B 3 SMT 640 ">-^ Price Twenty Cents. HA^PEF^S ' HALF-Houf^ Series. THE JILT. ^ NotJel. By CHARLES READE, ACTHOR OF "a woman-hater," "HARD CASH," " PUT V0CR3ELP IX HIS PLACE," ETC. ILLUSTRATED, r Copyright, 1977, by Harpek & BwJTHEE?. Mkya /3i/3Xtov ixsya kukov. — Caltimachus- MiKpov j3il3\iov l-isya dya^ov. — Converse. HARPER'S HALF-HOUR SERIES. NOTICES OF THE PRESS. Harper & Brothers have placed all of us under obli- gatiou to them for their niiique and charming "Half- Hour Series " of books. The books are miniature affairs, with gray paper covers, for convenient hand- ling during travel. Nothing could be better than these books are in size, style, and contents for the traveller's use. — X. F. Evetiing Post. Pretty and tasteful.— -Sa<. Evening Gazette, Boston. Deserves to be the hit of the season.— Christian Union, N. Y. It is difficnlt to see how the end aimed at could be better hit, if the future numbers are so well selected as these.— Utica Herald, N. Y. The handy size of these little volumes, the beautiful style in which they are printed, and the merely nomi- nal price at which they are offered, can not help mak- ing the "Half-Hour Series" a success.— Boston Tran- script. This new essay in the province of book-making de- serves sincere approval.— Cfticajro Tribune. Harper's Half- Hour SeruiS. 1. THE TURKS IN EUROPE. By Edward A. FuEEMAN. 15 cents. 2-3. TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. Wy Charles and Mauy Lamb. Comedies, 25 cents. Tragedies, 25 cents. 4. THOMPSON HALL. By Anthony Trol- LOPE. Illustrated. 20 cents. 5. WHEN THE SHIP COMES HOME. By Walter Besant and James Rice. 25 cents. 6. THE LIFE, TIMES, AND CHARACTER OF OLIVER CROMWELL. By the Right Hon. E. H. Knatchbdll-Hugessen, M.P. 20 cts. EPOCHS OF ENGLISH HISTORY, a Se- ries of Books narrating the History of Eng- land at Successive Epochs. Edited by the Rev. M. Creighton, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor of Merton College, 0.\ford : 7. EARLY ENGLAND, up to the Nor- man Conquest. By Fredekick Yokk- PowELL. With Four Maps. 25 cents. 8. ENGL A N D A CONTINENTA L POWER, from the Conquest to Magna Charta, lOCO-Tilfi. By Louise Creigh- ton. With a Mai). 25 cents. Harper's Half-Hour Series. EPOCHS OF ENGLISH HISTORY—Con- timied. 9. RISE OF THE PEOPLE, and Growth of Parliament, from the Great Charter to the Accession of Henry VII., 1215-1486. By James Rowley, M.A. With Four Maps. 25 cents. 10. THE TUB OPS AND THE REFOR- MATION 1485-1603. By M. Creigh- TON, M.A. With Three Maps. 25 cents. 11. THE STRUGGLE AGAINST AB- SOLUTE MONARCHY. 1603-1688. By Bertha Meriton Cordery. With Two Maps. 25 cents. 12. THE SETTLEMENT OF THE CON STITUTION, from 1688 to 17V8. By James Rowley, M.A. {In Preparation.) 13. ENGLAND DURING THE AMER- ICAN AND EUROPEAN WARS, from 1778 to. 1820. By 0. W. Tancock, M.A. {In Preparation.) 14. MODERN ENGLAND, from 1820 to 1875. By T. Arnold, M.A. {In Prepa- ration.) THE JILT. ^ ^orel. By CHARLES READE, AUTHOR OF "A WOMAN-HATEE, " "HARD CASH," "PUT YOURSELF IN HIS PLACE," ETC. ILLUSTRATED. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHER! FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1877. THE JILT.-A YARK ^5S R2&S PART I. It was a summer afternoon ; the sun shone mellow upon the south sands of Tenby ; the clear blue water sparkled to the horizon, and each rip- ple, as it came ashore, broke into diamonds. This amber sand, broad, bold, and smooth as the turf at Lord's — and, indeed, wickets are often pitched on it — has been called "Nature's finest promenade ;" yet, owing to the attraction of a flower show, it was now paraded by a single fig- ure — a tall, straight, well-built young man, rath- er ruddy, but tanned and bronzed by weather; shaved smooth as an egg, and his collar, his tie, and all his dress very neat and precise. He held a deck glass, and turned every ten yards, though he had a mile to promenade. These signs de- noted a good seaman. Yet his glass swept the land more than the water, and that is not like a sailor. This incongruity, however, was soon explained and justified. There hove in sight a craft as attractive to ev- iv'r?R">Kioi 8 ery true tar, from an admiral of the red to the boatswain's mate, as any cutter, schooner, brig, bark, or ship ; and bore down on him, with col- ors flying alow and aloft. Lieutenant Greaves made all sail toward her, for it was Ellen Ap Rice, the loveliest girl in Wales. He met her with glowing cheeks and sparkling eyes, and thanked her warmly for coming. " In- deed you may," said she : " when I promised, I forgot the flower show." " Dear me," said he, " what a pity ! I would not have asked you." " Oh," said she, " never mind ; I shall not break my heart; but it seems so odd you wanting me to come out here, when you are always welcome at our house, and papa so fond of you." Lieutenant Greaves endeavored to explain. '' Why, you see. Miss Ap Rice, I'm expecting my sailing orders down, and before I go, I want — And the sight of the sea gives one courage." " Not always ; it gave me a fit of terror the last time I was on it." " Ay, but you are not a sailor ; it gives vw courage to say more than I dare in your own liouse ; you so beautiful, so accomplished, so ad- mired, I am afraid you will never consent to throw yourself away upon a seaman." THE JILT. 9 Ellen arched her brows. " "What are you say- ing, Mr. Greaves? Why, it is known all over Tenby that I renounce the military, and have vowed to be a sailor's bride." By this it seems there were only two learned professions recognized by the young ladies — at Tenby. "Ay, ay," said Greaves, "an admiral, or that sort of thing." " Well," said the young lady, " of course he would have to be an admiral — eventually. But they can not be born admirals." At this stage of the conversation she preferred not to look Lieu- tenant Greaves, R.N., in the face ; so she wrote pot-hooks and hangers on the sand, with her par- asol, so carefully that you would have sworn they must be words of deepest import. " From a lieutenant to an admiral is a long way," said Greaves, sadly. " Yes," said she, archly, " it is as far as from Tenby to Valparaiso, where my cousin Dick sail- ed to last year — such a handsome fellow! — and there's Cape Horn to weather. But a good deal depends on courage, and perseverance." In ut- tering this last remark she turned her eye askant a moment, and a flash shot out of it that lighted the sailor's bonfire in a moment. " Oh, Miss Ap Rice, do I understand you ? Can I be 10 THE JILT. !