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University of California • Berkeley 
 
 From the Collection of 
 Joseph Z. Todd 
 
 Gift of 
 Hatherly B. Todd 
 
$ THE NOVELS AND 
 TALES OF ROBERT 
 LOUIS STEVENSON 
 
 NEW ARABIAN 
 NIGHTS * * * 
 
 ^PUBLISHED IN 
 NEW YORK BY 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S 
 SONS 1 * 1907 * 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2008 with funding from 
 
 Microsoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/arabiannightsnewOOstevrich 
 
TO 
 
 ROBERT ALAN MOWBRAY STEVENSON 
 
 IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR YOUTH 
 AND THEIR ALREADY OLD AFFECTION 
 
NOTE 
 
 I must prefix a word of thanks to the gentleman who condescended to 
 borrow the gist of one of my stories, and even to honour it with the 
 addition of his signature. This mark of appreciation emboldened 
 me to make the present collection. 
 
 R. L. S. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts ... 3 
 Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk ... 42 
 The Adventure of the Hansom Cab 76 
 
 THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 Story of the Bandbox 105 
 
 Story of the Young Man in Holy Orders 137 
 
 Story of the House with the Green Blinds .... 157 
 
 Adventure of Prince Florizel and the Detective . . . 196 
 
 THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I Tells How I Camped in Graden Sea-wood, and beheld 
 
 a Light in the Pavilion 207 
 
 II Tells of the Nocturnal Landing from the Yacht . . 216 
 
 III Tells how I became acquainted with my Wife . . . 224 
 
 IV Tells in what a startling manner I learned that I was 
 
 NOT ALONE IN GRADEN SEA-WOOD 235 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 V Tells of an Interview between Northmour, Clara, and 
 
 Myself 245 
 
 VI Tells of my Introduction to the Tall Man .... 252 
 VII Tells how a Word was Cried through the Pavilion 
 
 Window 260 
 
 VIII Tells the Last of the Tall Man 268 
 
 IX Tells how Northmour carried out his Threat . . . 277 
 
 A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 287 
 
 THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 317 
 
 PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 347 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN WITH THE CREAM TARTS 
 
 DURING his residence in London, the accomplished 
 Prince Florizel of Bohemia gained the affection of 
 all classes by the seduction of his manner and by a 
 well-considered generosity. He was a remarkable man 
 even by what was known of him ; and that was but a 
 small part of what he actually did. Although of a placid 
 temper in ordinary circumstances, and accustomed to 
 take the world with as much philosophy as any plough- 
 man, the Prince of Bohemia was not without a taste 
 for ways of life more adventurous and eccentric than 
 that to which he was destined by his birth. Now and 
 then, when he fell into a low humour, when there was 
 no laughable play to witness in any of the London the- 
 atres, and when the season of the year was unsuitable 
 to those field sports in which he excelled all competi- 
 tors, he would summon his confidant and Master of the 
 Horse, Colonel Geraldine, and bid him prepare himself 
 against an evening ramble. The Master of the Horse 
 was a young officer of a brave and even temerarious 
 
 3 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 disposition. He greeted the news with delight, and 
 hastened to make ready. Long practice and a varied 
 acquaintance of life had given him a singular facility in 
 disguise; he could adapt not only his face and bearing, 
 but his voice and almost his thoughts, to those of any 
 rank, character, or nation ; and in this way he diverted 
 attention from the Prince, and sometimes gained ad- 
 mission for the pair into strange societies. The civil 
 authorities were never taken into the secret of these ad- 
 ventures; the imperturbable courage of the one and the 
 ready invention and chivalrous devotion of the other 
 had brought them through a score of dangerous passes ; 
 and they grew in confidence as time went on. 
 
 One evening in March they were driven by a sharp 
 fall of sleet into an Oyster Bar in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of Leicester Square. Colonel Geraldine was 
 dressed and painted to represent a person connected 
 with the Press in reduced circumstances; while the 
 Prince had, as usual, travestied his appearance by the 
 addition of false whiskers and a pair of large adhesive 
 eyebrows. These lent him a shaggy and weather- 
 beaten air, which, for one of his urbanity, formed the 
 most impenetrable disguise. Thus equipped, the com- 
 mander and his satellite sipped their brandy and soda in 
 security. 
 
 The bar was full of guests, both male and female ; but 
 though more than one of these offered to fall into talk 
 with our adventurers, none of them promised to grow 
 interesting upon a nearer acquaintance. There was no- 
 thing present but the lees of London and the common- 
 place of disrespectability ; and the Prince had already 
 fallen to yawning, and was beginning to grow weary 
 
 4 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 of the whole excursion, when the swing doors were 
 pushed violently open, and a young man, followed by 
 a couple of commissionaires, entered the bar. Each 
 of the commissionaires carried a large dish of cream 
 tarts under a cover, which they at once removed ; and 
 the young man made the round of the company, and 
 pressed these confections upon everyone's acceptance 
 with an exaggerated courtesy. Sometimes his offer 
 was laughingly accepted; sometimes it was firmly, or 
 even harshly, rejected. In these latter cases the new- 
 comer always ate the tart himself, with some more or 
 less humourous commentary. 
 
 At last he accosted Prince Florizel. 
 
 "Sir," said he, with a profound obeisance, proffering 
 the tart at the same time between his thumb and fore- 
 finger, "will you so far honour an entire stranger ? I can 
 answer for the quality of the pastry, having eaten two 
 dozen and three of them myself since five o'clock." 
 
 "I am in the habit," replied the Prince, "of looking 
 not so much to the nature of a gift as to the spirit in 
 which it is offered." 
 
 "The spirit, sir," returned the young man, with an- 
 other bow, "is one of mockery." 
 
 " Mockery ? " repeated Florizel. " And whom do you 
 propose to mock ? " 
 
 "I am not here to expound my philosophy," replied 
 the other, "but to distribute these cream tarts. If I 
 mention that I heartily include myself in the ridicule of 
 the transaction, I hope you will consider honour satisfied 
 and condescend. If not, you will constrain me to eat 
 my twenty-eighth, and I own to being weary of the ex- 
 ercise." 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "You touch me," said the Prince, "and I have all 
 the will in the world to rescue you from this dilemma, 
 but upon one condition. If my friend and I eat your 
 cakes — for which we have neither of us any natural in- 
 clination — we shall expect you to join us at supper, by 
 way of recompense." 
 
 The young man seemed to reflect. 
 
 "I have still several dozen upon hand," he said at 
 last; "and that will make it necessary for me to visit 
 several more bars before my great affair is concluded. 
 This will take some time; and if you are hungry " 
 
 The Prince interrupted him with a polite gesture. 
 
 "My friend and I will accompany you," he said: 
 "for we have already a deep interest in your very 
 agreeable mode of passing an evening. And now that 
 the preliminaries of peace are settled, allow me to sign 
 the treaty for both." 
 
 And the Prince swallowed the tart with the best 
 grace imaginable. 
 
 "It is delicious," said he. 
 
 " I perceive you are a connoisseur," replied the 
 young man. 
 
 Colonel Geraldine likewise did honour to the pastry; 
 and every one in that bar having now either accepted 
 or refused his delicacies, the young man with the 
 cream tarts led the way to another and similar estab- 
 lishment. The two commissionaires, who seemed to 
 have grown accustomed to their absurd employment, 
 followed immediately after; and the Prince and the 
 Colonel brought up the rear, arm in arm, and smiling 
 to each other as they went. In this order the company 
 visited two other taverns, where scenes were enacted 
 
 6 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 of a like nature to that already described — some refus- 
 ing, some accepting, the favours of this vagabond hospi- 
 tality, and the young man himself eating each rejected 
 tart. 
 
 On leaving the third saloon the young man counted 
 his store. There were but nine remaining, three in one 
 tray and six in the other. 
 
 11 Gentlemen," said he, addressing himself to his two 
 new followers, " I am unwilling to delay your supper. 
 I am positively sure you must be hungry. I feel that 
 I owe you a special consideration. And on this great 
 day for me, when I am closing a career of folly by my 
 most conspicuously silly action, I wish to behave hand- 
 somely to all who give me countenance. Gentlemen, 
 you shall wait no longer. Although my constitution is 
 shattered by previous excesses, at the risk of my life I 
 liquidate the suspensory condition." 
 
 With these words he crushed the nine remaining tarts 
 into his mouth, and swallowed them at a single move- 
 ment each. Then, turning to the commissionaires, he 
 gave them a couple of sovereigns. 
 
 • I have to thank you," said he, "for your extraor- 
 dinary patience." 
 
 And he dismissed them with a bow apiece. For some 
 seconds he stood looking at the purse from which he 
 had just paid his assistants, then, with a laugh, he tossed 
 it into the middle of the street, and signified his readi- 
 ness for supper. 
 
 In a small French restaurant in Soho, which had en- 
 joyed an exaggerated reputation for some little while, 
 but had already begun to be forgotten, and in a private 
 room up two pair of stairs, the three companions made 
 
 7 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 a very elegant supper, and drank three or four bottles 
 of champagne, talking the while upon indifferent sub- 
 jects. The young man was fluent and gay, but he 
 laughed louder than was natural in a person of polite 
 breeding; his hands trembled violently, and his voice 
 took sudden and surprising inflections, which seemed 
 to be independent of his will. The dessert had been 
 cleared away, and all three had lighted their cigars, 
 when the Prince addressed him in these words : 
 
 "You will, I am sure, pardon my curiosity. What I 
 have seen of you has greatly pleased but even more 
 puzzled me. And though I should be loath to seem in- 
 discreet, I must tell you that my friend and I are persons 
 very well worthy to be entrusted with a secret. We 
 have many of our own, which we are continually re- 
 vealing to improper ears. And if, as I suppose, your 
 story is a silly one, you need have no delicacy with us, 
 who are two of the silliest men in England. My name 
 is Godall, Theophilus Godall ; my friend is Major Alfred 
 Hammersmith — or at least, such is the name by which 
 he chooses to be known. We pass our lives entirely 
 in the search for extravagant adventures; and there is 
 no extravagance with which we are not capable of sym- 
 pathy." 
 
 " I like you, Mr. Godall," returned the young man; 
 "you inspire me with a natural confidence; and I have 
 not the slightest objection to your friend, the Major; 
 whom I take to be a nobleman in masquerade. At least, 
 I am sure he is no soldier." 
 
 The Colonel smiled at this compliment to the perfec- 
 tion of his art; and the young man went on in a more 
 animated manner. 
 
 8 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 " There is every reason why I should not tell you my 
 story. Perhaps that !3 just the reason why I am going 
 to do so. At least, you seem so well prepared to hear 
 a tale of silliness that I cannot find it in my heart to dis- 
 appoint you. My name, in spite of your example, I shall 
 keep to myself. My age is not essential to the narrative. 
 I am descended from my ancestors by ordinary genera- 
 tion, and from them I inherited the very eligible human 
 tenement which I still occupy and a fortune of three hun- 
 dred pounds a year. I suppose they also handed on to 
 me a hare-brain humour, which it has been my chief de- 
 light to indulge. I received a good education. I can 
 play the violin nearly well enough to earn money in the 
 orchestra of a penny gafT, but not quite. The same re- 
 mark applies to the flute and the French horn. I learned 
 enough of whist to lose about a hundred a year at that 
 scientific game. My acquaintance with French was suf- 
 ficient to enable me to squander money in Paris with 
 almost the same facility as in London. In short, I am a 
 person full of manly accomplishments. I have had every 
 sort of adventure, including a duel about nothing. Only 
 two months ago I met a young lady exactly suited to my 
 taste in mind and body ; I found my heart melt ; I saw 
 that I had come upon my fate at last, and was in the 
 way to fall in love. But when I came to reckon up 
 what remained to me of my capital, I found it amounted 
 to something less than four hundred pounds! I ask you 
 fairly — can a man who respects himself fall in love on 
 four hundred pounds ? I concluded, certainly not ; left 
 the presence of my charmer, and slightly accelerating my 
 usual rate of expenditure, came this morning to my last 
 eighty pounds. This I divided into two equal parts; 
 
 9 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 forty I reserved for a particular purpose ; the remaining 
 forty I was to dissipate before the night. I have passed 
 a very entertaining day ; and played many farces besides 
 that of the cream tarts which procured me the advantage 
 of your acquaintance ; for I was determined, as I told 
 you, to bring a foolish career to a still more foolish con- 
 clusion; and when you saw me throw my purse into 
 the street, the forty pounds were at an end. Now you 
 know me as well as I know myself: a fool but consis- 
 tent in his folly ; and, as I will ask you to believe, neither 
 a whimperer nor a coward." 
 
 From the whole tone of the young man's statement 
 it was plain that he harboured very bitter and contemp- 
 tuous thoughts about himself. His auditors were led to 
 imagine that his love affair was nearer his heart than he 
 admitted, and that he had a design on his own life. The 
 farce of the cream tarts began to have very much the air 
 of a tragedy in disguise. 
 
 "Why, is this not odd," broke out Geraldine, giving 
 a look to Prince Florizel, "that we three fellows should 
 have met by the merest accident in so large a wilder- 
 ness as London, and should be so nearly in the same 
 condition ?" 
 
 "How?" cried the young man. "Are you, too, 
 ruined ? Is this supper a folly like my cream tarts ? 
 Has the devil brought three of his own together for a 
 last carouse ? " 
 
 "The devil, depend upon it, can sometimes do a 
 very gentlemanly thing," returned Prince Florizel; 
 " and I am so much touched by this coincidence, 
 that, although we are not entirely in the same case, 
 I am going to put an end to the disparity. Let your 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 heroic treatment of the last cream tarts be my ex- 
 ample." 
 
 So saying, the Prince drew out his purse and took 
 from it a small bundle of bank-notes. 
 
 ' ' You see, I was a week or so behind you, but I 
 mean to catch you up and come neck and neck into 
 the winning-post," he continued. " This," laying one 
 of the notes upon the table, "will suffice for the bill. 
 As for the rest — " 
 
 He tossed them into the fire, and they went up the 
 chimney in a single blaze. 
 
 The young man tried to catch his arm, but as the 
 table was between them his interference came too late. 
 
 "Unhappy man," he cried, "you should not have 
 burned them all ! You should have kept forty 
 pounds." 
 
 "Forty pounds!" repeated the Prince. "Why, in 
 heaven's name, forty pounds?" 
 
 " Why not eighty ? " cried the Colonel; " for to my 
 certain knowledge there must have been a hundred in 
 the bundle." 
 
 "It was only forty pounds he needed," said the 
 young man gloomily. " But without them there is no 
 admission. The rule is strict. Forty pounds for each. 
 Accursed life, where a man cannot even die without 
 money!" 
 
 The Prince and the Colonel exchanged glances. 
 
 "Explain yourself," said the latter. "I have still a 
 pocket-book tolerably well lined, and I need not say 
 how readily I would share my wealth with Godall. But 
 I must know to what end: you must certainly tell us 
 what you mean." 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 The young man seemed to awaken; he looked un- 
 easily from one to the other, and his face flushed deeply. 
 
 "You are not fooling me?" he asked. "You are 
 indeed ruined men like me ? " 
 
 M Indeed, I am for my part," replied the Colonel. 
 
 "And for mine," said the Prince, M I have given you 
 proof. Who but a ruined man would throw his notes 
 into the fire ? The action speaks for itself." 
 
 "A ruined man — yes," returned the other suspi- 
 ciously, " or else a millionaire." 
 
 " Enough, sir," said the Prince; " I have said so, and 
 I am not accustomed to have my word remain in doubt." 
 
 " Ruined ? " said the young man. " Are you ruined, 
 like me ? Are you, after a life of indulgence, come to 
 such a pass that you can only indulge yourself in one 
 thing more? Are you" — he kept lowering his voice 
 as he went on — " are you going to give yourselves that 
 last indulgence ? Are you going to avoid the conse- 
 quences of your folly by the one infallible and easy path ? 
 Are you going to give the slip to the sheriffs officers of 
 conscience by the one open door ? " 
 
 Suddenlv he broke off and attempted to laugh. 
 
 " Here is your health! " he cried, emptying his glass, 
 " and good night to you, my merry ruined men." 
 
 Colonel Geraldine caught him by the arm as he was 
 about to rise. 
 
 "You lack confidence in us," he said, " and you are 
 wrong. To all your questions I make answer in the 
 affirmative. But I am not so timid, and can speak the 
 Queen's English plainly. We too, like yourself, have 
 had enough of life, and are determined to die. Sooner 
 or later, alone or together, we meant to seek out death 
 
 12 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 and beard him where he lies ready. Since we have met 
 you, and your case is more pressing, let it be to-night 
 — and at once — and, if you will, all three together. 
 Such a penniless trio," he cried, " should go arm in arm 
 into the halls of Pluto, and give each other some coun- 
 tenance among the shades! " 
 
 Geraldine had hit exactly on the manners and intona- 
 tions that became the part he was playing. The Prince 
 himself was disturbed, and looked over at his confidant 
 with a shade of doubt. As for the young man, the flush 
 came back darkly into his cheek, and his eyes threw out 
 a spark of light. 
 
 "You are the men for me!" he cried, with an almost 
 terrible gayety. " Shake hands upon the bargain ! " (his 
 hand was cold and wet.) "You little know in what a 
 company you will begin the march ! You little know in 
 what a happy moment for yourselves you partook of my 
 cream tarts ! I am only a unit, but I am a unit in an 
 army. I know Death's private door. I am one of his 
 familiars, and can show you into eternity without cere- 
 mony and yet without scandal." 
 
 They called upon him eagerly to explain his meaning. 
 
 "Can you muster eighty pounds between you ?" he 
 demanded. 
 
 Geraldine ostentatiously consulted his pocket-book, 
 and replied in the affirmative. 
 
 " Fortunate beings! " cried the young man. " Forty 
 pounds is the entry money of the Suicide Club." 
 
 ■ ' The Suicide Club, " said the Prince, ' ' why, what the 
 devil is that ? " 
 
 "Listen," said the young man; "this is the age of 
 conveniences, and I have to tell you of the last perfec- 
 
 >3 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 tion of the sort. We have affairs in different places ; and 
 hence railways were invented. Railways separated us 
 infallibly from our friends ; and so telegraphs were made 
 that we might communicate speedily at great distances. 
 Even in hotels we have lifts to spare us a climb of some 
 hundred steps. Now, we know that life is only a stage 
 to play the fool upon as long as the part amuses us. 
 There was one more convenience lacking to modern 
 comfort; a decent, easy way to quit that stage; the back 
 stairs to liberty ; or, as I said this moment, Death's pri- 
 vate door. This, my two fellow-rebels, is supplied by 
 the Suicide Club. Do not suppose that you and I are 
 alone, or even exceptional, in the highly reasonable de- 
 sire that we profess. A large number of our fellow- 
 men, who have grown heartily sick of the performance 
 in which they are expected to join daily and all their 
 lives long, are only kept from flight by one or two con- 
 siderations. Some have families who would be shocked, 
 or even blamed, if the matter became public; others have 
 a weakness at heart and recoil from the circumstances of 
 death. That is, to some extent, my own experience. I 
 cannot put a pistol to my head and draw the trigger; for 
 something stronger than myself withholds the act; and 
 although I loathe life, I have not strength enough in my 
 body to take hold of death and be done with it. For 
 such as I, and for all who desire to be out of the coil 
 without posthumous scandal, the Suicide Club has been 
 inaugurated. How this has been managed, what is its 
 history, or what may be its ramifications in other lands, 
 I am myself uninformed ; and what I know of its con- 
 stitution, I am not at liberty to communicate to you. 
 To this extent, however, I am at your service. If you 
 
 »4 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 are truly tired of life, I will introduce you to-night to a 
 meeting ; and if not to-night, at least some time within 
 the week, you will be easily relieved of your existences. 
 It is" now (consulting his watch) eleven ; by half-past, 
 at latest, we must leave this place ; so that you have half 
 an hour before you to consider my proposal. It is more 
 serious than a cream tart," he added, with a smile; 
 "and I suspect more palatable." 
 
 "More serious, certainly," returned Colonel Geral- 
 dine; "and as it is so much more so, will you allow 
 me five minutes' speech in private with my friend, Mr. 
 Godall ? " 
 
 " It is only fair," answered the young man. " If you 
 will permit, I will retire." 
 
 ** You will be very obliging," said the Colonel. 
 
 As soon as the two were alone — " What," said Prince 
 Florizel, "is the use of this confabulation, Geraldine ? 
 I see you are flurried, whereas my mind is very tran- 
 quilly made up. I will see the end of this." 
 
 " Your Highness," said the Colonel turning pale; " let 
 me ask you to consider the importance of your life, not 
 only to your friends, but to the public interest. ' If not 
 to-night,' said this madman ; but supposing that to-night 
 some irreparable disaster were to overtake your High- 
 ness's person, what, let me ask you, what would be my 
 despair, and what the concern and disaster of a great 
 nation ? " 
 
 " I will see the end of this," repeated the Prince in his 
 most deliberate tones; " and have the kindness, Colonel 
 Geraldine, to remember and respect your word of honour 
 as a gentleman. Under no circumstances, recollect, 
 nor without my special authority, are you to betray the 
 
 15 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 incognito under which I choose to go abroad. These 
 were my commands, which I now reiterate. And now," 
 he added, " let me ask you to call for the bill." 
 
 Colonel Geraldine bowed in submission ; but he had 
 a very white face as he summoned the young man of 
 the cream tarts, and issued his directions to the waiter. 
 The Prince preserved his undisturbed demeanour, and 
 described a Palais Royal farce to the young suicide with 
 great humour and gusto. He avoided the Colonel's ap- 
 pealing looks without ostentation, and selected another 
 cheroot with more than usual care. Indeed, he was 
 now the only man of the party who kept any command 
 over his nerves. 
 
 The bill was discharged, the Prince giving the whole 
 change of the note to the astonished waiter; and the 
 three drove off in a four wheeler. They were not long 
 upon the way before the cab stopped at the entrance to 
 a rather dark court. Here all descended. 
 
 After Geraldine had paid the fare, the young man 
 turned, and addressed Prince Florizel as follows: 
 
 "It is still time, Mr. Godall, to make good your es- 
 cape into thralldom. And for you too, Major Hammer- 
 smith. Reflect well before you take another step ; and 
 if your hearts say no — here are the cross-roads." 
 
 " Lead on, sir," said the Prince. M I am not the man 
 to go back from a thing once said." 
 
 "Your coolness does me good," replied their guide. 
 "I have never seen anyone so unmoved at this con- 
 juncture; and yet you are not the first whom I have 
 escorted to this door. More than one of my friends has 
 preceded me, where I knew I must shortly follow. But 
 this is of no interest to you. Wait me here for only a 
 
 i6 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 few moments ; I shall return as soon as I have arranged 
 the preliminaries of your introduction." 
 
 And with that the young man, waving his hand to 
 his companions, turned into the court, entered a door- 
 way and disappeared. 
 
 "Of all our follies," said Colonel Geraldine in a low 
 voice, "this is the wildest and most dangerous." 
 
 "I perfectly believe so," returned the Prince. 
 
 "We have still," pursued the Colonel, "a moment 
 to ourselves. Let me beseech your Highness to profit 
 by the opportunity and retire. The consequences of 
 this step are so dark, and may be so grave, that I feel 
 myself justified in pushing a little farther than usual the 
 liberty which your Highness is so condescending as to 
 allow me in private." 
 
 "Am I to understand that Colonel Geraldine is 
 afraid ? " asked his Highness, taking his cheroot from 
 his lips, and looking keenly into the other's face. j 
 
 " My fear is certainly not personal," replied the other 
 proudly ; " of that your Highness may rest well assured." 
 
 " I had supposed as much," returned the Prince, with 
 undisturbed good humour; "but I was unwilling to re- 
 mind you of the difference in our stations. No more — 
 no more," he added, seeing Geraldine about to apologize, 
 "you stand excused." 
 
 And he smoked placidly, leaning against a railing, 
 until the young man returned. 
 
 "Well," he asked, "has our reception been ar- 
 ranged ? " 
 
 " Follow me," was the reply. " The President will 
 see you in the cabinet. And let me warn you to be 
 frank in your answers. I have stood your guarantee; 
 
 «7 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 but the club requires a searching inquiry before admis- 
 sion ; for the indiscretion of a single member would lead 
 to the dispersion of the whole society forever." 
 
 The Prince and Geraldine put their heads together for 
 a moment. " Bear me out in this," said the one; and 
 "bear me out in that," said the other; and by boldly 
 taking up the characters of men with whom both were 
 acquainted, they had come to an agreement in a twink- 
 ling, and were ready to follow their guide into the 
 President's cabinet. 
 
 There were no formidable obstacles to pass. The 
 outer door stood open ; the door of the cabinet was 
 ajar; and there, in a small but very high apartment, the 
 young man left them once more. 
 
 " He will be here immediately," he said with a nod, 
 as he disappeared. 
 
 Voices were audible in the cabinet through the fold- 
 ing doors which formed one end; and now and then 
 the noise of a champagne cork, followed by a burst of 
 laughter, intervened among the sounds of conversation. 
 A single tall window looked out upon the river and the 
 embankment; and by the disposition of the lights they 
 judged themselves not far from Charing Cross station. 
 The furniture was scanty, and the coverings worn to 
 the thread; and there was nothing movable except a 
 hand-bell in the centre of a round table, and the hats 
 and coats of a considerable party hung round the wall 
 on pegs. 
 
 " What sort of a den is this ?" said Geraldine. 
 
 " That is what I have come to see," replied the Prince. 
 " If they keep live devils on the premises, the thing may 
 grow amusing." 
 
 18 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 Just then the folding door was opened no more than 
 was necessary for the passage of a human body ; and 
 there entered at the same moment a louder buzz of talk, 
 and the redoubtable President of the Suicide Club. The 
 President was a man of fifty or upwards; large and 
 rambling in his gait, with shaggy side-whiskers, a bald 
 top to his head, and a veiled gray eye, which now and 
 then emitted a twinkle. His mouth, which embraced 
 a large cigar, he kept continually screwing round and 
 round and from side to side, as he looked sagaciously 
 and coldly at the strangers. He was dressed in light 
 tweeds, with his neck very open, in a striped shirt 
 collar; and carried a minute book under one arm. 
 
 "Good evening," said he, after he had closed the door 
 behind him. " I am told you wish to speak with me." 
 
 "We have a desire, sir, to join the Suicide Club," 
 replied the Colonel. 
 
 The President rolled his cigar about in his mouth. 
 
 "What is that ? " he said abruptly. 
 
 "Pardon me," returned the Colonel, "but I believe 
 you are the person best qualified to give us information 
 on that point." 
 
 " I ? " cried the President. ' ' A Suicide Club ? Come, 
 come! this is a frolic for All Fools' Day. I can make 
 allowances for gentlemen who get merry in their liquor; 
 but let there be an end to this." 
 
 "Call your Club what you will," said the Colonel, 
 "you have some company behind these doors, and we 
 insist on joining it." 
 
 "Sir," returned the President, curtly, "you have 
 made a mistake. This is a private house, and you 
 must leave it instantly." 
 
 19 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 The Prince had remained quietly in his seat through- 
 out this little colloquy; but now, when the Colonel 
 looked over to him, as much as to say, "Take your 
 answer and come away, for God's sake! " he drew his 
 cheroot from his mouth, and spoke 
 
 "I have come here," said he, " upon the invitation of 
 a friend of yours. He has doubtless informed you of 
 my intention in thus intruding on your party. Let me 
 remind you that a person in my circumstances has ex- 
 ceedingly little to bind him, and is not at all likely to 
 tolerate much rudeness. I am a very quiet man, as a 
 usual thing; but, my dear sir, you are either going to 
 oblige me in the little matter of which you are aware, 
 or you shall very bitterly repent that you ever admitted 
 me to your ante-chamber." 
 
 The President laughed aloud. 
 
 "That is the way to speak," said he. "You are a 
 man who is a man. You know the way to my heart, 
 and can do what you like with me. Will you," he 
 continued, addressing Geraldine, "will you step aside 
 for a few minutes ? I shall finish first with your com- 
 panion, and some of the club's formalities require to 
 be fulfilled in private." 
 
 With these words he opened the door of a small 
 closet, into which he shut the Colonel. 
 
 "I believe in you," he said to Florizel, as soon as 
 they were alone; " but are you sure of your friend?" 
 
 "Not so sure as I am of myself, though he has more 
 cogent reasons," answered Florizel, "but sure enough 
 to bring him here without alarm. He has had enough 
 to cure the most tenacious man of life. He was cash- 
 iered the other day for cheating at cards." 
 
 20 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 "A good reason, I daresay," replied the President; 
 "at least, we have another in the same case, and I feel 
 sure of him. Have you also been in the Service, may 1 
 ask?" 
 
 " I have," was the reply; " but I was too lazy, I left 
 it early." 
 
 "What is your reason for being tired of life?" pur- 
 sued the President. 
 
 " The same, as near as I can make out," answered the 
 Prince; "unadulterated laziness." 
 
 The President started. "D — n it," said he, "you 
 must have something better than that." 
 
 " I have no more money," added Florizel. "That is 
 also a vexation, without doubt. It brings my sense of 
 idleness to an acute point." 
 
 The President rolled his cigar round in his mouth for 
 some seconds, directing his gaze straight into the eyes 
 of this unusual neophyte ; but the Prince supported his 
 scrutiny with unabashed good temper. 
 
 " If I had not a deal of experience," said the President 
 at last, "I should turn you off. But I know the world ; 
 and this much any way, that the most frivolous excuses 
 for a suicide are often the toughest to stand by. And 
 when I downright like a man, as I do you, sir, I would 
 rather strain the regulation than deny him." 
 
 The Prince and the Colonel, one after the other, were 
 subjected to a long and particular interrogatory: the 
 Prince alone ; but Geraldine in the presence of the Prince, 
 so that the President might observe the countenance of 
 the one while the other was being warmly cross-exam- 
 ined. The result was satisfactory; and the President, 
 after having booked a few details of each case, produced 
 
 21 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 a form of oath to be accepted. Nothing could be con- 
 ceived more passive than the obedience promised, or 
 more stringent than the terms by which the juror bound 
 himself. The man who forfeited a pledge so awful could 
 scarcely have a rag of honour or any of the consolations 
 of religion left to him. Florizel signed the document, 
 but not without a shudder; the Colonel followed his ex- 
 ample with an air of great depression. Then the Presi- 
 dent received the entry money ; and without more ado, 
 introduced the two friends into the smoking-room of the 
 Suicide Club. 
 
 The smoking-room of the Suicide Club was the same 
 height as the cabinet into which it opened, but much 
 larger, and papered from top to bottom with an imita- 
 tion of oak wainscot. A large and cheerful fire and a 
 number of gas-jets illuminated the company. The 
 Prince and his follower made the number up to eighteen. 
 Most of the party were smoking, and drinking cham- 
 pagne; a feverish hilarity reigned, with sudden and 
 rather ghastly pauses. 
 
 "Is this a full meeting?" asked the Prince. 
 
 "Middling," said the President. "By the way," he 
 added, "if you have any money, it is usual to offer 
 some champagne. It keeps up a good spirit, and is one 
 of my own little perquisites." 
 
 "Hammersmith," said Florizel, "I may leave the 
 champagne to you." 
 
 And with that he turned away and began to go round 
 among the guests. Accustomed to play the host in the 
 highest circles, he charmed and dominated all whom he 
 approached ; there was something at once winning and 
 authoritative in his address; and his extraordinary cool- 
 
 22 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 ness gave him yet another distinction in this half 
 maniacal society. As he went from one to another he 
 kept both his eyes and ears open, and soon began to 
 gain a general idea of the people among whom he 
 found himself. As in all other places of resort, one 
 type predominated : people in the prime of youth, 
 with every show of intelligence and sensibility in their 
 appearance, but with little promise of strength or the 
 quality that makes success. Few were much above 
 thirty, and not a few were still in their teens. They 
 stood, leaning on tables and shifting on their feet; 
 sometimes they smoked extraordinarily fast, and some- 
 times they let their cigars go out; some talked well, 
 but the conversation of others was plainly the re- 
 sult of nervous tension, and was equally without wit 
 or purport. As each new bottle of champagne was 
 opened, there was a manifest improvement in gayety. 
 Only two were seated — one in a chair in the recess of 
 the window, with his head hanging and his hands 
 plunged deep into his trouser pockets, pale, visibly 
 moist with perspiration, saying never a word, a very 
 wreck of soul and body; the other sat on the divan 
 close by the chimney, and attracted notice by a trench- 
 ant dissimilarity from all the rest. He was probably 
 upwards of forty, but he looked fully ten years older; 
 and Florizel thought he had never seen a man more 
 naturally hideous, nor one more ravaged by disease 
 and ruinous excitements. He was no more than skin 
 and bone, was partly paralysed, and wore spectacles 
 of such unusual power, that his eyes appeared through 
 the glasses greatly magnified and distorted in shape. 
 Except the Prince and the President, he was the only 
 
 33 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 person in the room who preserved the composure of 
 ordinary life. 
 
 There was little decency among the members of the 
 club. Some boasted of the disgraceful actions, the con- 
 sequences of which had reduced them to seek refuge 
 in death ; and the others listened without disapproval. 
 There was a tacit understanding against moral judg- 
 ments ; and whoever passed the club doors enjoyed 
 already some of the immunities of the tomb. They 
 drank to each other's memories, and to those of notable 
 suicides in the past. They compared and developed 
 their different views of death — some declaring that it 
 was no more than blackness and cessation ; others full 
 of a hope that that very night they should be scaling 
 the stars and commercing with the mighty dead. 
 
 "To the eternal memory of Baron Trenck, the type 
 of suicides!" cried one. "He went out of a small cell 
 into a smaller, that he might come forth again to 
 freedom." 
 
 ■ ' For my part," said a second, " I wish no more than 
 a bandage for my eyes and cotton for my ears. Only 
 they have no cotton thick enough in this world. " 
 
 A third was for reading the mysteries of life in a future 
 state ; and a fourth professed that he would never have 
 joined the club, if he had not been induced to believe in 
 Mr. Darwin. 
 
 " I could not bear," said this remarkable suicide, "to 
 be descended from an ape." 
 
 Altogether, the Prince was disappointed by the bear- 
 ing and conversation of the members. 
 
 " It does not seem to me," he thought, " a matter for 
 so much disturbance. If a man has made up his mind 
 
 24 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 to kill himself, let him do it, in God's name, like a gentle- 
 man. This flutter and big talk is out of place." 
 
 in the meanwhile Colonel Geraldine was a prey to the 
 blackest apprehensions ; the club and its rules were still 
 a mystery, and he looked round the room for some one 
 who should be able to set his mind at rest. In this 
 survey his eye lighted on the paralytic person with 
 the strong spectacles; and seeing him so exceedingly 
 tranquil, he besought the President, who was going in 
 and out of the room under a pressure of business, to 
 present him to the gentleman on the divan. 
 
 The functionary explained the needlessness of all such 
 formalities within the club, but nevertheless presented 
 Mr. Hammersmith to Mr. Malthus. 
 
 Mr. Malthus looked at the Colonel curiously, and then 
 requested him to take a seat upon his right. 
 
 " You are a new-comer," he said; "and wish infor- 
 mation ? You have come to the proper source. It is 
 two years since I first visited this charming club." 
 
 The Colonel breathed again. If Mr. Malthus had fre- 
 quented the place for two years there could be little 
 danger for the Prince in a single evening. But Geral- 
 dine was none the less astonished, and began to suspect 
 a mystification. 
 
 "What!" cried he, "two years! I thought — but 
 indeed I see I have been made the subject of a pleas- 
 antry." 
 
 "By no means," replied Mr. Malthus mildly. "My 
 case is peculiar. I am not, properly speaking, a suicide 
 at all ; but, as it were, an honorary member. I rarely 
 visit the club twice in two months. My infirmity and 
 the kindness of the President have procured me these 
 
 25 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 little immunities, for which besides I pay at an advanced 
 rate. Even as it is my luck has been extraordinary." 
 
 "lam afraid," said the Colonel, "that I must ask you 
 to be more explicit. You must remember that I am 
 still most imperfectly acquainted with the rules of the 
 club." 
 
 * ' An ordinary member who comes here in search of 
 death like yourself," replied the paralytic, "returns 
 every evening until fortune favours him. He can, even if 
 he is penniless, get board and lodging from the Presi- 
 dent : very fair, I believe, and clean, although, of course, 
 not luxurious; that could hardly be, considering the 
 exiguity (if I may so express myself) of the subscrip- 
 tion. And then the President's company is a delicacy 
 in itself." 
 
 " Indeed! " cried Geraldine, " he had not greatly pre- 
 possessed me." 
 
 "Ah!" said Mr. Malthus, "you do not know the 
 man: the drollest fellow! What stories! What cyn- 
 icism ! He knows life to admiration and, between our- 
 selves, is probably the most corrupt rogue in Christ- 
 endom." 
 
 "And he also," asked the Colonel, " is a permanency 
 — like yourself, if I may say so without offence?" 
 
 " Indeed, he is a permanency in a very different sense 
 from me," replied Mr. Malthus. "I have been gra- 
 ciously spared, but I must go at last. Now he never 
 plays. He shuffles and deals for the club, and makes 
 the necessary arrangements. That man, my dear Mr. 
 Hammersmith, is the very soul of ingenuity. For three 
 years he has pursued in London his useful and, I think 
 I may add, his artistic calling; and not so much as a 
 
 26 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 whisper of suspicion has been once aroused. I believe 
 him myself to be inspired. You doubtless remember 
 the celebrated case, six months ago, of the gentleman 
 who was accidentally poisoned in a chemist's shop ? 
 That was one of the least rich, one of the least racy, of 
 his notions; but then, how simple! and how safe!" 
 
 " You astound me," said the Colonel. "Was that 
 unfortunate gentleman one of the — " He was about 
 to say "victims;" but bethinking himself in time, he 
 substituted — "members of the club ? " 
 
 In the same flash of thought it occurred to him that 
 Mr. Malthus himself had not at all spoken in the tone 
 of one who is in love with death ; and he added hur- 
 riedly : 
 
 " But I perceive I am still in the dark. You speak of 
 shuffling and dealing; pray for what end? And since 
 you seem rather unwilling to die than otherwise, I 
 must own that I cannot conceive what brings you here 
 at all." 
 
 "You say truly that you are in the dark," replied 
 Mr. Malthus with more animation. "Why, my dear 
 sir, this club is the temple of intoxication. If my en- 
 feebled health could support the excitement more often, 
 you may depend upon it I should be more often here. 
 It requires all the sense of duty engendered by a long 
 habit of ill-health and careful regimen, to keep me from 
 excess in this, which is, I may say, my last dissipation. 
 I have tried them all, sir," he went on, laying his hand 
 on Geraldine's arm, "all without exception, and I de- 
 clare to you, upon my honour, there is not one of them 
 that has not been grossly and untruthfully overrated. 
 People trifle with love. Now, I deny that love is a 
 
 27 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 strong passion. Fear is the strong passion ; it is with 
 fear that you must, trifle, if you wish to taste the intense 
 joys of living. Envy me — envy me, sir," he added 
 with a chuckle, "lama coward! " 
 
 Geraldine could scarcely repress a movement of re- 
 pulsion for this deplorable wretch ; but he commanded 
 himself with an effort, and continued his inquiries. 
 
 " How, sir," he asked, " is the excitement so artfully 
 prolonged ? and where is there any element of uncer- 
 tainty?" 
 
 "I must tell you how the victim for every evening is 
 selected," returned Mr. Malthus; "and not only the vic- 
 tim, but another member, who is to be the instrument 
 in the club's hands, and death's high priest for that 
 occasion." 
 
 "Good God!" said the Colonel, "do they then kill 
 each other?" 
 
 "The trouble of suicide is removed in that way," re- 
 turned Malthus with a nod." 
 
 "Merciful Heavens!" ejaculated the Colonel, "and 
 may you — may I — may the — my friend, I mean — may 
 any of us be pitched upon this evening as the slayer of 
 another man's body and immortal spirit? Can such 
 things be possible among men born of women ? Oh ! 
 infamy of infamies ! " 
 
 He was about to rise in his horror, when he caught 
 the Prince's eye. It was fixed upon him from across 
 the room with a frowning and angry stare. And in a 
 moment Geraldine recovered his composure. 
 
 "After all," he added, "why not? And since you 
 say the game is interesting, vogue la galere — I follow 
 the club!" 
 
 28 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 Mr. Malthus had keenly enjoyed the Colonel's amaze- 
 ment and disgust. He had the vanity of wickedness ; 
 and it pleased him to see another man give way to a 
 generous movement, while he felt himself, in his entire 
 corruption, superior to such emotions. 
 
 " You now, after your first moment of surprise," said 
 he, ' ' are in a position to appreciate the delights of our 
 society. You can see how it combines the excitement 
 of a gaming-table, a duel, and a Roman amphitheatre. 
 The Pagans did well enough ; I cordially admire the re- 
 finement of their minds ; but it has been reserved for a 
 Christian country to attain this extreme, this quintes- 
 sence, this absolute of poignancy. You will understand 
 how vapid are all amusements to a man who has ac- 
 quired a taste for this one. The game we play," he 
 continued, 'Ms one of extreme simplicity. A full pack 
 — but I perceive you are about to see the thing in prog- 
 ress. Will you lend me the help of your arm ? I am 
 unfortunately paralysed. " 
 
 Indeed, just as Mr. Malthus was beginning his de- 
 scription, another pair of folding-doors was thrown 
 open, and the whole club began to pass, not without 
 some hurry, into the adjoining room. It was similar 
 in every respect to the one from which it was entered, 
 but somewhat differently furnished. The centre was 
 occupied by a long green table, at which the President 
 sat shuffling a pack of cards with great particularity. 
 Even with the stick and the Colonel's arm, Mr. Malthus 
 walked with so much difficulty that everyone was seated 
 before this pair and the Prince, who had waited for them, 
 entered the apartment; and, in consequence, the three 
 took seats close together at the lower end of the board. 
 
 20 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "It is a pack of fifty-two," whispered Mr. Malthus. 
 " Watch for the ace of spades, which is the sign of 
 death, and the ace of clubs, which designates the official 
 of the night. Happy, happy young men!" he added. 
 " You have good eyes, and can follow the game. Alas ! 
 I cannot tell an ace from a deuce across the table. " 
 
 And he proceeded to equip himself with a second 
 pair of spectacles. 
 
 " I must at least watch the faces," he explained. 
 
 The Colonel rapidly informed his friend of all that he 
 had learned from the honorary member, and of the hor- 
 rible alternative that lay before them. The Prince was 
 conscious of a deadly chill and a contraction about his 
 heart; he swallowed with difficulty, and looked from 
 side to side like a man in a maze. 
 
 "One bold stroke," whispered the Colonel, "and we 
 may still escape." 
 
 But the suggestion recalled the Prince's spirits. 
 
 "Silence! " said he. " Let me see that you can play 
 like a gentleman for any stake, however serious." 
 
 And he looked about him, once more to all appear- 
 ance at his ease, although his heart beat thickly, and he 
 was conscious of an unpleasant heat in his bosom. 
 The members were all very quiet and intent; everyone 
 was pale, but none so pale as Mr. Malthus. His eyes 
 protruded; his head kept nodding involuntarily upon his 
 spine ; his hands found their way, one after the other, 
 to his mouth, where they made clutches at his tremu- 
 lous and ashen lips. It was plain that the honorary 
 member enjoyed his membership on very startling terms. 
 
 "Attention, gentlemen !"said the President. 
 
 And he began slowly dealing the cards about the table 
 30 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 in the reverse direction, pausing until each man had 
 shown his card. Nearly everyone hesitated ; and some- 
 times you would see a player's fingers stumble more 
 than once before he could turn over the momentous slip 
 of pasteboard. As the Prince's turn drew nearer, he 
 was conscious of a growing and almost suffocating ex- 
 citement; but he had somewhat of the gambler's nature, 
 and recognised almost with astonishment that there was 
 a degree of pleasure in his sensations. The nine of clubs 
 fell to his lot; the three of spades was dealt to Geraldine; 
 and the queen of hearts to Mr. Malthus, who was un- 
 able to suppress a sob of relief. The young man of the 
 cream tarts almost immediately afterwards turned over 
 the ace of clubs, and remained frozen with horror, the 
 card still resting on his finger; he had not come there to 
 kill, but to be killed; and the Prince, in his generous 
 sympathy with his position, almost forgot the peril that 
 still hung over himself and his friend. 
 
 The deal was coming round again, and still Death's 
 card had not come out. The players held their respira- 
 tion, and only breathed by gasps. The Prince received 
 another club; Geraldine had a diamond; but when Mr. 
 Malthus turned up his card a horrible noise, like that of 
 something breaking, issued from his mouth; and he 
 rose from his seat and sat down again, with no sign of 
 his paralysis. It was the ace of spades. The honorary 
 member had trifled once too often with his terrors. 
 
 Conversation broke out again almost at once. The 
 players relaxed their rigid attitudes, and began to rise 
 from the table and stroll back by twos and threes into 
 the smoking-room. The President stretched his arms 
 and yawned, like a man who had finished his day's work 
 
 V 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 But Mr. Malthus sat in his place, with his head in his 
 hands, and his hands upon the table, drunk and motion- 
 less — a thing stricken down. 
 
 The Prince and Geraldine made their escape at once. 
 In the cold night air their horror of what they had 
 witnessed was redoubled. 
 
 "Alas! " cried the Prince, "to be bound by an oath in 
 such a matter! to allow this wholesale trade in murder 
 to be continued with profit and impunity ! If I but dared 
 to forfeit my pledge ! " 
 
 "That is impossible for your Highness," replied the 
 Colonel, ' ' whose honour is the honour of Bohemia. But 
 I dare, and may with propriety, forfeit mine." 
 
 " Geraldine," said the Prince, "if your honour suffers 
 in any of the adventures into which you follow me, not 
 only will I never pardon you, but — what I believe will 
 much more sensibly affect you — ) should never forgive 
 myself." 
 
 "I receive your Highness's commands," replied the 
 Colonel. " Shall we go from this accursed spot ? " 
 
 "Yes," said the Prince. "Call a cab in Heaven's 
 name, and let me try to forget in slumber the memory 
 of this night's disgrace." 
 
 But it was notable that he carefully read the name of 
 the court before he left it. 
 
 The next morning, as soon as the Prince was stirring, 
 Colonel Geraldine brought him a daily newspaper, with 
 the following paragraph marked : 
 
 "Melancholy Accident. — This morning, about two 
 o'clock, Mr. Bartholomew Malthus, of \6 Chepstow 
 Place, Westbourne Grove, on his way home from a party 
 at a friend's house, fell over the upper parapet in Trafal- 
 
 32 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 gar Square, fracturing his skull and breaking a leg and 
 an arm. Death was instantaneous. Mr. Malthus, ac- 
 companied by a friend, was engaged in looking for a 
 cab at the time of the unfortunate occurrence. As Mr. 
 Malthus was paralytic, it is thought that his fall may have 
 been occasioned by another seizure. The unhappy gentle- 
 man was well known in the most respectable circles, 
 and his loss will be widely and deeply deplored." 
 
 " If ever a soul went straight to Hell," said Geraldine 
 solemnly, "it was that paralytic man's." 
 
 The Prince buried his face in his hands, and remained 
 silent. 
 
 "I am almost rejoiced," continued the Colonel, "to 
 know that he is dead. But for our young man of the 
 cream tarts I confess my heart bleeds." 
 
 "Geraldine," said the Prince, raising his face, "that 
 unhappy lad was last night as innocent as you and I; 
 and this morning the guilt of blood is on his soul. 
 When I think of the President, my heart grows sick 
 within me. I do not know how it shall be done, but I 
 shall have that scoundrel at my mercy as there is a God 
 in heaven. What an experience, what a lesson, was 
 that game of cards ! " 
 
 "One," said the Colonel, "never to be repeated." 
 
 The Prince remained so long without replying, that 
 Geraldine grew alarmed. 
 
 " You cannot mean to return," he said. " You have 
 suffered too much, and seen too much horror already. 
 The duties of your high position forbid the repetition 
 of the hazard." 
 
 "There is much in what you say," replied Prince 
 Florizel, "and I am not altogether pleased with my 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 own determination. Alas ! in the clothes of the great- 
 est potentate, what is there but a man ? I never 
 felt my weakness more acutely than now, Geraldine, 
 but it is stronger than I. Can I cease to interest my- 
 self in the fortunes of the unhappy young man who 
 supped with us some hours ago ? Can I leave the 
 President to follow his nefarious career unwatched? 
 Can I begin an adventure so entrancing, and not follow 
 it to an end ? No, Geraldine ; you ask of the Prince more 
 than the man is able to perform. To-night, once more, 
 we take our places at the table of the Suicide Club." 
 
 Colonel Geraldine fell upon his knees. 
 
 " Will your Highness take my life?" he cried. "It 
 is his — his freely; but do not, O do not! let him ask 
 me to countenance so terrible a risk." 
 
 "Colonel Geraldine," replied the Prince, with some 
 haughtiness of manner, "your life is absolutely your 
 own. I only looked for obedience; and when that is 
 unwillingly rendered, I shall look for that no longer. I 
 add one word : your importunity in this affair has been 
 sufficient." 
 
 The Master of the Horse regained his feet at once. 
 "Your Highness," he said, "may I be excused in my 
 attendance this afternoon ? I dare not, as an honour- 
 able man, venture a second time into that fatal house 
 until I have perfectly ordered my affairs. Your High- 
 ness shall meet, I promise him, with no more opposi- 
 tion from the most devoted and grateful of his servants." 
 
 "My dear Geraldine," returned Prince Florizel, "I 
 always regret when you oblige me to remember my 
 rank. Dispose of your day as you think fit, but be here 
 before eleven in the same disguise." 
 
 34 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 The club, on this second evening, was not so fully 
 attended ; and when Geraldine and the Prince arrived, 
 there were not above half-a-dozen persons in the smok- 
 ing-room. His Highness took the President aside and 
 congratulated him warmly on the demise of Mr. Malthus. 
 
 "1 like," he said, "to meet with capacity, and cer- 
 tainly find much of it in you. Your profession is of a 
 very delicate nature, but I see you are well qualified to 
 conduct it with success and secrecy." 
 
 The President was somewhat affected by these com- 
 pliments from one of his Highness's superior bearing. 
 He acknowledged them almost with humility. 
 
 " Poor Malthy ! " he added, " I shall hardly know the 
 club without him. The most of my patrons are boys, 
 sir, and poetical boys, who are not much company for 
 me. Not but what Malthy had some poetry, too ; but 
 it was of a kind that I could understand." 
 
 "I can readily imagine you should find yourself in 
 sympathy with Mr. Malthus," returned the Prince. 
 "He struck me as a man of a very original disposition." 
 
 The young man of the cream tarts was in the room, 
 but painfully depressed and silent. His late companions 
 sought in vain to lead him into conversation. 
 
 "How bitterly I wish," he cried, "that I had never 
 brought you to this infamous abode! Begone, while 
 you are clean-handed. If you could have heard the old 
 man scream as he fell, and the noise of his bones upon 
 the pavement! Wish me, if you have any kindness to so 
 fallen a being — wish the ace of spades for me to-night! " 
 
 A few more members dropped in as the evening went 
 on, but the club did not muster more than the devil's 
 dozen when they took their places at the table. The 
 
 35 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Prince was again conscious of a certain joy in his alarms ; 
 but he was astonished to see Geraldine so much more 
 self-possessed than on the night before. 
 
 "It is extraordinary," thought the Prince, "that a 
 will, made or unmade, should so greatly influence a 
 young man's spirit." 
 
 "Attention, gentlemen!" said the President, and he 
 began to deal. 
 
 Three times the cards went all round the table, and 
 neither of the marked cards had yet fallen from his hand. 
 The excitement as he began the fourth distribution was 
 overwhelming. There were just cards enough to go once 
 more entirely round. The Prince, who sat second from 
 the dealer's left, would receive, in the reverse mode of 
 dealing practised at the club, the second last card. The 
 third player turned up a black ace — it was tne ace of 
 clubs. The next received a diamond, the next a heart, 
 and so on ; but the ace of spades was still undelivered. 
 At last Geraldine, who sat upon the Prince's left, turned 
 his card ; it was an ace, but the ace of hearts. 
 
 When Prince Florizel saw his fate upon the table in 
 front of him, his heart stood still. He was a brave man, 
 but the sweat poured off his face. There were exactly 
 fifty chances out of a hundred that he was doomed. He 
 reversed the card ; it was the ace of spades. A loud roar- 
 ing filled his brain, and the table swam before his eyes. 
 He heard the player on his right break into a fit of 
 laughter that sounded between mirth and disappoint- 
 ment; he saw the company rapidly dispersing, but his 
 mind was full of other thoughts. He recognised how 
 foolish, how criminal, had been his conduct. In perfect 
 health, in the prime of his years, the heir to a throne, he 
 
 36 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 had gambled away his future and that of a brave and 
 loyal country. "God," he cried, "God forgive me!" 
 And with that, the confusion of his senses passed away, 
 and he regained his self-possession in a moment. 
 
 To his surprise Geraldine had disappeared. There 
 was no one in the card-room but his destined butcher 
 consulting with the President, and the young man of 
 the cream tarts, who slipped up to the Prince and whis- 
 pered in his ear: 
 
 " I would give a million, if I had it, for your luck." 
 
 His Highness could not help reflecting, as the young 
 man departed, that he would have sold his opportunity 
 for a much more moderate sum. 
 
 The whispered conference now came to an end. The 
 holder of the ace of clubs left the room with a look 
 of intelligence, and the President, approaching the un- 
 fortunate Prince, proffered him his hand. 
 
 "I am pleased to have met you, sir," said he, "and 
 pleased to have been in a position to do you this trifling 
 service. At least, you cannot complain of delay. On 
 the second evening — what a stroke of luck! " 
 
 The Prince endeavoured in vain to articulate some- 
 thing in response, but his mouth was dry and his 
 tongue seemed paralysed. 
 
 " You feel a little sickish ?" asked the President, with 
 some show of solicitude. "Most gentlemen do. Will 
 you take a little brandy ? " 
 
 The Prince signified in the affirmative, and the other 
 immediately filled some of the spirit into a tumbler. 
 
 " Poor old Malthy ! " ejaculated the President, as the 
 Prince drained the glass. " He drank near upon a pint, 
 and little enough good it seemed to do him! " 
 
 37 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "I am more amenable to treatment," said the Prince, 
 a good deal revived. "I am my own man again at 
 once, as you perceive. And so, let me ask you, what 
 are my directions ? " 
 
 " You will proceed along the Strand in the direction 
 of the City, and on the left-hand pavement, until you 
 meet the gentleman who has just left the room. He 
 will continue your instructions, and him you will have 
 the kindness to obey ; the authority of the club is vested 
 in his person for the night. And now," added the Presi- 
 dent, " I wish you a pleasant walk." 
 
 Florizel acknowledged the salutation rather awk- 
 wardly, and took his leave. He passed through the 
 smoking-room, where the bulk of the players were still 
 consuming champagne, some of which he had himself 
 ordered and paid for; and he was surprised to find him- 
 self cursing them in his heart. He put on his hat and 
 great coat in the cabinet, and selected his umbrella from 
 a corner. The familiarity of these acts, and the thought 
 that he was about them for the last time, betrayed him 
 into a fit of laughter which sounded unpleasantly in his 
 own ears. He conceived a reluctance to leave the cabi- 
 net, and turned instead to the window. The sight of 
 the lamps and the darkness recalled him to himself. 
 
 "Come, come, I must be a man," he thought, "and 
 tear myself away." 
 
 At the corner of Box Court three men fell upon 
 Prince Florizel and he was unceremoniously thrust into 
 a carriage, which at once drove rapidly away. There 
 was already an occupant. 
 
 "Will your Highness pardon my zeal ?" said a well- 
 known voice. 
 
 38 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 The Prince threw himself upon the Colonel's neck in 
 a passion of relief. 
 
 "How can I ever thank you ? " he cried. ' ' And how 
 was this effected ?" 
 
 Although he had been willing to march upon his 
 doom, he was overjoyed to yield to friendly violence, 
 and return once more to life and hope. 
 
 "You can thank me effectually enough," replied the 
 Colonel, "by avoiding all such dangers in the future. 
 And as for your second question, all has been managed 
 by the simplest means. I arranged this afternoon with 
 a celebrated detective. Secrecy has been promised and 
 paid for. Your own servants have been principally 
 engaged in the affair. The house in Box Court has 
 been surrounded since nightfall, and this, which is one 
 of your own carriages, has been awaiting you for nearly 
 an hour." 
 
 "And the miserable creature who was to have slain 
 me — what of him ?" inquired the Prince. 
 
 "He was pinioned as he left the club," replied the 
 Colonel, "and now awaits your sentence at the Palace, 
 where he will soon be joined by his accomplices." 
 
 "Geraldine," said the Prince, "you have saved me 
 against my explicit orders, and you have done well. I 
 owe you not only my life, but a lesson; and I should 
 be unworthy of my rank if I did not show myself 
 grateful to my teacher. Let it be yours to choose the 
 manner." 
 
 There was a pause, during which the carriage con- 
 tinued to speed through the streets, and the two men 
 were each buried in his own reflections. The silence 
 was broken by Colonel Geraldine. 
 
 39 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "Your Highness," said he, "has by this time a 
 considerable body of prisoners. There is at least one 
 criminal among the number to whom justice should be 
 dealt. Our oath forbids us all recourse to law; and 
 discretion would forbid it equally if the oath were 
 loosened. May I inquire your Highness's intention ? " 
 
 " It is decided, " answered Florizel ; "the President must 
 fall in duel. It only remains to choose his adversary." 
 
 "Your Highness has permitted me to name my own 
 recompense," said the Colonel. "Will he permit me 
 to ask the appointment of my brother ? It is an honour- 
 able post, but I dare assure your Highness that the lad 
 will acquit himself with credit." 
 
 "You ask me an ungracious favour," said the Prince, 
 "but I must refuse you nothing." 
 
 The Colonel kissed his hand with the greatest affec- 
 tion ; and at that moment the carriage rolled under the 
 archway of the Prince's splendid residence. 
 
 An hour after, Florizel in his official robes, and cov- 
 ered with all the orders of Bohemia, received the mem- 
 bers of the Suicide Club." 
 
 "Foolish and wicked men," said he, "as many of 
 you as have been driven into this strait by the lack 
 of fortune shall receive employment and remuneration 
 from my officers. Those who suffer under a sense of 
 guilt must have recourse to a higher and more generous 
 Potentate than I. I feel pity for all of you, deeper than 
 you can imagine; to-morrow you shall tell me your 
 stories ; and as you answer more frankly, I shall be the 
 more able to remedy your misfortunes. As for you," 
 he added, turning to the President, "I should only of- 
 fend a person of your parts by any offer of assistance; 
 
 40 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 but I have instead a piece of diversion to propose to 
 you. Here," laying his hand on the shoulder of Colo- 
 nel Geraldine's young brother, "is an officer of mine 
 who desires to make a little tour upon the Continent; 
 and I ask you, as a favour, to accompany him on this 
 excursion. Do you," he went on, changing his tone, 
 " do you shoot well with the pistol ? Because you may 
 have need of that accomplishment. When two men 
 go travelling together, it is best to be prepared for all. 
 Let me add that, if by any chance you should lose young 
 Mr. Geraldine upon the way, I shall always have another 
 member of my household to place at your disposal; and 
 I am known, Mr. President, to have long eyesight, and 
 as long an arm." 
 
 With these words, said with much sternness, the 
 Prince concluded his address. Next morning the mem- 
 bers of the club were suitably provided for by his mu- 
 nificence, and the President set forth upon his travels, 
 under the supervision of Mr. Geraldine, and a pair of 
 faithful and adroit lackeys, well trained in the Prince's 
 household. Not content with this, discreet agents were 
 put in possession of the house of Box Court, and all 
 letters of visitors for the Suicide Club or its officials were 
 to be examined by Prince Florizel in person. 
 
 Here (says my Arabian author) ends The Story of 
 the Young Man with the Cream Tarts, who is now a 
 comfortable householder in Wigmore Street, Cavendish 
 Square. The number, for obvious reasons, I suppress. 
 Those who care to pursue the adventures of Prince Flori- 
 zel and the President of the Suicide Club, may read the 
 History of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk. 
 
 41 
 
STORY OF THE PHYSICIAN AND 
 THE SARATOGA TRUNK 
 
 Mr. Silas Q. Scuddamore was a young American of a 
 simple and harmless disposition, which was the more 
 to his credit as he came from New England — a quarter 
 of the New World not precisely famous for those qual- 
 ities. Although he was exceedingly rich, he kept a 
 note of all his expenses in a little paper pocket-book ; 
 and he had chosen to study the attractions of Paris from 
 the seventh story of what is called a furnished hotel, in 
 the Latin Quarter. There was a great deal of habit in 
 his penuriousness ; and his virtue, which was very re- 
 markable among his associates, was principally founded 
 upon diffidence and youth. 
 
 The next room to his was inhabited by a lady, very 
 attractive in her air and very elegant in toilette, whom, 
 on his first arrival, he had taken for a Countess. In 
 course of time he had learned that she was known by 
 the name of Madame Zephyrine, and that whatever sta- 
 tion she occupied in life it was not that of a person of 
 title. Madame Zephyrine, probably in the hope of en- 
 chanting the young American, used to flaunt by him on 
 the stairs with a civil inclination, a word of course, and 
 a knock-down look out of her black eyes, and disappear 
 in a rustle of silk, and with the revelation of an admira- 
 
 42 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 ble foot and ankle. But these advances, so far from en- 
 couraging Mr. Scuddamore, plunged him into the depths 
 of depression and bashfulness. She had come to him 
 several times for a light, or to apologise for the imagi- 
 nary depredations of her poodle; but his mouth was 
 closed in the presence of so superior a being, his French 
 promptly left him, and he could only stare and stammer 
 until she was gone. The slenderness of their intercourse 
 did not prevent him from throwing out insinuations of 
 a very glorious order when he was safely alone with a 
 few males. 
 
 The room on the other side of the American's — for 
 there were three rooms on a floor in the hotel — was 
 tenanted by an old English physician of rather doubtful 
 reputation. Dr. Noel, for that was his name, had been 
 forced to leave London, where he enjoyed a large and 
 increasing practice; and it was hinted that the police 
 had been the instigators of this change of scene. At 
 least he, who had made something of a figure in earlier 
 life, now dwelt in the Latin Quarter in great simplicity 
 and solitude, and devoted much of his time to study. 
 Mr. Scuddamore had made his acquaintance, and the 
 pair would now and then dine together frugally in a 
 restaurant across the street. 
 
 Silas Q_. Scuddamore had many little vices of the 
 more respectable order, and was not restrained by deli- 
 cacy from indulging them in many rather doubtful ways. 
 Chief among his foibles stood curiosity. He was a born 
 gossip ; and life, and especially those parts of it in which 
 he had no experience, interested him to the degree of 
 passion. He was a pert, invincible questioner, pushing 
 his inquiries with equal pertinacity and indiscretion ; he 
 
 43 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 had been observed, when he took a letter to the post, to 
 weigh it in his hand, to turn it over and over, and to 
 study the address with care ; and when he found a flaw 
 in the partition between his room and Madame Zephy- 
 rine's, instead of filling it up, he enlarged and improved 
 the opening, and made use of it as a spy-hole on his 
 neighbour's affairs. 
 
 One day, in the end of March, his curiosity growing 
 as it was indulged, he enlarged the hole a little further, 
 so that he might command another corner of the room. 
 That evening, when he went as usual to inspect Madame 
 Zephyrine's movements, he was astonished to find the 
 aperture obscured in an odd manner on the other side, 
 and still more abashed when the obstacle was suddenly 
 withdrawn and a titter of laughter reached his ears. 
 Some of the plaster had evidently betrayed the secret 
 of his spy-hole, and his neighbour had been returning 
 the compliment in kind. Mr. Scuddamore was moved 
 to a very acute feeling of annoyance ; he condemned Ma- 
 dame Zephyrine unmercifully; he even blamed himself; 
 but when he found, next day, that she had taken no 
 means to baulk him of his favourite pastime, he con- 
 tinued to profit by her carelessness, and gratify his idle 
 curiosity. 
 
 That next day Madame Zephyrine received a long 
 visit from a tall, loosely-built man of fifty or upwards, 
 whom Silas had not hitherto seen. His tweed suit and 
 coloured shirt, no less than his shaggy side-whiskers, 
 identified him as a Britisher, and his dull gray eye af- 
 fected Silas with a sense of cold. He kept screwing his 
 mouth from side to side and round and round during 
 the whole colloquy, which was carried on in whispers. 
 
 44 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 More than once it seemed to the young New Englander 
 as if their gestures indicated his own apartment ; but 
 the only thing definite he could gather by the most 
 scrupulous attention was this remark made by the Eng- 
 lishman in a somewhat higher key, as if in answer to 
 some reluctance or opposition. 
 
 " I have studied his taste to a nicety, and I tell you 
 again and again you are the only woman of the sort 
 that I can lay my hands on." 
 
 In answer to this, Madame Zephyrine sighed, and 
 appeared by a gesture to resign herself, like one yield- 
 ing to unqualified authority. 
 
 That afternoon the observatory was finally blinded, 
 a wardrobe having been drawn in front of it upon the 
 other side, and while Silas was still lamenting over this 
 misfortune, which he attributed to the Britisher's malign 
 suggestion, the concierge brought him up a letter in a 
 female handwriting. It was conceived in French of no 
 very rigorous orthography, bore no signature, and in 
 the most encouraging terms invited the young American 
 to be present in a certain part of the Bullier Ball at eleven 
 o'clock that night. Curiosity and timidity fought a long 
 battle in his heart ; sometimes he was all virtue, some- 
 times all fire and daring ; and the result of it was that, 
 long before ten, Mr. Silas CL. Scuddamore presented 
 himself in unimpeachable attire at the door of the Bullier 
 Ball Rooms, and paid his entry money with a sense of 
 reckless deviltry that was not without its charm. 
 
 It was Carnival time, and the Ball was very full and 
 noisy. The lights and the crowd at first rather abashed 
 our young adventurer, and then, mounting to his brain 
 with a sort of intoxication, put him in possession of 
 
 45 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 more than his own share of manhood. He felt ready 
 to face the devil, and strutted in the ballroom with the 
 swagger of a cavalier. While he was thus parading, he 
 became aware of Madame Zephyrine and her Britisher 
 in conference behind a pillar. The cat-like spirit of 
 eaves-dropping overcame him at once. He stole nearer 
 and nearer on the couple from behind, until he was 
 within earshot. 
 
 "That is the man," the Britisher was saying; "there 
 — with the long blond hair — speaking to a girt in 
 green." 
 
 Silas identified a very handsome young fellow of 
 small stature, who was plainly the object of this desig- 
 nation. 
 
 "It is well," said Madame Zephyrine. "I shall do 
 my utmost. But, remember, the best of us may fail in 
 such a matter." 
 
 "Tut! " returned her companion ; " I answer for the 
 result. Have I not chosen you from thirty ? Go ; but 
 be wary of the Prince. I cannot think what cursed 
 accident has brought him here to-night. As if there 
 were not a dozen balls in Paris better worth his notice 
 than this riot of students and counter-jumpers! See 
 him where he sits, more like a reigning Emperor at 
 home than a Prince upon his holidays! " 
 
 Silas was again lucky. He observed a person of 
 rather a full build, strikingly handsome, and of a very 
 stately and courteous demeanour, seated at table with 
 another handsome young man, several years his junior, 
 who addressed him with conspicuous deference. The 
 name of Prince struck gratefully on Silas's Republican 
 hearing, and the aspect of the person to whom that 
 
 46 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 name was applied exercised its usual charm upon his 
 mind. He left Madame Zephyrine and her Englishman 
 to take care of each other, and threading his way 
 through the assembly, approached the table which the 
 Prince and his confidant had honoured with their choice. 
 
 " I tell you, Geraldine," the former was saying, "the 
 action is madness. Yourself (I am glad to remember 
 it) chose your brother for this perilous service, and you 
 are bound in duty to have a guard upon his conduct. 
 He has consented to delay so many days in Paris; that 
 was already an imprudence, considering the character 
 of the man he has to deal with ; but now, when he is 
 within eight and forty hours of his departure, when he 
 is within two or three days of the decisive trial, I ask 
 you, is this a place for him to spend his time ? He should 
 be in a gallery at practice ; he should be sleeping long 
 hours and taking moderate exercise on foot; he should 
 be on a rigorous diet, without white wines or brandy. 
 Does the dog imagine we are all playing comedy ? The 
 thing is deadly earnest, Geraldine." 
 
