.-■^■....-■^WXv.V.v
\
] ONiVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
RIVERSIDE
^
MoKeanna!
A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
&c., &c., &c.
MoKeanna!
A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
&c., &c., &c.
f?^c.^''burnand.
Author of " Happv Thoughts," "My Health," "Out of Town,"
" The New Sandford and Merton," &c.
LONDON :
BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., lo, BOUVERIE ST.
1873.
LONDON :
BRADBURY, AGNEW & CO., PRINTERS, VVHITEFRIARS.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
MOKEANNA, OR, THE WHITE WITNESS .... I
A Treble Temptation 27
Chikkin Hazard .... .^ ... 79
The Barrow of Bordeau.x 223
ILLUSTRATIONS.
The White Witness Back-Hairs the Lady Bettina ii
" it is the Chapeau Blanc, the White Witness!" . 25
A Grace-ful Toilette at Sea . . . {To face 113
Beauty and Fashion a la Mode Insulaire \_Toface 175
MOKEANNA;
OR, THE WHITE WITNESS.
MOKEANNA;
OR, THE WHITE WITNESS/
gt Sale of Ibc (Timrs.
Dramatically divided into Parts, by the Author of " Matringa," "'Ollow 'Arts,"
'" Geronimo the Gipsy," " The Dark C>irl," " Dustman of Destiny,"' S:c. &c.
PART I.— THE OVERTURE IN THE
ORCHESTRA.
CHAPTER I.
" For oh ! it was a grolling night."
Rare Old Song.
HE clock in the old Church Tower had scarcely
sounded the last stroke of one a.m., when the
little fishing village of Rederring, on the coast
of Rutlandshire, was shaken to its very founda-
tions by the fierce storm that dashed the towering and
* The Author begs to inform everybody, including his friends, that
ho has protected his dramatic right in this thrillingly sensational novel,
B
2 MOKEANNA.
hissing billows against the red-beetling crags of the v>hite-
cliffed shore.
" A nasty night," growled the coast-guardsman, who, ac-
cording to ancient custom, was sitting on the highest point
of land with his feet in hot water ; " but I must keep my
watch, silently, silently ! " Then singing in a lusty voice the
old Norse ditty —
" \\'ith a hey, with a ho !
When the wind does blow ! "
he cautiously lay down among the rank and damp herbage,
A small boat battling with the wa\'es came toward the shore.
Not a soul was within it. Onward, onward, until at length,
with a fearful lurch, it was hurled upon the shingle.
by having caused several versions of the same to be made for Farces,
Burlesques, Melodramas, and Operas respectively. A reduction on
taking a qiiantity. Managers treated with hberally. No Irish need
apply. He has also lately entered himself personally at Stationers'
Hall. " Mokeanna," besides having been translated into all the modern
European and most of the Semitic languages for future publication,
forms the subject of a New Pantomime, in which the Author has lately
invented and registered all the Comic Scenes. Parties attended.
Note. — Since the first appearance of this novel, it is curious to note
that the Dramatic Division of the story has been adopted as'a most
convenient and effective form by our most popular sensationalists. Who
gave them the idea ! /did. — Author.
PART II.— THE PIT.
-+ —
CHAPTER I.
" Slay him ! "
FOL Die ROLLO THE ROVA, B. I, C. 2.
S^^^^^WO dark forms crept from beneath the keel.
'■ England at last !" said the taller of the two,
in a gruff whisper.
'•' Is it ? '"' inquired the other. The speaker
v.as a short, stout, hunchbacked man, about six feet three
in height, enveloped in a light P-jacket loosely thrown
o\"er his left shoulder. On his head he wore a lofty
white co\-ering, known in distant climes as a chapcait
blaiic.
" Hist ! we are watched," cried the former, in a stentorian
^•oice to his companion, whom he would have called
Leonai'do, had that been his name, The Hunchback
gazed upwards and remarked the clear blue eye of the
Coast-guardsman peering through the murky night, over
the dizzy cliff, some five hundred feet above their heads.
To climb up the perpendicular surface, clinging with his
teeth to the softer chalk projections that here and there
afforded him occasional help in his arduous ascent, and
B 2
4 MOKEANNA.
to seize the Watcher with both hands, was to the Hunch-
back the work of a moment.
"Take heed below !" whispered the ruffian to his friend
on the beach, whom he had left trying to descry the struggle
by aid of a magnificent telescope.*
A human shape w^hirling through the air, a sharp report
as of one body striking against another, a sound like to the
breaking of glass, a muttcied oath, a groan, a deeper
groan ■
And all was still.
CHAPTER II.
" Speak gently of the Mister's fall."
CoLENSo's Arithmetic, b. i.
" How are you ? " inquired the Hunchback, softly, leaning
over the edge of the precipice.
There was no response. A fearful suspicion flashed across
his mind.
•' Instant flight ! " he muttered, as drawing his ghostly pale
head-covering further over his brows, he with slow and
stately steps descended the hill.
* The Author suggests to opticians and others, that during the course
of this tale several splendid opportunities for advertisements will offer
themselves. Particulars as to the charges for insertion of the maker's
name in telling situations may be obtained at the office.
PART III.— THE STALLS.
CHAPTER L
" 'Tis Muley Hassan ! "
Hee-Hawlev Farm, old c. i.
LIGHT in a neighbouring farmer's stable at-
tracted his attention. A large grated window,
about half a foot square, suggested itself as his
only chance of effecting an entrance. In a
second he was within. Not a horse was to be seen ; only
one small animal, the Farmer's fa\ourite, known to all the
peasants as the IMoke Anna, or Alokeanna, as she was
commonly called, lay slumbering in the stall. A sudden
idea occurred to the Hunchback. " I will set fire to the
place," said he. After looking about for some time, he
selected two dry sticks. He remembered having been told
in his childish days, how that a couple of pieces of wood if
rul:)bed together for a considerable time, would instan-
taneously ignite. The Hunchback, overcome with emotion,
let fall a tear.
"Bah!" he exclaimed, wiping the moisture carefully off
the twig.
An hour's patent friction produced the desired effect.
6 MOKEANNA.
" This is hungry work," he said. While trying to find
some food, his eye fell upon a tempting bone on which a
few particles of meat still remained. The Hunchback
pocketed the dainty morsel, and, kneeling down, was about
to apply the burning brand to the rafters, when a pair of
flaming eyes glowered upon him out of the surrounding
darkness, and a sudden, sharp, agonising pain shot through
his frame.
A huge animal of the pure English bull-dog type, whose
long shaggy coat and bushy tail were actually bristling with
rage, had fastened his venomous fangs in the Hunchback's
brawny chest. In deadly conflict over and over they
rolled. The ruffian waited his opportunity and dragged
the dog within reach of Mokeanna's heels. One blow from
the hoofs of the sagacious steed, and the savage hound lay
insensible.
The Hunchback vaulted on Mokeanna's back.
" Now for my Lady," he cried. " Away ! "
The Farm House was blazing, as, waving his chapeau
hlanc, he urged Mokeanna o'er the Dismal Wold.
PART IV.— THE DRESS CIRCLE.
{The First Tear.)
CHAPTER I.
" The Secret ! Ha!
The Secret ! Ho!"
X. O. More.
X old old house was Galton Grange, built in
the palmy days of Gothic Architecture by Sir
Christopher ^^'ren, by whom it was presented to
Henry the Eighth, and its present owner, Sir
Lionel Fitz Martin, boasted that it had been for sixteen
centuries in the possession of the Barons of Galton.
Luxuriant poplars swept the avenue, leading up to the
house, with their trailing branches.
Sir Lionel's carriage was at the door.
'■ Farewell, inia Bettina," he said, pressing his wife to his
heart. " I shall come back when 1 return."
" I doubt thee not, Lionel,"' was his weeping lady's reply,
and the coachman, having fervently embraced the calm but
emotional butler, ascended to his scat in the rumble, and the
vehicle was soon lost to view.
The clock struck eleven.
8 MOKEANNA.
" One hour to midnight," she said to herself. Two girHsh
figures, each dressed in a ciil dc sac, approached.
" Mamma," they cried, " will you not trust us now } "
" I will," replied Lady Bettina. " Come, Agnesia ; come^
Evelina." They entered the Brown Study.
" Listen," said the Lady Bettina, " to my Secret. Before
I married Sir Lionel, I was young and lovely."
The lid of Agnesia's lovely eye trembled as she looked
towards her sister. Evelina, a proficient in the French
tongue, murmured ^^ gajinnong" in her ear.
Without noticing their emotion, their mother proceeded.
" I wedded one William Barlow, a man beneath my
station in life. Seized with an original idea that my rich
brother did not need his money, I induced Barlow to — to — "
she faltered.
Agnesia quickly passed her delicate hand from one lobe
of her exquisitely moulded ear to the other.
" Yes," continued Lady Bettina, reassured by her off-
spring's sympathy. " The property became mine. William
Barlow, however, was obliged to fly the country. A warrant
was out against him, and in his absence, he was arraigned,
prosecuted, found guilty "
" Sentenced ? " inquired Evelina, leaning forward.
"Aye, and sucK is the vaunted Justice of English Law —
Executed/"*
* The reader, though accurately acquainted with the intricate subtle-
ties of Legal proceedings, will perhaps question this assertion of her
ladyship. The Author wQuld remind such an one that the speech is put
into the mouth of a lady of rank, who could not be au fail at the
MOKEANXA. 9
A groan of horror burst from their pale hps, and Lady
Bettina hid her face in a variegated bandanna.
" Some time after this," Lady Bettina went on, " I married
Sir Lionel, who yesterday informed me that his wife was
still living. He has gone away to seek her. I hope soon to
have tidings of her decease."
" Mamma," said Agnesia, " we, too, have somewhat to
confide to you. Are you strong enough to bear it ? "'
Lady Bettina filled up a silver goblet with sparkling can
de vie., and drank it off at one draught.
" I am ready."
" We," began Agnesia, " are "
" Break it gently," remonstrated Lady Evelina.
" I will," returned her sister. " Mamma, we? are not your
daughters."
" I suspected as much," murmured the Countess.
The two children slowly left the room, and restraining
their feelings, sought their respective and very downy
couches.
CHAPTER IL
" A Light ! a Light ! "—Burns.
Slowly from beneath the oaken table, covered with
elegant chcvaux de /rise, rose a tall form surmounted by a
white crest.
puzzling technicalities of Law, and who is supposed to repeat only what
she has heard, as will be seen by the sequel.
10 MOKEANNA.
The Lady Bettina started.
" Dear me ! "
He removed the chapcan blaiic from his head.
"It is "
" Yes."
" No— yes. William Barlow ! "
" You thought me "
" Dead ? I did."
" I'm not."
" I see."
" A mistake. 'Tis a long story. I have been detained."
" Ha ! Where ? "
" No matter — abroad."
" How did you return ? "
" Thus I " The Hunchback produced a small piece of
paper to wljjch was attached an official signature.
" I come to tell you — that those girls "
"Ha!"
" AxQ your daughters ! "
" I know it."
" I claim you. Come ! "
" Spare me ! Patiently I have borne with you. Even
when cruelly you dashed out my brains, I did not murmur."
" No further parley. You must fly at once."
" Who says so .? "
" I do."
She wrung her hands in an agony. Her servants were
deaf to the summons.
"See!" he said, opening the window, and pointing to
,^
THK WHITE WITNESS BACl
\lkS THE LAE»Y BETTJNA.
[/'<j^<? {J,
MOKEANNA. ii
Mokeanna, who was impatiently caracolling and rearing in
the pale moonlight, " My steed waits."
"Give me/' she implored, "one moment to pack up a
warmer robe, mj- cheviin defer."
" Not a second. Hark I I hear footsteps ! Come ! " and
seizing the trembling lady by her long raven tresses, he
sprang through the window.
A minute afterwards the slumbering household was dis-
turbed by the sharp report of a pistol.
The Lady Agnesia started from her slumber.
•' Evelina, something must have happened."
She was ris;ht.
PART v.— THE AUDITORIUM.
CHAPTER I.
"■'.0 ijtlei i]p.aa vois
Bvpf^v X'lKavi ©r^K."
MoscHus. 'Ct-i no.) Kol.
URING the events related in the last chapter,
the farm at Rederring was in flames.
The young farmer, Gyles Scroogynnes, sat up
in his bed.
" I will not disturb them," he murmured, gazing fondly
upon his wife and children, who were calmly sleeping by his
side. He was a fine noble looking man, whose dark black
hair, heavy jet moustache, and pale olive complexion, told
surely of his Saxon descent.
" Mokeanna ! " he exclaimed.
The favourite animal was nowhere to be found.
" Mokeanna ! Mokeanna ! " cried the grief-stricken
farmer.
The peasants and fishermen, who had assembled to look
at the fire, turned away their heads, and wept.
A poor man, scarcely able to support himself, elbowed his
way through the crowd.
MOKEANNA. 13
" Mokeanna," he said, '"' is stolen ! "
" Ha ! " exclaimed Gyles Scroogynnes, '"' and you are ''
"The Coast-guardsman. Two men were here to-night.
One of them wore a White Hat. The other lies upon the
beach."
'" But who — who stole INIokeanna ? "
The crowd in an agony of suspense echoed the question.
There was a pause.
Then the Coast-guardsman solemnly replied, " Ye ask who
abducted the Moke Anna? I answer, The Wearer of the
Chapeau Blatie ! "
" How shall we trace him.? " inquired the stalwart farmer.
At this moment the attention of the crowd was attracted
by the movements of the hound, who ran hither and thither,
as if in search of some lost treasure.
"Justinian," the dog's name, "is on his scent," was the
cry.
A woman, in evening costume, carrying five children and
a couple of trunks, emerged from the fire.
It was the farmers wife.
" The Woman in White ! " shouted the peasants, recognis-
ing her.
"Somebody's Luggage '."exclaimed the bluff Coast-guards-
man, pointing to the boxes.
" The fire," she whispered in her husband's ear, " has burnt
oft" the labels ; they have now No Name."
" But I can prove — "
She laid her light taper finger against her finely chiselled
nose, languidly drooping her dark-fringed eyehd.
14 MOKEANNA.
Further parley was useless. " Vengeance ! " they cried,
" upon him who stole Mokeanna 1 "
" Swear ! "
As if actuated by one fearful impulse, that vast mass of
human beings knelt down, and swore for some seconds.
"Vengeance," again they shouted, "upon the Man in the
White—"
The last word was lost in the trampling of their feet as
they started in pursuit.
The Dog was on the track of the Lost Bone !
CHAPTER II.
" The curled and trembling Moon,
Beneath the trees lay lambent
As she fell."
Blackstone Ballads, by S. Warren.
The pistol that roused the Lady Agnesia from her repose
Avas fired by Sir Lionel, who arrived at his own front door in
time to catch sight of the retreating figures, who were at that
moment several miles away.
The bullet passed upwards, through the window of the first
door at the back of the house, and turning off sharply at right
angles, found its way to the heart of the Lady Evelina.
Poor Innocent ! she was dreaming of her first Ball.
Sir Lionel slowly ascended the stairs, and with great
presence of mind, rubbed his daughter's hands and held her
liead up, while her sister sat near them pouring brandy down
her own throat.
MOKEAXNA. 15
All remedies were equally useless.
By this time a fierce crowd had surrounded the Grangr,
and a dog was barking furiously.
•'Whom do 3-0U want .^" inquired Sir Lionel, appearing a,t
the fifth storey window.
•• Guess ? ■■' shouted a farmer, ironically.
" No, give him up ! " cried the crowd, which was headed
by Gyles Scroog)-nnes, the Coast-guardsman and the aveng-
ing hound.
" He is not here," answered the Baronet. " We will pur-
sue him together.''
So saying, he sprang from the window into the farmer's
arms, and the two strong men, having embraced one another,
turned head o^•er heels upon the gravel path.
Once more upon the track of the fugitive.
Onward, onward !
Onward ! I
PART VI.— A SCENE IN THE CIRCLE.
CHAPTER I.
' There are two Riders."
Euclid's Poems. " The Prop.
PEED on, Mokeanna, unrivalled steed I"
cried the Hunchback.
The banks of the silvery Thames, near
Llangollen, came in view. As they saw the
fathomless river, behind them they heard the deep bay of a
dog.
A sudden light broke in upon the Hunchback.
He nervously threw away the Bone.
" They shall not take us easily. C'Hup ! " At this well-
known signal, Mokeanna dashed into the stream.
" Whither go you ? " inquired the Lady Bettina. She was
seated at the furthest distance from Mokeanna's flowing
mane, tremulously grasping the only support that Nature
had provided.
The Hunchback grinned hideously as he answered,
" To the Ruined Castle beneath the Moat."
MOKEANNA. 17
CHAPTER II.
" Ha ! the Pursuer."
" The Scotch Lawyers," Act x. sc. i.
The Avengers, step by step, were gaining on the fugitives,
" Whom seek ye ? " asked the wondering villagers.
They had but one reply. "The Stealer of Mokeanna."
" And he is—"
'• The wearer of the Chapcau BlancP
Hundreds left their work, their families, and their homes,
eager for vengeance.
" I know you," hissed Sir Lionel in the car of the farmers
panting spouse, as they rushed at lightning speed along the
road.
" Ah ! "
"You are Mollina Bawno !"'
" Hush ! 'twas a fatal mistake I "'
" The Proofs—"
" Hidden in the Ruined Castle."
So they sped onward, guided by the Hand of Destiny.
At this moment a loud cry escaped the lips of the Coast-
guardsman.
iz.
PART VIL— THE REFRESHMENT ROOM.
CHAPTER I.
■ Quid ! si sit nobis properare invitus asellus ? "
Aks Poetica.
j T the fool of the cloud-capped mountain range
which crosses Essex from north to south, Moke-
anna fell, exhausted.
" Get on, will you ? " said the Hunchback, per-
suasively.
"Alas ! she is lame," observed the Lady Bettina, imme-
diately adding in the charming Gascon paio/s:
" Regardez ses pauvres J)ieds"
" She needs sustenance," said the ruffian ; " would that 1
could procure a truss of hay. Let us rest awhile."
As they lay down to slumber the clock struck twelve.
The Hunchback was aroused by the mo\ement of a foot
against his own.
"No heel taps ! " he murmured. He was carousing in his
sleep.
Another knock. He arose and looked about him.
" Ha ! Mokeanna ! "
'Twas she, walking erect, fast, fast asleep.
MOKEANNA. 19
Rooted to the spot with terror, he followed her cautiously.
Through fields, over mountain tops, under dark cavernous
rocks, to the Ruined Castle.
Mokeanna moved her glassy eyes slo^\•ly round as though
recognising the country. She opened her mouth, wide,
wider.
" Bray ! '
They were on the banks of the Thames.
They entered the Dungeon Keep. A faint sweet smell as
of old dry hay pervaded the atmosphere. A bundle lay in
the remote corner.
" Ha !" exclaimed the Hunchback as he seized it exultingly,
"The Secret Truss! !"
Just then a hea^•y hand was laid upon his arm.
CHAPTER II.
" Casta Diva fra poco,
Laci darem non piu inesta."
St. Augustine's "Opera."
It was the Coast-guardsman.
In a moment the Hunchback was bound hand and foot.
" The papers, MoUina! " cn'ed Sir Lionel,
" In the Secret Truss," she replied.
Hastily they examined it. Gyles Scroogynnes, who was
sitting on the sharp iron-spiked railings that enclosed the
moat, watched the proceeding uneasily.
" See here !" said the Baronet to MoUina, joyfully point-
c 2
20 MOKEANNA.
ing to an illegible codicil in the habendinn of a closely-
•\vritten Deed. " You are not my wife. I never saw you
before."
The Farmer and Mollina embraced. Man and wife !
The village lasses in the crowd, unmanned at the sight,
wept copiously.
" But my brother's property ? " exclaimed Lady Bettina.
" Your brother landed with me," said the Hunchback,
sullenly.
The Coast-guardsman started. " When I was precipi-
tated over the cliff," he said, "your brother was below. He
broke my fall. Alas I he is no more I "
" The wealth then is yours, viia Bettina. Hooray ! " and
the Baronet thankfully turned up his eyes towards the calm
summer's sky.
"Bah! she is viy wife!"' shouted the Hunchback, ma-
liciously.
Mokeanna tore a paper from the Secret Truss, and kneel-
ing, laid it at Lady Bettina's feet.
" I thought as much — it was . . . ."
"Ha!"
" A False Marriage ! "
" Vengeance on the Stealer of Mokeanna ! " was the fierce
CV\'.
" Stay ! " said the Baronet, who had been a County
Magistrate from time immemorial. " How know you 'twas
he ? Your evidence ? "
" The Hat upon his brow," they shouted. " The White
Witness ! "
PART VIIL— THE GALLERY.
CHAPTER L
" His heart was sad."- Gay.
A ! Lost ! " cried the Hunchback ; then
snapping the cords hke reeds, he leapt over
the heads of his assailants, and made for the
metropohs.
The dog would not follow in his track, for he had found his
bone, and Mokeanna was still investigating the mysteries of
the Secret Truss,
The Hunchback gave one glance at his pursuers.
" If I can gain the Antipodes by nightfall," he said to him-
self, " I shall be safe."
Safe ! oh, Stealer of Mokeanna. Never, never more, for
the White Witness, the Curse, is on thy head.
MOKEANNA.
CHAPTER II.
" Braw. What says the weather cock, Sebastian?"
" Scb. My Lord * * * * I am not i' the vane."
Ben Shakspeare's "Any Other Man," Act i. sc. 2.
The organ was pealing forth Correggio's beautiful Integra
Ciira* as the Hunchback, pale and breathless^ sought shelter
in Old St, Paul's.
The venerable Dean, surrounded by a small knot of chubby
young vergers, was listlessly sitting on the edge of the pulpit-
desk, discussing some stirring topic of the day.
The fugitive paused to listen.
"And who stole Mokeanna?" he heard one of them ask.
Before the Dean could reply, they turned towards the Hunch-
back, pointing.
Instinctively he put his hand to his head.
He had forgotten to remove his cliapcau blanc on entering
the Cathedral.
It was now too late. They were upon him.
Swiftly he fled.
He reached the Whispering Gallery.
The walls rang with the One Awful Question, "Who
stole—"
* An indifferent translation of this chef d'aeuvre was soon after the
close of the first decade of the second half of the nineteenth century
exceedingly popular in our Sallcs de Mttsique, and among our dilletanti
garains.
MOKEANNA. 23
He could wait for nothing further. Twopence more and—
" He is. escaping by the Ball," shouted Sir Lionel, who,
with the Avengers, was watching the chace from below.
The Dean, creeping at a rapid pace up the Dome, nodded
intelligently to the Baronet, and throwing away his bands,
prepared for fresh exertions.
The Great Bell rang an alarm.
In vain the Hunchback tried to deaden the sound as he
clung wildly to the clapper.
Each stroke seemed to say, "Who stole " He fled ; up,
up ; with hands tightly clasped over his ears to shut out the
horrid sound, and at the same time, tying his handkerchief
to the top of the vane, he lightly swung himself on to the
horizontal bar of the golden cross.
The yelling crowd beneath tore up the paving-stones, and
hurled them at the ruffian.
" Surrender, or I fire ! " cried the Dean, who was about to
apply a slow match to one of the minor canons.
" Never with life !" cried the Hunchback.
There was but one chance. Nerving himself for the effort,
he sprang into the air, keeping his feet firmly together, and
preserving a perpendicular attitude.
It was a daring attempt, but successful.
The pressure of the atmosphere beneath him opposed his
descent, and as he had calculated, impelled him with a fearful
velocity upwards into space, but with an incHnation towards
the west.* Three times he partially descended, and on each
* This apparent phenomenon may be easily and scientifically e\-
24 MOKEAXXA.
occasion he was repulsed by a decreasing force, until unable
any longer to protract the physical exertion, he, slightly part-
ing his feet, allowed himself to be thrown in a semicircular
direction, and alighted on one of the shining glaciers, lying
between the highest points of Mount Perimroseil.
Hemmed in, as he was, on all sides by volcanos, fearful
precipices, and wild craters, escape was impossible.
A yell of exultation arose from the crowd assembled in the
plains.
Day after day the avenging watchers in the valley could,
by the aid of very strong glasses of c-an dc vie, see the doomed
man wasting, wasting away ; while the Hat, the White
Witness, grew paler and paler in this awful agony.
With a pitiful attempt to excite compassion, he, with some
particles of snow, which with his hands and lips he had
fashioned into a sharp-pcinted cone, wrote some words upon
the crown of his chapeau bhiiic.
He held it up high in the air.
Through the usual media the vengeful watchers read, " I
am Starving ! "
plained. Supposing A to be a very dense bod\-, any body, on the apex
of a pinnacle, B, three niilh'on feet above the level of the C, i.e. the height
of St. Paul's. Suppose the pressure of air upwards to be as i° in lo, or
six to the pound, small sizes. Let U represent something else, say
ten, a reduction being of course made on taking a quantity. Then as
A : B : : C : D it follows that the vertical power, downwards, is as well as
could be expected. The gravity or density of any body can be easily
ascertained by working out the above problem in all its details, and
thus it is that Nature so beneficently adapts her marvellous laws to the
weakest powers of the mind, and to the meanest capacity of the pocket.
"JT IS THE CHAPEAU B.
\.}'n^e 25.
MOKEANXA. 25
Sir Lionel's stethoscope revealed that the Hunchback had
already eaten his coat and vest.
On the following morning the Lady Agnesia, looking
through the glass, announced that his boots and stockings
had been devoured in the night.
Another garment was about to be sacrificed. She could
look no longer.
That night an Avalanche rolled down the mountain side.
One thundering crash * * * A low stifled cry * * * * * *
As the sun rose majestic in the West, Mokeanna was seen
at the foot of the mountain, shaking something in her massive
jaws.
'• It is," whispered Lady Agnesia, sinking into the arms of
the brave Coast-guardsman and hiding her head upon his
shoulder, " It is the chapcaii blanc, the White Witness ! "'
PART IX.— OUTSIDE THE THEATRE. UNDER
THE PORTICO.
CHAPTER LAST.
" Is this the Hend ? "
Finis's "Endymion," by Jingo.
ANY a year passed after the tragic events here
veraciously recounted, and the watchwords.
Sij that had inspired the peasants of that part
|i) of the country with their fearful thirst for
vengeance, gradually became formularised into a familiar
proverb. Even in these days, the memory of Mokeanna and
the Ruffian Hunchback dwells in the hearts of the very
simple villagers ; and the sojourner in the little Rutlandshire
Fishing Village of Rederring, anxious to obtain the respect
of the inhabitants, must, to the perpetual question,
" Who stole the donkey ? " be prepared to reply with the
most cheerful alacrity,
"The Man in the White Hat."
A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
I
A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
By the Author of " It Is always too early to Sew," " Love me Tall, Love me
Short," " Who's Griffiths? " &c.
CHAPTER I.
I.IR CHARLES BUSS IT was, from an early
age, subject to fits, but he inherited the Tup-
pennie Bussit Estates. Mr. Robert Bussit, his
cousin, would have done so if Sir Charles hadn't.
Hence Robert's hatred of Charles. Nothing more simple.
Sir Charles, being a gay young man, was on visiting terms
with the beautiful La Dorchester. Becoming, suddenly, a
marrying man, he fell deeply in love with Miss Isidora
Spruce. Robert also loved her. This was an additional
reason for his hating Sir Charles, and added fuel to the
flame.
From this moment, Robert commenced writing anonymous
letters to Isidora and her father. He wrote at least twenty
a-day, signing them differently every time. Observing that
the letters were taken in, but that the young lady and her
father were not, he had recourse to other means.
30 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
He called on La Dorchester, who saw through huii at
once, played him adroitly, and then ordered him out of the
house.
This was his third reason for hating his cousin.
He now took to shouting through the keyholes and windows
of Sir Alexander Spruce's house defamations of Sir Charles's
character.
These energetic means, at last, had their effect.
Sir Charles being refused admittance, had a succession of
fits on the doorstep. He was told to move on by a police-
man, and was rescued froni his painful situation by La
Dorchester in her pony-chaise, who thenceforth took the
matter in her own hands.
Robert was now delighted, and, on the strength of the
probabihty of the Tuppennie Bussit Estates coming to him,
bought a secondhand brass door-plate, with somebody else's
name on it.
Sir Charles Bussit got over his fits, and came out stronger
than ever.
This sent up Robert's hatred to fever heat.
It was evident that the Tuppennie Bussit Estates had
slipped from his grasp for this once.
Then he waited.
But while he waited, La Dorchester acted.
CHAPTER 11.
SI DORA SPRUCE was the daughter of Com-
mander-in-Chief Spruce, a retired veteran, much
^^^S beloved *by his officers and men, as a genuine
martinet of the old school. So much was he be-
loved, that when he retired, the entire army retired with him.
This led to complications and subsequent alterations in the
Purchase System.
Isidora was a blonde, tall and mince, with gentle blue
wondering eyes, of about the middle height, with dark brown
tresses, and rather inclined to that sort of embonpoint which
is the sure sign of gentle descent.
She was always saying, " May I ?" in a plaintive tone,
which caused her to be a favourite with everyone.
To this her fond doating father had but one answer, " No,
you mayn't," which evinced the deep sympathy existing
between the parent and child.
^^ May 1 marry Sir Charles Bussit?" she asked, one
morning, as they were seated together on a canape de luxe,
breakfasting lightly ; " May I ?"
" No, you mayn't," answered the Commander-in-Chief, his
eyes filling with the moisture which so often accompanies
the sudden deglutition of over-caloricated bohea.
32 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
" ]May I give him up ?" she inquired, playfully. " J/aj I ?"
" No, you mayn't," replied the Warrior.
That was all she wanted. She had gained her point,
and so, tapping him lightly on the head with a bootjack,
which she had been embroidering for his especial use, she
glided from the room.
"Two persons wanted to see his Commander-in-Chief-
ship," a servant said. " Might they enter ?"
" No, they mightn't," returned the Veteran. So they
came in.
It was Sir Charles's solicitor, Mr. Slyboots, and La
Dorchester.
The Commander-in-Chief motioned them to a chair.
They took two, and seated themselves. So far all was well.
Then what happened ?
Why, La Dorchester, with a woman's ready wit, introduced
the old Solicitor to the old Warrior, and the Solicitor, with
the cunning of his craft, answered to his cue, and introduced
La Dorchester to the Commander-in-Chief.
" Mr. Slyboots," — La Dorchester said.
The Commander-in-Chief bowed. So did Mr. Slyboots.
" La Dor" — commenced Slyboots, courteously.
" — Chester," said the Lady, brusquely. Then they sat
still and wondered.
CHAPTER III
iN two minutes the Veteran was put in possession
of The Facts. This was owing entirely to the
female tact and ready wit. She went to the point
at once, while Slyboots, with professional routine,
would have read precedents, habendum clauses, and the
histoiy of Nisi Prius before coming to the object of their
visit. He had prepared himself with documents. Before
he had got them all arranged on the table, from which he
was obliged to sweep the Sevres cups, saucers, urn, and
spirit-lamp, La Dorchester had stated the case. She excul-
pated Sir Charles.
Isidora had expected these visitors, and, Love being
capable of meannesses, had concealed herself within hearing.
The Veteran suspected as much, and saw through La
Dorchestei-'s plan. He quietly moved the ormolu fire-screen
to the front of the grate.
By this movement of the old Campaigner La Dorchester
was unexpectedly checkmated.
Then she lold her story, and Slyboots listened, legal
documents in hand, dismayed.
He would have stopped her had it been in his power, but
perceiving, with the true instincts of an old student of
D
34 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
Barnard's Inn, that this was not possible, he carefully ad-
justed the red tape on the sixty parchments he had brought
with him, and sat silent, with Blackstone on his knee, for
warmth.
" Hush, Madam ! not so loud, please," whispered the
Commander-in-Chief, looking uneasily towards the chimney.
" Why not ?"' bawled his beautiful visitor, at the top of
her voice. Listeners never hear no good of them-
selves, DO THEY?"
With this the bold woman rose suddenly from her chair,
and, spurning the drugget, dashed at the poker, seized it.
and upset the ormolu screen.
" May I .^•' said a sweet voice from about two yards up the
chimney.
" No, you mayn't," returned the Veteran.
But she could not control herself, and gliding downwards,
fell at La Dorchester's feet, her head on her outstretched
hands.
Isidora, from her well-chosen place of concealment, had
heard every syllable. She was prostrated, writhing, blackened.
For this last she cared little. Soot blackens faces, not cha-
racters ; this they well knew, and felt it.
The Commander-in-Chief was the first to speak and break
the silence.
He addressed La Dorchester.
"For shame. Madam!" said the Commander-in-Chief
Whereupon both women began to cry.
Then the Commander-in-Chief looked at the Solicitor,
and the Solicitor looked at himself in a glass, and himself
A TREBLE TEMPTATION'. 35
in a glass looked at Isidora, who, in her turn, looked at La
Dorchester.
They all sighed deeply, and said nothing.
In another second La Dorchester was on her legs, giving
eloquent screams.
'•He loves you still !" said the Solicitor, vaguely. It is in
some natures to be yague, and his was one of those natures.
Otherwise he was a clever man.
1)
CHAPTER IV.
IVE weeks after this the bells of Tuppennie
Bussit Church rang out a merry peal. The
ringers had practised triple bob majors, two
bobs, bobs and tizzies, bobs and benders, and
other varieties of the ringer's art, until they were perfect in
the first two bars of ihc Dead March in Saul. This once
mastered, they gave way with a will.
Then came ten outriders, ushered by six hussars, each
bearing a banner with a motto, and followed by a van covered
with pictures of celebrated fat women, the Giant of Norfolk,
the Lion Tamer, and the Battle of Trafalgar in oils and
distemper.
Then there was a loud cheer from the steeple, which;
getting quite shaky with excitement, tried to come down and
join the throng. Presently several Spiritualistic mediums,
specially engaged for the occasion, floated about the top of
Bussit House, waving flags. Murmurs. Cheers. Tears.
Horses heard in the distance. More distance, more horses.
Bussit gates flung open, and keepers, grooms, peasants, cooks,
housekeepers, butlers, footmen, and pages, all clustering about
on each other's shoulders, and hanging in festoons from the
heights of the ancient portals.
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 37
Then more outriders, riding outside their horses, boldly.
Then a troop of less daring horsemen, who, fearing the
shouts of the crowd, had got inside, and pulled the blinds
down. Then came the carriage itself, drawn by twenty wild
horses in front, and pushed up behind by as many more of
the same breed. The drag was down, but they dashed
through the little village, amid roars of delight from the
millions that had congregated to witness this great event.
The carriage was open, and in it sat Sir Charles and
Isidora : she quite blinded the sun's rays with her beauty, so
much so that some elderly people, more knowing than the
rest, got out smoked glasses to look at her, and others, not so
learned, thought the whole atYair was an eclipse, and went
home to write to the local papers.
" May I ? ■' she said.
Her husband smiled assent, and, rising from her seat, she
leapt on to the nearest horse's back, and performed several
feats of horsemanship, which raised the enthusiasm of the
spectators to an unprecedented pitch.
Robert Bussit saw, and the sight thrilled him. Catching
his eye, she quivered for an instant ; but in another second
she was back, at a single bound, clearing fifty-five feet upwards,
and downwards, and into her husband's carriage, scattering
largesse to the crowd around.
Then they swept into the Mansion, smiling, capering,
laughing, screaming, through files of retainers in every sort
of varied costume, radiant with squibs, crackers, and
Catherine-wheels in their Ijiitton-holes, with which they
made a fine display, and Isidora thought no more of Rol^ert
38 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
Bussit, than a bright Bird of Paradise thinks of last year's
boots.
But Birds of Paradise can't be always thinking of boots ;
and boots, with something living in them, may rise up, thick-
soled, and kick, until the Bright Creature feels the pain,
shudders, droops, and falls into the dust.
