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DANGER!
AND OTHER STORIES


WORKS BY A. CONAN DOYLE.

Illustrated Edition Uniform with this Volume.

* 6s. net each vol.

THE WHITE COMPANY. | MICAH CLARKE.
THE REFUGEES, j RODNEY STONE.

UNCLE BERNAC : A MEMORY OF THE EMPIRE.
ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.
MEMOIRS .OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

THE SIGN OF FOUR, j SIR NIGEL.

EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER GERARD.

CAPTAIN OF THE POLESTAR.

ROtJyMD THE RED LAMP.

THE STARK MUNRO LETTERS.

THE TRAGEDY OF THE " KOROSKO."

A DUET, WITH AN OCCASIONAL CHORUS.
THE iGREEN FLAG, AND OTHER STORIES OF

War and sport.

ADVENTURES OF GERARD.

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.

RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

THROUGH THE MAGIC DOOR.

ROUND THE FIRE STORIES. v

THE LAST GALLEY. | THE LOST WORLD.

THE VALLEY OF FEAR. 6j.net.

HIS LAST BOW: SOME REMINISCENCES OF
SHERLOCK HOLMES. 6s. net.

2s. net each.

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.
MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.
ADVENTURES OF GERARD.

Two Volumes of Verse. 5s. net each.
songs of action. [ songs of the road.

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1.


DANGER!

AND OTHER STORIES

BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

4

AUTHOR OF
"THE WHITE COMPANY," "SIR NIGEL"
"RODNEY STONE," ETC.

LONDON

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.

1918


All Rights Reserved


?£3

&77cUs

PBEFACE

The Title story of this volume was written
about eighteen months before the outbreak of
the war, and was intended to direct public
attention to the great danger which threatened
this country. It is a matter of history how fully
Q6 this warning has been justified and how, even
jg: down to the smallest details, the prediction
,has been fulfilled. The writer must, however,
^most thankfully admit that what he did not
c foresee was the energy and ingenuity with which
the navy has found means to meet the new
■*. conditions. The great silent battle which has
been fought beneath the waves has ended in
s the repulse of an armada far more dahgerous
; than that of Spain.

It may be objected that the writer, feeling
41 the danger so strongly, should have taken
^ other means than fiction to put his views before
vTthe authorities. The answer to this criticism
n is that he did indeed adopt every possible
^method, that he personally approached leading
^ naval men and powerful editors, that he sent
;; three separate minutes upon the danger to
; various public bodies, notably to the Committee


vi

PREFACE

for National Defence, and that he touched upon
the matter in an article in The Fortnightly Review.
In some unfortunate way subjects of national
welfare are in this country continually sub-
ordinated to party politics, so that a self-evident
proposition, such as the danger of * a nation
being fed from without, is waved aside and
ignored, because it will not fit in with some
general political shibboleth. It is against this
tendency that we have to guard in the future,
and we have to bear in mind that the danger
may recur, and that the remedies in the text
(the only remedies ever proposed) have still to
be adopted. They are the sufficient encourage-
ment of agriculture, the making of adequate
Channel tunnels, and the provision of submarine
merchantmen, which, on the estimate of Mr.
Lake, the American designer, could be made up
to 7,000 ton burden at an increased cost of about
25 per cent. It is true that in this war the
Channel tunnels would not have helped us
much in the matter of food, but were France
a neutral and supplies at liberty to come via
Marseilles from the East, the difference would
haveeen enormous.

Apart from food however, when one considers
the transports we have needed, their convoys,
the double handling of cargo, the interruptions
of traffic from submarines or bad weather, the
danger and suffering of the wounded, and all


* PREFACE

vii

else that we owe to the insane opposition to
the Channel tunnels, one questions whether
there has ever been an example of national
stupidity being so rapidly and heavily punished.
It is as clear as daylight even now, that it will
take yjears to recover all our men and material
from France, and that if the tunnel (one will
suffice for the time), were at once set in hand, it
might be ready to help in this task and so free
shipping for the return of the Americans. One
thing however, is clear. It is far too big and
responsible and lucrative an undertaking for
a private company, and it should be carried
out and controlled by Government, the proceeds
being used towards the war debt.

Arthur Conan Doyle.

August 24th,

Crowbobough.





CONTENTS

PAQB5

I.	Danger . . .	1

II.	One Crowded Hour ...	50

III.	A Point of View ...	72

IV.	The Fall of Lord Barrymore .	80
V. The Horror of the Heights .	102

VI. Borrowed Scenes . .	127

VII. The Surgeon of Gaster Fell .	145

VIII. How it Happened . . .	178

IX. The Prisoner's Defence . .	184
X. Three of Them :

i. a chat about children,

snakes, and zebus . .	204

ii.	about cricket . .	216

iii.	speculations . . .	228

iv.	the leatherskin tribe . .	236

ix


I

DANGER!1

being the log of captain john sirius

It is an amazing thing that the English, who
have the reputation of being a practical nation,
never saw the danger to which they were exposed.
For many years they had been spending nearly
a hundred millions a year upon their army and
their fleet. Squadrons of Dreadnoughts costing
two millions each had been launched. They had
spent enormous sums upon cruisers, and both
their torpedo and their submarine squadrons were
exceptionally strong. They were also by no
means weak in their aerial power, especially in
the matter of seaplanes. Besides all this,
their army was very efficient, in spite of its
limited numbers, and it was the most expensive
in Europe. Yet when the day of trial came, all
this imposing force was of no use whatever, and
might as well have not* existed. Their ruin could

1 The reader is referred to the Preface in connection with this
story.—A. C. D.

1


2

DANGER!

not have been more complete or more rapid if
they had not possessed an ironclad or a regiment.
And all this was accomplished by me, Captain
John Sirius, belonging to the navy of one of the
smallest Powers in Europe, and having under
my command a flotilla of eight vessels, the collec-
tive cost of which was eighteen hundred thousand
pounds. No one has a better right to tell the
story than I.

I wilt not trouble you about the dispute con-
cerning the Colonial frontier, embittered, as it
was, by the subsequent death of the two mis^"
sionaries. A naval officer has nothing to do with
politics. I only came upon the scene after the
ultimatum had been actually received. Admiral
Horli had been summoned to the Presence, and
he asked that I should be allowed to accompany
him, because he happened to know that I had
some clear ideas as to the weak points of England,
and also some schemes as to how to take ad-
vantage of them. There were only four of us
present at this meeting—the King, the Foreign
Secretary, Admiral Horli, and myself. The
time allowed by the ultimatum expired in forty-
eight hours.

I am not breaking any confidence when I say
that both the King and the Minister were in
favour of a surrender. They saw no possibility
of standing up against the colossal power of
Great Britain. The Minister had drawn up an


DANGER!

3

acceptance of the British terms, and the King
sat with it before him on the table. I saw the
tears of anger and humiliation run down his
cheeks as he looked at it.

"I fear that there is no possible alternative,
Sire," said the Minister. " Our envoy in London
has just sent this report, which shows that the
public and the Press are more united than he
has ever known them. The feeling is intense,
especially since the rash act of Malort in dese-
crating the flag. We must give way.'''

The King looked sadly at Admiral Horli.

" What is your effective fleet, Admiral ? " he
asked.

" Two battleships, four cruisers, twenty tor-
pedo-boats, and eight submarines," said the
Admiral.

The King shook his head.

" It would be madness to resist," said he.

" And yet, Sire," said the Admiral, " before
you come to a decision I should wish you to
hear Captain Sirius, who has a very definite plan
of campaign against the English." .

" Absurd!" said the King, impatiently.
" What is the use % Do you imagine that you
could:-defeat their vast armada ? "

" Sire," I answered, " I will stake my life that
if you will follow my advice you will, within a
month or six weeks at the utmost, bring proud
England to her knees."


4

DANGER!

There was an assurance in my voice which
arrested the attention of the King.

" You seem self-confident, Captain Sirius."
" I have no doubt at all, Sire."

" What then would you advise ? "

" I would advise, Sire, that the whole fleet be
gathered under the forts of Blankenberg and be
protected from attack by booms and piles. There
they can stay till the war is over. The eight
subma sines, hotrever, you will leave in my charge
to use as I think fit."

" Ah, you would attack the English battleships
with submarines ? "

" Sire, I would never go near an English
battleship."

" And why not ? "

" Because they might injure me, Sire."
" What, a sailor and afraid ? "

"My life belongs to the country, Sire. It
is nothing. But these eight ships—everything
depends upon them. I could not risk them.
Nothing would induce me to fight."

" Then what will you do ? "

" I will tell you, Sire." And I did so. For
half an hour I spoke. I was clear and strong
and definite, for many an hour on a lonely watch
I had spent in thinking out every detail. I held
them enthralled. The King never took his eyes
from my face. The Minister sat as if turned to
stone.


DANGER!

5

" Are you sure of all this ? v

" Perfectly", Sire."

The King rose from tlie table.

" Send no answer to the ultimatum," said he.
" Announce in both houses that we stand firm
in the face of menace. Admiral Horli, you will
in all respects carry.out that which Captain
Sirius may demand in furtherance of his plan.
Captain Sirius, the field is clear. Go forth and
do as you have said. A grateful King will know
how to reward you."

I need not trouble you by telling you the
measures which were taken at Blankenberg, since,
as you are aware, the fortress and the entire
fleet were destroyed by the British within a
week of the declaration of war. I will confine
myself to my own plans, which had so glorious
and final a result.

The fame of my eight submarines, Alpha, Beta,
Gamma, Theta, Delta, Epsilon, Iota, and Kappa,
have spread through the world to such an extent
that people have begun to think that there was
something peculiar in their form and capabilities.
This is not so. Four of them, the Delta, Epsilon,
Iota, and Kappa, were, it is true, of the very
latest model, but had their equals (though not
their superiors) in the navies of all the great
Powers. As to Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Theta,
they were by no means modern vessels, and
found their prototypes in the old F class of


6

DANGER!

British boats, having a submerged displacement
of eight hundred tons, with heavy oil engines
of sixteen hundred horse-power, giving them a
speed of eighteen knots on the surface and of
twelve knots submerged. Their length was one
hundred and eighty-six and their breadth twenty-
four feet. They had a radius of action of four
thousand miles and a submerged endurance of

nine hours. These were considered the latest

*

word in 1915, but the four new boats exceeded
them in all respects. Without troubling you with
precise figures, I may say that they represented
roughly a twenty-five percent, advance upon the
older boats, and were fitted with several auxiliary
engines which were wanting in the others. At
my suggestion, instead of carrying eight of the
very large Bakdorf torpedoes, which are nineteen
feet long, weigh half a ton, and are charged with
two hundred pounds of wet gun-cotton, we had
tubes designed for eighteen of less than half the
size. It was my design to make myself inde-
pendent of my base.

And yet it was clear that I must have a base,
so I made arrangements at once with that object.
Blankenberg was the last place I would have
chosen. Why should I have a y>ort of any kind ?
Ports would be watched or occupied. Any place
would do for me. I finally chbse a small villa
standing alone nearly five miles from any village
and thirty miles from any port. To this I


DANGER!

7

ordered them to convey, secretly by night, oil,
spare parts, extra torpedoes, storage batteries,
reserve periscopes, and everything that I could
need for refitting. The little whitewashed villa
of a retired confectioner—that was the base from
which I operated against England.

The boats lay at Blankenberg, and thither I
went. They were working frantically at the de-
fences, and they had only to look seawards to
be spurred to fresh exertions. The British fleet
was assembling. The ultimatum had not yet
expired* but it was evident that a blow would
be struck the instant that it did. Four of their
aeroplanes, circling at an immense height, were
surveying our defences. From the top of the
lighthouse I counted thirty battleships and
cruisers in the offing, with a number of the
trawlers with which in the British service they
break through the mine-fields. The approaches
were actually sown with two hundred mines, half
contact and half observation, but the result
showed that they were insufficient tcr hold off
the enemy, since three days later both town and
fleet were speedily destroyed.

However, I am not here to tell you the incidents
of the war, but to explain my own part in it,
which had such a decisive effect upon the result.
My first action was to send my four second-class
boats away instantly to the point which I had
chosen for my base. There they were to wait
2


8

DANGER!

submerged, lying with, negative buoyancy upon
the sands in twenty foot of water, and rising
only at night. My strict orders were that they
were to attempt nothing upon the enemy, how-
ever tempting the opportunity. All they had to
do was to remain intact and unseen, until they
received further~orders. Having made this clear
to Commander Panza, who had charge of this
reserve flotilla, I shook him by the hand and
bade him farewell, leaving with hiin a sheet of
notepaper upon which I had explained the tactics
to be used and given him certain general princi-
ples which he could apply as circumstances de-
manded.

My whole attention was now given to my own
flotilla, which I divided into two divisions, keep-
ing Iota and Kappa under my own command,
while Captain Miriam had Delta and Epsilon.
He was to operate separately in the British
Channel, while my station was the Straits of
Dover. I made the whole plan of campaign
clear to him. Then I saw that each ship was
provided with all it could carry. Each had forty
tons of heavy oil for surface propulsion and
charging the dynamo which supplied the electric
engines under water. Each had also eighteen
torpedoes as explained and five hundred rounds
for the collapsible quick-firing twelve-poundet
which we carried on decS, and which, of course,
disappeared into a water-tight tank when we


DANGER!

