THE QUEEN'S CUP 
 
 A NOVEL 
 
 BY 
 
 i. A. HENTY 
 
 M. A. DONOHUE COMPANY 
 
 CHICAGO NEW YORK
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1808, 
 BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
 
 All rights reserved.
 
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A LARGE party were assembled in the drawing-room 
 of Greendale, Sir John Greendale's picturesque old 
 mansion-house. It was early in September; the men 
 had returned from shooting and the guests were gath- 
 ered in the drawing-room, in the pleasant half-hour 
 of dusk when the lamps have not yet been lighted, 
 though it is already too dark to read. The conversa- 
 tion was general, and from the latest news from India 
 had drifted into the subject of the Italian belief in the 
 Mai Occhio. 
 
 " Do you believe in it, Captain Mallett ? " asked 
 Bertha, Sir John's only child, a girl of sixteen, who 
 was nestled in an easy chair next to that in which 
 the man she addressed was sitting. 
 
 " I don't know, Bertha." He had known her from 
 childhood, and she had not yet reached an age when 
 the formal " Miss Greendale " was incumbent upon 
 her acquaintances. "I do not believe in the Italian 
 superstition to anything like the extent they carry it. 
 I don't think I should believe it at all if it were not 
 that one man has always been unlucky to me." 
 
 "How unlucky, Captain Mallett?" 
 
 " Well, I don't know that unlucky is the proper 
 word, but he has always stood between me and suc- 
 cess ; at least, he always did, for it is some years since 
 our paths have crossed." 
 
 i
 
 2 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Tell me about it." 
 
 " Well, I have no objection, but there is not a great 
 deal to tell. I was at school with I won't mention his 
 name. We were about the same age. He was a bully. 
 I interfered with him, we had a fight, and I scored 
 my first and only success over him. It was a very 
 tough fight by far the toughest I ever had. I was 
 stronger than he, but he was the more active. I fan- 
 cied that it would not be very difficult to thrash him, 
 but found that I had made a great mistake. It was 
 a long fight, and it was only because I was in better 
 condition that I won at last. Well, you know when 
 boys fight at school in most cases they become better 
 friends afterwards ; but it was not so here. He refused 
 to shake hands with me, and muttered something about 
 its being his turn next time. Till then he had not 
 been considered a first-rate hand at anything; he was 
 one of those fellows who saunter through school, get 
 up just enough lessons to rub along comfortably, never 
 take any prominent part in games, but have a little 
 set of their own, and hold themselves aloof from school 
 in general. 
 
 " Once or twice when we had played cricket he 
 had done so excellerftly that it was a grievance that he 
 would not play regularly, and there was a sort of gen- 
 eral idea that if he chose he could do most things well. 
 After that fight he changed altogether. He took to 
 cricket in downright earnest, and was soon acknowl- 
 edged to be the best bat and best bowler in the school. 
 Before that it had been regarded as certain that when 
 the captain left I should be elected, but when the time 
 came he got a majority of votes. I should not have 
 minded that, for I recognised that he was a better 
 player than I, but I fancied that he had not done it 
 fairly, for many fellows whom I regarded as certain 
 to support me turned round at the last moment. 
 
 " W were in the same form at school. He had 
 

 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 3 
 
 been always near the bottom; I stood fairly up in it, 
 and was generally second or third. He took to read- 
 ing, and in six weeks after the fight won his way to 
 the top of the class and remained there; and not only 
 so, but he soon showed himself so far superior to the 
 rest of us that he got his remove to the form above. 
 
 " Then there was a competition in Latin verses 
 open to both forms. Latin verse was the one thing: 
 in which I was strong. There is a sort of knack, you 
 know, in stringing them together. A fellow may be a 
 duffer generally and yet turn out Latin verse better 
 than fellows who are vastly superior to him on other 
 points. It was regarded as certain that I should gain 
 that. No one had intended to go in against me, but 
 at the last moment he put his name down, and, to 
 the astonishment of everyone, won in a canter. 
 
 " We left about the same time, and went up to 
 Oxford together, but to different Colleges. I rowed 
 in my College Eight, he in his. We were above them 
 on the river, but they made a bump every night until 
 they got behind us, and then bumped us. He was 
 stroke of his boat, and everyone said that success was 
 due to his rowing, and I believe it was. I did not so 
 much mind that, for my line was chiefly sculling. I 
 had won in my own College, and entered for Henley, 
 where it was generally thought that I had a fair chance 
 of winning the Diamonds. However, I heard a fort- 
 night before the entries closed that he was out on the 
 river every morning sculling. I knew what it was 
 going to be, and was not surprised when his name ap- 
 peared next to mine in the entries. 
 
 " We were drawn together, and he romped in six 
 lengths ahead of me, though curiously enough he was 
 badly beaten in the final heat. He stroked the Uni- 
 versity afterwards. Though I was tried I did not 
 even get a seat in the eight, contrary to general ex- 
 pectation, but I know that it was his influence that
 
 4 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 kept me out of it. We had only one more tussle, and 
 again I was worsted. I went in for the Newdigate 
 that is the English poetry prize, you know. 1 had 
 always been fond of stringing verses together, and the 
 friends to whom I showed my poem before sending it 
 in all thought that I had a very good chance. I felt 
 hopeful myself, for I had not heard that he was think- 
 ing of competing, and, indeed, did not remember that 
 he had ever written a line of verse when at school. 
 However, when the winner was declared, there was his 
 name again. I believe that it was the disgust I felt at 
 his superiority to me in everything that led me to 
 ask my father to get me a commission at once, for it 
 seemed to me that I should never succeed in anything 
 if he were my rival. Since then our lives have been 
 altogether apart, although I have met him occasion- 
 ally. Of course we speak, for there has never been 
 any quarrel between us since that fight, but I know 
 that he has never forgiven me, and I have a sort of un- 
 easy conviction that some day or other we shall come 
 into contact again. I am sure that if we meet again 
 he will do me a bad turn if possible. I regard him as 
 being in some sort of way my evil genius. I own that 
 it is foolish and absurd, but I cannot get over the 
 feeling." 
 
 "Oh, it is absurd, Captain Mallett," the gir^ said. 
 " He may have beaten you in little things, but you 
 won the Victoria Cross in the Crimea, and every one 
 knows that you are one of the best shots in the coun- 
 try, and that before you went away you were always 
 in the first flight with the hounds." 
 
 " Ah, you are an enthusiast, Bertha. I don't say 
 that I cannot hold my own with most men at a good 
 many things where not brains, but brute strength and 
 a quick eye are the only requisites, but I am quite con- 
 vinced that if that fellow had been in the Kedan that 
 day, he would have got the Victoria Cross, and I
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 5 
 
 should not. There is no doubt about his pluck, and 
 if it had only been to put me in the shade he would 
 have performed some brilliant action or other that 
 would have got it for him. He is a better rider than 
 I am, at any rate a more reckless one, and he is a better 
 shot too. He is incomparably more clever.'* 
 " I cannot believe it, Captain Mallett." 
 " It is quite true, Bertha, and to add to it all, he 
 is a remarkably handsome fellow, a first-rate talker, 
 and when he pleases can make himself wonderfully 
 popular." 
 
 " He must be a perfect Crichton, Captain Mallett." 
 " The worst of it is, Bertha, although I am 
 ashamed of myself for thinking so, I have never been 
 able to divest myself of the idea that he did not play 
 fair. There were two or three queer things that hap- 
 pened at school in which he was always suspected of 
 having had a hand, though it was never proved. I was 
 always convinced that he used cribs, and partly owed 
 his place to them. I was jealous enough to believe 
 that the Latin verses he sent in were written for him 
 by Eigby, who was one of the monitors, and a great 
 dab at verses. Rigby was a great chum of his, for 
 he was a mean fellow, and my rival was always well 
 supplied with money, and to do him justice, liberal 
 with it. Then, just before we left school, he carried 
 off the prize in swimming. He was a good swimmer, 
 but I was a better. I thought myself for once certain 
 to beat him, but an hour before the race I got fright- 
 ful cramps, a thing that I never had before or since, 
 and I could hardly make a fight at all. I thought at 
 the time, and I have thought since, that I must have 
 taken something at breakfast that disagreed with me 
 horribly, and that he somehow put it in my tea. 
 
 " Then again in that matter of the Sculls at Hen- 
 ley. I never felt my boat row so heavily as it did 
 then. When it was taken out of the water it was
 
 6 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 found that a piece of curved iron hoop was fixed to 
 the bottom by a nail that had been pushed through the 
 thin skin. It certainly was not there when it was on 
 the rack, but it was there when I rowed back to the 
 boathouse, and it could only have got there by being 
 put on as the boat was being lowered into the water. 
 There were three or four men helping to lower her 
 down two of them friends of mine, two of them fel- 
 lows employed at the boathouse. While it lay in the 
 water, before I got in and took my place, anyone 
 stooping over it might unobserved have passed his 
 hand under it and have pushed the nail through. I 
 never said anything about it. I had been beaten; 
 there was no use making a row and a scandal over it, 
 especially as I had not a shadow of proof against any 
 one; but I was certain that he was not so fast as I 
 was, for during practice my time had been as nearly 
 as possible the same as that of the man who beat him 
 with the greatest ease, and I am convinced that for 
 once I should have got the better of him had it not 
 been for foul play." 
 
 " That was shameful, Captain Mallett," Bertha 
 said, indignantly. " I wonder you did not take some 
 steps to expose him." 
 
 " I had nothing to go upon, Bertha. It was a case 
 of suspicion only, and you have no idea what a hor- 
 rible row there would have been if I had said anything 
 about it. Committees would have sat upon it, and the 
 thing would have got into the papers, fellows would 
 have taken sides, and I should have been blackguarded 
 by one party for hinting that a well-known University 
 man had been guilty of foul practices. Altogether it 
 would have been a horrible nuisance; it was much 
 better to keep quiet and say nothing about it." 
 
 " I am sure I could not have done that, Captain 
 Mallett." 
 
 " No, but then you see women are much more
 
 THE QUEEN'S CTJP. 7 
 
 impetuous than men. I am certain that after you had 
 once set the ball rolling, you would have been sorry 
 that you had not bided your time and waited for an- 
 other contest in which you might have turned the 
 tables fairly and squarely." 
 
 " He must be hateful," the girl said. 
 
 " He is not considered hateful, I can assure you. 
 He conceived a grudge against me and has taken im- 
 mense pains to pay me out, and I only trust that our 
 paths will never cross again. If so, I have no doubt 
 that I shall again get the worst of it. At any rate, 
 you see I was not without justification when I said that 
 though I did not believe in the Mai Occhio, I had rea- 
 son for having some little superstition about it." 
 
 " I prophesy, Captain Mallett, that if ever you meet 
 him in the future you will turn the tables on him. 
 Such a man as that can never win in the long run." 
 
 " Well, I hope that your prophecy will come true ; 
 at any rate I shall try, and I hope that your good 
 wishes will counter-balance his power, and that you 
 will be a sort of Mascotte." 
 
 " How tiresome ! " the girl broke off, as there was 
 a movement among the ladies. " It is time for us to 
 go up to dress for dinner, and though I shan't take 
 half the time that some of them will do, I suppose I 
 must go." 
 
 Captain Mallett had six months previously suc- 
 ceeded, at the death of his father, to an estate five 
 miles from that of Sir John Greendale. His elder 
 brother had been killed in the hunting field a few 
 months before, and Frank Mallett, who was fond of 
 his profession, and had never looked for anything be- 
 yond it save a younger son's portion, had thus come 
 in for a very fine estate. Two months after his fa- 
 ther's death he most reluctantly sent in his papers, 
 considering it his duty to settle down on the estate; 
 but ten days later came the news of the outbreak of
 
 8 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 the Sepoys of Barrackpoor, and he at once telegraphed 
 to the War Office, asking to be allowed to cancel his 
 application for leave to sell out. So far the cloud was 
 a very small one, but rumours of trouble had been 
 current for some little time, and the affair at least 
 gave him an excuse for delaying his retirement. Very 
 rapidly the little cloud spread until it overshadowed 
 India from Calcutta to the Afghan frontier. His regi- 
 ment stood some distance down on the rota for In- 
 dian service, but as the news grew worse regiment 
 after regiment was hurried off, and it now stood very 
 near the head of the list. 
 
 All leave had not yet been stopped, but officers 
 away were ordered to leave addresses, so that they 
 could be summoned to join at an hour's notice. When 
 he had left home that morning for a day's shooting 
 with Sir John, he had ordered a horse to be kept sad- 
 dled, so that if a telegram came it could be brought 
 to him without a moment's delay. He was burning 
 to be off. There had at first been keen disappointment 
 in the regiment that they were not likely to take part 
 in the fierce struggle ; but the feeling had changed into 
 one of eager expectation, when, as the contest widened 
 and it was evident that it would be necessary to make 
 the greatest efforts to save India, the prospect of their 
 employment in the work grew. For the last fortnight 
 expectation had been at its height; orders had been 
 received for the regiment to hold itself in readiness 
 for embarkation, men had been called back from fur- 
 lough, the heavy baggage had been packed, and all 
 was ready for a start at twenty-four hours' notice. 
 Many of the officers obtained a few days' leave to say 
 good-bye to their friends or settle business matters, 
 and Frank Mallett was among them. 
 
 " So I suppose you may go at any moment, Mal- 
 lett? " said the host at the dinner table that evening. 
 
 "Yes, Sir John, my shooting to-day has been ex-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 9 
 
 ecrable; for I have known that at any moment my 
 fellow might ride up with the order for me to return 
 at once, and we are all in such a fever of impatience, 
 that I am surprised I brought down a bird at all." 
 
 " You can hardly hope to be in time either for 
 the siege of Delhi or for the relief of Lucknow, Mal- 
 lett." 
 
 " One would think not, but there is no saying. 
 You see, our news is a month old; Havelock had been 
 obliged to fall back on Cawnpore, and a perfect army 
 of rebels were in Delhi. Of course, the reinforce- 
 ments will soon be arriving, and I don't think it likely 
 that we shall get up there in time to share in those 
 affairs; but even if we are late both for Lucknow and 
 Delhi, there will be plenty for us to do. What with 
 the Sepoy army and with the native chiefs that have 
 joined them, and the fighting men of Oude and one 
 thing and another, there cannot be less than 200,000 
 men in arms against us; and even if we do take Delhi 
 and relieve Lucknow, that is only the beginning of the 
 work. The scoundrels are fighting with halters round 
 their necks, and I have no fear of our missing our 
 share of the work of winning back India and punishing 
 these bloodthirsty scoundrels." 
 
 "It is a terrible time," Sir John said; "and old as 
 I am, I should like to be out there to lend a hand in 
 avenging this awful business at Cawnpore, and the 
 cold-blooded massacres at other places." 
 
 " I think that there will be no Lack of volunteers, 
 Sir John. If Government were to call for them I be- 
 lieve that 100,000 men could be raised in a week." 
 
 " Ay, in twenty-four hours ; there is scarce a man 
 in England but would give five years of his life to 
 take a share in the punishment of the faithless mon- 
 sters. There was no lack of national feeling in the 
 Crimean War; but it was as nothing to that which has 
 been excited by these massacres. Had it been a simple
 
 10 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 mutiny among the troops we should all be well content 
 to leave the matter in the hands of our soldiers; but 
 it is a personal matter to everyone; rich and poor are 
 alike moved by a burning desire to take part in the 
 work of vengeance. I should doubt if the country 
 has ever been so stirred from its earliest history." 
 
 " Yes, I fancy we are all envying you, Mallett," one 
 of the other gentlemen said. " Partridge shooting is 
 tame work in comparison with that which is going on 
 in India. It was lucky for you that that first mutiny 
 took place when it did, for had it been a week later 
 you would probably have been gazetted out before the 
 news came." 
 
 " Yes, that was a piece of luck certainly, Ashurst ; 
 I don't know how I should be feeling if I had been 
 out of it and the regiment on the point of starting for 
 India." 
 
 " I suppose you are likely to embark from Plym- 
 outh," said Sir John. 
 
 " I should think so, but there is no saying. I hardly 
 fancy that we should go through France, as some of 
 the regiments have done ; there would be no very great 
 gain of time, especially if we start as far west as 
 Plymouth. Besides, I have not heard of any trans- 
 ports being sent round to Marseilles lately. Of course, 
 in any case we shall have to land at Alexandria and 
 cross the desert to Suez. I should fancy, now that the 
 advantages of that route have been shown, that troops 
 in future will always be taken that way; you see, it 
 is only five weeks to India instead of five months. 
 The situation is bad enough as it is, but it would 
 have been infinitely worse if no reinforcements could 
 have got out from England in less than five months." 
 
 " Is there anything that I can do for you while 
 you are away, Mallett ? " Sir John Greendale asked, 
 as they lingered for a moment after the other gentle- 
 men had gone off to join the ladies.
 
 THE QUEEX'S CUP. H 
 
 "Nothing that I know of, thank you; Norton will 
 see that everything goes on as usual. My father never 
 interfered with him in the general management of the 
 estate, and had the greatest confidence in him. I have 
 known him since I was a child, and have always liked 
 him, so I can go away assured that things will go on 
 as usual. If I go down, the estate goes, as you know, 
 to a distant cousin whom I have never seen. As to 
 other matters, I have but little to arrange. I have 
 made a will, so that I shall have nothing to trouble 
 me on that score. Tranton came over with it this 
 morning from Stroud, and I signed it." 
 
 " That is right, lad ; we all hope most sincerely 
 that there will be no occasion for its provisions to be 
 carried out, but it is always best that a man should 
 get these things off his mind. Are you going to say 
 good-bye to us to-night ? " 
 
 "I shall do it as a precautionary measure, Sir 
 John, but I expect that when I get the summons I 
 shall have tima to drive over here. My horse will do 
 the distance in five and twenty minutes, and unless a 
 telegram comes within an hour of the night mail pass- 
 ing through Stroud I shall be able to manage it. I 
 saw everything packed up before I left, and my man 
 will see that everything, except the portmanteau with 
 the things I shall want on the voyage, goes on with 
 the regimental baggage." 
 
 A quarter of an hour later Captain Mallett mount- 
 ed his dog-cart and drove home. The next morning 
 he received a letter from the Adjutant, saying that he 
 expected the order some time during the next day. 
 
 " We are to embark at Plymouth, and I had a tele- 
 gram this morning saying that the transport had ar- 
 rived and had taken her coal on board; of course 
 they will get the news at the War Office to-day, and 
 will probably wire at once. I think we shall most 
 likely leave here by a train early the next morning.
 
 12 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 I shall, of course, telegraph as soon as the order comes, 
 but as I know that you have everything ready, you 
 will be in plenty of time if you come 011 by the night 
 mail." 
 
 At eleven o'clock a mounted messenger from Stroud 
 brought on the telegram : " We entrain at six to-mor- 
 row morning, join immediately." 
 
 This was but a formal notification, and he resolved 
 to go on by the night mail. He spent the day in 
 driving round the estate and saying good-bye to his 
 tenants. He lunched at the house of one of the lead- 
 ing farmers, where as a boy he had been always made 
 heartily welcome. Before mounting his dog-cart, he 
 stood for a few minutes chatting with Martha, his 
 host's pretty daughter. 
 
 "You are not looking yourself, Martha," he said; 
 " you must pick up your roses again before I come 
 back. I shall leave the army then, and give a big 
 dinner to my tenants, with a dance afterwards, and I 
 shall open the ball with you, and expect you to look 
 your best. Who is this ? " he asked, as a young fellow 
 came round the corner of the house, and on seeing 
 them, turned abruptly, and walked off. " It is George 
 Lechmere, is it not ? " 
 
 A flash of colour came into the girl's face. 
 
 " Ah, I see," he laughed ; " he thought I was flirt- 
 ing with you, and has gone off jealous. Well, you will 
 have no difficulty in making your peace with him to- 
 morrow. Good-bye, child, I must be going; I have a 
 long round to make." 
 
 He jumped into the dog-cart and drove away, while 
 the girl went quietly back into the house. 
 
 Her father looked up at the clock. " Two o'clock," 
 he said ; " I must be going. I expected George Lech- 
 mere over here; he was coming to talk with me about 
 his father's twelve-acre meadow. I want it badly this 
 winter, for I have had more land under the plough
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 13 
 
 than usual this year. I must either get some pasture 
 or sell off some of my stock." 
 
 " George Lechmere came, father," Martha said, 
 with an angry toss of her head, " but when he saw me 
 talking to Captain Mallett he turned and went off; 
 just as if I was not to open my lips to any man but 
 himself." 
 
 The farmer would have spoken, but his wife shook 
 her head at him. George Lechmere had been at one 
 time engaged to Martha, but his jealousy had caused 
 so many quarrels that the engagement had been broken 
 off. He still came often to the house, however, and her 
 parents hoped that it would be renewed, for the young 
 fellow's character stood high. He was his father's 
 right hand, and would naturally succeed him to the 
 farm; his parents, too, had heartily approved of the 
 match. So far, however, the prospect of the young 
 people coming together was not encouraging. Martha 
 was somewhat given to flirtation, George was as jeal- 
 ous as ever, and was unable to conceal his feelings, 
 which, as he had now no right to criticise her con- 
 duct, so angered the girl that she not unfrequently 
 gave encouragement to others solely to show her in- 
 difference to his opinions. 
 
 George Lechmere had indeed gone away with anger 
 in his heart. He knew that Captain Mallett was on 
 the point of leaving with his regiment for India, and 
 yet to see him chatting familiarly with Martha ex- 
 cited in him a passionate feeling of grievance against 
 her. 
 
 " It matters nought who it is," he muttered to him- 
 self, " she is ever ready to carry on with anyone, 
 while she can hardly give me a civil word when I call. 
 I know that if we were to marry it would be just the 
 same thing, and that I am a fool to stop here and let 
 it vex me. It would be better for me to get right out 
 of it. John is old enough to take my place on the 
 2
 
 14: THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 farm. Some of these days I will take the Queen's 
 shilling; if I were once away I should not be always 
 thinking of her. I know I am a fool to let a girl 
 trouble me so, but I can't help it. If I stay here I 
 know that I shall do mischief either to her or to some 
 one else; I felt like doing it last month when she was 
 over at that business at Squire Carthew's he is just 
 such another one as Captain Mallett, only he is a bad 
 landlord, while ours is a good one. What made him 
 think of asking all his own tenantry, and a good many 
 of us round, and getting up a cricket match and a 
 dance on the grass is more than I can say; he never 
 did such a thing before in all the ten years since he 
 became master there. They all noticed how he carried 
 on with Martha and how she seemed to like it; it was 
 the talk of everyone there. If I had not gone away I 
 should have made a fool of myself, though I have no 
 right to interfere with her, and her father and mother 
 were there and seemed in no way put out. I will go 
 away and have a look at that lot of young cattle I 
 bought the other day; I don't know that I ever saw 
 a more likely lot." 
 
 It was dark when George returned. On his way 
 home he took a path that passed near the house whence 
 he had turned away so angrily a few hours before. 
 It was not the nearest way, but somehow he always 
 took it, even at hours when there was no chance of 
 his getting the most distant sight of Martha. Pres- 
 ently he stopped suddenly, for from behind the wall 
 that bounded the kitchen garden of the farm he heard 
 voices. A man was speaking. 
 
 " You must make your choice at once, darling, 
 for as I have told you I am off to-morrow. We will 
 be married as soon as we get there, and you know 
 you cannot stop here." 
 
 "I know I can't," Martha's voice replied, "but 
 how can I leave them?"
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 15 
 
 " They will forgive you when you come back a 
 lady," he said ; " it will be a year at least before I re- 
 turn, and " 
 
 George could restrain himself no longer. A furi- 
 ous exclamation broke from his lips, and he made a 
 desperate attempt to climb the wall, which was, how- 
 ever, too high. When, after two or three unsuccessful 
 attempts, he paused for a moment, all was silent in the 
 garden. 
 
 "I will tackle her to-morrow," he said grimly, 
 " and him too. But I dare not go in now. Bennett 
 has always been a good friend to me, and so has his 
 wife, and it would half kill them were they to know 
 what I have heard ; but as for her and that villain " 
 
 George's mouth closed in grim determination, and 
 he strolled on home through the darkness. Whatever 
 his resolutions may have been, he found no oppor- 
 tunity of carrying them out, for the next morning he 
 heard that Martha Bennett had disappeared. How or 
 why, no one knew. She had been missing since tea 
 time on the previous afternoon ; she had taken nothing 
 with her, and the farmer and his two sons were search- 
 ing all the neighbourhood for some sign of her. The 
 police of Stroud came over in the afternoon, and took 
 up the investigation. The general opinion was that 
 she must have been murdered, and every pond was 
 dragged, every ditch examined, for a distance round 
 the farm. In the meantime George Lechmere held his 
 tongue. 
 
 " It is better," he said to himself, " that her parents 
 and friends should think her dead than know the 
 truth." 
 
 He seldom spoke to anyone, but went doggedly 
 about his work. His father and mother, knowing how 
 passionately he had been attached to Martha, were 
 not surprised at his strange demeanour, though they 
 wondered that he took no part in the search for her.
 
 16 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 They had their trouble, too, for although they never 
 breathed a word of their thoughts even to each other, 
 there was, deep down in their heats, a fear that George 
 knew something of the girl's disappearance. His in- 
 tense jealousy had been a source of grief and trouble 
 to them. Previous to his engagement to Martha he 
 had been everything they could have wished him. He 
 had been the best of sons, the steadiest of workers, 
 and a general favourite from his willingness to oblige, 
 his cheerfulness and good temper. His jealousy, as a 
 child, had been a source of trouble; any gift, any little 
 treat, for his younger brothers, in which he had not 
 fully shared, had been the occasion for a violent out- 
 burst of temper, never exhibited by him at any other 
 time, and this feeling had again shown itself as soon 
 as he had singled out Martha as the object of his at- 
 tentions. 
 
 They had remarked a strangeness in his manner 
 when he had returned home that night, and, remem- 
 bering the past, each entertained a secret dread that 
 there had been some more violent quarrel than usual 
 between him and Martha, and that in his mad passion 
 he had killed her. It was, then, with a feeling almost 
 of relief that a month after her disappearance he 
 briefly announced his intention of leaving the farm 
 and enlisting in the army. His mother looked in 
 dumb misery at her husband, who only said gravely: 
 
 " Well, lad, you are old enough to make your own 
 choice. Things have changed for you of late, and 
 may be it is as well that you should make a change, 
 too. You have been a good son, and I shall miss you 
 sorely; but John is taking after you, and presently 
 he will make up for your loss." 
 
 " I am sorry to go, father, but I feel that I cannot 
 stay here." 
 
 " If you feel that it is best that you should go, 
 George, I shall say no word to hinder you," and then
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 17 
 
 his wife was sure that the fear she felt was shared by 
 her husband. The next morning George came down in 
 his Sunday clothes, carrying a bundle. Few words 
 were spoken at breakfast; when it was over he got up 
 and said: 
 
 " Well, good-bye, father and mother, and you boys ; 
 I never thought to leave you like this, but things have 
 gone against me, and I feel I shall be best away. John, 
 I look to you to fill my place. Good-bye all," and with 
 a silent shake of the hand he took up his bundle and 
 stick and went out, leaving his brothers, who had not 
 been told of his intentions, speechless with astonish- 
 ment.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FRANK MALLETT, after he had visited all his tenants, 
 drove to Sir John Greendale's. 
 
 " We have got the route," he said, as he entered, 
 " and I leave this evening. I had a note from the 
 Adjutant this morning saying that will be soon 
 enough, so you see I have time to come over and say 
 good-bye comfortably." 
 
 " I do not think good-byes are ever comfortable," 
 Lady Greendale said ; " one may get through some 
 more comfortably than others, but that is all that can 
 be said for the best of them." 
 
 " I call them hateful," Bertha put in, " downright 
 hateful, Captain Mallett especially when anyone is 
 going away to fight." 
 
 " They are not pleasant, I admit," Frank Mallett 
 agreed, " and I ought to have said as comfortably as 
 may be. I think perhaps those who go feel it less 
 than those who stay; they are excited about their 
 going; they have lots to think about and to do; and 
 the idea that they may not come back again scarcely 
 occurs to them at the time, although they would admit 
 its possibility or even its probability if questioned. 
 However, I fancy the worst of the fighting will be 
 over by the time we get there. It seems almost cer- 
 tain that it will be so if Delhi is captured and Luck- 
 now relieved. The Sepoys thought that they had the 
 game entirely in their hands, and that they would 
 sweep us right out of India almost without resistance; 
 they have failed, and when they see that every day 
 18
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 19 
 
 their chances of success diminish, their resistance will 
 grow fainter. 
 
 " I expect that we shall have many long marches, 
 a great many skirmishes, and perhaps two or three 
 hard fights, but I have not a shadow of fear of a sin- 
 gle reverse. We are going out at the best time of year, 
 and with cool weather and hard exercise there will be 
 little danger of fevers; therefore the chances are very 
 strongly in favour of my returning safe and sound. 
 It may take a couple of years to stamp it all out, but 
 at the end of that time I hope to return here for good. 
 I shall find you a good deal more altered, Miss Green- 
 dale, than you will find me. You will have become 
 a dignified young lady, I shall be only a little older 
 and a little browner. You see, I have never been sta- 
 tioned in India since I joined, for the regiment had 
 only just come home, and I am looking forward with 
 pleasurable anticipation to seeing it. Ordinary life 
 there in a hot cantonment must be pretty dull, though, 
 from what I hear, people enjoy it much more than 
 you would think possible. But at a time like the pres- 
 ent it will be full of interest and excitement." 
 
 "You will write to us sometimes, I hope," Sir 
 John said, when Mallett rose to leave. 
 
 " I won't promise to write often, Sir John. I ex- 
 pect that we shall be generally on the move, perhaps 
 without tents of any kind, and to write on one's knee, 
 seated round a bivouac fire, with a dozen fellows all 
 laughing and talking round, would be a hopeless task; 
 but if at any time we are halted at a place where 
 writing is possible, I will certainly do so. I have but 
 few friends in England at any rate, only men, who 
 never think of expecting a letter. And as you are 
 among my very oldest and dearest friends, it will be 
 a pleasure for me to let you know how I am getting 
 on, and to be sure that you will feel an interest in my 
 doings."
 
 20 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 There was a warm good-bye, and all went to the 
 door for a few last words. Frank's portmanteau was 
 already in the dog-cart, for he had arranged to drive 
 straight from Greendale to Chippenham, where he would 
 dine at an hotel and then go on by the mail to Exe- 
 ter. It was three o'clock when he drove into the bar- 
 racks there. Early as the hour was, the troops were 
 already up and busy; wagons were being loaded, the 
 long lines of windows were all lighted up, and in every 
 room men could be seen moving about. He drove 
 across the barrack yard to his own quarters, left his 
 portmanteau there, and then walked to the messroom. 
 As he had expected, he found several officers there. 
 
 " Ah, Mallett, there you are ; you are the last in ; 
 the others all turned up by the evening train, but 
 we thought that as you were comparatively near you 
 would come on by the mail." 
 
 " I thought I should find some of you fellows keep- 
 ing it up." 
 
 " Well, there was nothing else to do ; there won't 
 be much chance of going to sleep. We all dined in 
 the town, for of course the mess plate and kit have 
 been packed up. We are not taking much with us 
 now, just enough to make shift with. The rest will 
 be sent round to Calcutta, to be stored there till we 
 settle down. The men had a dinner given to them by 
 the town, and as they all got leave out till twelve 
 o'clock and the loading of the wagons began at two, 
 there has been a row going on all night. Most of us 
 played pool till an hour ago, then we gradually dropped 
 off for an hour's snooze." 
 
 " There will be a chance of getting breakfast, I 
 hope?" 
 
 " Yes, there is to be a rough and tumble break- 
 fast at a quarter to five; we fall in at a quarter past. 
 We got through the inspection of kits yesterday; the 
 mess sergeant and a party will pack up the breakfast
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 21 
 
 things, and the pots and pans will come on by the next 
 train. There is one at eight; it will be in plenty of 
 time, as I don't suppose the transport will be off until 
 the afternoon, perhaps not till night. There are al- 
 ways delays at the last moment. However, it will be 
 something to be on board ship; that is the first step 
 towards getting at those black scoundrels. We are all 
 afraid that we shall be late for Delhi; still there is 
 plenty of other work to be done." 
 
 "Any ladies with us?" 
 
 " ISTo, there was a general agreement among the 
 married officers that they had best be left behind. So 
 for once the regiment goes without women." 
 
 " There is a levity about your tone that I do not 
 approve of, Armstrong," Frank Mallett said, reprov- 
 ingly. " There were no women when we went out to 
 the Crimea, at the time when you were a good little 
 boy doing Latin exercises." 
 
 " Well, altogether it is a good thing, Mallett, and 
 we shall be much more comfortable without them." 
 
 " Speak for yourself, Armstrong ; lads of your age 
 who can talk nothing but barrack slang, and are emi- 
 nently uncomfortable when they have to chat for five 
 minutes to a lady, are naturally glad when they are 
 free from the restraint of having to talk like reason- 
 able beings, but it is not so with older and wiser 
 men. How about Marshall ? " 
 
 " He has been away on leave for the last ten days. 
 He has not come back here. There have been two 
 fellows inquiring after him diligently for the last 
 week; there was no mistaking their errand, even if we 
 did not know how he stood. I expect he is on board 
 the transport; I fancy the Colonel gave him a hint to 
 join there. No doubt the Jews will be on the look out 
 for him at Plymouth, as well as here; but he will 
 manage to smuggle himself on board somehow, even 
 if he has to wrap up as an old woman."
 
 22 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " He deserves all the trouble that has fallen upon 
 him," Frank Mallett said, angrily. " I have no pa- 
 tience with a young fool who bets on race horses when 
 he knows very well that if they lose there is nothing 
 for him to do but to go to the Jews for money. How- 
 ever, he has had a sharp lesson, and as it is likely 
 enough that the regiment won't be back in England 
 for years, he will have a chance of getting straight 
 again. This affair has been a godsend for him, for 
 had he remained in England there would have been 
 nothing for him to do but to sell out." 
 
 So they chatted until the mess waiters laid the table 
 for breakfast, when the other officers came pouring 
 in. The meal was eaten hastily, for the assembly was 
 sounding in the barrack yard. As soon as breakfast 
 was finished, the officers went out and took their places 
 with their companies. There was a brief inspection, 
 then the drums and fifes set up " The Girl I left behind 
 me," and the regiment marched off to the station, the 
 streets being already full of people who had got up to 
 see the last of them, and to wish them God-speed in 
 the work of death they were going to perform. 
 
 The baggage was already in the train that was wait- 
 ing for them in the station, and in a few minutes it 
 steamed away, the soldiers hanging far out of every 
 window to wave a last good-bye to the weeping women 
 who thronged the platform. Two hours later they 
 reached Plymouth, marched through the town to the 
 dockyard, and went straight on board the transport. 
 There was the usual confusion until the cabins had 
 been allotted, portmanteaus stowed away, and the gen- 
 eral baggage lowered into the hold; a tedious wait 
 of three or four hours followed, no one exactly knew 
 why, and then the paddle wheels began to revolve. The 
 men burst into a loud cheer, and a few minutes later 
 they passed Drake's Island and headed down the sound. 
 
 They had, as expected, found young Marshall on
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 23 
 
 board. He kept below until they started, although 
 told that there was little chance of the bailiffs being 
 permitted to enter the dockyard. As he had the grace 
 to feel thoroughly ashamed of his position, little was 
 said to him; but the manner of the senior officers was 
 sufficient to make him feel their strong disapproval 
 of the position in which he had placed himself by his 
 folly. 
 
 " I have taken a solemn oath never to bet again," 
 he said that evening to Captain Mallett, who was a 
 general favourite with the younger officers, " and I 
 mean to keep it." 
 
 " How much do you owe, young 'un ? " 
 
 " Four hundred and fifty. What with allowances 
 and so on, I ought to be able to pay it off in three or 
 four years." 
 
 " Yes, and if you keep your word, Marshall, some 
 of us may be inclined to help you; I will for one. 
 I would have done so before, but to give money to a 
 fool is worse than throwing it into the sea. As < soon 
 as you show us by deeds, not words, that you really 
 mean to keep straight, you will find that you are not 
 without friends." 
 
 " Thank you awfully, Mallett, but I don't want to 
 be helped. I will clear it off myself if I live." 
 
 " You will find it hard work to do that, Marshall, 
 even in India. Of course, the pay and allowances 
 make it easy for even a subaltern to live on his in- 
 come there, but when it comes to laying by much, 
 that is a difficult matter. However, so long as the 
 actual campaign lasts, the necessary expenses will be 
 very small. We shall live principally on our rations, 
 and you can put by a good bit; there may be a certain 
 amount of prize money, for, although there is nothing 
 to be got from the mutineers themselves, some of the 
 native princes who have joined them will no doubt 
 have to pay heavily for their share in the business."
 
 24 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Well, you won't give me up, will you, Mallett ? " 
 
 " Certainly not. I was as hard as anyone on you 
 before, for I have no patience with such insane folly, 
 but if you keep straight no one will be more inclined 
 to make things easy for you." 
 
 The voyage to Alexandria was unmarked by any 
 incident. Drill went on regularly, and life differed 
 to no great extent from that in barracks. All were 
 glad when the half-way stage of the journey was 
 reached, but still more so when they embarked in an- 
 other transport at Suez. Here they learned, accord- 
 ing to news that had arrived on the previous day, that 
 at the end of August Delhi was still holding out, and 
 that, although reinforcements had reached the British, 
 vastly greater numbers of men had entered the city, 
 and that constant sorties were made against the British 
 position on the Ridge. Excitement therefore was at 
 its highest, when on the 20th of October a pilot came 
 on board at the mouth of the Hooghly, and they learned 
 that the assault had been made on the 14th of Sep- 
 tember, and that, after desperate fighting extending 
 over a week, the city had been captured, the puppet 
 Emperor made prisoner, and the rebels driven with 
 tremendous loss across the bridge of boats over the 
 Jumma. 
 
 The satisfaction with which the news was received, 
 in spite of the disappointment that they had arrived 
 too late to share in the victory, was damped by the 
 news of the heavy losses sustained in the assault, and 
 especially that of that most gallant soldier, General 
 Nicholson. Nor were their hopes that they might take 
 part in the relief of Lucknow realised, for they learned 
 that on the 25th of September the place had been 
 relieved by Havelock and Outram. Here, however, 
 there was still a prospect that they might take a share 
 in the serious fighting, as the losses of the relieving 
 column had been so heavy and the force of mutineers
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 25 
 
 so large, that it had been found impracticable to carry 
 off the garrison as intended, and the relieving forces 
 were now themselves besieged. There was, however, no 
 fear felt for their safety. If the scanty original garri- 
 son had defied all the efforts of the mutineers, no one 
 doubted that, now that their force was trebled, they 
 would succeed in defending themselves until an army 
 sufficiently strong to bring them off could be assem- 
 bled. 
 
 Not a day was lost at Calcutta. General Sir Colin 
 Campbell, who was now in supreme command, was col- 
 lecting a force at Cawnpore. There he had already 
 been joined by a column which had been despatched 
 from Delhi as soon as the capital fell, and by a strong 
 naval brigade with heavy guns from the ships of war. 
 
 All arrangements had been made for pushing up 
 reinforcements as fast as they arrived, and the troops 
 were marched from the side of the ship to a spot where 
 a flotilla of boats was in readiness. The men only 
 took what they could carry; all other baggage was to 
 be sent after them by water, and to lie, until further 
 instructions, at Allahabad. As soon, therefore, as the 
 troops had been packed away in the boats, they were 
 taken in tow by two steamers, and at once taken up 
 the river. Officers and men were alike in the highest 
 spirits at finding themselves in so short a time after 
 their arrival already on the way to the front, and their 
 excitement was added to by the fact that it was still 
 doubtful whether they would arrive in time to join 
 the column. Cramped as the men were in the crowded 
 boats, there was no murmuring as day after day, and 
 night after night, they continued their course up the 
 river. 
 
 At Patna they learned that the Commander-in- 
 Chief was still at Cawnpore, and the same welcome 
 news was obtained at Allahabad ; but at the latter place 
 they learned that the news of his having gone for-
 
 26 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 ward was hourly expected. They reached Cawnpore 
 on the morning of the llth, and learned that the col- 
 umn had left on the 9th, but was halting at Buntara. 
 Not a moment was lost; each man received six days' 
 provisions from the commissariat stores, and two hours 
 after landing the regiment was on the march and ar- 
 rived late at night at Buntara, being received with 
 hearty cheers by the troops assembled there. They 
 learned that they were to go forward on the following 
 morning. Weary, but in high spirits at finding that 
 they had arrived in time, the regiment lighted its fires 
 and bivouacked. 
 
 " This has been a close shave indeed, Mallett," one 
 of the other captains said, as a party of them sat 
 round a fire. " We won by a short head." 
 
 " Short indeed, Ackers ; it has been a race all the 
 way from England, and it is marvellous indeed that 
 we should arrive just in time to take part in the re- 
 lief of Lucknow. A day later and we should have 
 missed it." 
 
 " We should not have done that, Mallett, for the 
 men would have marched all night, and, if necessary, 
 all day to-morrow, to catch up. Still, it is a wonder- 
 ful fluke that after all we should be in time." 
 
 " There is no doubt that it will be a tough busi- 
 ness," one of the majors said. " Havelock found it 
 so, and I expect that the lesson he taught them hasn't 
 been lost, and that we shall have to meet greater diffi- 
 culties than even he had." 
 
 " Yes, but look at our force. Sixteen guns of Horse 
 Artillery, a heavy field battery, and the Naval Brigade 
 with eight guns, the 9th Lancers, the Punjaub Cav- 
 alry, and Hodson's Horse, four British regiments of 
 infantry and two of Punjaubies, besides a column 
 1,500 strong which is expected to join us to-morrow or 
 next day. I hope in any case, Major, that we shan't 
 follow the line Havelock took through the narrow
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 27 
 
 streets, for there we cannot use our strength, but will 
 manage to approach the Residency from some other 
 direction. We know that it stands near the river and 
 at the very edge of the town, so there ought to be some 
 other way of getting at it. I consider that we are a 
 match for any number of these scoundrels if we do 
 but get a fair ground for fighting, which we certainly 
 should not do in the streets of the town." 
 
 " I don't care how it is, so that we do get at them," 
 another officer said. " We have heard such frightful 
 details of their atrocities as we came up that one is 
 burning to get at close quarters with them. I sup- 
 pose we shall go to the Alumbagh first, and relieve 
 the force that has so long been shut up there. I only 
 hope that we shan't be chosen to take their place." 
 
 There was a general exclamation of disgust at the 
 suggestion. 
 
 " Well, some one must stay, you know," he went 
 on in deprecation of the epithets hurled at him, " and 
 why not our regiment as well as any other ? " 
 
 " Because I cannot believe that after luck has 
 favoured us so long she will play us such a trick now," 
 Frank Mallett said. " Besides, the other regiments 
 have done something in the way of fighting already 
 while we have not fired a shot, and I think that Sir 
 Colin would be more likely to choose the 75th, or, in 
 fact, any of the other regiments than us. Still if the 
 worst comes to the worst we must not grumble; other 
 regiments have had weary times of waiting, and it 
 may be our turn now. Your suggestion has come as 
 a damper to our spirits, and, as I don't mind acknowl- 
 edging that I am dog-tired with the march, after not 
 having used my legs for the last seven or eight weeks, 
 I shall try to forget it by going off to sleep." 
 
 Making a pillow of his cloak, he lay down on the 
 spot where he was sitting, his example being speedily 
 followed by the rest of the officers. The next morning
 
 28 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 the troops were on the inarch early, but they were not 
 to reach the Alumbagh without opposition, for on 
 passing a little fort to the right they were suddenly 
 attacked by a small body of rebels posted round it. 
 
 But little time was lost. Hodson's Horse, who 
 were nearest to them, at once made a brilliant charge, 
 scattering them in all directions. A short pause was 
 made while the fort was dismantled, and then the col- 
 umn proceeded without further interruption to the 
 Alumbagh. There was some disappointment at its 
 appearance; instead of finding, as they had expected, 
 a palace, there was nothing but a large garden en- 
 closed by a lofty wall, and having a small mosque at 
 one end. It had evidently been a place of retirement 
 when the Kings of Oude desired to get away from the 
 bustle and ceremony of the great town. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief was thoroughly acquaint- 
 ed with the situation in the city by information that 
 he had received from a civilian named Kavanagh, who 
 had at immense risk made his way out from the Resi- 
 dency, and was able to furnish plans of all the prin- 
 cipal buildings and the route, which, in the opinion of 
 Brigadier-General Iiiglis, was the most favourable for 
 the attack. 
 
 In the evening the reinforcements arrived, bring- 
 ing up the total force to 5,000. When the orders were 
 issued, the officers of the th found to their intense 
 satisfaction that as Captain Mallett had thought likely, 
 the 75th was selected to remain in charge of the bag- 
 gage at the Alumbagh. The force moved off early on 
 the morning of the 14th, but, after marching a short 
 distance along the direct road followed by Havelock, 
 struck off to the right, and, keeping well away from 
 the city, came down upon the summer palace of the 
 Kings of Oude, called the Dilkoosha. It stood on an 
 eminence commanding a view of the whole of the 
 eastern suburbs of the town, and was surrounded by a
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 29 
 
 large park. As soon as the head of the column ap- 
 proached this, a heavy musketry fire broke out, and 
 it was at once evident that their movements had been 
 watched and the object of their march divined. The 
 head of the column was halted for a few minutes until 
 reinforcements came up. Then they formed into line, 
 the artillery opened on their flanks, and with a cheer 
 the troops advanced to the attack. 
 
 " The beggars cannot shoot a bit," Frank Mallett 
 said to his subaltern, Armstrong. " I expect they are 
 Sepoys, for the Oude tribesmen are said to be good 
 marksmen." 
 
 Keeping up a rolling fire at the loopholes in the 
 walls, the infantry pressed forward. The fire of the 
 enemy slackened as they approached, and they soon 
 forced their way in, some helping their comrades over 
 the wall, others breaking down a gate and so pouring 
 in. A halt was made until the greater portion of the 
 troops came up, and then the advance was continued. 
 
 The defenders of the wall had been considerably 
 reinforced by troops stationed round the Palace itself, 
 but they were unable to withstand the British advance, 
 and soon began to retreat towards the city, stopping 
 occasionally where a wall or building offered facilities 
 for defence, but never waiting long enough for the 
 British to get at them. In two hours all had been 
 driven down the hill to the Martiniere College. Here 
 again they made a stand, but were speedily driven 
 out, and chased through the garden and park of the col- 
 lege and thence across the canal into the streets of 
 the town. Here the pursuit ceased, the th being told 
 off to hold the Martiniere as an advanced position. 
 Sir Colin established his headquarters at the Dil- 
 koosha, the rest of the troops bivouacking around it or 
 on the slope of the hill between it and the college. 
 
 After seeing that the men were comfortable, and 
 getting some food, most of the officers gathered on the 
 3
 
 30 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 flat roof of the college, whence a fine view was obtain- 
 able over the town. The Residency had been already 
 pointed out to them, and the British flag could be seen 
 floating above it. Several very large buildings, sur- 
 rounded for the most part with walled gardens, rose 
 above the low roofs of the native houses in the inter- 
 vening space. 
 
 " The way is pretty open. A good deal of the 
 ground seems to be occupied with gardens, and most 
 of the houses are so small that they could not hold 
 many men." 
 
 "I agree with you, Mallett. It is evident that we 
 shall be passing through an open suburb rather than 
 the town itself. Those big buildings, if held in force, 
 will give us a good deal of trouble. They are regular 
 fortresses." 
 
 " I don't think that any of them are built of stone. 
 They all seem to be whitewashed." 
 
 " That is so," the Major agreed, as he examined 
 them through his field-glass. " I suppose stone is 
 scarce in this neighbourhood, but it is probable that 
 the walls are of brickwork, and very thick. They will 
 have to be regularly breached before we can carry 
 them. It makes one sad to think that that flag, which 
 has waved over the Residency for the last five months, 
 defying all the efforts of enormously superior num- 
 bers, is to come down, and that these scoundrels will 
 be able to exult in the possession of the place that has 
 defied all their efforts to take it; still one feels that 
 Sir Colin's decision is a necessary one. It would never 
 do to have six or seven thousand men shut up there, 
 when there is urgent work to be done in a score of 
 other places. Besides, it would need a vast magazine 
 of provisions to maintain them. Our force, even when 
 joined by the garrison, would be wholly inadequate for 
 so tremendous a task as reducing to submission a city 
 containing at least half-a-million inhabitants, together
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 31 
 
 with thirty or forty thousand mutineers and a host of 
 Oude's best men, with the advantage of the possession 
 of a score or two of buildings, all of which are positive 
 fortresses." 
 
 " No, there is nothing for it but to fall back again 
 till we have a force sufficient to capture the whole city, 
 and utterly defeat its defenders. With us away, this 
 place will become the focus of the mutiny. Half the 
 fugitives from Delhi will find their way here, and at 
 last we shall be able to crush them at one blow, instead 
 of having to scour the country for them for months. 
 The more of them gather here the better; and then, 
 when we do capture the place, there will be an end of 
 the mutiny, though, of course, there will still be the 
 work of hunting down scattered bands." 
 
 " We may look forward to very much harder work 
 to-morrow than we have had to-day," Captain John- 
 son said. " With these glasses I can make out that 
 the place is crowded with men. Of course, to-day we 
 took them somewhat by surprise, as they would natu- 
 rally expect us to follow Havelock's line. But now 
 that they know what our real intentions are, they will 
 be able to mass their whole force to oppose us." 
 
 " So much the better," Frank Mallett said. " There 
 is no mistaking the feeling of the troops. They are 
 burning to avenge Cawnpore, and little mercy will be 
 shown the rebels who fall into their hands." 
 
 " I should advise any of you gentlemen who want 
 to write home," the Colonel said, gravely, " to do so 
 this evening. There is no doubt that we shall take 
 those places, but I think that there is also no doubt 
 that our death-roll will be heavy. You must not judge 
 by their fighting to-day of the stand that they are likely 
 to make to-morrow. They know well enough that they 
 will get no quarter after what has taken place, and 
 will fight desperately to the end." 
 
 Most of the officers took his advice. Captain Mai-
 
 32 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 lett sat down on the parapet, took out a note-book, and 
 wrote in pencil: 
 
 " DEAR SIR JOHN : Although it is but four days 
 since I posted you a long letter from Cawnpore that I 
 had written on our way up the river, I think it as well 
 to write a few lines in pencil. You will not get them 
 unless I go down to-morrow, as I shall of course tear 
 them up if I get through all right. I am writing now 
 within sight of the Residency. We had a bit of a fight 
 to-day, but the rebels did not make any serious stand; 
 to-morrow it will be different, for we shall have to 
 fight our way through the town, and there is no doubt 
 that the resistance will be very obstinate. I have noth- 
 ing to add to what I wrote to you last. What I should 
 like you to know is that I thought of you all this even- 
 ing, and that I send you and Lady Greendale and 
 Bertha my best wishes for your long life and happi- 
 ness. Yours most sincerely, 
 
 " FRANK MALLETT." 
 
 He tore the page from his note-book, put it in an 
 envelope and directed it, then placed it in an inner 
 pocket of his uniform. 
 
 " So you are not writing, Marshall," he said, as he 
 went across to the young ensign who was sitting on 
 the angle of the parapet. 
 
 " I have no one particular to write to, Captain Mal- 
 lett, and the only persons who will feel any severe 
 sorrow if I fall to-morrow are my creditors." 
 
 "We should all be sorry, Marshall, very sorry; 
 ever since we sailed from Plymouth your conduct has 
 shown that you have determined to retrieve your pre- 
 vious folly; the Colonel himself spoke to me about it 
 the other day, and remarked that he had every hope 
 that you would turn out a steady and useful officer. 
 We have all noticed that beyond the regular allowance
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 33 
 
 of wine you have drunk nothing, and that you did not 
 touch a card throughout the voyage." 
 
 " I have not spent a penny since I went on board 
 at Plymouth," the lad said. " I got the paymaster to 
 give me an order on London for the amount of pay due 
 to me the day we got to Cawnpore, and posted it to 
 Morrison; so he has got some fifteen pounds out of 
 the fire. Of course it is not much, but at any rate it 
 will show him I mean to pay up honestly." 
 
 " Well done, lad ; you are quite right to give up 
 cards, and to cut yourself off liquors beyond the 
 Queen's allowance, but don't stint yourself in neces- 
 saries. For instance, fruit is necessary here, and of 
 course when we once get into settled quarters, you 
 must keep a horse of some sort, as everyone else will 
 do so. How much did you really have from Morrison 
 in cash ? " 
 
 " Three hundred ; for which I gave him bills for 
 four fifty and a lien on my commission." 
 
 " All right, lad, I will write to my solicitor in Lon- 
 don, and get him to see Morrison, and ask him to 
 meet you fairly in the matter. He will know that it 
 will be years before you are likely to be in England 
 again, and that if you are killed he will lose altogether ; 
 so under these circumstances I have no doubt that he 
 will be glad enough to make a considerable abatement, 
 perhaps to content himself with the sum that you really 
 had from him." 
 
 " I am afraid that my letter, with the enclosure, 
 assuring him that I will in time pay the amount due, 
 will harden his heart," Marshall laughed. " I am much 
 obliged all the same, but I don't think that it will be 
 of any use." 
 
 However, 011 leaving him, Mallett went downstairs, 
 borrowed some ink from the quartermaster, and wrote 
 to his solicitor, enclosing a cheque for 300, with in- 
 structions to see the money-lender.
 
 34 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " You will find that he will be glad enough to hand 
 over young Marshall's bills for four fifty for that 
 amount," he said ; " he has already had fifteen pounds, 
 which is a fair interest for the three hundred for the 
 time the lad has had it. He will know well enough 
 that if Marshall dies he will lose every penny, and 
 that at any rate he will have to wait many years before 
 he can get it. I have no doubt that he would jump at 
 an offer of a couple of hundred, but it is just as well 
 that the young fellow should feel the obligation for 
 some time, and as the man did lend him the money it 
 would be unfair that he should be an absolute loser."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE next morning three days' rations were served 
 out to the troops and the advance begun, the move- 
 ment being directed against the Secunderbagh, a large 
 garden surrounded by a very high and strong wall loop- 
 holed for musketry. To reach it, a village, fortified 
 and strongly held, had first to be carried. The attack 
 was led by Brigadier Hope's brigade, of which the 
 regiment formed part. As they approached the village, 
 so heavy a musketry fire was opened upon them that 
 the order to advance was changed and the leading 
 regiment moved forward in skirmishing order. The 
 horse artillery and heavy field guns were brought up 
 and poured a tremendous fire into the village, driving 
 the defenders from their post on the walls. 
 
 As soon as this was accomplished, the infantry 
 rushed forward and stormed the village, the enemy 
 opposing a stout resistance, occupying the houses and 
 fighting to the last. The main body of them, how- 
 ever, fled to the Secunderbagh. The 4th Sikhs had 
 been ordered to lead the attack, while the British in- 
 fantry of the brigade were to cover the operation. The 
 men were, however, too excited and too eager to get 
 at the enemy to remain inactive, and on leaving the 
 village dashed forward side by side with the Sikhs and 
 attacked the wall. There was a small breach in this, 
 and many of the men rushed through it before the 
 enemy, taken by surprise, could offer a serious re- 
 sistance. The entrance was, however, so narrow that 
 very few men could pass in, and while a furious fight 
 
 35
 
 36 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 was raging inside, the rest of the troops tried in vain 
 to find some means of entering. There were two barred 
 windows, one on each side of the gate, and some of 
 the troopers creeping under these raised their shakos 
 on their bayonets. The defenders fired a heavy vol- 
 ley into them, and the soldiers, leaping to their feet, 
 sprang at the bars and pulled them down by main 
 force, before the defenders had time to reload; then 
 they leaped down inside, others followed them, the 
 gates were opened and the main body of troops 
 poured in. 
 
 The garden was held by 2,000 mutineers. With 
 shouts of "Remember Cawnpore," the troops flung 
 themselves upon them; and although the mutineers 
 fought desperately, and the struggle was continued for 
 a considerable time, every man was at last shot or 
 bayonetted. In the meantime a serious struggle was 
 going on close by. Nearly facing the Secunderbagh 
 stood the large Mosque of Shah Nujeeff. It had a 
 domed roof, with a loop-holed parapet and four mina- 
 rets, which were filled with riflemen. It stood in a 
 large garden surrounded by a high wall, also loop- 
 holed, the entrance being blocked up with solid mason- 
 ry. The fire from this building had seriously galled 
 Hope's division, while engaged in forcing its way into 
 the Secunderbagh, and Captain Peel, with the Naval 
 Brigade, brought up the heavy guns against it. He 
 took up his position within a few yards of the wall 
 and opened a heavy fire, assisted by that of a mortar bat- 
 tery and a field battery of Bengal Artillery, the High- 
 landers covering the sailors and artillerymen as they 
 worked their guns, by a tremendous fire upon the ene- 
 my's loop-holes. So massive were the walls that it was 
 several hours before even the sixty-eight pounders of 
 the Naval Brigade succeeded in effecting a breach. 
 
 As soon as this was done the impatient infantry 
 were ordered to the assault, and rushing in, overpow-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 37 
 
 ered all resistance, and slew all within the enclosure, 
 save a few who effected their escape by leaping from 
 the wall at the rear. It was now late in the afternoon, 
 and operations ceased for the day. The buildings on 
 which the enemy had chiefly relied for their defence 
 had been captured, and the difficulties still to be en- 
 countered were comparatively small. The next day 
 an attack was made upon a strong building known 
 as the Mess House; this was first breached by the 
 artillery, and then carried by assault by the 53rd and 
 90th regiments, and a detachment of Sikhs, the latter, 
 single-handed, storming another building called the 
 Observatory, in the rear of the Mess House. At the 
 same time the garrison of the Residency had, in ac- 
 cordance with the plan brought out by Kavanagh, 
 begun operations on their side. The capture of the 
 Secunderbagh and Mosque had been signalled to them, 
 and while the attack on the Mess House was being 
 carried out they had blown down the outer wall of 
 their defences, shelled the ground beyond, and then 
 advanced, carrying two large buildings facing them 
 at the point of the bayonet. 
 
 All day the fighting continued, the British gaining 
 ground on either side; the next day the houses still 
 intervening between them were captured, and in the 
 afternoon the defenders of the Residency and the re- 
 lieving force joined hands. The total loss of the latter 
 was 122 officers and men killed and 345 wounded. 
 
 Frank Mallett's letter to Sir John Greendale was 
 not sent off. He received a bullet through the left arm 
 as the troops advanced against the Secunderbagh, but, 
 using his sash as a sling, led on his company against 
 the defenders crowded in the garden, and took part in 
 the desperate fighting. Three of his brother officers 
 were killed during the three days' fighting and five 
 others wounded. 
 
 " Well, Marshall," he said on the evening of the
 
 38 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Q 
 
 day when the way was open to the Residency, " you 
 have not cheated your creditor, I see." 
 
 " No, Captain Mallett, I thought of him when those 
 fellows in the mosque were keeping such a heavy fire 
 upon us as we were waiting to get into the Secunder- 
 bagh. It seemed to me that his chance of ever getting 
 his money was not worth much. How the bullets did 
 whizz about! I felt sure that we should be all mown 
 down before we could get under the shelter of the 
 wall. I don't think I shall ever feel afraid in battle 
 again. One gets to see that musketry fire is not so 
 Tery dangerous after all. If it were, very few of us 
 would have got through the three days' fighting alive, 
 whereas the casualties only amount to one-tenth of the 
 force engaged. I am very sorry you are wounded." 
 
 " Oh, my wound is a mere trifle. I scarcely felt it 
 until the sergeant next to me said, ' You are wounded 
 in the arm, Captain Mallett.' The doctor says that it 
 narrowly missed the bone, but in this case a miss is as 
 good as a mile. I am very sorry about Hatchard and 
 Rivers and Miles. They were all good fellows, and 
 when this excitement is over we shall miss them sadly. 
 It will give you your step." 
 
 " Yes, I won't say that it is lucky, for one cannot 
 forget how it has been gained, still it is a good lift 
 for me, for there are two or three down for purchase 
 below me, and otherwise I should have had to wait a 
 long time. It puts you one higher on the list, Captain 
 Mallett." 
 
 " I am going to clear out altogether as soon as the 
 fighting is all over, so whether I am fourth or fifth 
 on the list makes no difference whatever to me." 
 
 " Still it is a great satisfaction to have been 
 through this and to have taken one's share in the 
 work of revenge. It was a horrible business in the 
 Secunderbagh, though one did not think of it at the 
 time. The villains richly deserved what they got, but
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 39 
 
 I own that I should not care to go into the place again. 
 They must have suffered tremendously altogether. The 
 Colonel said this afternoon that he found their loss 
 had been put down as at least six or seven thousand." 
 The regiment took its full share in the work that 
 followed the relief of Lucknow, portions being at- 
 tached to each of the flying columns which scoured 
 Oude, defeated Kunwer Singh, and drove the rebels 
 before them wherever they encountered them. In the 
 beginning of February the vacancies in the ranks were 
 filled up by a draft from England. The work had been 
 fatiguing in the extreme, but the men were as a rule 
 in splendid health, the constant excitement prevent- 
 ing their suffering from the effect of heat or attacks 
 of fever. Two companies which had been away from 
 the headquarters of the regiment for six weeks, found 
 on their return a number of letters awaiting them, 
 the first they had received since leaving England. 
 Captain Mallett, who commanded this detachment, 
 found one from Sir John Greendale, written after the 
 receipt of his letter from Cawnpore. 
 
 " MY DEAR MALLETT : We were all delighted to get 
 your letter. Long before we received it we had the 
 news of the desperate fighting at Lucknow, which was, 
 of course, telegraphed down to the coast and got here 
 before your letter. You may imagine that we looked 
 anxiously through the list of killed and wounded, and 
 were glad indeed that your name in the latter had the 
 word slightly after it. Things are going on here much 
 as usual. There was a terrible sensation on the very 
 morning after you left at the disappearance of Martha 
 Bennett, the daughter of one of your tenants. She 
 left the house just at dusk the evening before, and 
 has not been heard of since. As she took nothing with 
 her, it is improbable in the extreme that she can have 
 fled, and there can be little doubt that the poor girl
 
 40 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 was murdered, possibly by some passing tramps. How- 
 ever, though the strictest search was made throughout 
 the neighbourhood, her body has never been discovered. 
 We lost another neighbour just about the time you 
 left Percy Carthew. He went for a year's big game 
 shooting in North America. We don't miss him much, 
 as he lived in London, and was not often down at his 
 place. I don't remember his being there since you 
 came back from the Crimea. Anyhow, I do not think 
 that I ever saw you and him together either in a hunt- 
 ing field or at a dinner party, which, of course, you 
 would have been had you both been down here at the 
 same time. If I remember right, you were at the same 
 school." 
 
 And then followed some gossip about mutual 
 friends, and the letter concluded, " The general ex- 
 citement is calming down a little now that Delhi is 
 taken and the garrison of Lucknow brought off. Of 
 course there will be a great deal more fighting before 
 the whole thing is over, but there is no longer any 
 fear for the safety of India. The Sikhs have come 
 out splendidly; who would have thought it after the 
 tremendous thrashing we gave them a few years back? 
 Take care of yourself, lad. You have the Victoria 
 Cross and can do very well without a bar, so give some- 
 one else the chance. My wife and Bertha send their 
 love." 
 
 Two or three of his other letters were from friends 
 in regiments at home bewailing their hard fortune at 
 being out of the fighting. The last he opened bore 
 the latest postmark. It was from his solicitor, and 
 enclosed Marshall's cancelled bill. " Of course, as you 
 requested me to give 300 for the enclosed, I did so, 
 but by the way in which Morrison jumped at the offer 
 I believe that he would have been glad to have taken 
 half that sum."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 41 
 
 Mallett had gone into his tent to open his letters 
 in quiet. He presently went to the entrance, and 
 catching sight of Marshall called him up. 
 
 " I have managed that affair for you, Marshall," 
 he said, " and have arranged it in a way that I am 
 sure will be satisfactory to us both. You must look 
 upon me now as your creditor instead of Morrison, 
 and you won't find me a hard one. Here is your can- 
 celled bill for four hundred and fifty. I got it for 
 three hundred, so that a third of your debt is wiped 
 off at once. As to the rest, you can pay me as you in- 
 tended to pay him, but I don't want you to stint your- 
 self unnecessarily. Pay me ten or fifteen pounds at 
 a time at your convenience, and don't let us say any- 
 thing more about it." 
 
 " But I may be killed," Marshall said, in a voice 
 struggling with emotion. 
 
 "If you are, lad, there is an end of the business. 
 As you know, I am very well off, and the loss would 
 not affect me in any way. Very likely you will light 
 upon some rich booty in one of these affairs with a 
 rebel Rajah, and will be able to pay it all off at once." 
 
 " I will if I can, Mallett, though I think that it 
 will be much more satisfactory to do it out of my sav- 
 ings, except that I shall have the pleasure of knowing 
 that if I were wiped out afterwards you would not be 
 a loser." 
 
 A few days later Frank Mallett was sent with his 
 company to rout out a party of rebels reported to be 
 in possession of a large village twenty miles away. 
 Armstrong was laid up by a slight attack of fever, and 
 he asked that Marshall should be appointed in his 
 place on this occasion. 
 
 " One wants two subalterns, Colonel," he said, " for 
 a business like this. I may have to detach a party to 
 the back of the village to cut off the rebels' retreat, and 
 it may be necessary to assault in two places."
 
 42 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Certainly ; take Marshall if you wish it, Captain 
 Mallett; the young fellow has been behaving excel- 
 lently, and has gone far to retrieve his character. Cap- 
 tain Johnson has reported to me that he is exemplary 
 in his duties, and has shown much gallantry under 
 fire, especially in that affair near Neemuch, in which 
 he rushed forward and carried off a wounded man 
 who would otherwise have certainly been killed. I 
 reported the case to the Brigadier, who said that at 
 any other time the young fellow would probably have 
 been recommended for a V. C., but that there were 
 so many cases of individual gallantry that there 
 was no chance of his getting that; but Marshall 
 was specially mentioned in orders four days ago, 
 and this will, of course, count in his favour. Take 
 him with you by all means; your ensign only joined 
 with the last draft, and you will certainly want 
 some one with you of greater experience than he 
 has." 
 
 Marshall was delighted when he heard that he was 
 to accompany Captain Mallett. In addition to his 
 own company, a hundred men of the Punjaub Infan- 
 try and fifty Sikh horse were under Captain Mallett's 
 command, the native troops being added at the last 
 moment, as a report of another body of mutineers 
 marching in the same direction had just come in. 
 Frank spent a quarter of an hour in inspecting some 
 maps of the country, and had a talk with the native 
 who was to act as guide. When the little force was 
 drawn up, he marched off in quite another direction 
 from that in which the village lay. Being in com- 
 mand, he was mounted for the first time during the 
 campaign. The lieutenant in command of the Sikhs 
 presently rode up to him. 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Captain Mallett, but I can- 
 not but think that your guide is taking you in the 
 wrong direction. I looked at the map before starting,
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 43 
 
 and find that Dousi lies almost due north. We are 
 marching west." 
 
 " You are quite right, Mr. Hammond, but, you 
 see, I don't want any of the natives about the camp 
 to guess where we are going. None of these Oude 
 fellows bears us any good will, and one of them might 
 hurry off, and carry information as to the line we were 
 following. We will march four miles along this road, 
 and then strike off by another leading north. We 
 must surprise them if we 'can; we don't really know 
 much about their force, and even if we did, they may 
 be joined by some other body before we get there 
 there are numerous bands of them all over the coun- 
 try. And in the next place, if they knew that we were 
 coming, they might bolt before we got there. Besides, 
 some of these villages are very strong, and we might 
 suffer a good deal before we could carry it if they had 
 notice of our coming. However, you were quite right 
 to point out to me that we were not going in what 
 seemed the right direction." 
 
 The column started at four o'clock in the after- 
 noon. It had been intended that it should move off 
 at daybreak on the following morning, but Frank had 
 suggested to the Colonel that it would be advantageous 
 to march half the distance that night. 
 
 " Of course, we could do the twenty miles to-mor- 
 row, Colonel," he said, " but the men would hardly 
 be in the best fighting trim when they got there. More- 
 over, by starting in the afternoon, the natives here 
 would imagine that we were going to pounce upon 
 some fugitives at a village not far away." 
 
 The permission was readily granted, and accord- 
 inly, after marching until nine o'clock in the evening, 
 the column halted in a grove of trees to which their 
 guide led them, half a mile from the road. Each man 
 carried four days' cooked provisions in his haversack. 
 There was therefore no occasion for fires to be lighted,
 
 44 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 and after seeing that sentries were placed round the 
 edge of the grove, Frank Mallett joined the officers 
 who were gathered in the centre. 
 
 " What time shall we march to-morrow ? " the 
 officer in command of the native infantry asked. 
 
 " Not until the heat of the day is over. We have 
 come about twelve miles, and have as much more to 
 do; and if we start at the same hour as we did to-day 
 we shall get there about nine. I shall halt half a 
 mile away, reconnoitre the place at night, and if the 
 ground is open enough to move without making a 
 noise, we will post the troops in the positions they are 
 to occupy, and attack as soon as day breaks. In that 
 way we shall get the benefit of surprise and at the 
 same time have daylight to prevent their escaping. 
 Besides, if we attacked at night a good many of the 
 villagers, and perhaps women, might be killed in the 
 confusion. To-morrow morning we will cut down some 
 young saplings and make a dozen scaling ladders; we 
 have brought a bag of gunpowder to blow open the gate, 
 and if the main body enter there while two parties scale 
 the walls at other points we shall get them in a trap." 
 