CHAPTER V.
OBERT BUSSIT, acting upon the advice of
Snift'kin, his friend and solicitor, had married a
pale-faced wife. She was the daughter of one of
Sniff kin's clients, and had conceived a gentle
admiration for Robert's torso. His torso., and his colour,
which was a brightish red, like sunset on a carrot, with just
the slightest suspicion of green in the left eye, pleased her.
She had fifty thousand pounds, nominally to provide her
with a trousseau, and this excited Robert Bussit's admira-
tion.
It was simply Troiisscatc caught by Torso, or vice versa if
you v.ill.
\\'hcn Jilolly Borne, to whom Robert had artfully promised
himself some time before, heard the bells ringing for this
wedding, she writhed all over Tuppennie Bussit house, like
an injured basilisk. On the evening of Robert's wedding she
stood by his back gate and threw stones at him. He then
saw that for this woman his torso had no power. Then he
admired her. But this feeling gave way to fear : the Hater
was confronted by a Hatred, strong, unrelenting, as his own.
Within a year of this union of Torso with Trousseau, the
bells of Tuppennie Bussit church rang again.
40 A TREBLE TEMITATION.
This time they announced the first appearance of a small
Robert Bussit, and Robert Bussit,/m', was all over the place
with prideful joy.
It was all Boy with him now. His doubts were developing
into certainties. His hopes boy'd him up, and so inflated did
he become, that, but for his friend Sniffkin and a couple of
stout ropes, he would have risen, balloon-like, floated over the
house-top, and have been lost.
But Sniffkin couldn't afford to lose so valuable a client.
Hence his method.
After a time he calmed down.
Then the Hater came well to the front. He built a tower
sixteen hundred feet high, by five in circumference, with a
sort of tank at the top, roofed in, and pierced with large
windows, whence he could command a Birdseye view of the
entire Tuppennie Bussit estates. Here he and Mrs. Bussit,
with the Future Heir in Snift'kin's arms, would sit taking tea
and shrimps on a summer's evening.
Here it was his delight to point out to the child all that
should be his in prospect.
This tower he called the Tower of Teazer.
From here he could throw cups and saucers down on .Sir
Charles and Lady Bussit's head as they took their evening
walk.
They wondered at first where they came from. After a time
they ceased to wonder.
All this began to have an eff"ect on a man naturally
irritable. Sir Charles was naturally irritable. In addition,
Robert Bussit grew a magnificent moustache. It was the
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 41
talk of the whole place. This his cousin had never been
able to accomplish. Robert now appeared with a beard
perfectly Oriental and a profusion of long glossy hair. Sir
Charles and Lady Bussit became aware of his head and face
one day, thrust out at them, over the top of a hedge.
Lady Bussit saw and sighed. This chafed the Hairless man.
He tried extra shaving, but cut himself severely. Smarting
under his wound Sir Charles spoke unkindly to his wife.
Lady Bussit bore all with resignation. Let this be remembered
to her credit.
Then little, meek, pale Mrs. Bussit, at the instigation of her
husband, let down her back hair, and displayed it o\er the
tower. It reached nearly half-way to the ground.
Lady Bussit had nothing of her own but a chignon. Sir
Charles couldn't assist her. Then they both, avoiding one
another, and taking different ways, would wander down into
the village, and stand gazing into the barber's windows,
where there were lifelike block heads with Circassian hair.
This constant pining produced an effect purely physical on
Lady Bussit.
S/ie moulted.
Sir Charles gradually became bald.
One day, in his justice room, he sentenced a gipsy for
stealing a hare. The woman was led out wailing and pro-
testing her innocence. It was on Robert Bussit's evidence,
and a murmur of applause went through the justice room,
when the people saw his splendid torso and glorious locks,
moustache and beard. Lady Bussit was, on these magis-
terial occasions, accommodated with a seat on the bench in
42 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
the study. Robert walked out. Husband and wife were
alone. She threw herself at his knees. " O Charles ! can such
things be ? "
Then he tried to comfort her, but could not, and the Hair-
less ones wept together.
CHAPTER VI.
— ♦
OBERT BUSS IT had seen, heard, and had taken
to thinking.
The result of his cogitation was soon ob-
vious.
It was this.
There could be no doubt that Sir Charles was mad. The
French have their expression for his madness, we have not.
FoH comme nn cliapelier. What was to be done ?
Robert Bussit took counsel with his old friend Sniff-
kia.
Snififkin saw the difficulty, and touched it.
Sir Charles's sanity hung on a single hair. On considera-
tion it was evident that he was only fit for one place.
The Zoological Gardens.
But how to get him there .''
Sniffkin explained technically.
Robert Bussit was not in a humour for technicalities.
" For heaven's sake, man," he cried, " tell me how to do it,
and V\\ do it."
Sniffkin calmed him down by tickling him under the left
car, and then, quietly lighting a cigar, explained his
method.
44 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
It was necessary to obtain three magistrates' orders and a
certificate of improper vaccination. That was all.
Robert Bussit slept soundly that night, for he saw his way,
at last, clear to the Tuppennie Bussit estates.
In the morning he and Sniff kin swore the necessaiy infor-
mation, and before two o'clock Sir Charles was safely locked
up with the bears.
At three he was fed.
The next day people brought him buns, and he amused
himself by climbing up the pole. There was no way of escape ;
he saw that, and submitted.
Finding himself in this situation, he made friends as best
he could with his companions, and their eccentricities began
to interest him.
In the meantime the other side was not idle.
CHAPTER VII.
3OLLY BORNE saw her mistress's distress,
and whispered in her ear insidiously.
At this whisper Lady Bussit's eye flashed fire,
then she became preternaturally cahn, and sent
for the Curate.
Now, when a woman so gentle as Lady Bussit becomes
preternaturally calm, and sends for a Curate, it means some-
thing.
The Curate, Mr. Banjo, came and had an interview with
.Slyboots, the Family Solicitor.
Slyboots was of opinion, five times, that nothing could be
done. This amounted, ultimately, to one pound, thirteen
and fourpence, besides e.xpenses in coming down from
London,
The Curate left Slyboots in the dining-room, where he
continued giving his opinion to tlic cold chicken, tongue,
and viands on the table from mere force of habit, and putting
it down at si.K and eightpence, every time, in his pocket-book.
Lady Bussit thanked Mr. Banjo, the Curate, for his prompt
attention to her summons.
Mr. Banjo blushed and clasped liis hands.
'• I would do anything for you. * * * Lady Bussit," he
46 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
said, and sat down, nervously, on a workbox, among the
needles, by accident.
Lady Bussit was too much absorbed to notice the young
man's agitation.
" Let us come to the point," she said.
" I have,'' murmured Mr. Banjo, removing the last and
sharpest needle.
Then they sat opposite one another, and fixed their eyes
sadly on the carpet.
" Slyboots is too slow, too timid," said i\Ir. Banjo ; "7 would
act, and at once."
" How .?"
" We require a man of superhuman genius." Mr. Banjo
blushed as he said this, and slightly turned to the right, then
he went on. " We require a man of unbounded energy," — he
blushed again, and turned slightly to the left — " a man, hand-
some as Apollo, strong as Hercules, clever as Minerva, with
the will of Jove, and the pluck of Mars." His face was
suffused with blushes.
Lady Bussit caught some of his enthusiasm.
" You are describing Yourself" she exclaimed, her whole
face beaming with admiration of the athletic form before
her.
" Not so," returned the Curate, gently ; " I spoke of
another ; though," he added, diffidently, " I felt at the moment
you would recognise the portrait in jne. It was natural,"
and once more he blushed, this time deeply.
" Then where is there such a person } "
" I know."
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 47
"Who?"
'• He is a Writer, an Author, of whose stupendous genius
there are no two opinions,* even among his enemies, for
enemies he has ; no truly great man can exist without making
them. Everybody is raving about him, ever}where. His
friends rank him next after Homer, and far above Shaks-
peare. Even his enemies are forced to admit him to an
equal pedestal with our greatest Dramatic Poet. He never
writes but to defend the cause of the weak and the helpless.
His works teem with all the Christian virtues. The numbers
of people that have been converted by merely reading the
titles on the covers of his books, would alone form a small
London Directory. He is thoroughly in earnest. There is
his secret ; and being so, has already contrived to get several
people both into, and otit of, the Zoological Gardens.''
" Is it possible ? Let us go to him."
'• I will write, and make an appointment with him.""
" Do. A writer .^ What does he write ? "
•' Everything."'
After an instant's thought she replied, "Indeed ! Then I
am acquainted with many of his works."'
The Curate sailed over the carpet like an antelope, and
*The character which the Curate here describes, and which will shortly
be before my readers in these pages, is no fictitious one, but a portrait,
a speaking likeness, of the writer of tliis novel. Vandyck drew a full
length of himself, so did Rubens, so Salvator Rosa and Raphael,
(^uentin Matsys carved himself in iron on the top of a pump ; and, not
to multiply instances, an eminent novelist has, in our own time, given an
admirable sketch of himself; so why should not The Auth of this
Novel ?
48 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
approached his lips to her ear. He whispered, " He writes
for P-nchr
' At the mention of this name a thrill of ecstatic pleasure ^
ran through her fran)e. Then, recovering herself with a
strong effort, she exclaimed, joyfully, "Do not delay an
instant. Hi- is evidently the friend we need. "
Mr. Banjo went into the study, and dispatched his note to
Mr. Juff, the celebrated Author. Then Mr. Banjo came down
again, looking flushed and handsome. Then he blushed.
CHAPTER VIII.-^
EXT morning in came Mr. Banjo. Glowing with
health and high spirits, the Athlete crashed
through the conservatory window, and stood
before Lady Bussit. " Coo !" said the gentle
Curate. Whereat Lady Bussit raised her head, and listened.
" Shall I read you Juff's letter ? " he asked,
" You shall."
" ' Dear Sir, — T/ic case of a gentleman confined in the Zoo-
logical Gardens among the bears, by an interested relative, is
a first-rate notion, and looks like truth. There is matter in
it for a novel, a drama, a poem, nltimately a burlesque, and
at Christinas time a pantomime. Let the lady call oji me in
persoji. Perhaps I can get her an engagement in London, or
the provinces, where, by the way, she might ^star'' in a plav
of mine on this very subject. At home every day, and to
special visitors at any hour, if you touch the little ivoty knob
on the right side of niy door, one foot from the step. As for
* " The length of this chapter is exceptional, but so is its sul)ject. I
have attempted to i^ortray tlie author of this novel — myself. It has been
a delicate task, but I think I have succeeded." — Extract from Author's
Letter to the Editor.
£
50 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
you, I know you. You pulled No. 6 in the Unive)'sity Fours
at HeJiley, and took a tlireepenny 'bus, instead of a cab, from
the Marble Arch to the Haymarket, to save ni}iepcncc. See
' Ride Journal^ April \, cited in my ' Joke Book,' same date,
and also in viy ' Indices Subjicientes Spectacula, Comccdias,
et Ludicra,' under ' B 'for ' Banjo.'
" ' Yours very heartily,
" ' J UFF." '
" And did you ? "
" Did I what ? ''
" Save ninepence ? "
" Yes,"
" How noble and how bold you are ! "
Banjo blushed all over. It took him exactly three minutes
to do this, and unblush again.
Then he resumed : —
" You'll call on Mr. Juff." She hesitated, and he continued:
"He won't come down here. A marvellously popular writer,
like Juff, is spoiled by the ladies. They won't let him alone.
They pet him, play with him, write to him, dance round him,
in crowds, all day long. So you can't expect him to come
down here on a stranger's business."
Lady Bussit decided to go, took her maid, Molly Borne,
with her, and travelling by the Unlimited Express from
Bussit Station, was at Mr. Juff's door by half-past exactly.
It was a magnificent house in the finest quarter of Belgravia.
Its site had been formerly a square, but had been purchased
(out of the receipts from one of his papers in P-nch), by
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 51
Mr. Juff, \vhose quick eye had at once seized upon its
capabilities.
Chestnuts, oaks, Scotch firs, and the African pine, so rarely
seen in the metropolis, stood between the busy thoroughfare
and iNIr. Juffs front door.
There were two entrance lodges, which were gems of the
best architectural design, and the drive was divided from the
pathway by a narrow but clear running stream, whereon a
gondola was in waiting to convey such visitors as might
prefer this mode of arriving at the house.
Lady Bussit could not conceal her admiration and wonder
at all she saw. She had been reared in the idea that authors
lived on airy flights, in Bohemia, not Belgravia, and this
palace — for it was no less — astonished her.
At first she thought she must have made a mistake ; but
the name " Juft""' over the lodges, on the gate-pillars, on the
gravel of the tramway, on the tesselated pavement (where it
was inlaid with costly stones), and on the prow and flag of
the gondola, at once dissipated any such idea.
A slave, black as ebony, suddenly stood before her, and
facing round, led the way to the Italian portico.
At the front door she called to mind Mr. Juft's own instruc-
tions, and pointed to the small ivory knob.
The negro pressed it lightly. He then respectfully salaamed
and, drawing himself up to his full height, disappeared.
There was no time allowed Lady Bussit for speculation on
this new wonder, for the hall-door, moving noiselessly, and
apparently of its own accord, stood open before her.
She summoned up all her resolution, repeating to herself
E z
52 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
several times, " Charles, — Husband, — Zoological Gar-
dens."
^^ May I ? " she asked timidly of nobody. She was stand-
ing on a doormat of the purest Circassian tresses, prepared
after some occult receipt.
Silence assents. There was no answer. She advanced a
step, and the hall door closed.
So noiselessly was this done, and so admirably did the door
fit into the wall, that neither sound nor seam could show her
where she had entered.
The hall was of Basilica pattern, lighted round the dome
by some thousands of rose-coloured lanterns, which, entirely
liidden from sight, shed warm and cheering bloom upon the
interior. Frescoes by the greatest masters of the Italian
school, rendered the dome glorious and illustrated the chief
events of Mr. Juffs career.
Accustomed to the grandest houses, Lady Bussit was utterly
overwhelmed by these simple, but artistic effects.
Then it struck her that it was either all a dream, or that
she had gone into St. Peter's at Rome by mistake.
" Well, I NEVER ! ! " exclaimed Molly.
This observation recalled Lady Bussit to herself. She now
became aware of a fragrant aromatic breeze pervading the
Hall. This seemed to refresh her, and she approached the
fountain which was musically plashing in the centre. This
was so contrived that every single drop of water from the jet
fell upon a peculiarly-fashioned stone, and gave forth such
varied sounds as produced a harmony, the like of which
Ladv Bussit had never heard.
A TREBLE TEMITATIOX. [3
In the centre of the fountahi now appeared a lovely maiden
habited like a Naiad, who, presenting an oyster shell made
of rare Indian pearl enshrined in gold, chased by Benvenuto
Cellini, bade Lady Bussit note her name and business upon
it with an electric pencil. She thought a few lines, which
were suddenly reproduced in writing on the shell, which she
forthwith returned to the maiden, who instantly disappeared,
while soft music penetrated the air. Turning her head to-
wards the quarter whence these sounds came, she perceived
a beautiful Indian girl motioning her to follow.
She did so. Not a sound of London could be heard. Not
the roll of an omnibus, not the rattle of a cab, not the footfall
of a policeman. Yet, this was Belgravia.
At the maid's touch two huge glass doors flew open. These
disclosed a Tropical grove. Mangoes, cocoa-nuts, oranges,
hung in clusters. Birds of the brightest plumage and most
enchanting song fluttered hither and thither, cooling the air
by the fan-like motion of their gorgeous wings.
Parrots had built in the sycamores, and were teaching their
)Oung to speak such words as they themselves had learnt.
They had one or two varieties of cry. The sounds that
Lady Bussit caught were " Juff," " The Great Juff," ''Juffs at
home." So she passed on.
More glass doors, which, opening, showed, as it were, the
Depths of the Ocean.
Here fish disported themselves, and Lady Bussit and her
maid walked on a carpet of the finest sand through stalactite
caves, cool crystal grots, and beneath arches of flowering
seaweed trees.
54 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
Then they were ushered into a Hall of more than Peruvian
splendour.
Masterpieces of painting and sculpture surrounded her. A
soft clear light was diffused through the apartment. Mirrors
dexterously let into the walls reflected, noiselessly, the out-
side world, and pictured, as it were, the most beautiful spots
in the London Parks, showing how adroitly the Designer had
fixed the site of his residence.
So far all was romantic : but in a corner, beneath a palm
tree, stood a writing table, and over various doors, which
Lady Bussit now noticed for the first time, were written
"Tragedies," "Comedies," "Novels," "Romances," "Bur-
lesques," " Magazines," and other inscriptions, which she
could not at once understand.
By the writing table were huge baskets of gold, silver, and
iron. These were labelled, severally. Jokes, Good Things,
Repartees, Impromptus, Plots, Puns, Used, Unused.
For Mr. Juff was not one of those writers who trust to the
Inspiration of the Moment for success. He held that a good
thing, once said, no matter by whom, ought never to be
thrown away and lost, but catalogued and classed for re-
ference, so as to be found when wanted.
Lady Bussit had barely time to form some idea of The
Stupendous Genius which had done all this, when a bevy of
laughing damsels, pelting with choice flowers some object at
present hidden from her sight, entered the room.
" Our game is over," said a sweet voice, apparently from
the Rosery whence the girls had issued. " Go to your ices.
We will meet anon."
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. SS
The ladies wandered away in various directions: and were
soon lost to sight and hearing.
Then The Author, who had been enjoying a moment's
recreation, approached the open window.
He was tall, classically handsome, and wore a suit of bright
orange velvet turned up with blue ; his mauve shirt, made of
a material unknown in this country, was fastened at the
throat by one magnificent diamond. His delicately chiselled
JKinds peeped out, small and white, from the ruffles of the
real point lace with which his wristbands were trimmed.
His shoes were of a rich crimson, which aftbrded an ad-
mirable setting for the amethysts, rubies, and smaller dia«
monds with which they were bespangled.
He was smoking a delicately-perfumed cigarette, and
playing a mandoline, as he entered the room and stood before
them.
CHAPTER IX.
ADY BUSSIT was agitated.
Mr. Juff saw this at once, and touched a
spring in the wall. Thence issued a small
silver salver, bearing an ancient beaker. He
touched another spring just above. Thence flowed out a
liquid bright and sparkling. With this he filled the beaker,
and handed it to Lady Bussit.
" May I .' " she inquired, faintly.
" Certainly. It will not hurt you. It is simply Alhopina.
If it was Bass I should say something about Basso pro/oiido.
Saying this he turned to one of his buckets, then to a large
ledger, and made a formal entry under the letter B, The
book was labelled " Good things to sayp He then referred
to a quarto index, which was standing, open, on a gothic
brazen eagle near the writing-table. In this he made a
private mark, for reference, also under letter B ; and this
being done, he turned to attend to his visitor.
Then she told him all.
Mr. Juff appeared to be thinking intently.
The result was soon apparent.
" How are you 'i " he inquired.
She glanced at her maid.
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 57
Mr. Juff was on the alert in an instant, and, springing,
from his chair, placed himself, at one bound, between
them.
" Now then," he cried, " No larks : I want the truth."
Then he repeated, " How are you ? "
Lady Bussit paused. Reflecting, however, that she could
gain nothing by concealment, she replied, " Pretty well
thank you ; how are you ? "
Mr. JutT thus challenged, begged a moment's delay. Then
he put his hands into his pockets and drew forth a pair of
shining bones. On these he performed several sonatos.
After he had finished, this strange romantic creature danced
a saraband, and then pushing forward from a corner a small
rostrum made of cedar wood inlaid with gold and ivory, he
mounted it, and addressed them.
'• Lady Bussit and Maid, your husband is locked up in the
Zoological Gardens. From what I have heard, I gather that
loss of hair has affected his brain. He has become light-
headed. Robert Bussit thinks this an opportunity for con-
fining his cousin, and putting him under lock and key." He
reflected for an instant, and then descending, rushed to his
folio labelled " Jokes," wherein he made a note under the
letter H, " Hair . . . Loc/:s . . . doicble meaning." Then
he wrote a reference in his index. After tliis he resumed his
position.
" This misfortune has re-acted upon jv//. I have eyes and
see it. The question simply is, Do you want luxuriant hair,
ivhiskcrs and vwustachios ? Don't be alarmed. You shan't
be like Julia Pastrana, a very amiable young lady with
58 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
whom I have the pleasure to be acquainted." Here he
kissed the tips of his fingers, and then continued. " No ;
you shall not even be compelled to dye." Here he dashed
down again, and made another couple of entries under the
letter " B— Die— Dye " — for future use, while Lady T>ussit
watched him with anxious interest. Gradually she came to
respect his manliness, his courtesy, and to admire and under-
stand his brilliant genius. He went on, " We will bide our
time. In a week you will be ready to act. So will Sir
Charles, to whom you shall convey a receipt \\ith which I
will furnish you."
" How great ! how clever you are ! "
" I am. But, as the French say, ce/a va sans dire. Let
us fix our attention on the one point. Leave all to me.
When you feel that the moment has come, merely drop me
aline, saying ^ Hair yoit ready! If so go a-liead? I shall
then act. By the way, what is the name of the man who
feeds the bears at three o'clock ? "
Lady Bussit thought for an instant. Then she replied,
" Smith."
Mr. Juff turned to his index, and under the letter " S ''
found the name required.
" Good," he said, " he comes of an old French family.
Now listen to me. I know how to deal with Smith. Smith
is a snob. Go to the Zoological in State. Outriders, trum-
pets, flags, you understand."
" I do. I've got them all."
Juff bounded into the air with a loud cry, " Eureka !
Hooray ! Bravo ! My ! Here we are again ! How are
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. S9
you to-morrow ! See what Fve found ! " he shouted, like an
elephant in an ecstasy.
Lady Bussit clasped her hands with joy. Electric fire
coursed through her veins. She caught his enthusiasm.
So did Molly. With a wild triumphant roar they all three
sprang from their seats, and joining hands, bounded about
the room. Guns went off in the ante-room, and jubilant
music on hidden organs pealed forth a victorious chorus.
Then they cooled down, and Mr. Juff stamping his foot,
the floor opened, and therefrom arose an elegantly-served
table, bearing upon its marble top, gooseberries stuffed with
cream, and iced flounders.
He made both mistress and maid drink a bottle of Pommery
& Greno's driest champagne each.
Then he wrote the receipt to be given to Sir Charles.
Then he wished them good day.
After this he measured three paces, carefully, backwards.
Then running six forward, he stretched out his hands, and
with a tremendous impetus, jumped through a small square
window in the wall, about six feet from the floor. On his
disappearance the window was immediately covered with a
large flap on which was printed Not at Home. Taking
the hint, they withdrew.
As Lady Bussit passed into the street she heard behind
her a tremendous bang, and then a roar which startled her.
It was Mr. Juff letting off a pun and laughing at it him-
self, for he was hard at work on a pantomime for Christmas
and their visit had disturbed him. Now he was returning to
his toil.
CHAPTER X.
^ ADY BUSSIT,aclinguponinstructions, appeared
before the gate of the Zoological Gardens with
outriders dressed in scarlet and pink. They
had white hats turned up with blue, and yellow
boots. A dozen running footmen accompanied the carriage,
dressed as Tritons, and blowing conchs.
All this was not without its eftect on Smith.
On the pretence of asking him at what time the bears were
fed, she slipped a thousand-pound note into his hand, and a
letter for Sir Charles.
This was duly delivered. Juff's receipt she put inside a
bun, and threw it over the railings. Sir Charles seized it and
devoured its contents. Then he nodded, passed his finger
over his bald head thouglitfully, jotted something on the
letter, and replacing it in the bun threw it playfully up to
Lady Bussit. Thenceforward he was cheerful and resigned.
The bears amused him witli their absurdities. They were
all mad. One bear thought he was on the Stock Exchange,
and showed Sir Charles a plan for rigging the market. The
plan was marked methodically. A, B, C, D, &c., and the poor
animal imagined himself a bear of Consols.
Sir Charles saw at once that Jie would never get out.
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 6r
But from their conversation he learnt something which was
ultimately of signal service to him.
They confided to him their secret griefs.
One, a she-bear, informed him that she would not have
been there but for the wickedness of a barber in the city,
who loved her, though she hated him, and who had paid .
Smith to fatten her up, and if he could not possess her alive,
he would, by Smith's help, obtain her hand, and herself
entirely, when dead.
Sir Charles passed his hand over his hairless scalp, and
meditated.
Five days later the she-bear was removed. Smith informed
Sir Charles of her destination. And now he was really
anxious for his delivery.
Juff, too, wondered at the delay.
At last there came a note. " Hair you ready ? Go aJwad/"
Then Juff went to work.
He called on a manager of a metropolitan theatre.
The manager had just got together, with some trouble,
a " double company " for Mr. Jufif's forthcoming panto-
mime.
Juff dispensed with the two harlequins and the colum-
bines, but borrowed a brace of clowns and a pair of
pantaloons.
He also took the precaution of securing five large panto-
mime heads with various expressions of countenance. To
wear these, he engaged four artists accustomed to this sort
of work.
The fifth mask they carried.
62 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
Thus armed, Juff went to the Zoological.
The men with the large heads, being taken for distin-
guished foreigners, were received by the authorities, who
showed them over the gardens with the greatest possible
respect.
This drew the officials and the visitors away from the bears'-
den.
Smith and another keeper came out to feed the bears.
The second keeper wheeled a barrow before him, in which
was the bears' meat.
At a signal, from Juff, the first clown and pantaloon
engaged Smith in an animated conversation.
Obeying another sign, the second pair of pantomimists
stopped the barrow, and commenced tasting and bargaining
for the meat.
From Smith's pocket, Clown number one extracted the keys.
The man, missing these, turned upon him.
Then the Clown, with the utmost politeness, protested, on
his honour, with his hand at his heart, that he could not be
guilty of such a fraud, and pointed to his companion, who
had already run away, as the culprit. The keeper strode off
in search of the latter.
In the meantime similar manoeuvres had been executed by
the other artistes, and the under-keeper was in full chase of
the second pantaloon, who, he supposed, had filched several
pounds' weight of the fattest meat.
The first Clown handed the keys to Mr. Juff.
Then the two drolls engaged themselves upon a work of
marvellous cunning.
A IREBLE TEMPTATION. 63
Tiiey divided the fat purloined from the barrow, and with
two lumps of this stuff, they scrubbed the walks of the
Clardens, as if they were housemaids, cleaning a floor.
In the meantime, Juff had descended, opened the cage,
released Sir Charles, placed the spare large head on his
shoulders, and thus disguised, he led him by the grass
borders, and, avoiding the paths, to the gate.
So far all was satisfactory.
But the alarm had been given.
Smith and the other keeper, finding themselves deceived,
shouted out to the officials, who attempted to secure their
la'rge-headed visitors. This led to a scrimmage.
The clowns and pantaloons threw about everything they
could find.
The police outside, hearing the noise, rushed in, and
would have joined the affray, but for the precautions taken
by the two clowns, who had rendered the walks so
slippery with lard, that no one was able to stand upright for
one second.
Then followed a scene of indescribable confusion, taking
advantage of which, Juff and Sir Charles drove off, safely, in
a cab.
In a few minutes, Lady Bussit held him, panting, shouting,
and dancing in her arms.
It was a pretty picture.
Then Juff went home to work.
CHAPTER XL
I ADY BUSSIT was the first to speak.
" May I ? " she asked.
" You may," was his reply.
Then she produced first of all Juffs receipt and
the note added by Sir Charles.
She accounted for her delay by showing that the Perru-
qiiier to whom she had applied could not have performed
his work; quicker under the circumstances.
It was to be a temporary arrangement.
Juft's receipt had simply said,
" JSIeasitre round tJic head in inaniier of a fillet, dassicallyP
" From tJie forehead over to tJie poll, electioiiceringlyj^
" From one temple to the other, religiously T
" Write result dorun in inches. Your wife will apply it to
a photograph, and the thing is done."
It was the answer to this that Sir Charles had written.
" Here is the photograph," said Lady Bussit, " with your
own measurement applied."
She showed it him. A skilfully executed likeness, taken
in his baldest time, before his whiskers disappeared.
'' And here," she continued, producing a magnificent false
head of hair, " is the result."
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 65
A loud cry of delight escaped from her husband, as he
gently fitted the perruque on his marble-like head.
Lady Bussit whispered in his ear, " You won't mind
Robert's beard and moustache now ? "
" Not I."
" You will never have another fit."
" I never wish for a better one than this."
So they sat together murmuring in each other's ears.
Then Lady Bussit plucked up courage, and showed him
her magnificent chignon.
'• Let us be grateful to Heaven," said Sir Charles. That
night they rested happily.
Sir Charles rose at dawn. He was for driving over to
Tuppennie Bussit in triumph.
Horses, flags, drums, trumpets, and two troops of his own
raising with colours.
On their road. Sir Charles, remembering the address to
which the she-bear had been carried, drove a little out of his
way, and called there.
It was a Barber's shop. Over the door was an announce-
ment to the effect that a large bear had just been slaughtered,
and that the grease was invaluable.
Sir Charles's servants returned laden with three dozen
pots of the " Capillary Confection." This was the title given
to the pomade by the barber, who had invented it himself.
Robert, from the Tower of Teazer, saw the happy pair
drive into the village.
Young farmers were out cantering about. Old peasants
in their carts. Children on donkeys. Peasants from tlie
F
66 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
plough. All shouting together in their joy at the return of
their kind landlord and his loving wife, and unable to restrain
their admiration of Sir Charles's glossy locks, flowing beard,
and brown moustache.
Before they reached the village four hundred horsemen
accompanied the carriage, while at least four hundred more,
unaccustomed to the saddle, were on their backs in the
dust.
The church-bells rang ; everybody cheered ; and seventy-
five pensioners, whose united ages amounted to six thousand
seven hundred and fifty years, sang a chorus of one hour
and a half's duration, by the Church clock, which played the
accompaniment.
At this Lady Bussit began to cry : Sir Charles bowed
right and left, taking off his wig to the people with great
delight and pride. It was a Royal Progress.
Molly Borne, seated on the back seat of the carriage,
threw her boots in the air for luck.
A roar of cheers burst from the crowd at that inspired
action of a woman whose face and eyes seemed to be on
fire. Lady Bussit turned pale, but a skilful movement of her
head avoided the second boot. Then they all stood up and
shouted.
It was open house that night to everyone.
Paupers from the workhouse came into Tuppennie Bussit
Hall, and slept wherever they liked, only requesting to have
their shoes well polished and bright early, and a cup of
chocolate half an hour before they got up in the morning.
Farmers played the piano, and their elders danced in the
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 67
drawing-room. Others spent the night in the wine-cellars.
No man or woman was denied. Oxen were roasted whole
in every room in the house, kegs were broached, and ale,
cider, port, sheriy, and champagne flowed down the stairs in
rich, frothy streams. It was open house that night to all as
it had been four hundred years ago.
F 2
CHAPTER XII.
— ♦ —
LV^Sv^f OBERT BUSSIT was served with a Declara-
sL^^^? tion and a Writ. It was in three counts, in
^^^^ W '^'"'s^^' shortest and most simple form : —
^^^liMiJ 1st. That the said Robert Bussit of , in the
• county of on the day of , in the year of ,
did, of his own mahce aforethought, and all to the contrary
notwithstanding, molest, annoy, and evict, zu' et annis,
from statutable and possessory rights the plaintiff in this
action, and that the aforesaid Robert Bussit did, on the
same day as aforesaid, that is, on the day of ,
in the year of , cause the plaintiff as aforesaid to be
seized and removed against his will and consent to a
place set apart by law for the legal retention of such
Quadrupeds, Bipeds, and others not beingyivix' natimv
or lusjis naturo', in the Park of the Regent in the County
of Middlesex.
2nd. Thai the said Robert Bussit (&c., &c. as before)
did (much the same as mentioned in the above
count) . . . and in consequence of such act or acts
done and executed of malice aforethought as aforesaid,
the plaintiff, Sir Charles Bussit, ot Tuppennie Bussit, in
the county of , on the day of , in the year of ,
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. , 69
does claim and cause to be claimed all that part, portion,
and inalienable right of quod ei defoi'ceat, such right not
being barred- by the usurpation of the incorporeal here-
ditament whereof as aforesaid the aforementioned
Robert, (Sec, &c.
3rd Count. And that (all re-stated as above at full length)
the plaintiff thej'etipon claims ^^36,000 fo7- dantnnni et
injuria, and hereby on the day of , &c., &c.
Robert Bussit sold his house, pulled down the Tower of
Teazer, and paid the money. It was a sickener ; it broke
his spirit.
Defeated at every point, Robert fell into a deep dejection,
and took to tumbling for a livelihood. He and his wife and
child hired.themselves out as " Signer Bussittini and Talented
Family." They practised standing on their heads for hours
every day. One thing was clear : they would never again
alight on their legs.
His father-in-law once took tickets for his benefit. This
was all they had to live upon.
He applied to Mr. Juff for an equestrian drama. Mr. Juff
wrote it. This crushed him utterly.
He travelled about the country with it for some time ; then
he travelled about without it.
Much journeying brought him in contact with all sorts of
people, for whom he had but one question, " Do you know
my cousin, Lady Bussit?"
Persons to whom this query was put, thought it was a
conundrum, and gave it up.
Then he hated everybody worse than ever.
70 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
One day he heard the bells of some church ringing.
" What's that for ? " he asked, sharply.
" Young Bussit," answered the man.
Robert took up a log of wood, and rushed at him. " I'll
teach you," he cried, " to ring bells."
The man ducked, and ran out.
CHAPTER XIIL
UR story now makes a bold jump.
Everybody is twenty ye:irs older.
Sir Charles Bussit has one son ; Robert one
daughter.
Robert is once more residing at Bussit, in a small cottage.
He hates his cousin worse than ever.
One day Mr. Banjo, now the Perpetual Curate of Tup-
pennie Bussit, came to Sir Charles to complain.
"There was," he said, "a middle-aged person, in fact a
female, preaching in the village ; and as she preached better
than he did, nobody came to liear ///w."
Sir Charles decided to judge for himself. Being a Magis-
trate, he was legally entitled to do so.
A large crowd was gathered round the woman, \\ho was
perched on a tub.
He recognised her at once — La Dorchester.
She spoke briefly, but forcibly.
She lashed Drunkenness, and then took another subject
in hand, Ouaf-rels in families.
" Look here," she exclaimed, " why do you quarrel .'' Birds
in their little nests agree, and 'tis a shameful sight," {imirmurs
fro?n the crowd) " When children of one familee " {viorc
72 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
inuniiurs) " Fall out, and scratch and fight." (" So be it!''
from crowd) " What's that ? Watts. Well now, is that
true ? " (" No / " heartily from crowd.) " You know better
than that." (" We do/" from crowd.) " A^ery well, then.
I f you know better, do better." ( " We will, we will .' " from
crowd) "Set an example to Sir Charles" {^^ Hooray/"
fi-om crowd.) "and Robert." {^^ Yalt /" from crowd.)
" Teach 'em that their little hands were never made to tear,
and bite, and fight. Ask them. How are you to-morrow ?''
(" All / " froin Sir Charles and the crowd) " Ask 'em, How
they'd like it themselves?" {'' Ah /"from Robert ami the
crowd) " O ! my friends, be assured that I'm right, and
everybody else is wrong." (" You are / you are /") " Why
do you beat your carpets ? Why give more ? " {Sobs)
" Many to whom this question is put will reply, I can read,
write, but I cannot speak it." (" Yes, yes/") " O, my
Christian friends, the Christy Minstrels never perform out
of London, and none other is genuine unless signed with the
trade mark." {Convulsions in crowd, atid several people led
away hozuling) "What matters it, after all, if we can only
strike on the box ? Let us act up to it ! More ! Let us
double up our perambulators, and moisten the starch of
Glenfield with the soothing syrup of the maternal Wins-
low ; then while we Bantingise in a daylight of Ozone,
we can indeed aspire to the glorious light of the
Ozokerit ! ! "
The fair orator delivered these words with such fire, such
feeling, such clarion-like eloquence, that from the people, at
first spell-bound, there arose so loud, so heartfelt a cry of
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 73
gi-ateful joy as is seldom heard from the -hps of those who
are perfectly satisfied with themselves, in their glossy hats
and shiny boots, on Sunday afternoon.