=o fortunate ? If courage, perseverance, and devotion can win you, no other man shall ever — You must have seen I love you." "It would be odd if I had not," said Ellen, blushing a little, and smiling slyly. " Why, all Tenby has seen it. You don't hide it under a bushel." The young man turned red. " Then I dese^^•e a round dozen at the gangway, for being so in- delicate." "No, no," said the young Welshwoman, gener- ously. " Why do I prefer sailors ? Because they are so frank and open and artless and brave. Why, Mr. Greaves, don't you be stupid; your open admiration is a compliment to any girl; and I am proud of it, of course," said she, gen- tly. " God bless you !" cried the young man. " Now I wish we were at home, that I might go down on my knees to you, without making you the town-talk. Sweet, lovely, darling Ellen, will you try and love me ?" "Humph! If I had not a great esteem for you, should I be here ?" " Ay, but I am asking for more," said Greaves: " for your atTcction, ami your promise to wait for me till I am more than a lieutenant. I dare not ask for your hand till I am a post-cajjtain at THE JILT. 11 least. Ellen, sweet Ellen, may I put this on your dear finger ?" " Why, it is a ring. No. What for ?" " Let me put it on, and then I'll tell you." *' I declare, if he had not got it ready on pur- pose !" said she, laughing, and was so extremely amused that she quite forgot to resist, and he whipped it on in a trice. It was no sooner on than she pulled a grave face, and demanded an explanation of this singular conduct. " It means we are engaged," said he, joyfully, and flung his cap into the air a great height, and caught it. "A trap!" screamed she. "Take it off this instant." " Must I ?" said he, sadly. " Of course you must." And she crooked her finger instead of straightening it. " It won't come off," said he, with more cun- ning than one would have expected. " No more it will. Well, I must have my fin- ger amputated the moment I get home. But mind, I am not to be caught by such artifices. You must ask papa." "So I will," cried Greaves, joyfully. Then, upon reflection : " He'll wonder at my impu- dence." " Oh no," said Ellen, demurely ; " you know he 12 THE JILT. is mayor of the town, and has the drollest appli- cations made to him at times. Ha ! ha !" " How shall I ever break it to him '?" said Greaves. " A lieutenant !" " Why, a lieutenant is a gentleman ; and arc you not related to one of the First Lords of the Admiralty ?" "Yes. But he won't put me over the heads of my betters. All that sort of thing is gone by." " You need not say that. Say you are cousin to the First Lord, and then stop. That is the way to talk to a mayor. La, look at me, telling him what to say — as if I cared. There, now — here comes that tittling-tattling Mrs. Dodslcy, and her whole brood of children and nurses. She sha'n't see what I am doing ;" and Miss Ap Rice march- ed swiftly into Merlin's Cave, settled her skirts, and sat down on a stone. "Oh !" said she, with no great appearance of agitation, " what a goose I must be! This is the last place I ought to have come to; this is where the lovers interchange their vows — the silly things." This artless speech — if artless it was — brought the man on his knees to her with such an out- burst of honest passion and eloquent love that her cooler nature was moveil as it had never been be- fore. She was half frightened, but Hattercd and touched : she shed a tear or two, and, though she ij, |i ' 1 1 — ' .III I II hill ilihliiuilllhliihlllllllliiilil 1' A 15 drew away the hand he was mumbling, and said he oughtn't, and he mustn't, there was nothing very discouraging in her way, not even when she stopped her ears and said, " You should say all this to papa," As if one could make as hot love to the mayor in his study as to the mayor's daughter in Merlin's Cave. She was coy, and would not stay long in Mer- lin's Cave after this, but said nothing about going home ; so they emerged from the cave, and stroll- ed toward Giltar Point. Suddenly there issued from the Sound, and burst upon their sight, a beautiful yacht, 1.50 tons or so, cutter-rigged, bowling along before the wind thirteen knots an hour, sails white as snow and well set, hull low and shapely, wire rigging so slim it seemed of whip-cord or mermaids' hair. "Oh, Arthur!" cried Ellen. "What a beau- ty!" " And so she is," said he, heartily. " Bless you for calling me 'Arthur.' " " It shpped out — by mistake. Come to the Cas- tle Hill. I must see her come right in — Arthur." Arthur took Ellen's hand, and they hurried to the Castle Hill ; and, as they went, kept turning their heads to watch the yacht's mana?uvres ; for a sailor never tires of observing how this or that craft is handled ; and the arrival of a first-class B 16 THE JILT. yaclit in those fair but uneventful waters was very exciting to Ellen Ap Rice. The cutter gave 8t. Catherine's Rock a wide berth, and ran out well to the Woolhouse Reef ; then hauled up and stood on the port tack, head- ing for her anchorage ; but an eddy wind from the North Cliffs caught her, and she broke off; so she stood on toward Monkstone Point ; then came about "with her berth well under her lee, mistress of the situation, as landsmen say. Arthur kept explaining her mananivres and the necessity for them, and, when she came about, said she was well-behaved — had forereached five times her length — and was smartly handled too. "Oh yes," said Ellen; "a most skillful cap- tain, evidently." This was too hasty a conclusion for the sober Greaves. " Wait till we see him in a cyclone, with all his canvas on that one stick, or working off a lee shore in a nor'wester. Rut he can han- dle a cutter in fair weather and fresh-water, that is certain." " Fresh-water!" saiil Ellen. " How dare you ? And don't mock people. I can't get enough fresh-water in Tenby to wash my hands." " What, do you want them w/utrr