9

were submerged. We carried spare periscopes
and a wireless mast, which could be elevated
above the conning-tower when necessary. There
were provisions for sixteen days for the ten men
who manned each craft. Such was the equip-
ment of the four boats which were destined to
bring to naught all the navies and armies of
Britain. At sundown that day—it was April
10th—we set forth upon our historic voyage.

Miriam had got away in the afternoon, since
lie had so much, farther to go to reach his station.
Stephan, of the Kappa, stared with me; but, of
course, we realized that we must work indepen-.
dently, and that from that moment when we shut
the sliding hatches of our conning-towers on the
still waters of Blankenberg Harbour it was un-
likely that ye should ever see each other again,
though consorts in the same waters. I waved
to Stephan from the side of my conning-tower,
and he to me. Then I called through the tube
to my engineer (our water-tanks were already
filled and all kingstons and vents closed) to put
her full speed ahead.

Just as we came abreast of the end of the
pier and saw the white-capped waves rolling in
upon us, I put the horizontal rudder hard down
and she slid under water. Through my glass
portholes I saw its light green change to a dark
blue, while the manometer in front of me indi-
cated twenty feet. I let her go to forty, because


DANGER!

II

I blew out the tanks and our whale-back came
over the surface. All night we were steering
southwest, making an average of eighteen knots.
At about five in the morning, as I stood alone
upon my tiny bridge, I saw, low down in the
west, the scattered lights of the Norfolk coast.
" Ah, Johnny, Johnny Bull," I said, as I looked
at them, " you are going to have your lesson,
and I am to be your master. It is I who have
been chosen to teach you that one cannot live
under artificial conditions and yet act as if they
were natural ones. More foresight, Johnrty, a nd
less party politics—that is my lesson to you."
And then I had a wave of pity, too, when I
thought of those vast droves of helpless people,
Yorkshire miners, Lancashire spinners, Birming-
ham metal-workers, the dockers and workers of
London, over whose little homes I would bring
the shadow of starvation. I seemed to see all
those wasted eager hands held out for food, and
I, John Sirius, dashing it aside. Ah, well! war
is war, and if one is foolish one must pay the
price.

Just before daybreak I saw the lights of a con-
siderable town, which must have been Yarmouth,
bearing about ten miles west-south-west on our
starboard bow. I took her farther out, for it is
a sandy, dangerous coast, with many shoals.
At five-thirty we were abreast of the Lowestoft
lightship. A coastguard was sending up flash


12

DANGER!

signals which faded into a pale twinkle as the*
white dawn crept over the water. There was a
good deal of shipping about, mostly fishing-boats
and small coasting craft, with one large steamer
hull-down to the west, and a torpedo destroyer
between us and the land. It could not harm
us, and yet I thought it as well that there should
be no word of our presence, so I filled my tanks
again and went down to ten feet. I was pleased
to find that we got under in one hundred and
fifty seconds. The life of one's boat may depend
on this when a swift craft comes suddenly upon
you.

We were now within a few hours of our cruising
ground, so I determined to snatch a rest, leaving
Vornal in charge. When he woke me at ten
o'clock we were running on the surface, and had
reached the Essex coast off the Maplin Sands.
With that charming frankness which is one of
their characteristics, our friends of England had
informed us by their Press that they had put a
cordon of torpedo-boats across the Straits of
Dover to prevent the passage of submarines,
which is about as sensible as to lay a wooden
plank across a stream to keep the eels from
passing. I knew that Stephan, whose station
lay at the western end of the Solent, would have
no difficulty in reaching it." My own cruising
ground was to be at the mouth of the Thames,
and here I was at the very spot with my tiny


DANGER!

13

lota, my eighteen torpedoes, my quick-firing gun,
and, above all, a brain that knew what should
be done and how to do it.

When I resumed my place in the conning-
tower I saw in the periscope (for we had dived)
that a lightship was within a few hundred yards
of us upon the port bow. Two men were sitting
on her bulwarks, but neither of them cast an
eye upon the little rod that clove the water so
close to them. It was an ideal day for submarine
action, with enough ripple upon the surface to
make us difficult to detect, and yet smooth
enough to give me a clear view. Each of my
three periscopes had an angle of sixty degrees
so that between them I commanded a complete
semi-circle of the horizon. Two British cruisers
were steaming north from the Thames within
half a mile of me. I could easily have cut them
off and attacked them had I allowed myself to
be diverted from my great plan. Farther south
a destroyer was passing westwards to Sheerness.
A dozen small steamers were moving about.
None of these were worthy of my notice. Great
countries are not provisioned by small steamers.
I kept the engines running at the lowest pace
which would hold our position under water, and,
moving slowly across the estuary, I waited for
what must assuredly come.

I had not long to wait. Shortly after one
o'clock I perceived in the periscope a cloud of


14

DANGER!

smoke to the south.. Half an hour later a large
steamer raised her hull, making for the mouth
of the Thames. I ordered Vornal to stand by
the starboard torpedo-tube, having the other
also loaded in case of a miss. Then I advanced
slowly, for though the steamer was going very
swiftly we could easily cut her off. Presently I
laid the Iota in a position near which she must
pass, and would very gladly have lain to, but
could not for fear of rising to the surface. I
therefore steered out in'the direction from which
she was coming. She was a very large ship,
fifteen thousand tons at the least, painted black
above and red below, with two cream-coloured
funnels. She lay so low in the water that it
was clear she had a full cargo. At her bows were
a cluster of men, some of them looking, I dare
say, for the first time at the mother country.
How little could they have guessed the welcome
that was awaiting them !

On she came with the great plumes of smoke
floating from her funnels, and two white waves
foaming from her cut-water. She was within a
quarter of a mile. My moment had arrived. I
signalled full speed ahead and steered straight
for her course. My timing was exact. At a
hundred yards I gave the signal, and heard the
clank and swish of the discharge. At the same
instant I put the helm hard down and flew off
at an angle. There was a terrific lurch, which


DANGER!

15

came from the distant explosion. For a moment
we were almost upon our side. Then, after
staggering and trembling, the lota came on an
even keel. I stopped the engines, brought her
to the surface, and opened the conning-tower,
while all my excited crew came crowding to the
hatch to know what had happened.

The ship lay within two hundred yards of us,
and it was easy to see that she had her death-
blow. She was already settling down by the stern.
There was a sound of shouting and people were
running wildly about her decks. Her name was
visible, the Adda, of London, bound, as we after-
wards learned, from New Zealand with frozen
mutton. Strange as it may seem to you, the
notion of a submarine had never even now
occurred to her people,and all were convincedthat
they had struck a floating mine. The starboard
quarter had been blown in by the explosion, and
the ship was sinking rapidly. Their discipline
was admirable. We saw beat after beat slip
down crowded with people as swiftly and quietly
as if it were part of their daily drill. And sud-
denly, as one of the boats lay off waiting for the
others, they caught a glimpse for the first time
of my conning-tower so close to them. I saw
them shouting and pointing, while the men in
the other boats got up to have a better look at
us. For my part, I cared nothing, for I took
it for granted that they already knew that a


16

DANGER!

submarine had destroyed them. One of them
clambered back into the sinking ship. I was
sure that he was about to send a wireless message
as to our presence. It mattered nothing, since,
in any case, it must be known; otherwise I could
easily have brought him down with a rifle. As
it wa#, I waved my hand to them, and they
waved back to me. War is too big a thing to
leave room for personal ill-feeling, but it must
be remorseless all the same.

I was still looking at the sinking Adda when
Vornal, who was beside me, gave a sudden cry
of warning and surprise, gripping me by the
shoulder and turning my head. There behind
us, coming up the fairway, was a huge black
vessel with black funnels, flying the well-known
house-flag of the P. and 0. Company. She was
not a mile distant, and I calculated in an instant
that even if she had seen us she would not have
.time to turn and get away before we could reach
her. We went straight for her, therefore, keeping
awash just as we were. They saw the sinking
vessel in front of them and that little dark speck
moving over the surface, and they suddenly
understood their danger. I saw a number of
men rush to the bows, and there was a rattle of
rifle-fire. Two bullets were flattened upon our
four-inch armour. You might as well try to
stop a charging bull with paper pellets as the
Iota with rifle-fire. I had learned my lesson


DANGER!

17

from the Adda, and this time I had the torpedo
discharged at a safer distance—two hundred and
fifty yards. We caught her amidships and the
explosion was tremendous, but we were well out-
side its area. She sank almost instantaneously.
I am sorry for her people, of whom I hear that
more than two hundred, including seventy Las-
cars and forty passengers, were drowned. Yes,
I am sorry for them. But when I think of the
huge floating granary that went to the bottom,
I rejoice as a man does who has carried out that
which he plans.

It was a bad afternoon that for the P. and 0.
Company. The second ship which we destroyed
was* as we have since learned, the Moldavia, of
fifteen thousand tons, one of their finest vessels ;
but about half-past three we blew up the Cusco,
of eight thousand, of the same line, also from
Eastern ports, and laden with corn. Why she
came on in face of the wireless messages which
must have warned her of danger, I cannot im-
agine. The other two steamers whiqh we blew
up that day, the Maid of Athens (Bobson Line)
and the Cormorant, were neither of them provided
with apparatus, and came blindly to their de-
struction. Both were small boats of from five
thousand to seven thousand tons. In the case
of the second, I had to rise to the surface and
fire six twelve-pound shells under her water-line
before she would sink. In each case the crew


18

DANGER!

took to the boats, and so far as I know no
casualties occurred.

After that no more steamers came along, nor
did I expect them. Warnings must by this time
have been flying in all directions. But we had
no reason to be dissatisfied with our first day.
Between the Maplin Sands and the Nore we had
sunk five ships of a total tonnage of about fifty
thousand tons. Already the London markets
would begin to feel the pinch. And Lloyd's-
poor old Lloyd's—what a demented state it would
be in! I could imagine the London evening
papers and the howling in Fleet Street. We saw
the result of our actions, for it was quite laugh-
able to see the torpedo-boats buzzing like angry
wasps out of Sheerness in the evening. They
were darting in every direction across the estuary,
and the aeroplanes and hydroplanes were like
flights of crows, black dots against the red
western sky. , They quartered the whole river
mouth, until they discovered us at last. Some
sharp-sighted fellow with a telescope on board
of a destroyer got a sight of our periscope, and
came for us full speei. No doubt he would very
gladly have rammed us, even if it "had meant
his own destruction, but that was not part of
our programme at all. I sank her and ran her
east-south-east with an occasional rise. Finally
we brought her to, not very far from the Kentish
coast, and the search-lights of our pursuers were


DANGER I	, 19

far on the western skyline. There we lay quietly
all night, for a submarine at night is nothing
more than a very third-rate surface torpedo-boat.
Besides, we were all weary and needed rest. Do
not forget, you captains of men, when you grease
and trim your pumps and compressors and
rotators, that the human machine needs some
tending also.

I had put up the wireless mast above the
connijag-tower, and had no difficulty in calling
up Captain Stephan. He was lying, he said, off
Ventnor and had been unable to reach his station,
on account of engine trouble, whieh he had now
set right. Next morning he proposed to block
the Southampton approach. He had destroyed
one large Indian boat on his way down Channel.
We exchanged good wishes. Like myself, he
needed rest. I was up at four in the morning,
however, and called all hands to overhaul the
boat. She was somewhat up by the head, owing
to the forward torpedoes having been used, so
we trimmed her by opening the forward com-
pensating tank, admitting as much water as the
torpedoes had weighed. We also overhauled the
starboard air-compressor and one of the periscope
motors which had been jarred by the shock of
the first explosion. We had hardly got ourselves
shipshape when the morning dawned.

I have no doubt that a good many ships which
had taken refuge in the French ports at the first


DANGER!

21

the hatch of my tower, and was looking at the
boats of the Virginia with Vornal near me,
when there was a swish and a terrific splash in
the water beside us, which covered us both with
spray. We looked up, and you can imagine our
feelings when we saw an aeroplane hovering a
few hundred feet above us like a hawk. With
its silencer, it was perfectly noiseless, and had
its bomb not fallen into the sea we should never
have known what had destroyed us. She was
circling round in the hope of dropping a second
one, but we shoved on all speed ahead, crammed
down the rudders, and vanished into the side
of a roller. I kept the deflection indicator falling
until I had put fifty good feet of water between
the aeroplane and ourselves, for I knew well how
deeply they can see under the surface. However,
we soon threw her of! our track, and when we
came to the surface near Margate there was no
sign of her, unless she was one of several which
we saw hovering over Heme Bay.

There was not a ship in the offing save a few
small coasters and little thousand-ton steamers,
which were beneath my notice. For several
hours I lay submerged with a blank periscope.
Then I had an inspiration. Orders had been
marconied to every foodship to lie in French
waters and dash across after dark. I was as
sure of it as if they had been recorded in our
own receiver. Well, if they were there, that was


22

DANGER J

where I should be also. I blew out the tanks
and rose, for there was no sign of any warship
near. They had some good system of signalling
from the shore, however, for I had not got to
the North Foreland before three destroyers came
foaming after me, all converging from different
directions. They had about as good a chance
of catching me as three spaniels would have of
overtaking a porpoise.. Out of pure bravado—I
know it was very wrong—I waited until they
were actually within gunshot. Then I sank and
we saw each other no more.

