been left on the piazza, 
 and unconsciously the patriarch stands on it. In life 
 and death he was to be a type of Capital supported by 
 Labor, and linking together the poor and the rich. His 
 gray locks wave in the winds created by the flames, 
 whose glare is on his venerable head, and he looks the 
 personification of manly majesty. It had been his 
 intention to address the crowd, but his quick and true 
 instinct showed that silence would be more potent than 
 words. Those arms folded with serene dignity ; that 
 
538 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. . 
 
 benevolent countenance breathing peace, sorrow, and 
 forgiveness ; that grand form and noble brow recalling 
 his rectitude, his charity, and all the good deeds of 
 more than half a century; all these had a persuasive 
 and awful eloquence greater than belongs to the voice 
 of the orator. His presence was the glory of his 
 defense. Hard hearts were softened before him, and 
 tears left their traces down rough and Blackened 
 cheeks. A sob shivered through the crowd. When 
 Kuric lifted his rifle, a dozen hands pulled it down, 
 and would have torn him to pieces had he touched the 
 trigger. All that Benevolence and Justice can impress 
 on humanity came out from those rude natures in that 
 memorable hour, to prove in what is the true empire 
 over men. Virtue was Heaven's shield over the old 
 hero. Overcome by his exertions, he fell and expired, 
 bewailed by those who had come with murderous 
 threats against his life. 
 
 Baffled by this unexpected spectacle, some of the 
 more hardened and desperate wretches of the mob now 
 cried : 
 
 "To the shops! We will burn the shops! They 
 belong to the company ! Down with Capital ! Hurrah 
 for Labor ! The shops ! The shops ! Fire and ven 
 geance ! " 
 
 To the shops many of the crowd rushed, and formed 
 around them a circle. A wholesome fear was inspired 
 when they saw the windows bristling with guns, and 
 the ten guards made faithful by the hospital service, 
 and the three veteran pensioners of General Sparker, 
 
THE GREAT STRIKE'S TRIUMPH AND DEFEAT. 539 
 
 and Pat Corrigan, with his rifle on his shoulder, 
 looking virtuous and resolved ; and Edward Stewart, 
 with unquailing eye, in command, and standing 
 evidently ready to do his duty. A halt and a pause 
 ensued, during which some of the lads began shooting 
 
 blazing arrows, which were setting on fire the roof. 
 
 s 
 Destruction was inevitable, and the mob stood, satisfied 
 
 to see the advancing flames. But who creeps out of 
 the hatchway ? Rifles and pistols are ready. It is 
 John Standfast, with a bucket of water in each hand. 
 He quietly extinguishes the flames. Not a gun is 
 leveled. What ! Is this the man whom the mob 
 expected to see maddened by his wrongs, and con 
 spiring with them in death and destruction ? Yes ! it 
 is even he ! There he is, at his post, faithful to his 
 trust, risking life for duty, repaying good for evil, 
 periling himself to save the property of enemies who 
 had ruined his daughter, sent his wife to her grave, 
 and blasted his home, covering it with an eternal cloud 
 of shame ! An overpowering influence went forth 
 from the hero. He was of themselves. General 
 Sparker had risen into a different class. Hearts were 
 moved and eyes moistened which had not yielded to 
 the spell of the President's moral power. Silently the 
 crowd disperses. On the very next day every man 
 was in his place in the Alma shops, and soon the 
 effect was visible along the whole line of the road, 
 .and, indeed, extended itself over the entire country. 
 The Great Strike had received a mortal blow. RECTI 
 TUDE and BENEVOLENCE triumphed. Governments and 
 
540 
 
 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 capitalists must build on THESE if they would continue 
 to rule the laboring masses. 
 
" The Vale of Paradise, amid those 
 gigantic mountains, standing like monarch sentinels robed in eternal verdure.-' 
 
 Pace 557. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 
 
 R. PETROVICH and Nicolai had 
 remained in Halidon for some 
 weeks after the disappearance of 
 Tip and Lil, but could obtain no 
 trace of their movements. The 
 suspense was again long and 
 discouraging. But at last the unfailing 
 Ling came once more to their aid. When 
 just about to abandon the pursuit, the giant 
 ^ burst on them with a joyful face, and 
 another paper from the New York Agency 
 containing an unmistakable account of the 
 children. Fearing discovery, Ruric had 
 directed To jo to convey them by rail to Goldville, a 
 town in the great mining region of the west. 
 
 Mr. Petrovich, after much hesitation and much per 
 suasion on the part of Nicolai, finally consented to take 
 Ling and follow. This, however, was to be his last 
 effort. If it failed, he would return home immediately. 
 Accordingly, the gentlemen and their servant took the 
 cars at Halidon station, and, in a few days, found 
 themselves in Goldville. Here it was discovered that 
 the children had made a long sojourn, but without a 
 

 544 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 public exhibition. Soon it also appeared that Ruric 
 and Tojo had been there directing their motions. This 
 added greatly to the anxiety of the pursuers. After 
 weary weeks, they could discover nothing to indicate 
 where Tip and Lil had gone. Leaving the giant at 
 Goldville to prosecute the search, Mr. Petrovich and 
 Nicolai to relieve their minds and see the country, made 
 numerous and distant excursions. They visited and 
 explored the Yosemite, the Yellowstone, some Colorado 
 canons, and many of the most celebrated mines of the 
 region. It was after a return from one of their long 
 est journeys the conversation occurred we are now to 
 record. 
 
 "I confess," said Mr. Petrovich, "I am totally 
 discouraged in our search. The way never seemed so 
 dark. I will wait here three more days, and unless 
 we find soine undoubted proofs, I will return to Russia." 
 
 " I agree with you," answered Nicolai. " We will 
 not be justified in a longer pursuit. I can now leave 
 with a good conscience, and have determined to go with 
 you home, and there devote myself to the great work 
 of my life. The knowledge, however, we have acquired 
 during the last few weeks, I am sure, we will never 
 regret." 
 
 " Our trouble and expense have not, indeed, been in 
 vain," answered Mr. Petrovich. "How sublime the 
 spectacle of those prairies ! What boundless wealth of 
 soil ! We have beheld the granary of the world. Nor 
 is anything in the west more wonderful than the size 
 and beauty of the towns, which seem like growths of 
 
AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 545 
 
 magic. The marvels of the Yosemite, and the Yellow 
 stone, and the Colorado, these exhaustless mines and 
 grand mountains, to be comprehended must be seen. I 
 must admit that the resources of the country are sur 
 passed by its magnificence, and that it appears to be 
 the crowning work of the Almighty in our world." 
 
 " I am, indeed, relieved," answered Nicolai, with a 
 bright face, "to hear you say this, and was greatly 
 afraid you would censure me for urging you forward. 
 Yet, while I admire the country, my heart yearns for 
 our dear Russia." 
 
 "Now I can comprehend," said Mr. Petrovich, "what 
 seemed to me your excessive republican predilections. 
 Possibly I have suffered my monarchical prejudices to 
 color my judgments, and have expressed myself too 
 severely. I confess I love the splendor and refine 
 ment which surround a throne, and that life here too 
 often appears new and naked. But, on the other hand, 
 I must remember that this land is the home of the 
 nations. It is for the people, and what they lack in 
 the delicacy and elegance peculiar to a court and an 
 aristocracy, is more than returned to them in all the 
 elements of substantial happiness." 
 
 "We now agree perfectly," replied Nicolai. "I could 
 not have so well expressed my own opinions. And yet, 
 with you, I prefer my own government and country." 
 
 " It is wonderful," interposed Mr. Petrovich, " how 
 much mere physical endowment predisposes to favor 
 able judgments. The mines, the prairies, and these 
 sublime mountains have with me inclined the scale for 
 
546 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 the grand republic. You cannot be in the land with 
 out glowing visions of a limitless future of blessing for 
 our humanity." 
 
 "And what is most curious," said Nicolai, "is the 
 tie binding the American Republic to the Russian 
 Empire. Could forms of government be more differ 
 ent ? Could social conditions be more widely separ 
 ated ? Could the extremes be greater as regards origin, 
 history and development ? Yet the two countries, 
 united in a mysterious sympathy, must have some 
 common mission and destiny." 
 
 While this conversation was progressing, Ling had 
 wandered through the village almost in despair. Even 
 his heart had begun to sink. Years before, in China, 
 Mr. Petrovich had rescued him when drowning, and 
 he had since been a trusted and enthusiastic servant, 
 anxious to devote his life to his master. In the long 
 pursuit his patience and courage had never before 
 failed. His whole soul was concentrated in a success 
 which would bring to his preserver the greatest hap 
 piness possible. The faithful giant passed sadly to 
 the extremity of the town. A midnight was over 
 him. He held down his head muttering as he walked 
 through the valley of the shadow of his despair. 
 Happening to raise his eyes he saw a lad sleeping 
 under a tree. The feet of the boy were bare and 
 lacerated, his face was pinched and thin, his clothing 
 was in rags, but his long black eye-lashes, his dark 
 hair, his soft and peculiar expression and rare oriental 
 beauty, lent to him a resistless charm. Often, as he 
 
AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 547 
 
 slumbered, his lips would move, and then a gleam of 
 light seemed to come out over his countenance like 
 the moon through a cloud. Ling stopped, gazed, was 
 bound by a spell to the spot. Slowly the giant got 
 on his knees and continued to look. He was fascinated. 
 Who was this strange boy? What had made him 
 thus almost naked, tired and bleeding? And what in 
 the heart of Ling awakened this overpowering interest ? 
 Many minutes passed. A half-hour was gone. Still 
 the giant gazed and still the lad slept. Suddenly 
 those black eyes are opened ! A smile of recognition 
 illuminated the face of Ling. Yes ! he saw it all. 
 The light has come. He was transported to the scene 
 on the battery and in the house of Ruric, described in 
 the first chapter of our story. Here before him is 
 the object of his search. It is Tip ! 
 
 The boy awakening, looked in the giant's face, and 
 seeing there love and sympathy, exclaimed, in a low, 
 faint voice : 
 
 " I am so sick and tired. Can you give me some 
 food ? Oh, get me a doctor. I am nearly dead. I 
 have money in my belt and I can pay him and you." 
 
 " Monee no me wantee ! " said the giant. " Me 
 wantee you. You be Tippee." 
 
 "Yes," answered the boy, faintly, "that is my 
 name. I am Tip, but I never saw you before." 
 
 "Don't talkee muchee!" replied Ling. "Me you 
 soughtee longee, muchee, all over Mellika. Ah ! foundee 
 you ! " and the giant uttered peals of joyful laughter 
 from his glad heart. 
 
548 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. . 
 
 When Ling could at last restrain himself he asked : 
 
 " Where from youee ? " 
 
 "I cannot tell you now," said Tip, " I am too weak. 
 Get me some food and medicine, and when I get better 
 you shall know everything." 
 
 The giant took the boy in his strong arms and 
 folded him to his warm breast, and bore him through 
 the village, and carried him to his own room, and laid 
 him tenderly on his bed, and procured him nourishment, 
 and bathed his wounds, and then went for a physician. 
 Soon Tip, although yet weak, was refreshed and lying 
 in a sweet and healthful slumber. 
 