 " I know the lad too well to interfere," replied Colonel 
 Geraldine, " and well enough not to be alarmed. He is 
 more cautious than you fancy, and of an indomitable 
 spirit. If it had been a woman I should not say so 
 much, but I trust the President to him and the two valets 
 without an instant's apprehension." 
 
 " I am gratified to hear you say so, " replied the Prince ; 
 " but my mind is not at rest. These servants are well- 
 trained spies, and already has not this miscreant suc- 
 ceeded three times in eluding their observation and 
 spending several hours on end in private, and most 
 likely dangerous, affairs ? An amateur might have lost 
 
 47 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 him by accident, but if Rudolph and Jerome were thrown 
 off the scent, it must have been done on purpose, and 
 by a man who had a cogent reason and exceptional re- 
 sources." 
 
 "1 believe the question is now one between my 
 brother and myself," replied Geraldine, with a shade of 
 offence in his tone. 
 
 "I permit it to be so, Colonel Geraldine," returned 
 Prince Florizel. "Perhaps, for that very reason, you 
 should be all the more ready to accept my counsels. 
 But enough. That girl in yellow dances well." 
 
 And the talk veered into the ordinary topics of a Paris 
 ballroom in the Carnival. 
 
 Silas remembered where he was, and that the hour 
 was already near at hand when he ought to be upon the 
 scene of his assignation. The more he reflected the less 
 he liked the prospect, and as at that moment an eddy 
 in the crowd began to draw him in the direction of the 
 door, he suffered it to carry him away without resis- 
 tance. The eddy stranded him in a corner under the 
 gallery, where his ear was immediately struck with 
 the voice of Madame Zephyrine. She was speaking in 
 French with the young man of the blond locks who 
 had been pointed out by the strange Britisher not half 
 an hour before. 
 
 " I have a character at stake," she said, "or I would 
 put no other condition than my heart recommends. But 
 you have only to say so much to the porter, and he will 
 let you go by without a word." 
 
 ' ' But why this talk of debt ? " objected her companion. 
 
 " Heavens! " said she, "do you think I do not under- 
 stand my own hotel ? " 
 
 48 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 And she went by, clinging affectionately to her com- 
 panion's arm. 
 
 This put Silas in mind of his billet. 
 
 "Ten minutes hence," thought he, "and I maybe 
 walking with as beautiful a woman as that, and even 
 better dressed — perhaps a real lady, possibly a woman 
 of title." 
 
 And then he remembered the spelling, and was a little 
 downcast. 
 
 "But it may have been written by her maid," he 
 imagined. 
 
 The clock was only a few minutes from the hour, and 
 this immediate proximity set his heart beating at a curi- 
 ous and rather disagreeable speed. He reflected with 
 relief that he was in no way bound to put in an appear- 
 ance. Virtue and cowardice were together, and he 
 made once more for the door, but this time of his own 
 accord, and battling against the stream of people which 
 was now moving in a contrary direction. Perhaps this 
 prolonged resistance wearied him, or perhaps he was in 
 that frame of mind when merely to continue in the same 
 determination for a certain number of minutes produces 
 a reaction and a different purpose. Certainly, at least, 
 he wheeled about for a third time, and did not stop until 
 he had found a place of concealment within a few yards 
 of the appointed place. 
 
 Here he went through an agony of spirit, in which 
 he several times prayed to God for help, for Silas had 
 been devoutly educated. He had now not the least in- 
 clination for the meeting; nothing kept him from flight 
 but a silly fear lest he should be thought unmanly ; but 
 this was so powerful that it kept head against all other 
 
 49 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 motives; and although it could not decide him to ad- 
 vance, prevented him from definitely running away. At 
 last the clock indicated ten minutes past the hour. 
 Young Scuddamore's spirit began to rise; he peered 
 round the corner and saw no one at the place of meet- 
 ing; doubtless his unknown correspondent had wearied 
 and gone away. He became as bold as he had formerly 
 been timid. It seemed to him that if he came at all to 
 the appointment, however late, he was clear from the 
 charge of cowardice. Nay, now he began to suspect a 
 hoax, and actually complimented himself on his shrewd- 
 ness in having suspected and out-manoeuvred his mys- 
 tifiers. So very idle a thing is a boy's mind ! 
 
 Armed with these reflections, he advanced boldly 
 from his corner; but he had not taken above a couple of 
 steps before a hand was laid upon his arm. He turned 
 and beheld a lady cast in a very large mould and with 
 somewhat stately features, but bearing no mark of 
 severity in her looks. 
 
 "I see that you are a very self-confident lady-killer/' 
 said she; ''for you make yourself expected. But I was 
 determined to meet you. When a woman has once so 
 far forgotten herself as to make the first advance, she 
 has long ago left behind her all considerations of petty 
 pride." 
 
 Silas was overwhelmed by the size and attractions 
 of his correspondent and the suddenness with which she 
 had fallen upon him. But she soon set him at his ease. 
 She was very towardly and lenient in her behaviour; she 
 led him on to make pleasantries, and then applauded 
 him to the echo; and in a very short time, between 
 blandishments and a liberal imbibition of warm brandy. 
 
 50 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 she had not only induced him to fancy himself in love, 
 but to declare his passion with the greatest vehemence. 
 
 "Alas!" she said; "I do not know whether I ought 
 not to deplore this moment, great as is the pleasure you 
 give me by your words. Hitherto I was alone to suffer; 
 now, poor boy, there will be two. I am not my own 
 mistress. I dare not ask you to visit me at my own 
 house, for I am watched by jealous eyes. Let me see," 
 she added; "I am older than you, although so much 
 weaker; and while I trust in your courage and deter- 
 mination, I must employ my own knowledge of the 
 world for our mutual benefit. Where do you live?" 
 
 He told her that he lodged in a furnished hotel, and 
 named the street and number. 
 
 She seemed to reflect for some minutes, with an effort 
 of mind. 
 
 " I see," she said at last. " You will be faithful and 
 obedient, will you not?" 
 
 Silas assured her eagerly of his fidelity. 
 
 "To-morrow night, then," she continued, with an 
 encouraging smile, "you must remain at home all the 
 evening; and if any friends should visit you, dismiss 
 them at once on any pretext that most readily presents 
 itself. Your door is probably shut by ten ? " she asked. 
 
 " By eleven," answered Silas. 
 
 '* At a quarter past eleven," pursued the lady, "leave 
 the house. Merely cry for the door to be opened, and 
 be sure you fall into no talk with the porter, as that 
 might ruin everything. Go straight to the corner 
 where the Luxembourg Gardens join the Boulevard; 
 there you will find me waiting you. I trust you to fol- 
 low my advice from point to point : and remember, if 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 you fail me in only one particular, you will bring the 
 sharpest trouble on a woman whose only fault is to 
 have seen and loved you." 
 
 "I cannot see the use of all these instructions," said 
 Silas. 
 
 "I believe you are already beginning to treat me as a 
 master," she cried, tapping him with her fan upon the 
 arm. "Patience, patience! that should come in time. 
 A woman loves to be obeyed at first, although after- 
 wards she finds her pleasure in obeying. Do as I ask 
 you, for Heaven's sake, or I will answer for nothing. 
 Indeed, now I think of it," she added, with the manner 
 of one who had just seen further into a difficulty, "I 
 find a better plan of keeping importunate visitors away. 
 Tell the porter to admit no one for you, except a per- 
 son who may come that night to claim a debt; and 
 speak with some feeling, as though you feared the in- 
 terview, so that he may take your words in earnest." 
 
 ' ' I think you may trust me to protect myself against 
 intruders," he said, not without a little pique. 
 
 "That is how I should prefer the thing arranged," 
 she answered, coldly. "I know you men; you think 
 nothing of a woman's reputation." 
 
 Silas blushed and somewhat hung his head ; for the 
 scheme he had in view had involved a little vain-glory- 
 ing before his acquaintances. 
 
 "Above all," she added, " do not speak to the porter 
 as you come out." 
 
 "And why?" said he. "Of all your instructions, 
 that seems to me the least important." 
 
 " You at first doubted the wisdom of some of the 
 others, which you now see to be very necessary," she 
 
 52 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 replied. "Believe me, this also has its uses; in time 
 you will see them; and what am I to think of your 
 affection, if you refuse me such trifles at our first inter- 
 view ? " 
 
 Silas confounded himself in explanations and apolo- 
 gies ; in the middle of these she looked up at the clock 
 and clapped her hands together with a suppressed 
 scream. 
 
 " Heavens! " she cried, "is it so late ? I have not an 
 instant to lose. Alas, we poor women, what slaves we 
 are! What have I not risked for you already ?" 
 
 And after repeating her directions, which she artfully 
 combined with caresses and the most abandoned looks, 
 she bade him farewell and disappeared among the 
 crowd. 
 
 The whole of the next day Silas was filled with a sense 
 of great importance; he was now sure she was a coun- 
 tess ; and when evening came he minutely obeyed her 
 orders and was at the corner of the Luxembourg Gardens 
 by the hour appointed. No one was there. He waited 
 nearly half an hour, looking in the face of everyone who 
 passed or loitered near the spot; he even visited the 
 neighbouring corners of the Boulevard and made a com- 
 plete circuit of the garden railings ; but there was no 
 beautiful countess to throw herself into his arms. At 
 last, and most reluctantly, he began to retrace his steps 
 towards his hotel. On the way he remembered the 
 words he had heard pass between Madame Zephyrine 
 and the blond young man, and they gave him an inde- 
 finite uneasiness, 
 
 "It appears," he reflected, "that everyone has to tell 
 lies to our porter. " 
 
 53 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 He rang the bell, the door opened before him, and the 
 porter in his bed-clothes came to offer him a light. 
 
 " Has he gone ? " inquired the porter. 
 
 "He? Whom do you mean?" asked Silas, some- 
 what sharply, for he was irritated by his disappoint- 
 ment. 
 
 "I did not notice him go out," continued the porter, 
 "but I trust you paid him. We do not care, in this 
 house, to have lodgers who cannot meet their liabili- 
 ties." 
 
 "What the devil do you mean?" demanded Silas, 
 rudely. " I cannot understand a word of this farrago." 
 
 "The short blond young man who came for his 
 debt," returned the other. "Him it is I mean. Who 
 else should it be, when I had your orders to admit no 
 one else?" 
 
 " Why, good God, of course he never came," retorted 
 Silas. 
 
 " I believe what I believe," retorted the porter, putting 
 his tongue into his cheek with a most roguish air. 
 
 " You are an insolent scoundrel," cried Silas, and, feel- 
 ing that he had made a ridiculous exhibition of asperity, 
 and at the same time bewildered by a dozen alarms, he 
 turned and began to run up stairs. 
 
 " Do you not want a light then ?" cried the porter. 
 
 But Silas only hurried the faster, and did not pause 
 until he had reached the seventh landing and stood in 
 front of his own door. There he waited a moment to 
 recover his breath, assailed by the worst forebodings and 
 almost dreading to enter the room. 
 
 When at last he did so he was relieved to find it dark, 
 and to all appearance untenanted. He drew a long 
 
 54 
 
 J* 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 breath. Here he was, home again in safety, and this 
 should be his last folly as certainly as it had been his 
 first. The matches stood on a little table by the bed, and 
 he began to grope his way in that direction. As he 
 moved, his apprehensions grew upon him once more, 
 and he was pleased, when his foot encountered an ob- 
 stacle, to find it nothing more alarming than a chair. 
 At last he touched curtains. From the position of the 
 window, which was faintly visible, he knew he must 
 be at the foot of the bed, and had only to feel his way 
 along it in order to reach the table in question. 
 
 He lowered his hand, but what he touched was not 
 simply a counterpane — it was a counterpane with some- 
 thing underneath it like the outline of a human leg. Silas 
 withdrew his arm and stood a moment petrified. 
 
 "What, what," he thought, "can this betoken?" 
 
 He listened intently, but there was no sound of breath- 
 ing. Once more, with a great effort, he reached out 
 the end of his finger to the spot he had already touched ; 
 but this time he leaped back half a yard, and stood shiv- 
 ering and fixed with terror. There was something in 
 his bed. What it was he knew not, but there was 
 something there. 
 
 It was some seconds before he could move. Then, 
 guided by an instinct, he fell straight upon the matches, 
 and keeping his back toward the bed, lighted a candle. 
 As soon as the flame had kindled, he turned slowly round 
 and looked for what he feared to see. Sure enough, 
 there was the worst of his imaginations realized. The 
 coverlid was drawn carefully up over the pillow, but it 
 moulded the outline of a human body lying motionless ; 
 and when he dashed forward and flung aside the sheets, 
 
 55 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 he beheld the blond young man whom he had seen in 
 the Bullier Ball the night before, his eyes open and with- 
 out speculation, his face swollen and blackened, and a 
 thin stream of blood trickling from his nostrils. 
 
 Silas uttered a long tremulous wail, dropped the can- 
 dle, and fell on his knees beside the bed. 
 
 Silas was awakened from the stupor into which his 
 terrible discovery had plunged him, by a prolonged but 
 discreet tapping at the door. It took him some seconds 
 to remember his position ; and when he hastened to pre- 
 vent anyone from entering it was already too late. Dr. 
 Noel, in a tall nightcap, carrying a lamp which lighted 
 up his long white countenance, sidling in his gait, and 
 peering and cocking his head like some sort of bird, 
 pushed the door slowly open, and advanced into the 
 middle of the room. 
 
 "I thought I heard a cry," began the Doctor, "and 
 fearing you might be unwell, I did not hesitate to offer 
 this intrusion." 
 
 Silas, with a flushed face and a fearful beating heart, 
 kept between the Doctor and the bed ; but he found no 
 voice to answer. 
 
 "You are in the dark," pursued the Doctor; "and 
 yet you have not even begun to prepare for rest. You 
 will not easily persuade me against my own eyesight; 
 and your face declares most eloquently that you require 
 either a friend or a physician — which is it to be ? Let 
 me feel your pulse, for that is often a just reporter of the 
 heart." 
 
 He advanced to Silas, who still retreated before him 
 backwards, and sought to take him by the wrist; but 
 the strain on the young American's nerves had become 
 
 56 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 too great for endurance. He avoided the Doctor with 
 a febrile movement, and, throwing himself upon the 
 floor, burst into a flood of weeping. 
 
 As soon as Dr. Noel perceived the dead man in the 
 bed his face darkened ; and hurrying back to the door 
 which he had left ajar, he hastily closed and double- 
 locked it. 
 
 " Up!" he cried, addressing Silas in strident tones. 
 " This is no time for weeping. What have you done ? 
 How came this body in your room ? Speak freely to 
 one who may be helpful. Do you imagine I would 
 ruin you ? Do you think this piece of dead flesh on 
 your pillow can alter in any degree the sympathy with 
 which you have inspired me? Credulous youth, the 
 horror with which blind and unjust law regards an ac- 
 tion never attaches to the doer in the eyes of those who 
 love him ; and if I saw the friend of my heart return to 
 me out of seas of blood he would be in no way changed 
 in my affection. Raise yourself," he said; "good and 
 ill are a chimera; there is naught in life except destiny, 
 and however you may be circumstanced there is one 
 at your side who will help you to the last." 
 
 Thus encouraged, Silas gathered himself together, 
 and in a broken voice, and helped out by the Doctor's 
 interrogations, contrived at last to put him in pos- 
 session of the facts. But the conversation between 
 the Prince and Geraldine he altogether omitted, as he 
 had understood little of its purport, and had no idea 
 that it was in any way related to his own misadven- 
 ture. 
 
 "Alas!" cried Dr. Noel, "I am much abused, or 
 you have fallen innocently into the most dangerous 
 
 57 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 hands in Europe. Poor boy, what a pit has been dug 
 for your simplicity! into what a deadly peril have 
 your unwary feet been conducted ! This man," he 
 said, "this Englishman, whom you twice saw, and 
 whom I suspect to be the soul of the contrivance, can 
 you describe him ? Was he young or old ? tall or 
 short?" 
 
 But Silas, who, for all his curiosity, had not a see- 
 ing eye in his head, was able to supply nothing 
 but meagre generalities, which it was impossible to 
 recognise. 
 
 " I would have it a piece of education in all schools! " 
 cried the Doctor angrily. "Where is the use of eye- 
 sight and articulate speech if a man cannot observe and 
 recollect the features of his enemy ? I, who know all 
 the gangs of Europe, might have identified him, and 
 gained new weapons for your defence. Cultivate this 
 art in future, my poor boy ; you may find it of momen- 
 tous service." 
 
 "The future ! " repeated Silas. "What future is there 
 left for me except the gallows ?" 
 
 "Youth is but a cowardly season," returned the 
 Doctor; "and a man's own troubles look blacker than 
 they are. I am old, and yet I never despair." 
 
 "Can I tell such a story to the police?" demanded 
 Silas. 
 
 "Assuredly not," replied the Doctor. " From what 
 I see already of the machination in which you have 
 been involved, your case is desperate upon that side; 
 and for the narrow eye of the authorities you are 
 infallibly the guilty person. And remember that we 
 only know a portion of the plot; and the same infa- 
 
 58 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 mous contrivers have doubtless arranged many other 
 circumstances which would be elicited by a police in- 
 quiry, and help to fix the guilt more certainly upon your 
 innocence." 
 
 "I am then lost, indeed! " cried Silas. 
 
 "I have not said so," answered Dr. Noel, "for I am 
 a cautious man." 
 
 ''But look at this!" objected Silas, pointing to the 
 body. "Here is this object in my bed: not to be ex- 
 plained, not to be disposed of, not to be regarded with- 
 out horror. " 
 
 "Horror?" replied the Doctor. "No. When this 
 sort of clock has run down, it is no more to me than 
 an ingenious piece of mechanism, to be investigated 
 with the bistery. When blood is once cold and stag- 
 nant, it is no longer human blood; when flesh is once 
 dead, it is no longer that flesh which we desire in our 
 lovers and respect in our friends. The grace, the at- 
 traction, the terror, have all gone from it with the ani- 
 mating spirit. Accustom yourself to look upon it with 
 composure, for if my scheme is practicable you will have 
 to live in constant proximity to that which now so 
 greatly horrifies you." 
 
 "Your scheme ? " cried Silas. " What is that ? Tell 
 me speedily, Doctor; for I have scarcely courage enough 
 to continue to exist." 
 
 Without replying, Dr. Noel turned towards the bed, 
 and proceeded to examine the corpse. 
 
 "Quite dead," he murmured. "Yes, as I had sup- 
 posed, the pockets empty. Yes, and the name cut off 
 the shirt. Their work has been done thoroughly and 
 well. Fortunately he is of small stature." 
 
 59 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Silas followed these words with an extreme anxiety. 
 At last the Doctor, his autopsy completed, took a chair 
 and addressed the young American with a smile. 
 
 "Since I came into your room," said he, "although 
 my ears and my tongue have been so busy, I have not 
 suffered my eyes to remain idle. I noted a little while 
 ago that you have there, in the corner, one of those 
 monstrous constructions which your fellow-country- 
 men carry with them into all quarters of the globe — 
 in a word, a Saratoga trunk. Until this moment I have 
 never been able to conceive the utility of these erections; 
 but then I began to have a glimmer. Whether it was 
 for convenience in the slave trade, or to obviate the re- 
 sults of too ready an employment of the bowie-knife, I 
 cannot bring myself to decide. But one thing I see 
 plainly — the object of such a box is to contain a hu- 
 man body." 
 
 "Surely," cried Silas, "surely this is not a time for 
 jesting." 
 
 "Although I may express myself with some degree 
 of pleasantry," replied the Doctor, "the purport of my 
 words is entirely serious. And the first thing we have 
 to do, my young friend, is to empty your coffer of all it 
 contains." 
 
 Silas, obeying the authority of Doctor Noel, put him- 
 self at his disposition. The Saratoga trunk was soon 
 gutted of its contents, which made a considerable litter 
 on the floor; and then — Silas taking the heels and the 
 Doctor supporting the shoulders — the body of the mur- 
 dered man was carried from the bed, and, after some 
 difficulty, doubled up and inserted whole into the empty 
 box. With an effort on the part of both, the lid was 
 
 60 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 forced down upon this unusual baggage, and the trunk 
 was locked and corded by the Doctor's own hand, while 
 Silas disposed of what had been taken out between the 
 closet and a chest of drawers. 
 
 "Now," said the Doctor, "the first step has been 
 taken on the way to your deliverance. To-morrow or 
 rather to-day, it must be your task to allay the suspicions 
 of your porter, paying him all that you owe; while you 
 may trust me to make the arrangements necessary to a 
 safe conclusion. Meantime, follow me to my room, 
 where I shall give you a safe and powerful opiate ; for, 
 whatever you do, you must have rest." 
 
 The next day was the longest in Silas's memory; 
 it seemed as if it would never be done. He denied him- 
 self to his friends, and sat in a corner with his eyes 
 fixed upon the Saratoga trunk in dismal contemplation. 
 His own former indiscretions were now returned upon 
 him in kind ; for the observatory had been once more 
 opened, and he was conscious of an almost continual 
 study from Madame Zephyrine's apartment. So dis- 
 tressing did this become, that he was at last obliged to 
 block up the spy-hole from his own side; and when 
 he was thus secured from observation he spent a con- 
 siderable portion of his time in contrite tears and prayer. 
 
 Late in the evening Dr. Noel entered the room carry- 
 ing in his hand a pair of sealed envelopes without ad- 
 dress, one somewhat bulky, and the other so slim as 
 to seem without enclosure. 
 
 "Silas," he said, seating himself at the table, "the 
 time has now come for me to explain my plan for your 
 salvation. To-morrow morning, at an early hour, Prince 
 Florizel of Bohemia returns to London, after having 
 
 61 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 diverted himself for a few days with the Parisian Car- 
 nival. It was my fortune, a good while ago, to do 
 Colonel Geraldine, his Master of the Horse, one of those 
 services so common in my profession, which are never 
 forgotten upon either side. I have no need to explain 
 to you the nature of the obligation under which he was 
 laid ; suffice it to say that I knew him ready to serve me 
 in any practicable manner. Now, it was necessary for 
 you to gain London with your trunk unopened. To 
 this the Custom House seemed to oppose a fatal diffi- 
 culty ; but I bethought me that the baggage of so con- 
 siderable a person as the Prince, is, as a matter of cour- 
 tesy, passed without examination by the officers of 
 Custom. I applied to Colonel Geraldine, and succeeded 
 in obtaining a favourable answer. To-morrow, if you 
 go before six to the hotel where the Prince lodges, your 
 baggage will be passed over as a part of his, and you 
 yourself will make the journey as a member of his 
 suite." 
 
 ''It seems to me, as you speak, that I have already 
 seen both the Prince and Colonel Geraldine ; I even over- 
 heard some of their conversation the other evening at the 
 BulIierBall." 
 
 "It is probable enough; for the Prince loves to mix 
 with all societies," replied the Doctor. "Once arrived 
 in London," he pursued, "your task is nearly ended. 
 In this more bulky envelope I have given you a letter 
 which I dare not address ; but in the other you will find 
 the designation of the house to which you must carry it 
 along with your box, which will there be taken from 
 you and not trouble you any more." 
 
 "Alas! " said Silas, " I have every wish to believe you; 
 62 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 but how is it possible ? You open up to me a bright 
 prospect, but, I ask you, is my mind capable of receiv- 
 ing so unlikely a solution ? Be more generous, and let 
 me farther understand your meaning. " 
 
 The Doctor seemed painfully impressed. 
 
 " Boy," he answered, "you do not know how hard 
 a thing you ask of me. But be it so. I am now inured 
 to humiliation ; and it would be strange if I refused you 
 this, after having granted you so much. Know, then, 
 that although I now make so quiet an appearance — 
 frugal, solitary, addicted to study — when I was younger, 
 my name was once a rallying-cry among the most astute 
 and dangerous spirits of London; and while I was out- 
 wardly an object for respect and consideration, my true 
 power resided in the most secret, terrible, and criminal re- 
 lations. It is to one of the persons who then obeyed me 
 that I now address myself to deliver you from your bur- 
 den. They were men of many different nations and 
 dexterities, all bound together by a formidable oath, and 
 working to the same purposes ; the trade of the associa- 
 tion was in murder; and I who speak to you, innocent 
 as I appear, was the chieftain of this redoubtable crew." 
 
 "What?" cried Silas. "A murderer? And one 
 with whom murder was a trade ? Can I take your 
 hand ? Ought I to so much as accept your services ? 
 Dark and criminal old man, would you make an accom- 
 plice of my youth and my distress ? " 
 
 The Doctor bitterly laughed. 
 
 "You are difficult to please, Mr. Scuddamore," said 
 he; "but I now offer you your choice of company be- 
 tween the murdered man and the murderer. If your 
 conscience is too nice to accept my aid, say so, and I 
 
 63 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 will immediately leave you. Thenceforward you can 
 deal with your trunk and its belongings as best suits 
 your upright conscience." 
 
 "I own myself wrong," replied Silas. "I should 
 have remembered how generously you offered to shield 
 me, even before I had convinced you of my innocence, 
 and I continue to listen to your counsels with gratitude." 
 
 "That is well," returned the Doctor; "and I perceive 
 you are beginning to learn some of the lessons of ex- 
 perience." 
 
 "At the same time," resumed the New-Englander, 
 "as you confess yourself accustomed to this tragical 
 business, and the people to whom you recommend me 
 are your own former associates and friends, could you 
 not yourself undertake the transport of the box, and rid 
 me at once of its detested presence ? " 
 
 "Upon my word," replied the Doctor, "I admire 
 you cordially. If you do not think I have already med- 
 dled sufficiently in your concerns, believe me, from my 
 heart I think the contrary. Take or leave my services 
 as I offer them ; and trouble me with no more words 
 of gratitude, for I value your consideration even more 
 lightly than I do your intellect. A time will come, if 
 you should be spared to see a number of years in health 
 and mind, when you will think differently of all this, 
 and blush for your to-night's behaviour." 
 
 So saying, the Doctor arose from his chair, repeated 
 his directions briefly and clearly, and departed from the 
 room without permitting Silas any time to answer. 
 
 The next morning Silas presented himself at the hotel, 
 where he was politely received by Colonel Geraldine, 
 and relieved, from that moment, of all immediate alarm 
 
 64 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 about his trunk and its grisly contents. The journey 
 passed over without much incident, although the young 
 man was horrified to overhear the sailors and railway por- 
 ters complaining among themselves about the unusual 
 weight of the Prince's baggage. Silas traveled in a car- 
 riage with the valets, for Prince Florizel chose to be 
 alone with his Master of the Horse. On board the 
 steamer, however, Silas attracted his Highness's atten- 
 tion by the melancholy of his air and attitude as he stood 
 gazing at the pile of baggage ; for he was still full of dis- 
 quietude about the future. 
 
 "There is a young man," observed the Prince, "who 
 must have some cause for sorrow." 
 
 "That," replied Geraldine, "is the American for 
 whom I obtained permission to travel with your suite." 
 
 "You remind me that I have been remiss in cour- 
 tesy," said Prince Florizel, and advancing to Silas, he 
 addressed him with the most exquisite condescension in 
 these words, 
 
 "I was charmed, young sir, to be able to gratify the 
 desire you made known to me through Colonel Geral- 
 dine. Remember, if you please, that I shall be glad at 
 any future time to lay you under a more serious obliga- 
 tion." 
 
 And then he put some questions as to the political 
 condition of America, which Silas answered with sense 
 and propriety. 
 
 "You are still a young man," said the Prince; " but 
 I observe you to be very serious for your years. Per- 
 haps you allow your attention to be too much occupied 
 with grave studies. But, perhaps, on the other hand, I 
 am myself indiscreet and touch upon a painful subject." 
 
 6s 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "I have certainly cause to be the most miserable of 
 men," said Silas; "never has a more innocent person 
 been more dismally abused." 
 
 "I will not ask you for your confidence," returned 
 Prince Florizel. "But do not forget that Colonel Ger- 
 aldine's recommendation is an unfailing passport; and 
 that I am not only willing, but possibly more able than 
 many others, to do you a service." 
 
 Silas was delighted with the amiability of this great 
 personage; but his mind soon returned upon its gloomy 
 preoccupations ; for not even the favour of a Prince to a 
 Republican can discharge a brooding spirit of its cares. 
 
 The train arrived at Charing Cross, where the officers 
 of the Revenue respected the baggage of Prince Florizel 
 in the usual manner. The most elegant equipages were 
 in waiting ; and Silas was driven, along with the rest, 
 to the Prince's residence. There Colonel Geraldine 
 sought him out, and expressed himself pleased to have 
 been of any service to a friend of the physician's, for 
 whom he professed a great consideration. 
 
 ' * I hope, " he added, ' ' that you will find none of your 
 porcelain injured. Special orders were given along tfce 
 line to deal tenderly with the Prince's effects." 
 
 And then, directing the servants to place one of the 
 carriages at the young gentleman's disposal, and at once 
 to charge the Saratoga trunk upon the dickey, the Colonel 
 shook hands and excused himself on account of his oc- 
 cupations in the princely household. 
 
 Silas now broke the seal of the envelope containing 
 the address, and directed the stately footman to drive 
 him to Box Court, opening off the Strand. It seemed as 
 if the place were not at all unknown to the man, for he 
 
 66 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 looked startled and begged a repetition of the order. It 
 was with a heart full of alarms, that Silas mounted into 
 the luxurious vehicle, and was driven to his destination. 
 The entrance to Box Court was too narrow for the pas- 
 sage of a coach ; it was a mere footway between rail- 
 ings, with a post at either end. On one of these posts 
 was seated a man, who at once jumped down and ex- 
 changed a friendly sign with the driver, while the foot- 
 man opened the door and inquired of Silas whether he 
 should take down the Saratoga trunk, and to what 
 number it should be carried. 
 
 " If you please," said Silas. "To number three." 
 
 The footman and the man who had been sitting on 
 the post, even with the aid of Silas himself, had hard 
 work to carry in the trunk; and before it was depos- 
 ited at the door of the house in question, the young 
 American was horrified to find a score of loiterers look- 
 ing on. 
 
 But he knocked with as good a countenance as he 
 could muster up, and presented the other envelope to 
 him who opened. 
 
 " He is not at home," said he, " but if you will leave 
 your letter and return to-morrow early, I shall be able 
 to inform you whether and when he can receive your 
 visit. Would you like to leave your box ? " he added. 
 
 "Dearly," cried Silas; and the next moment he re- 
 pented his precipitation, and declared, with equal em- 
 phasis, that he would rather carry the box along with 
 him to the hotel. 
 
 The crowd jeered at his indecision and followed him 
 to the carriage with insulting remarks ; and Silas, cov- 
 ered with shame and terror, implored the servants to con- 
 
 67 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 duct him to some quiet and comfortable house of enter- 
 tainment in the immediate neighbourhood. 
 
 The Prince's equipage deposited Silas at the Craven 
 Hotel in Craven Street, and immediately drove away, 
 leaving him alone with the servants of the inn. The 
 only vacant room, it appeared, was a little den up four 
 pairs of stairs, and looking towards the back. To this 
 hermitage, with infinite trouble and complaint, a pair 
 of stout porters carried the Saratoga trunk. It is need- 
 less to mention that Silas kept closely at their heels 
 throughout the ascent, and had his heart in his mouth 
 at every corner. A single false step, he reflected, and 
 the box might go over the banisters and land its fatal 
 contents, plainly discovered, on the pavement of the hall. 
 
 Arrived in the room, he sat down on the edge of his 
 bed to recover from the agony that he had just endured ; 
 but he had hardly taken his position when he was re- 
 called to a sense of his peril by the action of the boots, 
 who had knelt beside the trunk, and was proceeding 
 officiously to undo its elaborate fastenings. 
 
 " Let it be! " cried Silas. " I shall want nothing from 
 it while I stay here." 
 
 "You might have let it lie in the hall, then," growled 
 the man ; " a thing as big and heavy as a church. What 
 you have inside, I cannot fancy. If it is all money, you 
 are a richer man than me." 
 
 "Money ?" repeated Silas, in a sudden perturbation. 
 14 What do you mean by money ? I have no money, and 
 you are speaking like a fool." 
 
 "All right, Captain," retorted the boots with a wink. 
 "There's nobody will touch your lordship's money. 
 I'm as safe as the bank," he added; "but as the box is 
 
 68 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 heavy, I shouldn't mind drinking something to your 
 lordship's health." 
 
 Silas pressed two Napoleons upon his acceptance, 
 apologising, at the same time, for being obliged to 
 trouble him with foreign money, and pleading his re- 
 cent arrival for excuse. And the man, grumbling with 
 even greater fervour, and looking contemptuously from 
 the money in his hand to the Saratoga trunk and back 
 again from the one to the other, at last consented to 
 withdraw. 
 
 For nearly two days the dead body had been packed 
 into Silas's box ; and as soon as he was alone the unfor- 
 tunate New-Englander nosed all the cracks and openings 
 with the most passionate attention. But the weather 
 was cool, and the trunk still managed to contain his 
 shocking secret. 
 
 He took a chair beside it, and buried his face in his 
 hands, and his mind in the most profound reflection. 
 If he were not speedily relieved, no question but he 
 must be speedily discovered. Alone in a strange city, 
 without friends or accomplices, if the Doctor's intro- 
 duction failed him, he was indubitably a lost New- 
 Englander. He reflected pathetically over his ambitious 
 designs for the future ; he should not now become the 
 hero and spokesman of his native place of Bangor, 
 Maine; he should not, as he had fondly anticipated, 
 move on from office to office, from honour to honour; he 
 might as well divest himself at once of all hope of being 
 acclaimed President of the United States, and leaving 
 behind him a statue, in the worst possible style of art, 
 to adorn the Capitol at Washington. Here he was, 
 chained to a dead Englishman doubled up inside a Sara- 
 
 69 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 toga trunk ; whom he must get rid of, or perish from 
 the rolls of national glory ! 
 
 I should be afraid to chronicle the language employed 
 by this young man to the Doctor, to the murdered man, 
 to Madame Zephyrine, to the boots of the hotel, to the 
 Prince's servants, and, in a word, to all who had been 
 ever so remotely connected with his horrible misfortune. 
 
 He slunk down to dinner about seven at night; but 
 the yellow coffee-room appalled him, the eyes of the 
 other diners seemed to rest on his with suspicion, and 
 his mind remained upstairs with the Saratoga trunk. 
 When the waiter came to offer him cheese, his nerves 
 were already so much on edge that he leaped half-way 
 out of his chair and upset the remainder of a pint of ale 
 upon the table-cloth. 
 
 The fellow offered to show him the smoking-room 
 when he had done; and although he would have much 
 preferred to return at once to his perilous treasure, he 
 had not the courage to refuse, and was shown down- 
 stairs to the black, gas-lit cellar, which formed, and pos- 
 sibly still forms, the divan of the Craven Hotel. 
 
 Two very sad betting men were playing billiards, 
 attended by a moist, consumptive marker; and for 
 the moment Silas imagined that these were the only 
 occupants of the apartment. But at the next glance 
 his eye fell upon a person smoking in the farthest cor- 
 ner, with lowered eyes and a most respectable and 
 modest aspect. He knew at once that he had seen the 
 face before ; and in spite of the entire change of 
 clothes, recognised the man whom he had found seated 
 on a post at the entrance to Box Court, and who had 
 helped him to carry the trunk to and from the carriage. 
 
 70 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 The New-Englander simply turned and ran, nor did he 
 pause until he had locked and bolted himself into his 
 bedroom. 
 
 There, all night long, a prey to the most terrible im- 
 aginations, he watched beside the fatal boxful of dead 
 flesh. The suggestion of the boots that his trunk 
 was full of gold inspired him with all manner of new 
 terrors, if he so much as dared to close an eye; and the 
 presence in the smoking-room, and under an obvious dis- 
 guise, of the loiterer from Box Court convinced him that 
 he was once more the centre of obscure machination. 
 
 Midnight had sounded some time, when, impelled 
 by uneasy suspicions, Silas opened his bedroom door 
 and peered into the passage. It was dimly illuminated 
 by a single jet. of gas; and some distance off he per- 
 ceived a man sleeping on the floor in the costume of an 
 hotel under-servant. Silas drew near the man on tip- 
 toe. He lay partly on his back, partly on his side, and 
 his right forearm concealed his face from recognition. 
 Suddenly, while the American was still bending over 
 him, the sleeper removed his arm and opened his eyes, 
 and Silas found himself once more face to face with the 
 loiterer of Box Court. 
 
 "Good night, sir," said the man, pleasantly. 
 
 But Silas was too profoundly moved to find an an- 
 swer, and regained his room in silence. 
 
 Towards morning, worn out by apprehension, he fell 
 asleep on his chair, with his head forward on the trunk. 
 In spite of so constrained an attitude and such a grisly 
 pillow, his slumber was sound and prolonged, and he 
 was only awakened at a late hour and by a sharp tap- 
 ping at the door. 
 
 J! 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 He hurried to open, and found the boots without. 
 
 "You are the gentleman who called yesterday at Box 
 Court ? " he asked. 
 
 Silas, with a quaver, admitted that he had done so. 
 
 "Then this note is for you," added the servant, prof- 
 fering a sealed envelope. 
 
 Silas tore it open, and found inside the words : ' ' Twelve 
 o'clock." 
 
 He was punctual to the hour; the trunk was carried 
 before him by several stout servants ; and he was him- 
 self ushered into a room, where a man sat warming him- 
 self before the fire with his back towards the door. The 
 sound of so many persons entering and leaving, and the 
 scraping of the trunk as it was deposited upon the bare 
 boards, were alike unable to attract the notice of the 
 occupant; and Silas stood waiting, in an agony of fear, 
 until he should deign to recognise his presence. 
 
 Perhaps five minutes had elapsed before the man 
 turned leisurely about, and disclosed the features of 
 Prince Florizel of Bohemia. 
 
 "So, sir," he said with great severity, "this is the 
 manner in which you abuse my politeness. You join 
 yourselves to persons of condition, I perceive, for no 
 other purpose than to escape the consequences of your 
 crimes ; and I can readily understand your embarrass- 
 ment when I addressed myself to you yesterday." 
 
 "Indeed," cried Silas, "I am innocent of everything 
 except misfortune." 
 
 And in a hurried voice, and with the greatest ingen- 
 uousness, he recounted to the Prince the whole history 
 of his calamity. 
 
 '*'■! see I have been mistaken," said his Highness, 
 
 72 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 when he had heard him to an end. " You are no other 
 than a victim, and since I am not to punish you, you 
 may be sure I shall do my utmost to help. And now," 
 he continued, "to business. Open your box at once, 
 and let me see what it contains." 
 
 Silas changed colour. 
 
 " I almost fear to look upon it," he exclaimed. 
 
 "Nay," replied the Prince, "have you not looked at 
 it already ? This is a form of sentimentality to be re- 
 sisted. The sight of a sick man, whom we can still 
 help, should appeal more directly to the feelings than 
 that of a dead man who is equally beyond help or harm, 
 love or hatred. Nerve yourself, Mr. Scuddamore, " and 
 then, seeing that Silas still hesitated, " I do not desire to 
 give another name to my request," he added. 
 
 The young American awoke as if out of a dream, and 
 with a shiver of repugnance addressed himself to loose 
 the straps and open the lock of the Saratoga trunk. The 
 Prince stood by, watching with a composed countenance 
 and his hands behind his back. The body was quite 
 stiff, and it cost Silas a great effort, both moral and 
 physical, to dislodge it from its position, and discover 
 the face. 
 
 Prince Florizel started back with an exclamation of 
 painful surprise. 
 
 "Alas! " he cried, "you little know, Mr. Scuddamore, 
 what a cruel gift you have brought me. This is a young 
 man of my own suite, the brother of my trusted friend ; 
 and it was upon matters of my own service that he has 
 thus perished at the hands of violent and treacherous 
 men. Poor Geraldine," he went on, as if to himself, 
 '■ in what words am I to tell you of your brother's fate ? 
 
 73 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 How can I excuse myself in your eyes, or in the eyes o\ 
 God, for the presumptuous schemes that led him to this 
 bloody and unnatural death? Ah, Florizel! Florizel! 
 when will you learn the discretion that suits mortal life, 
 and be no longer dazzled with the image of power at 
 your disposal ? Power! " he cried ; "who is more pow- 
 erless ? I look upon this young man whom I have sac- 
 rificed, Mr. Scuddamore, and feel how small a thing it 
 is to be a Prince." 
 
 Silas was moved at the sight of his emotion. He tried 
 to murmur some consolatory words, and burst into 
 tears. The Prince, touched by his obvious intention, 
 came up to him and took him by the hand. 
 
 "Command yourself," said he. "We have both 
 much to learn, and we shall both be better men for 
 to-day's meeting." 
 
 Silas thanked him in silence, with an affectionate 
 look. 
 
 " Write me the address of Doctor Noel on this piece 
 of paper," continued the Prince, leading him towards 
 the table; "and let me recommend you, when you are 
 again in Paris, to avoid the society of that dangerous 
 man. He has acted in this matter on a generous inspi- 
 ration; that I must believe; had he been privy to young 
 Geraldine's death he would never have despatched the 
 body to the care of the actual criminal." 
 
 "The actual criminal!" repeated Silas in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " Even so," returned the Prince. "This letter, which 
 the disposition of Almighty Providence has so strangelv 
 delivered into my hands, was addressed to no less a per- 
 son than the criminal himself, the infamous President of 
 
 74 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 the Suicide Club. Seek to pry no further in these peri- 
 lous affairs, but content yourself with your own miracu- 
 lous escape, and leave this house at once. I have press- 
 ing affairs, and must arrange at once about this poor 
 clay, which was so lately a gallant and handsome youth. " 
 Silas took a grateful and submissive leave of Prince 
 Florizel, but he lingered in Box Court until he saw him 
 depart in a splendid carriage on a visit to Colonel Hen- 
 derson, of the police. Republican as he was, the young 
 American took off his hat with almost a sentiment of 
 devotion to the retreating carriage. And the same night 
 he started by rail on his return to Paris. 
 
 Here (observes my Arabian Author) is the end of The 
 History of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk. 
 Omitting some reflections on the power of Providence, 
 highly pertinent in the original, but little suited to our 
 occidental taste, I shall only add that Mr. Scuddamore 
 has already begun to mount the ladder of political fame, 
 and by last advices was the Sheriff of his native town. 
 
 n 
 
THE ADVENTURE OF THE HANSOM CAB 
 
 Lieutenant Brackenbury Rich had greatly distin- 
 guished himself in one of the lesser Indian hill wars. 
 He it was who took the chieftain prisoner with his own 
 hand ; his gallantry was universally applauded ; and 
 when he came home, prostrated by an ugly sabre cut 
 and a protracted jungle fever, society was prepared to 
 welcome the Lieutenant as a celebrity of minor lustre. 
 But his was a character remarkable for unaffected mod- 
 esty ; adventure was dear to his heart, but he cared little 
 for adulation ; and he waited at foreign watering-places 
 and in Algiers until the fame of his exploits had run 
 through its nine days' vitality and begun to be forgotten. 
 He arrived in London at last, in the early season, with 
 as little observation as he could desire ; and as he was 
 an orphan and had none but distant relatives who lived 
 in the provinces, it was almost as a foreigner that he in- 
 stalled himself in the capital of the country for which he 
 had shed his blood. 
 
 On the day following his arrival he dined alone at a 
 military club. He shook hands with a few old com- 
 rades, and received their congratulations; but as one 
 and all had some engagement for the evening, he found 
 himself left entirely to his own resources. He was in 
 
 76 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 dress, for he had entertained the notion of visiting a 
 theater. But the great city was new to him ; he had 
 gone from a provincial school to a military college, and 
 thence direct to the Eastern Empire; and he promised 
 himself a variety of delights in this world for explora- 
 tion. Swinging his cane, he took his way westward. 
 It was a mild evening, already dark, and now and then 
 threatening rain. The succession of faces in the lamp- 
 light stirred the Lieutenant's imagination ; and it seemed 
 to him as if he could walk for ever in that stimulating 
 city atmosphere and surrounded by the mystery of four 
 million private lives. He glanced at the houses, and 
 marvelled what was passing behind those warmly- 
 lighted windows ; he looked into face after face, and 
 saw them each intent upon some unknown interest, 
 criminal or kindly. 
 
 "They talk of war," he thought, "but this is the 
 great battlefield of mankind." 
 
 And then he began to wonder that he should walk so 
 long in this complicated scene, and not chance upon so 
 much as the shadow of an adventure for himself. 
 
 "All in good time," he reflected. "I am still a 
 stranger, and perhaps wear a strange air. But I must 
 be drawn into the eddy before long." 
 
 The night was already well advanced, when a plump 
 of cold rain fell suddenly out of the darkness. Bracken- 
 bury paused under some trees, and as he did so he 
 caught sight of a hansom cabman making him a sign that 
 he was disengaged. The circumstance fell in so happily 
 to the occasion that he at once raised his cane in answer, 
 and had soon ensconced himself in the London gondola. 
 
 "Where to, sir?" asked the driver. 
 
 77 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " Where you please," said Brackenbury. 
 
 And immediately, at a pace of surprising swiftness, 
 the hansom drove ofT through the rain into a maze of 
 villas. One villa was so like another, each with its front 
 garden, and there was so little to distinguish the de- 
 serted lamp-lit streets and crescents through which the 
 flying hansom took its way, that Brackenbury soon lost 
 all idea of direction. He would have been contented to 
 believe that the cabman was amusing himself by driv- 
 ing him round and round and in and out about a small 
 quarter, but there was something businesslike in the 
 speed which convinced him of the contrary. The man 
 had an object in view, he was hastening towards a defi- 
 nite end ; and Brackenbury was at once astonished at 
 the fellow's skill in picking a way through such a laby- 
 rinth, and a little concerned to imagine what was the 
 occasion of his hurry. He had heard tales of strangers 
 falling ill in London. Did the driver belong to some 
 bloody and treacherous association ? and was he him- 
 self being whirled to a murderous death ? 
 
 The thought had scarcely presented itself, when the 
 cab swung sharply round a corner and pulled up before 
 the garden gate of a villa in a long and wide road. The 
 house was brilliantly lighted up. Another hansom had 
 just driven away, and Brackenbury could see a gentle- 
 man being admitted at the front door and received by 
 several liveried servants. He was surprised that the 
 cabman should have stopped so immediately in front of 
 a house where a reception was being held; but he did 
 not doubt it was the result of accident, and sat placidly 
 smoking where he was, until he heard the trap thrown 
 open over his head. 
 
 78 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 "Here we are, sir," said the driver. 
 
 " Here ! " repeated Brackenbury. ' ' Where ? " 
 
 "You told me to take you where I pleased, sir," re- 
 turned the man with a chuckle, "and here we are." 
 
 It struck Brackenbury that the voice was wonderfully 
 smooth and courteous for a man in so inferior a position ; 
 he remembered the speed at which he had been driven ; 
 and now it occurred to him that the hansom was more 
 luxuriously appointed than the common run of public 
 conveyances. 
 
 "I must ask you to explain," said he. "Do you 
 mean to turn me out into the rain ? My good man, I 
 suspect the choice is mine." 
 
 "The choice is certainly yours," replied the driver; 
 "but when I tell you all, I believe I know how a gen- 
 tleman of your figure will decide. There is a gentle- 
 men's party in this house. I do not know whether the 
 master be a stranger to London and without acquain- 
 tances of his own ; or whether he is a man of odd notions. 
 But certainly I was hired to kidnap single gentlemen in 
 evening dress, as many as I pleased, but military offi- 
 cers by preference. You have simply to go in and say 
 that Mr. Morris invited you." 
 
 "Are you Mr. Morris ?" inquired the Lieutenant. 
 
 "Oh, no," replied the cabman. "Mr. Morris is the 
 person of the house." 
 
 " It is not a common way of collecting guests," said 
 Brackenbury; "but an eccentric man might very well 
 indulge the whim without any intention to offend. 
 And suppose that I refuse Mr. Morris's invitation," he 
 went on, " what then ? " 
 
 "My orders are to drive you back where I took you 
 
 79 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 from," replied the man, "and set out to look for others 
 up to midnight. Those who have no fancy for such an 
 adventure, Mr. Morris said, were not the guests for him." 
 
 These words decided the Lieutenant on the spot. 
 
 ' ' After all, " he reflected, as he descended from the han- 
 som, ' ' I have not had long to wait for my adventure. " 
 
 He had hardly found footing on the side-walk, and 
 was still feeling in his pocket for the fare, when the cab 
 swung about and drove off by the way it came at the 
 former break-neck velocity. Brackenbury shouted after 
 the man, who paid no heed, and continued to drive 
 away ; but the sound of his voice was overheard in the 
 house, the door was again thrown open, emitting a 
 flood of light upon the garden, and a servant ran down 
 to meet him holding an umbrella. 
 
 "The cabman has been paid," observed the servant 
 in a very civil tone ; and he proceeded to escort Brack- 
 enbury along the path and up the steps. In the hall 
 several other attendants relieved him of his hat, cane, 
 and paletot, gave him a ticket with a number in return, 
 and politely hurried him up a stair adorned with tropical 
 flowers, to the door of an apartment on the first story. 
 Here a grave butler inquired his name, and announcing 
 "Lieutenant Brackenbury Rich," ushered him into the 
 drawing-room of the house. 
 
 A young man, slender and singularly handsome, came 
 forward and greeted him with an air at once courtly and 
 affectionate. Hundreds of candles, of the finest wax, lit 
 up a room that was perfumed, like the staircase, with a 
 profusion of rare and beautiful flowering shrubs. A 
 side-table was loaded with tempting viands. Several 
 servants went to and fro with fruits and goblets of cham- 
 
 80 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 pagne. The company was perhaps sixteen in number, 
 all men, few beyond the prime of life, and with hardly 
 an exception, of a dashing and capable exterior. They 
 were divided into two groups, one about a roulette 
 board, and the other surrounding a table at which one 
 of their number held a bank of baccarat. 
 
 "I see," thought Brackenbury, "I am in a private 
 gambling saloon, and the cabman was a tout." 
 
 His eye had embraced the details, and his mind formed 
 the conclusion, while his host was still holding him 
 by the hand ; and to him his looks returned from this 
 rapid survey. At a second view Mr. Morris surprised 
 him still more than on the first. The easy elegance 
 of his manners, the distinction, amiability, and -courage 
 that appeared upon his features, fitted very ill with the 
 Lieutenant's preconceptions on the subject of the pro- 
 prietor of a hell ; and the tone of his conversation seemed 
 to mark him out for a man of position and merit. 
 Brackenbury found he had an instinctive liking for his 
 entertainer; and though he chid himself for the weak- 
 ness he was unable to resist a sort of friendly attraction 
 for Mr. Morris's person and character. 
 
 "I have heard of you, Lieutenant Rich," said Mr. 
 Morris, lowering his tone; "and believe me I am grati- 
 fied to make your acquaintance. Your looks accord 
 with the reputation that has preceded you from India. 
 And if you will forget for a while the irregularity of 
 your presentation in my house, I shall feel it not only 
 an honour, but genuine pleasure besides. A man who 
 makes a mouthful of barbarian cavaliers," he added 
 with a laugh, "should not be appalled by a breach of 
 etiquette, however serious." 
 
 81 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 And he led him towards the sideboard and pressed him 
 to partake of some refreshments. 
 
 "Upon my word," the Lieutenant reflected, "this is 
 one of the pleasantest fellows and, I do not doubt, one 
 of the most agreeable societies in London." 
 
 He partook of some champagne, which he found ex- 
 cellent; and observing that many of the company were 
 already smoking, he lit one of his own Manillas, and 
 strolled up to the roulette board, where he sometimes 
 made a stake and sometimes looked on smilingly on 
 the fortune of others. It was while he was thus idling 
 that he became aware of a sharp scrutiny to which the 
 whole of the guests were subjected. Mr. Morris went 
 here and there, ostensibly busied on hospitable concerns; 
 but he had ever a shrewd glance at disposal ; not a man 
 of the party escaped his sudden, searching looks; he 
 took stock of the bearing of heavy losers, he valued the 
 amount of the stakes, he paused behind couples who 
 were deep in conversation ; and, in a word, there was 
 hardly a characteristic of anyone present but he seemed 
 to catch and make a note of it. Brackenbury began to 
 wonder if this were indeed a gambling hell : it had so 
 much the air of a private inquisition. He followed Mr. 
 Morris in all his movements ; and although the man had 
 a ready smile, he seemed to perceive, as it were under 
 a mask, a haggard, careworn, and preoccupied spirit. 
 The fellows around him laughed and made their game; 
 but Brackenbury had lost interest in the guests. 
 
 "This Morris," thought he, "is no idler in the room. 
 Some deep purpose inspires him; let it be mine to 
 fathom it." 
 
 Now and then Mr. Morris would call one of his visi- 
 82 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 tors aside ; and after a brief colloquy in an ante-room, 
 he would return alone, and the visitors in question re- 
 appeared no more. After a certain number of repeti- 
 tions, this performance excited Brackenbury's curiosity 
 to a high degree. He determined to be at the bottom 
 of this minor mystery at once ; and strolling into the 
 ante-room, found a deep window recess concealed by 
 curtains of the fashionable green. Here he hurriedly 
 ensconced himself; nor had he to wait long before the 
 sound of steps and voices drew near him from the prin- 
 cipal apartment. Peering through the division, he saw 
 Mr. Morris escorting a fat and ruddy personage, with 
 somewhat the look of a commercial traveller, whom 
 Brackenbury had already remarked for his coarse laugh 
 and under-bred behaviour at the table. The pair halted 
 immediately before the window, so that Brackenbury 
 lost not a word of the following discourse : 
 
 14 1 beg you a thousand pardons ! " began Mr. Morris, 
 with the most conciliatory manner; "and, if I appear 
 rude, I am sure you will readily forgive me. In a place 
 so great as London accidents must continually happen; 
 and the best that we can hope is to remedy them with 
 as small delay as possible. I will not deny that I fear 
 you have made a mistake and honoured my poor house 
 by inadvertence; for, to speak openly, I cannot at all 
 remember your appearance. Let me put the question 
 without unnecessary circumlocution — between gentle- 
 men of honour a word will suffice — Under whose roof 
 do you suppose yourself to be ?" 
 
 "That of Mr. Morris," replied the other, with a pro- 
 digious display of confusion, which had been visibly 
 growing upon him throughout the last few words. 
 
 83 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " Mr. John or Mr. James Morris ? " inquired the host. 
 
 "I really cannot tell you," returned the unfortunate 
 guest. " I am not personally acquainted with the gen- 
 tlemen, any more than I am with yourself." 
 
 "I see," said Mr. Morris. " There is another person 
 of the same name farther down the street; and I have 
 no doubt the policeman will be able to supply you with 
 his number. Believe me, I felicitate myself on the mis- 
 understanding which has procured me the pleasure of 
 your company for so long; and let me express a hope 
 that we may meet again upon a more regular footing. 
 Meantime, I would not for the world detain you longer 
 from your friends. John," he added, raising his voice, 
 " will you see that the gentleman finds his great-coat ? " 
 
 And with the most agreeable air Mr. Morris escorted 
 his visitor as far as the ante-room door, where he left 
 him under conduct of the butler. As he passed the 
 window, on his return to the drawing-room, Bracken- 
 bury could hear him utter a profound sigh, as though 
 his mind was loaded with a great anxiety, and his nerves 
 already fatigued with the task on which he was en- 
 gaged. 
 
 For perhaps an hour the hansoms kept arriving with 
 such frequency, that Mr. Morris had to receive a new 
 guest for every old one that he sent away, and the com- 
 pany preserved its number undiminished. But towards 
 the end of that time the arrivals grew few and far be- 
 tween, and at length ceased entirely, while the process 
 of elimination was continued with unimpaired activity. 
 The drawing-room began to look empty : the baccarat 
 was discontinued for lack of a banker; more than one 
 person said good-night of his own accord, and was 
 
 84 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 suffered to depart without expostulation: and in the 
 meanwhile Mr. Morris redoubled in agreeable attentions 
 to those who stayed behind. He went from group to 
 group and from person to person with looks of the 
 readiest sympathy and the most pertinent and pleasing 
 talk; he was not so much like a host as like a hostess, 
 and there was a feminine coquetry and condescension 
 in his manner which charmed the hearts of all. 
 
 As the guests grew thinner, Lieutenant Rich strolled 
 for a moment out of the drawing-room into the hall in 
 quest of fresher air. But he had no sooner passed the 
 threshold of the ante-chamber than he was brought to 
 a dead halt by a discovery of the most surprising na- 
 ture. The flowering shrubs had disappeared from the 
 staircase; three large furniture wagons stood before 
 the garden gate; the servants were busy dismantling 
 the house upon all sides ; and some of them had already 
 donned their great-coats and were preparing to depart. 
 It was like the end of a country ball, where everything 
 has been supplied by contract. Brackenbury had in- 
 deed some matter for reflection. First, the guests, who 
 were no real guests after all, had been dismissed; and 
 now the servants, who could hardly be genuine servants, 
 were actively dispersing. 
 
 " Was the whole establishment a sham ?" he asked 
 himself. "The mushroom of a single night which 
 should disappear before morning?" 
 
 Watching a favourable opportunity, Brackenbury 
 dashed upstairs to the higher regions of the house. It 
 was as he had expected. He ran from room to room, 
 and saw not a stick of furniture nor so much as a pic- 
 ture on the walls. Although the house had been painted 
 
 85 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 and papered, it was not only uninhabited at present, but 
 plainly had never been inhabited at all. The young offi- 
 cer remembered with astonishment its specious, settled, 
 and hospitable air on his arrival. It was only at a pro- 
 digious cost that the imposture could have been carried 
 out upon so great a scale. 
 
 Who, then, was Mr. Morris ? What was his inten- 
 tion in thus playing the householder for a single night 
 in the remote west of London ? And why did he col- 
 lect his visitors at hazard from the streets ? 
 
 Brackenbury remembered that he had already delayed 
 too long, and hastened to join the company. Many had 
 left during his absence; and counting the Lieutenant and 
 his host, there were not more than five persons in the 
 drawing-room — recently so thronged. Mr. Morris 
 greeted him, as he re-entered the apartment, with a 
 smile, and immediately rose to his feet. 
 
 ' ' It is now time, gentlemen, " said he, ' ' to explain my 
 purpose in decoying you from your amusements. I trust 
 you did not find the evening hang very dully on your 
 hands ; but my object, I will confess it, was not to en- 
 tertain your leisure, but to help myself in an unfortunate 
 necessity. You are all gentlemen," he continued, "your 
 appearance does you that much justice, and I ask for no 
 better security. Hence, I speak it without concealment 
 I ask you to render me a dangerous and delicate service ; 
 dangerous because you may run the hazard of your lives, 
 and delicate because I must ask an absolute discretion 
 upon all that you shall see or hear. From an utter 
 stranger the request is almost comically extravagant; I 
 am well aware of this; and I would add at once, if 
 there be anyone present who has heard enough, if there 
 
 86 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 be one among the party who recoils from a dangerous 
 confidence and a piece of Quixotic devotion to he knows 
 not whom — here is my hand ready, and I shall wish 
 him good-night and God-speed, with all the sincerity 
 in the world." 
 
 A very tall, black man, with a heavy stoop, immedi- 
 ately responded to this appeal. 
 
 "I commend your frankness, sir," said he; "and, 
 for my part, I go. I make no reflections ; but I cannot 
 deny that you fill me with suspicious thoughts. I go 
 myself, as I say ; and perhaps you will think I have no 
 right to add words to my example." 
 
 "On the contrary," replied Mr. Morris, " I am obliged 
 to you for all you say. It would be impossible to ex- 
 aggerate the gravity of my proposal." 
 
 "Well, gentlemen, what do you say?" said the tall 
 man, addressing the others. ' ' We have had our even- 
 ing's frolic ; shall we go homeward peaceably in a body ? 
 You will think well of my suggestion in the morning, 
 when you see the sun again in innocence and safety." 
 
 The speaker pronounced the last words with an in- 
 tonation which added to their force ; and his face wore 
 a singular expression, full of gravity and significance. 
 Another of the company rose hastily, and, with some 
 appearance of alarm, prepared to take his leave. There 
 were only two who held their ground, Brackenbury and 
 an old red-nosed cavalry Major ; but these two preserved 
 a nonchalant demeanour, and, beyond a look of intelli- 
 gence which they rapidly exchanged, appeared entirely 
 foreign to the discussion that had just been terminated. 
 
 Mr. Morris conducted the deserters as far as the door, 
 which he closed upon their heels; then he turned round 
 
 87 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 disclosing a countenance of mingled relief and anima- 
 tion, and addressed the two officers as follows : 
 
 "I have chosen my men like Joshua in the Bible," 
 said Mr. Morris, "and I now believe I have the pick of 
 London. Your appearance pleased my hansom cab- 
 men ; then it delighted me ; I have watched your be- 
 haviour in a strange company, and under the most un- 
 usual circumstances: I have studied how you played 
 and how you bore your losses ; lastly, I have put you to 
 the test of a staggering announcement, and you received 
 it like an invitation to dinner. It is not for nothing," he 
 cried, "that I have been for years the companion and the 
 pupil of the bravest and wisest potentate in Europe." 
 
 "At the affair of Bunderchang," observed the Major, 
 "I asked for twelve volunteers, and every trooper in 
 the ranks replied to my appeal. But a gaming party is 
 not the same thing as a regiment under fire. You may 
 be pleased, I suppose, to have found two, and two who 
 will not fail you at a push. As for the pair who ran 
 away, I count them among the most pitiful hounds I 
 ever met with. Lieutenant Rich," he added, address- 
 ing Brackenbury, "I have heard much of you of late; 
 and I cannot doubt but you have also heard of me. I 
 am Major O'Rooke." 
 
 And the veteran tendered his hand, which was red 
 and tremulous, to the young Lieutenant. 
 
 "Who has not?" answered Brackenbury. 
 
 "When this little matter is settled," said Mr. Morris, 
 "you will think I have sufficiently rewarded you; for I 
 could offer neither a more valuable service than to make 
 him acquainted with the other." 
 
 "And now," said Major O'Rooke, "is it a duel?" 
 
 88 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 "A duel after a fashion," replied Mr. Morris, "a duel 
 with unknown and dangerous enemies, and, as I gravely 
 fear, a duel to the death. I must ask you," he contin- 
 ued, "to call me Morris no longer: call me, if you please, 
 Hammersmith; my real name, as well as that of another 
 person to whom I hope to present you before long, you 
 will gratify me by not asking and not seeking to dis- 
 cover for yourselves. Three days ago the person of 
 whom I speak disappeared suddenly from home; and, 
 until this morning, I received no hint of his situation. 
 You will fancy my alarm when I tell you that he is en- 
 gaged upon a work of private justice. Bound by an 
 unhappy oath, too lightly sworn, he finds it necessary, 
 without the help of law, to rid the earth of an insidious 
 and bloody villain. Already two of our friends, and 
 one of them my own born brother, have perished in the 
 enterprise. He himself, or I am much deceived, is taken 
 in the same fatal toils. But at least he still lives and 
 still hopes, as this billet sufficiently proves." 
 
 And the speaker, no other than Colonel Geraldine, 
 proffered a letter, thus conceived : 
 
 " Major Hammersmith, — On Wednesday, at 3 a. m., 
 you will be admitted by the small door to the gardens 
 of Rochester House, Regent's Park, by a man who is 
 entirely in my interest. I must request you not to fail 
 me by a second. Pray bring my case of swords, and, 
 if you can find them, one or two gentlemen of conduct 
 and discretion to whom my person is unknown. My 
 name must not be used in this affair. 
 
 "T. GODALL." 
 
 "From his wisdom alone, if he had no other title," 
 pursued Colonel Geraldine, when the others had each 
 
 89 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 satisfied his curiosity, "my friend is a man whose di- 
 rections should implicitly be followed. I need not 
 tell you, therefore, that I have not so much as visited 
 the neighbourhood of Rochester House ; and that I am 
 still as wholly in the dark as either of yourselves as to 
 the nature of my friend's dilemma. I betook myself, as 
 soon as I had received this order, to a furnishing con- 
 tractor, and, in a few hours, the house in which we 
 now are had assumed its late air of festival. My scheme 
 was at least original; and I am far from regretting an 
 action which has procured me the services of Major 
 O'Rooke and Lieutenant Brackenbury Rich. But the 
 servants in the street will have a strange awakening. 
 The house which this evening was full of lights and vis- 
 itors they will find uninhabited and for sale to-morrow 
 morning. Thus even the most serious concerns, " added 
 the Colonel, " have a merry side." 
 
 "And let us add a merry ending," said Brackenbury. 
 
 The Colonel consulted his watch. 
 
 "It is now hard on two," he said. "We have an 
 hour before us, and a swift cab is at the door. Tell me 
 if I may count upon your help." 
 
 "During a long life," replied Major O'Rooke, "I 
 never took back my hand from anything, nor so much 
 as hedged a bet." 
 
 Brackenbury signified his readiness in the most be- 
 coming terms ; and after they had drunk a glass or two 
 of wine, the Colonel gave each of them a loaded re- 
 volver, and the three mounted into the cab and drove 
 off for the address in question. 
 
 Rochester House was a magnificent residence on the 
 banks of the canal. The large extent of the garden 
 
 90 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 isolated it in an unusual degree from the annoyances of 
 neighbourhood. It seemed the pare aux cerfs of some 
 great nobleman or millionaire. As far as could be seen 
 from the street, there was not a glimmer of light in any 
 of the numerous windows of the mansion; and the 
 place had a look of neglect, as though the master had 
 been long from home. 
 
 The cab was discharged, and the three gentlemen 
 were not long in discovering the small door, which 
 was a sort of postern in a lane between two garden 
 walls. It still wanted ten or fifteen minutes of the 
 appointed time ; the rain fell heavily, and the adventu- 
 rers sheltered themselves below some pendent ivy, and 
 spoke in low tones of the approaching trial. 
 
 Suddenly Geraldine raised his finger to command 
 silence, and all three bent their hearing to the ut- 
 most. Through the continuous noise of the rain, the 
 steps and voices of two men became audible from the 
 other side of the wall ; and, as they drew nearer, 
 Brackenbury, whose sense of hearing was remarkably 
 acute, could even distinguish some fragments of their 
 talk. 
 
 ** Is the grave dug ?" asked one. 
 
 "It is," replied the other; "behind the laurel hedge. 
 When the job is done, we can cover it with a pile of 
 stakes." 
 
 The first speaker laughed, and the sound of his merri- 
 ment was shocking to the listeners on the other side. 
 
 " In an hour from now," he said. 
 
 And by the sounds of the steps it was obvious that 
 the pair had separated, and were proceeding in contrary 
 directions. 
 
 9> 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Almost immediately after the postern door was cau- 
 tiously opened, a white face was protruded into the 
 lane, and a hand was seen beckoning to the watchers. 
 In dead silence the three passed the door, which was 
 immediately locked behind them, and followed their 
 guide through several garden alleys to the kitchen en- 
 trance of the house. A single candle burned in the great 
 paved kitchen, which was destitute of the customary fur- 
 niture ; and as the party proceeded to ascend from thence 
 by a flight of winding stairs, a prodigious noise of rats 
 testified still more plainly to the dilapidation of the 
 house. 
 
 Their conductor preceded them, carrying the candle. 
 He was a lean man, much bent, but still agile; and he 
 turned from time to time and admonished silence and 
 caution by his gestures. Colonel Geraldine followed 
 on his heels, the case of swords under one arm, and a 
 pistol ready in the other. Brackenbury's heart beat 
 thickly. He perceived that they were still in time ; but 
 he judged from the alacrity of the old man that the hour 
 of action must be near at hand ; the circumstances of 
 this adventure were so obscure and menacing, the place 
 seemed so well chosen for the darkest acts, that an older 
 man than Brackenbury might have been pardoned a 
 measure of emotion as he closed the procession up the 
 winding stair. 
 
 At the top the guide threw open a door and ushered 
 the three officers before him into a small apartment, 
 lighted by a smoky lamp and the glow of a modest fire. 
 At the chimney corner sat a man in the early prime of 
 life, and of a stout but courtly and commanding appear- 
 ance. His attitude and expression were those of the 
 
 92 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 most unmoved composure ; he was smoking a cheroot 
 with much enjoyment and deliberation, and on a table by 
 his elbow stood a long glass of some effervescing bever- 
 age, which diffused an agreeable odour through the room. 
 
 "Welcome," said he, extending his hand to Colonel 
 Geraldine. " I knew I might count on your exactitude. " 
 
 "On my devotion," replied the Colonel, with a bow. 
 