 At about nine o'clock the next evening the guide 
 said that they were now within half a mile of the vil- 
 lage, and they accordingly halted. The men were or- 
 dered to keep silence and to lie down and sleep as soon 
 as they had eaten their supper, while Mallett, accom- 
 panied by the two officers of the native troops and the 
 guide made his way towards the village. It was found 
 to be larger than had been anticipated. On three sides 
 cultivated fields extended to the foot of the strong 
 wall that surrounded it, while on the fourth there was 
 rough broken ground covered with scrub and brushes. 
 
 " How far does this extend ? " Captain Mallett asked 
 the guide. 
 
 "About half a mile, and then joins a big jungle, 
 sahib."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 45 
 
 " This is the side they will try to escape by; there- 
 fore, Mr. Herbert, you will lead your men round here 
 with four scaling ladders. You will post them along 
 at the foot of the wall, and when you hear the ex- 
 plosion of the powder bag or an outburst of musketry 
 firing, you will scale the wall and advance to meet 
 me, keeping as wide a front as possible, so as to pre- 
 vent fugitives from passing you and getting out here. 
 The cavalry will cut off those who make across the 
 open country. I would give a good deal to know how 
 many of these fellows are inside; four hundred was 
 the number first reported; they may, of course, have 
 already moved away, and on the other hand they may 
 have been joined by others. They were said to have 
 some guns with them, but these will be of little use in 
 the streets of the village, and we shall probably capture 
 them before they have time to fire a single round." 
 
 At three o'clock the troops stood to their arms and 
 moved noiselessly off towards the positions assigned 
 to them. Captain Mallett led his own company to 
 within four hundred yards of the wall, and then sent 
 Marshall forward with two men to fix the powder bag 
 and fuse to the gate. When they had done this they 
 were to remain quietly there until warned that the 
 company was about to advance; then they were to 
 light the fuse, which was cut to burn two minutes, to 
 retire round the angle of the wall and join the com- 
 pany as it came up. The troops lay down, for the 
 ground was level, and there was no spot behind which 
 they could conceal themselves, and impatiently watched 
 the sky until the first gleam of light appeared. An- 
 other ten minutes elapsed, the dawn was spreading 
 fast, and a man was sent forward to Lieutenant Mar- 
 shall to say that the company was getting in motion. 
 
 As soon as the messenger was seen to reach the 
 gates, Mallett gave the word. The men sprang to their 
 
 feet. 
 
 4
 
 46 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Don't double, men ; we shall be there in time, 
 and it is no use getting out of breath and spoiling 
 your shooting." 
 
 They were within a hundred yards of the gate, when 
 they heard a shout from the village, and as they 
 pressed on, shot after shot rang out from the wall. 
 A moment later there was a heavy explosion, and as 
 the smoke cleared off, the gate was seen to be de- 
 stroyed. A few seconds later, the troops burst through 
 the opening. Infantry bugles were sounding in the 
 village, and there was a loud din of shouting, cries 
 of alarm and orders. From every house the mutineers 
 rushed, musket in hand, but were shot down or bay- 
 onetted by the troops. As the latter approached a 
 large open space in the middle of the village a strong 
 body of Sepoys advanced in good order to meet them, 
 led by their native officers. 
 
 " Steady, men, steady," Captain Mallett shouted , 
 " form across the street." 
 
 Quickly the men fell in, though several dropped 
 as a volley flashed out from the Sepoy line. 
 
 " One volley and then charge," Mallett shouted ; 
 some of the guns were already empty, but the rest 
 poured in their fire when the word was given as regu- 
 larly as if on parade. 
 
 " Level bayonets charge ! " And with a loud cheer 
 the soldiers sprang forward. The Sepoys, well com- 
 manded though they were, wavered and broke; but 
 the British were upon them before they could fly, and 
 with shouts of " Cawnpore," used their bayonets with 
 deadly effect, driving the enemy before them. 
 
 As they came into the open, and the fugitives 
 cleared a way on either side, they saw a long line of 
 men drawn up. A moment later a flash of fire ran 
 along it. 
 
 " Shoulder to shoulder, men," Captain Mallett 
 shouted; "give them the bayonet."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 47 
 
 With a hoarse roar of rage, for many of their com- 
 rades had fallen, the company rushed forward and 
 burst through the line of mutineers as if it had been 
 a sheet of paper; then they divided, and Captain Mal- 
 lett with half the company turned to the right. Mar- 
 shall took the other wing to the left. Encouraged by 
 the smallness of the number of their assailants, the 
 mutineers, cheered on by their officers, resisted stoutly, 
 a scattering fire opened upon the British from the 
 houses round, and the shouts of the mutineers rose 
 louder and louder, when a heavy volley was suddenly 
 poured into them, and the Punjaubies rushed out from 
 the street facing that by which the British had entered. 
 They bore to the right, and fell upon the body with 
 which Marshall was engaged. 
 
 The Sepoys, taken wholly by surprise, at once lost 
 heart. Cheering loudly, the British attacked them 
 with increased ardour, while the Punjaubies flung 
 themselves into their midst. In an instant, that flank 
 of the Sepoys was scattered in headlong flight, hotly 
 pursued by their foes. There was no firing, for the 
 muskets were all empty; but the bayonet did its work, 
 and the open space and the streets leading from it 
 were thickly strewn with dead. The Sepoys attacked 
 by Captain Mallett's party, on the other hand, though 
 shaken for a moment, stood firm, led by two or three 
 native officers, who, fighting with the greatest bravery, 
 exhorted their men to continue their resistance. 
 
 " Would you rather be hung than fight ? " they 
 shouted ; " they are but a handful ; we are five to one 
 against them. Forward, men, and exterminate these 
 Feringhees before the others can come back to their 
 assistance." 
 
 The Sepoys were now the assailants, and with furi- 
 ous shouts pressed round the little body of British: 
 troops. 
 
 " Steady, men, steady," Captain Mallett shouted,.
 
 48 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 as he drove his sword through the body of one of the 
 rebel leaders who rushed at him ; " keep together, back 
 to back, we shall have help here in a minute." 
 
 It was longer than that, however, before relief 
 came; for three or four minutes a desperate struggle 
 went on, then Marshall's voice was heard shouting, 
 " This way, men, this way ! " A moment later there 
 was a surging movement in the ranks of the insurgents, 
 and with a dozen men Marshall burst through them, 
 and joined the party. These at once fell furiously upon 
 the mutineers, and the latter were already giving way 
 when some fifty of the Punjaubies, led by their officers, 
 fell upon them. The effect was decisive; the Sepoys 
 scattered at once and fled in all directions, pursued 
 by the furious soldiers and the Punjaubies. Reach- 
 ing the walls, the fugitives leapt recklessly down. 
 Forty or fifty of them were cut down by the cavalry, 
 hut the greater portion reached the broken ground 
 in safety. Here the cavalry could not follow them, 
 for the ground was covered with rocks and boulders 
 concealed by the bushes. In the village itself three 
 hundred and fifty lay dead. 
 
 " Thanks, Marshall," Frank Mallett said, when the 
 fight in the village was over, " you arrived just in 
 time, for it was going very hard with us. Altogether 
 it was more than we bargained for, for they were cer- 
 tainly over a thousand strong; they must have been 
 joined by a very strong party yesterday." 
 
 " I ought not to have gone so far," Marshall re- 
 plied, "but I had no idea that all the Punjaubies had 
 come to our side of the fight. The men were so eager 
 that I had the greatest difficulty in getting them off 
 the pursuit. Fortunately I met Herbert, and learned 
 that all his men were with us ; then I gathered a dozen 
 of our fellows, and rushed off, telling him to follow as 
 soon as he could get some of his men together. You 
 can imagine what agony I felt when, as I entered the
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 4.9 
 
 open space, I saw a surging mass of Sepoys, and no 
 sign of any of you, and how I cursed my own folly, 
 and what delight I felt, as on cutting our way through 
 we found that you were still on your feet." 
 
 " Yes, it was a close shave, Marshall ; another two 
 or three minutes and it would have been all over. The 
 men fought like lions, as you can see by the piled up 
 dead there. Half of them were down, and twenty 
 men cannot hold out long against four or five hundred. 
 We owe our lives to you beyond all question. I don't 
 see that you were in the least to blame in the matter, 
 for naturally you would suppose that some of the Pun- 
 jaubies would have joined us; besides, it was of course 
 essential that you should not give the Sepoys time 
 to rally, but should follow them up hotly. Where is 
 Anstruther ? " 
 
 " I don't know ; I have not seen him since we en- 
 tered the square." 
 
 " Have any of you seen Mr. Anstruther ? " Captain 
 Mallett asked, turning to some soldiers standing near. 
 
 " He is lying over there, sir," one of the men said ; 
 " he was just in front of me when the Pandies fired 
 that volley at us as we came out of the streets, and he 
 pitched forward and fell like a stone. I think that 
 he was shot through the head, sir." 
 
 They went across to the spot. The ensign lay there 
 shot through the brain. Four or five soldiers lay round 
 him; one of them was dead, the others more or less 
 seriously wounded. 
 
 " Sound the assembly," Captain Mallett said, as 
 he turned away sadly, to a bugler ; " let us see what 
 our losses are."
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE bugle sounded, and in a short time the infan- 
 try fell in; they had been engaged in searching the 
 houses for mutineers. The Punjaubies had lost but 
 five killed and thirteen wounded, while of the whites 
 an officer and eighteen men were killed and sixteen 
 wounded, nine of the former having fallen in the bayo- 
 net struggle with the Sepoys. Nine guns were cap- 
 tured, none of which had been fired, the attack hav- 
 ing been so sudden that the Sepoys had only had time 
 to fall in before their assailants were upon them. 
 
 " It is a creditable victory," Mallett said, " con- 
 sidering that we had to face more than double the num- 
 ber that we expected. Our casualties are heavy, but 
 they are nothing to those of the mutineers. Sergeant, 
 take a file of men and go round and count the num- 
 ber of the enemy who have fallen. Ah, here comes 
 a Sowar, and we shall hear what the cavalry have been 
 doing outside." 
 
 The trooper handed him a paper : " Fifty-three of 
 the enemy killed, the rest escaped into the jungle. On 
 our side two wounded; one seriously, one slightly." 
 
 " That is as well as we could expect, Marshall. Of 
 course, most of them got over the wall at the back,; 
 you see, all our plans were disarranged by finding 
 them in such unexpected strength. Had we been able 
 to thrash them by ourselves, the Punjaubies would 
 have cut off the retreat in that direction. As it was, 
 that part of the business is a failure." 
 
 The Sergeant presently returned. 
 50
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 51 
 
 " There are 340 in the streets, sir," he reported ; 
 " and I reckon there are another 20 or 30 killed in the 
 houses, but I have not searched them yet." 
 
 " That is sufficiently close ; upwards of 400 is good 
 enough. Now, Mr. Marshall, set the men to work 
 making stretchers to carry the wounded. Mr. Herbert, 
 will you tell off a party of your men to dig a large 
 grave outside the village for the killed, and a small 
 one apart for Mr. Anstruther; poor fellow, I am sorry 
 indeed at his loss; he would have made a fine officer. 
 Sergeant Huggins, take a party and search the village 
 for provisions; we have got bread, but lay hands on 
 any fowls or goats that you can find, and there may 
 be some sheep." 
 
 While this party was away, another tore down the 
 woodwork of an empty house, and fires were soon burn- 
 ing, an abundance of fowl and goats having been ob- 
 tained. The cavalry had by this time come in. While 
 the meal was being cooked the British and Panjaub 
 dead were carried out to the spot where the grave had 
 been dug. The troops had a hearty meal, and then 
 marched out from the village; they were drawn up 
 round the graves, and the bodies were laid reverently 
 in them. Captain Mallett said a few words over them; 
 the earth was then shovelled in and levelled, and the 
 troops marched to a wood a mile distant, where they 
 halted until the heat of the day was over. They re- 
 turned by the direct road to the camp, which they 
 reached at midnight. All concerned gained great 
 credit for the heavy blow that had been inflicted on 
 the mutineers, and the affair was highly spoken of 
 in the Brigadier's report to the Commander-in-chief. 
 Shortly afterwards Mallett's name appeared in gen- 
 eral orders as promoted to a brevet Majority, pending 
 a confirmation by the home authorities. Two days 
 after the return of the little column, the brigade 
 marched and joined the force collected at Cawnpore for
 
 52 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 the final operation against Lucknow, and on the 3rd of 
 March reached the Commander-in-chief at the Dil 
 Koosha, which had been captured with the same ease as 
 on the occasion of the former advance. 
 
 They found that while the main body had gathered 
 there, 6,000 men under Sir James Outram had crossed 
 the Goomtee from the Alum Bagh, and, after defeating 
 two serious attacks by the enemy, had taken up a 
 position at Chinhut. On the 9th, Sir Colin Camp- 
 bell captured the Martiniere with trifling loss. On 
 the llth General Outram pushed his advance as far 
 as the iron bridge, and established batteries command- 
 ing the passage of the stone bridge also. On the 12th 
 the Imambarra was breached and stormed, and the 
 troops pressed so hotly on the flying enemy that they 
 entered the Kaiser Bagh, the strongest fortified pal- 
 ace in the city, and drove the enemy from it. The 
 th was engaged in this action, and Major Mal- 
 lett was leading his company to the assault on the 
 Imambarra when a shot brought him to the ground. 
 When he recovered his senses he found himself 
 in a chamber that had been hastily converted into 
 a hospital, with the regimental doctor leaning over 
 him. 
 
 " What has happened ? " he asked. 
 
 " You have been hit, Mallett, and have had a very 
 close shave of it, indeed; but as it is, you will soon 
 be about again." 
 
 " Where was I hit ? I don't feel any pain." 
 
 " You were hit in the neck, about half an inch 
 above the collar bone, and the ball has gone through 
 the muscles of the neck; and beyond the fact that 
 you won't be able to turn your head for some time, 
 you will be none the worse for it. An inch further 
 to the right, or an inch lower or higher, and it would 
 have been fatal. It was not one of the enemy who 
 did you this service, for the ball went up from behind,
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 53 
 
 and came out in front; it is evidently a random shot 
 from one of our own fellows." 
 
 " I am always more afraid of a shot from behind 
 than I am of one in front when I am leading the 
 company, doctor; the men get so excited that they 
 blaze away anyhow, and in the smoke are just as likely 
 to hit an officer two or three paces ahead of them as 
 an enemy. How long have I been insensible ? " 
 
 " You were brought in here half-an-hour ago, and 
 I don't suppose that you had lain many minutes on 
 the ground before you were picked up." 
 
 " Have we taken the Imambarra ? " 
 
 " Yes, and what is better still, our fellows rushed 
 into the Kaiser Bagh at the heels of the enemy; we 
 got the news ten minutes ago." 
 
 " That is good indeed ; we anticipated desperate 
 fighting before we took that." 
 
 " Yes, it was an unlucky shot, Mallett, that knocked 
 you out of your share in the loot. We have always 
 heard that the place was full of treasure and jewels." 
 
 " If there is no one else who wants your attention, 
 doctor, I advise you to join the regiment there for 
 an ho.ur or two; as for me, I care nothing about the 
 loot; there are plenty of fellows who will benefit by 
 it more than I should, and I give up my share will- 
 ingly." 
 
 The doctor shook his head. " I am afraid I can- 
 not do that; but, between ourselves, I have let Fergu- 
 son slip away, and he is to divide what he gets with 
 me." 
 
 " Have we any wounded ? " 
 
 " I don't know yet ; the whole thing was done so 
 suddenly that the loss cannot have been heavy. I 
 was in the rear of the brigade when you were brought 
 in, and as the case at first looked bad, I got some of 
 the stretcher men with me to burst open the door of 
 this house and established a dozen temporary beds here.
 
 54 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 As you see, there are only four others tenanted, and 
 they are all hopeless cases. No doubt the rest have 
 all been carried off to the rear, as only the men who 
 helped me would have known of this place. Now that 
 you have come round, I will send a couple of hospital 
 orderlies in here and be off myself to the hospital in 
 the rear. I will look in again this evening." 
 
 In a short time the doctor returned with an or- 
 derly. 
 
 " I cannot find another now," he said, " but one 
 will be enough. Here is a flask of brandj, and he 
 will find you water somewhere; there is nothing to 
 be done for any of you at present, except to give you 
 drink when you want it." 
 
 Two hours later Marshall came in. 
 
 " Thank God you are not dangerously hurt, Mal- 
 lett," he said ; " I only heard that you were down 
 three quarters of an hour ago, when I ran against 
 Armstrong in the Kaiser Bagh; he told me that he 
 had seen you fall at the beginning of the fight, and I 
 got leave from the Colonel to look for you. At the 
 hospital, no one seemed to know anything about you, 
 but I luckily came across Jefferies, who told me where 
 to find you and that your wound was not serious, so I 
 hurried back here. He said that you would be taken 
 to the hospital this evening." 
 
 " Yes, I am in luck again ; like the last it is only 
 a flesh wound, though it is rather worse, for I expect 
 that I shall have to go about with a stiff neck for 
 some weeks to come, and it is disgusting being laid up 
 in the middle of an affair like this. Have we lost 
 many fellows ? " 
 
 "No; Scobell is the only officer killed. Hunter, 
 Groves and Parkinson are wounded Parkinson, they 
 say, seriously. We have twenty-two rank and file 
 killed, and twenty or thirty wounded. I have not 
 seen the returns."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 55 
 
 " And how about the loot, Marshall ? " Mallett said, 
 with a smile. " Was that all humbug ? " 
 
 " It is stupendous. We were among the first at 
 the Kaiser Bagh, and I don't believe that there is a 
 man who has not got his pockets stuffed with gold 
 coins. There were chests and chests full; they did 
 not bother about the jewels I think they took them 
 for coloured glass. I kept my eyes open, and picked 
 up enough to pay my debt to you five times over." 
 
 " I am heartily glad of that, Marshall ; don't let 
 it slip through your fingers again." 
 
 " That you may be sure I won't. I shall send 
 them all home to our agent to sell, and have the money 
 put by for purchasing my next step. I have had my 
 lesson, and it will last me for life. Well, I must be 
 going now, old man; the Colonel did not like letting 
 me go, as of course the men want looking after, and 
 the Pandies may make an effort to drive us out of 
 the Kaiser Bagh again; so good-bye. If I can get 
 awav this evening I will come to see you at the hos- 
 pital." 
 
 A week later Frank Mallett was sitting in a chair 
 by his bedside ; the fighting was all over, and a strange 
 quiet had succeeded the long roar of battle. His neck 
 was strapped up with bandages, and save that he was 
 unable to move his head in the slightest degree, he 
 felt well enough to take his place with the regiment 
 again. Many of his fellow officers dropped in from 
 time to time for a short chat, but the duty was heavy. 
 All open resistance had ceased, but the troops were 
 engaged in searching the houses, and turning out all 
 rough characters who had made Lucknow their centre, 
 and had no visible means of subsistence. Large gangs 
 of the lower class population were set to work to bury 
 the dead, which would otherwise have rendered the city 
 uninhabitable. Strong guards were posted at night, 
 alike to prevent soldiers from wandering in search of
 
 56 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 loot and to prevent fanatics from making sudden at- 
 tacks. 
 
 " There is a wounded man in the hospital across 
 the road who wants to see you, Mallett," the surgeon 
 said one morning ; " he belongs to your company, but 
 as he only came out with the last draft, and was trans- 
 ferred only on the day that the fighting began, I don't 
 suppose you know him. He said I was to tell you his 
 name was George Lechmere, though he enlisted as 
 John Hilton." 
 
 " I seem to know the name, doctor, though I don't 
 remember at present where I came across him. I sup- 
 pose I can go in to see him ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, there is no objection whatever. Your 
 wound is doing as well as can be; though, of course, 
 you are still weak from loss of blood. I shall send 
 you up this afternoon to the hospital just estab- 
 lished in the park of the Dil Koosha. We shall get 
 you all out as soon as we can, for the stench of 
 this town at present is dreadful, and wounds can- 
 not be expected to do well in such a poisoned atmos- 
 phere." 
 
 " Is this man badly hit, doctor ? " 
 
 " Very dangerously. I have scarcely a hope of 
 saving him, and think it probable that he may not 
 live another twenty-four hours. Of course, he may 
 take a change for the better. I will take you to him, 
 I have finished here now." 
 
 " It must have been a bad time for you, doctor," 
 Mallett said, as they went across. 
 
 " Tremendously hard, but most interesting. I had 
 not had more than two hours' sleep at a time since the 
 fighting began till last night, and then I could not 
 keep up any longer. Of course, it has been the same 
 with us all, and the heat has made it very trying. I 
 am particularly anxious to get the wounded well out 
 of the place, for now that the excitement is over I ex-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 57 
 
 pect an outbreak of fever or dysentery. There, that is 
 your man in the corner bed over there." 
 
 Mallett went over to the bedside, and looked at 
 the wounded man. His face was drawn and pinched, 
 his eyes sunken in his head, his face deadly pale, and 
 his hair matted with perspiration. 
 
 " Do you know me, Captain Mallett ? " 
 
 " No, lad, I cannot say that I do, though when 
 the doctor told me your name it seemed familiar to 
 me. Very likely I should have recognised you if I had 
 met you a week since, but, you see, we are both altered 
 a good deal from the effect of our wounds." 
 
 " I am the son of Farmer Lechmere, your ten- 
 ant." 
 
 " Good heavens ! man, you don't mean to say you 
 are Lechmere's eldest son, George ! What in the world 
 brought you to this ? " 
 
 "You did," the man said, sternly; "your villainy 
 brought me here." 
 
 Frank Mallett gave a start of astonishment that 
 cost him so violent a twinge in his wound that he al- 
 most cried out with sudden pain. 
 
 " What wild idea have you got into your head, 
 my poor fellow ? " he said soothingly ; " I am con- 
 scious of having done no wrong to you or yours. I 
 saw your father and mother on the afternoon before 
 I came away: they made no complaint of anything." 
 
 " No, they were contented enough. Do you know, 
 Captain Mallett, that I loved Martha Bennett?" 
 
 " ISTo ; I have been so little at home of recent years 
 that I know very little of the private affairs of my 
 tenants, but I remember her, of course, and I was 
 grieved to learn by a letter from Sir John Greendale 
 the other day that in some strange way she was 
 missing." 
 
 "Who knew that better than yourself?" the man 
 said, raising himself on his elbow, and fixing a look
 
 58 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 of such deadly hatred upon Mallett that the latter in- 
 voluntarily drew back a step. 
 
 "I saw you laughing and talking to her in front 
 of her father's house; I heard you with her in their 
 garden the evening before you left and she disap- 
 peared, and it was my voice you heard in the lane. 
 Had I known that you were going that night, I would 
 have followed you and killed you, and saved her. The 
 next morning you were both gone; I waited a time 
 and then went to the depot of your regiment and en- 
 listed: I had failed to save her, but at least I could 
 avenge her. That bullet was mine, and had you not 
 stumbled over a Pandy's body, I suppose, just as I 
 pulled my trigger, you would have been a dead man. 
 I did not know that I had failed, and, rushing forward 
 with my company, was in the thickest of the fight. I 
 wanted to be killed, but no shot struck me, and at last, 
 when chasing a Pandy along a passage in the Kaiser 
 Bagh, he turned and levelled his piece at me. Mine 
 was loaded, and I could have shot him down as he 
 turned, but I stood and let him have his shot. When 
 I found myself here I was sorry that he had not fin- 
 ished me at once, but when I heard that you were 
 alive, and likely to recover, I thanked him in my heart 
 that he had left me a few more days of life, that I could 
 let you know that it was I who had fired, and that 
 Martha's wrong had not been wholly unavenged." He 
 sank back exhausted on to the pillow. Frank Mallett 
 had made no attempt to interrupt him: the sudden 
 agony of his wound and his astonishment at this 
 strange accusation had given him so grave a shock 
 that he leaned against the wall behind him in silent 
 wonder. 
 
 " Hello ! Mallett, what the deuce is the matter with 
 you ? " the surgeon exclaimed, as, looking up from a 
 patient over whom he was bending a short distance 
 away, his eyes fell on the officer's face. "You look
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 59 
 
 as if you were going to faint, man. Here, orderly, 
 some brandy and water, quickly ! " 
 
 Frank drank some of the brandy and water and 
 sat down for a few minutes. Then, when he saw the 
 surgeon at the other end of the room, he got up and 
 went across to Lechmere's bed. 
 
 " There is some terrible mistake, Lechmere," he 
 said, quietly. " I swear to you on my honour as a 
 gentleman that you are altogether wrong. From the 
 moment that I got into my dog-cart at Bennett's I 
 never saw Martha again. I know nothing whatever 
 of this talk in the garden. Did you think you saw 
 me as well as heard me ? " 
 
 " No, you were on one side of that high wall and I 
 on the other, but I heard enough to know who it was. 
 You told her that you had to go abroad at once, but 
 that if she would come out there you would put her 
 in charge of someone until you could marry her. You 
 told her that she could not stay where she was long, 
 and I knew what that meant. I suppose she is at 
 Calcutta still waiting, for of course she could not 
 have come out with you. I suppose that she is break- 
 ing her heart there now if she is not dead, as I hope 
 she is." 
 
 " Did you hear the word Calcutta or India men- 
 tioned, Lechmere ? " 
 
 " No, I did not, but I heard quite enough ; every- 
 one knew that you were going in a day or two, and 
 that was enough for me after what I had seen in the 
 afternoon." 
 
 " You saw nothing in the afternoon," Captain Mal- 
 lett said, angrily. " The girl's father and mother were 
 at home. We were all chatting together until we 
 came out. She came to the trap with me while they 
 stood at the open window; it was not more than a 
 minute before I drove off. I have not spoken to the 
 girl half a dozen times since she was a little child.
 
 60 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Why, man, if everyone took such insane fancies in his 
 head as you do, no man would dare to speak to a 
 woman at all. However," he went on in an altered 
 voice, " this is not a time for anger. You are very ill, 
 Lechmere, but the doctor has not given you up, and I 
 trust that you will yet get round and will be able to prove 
 to your own satisfaction that, whatever has happened 
 to this poor girl, I, at least, am wholly innocent of it; 
 but should you not get over this hurt, I should not like 
 you to go to your grave believing that I had done you 
 this great wrong. I speak to you as to a dying man 
 and having no interest in deceiving you, and I swear 
 to you before Heaven that I know absolutely nothing 
 of this. I, too, may fall from a rebel shot before long, 
 and I thank God that I can meet you before Him as 
 an innocent man in this matter. I must be going, 
 for I see the doctor coming to fetch me. Good-bye, 
 lad, we may not meet again, though I trust we shall; 
 but if not, I give you my full forgiveness for that shot 
 you fired at me; it was the result of a strange mistake, 
 but had I acted as you believed, I should have well 
 deserved the death you intended for me." 
 
 " Confound it, Mallett, there seems no end of mis- 
 chief from your visit here. In the first place, you 
 were nearly knocked over yourself, and now there is 
 this man lying insensible. So for goodness's sake get 
 off to your room again, and lie down and keep your- 
 self quiet for the rest of the day. I shall have you 
 demoralising the whole ward if you stay here." 
 
 Captain Mallett walked back with a much feebler 
 and less steady step than that with which he had 
 entered the hospital. He had some doubts whether 
 the man who had made this strange accusation and 
 had so nearly taken his life was really sane, and 
 whether he had not altogether imagined the conversa- 
 tion which he declared he had heard in the garden. 
 He remembered now the sudden way in which George
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 61 
 
 Lechmere had turned round and gone away when he 
 saw him saying good-bye to Martha, and how she had 
 shrugged her shoulders in contempt. 
 
 The man must either be mad or of a frightfully 
 jealous disposition to conjure up harm out of such 
 an incident, and one who would do so might well, when 
 his brain was on fire, conjure up this imaginary con- 
 versation. Still, he might have heard some man talk- 
 ing to her. From what Sir John had said, she did 
 leave the house and go into the garden about that 
 hour, and she certainly never returned. 
 
 He remembered all about George Lechmere now. 
 He had the reputation of being the best judge of cattle 
 in the neighbourhood, and a thoroughly steady fellow, 
 but he could see no resemblance in the shrunk and 
 wasted face to that he remembered. 
 
 That evening both the officers and men in the hos- 
 pital were carried away to the new one outside the 
 town. When the doctor came in before they were 
 moved he told Mallett that the man he had seen had 
 recovered from his swoon. 
 
 " He was very nearly gone," he said, " but we man- 
 aged to get him round, and it seems to me that he has 
 been better since. I don't know what he said to you 
 or you to him, and I don't want to know ; but he seems 
 to have got something off his mind. He is less fever- 
 ish than he was, and I have really some faint hopes 
 of pulling him through, especially as he will now be 
 in a more healthful atmosphere." 
 
 It was a comfort indeed to all the wounded when 
 late that evening they lay on beds in the hospital 
 marquees. The air seemed deliciously cool and fresh, 
 and there was a feeling of quiet and restfulness that 
 was impossible in the town, with the constant move- 
 ment of troops, the sound of falling masonry, the dust 
 and fetid odour of decay. 
 
 A week later the surgeon told Mallett that he had 
 5
 
 
 62 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 now hopes that the soldier he was interested in would 
 recover. 
 
 " The chances were a hundred to one against him," 
 he said, " but the one chance has come off." 
 
 " Will he be fit for service again, doctor ? " 
 
 " Yes, I don't see why he should not be, though 
 it will be a long time before he can carry his kit and 
 arms on a long day's march. It is hot enough now, 
 but we have not got to the worst by a long way, and 
 as there is still a vast amount of work to be done, I 
 expect that the regiment will be off again before long." 
 
 " Well, at any rate, I shall be able to go with you, 
 doctor." 
 
 " I don't quite say that, Mallett," the doctor said, 
 doubtfully ; " in another fortnight your wound will 
 be healed so that you will be capable of ordinary duty, 
 but certainly not long marches. If you do go you will 
 have to ride. There must be no more marching with 
 your company for some time." 
 
 A week later orders were issued under which the 
 regiment was appointed to form part of the force 
 which, under the command of General Walpole, was to 
 undertake a campaign against Rohilcund, a district in 
 which the great majority of the rebels who had es- 
 caped from Lucknow had now established themselves. 
 Unfortunately, the extent of the city and the necessity 
 for the employment of a large proportion of the British 
 force in the actual assault, had prevented anything 
 like a complete investment of the town, and the con- 
 sequence had been that after the fall of the Kaiser 
 Bagh, by far the greater portion of the rebel force in 
 the city had been able to march away without molesta- 
 tion. 
 
 Before leaving, Mallett had an interview with 
 George Lechmere, who was now out of danger. 
 
 " I should have known you now, Lechmere," he 
 said, as he came to his bedside. " Of course you are
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 63 
 
 still greatly changed, but you are getting back your 
 old expression, and I hope that in the course of two 
 or three months you will be able to take your place 
 in the ranks again." 
 
 " I don't know, sir ; I ain't fit to stay with the regi- 
 ment, and have thought of being invalided home and 
 then buying my discharge. I know you have said 
 nothing as to how you got that wound, not even to 
 the doctor; for if you had done so there is not a man 
 in hospital who would have spoken to me. But how 
 could I join the regiment again, knowing that if there 
 was any suspicion of what I had done, every man would 
 draw away from me, and that there would be nothing 
 for me to do but to put a bullet in my head." 
 
 " But no one ever will know it. It was a mad act, 
 and I believe you were partly mad at the time." 
 
 " I think so myself now that I look back. I think 
 now that I must have been mad all along. It never 
 once entered my mind to doubt that it was you, and 
 now I see plainly enough that except what the man 
 said about going away and anyone might have said 
 that there was not a shadow of ground or suspicion 
 against you. But even if I had never had that sus- 
 picion I should have left home. Why, sir, I know 
 that my own father and mother suspected that I killed 
 her. I resented it at the time; I felt hard and bitter 
 against it, but as I have been lying here I have come 
 to see that I brought their suspicions upon myself by 
 my own conduct, and that they had a thousand times 
 better ground for suspecting me than I had for sus- 
 pecting you. 
 
 "All that happened was my fault. Martha cared 
 for me once, but it was my cursed jealousy that drove 
 her from me. She was gay and light-hearted, and it 
 was natural for her to take her pleasure, which was 
 harmless enough if I had not made a grievance of it. 
 If I had not driven her from me she would have been
 
 64: THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 my wife long before harm came to her; but it was 
 as well that it was not so, for as I was then I know 
 I should have made her life a hell. I did it all and I 
 have been punished for it. Even at the end she might 
 never have gone off if I had not shouted out and tried 
 to climb the wall. She must have recognised my 
 voice, and, knowing that I had her secret, feared that 
 I might kill her and him too, and so she went. She 
 would not have gone as she did without even a bonnet 
 or a shawl if it had not been for that." 
 
 " Then you don't think, as most people there do, 
 that she was murdered ? " 
 
 " Not a bit, sir. I never thought so for a moment. 
 She went straight away with that man. I think now I 
 know who it was." 
 
 " Never mind about that, Lechmere. You know 
 what the Bible says, ' Vengeance is mine, saith the 
 Lord,' and whoever it may be, leave him safely in 
 God's hands." 
 
 "Yes, sir, I shall try to act up to that. I was 
 fool enough to think that I could avenge her, and a 
 nice business I made of it." 
 
 " Well, I think it is nonsense of you to think of 
 leaving the regiment. There is work to be done here. 
 There is the work of punishing men who have com- 
 mitted the most atrocious crimes; there is the work 
 of winning back India for England. Every English- 
 man out here, who can carry a weapon, ought to re- 
 main at his post until the work is done. As to this 
 wound of mine, that is a matter between us only. A3 
 I have told you, I have altogether forgiven you, and 
 am not even disposed greatly to blame you, thinking, 
 as you did, that I was responsible for that poor girl's 
 flight. I shall never mention it to a soul. I have al- 
 ready put it out of my mind, therefore it is as if it 
 had never been done, and there is no reason whatever 
 why you should shrink from companionship with your
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 65 
 
 comrades. I shall think much better of you for doing 
 your duty like a man, than if you went home again and 
 shrank from it." 
 
 " You are too good, sir, altogether too good." 
 
 " Nonsense, man ; besides, you have to remember 
 that you have not gone unpunished. Had it not been 
 for your feeling, after you had, as you believed, killed 
 me, you never would have stood and let that Sepoy 
 shoot you; so that all the pain that you have been 
 going through, and may still have to go through be- 
 fore you are quite cured, is a punishment that you 
 have yourself accepted. After a man has once been 
 punished for a crime there is an end of it, and you 
 need grieve no further over it; but it will be a lesson 
 that I hope and believe you will never forget. Hackett, 
 who has been my soldier servant for the last five years, 
 was killed in the fight in the Kaiser Bagh; if you 
 like, when you rejoin, I shall apply for you in his 
 stead. It will make your work a good deal easier for 
 you, and I should like to have the son of one of my 
 old tenants about me." 
 
 The man burst into tears. 
 
 " There, don't let's say anything more about it," 
 Mallett went on, taking the thin hand of the soldier 
 in his ; " we will consider it settled, and I shall look 
 out for you in a couple of months, so get well as quick 
 as you can, and don't worry yourself by thinking of 
 the past. I must be off now, for I have to take down 
 a party of convalescents to rejoin this evening. Good- 
 bye, lad," and without waiting for any reply, he turned 
 and left the marquee.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 "!T is little more than two years and a half since 
 I left, Lechmere, but it seems almost a lifetime." 
 
 "It does seem a time, Major; we must have 
 marched thousands of miles, and I could not say how 
 many times we have been engaged. There has not 
 been a week that we have not had a fight, and some- 
 times two or three of them." 
 
 " Well, thank God, we are back again. Still I am 
 glad to have been through it." 
 
 " So am I, sir. It will be something to look back 
 on, and it is curious to think that while we have been 
 seeing and doing so much, father and my brother Bob 
 have just been going about over the farm, and seeing 
 to the cattle and looking after the animals day in and 
 day out, without ever going away save to market two 
 or three times a month at Chippenham." 
 
 " And you have quite made up your mind to stay 
 with me, Lechmere ? " 
 
 "Quite, sir; short of your turning me off, there 
 is nothing that would get me away from you. No one 
 could be happier than I have been ever since I re- 
 joined after that wound. It has not been like master 
 and servant, sir; you have just treated me as if you 
 had been the squire and I had been your tenant's son, 
 and that nothing had ever come between us. You 
 have made a man of me again, and I only wish 
 that I had more opportunities of showing you how I 
 feel it." 
 
 "You have had opportunities enough, and you 
 66
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 67 
 
 have made the most of them. You were by my side 
 when I entered that house where there were a score of 
 desperate rebels, and it would have gone hard with 
 us if aid had not come up. You stood over me when. 
 I was knocked down by that charge of rebel cavalry, 
 and got half a dozen wounds before the Hussars swept 
 down and drove them back." 
 
 " I was well paid for that, sir," the man said with 
 a smile. 
 
 " Yes, you got the Victoria Cross, and no man ever 
 won it more fairly. But, after all, it was not so much 
 by such things as these that you showed your feel- 
 iiigs, Lechmere, as by your constant and faithful serv- 
 ice and by the care with which you looked after me. 
 Still, as I told you before, I don't like standing in 
 your way. In the natural course of things you would 
 have had your father's farm, and there is now no 
 reason why you should not go back there." 
 
 " No, sir ; since we heard that that poor girl came 
 back home and died, there is no reason why I should 
 not go back to the old place, but I don't like to. Two 
 years of such a life as we have been leading does not 
 fit one for farm work. Brother Bob stopped and took 
 my place while I went soldiering, and even if I were 
 willing to go back to it, which I am not, it would not 
 be fair to him for me to step in just as if nothing had 
 happened. But, anyhow, I shall be glad to be back 
 again at the old place and see them all. Father and 
 mother will know now that they suspected me wrongly. 
 But they were not to blame. Mad as I was then, I 
 might have done it if I had had the chance." 
 
 " Well, Lechmere, you know well that I shall be 
 always glad to have you with me as long as you are 
 willing to stay. Perhaps the time will come when 
 you may wish to make a home for yourself, and you 
 may be sure that the first farm on the estate that 
 falls vacant shall be yours, or, as that does not very
 
 68 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 often happen, I will see that you get a good one some- 
 where in the neighbourhood." 
 
 The man shook his head, and without answering 
 went on unpacking his master's portmanteau. They 
 were at the Hummums Hotel, in Covent Garden, and 
 had arrived half an hour before by the evening train, 
 having come overland from Marseilles. Two years' 
 soldiering had greatly altered George Lechmere. He 
 had lost the heavy step caused by tramping over 
 ploughed fields, and was a well set-up, alert and smart- 
 looking soldier; and although now in civilian clothes 
 for his master had bought him out of the service 
 when he sent in his own papers no one could avoid 
 seeing that he had served, for in addition to the mili- 
 tary carriage there was the evidence of two deep scars 
 on his face, the handiwork of the mutineers' sabres 
 on the day when he had stood over his master sur- 
 rounded by rebel horse. His complexion was deeply 
 bronzed by the sun, and there was that steady but 
 watchful expression in his eyes that is characteristic 
 of men who have gone through long and dangerous 
 service. 
 
 "I shall stay two or three days in town," Major 
 Mallett said; "I must get an entire refit before I go 
 down. You had better come round with me to the 
 tailor's to-morrow, the first thing after breakfast; you 
 will want three or four suits, too." 
 
 " Yes, sir. And besides, they would like to know 
 down there when you are coming home; they are sure 
 to want to give you a welcome." 
 
 " And you, too, Lechmere. I am sure that all your 
 old friends will give you as hearty a welcome as they 
 will give me. Indeed, it ought to be a good deal hearti- 
 er, for you have been living among them all your life, 
 while I have been away for the most part ever since 
 I was a boy." 
 
 Four days later they went down to Chippenham.
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 69 
 
 Mr. Norton, the steward, was on the platform when 
 the train came in. 
 
 " Welcome home again, sir," he said warmly, as 
 Frank stepped from the carriage ; " we were all glad 
 indeed when we heard that you were back safe, and 
 were coming down among us." 
 
 "I am glad enough to be back again, Norton," 
 Frank Mallett said, as he shook the man's hand, "we 
 had warm work of it for a bit, but at the end, when 
 the excitement was over, one got pretty tired of it. 
 This is George Lechmere, Norton," the Major said, 
 as he went along with the agent to where George was 
 standing with the pile of luggage ; " you have heard 
 how gallantly he behaved, and how he saved my life at 
 the risk of his own." 
 
 " How are you, George ? " the agent said, as he 
 shook hands with him ; " I should hardly have known 
 you; indeed, I am sure I should not have done so if 
 I had met you in the street; you seem to have grown 
 taller and altogether different." 
 
 " I have lost flesh a bit, Mr. Norton, and I have 
 learnt to stand upright, and I shall be some time be- 
 fore I get rid of this paint the sun has given me." 
 
 " Yes, you are as brown as a berry, George ; we 
 saw in the gazette about your getting the Victoria 
 Cross in saving the squire's life; I can tell you every 
 man on the estate felt proud of you. Are you ready 
 to be off, sir ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I suppose you have got the dog-cart out- 
 side, as I asked you ? " 
 
 " Well, no, sir," the agent said, in a tone of some 
 embarrassment, "you see the tenants had made up 
 their minds that you ought to come in a different 
 sort of style, and so without asking me about it they 
 ordered an open carriage to be here to meet you. I 
 knew nothing about it until last night; the dog-cart 
 is here and will take up your luggage."
 
 70 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Well, I suppose it cannot be helped," Mallett 
 laughed. " Of course, they meant it kindly." 
 
 " I will see the luggage got in the dog-cart and 
 come over with it," Lechmere said. 
 
 " You can see it into the dog-cart, George, but you 
 must come with me; I have got to put up with it, and 
 you must, too." 
 
 He stood chatting with Mr. Norton on the plat- 
 form till George returned and said that the luggage 
 was all packed, and that the dog-cart had gone on 
 ahead. There was an amused look on his face, which 
 was explained when, on going out, Mallett found an 
 open carriage with four horses, with postillions in new 
 purple silk jackets and orange caps, and large rosettes 
 of the same colour at the horses' heads. 
 
 " Bless me," said the Major, in a tone of dismay, 
 " I shall feel as if I were a candidate for the county." 
 
 " They are the family colours, you see, sir." 
 
 "Yes, I know, Norton, and the Conservative col- 
 ours, too; well it cannot be helped, and it does not 
 make much difference after all; there will be no fuss 
 when I get there I hope, Norton," he went on, as he 
 took his place, and Lechmere climbed up into the seat 
 behind. 
 
 "Well, sir," the agent said, apologetically, "there 
 is an arch or two; you see, the tenants wanted to do 
 the thing properly, and the school children will be 
 on the lawn, and there are going to be some bonfires in 
 the evening, and they have got a big box of fireworks 
 down from London. Why, sir, it would be strange if 
 they did not give you a welcome after going through 
 all that, and being wounded three times and getting 
 so much credit. Why, it wouldn't be English, sir." 
 
 "I suppose it's all right," Mallett said, resignedly; 
 " and, indeed, Norton, one cannot help being pleased 
 at seeing one's tenants glad to have one home again." 
 
 In half-an-hour's drive they arrived at the bound-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 71 
 
 ary of the estate. Here an arch had been erected, and 
 a score of the tenants and tenants' sons, assembled 
 on horseback, gave a loud cheer as the carriage drove 
 up, and as it died away one shouted, " Why, that is 
 George Lechmere behind ; give him a cheer, too ; " and 
 again a hearty shout went up. The carriage stopped, 
 and Major Mallett said a few words, thanking them 
 heartily for the welcome they had given him, and as- 
 suring them what pleasure it was to him to be back 
 again. " I thank you, also," he concluded, " for the 
 cheer that you have given to my faithful comrade and 
 friend, George Lechmere. As you all know, he saved 
 my life at the risk of his own, and has received the 
 greatest honour a soldier can gain the Victoria Cross. 
 You have a good right to be proud of him as one of 
 yourselves, and to give him a hearty welcome." 
 
 The carriage then drove on again, the farmers rid- 
 ing close behind as an escort. At the entrance of the 
 drive up to the house another and larger arch had 
 been erected. Here the rest of the tenants and the 
 women were collected, and there was another hearty 
 greeting, and another speech from Mallett. Then they 
 drove up to the house, where a number of the gentry 
 had assembled to welcome him. After shaking hands 
 and chatting with these for a short time, Frank went 
 round among the tenants, saying a few words to each. 
 When he had done this he invited them all to a dinner 
 on the lawn that day week, and then went into the 
 house, where the steward had prepared a meal. Among 
 the familiar faces 1'rank missed those he would most 
 gladly have seen. He had a year before received a 
 letter from Lady Greendare, telling him of Sir John's 
 sudden death, and had learned from the steward dur- 
 ing the drive that she and her daughter were in 
 London. 
 
 " They went there a month ago," he said ; " a year 
 had passed after Sir Jc-I;n"a death, and people say that
 
 72 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 it is not likely that they will be much at home again 
 for some time; Lady Greendale has high connections 
 in London, as you know, sir." 
 
 " Yes, she was a daughter of Lord Huntinglen, 
 Norton." 
 
 " Yes, sir, they always went up to town for the 
 season; and they say Lady Greendale liked London 
 better than the country, and now that Miss Bertha is 
 out for she was presented at Court a fortnight ago 
 people think they won't be much down at Greendale 
 for the present." 
 
 " Has Miss Greendale grown up pretty ? I thought 
 she would, but, of course, when I went away she was 
 only a girl, not fully developed." 
 
 " She is a beautiful young lady, sir; everyone says 
 she is quite the belle of the county. Folks reckon she 
 will make a great match. She is very well liked, too; 
 pleasant and nice without a bit of pride about her, 
 and very high-spirited, and I should say, full of fun, 
 though of course the place has been pretty well shut 
 up for the last year. For four months after Sir John's 
 death they went away travelling, and were only at 
 home for a few weeks before they went up to London 
 the other day, in time for the first Drawing-room." 
 
 " I suppose we shall not see much of you for a time, 
 Mallett ? " one of his friends said, as they sat at 
 luncheon. 
 
 " No, I don't suppose I shall be able to settle down 
 for a bit. After the life I have led, I am afraid that 
 I shall find the time hang heavily on my hands alone 
 here." 
 
 " You must bring home a wife, Major Mallett," 
 one of the ladies said. 
 
 " That is looking quite into the dim future, Mrs. 
 Herbert," he laughed. " You see, since I first went 
 on active service I have been removed altogether from 
 feminine attractions. Of course I have been think-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 73 
 
 ing it over, but for the present my inclination turns 
 towards yachting. I have always been fond of the 
 water, and had a strong wish to go to sea when I was 
 a boy, but that aspiration was not encouraged. How- 
 ever, I can follow my bent now. Norton has been 
 piling up money for me in my absence, and I can afford 
 myself the luxury of a big yacht. Of course I shall 
 be in no hurry about it; I shall either build or buy 
 a biggish craft, for racing in summer and cruising 
 in winter." 
 
 " That means that you won't be here at all, Major 
 Mallett." 
 
 " Oh, no, it does not mean that, I can assure you ; 
 I shall run down for a month three or four times a 
 year, say for shooting in September or October, and 
 for hunting a month or two later on; besides, I have 
 to renew my acquaintance with my tenants and see 
 that everything is going on comfortably. I expect that 
 I shall spend four or five months every year on the 
 estate." 
 
 " Till you settle down for good ? " 
 
 " Yes, till I settle down for good," he laughed. " I 
 suppose it will have to be some day." 
 
 " Then you don't think of passing much time in 
 London, Mallett?" 
 
 " No, indeed ; fortunately my father sold his town 
 house three years ago; he did not care about going 
 up, and of course it was of no use to me; I have never 
 had any opportunities for society, and my present idea 
 is that it would bore me horribly. But I dare say 
 that I shall be there for a month or so in the season. 
 Of course, there is my club to go to and plenty of 
 men one knows, but even if I had a longing for soci- 
 ety, I know no one in what are termed fashionable 
 circles, and so should be outside what is called the 
 world." 
 
 " Oh, you woxild soon get over that, Major Mai-
 
 74 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 lett; why, Lady Greendale would introduce you every- 
 where." 
 
 "It is not likely I shall trouble her to do that," 
 Mallett answered. 
 
 Frank had told George Lechmere that as soon as 
 they arrived he would be at liberty to go off at once 
 to his father and mother. 
 
 " Stay as long as you like," he said. " I shall get 
 on very well without you for a few days." 
 
 " I shall come up again to-night, sir, and get your 
 things brushed and your bath ready in the morning; 
 I should not be comfortable if I did not do that. Then 
 after breakfast, if you do not want me, I can go to 
 the farm for a few hours. Of course I shall have lots 
 to tell the old people about India. But for that I don't 
 know what I should do to pass the time away with no 
 work on hand." 
 
 " Oh, you will have your old friends to look up, 
 George; after being over two years on service, you 
 have a right to a month's leave. As you have got your 
 six months' batta in hand besides your savings, you 
 have enough cash to go on with; but when you want 
 money, you know that you have only to speak to me." 
 
 " I have a good bit, sir ; I have scarcely spent a 
 penny since I joined, and in the two years have laid 
 by a nice little sum. Besides, we all picked up a bit; 
 most of those native chiefs and their followers had 
 money or jewels about them, and all of us got some- 
 thing; some good prizes. So one way or another I 
 have made as much or more in the two years' soldier- 
 ing as I should have done in two years' farming; but 
 if I had not above a few shillings in my pocket, I 
 should do well here, for I have no occasion to spend 
 any money with all my friends wanting me to go 
 round to see them and tell them of our doings." 
 
 " Found everything going on satisfactorily at home, 
 George?"
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 75 
 
 "Yes, sir, all well. Bob has turned out a great 
 help to my father; I was sure he would do well when 
 he got the chance. Of course, so long as I was there 
 he had not much responsibility, but I could see then 
 that he would make a good farmer. Things have been 
 going on just as well as when I was at home." 
 
 " Are you going over there now ? " 
 
 "Not until after breakfast, sir, anyhow. I told 
 them that I might look in some time in the morning, 
 but that I could not say whether you might want me 
 for anything." 
 
 " No, I shan't want you at all, George ; I told you 
 so yesterday. However, after breakfast I will walk 
 over to the farm with you. I only had time for a word 
 with your father yesterday, but I told him that I would 
 come over to see them some time to-day." 
 
 Accordingly, after an hour's talk with his agent, 
 Frank Mallett walked over to the farm with George. 
 The latter's father and mother were both in the house, 
 an unusual thing at that time of day with the former, 
 but he had said at breakfast to his son, " You must 
 look after things by yourself to-day, lad; the Squire 
 said yesterday that he would come over some time, 
 and I would not be out when he came, not for a twenty 
 pound note." 
 
 He and his wife came to the door when they saw 
 Frank coming across the field towards the house. 
 " Well, Lechmere," the latter said, when he came up, 
 " I am glad to see you and your dame looking so well 
 and hearty. I had not time to say more than a word to 
 you yesterday, and I wanted to have a comfortable 
 talk with you both. I wrote you a line telling you 
 how gallantly George had behaved, and how he had 
 saved my life; but I had to write the day afterwards, 
 and my head was still ringing from the sabre cut that 
 had for a time knocked all the sense out of me, and 
 therefore I had to cut it very short. How gallantly
 
 76 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 he defended my life against a dozen of the enemy's 
 cavalry was shown by the fact that he received the 
 Victoria Cross, and I can tell you that such an im- 
 mense number of brave deeds were performed during 
 the Mutiny that George's must be considered an ex- 
 traordinary act of bravery to have obtained for him 
 that honour." 
 
 By this time they had entered the farmhouse par- 
 lour. George had not followed them in, but on in- 
 quiring where he was likely to find Bob, had gone off 
 to join him. 
 
 "I was proud to hear it at the time, Squire; and 
 when it was in the papers that our George had got 
 the Victoria Cross, and all our neighbours came in 
 to congratulate us, we felt prouder still. Up to the 
 time when we got your letter we did not know for sure 
 where he was. He had said he meant to enlist, and 
 from the humour that he was in when he went away 
 we guessed it to be in some regiment where he could 
 get to the wars. We felt the more glad, as you may 
 guess, from the fact that both the Missus and I had 
 wronged him in our thoughts. We learnt that before 
 we got the news, and it was not until we knew that we 
 had been wrong that either of us opened our lips about 
 it, though each of us knew what the other thought." 
 
 "I know what you mean, Lechmere. He told me 
 all about it." 
 
 " Well, Squire, you may be sure, when we knew 
 that we had wronged him, how the wife and I fretted 
 that we did not know where to write to, nor how to 
 set about finding out where he was, and so you can 
 guess how pleased we were when we heard from you 
 that he was with your regiment, and that he had saved 
 your life at the risk of his own. We did not know 
 then, Squire, that if he had had twenty lives he would 
 have done right to have risked them all for you. He 
 told us the whole story yesterday just to mother, me
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 77 
 
 and Bob. I can't tell you yet, Squire, what we thought 
 of it. I do not know that I shall ever be able to tell 
 you, and we shall never cease to thank the good Lord 
 for saving George from being a murderer in his mad- 
 ness a murderer of our own Squire and to bless you, 
 Major, that you should not only have forgiven him and 
 kept his crime from everyone, but should have taken 
 him in hand, as he says, as if it had never happened." 
 
 " There was no occasion for him to have said any- 
 thing about it, Lechmere; he was undoubtedly more or 
 less mad at the time. Upon the whole, I think that 
 the affair has made him a better man. Up to the time 
 when he saved my life he did his duty as a soldier well, 
 and was a most devoted servant to me, but the weight 
 of this business pressed heavily upon him, and in spite 
 of all I could say he held himself aloof as much as 
 possible from his comrades; but after that he changed 
 altogether; he felt, as he told me, that God would not 
 have given him this opportunity of saving the life 
 that he had so nearly taken had He not forgiven him, 
 and his spirits rose, and while before he certainly was 
 not popular among his comrades a reserved man never 
 is he became a general favourite. 
 
 " The officers, of course, showed a good deal of in- 
 terest in him after what he had done; he could have 
 been a sergeant in the course of a month, but he re- 
 fused corporal's stripes when they were offered to him 
 on the day after the battle, saying that he preferred re- 
 maining with me, though the Colonel told him that 
 after what he had done he would stand a good chance 
 of promotion after two or three years' service as a 
 sergeant. He told me that he knew his jealous disposi- 
 tion had been a sort of trouble to you; but I am sure 
 that he will never worry you in that way again. I 
 believe that he is now. thoroughly master of himself, 
 and that even the man who wrought that foul wrong 
 need not fear him." 
 6
 
 Y8 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " You heard, sir, that the poor girl came home and 
 died?" 
 
 " Yes, he told me when he heard the news from 
 you." 
 
 " She never said who did it, sir, but from other 
 things that came out there is no doubt who it was." 
 
 " He told me, Lechmere, but I stopped him short ; 
 I did not wish to know. I had my suspicions, but I did 
 not want to have them confirmed. The fellow I sus- 
 pect is no friend of mine, and I don't want to know 
 anything about him. If I were certain of it, I could 
 not meet him without telling him my opinion of him." 
 
 " You are not likely to meet him here, Squire. A 
 year ago he happened to be over at Chippenham one 
 market day. There were a dozen of us there, and I 
 can tell you we gave him such a reception that he 
 mounted his horse and rode straight off again. If he 
 hadn't I believe that we should have horsewhipped 
 him through the town. Three months afterwards his 
 estate was put up for sale, and he has never been down 
 in this part of the country since; not that he was ever 
 here much before, London suited him better. You see, 
 his mother was, as I have heard, the daughter of a 
 banker, and an only child; and even if he hadn't had 
 the estate he would have been a rich man. Anyhow, 
 I am heartily glad that he has left the county." 
 
 " I, too, am glad that he has gone, Lechmere. I 
 have not met him for years, but if we had both been 
 down here we must have run against each other some- 
 times, and after some matters that had passed be- 
 tween us years ago we could scarcely have met on 
 friendly terms. However, as there is nothing beyond 
 mere suspicion against him, he may in this case be 
 innocent. You see, I was suspected unjustly myself, 
 and the same thing may be the case with him." 
 
 " That is so, Squire ; though I don't think that 
 there is any mistake this time. In fact, I believe she
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. T9< 
 
 told her mother, though she kept it from her father 
 for fear he would break the law. At any rate, it is a 
 good thing he has gone; for he was a hard landlord, 
 and there was not a good word for him among his 
 tenants." 
 
 " That .makes the probability of a mistake all the 
 more likely," Frank said ; " if I, who as a landlord, 
 as far as I know, have given no grounds for dislike 
 to my tenants, was suspected unjustly, this would be 
 still more likely to be the case with one who was gen- 
 erally unpopular; and now, how has the farm been 
 going on since I was away ? " 
 
 " Just about as usual, Squire. Bob is not such 
 a good judge of horses and cattle as George was, but 
 in other respects I think he knows more. George did 
 not care for reading, and Bob is always at the papers 
 and getting up the last things these scientific chaps 
 have found out; so matters are pretty well squared. 
 Altogether, I have no call to grumble, and I ain't 
 likely, Squire, to have to ask for time on rent day. We 
 were worried sorely about George as long as that mat- 
 ter hung over him; but since that was cleared up, and 
 we heard of his having saved your life, we have been 
 happy again. We got a big shock yesterday, however, 
 when we heard what had happened out there." 
 
 " Well, that is all past and over long ago, and we 
 have none of us any cause to regret it; it has done 
 George a great deal of good, and as for me, I might 
 not be here now talking to you if it had not taken 
 place, for it was the memory of that which led George 
 to the desperate action which saved my life. Besides, 
 you see, it has gained for me an attached and faith- 
 ful friend, for it is as a friend rather than as a servant 
 that I regard your son." 
 
 " He will always be that, I am sure, Squire ; he 
 told us that you had offered to set him up on a farm, 
 but he is quite right to say no. I don't say that if it
 
 80 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 had been with somebody else, his mother and I might 
 not have felt rather sore that our eldest boy should 
 have taken to service; but, of course, it is different 
 with you, Squire. It is only natural that a Lechmere 
 should serve a Mallett, seeing that our fathers have 
 been your fathers' tenants for hundreds of years, so 
 that even if all this had not happened we should not 
 have minded; as it is, we are proud that he is with 
 you; and it seems natural that, after wandering about 
 the world and fighting with those black villains out 
 there, he should never be content to go on as he was 
 before, or to settle down to farming." 
 
 " It is like man like master, in this case," Mallett 
 laughed. " After I have once been over the estate 
 and seen all the tenants, and learned that everyone is 
 satisfied and everything going on well, I shall very 
 soon begin to feel restless, and shall be running off 
 somewhere. You see, I have never been broken in to 
 a country life. I have no idea of becoming an ab- 
 sentee; but I think a month or two together will be 
 as much as I can stand, at any rate as long as I am 
 a bachelor." 
 
 " That is just what I was saying, Squire," the 
 farmer's wife said, speaking for the first time for 
 during the first portion of the conversation she had 
 been crying quietly, and had since been busying herself 
 in placing decanters and glasses and a huge home- 
 made cake on the table. " We all hope that you will 
 soon bring a mistress home. I said only this morn- 
 ing that you would never be settling down until you 
 did. And now, will you take a glass of wine and a 
 slice of cake, Squire ? " 
 
 " Thank you, Mrs. Lechmere, I will ; especially a 
 piece of your cake. Many and many a slice of it have 
 I had here when a boy, and famously good it always 
 was." 
 
 Major Mallett ate two big slices of cake, drank a
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 81 
 
 glass of wine, and refusing the offer of a second glass, 
 got up to go, saying : 
 
 " No, Mrs. Lechmere ; I must not treat myself to 
 another glass now; I am going round to four or five 
 other houses before I return to lunch, and I know that 
 the tray will be put on the table everywhere; I can 
 say that I have eaten so much cake here that I can- 
 not eat more. But I know I shall have to drink a 
 glass of wine at each place, and I can assure you that 
 I am not accustomed to tipple in the morning. Ah, 
 here come your two sons across the fields. I will meet 
 them at the gate; if I were to begin a regular talk 
 with Bob to-day, the morning would be gone." 
 
 " George has changed wonderfully," Mrs. Lechmere 
 said, as they accompanied him to the gate ; " it ain't 
 his face so much, though he is well nigh as brown as 
 that cake, but it is his figure. I should not have 
 known him if he had not come along with Bob; he 
 walks altogether different." 
 
 " It is the drilling, Mrs. Lechmere. Yes, it is won- 
 derful how much drill does for a man; and there is a 
 good deal in the cut of the clothes. You see, there 
 is not much difference in the material, but George's 
 were made at a good tailor's in London, and I sup- 
 pose Bob's were made down here." 
 
 Mallett stayed for a few minutes chatting at the 
 gate with Bob, and then, saying that he would cer- 
 tainly come in again before he went up to town, started 
 on a round of calls.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " AND so you have bought a yacht, Major Mal- 
 lett?" 
 
 "Yes; at least she is scarcely a yacht yet. I was 
 going to have one built, but I heard of one that had 
 been ordered by Lord Haverstock, who, they say, has 
 been so hard hit at the Derby that he had to tell Wan- 
 hill, the builder, that he could not take her. As the 
 season was getting rather late, the man was glad to 
 sell her a bargain, especially as he had already got a 
 thousand pounds towards her; so I got her for twelve 
 hundred less that Haverstock was to have paid. It 
 suited me admirably, for he has engaged to finish her 
 in six weeks. She is just about the size I wanted, 120 
 tons, and looks as if she would turn out fast and a good 
 sea boat. Of course, I shall race a bit with her next 
 year, though I have bought her more for cruising. I 
 hope that you and Lady Greendale will favour me 
 with your company on her first cruise after the season 
 ends. I know it is of no use asking before that." 
 
 "I should like it immensely, Major Mallett; it 
 would be delightful. How many can you carry ? " 
 
 " Eight comfortably ; the ladies' cabin has four 
 berths, but will be only really comfortable for three, 
 and there are four other state cabins that is, three 
 besides my own, but one of them has two berths. Of 
 course, I could put up three or four others in the 
 saloon for a couple of days, but for a cruise of three 
 weeks or a month it would be too many for comfort. 
 We could not seat that number at table without crowd-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 83 
 
 ing, and I doubt whether the cooking arrangements 
 would be altogether satisfactory. Of course, we shall 
 want two more ladies. I will leave the selection of 
 those to you and Lady Greendale, for, except your- 
 selves, I know no ladies, though, of course, I could get 
 plenty of men." 
 
 " That will be delightful," Bertha said; " but I dare 
 say that by the time the season is over you will know 
 plenty of ladies that you can ask; you see, you have 
 met so many people here now that, as you have just 
 been grumbling discontentedly, you are out nearly 
 every night." 
 
 " Yes," he laughed, " at present, you see, I am re- 
 garded rather as an Indian lion; but I shall bid good- 
 bye to London as soon as the yacht is afloat." 
 
 " What is her name to be ? " 
 
 " I have not given it a thought yet ; I only bought 
 her two days ago. It seems to me that it is almost as 
 hard to fix on a name for a yacht as for a race-horse." 
 
 " Oh ! there are so many pretty names that would 
 do for a yacht." 
 
 " Yes ; but you would be surprised if you knew 
 how many yachts there are of every likely name." 
 
 " It ought to be a water bird," the girl said. 
 
 " Those are just the names that are most taken." 
 
 " Yes ; but there are lots of sea birds and water 
 birds, only I cannot think of them." 
 
 " Well, you look them out," he laughed ; " here is 
 a Hunt's Yachting List that I bought on my way here \ 
 I will leave it with you, and any name that you fix on 
 she shall have. Only, please choose one that only two 
 or three boats, and those not about the same size, have 
 got; it leads to confusion if there are two craft going 
 about of the same name and of about the same size. 
 But I warn you that it will involve your having to go 
 down to Poole to christen her." 
 
 " Do they christen yachts, Major Mallett ? "
 
 84 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " I really don't know anything about it," he re- 
 plied; "but if it is right and proper for ships it must 
 be for yachts; and I should regard the ceremony as 
 being likely to bring good luck to her. When the time 
 comes, I will fix the day to suit your arrangements." 
 
 " I will try to come down, Major Mallett, if mamma 
 will agree; but it is a long way to Poole, and somehow 
 one never seems to find an hour to do anything; so I 
 really cannot promise." 
 
 " Well, if you cannot manage it, Miss Greendale, 
 I will have her launched without being named and 
 bring her round to Southampton, and then you could 
 go down and christen her there. That would only be 
 a short railway run of a couple of hours after break- 
 fast, and, say, two hours for luncheon there and to have 
 a look at her, and you could be home by four o'clock 
 in the afternoon." 
 
 " That seems more practicable." 
 
 Captain Mallett had been three weeks in town. He 
 had called upon Lady Greendale on the day after he 
 had come up, and been received with the greatest cor- 
 diality by her and Bertha. The latter, in the two years 
 and a half that he had been away, had grown from a 
 somewhat gawky girl, whose charm lay solely in her 
 expressive eyes and pleasant smile, into a very pretty 
 woman. She was slightly over middle height, and car- 
 ried herself exceptionally well; her face was a bright 
 and sunny one, but her eyes were unchanged, and there 
 was an earnestness in their expression which, with a 
 certain resolute curve in the lips, gave character to the 
 laughing brightness of her face. Society had received 
 her warmly, and consequently she was pleased with 
 society. Both for her own sake and as an heiress she 
 was made a deal of, and, though she had been but two 
 months in town, she had already taken her place as 
 one of the recognised belles of the season. 
 
 Lady Greendale had a dinner party on the day when
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 85 
 
 Major Mallett called, and was discussing with Bertha 
 whom they could invite to fill up at such short notice 
 a vacancy which had occurred. 
 
 " You corne at the right moment, Frank," she said, 
 after they had chatted for some time. " We were la- 
 menting just now that we had received this morning 
 a note from a gentleman who was coming to dine with 
 us to-day, saying that he could not come; but now I 
 regard it as most fortunate, for of course we want you 
 to come to us at once. I suppose you have not made 
 any engagements yet. We shall be sixteen with you, 
 and I think they are all nice people." 
 
 " I shall be very happy to come," he said ; " I have 
 certainly no engagements. I looked in at the club last 
 night. It was my first appearance there, for my name 
 only came up for election four months ago, and I 
 should have felt very uncomfortable if I had not hap- 
 pened to meet two or three old friends. One of them 
 asked me to dinner for to-morrow. For to-day I am 
 altogether free." 
 
 In the course of the evening Major Mallett received 
 three or four invitations to dances and balls, and, 
 - being thus started in society, was soon out every even- 
 ing. For the first week he enjoyed the novelty of the 
 scene, but very speedily tired of it. At dinners the 
 ladies he took down always wanted him to talk about 
 India; but even this was, in his opinion, preferable 
 to the crush and heat of the dances. 
 
 " How men can go on with such a life as this," 
 he said to a friend at the club, " beats me altogether, 
 Colonel; two or three times in the year one might like 
 to go out to these crowded balls, just to see the dresses 
 and the girls, but to go out night after night is to my 
 mind worse than hunting the rebels through the jungle. 
 It is just as hot and not a hundredth part so exciting. 
 I have only had three weeks of it, and I am positively 
 sick of it already."
 
 86 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Then why on earth do you accept, Mallett ? I 
 took good care not to get into it. What can a man 
 want better than this? A well-cooked dinner, eaten 
 with a chum, and then a quiet rubber, and perhaps 
 once a fortnight or so I go out to a dinner party, 
 which I like well enough as a change. I always get 
 plenty of shooting in winter, and am generally away 
 for three months, but I am always heartily glad to get 
 back again." 
 
 " I am afraid I should get as tired of the club as I 
 am of society, Colonel." 
 
 " Ah ! you have plenty of time, lad. I am twenty 
 years your senior. Well, there is plenty before you 
 besides society and club life. Of course, you will 
 marry and settle down, and become a county magis- 
 trate and all that sort of thing. Thank goodness, what 
 money came to me came in the shape of consols, and 
 not in that of land. A country life would be exile to 
 me; but, you see, you have left the army much younger 
 than I did. I suppose you are not thirty yet? The 
 Crimea and India ran you fast up the tree." 
 
 " No, I am only twenty-eight ; you know I was only 
 a brevet Major, and had two more steps to get before 
 I had a regimental majority." 
 
 " That makes all the difference, Mallett ; and it is 
 absurd, a young fellow of your age crying out against 
 society." 
 
 "I don't cry out against it," Mallett laughed; "I 
 simply say that it is out of my line, and I have never 
 been broken into it. I was talking of buying a yacht, 
 or rather of building one." 
 
 " What size do you want ? I know of one to be 
 had cheap, if you are thinking of a good big craft." 
 
 And thus it was that Mallett came to hear of the 
 yawl at Poole. 
 
 " I have fixed on the Osprey, Major Mallett," 
 Bertha Greendale said, when he took her down to
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 87 
 
 dinner two days after he had last seen her. " What 
 do you say to that? There are two or three yachts of 
 the same name, but none of them is over thirty tons." 
 " I think the Osprey is a pretty name, Miss Green- 
 dale. I should have accepted the Crocodile if you had 
 suggested it. The name that you have chosen will 
 suit admirably; so henceforth she shall be the Osprey, 
 pending your formally christening her by that name. 
 I might, of course, be hypercritical and point out that, 
 although a fishing eagle, the Osprey can scarcely be 
 called a water bird, inasmuch that it is no swimmer." 
 " But it is hypercritical even to suggest such a 
 thing," she said, pouting ; " the Osprey has to do with 
 the sea, it is strong and swift on the wing, and the sails 
 of the yacht are wings, are they not ? Then it is strong 
 and bold, and I am sure your boat will not be afraid 
 to meet a storm. Altogether, I think it is an excellent 
 name." 
 