 When the lad had received his care, Ling sought 
 Mr. Petrovich and Mcolai in their apartments. Over 
 flowing as he was with joy and triumph, he did not 
 forget his oriental deference and politeness. But after 
 his obeisance, the flood burst forth. His countenance 
 was radiant and his very pigtail seemed to vibrate in 
 sympathy with his heart. 
 
 "Me foundee him," he exclaimed. "Me habee here 
 him ! in thisee house ! here him ! here ! Me habbe." 
 
 The giant leaped, danced, whirled, talked, gesticu 
 lated, until the gentlemen thought him a candidate for 
 the lunatic asylum. 
 
 "What is the meaning of this ?" asked Mr. Petro 
 vich, rather impatiently. "You seem crazy. Cannot 
 you tell us what discoveries have made you mad ? Let 
 us know at once ! " 
 
 " Me foundee him," answered the giant, with greater 
 impetuosity than ever, "foundee! foundee! himsee." 
 
AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 549 
 
 " But whom ! " inquired Mr. Petrovich, with rising 
 temper. "Be quiet and tell me whom you mean?" 
 
 His decided and displeased tone brought Ling to 
 his senses, and he answered : 
 
 " Tippee, Tippee, Tippee, me foundee." 
 
 It was now in turn that the gentlemen were aston 
 ished. 
 
 "Tip!" they ejaculated together. 
 
 " Surely you dream, or have become a lunatic," said 
 Mr. Petrovich. 
 
 " Where is he ? " burst out Nicolai, in an ecstacy of 
 surprise, and curiosity. " Tell us where he is." 
 
 Ling had now become completely restored, and 
 answered : 
 
 " In thisee house he Tippee be ! Me showee you 
 him" 
 
 The giant went to the door, and through the hall 
 and down the stairs to his room, followed by the 
 gentlemen. There, indeed, on the bed was the sleep 
 ing boy, whom Mr. Petrovich had seen on the 
 Battery in New York. Long thej all stood and gazed 
 in silence. What link was this in the mysterious 
 chain of destiny ! What toil, and time, and thought to 
 bring them to this result ! That slumbering lad, with 
 his beautiful Indian face ! What is the secret of his 
 life ? Can it be obtained from him ? Was it to pass 
 those lips ? Or, was it to be forever sealed and hidden ? 
 Who could tell ? Where is the girl ? Is she lost ? 
 Is she dead ? More horrible than all is she in Ruric's 
 power ? While these inquiries were flashing through 
 
550 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 the souls of the gazers, Tip opened his eyes, and was 
 startled when he saw these strange men bending over 
 him with a gaze so earnest. Very soon he remem 
 bered Mr. Petrovich as the gentleman with whom 
 Kuric had the furious struggle. 
 
 "Oh, sir," he said, with difficulty and in a murmuring 
 voice, " I am so glad to see you. I know you are 
 my friend. I have something to say to you alone." 
 
 Mr. Petrovich at once requested Nicolai and 
 Ling to withdraw, and was thus left with Tip. He 
 took the boy's hand and said : 
 
 "Yes! I am, indeed, your friend, and will take care 
 of you while you live. Tell me all that is in your 
 mind." 
 
 "Oh, sir," burst out Tip, with quivering heart and 
 overflowing eyes, "you must make haste. Lil is in 
 great danger. If you do not go soon, she will be 
 dead." 
 
 " Be calm, my boy," answered Mr. Petrovich, with 
 assumed quietude of manner. " Do not exhaust your 
 self. All depends on you. Let me know where she 
 is, and what will be necessary for her rescue." 
 
 "I will try," replied Tip, with great effort. " Ruric, 
 Tojo, Lil and I were in this place not long since. Our 
 master decided to take us to the Vale of Paradise, about 
 a hundred miles from here, where he had bought a 
 cottage. We went most of the way by rail and the 
 rest on horses. 'When we got there, he told Lil that in 
 a month he would marry her. She hates him, and she 
 told me she would kill herself." 
 
AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 551 
 
 " Would kill herself ! " exclaimed Mr. Petrovich, 
 horrified. "Was she in earnest?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, sir," answered Tip. "She would do what 
 she said, and rather die than marry E-uric. She told me 
 that on the morning of the day she would throw herself 
 over the precipice." 
 
 "But how was he to marry her?" inquired Mr. 
 Petrovich, with increasing terror and anguish. "Where 
 would he find a priest ? " 
 
 "He said a priest was all humbug," replied the boy. 
 "He wouldn't have him, if he could. He is to take 
 Lil on the wedding morning out on the rock, and stand 
 before the rising sun, and then they are to join hands 
 and be man and wife." 
 
 Mr. Petrovich was aghast. He trembled with excite- 
 ment. An abyss was, indeed, gaping beneath the feet 
 of the girl. After great effort he inquired : 
 
 "On what day was this to be?" 
 
 Tip thought a moment and answered : 
 
 "Perhaps I have not kept my time right, but I think 
 it will be just ten days from this." 
 
 "And what brought you here, my boy?" asked Mr. 
 Petrovich. 
 
 "I knew," said Tip, "if help did not come, Lil would 
 take her life, and to save it, I ran away to do what I 
 could, but I got sick and weak and was lost on the 
 mountains and this made me longer. But it is not too 
 "late yet. She can be saved. If you go at once, she 
 can be saved." 
 
 Mr. Petrovich looked on the suffering little hero with 
 
552 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 a heart full of love and admiration. At last lie was 
 able to inquire : 
 
 "Have you strength to guide us back? Could you 
 find the way ? All now depends on you." 
 
 These words inspired Tip with a new life. His 
 black eyes gleamed and sparkled with joy, and his 
 features shone in a light which seemed scarcely of 
 earth. He raised himself on his elbow and said: 
 
 "Yes, sir! I feel I will have strength given me. 
 Lil is to me like a sister. I would do anything for 
 her. I will start with you to-morrow, and show you, 
 if it kills me." 
 
 Mr. Petrovich shook the boy's hand, but was so 
 overpowered that he could not speak for many minutes. 
 He said at last : 
 
 " My lad, keep quiet. Get all the strength you can. 
 I will leave you now, and will make every arrangement 
 to deliver the girl from this fearful wretch who would 
 destroy her." 
 
 He withdrew from the room, and Tip sank back into 
 a deep slumber. 
 
 Ling was in his element. His tact and energy were 
 invaluable. Before the sun disappeared behind the 
 mountains, he had secured two Indian guides, an escort 
 of six stalwart men, a slight litter for Tip, to be 
 carried by relays of the guards, and made arrangements 
 for supplies of arms, provisions, and all other neces 
 saries for the fatiguing and perilous enterprise. 
 
 Early next day the march was commenced. Including 
 Mr. Petrovich, Nicolai, Ling, and Tip, the party num- 
 
AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 553 
 
 bered twelve persons. Under the directions of the boy, 
 they proceeded to the western extremity of the town, 
 and then along a narrow valley to the steep side of a 
 mountain, where they plunged into a pine-forest. For 
 the first three days, the trail was made easy to the two 
 Indian guides by the drops of blood which had fallen 
 from the feet of Tip after his shoes had been worn out. 
 Then the way became more difficult to find and to 
 follow. Still, a fragment of the boy's clothing, a broken 
 twig, a bruised leaf, a piece of paper purposely dropped, 
 assisted by Tip's own quick memory and intelligence, 
 made the party sure that they were in the right path. 
 On the sixth day, when the toilsome journey was about 
 two-thirds accomplished, the sick lad gave evident signs 
 of exhaustion. His energies had expended themselves. 
 His eyes seemed growing to an unnatural size, and to 
 sparkle with an unearthly fire. His lips became pallid, 
 and his cheeks sunken and ghastly. Early in the 
 afternoon his feebleness compelled the party to halt for 
 the night. 
 
 For several days, Mcolai had been constantly with 
 Tip, and preparing his mind, by his priestly counsels, for 
 the change he saw would be inevitable. As he bent 
 over the litter, the dying boy opened his eyes and 
 looked on his new friend with inexpressible gratitude. 
 With his thin hands, he took the gold chain of the 
 locket from his neck, and gazed long and earnestly on 
 that mysterious face, at last asking : 
 
 "Sir, can you tell me in what language these words 
 are written, and what they mean ? " 
 
554 , KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 Nicolai held the locket, examined it carefully, and 
 answered : 
 
 "These are Arabic words, which spell the name 
 Hyder Ali, who was a great Kajah or prince in India 
 more than a century ago." 
 
 A flash of intelligence darted over the features of 
 Tip. His lip quivered, and his whole frame became 
 agitated. 
 
 " Oh, sir," he exclaimed, with deep emotion, " that 
 word seems to unlock my memory. I see it all. He 
 was my mother's grandfather. Now I can recollect 
 our palace, the elephant on which I used to ride, our 
 city, my rich dress, and all the beautiful things. 
 Yes sir, I was a prince. But that is no matter now. 
 Promise to bury this locket with me. When I am in 
 my grave I want to feel that it is on my breast." 
 
 "My dear boy," answered Nicolai, "I do not doubt 
 that you are right in your recollections of yourself. 
 Many things conspire to prove it. I will most gladly 
 do what you request; Your life will soon be over, 
 and you must not regret what you have lost." 
 
 "Oh, no, no sir," whispered Tip, with a brightening 
 eye and face ; " I do not wish to live, even if I would 
 be a prince in my own land, because I am tired, so 
 tired, and I want to be at rest. And now I will ask 
 one thing more. I always told Lil I would never be 
 a Christian, but since talking with you, I feel differ 
 ently. I believe in our Saviour and I want you to 
 baptize me." 
 
 "Most gladly, my son," exclaimed Nicolai, bursting 
 
AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 555 
 
 into tears and unable longer to control his emotions. 
 " I will make arrangements immediately. You have 
 filled me with great joy." 
 
 " Oh, there ; see there, sir," cried the boy in a low, 
 clear, musical voice, while his face beamed with a 
 celestial joy, as he pointed upwards; "it seems as if 
 I was mounting to heaven like that bird." 
 
 As he spoke, he pointed to a mountain-eagle wheel 
 ing sunward on royal wing above the clouds. 
 
 Nicolai procured some pure water which sparkled 
 from a spring, and called together the party to be 
 witnesses of the baptism. The chrism of his Church 
 he was compelled to omit. As he sprinkled the 
 sacred drops on the brow of Tip in the name of the 
 Trinity, an awful stillness was in all hearts, while the 
 beautiful face of the boy appeared to shine in a halo, 
 sweet and bright as heaven. Mcolai and Mr. Petro- 
 vich then solemnly chanted together the words of the 
 NUNC DEMITTAS, whose music was lost amid the far 
 echoes of the surprised mountains. 
 
 Tip now made a sign and the Priest bent over 
 him. 
 
 "Oh, sir," he said, "have you a cross? I want to 
 die looking on the cross ! The cross. Oh, the cross, 
 how I love it." 
 
 Nicolai opened his coat and took out from his bosom 
 a large and splendid cross of gold, which he held be 
 fore Tip, who gazed on the precious emblem with a 
 saintly rapture. As he looked, a ray of the setting 
 sun touched the holy sign with a sudden splendor 
 
556 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 that appeared to penetrate the very soul of Tip. He 
 . whispered faintly. 
 