CHAPTER XIV.
HE Preacher had vanished. But the fire of
her words remained, and moved statues.
The Cousins quivered.
Then Robert spoke. " Chawles . . . . "
Sir Charles lifted his head loftily, but there was a tear in
his right eye, unwiped.
Robert continued, behind his hat, " Chawles .... I have
been wrong. I am sorry we are enemies. Good morning."
Then Sir Charles's Boy ran out, and Robert's Daughter
rushed into his arms.
Thus the Children's love wore out their father's hate.
********
La Dorchester meeting Molly Borne in the lane, called
upon her to repent.
" Never !" answered Molly.
And she never did ; not having, as she said, anything to
repent of
********
Robert Bussit one evening said to Sniffkin, " Old boy,
never hate anybody."
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 75
Snift'kin bowed coldly. He didn't like being called " old
boy,"' and never spoke to Robert again.
* *******
Sir Charles and Lady Bussit lead a peaceful life. They
both wear their own hair now, and it is quite gray.
Their son and his wife often come to dinner, and have
excellent appetites. After the meal, Juff, who has made the
house one of his homes, reads them his plays, and sings little
compositions of his own to them, playing on the mandoline.
In consequence, they go to bed early.
* *******
You, Gentlemen and Ladies, who read this, be firm, and if
you've done anything wrong, don't be misled by this novel
into doing it again.
Be kind, be generous, buy Juff's books, and read all Juff's
writings.
When in doubt, ask Juft".
Never consult a Solicitor, — go to Juft".
My experience is, that we're, all of us, generally very nice
sort of people, except the nasty ones.
So let us end with a couplet of one of England's greatest
writers :
" Where is the man of truest stuff —
The Best, the Greatest . . . ItisJCFF."
Finis.
7^ A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
APPENDIX.
From the Editor* to the Author of ''A Treble Temptation P
j\lY DEAR Old ]\j¥YY,— Vonr A'ovel is excellent. Of
course I congratulate you upojt its admirable finish. Permit
me to ask you, in consequence of various inquiries on the
subject, addressed to me in my editorial capacity, why is it
called "-A Treble Temptation''?
I remain, my dear old Juffy, yours most Affectionately,
The Editor.
From Mr. J., Author of&^c, &-'c., to the Editor of P.
Dear Sir, — Afay not a father christen his own child as
he will ? I choose to call this Novel "A Treble Temptation.'''
Don't call me " Old Juffy."
Yours, decidedly.
* The Editor of P-nch, to which journal, as has been already stated
A TREBLE TEMPTATION. 77
FrojH the Editor to Mr. J.
Mv DE.\R JUFF, — / do not dispute your right to christen
your oivn charming Novel. But how does the title apply .?
/ remain, yours, dear Juff, affectionately,
The Editor.
From Mr. J. to the Editor.
Sir, — / cafi't be CEdipus and Sphinx. It is a Treble
Temptation, and the best Novel I've ever done.
Yours,
J.
From the Editor to Mr. J.
Dear Mr. Juff, — You are perfectly at liberty to hold
your oivn opinion as to the merits of the Novel in question,
I shall not discuss that point with you. I confess I do not
see ivhat the temptation -was, or why it was treble. Permit
vie to add that I am not alone in 7ny failure of perception.
I remain, Sir, yours sincerely,
The Editor.
From Mr. J. to the Editor.
Sir, — Quod scrips! scrips!. What I have scribbled I have
scribbled. I am answerable to no man. Certainly not to
you. You have been a dramatic author, and probably are
acquainted with French. If so, ?nar/c iny reply to your
question, " Pcche et Cherche ! "
J«
in this novel, Mr. Juff was a constant contributor. The Treble Temp
tation first appeared in P-nch.
78 A TREBLE TEMPTATION.
From the Editor of P. to Mr. J.
Sir, — YoH are, I regret to say, begging the question, while
I am begging the answer. The point at issue between your-
self and the publie, whieh I noiv editorially represent, is the
exact application of the title, ''•Treble Temptation," bestowed
by you upon your Novel, Tale, or wJiatever the work may be
out oi your own estimation. Oblige nie with a satisfactory
answer. Should you fail to comply with my request, I shall
certainly publish the correspondence.
\ 'ours, S^c, &''c.
From Mr. J. to the Editor.
Publish what you like. The name of the Novel is " The
Trtble Temptation."
J.
[The Editor owes it to himself and the public, to inform
them that, after some search, he has discovered that the
trebleness of the Temptation must be looked for in the three
reasons for Robert's hatred of his cousin Charles. These
will be found in the First Chapter. Our readers may per-
haps have formed some other conclusion ; but at all events
they will agree with the one at which Mr. Juff has arrived,
namely, the conclusion of his novel. And here let the Editor
explain, that, in his first letter to the author, he congratulated
him " upon its admirable finish." This expression might be
taken as applicable to the style : it is not to be so taken. —
Ed. p.]
1
CHIKKIN HAZARD.
I
CHIKKIN HAZARD.
PROSPECTUS AND PREFACE.
HE first novel by the Sensational Novel Com-
pany (Limited) consisting of —
The Authors of Never Too Late for the Colleen
Pognc, Dora's Vampire, Who's Griffiths
\Gaiaii) ? Hai'd Streets of London Assurance, Peg WoJ-
Jington's Long Strike, the Double Carriage, Hunted up.
Also of the Authors of The Woman with no Name, 'The
Thoroughfare without a Heart, 'The 'Ldden ^And.
Also of the Authors of Les Mysteres de Chateau Bourn,
Mokeanna, or The White Witness, Jasper's Money, The
Grandmother'' s Vengeance, Lady Disorderly's Secret,
Romula and Rema, The White Ram, The Mabel False,
Spiritual Columbines, Nobody's Nephew.
THE editor's preface.-
In order to present the public with a work of fiction whicli
shall be unequalled by any similar production of the present
G
82 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
day, the Editor has ordered a novel from the above recently-
established Sensational Novel Company (Limited) consisting
of various distinguished authors whose works are mentioned
above, and whose names it would therefore be unnecessary,
nay superfluous, to give.
The Editor's object has been to obtain the most startling,
most thrilling, most exciting plot constructed by the most
original romancers, whether from their own or foreign brains
it matters not, now in this country ; situations contrived by
experienced dramatists, sharp, crisp dialogue by the ablest
novelists and dramatic writers, and descriptions, where re-
quisite, by several distinguished gentlemen whose speciality
lies in this groove.
The reader's time will not be wasted on pages of analysis
of character, descriptive touches about sunsets, sunrises, trees
and the appearance of nature generally under various as-
pects, which only impede the clear course of the story and
tire the patience of the purchaser.
As each author engaged upon this tale has been constantly
employed (according to the rules of the Company) in revising
his collaborators' work, the desired end has been obtained,
and with few exceptions [where the Editor has at the last
moment restored passages or interpolated necessary explana-
tions] the story never flags either in action or in dialogue.
That is, as far as the Editor has read at present^ for the
entire novel is not yet in his hands.
The illustrations are, or rather will be, by several artists of
undoubted reputation, whom it would occupy too much space
here to name, and whose particular praises it would be to a
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 83
degree invidious to sing. They are, tlie Editor is most
happy to say, on excellent terms with the Authors of this
novel, and therefore he confidently expects the happiest re-
sults from such a combination of Genius and Talent.
To his dear friends, the Authors, the Editor turns and
begs them to remember the old fable of the bundle of sticks,
a suggestion he would not dare to make to a Company of
Actors— but to the Literary Limited Company the case is
happily far ditierent. Bear with each other's faults of style,
and continue to aim at producing by your united efforts One
such work as shall establish your new speculation on a secure
basis, and shall mark an era in the Literature of our Great
and Glorious Country. Now, to the public ! *
ADDENDUM.
On consideration, the Editor deems it as well to state, at
the outset of this new undertaking, two conditions for which
the Directors of the Co., for themselves, and the Authors, for
//temseh'es. have stipulated as a sine qua >ion of publication
in this journal : —
First. That the Directors shall have full liberty, from
time to time, to publish with the story such notes as they
* Tliis finishing sentence was unluckily in print, and escaped tlie
Editor's wary eye. It means " now I place this novel in the hands of
the public, who will pronounce upon its merits." As it stands it docs
appear as if the Editor, fatigued by the excessive exertions of Preface-
writing, had thrown down the pen and thirsting for refreshment, had
exclaimed, "Now to the Public/" an erroneous impression which he
hastens to remove. As Mr. Dovvler said, "Those who know me
best, best know me," or words to that effect. — Ed.
G 2
84 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
may deem necessary for the clear explanation of the novel,
the benefit of the public at large, and their own protection as
Directors of the aforesaid Company.
Secondly. That the Authors shall have full liberty to pub-
lish, from time to time with the Story, individually or con-
jointly, the one with the other, such notes as they together,
or each severally, shall deem necessary for the furtherance
of the plot, their own reputations individually or collectively,
and the general advantage of the public at large.
*^* The Editor having as cheerfully as possible consented
to the above stipulations, now trusts to the good faith, kindly
fo7'l>earance, and gentlemanly feeling of all concerned in this
present Novel, not to abuse the concession thus made, and
finally throws himself upon the kindness of a generous and
indulgent public.
Afev) Words as to the Title of the New Novel, " Chikkin
Hazard."
The Authors jointly and severally protest against this title,
which has been selected by the Editor— [also jointly and
severally against all the titles proposed by one another] — as
however no better one could be agreed upon, this was at a
recent meeting of the Company adopted under protest : —
They wish it to be distinctly understood that Chikkin
Hazard (spelt thus also nnder protest) was not, nor is, nor
ever has been, suggested by the highly successful novel now
publishing in weekly parts, entitled Fond Play, nor any part
or parts of it, nor do they (the Authors) think that as far as
they've gone the name Chikkin Hazard has very much to do
with the Story
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 85
Note by the Directors of the New Company. — The Directors
beg to state that they have the greatest confidence in the
Editor's discretion, and in justice to him, themselves and the
Company, they now place before the public the titles origi-
nally suggested by the various Authors engaged upon this
Mork : —
1. The Fiend's Followers.
2. The Clergyman's Grandmother.
3. Gentle Maud : a Tale of Saxony.
4. Happy Days in Langoustc ; a Troubadour's Story.
5. Sepoy Sam ; or, The Rollicking Recollections of Tooth-
less Tommy.
6. The Better Land ; a Scries for Children.
7. Dan, or the Murderers of the Mhoil Dhu.
8. My First Polka.
9. Golly Boy. A Tale of the Early Christians.
10. Boar Hunting in Australia.
11. Glen M'Kroskie, or the Last of the Highland Chiefs.
12. When there's a Will there's a Way, or how to Cure
Smoky Chimneys.
13. Sir Martin Nickleby, or Dombey and Twist : a Ro-
mance of the Thirteenth Century.
14. Hocus ; or. The Dark Horse. A Confession of Tuif
Rascality.
The fifteenth was Magnolia, or the Captive Turk : a Poem
in Seven Books : and was immediately protested against by
every one concerned in the success of the work. Its proposer
was unable to sec that his idea scarcely fitted in with the
scheme of a sensational novel, and he at first resigned his
86 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
seat at the Company's board, but an arrangement having
been entered into that he sliould provide whatever poctry
might be wanted (three pieces at least being stipulated for)
in the course of the story, our kind and amiable friend re-
sumed his functions in the Company.
CHAPTER I.
" I wants to make your flesh creep."
Words of the Fat Boy in Pickwick, adopted as the motto ly the
N.S.N. Co., Lim.*
,N a dim cave, lighted by only one small gas-
lamp, sat Michael and Job Friestlor. INlichael was
Job's father, and older than the latter b}- some few
years.
" Why have you brought me here ? " demanded Job, in a
hollow voice.
" Why ? ha ! ha ! " laughed the elder, grimly, and both
his eyes shooting forth a murderous fire, he rose from his
scat and waved a keen-edged hatchet above his head. Job
turned deadly pale. He could scarcely raise his glass to his
lips as he said with a sickly smile, " Always the same light-
hearted creature, father."
Once, twice, the fearful weapon flashed through the air,
and then descended upon
* The N.S.N. Co. is the New Sensation Novel Company mentioned
in the Preface. Their first novel (this) appeared in the pages of Punch,
with whose proprietors and Editor the New S. N. Company had
entered into tlie previously set forth arrangements.
88 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
But not on the prostrate form of Job Friestlor Jell the
COLD STEEL*
* Foot Note by t/ic Authors. — Nineteen of the Authors [herefoHo-w tlic
signatnres) protest against this finish to the chapter. The editor MLSi
NOT allow himself to be talked over by the twentieth fellow, who has
evidently taken this notion from another novel. [Signed.)
Ed/for's Note to tlic above. — I didn't.
CHAPTER II.
^i3T on the prostrate form of Job Friestlor fell the
cold steel. For, the form of Job Friestlor was
not prostrate.
But as Michael bent forward, the younger and
more active man sprang upon his back, and by a trick which
he had learnt from the Rutlandshire wrestlers, staved in his
father's head between his shoulders.
Had Michael been in good training, his muscles hard and
taut, would not have yielded to this sudden pressure, and his
brave old heart would have snapped altogether, nigh broken
as it was even now by his son's thoughtless and unfeehng
conduct. But his muscles were lax, and gave to the force
thus exerted so easily as to cause the old man a sensation of
extreme pleasure, as of drowning, especially when his head
rose once more to the surface.
The second which this had occupied seemed years to
Michael, who in that dark moment had seen all his young-
life brought before him, had seen his parents imploring"
mercy at his hands, his brothers at his feet, his sisters
starving under his roof, his aunts and uncles chained to the
damp walls, the flames bursting from the convent, the ship
scuttled, the Derby favourite hocussed, the bridegroom
90
CH1K.KIN HAZARD.
poisoned, the butler (who was supposed to have stolen it)
exiled, the Sepoy's cruel sword descending on her fair young
neck, the fierce animal rushing on him with whetted tusks,
Sir Jasper's white hair streaming in the wind, the calm
martyr refusing the Emperor's last offer of life, and he raised
his hands to shut out these fearful sights.*
A roaring sound as of lions raving and tearing into the
cave.
Job knew it well.
There was no hope now.
No Hope ! !
It was the remorseless tide advancing.
The Remorseless Tide ! ! !
In another five minutes the cave would be filled.
Five Minutes ! ! !
" I shall take it in through the pores," observed Michael,
in whom the instinct of self-preservation was stronger than
the greed of gain.
The aperture through which the sea flowed in was scarcely
big enough for a man's body.
The idea struck them both : at once. Whose Body ?
" Father," cried Job, kneeling down, "your forgiveness ; "
and he clung to his parent's knees frantically.
* Editor's Note— By referring to the titles suggested by the
Amalgamated Authors [vide Preface) the reader will see that the events
of Michael Friestlor's previous life arise out of the different views
taken by the various writers of what this novel should have been. The
paragraph, as it stands above, is the effect of a judicious com-
promise.
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 91
'■ Job !" exclaimed the aged fisherman, "rise, I entreat, I
com ■'
Louder and fiercer comes the remorseless tide.
Seizing his knees, and head for the second time. Job com-
pressed his father into the smallest possible compass, and
inserted him backwards into the entrance of the ca\e.
The wind might beat, the waves roar and surge against
that old man, but his ear was for ever deaf to the voice of his
favourite child, who now knelt before him to implore his last
blessing. There he sat, fixed, taking it in, as he had said,
through the pores.
Ah ! was it a good deed for a young man but now begin-
ning the battle of life ? Was it a deed on which he could
look back with comfort in his last days ?
But we will not weary the reader, nor occupy his time use-
lessly in making remarks upon conduct which will speak
for itself.
To our tale.
Looking up at the stalactite roof above. Job saw with
horror that it was gradually melting. To remove his fatlier
and admit the air, was to let in the water.
The sun acting externally upon the surface had rotted the
cliff above ; it wanted but the exclusion of the air under-
neath to set the crumbling mass in one steady blaze.
He was alone ! It was a maddening thought.
Aloxe !
Was there no hope ?
Xo chance of escape ?
Yes- one.
92 CPIIKKIN HAZARD.
One ! ! !
For through a fissure in the huid rock abo\-e he now
distinctly saw, as it were, a gigantic iron hand swinging
forwards and backwards, as if in search of prey.
It came nearer, nearer, lower, lower, within his reach.
Leaping upwards, he
CHAPTER in.
EAPING upwards, he clutched the iron
hand.
A grapnel, a huge grapnel !
Retaining a firm hold upon his preserver. Job
looked towards the sky gratefully.
It was a balloon streaming calmly away towards the
horizon.
To climb into the car and throw out its two occupants,
who were at the moment engaged upon scientific computa-
tions, was to Job Friestlor the work of a second.
" My poor father ! " sighed the young man, for now that
the first excitement was over, he had time to give a thought
to others. The old man had been so proud of him. He
had often prophesied his rise in the world. " And here I
am," said Job to himself, smiling sadly.
Still his situation was too critical for him to indulge in
any maudlin sentimentality.
" What have we here ! " he exclaimed, kicking his foot
against a box lying at the bottom of the car.
The car was filled with chests of gold, buUion, and silver
coins. Besides these there were tin boxes labelled with
names and initials, containing title-deeds, policies, wills,
94 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
shares In various companies, and blank cheques with signa-
tures attached.
The balloon had evidently belonged to two fraudulent
solicitors, who were escaping from justice.
They had met, as we have seen, with a fate richly merited.
We shall hear of them no more.*
Night jame on. He was alone floating over the silent
ocean.
"Where am I ?" was his first thought.
He knew the Great Bear by sight, and this knowledge he
felt would now be of infinite service to him if he could only
see that constellation.
At last. The Great Bear.
He recollected how he had heard of mariners before the
invention of rudders, guiding themselves entirely by the
Great Bear, and he wondered how they had done it.
Then he burst into a loud chant, waking the sea-birds on
the ocean's bosom.
Twinkle, twinkle,
Little star !
How I wonder.
What you are !
Then the words seemed to fly from him, and others came
into his mouth, and he made wild rhymes, singing as if
" star " rhymed with " balloon ; " then he ran his fingers up
and down imaginary scales on the pianpo, as he had been
wont to do in his old fisherman's home, when, as a boy, he
* Foot Note. — Some of the Authors say we shall hear of them again.
( 5 ign ed by six of th tm.)
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 95
had played to his father after their late dinner. He then
broke open a box of legal documents, and jumping in among
them bathed himself as it were with deeds, scattering them
wildly right and left of the car.
Then the strange idea came across him that he was Con-
\ocation, and he tried to shut down the lid upon himself.
* * * Then followed a second of acute consciousness.
He was going mad : he knew it now — too late I
The paroxysm again.
In another hour the full moon was shining down upon a
helpless idiot, sticking pins into the balloon, which was
streaming slowly away towards the horizon.
Suddenly he jumped up, and with a \\ ild laugh struck a
match.
He applied it, thoughtfully, to the neck of the balloon.
At this moment his reason resumed its functions.
The fire was spreading !
\Vas all this treasure to be lost ?
Ha ! The parachute.
Lading it as quickly as possible, he lowered it from
the car.
The fire ! The Fire ! !
Two large seagulls flew against the car.
He caught them both. Then tying the parachute thus
weighted, to his feet, and holding a fluttering bird in either
hand, he bit through the last cord that bound him to the
flaming monster. One loud report, and as the smoke
cleared
96 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
******
The parachute descended safely, landing its cargo upon a
Benician Island.
An old boatman and his daughter found the wanderer on
the shore.
The boatman's name was Martin.
His daughter was known as Elizabeth.
CHAPTER IV.
IXTEEN years * afterwards.
In the pleasantest room of the pleasantcst
house in one of the Benician Islands, built
in the Gothic style upon the crater of an
apparently extinct volcano, sat an elderly man and a young
lady.
" Mr. Piel Dornton t will be here this evening, to sign the
contract," observed Lieutenant Marchmont J to his niece
Grace,
* Sixteen yeais. Six of the Authors wish to state that they were
totally against such an absurd interval. What's got to be done they
would undertake to bring about in seven. So they've told the Directors
and the Editor.
t The Directors repeat that they have the greatest possible confidence
in the Editor's good sense, but they did not think that he would have
allowed such a name as this to be given to the hero of the Novel.
Editor'' s Note to the above.— Yie. is not the hero.
Autliors' Note {by a majority). Yes, he is.
Note of Authors, in a large minority. No, he is not.
Note. — The Editor trusts to the good sense, gentlemanly feeling, and
kindly forbearance of all concerned to prevent a mpture. From the
MS. in his possession he thouglu it was the hero.
X Marchmont is thought by all the company a good name. But as
there was great disagreement upon the question of his rank, and whether
he should be in the Army or Navy, it was thought better to make liim a
H
98 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
" Will he ? " replied Grace, her beautiful countenance suf-
fused with blushes.
" Will he ? " thundered the Lieutenant, who was an old
irascible Peninsular hero, and brooked neither questioning
nor doubt.
In a second something flew from his hand, and whirring
past his niece's ear, within an inch of her golden hair, was
dashed into a thousand fragments against the mantelpiece.
It was the tea-cup.*
Her eye darkened for a moment, where a splint from the
crockery had struck her, but she soon recovered her good
humour, and playfully taking up the classic urn, poured the
contents upon her uncle's head.
He smiled.
" The sooner the better," she returned, replying to his
observation about Mr. Picl Dornton.
'■'■Sooner or later" vi?iS the warrior's innocent, but some-
what homely repartee.
Lieutenant, an office which belongs to both services, and it was finally
determined that the uniform should be left to the discretion of the
artist. Signed by Editor, Aiitlwrs, and Directors.
Also to avoid all description of Miss Grace, his niece, she also shall
be an artistic creation, as the Authors and Editor feel sure they can
trust implicitly to the good faith, gentlemanly feeling, and good taste of
the Artistic staff engaged, not to play the fool.
Editor to all the Authors.— \ don't think I shall have any illustra-
tions. But we'll see. Ed.
* Foot Note.— A few of the Authors remember this incident in the
farce of Box and Cox. Being put to the vote it was allowed to remain
by a majority of one. The Editor does hope he may rely upon the good
feeling, forbearance, &c., &c.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 99
Grace felt the inuendo, though she said nothing at the
moment ; but years after, this dwelt in lier memory, and the
poignant satire embittered the otherwise happy hours of her
young life.
Their house, better furnished than any other in the island,
had been carefully fitted up with dumb bells, so as not to
disturb the Lieutenant's repose, who was something of an
invalid.
She sounded, and an intelligent Boomerang entered the
room.
" Clear away,"' she said, addressing him in his own
language.
The Boomerang, a fine handsome fellow, regarded his
young mistress with an expression of unutterable melan-
choly, and commenced his evening's work, using his feet
like hands, with a dexterity which only early education could
have given him.
Sometimes as she cast down her eyes, the poor Boome-
rang was sighing at her feet.
While these domestic arrangements are being carried out,
let us say a few words about Mr. Piel Dornton.
The Rev. Piel Dornton had been in the island for nearly
sixteen years. He was very rich. He had enormous feet
and hands : no one knew how they had been acquired. He
had no relations ; that is in the island ; nor did he speak of
any one connected with him as existing elsewhere. He was
unmarried ; at least he had always given out as much. In
build he was if anything somewhat above the middle height,
with a strong leaning towards corpulency, ^\■hich in a man of
H 2
ICO CHIKKIN HAZARD.
twice his stature, and of a less emaciated appearance, would
have been unnoticed, or would have passed for an evident
mark of good breeding ; but in Dornton it led the shrewd
external observer to a wrong estimate of a character which
was in other respects amiable, though perhaps a little too
reserved for his associates. Generally, and among those of
the other sex especially, his coleopterous propensities were
the theme of unbounded admiration.
On his arrival in the island he had announced himself as
a clergyman, and the good bishop, having immediately col-
lated and inducted him, subsequently, gave him letters of
introduction to all the most savage tribes, among whom the
proficiency of the new minister upon the harp of Ancient
Judah was to have been soon turned to account by the astute
prelate.
But for one person.
Grace Marchmont .' '^
Or another ?
Was Grace always in his thoughts ? Perhaps.
* The Author, who wished this tale to be a Poem, in Seven Books,
using his liberty of publishing a note, begs to record his own conviction
that this is the place for a song. Besides mention having just been made
of the harp, what fitter opportunity can present itself? Again, " March-
niont " rhymes with "parchment" sufficiently for all practical pur-
poses.
Editor's Note. — The Editor, with tlic other Authors and Directors, has
promised that a song sliall be put in on the first opportunity. The
Editor and the rest reserve to tliemselves the right of judging when such
opporttinity occurs. But at the same time the Editor does really hope
he may depend upon the good feeling, forbearance, and gentlemanly
note of all concerned, &c., &c. [vide prcviojis tictS).
CHIKKIN HAZARD. loi
Or any other Woman?
Rising from his solitary meal, the Clergj-man said
" Grace," after dinner, to himself, and walked down towards
the shore.
It was the cheapest and shortest route to the Lieutenant's
house.
"Why give more?" he asked himself, as he descended
the steep.
Footsteps behind him ! !
He peered over the ledge of the rock ; not a soul.
Taking from his neck the badge of his calling, he paid it
out over the cliff. When it had reached downwards, some
two hundred feet or so, he carefully fastened it to the stem
of an old tree.
Chuckling to himself, the clergyman readjusted what
remained of his white tie, and walked slowly on.
No footsteps this time, but a young man in a boat.
The Rev. Piel Dornton shuddered.
" Bah ! " he muttered to himself, " this is cowardice ! " and
filling a tumbler of brandy from a magnum, which he invari-
ably carried in his breast-pocket, he drank it oft".
" So," he said, '■' Calmer now. Calmer."
He could read two names on the boat. " The Penguin,
by Joseph."
Slowly he drew forth a pistol, and pointing it steadily at
the oarsman, took such sure and certain aim
CHAPTER V.
LOWLY he drew forth a pistol, and pointing it
steadily at the oarsman, took such sure and cer-
tain aim as would have undoubtedly terminated
Joseph's existence, but that it was unloaded.
It flashed across his memory now that he had been
at the Episcopal Palace in the early morning and there
had seen
The bishop drawing a charge.
Little had he then thought how it would affect his after
career.
The man in the boat, Joseph, looked up on hearing the
snap of the trigger.
" Pas pour yosepli /"* he sang out in a clear tenor voice,
touching his cap reverently to the ecclesiastic, and at the
same time giving a strong pull with both sculls, which caused
him to disappear within the water-cave.
The clergyman remained wrapped in meditation.
" Vidi te ! " said a voice behind him, and turning, he
recognised the kindly old bishop looking at him slily through
* They do not talk French in Benicia. — Director's Note.
If the Directors interfere, we will not write any more. — Authors Note.
The Editor docs hope that the kindly feeling-, &c., &c. [as before).
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 103
the crook of his highly ornamented crosier. '"'■ Hatnus id .'
hie est Lietor veiiiens" he said, in old monkish Latin.
It was a coast-guardsman coming over the hill.
"Joseph, you have escaped me this time," said Dornton to
himself, as he parted with his superior, and wended his way
towards Marchmont House.
He could not knock at the door. Strange, he was shy and
nervous as a boy in his first love.
He climbed up the conservatory and looked through the
top.
By the light of the lamp* he saw her fair form like a
bright angelic picture, and he felt a thrill pass through his
frame.
Slowly he drew forth the pistol, and took deadly aim.
" Tush," he said to himself, smilingly, " 'tis but a mere
matter of habit,"' and replaced the weapon in his tail-coat
pocket.
Bui there laas another form close to Grace's.
Whose ? The thought was madness. Whose Form ?
Dashing through the thin panes of glass which ill served
to prevent his entrance, he burst into the room.
What sight met his gaze !
Grace, in full ball costume, lying on the sofa, covering her
eyes with her hands, and by her the aged Lieutenant, clutch-
ing the poker in his nervous grasp
Dornton ran forward, and
* Some of the Authors wish to call this Xovcl, " Scenes from Clerical
Life."
Editor's Note. — They won't, though. Wait till the End. Then
cfiaiigc the title if you like.—Y.u.
CHAPTER VI.
ND seized the weapon.
" In my own house ! " exclaimed the Lieu-
tenant.
"Never!"
So saying he stirred the fire, which in the Beni-
cian Islands becomes a necessity during the July even-
ings.
" And Grace .'"' inquired the Clergyman.
" Is well," she replied, going towards the piano.
" Music ! " exclaimed the Lieutenant, placing two fingers
in his mouth, and giving a shrill whistle.
Whose Fingers?
His own.
She struck a few brilliant chords on the instrument, and
then broke into a Tarantella.
" Shall we polk ? " asked the Clergyman, seizing the
Lieutenant round the waist.
"With pleasure," was the answer ; and, gracefully curving
and bending, they went round the room.
Oh ! those happy evenings in Benicia !
" Now for the Contract," exclaimed Grace.
They all seized pens, but before Piel Dornton could affix
CKIKKIN" HAZARD. 105
his signature a loud report as of a cannonade burst on their
ears.
The House divided.
" Smithereens I " exclaimed one of the three. The Lieu-
tenant was the speaker. In another instant the speaker had
left the chair. Amidst confused cries
The House Suddenly Rose.
" Ha ! " cried the Lieutenant, as ckitching at his niece, they
went up slowly in the air together. " I know ! "
" What ! " exclaimed the agonized girl.
'■ The volcano on which our house was built uas not extinct
— the Architect was wrong."
CHAPTER VII.
FREEDOM.*
ERTAINLY Piel Dornton was in luck. The
volcanic eruption which had caused Lieutenant
Marchmont's house to be raised from the ground
had forced him through the \\indow, whence
he fell, the worse for a few bruises, on the velvet lawn in
front.
* Resolution carried by a large majority of Authors engaged on this
work ; \iz. , " That headings be affixed to every chapter, to be chosen
by vote."
A^o/cs. Lr) Thirteen of the Authors were out of town when this was
written, and agreed to leave the description of the voyage, and so forth,
in the hands of the remainder, two of whom professed to have travelled
all over the globe, and were able to vouch for all their localities. These
two were under the control of the other five, among them are two pro-
fessed naturalists, an archaeologist, a geologist, and a pisciculturist.
Four of them are members of the Acclimatisation Society, and the two
first are Fellows of the Royal Geographical ; at least, so they say.
{li) We, the Directors, think that the above description is too much
like the Child's Noah's ark, but we are loth to interfere with the clear
course of the story. Only do get on.
(c) They are getting on. It's all right. The Boomerang is in
disguise. Piel Dornton is , and altogether it is most interesting as
far as I've read. — Editor.
To the Authors, from the Editor. — Now, Gentlemen, send in your
MSS., the Editor's in the room.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 107
" Fallen on the lawn," the Clerg}-man said to himself.
" That promises well for a bishopric in fittnror He knew
Latin and spoke it, when nobody was listening.
Marchmont House had disappeared, and with it the Lieu-
tenant and Grace, btit the contract of marriage was still in
Piel Dornton's /land.
Piel looked cautiously round. He was a bold bad man,
but even bold bad men sometimes are obliged to look round
cautiously. "It was easier for him," he recollected his father
saying this, " to look round than to keep square."
At the thought of his father, Dornton paused and mur-
mured, " Still taking it in through the pores. So many years
ago. How quickly the time has passed,"
His eye fell upon the paper in his hand. The sound awoke
him from his reverie.
He walked to his own house, and unlocking a desk which
opened with a spring, he drew from a secret drawer a small
bottle of black ink, a steel pen, a holder, a sheet of white
paper, and an ordinary blotting pad.
Then he lit the fire.
He was evidently uncertain as to his next proceeding.
He rang the bell.
A servant in a large mask and a deep sepulchral voice
answered the summons.
Dornton asked if anyone had called, and receiving a reply
in ihe negative, told the man that he was not to be disturbed
for tlie next three hours.
He sat down before the desk, and spread out the contract
before him.
io8 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
To it were affixed the names of Charles Augustus Leonard
Marchmont and Grace Marchmont.
What was he doing with that pen, and that black, black
ink, which seemed to grow blacker and blacker under the
hands of Piel Dornton ?
He was writing.
It was a troublesome task apparently, for he laboured at the
work slowly and wearily.
The clock-hands passed over the second hour, and still
Piel Dornton worked on with the black wicked ink and the
hard remorseless steel pen scratching the paper before him .
Had he been less absorbed in his occupation he would have
noticed that to the topmost branches of the stately elm in front
of his window was fixed a small cradle, which being moved
gently to and fro by the summer south wind rocked its
occupant as tenderly as if it had been set in motion by the
maternal foot. Not that if he had seen it he would have
taken much note of the circumstance, it being the common
practice of the poorer classes in this part of the world so to
dispose of their children when they themselves cannot pay
for a nurse during the hours of their daily toil.
Had he known that within that cradle lay an infant, he
would have in all probability pulled his blinds down ; but as
it happened, it entirely escaped his observation;
There lay the little creature, apparently quite content to
play with the bells of its plated rattle, and suck the imitation
coral.
Yet the child did not shake the bells, but held them in its
little hand, grasping them so firmly as to prevent the slightest
CHIKKIN HAZARD.
109
sound catching the ears of the anxious writer at the escritoire.
Moistening the red-dyed bone between its chubby Hps, the
infant ever and anon cast a furtive glance towards Piel
Dornton.
It was midnight before he had finished.
'• The next thing," he said, " is to go to work with a will."'
With a Will !
Then he arose from his chair and regarded his work with
satisfaction.
"It is worth the risk,'' he murmured to himself: "it is
worth the risk,"
CHAPTER VIII.
LOST.
^'1^^^ ITH a sharp heavy splash which sent the water
% fx^^: up twenty feet high, the house, so singularly
m.
letached from its foundations by the volcanic
action recorded in our last chapter, fell on the
upheaving bosom of the ocean.
The question now was, whether the building would sink or
swim.
It was an anxious moment for all three, for the faithful
Boomerang who was just entering the room with a
lamp when the explosion took place had been carried with
them.
In the peculiar construction of their mansion lay their
safety. The Architect had been a man of extreme fancy and
great ingenuity (he had, indeed, been subsequently recom-
mended to the British Government as a fit and proper person
for a sinecure at one of their large establishments — the
Hanwell College) and had fashioned the under-flooring of
the drawing-room, forming the ceiling of the Icitchen, after
the manner of the keel of a large boat.
What had always been an eye-sore to Lieutenant March-
mont now proved their salvation; The house floated on the
waves, drawing about four feet of water, without the occupants
CHIKKIN HAZARD. iii
feeling any more inconvenient motion than tlicy would have
experienced on an ordinary sea-voyage.
They were somewhat afraid to open the low French
windows, whence they had formerly stepped on to the lawn
— and they felt the want of air.
But on the second day they discovered three trap doors in
the roof, and the Boomerang having found a saw, in a short
space of time with the aid of a few nails and a hammer, joined
the three traps together, so that the whole of one side of the
sloping roof could now be opened and shut at pleasure:
Fortunately the remains of the tea, with muffins, dry toast
and butter, were still upon the table. The Boomerang, who,
by the way, had been in their service for nearly fifteen years,
was named Nutt — at least so he had always given them to
understand — now rose with the occasion, and exhibited a
spirit, a determination, and a knowledge which, though it
did not strike them at the time, was far above any educa-
tional acquirements of the ordinary Boomerang native.