It is, as I have said, a shallow sandy coast,
and submarine navigation is very difficult. The
worst mishap that can befell a boat is to bury
its nose in the side of a sand-drift and be held
there. Such an accident might have been the
end of our boat, though with our Fleuss cylinders
and eleetric lamps we should have found no
difficulty in getting out at the air-lock and in
walking ashore across the bed of the ocean. As
it was, however, I was able, thanks to our excel-
lent charts, to keep the channel and so to
gain the open straits. There we rose about mid-
day, but, observing a hydroplane at no great
distance, we sank again for half an hour. When
we came up for the second time, all was peaceful
around us, and the English coast was lining the
whole western horizon. We kept outside the
Goodwins and straight down Channel until we


DANGER!

under the waves and the lota was streaming
down the Pieardy coast, looking for fresh victims.
The Channel was covered with English torpedo-
boats buzzing and whirling like a cloud of midges.
How they thought they could hurt me I cannot
imagine, unless by accident I were to come up
underneath one of them. More dangerous were
the aeroplanes which circled here and there.

The water being calm, I had several times to
descend as deep as a hundred feet before I was
sure that I was out of their sight. After I had
blown up the three ships at Boulogne I saw two
aeroplanes flying down Channel, and I knew
that they would head off any vessels which were
coming up. There was one very large white
steamer lying off Havre, but she steamed west
before I could reach her. I dare say Stephen
or one of the others would get her before long.
But those infernal aeroplanes spoiled our sport
for that day. Not another steamer did I see,
save the never-ending torpedo-boats. I consoled
myself with the reflection, however, that no food
was passing me on its'way to London. That was
what I was there for, after all. If I could do
it without spending my torpedoes, all the better.
Up to date I had fired ten of them and sunk
nine steamers, so I had not wasted my weapons.
That night I came back to the Kent coast and
lay upon the bottom in shallow water near
Dungeness.


DANGER!

25

. We were all trimmed and ready at the first
break of day, for I expected to catch, some ships
which had tried to make the Thames in the
4arkness and had miscalculated their time. Sure
enough, there was a great steamer coming up
Channel and flying the American flag. It was
all the same to me what flag she flew so long as
she was engaged in conveying contraband of war
to the British Isles. There were no torpedo-
boats about at the moment, so I ran out on the
surface and fired a shot across her bows. She
seemed inclined to go on so I put a second one
just above her water-line on her port bow. She
stopped then and a very angry man began to
gesticulate from the bridge. I ran the Iota almost
alongside.

" Are you the captain ? " I asked.

" What the -" I won't attempt to re-
produce his language.

"You have food-stuffs on board ? " I said.

" It's an American ship, you blind beetle! "
he cried. " Can't you see the flag ? It's the
Vermondia, of Boston."

" Sorry, Captain," I answered. '' I have really
no time for words. Those shots of mine will
bring the torpedo-boats, and I dare say at this
very moment your wireless is making trouble for
me. Get your people into the boats."

I had to show him I was not bluffing, so I
drew off and began putting shells into him just


26

DANGER!

on the water-line. When I had knocked six
holes in it he was very busy on his boats. I
fired twenty shots altogether, and no torpedo
was needed, for she was lying over with a terrible
list to port, and presently came right on to her
side. There she lay for two or three minutes
before she foundered. There were eight boats
crammed with people lying round her when she
went down. I believe everybody was saved, but
I could not wait to inquire. From all quarters
the poor old panting, useless war-vessels were
hurrying. I filled my tanks, ran her bows under,
and came up fifteen miles to the south. Of
course, I knew there would be a big row after-
wards—as there was—but that did not help the
starving crowds round the London bakers, who
only saved their skins, poor devils, by ex-
plaining to the mob that they had nothing to
bake.

By this time I was becoming rather anxious,
as you can imagine, to know what was going
on in the world and what England was thinking
about it all. I ran alongside a fishing-boat,
therefore, and ordered them to give up their
papers. Unfortunately they had none, except
a rag of an evening paper, which was full of
nothing but betting news. In a second attempt
I came alongside a small yachting party from
Eastbourne, who were frightened to death at
our sudden appearance out of the depths. From


DANGER!

27

them we were lucky enough to get the London
Courier of that very morning.

It was interesting reading—so interesting that
I had to announce it all to the crew. Of course^
you know the British style of headline, which
gives you all the news at a glance. It seemed
to me that the whole paper was headlines, it
was in such a state of excitement. Hardly a
word about me and my flotilla. We were on
the second page. The first one began something
like this•

CAPTURE OF BLANKENBERG f

DESTRUCTION OF ENEMY'S FLEET

BURNING OF TOWN

TRAWLERS DESTROY MINE FIELD
LOSS OF TWO BATTLESHIPS

IS IT THE END ?

Of course, what I had foreseen had occurred.
The town was actually occupied by the British.
And they thought it was the end! We would
see about that.

On the round-the-corner page, at the back of


28

DANGER!

the glorious resonant leaders, there was a, little
column which read like this:—

HOSTILE SUBMARINES

Several of the enemy's submarines are at sea,
and have inflicted some appreciable damage upon
our merchant ships. The danger-spots upon
Monday and the greater part of Tuesday appear
to have been the mouth of the Thames and the
western entrance to the Solent. On Monday,
between the Nore and Margate, there were sunk
five large steamers, the Adela, Moldavia, Cusco,
Cormorant, and Maid of Athens, particulars of
which will be found below. Near Ventnor, on
the same day, was sunk the Verulam, from Bom-
bay. On Tuesday the Virginia, Ccesar, King of
the East, and Pathfinder were destroyed between
the Foreland and Boulogne. The latter three
were actually lying in French waters, and the
most energetic representations have been made
by the Government of the Republic. On the
same day The Queen of Sheba, Orontes, Diana,
and Atalanta were destroyed near the Needles.
Wireless messages have stopped all ingoing cargo-
ships from coming up Channel, but unfortunately
there is evidence that at least two of the enemy's
submarines are in the West. Four cattle-ships
from Dublin to Liverpool were sunk yesterday
evening, while three Bristol-bound steamers, The
Hilda, Mercury, and Maria Toser, were blown
up in the neighbourhood of Lundy Island. Com-
merce has, so far as possible, been diverted into


i

DANGER!

31

I remember old Horli saying, "What use is a
gun aboard a submarine ? " We were about to
show. I read the English paper to Stephan by
the light of my electric torch, and we both agreed
that few ships would now come up the Channel.
That sentence about diverting commerce to safer
routes could only mean that the ships would go
round the North of Ireland and unload at Glas-
gow. Oh, for two more ships to stop that en-
trance ! Heavens, what would England have
done against a foe with thirty or forty sub-
marines, since we only needed six instead of four
to complete her destruction! After much talk we
decided that the best plan would be that I should
dispatch a cipher telegram next morning from
a French port to tell them to send the four
second-rate boats to cruise off the North of
Ireland and West of Scotland. Then when I
had done this I should move down Channel with
Staphan and operate at the mouth, while the
other two boats could work in the Irish Sea.
Having made these plans, I set off across the
Channel in the early morning, reaching the small
village of Etretat, in Brittany. There I got off
my telegram and then laid my course for
Falmouth, passing under the keels of two
British cruisers which were making eagerly for
Etretat, having heard by wireless that we were
there.

Half-way down Channel we had trouble with a


32

DANGER!

short circuit in our electric engines, and were
compelled to run on the surface for several hours
while we replaced one of the cam-shafts and
renewed some washers. It was a ticklish time,
for had a torpedo-boat come upon us we could
not have dived. The perfect submarine of the
future will surely have some alternative engines
for such an emergency. However by the skill
of Engineer Mowo, we got things going once
more. All the time we lay there I saw a hydro-
plane floating between us and the British coast.
I can understand how a mouse feels when
it is in a tuft of grass and sees a hawk high
up in the heavens. However, all went well;
the mouse became a water-rat, it wagged its
tail in derision at the poor blind old hawk,
and it dived down into a nice safe green,
quiet world where there was nothing to in-
jure it.

It was on the Wednesday night that the lota
crossed to Etretat. It was Friday afternoon
before we had reached our new cruising ground.
Only one large steamer did I see upon our way.
The terror we had caused had cleared the Channel.
This big boat had a clever captain on board.
His tactics were excellent and took him in safety
to the Thames. He came zigzagging up Channel
at twenty-five knots, shooting off from his course
at all sorts of unexpected angles. With our slow
pace we could not catch him, nor could we


DANGER!

33

calculate his line so as to cut him off. Of course,
he had never seen us, but he judged, and judged
rightly, that wherever we were those were the
tactics by which he had the best chance of getting
past. He deserved his success.

But, of course, it is only in a wide Channel
that such things can be done. Had I met him
in the mouth of the Thames there would have
been a different story to tell. As I approached
Falmouth I destroyed a three-thousand-ton boat
from Cork, laden with butter and cheese. It was
my only success for three days.

That night (Friday, April 16th). I called up
Stephan, but received no reply. As I was within
a few miles of our rendezvous, and as he would
not be cruising after dark, I was puzzled to
account -for his silence. I could only imagine
that his wireless was deranged. But, alas ! I was
soon to find the true reason from a copy of the
Western Morning News, which I obtained from
a Brixham trawler. The Kappa, with her gallant
commander and crew, were at the bottom of the
English Channel.

It appeared from this account that after I
had parted from him he had met and sunk no
fewer than five vessels. I gathered these to be
his work, since all of them were by gun-fire, and
all were on the south coast of Dorset or Devon.
How he met his fate was stated in a short tele-
gram which was headed " Sinking of a Hostile


34

DANGER!

Submarine." It was marked " Falmouth," and
ran thus:—

The P. and 0. mail steamer Macedonia came
into this port last night with five shell holes
between wind and water. She reports having
been attacked by a hostile submarine ten miles
to the south-east of the Lizard. Instead of using
her torpedoes, the submarine for some reason
approached from the surface and fired five shots
from a semi-automatic twelve-pounder gun. She
was evidently under the impression that the
Macedonia was unarmed. As a matter of fact,
being warned of the presence of submarines in
the Channel, the Macedonia had mounted her
armament as an auxiliary cruiser. She opened
fire with two quick-firers and blew away the
conning-tcwer of the submarine. It is probable
that the shells went right through her, as she
sank at once with her hatches open. The Mace-
donia was only kept afloat by her pumps.

Such was the end of the Kaffa, and my gallant
friend, Commander Stephan. His best epitaph
was in a corner of the same paper, and was
headed " Mark Lane." It ran:—

" Wheat (average) 66, maize 48, bailey 50."

Well, if Stephan was gone there was the more
need for me to show energy. My plans were
quickly taken, but they were comprehensive.
All that day (Saturday) I passed down the
Cornish coast and round Land's End, getting


DANGER!

35

two steamers on the way. I had learned from
Stephan's fate that it was better to torpedo the
large craft, but I was aware that the auxiliary
cruisers of the British Government were all over
ten thousand tons, so that for all ships under
that size it was safe to use my gun. Both these
craft, the Yelland and the Playboy—the latter
an American ship—were perfectly harmless, so
I came up within a hundred yards of them and
speedily sank them, after allowing their people
to get into boats. Some other steamers lay
farther out, but I was so eager to make my new
arrangements that I did not go out of my course
to molest them. Just before sunset, however,
so magnificent a prey came within my radius
of action that I could not possibly refuse her.
No sailor could fail to recognize that glorious
monarch of the sea, with her four cream funnels
tipped with black, her huge black sides, her red
bilges, and her high white top-hamper, roaring
up Channel at twenty-three knots, and carrying
her forty-five thousand tons as lightly as if she
were a five-ton motor-boat. It was the queenly
Olympic, of the White Star—once the largest
and still the comeliest of liners. What a picture
she made, with the blue Cornish sea creaming
round her giant fore-foot, and the pink western
sky with one evening star forming the back-
ground to her noble lines.

She was about five miles off when we dived


36

DANGER!

to cut her off. My calculation was exact. Aa
we came abreast we loosed our torpedo and
struck her fair. We swirled round with the
concussion of the water. I saw her in my peri-
scope list over on her side, and I knew that she
had her death-blow. She settled down slowly,
and there was plenty of time to save her people.
The sea was dotted with her boats. When I got
about three miles off I rose to the surface, and
the whole crew clustered up to see the wonderful
sight. She dived bows foremost, and there was
a terrific explosion, which sent one of the funnels
into the air. I suppose we should have cheered
—somehow, none of us felt like cheering We
were all keen sailors, and it went to our hearts
to see such a ship go down like a broken egg-
shell. I gave a gruff order, and all were at their
posts again while we headed north-west. Once
round the Land's End I called up my two con-
sorts, and we met next day at Hartland Point,
the south end of Bideford Bay. For the moment
the Channel was clear, but the English could not
know it, and I reckoned that the loss of the
Olympic would stop all ships for a day or two
at least.