 " See ! see ! there is light on the cross ! It makes 
 my way bright to heaven ! Good-by, sir ! Good- 
 by, all ! Jesu ! Jesu ! Jesu ! " 
 
 Last on the dear boy's lips was the name of the 
 Saviour of mankind. His spirit breathed itself gently 
 into Paradise, and his peaceful face showed that he 
 was at rest. Nicolai closed his eyes and bathed him 
 with his tears. Even the Indian guides and the rough 
 guards wept as they gazed on the serene countenance 
 illuminated by the lingering sun. Mr. Petrovich was 
 filled with a grief like that of a father mourning over 
 an only child. He and Nicolai watched all night by 
 the side of Tip. Under his directions a grave was 
 dug at the foot of a majestic pine, and above a stream 
 which leaped and roared from the mountain-summit, 
 then, just below, expanded into a smooth, crystal lake, 
 discharging itself in a waterfall, whose white spray 
 was painted with innumerable quivering brilliant rain 
 bows, even now dancing in the morning sun. After 
 an early breakfast, the body was carried by two of 
 the guards, and, with a brief but solemn service by the 
 Priest, was let down into its resting place. Nicolai 
 laid the locket on the breast of Tip, and scattered over 
 him some wild roses which breathed their fragrance 
 through the air. The clods fell gently on the boy with 
 out the usual hollow sound produced by a coffin. A 
 cross was planted at the head of the grave, which was 
 covered with the greenest moss. There, amid those 
 
AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 557 
 
 gigantic mountains, standing around like monarch-senti 
 nels robed in eternal verdure, and crowned with resplen 
 dent snows, will sleep Tip, until the trumpet of the 
 angel of the resurrection shall cleave the rocks, and the 
 dead, from land and sea, stand before the throne of the 
 Judge of the earth. 
 
 The death of Tip greatly increased the difficulties 
 of the party. His memory arid his judgment often 
 seemed almost supernatural. The anxiety of Mr. Petro- 
 vich rose into an agony, lest they might be delayed 
 until the infamous marriage-rites, proposed by Ruric, 
 should be consummated. Great drops of suffering would 
 often start out upon his face. But under all disad 
 vantages, progress was yet made. The directions of 
 Tip had been clear and precise, and the traces of his 
 trail had not wholly disappeared. Moreover, the saga 
 city of the Indian guides was wonderful, and finally 
 conquered. On the ninth day that before the abhorred 
 nuptial ceremony, contemplated by the Nihilist a mar 
 velous scene burst on the party. 
 
 Before them spread the Vale of Paradise. . Its 
 entrance was a narrow gorge, bounded by perpendicu 
 lar columned rocks nearly a mile in height, and from 
 whose depths, at midday, could be seen the eternal 
 stars. In one place, when the heavens were clear, the 
 pole-star was always visible, and seemingly motionless 
 in the dark, aerial blue. The valley was about one 
 mile wide and six miles long. At its extreme end rose 
 a pillared mountain, heaving its top into the clouds. 
 On one side was a plunging cataract, involved in mists, 
 
558 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 but whose thunders shook the rocks, while on the 
 other side, the water falling over the summit of the 
 lofty precipice, spread itself into a white spray, exquisite 
 in its delicacy, and bent and waved to the winds, 
 beautiful with myriads of rainbows. Sublime pines 
 towered aloft from the encircling mountains. Down the 
 valley, wound and glittered a stream between banks* of 
 grass and flowers, and marked along its course by the 
 graceful willow and the gigantic sycamore. 
 
 The party remained for some moments absorbed by 
 the beauty and grandeur of the spectacle. But soon 
 before the minds of the two leaders rushed the tremen 
 dous questions : 
 
 "Where is Lillie ? Where is Ruric ? Can we 
 discover them ? Are we too late ? Has the crime of 
 the marriage been perpetrated ? Are we here only to 
 witness death and ruin ? " 
 
 As the telescope swept the valley, the silence and 
 suspense made all breathless, and the beat of anxious 
 hearts could be distinctly heard. The instrument fre 
 quently so shook in the grasp of Mr. Petrovich, that he 
 was compelled to give it to Nicolai, who, tremulous in 
 turn, was forced to hand it back again. But, hark ! a 
 cry of joy ! The telescope rests long on the same 
 object ! Mr. Petrovich exclaims, with beaming face : 
 
 " I have found it ! The villain has, indeed, built 
 his nest like the eagle on his crag, and carried afar 
 his prey for its destruction, but I will pull him down 
 from his height. I feel that Heaven has brought 
 deliverance." 
 
AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 559 
 
 Nicolai took the glass and gazed on the indicated 
 spot. Yes ! there was the cottage on a lofty rock, about 
 the middle of the opposite mountain, partly concealed by 
 leaves, and sometimes by the spray of the waterfall, yet 
 sufficiently visible. It was known to the men as a house 
 erected by a San Francisco speculator and misanthrope, 
 and which was occupied by him until his suicide. 
 Ruric had bought and repaired it, and as a new rail 
 way, unknown to Tip, came within a few miles, 
 the place had been filled with every luxury, and ren 
 dered attractive and beautiful, amid that wonderful Vale 
 of Paradise. Here the Nihilist was at the summit of 
 his ambition and his revenge. His dream of years he 
 thought would soon be realized. About him was the 
 glory of art. He was in the smile of successful wealth. 
 Beauty would soon be in his arms. The clouds had 
 passed, and now the sunshine had crowned his head. 
 Earth had for him the reward most coveted. 
 
 More than two hours elapsed before Mr. Petrovich 
 and his party could move around the summits of those 
 steep mountains and plant themselves on the ledge above 
 the cottage. After a most toilsome effort, the weari^ 
 some circuit was accomplished, but the long shadows 
 across the valley already told them of a sinking sun. Twi 
 light would soon deepen and night render their enter 
 prise unavailing. This reflection inspired them with 
 fresh energy. They stood a moment in anxious con 
 sultation. Ling had withdrawn himself a short distance 
 from the rest of the party, and was gazing intently 
 down on the house below. Suddenly a lad sprang out 
 
560 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 from behind a rock, and, quick as light, sheathed a dagger 
 in his breast. The giant uttered a sharp cry, and grap 
 pled his assailant. An instant after, in their struggle, 
 they fell together over the crags thousands of feet into the 
 valley beneath, and lay side by side in mangled, bloody, 
 ghastly ruin. Tojo had been watching in concealment the 
 movements of the party, when Ling approached below 
 him and sufficiently near for a mortal thrust. Recog 
 nizing his hereditary enemy, he could not resist the 
 impulse of his passionate revenge. Tojo leaped on Ling 
 like a young tiger, and killed himself in the murder of 
 his foe. 
 
 The terrible fate of the affectionate and faithful giant 
 cast a dark shadow over Mr. Petrovich and Nicolai. 
 Indeed, the whole party stood aghast, as they witnessed 
 the two men, after their brief struggle, tumbling over 
 the rocky ledge, and falling through the air far down 
 into the twilight of the deep valley. There was no 
 time, however, to indulge sorrow. Years were now 
 concentrated in a moment. The crisis had arrived. 
 The next morning's sun would look down on that 
 fearful mockery of a marriage. 
 
 While the two gentlemen were consulting, and quite 
 undecided how to act, Ruric had witnessed the awful 
 tragedy which we have described, and was seized with 
 mortal fear. Looking aloft, he saw his pursuers, and 
 his terror magnified their numbers. Mr. Petrovich, 
 suddenly lifting his telescope to his eye, exclaimed : 
 
 "Heavens! I see the villain! He climbs, for life, 
 down the side of the mountain. Despair is in his face. 
 
AMID THE GOLD MOUNTAINS. 561 
 
 He leaps from rock to rock like an Alpine goat. Mortal 
 dread impels him. I fear he has murdered the girl." 
 
 Nicolai seized the glass and looked earnestly and 
 tearfully at his brother. See ! he has reached the bot 
 tom of his descent ! Hark ! the thunder of a horse's 
 hoof ! He flies ! They see him, as if chased by demons, 
 riding through the dark canon. Now he vanishes from 
 view. The clang of hoofs has died away. Into all 
 hearts comes the stillness of death. 
 
 Led, amid fearful forebodings, by Mr. Petrovich and 
 Nicolai, the party climb down a rocky path, and after 
 great perils reach the cottage without further serious 
 accident. The front-door stands open. No person is visible. 
 Halls, parlors, bedrooms, attic, closets are searched. 
 All are unoccupied. One door had been passed by because 
 locked. Mr. Petrovich knocks. There is no answer. 
 His blows become louder. Everything is still. He 
 rattles the lock, and one of the powerful guards tries 
 to break a panel. At last a low voice, tremulous with 
 fear, asks : 
 
 " Who are you ? What do you want ? If you are 
 friends, I will let you in." 
 
 Here is relief at last. She lives. She can speak. 
 She is heard moving across the floor. 
 
 Mr. Petrovich, for her encouragement, said : 
 
 "I am your best friend. You may remember me as 
 the person who fought with Ruric for you that night 
 in New York. You can trust me. I have been seeking 
 you all over the country, and will be your protector for 
 life." 
 
562 
 
 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 The girl seemed to have paused in the midst of her 
 resolution. Minutes passed before she could resume her 
 efforts. Now her step is heard again. The bolt is 
 withdrawn. Lillie stands before Mr. Petrovich ! 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ST . PETERSBURG. 
 
 T was a winter morning in St. 
 Petersburg. The first beams of 
 the sun were burning and dancing- 
 around the dome of St. Isaac's 
 whose cross, sparkling with frost- 
 crystals, seemed on the sky a 
 blaze of diamonds. An avalanche of snow 
 was on the Winter Palace. The great 
 Capital was white in its December robe. 
 Frozen from bank to bank, the existence of 
 the Neva could scarcely be conceived beneath 
 its concealing snow. Winter ruled sov 
 ereign of northern Russia. 
 At the early hour of which we speak, the currents 
 of the city's life appeared to be congealed. Here and 
 there could be seen a policeman wearied with his night- 
 watch, a peasant in his rough sheep-skin, or an aristocratic 
 reveller returning late from his debauch. Suddenly, 
 through the sharp, clear air, can be heard the tinkle 
 of bells, the gliding of runners, the trampling of horses 
 in the muffling snow, and, as the noise grows louder, 
 a gay sleigh dashes before the Marble Palace near 
 
566 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 the famous bridge. Two gentlemen of unusual size 
 emerge from the front door of the royal edifice, but, 
 having their faces hid in their furs, cannot be recog 
 nized. Seating themselves, and adjusting their gloves, 
 capes, and robes, at the crack of the driver's whip, the 
 three horses, harnessed abreast, start into a gallop, 
 flying over the hard-frozen surface -of the snow, their 
 furious speed well emblematized by a golden eagle 
 spreading its wings over the front of the sleigh, as if 
 to assist its progress. 
 
 "Bishop," began the gentleman on the right, first 
 breaking the silence, "I think that bird shows that 
 your republican peculiarities still follow you. The eagle, 
 I fear, is still preferred to the bear." 
 
 "A mere accident, I assure you, Prince Romanoff," 
 replied the ecclesiastic, slightly embarrassed. "The 
 republic is with me only a memory, and my single aim 
 is to use the lessons learned there for the good of 
 Russia." 
 