 " Present me to your friends, " continued the first; and, 
 when that ceremony had been performed, " I wish, gen- 
 tlemen," he added, with the most exquisite affability, 
 "that I could offer you a more cheerful programme; it 
 is ungracious to inaugurate an acquaintance upon serious 
 affairs; but the compulsion of events is stronger than 
 the obligations of good-fellowship. I hope and believe 
 you will be able to forgive me this unpleasant evening; 
 and for men of your stamp it will be enough to know 
 that you are conferring a considerable favour. " 
 
 " Your Highness," said the Major, "must pardon my 
 bluntness. I am unable to hide what I know. For some 
 time back I have suspected Major Hammersmith, but 
 Mr. Godall is unmistakable. To seek two men in Lon- 
 don unacquainted with Prince Florizel of Bohemia was 
 to ask too much at Fortune's hands." 
 
 " Prince Florizel! " cried Brackenbury in amazement. 
 
 And he gazed with the deepest interest on the features 
 of the celebrated personage before him. 
 
 "I shall not lament the loss of my incognito," re- 
 marked the Prince, "for it enables me to thank you with 
 the more authority. You would have done as much for 
 Mr. Godall, I feel sure, as for the Prince of Bohemia ; but 
 the latter can perhaps do more for you. The gain is 
 mine," he added, with a courteous gesture. 
 
 93 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 And the next moment he was conversing with the 
 two officers about the Indian army and the native 
 troops, a subject on which, as on all others, he had a 
 remarkable fund of information and the soundest views. 
 
 There was something so striking in this man's attitude 
 at a moment of deadly peril that Brackenbury was over- 
 come with respectful admiration ; nor was he less sen- 
 sible to the charm of his conversation or the surprising 
 amenity of his address. Every gesture, every intona- 
 tion, was not only noble in itself, but seemed to ennoble 
 the fortunate mortal for whom it was intended; and 
 Brackenbury confessed to himself with enthusiasm that 
 this was a sovereign for whom a brave man might thank- 
 fully lay down his life. 
 
 Many minutes had thus passed, when the person 
 who had introduced them into the house, and who 
 had sat ever since in a corner, and with his watch in 
 his hand, arose and whispered a word into the Prince's 
 ear. 
 
 " It is well, Dr. Noel, " replied Florizel, aloud ; and then 
 addressing the others, "You will excuse me, gentle- 
 men," he added, "if I have to leave you in the dark. 
 The moment now approaches." 
 
 Dr. Noel extinguished the lamp. A faint, gray light, 
 premonitory of the dawn, illuminated the window, but 
 was not sufficient to illuminate the room ; and when the 
 Prince rose to his feet, it was impossible to distinguish 
 his features or to make a guess at the nature of the emo- 
 tion which obviously affected him as he spoke. He 
 moved towards the door, and placed himself at one side 
 of it in an attitude of the wariest attention. 
 
 "You will have the kindness," he said, "to maintain 
 
 94 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 the strictest silence, and to conceal yourselves in the 
 densest of the shadow." 
 
 The three officers and the physician hastened to obey, 
 and for nearly ten minutes the only sound in Rochester 
 House was occasioned by the excursions of the rats be- 
 hind the woodwork. At the end of that period, a loud 
 creak of a hinge broke in with surprising distinctness 
 on the silence; and shortly after, the watchers could 
 distinguish a slow and cautious tread approaching up 
 the kitchen stair. At every second step the intruder 
 seemed to pause and lend an ear, and during these in- 
 tervals, which seemed of an incalculable duration, a 
 profound disquiet possessed the spirit of the listeners. 
 Dr. Noel, accustomed as he was to dangerous emotions, 
 suffered an almost pitiful physical prostration ; his breath 
 whistled in his lungs, his teeth grated one upon an- 
 other, and his joints cracked aloud as he nervously shifted 
 his position. 
 
 At last a hand was laid upon the door, and the bolt 
 shot back with a slight report. There followed another 
 pause, during which Brackenbury could see the Prince 
 draw himself together noiselessly as if for some unusual 
 exertion. Then the door opened, letting in a little more 
 of the light of the morning; and the figure of a man ap- 
 peared upon the threshold and stood motionless. He 
 was tall, and carried a knife in his hand. Even in the 
 twilight they could see his upper teeth bare and glisten- 
 ing, for his mouth was open like that of a hound about 
 to leap. The man had evidently been over the head in 
 water but a minute or two before; and even while he 
 stood there the drops kept falling from his wet clothes 
 and pattered on the floor. 
 
 95 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 The next moment he crossed the threshold. There 
 was a leap, a stifled cry, an instantaneous struggle ; and 
 before Colonel Geraldine could spring to his aid, the 
 Prince held the man, disarmed and helpless, by the 
 shoulders. 
 
 "Dr. Noel, ' ' he said, ' * you will be so good as to relight 
 the lamp." 
 
 And relinquishing the charge of his prisoner to Ger- 
 aldine and Brackenbury, he crossed the room and set 
 his back against the chimney-piece. As soon as the 
 lamp had kindled, the party beheld an unaccustomed 
 sternness on the Prince's features. It was no longer 
 Florizel, the careless gentleman; it was the Prince of 
 Bohemia, justly incensed and full of deadly purpose, who 
 now raised his head and addressed the captive President 
 of the Suicide Club. 
 
 '* President," he said, "you have laid your last snare, 
 and your own feet are taken in it. The day is begin- 
 ning; it is your last morning. You have just swum the 
 Regent's Canal ; it is your last bathe in this world. Your 
 old accomplice, Dr. Noel, so far from betraying me, has 
 delivered you into my hands for judgment. And the 
 grave you had dug for me this afternoon shall serve, in 
 God's almighty providence, to hide your own just doom 
 from the curiosity of mankind. Kneel and pray, sir, if 
 you have a mind that way ; for your time is short, and 
 God is weary of your iniquities." 
 
 The President made no answer either by word or sign ; 
 but continued to hang his head and gaze sullenly on the 
 floor, as though he were conscious of the Prince's pro- 
 longed and unsparing regard. 
 
 "Gentlemen," continued Florizel, resuming the ordi- 
 
 96 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 nary tone of his conversation, " this is a fellow who has 
 long eluded me, but whom, thanks to Dr. Noel, I now 
 have tightly by the heels. To tell the story of his mis- 
 deeds would occupy more time than we can now af- 
 ford ; but if the canal had contained nothing but the 
 blood of his victims, I believe the wretch would have 
 been no drier than you see him. Even in an affair of 
 this sort I desire to preserve the forms of honour. But I 
 make you the judges, gentlemen — this is more an ex- 
 ecution than a duel; and to give the rogue his choice 
 of weapons would be to push too far a point of etiquette. 
 1 cannot afford to lose my life in such a business," he 
 continued, unlocking the case of swords; "and as a 
 pistol-bullet travels so often on the wings of chance, 
 and skill and courage may fall by the most trembling 
 marksman, I have decided, and I feel sure you will ap- 
 prove my determination, to put this question to the 
 touch of swords." 
 
 When Brackenbury and Major O'Rooke, to whom 
 these remarks were particularly addressed, had each in- 
 timated his approval, "Quick, sir," added Prince Florizel 
 to the President, "choose a blade and do not keep me 
 waiting; I have an impatience to be done with you for 
 ever." 
 
 For the first time since he was captured and disarmed 
 the President raised his head, and it was plain that he 
 began instantly to pluck up courage. 
 
 "Is it to be stand up?" he asked eagerly, "and be- 
 tween you and me?" 
 
 " I mean so far to honour you," replied the Prince. 
 
 1 ' Oh, come ! " cried the President. ' ' With a fair field, 
 who knows how things may happen ? I must add that 
 
 9; 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 I consider it handsome behaviour on your Highness's 
 part; and if the worst comes to the worst I shall die by 
 one of the most gallant gentlemen in Europe." 
 
 And the President, liberated by those who had de- 
 tained him, stepped up to the table and began, with 
 minute attention, to select a sword. He was highly 
 elated, and seemed to feel no doubt that he should issue 
 victorious from the contest. The spectators grew alarmed 
 in the face of so entire a confidence, and adjured Prince 
 Florizel to reconsider his intention. 
 
 " It is but a farce," he answered; "and I think I can 
 promise you, gentlemen, that it will not be long a- 
 playing." 
 
 "Your Highness will be careful not to overreach," 
 said Colonel Geraldine. 
 
 "Geraldine," returned the Prince, "did you ever 
 know me fail in a debt of honour? I owe you this 
 man's death, and you shall have it." 
 
 The President at last satisfied himself with one of the 
 rapiers, and signified his readiness by a gesture that was 
 not devoid of a rude nobility. The nearness of peril, 
 and the sense of courage, even to this obnoxious villain, 
 lent an air of manhood and a certain grace. 
 
 The Prince helped himself at random to a sword. 
 
 "Colonel Geraldine and Doctor Noel," he said, " will 
 have the goodness to await me in this room. I wish no 
 personal friend of mine to be involved in this transaction. 
 Major O'Rooke, you are a man of some years and a settled 
 reputation — let me recommend the President to your 
 good graces. Lieutenant Rich will be so good as to lend 
 me his attentions: a young man cannot have too much 
 experience in such affairs." 
 
 98 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 "Your Highness," replied Brackenbury, "it is an 
 honour I shall prize extremely." 
 
 "It is well," returned Prince Florizel; "I shall hope 
 to stand your friend in more important circumstances." 
 
 And so saying he led the way out of the apartment 
 and down the kitchen stairs. 
 
 The two men who were thus left alone threw open 
 the window and leaned out, straining every sense to 
 catch an indication of the tragical events that were about 
 to follow. The rain was now over; day had almost 
 come, and the birds were piping in the shrubbery and 
 on the forest trees of the garden. The Prince and his 
 companions were visible for a moment as they followed 
 an alley between two flowering thickets; but at the first 
 corner a clump of foliage intervened, and they were 
 again concealed from view. This was all the Col- 
 onel and the physician had an opportunity to see, and 
 the garden was so vast, and the place of combat evi- 
 dently so remote from the house, that not even the noise 
 of sword-play reached their ears. 
 
 "He has taken him towards the grave," said Dr. 
 Noel, with a shudder. 
 
 "God," cried the Colonel, "God defend the right!" 
 
 And they awaited the event in silence, the Doctor 
 shaking with fear, the Colonel in an agony of sweat. 
 Many minutes must have elapsed, the day was sensibly 
 broader, and the birds were singing more heartily in the 
 garden before a sound of returning footsteps recalled their 
 glances towards the door. It was the Prince and the two 
 Indian officers who entered. God had defended the right. 
 
 "I am ashamed of my emotion," said Prince Florizel; 
 " I feel it a weakness unworthy of my station, but the 
 
 99 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 continued existence of that hound of hell had begun to 
 play upon me like a disease, and his death has more re- 
 freshed me than a night of slumber. Look, Geraldine," 
 he continued, throwing his sword upon the floor, "there 
 is the blood of the man who killed your brother. It 
 should be a welcome sight. And yet," he added, " see 
 how strangely we men are made! my revenge is not 
 yet five minutes old, and already I am beginning to ask 
 myself if even revenge be attainable on this precarious 
 stage of life. The ill he did, who can undo it ? The 
 career in which he amassed a huge fortune (for the house 
 itself in which he stayed belonged to him) — that career 
 is now a part of the destiny of mankind forever; and I 
 might weary myself making thrusts in carte until the 
 crack of judgment, and Geraldine's brother would be 
 none the less dead, and a thousand other innocent per- 
 sons would be none the less dishonoured and debauched ! 
 The existence of a man is so small a thing to take, so 
 mighty a thing to employ! Alas! " he cried, " is there 
 anything in life so disenchanting as attainment ? " 
 
 "God's justice has been done," replied the Doctor. 
 "So much I behold. The lesson, your Highness, has 
 been a cruel one for me ; and I await my own turn with 
 deadly apprehension." 
 
 "What was I saying?" cried the Prince. "I have 
 punished, and here is the man beside us who can help 
 me to undo. Ah, Dr. Noel! you and I have before us 
 many a day of hard and honourable toil ; and perhaps, 
 before we have done, you may have more than re- 
 deemed your early errors." 
 
 "And in the meantime," said the Doctor, "let me go 
 and bury my oldest friend." 
 
THE SUICIDE CLUB 
 
 (And this, observes the erudite Arabian, is the fortu- 
 nate conclusion of the tale. The Prince, it is superfluous 
 to mention, forgot none of those who served him in this 
 great exploit; and to this day his authority and influence 
 help them forward in their public career, while his con- 
 descending friendship adds a charm to their private life. 
 To collecl, continues the author, all the strange events in 
 which this Prince has played the part of Providence were 
 to fill the habitable globe with books. But the stories 
 which relate to the fortunes o/The Rajah's Diamond are 
 of too entertaining a description, says he, to be omitted. 
 Following prudently in the footsteps of this Oriental, we 
 shall now begin the series to which he refers with the 
 Story of the Bandbox.) 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 STORY OF THE BANDBOX 
 
 UP to the age of sixteen, at a private school and af- 
 terwards at one of those great institutions for which 
 England is justly famous, Mr. Harry Hartley had re- 
 ceived the ordinary education of a gentleman. At that 
 period, he manifested a remarkable distaste for study; 
 and his only surviving parent being both weak and ig- 
 norant, he was permitted thenceforward to spend his 
 time in the attainment of petty and purely elegant ac- 
 complishments. Two years later, he was left an orphan 
 and almost a beggar. For all active and industrious 
 pursuits, Harry was unfitted alike by nature and train- 
 ing. He could sing romantic ditties, and accompany 
 himself with discretion on the piano ; he was a graceful 
 although a timid cavalier; he had a pronounced taste 
 for chess ; and nature had sent him into the world with 
 one of' the most engaging exteriors that can well be 
 fancied. Blond and pink, with dove's eyes and a gen- 
 tle smile, he had an air of agreeable tenderness and 
 melancholy, and the most submissive and caressing 
 manners. But when all is said, he was not the man to 
 lead armaments of war, or direct the councils of a State. 
 A fortunate chance and some influence obtained for 
 Harry, at the time of his bereavement, the position of 
 
 105 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 private secretary to Major-General Sir Thomas Vande- 
 leur, C. B. Sir Thomas was a man of sixty, loud-spoken, 
 boisterous, and domineering. For some reason, some 
 service the nature of which had been often whispered 
 and repeatedly denied, the Rajah of Kashgar had pre- 
 sented this officer with the sixth known diamond of 
 the world. The gift transformed General Vandeleur 
 from a poor into a wealthy man, from an obscure and 
 unpopular soldier into one of the lions of London soci- 
 ety ; the possessor of the Rajah's Diamond was welcome 
 in the most exclusive circles ; and he had found a lady, 
 young, beautiful, and well-born, who was willing to 
 call the diamond hers even at the price of marriage with 
 Sir Thomas Vandeleur. It was commonly said at the 
 time that, as like draws to like, one jewel had attracted 
 another; certainly Lady Vandeleur was not only a gem 
 of the finest water in her own person, but she showed 
 herself to the world in a very costly setting; and she 
 was considered by many respectable authorities, as one 
 among the three or four best dressed women in England. 
 
 Harry's duty as secretary was not particularly onerous ; 
 but he had a dislike for all prolonged work ; it gave him 
 pain to ink his fingers ; and the charms of Lady Vande- 
 leur and her toilettes drew him often from the library to 
 the boudoir. He had the prettiest ways among women, 
 could talk fashions with enjoyment, and was never more 
 happy than when criticising a shade of ribbon, or run- 
 ning on an errand to the milliner's. In short, Sir Thomas's 
 correspondence fell into pitiful arrears, and my Lady had 
 another lady's maid. 
 
 At last the General, who was one of the least patient 
 of military commanders, arose from his place in a violent 
 
 106 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 excess of passion, and indicated to his secretary that he 
 had no further use for his services, with one of those 
 explanatory gestures which are most rarely employed 
 between gentlemen. The door being unfortunately open, 
 Mr. Hartley fell down-stairs head foremost. 
 
 He arose somewhat hurt and very deeply aggrieved. 
 The life in the General's house precisely suited him ; he 
 moved, on a more or less doubtful footing, in very gen- 
 teel company, he did little, he ate of the best, and he 
 had a lukewarm satisfaction in the presence of Lady 
 Vandeleur, which, in his own heart, he dubbed by a 
 more emphatic name. 
 
 Immediately after he had been outraged by the mili- 
 tary foot, he hurried to the boudoir and recounted his 
 sorrows. 
 
 " You know very well, my dear Harry," replied Lady 
 Vandeleur, for she called him by name like a child or a 
 domestic servant, "that you never by any chance do 
 what the General tells you. No more do I, you may 
 say. But that is different. A woman can earn her 
 pardon for a good year of disobedience by a single adroit 
 submission ; and, besides, no one is married to his pri- 
 vate secretary. I shall be sorry to lose you, but since 
 you cannot stay longer in a house where you have been 
 insulted, I shall wish you good-bye, and I promise you 
 to make the General smart for his behaviour." 
 
 Harry's countenance fell ; tears came into his eyes, and 
 he gazed on Lady Vandeleur with a tender reproach. 
 
 "My Lady," said he. "what is an insult? I should 
 think little indeed of anyone who could not forgive them 
 by the score. But to leave one's friends; to tear up the 
 
 bonds of affection " 
 
 107 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 He was unable to continue, for his emotion choked 
 him, and he began to weep. 
 
 Lady Vandeleur looked at him with a curious expres- 
 sion. 
 
 " This little fool," she thought, " imagines himself to 
 be in love with me. Why should he not become my 
 servant instead of the General's ? He is good-natured, 
 obliging, and understands dress; and besides it will 
 keep him out of mischief. He is positively too pretty 
 to be unattached." 
 
 That night she talked over the General, who was already 
 somewhat ashamed of his vivacity; and Harry was 
 transferred to the feminine department, where his life was 
 little short of heavenly. He was always dressed with 
 uncommon nicety, wore delicate flowers in his button- 
 hole, and could entertain a visitor with tact and pleas- 
 antry. He took a pride in servility to a beautiful woman ; 
 received Lady Vandeleur's commands as so many marks 
 of favour; and was pleased to exhibit himself before 
 other men, who derided and despised him, in his char- 
 acter of male lady's-maid and man milliner. Nor could 
 he think enough of his existence from a moral point 
 of view. Wickedness seemed to him an essentially 
 male attribute, and to pass one's days with a delicate 
 woman, and principally occupied about trimmings, 
 was to inhabit an enchanted isle among the storms 
 of life. 
 
 One fine morning he came into the drawing-room 
 and began to arrange some music on the top of the 
 piano. Lady Vandeleur, at the other end of the apart- 
 ment, was speaking somewhat eagerly with her brother, 
 Charlie Pendragon, an elderly young man, much broken 
 
 108 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 with dissipation, and very lame of one foot. The pri- 
 vate secretary, to whose entrance they paid no regard, 
 could not avoid overhearing a part of their conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 " To-day or never, "said the lady. "Once and for all, 
 it shall be done to-day." 
 
 "To-day, if it must be," replied the brother, with a 
 sigh. " But it is a false step, a ruinous step, Clara; and 
 we shall live to repent it dismally." 
 
 Lady Vandeleur looked her brother steadily and some- 
 what strangely in the face. 
 
 "You forget," she said; "the man must die at last." 
 
 " Upon my word, Clara," said Pendragon, " I believe 
 you are the most heartless rascal in England." 
 
 "You men," she returned, "are so coarsely built, 
 that you can never appreciate a shade of meaning. You 
 are yourselves rapacious, violent, immodest, careless of 
 distinction; and yet the least thought for the future 
 shocks you in a woman. I have no patience with such 
 stuff. You would despise in a common banker the im- 
 becility that you expect to find in us." 
 
 "You are very likely right," replied her brother; 
 "you were always cleverer than I. And, anyway, you 
 know my motto: the family before all." 
 
 "Yes, Charlie," she returned, taking his hand in hers, 
 1 ' I know your motto better than you know it yourself. 
 And ' Clara before the family ! ' Is not that the second 
 part of it ? Indeed, you are the best of brothers, and I 
 love you dearly." 
 
 Mr. Pendragon got up, looking a little confused by 
 these family endearments. 
 
 " I had better not be seen," said he. "I understand 
 1109 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 my part to a miracle, and I'll keep an eye on the Tame 
 Cat." 
 
 "Do," she replied. "He is an abject creature, and 
 might ruin all." 
 
 She kissed the tips of her fingers to him daintily; and 
 the brother withdrew by the boudoir and the back stair. 
 
 "Harry," said Lady Vandeleur, turning towards the 
 secretary as soon as they were alone. "I have a com- 
 mission for you this morning. But you shall take a cab ; 
 I cannot have my secretary freckled." 
 
 She spoke the last words with emphasis and a look 
 of half-motherly pride that caused great contentment to 
 poor Harry ; and he professed himself charmed to find 
 an opportunity of serving her. 
 
 "It is another of our great secrets," she went on, 
 archly, " and no one must know of it but my secretary 
 and me. Sir Thomas would make the saddest distur- 
 bance ; and if you only knew how weary I am of these 
 scenes ! Oh, Harry, Harry, can you explain to me what 
 makes you men so violent and unjust ? But, indeed, I 
 know you cannot; you are the only man in the world 
 who knows nothing of these shameful passions ; you 
 are so good, Harry, and so kind ; you, at least, can be a 
 woman's friend ; and, do you know ? I think you make 
 the others more ugly by comparison." 
 
 "It is you," said Harry, gallantly, "who are so kind 
 tome. You treat me like " 
 
 "Like a mother," interposed Lady Vandeleur, "I try 
 to be a mother to you. Or at least," she corrected her- 
 self with a smile, "almost a mother. I am afraid I am 
 too young to be your mother really. Let us say a friend 
 — a dear friend." 
 
 no 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 She paused long enough to let her words take effect 
 in Harry's sentimental quarters, but not long enough to 
 allow him a reply. 
 
 4 'But all this is beside our purpose," she resumed. 
 "You will find a bandbox in the left-hand side of the 
 oak wardrobe; it is underneath the pink slip that I wore 
 on Wednesday with my Mechlin. You will take it im- 
 mediately to this address," and she gave him a paper, 
 'but do not, on any account, let it out of your hands 
 until you have received a receipt written by myself. Do 
 you understand ? Answer, if you please — answer! This 
 is extremely important, and I must ask you to pay some 
 attention." 
 
 Harry pacified her by repeating her instructions per- 
 fectly; and she was just going to tell him more when 
 General Vandeleur flung into the apartment, scarlet with 
 anger, and holding a long and elaborate milliner's bill 
 in his hand. 
 
 "Will you look at this, madam ?" cried he. "Will 
 you have the goodness to look at this document ? I 
 know well enough you married me for my money, and 
 I hope I can make as great allowance as any other man 
 in the service; but, as sure as God made me, I mean to 
 put a period to this disreputable prodigality." 
 
 "Mr. Hartley," said Lady Vandeleur, "I think you 
 understand what you have to do. May I ask you to see 
 to it at once ? " 
 
 "Stop," said the General, addressing Harry, "one 
 word before you go." And then, turning again to 
 Lady Vandeleur, "What is this precious fellow's er- 
 rand ?" he demanded. "I trust him no further than I 
 do yourself, let me tell you. If he had as much as the 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 rudiments of honesty, he would scorn to stay in this 
 house ; and what he does for his wages is a mystery to 
 all the world. What is his errand, Madam ? and why 
 are you hurrying him away ? " 
 
 " I supposed you had something to say to me in pri- 
 vate," replied the lady. 
 
 "You spoke about an errand," insisted the General. 
 " Do not attempt to deceive me in my present state of 
 temper. You certainly spoke about an errand." 
 
 " If you insist on making your servants privy to our 
 humiliating dissensions," replied Lady Vandeleur, "per- 
 haps I had better ask Mr. Hartley to sit down. No ?" 
 she continued ; " then you may go, Mr. Hartley. I trust 
 you may remember all that you have heard in this room ; 
 it may be useful to you." 
 
 Harry at once made his escape from the drawing-room ; 
 and as he ran upstairs he could hear the General's voice 
 upraised in declamation, and the thin tones of Lady Van- 
 deleur planting icy repartees at every opening. How 
 cordially he admired the wife ! How skilfully she could 
 evade an awkward question ! with what secure effron- 
 tery she repeated her instructions under the very guns 
 of the enemy! and on the other hand, how he detested 
 the husband! 
 
 There had been nothing unfamiliar in the morning's 
 events, for he was continually in the habit of serving 
 Lady Vandeleur on secret missions, principally connected 
 with millinery. There was a skeleton in the house, as 
 he well knew. The bottomless extravagance and the 
 unknown liabilities of the wife had long since swallowed 
 her own fortune, and threatened day by day to engulf 
 that of the husband. Once or twice in every year ex- 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 posure and ruin seemed imminent, and Harry kept trot- 
 ting round to all sorts of furnishers' shops, telling small 
 fibs, and paying small advances on the gross amount, 
 until another term was tided over, and the lady and her 
 faithful secretary breathed again. For Harry, in a double 
 capacity, was heart and soul upon that side of the war : 
 not only did he adore Lady Vandeleur and fear and dis- 
 like her husband, but he naturally sympathised with the 
 love of finery, and his own single extravagance was at 
 the tailor's. 
 
 He found the bandbox where it had been described, 
 arranged his toilet with care, and left the house. The 
 sun shone brightly ; the distance he had to travel was 
 considerable, and he remembered with dismay that the 
 General's sudden irruption had prevented Lady Vande- 
 leur from giving him money for a cab. On this sultry 
 day there was every chance that his complexion would 
 suffer severely ; and to walk through so much of London 
 with a bandbox on his arm was a humiliation almost 
 insupportable to a youth of his character. He paused, 
 and took counsel with himself. The Vandeleurs lived 
 in Eaton Place ; his destination was near Notting Hill ; 
 plainly, he might cross the Park by keeping well in the 
 open and avoiding populous alleys; and he thanked his 
 stars when he reflected that it was still comparatively 
 early in the day. 
 
 Anxious to be rid of his incubus, he walked some- 
 what faster than his ordinary, and he was already some 
 way through Kensington Gardens when, in a solitary 
 spot among trees, he found himself confronted by the 
 General. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Sir Thomas," observed Harry, 
 "3 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 politely falling on one side ; for the other stood directly 
 in his path. 
 
 "Where are you going, sir?" asked the General. 
 
 " I am taking a little walk among the trees," replied 
 the lad. 
 
 The General struck the bandbox with his cane. 
 
 "With that thing?" he cried; "you lie, sir, and you 
 :<now you lie!" 
 
 "Indeed, Sir Thomas," returned Harry, "I am not 
 accustomed to be questioned in so high a key." 
 
 "You do not understand your position," said the 
 General. ■ ' You are my servant, and a servant of whom 
 I have conceived the most serious suspicions. How do 
 1 know but that your box is full of teaspoons ? " 
 
 'It contains a silk hat belonging to a friend," said 
 Harry. 
 
 "Very well," replied General Vandeleur. "Then I 
 want to see your friend's silk hat I have," he added, 
 grimly, " a singular curiosity for hats ; and I believe you 
 know me to be somewhat positive." 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Sir Thomas, I am exceedingly 
 grieved," Harry apologised; "but indeed this is a pri- 
 vate affair." 
 
 The General caught him roughly by the shoulder with 
 one hand, while he raised his cane in the most menac- 
 ing manner with the other. Harry gave himself up for 
 lost; but at the same moment Heaven vouchsafed him 
 an unexpected defender in the person of Charlie Pen- 
 dragon, who now strode forward from behind the trees. 
 
 "Come, come, General, hold your hand," said he, 
 "this is neither courteous nor manly." 
 
 " Aha ! " cried the General, wheeling round upon his 
 114 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 new antagonist, "Mr. Pendragon ! And do you sup- 
 pose, Mr. Pendragon, that because I have had the mis- 
 fortune to marry your sister, I shall suffer myself to be 
 dogged and thwarted by a discredited and bankrupt 
 libertine like you ? My acquaintance with Lady Van- 
 deleur, sir, has taken away all my appetite for the other 
 members of her family." 
 
 "And do you fancy, General Vandeleur," retorted 
 Charlie, " that because my sister has had the misfortune 
 to marry you, she there and then forfeited her rights 
 and privileges as a lady ? I own, sir, that by that action 
 she did as much as anybody could to derogate from her 
 position ; but to me she is still a Pendragon. I make it 
 my business to protect her from ungentlemanly outrage, 
 and if you were ten times her husband I would not per- 
 mit her liberty to be restrained, nor her private messen- 
 ger to be violently arrested." 
 
 "How is that, Mr. Hartley ?" interrogated the Gen- 
 eral. "Mr. Pendragon is of my opinion, it appears. 
 He too suspects that Lady Vandeleur has something to 
 do with your friend's silk hat." 
 
 Charlie saw that he had committed an unpardonable 
 blunder, which he hastened to repair. 
 
 * * How, sir ? " he cried ; " I suspect, do you say ? I sus- 
 pect nothing. Only where I find strength abused and a 
 man brutalizing his inferiors, I take the liberty to interfere. ' ' 
 
 As he said these words he made a sign to Harry, 
 which the latter was too dull or too much troubled to 
 understand. 
 
 1 ■ In what way am I to construe your attitude, sir ? " 
 demanded Vandeleur. 
 
 "Why, sir, as you please," returned Pendragon. 
 115 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 The General once more raised his cane, and made a 
 cut for Charlie's head ; but the latter, lame foot and all, 
 evaded the blow with his umbrella, ran in, and imme- 
 diately closed with his formidable adversary. 
 
 " Run, Harry, run! " he cried; "run, you dolt! " 
 
 Harry stood petrified for a moment, watching the two 
 men sway together in this fierce embrace ; then he turned 
 and took to his heels. When he cast a glance over his 
 shoulder he saw the General prostrate under Charlie's 
 knee, but still making desperate efforts to reverse the 
 situation ; and the Gardens seemed to have filled with 
 people, who were running from all directions towards 
 the scene of fight. This spectacle lent the secretary 
 wings; and he did not relax his pace until he had gained 
 the Bayswater road, and plunged at random into an un- 
 frequented by-street. 
 
 To see two gentlemen of his acquaintance thus bru- 
 tally mauling each other was deeply shocking to Harry. 
 He desired to forget the sight; he desired, above all, to 
 put as great a distance as possible between himself and 
 General Vandeleur; and in his eagerness for this he for- 
 got everything about his destination, and hurried before 
 him headlong and trembling. When he remembered 
 that Lady Vandeleur was the wife of one and sister of 
 the other of these gladiators, his heart was touched with 
 sympathy for a woman so distressingly misplaced in 
 life. Even his own situation in the General's house 
 looked hardly so pleasing as usual in the light of these 
 violent transactions. 
 
 He had walked some little distance, busied with these 
 meditations, before a slight collision with another pas- 
 senger reminded him of the bandbox on his arm. 
 
 116 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 "Heavens!" cried he, "where was my head? and 
 whither have I wandered ? " 
 
 Thereupon he consulted the envelope which Lady 
 Vandeleur had given him. The address was there, but 
 without a name. Harry was simply directed to ask for 
 "the gentleman who expected a parcel from Lady Van- 
 deleur," and if he were not at home to await his return. 
 The gentleman, added the note, should present a receipt 
 in the handwriting of the lady herself. All this seemed 
 mighty mysterious, and Harry was above all astonished 
 at the omission of the name and the formality of the re- 
 ceipt. He had thought little of this last when he heard 
 it dropped in conversation ; but reading it in cold blood, 
 and taking it in connection with the other strange par- 
 ticulars, he became convinced that he was engaged in 
 perilous affairs. For half a moment he had a doubt of 
 Lady Vandeleur herself; for he found these obscure pro- 
 ceedings somewhat unworthy of so high a lady, and 
 became more critical when her secrets were preserved 
 against himself. But her empire over his spirit was too 
 complete, he dismissed his suspicions, and blamed him- 
 self roundly for having so much as entertained them. 
 
 In one thing, however, his duty and interest, his gen- 
 erosity and his terrors, coincided — to get rid of the 
 bandbox with the greatest possible despatch. 
 
 He accosted the first policeman and courteously in- 
 quired his way. It turned out that he was already not 
 far from his destination, and a walk of a few minutes 
 brought him to a small house in a lane, freshly painted, 
 and kept with the most scrupulous attention. The 
 knocker and bell-pull were highly polished ; flowering 
 pot-herbs garnished the sills of the different windows ; 
 
 117 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 and curtains of some rich material concealed the interior 
 from the eyes of curious passengers. The place had an 
 air of repose and secrecy ; and Harry was so far caught 
 with this spirit that he knocked with more than usual 
 discretion, and was more than usually careful to remove 
 all impurity from his boots. 
 
 A servant-maid of some personal attractions immedi- 
 ately opened the door, and seemed to regard the secre- 
 tary with no unkind eyes. 
 
 "This is the parcel from Lady Vandeleur," said 
 Harry. 
 
 "I know," replied the maid, with a nod. " But the 
 gentleman is from home. Will you leave it with me ? " 
 
 " I cannot," answered Harry. " I am directed not to 
 part with it but upon a certain condition, and I must ask 
 you, I am afraid, to let me wait." 
 
 "Well," said she, "I suppose I may let you wait. 
 I am lonely enough, I can tell you, and you do not look 
 as though you would eat a girl. But be sure and do not 
 ask the gentleman's name, for that I am not to tell you." 
 
 ' ' Do you say so ? " cried Harry. ■ ' Why, how strange ! 
 But indeed for some time back I walk among surprises. 
 One question I think I may surely ask without indiscre- 
 tion : Is he the master of this house ? " 
 
 " He is a lodger, and not eight days old at that," re- 
 turned the maid. "And now a question for a question: 
 Do you know Lady Vandeleur ? " 
 
 "I am her private secretary," replied Harry, with a 
 glow of modest pride. 
 
 "She is pretty, is she not?" pursued the servant. 
 
 "Oh, beautiful!" cried Harry; "wonderfully lovely, 
 and not less good and kind ! " 
 
 118 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 " You look kind enough yourself," she retorted; "and 
 I wager you are worth a dozen Lady Vandeleurs." 
 
 Harry was properly scandalised. 
 
 ' * I ! " he cried. ' ' I am only a secretary ! " 
 
 "Do you mean that for me ?" said the girl. " Be- 
 cause I am only a housemaid, if you please." And then, 
 relenting at the sight of Harry's obvious confusion, " I 
 know you mean nothing of the sort," she added; "and 
 I like your looks; but I think nothing of your Lady Van- 
 deleur. Oh, these mistresses!" she cried. "To send 
 out a real gentleman like you — with a bandbox — in 
 broad day!" 
 
 During this talk they had remained in their original 
 positions — she on the doorstep, he on the sidewalk, 
 bareheaded for the sake of coolness, and with the band- 
 box on his arm. But upon this last speech Harry, who 
 was unable to support such point-blank compliments to 
 his appearance, nor the encouraging look with which 
 they were accompanied, began to change his attitude, 
 and glance from left to right in perturbation. In so 
 doing he turned his face towards the lower end of the 
 lane, and there, to his indescribable dismay, his eyes en- 
 countered those of General Vandeleur. The General, 
 in a prodigious fluster of heat, hurry, and indignation, 
 had been scouring the streets in chase of his brother-in- 
 law ; but so soon as he caught a glimpse of the delinquent 
 secretary his purpose changed, his anger flowed into a 
 new channel, and he turned on his heel and came tearing 
 up the lane with truculent gestures and vociferations. 
 
 Harry made but one bolt of it into the house, driving 
 the maid before him ; and the door was slammed in his 
 pursuer's countenance. 
 
 up 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " Is there a bar ? Will it lock ? " asked Harry, while 
 a salvo on the knocker made the house echo from wall 
 to wall. 
 
 "Why, what is wrong with you?" asked the maid. 
 'Ms it this old gentleman ?" 
 
 " If he gets hold of me," whispered Harry, "lamas 
 good as dead. He has been pursuing me all day, carries 
 a sword-stick, and is an Indian military officer." 
 
 "These are fine manners," cried the maid. "And 
 what, if you please, may be his name ?" 
 
 " It is the General, my master, " answered Harry. ■ ' He 
 is after this bandbox." 
 
 " Did not I tell you ? " cried the maid in triumph. " I 
 told you I thought worse than nothing of your Lady Van- 
 deleur; and if you had an eye in your head you might 
 see what she is for yourself. An ungrateful minx, I will 
 be bound for that ! " 
 
 The General renewed his attack upon the knocker, 
 and his passion growing with delay, began to kick and 
 beat upon the panels of the door. 
 
 "It is lucky," observed the girl, "that I am alone in 
 the house ; your General may hammer until he is weary, 
 and there is none to open for him. Follow me ! " 
 
 So saying, she led Harry into the kitchen, where she 
 made him sit down, and stood by him herself in an af- 
 fectionate attitude, with a hand upon his shoulder. The 
 din at the door, so far from abating, continued to increase 
 in volume, and at each blow the unhappy secretary was 
 shaken to the heart. 
 
 "What is your name ?" asked the girl. 
 
 "Harry Hartley," he replied. 
 
 1 ' Mine, " she went on, ' * is Prudence. Do you like it ? " 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 "Very much," said Harry. " But hear for a moment 
 how the General beats upon the door. He will certainly 
 break it in, and then, in heaven's name, what have I to 
 look for but death ?" 
 
 "You put yourself very much about with no occa- 
 sion," answered Prudence. " Let your General knock, 
 he will do no more than blister his hands. Do you think 
 I would keep you here if I were not sure to save you ? 
 Oh, no, I am a good friend to those that please me ! and 
 we have a back door upon another lane. But," she 
 added, checking him, for he had got upon his feet im- 
 mediately on this welcome news, " but I will not show 
 where it is unless you kiss me. Will you, Harry ? " 
 
 "That I will," he cried, remembering his gallantry, 
 1 ' not for your back door, but because you are good and 
 pretty. " 
 
 And he administered two or three cordial salutes, 
 which were returned to him in kind. 
 
 Then Prudence led him to the back gate, and put her 
 hand upon the key. 
 
 " Will you come and see me?" she asked. 
 
 "I will indeed," said Harry. "Do not I owe you 
 my life?" 
 
 "And now," she added, opening the door, "run as 
 hard as you can, for I shall let in the General." 
 
 Harry scarcely required this advice ; fear had him by 
 the forelock; and he addressed himself diligently to 
 flight. A few steps, and he believed he would return 
 to Lady Vandeleur in honour and safety. But these few 
 steps had not been taken before he heard a man's voice, 
 hailing him by name with many execrations, and, look- 
 ing over his shoulder, he beheld Charlie Pendragon wav- 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 ing him with both arms to return. The shock of this 
 new incident was so sudden and profound, and Harry 
 was already worked into so high a state of nervous 
 tension, that he could think of nothing better than to 
 accelerate his pace, and continue running. He should 
 certainly have remembered the scene in Kensington Gar- 
 dens; he should have certainly have concluded that, 
 where the General was his enemy, Charlie Pendragon 
 could be no other than a friend. But such was the fever 
 and perturbation of his mind that he was struck by none 
 of these considerations, and only continued to run the 
 faster up the lane. 
 
 Charlie, by the sound of his voice and the vile terms 
 that he hurled after the secretary, was obviously beside 
 himself with rage. He, too, ran his very best ; but, try 
 as he might, the physical advantages were not upon his 
 side, and his outcries and the fall of his lame foot on the 
 macadam began to fall farther and farther into the wake. 
 
 Harry's hopes began once more to arise. The lane 
 was both steep and narrow, but it was exceedingly soli- 
 tary, bordered on either hand by garden walls, overhung 
 with foliage; and, for as far as the fugitive could see in 
 front of him, there was neither a creature moving nor an 
 open door. Providence, weary of persecution, was now 
 offering him an open field for his escape. 
 
 Alas ! as he came abreast of a garden door under a 
 tuft of chestnuts, it was suddenly drawn back, and he 
 could see inside, upon a garden path, the figure of a 
 butcher's boy with his tray upon his arm. He had 
 hardly recognised the fact before he was some steps be- 
 yond upon the other side. But the fellow had had time 
 to observe nim ; he was evidently much surprised to see 
 
 122 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 a gentleman go by at so unusual a pace ; and he came 
 out into the lane and began to call after Harry with 
 shouts of ironical encouragement. 
 
 His appearance gave a new idea to Charlie Pendragon, 
 who, although he was now sadly out of breath, once 
 more upraised his voice. 
 
 "Stop thief!" he cried. 
 
 And immediately the butcher's boy had taken up the 
 cry and joined in the pursuit. 
 
 This was a bitter moment for the hunted secretary. 
 It is true that his terror enabled him once more to improve 
 his pace, and gain with every step on his pursuers ; but 
 he was well aware that he was near the end of his re- 
 sources, and should he meet anyone coming the other 
 way, his predicament in the narrow lane would be 
 desperate indeed. 
 
 "I must find a place of concealment," he thought, 
 "and that within the next few seconds, or all is over 
 with me in this world." 
 
 Scarcely had the thought crossed his mind than the 
 lane took a sudden turning; and he found himself 
 hidden from his enemies. There are circumstances in 
 which even the least energetic of mankind learn to be- 
 have with vigour and decision ; and the more cautious 
 forget their prudence and embrace foolhardy resolutions. 
 This was one of those occasions for Harry Hartley ; and 
 those who knew him best would have been the most 
 astonished at the lad's audacity. He stopped dead, 
 flung the bandbox over a garden wall, and leaping up- 
 ward with incredible agility and seizing the copestone 
 with his hands, he tumbled headlong after it into the 
 garden. 
 
 133 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 He came to himself a moment afterwards, seated in a 
 border of small rosebushes. His hands and knees were 
 cut and bleeding, for the wall had been protected against 
 such an escalade by a liberal provision of old bottles ; 
 and he was conscious of a general dislocation and a 
 painful swimming in the head. Facing him across the 
 garden, which was in admirable order, and set with 
 flowers of the most delicious perfume, he beheld the back 
 of a house. It was of considerable extent, and plainly 
 habitable; but, in odd contrast to the grounds, it was 
 crazy, ill-kept, and of a mean appearance. On all other 
 sides the circuit of the garden wall appeared unbroken. 
 
 He took in these features of the scene with mechan- 
 ical glances, but his mind was still unable to piece to- 
 gether or draw a rational conclusion from what he saw. 
 And when he heard footsteps advancing on the gravel, 
 although he turned his eyes in that direction, it was with 
 no thought either for defence or flight. 
 
 The new-comer was a large, coarse, and very sordid 
 personage, in gardening clothes, and with a watering- 
 pot in his left hand. One less confused would have 
 been affected with some alarm at the sight of this man's 
 huge proportions and black and lowering eyes. But 
 Harry was too gravely shaken by his fall to be so much 
 as terrified ; and if he was unable to divert his glances 
 from the gardener, he remained absolutely passive, and 
 suffered him to draw near, to take him by the shoulder, 
 and to plant him roughly on his feet, without a motion 
 of resistance. 
 
 For a moment the two stared into each other's eyes, 
 Harry fascinated, the man filled with wrath and a cruel, 
 sneering humour. 
 
 124 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 "Who are you ? " he demanded at last. " Who are 
 you to come flying over my wall and break my Gloire 
 de Dijons? What is your name ?" he added, shaking 
 him; " and what may be your business here ?" 
 
 Harry could not as much as proffer a word in expla- 
 nation. 
 
 But just at that moment Pendragon and the butcher's 
 boy went clumping past, and the sound of their feet and 
 their hoarse cries echoed loudly in the narrow lane. 
 The gardener had received his answer; and he looked 
 down into Harry's face with an obnoxious smile. 
 
 "A thief!" he said. "Upon my word, and a very 
 good thing you must make of it; for I see you dressed 
 like a gentleman from top to toe. Are you not ashamed 
 to go about the world in such a trim, with honest folk, 
 I dare say, glad to buy your cast-off finery second-hand ? 
 Speak up, you dog," the man went on; "you can un- 
 derstand English, I suppose ; and I mean to have a bit 
 of talk with you before I march you to the station." 
 
 "Indeed, sir," said Harry, "this is all a dreadful mis- 
 conception ; and if you will go with me to Sir Thomas 
 Vandeleur's in Eaton Place, I can promise that all will 
 be made plain. The most upright person, as I now per- 
 ceive, can be led into suspicious positions." 
 
 " My little man," replied the gardener, " I will go with 
 you no farther than the station-house in the next street. 
 The inspector, no doubt, will be glad to take a stroll with 
 you as far as Eaton Place, and have a bit of afternoon tea 
 with your great acquaintances. Or would you prefer to 
 go direct to the Home Secretary ? Sir Thomas Vande- 
 leur, indeed! Perhaps you think I don't know a gen- 
 tleman when I see one, from a common run-the-hedge 
 
 125 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 like you ? Clothes or no clothes, I can read you like a 
 book. Here is a shirt that maybe cost as much as my 
 Sunday hat; and that coat, I take it, has never seen the 
 
 inside of Rag-fair, and then your boots " 
 
 The man, whose eyes had fallen upon the ground, 
 stopped short in his insulting commentary, and remained 
 for a moment looking intently upon something at his 
 feet. When he spoke his voice was strangely altered. 
 "What, in God's name," said he, "is all this ?" 
 Harry, following the direction of the man's eyes, be- 
 held a spectacle that struck him dumb with terror and 
 amazement. In his fall he had descended vertically upon 
 the bandbox and burst it open from end to end ; thence 
 a great treasure of diamonds had poured forth, and now 
 lay abroad, part trodden in the soil, part scattered on the 
 surface in regal and glittering profusion. There was a 
 magnificent coronet which he had often admired on 
 Lady Vandeleur; there were rings and brooches, ear- 
 drops and bracelets, and even unset brilliants rolling 
 here and there among the rosebushes like drops of morn- 
 ing dew. A princely fortune lay between the two men 
 upon the ground — a fortune in the most inviting, solid, 
 and durable form, capable of being carried in an apron, 
 beautiful in itself, and scattering the sunlight in a mil- 
 lion rainbow flashes. 
 
 "Good God ! " said Harry, " I am lost ! " 
 His mind raced backward into the past with the in- 
 calculable velocity of thought, and he began to compre- 
 hend his day's adventures, to conceive them as a whole, 
 and to recognise the sad imbroglio in which his own 
 character and fortunes had become involved. He looked 
 round him, as if for help, but he was alone in the gar- 
 
 126 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 den, with his scattered diamonds and his redoubtable 
 interlocutor; and when he gave ear, there was no sound 
 but the rustle of the leaves and the hurried pulsation of 
 his heart. It was little wonder if the young man felt 
 himself a little deserted by his spirits, and with a broken 
 voice repeated his last ejaculation 
 
 "I am lost !" 
 
 The gardener peered in all directions with an air of 
 guilt ; but there was no face at any of the windows, and 
 he seemed to breathe again. 
 
 " Pick up a heart," he said, "you fool! The worst of 
 it is done. Why could you not say at first there was 
 enough for two? Two!" he repeated, "aye, and for 
 two hundred ! But come away from here, where we 
 may be observed; and, for the love of wisdom, straighten 
 out your hat and brush your clothes. You could not 
 travel two steps the figure of fun you look just now." 
 
 While Harry mechanically adopted these suggestions, 
 the gardener, getting upon his knees, hastily drew to- 
 gether the scattered jewels and returned them to the 
 bandbox. The touch of these costly crystals sent a 
 shiver of emotion through the man's stalwart frame; 
 his face was transfigured, and his eyes shone with con- 
 cupiscence; indeed it seemed as if he luxuriously pro- 
 longed his occupation, and dallied with every diamond 
 that he handled. At last, however, it was done; and, 
 concealing the bandbox in his smock, the gardener beck- 
 oned to Harry and preceded him in the direction of the 
 house. 
 
 Near the door they were met by a young man evi- 
 dently in holy orders, dark and strikingly handsome, 
 with a look of mingled weakness and resolution, and 
 
 127 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 very neatly attired after the manner of his caste. The 
 gardener was plainly annoyed by this encounter; but he 
 put as good a face upon it as he could, and accosted the 
 clergyman with an obsequious and smiling air. 
 
 "Here is a fine afternoon, Mr. Rolles," said he: "a 
 fine afternoon, as sure as God made it ! And here is a 
 young friend of mine who had a fancy to look at my 
 roses. I took the liberty to bring him in, for I thought 
 none of the lodgers would object." 
 
 "Speaking for myself," replied the Reverend Mr. 
 Rolles, "I do not; nor do I fancy any of the rest of us 
 would be more difficult upon so small a matter. The 
 garden is your own, Mr. Raeburn ; we must none of us 
 forget that ; and because you give us liberty to walk 
 there we should be indeed ungracious if we so far pre- 
 sumed upon your politeness as to interfere with the con- 
 venience of your friends. But, on second thoughts," 
 he added, "I believe that this gentleman and I have 
 met before. Mr. Hartley, I think. I regret to observe 
 that you have had a fall." 
 
 And he offered his hand. 
 
 A sort of maiden dignity and a desire to delay as long 
 as possible the necessity for explanation moved Harry 
 to refuse this chance of help, and to deny his own iden- 
 tity. He chose the tender mercies of the gardener, who 
 was at least unknown to him, rather than the curiosity 
 and perhaps the doubts of an acquaintance. 
 
 " I fear there is some mistake," said he. "My name 
 is Thomlinson and I am a friend of Mr. Raeburn's." 
 
 " Indeed ? " said Mr. Rolles. "The likeness is amaz- 
 ing." 
 
 Mr. Raeburn, who had been upon thorns throughout 
 128 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 this colloquy, now felt it high time to bring it to a 
 period. 
 
 " I wish you a pleasant saunter, sir," said he. 
 
 And with that he dragged Harry after him into the 
 house, and then into a chamber on the garden. His 
 first care was to draw down the blind, for Mr. Rolles 
 still remained where they had left him, in an attitude of 
 perplexity and thought. Then he emptied tne broken 
 bandbox on the table, and stood before the treasure, 
 thus fully displayed, with an expression of rapturous 
 greed, and rubbing his hands upon his thighs. For 
 Harry, the sight of the man's face under the influence 
 of this base emotion, added another pang to those he 
 was already suffering. It seemed incredible that, from 
 his life of pure and delicate trifling, he should be plunged 
 in a breath among sordid and criminal relations. He 
 could reproach his conscience with no sinful act; and 
 yet he was now suffering the punishment of sin in its 
 most acute and cruel forms — the dread of punishment, 
 the suspicions of the good, and the companionship and 
 contamination of vile and brutal natures. He felt he 
 could lay his life down with gladness to escape from 
 the room and the society of Mr. Raeburn. 
 
 "And now," said the latter, after he had separated 
 the jewels into two nearly equal parts, and drawn one 
 of them nearer to himself; " and now," said he, "every- 
 thing in this world has to be paid for, and some things 
 sweetly. You must know, Mr. Hartley, if such be your 
 name, that I am a man of a very easy temper, and good 
 nature has been my stumbling block from first to last. 
 I could pocket the whole of these pretty pebbles, if I 
 chose, and I should like to see you dare to say a word; 
 
 129 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 but I think I must have taken a liking to you; for I de- 
 clare I have not the heart to shave you so close. So, do 
 you see, in pure kind feeling, I propose that we divide; 
 and these," indicating the two heaps, "are the propor- 
 tions that seem to me just and friendly. Do you see 
 any objection, Mr. Hartley, may I ask? I am not the 
 man to stick upon a brooch." 
 
 M But, sir," cried Harry, "what you propose to me is 
 impossible. The jewels are not mine, and I cannot share 
 what is another's, no matter with whom, nor in what 
 proportions." 
 
 " They are not yours, are they not ? " returned Rae- 
 burn. " And you could not share them with anybody, 
 could n't you ? Well now, that is what I call a pity ; for 
 here I am obliged to take you to the station. The police 
 — think of that," he continued; "think of the disgrace 
 for your respectable parents ; think, " he went on, taking 
 Harry by the wrist ; ' ' think of the Colonies and the Day 
 of Judgment." 
 
 ' ' I cannot help it, " wailed Harry. " It is not my fault. 
 You will not come with me to Eaton Place." 
 
 "No," replied the man, "I will not, that is certain. 
 And I mean to divide these playthings with you here." 
 
 And so saying he applied a sudden and severe torsion 
 to the lad's wrist. 
 
 Harry could not suppress a scream, and the perspira- 
 tion burst forth upon his face. Perhaps pain and terror 
 quickened his intelligence, but certainly at that moment 
 the whole business flashed across him in another light; 
 and he saw that there was nothing for it but to accede 
 to the ruffian's proposal, and trust to find the house and 
 force him to disgorge, under more favourable circum- 
 
 130 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 stances, and when he himself was clear from all sus- 
 picion. 
 
 "I agree," he said. 
 
 ' ' There is a lamb, " sneered the gardener. ' i I thought 
 you would recognise your interests at last. This band- 
 box," he continued, "I shall burn with my rubbish; 
 it is a thing that curious folk might recognise; and as 
 for you, scrape up your gayeties and put them in your 
 pocket." 
 
 Harry proceeded to obey, Raeburn watching him, 
 and every now and again, his greed rekindled by some 
 bright scintillation, abstracting another jewel from the 
 secretary's share, and adding it to his own. 
 
 When this was finished, both proceeded to the front 
 door, which Raeburn cautiously opened to observe the 
 street. This was apparently clear of passengers ; for he 
 suddenly seized Harry by the nape of the neck, and 
 holding his face downward so that he could see nothing 
 but the roadway and the doorsteps of the houses, pushed 
 him violently before him down one street and up another 
 for the space of perhaps a minute and a half. Harry had 
 counted three corners before the bully relaxed his grasp, 
 and crying, "Now be off with you! " sent the lad fly- 
 ing head foremost with a well-directed and athletic kick. 
 
 When Harry gathered himself up, half-stunned and 
 bleeding freely at the nose, Mr. Raeburn had entirely 
 disappeared. For the first time, anger and pain so com- 
 pletely overcame the lad's spirits that he burst into a fit 
 of tears and remained sobbing in the middle of the road. 
 
 After he had thus somewhat assuaged his emotion, he 
 began to look about him and read the names of the 
 streets at whose intersection he had been deserted by 
 
 131 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 the gardener. He was still in an unfrequented portion 
 of West London, among villas and large gardens ; bu' 
 he could see some persons at a window who had evi 
 dently witnessed his misfortune; and almost immedi- 
 ately after a servant came running from the house anc 
 offered him a glass of water. At the same time, a dirtv 
 rogue, who had been slouching somewhere in the 
 neighbourhood, drew near him from the other side. 
 
 " Poor fellow," said the maid, " how vilely you have 
 been handled, to be sure! Why, your knees are all cut, 
 and your clothes ruined ! Do you know the wretch who 
 used you so?" 
 
 "That 1 do! " cried Harry, who was somewhat re- 
 freshed by the water; "and shall run him home in spite 
 of his precautions. He shall pay dearly for this day's 
 work, I promise you." 
 
 " You had better come into the house and have your- 
 self washed and brushed," continued the maid. "My 
 mistress will make you welcome, never fear. And see, 
 I will pick up your hat. Why, love of mercy ! " she 
 screamed, "if you have not dropped diamonds all over 
 the street!" 
 
 Such was the case ; a good half of what remained to 
 him after the depredations of Mr. Raeburn, had been 
 shaken out of his pockets by the summersault, and once 
 more lay glittering on the ground. He blessed his for- 
 tune that the maid had been so quick of eye; "there is 
 nothing so bad but it might be worse," thought he; and 
 the recovery of these few seemed to him almost as great 
 an affair as the loss of all the rest. But, alas! as he 
 stooped to pick up his treasures the loiterer made a rapid 
 onslaught, overset both Harry and the maid with a 
 
 132 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 movement of his arms, swept up a double handful of 
 the diamonds, and made off along the street with an 
 amazing swiftness. 
 
 Harry, as soon as he could get upon his feet, gave 
 chase to the miscreant with many cries, but the latter 
 was too fleet of foot, and probably too well acquainted 
 with the locality ; for turn where the pursuer would, he 
 could find no traces of the fugitive. 
 
 In the deepest despondency Harry revisited the scene 
 of his mishap, where the maid, who was still waiting, 
 very honestly returned him his hat and the remainder 
 of the fallen diamonds. Harry thanked her from his 
 heart, and being now in no humour for economy, made 
 his way to the nearest cabstand and set off for Eaton 
 Place by coach. 
 
 The house, on his arrival, seemed in some confusion, 
 as if a catastrophe had happened in the family ; and the 
 servants clustered together in the hall, and were unable, 
 or perhaps not altogether anxious, to suppress their 
 merriment at the tatterdemalion figure of the secretary. 
 He passed them with as good an air of dignity as he 
 could assume, and made directly for the boudoir. When 
 he opened the door an astonishing and even menacing 
 spectacle presented itself to his eyes; for he beheld the 
 General and his wife and, of all people, Charlie Pendra- 
 gon, closeted together and speaking with earnestness 
 and gravity on some important subject. Harry saw at 
 once that there was little left for him to explain — plenary 
 confession had plainly been made to the General of the 
 intended fraud upon his pocket, and the unfortunate 
 miscarriage of the scheme; and they had all made com- 
 mon cause against a common danger. 
 
 i}3 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "Thank heaven!" cried Lady Vandeleur, "here he 
 is! The bandbox, Harry — the bandbox!" 
 
 But Harry stood before them silent and downcast. 
 
 "Speak! " she cried. "Speak! Where is the band- 
 box ? " 
 
 And the men, with threatening gestures, repeated the 
 demand. 
 
 Harry drew a handful of jewels from his pocket. He 
 was very white. 
 
 "This is all that remains," said he. "I declare be- 
 fore Heaven it was through no fault of mine; and if you 
 will have patience, although some are lost, I am afraid, 
 for ever, others, I am sure, may be still recovered! " 
 
 "Alas!" cried Lady Vandeleur, "all our diamonds 
 are gone, and I owe ninety thousand pounds for dress! " 
 
 " Madam," said the General, "you might have paved 
 the gutter with your own trash ; you might have made 
 debts to fifty times the sum you mention ; you might 
 have robbed me of my mother's coronet and rings ; and 
 Nature might have still so far prevailed that I could have 
 forgiven you at last. But, madam, you have taken the 
 Rajah's Diamond — the Eye of Light, as the Orientals 
 poetically termed it — the Pride of Kashgar! You have 
 taken from me the Rajah's Diamond," he cried, raising 
 his hands, "and all, madam, all is at an end between us ! " 
 
 " Believe me, General Vandeleur," she replied, "that 
 is one of the most agreeable speeches that ever I heard 
 from your lips ; and since we are to be ruined I could 
 almost welcome the change, if it delivers me from you. 
 You have told me often enough that I married you for 
 your money ; let me tell you now that I always bitterly 
 repented the bargain ; and if you were still marriage- 
 
 »34 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 able, and had a diamond bigger than your head, I should 
 counsel even my maid against a union so uninviting and 
 disastrous. As for you, Mr. Hartley," she continued, 
 turning on the secretary, "you have sufficiently exhib- 
 ited your valuable qualities in this house ; we are now 
 persuaded that you equally lack manhood, sense and 
 self-respect ; and I can see only one course open for you 
 — to withdraw instanter, and, if possible, return no 
 more. For your wages you may rank as a creditor in 
 my late husband's bankruptcy." 
 
 Harry had scarcely comprehended this insulting ad- 
 dress before the General was down upon him with an- 
 other. 
 
 "And in the mean time," said that personage, "fol- 
 low me before the nearest Inspector of Police. You may 
 impose upon a simple-minded soldier, sir, but the eye 
 of the law will read your disreputable secret. If I must 
 spend my old age in poverty through your underhand 
 intriguing with my wife, I mean at least that you shall 
 not remain unpunished for your pains; and God, sir, 
 will deny me a very considerable satisfaction if you do 
 not pick oakum from now until your dying day." 
 
 With that the General dragged Harry from the apart- 
 ment, and hurried him downstairs and along the street 
 to the police-station of the district. 
 
 Here (says my Arabian author) ended this deplorable 
 business of the bandbox. But to the unfortunate Secre- 
 tary the whole affair was the beginning of a new and man- 
 lier life. The police were easily persuaded of his inno- 
 cence; and, after he had given what help he could in the 
 subsequent investigations, he was even complimented by 
 one of the chiefs of the deteclive department on the pro- 
 
 135 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 bity and simplicity of his behaviour. Several persons in- 
 terested themselves in one so unfortunate; and soon after 
 he inherited a sum of money from a maiden aunt in 
 Worcestershire. With this he married Prudence, and 
 set sail for Bendigo, or according to another account, for 
 Trincomalee, exceedingly content, and with the best of 
 prospers. 
 
 • # 
 
STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN IN HOLY ORDERS 
 
 The Reverend Mr. Simon Rolles had distinguished 
 himself in the Moral Sciences, and was more than usually 
 proficient in the study of Divinity. His essay u On the 
 Christian Doctrine of the Social Obligations " obtained 
 for him at the moment of its production, a certain celeb- 
 rity in the University of Oxford ; and it was understood 
 in clerical and learned circles that young Mr. Rolles had 
 in contemplation a considerable work — a folio, it was 
 said — on the authority of the Fathers of the Church. 
 These attainments, these ambitious designs, however, 
 were far from helping him to any preferment ; and still 
 he was in quest of his first curacy when a chance ram- 
 ble in that part of London, the peaceful and rich aspect 
 of the garden, a desire for solitude and study, and the 
 cheapness of the lodging, led him to take up his abode 
 with Mr. Raeburn, the nurseryman of Stockdove Lane. 
 
 It was his habit every afternoon, after he had worked 
 seven or eight hours on St. Ambrose or St. Chrysostom, 
 to walk for awhile in meditation among the roses. And 
 this was usually one of the most productive moments 
 of his day. But even a sincere appetite for thought, and 
 the excitement of grave problems awaiting solution, are 
 not always sufficient to preserve the mind of the phil- 
 
 »37 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 osopher against the petty shocks and contacts of the 
 world. And when Mr. Rolles found General Vande- 
 leur's secretary, ragged and bleeding, in the company 
 of the landlord ; when he saw both change colour and 
 seek to avoid his questions ; and, above all, when the 
 former denied his own identity with the most unmoved 
 assurance, he speedily forgot the Saints and Fathers in 
 the vulgar interest of curiosity. 
 
 "I cannot be mistaken," thought he. "That is Mr. 
 Hartley beyond a doubt. How comes he in such a 
 pickle ? why does he deny his name ? and what can be 
 his business with that black-looking ruffian, my land- 
 lord?" 
 
 As he was thus reflecting, another peculiar circum- 
 stance attracted his attention. The face of Mr. Raeburn 
 appeared at a low window next the door; and, as chance 
 directed, his eyes met those of Mr. Rolles. The nur- 
 seryman seemed disconcerted, and even alarmed; and 
 immediately after the blind of the apartment was pulled 
 sharply down. 
 
 "This may all be very well," reflected Mr. Rolles; 
 "it may be all excellently well; but I confess freely that 
 I do not think so. Suspicious, underhand, untruthful, 
 fearful of observation — I believe upon my soul," he 
 thought, "the pair are plotting some disgraceful action." 
 
 The detective that there is in all of us awoke and be- 
 came clamant in the bosom of Mr. Rolles ; and with a 
 brisk, eager step, that bore no resemblance to his usual 
 gait, he proceeded to make the circuit of the garden. 
 When he came to the scene of Harry's escalade, his eye 
 was at once arrested by a broken rosebud and marks 
 of trampling on the mould. He looked up, and saw 
 
 138 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 scratches on the brick, and a rag of trouser floating from 
 a broken bottle. This, then, was the mode of entrance 
 chosen by Mr. Raeburn's particular friend ! It was thus 
 that General Vandeleur's secretary came to admire a flow- 
 er-garden ! The young clergyman whistled softly to him- 
 self as he stooped to examine the ground. He could 
 make out where Harry had landed from his perilous 
 leap; he recognised the flat foot of Mr. Raeburn where 
 it had sunk deeply in the soil as he pulled up the secre- 
 tary by the collar; nay, on a closer inspection, he seemed 
 to distinguish the marks of groping fingers, as though 
 something had been spilt abroad and eagerly collected. 
 
 "Upon my word," he thought, "the thing grows 
 vastly interesting." 
 
 And just then he caught sight of something almost en- 
 tirely buried in the earth. In an instant he had disin- 
 terred a dainty morocco case, ornamented and clasped 
 in gilt. It had been trodden heavily under foot, and thus 
 escaped the hurried search of Mr. Raeburn. Mr. Rolles 
 opened the case, and drew a long breath of almost hor- 
 rified astonishment ; for there lay before him, in a cradle 
 of green velvet, a diamond of prodigious magnitude and 
 of the finest water. It was of the bigness of a duck's 
 egg; beautifully shaped, and without a flaw; and as the 
 sun shone upon it, it gave forth a lustre like that of elec- 
 tricity, and seemed to burn in his hand with a thousand 
 internal fires. 
 
 He knew little of precious stones; but the Rajah's 
 Diamond was a wonder that explained itself; a village 
 child, if he found it, would run screaming for the near- 
 est cottage; and a savage would prostrate himself in 
 adoration before so imposing a fetish. The beauty of 
 
 '39 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 the stone flattered the young clergyman's eyes; the 
 thought of its incalculable value overpowered his intel- 
 lect. He knew that what he held in his hand was worth 
 more than many years' purchase of an archiepiscopal see; 
 that it would build cathedrals more stately than Ely or 
 Cologne ; that he who possessed it was set free for ever 
 from the primal curse, and might follow his own incli- 
 nations without concern or hurry, without let or hin- 
 drance. And as he suddenly turned it, the rays leaped 
 forth again with renewed brilliancy, and seemed to pierce 
 his very heart. 
 
 Decisive actions are often taken in a moment and 
 without any conscious deliverance from the rational 
 parts of man. So it was now with Mr. Rolles. He 
 glanced hurriedly round, beheld, like Mr. Raeburn be- 
 fore him, nothing but the sunlit flower-garden, the tall 
 tree-tops, and the house with blinded windows ; and in 
 a trice he had shut the case, thrust it into his pocket, and 
 was hastening to his study with the speed of guilt. 
 
 The Reverend Simon Rolles had stolen the Rajah's 
 Diamond. 
 
 Early in the afternoon the police arrived with Harry 
 Hartley. The nurseryman, who was beside himself 
 with terror, readily discovered his hoard ; and the jewels 
 were identified and inventoried in the presence of the 
 secretary. As for Mr. Rolles, he showed himself in a 
 most obliging temper, communicated what he knew 
 with freedom, and professed regret that he could do no 
 more to help the officers in their duty. 
 
 " Still," he added, " I suppose your business is nearly 
 at an end." 
 
 " By no means," replied the man from Scotland Yard; 
 140 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 and he narrated the second robbery of which Harry had 
 been the immediate victim, and gave the young clergy- 
 man a description of the more important jewels that 
 were still not found, dilating particularly on the Rajah's 
 Diamond. 
 
 "It must be worth a fortune," observed Mr. Rolles. 
 
 "Ten fortunes — twenty fortunes," cried the officer. 
 
 "The more it is worth," remarked Simon, shrewdly, 
 ''the more difficult it must be to sell. Such a thing has 
 a physiognomy not to be disguised, and I should fancy 
 a man might as easily negotiate St. Paul's Cathedral." 
 
 "O, truly!" said the officer; "but if the thief be a 
 man of any intelligence, he will cut it into three or four, 
 and there will be still enough to make him rich." 
 
 "Thank you," said the clergyman. "You cannot 
 imagine how much your conversation interests me." 
 
 Whereupon the functionary admitted that they knew 
 many strange things in his profession, and immediately 
 after took his leave. 
 
 Mr. Rolles regained his apartment. It seemed smaller 
 and barer than usual ; the materials for his great work 
 had never presented so little interest; and he looked 
 upon his library with the eye of scorn. He took down, 
 volume by volume, several Fathers of the Church, and 
 glanced them through ; but they contained nothing to 
 his purpose. 
 
 "These old gentlemen," thought he, "are no doubt 
 very valuable writers, but they seem to me conspicu- 
 ously ignorant of life. Here am I, with learning enough 
 to be a Bishop, and I positively do not know how to 
 dispose of a stolen diamond. I glean a hint from a 
 common policeman, and, with all my folios, I cannot so 
 
 141 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 much as put it into execution. This inspires me with 
 very low ideas of University training." 
 
 Herewith he kicked over his book-shelf and, putting 
 on his hat, hastened from the house to the club of 
 which he was a member. In such a place of mundane 
 resort he hoped to find some man of good counsel and 
 a shrewd experience in life. In the reading-room he 
 saw many of the country clergy and an Archdeacon ; 
 there were three journalists and a writer upon the 
 Higher Metaphysic, playing pool; and at dinner only 
 the raff of ordinary club frequenters showed their com- 
 mon-place and obliterated countenances. None of these, 
 thought Mr. Rolles, would know more on dangerous 
 topics than he knew himself ; none of them were fit to 
 give him guidance in his present strait. At length, in 
 the smoking-room, up many weary stairs, he hit upon 
 a gentleman of somewhat portly build and dressed with 
 conspicuous plainness. He was smoking a cigar and 
 reading the Fortnightly Review; his face was singularly 
 free from all sign of preoccupation or fatigue ; and there 
 was something in his air which seemed to invite confi- 
 dence and to expect submission. The more the young 
 clergyman scrutinized his features, the more he was con- 
 vinced that he had fallen on one capable of giving per- 
 tinent advice. 
 