Having assembled the Delta and Epsilon, one
on each side of me, I received the report from
Miriam and Yar, the respective commanders.
Each had expended twelve torpedoes, and be-
tween them they had sunk twenty-two steamers.


DANGER!

37

One man had been killed by the machinery on
board of the Delta, and two had been burned
by the ignition of some oil on the Epsibn. I
took these injured men on board, and I gave
each of the boats one of my crew. I also
divided my spare oil, my provisions, and my
torpedoes among them, though we had the
greatest possible difficulty in those crank vessels
in transferring them from one to the other.
However, by ten o'clock it was done, and the
two vessels were in condition to keep the sea
for another ten days. For my part, with only
two torpedoes left, I headed north up the Irish
Sea. One of my torpedoes I expended that even-
ing upon a cattle-ship making for Milford Haven.
Late at night, being abreast of Holyhead, I called
upon my four northern boats, but without reply.
Their Marconi range is very limited. About
three in the afternoon of the next day I had
a feeble answer. It was a great relief to me
to find that my telegraphic instructions had
reached them and that they were on their station.
Before evening we all assembled in the lee
of Sanda Island, in the Mull of Kintyre. I felt
an admiral indeed when I saw my five whale-
backs all in a row. Panza's report was excellent.
They had come round by the Pentland Firth
and reached their cruising ground on the fourth
day. Already they had destroyed twenty vessels
without any mishap. I ordered the Beta to


38

DANGER!

divide her oil and torpedoes among the other
three, so that they were in good condition to
continue their cruise. Then the Beta and I
headed for home, reaching our base upon Sunday,
April 25th. Ofi Cape Wrath I picked up a paper
from a small schooner.

" Wheat, 84 ; Maize, 60 ; Barley, 62." What
were battles and bombardments compared to
that!

The whole coast of Norland was closely block-
aded by cordon within cordon, and every port,
even the smallest, held by the British. But
why should they suspect my modest confec-
tioner's villa more than any other of the ten
thousand houses that face the sea ? I was glad
when I picked up its homely white front in my
periscope. That night I landed and found my
stores intact. Before morning the Beta reported
itself, for we had the windows lit as a guide.

It is not for me to recount the messages which
I found waiting for me at my humble headquar-
ters. They shall ever remain as the patents of
nobility of my family. Among others was that
never-to-be-forgotten salutation from my King.
He desired me to present myself at Hauptville,
but for once I took it upon myself to disobey
his commands. It took me two days—or rather
two nights, for we sank ourselves during the
daylight hours—to get all our stores on board,
but my presence was needful every minute of


DANGER!

39

the time. On the third morning, at four o'clock,
the Beta and my own little flagship were at sea
once more, bound 'for our original station off
the mouth of the Thames.

- I had no time to read our papers whilst I
was refitting, but I gathered the news after we
got under way. The British occupied all our
ports, but otherwise we had not suffered at all,
since we have excellent railway communications
with Europe. Prices had altered little, and our
industries continued as before. There was talk
of a .British invasion, but this I knew to be
absolute nonsense, for the British must have
learned by this time that it would be sjheer
murder to send transports full of soldiers to sea
in the face of submarines. When they have a
tunnel they can use their fine expeditionary force
upon the Continent, but until then it might just
as well not exist so far as Europe is concerned.
My own country, therefore, was in good case
and had nothing to fear. Great Britain, how-
ever, was already feeling my grip upon her
throat. As in normal times four-fifths of her
food is imported, prices were rising by leaps and
bounds. The supplies in the country were be-
ginning to show signs of depletion, while little
was coming in to replace it. The insurances at
Lloyd's had risen to a figure which made the
price of the food prohibitive to the mass of the
people by the time it had reached the market.
4


40	DANGER!

The loaf, which, under ordinary circumstances
stood at fivepence, was already at one and two-
pence. Beef was three shillings and fourpence
a pound, and mutton two shillings and ninepence.
Everything else was in proportion. The Gov-
ernment had acted with energy and offered a big
bounty for corn to be planted at once. It could
only be reaped five months hence, however, and
long before then, as the papers pointed out, half
the island would be dead from starvation. Strong
appeals had been made to the patriotism of the
people, and they were assured that the interfer-
ence with, trade was temporary, and that with a
little patience all would be well. But already
there was a marked rise in the death-rate,
especially among children, who suffered from
want of milk, the cattle being slaughtered for
food. There was serious rioting in the Lanark-
shire coalfields and in the Midlands, together
with a Socialistic upheaval in the East of London,
which had assumed the proportions of a civil
war. Already there were responsible papers
which declared that England was in an impossible
position, and that an immediate peace was neces-
sary to prevent one of the greatest tragedies
in history. It was my task now to prove to
them that they were right.

It was May 2nd when I found myself back
at the Maplin Sands to the north of the estuary
of the Thames. The Beta was sent on to the


DANGER!

41

Solent to block it and take the place of the
lamented Kappa. And now I was throttling
Britain indeed—London, Southampton, the Bris-
tol Channel, Liverpool, the North Channel, the
Glasgow approaches, each was guarded by my
boats. Great liners were, as we learned after-
wards, pouring their supplies into Galway and
the West of Ireland, where provisions were
cheaper than has ever been known. Tens of
thousands were embarking from Britain for
Ireland in order to save themselves from starva-
tion. But you cannot transplant a whole dense
population. The main body of the people, by
the middle of May, were actually starving. At
that date wheat was at a hundred, maize and
barley at eighty. Even the most obstinate had
begun to see that the situation could not possibly
continue.

In the great towns starving crowds clamoured
for bread before the municipal offices, and public
officials everywhere were attacked and often
murdered by frantic mobs, composed largely of
desperate women who had seen their infants
perish before their eyes. In the country, roots,
bark, and weeds of every sort were used as food.
In London the private mansions of Ministers
were guarded by strong pickets of soldiers, while
a battalion of Guards was camped permanently
round the Houses of Parliament. The lives of
the Prime Minister and of the Foreign Secretary


DANGER!

43

messages from our Bristol consort, who in turn
had heard from Delta at Liverpool. Our task
was completely done. We could not prevent all
food from passing into the British Islands, but
at least we had raised what did get in to a price
which put it far beyond the means of jihe penni-
less, workless multitudes. In vain Government
commandeered it all and doled it out as a general
feeds the garrison of a fortress. The task was
too great—the responsibility too horrible. Even
the proud and stubborn English could not face
it any longer.

I remember well how the news came to me.
I was lying at the time off Selsey Bill when I
saw a small war-vessel coming down Channel.
It had never been my policy to attack any vessel
coming down. My torpedoes and even my shells
were too precious for that. I could not help
being attracted, however, by the movements of
this ship, which came slowly zigzagging in my
direction.

• "Looking for me," thought I. "What on
earth does the foolish thing hope to do if she
could find me ? "

I was lying awash at the time and got ready
to go below in case she should come for me.
But at that moment—she was about half a mile
away—she turned her quarter, and there to my
amazement was the red flag with the blue circle,
our own beloved flag, flying from her peak. Fbr


44

DANGER!

a moment I thought that this was some clever
dodge of the enemy to tempt me within range.
I snatched up my glasses and called on Vornal.
Then we both recognized the vessel. It was the
Juno, the only one left intact of our own cruisers.
What could she be doing flying the flag in the
enemy's waters ? Then I understood it, and
turning to Vornal, we threw ourselves into each
other's arms. It could only mean an armistice—
or peace!

And it was peace. We learned the glad news
when we had risen alongside the Juno, and the
ringing cheers which greeted us had at last died
away. Our orders were to report ourselves at
once at Blankenberg. Then she passed on down
Channel to collect the others. We returned to
port upon the surface, steaming through the
whole British fleet as we passed up* the North
Sea. The crews clustered thick along the sides
of the vessels to watch us. I can see now their
sullen, angry faces. Many shook their fists and
cursed us as we went by. It was not that we
had damaged them—Lwill do them the justice
to say that the English, as the old Boer War
has proved, bear no resentment against a brave
enemy—but that they thought us cowardly to
attack merchant ships and avoid the warships.
It is like the Arabs who think that a flank attack
is a mean, unmanly device. War is not a big
game, my English friends. It is a desperate


DANGER!

45

business to gain the upper hand, and one must
use one's brain in order to find the weak spot
of one's enemy. It is not fair to blame me if
I have found yours. It was my duty. Perhaps
those officers and sailors who scowled at the little
Iota that May morning have by this time done
me justice when the first bitterness of undeserved
defeat was passed.

Let others describe my entrance into Blank-
enberg; the mad enthusiasm of the crowds, and
the magnificent public reception of each succes-
sive boat as it arrived. Surely the men deserved
the grant made them by the State which has
enabled each of them to be independent for life.
As a feat of endurance, that long residence in
such a state of mental tension in cramped quar-
ters, breathing an unnatural atmosphere, will
long remain as a record. The country may well
be proud of such sailors.

The terms of peace were not made onerous, for
we were in no condition to make Great Britain
our permanent enemy. We knew well that we
had won the war by circumstances which would
never be allowed to occur again, and that in a
few years the Island Power would be as strong
as ever—stronger, perhaps—for the lesson that
she had learned. It would be madness to pro-
voke such an antagonist. A mutual salute of
flags was arranged, the Colonial boundary was
adjusted by arbitration, and we claimed no in-


46

DANGER!

demnity beyond an undertaking on the part of
Britain that she would pay any damages which
an International Court might award to France
or to the United States for injury received
through the operations of our submarines. So
ended the war!

Of course, England will not be caught napping
in such a fashion again! Her foolish blindness
is partly explained by her delusion that her
enemy would not torpedo merchant vessels.
Common sense should have told her that her
enemy will play the game that suits them best—
that they will not inquire what they may do, but
they will do it first and talk about it afterwards.
The opinion of the whole world now is that if a
blockade were proclaimed one may do what one
can with those who try to break it, and that it
was as reasonable to prevent food from reaching
England in war time as it is for a besieger to
prevent the victualling of a beleaguered fortress.

I cannot end this account better than by
quoting the first few paragraphs of a leader in
the Times, which appeared shortly after the
declaration of peace. It may be taken to epito-
mize the saner public opinion of England upon
the meaning and lessons of the episode.

" In all this miserable business," said the
writer, which has cost us the loss of a consider-
able portion of our merchant fleet and more than


DANGER!

47

fifty thousand civilian lives, there is just one
consolation to be found. It lies in the fact that
our temporary conqueror is a Power which is
not strong enough to reap the fruits of her
victory. Had we endured this humiliation at
the hands of any of the first-class Powers it
would certainly have entailed the loss of all our
Crown Colonies and tropical possessions, besides
the payment of a huge indemnity. We were
absolutely at the feet of our conqueror and had
no possible alternative but to submit to her
terms, however onerous. Norland has had the
good sense to understand that she must not
abuse her temporary advantage, and has been
generous in her dealings. In the grip of any
other Power we should have ceased to exist as
an Empire.

"Even now we are not out of the wood.
Some one may maliciously pick a quarrel with
us before we get our house in order, and use the
easy weapon which has been demonstrated. It
is to meet such a contingency that the Govern-
ment has rushed enormous stores of food at the
public expense into the country. In a very few
months the new harvest will have appeared. On
the whole we can face the immediate future
without undue depression, though there remain
some causes for anxiety. These will no doubt
be energetically handled by this new and efficient
Government, whch has taken the place of those
discredited politicians who led us into a war
without having foreseen how helpless we were
against an obvious form of attack.


48

DANGER!

"Already tlie lines of our reconstruction are
evident. The first and most important is that
our Party men realize that there is something
more vital than their academic disputes about
Free Trade or Protection, and that all theory
must give way to the fact that a country is in
an artificial and dangerous condition if she does
not produce within her own borders sufficient
food to at least keep life in her population.
Whether this should be brought about by a tax
upon foreign foodstuffs* or by a bounty upon
home products, or by a combination of the two,
is now under discussion. But all Parties are
combined upon the principle, and, though it will
undoubtedly entail either a rise in prices or a
deterioration in quality in the food of the work-
ing-classes, they will at least be insured against
so terrible a visitation as that which is fresh in
our memories. At any rate, we have got past
the stage of argument. It must be so. The
increased prosperity of the farming interest, and,
as we will hope, the cessation of agricultural
emigration, will be benefits to be counted against
the obvious disadvantages.

" The second lesson is the immediate construc-
tion of not one but two double-lined railways
under the Channel. We stand in a white sheet
over the matter, since the project has always
been discouraged in these columns, but we are
prepared to admit that had such railway com-
munication been combined with adequate
arrangements for forwarding supplies from
Marseilles, we should have avoided our recent


DANGER!

49

surrender. We still insist that we cannot trust
entirely to a tunnel, since our enemy might have
allies in the Mediterranean; but in a single con-
test with any Power of the North of Europe it
would certainly be of inestimable benefit. There
may be dangers attendant upon the existence of
a tunnel, but it must now be admitted that they
are trivial compared to those which come from
its absence. As to the building of large fleets
of merchant submarines for the carriage of food,
that is a new departure which will be an addi-
tional insurance against the danger which has
left so dark a page in the history of our country."