 "Excuse my jest, my friend," answered the gentle 
 man. "I appreciate both your patriotic devotion and 
 your religious enthusiasm. No man could be more 
 gratified that my old friend Mcolai, through the gen 
 erosity of our Imperial Master, is Bishop of Novgorod. 
 He must, indeed, have been pleased with your interview, 
 the report of your observations and your plans for the 
 future." 
 
 "Nor am I less delighted," said the Bishop, "that 
 my traveling companion, Mr. Petrovich, has taken his 
 hereditary place as nephew of the Czar, and one of the 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 567 
 
 royal princes of the Russian Empire, and is soon to be 
 appointed Counsellor to his Majesty." 
 
 "To you it must be especially pleasing," returned 
 the Prince, "that the delicacy of the Emperor has 
 selected your diocese in the very land of your fathers. 
 The ancient Russikoffs were once the kings of Nov 
 gorod." 
 
 "Yes, your Highness," answered the Bishop; "our 
 ancestor, Ruric, was monarch of that region a thousand 
 years ago, so that royal blood flows in the veins of my 
 brother and myself. Oh, that he yet might be made 
 worthy of his hereditary rank and descent. While 
 twins, he is my senior by birth and the representative 
 of our house." 
 
 " I have something of interest to disclose to you 
 about Ruric," said the Prince, "but must now wait 
 until this expedition is over. In a few hours will be 
 settled the future of my line. One link alone is want 
 ing in the chain of evidence to prove that Lillie is my 
 daughter my long-lost Marie Petrovich Alexandra 
 Romanoff the heiress of my name and my estates, and 
 a member of the imperial family. In my heart I feel 
 that she is, indeed, my child ; but I am sure that I 
 have been right in restraining myself and deferring her 
 acknowledgment until the proofs were such as our 
 tribunals would sustain." 
 
 "You have, truly," answered Bishop Nicolai, "exhib 
 ited the most admirable and extraordinary control, which, 
 I am persuaded, was wise and best. Heaven will com 
 plete our work. Our toils and perils have not been in 
 
568 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 vain. When all has been accomplished, how rich, how 
 lasting, how splendid will be our reward ! " 
 
 After this conversation the gentlemen relapsed into 
 silence, absorbed in their thoughts. Wonderful, indeed, 
 had been the path they had traveled ! Yet, at last, 
 here are our former friends, Mr. Petrovich and Nicolai, 
 in their true characters. The masks have dropped. 
 We see them both in their native light. But they 
 are on the same mission in the Empire they had pur 
 sued in the Kepublic. Still it is their task to identify 
 Lillie, not now, however, working in the darkness, 
 but, as they hope, emerging into the sunlight of a 
 glorious success. 
 
 By frequent relays of horses the swift sleigh in ten 
 hours, accomplished a hundred miles. The full moon 
 is rising over a forest of the east, and tracing dark 
 shadows of trees on the sparkling brilliance of the 
 crystal snow. She looks down with a benignant eye. 
 The stars in their winter brightness fling from the 
 clear heavens their benedictions on the path of the 
 illustrious travelers. 
 
 About six o'clock in the evening, the sleigh halted 
 before the mansion of a Russian gentleman, Pavel 
 Vassolich, whose ancestors for generations had culti 
 vated the estate. Immediately there was an immense 
 barking of dogs. Lights glanced hurriedly across the 
 windows. A servant crept around in the shadow to 
 observe. The arrival had already produced intense 
 commotion in the sleepy old dwelling. Assisted by 
 two footmen, the Prince and the Bishop descended from 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 569 
 
 the sleigh, and, opening the huge gate, advanced toge 
 ther to the mansion. When they reached the steps, they 
 found Pavel Vassolich before his front door. He had 
 evidently expected his distinguished guests, and dared 
 the winter cold to express himself honored by their 
 visit. Their welcome was most cordial. Entering, they 
 were presented to Anna Vassolich, wife of their host, 
 and the only member of the family beside himself at 
 home, the two sons being absent in the army. 
 
 The mansion was heated by furnaces, but a vast 
 fire blazed in the wide chimney of the parlor. After 
 a short conversation, the guests retired to their bed 
 rooms, and, reappearing, were conducted to the dining- 
 table, loaded in the Russian style of prodigal rural 
 hospitality. Generous wines followed the repast, and then 
 the pipe-boy presented long Turkish Meerschaums, carved 
 and arranged in the true oriental style, and filled 
 with the best tobacco. While the three gentlemen 
 were indulging thus luxuriously, and the smoke was 
 ascending in clouds illuminated by the blaze of the 
 fire and circling around the lamps, the Prince led the 
 conversation to the object of his visit. 
 
 "May I inquire," he began, "how the serfs behaved 
 after the emancipation in your district ? " 
 
 " Strangely enough, your Highness," answered his 
 host, slightly voluble with the wine, " my rascals were 
 not contented with the title to half my estate. By 
 virtue of some peasant tradition, they actually claimed 
 the whole, and clamored because the Law would not 
 give them their right. Under the old order of things 
 
570 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 we would have stopped their insolence with the whip, 
 but by a little management our difficulties were ad 
 justed. Now we have perfect quiet, and the half of 
 my estate yields as much as the whole formerly pro 
 duced, estimating the various dues paid me by the 
 Commune." 
 
 "Do the serfs prize their liberty?" asked the Bish 
 op. "I have heard that they are less sober and 
 industrious than previous to the Emancipation." 
 
 "Liberty!" exclaimed Pavel Vassolich, with a laugh 
 and a sneer; "liberty indeed! What care peasants 
 for liberty? A good home, good food, good clothes, 
 good land, and plenty to drink, and time for their 
 fete days these are all the liberty they want. Give 
 them these and you may make them, or call them 
 slaves, or what you will. I think they drink more and 
 idle more than before the Emancipation, but, after all, 
 they cultivate their land well. You know in the 
 Commune they settle when to plough, and sow and 
 harvest and sell, and these discussions have made 
 them become more intelligent with their increased 
 interest and responsibility." 
 
 "And what has been the effect in your neighbor 
 hood of the other great privileges granted by his 
 Majesty ? " again inquired the Prince. 
 
 " The trial by jury," said Pavel Vassolich, "if sometimes 
 interfered with by the Emperor's Gendarmerie, has still 
 proved a blessing, and the Zemstvo. where peasant and 
 nobleman consult together, is a great social bond. In 
 these reforms I behold a grand future for Russia. I 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 571 
 
 was a violent enemy to them all, and especially to the 
 Emancipation, but after twenty years' experience, and 
 allowing for all frictions and disappointments, I believe 
 that our Emperor, in the after generations, will be 
 styled the Saviour of his country." 
 
 "I am glad to hear you say so," exclaimed the 
 Prince, with the utmost animation. "This opinion, 
 from a man of your position and influence, will be a 
 great comfort to his Majesty, and, Heaven knows, he 
 needs all the encouragement possible. Gloom in him 
 self, curses from others, have been the rewards of his 
 noble work." 
 
 "In my view," said the Bishop, "the real sufferers 
 have been the nobles. They have transferred to the 
 Commune the titles to more than half their lands, and 
 when oppressed by mortgages and other encumbrances, 
 they have invariably sunk into bankruptcy, despair, and 
 final ruin." 
 
 "Yes," replied the Prince, "and it is the discontent 
 of the nobles which supplies the ranks of the Nihilists, 
 and fills Russia with blood and terror. But, think of 
 the grand achievement ! The serfs of the State, and 
 of the nobility together, numbered nearly fifty millions. 
 What measure in the world's history ever reached to 
 the magnitude of Alexander's Emancipation ? In the 
 end, it will stand forth like an old pyramid, crowned 
 with the flame of heaven and strong in the guardian 
 ship of the Almighty Power. The Emperor, on its 
 summit, will be the Colossus of Beneficence in the coming 
 history of humanity." 
 
572 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "Possibly," resumed Pavel Vassolich, "I have grown 
 into a better opinion of the measure than others, because 
 of nay unexpected success, which has been mostly due 
 to a peasant, Peter Ivanovich, a village Elder and the 
 Oracle of the Commune." 
 
 "Ah!" exclaimed the Prince, with a brightening 
 eye and face, "that name recalls the object of my 
 visit. Peter Ivanovich is the very man I wish to see, 
 and inquire about his old mother, Katrine. Does she 
 yet live?" 
 
 " I am glad, your Highness," answered the host, 
 "to be able to say that she does. She is a worthy 
 mother of a worthy son, and we do all possible for 
 her comfort. But she is now a sad fragment of her 
 self. Not only is she extremely feeble, but blind, 
 deaf, and we fear dumb, since, she has not spoken a 
 single word for a year." 
 
 "Can you so arrange it to-morrow morning that the 
 Bishop and myself can see her alone, at the home of 
 her son?" 
 
 "Certainly, your Highness," replied the host, "and 
 with the greatest pleasure." 
 
 After these words, the gentlemen said good-night, 
 and retired to their apartments. Having arisen and 
 dispatched a substantial breakfast, they proceeded to 
 the house of Peter Ivanovich, the village Elder and 
 the Kozain, or Big One of his own family. The house 
 was one of those low, irregular log constructions, usu 
 ally inhabited by the Russian peasant, and its Head, 
 with his large, blue eyes, high forehead and regular 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 573 
 
 features, his fair beard, his long, light-flowing hair 
 parted in the middle, presented a reverend appearance 
 corresponding to his position in the Commune, and in 
 his own home. In his face were imperturbable gravity 
 and composure. Nor was his sheep-skin coat ungrace 
 ful. He welcomed his distinguished guests with a low 
 obeisance, but in his manner was neither impudence 
 nor servility. Rather, he stood forth with the modest 
 independence of a man. 
 
 The Prince at once entered on his business, asking : 
 
 "Are you Peter, the son of Katrine Ivanovich?" 
 
 "I am, your Highness," answered the Kozain, with 
 a slight inclination of his person. 
 
 "Was she once nurse in the family of Prince 
 Alexis Romanoff?" 
 
 " She was, for many years, your Highness," said the 
 Elder. 
 
 "Did she accompany his family to Paris, and how 
 many years since ? " continued the Prince. 
 
 "She went there first, your Highness, about fifteen 
 years ago, and remained in that city about five years. 
 She was the nurse of his only child, Marie." 
 
 The Prince became agitated as he pursued his ex 
 amination. 
 
 "When did she leave his service?" he inquired, with 
 visible anxiety. 
 
 "About ten years since. The child was lost while 
 under her care in Paris, and she was sent back here 
 in disgrace." 
 
 "Has she lived with you ever since?" 
 
574 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 "She has, your Highness. But grief weighed upon 
 her. She sank gradually into a sad and helpless state, 
 becoming first deaf, then blind, and now we fear 
 dumb." 
 
 "Do you think it would be possible to learn from 
 her the particulars of the loss of the child ? " 
 
 "I do not, Your Highness; but you can see her 
 and I will help you all I can." 
 
 " Lead the way ! We will make the attempt," 
 answered the Prince. 
 