 " I think it a very good name, too." 
 " You ought to have one for your figure head." 
 " Yachts don't have figure heads, else I would cer- 
 tainly have it. At any rate, I will choose an eagle 
 for my racing flag." 
 
 " I have never been on board a yacht yet," the girl 
 said. " I think I only know one man who has one, 
 at least a large one; that is Mr. Carthew. Of course 
 you know him; he had a new one this spring the 
 Phantom. He has won several times this season." 
 
 " I saw he had," Frank said, quietly. " Yes, I used 
 to know him, but it's seven or eight years since we met." 
 " And you don't like him," she said, quickly. 
 " What makes you think that, Miss Greendale ? " 
 " Oh, I can tell by the tone of your voice." 
 " I don't think it expressed anything but indiffer- 
 ence, as it is such a long time since I met him. But 
 I never fancied him much. I suppose we were not the 
 same sort of men; and then, too, perhaps I am rather
 
 88 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 prejudiced from the fact that I know that he was con- 
 sidered rather a hard landlord." 
 
 " I never heard that," she said. 
 
 " No, I dare say you would not hear it, but I fancy 
 it was so; however, he sold his estate, at least so I 
 heard." 
 
 " Yes, he told me that he did not care for country 
 life. I have seen him several times since we came 
 up to town. He keeps race-horses, you know. His 
 horse was second in the Derby this spring. That takes 
 him a good deal away, else one would meet him more 
 often, for he knows a great many people we do." 
 
 " Yes, I know that he races, and is, I believe, rather 
 lucky on the turf." 
 
 " You have no inclination that way, Major Mal- 
 lett?" 
 
 " Not a shadow," he said, earnestly. " It is the 
 very last vice I should take to. I have seen many cases 
 in the service of young fellows being ruined by bet- 
 ting on the turf. We had one case in my own regi- 
 ment, in which a man was saved by the skin of his 
 teeth. Happily he had strength of mind and manli- 
 ness enough to cut it altogether, and is a very promis- 
 ing young officer now, but it was only the fact of our 
 embarking when we did for India that saved him from 
 ruin. The man who bets more than he can afford to 
 lose is simply a gambler, whether he does so on race- 
 horses or on cards. I have seen enough of it to hate 
 gambling with all my heart. It has driven more men 
 out of the service than drink has, and the one pas- 
 sion is almost as incurable as the other." 
 
 Bertha laughed. " I think that is the first time I 
 have ever heard you express any very strong opinion, 
 Major Mallett. It is quite refreshing to listen to a 
 thoroughgoing denunciation of anything here in Lon- 
 don. In the country, of course, it is different. All 
 sorts of things are heartily abused there, especially,
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 89 
 
 perhaps, the weather, free trade, poaching, and peo- 
 ple in whose covers foxes are scarce. But here, in 
 London, no one seems to care much about anything." 
 
 " People in your set have no time to do so." 
 
 " That is very unkind. They think about amuse- 
 ment." 
 
 " They may think about it, but it is all in a very 
 languid fashion. Now, in a country town, when there 
 is a ball or a dance in the neighbourhood, it is quite 
 an excitement; and, at any rate, everyone enters into 
 it heartily. People evidently enjoy the dancing for 
 dancing's sake, and they all look as if they were thor- 
 oughly enjoying themselves. Whereas here, people 
 dance as if it was rather a painful duty than other- 
 wise, and there is a general expression of a longing 
 for the whole thing to be over." 
 
 "I enjoy the dancing," Bertha said, sturdily; "at 
 least, when I get a really good partner." 
 
 "Yes, but then you have only been three months 
 at it. You have not got broken into the business 
 yet." 
 
 " !NTor have you, Major Mallett." 
 
 " No, but while you are an actor in the piece, I am 
 but a spectator, and lookers-on, you know, see most of 
 the game." 
 
 " What nonsense I Don't pretend you are getting 
 to be a blase man. I know that you are only about 
 ten years older than I am not more than nine, I 
 think and you dance very well, and no doubt you 
 know it." 
 
 " I like dancing, I can assure you, where there is 
 room to dance; but I don't call it dancing when you 
 have an area of only a foot square to dance in, and 
 are hustled and bumped more than you would be in 
 a crowded Lord Mayor's show. My training has not 
 suited me for it, and I would rather stand and look 
 on, listen to scraps of conversation, watch the faces of
 
 90 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 the dancers and of those standing round. It is a study, 
 and I think it shows one of the worst sides of nature. 
 It is quite shocking to see and hear the envy, unchari- 
 tableness, the boredom, and the desperate efforts to look 
 cheerful under difficulties, especially among the girls 
 that do not get partners." 
 
 " For shame ! I am disappointed in you," Bertha 
 said, half in jest, half in earnest. " You are not at 
 all the person I thought you were. Whatever I may 
 have fancied about you, I never imagined you a cynic 
 or a grumbler." 
 
 " I suppose it brings out the worst side of my na- 
 ture, too," he laughed. " When you come down on 
 board the Osprey, Miss Greendale, you will see the 
 other side. I fancy one falls into the tone of one's 
 surroundings ; here I have caught the tone of the bored 
 man of society, there you will see that I shall be a 
 breezy sailor cheerful in storm or in calm, ready to 
 take my glass and to toast my lass and all the rest 
 of it in true nautical fashion." 
 
 "I hope so," she said, gravely; "I shall certainly 
 need something of the sort to correct the very un- 
 favourable impression you have just been giving me. 
 Now let us change the subject. You have not told me 
 yet whether you had any flirtations in India." 
 
 " Flirtations ! " he repeated ; " for once, the small 
 section of womankind that I encountered were above 
 and beyond flirtations. I don't think," he went on 
 seriously, " that you in England can quite realise what 
 it was, or that a woman in London society can imagine 
 that there can exist a state of things in which dress 
 and appearance are matters which have altogether 
 ceased to engross the female mind. The white women 
 I saw there were worn and haggard. No matter what 
 their age, they bore on their faces the impress of ter- 
 rible hardship, terrible danger, and terrible grief and 
 anxiety. Few but had lost someone dear to them, many
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 91 
 
 all whom they cared for. A few had made some piti- 
 ful attempt at neatness, but most had lost all thought 
 of self, all care whatever for personal appearance; 
 there was an anxious look in their eyes that was pain- 
 ful to witness." 
 
 " I spoke without thinking," the girl said, gravely. 
 " It must have been awful awful, as you say. It is 
 impossible for us really to imagine quite what it was, 
 or to picture up such scenes as you must have wit- 
 nessed. I can understand that all this must seem 
 frivolous and contemptible to you." 
 
 " No, I don't go so far as that," he smiled. " It 
 is good that there should be butterflies as well as bees; 
 and, at any rate, the women of India, who had the 
 reputation of being as frivolous and pleasure-loving 
 as the rest of their sex, came out nobly and showed 
 a degree of patience under suffering and of heroic 
 courage unsurpassable in history. I am afraid," he 
 said, as the hostess gave the signal for the ladies to 
 rise, " you will long look back upon this dinner as one 
 of unprecedented dulness." 
 
 " Not dulness," she smiled ; " exceptional certainly, 
 but as something so different from the usual thing, 
 when one talks of nothing but the opera, the theatres 
 and exhibitions, as to deserve to be put down in one's 
 diary by a mark. I won't flatter you by telling you 
 whether a red or a black one." 
 
 " Who are the party going to be, Mallett ? " his 
 friend Colonel Severn said, as they stood together on 
 the deck of the Osprey early in August. " You guar- 
 anteed that it would be a pleasant one when you per- 
 suaded me to leave London, for the first time since I 
 retired, before shooting began." 
 
 " Well, to begin with, there is Lady Greendale, an 
 eminently pleasant woman; she comes as general chap- 
 eron, and I shall consider her under your especial care. 
 You will not find it hard work, for she is an eminently
 
 92 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 sympathetic woman, ready to chat if you are disposed 
 to talk, to interest herself in other ways if you are not. 
 She has plenty of common sense, is tolerant of tobacco, 
 and a thorough woman of the world, though her head- 
 quarters have for years been in the country. With her 
 is her daughter." 
 
 " Well, what about her ? I have heard of her as 
 having made quite a sensation this season, and between 
 ourselves I had some idea that this party was specially 
 planned on her account." 
 
 " To some extent perhaps it was," Frank Mallett 
 laughed. " Bertha Greendale is an old chum of mine. 
 I knew her in very short frocks, for they were near 
 neighbours of ours in the country, and her father, Sir 
 John, was always one of my kindest friends. She was 
 a slip of a girl when I went out to India, and though 
 I thought that she would turn out pretty, I certainly 
 did not expect she would be anything like as good 
 looking as she is. She was always a nice girl, and suc- 
 cess so far has not spoiled her. Then there is a Miss 
 Sinclair, a great friend of Bertha's, and Jack Hawley 
 of the Guards. I knew him out in the Crimea. The 
 other two are Wilson, who is a clever young barrister, 
 and a particularly pleasant fellow, and his wife, who 
 is a sister of Miss Sinclair; so I think there are the 
 elements of a pleasant party. All the ladies are broken 
 into smoke, for Sir John smoked, and so does Wilson; 
 so that you won't be expected to go forward as they do 
 on the P. and O. whenever you want to enjoy your 
 favourite pipe." 
 
 " That is a comfort, anyhow, Mallett ; if there is 
 one thing in the world I hate it is having to go and 
 hunt about for some place to smoke in, and I never 
 accept an invitation to any shooting party unless I 
 know beforehand that smoking is allowed. At what 
 time do you expect the others ? " 
 
 " They will be down at half -past twelve ; they are
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 93 
 
 all coming by the same train, and it was because I 
 knew that you would want to be in a smoking carriage 
 that I told you to come down by the earlier one. And, 
 besides, I thought it well to get you here first. You 
 are the only stranger, as it were; the others are all 
 intimate with each other, and it was as well to post 
 you as to their various relationships." 
 
 " One thing, Mallett ; I hope Lady Greendale is not 
 in any way a marrying woman. I am not like Mr. 
 Pickwick, afraid of widows, and have perfect confi- 
 dence in my power to resist temptation, but at the 
 same time it makes all the difference in the world to 
 one's comfort. I am not ass enough to suppose that 
 Lady Greendale would even dream for a moment of 
 setting her cap at a Colonel on half-pay, but if a 
 woman is in the marrying line she always expects a 
 certain amount of what you may call delicate atten- 
 tion. It is her daily bread, for she considers that un- 
 less every man she comes across evinces a certain 
 amount of admiration, it is a sign that her charms are 
 on the wane, and her chances growing more and more 
 remote." 
 
 Mallett laughed. " You can set your mind at ease, 
 for nothing is further from the thoughts of Lady 
 Greendale than re-marriage; she was very happy with 
 her husband." 
 
 " The more reason for her marrying again," the 
 Co'onel said ; " a woman who has been happy with 
 her husband is apt to get the idea into her head that 
 every man will make a good husband; and a con- 
 foundedly mistaken idea it is. She is much more likely 
 to marry again than the woman who has had a hard 
 time of it." 
 
 " Well, you may be right there, Colonel, but put- 
 ting aside my conviction that Lady Greendale has no 
 idea of marrying again, is the fact that at present 
 all her thoughts are occupied by her daughter. She
 
 94 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 is not at all what you would call a managing mother, 
 but I am sure that she has set her heart on Bertha's 
 making a good match, and that the fear that she will 
 succumb to some penniless younger son or other un- 
 suitable partner is at present the dominant feeling 
 in her mind. I don't think she would have agreed to 
 Jack Hawley being of the party had not Bertha enter- 
 tained a conviction that he was rather gone on Miss 
 Sinclair, who by the way has, like her sister, money 
 enough to disregard the fact that Jack is hardly in 
 that respect well endowed. However, it is time for me 
 to be off; I see the skipper is getting the gig lowered. 
 I suppose you will be content to sit here and smoke 
 your pipe until we come back; and, indeed, seven is 
 as many as the gig will carry with any degree of com- 
 fort. The cutter will go ashore to fetch off the lug- 
 gage, which will probably be of somewhat portentous 
 dimensions." 
 
 Two minutes later Mallett took his place in the 
 gig and was rowed to the shore. He was delighted with 
 his new purchase; she was an excellent sea boat, and, 
 as he had learned from a short spin with another craft, 
 decidedly fast. He had not, however, entered her for 
 any race. 
 
 " There is no hurry," he said to his skipper, when 
 the latter suggested that they should try her at Cowes. 
 " I should like to win my first race, and in the first 
 place we don't know that she is in her best trim. In 
 the next place we must get the crew accustomed to each 
 other and to the craft ; I bought her as a cruiser rather 
 than a racer, and don't want to have her full of men, 
 as are most of the racers; it is a heavy expense, and 
 fewer hands accustomed to work well together do just 
 as much work, and more smartly than a crowd. We 
 found, when we sailed round the islands with the Eoyal 
 Victoria race, that, considering we went under reduced 
 canvas, we held our own very fairly; and I have no
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 95 
 
 doubt that when we get all our light canvas up, the 
 Osprey will give a good account of herself. Our gear 
 is scarcely stretched yet. No; I will wait until next 
 season, and then we will make a bold bid for a Queen's 
 Cup." 
 
 Frank Mallett reached the platform at Southamp- 
 ton a few minutes before the train came in. The party 
 were on the look-out for him, and alighted in the high- 
 est spirits. 
 
 " Now, ladies," he said, " the first thing is to point 
 out the luggage; my man here will get it all together, 
 and stand guard over it till two others arrive to get 
 it on board. They will be here in a few minutes; in 
 fact, they ought to be here now." 
 
 He looked on with something like dismay whila 
 the boxes were picked out and piled together. " My 
 dear Lady Greendale," he said, " I am afraid you must 
 all have very vague ideas as to the amount of accom- 
 modation in a 120 ton yacht. She is not a Cunarder 
 or a P. and O. Why, two or three of those trunks 
 would absolutely fill one of her cabins." 
 
 "You did not expect, Major Mallett," Bertha said, 
 demurely, " that we were coming for a month's cruise 
 with only handbags, especially after telling us that 
 very likely we might not get a chance of getting any 
 washing done all that time." 
 
 " Well, I dare say we shall stow them away some- 
 where. Now, as you have got them all together, we will 
 go down to the boat. Now, lads, you had better get 
 a hand-cart, and get these things on board as soon as' 
 you can." 
 
 " Which is the Osprey ? " Amy Sinclair asked 
 Bertha, as they took their places in the boat. Bertha 
 looked with a rather puzzled face at the fleet of yachts. 
 
 " That is," she said, confidently, after a moment's 
 hesitation, pointing to one towards which the boat was 
 at the moment heading.
 
 96 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Frank Mallett laughed. " Really I should have 
 thought, Miss Greendale, that, although making every 
 allowance for feminine vagueness as to boats, you 
 would have known the yacht you christened a month 
 ago, or, at any rate, would not have mistaken a schoon- 
 er for a yawl, after the patient explanation I gave you 
 on your last visit as to the different rigs. That is the 
 Osprey, a hundred yards lower down." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I remember now, that when there is a 
 little mast standing on the stern it is a yawl. These 
 things seem very simple to you, Major Mallett, but 
 they are very puzzling to women, who know nothing 
 about them. Now, I venture to say, that if I were 
 to show you six different materials for frocks, and 
 were to tell you all their names, you would know noth- 
 ing about them when I showed them to you a month 
 afterwards. I suppose the gentleman on board is 
 Colonel Severn." 
 
 " Yes, he came down by the train before yours. I 
 thought it better that he should do so, as in the first 
 place, he did not know any of you, and in the next, 
 as you see, we are pretty closely packed as it is." 
 
 " What is that flag at the mast-head ? " Lady Green- 
 dale asked. " Bertha said that your flag was going to 
 have an eagle on it." 
 
 " That is on my racing flag. Let me impress upon 
 you, ladies, that a racing flag is a square flag, and 
 that that is not a flag at all, but a burgee. Every club 
 has its burgee; as you see, that is a white cross on a 
 blue ground with a crown in the centre, and is the 
 burgee of the Royal Thames, of which I was elected 
 a member last month. Here we are. Properly, I ought 
 to be on board first, but I am too wedged in. 5Tou 
 and Wilson had better go up first; that will give more 
 room for the ladies to move." 
 
 "You have got new steps," Bertha said. "When 
 I came down with Mrs. Wilson to christen the boat
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 97 
 
 we had to climb up nasty steep steps against the side. 
 This is a great deal more comfortable. I was think- 
 ing that mamma would have a difficulty in getting 
 up those other things, if it were at all rough." 
 
 " Yes, I have had them specially made for the pres- 
 ent occasion. Large cruisers always have them, and, 
 at any rate, they are more comfortable for any sized 
 boats. But they take up rather more room to stow 
 away, and they are really not so handy in a sea, for 
 the boats cannot get so close alongside. Still, no doubt 
 they are more comfortable for ladies. Now it is your 
 turn." 
 
 The cruise of the Osprey was in all respects a suc- 
 cess. The party was well chosen and pleasant. Colonel 
 Severn and Lady Greendale got on well together. He 
 liked her because she had no objection whatever to his 
 perpetual enjoyment of his pipe. She liked him be- 
 cause he was altogether different from anyone that 
 she had met before; his Indian stories amused her, his 
 views of life were original, and his grumbling at mod- 
 ern ways and modern innovations in no way concealed 
 the fact that in spite of it all he evidently enjoyed life 
 thoroughly. 
 
 The Osprey had fine weather as she ran along the 
 south coast, anchoring under Portland for a day, while 
 the party examined the works of the breakwater and 
 paid a visit to the quarries, where the convicts were at 
 work. She put into Torquay, Dartmouth and Plym- 
 outh, spending a day in the two former ports and two 
 at the last named. They looked into Fowey, and 
 stopped two days at Falmouth, and then, rounding 
 the Land's End, made for Kingstown. From here they 
 started for the Clyde; but meeting with very heavy 
 weather, went into Belfast Lough. 
 
 The Osprey proved to be a fine sea boat, and be- 
 haved so well that even Lady Greendale declared she 
 would not be afraid to trust herself on board her in
 
 98 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 any weather. They sailed up the Clyde as far as 
 Greenock, and then returning, cruised for a fortnight 
 among the islands on the west coast. They had en- 
 joyed their stay at Kingstown so much that they put 
 in there again on their return voyage, shaped their 
 course for Plymouth, and then, without looking into 
 any other port, returned to Southampton. 
 
 Jack Hawley and Miss Sinclair had become en- 
 gaged during the voyage, and the Colonel and Lady 
 Greendale had become so confidential that Frank 
 laughingly asked him if he had changed his views on 
 the subject of matrimony, a suggestion which he in- 
 dignantly repudiated. 
 
 " I should have thought that you knew me better," 
 he said, reproachfully. " I admit that Lady Greendale 
 is a very charming woman, but you don't think that 
 she can imagine for a moment that I have ever enter- 
 tained any idea of such a thing? You said that I was 
 to amuse her if I could; I have tried my best to keep 
 the old lady as much to myself as possible, so as to 
 enable all you young people to carry out your flirta- 
 tions to your heart's content. By gad, sir, it would be 
 a nice return for following out your instructions to 
 find myself in such a hole as that." 
 
 Frank had some difficulty in persuading the Colo- 
 nel that his remark was not meant as a serious one, 
 and that there was no fear whatever that Lady Green- 
 dale had ever had the slightest reason to suppose that 
 his intentions were not of a most Platonic nature. 
 
 " I am heartily glad," the Colonel said, when he 
 was quite pacified, " that Hawley's affair has come 
 off all right. Even if she had not been an heiress I 
 should have said that he was a lucky fellow, for she 
 is an extremely nice and pleasant young woman, with- 
 out any nonsense about her; still there is no doubt 
 that her fortune will come in very handy for Hawley. 
 As to the girl herself, I think she has made a very good
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 99 
 
 choice. She has plenty of money for both, and as he 
 has managed to keep up on his younger son's portion, 
 he can have no extravagant tastes, and will make her 
 a very good husband. There is no other engagement 
 to be announced, I suppose ? " 
 
 " As I am the only other unmarried man on board, 
 Colonel, your question is somewhat pointed. No; I 
 hope there may be one of these days, but I don't think 
 that it would be fair to ask her here, where I am her 
 host, and she is under the glamour of the sea. I doubt 
 whether she has the slightest idea of what I want. 
 That is the worst of being very old friends; the rela- 
 tions get so fixed that a woman does not recognise 
 that they can ever be changed. However, I shall try 
 my luck one of these days. I don't think that I shall 
 meet with any serious opposition on her mother's part 
 if Bertha likes me, but I know that Lady Greendale 
 has very much more ambitious views for her, and has 
 quite set her mind upon her making a good match. 
 No doubt she has a right to expect that she will do so. 
 However, I think she is too fond of Bertha to thwart 
 her, however disappointed she might feel. At present 
 I don't think that she has any more suspicion than 
 Bertha herself of my intentions." 
 
 During the voyage Bertha and Amy Sinclair had 
 become quite adroit helmswomen, and one or other 
 was constantly at the tiller when the wind was light. 
 Bertha had learned the names of all the crew, and 
 often went forward to ask questions of the men tend- 
 ing the head sails, becoming a prime favourite with 
 all hands. On arriving at Southampton the rest of the 
 party went up at once to town, while Frank remained 
 behind for a day or two, going round in the yacht to 
 Gosport, where she was to be laid up for the winter.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " I AM so sorry," Bertha Greendale said, " so awfully 
 sorry. I had no idea that you thought of me like that. 
 We were such friends so long ago, and it has been so 
 pleasant since you came home last year, and I like 
 you as if you were a big brother, but I have never 
 thought of you in any other light, and now it seems 
 dreadful to me to give you pain; but I feel sure that 
 I should never come to love you in that way." And 
 she burst into tears. 
 
 " Do not think anything more about it, dear," 
 Frank Mallett said, gently. "I have felt sometimes 
 when we have been together, that you were so kindly 
 and frank and pleasant with me that you could feel 
 as I wanted you to. I ought to have known it always. 
 But I suppose in such cases a man deceives himself 
 and shuts his eyes to facts. You have certainly noth- 
 ing to blame yourself about. Of course, it is a hard 
 blow, but no doubt I shall get over it as other fellows 
 do. At any rate, I know that we shall always be dear 
 friends, and you need not fear that I shall mope over 
 my misfortune. I shall run up to town for a bit, and 
 as you are going up for the season next week, I shall 
 no doubt often meet you. Don't fret about me ; I have 
 been hit pretty hard several times, though not in the 
 same way, and I have always gone through it, and no 
 doubt I shall do so now. Good-bye," and when Bertha 
 looked up, he had left the room. 
 
 " Oh, mamma," she said, when she went into the 
 room where her mother was sitting, "I am so sorry, 
 100
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 101 
 
 so dreadfully sorry; Frank Mallett has asked me to 
 be his wife. I have never thought of such a thing and 
 of course I had to say no." 
 
 " I have thought such a thing likely for some time, 
 Bertha, but I thought it best to hold my tongue about 
 it. In such matters the interference of a mother often 
 does more harm than good. I felt sure, by your man- 
 ner with him, that you had no idea of it, and I must 
 say that much as I like Frank Mallett, I should have 
 been sorry. I have great hopes of your making a really 
 first-class match." 
 
 " I could not make a better match," Bertha said, 
 indignantly ; " no one could be kinder or nicer than 
 Major Mallett, and we know how brave he is and how 
 he has distinguished himself, and he has a good estate 
 and everything that anyone could wish, only unfor- 
 tunately I do not love him at least not in that way. 
 He has never shown me what I should consider any 
 particular attention, and never talked to me in the 
 way men do when they are making love to a girl. Noth- 
 ing could be nicer, and it was all the nicer because I 
 never thought of this. I suppose it is because he is so 
 different from some of the men I met in town last 
 season, who always seemed to be trying to get round 
 me. N~o, I know it is not a nice expression, mamma, 
 but you know what I mean." 
 
 " I know, my dear," her mother smiled ; " of course 
 you are a very good match, and though I do not want 
 to natter you, you were one of the belles of the season. 
 Though some of the men you speak of were by no 
 means desirable younger sons and barristers and that 
 sort of thing still, there were two or three whom any 
 girl might have been pleased to see at her feet, and 
 who, I am sure from what I saw, only needed but little 
 encouragement from you to be there. I was a little 
 vexed, dear, you see, that you did not give any of them 
 that encouragement, but I understand, of course, that
 
 102 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 the novelty of your first season carried you away alto- 
 gether, and that you liked the dancing and the fetes 
 and the opera for themselves, and not because they 
 brought you in contact with men of excellent class. 
 So far as I could see, it was a matter of indifference 
 to you whether the man was a peer with a splendid 
 rent roll, or a younger son without a farthing, so 
 that he was a good dancer and a pleasant compan- 
 ion; but of course after a season or two you will grow 
 wiser." 
 
 " I do hope not, mamma," Bertha said, indignantly. 
 " I don't mean to say that it might not be better to 
 marry, as you say, a peer with a good rent roll than a 
 younger son without a penny, other things being equal, 
 that is to say, if one liked them equally; but I hope 
 that I shall never come to like anyone a bit more for 
 being a peer." 
 
 Lady Greendale smiled, indulgently. 
 
 " It is a natural sentiment, my dear, for a girl of 
 your age and inexperience; but in time you will come 
 to see things in a different light." 
 
 Then she changed the subject. " What is Frank 
 going to do? It is fortunate that we are going up to 
 town next week." 
 
 " He is going up to town himself to-morrow, and 
 I am sure that you will never hear from him, or from 
 anyone else, what has happened. We shall meet in 
 town as usual, and I am sure that he will be just the 
 same as he was before, and that I shall be a great deal 
 more uncomfortable than he will. It is a very silly 
 affair altogether, I think; and I would give anything 
 if it had not happened." 
 
 Lady Greendale did not echo the sentiment. She 
 liked Frank Mallett immensely; he had always been 
 a great favourite of hers, but since she had guessed 
 what Bertha herself had not dreamed of, she had been 
 uncomfortable. It threatened to disturb all the plans
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 103 
 
 she had formed, and she was well contented to learn 
 that she had refused him. Lady Greendale was a thor- 
 oughly kind-hearted woman, but she could not forget 
 that she herself might have made, in a worldly sense, 
 a better match than she had; and her ambition had, 
 since Bertha was a child, and still more since she had 
 shown promise of exceptional good looks, been centred 
 011 her making a really good match. 
 
 Frank went up to town next day, and the Green- 
 dales followed him a week later. They did not often 
 meet him in society, as Frank seldom went out; but 
 he called occasionally in the old friendly and uncere- 
 monious way. It would have required an acute ob- 
 server to see any difference in his manner to Bertha, 
 but Lady Greendale noticed it, and the girl herself 
 felt that, although he was no less kind and friendly, 
 there was some impalpable change in his manner, some- 
 thing that she felt, though she could not define it, even 
 to herself. 
 
 " Have you had a tiff with Major Mallett, Bertha? " 
 Mrs. Wilson asked one day, when she was alone with 
 her in the drawing-room. Frank had just left, after 
 spending an hour there. 
 
 " A tiff, Carrie ? No ! What put such an idea into 
 your head ? " 
 
 " My eyes, assisted perhaps by my ears. My dear, 
 do you think that after being with you on the yacht 
 last autumn, I should not notice any change in your 
 manner to each other? I had expected before now to 
 have heard an interesting piece of news; and now 
 I see that things have gone wrong somehow." 
 
 "We are just as good friends as we always were," 
 Bertha said, shortly, " every bit." 
 
 " You don't mean to say that you have refused him, 
 Bertha?" 
 
 " I don't mean to say anything of the sort. I sim- 
 ply say that Major Mallett and I have always been
 
 104 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 great friends, and we are so now. There is no one 
 that I have a higher regard for." 
 
 " Well, Bertha, I do not want to know your se- 
 crets, if you do not wish to tell me. All that I can 
 say is that, if you have refused him, you have done 
 a very foolish thing. I don't know any man that a 
 woman might be happier with. When we were out 
 last year with you, Amy and I agreed that it was 
 certain to come off, and thought how well suited you 
 were to each other. Of course, in worldly respects, 
 you might do better; just at present you have the ball 
 at your feet; but -choose where you may you will not 
 find a finer fellow than he is. Yes, I told Harry that 
 it was lucky that I had not made that trip on board the 
 Osprey before I was irrevocably captured, for I should 
 certainly have lost my heart to Major Mallett. Well, 
 I am sorry, Bertha, more sorry than I can say; and 
 I am sure that Amy will be, too." 
 
 " I said nothing whatever, Carrie, that would justi- 
 fy this little explosion, which I certainly don't intend 
 to answer. I should really feel very vexed, if I 
 were not perfectly sure that you would never tell any- 
 one else of this notion that you have got in your 
 head." 
 
 " You may be quite sure of that, Bertha ; at least 
 when I say no one else, of course I do not include 
 Harry; but you know him well enough to be certain 
 that it will not go further. I am sure he will be as 
 disappointed as I am; in fact, he will have a small 
 triumph over me, for after the usual manner of men 
 he saw nothing on board the yacht, and has always 
 maintained that it was pure fancy on my part. How- 
 ever, I won't tell anyone else, not even Amy; she can 
 find it out for herself, which you may be sure she will 
 do when she comes back from the continent, if indeed 
 her own happiness with Jack has not blinded her to all 
 sublunary matters. Well, good-bye, dear; you will for-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 105 
 
 give my saying that I am disappointed in you, terribly 
 disappointed in you." 
 
 " I must try to put up with that, Carrie ; I am 
 not aware that you consulted me before you made your 
 own matrimonial arrangements, and perhaps I may 
 be able to manage my own." 
 
 " Well, don't be cross, Bertha ; remember that I 
 am not advising or counselling. I am simply regret- 
 ting, which perhaps you may do yourself some day or 
 other." And with this parting shot she left. 
 
 The M r eeks went on, and when May came and Frank 
 told her that the Osprey was fitted out, and that he 
 would join her in a day or two, Bertha heard the news 
 with satisfaction. The season was a gay one, and she 
 was enjoying herself greatly, the one little drop of 
 bitterness in her cup being that she could no longer 
 enjoy his visits as she formerly did. He had been the 
 one man with whom she was able to talk and laugh 
 quite freely, who was really an old friend, a link not 
 only between her and the past, but between her and 
 her country life. 
 
 And now, she thought pettishly, he had spoiled all 
 this, and what annoyed her almost as much was that 
 the change was more in herself than in him. She no 
 longer gave him commissions to execute for her, nor 
 made him her general confidant. She knew that he 
 would be as ready as before to laugh and to sympa- 
 thise, that he would still gladly execute her commis- 
 sions, and she felt that he tried hard to make her for- 
 get that he had aspired to be something nearer to her 
 than a brotherly friend. She felt that after what he 
 had said they could never stand in quite the same rela- 
 tion as before. Accustomed as Frank was to read her 
 thoughts, he was not deceived by the expression of re- 
 gret that she should now see but little of him, as he 
 saw the news was really pleasant to her. She was not 
 aware that it was a conversation that he had had the
 
 106 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 evening before with Colonel Severn which had decided 
 him to go down to the Osprey a fortnight earlier than 
 he had intended. 
 
 "You are getting to be almost as regular an at- 
 tendant here, Mallett, as I am; I think you are alto- 
 gether too young to take regularly to club life. It 
 is all very well for an old fogey like me, but I don't 
 think it a good thing for a young fellow like you to 
 take so early to a bachelor life." 
 
 " I don't want to do anything of the sort, Colonel. 
 But I can't stand these crushes in hot rooms; I can- 
 not for the life of me see where the pleasure comes 
 in. I begin to think that I was an ass to leave the 
 army." 
 
 " Not at all, lad, not at all ; when a man has got a 
 good estate it is much better for him to settle down 
 upon it, and to marry and have children, and all that 
 sort of thing, than it is to remain in the army in times 
 of peace. I had Wilson and Hawley dining with me 
 here yesterday; we had a great chat over the pleasant 
 time we had last year on board your yacht. I don't 
 know when I enjoyed myself so much as I did then. 
 Lady Greendale is a remarkably clever woman, and her 
 daughter is as nice a girl as I have come across for 
 a long time, and without a scrap of nonsense about 
 her. I wonder that she has not become engaged by 
 this time. General Matthews, who, as you know, goes 
 in a good deal for that sort of thing for the sake of 
 his daughters, told me recently that he fancied from 
 what he had heard that Miss Greendale's engagement 
 was likely to be a settled thing before the season was 
 over. He said there were three men making the run- 
 ning Lord Chilson, the eldest son of the Earl of Som- 
 merlay; George Delamore his father is in the Cabi- 
 net, you know, and he is member for Ponberry; and a 
 man named Carthew, who keeps race-horses, and was 
 a neighbour of hers down in the country. He is, I
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 1Q7 
 
 hear, a good-looking fellow, and just the sort of man 
 a girl is likely to fancy. Matthews thought that the 
 chances were in his favour. As you are a neighbour 
 of theirs, too, I suppose you will know him ? " 
 
 " I knew him at one time, Colonel, but I have not 
 seen him now for a good many years, beyond meeting 
 him two or three times at dinners and so on last sea- 
 son. He was away when I was at home before going 
 out to India, and he had sold his estate before I came 
 back." 
 
 " They say he has been very lucky on the turf, and 
 has made a pot of money." 
 
 " So I have heard," Frank said ; " but, you see, one 
 generally hears of men's good luck, and not of their 
 bad; besides, many men do most of their real betting 
 through commissioners, especially if they own horses 
 themselves. He is a fellow I don't much care for, and 
 I hope that whomever Miss Greendale may marry, he 
 will not be the man." 
 
 " I thought when you first asked me down last year 
 that you had got up the party specially for her, Mal- 
 lett, and that you were going in for the prize your- 
 self. But of course I soon saw that I was mistaken, 
 as you were altogether too good chums for that to come 
 about. I have often noticed that men and girls who 
 are thrown a lot together are often capital friends, 
 but, although just the pair you would think would 
 come together, that they hardly ever do so. I have 
 noticed it over and over again. Well, she is an un- 
 commonly nice girl, whoever gets her." 
 
 Frank did not return to town until the end of June. 
 
 " I have to congratulate you upon the Osprey's vic- 
 tory," Bertha said, the first time he called to see them. 
 " You may imagine with what interest I read the ac- 
 counts of the yacht races. I saw you won two on the 
 Thames, and were first once and second once at South- 
 ampton."
 
 108 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 "Yes, the Osprey has shown herself to be, as I 
 thought, an uncommonly fast boat. We should have 
 had two firsts at Southampton if the pilot had not 
 cut matters too fine and run us aground just opposite 
 Netley; we were a quarter of an hour before we were 
 off again. We picked up a lot of our lost ground and 
 got a second, but were beaten eight minutes by the 
 winner." 
 
 " Have you entered for the Queen's Cup at Ryde ? " 
 
 " I have not entered yet, but I am going to do so," 
 he said. 
 
 " Mamma and I will be down there. Lord Haver- 
 ley he is first cousin to mamma, you know has tak- 
 en a house there for the ,month, and he is going to 
 have a large party, and we are going down for Ryde 
 week." 
 
 " Yes, and there will be the Victoria Yacht Club 
 ball and all sorts of gaieties. I have not entered yet, 
 but I am going to do so. The entries do not close till 
 next Saturday." 
 
 " You will call and see us, of course, Frank ? " 
 Lady Greendale said. " Haverley has a big schooner 
 yacht, and I dare say we shall be a good deal on the 
 water." 
 
 " I shall certainly do myself the pleasure of calling, 
 Lady Greendale." 
 
 "I warn you, Frank, that Bertha and I will be 
 very disappointed if the Osprey does not win the cup. 
 We regard ours.elves as being, to some extent, her pro- 
 prietors, and it will be a grievous blow to us if you 
 don't win." 
 
 " I do not feel by any means sure about it," he said. 
 " I fancy there will be several boats that have not raced 
 yet this season, and as two of them are new ones, there 
 is no saying what they may turn out." 
 
 Frank only stayed two days in town. He learned 
 from Jack Hawley that it was reported that Lord Chil-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 109 
 
 son and George Delamore had both been refused by 
 Bertha Greendale. 
 
 " Chilson went away suddenly," he said ; " as to 
 Delamore, of course as he is a Member he had to stop 
 through the Session, but from what I hear, and as you 
 know I have some good sources of information, I am 
 pretty sure that he has got his conge too. I fancy 
 Carthew is the favourite. As a rule I don't like these 
 men who go in for racing, but he is a deuced nice 
 fellow. I have seen a good deal of him; he put me 
 up to a good thing for the Derby ten days ago. He 
 gives uncommonly good supper parties, and has asked 
 me several times, but I have not gone to them, for I 
 believe there is a good deal of play afterwards, and I 
 cannot stand unlimited loo." 
 
 " Is he lucky himself ? " Frank asked. 
 
 " No, quite the other way, I hear ; I know a man 
 who has been to three or four of his suppers, and he 
 told me that Carthew had lost every time, once or twice 
 pretty heavily." 
 
 " Carthew's horse ran second, didn't it, for the 
 Derby?" 
 
 " Yes, the betting was twenty to one against him 
 at starting." 
 
 'I wonder he did not give that tip as well as the 
 other." 
 
 " Well, he did say that he thought it might run 
 into a place, but that he was sure that he had no 
 chance with the favourite. As it turned out, he was 
 nearer winning than he expected; for the favourite 
 went down the day before the race from 5 to 4 on to 
 10 to 1 against. There was a report about that he 
 had gone wrong in some way. Some fellows said that 
 there had been an attempt to get at him, others that 
 he had got a nail in his foot. The general feeling had 
 been that he would win in a canter, but as it was he 
 only beat Carthew's horse by a short head." 
 8
 
 HO THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Had Carthew backed his horse to win ? " 
 
 " He told me that he had only backed it for a hun- 
 dred, but had put five hundred on it for a place, and as 
 he got six to one against it he came uncommonly well 
 out of it." 
 
 " And do you think it likely that Miss Greendale 
 will accept him ? " 
 
 " Ah ! that I cannot say. He has certainly been 
 making very strong running, and if I were a betting 
 man I should not mind laying two to one on the event 
 coming off." 
 
 Frank joined the Osprey, which was lying off Ports- 
 mouth Harbour, on the following day. " I am back 
 earlier than I expected, George," he said, as Lcchmere 
 met him at the station. " I have got tired of London, 
 and want to be on board again." 
 
 "Nothing gone wrong in town, I hope, Major?" 
 George said next day, as he was removing the break- 
 fast things; "you will excuse my asking, but you 
 don't seem to me to be yourself since you came on 
 board." 
 
 " Well, yes, George, I am upset, I confess ; I am 
 sure you will be sorry, too, when I tell you that it is 
 more than probable that Miss Greendale is going to 
 marry Mr. Carthew." 
 
 George put the dish he was holding down on the 
 table with a crash, and stood gazing at Frank in blank 
 dismay. 
 
 " Why, sir, I thought," he said, slowly, " that it was 
 going to be you and Miss Greendale. I had always 
 thought so. Excuse me, sir, I don't mean any offence, 
 but that is what we have all thought ever since she 
 came down to christen the yacht." 
 
 "There is no offence, George; yes, I don't mind 
 telling you that I had hoped so myself, but it was not 
 to be. You see, Miss Greendale has known me since 
 she was a child, and she has never thought of me in
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. HI 
 
 any other way than as a sort of cousin someone she 
 liked very much, but had never thought of for a mo- 
 ment as one she could marry. That is all past and 
 gone, but I should be sorry, most sorry, for her to 
 marry Carthew, knowing what I do of him." 
 
 " But it must not be, sir," George said, vehemently - r 
 " you can never let that sweet young lady marry that 
 black-hearted villain." 
 
 " Unfortunately I cannot prevent it, George." 
 
 " Why, sir, you would only have to tell her about 
 Martha, and I am sure it would do for his business. 
 Miss Greendale can know nothing about it. So far as 
 I can remember, she was not more than sixteen at tha 
 time. I don't suppose Lady Greendale ever heard of 
 it. She knew, of course, of Martha's being missing, 
 because it made quite a stir, but I don't suppose that 
 she heard of her coming back. She was only at home 
 three weeks before she died. There were not many 
 that ever saw her, and father told me that he and the 
 others made it so hot for Carthew one day at Chippen- 
 ham market that he never came down again, and sold 
 the place soon after. I don't suppose the gentry ever 
 heard anything about it; if they had, Lady Greendale 
 would surely never let her daughter marry him." 
 
 "No, I feel sure she would not; but still, George, 
 I don't see that I can possibly interfere in the matter; 
 the story is three years old now, and even if it had only 
 happened yesterday, I, after what has occurred be- 
 tween us, could not come forward as his accuser. It 
 would have the appearance of spite on my side; and 
 besides, I have no proof whatever. He would, of 
 course, deny the whole thing ; I do not mean that he 
 would deny that she said so he could not do that 
 but he might declare that she had spoken falsely, and' 
 might even say that it was an attempt to put another's 
 sin on his shoulders. Moreover, as I told you, I have' 
 other reasons for disliking the man, and, on the face-
 
 112 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 of it, it would seem that I had raked up this old story 
 against him, not only from jealousy, but from personal 
 malice. No, it is out of the question that I should 
 interfere; I would give everything that I am worth 
 to be able to do so, but it is impossible. If I had full 
 and unquestionable proofs I would go to Lady Green- 
 dale and lay the matter before her. But I have no such 
 proofs; there is nothing whatever except that poor 
 girl's word against his." 
 
 George's lips closed, and an expression of grim 
 determination came over his face. " I dare say you 
 are right, Major," he said, after a pause, " but it seems 
 to me hard that Miss Greendale should be sacrificed to 
 a man like that." 
 
 Frank did not reply. He had already thought the 
 matter over and over again, and had reached the opin- 
 ion that he could not interfere. If he had not him- 
 self proposed to her, and been refused, he might have 
 moved. Up to that time he had stood in the position 
 of an old friend of the family, and as such could well 
 have spoken to Lady Greendale on a matter that so 
 vitally concerned Bertha's happiness. Now his tak- 
 ing that step would have the appearance of being the 
 interference of a disappointed rival, rather than of a 
 disinterested friend. He went up on deck, sat there 
 for a time, and at last arrived at a conclusion. 
 
 " It is my duty. There can be no doubt about 
 that," he said to himself. " If Bertha really loves 
 Carthew, she will believe his denial rather than my 
 accusation, unsupported as it is by a scrap of real 
 evidence. In that case, she will put down my story 
 as a piece of malice and meanness. But, after all, 
 that will matter little. I had better far lose her liking 
 and esteem than my own self-respect. I will tell Lady 
 Greendale about this. The responsibility will be off 
 my hands then. She may not view the matter as an 
 absolute bar to Carthew's marrying Bertha that is
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 113 
 
 her business and Bertha's but at any rate I shall 
 have done my duty. I will wait, however, until Bertha 
 has accepted him. 
 
 " I have made up my mind, George," he said, later 
 on. " If I hear that Miss Greendale has accepted Car- 
 thew I shall go to her mother and tell her the story. 
 I have little hope that it will do much good; it is very 
 hard to make a girl believe anything against the man 
 she loves, until it can be proved beyond doubt, and 
 as Carthew will of course indignantly deny that he 
 had anything to do with it, I expect that it will have 
 no effect whatever, beyond making her dislike me cor- 
 dially. Still, that cannot be helped; it is clearly my 
 duty not only as her friend, but as the friend of her 
 father and mother. But I wish that the task did not 
 fall upon me." 
 
 " I am glad to hear you say that, Major," George 
 said, quietly. " I can see, sir, that, as you say, it would 
 be better if anyone else could do it, but Lady Green- 
 dale has known you for so many years that she must 
 surely know that you would never have told her unless 
 you believed the story to be true." 
 
 " Xo doubt she will, George. I hope Miss Green- 
 dale will, too; but even if she does not see it in that 
 light I cannot help it. Well, I will go ashore to the 
 club-house and find out whether they have heard any- 
 thing about the entries for the cup." 
 
 When he returned he said to the captain: "I hear 
 that the Phantom has entered, Hawkins; I am told 
 that she has just come off the slips and that she has 
 had a new suit of racing canvas made by Lapthorne." 
 
 " Well, sir, I think that we ought to have a good 
 chance with her; she has shown herself a very fast 
 boat the few times she has been raced, but so have we, 
 and taking the line through boats that we have both 
 sailed against, I think that we ought to be able to 
 beat her."
 
 114: THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " I have rather a fancy that we shan't do so, 
 Hawkins; we will do our best, but I have met Mr. 
 Carthew a good many times, for we were at school and 
 college together, and somehow or other he has always 
 managed to beat me." 
 
 "Ah! well, we will turn the tables on him this 
 time, sir." 
 
 " I hope so, but it has gone so often the other way 
 that I have got to be a little superstitious about it. I 
 would give a good deal to beat him; I should like to 
 win the Queen's Cup, as you know ; but even if I didn't 
 win it I should be quite satisfied if I but beat him."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IT was the week of the Ryde Regatta. At that time 
 Ryde disputed with Cowes the glory of being the head- 
 quarters of yachting, and the scene was a gay one. 
 Every house in the neighbourhood was crowded with 
 guests, many had been let for the week at fabulous 
 rates, the town was bright with flags, and a great fleet 
 of yachts was moored off the town extending from the 
 pier westward as far as the hulks. The lawn of the 
 Victoria Yacht Club was gay with ladies, a military 
 band was playing, boats rowed backwards and for- 
 wards between the yachts and the club-houses. 
 
 It was the first day of the Regatta, and the Queen's 
 Cup was not to be sailed for until the third. On the 
 previous morning Frank had received a note from Lady 
 Greendale, saying that they had arrived with Lord 
 Haverley's party the day before, and enclosing an in- 
 vitation from him to dinner that day. He went up 
 to call as soon as he received it, but excused himself 
 from dining on the ground of a previous engagement, 
 as he felt sure that Carthew would be one of the party. 
 
 " I suppose, Lady Greendale, it is no use asking 
 you and Bertha to sail in the Osprey on Friday ? " 
 
 " I should not think of going, Frank ; a racing 
 yacht is no place for an old lady. As for Bertha, she 
 is already engaged; Mr. Carthew asked her a fort- 
 night since to sail on the Phantom. Lady Olive Mars- 
 ton and her cousin, Miss Haverley, are also going. I 
 know that it is not very usual for ladies to go on rac- 
 ing yachts, but they are all accustomed to yachting, 
 
 115
 
 116 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 and Mr. Carthew declares that they won't be in the 
 way in the least." 
 
 " I don't see why they should be," Frank said, after 
 a short pause ; " of course, in a small boat it would 
 be different, but in a craft like the Phantom there is 
 plenty of room for two or three ladies without their 
 getting in the way of the crew. Well, I must be 
 going," he broke off somewhat hastily, for he saw a 
 group coming down the garden path towards the house. 
 It consisted of Bertha and two other ladies, Carthew 
 and another man. 
 
 " What other evening would suit you, Frank ? " 
 Lady Greendale asked as he rose. 
 
 " I am afraid I am engaged all through the week, 
 Lady Greendale." 
 
 " I am sorry," she said, quietly, " but perhaps it 
 is for the best, Frank." The door closed behind him 
 just as the party from the garden entered through the 
 French windows. 
 
 The next morning George Lechmere went ashore 
 with the steward, when the latter landed to do his 
 marketing. The street up the hill was crowded, and 
 numbers of yachts' sailors were ashore. Stewards with 
 the flat rush baskets, universally used by them, were 
 going from shop to shop, groups of sailors were chat- 
 ting over the events of the day, and carriages were 
 standing before the fishmongers', poulterers', and fruit 
 and flower shops, while the owners were laying in sup- 
 plies for their guests. People had driven in from all 
 parts of the island to see the races, and light country 
 carts with eggs, butter, fowls, and fruit were making 
 their way down the steep hill. 
 
 George had learnt from a casual remark of Frank's 
 where the house taken by Lord Haverley was situated, 
 and going up the hill turned to the right and kept on 
 until he came to a large house embowered in trees. 
 Breakfast was just over when a servant told Bertha
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 117 
 
 that a gentleman who said his name was George Leeh- 
 mere wished to speak to her. She went out to him in 
 the hall. 
 
 " Well, George," she said, holding out her hand to 
 him frankly, for he was a great favourite of hers, " I 
 suppose you have brought me up a message from Major 
 Mallett?" 
 
 " No, Miss Greendale, the Major does not know 
 that I have come to you. It is on my own account that 
 I am here ; could you spare me a quarter of an hour ? ' r 
 
 " Certainly, George," she said, in some surprise ; 
 "I will come out into the garden; we are likely to 
 have it to ourselves at this hour." 
 
 She fetched her hat, and they went out into the 
 garden together. George did not attempt to speak until 
 they reached the other end, where there was a seat in 
 a shady corner. 
 
 " Sit down, George," she said. 
 
 " Thank you, Miss Greendale, I would rather 
 stand," and he took his place in front of her. " I have 
 a story to tell you," he said. " It is very painful for 
 me to have to tell it, and it will be painful for you to 
 hear it; but I am sure that you ought to know." 
 
 Bertha did not say anything, but looked at him 
 with eyes wide open with surprise. 
 
 " I am sure, Miss Greendale," George went on, 
 " that the Major never told you that the bad wound 
 he received at Delhi that all but killed him, was my 
 doing that he was wounded by a ball from my 
 musket." 
 
 " No, George, he certainly never said so ; I sup- 
 pose he was in front of you, and your musket went off 
 accidentally ? " 
 
 " No, Miss Greendale, I took deliberate aim at him, 
 and it was only the mercy of God that saved his life." 
 
 Bertha was too surprised and shocked to speak, 
 and he went on :
 
 118 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " He himself thought that he had been hit by a 
 Sepoy bullet, and it was only when I sent for him, be- 
 lieving that I had received my death wound, that he 
 knew that it was I who had hit him." 
 
 "But for what?" she asked. "What made you 
 do this terrible thing? I thought he was liked by his 
 men." 
 
 " There was no one liked better, Miss Greendale ; 
 he was the most popular officer in the regiment, and 
 if the soldiers had known it, and I had escaped being 
 hung for it, I should have been shot the first time I 
 went into action afterwards. It had nothing to do 
 with the army; I enlisted in his company on purpose 
 to shoot him." 
 
 Bertha could hardly believe her ears. She looked 
 at the man earnestly; surely he could not have been 
 drinking at that time of the morning, and she would 
 have doubted his sanity had it not been for the calm 
 and earnest look in his face. He went on: 
 
 " I came here to tell you why I shot at him." 
 
 " I don't want to hear," she said, hurriedly ; " it is 
 no business of mine. I know that whatever it was 
 Major Mallett must have forgiven you; besides, you 
 saved his life afterwards." 
 
 " Excuse me, Miss Greendale, but it is a matter 
 that concerns you, and I pray you to listen to me. 
 You have heard of Martha Bennett, the poor girl who 
 disappeared four years ago, and who was thought to 
 have been murdered." 
 
 "Yes, I remember the talk about it; it was never 
 known who had done it." 
 
 " She was not murdered," he said ; " she returned 
 some months afterwards, but only to die. It was about 
 the time that Sir John was ill, and naturally you would 
 have heard nothing of it. Well, Miss Greendale, I was 
 at one time engaged to Martha. I was of a jealous, 
 passionate disposition, and I did not make enough
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 119 
 
 allowance for her being young and naturally fond of 
 admiration. I quarrelled with her and the engage- 
 ment was broken off, but I still loved her with all my 
 heart and soul." 
 
 Then he went on to tell of how maddened he had 
 been when he had seen her talking to Major Mallett, 
 and of the conversation he had overheard in her fa- 
 ther's garden, on the evening before she was miss- 
 ing. 
 
 " I jumped at the conclusion at once, Miss Green- 
 dale, that it was Captain Mallett, as he was then. He 
 had been round saying good-bye to the tenants that 
 afternoon, and I knew that he was going abroad. What 
 could I suppose but that he had ruined my poor girl, 
 and had persuaded her to go out to join him in India? 
 I waited for a time, while they searched for the body 
 I knew they would never find. My own father and 
 mother in their hearts thought that I had murdered 
 her in a fit of jealous rage. At last I made up my mind 
 to enlist in his regiment, to follow him to India, kill 
 him, find her, and bring her home." 
 
 " How dreadful ! " the girl murmured. 
 
 " It was dreadful, Miss Greendale ; I believe now 
 that I must have been mad at the time. However, I 
 did it, but at the end failed. Mercifully I was saved 
 from being a murderer. As I told you, I was badly 
 wounded; I thought I was going to die, and the doc- 
 tor thought so too. So I sent for Captain Mallett that 
 I might have the satisfaction of letting him know that 
 it was I who fired the shot, and that it was in revenge 
 for the wrong that he had done Martha. When I told 
 him I saw by his face, even before he spoke, that I had 
 been wrong. He knew nothing whatever of it. Well, 
 miss, he forgave me forgave me wholly. He told me 
 that he should never mention it to a soul, and as he 
 has never mentioned it even to you, yon may see how 
 well he has kept his word. I wanted to leave the regi-
 
 120 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 merit; I felt that I could never mix with my comrades, 
 knowing as I did that I had tried to murder their 
 favourite officer. But the Major would not hear of it; 
 he insisted that I should stay, and, even more, he prom- 
 ised that as soon as I was out of hospital I should be 
 his servant, saying that as the son of an old tenant, 
 he would rather have me than anyone else. You can 
 well imagine, then, Miss Greendale, how willingly I 
 would have given my life for him, and that when the 
 chance came I gladly faced odds to save him. Before 
 that I had come to learn who the man was. It was a 
 letter from my father that first gave me the clue; he 
 mentioned that another gentleman had left the neigh- 
 bourhood and gone abroad, just at the time that Major 
 Mallett did. He was a man who had once made me 
 madly jealous by his attentions to Martha at a fete 
 given to his tenants. 
 
 " The Major had the same thought, and he told 
 me that he knew the man was a bad fellow, though 
 he did not say why he thought so. Then I heard that 
 Martha had returned to die, and I learned that she 
 had told her mother the name of her destroyer, who 
 deserted her three months after he had taken her away. 
 When he came back from abroad her father and mine 
 and some others met him at Chippenham market; 
 they attacked him, and I believe would have killed 
 him, had he not ridden off. The next day he went up 
 to London, and a fortnight later his estate was in the 
 market, and he never came into that part of the coun- 
 try again. I have told you all this, Miss Greendale, 
 because I have heard that you know the man, and I 
 thought you ought to know what sort of a man he is. 
 His name is Carthew." 
 
 Bertha had grown paler and paler as the story went 
 on, and when he ended, she sat still and silent for two 
 or three minutes. Then she said in a low tone, " Thank 
 you, George, you have done right in telling me this
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 story; it is one that I ought to know. I wonder " 
 
 and she stopped. 
 
 " You wonder that the Major did not tell you, Miss 
 Greendale. I asked him myself. When you think it 
 over you will understand why he could not tell you, 
 for he had no actual proof, save the dying girl's words 
 and what I had seen and heard, and his motive in 
 telling it might have been misunderstood. But he told 
 me that even at the risk of that he should feel it his 
 duty, if you became engaged to that villain, to tell 
 the story to Lady Greendale. But if he found it hard 
 to speak, there seemed to me no reason why I shouldn't. 
 Except my father and mother and he, no one knows 
 that I was well nigh a murderer. And though he has 
 so generously forgiven me, and I have in a small way 
 tried to show my gratitude to him, it was still pain- 
 ful to me to have to tell the story to anyone else. But 
 I felt that I ought to do it, not for his sake, because 
 he has told me that what I had looked for and what 
 he had so hoped for is not to be, but because I thought 
 that you ought not to be allowed to sacrifice your life 
 to such a man, and partly, too, because I wished to 
 spare my dear master the pain of telling the story and 
 of perhaps being misunderstood." 
 
 " Thank you, George," she said, quietly, " you have 
 done quite right in telling me." 
 
 At this moment some voices were heard at the other 
 end of the garden. " I will be going at once," George 
 said, seizing the opportunity of getting away, and turn- 
 ing, he walked down the garden and left the house. 
 
 " Who is your friend, Bertha ? " Miss Haverley 
 said, laughingly, as she met Bertha coming slowly down 
 the garden. " Why is anything the matter? " she ex- 
 claimed, as she caught sight of her face. 
 
 " I have become suddenly faint, Hannah," Bertha 
 replied ; " I suppose it was the heat yesterday ; and it 
 is very warm this morning too. I am better now, and
 
 122 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 it will soon pass over. I will go in-doors for half an 
 hour, and then I shall be quite right again. My friend 
 is no one particular. He is Major Mallett's factotum. 
 He only brought me up a message, but as I know all 
 the men on the Osprey, and have not been on board 
 this season, of course there was a good deal to ask 
 about." 
 
 " Well, you must get well as soon as you can," 
 Miss Haverley said ; " you know we shall leave in half 
 an hour for the yacht, so as to get under way in time 
 for the start." 
 
 At the appointed time, Bertha joined the party 
 below. Her eyes looked heavy and her cheeks were 
 flushed, but she assured Miss Haverley that she felt 
 quite herself now, and that she was sure that the sea 
 air would set her up altogether. The schooner was 
 under way a quarter of an hour before the gun was 
 fired, and sailed east, as the course was twice round the 
 Nab and back. 
 
 Yachts were flitting about in all directions, for a 
 light air had only sprung up during the last half hour. 
 
 " There is the Phantom," Lord Haverley said ; 
 " she has been cruising about the last two days to get 
 her sails stretched, and they look uncommonly welL 
 Carthew told me yesterday that she would be across 
 early this morning, and that he should go round with 
 the race to see how she did. I think you young ladies 
 will have a very good chance of being able to boast 
 that you have sailed in the yacht that won the Queen's 
 Cup. I fancy it lies between her and the Osprey. Mal- 
 lett is getting up sail too, I see, but as the Phantom 
 is going with the race, I don't suppose he will. She is 
 a fine craft, though I own I like the cutter rig better. 
 The Phantom will have to allow her time, but not a 
 great deal, for the yawl is the heaviest tonnage. There 
 is the starting gun. They are all close together at 
 the line. That is a pretty sight, Lady Greendale; talk
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 123 
 
 about the start of race-horses, it is no more to be com- 
 pared with it than light to dark." 
 
 After cruising about for three or four hours, their 
 schooner dropped anchor near the Osprey, which had 
 come in half an hour before. 
 
 " Have you ever been on board the Osprey, Lord 
 Haverley ? " Bertha asked. 
 
 " No, my dear, I don't know that I have ever before 
 been in any port with your friend Major Mallett." 
 
 " Well, what do you say to our going on board for 
 a few minutes, on our way to shore? Mamma and I 
 are very fond of her, and I am her godmother, having 
 christened her." 
 
 " Godmother and curate coupled in one, eh, Bertha ? 
 We will go by all means; that is to say, we cannot in- 
 vade him in a body, but those of us who know Mallett 
 can go on board, and the gig can come back and take 
 the rest ashore and then come to fetch us." 
 
 Accordingly, Lord Haverley and his daughter, Lady 
 Greendale and Bertha, and two others of the party 
 were rowed to the Osprey. Frank saw them coming 
 and met them at the gangway. 
 
 " We are taking you by storm, Major," Lord Hav- 
 erley said, " but Lady Greendale and her daughter 
 claim an almost proprietary interest in the Osprey, be- 
 cause the latter is her godmother. Indeed, we are all 
 naturally interested in her, too, as being one of our 
 cracks. She is a very smart-looking craft, though I 
 think it is a pity that she is not cutter-rigged." 
 
 " She would look prettier, no doubt," Frank said, 
 " but, you see, though she was built as a racer, and I 
 like a race occasionally, that was not my primary ob- 
 ject. I wanted her for cruising, and there is no doubt 
 that a yawl is more handy, and you can work her 
 with fewer hands than you can a cutter of the same 
 size." 
 
 They went round the vessel, and then returning
 
 124: THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 on deck, sat down and chatted while waiting for the 
 boat's return. 
 
 " I sincerely hope that you will win, Frank, on 
 Friday," Lady Greendale said ; " our sympathies are 
 rather divided, but I hope the Osprey will win." 
 
 " Thank you, Lady Greendale, but I am by no 
 means sanguine about it. I fancy, Miss Haverley, that 
 you and Miss Greendale will see the winning flag fly- 
 ing overhead when the race is over." 
 
 "Why do you think so, Major?" Lord Haverley 
 asked. " The general opinion is that your record is 
 better than that of the Phantom. She has done well in 
 the two or three races she has sailed, but she certainly 
 did not beat the Lesbia or the Mermaid by as much 
 as you did." 
 
 " That may be," Frank agreed, " but I regard Car- 
 thew as having been born under a lucky star; and 
 though my own opinion is that if the Phantom were in 
 other hands we should beat her, I fancy his luck will 
 pull her through." 
 
 Haverley laughed. " I should not have given you 
 credit for being superstitious, Major." 
 
 " I don't think that I have many superstitions, but 
 I own to something like it in this case." 
 
 Bertha looked earnestly at him. Just before the 
 gig returned from the shore, she and Frank were stand- 
 ing together. 
 
 " I am sorry that I shall not have your good wishes 
 to-morrow," he said. 
 
 " I have not said that anyone will have my good 
 wishes," she replied. " I shall be on board the Phan- 
 tom because I was invited there before you asked me, 
 but my hope is that the best yacht will win. I want to 
 speak to you for a minute or two; when can I see 
 you?" 
 
 " I* can come up to-morrow morning early," he re- 
 plied. "What time will best suit you?"
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 125 
 
 " Ten o'clock ; please ask for mamma." 
 
 The next morning, Lady Greendale and Bertha 
 came together into the sitting-room into which Frank 
 had been shown on calling at Lord Haverley's. 
 
 " You are early, Frank." 
 
 " Yes, Lady Greendale, I am going for a run round 
 the island; it makes me fidgety to sit all day with 
 nothing to do, and I am always contented when I am 
 under sail. As I shan't have time to come in to-mor- 
 row morning, for you know we start at nine, I thought 
 that I would drop in this morning, even if the hour 
 was an early one." 
 
 After chatting for a few minutes, Lady Greendale 
 made some excuse to leave the room. 
 
 " She knew that you were coming, and that I wanted 
 to speak to you," said Bertha. 
 
 " Well, what is it anything of importance ? " he 
 asked with a smile. 
 
 She hesitated and then went on. " Some words 
 you spoke yesterday recalled to me something you said 
 nearly four years ago. Do you remember when we sat 
 next to each other in the twilight, the day before you 
 went to India? We were talking about superstitions 
 then, and you told me that you had only one, and said 
 what it was you remember ? " 
 
 " I remember," he said, gravely. 
 
 " About someone who had beaten you always and 
 who you thought always would beat you, if you came 
 in contact again. You would not tell me his name; 
 was it Mr. Carthew ? " 
 
 " I would not answer the question then, Bertha, 
 and you surely cannot expect me to answer it now." 
 
 " I do expect you to answer it." 
 
 " Then I must most emphatically decline to do so," 
 
 he said. " What ! do you think that if it were he, I 
 
 would be so base as to discredit him now? For you 
 
 must remember that I said that only one of my de- 
 

 
 126 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 feats was due to foul play, that most of the others 
 were simply due to the fact that he was a better man 
 than I was. The matter has long since been forgotten, 
 and, whoever it is, I would not prejudice him in the 
 opinion of anyone by raising up that old story. I have 
 no shadow of proof that it was he who damaged my 
 boat; it might have been the act of some boatman 
 about the place who had laid his money against my 
 winning." 
 
 " That is enough," she said quietly. " I did not 
 think that you would tell me whether it was Mr. Car- 
 thew, but I was sure that if it were not he you would 
 not hesitate to say so. Thank you, that is all I wanted 
 to see you for. What you said yesterday brought 
 that talk we had so vividly into my mind that I could 
 not resist asking you. It explained what seemed to 
 me at the time to be strange; how it was that you, 
 who are generally so cordial in your manner, were so 
 cold to him when you first met him at our house. I 
 Bought that there might be something more serious,''* 
 and she looked him full in the face. 
 
 " Perhaps I am a prejudiced beggar," he said, with 
 an attempt to smile, and then added somewhat bit- 
 terly, " You see things since have not been calculated 
 to make me specially generous in his case." 
 
 She did not reply, and after a moment's pause he 
 said, " Well, as Lady Greendale seems to be busy, I 
 will be going." 
 
 "You will come to the ball to-morrow evening, 
 won't you ? " she asked. 
 
 "I suppose I shall have to," he said. "If I win, 
 though mind I feel sure that I shan't, it will seem 
 odd if I don't come. If I lose, it will look as if I 
 sulked." 
 
 " You must come," she said, " and you must have 
 a dance with me. You have not been keeping your 
 word, Major Mallett; you said that you would always
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 be the same to me, and you are not; you have never 
 once asked me to dance with you, and you are changed 
 altogether." 
 
 " I try to be I try hard, Bertha ; but just at pres- 
 ent it is beyond me. I cannot stand by and see you go- 
 ing " and he stopped abruptly. " Well, never mind,. 
 
 Bertha; it will all come right in time, but at any rate 
 I cannot stand it at present. Good-bye." And with- 
 out giving her time to reply he hastily left the room. 
 
 Bertha stood silent for a minute or two, then quietly 
 followed him out of the room. 
 
 The next day Eyde was astir early. It was the- 
 Queen's Cup day; eight yachts were entered: three 
 schooners the Rhodope, the Isobel, and the May- 
 flower ; four cutters the Pearl, the Chrysalis, the Alac- 
 rity, and the Phantom; and the Osprey, which was the 
 only yawl. It was half -past eight, and all were under 
 way under mainsail and jib. The Solent was alive 
 with yachts. They were pouring out from Southamp- 
 ton water, they were coming up from Cowes, and some 
 were making their way across from Portsmouth. The 
 day was a fine one for sailing. 
 
 " Have you got the same extra hands as last time ? " 
 Frank asked the skipper. 
 
 " All the same, sir ; they all know their work well, 
 and of course if there is anything to be done aloft, 
 our own men go up. I don't think any of them will 
 beat us in smartness." 
 
 As the time approached for the start, the racers 
 began to gather in the neighbourhood of the starting- 
 line and as the five minutes gun fired, the topsails 
 went up and they began to sail backwards and forwards 
 near it. As the Phantom crossed under the lee of the 
 Osproy, the three ladies waved their handkerchiefs to 
 Frank, who took off his cap. 
 
 " May the best yacht win," Bertha called out, aa 
 the vessels flew quickly apart.
 
 128 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " We could not want a better day, George," Frank 
 said ; " we can carry everything comfortably, and there 
 is not enough wind to kick up much of a sea. As far 
 as we are concerned, I would rather that the wind 
 had been either north or south, so that we could have 
 laid our course all round; as it is, we shall have the 
 wind almost dead aft till we are round the Nab, then 
 we shall be close-hauled, with perhaps an occasional 
 tack along the back of the island, then free again back. 
 There is no doubt that the cutters have a pull close- 
 hauled. I fancy with this wind the schooners will be- 
 out of it ; though if it had been a reach the whole way, 
 they would have had a good chance. Four minutes are 
 gone." 
 
 He was holding his watch in his hand and after a 
 short pause called out, " Five seconds gone." The Os- 
 prey had a good position at present, though, with the 
 wind aft, this was of comparatively little consequence. 
 She was nearly in a line with the mark boat nearest 
 to the shore, and some hundred and fifty yards from it. 
 
 "Haul in the main sheet," Hawkins said quietly, 
 and the men stationed there hauled on the rope until 
 he said, " That will do, we must not go too fast." 
 
 He went on, turning to Frank, who had just called 
 out, " Twenty seconds gone," " I think that we shall 
 about do." The latter nodded. " A bit more, lads," 
 the skipper said ten seconds later. " That will do." 
 
 " Fifteen seconds more," Frank said presently. 
 
 " Slack away the sheet, slack it away handsomely ; 
 up foresail, that is it," shouted the skipper. 
 
 As the boom ran out and the foresail went up, the 
 Osprey glided on with accelerated speed, and the end 
 of the bowsprit was but a few yards from the starting- 
 line when the gun fired. 
 
 " Bravo, good start," Frank said, as he looked round 
 for the first time. 
 
 The eight yachts were all within a length of each
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. , 129 
 
 other, and a cheer broke from the boats around as they 
 sped on their way. For a time there was but little dif- 
 ference between them, and then the cutters began to 
 show a little in front. Their long booms gave them 
 an advantage over the schooners and the yawl when 
 before the wind; the spinnaker was not then invented, 
 and the wind was not sufficiently dead aft to enable 
 the schooners to carry their mainsail and foresails, 
 wing and wing, or for the yawl's mizzen to help her. 
 
 As they passed Sea-view the cutters were a length 
 ahead, the Phantom having a slight advantage over her 
 sisters; they gained no further, for the schooners fell 
 into their wake as soon as they were able to do so, thus 
 robbing them of some of their wind. The Osprey, 
 having the inside station, kept straight on, and came 
 up with the cutters as they were abreast of the end 
 of the island. All were travelling very fast through 
 the water. 
 
 " We shall be first round the Nab, sir," Hawkins 
 said in delight ; " the schooners are smothering the 
 cutters, but they are not hurting us." 
 
 " Give her plenty of room when we get there," 
 Frank said. 
 
 The skipper nodded. " I won't risk a foul, sir, you 
 may be sure." 
 
 The three ladies on board the Phantom were seated 
 on foot-stools under the weather bulwark although 
 as yet the yachts were travelling on an almost even 
 keel. Miss Haverley and Lady Olive uttered exclama- 
 tions of satisfaction as the Phantom slowly drew ahead 
 of the others, and were loud in their disgust as they 
 saw the effect of the schooner's sail behind them on 
 their own speed. 
 