52	ONE CROWDED HOUR

Then suddenly he spat out his cigarette and
gave a sharp intake of the breath. Far away
down the road two little yellow points had
rounded a curve. They vanished into a dip,
shot upwards once more, and then vanished
again. The inert man in the draped car woke
suddenly into intense life. From his pocket he
pulled a mask of dark cloth, which he fastened
securely across his face, adjusting it care-
fully that his sight might be unimpeded. For
an instant he uncovered an acetylene hand-
lantern, took a hasty glance at his own prepara-
tions, and laid it beside a Mauser pistol upon
the seat alongside him. Then, twitching his
hat down lower than ever, he released his clutch
and slid downward his gear-lever. With a
chuckle and shudder the long, black machine
sprang forward, and shot with a soft sigh from
her powerful engines down the sloping gradient.
The driver stooped and switched off his electric
head-lights. Only a dim grey swathe cut through
the black heath indicated the line of his road.
From in front there came presently a confused
puffing and rattling and clanging as the oncoming
car breasted the slope. It coughed and splut-
tered on a powerful, old-fashioned low gear,
while its engine throbbed like a weary heart.
The yellow, glaring lights dipped for the last
time into a switchback curve. When they reap-
peared over the crest the two cars were within


ONE CROWDED HOUR	53

thirty yards of each other. The dark one
dartecl across the road and barred the other's
passage, while a warning acetylene lamp was
waved in the air. With a jarring of brakes the
noisy new-comer was brought to a halt.

" I say," cried an aggrieved voice, " 'pon
my soul, you know, we might have had an
accident. Why the devil don't you keep your
head-lights on ? I never saw you till I nearly
burst my radiators on you! "

The acetylene lamp, held forward, discovered
a very angry young man, blue-eyed, yellow-
moustached, and florid, sitting alone at the wheel
of an antiquated twelve-horse Wolseley. Sud-
denly the aggrieved look upon his flushed face
changed to one of absolute bewilderment.
The driver in the dark car had sprung out of
the seat, a black, long-barrelled, wicked-looking
pistol was poked in the traveller's face, and
behind the further sights of it was a circle of
black cloth with two deadly eyes looking from
as many slits.

" Hands up! " said a quick, stern voice.

" Hands up ! or, by the Lord--"

The young man was as brave as his neigh-
bours, but the hands went up all the same.
" Get down ! " said his assailant, curtly.
The young man stepped forth into the road,
followed closely by the covering lantern and
pistol. Once he made as if he would drop his


56	ONE CROWDED HOUR

he chuckled as he held the two half-crowns
and the florin in the glare of his lantern. Then
suddenly his manner changed. He thrust the
thin purse back into his pocket, released his
brake, and shot onwards with the same tense
bearing with which he had started upon his
adventure. The lights of another car were
coming down the road.

On this occasion the methods of the high-
wayman were less furtive. Experience had
clearly given him confidence. With lights still
blazing, he ran towards the new-comers, and,
halting in the middle of the road, summoned
them to stop. From the point of view of the
astonished travellers the result was sufficiently
impressive. They saw in the glare of their
own head-lights two glowing discs on either
side of the long, black-muzzled snout of a
high-power car, and above the masked face
and menacing figure of its solitary driver.
In the golden circle thrown by the rover there
stood an elegant, open-topped, twenty-horse
Humber, with an undersized and very astonished
chauffeur blinking from under his peaked cap.
From behind the wind-screen the veil-bound
hats and wondering faces of two very pretty
young women protruded, one upon either side,
and a little crescendo of frightened squeaks
announced the acute emotion of one of them.
The other was cooler and more critical.


ONE CROWDED HOUR	57

" Don't give it away, Hilda," she whispered.
" Do shut up, and don't be such a silly. It's
Bertie or one of the boys playing it on us."

" No, no ! It's the real thing, Flossie. It's
a robber, sure enough. Oh, my goodness,
whatever shall we do ? "

" What an ' ad.'! " cried the other. " Oh,
what a glorious ' ad.'! Too late now for the
mornings, but they'll have it in every evening
paper, sure."

" What's it going to cost ? " groaned the
other. " Oh, Flossie, Flossie, I'm sure I'm
going to faint! Don't you think if we both
screamed together we could do some good ?
Isn't he too awful with that black thing over
his face ? Oh, dear, oh, dear! He's killing
poor little Alf ! "

The proceedings of the robber were indeed
somewhat alarming. Springing down from his
car, he had pulled the chauffeur out of his seat
by the scruff of his neck. The sight of the
Mauser had cut short all remonstrance, and
under its compulsion the little man had pulled
open the bonnet and extracted the sparking
plugs. Having thus secured the immobility
of Ms capture, the masked man walked forward,
lantern in hand, to the side of the car. He
had laid aside the gruff sternness with which
he had treated Mr. Ronald Barker, and his
voice and manner were gentle, though deter-


58	ONE CROWDED HOUR

mined. He even raised Ms hat as a prelude to
his address.

"I am sorry to inconvenience you, ladies/'
said he, and his voice had gone up several notes
since the previous interview. " May I ask who
you are ? "

Miss Hilda was beyond coherent speech, but
Miss Flossie was of a sterner mould.

" This is a pretty business," said she. "What
right have you to stop us on the public road,
I should like to know ? "

" My time is short," said the robber, in a
sterner voice. " I must ask you to answer my
question."

" Tell him, Flossie! For goodness' sake be
nice to him! " cried Hilda.

" Well, we're from the Gaiety Theatre, London,
if you want to know," said the young lady.
" Perhaps you've heard of Miss Flossie Thornton
and Miss Hilda Mannering ? WeVe been play-
ing a week at the Royal at Eastbourne, and took
a Sunday ofi to ourselves. So now you know! "

" I must ask you for your purses and for
your jewellery."

Both ladies set up shrill expostulations, but
they found, as Mr. Ronald Barker had done,
that there was something quietly compelling
in this man's methods. In a very few minutes
they had handed over their purses, and a pile
of glittering rings, bangles, brooches, and chains


ONE CROWDED HOUR	59

was lying upon the front seat of the car. The
diamonds glowed and shimmered like little
electric points in the light of the lantern. He
picked up the glittering tangle and weighed it
in his hand.

" Anything you particularly value ? " he asked
the ladies; but Miss Flossie was in no humour
for concessions.

" Don't come the Claude Duval over us,"
said she. " Take the lot or leave the lot. We
don't want bits of our own given back to
us."

" Except just Billy's necklace! " cried Hilda,
and snatched at a little rope of pearls. The
robber bowed, and released his hold of it.

" Anything else 1 "

The valiant Flossie began suddenly to cry.
Hilda did the same. The effect upon the
robber was surprising. He threw the whole
heap of jewellery into the nearest lap.

"There! there! Take it! " he said. "It's
trumpery stuff, anyhow. It's worth something
to you, and nothing to me."

Tears changed in a moment to smiles.

"You're welcome to the purses. The 'ad.'
is worth ten times the money. But what a
funny way of getting a living nowadays! Aren't
you afraid of being caught ? It's all so wonder-
ful, like a scene from a comedy."

" It may be a tragedy," said the robber.


ONE CROWDED HOUR	61

the seat. The fellow's drunk—he's drunk I
say! "

Up to this point the proceedings of the modern
highwayman might have passed as gentle.
Now they turned in an instant to savagery.
The chauffeur, a burly, capable fellow, incited
by that raucous voice behind him, sprang from
the car and seized the advancing robber by
the throat. The latter hit out with the butt-
end of his pistol, and the man dropped groaning
on the road. Stepping over his prostrate body
the adventurer pulled open the door, seized
the stout occupant savagely by the ear, and
dragged him bellowing on to the highway.
Then, very deliberately, he struck him twice
across the face with his open hand. The blows
rang out like pistol-shots in the silence of the
night. The fat traveller turned a ghastly
colour and fell back half senseless against the
side of the limousine. The robber dragged open
his coat, wrenched away the heavy gold watch-
chain with all that it held, plucked out the
great diamond pin that sparkled in the black
satin tie, dragged off four rings—not one of
which could have cost less than three figures—
and finally tore from his inner pocket a bulky
leather note-book. All this property he trans-
ferred to his own black overcoat, and added to
it the man's pearl cuff-links, and even the golden
stud which held his collar. Having made sure


62	ONE CROWDED HOUR

that there was nothing else to take, the robber
flashed -his lantern upon the prostrate chauffeur,
and satisfied himself that he was stunned and
not dead. Then, returning to the master, he
proceeded very deliberately to tear all his
clothes from his body with a ferocious energy
which set his victim whimpering and writhing
in imminent expectation of murder. "

Whatever his tormentor's intention may have
been, it was very effectually frustrated. A
sound made him turn his head, and there, no
very great distance off, were the lights of a
car coming swiftly from the north. Such a
car must have already passed the wreckage
which this pirate had left behind him. It
was following his track with a deliberate purpose,
and might be crammed with every county
constable of the district.

The adventurer had no time to lose. He
darted from his bedraggled victim, sprang into
his own seat, and with his foot on the accelerator
shot swiftly off down the road. Some way
down there was a narrow side lane, and into this
the fugitive turned, cracking on his high speed
and leaving a good five miles between him and
any pursuer before he ventured to stop. Then,
in a quiet corner, he counted over his booty of
the evening—the paltry plunder of Mr. Ronald
Barker, the rather better-furnished purses of
the actresses, which contained four pounds


ONE CROWDED HOUR	63

between them, and, finally, the gorgeous jewellery
and well-filled note-book of the plutocrat upon
the Daimler. Five notes of fifty pounds, four
of ten, fifteen sovereigns, and a number of
valuable papers made up a most noble haul.
It was clearly enough for one night's work.
The adventurer replaced all his ill-gotten gains
in his pocket, and, lighting a cigarette, set
forth upon his way with the air of a man who
has no further care upon his mind.

It was on the Monday morning following
upon this eventful evening that Sir Henry
Hailworthy, of Walcot Old Place, having finished
his breakfast in a leisurely fashion, strolled
down to his study with the intention of writing
a few letters before setting forth to take his
place upon the county bench. Sir Henry was
a Deputy-Lieutenant of the county; he was a
baronet of ancient blood; he was a magistrate
of ten years' standing; and he was famous
above all as the breeder of many a good horse
and the most desperate rider in all the Weald
country. A tall, upstanding man, with a strong,
clean-shaven face, heavy black eyebrows, and
a square, resolute jaw, he was one whom it was
better to call friend than foe. Though nearly
fifty years of age, he bore no sign of having
passed his youth, save that Nature, in one of her
freakish moods, had planted one little feather


64	ONE CROWDED HOUR

of white hair above his right ear, making the
rest of his thick black curls the darker by con-
trast. He was in thoughtful mood this morn-
ing, for having lit his pipe he sat at his desk
with his blank note-paper in front of him, lost
in a deep reverie.

Suddenly his thoughts were brought back to
the present. From behind the laurels of the
curving drive there came a low, clanking sound,
which swelled into the clatter and jingle of
an ancient car. Then from round the corner
there swung an old-fashioned Wolseley, with
a fresh-complexioned, yellow-moustached young
man at the wheel. , Sir Henry sprang to his
feet at the sight, and then sat down once more.
He rose again as a minute later the footman
announced Mr. Ronald Barker. It was an
early visit, but Barker was Sir Henry's intimate
friend. As each was a fine shot, horseman, and
billiard-player, there was much in common
between the two men, and the younger (and
poorer) was in the habit of spending at least
'two evenings a week at Walcot Old Place.
Therefore, Sir Henry advanced cordially with
outstretched hand to welcome him.

" You're an early bird this morning," said
he. " What's up ? If you are going over to
Lewes we could motor together."

But the younger man's demeanour was peculiar
and ungracious. He disregarded the hand which


ONE CROWDED HOUR	65

was held out to him, and he stood pulling at
his own long moustache and staring with
troubled, questioning eyes at the county magis-
trate.

" Well, what's the matter ? " asked the latter.

Still the young man did not speak. He was
clearly on the edge of an interview which he
found it most difficult to open. His host grew
impatient.

" You don't seem yourself this morning.
What on earth is the matter ? Anything upset
you ? "

" Yes," said Ronald Barker, with emphasis.

" What has ? "

" You have."

Sir Henry smiled. " Sit down, my dear
fellow. If you have any grievance against
me, let me hear it."

Barker sat down. He seemed to be gather-
ing himself for a reproach. When it did come
it was like a bullet from a gun.

" Why did you rob me last night ? "

The magistrate was a man of iron nerve.
He showed neither surprise nor resentment.
Not a muscle twitched upon his calm, set
face.

" Why do you say that I robbed you last
night ? "

" A big, tall fellow in a motor-car stopped
me on the Mayfield road. He poked a pistol


66	ONE CROWDED HOUR

in my face and took my purse and my watch.
Sir Henry, that man was you."

The magistrate smiled.