 They entered the house. Katrine sat before them 
 knitting a long stocking. She was a tall, thin, erect 
 woman, unlike a northern Russian, her hair being 
 black as night, and unsnowed by age and sorrow; it 
 hung in wild ringlets about her neck, giving her a 
 most startling appearance. Long dark lashes shaded 
 her sightless eyes. Her face was wrinkled, sunken, 
 and attenuated, and over it the shadow of woe. 
 Bony and busy fingers plied their task with ceaseless 
 rapidity and accuracy, although for years no ray had 
 entered those blind balls in their cavernous depths. 
 The nose of Katrine was high and beaked, her cheek 
 bones prominent, and by some caprice of nature she 
 belonged to a type native to a distant soil. When 
 the party entered she sat unmoved. Evidently her 
 sealed senses gave no intimation of any presence other 
 than- her own. 
 
 Peter Vassolich first shouted in his mother's ear, 
 then shook her arm, and used every conceivable expe 
 dient to arouse her from her lethargy. When she 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 575 
 
 felt his hand she lifted her face in a sort of dumb 
 importunity, and then plied her fingers faster than 
 ever, as if to redeem the time she had lost. Her whole 
 soul was in the stocking she was working. An half 
 hour passed. Her son could make no impression, and 
 at last withdrew from the room in despair. 
 
 As if inspired by Heaven, a happy thought flashed 
 over the Prince. He planted himself before the woman 
 and said, in his old tone and manner : 
 
 "Katrine!" 
 
 It seemed like the voice of life itself penetrating 
 the grave and reanimating the dead. The poor crea 
 ture raised her head, and rolled round her blind eyes 
 in mingled fear and wonder. 
 
 Now, in a voice slightly louder, the Prince called 
 again " Katrine." 
 
 She rose to her feet. Her breathing became thick 
 and fast. A new vigor was in her body, which 
 swayed to and fro with her agitation. She turned her 
 face as if listening for the familiar sound again. Her 
 features began to assume a look of intelligence. 
 
 A third time and with an increasing emphasis the 
 Prince cried "Katrine." 
 
 At last the woman stood before them transformed 
 and illuminated. Light seemed to shine from her and 
 about her. No time was to be lost. Another moment 
 might sink her back into her old apathy. Here was 
 the opportunity granted by Heaven. 
 
 " Katrine, answer me," said the Prince, as simply 
 and naturally as possible. 
 
576 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 She replied in excellent French, just as she would 
 have done when in the service of her master in 
 Paris : 
 
 "May it please your Highness, what do you want?" 
 
 "I wish you," resumed the Prince, "to tell me all 
 about my little lost Marie." 
 
 The woman uttered a shrill shriek which pierced the 
 ears and hearts of those who heard her. She fell then 
 on the floor, and foamed and writhed as if under the 
 power of demoniacal possession. When the fearful fit 
 was over, she arose and stood with the most perfect 
 composure. 
 
 As if nothing had happened, the Prince inquired : 
 
 "When Marie was lost did she have a locket round 
 her neck ? " 
 
 " Katrine replied with her old obeisance, and with 
 entire calmness and distinctness : 
 
 "Her mother, your Highness, gave her a locket with 
 your likeness in it and her own." 
 
 "Was each set in pearls with a diamond at the 
 top ? " 
 
 "Yes, your Highness," she answered, "and hung 
 round her neck with a chain of gold clasped by a 
 ruby." 
 
 "What words were on it?" 
 
 " Ma petite file ! " was the instant reply. 
 
 "Why did I not know she had such a locket?" 
 
 "Because, your Highness, it came from the jewel 
 ers just before we went to the Bois de Bologne, and 
 my lady, the Princess, would have shown it to you on 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 577 
 
 our return if if," and she paused, gazing around her 
 with a look of indescribable terror and suffering. 
 
 "If what?" pressed the Prince, in an agony of sus 
 pense, intense as her own alarm. " Tell me the whole, 
 fully and honestly." 
 
 She was still as a statue, except that her features 
 were working in mortal dread. 
 
 "Tell me, woman," cried the Prince, sternly, almost 
 savagely ; " tell me how my child was lost." 
 
 These words loosed the tempest. All hell seemed 
 raging in that wretched breast, as Katrine shrieked : 
 
 "Lost! Lost! She was not lost! Oh, my sin, my 
 crime ! This has bowed my head, crushed my heart, 
 blasted my life. I have been deaf, dumb, blind, smit 
 ten by God Himself. I lied to you. Had I told the 
 truth, Marie might have been saved. I was afraid. 
 Hell must be mine. My little Marie was not lost, she 
 was stolen." 
 
 " Stolen ! " exclaimed the Prince, fiercely. " Stolen 
 by whom ? " 
 
 " By Prince Ruric," said the woman, with sobs and 
 a wild stare. " He took Marie in his arms, and put a 
 pistol to my ear, and swore he would kill me if I told. 
 Oh, he looked, your Highness, so fierce and frenzied ! 
 I see him now," she cried, placing her hands before 
 her darkened balls, as if to shut out the frightful vision. 
 " His eye glares, and his face scares me ! I dared not 
 tell you the truth, even to save my Marie. Oh ! my 
 sin. I have confessed. A Priest ! A Priest ! Absolve 
 me ! Save me." 
 
578 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 With these ejaculations, Katrine sank on her knees, 
 raised her blind orbs to heaven, and stretched upwards 
 her hands, pleading for forgiveness. 
 
 Bishop Mcolai now advanced and explained to her 
 that he was a Priest, and after a few words of solemn 
 instruction, pronounced over her the Absolution of the 
 Holy Orthodox Church. 
 
 Instantly peace entered her soul and breathed from 
 her features. It was the calm after the tempest. 
 Katrine arose from her knees, sat down in her chair, 
 resumed her knitting, and sank back into her old 
 lethargy, ever afterwards insensible to events around 
 her. 
 
 Bishop Mcolai having completed on the spot a record 
 of what the woman said and did, he and the Prince 
 bade farewell to Peter Ivanovich, who received more 
 roubles than the Commune ever paid him during a 
 whole year. 
 
 The chain of evidence was complete. Ruric, after 
 his escape from Siberia, had wandered out of Russia 
 into Germany, insane with his sufferings, had passed 
 through Switzerland, he knew not how, and then, in a 
 mad thirst for blood, had proceeded to Paris, where he 
 knew from the papers Prince Alexis was residing, and 
 who, as nephew of the Czar, he burned to kill. When 
 watching about the Avenue Bois de Bologne, he had 
 seen Katrine and little Marie come from the house and 
 go to the Bois. He followed them, and, with a flash 
 of demoniacal instinct, saw that he could inflict a 
 pang keener than death. He would rob the parents 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 579 
 
 of their idol, and devote her to himself in a foreign 
 land, and revel in a woe which would end only in the 
 grave. Obeying this impulse of hell, Kuric snatched 
 the child, threatened the nurse in the frightful manner 
 she described, and made his way eventually to New 
 York. At last, from the grave of an accursed breast, 
 had been wrung its blasting secret, and the rescued 
 girl would now arise to her true place in life. 
 
 Having expressed their thanks and said farewell to 
 their host and his wife, the Prince and the Bishop 
 flew back over the crystal snow to the capital. His 
 Highness would entrust to no other the sacred 
 communication to his daughter. With the confession 
 of Katrine he hastened over the wintry ocean to 
 America. 
 
 Nearly twenty years before this time, Admiral 
 Stewart, by the order of his Government, had'spent a year 
 in St. Petersburg, and his wife had been an enthusiasm 
 in the city and the Court. They had especially 
 become intimate with the Prince and Princess Romanoff. 
 After the discovery of his daughter, until the proofs of 
 her identity were legally complete, Mrs. Stewart was 
 requested to receive Marie into her household. That 
 lady at first objected, chiefly on account of the pres 
 ence of her son. The Prince laughed at the scruple, 
 saying, that Russian royalty might do worse than 
 recruit its ranks from republican kings. Mrs. Stewart 
 yielded against her judgment. The girl was provided 
 with the best pirvate teachers, and, under the influence 
 of a refined home, bloomed into the beauty of an ideal 
 
580 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 womanhood. She was such a creature as any father 
 might adore. 
 
 Who can describe the joy in those two breasts, when 
 the acknowledgment of the sacred tie was made ? 
 What sobs and tears ! What smiles of gratitude and 
 love ! What words and looks and endearments ! It was 
 a moment of almost celestial bliss. A new world of 
 the affections was opened in those souls. The past 
 melted away. Hereafter, the father and the daughter 
 were as if they had never been apart. But, as the 
 time of her departure drew near, a cloud was observed 
 on the Princess. The fears of the father were excited. 
 It was not long before he had the embarrassing secret. 
 
 One day, the Prince said, smilingly, to Mrs. Stewart : 
 
 "Madam, the maternal instinct is infallible." 
 
 "Ah! your Highness," answered Mrs. Stewart, "you 
 then acknowledge it to be so. I fear your confession 
 comes too late." 
 
 "That depends on you, madam, and your esteemed 
 son," replied the Prince, gravely. 
 
 " I had a clear prescience of the result, and put your 
 Highness on your guard," answered Mrs. Stewart, with 
 dignity. 
 
 "I have only myself to blame, and I will not fear 
 the consequences if you will accede to my terms," said 
 the Prince. 
 
 "Surely, surely," exclaimed Mrs. Stewart, "my son 
 has not abused his position and violated his honor by 
 ensnaring the affections of your daughter. He is too 
 noble for that. It is impossible." 
 
ST. PETERSBURG. 581 
 
 "Not at all," answered the Prince, "the tendrils of 
 the young heart unconsciously clung to the first object, 
 and it proved a worthy one. No words have ever 
 passed between your son and my daughter. Love, like 
 a flower, has grown in the silence, and is fully matured. 
 The soul of my Marie lives in that of your Frank." i 
 
 " And I am just as certain," replied Mrs. Stewart, 
 gaily, " that the soul of my Frank lives in that of your 
 Marie." 
 
 "We dare not separate them," said the Prince, "it 
 would be too cruel. It would kill my child. Yes, 
 my sweet flower would die. What remains ? My 
 Marie cannot remain here. The Czar, my uncle, could 
 never permit it. But your son could come to Russia. 
 Only, however, I know, if you will accompany him; 
 He will never leave you behind. Oh, the difficulties 
 are too many. I fear that you will never leave your 
 country." 
 
 Mrs. Stewart undertook to remove the obstacles, and 
 
 
 
 she succeeded. Edward had become President of the 
 Railroad, and had bought and occupied the mansion 
 of General Sparker, having added to his grounds those 
 of Bidman. He was thus on the summit of his pro 
 fession and his ambition. But he saw a grand career 
 in Russia. His quick glance perceived how useful he 
 oould be in that vast and splendid empire, and his 
 head soon followed his heart. The struggle to renounce 
 his country was sometimes intense, but to abandon Marie 
 was even more agonizing. The Prince promised to 
 appoint him Grand Controller of the Railways of the empire, 
 
582 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 and assured him that the Czar would confer a title and 
 estate, corresponding to his own rank and name, as a 
 member of the imperial family. Mrs. Stewart would 
 not withhold her assent, and agreed to accompany her 
 son, who also secured in advance for his friend, John 
 Standfast, the Mastership of the Railway workshops of 
 Russia. 
 