The Lieutenant sat moping in his arm-chair. Grace played
a little upon what remained of the piano ; but Nutt assumed
the directorship, and at once, as a practical man, portioned
out the tea, the dry toast and butter, so as to put them all on
allowance for four days. " His religion," he said, merrily,
" taught him charity, and he always made allowances for
everybody ."
So they ate sparingly three crumbs each of toast, two drops
a-piece of tea, and then sat on the ledge above, with the half-
roof lifted up, and gazed upon the murmuring sea.
She was abstracted, and as the poor Boomerang regarded
112 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
her placid features he heard her uttering gently a name —
"Piel."
Looking down into the room, he saw the Lieutenant
stealthily moving towards the sugar:
In a second he was down silently, and seizing the old man
by the wrist, forced him back into his seat.
" Sugar ! " gasped the wretched man.
" No," replied Nutt kindly, but firmly, " we must feed
equally."
"And," added Grace, nodding to her Uncle, "as to the
sugar, if you do not like it you must lump it."'
They were the first unkind words she had ever spoken to
him. She felt it was necessary, and that upon her resolution
now depended their common fate.
A GRACE-FUL
LETTE AT SEA.
[ To face p. 113.
CHAPTER IX.
A BIRD IN THE HAND.
HEN Grace awoke on the fourth morning she
was surprised to lind Nutt ah-eady up, and
apparently engaged in placing lumps of sugar
a1)out the roof. In his hand he held a small
cruet. To her incjuiries, he merely said, " Wait and you will
see."
She waited for an hour, and Nutt hearing a slight scream,
rushed to her.
" Oh ! " she said, " I am very foolish, I know, but an
enormous creature flapped up against the side, and took
away some of the sugar. There — look — there he is in the
water."
Nutt watched the living thing narrowly, and then replied,
''■ I thought as much. That is the Pangofflin, or Mew-pig.
It is only seen in the summer in this southern climate, and
then but for a month. It is a great delicacy, and is almost
if not entirely unknown in England, and the more northern
countries. It shows us, moreover, our exact situation. We
are," he added, looking cautiously round, " Longitude sixty-
seven by two and a half, latitude twenty-eight by ninety, and
therefore we cannot be very far distant from the small cluster
of islands known as the Parsongkor Daycoovert group. The
I
"4
CHIKKIN HAZARD.
cruet which I now hold in mj' hand contains common table
salt. It is an excellent substitute for fire-arms."
Grace was somewhat surprised at this, but urged him to
continue his interesting conversation.
The poor Boomerang's eyes glistened at the implied com-
pliment, mastering his emotion with a cotton pocket hand-
kerchief, he proceeded : —
" The sugar which you see I have placed about the roof
will serve as a safe bait for the Pangofflins, who will alight
and attempt to carry a piece away. That one just now suc-
ceeded only on account of your screaming."
" I will be more careful in future," said Grace.
" When a larger one than usual has perched, I shall take
the cruet, and extracting a dainty pinch of the saline condi-
ment between my finger and thumb, I shall sprinkle it
upon his tail. This operation has a mesmeric effect, the
bird staggers, and after a few feeble endeavours to regain his
liberty, he falls and dies."
"You speak," exclaimed Grace, in wondering admiration
■ — '"you speak, like a book." He was about to say some-
thing when,
" There," she exclaimed, suddenly,
" Look ! "
CHAPTER X.
EDUCATINX, A PARTY,
L'TT Stepped forward, quietly, and in a second
ly^^ M more had captured a fine plump Pangofflin,
i^tx 1 si which had perched itself near a himp of
sugar.
'■ Vou must phick him,"' said Nutt, laughingly to
Grace.
The Lieutenant looked up for one moment. " You must
examine him first, and pluck him afterwards," said the old
man.
" He is thinking of his first Army examination, " whispered
Grace. " Poor Uncle ! The events of the last few days have
completely shattered him."
Lieutenant Marchmont was evidently not long for this
world.
" The Pangofflin, you will observe, Miss Marchmont," said
Xutt, " is something between a pig and a trout, and while it
has all the exquisite fat of the turtle, possesses none of the
coarseness generally inseparable from the flesh of a dirt)'
feeder."
Grace blushed.
" The tea-pot will serve us for a stew-pan, and while he
is being cooked, distil the liquor through the spout into a
1 2
1x6 CHIKKTX HAZARD.
tea-cup, ^v■hich you will find \vill furnish your Uncle with a
nutritious soup.
" Let the stewed Pangofflin stand for an hour, then divide
it into six equal parts."
" That will be one for each of us, and three over," said
Grace, who was already beginning to show an aptitude for
abstruse calculation.
" True," replied Nutt. " One of the other three parts we
will use for a different but not less useful purpose."
A groan from the sofa interrupted their conversation at
this point.
It was the Lieutenant.
" He cannot last out two days," observed Nutt, after feel-
ing his pulse and looking at his tongue, " However, I will
prescribe for him."
So saying, he took one of the chairs, and turning it upside
down, commenced unscrewing the little brass wheel on one
of the legs.
This wheel he then rubbed gently with his pocket hand-
kerchief, upon which it left a slightly greasy smear.
" I thought so ! " he exclaimed, triumphantly, " let us never
despair. Your Uncle, unknown to us, has taken the sugar
at which the first Pangofflin had a peck, and, as might have
been expected, it has not agreed with him. Now for my
remedy : each of these little brass wheels contains a certain
amount of oil, which from time to time has been rubbed into
them, in order to render their transit across the carpet easy ;
this oil can be extracted, and being placed in a cup, will
make excellent medicine for the Lieutenant. In the absence
CHIKKIN HAZARD. ir;
of a chemist's shop, these little wheel-castors, I think they
are termed — will give us the nearest approach we can ob-
tain to
Castor Oil.
The Lieutenant groaned.
" Quick ! quick ! " exclaimed Grace, raising her Uncle up
in her arms, " or it may be too late."
CHAPTER XI.
WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS.
^lEL DORNTON walked towards the window.
*" It IS a risk," he repeated, and pressed the
papers which he held in his two strong hands.
'■ There are no witnesses ; why not ? " he said
to himself.
Looking upwards he perceived the cradle : and started.
No Witnesses ?
"The child is out late,'' he said, frowning. "Mrs. Dixon
should be more careful. How does she know but that a high
wind might '"'
He paused.
Should he never be free ?
The southern breeze which had hitherto rocked the cradle
forwards and backwards, was gradually dropping, and in its
place was springing up a stronger and sharper blast which,
driving down from the north often visits the Benician
country, sometimes in its fury tearing up trees, rending rocks,
and carrying away men and animals for twenty miles v.-ith
irresistible violence. This dreaded breeze is called the
Azuwos. It was springing up now.
Piel Dornton gently undid the rope by which the cradle
was suspended.
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 119
The wind blew fiercer.
Piel Dornton rang the bell. " Tell Mrs. Dixon I wish to
see her."
With a heavy crash the cradle fell.
In a minute the frantic mother was kneeling by the side of
her infint.
'■ Who has done this ? '' she exclaimed.
Piel Dornton passed down the garden on his way from the
house.
"My dear Mrs. Dixon," he said, in his softest tones;
" you left your baby on the top of the tree." She paused
and pressed her brow. He continued, quietly, "When the
southern wind blows, the cradle is rocked, I know ; but when
that wind drops, and the Azuwos arises, the cradle, Mrs,
Dixon, will fall, then down must inevitably come the cradle,
the baby ''
" Aye, Piel Dornton," interrupted the woman, savagely,
•'AxD All."
She A\as kneeling on the grass, with her baby clasped in
her arms, and both hands stretched high above her head
towards the starry sky.
Piel Dornton, papers in hand, passed on.
" Mary Dixon,'' he muttered, " you mean mischief"
But for the present, the Wiu..
Turning the corner he entered the bank of Messrs. Chekk,
Diss, Count, & Co., the great Benicia Agents.
What was he doing there.''
CHAPTER XII.
IN BANCO.
;HE Clerks received him.
" We were just closing,"' said old grey-headed
Mr. Snagg, the Senior Cashier ; " but pray walk
in, Mr. Dornton. What can we do for you,
sir?"
" Cash this," replied Piel Dornton, presenting a cheque
for two million six hundred and seventy-five thousand
pounds.
" Will you have it now," inquired -Nlr. Chekk, " or wait
until it is given to you .'' "
Piel Dornton preferred the former alternative. " I shall
also require money for this," he added, presenting a foi'mid-
able-looking document.
" The signature is a good one," said Mr. Snagg, smiling,
" 1 don't think there'll be much difficulty about that. I will
just make a memorandum of the transaction."
So saying the methodical old man drew out a neatly-bound
ledger and made the following entry : —
'"'• Paid to iJic Rev. Piel Dofiiton on accoitiit of Lieutenant
Charles Augustus Leonard MareJunonfs eheques to said
account, and also on account of the aforesaid Charles Augustus
Leonard JMarclunonVs last will and testament, the sum of
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 121
tJiree niillion sterling, allowing the present price of Benician
stock and discounting the same at 93f ."
Here followed the date and the signatures for himself and
the partners.
And so Piel Dornton went back to his house the acknow-
ledged heir of the late Charles Augustus Leonard March-
mont.
From Directors to Editor. — Why don't }-ou publish opinions of the
Press ? Puff it, Sir, puff it.
Editor to ttie Directors. — The Press hasn't expressed any opinions.
Don't tell me to puff it — you can puff it yourselves. I know my work.
The Editor begs to state he has received numerous offensive letters
from the Shareholders. It is not in accordance with the rules to publish
them. Let all offensive communications be addressed in future to tlic
Directors.
From Artist to Editor.— 'Dear Sir, when are you going to settle?
I've done ten illustrations.
Editor to Artist. — Yes ; but they were all too late.
Artist.— Co\AAn\ do them before I had read the chapters. Send
me a lot of the novel in advance.
Editor to Artist. — Will mention it to .\uthors. Yours ever.
CHAPTER XIII*
FLOATING CAPITAL.
E must use our privilege as novelists, and leav-
ing Piel Dornton in enjoyment of his ill-gotten
gains, return with lightning-thought speed
to the Volcano Villa, buoyed upon the broad
bosom of the mighty ocean.
While they were thus floating, the Lieutenant was sinking
» Xoie. — An influential minority of the Authors protest against this
being the Thirteenth Chapter, it ought to have been a continuation of
the Twelfth. Coinciding, however, with the majority in the main idea of
the story, they yield upon this point.
* ..,; * The Editor compliments the influential minority upon the good
feeling, forbearance, and gentlemanly tone which he hopes will prevent
the occurrence of any coiiti-cfcmps likely to endanger the success of the
thrilling novel now so favourably progressing.
^,:ofe. — Three Authors of the Company protest against this sudden end
of the Lieutenant's career. They had taken a house in a quiet spot for
the last month, on purpose to produce four most effective chapters,
giving a detailed account of his lingering illness, the prescriptions, the
weather, the anguish of his daughter, her song (by the musical Author
who was staying with them), and finally his death, with a last dying
speech and confession. On their coming up to town they find that he's
l^een killed. " Sir (to the Editor) this is murder — murder most foid and
most unnatural, and most unfair upon us who had been at such expense
and trouble. Why not make him only in a trance and recovered by the
sea-water /"
Editor to the Alwve. — Gentlemen, you did not leave your address, and
we were obliged to get on with the story. When the work is published
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 123
fast. Nutt held him up head downwards, beat his hands
and feet with hair-brushes, spent hours upon him (as many
as he could spare away from the necessary work of naviga-
tion) in applying the red-hot poker, as, he confessed a last
chance of stirring his fast numbing extremities, all in vain.
Early in the morning of the fifth day at sea the Lieutenant
was committed to an ocean grave. They interred him
decently.
Nutt said as much of the prayer for the High Court of
Parliament as he could recollect from memory, and Grace's
clear ringing voice intoned an " Amen "' whenever his recol-
lection of the precise words failed him.
Then they sat down and wondered.
Sad as was the Lieutenant's fate it was a providential
occurrence, as the cold tea was coming rapidly to the last
drop, and even as it was Nutt was obliged to limit their
in three volumes your admirably written chapters will form a valuable
and agreeable addition to the literature of the country. But in the mean-
time, now you have come back to town, the Editor does liope that you'll
chime in with the present arrangements, and further, that the good feel-
ing, forbearance, and gentlemanly tone of all concerned, will prevent any
contretemps occurring just when the work is progressing so favourably,
and hourly rising in public estimation.
P. S. If the Musical Author will kindly look in between 10 and 4, and
sing his composition to the Editor and the Directors they will be de-
lighted to hear it. It is really too good for print, and far above the
heads of the general public.
%* Inquiries from Shareholders in the .Sensational Novel Com]:iany
as to the Declaration of Dividends, ike, must be made to the Directors
or the Manager. The Shares are going up rapidly, and very few remain
to be disposed of to the public. The Editor has a few which he may be
prevailed upon to part with by private contract.
124 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
allowance of food to § of an half an inch of the remaining
dry toast per diem for Miss Grace's sustenance, and ^ of the
same for himself.
The Pangofflins becoming crafty were no longer to be
allured by the saccharine bait which in spite of the ingenious
remedies invented by Nutt for his recovery, had proved so
fatal to the Lieutenant.
Within the last two days Grace Marchmont had noticed a
gradual change coming over the hitherto despised Boomerang.
" His features are softening," said Grace to herself, as she
came upon him once fast asleep. " I trust it is no indication
of the brain."
His legs and hands caused her no small anxiety.
"And this man," she thought, "is undergoing so much fcr
me
„ 'J
One morning she ventured to ask him if he could tell
where they were now ?
" Where are we now ? " he repeated, gently. " I think I
can ascertain the precise spot for you without reference to
such geographical charts as unfortunately for us are in the
possession of the Admiralty officials in various parts of the
world. Have you a thimble ? ''
She had three still in her work-box, and gave them to him,
wondering to what use he would adapt them.
" You see. Miss Marchmont, in this hand I hold a small
pellet formed of the dry toast, which I shall subsequently
consume for my breakfast. I will merely call upon you to
observe that I have nothing concealed in my sleeve, and I
need hardly remark that, situated as we are, I am in posses-
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 125
sion of no mechanical contrivances, no sort of springs, or
false bottoms."
She bowed slightly, in token of acquiescence, and he pro-
ceeded.
" I place this tiny pellet upon your work-table, which I sec
stands sadly in need of repairing, and I hide it for one minute
from your view by the simple process of covering it with one
of the three thimbles with which you have kindly furnished
me. Moving these rapidly from left to right, and again from
right to left, I pause for a moment to ask you where, in your
opinion the little pellet of toast is at this moment concealed.'
She considered.
At length she replied, with evident hesitation, " Under the
centre one."
He lifted up the thimble on the right side. Underneath
it lay the pellet.
Retried the experiment several times, and invariably with
the same result, varied only by the situation of the toast-
pellet in relation to her guess.
" I have taken this means, Miss Marchmont," he said, " to
show you how difficult it is to pronounce with certainty upon
the position of even so small an object as a toast pellet within
a narrowly limited circumference, and therefore, by parity of
reasoning, how magnified becomes the difficulty, when its
subject is the exact position of two human units within the
almost boundless circumference of the vast ocean."
She sat gazing upon him with her large eyes open, in
almost childlike reverence of a character so gradually re-
vealed — so new to her. Then she glanced downwards
126 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
towards his feet. He interpreted her glance, and an-
swered it.
'* They are sea-legs,"' he said. " I will make you a pair."
Presently he came up from below with a beaming face.
"' I have discovered our exact position." Grace looked at him
inquiringly,
" We are," he said confidentl)', " Here ! "
It never occurred to her to doubt his assertion for one
moment. A week ago she would have resented his proffered
opinion as an impertinent outrage.
That day they ate the last of the toast, and drank the
remainder of the cold tea.
Towards evening Grace complained of an unsatisfied crav-
ing for nutritious food. The flight of the Pangofflins was
indeed a loss.
Nutt sat silent for a few minutes. Then he turned to her.
" Will you play on the piano ? " he asked.
"I cannot sing the old songs," she replied, "but I will
comply with your request."
While she struck the few remaining notes, he was busy
fashioning a pin into a hook-shape.
Then he dropped his line into the sea.
" '■ I have no bait," he said, "and your music is now our
sole chance. Play something catching."
A tremendous splash and a heave, which, as appeared to
her, nearly capsized the frail tenement, caused her to leap
from her music-stool in consternation.
" Ah ! " she exclaimed in terror. " He has fallen over-
board ! "
CHAPTER XIV.
TE CREDO, MEUS PUER ! "
The " Adclphi."*
^5?^ HAT feelintr at her heart was it that sent
the life's blood coursing from her face, that
forced her to lean against a chair for support ?
He was overboard.
Drowned, perhaps !
Neither.
" Do not be afraid,'' cried the voice of Nutt, reassuring
her, " it is a terrific looking-monstcr, but he will not hurt
you."
He had hooked and landed' an enormous marine creature,
which writhed in grotesque twistings as it opened its jaws,
and flapped its fins and tails against the sides of the drawing-
room.
" Oh, take him away, he will spoil the furniture," was the
feminine cry which rose to her lips ; but she immediately
checked herself, and holding out her hand to Nutt, said
smiling, " Forgive me, I am very foolish, I know."
" We are indeed fortunate in securing such a prize as this,
Miss Marchmont," said Nutt, securing the creature from
* Oil this motto vide my letter, &'c., in notes, p. 145. Editor's P.S,
128 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
committing further acts of violence, by holding one of his
antenna?, nipped tightly in the forceps of the tongs. " It is
the developed Shrimp of the Antipodes, and is known in
Southern waters as The Colleen Prawn. Its fin is equal to
the most savoury turtle, its flesh just over the ribs nearly
approaches in flavour the delicate Southdown, the brain has
all the qualities of the most plump partridge, while the
* coral ' which comes away in clusters, far excels the plover's
eggs, and the tail is far superior to the ordinary apple-tart,
upon which so much store is set in more northern climes.
When stewed it distils from itself a delicious liquor, scienti-
fically known as Shandegaf Its presence here shows we are
not far from land."
He looked at her : her face was pale, and in another
second she would ha\e fallen to the ground but for his
support.
"I have talked too much," he said, kindly. "You are
hungry."
So saying he at once proceeded to cut from his new acqui-
sition a piece of rich juicy meat. The fire was burning, (he
had contrived to keep it perpetually alight, as he had only
a few matches, which he knew could not be easily replaced),
and placing the teapot upon it, he had in a few minutes
cooked sufficient to serve for their meal.
Then they sat down and ate heartily. It was like pork-
chops.
After the dinner they drank from the thimbles a portion
of the Prawn's Shandegaf, which indeed \Aas hardly less
strong than a liqueur.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 129
Then they suffered from indigestion. But neither spoke
of their sufferings to the other. So they sailed on for three
hours.
Grace was the first to arouse herself.
" If we are so near land, would it not be possible to see
it ? But," she immediately added, fancying that Nutt was
hurt by the insinuation, " we have no telescope."
Nutt, from whose face all traces of the Boomerang native
were fast disappearing, looked quickly round.
She watched his movements eagerly. He seized the
drawing-hearth broomstick, which could be lengthened or
shortened at will, and v/renching off the brush end, pulled
it out to its full length, and applied it to his eye.
Grace was in ecstasies. It was indeed just like a tele-
scope. He then explained to her how a glass with water in
it possessed magnifying properties, and one without water
did not. The first, a tumbler half filled with sea-water, he
fixed on the larger end, the handle ; the other, a wine-glass
partially filled, he attached at right angles to the smaller end
where the brush had formerly been.
With this instrument he reconnoitred, for some time un-
successfully. At length a loud shout escaped him.
" Wc cannot be far distant from the coast of Benicia," he
cried.
She clasped her hands in expectant agitation.
" Through the large end I distinguish the shape of a buoy.
On it is some writing. They have only one of this sort to
mark the ship line off llic Benicia coast, and as I read it — "
he began to spell " B. I"-. — "
K
I30 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
She waited in agony.
" It is," he cried. " It is "
The Benicia Buoy !
At that moment one of the fearful Atlantic waves, which
had for the past five hundred miles been collecting for one
vast effort its gigantic force, suddenly
Note. — The Authors who have undertaken the Piel Dornton part of
the present tale — that is as appears to them the really interesting and
sensational portion — want to know how long it is before they are to come
on again. What the (bad word omitted by Editor) do the public care
about voyages and travels, and all that sort of tiling, what they want is
the backbone of the tale, the thrilling plot. The aforesaid Authors
further present their compliments to the Editor, and beg to state that if
their Piel Dornton, &.C., Chapters in continuation do not appear in the
next issue of the periodical they will at once produce it in a separate
form in another magazine as The Blaruey Stone, the principal character
being Piel Dornton.
*^* The Editor to the above. — All right — yours shall appear in next
number, Pve read it — it's excellent. I think where you make fall
into the * * * * and * * * * * hangs on to the ****** * is
admirable. In the meantime the Editor docs hope that the good feel-
ing, forbearance, and gentlemanly tone of all concerned will prevent any
contretemps occurring just as the work is progressing so very favourably.
I
CHAPTER XV.
THE syren's voice.
^ lEL DORNTON had calculated his chances
""" cleverly ; perhaps too cleverly, for it is so
difficult for a sharp man of the Dornton stamp
^-4t^ to avoid being just a thought too clever for him-
self. He stretches out his arm to gain his object, but having
griped the coveted possession, he overbalances himself and
falls. The Rev. Piel Dornton had not yet fallen, but was
he overbalancing himself.'' This was a question for the
business conclave which met behind the glass doors in the
Banking House of Chckk, Diss, Count, & Co., the great
Benicia Agents.
Their decision was that the papers in ^their hands were
correct, and they could find no reason for disputing the
legality of the several instruments.
So Piel Dornton was cringed to, and bowed to, and
fawned upon by the Benicians, and visiting cards from
the wife of the Lord High Admiral, and the Bishops
Lady, down to the last importation into Benician salons,
were showered in at the doors and windows of Phle-
bosco Palace, now the residence of the fortunate clergy-
man.
On the tenth day after the disappearance of \'olcano Villa
K 2
132 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
with its living freight, it became painfully evident that the
Lieutenant and Grace had ceased to exist.
The Rev. Piel Dornton invited the inhabitants to a
Masqued Ball, and he himself, as Cupid, was the gayest, and
apparently the most light-hearted of all that merry, chatter-
ing, brilliant crowd.
" You are so satirical," said Lady Anna Domino, removing
her mask in order the more easily and gracefully to apply
her lace-embroidered mouchoir to her aristocratically-
chiselled nose, a custom which the highly refined though
somewhat artificial Benicians invariably adopt on occasions
such as we are describing.
" Not to you" murmured Piel, looking into her full
hazel eyes, whose lids were gradually lowered under his
steady gaze.
" But you love some one else," she whispered, turning
away her head.
" No ; on my soul, no," exclaimed Dornton, passion-
ately. The sound of the waltz came fitfully through the
doors.
She was a handsome woman, Lady Anna, and she knew
it. Through life, ever since her early impulsive marriage
with the dissolute Sir P"alsenows Domino, (who crible des
dettes, had died, leaving her his entire property) her ex-
perience among men of the world had been of the veni, vidi,
vici, order.
And now, what was this had suddenly come over her 1
Was she, the charmer, to be charmed at last ? Had she, who
had made even women's natural enemies, the serpents, dance
CHIKKIN HAZARD. . 133
to her piping, at length found the serpent who was to pipe to
her dancing ? Where was the fascination ? Or was it he
who was fascinated after all ?
He watched her lying at full length upon the snow-white
ottoman beneath the overhanging fuchsias and dainty
jessamines ; he watched her as she arranged her pink satin
dress with its drapery of nioirc antique, trimmed with the
rarest embrocation, seldom applied, except, as now, externally,
and he smiled as she threw herself back, reclining upon the
damask pillows. A coronet of diamonds, each separate
stone far exceeding the Koh-i-Noor, sparkled in her dark hair ;
rings flashed and coruscated again and again, lighting her
taper fingers ; small tinkling bells, Benician fashion, sounded
from her sandals as she pressed the drawing-room pile, or
shook her feet twinklingly, over the edge of the fantcuil.
Torches of naphtha (for Picl Dornton spared no expense)
shed their soft light upon her, and upon the cream-like and
rosy tints of the cold frozen ice and small thin wafer cake
which she had taken for her refreshment in that pale
voluptuous hand.
" I wonder," she said after a little pause, " where Banbury
Cross is .'' •'
" Do not talk the world's cant to ;;/<•," said Piel Dornton,
suddenly rising and violently kicking over the ormolu tables,
the lamps, the chairs, and the bigger ornaments in the room.
" I know you — beautiful as you are, 1 know you." He stood
by the mantel-piece glaring upon her. Her eyes looking up,
met his, and she listened intently. She had never seen him
in this mood before. " Tell me," he said, calmly, yet with
134 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
firm determination as he flung the velvet stool through the
window, " Tell me, why am I here?"
For one moment she, the conqueror, the syren who loved
£0 many to their destruction, felt how she had been trapped,
caged, caught.
Piel Dornton rose from the hearth, and coming towards
her, clasped her waist in his iron grasp. She was powerless
in his hand, and suffered herself to be carried into the ball-
room like a child.
The Bishop was bringing the festival to a close by leading
the last dance, which, as is the Benician custom, has some-
thing in it of the religious element and of the action of
worship ; the entire movement has its own peculiar music,
and is dedicated to one of the Island's patron saints, St.
A'itus — the other patron being the guardian of Hospitality,
namely, St. Invite-us.
Piel Dornton forced Lady Anna to kneel down, as his
ecclesiastical superior removed from his face the white and
red colours which had served him for a temporary disguise
during the Masc[ue.
" My Lord," exclaimed Piel, seizing the Bishop's hand,
" she will be my wife."
'"'' Bene ego iiiiJiqiia^n.''' said the good Bishop, piously.
" Fecisti tu unquam ? "
Hel took a ring from the finger of the fainting Lady Anna,
and was preparing to repeat the usual formula after the
Bishop, when a slight rustling was heard in the crowd, and a
black figure, closely hooded but with two brilliant eyes
piercing through the apertures of her mask, stepped forward.
CHIKKIN HAZARD, i33
On one arm she supported what was appai-ently a large
oblong shaped bundle.
The disengaged hand she stretched out, and before the
bystanders could prevent her
CHAPTER XVI.
'OT2 'OT0H XATT;
ANDED to Dornton a letter.
" Who brought this ? " he cried, when
he had read it.
No one could tell him. It was a black-
hooded mask, and she had gone, silently, as she had
come.
Lady Anna fainted, and was carried insensible to a
fountain, in whose sparkling basin she was tenderly
deposited, in the hopes that the cold fresh water would
revive her.
" Who ■\\ill take a message for me ? " muttered Dorn-
ton to himself, confusedly, " Is there no one I can
send ? "
As if in answer to his half-spoken thought, a voice from
the throng around hissed shrilly, " Me vil."
" Who spoke ? " asked Dornton. A small form emerged
from the crowd. It was the bundle which the ]\Iysterious
IVIask had on her arm : a child.
" How old are you ?"' asked Dornton.
" Fourteen months and a half," was the ready answer.
" The emissary for my purpose," said Piel to himself. A
bold bad man cannot act alone ; he needs an instrument, a
CHIRK IX HAZARD. 137
tool ; rarely do bold bad men find such an one present to
their hand as did Piel Dornton now.
" You know the town well ? '"' he inquired, before handing
him the note.
" Vev vel," answered the infant.
" Your name ? "
" Ditthon ; but they call me Little Bil/tYv"
Had not the ears of Piel Dornton been careless to their
own good, he would have recognised in the infant's lisping
accents the name of Dixon, and he would in all probability
have called to mind the mother's words in the garden, uttered
only a few short days ago, " Down comes the Cradle, The
Baby . . . AND ALL ! "
But he heeded not signs and sounds which might have
saved him even then.
''Take the letter, Bil/tv," he said, and gave it to the boy.
" Largethe," urged the child, extending its hand.
" He means Largesse," observed a bystander.
Dornton regarded him curiously for a moment.
*' We have met before," he said.
The child's clear upward gaze brought no distinct time or
place to his memory, and so dismissing the matter from his
thoughts, he threw the urchin a piece of money, and waving
back the curious crowd, he pressed his brows over his hat,
and bidding them look to the comfort of the Lady Anna,
strode from the ball-room, and scattering the pampered
menials right and left, touched a secret spring in the wall,
which, turning on a pivot, allowed him to pass through, and
instantaneously closed behind him.
138 CHIKKIM HAZARD.
" At this moment ! " he muttered, shaking his clenched fist
in impotent rage towards the starry firmament. " To send
to me noio ! But no matter ! "
Here he thrust his hand into his open vest, and smiled
with bitter scorn as he continued, " She shall be mine.
Had I risked so much to stop short of my object now ?
Piel Dornton, there is a devil luring thee. What care I ?
Devil or angel to-night decides her fate and mine, perhaps
for ever. So that is well," he said, as he drew a twelve-
shooter from his pocket, and examined the priming. " This
will enforce, when arguments and cajoleries fail." He
trifled with the weapon for a few minutes, firing it off,
loading and reloading, aiming at a tree while running, until
he appeared satisfied with his own proficiency. Then he
paused. What was that? a rustle? He fired into the
bushes. W^ith a scream like that of a child, a wild cat
bounded forth and was lost to sight in the surrounding
gloom.
Piel Dornton, who was an excellent shot, fired again, and
the animal fell mortally wounded. " Bah ! " exclaimed
Piel Dornton, " This is folly. I have many miles to walk
ere I reach her house. It must be done to-night— to-night !
I have sworn it, and it shall be done." He turned out of
the public path, and took his way by the Black Pine Wood.
Alone.
As he disappeared among the arboriferous productions of
a beneficent Nature, a small form emerged from behind
a bush, and stole cautiously into the deep darkness of the
night.
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 139
The diminutive watcher was searching for something. At
hist he stopped, and examined what appeared to be a shape-
less bundle of white fur.
" In my power now," said the strange being to itself, " and
he wanted to know if we'd met before. Yeth, Mithter Dorn-
ton, and we'll meet again thoon. Ha ! Thee !"
The clouds breaking allowed the moon to send her strong
bright white light upon the ground, bringing out a tall
retreating shadow.
Concealing himself from the receding pedestrian's view by
crouching within the deep shade of the shadow-head, and
moving on hands and feet evenly with it, Little Billee (for he
it was as our readers may have already guessed) closely
followed him, dogging his footsteps.
So they descended the hill. One bent on his own cruel
selfish purpose, utterly unconscious of the other ; the latter
with all the concentrated hate and suspicion of an infant's
nature, pursuing steadily and marking doun his prey.
Once and once only the thought crossed him that a
struggle was inevitable, and he clutched his coral more
firmly, and hushed the jingling silver bells, which, sounding
mournfully in the night wind, fell on Piel Dornton's ear as a
warning knell ; but he heeded it not, and in his pride and
false security strode onward to his fate.
The Benician Island was lulled in repose as Piel Dornton
crossed the Common.
The sound of silent steps following him cautiously; surely ;
onward.
Onward.
I40 CHIKKIX HAZARD.
Down the hill. Ave, Down the Hill.
To the Directors, from the Authors forming the Sensational Novel
Company Limited.
Gentlemen, — It is with sincere regret that we feel ourselves compelled
by the strictest sense of duty towards each other, of our mutual intcrde-
pendency, ''\*.^* This word admitted by a majority, and this bracket
inserted in justice to the minority] to address you upon a subject which
affects in the highest degree the well-being of the Company, the literary
status of the gentlemen contributors, the health of the Editor [inserted
by me — Ed.'] and the taste of the general public. Gentlemen, according
to the published articles of this Company \_Vide page 84. — Ed.] the
Directors, the Authors and the Editor, only and solely, individuaHv.
and collectively, separately and each for himself or for others
associated with him, reserve to himself, to herself [%* An eminent
lady novelist has since joined the Company, authoress of Blab-
bin gt on Black's Fvi-gcry, Charlottes Birds, Sec, &c. — Ed.'\, and to
themselves, to HAVE AND TO HOLD in reser\-e the rights of print-
ing and publishing such notes as "they," the aforesaid, "may
deem necessaiy for the clear explanation of the novel, the benefit of the
public at large, and their mutual protection." Now, Gentlemen, we, the
undersigned and aforesaid, do beg to call your attention to the constant
breaches of this stipulated agreement from time to time on the part of
the EDITOR, and especially to the absence of all illustration. Gentle-
men, we demand the immediate dismissal of the Editor. If our demand
is not instantly complied with, we resign. (Signed by the majority of the
Authors, and for the rest.)
The Directors to the Authors. — Gentlemen, we can only repeat that
we have the greatest confidence in the ICditor's discretion ; we leave the
matter entirely in his hands, feeling sure that we can carry on the Com-
pany with the present novel to a most successful issue, aided only by the
minority who did not sign the recent manifesto.
Directors to Editor. — Can't you make capital out of this slight fracas,
and puff the novel? Thus: have a bill out headed, "Dismissal of
THE Editor (this Dav)." Puff it. Sir, puff it !
Editor to Directors. — It's your business to puff it. Do it : only
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 141
don't play tricks with my name, as I am advised that an action for libel
will lie.
Editor to the Authors. — In allusion to the above difference which has
unfortunately arisen between the literary gentlemen connected with the
publication of this admircLbly ivrittcn novel, and himself, the Editor
feels assured that the misunderstanding is of the most trivial and tem-
porar}' nature, and that, as far as he is personally concerned, he is
certain that with the courteous answer of the Directors, the affair
will be brought at once to a happy termination, — he, as Editor, explain-
ing to them, that as he holds so many paid-up shares, and also his
present position, by distinct written and stamped agreement with the
Directors, in return for having promoted the Company, it will be im-
possible for him to yield to their demand for his dismissal without gross
injustice to himself ; and finally, he does most sincerely hope that he may
trust to the good feeUng, forbearance, and gentlemanly tone of all con-
cerned, to prevent any contretemps occurring just as the work is pro-
gressing so favourably. Illustrations will be all right.
From Some of the Authors. — The explanation is satisfactor)'. Who
sent the telegrams f The teleg^ph boy who was sent backwards and
forwards has not received a single sixpence. His mother, a most respect-
able person, has called to-day to prefer a charge against nine gentlemen
for cruelty in overworking the lad. Justice, Sir, to the aged mother.
Editor's Note. — The Directors will see to this. Gentlemen, prav get
on with your thrilling stor}', as / am dying to know whether the
Boomerang does turn out to be . also if Piel Domton ultimately
as I supposed, and so on to the end. Once again, the above dif-
ficulties being perfectly smoothed and everything settled, let me press
upon you most strongly that the Editor does hope that the continuation
of the good feeling, forbearance, and gentlemanly tone of all concerned
will prevent any contretemps occurring just as the work is progressing so
favourably.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE TRICK ACT.
[EAVING the pinewood forest on his right, Piel
Dornton sprang upon his dark horse, which was
waiting for him, and dashed rapidly across the
broad uneven' Common.
Unconscious of observation, he muttered to himself, " So,
Piel ! richer, feared, aye,' and loved ! What have I to desire?
What remains?" Onward he sped dashing, crashing,
through a plantation, as the night wind sighed and the
stately trunks* bent to the ground in the soft southern
breeze, as though owning in the man their Lord and
Master.
" Aye ! ye green things," he exclaimed, standing upon his
saddle, as he urged his panting mare into a gallop, " bow to
mc, to me, who am— ha ! ha ! " He laughed excitedly, and
pressed his hand to his fevered head.
It was a sudden thought, but a good one, for his purpose.
The horse was cantering on at an even pace, making the
circuit of the Common several times before proceeding, and
* The Directors think that there have been several good opportunities
for advertising lost. Advertisements pay ver>' well. This is an oppor-
tunity lost, so evident, Trunks, portmanteaux, &c. [The Editor being
bound to publish these notes, publishes the above without comment.