" Am I the only big, tall man in the district ?
Am I the only man with a motor-car ? "

" Do you think I couldn't tell a Rolls-Royce
when I see it—I, who spend half my life on a
car and the other half under it ? Who has
a Rolls-Royce about here except you ? "

" My dear Barker, don't you thinS that
such a modern highwayman as you describe
would be more likely to operate outside his
own district ? How many hundred Rolls-Royces
are there in the South of England ? "

"No, it won't do, Sir Henry—it won't do!
Even your voice, though you sunk it a few
notes, was familiar enough to me. But hang
it, man! What did you do it for ? That's
what gets over me. That you should stick
up me, one of your closest friends, a man that
worked himself to the bone when you stood for
the division—and all for the sake of a Brum-
magem watch and a few shillings—is simply
incredible."

" Simply incredible," repeated the magistrate,
with a smile.

" And then those actresses, poor little devils,
who have to earn all they get. I followed you
down the road, you see. That was a dirty trick,
if ever I heard one. The City shark was differ-


ONE CROWDED HOUR	67

ent. If a chap must go a-robbing, that sort of
fellow is fair game. But your friend, and then
the girls—well, I say again, I couldn't have be-
lieved it."

" Then why believe it ? "

" Because it is so."

" Well, you seem to have persuaded yourself
to that effect. You don't seem to have much
evidence to lay before any one else."

" I could swear to you in a police-court.
What put the lid on it was that when you were
cutting my wire—and an infernal liberty it
was!—I saw that white tuft of yours sticking
out from behind your mask."

For the first time ah acute observer might
have seen some slight sign of emotion upon the
face of the baronet.

" You seem to have a fairly vivid imagina-
tion," said he.

His visitor flushed with anger.

"See here, Hailworthy," said he, opening
his hand and showing a small, jagged triangle
of black cloth. " Do you see that ? It was
on the ground near the car of the young women.
You must have ripped it off as you jumped
out from your seat. Now send for that heavy
black driving-coat of yours. If you don't ring
the bell I'll ring it myself, and we shall have
it in. I'm going to see this thing through, and
don't you make any mistake about that."


68	ONE CROWDED HOUR

The baronet's answer was a surprising one.
He rose, passed Barker's chair, and, walking
over to the door, lie locked it and placed the
key in his pocket.

" You are going to see it through," said he.
" I'll lock you in until you do. Now we must
have a straight talk, Barker, as man to man,
and whether it ends in tragedy or not depends
on you."

He had half-opened one of the drawers in his
desk as he spoke. His visitor frowned in anger.

" You won't make matters any better by
threatening me, Hailworthy. I am going to
do my duty, and you won't bluff me out of it."

" I have no wish to bluff you. When I
spoke of a tragedy I did not mean to you.
What I meant was that there are some turns
which this affair cannot be allowed to take.
I have neither kith nor kin, but there is the
family honour, and some things are impossible."

" It is late to talk like that."

" Well, perhaps it is; but not too late. And
now I have a good deal to say to you. First
of all, you are quite right, and it was I who held
you up last night on the Mayfield road."

" But why on earth-"

" All right. Let me tell it my own
way. First I want you to look at these." He
unlocked a drawer and he took out two small
packages. " These were to be posted in London


ONE CROWDED HOUR	69

to-night. This one is addressed to you, and I
may as well hand it over to you at once. It
contains your watch and your purse. So, you
see, bar your cut wire you would have been
none the worse for your adventure. This other
packet is addressed to the young ladies of the
Gaiety Theatre, and their properties are en-
closed. I hope I have convinced you that I
had intended full reparation in each case before
you came to accuse me %"

" Well ? " asked Barker.

" Well, we will now deal with Sir George
Wilde, who is, as you may not know, the senior
partner of Wilde and Guggendorf, the founders
of the Ludgate Bank of infamous memory.
His chauffeur is a case apart. You may take
it from me, upon my word of honour, that I
had plans for the chauffeur. But it is the master
that I want to speak of. You know that I am
not a rich man myself. I expect all the county
knows that. When Black Tulip lost the Derby
I was hard hit. And other things as well.
Then I had a legacy of a thousand. This in-
fernal bank was paying 7 per cent, on deposits.
I knew Wilde. I saw him. I asked him if
it was safe. He said it was. I paid it in, and
within forty-eight hours the whole thing went
to bits. It came out before the Official Receiver
that Wilde had known for three months that
nothing could save him. And yet he took all


70	ONE CROWDED HOUR

my cargo aboard his sinking vessel. He was
all right—confound him! He had plenty be-
sides. But I had lost all my money and no
law could help me. Yet he had robbed me as
clearly as one man could rob another. I saw
him and he laughed in my face. Told me to
stick to Consols, and that the lesson was cheap
at the price. So I just swore that, by hook or
by crook, I would get level with him. I knew
his habits, for I had made it my business to do
so. I knew that he came back from Eastbourne
on Sunday nights. I knew that he carried a
good sum with him in his pocket-book. Well
it's my pocket-book now. Do you mean to
tell me that I'm not morally justified in what I
have done ? By the Lord, I'd have left the
devil as bare as he left many a widow and orphan
if I'd had the time ! "

" That's all very well. But what about me ?
What about the girls ? "

" Have some common sense, Barker. Do you
suppose that I could go and stick up this one
personal enemy of mine and escape detection ?
It was impossible. I was bound to make my-
self out to be just a common robber who had
run up against him by accident. So I turned
myself loose on the high road and took my
chance. As the devil would have it, the first
man I met was yourself. I was a fool not to
recognise that old ironmonger's store of yours


ONE CROWDED HOUR	71

by the rowfit made coming up the hill. When
I saw you I could hardly speak for laughing.
But I was bound to carry it through. The
same with the actresses. I'm afraid I gave
myself away, for I couldn't take their little
fal-lals, but I had to keep up a show. Then
came my man himself. There was no bluff
about that. I was out to skin him, and I did.
Now, Barker, what do you think of it all ?
I had a pistol at your head last night, and, by
George! whether you believe it or not, you have
one at mine this morning ! "

The young man rose slowly, and with a broad
smile he wrung the magistrate by the hand.

" Don't do it again. It's too risky," said he.
" The swine would score heavily if you were
taken."

" You're a good chap, Barker," said the
magistrate. "No, I won't do it again. Who's
the fellow who talks of ' one crowded hour of
glorious life' ? By George! it's too fascinating.
I had the time of my life! Talk of fox-hunting!
No, I'll never touch it again, for it might get a
grip of me."

A telephone rang sharply upon the table, and
the baronet put the receiver to his ear. As he
listened he smiled across at his companion.

" I'm rather late this morning," said he, " and
they are waiting for me to try some petty lar-
cenies on the county bench."

6


Ill

A POINT OF VIEW

It was an American journalist who was writing
up England—or writing her down as the mood
seized him. Sometimes he blamed and some-
times he praised, and the case-hardened old
country actually went its way all the time
quite oblivious of his approval or of his dis-
favour—being ready at all times, through some
queer mental twist, to say more bitter things
and more unjust ones about herself than any
critic could ever venture upon. However, in
the course of his many columns in the New
York Clarion our journalist did at last get
through somebody's skin in the way that is
here narrated.

It was a kindly enough article upon English
country-house life in which he had described
a visit paid for a week-end to Sir Henry Trus-
tall's. There was only a single critical passage
in it, and it was one which he had written with
a sense both of journalistic and of democratic
satisfaction. In it he had sketched off the

72


74

A POINT OF VIEW

friend over the water chanced to see this, sir,
and he thought it would be of interest to me.
So he sent it."

" Well ? "

"You wrote it, sir, I fancy."

" What if I did."

"And this 'ere footman is your idea of
me."

The American glanced at the passage and
approved his own phrases.

" Yes, that's you," he admitted.

The footman folded up his document once
more and replaced it in his pocket.

" I'd like to 'ave a word or two with you over
that, sir," he said in the same suave imper-
turbable voice. " I don't think, sir, that you
quite see the thing from our point of view. I'd
like to put it to you as I see it myself. Maybe
it would strike you different then."

The American became interested. There was
" copy " in the air.

" Sit down," said he.

" No, sir, begging your pardon, sir, I'd very"
much rather stand."

" Well, do as you please. If you've got any-
thing to say, get ahead with it."

" You see, sir, it's like this : There's a tradi-
tion—what you might call a standard—among
the best servants, and it's 'anded down from
one to the othe?. When I joined I was a third,


A POINT OF VIEW	75

and my chief and the butler were both old men
who had been trained by the best. I took after
them just as they took after those that went
before them. It goes back away further than
you can tell."

" I can understand that."

" But what perhaps you don't so well under-
stand, sir, is the spirit that's lying behind it.
There's a man's own private self-respect to
which you allude, sir, in this 'ere article. That's
his own. But he can't keep it, so far as I can
see, unless he returns good service for the good
money that Ee takes."

" Well, he can do that without—without—
crawling."	x

The footman's florid face paled a little at
the word. Apparently he was not quite the
automatic machine that he appeared.

" By your leave, sir, we'll come to that later,"
said he. " But I want you to understand what
we are trying to do even when you don't ap-
prove of our way of doing it. We are trying
to make life smooth and easy for our master
and for our master's guests. We do it in the
way that's been 'anded down to us as the best
way. If our master could suggest any better
way, then it would be our place either to leave
his service if we disapproved it, or else to try
and do it as he wanted. It would hurt the
self-respect, of any good servant to take a man's


76	A POINT OF VIEW

money and not give him the very best lie ean
in return for it."

" Well," said tlie American, " it's not quite
as we see it in America."

"That's right, sir. I was over there last
year with Sir Henry—in New York, sir, and I
saw something of the men-servants and their
ways. They were paid for service, sir, and
they did not give what they were paid for.
You,-talk about self-respect, sir, in this article.
Well now, my self-respect wouldn't let me
treat a master as I've seen them do over there."

"We don't even like the word ' master,'"
said the American.

" Well, that's neither 'ere nor there, sir, if
I may be so bold as to say so. If you're serving
a gentleman he's your master for the time
being and any name you may choose to call
it by don't make no difference. But you can't
eat your cake and 'ave it, sir. You can't sell
your independence and 'ave it, too."

" Maybe not," said the American. " All the
same, the fact remains that your manhood is
the worse for it."

" There I don't 'old with you, sir."

" If it were not, you wouldn't be standing
there arguing so quietly. You'd speak to me
in another tone, I guess."

" You must remember, sir, that you are my
master's guest, and that I am paid to wait upon


A POINT OF VIEW	77

you and make your visit a pleasant one. So
long as you are 'ere, sir, that is 'ow I regard it.
Now in London-" ,

" Well, what about London ? "

"Well, in London if you would have the
goodness to let me have a word with you I
could make you understand a little clearer
what I am trying to explain to you. 'Arding
is my name, sir. If you get a call from 'Enery
'Arding, you'll know that I 'ave a word to say
to you."

So it happened about three days later that
our American journalist in his London hotel
received a letter that a Mr. Henry Harding
desired to speak with him. The man was
waiting in the hall dressed in quiet tweeds.
He had cast his manner with his uniform and
was firmly deliberate in all he said and did.
The professional silkiness was gone, and his
bearing was all that the most democratic could
desire.

" It's courteous of you to see me, sir," said
he. "There's that matter of the article still
open between us, and I would like to have a
word or two more about it."

" Well, I can give you just ten mmutes," said
the American journalist.

" I understand that you are a busy man, sir,
so I'll cut it as short as I can. There's a public


78	A POINT OF VIEW

garden opposite if you would be so good as
talk it over in the open air."

The Pressman took his hat and accompanied
the footman. They walked together down the
winding gravelled path among the rho-
dodendron bushes.

" It's like this, sir," said the footman, halting
when they had arrived at a quiet nook. " I
was hoping that you would see it in our light
and understand me when I told you that the
servant who was trying to give honest service
for his master's money, and the man who is
free born and as good as his neighbour are two
separate folk. There's the duty man and there's
the natural man, and they are different men.
To say that I have no life of my own, or self-
respect of my own, because there are days when
I give myself to the service of another, is not
fair treatment. I was hoping, sir, that when
I made this clear to you, you would have met
me like a man and taken it back."

" Well, you have not convinced me," said
the American. " A man's a man, and he's
responsible for all his actions."

" Then you won't take back what you said
of me—the degradation and the rest ? "

" No, I don't see why I should."

The man's comely face darkened.

"You will take it back," said he. "I'll
smash your blasted head if you don't."


A POINT OF VIEW

79

The American was suddenly aware that lie
was in the presence of a very ugly proposition.
The man was large, strong, and evidently most
earnest and determined. His brows were knotted,
his eyes flashing, and his fists clenched. On
neutral ground he struck the journalist as
really being a very different person to the
obsequious and silken footman of Trustall Old
Manor. The American had all the courage,
both of his race and of his profession, but he
realised suddenly that he was very much in
the wrong. He was man enough to say so.

" Well, sir, this once," said the footman, as
they shook hands. " I don't approve of the
mixin' of classes—none of the best servants
do. But I'm on my own to-day, so well let it
pass. But I wish you'd set it right with your
people, sir. I wish you would make them under-
stand that an English servant can give good and
proper service and yet that he's a human bein'
after all."


IV

THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE

There are few social historians of those days
who have not told of the long and fierce struggle
between those two famous bucks, Sir Charles
Tregellis and Lord Barrymore, for the Lord-
ship of the Kingdom of St. James, a struggle
which divided the whole of fashionable London
into two opposing camps. It has been chronicled
also how the peer retired suddenly and the
commoner resumed his great career without a
rival. Only here, however, one can read the
real and remarkable reason for this sudden
eclipse of a star.