 " Sir," said he, " you will excuse my abruptness ; but 
 I judge you from your appearance to be preeminently a 
 man of the world." 
 
 "I have indeed considerable claims to that distinc- 
 tion," replied the stranger, laying aside his magazine 
 with a look of mingled amusement and surprise. 
 
 "I, sir," continued the Curate, "am a recluse, a stu- 
 142 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 dent, a creature of ink-bottles and patristic folios. A 
 recent event has brought my folly vividly before my 
 eyes, and I desire to instruct myself in life. By life," 
 he added, " I do not mean Thackeray's novels; but the 
 crimes and secret possibilities of our society, and the 
 principles of wise conduct among exceptional events. 
 I am a patient reader; can the thing be learnt in 
 books ? " 
 
 " You put me in a difficulty," said the stranger. " I 
 confess I have no great notion of the use of books, except 
 to amuse a railway journey ; although, I believe, there 
 are some very exact treatises on astronomy, the use of 
 the globes, agriculture, and the art of making paper- 
 flowers. Upon the less apparent provinces of life I fear 
 you will find nothing truthful. Yet stay," he added, 
 M have you read Gaboriau ?" 
 
 Mr. Rolles admitted he had never even heard the 
 name. 
 
 " You may gather some notions from Gaboriau," re- 
 sumed the stranger. ''He is at least suggestive; and 
 as he is an author much studied by Prince Bismarck, you 
 will, at the worst, lose your time in good society." 
 
 "Sir," said the Curate, "I am infinitely obliged by 
 your politeness." 
 
 "You have already more than repaid me," returned 
 the other. 
 
 " How ? " inquired Simon. 
 
 "By the novelty of your request," replied the gentle- 
 man; and with a polite gesture, as though to ask per- 
 mission, he resumed the study of the Fortnightly Review. 
 
 On his way home Mr. Rolles purchased a work on 
 precious stones and several of Gaboriau's novels. These 
 
 143 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 last he eagerly skimmed until an advanced hour in the 
 morning; but although they introduced him to many 
 new ideas, he could nowhere discover what to do with 
 a stolen diamond. He was annoyed, moreover, to find 
 the information scattered amongst romantic story-tell- 
 ing, instead of soberly set forth after the manner of a 
 manual ; and he concluded that, even if the writer had 
 thought much upon these subjects, he was totally lack- 
 ing in educational method. For the character and at- 
 tainments of Lecoq, however, he was unable to contain 
 his admiration. 
 
 "He was truly a great creature," ruminated Mr. 
 Rolles. " He knew the world as I know Paley's Evi- 
 dences. There was nothing that he could not carry 
 to a termination with his own hand, and against the 
 largest odds. Heavens!" he broke out suddenly, "is 
 not this the lesson ? Must I not learn to cut diamonds 
 for myself?" 
 
 It seemed to him as if he had sailed at once out of his 
 perplexities; he remembered that he knew a jeweller, 
 one B. Macculloch, in Edinburgh, who would be glad 
 to put him in the way of the necessary training; a few 
 months, perhaps a few years, of sordid toil, and he 
 would be sufficiently expert to divide and sufficiently 
 cunning to dispose with advantage of the Rajah's Dia- 
 mond. That done, he might return to pursue his re- 
 searches at leisure, a wealthy and luxurious student, 
 envied and respected by all. Golden visions attended 
 him through his slumber, and he awoke refreshed and 
 light-hearted with the morning sun. 
 
 Mr. Raeburn's house was on that day to be closed by 
 the police, and this afforded a pretext for his departure. 
 
 144 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 He cheerfully prepared his baggage, transported it to 
 King's Cross, where he left it in the cloak-room, and 
 returned to the club to while away the afternoon and 
 dine. 
 
 "If you dine here to-day, Rolles," observed an ac- 
 quaintance, "you may see two of the most remarkable 
 men in England — Prince Florizel of Bohemia, and old 
 Jack Vandeleur." 
 
 " I have heard of the Prince, " replied Mr. Rolles ; ' ' and 
 General Vandeleur I have even met in society." 
 
 "General Vandeleur is an ass!" returned the other. 
 "This is his brother John, the biggest adventurer, the 
 best judge of precious stones, and one of the most acute 
 diplomatists in Europe. Have you never heard of his 
 duel with the Due de Val d'Orge ? of his exploits and 
 atrocities when he was Dictator of Paraguay ? of his dex- 
 terity in recovering Sir Samuel Levy's jewelry ? nor of 
 his services in the Indian Mutiny — services by which 
 the Government profited, but which the Government 
 dared not recognise ? You make me wonder what we 
 mean by fame, or even by infamy ; for Jack Vandeleur 
 has prodigious claims to both. Run down stairs," he 
 continued, "take a table near them, and keep your ears 
 open. You will hear some strange talk, or I am much 
 misled." 
 
 " But how shall I know them ? " inquired the clergy- 
 man. 
 
 "Know them!" cried his friend; "why, the Prince 
 is the finest gentleman in Europe, the only living crea- 
 ture who looks like a king; and as for Jack Vandeleur, 
 if you can imagine Ulysses at seventy years of age, and 
 with a sabre-cut across his face, you have the man be* 
 
 M5 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 fore you! Know them, indeed! Why, you could pick 
 either of them out of a Derby day ! " 
 
 Rolles eagerly hurried to the dining-room. It was as 
 his friend had asserted ; it was impossible to mistake the 
 pair in question. Old John Vandeleur was of remark- 
 able force of body, and obviously broken to the most 
 difficult exercises. He had neither the carriage of a 
 swordsman, nor of a sailor, nor yet of one much inured 
 to the saddle; but something made up of all these, and 
 the result and expression of many different habits and 
 dexterities. His features were bold and aquiline; his 
 expression arrogant and predatory; his whole appear- 
 ance that of a swift, violent, unscrupulous man of ac- 
 tion ; and his copious white hair and the deep sabre-cut 
 that traversed his nose and temple added a note of sav- 
 agery to a head already remarkable and menacing in 
 itself. 
 
 In his companion, the Prince of Bohemia, Mr. Rolles 
 was astonished to recognise the gentleman who had 
 recommended him the study of Gaboriau. Doubtless 
 Prince Florizel, who rarely visited the club, of which, 
 as of most others, he was an honorary member, had 
 been waiting for John Vandeleur when Simon accosted 
 him on the previous evening. 
 
 The other diners had modestly retired into the angles 
 of the room, and left the distinguished pair in a certain 
 isolation, but the young clergyman was unrestrained by 
 any sentiment of awe, and, marching up, took his place 
 at the nearest table. 
 
 The conversation was, indeed, new to the student's 
 ears. The ex-Dictator of Paraguay stated many extraor- 
 dinary experiences in different quarters of the world; 
 
 146 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 and the Prince supplied a commentary which, to a man 
 of thought, was even more interesting than the events 
 themselves. Two forms of experience were thus brought 
 together and laid before the young clergyman ; and he 
 did not know which to admire the most — the desper- 
 ate actor or the skilled expert in life; the man who spoke 
 boldly of his own deeds and perils, or the man who 
 seemed, like a god, to know all things and to have suf- 
 fered nothing. The manner of each aptly fitted with his 
 part in the discourse. The Dictator indulged in brutal- 
 ities alike of speech and gesture ; his hand opened and 
 shut and fell roughly on the table ; and his voice was 
 loud and heady. The Prince, on the other hand, seemed 
 the very type of urbane docility and quiet; the least 
 movement, the least inflection, had with him a weightier 
 significance than all the shouts and pantomime of his 
 companion; and if ever, as must frequently have been 
 the case, he described some experience personal to him- 
 self, it was so aptly dissimulated as to pass unnoticed 
 with the rest. 
 
 At length the talk wandered on to the late robberies 
 and the Rajah's Diamond. 
 
 " That diamond would be better in the sea," observed 
 Prince Florizel. 
 
 "As a Vandeleur," replied the Dictator, "your High- 
 ness may imagine my dissent." 
 
 " I speak on grounds of public policy," pursued the 
 Prince. "Jewels so valuable should be reserved for the 
 collection of a Prince or the treasury of a great nation. 
 To hand them about among the common sort of men is 
 to set a price on Virtue's head ; and if the Rajah of Kash- 
 gar — a Prince, I understand, of great enlightenment — 
 
 147 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 desired vengeance upon the men of Europe, he could 
 hardly have gone more efficaciously about his purpose 
 than by sending us this apple of discord. There is no 
 honesty too robust for such a trial. I myself, who have 
 many duties and privileges of my own — I myself, Mr. 
 Vandeleur, could scarcely handle the intoxicating crystal 
 and be safe. As for you, who are a diamond hunter by 
 taste and profession, I do not believe there is a crime in 
 the calendar you would not perpetrate — I do not believe 
 you have a friend in the world whom you would not 
 eagerly betray — I do not know if you have a family, but 
 if you have I declare you would sacrifice your children — 
 and all this for what ? Not to be richer, nor to have 
 more comforts or more respect, but simply to call this 
 diamond yours for a year or two until you die, and now 
 and again to open a safe and look at it as one looks at a 
 picture. " 
 
 ' 'It is true," replied Vandeleur. "I have hunted 
 most things, from men and women down to mosquitos ; 
 I have dived for coral ; I have followed both whales and 
 tigers ; and a diamond is the tallest quarry of the lot. 
 It has beauty and worth ; it alone can properly reward 
 the ardours of the chase. At this moment, as your High- 
 ness may fancy, I am upon the trail ; I have a sure knack, 
 a wide experience; I know every stone of price in my 
 brother's collection as a shepherd knows his sheep ; and 
 I wish I may die if I do not recover them every one! " 
 
 " Sir Thomas Vandeleur will have great cause to thank 
 you," said the Prince. 
 
 " I am not so sure," returned the Dictator, with a laugh. 
 ' ' One of the Vandeleurs will. Thomas or John — Petef 
 or Paul — we are all apostles." 
 
 148 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 "I did not catch your observation," said the Prince 
 with some disgust. 
 
 And at the same moment the waiter informed Mr. 
 Vandeleur that his cab was at the door. 
 
 Mr. Rolles glanced at the clock, and saw that he also 
 must be moving; and the coincidence struck him sharply 
 and unpleasantly, for he desired to see no more of the 
 diamond hunter. 
 
 Much study having somewhat shaken the young 
 man's nerves, he was in the habit of travelling in the 
 most luxurious manner; and for the present journey he 
 had taken a sofa in the sleeping carriage. 
 
 "You will be very comfortable," said the guard; 
 "there is no one in your compartment, and only one 
 old gentleman in the other end." 
 
 It was close upon the hour, and the tickets were being 
 examined, when Mr. Rolles beheld this other fellow-pas- 
 senger ushered by several porters into his place; cer- 
 tainly, there was not another man in the world whom 
 he would not have preferred — for it was old John Van- 
 deleur, the ex-Dictator. 
 
 The sleeping carriages on the Great Northern line 
 were divided into three compartments — one at each 
 end for travelers, and one in the centre fitted with the 
 conveniences of a lavatory. A door running in grooves 
 separated each of the others from the lavatory ; but as 
 there were neither bolts nor locks, the whole suite was 
 practically common ground. 
 
 When Mr. Rolles had studied his position, he perceived 
 himself without defence. If the Dictator chose to pay 
 him a visit in the course of the night, he could do no less 
 than receive it ; he had no means of fortification, and lay 
 
 149 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 open to attack as if he had been lying in the fields. This 
 situation caused him some agony of mind. He recalled 
 with alarm the boastful statements of his fellow-traveller 
 across the dining-table, and the professions of immo- 
 rality which he had heard him offering to the disgusted 
 Prince. Some persons, he remembered to have read, 
 are endowed with a singular quickness of perception 
 for the neighbourhood of precious metals ; through 
 walls and even at considerable distances they are said 
 to divine the presence of gold. Might it not be the 
 same with diamonds ? he wondered ; and if so, who 
 was more likely to enjoy this transcendental sense than 
 the person who gloried in the appellation of the Diamond 
 Hunter ? From such a man he recognised that he had 
 everything to fear, and longed eagerly for the arrival of 
 the day. 
 
 In the meantime he neglected no precaution, concealed 
 his diamond in the most internal pocket of a system of 
 great-coats, and devoutly recommended himself to the 
 care of Providence. 
 
 The train pursued its usual even and rapid course; 
 and nearly half the journey had been accomplished be- 
 fore slumber began to triumph over uneasiness in the 
 breast of Mr. Rolles. For some time he resisted its in- 
 fluence; but it grew upon him more and more, and a 
 little before York he was fain to stretch himself upon one 
 of the couches and suffer his eyes to close; and almost 
 at the same instant consciousness deserted the young 
 clergyman. His last thought was of his terrifying 
 neighbour. 
 
 When he awoke it was still pitch dark, except for the 
 flicker of the veiled lamp ; and the continual roaring and 
 
 150 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 oscillation testified to the unrelaxed velocity of the train. 
 He sat upright in a panic, for he had been tormented by 
 the most uneasy dreams ; it was some seconds before he 
 recovered his self-command; and even after he had re- 
 sumed a recumbent attitude sleep continued to flee him, 
 and he lay awake with his brain in a state of violent 
 agitation, and his eyes fixed upon the lavatory door. 
 He pulled his clerical felt hat over his brow still farther 
 to shield him from the light; and he adopted the usual 
 expedients, such as counting a thousand or banishing 
 thought, by which experienced invalids are accustomed 
 to woo the approach of sleep. In the case of Mr. Rolles 
 they proved one and all vain; he was harassed by a 
 dozen different anxieties — the old man in the other end 
 of the carriage haunted him in the most alarming shapes; 
 and in whatever attitude he chose to lie the diamond in 
 his pocket occasioned him a sensible physical distress. 
 It burned, it was too large, it bruised his ribs ; and there 
 were infinitesimal fractions of a second in which he had 
 half a mind to throw it from the window. 
 
 While he was thus lying, a strange incident took 
 place. 
 
 The sliding-door into the lavatory stirred a little, and 
 then a little more, and was finally drawn back for the 
 space of about twenty inches. The lamp in the lavatory 
 was unshaded, and in the lighted aperture thus disclosed, 
 Mr. Rolles could see the head of Mr. Vandeleur in an at- 
 titude of deep attention. He was conscious that the 
 gaze of the Dictator rested intently on his own face; and 
 the instinct of self-preservation moved him to hold his 
 breath, to refrain from the least movement, and keeping 
 his eyes lowered, to watch his visitor from underneath 
 
 151 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 the lashes. After about a moment, the head was with- 
 drawn and the door of the lavatory replaced. 
 
 The Dictator had not come to attack, but to observe ; 
 his action was not that of a man threatening another, 
 but that of a man who was himself threatened ; if Mr. 
 Rolles was afraid of him, it appeared that he, in his turn, 
 was not quite easy on the score of Mr. Rolles. He had 
 come, it would seem, to make sure that his only fellow- 
 traveller was asleep ; and, when satisfied on that point, 
 he had at once withdrawn. 
 
 The clergyman leaped to his feet. The extreme of 
 terror had given place to a reaction of foolhardy daring. 
 He reflected that the rattle of the flying train concealed 
 all other sounds, and determined, come what might, to 
 return the visit he had just received. Divesting himself 
 of his cloak, which might have interfered with the free- 
 dom of his action, he entered the lavatory and paused 
 to listen. As he had expected, there was nothing to be 
 heard above the roar of the train's progress ; and laying 
 his hand on the door at the farther side, he proceeded 
 cautiously to draw it back for about six inches. Then 
 he stopped, and could not contain an ejaculation of sur- 
 prise. 
 
 John Vandeleur wore a fur travelling cap with lappets 
 to protect his ears ; and this may have combined with 
 the sound of the express to keep him in ignorance of 
 what was going forward. It is certain, at least, that he 
 did not raise his head, but continued without interrup- 
 tion to pursue his strange employment. Between his 
 feet stood an open hat-box; in one hand he held the 
 sleeve of his sealskin great-coat ; in the other a formi- 
 dable knife, with which he had just split up the lining of 
 
 152 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 the sleeve. Mr. Rolles had read of persons carrying 
 money in a belt; and as he had no acquaintance with 
 any but cricket-belts, he had never been able rightly to 
 conceive how this was managed. But here was a 
 stranger thing before his eyes; for John Vandeleur, it 
 appeared, carried diamonds in the lining of his sleeve ; 
 and even as the young clergyman gazed, he could see 
 one glittering brilliant drop after another into the hat-box. 
 
 He stood riveted to the spot, following this unusual 
 business with his eyes. The diamonds were, for the 
 most part, small, and not easily distinguishable either in 
 shape or fire. Suddenly the Dictator appeared to find a 
 difficulty; he employed both hands and stooped over 
 his task; but it was not until after considerable ma- 
 noeuvring that he extricated a large tiara of diamonds 
 from the lining, and held it up for some seconds' exami- 
 nation before he placed it with the others in the hat-box. 
 The tiara was a ray of light to Mr. Rolles ; he immediately 
 recognised it for a part of the treasure stolen from Harry 
 Hartley by the loiterer. There was no room for mistake ; 
 it was exactly as the detective had described it; there 
 were the ruby stars, with a great emerald in the centre ; 
 there were the interlacing crescents ; and there were the 
 pear-shaped pendants, each a single stone, which gave a 
 special value to Lady Vandeleur's tiara. 
 
 Mr. Rolles was hugely relieved. The Dictator was 
 as deeply in the affair as he was; neither could tell 
 tales upon the other. In the first glow of happiness, the 
 clergyman suffered a deep sigh to escape him; and as 
 his bosom had become choked and his throat dry during 
 his previous suspense, the sigh was followed by a cough. 
 
 Mr. Vandeleur looked up; his face contracted with 
 153 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 the blackest and most deadly passion ; his eyes opened 
 widely, and his under jaw dropped in an astonishment 
 that was upon the brink of fury. By an instinctive move- 
 ment he had covered the hat-box with the coat. For half 
 a minute the two men stared upon each other in silence. 
 It was not a long interval, but it sufficed for Mr. Rolles ; 
 he was one of those who think swiftly on dangerous oc- 
 casions ; he decided on a course of action of a singularly 
 daring nature ; and although he felt he was setting his life 
 upon the hazard, he was the first to break silence. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," said he. 
 
 The Dictator shivered slightly, and when he spoke 
 his voice was hoarse. 
 
 " What do you want here ?" he asked. 
 
 "I take a particular interest in diamonds," replied 
 Mr. Rolles, with an air of perfect self-possession. ' ' Two 
 connoisseurs should be acquainted. I have here a trifle of 
 my own which may perhaps serve for an introduction." 
 
 And so saying, he quietly took the case from his 
 pocket, showed the Rajah's Diamond to the Dictator 
 for an instant, and replace d it in security. 
 
 "It was once your brother's," he added. 
 
 John Vandeleur continued to regard him with a look 
 of almost painful amazement; but he neither spoke nor 
 moved. 
 
 " I was pleased to observe," resumed the young man, 
 " that we have gems from the same collection." 
 
 The Dictator's surprise overpowered him. 
 
 ' * I beg your pardon, " he said ; ' ' I begin to perceive that 
 I am growing old ! I am positively not prepared for little in- 
 cidents like this. But set my mind at rest upon one point : 
 do my eyes deceive me, or are you indeed a parson ? " 
 
 »54 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 " I am in holy orders," answered Mr. Rolles. 
 
 " Well," cried the other, " as long as I live I will never 
 hear another word against the cloth! " 
 
 " You flatter me," said Mr. Rolles. 
 
 • ' Pardon me, " replied Vandeleur ; ■ ■ pardon me, young 
 man. You are no coward, but it still remains to be 
 seen whether you are not the worst of fools. Per- 
 haps," he continued, leaning back upon his seat, "per- 
 haps you would oblige me with a few particulars. I 
 must suppose you had some object in the stupefying im- 
 pudence of your proceedings, and I confess I have a 
 curiosity to know it." 
 
 " It is very simple," replied the clergyman; " it pro- 
 ceeds from my great inexperience of life." 
 
 " I shall be glad to be persuaded," answered Vande- 
 leur. 
 
 Whereupon Mr. Rolles told him the whole story of 
 his connection with the Rajah's Diamond, from the time 
 he found it in Raeburn's garden, to the time when he 
 left London in the Flying Scotchman. He added a brief 
 sketch of his feelings and thoughts during the journey, 
 and concluded in these words : — 
 
 "When I recognised the tiara I knew we were in the 
 same attitude towards Society, and this inspired me with 
 a hope, which I trust you will say was not ill-founded, 
 that you might become in some sense my partner in the 
 difficulties and, of course, the profits of my situation. 
 To one of your special knowledge and obviously great 
 experience the negotiation of the diamond would give 
 but little trouble, while to me it was a matter of impos- 
 sibility. On the other part, I judged that I might lose 
 nearly as much by cutting the diamond, and that not 
 
 155 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 improbably with an unskilful hand, as might enable me 
 to pay you with proper generosity for your assistance. 
 The subject was a delicate one to broach ; and perhaps 
 1 fell short in delicacy. But I must ask you to remem- 
 ber that for me the situation was a new one, and I was 
 entirely unacquainted with the etiquette in use. I be- 
 lieve without vanity that I could have married or bap- 
 tised you in a very acceptable manner; but every man 
 has his own aptitudes, and this sort of bargain was not 
 among the list of my accomplishments." 
 
 "\ do not wish to flatter you," replied Vandeleur; 
 "but upon my word you have an unusual disposition 
 for a life of crime. You have more accomplishments 
 than you imagine; and though I have encountered a 
 number of rogues in different quarters of the world, I 
 never met with one so unblushing as yourself. Cheer 
 up, Mr. Rolles, you are in the right profession at last! 
 As for helping you, you may command me as you will. 
 I have only a day's business in Edinburgh on a little 
 matter for my brother ; and once that is concluded., I re- 
 turn to Paris, where I usually reside. If you please, you 
 may accompany me thither. And before the end of a 
 month I believe I shall have brought your little business 
 to a satisfactory conclusion." 
 
 (At this point, contrary to all the canons of his art, out- 
 Arabian Author breaks off the Story of the Young 
 Man in Holy Orders. / regret and condemn such 
 practices ; but I must follow my original, and refer the 
 reader for the conclusion of Mr. Rolles' s adventures to 
 the next number of the cycle, the Story of the House 
 with the Green Blinds.) 
 
 156 
 
THE STORY OF THE HOUSE WITH THE 
 GREEN BLINDS 
 
 Francis Scrymgeour, a clerk in the Bank of Scotland 
 at Edinburgh, had attained the age of twenty-five in a 
 sphere of quiet, creditable, and domestic life. His mother 
 died while he was young; but his father, a man of sense 
 and probity, had given him an excellent education at 
 school, and brought him up at home to orderly and frugal 
 habits. Francis, who was of a docile and affectionate 
 disposition, profited by these advantages with zeal, and 
 devoted himself heart and soul to his employment. A 
 walk upon Saturday afternoon, an occasional dinner with 
 members of his family, and a yearly tour of a fortnight 
 in the Highlands or even on the continent of Europe, 
 were his principal distractions, and he grew rapidly in 
 favour with his superiors, and enjoyed already a salary 
 of nearly two hundred pounds a year, with the prospect 
 of an ultimate advance to almost double that amount. 
 Few young men were more contented, few more willing 
 and laborious than Francis Scrymgeour. Sometimes at 
 night, when he had read the daily paper, he would play 
 upon the flute to amuse his father, for whose qualities 
 he entertained a great respect. 
 
 One day he received a note from a well-known firm 
 of Writers to the Signet, requesting the favour of an im- 
 
 »57 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 mediate interview with him. The latter was marked 
 " Private and Confidential," and had been addressed to 
 him at the bank, instead of at home — two unusual cir- 
 cumstances which made him obey the summons with 
 the more alacrity. The senior member of the firm, a 
 man of much austerity of manner, made him gravely 
 welcome, requested him to take a seat, and proceeded 
 to explain the matter in hand in the picked expressions 
 of a veteran man of business. A person, who must re- 
 main nameless, but of whom the lawyer had every 
 reason to think well — a man, in short, of some station 
 in the country — desired to make Francis an annual al- 
 lowance of five hundred pounds. The capital was to be 
 placed under the control ot the lawyer's firm and two 
 trustees who must also remain anonymous. There were 
 conditions annexed to this liberality, but he was of 
 opinion that his new client would find nothing either 
 excessive or dishonourable in the terms ; and he repeated 
 these two words with emphasis, as though he desired 
 to commit himself to nothing more. 
 
 Francis asked their nature. 
 
 "The conditions," said the Writer to the Signet, "are, 
 as I have twice remarked, neither dishonourable nor ex- 
 cessive. At the same time I cannot conceal from you 
 that they are most unusual. Indeed, the whole case is 
 very much out of our way; and I should certainly have 
 refused it had it not been for the reputation of the gen- 
 tleman who entrusted it to my care, and, let me add, Mr. 
 Scrymgeour, the interest I have been led to take in your- 
 self by many complimentary and, I have no doubt, well- 
 deserved reports." 
 
 Francis entreated him to be more specific. 
 158 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 " You cannot picture my uneasiness as to these con- 
 ditions," he said. 
 
 "They are two," replied the lawyer, " only two; and 
 the sum, as you will remember, is five hundred a year, 
 — and unburdened, I forgot to add, unburdened." 
 
 And the lawyer raised his eyebrows at him with 
 solemn gusto. 
 
 "The first," he resumed, "is of remarkable simpli- 
 city. You must be in Paris by the afternoon of Sunday, 
 the 1 5th ; there you will find, at the box-office of the 
 Comedie Francaise, a ticket for admission taken in your 
 name and waiting you. You are requested to sit out 
 the whole performance in the seat provided, and that 
 is all." 
 
 " I should certainly have preferred a week-day," re- 
 plied Francis. " But, after all, once in a way " 
 
 "And in Paris, my dear sir," added the lawyer, 
 soothingly. "I believe I am something of a precisian 
 myself, but upon such a consideration, and in Paris, I 
 should not hesitate an instant." 
 
 And the pair laughed pleasantly together. 
 
 "The other is of more importance," continued the 
 Writer to the Signet. " It regards your marriage. My 
 client, taking a deep interest in your welfare, desires to 
 advise you absolutely in the choice of a wife. Abso- 
 lutely, you understand," he repeated. 
 
 "Let us be more explicit, if you please," returned 
 Francis. "Am I to marry anyone, maid or widow, 
 black or white, whom this invisible person chooses to 
 propose ? " 
 
 1 ' I was to assure you that suitability of age and posi- 
 tion should be a principle with your benefactor," replied 
 
 159 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 the lawyer. "As to race, I confess the difficulty had 
 not occurred to me, and I failed to inquire ; but if you 
 like I will make a note of it at once, and advise you on 
 the earliest opportunity." 
 
 "Sir," said Francis, "it remains to be seen whether 
 this whole affair is not a most unworthy fraud. The 
 circumstances are inexplicable — I had almost said in- 
 credible; and until I see a little more daylight, and some 
 plausible motive, I confess I should be very sorry to put 
 a hand to the transaction. I appeal to you in this diffi- 
 culty for information. I must learn what is at the bot- 
 tom of it all. If you do not know, cannot guess, or are 
 not at liberty to tell me, I shall take my hat and go back 
 to my bank as I came." 
 
 " I do not know," answered the lawyer, "but I have 
 an excellent guess. Your father, and no one else, is at 
 the root of this apparently unnatural business." 
 
 "My father!" cried Francis, in extreme disdain. 
 "Worthy man, I know every thought of his mind, 
 every penny of his fortune!" 
 
 " You misinterpret my words," said the lawyer. •' I 
 do not refer to Mr. Scrymgeour, senior; for he is not 
 your father. When he and his wife came to Edinburgh, 
 you were already nearly one year old, and you had not 
 yet been three months in their care. The secret has 
 been well kept ; but such is the fact, Your father is un- 
 known, and I say again that I believe him to be the origi- 
 nal of the offers I am charged at present to transmit to 
 you." 
 
 It would be impossible to exaggerate the astonishment 
 of Francis Scrymgeour at this unexpected information. 
 He pleaded this confusion to the lawyer. 
 
 160 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 "Sir," said he, "after a piece of news so startling, 
 you must grant me some hours for thought. You shall 
 know this evening what conclusion I have reached." 
 
 The lawyer commended his prudence; and Francis, 
 excusing himself upon some pretext at the bank, took a 
 long walk into the country, and fully considered the dif- 
 ferent steps and aspects of the case. A pleasant sense 
 of his own importance rendered him the more deliberate ; 
 but the issue was from the first not doubtful. His whole 
 carnal man leaned irresistibly towards the five hundred 
 a year, and the strange conditions with which it was 
 burdened; he discovered in his heart an invincible re- 
 pugnance to the name of Scrymgeour, which he had 
 never hitherto disliked ; he began to despise the narrow 
 and unromantic interest of his former life ; and when once 
 his mind was fairly made up, he walked with a new 
 feeling of strength and freedom, and nourished himself 
 with the gayest anticipations. 
 
 He said but a word to the lawyer, and immediately 
 received a check for two quarters' arrears ; for the allow- 
 ance was ante-dated from the first of January. With 
 this in his pocket, he walked home. The flat in Scot- 
 land Street looked mean in his eyes ; his nostrils, for the 
 first time, rebelled against the odour of broth ; and he 
 observed little defects of manner in his adoptive father 
 which filled him with surprise and almost with disgust. 
 The next day, he determined, should see him on his way 
 to Paris. 
 
 In that city, where he arrived long before the appointed 
 date, he put up at a modest hotel frequented by English 
 and Italians, and devoted himself to improvement in the 
 French tongue ; for this purpose he had a master twice 
 
 161 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 a week, entered into conversation with loiterers in the 
 Champs Elysees, and nightly frequented the theatre. 
 He had his whole toilette fashionably renewed; and was 
 shaved and had his hair dressed every morning by a 
 barber in a neighbouring street. This gave him some- 
 thing of a foreign air, and seemed to wipe off the re- 
 proach of his past years. 
 
 At length, on the Saturday afternoon, he betook him- 
 self to the box-office of the theatre in the Rue Richelieu. 
 No sooner had he mentioned his name than the clerk 
 produced the order in an envelope of which the address 
 was scarcely dry. 
 
 M It has been taken this moment," said the clerk. 
 
 1 ' Indeed ! " said Francis. ' ' May I ask what the gentle- 
 man was like ? " 
 
 "Your friend is easy to describe," replied the official. 
 "He is old and strong and beautiful, with white hair 
 and a sabre-cut across his face. You cannot fail to 
 recognise so marked a person." 
 
 "No, indeed," returned Francis; "and I thank you 
 for your politeness." 
 
 " He cannot yet be far distant," added the clerk. "If 
 you make haste you might still overtake him." 
 
 Francis did not wait to be twice told; he ran pre- 
 cipitately from the theatre into the middle of the street 
 and looked in all directions. More than one white-haired 
 man was within sight; but though he overtook each of 
 them in succession, all wanted the sabre-cut. For nearly 
 half-an-hour he tried one street after another in the 
 neighbourhood, until at length, recognising the folly of 
 continued search, he started on a walk to compose his 
 agitated feelings; for this proximity of an encounter 
 
 162 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 with him to whom he could not doubt he owed the day- 
 had profoundly moved the young man. 
 
 It chanced that his way lay up the Rue Drouot and 
 thence up the Rue des Martyrs; and chance, in this 
 case, served him better than all the forethought in the 
 world. For on the outer boulevard he saw two men 
 in earnest colloquy upon a seat. One was dark, young, 
 and handsome, secularly dressed, but with an indelible 
 clerical stamp; the other answered in every particular 
 to the description given him by the clerk. Francis felt 
 his heart beat high in his bosom ; he knew he was now 
 about to hear the voice of his father ; and making a 
 wide circuit, he noiselessly took his place behind the 
 couple in question, who were too much interested in 
 their talk to observe much else. As Francis had ex- 
 pected, the conversation was conducted in the English 
 language. 
 
 "Your suspicions begin to annoy me, Rolles," said 
 the older man. "I tell you I am doing my utmost; a 
 man cannot lay his hand on millions in a moment. 
 Have I not taken you up, a mere stranger, out of pure 
 good will ? Are you not living largely on my bounty ? " 
 
 "On your advances, Mr. Vandeleur," corrected the 
 other. 
 
 "Advances, if you choose; and interest instead of 
 good-will, if you prefer it, " returned Vandeleur, angrily. 
 " I am not here to pick expressions. Business is busi- 
 ness; and your business, let me remind you, is too 
 muddy for such airs. Trust me, or leave me alone and 
 find someone else; but let us have an end, for God's 
 sake, of your jeremiads." 
 
 "I am beginning to learn the world," replied the 
 163 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 other, ' ' and I see that you have every reason to play 
 me false, and not one to deal honestly. I am not here 
 to pick expressions either; you wish the diamond for 
 yourself: you know you do — you dare not deny it. 
 Have you not already forged my name, and searched 
 my lodging in my absence ? I understand the cause 
 of your delays; you are lying in wait; you are the 
 diamond-hunter, forsooth; and sooner or later, by fair 
 means or foul, you'll lay your hands upon it. I tell 
 you, it must stop ; push me much further and I promise 
 you a surprise. " 
 
 "It does not become you to use threats," returned 
 Vandeleur. "Two can play at that. My brother is 
 here in Paris; the police are on the alert; and if you 
 persist in wearying me with your caterwauling, I will 
 arrange a little astonishment for you, Mr. Rolles. But 
 mine shall be once and for all. Do you understand, or 
 would you prefer me to tell it you in Hebrew ? There 
 is an end to all things, and you have come to the end 
 of my patience. Tuesday, at seven ; not a day, not an 
 hour sooner, not the least part of a second, if it were to 
 save your life. And if you do not choose to wait, you 
 may go to the bottomless pit for me, and welcome." 
 
 And so saying, the Dictator arose from the bench, and 
 marched off in the direction of Montmartre, shaking his 
 head and swinging his cane with a most furious air; 
 while his companion remained where he was, in an at- 
 titude of great dejection. 
 
 Francis was at the pitch of surprise and horror; his 
 sentiments had been shocked to the last degree; the 
 hopeful tenderness with which he had taken his place 
 upon the bench was transformed into repulsion and de- 
 
 164 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 spair; old Mr. Scrymgeour, he reflected, was a far more 
 kindly and creditable parent than this dangerous and 
 violent intriguer; but he retained his presence of mind, 
 and suffered not a moment to elapse before he was on 
 the trail of the Dictator. 
 
 That gentleman's fury carried him forward at a brisk 
 pace, and he was so completely occupied in his angry 
 thoughts that he never so much as cast a look behind 
 him till he reached his own door. 
 
 His house stood high up in the Rue Lepic, command- 
 ing a view of all Paris and enjoying the pure air of the 
 heights. It was two stories high, with green blinds and 
 shutters ; and all the windows looking on the street were 
 hermetically closed. Tops of trees showed over the high 
 garden wall, and the wall was protected by cbevaux-de- 
 frise. The Dictator paused a moment while he searched 
 his pocket for a key; and then, opening a gate, disap- 
 peared within the enclosure. 
 
 Francis looked about him; the neighbourhood was 
 very lonely ; the house isolated in its garden. It seemed as 
 if his observation must here come to an abrupt end. A 
 second glance, however, showed him a tall house next 
 door presenting a gable to the garden, and in this gable 
 a single window. He passed to the front and saw a 
 ticket offering unfurnished lodgings by the month ; and, 
 on inquiry, the room which commanded the Dictator's 
 garden proved to be one of those to let. Francis did 
 not hesitate a moment; he took the room, paid an ad- 
 vance upon the rent, and returned to his hotel to seek 
 his baggage. 
 
 The old man with the sabre-cut might or might not 
 be his father; he might or he might not be on the true 
 
 165 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 scent; but he was certainly on the edge of an exciting 
 mystery, and he promised himself that he would not 
 relax his observation until he had got to the bottom of 
 the secret. 
 
 From the window of his new apartment Francis Scrym- 
 geour commanded a complete view into the garden of 
 the house with the green blinds. Immediately below 
 him a very comely chestnut with wide boughs shel- 
 tered a pair of rustic tables where people might dine in 
 the height of summer. On all sides save one a dense 
 vegetation concealed the soil : but there, between the 
 tables and the house, he saw a patch of gravel walk 
 leading from the veranda to the garden-gate. Studying 
 the places from between the boards of the Venetian 
 shutter, which he durst not open for fear of attracting 
 attention, Francis observed but little to indicate the 
 manners of the inhabitants, and that little argued no 
 more than a close reserve and a taste for solitude. The 
 garden was conventual, the house had the air of a prison. 
 The green blinds were all drawn down upon the out- 
 side; the door into the veranda was closed; the gar- 
 den, as far as he could see it, was left entirely to itself 
 in the evening sunshine. A modest curl of smoke from 
 a single chimney alone testified to the presence of living 
 people. 
 
 In order that he might not be entirely idle, and to 
 give a certain colour to his way of life, Francis had pur- 
 chased Euclid's Geometry in French, which he set him- 
 self to copy and translate on the top of his portmanteau 
 and seated on the floor against the wall; for he was 
 equally without chair or table. From time to time he 
 would rise and cast a glance into the enclosure of the 
 
 166 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 house with the green blinds ; but the windows remained 
 obstinately closed and the garden empty. 
 
 Only late in the evening did anything occur to reward 
 his continued attention. Between nine and ten the 
 sharp tinkle of a bell aroused him from a fit of dozing; 
 and he sprang to his observatory in time to hear an im- 
 portant noise of locks being opened and bars removed, 
 and to see Mr. Vandeleur, carrying a lantern and clothed 
 in a flowing robe of black velvet with a skull-cap to 
 match, issue from under the veranda and proceed lei- 
 surely toward the garden-gate. The sound of bolts and 
 bars was then repeated ; and a moment after Francis per- 
 ceived the Dictator escorting into the house, in the mo- 
 bile light of the lantern, an individual of the lowest and 
 most despicable appearance. 
 
 Half-an-hour afterward the visitor was reconducted 
 to the street; and Mr. Vandeleur, setting his light upon 
 one of the rustic tables, finished a cigar with great de- 
 liberation under the foliage of the chestnut. Francis, 
 peering through a clear space among the leaves, was 
 able to follow his gestures as he threw away the ash or 
 enjoyed a copious inhalation ; and beheld a cloud upon 
 the old man's brow and a forcible action of the lips, 
 which testified to some deep and probably painful train 
 of thought. The cigar was already almost at an end, 
 when the voice of a young girl was heard suddenly cry- 
 ing the hour from the interior of the house. 
 
 "In a moment," replied John Vandeleur. 
 
 And, with that, he threw away the stump and, taking 
 up the lantern, sailed away under the veranda for the 
 night. As soon as the door was closed, absolute dark- 
 ness fell upon the house; Francis might try his eyesight 
 
 167 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 as much as he pleased, he could not detect so much as 
 a single chink of light below a blind ; and he concluded, 
 with great good sense, that the bed chambers were all 
 upon the other side. 
 
 Early the next morning (for he was early awake after 
 an uncomfortable night upon the floor), he saw cause to 
 adopt a different explanation. The blinds rose, one after 
 another, by means of a spring in the interior, and dis- 
 closed steel shutters such as we see on the front of 
 shops ; these in their turn were rolled up by a similar 
 contrivance; and for the space of about an hour, the 
 chambers were left open to the morning air. At the 
 end of that time Mr. Vandeleur, with his own hand, 
 once more closed the shutters and replaced the blinds 
 from within. 
 
 While Francis was still marvelling at these precautions, 
 the door opened and a young girl came forth to look 
 about her in the garden. It was not two minutes before 
 she re-entered the house, but even in that short time he 
 saw enough to convince him that she possessed the 
 most unusual attractions. His curiosity was not only 
 highly excited by this incident, but his spirits were im- 
 proved to a still more notable degree. The alarming 
 manners and more than equivocal life of his father ceased 
 from that moment to prey upon his mind; from that 
 moment he embraced his new family with ardour; and 
 whether the young lady should prove his sister or his 
 wife, he felt convinced she was an angel in disguise. 
 So much was this the case that he was seized with 
 a sudden horror when he reflected how little he really 
 knew, and how possible it was that he followed the 
 wrong person when he followed Mr. Vandeleur. 
 
 1 68 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 The porter, whom he consulted, could afford him little 
 information; but, such as it was, it had a mysterious and 
 questionable sound. The person next door was an Eng- 
 lish gentleman of extraordinary wealth, and proportion- 
 ately eccentric in his tastes and habits. He possessed 
 great collections, which he kept in the house beside him ; 
 and it was to protect these that he had fitted the place 
 with steel shutters, elaborate fastenings and chevaux-de- 
 frise along the garden wall. He lived much alone, 
 in spite of some strange visitors with whom, it seemed, 
 he had business to transact; and there was no one 
 in the house except Mademoiselle and an old woman 
 servant. 
 
 "Is Mademoiselle his daughter?" inquired Francis. 
 
 ' ■ Certainly, " replied the porter. ' ' Mademoiselle is the 
 daughter of the house ; and strange it is to see how she 
 is made to work. For all his riches, it is she who goes 
 to market ; and every day in the week you may see her 
 going by with a basket on her arm." 
 
 " And the collections ? " asked the other. 
 
 "Sir," said the man, "they are immensely valuable. 
 More I cannot tell you. Since M. de Vandeleur's arrival 
 no one in the quarter has so much as passed the door." 
 
 "Suppose not," returned Francis, "you must surely 
 have some notion what these famous galleries contain. 
 Is it pictures, silks, statues, jewels, or what ? " 
 
 "My faith, sir," said the fellow with a shrug, "it 
 might be carrots, and still I could not tell you. How 
 should I know ? The house is kept like a garrison, as 
 you perceive." 
 
 And then as Francis was returning disappointed to his 
 room, the porter called him back. 
 
 169 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " I have just remembered, sir," said he. " M. de Van- 
 deleur has been in all parts of the world, and I once heard 
 the old woman declare that he had brought many dia- 
 monds back with him. If that be the truth, there must 
 be a fine show behind those shutters." 
 
 By an early hour on Sunday Francis was in his place 
 at the theatre. The seat which had been taken for him 
 was only two or three numbers from the left-hand side, 
 and directly opposite one of the lower boxes. As the 
 seat had been specially chosen there was doubtless some- 
 thing to be learned from its position; and he judged by 
 an instinct that the box upon his right was, in some way 
 or other, to be connected with the drama in which he 
 ignorantly played a part. Indeed it was so situated that 
 its occupants could safely observe him from beginning 
 to end of the piece, if they were so minded; while, 
 profiting by the depth, they could screen themselves 
 sufficiently well from any counter-examination on his 
 side. He promised himself not to leave it for a moment 
 out of sight; and whilst he scanned the rest of the the- 
 atre, or made a show of attending to the business of 
 the stage, he always kept a corner of an eye upon the 
 empty box. 
 
 The second act had been some time in progress, and 
 was even drawing towards a close, when the door 
 opened and two persons entered and ensconced them- 
 selves in the darkest of the shade. Francis could hardly 
 control his emotion. It was Mr. Vandeleur and his 
 daughter. The blood came and went in his arteries and 
 veins with stunning activity; his ears sang; his head 
 turned. He dared not look lest he should awake sus- 
 picion ; his play-bill, which he kept reading from end to 
 
 170 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 end, and over and over again, turned from white to red 
 before his eyes; and when he cast a glance upon the 
 stage it seemed incalculably far away, and he found the 
 voices and gestures of the actors to the last degree im- 
 pertinent and absurd. 
 
 From time to time he risked a momentary look in the 
 direction which principally arrested him ; and once at 
 least he felt certain that his eyes encountered those of 
 the young girl. A shock passed over his body, and he 
 saw all the colours of the rainbow. What would he not 
 have given to overhear what passed between the Van- 
 deleurs ? What would he not have given for the cou- 
 rage to take up his opera-glass and steadily inspect their 
 attitude and expression ? There, for aught he knew, his 
 whole life was being decided — and he not able to in- 
 terfere, not able even to follow the debate, but con- 
 demned to sit and suffer where he was, in impotent 
 anxiety. 
 
 At last the act came to an end. The curtain fell, and 
 the people around him began to leave their places for the 
 interval. It was only natural that he should follow their 
 example ; and if he did so, it was not only natural but 
 necessary that he should pass immediately in front of 
 the box in question. Summoning all his courage, but 
 keeping his eyes lowered, Francis drew near the spot. 
 His progress was slow, for the old gentleman before him 
 moved with incredible deliberation, wheezing as he went. 
 What was he to do ? Should he address the Vandeleurs 
 by name as he went by ? Should he take the flower 
 from his button-hole and throw it into the box ? Should 
 he raise his face and direct one long and affectionate look 
 upon the lady who was either his sister or his betrothed ? 
 
 171 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 As he found himself thus struggling among so many 
 alternatives, he had a vision of his old equable existence 
 in the bank, and was assailed by a thought of regret for 
 the past. 
 
 By this time he had arrived directly opposite the box ; 
 and although he was still undetermined what to do or 
 whether to do anything, he turned his head and lifted 
 his eyes. No sooner had he done so than he uttered a 
 cry of disappointment and remained rooted to the spot. 
 
 The box was empty. During his slow advance Mr. 
 Vandeleur and his daughter had quietly slipped away. 
 
 A polite person in his rear reminded him that he was 
 stopping the path ; and he moved on again with mechani- 
 cal footsteps, and suffered the crowd to carry him unre- 
 sisting out of the theatre. Once in the street, the pressure 
 ceasing, he came to a halt, and the cool night air speedily 
 restored him to the possession of his faculties. He was 
 surprised to find that his head ached violently, and that 
 he remembered not one word of the two acts which 
 he had witnessed. As the excitement wore away, it 
 was succeeded by an overweening appetite for sleep, and 
 he hailed a cab and drove to his lodging in a state of 
 extreme exhaustion and some disgust of life. 
 
 Next morning he lay in wait for Miss Vandeleur on 
 her road to market, and by eight o'clock beheld her step- 
 ping down a lane. She was simply, and even poorly, 
 attired ; but in the carriage of her head and body there 
 was something flexible and noble that would have lent 
 distinction to the meanest toilette. Even her basket, so 
 aptly did she carry it, became her like an ornament. It 
 seemed to Francis, as he slipped into a doorway, that 
 the sunshine followed and the shadows fled before her 
 
 172 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 as she walked ; and he was conscious, for the first time* 
 of a bird singing in a cage above the lane. 
 
 He suffered her to pass the doorway, and then, com- 
 ing forth once more, addressed her by name from be- 
 hind. 
 
 " Miss Vandeleur," said he. 
 
 She turned and, when she saw who he was, became 
 deadly pale. 
 
 " Pardon me," he continued; " Heaven knows I had 
 no will to startle you ; and, indeed, there should be no- 
 thing startling in the presence of one who wishes you 
 so well as I do. And, believe me, I am acting rather 
 from necessity than choice. We have many things in 
 common, and I am sadly in the dark. There is much 
 that I should be doing, and my hands are tied. I do not 
 know even what to feel, nor who are my friends and 
 enemies." 
 
 She found her voice with an effort. 
 
 " I do not know who you are," she said. 
 
 "Ah, yes! Miss Vandeleur, you do," returned Fran^ 
 cis; "better than I do myself. Indeed it is on that, 
 above all, that I seek light. Tell me what you know," 
 he pleaded. "Tell me who I am, who you are, and 
 how our destinies are intermixed. Give me a little help 
 with my life, Miss Vandeleur — only a word or two to 
 guide me, only the name of my father, if you will — and 
 I shall be grateful and content." 
 
 "I will not attempt to deceive you," she replied. " I 
 know who you are, but I am not at liberty to say." 
 
 "Tell me, at least, that you have forgiven my pre- 
 sumption, and I shall wait with all the patience I have," 
 he said. " If I am not to know, I must do without It 
 
 ■73 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 is cruel, but I can bear more upon a push. Only do not 
 add to my troubles the thought that I have made an 
 enemy of you." 
 
 " You did only what was natural," she said, "and I 
 have nothing to forgive you. Farewell." 
 
 6 ' Is it to be farewell? " he asked. 
 
 "Nay, that I do not know myself," she answered. 
 " Farewell for the present, if you like." 
 
 And with these words she was gone. 
 
 Francis returned to his lodging in a state of consider- 
 able commotion of mind. He made the most trifling 
 progress with his Euclid for that forenoon, and was more 
 often at the window than at his improvised writing- 
 table. But beyond seeing the return of Miss Vandeleur, 
 and the meeting between her and her father, who was 
 smoking a Trichinopoli cigar in the veranda, there was 
 nothing notable in the neighbourhood of the house with 
 the green blinds before the time of the mid-day meal. 
 The young man hastily allayed his appetite in a neigh- 
 bouring restaurant, and returned with the speed of un- 
 allayed curiosity to the house in the Rue Lepic. A 
 mounted servant was leading a saddle-horse to and fro 
 before the garden wall ; and the porter of Francis's lodg- 
 ing was smoking a pipe against the door-post, absorbed 
 in contemplation of the livery and the steeds. 
 
 " Look! " he cried to the young man, "what fine cat- 
 tle! what an elegant costume! They belong to the 
 brother of M. de Vandeleur, who is now within upon 
 a visit. He is a great man, a general, in your country ; 
 and you doubtless know him well by reputation." 
 
 "I confess," returned Francis, "that I have never 
 heard of General Vandeleur before. We have many of- 
 
 '74 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 fleers of that grade, and my pursuits have been exclu- 
 sively civil." 
 
 "It is he," replied the porter, "who lost the great 
 diamond of the Indies. Of that at least you must have 
 read often in the papers." 
 
 As soon as Francis could disengage himself from the 
 porter he ran up stairs and hurried to the window. Im- 
 mediately below the clear space in the chestnut leaves, 
 the two gentlemen were seated in conversation over a 
 cigar. The General, a red, military-looking man, offered 
 some traces of a family resemblance to his brother; he 
 had something of the same features, something, although 
 very little, of the same free and powerful carriage ; but 
 he was older, smaller, and more common in air ; his 
 likeness was that of a caricature, and he seemed alto- 
 gether a poor and debile being by the side of the Dic- 
 tator. 
 
 They spoke in tones so low, leaning over the table 
 with every appearance of interest, that Francis could 
 catch no more than a word or two on an occasion. For 
 as little as he heard, he was convinced that the conver- 
 sation turned upon himself and his own career; several 
 times the name of Scrymgeour reached his ear, for it was 
 easy to distinguish, and still more frequently he fancied 
 he could distinguish the name Francis. 
 
 At length the General, as if in a hot anger, broke forth 
 into several violent exclamations. 
 
 "Francis Vandeleur! " he cried, accentuating the last 
 word. " Francis Vandeleur, I tell you." 
 
 The Dictator made a movement of his whole body, 
 half affirmative, half contemptuous, but his answer was 
 inaudible to the young man. 
 
 «75 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Was he the Francis Vandeleur in question ? he won- 
 dered. Were they discussing the name under which he 
 was to be married ? Or was the whole affair a dream and 
 a delusion of his own conceit and self-absorption ? 
 
 After another interval of inaudible talk, dissension 
 seemed again to arise between the couple underneath 
 the chestnut, and again the General raised his voice 
 angrily so as to be audible to Francis. 
 
 "My wife ? " he cried. " I have done with my wife 
 for good. I will not hear her name. I am sick of her 
 very name." 
 
 And he swore aloud and beat the table with his fist. 
 
 The Dictator appeared, by his gestures, to pacify him 
 after a paternal fashion ; and a little after he conducted 
 him to the garden-gate. The pair shook hands affec- 
 tionately enough ; but as soon as the door had closed 
 behind his visitor, John Vandeleur fell into a fit of laugh- 
 ter which sounded unkindly and even devilish in the 
 ears of Francis Scrymgeour. 
 
 So another day had passed, and little more learnt. But 
 the young man remembered that the morrow was Tues- 
 day, and promised himself some curious discoveries ; all 
 might be well, or all might be ill ; he was sure, at least, 
 to glean some curious information, and, perhaps, by good 
 luck, get at the heart of the mystery which surrounded 
 his father and his family. 
 
 As the hour of the dinner drew near many preparations 
 were made in the garden of the house with the green 
 blinds. The table which was partly visible to Francis 
 through the chestnut leaves was destined to serve as a 
 sideboard, and carried relays of plates and the materials 
 for salad: the other, which was almost entirely con- 
 
 176 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 cealed, had been set apart for the diners, and Francis 
 could catch glimpses of white cloth and silver plate. 
 
 Mr. Rolles arrived, punctual to the minute ; he looked 
 like a man upon his guard, and spoke low and sparingly. 
 The Dictator, on the other hand, appeared to enjoy an 
 unusual flow of spirits ; his laugh, which was youthful 
 and pleasant to hear, sounded frequently from the gar- 
 den ; by the modulation and the changes of his voice it 
 was obvious that he told many droll stories and imitated 
 the accents of a variety of different nations ; and before 
 he and the young clergyman had finished their vermouth 
 all feeling of distrust was at an end, and they were talk- 
 ing together like a pair of school companions. 
 
 At length Miss Vandeleur made her appearance, car- 
 rying the soup-tureen. Mr. Rolles ran to offer her assis- 
 tance, which she laughingly refused ; and there was an 
 interchange of pleasantries among the trio which seemed 
 to have reference to this primitive manner of waiting by 
 one of the company. 
 
 "One is more at one's ease," Mr. Vandeleur was 
 heard to declare. 
 
 Next moment they were all three in their places, and 
 Francis could see as little as he could hear of what passed ; 
 but the dinner seemed to go merrily; there was a per- 
 petual babble of voices and sound of knives and forks 
 below the chestnut; and Francis, who had no more than 
 a roll to gnaw, was affected with envy by the comfort 
 and deliberation of the meal. The party lingered over 
 one dish after another, and then over a delicate dessert, 
 with a bottle of old wine carefully uncorked by the hand 
 of the Dictator himself. As it began to grow dark a 
 lamp was set upon the table and a couple of candles on 
 
 177 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 the sideboard ; for the night was perfectly pure, starry, 
 and windless. Light overflowed besides from the door 
 and window in the veranda, so that the garden was fairly 
 illuminated and the leaves twinkled in the darkness. 
 
 For perhaps the tenth time Miss Vandeleur entered 
 the house; and on this occasion she returned with the 
 coffee tray, which she placed upon the sideboard. At 
 the same moment her father rose from his seat. 
 
 "The coffee is my province," Francis heard him say. 
 
 And next moment he saw his supposed father stand- 
 ing by the sideboard in the light of the candles. 
 
 Talking over his shoulder all the while, Mr. Vande- 
 leur poured out two cups of the brown stimulant, and 
 then, by a rapid act of prestidigitation, emptied the con- 
 tents of a tiny phial into the smaller one of the two. 
 The thing was so swiftly done that even Francis, who 
 looked straight into his face, had hardly time to perceive 
 the movement before it was completed. And next in- 
 stant, and still laughing, Mr. Vandeleur had turned 
 again towards the table with a cup in either hand. 
 
 " We have done with this," said he, "we may expect 
 our famous Hebrew." 
 
 It would be impossible to depict the confusion and 
 distress of Francis Scrymgeour. He saw foul play going 
 forward before his eyes, and he felt bound to interfere, 
 but knew not how. It might be a mere pleasantry, and 
 then how should he look if he were to offer an unneces- 
 sary warning ? Or again, if it were serious, the crimi- 
 nal might be his own father, and then how should he 
 not lament if he were to bring ruin on the author of his 
 days ? For the first time he became conscious of his own 
 position as a spy. To wait inactive at such a juncture 
 
 178 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 and with such a conflict of sentiments in his bosom was 
 to suffer the most acute torture ; he clung to the bars 
 of the shutters, his heart beat fast and with irregularity, 
 and he felt a strong sweat break forth upon his body. 
 
 Several minutes passed. 
 
 He seemed to perceive the conversation die away and 
 grow less and less in vivacity and volume; but still no 
 sign of any alarming or even notable event. 
 
 Suddenly the ring of a glass breaking was followed 
 by a faint and dull sound, as of a person who should 
 have fallen forward with his head upon the table. At the 
 same moment a piercing scream rose from the garden. 
 
 ' ' What have you done ? " cried Miss Vandeleur. ' ' He 
 is dead! " 
 
 The Dictator replied in a violent whisper, so strong 
 and sibilant that every word was audible to the watcher 
 at the window. 
 
 "Silence!" said Mr. Vandeleur; "the man is as well 
 as I am. Take him by the heels whilst I carry him by 
 the shoulders." 
 
 Francis heard Miss Vandeleur break forth into a pas- 
 sion of tears. 
 
 " Do you hear what I say ?" resumed the Dictator, in 
 the same tones. " Or do you wish to quarrel with me ? 
 I give you your choice, Miss Vandeleur." 
 
 There was another pause, and the Dictator spoku 
 again. 
 
 "Take that man by the heels," he said. "I must 
 have him brought into the house. If I were a little 
 younger, I could help myself against the world. But 
 now that years and dangers are upon me and my hands 
 are weakened, I must turn to you for aid." 
 
 179 
 
"It is a crime," replied the girl. 
 
 " I am your father," said Mr. Vandeleur. 
 
 This appeal seemed to produce its effect. A scuffling 
 noise followed upon the gravel, a chair was overset, and 
 then Francis saw the father and daughter stagger across 
 the walk and disappear under the veranda, bearing the 
 inanimate body of Mr. Rolles embraced about the knees 
 and shoulders. The young clergyman was limp and 
 pallid, and his head rolled upon his shoulders at every 
 step. 
 
 Was he alive or dead ? Francis, in spite of the Dic- 
 tator's declaration, inclined to the latter view. A great 
 crime had been committed ; a great calamity had fallen 
 upon the inhabitants of the house with the green blinds. 
 To his surprise, Francis found all horror for the deed 
 swallowed up in sorrow for a girl and an old man whom 
 he judged to be in the height of peril. A tide of gener- 
 ous feeling swept into his heart; he, too, would help his 
 father against man and mankind, against fate and jus- 
 tice ; and casting open the shutters he closed his eyes 
 and threw himself with outstretched arms into the foli- 
 age of the chestnut. 
 
 Branch after branch slipped from his grasp or broke 
 under his weight; then he caught a stalwart bough un- 
 der his armpit, and hung suspended for a second ; and 
 then he let himself drop and fell heavily against the 
 table. A cry of alarm from the house warned him that 
 his entrance had not been effected unobserved. He re- 
 covered himself with a stagger, and in three bounds 
 crossed the intervening space and stood before the door 
 in the veranda. 
 
 In a small apartment, carpeted with matting and sur- 
 i8o 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 rounded by glazed cabinets full of rare and costly curios, 
 Mr. Vandeleur was stooping over the body of Mr. Rolles. 
 He raised himself as Francis entered, and there was an 
 instantaneous passage of hands. It was the business of 
 a second ; as fast as an eye can wink the thing was done ; 
 the young man had not the time to be sure, but it seemed 
 to him as if the Dictator had taken something from the 
 curate's breast, looked at it for the least fraction of time 
 as it lay in his hand, and then suddenly and swiftly 
 passed it to his daughter. 
 
 All this was over while Francis had still one foot upon 
 the threshold, and the other raised in air. The next in- 
 stant he was on his knees to Mr. Vandeleur. 
 
 "Father! " he cried. " Let me too help you. I will 
 do what you wish and ask no questions ; I will obey 
 you with my life ; treat me as a son, and you will find 
 I have a son's devotion." 
 
 A deplorable explosion of oaths was the Dictator's 
 first reply. 
 
 "Son and Father?" he cried. "Father and son? 
 
 What d d unnatural comedy is all this ? How do 
 
 you come in my garden ? What do you want ? And 
 who, in God's name, are you ?" 
 
 Francis, with a stunned and shamefaced aspect, got 
 upon his feet again, and stood in silence. 
 
 Then a light seemed to break upon Mr. Vandeleur, 
 and he laughed aloud. 
 
 4 ■ I see, " cried he. " It is the Scrymgeour. Very well, 
 Mr. Scrymgeour. Let me tell you in a few words how 
 you stand. You have entered my private residence by 
 force, or perhaps by fraud, but certainly with no encou- 
 ragement from me ; and you come at a moment of some 
 
 181 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 annoyance, a guest having fainted at my table, to be- 
 siege me with your protestations. You are no son of 
 mine. You are my brother's bastard by a fishwife, if 
 you want to know. I regard you with an indifference 
 closely bordering on aversion ; and from what I now see 
 of your conduct, I judge your mind to be exactly suit- 
 able to your exterior. I recommend you these mortify- 
 ing reflections for your leisure; and, in the meantime, 
 let me beseech you to rid us of your presence. If I were 
 not occupied, " added the Dictator, with a terrifying oath, 
 "I should give you the unholiest drubbing ere you 
 went! " 
 
 Francis listened in profound humiliation. He would 
 have fled had it been possible; but as he had no means 
 of leaving the residence into which he had so unfor- 
 tunately penetrated, he could do no more than stand 
 foolishly where he was. 
 
 It was Miss Vandeleur who broke the silence. 
 
 1 ' Father, " she said, ' ' you speak in anger. Mr. Scrym- 
 geour may have been mistaken, but he meant well and 
 kindly." 
 
 "Thank you for speaking," returned the Dictator. 
 "You remind me of some other observations which I 
 hold it a point of honour to make to Mr. Scrymgeour. 
 My brother," he continued, addressing the young man, 
 " has been foolish enough to give you an allowance; he 
 was foolish enough and presumptuous enough to pro- 
 pose a match between you and this young lady. You 
 were exhibited to her two nights ago ; and I rejoice to 
 tell you that she rejected the idea with disgust. Let me 
 add that I have considerable influence with your father; 
 and it shall not be my fault if you are not beggared of 
 
 182 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 your allowance and sent back to your scrivening ere the 
 week be out." 
 
 The tones of the old man's voice were, if possible, 
 more wounding than his language; Francis felt himself 
 exposed to the most cruel, blighting, and unbearable 
 contempt; his head turned, and he covered his face with 
 his hands, uttering at the same time a tearless sob of 
 agony. But Miss Vandeleur once again interfered in his 
 behalf. 
 
 "Mr. Scrymgeour," she said, speaking in clear and 
 even tones, "you must not be concerned at my father's 
 harsh expressions. I felt no disgust for you; on the 
 contrary, I asked an opportunity to make your better 
 acquaintance. As for what has passed to-night, believe 
 me it has filled my mind with both pity and esteem." 
 
 Just then Mr. Rolles made a convulsive movement 
 with his arm, which convinced Francis that he was only 
 drugged, and was beginning to throw off the influence 
 of the opiate. Mr. Vandeleur stooped over him and 
 examined his face for an instant. 
 
 "Come, come!" cried he, raising his head. "Let 
 there be an end of this. And since you are so pleased 
 with his conduct, Miss Vandeleur, take a candle and 
 show the bastard out." 
 
 The young lady hastened to obey. 
 
 "Thank you," said Francis, as soon as he was alone 
 with her in the garden. "I thank you from my soul. 
 This has been the bitterest evening of my life, but it will 
 have always one pleasant recollection." 
 
 "I spoke as I felt," she replied, "and in justice to 
 you. It made my heart sorry that you should be so 
 unkindly used." 
 
 183 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 By this time they had reached the garden gate; and 
 Miss Vandeleur, having set the candle on the ground, 
 was already unfastening the bolts. 
 
 1 'One word more/' said Francis. "This is not for 
 the last time — I shall see you again, shall I not ?" 
 
 1 'Alas ! " she answered. ' * You have heard my father. 
 What can I do but obey ? " 
 
 "Tell me at least that it is not with your consent," 
 returned Francis; " tell me that you have no wish to see 
 the last of me." 
 
 "Indeed," replied she, "I have none. You seem to 
 me both brave and honest." 
 
 "Then," said Francis, "give me a keepsake." 
 
 She paused for a moment, with her hand upon the 
 key ; for the various bars and bolts were all undone, and 
 there was nothing left but to open the lock. 
 
 "If I agree," she said, "will you promise to do as I 
 tell you from point to point ? " 
 
 "Can you ask?" replied Francis. "I would do so 
 willingly on your bare word." 
 
 She turned the key and threw open the door. 
 
 "Be it so," said she. " You do not know what you 
 ask, but be it so. Whatever you hear, " she continued, 
 "whatever happens, do not return to this house; hurry 
 fast until you reach the lighted and populous quarters 
 of the city ; even there be upon your guard You are 
 in a greater danger than you fancy. Promise me you 
 will not so much as look at my keepsake until you are 
 in a place of safety." 
 
 "I promise," replied Francis. 
 
 She put something loosely wrapped in a handkerchief 
 into the young man's hand ; and at the same time, with 
 
 184 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 more strength than he could have anticipated, she pushed 
 him into the street. 
 
 "Now run ! " she cried. 
 
 He heard the door close behind him, and the noise of 
 the bolts being replaced. 
 
 "My faith," said he, "since I have promised! " 
 
 And he took to his heels down the iane that leads into 
 the Rue Ravignan. 
 
 He was not fifty paces from the house with the green 
 blinds when the most diabolical outcry suddenly arose 
 out of the stillness of the night. Mechanically he stood 
 still; another passenger followed his example; in the 
 neighbouring floors he saw people crowding to the win- 
 dows; a conflagration could not have produced more 
 disturbance in this empty quarter. And yet it seemed 
 to be all the work of a single man, roaring between 
 grief and rage, like a lioness robbed of her whelps ; and 
 Francis was surprised and alarmed to hear his own name 
 shouted with English imprecations to the wind. 
 
 His first movement was to return to the house ; his 
 second, as he remembered Miss Vandeleur's advice, to 
 continue his flight with greater expedition than before ; 
 and he was in the act of turning to put his thought in 
 action, when the Dictator, bareheaded, bawling aloud, 
 his white hair blowing about his head, shot past him like 
 a ball out of the cannon's mouth, and went careering 
 down the street. 
 
 "That was a close shave," thought Francis to him- 
 self. "What he wants with me, and why he should be 
 so disturbed, I cannot think; but he is plainly not good 
 company for the moment, and I cannot do better than 
 follow Miss Vandeleur's advice." 
 
 185 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 So saying, he turned to retrace his steps, thinking to 
 double and descend by the Rue Lepic itself while his 
 pursuer should continue to follow after him on the other 
 line of street. The plan was ill-advised : as a matter of 
 fact, he should have taken his seat in the nearest cafe, 
 and waited there until the first heat of the pursuit was 
 over. But besides that Francis had no experience and 
 little natural aptitude for the small war of private life, he 
 was so unconscious of any evil on his part, that he saw 
 nothing to fear beyond a disagreeable interview. And 
 to disagreeable interviews he felt he had already served 
 his apprenticeship that evening; nor could he suppose 
 that Miss Vandeleur had left anything unsaid. Indeed, 
 the young man was sore both in body and mind — the 
 one was all bruised, the other was full of smarting ar- 
 rows ; and he owned to himself that Mr. Vandeleur was 
 master of a very deadly tongue. 
 
 The thought of his bruises reminded him that he 
 had not only come without a hat, but that his clothes 
 had considerably suffered in his descent through the 
 chestnut. At the first magazine he purchased a cheap 
 wideawake, and had the disorder of his toilet summa- 
 rily repaired. The keepsake, still rolled in the hand- 
 kerchief, he thrust in the meanwhile into his trousers 
 pocket. 
 
 Not many steps beyond the shop he was conscious of 
 a sudden shock, a hand upon his throat, an infuriated 
 face close to his own, and an open mouth bawling 
 curses in his ear. The Dictator, having found no trace 
 of his quarry, was returning by the other way. Francis 
 was a stalwart young fellow ; but he was no match for 
 his adversary whether in strength or skill ; and after a 
 
 i86 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 few ineffectual struggles he resigned himself entirely to 
 his captor. 
 
 " What do you want with me?" 
 
 "We will talk of that at home," returned the Dic- 
 tator, grimly. 
 
 And he continued to march the young man up hill in 
 the direction of the house with the green blinds. 
 
 But Francis, although he no longer struggled, was 
 only waiting an opportunity to make a bold push for 
 freedom. With a sudden jerk he left the collar of his 
 coat in the hands of Mr. Vandeleur, and once more 
 made off at his best speed in the direction of the Boule- 
 vards. 
 