 The terms thus adjusted, and their arrangements 
 made, the joyful party sailed for St. Petersburg, and 
 in less than three weeks were entering the Neva in a 
 small steamer which took them from their splendid 
 government vessel. It was the morning of the last 
 day of May. Stewart stood alone on the bow of the 
 swift little vessel. His reflections were overwhelming, 
 in view of what he had left behind, and of his splen 
 did prospects in the future. Before him, as the Neva 
 narrowed, was the capital of Russia, sitting like a 
 queen between the immensities of the sea and of the 
 
 sky, and wearing on her brow, as a crown, the gold of 
 
 
 
 the dome of St. Isaac's, now outlined in its majesty 
 on the purple of a morning cloud. The four bell- 
 towers formed a royal tiara. See ! there the Admiralty 
 lifts its arrowy spire glittering into heaven ! Now in 
 their superb curves stand aloft the oriental domes of the 
 Muscovite St. Michael's the Archangel ! Pyramids and 
 crosses gleam and flash in the morning sun ! The 
 Winter Palace lifts itself almost with the grandeur of 
 a mountain ! Scarcely in the world could Stewart 
 have beheld a more splendid and impressive spectacle. 
 

CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE PALACE OF THE CZARS. 
 
 the midst of the old town of 
 Novgorod is an open space. On 
 the right stands the cathedral and 
 the archiepiscopal palace, and to 
 the left are the long government 
 buildings. Precisely in the center of the 
 area towers a curious colossal monument. 
 On a massive stone pedestal rests an enor 
 mous globe covered with mystic figures. 
 The eccentric structure commemorates the 
 one thousandth birthday of Russia, and 
 the great national fact that the Sclavo- 
 nians called from the tribe Rus, to be 
 their king, Ruric who long ruled Novgorod. Cen 
 turies after his reign came Ivan the Terrible with 
 chain and torch and sword. The Muscovite Czar laid 
 a hand of blood and iron on the venerable city. Monks 
 and priests were bound and flogged until they bought 
 themselves from torture. Officers and merchants were 
 given to the fire ; their wives and children hurled into 
 the water, where soldiers in boats killed those attempt 
 ing to escape. A bubbling below the bridge, in the 
 
586 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 popular tradition, now indicates where the spirits of 
 the murdered are still struggling for deliverance. 
 
 The descendants of the old Novgorod Ruric were 
 the Russikoffs, who were kings long before the Ro 
 manoffs were Czars. After the destruction we have 
 described, some of the former family rose into wealth 
 and power, but always with an open or secret hostility 
 to the tyrants of their ancestors. One in the reign of 
 Catharine erected a stately palace on the great Nevsky 
 Prospekt, which, during the early part of the present 
 century had been sold, and now, within a few months, 
 purchased and occupied by a reputed American gentle 
 man, whose vast wealth, splendid appearance, and ele 
 gant accomplishments, made him the most conspicuous 
 figure in the capital of the Empire. 
 
 If, at eight o'clock on a certain evening, we had 
 entered a secret room of the Russikoff palace, we 
 would have discovered the name of this dashing and 
 admired republican. He is sitting in an elevated 
 chair at the head of a large table, with two persons 
 on either side, who appear to form a committee over 
 which he presides. Surely he is an old acquaintance ! 
 His face and voice seem familiar ! Yes ! It is Ruric ! 
 He is shaven, and there are some attempts at disguise, 
 but we cannot long doubt his identity. He is now 
 chief of the Nihilistic Executive Committee of the Rus 
 sian Empire. At this moment he is plotting the death 
 of the Czar! Is it hereditary hate? Is it the spirit 
 of his ancestor, the old Ruric, flaming now in the 
 breast of his namesake and descendant? Is he, after 
 
THE PALACE OF THE CZARS. 587 
 
 centuries, to be the avenging angel of his house ? The 
 blood shed on that cruel day in Novgorod by the mus- 
 covite Ivan ! Is it crying from the ground ? Will 
 the nineteenth century avenge the sixteenth ? Is the 
 spot of murder still on the house of the Czar ? Can 
 all this torture of an imperial family be the curse of 
 a vengeance transmitted from the crime of their pro 
 genitor ? Deep, true, long, sure, terrible is the retribu 
 tion of Heaven ! 
 
 The discussion had been intense and protracted, and 
 -we will intrude ourselves at its close. Ruric said, 
 "We must now terminate our debate, and have the 
 report of the Grand Treasurer." 
 
 Karl Grenofskil replied : 
 
 "We are receiving money from all classes of the 
 empire peasants and noblemen contribute alike. In 
 deed, supplies flow into our treasury from every part 
 of the world. After paying all our expenses we will 
 have left nearly a half million of roubles." 
 
 " Satisfactory, indeed ! " cried Ruric, with delight. 
 i( Money is the test of devotion, and, measured by that 
 standard, never was a consecration more complete. Our 
 Grand Secretary will now inform us if there is any 
 thing new in his department." 
 
 "Nothing," replied Victor Sobieski, "necessary to 
 communicate in detail. I am receiving letters from every 
 district of the empire and every region of the globe. 
 They breathe and burn with encouragement. Even 
 learned men give us cheer. Recently at a commence 
 ment of the greatest university in America its greatest 
 
588 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 orator surpassed himself in his eloquent approval of 
 our principles and our practice." 
 
 "I know him well," replied Ruric, "and I have 
 his private letters which inspire me with courage and 
 with confidence. He is more valuable than tons of 
 dynamite, and equally as explosive, and unconscious 
 of his destructive power. Indeed he is sublime, both 
 in moral virtue and intellectual force, and is the great 
 est accession Nihilism has yet received. Now, more 
 important than all, will the Duke, our Grand Inspector, 
 give us his report ? " 
 
 "I can only," responded Vlademir Yaroslav, "say, 
 that I have just finished a tour of the empire. Every 
 where men, women, even children, bade me welcome. 
 Nobles are more enthusiastic than peasants. I shall 
 soon commence my voyage of inspection over the world. 
 Nihilism in all lands will stand one compact phalanx 
 against the throne of the Czar. Mankind cries death 
 to tyrants ! " 
 
 " Better and better," said Ruric, in an ecstasy. " Most 
 interesting of all, I call on our Grand Recorder for her 
 address." 
 
 Sophie Petrovna, a girl of eighteen, and a Princess 
 of the Empire, remarkable for beauty and genius, read, 
 in a clear, musical voice, the following : 
 
 " Awake, Russia ! Devoured, oppressed, awake 1 
 Shake off thy yoke ! Death to the spy and to the 
 soldier ! Too long have you been under this Tartar 
 Khan ! Tell him now that the throne of the Czar is 
 not the altar of God ! Stand fearless before the des- 
 
THE PALACE OF THE CZARS. 
 
 pot ! Call him to account for his exiles, his imprison 
 ments, his tortures, his bloody wars, ceaseless taxations, 
 interminable tyrannies ! Say to him, you have fettered 
 the Press, degraded the University, plundered the Peas 
 ant, outraged the Noble, chained Freedom, banished 
 Peace, murdered Truth itself ! The hour has come for 
 Vengeance ! Czar, thou hast been weighed and found 
 wanting ! No longer shalt thou live ! Thy people 
 demand thy blood ! Justice will have it ! A million 
 lives are pledged for thy death ! Thy family shall 
 perish ! Our Victory is secure 1 Russia shall live, and 
 the ages bless Nihilism !" 
 
 " Perfect ! " " Admirable ! " " Wonderful ! " " An 
 Inspiration ! " were repeated on all sides. The woman 
 stood, with flashing eye and quivering nostril, like a 
 young Pythoness who has just from her tripod delivered 
 the oracle of fate. 
 
 " Now," resumed Ruric, " I must make my own 
 report. It regards our preparations in this palace of 
 my ancestors. I have supervised and assisted the 
 labor. All the vaults and cellars are filled with the 
 excavations. The passage from this house under the 
 avenue is finished, the dynamite is stored, the batteries 
 are complete, and we only wait for the Czar to drive 
 over, when a touch of the wires will close the circuit, 
 and explode him to fragments. This final work and 
 its peril I reserve for myself. We only want a person 
 who, on the glorious day, will dare mount and drive 
 the carriage of the Emperor over the fatal place, and 
 by a wave of the hand indicate that the imperial vie- 
 
590 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 tim is within. The keeper of the royal stables is a 
 Nihilist, and will employ whomsoever we designate. 
 Death and glory are the rewards of the work. No 
 man yet has been found who is willing to perish for 
 the destruction of the tyrant." 
 
 A dreadful silence followed these words. Each of 
 the four members of the Committee was expected by 
 Kuric to be ready, like himself, for the sacrifice. All 
 seemed appalled. The stillness grew oppressive. One 
 daring soul was only waiting until it was evident 
 there would be no competitors. This assured, a woman's 
 voice broke the embarrassing silence. The youthful 
 Princess Petrovna, exclaimed : 
 
 " I will undertake the task ! It is mine. I am the 
 favored of fate. By these hands shall the tyrant be 
 driven to his death, and Russia be made free. Thus 
 will I deliver my country and immortalize myself." 
 
 This offer excited the most rapturous applause. The 
 men embraced the woman, and kissed her in their fond 
 admiration. Seating her there as on a throne they 
 knelt around her in a circle, and adored her as a 
 divinity. Always when Atheism renounces God it 
 worships woman. 
 
 On the very night of this conspiracy, there was a 
 Costume Ball at the Winter Palace. The era of the 
 Great Ivan was to be represented. All the performers 
 were assembled in the immense hall and waiting in a 
 light so dim that they could not discern each other. 
 Suddenly a line o flame flashes around the walls ! The 
 gigantic candelabras are in a blaze ! Light floods the 
 
THE PALACE OF THE CZARS. 591 
 
 place ! The floor and marble pillars dazzle the eyes ! 
 More brilliant than day is -the magic illumination ! 
 And what a burst of magnificence ! Gold ! Purple ! 
 Crimson ! A sea of gorgeous colors, splendid costumes, 
 flashing and sparkling jewels ! The rank, the wealth, 
 the glory of the greatest empire of the world ! Earth 
 could show no more brilliant and impressive spectacle. 
 
 Seated on his throne in the center of the hall is 
 the Emperor himself in the royal robes of the Great 
 Ivan. Most gracefully they depend from his shoulders ! 
 His noble features are classic in their regularity, and 
 his posture has the majesty of a divinity. In his hands 
 is his scepter. On his brow, blazing with diamonds, 
 is the imperial crown, which circled the head of Ivan 
 the Terrible. 
 
 Standing on the right of the Emperor, also in royal 
 costume, is the Czarowitch, a noble figure, and his wife, 
 the Princess Dagmar, sitting in a gilded arm-chair, behind 
 which, is a sheaf of white and red camelias, while 
 around, as a guard, stand ten Mamelukes, with their 
 rich oriental turbans, twisted with gold, and their 
 ample trousers girt with crimson cashmere scarfs. 
 
 Who stands opposite the Emperor with folded arms 
 and lofty brow, a personage in stature and in attitude 
 as commanding as the Imperial Sovereign himself ? It 
 is Kuric, in the costume of his ancestors, the Kings of 
 Novgorod. He looks, in his fierce and proud dignity, 
 like the avenger of his race. 
 