 " I don't call it fair," the former said, " if a vessel 
 cannot sail well herself, that she should be allowed to 
 damage the chances of others, do you, Bertha ? " 
 
 " I don't know ; I suppose it is equally fair for all,
 
 130 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 and that we should do the same if a boat had got ahead 
 of us. Still, it is very tiresome, but it is just as bad 
 for the other cutters." 
 
 " Look at the Osprey," Lady Olive said soon after- 
 wards, " she is coming up fast ; you see, she has noth- 
 ing behind her; I do believe that she is going to 
 pass us." 
 
 " It won't make much difference," Carthew, who 
 was standing close to her, said confidently; " the race 
 won't really begin until we are round the Nab, and 
 after that we shan't hamper each other. I am quite 
 content with the way that we are going." 
 
 The Osprey rounded the lightship two lengths 
 ahead, the Phantom came next, three lengths before 
 the Chrysalis, and the others followed in quick suc- 
 cession. The sheets were hauled in, and the yachts 
 were able to lie close-hauled for Ventnor. The three 
 leading boats maintained their respective places, but 
 drew out from each other, and when they passed Vent- 
 nor the Osprey was some five lengths ahead of the 
 Phantom. 
 
 " Don't be downcast, ladies," Carthew said, gaily, 
 "we have a long way to go yet, and once round the 
 point we shall have to turn till we pass the Needles." 
 
 The sea was now getting a good deal rougher; the 
 wind was against tide, and the yachts began to throw 
 the spray over the bows. Bertha was struck with the 
 confidence with which Carthew had spoken, and 
 watched him closely. 
 
 " We shall get it a good deal worse off St. Cather- 
 ine's Head," he went on ; " there is a race there even 
 in the calmest weather, and I should advise you to get 
 your wraps ready, for the spray will be flying all over 
 her when we get into it." 
 
 They were now working tack and tack, but the 
 Osprey was still improving her position, and as they 
 neared St. Catherine's Head she was a good quarter
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 131 
 
 of a mile to the good. Still Carthew maintained his 
 good temper, but Bertha could see that it was with, 
 an effort. He seemed to pay but little attention to 
 the sailing of the Phantom, but kept his eyes intently- 
 fixed upon the Osprey. 
 
 " I should not be surprised at some of us carrying; 
 away a spar before long," he said ; " the wind is fresh- 
 ening, and we shall have to shift topsails and jibs, I 
 fancy." 
 
 They were now lying far over, and the water was 
 two or three planks up the lee deck. Each time the 
 cutter went about the ladies carried their foot-stools 
 up to windward, when the vessel was for a moment 
 on an even keel; when there they were obliged to sit 
 with one hand over the rail to prevent themselves from 
 sliding down to leeward as the vessel heeled. 
 
 " There goes the Chrysalis's topmast," the skipper 
 exclaimed suddenly ; " that does for her chance. I 
 think I had better get the jib header ready for hoist- 
 ing, Mr. Carthew; the spar is bending like a whip." 
 
 " Yes, I think you had better get it up at once, 
 captain; it is no use running any risk." 
 
 As the Phantom's big topsail came down, the Os- 
 prey's was seen to flutter and then to descend. 
 
 " He has only been waiting for us," the captain said. 
 Carthew made no reply, he was still intently watch- 
 ing the craft ahead. " It is just as well for him," the 
 captain went on, " he will be in the race directly." 
 Bertha was still watching Carthew's face. Cheerful 
 as his tones were, there was an expression of anxiety in 
 it. Three minutes later, he gave an exclamation as 
 of relief, and a shout rose from the men forward. Fol- 
 lowing the direction of his eyes, she saw the bowsprit 
 of the Osprey swing to leeward and a moment later her 
 topmast fall over her side. 
 
 " What did I tell you ? " Carthew said, exultingly ; 
 " a race is never lost till it is won."
 
 132 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Oh ! I am sorry," Bertha said. " I do think it is 
 hard to lose a race by an accident." 
 
 " Every yacht has to abide by its own accidents, 
 Miss Greendale; and carrying away a spar is one of 
 the accidents one counts on. If it were not for that 
 risk, yachts would always carry on too long; it is a 
 matter of judgment and of attention to gear. The 
 loss of a spar is in nine times out of ten the result 
 either of rashness or of inattention. However, I am 
 sorry myself; that is to say, I would prefer winning 
 the cup by arriving first at the flag-boat. However, 
 I am certainly not disposed to grumble at Fortune just 
 at present." 
 
 " I should think not, Mr. Carthew," Lady Olive 
 said. " I am sure I congratulate you very heartily. 
 Of course, I have seen scores of races, and whenever 
 there is any wind someone is always sure to lose a 
 spar, and sometimes two or three will do so; I don't 
 think you need fear any of the boats behind." 
 
 " No, yet I don't feel quite safe ; I have no fear of 
 any of the cutters, but once round the Needles, it will 
 be a broad reach, and you will see that the schooners 
 will come up fast, and I have to allow them a good 
 bit of time. However, I think we are pretty safe."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE Phantom presently came along close to the 
 Osprey, and Carthew shouted: 
 
 " Is there anything that I can do for you ? " 
 
 " No, thank you," Frank replied. Then Bertha 
 called out: 
 
 " I am so sorry." Frank waved his hand in reply. 
 The men were all busy trying to get the wreckage 
 alongside. The cross-trees had been carried away by 
 the fall cf the top-mast, and her deck forward was lit- 
 tered with gear. The difficulty was greatly increased 
 by the heavy sea in the race. 
 
 " As soon as you have got everything on board, 
 Hawkins, we will put a couple of reefs in the mainsail. 
 She will go well enough under that and the foresail. 
 If the mizzen is too much for her, we can take it off." 
 
 It was nearly half an hour before all was clear, and 
 the last of the yachts in the race had passed them be- 
 fore the leeward sheet of the foresail was hauled aft, 
 and the Phantom resumed her course. As soon as she 
 did so, the captain came aft with part of the copper 
 bar of the bobstay. 
 
 " There has been foul play, sir," he said. " I 
 thought there must have been, for I could not imagine 
 that this bar would have broken unless there had been 
 a flaw in the metal or it had been tampered with. I 
 unshackled it myself, for I thought it was better that 
 the men should not see it until I had told you about it." 
 
 " Quite right, Hawkins. Yes, there is no doubt 
 that there has been foul play. The bar has been sawn 
 
 133
 
 134 THE QUEEN'S UUP. 
 
 three quarters of the way through with a fine saw, and, 
 of course, it went as soon as she began to dip her bow- 
 sprit well into it in the race. You see, whoever has 
 <lone it has poured some acid into it, and darkened 
 the copper, partly perhaps to prevent the colour of the 
 freshly-cut metal from being noticed, and partly to 
 give it the appearance, after it was broken, of being 
 an old cut." 
 
 :< It cannot have been that, sir, for we were out in 
 quite as rough a sea as this last week, and the bow- 
 sprit would have gone then if this cut had been there. 
 Besides, we should have been sure to have noticed it 
 when we went round her to polish up her sides." 
 
 " I don't know about that, Hawkins. You see, the 
 cut is from below, and it is only two or three inches 
 above the water-line. It might very well have been 
 there without being noticed. Still, I agree with you, 
 it could not have been there last week, or it must have 
 gone when she put her nose into it then. In point of 
 fact, I have no doubt that it was done last night or 
 the night before. It could easily have been managed. 
 Of course, everyone was below, both here and in the 
 yachts lying round us, and a man might very well have 
 come out in a small boat between one and two o'clock 
 in the morning, and done this without being noticed." 
 
 " He might have done that, sir, but we should have 
 heard the grating down in the forecastle." 
 
 " I don't know, Hawkins. A fine steel saw, such 
 as burglars use, will work its way through an iron bar 
 almost noiselessly, and I should say that it would go 
 through copper almost as easily as it would through 
 hard wood. It is as well to say nothing to the crew 
 about it, but I think it my duty to lay the matter 
 before the club committee, and they can do as they 
 like about it. Mind, I don't say for a moment that it 
 was done by anyone on board the Phantom. It may 
 have been someone on shore who had laid a bet of a
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 135 
 
 few pounds against us, and wanted to make sure of 
 winning his monay. Besides, the Phantom might very 
 well have hoped to have beaten us fairly, for she was 
 just as much fancied as we were. Take it below, and 
 lay it in my cabin, and when we get in unshackle the 
 other bit of the bar, and put it with this." 
 
 It was impossible, however, when the bowsprit and 
 bobstay were brought on board that the crew should 
 have failed to notice the break in the bar, and the news 
 that there had been foul play had at once been passed 
 round. Seeing the angry faces of the men, and the 
 animated talk forward, Frank told the captain to call 
 all hands aft. 
 
 " Look here, my men," he said, " I see that you are 
 all aware of what has taken place. It is most disgrace- 
 ful and unfortunate, and I need hardly say that I am 
 as much vexed as yourselves at losing the Cup, which, 
 but for that, we must have carried off. However, it is 
 one of those cases in which there is nothing to be done, 
 and we should only make things worse by making a 
 fuss about it. We have no ground whatever for be- 
 lieving that it was the work of one of the Phantom's 
 crew, and it is far more likely that it was the work 
 of some longshore loafer who had laid more than he 
 could afford against us. It has partly been our own 
 fault, but we shall know better in future, and your 
 captain will take good care that there shall be an an- 
 chor watch set for two or three nights before we sail 
 another race. 
 
 "What I have called you up for is to beg of you 
 not to make this an occasion for disputes or quarrels 
 ashore. Hitherto I have been proud of the good be- 
 haviour of my crew, and I should be sorry indeed to 
 hear that there was any row ashore between you and 
 the Phantom's men. They at least have nothing to 
 boast of; they have won the Cup, but we have won the 
 honour. We have shown ourselves the better yacht,
 
 136 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 and should have beaten them by something like a mile, 
 if it had not been for this accident; therefore it is my 
 express wish and order that you do not show your 
 natural disappointment on shore. You can give the 
 real reason of our defeat, but do not say a word of 
 blame to anyone, for \ve know not who was the author 
 of the blackguardly act. Of course, the matter cannot 
 be kept altogether a secret, for it will be my duty to lay 
 it before the committee. I shall make no protest. If 
 they choose to institute an inquiry they must do so, 
 but I shall take no steps in the matter, and it is un- 
 likely in the extreme that we shall ever know who did 
 it. I shall pay you all winning money, for that you did 
 not win was no fault of yours. One thing I will wager, 
 though I am not a betting man, and that is, that the 
 next time we meet the Phantom we shall beat her, by 
 as much as we should have done to-day, but for this 
 accident." 
 
 The appearance of the Osprey as she sailed into 
 the anchorage without topmast or bowsprit, excited 
 great attention, and many of the yachtsmen came on 
 board to inquire how the disaster had happened. To 
 save going through the story a score of times, Frank 
 had the broken pieces of the bobstay bar brought up 
 and laid on the deck near the tiller, and in reply to 
 inquiries simply pointed to them, saying, "I think 
 that tells the tale for itself." 
 
 All were full of indignation at the dastardly outrage. 
 
 "What are you going to do, Major?" 
 
 " I am not going to do anything except take it 
 ashore and hand it to the Sailing Committee. That 
 it has been cut is certain; as to who cut it there is no 
 shadow of evidence." 
 
 " If I were in Carthew's place," one of them said, 
 " I should decline to take the Cup under such circum- 
 stances, and would offer to sail the race over again 
 with you as soon as you had repaired damages."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 137 
 
 " I should decline the offer if he made it," he said, 
 quietly ; " it is probable that we shall meet in a race 
 again some day, and then we can fight it out, but for 
 the present it is done with. He has won the Queen's 
 Cup, and I must put up with my accidents." 
 
 The effect produced by the facts reported to the 
 committee, and their examination of the broken bar, 
 was very great. Such a thing had not been known 
 before in the annals of yachting, and the commit- 
 tee ordered a poster to be instantly printed and stuck 
 up offering a reward of 100 for proof that would 
 lead to the conviction of the author of the out- 
 rage. 
 
 Frank returned on board at once, and sent off a 
 boat, towing behind it the broken bowsprit and top- 
 mast to Cowes, with instructions to Messrs. White to 
 have two fresh spars got ready by the following after- 
 noon if possible. He did not go ashore again until 
 he landed at half-past ten at the club-house. Every 
 window was lit up, and dancing had begun an hour 
 before. Frank at once obtained a partner, in order to 
 avoid having to talk the unpleasant business over with 
 yachting friends. Presently he sat down by the side 
 of Lady Greendale. 
 
 " I am so sorry, Frank," she said ; " it does seem 
 hard when you had set your mind on it." 
 
 " I had hoped to win," he said, " but it is not as 
 bad as all that after all. It would have been more 
 mortifying to lose because the Osprey was not fast 
 enough than to lose from an accident, when she had 
 already proved herself to be the best in the race. You 
 know that I never went in for being a racing yachts- 
 man ; I look upon racing as being a secondary part 
 of yachting. I can assure you I don't feel that I am 
 greatly to be pitied. It might have been better, and 
 it might have been a great deal worse." 
 
 " Well, I am glad that you take it in that way," she
 
 138 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 said ; " I can assure you that I was greatly upset over 
 it when I heard it." 
 
 He sat chatting with her for some time. Presently 
 Bertha was brought back by her partner to her moth- 
 er's side. 
 
 " Thank you for your hail as you passed us, Miss 
 Greendale; it sounded hearty, and really cheered me 
 up, for just at the moment I was in an exceedingly 
 bad temper, I can assure you. You see, my forebod- 
 ings came true, and luck was against me." 
 
 " Not luck," she said, indignantly ; " you would 
 have won but for treachery." 
 
 " Treachery is rather a hard word," he said. " How- 
 ever, it is of no use crying over spilt milk; I have lost, 
 and shall live to fight another day, I hope; and next 
 time I shall win. Still, you know, there is really noth- 
 ing to grumble at; I have been fortunate altogether 
 this season, and as I bought the Osprey as a cruiser, 
 I have done a great deal better with her than I could 
 have expected." 
 
 At this moment another partner of Bertha's came 
 up, and was about to carry her off, when she said, " I 
 suppose the Osprey can sail still, Major Mallett?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, she is a lame duck, you know, but she can 
 get about all right." 
 
 " Well, why don't you ask mamma and me to take 
 a sail with you to-morrow afternoon ? " 
 
 "I shall be very happy to do so," he said, "but I 
 almost think that you had better wait until she gets 
 her spars; I don't think that they will be finished be- 
 fore to-morrow evening. The men can get to work 
 early in the morning, and we can be here by two o'clock 
 next day." 
 
 " No, I think that we will come to-morrow, Major 
 Mallett; it will be a novelty to sail in a cripple, won't 
 it, mamma? Besides, you know, or you ought to know, 
 that the day after to-morrow is Sunday, and that at
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 139 
 
 present our plans are arranged for going up to town 
 on Monday." 
 
 " That being so," Frank said with a smile, " by all 
 means come to-morrow. Will you come to lunch or 
 afterwards ? " 
 
 " Afterwards, I think ; we will be down at the club 
 landing-stage at half-past two." 
 
 " Bertha is bent upon taking possession of you to- 
 morrow," Lady Greendale said, smiling, as the girl 
 turned away, " and I shall be glad for her to have a 
 quiet two or three hours out of the racket. A large 
 party is very fatiguing, and I think that it has been 
 too much for her. Yesterday and to-day she has been 
 quite unlike herself; at one time sitting quiet and 
 saying nothing, at other times rattling away with Miss 
 Haverley and Lady Olive, and absolutely talking down 
 both of them, which I should have thought impossible. 
 She seems to me to be altogether overexcited. I thought 
 it would have been a rest for her to get away for a 
 week from the fag in London, but I am sorry now 
 that we came down altogether. I am a little worried 
 about it, Frank." 
 
 " Well, the season is drawing towards its end now, 
 Lady Greendale, and if you can get a short time at 
 home no doubt it will do you good. I did not think 
 that Bertha was looking well when I saw her yester- 
 day." 
 
 Frank danced a couple more dances, and then went 
 to Lady Greendale and said: 
 
 " Will you make my excuses to Bertha, and tell 
 her that, having shown myself here, so that it might 
 not be thought that I was out of temper at my bad 
 luck, I shall be off. Indeed, I do not feel quite up to 
 entering into the thing. You can understand, dear 
 Lady Greendale, that at present things are going rather 
 hardly with me." 
 
 She gave him a sympathetic look. " I can under-
 
 140 THE QUEEFS CUP. 
 
 stand, Frank," she said ; " but here she comes. You 
 can make your excuses yourself." 
 
 " I can quite understand that you don't care about 
 staying," Bertha said, when he repeated what he had 
 said to her mother. " Well, I will give you the next 
 dance, or, what will be nicer, I will sit it out with 
 you. Ah, here is my partner. I am afraid I have 
 made a mistake, Mr. Jennings, and have got my card 
 mixed up. Do you mind taking the thirteenth dance 
 instead of this? I shall be very much obliged if you 
 will." 
 
 Her partner murmured his assent. 
 
 " Thank you," Frank said, as she took his arm. 
 " Now, shall we go out on the balcony or on the lawn ? " 
 
 " The lawn, I think. It is a lovely evening, and 
 there is no fear of catching cold. I am afraid that 
 you are very disappointed," she went on, as they went 
 out. " I am disappointed, too. I told you I wanted 
 the best yacht to win, and it has not done so." 
 
 " Thank you," he replied, quietly. " I should have 
 liked to have won just this once, but all along I felt 
 that the chances were against me, and that fortune 
 would play me some trick or other." 
 
 " It was not fortune. Fortune had nothing to do 
 with it," she said, indignantly. " You were beaten by 
 a crime by a mean, miserable crime by the same 
 sort of crime by which you were beaten before." 
 
 " I have no reason for supposing that there is any 
 connection." 
 
 " Frank," she broke in, suddenly, and he started 
 as for the first time for years she called him by his 
 Christian name, " you are an old friend of ours, and 
 you promised me that you would always be my friend. 
 Do you think that it is right 'to be trying to throw 
 dust into my eyes? Don't you think, on the contrary, 
 that as a friend you should speak frankly to me ? " 
 
 Frank was silent for a moment. " On some sub-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 141 
 
 jects, yes, Bertha; on others, what has passed between 
 us makes it very difficult for a man to know what he 
 ought to do. But be assured that if I saw you make 
 any fatal mistake, any mistake at least that I believed 
 to be fatal, I should not hesitate, even if I knew that 
 I should be misunderstood, and that I should forfeit 
 your liking, by so doing. This is just one of the cases 
 when I do not feel justified, as yet, in speaking. Car- 
 thew is not my friend, and you know it. If I had had 
 no personal feud for it has become that with him 
 I should be more at liberty to speak, but as it is I 
 would rather remain silent. I tell you this now, that 
 you may know, in case I ever do meddle in your af- 
 fairs, how painful it is for me to do so, and how un- 
 willingly I do it. At any rate, there is nothing what- 
 ever to connect the accident that took place to-day with 
 him. The event is one of a series of successes that 
 he has gained over me. It does not affect me much, 
 for though I should have liked to have won to-day, I 
 don't feel about such matters as I used to. You see, 
 when a man has suffered one heavy defeat, he does not 
 care about how minor skirmishes may go." 
 
 They walked up and down in silence for some time, 
 then she said quietly : " The music has stopped ; I 
 think, Frank, that I had better go in again. So you 
 will take us to-morrow ? " 
 
 " Certainly," he said. 
 
 He took her in to Lady Greendale, and then went 
 off to the Osprey. He was feeling in higher spirits 
 than he had done for some time as he walked up and 
 down the deck for an hour before turning in. It 
 seemed to him that she might not after all accept Car- 
 thew, and that he would not be obliged to bring trou- 
 ble upon her by telling the shameful story. 
 
 " It will be all the same as far as I am concerned," 
 he said to himself, " but I am sure that I could stand 
 her marrying anyone else, which, of course, she will 
 10
 
 142 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 do before long, better than Carthew. I hear whispers 
 that he was hard hit at Ascot, though he gives out 
 that he won; not that that matters much, but it is 
 never a good lookout for a girl to marry a man who 
 gambles, even though she be rich and her friends take 
 good care to settle her money upon herself. She evi- 
 dently suspects that he is at the bottom of this trick, 
 and she would hardly think so if she really cared for 
 him. But if she does think so, I fancy that the win- 
 ning of the Queen's Cup will cost him dearly. I won- 
 der why she has apparently so set her mind on going 
 out with us to-morrow." 
 
 Carthew enjoyed his triumph that evening, loudly 
 expressed his indignation and regret at the scandal- 
 ous affair to which he owed his victory, frankly said 
 that he could hardly have hoped to win the Cup had 
 it not been for that, and expressed his determination to 
 add another hundred pounds to the reward offered by 
 the club for the discovery of the author of the outrage. 
 The men felt that it was hard on a fellow to win the 
 Cup by the breakdown of an opponent in that way, and 
 the ladies admired the sincere way in which he ex- 
 pressed his regrets. He was a good dancer, a good 
 talker, and a handsome man ; and as few of them knew 
 Frank, they had no particular interest in his mis- 
 fortune. He danced , only once with Bertha, who 
 said, " As the hero of the occasion, Mr. Carthew, you 
 must be generous in your attentions and please every- 
 one." 
 
 " I suppose I must obey you, Miss Greendale," he 
 said, " but I had hoped to have had an opportunity 
 of saying something particular to you to-night." 
 
 " Really ? " she answered innocently ; " well, I shall 
 be at home to-morrow morning, and if you come up 
 about eleven you are sure to find me." 
 
 " Miss Greendale is at the other end of the garden, 
 sir," the servant said, as he enquired for her the next
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 143 
 
 morning. " She asked me to tell you if you called 
 that she was there." 
 
 With considerable assurance of success, Carthew 
 walked into the garden. She must know what he 
 wanted to say to her, and he had of late felt sure that 
 her answer would be favourable when the question was 
 put. She was sitting on the same bench on which two 
 days before she had heard George Lechmere's story. 
 
 " You know what I have come for, Miss Green- 
 dale," he began at once. " I think that you know how 
 I feel towards you, and how deeply I love you; I have 
 come to ask you to be my wife." 
 
 " Before I answer you, Mr. Carthew," she said, 
 calmly, " I must ask you to listen to a story; it was 
 told me here two days ago by a man named George 
 Lechmere. Do you know him ? " 
 
 " I seem to have heard his name, though I cannot 
 say where," he replied, surprised at the coolness with 
 which she spoke. 
 
 " He is a farmer's son, I believe, and he was an 
 interested party, though not the chief actor of the 
 story. The chief actor, I suppose I should say actress, 
 was Martha Bennett. You know her ? " 
 
 Carthew stepped back as if he had received a sud- 
 den blow; his face paled, and he gave a short gasp. 
 
 " I see you know her," she went on. " She was 
 a poor creature, I fancy, and her story is one that has 
 often been told before. She threw away the love of 
 an honest man, and trusted herself to a villain; he 
 betrayed the trust, took her away to America and then 
 cast her off, and she went home to die. Her destroyer 
 did not altogether escape punishment. He was at- 
 tacked and pelted by her father and his friends in 
 the market place at Chippenham. You see, it all hap- 
 pened in my neighbourhood, and the villain, not dar- 
 ing to show his face in the county again, disposed of 
 his estate."
 
 144 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " You don't believe this infamous lie ? " Carthew 
 said, hoarsely. 
 
 " How do you know that it is an infamous lie, Mr. 
 Carthew? I have mentioned no names; I have simply 
 told you the story of a hapless girl, whom you once 
 knew; your face is the best witness that I can require 
 of its truth. Thank God I heard it in time; had it 
 not been for that I might have been fool enough to 
 have given you the answer you wanted, for I own that 
 I liked you. I am sure now that I did not love you, 
 for had I done so, I should not have believed this tale; 
 or if I had believed it, it would have crushed me. But 
 J liked you; I found you pleasanter than other men, 
 find I even fancied that I loved you. Had I not known 
 this story, I might have married you, and been the 
 most miserable woman alive, for a man who could play 
 the villain to a hapless girl, who could stoop to so 
 mean and dastardly an action as to cripple a rival 
 yacht, is a creature so mean, so detestable, that 
 wretched indeed would be the fate of the woman that 
 married him. Do not contradict it, sir," she said, ris- 
 ing from her seat now with her face ablaze with indig- 
 nation. " I was watching you ; I had heard that story, 
 find had heard another story of how the boat of an an- 
 tagonist of yours, at Henley had been crippled before 
 a race, and I watched you from the time I came on 
 board. I saw that you were strangely confident ; I saw 
 how you were watching for something; I saw the flash 
 of triumph in your face when that something hap- 
 pened, and I was absolutely certain that the same 
 base manoeuvre that had won you your heat at Henley 
 had been repeated in your race for the Queen's Cup. 
 I don't think, sir, you will want any more specific 
 answer to your question." 
 
 " You will repent this," he panted, his face dis- 
 torted by a raging disappointment. " I do not con- 
 tradict your statements; it would be beneath me to
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 145 
 
 do so; but some day you may have cause to regret 
 having made them." 
 
 " I may tell you," she said, as she turned, " that 
 it is not my intention to make public the knowledge 
 that I gained of your conduct yesterday. I have no 
 proof save my own absolute conviction and the knowl- 
 edge that I have of your past." 
 
 He did not look round, but walked at a rapid pace 
 down the garden. 
 
 Half an hour later the Phantom's anchor was got 
 up, and she sailed for Southampton Water. Beyond 
 giving the necessary order to get under way, Carthew 
 did not speak a word until she anchored off the pier, 
 then he went ashore at once and took the next train 
 for town, sending off a telegram before starting. When 
 he got home he asked the servant briefly if Mr. Conk- 
 ling had come. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; he is waiting for you in the dining- 
 room." 
 
 "Well, Carthew, how have things gone off? I see 
 by the papers this morning that you won the Cup, and 
 also that the Osprey's bobstay burst at the right time, 
 and that a great sensation had been caused by the dis- 
 covery that there had been foul play. Why, what is 
 the matter with you? You look as black as a thunder- 
 cloud." 
 
 "And no wonder;"! won the race, but I have lost 
 the girl." 
 
 " The deuce you have. Why, I thought that you 
 felt quite certain of that." 
 
 " So I did ; and it would have come off all right 
 if some infernal fellow had not turned up and told 
 her about an old affair of mine that I thought buried 
 and forgotten three or four years ago, and it took me 
 so aback that, as she said, my face was the best evi- 
 dence of the truth of the story. More than that, she 
 declared that she knew that I was at the bottom of the
 
 146 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Osprey's business. However, she has no evidence about 
 that; but the other story did the business for me, and 
 the game is all up in that quarter. There never was 
 such bad luck; she as much as told me that, if 1 had 
 proposed to her before she had heard the story, she 
 would have said yes." 
 
 " No chance of her changing her mind ? " 
 
 " Not a scrap." 
 
 " It is an awkward affair for you." 
 
 " Horribly awkward. Yes, I have only got fifteen 
 thousand left, and unless things go right at Goodwood 
 I shall be cleaned right out. I calculated that every- 
 thing would be set right if I married this girl; things 
 have gone badly of late." 
 
 " Yes, your luck has been something awful ; it did 
 seem that with the pains that we took, and the way I 
 cleared the ground for you by bribing jockeys and so 
 on, we ought to have made pots of money. Of course, 
 we did pull off some good things, but others we looked 
 on as safe and went in for heavily all turned out 
 wrong." 
 
 " Well, there will be nothing for me but to get 
 across the Channel unless, as I say, things go right at 
 Goodwood." 
 
 " I should not be nervous about it, for unless there 
 is some dark horse I feel sure that your Rosney has 
 got the race in hand." 
 
 "Yes, I feel sure of that, too; we have kept him 
 well back all the season, and never let him even get a 
 place; it ought to be a certainty." 
 
 Then they sat some time smoking in silence. 
 
 " By gad, I have half a mind to carry her off," Car- 
 thew broke out, suddenly; " it is the only way that I 
 can see of getting things straightened out. She ac- 
 knowledged that she liked me before she heard this ac- 
 cursed story, and if I had her to myself I have no doubt 
 that I could make her like me again in spite of it."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 147 
 
 " It is a risky thing to carry a woman off in our 
 days," Conkling said, thoughtfully, " and a deuced 
 difficult one to do. I don't see how you are going to 
 set about it, or what in the world you would do with 
 her, and where you would put her when you had got 
 her. I have done some pretty risky things for you in 
 my time, Carthew, but I should not care about try- 
 ing that. We might both find ourselves in for seven 
 years." 
 
 " Well, you would have as much as that for getting 
 at a horse, and I don't know that you wouldn't for 
 bribing a jockey. Still, I see that it is an uncommonly 
 difficult thing." 
 
 For five minutes nothing more was said; then 
 Conkling suddenly broke the silence. 
 
 " By Jove, I should say that the yacht would be just 
 the thing." 
 
 " That is a good idea, Jim ; a first-rate idea if it 
 could be worked out. It would want a lot of scheming, 
 but I don't see why it should not be done. If I could 
 once get her on board I could cruise about with her 
 for any time until she gave in." 
 
 "You would have to get a fresh crew, Carthew; 
 I doubt whether your fellows would stand it." 
 
 " 'No, I suppose some of them might kick ; at any 
 rate, I would not trust them. No, I should have to 
 find a fresh crew. Foreigners would be best, but it 
 would look uncommonly rum for the Phantom to be 
 cruising about with a foreign crew. Besides, I know 
 men in almost every port I should put into." 
 
 " Couldn't you alter her rig or something of that 
 sort, so that she could not be recognised? It seems 
 to me that if you were to take her across to some for- 
 eign port, pay off the crew there and send them home, 
 then get her altered and ship a foreign crew, you might 
 cruise about as long as you liked, especially abroad, 
 without a soul being any the wiser; and the girl must
 
 148 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 sooner or later give in, and if she would not you could 
 make her." 
 
 " That is a big idea, Jim ; yes, if I once got my 
 lady on board you may be sure that she would have 
 to say yes sooner or later. I don't often forgive, and 
 it would be a triumph to make her pay for the dressing 
 down she gave me this morning. Besides, I am really 
 fond of her, and I could forgive her for that outbreak, 
 which I suppose was natural enough, after we were 
 married, and there is no reason why we should not get 
 on very well together. I tell you what, I will go down 
 the first thing to-morrow to Southampton, and will 
 sail at once for Ostend; there I will pay her off, alter 
 her rig, and ship a fresh crew. I will draw my money 
 from the bank. If things go well, I shall be set up 
 again; if they go badly, there will be some long faces 
 at Tattersall's on settling day, but I shall be away, and 
 the money will be enough if we have to cruise for a 
 couple of years, or double that, before she gives in. I 
 shall try mild measures for a good bit ; be very respect- 
 ful and repentant and all that. If I find after a time 
 that that does not fetch her, I must try what threats 
 will do. Anyhow, she won't leave until she steps on 
 shore to be married, or safer still, till I can get a 
 clergyman on board to marry us there. Would you 
 like to go with us ? " 
 
 " If the thing bursts up, there is nothing I should 
 like better." 
 
 " You will have to help me carry her off, Jim, and 
 the day that she signs her name Bertha Carthew I will 
 give you a couple of thousand pounds." 
 
 " That is a bargain," the man said. " It is a good 
 scheme altogether, if we can hit upon some plan for 
 carrying her away." 
 
 " It is of no use to think of that until we know 
 where she will be. I don't see at present how it is to 
 be done, but I know that there is always a way if one
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 149 
 
 can think of it. You telegraph to me every day Poste 
 Kestante, Ostend, or wherever I am stopping; I will 
 send you the name of the hotel I put up at directly 
 I get there. You had better send someone down at once 
 to Ryde to let you know what she is doing, and when 
 she comes up to town; it is just on the cards that they 
 may not come for a bit, but may go for a cruise in Mal- 
 lett's yacht, as they did last autumn. Anyhow, let 
 me know, and if I telegraph for you to come over, 
 cross by the next boat. Likely enough I may run over 
 myself as soon as I get the business there going all 
 right; but of course I shall stay there if I can. I 
 should get it done in half the time if I were present to 
 push things on. Of course, you will run down and see 
 how the horse is getting on and pick up any informa- 
 tion that you can, and let me know about it." 
 
 " I will put that into good hands, Carthew ; it is 
 better that I should stay here and watch things at Tat- 
 tersall's; then I can keep you informed how things are 
 looking every day, and be ready to start as soon as I 
 get your telegram; but, of course, you won't do any- 
 thing until after the race is run." 
 
 " No, I feel as safe as a man can as to Rosney, but 
 even if he wins I shall carry my idea out. I have had 
 enough of the turf, and burnt my fingers enough over 
 it, and I shall be glad to settle down as a country gen- 
 tleman again. If I lose I shall make a private sale 
 of all my horses before I leave the course; that ought 
 to bring me in another seven or eight thousand pounds 
 for our trip."
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 " THERE is the Phantom getting under way," the 
 skipper said, as his turn up and down the deck brought 
 him close to Frank. 
 
 " So she is ; I saw her owner go ashore less than an 
 hour ago." 
 
 " Yes ; he came on board again five minutes ago. 
 The men began to bustle about directly he got on deck. 
 I do hope they won't put in again as long as we are 
 here. The hands are as savage as bulls, and though 
 they remembered what you told them and there were 
 no rows on shore last night, I shall be glad when we 
 ain't in the same port with the Phantom, for I am sure 
 that if two or three men of each crew were to drop in 
 to the same pub, there would be a fight in no time; 
 and really I could not blame them; it is not in human 
 nature to lose a race like that without feeling very 
 sore over it. T hope she is off. Anyhow, as we are 
 going to Cowes this evening, it will be a day or two 
 before the hands are likely to run against each other, 
 and that will give them time to cool down a bit. There 
 is one thing, I bet the Phantom won't enter against us 
 at Cowes. If we were to give them a handsome beat- 
 ing there, it would show everyone that they would have 
 had no chance of winning the Cup if it had not been 
 for the accident." 
 
 " No, I don't suppose that we shall meet again 
 
 this season, and indeed I don't know that I shall do 
 
 any more racing myself, except that I shall feel it as a 
 
 sort of duty to enter for the Squadron's open race. I 
 
 150
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 151 
 
 think by the course she is laying that the Phantom 
 is off to Southampton. Perhaps she is going to meet 
 somebody there. Anyhow, she is not likely to be back 
 until we have started for Cowes." 
 
 Frank sat for some time with the paper in his hand, 
 but, although he glanced at it occasionally, his mind 
 took in nothing of its contents. Again and again he 
 watched the Phantom. Yes, she was certainly going 
 to Southampton Water. 
 
 From what Bertha had said to him the evening be- 
 fore, he had received a strong hope that she would 
 reject Carthew. Nothing was more probable than that 
 he should have gone ashore that morning, fresh from 
 his victory, to put the question to her, and his speedy 
 return and his order to make sail as soon as he got 
 on deck certainly pointed to the fact that she had re- 
 fused him. 
 
 A load of care seemed to be lifted from Frank's 
 mind. 
 
 From the first, when he had found that Carthew 
 was a visitor at Lady Greendale's, he had been uncom- 
 fortable; he knew the man's persevering nature, and 
 recognised his power of pleasing when he desired to 
 do so. He was satisfied that, when he himself was re- 
 fused, the reason Bertha gave him was, as far as she 
 knew, the true one; but he had since thought that pos- 
 sibly she might then, although unsuspected by herself, 
 have been to some extent under the spell of Carthew's 
 influence. When she had declined two unexceptional 
 offers, he had been almost convinced that Carthew, 
 when the time came, would receive a more favourable 
 answer. But he had watched them closely on the few 
 occasions when he had seen them together in society, 
 and, certain as he had felt at other times, he had come 
 away somewhat puzzled, and said to himself : " She is 
 captivated by his manner, as any girl might be, but I 
 doubt whether she loves him."
 
 152 THE QUEEN'S CDP. 
 
 This impression, however, had always died out in a 
 short time, and he had somehow come to accept the 
 general opinion unquestioningly that she would accept 
 Carthew when he proposed. He had been prepared to 
 face the alternative of either suffering her to marry 
 a scoundrel or of taking a step more repugnant to him, 
 which would probably end by an entire breach of his 
 friendship with the Greendales, that of telling them 
 this story. He was therefore delighted to find that the 
 difficulty had been solved by Bertha herself without 
 his intervention, and felt absolutely grateful for the 
 accident which had cost him the Queen's Cup, but had 
 at the same time opened Bertha's eyes to the man's 
 true character. Soon after two o'clock he went ashore 
 in the gig, and at the half-hour Lady Greendale and 
 Bertha came down. 
 
 " The Osprey looks like a bird shorn of its wings," 
 he said, as he handed them into the boat, " and though 
 the men have made everything as tidy as they could, 
 the two missing spars quite spoil her appearance." 
 
 " That does not matter in the least, Frank," Lady 
 Greendale said ; " we know how she looks when she 
 is at her best. We shall enjoy a quiet sail in her just 
 as much as if she were in apple-pie order." 
 
 " You look fagged, Lady Greendale, though you are 
 pretty well accustomed to gaiety in town." 
 
 Lady Greendale did indeed look worn and worried. 
 For the last two or three days Bertha's manner had 
 puzzled her and caused her some vague anxiety. That 
 morning the girl had come in from the garden and 
 told her that she had just refused Mr. Carthew, and, 
 although she had never been pleased at the idea of 
 Bertha's marrying him, the refusal had come as a 
 shock. Personally she liked him. She believed him 
 to be very well off, but she had expected Bertha to do 
 much better, and she by no means approved of his 
 fondness for the turf. She had been deeply disap-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 153 
 
 pointed at the girl's refusal of Lord Chilson, on whom 
 she had quite set her mind. The second offer had also 
 been a good one. Still, she had reconciled herself to 
 the thought of Bertha's marrying Carthew. His con- 
 nection with the turf had certainly brought him into 
 contact with a great many good men, he was to be 
 met everywhere, and she could hardly wonder that 
 Bertha should have been taken with his good looks 
 and the brilliancy of his conversation. The refusal, 
 then, came to her not only as an absolute surprise, 
 but as a shock. 
 
 She considered that Bertha had certainly given 
 him, as well as everyone else, reason to suppose that 
 she intended to accept him. Many of her intimate 
 friends had spoken to her as if the affair was already 
 a settled matter, and when it became known that 
 Bertha had refused him, she would be set down as a 
 flirt, and it would certainly injure her prospects of 
 making the sort of match that she desired. She had 
 said something of all this to the girl, and had only 
 received the reply : " I know what I am doing, mamma ; 
 I can understand that you thought I was going to 
 marry him. I thought so myself, but something has 
 happened that has opened my eyes, and I have every 
 reason to be thankful that it has. I dare say you think 
 that I have behaved very badly, and I am sorry; but 
 I am sure that I am doing right now." 
 
 " What have you discovered, Bertha ? I don't un- 
 derstand you at all." 
 
 " I don't suppose you do, mamma. I cannot tell you 
 what it is; I told him that I would not tell anybody." 
 
 " But you don't seem to mind, Bertha ; that is what 
 puzzles me. A girl who has made up her mind to ac- 
 cept a man, and who finds out something that seems 
 to her so bad that she rejects him, would naturally 
 be distressed and upset. You seem to treat it as if it 
 were a matter of no importance."
 
 154 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " I don't quite understand it myself, mamma. I 
 suppose that my eyes have been opened altogether. 
 At any rate, I feel that I have had a very narrow 
 escape. I was certainly very much worried when I 
 first learned about this, two days ago, and I was even 
 distressed; but I think that I have got over the worry, 
 and I am sure that I have quite got over the distress." 
 
 " Then you cannot have cared for him," Lady 
 Greendale said, emphatically. 
 
 " That is just the conclusion that I have arrived 
 at myself, mamma," Bertha said, calmly. " I cer- 
 tainly thought that I did, and now I feel sure that I 
 was mistaken altogether." 
 
 Lady Greendale could say nothing further. " I 
 had better send off a note to Frank, my dear," she said, 
 plaintively. " Of course you are not thinking of going 
 out sailing after this." 
 
 " Indeed, I am, mamma. Why shouldn't we ? Of 
 course I am not going to say anything here of what 
 has happened. If he chooses to talk about it he can, 
 but I don't suppose that he will. It is just the end 
 of the season, and we need not go back to town at all, 
 and next spring everyone will have forgotten all about 
 it. You know what people will say : ' I thought that 
 Greendale girl was going to marry Carthew. I sup- 
 pose nothing has come of it. Did she refuse him I 
 wonder, or- did he change his mind ? ' And there will 
 be an end of it. The end of the season wipes a sponge 
 over everything. People start afresh, and, as some- 
 body says Tennyson, isn't it? or Longfellow? they 
 ' let the dead past bury its dead.' " 
 
 Lady Greendale lifted her hands in mild despair, 
 put on her things, and went down to the boat with 
 Bertha. 
 
 " I have brought a book, mamma," the latter said 
 as they went down. " I shall tell Frank about this, 
 though I shall tell no one else. I always knew that he
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 155 
 
 did not like Mr. Carthew. So you can amuse yourself 
 reading while we are talking." 
 
 " You are a curious girl, Bertha," her mother said, 
 resignedly. " I used to think that I understood you ; 
 now I feel that I don't understand you at all." 
 
 " I don't know that I understand myself, mamma, 
 but I know enough of myself to see that I am not so 
 wise as I thought I was, and somebody says that ' When 
 you first discover you are a fool it is the first step 
 towards being wise,' or something of the sort. There 
 is Major Mallett standing at the landing, and there is 
 the gig. I think that she is the prettiest boat here." 
 
 The mainsail was hoisted by the time they reached 
 the side of the yacht, and the anchor hove short, so 
 that in two or three minutes they were under way. 
 
 " She looks very nice," Lady Greendale said ; " I 
 thought that she would look much worse." 
 
 " You should have seen her yesterday, mamma, 
 when we passed her, with the jagged stumps of the 
 topmast and bowsprit and all her ropes in disorder, 
 the sails hanging down in the water and the wreckage 
 alongside. I could have cried when I saw her. At 
 any rate she looks very neat and trim now. Where is 
 the Phantom, Major Mallett?" 
 
 " She got under way at eleven o'clock and has gone 
 up to Southampton," he replied, quietly, but with a 
 half-interrogatory glance towards her. She gave a 
 little nod and took a chair a short distance from that 
 in which Lady Greendale had seated herself. 
 
 "Has .he gone for good?" Frank asked, as he sat 
 down beside her. 
 
 " Of course he has," she said. " You don't suppose 
 after what I told you last night that I was going to 
 accept him." 
 
 " I hoped not," he said, gravely. " You cannot tell 
 what a relief it has been to me. Of course, dear, you 
 will understand that so long as you were to marry a
 
 156 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 man who would be likely to make you happy I was 
 content, but I could not bear to think of your mar- 
 rying a man I knew to be altogether unworthy of 
 you." 
 
 " You know very well," she said, " that you never 
 intended to let me marry him. As I said to you last 
 night, I feel very much aggrieved, Major Mallett. You 
 had said you would be my friend, and yet you let this 
 go on when you could have stopped it at once. You 
 let me get talked about with that man, and you would 
 have gone on letting me get still more talked about 
 before you interfered. That was not kind or friendly 
 of you." 
 
 " But, Bertha," he remonstrated, " the fact that we 
 had not been friends, and that he had beaten me in a 
 variety of matters, was no reason in the world why 
 I should interfere, still less why you should not marry 
 him. When I was stupid enough to tell you that story 
 years ago, I stated that I had no grounds for saying 
 that it was he who played that trick upon my boat, 
 and it would have been most unfair on my part to have 
 brought that story up again." 
 
 " Quite so, but there was the other story." 
 
 " What other story ? " Frank asked in great sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " The story that George Lechmere came and told 
 me two days ago," she said, gravely. 
 
 " George Lechmere ! You don't mean to say " 
 
 " I do mean to say so. He behaved like a real 
 friend and came to tell me the story of Martha Ben- 
 nett. He told me," she went on, as he was about to 
 speak, "that you had made up your mind to tell 
 mamma about it directly you heard that I was en- 
 gaged to Mr. Carthew. That would have been some- 
 thing, but would hardly have been fair to me. If I 
 had once been engaged to him, it would have been 
 very hard to break it off, and naturally it would have
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 157 
 
 been much greater pain to me then than it has been 
 now." 
 
 " I felt that ; but you see, Bertha, until you did 
 accept him, I had no right to assume that you would 
 do so. At least so I understood it, and I did not feel 
 that in my position I was called upon to interfere until 
 I learned that you were really in danger of what I 
 considered wrecking your life's happiness." 
 
 " I understand that," she said, gently, " and I know 
 that you acted for the best. But there are other things 
 you have not told me, Major Mallett other things 
 that George Lechmere has told me. Did you think that 
 it would have been of no interest to me to know that 
 you had forgiven the man who tried to take your life, 
 and, more than that, had restored his self-respect, 
 taken him as your servant, treated him as a friend ? " 
 The tears stood in her eyes now. " Don't you think, 
 Frank, that was a thing that I might have been inter- 
 ested to know a thing that would raise you immeas- 
 urably in the eyes of a woman that would show her 
 vastly more of your real character than she could know 
 by meeting you from day to day as a friend ? " 
 
 " It was his secret and not mine, Bertha ; it was 
 known to but him and me. Never was a man more 
 repentant or more bitterly regretful for a fault that 
 was in my eyes scarcely a fault at all except that 
 he had too rashly assumed me to be the author of the 
 ruin of the girl he loved. The poor fellow had been 
 half-maddened, and was scarce responsible for his 
 actions. He had already suffered terribly, and the least 
 I could do was to endeavour to restore his self-respect 
 by showing him that I had entirely forgiven him. Any 
 kindness that I have shown him he has repaid ten-fold, 
 not only by saving my life, but in becoming my most 
 sincere and attached friend. I promised him that I 
 would tell no one, and I have never done so, and no 
 one to this day knows it, save his father and mother. 
 11
 
 158 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 How then could I tell even you? You must see your- 
 self that it was impossible that I could tell you. Be- 
 sides, the story was of no interest save to him and 
 me; and above all, as I said, it was his secret and not 
 mine." 
 
 " I see that now," she said ; " still, I am so sorry, 
 so very sorry, that I did not know it before. You see, 
 Frank," she went on, after a pause, " we women have 
 to make or unmake our lives very much in the dark. 
 No one helps us, and if we have not a brother to do 
 so, we are groping in the dark. Look at me. Here 
 was I, believing that Mr. Carthew, whom I met every- 
 where in society, was, except that he kept race-horses 
 and bet heavily, as good as other men. He was very 
 pleasant, very good-looking, generally liked, and in- 
 finitely more amusing than most men one meets; how 
 was I to tell what he really was? On the other hand, 
 there were you, my dear friend, who, I knew, had shown 
 yourself a very brave soldier, and whom also everyone 
 liked and spoke well of, but of whose real character I 
 did not know much, except on the side that was always 
 presented to me; and now I find you capable of what 
 I consider a grand act of generosity." 
 
 " You overrate the matter altogether, Bertha ; the 
 man shot me by mistake; the fellow he took me for 
 richly deserved shooting. When he found it was a mis- 
 take, the poor fellow was bitterly sorry for it. Surely, 
 there was nothing more to be said about it." 
 
 The girl sat silent for some time. 
 
 " Well, it is all cleared up now," she said at last. 
 " There is no reason why we should not be friends as 
 of old." 
 
 " None whatever," he said ; " there has been 
 only " and he stopped short. 
 
 "Only what, Frank?" 
 
 "Nothing," he said; "we will be just as we were, 
 Bertha; I will try and be the good elder brother, and
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 scold you and look after you, and warn you, if it should 
 be necessary, until you get under other guidance." 
 
 " It will be some time," she said, quietly, " before 
 that happens. I have had a sharp lesson." 
 
 "And did you really care for him much, Bertha?" 
 
 " I don't think that I really cared for him at all," 
 she said; "that is not the lesson that I was think- 
 ing of." 
 
 He saw the colour mount into her cheeks as she 
 twisted the handkerchief she held into a knot. Then, 
 turning to him, she said : 
 
 " Frank, are you never going to give me a chance 
 again ? " 
 
 He could not misunderstand her. 
 
 " Do you mean can you mean, Bertha ? " he said, 
 in a low tone ; " do you mean that if I ask you the 
 same question again you will give me a different an- 
 swer ? " 
 
 " I did not know then," she said ; " I had never 
 thought of it; you took me altogether by surprise, and 
 what I said I thought was true. Afterwards I knew 
 that I had been mistaken. I hoped that you would 
 ask me again, but you did not, and I soon felt that 
 you never would. You tried hard to be as you were 
 before, but you were not the same, and I was not the 
 same. Then I did not seem to care. There were three 
 men who wanted me. I did not care much which it 
 was, but I would not have anyone say that I had mar- 
 ried for position I hated the idea of that and so I 
 would have taken the third. He was bright and pleas- 
 ant, and all that sort of thing, and I thought that I 
 could be happy with him, until George Lechmere 
 opened my eyes. Then, of course, that was over; but 
 his story showed me still more what a fool I had been, 
 what a heart I had thrown away, and I said, ' I will at 
 least make an effort to undo the past, I will not let my 
 chance of happiness go away from me merely from.
 
 160 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 false pride. If he loves me still he will forgive me; 
 if not, at least I shall not, all through my life, feel that 
 I might have made it different could I have brought 
 myself to speak a word.' " 
 
 " I love you as much as ever," Frank said, taking 
 her hand. " I love you more for speaking as you have ; 
 I can hardly believe my happiness. Can it be that you 
 really love me, Bertha ? " 
 
 " I think I have proved it, Frank. I do love you. 
 I have known it for some time, but it seemed all too 
 late. It was a grief rather than a pleasure. Every 
 time you came it was a pain to me, for I felt that I had 
 lost you; and it was only when I learned, two days 
 ago, how you could forgive, and that at the same time 
 I could free myself from the chain I had allowed to 
 1>e wound round me, and which I don't think I could 
 otherwise have broken, that I made up my mind that 
 it should not be my fault if things were not put right 
 lietween us. Now let us tell mother." 
 
 Her hand was still in his, and they went across the 
 deck together. 
 
 " Mamma," she said, " please put down that book. 
 I have a piece of news for you. Frank and I are going 
 to be married." 
 
 Lady Greendale sat for a moment speechless in 
 astonishment. She knew that Bertha had wished to 
 tell him that she had refused Carthew's offer, but that 
 this would come of it she had never dreamt. A year 
 "before she had approved of Bertha's rejection of Frank, 
 but since then much had happened. Bertha had shown 
 that she would not marry for position only, and that 
 she would be likely to take her own way entirely in the 
 matter; and, although this was a downfall to the hopes 
 that she had once entertained, Lady Greendale was 
 herself very fond of Frank, and it was at any rate 
 better than having Bertha marry a man of whose real 
 means she was ignorant, and who, as everyone knew,
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 161 
 
 bet heavily on the turf. These ideas flashed rapidly 
 through her mind, and holding out one hand to each, 
 she said : 
 
 " There is no one to whom I could more confidently 
 entrust her happiness, Frank. God bless you both.' r 
 Then she betook herself to her pocket-handkerchief, 
 for her tears came easily, and on this occasion she her- 
 self could hardly have said whether they were the re- 
 sult of pleasure in Bertha's happiness or regret at the 
 downfall of the air-castles she had once built. 
 
 " I think, Bertha, our best plan will be to go below 
 now," Frank suggested, quietly. 
 
 " What for ? " Bertha asked, shyly. The thing had 
 been done. She felt radiantly happy, but more shocked 
 at her own boldness than she had been when she per- 
 petrated it. 
 
 " Well, my dear, I thought that perhaps you would 
 rather not kiss me in sight of the whole crew, and cer- 
 tainly I shan't be able to restrain myself much longer." 
 
 " Then, in that case," she said, demurely, " perhaps 
 we had better go below." 
 
 It was half an hour before they came on deck again. 
 
 " Well, my dears," Lady Greendale said, " the more 
 I think of it the better I am pleased. As far as I am 
 concerned, nothing could be nicer. I shall have Bertha 
 within a short drive of me, and it won't be like losing 
 her. Do you know, Bertha, your father said to me 
 once, ' I would give anything if some day Frank Mal- 
 lett and our Bertha were to take a fancy to each other. 
 There is nothing I should like more than to have her 
 settled near us, and there is no one I know more likely 
 to make her happy than he would be.' I am sure, dear, 
 that you will be glad to know that your engagement 
 would have had his approval, as it has mine." 
 
 Bertha bent down and kissed her mother, with tears 
 standing in her eyes. 
 
 " It will be a great pleasure to us both to have
 
 162 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 you so near us," Frank said, earnestly. " You know 
 that, having lost my own mother so long ago, I have 
 always looked upon you as more of a mother than any- 
 one else, and have always felt almost as much at home 
 in your house as in my own. Now, let us sit down 
 and talk it over quietly. In the first place, I propose 
 that on Monday, when you leave Lord Ilaverley's, you 
 shall both come here for a time. The Solent will be 
 very pleasant for the next fortnight, and we can then 
 take a fortnight's cruise west, and, if you like, land 
 at Plymouth, and go straight home." 
 
 " I should be very glad," Lady Greendale said at 
 once, rejoiced at the thought that she would thus avoid 
 the necessity of answering any questions about Bertha, 
 " and there will be no occasion at all to speak of this 
 at my cousin's. There might be all sorts of questions 
 asked, and expressions of surprise, and so on. It will 
 be quite time enough to write to our friends after we 
 have been comfortably settled at home for a time. We 
 can talk over all that afterwards." 
 
 " Yes, and I should think, Lady Greendale, that it 
 would save the trouble of two letters if, while men- 
 tioning that Bertha is engaged to your neighbour, 
 Major Mallett, you could add that the marriage will 
 come off in the course of a few weeks. Don't you 
 think so, Bertha?" 
 
 " Certainly not," she said, saucily ; " it will be quite 
 time to talk about that a long time hence." 
 
 " Well, I will put off talking about it for a short 
 time, but, you see, I have had a year's waiting al- 
 ready." 
 
 Very pleasant was the three hours' cruise; no one 
 gave a thought of the missing topmast and bowsprit; 
 there was a nice sailing breeze, and, clipped as her 
 wings were, the Osprey was still faster than the ma- 
 jority of the yachts. As soon as the two ladies had 
 been put ashore, Frank sailed for Cowes.
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 163 
 
 It was too late when they got there for anything 
 to be done that evening, but Frank went ashore with 
 the captain and found that the spars were all ready 
 to receive the iron work and sheaves from the old ones, 
 and as these had been towed up to the yard to be in 
 readiness, Messrs. White promised that they would 
 arrange for a few hands to come to work early, and 
 that the spars should be brought off by half -past eight 
 on Monday morning. 
 
 As soon as he had returned in the gig, after put- 
 ting the ladies ashore at Eyde, Frank had called George 
 Lechmere to him. 
 
 " It is all right, George, thanks to your interview 
 with Miss Greendale; it was a bold step to take, but 
 it was the best possible thing and succeeded splen- 
 didly, and everything is to be as I wish it." 
 
 " I am glad, indeed, to hear it, Major, and I hoped 
 that you would have something of the sort to tell me. 
 There was a look about you both that I took to mean 
 that things were going on well." 
 
 " Yes, George ; at first when she told me that you 
 had told her about that affair at Delhi I felt that there 
 was really no occasion for you to have said anything 
 about it ; but it did me a great deal of good. She made 
 much more of it than there was any occasion for; but, 
 you know, when women are inclined to take a pleasant 
 view of a thing, they will magnify molehills into moun- 
 tains." 
 
 " I thought that it would do good, Major ; I don't 
 mean that it would do you any good, but that it 
 would do good generally. I had to tell the other 
 story, and that came naturally with it; and, at 
 any rate, she could not but see that there was a 
 deal of difference between the nature of the man 
 who had been so good to me and that of that scoun- 
 drel." 
 
 "That is just the effect it did have. Well, don't
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 say anything about it forward, at present; the men 
 shall be told later on." 
 
 By one o'clock on Monday the Osprey was back at 
 Hyde, and at two o'clock the dingey went ashore with 
 the mate and two of the hands, who waited a quarter 
 of an hour till a vehicle brought down the ladies' lug- 
 gage. Soon afterwards Frank went ashore in the gig, 
 and brought Lady Greendale and Bertha off. As they 
 went down to their cabin, Bertha, looking into the 
 saloon, saw George Lechmere preparing the tea-tray to 
 bring it up on deck. She at once went to him. 
 
 " I did not thank you before," she said, holding out 
 her hand, " but I thank you now, and shall thank you 
 all my life. You did me the greatest service." 
 
 " I am glad, indeed, Miss Greendale, that it was so, 
 for I know that the Major would never have been a 
 happy man if this had not come about." 
 
 For the next fortnight the Osprey was cruising 
 along the coast, getting as far as Torquay, and re- 
 turning to Cowes. Frank did not enter her for any 
 of the races. Lady Greendale, although a fair sailor, 
 grew nervous when the yacht heeled over far, and even 
 Bertha did not care for racing, the memory of the 
 last race being too fresh in her mind for her to wish 
 to take part in another for the present.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 " THAT is an uncommonly pretty trading schooner,. 
 Bertha," Frank Mallett said, as he rose from his chair 
 to get a better look at a craft that was passing along 
 to the eastward. " I' suppose she must be in the fruit 
 trade, and must just have arrived from the Levant. 
 I should not be surprised if she had been a yacht at 
 one time; she is not carrying much sail, but she is 
 going along fast. I think they would have done better 
 if they had rigged her as a fore-and-aft schooner in- 
 stead of putting those heavy yards on the foremast. 
 That broad band of white round her spoils her appear- 
 ance; her jib-boom is unusually long, and she must 
 carry a tremendous spread of canvas in light winds. I 
 should think that she must be full up to the hatches, 
 for she is very low in the water for a trader." 
 
 The Osprey was lying in the outside tier of yachts 
 off Cowes; the party that had been on board her for 
 the regatta had broken up a week .before, and only 
 Lady Greendale and Bertha remained on board. The 
 former had not been well for some days, and had had 
 her maid down from town as soon as the cabins were 
 empty. It had been proposed, indeed, that she and 
 Bertha should return to town, but, being unwilling 
 to cut short the girl's pleasure, she said that she should 
 do better on board than in London; and, moreover, 
 she did not feel equal to travelling. She was attended 
 by a doctor in Cowes, and the Osprey only took short 
 sails each day, generally down to the Needles and back, 
 or out to the Nab. 
 
 165
 
 166 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Yes, she is a nice-looking boat," Bertha agreed, 
 " and if her sails were white and her ropes neat and 
 trim, she would look like a yacht, except for those 
 big yards." 
 
 " Her skipper must be a lubber to have the ropes 
 hanging about like that; of course, he may have had 
 bad weather in crossing the bay, but if he had any 
 pride in the craft, he might at least have got her into 
 a good deal better trim while coming in from the 
 Needles. Still, all that could be remedied in an hour's 
 work, and certainly she is as pretty a trader as ever 
 I saw. How did your mother seem this afternoon, 
 Bertha?" 
 
 " About the same, I think ; I don't feel at all anx- 
 ious about her, because I have often seen her like this 
 before. I think really, Frank, that she is quite well 
 enough to go up to town; but she knows that I am 
 enjoying myself so much that she does not like to 
 take me away. I have no doubt that she will find her- 
 .self better by Saturday, when, you know, we arranged 
 some time back that we would go up. You won't be 
 long before you come, will you ? " 
 
 " Certainly not. Directly you have landed I shall 
 take the Osprey to Gosport, and lay her up there. I 
 need not stop to see that done; I can trust Hawkins 
 to see her stripped and everything taken on shore; 
 and, of course, the people at the yard are responsible 
 for hauling her up. I shall probably be in town the 
 same evening; but, if you like, and think that your 
 mother is only stopping for you, we will go across to 
 Southampton at once." 
 
 " Oh, no, I am sure that she would not like that ; 
 and I don't want to lose my last three days here. Of 
 course, when we get home at the end of next week, 
 and you are settled down there, too, you will be a great 
 deal over at Greendale, but it won't be as it is here." 
 
 " Not by a long way ; however, we shall be able
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 167 
 
 to look forward to the spring, Bertha, when I shall 
 have you all to myself on board, and we shall go on 
 a long cruise together; though I do think that it is 
 ridiculous that I should have to wait until then." 
 
 " Not at all ridiculous, sir. You say that you are 
 perfectly happy and everyone says that an engage- 
 ment is the happiest time in one's life and besides, 
 it is partly your own fault; you have made me so fond 
 of the Osprey that I have quite made up my mind that 
 nothing could possibly be so nice as to spend our honey- 
 moon on board her, and to go where we like, and to do 
 as we like, without being bothered by meeting people 
 one does not care for. And, besides, if you should 
 get tired of my company, we might ask Jack Harley 
 and Amy to come to us for a month or so." 
 
 " I don't think that it will be necessary for us to 
 do that," he laughed. " Starting as we shall in the 
 middle of March, we shan't find it too hot in the Medi- 
 terranean before we turn our head homewards; and 
 I think we shall find plenty to amuse us between Gib- 
 raltar and Jaffa." 
 
 " No, three months won't be too much, Frank. To- 
 morrow is the dinner at the club-house, isn't it ? " 
 
 "Yes; I should be sorry to miss that, for having 
 only been just elected a member of the Squadron, I 
 should like to put in an appearance at the first set 
 dinner." 
 
 " Of course, Frank ; I certainly should not like you 
 to miss it." 
 
 The next evening Frank went ashore to dine at 
 the club. An hour and a half later a yacht's boat 
 came off. 
 
 " I have a note for Miss Greendale," the man in the 
 stern said, as she came alongside ; " I am to give it to 
 her myself." 
 
 Bertha was summoned, and, much surprised, came 
 on deck.
 
 168 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 The man handed up the note to her; she took it 
 into the companion, where a light was burning; her 
 name and that of the yacht were in straggling hand- 
 writing that she scarcely recognised as Frank's. 
 
 She tore it open. 
 
 " MY DARLING : I have had a nasty accident, having 
 been knocked down just as I landed. I am at present 
 at Dr. Maddison's; I wish you would come ashore at 
 once. It is nothing very serious, but if you did not 
 see me you might think that it was. Don't agitate 
 your mother, but bring Anna with you; the boat that 
 brings this note will take you ashore." 
 
 Bertha gave a little gasp, and then summoning up 
 her courage, ran down into the cabin. 
 
 " Mamma, dear, you must spare me and Anna for 
 half an hour. I have just had a note from Frank; he 
 has been knocked down and hurt. He says that it is 
 nothing very serious, and he only writes to me to come 
 ashore so that I can assure myself. I won't stop more 
 than a quarter of an hour. If I find that he is worse 
 than I expect, I will send Anna off to you with a 
 message." 
 
 Scarcely listening to what her mother said in reply, 
 she ran into her cabin, told Anna to put on her hat 
 and shawl to go ashore with her, and in a minute de- 
 scended to the boat with her maid. It was a four- 
 oared gig, and the helmsman had taken his place in 
 the stern behind them. Bertha sat cold and still with- 
 out speaking. She was sure that Frank must be more 
 seriously hurt than he had said, or he would have had 
 himself taken off to the yacht instead of to the sur- 
 geon's. The shaky and almost illegible handwriting 
 showed the difficulty he must have had in holding the 
 pencil. 
 
 The boat made its way through the fleet till it
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 169 
 
 reached the shallow water which they had to cross 
 on their way to the shore. Here, with the exception 
 of a few small craft, the water was clear of yachts. 
 
 Suddenly the long line of lights along the shore 
 disappeared, and something thick, heavy and soft fell 
 over Bertha's head. An arm was thrown round her 
 and Anna pressed tightly against Her. In vain she 
 struggled; there was a faint strange smell, and she lost 
 consciousness. 
 
 An hour passed without her return to the yacht, 
 and Lady Greendale began to fear that she had found 
 Frank too ill to leave, and had forgotten to send Anna 
 back with the message. At last she touched the bell. 
 
 " Will you tell the captain that I want to speak 
 to him?" 
 
 " Captain," she said, " I am much alarmed about 
 Major Mallett; that boat that came off here an hour 
 ago brought a note for my daughter, saying that he 
 had been hurt, and she went ashore with her maid to 
 see him. She said that she would be back in a short 
 time, and that if she found that he was badly hurt she 
 would send her maid back with a message to me. She 
 has been gone for more than an hour, and I wish you 
 would take a boat and go ashore, find out how the Major 
 is, and bring me back word at once. He is at Dr. Mad- 
 dison's; you know the house." 
 
 The skipper hurried away with a serious face. A 
 little more than a minute after he had left the cabin 
 Lady Greendale heard the rattle of the blocks of the 
 falls. The boat was little more than half an hour 
 away. Lady Greendale, in her anxiety, had told the 
 steward to let her know when it was coming along- 
 side, and went up on deck to get the news as quickly 
 as possible. 
 
 " It is a rum affair altogether, my lady," Hawkins 
 said, as he stepped on deck. " I went to the doctor's, 
 and he has seen nothing whatever of the Major, and
 
 170 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Miss Greendale and her maid have not been to his 
 house at all." 
 
 Lady Greendale stood for a moment speechless with 
 surprise and consternation. 
 
 "This is most extraordinary," she said at last; "what 
 can it mean? You are sure that there is no mistake, 
 captain? It was to Dr. Maddison's house she went." 
 
 " Yes, my lady, there ain't no mistake about that ; 
 I have been there to fetch medicine for you two or 
 three times. Besides, I saw the doctor myself." 
 
 "Major Mallett must have been taken to some 
 other doctor's," she said, " and must have made a mis- 
 take and put in the name of Dr. Maddison; his house 
 is some little distance from the club; there may be an- 
 other doctor's nearer. What is to be done ? " 
 
 " I am sure I do not know, my lady," the captain 
 said, in perplexity. 
 
 " Where can my daughter and her maid be ? " Lady 
 Greendale went on; "they went ashore to go to Dr. 
 Maddison's." 
 
 " Perhaps, my lady, they might have heard as they 
 went ashore that the Major was somewhere else, or 
 some messenger might have been waiting at the land- 
 ing-stage to take them there direct." 
 
 " That must be it, I suppose ; but it is all very 
 strange. I think the best thing, captain, will be for 
 you to go to the club; they are sure to know there 
 about the accident, and where he is. You see, the 
 landing-stage is close to the club, and he might have 
 been just going in when he was knocked down by a 
 carriage, I suppose." 
 
 "Like enough he is at the club still, my lady; at 
 any rate, I will go there in the first place and find out. 
 There is sure to be a crowd about the gates listening 
 to the music they have got a band over from New- 
 port so that if they do not know anything at the club, 
 there are sure to be some people outside who saw the
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 accident, and will know where the Major was taken. 
 Anyhow, I won't come back without news." 
 
 Even to Lady Greeiidale, anxious and alarmed as 
 she was, it did not seem long before the steward came 
 down with the news that the boat was just alongside. 
 This time she was too agitated to go up; she heard 
 someone come running down the companion, and a 
 moment later, to her astonishment, Frank Mallett him- 
 self came in. He looked pale and excited. 
 
 " What is all this, Lady Greendale ? " he exclaimed ; 
 " the skipper tells me that a letter came here saying 
 that I had been hurt and taken to Dr. Maddison's, and 
 that Bertha and her maid went off at once, and have 
 not returned, though it is more than two hours since 
 they went. I have not been hurt; I wrote no letter 
 to Bertha, but was at dinner at the club when the 
 skipper came for me. What is it all about ? " 
 
 " I don't know, Frank ; I cannot even think," Lady 
 Greendale said in an agitated voice. " What can it all 
 mean and where can Bertha be ? " and she burst into 
 tears. 
 
 " I don't know ; I can't think," Frank said, slowly. 
 
 He stood silent for a minute or two, and then went 
 on : "I cannot suggest anything ; I will go ashore at 
 once. The waterman at our landing-stage must have 
 noticed if two ladies got out there; he could hardly 
 have helped doing so, for it would be curious, their 
 coming ashore alone after dark. Then I will go to. 
 the other landing-places and ask there; there are al- 
 ways boys hanging about to earn a few pence by tak- 
 ing care of boats. I will be back as soon as I can." 
 
 The boat was still alongside, and the men stretched 
 to their oars. In a very few minutes they were at the 
 club landing-stage. The waterman here declared that 
 no ladies whatever unaccompanied by gentlemen had 
 landed after dark. 
 
 " I must have seen them, sir," he said, " for you
 
 1Y2 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 see I go down to help out every party that arrives 
 here. They must have gone to one of the other landing- 
 places." 
 
 But at neither of these could he obtain any in- 
 formation. There were several boys at each of them 
 who had been there for hours, and they were unani- 
 mous in declaring that no ladies had landed there 
 after dark at all. He then walked up and down between 
 the watch-house and the club. He had when he landed 
 intended to go to the police office as soon as he had 
 inquired at the landing-stages the natural impulse 
 of an Englishman who has suffered loss or wrong 
 but the more he thought it over the more inexpedient 
 did such a course seem to him. It was highly improb- 
 able indeed, it seemed to him impossible that they 
 could do more than he had in the matter. The passage 
 of two ladies through the crowded streets would scarce- 
 ly have attracted the attention of anyone, and any idea 
 of violence being used was out of the question. If 
 they had landed, which he now regarded as very im- 
 probable, they must have at least gone willingly to 
 the place where they believed they should find him, 
 and unless every house in Cowes was searched from top 
 to bottom there was no chance of finding them, care- 
 fully hidden away as they would be. He could not see, 
 therefore, that the police could at present be of any 
 utility whatever. It might be necessary finally to 
 obtain the aid of the police, but in that case it was 
 Scotland Yard and not Cowes that the matter must 
 be laid before; and even this should be only a last 
 resort, for above all things it was necessary for Bertha's 
 sake that the matter should be kept a profound secret, 
 and, once in the hands of the police, it would be in 
 all the papers the next day. If the aid of detectives 
 was to be called in, it would be far better to put it into 
 the hands of a private detective. Having made up his 
 mind upon this point, he returned to the yacht.
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 173 
 
 " I am sorry to say that I have no news," he said 
 to Lady Greendale, who was lying on the couch worn 
 out with weeping. " I have ascertained almost beyond 
 doubt that they did not land at the club-stage or either 
 of the other two landing-places." 
 