than snow ?" said (Jreaves, gloating on them undisguised. *' Arthur, behave, and lend me the glass." TIIE JILT. 17 " There, dearest." So then she inspected the vessel, and he in- spected the white hand that held the glass. It was a binocular ; for even seamen nowadays sel- dom use the short telescope of other days ; what might be called a very powerful opera-glass has taken its place, " Goodness me !" screamed Ellen. The con- struction of which sentence is referred to peda- gogues. " What is the matter ?" " The captain is a blackamoor." Having satisfied herself of the revolting fact by continued inspection, she handed the glass to Greaves. " See if he isn't," said she. Greaves looked through the glass, and took leave to contradict her. " Blackamoor ! not he. It is worse. It is a gentleman — that ought to know better — with a beastly black beard right down to his waistband." " Oh, Arthur, how horrid ! and in such a pretty ship !" Greaves smiled indulgently at her calling a cut- ter a " ship ;" but her blunders were beauties, he was so in love with her. She took the glass again, and looked and talked at the same time. " I wonder what has brought him in here ?" 18 THE JILT. *' To look for a barber, I should hope." " Arthur — suppose we were to send out the new hair-dresser to him ? Would it npt be fuu ? Uh ! —oh!— oh!" " What is it now ?" " A boat going out to him. Well, I declare — a boatful of dignitaries." " Mercy on us !" " Yes ; I see papa, and I see the secretary of the Cambrian Club, and another gentleman — a deputation, I do believe. No — how stupid I am ! Why, the new arrival must be Mr. Laxton, that wrote and told papa he was coming; lie is the son of an old friend, a ship-builder. I'apa is sure to ask him to dinner; and /ask tjou. Do come. He will be (piite a lion." *' I am very unfortunate. Can't possibly come to-day. (lot to dine on board the ITfltmor, and meet the Prince ; name down ; no getting off." " Oh, what a pity ! It would have been so nice ; you and Captain Laxton together." "Captain Laxton? Who is heV" " Why, the gentleman with the beard." *' Hang it all, don't call him a captain." "Not when he has a ship of his own ?" "So has a collier, and the masfer of a fishing higger. Hcsidcs, these swells are only fair-weath- er skippers ; there's always a sailing-master aboard TILE JILT. 19 their vessels that takes the command if it blows a capful of wind." " Indeed ! then I despise them. But I am sor- T}\yoic can't come, Arthur." " Are you really, love ?" " You know I am." " Then that is all I care for. A dandy yachts- man is no lion to me." "We ought- to go home now," said Ellen, "or we shall not have time to dress." He had not only to dress, but to drive ten miles ; yet he went with her to her very door. He put the time to profit ; he got her to promise every thing short of marrying him without papa's con- sent, and, as she was her father's darling, and in reality ruled him, not he her, that obstacle did not seem insurmountable. That evening the master of the yacht dined at the mayor's, and was the lion of the evening. His face was rather handsome, what one could see of it, and his beard manly. He had travelled and cruised for years, and kept his eyes and ears open ; had a great flow of words, quite a turn for narrative, a ready wit, a seductive voice, and an infectious laugh. His only drawback was a rest- less eye. Even that he put to a good use by be- ing attentive to every body in turn. He was ev- 20 THE JILT. idently charmed with Ellen Ap Rice, but showed it ill a well-bred way, and did not alarm her. She was a lovely girl, and accustomed to be openly admired. Next day Arthur called on her, and she told him every thing, and seemed sorry to have had any pleasure he had not a share in. " He made himself wonderfully agreeable," said she, " espe- cially to papa ; and, oh ! if you had seen how his beard wagged when he laughed — ha ! lia ! And, what do you think, the ' Cambrians' have lost no time; they have shot him flying, invited him to their Bachelors' Ball. Ah, Arthur, the tirst time you and I ever danced together was at that ball, a year ago. I wonder whether you remember? Well, he asked me for the first round dance." "Confound his impudence! ^Vhat did you say?" " I said ' No ;' I was engaged to the Royal Xavy." " Dear girl. And that shut him up, I hope." " Dear me, no. lie is too good-humored to Ijo cross because a strange girl was bespoke before he came ; he just laughed, and asked might he follow in its wake." " And you said ' Yes.' " " No, I did not, now. And you need not look so cross, for there would have been no harm if I liad ; but what I did say was not ' yes,' but ' hum,' THE JILT. 21 and I would consult my memoranda. Never you mind who I dance with, Mr. Arthur ; their name is legion. "Wait till you catch 'me parading the sands with the creatures, and catching cold with them in Merlin's Cave." " My own love. Come on the sands now ; it is low water, and a glorious day." " You dear goose !" said Ellen. " What, ask a lady out when it is only one clear day before a ball ? Why, I am invisible to every creature but you at this moment, and even you can only stay till she comes." "She? Who?" " Why, the dress-maker, to be sure. Talk of the — dress-maker, and there's her knock." " Must I go this moment ?" " Oh no. Let them open the door to her first. But of course it is no use your staying while she is here. We shall be hours and hours making up our minds. Besides, we shall be up stairs, try- ing on things. Arthur, don't look so. Why, the ball will be here with awful rapidity ; and I'll dance with you three times out of four ; I'll dance you down on the floor, my sailor bold. I never knew a Welsh girl yet couldn't dance an En- glishman into a cocked hat : now that's vulgar.''