 With the burst of the music begins the polonaise. 
 Splendid is the procession round the vast hall. First 
 
592 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 the Emperor Alexander, leads the Princess Dagmar on 
 his arm, followed by the Czarowitch, supporting his 
 cousin, Marie Romanoff. Her father follows side by 
 side with Euric, who, in the rush and inspiration of the 
 moment, is forgetful of his peril ; and then come in 
 their order, Dukes and Counts, and interminable nobles 
 and gentlemen. All the hereditary aristocratic proclivi 
 ties of the Nihilist rush back upon him. He is intoxi 
 cated and whirls in the dance, and utters the gay 
 compliment and the bright repartee, and is, above all 
 present, conspicuous for the nobleness of his face and 
 person, the elegance of his ^bearing, and his refined and 
 courtly gallantry. Without a flush of the cheek, or a 
 quickening from his heart, he dares look into the eyes 
 of the Majesty of Russia. Yes ! he stands face to face 
 before the man whom he has sworn to blow into frag 
 ments, and whose family and throne he would obliterate. 
 As the Nihilist passed out from the gay and splen 
 did assemblage, he felt, in a secluded passage, a tap 
 on his shoulder. He was a prisoner. From the mo 
 ment he entered the capital he had been marked, and 
 pursued, and all his plans and movements reported by 
 the Gendermerie. The proofs were overwhelming. A 
 formal tribunal was not necessary. The Nihilist was 
 hurried to a distant apartment of the palace, seized and 
 bound with his back to the table. Then followed an 
 hour of intense silence and terrible suspense. Around 
 was a dismal twilight-gloom in fearful contrast with 
 the brilliance he had left. The heart of Ruric stood 
 still. Over him came the shadow of a woe, whose mys- 
 
THE PALACE OF THE CZARS. 593 
 
 tery he could not yet penetrate. His foreboding was 
 worse than any possible reality it might indicate. Hark ! 
 a click ! a flash ! a sharp pain in his eyes ! a quiver 
 through his body ! he utters a yell, fearful as the death- 
 cry of a horse in battle ; a loud, clear, terrible outburst 
 of horror and despair. It seemed a wail of a demon 
 ol nell. The chords are cut. Ruric is lifted from the 
 tauie to the floor. Just before the electric flash, the 
 room had been filled suddenly with dazzling light. 
 Has it been extinguished ? It is a midnight around the 
 Nihilist now. He does not yet understand it. Strange, 
 no ray penetrates his gloom. Silence and darkness 
 reign together. Now he comprehends it. He is blind. 
 The spark has blasted his eyes forever. He will never 
 again see himself, nor the earth, nor the sun. Night, 
 night, night always and everywhere ! It is not now 
 the prison, the mine, the block from which he may 
 escape. Nor is it the rest of the grave. He is to be 
 ever a sightless beggar. As he realized this dark and 
 fearful future, Ruric fell to the floor as dead. A great 
 horror is on him. He remains insensible for hours. 
 At last he revives. He arises. He gropes round the 
 room, and feels for the door. He creeps down the stairs. 
 He is on the street. The breath of heaven is on his face 
 but only to chill him into increased horror. Where 
 shall he go ? What shall he do ? Who will have 
 pity on him ? There is no sun in the sky, and no 
 hope in his heart. His punishment is greater than he 
 can bear. Solitude becomes intolerable, and darkness 
 insupportable. Tears continually rain from his blind 
 
594 
 
 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 eyes. He is hungry and must beg. But the boys pelt 
 him, and the dogs bark at him, and he is driven 
 away, because on his breast, in staring letters, is the 
 word Nihilist. Pale, hungry, emaciated, he wanders 
 about for days, until his reason begins to reel. When, 
 at the last extremity, nature is exhausted, and he prays 
 for death, he feels himself clasped to a warm and 
 friendly breast. Ruric is in the arms of his brother 
 Nicolai. 
 

 " Never had Alexander looked more like himself 
 Page 597. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 
 I 
 
 N the Nevska Prospekt, near the Fon- 
 tanka Canal, stands the Imperial 
 Palace, preferred by the Emperor 
 Nicholas for his residence. It was 
 in one of its exquisite little recep 
 tion-rooms, fronting the Grand Avenue, and 
 commanding a noble view of the city, that 
 Prince Alexis was to meet his uncle, the 
 Czar. Since the return of the nephew, 
 there had been no really satisfactory inter 
 view, and in this it was expected that the 
 confidence would be full and mutual. Owing to a 
 slight error in his watch, the Prince was a few min 
 utes too early. Thus it happened that the Emperor, 
 returning from a review of troops, chanced to see his 
 nephew by a passing glance, and entered the room 
 without ceremony. Affection and pleasure beamed from 
 his face. The Prince arose, knelt before him, kissed 
 his extended hand, and then was lifted up by his 
 uncle and pressed to his breast by a long and warm 
 embrace. 
 
 Never had Alexander looked more like himself. His 
 
598 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 usual look of gloom had vanished. The spectacle of 
 the troops had inspired him, and the keen air had 
 brought back to his cheeks the glow of his youth. He 
 wore his military uniform, and most noticeably the high, 
 massive, old-fashioned epaulettes of gold. Over his 
 right shoulder, and down across his breast, was a 
 splendid crimson scarf, and around his waist a rich 
 sash of a darker hue. The collar and breast of his coat 
 were embroidered in yellow with the most delicate skill. 
 Between his right arm and his body he carried his 
 cavalry cap, whose long, white, graceful feathers waved 
 with every touch of the breeze or motion of his person. 
 On his left breast shone his Imperial badge, and sus 
 pended from it a brilliant diamond cross. It was the 
 very military dress of his grandfather, Alexander, which 
 had gained him the reputation of being the handsomest 
 monarch in Europe, and it now gave to his successor 
 a look of manly majesty, becoming the Emperor of the 
 Russias. 
 
 With easy grace and dignity Alexander seated him 
 self on a sofa, and motioned his nephew to take a 
 place by his side. 
 
 "I am, indeed, glad to see you at our leisure, and 
 to prove by my own eyes that your long and weary 
 exile is over. I rejoice your search has been success 
 ful, and that the beauty and brilliance of your daugh 
 ter so fully repay your toil and peril." 
 
 "Heaven has, indeed, been kind," replied the Prince, 
 tenderly. " The charms and affections of my Marie 
 inspire me with constant gratitude. How happy I am 
 
THE PALACE OF THE CZARS. 599 
 
 to see your Majesty almost in the vigor of your 
 youth." 
 
 " Truly you have cause for thankfulness," said the 
 Emperor. " I have finished reading your report, and 
 the account of your adventures thrilled me with the 
 keenest interest. Your observations on various countries, 
 and especially the great Kepublic, are most instructive, 
 and I have ordered them to be made a part of the 
 records of my Empire." 
 
 "I am, indeed, gratified, your majesty, that you 
 have been pleased and profited by my narration," 
 answered the Prince, glowing with satisfaction. 
 
 "And now," resumed the Emperor, "I will fulfill an 
 intention conceived years since. I appoint you my 
 immediate and confidential Grand Counsellor, and shall 
 admit you to my presence as my most trusted and 
 intimate adviser." 
 
 The Prince knelt before his uncle, and kissing his 
 hand, dropped a tear, which was not unfelt, and never 
 forgotten. When he returned to his place, he said : 
 
 * May it please your Majesty, I am compelled to 
 speak to you on a subject the most delicate and em 
 barrassing. After the recovery of my Marie, and until 
 the legal proofs of her identity were secured, I left her 
 in America, under the care of an old friend, Mrs. 
 Admiral Stewart, whose grace, beauty and intelligence 
 excited St. Petersburg fifteen years since. She has a 
 son who greatly resembles her, and whose career has 
 been successful and splendid. Without an exchange 
 of words he and Marie contrived an exchange of hearts. 
 
600 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 I found that her happiness centered in Mr. Stewart. 
 He is a noble man, and, in comparative youth, has risen 
 to be President of one of the great railways of Amer 
 ica. Nothing remained but to persuade him to live in 
 Kussia, and I would be pleased if you would offer him 
 a title and position in your empire worthy of my rank, 
 and the charms of my daughter." 
 
 "Nothing could afford me more happiness," answered 
 the Czar-, warmly. "I am delighted to multiply the 
 ties between the Republic and my Empire. The hus 
 band of my little Marie shall be Prince Stewart Gallitzin 
 Orloff, and Superintendent of the Railways of Russia." 
 "Thank you. Oh, thank your Majesty, and thank 
 Heaven," cried the Prince, who, again kneeling, kissed 
 warmly and often the Imperial hand. " Our happi 
 ness is complete. A mountain is lifted from my heart 
 and a midnight from my path. I consecrate, to you 
 and your Empire, myself and my family. Long may 
 you live and reign, and prosperous may be your suc 
 cessors !" 
 
 At these words a shadow crossed the face of the 
 Emperor. His appearance changed in an instant. The 
 flush fled from his cheek, the light from his eye and 
 his voice became hollow and hesitating. 
 
 "I fear for myself and for Russia," he exclaimed, 
 both sadly and bitterly. "My grandfather died in 
 gloom. After the Crimean disasters, even the iron, 
 Nicolas passed under an eclipse. Now the hereditary^ 
 darkness gathers over me. I see my successor flying 
 from the rage of assassins, defended by soldiers they 
 
THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 601 
 
 suspect, hid in palaces they detest the Majesty of 
 Russia, which once awed the world, trembling before a 
 few desperate men and frenzied women ! It is a fear 
 ful vision, and it shakes my soul with dread. Night 
 is over me and my Empire." 
 
 " Oh, say not so ! " exclaimed the Prince, in the 
 deepest sorrow. " I beseech your Majesty, say not so ! 
 These nihilistic conspiracies cannot succeed. They 
 affront the noblest instincts of our nature. A few 
 wretches should not mar your peace and cloud your 
 hope." 
 
 "They are not a few," answered the Czar vehe 
 mently. They are many. And they grow. Nobles, 
 made bankrupt by the Emancipation, swell their ranks. 
 Princes are among them ; yea, the sons and the daugh 
 ters of Princes. Even Justice seems turned against 
 me, and those she doomed to mines, to prisons, to the 
 gallows, have multiplied and intensified my enemies until 
 they fill my realm and alarm the world." 
 
 "But surely, your Majesty, surely," responded the 
 Prince, "assassinations so mean, so cowardly, so cruel, 
 so destructive, often of the innocent, must disgust man 
 kind, and perish in the indignation they enkindled ! " 
 
 "Assuredly," said the Emperor, with more composure; 
 "but before they cease I will be their victim, and 
 Russia be wrapped in flames and stained with blood. 
 Sovereignty must reside in the one or in the many, 
 It cannot be divided. Either it is in the monarch 01 
 it is in the people. The contest is now between th< 
 divine right of kings and the divine right of multitudes 
 
602 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 When power in either is unquestioned, there is peace ; 
 but when in transition only war. This was the strife 
 in England until the Kevolution. In France, from 
 the last Louis to the present Republic there has 
 been a century of blood. Germany is now expe 
 riencing the throes of my own Empire. No Roman 
 off will ever part with his sovereignty. We are a 
 family of monarchs. But the people are more power 
 ful than we, and if we cannot bend we must break. 
 Our destiny is recorded. Over myself is the shadow 
 of fate!" 
 