 The tables were now turned. If the Dictator was the 
 stronger, Francis, in the top of his youth, was the more 
 fleet of foot, and he had soon effected his escape among 
 the crowds. Relieved for a moment, but with a grow- 
 ing sentiment of alarm and wonder in his mind, he 
 walked briskly until he debouched upon the Place de 
 l'Opera, lit up like day with electric lamps. 
 
 "This, at least," thought he, "should satisfy Miss 
 Vandeleur." 
 
 And turning to his right along the Boulevards, he 
 entered the Cafe Americain and ordered some beer. It 
 was both late and early for the majority of the frequenters 
 of the establishment. Only two or three persons, all 
 men, were dotted here and there at separate tables in 
 the hall; and Francis was too much occupied by his 
 own thoughts to observe their presence. 
 
 He drew the handkerchief from his pocket. The ob- 
 ject wrapped in it proved to be a morocco case, clasped 
 and ornamented in gilt, which opened by means of a 
 
 187 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 spring, and disclosed to the horrified young man a dia- 
 mond of monstrous bigness and extraordinary brilliancy. 
 The circumstance was so inexplicable, the value of the 
 stone was plainly so enormous, that Francis sat staring 
 into the open casket without movement, without con- 
 scious thought, like a man stricken suddenly with 
 idiocy. 
 
 A hand was laid upon his shoulder, lightly but firmly, 
 and a quiet voice, which yet had in it the ring of com- 
 mand, uttered these words in his ear : 
 
 "Close the casket, and compose your face." 
 
 Looking up, he beheld a man, still young, of an ur- 
 bane and tranquil presence, and dressed with rich sim- 
 plicity. This personage had risen from a neighbouring 
 table, and bringing his glass with him, had taken a seat 
 beside Francis. 
 
 " Close the casket," replied the stranger, "and put it 
 quietly back into your pocket, where I feel persuaded 
 it should never have been. Try, if you please, to throw 
 off your bewildered air, and act as though I were one of 
 your acquaintances whom you had met by chance. So ! 
 Touch glasses with me. That is better, i fear, sir, you 
 must be an amateur. " 
 
 And the stranger pronounced these last words with a 
 smile of peculiar meaning, leaned back in his seat and 
 enjoyed a deep inhalation of tobacco. 
 
 " For God's sake/' said Francis, "tell me who you are 
 and what this means ? Why I should obey your most 
 unusual suggestions I am sure I know not; but the 
 truth is, I have fallen this evening into so many per- 
 plexing adventures, and all I meet conduct themselves 
 so strangely, that I think I must either have gone mad 
 
 188 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 or wandered into another planet. Your face inspires 
 me with confidence; you seem wise, good, and experi- 
 enced; tell me, for heaven's sake, why you accost me 
 in so odd a fashion?" 
 
 1 ' All in due time, " replied the stranger. ' ' But I have 
 the first hand, and you must begin by telling me how 
 the Rajah's Diamond is in your possession." 
 
 "The Rajah's Diamond!" 
 
 " I would not speak so loud, if I were you," returned 
 the other. "But most certainly you have the Rajah's 
 Diamond in your pocket. I have seen and handled it a 
 score of times in Sir Thomas Vandeleur's collection." 
 
 "Sir Thomas Vandeleur! The General! My father! " 
 
 " Your father ? " repeated the stranger. " I was not 
 aware the General had any family." 
 
 "I am illegitimate, sir," replied Francis with a flush. 
 
 The other bowed with gravity. It was a respectful 
 bow, as of a man silently apologising to his equal ; and 
 Francis felt relieved and comforted, he scarce knew why. 
 The society of this person did him good ; he seemed to 
 touch firm ground ; a strong feeling of respect grew up 
 in his bosom, and mechanically he removed his wide- 
 awake as though in the presence of a superior. 
 
 "I perceive," said the stranger, "that your adven- 
 tures have not all been peaceful. Your collar is torn, 
 your face is scratched, you have a cut upon your tem- 
 ple ; you will, perhaps, pardon my curiosity when I ask 
 you to explain how you came by these injuries, and how 
 you happen to have stolen property to an enormous 
 value in your pocket." 
 
 " I must differ from you ! " returned Francis hotly. 
 " I possess no stolen property. And if you refer to the 
 
 189 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 diamond, it was given to me not an hour ago by Miss 
 Vandeleur in the Rue Lepic." 
 
 "By Miss Vandeleur of the Rue Lepic!" repeated 
 the other. " You interest me more than you suppose. 
 Pray continue. " 
 
 " Heavens! " cried Francis. 
 
 His memory had made a sudden bound. He had 
 seen Mr. Vandeleur take an article from the breast of his 
 drugged visitor, and that article, he was now persuaded, 
 was a morocco case. 
 
 "You have a light ? " inquired the stranger. 
 
 " Listen," said Francis. " I know not who you are, 
 but I believe you to be worthy of confidence and help- 
 ful ; I find myself in strange waters ; I must have coun- 
 sel and support, and since you invite me I shall tell you 
 all." 
 
 And he briefly recounted his experience since the day 
 when he was summoned from the bank by his lawyer. 
 
 "Yours is indeed a remarkable history," said the 
 stranger, after the young man had made an end of his 
 narrative; "and your position is full of difficulty and 
 peril. Many would counsel you to seek out your father, 
 and give the diamond to him ; but I have other views. 
 Waiter! " he cried. 
 
 The waiter drew near. 
 
 " Will you ask the manager to speak with me a mo- 
 ment ? " said he; and Francis observed once more, both 
 in his tone and manner, the evidence of a habit of com- 
 mand. 
 
 The waiter withdrew, and returned in a moment with 
 the manager, who bowed with obsequious respect. 
 
 "What," said he, " can I do to serve you ? " 
 190 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 " Have the goodness," replied the stranger, indicating 
 Francis, "to tell this gentleman my name." 
 
 11 You have the honour, sir," said the functionary, ad- 
 dressing young Scrymgeour, "to occupy the same table 
 with His Highness Prince Florizel of Bohemia." 
 
 Francis rose with precipitation, and made a grateful 
 reverence to the Prince, who bade him resume his seat. 
 
 "I thank you," said Florizel, once more addressing 
 the functionary; " I am sorry to have deranged you for 
 so small a matter." 
 
 And he dismissed him with a movement of his hand. 
 
 "And now," added the Prince, turning to Francis, 
 " give me the diamond." 
 
 Without a word the casket was handed over. 
 
 "You have done right," said Florizel; "your senti- 
 ments have properly inspired you, and you will live to 
 be grateful for the misfortunes of to-night. A man, Mr. 
 Scrymgeour, may fall into a thousand perplexities, but 
 if his heart be upright and his intelligence unclouded, he 
 will issue from them all without dishonour. Let your 
 mind be at rest ; your affairs are in my hands ; and with 
 the aid of heaven I am strong enough to bring them to a 
 good end. Follow me, if you please, to my carriage." 
 
 So saying the Prince arose and, having left a piece of 
 gold for the waiter, conducted the young man from the 
 cafe and along the Boulevard to where an unpretentious 
 brougham and a couple of servants out of livery awaited 
 his arrival. 
 
 "This carriage," said he, "is at your disposal; col- 
 lect your baggage as rapidly as you can make it conve- 
 nient, and my servants will conduct you to a villa in the 
 neighbourhood of Paris, where you can wait in some de- 
 
 191 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 gree of comfort until I have had time to arrange your 
 situation. You will find there a pleasant garden, a 
 library of good authors, a cook, a cellar, and some good 
 cigars, which I recommend to your attention. Jerome," 
 he added, turning to one of the servants, "you have 
 heard what I say ; I leave Mr. Scrymgeour in your charge ; 
 you will, I know, be careful of my friend." 
 
 Francis uttered some broken phrases of gratitude. 
 
 "It will be time enough to thank me," said the Prince, 
 " when you are acknowledged by your father and mar- 
 ried to Miss Vandeleur." 
 
 And with that the Prince turned away and strolled 
 leisurely in the direction of Montmartre. He hailed the 
 first passing cab, gave an address, and a quarter of an 
 hour afterwards, having discharged the driver some dis- 
 tance lower, he was knocking at Mr. Vandeleur's garden 
 gate. 
 
 It was opened with singular precautions by the Dic- 
 tator in person. 
 
 "Who are you?" he demanded. 
 
 "You must pardon me this late visit, Mr. Vandeleur," 
 replied the Prince. 
 
 "Your Highness is always welcome," returned Mr. 
 Vandeleur, stepping back. 
 
 The Prince profited by the open space, and without 
 waiting for his host walked right into the house and 
 opened the door of the salon. Two people were seated 
 there ; one was Miss Vandeleur, who bore the marks of 
 weeping about her eyes, and was still shaken from time 
 to time by a sob ; in the other the Prince recognised the 
 young man who had consulted him on literary matters 
 about a month before, in a club smoking-room. 
 
 192 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 1 ' Good evening, Miss Vandeleur, " said Florizel ; ' ' you 
 look fatigued. Mr. Rolles, I believe ? I hope you have 
 profited by the study of Gaboriau, Mr. Rolles." 
 
 But the young clergyman's temper was too much em- 
 bittered for speech ; and he contented himself with bow- 
 ing stiffly, and continued to gnaw his lip. 
 
 "To what good wind," said Mr. Vandeleur, following 
 his guest, ''am I to attribute the honour of your High- 
 ness's presence ? " 
 
 "I am come on business," returned the Prince; "on 
 business with you ; as soon as that is settled I shall re- 
 quest Mr. Rolles to accompany me for a walk. Mr. 
 Rolles," he added, with severity, "let me remind you 
 that I have not yet sat down." 
 
 The clergyman sprang to his feet with an apology; 
 whereupon the Prince took an arm-chair beside the table, 
 handed his hat to Mr. Vandeleur, his cane to Mr. Rolles, 
 and, leaving them standing and thus menially employed 
 upon his service, spoke as follows : 
 
 " I have come here, as I said, upon business; but, had 
 I come looking for pleasure, I could not have been more 
 displeased with my reception nor more dissatisfied with 
 my company. You, sir," addressing Mr. Rolles, "you 
 have treated your superior in station with discourtesy ; 
 you, Vandeleur, receive me with a smile, but you know 
 right well that your hands are not yet cleansed from 
 misconduct. I do not desire to be interrupted, sir," he 
 added imperiously; "I am here to speak, and not to 
 listen ; and I have to ask you to hear me with respect, 
 and to obey punctiliously. At the earliest possible date 
 your daughter shall be married at the Embassy to my 
 friend, Francis Scrymgeour, your brother's acknow- 
 
 '93 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 ledged son. You will oblige me by offering not less 
 than ten thousand pounds dowry. For yourself, I will 
 indicate to you in writing a mission of some importance 
 in Siam which I destine to your care. And now, sir, 
 you will answer me in two words whether or not you 
 agree to these conditions." 
 
 "Your Highness will pardon me," said Mr. Vande- 
 leur, "and permit me, with all respect, to submit to 
 him two queries ? " 
 
 u The permission is granted," replied the Prince. 
 
 " Your Highness," resumed the Dictator, "has called 
 Mr. Scrymgeour his friend. Believe me, had I known 
 that he was thus honoured, I should have treated him 
 with proportional respect." 
 
 "You interrogate adroitly," said the Prince; "but it 
 will not serve your turn. You have my commands ; if 
 I had never seen that gentleman before to-night, it would 
 not render them less absolute." 
 
 "Your Highness interprets my meaning with his 
 usual subtlety," returned Vandeleur. "Once more: I 
 have, unfortunately, put the police upon the track of Mr. 
 Scrymgeour on a charge of theft; am I to withdraw or 
 to uphold the accusation ?" 
 
 "You will please yourself," replied Florizel. "The 
 question is one between your conscience and the laws 
 of this land. Give me my hat; and you, Mr. Rolles, give 
 me my cane and follow me. Miss Vandeleur, I wish 
 you good evening. I judge," he added to Vandeleur, 
 "that your silence means unqualified assent." 
 
 " If I can do no better," replied the old man, " I shall 
 submit ; but I warn you openly it shall not be without a 
 struggle." 
 
 194 ^ 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 " You are old," said the Prince; " but years are dis* 
 graceful to the wicked. Your age is more unwise than 
 the youth of others. Do not provoke me, or you may 
 find me harder than you dream. This is the first time 
 that I have fallen across your path in anger; take care 
 that it be the last." 
 
 With these words, motioning the clergyman to fol- 
 low, Florizel left the apartment and directed his steps 
 towards the garden-gate; and the Dictator, following 
 with a candle, gave them light, and once more undid the 
 elaborate fastenings with which he sought to protect 
 himself from intrusion. 
 
 " Your daughter is no longer present," said the Prince, 
 turning on the threshold. " Let me tell you that I un- 
 derstand your threats; and you have only to lift your 
 hand to bring upon yourself sudden and irremediable 
 ruin." 
 
 The Dictator made no reply ; but as the Prince turned 
 his back upon him in the lamplight he made a gesture 
 full of menace and insane fury; and the next moment, 
 slipping round a corner, he was running at full speed for 
 the nearest cab-stand. 
 
 (Here, says my Arabian, the thread of events is finally 
 diverted from The House with the Green Blinds. One 
 more adventure, he adds, and we have done with The 
 Rajah's Diamond. That last link in the chain is known 
 among the inhabitants of Bagdad by the name of The 
 Adventure of Prince Florizel and the Detective.) 
 
 195 
 
ADVENTURE OF PRINCE FLORIZEL AND THE 
 DETECTIVE 
 
 Prince Florizel walked with Mr. Rolles to the door 
 of a small hotel where the latter resided. They spoke 
 much together, and the clergyman was more than once 
 affected to tears by the mingled severity and tenderness 
 of Florizel's reproaches. 
 
 1 ' I have made ruin of my life, " he said at last, f ' Help 
 me ; tell me what I am to do ; I have, alas ! neither the 
 virtues of a priest nor the dexterity of a rogue. " 
 
 "Now that you are humbled," said the Prince, "I 
 command no longer ; the repentant have to do with God 
 and not with princes. But if you will let me advise you, 
 go to Australia as a colonist, seek menial labor in the open 
 air, and try to forget that you have ever been a clergy- 
 man, or that you ever set eyes on that accursed stone." 
 
 " Accurst indeed! " replied Mr. Rolles. "Where is it 
 now ? What further hurt is it not working for man- 
 kind?" 
 
 " It will do no more evil," returned the Prince. " It 
 is here in my pocket. And this, " he added, kindly, ' ■ will 
 show that I place some faith in your penitence, young 
 as it is." 
 
 "Suffer me to touch your hand," pleaded Mr. Rolles. 
 
 "No," replied Prince Florizel, "not yet." 
 196 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 The tone in which he uttered these last words was 
 eloquent in the ears of the young clergyman ; and for 
 some minutes after the Prince had turned away he stood 
 on the threshold following with his eyes the retreating 
 figure, and invoking the blessing of heaven upon a man 
 so excellent in counsel. 
 
 For several hours the Prince walked alone in unfre- 
 quented streets. His mind was full of concern ; what 
 to do with the diamond, whether to return it to its 
 owner, whom he judged unworthy of this rare posses- 
 sion, or to take some sweeping and courageous measure 
 and put it out of the reach of all mankind at once and 
 for ever was a problem too grave to be decided in a 
 moment. The manner in which it had come into his 
 hands appeared manifestly providential ; and as he took 
 out the jewel and looked at it under the street lamps, its 
 size and surprising brilliancy inclined him more and more 
 to think of it as an unmixed and dangerous evil for the 
 world. 
 
 "God help me!" he thought; "if I look at it much 
 oftener I shall begin to grow covetous myself. " 
 
 At last, though still uncertain in his mind, he turned 
 his steps towards the small but elegant mansion on the 
 riverside, which had belonged for centuries to his royal 
 family. The arms of Bohemia are deeply graved over 
 the door and upon the tall chimneys ; passengers have a 
 look into a green court set with the most costly flowers, 
 and a stork, the only one in Paris, perches on the gable 
 all day long and keeps a crowd before the house. Grave 
 servants are seen passing to and fro within; and from 
 time to time the great gate is thrown open and a car- 
 riage rolls below the arch. For many reasons this resi- 
 
 197 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 dence was especially dear to the heart of Prince Florizel; 
 he never drew near to it without enjoying that senti- 
 ment of home-coming so rare in the lives of the great; 
 and on the present evening he beheld its tall roof and 
 mildly illuminated windows with unfeigned relief and 
 satisfaction. 
 
 As he was approaching the postern door by which he 
 always entered when alone, a man stepped forth from 
 the shadow and presented himself with an obeisance in 
 the Prince's path. 
 
 "I have the honour of addressing Prince Florizel of 
 Bohemia ? " said he. 
 
 "Such is my title," replied the Prince. "What do 
 you want with me?" 
 
 "I am," said the man, "a detective, and I have to 
 present your Highness with this billet from the Prefect 
 of Police." 
 
 The Prince took the letter and glanced it through by 
 the light of the street lamp. It was highly apologetic, 
 but requested him to follow the bearer to the Prefecture 
 without delay. 
 
 "In short," said Florizel, "I am arrested." 
 
 " Your Highness," replied the officer, " nothing, I am 
 certain, could be further from the intention of the Prefect. 
 You will observe that he has not granted a warrant. 
 It is mere formality, or call it, if you prefer, an obligation 
 that your Highness lays on the authorities." 
 
 "At the same time," asked the Prince, "if I were to 
 refuse to follow you ?" 
 
 "I will not conceal from your Highness that a con- 
 siderable discretion has been granted me," replied the 
 detective with a bow. 
 
 198 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 "Upon my word," cried Florizel, "your effrontery 
 confounds me! Yourself, as an agent, I must pardon; 
 but your superiors shall dearly smart for their miscon- 
 duct. What, have you any idea, is the cause of this 
 impolitic and unconstitutional act ? You will observe 
 that I have as yet neither refused nor consented and 
 much may depend on your prompt and ingenuous an- 
 swer. Let me remind you, officer, that this is an affair 
 of some gravity. " 
 
 "Your Highness," said the detective humbly, "Gen- 
 eral Vandeleur and his brother have had the incredible 
 presumption to accuse you of theft. The famous dia- 
 mond, they declare, is in your hands. A word from you 
 in denial will most amply satisfy the Prefect; nay, I go 
 farther: if your Highness would so far honour a sub- 
 altern as to declare his ignorance of the matter even 
 to myself, I should ask permission to retire upon the 
 spot." 
 
 Florizel, up to the last moment, had regarded his 
 adventure in the light of a trifle, only serious upon inter- 
 national considerations. At the name of Vandeleur the 
 horrible truth broke upon him in a moment ; he was not 
 only arrested, but he was guilty. This was not only an 
 annoying incident — it was a peril to his honour. What 
 was he to say? What was he to do? The Rajah's 
 Diamond was indeed an accursed stone; and it seemed 
 as if he were to be the last victim to its influence. 
 
 One thing was certain. He could not give the re- 
 quired assurance to the detective. He must gain time. 
 
 His hesitation had not lasted a second. 
 
 " Be it so," said he, "let us walk together to the Pre- 
 fecture." 
 
 '99 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 The man once more bowed, and proceeded to follow 
 Florizel at a respectful distance in the rear. 
 
 "Approach," said the Prince. " I am in a humour to 
 talk, and, if I mistake not, now I look at you again, this 
 is not the first time that we have met." 
 
 " I count it an honour," replied the officer, "that your 
 Highness should recollect my face. It is eight years 
 since I had the pleasure of an interview." 
 
 "To remember faces," returned Florizel, " is as much 
 a part of my profession as it is of yours. Indeed, rightly 
 looked upon, a Prince and a detective serve in the same 
 corps. We are both combatants against crime; only 
 mine is the more lucrative and yours the more dangerous 
 rank, and there is a sense in which both may be made 
 equally honourable to a good man. I had rather, strange 
 as you may think it, be a detective of character and parts 
 than a weak and ignoble sovereign." 
 
 The officer was overwhelmed. 
 
 ' ' Your Highness returns good for evil, ' ' said he. ' ' To 
 an act of presumption he replies by the most amiable 
 condescension." 
 
 "How do you know," replied Florizel, "that I am 
 not seeking to corrupt you ?" 
 
 "Heaven preserve me from the temptation I " cried 
 the detective. 
 
 " I applaud your answer," returned the Prince. " It 
 is that of a wise and honest man. The world is a great 
 place, and stocked with wealth and beauty, and there 
 is no limit to the rewards that may be offered. Such an 
 one who would refuse a million of money may sell his 
 honour for an empire or the love of a woman ; and I my- 
 self, who speak to you, have seen occasions so tempt- 
 
 200 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 ing, provocations so irresistible to the strength of human 
 virtue, that I have been glad to tread in your steps and 
 recommend myself to the grace of God. It is thus, 
 thanks to that modest and becoming habit alone," he 
 added, "that you and I can walk this town together 
 with untarnished hearts." 
 
 "I had always heard that you were brave," replied 
 the officer, "but I was not aware that you were wise 
 and pious. You speak the truth, and you speak it with 
 an accent that moves me to the heart. This world is 
 indeed a place of trial." 
 
 "We are now," said Florizel, "in the middle of the 
 bridge. Lean your elbows on the parapet and look 
 over. As the water rushing below, so the passions and 
 complications of life carry away the honesty of weak 
 men. Let me tell you a story." 
 
 "I receive your Highness's commands," replied the 
 man. 
 
 And, imitating the Prince, he leaned against the par- 
 apet, and disposed himself to listen. The city was al- 
 ready sunk in slumber; had it not been for the infinity 
 of lights and the outline of buildings on the starry sky, 
 they might have been alone beside some country river. 
 
 "An officer," began Prince Florizel, "a man of cour- 
 age and conduct, who had already risen by merit to an 
 eminent rank, and won not only admiration but respect, 
 visited, in an unfortunate hour for his peace of mind, the 
 collections of an Indian Prince. Here he beheld a dia- 
 mond so extraordinary for size and beauty that from that 
 instant he had only one desire in life : honour, reputation, 
 friendship, the love of country, he was ready to sacrifice 
 all for this lump of sparkling crystal. For three years 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 he served this semi-barbarian potentate as Jacob served 
 Laban ; he falsified frontiers, he connived at murders, he 
 unjustly condemned and executed a brother-officer who 
 had the misfortune to displease the Rajah by some hon- 
 est freedoms ; lastly, at a time of great danger to his na- 
 tive land, he betrayed a body of his fellow-soldiers and 
 suffered them to be defeated and massacred by thou- 
 sands. In the end he had amassed a magnificent for- 
 tune, and brought home with him the coveted diamond. 
 
 " Years passed," continued the Prince, "and at length 
 the diamond is accidentally lost. It falls into the hands 
 of a simple and laborious youth, a student, a minister 
 of God, just entering on a career of usefulness and even 
 distinction. Upon him also the spell is cast; he deserts 
 everything, his holy calling, his studies, and flees with 
 the gem into a foreign country. The officer has a 
 brother, an astute, daring, unscrupulous man, who 
 learns the clergyman's secret. What does he do ? Tell 
 his brother, inform the police ? No ; upon this man also 
 the Satanic charm has fallen ; he must have the stone 
 for himself. At the risk of murder, he drugs the young 
 priest and seizes the prey. And now, by an accident 
 which is not important to my moral, the jewel passes 
 out of his custody into that of another, who, terrified at 
 what he sees, gives it into the keeping of a man in high 
 station and above reproach. 
 
 "The officer's name is Thomas Vandeleur," contin- 
 ued Florizel. ' ' The stone is called the Rajah's Diamond. 
 And" — suddenly opening his hand — "you behold it 
 here before your eyes." 
 
 The officer started back with a cry. 
 
 "We have spoken of corruption," said the Prince. 
 202 
 
THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND 
 
 "To me this nugget of bright crystal is as loathsome as 
 though it were crawling with the worms of death ; it is 
 as shocking as though it were compacted out of inno- 
 cent blood. I see it here in my hand, and I know it is 
 shining with hell-fire. I have told you but a hundredth 
 part of its story ; what passed in former ages, to what 
 crimes and treacheries it incited men of yore, the imagi- 
 nation trembles to conceive ; for years and years it has 
 faithfully served the powers of hell ; enough, I say, of 
 blood, enough of disgrace, enough of broken lives and 
 friendships; all things come to an end, the evil like 
 the good; pestilence as well as beautiful music; and 
 as for this diamond, God forgive me if I do wrong, but 
 its empire ends to-night." 
 
 The Prince made a sudden movement with his hand, 
 and the jewel, describing an arc of light, dived with a 
 splash into the flowing river. 
 
 "Amen," said Florizel, with gravity. "I have slain 
 a cockatrice!" 
 
 "God pardon me!" cried the detective. "What 
 have you done? I am a ruined man." 
 
 "1 think," returned the Prince, with a smile, "that 
 many well-to-do people in this city might envy you 
 your ruin." 
 
 "Alas! your Highness!" said the officer, "and you 
 corrupt me after all ? " 
 
 " It seems there was no help for it," replied Florizel. 
 " And now let us go forward to the Prefecture." 
 
 Not long after, the marriage of Francis Scrymgeour 
 and Miss Vandeleur was celebrated in great privacy; 
 and the Prince acted on that occasion as groom's man. 
 
 203 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 The two Vandeleurs surprised some rumour of what had 
 happened to the diamond ; and their vast diving opera- 
 tions on the River Seine are the wonder and amusement 
 of the idle. It is true that through some miscalculation 
 they have chosen the wrong branch of the river. As 
 for the Prince, that sublime person, having now served 
 his turn, may go, along with the Arabian Author, topsy- 
 turvy into space. But if the reader insists on more 
 specific information, I am happy to say that a recent 
 revolution hurled him from the throne of Bohemia, in 
 consequence of his continued absence and edifying neg- 
 lect of public business; and that his Highness now keeps 
 a cigar store in Rupert Street, much frequented by other 
 foreign refugees. 
 
 1 go there from time to time to smoke and have a 
 chat, and find him as great a creature as in the days of 
 his prosperity ; he has an Olympian air behind the coun- 
 ter; and although a sedentary life is beginning to tell 
 upon his waistcoat, he is probably, take him for all in 
 all, the handsomest tobacconist in London. 
 
 204 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 INSCRIBED TO 
 
 D. A. S. 
 
 IN MEMORY OF DAYS NEAR F1DRA 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 TELLS HOW 1 CAMPED IN GRADEN SEA-WOOD, AND BEHELD 
 A LIGHT IN THE PAVILION 
 
 I was a great solitary when I was young. I made it 
 my pride to keep aloof and suffice for my own enter- 
 tainment; and I may say that I had neither friends nor 
 acquaintances until I met that friend who became my 
 wife and the mother of my children. With one man 
 only was I on private terms; this was R. Northmour, 
 Esquire, of Graden Easter, in Scotland. We had met at 
 college; and though there was not much liking between 
 us, nor even much intimacy, we were so nearly of a 
 humour that we could associate with ease to both. Mis- 
 anthropes, we believed ourselves to be; but I have 
 thought since that we were only sulky fellows. It was 
 scarcely a companionship, but a coexistence in unso- 
 ciability. Northmour's exceptional violence of temper 
 made it no easy affair for him to keep the peace with 
 anyone but me; and as he respected my silent ways, 
 and let me come and go as I pleased, I could tolerate his 
 presence without concern. I think we called each other 
 friends. 
 
 When Northmour took his degree and I decided to 
 leave the university without one, he invited me on a 
 long visit to Graden Easter; and it was thus that I first 
 became acquainted with the scene of my adventures. The 
 
 207 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 mansion house of Graden stood in a bleak stretch of 
 country some three miles from the shore of the German 
 Ocean. It was as large as a barrack ; and as it had been 
 built of a soft stone, liable to consume in the eager air 
 of the seaside, it was damp and draughty within and 
 half ruinous without. It was impossible for two young 
 men to lodge with comfort in such a dwelling. But 
 there stood in the northern part of the estate, in a wilder- 
 ness of links and blowing sand-hills, and between a 
 plantation and the sea, a small Pavilion or Belvedere, of 
 modern design, which was exactly suited to our wants ; 
 and in this hermitage, speaking little, reading much, and 
 rarely associating except at meals, Northmour and I 
 spent four tempestuous winter months. . I might have 
 stayed longer; but cne March night there sprang up 
 between us a dispute, which rendered my departure ne- 
 cessary. Northmour spoke hotly, I remember, and I sup- 
 pose I must have made some tart rejoinder. He leaped 
 from his chair and grappled me ; I had to fight, without 
 exaggeration, for my life ; and it was only with a great 
 effort that I mastered him, for he was near as strong in 
 body as myself, and seemed filled with the devil. The 
 next morning, we met on our usual terms ; but I judged 
 it more delicate to withdraw ; nor did he attempt to dis- 
 suade me. 
 
 It was nine years before I revisited the neighbourhood. 
 I travelled at that time with a tilt cart, a tent, and a cook- 
 ing-stove, tramping all day beside the wagon, and at 
 night, whenever it was possible, gipsying in a cove of 
 the hills, or by the side of a wood. I believe I visited 
 in this manner most of the wild and desolate regions 
 both in England and Scotland; and, as I had neither 
 
 208 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 friends nor relations, I was troubled with no correspon- 
 dence, and had nothing in the nature of head-quarters, 
 unless it was the office of my solicitors, from whom I 
 drew my income twice a year. It was a life in which 
 I delighted ; and I fully thought to have grown old upon 
 the march, and at last died in a ditch. 
 
 It was my whole business to find desolate corners, 
 where I could camp without the fear of interruption; 
 and hence being in another part of the same shire, I be- 
 thought me suddenly of the Pavilion on the Links. No 
 thoroughfare passed within three miles of it. The near- 
 est town, and that was but a fisher village, was at a dis- 
 tance of six or seven. For ten miles of length, and from 
 a depth varying from three miles to half a mile, this belt 
 of barren country lay along the sea. The beach, which 
 was the natural approach, was full of quicksands. In- 
 deed I may say there is hardly a better place of conceal- 
 ment in the United Kingdom. I determined to pass a 
 week in the Sea-Wood of Graden Easter, and making a 
 long stage, reached it about sundown on a wild Sep- 
 tember day. 
 
 The country, I have said, was mixed sand-hill and 
 links; links being a Scottish name for sand which has 
 ceased drifting and become more or less solidly covered 
 with turf. The pavilion stood on an even space ; a little 
 behind it, the wood began in a hedge of elders huddled 
 together by the wind ; in front, a few tumbled sand-hills 
 stood between it and the sea. An outcropping of rock 
 had formed a bastion for the sand, so that there was 
 here a promontory in the coast-line between two shallow 
 bays; and just beyond the tides, the rock again cropped 
 out and formed an islet of small dimensions but strik- 
 
 209 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 ingly designed. The quicksands were of great extent at 
 low water, and had an infamous reputation in the country. 
 Close in shore, between the islet and the promontory, 
 it was said that they would swallow a man in four 
 minutes and a half; but there may have been little 
 ground for this precision. The district was alive with 
 rabbits, and haunted by gulls which made a continual 
 piping about the pavilion. On summer days the out- 
 look was bright and even gladsome; but at sundown in 
 September, with a high wind, and a heavy surf rolling 
 in close along the links, the place told of nothing but 
 dead mariners and sea disasters. A ship beating to 
 windward on the horizon, and a huge truncheon of 
 wreck half buried in the sands at my feet, completed the 
 innuendo of the scene. 
 
 The pavilion — it had been built by the last proprietor, 
 Northmour's uncle, a silly and prodigal virtuoso — pre- 
 sented little signs of age. It was two stories in height, 
 Italian in design, surrounded by a patch of garden in 
 which nothing had prospered but a few coarse flowers ; 
 and looked, with its shuttered windows, not like a house 
 that had been deserted, but like one that had never been 
 tenanted by man. Northmour was plainly from home ; 
 whether, as usual, sulking in the cabin of his yacht, or 
 in one of his fitful and extravagant appearances in the 
 world of society, I had, of course, no means of guessing. 
 The place had an air of solitude that daunted even a 
 solitary like myself; the wind cried in the chimneys 
 with a strange and wailing note; and it was with a 
 sense of escape, as if I were going indoors, that I turned 
 away and driving my cart before me entered the skirts 
 of the wood. 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 The Sea-Wood of Graden had been planted to shelter 
 the cultivated fields behind, and check the encroach- 
 ments of the blowing sand. As you advanced into it 
 from coastward, elders were succeeded by other hardy 
 shrubs ; but the timber was all stunted and bushy ; it 
 led a life of conflict; the trees were accustomed to 
 swing there all night long in fierce winter tempests ; and 
 even in early spring, the leaves were already flying, and 
 autumn was beginning, in this exposed plantation. In- 
 land the ground rose into a little hill, which, along with 
 the islet, served as a sailing mark for seamen. When 
 the hill was open of the islet to the north, vessels must 
 bear well to the eastward to clear Graden Ness and the 
 Graden Bullers. In the lower ground, a streamlet ran 
 among the trees, and, being dammed with dead leaves 
 and clay of its own carrying, spread out every here and 
 there, and lay in stagnant pools. One or two ruined 
 cottages were dotted about the wood; and, according 
 to Northmour, these were ecclesiastical foundations, 
 and in their time had sheltered pious hermits. 
 
 I found a den, or small hollow, where there was a 
 spring of pure water; and there, clearing away the 
 brambles, I pitched the tent, and made a fire to cook 
 my supper. My horse I picketed farther in the wood, 
 where there was a patch of sward. The banks of the 
 den not only concealed the light of my fire, but sheltered 
 me from the wind, which was cold as well as high. 
 
 The life I was leading made me both hardy and frugal. 
 I never drank but water, and rarely ate anything more 
 costly than oatmeal ; and I required so little sleep, that, 
 although I rose with the peep of day, I would often lie 
 long awake in the dark or starry watches of the night. 
 
 211 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Thus in Graden Sea- Wood, although I fell thankfully 
 asleep by eight in the evening, I was awake again before 
 eleven with a full possession of my faculties, and no 
 sense of drowsiness or fatigue. I rose and sat by the 
 fire, watching the trees and clouds tumultuously tossing 
 and fleeing overhead, and hearkening to the wind and 
 rollers along the shore; till at length, growing weary of 
 inaction, I quitted the den, and strolled towards the 
 borders of the wood. A young moon, buried in mist, 
 gave a faint illumination to my steps ; and the light grew 
 brighter as I walked forth into the links. At the same 
 moment, the wind, smelling salt of the open ocean and 
 carrying particles of sand, struck me with its full force, 
 so that I had to bow my head. 
 
 When I raised it again to look about me, I was aware 
 of a light in the pavilion. It was not stationary ; but 
 passed from one window to another, as though some 
 one were reviewing the different apartments with a lamp 
 or candle. I watched it for some seconds in great sur- 
 prise. When I had arrived in the afternoon the house 
 had been plainly deserted ; now it was as plainly occu- 
 pied. It was my first idea that a gang of thieves might 
 have broken in and be now ransacking Northmour's 
 cupboards, which were many and not ill supplied. But 
 what should bring thieves to Graden Easter? And, 
 again, all the shutters had been thrown open, and it 
 would have been more in the character of such gentry 
 to close them. I dismissed the notion, and fell back 
 upon another. Northmour himself must have arrived, 
 and was now airing and inspecting the pavilion. 
 
 I have said that there was no real affection between 
 this man and me; but, had I loved him like a brother, I 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 was then so much in love with solitude that I should 
 none the less have shunned his company. As it was, I 
 turned and ran for it; and it was with genuine satisfac- 
 tion that I found myself safely back beside the fire. I 
 had escaped an acquaintance; I should have one more 
 night in comfort. In the morning, I might either slip 
 away before Northmour was abroad, or pay him as short 
 a visit as I chose. 
 
 But when morning came, I thought the situation so 
 diverting that I forgot my shyness. Northmour was at 
 my mercy; I arranged a good practical jest, though I 
 knew well that my neighbour was not the man to jest 
 with in security ; and, chuckling beforehand over its suc- 
 cess, took my place among the elders at the edge of the 
 wood, whence I could command the door of the pavilion. 
 The shutters were all once more closed, which I remem- 
 ber thinking odd ; and the house, with its white walls 
 and green Venetians, looked spruce and habitable in the 
 morning light. Hour after hour passed, and still no sign 
 of Northmour. I knew him for a sluggard in the morn- 
 ing; but, as it drew on towards noon, I lost my patience. 
 To say the truth, I had promised myself to break my fast 
 in the pavilion, and hunger began to prick me sharply. 
 It was a pity to let the opportunity go by without some 
 cause for mirth ; but the grosser appetite prevailed, and 
 I relinquished my jest with regret, and sallied from the 
 wood. 
 
 The appearance of the house affected me, as I drew 
 near, with disquietude. It seemed unchanged since 
 last evening; and I had expected it, I scarce knew why, 
 to wear some external signs of habitation. But no: 
 the windows were all closely shuttered, the chimneys 
 
 213 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 breathed no smoke, and the front door itself was closely 
 padlocked. Northmour, therefore, had entered by the 
 back; this was the natural, and, indeed, the necessary 
 conclusion; and you may judge of my surprise when, 
 on turning the house, I found the back door similarly 
 secured. 
 
 My mind at once reverted to the original theory of 
 thieves ; and I blamed myself sharply,for my last night's 
 inaction. I examined all the windows on the lower 
 story, but none of them had been tampered with ; I tried 
 the padlocks, but they were both secure. It thus be- 
 came a problem how the thieves, if thieves they were, 
 had managed to enter the house. They must have got, 
 I reasoned, upon the roof of the outhouse where North- 
 mour used to keep his photographic battery ; and from 
 thence, either by the window of the study or that of my 
 old bedroom, completed their burglarious entry. 
 
 I followed what I supposed was their example; and, 
 getting on the roof, tried the shutters of each room. 
 Both were secure; but I was not to be beaten; and, 
 with a little force, one of them flew open, grazing, as it 
 did so, the back of my hand. I remember, I put the 
 wound to my mouth, and stood for perhaps half a min- 
 ute licking it like a dog, and mechanically gazing behind 
 me over the waste links and the sea; and, in that space 
 of time, my eye made note of a large schooner yacht 
 some miles to the north-east. Then I threw up the 
 window and climbed in. 
 
 I went over the house, and nothing can express my 
 mystification. There was no sign of disorder, but, on 
 the contrary, the rooms were unusually clean and pleas- 
 ant. I found fires laid, ready for lighting; three bed- 
 
 214 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 rooms prepared with a luxury quite foreign to North- 
 mour's habits, and with water in the ewers and the beds 
 turned down ; a table set for three in the dining-room ; 
 and an ample supply of cold meats, game and vegeta- 
 bles on the pantry shelves. There were guests ex- 
 pected, that was plain ; but why guests, when North- 
 mour hated society ? And, above all, why was the 
 house thus stealthily prepared at dead of night? and 
 why were the shutters closed and the doors padlocked ? 
 
 I effaced all traces of my visit, and came forth from 
 the window feeling sobered and concerned. 
 
 The schooner yacht was still in the same place ; and 
 it flashed for a moment through my mind that this 
 might be the Red Earl bringing the owner of the pavil- 
 ion and his guests. But the vessel's head was set the 
 other way. 
 
 315 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 TELLS OF THE NOCTURNAL LANDING FROM THE YACHT 
 
 I returned to the den to cook myself a meal, of which 
 I stood in great need, as well as to care for my horse, 
 whom I had somewhat neglected in the morning. From 
 time to time I went down to the edge of the wood ; but 
 there was no change in the pavilion, and not a human 
 creature was seen all day upon the links. The schooner 
 in the offing was the one touch of life within my range 
 of vision. She, apparently with no set object, stood off 
 and on or lay to, hour after hour; but as the evening 
 deepened, she drew steadily nearer. I became more 
 convinced that she carried Northmour and his friends, 
 and that they would probably come ashore after dark ; 
 not only because that was of a piece with the secrecy 
 of the preparations, but because the tide would not have 
 flowed sufficiently before eleven to cover Graden Floe 
 and the other sea quags that fortified the shore against 
 invaders. 
 
 All day the wind had been going down, and the sea 
 along with it ; but there was a return towards sunset of 
 the heavy weather of the day before. The night set in 
 pitch dark. The wind came off the sea in squalls, like 
 the firing of a battery of cannon ; now and then there 
 was a flaw of rain, and the surf rolled heavier with the 
 
 216 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 rising tide. I was down at my observatory among the 
 elders, when a light was run up to the masthead of 
 the schooner, and showed she was closer in than when 
 I had last seen her by the dying daylight. I concluded 
 that this must be a signal to Northmour's associates on 
 shore ; and, stepping forth into the links, looked around 
 me for something in response. 
 
 A small footpath ran along the margin of the wood, 
 and formed the most direct communication between the 
 pavilion and the mansion house; and, as I cast my eyes 
 to that side, I saw a spark of light, not a quarter of a 
 mile away, and rapidly approaching. From its uneven 
 course it appeared to be the light of a lantern carried by 
 a person who followed the windings of the path, and 
 was often staggered and taken aback by the more vio- 
 lent squalls. I concealed myself once more among the 
 elders, and waited eagerly for the new comer's advance. 
 It proved to be a woman; and, as she passed within 
 half a rod of my ambush, I was able to recognise the 
 features. The deaf and silent old dame, who had nursed 
 Northmour in his childhood, was his associate in this 
 underhand affair. 
 
 I followed her at a little distance, taking advantage of 
 the innumerable heights and hollows, concealed by the 
 darkness, and favoured not only by the nurse's deaf- 
 ness, but the uproar of the wind and surf. She entered 
 the pavilion, and, going at once to the upper story, 
 opened and set a light in one of the windows that 
 looked towards the sea. Immediately afterwards the 
 light at the schooner's masthead was run down and ex- 
 tinguished. Its purpose had been attained, and those 
 on board were sure that they were expected. The old 
 
 217 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 woman resumed her preparations; although the other 
 shutters remained closed, I could see a glimmer going to 
 and fro about the house; and a gush of sparks from one 
 chimney after another soon told me that the fires were 
 being kindled. 
 
 Northmour and his guests, I was now persuaded, 
 would come ashore as soon as there was water on the 
 floe. It was a wild night for boat service ; and I felt 
 some alarm mingle with my curiosity as I reflected on 
 the danger of the landing. My old acquaintance, it was 
 true, was the most eccentric of men; but the present 
 eccentricity was both disquieting and lugubrious to con- 
 sider. A variety of feelings thus led me towards the 
 beach, where I lay flat on my face in a hollow within 
 six feet of the track that led to the pavilion. Thence, I 
 should have the satisfaction of recognising the arrivals, 
 and, if they should prove to be acquaintances, greeting 
 them as soon as they had landed. 
 
 Some time before eleven, while the tide was still 
 dangerously low, a boat's lantern appeared close in shore ; 
 and, my attention being thus awakened, I could per- 
 ceive another still far to seaward, violently tossed, and 
 sometimes hidden by the billows. The weather, which 
 was getting dirtier as the night went on, and the peril- 
 ous situation of the yacht upon a lee-shore, had prob- 
 ably driven them to attempt a landing at the earliest 
 possible moment. 
 
 A little afterwards, four yachtsmen carrying a very 
 heavy chest, and guided by a fifth with a lantern, passed 
 close in front of me as I lay, and were admitted to the 
 pavilion by the nurse. They returned to the beach, and 
 passed me a third time with another chest, larger but 
 
 218 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 apparently not so heavy as the first. A third time they 
 made the transit ; and on this occasion one of the yachts- 
 men carried a leather portmanteau, and the others a 
 lady's trunk and carriage bag. My curiosity was sharply 
 excited. If a woman were among the guests of North- 
 mour, it would show a change in his habits and an 
 apostasy from his pet theories of life, well calculated to 
 fill me with surprise. When he and I dwelt there to- 
 gether, the pavilion had been a temple of misogyny. 
 And now, one of the detested sex was to be installed 
 under its roof. I remembered one or two particulars, 
 a few notes of daintiness and almost of coquetry which 
 had struck me the day before as I surveyed the prepa- 
 rations in the house ; their purpose was now clear, and 
 I thought myself dull not to have perceived it from the 
 first. 
 
 While I was thus reflecting a second lantern drew 
 near me from the beach. It was carried by a yachts- 
 man whom I had not yet seen, and who was conduct- 
 ing two other persons to the pavilion. These two per- 
 sons were unquestionably the guests for whom the 
 house was made ready ; and, straining eye and ear, I set 
 myself to watch them as they passed. One was an un- 
 usually tall man, in a travelling hat slouched over his 
 eyes, and a highland cape closely buttoned and turned 
 up so as to conceal his face. You could make out no 
 more of him than that he was, as I have said, unusually 
 tall, and walked feebly with a heavy stoop. By his 
 side, and either clinging to him or giving him support — 
 I could not make out which — was a young, tall, and 
 slender figure of a woman. She was extremely pale ; 
 but in the light of the lantern her face was so marred 
 
 219 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 by strong and changing shadows, that she might equally 
 well have been as ugly as sin or as beautiful as I after- 
 wards found her to be. 
 
 When they were just abreast of me, the girl made 
 some remark which was drowned by the noise of the 
 wind. 
 
 " Hush ! " said her companion; and there was some- 
 thing in the tone with which the word was uttered that 
 thrilled and rather shook my spirits. It seemed to breathe 
 from a bosom labouring under the deadliest terror ; I have 
 never heard another syllable so expressive; and I still 
 hear it again when I am feverish at night, and my mind 
 runs upon old times. The man turned towards the 
 girl as he spoke ; I had a glimpse of much red beard and 
 a nose which seemed to have been broken in youth; 
 and his light eyes seemed shining in his face with some 
 strong and unpleasant emotion. 
 
 But these two passed on and were admitted in their 
 turn to the pavilion. 
 
 One by one, or in groups, the seamen returned to the 
 beach. The wind brought me the sound of a rough 
 voice crying, " Shove off ! " Then, after a pause, another 
 lantern drew near. It was Northmour alone. 
 
 My wife and I, a man and a woman, have often agreed 
 to wonder how a person could be, at the same time, so 
 handsome and so repulsive as Northmour. He had the 
 appearance of a finished gentleman ; his face bore every 
 mark of intelligence and courage, but you had only to 
 look at him, even in his most amiable moment, to see 
 that he had the temper of a slave captain. I never knew 
 a character that was both explosive and revengeful to the 
 same degree ; he combined the vivacity of the south with 
 
 220 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 the sustained and deadly hatreds of the north ; and both 
 traits were plainly written on his face, which was a sort 
 of danger signal. In person he was tall, strong, and ac- 
 tive ; his hair and complexion very dark ; his features hand- 
 somely designed, but spoiled by a menacing expression. 
 
 At that moment he was somewhat paler than by na- 
 ture ; he wore a heavy frown ; and his lips worked, and he 
 looked sharply round as he walked, like a man besieged 
 with apprehensions. And yet I thought he had a look 
 of triumph underlying all, as though he had already done 
 much, and was near the end of an achievement. 
 
 Partly from a scruple of delicacy — which I dare say 
 came too late — partly from the pleasure of startling an 
 acquaintance, I desired to make my presence known to 
 him without delay. 
 
 I got suddenly to my feet, and stepped forward. 
 
 "Northmour!" said I. 
 
 I have never had so shocking a surprise in all my days. 
 He leaped on me without a word ; something shone in 
 his hand; and he struck for my heart with a dagger. 
 At the same moment I knocked him head over heels. 
 Whether it was my quickness, or his own uncertainty, I 
 know not; but the blade only grazed my shoulder while 
 the hilt and his fist struck me violently on the mouth. 
 
 I fled, but not far. I had often and often observed the 
 capabilities of the sand-hills for protracted ambush or 
 stealthy advances and retreats ; and, not ten yards from 
 the scene of the scuffle, plumped down again upon the 
 grass. The lantern had fallen and gone out. But what 
 was my astonishment to see Northmour slip at a bound 
 into the pavilion, and hear him bar the door behind him 
 with a clang of iron ! 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 He had not pursued me. He had run away. Northmour, 
 whom I knew for the most implacable and daring of 
 men, had run away ! I could scarce believe my reason ; 
 and yet in this strange business, where all was incredible, 
 there was nothing to make a work about in an incredi- 
 bility more or less. For why was the pavilion secretly 
 prepared ? Why had Northmour landed with his guests 
 at dead of night, in half a gale of wind, and with the 
 floe scarce covered ? Why had he sought to kill me ? 
 Had he not recognised my voice ? I wondered. And, 
 above all, how had he come to have a dagger ready in 
 his hand ? A dagger, or even a sharp knife, seemed out 
 of keeping with the age in which we lived ; and a gentle- 
 man landing from his yacht on the shore of his own 
 estate, even although it was at night and with some 
 mysterious circumstances, does not usually, as a matter 
 of fact, walk thus prepared for deadly onslaught. The 
 more I reflected, the further I felt at sea. I recapitulated 
 the elements of mystery, counting them on my fingers : 
 the pavilion secretly prepared for guests; the guests 
 landed at the risk of their lives and to the imminent peril 
 of the yacht ; the guests, or at least one of them, in un- 
 disguised and seemingly causeless terror; Northmour 
 with a naked weapon; Northmour stabbing his most 
 intimate acquaintance at a word; last, and not least 
 strange, Northmour fleeing from the man whom he had 
 sought to murder, and barricading himself, like a hunted 
 creature, behind the door of the pavilion. Here were at 
 least six separate causes for extreme surprise ; each part 
 and parcel with the others, and forming all together one 
 consistent story. I felt almost ashamed to believe my 
 own senses. 
 
 222 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 As I thus stood transfixed with wonder, I began to 
 grow painfully conscious of the injuries I had received 
 in the scuffle ; skulked round among the sand-hills ; and, 
 by a devious path, regained the shelter of the wood. 
 On the way, the old nurse passed again within several 
 yards of me, still carrying her lantern, on the return jour- 
 ney to the mansion-house of Graden. This made a 
 seventh suspicious feature in the case. Northmour and 
 his guests, it appeared, were to cook and do the clean- 
 ing for themselves, while the old woman continued to 
 inhabit the big empty barrack among the policies. 
 There must surely be great cause for secrecy, when so 
 many inconveniences were confronted to preserve it. 
 
 So thinking, I made my way to the den. For greater 
 security, I trod out the embers of the fire, and lit my 
 lantern to examine the wound upon my shoulder. It 
 was a trifling hurt, although it bled somewhat freely, and 
 I dressed it as well as I could (for its position made it 
 difficult to reach) with some rag and cold water from 
 the spring. While I was thus busied, I mentally declared 
 war against Northmour and his mystery. I am not an 
 angry man by nature, and I believe there was more curi- 
 osity than resentment in my heart. But war I certainly 
 declared ; and, by way of preparation, I got out my re- 
 volver, and, having drawn the charges, cleaned and re- 
 loaded it with scrupulous care. Next I became preoc- 
 cupied about my horse. It might break loose, or fall to 
 neighing, and so betray my camp in the Sea-Wood. I 
 determined to rid myself of its neighbourhood ; and long 
 before dawn I was leading it over the links in the direc- 
 tion of the fisher village. 
 
 223 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 TELLS HOW I BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH MY WIFE 
 
 For two days I skulked round the pavilion, profiting 
 by the uneven surface of the links. I became an adept 
 in the necessary tactics. These low hillocks and shal- 
 low dells, running one into another, became a kind of 
 cloak of darkness for my enthralling, but perhaps dis- 
 honourable, pursuit. Yet, in spite of this advantage, I 
 could learn but little of Northmour or his guests. 
 
 Fresh provisions were brought under cover of dark- 
 ness by the old woman from the mansion-house. North- 
 mour and the young lady, sometimes together, but more 
 often singly, would walk for an hour or two at a time 
 on the beach beside the quicksand. I could not but con- 
 clude that this promenade was chosen with an eye to 
 secrecy; for the spot was open only to the seaward. 
 But it suited me not less excellently; the highest and 
 most accidented of the sand-hills immediately adjoined ; 
 and from these, lying flat in a hollow, I could overlook 
 Northmour or the young lady as they walked. 
 
 The tall man seemed to have disappeared. Not only 
 did he never cross the threshold, but he never so much 
 as showed face at a window; or, at least, not so far as I 
 could see ; for I dared not creep forward beyond a certain 
 distance in the day, since the upper floor commanded 
 
 224 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 the bottoms of the links ; and at night, when I could 
 venture farther, the lower windows were barricaded as 
 if to stand a siege. Sometimes I thought the tall man 
 must be confined to bed, for I remembered the feebleness 
 of his gait; and sometimes I thought he must have gone 
 clear away, and that Northmour and the young lady re- 
 mained alone together in the pavilion. The idea, even 
 then, displeased me. 
 
 Whether or not this pair were man and wife, I had 
 seen abundant reason to doubt the friendliness of their 
 relation. Although I could hear nothing of what they 
 said, and rarely so much as glean a decided expression 
 on the face of either, there was a distance, almost a stiff- 
 ness, in their bearing which showed them to be either 
 unfamiliar or at enmity. The girl walked faster when 
 she was with Northmour than when she was alone; 
 and I conceived that any inclination between a man and 
 a woman would rather delay than accelerate the step. 
 Moreover, she kept a good yard free of him, and trailed 
 her umbrella, as if it were a barrier, on the side between 
 them. Northmour kept sidling closer; and, as the girl 
 retired from his advance, their course lay at a sort of 
 diagonal across the beach, and would have landed them 
 in the surf had it been long enough continued. But, 
 when it was imminent, the girl would unostentatiously 
 change sides and put Northmour between her and the 
 sea. I watched these manoeuvres, for my part, with 
 high enjoyment and approval, and chuckled to myself 
 at every move. 
 
 On the morning of the third day, she walked alone 
 for some time, and I perceived, to my great concern, 
 that she was more than once in tears. You will see 
 
 225 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 that my heart was already interested more than I sup- 
 posed. She had a firm yet airy motion of the body, and 
 carried her head with unimaginable grace; every step 
 was a thing to look at, and she seemed in my eyes to 
 breathe sweetness and distinction. 
 
 The day was so agreeable, being calm and sunshiny, 
 with a tranquil sea, and yet with a healthful piquancy 
 and vigour in the air, that, contrary to custom, she was 
 tempted forth a second time to walk. On this occasion 
 she was accompanied by Northmour, and they had been 
 but a short while on the beach, when I saw him take 
 forcible possession of her hand. She struggled, and ut- 
 tered a cry that was almost a scream. I sprang to my 
 feet, unmindful of my strange position ; but, ere I had 
 taken a step, I saw Northmour bare-headed and bowing 
 very low, as if to apologise ; and dropped again at once 
 into my ambush. A few words were interchanged ; and 
 then, with another bow, he left the beach to return to 
 the pavilion. He passed not far from me, and I could 
 see him, flushed and lowering, and cutting savagely 
 with his cane among the grass. It was not without 
 satisfaction that I recognised my own handiwork in a 
 great cut under his right eye, and a considerable discol- 
 oration round the socket. 
 
 For some time the girl remained where he had left 
 her, looking out past the islet and over the bright sea. 
 Then with a start, as one who throws off preoccupation 
 and puts energy again upon its mettle, she broke into a 
 rapid and decisive walk. She also was much incensed 
 by what had passed. She had forgotten where she was. 
 And I beheld her walk straight into the borders of the 
 quicksand where it is most abrupt and dangerous. Two 
 
 226 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 or three steps farther and her life would have been in 
 serious jeopardy, when I slid down the face of the sand- 
 hill, which is there precipitous, and, running half-way 
 forward, called to her to stop. 
 
 She did so, and turned round. There was not a 
 tremor of fear in her behaviour, and she marched di- 
 rectly up to me like a queen. I was barefoot, and clad 
 like a common sailor, save for an Egyptian scarf round 
 my waist ; and she probably took me at first for some 
 one from the fisher village, straying after bait. As for 
 her, when I thus saw her face to face, her eyes set 
 steadily and imperiously upon mine, I was filled with 
 admiration and astonishment, and thought her even 
 more beautiful than I had looked to find her. Nor could 
 I think enough of one who, acting with so much bold- 
 ness, yet preserved a maidenly air that was both quaint 
 and engaging; for my wife kept an old-fashioned preci- 
 sion of manner through all her admirable life — an excel- 
 lent thing in woman, since it sets another value on her 
 sweet familiarities. 
 
 " What does this mean ?" she asked. 
 
 " You were walking," I told her, " directly into Gra- 
 den Floe." 
 
 "You do not belong to these parts," she said again. 
 "You speak like an educated man." 
 
 "I believe I have a right to that name," said I, 
 "although in this disguise." 
 
 But her woman's eye had already detected the sash. 
 
 "Oh! " she said; "your sash betrays you." 
 
 " You have said the word betray/' I resumed. " May 
 I ask you not to betray me ? I was obliged to disclose 
 myself in your interest; but if Northmour learned 
 
 327 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 my presence it might be worse than disagreeable for 
 me." 
 
 "Do you know," she asked, "to whom you are 
 speaking ? " 
 
 "Not to Mr. Northmour's wife ? " I asked, by way of 
 answer. 
 
 She shook her head. AH this while she was studying 
 my face with an embarrassing intentness. Then she 
 broke out — 
 
 " You have an honest face. Be honest like your face, 
 sir, and tell me what you want and what you are afraid 
 of. Do you think I could hurt you ? I believe you have 
 far more power to injure me ! And yet you do not look 
 unkind. What do you mean — you, a gentleman — by 
 skulking like a spy about this desolate place ? Tell me," 
 she said, " who is it you hate ? " 
 
 "I hate no one," I answered; " and I fear no one face 
 to face. My name is Cassilis — Frank Cassilis. I lead 
 the life of a vagabond for my own good pleasure. I am 
 one of Northmour's oldest friends ; and three nights ago, 
 when I addressed him on these links, he stabbed me in 
 the shoulder with a knife." 
 
 "It was you! " she said. 
 
 "Why he did so," I continued, disregarding the in- 
 terruption, "is more than I can guess, and more than I 
 care to know. I have not many friends, nor am I very 
 susceptible to friendship ; but no man shall drive me from 
 a place by terror. I had camped in Graden Sea- Wood ere 
 he came; I camp in it still. If you think I mean harm to 
 you or yours, madam, the remedy is in your hand. Tell 
 him that my camp is in the Hemlock Den, and to-night 
 he can stab me in safety while I sleep." 
 
 228 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 With this I doffed my cap to her, and scrambled up 
 once more among the sand-hills. I do not know why, 
 but I felt a prodigious sense of injustice, and felt like a 
 hero and a martyr ; while, as a matter of fact, I had not 
 a word to say in my defence, nor so much as one plau- 
 sible reason to offer for my conduct. I had stayed at 
 Graden out of a curiosity natural enough, but undig- 
 nified; and though there was another motive grow- 
 ing in along with the first, it was not one which, at that 
 period, I could have properly explained to the lady of 
 my heart. 
 
 Certainly, that night, I thought of no one else ; and, 
 though her whole conduct and position seemed suspi- 
 cious, I could not find it in my heart to entertain a doubt 
 of her integrity. I could have staked my life that she 
 was clear of blame, and, though all was dark at the pres- 
 ent, that the explanation of the mystery would show 
 her part in these events to be both right and needful. It 
 was true, let me cudgel my imagination as I pleased, 
 that I could invent no theory of her relations to North- 
 mour; but I felt none the less sure of my conclusion be- 
 cause it was founded on instinct in place of reason, and, 
 as I may say, went to sleep that night with the thought 
 of her under my pillow. 
 
 Next day she came out about the same hour alone, 
 and, as soon as the sand-hills concealed her from the 
 pavilion, drew nearer to the edge, and called me by 
 name in guarded tones. I was astonished to observe 
 that she was deadly pale, and seemingly under the in- 
 fluence of strong emotion. 
 
 " Mr. Cassilis! " she cried; " Mr. Cassilis! " 
 
 I appeared at once, and leaped down upon the beach. 
 229 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 A remarkable air of relief overspread her countenance as 
 soon as she saw me. 
 
 " Oh ! " she cried, with a hoarse sound, like one whose 
 bosom has been lightened of weight. And then, "Thank 
 God, you are still safe!" she added; "I knew, if you 
 were, you would be here." (Was not this strange ? So 
 swiftly and wisely does Nature prepare our hearts for 
 these great life-long intimacies, that both my wife and I 
 had been given a presentiment on this the second day 
 of our acquaintance. I had even then hoped that she 
 would seek me; she had felt sure that she would find 
 me.) " Do not," she went on swiftly, "do not stay in 
 this place. Promise me that you will sleep no longer 
 in that wood. You do not know how I suffer; all last 
 night I could not sleep for thinking of your peril." 
 
 "Peril?" I repeated. "Peril from whom? From 
 Northmour ? " 
 
 "Not so," she said. "Did you think I would tell 
 him after what you said ? " 
 
 "Not from Northmour ? " I repeated. "Then how ? 
 From whom ? I see none to be afraid of." 
 
 "You must not ask me," was her reply, "for I am 
 not free to tell you. Only believe me, and go hence — be- 
 lieve me, and go away quickly, quickly, for your life ! " 
 
 An appeal to his alarm is never a good plan to rid 
 oneself of a spirited young man. My obstinacy was but 
 increased by what she said, and I made it a point of 
 honour to remain. And her solicitude for my safety still 
 more confirmed me in the resolve. 
 
 "You must not think me inquisitive, madam," I re- 
 plied; "but, if Graden is so dangerous a place, you 
 yourself perhaps remain here at some risk." 
 
 330 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 She only looked at me reproachfully. 
 
 1 ' You and your father , " I resumed ; but she in- 
 terrupted me almost with a gasp. 
 
 " My father! How do you know that ?" she cried. 
 
 M I saw you together when you landed," was my an- 
 swer; and I do not know why, but it seemed satisfac- 
 tory to both of us, as indeed it was the truth. " But," 
 I continued, "you need have no fear from me. I see 
 you have some reason to be secret, and, you may believe 
 me, your secret is as safe with me as if I were in Graden 
 Floe. I have scarce spoken to anyone for years; my 
 horse is my only companion, and even he, poor beast, 
 is not beside me. You see, then, you may count on 
 me for silence. So tell me the truth, my dear young 
 lady, are you not in danger ? " 
 
 "Mr. Northmour says you are an honourable man," 
 she returned, "and I believe it when I see you. I will 
 tell you so much; you are right; we are in dreadful, 
 dreadful danger, and you share it by remaining where 
 you are." 
 
 "Ah!" said I; "you have heard of me from North- 
 mour ? And he gives me a good character ? " 
 
 " I asked him about you last night," was her reply. 
 " I pretended," she hesitated, " I pretended to have met 
 you long ago, and spoken to you of him. It was not 
 true ; but I could not help myself without betraying you, 
 and you had put me in a difficulty. He praised you 
 highly." 
 
 " And — you may permit me one question — does this 
 danger come from Northmour ? " I asked. 
 
 " From Mr. Northmour?" she cried. "Oh, no; he 
 stays with us to share it." 
 
 231 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " While you propose that I should run away ? " I said. 
 "You do not rate me very high." 
 
 "Why should you stay ? " she asked. "You are no 
 friend of ours." 
 
 I know not what came over me, for I had not been 
 conscious of a similar weakness since I was a child, but I 
 was so mortified by this retort that my eyes pricked and 
 filled with tears, as I continued to gaze upon her face. 
 
 "No, no," she said, in a changed voice; "I did not 
 mean the words unkindly." 
 
 "It was I who offended," I said; and I held out my 
 hand with a look of appeal that somehow touched her, 
 for she gave me hers at once, and even eagerly. I held 
 it for awhile in mine, and gazed into her eyes. It was 
 she who first tore her hand away, and, forgetting all 
 about her request and the promise she had sought to 
 extort, ran at the top of her speed, and without turning, 
 till she was out of sight. And then I knew that I loved 
 her, and thought in my glad heart that she — she her- 
 self — was not indifferent to my suit. Many a time she 
 has denied it in after days, but it was with a smiling 
 and not a serious denial. For my part, I am sure our 
 hands would not have lain so closely in each other if 
 she had not begun to melt to me already. And, when 
 all is said, it is no great contention, since, by her own 
 avowal, she began to love me on the morrow. 
 
 And yet on the morrow very little took place. She 
 came and called me down as on the day before, up- 
 braided me for lingering at Graden, and, when she found 
 I was still obdurate, began to ask me more particularly 
 as to my arrival. I told her by what series of accidents 
 I had come to witness their disembarkation, and how I 
 
 232 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 had determined to remain, partly from the interest which 
 had been wakened in me by Northmour's guests, and 
 partly because of his own murderous attack. As to the 
 former, I fear I was disingenuous, and led her to regard 
 herself as having been an attraction to me from the first 
 moment that I saw her on the links. It relieves my 
 heart to make this confession even now, when my wife 
 is with God, and already knows all things, and the hon- 
 esty of my purpose even in this; for while she lived, 
 although it often pricked my conscience, I had never the 
 hardihood to undeceive her. Even a little secret, in 
 such a married life as ours, is like the rose-leaf which 
 kept the Princess from her sleep. 
 
 From this the talk branched into other subjects, and I 
 told her much about my lonely and wandering exist- 
 ence; she, for her part, giving ear, and saying little. Al- 
 though we spoke very naturally, and latterly on topics 
 that might seem indifferent, we were both sweetly agi- 
 tated. Too soon it was time for her to go ; and we sep- 
 arated, as if by mutual consent, without shaking hands, 
 for both knew that, between us, it was no idle ceremony. 
 
 The next, and that was the fourth day of our acquain- 
 tance, we met in the same spot, but early in the morn- 
 ing, with much familiarity and yet much timidity on 
 either side. When she had once more spoken about 
 my danger — and that, I understood, was her excuse for 
 coming — I, who had prepared a great deal of talk dur- 
 ing the night, began to tell her how highly I valued her 
 kind interest, and how no one had ever cared to hear 
 about my life, nor had I ever cared to relate it, before 
 yesterday. Suddenly she interrupted me, saying with 
 vehemence — 
 
 *3* 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " And yet, if you knew who I was, you would not so 
 much as speak to me! " 
 
 I told her such a thought was madness, and, little as 
 we had met, I counted her already a dear friend; but 
 my protestations seemed only to make her more des- 
 perate. 
 
 " My father is in hiding! " she cried. 
 
 " My dear," I said, forgetting for the first time to add 
 "young lady," " what do I care ? If he were in hiding 
 twenty times over, would it make one thought of change 
 in you?" 
 
 "Ah, but the cause!" she cried, "the cause! It 
 is — " she faltered for a second — "it is disgraceful 
 to us!" 
 
 *34 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 TELLS IN WHAT A STARTLING MANNER I LEARNED THAT I 
 WAS NOT ALONE IN GRADEN SEA-WOOD 
 
 This was my wife's story, as I drew it from her among 
 tears and sobs. Her name was Clara Huddlestone: it 
 sounded very beautiful in my ears ; but not so beautiful 
 as that other name of Clara Cassilis, which she wore 
 during the longer and, I thank God, the happier portion 
 of her life. Her father, Bernard Huddlestone, had been 
 a private banker in a very large way of business. Many 
 years before, his affairs becoming disordered, he had 
 been led to try dangerous, and at last criminal, expe- 
 dients to retrieve himself from ruin. All was in vain ; 
 he became more and more cruelly involved, and found 
 his honour lost at the same moment with his fortune. 
 About this period, Northmour had been courting his 
 daughter with great assiduity, though with small en- 
 couragement; and to him, knowing him thus disposed 
 in his favour, Bernard Huddlestone turned for help in his 
 extremity. It was not merely ruin and dishonour, nor 
 merely a legal condemnation, that the unhappy man 
 had brought on his head. It seems he could have gone 
 to prison with a light heart. What he feared, what 
 kept him awake at night or recalled him from slumber 
 into frenzy, was some secret, sudden, and unlawful at- 
 tempt upon his life. Hence, he desired to bury his ex- 
 
 335 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 istence and escape to one of the islands in the South 
 Pacific, and it was in Northmour's yacht, the Red Earl, 
 that he designed to go. The yacht picked them up 
 clandestinely upon the coast of Wales, and had once 
 more deposited them at Graden, till she could be refit- 
 ted and provisioned for the longer voyage. Nor could 
 Clara doubt that her hand had been stipulated as the 
 price of passage. For, although Northmour was neither 
 unkind or discourteous, he had shown himself in several 
 instances somewhat overbold in speech and manner. 
 