^ " Xot as you speak it, love. Whatever comes from your lips is Poetry, I wish you could dance me into a cocked hat and two epaulets ; for it is not in nature nor reason you should ever marry a lieutenant." • " It will be his fault if I don't, then." The door was rattled discreetly, and then open- ed, by old Dewar, butler, footman, and chatter- box of the establishment. " The dress-maker, miss." " Well, let Agnes take her up stairs." " Yes, miss." Greaves thought it Avas mere selfishness to stay any longer now ; so he bade her good-by. But she would not let him go away sad. She tried to console him. " Surely," said she, "you would wish me to look well in public. It is the ball of Tenby. I want you to be proud of your prize, and not find you have captured a dowdy." The woman of society and her reasons failed to comfort Lieutenant Greaves ; so then, as she was not a girl to accept defeat, she tried the woman of nature: she came nearer him, and said, earnestly, "Only one day, Arthur! Spare me the pain of seeing you look unhappy." In saying this, very tenderly, she laid her hand soft- ly on his arm, and turned her lovely face and two beautiful eyes full up to him. A sweet inarticulate sound ensuetl, and he did spare her the i)aiu of seeing him look unhappy ; THE JILT. 23 for he went off flushed and with very sparkling eyes. Surely female logic has been underrated up to the date of this writing. Greaves went away, the happiest lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and content to kill time till the ball day. He dined at the club ; smoked a cigar on the Castle Hill, and entered his lodgings just as the London day mail was delivered. There was a paper parallelogram for him, with a seal as big as the face of a chronometer. Order from the Admiralty to join the Redoubtable at Ports- mouth — for disposal. Private note, by the secre- tary, advising him to lose no time, as he might be appointed flag -lieutenant to the Centaur, admi- ral's ship on the China station, from which quick promotion was sure to follow in the ordinary course of the service. Before he knew Ellen Ap Rice his heart would have bounded with exultation at this bright pros- pect ; but now that heart seemed cut in two ; one half glowed with ambition, the other sickened at the very thought of leaving Ellen, half won. But those who serve the nation may doubt and fear, but have parted with the right to vacillate. There was but one thing to do — start for London by the fast train next morning at 10 a.m. He sent a hurried note to Ellen, by messenger, "24 THE JILT. telling her what had occurred, and imploring an interview. Ills messenger Ijrought him back a prompt reply. Papa was going to Cardiff in the morning on business ; would breakfast at half past eight precisely. He must invite himself to breakast that night, and come at eight. He did so, and Ellen came down directly, with the tear in her eye. They comforted each other, agreed to look on it as a sure step to a creditable union, and^ meantime, lessen the separation by a quick tire of letters. He would write from every port he landed in, and would have a letter for every homeward-bound ship they brought to out at sea, and she would greet him with a letter at every i)ort. When they had duly sealed this compact, the mayor came in, ami tliat kept them butli within bounds. But (Jreaves's prospect of promotion was dis- cussed, and the mayor showeil a paternal inter- est, and said, "Come back to Tenby a captain, and we shall all be proud of you, shall we not, Nelly?" When a father says so much as that to a young fellow who has been openly courting his daugh- ter, it hardly bears two meanings ; and Greaves went away, brave and buoyant, and the sting takeu out of the inopportune parting. THE JILT. 25 He was soon at Portsmouth, and aboard the Redoubtable. He was appointed flag-lieutenant on board the Centaur, then lying at ^pithead, bound on a two years' voyage. Under peculiar circumstances she was to touch at Lisbon, Madeira, and the Cape ; but her destination was Hong-Kong, where she was to lie for some time in command of the station. Xext morning a letter from Ellen ; he kissed it devotedly before he opened it. After some kind things, that were bahii to him, she seemed to gravitate toward that great event in a girl's life, the ball : " I did so miss you, dear ; and that impudent Mr. Laxton had the first dance — for of course I never thought of putting any body in your place — but he would not give up the second any more for that. He said I had promised. Oh, and he asked me if I would honor his yacht with my presence, and he would take me a cruise round Sunday Island. I said, ' Xo ; I was a bad sailor.' ' Oh,' said he, ' we will wait for a soldier's wind.' What is a ' soldier's wind ?' When I would not consent, he got papa by himself, and papa con- sented directly for both of us. I can not bear such impudent men that will not take a 'no.' " Arthur wrote back very affectionately, but made a point of her not sailing in Laxton's yacht. It was not proper ; nor prudent. The wind might 26 TIIE JILT. fall ; the yacht be out all night ; and, in any case, the man was a stranger, of whom they knew noth- ing, but that his appearance was wild and disrep- utable, and that he was a mere cruiser and a man of pleasure. He hoped his Ellen would make this little sacrifice to his feelings. This was his one remonstrance. Ellen replied to it : " You dear, jealous goose, did you think I would go on board his yacht the only lady ? Of course there was a large party; and you should have seen the Miss Frumps, and that Agnes IJarker, how they flung themselves at his head ; it was disgusting. But don't you worry about the man, dear. I am sorry I told you. We were back to ilinner." Then the fair writer went oil' to other things; but there was a postscript : "Captain Laxton has called to bid good-by, and his beautiful yacht is just sailing out of the roads." As what little interest there is in this part of the story centres in Miss Ap Kice's letters, I will just say that (Jreaves had one from her at Lisbon which gave him unmixed pleasure. It was long and kind, though not so gay as usual. As for this Laxton, he appeared to have faded out en- tirely, for siie never mentioned his name. THE JILT. 27 At Madeira Greaves received a letter shorter and more sprightly. In a postscript she said : *' Who do you thiuk has fallen down from the clouds? That Mr. Laxton, without his yacht. We asked hina what had become of her. ' Con- demned,' said he, solemnly. ' In the Levant, a Greek brig outsailed her ; in the Channel here, a French