—Ed.'\
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 1^3
giving his rider time for the execution of his rapidly con-
ceived design.
He tore off his coat, waistcoat, and hat, while the horse
Avas still in motion, and throwing them away appeared in
the disguise of a marine. Continuing thus for a few minutes,
he aimed right and left, as with a gun, and seemed to be
defying an enemy.
" No,'' he said to himself, " this disguise will not do,"
whereupon lightly humming a tune, which appeared to ex-
hilarate the noble steed that bounded beneath him, he reck-
lessly divested himself of the military uniform, and in less
time than it takes to describe, he exposed to view the dress
of a sailor, which he had evidently been wearing beneath the
other two.
" I can reserve the Apollo for another time," he thought,
slightly opening the front of his sailor's shirt, through which
it was possible to see the glittering spangles of the Sun-god's
costume. " It is enough if I escape detection in this. 'Twas
as a sailor I have always wooed her."
"Hi! hi ! hi !" Shouting to his mare, and hitting her
sharply on the off fetlock he waved his hat aloft, and hoisting
a bundle in a pockethandkcrchicf tied on to the end of a
stick, across his shoulder, careered onward.
His delay had enabled BilU'^ to come up with him ; con-
cealing himself under the shadow of tlic flowing tail, as he
had hitherto done in that of his rider's head, the infant
followed him with stern purpose, and resolve, taking firmer
and surer hold of him at every step.
On the border of the forest Dornton tied his horse up to a
144 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
tree. Far off shone a light in the window of a lonely-
cottage.
" She is there," was all he said.
A gust sweeping the plain, took his light sailor's hat, and
throwing it madly from branch to branch, drove it at a fierce
pace through the intricacies of the forest ; here Piel Dornton
followed swiftly, for if he ever could be attached to anything
animate or inanimate, he would have been to that now brim-
less battered hat as it bounded gaily over the moonlit plain
which reached for miles in the basin naturally formed by the
perpetual landslips, and the overshading pine hills surround-
ing it. He would not shout, he would not cry for assistance.
Onward he hurried. One moment with extended arms to
seize the receding form, another prone upon the uneven soil,
then with his short curly hair streaming behind him in the
breeze, he flew across the open plain. Onward ! onward I
A distant murmur fell upon his ear. Louder, louder,
the voices of a myriad deep-tongued monsters baying for a
victim.
" The Sea !" he cried in terror. " It is the sea !"
Lucid, two-horned, antler-bearing, changeable, vague,
wandering, nightly, continuous-by-night, silent, tacit, smiled
the daughter of Latona upon the son of Saturn and Ops and
brother to Jupiter and Pluto.*
* A'otcs. — The Authors who looked over this description of the ocean
erased this description of the moon shining on the sea, and described
the fact simpl}' in five words. On an early copy being sent to them
for penisal, they find the Editor has restored the passage. Wh}- ?
—(Sig/ied.)
Editor. — Gentlemen, you are only three out of the number, why did
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 145
His pace had brought him impetuously to the very verge
of the abrupt chtT, when from the door of the cottage a
you erase the passage aforesaid ? It was written by a scholar and a
poet, the Author, in fact, to whom was promised that he should write
a song in this on the first opportunity ; failing this, that he should be
allowed to indulge in poetic licence. He is a scholar and gentleman,
and retains his classic knowledge. He was brought up at Eton and
O.xford. A touch here and there gives elegance. I beg the subject
may be dropped.
The Authors, the three ahove-tiamcd with others, to the Editor. — Sir,
We did not state our reasons, but will. Scholar ! pooh ! — no more
scholar than — well, never mind. " Retained his classic knowledge," you
say : you mean. Sir, retained his old scliool books, and makes the
barest extracts from them, which are to pass for cultivated scholarship.
He was with us, you may recollect, in the country (the humbug ! he
pretended he must be away in the country to get inspiration !) and we
coming upon him unexpectedly found him writing his portion of this
work with an old copy of the Gradus ad Parnassum before him, open
at the article Luna, to which pray refer, and you will find all his
epithets in the original Latin " Z.^^r/;/^', bicornis, conicgera," &c. , &c.
Then turn to article Xeptunus, and in the very first line you will find
this gentleman's paraphrase word for word. Now, Sir, if we dealt thus
with you and the public, what \\ou\d you, what would they say ? It was
this impostor then who wrote those Latin and Greek headings to the
Chapters, eh ? Gross ignorance. Sir, gross. Again, Sir, as to the heading
to Chapter XIV., any schoolboy knows that " tibi credo " is the form,
or " /« te credo," not " Te credo.'' But enough of this.
Editor to the Above. — Gentlemen, the Editor has been imposed upon.
The Classic Poet is no longer connected with this Company. The pas-
sages complained of were allowed (the Editor is willing to explain how)
to remain at the wish of the Directors, upon whom the Musical Poet
had called to sing some of his compositions for this work. The Editor
ahuays thought him a detestable humbug, but does not shrink from
admitting that the epithets were admitted as a compromise, so that the
Directors and Editor might not in future be obliged to listen to his sing-
ing every day, and at every hour between ten and four. However, he
has received a certain amount for his shares, and has retired ; and now,
Gentlemen, the Editor takes the present opportunity of expressing a
L
146 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
female form issued, and throwing herself across the object ot
his pursuit prevented its being carried forcibly over into the
boiling waves beneath.
The first ray of morning light fell on their faces.
The woman raised her arms and screamed. She \A'0uld
have fallen over the cliff had not Dornton caught her in his
arms.
" Bess ! look up ! speak to me ! " he cried in an agony.
He knew she had recognised him, but at that moment,
yielding to as irresistible an impulse as that which urged the
Grecian Matron Hubardc to make osteological search within
the closed recess, or the waiy Pimannos to entrap the yield-
ing and simple Simonides on his road to the Athenian Fair,
or the impulsive Hornerus to dare Dyspepsian dangers * in
strong hope that the good feeling and forbearance, and gentlemanly tone
of all concerned will prevent any contretemps occurring, just when the
work is progressing so admirably.
* The Editor, in answer to numerous queries from the Authors, has
great pleasure in announcing that these elegant interpolations, so
happily illustrating the situation, are from the pen of the celebrated
Authoress who has recently joined this Novel Company (Limited). The
Editor is sure that the esteemed member of the Company, the author of
the White Ram, &c., will be the last person to find fault with the style
of the hand which has produced Cajiarics of Supplication, Shalotte s
Inheritance, Blabbington Black's Forgery.
In haste by the Authors to the Editor. — Where are the illustrations ?
From the Editor to the Authors, in haste.— T>or^\. know. — Ed.
The Horse. — He ivas walking in the last chapter, but as it gives more
life to the picture by introducing a horse, the Editor ventured to put
him on horseback. It'll go so much better. The Editor regrets having
been unable to send a proof with this alteration in it to the Authors,
but there wasn't time before publication. — Ed.
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 147
extracting the solitary fruit of the Plumm-bearing tree, — he
pressed his hot hps to her icy cold forehead, and felt such a
thrill of pleasure shuddering through his frame as threatened
to render his position upon that unguarded ledge every
second more dangerous.
He had not noticed it, but by a coincidence he had stopped
on the exact spot where some days before he had dropped
the white cravat over the edge of the cliff, and it had re-
mained there fluttering in the breeze.
" You are in my power now," he whispered, with concen-
trated passion in her ear. " Come ! your father is dying ;
I know ho will consent ; let the past be forgotten. Come !
Come ! "
He seized her round the waist, but her voice returning,
she uttered a piercing shriek, which v.-as suddenly answered
from below.
Dornton paused. He was a bold bad man, but even
bold, bad men must pause sometimes. The time had come
for him.
'• It is Joseph," cried the poor girl. " He has heard me,
and comes to my assistance."
" Bah ! " laughed Dornton, savagely, " he is two hundred
feet below the level of the sea, your chickweed-gathering
lover ; 'twill be dusk again ere he reach us. You are mine !
Nay, pretty one, do not struggle."
But he had to exert all his force, for Bess, accustomed to
row her father's smack of seventy-eight tons, could put out
more than the ordinary strength of a woman. But she was
hardly a match for Piel Dornton, who lifting his now un-
L 2
148 CHIKKIM HAZARD.
resisting burthen far above his head, -was offering her his
love or instant destruction, which two steps forward would
have accomphshed, wlien a hand apparently issuing from the
earth, grasped him firmly round the ancle.
Letter from Artist to Editor.— \ charge for all you don't use, mind.
Get your Directors to start a Gallery, and exhibit my pictures when this
(I omit the epithet, Ed.) novel is finished. Yours, Morhtik, J tin.
CHAPTER XVI : I.
THE HAND OF FA T E.
HE towering Atlantic wave, whose dizzy height
only those who have once surmounted it to gaze
upon the lake-like valley beneath, can possibly
imagine, seized the devoted house with the hand
of a giant, and twirled it into the air, as Xutt had often done
with his hat for Grace Marchmont's evening amusement.
For one instant she clung to him, but in the next, relaxing
her hold, she, with true feminine instinct recollecting that her
watch, which played two tunes and struck the quarters,
would be most useful to her on some future occasion, wound
it up rapidly, securing it tightly by the chain to her waist,
and then as her maiden blood rose to her checks, pressed
both hands firmly upon the skirts of her dress. So she
awaited her fate.
Nutt's one thought at that moment was for her.
The huge wave, gathering itself together like a concrete
sea-wall careering on the face of the ocean at a rate too
fearful for contemplation, began to quiver beneath its own
immensity as though trembling under the consciousness of
its murderous work.
Ah ! how little do we, sitting by our comfortable firesides,
realise such dangers as these ; and, after all, how small, how
150 CHIKKIN HAZARD,
little, does this mighty work of nature seem when told on
paper. And what is it ? A man and woman by themselves
unaided, save by their own intelligence, left to battle with a
vast Atlantic wave. And not an Atlantic wave only, but one
which had rolled itself from one ocean to another, which had
glided stealthily round the world's four corners into the broad
ocean highway — a double horror, a multiplied power, an
Atlantic wave in the Pacific.
The wild wind was its master, driving it onward in the dark
night. It sucked in the smaller fish at its base and heaved
them up to the top. Some of these Nutt was enabled to catch
and place in his pockets.
" She," he said to himself, "likes fish."
What tables and chairs he could reach at the moment he
attempted, somewhat unwisely, to seize and secrete about his
person, as they were forced through the house window by
inner pressure. As he did so he thought to himself how the
time might come when she would be glad to sit down upon
something, and then he would provide the means. Would she
be touched at last ? Would she at length understand him
and read his heart ?
A sharp cry from her attracted his attention, but the night
was too dark for him to be guided to her, by anything except
her voice.
He stretched out his arms, and leant, as he imagined, in her
direction.
This action had unforeseen consequences.
The sudden weight, so slight in itself, thus brought to bear
more upon one side than the other, destroyed the equilibrium
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 151
of the already tottering sea-wall, and shaking for one second
as if the course of its fall were still uncertain, it toppled head-
long and fell with one great gigantic ruin, and then the sea was
calm and tranquil, and the moon shone out as upon a peaceful
valley.
Grace, awaking from her stupor, found herself upon dry
land. She pressed her hand to her side.
" My watch ! thank heaven ! " was her first exclamation.
The next instant she thought of the Boomerang.
Yes, where was Nutt .''
And the House .''
GOXE.
She uttered a loud cry. She shouted his name, there was
no response. She was on an unknown sea-shore, alone.
Then the roof of the house in which they had suffered so
much together drifted in on the tide. In its wake floated a
few notes of the old piano from the lower b to the upper c,
reminding her of many happy hours in her Benician home
past and gone.
Then she had recourse to true feminine relief : she cried.
This was a relief to her. After a while she began to ask her-
self what he would have done had Providence willed him to
be in her place then.
She came to the conclusion that her best course was a
careful search. This led her to the southern extremity of the
island, for she had no doubt it was an island, from seeing
water entirely surrounding it, and here she began licr work in
real earnest.
A magnificent growth of trees of all sizes and descriptions
152 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
covered the cliff down to the sea's edge ; it had all the
appearance of a carefully preserved and well timbered park,
so bountiful had nature been in this respect, and so careful of
her bounties.
With a faltering step she approached the confines of the
park, and uttered Nutt's name. There was no response; but
as she neared the largest tree in the plantation a vague sense
of heat well nigh overcame her.
" You are getting warm," said a well-known voice, in tones
of deepest anxiety, not two yards distant from her.
" I am," she murmured faintly, "burning," and she stretched
out her hand.
In another moment Nutt's strong grasp, as he stepped
from behind a large trunk, prevented her falling to the
earth.
" Forgive me,'' he said to her, almost apologetically, "1 had
but just awoke from a deep sleep, and seeing you approach,
my first idea was to recall to your mind the light days of
innocent childhood's pleasures, and to conceal myself behind
yonder broad-shouldei ed pine."
" It was scarcely fair," she replied feebly, but with returning
strength. "You should have cried 'hoop,' or something to that
effect. At first 1 thought you lost," and the delicate form
shuddered. Ah ! what Heaven was this to him ! He wouM
have had her always shuddering, for that one thrill of strong
excitement had set his veins on fire, and made his hair stand
out rigid in the last red light of the glorious sun.
" Come," said he, playfully, " no more games : it is
getting late, and this is our first evening in our new
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 153
quarters. We have much to do. What say you, Miss
r\Iarchmont, shall we name this group of trees, Seek
Plantation ? "
She answered him with an angelic smile, " Call it rather
Hide Park."
"Be it so," returned Nutt, "and now to provide for our
evening meal, for nothing is left us from the wreck of the old
house."
" Except a few bon-bon crackers," said Grace, who had by
this time regained her usual composure.
Nutt pondered for a few seconds, then he answered,
" No," he said. " There is not enough in one at a time for
a single meal, and I doubt whether in this new climate the
saccharine compositions would agree with us. Let us keep
them as luxuries, and perhaps I can find a better use for them
hereafter."
" Why mayn't I eat them now ? " she asked, pettishly ; " I
shall, if I like."
Nutt regarded her in silent, loving, despondency. Who
was this strange being who had so enthralled him ? Was this
the return for all his untiring patience, his unflagging zeal in
her behalf?
She looked up.
" Forgive me," she said, smiling.
Forgive her ! there was nothing to forgive. So he put the
bonbons in his own pocket, and told her that he had a good
i:se in store for them which she should soon know, and,
satisfied with this assurance, she put no further questions.
The sun had gone below the horizon, and night, later in
154 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
these southern parts than elsewhere, was coming on slowly
but surely.
Grace looked at her watch. It played a tune and struck
the quarters.
BEDTnrK.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE IRON AGE.
'UTT, whose whole appearance,-- to the astonish-
ment of Miss Marchmont, had gradually lost all
its BoovieraniT character, divined her thouglits
at once. " You shall have before nightfall," he
said, "a house worthy of Hide Park, and," he added, after
surveying the island for a i&w seconds, apparently calculating-
its internal resources, "every luxury which modern im-
provements furnish, or the dross of unbounded wealth can
purchase."
She watched him in tearful admiration ; she devoured
him with her eyes. He was so strong, so good, so per-
severing.
" Now, make haste, she said to him, sharph", " and don't
stand gaping there all day."
This inuendo cut him to the quick, but he felt it was de-
served, and so he determined to be inactive no longer.
He plunged into the thicket, and almost instantly returned
v.-ith an enormous tree.
* "Whole appearance" was substituted by the Editor in hcu of
" Face, form, features, hands, feet, legs," &c., which you gentlemen
had seen fit to foist into this portion of the narrative. This is an answer
to the Author's query. — Ed.
156 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
" What on earth are you going to do with that ? " was her
question.
" This," he answered, "will be your house. IMiss March-
mont, we are indeed fortunate. This is the Plant of the
Entire Building. The trunk is in four compartments, and
nature has herself made the staircase in a rough and rugged
way, only omitting banisters and stair-carpets, which we
can easily add. Wc have but to fix this firmly in the ground
and more than half our work is accomplished.
" Stay ! " she exclaimed, " Have I not seen at home
printed ofters for selling an Entire Plant for Building or
Manufacturing Purposes?" He nodded assent. "Why,"'
she continued, v.-ith her eyes widely opening to the vastness
of the idea, '" I have seen as much as £100,000 offered fc-
such a Plant."
" You have," said Nutt, " this is it ; we are indeed in luck."
He laboured on for half an hour, and had then only got
the first floor finished. He stopped for a few moments to
gain encouragement from her smile and wipe the perspira-
tion from his own brow. She was thoughtful.
" I must help you," she said, presently. " If I could only
twist the sand on the sea-shore into bell-ropes — or — or — oh
dear, what can I do t It will kill me to sit idle."
This was a good healthy sign, and Nutt would not dis-
courage her.
" Well," he said at length, " you can go down to the shore
and obtain some of that white and red sea-weed ; when
dried it will make admirable ornaments for the fire-stoves."
She rose quickly, but as suddenly stopped, and looked
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 157
downwards. She had on only the very thinnest white satin
shoes, having been in full evening dress when the fierce
Atlantic wave swept them on their new career.
"Your poor feet I" he said, tenderly, but with a puzzled
air, for he himself was without boots of any sort.
She leant against a small tree, in thought. It bent with
her weight and she jumped away from it, fearing that it was
about to break, but on her removing the pressure the tree
sprang up again into its original place.
She pointed this out to Nutt, who ran to examine the
phenomenon. The next instant she saw him raising his
hands and shouting like a maniac,
" What is it .? " she inquired.
"This, Miss Marchmont," said Nutt, as quietly as his
excitement would permit, " is indeed a most opportune
discovery. Without it we should have had to undergo much
suffering ; ivith it we are at once upon our road to compara-
tive ease and luxury even here. The damp of the marsh,
the flints of the beach, the unpleasant moisture of the sands,
we may, by the aid of this natural provision, alike defy.
This is the celebrated Boot-tree."
" I have often heard my poor uncle mention it," she said
and a shade of melancholy passed over both their faces, as
they remembered the deceased Lieutenant, and thought how
fond he would have been of the Boot-tree had he been still
alive. Then they came to action.
" Let me take the measure of your foot with this leaf.
Thank you. 80 in the shade. Now," said Nutt, " in another
moment you will be fitted."
158 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
He gained the top by means of short stunted branches,
and selecting the strongest and best small pair from the
uppermost boughs, descended triumphantly with them in his
hand. " It is the Spring time of year," he said, " and there-
fore these early boots have elastic sides."
" I'm sorry to hurt your feelings, Mr. Nutt," she said, when
after trying one on it had been found to fit admirably, " but
they are both rights."
" The rights of woman," said Nutt, playfully ; " but," he
added, seeing that she looked serious, " there is one left,"
and he went up aloft again to fetch it, returning as before.
Armed with these, she descended to the sea-shore, while
Nutt cut down a few oaks, and having concocted a sort of
putty with some earth moistened by the early dew, he com-
menced soldering the walls together, so as to keep out the
draught. His next difficulty was the stair-carpets, and then
the door-bell. This last nearly staggered him. While he
v.-as meditating this new difficulty, he thought he heard his
name called, and looking round sharply, saw nothing. He
was certain he heard it repeated feebly. He ran to the
edge of the cliff as quickly as he could, for his new boots
(he also had plucked a pair of a shinier and harder kind)
pinched him sadly, and looking down, he saw what made
his blood stagnate with horror, and recede from his thump-
ing heart.
(The Editor is bound by agreement to publish all notes, <S;c.)
Thirteen Authors engaged on the Grace and Boomerang Department.
To Editor. — Why didn't you publish our letter to you last week?
Tublish it.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. I59
This is not the way to talk to an Editor. I don't like it. Alter your
tone. — Ed. Sent to Authors aforesaid.
From Directors to Editor.— \\g have been appealed to by Thirteen
Authors. Pray comply -with their request.
Editor to Directors. — Gentlemen, In accordance with }Our calm and
temperate letter, I will.
Editor to Authors. — The Directors wish your letter published. It was
an accident that it was not done before. Everything tliat your Editor
can do to forward your views for the general good shall be done ; but do
not let there be a feeling of bitterness springing up specially towards
your Editor, who would not hurt a fly. And, Gentlemen, you should
be above underhand reprisals. The Editor with pain alludes to the
hamper sent to his Office, labelled Game, and which contained nothing
but live frogs. The powdered sugar was fortunately given to the Office
boy to put in his tea, and was not used by the Editor in whisky-and-
water as advised. It blew the boy's teacup into atoms, and the spoon
struck him a severe blow in the eye. Tliis is not revenge ; and if it
were, it would be unworthy of you. A Gentleman engaged upon the
Piel Dornton part of this Work, informs me that you've threatened
him with a booby trap if he calls upon any one of you. Now, Gentle-
men, under the circumstances I will publish your letter if you still desire
it. But the Editor feels sure that by the time it appears you will have
reconsidered its terms, and will thank the Editor, with tears in your eyes,
for his gentle forethought and calm advice. The Editor knows that
you are all good, kind-hearted fellows at bottom, and that these little
differences do but arise from various views of Art, accidental to the
essence of Individual Genius. We shall go very evenly to work in future ;
equal chapters being given to each set. And now, Gentlemen, the
Editor [The Editor was just winding up this address at
the moment of going to press, when the following communication
arrived :]
From the Thirteen Authors.— Just read proofs. Ours is the part of.
the story.
/•>(?;« the Seven. — Seen the proof of next. Good gracious ! Why
don't you condense their part ? Stick to Piel Dornton. You know the
plot was settled on paper briefly thus : —
"Boomerang and Grace should be wrecked out of their house,
and should be immediately " [The Editor cannot publish the re-
mainder of this, as it reveals the future plot] — and these fcllovrs, the
i6o CHIKKIN HAZARD.
Geologist, the Naturalists, and the Ornithologists, on your staff are
just following out their own fancies, regardless of the plot at all.
Stop it at once, or we'll withdraw, and bring out a new Novel, called
" The Captives of Corcyra," and ruin you.
We are only seven in number, and the others are thirteen. Literary
men and Editors fight for less in Paris. We are determined, if we feel
the necessity, to call them all out, and commence with you. Sir, as
Editor. Six of vs will fight, and si^ will be seconds ; the seventh is a
Doctor. {Signed, the Seven.)
Editor to the above, suddenly received. — There is no time to repl}'.
Must publish the notes. I know I am bound to do so. But you are
joking. I see you are joking. Come, come, I'm as fond — I mean the
Editor is as fond of a bit of fun as you are, and he enjoys the joke, only
don't push it any further, and let us all dine together with the Directors
at Greenwich. Wliitebait just in, small and fresh. There, name your
day ; and now. Gentlemen, the Editor, in closing this correspondence,
is sure that he may invariably depend upon the good feeling, the forbear-
ance, and the gentlemanly tone of all concerned, to prevent any co?itre-
temps occurring just when the Novel, well written in all parts, and ad-
mirably illustrated, is progressing so favourably.
P. S. from all the Authors. — Are there to be any illustrations or not ?
From the ' Boornerang and Grace' A//thors.— \\'e won't have the
Piel Domton part illustrated, unless our portion is done first.
From the Piel Domton set. — We won't have the Boomerang illustra-
tions intruded into our part. Illustrate i/s.
Editor. — By post I forward one large illustration representing all the
characters in the novel up to the present time. Tell me how you like it.
CHAPTER XX.
TIME RUNS ON.
RACE MARCHMONT had sunk in tenor upon
the ground while an enormous turtle, more than
six feet high, and broad in proportion, was
standing upon its hinder fins of iron muscle,
and was regarding her with a fixed amatory look, which
Nutt at once interpreted as in the last degree threatening
and dangerous. Poor Grace seemed utterly unable to move,
fascinated by the bright twinkling eye of the leering savage
monster which had assumed this hostile attitude a few feet
from where she was gathering' sea- weed. In vain Nutt
above tried to distract the attention of the amphibious
reptile ; then he descended quickly, and taking off one of his
new boots, hurled it at the creature's head. With a yell of
disappointed love it turned from Miss I\Iarchmont to regard
its new antagonist, who was standing on the defensive,
hoping to draw any attack upon himself, when the turtle
seemed to stagger in his purpose, and instead of attacking
Nutt, commenced a slow unwieldy movement, somewhat re-
sembling a portion of the old minuet, swinging its head lazily
from left to right, and accompanied by a low gurgling sound,
like the half-suppressed laughter of an idiot, terrible to hear
162 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
while its eyes rolled with vague inconstancy, dwelling upon
no fixed object.
Nutt saw at once what was the matter.
" I have read of such cases," he explained to Miss March-
mont, who, pale and trembling, was now by his side.
" The turtle is either mad, or simply an idiot. The head
you can see from here is very soft. With one blow from a
switch," here he cut one from a neighbouring tree by the aid
of a blade of grass, which he had fitted to an agate handle,
" I can despatch the fellow. He will be very good eating."
'But at the sight of the switch the turtle suddenly reeled
and fell, dead. It was so sudden and strange, that Nutt
could scarcely credit the evidence of his senses.
" The turtle saw the stick and expired from fright," said
Grace ; " so much is evident."
" Nature, Miss Marchmont," answered Nutt, "never acts
without a reason, however distant the motive power may be
from our present vision, however obscure the cause of the
visible result may be. In this case I think I have traced
the effect to its proper cause. This huge turtle has been
doubtless the parent of a vast family, all destined for the
food of man, all in due time consumed as soon as they left
their mother's care. Boats may have come sufficiently near
here to have effected their capture, and if once taken to Eng-
land, few of the tribe have ever been able to return. But
those few what tales to tell, what names to mention (for
animals have their own method of communication), what
horrors to recount in connection with those names ! Would
not the words City of London, Alderman, Lord INIayor, be a
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 163
lesson to the survi\-ing mother. Undoubtedly then she
swooned and died on seeing that the switch with which I
had armed myself was " he hesitated.
" What ? I long to know what ? " exclaimed Grace,
anxiously.
" Birch,"' replied Nutt.
This led to further conversation, and then Grace asked
him if he thought anybody had ever been there before
them. He was silent for a considerable time, but on her
assuring him that it was not meant as a conundrum, he
answered, —
" You asked me if I had any reason to. believe that any one
had ever been here before. I have." And he showed her
certain indications of a building of some sort having once
stood on this very spot.
What was remarkable and most puzzling about it w^as the
indentations of apparently two wings, one on either side of
■what seemed to have been a hut.
"It has evidently sunk here,"' observed Nutt, " in some
strong convulsion of Nature, probably dating back as far as
the Diluvian period."
Grace was silent. Then she said slowly, " I know what it
was. Trace its form. These which you think were wings,
were wheels.^''
"A carriage," exclaimed Nutt, in utter astonishment at the
deduction.
" No," answered Grace, gravely ; " has nothing wheels
except a carriage ? "
He looked at her. His mind was busy suggesting
M 2
i64 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
watches, manufactories, organs, steamers, and as busily
rejecting them. Then he said that he would give it up.
She answered slowly and sadly, " A bathing machine."
They were silent awhile, both occupied with the many
serious thoughts suggested by this discovery.
Presently the bass voice gave utterance. " This was," it
said solemnly, " perhaps the Margate of the ancient world,
the Scarborough or Brighton of the ante-diluvian period.
Here, perhaps, on the very spot where we now stand
Ethiopia's swarthy sons have attuned their lays ; nay more,
may not the Original Bones lie even now beneath our feet ?
Here the earliest ancestors of the human race may ha^■e
buried one another in the shingle, or filling their little pails
with wet sand, have trotted to and fro with wooden spades
upon its yellow surface."
At last Grace broke the silence which followed these
observations. "Dinner!" she exclaimed.
A voice within him responded to the call, and he put fortii
all his energies to secure the best repast the island could
afford.
His bill of fare was turtle fins, turtle soup, whitebait, sctipc
u la ;v7/;/, boiled mutton and caper sauce, ^ij'ww^'j' de te7-re
f rites, omelet of turtle's eggs, salad, cheese of the island, and
sardines.
To the first part of this banquet the deceased turtle con-
tributed its shnre. The Whitebait Nutt found in the creek
near at hand, also the sardines ; but these last were more
difficult to secure, as upon the approach of man, with an
instinctive cunning, they packed themselves away in their
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 165
natural tin cases, and, but for their lying too closely to allow
of action, would have in this manner eluded his grasp. The
soup was of a light, thin, clear nature, of which a little drop
went a considerable way. The mutton was easily obtained,
for Xutt ascending the cliff found a fine fat long-haired
sheep quietly browsing on the pasture land, which he imme-
diately slaughtered, and gave to Grace to boil in the
turtle-shell which he had ingeniously fashioned into a
saucepan ; then he went outside the house, cut some capers,
and returned.
There was some difficulty about the fire at first, but Nutt
soon showed Miss Marchmont how by compressing sea-
water between the hands until all the noxious gases have
evaporated, the residue of carbonic can be at once applied
to sticks for the purpose of ignition. On the first oppor-
tunity he explained to her further how the same process on
a larger scale could be with equal success applied to river
water.
"Then," said Grace, " it is not impossible to set a river on
fire?"
"By no means,'' answered Nutt, "provided the water will
burn. But there are many contingencies which might pre-
vent an inexperienced hand from attaining its object. How-
ever, our present task is with our dinner."
He had luckily caught one of tlie numerous corkscrew
fish, with which the creeks abounded, and having fixed his
proboscis firmly into a corked bottle, Nutt showed Miss
Marchmont how the fish with the leverage of his tail could
speedily open their modest bottle of St. ^milion. Grace,
166 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
who appeared to have unknown resources at her com-
mand —
Fcvinina niulta faccrc scif,
offered before and durin^^ the meal to give Nutt pepper ;
but he declined it on account of the trouble it would have
caused her. The turtle's eggs were delicious. The salad
made from the rare grasses of the island excellent, and a
whale happening to swim within stone's throw of the island
served them (for he was soon dispatched by Nutt) with oil
enough, when gently strained through a cullender of dried
grass, interwoven with twigs, for six weeks' salad and a
month's lamps ; but this latter was not required, as they
found gas on the island in large cjuantities, the pipes being
naturally formed by hollow bamboo canes from tree to tree
and rock to rock, which gave on a dark night the effect of a
thousand additional lamps lit in the well-wooded inclosure.
During the meal Grace started up, and exclaimed that the
last bottle of St. ^milion had been lost in the wreck of the
house.
" Let us look about us," said Nutt, " perhaps we may find
a substitute." After a few minutes' search he came back,
radiant with smiles, and bearing in his hand a flowering
shrub of a most peculiar description. Its roots grew out
above ground, deriving apparently its life from the various
suckers which shot themselves out into the air while its
leaves and branches had spread and flourished underneath
the earth, affording shelter to a variety of insects of a genus
between avis and scarabaeus.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 167
"This will serve us, Miss Marchmont,"' Nutt said, "for at
all events one sort of beverage for this evening. From it I
shall distil a sweet and potent spirit, dear to sailors on
board ship. It is at once invigorating, supporting, and
refreshing."'
" Do sailors grow it in Benicia or England .-* " inquired
Grace.
'• I am not aware," he answered, " that the plant itself has
been much cultivated in either place, though the taste for
the liquor obtains in most of our northern civilised countries.
The beverage so decocted is entitled rum."
" How strange ! '"' exclaimed Miss Marchmont, as she
examined the stem and leaves of Nutt's prize, " how little do
we know of nature's pro\isions ! What an extraordinary
sample of vegetation ! ''
"Yes," answered Nutt, "you have now seen the "
" Rum Shrub."
y\fter this Nutt made a decoction, and, when they had
llnished dinner, they sat down happily with a bottle of the
new-made liquor between them. Ah ! what a paradise to
one of them !
As he was raising his glass to his mouth for the fourth
time, Grace started up, and seizing his arm
Authors to Edi/oi'. — We've had a meeting, all of us, and we will not
have that illustration. Hang \*, sir, what does the artist mean by
sending a room-full of all the characters in one novel ? Why, it is
merely a waxwork collection. No : if he can induce the Directors to
speculate in him, separately, let him do so. But he has no more notion
of the kind of thing we want than a (I omit the simile as being
calculated to exasperate. — Ed.)
i68 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
Artist to Editor. — They're a set of idiot?, llie lot. What do they
want? I'll tell )ou, sir. Sense. Bah ! one of my pictures will be re-
n-.tmbered when their trumpery trash is forgotten.
ylutlwrs' reply on this last remark.- — Yes ; but not till then.
The Editor publishes all this correspondence as in duty bound, but
he does hope that, &c., &c., as before.
CHAPTER XXL
— •♦■ —
j'^Z^^yAID in a gentle but firm tone, "you have cx-
'^^u^^i^ ceeded the allowance you made me by three.
j;^^^^^ Let us be upon an equality,"' so saying she took
^^ ^^^•^^ the bottle from him, and poured the remainder
of the liquid into her own glass. Then he made a fresh de-
coction of the Rum Shrub. This they drank gratefulh-,
gazing meantime out upon the distant sea. They discoursed
at intervals upon all their hairbreadth escapes, but neither
iiintcd at the possibility of their return to the shores they had
quitted.
At last Grace said, thoughtfully, more as if considering a
problem within herself than addressing an observation to her
companion, " Can't intelligence be diftused ? '
He stared at her. She repeated her cjucstion. Then he
made another quart of the beverage they had been
drinking, and while she sat there communing with herself,
drank it.
Then he began to talk.
" 'Th' Lectry Trelgrar wufful "vention," he began, in a voice
so little resembling his own, that it was now //tvturn to stare
at him in mute surprise.
He continued. '' If we'd lectry Trelgrar here we send say
where were, bus sno Lcckstrelgrar, thingspossil."
I/O CHIKKIN HAZARD.
" Thing is whatf^ she inquired, with a look of angelic
reproach.
He slowly closed his right eye, which was turned towards
her, and shook his head as he repeated, " I shay things
spossil."
'"The thing is impossible,' do you mean tliat, Mr. Xutt?'"
She asked.
He laughed, and then became suddenly grave. He at-
tempted to rise from his chair, which seemed to slip away
from under him, and in another moment he was prostrate
beneath the tabic.
He told her afterwards that he then experienced a sweet
delirium, which seemed to him like the poetry of motion
going the wrong way.
She knelt by his side, being nigh heartbroken. What,
after all their toils and danger was it to come to this ?
What was she to do ?
Had he been in her place, she thought, what would he
have done .-' Certainly not have sat there idle, uselessly
bemoaning the past, regardless alike of present and
future.
He slept for three hours, and she sat by him, keeping
watch. 'Twas all she could do.
At last he woke confused, giddy, with a splitting headache
and a dry distasteful tongue.
"Why am I not walking about ?" he inquired.
With her ready woman's wit, she replied, " Because you are
lying down."
" I will take that for an answer," he said, sadly.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 17 r
" You are under my orders now,'' she said, playfully, " and
as your doctor, I forbid you to rise."
He wished to hear what prescription this young physician
would recommend, and finding that she had none to suggest,
he asked her with some curiosity what was that leaf with
which she was playing at that moment. She did not know,
but was able to tell him that she had gathered it from a tall
tree on the Island.
"We are indeed fortunate. Miss Marchmont," said Nutt.
" This tree is one of the rare productions of the tropics, and
is Nature's own provision for the parched and weary traveller.
It was doubtless overhanging a clear running stream of no
great depth."
" It was," she answered, unable to restrain her evident
admiration of his apparently unlimited resources.
" I thought so," he returned. " It is the Soda-water tree ;
squeeze one of those lemons, which you will find growing in
large quantities close at hand, into a tumbler, with a spoon-
ful of this powdered sugar, which I have luckily preserved in
my pocket-book, and it will, I know from experience, produce
the desired effect."
She complied with his request, but she saw, though he
whistled and hooray'd wlienevcr she approached, tliat the
pain in his head was not yet overcome.