 " What can it be ? " she sobbed. " What can have 
 become of them 2 " 
 
 " I am afraid there is little doubt that they have 
 been carried off," he replied. " I can see no other pos- 
 sible solution of it." 
 
 " But who can have done such a thing ? " 
 
 " Ah ! that is another matter. I have been think- 
 ing it over and over, and there is only one man that 
 I know capable of such a dastardly action. At present 
 I won't mention his name, even to you; but I will soon 
 be on his track. Do not give way, Lady Greendale; 
 even he is not capable of injuring her, and no doubt 
 she will be restored to you safe and sound. But we 
 shall need patience. Ah ! there is a boat coming along- 
 side." 
 
 He ran up on deck. It proved, however, to be only 
 a shore boat, bringing off George Lechmere, who, hav- 
 ing met a comrade in the town, had asked leave to 
 spend the evening with him. He was, of course, ig- 
 norant of all that had happened since he had left, and 
 Frank told him. 
 
 " I have no doubt whatever that she has been car- 
 ried off," he said, " and there is only one man who 
 could have done it." 
 
 " That villain, Carthew," George Lechmere ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 " Yes, he is the man I suspect, George. I heard 
 this evening that he had been hit tremendously hard 
 on the turf at Goodwood. He would think that if he 
 could force Miss Greendale to marry him it would re- 
 trieve his fortune, and would, moreover, satisfy his vin- 
 dictive spirit for the manner in which she had rejected 
 12
 
 174 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 him, and in addition give him another triumph over 
 me." 
 
 " That is it, sir ; I have no doubt that that is it. 
 But his yacht is not here at least I have not seen 
 her." 
 
 " No, I am sure that she is not here ; but I believe, 
 for all that, that Miss Greendale must have been taken 
 on board a yacht. They never would have dared to 
 land her in Cowes. Of course, I made inquiries as a 
 matter of form at the landing-places, but as she knew 
 the way to Dr. Maddison's, and as the streets were 
 full of people at the time she landed, they could never 
 have attempted to use violence, especially as she had 
 her maid with her. On the other hand, it would have 
 been comparatively easy to manage it in the case of a 
 yacht. They had but to row alongside, to seize and 
 gag them before they had time to utter a cry, and then 
 to carry them below. The Phantom is not here at any 
 rate, was not here this afternoon, but there is no reason 
 why Carthew should not have chartered a yacht for the 
 purpose. Ask the skipper to come aft." 
 
 " Captain," he said, when Hawkins came aft, " what 
 men went ashore this afternoon ? " 
 
 " Harris and Williams and Marvel, sir. They went 
 ashore in the dingey, and Harris went to the doctor's 
 for that medicine." 
 
 " Ask them to come here." 
 
 " Did anyone speak 'to you, Harris," he went on, 
 as the three men came aft, "while you were ashore 
 to-day? I mean anyone that you did not know." 
 
 " No, sir," the man said, promptly. " Leastwise, 
 the only chap that spoke to me was a gent as was 
 standing on the steps by the watch-house as I went 
 down to the boat, and he only says to me, ' I noticed 
 you go in to Dr. Maddison's, my man. There is noth- 
 ing the matter with my friend, Major Mallett, I hope.' 
 'No, sir,' says I, 'he is all right. I was just getting
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 175- 
 
 a bottle of medicine for an old lady on board.' That 
 was all that passed between us." 
 
 " Thank you, Harris. That is just what I wanted 
 to know." After the men had gone forward again, he 
 said to the captain : 
 
 " I have a strong conviction, Hawkins, indeed I am 
 almost certain, that Miss Greendal^ has been carried 
 off to one of the yachts here, but whether it is a large 
 one or a small one I have not the slightest idea. The 
 question is, what is to be done? It is past eleven now, 
 and it is impossible to go round the fleet and make 
 enquiries. Besides, the craft may have made off al- 
 ready. They would have been sure to have placed her 
 in the outside tier, so as to get up anchor as soon as 
 they had Miss Greendale on board." 
 
 " We might get out the boats, sir, and lie off and 
 see if any yachts set sail," the skipper suggested. 
 
 " That would be of no use, Hawkins. You could 
 not stop them. Even if you hailed to know what yacht 
 it was, they might give you a false name. One thing 
 I have been thinking of that can be done. I wish, in 
 the first place, that you would ask all the men if any- 
 one has noticed among the yacht sailors in the streets 
 one with the name of the Phantom on his jersey. Some 
 of them may have been paid off, for she has not been 
 raced since Hyde. In any case, I want two of the men 
 to go ashore, the first thing in the morning, and hang 
 about all day, if necessary, in hopes of finding one of 
 the Phantom's crew. If they do find one, bring him 
 off at once, and tell him that he will be well paid for 
 his trouble. By the way, you may as well ask Harris 
 what the gentleman was like who spoke to him at the 
 landing-place." 
 
 He walked slowly backwards and forwards with 
 George Lechmere, without exchanging a word, until in 
 five minutes Hawkins returned. 
 
 " It was a clean-shaven man who spoke to Harris,,
 
 176 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 .sir; he judged him to be about forty. He wore a 
 sort of yachting dress, and he was rather short and 
 thin. About the other matter Rawlins says that he 
 noticed when he was ashore yesterday two of the Phan- 
 tom's men strolling about. Being a Cowes man him- 
 self, he knew them both, but as they were not alone he 
 just passed the time of day and went on without stop- 
 ping." 
 
 " Does he know where they live ? I don't think it 
 at all likely they would be on leave now, or that he 
 would find either of them at home to-morrow morn- 
 ing; but it is possible that he might do so. At any 
 rate it is worth trying. It is curious that two of them 
 .should be here when we have seen nothing of the Phan- 
 tom since the race for the cup, unless, of course, her 
 owner has laid her up, which is hardly likely. If she 
 .had been anywhere about here she would have entered 
 for the race yesterday." 
 
 " I will send Rawlins and one of the other Cowes 
 men ashore at six o'clock, Major; if they don't meet 
 the men, they are safe to be able to find out where they 
 live." 
 
 " And tell them and the others, Hawkins, that on no 
 account whatever is a word to be said on shore as to 
 the disappearance of Miss Greendale. It is of great 
 importance that no one should obtain the slightest hint 
 -of what has taken place." 
 
 When the captain had again gone forward, Frank 
 went down, and with some difficulty persuaded Lady 
 Greendale to go to bed. 
 
 " We can do nothing more to-night," he said ; " you 
 may well imagine that if I saw the least chance of 
 doing any good I should not be standing here, but 
 nothing can be done till morning." 
 
 Having seen her to her state-room, he returned to 
 the deck, where he had told George Lechmere to wait 
 for him.
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 177 
 
 " It is enough to drive one mad, George," he said, 
 as he joined him, " to think that somewhere among 
 all those yachts Miss Greeiidale may be held a pris- 
 oner." 
 
 " I can quite understand that, Major, by what I 
 feel myself; I have seen so much of Miss Greendale, 
 and she has always been so kind to x me, knowing that 
 you considered that I had saved your life and knowing 
 about that other thing, that I feel as if I could do 
 anything for her. And I feel it all the more because 
 it is the scoundrel I owed such a deep debt to before. 
 But I hardly think that she can be on board one of the 
 yachts here." 
 
 " I feel convinced that she is not, George ; they 
 could hardly keep her gagged all this time, and at 
 night a scream would be heard though the skylights 
 were closed." 
 
 " No, sir ; if she was put on board here I feel sure 
 that they would have got up sail at once." 
 
 " That is just what I feel. Likely enough they had 
 the mainsail already up and the chain short, and di- 
 rectly the boat was up at the davits they would have 
 got up the anchor and been off. They may be twenty 
 miles away by this time; though whether east or west 
 one has no means of even guessing. The wind is 
 nearly due north, and they may have gone either way, 
 or have made for Cherbourg or Havre. It depends 
 partly upon her size; if she is a small craft, they can't 
 get far beyond that range; if she is a large one, she 
 may have gone anywhere. The worst of it is that un- 
 less we can get some clue as to her size we can do 
 absolutely nothing. A good many yachts went off 
 to-day both east and west, and by the end of the week 
 the whole fleet will be scattered, and even if we do 
 get the size of the yacht I don't see that we can do 
 anything unless we can get her name too. If we could 
 do that, we could act at once; I should run up to town,
 
 178 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 lay the case before the authorities at Scotland Yard, 
 and get them to telegraph to every port in the king- 
 dom that upon her putting in there the vessel was at 
 once to be searched for two ladies who were believed 
 to have been forcibly carried away in her." 
 
 " And have those on board arrested, I suppose, 
 Major?" 
 
 " Well, that would have to be thought over, George. 
 Carthew could not be brought to punishment without 
 the whole affair being made public; that is the thing 
 above all others to be avoided." 
 
 " Yes, I see that, sir ; and yet it seems hard that 
 he should go off unpunished again." 
 
 " He would not go unpunished, you may be sure," 
 Frank said, grimly ; " for if the fellow ever showed 
 his face in London again I would thrash him to within 
 an inch of his life. However, sure as I feel, it is 
 possible that I am mistaken. Miss Greendale is known 
 to be an only daughter and an heiress, and some other 
 impecunious scamp may have conceived the idea of 
 making a bold stroke for her fortune. It is not likely, 
 but it is possible." 
 
 Until morning broke the two men paced the deck 
 together. Scarcely a word was spoken. Frank was 
 in vain endeavouring to think what course had best 
 be taken, if the search for the men of the Phantom 
 turned out unavailing. George was brooding over the 
 old wrong he had suffered, and longing to avenge that 
 and the present one. 
 
 " Thank God, the night is over," Frank said at last ; 
 " and I have thoroughly tired myself. I have thought 
 until I am stupid. Now I will lie down on one of the 
 sofas and perhaps I may forget it all for a few hours." 
 
 Sleep, however, did not come to him, and at seven 
 o'clock he was on deck again. 
 
 " The men went ashore at six, sir," the skipper 
 said. " I expect they will be back again before long."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 179 
 
 Ten minutes later the dingey came out between two 
 yachts ahead. 
 
 " Rawlins is not on board," the skipper said, as 
 they came close. " I told him to send off the instant 
 they got any news whatever; that is Simpson in the 
 stern." 
 
 " Well, Simpson, what news ? " Frank asked as she 
 rowed alongside. 
 
 " Well, sir, we have found out as how all the Phan- 
 tom's crew are ashore. Some of the chaps told us that 
 they came back a fortnight ago, the crew having been 
 paid off. Rawlins said that I'd better come off and 
 tell you that. He has gone off to look one of them up, 
 and bring him off in a shore boat. He knows where he 
 lives, and I expect we shall have him alongside in a 
 few minutes." 
 
 " Do you think that is good news or bad, sir ? ' r 
 George Lechmere asked. 
 
 " I think that it is bad rather than good," Frank 
 said. " Before, it seemed to me that whatever the 
 craft was in which she was carried away she would 
 probably be transferred to the Phantom, which might 
 be lying in Portland or in Dover, or be cruising out- 
 side the island, and if I had heard nothing of the 
 Phantom I should have searched for her. However, 
 I suppose that the scoundrel thought that he could not 
 trust a crew of Cowes men to take, part in a business 
 like this. But we shall know more when Rawlins 
 comes off." 
 
 In half an hour the shore boat came alongside with 
 Rawlins and a sailor with a Phantom jersey on. 
 
 " So you have all been paid off, my lad ? " Frank 
 said to the sailor as he stepped on deck. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; it all came sudden like ; we had ex- 
 pected that she would be out for another month at 
 least. However, as each man got a month's pay we 
 had nothing to grumble about; although it did seem
 
 180 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 strange that even the skipper should not have had a 
 hint of what Mr. Carthew intended till he called him 
 into his cabin and paid him his money." 
 
 " And where is she laid up ? " 
 
 " Well, sir, she is at Ostend. I don't know whether 
 she is going to be hauled up there or only dismantled 
 and left to float in, the dock. The governor told the 
 skipper that he thought he might go to the Mediter- 
 ranean in December, but that till then he should not 
 be able to use her. It seemed a rum thing leaving her 
 out there instead of having her hauled up at Southamp- 
 ton or Gosport, and specially that he should not have 
 kept two or three of us on board in charge. But, of 
 course, that was his affair. Mr. Carthew is rather a 
 difficult gentleman to please, and very changeable-like. 
 We had all made sure that we were going to race here 
 after winning the Cup at Ryde; and, indeed, after the 
 race he said as much to the skipper." 
 
 " Has he anyone with him ? " Frank asked. 
 
 " Only one gentleman, sir ; I don't know what his 
 name was." 
 
 "What was he like?" 
 
 " He was a smallish man and thin, and didn't wear 
 no hair on his face." 
 
 " Thank you ; here is a sovereign for your trouble. 
 That is something, at any rate, George," he went on, 
 as the man was rowed away. " The whole proceeding 
 is a very strange one, and you see the description of 
 the man with Carthew exactly answers to that of the 
 man who found out from the boat's crew that Dr. 
 Maddison was attending Lady Greendale ; and now you 
 see that it is quite possible that the Phantom is some- 
 where near, or was somewhere near yesterday after- 
 noon. Carthew may have hired a foreign crew and 
 sailed in her a couple of days after her own crew came 
 over, or he may have hired another craft either abroad 
 ;Or here. At any rate, there is something to do. I will
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 go up to town by the mid-day train and then down to* 
 Dover and cross to Ostend to-night." 
 
 " Begging your pardon, Major, could not you tele- 
 graph to the harbour-master at Ostend, asking if the* 
 Phantom is there ? " 
 
 " I might do that, George, but if I go over there 
 I may pick up some clue; I may find out what hotel 
 he stopped at after the crew had left, and if so, whether 
 he crossed to England or left by a tram for France.- 
 There is no saying what information I may light on. 
 You stay on board here; you can be of no use to me 
 on the journey, and may be of use here. I will tele- 
 graph to you from Ostend. Possibly I may want the 
 yacht to sail at once to Dover to meet me there, or you 
 may have to go up to town to do something for me. 
 Now I must go down and tell Lady Greendale as much 
 as is necessary. It will, of course, be the best thing 
 for her to go up to town with me, but if she is not well 
 enough for that, of course she must stay on board." 
 
 Lady Greendale had just come into the saloon when 
 he went down. 
 
 " I think I have got a clue a very faint one," he 
 said. " I am going up to town at once to follow it 
 up. How are you feeling, Lady Greendale ? " 
 
 " I have a terrible headache, but that is nothing.. 
 Of course, I will go up with you." 
 
 " But do you feel equal to it? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, quite," she said, feverishly. " What is- 
 your clue, Frank ? " 
 
 " Well, it concerns the yacht in which I believe 
 Bertha has been carried off. At any rate, I feel so 
 certain as to who had a hand in it that I have no hesi-- 
 tation in telling you that it was Carthew." 
 
 " Mr. Carthew ! Impossible, Frank. He always 
 seemed to me a particularly pleasant and gentlemanly 
 man." 
 
 " He might seem that, but I happen to know other
 
 182 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 things about him. He is an unmitigated scoundrel. 
 Of course, not a word must be said about it, Lady 
 Greendale. You see, that for Bertha's sake we must 
 work quietly. It would never do for the matter to get 
 into the papers." 
 
 " It would be too dreadful, Frank ; I do think that 
 it would kill me; I will trust it in your hands alto- 
 gether. I have only one comfort in this dreadful 
 affair, and that is that Bertha has Anna with her." 
 
 " That is certainly a great comfort ; and it is some- 
 thing in the man's favour that when he enticed her 
 from the yacht with that forged letter he suggested 
 that she should bring her maid."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FRANK MALLETT and Lady Greendale crossed to 
 Southampton by the twelve o'clock boat, and arrived 
 in London at three. 
 
 " I have been thinking," she said, as they went up, 
 " that it will be better for me to stop in town. I shall 
 have less difficulty in answering questions there than 
 I should have at home. Everyone is leaving now, and 
 in another week there will be scarcely a soul in Lon- 
 don I know; and I shall keep down the front blinds, 
 and no one will dream of my being there. I shall only 
 have to mention to Bertha's own maid that my daugh- 
 ter has remained at Cowes, that I have left Anna with 
 her, and that she can wait upon me until she returns. 
 There will be another advantage in it you can see me 
 whenever you are in town. I shall get your letters a 
 post quicker when you are away, and you can telegraph 
 to me freely; whereas, if you telegraphed to Chippen- 
 ham, whoever received the message there might men- 
 tion its contents as curious to someone or other, and 
 then, of course, it would become a matter of common 
 gossip." 
 
 Frank agreed that it would certainly be better and 
 more bearable than having to answer questions about 
 Bertha to every visitor who called on her. He crossed 
 that evening to Ostend, and at ten o'clock next morn- 
 ing George Lechmere received the following message: 
 " Make inquiries as to small brigantine that looked 
 like converted yacht: had very large yards on fore- 
 mast. I saw her pass Cowes on Tuesday afternoon. 
 
 183
 
 184: THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Let Hawkins go to Portsmouth and Southampton. 
 Find out yourself whether she anchored between Os- 
 borne and Ryde; if not, inquire at Seaview whether 
 she passed there going east. Telegraph result to- 
 morrow morning to my chambers. Shall cross again 
 to-night." 
 
 Lechmere had the gig at once lowered, and started, 
 with four hands at the oars, eastward, while the cap- 
 tain went ashore in the dingey to leave for Southamp- 
 ton by the next boat. The tide was against Lechmere, 
 who, keeping close in round the point, steered the boat 
 along at the foot of the slopes of Osborne, and kept 
 eastward until he reached the coast-guard station at 
 the mouth of Wootton creek. 
 
 " Oh, yes, we noticed her," the boatswain in charge 
 replied in answer to his question ; " we saw her, as you 
 say, on Tuesday afternoon, going east; we could not 
 help noticing her, for she was something out of the 
 way. We should not have thought so much of it if 
 she had not come back again just before dusk the next 
 day, and anchored a mile to the west. We kept a sharp 
 look-out that night, thinking that she might be trying 
 to smuggle some contraband ashore; but everything 
 was quiet, and next morning she was gone. The man 
 who was on the watch said he thought that he made 
 her out with his night-glass going east at about eleven 
 o'clock; but it was a dark night, and it might have 
 been a schooner yacht or a brig." 
 
 " You don't happen to know whether she stopped 
 at Ryde the first time she passed ? " 
 
 " Yes ; having been all talking about her, we 
 watched to see if she was going to anchor there or 
 keep on to the east. She lowered a boat as she passed, 
 and two men landed. They threw her up into the wind 
 and waited until the boat came off again; the men 
 did not come back in her; they hoisted the boat up 
 again and went east. She stopped off Seaview; then
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 185 
 
 she came back and sent the boat ashore, and two men 
 went off in her. Of course, I can't say whether they 
 were the same. It was as much as I could do to make 
 out that there were two of them, though our glass is 
 a pretty good one. Is there anything wrong about the 
 craft?" 
 
 " Not that I know of ; but there was a good deal 
 of curiosity about her among the yachts, she being 
 an out-of-the-way sort of craft; and I fancy there 
 were some bets about her. There was an idea that she 
 was seen going west two days later, and the governor 
 asked me to take the boat and find out whether she had 
 been noticed here or at Eyde. Thank you very much 
 for your information; I have no doubt that it will be 
 sufficient to decide any bets there may be about her." 
 
 So saying, he took his seat in the gig again and 
 rowed back to the Osprey. The skipper returned in 
 the evening. 
 
 " No such craft has gone into Southampton or 
 Portsmouth," he said ; " so I have had my journey 
 for nothing." 
 
 " No, I don't think you have," George replied. " It 
 is something to know that she is not in either of the 
 ports now, and has been to neither of them." 
 
 George returned in time to send off a full account 
 of what he had learned from the coast-guardsman by 
 the mail that would be delivered in London that night. 
 On his return to town the next morning, Frank found 
 the letter awaiting him, and at ten o'clock, after wiring 
 to Hawkins and the steward to stock the yacht at once 
 with provisions of all kinds for a long voyage, he went 
 into the city and called upon the secretary at Lloyd's. 
 
 After giving his name, he told him that he believed 
 that a young lady had been carried off forcibly in the 
 craft which he minutely described, and that he was 
 desirous of having a telegram sent to every signal 
 station between Hull and the Land's End, asking if
 
 186 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 such a craft had passed. " Of course," he added, " I 
 am ready, to defray the expense of the telegrams and 
 replies. She left the Solent late on Wednesday even- 
 ing, and on Thursday would have been between Beachy 
 Head and Dover, if she had gone that way, and yester- 
 day up the Thames or somewhere between Harwich 
 and Yarmouth." 
 
 " Well, Major Mallett, if you will sit down and 
 write the telegram with the description that you have 
 given, I will send it off at once. Then, if you will 
 call again in an hour's time, I have no doubt all the 
 answers will have come in." 
 
 "Your craft has gone west," he said when Frank 
 returned. " All the answers the other way are nega- 
 tive. St. Catherine says : ' Craft answering descrip- 
 tion was seen well out at sea on Thursday morning.' 
 Portland noticed her in the afternoon, and she was 
 off the Start yesterday morning; the wind was light 
 then; and the Lizard reports seeing her this morning. 
 When abreast of them, she headed south, apparently 
 making a departure, as she could be made out keep- 
 ing that course as long as seen. These are the four 
 telegrams, so I think that there can be little doubt 
 that she has made for the Mediterranean." 
 
 " Thank you very much indeed," Frank said ; " can 
 you tell me if I have any chance of getting similar 
 information from the south ? " 
 
 " You could get it from Finisterre if she passed 
 within sight, but by her holding on as far west as the 
 Lizard instead of taking a departure from the Start, 
 it is likely that she will take a more westerly course, 
 and then Cape St. Vincent is the first point where 
 she is likely to be noticed. If not there, she would 
 probably be observed at Tarifa, although, if she kejjt 
 on the southern side of the Straits, she might not be 
 noticed. I should think that she would do so; she 
 would not be likely to put into Gibraltar, although,
 
 THE QUEEN'S CXrf. 187 
 
 from what you tell me, the owner would believe that 
 no suspicion whatever of being concerned in this affair 
 would be likely to rest upon him. But you must bear 
 in mind that it is probable that as a measure of pre- 
 caution he has painted out the white streak, sent down 
 the yards and converted her into a fore-and-aft schoon- 
 er; in which case she would attract no attention what- 
 ever if she passed without making her number." 
 
 " I certainly think that they will convert her back 
 into a schooner yacht, as otherwise there will be a diffi- 
 culty about papers whenever she enters a port. There 
 is one more thing I wish to ask you. You see, she 
 might not turn into the Mediterranean ; she might, for 
 example, make for the West Indies, in which case she 
 would be almost certain to touch at Madeira or 
 Palmas." 
 
 "Or possibly at Teneriffe, Major; of course, we 
 have an agent at each of these places, and I will gladly 
 request them, if a brigantine or schooner looking like 
 her puts in there, to find out if possible where she is 
 bound for, and to let you know at shall I say Gib- 
 raltar? I am afraid it is of no use trying to get the 
 Portuguese authorities to arrest the ship or to search 
 her. You see, to a certain extent it is an extradition 
 case. Still, I will ask them to get it done if possible, 
 though I fear that it is quite beyond their power." 
 
 " Thank you very much indeed ; it would be an im- 
 mense thing only to find out that she has gone in that 
 direction. Of course, she may not put in at any of 
 these places, as she is sure to have provisioned for a 
 long voyage, but at any rate I will wait at Gibraltar 
 until I get the letters, unless I can get some clue that 
 she has gone up the Mediterranean. Of course, if I 
 don't hear of her at Cape St. Vincent or Tarifa, I shall 
 try Ceuta and Tangier. If she goes up on the southern 
 side of the Straits, she may anchor off either, and send 
 a boat in to get fresh meat and fruit."
 
 188 THE QUEEN'S CCJP. 
 
 " The Royal mail and the mail down the African 
 coast will start, one to-morrow, the other on Monday, 
 and I will send letters by them to the islands; they 
 are sure to get there before this craft that you are in 
 search of, and our agents will be on the look-out for 
 her. It may not be long before you hear from Madeira, 
 but it may be some time before you get the other let- 
 ters, as the craft may be anything between three weeks 
 and five in getting there. Of course, I shall mention 
 when she sailed, and they will not write until all 
 chance of her having arrived is passed." 
 
 " Would you kindly give me the addresses of your 
 three agents? I will wait for the answer from Ma- 
 deira, but I am afraid my patience will never hold 
 out until the others can come. It will be giving the 
 schooner a fearfully long start as it is, and as you may 
 suppose I shall be almost mad at having to wait and 
 do nothing." 
 
 The secretary wrote the three addresses, and, thank- 
 ing him very warmly for his kindness and courtesy, 
 Frank went out and despatched a telegram to the 
 skipper, telling him to engage ten extra hands at once 
 and to buy muskets and cutlasses for the whole 
 crew. 
 
 " I shall come down by the twelve o'clock train 
 from town; be at the steamboat pier to meet me. If 
 all is ready, shall sail at once." 
 
 Having despatched this, he drove at once to Lady 
 Greendale's and told her that he had learnt that the 
 craft in which Bertha had been carried off had sailed 
 for the south, probably the Mediterranean, and that he 
 should start that evening in pursuit. " It may be a 
 long chase, Lady Greendale, but never fear but that 
 I will bring her back safely. It will be for you to de- 
 cide whether you will continue to remain here or go 
 down into the country after a time; but, of course, 
 there is no occasion for you to make up your mind
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 189 
 
 now. I must be off at once, for I have several things 
 to do before I catch the twelve o'clock train." 
 
 " God bless you, Frank ! " she said ; " you are look- 
 ing terribly worn and fagged." 
 
 " I shall be all right when I am once fairly off," 
 he said ; " I have not had an hour's sleep for the last 
 two nights, and not much the night before. At first 
 the whole thing seemed hopeless ; now that I am fairly 
 on the track and know what I have to do, I shall soon 
 be all right again." 
 
 " I don't know what I should have done without 
 you, Frank ; and I do believe that you will succeed." 
 
 " I have no doubt about it," he said ; " so keep your 
 courage up, mother for you know that you are almost 
 that to me now." He kissed her affectionately, and 
 then hurried downstairs and drove to his chambers. 
 
 Here he packed a portmanteau with Indian suits 
 and underclothing, took his pistol and rifle cases, drove 
 to a gunmaker's in the Strand for a stock of ammuni- 
 tion, called at his bank and cashed a cheque for two 
 thousand pounds, and then drove to Waterloo. 
 
 Hawkins and George Lechmere were on the land- 
 ing-stage at Cowes. 
 
 " How are things going on, Hawkins ? " Frank 
 asked, as he came across the gangway. 
 
 " All right, sir. I have had my hands pretty full, 
 sir, since I got your second telegram. Lechmere saw 
 to getting the arms. Of course, he could not help me 
 as to hiring the hands. I think I have got ten first- 
 class men. A few of the yachts have paid off already, 
 and I know something about all of those I have en- 
 gaged. While I was ashore, the mate looked after get- 
 ting on board and stowing the goods as they came 
 alongside." 
 
 " Quite right, Hawkins. Did you think of ammuni- 
 tion, George ? " 
 
 "Yes, Major; I was not likely to forget that; I 
 13
 
 190 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 got twenty-five muskets and cutlasses; luckily they 
 kept them at Pascal Aikey's for the use of steam yachts 
 going out to the east, and they had ammunition too, 
 so I got fifty rounds for each musket. It is not likely 
 that we shall want to use that much, but it is best to 
 be on the right side." 
 
 " I think, sir," Hawkins said, " as it is going to be 
 a long voyage, and as we have doubled our crew, that 
 I had better get another mate. Purvis is a very good 
 man, but he is no navigator; and we shall have to keep 
 watches regularly. I met an old shipmate of mine 
 just now who would be just the man. He commanded 
 the Amphitrite for ten years, and I know that he is a 
 good navigator. He has been up in the Scotch waters 
 since the spring, and was paid off last week. I told 
 him that it might be that I could give him a berth 
 as second mate, and he jumped at it." 
 
 " By all means, Hawkins ; of course you will want 
 an officer for each watch. You can find him without 
 loss of time, I hope." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I have told him to hang about outside 
 the gate here, and I would give him an answer." 
 
 " Very well ; when you have seen him you will find 
 me at Aikey's. I have to go there to get a lot of charts ; 
 I have only those for British waters. George, do you 
 see to getting these traps down to the boat; I shall 
 be there in a quarter of an hour. Is there anything 
 else that you can think of, or that you want your- 
 self?" 
 
 " Nothing, sir." 
 
 " When you go on board you may as well get your 
 traps in one of the spare cabins aft; you had better 
 move too, captain. You and one of the mates can 
 have the stern cabin; for the present the other mate 
 can have yours, and the steward can sleep in the saloon. 
 That will make more room for the extra hands for- 
 ward."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 191 
 
 " It will be a tight stow, sir," the captain said. " I 
 have ordered ten more hammocks and hooks, but I 
 doubt whether there will be room to sling them all." 
 
 " I am sure there won't, Hawkins ; you had better 
 put the hooks in the saloon beams, and swing five 
 or six of the hammocks there; we can take the hooks 
 out and stop up the holes when we don't need them 
 any longer. We may be having hot weather before we 
 have done, and I don't want the men crowded too 
 closely forward." 
 
 Twenty minutes later Frank came down to the boat 
 with the skipper, carrying a large roll of charts, and a 
 man with a handcart containing a bundle of jerseys 
 and caps, and fifty white duck trousers. A large shore 
 boat was alongside when^they reached the Osprey. 
 
 " Is this the last lot ? " the captain asked the man 
 in charge of the pile of casks and boxes with which 
 it was filled. 
 
 " Yes, sir, this is the last batch." 
 
 " Get them on deck, Hawkins," Frank said, " and 
 we can get them down and stowed when we are under 
 sail. Get the anchor short at once, the sail covers off 
 and the mainsail up. I don't want to lose a minute," 
 he went on, turning to George Lechmere ; " I know 
 that an hour or even a day will make no material dif- 
 ference, but I am in a fever to be off." 
 
 " Have you found out which way they have gone, 
 Major?" 
 
 " I have found out that they have sailed for the 
 south, but whether for the Mediterranean or for the 
 West Indies or South America I have no idea; but 
 I have some hopes of finding out by the time we get 
 to Gibraltar." 
 
 " And they have got a three days' start of us? " 
 
 " Yes, I can hardly believe that it is not more. 
 It seems to me a fortnight since I went ashore to dine 
 at the club. Three days is a long start, and unless the
 
 192 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 change of rig has spoiled her, the Phantom is as fast, 
 or very nearly as fast, as we are. We can't hope to 
 catch her up, unless she stops for two or three days in 
 a port, and that she is certain not to do. No, I don't 
 think that there is any chance of our overtaking her 
 until she has got to whatever may be her destination. 
 Of course, what Carthew counts upon is that, in time, 
 he will get Miss Greendale to consent to marry him. 
 That is one reason why I think that he will not go up 
 the Mediterranean. The further he takes her the more 
 hopeless the prospect will seem to her." 
 
 " But she will never give in, Major," George Lech- 
 mere said, confidently. 
 
 " I have no fear of that no fear whatever, and 
 we may be quite sure that as long as he thinks that 
 lie will be able to tire her out he will show himself in 
 his best light, and try to make everything as pleasant 
 for her as is possible under the circumstances. It is 
 only when he loses all hope of her consenting willingly 
 that he will show himself in his true light; and you 
 know, George, he is scoundrel enough for anything. 
 However, I consider that she is perfectly safe for a 
 long time, and I hope to be alongside the craft long 
 before he becomes desperate." 
 
 Half an hour later, the anchor was on the rail and 
 the Osprey started on her voyage. The tide being in 
 her favour, she passed the Needles just as it was get- 
 ting dark. The breeze fell very light, and, although 
 every stitch of canvas was put on, she was still some 
 miles east of Portland when morning broke. As the 
 sun rose the wind freshened a bit, and she moved 
 faster through the water. The hands were mustered 
 and divided into two watches, and the jerseys and red 
 <aps served out to the new hands. 
 
 " You had better give them the whole of the duck 
 trousers, to fit themselves from, captain," Frank said. 
 * There are assorted sizes, you know, and when they
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 193 
 
 have suited themselves you can take the other ten pairs 
 into store. You and the mates will want some when 
 we get into warmer climates." 
 
 " Are we bound for the Mediterranean ? " Hawkins 
 asked. 
 
 " To Gibraltar, to begin with. What we shall do 
 afterwards will depend upon what news I get there. 
 We may have to go round the world, for all I 
 know." 
 
 " Well, sir, I hope not, for your sake, and the young- 
 lady's; but as far as we are concerned, we would as 
 lief go round the world as anything else, though she is 
 not a very big craft for such a journey as that." 
 
 " How long will the water tanks hold out ? " 
 
 " That is where the- pinch will come in, sir. I 
 reckon that at ordinary times we might make shift to 
 go on for three weeks without filling up, but, you see, 
 we have twenty hands instead of ten, and that will 
 make all the difference. I did get ten good-sized casks 
 yesterday morning, and got them filled as well as the 
 tanks. They are stowed away forward, but they won't 
 improve her speed. They have brought her head down 
 over two inches, but, of course, we shall use the water 
 in them first." 
 
 " You had better bring them amidships, captain, 
 and stow them round the saloon skylight. Appear- 
 ances are of no consequence whatever, and the great 
 thing is to get her in her best sailing trim. If bad 
 weather comes on, we must put half in the bow and 
 half in the stern, where we can wedge them in tightly 
 together. It would not do to risk having them rolling 
 about the decks. Well, then," he went on, seeing that 
 the captain did not like the thought of having weight 
 at each end of the yacht, " if the weather gets bad we 
 will take the saloon skylight off, and lower them down 
 into it. I can eat my meals on deck or in my state- 
 room, but the water we must keep. If we get a spell of
 
 194 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 head winds or calms, we may be three weeks getting 
 to Gib." 
 
 " That would be a very good plan, sir, if you can 
 do without the saloon, and don't mind its being lit- 
 tered up." 
 
 " Well, I hope we shan't get any bad weather until 
 we get well across the bay, Hawkins; I don't mind the 
 discomfort, but it would stop her speed; we want a 
 wind that will just let us carry all our canvas. We can 
 travel a deal faster so than we can in heavy weather, 
 when we might be obliged to get down the greater part 
 of our canvas and perhaps to lie to. It looks like a 
 strong crew, doesn't it ? " he went on, as he glanced 
 forward. 
 
 " That it does, sir ; a craft of this size can do well 
 with more when she is racing, but for a crew it is more 
 than one wants, a good deal; and people would stare 
 if we went into an English port. Still, I don't say 
 that it is not an advantage to be strong-handed if we 
 get heavy weather, and it makes light work of getting 
 up sail or shifting it, and one wants to shift pretty 
 often when he is trying to get high speed out of a 
 craft." 
 
 The wind continued fitful, and, in spite of having 
 her racing sails, the Osprey's run to the Start was a 
 long one. It was not until thirty-six hours after 
 getting up anchor that they were abreast of the light- 
 house. 
 
 " I try to be patient, George," Mallett said, " but 
 it is enough to make a saint swear. We have lost 
 eight or ten hours instead of making a gain, although 
 we had the advantage of coming through the Needles 
 passage, while they had to go round at the back of the 
 island to escape observation." 
 
 " Yes, sir, but you know we have often found that 
 sometimes one, sometimes another, makes a gain in 
 these shifty winds ; perhaps to-morrow we may be run-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 195 
 
 ning along fast and the Phantom be lying without a 
 breath of wind." 
 
 " That is so, George ; I will try to bear it in mind. 
 There, you see, the skipper is taking the exact bear- 
 ing of the lighthouse, and we shall soon be heading 
 south." 
 
 In five minutes the captain gave the order to the 
 helmsman, and the craft was then laid on her new 
 course. 
 
 " The wind is northing a bit," the skipper said as, 
 after giving the helmsman instructions, he came up 
 to Frank. " It has shifted two points round in the last 
 half-hour, and you see we have got the boom off a bit; 
 if it goes round a point more we will get the square-sail 
 ready for hoisting; it Avijl help her along rarely when 
 the head-sails cease to be of any good." 
 
 Half an hour later the wind had gone round far 
 enough for the square-sail to be used to advantage, 
 and it was accordingly hoisted; the captain then had 
 the barrels brought aft and ranged along each side of 
 the bulwark. 
 
 For eight-and-forty hours the Osprey maintained 
 her speed, leaving all the sailing vessels she overtook 
 far behind her, and keeping for hours abreast of a 
 cargo steamer going in the same direction. " She is 
 bound for Finisterre," the skipper said, " and we shall 
 pass it some thirty miles to the west, so our courses 
 will gradually draw apart; but we shall see her smoke 
 anyhow until we are pretty nigh abreast of the cape 
 that is, if the wind holds as it is now. It is falling 
 lighter this afternoon." 
 
 Two or three hours later the wind died away alto- 
 gether, the square-sail was got down, and the skipper 
 then said : " I will get the topsail down, too, sir ; we 
 can easily get it up again, and I will put a smaller jib 
 on her; I don't at all think by the look of the sky that 
 a 3 are going to have a blow. The glass wo'xld have
 
 196 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 -altered more if we were, but one never can tell. I 
 would not risk the loss of a spar for anything." 
 
 " I should think that you might put a couple of 
 reefs in the mainsail, Hawkins." 
 
 " Well, perhaps it would be the best, sir ; for a puff 
 that one thinks nothing of one way or the other when 
 a craft has way will take her over wonderfully when 
 it catches her becalmed." 
 
 Just as he had finished his dinner the captain came 
 down and asked Frank to come on deck. 
 
 " There is a steamer bearing down on us. I can see 
 both her side lights, and as she is coming in from the 
 west she may not notice our starboard light. It is 
 burning all right, but one never can see these green 
 lights; they are the deceivingest things at a distance. 
 I have just sent down for the man to bring up the rid- 
 ing light, and as it is a first-rate one, if we put it on 
 deck it will light up the mainsail. I have told them to 
 bring up the big horn; that ought to waken them if 
 anything will." 
 
 " How far is she off now, Hawkins ? " 
 
 " About a mile and a half, Major. There are no 
 signs of her altering her course, as she ought to have 
 done by this time if she had made us out. You see, 
 her head light shows up fair and square between her 
 side lights, which shows that she is coming as near as 
 possible on to us. I think that I had better light a 
 blue light." 
 
 Frank nodded. The blue light at once blazed out. 
 
 " They ought to see that if they are not all asleep," 
 Frank said, as he looked up at the sails standing out 
 white against the dark sky. 
 
 " Set to work with that foghorn," the skipper said ; 
 and a man began to work the bellows of a great fog- 
 horn, which uttered a roar that might have been heard 
 on a still night many miles away. Again and again 
 the roar broke out.
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 197 
 
 " That has fetched them," the captain said ; " she 
 is starboarding her helm to go astern of us; there,, 
 we have lost her red light, so it is all right. How 
 I should have liked to have been behind the look-out 
 or the officer of the watch with a marling-spike or 
 a capstan bar. I will warrant that they would not have 
 nodded when on watch again for a long time to come. 
 Here she comes; she is closer than I thought she was. 
 She will pass within fifty yards of the stern. It is 
 lucky that we had that big horn, Major Mallett, for if 
 we had not woke them up when we did she would have 
 run us down to a certainty." 
 
 As the steamer came along, scarcely more than a 
 length astern of the yacht, a yell of execration broke 
 from the sailors gathered forward. 
 
 " That was a near shave, George," Frank Mallett 
 said, when the steamer had passed. " It brought me 
 out in a cold sweat at the thought that if the Osprey 
 were to be run down there was an end to all chance of 
 rescuing Bertha from that scoundrel's clutches. I 
 don't know that I thought of myself at all; I am a 
 good swimmer, and I suppose she would have stopped 
 to pick us up. It was the Osprey I was thinking of; 
 even if every life on board had been saved I don't see 
 how we could have followed up the search without her."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THREE hours later the breeze came. Frank was 
 pacing up and down the deck, when there was a slight 
 creak above; he stopped and looked up. 
 
 " Is that the breeze ? " he asked the first mate, whose 
 watch it was. 
 
 " I think so, sir, though it may be just the heaving 
 from a steamer somewhere. I don't feel any wind; 
 not a breath from any quarter." 
 
 There was another and more decided sound above. 
 
 " There is no mistake this time," the mate said, 
 as the boom which had been hanging amidships slowly 
 swung over to port. " It's somewhere about the quar- 
 ter that we expected it from, and coming as gently as 
 a lamb." 
 
 Five minutes later there was sufficient breeze to 
 cause her to heel over perceptibly as she moved quietly 
 through the water. 
 
 "Hands aft to shake out the reefs," the mate 
 called. 
 
 The order was repeated down the fo'castle hatch 
 by one of the two men on the look-out; the rest of 
 the watch, who had been allowed to go below, tum- 
 bled up. 
 
 The sailors hastened to untie the reef points. All 
 were aware of the nature of the chase in which they 
 were embarked. The whole crew were full of ardour; 
 they felt it as a personal grievance that the young 
 lady to whom their employer was engaged had not only 
 been carried off, but carried off from the deck of the 
 
 198
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 199 
 
 yacht. Moreover, she was very popular with them, as 
 she had often asked them questions and chatted with 
 them when at the helm or when she walked forward; 
 she knew them all by name, and had several times 
 come off from shore with a packet of tobacco for each 
 man in her basket. She had been quick in learning 
 to steer, and her desire to know everything about the 
 yacht had pleased the sailors, who were all delighted 
 when they learned of her engagement to the owner. The 
 new hands, on learning the particulars, had naturally 
 entered to some extent into the feeling of the others, 
 and the alacrity with which every order was obeyed 
 showed the interest felt in the chase. As soon as the 
 reef points were untied came the order, " Slack away 
 the reef tackle, and see that the earing will run easy; 
 now up with the throat halliard. That will do; now 
 the gaff a little more; belay there. Now get that top- 
 sail up from the sail locker; we won't shift jibs just 
 yet, until we see whether the breeze is going to fresh- 
 en." 
 
 It was not long before the increasing heel of the 
 craft and rustle of water along her side told that she 
 was travelling faster. 
 
 " The wind is freeing her a bit, sir ; it has shifted 
 a good half-point in the last ten minutes." 
 
 " That is a comfort," Frank said ; " you may as well 
 heave the log; I should like to know how she is going 
 before I turn in." 
 
 " Seven knots, sir," the mate reported ; " that is 
 pretty fair, considering how close-hauled she is." 
 
 " Well, I will turn in now ; let me know if there 
 is any change." 
 
 At five o'clock Frank was on deck again. Purvis 
 was in charge of the watch now. 
 
 " Good morning, sir," he said, touching his hat as 
 Frank came up ; " we are going to have a fine day, and 
 the wind is likely to keep steady."
 
 200 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " All right, Purvis ; what speed were we going when 
 you heaved the log ? " 
 
 " Seven and a half, sir ; Perry tells me that she 
 has been doing just that ever since the wind sprang 
 up. I reckon that we are pretty well abreast of Finis- 
 terre now. We shall have the sun up in a few minutes, 
 and I expect that it will come up behind the land. 
 Lambert, go up to the cross-tree and keep a sharp look- 
 out, as the sun comes up, and see if you can make 
 land." 
 
 " I can make out the land, sir," the sailor called 
 down as soon as he reached the cross-tree ; " it stands 
 well up. I should say that you can see it from deck." 
 
 The mate and Frank walked further aft and looked 
 out under the boom; the land was plainly visible 
 against the glow of the sky. 
 
 " There it is, sure enough," the mate said. " I 
 looked over there before you came up and could not 
 make it out, but the sky has brightened a lot in the 
 last ten minutes. I should say that it is about five-and- 
 twenty miles away ; it is a very bold coast, sir. That is 
 Finisterre over the quarter; you see the land breaks 
 off suddenly there. We ought to have made out the 
 light, but of course it is not very bright at this dis- 
 tance, and there was a slight mist on the water when I 
 came up at eight bells." 
 
 " I suppose in another forty-eight hours we shall 
 not be far from the southern point of Portugal." 
 
 " We shall be there, or thereabouts, by that time if 
 the wind keeps the same strength and in the same quar- 
 ter. That would make an uncommonly good run of it, 
 considering that we were lying twenty-four hours be- 
 calmed. If it had not been for that we should have 
 been only four days from" the Start to St. Vincent." 
 
 The mate's calculations turned out correct, and at 
 seven in the morning they anchored a mile off Cape 
 St. Vincent. The gig was lowered, and Frank was
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 201 
 
 rowed ashore, taking with him a signal book in which 
 questions were given in several languages, including 
 Spanish. He had purchased it at Cowes before start- 
 ing. The signal officer was very polite, and fortunate- 
 ly understood a little English. So Frank managed, 
 with the aid of the book, to make him understand his 
 questions. No craft at all answering to the descrip- 
 tion had been noticed passing during the last five or 
 six days; certainly no yacht had passed. She might, 
 of course, have gone by after dark. He showed Frank 
 the record of the ships that had been sighted going 
 east, and of those that had made their numbers as 
 they passed. The Phantom was not among the latter, 
 nor did the rig or approximate tonnage as guessed of 
 any of the others at all correspond with hers. After 
 thanking the officer, Frank returned to his boat, and 
 half an hour later the Osprey was again under weigh. 
 
 At Ceuta, Tarifa, and Tangier there was a similar 
 want of success. Such a craft might have passed, but 
 if so she was either too far away to be noted or had 
 passed during the night. From Tangier he crossed 
 to Gibraltar, and anchored among the shipping there. 
 So far everything had gone to confirm his theory that 
 the Phantom would not go up the Mediterranean; of 
 course, she might have passed the three places as well 
 as St. Vincent at night, or have kept so nearly in the 
 middle of the Strait as to pass without being remarked. 
 Still, the chances were against it, and he regarded it 
 as almost certain that she would have put into one or 
 other of the African ports as she passed them for water, 
 fresh meat and fruit. 
 
 It was six days after the Osprey passed St. Vin- 
 cent before she anchored off Gib. She had made her 
 number as she came in, and in a short time the health 
 officer came out in a boat. The visit was a formal 
 one; the white ensign on her taffrail was in itself suf- 
 ficient to show her character and that she must have
 
 202 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 come straight from England, and the questions asked 
 were few and brief. 
 
 " We are ten days out," Frank said ; " we have 
 touched at Tarifa, Ceuta, and Tangier, but that is all. 
 The crew are all in good health; here is the list of 
 them if you wish to examine them." 
 
 " As a matter of formality it is better that it should 
 be done," the health officer said. 
 
 " I will order them to muster," Frank said, " and 
 while they are doing so, will you come below and take 
 a glass of wine ? Can you tell me if a craft about this 
 size, a schooner or brigantine, has put in here during 
 the last fortnight? I don't know whether she is 
 still flying yacht colours or has gone into trade, but 
 at any rate you could see at once that she had been 
 a yacht." 
 
 " Certainly no such craft has put in here, Major 
 Mallett; yours is the first yacht that has come round 
 this season, and as I board every vessel that anchors 
 here, I should certainly have noticed any trader that 
 had formerly been a yacht. The decks and fittings 
 would tell their story at once. Do you know her 
 name ? " 
 
 " I don't know much about her," Frank said, " but 
 a craft of that kind sailed from Cowes a day or two 
 before I started, and, as I believe, for the Mediter- 
 ranean. Being about our own size and heavily sparred 
 for a schooner, I was rather curious to know if I had 
 beaten her. We did not make her out as we came 
 along." 
 
 " You must have passed her in the night, I should 
 say, unless, as is likely enough, she did not put in, but 
 kept eastward." 
 
 As Frank had touched at Gibraltar three times 
 before, the place had no novelty for him. He, however, 
 went ashore at once to make arrangements for filling 
 up again with water. The steward and George Lech-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 203 
 
 mere accompanied him into the town to purchase fresh 
 meat, fruit arid vegetables. 
 
 Frank then made his way to the post office. He 
 was scarcely disappointed at finding that there was 
 nothing for him as yet. 
 
 The next three days he spent in wandering rest- 
 lessly over the Rock. As long as the Osprey was under 
 weigh and doing her best he was able to curb his anx- 
 iety and impatience; but now that she was at anchor 
 he felt absolutely unable to remain quietly on board. 
 Several officers of his acquaintance came off to the Os- 
 prey, and he was invited to dine at their mess dinner 
 every night. He, however, declined. 
 
 " The fact is, my dear fellow," he said to each, " I 
 am at present waiting with extreme anxiety for news 
 of a most important nature, and until I get it I am so 
 restless and so confoundedly irritable that I am not 
 fit to associate with anyone. When I look in here 
 again I hope that it will be all right, and then I shall 
 be delighted to come to you and have a chat over our 
 Indian days, but at present I really am not up to it." 
 
 His appearance was sufficient to testify that his 
 plea was not a fictitious excuse. 
 
 On the fourth day he found a letter awaiting him 
 at the post office. He tore it open, and read : " Funchal, 
 Madeira, August 30. Sir: At the request of Mr. 
 Greenwood I beg to inform you that a brigantine, pre- 
 cisely answering to the description given me, anchored 
 in the roads here on the 21st. She only remained a few 
 hours to take in water and stores. I was at the landing- 
 place when the master came on shore; he said that 
 they had had a wonderfully fast voyage from England, 
 having come from the Lizard under seven days, and 
 holding a leading wind all the way. She was flying 
 the Belgian flag, and I learned from the Portuguese 
 official who visited her that her papers were all in 
 order, and that she had been purchased at Ostend from
 
 204 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 an Englishman only three weeks before, and had been 
 named the Dragon. He did not remember what her 
 English name had been. Most unfortunately she had 
 left a few hours before the mail steamer came in, bring- 
 ing me the letter from Lloyd's. I do not know that I 
 could, in any case, have stopped her, but I think that 
 I could have got the officials to have searched her, and 
 if the ladies had been on board, and had appealed to 
 them for protection, I think the vessel would certainly 
 have been detained, or, at any rate, the authorities 
 would have insisted upon the ladies being set on shore. 
 Her papers had the Cape as her destination, though 
 this may, of course, have been only a blind. I regret 
 much that I am unable to give you further informa- 
 tion, beyond the fact that there were two male passen- 
 gers on board. I shall be happy to reply to any com- 
 munication I may receive from you." 
 
 Frank hurried down to the landing-place. 
 
 " Lay out, men," he said, " I want to be under way 
 in a quarter of an hour." The men bent to their oars, 
 and the gig flew through the water. There was no 
 one on shore, for Frank had given strict orders that 
 no one was to land of a morning until he returned 
 from the post office. 
 
 " Get under way at once," he called to the captain, 
 as soon as he came within hailing distance. There 
 was an instant stir on board. Some of the men ran 
 to the capstan, others began to unlace the sail covers, 
 while some gathered at the davits to hoist the boat up 
 directly she came alongside. 
 
 " I have news, lads," Frank said, in a loud voice, 
 as he stepped on board. " She has touched at Ma- 
 deira." 
 
 There was a cheer from the men. It was some- 
 thing to know that a clue had been obtained, and in 
 a wonderfully short time the Osprey was under way 
 and heading for the point of the bay.
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 205 
 
 "Then they did not stop them there, Major?" 
 George Lechmere asked, after Frank had stated the 
 news. 
 
 " No, the mail did not arrive with the letter in time 
 for Lloyd's agent to act upon it. The Phantom had 
 sailed some hours before. She is still under her square 
 yards, and her name has been changed to the Dragon. 
 She was there on the 21st, and the letter is dated the 
 30th." 
 
 " And to-day is the 6th," George said. " So he has 
 fifteen days' start of us, besides the distance to Ma- 
 deira." 
 
 " Yes, she must be among the West Indies long 
 before we can hope to overtake her there, or at some 
 South American port." 
 
 " Then you have learnt for certain that she has 
 gone that way, Major ? " 
 
 "It is not quite certain, but I have no doubt 
 about it. Her papers say that she is bound for the 
 Cape, which is quite enough to show me that she is 
 not going there. I think it is the West Indies rather 
 than South America, for if she went to any Brazilian 
 port or Monte Video, or Buenos Ayres, she would be 
 much more likely to attract attention than she would 
 in the West Indies, where there are scores of islands 
 and places where she could cruise or lie hidden as long 
 as she liked. Yes, I have no doubt that is her destina- 
 tion. It is a nasty place to have to search, but sooner 
 or later we ought to be a"ble to find her. Fortunately 
 the negroes pretty nearly all speak English, Spanish, 
 or French, and we shall have no difficulty in getting 
 information wherever there is any information to be 
 had." 
 
 Four days later the Osprey anchored off Funchal. 
 
 The dingey at once put off with six water casks, and 
 
 Frank was rowed ashore in the gig, and had a talk 
 
 with his correspondent. The latter, however, could give 
 
 14
 
 206 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 him no more information than had been contained in 
 his letter, except that the white streak had been painted 
 out, and that the craft carried fourteen hands, all of 
 whom were foreigners. He could give no information 
 as to whether she would be likely to touch at either 
 the Canaries or the Cape de Verde Islands, but was 
 inclined to think that she would not. 
 
 " They took a very large stock of water on board," 
 he said, " and a much larger amount of meat, vege- 
 tables and fruit than they would have required had 
 they intended to put in there, and meat is a good deal 
 dearer here than it would be at St. Vincent, or even 
 Teneriffe. I should think from this that they had no 
 intention of putting in there, though they might touch 
 at St. Helena or Ascension, if they are really on their 
 way to the Cape. But after what you tell me I should 
 think that your idea that they have made for the West 
 Indies is the correct one. I should say that they were 
 likely to lie up in some quiet and sheltered spot there, 
 for it is the hurricane season now, and no one would 
 be cruising about among the islands if he could help 
 it. There are scores of places where he could lie in 
 shelter and no one be any the wiser, except, perhaps, 
 negro villagers on the shore." 
 
 " YeSj I should think that is what he would do," 
 Frank agreed. " How long does the hurricane season 
 last?" 
 
 " The worst time is between the middle of Septem- 
 ber and the middle of November, but you cannot de- 
 pend upon settled weather until the new year begins." 
 
 " Well, hurricane or no hurricane, I shall set out 
 on the search as soon as I get over there." 
 
 Two hours later the Osprey was again on her way. 
 The breeze was fresh and steady, and with her square- 
 sail set and her mizzen furled she ran along at over 
 nine knots an hour. One day succeeded another with- 
 out there being the least occasion to make any shift
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 207 
 
 in the canvas, and it was not until they were within 
 a day's sail of Porto Rico that the wind dropped almost 
 suddenly. Purvis at once ran below. 
 
 " The glass has fallen a long way since I looked at 
 it at breakfast," he said, as he returned. 
 
 " Then we are in for a blow," the skipper said ; " I 
 am new to these latitudes, but wherever you are you 
 know what to do when there is a sudden lull in the 
 wind and a heavy fall in the glass. Now, lads, get her 
 canvas off her." 
 
 " All down, captain ? " 
 
 " Every stitch. Andrews, do you and two others 
 get down into the sail locker and bring up the storm 
 jib, the small foresail, trysail, and storm mizzen; 
 if it is a tornado, we shan't want to show much sail 
 to it." 
 
 " If we are going to have a tornado, captain, I 
 should recommend that you get the mainsail loose 
 from the hoops, put the cover on, roll it up tightly to 
 the gaff and lash it to the bulwarks on one side, and 
 get the boom off and lash it on the other side." 
 
 " That will be a very good plan ; the lower we get 
 the weight the better." 
 
 When this was done the topmast was also sent down 
 and lashed by the sail ; the barrels, which were now all 
 empty, were lowered down into the saloon, while the 
 trysail was fastened to the hoops ready for hoisting, 
 and all the reefs tied up. A triangular mizzen was 
 then hoisted, and a storm jib. 
 
 " We won't get up the foresail at present," the cap- 
 tain said ; " I have reefed it right down, sir, but I 
 won't hoist it until we have got the first blow over." 
 
 " You had better see that everything is well se- 
 cured on deck, and if I were you I would put the jib 
 in stops; we can break it out when we like; but from 
 all accounts the first burst of these tornadoes is ter- 
 rific. I should leave the mizzen on her ; that will bring
 
 208 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 her head up to it, whichever way it comes, and she will 
 lie to under that and the jib." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but it is likely enough that we shall 
 have to sail. I have been reading about the tornadoes. 
 I picked up a book at Cowes the day we sailed, when 
 I saw that you were ordering the charts of these seas, 
 and have learnt what is the proper thing to do. The 
 wind is from the southeast at present, which means 
 that the centre of the hurricane lies to the southwest. 
 If the wind comes more from the east, as long as we 
 can sail we are to head northwest or else lie to on the 
 port tack; if it shifts more to the south, we are to lie 
 to on the starboard tack." 
 
 " That sounds all right, Hawkins ; it is very easy 
 to describe what ought to be done, but it is not so easy 
 to do it when you are in a gale that is almost strong 
 enough to take her mast out of her. I will tell you 
 what I would do. I would break up a couple of those 
 casks, and nail the staves over the skylights, and then 
 nail tarpaulins over them. I have no fear whatever 
 about her weathering the gale, but I expect that for a 
 bit we shall be more under water than above it. I see 
 Perry is getting the two anchors below; that will help 
 to ease her. At any rate she will be in good fighting 
 trim. I think we began none too soon ; there is a thick 
 mist over the sky, and it looks as dark as pitch ahead." 
 
 " There is only one thing more, sir," and the cap- 
 tain shouted, " All hands get tl.3 boats on deck, and 
 see that they are lashed firmly. Will you see to getting 
 in the davits out of the sockets, Purvis, and getting 
 them below? I ought to have done that before," he 
 went on, apologetically, " but I did not think of it. 
 However, with such a strong crew it won't take five 
 minutes, and we have got that and something to spare, 
 I think." 
 
 " You have got the bowsprit reefed, Hawkins ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir; full reefed."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 209 
 
 " There is only one thing more that I can suggest. 
 I fancy that these tornadoes begin with heavy light- 
 ning. Get those wire topmast stays, and twist them 
 tightly round the shrouds and lash them there, leav- 
 ing the ends to drop a fathom or two in the water. 
 In that way I don't think that we need be afraid of the 
 lightning. If it strikes us it will run down the wire 
 shrouds, and then straight into the water." 
 
 In five minutes all was in readiness, the boats se- 
 curely lashed on deck, the davits down below, and the 
 lightning protectors tied tightly to the wire shrouds. 
 
 " l$ow, captain, I think we have done all that we 
 can do. What are you doing now ? " 
 
 " I am running a life-line right round her, sir ; it 
 may save more than one life if the seas make a sweep 
 of her." 
 
 " You are right, captain ; these eighteen-inch bul- 
 warks are no great protection." 
 
 Four sailors speedily lashed a three-inch rope four 
 feet above the deck, from the forestay round the 
 shrouds and aft to the mizzen, hove as tight as they 
 could get it and then fastened. While this was being 
 done one of the mates cut up a piece of two-inch rope 
 into several foot lengths, and gave one to each of the 
 men and officers, including Frank and George Lech- 
 mere. 
 
 " If you tie the middle of that round your chest 
 under the arms, you will have the two ends ready to 
 lash yourself to windward when it gets bad; a couple 
 of twists round anything will keep you safe, however 
 much water may come over her." 
 
 " Do you mean to stay on deck, sir ? " the skipper 
 asked. " You won't be able to do any good, and the 
 fewer hands there are on deck the less there will be to 
 be anxious about. I shall only keep four hands for- 
 ward after the first burst is over, and they will be 
 lashed to the shrouds. Purvis will be there with them.
 
 210 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Perry and Andrews will take the helm, and I shall 
 stay with them. We have battened the fore hatch 
 down. One of the men will be in the after cabin, and 
 if I want to hoist the trysail or make any change I 
 shall give three knocks, and that will be a signal for 
 them to send half a dozen hands up. They will come 
 through the saloon and up the companion. We shan't 
 be able to open the fore hatch." 
 
 " Very well, skipper ; I will go down when the 
 hands do. We are going to have it soon." 
 
 It was now indeed so dark that he could scarcely 
 see the face of the man he was speaking to. " I really 
 think, captain, that I should send some of them down 
 below at once. If a flash of lightning were to strike 
 the mast, it would probably go down the shrouds harm- 
 lessly, but might do frightful damage among the men, 
 crowded as they are up here, or it might blind some 
 of them. Besides, the weight forward is no trifle." 
 
 " I think that you are right, sir," and, raising his 
 voice, the captain shouted, " All hands below except the 
 four men told off; go down by the companion." 
 
 " Would you mind their stopping in the saloon, 
 sir? It would make her more lively than if they all 
 went down into the fo'castle." 
 
 " Certainly not, captain ; " and accordingly the men 
 were ordered to remain in the saloon. 
 
 " You can light your pipes there, my lads," Frank 
 said, as they went down, " and make yourselves as 
 comfortable as you can." 
 
 The last man had scarcely disappeared when the 
 captain said: 
 
 " Look there, Major Mallett," and looking up Frank 
 saw a ball of phosphorescent light, some eighteen inches 
 in diameter, upon the mast-head. 
 
 " Plenty of electricity about," he said, cheerfully ; 
 " if they are all as harmless as that it won't hurt us." 
 
 But as he ceased speaking there was a crash of
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 211 
 
 thunder overhead that made the whole vessel quiver, 
 and at the same instant a flash of lightning, so vivid, 
 that for a minute or two Frank felt absolutely blinded. 
 Without a moment's intermission, flash followed flash, 
 while the crashes of thunder were incessant. 
 
 " I think that plan of yours has saved the ship, 
 sir," the captain said, when, after five minutes, the 
 lightning ceased as suddenly as it had begun. " I am 
 sure that a score of those flashes struck the mast, and 
 yet no damage has been done to it, so far as I could 
 see by the last flash. Are you all right there, Pur- 
 vis?" 
 
 " All right," the mate replied ; " scared a bit, I 
 fancy. I know I am myself, but none the worse 
 for it." 
 
 " It is coming now, sir," the captain said. " Lis- 
 ten." 
 
 Frank could hear a low, moaning noise, rapidly 
 growing louder, and then he saw a white line on the 
 water coming along with extraordinary velocity. 
 
 " Hard down with the helm, Perry," the captain, 
 said. 
 
 " Hard down it is, sir." 
 
 " Hold on all ! " the captain shouted. 
 
 A few seconds later the gale struck them. The 
 yacht shook as if in a collision, and heeled over till 
 the water was half up her deck. Then the weight of 
 her lead ballast told, and as the pressure on the mizzen 
 did its work, she gradually came up to the wind, get- 
 ting on to an almost even keel as she did so. 
 
 " Break out the jib and haul in the weather sheet," 
 the captain shouted. 
 
 Purvis was expecting this, and although he did not 
 hear the words above the howl of the storm, at once 
 obeyed the order. 
 
 " There she is, sir, lying-to like a duck," the skipper 
 shouted in Frank's ear ; " and none the worse for it.
 
 212 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 An ordinary craft would have turned turtle, but I have 
 seen her as far over when she has been racing." 
 
 " Well, I will go below now, Hawkins," Frank 
 shouted back ; " it is enough to blow the hair off one's 
 head. Come down, George, with me; you can be of no 
 use here."
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FOR eight hours the Osprey struggled with the 
 storm. The sea swept over her decks, and the dingey 
 was smashed into fragments, but the yacht rode with 
 far greater ease than an ordinary vessel would have 
 done, as, save for her bare mast, the wind had no hold 
 upon her. There were no spars with weight of furled 
 sails to catch the wind and hold her down; she was 
 in perfect trim, and her sharp bows met the waves like 
 a wedge, and suffered them to glide past her with 
 scarce a shock, while the added buoyancy gained by 
 reefing the bowsprit and getting the anchors below 
 lifted her over seas that, as they approached, seemed 
 as if they would make a clean sweep over her. 
 
 From time to time Frank went up for a few min- 
 utes, lashing himself to the runner to windward. The 
 three men at the helm Avere all sitting up, lashed to 
 cleats, and sheltering themselves as far as they could 
 by the bulwarks. Movement toward them was impos- 
 sible. Beyond a wave of the hand, no communication 
 could be held. Frank could not have ventured out had 
 he not, before going down below for the first time, 
 stretched a rope across the deck in front of the com- 
 panion, so that before going out he obtained a firm 
 grasp of it, and was by its assistance able to reach the 
 side safely. Each time he went out four of the crew 
 from below followed him and relieved those lashed to 
 the shrouds forward. The skipper was carrying out 
 the plan he had decided on, and the foresail was hoisted 
 a few feet, the Osprey by its aid gradually edging her 
 
 213
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 way out from the centre of the tornado. The hands 
 as they came down received a stiff glass of grog, and 
 were told to turn in at once. Two hours after the storm 
 broke Purvis came down for a few minutes. 
 
 " She is doing splendidly, sir," he said ; " I would 
 not have believed if I had not seen it that any craft 
 of her size could have gone through such a sea as this 
 and shipped so little water. We have had a few big 
 'uns come on board, but in general she goes over them 
 like a duck. It is hard work forward; you have got 
 to keep your back to it, for you can hardly get your 
 breath if you face it. If it was not for the lashings, 
 it would blow you right away. I have been at sea in 
 gales that we thought were big ones, but nothing like 
 this. Of course, with our heavy ballast and bare poles, 
 she don't lie over much; it is the sea and not the wind 
 that affects her, and her low free board is all in her 
 favour. But I believe a ship with a high side and 
 yards and top hamper would be blown down on her 
 beam ends and kept there." 
 
 " Do you think that it blows as hard as it did, 
 Purvis?" 
 
 " There ain't much difference, sir ; but I do think 
 there ain't quite so much weight in it. I expect we 
 are working our way out of it; we have been twice 
 round the compass. It is lucky we had not got down 
 among the islands before we caught it. I would not 
 give much for our chances if we had been there, for 
 these gales gradually wear themselves out as they get 
 farther from the islands." 
 
 In six hours the weather had so far moderated that 
 they were able to hoist the reefed foresail, and two 
 hours later the trysail was set with all the reefs in. 
 These were shaken out in a short time, the wind dying 
 away fast. Half the crew had turned into their ham- 
 mocks some time before, and the regular watch was 
 now set. The motion of the ship, however, was very
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 215 
 
 violent, for there was a heavy tumbling sea still on, 
 the waves having no general direction, but tossing in 
 confused masses and coming on to the deck, now on 
 one side, now on the other. At midnight Frank also 
 turned in, in his clothes, but he was soon up again, 
 for the motion of the yacht was so violent that he 
 found it next to impossible to keep from being jerked 
 out of his berth. The first mate had had four hours 
 off duty, and had just come up again to relieve the 
 captain. 
 
 " It is lucky, sir, that all our gear is nearly new," 
 he said, " for if it had not been, this rolling would 
 have taken the mast out of her. The strain on the 
 shrouds each time that she gets chucked over must be 
 tremendous." 
 
 " It would have been better for this sort of work 
 if we had had ten feet taken off that stick before we 
 started." 
 
 "Well, just for the present it would have been 
 better, sir; but even if we had had time I would not 
 have done it. "We should not have much chance of 
 overhauling the Phantom if we clipped our wings." 
 
 In another two hours the sea had sensibly moder- 
 ated. Frank again went down, and this time was able 
 to go to sleep. When he went on deck the sun was 
 some way up, the mainsail was set, and the reefs had 
 been shaken out. 
 
 " This is a change for the better, captain." 
 
 " It is indeed, sir ; I think that we have reason 
 to be proud of the craft; she has gone through a tor- 
 nado without having suffered the slightest damage, ex- 
 cept the loss of the dingey. I shall be getting the top- 
 mast up in another hour; you see, I have got her num- 
 ber two jib on her and shifted the mizzen, but she is 
 still a bit too lively to make it safe to get up the spar. 
 Like as not, if we did, it would snap off before we 
 could get the stays taut."
 
 216 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " I am terribly anxious about the Phantom," Frank 
 said, " and only trust that she was in a snug harbour 
 on the lee side of one of the islands." 
 
 " I hope so, sir ; I was thinking of her lots of times 
 when the gale was at its height. If she was, as you 
 say, in a good port, she would be right enough. Of 
 course, if she was out she would run for the nearest 
 shelter." 
 
 " If she had no more wind than we had before it 
 came on, she had not much chance of doing that." 
 
 " That is true enough, sir, but, you see, the glass 
 gave us notice three hours before we caught it. Be- 
 sides, they certainly took native pilots on board as 
 soon as they got out here, and these must have got them 
 into some safe place at the first sign of a gale." 
 
 " Yes, they must certainly have had a pilot on 
 board," Frank agreed, " and there is every ground to 
 hope that they were snugly at anchor. They were 
 three weeks ahead of us, and must know that it is the 
 hurricane season as well as we do. It is likely that 
 the first thing they did on their arrival was to search 
 for some quiet spot where they could lie up safely till 
 the bad season was over." 
 
 Late on the following afternoon land was seen 
 ahead. 
 
 " There is Porto Rico, sir. It may not be quite our 
 nearest point to make, but there are no islands lying 
 outside it; so that it was safer to make for it than for 
 places where the islands seemed to be as thick as peas." 
 