lugger lay nearer the wind. After that, no more cutters for me.' We think he is a little cracked. That odious Agnes Barker will not let him alone. I never saw such a shameless flirt." The ship lay eight days at Madeira, and on the seventh day he received another letter, begging him to come home as soon as possible, for she was subject to downright persecution from Cap- tain Laxton ; and her father was much too easy. For the first time in her life she really felt the need of a protector. This letter set Greaves almost wild. She want- ed him back to protect her now, and he bound for the East, and could not hope to see her for two years. Nothing for it but to pace the deck and rage internally. Xo fresh advices possible before the Cape. He couldn't sleep, and tliis operated cu- riously : he passed for a supernaturally vigilant lieutenant. There was a commander on board, a sprig of 28 THE J ILL nobility, a charming fellow, but rather an easy- going olficei- ; he used to wonder at Greaves, and, having the admiral's ear, praised him for a mod- el. " The beggar never sleeps at all," said he. " 1 thiidv he will kill himself." " lie will be the only one of ye," growled the admiral. But he took notice of Greaves — all the more that a Lord of the Admiralty, who was his personal friend, had said a word for him in one of those meek postscripts which mean so much when written by the hand of power. At last they reached the Cape, and dropped anchor. The mail-boat came out with letters. There was none for Greaves. No letter at all ! The deck seemed to rise un- der him, and he had to hold on by the forcbraces ; and even that was as much as lu? could do, being somewhat weakened by sleepless nights. Several otticers came round him, and the ship's surgeon applied salts and brandy, and he recovered, but looked very wild. Then the surgeon atlvised him to go ashore for a change. Leave was granteil innnediatcly, and the second lieutenant went with him good-naturedly enough. They made inqui- ries, and fouiul another mail was due in two days. They took up their (piarters at a hotel, and there Greaves was so wretched, and his companion so THE JILT. 29 sympathetic, that at last the tormented lover made a confidant of him. " Oh, it will be all right," said the other. " Why should she want you home, if she liked that lubber?" " I don't know," said poor Greaves. " The last letter was not like her — such a high-spirited girl ; and it looked as if he was getting her into his power. If he has, all the worse for both of us ; for the day I catch him I shall kill him." Next day the mail came in ; and as Greaves had left his address at the post-office, a letter was brought him, all wetted and swollen with rain, the boy having carried it without the least attempt to protect it from a thick drizzle that enveloped the town that day. Greaves tore it open. It was fatally short. This is every syllable of it : "Forget one unworthy of you. I can resist no longer. I am fascinated. I am his slave, and must follow him round the world. Perhaps he will revenge you. " Dear Arthur, I did not mean to deceive. I am but young ; I thought I loved you as you de- serve. Pray, pray forgive me. E." Suspense, the worst of all our tortures, was 30 THE JILT. over ; the l)lo\v had fallen. Arthur Greaves was a man again. " Yes, I forgive you, my poor girl," he groaned. "But" (with sudden fury) "I'll kill /am." He told his friend it was all over, and e\'en gave him the letter. "It is not her fault," he sobbed. " The fellow has cast a spell over her. No more about it, or I should soon go mad." And, from that hour, he endured in silence, and checked all return to the subject very sternly. But his friend talked, and told the other officers how Greaves had been jilted, and was breaking his heart ; and he looked so ghastly pale that alto- gether he met with much honest sympathy. Tlie very admiral was sorry, in his way. He had met him in the street, looking like a ghost, and his uniform hanging loose on him, his stalwart form was so shrunk. " Confound the women !" growl- eite of his beard, lifted her veil for one moment, and showed him the face of Ellon Ap Rice — that face he had loved so well, and suffered so cruelly for loving it. That face was now pale and eloquent l>cyond the power of words. There was self-reproach, a pray- er for forgiveness, and, stranger still, a prayer to that injured friend — for iiklp. t)9 PART III. The boat proceeded on her way. Ellen point- ed to windward, and said, " See, Edward, the dark line is ever so much nearer us." Laxton turned his head to windward directly, and some remarks passed between him and Castor. Ellen had counted on this ; she availed herself of it to whip a letter out of her pocket, and write in pencil an address upon the envelope. This she did under a shawl upon her lap. Then she kept quiet, and waited an opportunity to do some- thing more dangerous. But none came. Laxton sat square with her, and could see every open movement of her hand. They were within ten yards of the schooner, and the side manned to receive them. Just then Laxton stood up, and cried out, " For- ward there — stand by to loose the jib." The moment he stood up, Mrs. Laxton whipped the letter out from under her shawl, and held it by her left side, but a little behind her, where nobody could see it, except Castor. She shook it in her fingers very eloquently, to make that offi- cer observe it. Then she leaned a little back, 70 THE JILT. and held it toward him; but, with female adroit- ness, turned it outward in her hand, so that not one of the many eyes in the boat could see it. A moment of agony, and then she felt fingers much larger and harder than hers take it quietly, and convey it stealthily away. Her panting bos- om relieved itself of a sigh. " What is the matter ?" said the watchful Lax- ton. " The matter ? Nothing," said she. *' I hope," said he, " you are not sorry to return to our humble craft ?" " I have seen none to compare with her," said she, fencing boldly, but trembling to herself. The next moment she was on board the schoon- er, and waited to see the boat off, and also to learn, if possible, whether Castor had her letter all safe, and would take