He drank the soda-water and took the lemons, and though
siill feverish he was enabled by these stimulants to give his
mind to the great problem which he had been engaged upoa
when he fell ill.
In the afternoon she left him for a while, and returned
172 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
joyfully with two large dressed crabs which she had found
apparently just about to undress themselves (as is their wont,
Nutt explained to her, in these hot climates, and therefore she
was to esteem herself fortunate in arriving so opportunely) in
a cool cave upon the sea-shore.
The sun shone upon them brightly and burningly hot
With a portion of Nutt's ingenuity she had plucked up one of
the large tropical mushrooms to serve her as a sunshade,
while the next size to it -she planted carefully over her patient's
aching head.
" Do you think," he asked, presently, " that your friends
will ever come in search of you ? "
" They may," she replied. "But if they do not, it would be
pleasant to get somebody to call here, even if only to have a
little music in the evening."
She felt, immediately the words were out of her mouth, that
the speech was an unkind one. She placed her hand in his,
and said simply, " I did not mean that — I am very happy
here."
Then he saw his duty plainly, and set himself to do it.
His duty was to let anyone and everyone know that he was
Avith a young lady alone on an island.
He was puzzled, and looked at her incjuiringly.
"No cards," she murmured sadly, and she thought to
herself, " are not these words in the marriage service ?"
" Friends at a distance will please accept this notice," he
•said, as if in reply to her thinking aloud.
A sharp crisp note from a bird struck on their ears.
Nutt turned, and looking upwards saw a bright red breasted
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 173
puffy little bird, not unlike a bull-finch, perched on a
branch.
He rose excitedly. " The problem is solved," he cried.
" This is the bird for us. The salt ! Miss Marchmont, for
pit\'s sake, the salt ! "'
She brought it to him, and they both approached the bird
cautiously. His object was to climb the tree without dis-
turbing the pretty little warbler. It was a difticult matter,
but he succeeded to admiration.
Grace Marchmont stood transfixed to the spot in breath-
less suspense. Another second, and the saline grains were
sprinkled sharply upon his tail, and he fell as she had seen
the Pangofilins fall under the same influonce at sea.
'•' The bird is stunned, not dead," explained Nutt, " when
he wakes up he will be our niessenger. He has served
numbers of people before this time, and, even in the most
civilised countries, where the invention of the Electric Tele-
graph has in a measure superseded that of writing, the bird
is still the vehicle of communication between various parties
wlio find this means most suitable for their purpose."
'■And yet," Grace said, " it is not a pigeon."
" It is not. Miss Marchmont, and herein lies its peculiarity.
It is "
" What ? "
" A Round RoBix!"
CHAPTER XXII.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
HE Boomerang (whom we indeed need no longer
distinguish by this name) next proceeded to dry
some leaves in the sun, and having in the course
of his rambles found a cedar tree and a vein of
lead, he at once constructed a couple of pencils, marked
respectively H and B, with which, however, he was not
satisfied, and so waited patiently until the evening, when he
observed to Grace, she would see what she should then and
there behold.
As she implored him to let her be of some use, he asked
her to gather for him a number of white ferns resembling
feathers, while he was engaged in fashioning a kind of awk-
ward boot out of the turtle-fins.
When she returned laden she saw to her surprise
that he had fitted these fins on to his feet, and was prac-
tising a sort of step which he had often seen the soldiers
* Congratulatory Note from Editor to Authors. — Bravo ! you arc
getting on now. Capital lieading for chapter. A long pull — I mean
a short pull, and a strong pull, and a pull altogether, and land at last,
my boys ! Yours, Ed.
A uthors reply. — Glad you like it. We've got about a quarter through
the storv now.
BEAUTY AND FASHIO]
AL
LA MODE INSULAIRE.
[To /ace p. 175'
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 175
at home doing in the barrack-yard or on the common at
drill.
Without a question, for she had implicit trust in his wisdom,
she gave him the ferns, and assisted him to tie them, and
otherwise fasten them all about his body until he was com-
pletely covered. Then he stooped his body, and elevated his
neck, and in this guise, and this attitude, repeated the step
she had already seen him practising.
'• Oh, you old goose ! " she exclaimed, with an amused
air.
Xutt was delighted. " I have deceived jv//," he said
'■ with this disguise, and if I can deceive the birds who have
no reason to guide them to a conclusion, my object will
be gained. The step I was practising Avhen you saw me
was —
"The Goose Step."
Then he departed and hid himself like a goose by the side
of the small pond, where all such fowl used to come down on
an evening, to drink.
At first the birds were somewhat shy of him, and hissed at
him as if not liking his performance, but after a while they
made friends with him, when indeed he took an unfair
advantage of their amiability, and seizing three of them by
their necks dragged them from the pond. These supplied
him with quills.
Ink was wanting, and, strange to say, once again he re-
turned to the pond, only this time at night.
A fine black swan rewarded his efforts, whose blood fur-
nished him with a rich, clear, indelible ink.
175 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
Then they sat down to a delicious supper of stewed eels,
fried eels, eels in pies, and eels in every form, which the care
and forethought of Grace had provided. After this he wrote
these words on the white paper, which he had made of
leaves :—
Mr. Niitt and Miss Marchmont present their compliments
to Mr. and Mrs. JVorid and his Wife, and tail I be happy to
see them at No. 42 Lo/igitnde and No. 20 Latitude, first
turning to the right in the Pacific Ocean, any day during
this or the 7icxt year. Dinners always ready. Supper at
1 1. Ships to set dozen at Turtle Point, and take up at Cork-
screwfish Corner.
This they tied to the Round Robin, with vhich, and its
own notes, he flew away.
Then a great notion occurred to Nutt.
He cut down a tree, and out of its trunk he made a strong
post. This he set up in the middle of the island. He then
told Miss Marchmont to write letters to her various
friends, which she did, and he took them to this Post.
As he always passed it, letters in hand, he could (as indeed
he did) on his return tell her that " her letters had gone
by " this post.
It gave her occupation while Nutt was engaged in his
grander effort. The eels for supper had suggested to him a
grand, a colossal idea — if it could be only carried out. He
procured four black boards and a piece of chalk. These
boards he erected in various corners of the island, visible
from the ocean. On each of them was written in legible
characters,
chikkix hazard. 177
Eel Pie Island. Eel Pies Always Ready.
Real Turtle in Every Form.
Green Fat.
Iced Punch and Choice old Madeira.
*^* Parties attended. Turtle sent to any quarter of the
Globe. Apply here, on the premises, to Miss Marchmont
or Mr. Nutt.
Upon the third day after these had been up Grace drew
Nutt's attention to a dusky speck upon the horizon. He
gazed anxiously, at last he cried in an excited tone —
CHAPTER XXIII.
AN OLD FRIEND.
HE hand which had griped Piel Dornton round
the ancle was not to be shaken off easily.
Bess failed to take advantage of his helpless
position, and was only too glad to welcome
Joseph, a's the young man sprang up, through the hole in
the earth, from the cavern where he had been secreted. He
had been climbing the cliffs, in the pursuit of his usual
occupation, when his attention had been arrested by the
girl's cry for assistance, and he had at once dashed into the
recess and so gained the entrance.
" Piel Dornton," said the young sailor, '• this is my be-
trothed. You have riches, no matter how you came by
them, you have houses and lands, but dare to injure so much
as a hair of the head of this trembling girl, and your sacred
calling shall prove no protection to you, for as sure as the
Eyrie's eggs are nothing other than the eggs of the Eyrie, so
surely will that moment be your last, and by my hand, Piel
Dornton ! "
The young man's eyes dilated, and his cheek flushed as he
gave utterance to his pent-up feelings.
The Clergyman was foiled. He did not at once see his
plan of action.
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 179
" The old boy,'"' he said, coarsely, " will soon pop off."
Bess was hardened to most things, but this allusion to her
father came so sharply and rudely upon her ear, that for a
moment she could only attempt to gather his meaning.
" Do you wish to see him ?" asked Joseph.
" I do," replied Piel Dornton, savagely. " You shall have
his last word, ay, if it be the last he should speak on this
earth, for the solemn promise he made me. Your triumph
will be short, young man. Come, come ! "
They descended the hill.
Still following in his track came the Child of Destiny.
" He is mine I mine ! " he whispered to himself.
A light shone from the cottage window, as they tapped at
the door.
Piel Dornton grasped his pistol.
In another moment a gaunt spectral form partly appeared
from the inner chamber, and rising from the low pallet
The Authors engaged o>i this fart of the Xcn^el to the Editor.— So at
last we're going to have an innings. Time for our turn, after all tlie
Shipwrecked House business, which is read by a few, perhaps, though we
admit the interest of the tale is not diminislied by the intervening
Boomerang & Co., simply because the public is waiting for our contri-
bution. But we would ask (on seeing the proofs) why don't you put a
good heading to this chapter, referring to the one before with which this
is connected ?
Editor to above. — It shall be done. (Subsequently it was found to be
impracticable.) The Editor must confess that he is by no means
satisfied with the style of the above letter. However, he is sure no
liarm is meant, and he does hope, &c., &c., as before.
N' 2
CHAPTER XXIV.
BROKEN TIES.
HE old man cried feebly,
" The papers ! the papers ! "
Piel Dornton held Joseph by the arm for a
moment.
" What papers ? " he inquired.
Joseph answered him with a low laugh and an extension
motion of peculiar import which he had learnt when in the
Benician militia.
Piel Dornton was a bold bad man, but even bold bad men
must sometimes shudder. He shuddered.
Taking the advantage thus offered him, Joseph shook him
off and descended the staircase.
On his way out he passed a crouching form in a dark
corner. That form was his good genius ; it was Dornton's
evil genius. The Infant.
It was a rugged and perilous descent down the steepest
part of the cliff to where the papers were hidden in a hole in
the rock.
He looked over the edge, and saw a white strip fluttering
in the breeze. In an instant he had decided.
While Joseph was thus engaged Piel Dornton was alone
with Old Martin, for Bess, seeing that her father was unable
CHIKKIN HAZARD. i8i
any longer to go out fishing for a livelihood (he had always
caught one previously in the neighbourhood) had taken his
boat, and nets, and bait carefully preserved in moss, and
had gone out to win the support which was needed for their
evening meal and the next day's dinner.
Piel Domton was alone with Old Martin.
" The papers !" shouted Piel Dornton in the dying man's
car.
" Don't ! Don't ! " said Old Martin, who was sinking fast,
getting under the bed clothes and kicking feebly.
Seeing this muscular demonstration, Piel Dornton, who,
as has already been shown, was something of a physician, at
once saw that he was near his last. A bucket was in the
room, used probably for the preservation of the fish after
they'd been caught : this he carefully removed from within
reach of the old man's feet.
" Now then ! " he exclaimed, lugging him from underneath
the blanket by the hair of his head.
'• Don't hurt a poor old man," urged Martin, cowering
again from the expected blow.
" I won't ! " returned Piel ; " but tell me what was in those
papers, or I'll choke you."
In vain poor Martin tried to turn it oft" as a jest ; in vain
he tried to eke out the few hours intervening before his
child's return. Piel Dornton knew his own game too well :
he was inexorable.
'■ The papers," whimpered the venerable invalid, " were
left here by my brother's family solicitor, who ran away and
was never heard of more. They attest the right of my
If 2 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
daughter to a baronetcy of fifty millions per annum. That
is what is the matter."
" You He ! " roared Dornton.
" I don't ! indeed I don't," cried the unfortunate old man,
disappearing beneath the counterpane just in time to avoid
the blow with the fire-shovel which Piel Dornton aimed at
his head. Then he fired his pistols about the room and
strode from the cottage.
Dogged by his evil genius : at a distance.
He came to the edge, and looked over.
Joseph was below, with his head in the hole, getting some-
thing.
In another moment the watcher above saw what it was.
The papers ! in /lis hand !
" Give them up ! " he shouted.
" Never ! " returned Joseph, clinging to the white strip
which hung between him and destruction.
The sea beneath roared for its prey.
" One more chance I give you," said Piel, quietly opening
a clasp knife.
" I will accept no chances at your hands,"' replied the
brave youth.
Piel Dornton severed the tie.
The sea roared and bounded against the yellow rocks
with joy. It had received its pre}\
CHAPTER XXV.
NEXT PROFIT.
EN miles out at sea sat Bess Martin laborioiuly
toiling. No fish, except a few of those hybrids
^j between bird of the night and flying-fish, intitled
Tittlebats, had come to her net. She thought of
her father, she thought of everything and everybody.*
Then she felt a jerk at her floats. The net bobbed, it was
as much as she could do to hold it. At last, after much
struggling,t she hauled it into the boat. At first, by the
light of the crescent moon, it was diflicult to see what mon-
strous creature this was, twirling among the hooks.
At last, as the clouds cleared off, and the moon again
shone forth, the night was as clear as a summer's day.
Then she clasped her hands above her head. In the net
was a man writhing.
* The Editor apologises for cutting out five pages of mental diagnosis
and psychological analysis as to what she was thinking about, hotu she
thought and zvhy she thought it, as he really docs want to get to the
action. They won't be angry, as he does everything for the best, and
therefore he is sure that they will not allow any paltry assthetical feeling
to interfere and cause a breach of that harmony which has been through-
out the distinguishing mark of tlie co-workers on this delightful story.
f yiotc by Editor.— Lengtiiened description of struggles omitted, for
reason above-mentioned. We must get on.
i?4 CHIKKIX HAZARD.
" Joseph ! ! " she exclaimed.
He tore through the cords which held him, and telling her
of Piel Dornton's dastardly attempt, pressed her to his arms,
" Saved ! saved !" she exclaimed.
He would have returned to shore at once with the papers,
which they then examined carefully, but unfortunately to
very little purpose, neither of them having had those extra
advantages of education which include a towel, spoon, and
fork, and the alphabet, in at all events its ordinary form,
exclusive of capital letters.
They wept ; tears of joy.
Then said she, " You must not return ; he will kill you."
" If he will do that, I will not return," he said, boldly.
" But where is a place of safety .^" he asked.
She shook her head.
A light streamed across the ocean.
" Ha ! " she exclaimed. " I see it."
" So do I," said Joseph.
In a second it struck them both.
To the Lighthouse !
The Lighthouse.
CHAPTER XXVI.
PENDENTE LITE.
gf^^P^HE shut her lover into the Lighthouse and re-
i^"^^^^^ This proceeding had been watched by Piel
',.^^^«p-<-^ Dornton by the aid of his powerful stethoscope.
" She must be mine," he exclaimed. The prospect of
the baronetcy and the millions had entirely absorbed
him.
15ut the papers. How to obtain them ?
Joseph would not part with them, and without them
stay ! The girl's claim existed — that was a fact, at all
events. One set of papers attesting the fact was as good as
another.
Old Martin was dead, at least so he believed, and for the
first time he regretted an act which had deprived him of the
only person capable of giving him any information.
"Just like me," he said to himself, remorsefully. " Always
choking, or shooting somebody. I must give it up."
Ah, Piel Dornton, would you could even then have acted
upon this call of conscience. Ikit he stifled it.
" The girl ! " he said, suddenly. " Bess can tell me."
He ran to the cottage.
•She was gone.
i86 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
He searched the house. Old Martin was gone : not a
trace of him.
" I must have shot hini, thoroughly," he muttered to him-
self. " Blown him quite away ! "
He was silent for one second : then he fired oft" a
pistol.
Roused by this, he saw but one course before him.
" She has gone to the Lighthouse,'' he thought, ," to join
////;/. I can produce papers as good as theirs, ha ! ha ! " and
he laughed fiendishly at the recollection of the documents to
wh'ch Chekk, Diss, Count & Co. had given their respectable
attestation.
"Twas all clear now.
" I can succeed without them," he said, and waved his hat
in triumph.
From the shelf he took a box of matches, which would
only ignite when you didn't want them, or on other solemn
occasions, and he proceeded by the secret pass among the
rocks to where his small canoe was always kept, ready, if
need were, for instantaneous escape.
Seizing the paddle, which in this boat, being his own pro-
perty, he always worked himself, he glided noiselessly towards
the Lighthouse.
A voice from an upper window asked, " Is that you Bess ? "
It was Joseph's, and came as a revelation to him. She
was not there.
"Will you give me those papers ?" he asked, pitching his
voice as high as it could go. 'Twas not like Elizabeth's ;
Love knew the difference.
CHIKKIN HAZARD, 1^7
" Go away ! " exclaimed Joseph, with real aversion. " I
have nothing for you/'
" Then perish," exclaimed Dornton, savagely, and applied
a lighted match to the base of the Lighthouse.
Creeping, curling, slowly, certainly upward, the flame took
its way.
In and out of the waterbutt, round the stones, through the
v.-ainscot, crept the cruel unerring fire.
Joseph instinctively dreaded something, but he only felt a
sudden warmth, for which he was unable to account.
Piel Dornton returned to the shore, and landing opposite
Phlebosco Palace, summoned his confidential servant.
" Is your mistress within," he asked.
•' Lady Anna is asleep, your reverence," was the reply.
"Tis well," he returned. " Loose the bloodhound."
The confidential servant did so.
" Unmuzzle him," said Piel Dornton.
" My lord," exclaimed the wretched man, " I cannot."
" Obey my behest," thundered his master, " or by
heaven "
The man staggered back. The ball had entered his head.
It was a thoughtless act, and one of which even he, in his
calmer moments would not have been guilty.
Aroused by the noise, the Lady Anna stood behind him.
" Piel !" she said, tenderly.
" I cannot stop now," was his rough answer. " I am
going out hunting. Don"t whine — don't mope— go to bed."
She looked at him scarchingly. So changed ! He who
owed so much to her, which only they two knew.
i88 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
But she feared to rupture the one silken cord still between
them, and turning on her heel waltzed into the house.
Once within, she opened a secret door, and out stepped
the Infant-watcher.
" You say you are devoted to me," she said to the Infant,
who bowed. " I believe you : follow him, and let me know
the result." The Infant stole out upon the track.
" She is treacherous," said Piel Dornton, as he stood alone
in the courtyard. She cannot deceive Die with these gay
steps ! I must be free of her." So saying, he unmuzzled
the hound, and mounting upon his spotted steed, followed in
the track.
Till he came up with Bess : for the hound was sure and
safe, and held her till he arrived, when he enticed him away
and secured the girl.
" I am thy lover,'' he hissed in her ear. " 1 love you
madly."
The word made her tremble. She felt the force of this
description of his wild and lawless passion.
" I will give thee gems, and jewels, and riches, diamonds,
and a title, aye, and a house in the Vast Metropolis far from
here, within the shades of square-graced Hanover."
" But Joseph " she exclaimed, " what of him ? "
" Of him ! " cried Dornton, " see ! "
The sky was illumined with a fearful glow. He gave her
his glass, and through it she saw the Lighthouse in flames :
in flames which were chasing a running frightened figure
with papers in its hands up the iron stairs.
The entire lower part of the Lighthouse was consumed, not
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 1S9
one brick or stone or stick left to tell its fearful tale. Only
the upper part remained, which was fast becoming enveloped
in the arms of the raging, devouring element. The glass
was the old powerful one of Piel's, and brought the object so
near that she stopped her ears, lest the perishing creature's
cries should pierce them. Then as the flames reached the
last point, the very top of the Lighthouse, all beneath having
fallen and crumbled entirely away, they saw the form of a
man tying some papers to his belt, and as the trembling sup-
port gave way beneath his feet, they saw him distinctly, with
one tremendous leap, plunge headforemost into the dark
and angry sea below.
Then she fainted.
In his power now, placed across his horse to escape detec-
tion, he galloped with her to their new destination.
In the meantime strange events were happening in Old
Martin's cottage.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE BROTHERS.
Struggling, battling manfully ^vith tlie
ri waves beating upon the lower rocks beneath
il Old Martin's cottage, came ashore, upon the
fi eventful evening which has occupied the last
few chapters, the body of a man, old before his time,
grasping in his right hand a bottle and a lump of
sugar.
He lay for some seconds extended upon the beach, until
another wave more furious than that which had stranded
him, turned him and tossed him over, like a giant at play
with an empty butter-cask, and giving him as it were a last
kick, retired again into his ocean cave, drawing in his
breath with a chuckling roar over the broken state of his
old toy.
'Twas the sea's last effort, a grand one, and then it began
retreating, like a cowardly giant as it was, to go and play
with huge ships for shuttlecocks and vast rocks for marbles
on the other side of the world.
The form on the beach moved, stretched, and finally
sat upright : a bottle in one hand, a lump of sugar in the
other.
" Confound them for a couple of idiots ! Commit me to
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 191
the sea when they hadn't given themselves or me, for the
matter of that, time to know whether I was dead or not ! "
muttered the figure in a grumbUng tone. Then he poured
three drops of " stuff," as it was labelled, upon a lump of
sugar, and placing the latter in his mouth, soon appeared
much invigorated.
" A murrain on the jade ! " he exclaimed, trying to rise,
" an she hath not given me cramps and agues, and a tertian,
it may hap enough to last me till next Martinmas, may I
never crush cup or demolish pasty more." *
Rising witli some difficulty, the Lieutenant, for, as our
readers have probably already divined, it was indeed he,
commenced the ascent of the crag overhead.
" Come, Martinmas ! " he said to himself, " odd that the
name of Martin should occur to me now. My poor brother I
But for a quarrel about some wretched property and a title
(may all ill light upon such causes of disagreement !) we
should have been living together now, and he would perhaps
have been an Admiral."
The past seemed like a dream to him: Nutt, Grace, the
Pangofflins, the fatal sugar, the Castor oil, all had passed
away like the fashions of a kaleidoscope. It was evident to
him that while in a trance they had, as we, being truthful
historians, have stated in another place, committed him
* Note. — The Gentleman among the literary staff who wished the
entire tale to be called a Mediaeval Romance, and who, under this im-
pression, became a shareholder to a large extent in the Novel Company,
has expressed himself sufficiently satisfied by this si^eech being put into
the Lieutenant's mouth as a protest against more modern ICnglish and
ordinary phrases. — Ed.
192 CHIKKIN HAZARD,
erirly on the fifth morning of their floating-house voyage to
an ocean grave, which is as much as to say they pitched him
over. And we added, " interred him decently ; '"' that is, as
it were, turned him out well, as became a faithful niece and
attached servant. So as he strode up the crag the thought
recurred to him, and he questioned in his heart the treatment
he had received at their hands.
" Pitched over ! Turned out ! '"' he went on, harping upon
these grievances until the balmy air of morn, stealing from
the far west, crept in among his grey hairs and whispered
peace.
A harmony as from another world seemed round about
his head.
He clasped his hands, and with a smiling self-devotion
looked upwards as he murmured softly, so softly, to himself,
" A singing ! in my ears ! Ah ! happy childhood ! "
Then in reverent spirit he doffed that weather-beaten hat,
and moved in a gay and stately manner, reminding the
looker-on of the expressive joyous occasion of an old Cas-
tilian, whose blue blood would have been stirred by the sight
of some wild deeds of chivalry, or some Moorish dogs biting
the dust before the sainted banner of Compostella.
A looker-on did see him.
An old man above, from a window where he had crept to
see " the blessed sun before life ebbed.''*
* The Editor, at the request of the authors of the Boomerang portion ,
who have seen these proofs as per agreement, wishes to know from wliat
poet this quotation is made ?
Answer of Ai/tko>-s of the Picl Dornlon part, — \Miat ! not know
CHIKKIN HAZARD. J93
He could only feebly breathe " Hi ! "
The sound attracted the Lieutenant's attention.
He ran towards the door.
It was Martin's cottage.
He lifted the latch, and quick as lightning threw the bottle
towards the sinking figure, who, guarding his head by the
instinct which even men in the last stage have of self-preser-
vation, seized it, and drained it to the dregs.
The morning sun shone in.
" My preserver ! " exclaimed old Martin, rushing madly
towards the Lieutenant.
" My life preserver ! " ejaculated the Lieutenant, feeling in
the vest of his uniform.
Within an inch of each other both started back.
" It cannot be !" was their one exclamation.
Then Martin, holding off from the other at a foot's length,
stared straight in his face, and asked rapidly,
" Charles Augustus Leonard ? "
And the other replied with an interrogatory :
"Matthew Marmaduke Martin?"
The two old men were in each other's arms.
'• My brother ! my dear brother ! " each cried.
In that moment all was forgotten and forgiven. Explana-
tions quickly followed, and Martin, or as we must now call
him, Matthew Marmaduke Martin Marchmont, put it clearly
to the Lieutenant, his elder brother, how when they had both
married, he had never intended to hurt his feelings by taking
ihat 1 1 ! Consult any Member of Parliament in the habit of quoting
and read, Sir, read,
O
194 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
the girl who should have been his brother Charles's bride ;
while a similar assurance on the part of Augustus Leonard
soon cleared the veil of doubt and mystery from the heart of
the younger, though now old, Martin.
One other explanation.
Charles Leonard asked,
" How is my daughter ?"
Old Martin replied, trembling.
" Charles, she thought me dead, a villain has her in his
power, but I dare say Joseph, her lover, will find her."
Then it was Old Martin's turn to ask,
" How is my daughter? "
"'Grace is lost at sea," was the Lieutenant's hurried reply.
•' The young scapegrace buried me ; but if we take a ship
(you want a little change of air, so do 1), I dare say we shall
find her somewhere about the Pacific."
For each old man had, out of revenge, in early days,
stolen the other s daughter when a child ; and the one
Grace, had been brought up as Charles Marchmont's niece,
as indeed she was ; while the other was called Old Martin's
daughter, as indeed she wasn't.
" The first thing then is," said the Lieutenant.
" To get "
"A Ship."
******
They had been at sea three days,
These two old men.
"Steer to the right, Marmaduke Matthew Martin, will
you 1 " said the Lieutenant.
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 19S
" I will Nor, Augustus Leonard Charles," was his stern
relation's return.
" If you don't," retorted Augustus Leonard, irritably, " I'll
break your old head."
" Break my old head, you "
Angry words might have followed but for the intervention
of Commander Bouncer, a veteran Horse Marine, who had
been in the service ever since that peculiar branch of it had
been first organised, and who had kindly undertaken the
conduct of this expedition.
" Hold hard I " said Commander Bouncer.
His ship, by the way, which before was called the Gemini,
had now been re-christened the Penelope Afine, owner,
Knox.
" Don't let's have no rumpus," was the Commander's
homely advice.
The old men \\ept in each other's arms.
" Now then," said the Commander, " you two go up aloft,
one on the mast-head, 'tother on the jib-boom, and keep a
look out."
Away they went up the rigging.
Then they sailed on, the Commander steering.
On the sixth day, the two old men never having moved
from their position, the loblolly boy caught a fish which was
hauled upon deck. The fish was a flying one apparently,
but on opening it they found it had swallowed a small fat
bird, whose wings were sticking out.
On this bird was a card of invitation.
It was the Round Robin,
O 2
196 CIIIKKIN HAZARD.
On it was Miss Marchmont's name.
Then the sailors hoorayed for joy, and the Lieutenant gave
them three pound six and eightpence halfpenny all round,
and entered it all in his private account book with a share of
three-quarters of the whole sum down to his brother, to be
repaid when he came into his fortune.
Then the Commander liquored up freely, and the two old
men wept again in each other's arms.
Then they thought they saw something.
They sailed to the right, according to the direction on the
card, and within a few hours, the Commander taking a second
and a stiffer glass, made out
Eel Pie Island, and Green Fat.*
Then the sailors cheered the Lieutenant, who bowed
courteously from the masthead, and distributed sovereigns
among the men, who had already begun to pity the poor old
gentleman, as a harmless lunatic not very distantly related
to the Flying Dutchman.
So they sailed on. Martin at the prow, Bouncer at the
helm, the Lieutenant, like the good Cherub, smiling aloft,
and keeping watch on the life of poor Jack below ; then on-
ward sped that good ship, the Penelope Anne.
* The Editor compliments the Piel-Dornton-portion Authors on so
readily falling in with the romantic notion of the Boomerang Authors.
The Editor docs hope that they'll all work together with a will for the
finish, which is now rapidly approaching.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
"mine for ever!"
; IIE waves which had received Joseph when he
leapt from the burning height extinguished such
tiames as had ah-cady caught his dress, and
carried him to shore.
Thence, after inquiry at Martin's hut, who had by that
time departed with the Lieutenant, he at once betook himseh"
to town, trusting to the information which he was able to
gather on the road from those who had seen Piel Dornton
galloping towards the metropolis with a fair burden laid across
the horse, as to where Bessy was imprisoned.
At first he thought that the best method was to call upon
the Lord Chancellor, and obtain some letters dimissory or a
mandamus ; but on second thoughts he gave up this plan as
involving too great a waste of time and money.
He soon began to be aware of several people in disguise
following him wherever he went, and once coming round a
corner sharply when he was evidently supposed to have gone
the other way, he discovered a middle-aged man taking off a
false nose and a pair of coloured spectacles.
This alarmed him, and in future he only ventured out at
night.
One evening he was in St. James's Park when a gentle-
198 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
manly man accosted him, asking him if he wanted " a httle
dawg.'"
Something about his interrogator's appearance attracted
him, and he was led, contrary to his usual custom, to enter
into a conversation with the man, and while so engaged they
drew near the small summer-house which was built for the
sole use of Royalty some years ago, and which is still a show-
place for our country cousins, with its grotesque pictures, its
rich velvet-covered sofas, and Dutch mantel-pieces carved
over with the conquests of the Regent, a special attraction
perhaps being that the entrance is gratis, and it can only be
seen on certain days in the year, such days being, among
others, if we remember right, the twenty-ninth of Sep-
tember, the first of April, the glorious thirty-first of June,
and the annual commemoration on the same day in
November,
Hence it was not astonishing that Joseph, new to London
as he was, should have expressed his curiosity to visit the
interior of the Royal Arbour.
The man had the pass-key and admitted him. Joseph sat
down to admire wonders in art quite new to him.
It was a hot day, and he complained of thirst. His new
acquaintance, who appeared to be a sort of a metropolitan
farmer, offered to procure him a delicious draught of curds and
whey straight from the cow.
Joseph accepted, and in another second he was
alone.
He felt in his pocket for the papers, and cursing his own
stupidity in not having secreted them carefully before, he now,
CI I IKK IX HAZARD. 199
with a dim intuitive perception of coming danger, sewed them
into the heels of his boots.
Scarcely had he taken this precaution when the man reap-
peared, bearing a bowl of the grateful beverage.
After this Joseph knew no more. He drank, and fell, in-
sensible.
The full-length portrait of the Ranger opened, and a tall
man in a mask appeared, accompanied by two others in
cloaks.
" Bear him away at once," said the tallest of the masks, in
a tone of imperious command.
" Where to, Master Dornton ? " inquired the man who had
administered the potion.
" Silence, fool ! " thundered Dornton, for the Mask was he.
" Your incautious folly may ruin us.''
" I beg your honour's pardon," replied the man.
surlily.
" Hold your confounded tongue, Jeremy," said the younger
and shorter Mask, " if you can, or I'll shoot you as I would
a dog."
" Nay,'' interposed the third, who was stouter and of a
more noble bearing. " Poor Jeremy means no harm. What
say you, Captain Dornton, whither shall the carrion be
borne ? "
Piel Dornton paused, then in a gloomy voice he gave the
command —
" To the Black Mine of Cwmdgrwrr. Away ! "
They bore his body among them, Piel Dornton con-
trolling their movements with a sixteen-chambered revolver.
2CO CTIIKKIN HAZARD.
which he ever and anon pointed from one to another as
occasion seemed to require.
To the Black Mine of Cwmdgr-^vrr, in Cornwall.
Then, as they closed the door and departed, he threw aside
his disguise.
" I breathe again," he cried. " Mine ! Mine for
ever ! "
Then he went to Hanover Square.
Hanover Square ! !
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE BLUSH ROSE PATTERN.
I^X an elegant apartment in Hanover Square sat
Elizabeth, the supposed daughter of Old Martin.
She was a prisoner, to all intents and purposes a
^^ prisoner, as much as the statue of George Canning,
which looked sadly down upon the ancient pump below
as if, though they had both been there for years,
no one had ever yet had the civility to ask him to take
a drop.
Blackly looked the statue on poor Bessy as she walked to
the window.
She tried to amuse herself with books ; but she could not
read. The piano was her only resource : she was entirely
ignorant of the practical science of music, and did not know
one note from another, but she swept her hands indiscrimi-
nately over the keys, and made such music as perhaps few,
even proficient in the art, could have heard unmoved.
Then she surveyed the apartment. It was a gorgeously
furnished room. Chairs of various ornamentation, with
figures of sea gods and small fishes stood out in bold relief,
showing the seats to have been constructed less for utilitarian
than decorative purposes.
The carpet was a rich heavy cut pile of a strange pattern.
Z02 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
In the centre was a large circle, and in the centre of this
ring a blush rose.
This attracted her attention, and though she could not in
the least understand the train of thought, she could not help
connecting this rose somehow or another with the memory
of her, to her, lost Joseph.
The door opened, and Piel Dornton, in an evening dress
of the height of fashion, with large white tie, high collars and
tail coat that swept the floor, entered, gaily.
" Do not approach me,'' said Bessy, flying to the bell-rope.
" Nay, pretty flutterer," said Piel, smiling, " the bells will
not serve thee any more than will those they summon. They
are dummies."
" But your servants ? " inquired Bess, sharply.
" I have none here but dumb-waiters," was the cold cutting
response. " Come," he continued, " enough of this prudery.
Life was made for love and pleasure ; see where the banquet
is prepared," and drawing aside a heavy drapery, he dis-
covered to her astonished gaze a table covered with a pro-
fusion of delicacies, including nuts from Brazil, and oranges
from sweet Seville, with bottles of the richest home-inade
wines and ices, which could not have cost less than one
penny each. Then soft music began to play, and Piel
watched its effect upon her with evident satisfaction.
She permitted him to take her hand.
To lead her towards the banquet.
She trembled : soft aromatic vapours were wafted across
the room, and she sank upon a sofa, feeling that her will was
becoming powerless in the hands of this terrible being.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 203
"Joseph !" she murmured.
" Bah ! " exclaimed Piel. " Think not of him. He has
neglected you : he is toying at this moment with some lead-
begrimed miner's daughter."
'■Has he indeed sunk so low?" asked, in a subdued tone,
Bess, whose last remembrance of her lover was as he leapt
from the burning Lighthouse.
'• He has," replied Piel Dornton, feeling that the fewer
words he used the more powerful would be their force.
"So much beneath my level?" she continued, more to
herself than him.
" Si.xteen thousand feet beneath the level of the sea," re-
turned Piel, gaily. " Come, he is unworthy of you. To the
banquet. Let us drink his health." So saying, he filled a
jewelled goblet to the brim, and as the beads sparkled and
twinkled on the bosom of the wine of Ginger, he cried aloud,
" Joseph, to you I drink : gallant knight, who would protect
thy mistress 1 ha ! ha ! Joseph, upon my word, I should
like to see you here ! "
" You SHALL ! " exclaimed a voice. It came apparently
from
The Blush Rose in the centre of the Carpet.
In another instant the pattern had opened, and
shot up by some unseen force, Joseph stood before
them.
Dornton discharged all his barrels at him as he rose, but
with such violence was the impetus from below given that
Joseph passed through the air almost to the ceiling, and
down again, before the practised marksman's eye could
204 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
settle upon any one point where he could, with anything like
certainty, direct his aim.
Bessy ran to him, and clung to him, in his dirty miner's
dress as he was.
" Piel Dornton, I come to fetch my bride. Do not stir
a step — let us understand each other. Dornton listened
doggedly.
" You want the papers which I possess."
" I do."
" Good : you shall have them."
" How ? "
" No matter."
" Where ? "
" Here."
" Who ? "
a T »
" Stay."
" Yes."
" When ? "
" Now ! "
" Or Wait
'• Till You get them ? "
" No."
" There."
" Ah ! "
And with this he drew from his boots the long coveted
prize. Piel tore them open, and it was evident that he had
immediately hit upon an important discovery.