 " Yes, and for the same reason it is likely that Car- 
 thew made for it. Of course, naturally we should 
 have both gone for either Barbadoes or Antigua, or 
 Barbuda, the most northern of the Leeward Islands; 
 but he would not do so if he intends to keep his Bel- 
 gian colours flying. And indeed it would seem curious 
 that two English gentlemen should be cruising about 
 in a Belgian trader. You may take it that he is cer-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 217 
 
 tain to put into a port for water and vegetables, just 
 as we have to do. There seem to be at least half a 
 dozen on this side of the island. He may have gone 
 into any of them, but he would be most likely to choose 
 a small place. However, at one or other of them we 
 are likely to get news, and the first thing for us to do 
 is to get a good black pilot, who can talk some Eng- 
 lish as well as Spanish." 
 
 " It is likely we shall have to take three or four 
 of them before we have done. A man here might know 
 the Virgin Islands, and perhaps most of the Leeward 
 'Islands, but he might not know anything east, west, 
 or north of San Domingo. We should certainly want 
 another pilot for the Bahamas, and a third for Cuba 
 and the islands round it, which can be counted almost 
 by the hundred. Then again, none of these would 
 know the islands fringing almost the whole of the 
 coast from Honduras to Trinidad. However, I hope 
 we shall not have to search them. There is an ample 
 cruising ground and any number of hiding-places with- 
 out having to go so far out of the world as that. At 
 any rate, at present he is not likely to have gone far, 
 and I think that he will either have sought some se- 
 cluded shelter among the Virgin Islands or on the coast 
 of San Domingo." 
 
 When within a few miles of Porto Rico they lay 
 to for the night, and the next morning coasted west- 
 ward, and dropped anchor in the port of San Juan 
 de Porto Rico. 
 
 A quarter of an hour after dropping anchor the 
 port officials came on board. The inspection of the 
 ship's papers was a short formality, the white ensign 
 and the general appearance of the craft showing her 
 at once to be an English yacht, and as she had only 
 touched at Madeira on her way from Gibraltar, and 
 all 011 board were in good health, she was at once given 
 pratique.
 
 218 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " The first thing to do is to get an interpreter," 
 Frank said, as he was rowed to shore, accompanied 
 by George Lechmere. " The secretary of Lloyd's gave 
 me a list of their agents all over the world. It is a 
 Spanish firm here, and it is probable that none of them 
 speaks English, but if so I have no doubt that by aid 
 of this signal-book I shall be able to make them under- 
 stand what I want. I have a circular letter of intro- 
 duction from Lloyd's secretary." 
 
 He had no difficulty in discovering the place of 
 business of Senor Juan Cordovo, and on sending in his 
 card and the letter of introduction was at once shown 
 into an inner office. He was received with grave 
 courtesy by the merchant, who, on learning that he 
 did not speak Spanish, touched a bell on his table. A 
 clerk entered, to whom he spoke a few words. The 
 young man then turned to Frank, and said : " I speak 
 English, sir. Senor Cordovo wishes me to assure you 
 that all he has is at your disposal, and that he will 
 be happy to assist you in any way that you may point 
 out." 
 
 " Please assure Senor Cordovo of my high consid- 
 eration and gratitude for his offer. Will you inform 
 him that I. intend to cruise for some time among the 
 islands, and that I desire to obtain the services of an 
 interpreter, speaking English and Spanish; and if he 
 posessses some knowledge of French, so much the 
 better." 
 
 The reply was translated to the merchant, who con- 
 versed with the interpreter for two or three minutes. 
 The latter then turned to Frank. 
 
 " I have a brother, senor, who like myself speaks 
 the three languages. He is at present out of employ- 
 ment, and would, I am sure, be very glad to engage 
 himself to you as your interpreter." 
 
 " That would be the very thing," Frank said. " Does 
 he live in the town ? "
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 219 
 
 " Yes, senor ; I could fetch him here in a few min- 
 utes if Senor Cordovo will permit me to do so." 
 
 The merchant at once granted the clerk's request. 
 
 " Will you tell Senor Cordovo," Frank said, " that 
 I do not wish to occupy his valuable time, and that 
 I will return here in a quarter of an hour ? " 
 
 The merchant, however, through the clerk, assured 
 Frank that he would not hear of his leaving, and pro- 
 ducing a box of cigars, begged him to seat himself 
 until the arrival of the interpreter. He then said some- 
 thing else to the clerk, and the latter asked Frank if 
 he wanted any supplies for the yacht, as his employer 
 acted as agent for shipping.' 
 
 " Certainly," Frank said, glad to have the oppor- 
 tunity of repaying the civility shown him. " I require 
 fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, sufficient for twenty- 
 five persons. I shall also be glad if he will arrange 
 for boats to take off water. My barrels and tanks are 
 nearly empty, and I shall want a supply of about a 
 thousand gallons." 
 
 While the clerk was absent Frank, with the assist- 
 ance of the signal-book, kept up a somewhat disjointed 
 conversation with the Spaniard. The clerk was, how- 
 ever, away but a few minutes, and returned with his 
 brother, an intelligent-looking young fellow of seven- 
 teen or eighteen. He did not speak English quite as 
 well as the clerk, but sufficiently well for all purposes. 
 Frank asked him his terms, which seemed to him ridicu- 
 lously low, and a bargain was forthwith arranged. 
 
 " Will you ask Senor Cordovo if any other English 
 yacht has been here during the past three weeks or a 
 month? I have a friend on board one, and I fancy 
 that she is cruising out here also." 
 
 The merchant replied that no English yacht had 
 touched at the port for some months, and that such 
 visits were extremely rare. He assured him that the 
 stores ordered would be alongside in the course of the
 
 220 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 afternoon, and expressed his regret when Frank de- 
 clined his invitation to stay with him for a day or two 
 at his country house. After renewed thanks, Frank 
 took his departure with his new interpreter, whose 
 name was Pedro. George Lechmere was waiting at 
 the corner of the street. 
 
 " I have arranged everything satisfactorily, George. 
 This young man is coming with me as interpreter, and 
 as he speaks both French and Spanish we shall get on 
 well in future. When will you be ready to come on 
 board, Pedro ? " 
 
 " In half an hour, senor." 
 
 "You will find my boat at the quay. Take your 
 things down to it. It is a white boat with a British 
 flag at the stern. But I don't want you to go off yet; 
 I have two things I want you to do before you go. In 
 the first place, I want a pilot; I want one who knows 
 the Virgin Islands well, and also the coast of San 
 Domingo." 
 
 " There will be no difficulty about that, senor." 
 
 " In the second place, I want to find out from the 
 boatmen at the quays whether a Belgian schooner of 
 seventy or eighty tons has touched here during the 
 last month. She carries large yards on her foremast, 
 and is a very fast-looking craft. She was at one time 
 an English yacht. If she called here I wish to know 
 whether she sailed east or west, and if possible to ob- 
 tain an idea as to her destination." 
 
 " There was such a vessel here, senor, for I noticed 
 her myself. She only remained a few hours while 
 her boats took off water and vegetables. I happened 
 to notice her, for having nothing to do I was down at 
 the quays, and the boatmen were talking about her, 
 she being a craft such as is seldom seen now. Some 
 of the old men said that she reminded them of the 
 privateers in the great war. I went down to the boats 
 when they first came ashore. The men only spoke
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 221 
 
 French, and they paid me a dollar to go round with 
 them to make their purchases. They took them, and 
 also the water, off in their own boats, which surprised 
 me, for they were very handsome boats, much more 
 handsome than I have seen in any ship that ever came 
 here. I said that it would cost them but a very small 
 sum to send the barrels off in the native boats, but they 
 insisted upon taking them themselves. I don't know 
 which way they sailed, because I went home as soon as 
 they went away from the quay, but the boatmen will 
 be able to tell me." 
 
 He went away and talked with some of the negro 
 boatmen, and soon returned, saying that she sailed 
 westward. 
 
 "At what time did she sail?" 
 
 " It was just getting dark, senor, for they said that 
 they could scarcely make her out, but she certainly 
 went west." 
 
 " Well, all you have to do now, Pedro, is to hire a 
 pilot. Get the best man that you can find. I want 
 one who knows every foot of the Virgin Islands; we 
 are going there first. It does not matter so much about 
 his knowing San Domingo, for as we shall probably 
 come back here we can put him ashore and get another 
 pilot specially for San Domingo. Be sure you get the 
 best man that you can find whatever his terms are. 
 We will be back again here in half an hour. 
 
 " That is satisfactory indeed, George," Frank went 
 on, as they turned away. " Of course, strongly as we 
 believed that he might be here, there was no absolute 
 certainty about it, for he might have gone to the South 
 American ports, or even have headed for the Gulf of 
 Florida. You see he is not only here, but came to the 
 very island we thought that he would most likely make 
 for. As for his going west, no doubt that was merely 
 a ruse. He did not get up anchor until it was getting 
 so dark that he would be able in the course of half an 
 15
 
 222 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 hour to change his course, and make for the Virgin 
 Islands without fear of being observed. I don't sup- 
 pose that they have any idea whatever of being fol- 
 lowed, but they take every precaution in their power 
 to cover up their traces. You noticed, of course, their 
 anxiety that no shore boat should go off to them. Well, 
 George, we have succeeded so well thus far that I feel 
 confident that we shall overhaul them before long. As 
 far as one can see on the chart, most of these Virgin 
 Islands are mere rocks, and the number we shall have 
 to search will not be very great, and if the pilot really 
 knows his business, he ought to be able to take us to 
 every inlet where they would be likely to anchor." 
 
 Pedro was awaiting them when they returned to 
 the boat, and was accompanied by a big negro, who 
 by the grin on his good-natured face was evidently 
 highly satisfied with the bargain that he had made. 
 
 " This is the man, senor," Pedro said. " I met one 
 of the port officers I know, and he told me that he was 
 considered to be the best pilot in the island. He 
 speaks a little English most of the pilots do, for 
 several of the Virgin Islands belong to your people 
 and, of course, when he goes down to the Windward 
 Islands " 
 
 " The Windward Islands ! " Frank repeated. " Why, 
 they are not anywhere near here." 
 
 " I should have said the Leeward Islands, senor. 
 The English call them so, but we and the Danes and 
 the Dutch all call them the Windward Islands." 
 
 " Oh, I understand. What is your name, my man ? " 
 
 " Dominique, sar. Me talk English bery well. Me 
 take you to any port you want to go. Me know all de 
 rocks and shoals. Bery plenty dey is, but Dominique 
 knows ebery one of dem." 
 
 " That is all right ; you are just the man I want. 
 Well, are you ready to go on board at once ? " 
 
 " Me ready in an hour, sar ; go home now, say good-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 223 
 
 bye to wife and piccaninnies. Pedro just tell me that 
 boat go off with water in one, two hours. Dominique 
 go off with him. Me like five dollars to give wife to 
 buy tings while me am away." 
 
 " All right, Dominique, here you are. Now don't 
 you miss the boat, or we shall quarrel at starting, and 
 I shall send ashore at once and engage someone else." 
 
 " Dominique come, sar, that for sure ; me good 
 man; always keep promise." 
 
 " Well, here is another couple of dollars, Domi- 
 nique; that is a present. You give that to the wife 
 and tell her to buy something for the piccaninnies 
 with it." 
 
 So saying, Frank, George Lechmere, and Pedro 
 Stepped on board the boat, while the pilot walked off, 
 his black face beaming with satisfaction. 
 
 He came off duly with the last water-boat, and 
 while the contents of the barrels were being trans- 
 ferred to the tanks for now that the long run was 
 accomplished there was no longer any necessity for 
 carrying a greater supply than these could hold 
 Frank had a talk with him. 
 
 " Now, Dominique, this is, you know, a yacht cruis- 
 ing about on pleasure." 
 
 " Yes, sar, me know dat." 
 
 " At the same time," Frank went on, " we have an 
 object in view. Just at present we want to find that 
 schooner or brigantine that put in here nearly a month 
 ago. She carried a heavy spread of canvas on her 
 yards, and lay very low in the water." 
 
 The pilot nodded. "Me remember him, sar; could 
 not make out de craft nohow; some people said she 
 pirate, but dar ain't no pirates now." 
 
 " That is so, Dominique ; still there may be rea- 
 sons sometimes for wanting to overhaul a vessel, and 
 I have such a reason. What it is, is of no consequence. 
 Pedro tells me that when she got under sail she went
 
 224: THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 west, but as it was just dark when she sailed she may 
 very well have turned as soon as she was hidden from 
 sight and have gone east, and it seems to me likely that 
 she would, in the first place, have made for one of the 
 Virgin Islands." 
 
 " It depends, sar, upon the trade that he wanted to 
 do; not much trade dere, sar. The trade is done at 
 Tortola, dat English island, and at St. Thomas or 
 Santa Cruz, dem Danish islands; all de oders do little 
 trade." 
 
 " Yes, Dominique, but I don't think that she wants 
 to trade at all ; what she wants to do is to lie up quietly, 
 where she would not be noticed." 
 
 " Plenty of places in the islands for dat, sar." 
 
 "Did they take a pilot here?" 
 
 Dominique shook his head. 
 
 " No, sar ; several offers, but no take. If want to 
 hide, they no want pilot from here; they take up a 
 fisherman among the islands, to show dem good place. 
 But plenty of places much better in San Domingo or 
 duba. Why dey stop Virgin Islands? Little places, 
 many got no water, no food, no noting but bare 
 rock." 
 
 " I think that they would go in there, because, as 
 the hurricane season had begun when they got here, 
 they would think it better to run into the port." 
 
 " Hurricane not bad here, sar ; bery bad down at 
 what English call Leeward Islands. Have dem some- 
 times here, not bery often; had one four days ago, one 
 ob de worse me remember. We not likely to have an- 
 other dis year." 
 
 " That is satisfactory, Dominique ; we got caught 
 in it the other day, and I don't want to meet another. 
 Well, you understand what I want. To begin with, 
 to search all the places a vessel that did not want to 
 attract notice would be likely to lie up in. We want 
 to question people as to whether she has been seen,
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 225 
 
 and if we don't find her, to hear whether, when last 
 seen, she was sailing in the direction of the Leeward 
 Islands, or going west." 
 
 " Me find out, sar," the negro said, confidently ; 
 " someone sure to have seen her." 
 
 " Well, you had better come below ; I have got a 
 chart, and you shall mark all the islands where there 
 are any bays that she would be likely to take shelter 
 in, and we can then see the order in which we had 
 better take them." 
 
 This was a little beyond Dominique's English, but 
 Pedro explained it to him, and at Frank's request went 
 below with them, Frank telling Hawkins to weigh an- 
 chor as soon as the tanks were filled and ths stores were 
 on board. He had, before he came off, returned to 
 Senor Cordovo and paid for all the things supplied. 
 Going through the islands, one by one, Dominique 
 made a cross against all that possessed harbours or 
 inlets that would each have to be examined. 
 
 " Tortola is the least likely of the places for them 
 to go," Frank said, " as it is a British island." 
 
 " Not many people dar, sar. Most people in town, 
 de rest of island rock, all hills broken up, many good 
 harbours." 
 
 " What is its size, Dominique ? " 
 
 " Twelve miles long, sar ; two miles wide." 
 
 " Well, that is not a great deal to search, if we 
 have to examine every inch of the coast. How many 
 people are there ? " 
 
 " Two, three hundred white men ; dey live in de 
 town most all; two, three thousand blacks." 
 
 " Well, we will begin with the others. I should 
 think that in a fortnight we ought to be able to do 
 them all." 
 
 The next twelve days were occupied in a fruitless 
 search. Every fishing boat was overhauled and ques- 
 tioned, and Frank and Pedro went ashore to every
 
 226 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 group of huts. The only fact that they learned was 
 that a schooner answering to the description had been 
 seen some time before. The information respecting 
 her was, however, very vague, for some asserted that 
 she was sailing one way, some another, and Frank con- 
 cluded that she had cruised about for some days before 
 deciding where to lie up. It was at Tortola that they 
 first gained any useful information. Many vessels had, 
 during the last six weeks, entered one or other of the 
 deep creeks, and one of them had laid up for nearly a 
 month in a narrow inlet with but one or two negro 
 huts on shore. It was undoubtedly the Phantom, or 
 rather the Dragon, for the negroes had noticed that 
 name on her stern. She had sailed on the day after 
 the hurricane, and, as they learned from shore villages 
 at other points, had gone west. 
 
 " Well, it is a comfort to think that even if we had 
 sailed direct here from Porto Rico we should not have 
 caught her," Frank said to George Lechmere. " She 
 had left here two days before we got there. I suppose 
 they have someone on board who has been in the islands 
 before, for certainly the harbours are the best in the 
 group. No doubt they got some fishermen to bring 
 them into the creek. Well, there is nothing to do but 
 to turn her head west. It is but forty-eight hours' sail 
 to San Domingo, and I fancy that it is likely that he 
 will have stopped there. You see on the chart that 
 there are numberless bays, and there would be no fear 
 of questions being asked by the blacks. If we don't 
 find him there we must try Cuba; but San Domingo 
 is by far the most likely place for him to choose for 
 his headquarters, and there are at least four biggish 
 rivers he could sail up, beside a score of smaller ones. 
 I should say that we had better try the south and west 
 first. The coast is a great deal more indented there 
 than it is to the north; there seem to be any number 
 of creeks and bays. I should think that he would be
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 227 
 
 likely to make one of these his headquarters and spend 
 his time cruising about." 
 
 Although Dominique professed a thorough knowl- 
 edge of the coast of San Domingo and Hayti, Frank 
 could see that he was not so absolutely certain as he 
 was of the Virgin Islands, and he told him to land at 
 villages as he passed along and bring fishermen off 
 acquainted with the waters in their locality. 
 
 " Dat am de safest way for sure, sar," Dominique 
 said ; " dis chile know de coast bery well, can pilot 
 ship into town of San Domingo or any oder port that 
 ships go to, but he could not say for certain where all 
 de rocks and shoals are along places where de ships 
 neber go in." 
 
 Three days later the Osprey, after sailing along the 
 northern shore, arrived at Porto Rico, and passing 
 through the Mona channel between that island and San 
 Domingo, dropped anchor in the port of the capital. 
 Dominique went ashore with Pedro and spent some 
 hours in boarding coasting craft and questioning 
 negroes whether they had seen the brigantine. Several 
 of them had noticed her. She had been cruising off 
 the coast and had put in at the mouth of the Nieve 
 and at Jaquemel on the south coast of Hayti. They 
 heard of her, too, in the deep bay at the west of the 
 island between Capes Dame Marie and La Move. Some 
 had seen her sailing one way, some another; she had 
 evidently been, as Frank had expected, cruising about, 
 Pedro put down the dates of the times at which she 
 had been seen, but negroes are very vague as to time, 
 and beyond the fact that some had seen her about a 
 week before, while in other cases it was nearer a fort- 
 night, he could ascertain nothing with certainty. So 
 far as he could learn, she had only put into three ports, 
 although the coasters he boarded came from some 
 twenty different localities. 
 
 "I fancy that it is as I expected," Frank said,
 
 228 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " they have one regular headquarters to which they re- 
 turn frequently. It may be some very secluded spot, 
 it may be up one of these small rivers marked on the 
 chart there are a score of them between Cape la Move 
 and here. She does not seem to have been seen as far 
 east as this. Of course, she has not put in here, be- 
 cause there are some eight or ten foreign ships here 
 now. Everyone of these twenty rivers has plenty of 
 water for vessels of her draught for some miles up. I 
 fancy our best chance will be to meet her cruising." 
 
 " The worst of that would be, Major," George Lech- 
 mere said, " that she would know us, and if she sails 
 as well as she used to do, we should not catch her be- 
 fore night came on if she had seven or eight miles' 
 start especially if we both had the wind aft." 
 
 " That is just what I am afraid of ; I have no doubt 
 that we could beat her easily working to windward in 
 her present rig, but I am by no means certain that she 
 could not run away from us if we were both free; and 
 if she once recognised us there is no saying where she 
 might go to after she had shaken us off. Certainly she 
 would not stay in these waters. The question is how 
 can we disguise ourselves ? If we took down our mizzen 
 and dirtied the rest of our sails, it would not be much 
 of a disguise. Nothing but a yacht carries anything 
 like as big a mainsail as ours, and our big jib and fore- 
 sail, and the straight bowsprit would tell the tale. Of 
 course, we could fasten some wooden battens along her 
 side, and stretch canvas over them, and paint it black, 
 and so raise her side three feet, but even then the nar- 
 rowness of her hull, seen end on as it would be, in com- 
 parison to the height of the mast and spread of canvas 
 would strike Carthew at once." 
 
 " We could follow his example, sir, and make her 
 into a brig. I dare say we could get it done in a 
 week." 
 
 " That might spoil her sailing, and as soon as he 

 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 found that we were in chase of him he would at once 
 suspect that something was wrong. That would, of 
 all things, be the worst, especially if he found which 
 would be just as likely as not that he had the legs 
 of us. 
 
 " I believe the most certain way of all would be to 
 search for her in the boats. If we were to paint the 
 gig black, so that it would not attract attention, give 
 a coating of grey paint to the oars, and hire a black 
 crew, we could coast along and stop at every village, 
 and search every bay, and row far enough up each 
 river to find some village or hut where we could learn 
 whether the Phantom has been in the habit of going 
 up there. It would take some time, of course, but it 
 might be a good deal of time saved in the long run. 
 We could do a great deal of sailing. The gig stands 
 well up to canvas when the crew are sitting in the bot- 
 tom, and we could fit her out with a native rig. From 
 here to Cape La Move, following the indentations, must 
 be somewhere between five and six hundred miles, per- 
 haps more than that. The breeze is regular, and with 
 a sail we ought to make from forty to fifty miles a day 
 say forty so that in three weeks we should thor- 
 oughly have searched the coast, even allowing for put- 
 ting in three or four times a day to make inquiries. 
 The yacht must follow, keeping a few miles astern. 
 At any rate she must not pass us. At night when she 
 anchors she must have two head lights, one at the 
 crosstrees and one at the topmast head. I shall be on 
 the look-out for her, and we will take some blue lights 
 and some red lights with us. Every night I will burn 
 a blue light, say at nine o'clock. A man in the cross- 
 trees will make it out twenty miles away, and that will 
 tell them where I am, and that I don't want them. If 
 I burn a red light it will be a signal for the yacht to 
 come and pick me up." 
 
 " Then you will go in the boat yourself, Major ? "
 
 230 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Yes, I must be doing something. I shall take 
 Pedro with me, and perhaps Dominique. We can get 
 another pilot here. Dominique is a shrewd fellow, and 
 can get more out of the negroes than Pedro can. Cer- 
 tainly, that will be the best plan, and will avoid the 
 necessity of spoiling the yacht's speed, which may be 
 of vital importance to us at a critical moment. Call 
 Dominique down. I will send him ashore at once with 
 Pedro to get hold of a good pilot and four good negro 
 boatmen, and a native sail. I think that is all we 
 want."
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 As soon as the dingey, with Dominique and Pedro, 
 had left the side of the yacht, the captain, by Frank's 
 orders, set four men to work to paint the gig black, 
 while others gave a coat of dull lead colour to the 
 varnished oars. The order was received with much 
 surprise by the men, who audibly expressed their regret 
 at seeing their brightly varnished boat and oars thus 
 disfigured. 
 
 After about three hours on shore the dingey re- 
 turned loaded with fruit and vegetables, which Pedro 
 had purchased, and a native mast and sail. The former 
 was at once cut so as to step in the gig. The sail was 
 hoisted, and was then taken in hand by one of the 
 crew, who was a fair sailmaker, to be altered so as to 
 stand flatter. Half an hour later the new pilot and 
 four powerful negroes came alongside in a shore boat. 
 
 It was now late in the afternoon, so the start was 
 postponed until the next morning. A few other ar- 
 rangements were made as to signalling, and it was 
 settled that if Frank showed a red light a rocket should 
 be sent up from the yacht, to show that the signal had 
 been observed, and that they were getting up sail. 
 They were to keep their lights up, so that Frank could 
 make them out as they came up, and put off to meet 
 them. George Lechmere saw to the preparations for 
 victualling the gig. Two large hampers of fresh pro- 
 visions were placed on board, and two four-and-a-half 
 gallon kegs of water. A bundle of rugs was placed 
 in the stern sheets, and the boat's flagstaff was fixed 
 
 231
 
 232 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 in its place in the stern. The yard of the sail was at 
 night to be lashed from the mast to the staff at a height 
 of four feet above the gunwale, and across this the 
 sail was to be thrown to act as a tent. A kettle, frying- 
 pan, plates, knives and forks, were put in forward, and 
 a box of signal lights under the seat aft. Canisters 
 of tea, sugar, coffee, and all necessaries had been stowed 
 away in the hamper, together with a plentiful supply 
 of tobacco; and a bag of twenty-eight pounds of flour, 
 wrapped up in tarpaulin, was placed under one of the 
 thwarts. 
 
 As soon as it was daylight, anchor was got up, and 
 when the yacht had sailed for seven or eight miles to 
 the west the gig was lowered, and the four black boat- 
 men took their places in her. Frank took the rudder 
 lines, and Dominique sat near him. The sail was then 
 hoisted, and as the wind was light the boatmen got 
 out their oars, and shot ahead of the Osprey, directing 
 their course obliquely towards the shore. 
 
 It was not necessary to land at the coast villages 
 here, as it was morally certain that the Phantom had 
 not touched anywhere within twenty or thirty miles of 
 San Domingo, and she would hardly have entered any 
 of the narrow rivers at night. Nevertheless they did 
 not pass any of these without rowing up them. When 
 some native huts were reached, Dominique closely 
 questioned the negroes. 
 
 The pilot had by this time been informed of the 
 cause of their search for the Phantom, which had, until 
 they left San Domingo, been a profound mystery to 
 him. Frank, however, being now fully convinced both 
 of the negro's trustworthiness, and of his readiness to 
 do all in his power to assist, thought it as well to con- 
 fide in him, and when they were together in the boat, 
 informed him that the brigantine they were searching 
 for had carried off a young lady and her maid from 
 England."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 233 
 
 " That man must be a rascal," the negro said, an- 
 grily. " What do he want dat lady for, sar ? He love 
 her bery much ? " 
 
 " No, Dominique, what he loves is her fortune. She 
 is rich, he has gambled away a fine property, and wants 
 her money to set him on his legs again." 
 
 " Bery bad fellow dat," the pilot said, shaking his 
 head, earnestly ; " ought to be hung dat chap ; Domi- 
 nique do all he can to help you, sar; do more now for 
 you and dat young lady; we find him for suah. You 
 tink there will be any fighting, sar ? " 
 
 " I think it likely that he will show fight when we 
 come up with him, but you see I have a very strong 
 crew, and I have arms for them all." 
 
 " Dat good. Me wonder often why you have so 
 many men. Nothing for half of dem to do. Now me 
 understand. Well, sar, if there be any fighting, you 
 see me fight; you gib me cutlass; me fight like debil." 
 
 " Thank you, Dominique," Frank said, warmly, 
 though with some difficulty repressing a smile. " I 
 shall count on you if we have to use force. As far as 
 I am concerned, I own that I should prefer that they 
 did resist, for I should like nothing better than to 
 stand face to face with that villain, each of us armed 
 with a cutlass." 
 
 " If he know you here, he go up river, get plenty 
 of black men fight for him. Black fellow bery fool- 
 ish. Give him little present he fight." 
 
 " I had not thought of that, Dominique ; yes, if 
 he has made some creek his headquarters he might, as 
 you say, get the people to take his side by giving them 
 presents ; that is, if he knew that we were here. How- 
 ever, at present he cannot dream that we are after 
 him, and if we can but come upon him unawares we 
 shall make short work of him." 
 
 No news whatever was obtained of the schooner 
 until the headland of La Catariiia was passed, but
 
 234 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 at the large village of Azua they learned that she had 
 anchored for a night in the bay five days before. She 
 had been seen to sail out, and certainly had not turned 
 into the river Niova. Touching at every village and 
 exploring every inlet, Frank continued his course until, 
 after rounding the bold promontory of La Beata, he 
 reached the bay at the head of which stands Jaquemel. 
 
 Every two or three days they had communicated 
 with the Osprey and slept on board her, leaving her at 
 anchor with her sails down until they had gone some 
 ten miles in advance. She had at times been obliged 
 to keep at some distance from the shore, owing to the 
 dangers from rocks and shoals. The pilot on board 
 would have taken her through, but Frank was unwill- 
 ing to encounter any risk, unless absolutely necessary. 
 At Jaquemel he learnt that the schooner had put in 
 there a fortnight before, but neither there nor at any 
 point after leaving Azua had she been seen since that 
 time. She had sailed west. The next night, after 
 looking in at Bainette, some twenty miles beyond 
 Jaquemel, Frank rejoined the Osprey. 
 
 The gig was hoisted up, and they sailed round the 
 point of Gravois, the coast intervening being so rocky 
 and dangerous that, although there was a passage 
 through the shoals to the town of St. Louis, Frank felt 
 certain that the schooner would not be in there. The 
 coast from here to Cape Dame Marie was high and 
 precipitous, with no indentations where a ship could 
 lie concealed, and the voyage was continued in the 
 yacht as far as this cape. They were now at the en- 
 trance of the great bay of Hayti. 
 
 "I take it as pretty certain," Frank said, as he, 
 George Lechmere, the skipper, and Dominique bent 
 over the chart, " that the schooner is somewhere in this 
 bay. She has certainly not made her headquarters any- 
 where along the south coast. In the first place, she 
 has seldom been seen, and in the second we have ex-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 235 
 
 amined it thoroughly; therefore I take it that she is 
 somewhere here, unless, of course, she has sailed for 
 Cuba. But I don't see why she should have done that. 
 The coast there is a good deal more dangerous than 
 that of San Domingo. He could not want a better 
 place for cruising about than this bay; you see, it is 
 about ninety miles across the mouth, and over a hun- 
 dred to Port au Prince, with indentations and harbours 
 all round, and with the island of Genarve, some forty 
 miles long, to run behind in the centre. He could get 
 everything he wants at Port au Prince, or at Petit 
 Gouarve, which looks a good-sized place. 
 
 " I should say, in the first place, that we could not 
 do better than run down at night to the island of 
 Genarve and anchor close under it. From there we 
 shall see him if he comes out of Port au Prince, or 
 Petit Gouve, whichever side he may take, and by get- 
 ting-on to an elevated spot have a view of pretty nearly 
 the whole bay. Looking at it at present, the two most 
 likely spots for him to make his headquarters are in 
 that very sheltered inlet behind the point of Halle on 
 the north side, or in the equally sheltered bay and 
 inlet under the Bee de Marsouin on the south. From 
 Genarve we ought to be able to see him coming out of 
 either of them. It is not above five-and-twenty miles 
 from the island to the Bee de Marsouin, and forty to 
 the point of Halle; we might not see him come out 
 from there, but we should soon make him out if he 
 were coming down from Port au Prince." 
 
 It was agreed that this was the best plan to adopt. 
 It might lead to their sighting the schooner in a day 
 or two, while to row round the bay and search every 
 inlet in it would take them a fortnight. From Genarve, 
 too, a forty-mile sail in the gig would take them into 
 Port au Prince, which the brigantine might possibly 
 have made its headquarters. Accordingly, after wait- 
 ing until nightfall, they got up sail, and anchored at
 
 236 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 six in the morning in a small bay in the island cf 
 Genarve. Here they would not be likely to attract the 
 notice of any ship passing up to Port au Prince, unless, 
 which was very unlikely, one came along close to the 
 shore. 
 
 As soon as the anchor was dropped both boats rowed 
 to shore. Frank, George Lechmere, Pedro, and four 
 sailors, with a basket of provisions, started at once 
 for the highest point in the island, some four miles 
 distant. Dominique went along the shore with two 
 sailors, to make inquiries at any villages they came to. 
 
 On reaching the top of the hill, Frank saw that, as 
 he had expected, it commanded an extensive view over 
 the bay on each side of the island, which was but some 
 six miles across. A village could be seen on the north- 
 ern shore, some three miles distant; and to this Pedro, 
 with one of the sailors, was at once despatched. Both 
 parties rejoined Frank soon after mid-day. The 
 schooner had been noticed passing the island several 
 times, but much more often on the southei'n side than 
 on the northern. The negroes on that side were all 
 agreed that she generally kept on the southern side of 
 the passage, and that more than once she had been 
 seen coming from the south shore, and passing the 
 western point of the island on her way north. 
 
 " That looks as if she came from Petit Gouve, or 
 the bay of Mitaquane, or that under the Bee de Mar- 
 souin," Frank said. 
 
 " Dat is it, sar," Dominique agreed. " If she want 
 to go north side of bay from Port au Prince, she would 
 have gone either side of island. I expect she lie under 
 de Bee. Fine, safe place dat, no town there, plenty of 
 wood all round, and villages where she get fruit and 
 vegetables; sure to be little stream where she can get 
 water." 
 
 The watch was maintained until sunset, but, al- 
 though a powerful telescope had been brought up, no
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 237 
 
 vessel at all corresponding to the appearance of the 
 brigantine was made out. 
 
 At six o'clock the next morning Frank was again 
 at the look-out, and scarcely had he turned his tele- 
 scope to the south shore than he saw the brigantine 
 come out from behind the Bee de Marsouin and head 
 towards the west. The wind was blowing from that 
 quarter, and after a few minutes' deliberation, Frank 
 told the men to follow him and dashed down the hill. 
 In half an hour he reached the shore opposite the yacht, 
 and at his shout the dingey, which was lying at her 
 stern, at once rowed ashore. 
 
 " Get up the anchor, captain, and make sail. I 
 have seen her; she has just come out from the Bee, 
 and is making west. As the wind is against her, it 
 seems to me that he would never choose that direction 
 to cruise in unless he was starting for Cuba, and I 
 dare not let the opportunity slip. If he once gets clear 
 away we may have months of work before we find him 
 again, and as the wind now is, I am sure that we can 
 overhaul him long before he can make Cuba. Indeed, 
 as we lie, we are nearer to that coast than he is, and 
 can certainly cut him off." 
 
 In five minutes the Osprey was under way with all 
 sail set. The wind was nearly due west, and as Cuba 
 lay to the north of that point, she had an advantage 
 that quite counter-balanced that gained by the start 
 the Phantom had obtained. In two hours the look- 
 out at the head of the mast shouted down that he 
 could perceive the brigantiiie's topsail. 
 
 " She is sailing in towards the land on that side," 
 he said ; " she has evidently made a tack out, and is 
 now on the starboard tack again." 
 
 " It will be a long leg and a short one with her, sir," 
 
 the skipper said. " I think that if we were in her place 
 
 -we could just manage to lay our course along the coast, 
 
 but with those square yards of hers, she cannot go as 
 
 16
 
 238 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 close to the wind as we can. As it is, we can lay our 
 course to cut her off." 
 
 " It would be rather a close pinch to do so before 
 she gets to the head of the bay," Frank said. 
 
 " Yes, sir, and I don't suppose that we shall over- 
 haul her before that, but we certainly shan't be far 
 behind her by the time she gets there. I think that 
 we shall cut her off if the wind holds as it does now. 
 At any rate, if she should get there first, we should 
 certainly lie between her and Cuba, and she will have 
 either to run back, or to round the cape, or to run east 
 or south. I wish the wind would freshen ; but I fancy 
 that it is more likely to die away. Still, she is walk- 
 ing along well at present." 
 
 Even Frank, anxious as he was, could not but feel 
 satisfied as he looked at the water glancing past her 
 side. She was heeling well over, and the rustle of 
 water at her bow could be heard where they were 
 standing near the tiller. Andrews, the best helmsman 
 on board the yacht, held the tiller rope, and Perry was 
 standing beside him. 
 
 From time to time Frank went up to the crosstrees. 
 " We are drawing in upon her fast," he said, " but 
 she is travelling well, too; much better than I should 
 have thought she would have done with that rig. I 
 think she has got a better wind than we have. She 
 has only made one short tack in for the last two hours." 
 
 The captain's prognostication as to the wind was 
 verified, and to Frank's intense annoyance it gradually 
 died away, and headed them so much that they could 
 no longer lie their course. 
 
 " What shall we do, sir ? Shall we hold across to 
 the south shore and work along by it, as the schooner 
 is doing, or shall we go about at once ? " 
 
 " Go about at once, Hawkins. You see we can 
 see her topsails from the deck; and of course she can 
 see ours. I don't suppose she has paid any attention
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 230 1 
 
 to us yet, and if we stand away on the other tack we 
 shall soon drop her altogether; while if we hold on she 
 will, when we reach that shore, be three or four miles 
 behind us. Of course, she will have a full view of us." 
 
 They sailed on the port tack for an hour and then 
 came round again. The brigantine could no longer 
 be seen from the deck, and could only just be made 
 out from the crosstrees. 
 
 " I think on this tack," the skipper said, as he stood 
 by the compass after she had gone round, " we shall 
 make the point, and I think that we shall make it 
 ahead of her." 
 
 " I think so too, Hawkins. What pace is she going: 
 now?" 
 
 " Not much more than four knots, sir." 
 
 " My only fear is that we shan't get near her be- 
 fore it is dark." 
 
 " I think that we have plenty of time for that, sir; 
 you see we got up anchor at half-past six, and it is just 
 twelve o'clock now. Another five hours should take 
 us up to her if the wind holds at this." 
 
 By two o'clock the topsails of the brigantine could 
 be again made out from the deck. She was still work- 
 ing along shore, and was on their port bow. 
 
 "Another three hours and we shall be alongside 
 of her," the skipper said ; " and if I am not mistaken 
 we shall come out ahead of her." 
 
 " There is one advantage in the course we are tak- 
 ing, Hawkins. Viewing us, as she will pretty nearly, 
 end on till we get nearly abreast of her, she won't be 
 able to make out our rig clearly." 
 
 By four o'clock they were within five miles of the 
 brigantine. Tho wind then freshened, and laying her 
 course as she did, while the brigantine was obliged to 
 make frequent tacks, the Osprey ran down fast to- 
 wards her. 
 
 " They must have their eyes on us by this time," 7
 
 240 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 the captain said; "though they cannot be sure that 
 it is the Osprey, they can see that she is a yawl of over 
 a hundred tons, and as they cannot doubt that we are 
 chasing them they won't be long in guessing who we 
 are. Shall we get the arms up, sir ? " 
 
 " Yes, you may as well do so. The muskets can be 
 loaded and laid by the bulwarks, but they are not to 
 be touched until I give the order. No doubt they also 
 are armed. I am anxious not to fire a shot if it can 
 be helped, and once alongside we are strong enough to 
 overpower them with our cutlasses only. With the five 
 blacks we are now double their strength, and even Car- 
 thew may see the uselessness of offering any resistance." 
 
 They ran down until they were within a mile of 
 the shore, not being now more than a beam off the 
 brigantine. Two female figures had some time be- 
 fore been made out on her deck, but they had now dis- 
 appeared. It was evident that the Osprey was being 
 -closely watched by those on board the brigantine. 
 Presently two or three men were seen to run aft. 
 
 " They are going to tack again, sir. If they do 
 they will come right out to us." 
 
 Frank made no reply, but stood with his glass fixed 
 on the brigantine. Suddenly he exclaimed, " Round 
 with her, Hawkins ! " 
 
 " Up with your helm, Andrews ; hard up, man ! " 
 the skipper shouted, as he himself ran to slack out the 
 main sheet. Four men ran aft to assist him. 
 
 " That will do," he said, as she fell off fast from 
 the wind. " Now, then, gather in the main sheet, 
 ready for a jibe; slack off the starboard runner; a 
 couple of hands aft and get the square sail out of the 
 locker. Mr. Purvis, get the yard across her, lower 
 her down ready for the sail, and see that the braces 
 and guys are all right. Now in with the sheet, lad?, 
 handsomely. That will do, that is it. Over she goes. 
 r Slack out the sheet steadily."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 241 
 
 " She is round too," Frank said, as the boom went 
 off nearly square. " We have gained, and she is not 
 more than half a mile away." 
 
 The manoeuvre had, in fact, brought the yachts 
 nearer to each other. Both had their booms over to 
 starboard. 
 
 " Quick with that square sail," Frank shouted ; " she 
 is drawing away from us fast." 
 
 Two minutes later the square sail was hoisted, and 
 the foot boomed out on the port side. Every eye was 
 now fixed on the brigantine, but to their disappoint- 
 ment they saw that she was still, though very much 
 more slowly, drawing ahead. 
 
 " That is just what I feared," Frank said, in a tone 
 of deep vexation. " With those big yards I was cer- 
 tain that she vould leave us when running ahead be- 
 fore the wind. However, there is no fear of our leav- 
 ing her. What are we doing now ? Seven knots ? " 
 
 " About that, sir, and she is doing a knot better." 
 
 " What do you think that she will do now, 
 Hawkins ? " 
 
 " I don't see what she has got to do, sir. If she 
 were to get five miles ahead of us, and then haul her 
 wind she would know that she could not go away from 
 us, for we should be to windward; and we are evi- 
 dently a good bit faster than she is when we are both 
 close-hauled. The only other thing that I can see for 
 her to do is to run straight on to Port au Prince. At 
 the rate we are going now she would be in soon after 
 daylight to-morrow. We should be seven or eight miles 
 astern of her, and he might think that we should not 
 venture to board her there." 
 
 " I don't think that he would rely on that, Hawkins. 
 ISTow that he knows who we are, he will guess that we 
 shall stick at nothing. What I am afraid of is that 
 he will lower a boat and row Miss Greendale and her 
 maid ashore. He might do it either there, or, what
 
 242 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 would be much more likely, row ashore to some quiet 
 place during the night, take his friend and two or three 
 of his men with him, and leave the rest to sail her to 
 Port au Prince." 
 
 " I don't think that the wind is going to hold," 
 the skipper said, looking astern ; " I reckon that it will 
 drop, as it generally does, at sunset. It is not blow- 
 ing so hard now as it did just before we wore round." 
 
 In half an hour, indeed, it fell so light that the 
 Osprey was standing through the water only at three 
 and a half knots an hour. The light wind suited the 
 Phantom, with her great sail spread. She had now in- 
 creased her lead to a mile and a half, and was evidently 
 leaving them fast. 
 
 " There is only one thing to be done, George ; we 
 must board them in boats." 
 
 "I am ready, Major; but it will be a rather risky 
 business." 
 
 Frank looked at him in surprise. 
 
 " I don't mean : 'or us, sir," George said, with a 
 smile, " but for Miss Greendale. You may be sure 
 that those fellows will fight hard, and as we come up 
 behind we shall get it hot. Now, sir, if anything hap- 
 pens to you, you must remember that the Osprey will 
 be as good as xiseless towards helping her. You as her 
 owner might be able to justify what we are doing, but 
 if you were gone there would be no one to take the 
 lead. Carthew would only have to sail into Port au 
 Prince and denounce us as pirates. I hear from the 
 pilot that these niggers have got some armed ships, 
 and they might sink us as soon as we came into the 
 harbour, and then there would be an end to any chance 
 of Miss Greendale getting her liberty." 
 
 " That is true enough, George, but I think that it 
 must be risked. Now that he knows we are here, he 
 has nothing to do but to send her ashore under the 
 charge of his friend and two or three of the sailors,
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 243 
 
 and take her up into the hills. Or he might go with 
 her himself, which is perhaps more likely. Then when 
 we came up with her at Port au Prince the skipper 
 would simply deny that there had ever been any ladies 
 on board, and would swear that he had only carried 
 out two gentlemen passengers, as his papers would 
 show, and might declare that he had landed them at 
 Porto Rico. Of course, they are certain to fight now, 
 for they can do so without risk, as they can swear 
 that they took us for a pirate. How many do you think 
 that the gig will carry, Hawkins ? " 
 
 " Well, sir, you might put nine in her. You brought 
 ten off at Southampton; but if you remember, it put 
 her very low in the water, and we should run a good 
 deal heavier than your party then." 
 
 " Yes, I think that we had better take only nine ; 
 if we overload her she will row so heavily that we shall 
 be a long time overhauling them." 
 
 " I am not quite sure that we shall overhaul them 
 anyhow, sir. Look at those clouds coming over the 
 hills; they are travelling fast, and I should say that 
 we are likely to have a squall. No doubt they get them 
 here pretty often with such high land all round." 
 
 " Well, we must chance that, Hawkins. If one 
 does come you must pick us up as we come along. I 
 agree with you; it does look as if we should have a 
 squall. It may not be anything very serious, but any- 
 how, if it comes it will take her along a great deal 
 faster than we can row. Purvis, I suppose that the 
 dingey will carry seven ? " 
 
 " Yes, she will do that easily." 
 
 " Very well, we can but try ; that will give sixteen 
 of us, which is about their strength. You must remain 
 on board. Purvis shall command the dingey; Lech- 
 mere will go with me. Pick out thirteen hands. You 
 and Perry can manage with seven and the five negroes, 
 but keep a sharp look-out for that squall. Remember
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 that you will have very short warning. We are only 
 a mile from the shore, and as it is coming down from 
 the hills you may not see it on the water until it is 
 quite close to you." 
 
 The boats were lowered, and the men, armed with 
 musket and cutlass, took their places. Frank and 
 George Lechmere each had a cutlass and a revolver 
 buckled to the waist. 
 
 " Now give way, lads," Frank said. " She is about 
 two miles ahead of us, and we ought to overtake her 
 in half an hour." 
 
 It was now getting dusk, the light fading out sud- 
 denly as the clouds spread over the sky. Frank's last 
 orders to the skipper before leaving were : 
 
 " Edge her in, Hawkins, until you are dead astern 
 of the brigantine. Then if the squall comes down be- 
 fore we reach her, we shall be right in your track." 
 
 " I have put a lighted lantern into the stern sheets 
 of each boat, sir, and have thrown a bit of sail cloth 
 over them, so that if she leaves you behind and you 
 hold it up there won't be any fear of our missing you." 
 
 The men rowed hard, but the gig had to stop fre- 
 quently to let the dingey come up. They gained, how- 
 ever, fast upon the brig, and in half an hour were but 
 a few hundred yards astern. Then came a hail from 
 the brigantine in French: 
 
 " Keep off or we will sink you ! " 
 
 Np reply was made. They were but two hundred 
 yards away when there were two bright flashes from 
 the stern of the brigantine, and a shower of bullets 
 splashed round the boats. There were two or three 
 cries of pain, and George Lechmere felt Frank give a 
 sudden start. 
 
 "Are you hit, sir?" 
 
 " I have got a bullet in my left shoulder, George, 
 but it is of no consequence. Row on, lads," he shouted. 
 " We shall be alongside before they have time to load
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 245" 
 
 again. I never thought of their having guns, though,' r 
 he went on, as the men recovered from their surprise, 
 and dashed on again with a cheer. " By the sharp 
 crack they must be brass. I suppose he picked up a 
 couple of small guns at Ostend, thinking that they 
 might be useful to him in these waters." 
 
 A splattering fire of musketry now broke out from 
 the brigantine. They had lessened their distance by 
 half when they saw the brigantine, without apparent 
 cause, heel over. Farther and farther she went until 
 her lee rail was under water. The firing instantly 
 ceased, and there were loud shouts on board; then, as 
 she came up into the wind, the square yards were let 
 fall, and the crew ran up the rattlings to secure the 
 sails. Simultaneously the foresail came down, then 
 her head payed off again, and she darted away like an 
 arrow from the boats. These, however, had ceased 
 rowing. Frank, as he saw the brigantine bowing over, 
 had shouted to Purvis to put the boat's head to the 
 wind, doing the same himself. A few seconds after- 
 wards the squall struck them with such force that some 
 of the oars were wrenched from the hands of the men, 
 who were unprepared for the attack. 
 
 " Steady, men, steady ! " Frank shouted. " It won't 
 last long. Keep on rowing, so as to hold the boat where 
 you are till the yacht comes along. It won't be many 
 minutes before she is here." 
 
 In little over a quarter of an hour she was seen 
 approaching, and Frank saw that in spite of the efforts 
 of the men at the oars the boats had been blown some 
 distance to leeward. However, as soon as the lanterns 
 were held up the Osprey altered her course, and the 
 captain, taking her still further to leeward, threw 
 her head up to the wind until they rowed alongside 
 her. 
 
 Frank had by this time learned that one of the men 
 in the bow had been killed and that three besides him-
 
 246 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 self had been wounded. Two were wounded on board 
 the dingey. 
 
 " So they have got some guns," the skipper said, 
 .as they climbed on deck ; " no one hurt, I hope ? " 
 
 " There is one killed, I am sorry to say, and five 
 wounded," Frank replied ; " but none of them seri- 
 ously. I have got a bullet in my shoulder, but that is 
 of no great consequence. So you got through it all 
 right?" 
 
 " Yes, sir, it looked so nasty that I got the square- 
 :sail off her and the topsail on deck before it struck us, 
 and as we ran the foresail down just as it came we 
 were all right, and only just got the water on deck. 
 Jt was as well, though, that we were lying becalmed; 
 as it was, she jumped away directly she felt it. I was 
 just able to see the brigantine, and it seemed to me 
 that she had a narrow escape of turning turtle." 
 
 " Yes, they were too much occupied with us to 
 l>e keeping a sharp look-out at the sky, and if it had 
 "been a little stronger it would have been a close case 
 with her. Thank God that it was no worse. Can you 
 make her out still ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, I can see her plainly enough with my 
 glasses." 
 
 In a quarter of an hour the strength of the squall 
 was spent. The wind then veered round to its former 
 quarter, taking the Osprey along at the rate of some 
 iive knots an hour. 
 
 The wounded were now attended to. George Lech- 
 mere found that the ball had broken Frank's collar 
 tone and gone out behind. Both he and Frank had 
 had sufficient experience to know what should be done, 
 and after bathing the wound, and with the assistance 
 of two sailors, who pulled the arm into its place, 
 George applied some splints to the broken bone to keep 
 it firm, and then bandaged it and the arm. 
 
 One of the sailors had a wound in the cheek, the
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 247 
 
 ball in its passage carrying off part of the ear, one of 
 the men sitting in the bow had a broken arm, but only 
 one of the others was seriously hurt. Frank went on 
 deck again as soon as his shoulder was bandaged and 
 his left arm strapped tightly to his side. 
 
 " I suppose that she is still gaining on us, Haw- 
 kins?" 
 
 " Yes, she is dropping us. I reckon she has gone 
 fast, sir, fully half a knot, though we have got all 
 sail set." 
 
 " There is one comfort," Frank said ; " the coast 
 from here as far as the Bee is so precipitous that they 
 won't have a chance of putting the boat ashore until 
 they get past that point, and by the time they are there 
 daylight will have broken."
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE stars were bright, and with the aid of a night 
 glass the brigantine was kept in sight, the sailors re- 
 lieving each other at the mast head every half-hour. 
 Frank would have stayed on deck all night had not 
 George Lechmere persuaded him to go below. 
 
 " Look here, Major," he said ; " it is like enough 
 that we may have a stiff bit of fighting to-morrow. 
 Now we know that those fellows have guns, though 
 they may be but two or three pounders, and it is clear 
 that it is not going to be altogether such a one-sided 
 job as we looked for. You have had a long day al- 
 ready, sir; you have got an ugly wound, and if you 
 don't lie down and keep yourself quiet you won't be 
 fit to do your share in any fighting to-morrow; and 
 I reckon that you would like to be in the front of this 
 . skirmish. You know in India wounds inflamed very 
 soon if one did not keep quiet with them, and I ex- 
 pect that it is just the same here. It is not as if you 
 could do any good on deck. The men are just as anx- 
 ious to catch that brigantine as you are. They were 
 hot enough before, but now that one of their mates 
 has been killed and five or six wounded, I believe that 
 they would go round the world rather than let her slip 
 through their hands. I shall be up and down all night, 
 Major, and the captain and both mates will be up too, 
 and I promise that we will let you know if there is 
 anything to tell you." 
 
 "Well, I will lie down, George, but I know that I 
 248
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 249 
 
 shall get no sleep; still, perhaps, it will be better for 
 me to keep my arm quite quiet." 
 
 He was already without his coat, for that had been 
 cut from the neck down to the wrist, to enable George 
 to get at the wound. He kicked off his light canvas 
 shoes, and George helped him to lie down in his 
 berth. 
 
 " You will be sure to let me know if she changes 
 her course or anything ? " 
 
 " I promise you that I will come straight down, 
 Major." 
 
 Three quarters of an hour later, George stole noise- 
 lessly down and peeped into the state-room. He had 
 turned down the swinging lamp before he went up, 
 but there was enough light to enable him to see that 
 his master had fallen off to sleep. He took the news up 
 to Hawkins, who at once gave orders that no noise 
 whatever was to be made. The men still moved about 
 the deck, but all went barefooted. 
 
 " The wind keeps just the same," Hawkins said. 
 " I can't make it more than three and a half knots 
 through the water. I would give a year's pay if it 
 would go round dead ahead of us; we should soon pick 
 her up then. As it is, she keeps crawling away. How- 
 ever, we can make her out on such a night as this a 
 good deal further than she is likely to get before morn- 
 ing; besides, we shall be having the moon up soon, 
 and as we are steering pretty nearly east, it will show 
 her up famously. Now I will give you the same ad- 
 vice that you gave the governor. You had much better 
 lie down for a bit. Purvis has gone down for a sleep, 
 Perry will go down when he comes up at twelve, and 
 I shall get an hour or two myself later on." 
 
 " I won't go down," George said, " but I will bring 
 a couple of blankets up and lie down aft. I promised 
 the Major that I would let him know if there was any 
 change in the wind or in the brigantine's course, so
 
 250 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 wake me directly there is anything to tell him. I have 
 put his bell within reach. I have no doubt I shall 
 hear it through that open skylight if he rings; but if 
 not, wake me at once." 
 
 " All right ; trust us for that." 
 
 Twice during the night George got up and went 
 below. The first time Frank had not moved, the second 
 he found that the tumbler of lime juice and water on 
 the table at the side of the bunk was nearly half 
 emptied, and that his master had again gone off to 
 sleep and was breathing quietly and regularly. 
 
 " He is going on all right," he said to Hawkins, 
 when he went up ; " there is no fever yet, anyhow, for 
 he has drunk only half that glass of lime juice; if he 
 had been feverish he would not have stopped until he 
 had got to the bottom of it." 
 
 When George next woke, the morning was breaking. 
 
 "Anything new?" he asked Purvis, who was now 
 at the tiller. 
 
 " Nothing whatever ; the governor has not rung his 
 bell. The wind is just as it was, neither better nor 
 worse, and the brigantine is eight miles ahead of us." 
 
 George went forward to have a look at her. 
 
 " I think I had better wake him," he said to him- 
 self. " He will have had nine hours of it, and he won't 
 like it if I don't let him know that it is daylight. I 
 will get two or three fresh limes squeezed, and then 
 go in to him." 
 
 This time Frank opened his eyes as he entered. 
 
 "Morning is breaking, Major, and everything is 
 as it was. I hope that you are feeling better for your 
 sleep. Let me help you up. Here is a tumbler of fresh 
 lime juice." 
 
 " I feel right enough, George ; I can scarcely be- 
 lieve that it is morning. How I have slept and I fan- 
 cied that I should not have gone off at all." 
 
 Drinking off the lime juice, Frank at once followed
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 251 
 
 Lechmere on deck, and after a word or two with Purvis 
 hurried forward. 
 
 " She is a long way ahead," he said, with a tone of 
 disappointment. 
 
 " The mate reckoned it between seven and eight 
 miles, Major." 
 
 " How far is she from the Bee ? " 
 
 "I don't know, sir; I did not ask Purvis." 
 
 Frank went aft and repeated the question. 
 
 " I fancy that that is the Bee, the furthermost point 
 that we can see," Purvis said, " and I reckon that she 
 is about half way to it." 
 
 " Keep her a point or two out, Purvis. The line 
 of shore is pretty straight beyond that, and I want of 
 all things not to lose sight of her for a moment. I 
 would give a good deal to know what she is going to 
 do. I cannot think that she is going to try to go round 
 the southeast point of the island, for if she were she 
 would have laid her head that way before." 
 
 The Osprey edged out until they opened the line 
 of coast beyond the headland, and then kept her course 
 again. There was a trifle more wind as the sun rose 
 higher, and the yacht went fully a knot faster through 
 the water. In less than two hours the brigantine was 
 abreast of the headland. Presently Frank exclaimed: 
 
 " She is hauling in her wind." 
 
 " That she is, sir," Hawkins, who had just come 
 on deck, exclaimed. " She surely cannot be going to 
 run into the bay." 
 
 " She can be going to do nothing else," Frank said. 
 " What on earth does she mean by it ? No doubt that 
 scoundrel is going to land with Miss Greendale, but 
 why should he leave the Phantom at our mercy when 
 he could have sent her on to Port au Prince ? " 
 
 " I cannot think what he is doing, sir; but he must 
 have some game on or he would never act like that." 
 
 " Of course, he may have arranged to go with the
 
 252 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 lady to some place up in the hills; but why should 
 he sacrifice the yacht ? " 
 
 " It is a rum start anyhow, and I cannot make head 
 or tail of it. Of course you will capture her, sir ? " 
 
 "I don't know, Hawkins. It is one thing to at- 
 tack her when she has Miss Greendale on board, but 
 if she has gone ashore it would be very like an act of 
 piracy." 
 
 "Yes, sir; but then, you see, they fired into our 
 boat, and killed one of our men and wounded you and 
 four or five others." 
 
 " That is right enough, Hawkins, but we cannot 
 deny that they did it in self-defence. Of course, we 
 know that they must have recognised us, and knew 
 what our errand was, but her captain and crew would 
 be ready to swear that they didn't, and that they were 
 convinced by our actions that we were pirates. At 
 any rate, you may be sure that the blacks would retain 
 both craft, and that we should be held prisoners for 
 some considerable time, while Miss Greendale would 
 be a captive in the hands of Carthew. I should attack 
 the brigantine if I knew her to be on board, and should 
 be justified in doing so, even if it cost a dozen lives to 
 capture her, but I don't think I should be justified in 
 risking a single life in attacking the brigantine if she 
 were not on board. To do so would, in the first place, 
 be a distinct act of piracy; and in the second, if we 
 got possession of the brigantine we should have gained 
 nothing by it." 
 
 " We might burn her, sir." 
 
 " Yes, we might, and run the risk of being hung 
 for it. We might take her into Port au Prince, but 
 we have no absolute evidence against her. We could 
 not swear that we had positive knowledge that Miss 
 Greendale was on board, and certain as I am that the 
 female figures I made out on the deck were she and 
 her maid, they were very much too far away to recog-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 253 
 
 nise them, and the skipper might swear that they were 
 two negresses to whom he was giving a passage. More- 
 over, if I took the brigantine I should only cut off 
 Carthew's escape in that direction; his power over 
 Miss Grendale would be just as great, if he had her 
 up among those mountains among the blacks, as it was 
 when he had her on board. I can see that I have made 
 a horrible mess of the whole business, and that is the 
 only thing that I can see. Yesterday I thought it was 
 the best thing to start on a direct chase, as it seemed 
 absolutely certain to me that we should overhaul and 
 capture her; now I see that it was the worst thing 
 I could have done, and that I ought to have waited 
 until I could take her in the bay." 
 
 " But you see, Major," said George Lechmere, who 
 was standing by, " if we had gone on searching with 
 the boat, before we had made an examination of the 
 whole bay, there would be no knowing where she had 
 gone, and it might have been months before we could 
 have got fairly on her track again." 
 
 " No, we acted for the best ; but things have turned 
 out badly, and I feel more hopelessly at sea as to what 
 we had better do next than I have done since the day 
 I got to Ostend. At any rate, there is nothing to be 
 done until we have got a fair sight of the brigantine." 
 
 It seemed to all on board that the Osprey had never 
 sailed so sluggishly as she did for the next hour and a 
 half. As they expected, no craft was to be seen on 
 the waters of the bay as they rounded the point, but 
 Dominique and the other pilot had been closely ques- 
 tioned, and both asserted that at the upper end of the 
 bay there was a branch that curved round " like dat, 
 sar," the latter said, half closing his little finger. 
 
 Progress up the bay was so slow that the boats were 
 lowered and the yacht was towed to the mouth of the 
 curved branch. Here they were completely land- 
 locked, and the breeze died away altogether. 
 17
 
 254 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " How long is this bend, Jake ? " Frank asked the 
 second pilot in French. 
 
 " Two miles, sir ; perhaps two miles and a half." 
 
 " Deep water everywhere ? " 
 
 " Plenty of water ; can anchor close to shore. 
 Country boats run in here very often if bad weather 
 comes on. Foreign ships never come here; they al- 
 ways run on to the town." 
 
 " You told us that there were a few huts at the 
 end." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; there is a village there, two others near." 
 
 The crew had all armed themselves, and the muskets 
 were again placed ready for use. 
 
 " You had better go round, Hawkins," Frank said, 
 " and tell them that on no account is a shot to be fired 
 unless I give orders. Tell the men that I am just as 
 anxious to fight as they are, and that if they give us 
 a shadow of excuse we will board them." 
 
 " I went round among the men half an hour ago, 
 sir, and told them how the land lay, and Lechmere 
 has been doing the same. They all want to fight, but 
 I have made them see that it might be a very awkward 
 business for us all." 
 
 The men in the boats were told to take it easy, and 
 it was the best part of an hour before they saw, on 
 turning the last bend, the brigantine lying at anchor 
 a little more than a quarter of a mile away. 
 
 " She looks full of men," Frank exclaimed, as he 
 turned his glasses upon her. 
 
 " Yes, sir," said the captain, who was using a power- 
 ful telescope, " they are blacks. There must be fifty 
 of them beside the crew, and as far as I can see most 
 of them are armed." 
 
 " That explains why he came in here, Hawkins. 
 They have been using this place for the last three 
 weeks, and no doubt have made good friends with the 
 negroes. I dare say Carthew has spent his money
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 255 
 
 freely on them. Well, this settles it. We would at- 
 tack them at sea without hesitation, however many 
 blacks there might be on board, but to do so now would 
 be the height of folly. Five of our men are certainly 
 not fit for fighting, so that their strength in whites is 
 nearly equal to ours. They have got those two little 
 cannon, which would probably reduce our number a 
 bit before we got alongside, and with fifty blacks to 
 help them it is very doubtful whether we should be 
 able to take them by boarding. Certainly we could 
 not do so without very heavy loss. We .will anchor 
 about two hundred and fifty yards outside her. As 
 long as she lies quiet there we will leave her alone; 
 if she tries to make off we will board her at once. 
 Anchor with the kedge ; that will hold her here. Have 
 a buoy on the cable and have it ready to slip at a mo- 
 ment's notice, and the sails all ready to hoist." 
 
 " Easy rowing," the captain called to the men in 
 the boats, " and come alongside ; we have plenty of 
 way on her to take up a berth." 
 
 In two or three minutes the anchor was dropped 
 and the sails lowered. 
 
 " Now I will row across to her," Frank said, " and 
 tell them that I don't want to attack them, but I am 
 determined to search their craft." 
 
 " Xo, Major," George Lechmere said, firmly; "we 
 are not going to let you throw away your life, and 
 you have no right to do it at any rate not until after 
 Miss Greendale is rescued. You may be sure of one 
 thing: that Carthew has left orders before going on 
 shore that you are to be shot if you come within range. 
 He will know that if you are killed there will be an 
 end of the trouble. I will go myself, sir." 
 
 F-. n.nk made no answer for a minute or two. Then 
 he said : 
 
 " In that case you would be shot instead of me. 
 If Carthew is on shore, as I feel sure he is, the others
 
 256 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 won't know you from me. I agree with you that I 
 cannot afford to risk my life just now, and yet we 
 must search that brigantine." 
 
 " Me go, sar ? " Dominique, who was standing by, 
 said suddenly. " Me take two black fellows in dingey. 
 Dey no fire at us. Me go dere, tell captain dat you no 
 want to have to kill him and all his crew, but dat you 
 got to search dat craft. If he let search be made, den 
 no harm come of it; if he say no, den we take yacht 
 alongside and kill every man jack. Say dat white 
 sailors all furious, because dey fire at us yesterday, 
 and want bad to have fight." 
 
 " Very well, Dominique ; it can do no harm any- 
 how, and as I feel sure that the lady has been taken 
 ashore, I don't see why they should refuse." 
 
 Accordingly Dominique called to two of the negro 
 boatmen to get into the dingey and took his seat in 
 the stern. When the boat was half way between the 
 two vessels there was a hail in French: 
 
 " What do you want ? If you come nearer we will 
 fire." 
 
 " What want to fire for ? " Dominique shouted back. 
 " Me pilot, me no capture ship, single-handed ; me 
 want to speak to captain." 
 
 It was evident the answer was understood, for no 
 reply came for a minute or two. 
 
 " Well, come along then." 
 
 The words could be heard perfectly on board the 
 yacht. 
 
 " The skipper talks English, George ; I thought 
 that he would do so. Carthew was sure to have shipped 
 someone who could understand him. I don't suppose 
 his French is any better than mine is." 
 
 The dingey was rowed to within ten yards of the 
 brigantine. 
 
 " Now, what message have you brought me from 
 that pirate?"
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 257 
 
 " Him no pirate at all ; you know dat bery well, 
 massa captain. Dat English yacht; anyone see dat 
 with half an eye. De gentleman there says ypu have 
 a lady on board dat has been carried off." 
 
 " Then he is a liar ! " the Belgian said ; " there is 
 no woman on board at all ! " 
 
 " Well, sar, dat am a matter ob opinion. English 
 gentleman tink dat you hab; you say no. Dat prove 
 bery easy. De gentleman say he wants to search ship. 
 If as you say, she is no here, den ob course no reason 
 for you to say no to dat. If on de other hand you say 
 no, den he quite sure he right, and he come and search 
 whether you like it or no. Den der big fight. Bery 
 strong crew on board dat yacht. Plenty guns, men 
 all bery savage, cause you kill one of der fellows last 
 night. Dey want to fight bad, and if dey come dey 
 kill many. What de use of dat, sar? Why say won't 
 let search if lady not here? Nothing to fight about. 
 But if you not let us see she not here, den we board de 
 ship, and when we take her we burn her." 
 
 The Belgian stood for two or three minutes with- 
 out answering. They had seen that there were two 
 or three and twenty men on board the Osprey, and 
 they were by no means sure that this was the entire 
 number. There were three blacks, and there might 
 be a number of them lying down behind the bulwarks 
 or kept below. The issue of a fight seemed to him 
 doubtful ; he was by no means sure that his men would 
 fight hard in a cause in which they had no personal 
 interest; and as for the blacks, they would not count 
 for much in a hand-to-hand fight with English sailors. 
 He had received no orders as to what to do in such a 
 contingency. Presently he turned to three of his men 
 and said in French: 
 
 " Go to that stern cabin, and see that there is noth- 
 ing about that would show that it has been occupied. 
 They have asked to search us. Let them come and
 
 258 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 find nothing, things will go quietly; if not, they say 
 they will attack us and kill every man on board and 
 burn the ship, and as we do not know how many men 
 they may have on board, and as they can do us no 
 harm by looking round, if there is nothing for them 
 to find, we had best let them do it; but mind, the 
 orders hold good. If the owner of that troublesome 
 craft comes alongside you are to pour in a volley and 
 kill him and the sailors with him. That will make so 
 many less to fight if it comes to fighting. But the 
 owner tells me that if he is once killed there will be 
 an end of it." 
 
 He then went to the side, and said to Dominique : 
 
 " There is nothing for you to find here. We are 
 an honest trader, and there is nothing worth a pirate's 
 stealing; but in order to show you that I am speaking 
 the truth I have no objection to two hands coming on 
 board and going through her. We have nothing to 
 hide." 
 
 Dominique rowed back to the yacht. 
 
 " Dey will let her be searched, sar." 
 
 " I thought they would," Frank said ; " and of 
 course that is a sign that there is no one there." 
 
 " I will go, sir," the skipper said, " as we agreed ; 
 he would give anything to get rid of you, and you 
 might be met with a 'volley when you came alongside. 
 And now there ain't no use in running risks. If they 
 have been told what you are like, they cannot mistake 
 me for you. You are pretty near a foot taller, and 
 you are better than ten years younger, and I haven't 
 any hair on my face. I will go through her. I am 
 sure the lady ain't there, or they would not let me. 
 Still, I will make sure. There are no hiding-places in 
 a yacht where anyone could be stowed away, and, of 
 course, she is, like us, chock full of ballast up to the 
 floor. I shan't be many minutes about it, sir. Domi- 
 nique may as well go with me; he can stay on deck
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 259 
 
 while I go below, and may pick up something from 
 the black fellows there." 
 
 " You may as well take him, Hawkins ; but you 
 may be very sure that they won't give him a chance 
 to speak to anyone." 
 
 The captain stepped into the boat and was rowed 
 to the yacht. He and Dominique stepped on to the 
 deck and were lost sight of among the blacks. In ten 
 minutes they appeared at the gangway again, and 
 stepped into their boat. Another minute and she was 
 alongside the Osprey. 
 
 " Of course, you found nothing, Hawkins." 
 