it to its address. To her consternation she heard Laxton invite Castor to come on board a moment. She tried to catch Castor's eye, and warn him to do nothing of the kind. But the light-hearted officer assented at once, and was on the quarter-deck next moment. Laxton waved the others to fall back ; but El- len would not leave them together: she wa.s too apprehensive, knowing what she had just done. " I have not the honor of knowing your name, Sir ; mine is Edward Laxton." "Mine is Dick Castor, Sir, at your service, and yours, ma'am." And he took this fair opportu- nity, and gave Ellen a look that made her cheeks burn, for it said, plainly, " Your letter is in safe hands." ' Well, Mr. Castor," said Laxton, " you are the sort I want on board this schooner ; you are a man of nerve. Xow I have never had a sailing- master yet, because I don't need one — I am an enthusiast in navigation, have studied it for years, theoretically and practically — but I want a first lieutenant, a man with nerve. What do you say, now ? Five hundred a year, and a swell uni- form." " Well, Sir, the duds don't tempt me ; but the pay is very handsome, and the craft is a beau- ty." Laxton bowed ceremoniously. " Let me add," said he, gravely, "that she is the forerunner of many such vessels. At present, I believe, she is the only armed yacht afloat ; but, looking at the ispect of Europe, we may reasonably hope some nice little war or other will spring up ; then the Rover can play an honorable, and, indeed, a lu- crative part. My first lieutenant's prize-money svill not be less, I should imagine, than twenty 72 THE JILT. thousand a year ; an agreeable addition to his pay, Sir." " Delightful !" said Castor. " But they some- times hang a privateer at the yard-arm ; so I should be (juite contented with my quiet little five hundred, and peaceful times." " Well, then, tell 'em to sheer ofT, and fetch your traps." " Yes, do, Mr. Castor," said Ellen. " You can send a line, to explain." That was to get her own letter delivered, the sly thing. Castor shook his head. "Sorry to disoblige you, ma'am, and to refuse you. Sir ; but things can't be done that way. A seaman must not de- sert his ship on her voyage. Catch me in port and make the same ofTor, I'll jump mast-high at it.'* " Well," said Laxton, " what port are you to be caught in ?" " Why, it must be London or IIong-Kong. I shall be three months at Hong-Kong." Laxton said he had not intended to cruise so far west as that, but he would take a note of it. " You are worth going a little out of the way for," said he. While he was making his note, " Bang" went a gun from the Phifhc, and she was seen hoisting sail witli great raj)idity ; her rigging swarmed with men. THE JILT. " There, that's for us," said Castor. " Xo hurry. Sir," said Laxton ; " he is going to tack instead of veering ; she'll hang in the wind for half an hour. Forward there — hoist the fly- ing-jib and the foretop-sel. Helm aweather! Veer the ship. Mr. Castor, bid your men hold on. We must not part without a friendly glass." " Oh no," said Ellen. " I will order it." Some of the prime Madeira was immediately brought on deck ; and while they were all three drinking to each other, the impatient Phcuhe fired another gun. But Castor took it coolly ; he knew Laxton was right, and the ship could not come round on the port tack in a hurry. He drank his second glass, shook hands with Laxton, and then with Mrs. Laxton, received once more an el- oquent pressure of her soft hand, and this time returned it, to give her confidence, and looked courage into her eyes, that met his anxiously. Then he put off ; and though the Phcehe was now nearly a mile off, he easily ran alongside her be- fore she paid off and got her head before the wind. His mind was in a troubled state. He was dy- ing to know what this lovely woman, who had fallen in love with him so suddenly, had written to him. But he would not open it right in sight of the schooner and so many eyes. He was a verv loval fellow. 74 THE JILT. At a good distance, lie took it carefully out, and his countenance fell ; for the letter was seal- ed, and addressed, ''Liait. Greaves, 7?.X" Here was a disappointment and a Idow to the little amorous romance which Mr. Castor, who, among his other good qualities, was inflammaMe as tinder, had been constructing ever since the Corsair's bride first drank to him and pressed his hand. He made a terril)ly Avry face, looking at tlie letter: but he said to himself, with a little grunt, " Well, there's nothing lost that a friend gets." As soon as he had boarded the Phabe, and seen the boat replaced on the davits, the good-natured fellow ran down to Greaves's cabin, and found him sitting dejected, with his head down. "Cheer up, Mr. Greaves," cries Castor; "luck is changed. Here is a fair wind, and every rag set, and the loveliest woman I ever clapped eyes on has been and written you a letter ; and there it is." " It is from Iier .'" cried Greaves, and began to open it, all in a tremble. "She is in trouble,' Castor. I saw it in her face." THE JILT. 75 "Trouble ! not she. Schooner Al, and money in both pockets." " Trouble, I tell you ; and great trouble, or she would never have written to nie." By this time he had opened the letter, and was busied in the contents. " It wasn't to me she wrote," he sigh- ed. " How could it be ?" lie read it through, and then handed it to Castor. The letter ran thus : " I have written this in hopes I may be able to give it to some lady on board the Phjehe or to one of the officers, and that something may be done to rescue me, and prevent some terrible misfortune. " My husband is a madman. It is his mania to pass for a pirate, and frighten unarmed ves- sels. Only last week we fell in with a Dutch brig, and he hoisted a black flag with a white death's-head and cross-bones, and fired a shot across the Dutchman's bows. The Dutchman hove to directly, but took to his boats. Then Mr. Laxton thought he had done enough, so he fired a gun to leeward, in token of amity ; but the poor Dutchman did not understand, and the crew pull- ed their boats toward Java Head, full ten miles off, and abandoned their ship. I told him it was too cruel ; but