 " Oh, your majesty," cried the Prince in agony, 
 " your people can never forget, the world can never 
 forget, Heaven can never forget the Emancipation. 
 You gave liberty to millions. Half of Russia you 
 transferred to the Commune ! You granted trial by 
 jury, the local assembly, and other privileges which 
 mark the grandest era in human progress. You must, 
 you will have the thanks of the human race ! " 
 
 " Thanks ! " exclaimed the Emperor, caustically. 
 "Thanks!" he repeated, with curling lip and flashing 
 eye. "Thanks!" he added, with an almost furious 
 anger and indignation. "Yes! thanks in daggers, in 
 pistols, in dynamite thanks in plots, assassinations, 
 and massacres thanks in wounds, blood and death 
 thanks in the attempted destruction of myself, my 
 family, my very name ! Such are the rewards of my 
 beneficence ! " 
 
 " Oh, wait, your Majesty, wait, but wait," said 
 the Prince, touched into tears. "Time will vindicate 
 
THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 603 
 
 you, Russia will bless you, History will immortalize 
 you, Heaven will reward you." 
 
 "So once I thought," replied the Emperor, with in 
 describable sadness. "That dream of my youthful 
 enthusiasm has also perished. I yearned to give my 
 people liberty. What was the result ? Nobles and 
 peasants were frenzied with wild dreams, and angry 
 because the gift was not more ample. Crazed with 
 impossible visions, they compelled me to withdraw the 
 privileges I was glad to bestow. Their own mad desires 
 forced me to repression. They made necessary exile, 
 imprisonment and death. They wrested from my hand 
 the gift of love and made it grasp the sword of justice. 
 My very benevolence has clouded me with a darker 
 hate and a more dahining opprobrium." 
 
 "Hard!" replied the Prince, "hard! too, too hard! 
 I see, as never before, the difficulties of your Imperial 
 position, and the thorns beneath your diadem, and I 
 consecrate anew my life to my noble and generous 
 master." 
 
 "I do not doubt you," said the Emperor, embracing 
 him. "But fate is too strong for us. The weapon 
 is ready which is to shatter my life. Across my path 
 is a grave. One monument marks my deliverance, 
 but the next will commemorate my destruction. My 
 father held back the avalanche, knowing it could not 
 be controlled when once loose. I, in my young, vain 
 confidence, gave it an impulse, and it has ruined me, 
 and will overwhelm my empire." 
 
 The Prince was deeply moved, and saw that in his 
 
604 
 
 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 present mood it would be impossible to console the 
 Emperor. He arose to bid him adieu. The gloom in 
 his face mocked his military costume and imperial 
 magnificence. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A RUSSIAN ARCHBISHOP. 
 
 N the next morning after his interview 
 with the Prince, Alexander, at the 
 same hour, sat in the Library of the 
 Winter Palace. Before him was a 
 table of exquisite and remarkable 
 workmanship, furnished not only for the con 
 venience, but the caprice of the writer. A 
 clock of gold ticked on the side opposite his 
 Majesty, and rang out each quarter in a tone 
 of liquid silver. Paper-knives, and paper 
 weights, pens, inkstands, all the appointments 
 were sufficient to meet the demands of royal taste. 
 Behind the Emperor was an immense sofa which had 
 supported the form of Peter the Great, and a lounge 
 made from his camp-bedstead. Portraits of all the 
 Muscovite monarchs hung round the walls, and grander 
 than even Ivan the Terrible was the imperious Nicholas. 
 Alexander was in a blue satin gown, fringed with 
 ermine and tied about his waist with a purple sash 
 tasselled with gold. The defiant and unhappy expres-, 
 sion of the previous day had vanished. A calm had 
 come into his soul and diffused itself over his features. 
 
008 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 Nor was the tempest ever again to disturb his breast. 
 He had fought and he had conquered. 
 
 His Majesty was expecting the Bishop of Novgorod, 
 who entered at the appointed hour, knelt before his 
 sovereign, kissed his hand and was invited to a seat 
 on the royal sofa. 
 
 "I have sent for you, Bishop," began the Czar, gra 
 ciously, "on a personal matter of infinite and eternal 
 consequence. Your course in America excited my ad 
 miration, and your career since your return has gained 
 my confidence. Especially do I approve your conduct 
 toward your brother." 
 
 The Bishop started. He was embarrassed. The color 
 rushed to his face. He exclaimed hastily: 
 
 "May it please your Majesty, it was precisely that 
 I wish to explain. I thought you might object to my 
 affording Euric a shelter. But, I met him in the street, 
 blind, helpless, pursued by dogs, and persecuted by idle 
 boys, and I felt that he was yet my brother. My arms 
 opened to him, he fell on my breast and I led him 
 home. I must apologize for harboring one who has 
 sought the life of your Majesty, and been the foe of 
 your Empire, and indeed, of humanity itself." 
 
 " Your fraternal instinct directed you aright," 
 answered the Emperor, with tenderness and animation. 
 "Our affections are often our best guides. I did not 
 intend his punishment to extend beyond his loss of 
 sight. By giving him an asylum, you have removed 
 him from popular sympathy, and relieved my govern 
 ment of a great embarrassment. To testify my sane- 
 
A RUSSIAN ARCHBISHOP. 609 
 
 tion of your conduct, and to reward you for the service 
 I will soon impose, I promise you, when the vacancy 
 occurs, that you shall be Archbishop of Moscow, and 
 Patriarch of all the Russias." 
 
 Nicolai was overwhelmed. Amazement made him 
 speechless. He had never even thought of such a dig 
 nity. To have been made an angel would not have 
 caused him more surprise. At last, with a supreme 
 effort, he fell before the Emperor, clasped his knees 
 in a vain effort to express his thanks, and had to be 
 raised to the sofa by the imperial hand. 
 
 When he had become sufficiently composed, the 
 Emperor inquired : 
 
 "And how is your brother Ruric ? I trust his pun 
 ishment was wise, and will be for his own good and 
 that of the State." 
 
 " The Almighty has ordered all," cried the Bishop, in 
 tears. "The eye of the flesh has been sealed that the 
 eye of the spirit might be opened. Light eternal has 
 entered his soul. He is penitent, humble, and has 
 commissioned me to beg your Majesty's pardon. If 
 permitted, he would do it himself in the dust. His 
 whole time is given to prayer and his Bible, and let 
 ters sent over the world to persuade his Nihilistic 
 friends that the Divine Law, forbidding murder, is of 
 Supreme obligation. Never was a change more radi 
 cal and wonderful. The Divine Grace has made Ruric 
 
 I 
 
 a child. His face breathes peace and love, and he is, 
 
 indeed, a vessel of light and a monument of mercy." 
 
 "I congratulate you," answered his Majesty, with 
 
610 KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 quivering lip and voice. " This is inexpressibly grate 
 ful to me. He is a Prince of the House of Russikoff, 
 which is even older than our own. If you deem me 
 worthy, after what I have to say to you, arrange that 
 we commune together with my nephew Alexis, in a 
 private chapel of St. Isaac's, you yourself administering 
 the sacrament." 
 
 "This is," exclaimed the Bishop, "an unexpected 
 honor and pleasure. It will be a memorable hour in 
 the history of the Empire. Oh, that all the Nihilistic 
 enemies of your Majesty might thus kneel before the 
 cross ! " 
 
 n Amen ! " cried the Emperor, with a loud voice, 
 " Amen and amen ! May my foes find forgiveness in 
 the: Divine Blood. In our Saviour may all strife be 
 hushed and the world find peace." 
 
 Alexander then took the Bishop by the hand and 
 led him to the great Imperial chair. When he was 
 seated, the Emperor kneeled before him as the repre 
 sentative of Jesus Christ, the Divine Majesty of the 
 universe. He then began in a low tone : 
 
 " I need not recite my plans for freedom, their fail 
 ure, and my rebellious bitterness, of disappointment 
 when the license of my people drove me to repressive 
 measures. I cursed my subjects as madmen. I cursed 
 myself as a fool. I cursed my destiny. I even cursed 
 Heaven. My enterprise was too great for me and I 
 quailed. It required industry, devotion, courage, faith, 
 self-abnegation, and I wished pleasure and self-indul 
 gence. I should have collected round me wise states- 
 
A RUSSIAN ARCHBISHOP. 611 
 
 f 
 
 men and pious divines, and sought help in the Almighty. 
 Here was my capital sin. Stung by my conscience, I 
 found criminal relief in effeminite pleasure, and became 
 ensnared and infatuated with the Princess Dolgorouki. 
 This crushed the heart of my loyal, loving wife. I set 
 the law of my will above the law of my God. A royal 
 worm despised the Sovereign of the universe. The 
 death of the Empress tore the veil from my eyes. I 
 see. I confess. I mourn my sin. My purpose is to 
 do justice by marrying the Princess, and legitimatiz 
 ing my unfortunate children. Whatever penance you 
 prescribe, I will perform. I pray your Absolution and 
 admission to the Holy Communion." 
 
 The Bishop stood on the platform of the chair, above 
 the Emperor. He lifted his hands toward heaven, and 
 in a clear, sweet, but authoritative tone, pronounced 
 the Absolution of the Holy Orthodox Church. His 
 Majesty arose, and the men embraced in tears. It 
 is thus in the cross that even Earth and Heaven will 
 find eternal liberty, fraternity, equality. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE RUSSIAN CATHEDRAL. 
 
 T was a morning in St. Petersburg, 
 in which the brilliance of summer, 
 and the mellowness of Autumn 
 were commingled. Never had the 
 dome of the great cathedral shone 
 with a more effulgent glory. 
 The cross above it, standing in the crescent, 
 sparkled with a living light. Within 
 the vast edifice was an atmosphere of joy. 
 The faces of the saints and angels pictured 
 over the altar, or smiling in marble from 
 niche and column, seemed encircled with 
 a halo of celestial peace. Indeed, the 
 whole cathedral breathed some bliss too deep to be 
 voiced in sound. Silent, as the blaze above the altar, 
 was this joy in souls. 
 
 The source and center of this divine feeling was a 
 small, private chapel. There the Bishop of Novgorod 
 was in the act of administering the Holy Communion. 
 He had just received, and was now imparting. His 
 gorgeous episcopal robes gave dignity to his office, and 
 before him, between Prince Alexis on his right, and 
 Prince Ruric on his left, kneeled the Majesty of Russia. 
 
THE RUSSIAN CATHEDRAL. 613 
 
 Here, in the Blood of the Cross, were quenched the 
 feuds of ages. Monarch and Nihilist had become one 
 in their Saviour. Hate was turned into love, and 
 Heaven smiled over earth. 
 
 When the Communion ended with the Benediction 
 of Peace, the music of the choir and organ burst forth, 
 flooding the edifice with joyful harmonies. 
 
 Kussia never beheld a more magnificent spectacle. 
 Emperor, Princes, Dukes, Counsellors, Generals, were 
 there in the splendors of rank and office. The beauty 
 and the chivalry of the land were represented, brilliant 
 with all Russia could command. It was one of the 
 grand days of the Empire. In the midst of all, appeared 
 before the Chancel, the Prince Stewart Gallitzin Orloff, 
 and the Princess Marie Alexander Romanoff. Her father 
 gave away the Bride, and the Archbishop Nicolai said 
 the service. In that marriage, the old empire and the 
 young republic were united in a new and lasting 
 bond. Weeping, unobserved, behind a pillar, and hap 
 piest of the throng, stood Prince Ruric, once the blind 
 Nihilist, now the illuminated Christian. 
 
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