 I listened, I need not say, with fixed attention, and 
 put many questions as to the more mysterious part. It 
 was in vain. She had no clear idea of what the blow 
 was, nor of how it was expected to fall. Her father's 
 alarm was unfeigned and physically prostrating, and he 
 had thought more than once of making an unconditional 
 surrender to the police. But the scheme was finally 
 abandoned, for he was convinced that not even the 
 strength of our English prisons could shelter him from 
 his pursuers. He had had many affairs with Italy, and 
 with Italians resident in London, in the later years of 
 his business; and these last, as Clara fancied, were 
 somehow connected with the doom that threatened him. 
 He had shown great terror at the presence of an Italian 
 seaman on board the Red Earl, and had bitterly and re- 
 peatedly accused Northmour in consequence. The lat- 
 ter had protested that Beppo (that was the seaman's 
 name) was a capital fellow and could be trusted to the 
 death; but Mr. Huddlestone had continued ever since 
 to declare that all was lost, that it was only a question 
 of days, and that Beppo would be the ruin of him yet. 
 
 I regarded the whole story as the hallucination of a 
 236 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 mind shaken by calamity. He had suffered heavy loss 
 by his Italian transactions ; and hence the sight of an 
 Italian was hateful to him, and the principal part in his 
 nightmare would naturally enough be played by one of 
 that nation. 
 
 "What your father wants," I said, "is a good doctor 
 and some calming medicine." 
 
 "But Mr. Northmour?" objected your mother. 
 " He is untroubled by losses, and yet he shares in this 
 terror." 
 
 I could not help laughing at what I considered her 
 simplicity. 
 
 " My dear," said I, "you have told me yourself what 
 reward he has to look for. AH is fair in love, you must 
 remember; and if Northmour foments your father's ter- 
 rors, it is not at all because he is afraid of any Italian man, 
 but simply because he is infatuated with a charming 
 English woman." 
 
 She reminded me of his attack upon myself on the 
 night of the disembarkation, and this I was unable to 
 explain. In short, and from one thing to another, it was 
 agreed between us, that I should set out at once for the 
 fisher village, Graden Wester, as it was called, look up 
 all the newspapers I could find, and see for myself if 
 there seemed any basis of fact for these continued 
 alarms. The next morning, at the same hour and place, 
 I was to make my report to Clara. She said no more on 
 that occasion about my departure; nor indeed, did she 
 make it a secret that she clung to the thought of my 
 proximity as something helpful and pleasant; and, for 
 my part, I could not have left her, if she had gone upon 
 her knees to ask it. 
 
 237 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 I reached Graden Wester before ten in the forenoon ; 
 for in those days I was an excellent pedestrian, and the dis- 
 tance, as I think I have said, was little over seven miles ; 
 fine walking all the way upon the springy turf. The vil- 
 lage is one of the bleakest on that coast, which is saying 
 much : there is a church in a hollow, a miserable haven 
 in the rocks, where many boats have been lost as they 
 returned from fishing; two or three score of stone houses 
 arranged along the beach and in two streets, one lead- 
 ing from the harbour, and another striking out from it at 
 right angles ; and, at the corner of these two, a very 
 dark and cheerless tavern, by way of principal hotel. 
 
 I had dressed myself somewhat more suitably to my 
 station in life, and at once called upon the minister in 
 his little manse beside the graveyard. He knew me, 
 although it was more than nine years since we had met ; 
 and when I told him that I had been long upon a walk- 
 ing tour, and was behind with the news, readily lent me 
 an armful of newspapers, dating from a month back to 
 the day before. With these I sought the tavern, and, 
 ordering some breakfast, sat down to study the "Hud- 
 dlestone Failure." 
 
 It had been, it appeared, a very flagrant case. Thou- 
 sands of persons were reduced to poverty ; and one in 
 particular had blown out his brains as soon as payment 
 was suspended. It was strange to myself that, while I 
 read these details, I continued rather to sympathise with 
 Mr. Huddlestone than with his victims; so complete al- 
 ready was the empire of my love for my wife. A price 
 was naturally set upon the banker's head; and, as the 
 case was inexcusable and the public indignation thor- 
 oughly aroused, the unusual figure of 750/. was offered 
 
 258 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 for his capture. He was reported to have large sums of 
 money in his possession. One day, he had been heard 
 of in Spain ; the next, there was sure intelligence that 
 he was still lurking between Manchester and Liverpool, 
 or along the border of Wales ; and the day after, a tele- 
 gram would announce his arrival in Cuba or Yucatan. 
 But in all this there was no word of an Italian, nor any 
 sign of mystery. 
 
 In the very last paper, however, there was one item 
 not so clear. The accountants who were charged to 
 verify the failure had, it seemed, come upon the traces 
 of a large number of thousands, which figured for some 
 time in the transactions of the house of Huddlestone; 
 but which came from nowhere, and disappeared in the 
 same mysterious fashion. It was only once referred to 
 by name, and then under the initials "X. X."; but it 
 had plainly been floated for the first time into the bus- 
 iness at a period of great depression some six years ago. 
 The name of a distinguished Royal personage had been 
 mentioned by rumour in connection with this sum. ' ' The 
 cowardly desperado " — such, I remember, was the edi- 
 torial expression — was supposed to have escaped with a 
 large part of this mysterious fund still in his possession. 
 
 I was still brooding over the fact, and trying to tor- 
 ture it into some connection with Mr. Huddlestone's 
 danger, when a man entered the tavern and asked for 
 some bread and cheese with a decided foreign accent. 
 
 " Siete Italiano?" said I. 
 
 " St, signor," was his reply. 
 
 I said it was unusually far north to find one of his 
 compatriots ; at which he shrugged his shoulders, and 
 replied that a man would go anywhere to find work. 
 
 *39 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 What work he could hope to find at Graden Wester, I 
 was totally unable to conceive; and the incident struck 
 so unpleasantly upon my mind, that 1 asked the land- 
 lord, while he was counting me some change, whether 
 he had ever before seen an Italian in the village. He said 
 he had once seen some Norwegians, who had been ship- 
 wrecked on the other side of Graden Ness and rescued 
 by the lifeboat from Cauld-haven. 
 
 " No! " said I; "but an Italian, like the man who has 
 just had bread and cheese." 
 
 " What ? " cried he, "yon black-avised fellow wi' the 
 teeth ? Was he an I-talian ? Weel, yon's the first that 
 ever I saw, an' I dare say he's like to be the last." 
 
 Even as he was speaking, I raised my eyes, and, cast- 
 ing a glance into the street, beheld three men in earnest 
 conversation together, and not thirty yards away. One 
 of them was my recent companion in the tavern parlor; 
 the other two, by their handsome, sallow features and 
 soft hats, should evidently belong to the same race. A 
 crowd of village children stood around them, gesticu- 
 lating and talking gibberish in imitation. The trio looked 
 singularly foreign to the bleak dirty street in which they 
 were standing, and the dark gray heaven that overspread 
 them ; and I confess my incredulity received at that mo- 
 ment a shock from which it never recovered. I might 
 reason with myself as I pleased, but I could not argue 
 down the effect of what I had seen, and I began to share 
 in the Italian terror. 
 
 It was already drawing towards the close of the day 
 before I had returned the newspapers at the manse, and 
 got well forward on to the links on my way home. 1 
 shall never forget that walk. It grew very cold and 
 
 240 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 boisterous ; the wind sang in the short grass about my 
 feet; thin rain showers came running on the gusts; and 
 an immense mountain range of clouds began to arise out 
 of the bosom of the sea. It would be hard to imagine 
 a more dismal evening; and whether it was from these 
 external influences, or because my nerves were already 
 affected by what I had heard and seen, my thoughts were 
 as gloomy as the weather. 
 
 The upper windows of the pavilion commanded a 
 considerable spread of links in the direction of Graden 
 Wester. To avoid observation, it was necessary to hug 
 the beach until I had gained cover from the higher sand- 
 hills on the little headland, when I might strike across, 
 through the hollows, for the margin of the wood. The 
 sun was about setting; the tide was low, and all the 
 quicksands uncovered ; and I was moving along, lost in 
 unpleasant thought, when I was suddenly thunder- 
 struck to perceive the prints of human feet. They ran 
 parallel to my own course, but low down upon the 
 beach instead of along the border of the turf; and, when 
 I examined them, I saw at once, by the size and coarse- 
 ness of the impression, that it was a stranger to me and 
 to those in the pavilion who had recently passed that 
 way. Not only so ; but from the recklessness of the 
 course which he had followed, steering near to the most 
 formidable portions of the sand, he was as evidently a 
 stranger to the country and to the ill-repute of Graden 
 beach. 
 
 Step by step I followed the prints ; until, a quarter of 
 a mile further, I beheld them die away into the south- 
 eastern boundary of Graden Floe. There, whoever he 
 was, the miserable man had perished. One or two 
 
 241 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 gulls, who had, perhaps, seen him disappear, wheeled 
 over his sepulchre with their usual melancholy piping. 
 The sun had broken through the clouds by a last effort, 
 and coloured the wide level of quicksands with a dusky 
 purple. I stood for some time gazing at the spot, chilled 
 and disheartened by my own reflections, and with a 
 strong and commanding consciousness of death. I re- 
 member wondering how long the tragedy had taken, 
 and whether his screams had been audible at the pavil- 
 ion. And then, making a strong resolution, I was about 
 to tear myself away, when a gust fiercer than usual fell 
 upon this quarter of the beach, and I saw now, whirling 
 high in air, now skimming lightly across the surface of 
 the sands, a soft, black, felt hat, somewhat conical in 
 shape, such as I had remarked already on the heads of 
 the Italians. 
 
 I believe, but I am not sure, that I uttered a cry. The 
 wind was driving the hat shoreward, and I ran round 
 the border of the floe to be ready against its arrival. The 
 gust fell, dropping the hat for a while upon the quicksand, 
 and then, once more freshening, landed it a few yards 
 from where I stood. I seized it with the interest you 
 may imagine. It had seen some service; indeed, it was 
 rustier than either of those I had seen that day upon the 
 street. The lining was red, stamped with the name of 
 the maker, which I have forgotten, and that of the place 
 of manufacture, Venedig. This (it is not yet forgotten) 
 was the name given by the Austrians to the beautiful 
 city of Venice, then, and for long after, a part of their 
 dominions. 
 
 The shock was complete. I saw imaginary Italians 
 upon every side; and for the first, and, I may say, for 
 
 242 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 the last time in my experience, became overpowered by 
 what is called panic terror. I knew nothing, that is, to 
 be afraid of, and yet I admit that I was heartily afraid; 
 and it was with a sensible reluctance that I returned to 
 my exposed and solitary camp in the Sea- Wood. 
 
 There I ate some cold porridge which had been left 
 over from the night before, for I was disinclined to make 
 a fire; and, feeling strengthened and reassured, dis- 
 missed all these fanciful terrors from my mind, and lay 
 down to sleep with composure. 
 
 How long I may have slept it is impossible for me to 
 guess ; but I was awakened at last by a sudden, blind- 
 ing flash of light into my face. It woke me like a blow. 
 In an instant I was upon my knees. But the light had 
 gone as suddenly as it came. The darkness was intense. 
 And, as it was blowing great guns from the sea and 
 pouring with rain, the noises of the storm effectually 
 concealed all others. 
 
 It was, I dare say, half a minute before I regained my 
 self-possession. But fortwo circumstances, I should have 
 thought I had been awakened by some new and vivid 
 form of nightmare. First, the flap of my tent, which I 
 had shut carefully when I retired, was now unfastened ; 
 and, second, I could still perceive, with a sharpness that 
 excluded any theory of hallucination, the smell of hot 
 metal and of burning oil. The conclusion was obvious. 
 I had been awakened by some one flashing a bull's-eye 
 lantern in my face. It had been but a flash, and away. 
 He had seen my face, and then gone. I asked myself 
 the object of so strange a proceeding, and the answer 
 came pat. The man, whoever he was, had thought to 
 recognise me, and he had not. There was yet another 
 
 243 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 question unsolved ; and to this, i may say, I feared to 
 give an answer; if he had recognised me, what would 
 he have done ? 
 
 My fears were immediately diverted from myself, for 
 I saw that I had been visited in a mistake ; and I became 
 persuaded that some dreadful danger threatened the 
 pavilion. It required some nerve to issue forth into the 
 black and intricate thicket which surrounded and over- 
 hung the den; but I groped my way to the links, 
 drenched with rain, beaten upon and deafened by the 
 gusts, and fearing at every step to lay my hand upon 
 some lurking adversary. The darkness was so com- 
 plete that I might have been surrounded by an army 
 and yet none the wiser, and the uproar of the gale so 
 loud that my hearing was as useless as my sight. 
 
 For the rest of the night, which seemed interminably 
 long, I patrolled the vicinity of the pavilion, without see- 
 ing a living creature or hearing any noise but the con- 
 cert of the wind, the sea, and the rain. A light in the 
 upper story filtered through a cranny in the shutter, and 
 kept me company till the approach of dawn. 
 
 244 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 TELLS OF AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN NORTHMOUR, 
 CLARA, AND MYSELF 
 
 With the first peep of day, I retired from the open to 
 my old lair among the sand-hills, there to await the com- 
 ing of my wife. The morning was gray, wild, and 
 melancholy; the wind moderated before sunrise, and 
 then went about, and blew in puffs from the shore; the 
 sea began to go down, but the rain still fell without 
 mercy. Over all the wilderness of links there was not 
 a creature to be seen. Yet I felt sure the neighbourhood 
 was alive with skulking foes. The light had been so 
 suddenly and surprisingly flashed upon my face as I 
 lay sleeping, and the hat that had been blown ashore by 
 the wind from over Graden Floe, were two speaking 
 signals of the peril that environed Clara and the party in 
 the pavilion. 
 
 It was, perhaps, half-past seven, or nearer eight, be- 
 fore I saw the door open, and that dear figure come 
 towards me in the rain. I was waiting for her on the 
 beach before she had crossed the sand-hills. 
 
 "I have had such trouble to come!" she cried. 
 " They did not wish me to go walking in the rain." 
 
 "Clara," I said, "you are not frightened ! " 
 
 "No," said she, with a simplicity that filled my heart 
 with confidence. For my wife was the bravest as well 
 
 245 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 as the best of women ; in my experience I have not 
 found the two go always together, but with her they 
 did ; and she combined the extreme of fortitude with the 
 most endearing and beautiful virtues. 
 
 I told her what had happened; and, though her cheek 
 grew visibly paler, she retained perfect control over her 
 senses. 
 
 "You see now that I am safe," said I in conckision. 
 "They do not mean to harm me; for, had they chosen, 
 I was a dead man last night." 
 
 She laid her hand upon my arm. 
 
 " And I had no presentiment ! " she cried. 
 
 Her accent thrilled me with delight. I put my arm 
 about her, and strained her to my side; and, before 
 either of us was aware, her hands were on my shoul- 
 ders and my lips upon her mouth. Yet up to that mo- 
 ment no word of love had passed between us. To this 
 time I remember the touch of her cheek, which was 
 wet and cold with the rain; and many a time since, 
 when she has been washing her face, I have kissed it 
 again for the sake of that morning on the beach. Now 
 that she is taken from me, and I finish my pilgrimage 
 alone, I recall our old loving kindness and the deep 
 honesty and affection which united us, and my present 
 loss seems but a trifle in comparison. 
 
 We may have thus stood for some seconds — for time 
 passes quickly with lovers — before we were startled by 
 a peal of laughter close at hand. It was not natural 
 mirth, but seemed to be affected in order to conceal an 
 angrier feeling. We both turned, though I still kept my 
 left arm about Clara's waist; nor did she seek to with- 
 draw herself; and there, a few paces off upon the beach, 
 
 246 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 stood Northmour, his head lowered, his hands behind 
 his back, his nostrils white with passion. 
 
 " Ah ! Cassilis ! " he said, as I disclosed my face. 
 
 14 That same," said I ; for 1 was not at all put about. 
 
 "And so, Miss Huddlestone," he continued slowly 
 but savagely, "this is how you keep your faith to your 
 father and to me ? This is the value you set upon your 
 father's life ? And you are so infatuated with this young 
 gentleman that you must brave ruin, and decency, and 
 common human caution *' 
 
 1 ' Miss Huddlestone — " I was beginning to interrupt 
 him, when he, in his turn, cut in brutally 
 
 "You hold your tongue," said he; "lam speaking 
 to that girl." 
 
 "That girl, as you call her, is my wife," said I: and 
 my wife only leaned a little nearer, so that I knew she 
 had affirmed my words. 
 
 1 ' Your what ? " he cried. ■ ' You lie ! " 
 
 "Northmour," I said, "we all know you have a bad 
 temper, and I am the last man to be irritated by words. 
 For all that, I propose that you speak lower, for I am 
 convinced that we are not alone." 
 
 He looked round him, and it was plain my remark had 
 in some degree sobered his passion. "What do you 
 mean ! " he asked. 
 
 I only said one word : "Italians." 
 
 He swore a round oath, and looked at us, from one 
 to the other. 
 
 "Mr. Cassilis knows all that I know," said my wife. 
 
 "What I want to know," he broke out, "is where 
 the devil Mr. Cassilis comes from, and what the devil 
 Mr. Cassilis is doing here. You say you are married: 
 
 247 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 that I do not believe. If you were, Graden Floe would 
 soon divorce you; four minutes and a half, Cassilis; 1 
 keep my private cemetery for my friends." 
 
 " It took somewhat longer," said I, "for that Italian." 
 
 He looked at me for a moment half daunted, and then, 
 almost civilly, asked me to tell my story. " You have 
 too much the advantage of me, Cassilis," he added. I 
 complied, of course; and he listened, with several ejac- 
 ulations, while I told him how I had come to Graden ; 
 that it was I whom he had tried to murder on the night 
 of landing ; and what I had subsequently seen and heard 
 of the Italians. 
 
 "Well," said he, when I had done, " it is here at last; 
 there is no mistake about that. And what, may I ask, 
 do you propose to do ?" 
 
 "I propose to stay with you and lend a hand," said I. 
 
 "You are a brave man," he returned, with a peculiar 
 intonation. 
 
 " I am not afraid," said I. 
 
 "And so," he continued, " I am to understand that you 
 two are married ? And you stand up to it before my 
 face, Miss Huddlestone ? " 
 
 " We are not yet married," said Clara; " but we shall 
 be as soon as we can." 
 
 "Bravo!" cried Northmour. "And the bargain? 
 D — n it, you're not a fool, young woman ; I may call a 
 spade a spade with you. How about the bargain ? You 
 know as well as I do what your father's life depends upon. 
 I have only to put my hands under my coat-tails and walk 
 away, and his throat would be cut before the evening." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Northmour," returned Clara, with great 
 spirit; " but that is what you will never do. You made 
 
 248 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 a bargain that was unworthy of a gentleman ; but you 
 are a gentleman for all that, and you will never desert a 
 man whom you have begun to help." 
 
 "Aha!" said he. "You think I will give my yacht 
 for nothing ? You think I will risk my life and liberty 
 for love of the old gentleman; and then, I suppose, be best 
 man at the wedding, to wind up? Well," he added, 
 with an odd smile, "perhaps you are not altogether 
 wrong. But ask Cassilis here. He knows me. Am I a 
 man to trust ? Am I safe and scrupulous ? Am I kind ? " 
 
 "I know you talk a great deal, and sometimes, I 
 think, very foolishly, " replied Clara, ' ' but I know you are 
 a gentleman, and I am not in the least afraid." 
 
 He looked at her with a peculiar approval and admi- 
 ration; then, turning to me, "Do you think I would 
 give her up without a struggle, Frank?" said he. "I 
 tell you plainly, you look out. The next time we come 
 to blows " 
 
 "Will make the third," I interrupted, smiling. 
 
 "Aye, true; so it will," he said. "I had forgotten. 
 Well, the third time's lucky." 
 
 "The third time, you mean, you will have the crew 
 of the Red Earl to help," I said. 
 
 "Do you hear him?" he asked, turning to my wife. 
 
 "I hear two men speaking like cowards," said she. 
 " I should despise myself either to think or speak like 
 that. And neither of you believes one word that you 
 are saying, which makes it the more wicked and silly." 
 
 " She's a trump! " cried Northmour. " But she's not 
 yet Mrs. Cassilis. I say no more. The present is not 
 for me." 
 
 Then my wife surprised me. 
 249 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " I leave you here," she said suddenly. u My father 
 has been too long alone. But remember this : you are 
 to be friends, for you are both good friends to me." 
 
 She has since told me her reason for this step. As 
 long as she remained, she declares that we two would 
 have continued to quarrel ; and I suppose that she was 
 right, for when she was gone we fell at once into a sort 
 of confidentiality. 
 
 Northmour stared after her as she went away over 
 the sand-hill. 
 
 " She is the only woman in the world ! " he exclaimed 
 with an oath. " Look at her action." 
 
 I, for my part, leaped at this opportunity for a little 
 further light. 
 
 " See here, Northmour," said I ; " we are all in a tight 
 place, are we not ? " 
 
 "I believe you, my boy," he answered, looking me 
 in the eyes, and with great emphasis. "We have all 
 hell upon us, that's the truth. You may believe me or 
 not, but I'm afraid of my life." 
 
 " Tell me one thing," said I. "What are they after, 
 these Italians ? What do they want with Mr. Huddle- 
 stone ?" 
 
 ' ' Don't you know ? " he cried. ' ' The black old scamp 
 had carbonaro funds on a deposit — two hundred and 
 eighty thousand ; and of course he gambled it away on 
 stocks. There was to have been a revolution in the 
 Tridentino, or Parma; but the revolution is off, and the 
 whole wasp's nest is after Huddlestone. We shall all 
 be lucky if we can save our skins." 
 
 "The carbonari/" I exclaimed; "God help him in- 
 deed!" 
 
 250 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 "Amen!" said Northmour. "And now, look here: 
 I have said that we are in a fix ; and, frankly, I shall be 
 glad of your help. If I can't save Huddlestone, I want 
 at least to save the girl. Come and stay in the pavilion ; 
 and, there's my hand on it, I shall act as your friend 
 until the old man is either clear or dead. But, " he added, 
 "once that is settled, you become my rival once again, 
 and I warn you — mind yourself." 
 
 "Done!" said I; and we shook hands. 
 
 "And now let us go directly to the fort," said North- 
 mour; and he began to lead the way through the rain. 
 
 251 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 TELLS OF MY INTRODUCTION TO THE TALL MAN 
 
 We were admitted to the pavilion by Clara, and I was 
 surprised by the completeness and security of the de- 
 fences. A barricade of great strength, and yet easy to 
 displace, supported the door against any violence from 
 without; and the shutters of the dining-room, into which 
 I was led directly, and which was feebly illuminated by 
 a lamp, were even more elaborately fortified. The panels 
 were strengthened by bars and cross-bars ; and these, in 
 their turn, were kept in position by a system of braces 
 and struts, some abutting on the floor, some on the roof, 
 and others, in fine, against the opposite wall of the apart- 
 ment. It was at once a solid and well-designed piece of 
 carpentry ; and I did not seek to conceal my admiration. 
 
 "I am the engineer," said Northmour. "You re- 
 member the planks in the garden ? Behold them ? " 
 
 "I did not know you had so many talents," said I. 
 
 "Are you armed ?" he continued, pointing to an ar- 
 ray of guns and pistols, all in admirable order, which 
 stood in line against the wall or were displayed upon 
 the sideboard. 
 
 "Thank you," I returned; " I have gone armed since 
 our last encounter. But, to tell you the truth, I have had 
 nothing to eat since early yesterday evening." 
 
 252 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 Northmour produced some cold meat, to which I 
 eagerly set myself; and a bottle of good Burgundy, by 
 which, wet as I was, I did not scruple to profit. I have 
 always been an extreme temperance man on principle; 
 but it is useless to push principle to excess, and on this 
 occasion I believe that I finished three quarters of the 
 bottle. As I ate, I still continued to admire the prepara- 
 tions for defence. 
 
 "We could stand a siege," I said at length. 
 
 "Ye — es," drawled Northmour; "a very little one, 
 per — haps. It is not so much the strength of the pavilion 
 I misdoubt; it is the double danger that kills me. If we 
 get to shooting, wild as the country is some one is sure 
 to hear it, and then — why then it's the same thing, only 
 different, as they say, caged by law, or killed by car- 
 bonari. There's the choice. It is a devilish bad thing 
 to have the law against you in this world, and so I tell 
 the old gentleman upstairs. He is quite of my way of 
 thinking." 
 
 "Speaking of that," said I, "what kind of person is 
 he." 
 
 "Oh, he?" cried the other; " he's a rancid fellow as 
 far as he goes. I should like to have his neck wrung 
 to-morrow by all the devils in Italy. I am not in this 
 affair for him. You take me ? I made a bargain for 
 Missy's hand and I mean to have it too." 
 
 1 ' That, by the way, " said I, " I understand. But how 
 will Mr. Huddlestone take my intrusion?" 
 
 "Leave that to Clara," returned Northmour. 
 
 I could have struck him in the face for this coarse 
 familiarity ; but I respected the truce, as, I am bound to 
 say, did Northmour, and so long as the danger con- 
 
 253 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 tinued not a cloud arose in our relation. I bear him this 
 testimony with the most unfeigned satisfaction ; nor am 
 I without pride when I look back upon my own be- 
 haviour. For surely no two men were ever left in a 
 position so invidious and irritating. 
 
 As soon as I had done eating, we proceeded to inspect 
 the lower floor. Window by window we tried the 
 different supports, now and then making an inconsider- 
 able change ; and the strokes of the hammer sounded 
 with startling loudness through the house. I proposed, 
 I remember, to make loopholes; but he told me they 
 were already made in the windows of the upper story. 
 It was an anxious business, this inspection, and left me 
 down-hearted. There were two doors and five win- 
 dows to protect, and, counting Clara, only four of us to 
 defend them against an unknown number of foes. I 
 communicated my doubts to Northmour, who assured 
 me, with unmoved composure, that he entirely shared 
 them. 
 
 " Before morning," said he, "we shall all be butch- 
 ered and buried in Graden Floe. For me, that is 
 written." 
 
 I could not help shuddering at the mention of the 
 quicksand, but reminded Northmour that our enemies 
 had spared me in the wood. 
 
 " Do not flatter yourself," said he. " Then you were 
 not in the same boat with the old gentleman ; now you 
 are. It's the floe for all of us, mark my words." 
 
 I trembled for Clara ; and just then her dear voice was 
 heard calling us to come upstairs. Northmour showed 
 me the way, and, when he had reached the landing, 
 knocked at the door of what used to be called My Un- 
 
 254 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 cle's Bedroom, as the founder of the pavilion had designed 
 it especially for himself. 
 
 "Come in, Northmour; come in, dear Mr. Cassilis," 
 said a voice from within. 
 
 Pushing open the door, Northmour admitted me be- 
 fore him into the apartment. As I came in I could see 
 the daughter slipping out by the side door into the study, 
 which had been prepared as her bedroom. In the bed, 
 which was drawn back against the wall, instead of 
 standing, as I had last seen it, boldly across the win- 
 dow, sat Bernard Huddlestone, the defaulting banker. 
 Little as I had seen of him by the shifting light of the 
 lantern on the links, I had no difficulty in recognising 
 him for the same. He had a long and sallow counte- 
 nance, surrounded by a long red beard and side-whis- 
 kers. His broken nose and high cheek-bones gave him 
 somewhat the air of a Kalmuck, and his light eyes shone 
 with the excitement of a high fever. He wore a skull- 
 cap of black silk ; a huge Bible lay open before him on 
 the bed, with a pair of gold spectacles in the place, and 
 a pile of other books lay on the stand by his side. The 
 green curtains lent a cadaverous shade to his cheek ; and, 
 as he sat propped on pillows, his great stature was pain- 
 fully hunched, and his head protruded till it overhung 
 his knees. I believe if he had not died otherwise, he 
 must have fallen a victim to consumption in the course 
 of but a very few weeks. 
 
 He held out to me a hand, long, thin, and disagree- 
 ably hairy. 
 
 " Come in, come in, Mr. Cassilis," said he. "Another 
 protector — ahem! — another protector. Always wel- 
 come as a friend of my daughter's, Mr. Cassilis. How 
 
 255 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 they have rallied about me, my daughter's friends! May 
 God in heaven bless and reward them for it! " 
 
 I gave him my hand, of course, because I could not 
 help it; but the sympathy I had been prepared to feel 
 for Clara's father was immediately soured by his ap- 
 pearance, and the wheedling, unreal tones in which he 
 spoke. 
 
 "Cassilis is a good man," said Northmour; ''worth 
 ten." 
 
 "So I hear," cried Mr. Huddlestone eagerly; "so my 
 girl tells me. Ah, Mr. Cassilis, my sin has found me 
 out, you see! I am very low, very low; but I hope 
 equally penitent. We must all come to the throne of 
 grace at last, Mr. Cassilis. For my part, I come late 
 indeed; but with unfeigned humility, 1 trust." 
 
 "Fiddle-de-dee! " said Northmour roughly. 
 
 "No, no, dear Northmour! " cried the banker. " You 
 must not say that; you must not try to shake me. You 
 forget, my dear, good boy, you forget I may be called 
 this very night before my Maker." 
 
 His excitement was pitiful to behold ; and I felt my- 
 self grow indignant with Northmour, whose infidel 
 opinions I well knew, and heartily derided, as he con- 
 tinued to taunt the poor sinner out of his humour of re- 
 pentance. 
 
 " Pooh, my dear Huddlestone! " said he. " You do 
 yourself injustice. You are a man of the world inside 
 and out, and were up to all kinds of mischief before 
 I was born. Your conscience is tanned like South 
 American leather — only you forgot to tan your liver, 
 and that, if you will believe me, is the seat of the an- 
 noyance." 
 
 25 6 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 "Rogue, rogue! bad boy!" said Mr. Huddlestone, 
 shaking his finger. "I am no precisian, if you come to 
 that ; I always hated a precisian ; but I never lost hold 
 of something better though it all. I have been a bad 
 boy, Mr. Cassilis; I do not seek to deny that; but it 
 was after my wife's death, and you know, with a wid- 
 ower, it's a different thing: sinful — I won't say no, 
 but there is a gradation, we shall hope. And talking 
 of that — Hark!" he broke out suddenly, his hand 
 raised, his fingers spread, his face racked with interest 
 and terror. "Only the rain, bless God!" he added, 
 after a pause, and with indescribable relief. 
 
 For some seconds he lay back among the pillows like 
 a man near to fainting; then he gathered himself to- 
 gether, and, in somewhat tremulous tones, began once 
 more to thank me for the share I was prepared to take 
 in his defence. 
 
 "One question, sir," said I, when he had paused. 
 "Is it true that you have money with you ?" 
 
 He seemed annoyed by the question, but admitted 
 with reluctance that he had a little. 
 
 1 ' Well, " I continued, " it is their money they are after, 
 is it not ? Why not give it up to them ?" 
 
 "Ah!" replied he, shaking his head, "I have tried 
 that already, Mr. Cassilis ; and alas ! that it should be so, 
 but it is blood they want." 
 
 " Huddlestone, that's a little less than fair," said 
 Northmour. " You should mention that what you 
 offered them was upwards of two hundred thousand 
 short. The deficit is worth a reference ; it is for what 
 they call a cool sum, Frank. Then, you see, the fellows 
 reason in their clear Italian way ; and it seems to them, 
 
 2S7 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 as indeed it seems to me, that they may just as well 
 have both while they are about it — money and blood 
 together, by George, and no more trouble for the extra 
 pleasure." 
 
 " Is it in the pavilion ?" I asked. 
 
 " It is; and I wish it was in the bottom of the sea in- 
 stead," said Northmour; and then suddenly — "What 
 are you making faces at me for ? " he cried to Mr. Hud- 
 dlestone, on whom I had unconsciously turned my back. 
 " Do you think Cassilis would sell you ? " 
 
 Mr. Huddlestone protested that nothing had been fur- 
 ther from his mind. 
 
 "It is a good thing," retorted Northmour in his ug- 
 liest manner. "You might end by wearying us. What 
 were you going to say?" he added, turning to me. 
 
 " I was going to propose an occupation for the after- 
 noon," said I. "Let us carry that money out, piece by 
 piece, and lay it down before the pavilion door. If the 
 carbonari come, why, it's theirs at any rate. " 
 
 "No, no," cried Mr. Huddlestone; "it does not, it 
 cannot belong to them! It should be distributed pro 
 rata among all my creditors." 
 
 "Come, now, Huddlestone," said Northmour, " none 
 of that." 
 
 "Well, but my daughter," moaned the wretched 
 man. 
 
 " Your daughter will do well enough. Here are two 
 suitors, Cassilis and I, neither of us beggars, between 
 whom she has to choose. And as for yourself, to make 
 an end of arguments, you have no right to a farthing, 
 and, unless I'm much mistaken, you are going to die." 
 
 It was certainly very cruelly said; but Mr. Huddle- 
 258 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 stone was a man who attracted little sympathy; and, 
 although I saw him wince and shudder, I mentally en- 
 dorsed the rebuke; nay, I added a contribution of my 
 own. 
 
 "Northmour and I," I said, "are willing enough to 
 help you to save your life, but not to escape with stolen 
 property." 
 
 He struggled for a while with himself, as though he 
 were on the point of giving way to anger, but prudence 
 had the best of the controversy. 
 
 "My dear boys," he said, " do with me or my money 
 what you will. I leave all in your hands. Let me com- 
 pose myself." 
 
 And so we left him, gladly enough I am sure. The 
 last that I saw, he had once more taken up his great 
 Bible, and with tremulous hands was adjusting his spec- 
 tacles to read. 
 
 259 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 TELLS HOW A WORD WAS CRIED THROUGH THE 
 PAVILION WINDOW 
 
 The recollection of that afternoon will always be 
 graven on my mind. Northmour and I were persuaded 
 that an attack was imminent ; and if it had been in our 
 power to alter in any way the order of events, that power 
 would have been used to precipitate rather than delay the 
 critical moment. The worst was to be anticipated ; yet 
 we could conceive no extremity so miserable as the sus- 
 pense we were now suffering. I have never been an 
 eager, though always a great, reader ; but I never knew 
 books so insipid as those which I took up and cast aside 
 that afternoon in the pavilion. Even talk became impos- 
 sible, as the hours went on. One or other was always 
 listening for some sound, or peering from an upstairs 
 window over the links. And yet not a sign indicated 
 the presence of our foes. 
 
 We debated over and over again my proposal with 
 regard to the money; and had we been in complete 
 possession of our faculties, I am sure we should have 
 condemned it as unwise; but we were flustered with 
 alarm, grasped at a straw, and determined, although it 
 was as much as advertising Mr. Huddlestone's presence 
 in the pavilion, to carry my proposal into effect. 
 
 The sum was part in specie, part in bank paper, and 
 260 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 part in circular notes, payable to the name of James 
 Gregory. We took it out, counted it, enclosed it once 
 more in a despatch-box belonging to Northmour, and 
 prepared a letter in Italian which he tied to the handle. 
 It was signed by both of us under oath, and declared 
 that this was all the money which had escaped the fail- 
 ure of the house of Huddlestone. This was, perhaps, 
 the maddest action ever perpetrated by two persons pro- 
 fessing to be sane. Had the despatch-box fallen into 
 other hands than those for which it was intended, we 
 stood criminally convicted on our own written testi- 
 mony ; but, as I have said, we were neither of us in a 
 condition to judge soberly, and had a thirst for action 
 that drove us to do something, right or wrong, rather 
 than endure the agony of waiting. Moreover, as we 
 were both convinced that the hollows of the links were 
 alive with hidden spies upon our movements, we hoped 
 that our appearance with the box might lead to a parley, 
 and, perhaps, a compromise. 
 
 It was nearly three when we issued from the pavilion. 
 The rain had taken off; the sun shone quite cheerfully. 
 I have never seen the gulls fly so close about the house 
 or approach so fearlessly to human beings. On the very 
 doorstep one flapped heavily past our heads, and uttered 
 its wild cry in my very ear. 
 
 "There is an omen for you," said Northmour, who 
 like all freethinkers was much under the influence of 
 superstition. "They think we are already dead." 
 
 I made some light rejoinder, but it was with half my 
 heart; for the circumstance had impressed me. 
 
 A yard or two before the gate, on a patch of smooth 
 turf, we set down the despatch-box; and Northmour 
 
 r>.6i 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 waved a white handkerchief over his head. Nothing 
 replied. We raised our voices, and cried aloud in Italian 
 that we were there as ambassadors to arrange the quar- 
 rel; but the stillness remained unbroken save by the 
 sea-gulls and the surf. I had a weight at my heart 
 when we desisted, and I saw that even Northmour was 
 unusually pale. He looked over his shoulder nervously, 
 as though he feared that some one had crept between 
 him and the pavilion door. 
 
 " By God," he said in a whisper, "this is too much 
 for me! " 
 
 I replied in the same key: "Suppose there should be 
 none, after all! " 
 
 "Look there," he returned, nodding with his head, 
 as though he had been afraid to point. 
 
 I glanced in the direction indicated ; and there, from 
 the northern corner of the Sea-Wood, beheld a thin col- 
 umn of smoke rising steadily against the now cloudless 
 sky. 
 
 "Northmour," I said (we still continued to talk in 
 whispers), "it is not possible to endure this suspense. 
 I prefer death fifty times over. Stay you here to watch 
 the pavilion ; I will go forward and make sure, if I have 
 to walk right into their camp." 
 
 He looked once again all around him with puckered 
 eyes, and then nodded assentingly to my proposal. 
 
 My heart beat like a sledge-hammer as I set out walk- 
 ing rapidly in the direction of the smoke; and though 
 up to that moment I had felt chill and shivering, I was 
 suddenly conscious of a glow of heat over all my body. 
 The ground in this direction was very uneven ; a hun- 
 dred men might have lain hidden in as many square 
 
 262 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 yards about my path. But I had not practised the busi- 
 ness in vain, chose such routes as cut at the very root 
 of concealment, and, by keeping along the most con- 
 venient ridges, commanded several hollows at a time. 
 It was not long before I was rewarded for my caution. 
 Coming suddenly on to a mound somewhat more elevated 
 than the surrounding hummocks I saw, not thirty yards 
 away, a man bent almost double, and running as fast as 
 his attitude permitted, along the bottom of a gully. I 
 had dislodged one of the spies from his ambush. As 
 soon as I sighted him, I called loudly both in English 
 and Italian ; and he, seeing concealment was no longer 
 possible, straightened himself out, leaped from the gully, 
 and made off as straight as an arrow for the borders of 
 the wood. 
 
 It was none of my business to pursue ; I had learned 
 what I wanted — that we were beleaguered and watched 
 in the pavilion ; and I returned at once, and walking as 
 nearly as possible in my old footsteps, to where North- 
 mour awaited me beside the despatch-box. He was 
 even paler than when I had left him, and his voice 
 shook a little. 
 
 " Could you see what he was like ? " he asked. 
 
 "He kept his back turned," I replied. 
 
 " Let us go into the house, Frank. I don't think I'm 
 a coward, but I can stand no more of this," he whis- 
 pered. 
 
 All was still and sunshiny about the pavilion as we 
 turned to re-enter it ; even the gulls had flown in a wider 
 circuit, and were seen flickering along the beach and 
 sand-hills; and this loneliness terrified me more than a 
 regiment under arms. It was not until the door was 
 
 263 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 barricaded that I could draw a full inspiration and relieve 
 the weight that lay upon my bosom. Northmour and 
 I exchanged a steady glance; and I suppose each made 
 his own reflections on the white and startled aspect of 
 the other. 
 
 \ ' You were right, " I said. ■ ' All is over. Shake hands, 
 old man, for the last time." ' 
 
 ' • Yes, " replied he, "I will shake hands ; for, as sure as I 
 am here, I bear no malice. But, remember, if, by some im- 
 possible accident, we should give the slip to these black- 
 guards, I'll take the upper hand of you by fair or foul." 
 
 "Oh," said I, "you weary me." 
 
 He seemed hurt, and walked away in silence to the 
 foot of the stairs, where he paused. 
 
 "You do not understand me," said he, "I am not a 
 swindler, and I guard myself ; that is all. It may weary 
 you or not, Mr. Cassilis, I do not care a rush ; I speak for 
 my own satisfaction, and not for your amusement. 
 You had better go upstairs and court the girl ; for my 
 part, I stay here." 
 
 " And I stay with you," I returned. " Do you think 
 I would steal a march, even with your permission ?" 
 
 "Frank," he said, smiling, "it's a pity you are an 
 ass, for you have the makings of a man. I think I must 
 be fey to-day ; you cannot irritate me, even when you 
 try. Do you know," he continued softly, " I think we 
 are the two most miserable men in England, you and I ? 
 we have got on to thirty without wife or child, or so 
 much as a shop to look after — poor, pitiful, lost devils, 
 both ! And now we clash about a girl ! As if there 
 were not several millions in the United Kingdom ! Ah, 
 Frank, Frank, the one who loses his throw, be it you 
 
 264 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 or me, he has my pity ! It were better for him — how 
 does the Bible say ? — that a millstone were hanged 
 about his neck and he were cast into the depth of the 
 sea. Let us take a drink," he concluded suddenly, but 
 without any levity of tone. 
 
 I was touched by his words, and consented. He sat 
 down on the table in the dining-room, and held up the 
 glass of sherry to his eye. 
 
 " If you beat me, Frank," he said, "I shall take to 
 drink. What will you do, if it goes the other way ? " 
 
 "God knows," I returned. 
 
 "Well," said he, "here is a toast in the meantime: 
 ' Italia irredenta ! ' " 
 
 The remainder of the day was passed in the same 
 dreadful tedium and suspense. I laid the table for din- 
 ner, while Northmour and Clara prepared the meal to- 
 gether in the kitchen. I could hear their talk as I went 
 to and fro, and was surprised to find it ran all the time 
 upon myself. Northmour again bracketed us together, 
 and rallied Clara on a choice of husbands ; but he con- 
 tinued to speak of me with some feeling, and uttered 
 nothing to my prejudice unless he included himself in 
 the condemnation. This awakened a sense of gratitude 
 in my heart, which combined with the immediateness 
 of our peril to fill my eyes with tears. After all, I 
 thought — and perhaps the thought was laughably vain 
 — we were here three very noble human beings to per- 
 ish in defence of a thieving banker. 
 
 Before we sat down to table, I looked forth from an 
 upstairs window. The day was beginning to decline; 
 the links were utterly deserted ; the despatch-box still 
 lay untouched where we had left it hours before. 
 
 265 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Mr. Huddlestone, in a long yellow dressing-gown, 
 took one end of the table, Clara the other; while North- 
 mour and I faced each other from the sides. The lamp 
 was brightly trimmed ; the wine was good; the viands, 
 although mostly cold, excellent of their sort. We seemed 
 to have agreed tacitly; all reference to the impending 
 catastrophe was carefully avoided ; and, considering our 
 tragic circumstances, we made a merrier party than 
 could have been expected. From time to time, it is true, 
 Northmour or I would rise from the table and make a 
 round of the defences ; and, on each of these occasions 
 Mr. Huddlestone was recalled to a sense of his tragic 
 predicament, glanced up with ghastly eyes, and bore 
 for an instant on his countenance the stamp of terror. 
 But he hastened to empty his glass, wiped his fore- 
 head with his handkerchief, and joined again in the con- 
 versation. 
 
 I was astonished at the wit and information he dis- 
 played. Mr. Huddlestone's was certainly no ordinary 
 character; he had read and observed for himself; his 
 gifts were sound; and, though I could never have 
 learned to love the man, I began to understand his suc- 
 cess in business, and the great respect in which he had 
 been held before his failure. He had, above all, the 
 talent of society ; and though I never heard him speak 
 but on this one and most unfavourable occasion, I set 
 him down among the most brilliant conversationalists I 
 ever met. 
 
 He was relating with great gusto, and seemingly no 
 feeling of shame, the manoeuvres of a scoundrelly com- 
 mission merchant whom he had known and studied in 
 his youth, and we were all listening with an odd mix- 
 
 266 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 ture of mirth and embarrassment, when our little party 
 was brought abruptly to an end in the most startling 
 manner. 
 
 A noise like that of a wet finger on the window-pane 
 interrupted Mr. Huddlestone's tale; and in an instant 
 we were all four as white as paper, and sat tongue-tied 
 and motionless round the table. 
 
 "A snail," I said at last; for I had heard that these 
 animals make a noise somewhat similar in character. 
 
 " Snail be d— d!" said Northmour. "Hush!" 
 
 The same sound was repeated twice at regular inter- 
 vals ; and then a formidable voice shouted through the 
 shutters the Italian word " Traditoref" 
 
 Mr. Huddlestone threw his head in the air; his eye- 
 lids quivered ; next moment he fell insensible below the 
 table. Northmour and I had each run to the armoury 
 and seized a gun. Clara was on her feet with her hand 
 at her throat. 
 
 So we stood waiting, for we thought the hour of at- 
 tack was certainly come ; but second passed after second, 
 and all but the surf remained silent in the neighbourhood 
 of the pavilion. 
 
 ' 'Quick," said Northmour; "upstairs with him be- 
 fore they come." 
 
 *7 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 TELLS THE LAST OF THE TALL MAN 
 
 Somehow or other, by hook and crook, and between 
 the three of us, we got Bernard Huddlestone bundled 
 upstairs and laid upon the bed in My Uncle's Room. 
 During the whole process, which was rough enough, 
 he gave no sign of consciousness, and he remained, as 
 we had thrown him, without changing the position of 
 a finger. His daughter opened his shirt and began to 
 wet his head and bosom ; while Northmour and I ran to 
 the window. The weather continued clear; the moon, 
 which was now about full, had risen and shed a very 
 clear light upon the links; yet, strain our eyes as we 
 might, we could distinguish nothing moving. A few 
 dark spots, more or less, on the uneven expanse were 
 not to be identified; they might be crouching men, 
 they might be shadows ; it was impossible to be sure. 
 
 "Thank God," said Northmour, " Aggie is not com- 
 ing to-night." 
 
 Aggie was the name of the old nurse ; he had not 
 thought of her till now ; but that he should think of her 
 at all, was a trait that surprised me in the man. 
 
 We were again reduced to waiting. Northmour went 
 to the fireplace and spread his hands before the red em- 
 bers, as if he were cold. I followed him mechanically 
 
 268 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 with my eyes, and in so doing turned my back upon the 
 window. At that moment a very faint report was audi- 
 ble from without, and a ball shivered a pane of glass, and 
 buried itself in the shutter two inches from my head. I 
 heard Clara scream ; and though I whipped instantly out 
 of range and into a corner, she was there, so to speak, 
 before me, beseeching to know if I were hurt. I felt that 
 I could stand to be shot at every day and all day long, 
 with such marks of solicitude for a reward ; and I con- 
 tinued to reassure her, with the tenderest caresses and 
 in complete forgetfulness of our situation, till the voice 
 of Northmour recalled me to myself. 
 
 "An air-gun," he said. "They wish to make no 
 noise." 
 
 I put Clara aside, and looked at him. He was stand- 
 ing with his back to the fire and his hands clasped be- 
 hind him ; and I knew by the black look on his face, that 
 passion was boiling within. I had seen just such a look 
 before he attacked me, that March night, in the adjoin- 
 ing chamber ; and, though I could make every allowance 
 for his anger, I confess I trembled for the consequences. 
 He gazed straight before him ; but he could see us with 
 the tail of his eye, and his temper kept rising like a gale 
 of wind. With regular battle awaiting us outside, this 
 prospect of an internecine strife within the walls began 
 to daunt me. 
 
 Suddenly, as I was thus closely watching his expres- 
 sion and prepared against the worst, I saw a change, a 
 flash, a look of relief, upon his face. He took up the 
 lamp which stood beside him on the table, and turned 
 to us with an air of some excitement. 
 
 "There is one point that we must know," said he. 
 
 26Q 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " Are they going to butcher the lot of us, or only Hud- 
 dlestone ? Did they take you for him, or fire at you for 
 your own beaux yeux? " 
 
 " They took me for him, for certain," I replied. " 1 
 am near as tall, and my head is fair." 
 
 " I am going to make sure," returned Northmour; and 
 he stepped up to the window, holding the lamp above 
 his head, and stood there, quietly affronting death, for 
 half a minute. 
 
 Clara sought to rush forward and pull him from the 
 place of danger; but I had the pardonable selfishness to 
 hold her back by force. 
 
 " Yes," said Northmour, turning coolly from the win- 
 dow ; "it 's only Huddlestone they want." 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Northmour!" cried Clara; but found no 
 more to add ; the temerity she had just witnessed seem- 
 ing beyond the reach of words. 
 
 He, on his part, looked at me, cocking his head, with 
 a fire of triumph in his eyes ; and I understood at once 
 that he had thus hazarded his life, merely to attract 
 Clara's notice, and depose me from my position as the 
 hero of the hour. He snapped his fingers. 
 
 "The fire is only beginning," he said. M When they 
 warm up to their work, they won't be so particular." 
 
 A voice was now heard hailing us from the entrance. 
 From the window we could see the figure of a man in 
 the moonlight; he stood motionless, his face uplifted to 
 ours, and a rag of something white on his extended arm ; 
 and as we looked right down upon him, though he was 
 a good many yards distant on the links, we could see 
 the moonlight glitter on his eyes. 
 
 He opened his lips again, and spoke for some minutes 
 270 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 on end, in a key so loud that he might have been heard 
 in every corner of the pavilion, and as far away as the 
 borders of the wood. It was the same voice that had 
 already shouted "Traditore/" through the shutters of 
 the dining-room ; this time it made a complete and clear 
 statement. If the traitor " Oddlestone " were given up, 
 all others should be spared ; if not, no one should escape 
 to tell the tale. 
 
 "Well, Huddlestone, what do you say to that?" 
 asked Northmour, turning to the bed. 
 
 Up to that moment the banker had given no sign of 
 life, and I, at least, had supposed him to be still lying in 
 a faint; but he replied at once, and in such tones as I have 
 never heard elsewhere, save from a delirious patient, ad- 
 jured and besought us not to desert him. It was the 
 most hideous and abject performance that my imagina- 
 tion can conceive. 
 
 "Enough," cried Northmour; and then he threw open 
 the window, leaned out into the night, and in a tone of 
 exultation, and with a total forgetfulness of what was 
 due to the presence of a lady, poured out upon the am- 
 bassador a string of the most abominable raillery both 
 in English and Italian, and bade him be gone where he 
 had come from. I believe that nothing so delighted 
 Northmour at that moment as the thought that we must 
 all infallibly perish before the night was out. 
 
 Meantime the Italian put his flag of truce into his 
 pocket, and disappeared, at a leisurely pace, among the 
 sand-hills. 
 
 "They make honourable war," said Northmour. 
 "They are all gentlemen and soldiers. For the credit 
 of the thing, I wish we could change sides — you and I, 
 
 271 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Frank, and you too, Missy my darling — and leave that 
 being on the bed to some one else. Tut! Don't look 
 shocked ! We are all going post to what they call eter- 
 nity, and may as well be above-board while there's time. 
 As far as I'm concerned, if I could first strangle Huddle- 
 stone and then get Clara in my arms, I could die with 
 some pride and satisfaction. And as it is, by God, I'll 
 have a kiss!" 
 
 Before I could do anything to interfere, he had rudely 
 embraced and repeatedly kissed the resisting girl. Next 
 moment I had pulled him away with fury, and flung 
 him heavily against the wall. He laughed loud and 
 long, and I feared his wits had given way under the 
 strain ; for even in the best of days he had been a sparing 
 and a quiet laughei. 
 
 "Now, Frank," said he, when his mirth had some- 
 what appeased, "it's your turn. Here's my hand. 
 Good-bye ; farewell ! " Then, seeing me stand rigid 
 and indignant, and holding Clara to my side — " Man! " 
 he broke out, "are you angry ? Did you think we were 
 going to die with all the airs and graces of society ? I 
 took a kiss; I'm glad I had it; and now you can take 
 another if you like, and square accounts." 
 
 I turned from him with a feeling of contempt which 
 I did not seek to dissemble. 
 
 "As you please," said he. "You've been a prig in 
 life; a prig you'll die." 
 
 And with that he sat down in a chair, a rifle over the 
 knee, and amused himself with snapping the lock; but 
 I could see that his ebullition of light spirits (the only 
 one I ever knew him to display) had already come to 
 an end, and was succeeded by a sullen, scowling humour. 
 
 272 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 All this time our assailants might have been entering 
 the house, and we been none the wiser; we had in truth 
 almost forgotten the danger that so imminently over- 
 hung our days. But just then Mr. Huddlestone uttered 
 a cry, and leaped from the bed. 
 
 I asked him what was wrong. 
 
 "Fire!" he cried. "They have set the house on 
 fire!" 
 
 Northmour was on his feet in an instant, and he and 
 I ran through the door of communication with the study. 
 The room was illuminated by a red and angry light. 
 Almost at the moment of our entrance, a tower of flame 
 arose in front of the window, and, with a tingling re- 
 port, a pane fell inwards on the carpet. They had set 
 fire to the lean-to out-house, where Northmour used to 
 nurse his negatives. 
 
 " Hot work," said Northmour. M Let us try in your 
 old room." 
 
 We ran thither in a breath, threw up the casement, 
 and looked forth. Along the whole back wall of the 
 pavilion piles of fuel had been arranged and kindled ; 
 and it is probable they had been drenched with mineral 
 oil, for, in spite of the morning's rain, they all burned 
 bravely. The fire had taken a firm hold already on the 
 out-house, which blazed higher and higher every mo- 
 ment; the back door was in the centre of a red-hot bon- 
 fire; the eaves we could see, as we looked upward, 
 were already smouldering, for the roof overhung, and 
 was supported by considerable beams of wood. At the 
 same time, hot, pungent, and choking volumes of 
 smoke began to fill the house. There was not a human 
 being to be seen to right or left. 
 
 273 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " Ah, well! " said Northmour, " here's the end, thank 
 God." 
 
 And we returned to My Uncle's Room. Mr. Huddle- 
 stone was putting on his boots, still violently trembling, 
 but with an air of determination such as I had not hith- 
 erto observed. Clara stood close by him, with her cloak 
 in both hands ready to throw about her shoulders, and 
 a strange look in her eyes, as if she were half hopeful, 
 half doubtful of her father. 
 
 "Well, boys and girls," said Northmour, " how about 
 a sally ? The oven is heating; it is not good to stay here 
 and be baked ; and, for my part, I want to come to my 
 hands with them and be done." 
 
 "There is nothing else left," I replied. 
 
 And both Clara and Mr. Huddlestone, though with a 
 very different intonation, added, "Nothing." 
 
 As we went downstairs the heat was excessive, and 
 the roaring of the fire filled our ears ; and we had scarce 
 reached the passage before the stairs window fell in, a 
 branch of flame shot brandishing through the aperture, 
 and the interior of the pavilion became lit up with that 
 dreadful and fluctuating glare. At the same moment 
 we heard the fall of something heavy and inelastic in the 
 upper story. The whole pavilion, it was plain, had 
 gone alight like a box of matches, and now not only 
 flamed sky-high to land and sea, but threatened with 
 every moment to crumble and fall in about our ears. 
 
 Northmour and I cocked our revolvers. Mr. Huddle- 
 stone, who had already refused a firearm, put us behind 
 him with a manner of command. 
 
 " Let Clara open the door," said he. " So, if they fire 
 a volley, she will be protected. And in the meantime 
 
 274 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 stand behind me. I am the scapegoat; my sins have 
 found me out." 
 
 1 heard him, as I stood breathless by his shoulder, 
 with my pistol ready, pattering off prayers in a tremu- 
 lous, rapid whisper; and I confess, horrid as the thought 
 may seem, I despised him for thinking of supplications 
 in a moment so critical and thrilling. In the meantime, 
 Clara, who was dead white, but still possessed her fac- 
 ulties, had displaced the barricade from the front door. 
 Another moment, and she had pulled it open. Firelight 
 and moonlight illuminated the links with confused and 
 changeful lustre, and far away against the sky we could 
 see a long trail of glowing smoke. 
 
 Mr. Huddlestone, filled for the moment with a strength 
 greater than his own, struck Northmour and myself a 
 back-hander in the chest; and while we were thus for 
 the moment incapacitated from action, lifting his arms 
 above his head like one about to dive, he ran straight 
 forward out of the pavilion. 
 
 "Here am I!" he cried — "Huddlestone! Kill me, 
 and spare the others! " 
 
 His sudden appearance daunted, I suppose, our hidden 
 enemies; for Northmour and I had time to recover, to 
 seize Clara between us, one by each arm, and to rush 
 forth to his assistance, ere anything further had taken 
 place. But scarce had we passed the threshold when 
 there came near a dozen reports and flashes from every 
 direction among the hollows of the links. Mr. Huddle- 
 stone staggered, uttered a weird and freezing cry, threw 
 up his arms over his head, and fell backward on the turf. 
 
 "Traditore! Traditore!" cried the invisible avengers. 
 
 And just then, a part of the roof of the pavilion fell in, 
 275 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 so rapid was the progress of the fire. A loud, vague, 
 and horrible noise accompanied the collapse, and a vast 
 volume of flame went soaring up to heaven. It must 
 have been visible at that moment from twenty miles out 
 at sea, from the shore at Graden Wester, and far inland 
 from the peak of Graystiel, the most eastern summit of 
 the Caulder Hills. Bernard Huddlestone, although God 
 knows what were his obsequies, had a fine pyre at the 
 moment of his death. 
 
 276 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 TELLS HOW NORTHMOUR CARRIED OUT HIS THREAT 
 
 I should have the greatest difficulty to tell you what 
 followed next after this tragic circumstance. It is all to 
 me, as I look back upon it, mixed, strenuous, and in- 
 effectual, like the struggles of a sleeper in a nightmare. 
 Clara, I remember, uttered a broken sigh and would 
 have fallen forward to earth, had not Northmour and I 
 supported her insensible body. I do not think we were 
 attacked; I do not remember even to have seen an 
 assailant; and I believe we deserted Mr. Huddlestone 
 without a glance. I only remember running like a man 
 in a panic, now carrying Clara altogether in my own 
 arms, now sharing her weight with Northmour, now 
 scuffling confusedly for the possession of that dear 
 burden. Why we should have made for my camp in 
 the Hemlock Den, or how we reached it, are points lost 
 for ever to my recollection. The first moment at which 
 I became definitely sure, Clara had been suffered to foil 
 against the outside of my little tent, Northmour and I 
 w r ere tumbling together on the ground, and he, with con- 
 tained ferocity, was striking for my head with the butt of 
 his revolver. He had already twice wounded me on the 
 scalp ; and it is to the consequent loss of blood that I am 
 tempted to attribute the sudden clearness of my mind. 
 
 277 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 I caught him by the wrist. 
 
 "Northmour," I remember saying, "you can kill me 
 afterwards. Let us first attend to Clara." 
 
 He was at that moment uppermost. Scarcely had the 
 words passed my lips, when he had leaped to his feet 
 and ran towards the tent; and the next moment, he was 
 straining Clara to his heart and covering her unconscious 
 hands and face with his caresses. 
 
 "Shame! " I cried. "Shame to you, Northmour!" 
 
 And, giddy though I still was, I struck him repeat- 
 edly upon the head and shoulders. 
 
 He relinquished his grasp, and faced me in the broken 
 moonlight. 
 
 "I had you under, and let you go," said he; "and 
 now you strike me! Coward! " 
 
 "You are the coward," I retorted. "Did she wish 
 your kisses while she was still sensible of what she 
 wanted ? Not she! And now she may be dying; and 
 you waste this precious time, and abuse her helpless- 
 ness. Stand aside, and let me help her." 
 
 He confronted me for a moment, white and menac- 
 ing; then suddenly he stepped aside. 
 
 "Help her then," said he. 
 
 I threw myself on my knees beside her, and loosened, 
 as well as I was able, her dress and corset; but while I 
 was thus engaged, a grasp descended on my shoulder. 
 
 " Keep your hands off her," said Northmour fiercely. 
 "Do you think I have no blood in my veins ? " 
 
 "Northmour," I cried, "if you will neither help her 
 yourself, nor let me do so, do you know that I shall have 
 to kill you ?" 
 
 "That is better!" he cried. "Let her die also, 
 278 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 where's the harm ? Step aside from that girl ! and 
 stand up to fight." 
 
 "You will observe," said I, half-rising, "that I have 
 not kissed her yet." 
 
 " I dare you to," he cried. 
 
 I do not know what possessed me ; it was one of the 
 things I am most ashamed of in my life, though, as my 
 wife used to say, I knew that my kisses would be always 
 welcome were she dead or living; down I fell again upon 
 my knees, parted the hair from her forehead, and, with 
 the dearest respect, laid my lips for a moment on that 
 cold brow. It was such a caress as a father might have 
 given ; it was such a one as was not unbecoming from 
 a man soon to die to a woman already dead. 
 
 "And now," said I, "I am at your service, Mr. 
 Northmour." 
 
 But I saw, to my surprise, that he had turned his back 
 upon me. 
 
 " Do you hear ?" I asked. 
 
 "Yes," said he, "I do. If you wish to fight, I am 
 ready. If not, go on and save Clara. All is one to me." 
 
 I did not wait to be twice bidden ; but, stooping again 
 over Clara, continued my efforts to revive her. She 
 still lay white and lifeless; I began to fear that her sweet 
 spirit had indeed fled beyond recall, and horror and a 
 sense of utter desolation seized upon my heart. I called 
 her by name with the most endearing inflections ; I 
 chafed and beat her hands; now I laid her head low, 
 now supported it against my knee ; but all seemed to 
 be in vain, and the lids still lay heavy on her eyes. 
 
 "Northmour," I said, " there is my hat. For God's 
 sake bring some water from the spring." 
 
 279 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Almost in a moment he was by my side with the 
 water. 
 
 " I have brought it in my own," he said. " You do 
 not grudge me the privilege ?" 
 
 "Northmour," I was beginning to say, as I laved her 
 head and breast ; but he interrupted me savagely. 
 
 "Oh, you hush up! " he said. "The best thing you 
 can do is to say nothing." 
 
 I had certainly no desire to talk, my mind being swal- 
 lowed up in concern for my dear love and her condi- 
 tion ; so I continued in silence to do my best towards 
 her recovery, and, when the hat was empty, returned it 
 to him, with one word — "More." He had, perhaps, 
 gone several times upon this errand, when Clara re- 
 opened her eyes. 
 
 "Now," said he, "since she is better, you can spare 
 me, can you not ? I wish you a good night, Mr. Cas- 
 silis." 
 
 And with that he was gone among the thicket. I 
 made a fire, for I had now no fear of the Italians, who 
 had even spared all the little possessions left in my en- 
 campment; and, broken as she was by the excitement 
 and the hideous catastrophe of the evening, I managed, 
 in one way or another — by persuasion, encouragement, 
 warmth, and such simple remedies as I could lay my 
 hand on — to bring her back to some composure of 
 mind and strength of body. 
 
 Day had already come, when a sharp "Hist ! " sounded 
 from the thicket. I started from the ground ; but the 
 voice of Northmour was heard adding, in the most tran- 
 quil tones: "Come here, Cassilis, and alone; I want to 
 show you something." 
 
 280 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 I consulted Clara with my eyes, and, receiving her 
 tacit permission, left her alone, and clambered out of the 
 den. At some distance off I saw Northmour leaning 
 against an elder; and, as soon as he perceived me, he 
 began walking seaward. I had almost overtaken him 
 as he reached the outskirts of the wood. 
 
 " Look," said he, pausing. 
 
 A couple of steps more brought me out of the foliage. 
 
 The light of the morning lay cold and clear over that 
 well-known scene. The pavilion was but a blackened 
 wreck; the roof had fallen in, one of the gables had fallen 
 out; and, far and near, the face of the links was cica- 
 trised with little patches of burnt furze. Thick smoke 
 still went straight upwards in the windless air of the 
 morning, and a great pile of ardent cinders filled the bare 
 walls of the house, like coals in an open grate. Close 
 by the islet a schooner yacht lay to, and a well-manned 
 boat was pulling vigorously for the shore. 
 
 " The Red Earl! " I cried. " The Red Earl twelve 
 hours too late!" 
 
 1 ' Feel in your pocket, Frank. Are you armed ? " asked 
 Northmour. 
 
 I obeyed him, and I think I must have become deadly 
 pale. My revolver had been taken from me. 
 
 "You see I have you in my power," he continued. 
 "I disarmed you last night while you were nursing 
 Clara ; but this morning — here — take your pistol. No 
 thanks! " he cried, holding up his hand. " I do not like 
 them; that is the only way you can annoy me now." 
 
 He began to walk forward across the links to meet the 
 boat, and I followed a step or two behind. In front of 
 the pavilion I paused to see where Mr. Huddlestone had 
 
 281 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 fallen ; but there was no sign of him, nor so much as a 
 trace of blood. 
 
 "Graden Floe," said Northmour. 
 
 He continued to advance till we had come to the head 
 of the beach. 
 
 "No farther, please," said he. "Would you like to 
 take her to Graden House ?" 
 
 " Thank you," replied I ; " I shall try to get her to the 
 minister's at Graden Wester." 
 
 The prow of the boat here grated on the beach, and a 
 sailor jumped ashore with a line in his hand. 
 
 "Wait a minute, lads!" cried Northmour; and then 
 lower and to my private ear: "You had better say no- 
 thing of all this to her," he added. 
 
 "On the contrary!" I broke out, "she shall know 
 everything that I can tell." 
 
 " You do not understand," he returned, with an air 
 of great dignity. "It will be nothing to her; she ex- 
 pects it of me. Good-bye! " he added, with a nod. 
 
 I offered him my hand. 
 
 "Excuse me," said he. "It's small, I know; but I 
 can't push things quite so far as that. I don't wish 
 any sentimental business, to sit by your hearth a white- 
 haired wanderer, and all that. Quite the contrary : I hope 
 to God I shall never again clap eyes on either one of you. " 
 
 "Well, God bless you, Northmour! " I said heartily. 
 
 "Oh, yes," he returned. 
 
 He walked down the beach ; and the man who was 
 ashore gave him an arm on board, and then shoved off 
 and leaped into the bows himself. Northmour took the 
 tiller; the boat rose to the waves, and the oars between 
 the thole-pins sounded crisp and measured in the air. 
 
 282 
 
THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS 
 
 They were not yet half way to the Red Earl, and I 
 was still watching their progress, when the sun rose out 
 of the sea. 
 
 One word more, and my story is done. Years after, 
 Northmour was killed fighting under the colours of Gari- 
 baldi for the liberation of Tyrol 
 
 *3 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 A STORY OF FRANCIS VILLON 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 IT was late in November, 1456. The snow fell over 
 Paris with rigorous, relentless persistence; some- 
 times the wind made a sally and scattered it in flying 
 vortices; sometimes there was a lull, and flake after 
 flake descended out of the black night air, silent, cir- 
 cuitous, interminable. To poor people, looking up 
 under moist eyebrows, it seemed a wonder where it all 
 came from. Master Francis Villon had propounded an 
 alternative that afternoon, at a tavern window : was it 
 only Pagan Jupiter plucking geese upon Olympus ? or 
 were the holy angels moulting ? He was only a poor 
 Master of Arts, he went on ; and as the question some- 
 what touched upon divinity, he durst not venture to 
 conclude. A silly old priest from Montargis, who was 
 among the company, treated the young rascal to a bot- 
 tle of wine in honour of the jest and grimaces with which 
 it was accompanied, and swore on his own white beard 
 that he had been just such another irreverent dog when 
 he was Villon's age. 
 
 The air was raw and pointed, but not far below freez- 
 ing; and the flakes were large, damp, and adhesive. 
 The whole city was sheeted up. An army might have 
 marched from end to end and not a footfall given the 
 
 287 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 alarm. If there were any belated birds in heaven, they 
 saw the island like a large white patch, and the bridges 
 like slim white spars, on the black ground of the river. 
 High up overhead the snow settled among the tracery 
 of the cathedral towers. Many a niche was drifted full ; 
 many a statue wore a long white bonnet on its gro- 
 tesque or sainted head. The gargoyles had been trans- 
 formed into great false noses, drooping towards the 
 point. The crockets were like upright pillows swollen 
 on one side. In the intervals of the wind, there was a 
 dull sound of dripping about the precincts of the church. 
 
 The cemetery of St. John had taken its own share of 
 the snow. All the graves were decently covered; tall 
 white housetops stood around in grave array; worthy 
 burghers were long ago in bed, be-nightcapped like 
 their domiciles; there was no light in all the neighbour- 
 hood but a little peep from a lamp that hung swinging 
 in the church choir, and tossed the shadows to and fro 
 in time to its oscillations. The clock was hard on ten 
 when the patrol went by with halberds and a lantern, 
 beating their hands; and they saw nothing suspicious 
 about the cemetery of St. John. 
 
 Yet there was a small house, backed up against the 
 cemetery wall, which was still awake, and awake to 
 evil purpose, in that snoring district. There was not 
 much to betray it from without; only a stream of warm 
 vapor from the chimney-top, a patch where the snow 
 melted on the roof, and a few half-obliterated footprints 
 at the door. But within, behind the shuttered windows, 
 Master Francis Villon the poet, and some of the thievish 
 crew with whom he consorted, were keeping the night 
 alive and passing round the bottle. 
 