 " Nothing whatever, sir. Anything the lady may 
 have left behind had been stowed away in lockers. I 
 looked about to see if I could sight a bit of ribbon 
 or some other woman's fal-lal, but they had gone over 
 it carefully. Two of the other state cabins had been 
 occupied. There were men's clothes hanging there. 
 Of course, I looked into every cupboard where as much 
 as a child could have been stowed away, and looked 
 round the forecastle. Anyhow, there is no woman there 
 now. Dominique had to go round with me. The cap- 
 tain evidently did not want to give him a chance of 
 speaking to anyone. The mate and two of the sailors 
 posted themselves at the gangway, so that the two 
 blacks should not be able to talk to the niggers on 
 board. And now, sir, what is to be done next ? " 
 
 " We will go below and talk it over, captain. You 
 come down, too, George. Yes, and Dominique; he 
 may be useful. Now, Hawkins," he went on, when 
 they had taken their seats at the table, " of course, I 
 have been thinking it over all the morning, and I have 
 come to the conclusion that our only chance now is to 
 fight them with their own weapons. As long as we lie 
 here there is no chance whatever of Miss Greendale 
 being brought on board again, so the chase now has 
 got to be carried on on land. If we go to work the
 
 260 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 right way, there is no reason why we should not be 
 able to trace her. I propose to take Lechmere and 
 Dominique and the four black boatmen. If we stain 
 our faces a little, and put on a pair of duck trousers, 
 white shirts, red sashes, and these broad straw hats I 
 bought at San Domingo, we shall look just like the 
 half-caste planters we saw in the streets there. I 
 should take Pedro, too, but you will want him to trans- 
 late anything you have to say to Jake. I propose that 
 as soon as it is dark to-night we muffle the oars of the 
 dingey and row away and land lower down, say a mile 
 or so, and then make off up into the hills before to- 
 morrow morning. Dominique will try to find out 
 something by inquiring at some of the huts of the 
 blacks. They are not likely to know, but if he offers 
 them a handsome reward to obtain news for him, they 
 will go down to the villages and ferret out something. 
 The people there would not be likely to know where 
 they have been taken, but they would be able to point 
 out the direction in which they went on starting. Then 
 we could follow that up, and inquire again. We might 
 take a couple of the villagers with us. Belonging here, 
 they would have more chance of getting news from 
 other blacks than strangers would have." 
 
 " Don't you think, sir, that it would be as well to 
 have four or five men with you ? " Hawkins said. 
 " There is no doubt this fellow that you are after is 
 a desperate chap, and he may have got a strong body 
 of these blacks as a guard. He might suspect that, 
 after having pursued him all this way, you might try 
 to follow him on land. You could put the men in hid- 
 ing somewhere every day while you were making in- 
 quiries, and they would be mighty handy if it came 
 to fighting, which it seems to me it is pretty sure to 
 do before you see the lady off." 
 
 " Well, perhaps it would be best, Hawkins ; and, 
 as you say, by keeping them hid all day I don't see
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 2C1 
 
 that they could increase our difficulties. But then, 
 you see, you will want all your hands here, for if the 
 brigantine sails, whether by night or day, you are to 
 sail too, and to keep close to her wherever she goes. 
 It is not likely that Carthew and Miss Greendale will 
 be on board, but he may very well send orders down 
 to the brigantine to get up the anchor. He would know 
 that we should stick to her, as Miss Greendale might 
 have been taken on board again at night. In that way 
 he would get rid of us from here, and would calculate 
 that we should get tired of following the brigantine 
 in time, or that she would be able to give us the slip, 
 and would then make for some place where he could 
 join her again. So my orders to you will be to stick 
 to her, but not to interfere with her in any way, un- 
 less, by any chance, you should discover that Miss 
 Greendale is really on board. In that case I authorise 
 you to board and capture her. They won't have the 
 blacks on board, and as the wounded are going on all 
 right, and three of them anyhow will be able to lend 
 a hand in a couple of days, you will be a match for 
 them, especially as they will soon make up their minds 
 that you don't mean to attack them, and you will get a 
 chance of running alongside and taking them by sur- 
 prise." 
 
 " Well, sir, I think that we can do that with four 
 hands less than we have now. You see, there are nine- 
 teen and the two mates and myself. Say two of the 
 wounded won't be able to lend a hand, that makes us 
 twenty, to say nothing of Jake and Pedro. So even 
 if you took four hands we should be pretty even in 
 numbers, and if our men could not each whip two 
 Belgians, they had better give up the sea." 
 
 " Yes, I have no doubt that they could do that, and 
 were it not for Carthew and his friend I would not 
 hesitate to take eight men. I don't know about the 
 other, but you may be sure that Carthew will fight
 
 262 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 hard; he is playing a desperate game. Still I think 
 that I might take four, especially as I think the chance 
 of Miss Greendale's being brought on board until he 
 believes that we have left these waters is very small. 
 Very well, then, that is settled. The five blacks, Lech- 
 mere and myself, and four of the sailors, will make 
 a strong party. Serve muskets and cutlasses out to 
 the blacks, and the same with a brace of pistols to each 
 of the hands that go with us. While we are away let 
 two of the men dress up in my white duck shirts and 
 jackets, and in white straw hats. Let them always 
 keep aft and sit about in the deck chairs and always 
 go down below by the main companion. That will 
 make them think that I am still on board; while if 
 there is no one on the deck aft they will soon guess 
 that we have landed. You understand all that we have 
 been saying, Dominique ? " 
 
 " Me understand, sar, and tink him bery good plan. 
 Me suah to find out which way dat rascal hab gone. 
 Plenty of black fellows glad to earn two dollar to guide 
 us; dey no money here, two dollars big sum to them." 
 
 " All right, Dominique, but we won't stick at two 
 dollars; if it were necessary I would pay two hundred 
 cheerfully for news." 
 
 " We find dem widout dat," the black said, confi- 
 dently ; " not good offer too much. If black man of- 
 fered two dollars he bery glad; if offered twenty he 
 begin to say to himself, ' Dis bery good affair ; per- 
 haps someone else give forty.' " 
 
 " There is something in that, Dominique ; anyhow 
 I shall leave that part of the business to you. As a 
 rule I shall keep in hiding with the boatmen and 
 sailors all day. I shall be no good for asking questions, 
 for I don't know much French and the dialect the 
 negroes of these islands speak is beyond me altogether. 
 I cannot understand the boatmen at all." 
 
 " Black men here bad, sar ; not like dem in de other
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 263 
 
 islands. Here dey tink themselves better than white 
 men; bery ignorant fellows, sar. Most of them lost 
 religion, and go back to fetish. Bery bad dat. All 
 sorts of bad things in dat affair. Kill children and 
 women to make fetish. Bad people, sar, and dey are 
 worse here than at San Domingo." 
 
 There was nothing to- do all day but to sit on deck 
 and watch the brigantine. Most of the blacks had been 
 landed, and only three or four sailors remained on 
 watch on deck. Frank and George Lechmere in their 
 broad straw hats sat and smoked in the deck chairs, 
 the former's eyes wandering over the mountains as if 
 in search of something that might point out Bertha's 
 hiding-place. The hills were for the most part covered 
 with trees, with here and there a little clearing and 
 a patch of cultivated ground, with two or three huts 
 in the centre. With the glasses solitary huts could be 
 seen half hidden by trees here and there, and an oc- 
 casional little wreath of light smoke curling up showed 
 that there were others entirely hidden in the forest. 
 
 " Don't you think, Major," George Lechmere said 
 after a long pause, " that it would be a good thing to 
 have the gig every night at some point agreed on, such 
 as the spot where we land? You see, sir, there is no 
 saying what may happen. We may have to make a 
 running fight of it, and it would be very handy to have 
 the boat to fall back upon." 
 
 " Yes, I think that a good idea, George. I will tell 
 Hawkins to send it ashore, say at ten o'clock every 
 night. There is no chance whatever of our being 
 down before that. They are sure to have taken her a 
 long distance up the hills, and though, of course, one 
 cannot say at present, it is pretty certain that we shall 
 have to attack after dark. It is important that we 
 should land where there is some sort of a path. I 
 noticed one or two such places as we came along. We 
 may as well get into the dingey and row down and
 
 264 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 choose a spot now. Of course, they will be watching 
 from the brigantine, but when they see the same num- 
 ber that went come back again they will suppose that 
 we have only gone for a row, or perhaps to get a shot 
 at anything we come across. We may as well take a 
 couple of guns with us." 
 
 A mile down the inlet they came upon just the spot 
 they were searching for. The shore was level for a few 
 yards from the water's edge, and from here there was 
 a well-marked path going up the slope behind. 
 
 " We will fix upon this spot, George ; it will be easy 
 for the boats to find it in the dark, from that big tree 
 close to the water's edge. Now we will paddle about 
 for half an hour before we go back." 
 
 An hour later they returned to the yacht, and 
 George began at once to make arrangements for the 
 landing.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 "I SHOULD keep watch and watch regularly, Haw- 
 kins. I do not say that it is likely, but it is quite pos- 
 sible that they may make an attempt to surprise us, 
 cut all our throats, and then sink the Osprey. He 
 might attack with his boats, and with a lot of native 
 craft. At any rate, it is worth while keeping half the 
 crew always on deck. Be sure and light the cabin 
 as usual. They would suspect that I was away if they 
 did not see the saloon skylights lit up. There is no 
 saying when I may be back. It may be three nights, 
 it may be six, or, for all that I know, it may be longer 
 than that. You may be sure that if I get a clue I shall 
 follow it up wherever it leads me." 
 
 The strictest silence was maintained among the 
 men. The two men at the oars were told to row very 
 slowly, and above all things to avoid splashing. The 
 boat was exceedingly low in the water, much too low 
 for safety, except in perfectly calm water, as, including 
 the two men at the oars, there were thirteen on board. 
 
 Frank had thought it, however, inadvisable to take 
 the dingey also, for this was lying behind the stern, 
 and it might have been noticed had they pulled her up 
 to the gangway. The gig had been purposely left on 
 the side hidden from the brigantine, and as they rowed 
 away pains were taken to keep the yacht in a line with 
 her. They held on this course, indeed, until they were 
 close in to the shore, and then kept in under its shelter 
 until the curve hid them altogether. 
 
 " Be very careful as you row back, lads, and go
 
 266 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 very slowly. A ripple on this smooth water might very 
 well be noticed by them, even if they could not make 
 out a boat." 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir, we will be careful." 
 
 They had brought a lantern with them, covered 
 with canvas, except for a few inches in front. 
 
 " Me take him, sar, and go first," Dominique said. 
 " Den if we meet anyone you all stop quiet, and me 
 go on and talk with them." 
 
 Frank followed Dominique, George keeping beside 
 him where there was room for two to walk abreast, 
 at other times falling just behind. Then came the 
 sailors, and the four black boatmen were in the rear. 
 They had been told that, in case they were halted, and 
 heard Dominique in conversation, they were to pass 
 quietly through the others, and be ready to join him 
 and help him if necessary. With the exception of 
 Dominique, Frank and George Lechmere, all carried 
 muskets. The pilot declined to take one. 
 
 " Me neber fired off gun in my life, sar. Me more 
 afraid of gun than of dose rascals. Dominique fight 
 with um sword; dat plenty good for him." 
 
 The path mounted the hill until they were, as 
 Frank thought, some three hundred feet above the 
 water. Here the ground was cultivated, and after 
 walking for ten minutes they saw two or three lights 
 in front. 
 
 " You stop here, sar," Dominique said, handing the 
 lantern to Frank. " Me go on and see how best get 
 round de village. Must not be seen here. If native 
 boat come in at night suah to go up to end ob water, 
 and land at village dere." 
 
 The negro soon returned, and said that the culti- 
 vated land extended on both sides of the village, and 
 there was no difficulty in crossing it. 
 
 The village was passed quietly, and when it was 
 once well behind them they came down upon the path
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 267 
 
 again, which was much larger and better marked than 
 it had been before. After following it for half a mile, 
 they came upon a road, which led obliquely up from 
 the water, and ran somewhat inland. 
 
 " This is no doubt the road from the village at the 
 head of the arm of the bay. They have probably come 
 along here, though they may have turned more di- 
 rectly into the hills. That is the first point to find out, 
 Dominique." 
 
 " Yes, sar, next village we see me go in wid two 
 ob de boatmen and ask a few questions." 
 
 Following the path along for another few hundred 
 yards, they saw a road ahead of them. Here they 
 halted, and two of the blacks handed over their muskets 
 and cutlasses to the care of the sailors. Dominique 
 also left his cutlass behind him, and as he went on gave 
 instructions to his two companions. 
 
 " JTow look here," he said in negro French, " don't 
 you say much. I will do the talking, but just say 
 a word or two if they ask questions. Mind we three 
 belong to the brigantine. I am the pilot. The cap- 
 tain has given me a message to send to his friends 
 who have gone up into the hills. He asked me to take 
 it, but I am not sure about the way. I am ready to 
 pay well for a guide. I expect that they will say that 
 the ladies came along, but that they do not know how 
 they went afterwards. Then we ask him to come as 
 guide, and promise to pay him very well." 
 
 By this time they were close to the hut, which, as 
 Dominique assured himself before knocking at the 
 door, stood alone. There was an old man and woman 
 inside, and a boy of about seventeen. Dominique took 
 off his hat as he entered, and said in French: 
 
 " Excuse me for disturbing you so late ; I am the 
 pilot of a vessel now in the bay, and have been sent 
 by the captain to carry an important message to a 
 gentleman who landed with another and two ladies and
 
 268 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 some armed men. He did not give me sufficient di- 
 rections to find him, and I thought that if they passed 
 along here you might be able to put me in the way." 
 
 " They came along here between eleven and twelve, 
 I think. We saw them," the old man said, " and we 
 heard afterwards that the ladies were being taken away 
 because the ship was, they thought, going to be at- 
 tacked by a pirate that had followed them. The people 
 from the villages went to help fight, for the gentleman 
 had bought many things and had paid well for them, 
 and each man was promised a dollar if there was no 
 fighting, and four dollars if they helped beat off the 
 pirate." 
 
 " Yes, that was so," Dominique said, " but it seems 
 that it was a mistake; still we had cause for alarm, 
 for the other vessel followed us strangely. However, 
 it is all explained now, and I have been sent with this 
 message, because the captain thought that if he sent a 
 white sailor they would not give him the information." 
 
 " Do you know, Sebastian ? " the old man asked 
 his son. 
 
 " Yes, they turned off to the right two miles fur- 
 ther on." 
 
 " Look here, boy," Dominique said, " we were prom- 
 ised twenty dollars if we took the message straight. 
 Now if you will go with us and find out we will give 
 you five of them. As we are strangers to the people 
 here, they might not answer our questions; but if you 
 go and say that you have to carry the message no doubt 
 they will tell you which way they have gone." 
 
 The lad jumped up. "I will go with you," he 
 said ; " but perhaps when we get there you will not 
 give me the money." 
 
 " Look here," Dominique said, taking three dollars 
 from his pocket, " I will leave these with your father, 
 and will hand you the other two as soon as we get 
 within sight of the place where they are."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 269 
 
 The lad was quite satisfied. Five dollars was more 
 than he could earn by two months' work. As soon as 
 they went out Dominique whispered to one of the 
 boatmen to go back and tell Frank what had taken 
 place, and to beg him to follow at some distance be- 
 hind. Whenever they took a fresh turning, one of 
 the boatmen would always be left until he came up. 
 Frank had some difficulty in understanding the boat- 
 man's French, and it was rather by his gestures than 
 his words that he gathered his meaning. As soon as 
 the message was given the negro hurried on until he 
 overtook Dominique. 
 
 " I am sorry now that we did not bring Pedro," 
 Frank said. " However, I think we made out what 
 he had to say. Dominique has got someone to go with 
 him to do the questioning, as he arranged with me; 
 and he will leave one or other of the men every time 
 he turns off from the road he is following. That will 
 be a very good arrangement. So far we have been 
 most fortunate. We know now that we are following 
 them, and it will be hard if we don't manage to keep 
 the clue now that we have once got hold of it." 
 
 When they came to the road that branched off to 
 the right, the other boatman was waiting. He pointed 
 up the road and then ran on silently ahead. No fresh 
 turn was made for a long distance; twice they were 
 stopped by one of the blacks, who managed to inform 
 them that Dominique and the guide were making in- 
 quiries at a hut ahead. The road had now become a 
 mere track, and was continually mounting. Other 
 tracks had branched off, leading, Frank supposed, to 
 small hill villages. After going some ten miles, the 
 lad told Dominique that it was useless for him to go 
 further, for that there were no more huts near the 
 track. Beyond the fact that the two women were on 
 horseback when they passed the last hut, nothing was 
 learned there. 
 18
 
 270 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " It is of no use to go further," the guide said ; 
 " there are no houses near here to inquire at, and there 
 are three or four more paths that turn off from here. 
 We must stop until morning, and then I will go on 
 alone and make inquiries of shepherds and cottagers; 
 but, you see, I thought that we should find them to- 
 night. If I work all day to-morrow, I shall expect 
 three more dollars." 
 
 " You shall have them," Dominique said. " Here 
 is my blanket; I will share one with one of my boat- 
 men." 
 
 The lad at once lay down and pulled the blanket 
 over his head. As soon as he did so, Dominique mo- 
 tioned to the two boatmen to do the same, and then 
 went back along the track until he met Frank's party. 
 As the hills were for the most part covered with trees 
 almost up to their summits, Frank and his party 
 had only to turn a short distance off from the path, 
 on receiving Dominique's news that the guide had 
 stopped. 
 
 " It is half-past one," Frank said, holding the lan- 
 tern which the pilot had left with them, to his watch. 
 " We shall get four hours' sleep. You had better serve 
 a tot of grog all round, George; it will keep out the 
 damp night air." 
 
 One of the blacks was carrying a basket, and each 
 of the men had brought a water bottle and pannikin. 
 
 " Put some water in it, lads," Frank said, " and 
 it would be a good thing to eat a bit of biscuit with it." 
 
 Dominique had told Frank that the guide had made 
 some remark about the two blacks dropping behind 
 so often, and the latter took out his handkerchief, tore 
 it into eight pieces, and gave it to him. 
 
 " Wherever you turn off, Dominique, drop one of 
 these pieces on the path; that will be quite sufficient." 
 
 " Yes, sar ; but you see we don't know when we 
 start up path whether it be right path or no. We go
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 271 
 
 up one, if find dat hit not de one dey go, den come 
 back again and try anoder ; what we to do ? " 
 
 After thinking for some little time, Frank sug- 
 gested that Dominique's best way would be to tell the 
 guide that he was footsore, and that as several paths 
 would have to be searched, he and one of the men would 
 sit down there. The other would accompany the boy 
 and bring down word when the right path had been 
 discovered. As soon as it became light, Frank, with- 
 out rousing the men, went out into the path and moved 
 cautiously up it. He had but just started when he 
 saw Dominique coming towards him. 
 
 " All right, sar. Boy gone on ; he hunt about. 
 When he find he send Sam back to fetch me. De oder 
 stay with him." 
 
 " Oh, you have sent both with him." 
 
 "Yes, sar, me thought it better; if only one man 
 go, when he come back, boy could talk to people; per- 
 haps talk too much, so sent both men." 
 
 " That was the best plan, no doubt," Frank agreed. 
 " I will join the men and remain there until you come 
 for me." 
 
 " Dat best thing, sar ; people might come along, 
 better dey not see you." 
 
 It was twelve o'clock before Dominique joined the 
 waiting group in the wood. 
 
 " They have been a long time finding the track, 
 Dominique." 
 
 " Yes, sar, bery long time. Dey try four tracks, 
 all wrong; den dey try 'nother. Sam say boy tell him 
 try that last, because bad track; lead ober hills, to 
 place where Obi man live. Black fellow no like to go 
 there. Bad men there; steal children away, make 
 sacrifice to fetish. All people here believe that Obi 
 man bery strong. Dey send presents to him to make 
 rain or to kill enemy, but dey no like go near him dem- 
 selves. Dere was a hut a little up dat road. Party
 
 272 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 went by dere yesterday. No more houses on road. Sam 
 say boy wait dere till he bring me back to him; den 
 go home. Not like to go further; say can't miss way 
 dat path. Leads straight to Obi man's place. Fetish 
 on road strike people dead dat go dar without leab ob 
 Obi man." 
 
 " That will suit us well altogether," Frank said. 
 " How far is it to where the guide is ? " 
 
 " One and a half hours' walk." 
 
 " Then we will be off at once." 
 
 All were glad to be on the move again, and in spite 
 of the heat they proceeded at a rapid pace, until the 
 boatman Sam said that they were close to the spot 
 where he had left his companions with the guide. The 
 rest then entered the wood, and Dominique went on 
 with the boatman. Ten minutes later a young negro 
 came down the path. They had no doubt that it was 
 the guide. Dominique arrived two or three minutes 
 later. 
 
 " I suppose that was the guide that went down," 
 Frank said, as he stepped out. 
 
 " Dat him, sar," he said. " Quite sure path go to 
 Obi man's place. It was miles away in centre of hills. 
 I pretend want him to go on. He said no go for thou- 
 sand dollars. So me pay him his money, and he go 
 back. He tell me no use hunt for friends if Obi man 
 hab not giben dem leab to go and see him. Den the 
 fetish change dem all into snakes. If he gib leab and 
 not know dat me and oder two men were friends, den 
 de fetish change us into snakes." 
 
 " Well, there is one comfort, Dominique, we shall 
 be able to march boldly along without being afraid of 
 meeting anyone." 
 
 " Yes, sar ; Sam be a little frightened, but not 
 much. Not believe much in San Domingo about fetish. 
 Dey better dan dese Hayti people. Still Sam not 
 like it."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 273 
 
 " I suppose you told him that he was a fool, Domi- 
 nique ? " 
 
 " Yes, sar, me tell him, too, dat white man tink 
 nothing ob Obi man. Hang him by neck if he tries 
 fetish against dem." 
 
 Having picked up Sam, they proceeded at a brisk 
 pace along the path, Frank leading the way with 
 George Lechmere. 
 
 " You see," he said. " Carthew must have been un- 
 easy in his mind all along. I have no doubt that di- 
 rectly he put into the bay and decided to make this his 
 headquarters, he set about preparing some place where 
 he could carry them off to, and where there would be 
 very little chance of their being traced. Down at the 
 village by the water he heard of this Obi man. He 
 has evidently creat power in this part of the island. 
 These fellows are all great rascals, and Carthew may 
 have either gone or cent to him and made arrangements 
 that he and a party should if necessary be allowed to 
 establish a camp in the valley where this fellow lives; 
 of course, promising him a handsome present. He 
 could have chosen no safer place. Following hard as 
 we have done on his track, we have obtained a clue; 
 but it is not probable that any of the natives whom 
 Dominique has questioned has the smallest idea that 
 the party were going towards this fetish man's place. 
 In fact, the only man that could know it was the negro 
 at that last hut, and you may be sure that were he 
 questioned by any searching party he would not dare 
 to give any information that might excite the anger 
 of this man. 
 
 " It is likely enough that this fellow has a gang of 
 men with him, bound to him partly by interest and 
 partly by superstitious fears. We shall probably have 
 to reckon with these fellows in addition to Carthew's 
 own force. He seems to have taken ten or twelve of 
 the blacks from the village with him. They would
 
 274 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 have no fear of going when he told them that he was 
 under the special protection of the fetish man. Then, 
 you see, he has four of his own sailors, his friend and 
 himself; so that we have an equal number of white 
 men and five negroes against his ten or twelve and 
 the fetishman's gang. 
 
 " However, I hope that we shall have the advan- 
 tage of a surprise. If so, I think that we may feel 
 pretty confident that we shall at any rate, in the first 
 place, carry off Miss Greendale and her maid. The 
 danger won't be in the attack, but in the retreat. That 
 Obi fellow may raise the whole country against us. 
 There is one thing the population is scanty up here, 
 and it won't be until we get down towards the lower 
 ground that they will be able to muster strongly enough 
 to be really formidable; but we may have to fight hard 
 to get down to the boats. You see, it is a twenty miles' 
 march. We shan't be able to go very fast, for, al- 
 though Miss Greendale and her maid might keep up 
 well for some distance, they would be worn out long 
 before we got to the shore, while the black fellows 
 would be able to travel by other paths and to arouse 
 the villagers as they went and make it very hot in- 
 deed for us." 
 
 " There is one thing we shall have the advantage 
 of darkness, Major, and in the woods it would be 
 difficult for them to know how fast we were going. 
 We might strike off into other paths, and, if necessary, 
 carry Miss Greendale and her maid; we could make 
 a couple of litters for them, and, with four to a litter, 
 could travel along at a good rate of speed." 
 
 In another three hours they found that the path 
 was descending into a deep and narrow valley. On 
 the way they passed many of the fetish signs, so ter- 
 rible to the negro's imagination. Pieces of blue string, 
 with feathers and rags attached to them, were stretched 
 across the path; clumps of feathers hung suspended
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 275 
 
 from the trees; flat stones, with berries, shells, and 
 crooked pieces of wood, were nailed against the trunks 
 of the trees. At first the four negro boatmen showed 
 signs of terror on approaching these mysterious sym- 
 bols, and grew pale with fright when Frank broke 
 the strings that barred the path; but when they saw 
 that no evil resulted from the audacious act, and that 
 no avenging bolt fell upon his head, they mustered 
 up courage, and in time even grinned as the sailors 
 made jeering remarks at the mysterious emblems. As 
 soon as they began to descend into the valley, and it 
 was evident that they were nearing their destination, 
 Frank halted. 
 
 " Now, Dominique, do you object to go down and 
 find out all about it? I am quite ready to go, but you 
 are less likely to be noticed than I am. There is no 
 hurry, for we don't wish to move until within an hour 
 of sunset, or perhaps two hours. There is no fear of 
 our meeting with any interruption until we get back 
 to the point where we started this morning, and it 
 would be as well, therefore, to be back there just before 
 dark." 
 
 " Me go, sar. Me strip ; dat best ; not seen so easy 
 among de trees." 
 
 " Quite right, Dominique. What we want to find 
 out is the exact position of the camp and the hut, for 
 no doubt they built a hut of some sort, where Miss 
 Greendale is, and see how we can best get as close to 
 it as possible. Then it would be as well to find out 
 what sort of village this Obi man has got, and how 
 many men it probably contains. But don't risk any- 
 thing to do this. Our object is to surprise Carthew's 
 camp, and we must take our chance as to the blacks. 
 If you were seen, and an alarm given, Carthew might 
 carry Miss Greendale off again. So don't mind about 
 the Obi village unless you are sure that you can obtain 
 a view of it without risk of being seen."
 
 276 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " Me manage dat, sar," the negro said, confidently. 
 " Dey not on de look-out ; me crawl up among de trees 
 and see eberyting; no fear whatsomeber." 
 
 Dominique stripped and started down the path, 
 while the rest retired into the shelter of the trees. An 
 anxious two hours passed, the party listening intently 
 for any sound that might tell of Dominique's being 
 discovered. All, however, remained quiet, except that 
 they were once or twice startled by the loud beating 
 of a drum and the deep blasts from the fetish horn. 
 At the end of that time there was a general exclama- 
 tion of relief as Dominique stepped in from among the 
 trees. 
 
 " Well, Dominique, what have you found ? " Frank 
 exclaimed as he started to his feet. 
 
 " Me found eberyting, sar. First come to village ; 
 not bery big, twenty or thirty men dere. Den a hun- 
 dred yards furder tree huts stand; dey new huts, but 
 not built last night, leaves all dead, built eight or ten 
 days ago. Me crawl on tomack among de trees and 
 lay and watch. In de furder hut two white lady. Dey 
 come in and out, dey talk togeder, de oders not go 
 near them. Next hut to them, twenty, thirty yards 
 away, two white men. Dey sit on log and smoke cigar. 
 In de next hut four white sailor. Den a little distance 
 away twelve black fellows sit round fire and cook food. 
 Plenty of goats down in valley, good gardens and lota 
 of bananas." 
 
 " How did the white ladies seem ? " 
 
 " Not seen anyting particular, sar ; dey neber look 
 in de direction ob oders. Just talk togeder bery quiet. 
 Me see dere lips move but hear no voice. Hear de 
 voice of men quite plain." 
 
 " How close can we get without being seen ? " 
 
 " About fifty yards, sar. Huts put near stream 
 under big trees. Trees not tick just dar; little way 
 lower down banana trees run down to edge ob stream.
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 277 
 
 If can get round de village on dat side widout being 
 seen, can go trough bananas, den dash across de 
 stream and run for de ladies. Can get dere before 
 de oders. Besides, if dey run dat way we shoot dem 
 down." 
 
 " Thank God, that is all satisfactory," Frank said, 
 " but it is hard having to wait here another five hours 
 before doing anything." 
 
 " We are ready to go and pitch into them at once, 
 sir," one of the sailors said. " You have only to say 
 the word." 
 
 " Thank you, lads, but we must wait till within 
 an hour or two of sunset. I expect that we shall have 
 to fight our way back, and we shall want darkness to 
 help us. It would be folly to risk anything just aa 
 success seems certain after these months of searching. 
 Still, it is hard to have to wait. It is getting on to 
 twelve o'clock. You had better get that basket out 
 and have your dinners." 
 
 The next four hours seemed to him interminable. 
 The sailors and negroes had gone to sleep as soon as 
 they had finished their meal and smoked a pipe. Frank 
 moved about restlessly, sometimes smoking in short, 
 sharp puffs, sometimes letting his pipe go out every 
 minute and relighting it mechanically, and constantly 
 consulting his watch. At last he sat down on a fallen 
 tree, and remained there without making the slightest 
 motion, until George Lechmere said: 
 
 " I think it is time now, Major." 
 
 " Thank goodness for that, George. I made up my 
 mind that I would not look at my watch again until 
 it was time. Now, lads, before we start listen to my 
 final orders. If we are discovered as we go past the 
 village we shall turn off at once and make straight for 
 the camp. Don't waste a shot on the blacks. They are 
 not likely to have time to gather to oppose us, but cut- 
 down anyone that gets in your way. When we are
 
 278 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 through the village make straight to the farthest hut; 
 don't fire a shot till we have got between that and the 
 next, and then go straight at Carthew and his gang. 
 If I should fall, Lechmere will take the command. If 
 he, too, should fall, you are to gather round the ladies 
 and fight your way down to the landing-place. Take 
 Dominique's advice as to paths and so on, he and his 
 men know a good deal better than you do but re- 
 member, the great duty is to take the ladies on board 
 safe. The moment you get them there tell the cap- 
 tain my orders are that you are to man the two boats, 
 row straight at the brigantine, drive the crew over- 
 board and sink her. Then you are to sail for Eng- 
 land with Miss Greendale. The brigantine must be 
 sunk, for if Carthew gets down there he will fill her 
 with blacks and sail in pursuit; and as there is not 
 much difference in speed between the two boats, she 
 might overtake you if you carried away anything. You 
 must get rid of her before you sail. What have you 
 got there, George ? " 
 
 " Two stretchers, Major. Dominique and I have 
 been making them for the last two hours. We can 
 leave them here, sir, by the side of the path, and pick 
 them up as we come along back." 
 
 A couple of minutes later the party started. They 
 followed the path down until nearly at the bottom 
 of the hill ; here the trees grew thinner, and Dominique, 
 who was leading, turned to the right. They made 
 their way noiselessly through the wood, Dominique 
 taking them a much wider circuit round the village 
 than he himself had made, and bringing them out 
 from the trees at the lower end of the plantation of 
 bananas. Hitherto they had been walking in single 
 file, but Frank now passed along the order for them 
 to close up. 
 
 " Keep together as well as you can," he said, when 
 they were assembled ; " and mind how you pass be-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 279 
 
 tween the trees. If you set these big trees waving 
 it might be noticed at once." 
 
 Very cautiously they stole forward until they 
 reached the edge by the stream. Frank looked through 
 the trees. Four white sailors were lying on the ground 
 smoking in front of their hut. Carthew and his com- 
 panion were stretched in two hammocks hung from 
 the tree under which their hut stood. Bertha and her 
 maid had retired into their bower. 
 
 " Now, lads," he said, as with his revolver in his 
 right hand he prepared for the rush. " Don't cheer, 
 but run silently forward. The moment they catch sight 
 of us you can give a cheer. Now ! " and he sprang for- 
 ward into the stream, which was but ankle deep. The 
 splash as the whole party followed him at once at- 
 tracted the attention of the sailors, who leaped to their 
 feet with a shout, and ran into their hut, while at the 
 same moment Carthew and his companion sprang from 
 their hammocks, paused for a moment in surprise at 
 the men rushing towards them, and then also ran into 
 their hut, Carthew shouting to the blacks to take to 
 their arms. 
 
 " Go straight at them, George," Frank shouted, 
 running himself directly towards the nearest hut, just 
 as Bertha, startled at the noise, came to its entrance. 
 She stood for an instant in astonishment, then with 
 a scream of joy ran a step or two and fell forward into 
 his arms. 
 
 " Thank God, I have found you at last," he said. 
 "Wait here a moment, darling. I will be back di- 
 rectly. Go into the hut until I come." 
 
 But Bertha was too overpowered with surprise and 
 eolight to heed his words, and Frank handed her to 
 her maid, who had run out behind her. 
 
 " Take her in," he said, as he carried her to the 
 entrance of the hut, " and stay there until I come 
 again."
 
 280 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Then he ran after his party. A wild hubbub had 
 burst forth; muskets and pistols were cracking. Car- 
 thew, as he ran out of the hut, discharged his pistol 
 at the sailors, but in his surprise and excitement missed 
 them, and before he had time to level another, George 
 Lechmere bounded upon him, and with a shout of 
 " This is for Martha Bennett," brought his cutlass 
 down upon his head. He fell like a log, and at the 
 same moment one of the sailors shot his companion. 
 Then they dashed against the Belgian sailors, who had 
 been joined by the blacks. 
 
 " Give them a volley, lads ! " George shouted. 
 
 The four sailors fired, as a moment later did the 
 boatmen, and then cutlass in hand rushed upon them. 
 Just as they reached them Frank arrived. There was 
 but a moment's resistance. Two of the sailors had 
 fallen under the volley, a third was cut down, and the 
 fourth, as well as the blacks, fled towards the village. 
 Here the Obi drum was beating fiercely. 
 
 " Load again, lads," Frank shouted. " Two of you 
 come back with me." He ran with them back to the 
 end hut, but Bertha had now recovered from her first 
 shock. 
 
 " Come, darling," he said, " there is not a moment 
 to lose. We must get out of this as soon as we can. 
 Come along, Anna. Thompson, do you look after her; 
 I will see to Miss Greendale." 
 
 Just as they reached the others a volley was fired 
 from the village by the blacks of Carthew's party, who 
 were armed with muskets. Then they, with thirty 
 other negroes, rushed out with loud shouts. 
 
 " Don't fire until they are close," Frank shouted. 
 " Now let them have it." 
 
 The volley poured into them at but ten paces dis- 
 tance had a deadly effect. The blacks paused for a 
 moment, and the rescuing party, led by George Lech- 
 mere and Dominique, rushed at them. The sailors'
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 281 
 
 pistols cracked out, and then they charged, cutlass in 
 hand. For a moment the blacks stood, but the fierce 
 attack was too much for them, and they again fled to 
 the village. 
 
 " Stop, Dominique ! " Frank shouted, for the big 
 pilot, who had already cut down three of his oppo- 
 nents, was hotly pursuing them. " We must make for 
 the path at once."
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 IN a couple of minutes they had gained it. 
 
 " Anyone hurt ? " Frank asked. 
 
 One of the boatmen had an arm broken by a bullet, 
 and two of the sailors had received spear wounds at 
 the hands of the villagers; they were not serious, how- 
 ever, and leaving George Lechmere to cover the rear, 
 they started up the path, Dominique, as usual, leading 
 the way, Frank following behind him with Bertha, who 
 had hitherto not spoken a word. 
 
 " Am I dreaming ? " she asked now, in a tone of 
 bewilderment. " Is it really you, Frank ? " 
 
 " You are not dreaming, dear, and it is certainly 
 I Frank Mallett. Now tell me how you got on." 
 
 " As well as might be, Frank, but it was a terrible 
 time; please do not talk about it yet. But how is it 
 that you are here? It seems a miracle. Oh, how ill 
 you are looking! And your arm is in a sling, too." 
 
 " That is nothing," he said; "merely a broken col- 
 lar bone. As to my looking ill, you must remember, I 
 have had almost as anxious a time as you." 
 
 " Then it was the Osprey, after all," she exclaimed, 
 suddenly, " that we saw the last day that we were out 
 sailing. We were on deck, and I was not noticing 
 I did not notice much then when Anna said to me, 
 ' That looks like an English yacht, miss. I am sure 
 Mr. Carthew thinks she is chasing us.' Then I got up 
 and looked round. I could not see for certain, but it 
 did look like a yacht, and I thought that it was about 
 the size of the Osprey. Those two men were standing 
 282
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 283 
 
 with their backs to us looking at it through their 
 glasses, and Carthew happened to turn round and saw 
 me standing up, and at once said : ' You must go below. 
 I believe that is a pirate chasing us.' I said that it 
 was nothing to me if it was. One pirate was just as 
 good as another. Then he said that if I would not go 
 down he should be obliged to use force, and called four 
 men aft. So as it was of no use resisting, we went 
 down. Presently we felt that the course had been 
 changed. Late in the evening we heard them fire the 
 two guns, and then some musket shots. Later on the 
 man came down and told us that the pirates had tried 
 to attack us in their boats, and that they had beaten 
 them off, and that there was no further danger. But 
 for all that I could see that he was troubled." 
 
 " That was when I was hit, dear. We had not 
 reckoned on the two guns, and with only the gig and 
 dingey, with one man killed and five of us wounded, 
 it was too stiff a business, though we should have per- 
 severed, but that squall came down on us from the 
 hills, and the Phantom, moreover, left us standing 
 still; we believed that we should come up with the 
 schooner in the morning." 
 
 "But how did you come here, Frank? How did 
 you know where we had been taken ? " 
 
 " It is a long story, dear. We started in pursuit 
 four days after you had been carried off. I will tell 
 you all about it when we get safe again on board the 
 yacht. I am afraid we shall have some trouble yet. 
 Now if you are quite recovered from your surprise, 
 do you feel equal to hurrying on? Every moment is 
 of importance." 
 
 " Oh, yes," she said ; " he will be after us." 
 
 " He won't," Frank said ; " George Lechmere cut 
 him down; whether he killed him or not I cannot say, 
 but I don't fancy anyhow that he will be able to take 
 up the chase. It is that rascally Obi man I am afraid
 
 284: THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 of. He has great power over the people, and may raise 
 the whole country to attack us." 
 
 " I am ready to run as fast as you like, Frank." 
 
 " We may as well go at a trot for a bit." Then 
 raising his voice, he said : " We will go at double, lads, 
 now. Put your arm on my shoulder, Bertha, and we 
 can fancy that we are going to valse." 
 
 "I feel so happy that I want to cry, Frank," she 
 said as they started. 
 
 " Don't do that until you get on board the Osprey." 
 
 As they passed the spot where they had halted, 
 George Lechmere told two of the blacks to pick up the 
 stretchers and carry them along. They were merely 
 two light poles, with a wattle work formed of giant 
 creepers worked for some six feet in length between 
 them. 
 
 " What are those for ? " Bertha asked, as she passed 
 them. 
 
 " Those are to carry you and Anna along when 
 you get exhausted. It is twenty miles to the coast, 
 you know." 
 
 " I feel as if I could walk any distance to get on 
 board the Osprey again." 
 
 " I have no doubt that you have the spirit, Bertha, 
 but I question whether you have the strength; espe- 
 cially after being over three months without any exer- 
 cise at all. I felt it myself yesterday, although we did 
 little more than ten miles." 
 
 " Oh, but then you have been wounded. And you 
 do look so ill, Frank." 
 
 "I dare say the wound had a little to do with it," 
 he said; "but of course the climate is trying too; 
 though it is cooler up on the hills than it is in that 
 bay." 
 
 " Now, Frank, the first question of all is How is 
 my mother? What did she do when I was missing? 
 It must have been awful for her."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 285 
 
 " Of course, it was a terrible anxiety, Bertha, but 
 she bore it better than would be expected, especially 
 as she had not been well before." 
 
 " It troubled me more, Frank, than even my own 
 affairs. As soon as I had time to think at all I could 
 not imagine what she would do, and the only comfort 
 was that she had you to look after her." 
 
 " No doubt it was a comfort, dear, that she had 
 someone to lean upon a little. Halt ! " he broke off 
 suddenly, as there was the sound of a stick breaking 
 among the trees close by. " Stand to your arms, men, 
 and gather closely. Bertha, do you and Anna take 
 your place in the centre, and please lie down." 
 
 " I cannot do that, Frank," she said, positively. 
 " Here you are all risking your lives for us, and now 
 you want me to put myself quite safe while you are all 
 in danger." 
 
 " I want to be able to fight, Bertha, free of anxiety, 
 and to be able to devote my whole attention to the work. 
 This I can't do if I know that you are exposed to 
 bullets." 
 
 " Well, I can't lie down anyhow, Frank ; but Anna 
 and I will crouch down if you say that we must when 
 they begin to fire." 
 
 They were silent for two or three minutes, and no 
 sounds were heard in the wood. 
 
 " We shall be attacked sooner or later," Frank said 
 quietly to the men. " We will take to the trees on our 
 right if we are attacked from the left, and to those on 
 the left if they come at us from the right. If we are 
 attacked on both sides at once, take to the right. 
 George, do you and Harrison and Jones get behind 
 trees, next to the path. It will be your business to pre- 
 vent anyone from passing on that side. I, with the 
 other two, will take post behind trees facing the other 
 way. The four boatmen with Dominique will shelter 
 themselves in the bushes between us, with Miss Green- 
 19
 
 286 THB QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 dale and her maid in the middle. They will be the re- 
 serve, and if a rush is made from either side they will 
 at once advance and beat it back. You understand, 
 Dominique ? " 
 
 " Me understand, sar. If those fellows come we 
 charge at them. These fellows no used to shoot, sar. Bet- 
 ter give muskets to others. We do best with our swords." 
 
 " That is the best plan. You take one of the mus- 
 kets, George, and give one to Harrison. The two men 
 on my side had better have the others, as I can't use 
 one. You understand, lads. These will be spare arms; 
 keep them in reserve if possible, so as to check the 
 fellows when they make a rush. Now do you all un- 
 derstand? You explain it to your men, Dominique. 
 Now we will go on again and at the double. It will 
 be as much as those fellows can do to keep up with 
 us in this thick wood." 
 
 Ten minutes passed. Then there was a loud shout 
 and the blowing of a deep horn on their left, followed 
 by a yell from the wood on both sides. " To the right," 
 Frank shouted, and the party ran in among the trees. 
 
 " Get in among that undergrowth with Anna," he 
 said to Bertha. " Gather there, Dominique, with your 
 men; we shall want you directly. They are sure to 
 make a rush at first. Now, lads, one of you take that 
 tree; the other the one to the right," and he placed 
 himself behind one between them; on glancing round 
 he saw that George had already posted his two men, 
 and had taken up his station between them. 
 
 " All hands kneel down," he said. " These bushes 
 will hide us from their sight. If we stand up we may 
 be hit by shots from behind." 
 
 A moment later there was a general discharge of 
 firearms round them, and then some forty negroes 
 rushed at them. 
 
 " On your feet now, men," Frank shouted ; " take 
 steady aim and bring down a man with each shot."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 287 
 
 A cheer broke from the sailors. Four shots were 
 fired from. Frank's side, and five from George Leeh- 
 mere's, and with them came the cracks of Frank's re- 
 volver, followed almost directly afterwards by those 
 of the pistols carried by the men, and George Lech- 
 mere's revolver. Scarce a shot missed. Ten of the 
 negroes fell, and those attacking from the right turned 
 and bolted among the trees. The negroes on the left, 
 however, inspired by the roaring of the horns and the 
 shrieking yells of the Obi man, came on with greater 
 determination and dashed across the path. 
 
 " !STow, Dominique, at them ! " Frank shouted, as 
 with the two sailors he rushed across. 
 
 The numbers now were not very uneven. Of the 
 twenty negroes on that side five had fallen under the- 
 musketry and pistol fire and two others were wounded, 
 and as Frank's party and the blacks fell upon them 
 they hesitated. The struggle was not doubtful for a 
 moment. Six of the negroes were cut down and tha 
 rest fled. 
 
 "Don't pursue them, men," Frank shouted; and 
 the sailors at once drew off, but Dominique and his 
 black boatmen still pursued hotly, overtaking and cut- 
 ting down three more of their assailants. 
 
 " All is over for the present," Frank said, going to 
 the spot where Bertha and Anna were crouching; 
 " not one of us is hurt as far as I know, and we 
 have accounted for sixteen or seventeen of these ras- 
 cals." 
 
 Bertha got up. She was a little pale, but perfectly 
 calm and quiet. 
 
 " It is horrid, being hidden like that when you are 
 all fighting, Frank," she said, reproachfully. 
 
 " We were hidden, too, till they came at us," he 
 said, " and very lucky it was, for some of us would 
 probably have been hit, bad shots though they are."
 
 288 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " No, Frank, not before all these men," she remon- 
 strated. 
 
 " What do I care for the men ? " he laughed. " Do 
 you think if they had their sweethearts with them 
 they would mind who was looking on? There, I must 
 be content with that for the present. We must push 
 .on again." 
 
 Dominique had returned now with his men, and the 
 party started again at a trot, as soon as the firearms 
 had all been reloaded. 
 
 " We shan't have any more trouble, shall we ? " 
 Bertha asked. 
 
 " Not for the present," he said. " We have fairly 
 routed the blacks who came here with you, and the 
 villagers, and they certainly won't attack us again until 
 they are largely reinforced, which they cannot be until 
 we get down towards the sea, for there are no villages 
 of any size in the hills." 
 
 After keeping up the pace for a mile, Frank ordered 
 the men to drop into a walk again. 
 
 " Now, Frank, about my mother ? " Bertha asked 
 .again as soon as she had got her breath; and Frank 
 related all that had taken place up to the time that 
 the Osprey sailed. 
 
 " Then she is all alone in town ? It must be ter- 
 rible for her, waiting there without any news of me. It 
 is a pity that she did not go home. It would not have 
 mattered about me, and it would have been so much 
 better for her among her old friends; they would all 
 have sympathised with her so much." 
 
 " I quite agreed with her, Bertha, and think still 
 that it was better that she should stay in London. I 
 am. sure the sympathy would do her harm rather than 
 good; as it is, now she will be kept up by the belief 
 that she is doing all in her power for you by saving 
 you from the hideous amount of talk and chatter there 
 would be if this affair were known."
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 289 
 
 " Of course, it would be horrid, Frank, and per- 
 haps you are right, but it must be an awful trial." 
 
 " I have done all I could to set her mind at rest," 
 Frank said. " I wrote to her directly I arrived at 
 Gibraltar and again as soon as I got the letter from 
 Madeira saying that the brigantine had touched there. 
 I wrote from Madeira again with what news I could 
 pick up, and again from Porto Rico, from the Virgin 
 Islands, and from San Domingo. Of course, from 
 there I was able to say that the scent was getting hot, 
 and that I had no doubt I should not be long before 
 I fell in with the brigantine. Then I sent another 
 letter from Jaquemel. That seems to me a long time 
 ago, for we have done so much since; but it is not 
 more than ten days back. We will post another letter 
 the first time that we touch anywhere, on the off chance 
 of its going home by a mail steamer, and getting there 
 before us." 
 
 " It was wonderful your finding out that I had been 
 carried off in the Phantom. That was what trou- 
 bled me most, except about mother. I did not see how 
 you could guess that the brigantine we had both no- 
 ticed the day before was the Phantom. I felt sure 
 that you would suspect. who it was, but I could not 
 see how you would connect the two together." 
 
 " You see, I did not guess it at first," he replied. 
 " I felt sure that it was Carthew from the first minute 
 when I found that you had not landed, and it was just 
 the luck of finding out that the Phantom's crew had 
 returned and that they had been paid off at Ostend 
 that put me on the track. Of course, directly I heard 
 that she had been altered and turned into a brigantine 
 I felt sure that she was the craft that we had noticed, 
 and as soon as I learned through Lloyd's that she had 
 sailed south from the Lizard I felt certain that she 
 must have gone up the Mediterranean or to the West 
 Indies. I felt sure it was the latter. However, it was
 
 290 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 a great relief when I got a letter from Lloyd's agent 
 at Madeira, telling me that the brigantine had touched 
 there, and I felt certain that I should hear of you 
 either here or at one of the South American ports." 
 
 They kept on until they reached the hut at the 
 point where the path forked. It was found to be 
 empty. 
 
 " Open the basket," Frank said ; " we must have 
 a meal before we go further. We have come about 
 half the distance. Now, Bertha, there is the bay, you 
 see, and it is all downhill, which is a comfort. Do 
 you feel tired, dear ? " 
 
 " Not tired," she said, " but my feet are aching a 
 bit. You see, I had thin deck shoes on when we were 
 hurried ashore, and they are not good for walking 
 long distances in." 
 
 " Well, we will have a quarter of an hour's rest," 
 he said. " It is getting dark fast, and by the time we 
 go on it will be night, and will be a great deal cooler 
 than it has been." 
 
 " I can go on at once if you like," she said. 
 
 "No, dear; there is no use in hurrying. We may 
 as well stop half an hour as a quarter. Don't you hear 
 that?" 
 
 The girl listened. 
 
 " It is a horn, is it not ? " she asked, after a pause. 
 
 "Yes, I can hear it in half a dozen directions," he 
 said. " That scoundrel of an Obi man is down there 
 ahead of us, and that unearthly row he and his follow- 
 ers are making will rouse up all the villagers within 
 hearing. We will try to give him the slip. I intend 
 to take the path we came by for four or five miles, and 
 then to strike off by one to the right and hit the main 
 road to Port au Prince, a good bit to the east of where 
 we quitted it. The country is all cultivated there, and 
 we will strike down towards the bay and make our 
 way through the fields, and if we have luck we may
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 291 
 
 be able to get down to the place where the gig will be 
 waiting for us without meeting any of them." 
 
 " Oh, I do hope there will be no more fighting, 
 Frank ! You may not all get off as well as you did last 
 time." 
 
 " We must take our chance of that, dear. At any 
 rate the country will be open, and we shall be able to 
 keep in a solid body, and I have no doubt that we shall 
 be able to beat them off." 
 
 " Could we not go down to the shore and get a 
 boat somewhere and row to the yacht ? " 
 
 " Yes, we might manage that, perhaps. That is a 
 capital idea, Bertha. There is a place called Nipes, 
 twelve or fourteen miles east of our inlet. It won't 
 be very much further to go, for we have been bearing 
 eastward all the way here. Making sure that we shall 
 go straight for the yacht, they will gather in that direc- 
 tion first, and won't think of giving the alarm so far 
 east. There was a path, if I remember right, that 
 came up from that direction a quarter of a mile fur- 
 ther on. We will turn off by it." 
 
 As soon as the meal was over they started again. 
 They found the path Frank had spoken of, and fol- 
 lowed it down until they came among trees. Then 
 Dominique lighted his lantern again. 
 
 For a time the two women kept -on travelling, but 
 after five miles Bertha was compelled to stop and take 
 off her shoes altogether. For two miles further she 
 refused the offers to carry her, but at last was forced 
 to own that she could go no further. The two litters 
 were at once brought up, and the four sailors, Domi- 
 nique and the three uninjured boatmen, lifted them 
 and went along at a trot, George Lechmere leading the 
 way with a lantern. The weight of the girls divided 
 between four strong men was a mere trifle, and they 
 now made much more rapid progress than they had be- 
 fore, and in three quarters of an hour arrived at Nipes,
 
 292 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 As they got to the little town, Bertha and Anna 
 got out, and walked so as to attract as little attention 
 as possible among the negroes in the streets. Domi- 
 nique answered all questions, stating that they were a 
 party belonging to a ship in Marsouin Bay, that they 
 had been on a sporting expedition over the hills, and 
 had lost their way and now wanted a boat to take 
 them back. As soon as they reached the strand half a 
 dozen were offered to them. Dominique chose the one 
 that looked the fastest. He told the boatman that the 
 ladies were very tired and they wanted to get back as 
 soon as possible, and he must, therefore, engage ten 
 men to row, as the wind was so slight as to be useless. 
 As he did not haggle about terms, the bargain was 
 speedily concluded, and in a few minutes they put off. 
 The men, animated by the handsome rate of pay they 
 were to receive, rowed hard, and in a little over two 
 hours they entered the inlet at the end of which 
 the Osprey was lying. As they neared the end the 
 boatmen were surprised at seeing a large number 
 of people with torches on the rising ground, and some- 
 thing like panic seized them when they heard the 
 Obi horns sounding. They dropped their oars at 
 once. 
 
 " Tell them to row on, Dominique," Frank said, 
 " and to keep close along the opposite side. Tell them 
 that if they don't do so we will shoot them. No: tell 
 them that we will chuck them overboard and row on 
 ourselves." 
 
 " There is the place where we landed," Frank said, 
 presently, to Bertha (the men had resumed their row- 
 ing), " just under where you see that clump of torches." 
 
 " Ah, there is our boat," he broke off suddenly, as 
 it appeared in the line of the reflection of the torches 
 on the water. It was half a mile away, lying a few 
 hundred yards from shore. He took out the dog whistle 
 that he used when coming down to the landing-stage to
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 293 
 
 summon the boat from the yacht, and blew it. There 
 was a stir in the boat, and a moment later it was speed- 
 ing towards them. 
 
 " Row on, Dominique ; she will pick us up in na 
 time." And long before they reached the Osprey the 
 gig was alongside. 
 
 " Thank God that you are back, sir," they cried as 
 they came abreast. " We have been in terrible anx- 
 iety about you. Have you succeeded, sir ? " 
 
 " Don't cheer ; I want to get back to the yacht be- 
 fore they know that we are here. Yes, thank God, I 
 have succeeded. Miss Greendale and her maid are on 
 board." 
 
 A low cheer, which even his order could not en- 
 tirely suppress, came from the three men in the boat. 
 The mate was himself rowing stroke. 
 
 " We did not dare bring any more hands, sir," he 
 said. " There has been such a hubbub on shore for 
 the last hour and a half that we thought it likely that 
 they and the Phantom's people might be going to at- 
 tack us. We rowed to the landing at ten o'clock as 
 you ordered us, but in a short time a party of men came 
 along close to the water, and as soon as they saw us 
 they opened fire on us and we had to row off sharp. 
 We have been lying off here since. We did not see how 
 you could get down through that lot, but we thought 
 it better to wait. I did think there was just a hope 
 that you might make your way down to the coast some- 
 where else and come on in a shore boat. Well, here 
 we are, sir." 
 
 As he spoke they came alongside the Osprey. 
 
 " Is it you, sir ? " Hawkins asked eagerly. 
 
 " Look here, lads," Frank replied, standing up, 
 " above all things I don't want any cheering, or any 
 noise whatever. I don't want them to know that we 
 have got on board. I know that you will all rejoice 
 with me, for I have brought off Miss Greendale, and
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 none of our party except one of the boatmen has been 
 wounded in any way seriously." 
 
 There was a murmur of deep satisfaction from the 
 <3rew. As Bertha stepped on deck the men crowded 
 round with low exclamations of " God bless you, miss ! 
 This is a good day indeed for us ! " Bertha, in reply 
 to the greeting, shook hands all round. 
 
 " I see you have not put out the lights in the cabin 
 yet, Hawkins. I will just go down with Miss Green- 
 dale and see that she is comfortable, and then I will 
 <;ome up again." 
 
 " Oh, Frank ! " the girl exclaimed, bursting into 
 tears as they entered the saloon, " this is happiness in- 
 deed. I feel at home already." 
 
 Frank remained with her for three or four minutes. 
 
 " Now, dear, take possession of your old cabin 
 again. No doubt Anna is there already. She had 
 better share it with you. Now I must go up and finish 
 with the Phantom at once. Do not be afraid, I shall 
 take them by surprise, and there will be very little 
 fighting." And without waiting for remonstrance he 
 Lurried on deck. 
 
 " Are the men armed, Hawkins ? " 
 
 " That they are, sir. We have been expecting an 
 attack every minute. There have been three or four 
 shore boats going off to the brigantine within the last 
 quarter of an hour." 
 
 " I am going to be beforehand with them, Hawkins." 
 
 " They've got both those guns pointing this way, 
 eir." 
 
 " I am not coming from this way to attack them, 
 Hawkins; I am going to put all hands in that native 
 craft I came in, row off a little distance from this side, 
 then make a circuit, and come down on the other side 
 of them. I will leave George Lechmere here with four 
 men, with three muskets apiece, so that if they should 
 start before we get there they can keep them off until
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 295 
 
 we arrive. If I can get a few of the boatmen to enlist 
 I will do so." 
 
 He spoke to Dominique, who went to the side and 
 asked : 
 
 " If any of you are disposed to stop here to guard 
 the craft for a quarter of an hour in case she is at- 
 tacked, the gentleman here will pay twenty dollars 
 a man; but remember that you may have to fight." 
 
 The whole crew rose. Twenty dollars was a for- 
 tune to them. 
 
 " Come on board, then," Dominique said. 
 
 " I don't know whether these fellows are to be 
 trusted, George, but I hope you won't be attacked. 
 Keep these fifteen muskets for yourselves. Put four 
 apiece by the bulwarks and station yourselves by them. 
 Keep your eyes on these boatmen, put the oars of the 
 boat handy for them, and let them arm themselves 
 with them. If you are attacked an oar is not a bad 
 weapon for repelling boarders." 
 
 "All right, Major; I will station two of them be- 
 tween each of us." 
 
 By this time the captain had picked out the four 
 men that were to remain, and had the rest drawn up 
 in readiness to get into the boat. 
 
 " Get in quietly, lads," Frank said. " Ten of you 
 man the oars; we will put an end to the Phantom's 
 wanderings to-night." 
 
 " That we will, sir," was the hearty rejoinder of the 
 men. 
 
 Frank took the tiller, and they rowed straight away 
 from the Osprey for a hundred yards, when Frank 
 steered towards the right bank where there were no 
 torches, and where all was quiet. The brigantine could 
 be seen plainly standing up against the glare of the 
 torches on the other side. They rowed three or four 
 hundred yards beyond her, then taking a turn ap- 
 proached her on the side opposite to that facing 'the
 
 296 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Osprey. Three native boats like their own were lying 
 beside her, and there was a crowd of men on her deck. 
 Frank brought her round alongside of these boats. He 
 had already ordered that firearms were not to be used 
 in the first place. 
 
 " I don't want to kill any of these blacks," he said. 
 " They have nothing to do with the affair, and they 
 believe us to be pirates. I expect that we shall get 
 on board unnoticed. Then with a cheer go at them, 
 with the flat of your cutlasses. You can use the edge 
 on the whites if they resist. But I expect that the 
 blacks will all jump overboard in a panic, and that 
 then the whites, seeing that they are outnumbered, 
 will surrender." 
 
 No one, indeed, noticed them. There was a great 
 hubbub and confusion, and the captain was endeavour- 
 ing to get them into something like order when sud- 
 denly there was a loud cheer, and Frank's party fell 
 upon them. Yells of terror rose as the sailors, Domi- 
 nique and his blacks sprang among them, striking 
 heavily with the flat of their cutlasses, and the sailors 
 using their fists freely. Frank had brought with him a 
 heavy belaying pin, and used it with great effect. The 
 blacks in the panic fell over each other, and rushing 
 to the side jumped overboard, some into their beats, 
 and some into the water. The white sailors, carried 
 away by the stampede, and separated from each other, 
 were unable to act. The captain, drawing a brace of 
 pistols from his belt, fired one shot, but before he could 
 fire another Frank hurled the iron belaying pin at him. 
 It struck him in the face, and he fell insensible. The 
 Belgian sailors, seeing themselves altogether outnum- 
 bered and without a leader, threw down their arms. 
 
 " Tie their hands and feet," Frank ordered, " and 
 bundle them into one of the native boats." 
 
 Two of these had pushed off and lay fifty yards 
 away, and the sea was dotted with the heads of swim-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 297 
 
 mers making towards them. The Belgian sailors were 
 placed in the other boat. 
 
 " Put their captain in, too," Frank said ; " he will 
 come round presently. Now four of you jump into our 
 boat and cast her off. Captain, will you look about 
 for the oil, and pour it over all the beds, but don't 
 set them on fire until I give the order. Now, lads, two 
 of you run below and get the cushions off the star- 
 board sofa. Purvis, get the skylight open on the port 
 side, and wheel the two guns round, and point them 
 down into the cabin. I will train them myself on the 
 same spot just at the back of that seat. They might 
 come off and extinguish the fire, though I don't think 
 they will; but we will make sure by blowing a hole 
 through her side under the water line." 
 
 Five minutes were sufficient to make the prepara- 
 tions, and the captain came up and reported that all 
 was ready. 
 
 " I have heaped up all the bedding on the floor, sir, 
 and poured plenty of oil over it," he said. 
 
 " Very well, then, take two men aft, and begin there 
 and work your way forward, and finish with the fo'c'sle 
 hammocks. You can begin at once." 
 
 In a minute there was a glare of light through 
 the stern cabin skylight, while almost at the same mo- 
 ment a dense cloud of smoke poured up the compan- 
 ion. Then the light shone up through the bull's-eyes 
 on deck of the other state-rooms; then the captain 
 and the two hands ran through the saloon forward. 
 Frank went to the fo'castle hatch, and stooping down 
 saw the captain apply the fire to a great heap of bed- 
 ding. 
 
 " That will do, Hawkins," he said. " Come up at 
 once with the men, or you will be suffocated down 
 there." 
 
 They ran up on deck, and a minute later a volume 
 of flame burst out through the hatch. Frank went
 
 298 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 to the guns, and lighting two matches gave one to 
 Hawkins. 
 
 " Now," he said, " both together." 
 
 The two reports were blended in one, and as the 
 smoke cleared away Frank could see, by the cabin 
 lamp that was still burning, a spurt of water shooting 
 up from a ragged hole at the back of the sofa. Fired 
 at such a short distance, the bullets with which the 
 guns were crammed had struck like solid shot. 
 
 " Into the boats, men ! " Frank shouted. 
 
 " Shall we take these chaps off with us, sir 2 " the 
 captain said. " They will be keepsakes." 
 
 " All right, Hawkins, in with them." 
 
 The tongue of fire leaping up from the forecastle, 
 followed by the discharge of the guns, had been the 
 first intimation to those on the Osprey of what had 
 happened. 
 
 Bertha and her maid ran up on deck at the sound 
 of the cannon. 
 
 " What is that ? " the former asked, in alarm. 
 
 " It is all right, Miss Greendale," George Lechmere 
 said, leaving the side and coming up to her ; " the 
 Major has captured the brigantine almost without 
 fighting. There was only one pistol shot fired. I did 
 not hear a single clash of a sword, and the blacks on 
 board jumped straight into the water. I was just 
 coming to call you as you came up. The brigantine is 
 well on fire, you see." 
 
 " But I thought I heard the cannon." 
 
 " Yes, the Major has fired them down the skylight, 
 so as to make sure of her. Do you see, miss, they are 
 putting the guns in the boat now. They will be back 
 here in a few minutes." 
 
 By the time the boat came alongside the flames 
 from the after-skylight had lit the mainsail and were 
 running up the rigging. A minute later they burst 
 out from the companion and the skylight.
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 299 
 
 " Thank God that is all over, Frank," Bertha said, 
 as they stood together watching the sight. 
 
 The inlet was now lit up from side to side. On 
 shore a state of wild excitement prevailed; the boats 
 had reached the shore, and the negroes there had 
 rushed down to hear what had taken place, and to in- 
 quire after friends. Above the yells and shouts of the 
 frenzied negroes sounded the deep roar of the horns 
 and the angry beating of the Obi drums. Numbers of 
 torch-bearers were among the crowd, and although 
 nearly half a mile away, the scene could be perfectly 
 made out from the yacht. The boatmen had received 
 their promised pay as soon as Frank had reached the 
 yacht, and had taken their places in their boat, but 
 Dominique told Frank that they would not go till 
 the Osprey sailed, as they were afraid of being pur- 
 sued and attacked by the villagers' boats if they did so.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 As Frank stood gazing at the scene, George Lech- 
 mere touched him. Frank, looking round, saw that 
 he wished to speak to him privately. 
 
 " What is it, George ? " he asked, when he had 
 stepped a few paces from Bertha. 
 
 " Look there, Major," George said, handing him 
 a field glass ; " I thought I had settled old scores with 
 him, but the devil has looked after his own." 
 
 " You don't mean to say, George, that it is Carthew 
 again." 
 
 " It is he, sure enough, sir ; I would have sworn 
 that I had done for him. If I had thought there had 
 been the slightest doubt about it, I would have put a 
 pistol ball through his head." 
 
 Frank raised the glass to his eyes. Just where the 
 torches were thickest he could make out a man's figure 
 raised above the heads of the rest. He was supported 
 on a litter; his head was swathed with bandages. He 
 had raised himself into a sitting position, supported 
 by one arm, while he waved the other passionately. 
 He was evidently haranguing the crowd. As Frank 
 looked, he saw the figure sink down; then there was a 
 deep roll of the drum and a fantastic-looking figure, 
 daubed as it seemed with paint and wearing a huge 
 mask, appeared in his place. The drum and the horns 
 were silent, and the shouting of the negroes was at 
 once hushed. This man, too, harangued the crowd, 
 and when he ceased there was a loud yell and a gen- 
 eral movement among the throng. At the moment, 
 Hawkins came up. 
 300
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 301 
 
 " The chain is up and down, sir. Shall I make 
 sail? The wind is very light, but I think that it is 
 enough to take her out." 
 
 " Yes, make sail, Hawkins, as quickly as you can. 
 I am afraid that those fellows are coming out to attack 
 us, and I don't want to kill any of the poor devils. 
 There is a small boat coming out from the shore to- 
 wards that craft. The white sailors are on board, and 
 we shall have them on us, too." 
 
 " Up with the anchor," Hawkins shouted ; " make 
 sail at once; look sharp, my hearties, work with a will, 
 or we shall have those niggers on us again." 
 
 Never was sail made on the Osprey more quickly, 
 and by the time that the anchor was apeak all the 
 lower sails were set. 
 
 " Shall I tell the blacks to tow their boat behind 
 us ? " Hawkins asked Frank, as the yacht began to 
 steal through the water. 
 
 " No ; let them tow alongside, Hawkins ; I don't 
 suppose the people ashore know that we have a native 
 boat with us. If they did, they would be sure that it 
 came from Nipes, and it might set up a feud and cost 
 them their lives, especially as that Obi scoundrel is con- 
 cerned in the affair." 
 
 Then he moved away to George Lechmere. 
 
 " Don't say a word about that fellow Carthew," he 
 said. " Miss Greendale thinks he is killed ; and it is 
 just as well that she should continue to think that she 
 is safe from him in the future." 
 
 "So far as she is concerned, I think that is true; 
 but I would not answer for you, Major. You have 
 ruined his plans and burned his yacht, and as long as 
 he lives he will never forgive you." 
 
 " Well, it is of no use to worry about it now, George ; 
 but I expect that we shall hear more about him some 
 day." 
 
 " What are they doing, Frank ? " Bertha asked, as 
 20
 
 302 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 he rejoined her. " I think that they are getting into 
 the boats again." 
 
 " Yes ; I fancy they are going to try to take us, 
 but they have no more chance of doing so than they 
 have of flying. The Obi man has worked them up to 
 a state of frenzy, but it will evaporate pretty quickly 
 when they get within range of our muskets." 
 
 " But we have got the cannon on board, have we 
 not?" 
 
 " Yes ; but we did not bring off any ammunition 
 with us. It was the men's idea to bring them as a 
 trophy. However, I have plenty of powder and can 
 load them with bullets; but I certainly won't use them 
 if it can be possibly avoided. I have no grudge against 
 the poor fellows who have been told that we are des- 
 perate pirates, and who are only doing what they be- 
 lieve to be a meritorious action in trying to capture us." 
 
 In a few minutes six boats put out from the shore. 
 The Osprey was not going through the water more 
 than two miles an hour, though she had every stitch of 
 canvas spread. Frank had the guns taken aft and 
 loaded. As the boats came within the circle of the 
 light of the burning yacht, it could be seen that they 
 were crowded with men who encouraged themselves 
 with defiant yells and shouts, which excited the de- 
 rision of the Osprey's crew. When they got within a 
 quarter of a mile they opened a fusillade of musketry, 
 but the balls dropped in the water some distance astern 
 of the yacht. As the boats came nearer, however, they 
 began to drop round her. 
 
 " Sit down behind the bulwarks," Frank said ; 
 " they are not good shots, but a stray ball might come 
 on board, and there is no use running risks." 
 
 By this time he had persuaded Bertha to go below. 
 The boats rowed on until some seventy or eighty yards 
 off the Osprey. The shouting had gradually died 
 away, for the silence on board the yacht oppressed
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 303 
 
 them. There was something unnatural about it, and 
 their superstitious fear of the Obi man disappeared 
 before their dread of the unknown. As if affected 
 simultaneously by the disquietude of their compan- 
 ions, the rowers all stopped work at the same mo- 
 ment. Dominique had already received instructions,, 
 and at once hailed them in French. 
 
 " If you value your lives, turn back. We have the 
 guns of the brigantine; they are crammed with bul- 
 lets and are pointed at you. The owner has but to 
 give the word and you will all be blown to pieces. He 
 is a good man, and wishes you no harm. We have 
 come here not to quarrel with you poor ignorant black 
 fellows, but to rescue two ladies the villain that ship 
 belongs to had carried off. Therefore, go away back 
 to your wives and families while you are able to, for 
 if you come but one foot nearer not one of you will 
 live to return." 
 
 The news that the Osprey had the cannon from 
 the brigantine on board came like a thunderbolt upon 
 the negroes. The prospect of a fight with the men who 
 had so easily captured the brigantine was unpleasant 
 enough, but that they were also to encounter cannon 
 was altogether too much for them, and a general shout 
 of " Don't fire ; we go back ! " rose from the boats. 
 For a minute or two they lay motionless, afraid even 
 to dip an oar in the water lest it should bring down 
 a storm upon them, but as the Osprey glided slowly 
 away the rearmost boat began to turn round, the others 
 followed her example, and they were soon rowing back 
 even more rapidly than they had come. 
 
 " You can cast off that boat, Hawkins, as soon as 
 we are out into the bay," Frank said, and then went 
 down below. 
 