he spoke quite harshly to me, and 76 TIEE JILT. said that lubbers who didn't know the meaning of a gun to leeward had no business afloat. All I could persuade him to was to sail quite away, and let the poor Dutchmen see they could come back to their ship. She could not fly from them, because she was hove to. " He tried this experiment on the Fhcebe, and got the men to join him in it. lie told me every word I was to say to the ofiicer. The three who were put in irons had a guinea apiece for it and double grog. lie only left off because the ofllicer who came on board was such a brave man, and I won his respect directly ; for he is as brave as a 1 lion himself. And that is the worst of it ; if a frigate caught him playing the pirate, and fired at him, he would be sure to fire back, and court destruction. " His very crew are so attached to him, and so highly paid — for he is extremely rich — and sail- ors are so reckless, that I am afraid they would fight almost any body at a distance. But I think if they saw an officer on board in his uniform, and he spoke to them, they would come to their senses ; because they are many of them men-of- war's men. But, indeed, I fear he bribed some of them out of the Queen's ships ; and I don't know what those men might not do, because they are deserters. THE JILT. 77 ' It is my hope and prayer that the captain and officers of the Fhe the last to defy the law. You should set an xample. Sir." This brought that excellent officer to his bear- ags, and he sat down all of a heap and was si- 3nt, but tears of agony came out of his eyes, and ■resently something occurred that made him start p in fury again. For Laxton's quick eye had noticed him and is wild appeals, and he sent down for Mrs. Lax- 3n. When she came up, he said, " My dear, acre's a gentleman on deck who did not break - ist with us. There he sits abaft the mainmast, ooking daggers at us. Do you know him ?" F Ellen started. " Ah, you do know him. Tell me his name." " His name is Arthur Greaves." " What, the same that was spooney on you when I sailed into Tenby Harbor?" "Yes, yes. Pray spare me the sight of thcj man I wronged so wiekedly." " Spare you the sight, you lying devil ! you raised your veil to see him the better.' these words he caught her hastily round the Wi with his powerful arm, and held her in that tionate position while he made his ii-onical adi to the ship he was outsailing. During the above dialogue, the schooner bei directly under the ship's lee, the wind was tak out of the swifter craft's sails, and the two ves- sels hung together a minute ; but soon the schoon- er forged ahead, and glided gradually away, steer- ! ing a more southerly course ; ami still those twcil figures were seen interlaced upon her deck, isl spite of the lady's letter in Greaves's possession, i " The hell of impotence," says an old writer. Poor Grejives suffered that hell all the time tl schooner ran alongside the ship, and nobod; would help him board her, or grapple her, or sinl her. Then was added the hell of jealousy ; hi eyes were blasted and his soul sickened with tl actual picture of his old sweetheart embraced b; THE JILT. 83 her lord and master before all the world. He had her letter, addressed, though not written, to him ; but Laxton had her, and the picture of pos- .session was public. Greaves shook his tist at him with impotent fury, howled impotent curses at him, that every body heard, even the ladies, who had come on deck well pleased, seeing only the surface of things, and were all aghast when Greaves came up all of a sudden, and stormed and raged at what to them was that pretty shift and justly affectionate commander; still more aghast when all this torrent came to a climax, and the strong man fell down in a fit, and was carried, gnashing and foaming and insensible, to his cabin. On board the schooner all was not so rosy as it looked. Mrs. Laxton, quietly imprisoned by an iron hand, and forced into a pictorial attitude of affection quite out of character with her real sen- timents — which at that moment were fear, repug- nance, remorse, and shame — quivered and writhed in that velvet-iron embrace : her cheeks were red, at first, with burning blushes ; but by degrees they became very pale; her lips quivered, and lost all color; and, soon after Greaves was car- ied below, her body began to collapse, and at last she was evidently about to faint; but her changeable husband looked in her face, uttered 84 TIIK JILT. a cry of dismay, and supported her, with a world of tenderness, into the cabin, and laying her on a uofa, recovered her with all the usual expedient-, and then soothed her with the tendercst expn >- sions of solicitude and devotion. It was not the first time his tyranny had emhd in adoration and tenderness. The couple had *hcd many tears of reconciliation : but the finest fabric wears out in time ; and the blest shade of^ Lord Byron must forgive me if I declare that even " Pique her and soothe by turns" may lose its charm by what Shakspeare calls "damna- ble iteration." The reader, indeed, might gather as much from Mrs. Laxton's reply to her hus- band's gushing tenderness. " There — there — I know you love me, in your way ; and, if you do, plea.sc leave me in peace, for I am quite worn out." " Queen of my soul, your lightest word is a command," said the now chivalrous spouse; im- pressed a delicate kiss upon her brow, and re- tired, backward, with a gaze of veneration, as from the presence of his sovereign. This sentiment of excessive veneration did not, ■ however, last twenty-four hours. He thought the j matter over, and early next morning he brouglit ' a paint-pot into the cabin, and having stiniij some of hiij wife's mille-fleur into it, proceo Captain Blnh, and many others. No, I shall lirt- across the bows of the first homeward-bound — " Mrs. Laxton uttered a loud sigh of dismay. — " And send that little apple of discord back to its own orchard in South Wales — he ! he ! he !" This was no laughing matter to poor Mrs. Lax-) ton. She clasped her hands. " Oh, Edward, show me some mercv ! I have never been without a THE JILT. 8/ woman about fne. Oh, pray don't let me be alone in a ship, surrounded by