" Is this true.-"" he asked.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 205
"It is?"
" What ? " asked Bess.
" No matter," replied Joseph.
" Yes, it does matter," answered Piel, " 1 will tell her. You
are NOT the Heiress to the Baronetcy, and ivill not come
into the Thirteen Million^
" Who said I would ? " asked Bess, incredulously.
" He thought so," explained Joseph. " And, do you know
more than this, you are not
" Old Martin's daughter."
Bess fainted.
" I leave her in your hands," said Piel, hastily. " Take
her and be happy. There is a supper and excellent wine,
and gold pins for the Crustacea. My work lies in another
place."'
Joseph drew back from his proffered hand, and cursing
the Miners pride, he strode from the room.
When Bessy revived he told her how he had been immured
in a mine in Cornwall, and how he had dug his way, wearing
out his hands and teeth for her, until he had found the sub-
terranean route to her present abode.
Then he took a bath, and having discovered a rich suit of
clothes, he returned to her gaily.
When she heard that she was the daughter of Lieutenant
Marchmont, she at once proposed to tind him out, and join
him and her sister.
" Or, if not" she said to Joseph, " that bold bad man will
marr>' her, as he has already tried to marry me. "
•' You arc right : at any cost we will go."
2o6 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
So these two set out upon their journey, and finding
from inquiry at the various coasts that Old Martin,
who was very well known everywhere, had sailed away
with a strange gentleman (for Lieutenant Marchmont,
from his long residence in Benicia, had been quite forgotten
by the good inhabitants of the fishing villages), they took the
first steamer, leaving England, for Captain Bouncer's course,
which he had declared before sailing to the look-out clerk at
the Storm Signal Office. They sailed in haste, with all steam
up, in the wake of the good ship, Penelope Anne.
While she was getting under weigh the partners in the
bank of Check, Diss, Count and Co., Benicia, were engaged
on a scrutiny not wholly unconnected with the present
dramatis persona:.
A strange Child, scarcely as tiill as the money-shovel if
upright, called upon Mr. Snagg, the Chief Clerk.
Mr. Snagg was in bed, but as the Infant was importunate,
the old man-of-business deemed that, in the interest of his
employers, he had better see him.
The result of the interview was, that Mr. Snagg at once
ran down to the office and summoned the three partners.
The four (the Child waiting anxiously without) commenced
a rigid inquiry into the title-deeds, contracts, and all law-
papers, bonds, scrip, shares, and debentures held by their
estimable client Piel Dornton.
In an hour's time the Child was on his way to Phlebosco
Palace, and was standing before the Lady Anna Domino,
■who was writing a letter. He regarded her lovingly. " I don't
like to hurt her, but he's a villain — he's a bad 'un. I will."
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 207
This he said to himself, and then she turned and addressed
him.
" You have seen my hus . Your master ? " she in-
quired.
" I have."
" And he is "
" Don't ask me," said the poor boy, " I'll do anything to
save j^« — I would, indeed, I would."
And he shouted and screamed, and laid hold of lier dress,
and whined, and wriggled in his deep despair.
" You are the only cove who's ever been kind to me," he
said to her. " And for your sake "
" Hush ! "' she said, gently pushing him through a pane of
glass into the garden.
Then she thought for a few minutes. "The end must
come," she said, presently, to herself " Let it : take these
packets to your master."
The Child, who had returned, pulled a lock of his shaggy
hair, and quilted the house.
Immediately, upon the doorstep, he was seized by a rougli
hand.
" Come with me," said a strange voice. " No larks, young
'un, or I'll — ah, would you ? " This question was in conse-
quence of a wriggle on the Infant's part to escape from his
tormentor's clutches. It was useless.
Detective Gripp was not the man to let a customer go so
easily.
CHAPTER XXX.
A MEETING LIKE THIS.
ilOCKED in each other's arms stood the Lieu-
tenant and Grace.
She had been introduced to her father, Old
Martin, but preferred her uncle.
" Fie, Grace ! " said the Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant wanted to know who that gentleman was
in the distance.
" My preserver ! " she exclaimed rapturously, and told
them what an amusing and instructive companion Nutt was,
and how she'd never enjoyed herself so much anywhere as
on this island.
Nutt came up smiling, bashfully.
" This ! ! " exclaimed the Lieutenant. " What do you
mean, Grace ? This is the Boomerang 1 1 "
Through all his change he saw it — the Boome-
rang.
" Once I was," Nutt replied, bearing himself erectly and
showing off his dress clothes to the greatest possible advan-
tage.
" Not now."
" A servant ! " exclaimed the Lieutenant.
" A kind one," answered Grace extending her hand.
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 209
Nutt worshipped her now, and the tears rose to his eyes.
" Take her," said the Lieutenant, " and marry her."
" My consent is wanted," interrupted her father, Old
Marmaduke.
" Stop ! " said Grace. " I am another's— Piel Dornton's."
" True," was the Lieutenant's answer. " The contract was
signed on that fatal night."
" Mr. Marmaduke, Lieutenant, and Miss Grace," began
Nutt, much moved.
" Hear ! hear ! " said Commander Bouncer, who had not
been included in the opening part of the address. Nutt
rectified the omission and proceeded.
" Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I am bound
to say,— ahem — that this the unhappiest, though the proudest
moment of my life."
Bouncer wept.
" Let me tell you my short, but melancholy tale."
Here the sailors came on shore in boats, so interested,
through their telescopes, in this strange man's narrative.
" A ship ! a ship ! " shouted the Commander fervently. A
ship, indeed. From it came a small boat, with Piel Dornton
on board.
He landed, and after welcoming the Lieutenant, went at
once to Grace.
She received him confusedly. Then he confronted Nutt.
.Suddenly the blood left his cheeks and he would have
fallen, but for Old Martin, who fell instead, and hurt
himself
" Hear him I " cried the Commander, with true English
P
2IO CHIKKIN HAZARD.
love of fair play, and some curiosity as to the rest of Nutt's
speech.
" Lady and Gentlemen," he recommenced, " let me tell
you my story. I was brought up at an infant school, and
subsequently, being a boy of studious habits, was appren-
ticed to a lecturer at the Polytechnic. Here I acquired that
scientific knowledge which to have learnt has made me
supremely happy, seeing that it has alleviated the miseries of
one for whom I entertain feelings of the mbst profound admi-
ration and the deepest love." He bowed to Grace and pro-
ceeded. She felt he had never, even when dressed to catch the
geese and wild fowl — never, never, looked so beautiful as now.
" It was here, too, I mean at the Polytechnic, I mastered
that clear and lucid style in which it has been my highest
endeavour to explain to you the wonders of nature, and the
marvels, during our evenings, of the microscope. So well
have we enployed our hours here," he turned to Grace for
corroboration, who said " yes," and begged him to go on —
*' That we have run through the entire cycle of Poly-
technic lectures, including the dissolving views, which we
really managed admirably, the drop of Thames water with
the living creatures in it, the exposition of spiritualism, the
automaton Leotard, and many other useful and entertaining
experiments, including glass-blowing for the tails of pea-
cocks and imitation candles which won't light, and we were
proceeding to the diving-bell and blowing up the Royal
George under water when your arrival interfered with our
settled plan. Excuse me — to return. I quitted the Poly-
technic to join a distinguished aeronaut "'
CHIKKIN hazard; 211
" I know you now," exclaimed Dornton. " This fellow,"
he said, turning to Grace and the Lieutenant, " is a fraudu-
lent solicitor."
" Vou thought so, perhaps, Piel Dornton," was Nutt's calm
reply, which seemed to crush the other into the earth.
'• When you threw my companion and myself out of the
balloon into the sea. You thought so, no doubt, when you
seized the deeds and papers, with which my unhappy com-
panion was indeed escaping from the hands of justice. He
t^'tis a fraudulent solicitor — not I. Let me explain : for he
— well for him that it is so, perhaps ! dc morticis nil nisi
bonum "
" Hear, hear ! " said Commander Bouncer.
" He is no more. My aeronautic friend started his balloon
from a public garden. Here it was hired by a private party.
That Private Party was the Fraudulent Solicitor ; I was told
off to attend to him. He arrived with his deeds and boxes.
His pistol was constantly at my ear, and I was obliged to
give up all chance of escape and leave him, the balloon^
and myself to a merciful fate — with my eye, however,
always on the parachute. From abo\e I saw this man
give his wretched father the fatal blow in the Cavern by
the Sea " *
" It's a lie ! " shrieked Piel Dornton
" It is truth, as I stand here," returned Nutt. " He
climbed in by our grapnel when we were almost aground,
and repaid our hospitality with another crime."
• Vide Early Chapters of this remarkable work. — Editor,
V 2
212 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
"The name of the Solicitor?" asked Old Martin, eagerly.
" Smith," was Nutt's answer.
Old Martin turned to his brother," Leonard Charles.
" 'Twas he," he said, who drew up the lost deed. Smith."
So excited was everyone that they had not noticed the
approach of two separate boats, whose occupants now stood
forward.
In the first came Chekk, Diss, Count, & Co., rowing, with
Gripp, the Detective, holding the Infant, and Snagg, the
clerk, steering.
In the second, Bessy with Joseph and the papers, sailing.
Gripp spoke. " These papers, signed Smith, were placed
in the hands of these 'ere respectable gents," alluding to the
Benician Bankers, who appeared pleased. By them he be-
came the large landowner you've known him. By them,"
and he produced another set, " he took under the will of
Leonard Charles Marchmont, deceased "
" The villain ! " exclaimed the irascible old man.
" Everything .' "
" It's a lie, a confounded Lie ! " roared Piel Dornton.
" No, it isn't, my Chirper, except you're alluding to all
your papers as is a lie, a forgery, and no mistake. Who seed
him forge ? "
" I seed him forgin' 'em at his desk," answered the Infant,
sulkily.
" You ! " exclaimed Dornton. The net was closing round
him now.
" Aye, Guv'nor, you cut a cradle down from a tree opposite
your window. In that cradle lay a Child. I was, I am,
CHIKKIN HAZARD. 213
that Child, and I've tracked you this day.* I wouldn't ha'
done it," he whimpered, " if you hadn't ill-treated //tv."
" Her ! " exclaimed every one.
" Yes, mum," continued the boy. " 'er, '^;-, as was the
//only cove //ever kind to me."
Gripp shook him. Gripp knew he meant the Lady Anna
Domino ; but he said nothing.
" Now," said Gripp, "afore we finishes, let's clear up these
here missin' papers. Step forward, young man, and young
woman."
Joseph stood before them with Bessy. He showed them
the papers, and the Lieutenant was introduced to his long-lost
daughter, who, however, embraced Martin.
Then the two old men wept in each other's arms.
Then they all set to work to examine the legal papers.
We append the original will and Dornton's forgery, which
will show the reader to what perfection the villain had
brought the copyist's art.
PIEL DORNTON'S FORGERY (FAC SIMILE.)
I leave to my deer frend, (Piel Q)ornton, all my
ectcbtes, palaces, castles, avud all that there Utile
propperty known as £S000O00000000000O00000OO0O,
* .See this exciting incident in a previous chapter. Most exciting.
— Editor.
214 CHI KKIN HAZARD.
now invested in ^enioian Securities. In proof of
vjhioh I sig-n and seal and^ d.eliver this as my a'^t
and^ deed.
' / • /- -,^ ^ <7^ Vv,
Witness. C • y
Jwt' M-^^^^^^^^^^ru^
(real handwriting)
Nutt was of immense use here, owing to his having spent
so much time in a balloon with a solicitor.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 215
He pointed out the habendum clause, and explained all the
tlaws and the dealings with the various technicalities and
difficulties, and when these were removed, it was as clear as
daylight that Grace Marchmont must henceforth bear the
title of Baroness Bismuth, with the property thereunto apper-
taining, which, as has already been seen, was no inconsider-
able amount.
"A baroness?" exclaimed Nutt, sorrowfully, '-'and rich ! "
he turned away.
She gave him her hand.
" I am yours, yours always ! "
He clasped her in his arms, as the two old men whispered
to one another. The Baroness Bismuth and Mr. Horatio
Nutt.
Then the partners, Chekk, Discount & Co., requested that
they might in future receive the favour of their orders, which
was accorded to them, and Gripp and the Commander shook
hands upon the happy termination of their trouble. They
were paid off at once, and the sailors cheered all night, and
were with difficulty removed from the island in the morning.
Before they quitted the island, the bank partners explained
that Joseph, by the decease of the late nobleman, a wicked
elder brother, who had never owned his father, he (Joseph)
was now a titled aristocrat.
And what of Picl Dornton ! The convicted forger, the
murderer, the cruel husband, the black-hearted, bold, bad
man ?
He had disappeared. None knew where nor whither.
" Leave me alone," said Gripp.
2i6 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
They left him alone, save and except that Joseph offered a
thousand pounds for his apprehension, payable only if he
was caught alive.
Gripp pushed his boat to sea. The Infant was crouched
in the stern.
The Commander, who had become tired of inaction, joined
them in the pursuit.
So they went upon the track of the forger, the bold black-
hearted villain.
And he?
r^r ^rV ,--
1^ ^
ffli
ffl
1
LAST CHAPTER.
THE END,
HE Bells of Benicia were ringing for the double
marriage. Grace at one church to her beloved
Nutt ; Bess at the other to her own dear Joseph,
now Joseph, Marquis of Mewsickall, with title of
free-pass-to-the-Alhambra, and Baron Cancan, of Mabille, as
a special honour from the Tuileries, whose motto has, since
the events here recorded, become familiar in English mouths
as household bread. We must also take this opportunity of
adding, that Her Majesty's Government, determining to
reward Lieutenant Marchmont for his distinguished services,
patented him by the title of Sir Charles, to imitate
which is fraudulent, and punishable by several acts of
Parliament.
While these festivities were being enacted, another
scene of a different sort was being played out by two
performers.
In an apartment in the good Bishop's palace, which by a
special rescript from the Home Office he had been permitted
to let unfurnished, the tenant. Lady Anna Domino, taking
the fitted fixtures, &c., on which arrangement we have neither
time nor inclination to dwell now more minutely, sat the
Lady Anna Domino.
2i3 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
On the opposite side of the room behind a curtain, stood
Piel Dornton, regarding her curiously.
" Beautiful for ever ! " he muttered between his set teeth.
Then he stood before her, pale, with bloodshot eyes and
matted hair — he stood before her.
She saw at once, with a woman's intuitive perception, that
the end had come.
" At last," she said. She still admired the man who had
so cruelly deceived her.
" Recrimination is useless," he said, slowly and bitterly.
" Yes," she replied, in a cold tone. " It is."
" The police are here," he added, looking calmly from the
window.
She inquired what division, and with his glass he was
enabled to answer her question satisfactorily.
" My mind is made up," he continued ; and then, with a
slight tremor in his voice which even now midst all his
villain's cunning showed there was one green spot in that
cankered sin-dried heart, he added, " what will become of
you.?"
" What?" returned Lady Anna, turning towards him.
"Do yoK think of that at last?" She stretched out her
hand to him with something of the old affection in her touch
" Go, Piel," she said, ** go and poison yourself."
" I will," he replied, and undoing a large hamper marked
" glass with care " which he had hitherto kept carefully con-
cealed about his person, he extracted therefrom a large
jar, and was about to drink its contents, when she arrested
his hand.
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 219
At that supreme instant was it an old tender yearning.
She looked at him. then downwards at the carpet.
He had owned property himself in his prosperity, and
divined the meaning of the glance.
" True/' he replied ; " as you wish. In the next room."
He walked towards the door, then turned, and in both
arms held aloft the fatal bottle which contained a bright red
fluid, and was marked outside with a hieroglyphic character
known only to those whose trade it is to deal in such dread
preparations.
Once more he spoke.
'•And you?"
" I will survive to know that you are out of the clutches of
these myrmidons of a cruel law, and then " she covered
her face with her hands, and sank upon d^fauteicil.
He closed the door.
In another moment the officers rushed into the apartment.
'• The forger, the murderer, the upholsterer — where
is he ? "
" Your warrant ?" asked the Lady Anna indignantly.
The chief beckoned, and a private in the force stepped
forward with a roll of paper under his arm.
" It is enough," she said. "You will find him there."
They entered the room, and returned almost imme-
diately.
" There must be an inquest,"' said the chief.
" As you will," said Lady Anna. "At all events 1 am at
liberty."
The polite officials did all that was necessary, and were
220 CHIKKIN HAZARD.
subsequently entertained in the servants' hall until a late
hour.
The Lady Anna being much pitied as the victim of a
villain's machination, was feted for some considerable time
after his decease, and if there was the slightest stain upon
her otherwise fair character it was at once removed by the
good bishop, whose tenant she continued to be at an advanced
rental. Only she obtained permission to change its name
from Phlebosco Palace to the more appropriate title of
Kreammawn.
So in the beautiful gardens of Kreammawn, amid water-
works and fire-works, with lovely singing-birds, foreign and
native, including the several rare specimens of the flying
trapeze which, with cuttings from the boot-trees, and genera
of corkscrew-fish, spoon-bills, and other such lapsus linguce,
Grace had found upon the memorable island, and had pre-
sented partly to Lady Anna partly to the Benician Museum,
were celebrated the matrimonial festivities of the happy two
pairs, which lasted several days. Then the brides and bride-
grooms left in a couple of steam-yachts, which had been
previously blessed by the excellent bishop, for the dear old
Eel Pie Island in the Pacific, where Nutt (who was now the
Right Honourable William Nutt, elected to represent his
new possession in the Lower Benician Chambers) built them
a couple of houses, and stocked their paddock, and laid out
their gardens, and charged them only half as much again as
it would have cost them if they'd done it themselves.
And then they rested.
And on a ealm summer's evening, with the aged Lieu-
CHIKKIX HAZARD. 221
tenant, now obliged to wear a white wig, and support himself
with a stick, and still clinging to the costume of his old
Venetian regimentals, on one side, and, on the other. Old
Martin, who, unable to shake off his old labourer's habits,
was always dressed in the brightly spotted dress of the
clownish order in Benicia, his red and white cheeks being,
at his age, the external signs of inward happiness, and rude
health ; we say with these two, one on either side, would
stand in the centre the happy Nutt, in a bright gorgeous
dress and a black half mask, partially concealing his features,
(the custom in the Benician Chamber,) supporting with his
out-stretched knee and stalwart arm the form of his fair and
beautifully dressed bride, while behind them rose a romantic
bower, as it were, a fairy pavilion of imagination and fancy
ghttering, and dazzling, until among the plaudits and huzzas
of the delighted populace, the kind Marquis Joseph, aided by
his dear wife Elizabeth, would light up great fires of joy
which shed their sometime red, sometime green light upon
the glorious scene before them.
" Happy indeed," said Grace, in after years, " was the
thought which occurred to me, dear, upon the Island of send-
ing these FOWLS out with our dinner advertisements for
the Island."
" Sending the fowls in that manner, and on such an errand
was hazardous," would her husband reply, caressing his
eldest son Tommy, who was growing every day more like
both of them, with perhaps just the slightest resemblance to
the pet seal which he had trained upon the Island.
" It was hazardous," would be her answer,
222 . CHIKKIN HAZARD.
"It was indeed CHIKKIN HAZARD."
******
Readers, we have done. This is the tale Nutt and Grace
told to their Children. — This is the tale we have told to
you.
Editor to Authors. — Gentlemen all, I congratulate you. We shall
ftcver meet again.
THE
BARROW OF BORDEAUX;
OR, A LIFE'S MYSTERY.
THE
BARROW OF BORDEAUX;
OR, A LIFE'S MYSTERY.
PROLOGUE.
(extract fro:m a letter written by the person
known as charles denmont to hls friend x .)
T is not too late. I am a broken old man, weary
of a world which once caressed as lavishly as it
has since cruelly persecuted me. Two genera-
tions have appeared on the scene before whom I
have been silent. Now I may speak. Passions, once
apparently unquenchable, have long since been extinguished.
Undying hatreds lie cold in the graves of the most implacable
foes. Love has outlived all except the lover. I have nothing
now to gain by a silence which for years past I have re-
ligiously observed. I know that what I have to reveal can
neither implicate any now living nor bring shame and sorrow
on a single name in the roll-call of breathing men. It may
perhaps, lead some to do tardy justice to one who, by force
of circumstances, has been doomed to live — nay, perhaps to
Q
226 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
die — a helpless, ay, and worse, a hopeless, victim. To you,
my friend, who have often shown yourself generous and
charitable where others have refused to aid me ; to you, I
say, I now confide my papers, in the faint hope that, on their
being published, some one may come forward to lighten the
oad of sorrow which, more than age, has bent me down ;
which, more than the horrors of a prison, has blanched my
hair and has forced me to pass a sad and solitary existence,
deprived, not (I thank Heaven) of the necessaries of life,
with which "my own toil has supplied me, but deprived of
all that sweet companionship for which, more than for aught
else, I had yearned, and which, through no fault of mine,
that I can recognise — though I bow to Heaven's ruling, and
own, if need be, any unconscious guilt which has engendered
a life's penance — has been mysteriously denied me. Do,
then, what you will with these papers. You will act for the
best in concealing my name until such time as you shall see
tit to reveal it. But above all, my dear friend, remember
that, in spite of my great wrongs, in spite of my unparalleled
sufferings, I look only for justice, and have within my heart,
I can solemnly avow, no single thought of vengeance. If
now, at the last moment, my persecutors — should they yet
live — will but confess their crime, I shall have for them
nothing but forgiveness. Their descendants may be seeking
me out to make reparation for their father's wrong done to
me ere they had seen the light of day. If so, these papers
will be their guide, and you, my friend, can lead them
to where such heavy sins can be atoned and pardoned.
Farewell.
CHAPTER I.
A DREAM OF HAPPINESS.
\\'AS twenty-two when, while staying at Boulogne,
I fell in love with Clotilde, the only daughter of
the Comte de Champvilliers, a name so illustrious
in the annals of France as to know no equal, still
less a rival.
If my name was less distinguished than 'theirs in the
history of my own country, still it was no mean one, and its
origin could be traced to that ancient stock whose root was,
most probably, in the fair fields of Normandy, whence came
the Duke, who, pre-eminently above all Dukes before or
since, not even excepting the Iron Duke, has been to us the
conquering hero.
Clotilde, at the time I speak of, was the loveliest brunette
that the glorious sun of Southern France had ever shone
upon. Ah ! as I sit with pen in hand to describe her, I lean
back, I close my eyes, and, as in a vision, she comes back
to me. Small, but of exquisite symmetry, the glow of health
upon her brown and dimpled cheek ; her lips full, red, and
moist ; her hazel eyes set in a crystal reflecting the bright
blue of a summer's morning sky, were curtained around by a
delicate fringe so black as to add, if that were possible, fresh
lustre to the eye, so long that, when her eyelids drooped
228 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
ever so little, they seemed like fairy bars imprisoning the
light within. The dimples on her cheeks were multiplied
in her hands ; each knuckle of the open hand could have
held a pearly dew-drop from the rose-leaf ; each beautifully-
fashioned nail was roseate-tinted as is the small delicate
shell left by the bounteous waves of the Mediterranean.
Ah ! Clotilde, standing out luminous from among the dark
shadows of the past, how I loved you ! how I love you !
I will not pause to describe my own person or qualities at
that time ; suffice it to say that Clotilde returned my affec-
tion with all the warmth of which her nature was capable,
and that both the Comte and Comtesse saw with the real
delight which the fondest parents experience in the prospect
of their children's happiness, the bonds of union being
drawn closer and closer between Mdlle. de Champvilliers
and myself.
I had no rivals ; I had numerous acciuaintances ; I had,
then, many friends. My wealth, without being enormous,
was more than that possessed by the noljle family into which
I was marrying, and was sufficient of itself to attract the
secret envy and the public homage of society, whether in
France or England.
The latter country, indeed, I seldom visited, except for the
purpose of buying horses, carriages, and harness, which, at
the period of which I speak, could not be obtained in any-
thing like perfection out of London. Clotilde was passion-
ately fond of eciuestrian exercise, and I had promised her
that the first winter of our married life should be spent in
one of the best hunting counties of England. Need I say
THE BARRO^^■ OF BORDEAUX. 229
which it was ? No ; the time for this has not yet come,
since to reveal the name of my Enghsh estate would be
needlessly to prejudice those who will otherwise read this
history and form their own judgment.
For me this taste of Clotilde's was, as events have sub-
sequently proved, most fortunate. I invested largely, under
a 7iom dc commeixe, in English funds and securities ; pur-
chased a fine property in Exetershire, with the most exten-
sive shooting in any of the three neighbouring counties ;
manned a yacht of two hundred tons, which I called the
Cloiildc, in honour of my betrothed ; entered a horse for the
Derby ; and, having paid my final visit to England as
a bachelor, returned to Boulogne in order to make the
necessary arrangements for my approaching marriage.
CHAPTER II.
SHADOWS ACROSS THE PATH.
XE thing, and one thing alone, was the subject
of difference between Clotilde and myself. It
was a habit so ingrained by constant use ever
since I had left my first school, that nothing,
save the free action of a strong determined will, and the
desire to do all in one's power to gratify the smallest wish
expressed by the object of my devotion, could possibly have
eradicated it, as it were, from my system. Smoking was at
the time of which I speak not the rule among young men of
fashion, but the exception, and in this I had indulged for
many j-ears. At Clotilde's request, indeed, I had gradually
broken with the nymph Nicotina so far as to celebrate her
rites only once a day, and the time selected for the sacrifice
was after I had left the Count's house and was walking
home. On these occasions I used to light my cigar and
■walk up and down the pier, whence I could see the light in
Clotilde's window, and could give way to those sweet reveries
which form, perhaps, the sweetest portion of every one's life,
certainly of a lover's. Yes, all have at some time or other
had this experience. Can there be one who has never
loved ? Ask rather if there lives one who has never
l^reathcd ? In a churchyard how many graves are nameless,
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 231
over how many the tombstone has preserved nothing save
the name, and that, too, is wearing out ? The silent have
buried their loves, and live in the world, marble and stone,
without a word to any that would recall the past. People
wonder if such a one has ever known what love was, just as
passers-by, seeing the blurred stone, wonder who may lie
beneath, and how long since he was one like themselves. I,
too, for years have uttered no word, have made no sign. My
only happiness in life since I was twenty-two was commenced
in those reveries on the pier when I was smoking my
cigar, and has been continued only in dreams, sleeping and
waking, from that time to this. What the reality has been —
ah, Heaven ! what the realityof my life has been you shall hear.
On the evening of the third day previous to the one now
fixed for our wedding I had dined, as usual, at the Count's,
had played bakardo — a Venetian game of cards of which the
old gentleman was remarkably fond, and at which, in order
to humour him, I always allowed him to come off the
winner ; though, indeed, there was very little merit in this
harmless piece of duplicity, as Clotilde engrossed all my
thoughts, and it \\as with difficulty that I was even able to
recognise the court cards as they appeared in due turn on
the table.
However, the Count was excessively pleased (he liked
winning), and this, too, put Madame la Comtesse in great
good humour also, as he had patted her on the cheek, and
addressed her as " Ma belle !" She smiled upon both myself
and Clotilde in a manner which bespoke her own sentiments
of tranquil enjoyment.
232 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
We, assisted by the old people, had sketched out our
plans for the future ; had arranged how we were to meet
in England, how we were to pass our honeymoon in Italy,
how — how, in fact, we were to be as happy as the days were
long.
That night, contrary to her custom — for French mothers
of noble lineage are invariably most strict in all that regards
their daughters — Clotilde was permitted to accompany me
down-stairs, and to bid me boii soir and an plaisir at the
front door.
Hand in hand Ave passed the conciergerie, where the old
man and his wife were too busily engaged on their supper to
notice us ; and thus undisturbed we stood in the pale moon-
light on the threshold of the courtyard.
Was it some strange presentiment that made me clasp
her in my arms, as though to protect her from some invisible
spirit of ill passing by ? We were loth to part from one
another that night. We had little to say save good-night,
which we repeated at intervals at least twenty times, and
took no account of the rapidly-fleeting minutes.
" You will come early to-morrow," she said.
"Early! Would that 1 had not to go now!" was
my fervid reply. " Would that the time had come when
none would have the right to sever us, even for a few
minutes ! "
" You love me so much,"' she murmured.
Great Heaven ! how I loved her at that moment ! Once
more I stand, in thought, as I have stood often in the dreams
of night, at the entrance to the courtyard of the Hotel
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 233
Champvilliers. We embrace passionately for the last time
that night . . . and for ever.
Could I have foreseen — could I have had but the most
partial glimpse of the future — I would ha\e taken her from
her father's house that night, or would have gone to my own
residence swiftly, without turning to the right or the left,
without yielding to the strong desire to stay for a while
watching the light in her window while, as it seemed, the
wann pressure still remained on my hand.
" Clotilde ! "
It was her mother's voice. Obedience to her was
Clotilde's first law. For one half moment longer she
allowed me to detain her, then, whispering in my ear " An
dtmaiii," she left me, and I passed out.
There were signs of a storm in the air that night. Signs
ashore, signs at sea. Flitting clouds obscuring the waning
moon and a chill wind that seemed to sigh as it swept over
the cliffs towards the sea. Mechanically I Avrapt ray cloak
about me and made for the pier. Boulogne pier was not
then what I have seen it since, and far different from what I
am informed it is at the present day.
Besides, at the time of which I speak it was under repair,
and gigantic piles and beams half sawn, thick planks, ropes,
and chains were lying about, or were propped up against one
another in strange confusion. Great blocks of stone, too,
there were, which ever and anon streaked the pier with
broad black shadows, in the fitful moonlight, and appearing
to me as ghostly companions come to relieve the solitude of
the night.
234 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
Against the pier railing I leant and smoked. It was high
tide, and the waves plashed lazily against the supports of
the pier with a low, murmuring sound, as though they were
merely turning over in their sleep, and were rocking them-
selves slumbering, towards the shore.
Hardly a twinkle of light on land, and a brighter star than
its fellows only occasionally to be seen peering out from
behind the filmy veil above. Heaven and earth had closed
their eyes, and I seemed to be alone in the universe.
Alone, and yet so happy, in that still and silent night.
The church clocks from the town sounded the hour.
Midnight. My cigar was half consumed, and the remainder
would last me as far as my house.
So saying to myself, I turned to throw one last lingering
clance towards the window where Clotilde's candle had but a
quarter of an hour since been extinguished, when I became
aware for the first time that I was not the only person on the
pier.
Two indistinct forms emerged from behind the blocks of
stone. To leave the pier I saw at once that there was
nothing for it but to pass them, and that at close
quarters.
As I walked towards them they moved towards a spot
where, on account of the lumber lying about, there could be
only passage for one person at a time.
I paused to consider my next step, and decided upon re-
suming my former position. Perhaps they had not noticed
me, or, for some reasons of their own, wished to escape
observation.
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 235
A few seconds made their object apparent. They
advanced towards mc.
'• Good evening. Sir,'' said the first and taller of the two
in a low tone. He spoke French with an accent which
smacked strongly of the Basque Provinces.
I returned his salutation with as much sangfroid as I was
capable of at the moment. There was just then light enough
for me to see those two men distinctly, and from that day to
this I have ne7>er forgotten thcni. The man who addressed
me was dressed in a rough, seafaring costume— as, indeed,
they both were, only that the taller had then a Spanish cloak
around him, while his companion had on a thick woollen
wrapper, a pea-jacket, and a pair of high fisherman's boots.
The villanous expression of this man's countenance I have
never seen equalled, and a black patch which he wore over
his left eye made him still more hideous than Nature had
originally intended him to be.
Unlike his taller companion, who wore a beard and
moustache, this man was closely shaved, showing only a
dark blue mask, as it were, over the lower half of the face.
The uncovered eye shone out beneath a lowering and
bushy eyebrow, as though, being alone, it were doing work
enough for both, and allowing nothing to escape it on any
account.
The tall man had a pale face, an aquiline nose, beard and
moustache as described above, and so peculiar a cast in both
eyes that they seemed to be focussing themselves on one
especial point, which apparently was the second stud of my
open shirt-front, for, strange to say, while dreamily standing
235 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
on the pier I had allowed the cloak to drop from my shoulders,
and, whether it had fallen into the sea, or was only lost in the
gloom, I at this moment could not see it, nor did I venture
to allow my attention to be distracted by so unimportant an
object from the two strangers, whose appearance filled me
with suspicion. Having for many years been accustomed to
travel in the wildest parts of Europe, I had, more from habit
than from any feeling of nervousness, always carried a small
pistol in my breast pocket. Instinctively I felt for it. It
was gone !
CHAPTER III.
THE SECRET IS NAMED.
iHE men were now standing within two yards
of me, the taller somewhat in advance of his
companion.
" A beautiful night for enjoying a cigar," said
the former, in the s:ime low tone in which he had first
addressed me.
I nodded assent somewhat coldly, and watched their
movements so narrowly that, on the slightest hint, I should
have put myself on the defensive. In former days I had
been a pupil of Tom Buck's, and knew that the first blow
was everything against even more formidable odds than two
to one. My only chance I saw was, in the event of a
struggle, to deliver the upper cut at once straight from the
shoulder, and thus dispose of my foremost antagonist, who,
in his fall, would seriously encumber the action of his asso-
ciate. This would give mc time either to gain the town or to
slide down one of the slippery piles into the sea below, whence,
being no indifferent swimmer, I could soon reach the shore.
In far less time than it takes me to write it had this plan
fixed itself in my mind. Once thus resolved, I became per-
fectly calm, taking care, however, not to allow myself to Idc
put off my guard. ,
23!^ THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
The tall man, who had already taken the initiative, now
continued, while the shorter one, standing a few paces
behind him, kept casting furtive glances in every direction,
as though he were expecting either assistance or a surprise.
Occasionally I foncied I detected him in the act of raising
the patch which concealed his left eye, but of this I was not
certain then, nor am I now. Enough for me that, with or
without that black patch, his features are indelibly impressed
on my memory.
" We have," the tall man informed me, in a whisper which
seemed to chill me to the very marrow, " we have some of
the finest cigars that were ever made— the real Caballero's
brand — the value of which, in America, is something hke six
hundred francs a pound ; and in England not a single
Havannah of this make can be obtained for less than five
shillings a cigar."
I thanked him for this piece of intelligence, and attempted
to put an end to further conversation by telling him
that I should, in future, have no need of tobacco in
any shape, as I had determined upon giving up smoking
entirely.
" I told you so," said the shorter of the two, in so rasping
and hoarse a voice, that it seemed like the spirit of a sea-fog
speaking.
" You are right, comrade," replied the former without
turning, "and Monsieur will do well— nay, he cannot do
better— than inspect such a stock as we can show him of
silks, cashmeres, diamonds of Ind, golden lace of Japan,
emeralds from the Caucasus, and such treasures as
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 239
would make a bridal present matchless, above price,
unique."
Enthusiastic as he was, he never allowed his voice to rise
for one second above a whisper, intensified to a greater or
less degree ; nor did I notice that, during his speech, his
companion relaxed in the least his perpetual vigilance. For
the matter of that, no more did I. However, my method
was to avoid any chance of collision by sufficient politeness ;
and, though my caution suggested to me that I should here
attempt to close the conversation, yet my curiosity was
aroused. Alas ! in that one minute's wavering was con-
tained the germ of that deadly parasite which has since
wound itself around my tree of life, exhausting my
heart's blood drop by drop until it left me the withered,
wasted thing that you have known me. Forgive me
this passing sigh. You know something of what I have
suffered. Something, indeed, but not all. Let me
hasten on.
" Such things," said the hoarse echo of the taller man, "as
will make Mademoiselle de Champvilliers " — I could not
repress a start, but he continued as if without noticing it —
" the happiest bride in all France."