 " Our troubles are all over at last, dear, and we 
 can have a quiet talk," he said. " As I expected, the- 
 negroes lost heart as soon as they came near, and the
 
 304 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 threat of a round of grape from the guns finally settled 
 them. They are off for home, and we shall hear no 
 more of them. Now you had best be off to bed at once ; 
 you have had a terrible day of it, and it is just two 
 o'clock. Ah! that is right," he broke off, as the stew- 
 ard entered carrying a tray with tea things. " I had 
 forgotten all about that necessity. You had better call 
 Anna in; she must want a cup too, poor girl." 
 
 " Yes, I should like a cup of tea," Bertha said, as 
 .she sat down to the tray, " but I really don't feel so 
 tired as you would think." 
 
 " You will feel it all the more afterwards, I am 
 afraid," Frank replied. " The excitement has kept 
 ^you up." 
 
 "Yes, we felt dreadfully tired, didn't we, Anna, 
 before we gave up? But the two hours' row in the 
 .boat and all this excitement here have made me almost 
 forget it. It seems to me now quite impossible that 
 it can be only about nine hours since you rushed out 
 .so suddenly with your men. It seems to me quite far 
 off; further than many things do that happened a week 
 ago. And please to remember that your advice to go 
 to bed is quite as seasonable in your case as in mine." 
 
 When he had seen them leave the saloon, Frank 
 went on deck for a last look round. 
 
 " I don't think that there is a chance of anything 
 happening before morning, Hawkins, but you will, of 
 course, keep a snarp look-out and let me know." 
 
 " I will look out, sir. I have sent the four hands 
 who were with you down to their berths as soon as the 
 niggers turned back. Lechmere has turned in, too." 
 
 " Is the wind freshening at all ? " 
 
 "Not yet, sir. I don't suppose that we shall get 
 more than we have now till day begins to break. Still, 
 we are crawling on and shall be out in the bay in an- 
 other quarter of an hour." 
 
 When Frank got up at sunrise he found that the
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 305 
 
 yacht was just rounding the point of the bay. He 
 looked behind; no boat was in view. 
 
 " Nothing moving, I see," he said, as the first mate, 
 who was in charge, came up. 
 
 " We have not seen a thing on the water, sir." 
 
 " I hardly expected that there would be. It is prob- 
 able that as soon as the boats got back Carthew sent 
 his skipper or mate off with a couple of the men to 
 Port au Prince, to lay a complaint for piracy against 
 me. But even if they got horses it would take them 
 a couple of days to get there; that is, if they are not 
 much better riders than the majority of sailors are. 
 Then it is likely that there would be some time lost in 
 formalities, and even if there was a Government steam- 
 er lying in the port it would take her a long time to get 
 up steam. Moreover, I am by no means sure that even 
 Carthew would venture on such an impudent thing 
 as that. It is certain that we should get into a bad 
 scrape for boarding and burning a vessel in Haytian 
 waters, but that is all the harm he could do us. The 
 British Consul would certainly be more likely to be- 
 lieve the story of the owner of a Royal Squadron yacht, 
 backed by that of her captain, mates and crew, and 
 by Miss Greendale and her maid, than the tale of the 
 owner of a vessel that could give no satisfactory ex- 
 planation for being here. Besides, he will know that 
 before a steamer could start in chase we should be 
 certainly two, or perhaps three, days away, and whether 
 we should make for Jamaica or Bermuda, or round the 
 northwestern point of the bay, and then for England, 
 he could have no clue whatever." 
 
 "How shall I lay her course, sir? The wind has 
 freshened already, and we are slipping through the 
 water at a good four knots now." 
 
 " We will keep along this side as far as the Point 
 at any rate. If Carthew has sent for a steamer he is 
 likely to have ordered a man down to this headland to
 
 306 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 see which course we are taking. When we have got 
 so far that we cannot be made out from there, we will 
 sail north for Cape la Mole. I think it would be safe 
 enough to lay our course at once, but I do not wish 
 to run the slightest risk that can be avoided." 
 
 The wind continued to freshen, and to Frank's sat- 
 isfaction they were, when Bertha came on deck at 
 eight o'clock, running along the coast at seven knots 
 an hour. 
 
 " Have you slept well ? " he asked, as he took her 
 hand. 
 
 " Yes. I thought when I lay down that it would 
 be impossible for me to sleep at all it had been such 
 a wonderful day, it was all so strange, so sudden, and 
 so happy and just as I was thinking so, I suppose I 
 dropped off and slept till Anna woke me three quarters 
 of an hour ago and told me what time it was. Frank, 
 I did not say anything yesterday, not even a single 
 word of thanks, for all that you have done for me; 
 but you know very well that it was not because I did 
 not feel it, but because if I had said anything at all 
 I should have broken down, and that was the very 
 thing that I knew I ought not to do. But you know, 
 don't you, that I shall have all my life to prove how 
 thankful I am." 
 
 " I know, dear, and between us surely nothing need 
 be said. I am as thankful that I have been the means 
 of saving you as you can be that I was almost miracu- 
 lously enabled to follow your track so successfully." 
 
 " Breakfast is ready, sir," the steward announced 
 from the companion. 
 
 " Coming, steward. I have told them, Bertha, to 
 lay for three. I thought that it would be pleasanter 
 for you to have Anna with you at meals, as I suppose 
 she has taken them with you since you were carried 
 off." 
 
 " Thank you," she said, gratefully ; " it won't be
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 307 
 
 quite so nice for you, I know, but perhaps it will be 
 better." 
 
 " Well, Anna, you are looking very well," Frank 
 said as he sat down. " You must officiate with the 
 coffee, Bertha; I will see after the eatables." 
 
 " Yes, Anna does look well," Bertha said. " She 
 has borne up capitally ever since the first two days. 
 We have had all our meals together in our cabin." 
 
 " Miss Greendale has been a great deal braver than 
 I have, sir," Anna said, quietly ; " she has been won- 
 derfully brave, and though she is very good to say that 
 I have borne up well, I know very well that I have not 
 been as brave as I ought, and I could not help break- 
 ing down and crying sometimes, for I did think that 
 we should never' get home again." 
 
 " Except carrying you away, Carthew did not be- 
 have altogether so badly, Bertha?" 
 
 " No, the first day that we got on board he told 
 me that I was to stay there until I consented to marry 
 him. I told him that in that case I should become a 
 permanent resident on board, but that sooner or later 
 I should be rescued. He only said then that he hoped 
 that I should change my mind in time. He admitted 
 that his conduct had been inexcusable, but that his 
 love for me had driven him to it, and that he had only 
 won me as many a knight had won a bride before 
 now. 
 
 " At first I made sure that when we put into a port 
 I should be able somehow to make my condition known ; 
 but I realised for the first time what it was going to 
 be when I saw us stand off the Lizard and lay her head 
 for the south. Tip to that time I had scarcely ex- 
 changed a word with him. I had said at once that 
 unless I had my meals in my own cabin with Anna, 
 I would eat nothing at all, and he said, quite courte- 
 ously, I must confess, that I should in all respects do 
 as I pleased, consistent with safety.
 
 308 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " From that time he said ' Good morning ' gravely 
 when I came up on deck with Anna, and made a re- 
 mark about the weather. I made no reply, and did 
 not speak until he came to me in the morning, and 
 said quietly, ' That is the Lizard astern of us, Miss 
 Greendale. We are bound for the West Indies, the 
 finest cruising ground in the world, full of quiet little 
 bays where we can anchor for weeks.' ' It is mon- 
 strous,' I said, desperately, for I own that for the first 
 time I was really frightened. ' Some day you will be 
 punished for this.' ' I must risk that,' he said, quietly. 
 ' Of course, at present you are angry ; it is natural 
 that you should be so, but in time you will forgive 
 me, and will make allowance for the length to which 
 my affection for you has driven me. It may be six 
 months, it may be ten years, but however long it may 
 be, I can promise you that save for this initial offence 
 you will have no cause to complain of me. I am pos- 
 sessed of boundless patience, and can wait for an in- 
 definite time. In the and I feel sure that your heart 
 will soften towards me.' 
 
 " That was his tone all along. He was perfectly re- 
 spectful, perfectly polite. Sometimes for days not a 
 word would be exchanged between us; sometimes he 
 would come up and talk, or rather, try to talk, for 
 it was seldom that he got any answer from me. As 
 a rule I sat in my deck chair with Anna beside me, 
 and he sat on the other side of the deck, or walked up 
 and down, smoking or talking with that man who 
 was with him. So it went on till the afternoon when 
 we saw you. As I told you, he made us go down at 
 once. I could see that he was furiously angry and ex- 
 cited. The steward came to our cabin early in the 
 morning and said that Mr. Carthew requested that we 
 would dress and come up at once. As I was anxious 
 to know what was going on, I did so; and he said 
 when we came on deck, ' I am very sorry, Miss Green-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 dale, but I have to ask you to go on shore with us at 
 once.' 
 
 " I had no idea where we were, save that it was 
 somewhere in the island of San Domingo; but I was 
 ready enough to go ashore, thinking that I might, see 
 some white people that I could appeal to. 
 
 " I did speak to some negroes as we landed, but 
 he said, ' It is of no use your speaking to them, Miss 
 Greendale, for none of them understands any lan- 
 guage but his own.' I saw that they did not under- 
 stand me, at any rate. I was frightened when I saw 
 that four of the sailors were going with us, and that a 
 dozen of the blacks, armed with muskets, also formed 
 round us. I said that I would not go a-foot, but Car- 
 thew answered : ' It would pain me greatly were I 
 obliged to take such a step; but if you will not go, 
 there is no course open to me but to have you carried. 
 I am sorry that it should be so, but for various reasons 
 it is imperative that you should take up your abode on 
 shore for the present.' 
 
 " Seeing that it was useless to resist, I started with 
 him. A short distance on, two blacks came up with 
 the horses, which had evidently been sent for. We 
 mounted, and were taken up among the hills to the 
 place where you found us. Every mile that we went 
 I grew more frightened, for it seemed to me that it 
 was infinitely worse being in his power up in those 
 hills than on board his yacht, where something might 
 happen by which I might be released from him. Those 
 huts you saw had been built beforehand, so that he 
 had evidently been preparing to take us there if there 
 should be any reason for leaving the yacht. There was 
 bedding and a couple of chairs and a table in ours. 
 
 " In the morning, while still speaking politely, he 
 made it evident to me that he considered he could 
 take a stronger tone than before. ' I assure you, Miss 
 Greendale,' he said, ' that this poor hut is but a tern-
 
 310 TIIE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 porary affair. I will shortly have a more comfortable 
 one erected for you. You see, your residence here is 
 likely to be a long one, unless you change your mind. 
 Pray do not nourish any idea that you can some day 
 escape me, it is out of the question; and certainly no 
 white man is ever likely to come to this valley, nor is 
 any negro, except those who live in this village. Its 
 head is an Obi man, whose will is law to the negroes; 
 their belief in his power is unlimited, and I believe 
 that they imagine that he could slay them with the 
 look of his eye, or turn them into frogs or toads by his 
 magic power. I pray you to think the matter over 
 seriously. Why should you waste your life here ? You 
 did not always regard me as so hateful; and the love 
 that I bear you is unchangeable. Even could you, 
 months or years hence, make your escape, which I re- 
 gard as impossible, what would your position be if you 
 returned to England? What story would you have 
 to tell? It might be a true one, but would it be be- 
 lieved ? ' 
 
 " ' I have my maid, sir,' I said, passionately, ' who 
 would confirm my report of what I have suffered.' 
 * No doubt she would,' he said, quietly, ' but a maid's 
 testimony as to her mistress's doings does not go for 
 very much. I endeavoured to make the voyage, which 
 I foresaw might be a long one, pleasant to you by re- 
 questing you to bring her with you, and I believe that 
 ladies who elope not unfrequently take their maids 
 with them. But we need not discuss that. This valley 
 will be your home, Miss Greendale, until you consent 
 to leave it as my wife. I do not say that I shall always 
 share your solitude here. I shall cruise about, and 
 may even for a time return to England, but that will 
 in no way alter your position. I have been in com- 
 munication with the Obi gentleman since I first put 
 into the bay, and he has arranged to take charge of 
 your safety while I am away. He is not a pleasant
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 311 
 
 man to look at, and I have no doubt that he is an 
 unmitigated scoundrel but his powers are unlimited. 
 If he ordered his followers to offer you and your maid 
 as sacrifices to his fetish, they would carry out his 
 orders, not only willingly, but joyfully. He is a gen- 
 tleman who, like his class, has a keen eye to the main 
 chance, and will, I doubt not, take every precaution 
 to prevent a source of considerable income from escap- 
 ing him.' 
 
 " ' You understand,' he went on, in a different man- 
 ner, ' I do not wish to threaten you very far from it. 
 I have endeavoured from the time that you set foot 
 on board to make you as comfortable as possible, and 
 to abstain from thrusting myself upon you in the 
 slightest degree, and I shall always pursue the same 
 course. But please understand that nothing will shake 
 nay resolution. It will pain me deeply to have to keep 
 you in a place like this, but keep you I must until 
 you consent to be mine. You must see yourself the 
 hopelessness as well as the folly of holding out. On the 
 one side is a life wasted here, on the other you will 
 be the wife of a man who loves you above all things; 
 who has risked everything by the step that he has 
 taken, and who when you consent will devote his life 
 to your happiness. You will be restored to your 
 friends and to your position, and nought will be known, 
 except that we made a runaway match, as many have 
 done before us. Do not answer now. At any rate I 
 will remain here for a couple of months, and by the 
 end of that time you may see that the alternative is 
 not so terrible a one." 
 
 " Then without another word he turned and walked 
 away and nothing further passed between us until in 
 the afternoon when you so suddenly arrived." 
 
 " Thank God, he behaved better than I should have 
 given him credit for," Frank said, when she had fin- 
 ished. " He must have felt absolutely certain that
 
 312 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 there was no chance whatever of your rescue, and that 
 in time you would be forced to accept him, or he would 
 hardly have refrained from pushing his suit more 
 urgently. His calculations were well made, and if we 
 had not noticed that brigantine at Cowes, and I had 
 not had the luck to come upon some of his crew and 
 pick up his track, he might have been successful." 
 
 " You don't think that I should ever have con- 
 sented to marry him ? " Bertha said, indignantly. 
 
 " I am sure that such a thought never entered your 
 head, Bertha; but you cannot tell what the effect of 
 a hopeless captivity would have had upon you. The 
 fellow had judged you well, and he saw that the atti- 
 tude of respect he adopted would afford him a far bet- 
 ter chance of winning you than roughness or threats 
 would do. But he might have resorted to them after- 
 wards, and you were so wholly and absolutely in his 
 power that you would almost have been driven to ac- 
 cept the alternative and become his wife." 
 
 She shook her head decidedly. 
 
 " I would have killed him first," she said. " I sup- 
 pose some girls would say, ' I would have killed my- 
 self ; ' but I should not have thought of that at any 
 rate not until I had failed to kill him. Every woman 
 has the same right to defend herself that a man has, 
 and I should have no more felt that I was to blame 
 if I had killed him than you would do when you killed 
 a man who had done you no individual harm in battle." 
 
 " We only want mamma here," she said a little 
 later, as she took her seat in a deck chair, " to com- 
 plete the illusion that we are sailing along somewhere 
 on the Devonshire coast. The hills are higher and 
 more wooded, but the general idea is the same. I sup- 
 pose I ought to feel it very shocking, cruising about 
 with you, without anyone but Anna with me; but 
 somehow it does not feel so." 
 
 " No wonder, dear. You see, we have been looking
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 313 
 
 forward to doing exactly the same thing in the 
 spring." 
 
 " I think we had better not talk about that now," 
 she said, flushing. " I intend to make believe, till we 
 get to England, that mamma is down below and that I 
 may be called at any moment. How long shall we be 
 before we are there ? " 
 
 " I cannot say, Bertha ; I shall have a talk with 
 Hawkins presently as to what course we had better 
 take. It may be best to sail to Bermuda. If we find 
 a mail steamer about to start from there, we might go 
 home in it and get there a fortnight earlier than we 
 should do in the yacht, perhaps more. However, that 
 we can talk over. I can see there may be difficulties, 
 but undoubtedly the sooner you are home the better. 
 You see, we are well in November now. What day 
 is it ? " he reflected. 
 
 " I have lost all count, Frank." 
 
 He consulted a pocket-book. 
 
 " To-day is the twenty-first of November. I should 
 think that if we get favourable winds, we might make 
 Bermuda in a week ten days at the outside; and if 
 we could catch a steamer a day or two after getting 
 there, you might be able to spend your Christmas at 
 Greendale." 
 
 " That would be very nice. The difficulty would 
 be that I might afterwards meet some of the people 
 who were with us on the steamer." 
 
 " It would not be likely," he said, " still, we can 
 talk it over. At any rate, from the Bermudas we can 
 send a letter to your mother and set her mind at rest." 
 
 The captain and Purvis, consulting the book of 
 sailing directions, came to the conclusion that the pas- 
 sage via the Bermudas would be distinctly the best 
 and shortest. The wind was a-beam and steady, and 
 with all sail set the Osprey maintained a speed of 
 nine knots an hour until Bermuda was in sight. They
 
 314 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 were still undecided as to whether they had better go 
 home by the mail, but it was settled for them by their 
 finding, on entering the port, that the steamer had 
 touched there the day before and gone on the same even- 
 ing, and that it was not probable that any other steamer 
 would be sailing for England for another ten days. 
 
 They stopped only long enough to lay in a store 
 of fresh provisions and water, of which the supply was 
 now beginning to run very short; indeed, had not the 
 wind been so steady, all hands would have been placed 
 on half rations of water. Bertha did not land. She 
 was nervously afraid of meeting anyone who might 
 recognise her afterwards, and six hours after entering 
 the port the Osprey was again undei- way. The wind, 
 as is usual at Barbadoes, was blowing from the south- 
 west, and it held with them the whole way home, so 
 that after a remarkably quick run they dropped anchor 
 off Southampton on the fifteenth of December. Frank 
 had already made all arrangements with the captain to 
 lay up the Osprey at once. 
 
 " I shall want her out again in the first week in 
 April, so that she will not be long in winter quarters." 
 
 On landing, Frank despatched a telegram to Lady 
 Greendale : " Eeturned all safe and well, just starting 
 for town, shall be with you about six o'clock." 
 
 The train was punctual, and five minutes before 
 six Frank arrived with Bertha at Lady Greendale's. 
 
 He had already told Bertha that he should not 
 come in. 
 
 " It is much better that you should be alone with 
 her for a time. She will have innumerable questions 
 to ask, and would, of course, prefer to have you to 
 herself. I will come round to-morrow morning after 
 breakfast." 
 
 Anna had been instructed very carefully by her mis- 
 tress not to say anything of what had happened, and 
 in order that she might avoid questions, George Lech-
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 315 
 
 mere had seen her into a cab for Liverpool Street, as 
 she wished to spend a week with some friends at 
 Chelmsford. Then she was to join Bertha at Green- 
 dale. 
 
 Frank went to his chambers, where George Lech- 
 mere had driven with the luggage. The next morning 
 he went early to Lady Greendale's, so early that he 
 found her and Bertha at breakfast. 
 
 " My dear Frank," the former said, embracing him 
 warmly, " how can I ever thank you for all that you 
 have done for us! Bertha has been telling me all 
 about how you rescued her. I hear that you were 
 wounded, too." 
 
 " The wound was of no great importance, and, as 
 you see, I have thrown aside my sling this morning. 
 Yes, we went through some exciting adventures, which 
 will furnish us with a store of memories all our lives. 
 How have you been, Lady Greendale? I am glad to 
 see that at any rate you are looking well." 
 
 " I have had a terribly anxious time of it, as you 
 may suppose; but your letters were always so bright 
 and hopeful that they helped me wonderfully. The 
 first fortnight was the worst. Your letter from Gib- 
 raltar was a great relief, and of course the next, say- 
 ing that you had heard that the yacht really did touch 
 at Madeira showed that you were on the right track. 
 When you wrote from Madeira, I sent to Wild's for 
 the largest map of the West Indies that they had, and 
 thus when I got your letters I was able to follow your 
 course and understand all about it. You are looking 
 better than when I saw you last." 
 
 " You should have seen him when I first met him, 
 mamma. I hardly knew him, he looked so thin and 
 worn; but during the last three weeks he has filled 
 out again, and he seems to me to be looking quite 
 himself." 
 
 "And Bertha is looking well, too."
 
 316 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 " So I ought to do, mamma. I don't think I ever 
 looked very bad, in spite of my troubles, and the splen- 
 did voyage we have had would have set anyone up." 
 
 " It has been a wonderful comfort to me," Lady 
 Greendale said, "that I have met hardly anyone that 
 I know. The last three weeks or so I have met two or 
 three people, but I only said that I was up in town for 
 a short time. Of course, they asked after you, and I 
 said that you were not with me, as you were spending 
 a short time with some people whom you knew. We 
 intend to go down home to-morrow." 
 
 " The best thing that you can do, Lady Greendale. 
 I shall be down for Christinas, and the first week in 
 April, you know, I am to carry her off. So, you see, 
 this excursion of ours has not altered any of our plans."
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CHRISTMAS passed off quietly. As soon as it was 
 known that Lady Greendale had returned, the neigh- 
 bours called, and for the next few months there was 
 the usual round of dinner parties. To all remarks as 
 to the length of time that she had been away, Lady 
 Greendale merely replied that Bertha had been stay- 
 ing among friends, and that as she herself had not 
 been in very good health, she had preferred staying in 
 town, where she could always find a physician close 
 at hand if she needed one. It was not until they had 
 been back for more than a month that the engagement 
 between Bertha and Major Mallett was announced by 
 Lady Greendale to her friends, and it was generally 
 supposed that it had but just taken place. The an- 
 nouncement gave great satisfaction, for the general 
 opinion had been that Bertha would get engaged in 
 London, and that Greendale would be virtually lost to 
 the county. 
 
 The marriage was to take place in April. " There 
 is no reason for a long delay," Lady Greendale ex- 
 plained. " They have known each other ever since 
 Bertha was a child. They intend to spend their honey- 
 moon on board Major Mallett's yacht, the Osprey, and 
 will go up the Mediterranean until the heat begins 
 to get too oppressive, when they talk about sailing 
 round the islands, or, at any rate, cruising for some 
 time off the west of Scotland." 
 
 About the same time, George Lechmere, in a rather 
 21 317
 
 318 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 mysterious manner, told Frank that he wished for a 
 few minutes' conversation with him. 
 
 " What is it, George ? Anything wrong with the 
 cellar?" 
 
 " No, sir, it is not that. The fact is that Anna 
 Parsons, Miss Greendale's maid, you know, and I have 
 settled to get married, too." 
 
 " Capital, George, I am heartily glad of it," Frank 
 said, shaking him warmly by the hand. 
 
 " I never thought that I should get to care for any- 
 one again, but you see we were thrown a good deal 
 together on the voyage home, and I don't know how it 
 came about, but we had pretty well arranged it before 
 we got back, and now we have settled it altogether." 
 
 " I am not surprised to hear it, George. I rather 
 fancied, from what I saw on board, that something 
 was likely to come of it. It is the best thing by far 
 for you." 
 
 " Well, sir, as I said, I never thought that I should 
 care for anyone else, but I am sure that I shall make 
 a better husband now than I should have done had I 
 married five years ago." 
 
 -'' Tnat I am sure you will. You have had a rough 
 lesson, and it has made a great impression, and I doubt 
 whether your marriage would have been a happy one 
 had you married then, after what you told me of your 
 jealous temper. Now I am sure that neither Anna 
 nor anyone else could wish for a better husband than 
 you will make. Well now, what are you thinking of 
 doing, for I suppose you have thought it over well ? " 
 
 " That is what we cannot quite settle, Major. I 
 should like to stay with you all my life just as I am." 
 
 " I don't see that you could do that at least, not 
 in your present condition. There is no farm vacant, 
 and if there were one I must give the late tenant's 
 son the option of it. That has always been the mle 
 on the estate. However, we need not settle on that
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 319 
 
 at present. When are you going to get married? I 
 should like it to be at the same time as we are. I am 
 sure that Miss Greendale would be pleased. We both 
 owe you a great deal, and, as you know, I regard you 
 as my closest friend." 
 
 " Thank you, Major, but I am sure that neither 
 Anna nor I would care to be married before a church 
 full of grand people, and we have agreed that we won't 
 do it until after you come back from your trip. Miss 
 Bertha has promised Anna that she shall go with her 
 as her maid, and, of course, Major, I shall want to 
 go with you." 
 
 " Well, you might get married the week before, 
 and still go with us." 
 
 George shook his head. 
 
 " I think that it would be better the other way, 
 Major. We will go with you as we are, and get mar- 
 ried after you come back." 
 
 The next day Frank had a long talk with Mr. 
 Norton. 
 
 " Well, sir, your plan would suit me very well ; 
 nothing could be better," said the old steward. " In 
 fact, I was going to tell you that I was beginning to 
 find that the outdoor work was getting too much for 
 me, and that though I should be very sorry to give it 
 up altogether, I must either arrange with you to have 
 help or else find a successor. I am sure that the ar- 
 rangement you propose would suit me exactly. George 
 Lechmere would be just the man for the work. We 
 used to think him the best judge of live stock in the 
 county, and he is a good all round farmer. If he were 
 to take the work of the home farm off my hands, I 
 could keep on very well with the rest of the estate 
 for another two or three years, and as he would act 
 as my assistant he would, by the end of that time, be 
 quite capable of taking it over altogether. I should 
 then move into Chippenham; we have two married-
 
 320 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 daughters living, and now that we have no one at home 
 my wife has been saying for some time that she would 
 rather settle there than go on living in the country, 
 and there is really no more occasion for me to go on 
 working. So, as soon as Lechmere has got the whole 
 thing in hand, I shall be quite ready to hand it over 
 to him." 
 
 " Well, I am very glad that it is so, Norton. Of 
 course, I should never have made any change until 
 you yourself were perfectly willing to give it up, but 
 as you are willing, I am certainly glad to be able to 
 put him into it. As you know, he saved my life, and 
 has done me many other great services, and I regard 
 him as a friend and want to keep him near me. Of 
 course, he will go into the farmhouse, and after you 
 retire he can either move into yours or remain there, 
 as he likes. Naturally, as long as you live, Norton, 
 I shall continue the rate of pay you have always had. 
 You were over thirty years with my father, and I 
 should certainly make no difference in that respect." 
 
 " Well, George, I have arranged your business," 
 Prank said that evening. " Norton is getting on in 
 life now, and he begins to find his work in winter a 
 little too hard for him, so I have arranged that you 
 are to take the management of the home farm alto- 
 gether off his hands, and will, of course, establish your- 
 self at the house. You will be a sort of assistant to 
 him in other matters and get up the work, and in the 
 course of a couple of years at the outside he will retire 
 altogether, and you will be steward. If you like you 
 can work the home farm on your own account, but 
 that will be for your consideration. How do you think 
 that you will like that ? " 
 
 " I should like it above everything, Major, and I 
 am grateful to you, indeed." 
 
 " Well, I am glad that you like the arrangement, 
 George. I had it in my mind when I was talking to
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 321 
 
 you two days ago, but until I saw Norton, and found 
 that he was willing to retire, I did not propose it." 
 
 Towards the end of February Lady Greendale and 
 Bertha went up to town for a fortnight, intimating 
 to Frank that they would be so busy with important 
 business that his presence there would not be desired. 
 He, however, travelled with them to London, and then 
 went round to Southampton, where he had a consulta- 
 tion with the firm in whose yard the yacht was laid 
 up, and the head of the great upholstering firm there, 
 and arranged for material alterations in the plans of 
 the cabins and their redecoration. Everything was to 
 be completed by the beginning of April. He had writ- 
 ten to Hawkins to meet him on board. 
 
 " You must have everything ready by the fifth," 
 he said. " We shall arrive late in the afternoon, or 
 perhaps in the evening of the fifth, and shall get under 
 way next morning. I hope that you have been able to 
 get the same crew." 
 
 " There is no fear of their not all coming, sir, ex- 
 cept Purvis; he has been bad all the winter, and I 
 doubt whether he will be able to go with us." 
 
 " I am sorry to hear that ; tell him that I shall 
 make him an allowance of a pound a week for the 
 season, and that I shall give him a little pension of ten 
 shillings a week as long as he lives. I shall consider 
 that all who went with me on that cruise to the West 
 Indies have a claim upon me." 
 
 The time for the wedding approached. There was 
 some consultation between Frank and Lady Greendale 
 as to whether the dinner to the tenants should be given 
 on that occasion or on their return, and it was settled 
 that it would be more convenient to postpone it. 
 
 " I am sure they would rather have you and Bertha 
 here, and it would be much more convenient in every 
 way. We have so much to think about now, and there 
 will be so many arrangements to be made."
 
 322 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 "I quite agree with you. I will put it all in the 
 hands of Rafters, of Chippenham. I think that it is 
 only right to give it to local people. We shall want 
 two big marquees, one for your tenants and mine and 
 their wives and families, and the other for all the 
 labourers and farm servants." 
 
 " And there must be another for all the children," 
 Bertha put in. 
 
 " Very well, Bertha. Then, of course, we must have 
 a military band and fireworks, and we had better have 
 a big platform put down for those who like to dance, 
 and a lot of shows and things for the elders and chil- 
 dren, and a conjuror with a big lucky basket and things 
 of that sort. Of course, at present one cannot give 
 even an approximate date, but I will tell them that 
 they shall have a fortnight's notice." 
 
 "I wonder what has become of Carthew, Major?" 
 George Lechmere said, as he was having a last talk 
 with Frank on the eve of the wedding. " He will 
 gnash his teeth when he sees it in the papers." 
 
 " I have thought of him a good many times, George. 
 He is an evil scoundrel, and nothing would please me 
 more than to hear that he was dead. When I remem- 
 ber how many years he kept up his malice against me 
 for having beaten him in a fight I know how intense 
 must be his hatred of me now that I have thwarted 
 all his plans and burned his yacht. It is not that I am 
 afraid of him personally, but there is no saying what 
 form his vengeance will take, for that he will sooner or 
 later try to be revenged I feel absolutely certain." 
 
 " I have often thought of it myself, sir. Perhaps 
 he is out in Hayti still." 
 
 " No chance of that, George. Miss Greendale said 
 that he told her that he had money sufficient to pay 
 for a ten years' cruise. That may have been a lie, but 
 he must have had money sufficient to last him for 
 some time, anyhow, and you may be sure that he took
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 323 
 
 it on shore with him. He may have died from the ef- 
 fects of that wound you gave him, but if he is alive 
 I have no doubt that he is in England somewhere. 
 Of course, he would not show himself where he was 
 known, having been a heavy defaulter last year, but 
 he may have let his beard grow and so disguised him- 
 self that he would not be easily recognised. As to 
 what he is doing, of course I have not the slightest 
 idea; but we may be quite sure that he is not up to 
 any good. Well, George, then it is quite settled that 
 you and Anna are to go off with the luggage directly 
 the wedding is over. You will come ashore with the 
 gig and meet us at eight o'clock at the station with a 
 carriage to take us down to the boat." 
 
 " I will be there, Major, and see that everything 
 is ready for you on board." 
 
 When packing up his things in the morning, 
 George Lechmere put aside a pistol and a dagger that 
 he had taken from the sash of a mutineer whom he 
 had killed in India. 
 
 " They are not the sort of things a man generally 
 carries at a wedding," he said, grimly, " but until I 
 know something of what that villain is doing I mean 
 to keep them handy for use. There is never any say- 
 ing what he may be up to, and I know well enough that 
 the Major, whatever he says, will never give the mat- 
 ter a thought." 
 
 He loaded the pistol and dropped it into his coat 
 pocket; then he opened his waistcoat, cut a slit in the 
 lining under his left arm, and pushed the dagger down 
 it until it was stopped by the slender steel crosspiece 
 at the handle. 
 
 " I will make a neater job of it afterwards," he 
 said to himself ; " that will do for the present, and I 
 can get at it in a moment." 
 
 The wedding went off as such things generally do. 
 The church was crowded, the girls of the village school
 
 324 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 lined the path from the gate to the church door and 
 strewed flowers as the bridal party arrived, and as they 
 drove off to Greendale, tenants of both estates col- 
 lected in the churchyard cheered them heartily. There 
 was a large gathering at breakfast, but at last the toasts 
 were all drunk and the awkward time of waiting over, 
 and at three o'clock Major Mallett and his wife drove 
 off amidst the cheers of the crowd assembled to see 
 them start. 
 
 " Thank God that is all over," Frank said heartily 
 as they passed out through the lodge gates. 
 
 At half-past eight Captain Hawkins was standing 
 at the landing-stage in a furious passion. 
 
 " Where can that fellow Jackson have got to ? " 
 he said, stamping his foot. " I said that you were all 
 to be back in a quarter of an hour when we landed, 
 and it is three quarters of an hour now. I never knew 
 him to do such a thing before, and I would not have 
 had such a thing happen this evening for any money. 
 What will the Major think when he finds only five men 
 instead of six in the gig on such an occasion as this? 
 We shall be having them down in a minute or two. 
 Jackson had better not show his face on board after 
 this. It is the most provoking thing I ever knew." 
 
 " It ain't his way, captain," one of the men said. 
 " Jackson can go on the spree like the rest of us, but 
 I never knew him to do such a thing all the years I 
 have known him, when there was work to be done, and 
 I am sure he would not do so this evening. He may 
 have got knocked down or run over or something." 
 
 " I will take an oar if you like, captain," said a 
 man in a yachtsman's suit, who was loitering near. 
 " I have nothing to do and may as well row off as do 
 anything else. You can put me on shore in the dingey 
 afterwards." 
 
 " All right, my lad, take number two athwart. It 
 is too dark to see faces, and the owner is not likely
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 325 
 
 to notice that there is a strange hand on board. I 
 will give you half a crown gladly for the job." 
 
 The man got into the boat and took his seat. 
 
 " Here they come," the captain went on. " We are 
 only just in time. Up-end your oars, lads. We ain't 
 strong enough to cheer, but we will give them a hearty 
 ' God bless you ! ' as they come down." 
 
 George Lechmere came on first, and handed in a 
 bundle of wraps, parasols, and umbrellas. The cap- 
 tain stood at the top of the steps, and as Frank and 
 Bertha came up took off his hat. 
 
 " God bless you and your wife, sir," he said, and 
 the men re-echoed the words in a deep chorus. 
 
 " Thank you, captain ; thank you all, lads, for my 
 wife and myself," Frank said, heartily, and a minute 
 later the boat pushed off. The tide was running out 
 strong, and they were half-way across it towards the 
 dark mass of yachts when there was a sudden crash 
 forward. 
 
 "What is it?" Frank exclaimed. 
 
 " This fellow has stove in the boat, sir," the bow oar 
 exclaimed, and then came a series of hurried exclama- 
 tions. Frank had not caught the words, but the rush of 
 water aft told him that something serious had happened. 
 
 " Row, men, row ! " he shouted. " Steer to the near- 
 est yacht, Hawkins." 
 
 " We shall never get there, sir. She will be full 
 in half a minute." 
 
 " Let each man stick to his oar," Frank said, stand- 
 ing up. " We aft will hold on to the boat." Then he 
 raised his voice in a shout: 
 
 " Yachts, ahoy ! Send boats ; we are sinking ! 
 Don't be frightened, darling," he said to Bertha ; " keep 
 hold of the gunwale. I can keep you up easily enough 
 until help comes, but it is better to stick to the boat. 
 We must have run against something that has stove 
 her in."
 
 326 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 A moment later the water was up to the thwarts, 
 the boat gave a lurch, and then rolled over. Frank 
 threw his arm round Bertha, and as the boat capsized 
 clung to it with his disengaged hand. 
 
 " Don't try to get hold of the keel," he said. " It 
 would turn her over again. Just let your hands rest 
 on her, and take hold of the edge of one of the planks. 
 That is it, Hawkins; do you get the other side and 
 just keep her floating as she is. We shall have help 
 in a minute or two. Are you all right, George ? " 
 
 " Yes, I am at her stern. Do you want assistance, 
 sir?" 
 
 " No, we are all right, George." 
 
 A moment later a man came up beside the Major, 
 and put his hand heavily on his shoulder. 
 
 " You won last time, Mallett," he hissed in his ear. 
 tl It is my turn now." 
 
 The man's weight was pressing him under water, 
 and the boat gave a lurch. Frank loosed his hold of 
 Bertha with the words, " Hold on, dear, for a minute," 
 and, turning, grappled with his enemy, at the same 
 moment grasping his right wrist as the arm was raised 
 to strike him with a knife. In a moment both went 
 t>elow the water. They came up beyond the stern, and 
 Frank said, " Take care of Bertha, George Car- 
 thew " and then went down again. 
 
 Furiously they struggled. They were well matched 
 in strength, but Frank felt that his antagonist was 
 careless of his own life, for he had wound his legs 
 round him, and, unable to wrench his arm from his 
 grasp, was doing his utmost to prevent their coming 
 to the surface. Suddenly, when he felt that he could 
 no longer retain his breath, he felt arms thrown round 
 them both, and a moment later came to the surface. 
 Then he heard an exclamation of " Thank God ! " an 
 arm was raised, and two blows struck rapidly. Car- 
 thew's grasp relaxed, the knife dropped from his hand,
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 327 
 
 and, as Frank shook himself free, he sank under the 
 water. 
 
 "Are you all right, Major?" his rescuer said. 
 
 " Yes," he gasped. 
 
 " Put your hand on my shoulder ; the boat is not 
 a length away." 
 
 A minute later Frank was beside Bertha again. 
 
 " Where have you been, Frank ? I was fright- 
 ened." 
 
 " One of the men grasped me," he said, " and I 
 should have turned the boat over if I had not let go. 
 However, thanks to George Lechmere, who came to 
 my rescue, I have shaken him off. Ah! here is help." 
 
 Three or four boats from the yachts were indeed 
 rowing up. The four clinging to the gig were taken 
 on board by one of them, while the others picked up 
 the men who were floating supported by their oars. 
 
 " Don't say a word about it, George," Frank whis- 
 pered. 
 
 The Osprey was lying but two or three hundred 
 yards away, and they were soon alongside. 
 
 " This is not the sort of welcome I thought to give 
 you on board, dear," he said, as he helped Bertha on 
 deck, and went down the companion with her. Anna 
 burst into exclamations of dismay at seeing the drip- 
 ping figures. 
 
 " We have had an accident, Anna," Frank said, 
 cheerfully, " but I don't think that we are any the 
 worse for it. Please take your mistress aft and get her 
 into dry things at once. Steward, open one of those 
 bottles of champagne, and give me half a tumbler 
 full." 
 
 He hurried after the others with it. 
 
 " Please drink this at once, Bertha," he said. " Yes, 
 you shall have some tea directly, but start with this; 
 it will soon put you in a glow. Oh! yes, I am going 
 to have one, too; but a ducking is no odds to me."
 
 328 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 Then he ran up on deck. 
 
 " You have saved my life again, George, for that 
 scoundrel would have drowned us both." 
 
 " I saw the knife in his hand as you went down, and 
 knew that you wanted me more than Miss I mean 
 Mrs. Mallett did." 
 
 " How did you make him let go so quickly ? " 
 
 " I had a sort of fear that sooner or later that vil- 
 lain would be up to something, and had made up my 
 mind that I would always have a weapon handy. This 
 morning I stuck that dagger of mine inside the lining 
 of my waistcoat, so that it might be handy. And it 
 was handy. You were not five yards from me when 
 you went down, and I dived for you, but could not 
 find you at first, and had to come up once for air. Of 
 course, I could not use the dagger until I found which 
 was which, and then I put an end to it." 
 
 "Then you killed him, George?" 
 
 "I don't think that he will trouble you any more, 
 sir; and if ever a chap deserved his fate that villain 
 did. Why, sir, do you know how it all happened ? " 
 
 "No, I did not catch what the man at the bow 
 said; there was such a confusion forward." 
 
 " He said that he had staved the boat in somehow. 
 He must have taken the place of one of the men on 
 purpose to do it." 
 
 " Well, George, I can't say that I'm sorry." 
 
 " I am heartily glad, sir. I am no more sorry for 
 killing him than for shooting one of those murderous 
 niggers; less sorry, a great deal. The man deserved 
 hanging. He was intending to murder you, and per- 
 haps Mrs. Mallett, and I killed him as I should have 
 killed a mad dog that was attacking you." 
 
 " Well, say nothing about it at present, George. It 
 would be a great shock to my wife if she were to know 
 it. Now you had better go and change your things at 
 once, as I am going to do. Are all the men rescued ? "
 
 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 329 
 
 " Yes, sir, they are all five on board." 
 
 " Hawkins," Frank said, putting his hand in his 
 pocket, " give the men who came to help us a couple 
 of sovereigns each, and tell our men that I don't want 
 them to talk about the affair. I will see you about it 
 again." 
 
 Frank was not long in getting into dry clothes, and 
 a few minutes later Bertha came in. 
 
 " Are you none the worse for it, dear ? " 
 
 " Not a bit, Frank ; that champagne has thoroughly 
 warmed me. What a sudden affair it all was. Is every 
 one safe ? " 
 
 " Yes, they stuck to the oars, and all our crew were 
 picked up. It was a bad start, was it not? But it 
 has never happened to me before, and I hope that it 
 will never happen to me again." 
 
 " Some people would be inclined to think this an 
 unlucky beginning," said Bertha, with a slight tone 
 of interrogation. 
 
 " I am certainly not one of them," he laughed. " I 
 had only one superstition, and that is at an end. You 
 know what it was, dear, but the spell is broken. He 
 had a long run of minor successes, but I have won 
 the only prize worth having for which we have been 
 rivals." 
 
 Some days later the body of a sailor was washed 
 ashore near Selsey Bill. An inquest was held and a 
 verdict returned that the man had been murdered by 
 some person or persons unknown ; but although the po- 
 lice of Portsmouth, Southampton, Cowes, and Hyde 
 made vigilant inquiries, they were unable to ascertain 
 that any yacht sailor hailing from those ports had sud- 
 denly disappeared. There was much discussion in the 
 forecastle of the Osprey as to the identity and motives 
 o^ the man who had first got into conversation with 
 Jackson, and then asked him to take a drink, which 
 must have been hocussed, for Jackson remembered
 
 330 THE QUEEN'S CUP. 
 
 nothing afterwards; it was evident that the fellow 
 had done it in order to take his place. He had staved 
 in the boat, and, as they supposed, afterwards swam 
 to shore; but the crime seemed so singularly motive- 
 less that they finally put it down as the work of a 
 madman. 
 
 It was not until the day before the Osprey anchored 
 again in Cowes, three months later, that Bertha, on 
 expressing some apprehension of further trouble from 
 Carthew, if he had survived the wound George Lech- 
 mere gave him, learned the true account of the sink- 
 ing of the gig, as she went on board at Southampton 
 on her wedding day. 
 
 THE END.
 
 BLINKY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 
 
 BLINKY MORGAN was a very bad man ; the very 
 worst I ever encountered. Too bad almost to write 
 about, and I assure you I would not mention him 
 now only for the fact that the record might be con- 
 sidered incomplete if I failed to refer to the most 
 notorious character that ever robbed a post-office or 
 shot men down as one would mad dogs. 
 
 I regret to state that I have been unable to obtain 
 positive information as to his origin and right name, 
 and I doubt if anybody knows where he came from 
 or who he is. It is possibly best that it is so. I first 
 heard of him scarcely two years ago, when, with two 
 others of his kind, he made a tour of Indiana, starring 
 the larger towns cracking safes. 
 
 Morgan was a stoutly built man, of probably forty 
 five years, though, as he always appeared in stylish 
 suits, shiny beavers, eye-glasses and gold-headed canes, 
 he appeared much younger. His partners were younger 
 still, though equally as well appearing. One was 
 quite small and the other was quite tall and slim. 
 Upon the trains and at the hotels they might easily 
 be mistaken for genteel traveling men instead of ao 
 eomplished burglars. 
 
 99
 
 100 BLINKT MORGAN, AND THE KID. 
 
 At one well known town in Indiana the trio ap 
 peared one day. They did not enter the hotel to- 
 gether, neither were they assigned connecting rooms, 
 and never were they seen in conversation ; still they 
 were there all the same. Quite a number of offices 
 had already been cracked, and much was being said 
 about the robberies in other parts of the State. After 
 putting himself in trim Morgan sailed out to inter- 
 view the sheriff. He was a fluent talker and could 
 easily mislead any unsuspecting person. 
 
 He found the sheriff at his office, and when he tofd 
 him he had called for a private interview the office 
 was cleared. Morgan told the officer that he had 
 been sent out from Washington by the Postmaster 
 General, who was much displeased at the inability of 
 the Inspectors to run down and capture the gang of 
 burglars that were making such sad havoc among the 
 Indiana post-offices. His instructions were, he said, 
 to confer with the sheriffs at the principal county 
 seats with a view of making them more vigilant. 
 The sheriff was pleased to receive so much attention, 
 and, after visiting for half an hour, the two went out 
 to admire the beauties of the town. 
 
 Passing the post-office, they stepped in to pay their 
 respects to the postmaster. The sheriff introduced 
 the gentleman from Washington, who incidentally 
 stated his business. He looked around approvingly, 
 and finally with his cane marked the spot on the safe 
 where the burglars had been in the babit of boring 
 through the door to strike the combination. After 
 eulogizing the Postmaster General on his efforts of 
 reform, the strangrer and the sheriff withdrew. Out-
 
 BL1&KY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 101 
 
 side they separated. The gentleman from Washing- 
 ton told the sheriff he was going over to Peru and 
 would be back to-morrow, when he would call on him 
 again. 
 
 Those who have since come in contact with Morgan 
 will easily understand how much like him this trans- 
 action was, and those who know him will scarcely 
 be surprised when I state that on that night this post, 
 office was robbed, and that the safe door was bored 
 exactly where the gentleman from Washington had 
 marked it with his cane. 
 
 The most dejected man in town the following day 
 was the sheriff, and the second most disconsolate was 
 the postmaster. Every effort possible was made by 
 the police and the local detectives to find the stran- 
 ger, but he had changed his appearance and silently 
 stolen away. 
 
 It was evident to me that the burglars were work- 
 ing northward and that we would next hear of them 
 somewhere in Western Michigan ; and sure enough 
 we did. Manistee was the next town that was re- 
 ported. Here they made a big haul, and, as usual 
 got away with it. 
 
 The day before the robbery here the men were 
 seen and suspected, for the reason that one of them 
 the small one was identified by some one as Ken- 
 nedy of Detroit, who had a terrible record. Search 
 for Kid Kennedy, as he was known, was instigated 
 and pursued everywhere, but without avail. 
 
 The next week two safes in Ludington went down 
 in one night under the magic manipulations of Mor- 
 gan, Kennedy & Co., but for some unknown reason
 
 102 SLINKY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 
 
 the one in the post-office was spared. And here as 
 elsewhere the burglars succeeded in escaping the 
 officers. This satisfied me that they were very keen, 
 for no town was better equipped at that time for 
 capturing robbers than Ludington. The sheriff and 
 chief of police were rustlers of the old school, and 
 they were made of the truest metal. Yet, for all 
 this, you will bear in mind that no suspicious per- 
 sons had been seen, no one had been suspected and 
 nobody was captured. 
 
 The following week a gayly mounted circus was 
 passing through the land and in its fancy flight halted 
 for a day in Hart, the county seat of Oceana county. 
 It is a well established fact that nothing attracts the 
 bad men like the circus. Others go to purchase 
 amusement, but they follow in its train because of 
 the crowds and confusion which better enables them 
 to operate unobserved. 
 
 Thus it was that we looked towards Hart for 
 another attempt to deplete the post-office revenues, 
 and our suspicions were proven well founded on the 
 following morning by a telegram from the postmaster, 
 which simply stated that his safe and two others in 
 town had been robbed during the previous night. 
 
 I repaired to Hart as quickly as possible, where I 
 learned that in the morning after the robbery a fine 
 team and wagon had been stolen from the stable of 
 one of the citizens, and that they had been tracked 
 northward on the road leading in the direction of 
 Ludington, and that at that minute the postmaster, 
 the sheriff and others were following in hot haste.
 
 ELINKT MORGAN, AND THE KID. 103 
 
 About eight miles out they found the team unhar- 
 nessed and quietly feeding by the roadside. 
 
 Two miles further on they were informed by a far- 
 mer that three men took breakfast at his house about 
 two hours before, and that afterward they went 
 northward across the fields toward a piece of woods, 
 saying they were going through the woods to a road, 
 beyond. 
 
 The farmer gave an excellent description of the- 
 men and said he believed they were heading toward 
 Ludington. One of the pursuers was directed to re- 
 turn to Hart with the stolen team and to wire the 
 officers in Ludington to be on their guard, while the 
 others proceeded to the woods and continued a tire- 
 less and unsuccessful search. 
 
 Late that night a watchman on the south side of 
 the river at Ludington was engaged to row three 
 men across. They told him they had been out to a 
 party near there and were just returning. Only for 
 their general appearance, which indicated a long 
 tramp and much fatigue, and their queer-looking 
 bundles, the watchman possibly would not have been 
 suspicious. 
 
 Fortunately, too, he had heard of the Hart robbery, 
 so he lost no time in letting the police know what he- 
 had done, and on the following morning every officer 
 in Ludington was quietly scanning the personal ap- 
 pearance of every stranger. 
 
 Shortly after nine o'clock a gentleman wearing eye- 
 glasses and good clothes entered a restaurant, carry- 
 ing a small hand-bag. After partaking of a hearty
 
 104 SLINKY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 
 
 meal he asked the keeper if he would kindly care for 
 the bag till he returned an hour later. 
 
 As the gentleman walked out on the street the 
 keen eyes of the officers were upon him, and, observ- 
 ing the suspicious glances, the stranger turned and 
 walked hurriedly away. The officers followed closely. 
 The pace of the man was quickened, and seeing th? 
 officers were also good pedestrians, he sprang like a 
 hound and ran like an antelope toward a piece of 
 woods in the outskirts. 
 
 This was the signal for a lively race and skirmish, 
 and it was instantly accepted by the officers and 
 many others who pursued with eagerness. When 
 about half-way to the woods the officers and others 
 realized danger^ for the fleeing man had halted long 
 enough to turn and fire three shots at the enemy. 
 
 The exciting chase continued just the same, and 
 just as the man was about to enter the woods he 
 turned instantly and fired twice at the sheriff who 
 was nearest to him. The shots were returned, but 
 nobody was hit. 
 
 Men were coming in all directions, and five minutes 
 the band of volunteers anxious to distinguish them- 
 selves in police duty had been swollen to several 
 hundred. The piece of woods was quickly surrounded, 
 and when the word came from the commander of the 
 forces, the ranks slowly began to close in. Every 
 man had his gun and eye cocked for game some- 
 thing that sometimes wore eye-glasses. The ground 
 was a little soft and marshy and the hunters were 
 admonished to proceed with great care. 
 
 Larry Flanders, I think his name was, was walk-
 
 BLINEY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 105 
 
 ing a log intently attending to business, when he saw 
 something glisten underneath, and, looking closer 
 discovered the head of a man and the bright eyes of 
 the mysterious stranger. The good news echoed and 
 re-echoed through the pines, and three minutes later 
 the body had been fished out and was being marched 
 back to town in front of rifles, shot-guns and pop- 
 guns. What had they captured ? 
 
 The little bag in the restaurant was hastily exam- 
 ined and was found to contain, besides a large num- 
 ber of postage stamps, a lot of bonds belonging to 
 the postmaster at Hart, and several old and rare coins 
 that also belonged to the same postmaster, and which 
 on the night of the robbery were in the safe in the 
 Hart post-office. The watchman identified him as 
 one of the men he rowed across the river the night 
 before, and then there was no longer doubt as to 
 what had been captured. 
 
 The burglar gave his name as Charles Conklin, 
 and in the exciting efforts to arrest him his two com- 
 panions were entirely overlooked, and, of course, 
 made good their escape. The only trace found of 
 them was a hat which had been left at a store, where 
 a new one had been purchased. This hat had been 
 procured in Detroit, to which place I sent it, where 
 Darby had it identified as Kennedy's. 
 
 Coukling was turned over to the sheriff from Hart 
 about eleven o'clock, who, after binding him securely, 
 left immediately with two guards. 
 
 Word had been wired that they were on their w?y, 
 and when they arrived the streets of Hart were 
 thronged with men, women and children mciorua t
 
 106 SLINKY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 
 
 get a look at the most distinguished individual that 
 had ever favored the place with a visit. Judging 
 from appearances, and from what little he had heard 
 Conklin say since he had been with him, the sheriff 
 was satisfied that there was no place in Oceana County 
 strong enough to hold him, so he proceeded by next 
 train to Grand Rapids, a city which was famous for 
 a burglar proof jail. 
 
 Conklin was examined on the following day before 
 the U. S. Commissioner, who, of course, held him to 
 await the action of the court then in session. The 
 contents of the little bag found in Ludington were 
 securely locked up in the great safe in the District 
 Attorney's office, and Conkliu was returned to jail 
 for safe keeping. 
 
 That afternoon a small, bright, well-dressed young 
 gentleman walked into the District office and asked 
 for the District Attorney, to whom he stated that he 
 had recently graduated from the law department at 
 Ann Arbor, and being desirous of locating in the 
 beautiful and flourishing city of Grand Rapids, he 
 had been directed by a certain well-known lawyer in 
 Detroit, to call on him, the District Attorney, who 
 would likely consent to have him read law in his 
 office. 
 
 The kind- hearted District Attorney said he was so 
 badly pressed with government business just then 
 that he would be unable that day to talk with him at 
 length on the subject of admitting him to his office, 
 but if he would come around the following day he 
 might be able to spare him a few minutes. 
 
 The young gentleman did not mark the spot on
 
 SLINKY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 107 
 
 the safe with his cane, where he would be best able 
 to strike the combination, but as he gracefully with- 
 drew, the attorney turned to one of his associates 
 and remarked that he was very favorably impressed 
 with the young man, and he prophesied a brilliant 
 success for him in the legal world. 
 
 That night some burglar stole into the basement of 
 the government building in Grand Rapids, worked 
 his way unobserved up through the post-office to the 
 floor above, opened the door of the District Attorney's 
 office with a jimmy, and was at work on the door of 
 the safe inside, which he had almost succeeded in 
 opening, when he heard the footstep of the watch- 
 man in the hall outside, jumped to a window and slid 
 away on a rope, without securing the articles he was 
 after. The young lawyer from Detroit did not re- 
 turn -on the following day, and the District Attorney 
 saw nothing that resembled him except the picture 
 of Kid Kennedy. 
 
 Conklin was indicted by the grand jury then sit- 
 ting, and was at once arraigned for trial. He had 
 engaged one of the shining lights of the Grand Rapids 
 bar to defend him, and when his case was called the 
 attorney asked to have it put over to the next term, 
 stating that it would be manifestly unfair to his client 
 to be tried now, without being allowed time to secure 
 witnesses to prove his innocence and good character. 
 
 The District Attorney told how simple the case 
 was, and plainly illustrated that it was one of the 
 positive kind that did not even admit of any defense, 
 yet it went over for three months, and Conklin was 
 again taken back to jail for safe keeping.
 
 108 BLINKT MORGAN, AND THE KID. 
 
 About this time a strange woman appeared in 
 Grand Rapids, who said she was Conklin's wife. She 
 brought him new suits of clothes, and tried to fix him 
 up so that the argus-eyed farmer living ten miles 
 north of Hart would not be able to recognize him as 
 one of the three men he entertained the morning of 
 the robbery. The woman got the clothes and other 
 things into Conklin's possession some way, but the 
 farmer said he guessed it would bother anybody to 
 get that peculiar spot out of Conkliu's right eye. 
 
 Still,notwithstanding this unsurmountable obstacle, 
 the woman secured apartments in Grand Rapids and 
 was allowed to do missionary work in and out of jail, 
 long after everybody had been informed that she 
 was not Mrs. Conklin, but the notorious Mrs. 
 Lowery. 
 
 It became necessary to know something more about 
 Conklin, and with that end in view we undertook to 
 get his picture. We took him to a gallery without 
 his knowing where he was going, but the minute he 
 realized what was intended he became frantic. Finally, 
 with the aid of four policemen and two revolvers, a 
 very good negative was secured. 
 
 The photographs I mailed to all the prisons in the 
 country, with a letter of inquiry, and from, the peni- 
 tentiary in Kingston, Canada, I received a reply 
 stating that the picture was that of a man known 
 there as Charles Morgan, who, owing to a peculiarity 
 in his right eye was known as " Blinky " Morgan, 
 and that a few months Morgan and a young man 
 named Kennedy, both of whom were in the Kings 
 ton prison for murder, had escaped.
 
 SLINKY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 10$ 
 
 By following up the record closely I also learned 
 that he once had a hand in a notorious robbery in New 
 York ; that he went from New York to Cleveland, 
 where he and Charles Lowery were engaged in an 
 express robbery where a messenger was killed. Low- 
 ery was arrested, and with the aid of Morgan and 
 Mrs. Lowery broke jail and went to Canada. Morgan 
 was shot in the performance, but not seriously enough 
 to prevent him from going to Canada also. In Canada 
 the record of the crimes of Lowery and Morgan 
 would fill an entire book like this. 
 
 They were stealing, robbing and shooting constant- 
 ly, and in every instance when they were caught, Mrs. 
 Lowery would turn up to assist them to break jail, 
 or, failing in this, to influence the court in their be- 
 half, and her success had been fully as remarkable as 
 that of the men. 
 
 They entered the residence of a wealthy mM? i,f* 
 Belleville one night, and after they had $^.i^. -^ 
 that was valuable and were leaving they were sur. 
 prised by several railroad men. The robbers held 
 the entire crowd at bay and succeeded, as usual, in 
 escaping, though Lowery was afterward caught and 
 returned to Belleville. 
 
 Two days later Mrs. Lowery turned up and after 
 a few days of her peculiar work Lowery escaped and 
 returned to the states, where he was shortly after- 
 ward caught for some robbery in Pennsylvania, where 
 he was sent up for ten years. 
 
 The same day that Mrs. Lowery assisted Lowery to 
 get away from Belleville, Morgan shot and killed Jas, 
 Marooney, omnibus driver at the Walker House, To
 
 110 BL1NKY MORGAN, AND THK 
 
 ronto, having also fired at and shot a policeman 
 named Cuddy, slightly wounding him. Morgan was 
 tried and convicted of murder in the first degree, but 
 the presiding judge would not accept the verdict and 
 ordered the jury back. They afterwards found a 
 verdict of manslaughter, and Morgan was sentenced 
 to five years in Kingston penitentiary, where he re- 
 mained less than one. 
 
 Having learned all this it was now quite clear why 
 Morgan wanted time to prove his innocence and good 
 character, and it was equally as clear what Mrs, 
 Lowery's particular business was in Grand Rapids. 
 The sheriff in Grand Rapids, who was now the sole 
 custodian of Morgan, was fully advised of these 
 .startling revelations from time to time, and finally, 
 when it was known positively that arrangements had 
 been completed for Morgan to break jail this fact 
 was also telegraphed by me to Grand Rapids. 
 
 Still with all these precautions Morgan did act- 
 Trv h^ali out of that burglar-proof jail, the night 
 
 _^i J&23 SOCrt was to convene, and great was the 
 excitement in consequence thereof. 
 
 It may be interesting to know how he did it, and 
 as the story is quickly told, I will repeat it verbatum 
 from the Leader of the following evening : 
 
 " Turnkey John Platte of the county jail awoke 
 and arose at the usual hour this morning and came 
 down from his room in the second story of the res- 
 idence portion of the jail. As usual, he rapped on 
 Sheriff Kinney's door, and then opened the front door 
 and let in Phillip Boos, the watchman, who for a
 
 BL1NKY MORGAN, AND THE KID. HI 
 
 month past has been keeping guard of the jail prem- 
 ises and patroling the yard outside. 
 
 "His next move was to open the wooden door lead- 
 ing from the office entrance hallway into the prison 
 department. The two heavy padlocks which were 
 put on the iron door to make it more secure were 
 lying on the floor on the threshold. The iron 
 grating door was ajar. 
 
 " Continuing his investigations Platte, leaving Boos 
 at the door, proceeded into the jail, found the iron 
 door open leading up stairs and which at night is al- 
 ways fastened with a Yale padlock. More surprised 
 and mystified than ever, Mr. Platte wended his way 
 up the stairs and to the door of the east corridor, 
 where the prisoners held on the most serious charges 
 are confined. This doorway was open. Passing into 
 the corridor the door of the cell which Conklin, the 
 post-office burglar, was confined in, was found ajar 
 and the cell vacant. 
 
 "Pale, breathless, and terribly excited by his dis- 
 coveries, Platte conveyed the startling news to Sher- 
 iff Kinney, who was then making his toilet. Without 
 formality and without boots, collar or vest, his face 
 blanched with astonishment and surprise, the sher- 
 iff hastened to make an examination of the premises. 
 The doors, from the lower outside to the inner cell 
 door, were all unlocked and open. 
 
 " Not a scratch or mark was visible on the locks or 
 bars to show that violence had been used. His own 
 keys, the official keys of the jail, and the only ones 
 known to be in existence, were in his safe in his of 
 fice where they were left the night before. In Conk-
 
 112 BLINKY MORGAN, AND THE SID. 
 
 lin's cell was a dummy made of quilts and bed tick 
 ing, and a letter was found pinned to its breast. No 
 trace or shadow of the missing prisoner could be 
 found, nor were any clues left behind. 
 
 " * How did Conklin get out? ' " demanded Sheriff 
 Kinney of Boyd, the murderer, who occupied the ad- 
 joining cell and who was aroused from his sleep by 
 the officers. 
 
 " 4 Didn't know he got away ! Is he out ? ' " replied 
 the still half-asleep Boyd, who was startled into wake- 
 fulness by the news. He very apparently had not 
 the slightest inkling of how the thing was done, nor 
 when. 
 
 " 4 Did you hear Conklin get away ? ' " asked the 
 sheriff of young Terrill, who occupied the next 
 cell to Conklin on the other side. Terrill was as much 
 surprised as Boyd and could hardly believe such a 
 thing possible. None of the others in the corridors 
 could shed any light on the affair. They were all 
 asleep and none of them were aroused from their 
 slumbers. 
 
 " Philip Boos, who has been keeping guard at the 
 jail premises for several weeks past, who last night pa- 
 trolled a beat in front and on the south side of the 
 jail portion of the yard, had seen no suspicious cir- 
 cumstances or persons about the building during the 
 night. It was seemingly a mystery to everybody." 
 
 The only amusing feature of Morgan's escape, and 
 the only one that contains very much mystery, is found 
 in the valedictory which was pinned to the dummy 
 in the cell. It reads as follow*:
 
 113 
 
 " MR. SMART SHERIFF : your Watchfulness has, 
 Broken My heart, look at the wreck you have maid 
 of Me. I hope you will Burry me in the ventalate 
 whare you Prevented me from getting out by your 
 Watchfulness, you are very Wachfull But thare ar 
 Others that are mor watchfull than you. I am Sorry 
 for Big John he was so very Kind to me and My 
 whife. he Ot to have ben Nommated for Sheriff. 
 Such a Nobile looking man. Geate god, the Cock- 
 roaches will miss him when he his gon. Th 'only 
 frend I had in your hotell was littell Graice. When 
 she reads this letter she will Laugh untill She will 
 be unabill to talk. I will miss the Mush and Milk 
 and Roust Beefe, that is it, I think I Eate to much 
 Beeff, that is wot Kild your two Blood Hounds. 
 Well, Mr. Wachfull, my Spirit will be in Europ befor 
 you get the crape of of your old Hat. I am much 
 obliged to my many friends for sending you so many 
 letters about Me. No wonder your Hair is gray. 
 " Very Respectfuly, 
 
 " CHARLES CONKLIN. 
 
 "P. S.: If you offer a Reward ofer a Big one So 
 that the Snakes will git well paid for finding me. 
 
 "Ratts." 
 
 At the time of Morgan's escape, I was engaged in 
 the east on an important case, and so of course, could 
 not give him any attention. The District Attorney 
 and the Marshal in Grand Rapids, however, wrote 
 pleadingly to the Post-office Department to assist them 
 in finding him, which I think could have been easily 
 done, but for some reason a deaf ear was turned to
 
 114 SLINKY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 
 
 their appeals, and not the slightest effort was evei 
 made outside of Grand Rapids to recapture him. But 
 it may be of interest to many to know if we ever 
 heard of him again, so I will briefly relate. 
 
 Scarcely three months afterward there occurred, in 
 the winter of 1887, in Cleveland, one of the greatest 
 robberies on record. On this occasion the largest fur 
 store in that city was entered through the roof of the 
 building, and thousands of dollars worth of furs were 
 stolen in a single night. The work of the robbers 
 was done so cleverly that there was positively no 
 clues to aid detection, and the best detective skil] in 
 this country was employed on the case. 
 
 After several weeks of hard work it was settled 
 that some of the stolen goods had found their way 
 into Pittsburg, and, as a result of careful watching, 
 Kid Kennedy the same young man who wanted to 
 read law in Grand Rapids was arrested in Pittsburg, 
 and charged with having been connected with the 
 robbery. He was examined and held, and two Cleve- 
 land city detectives, Capt. Henry Hoehn and Mr. 
 W. H. Hulligan, left Pittsburg one night with Ken- 
 nedy to take him back to Cleveland. Everything on 
 the trip passed without interruption till just after 
 the train had left Ravenna, when, without warning, 
 Blinky Morgan, James Robinson, and John Coughlin 
 entered the car and commenced shooting at the 
 officers and others. 
 
 The train was stopped, when the terror-stricken 
 passengers jumped for their lives. Kennedy \v as re- 
 leased, when he quickly disappeared in the darkness 
 with Morgan, Robinson, ana Coughlin, while the two
 
 BL1NKY MORGAN, AND THE KID. 115 
 
 detectives were left for dead. Soon afterward Hulli- 
 gan died, but Captain Hoehn, after much suffering, 
 recovered. As soon as possible, after such an en- 
 counter, the train proceeded, when everybody in 
 Ravenna turned out to run down the murderers. But 
 they didn't run them down. 
 
 When the news of this sad affair reached Cleveland 
 in the morning, the excitement was very great. There 
 was nothing that the public-spirited citizens were not 
 willing to do to bring Morgan and his crowd to jus- 
 tice. Large rewards were offered for them and every- 
 thing was done that human hands could do. 
 
 Men were sent to all parts of the country to watch 
 for them and to see if certain prisoners, who were 
 suspected, could not be identified as being some one 
 of the number wanted. Photographs and descrip- 
 tions were sent to every sheriff and chief of police in 
 this and every other country, and, at last, after sev- 
 eral months of anxious waiting, the effects bore 
 fruit. 
 
 Charles L. Lynch, the sheriff of Alpena, Michigan, 
 quite unexpectedly one day, discovered that there 
 were three strangers stopping at the house of Mrs. 
 Frank Williams. They did not go out much and 
 their peculiar actions somewhat excited the curiosity 
 of the neighbors. 
 
 Mr. Lynch compared their descriptions with those 
 sent out by the Cleveland people, and found a very 
 striking resemblance. So striking in fact, that he 
 decided to arrest them and send to Cleveland for 
 some one to come and identify them. He summoned 
 a sufficient number of men to assist him and on the
 
 116 BLINKT MORGAN, AND THE SID. 
 
 following morning they were to watch their oppor. 
 tunity. Quite early, Robinson and Coughlin came 
 from the Williams residence and started toward the 
 wharf, where was lying a steamer going to Detroit. 
 The two went aboard the steamer, and were quickly 
 followed by half a dozen of the sheriff's party, who 
 soon surrounded them, and instantly pointed three 
 revolvers at each person and commanded them to 
 44 hold up." They were securely bound, and before 
 the news could reach their rendezvous, the sheriff and 
 three others started back to arrest the third man. 
 
 Arriving at Mrs. Williams' establishment, they 
 quietly entered, and, an instant later, sprang upon 
 Morgan, who was visiting with Mrs. Williams and 
 making a bouquet. Quick as was the sheriff he was 
 uot quick enough, for before he got the irons on his 
 prisoner, Morgan had fired and hit him. 
 
 The wound was not considered dangerous, so 
 Morgan and party were transferred to Cleveland, and 
 soon afterward Mr. Lynch died from the effects of 
 Morgan's shot. I should, perhaps, add here that Mrs. 
 Williams is a sister of Mrs. Lowery. 
 
 From Cleveland, the three robbers and murderers 
 were taken to Ravenna for trial. Morgan was tried 
 first and was found guilty of murder in the first- 
 degree and was sentenced to be hanged in the peni- 
 tentiary at Columbus, on March 16, 1888, and it was 
 hoped by everybody that nothing would happen to 
 interfere with the highly appropriate proceeding. 
 
 In this fond hope, the people were somewhat disap- 
 pointed. Mrs. Lowery went to work again, and a 
 stay of two months was granted in February to enable
 
 BLINK7 MORGAN, AND THE KID. 
 
 the Court of Appeals to decide whether or not he 
 should have a new trial. Strange, isn't it, that such 
 a man should receive any consideration, especially 
 after it had been once decided to hang him ! 
 
 Fortunately the anxiety felt on the announcement 
 of the two months' stay was dispelled early in April, 
 by an announcement from the court that there was 
 not good ground for a new trial, and that Morgan 
 must hang on June 1st, 1888. 
 
 Robinson was also convicted, and was sentenced 
 to be hanged in Columbus, April 27, 1888* 
 
 Coughlan likewise was convicted of murder in the 
 first degree, but before he received his sentence a 
 new trial was agreed upon, the result of which is not 
 known at this writing. 
 
 Kennedy, the Kid, I regret to say, has not been re- 
 captured, and his whereabouts are unknown. Of 
 course he is practicing law somewhere, and if any of 
 my readers will write and tell me where, I will ar* 
 range matters so that they will not be obliged to do 
 any more real hard work for several years.
 
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