It was one morning in the days of this famous
struggle that Sir Charles Tregellis was perform-
ing his very complicated toilet, and Ambrose,
his valet, was helping him to attain that pitch
of perfection which had long gained him the
reputation of being the best-dressed man in
town. Suddenly Sir Charles paused, his coup
d'archet half-executed, the final beauty of his
neck-cloth half-achieved, while he listened with

80


THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE 81

surprise and indignation upon his large, comely,
fresh-complexioned face. Below, the decorous
hum of Jermyn Street had been broken by the
sharp, staccato, metallic beating of a door-
knocker.

" I begin to think that this uproar must be
at our door/' said Sir Charles, as one who thinks
aloud. " For five minutes it has come and
gone; yet Perkins has his orders."

At a gesture from his master Ambrose stepped
out upon the balcony and craned his discreet
head over it. From the street below came a
voice, drawling but clear.

" You would oblige me vastly, fellow, if you
would do me the favour to open this door,"
said the voice.

" Who is it ? What is it ? " asked the
scandalised Sir Charles, with his arrested elbow
still pointing upwards.

Ambrose had returned with as much surprise
upon his dark face as the etiquette of his position
would allow him to show.

" It is a young gentleman, Sir Charles."

" A young gentleman ? There is no one in
London who is not aware that I do not show
before midday. * Do you know the person ?
Have you seen him before ?"

" I have not seen him, sir, but he is very like
some one I could name."

" Like some one ? Like whom ? "


82 THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE

"With all respect, Sir Charles, I could for
a moment have believed that it was yourself
when I looked down. A smaller man, sir, and
a youth; but the voice, the face, the bear-
ing--"

" It must be that young cub Vereker, my
brother's ne'er-do-weel," muttered Sir Charley
continuing his toilet. " I have heard that
there are points in which he resembles me.
He wrote from Oxford that he would come,
and I answered that I would not see him. Yet
he ventures to insist. The fellow needs a
lesson ! Ambrose, ring for Perkins."

A large footman entered with an outraged
expression upon his face.

" I cannot have this uproar at the door,
Perkins! "

" If you please, the young gentleman won't
go away, sir."

" Won't go away ? It is your duty to see
that he goes away. Have you not your orders ?
Didn't you tell him that I am not seen before
midday ? "

" I said so, sir. He would have pushed his
way in, for all I could say, so I slammed the
door in his face."

" Very right, Perkins."

" But now, sir, he is making such a din that
all the folk are at the windows. There is a
crowd gathering in the street, sir."


84 THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE

years before, he had, by virtue of his spirit
and audacity, in one short season taken a place
in London from which Brummell himself had
afterwards vainly struggled to depose him.
The youth faced the angry features of his uncle
with an air of debonair amusement, and he held
towards him, upon his outstretched palms, the
broken fragments of an amber cane.

" I much fear, sir/' said he, " that in correct-
ing your fellow I have had the misfortune to
injure what can only have been your property.
I am vastly concerned that it should have,
occurred."

Sir Charles stared with intolerant eyes at
thik impertinent apparition. The other looked
back in a laughable parody of his senior's
manner. As Ambrose had remarked after his
inspection from the balcony, the two were
very alike, save that the younger was smaller,
finer cut, and the more nervously alive of the two.

" You are my nephew, Vereker Tregellis ? "
asked Sir Charles.

" Yours to command, sir."

" I hear bad reports of you from Oxford."

" Yes, sir, I understand that the reports are
bad."

" Nothing could be worse."

" So I have been told."

" Why are you here, sir ? "

" That I might see my famous uncle."


THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE 85

" So you made a tumult in his street, forced
Ms door, and beat his footman ? "

" Yes, sir."

"You had my letter ? "

" Yes, sir."

" You were told that I was not receiving ? "

" Yes, sir."

" I can remember no such exhibition of im-
pertinence."

The young man smiled and rubbed his hands
in satisfaction.

" There is an impertinence which is redeemed
by wit," said Sir Charles, severely. " There
is another which is the mere boorishness of the
clodhopper. As you grow older and wiser you
may discern the difference."

" You are very right, sir," said the young
man, warmly. "The finer shades of imperti-
nence are infinitely subtle, and only experience
and tlie society of one who is a recognised master"
—here he bowed to his uncle—" can enable one
to excel."

Sir Charles was notoriously touchy in temper
for the first hour after his morning chocolate.
He allowed himself to show it.

" I cannot congratulate my brother upon
his son," said he. " I had hoped for something
more worthy of our traditions."

" Perhaps, sir, upon a longer acquaint-
ance-"


THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE 87

" That, sir, you can always do. As my
uncle, I could scarce resist you. But, short
of throwing me down the stair, I do not see
how you can avoid giving me half an hour of
your attention."

Sir Charles smiled. He could not help it.
There was so much that was reminiscent of
his own arrogant and eventful youth in the
bearing of this youngster. He was mollified,
too, by the defiance of menials and quick sub-
mission to himself. He turned to the glass
and signed to Ambrose to continue his duties.

" I must ask you to await the conclusion of
my toilet," said he. " Then we shall see how
far you can justify such an intrusion."

When the valet had at last left the room
Sir Charles turned his attention once more
to his scapegrace jiephew, who had viewed
the details of the famous buck's toilet with
the face of an acolyte assisting at a mystery.

" Now, sir," said the older man, " speak, and
speak to the point, for I can assure you that
I have many more important matters which
claim my attention. The Prince is waiting
for me at the present instant at Carlton House.
Be as brief as you can. What is it that you
want ? "

"A thousand pounds."

" Really! Nothing more ? " Sir Charles had
turned acid again.

7


88 THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE

"Yes, sir; an introduction to Mr. Brinsley
Sheridan, whom I know to be your friend."

" And why to him ? "

" Because I am told that he Controls Drury
Lane Theatre, and I have a fancy to be an
actor. My friends assure me that I have a
pretty talent that way."

" I can see you clearly, sir, in Charles Surface,
or any other part where a foppish insolence is
the essential. The less you acted, the better
you would be. But it is absurd to suppose
that I could help you to such a career. I could
not justify it to your father. Return to Oxford
at once, and continue your studies."

" Impossible! "

" And pray, sir, what is the impediment ? "

" I think I may have mentioned to you that
1 had an interview yesterday with the Principal.
He ended it by remarking that the authori-
ties of the University could tolerate me no
more."

" Sent down ? "

" Yes, sir."

"And this is the fruit, no doubt, of a long
series of rascalities."

" Something of the sort, sir, I admit."

In spite of himself, Sir Charles began once
more to relax in his severity towards this hand-
some young scapegrace. His absolute frank-
ness disarmed criticism. It was in a more


THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE 89

gracious voice that the older man continued
the conversation.

" Why do you want this large sum of money ? "
he asked.

" To pay my college debts before I go, sir."

" Your father is not a rich man."

" No, sir. I could not apply to him for that
reason."

" So y.ou come to me, who am a stranger! "

"No, sir, no! You are ?my uncle, and, if
I may say so, my ideal and my model."

" You flatter me, my good Vereker. But
if you think you can flatter me out of a thou-
sand pounds, you mistake your man. I will
give you no money."

" Of coifrse, sir, if you can't-"

" I did not say I can't. I say I won't."

" If you can, sir, I think you will."

Sir Charles smiled, and flicked his sleeve
with his lace handkerchief.

" I find you vastly entertaining," said he.
" Pray continue your conversation. Why do
you think that I will give you so large a sum of
money ? "

" The reason that I think so," continued the
younger man, " is that I can do you a
service which will seem to you worth a thousand
pounds."

Sir Charles raised his eyebrows in surprise.

" Is this blackmail ? " he inquired.


90 THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE

Yereker Tregellis flushed.

" Sir," said lie, with a pleasing sternness,
" you surprise me. You should know the
blood of which I come too well to suppose that
1 would attempt such a thing."

" I am relieved to hear that there are limits
to what you consider to be justifiable. I must
confess that I had seen none in your conduct
up to now. But you say that you can do me
a service which will be worth a thousand pounds
to me ? "

" Yes, sir."

" And pray, sir, what may this service be ? "

" To make Lord Barrymore the laughing-
stock of the town."

Sir Charles, in spite of himself, lost for an
instant the absolute serenity of Ms self-control.
He started, and his face expressed his surprise.
By what devilish instinct did this raw under-
graduate find the one chink in his armour ?
Deep in his heart, unacknowledged to any one,
there was the will to pay many a thousand
pounds to the man who would bring ridicule
upon this his most dangerous rival, who was
challenging his supremacy in fashionable London.

" Did you come from Oxford with this precious
project ? " he asked, after a pause.

"No, sir. I chanced to see the man himself
last night, and I conceived an ill-will to him,
and would do him a mischief."


THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE 93

" I think, sir, that J do."

" Well, my good Vereker, if any such attempt
is in your mind, I see no reason why I should
stand between Lord Barrymore and the angry
fair. As to whether the result is worth a thou-
sand pounds, I can make no promise."

" You shall yourself be the judge, sir."

" I will be an exacting judge, nephew.5*

"Very good, sir; I should not desire other-
wise. If things go as I hope, his lordship will
not show, face in St. James's Street for a year
to come. I will now, if I may, give you your
instructions."

" My instructions! What do you mean ?
I have nothing to do with the matter."

" You are the judge, sir, and therefore must
be present."

" I can play no part."

"No, sir. I would not ask you to do more
than be a witness."

" What, then, are my instructions, as you
are pleased to call them ? "

"You will come to the Gardens to-xiight,
uncle, at nine o'clock precisely. You will
walk down the centre path, and you will seat
yourself upon one of the rustic seats which
are beside the statue of Aphrodite. You will
wait and you will observe."

" Very good; I will do so. I begin to per-
ceive, nephew, that the breed of Tregellis has


94 TIJE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE

/

not yet lost some of the points which have made
it famous."

It was at the stroke of nine that night when
Sir Charles, throwing his reins to the groom,
descended from his high yellow phaeton, which
forthwith turned to take its place in the long
line of fashionable carriages waiting for their
owners. As he entered the gate of the Gardens,
the centre at that time of the dissipation and
revelry of London, he turned up the collar of
his driving-cape and drew his hat over his eyes,
for he had no desire to be personally associated
with what might well prove to be a public
scandal. In spite of his attempted disguise,
however, there was that in his walk and his
carriage which caused many an oye to be turned
after him as he passed and many a hand to be
raised in salute. Sir Charles walked on, and,
seating himself upon the rustic bench in front
of the famous statue, which was in the very
middle of the Gardens, he waited in amused
suspense to see the next act in this comedy.

From the pavilion, whence the paths radiated,
there came the strains of the band of the Foot
Guards, and by the many-coloured lamps twink-
ling from every tree Sir Charles could see the
confused whirl of the dancers. Suddenly the
music stopped. The quadrilles were at an end.

An instant afterwards the central path by


96 THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE

with wine and arrogance. He shouldered his
way roughly through the crowd, peering with
an abominable smile into the faces of the women,
and occasionally, where the weakness of the
escort invited an insult, stretching out his hand
and caressing the cheek or neck of some passing
girl, laughing loudly as she winced away from
his touch.

Close at his heels walked his hired attendant,
whom, out of insolent caprice and with a desire
to show his contempt for tKe prejudices of
others, he had dresseck as a rough country
clergyman. This fellow slouched along with
frowning brows and surly, challenging eyes,
like some faithful, hideous human bulldog, his
knotted hands protruding from his rusty cassock,
his great underhung jaw turning slowly from
right to left as he menaced the crowd with his
sinister gaze. Already a close observer might
have marked upon his face a heaviness and
looseness of feature, the first signs of that
physical decay which in a very few years was
to stretch him, a helpless wreck, too weak to
utter his own name, upon the causeway of the
London streets. At present, however, he was
still an unbeaten man, the terror of the Ring,
and as his ill-omened face was seen behind his
infamous master many a half-raised cane was
lowered and many a hot word was checked,
while the whisper of " Hooper! 'Ware Bully


98 THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE

drew forward a lumpish-looking young woman,
who sobbed and mopped her eyes with her
handkerchief.

" The plague take you! " roared his lord-
ship, in a fury. " Who is the wench ? I vow
that I never clapped eyes on either of you in my
life! "

" It is my niece Amelia," cried the lady,
" your own loving Amelia! Oh, my lord, can
you pretend that you have forgotten poor,
trusting Amelia, of Woodbine Cottage at Lich-
field ? "

" I never set foot in Lichfield in my life! "
cried the peer. " You are two impostors who
should be whipped at the cart's tail."

" Oh, wicked! Oh, Amelia! " screamed the
lady, in a voice that resounded through the
Gardens. " Oh, my darling, try to soften his
hard heart; pray him that he make an honest
woman of you at last."

With a lurch the stout young woman fell
forward and embraced Lord Barrymore with
the hug of a bear. He would have raised his
cane, but his arms were pinned to his sides.