men, and not one woman !" "For shame, Ellen !" said he, severely. " You are a pirate's bride, and must rise above your sex. I devote myself to your service as lady's-maid. It would be odd indeed if a man who can pass a weather earing, couldn't humble-cum-stumble a woman's stays." " That is not it. If she goes, my life will not be safe." " Not safe ! with me to look after it !" " No, you villain ! — you hypocrite ! If she goes, my life will not be safe from youy She was wild with anger and fear. " These are hard words," said he, sorrowfully. Then, firmly, " I see the time has come for disci- pline ;" and though his words were wondrous calm, he seized her suddenly by the nape of the neck. She uttered one scream ; the next he stopped with his other hand, and she bit it to the l>one ; but he never winced. " Come," said he, " I'll use no unnecessary violence. ' Suaviter in modo^fortiier hi re^ is the sailing order;" and in a few moments she was bundled, struggling vio- lently, into the locker, and the key turned on her. Though his hand bled freely, he kept his word, and used no unnecessary violence, provided you 88 THE JILT. ,!;rant him, by way of postulate, that it was necex- sanj to put her into that locker at all. Only a.^ she fought and bit and scratched and kicked and wriggled her very best, the necessary violence was considerable. That was her fault, not his, he conceived. He u.sed no unnecessary violence. He now got a napkin and tied up his hand. Then he took a centre-bit and bored holes in the paneled door. This, he informed his prisoner, was necessary. " Without a constant supply of fresh air, you would be uncomfortable; and your comfort is very dear to me." He then remarked that she ought to have a sentinel. Respect, as well as safe custody, de- manded that ; and, as he was his own factotum, he would discharge that function. Accordingly, he marched j)ast the locker, to and fro, without ceasing, till there was a knock at his cabin door, and a sail reported to leeward. " Homeward bound ?" " Yes, Sir." " Then close up with her, and get my gig ready to board her." When he came near her, it proved to be one of Mr. (ireen's tea ships ; so he fired a gun to lee- ward, instead of sending a shot across her bows ; and then he launched his gig, with Susan blub- THE JILT. 89 ItLMing in the stern-sheets, and her clothes in a liauimock. The ship, for a wonder, condescended to slack her main-sheet, and the boat, being very swift, ran up to her astern, and the officer in com- mand of the boat offered forty pounds for a pass- age. They happened to want a female servant, and so they took her, with a little grumbling; and she got her fare, or the greater portion of it, paid her for wages at Southampton. So I am told, however. The pursuit and capture of the ship, and the hoisting on board of Susan, were all reported, during their actual progress, with great bonho- mie, to Mrs. Laxton, through her air-holes, by her spouse and sentinel, and received with sobbing and sullen tears. . "When the boat came back, Laxton put on a bright and cheerful air. " There," said he to his prisoner, "the bone of contention is gone, and peace is restored — nautical peace and domestic peace. Aren't you glad ?" No answer. " Don't be sulky, dear. That shows a bad dis- position, and calls for discipline. Open your mind to me. This is the cellular system, universally approved. How do you find it work ? How do 90 THE JILT. you feel, love ? A little — subjugated — eh ? Tell the truth now." " Yes ; quite subjugated," said a faint voice. " Pray let me out." " With pleasure, dear. Why did you not ask me before ?" He opened the door, and there was the poor woman, crouched in a cupboard that only just held her, seated on the ground with her knees half- way to her chin. She came out with her eyes as wild as any beast of the forest that had been caught in a trap, and tottered to a seat. She ran her white hands recklessly into her hair, and rock- ed herself. " my God !" she cried. " Susan gone ; and I am alone with a madman ! I'm a lost woman !" Laxton pitied her distress, and set himself to cool her fears. " Don't talk like that, dearest," paid he j " a little discipline is wholesome. What have you to fear from a man whose sportive en- sign, no doubt, is a death's-head and cross-bones ; but his motto is ' Suavitcr in viodo^fortiter in re." Ijook here ; here is an ensanguined cloth. Mine is the only blood that has been shed in our little loving encounter ; the only blood that ever shall be shed between us, sweet tigress of my soul." " Forgive me !" said she, trembling all ovoV. " I was so frightened." 91 " Forgive you, dearest ? Why, you know a bite from you is sweeter to me than a kiss from any other woman. It was rapturous. Bite me again, love ; scratch me ; beat me. Sweet, darling Nelly, teach a brute and ruffian to dare to discipline his lovely queen." " No, no. I won't touch you. You don't love me." " Not love you ? Ah ! cruel Nelly ! What man ever loved a woman as I love you ?" " Give me a proof ; some better proof than locking me up in that horrid hole." " Any proof you like." " Take me on shore. I'm not a sailor ; and I begin to pine for the land." " Of course you do," said Laxton, who was now all indulgence. "Choose your land at once. There's Australia to leeward." " Yes, six thousand miles. Let us go to China, and drink tea together, dear, fresh gathered." "The desire is natural," said Laxton, like a nurse making life sweet to a refractory child. " I'll go on deck and alter her course directly. By-the-bye, where did that Castor say I should find him ?" Thus, even in her deplorable condition, and just let out of prison, did a terrified but masterly woman manipulate her maniac. 92 THE JILT. But what she endured in the course of a very few days was enough to unhinge a lady for life. Lax- ton took to brooding, and often passed his hand over his brow with a weird, terrified look. Then she watched him with terror. On deck he went into furies about the most trifling things, and tiireatened his best seamen with the cat. Ellen could hear his voice raging above, and sat trembling as his step came down the ladder after these explosions. But at the cabin d