 388 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 A great pile of living embers diffused a strong and 
 ruddy glow from the arched chimney. Before this 
 straddled Dom Nicolas, the Picardy monk, with his 
 skirts picked up and his fat legs bared to the comfort- 
 able warmth. His dilated shadow cut the room in half ; 
 and the firelight only escaped on either side of his broad 
 person, and in a little pool between his outspread feet. 
 His face had the beery, bruised appearance of the con- 
 tinual drinker's; it was covered with a network of 
 congested veins, purple in ordinary circumstances, but 
 now pale violet, for even with his back to the fire 
 the cold pinched him on the other side. His cowl 
 had half fallen back, and made a strange excrescence 
 on either side of his bull neck. So he straddled, grum- 
 bling, and cut the room in half with the shadow of his 
 portly frame. 
 
 On the right, Villon and Guy Tabary were huddled 
 together over a scrap of parchment; Villon making a 
 ballade which he was to call the " Ballade of Roast Fish," 
 and Tabary spluttering admiration at his shoulder. The 
 poet was a rag of a man, dark, little, and lean, with hol- 
 low cheeks and thin black locks. He carried his four- 
 and-twenty years with feverish animation. Greed had 
 made folds about his eyes, evil smiles had puckered his 
 mouth. The wolf and pig struggled together in his face. 
 It was an eloquent, sharp, ugly, earthly countenance. 
 His hands were small and prehensile, with fingers knot- 
 ted like a cord ; and they were continually flickering in 
 front of him in violent and expressive pantomime. As 
 for Tabary, a broad, complacent, admiring imbecility 
 breathed from his squash nose and slobbering lips : he 
 had become a thief, just as he might have become the 
 
 289 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 most decent of burgesses, by the imperious chance that 
 rules the lives of human geese and human donkeys. 
 
 At the monk's other hand, Montigny and Thevenin 
 Pensete played a game of chance. About the first there 
 clung some flavour of good birth and training, as about 
 a fallen angel ; something long, lithe, and courtly in the 
 person; something aquiline and darkling in the face. 
 Thevenin, poor soul, was in great feather: he had done 
 a good stroke of knavery that afternoon in the Faubourg 
 St. Jacques, and all night he had been gaining from 
 Montigny. A flat smile illuminated his face; his bald 
 head shone rosily in a garland of red curls; his little pro- 
 tuberant stomach shook with silent chucklings as he 
 swept in his gains. 
 
 " Doubles or quits ?" said Thevenin. 
 
 Montigny nodded grimly. 
 
 "Some may prefer to dine in state" wrote Villon, 
 ' ' On bread and cheese on silver plate. Or, or — help me 
 out, Guido!" 
 
 Tabary giggled. 
 
 " Or parsley on a golden dish" scribbled the poet. 
 
 The wind was freshening without; it drove the snow 
 before it, and sometimes raised its voice in a victorious 
 whoop, and made sepulchral grumblings in the chim- 
 ney. The cold was growing sharper as the night went 
 on. Villon, protruding his lips, imitated the gust with 
 something between a whistle and a groan. It was an 
 eerie, uncomfortable talent of the poet's, much detested 
 by the Picardy monk. 
 
 " Can't you hear it rattle in the gibbet ?" said Villon. 
 "They are all dancing the devil's jig on nothing, up 
 there. You may dance, my gallants, you'll be none the 
 
 290 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 warmer! Whew! what a gust! Down went some- 
 body just now ! A medlar the fewer on the three-legged 
 medlar-tree! — I say, Dom Nicolas, it'll be cold to-night 
 on the St. Denis Road ? " he asked. 
 
 Dom Nicolas winked both his big eyes, and seemed 
 to choke upon his Adam's apple. Montfaucon, the great 
 grisly Paris gibbet, stood hard by the St. Denis Road, 
 and the pleasantry touched him on the raw. As for 
 Tabary, he laughed immoderately over the medlars ; he 
 had never heard anything more light-hearted; and he 
 held his sides and crowed. Villon fetched him a fillip 
 on the nose, which turned his mirth into an attack of 
 coughing. 
 
 "Oh, stop that row," said Villon, "and think of 
 rhymes to 'fish.' " 
 
 " Doubles or quits," said Montigny doggedly. 
 
 " With all my heart," quoth Thevenin. 
 
 " Is there any more in that bottle ? " asked the monk. 
 
 "Open another," said Villon. "How do you ever 
 hope to fill that big hogshead, your body, with little 
 things like bottles ? And how do you expect to get to 
 heaven ? How many angels, do you fancy, can be 
 spared to carry up a single monk from Picardy ? Or do 
 you think yourself another Elias — and they'll send the 
 coach for you ? " 
 
 " Hominibm impossibile" replied the monk as he filled 
 his glass. 
 
 Tabary was in ecstasies. 
 
 Villon filliped his nose again. 
 
 " Laugh at my jokes, if you like," he said. 
 
 "It was very good," objected Tabary. 
 
 Villon made a face at him. "Think of rhymes to 
 291 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 1 fish,' " he said. " What have you to do with Latin ? 
 You'll wish you knew none of it at the great assizes, 
 when the devil calls for Guido Tabary, clericus — the 
 devil with the hump-back and red-hot finger-nails. 
 Talking of the devil," he added in a whisper, "look at 
 Montigny!" 
 
 All three peered covertly at the gamester. He did not 
 seem to be enjoying his luck. His mouth was a little 
 to a side ; one nostril nearly shut, and the other much 
 inflated. The black dog was on his back, as people say, 
 in terrifying nursery metaphor; and he breathed hard 
 under the gruesome burden. 
 
 " He looks as if he could knife him," whispered Ta- 
 bary, with round eyes. 
 
 The monk shuddered, and turned his face and spread 
 his open hands to the red embers. It was the cold that 
 thus affected Dom Nicolas, and not any excess of moral 
 sensibility. 
 
 "Come now," said Villon — "about this ballade. 
 How does it run so far?" And beating time with his 
 hand, he read it aloud to Tabary. 
 
 They were interrupted at the fourth rhyme by a brief 
 and fatal movement among the gamesters. The round 
 was completed, and Thevenin was just opening his 
 mouth to claim another victory, when Montigny leaped 
 up, swift as an adder, and stabbed him to the heart. 
 The blow took effect before he had time to utter a cry, 
 before he had time to move. A tremor or two con- 
 vulsed his frame; his hands opened and shut, his heels 
 rattled on the floor; then his head rolled backward over 
 one shoulder with the eyes wide open ; and Thevenin 
 Pensete's spirit had returned to Him who made it. 
 
 292 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 Everyone sprang to his feet; but the business was 
 over in two twos. The four living fellows looked at 
 each other in rather a ghastly fashion; the dead man 
 contemplating a corner of the roof with a singular and 
 ugly leer. 
 
 ' ' My God ! " said Tabary ; and he began to pray in 
 Latin. 
 
 Villon broke out into hysterical laughter. He came a 
 step forward and ducked a ridiculous bow at Thevenin, 
 and laughed still louder. Then he sat down suddenly, 
 all of a heap, upon a stool, and continued laughing bit- 
 terly, as though he would shake himself to pieces. 
 
 Montigny recovered his composure first. 
 
 ''Let's see what he has about him," he remarked, and 
 he picked the dead man's pockets with a practised hand, 
 and divided the money into four equal portions on the 
 table. " There's for you," he said. 
 
 The monk received his share with a deep sigh, and a 
 single stealthy glance at the dead Thevenin, who was 
 beginning to sink into himself and topple sideways off 
 the chair. 
 
 "We're all in for it," cried Villon, swallowing his 
 mirth. "It's a hanging job for every man jack of us 
 that's here — not to speak of those who aren't." He 
 made a shocking gesture in the air with his raised right 
 hand, and put out his tongue and threw his head on 
 one side, so as to counterfeit the appearance of one who 
 has been hanged. Then he pocketed his share of the 
 spoil, and executed a shuffle with his feet as if to re- 
 store the circulation. 
 
 Tabary was the last to help himself; he made a dash at 
 the money, and retired to the other end of the apartment. 
 
 293 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Montigny stuck Thevenin upright in the chair, and 
 drew out the dagger, which was followed by a jet of 
 blood. 
 
 " You fellows had better be moving," he said, as he 
 wiped the blade on his victim's doublet. 
 
 "I think we had," returned Villon, with a gulp. 
 "Damn his fat head! " he broke out. M It sticks in my 
 throat like phlegm. What right has a man to have red 
 hair when he is dead ? " And he fell all of a heap again 
 upon the stool, and fairly covered his face with his 
 hands. 
 
 Montigny and Dom Nicolas laughed aloud, even Ta- 
 bary feebly chiming in. 
 
 "Cry baby," said the monk. 
 
 " I always said he was a woman," added Montigny, 
 with a sneer. "Sit up, can't you ?" he went on, giv- 
 ing another shake to the murdered body. " Tread out 
 that fire, Nick!" 
 
 But Nick was better employed ; he was quietly tak- 
 ing Villon's purse, as the poet sat, limp and trembling, 
 on the stool where he had been making a ballade not 
 three minutes before. Montigny and Tabary dumbly 
 demanded a share of the booty, which the monk silently 
 promised as he passed the little bag into the bosom of 
 his gown. In many ways an artistic nature unfits a 
 man for practical existence. 
 
 No sooner had the theft been accomplished than Vil- 
 lon shook himself, jumped to his feet, and began help- 
 ing to scatter and extinguish the embers. Meanwhile 
 Montigny opened the door and cautiously peered into 
 the street. The coast was clear; there was no meddle- 
 some patrol in sight. Still it was judged wiser to slip 
 
 294 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 out severally; and as Villon was himself in a hurry to 
 escape from the neighbourhood of the dead Thevenin, 
 and the rest were in a still greater hurry to get rid of 
 him before he should discover the loss of his money, he 
 was the first by general consent to issue forth into the 
 street. 
 
 The wind had triumphed and swept all the clouds 
 from heaven. Only a few vapours, as thin as moon- 
 light, fleeted rapidly across the stars. It was bitter cold ; 
 and by a common optical effect, things seemed almost 
 more definite than in the broadest daylight. The sleep- 
 ing city was absolutely still ; a company of white hoods, 
 a field full of little alps, below the twinkling stars. Vil- 
 lon cursed his fortune. Would it were still snowing I 
 Now, wherever he went, he left an indelible trail behind 
 him on the glittering streets ; wherever he went he was 
 still tethered to the house by the cemetery of St. John ; 
 wherever he went he must weave, with his own plod- 
 ding feet, the rope that bound him to the crime and 
 would bind him to the gallows. The leer of the dead 
 man came back to him with a new significance. He 
 snapped his fingers as if to pluck up his own spirits, and 
 choosing a street at random, stepped boldly forward in 
 the snow. 
 
 Two things preoccupied him as he went; the aspect 
 of the gallows at Montfaucon in this bright, windy phase 
 of the night's existence, for one ; and for another, the 
 look of the dead man with his bald head and garland 
 of red curls. Both struck cold upon his heart, and he 
 kept quickening his pace as if he could escape from un- 
 pleasant thoughts by mere fleetness of foot. Sometimes 
 he looked back over his shoulder with a sudden nervous 
 
 295 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 jerk; but he was the only moving thing in the white 
 streets, except when the wind swooped round a corner 
 and threw up the snow, which was beginning to freeze, 
 in spouts of glittering dust. 
 
 Suddenly he saw, a long way before him, a black 
 clump and a couple of lanterns. The clump was in 
 motion, and the lanterns swung as though carried by 
 men walking. It was a patrol. And though it was 
 merely crossing his line of march he judged it wiser to 
 get out of eyeshot as speedily as he could. He was not 
 in the humour to be challenged, and he was conscious 
 of making a very conspicuous mark upon the snow. 
 Just on his left hand there stood a great hotel, with some 
 turrets and a large porch before the door ; it was half- 
 ruinous, he remembered, and had long stood empty; 
 and so he made three steps of it, and jumped into the 
 shelter of the porch. It was pretty dark inside, after the 
 glimmer of the snowy streets, and he was groping for- 
 ward with outspread hands, when he stumbled over 
 some substance which offered an indescribable mixture 
 of resistances, hard and soft, firm and loose. His heart 
 gave a leap, and he sprang two steps back and stared 
 dreadfully at the obstacle. Then he gave a little laugh 
 of relief. It was only a woman, and she dead. He 
 knelt beside her to make sure upon this latter point. 
 She was freezing cold, and rigid like a stick. A little 
 ragged finery fluttered in the wind about her hair, and 
 her cheeks had been heavily rouged that same afternoon. 
 Her pockets were quite empty; but in her stocking, un- 
 derneath the garter, Villon found two of the small coins 
 that went by the name of whites. It was little enough ; 
 but it was always something; and the poet was moved 
 
 296 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 with a deep sense of pathos that she should have died 
 before she had spent her money. That seemed to him a 
 dark and pitiable mystery ; and he looked from the coins 
 in his hand to the dead woman, and back again to the 
 coins, shaking his head over the riddle of man's life. 
 Henry V. of England, dying at Vincennes just after he 
 had conquered France, and this poor jade cut off by a 
 cold draught in a great man's doorway, before she had 
 time to spend her couple of whites — it seemed a cruel 
 way to carry on the world. Two whites would have 
 taken such a little while to squander; and yet it would 
 have been one more good taste in the mouth, one more 
 smack of the lips, before the devil got the soul, and the 
 body was left to birds and vermin. He would like to 
 use all his tallow before the light was blown out and 
 the lantern broken. 
 
 While these thoughts were passing through his mind, 
 he was feeling, half mechanically, for his purse. Sud- 
 denly his heart stopped beating; a feeling of cold scales 
 passed up the back of his legs, and a cold blow seemed 
 to fall upon his scalp. He stood petrified for a moment; 
 then he felt again with one feverish movement; and 
 then his loss burst upon him, and he was covered at 
 once with perspiration. To spendthrifts money is so 
 living and actual — it is such a thin veil between them 
 and their pleasures ! There is only one limit to their 
 fortune — that of time ; and a spendthrift with only a few 
 crowns is the Emperor of Rome until they are spent. 
 For such a person to lose his money is to suffer the most 
 shocking reverse, and fall from heaven to hell, from all 
 to nothing, in a breath. And all the more if he has put 
 his head in the halter for it ; if he may be hanged to- 
 
 297 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 morrow for that same purse, so dearly earned, so foolishly 
 departed ! Villon stood and cursed ; he threw the two 
 whites into the street; he shook his fist at heaven; he 
 stamped, and was not horrified to find himself trampling 
 the poor corpse. Then he began rapidly to retrace his 
 steps towards the house beside the cemetery. He had 
 forgotten all fear of the patrol, which was long gone by 
 at any rate, and had no idea but that of his lost purse. 
 It was in vain that he looked right and left upon the 
 snow : nothing was to be seen. He had not dropped it 
 in the streets. Had it fallen in the house ? He would 
 have liked dearly to go in and see ; but the idea of the 
 grisly occupant unmanned him. And he saw besides, 
 as he drew near, that their efforts to put out the fire 
 had been unsuccessful; on the contrary, it had broken 
 into a blaze, and a changeful light played in the chinks 
 of door and window, and revived his terror for the 
 authorities and Paris gibbet. 
 
 He returned to the hotel with the porch, and groped 
 about upon the snow for the money he had thrown away 
 in his childish passion. But he could only find one 
 white; the other had probably struck sideways and 
 sunk deeply in. With a single white in his pocket, all 
 his projects for a rousing night in some wild tavern 
 vanished utterly away. And it was not only pleasure 
 that fled laughing from his grasp; positive discomfort, 
 positive pain, attacked him as he stood ruefully before 
 the porch. His perspiration had dried upon him; and 
 although the wind had now fallen, a binding frost was 
 setting in stronger with every hour, and he felt benumbed 
 and sick at heart. What was to be done? Late as 
 was the hour, improbable as was success, he would 
 
 398 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 try the house of his adopted father, the chaplain of St. 
 Benott. 
 
 He ran there all the way, and knocked timidly. There 
 was no answer. He knocked again and again, taking 
 heart with every stroke ; and at last steps were heard 
 approaching from within. A barred wicket fell open 
 in the iron-studded door, and emitted a gush of yellow 
 light. 
 
 " Hold up your face to the wicket," said the chaplain 
 from within. 
 
 M It's only me," whimpered Villon. 
 
 "Oh, it's only you, is it ? " returned the chaplain ; and 
 he cursed him with foul unpriestly oaths for disturbing 
 him at such an hour, and bade him be off to hell, where 
 he came from. 
 
 "My hands are blue to the wrist," pleaded Villon; 
 1 ' my feet are dead and full of twinges ; my nose aches 
 with the sharp air; the cold lies at my heart. I may be 
 dead before morning. Only this once, father, and before 
 God, I will never ask again! " 
 
 " You should have come earlier," said the ecclesiastic 
 coolly. " Young men require a lesson now and then." 
 He shut the wicket and retired deliberately into the in- 
 terior of the house. 
 
 Villon was beside himself; he beat upon the door 
 with his hands and feet, and shouted hoarsely after the 
 chaplain. 
 
 " Wormy old fox! " he cried. " If I had my hand un- 
 der your twist, I would send you flying headlong into 
 the bottomless pit." 
 
 A door shut in the interior, faintly audible to the poet 
 down long passages. He passed his hand over his 
 
 299 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 mouth with an oath. And then the humour of the sit- 
 uation struck him, and he laughed and looked lightly up 
 to heaven, where the stars seemed to be winking over 
 his discomfiture. 
 
 What was to be done ? It looked very like a night in 
 the frosty streets. The idea of the dead woman popped 
 into his imagination, and gave him a hearty fright ; what 
 had happened to her in the early night might very well 
 happen to him before morning. And he so young! and 
 with such immense possibilities of disorderly amuse- 
 ment before him ! He felt quite pathetic over the notion 
 of his own fate, as if it had been some one else's, and 
 made a little imaginative vignette of the scene in the 
 morning when they should find his body. 
 
 He passed all his chances under review, turning the 
 white between his thumb and forefinger. Unfortunately 
 he was on bad terms with some old friends who would 
 once have taken pity on him in such a plight. He had 
 lampooned them in verses ; he had beaten and cheated 
 them ; and yet now, when he was in so close a pinch, 
 he thought there was at least one who might perhaps 
 relent. It was a chance. It was worth trying at least, 
 and he would go and see. 
 
 On the way, two little accidents happened to him 
 which coloured his musings in a very different manner. 
 For, first, he fell in with the track of a patrol, and walked 
 in it for some hundred yards, although it lay out of his 
 direction. And this spirited him up; at least he had 
 confused his trail ; for he was still possessed with the 
 idea of people tracking him all about Paris over the 
 snow, and collaring him next morning before he was 
 awake. The other matter affected him quite differently. 
 
 300 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 He passed a street corner, where, not so long before, a 
 woman and her child had been devoured by wolves. 
 This was just the kind of weather, he reflected, when 
 wolves might take it into their heads to enter Paris 
 again ; and a lone man in these deserted streets would 
 run the chance of something worse than a mere scare. 
 He stopped and looked upon the place with an unpleas- 
 ant interest — it was a centre where several lanes inter- 
 sected each other; and he looked down them all, one 
 after another, and held his breath to listen, lest he should 
 detect some galloping black things on the snow or hear 
 the sound of howling between him and the river. He 
 remembered his mother telling him the story and point- 
 ing out the spot, while he was yet a child. His mother! 
 If he only knew where she lived, he might make sure at 
 least of shelter. He determined he would inquire upon 
 the morrow ; nay, he would go and see her too, poor 
 old girl ! So thinking, he arrived at his destination — his 
 last hope for the night. 
 
 The house was quite dark, like its neighbours; and 
 yet after a few taps, he heard a movement overhead, a 
 door opening, and a cautious voice asking who was 
 there. The poet named himself in a loud whisper, and 
 waited, not without some trepidation, the result. Nor 
 had he to wait long. A window was suddenly opened, 
 and a pailful of slops splashed down upon the doorstep. 
 Villon had not been unprepared for something of the 
 sort, and had put himself as much in shelter as the nature 
 of the porch admitted ; but for all that, he was deplorably 
 drenched below the waist. His hose began to freeze al- 
 most at once. Death from cold and exposure stared him 
 in the face ; he remembered he was of phthisical ten- 
 
 301 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 dency, and began coughing tentatively. But the gravity 
 of the danger steadied his nerves. He stopped a few 
 hundred yards from the door where he had been so 
 rudely used, and reflected with his finger to his nose. 
 He could only see one way of getting a lodging, and that 
 was to take it. He had noticed a house not far away, 
 which looked as if it might be easily broken into, and 
 thither he betook himself promptly, entertaining himself 
 on the way with the idea of a room still hot, with a table 
 still loaded with the remains of supper, where he might 
 pass the rest of the black hours and whence he should 
 issue, on the morrow, with an armful of valuable plate. 
 He even considered on what viands and what wines he 
 should prefer; and as he was calling the roll of his favour- 
 ite dainties, roast fish presented itself to his mind with 
 an odd mixture of amusement and horror. 
 
 " I shall never finish that ballade," he thought to him- 
 self ; and then, with another shudder at the recollection, 
 "Oh, damn his fat head!" he repeated fervently, and 
 spat upon the snow. 
 
 The house in question looked dark at first sight; but 
 as Villon made a preliminary inspection in search of the 
 handiest point of attack, a little twinkle of light caught 
 his eye from behind a curtained window. 
 
 " The devil! " he thought. " People awake ! Some 
 student or some saint, confound the crew ! Can't they 
 get drunk and lie in bed snoring like their neighbours ! 
 What's the good of curfew, and poor devils of bell- 
 ringers jumping at a rope's end in bell-towers ? What's 
 the use of day, if people sit up all night ? The gripes 
 to them! " He grinned as he saw where his logic was 
 leading him. "Every man to his business, after all," 
 
 302 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 added he, "and if they're awake, by the Lord, I may 
 come by a supper honestly for once, and cheat the 
 devil." 
 
 He went boldly to the door and knocked with an 
 assured hand. On both previous occasions, he had 
 knocked timidly and with some dread of attracting no- 
 tice; but now when he had just discarded the thought 
 of a burglarious entry, knocking at a door seemed a 
 mighty simple and innocent proceeding. The sound of 
 his blows echoed through the house with thin, phantas- 
 mal reverberations, as though it were quite empty; but 
 these had scarcely died away before a measured tread 
 drew near, a couple of bolts were withdrawn, and one 
 wing was opened broadly, as though no guile or fear of 
 guile were known to those within. A tall figure of a 
 man, muscular and spare, but a little bent confronted 
 Villon. The head was massive in bulk, but finely sculp- 
 tured; the nose blunt at the bottom, but refining up- 
 ward to where it joined a pair of strong and honest eye- 
 brows; the mouth and eyes surrounded with delicate 
 markings, and the whole face based upon a thick white 
 beard, boldly and squarely trimmed. Seen as it was by 
 the light of a flickering hand-lamp, it looked perhaps 
 nobler than it had a right to do; but it was a fine face, 
 honourable rather than intelligent, strong, simple, and 
 righteous. 
 
 " You knock late, sir," said the old man in resonant, 
 courteous tones. 
 
 Villon cringed and brought up many servile words of 
 apology ; at a crisis of this sort the beggar was upper- 
 most in him, and the man of genius hid his head with 
 confusion. 
 
 303 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 '* You are cold," repeated the old man, "and hungry ? 
 Well, step in." And he ordered him into the house with 
 a noble enough gesture. 
 
 " Some great seigneur," thought Villon, as his host, 
 setting down the lamp on the flagged pavement of the 
 entry, shot the bolts once more into their places. 
 
 "You will pardon me if I go in front," he said, when 
 this was done ; and he preceded the poet upstairs into 
 a large apartment, warmed with a pan of charcoal and 
 lit by a great lamp hanging from the roof. It was very 
 bare of furniture : only some gold plate on a sideboard ; 
 some folios ; and a stand of armour between the win- 
 dows. Some smart tapestry hung upon the walls, rep- 
 resenting the crucifixion of our Lord in one piece, and 
 in another a scene of shepherds and shepherdesses by a 
 running stream. Over the chimney was a shield of 
 arms. 
 
 " Will you seat yourself," said the old man, "and for- 
 give me if I leave you ? I am alone in my house 
 to-night, and if you are to eat I must forage for you 
 myself." 
 
 No sooner was his host gone than Villon leaped from 
 the chair on which he had just seated himself, and be- 
 gan examining the room, with the stealth and passion 
 of a cat. He weighed the gold flagons in his hand, 
 opened all the folios, and investigated the arms upon 
 the shield, and the stuff with which the seats were lined. 
 He raised the window curtains, and saw that the win- 
 dows were set with rich stained glass in figures, so far 
 as he could see, of martial import. Then he stood in the 
 middle of the room, drew a long breath, and retaining 
 it with puffed cheeks, looked round and round him, 
 
 304 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 turning on his heels, as if to impress every feature of the 
 apartment on his memory. 
 
 " Seven pieces of plate," he said. " If there had been 
 ten, I would have risked it. A fine house, and a fine 
 old master, so help me all the saints ! " 
 
 And just then, hearing the old man's tread returning 
 along the corridor, he stole back to his chair, and began 
 humbly toasting his wet legs before the charcoal pan. 
 
 His entertainer had a plate of meat in one hand and a 
 jug of wine in the other. He set down the plate upon the 
 table, motioning Villon to draw in his chair, and going to 
 the sideboard, brought back two goblets which he filled. 
 
 "I drink your better fortune," he said, gravely touch- 
 ing Villon's cup with his own. 
 
 "To our better acquaintance," said the poet, growing 
 bold. A mere man of the people would have been 
 awed by the courtesy of the old seigneur, but Villon 
 was hardened in that matter; he had made mirth for 
 great lords before now, and found them as black rascals 
 as himself. And so he devoted himself to the viands 
 with a ravenous gusto, while the old man, leaning back- 
 ward, watched him with steady, curious eyes. 
 
 "You have blood on your shoulder, my man," he said. 
 
 Montigny must have laid his wet right hand upon 
 him as he left the house. He cursed Montigny in his 
 heart. 
 
 "It was none of my shedding," he stammered. 
 
 " I had not supposed so," returned his host quietly. 
 "A brawl?" 
 
 "Well, something of that sort," Villon admitted with 
 a quaver. 
 
 " Perhaps a fellow murdered ?" 
 305 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "Oh, no, not murdered," said the poet, more and 
 more confused. "It was all fair play — murdered by 
 accident. I had no hand in it, God strike me dead ! " 
 he added fervently. 
 
 " One rogue the fewer, I dare say," observed the mas- 
 ter of the house. 
 
 " You may dare to say that," agreed Villon, infinitely 
 relieved. " As big a rogue as there is between here 
 and Jerusalem. He turned up his toes like a lamb. But 
 it was a nasty thing to look at. I dare say you've seen 
 dead men in your time, my lord ? " he added, glancing 
 at the armour. 
 
 "Many," said the old man. "I have followed the 
 wars, as you imagine." 
 
 Villon laid down his knife and fork, which he had just 
 taken up again. 
 
 "Were any of them bald ?" he asked. 
 
 " Oh yes, and with hair as white as mine." 
 
 ' ' I don't think I should mind the white so much, " said 
 Villon. "His was red." And he had a return of his 
 shuddering and tendency to laughter, which he drowned 
 with a great draught of wine. "I'm a little put out 
 when I think of it," he went on. "I knew him — 
 damn him ! And then the cold gives a man fancies — 
 or the fancies give a man cold, I don't know which." 
 
 " Have you any money ?" asked the old man. 
 
 "I have one white," returned the poet, laughing. 
 " I got it out of a dead jade's stocking in a porch. She 
 was as dead as Caesar, poor wench, and as cold as a 
 church, with bits of ribbon sticking in her hair. This 
 is a hard world in winter for wolves and wenches and 
 poor rogues like me." 
 
 306 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 "I," said the old man, "am Enguerrand de la Feuil- 
 lee, seigneur de Brisetout, bailly du Patatrac. Who and 
 what may you be?" 
 
 Villon rose and made a suitable reverence. "I am 
 called Francis Villon," he said, "a poor Master of Arts 
 of this university. I know some Latin, and a deal of 
 vice. I can make chansons, ballades, lais, virelais, and 
 roundels, and I am very fond of wine. I was born in a 
 garret, and I shall not improbably die upon the gallows. 
 I may add, my lord, that from this night forward I am 
 your lordship's very obsequious servant to command." 
 
 ' * No servant of mine, " said the knight ; ' ' my guest for 
 this evening, and no more." 
 
 M A very grateful guest," said Villon politely, and he 
 drank in dumb show to his entertainer. 
 
 "You are shrewd," began the old man, tapping his 
 forehead, " very shrewd; you have learning; you are a 
 clerk ; and yet you take a small piece of money off a 
 dead woman in the street. Is it not a kind of theft ? " 
 
 " It is a kind of theft much practised in the wars, my 
 lord." 
 
 " The wars are the field of honour," returned the old 
 man proudly. " There a man plays his life upon the 
 cast; he fights in the name of his lord the king, his Lord 
 God, and all their lordships the holy saints and angels." 
 
 ' ' Put it, " said Villon, ' ' that I were really a thief, should 
 I not play my life also, and against heavier odds ?" 
 
 " For gain but not for honour." 
 
 "Gain?" repeated Villon with a shrug. "Gain ! 
 The poor fellow wants supper, and takes it. So does 
 the soldier in a campaign. Why, what are all these 
 requisitions we hear so much about ? If they are not 
 
 307 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 gain to those who take them, they are loss enough to 
 the others. The men-at-arms drink by a good fire 
 while the burgher bites his nails to buy them wine and 
 wood. I have seen a good many ploughmen swinging 
 on trees about the country ; ay, I have seen thirty on one 
 elm, and a very poor figure they made; and when I 
 asked someone how all these came to be hanged, I was 
 told it was because they could not scrape together 
 enough crowns to satisfy the men-at-arms." 
 
 " These things are a necessity of war, which the low- 
 born must endure with constancy. It is true that some 
 captains drive overhard; there are spirits in every rank 
 not easily moved by pity ; and indeed many follow arms 
 who are no better than brigands." 
 
 "You see," said the poet, "you cannot separate the 
 soldier from the brigand ; and what is a thief but an iso- 
 lated brigand with circumspect manners ? I steal a 
 couple of mutton chops, without so much as disturbing 
 people's sleep ; the farmer grumbles a bit, but sups none 
 the less wholesomely on what remains. You come up 
 blowing gloriously on a trumpet, take away the whole 
 sheep, and beat the farmer pitifully into the bargain. I 
 have no trumpet; I am only Tom, Dick, or Harry; I am 
 a rogue and a dog, and hanging's too good for me — 
 with all my heart ; but just ask the farmer which of us 
 he prefers, just find out which of us he lies awake to 
 curse on cold nights." 
 
 "Look at us two," said his lordship. "I am old, 
 strong, and honoured. If I were turned from my house 
 to-morrow, hundreds would be proud to shelter me. 
 Poor people would go out and pass the night in the 
 streets with their children, if I merely hinted that I 
 
 308 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 wished to be alone. And I find you up, wandering 
 homeless, and picking farthings off dead women by the 
 wayside! I fear no man and nothing; I have seen you 
 tremble and lose countenance at a word. I wait God's 
 summons contentedly in my own house, or, if it please 
 the king to call me out again, upon the field of battle. 
 You look for the gallows ; a rough, swift death, with- 
 out hope or honour. Is there no difference between 
 these two ? " 
 
 " As far as to the moon," Villon acquiesced. "But 
 if I had been born lord of Brisetout, and you had been 
 the poor scholar Francis, would the difference have been 
 any the less ? Should not I have been warming my 
 knees at this charcoal pan, and would not you have 
 been groping for farthings in the snow ? Should not I 
 have been the soldier, and you the thief?" 
 
 " A thief? " cried the old man. "la thief ! If you 
 understood your words, you would repent them." 
 
 Villon turned out his hands with a gesture of inimi- 
 table impudence. "If your lordship had done me the 
 honour to follow my argument! " he said. 
 
 " I do you too much honour in submitting to your 
 pi esence, " said the knight. ' ' Learn to curb your tongue 
 when you speak with old and honourable men, or some 
 one hastier than I may reprove you in a sharper fashion." 
 And he rose and paced the lower end of the apartment, 
 struggling with anger and antipathy. Villon surrepti- 
 tiously refilled his cup, and settled himself more com- 
 fortably in the chair, crossing his knees and leaning his 
 head upon one hand and the elbow against the back of 
 the chair. He was now replete and warm ; and he was 
 in nowise frightened for his host, having gauged him 
 
 309 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 as justly as was possible between two such different 
 characters. The night was far spent, and in a very 
 comfortable fashion after all ; and he felt morally certain 
 of a safe departure on the morrow. 
 
 "Tell me one thing," said the old man, pausing in 
 his walk. "Are you really a thief? " 
 
 "I claim the sacred rights of hospitality," returned 
 the poet. "My lord, I am." 
 
 "You are very young," the knight continued. 
 
 "I should never have been so old," replied Villon, 
 showing his fingers, "if I had not helped myself with 
 these ten talents. They have been my nursing mothers 
 and my nursing fathers." 
 
 "You may still repent and change." 
 
 ' ' I repent daily, " said the poet. ' ' There are few peo- 
 ple more given to repentance than poor Francis. As for 
 change, let somebody change my circumstances. A 
 man must continue to eat, if it were only that he may 
 continue to repent." 
 
 "The change must begin in the heart," returned the 
 old man solemnly. 
 
 "My dear lord," answered Villon, "do you really 
 fancy that I steal for pleasure ? I hate stealing, like any 
 other piece of work or of danger. My teeth chatter 
 when I see a gallows. But I must eat, I must drink, I 
 must mix in society of some sort. What the devil! 
 Man is not a solitary animal — Cut Deus fceminam tradit. 
 Make me king's pantler — make me abbot of St. Denis; 
 make me bailly of the Patatrac; and then I shall be 
 changed indeed. But as long as you leave me the poor 
 scholar Francis Villon, without a farthing, why, of 
 course, I remain the same." 
 
 310 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 M The grace of God is all-powerful." 
 
 "1 should be a heretic to question it," said Francis. 
 " It has made you lord of Brisetout and bailly of the 
 Patatrac; it has given me nothing but the quick wits 
 under my hat and these ten toes upon my hands. May 
 I help myself to wine ? I thank you respectfully. By 
 God's grace, you have a very superior vintage." 
 
 The lord of Brisetout walked to and fro with his hands 
 behind his back. Perhaps he was not yet quite settled in 
 his mind about the parallel between thieves and soldiers; 
 perhaps Villon had interested him by some cross-thread 
 of sympathy; perhaps his wits were simply muddled 
 by so much unfamiliar reasoning; but whatever the 
 cause, he somehow yearned to convert the young man 
 to a better way of thinking, and could not make up his 
 mind to drive him forth again into the street. 
 
 "There is something more than I can understand in 
 this," he said at length. "Your mouth is full of sub- 
 tleties, and the devil has led you very far astray; but 
 the devil is only a very weak spirit before God's truth, 
 and all his subtleties vanish at a word of true honour, 
 like darkness at morning. Listen to me once more. I 
 learned long ago that a gentleman should live chival- 
 rously and lovingly to God, and the king, and his lady; 
 and though I have seen many strange things done, I have 
 still striven to command my ways upon that rule. It is 
 not only written in all noble histories, but in every man's 
 heart, if he will take care to read. You speak of food 
 and wine, and I know very well that hunger is a diffi- 
 cult trial to endure ; but you do not speak of other wants ; 
 you say nothing of honour, of faith to God and other 
 men, of courtesy, of love without reproach. It may be 
 
 311 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 that I am not very wise — and yet I think I am — but 
 you seem to me like one who has lost his way and made 
 a great error in life. You are attending to the little 
 wants, and you have totally forgotten the great and 
 only real ones, like a man who should be doctoring 
 toothache on the Judgment Day. For such things as 
 honour and love and faith are not only nobler than food 
 and drink, but indeed I think we desire them more, and 
 suffer more sharply for their absence. I speak to you 
 as I think you will most easily understand me. Are you 
 not, while careful to fill your belly, disregarding another 
 appetite in your heart, which spoils the pleasure of your 
 life and keeps you continually wretched ? " 
 
 Villon was sensibly nettled under all this sermoniz- 
 ing. "You think I have no sense of honour! " he cried. 
 "I'm poor enough, God knows! It's hard to see rich 
 people with their gloves, and you blowing in your 
 hands. An empty belly is a bitter thing, although you 
 speak so lightly of it. If you had had as many as I, 
 perhaps you would change your tune. Any way I'm a 
 thief — make the most of that — but I'm not a devil from 
 hell, God strike me dead. I would have you to know 
 I've an honour of my own, as good as yours, though I 
 don't prate about it all day long, as if it was a God's 
 miracle to have any. It seems quite natural to me; I 
 keep it in its box till it's wanted. Why now, look you 
 here, how long have I been in this room with you ? 
 Did you not tell me you were alone in the house ? Look 
 at your gold plate ! You're strong, if you like, but you're 
 old and unarmed, and I have my knife. What did I 
 want but a jerk of the elbow and here would have been 
 you with the cold steel in your bowels, and there would 
 
 312 
 
A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT 
 
 have been me, linking in the streets, with an armful of 
 golden cups ! Did you suppose I hadn't wit enough to 
 see that ? And I scorned the action. There are your 
 damned goblets, as safe as in a church ; there are you, 
 with your heart ticking as good as new ; and here am 
 I, ready to go out again as poor as I came in, with my 
 one white that you threw in my teeth ! And you think 
 I have no sense of honour — God strike me dead!" 
 
 The old man stretched out his right arm. "I will tell 
 you what you are," he said. ''You are a rogue, my 
 man, an impudent and black-hearted rogue and vaga- 
 bond. I have passed an hour with you. Oh ! believe 
 me, I feel myself disgraced ! And you have eaten and 
 drunk at my table. But now I am sick at your presence ; 
 the day has come, and the night-bird should be off to 
 his roost. Will you go before, or after?" 
 
 "Which you please," returned the poet, rising. "I 
 believe you to be strictly honourable." He thoughtfully 
 emptied his cup. " I wish I could add you were intelli- 
 gent," he went on, knocking on his head with his knuck- 
 les. "Age! age! the brains stiff and rheumatic." 
 
 The old man preceded him from a point of self-respect. 
 Villon followed, whistling, with his thumbs in his girdle. 
 
 "God pity you, " said the lord of Brisetout at the door. 
 
 "Good-bye, papa," returned Villon with a yawn. 
 " Many thanks for the cold mutton." 
 
 The door closed behind him. The dawn was breaking 
 over the white roofs. A chill, uncomfortable morning 
 ushered in the day. Villon stood and heartily stretched 
 himself in the middle of the road. 
 
 1 'A very dull old gentleman, " he thought. ' ' I wonder 
 what his goblets may be worth." 
 
 313 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 DENIS DE BEAULIEU was not yet two-and-twenty, 
 but he counted himself a grown man, and a very 
 accomplished cavalier into the bargain. Lads were early 
 formed in that rough, warfaring epoch ; and when one 
 has been in a pitched battle and a dozen raids, has killed 
 one's man in an honourable fashion, and knows a thing 
 or two of strategy and mankind, a certain swagger 
 in the gait is surely to be pardoned. He had put 
 up his horse with due care, and supped with due de- 
 liberation ; and then, in a very agreeable frame of mind, 
 went out to pay a visit in the gray of the evening. It 
 was not a very wise proceeding on the young man's 
 part. He would have done better to remain beside the 
 fire or go decently to bed. For the town was full of the 
 troops of Burgundy and England under a mixed com- 
 mand; and though Denis was there on safe-conduct, his 
 safe-conduct was like to serve him little on a chance 
 encounter. 
 
 It was September, 1429; the weather had fallen sharp ; 
 a flighty piping wind, laden with showers, beat about 
 the township ; and the dead leaves ran riot along 
 the streets. Here and there a window was already 
 lighted up ; and the noise of men-at-arms making merry 
 
 317 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 over supper within, came forth in fits and was swallowed 
 up and carried away by the wind. The night fell swiftly ; 
 the flag of England, fluttering on the spire-top, grew 
 ever fainter and fainter against the flying clouds — a black 
 speck like a swallow in the tumultuous, leaden chaos of 
 the sky. As the night fell the wind rose, and began to 
 hoot under archways and roar amid the tree-tops in the 
 valley below the town. 
 
 Denis de Beaulieu walked fast and was soon knocking 
 at his friend's door; but though he promised himself to 
 stay only a little while and make an early return, his wel- 
 come was so pleasant, and he found so much to delay 
 him, that it was already long past midnight before he 
 said good-bye upon the threshold. The wind had fallen 
 again in the meanwhile ; the night was as black as the 
 grave; not a star, nor a glimmer of moonshine, slipped 
 through the canopy of cloud. Denis was ill-acquainted 
 with the intricate lanes of Chateau Landon; even by 
 daylight he had found some trouble in picking his way ; 
 and in this absolute darkness he soon lost it altogether. 
 He was certain of one thing only — to keep mounting 
 the hill; for his friend's house lay at the lower end, or 
 tail, of Chateau Landon, while the inn was up at the 
 head, under the great church spire. With this clue to go 
 upon he stumbled and groped forward, now breathing 
 more freely in open places where there was a good slice 
 of sky overhead, now feeling along the wall in stifling 
 closes. It is an eerie and mysterious position to be thus 
 submerged in opaque blackness in an almost unknown 
 town. The silence is terrifying in its possibilities. The 
 touch of cold window bars to the exploring hand startles 
 the man like the touch of a toad ; the inequalities of the 
 
 3 .8 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 pavement shake his heart into his mouth; a piece of 
 denser darkness threatens an ambuscade or a chasm in 
 the pathway ; and where the air is brighter, the houses 
 put on strange and bewildering appearances, as if to 
 lead him farther from his way. For Denis, who had to 
 regain his inn without attracting notice, there was real 
 danger as well as mere discomfort in the walk ; and he 
 went warily and boldly at once, and at every corner 
 paused to make an observation. 
 
 He had been for some time threading a lane so narrow 
 that he could touch a wall with either hand when it be- 
 gan to open out and go sharply downward. Plainly 
 this lay no longer in the direction of his inn ; but the 
 hope of a little more light tempted him forward to rec- 
 onnoitre. The lane ended in a terrace with a bartizan 
 wall, which gave an outlook between high houses, as 
 out of an embrasure, into the valley lying dark and 
 formless several hundred feet below. Denis looked 
 down, and could discern a few tree-tops waving and a 
 single speck of brightness where the river ran across a 
 weir. The weather was clearing up, and the sky had 
 lightened, so as to show the outline of the heavier 
 clouds and the dark margin of the hills. By the uncer- 
 tain glimmer, the house on his left hand should be a 
 place of some pretensions; it was surmounted by several 
 pinnacles and turret-tops; the round stern of a chapel, 
 with a fringe of flying buttresses, projected boldly from 
 the main block; and the door was sheltered under a 
 deep porch carved with figures and overhung by two 
 long gargoyles. The windows of the chapel gleamed 
 through their intricate tracery with a light as of many 
 tapers, and threw out the buttresses and the peaked 
 
 3»9 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 roof in a more intense blackness against the sky. It 
 was plainly the hotel of some great family of the neigh- 
 bourhood ; and as it reminded Denis of a town house 
 of his own at Bourges, he stood for some time gazing 
 up at it and mentally gauging the skill of the architects 
 and the consideration of the two families. 
 
 There seemed to be no issue to the terrace but the 
 lane by which he had reached it; he could only retrace 
 his steps, but he had gained some notion of his where- 
 abouts, and hoped by this means to hit the main thor- 
 oughfare and speedily regain the inn. He was reckon- 
 ing without that chapter of accidents which was to 
 make this night memorable above all others in his career; 
 for he had not gone back above a hundred yards before 
 he saw a light coming to meet him, and heard loud 
 voices speaking together in the echoing narrows of the 
 lane. It was a party of men-at-arms going the night 
 round with torches. Denis assured himself that they 
 had all been making free with the wine-bowl, and were 
 in no mood to be particular about safe-conducts or the 
 niceties of chivalrous war. It was as like as not that they 
 would kill him like a dog and leave him where he fell. 
 The situation was inspiriting but nervous. Their own 
 torches would conceal him from sight, he reflected ; and 
 he hoped that they would drown the noise of his foot- 
 steps with their own empty voices. If he were but 
 fleet and silent, he might evade their notice altogether. 
 
 Unfortunately, as he turned to beat a retreat, his foot 
 rolled upon a pebble; he fell against the wall with an 
 ejaculation, and his sword rang loudly on the stones. 
 Two or three voices demanded who went there — some 
 in French, some in English ; but Denis made no reply, 
 
 320 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 and ran the faster down the lane. Once upon the ter- 
 race, he paused to look back. They still kept calling 
 after him, and just then began to double the pace in 
 pursuit, with a considerable clank of armour, and great 
 tossing of the torchlight to and fro in the narrow jaws 
 of the passage. 
 
 Denis cast a look around and darted into the porch. 
 There he might escape observation, or — if that were 
 too much to expect — was in a capital posture whether 
 for parley or defence. So thinking, he drew his sword 
 and tried to set his back against the door. To his sur- 
 prise, it yielded behind his weight ; and though he turned 
 in a moment, continued to swing back on oiled and 
 noiseless hinges, until it stood wide open on a black in- 
 terior. When things fall out opportunely for the person 
 concerned, he is not apt to be critical about the how or 
 why, his own immediate personal convenience seeming 
 a sufficient reason for the strangest oddities and revolu- 
 tions in our sublunary things; and so Denis, without a 
 moment's hesitation, stepped within and partly closed 
 the door behind him to conceal his place of refuge. No- 
 thing was further from his thoughts than to close it al- 
 together; but for some inexplicable reason — perhaps 
 by a spring or a weight — the ponderous mass of oak 
 whipped itself out of his fingers and clanked to, with a 
 formidable rumble and a noise like the falling of an au- 
 tomatic bar. 
 
 The round, at that very moment, debouched upon the 
 terrace and proceeded to summon him with shouts and 
 curses. He heard them ferreting in the dark corners; 
 the stock of a lance even rattled along the outer surface 
 of the door behind which he stood; but these gentlemen 
 
 321 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 were in too high a humour to be long delayed, and soon 
 made offdown a corkscrew pathway which had escaped 
 Denis's observation, and passed out of sight and hearing 
 along the battlements of the town. 
 
 Denis breathed again. He gave them a few minutes' 
 grace for fear of accidents, and then groped about for 
 some means of opening the door and slipping forth 
 again. The inner surface was quite smooth, not a 
 handle, not a moulding, not a projection of any sort. 
 He got his finger-nails round the edges and pulled, but 
 the mass was immovable. He shook it, it was as firm 
 as a rock. Denis de Beaulieu frowned and gave vent to 
 a little noiseless whistle. What ailed the door ? he won- 
 dered. Why was it open ? How came it to shut so 
 easily and so effectually after him ? There was some- 
 thing obscure and underhand about all this, that was 
 little to the young man's fancy. It looked like a snare; 
 and yet who could suppose a snare in such a quiet by- 
 street and in a house of so prosperous and even noble 
 an exterior ? And yet — snare or no snare, intentionally 
 or unintentionally — here he was, prettily trapped ; and 
 for the life of him he could see no way out of it again. 
 The darkness began to weigh upon him. He gave ear; 
 all was silence without, but within and close by he 
 seemed to catch a faint sighing, a faint sobbing rustle, a 
 little stealthy creak — as though many persons were at 
 his side, holding themselves quite still, and governing 
 even their respiration with the extreme of slyness. The 
 idea went to his vitals with a shock, and he faced about 
 suddenly as if to defend his life. Then, for the first time, 
 he became aware of a light about the level of his eyes 
 and at some distance in the interior of the house — a 
 
 322 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 vertical thread of light, widening towards the bottom, 
 such as might escape between two wings of arras over 
 a doorway. To see anything was a relief to Denis ; it 
 was like a piece of solid ground to a man labouring in a 
 morass; his mind seized upon it with avidity; and he 
 stood staring at it and trying to piece together some 
 logical conception of his surroundings. Plainly there 
 was a flight of steps ascending from his own level to 
 that of this illuminated doorway ; and indeed he thought 
 he could make out another thread of light, as fine as a 
 needle, and as faint as phosphorescence, which might 
 very well be reflected along the polished wood of a 
 handrail. Since he had begun to suspect that he was 
 not alone, his heart had continued to beat with smother- 
 ing violence, and an intolerable desire for action of any 
 sort had possessed itself of his spirit. He was in deadly 
 peril, he believed. What could be more natural than to 
 mount the staircase, lift the curtain, and confront his dif- 
 ficulty at once ? At least he would be dealing with some- 
 thing tangible ; at least he would be no longer in the 
 dark. He stepped slowly forward with outstretched 
 hands, until his foot struck the bottom step; then he 
 rapidly scaled the stairs, stood for a moment to compose 
 his expression, lifted the arras and went in. 
 
 He found himself in a large apartment of polished 
 stone. There were three doors; one on each of three 
 sides ; all similarly curtained with tapestry. The fourth 
 side was occupied by two large windows and a great 
 stone chimney-piece, carved with the arms of the Male- 
 troits. Denis recognised the bearings, and was gratified 
 to find himself in such good hands. The room was 
 strongly illuminated ; but it contained little furniture ex- 
 
 323 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 cept a heavy table and a chair or two, the hearth was 
 innocent of fire, and the pavement was but sparsely 
 strewn with rushes clearly many days old. 
 
 On a high chair beside the chimney, and directly fac- 
 ing Denis as he entered, sat a little old gentleman in a 
 fur tippet. He sat with his legs crossed and his hands 
 folded, and a cup of spiced wine stood by his elbow on 
 a bracket on the wall. His countenance had a strongly 
 masculine cast; not properly human, but such as we see 
 in the bull, the goat, or the domestic boar; something 
 equivocal and wheedling, something greedy, brutal, and 
 dangerous. The upper lip was inordinately full, as 
 though swollen by a blow or a toothache ; and the smile, 
 the peaked eyebrows, and the small, strong eyes were 
 quaintly and almost comically evil in expression. Beau- 
 tiful white hair hung straight all round his head, like a 
 saint's, and fell in a single curl upon the tippet. His 
 beard and moustache were the pink of venerable sweet- 
 ness. Age, probably in consequence of inordinate pre- 
 cautions, had left no mark upon his hands; and the 
 Maletroit hand was famous. It would be difficult to 
 imagine anything at once so fleshy and so delicate in 
 design ; the taper, sensual fingers were like those of one 
 of Leonardo's women ; the fork of the thumb made a 
 dimpled protuberance when closed ; the nails were per- 
 fectly shaped, and of a dead, surprising whiteness. It 
 rendered his aspect tenfold more redoubtable, that a man 
 with hands like these should keep them devoutly folded 
 like a virgin martyr — that a man with so intent and 
 startling an expression of face should sit patiently on his 
 seat and contemplate people with an unwinking stare, 
 like a god, or a god's statue. His quiescence seemed 
 
 324 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 ironical and treacherous, it fitted so poorly with his 
 looks. 
 
 Such was Alain, Sire de Maletroit. 
 
 Denis and he looked silently at each other for a second 
 or two. 
 
 " Pray step in," said the Sire de Maletroit. " I have 
 been expecting you all the evening." 
 
 He had not risen, but he accompanied his words with 
 a smile and a slight but courteous inclination of the head. 
 Partly from the smile, partly from the strange musical 
 murmur with which the Sire prefaced his observation, 
 Denis felt a strong shudder of disgust go through his 
 marrow. And what with disgust and honest confusion 
 of mind, he could scarcely get words together in reply. 
 
 " I fear," he said, "that this is a double accident. I 
 am not the person you suppose me. It seems you were 
 looking for a visit ; but for my part, nothing was further 
 from my thoughts — nothing could be more contrary to 
 my wishes — than this intrusion." 
 
 "Well, well," replied the old gentleman indulgently, 
 "here you are, which is the main point. Seat yourself 
 my friend, and put yourself entirely at your ease. We 
 shall arrange our little affairs presently." 
 
 Denis perceived that the matter was still complicated 
 with some misconception, and he hastened to continue 
 his explanations. 
 
 " Your door . . . ."he began. 
 
 "About my door ? " asked the other raising his peaked 
 eyebrows. "A little piece of ingenuity." And he 
 shrugged his shoulders. "A hospitable fancy! By your 
 own account, you were not desirous of making my ac- 
 quaintance. We old people look for such reluctance 
 
 325 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 now and then ; when it touches our honour, we cast 
 about until we find some way of overcoming it. You 
 arrive uninvited, but believe me, very welcome." 
 
 " You persist in error, sir/' said Denis. "There can 
 be no question between you and me. I am a stranger 
 in this countryside. My name is Denis, damoiseau de 
 Beaulieu. If you see me in your house, it is only " 
 
 " My young friend," interrupted the other, "you will 
 permit me to have my own ideas on that subject. They 
 probably differ from yours at the present moment," he 
 added with a leer, "but time will show which of us is 
 in the right." 
 
 Denis was convinced he had to do with a lunatic. He 
 seated himself with a shrug, content to wait the upshot; 
 and a pause ensued, during which he thought he could 
 distinguish a hurried gabbling as of prayer from behind 
 the arras immediately opposite him. Sometimes there 
 seemed to be but one person engaged, sometimes two ; 
 and the vehemence of the voice, low as it was, seemed 
 to indicate either great haste or an agony of spirit. It 
 occurred to him that this piece of tapestry covered the 
 entrance to the chapel he had noticed from without. 
 
 The old gentleman meanwhile surveyed Denis from 
 head to foot with a smile, and from time to time emitted 
 little noises like a bird or a mouse, which seemed to in- 
 dicate a high degree of satisfaction. This state of mat- 
 ters became rapidly insupportable ; and Denis, to put an 
 end to it, remarked politely that the wind had gone down. 
 
 The old gentleman fell into a fit of silent laughter, so 
 prolonged and violent that he became quite red in the 
 face. Denis got upon his feet at once, and put on his 
 hat with a flourish. 
 
 326 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROITS DOOR 
 
 "Sir," he said, "if you are in your wits, you have 
 affronted me grossly. If you are out of them, I flatter 
 myself I can find better employment for my brains than 
 to talk with lunatics. My conscience is clear; you have 
 made a fool of me from the first moment; you have re- 
 fused to hear my explanations; and now there is no 
 power under God will make me stay here any longer; 
 and if I cannot make my way out in a more decent 
 fashion, I will hack your door in pieces with my sword." 
 
 The Sire de Mal6troit raised his right hand and wagged 
 it at Denis with the fore and little fingers extended. 
 
 "My dear nephew," he said, "sit down." 
 
 1 ' Nephew ! " retorted Denis, ' ' you lie in your throat ; " 
 and he snapped his fingers in his face. 
 
 "Sit down, you rogue!" cried the old gentleman, in 
 a sudden, harsh voice, like the barking of a dog. " Do 
 you fancy," he went on, "that when I had made my 
 little contrivance for the door I had stopped short with 
 that ? If you prefer to be bound hand and foot till your 
 bones ache, rise and try to go away. If you choose to 
 remain a free young buck, agreeably conversing with an 
 old gentleman — why, sit where you are in peace, and 
 God be with you." 
 
 " Do you mean I am a prisoner ?" demanded Denis. 
 
 "I state the facts," replied the other. " I would rather 
 leave the conclusion to yourself." 
 
 Denis sat down again. Externally he managed to 
 keep pretty calm, but within, he was now boiling with 
 anger, now chilled with apprehension. He no longer 
 felt convinced that he was dealing with a madman. 
 And if the old gentleman was sane, what, in God's 
 name, had he to look for? What absurd or tragical 
 
 327 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 adventure had befallen him ? What countenance was 
 he to assume ? 
 
 While he was thus unpleasantly reflecting, the arras that 
 overhung the chapel door was raised, and a tall priest in 
 his robes came forth and, giving a long, keen stare at Denis ; 
 said something in an undertone to Sire de Maletroit. 
 
 " She is in a better frame of spirit ? " asked the latter. 
 
 "She is more resigned, messire," replied the priest. 
 
 "Now the Lord help her, she is hard to please!" 
 sneered the old gentleman. "A likely stripling — not 
 ill-born — and of her own choosing, too ? Why, what 
 more would the jade have ?" 
 
 "The situation is not usual for a young damsel," 
 said the other, " and somewhat trying to her blushes." 
 
 "She should have thought of that before she began the 
 dance ? It was none of my choosing, God knows that: 
 but since she is in it, by our lady, she shall carry it to 
 the end." And then addressing Denis, " Monsieur de 
 Beaulieu," he asked, " may I present you to my niece ? 
 She has been waiting your arrival, I may say, with even 
 greater impatience than myself." 
 
 Denis had resigned himself with a good grace — all 
 he desired was to know the worst of it as speedily as 
 possible; so he rose at once, and bowed in acquiescence. 
 The Sire de Maletroit followed his example and limped, 
 with the assistance of the chaplain's arm, towards the 
 chapel-door. The priest pulled aside the arras, and all 
 three entered. The building had considerable architec- 
 tural pretensions. A light groining sprang from six 
 stout columns, and hung down in two rich pendants 
 from the centre of the vault. The place terminated be- 
 hind the altar in a round end, embossed and honey- 
 
 328 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 combed with a superfluity of ornament in relief, and 
 pierced by many little windows shaped like stars, tre- 
 foils, or wheels. These windows were imperfectly 
 glazed, so that the night air circulated freely in the 
 chapel. The tapers, of which there must have been half 
 a hundred burning on the altar, were unmercifully blown 
 about; and the light went through many different phases 
 of brilliancy and semi-eclipse. On the steps in front of 
 the altar knelt a young girl richly attired as a bride. A 
 chill settled over Denis as he observed her costume; he 
 fought with desperate energy against the conclusion that 
 was being thrust upon his mind ; it could not — it should 
 not — be as he feared. 
 
 " Blanche," said the Sire, in his most flute-like tones, 
 " I have brought a friend to see you, my little girl; turn 
 round and give him your pretty hand. It is good to be 
 devout; but it is necessary to be polite, my niece." 
 
 The girl rose to her feet and turned toward the new- 
 comers. She moved all of a piece; and shame and ex- 
 haustion were expressed in every line of her fresh young 
 body ; and she held her head down and kept her eyes 
 upon the pavement, as she came slowly forward. In 
 the course of her advance, her eyes fell upon Denis de 
 Beaulieu's feet — feet of which he was justly vain, be it 
 remarked, and wore in the most elegant accoutrement 
 even while travelling. She paused — started, as if his 
 yellow boots had conveyed some shocking meaning — 
 and glanced suddenly up into the wearer's counte- 
 nance. Their eyes met; shame gave place to horror 
 and terror in her looks; the blood left her lips; with a 
 piercing scream she covered her face with her hands 
 and sank upon the chapel floor. 
 
 329 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 ''That is not the man ! ' she cried. " My uncle, that 
 is not the man! " 
 
 The Sire de Maletroit chirped agreeably. "Of course 
 not," he said, "I expected as much. It was so unfor- 
 tunate you could not remember his name." 
 
 "Indeed," she cried, "indeed, I have never seen this 
 person till this moment — I have never so much as set 
 eyes upon him — I never wish to see him again. Sir," 
 she said, turning to Denis, " if you are a gentleman, you 
 will bear me out. Have I ever seen you — have you 
 ever seen me — before this accursed hour?" 
 
 "To speak for myself, I have never had that pleas- 
 ure, " answered the young man. ' * This is the first time, 
 messire, that I have met with your engaging niece." 
 
 The old gentleman shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "I am distressed to hear it," he said. "But it is 
 never too late to begin. I had little more acquaintance 
 with my own late lady ere I married her; which proves," 
 he added, with a grimace, "that these impromptu mar- 
 riages may often produce an excellent understandin'g in 
 the long run. As the bridegroom is to have a voice in 
 the matter, I will give him two hours to make up for 
 lost time before we proceed with the ceremony." And 
 he turned toward the door, followed by the clergyman. 
 
 The girl was on her feet in a moment. " My uncle, 
 you cannot be in earnest," she said. "I declare before 
 God I will stab myself rather than be forced on that 
 young man. The heart rises at it; God forbids such 
 marriages; you dishonour your white hair. Oh, my 
 uncle, pity me ! There is not a woman in all the world 
 but would prefer death to such a nuptial. Is it possi- 
 ble," she added, faltering — "is it possible that you do 
 
 330 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 not believe me — that you still think this" — and she 
 pointed at Denis with a tremor of anger and contempt 
 — "that you still think this to be the man ?" 
 
 "Frankly," said the old gentleman, pausing on the 
 threshold, "I do. But let me explain to you once for 
 all, Blanche de Maletroit, my way of thinking about this 
 affair. When you took it into your head to dishonour 
 my family and the name that I have borne, in peace and 
 war, for more than three-score years, you forfeited not 
 only the right to question my designs, but that of look- 
 ing me in the face. If your father had been alive, he 
 would have spat on you and turned you out of doors. 
 His was the hand of iron. You may bless your God you 
 have only to deal with the hand of velvet, mademoi- 
 selle. It was my duty to get you married without de- 
 lay. Out of pure good-will, I have tried to find your 
 own gallant for you. And I believe I have succeeded. 
 But before God and all the holy angels, Blanche de Male- 
 troit, if I have not, I care not one jack-straw. So let me 
 recommend you to be polite to our young friend ; for upon 
 my word, your next groom may be less appetising." 
 
 And with that he went out, with the chaplain at his 
 heels ; and the arras fell behind the pair. 
 
 The girl turned upon Denis with flashing eyes. 
 
 " And what, sir," she demanded, " may be the mean- 
 ing of all this ? " 
 
 "God knows," returned Denis, gloomily. "I am a 
 prisoner in this house, which seems full of mad people. 
 More I know not; and nothing do I understand." 
 
 M And pray how came you here ? " she asked. 
 
 He told her as briefly as he could. " For the rest," 
 he added, "perhaps you will follow my example, and 
 
 33i 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 tell me the answer to all these riddles, and what, in 
 God's name, is like to be the end of it." 
 
 She stood silent for a little, and he could see her lips 
 tremble and her tearless eyes burn with a feverish lus- 
 tre. Then she pressed her forehead in both hands. 
 
 "Alas, how my head aches! " she said wearily — "to 
 say nothing of my poor heart ! But it is due to you to 
 know my story, unmaidenly as it must seem. I am 
 called Blanche de Maletroit; I have been without father 
 or mother for — oh! for as long as I can recollect, 
 and indeed I have been most unhappy all my life. 
 Three months ago a young captain began to stand near 
 me every day in church. I could see that I pleased him ; 
 I am much to blame, but I was so glad that any one 
 should love me ; and when he passed me a letter, I took 
 it home with me and read it with great pleasure. Since 
 that time he has written many. He was so anxious to 
 speak with me, poor fellow! and kept asking me to 
 leave the door open some evening that we might have 
 two words upon the stair. For he knew how much 
 my uncle trusted me." She gave something like a sob 
 at that, and it was a moment before she could go on. 
 " My uncle is a hard man, but he is very shrewd," she 
 said at last. "He has performed many feats in war, 
 and was a great person at court, and much trusted by 
 Queen Isabeau in old days. How he came to suspect 
 me I cannot tell ; but it is hard to keep anything from 
 his knowledge; and this morning, as we came from 
 mass, he took my hand into his, forced it open, and 
 read my little billet, walking by my side all the while. 
 When he finished, he gave it back to me with great 
 politeness. It contained another request to have the 
 
 332 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 door left open ; and this has been the ruin of us all. My 
 uncle kept me strictly in my room until evening, and 
 then ordered me to dress myself as you see me — a hard 
 mockery for a young girl, do you not think so ? I sup- 
 pose, when he could not prevail with me to tell him 
 the young captain's name, he must have laid a trap for 
 him : into which, alas ! you have fallen in the anger of 
 God. I looked for much confusion; for how could I 
 tell whether he was willing to take me for his wife on 
 these sharp terms ? He might have been trifling with 
 me from the first; or I might have made myself too 
 cheap in his eyes. But truly I had not looked for such 
 a shameful punishment as this ! I could not think that 
 God would let a girl be so disgraced before a young 
 man. And now I tell you all; and I can scarcely hope 
 that you will not despise me." 
 
 Denis made her a respectful inclination. 
 
 "Madam," he said, "you have honoured me by your 
 confidence. It remains for me to prove that I am not 
 unworthy of the honour. Is Messire de Maletroit at 
 hand?" 
 
 " I believe he is writing in the salle without, " she an- 
 swered. 
 
 "May I lead you thither, madam ?" asked Denis, of- 
 fering his hand with his most courtly bearing. 
 
 She accepted it; and the pair passed out of the chapel, 
 Blanche in a very drooping and shamefast condition, but 
 Denis strutting and ruffling in the consciousness of a 
 mission, and the boyish certainty of accomplishing it 
 with honour. 
 
 The Sire de Maletroit rose to meet them with an ironi- 
 cal obeisance. 
 
 333 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "Sir," said Denis, with the grandest possible air, " I 
 believe I am to have some say in the matter of this mar- 
 riage ; and let me tell you at once, I will be no party to 
 forcing the inclination of this young lady. Had it been 
 freely offered to me, I should have been proud to accept her 
 hand, for I perceive she is as good as she is beautiful ; but 
 as things are, I have now the honour, messire, of refusing. " 
 
 Blanche looked at him with gratitude in her eyes ; but 
 the old gentleman only smiled and smiled, until his smile 
 grew positively sickening to Denis. 
 
 "I am afraid," he said, "Monsieur de Beaulieu, that 
 you do not perfectly understand the choice I have offered 
 you. Follow me, I beseech you, to this window. " And 
 he led the way to one of the large windows which stood 
 open on the night. ' ' You observe, " he went on, ' ' there 
 is an iron ring in the upper masonry, and reeved through 
 that, a very efficacious rope. Now, mark my words: 
 if you should find your disinclination to my niece's per- 
 son insurmountable, I shall have you hanged out of this 
 window before sunrise. I shall only proceed to such 
 an extremity with the greatest regret, you may believe 
 me. For it is not at all your death that I desire, but my 
 niece's establishment in life. At the same time, it must 
 come to that if you prove obstinate. Your family, Mon- 
 sieur de Beaulieu, is very well in its way; but if you 
 sprang from Charlemagne, you should not refuse the 
 hand of a Maletroit with impunity — not if she had been 
 as common as the Paris road — not if she were as hideous 
 as the gargoyle over my door. Neither my niece nor 
 you, nor my own private feelings, move me at all in this 
 matter. The honour of my house has been compro- 
 mised ; I believe you to be the guilty person, at least you 
 
 334 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 are now in the secret; and you can hardly wonder if I 
 request you to wipe out the stain. If you will not, your 
 blood be on your own head ! It will be no great satis- 
 faction to me to have your interesting relics kicking 
 their heels in the breeze below my windows, but half a 
 loaf is better than no bread, and if I cannot cure the dis- 
 honour, I shall at least stop the scandal." 
 
 There was a pause. 
 
 " I believe there are other ways of settling such im- 
 broglios among gentlemen," said Denis. M You wear a 
 sword, and I hear you have used it with distinction." 
 
 The Sire de Maletroit made a signal to the chaplain, 
 who crossed the room with long silent strides and raised 
 the arras over the third of the three doors. It was only 
 a moment before he let it fall again ; but Denis had time 
 to see a dusky passage full of armed men. 
 
 "When I was a little younger, I should have been de- 
 lighted to honour you, Monsieur de Beaulieu," said Sire 
 Alain ; "but I am now too old. Faithful retainers are the 
 sinews of age, and I must employ the strength I have. 
 This is one of the hardest things to swallow as a man 
 grows up in years ; but with a little patience, even this 
 becomes habitual. You and the lady seem to prefer the 
 salle for what remains of your two hours ; and as I have 
 no desire to cross your preference, I shall resign it to your 
 use with all the pleasure in the world. No haste! " he 
 added, holding up his hand, as he saw a dangerous look 
 come into Denis de Beaulieu's face. " If your mind re- 
 volt against hanging, it will be time enough two hours 
 hence to throw yourself out of the window or upon the 
 pikes of my retainers. Two hours of life are always two 
 hours. A great many things may turn up in even as 
 
 335 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 little a while as that. And, besides, if I understand her 
 appearance, my niece has something to say to you. 
 You will not disfigure your last hours by a want of po- 
 liteness to a lady ?" 
 