" Such things," said the first speaker, once more taking up
his theme, but always in the same cautious whisper, " as no
count, no duke, no king — ay, and no sultan or emperor —
could purchase. Such marriage gifts as will cause the
donor's name to resound through the length and breadth of
Europe "
" Of Asia," added the hoarse voice, parenthetically, as
240 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
though he were afraid of his companion omitting an im-
portant point.
" He is right/' said his friend ; " and not Asia alone, but
no one quarter of tlie world — no, not all together — can show
such "
" Prenez-garde, ]\Iartin ! "' interrupted the \vatcher, laying
a massive hand upon his companion's arm. Then they
both turned, and, as the moonlight fell beyond them, they
shaded their eyes with their hands, and tried to penetrate the
distant gloom. It was a false alarm. I told them that I
had heard nothing.
"Ah, monsieur," replied the one called [Martin, " our eyes
and ears are practised. Say, then, you, monsieur, who
have not yet made your choice, would you give the most
superb gift that art and nature can produce upon your
bride ? "
Clotilde again. What could these men know of her ?
What of me and of my marriage? It was true that I had
not yet selected the cadeau which was to be the crowning
memento for the future day of our union. But why should
these men interest themselves ? Were they smugglers,
anxious to dispose of their valuable but dangerous goods?
I confided to them my suspicions. With much sophistry
Martin defended himself from any imputation of dishonesty ;
and, indeed, so reasonably and so forcibly did he urge his
claims, proving, moreover, the priceless advantages which
would accrue to me from my dealings with himself and his
partner (Caspar he named him), that I finally lent a not
unwilling ear to their description, and, having lighted one
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 241
of the largest and certainly finest cigars I had ever seen —
for which I was indebted to Caspar, who carried a box of
them concealed under his ample seafaring coat — I prepared
to accompany them, or rather follow them, to their abode in
the town.
I imagined to myself the pleasure that would beam in
Clotilde's eyes on receiving such a present as I now contem-
plated procuring for her. As we neared the entrance to the
pier, a sudden thought occurred to me, which I saw would
be at once my safeguard in case treachery were intended,
and a test of their honesty. It was this : I had no money
beyond a few francs with me.
" It is no matter," answered Martin.
" We can trust Monsieur," said Caspar.
" And, in proof, are we not doing so," asked Martin ;
" perhaps, it may be, with our lives ? "
I replied that they were safe with me. So we walked on,
silently, with wolflike steps.
''And yet," said Martin, stopping short under shadow of
the old town wall (I believe it has long since been pulled
down), and addressing himself to Caspar more than to mc,
" and yet if he knew "
" If," sneered Caspar. Then, dropping his voice to its
former low, hoarse whisper, he continued. " If it were
worth his while to reveal our secret, we would not bring him
hither ; if it would raise this suspicion, and bring us and
ours to the guillotine, we would not hnwg him hither.
Would we, comrade ? "
"Assuredly not," answered Martin.
R
242 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
"Why, then, let us not hesitate to tell him of the treasure
— the treasure — in our possession. It binds him to us, docs
it not ? "
" Certainly it does," responded the other,
"Without an oath?" asked Caspar.
"Without an oath," answered Martin.
I had listened intently to this dialogue, which had been
carried on partly in French and partly in a language of
which I had some slight knowledge, that of the Romanes,
the regal gipsy tribe of Spain. In an instant I decided upon
keeping the fact of my acquaintance with this strange tongue
a secret from them. I pretended, therefore, that I was cold,
and wished them to walk on quickly. They complied \\\\X\
my request. But as we stole onwards I picked up frag-
ments of their conversation, which they continued in the
Romanos language.
" Shall we show it him ?" asked Martin of his companion.
" Ay. There is no rule. And if it places power in his
hands will it not be for us, and not against us, afterwai'ds ?"
" True, Caspar. But for his bride, Clotilde } "
" It will secure her happiness, and at no risk to our-
selves."
I was so attentive that I had no time to remark anything
about the streets and turnings which we were taking, except
that they all seemed new to me. To listen and to pick one's
way over the vile -stones was no easy matter for a stranger in
that quarter. Here and there a small oil-lamp, burning
before some devotional statue at the corner of a street, was
the only sign of life to be met with. Occasionally the mas-
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 243
sive stone wall and heavy wooden gate of some ancient
church came upon us suddenly (rather than we upon it) from
out of the cjuaint, overhanging, gabled old houses, which
seemed herded together for warmth's sake in that poverty-
stricken district. Startled rats leapt from the open drains at
our approach, and spectre-like dogs snarled at us over the
loathsome garbage.
When I came up with them again they were still speaking
of Clotilde.
" It will," Martin was saying, " be the secret of her exist-
ence. If she does not know it" Here he hesitated.
"If she does not," said Caspar, hoarsely, "is her doom
sealed? Will she die?"
What unknown danger threatened Clotilde.' Wherever
they might be leading me, I had decided to know all now.
" Die ! " whispered Martin, as though, even in that deso-
late spot, the thought were too painful for words. " Die !
Mon DicH ! So young, so fair ! No, Caspar ; he shall see
and judge for himself. It is for him only, not for us, to
decide."
" Then," returned Caspar, placing his haad on his com -
panion's shoulder, and lifting up towards his a face which
almost ecjualled his own in its awful pallor — "then wc will
show him the" . . , He paused, supporting himself by
his friend's shoulder, while a visible tremor passed through
his frame.
" Name it, comrade!" said Martin.
They had stopped under an old archway. I would not for
my life have missed one word.
R 2
244 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
" We will show him," rephed Caspar, still convulsively-
grasping his companion's shoulder, " the Barrow of Bor-
deaux."'
There was silence for some seconds as Martin leant
against the wall, and Caspar, apparently, wiped the perspira-
tion from his own livid countenance. Then Martin asked,
in a tone which hardly reached my ear,
" The barrow, comrade .'' "
"Ay," replied Caspar, with the air of a man who
had formed a desperate resolve. " It vutst be : it sJiall
be Now — in this place — for ]icr sake
more than his, we will show him the Barrow of Bor-
deaux."
" Agreed."
For her sake more than his ! . . . The barrow of
Bordeaux ! . . . I had no time for even one question as
•Caspar beckoned me to approach the spot where they were
rstanding.
Martin now took from a chain which for the first time I
-saw about his neck a small brass rule, which glittered even
in the faint light that reached the archway.
" Three to the right, good," he said, as he completed a
measurement in that direction.
"Three to the left," he continued, while Caspar knelt on
the rough stones and gave three knocks with a small
hammer, at the same moment that Martin displaced alarge
brick, behind which was a strong iron ring.
" At last I " exclaimed Caspar, and producing a stout cord
he was about to fasten it to the ring when both men paused
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 245
suddenly in their work and regarded each other with looks
of mingled hatred and mistrust.
" You have not deceived me ? " said Martin, sternly.
" On my soul !" answered Caspar.
"Hush!"
A measured tramp, within a few paces of us. The gen-
darmerie. An agony of listening followed, as we heard the
sergeant give some word of command. Then, judging by
the sound, the company divided, and the equal tread was
evident on both sides of the street.
" Fly for your life ! " exclaimed Caspar in my ear.
" But," I asked hurriedly, for I felt that every second of
delay was dangerous, and yet I knew not why. " But what
is this of Clotilde's life . . . her happiness . . . say,
when will you show me this ! "
" Barrow of Bordeaux ! " he whispered, hoarsely. " The
same time — and place — to-morrow ! See, Martin, has gone.
Coward ! Leave go, or by Heaven ! "
He dashed me aside with savage fury, and disappeared
v%ithin the darkest part of the arch. Martin had, as he said,
fled on the very first alarm. In another second I heard a
sound as of a plunge from a height into deep water, and
once again the voice of the sergeant commanding a halt.
Then I waited for no more, but, creeping out from beneath
the archway, gained the open street. Once here, I stole on,
at first stooping and under the wall ; then, as I heard the
challenge " Qui va 1^? " and the sharp click of the muskets,
1 ran forward — furiously, blindly, guided only by the instinct
of self-preservation. Now to the right, now to the left.
245 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
On — on — on ; followed at length only by the dying echoes of
my footfalls, until, striking my foot against some stone steps
which abutted on a wall, I fell exhausted, and fainted with
the pain.
CHAPTER IV.
THE HAUNTING WORDS.
^St':'4^^5^ HEX I recovered I found myself in my own
<t:a£&i |j(,^_ Standing at its side were an old priest
and a sister of charity, who fervently expressed
her gratitude to h' bon Dieu when I opened my
eyes once more to the world around me.
They had found me near the quay, they said ; and, guided
by a card in my pocket-book, they had brought me to my
house.
My knee, in consequence of the cut, was very stiff and
painful, and the good sister recommended me to lie still for
some hours, occasionally bathing it with a lotion which she
had provided for my use.
So much I heard and so much I understood ; but then my
thoughts wandered back to the events of the previous night,
and as I closed my eyes once more and pressed my head upon
the pillow it seemed to me as if my mind were attempting to
recall some name which was pregnant with good or evil to her
I loved so deeply.
When I again awoke it was past midday. I arose with
difficulty, and was startled by my haggard appearance in the
looking-glass.
I commenced mv toilet. As I did so the whole scene
2|8 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
came back on my memory, and one name rang in my ears
as though pronounced by mocking fiends, " The Barrow of
Bordeaux."
I began to strop my razor, I shuddered as the bright steel
flashed in the sun — now this way, now that ; but backwards
or forwards, rouglily or smoothly, it had but one voice for
me, —
" The — Bar—i-ow — of^Bor — dcaiix."
Do what I would that morning— do it too, how I would —
I could not shake off that one accursed name, in which
seemed to be collected all the mysterious horrors of the
past night.
I would go out. In this state to remain in was madness.
And yet as I was could I visit Clotilde ? Ought she not to be
v^-arncd of some danger ? " But of \\ hat danger } " said I to
myself, wildly. The answer came back in the air, " The
Barrow of Bordeaux, Monsieur ; the Barrow of Bordeaux ! "
She would have been wondering, too, why I had not come
to visit her as usual. Strange that I should not have thought
of that before. "I must write," I said, "and send her my
excuses. This is the first day that I have missed seeing her
for months. To v.hat will she attribute this neglect ? " I
cried aloud, as I raised my pen in the air. Had I invoked
the evil spirits that there should come back ever the same
answer — " The Barrow of Bordeaux?" In vain I attempted
a letter to her. I could not even begin properly. I com-
menced, " My dearest Barrow " and tore it up in a
fury.
" Dearest Clotilde," I wrote, " I have been very unwell, and
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 249
unable to leave my barrow " My pen wrote this in spite
of me, and I used the knife. Then I went on — " Unable to
leave my bed all day. Ah, dearest, how I suffer ! What a
loss is mine ! I shall see you to-morrow, early as
usual, in the salle a matii^cr. Adieu, till then, my own ! "
I signed my initials, and dispatched my valet with
it to the Hotel Champvilliers.
Then I sallied forth. My one object now was to discover
the place where I had parted with the men Martin and
Caspar on the previous night. If I could not find it by day,
the search for it at night would be a hopeless task, and at
night I had to meet them. Should I fail in this, what misery
was there not in store for me ? To know that the sword
was ever hanging above our heads, to know that we were
walking on undermined ground, this was to be our married
life ; for, if their words meant anything at all — and could
sober senses doubt this for one minute t — they meant all
this to the fullest extent. There was a danger threatening
both myself and Clotilde — so much was evident. But whence
was it to come ?
Alas ! Water in the desert is less difficult to find than
was the archway where these two men had disappeared.
Archway after archway of similar construction I explored
minutely, but could find nothing by which I could identify
the one for which 1 was searching. Most of them led
into courtyards, and were private property ; a few were
mere passages between two streets. None — and this was
by far the strangest thing — were situated near cither the
sea, a river, a ditch, or well, so as to account for the splash
250 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
and plunge which had accompanied the disappearance of
the man Caspar.
I walked about, my knee causing me much trouble, until
dusk, and with sunset I gave up the search in despair. I
dared not ask anyone. And, indeed, for what could I in-
quire, save for the Barrow of Bordeaux? I could name neither
the street nor the arch — no, nor any street, house, or arch in
the neighbourhood. One chance remained, and that was to
visit the pier at midnight, in the hope that the two smugglers,
for so I still supposed them to be, on not finding me at the
rendezvous, would seek the spot where we had first encountered
one another.
On my return to my chamber a short note lay on my
table from Clotilde. She sympathised with me deeply ;
and she, too, was ill — or, at least, so very unwell that, had
I called, it would have been impossible for me to have seen
her.
Was this the beginning of the woe which threatened her ?
"What could ail her ; her whom I had left but the 'day before
full of health and good spirits ! As I meditated, standing
before the mantelpiece, the pendulum swinging backwards
and forwards seemed to convey the old warning answer,
" The Barrow of Bordeaux ; the — Bar — row— of— Bor —
deaux."
There were many people dining at the restaurant that
night, strangers to me, I thanked Heaven, but as it seemed
to me with but one topic of conversation among them, the
Barrow of Bordeaux. Hurriedly finishing my portion, I paid
the bill, and without waiting for the change I rushed from
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 251
the house to cool my burning forehead in the sea breeze. I
lighted a cigar and took up my old position,
I \\ill not weary you witli the details of my waiting and
watching on that miserable night. I will not recount how
the patrol's password seemed to be borne towards me on
the air, sounding like the Barrow of Bordeaux ; how the
waves moaned it sadly, how the winds sighed it plaintively,
and how the lights and shadows spelt the words in fantastic
letters over and over again. Midnight sounded — one, two,
three — and I was still keeping my lonely watch on the pier.
CHAPTER V.
A TERRIBLE TRIAL.
^^^^^^ EARIED, ill in body and mind, I sought my
k w Ea'M^ ^^^'^^ '^^ daybreak, but to no purpose. The
^x\u^?TO ^^^^''^^ ^^^^^ rang in my ears and banished sleep.
^^S^^^l At ten I was to be at the Hotel Champvilliers.
I roused myself for an effort, and made up my mind to a
course of conduct which would at least relieve me, to a cer-
tain extent, from the burden which was hourly becoming
too terrible for me to bear. Clotilde should hear from me
the danger, whatever it v/as, that threatened her ; and, as I
not unnaturally considered, perhaps she herself could better
than anyone else tell me the import of these ill-omened
words.
Full of this plan, I ran to the Count's house, and, mounting
the stairs, stood before Clotilde in the drawing-room. My
excited manner, which I in vain attempted to calm, and my
pallid face alarmed her.
" Heavens !" she exclaimed ; "what has happened ?"
" Command your agitation, my' dear Clotilde," I said.
" Believe me, it is nothing — nothing, that is, of which, if
you are but forewarned, you need be afraid. Tell me," I
whispered, and my voice reminded me strangely of the
hoarse tones of Caspar, with the patch over his eye — "Tell
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 253
me, what '' — (I tried to smile, for I saw that ah'eady she was
terrified, but I felt that I must go on, at any risk — " tell me
what is the mystery— what ? " — here I laid hold gently of her
arm and pressed my lips close to her ear — "what is the
Barrow of Bordeaux I"
She gave me one look — I shall never forget it — and, raising
her arms wildly aloft, uttered a piercing scream and fell
senseless at my feet.
Before I could recover myself — before I could do more
than cry " Clotilde, my own! " — her father, the aged Count,
his white hair streaming over his morning robe, threw open
the folding-doors and rushed in, followed by the Countess
and the servants.
" What is this ? " he exclaimed, horror-struck.
'* Mademoiselle has fainted," I gasped out. " I had only
this moment entered, and "
" What have you said to her ? " asked her mother, who had
by this time thro'.\ n herself on her knees by the apparently
lifeless form of Clotilde.
" Nothing ! " I cried. " I call Heaven to witness, nothing !
I did but ask a question on which depended much cf her —
of our — happiness."
" What question ?" demanded the Count, sternly.
Now then at last would come, I hoped, the explanation.
" I asked her," I replied calmly, " what is the Barroia oj
Bordeaux ? "
Had a bomb exploded among them greater conster-
nation could not have prevailed. The Count started back
pale as death, and the Countess, with one loud, agonis-
25^ THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
ing cry of pain, fell by the side of her unhappy
daughter.
The domestics cowered in the background, and seemed too
overcome with terror either to offer assistance or to oppose
my exit.
The Count was the first to recover himself. " Quit my
house for ever I " he cried, with suppressed fury, " and fortu-
nate will it be for you " •
Here the noise of arms on the staircase attracted my
attention, and in another second a sergeant of gendarmes
entered the room.
The Count could only point to me as he staggered to a
chair.
Briefly the gendarme rec[uired an explanation.
Briefly and as collectedly as I could I gave it him.
" Sergeant," I said, " I only asked this young lady — I
only mentioned to her father — the Barrow of Bor '"'
He did not allow me to finish my sentence. " Silence,
criminal ! '' he exclaimed in a voice of thunder. " Gen-
darmes, arrest him."
In one instant I was a prisoner. Handcuffed and un-
covered, with gendarmes with loaded muskets on either side
and in front and behind me, I was marched through the
town to the Hotel de Ville.
By the time I reached this ancient building the crowd
around and in front of the steps was enormous. Expres-
sions of sympathy for the oppressed, and of hatred of the
oppressors met my ears. There was yet a chance. The
populace of France, ever ready for an evieute, have only to be
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 255
addressed by me in stirring words in order to arouse them
in my behalf.
" Concitoyens et concitoyennes," I cried suddenly, turning
and facing them, " I am arrested because I merely asked, I
swear it, what is the Barrow of Bord "
The yells and execrations that arose from the crowd,
which was indeed lashed into fury — but, alas ! against me —
showed me, even more than the missiles which now assailed
my head and shoulders, which I could with difficulty pro-
tect with my manacled hands, that I could expect no mercy
from them. At the point of the bayonet, and flinching
beneath the stones and brickbats with which the sky was
darkened, I was roughly pushed into the court-house.
The Maire, a venerable and amiable-looking man, was
sitting on a bench behind a table whereat were seated a few
town councillors, with their clerks. The business of the
morning had been just concluded when I appeared before
them.
" With what is he charged ? " asked the Maire, benignly.
Something in his countenance told me that I might confide
the cause of all my sufferings up to the present time to him.
In as few words as possible, and with the utmost respect, I
explained that I had been to sec my fiancde this morn-
ing, Mdlle. Clotilde ; that I had scarcely asked her a ques-
tion, when she fainted ; that her father and mother, evidently
much excited at witnessing their daughter's illness, had
handed me over to the gendarmes, who, in discharge of
their duty— for which I did not blame them, on the contrary
—had entered the house.
256 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
The Maire listened with attention, and expressed himself
satisfied, so far, with my explanation— which, so far as the
Maire could question upon the facts, as I had stated them,
was corroborated by the officer of gendarmes.
" Did you not ask Mdlle. Clotilde's father," said a young
councillor, pleasantly, " for some explanation ? "
The Maire, who was evidently a man of sense, requested
me to answer this question as a mere matter of form prior to
my receiving my discharge, which, he added, he should have
great pleasure in pronouncing.
His kind manner encouraged familiarity on my part, and
set me completely at my ease.
" It is, indeed, sir," I said, smiling, " a most ridiculous
case, and one in which I own I am at a loss to account for
the conduct of those who till now have been my dearest and
best friends. The fact is, M. le Maire, as I have already
said to Clotilde, I only wanted to know what was the
Barrow of- "
" Grand Dieu ! " exclaimed the Maire, his whole visage
changing to one of the utmost horror ; while the councillors
fell back in their seats as though they had been struck
lifeless by lightning.
" Double his fetters ! " cried the Maire, and the gaoler
obeyed his command.
'' This is too grave a matter for this court," said the chief
magistrate, after conferring with the councillors. " Here is
his warrant of commitment until the next session of the
Supreme Court of Assize at Lyons. Gentlemen, the sitting
is terminated. Officers, do your duty." Then, turning
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 257
towards me, every trace of benignity having disappeared
from his countenance,
" As for you, execrable monster," he said, " there may yet
be time for repentance, though there can be no room for
hope, and no justice in France if such as you were pardoned.
Go, then, wretched man, assassin of society, outrager of all
laws, human and Divine, I would not add one word to your
sufferings by any sentence that I can pronounce. I thank
Heaven this day that it is not within my province to utter the
word which shall consign you to your doom — a doom that
most surely awaits you from a higher court than mine — a
doom so terrible that, unless sustained by the strongest and
sternest sense of duty, even the most potent Judge in the
land could not dare to award without a shudder. Go, out-
cast ; repent, but dream not of hope. For you the word
' hope ' does not exist ! "
Maddened by my wrongs, weakened by suffering, I rushed
towards the table. In a moment the whole court was in an
uproar, and, battling with odds, fighting with the fury of a
wild beast against his inhuman captors, I fell wounded, and
at last, happily, senseless.
CHAPTER VI.
THE PRISONER — THE ESCAPE — A SURPRISE.
HAVE little more to tell.
The Superior Court, in all its majesty, heard my
case patiently to the end, and called upon me for
my defence. Once more I was obliged to pro-
nounce the fatal words, and scarcely was the first syllable out
of my mouth than a thrill of horror ran through the court,
and the President, ringing his bell, ordered me to be silent :
and in a voice whose tremor betrayed his agitation pro-
nounced my sentence,
" Imprisoyivient ivith hard labour for life."
The Galleys ! * * *
Was this the end of all my dreams of happiness ?— the
galleys ?
I was led out from that court a feeble, tottering old man,
my hair as white as it is now. I was placed in cell No. 23.
The number recalled me for an instant to myself. That
day — the day on which I was sentenced to the galleys for life
— was my twenty-third birthday ! Then for the first time I
sank on the stone floor, and my huge grief found vent in
tears.
*******
I pass over the next forty years of my miserable life. I
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 259
was moved from one prison to another until, spent with labour
and worn by sorrow, I was unable to perform even the light
tasks imposed upon me by the leniency of the authorities
under whom I was placed.
The monotony of a prison life has little to relieve it save
rats, and with these I soon learnt to be friendly. Several of
these formerly ferocious animals I taught to play amusing
antics, to fetch and carry : and it was a touching sight
to watch their streaming eyes when, on a Sunday evening
they would sit in a semicircle before me to hear me perform
such airs as I could play on the straws which the gaoler
had allowed me to pull out of my mattress, and which I had
contrived to fashion into a kind of flageolet for this particular
purpose.
All that prisoners have ever done for amusement I did. I
watched spiders without any beneficial result ; I taught
blackbeetles a sort of alphabet, and shared half of my allow-
ance of water daily with a pale blue flower that had somehow
struck root in the grating of my window. Since the first day
of my incarceration I had never once mentioned the dreaded
Barrow of Bordeaux, and for a long time even the name and
the circumstances seemed to have disappeared from my
memory. Once, and once only, on what I believed to be my
fiftieth birthday, I had even hinted at it, and then it was to
the kind and affable gaoler who used often to stop and chat
with me upon what was going on outside.
The effect upon him was that of a pistol-shot. He struck
his forehead, and, waiving me from him with his other hand,
rushed out of my cell. The next day a new attendant
S 2
26o THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
waited upon me — a black man who did not understand either
French or EngUsh— and I never saw my friendly gaoler
again.
Fatal to myself and my friends, I determined from that
moment to bury the hated name in oblivion.
How I contrived to escape from the fortress of F I
dare not mention here, lest some might be alive whom this
information would incriminate. Enough that I escaped.
Enough that a rusty nail, the prison flower which turned out
to be a creeper, and my counterpane torn to rags, served me
on this occasion.
On dropping from the rock I signalled to a large vessel
which was flying the British colours ; their boat put out to
sea, rowed by four stout hearts, who reached me just as I
was sinking for the third time and the guns from the bastion
were giving notice of the escape of a convict.
When I next awoke to consciousness it was in a luxurious
berth. A trim ship's steward stood by my side.
" Where am I .'"' I inquired, first in French, then in
English.
" Safe aboard, Sir," was the answer.
" Aboard what ? "
Imagine the tremendous start of pleasure and surprise that
I gave when he replied.
" Aboard the yacht Clotilde."
" Clotilde ! '" I shouted.
" Clotilde," he answered, calmly, " Schooner-rigged, 200
tons ; owner, Sir Charles Denmont."
CHAPTER VII.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
FELL back on my pillow, staring at him in blank
astonishment. Then I begged him to repeat his
information. He did so, apparently annoyed at
my seeming doubt of his veracity. I thanked him,
and, having drank off the mixture which he proffered me, I
turned round on my side, and, laying my aching head against
the snowy white pillow, was soon fast asleep — the soothing
effect, perhaps, of the drink.
But one thought was with me, dreaming or waking — grati-
tude for my escape, and, above all, for my being housed on
board my own yacht Clotilde, which I had never seen since
the day of her purchase.
" Yes," I murmured in my sleep, so they told me after-
wards, " Clotilde, two hundred tons. Sir Charles Barrow,"
But here, at last, thank Heaven, that most fatal word fell
harmlessly on English ears. I had no difficulty in proving
my identity to the Captain's satisfaction. He was a thorough
seaman, and, consequently superstitious. Fortunately, his
superstition was in this instance rightly directed ; for he had
consulted an astrologer, who had foretold my reappearance
at the very place and hour when I was providentially picked
up by my own men, in my own yacht. Captain Bomer was
262 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
a veteran of seventy, as hale and hearty as when he first took
charge of the Clotilde.
From him I learnt that during my absence my horse had
•won the Derby nearly half a century ago ; that Sir Charles
Denmont, my uncle, had carefully nursed the property which
I had purchased in England, and on his death had trans-
mitted it into the hands of certain honest trustees, who had
so improved the estate for my benefit that when I arrived to
claim my own I found myself in receipt of ^500,000 per
annum. These excellent trustees had also kept up my yacht,
inspecting it once every year, and sending the captain on
voyages of discovery in search of me, voyages which he
turned to account by acquiring vast domains in Africa,
America, and the north of Europe. To my delight and
amazement, I ascertained that my name was the first on the
commercial list in every capital of Europe, while the impetus
that I had given to trade in all quarters, and my valuable
assistance (that is, the valuable assistance rendered by my
agents) in repressing the slave trade had earned for me the
appellation of the Liberator of the Negroes.
At sixty-three I was recommencing life in my own
country.
For seven years I pursued the even tenour of my way, and
raised a handsome mausoleum to the memory of my uncle,
the late Sir Charles, whose title I had inherited. I gave out
that I had travelled far and wide, and, having lost my way
in Central Africa, had been unable to retrace my steps. This
satisfied all inquiries, and my profuse liberality stifled all
impertinent curiosity, I stood for Parliament, and gained
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 263
the day triumphantly. Then, as you know, I married a
young lady of noble descent and of truly noble qualities both
of head and heart. The passion of love had died years since
in my breast, it was revived in the person of our only child,
whom I called Clotilde. My wife objected to this name at
first ; but, being accustomed to indulge my whims (as she
playfully called them), at last cheerfully consented. On the
occasion of the christening I presented Lady Denmont with
a set of jewels worth ^50,000. The child's coral was a
monarch's ransom.
At the end of this seven years the old curiosity got the
better of me. Without here dwelling on my reasons — for I
hasten towards the end — I determined to learn, before it was
too late, the cause of the infamous persecution to which I
had been subjected.
One morning, bidding my wife and child farewell, I set
sail, and before night the yacht Clotilde was anchored off
Boulogne.
In company with my skipper, on whose discretion I could
implicitly rely, I visited all the lowest haunts of the town,
and, employing the greatest caution, prosecuted my inquiries
with regard to the two men Caspar and Martin. I offered
rewards in secret, and at least one hundred Caspars and two
hundred Martins responded to my invitation. They were of
all ages and from all parts of France, but none of them were
the Caspar and the Martin I wanted.
The town, too, had so totally changed that it was with the
greatest difficulty I recognized my own house (now a hotel) ;
while in an extensive, gaudy-looking restauration I fancied I
254 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
saw sometliing that reminded me of the once noble mansion
of the Comte de Champvilliers. The latter name was un-
known in the place, but an old soldier with whom I was con-
versing one day informed me that he remembered having
served in Algeria under a colonel of that name, whose daughter
had, years before, entered a convent, and who himself died
nobly in battle.
After spending a month in these fruitless investigations,
I was about to embark for England, when one fine night, as
I was standing, smoking my cigar, on the pier— and what
memories the curling smoke called up before me ! — my
attention was attracted by a woman in the picturesque cos-
tume of a Boulogne fisherwoman. She was standing on
the beach below, listlessly throwing pebbles into the sea.
I leant over, watching her. It was my fate that she
should interest me. It was my fate that, half unconsciously,
I murmured to myself, " Shall I never know it ? . . . .
What mystery was hidden in the Barrow of"
A soft voice took up my broken sentence. It uttered the
word " Bordeaux."
The voice came from the gipsy girl below. She looked up,
and our eyes met. Hastily descending, I joined her on the
beach.
" Here at last," she said, dreamily.
" Here at last," I replied.
She placed her finger on her lips and turned towards the
steps leading up to the town.
" Come," she said ; " I have waited for you. Follow me."
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SECRET OF A LIFE.— THE CRONE'S REPARATION.
STORM which had long been threatening now
broke over our heads. The hghtning played
fiercely in the heavens, and one fearful flash
struck the pavement at my feet and ran along the
gutters, now swollen with the torrents of rain. Suddenly we
paused, as if for shelter, under an archway. Not for shelter ;
no, though that we partially obtained. But now, as the awful
thunder-clap which had succeeded the deadly flash died
away in the distance, I recognised distinctly the spot where,
half a century before, I had stood with the two men — the
very archway, unchanged, unaltered, that had seen the com-
mencement of all my misery.
*' You are not afraid ? " asked my guide, as she touched a
rusty iron ring in the damp stone wall.
" I am an Englishman," I replied ; " and were I not, I am
seventy-two years of age, weak, and unarmed."
" True," she replied, pressing back the ring, and discover-
ing a low doorway, beyond which was a steep flight of stairs.
" Follow me. Ascend."
My eyes gradually becoming accustomed to the obscurity,
I climbed the narrow staircase, which trembled beneath us
at every step. With a heavy clang the door closed behind
266 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
me, and on looking back I could see no sign of the place
where I had so recently entered.
Up, up, up, in a fetid, dank atmosphere, such light as
came through the chinks and crannies of the walls showing
the abject squalor of the miserable dwelling-place, if such
it could by any possibility be for any human creature.
" We are here," said my guide, stopping before a door, at
which she knocked three times.
A faint voice from within bade us enter.
The girl motioned me to pass in before her. I
did so, and she, shutting the door after me, remained
outside.
In a low garret, whose utter wretchedness, in keeping with
what I had already seen, was rendered more apparent by
the dim light of a candle, which flickered and guttered in
the draughts, lay on a truckle-bed — if bed it could be called
— an old crone, whose pinched and sharpened features, and
thin, bony arms and palsied hands, stretched out on the
ragged coverlet, told of the last stage of famine and
disease.
Her eyes were fixed upon me with a glassy stare, as if
death were already setting them at rest for ever.
Feebly, and with the utmost difficulty she spoke, while her
breath came labouring slowly and heavily.
" I have sought you long," she said, " and I thank Heaven
that I shall not die without doing the one act of reparation
which alone remains in my power."
A fearful paroxysm of coughing ensued. After giving her
some water, which I held to her lips in a small cracked
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 267
earthenware cup, she summoned up strength for a fresh
effort, and continued,
" My time on earth is short. Swear to me that what I
shall reveal to you of . , . of . . . the" She
seemed to struggle convulsively with the words which came
to her tongue. I knew what she would have said, and
whispered in her ear,
"The Barrow of" .
" Hush ! " she murmured, as if fearful, even there, of
being overheard, while a shudder passed through her ema-
ciated frame. The storm, which had subsided for a while,
now recommenced again with redoubled violence. The room
swayed to and fro, as though lashed by the Atlantic waves,
and, as the planks and rafters cracked and bulged above
and around me, I feared lest the next moment should witness
the fall of the tottering ruin, which at every blast threatened
to bury us in his own destruction.
" Speak," I cried, " ere it is yet too late."
" I will," she replied, faintly ; then, rousing herself with
the last energy of death, she clutched me with her withered
hand, " Swear that with what I shall reveal you will never
injure those whom I place in your power ! "
" I swear it ! "
" Swear that, except for justice, you will not breathe the
names of those whom "
She gasped for breath. I intimated that I understood her
meaning, and gave her my solemn promise.
"And for her — for my daughter" — she whispered, " you
will provide . . . you will . . .for you are rich . .
268 THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
you will give her sufficient money to enable her to leave this
detested country ! " I said I would ; but she continued,
energetically, " No, no ! When I am gone, you may forget.
. . . Give it now,"
I assured her that I had nothing about me but a small
sum in English money. Suddenly remembering my cheque-
book, which I carried in my pocket-book, I tore out a leaf,
and with my ink-pencil wrote a draught on my bankers at
Boulogne for a hundred thousand francs.
" Give it her now — quick — quick ! " she cried, hoarsely.
I opened the door and roused the girl, who had fallen
asleep on the landing.
" Your mother bids me give you this," I said.
"The price?" she asked; then added, "Good!" and
placed the paper in her bosom.
Once again I placed myself by the bedside. The miserable
crone, exhausted by her efforts, was fast sinking. I leant
over her and said, distinctly, in her ear,
" The secret — now."
I fell back horrified, as, like a galvanised corpse, she raised
herself suddenly on her elbow, and, seizing the candle in her
right hand, held it high above her head.
" Quick ! " she gasped. " The saw — the rope . . . there
at your feet."
I looked down, and picked up a small carpenter's saw and
a piece of rope. I had not noticed them before.
" Hold them," she continued, fiercely, stretching herself
out towards me, her eyes glaring like those of a wild beast,
and her whole body trembling with the fearful frenzy of what
THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX. 269
I knew now must be her last agony. " So . . . kneel, man —
kneel ! "
Unhesitatingly I knelt. A terrific blast shook the rafters,
and I heard a crash above me as of a falling roof She
heeded it not.
" Now," she cried. " You who would know why Caspar
. . . why Martin . . . both dead, oh, Keaven ! both dead !
. . . why they led you on to your doom . . . listen ! "
I bent my head forward eagerly to catch every word.
She continued, " They told you the name ... ha ! ha !
. . . they told you, as you thought, all . . . But you have
now to learn — and from me — from mc — Heaven forgive me !
. . . from me that the Barrow ..."
She paused. " Speak ! " I urged her, clenching my hands
wildly, as the perspiration rolled in beads from off my fore-
head.
"The Barrow of Bordeaux was — was .... Ah!" With
a fearful scream she threw her amis up in the air . . .
the candle dropt from her grasp . . . and as an awfully
vivid flash of lightning tore the roof above us and passed
through the room, followed by a sharp, crackling report, as
of a platoon of musketry . . she fell backwards on the pillow
. . . dead !
*****
My friend, the secret perished with her.
It was past ten the next morning before I regained the
yacht, and we were well out to sea before I bethought me of
the draught for a hundred thousand francs which I had given
the day when we put back, and I at once made inquiries at
270 • THE BARROW OF BORDEAUX.
the bank. It had been paid in coin early that morning,
and, as no signature was necessary, there was no evidence
by which to trace its recipient.
From that day to this I have never heard one word more
which could enlighten me on this painful subject. The mys-
tery remains unsolved. If anyone now living can unravel it,
let him communicate with you, my dear friend, in the first
place, to whom I give full permission for the publication of
this extraordinary narrative. This only will I add, not as an
inducement, but as a token of the value at which I shall
estimate any service rendered me in this matter, that a sum
of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, now lying at
Messrs. . . . and one of the finest estates in Virginia, will
be the reward given to anyone who may be able to reveal to
me, fully and entirely, the terrible secret involved in the
words which I now write for the last time, The Barrow of
Bordeaux.
THE END.
BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
DATE DUE
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GAYLCRD
PRINTED IN U S A.
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