 Denis looked at Blanche, and she made him an im- 
 ploring gesture. 
 
 It is likely that the old gentleman was hugely pleased 
 at this symptom of an understanding; for he smiled on 
 both, and added sweetly: "If you will give me your 
 word of honour, Monsieur de Beaulieu, to await my re- 
 turn at the end of the two hours before attempting any- 
 thing desperate, I shall withdraw my retainers, and let 
 you speak in greater privacy with mademoiselle." 
 
 Denis again glanced at the girl, who seemed to be- 
 seech him to -^ree. 
 
 "I give you ly word of honour," he said. 
 
 Messire de MJetroit bowed, and proceeded to limp 
 about the apartment, clearing his throat the while with 
 that odd musical chirp which had already grown so ir- 
 ritating in the ears of Denis de Beaulieu. He first pos- 
 sessed himself of some papers which lay upon the table ; 
 then he went to the mouth of the passage and appeared 
 to give an order to the men behind the arras; and lastly 
 he hobbled out through the door by which Denis had 
 come in, turning upon the threshold to address a last 
 smiling bow to the young couple, and followed by the 
 chaplain with a hand-lamp. 
 
 No sooner were they alone than Blanche advanced to- 
 wards Denis with her hands extended. Her face was 
 flushed and excited, and her eyes shone with tears. 
 
 "You shall not die ! " she cried, "you shall marry me 
 after all." 
 
 336 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 " You seem to think, madam," replied Denis, "that 
 I stand much in fear of death." 
 
 "Oh, no, no," she said, " I see you are no poltroon. 
 It is for my own sake — I could not bear to have you 
 slain for such a scruple." 
 
 "I am afraid," returned Denis, "that you underrate 
 the difficulty, madam. What you may be too generous 
 to refuse, I may be too proud to accept. In a moment 
 of noble feeling towards me, you forgot what you per- 
 haps owe to others." 
 
 He had the decency to keep his eyes on the floor as 
 he said this, and after he had finished, so as not to spy 
 upon her confusion. She stood silent for a moment, then 
 walked suddenly away, and falling on her uncles chair, 
 fairly burst out sobbing. Denis was in the acme of em- 
 barrassment. He looked round, as if to seek for inspi- 
 ration, and seeing a stool, plumped down upon it for 
 something to do. There he sat playing with the guard 
 of his rapier, and wishing himself dead a thousand times 
 over, and buried in the nastiest kitchen-heap in France. 
 His eyes wandered round the apartment, but found 
 nothing to arrest them. There were such wide spaces 
 between the furniture, the light fell so badly and cheer- 
 lessly over all, the dark outside air looked in so coldly 
 through the windows, that he thought he had never 
 seen a church so vast, nor a tomb so melancholy. The 
 regular sobs of Blanche de Maletroit measured out the 
 time like the ticking of a clock. He read the device 
 upon the shield over and over again, until his eyes be- 
 came obscured ; he stared into shadowy corners until he 
 imagined they were swarming with horrible animals; 
 and every now and again he awoke with a start, to 
 
 337 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 remember that his last two hours were running, and 
 death was on the march. 
 
 Oftener and oftener, as the time went on, did his 
 glance settle on the girl herself. Her face was bowed 
 forward and covered with her hands, and she was shaken 
 at intervals by the convulsive hiccup of grief. Even thus 
 she was not an unpleasant object to dwell upon, so 
 plump and yet so fine, with a warm brown skin, and 
 the most beautiful hair, Denis thought, in the whole 
 world of womankind. Her hands were like her uncle's; 
 but they were more in place at the end of her young 
 arms, and looked infinitely soft and caressing. He 
 remembered how her blue eyes had shone upon him, 
 full of anger, pity, and innocence. And the more he 
 dwelt on her perfections, the uglier death looked, and 
 the more deeply was he smitten with penitence at her 
 continued tears. Now he felt that no man could have 
 the courage to leave a world which contained so beauti- 
 ful a creature; and now he would have given forty 
 minutes of his last hour to have unsaid his cruel speech. 
 
 Suddenly a hoarse and ragged peal of cockcrow rose 
 to their ears from the dark valley below the windows. 
 And this shattering noise in the silence of all around was 
 like a light in a dark place, and shook them both out of 
 their reflections. 
 
 "Alas, can I do nothing to help you ?" she said, look- 
 ing up. 
 
 " Madam," replied Denis, with a fine irrelevancy, "if 
 I have said anything to wound you, believe me, it was 
 for your own sake and not for mine." 
 
 She thanked him with a tearful look. 
 
 "I feel your position cruelly," he went on. "The 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 world has been bitter hard on you. Your uncle is a 
 disgrace to mankind. Believe me, madam, there is no 
 young gentleman in all France but would be glad of my 
 opportunity, to die in doing you a momentary service." 
 
 "I know already that you can be very brave and 
 generous," she answered. "What I want to know is 
 whether I can serve you — now or afterwards," she 
 added, with a quaver. 
 
 "Most certainly," he answered with a smile. "Let 
 me sit beside you as if I were a friend, instead of a 
 foolish intruder ; try to forget how awkwardly we are 
 placed to one another; make my last moments go pleas- 
 antly; and you will do me the chief service possible." 
 
 " You are very gallant," she added, with a yet deeper 
 sadness .... "very gallant .... and it somehow 
 pains me. But draw nearer, if you please; and if you 
 find anything to say to me, you will at least make 
 certain of a very friendly listener. Ah ! Monsieur de 
 Beaulieu," she broke forth — "ah! Monsieur de Beau- 
 lieu, how can I look you in the face ? " And she fell to 
 weeping again with a renewed effusion. 
 
 "Madam," said Denis, taking her hand in both of 
 his, " reflect on the little time I have before me, and the 
 great bitterness into which I am cast by the sight of 
 your distress. Spare me, in my last moments, the spec- 
 tacle of what I cannot cure even with the sacrifice of my 
 life." 
 
 "I am very selfish," answered Blanche. "I will be 
 braver, Monsieur de Beaulieu, for your sake. But think 
 if I can do you no kindness in the future — if you have 
 no friends to whom I could carry your adieux. Charge 
 me as heavily as you can ; every burden will lighten, by 
 
 339 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 so little, the invaluable gratitude I owe you. Put it in 
 my power to do something more for you than weep." 
 
 " My mother is married again, and has a young fam- 
 ily to care for. My brother Guichard will inherit my 
 fiefs; and if I am not in error, that will content him 
 amply for my death. Life is a little vapour that passeth 
 away, as we are told by those in holy orders. When a 
 man is in a fair way and sees all life open in front of him, 
 he seems to himself to make a very important figure in 
 the world. His hor^ whinnies to him; the trumpets 
 blow and the girls look out of window as he rides into 
 town before his company ; he receives many assurances 
 of trust and regard — sometimes by express in a letter — 
 sometimes face to face, with persons of great conse- 
 quence falling on his neck. It is not wonderful if his 
 head is turned for a time. But once he is dead, were he 
 as brave as Hercules or as wise as Solomon, he is soon 
 forgotten. It is not ten years since my father fell, with 
 many other knights around him, in a very fierce encoun- 
 ter, and I do not think that any one of them, nor so much 
 as the name of the fight, is now remembered. No, no, 
 madam, the nearer you come to it, you see that death is 
 a dark and dusty corner, where a man gets into his tomb 
 and has the door shut after him till the judgment day. 
 I have few friends just now, and once I am dead I shall 
 have none." 
 
 "Ah, Monsieur de Beaulieu!" she exclaimed, "you 
 forget Blanche de Maletroit." 
 
 "You have a sweet nature, madam, and you are 
 pleased to estimate a little service far beyond its worth." 
 
 " It is not that," she answered. " You mistake me if 
 you think I am easily touched by my own concerns. I 
 
 340 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 say so, because you are the noblest man I have ever met ; 
 because I recognise in you a spirit that would have made 
 even a common person famous in the land." 
 
 "And yet here I die in a mousetrap — with no more 
 noise about it than my own squeaking," answered he. 
 
 A look of pain crossed her face, and she was silent for 
 a little while. Then a light came into her eyes, and with 
 a smile she spoke again. 
 
 "I cannot have my champion think meanly of him- 
 self. Anyone who gives his life for another will be met 
 in Paradise by all the heralds and angels of the Lord 
 God. And you have no such cause to hang your head. 
 For .... pray, do you think me beautiful ? " she 
 asked, with a deep flush. 
 
 "Indeed, madam, I do," he said. 
 
 1 ' I am glad of that, " she answered heartily. • ' Do you 
 think there are many men in France who have been 
 asked in marriage by a beautiful maiden — with her 
 own lips — and who have "refused her to her face? I 
 know you men would half despise such a triumph ; but 
 believe me, we women know more of what is precious 
 in love. There is nothing that should set a person higher 
 in his own esteem ; and we women would prize nothing 
 more dearly." 
 
 "You are very good," he said; "but you cannot 
 make me forget that I was asked in pity and not for 
 love." 
 
 " I am not so sure of that," she replied, holding down 
 her head. ' ' Hear me to an end, Monsieur de Beaulieu, I 
 know how you must despise me ; I feel you are right to do 
 so ; I am too poor a creature to occupy one thought of 
 your mind, although, alas! you must die for me this 
 
 34 i 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 morning. But when I asked you to marry me, indeed, 
 and indeed, it was because I respected and admired you, 
 and loved you with my whole soul, from the very mo- 
 ment that you took my part against my uncle. If you 
 had seen yourself, and how noble you looked, you would 
 pity rather than despise me. And now," she went on, 
 hurriedly checking him with her hand, "although I 
 have laid aside all reserve and told you so much, remem- 
 ber that I know your sentiments towards me already. 
 I would not, believe me, being nobly born, weary you 
 with importunities into consent. I too have a pride of 
 my own : and I declare before the holy mother of God, 
 if you should now go back from your word already 
 given, I would no more marry you than I would marry 
 my uncle's groom." 
 
 Denis smiled a little bitterly. 
 
 "It is a small love," he said, "that shies at a little 
 pride." 
 
 She made no answer, although she probably had her 
 own thoughts. 
 
 " Come hither to the window," he said with a sigh. 
 " Here is the dawn." 
 
 And indeed the dawn was already beginning. The 
 hollow of the sky was full of essential daylight, colourless 
 and clean ; and the valley underneath was flooded with 
 a gray reflection. A few thin vapours clung in the coves 
 of the forest or lay along the winding course of the river. 
 The scene disengaged a surprising effect of stillness, 
 which was hardly interrupted when the cocks began 
 once more to crow among the steadings. Perhaps the 
 same fellow who had made so horrid a clangour in the 
 darkness not half an hour before, now sent up the mer- 
 
 342 
 
THE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR 
 
 riest cheer to greet the coming day. A little wind went 
 bustling and eddying among the tree-tops underneath 
 the windows. And still the daylight kept Hooding in- 
 sensibly out of the east, which was soon to grow incan- 
 descent and cast up that red-hot cannon-ball, the rising 
 sun. 
 
 Denis looked out over all this with a bit of a shiver. 
 He had taken her hand, and retained it in his almost 
 unconsciously. 
 
 "Has the day begun already?" she said; and then, 
 illogically enough: "the night has been so long! Alas! 
 what shall we say to my uncle when he returns ?" 
 
 "What you will," said Denis, and he pressed her fin- 
 gers in his. 
 
 She was silent. 
 
 " Blanche," he said, with a swift, uncertain, passion- 
 ate utterance, "you have seen whether I fear death. 
 You must know well enough that I would as gladly 
 leap out of that window into the empty air as to lay a 
 finger on you without your free and full consent. But 
 if you care for me at all, do not let me lose my life in a 
 misapprehension ; for I love you better than the whole 
 world ; and though I will die for you blithely, it would 
 be like all the joys of Paradise to live on and spend my 
 life in your service." 
 
 As he stopped speaking, a bell began to ring loudly 
 in the interior of the house ; and a clatter of armour in 
 the corridor showed that the retainers were returning 
 to their post, and the two hours were at an end. 
 
 " After all that you have heard ? " she whispered, lean- 
 ing towards him with her lips and eyes. 
 
 "I have heard nothing," he replied. 
 
 343 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "The captain's name was Florimond de Champdi- 
 vers," she said in his ear. 
 
 "I did not hear it," he answered, taking her supple 
 body in his arms, and covering her wet face with kisses. 
 
 A melodious chirping was audible behind, followed 
 by a beautiful chuckle, and the voice of Messire de Male- 
 troit wished his new nephew a good morning. 
 
 344 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 MONSIEUR LEON BERTHELINI had a great care 
 of his appearance, and sedulously suited his de- 
 portment to the costume of the hour. He affected some- 
 thing Spanish in his air, and something of the bandit, 
 with a flavour of Rembrandt at home. In person he 
 was decidedly small and inclined to be stout; his face 
 was the picture of good humour; his dark eyes, which 
 were very expressive, told of a kind heart, a brisk, merry 
 nature, and the most indefatigable spirits. If he had worn 
 the clothes of the period you would have set him down 
 for a hitherto undiscovered hybrid between the barber, 
 the innkeeper, and the affable dispensing chemist. But 
 in the outrageous bravery of velvet jacket and flapped 
 hat, with trousers that were more accurately described 
 as fleshings, a white handkerchief cavalierly knotted at 
 his neck, a shock of Olympian curls upon his brow, and 
 his feet shod through all weathers in the slenderest of 
 Moliere shoes — you had but to look at him and you 
 knew you were in the presence of a Great Creature. When 
 he wore an overcoat he scorned to pass the sleeves ; a 
 single button held it round his shoulders ; it was tossed 
 backwards after the manner of a cloak, and carried with 
 the gait and presence of an Almaviva. I am of opinion 
 
 347 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 that M. Berthelini was nearing forty. But he had a 
 boy's heart, gloried in his finery, and walked through 
 life like a child in a perpetual dramatic performance. If 
 he were not Almaviva after all, it was not for lack of 
 making believe. And he enjoyed the artist's compensa- 
 tion. If he were not really Almaviva, he was sometimes 
 just as happy as though he were. 
 
 I have seen him, at moments when he has fancied 
 himself alone with his Maker, adopt so gay and chival- 
 rous a bearing, and represent his own part with so much 
 warmth and conscience, that the illusion became catch- 
 ing, and I believed implicitly in the Great Creature's pose. 
 
 But, alas! life cannot be entirely conducted on these 
 principles ; man cannot live by Almavivery alone ; and 
 the Great Creature, having failed upon several theatres, 
 was obliged to step down every evening from his 
 heights, and sing from a half-a-dozen to a dozen comic 
 songs, twang a guitar, keep a country audience in good 
 humour, and preside finally over the mysteries of a tom- 
 bola. 
 
 Madame Berthelini, who was art and part with him 
 in these undignified labours, had perhaps a higher posi- 
 tion in the scale of beings, and enjoyed a natural dignity 
 of her own. But her heart was not any more rightly 
 placed, for that would have been impossible; and she 
 had acquired a little air of melancholy, attractive enough 
 in its way, but not good to see like the wholesome, sky- 
 scraping, boyish spirits of her lord. 
 
 He, indeed, swam like a kite on a fair wind, high above 
 earthly troubles. Detonations of temper were not un- 
 frequent in the zones he travelled; but sulky fogs and 
 tearful depressions were there alike unknown. A well- 
 
 34» 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 delivered blow upon a table, or a noble attitude, imitated 
 from Melingue or Frederic, relieved his irritation like a 
 vengeance. Though the heaven had fallen, if he had 
 played his part with propriety, Berthelini had been con- 
 tent! And the man's atmosphere, if not his example, 
 reacted on his wife ; for the couple doted on each other, 
 and although you would have thought they walked in 
 different worlds, yet continued to walk hand in hand. 
 
 It chanced one day that Monsieur and Madame Ber- 
 thelini descended with two boxes and a guitar in a fat 
 case at the station of the little town of Castel-le-Gachis, 
 and the omnibus carried them with their effects to the 
 Hotel of the Black Head. This was a dismal, conventual 
 building in a narrow street, capable of standing siege 
 when once the gates were shut, and smelling strangely 
 in the interior of straw and chocolate and old feminine 
 apparel. Berthelini paused upon the threshold with a 
 painful premonition. In some former state, it seemed 
 to him, he had visited a hostelry that smelt not other- 
 wise, and been ill received. 
 
 The landlord, a tragic person in a large felt hat, rose 
 from a business table under the key-rack, and came for- 
 ward, removing his hat with both hands as he did so. 
 
 " Sir, I salute you. May I inquire what is your charge 
 for artists ?" inquired Berthelini, with a courtesy at once 
 splendid and insinuating. 
 
 " For artists ?" said the landlord. His countenance 
 fell and the smile of welcome disappeared. "Oh, ar- 
 tists !" he added brutally; "four francs a day." And 
 he turned his back upon these inconsiderable customers. 
 
 A commercial traveller is received, he also, upon a re- 
 duction — yet is he welcome, yet can he command the 
 
 349 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 "fatted calf; but an artist, had he the manners of an Al- 
 r maviva, were he dressed like Solomon in all his glory, 
 •is received like a dog and served like a timid lady trav- 
 elling alone. 
 
 Accustomed as he was to the rubs of his profession, 
 Berthelini was unpleasantly affected by the landlord's 
 manner. 
 
 "Elvira," said he to his wife, "mark my words: 
 Castel-le-Gachis is a tragic folly." 
 
 "Wait till we see what we take," replied Elvira. 
 
 "We shall take nothing, " returned Berthelini; "we 
 shall feed upon insults. I have an eye, Elvira; I have a 
 spirit of divination ; and this place is accursed. The land- 
 lord has been discourteous, the Commissary will be bru- 
 tal, the audience will be sordid and uproarious, and you 
 will take a cold upon your throat. We have been be- 
 sotted enough to come; the die is cast — it will be a sec- 
 ond Sedan." 
 
 Sedan was a town hateful to the Berthelinis, not only 
 from patriotism (for they were French, and answered 
 after the flesh to the somewhat homely name of Duval), 
 but because it had been the scene of their most sad re- 
 verses. In that place they had lain three weeks in 
 pawn for their hotel bill, and had it not been for a sur- 
 prising stroke of fortune they might have been lying 
 there in pawn until this day. To mention the name of 
 Sedan was for the Berthelinis to dip the brush in earth- 
 quake and eclipse. Count Almaviva slouched his hat 
 with a gesture expressive of despair, and even Elvira 
 felt as if ill-fortune had been personally invoked. 
 
 "Let us ask for breakfast," said she, with a woman's 
 tact. 
 
 350 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 The Commissary of Police of Castel-le-Gachis was a 
 large red Commissary, pimpled, and subject to a strong 
 cutaneous transpiration. I have repeated the name of 
 his office because he was so very much more a Com- 
 missary than a man. The spirit of his dignity had en- 
 tered into him. He carried his corporation as if it were 
 something official. Whenever he insulted a common 
 citizen it seemed to him as if he were adroitly flattering 
 the Government by a side wind ; in default of dignity he 
 was brutal from an over-weening sense of duty. His 
 office was a den, whence passers-by could hear rude 
 accents laying down, not the law, but the good pleas- 
 ure of the Commissary. 
 
 Six several times in the course of the day did M. Ber- 
 thelini hurry thither in quest of the requisite permission 
 for his evening's entertainment; six several times he 
 found the official was abroad. Leon Berthelini began to 
 grow quite a familiar figure in the streets of Castel-le- 
 Gachis; he became a local celebrity, and was pointed 
 out as " the man who was looking for the Commissary." 
 Idle children attached themselves to his footsteps, and 
 trotted after him back and forward between the hotel 
 and the office. Leon might try as he liked ; he might 
 roll cigarettes, he might straddle, he might cock his hat 
 at a dozen different jaunty inclinations — the part of Al- 
 maviva was, under the circumstances, difficult to play. 
 
 As he passed the market-place upon the seventh ex- 
 cursion the Commissary was pointed out to him, where 
 he stood, with his waistcoat unbuttoned and his hands 
 behind his back, to superintend the sale and measure- 
 ment of butter. Berthelini threaded his way through 
 the market stalls and baskets, and accosted the digni- 
 
 351 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 tary with a bow which was a triumph of the histrionic 
 art. 
 
 "I have the honour," he asked, "of meeting M. le 
 Commissaire ? " 
 
 The Commissary was affected by the nobility of his 
 address. He excelled Leon in the depth if not in the airy 
 grace of his salutation. 
 
 "The honour," said he, "is mine!" 
 
 "I am," continued the strolling-player, "I am, sir, 
 an artist, and I have permitted myself to interrupt you 
 on an affair of business. To-night I give a trifling musi- 
 cal entertainment at the Cafe of the Triumphs of the 
 Plough — permit me to offer you this little programme 
 — and I have come to ask you for the necessary author- 
 isation." 
 
 At the word "artist," the Commissary had replaced 
 his hat with the air of a person who, having conde- 
 scended too far, should suddenly remember the duties 
 of his rank. 
 
 "Go, go," said he, "I am busy — I am measuring 
 butter." 
 
 "Heathen Jew!" thought Leon. "Permit me, 
 sir," he resumed, aloud. "I have gone six times al- 
 ready " 
 
 "Put up your bills if you choose," interrupted the 
 Commissary. "In an hour or so I will examine your 
 papers at the office. But now go; I am busy." 
 
 "Measuring butter?" thought Berthelini. "Oh, 
 France, and it is for this that we made '93!" 
 
 The preparations were soon made; the bills posted, 
 programmes laid on the dinner-table of every hotel in the 
 town, and a stage erected at one end of the Cafe of the 
 
 352 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 Triumphs of the Plough ; but when Leon returned to 
 the office, the Commissary was once more abroad. 
 
 " He is like Madame Benoiton," thought Leon. " Fichu 
 Commissaire!" 
 
 And just then he met the man face to face. 
 
 "Here, sir," said he, "are my papers. Will you be 
 pleased to verify?" 
 
 But the Commissary was now intent upon dinner. 
 
 "No use," he replied, "no use; I am busy; I am 
 quite satisfied. Give your entertainment." 
 
 And he hurried on. 
 
 "Fichu Commissaire!" thought Leon. 
 
 353 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 The audience was pretty large ; and the proprietor of 
 the cafe made a good thing of it in beer. But the Ber- 
 thelinis exerted themselves in vain. 
 
 Leon was radiant in velveteen ; he had a rakish way 
 of smoking a cigarette between his songs that was worth 
 money in itself; he underlined his comic points, so that 
 the dullest numskull in Castel-le-Gachis had a notion 
 when to laugh ; and he handled his guitar in a manner 
 worthy of himself. Indeed his play with that instru- 
 ment was as good as a whole romantic drama; it was 
 so dashing, so florid, and so cavalier. 
 
 Elvira, on the other hand, sang her patriotic and ro- 
 mantic songs with more than usual expression; her 
 voice had charm and plangency ; and as Leon looked at 
 her, in her low-bodied maroon dress, with her arms bare 
 to the shoulder, and a red flower set provocatively in 
 her corset, he repeated to himself for the many hun- 
 dredth time that she was one of the loveliest creatures 
 in the world of women. 
 
 Alas! when she went round with the tambourine, the 
 golden youth of Castel-le-Gachis turned from her coldly. 
 Here and there a single halfpenny was forthcoming; the 
 net result of a collection never exceeded half a franc : 
 
 354 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 and the Maire himself, after seven different applications, 
 had contributed exactly twopence. A certain chill be- 
 gan to settle upon the artists themselves; it seemed as 
 if they were singing to slugs; Apollo himself might 
 have lost heart with such an audience. The Berthelinis 
 struggled against the impression; they put their back 
 into their work, they sang loud and louder, the guitar 
 twanged like a living thing; and at last Leon arose in 
 his might, and burst with inimitable conviction into his 
 great song, " Y a des bonnetes gens par tout / " Never 
 had he given more proof of his artistic mastery ; it was 
 his intimate, indefeasible conviction that Castel-le-Gachis 
 formed an exception to the law he was now lyrically 
 proclaiming, and was peopled exclusively by thieves 
 and bullies ; and yet, as I say, he flung it down like a 
 challenge, he trolled it forth like an article of faith ; and 
 his face so beamed the while that you would have 
 thought he must make converts of the benches. 
 
 He was at the top of his register, with his head thrown 
 back and his mouth open, when the door was thrown 
 violently open, and a pair of new comers marched noisily 
 into the cafe. It was the Commissary followed by the 
 Garde Champetre. 
 
 The undaunted Berthelini still continued to proclaim, 
 "Ya des honnetes gens partout! " But now the sen- 
 timent produced an audible titter among the audience. 
 Berthelini wondered why ; he did not know the ante- 
 cedents of the Garde Champetre ; he had never heard 
 of a little story about postage stamps. But the public 
 knew all about the postage stamps, and enjoyed the 
 coincidence hugely. 
 
 The Commissary planted himself upon a vacant chair 
 355 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 with somewhat the air of Cromwell visiting the Rump, 
 and spoke in. occasional whispers to the Garde Cham- 
 petre, who remained respectfully standing at his back. 
 The eyes of both were directed upon Berthelini, who 
 persisted in his statement. 
 
 "Ya des honnetes gens partout," he was just chant- 
 ing for the twentieth time; when up got the Commis- 
 sary upon his feet and waved brutally to the singer with 
 his cane. 
 
 " Is it me you want ?" inquired Leon, stopping in his 
 song. 
 
 "It is you," replied the potentate. 
 
 "Fichu Commissaire ! " thought Leon, and he de- 
 scended from the stage and made his way to the func- 
 tionary. 
 
 "How does it happen, sir," said the Commissary, 
 swelling in person, "that I find you mountebanking in 
 a public cafe without my permission ?" 
 
 " Without ? " cried the indignant Leon. ' ' Permit me 
 to remind you " 
 
 "Come, come, sir! " said the Commissary, "I desire 
 no explanations." 
 
 "I care nothing about what you desire," returned 
 the singer. " I choose to give them, and I will not be 
 gagged. I am an artist, sir, a distinction that you cannot 
 comprehend. I received your permission and stand here 
 upon the strength of it; interfere with me who dare." 
 
 "You have not got my signature, I tell you," cried 
 the Commissary. " Show me my signature ! Where 
 is my signature ? " 
 
 That was just the question ; where was his signature ? 
 Leon recognised that he was in a hole; but his spirit 
 
 356 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 rose with the occasion, and he blustered nobly, tossing 
 back his curls. The Commissary played up to him in 
 the character of tyrant; and as the one leaned farther 
 forward, the other leaned farther back — majesty con- 
 fronting fury. The audience had transferred their atten- 
 tion to this new performance, and listened with that 
 silent gravity common to all Frenchmen in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the police. Elvira had sat down, she was 
 used to these distractions, and it was rather melancholy 
 than fear that now oppressed her. 
 
 1 ' Another word, " cried the Commissary, ' ' and I arrest 
 you." 
 
 " Arrest me! " shouted Leon. " I defy you! " 
 
 "lam the Commissary of Police," said the official. 
 
 Leon commanded his feelings, and replied, with great 
 delicacy of innuendo 
 
 " So it would appear." 
 
 The point was too refined for Castel-le-Gachis ; it did 
 not raise a smile; and as for the Commissary, he simply 
 bade the singer follow him to his office, and directed 
 his proud footsteps towards the door. There was noth- 
 ing for it but to obey. Leon did so with a proper pan- 
 tomime of indifference, but it was a leek to eat, and 
 there was no denying it. 
 
 The Maire had slipped out and was already waiting 
 at the Commissary's door. Now the Maire, in France, 
 is the refuge of the oppressed. He stands between his 
 people and the boisterous rigours of the Police. He can 
 sometimes understand what is said to him; he is not 
 always puffed up beyond measure by his dignity. 'Tis 
 a thing worth the knowledge of travellers. When all 
 seems over, and a man has made up his mind to injus- 
 
 357 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 tice, he has still, like the heroes of romance, a little bu- 
 gle at his belt whereon to blow ; and the Maire, a com- 
 fortable deus ex machina, may still descend to deliver 
 him from the minions of the law. The Maire of Castel- 
 le-Gachis, although inaccessible to the charms of music 
 as retailed by the Berthelinis, had no hesitation what- 
 ever as to the rights of the matter. He instantly fell 
 foul of the Commissary in very high terms, and the Com- 
 missary, pricked by this humiliation, accepted battle on 
 the point of fact. The argument lasted some little while 
 with varying success, until at length victory inclined so 
 plainly to the Commissary's side that the Maire was fain 
 to re-assert himself by an exercise of authority. He had 
 been out-argued, but he was still the Maire. And so, 
 turning from his interlocutor, he briefly but kindly recom- 
 mended Leon to go back instanter to his concert. 
 
 " It is already growing late," he added. 
 
 Leon did not wait to be told twice. He returned to 
 the Cafe of the Triumphs of the Plough with all expe- 
 dition. Alas ! the audience had melted away during 
 his absence ; Elvira was sitting in a very disconsolate 
 attitude on the guitar-box ; she had watched the com- 
 pany dispersing by twos and threes, and the prolonged 
 spectacle had somewhat overwhelmed her spirits. Each 
 man, she reflected, retired with a certain proportion of 
 her earnings in his pockets, and she saw to-night's 
 board and to-morrow's railway expenses, and finally 
 even to-morrow's dinner, walk one after another out of 
 the cafe door and disappear into the night. 
 
 "What was it?" she asked, languidly. 
 
 But Leon did not answer. He was looking round' 
 him on the scene of defeat. Scarce a score of listeners 
 
 358 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 remained, and these of the least promising sort. The 
 minute hand of the clock was already climbing upward 
 towards eleven. 
 
 "It's a lost battle," said he, and then taking up the 
 money-box he turned it out. "Three francs seventy- 
 five!" he cried, "as against four of board and six of 
 railway fares, and no time for the tombola! Elvira, this 
 is Waterloo." And he sat down and passed both hands 
 desperately among his curls. " O Fichu Commissaire ! '" 
 he cried, "Fichu Commissaire! " 
 
 " Let us get the things together and be off," returned 
 Elvira. "We might try another song, but there is not 
 six halfpence in the room." 
 
 " Six halfpence ? " cried Leon, "six hundred thousand 
 devils! There is not a human creature in the town — 
 nothing but pigs and dogs and commissaries! Pray 
 heaven, we get safe to bed ! " 
 
 "Don't imagine things!" exclaimed Elvira, with a 
 shudder. 
 
 And with that they set to work on their preparations. 
 The tobacco-jar, the cigarette-holder, the three papers 
 of shirt-studs, which were to have been the prizes of the 
 tombola had the tombola come off, were made into a 
 bundle with the music ; the guitar was stowed into the 
 fat guitar-case; and Elvira having thrown a thin shawf 
 about her neck and shoulders, the pair issued from the 
 cafe and set off for the Black Head. 
 
 As they crossed the market-place the church bell rang 
 out eleven. It was a dark, mild night, and there was no 
 one in the streets. 
 
 "It is all very fine," said Leon: "but I have a pre- 
 sentiment. The night is not yet done." 
 
 359 
 
CHAPTER HI 
 
 The Black Head presented not a single chink of light 
 upon the street, and the carriage gate was closed. 
 
 "This is unprecedented," observed Leon. "An inn 
 closed by five minutes after eleven! And there were 
 several commercial travellers in the cafe up to a late 
 hour. Elvira, my heart misgives me. Let us ring the 
 bell." 
 
 The bell had a potent note; and being swung under 
 the arch it filled the house from top to bottom with 
 surly, clanging reverberations. The sound accentuated 
 the conventual appearance of the building; a wintry 
 sentiment, a thought of prayer and mortification, took 
 hold upon Elvira's mind; and as for Leon, he seemed to 
 be reading the stage directions for a lugubrious fifth act. 
 
 "This is your fault," said Elvira: "this is what comes 
 of fancying things ! " 
 
 Again Leon pulled the bell-rope; again the solemn 
 tocsin awoke the echoes of the inn; and ere they had 
 died away, a light glimmered in the carriage entrance, 
 and a powerful voice was heard upraised and tremulous 
 with wrath. 
 
 "What's all this ? " cried the tragic host through the 
 spars of the gate. "Hard upon twelve, and you come 
 
 360 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 clamouring like Prussians at the door of a respectable 
 hotel ? Oh! " he cried, " I know you now! Common 
 singers! People in trouble with the police! And you 
 present yourselves at midnight like lords and ladies ? 
 Be off with you!" 
 
 " You will permit me to remind you," said Leon, in 
 thrilling tones, "that I am a guest in your house, that 
 I am properly inscribed, and that I have deposited bag- 
 gage to the value of four hundred francs." 
 
 "You cannot get in at this hour," returned the man. 
 "This is no thieves' tavern, for mohocks and night rakes 
 and organ-grinders." 
 
 " Brute! " cried Elvira, for the organ-grinders touched 
 her home. 
 
 "Then I demand my baggage," said Leon, with una- 
 bated dignity. 
 
 "I know nothing of your baggage," replied the land- 
 lord. 
 
 "You detain my baggage? You dare to detain my 
 baggage ? " cried the singer. 
 
 "Who are you ? " returned the landlord. " It is dark 
 
 — I cannot recognise you." 
 
 1 ' Very well, then — you detain my baggage, " concluded 
 Leon. " You shall smart for this. I will weary out your 
 life with persecutions; I will drag you from court to 
 court; if there is justice to be had in France, it shall be 
 rendered between you and me. And I will make you a 
 by-word — I will put you in a song — a scurrilous song 
 
 — an indecent song — a popular song — which the boys 
 shall sing to you in the street, and come and howl 
 through these spars at midnight! " 
 
 He had gone on raising his voice at every phrase, for 
 361 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 all the while the landlord was very placidly retiring; and 
 now, when the last glimmer of light had vanished from 
 the arch, and the last footstep died away in the interior, 
 Leon turned to his wife with a heroic countenance. 
 
 " Elvira," said he, "I have now a duty in life. I shall 
 destroy that man as Eugene Sue destroyed the concierge. 
 Let us come at once to the Gendarmerie and begin our 
 vengeance." 
 
 He picked up the guitar-case, which had been propped 
 against the wall, and they set forth through the silent 
 and ill-lighted town with burning hearts. 
 
 The Gendarmerie was concealed beside the telegraph 
 office at the bottom of a vast court, which was partly 
 laid out in gardens ; and here all the shepherds of the 
 public lay locked in grateful sleep. It took a deal of 
 knocking to waken one; and he, when he came at last 
 to the door, could find no other remark but that "it 
 was none of his business." Leon reasoned with him, 
 threatened him, besought him ; here, he said, was Ma- 
 dame Berthelini in evening dress — a delicate woman 
 — in an interesting condition — the last was thrown 
 in, I fancy, for effect; and to all this the man-at-arms 
 made the same answer: 
 
 " It is none of my business," said he. 
 
 "Very well," said Leon, "then we shall go to the 
 Commissary." Thither they went; the office was closed 
 and dark ; but the house was close by, and Leon was 
 soon swinging the bell like a madman. The Commis- 
 sary's wife appeared at a window. She was a thread- 
 paper creature, and informed them that the Commissary 
 had not yet come home. 
 
 "Is he at the Maire's ?" demanded Leon. 
 362 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 She thought that was not unlikely. 
 
 " Where is the Maire's house ?" he asked. 
 
 And she gave him some rather vague information on 
 that point. 
 
 ' 'Stay you here, Elvira," said Leon, "lest I should 
 miss him by the way. If, when I return, I find you 
 here no longer, I shall follow at once to the Black 
 Head/' 
 
 And he set out to find the Maire's. It took him some 
 ten minutes wandering among blind lanes, and when 
 he arrived it was already half an hour past midnight. A 
 long white garden wall overhung by some thick chest- 
 nuts, a door with a letter-box, and an iron bell-pull, 
 that was all that could be seen of the Maire's domicile. 
 Leon took the bell-pull in both hands, and danced furi- 
 ously upon the sidewalk. The bell itself was just upon 
 the other side of the wall, it responded to his activity, 
 and scattered an alarming clangour far and wide into the 
 night. 
 
 A window was thrown open in a house across the 
 street, and a voice inquired the cause of this untimely 
 uproar. 
 
 "I wish the Maire," said Leon. 
 
 " He has been in bed this hour," returned the voice. 
 
 " He must get up again," retorted Leon, and he was 
 for tackling the bell-pull once more. 
 
 "You will never make him hear," responded the 
 voice. "The garden is of great extent, the house is at 
 the farther end, and both the Maire and his housekeeper 
 are deaf." 
 
 "Aha! " said Leon, pausing. "The Maire is deaf, is 
 he? That explains." And he thought of the evening's 
 
 363 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 concert with a momentary feeling of relief. " Ah ! " he 
 continued, "and so the Maire is deaf, and the garden 
 vast, and the house at the far end ?" 
 
 "And you might ring all night," added the voice, 
 "and be none the better for it. You would only keep 
 me awake." 
 
 ' ' Thank you, neighbour, " replied the singer. ' ' Yc \ 
 shall sleep." 
 
 And he made off again at his best pace for the Com- 
 missary's. Elvira was still walking to and fro before 
 the door. 
 
 " He has not come ? " asked Leon. 
 
 "Not he," she replied. , 
 
 "Good," returned Leon. "I am sure our man's in- 
 side. Let me see the guitar-case. I shall lay this siege 
 in form, Elvira; I am angry; I am indignant; I am trucu- 
 lently inclined ; but I thank my Maker I have still a sense 
 of fun. The unjust judge shall be importuned in a sere- 
 nade, Elvira. Set him up — and set him up." 
 
 He had the case opened by this time, struck a few 
 chords, and fell into an attitude which was irresistibly 
 Spanish. 
 
 "Now," he continued, "feel your voice. Are you 
 ready? Follow me!" 
 
 The guitar twanged, and the two voices upraised, in 
 harmony and with a startling loudness, the chorus of a 
 song of old Beranger's : — 
 
 " Commissaire ! Commissaire ! 
 Colin bat sa menagere." 
 
 The stones of Castel-le-Gachis thrilled at this auda- 
 cious innovation. Hitherto had the night been sacred to 
 
 364 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 repose and nightcaps; and now what was this r Win- 
 dow after window was opened ; matches scratched, and 
 candles began to flicker; swollen sleepy faces peered 
 forth into the starlight. There were two figures before 
 the Commissary's house, each bolt upright, with head 
 thrown back and eyes interrogating the starry heavens ; 
 the guitar wailed, shouted, and reverberated like half an 
 orchestra; and the voices, with a crisp and spirited de- 
 livery, hurled the appropriate burden at the Commis- 
 sary's window. All the echoes repeated the function- 
 ary's name. It was more like an entr'acte in a farce of 
 Moliere's than a passage of real life in Castel-le-Gachis. 
 
 The Commissary, if he was not the first, was not the 
 last of the neighbours to yield to the influence of music, 
 and furiously throw open the window of his bedroom. 
 He was beside himself with rage. He leaned far over 
 the window-sill, raving and gesticulating; the tassel of 
 his white nightcap danced like a thing of life ; he opened 
 his mouth to dimensions hitherto unprecedented, and yet 
 his voice, instead of escaping from it in a roar, came forth 
 shrill and choked and tottering. A little more serenad- 
 ing, and it was clear he would be better acquainted with 
 the apoplexy. 
 
 I scorn to reproduce his language; he touched upon 
 too many serious topics by the way for a quiet story- 
 teller. Although he was known for a man who was 
 prompt with his tongue, and had a power of strong ex- 
 pression at command, he excelled himself so remark- 
 ably this night, that one maiden lady, who had got out 
 of bed like the rest to hear the serenade, was obliged 
 to shut her window at the second clause. Even what 
 she had heard disquieted her conscience; and next day 
 
 365 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 she said she scarcely reckoned as a maiden lady any 
 longer. 
 
 Leon tried to explain his predicament, but he received 
 nothing but threats of arrest by way of answer. 
 
 " If I come down to you! " cried the Commissary. 
 
 " Aye," said Leon, "do!" 
 
 M I will not! " cried the Commissary. 
 
 "You dare not! " answered Leon. 
 
 At that the Commissary closed his window. 
 
 "All is over," said the singer. "The serenade was 
 perhaps ill-judged. These boors have no sense of hu- 
 mour." 
 
 "Let us get away from here," said Elvira, with a 
 shiver. "All these people looking — it is so rude and so 
 brutal." And then giving way once more to passion — 
 "Brutes! "she cried aloud to the candle-lit spectators 
 — * ' brutes ! brutes ! brutes ! " 
 
 "Sauve qui peut," said Leon. "You have done it 
 now!" 
 
 And taking the guitar in one hand and the case in the 
 other, he led the way with something too precipitate to 
 be merely called precipitation from the scene of this 
 absurd adventure. 
 
 &> 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 To the west of Castel-le-Gachis four rows of venerable 
 lime-trees formed, in this starry night, a twilit avenue 
 with two side aisles of pitch darkness. Here and there 
 stone benches were disposed between the trunks. There 
 was not a breath of wind ; a heavy atmosphere of per- 
 fume hung about the alleys ; and every leaf stood stock- 
 still upon its twig. Hither, after vainly knocking at an 
 inn or two, the Berthelinis came at length to pass the 
 night. After an amiable contention, Leon insisted on 
 giving his coat to Elvira, and they sat down together on 
 the first bench in silence. Leon made a cigarette, which 
 he smoked to an end, looking up into the trees, and, 
 beyond them, at the constellations, of which he tried 
 vainly to recall the names. The silence was broken by 
 the church bell; it rang the four quarters on a light and 
 tinkling measure; then followed a single deep stroke 
 that died slowly away with a thrill; and stillness re- 
 sumed its empire. 
 
 "One," said Leon. " Four hours till daylight. It is 
 warm ; it is starry ; I have matches and tobacco. Do 
 not let us exaggerate, Elvira — the experience is posi- 
 tively charming. I feel a glow within me; I am born 
 again. This is the poetry of life. Think of Cooper's 
 novels, my dear." 
 
 367 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " Leon," she said, fiercely, "how can you talk such 
 wicked, infamous nonsense ? To pass all night out of 
 doors — it is like a nightmare ! We shall die." 
 
 "You suffer yourself to be led away," he replied, 
 soothingly. " It is not unpleasant here ; only you brood. 
 Come, now, let us repeat a scene. Shall we try Alceste 
 and Celimene ? No ? Or a passage from the ' Two 
 Orphans ? ' Come, now, it will occupy your mind ; I 
 will play up to you as I never have played before ; I feel 
 art moving in my bones." 
 
 " Hold your tongue," she cried, " or you will drive 
 me mad! Will nothing solemnise you — not even this 
 hideous situation ? " 
 
 "Oh, hideous!" objected Leon. "Hideous is not 
 the word. Why, where would you be ? ' Dites, la 
 jeune belle, ou voulez-vouz aller ? ' " he carolled. ' ' Well, 
 now," he went on, opening the guitar-case, "there's 
 another idea for you — sing. Sing ' Dites, la jeune belle ! ' 
 It will compose your spirits, Elvira, I am sure." 
 
 And without waiting an answer he began to strum 
 the symphony. The first chords awoke a young man 
 who was lying asleep upon a neighbouring bench. 
 
 1 ' Hullo ! " cried the young man, ■ ' who are you ? " 
 
 " Under which king, Bezonian ? " declaimed the artist. 
 "Speak or die!" 
 
 Or if it was not exactly that, it was something to much 
 the same purpose from a French tragedy. 
 
 The young man drew near in the twilight. He was 
 a tall, powerful, gentlemanly fellow, with a somewhat 
 puffy face, dressed in a gray tweed suit, with a deer- 
 stalker hat of the same material ; and as he now came 
 forward he carried a knapsack slung upon one arm. 
 
 368 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 " Are you camping out here, too ?" he asked, with a 
 strong English accent. ' ' I'm not sorry for company. " 
 
 Leon explained their misadventure ; and the other told 
 them that he was a Cambridge undergraduate on a walk- 
 ing tour, that he had run short of money, could no longer 
 pay for his night's lodging, had already been camping 
 out for two nights, and feared he should require to con- 
 tinue the same manoeuvre for at least two nights more. 
 
 " Luckily, it's jolly weather," he concluded. 
 
 "You hear that, Elvira," said Leon. " Madame Ber- 
 thelini," he went on, "is ridiculously affected by this 
 trifling occurrence. For my part, I find it romantic and 
 far from uncomfortable; or at least," he added, shifting 
 on the stone bench, "not quite so uncomfortable as 
 might have been expected. But pray be seated." 
 
 "Yes," returned the undergraduate, sitting down, 
 "it's rather nice than otherwise when once you're used 
 to it; only it's devilish difficult to get washed. I like 
 the fresh air and these stars and things." 
 
 " Aha! " said Leon, " Monsieur is an artist." 
 
 " An artist?" returned the other, with a blank stare. 
 "Not if I know it!" 
 
 " Pardon me," said the actor. " What you said this 
 moment about the orbs of heaven " 
 
 "Oh, nonsense!" cried the Englishman. "A fellow 
 may admire the stars and be anything he likes." 
 
 "You have an artist's nature, however, Mr. I 
 
 beg your pardon ; may I, without indiscretion, inquire 
 your name ? " asked Leon. 
 
 "My name is Stubbs," replied the Englishman. 
 
 "I thank you," returned Leon. "Mine is Berthelini 
 — Leon Berthelini, ex-artist of the theatres of Montrouge, 
 
 369 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 Belleville, and Montmartre. Humbleasyou see me, I have 
 created with applause more than one important role. The 
 Press were unanimous in praise of my Howling Devil of 
 the Mountains, in the piece of the same name. Madame, 
 whom I now present to you, is herself an artist, and I must 
 not omit to state, a better artist than her husband. She also 
 is a creator ; she created nearly twenty successful songs 
 at one of the principal Parisian music-halls. But, to con- 
 tinue, I was saying you had an artist's nature, Monsieur 
 Stubbs, and you must permit me to be a judge in such 
 a question. I trust you will not falsify your instincts; 
 let me beseech you to follow the career of an artist." 
 
 1 ' Thank you, " returned Stubbs, with a chuckle. ' ' I'm 
 going to be a banker." 
 
 "No," said Leon, "do not say so. Not that. A man 
 with such a nature as yours should not derogate so far. 
 What are a few privations here and there, so long as you 
 are working for a high and noble goal ? " 
 
 " This fellow's mad," thought Stubbs; "but the wo- 
 man's rather pretty, and he's not bad fun for himself, if 
 you come to that." What he said was different. "I 
 thought you said you were an actor ? " 
 
 "I certainly did so," replied Leon. "I am one, or, 
 alas! I was." 
 
 " And so you want me to be an actor, do you ? " con- 
 tinued the undergraduate. "Why, man, I could never 
 so much as learn the stuff ; my memory's like a sieve ; 
 and as for acting, I've no more idea than a cat." 
 
 "The stage is not the only course," said Leon. " Be 
 a sculptor, be a dancer, be a poet or a novelist ; folio w 
 your heart, in short, and do some thorough work before 
 you die." 
 
 370 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 "And do you call these things art ? " inquired Stubbs. 
 
 "Why, certainly!" returned Leon. "Are they not 
 all branches ? " 
 
 "Oh! I didn't know," replied the Englishman. "I 
 thought an artist meant a fellow who painted." 
 
 The singer stared at him in some surprise. 
 
 "It is the difference of language," he said at last. 
 ' ' This Tower of Babel, when shall we have paid for it ? If 
 I could speak English you would follow me more readily. " 
 
 " Between you and me, I don't believe I should," re- 
 plied the other. "You seem to have thought a devil 
 of a lot about this business. For my part, I admire the 
 stars, and like to have them shining — it's so cheery — 
 but hang me if I had an idea it had anything to do with 
 art! It's not in my line, you see. I'm not intellectual; 
 I have no end of trouble to scrape through my exams., 
 I can tell you! But I'm not a bad sort at bottom," he 
 added, seeing his interlocutor looked distressed even in 
 the dim starshine, "and I rather like the play, and music, 
 and guitars, and things." 
 
 Leon had a perception that the understanding was in- 
 complete. He changed the subject. 
 
 " And so you travel on foot ?" he continued. " How 
 romantic ! How courageous ! And how are you pleased 
 with my land ? How does the scenery affect you among 
 these wild hills of ours ?" 
 
 "Well, the fact is," began Stubbs — he was about to 
 say that he didn't care for scenery, which was not at all 
 true, being, on the contrary, only an athletic undergrad- 
 uate pretension ; but he had begun to suspect that Ber- 
 thelini liked a different sort of meat, and substituted 
 something else — "The fact is, I think it jolly. They 
 
 37« 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 told me it was no good up here; even the guide-book 
 said so ; but I don't know what they meant. I think 
 it is deuced pretty — upon my word, I do." 
 
 At this moment, in the most unexpected manner, El- 
 vira burst into tears. 
 
 " My voice ! " she cried. " Leon, if I stay here longer 
 I shall lose my voice!" 
 
 "You shall not stay another moment," cried the actor. 
 " If I have to beat in a door, if I have to burn the town, 
 I shall find you shelter." 
 
 With that, he replaced the guitar, and comforting her 
 with some caresses, drew her arm through his. 
 
 "Monsieur Stubbs," said he, taking off his hat, "the 
 reception I offer you is rather problematical ; but let me 
 beseech you to give us the pleasure of your society. 
 You are a little embarrassed for the moment ; you must, 
 indeed, permit me to advance what may be necessary. 
 I ask it as a favour; we must not part so soon after hav- 
 ing met so strangely." 
 
 "Oh, come, you know," said Stubbs, "I can't let a 
 fellow like you " And there he paused, feeling some- 
 how or other on a wrong tack. 
 
 " I do not wish to employ menaces," continued Leon, 
 with a smile; " but if you refuse, indeed I shall not take 
 it kindly." 
 
 "I don't quite see my way out of it," thought the un- 
 dergraduate ; and then, after a pause, he said, aloud and 
 ungraciously enough, "All right. I — I'm very much 
 obliged, of course." And he proceeded to follow them, 
 thinking in his heart, " But it's bad form, all the same, 
 to force an obligation on a fellow. " 
 
 372 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Leon strode ahead as if he knew exactly where he 
 was going ; the sobs of Madame were still faintly audi- 
 ble, and no one uttered a word. A dog barked furiously 
 in a court-yard as they went by ; then the church clock 
 struck two, and many domestic clocks followed or pre- 
 ceded it in piping tones. And just then Berthelini spied 
 a light. It burned in a small house on the outskirts of 
 the town, and thither the party now directed their steps. 
 
 " It is always a chance," said Leon. 
 
 The house in question stood back from the street be- 
 hind an open space, part garden, part turnip field ; and 
 several outhouses stood forward from either wing at 
 right angles to the front. One of these had recently 
 undergone some change. An enormous window, look- 
 ing towards the north, had been effected in the wall and 
 roof, and Leon began to hope it was a studio. 
 
 " If it's only a painter," he said, with a chuckle, "ten 
 to one we get as good a welcome as we want." 
 
 "I thought painters were principally poor," said 
 Stubbs. 
 
 " Ah," cried Leon, "you do not know the world as I 
 do. The poorer the better for us." 
 
 And the trio advanced into the turnip field. 
 
 373 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 The light was in the ground floor; as one window 
 was brightly illuminated and two others more faintly, 
 it might be supposed that there was a single lamp in 
 one corner of a large apartment; and a certain tremu- 
 lousness and temporary dwindling showed that a live 
 fire contributed to the effect. The sound of a voice now 
 became audible ; and the trespassers paused to listen. It 
 was pitched in a high, angry key, but had still a good, 
 full, and masculine note in it. The utterance was voluble, 
 too voluble even to be quite distinct; a stream of words, 
 rising and falling, with ever and again a phrase thrown 
 out by itself, as if the speaker reckoned on its virtue. 
 
 Suddenly another voice joined in. This time it was 
 a woman's; and if the man were angry, the woman was 
 incensed to the degree of fury. There was that abso- 
 lutely blank composure known to suffering males; that 
 colourless unnatural speech which shows a spirit accu- 
 rately balanced between homicide and hysterics; the 
 tone in which the best of women sometimes utter words 
 worse than death to those most dear to them. If Ab- 
 stract Bones-and-Sepulchre were to be endowed with 
 the gift of speech, thus, and not otherwise, would it dis- 
 course. Leon was a brave man, and I fear he was some- 
 what sceptically given (he had been educated in a Papis- 
 tical country), but the habit of childhood prevailed, and 
 he crossed himself devoutly. He had met several wo- 
 men in his career. It was obvious that his instinct had 
 not deceived him, for the male voice broke forth instantly 
 in a towering passion. 
 
 The undergraduate, who had not understood the sig- 
 nificance of the woman's contribution, pricked up his 
 ears at the change upon the man. 
 
 374 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 " There's going to be a free fight," he opined. 
 
 There was another retort from the woman, still calm 
 but a little higher. 
 
 " Hysterics ?" asked Leon of his wife. " Is that the 
 stage direction ?" 
 
 "How should I know?" returned Elvira, somewhat 
 tartly. 
 
 ' * Oh, woman, woman ! " said Leon, beginning to open 
 the guitar-case. "It is one of the burdens of my life, 
 Monsieur Stubbs; they support each other; they always 
 pretend there is no system ; they say it's nature. Even 
 Madame Berthelini, who is a dramatic artist! " 
 
 "You are heartless, Leon," said Elvira; "that wo- 
 man is in trouble." 
 
 "And the man, my angel ? " inquired Berthelini, pass- 
 ing the ribbon of his guitar. ' 'And the man, m' amour ? " 
 
 " He is a man," she answered. 
 
 1 ' You hear that ? " said Leon to Stubbs. " It is not too 
 late for you. Mark the intonation. And now," he con- 
 tinued, " what are we to give them ?" 
 
 "Are you going to sing ? " asked Stubbs. 
 
 "lama troubadour," replied Leon. " I claim a wel- 
 come by and for my art. If I were a banker could I do 
 as much ?" 
 
 " Well, you wouldn't need, you know," answered the 
 undergraduate. 
 
 "Egad," said Leon, "but that's true. Elvira, that 
 is true." 
 
 " Of course it is," she replied. " Did you not know 
 it?" 
 
 "My dear," answered Leon, impressively, "I know 
 nothing but what is agreeable. Even my knowledge 
 
 375 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 of life is a work of art superiorly composed. But what 
 are we to give them ? It should be something appro- 
 priate." 
 
 Visions of " Let dogs delight " passed through the un- 
 dergraduate's mind ; but it occurred to him that the po- 
 etry was English and that he did not know the air. 
 Hence he contributed no suggestion. 
 
 "Something about our houselessness," said Elvira. 
 
 "I have it," cried Leon. And he broke forth into a 
 song of Pierre Dupont's : — 
 
 Savez-vous 011 gite 
 Mai, ce joli mois ? 
 
 Elvira joined in ; so did Stubbs, with a good ear and 
 voice, but an imperfect acquaintance with the music. 
 Leon and the guitar were equal to the situation. The 
 actor dispensed his throat-notes with prodigality and 
 enthusiasm ; and, as he looked up to heaven in his he- 
 roic way, tossing the black ringlets, it seemed to him 
 that the very stars contributed a dumb applause to his 
 efforts, and the universe lent him its silence for a chorus. 
 That is one of the best features of the heavenly bodies, 
 that they belong to everybody in particular ; and a man 
 like Leon, a chronic Endymion who managed to get 
 along without encouragement, is always the world's 
 centre for himself. 
 
 He alone — and it is to be noted, he was the worst 
 singer of the three — took the music seriously to heart, 
 and judged the serenade from a high artistic point of 
 view. Elvira, on the other hand, was preoccupied about 
 their reception; and, as for Stubbs, he considered the 
 whole affair in the light of a broad joke. 
 
 376 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 " Know you the lair of May, the lovely month ? " went 
 the three voices in the turnip-field. 
 
 The inhabitants were plainly fluttered ; the light moved 
 to and fro, strengthening in one window, paling in an- 
 other; and then the door was thrown open, and a man 
 in a blouse appeared on the threshold carrying a lamp. 
 He was a powerful young fellow, with bewildered hair 
 and beard, wearing his neck open; his blouse was 
 stained with oil-colours in a harlequinesque disorder; 
 and there was something rural in the droop and baggi- 
 ness of his belted trousers. 
 
 From immediately behind him, and indeed over his 
 shoulder, a woman's face looked out into the darkness ; 
 it was pale and a little weary, although still young ; it 
 wore a dwindling, disappearing prettiness, soon to be 
 quite gone, and the expression was both gentle and sour, 
 and reminded one faintly of the taste of certain drugs. 
 For all that, it was not a face to dislike ; when the pret- 
 tiness had vanished, it seemed as if a certain pale beauty 
 might step in to take its place; and as both the mildness 
 and the asperity were characters of youth, it might be 
 hoped that, with years, both would merge into a con- 
 stant, brave, and not unkindly temper. 
 
 " What is all this ?" cried the man. 
 
 377 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Leon had his hat in his hand at once. He came for- 
 ward with his customary grace; it was a moment which 
 would have earned him a round of cheering on the 
 stage. Elvira and Stubbs advanced behind him, like a 
 couple of Admetus's sheep following the god Apollo. 
 
 " Sir," said Leon, "the hour is unpardonably late, and 
 our little serenade has the air of an impertinence. Believe 
 me, sir, it is an appeal. Monsieur is an artist, I perceive. 
 We are here three artists benighted and without shelter, 
 one a woman — a delicate woman — in evening dress — 
 in an interesting situation. This will not fail to touch 
 the woman's heart of Madame, whom I perceive indis- 
 tinctly behind Monsieur her husband, and whose face 
 speaks eloquently of a well-regulated mind. Ah ! Mon- 
 sieur, Madame — one generous movement, and you make 
 three people happy ! Two or three hours beside your 
 fire — I ask it of Monsieur in the name of Art — I ask it 
 of Madame by the sanctity of womanhood." 
 
 The two, as by a tacit consent, drew back from the 
 door. 
 
 "Come in," said the man. 
 
 "Entrez, Madame," said the woman. 
 
 The door opened directly upon the kitchen of the 
 W8 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 house, which was to all appearance the only sitting- 
 room. The furniture was both plain and scanty; but 
 there were one or two landscapes on the wall hand- 
 somely framed, as if they had already visited the com- 
 mittee rooms of an exhibition and been thence extruded. 
 Leon walked up to the pictures and represented the part 
 of a connoisseur before each in turn, with his usual dra- 
 matic insight and force. The master of the house, as 
 if irresistibly attracted, followed him from canvas to 
 canvas with the lamp. Elvira was led directly to the 
 fire, where she proceeded to warm herself, while Stubbs 
 stood in the middle of the floor and followed the pro- 
 ceedings of Leon with mild astonishment in his eyes. 
 
 " You should see them by daylight," said the artist. 
 
 "I promise myself that pleasure," said Leon. ''You 
 possess, sir, if you will permit me an observation, the 
 art of composition to a T." 
 
 "You are very good," returned the other. "But 
 should you not draw nearer to the fire ? " 
 
 M With all my heart," said Leon. 
 
 And the whole party soon gathered at the table over 
 a hasty and not an elegant cold supper, washed down 
 with the least of small wines. Nobody liked the meal, 
 but nobody complained; they put a good face upon it, 
 one and all, and made a great clattering of knives and 
 forks. To see Leon eating a single cold sausage was to 
 see a triumph ; by the time he had done he had got 
 through as much pantomime as would have sufficed for 
 a baron of beef, and he had the relaxed expression of 
 the over-eaten. 
 
 As Elvira had naturally taken a place by the side of 
 Leon, and Stubbs as naturally, although I believe un- 
 
 379 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 consciously, by the side of Elvira, the host and hostess 
 were left together. Yet it was to be noted that they 
 never addressed a word to each other, nor so much as 
 suffered their eyes to meet. The interrupted skirmish 
 still survived in ill feeling; and the instant the guests 
 departed it would break forth again as bitterly as ever. 
 The talk wandered from this to that subject — for with 
 one accord the party had declared it was too late to go 
 to bed ; but those two never relaxed towards each other ; 
 Goneril and Regan in a sisterly tiff were not more bent 
 on enmity. 
 
 It chanced that Elvira was so much tired by all the 
 little excitements of the night, that for once she laid 
 aside her company manners, which were both easy and 
 correct, and in the most natural manner in the world 
 leaned her head on Leon's shoulder. At the same time, 
 fatigue suggesting tenderness, she locked the fingers of 
 her right hand into those of her husband's left; and, half- 
 closing her eyes, dozed off into a golden borderland be- 
 tween sleep and waking. But all the time she was not 
 unaware of what was passing, and saw the painter's wife 
 studying her with looks between contempt and envy. 
 
 It occurred to Leon that his constitution demanded 
 the use of some tobacco; and he undid his fingers from 
 Elvira's in order to roll a cigarette. It was gently done, 
 and he took care that his indulgence should in no other 
 way disturb his wife's position. But it seemed to catch 
 the eye of the painter's wife with a special significancy. 
 She looked straight before her for an instant, and then, 
 with a swift and stealthy movement, took hold of her 
 husband's hand below the table. Alas! she might have 
 spared herself the dexterity. For the poor fellow was so 
 
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PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 overcome by this caress that he stopped with his mouth 
 open in the middle of a word, and by the expression of 
 his face plainly declared to all the company that his 
 thoughts had been diverted into softer channels. 
 
 If it had not been rather amiable, it would have been 
 absurdly droll. His wife at once withdrew her touch ; 
 but it was plain she had to exert some force. There- 
 upon the young man coloured and looked for a moment 
 beautiful. 
 
 Leon and Elvira both observed the by-play, and a shock 
 passed from one to the other ; for they were inveterate 
 match-makers, especially between those who were al- 
 ready married. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," said Leon, suddenly. "I see 
 no use in pretending. Before we came in here we heard 
 sounds indicating — if I may so express myself — an im- 
 perfect harmony." 
 
 "Sir " began the man. 
 
 But the woman was beforehand. 
 
 "It is quite true," she said. "I see no cause to be 
 ashamed. If my husband is mad I shall at least do my 
 utmost to prevent the consequences. Picture to your- 
 self, Monsieur and Madame," she went on, for she passed 
 Stubbs over, "that this wretched person — a dauber, an 
 incompetent, not fit to be a sign-painter — receives this 
 morning an admirable offer from an uncle — an uncle of 
 my own, my mother's brother, and tenderly beloved — 
 of a clerkship with nearly a hundred and fifty pounds a 
 year, and that he — picture to yourself ! — he refused it ! 
 Why ? For the sake of Art, he says. Look at his art, 
 I say — look at it ! Is it fit to be seen ? Ask him — is it 
 fit to be sold ? And it is for this, Monsieur and Madame, 
 
 381 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 that he condemns me to the most deplorable existence, 
 without luxuries, without comforts, in a vile suburb of 
 a country town. O non! " she cried, " non — je ne me 
 tairai pas — c'est plus fort que moi ! I take these gentle- 
 men and this lady for judges — is this kind? is it de- 
 cent ? is it manly ? Do I not deserve better at his hands 
 after having married him and" — (a visible hitch) — 
 "done everything in the world to please him ?" 
 
 I doubt if there were ever a more embarrassed com- 
 pany at a table; everyone looked like a fool; and the 
 husband like the biggest. 
 
 " The art of Monsieur, however," said Elvira, break- 
 ing the silence, " is not wanting in distinction." 
 
 " It has this distinction," said the wife, "that nobody 
 will buy it." 
 
 "I should have supposed a clerkship " began 
 
 Stubbs. 
 
 "Art is Art," swept in Leon. " I salute Art. It is the 
 beautiful, the divine ; it is the spirit of the world, and the 
 pride of life. But " And the actor paused. 
 
 "A clerkship " began Stubbs. 
 
 " I'll tell you what it is," said the painter. " I am an 
 artist, and as this gentleman says, Art is this and the 
 other ; but of course, if my wife is going to make my life 
 a piece of perdition all day long, I prefer to go and drown 
 myself out of hand." 
 
 "Go! " said his wife. "I should like to see you!" 
 
 " I was going to say," resumed Stubbs, " that a fellow 
 may be a clerk and paint almost as much as he likes. 
 I know a fellow in a bank who makes capital water- 
 colour sketches; he even sold one for seven-and-six." 
 
 To both the women this seemed a plank of safety; 
 382 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 each hopefully interrogated the countenance of her lord ; 
 even Elvira, an artist herself! — but indeed there must 
 be something permanently mercantile in the female 
 nature. The two men exchanged a glance ; it was 
 tragic ; not otherwise might two philosophers salute, as 
 at the end of a laborious life each recognised that he was 
 still a mystery to his disciples. 
 
 Leon arose. 
 
 ''Art is Art," he repeated, sadly. "It is not water- 
 colour sketches, nor practising on a piano. It is a life 
 to be lived." 
 
 "And in the meantime people starve! " observed the 
 woman of the house. "If that's a life, it is not one 
 for me. " 
 
 "I'll tell you what, " burst forth Leon ; ' ' you, Madame, 
 go into another room and talk it over with my wife; 
 and I'll stay here and talk it over with your husband. 
 It may come to nothing, but let's try." 
 
 " I am very willing," replied the young woman; and 
 she proceeded to light a candle. "This way, if you 
 please." And she led Elvira upstairs into a bedroom. 
 
 "The fact is," said she, sitting down, "that my hus- 
 band cannot paint." 
 
 "No more can mine act," replied Elvira. 
 
 "I should have thought he could," returned the other; 
 "he seems clever." 
 
 " He is so, and the best of men besides," said Elvira; 
 "but he cannot act." 
 
 "At least he is not a sheer humbug like mine; he can 
 at least sing." 
 
 "You mistake Leon," returned his wife, warmly. 
 "He does not even pretend to sing; he has too fine a 
 
 383 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 taste ; he does so for a living. And, believe me, neither 
 of the men are humbugs. They are people with a mission 
 — which they cannot carry out." 
 
 " Humbug or not," replied the other, "you came very 
 near passing the night in the fields; and, for my part, 
 I live in terror of starvation. I should think it was a 
 man's mission to think twice about his wife. But it 
 appears not. Nothing is their mission but to play the 
 fool. Oh ! " she broke out, " is it not something dreary 
 to think of that man of mine ? If he could only do it, 
 who would care ? But no — not he — no more than 
 lean!" 
 
 " Have you any children ?" asked Elvira. 
 
 "No; but then I may." 
 
 "Children change so much," said Elvira, with a sigh. 
 
 And just then from the room below there flew up a 
 sudden snapping chord on the guitar; one followed after 
 another; then the voice of Leon joined in; and there 
 was an air being played and sung that stopped the 
 speech of the two women. The wife of the painter 
 stood like a person transfixed; Elvira, looking into her 
 eyes, could see all manner of beautiful memories and 
 kind thoughts that were passing in and out of her soul 
 with every note; it was a piece of her youth that went 
 before her; a green French plain, the smell of apple- 
 flowers, the far and shining ringlets of a river, and the 
 words and presence of love. 
 
 "Leon has hit the nail," thought Elvira to herself, "I 
 wonder how." 
 
 The how was plain enough. Leon had asked the 
 painter if there were no air connected with courtship 
 and pleasant times; and having learned what he wished, 
 
 384 
 
PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR 
 
 and allowed an interval to pass, he had soared forth 
 into 
 
 O mon amante, 
 
 O mon desir, 
 
 Sachons cueillir 
 L'heure charmante! 
 
 " Pardon me, Madame," said the painter's wife, "your 
 husband sings admirably well." 
 
 "He sings that with some feeling," replied Elvira, 
 critically, although she was a little moved herself, for the 
 song cut both ways in the upper chamber; "but it is as 
 an actor and not as a musician." 
 
 " Life is very sad," said the other; " it so wastes away 
 under one's fingers." 
 
 " I have not found it so," replied Elvira. "I think the 
 good parts of it last and grow greater every day." 
 
 " Frankly, how would you advise me?" 
 
 "Frankly, I would let my husband do what he wished. 
 He is obviously a very loving painter; you have not yet 
 tried him as a clerk. And you know — if it were only 
 as the possible father of your children — it is as well to 
 keep him at his best." 
 
 11 He is an excellent fellow," said the wife. 
 
 They kept it up till sunrise with music and all man- 
 ner of good-fellowship ; and at sunrise, while the sky 
 was still temperate and clear, they separated on the 
 threshold with a thousand excellent wishes for each 
 other's welfare. Castel-le-Gachis was beginning to send 
 up its smoke against the golden East; and the church 
 bell was ringing six. 
 
 385 
 
NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS 
 
 " My guitar is a familiar spirit," said Leon, as he and 
 Elvira took the nearest way toward the inn; "it resus- 
 citated a Commissary, created an English tourist, and 
 reconciled a man and wife." 
 
 Stubbs, on his part, went off into the morning with 
 reflections of his own. 
 
 "They are all mad," thought he, "all mad — but 
 wonderfully decent." 
 
 386 
 
v.i 
 
.