" Hooper ! Hooper! " screamed the furious
peer, craning his neck in horror, for the girl
seemed to be trying to kiss him.

But the bruiser, as he ran forward, found
himself entangled with the old lady.

" Out o' the way, marm!'" he cried. " Out


THE FALL OP LORD BARRYMORE 99

o' the way, I say! " and pushed her violently
aside.

" Oh, you rude, rude man! " she shrieked,
springing back in front of him. " He hustled
me, good people; you saw him hustle me!
A clergyman, but no gentleman! What! you
would treat a lady so—you would do it again ?
Oh, I could slap, slap, slap you! "

And with each repetition of the word, with
extraordinary swiftness, her open palm rang
upon the prizefighter's cheek.

The crowd buzzedwith amazement and delight.

" Hooper! Hooper! " cried Lord Barrymore
onee more, for he was still struggling in the
ever-closer embrace of the unwieldy and amorous
Amelia.

The bully again pushed forward to the aid
of his patron, but again the elderly lady con-
fronted him, her head back, her left arm ex-
tended, her whole attitude, to his amazement,
that of an expert boxer.

The prizefighter's brutal nature was roused.
Woman or no woman, he would show the
murmuring crowd what it meant to cross the
path of the Tinman. She had struck him.
She must take the consequence. No one should
square up to him with impunity. He swung
his right with a curse. The bonnet instantly
ducked under his arm, and a line of razor-like
knuckles left an open cut under his eye.


100 THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE

Amid- wild cries of delight and encourage-
ment from the dense circle of spectators, the
lady danced round the sham clergyman, dodging
his ponderous blows, slipping under his arms,
and smacking back at him most successfully.
Once she tripped and fell over her own skirt,
but was up and at him again in an instant.

" You vulgar fellow ! " she shrieked. " Would
you strike a helpless woman! Take that! Oh,
you rude and ill-bred man! "

Bully Hooper was cowed for the first time in
his life by the extraordinary thing that he was
fighting. The creature was as elusive as a
shadow, and yet the blood was dripping down
his chin from the effects of the blows. He shrank
back with an amazed face from so uncanny an
antagonist. And in the moment that he did
so his spell was for ever broken. Only success
could hold it. A check was fatal. In all the
crowd there was scarce one who was not nursing
some grievance against master or man, and
waiting for that moment of weakness in which
to revenge it.

With a growl of rage the circle closed in.
There was an eddy of furious, struggling men,
with Lord Barrymore's thin, flushed face and
Hooper's bulldog jowl in the centre of it. A
moment after they were both upon the ground,
and a dpzen sticks were rising and falling above
them.


THE FALL OF LORD BARRYMORE 101

"Let me up! You're killing me! For God's
sake let me up ! " cried a crackling voice.

Hooper fought mute, like the bulldog he was,
till his senses were beaten out of him.

Bruised, kicked, and mauled, never did their
worst victim come so badly from the Gardens
as the bully and his patron that night. But
worse than the ache of wounds for Lord Barry-
more was the smart of the mind as he thought
how every club and drawing-room in London
would laugh for a week to come at the tale of
his Amelia and her aunt.

Sir Charles had stood, rocking with laughter,
upon the bench which overlooked the scene.
When at last he made his way back through
the crowds to his yellow phaeton, he was not
entirely surprised to find that the back seat
was already occupied by two giggling females,
who were exchanging most unladylike repartees
with the attendant grooms.

"You young rascals I" he remarked, over
his shoulder, as he gathered up his reins.

The two females tittered loudly.

" Uncle Charles ! " cried the elder, " may I
present Mr. Jack Jarvis, of Brasenose College ? I
think, uncle,youshould take us somewhere to sup,
for it has been a vastly fatiguing performance.
To-morrow I will do myself the honour to call,
at your convenience, and will venture to bring
with me the receipt for one thousand pounds."


V

THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS
(which includes the manuscript known as

the joyce-armstrong fragment)

The idea that the extraordinary narrative
which has been called the Joyce-Armstrong
Fragment is an elaborate practical joke evolved
by some unknown person, eursed by a perverted
and sinister sense of humour, has now been
abandoned by - all who have examined the
matter. The most macabre and imaginative of
plotters would hesitate before linking his morbid
fancies with the unquestioned and tragic facts
which reinforce the statement. Though the
assertions contained in it are amazing and even
monstrous, it is none the less forcing itself
upon the general intelligence that they are true,
and that we must readjust our ideas to the new
situation. This world of ours appears to be
separated by a slight and precarious margin
of safety from a most singular and unexpected
danger. I will endeavour in this narrative,
which reproduces the original document in its

102


THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS 103

necessarily somewhat fragmentary form, to
lay before the reader the whole of the facts up
to date, prefacing my statement by saying
that, if there be any who doubt the narrative
of Joyce-Armstrong, there can be no question
at all as to the facts concerning Lieutenant
Myrtle, B.N., and Mr. Hay Connor, who un-
doubtedly met their end in the manner described.

The Joyce-Armstrong Fragment was found
in the field which is called Lower Haycock,
lying one mile to the westward of the village
of Withyham, upon the Kent and Sussex border.
It was on the fifteenth of September last that
an agricultural labourer, James Flynn, in the
employment of Mathew Dodd, farmer, of the
Chauntry Farm, Withyham, perceived a briar pipe
lying near the footpath which skirts the hedge in
Lower Haycock. A few paces farther on he
picked up a pair of broken binocular glasses.
Finally, among some nettles in the ditch, he
caught sight of a flat, canvas-backed book,
which proved to be a note-book with detachable
leaves, some of which had come loose and were
fluttering along the base of the hedge. These
he collected, but some, including the first, were
never recovered, and leave a deplorable hiatus
in this all-important statement. The note-
book was taken by the labourer to his master,
who in turn showed it to Dr. J. H. Atherton,
of Hartfield. This gentleman at once recog-
8


104 THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS

nised the need for an expert examination, and
the manuscript was forwarded to the Aero
Club in London, where it now lies.

The first two pages of the manuscript are
missing. There is also one torn away at the
end of the narrative, though none of these
affect the general coherence of the story. It
is conjectured that the missing opening is
concerned with the record of Mr. Joyce-Arm-
Strong's qualifications as an aeronaut, which
can be gathered from other sources and are
admitted to be unsurpassed among the air-
pilots of England. For many years he has
been looked upon as among the most daring
and the most intellectual of flying men, a com-
bination which has enabled him to both invent
and test several new devices, including the
common gyroscopic attachment which is known
by his name. The main body of the manuscript
is written neatly in ink, but the last few lines
are in pencil and are so ragged as to be hardly
legible—exactly, in fact, as they might be ex-
pected to appear if they were scribbled off
hurriedly from the seat of a moving aeroplane.
There are, it may be added, several stains,
both on the last page and on the outside cover,
which have been pronounced by the Home
Office experts to be blood—probably human
and certainly mammalian. The fact that some-
thing closely resembling the organism of malaria


THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS 105

was discovered in this blood, and that Joyce-
Armstrong is known to have suffered from inter-
mittent fever, is a remarkable example of the
new weapons which modern science has placed
in the hands of our detectives.

And now a word as to the personality of
the author of this epoch-making statement.
Joyce-Armstrong, according to the few friends
jtfho really knew something of the man, was a
poet and a dreamer, as well as a mechanic and
an inventor. He was a man of considerable
wealth, much of which he had spent in the
pursuit of his aeronautical hobby. He had
four private aeroplanes in his hangars near
Devizes, and is said to have made no fewer
than one hundred and seventy ascents in the
course of last year. He was a retiring man
with dark moods, in which he would avoid the
society of his fellows. Captain Dangerfield,
who knew him better than any one, says that
there were times when his eccentricity threatened
to develop into something more serious. His
habit, of carrying a shot-gun with him in his
aeroplane was one manifestation of it.

Another was the morbid effect which the
fall of Lieutenant Myrtle had upon his mind.
Myrtle, who was attempting the height record,
fell from an altitude of something over thirty
thousand feet. Horrible to narrate, his head
was entirely obliterated, though his body and


110 THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS

dangerous. If a fellow wants to avoid danger
he had best keep out of flying altogether and
subside finally into flannel slippers and a dress-
ing-gown. But 111 visit the air-jungle to-
morrow—and if there's anything there I shall
know it. If I return, I'll find myself a bit of a
celebrity. If I don't, this note-book may explain
what I am trying to do, and how I lost my life
in doing it. But no drivel about accidents or
mysteries, if you please.

" I chose my Paul Veroner monoplane for
the job. There's nothing like a monoplane
when real work is to be done. Beaumont found
that out in very early days. For one thing,
it doesn't mind damp, and the weather looks
as if we should be in the clouds all the time.
It's a bonny little model and answers my hand
like a tender-mouthed horse. The engine is
a ten-cylinder rotary Robur working up to one
hundred and seventy-five. It has all the modern
improvements—enclosed fuselage, high-curved
landing skids, brakes, gyroscopic steadiers, and
three speeds, worked by an alteration of the
angle of the planes upon the Venetian-blind
principle. I took a shot-gun with me and a
dozen cartridges filled with buck-shot. You
should have seen the face of Perkins, my old
mechanic, when I directed him to put them in.
I was dressed like an Arctic explorer, with two
jerseys under my overalls, thick socks inside
my padded boots, a storm-cap with flaps, and
my talc goggles. It was stifling outside the
hangars, but I was going for the summit of
the Himalayas, and had to dress for the part.


112 THE HORROR OP THE HEIGHTS

marking three thousand, down came the rain.
My word, how it poured! It drummed upon
my wings and lashed against my face, blurring
my glasses so that I could hardly see. I got
down on to a low speed, for it was painful to
travel against it. As I got higher it became
hail, and I had to turn tail to it. One of my
cylinders was out of action—a dirty plug, I
should imagine, but still I was rising steadily
with plenty of power. After a bit the trouble
passed, whatever it was, and I heard the full,
deep-throated purr—the ten singing as one.
That's where the beauty of our modern silencers
comes in. We can at last control our engines
by ear. How they squeal and squeak and sob
when they are in trouble! All those cries for
help were wasted in the old days, when every
sound was swallowed up by the monstrous racket
of the machine. If only the early aviators could
come back to see the beauty and perfection of
the mechanism which have been bought at the
cost of their lives !

" About nine-thirty I was nearing the clouds.
Down below me, all blurred and shadowed with
rain, lay the vast expanse of Salisbury Plain.
Half-a-dozen flying machines were doing hack-
work at the thousand-foot level, looking like
little black swallows against the green back-
ground. I dare say they were wondering what
I was doing up in cloud-land. Suddenly a grey
curtain drew across beneath me and the wet
folds of vapour were swirling round my face.
It was clammily cold and miserable. But I was
above the hail-storm, and that was something


THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS 115

always to turn again and tack up in the wind's
eye, for it was not merely a height record that I
was after. By all my calculations it was above
little Wiltshire that my air-jtmgle lay, and all
my labour might be lost if I struck the outer
layers at some farther point.

" When I "reached the nineteen-thousand-
foot level, which was about midday, the wind
was so severe that I looked with some anxiety
to the stays of my wings, expecting momen-
tarily to see them snap or slacken. I even cast
loose the parachute behind me, and fastened
its hook into the ring of my leathern belt, so as
to be ready for the worst. Now was the time
when a bit of scamped work by the mechanic
is paid for by the life of the aeronaut. But she
held together bravely. Every cord and strut
was humming and vibrating like so many harp-
strings, but it was glorious to see how, for all
the beating and the buffeting, she was still the
conqueror of Nature and the mistress of the
sky. There is surely something divine in man
himself that he should rise so superior to the
limitations which Creation seemed to impose—
rise, too, by such unselfish, heroic devotion as
this air-conquest has shown. Talk of human
degeneration! When has such a story as this
been written in the annals of our race ?

" These were the thoughts in my head as
I climbed that monstrous inclined plane with
the wind sometimes beating in my face and
sometimes whistling behind my ears, while the
cloud-land beneath me fell away to such a dis-
tance that the folds and hummocks of silver had


120 THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS

atmosphere. There was no life there. It was
inchoate and diffuse, extending for many square
acres and then fringing off into the void. No, it
was not life. But might it not be the remains
of life ? Above all, might it not be the food
of life, of monstrous life, even as the humble
grease of the ocean is the food for the mighty-
whale ? The thought was in my mind when
my eyes looked upwards and I saw the most
wonderful vision that ever man has seen. Can I
hope to convey it to you even as I saw it myself
last Thursday ?

"Conceive a jelly-fish such as sails in our
summer seas, bell-shaped and of enormous size
—far larger, I should judge, than the dome of
St. Paul's. It was of a light pink colour veined
with a delicate green, but the whole huge fabric
so tenuous that it was but a fairy outline against
the dark blue sky. It pulsated with* a delicate
and regular rhythm. From it there depended
two long, drooping green tentacles, which swayed
slowly backwards and forwards. This gorgeous
vision passed gently with noiseless dignity over
my head, as light and fragile as a soap-bubble,
and drifted upon its stately way.

" I had half-turned my monoplane, that I
might look after this beautiful creature, when,
in a moment, I found myself amidst a perfect
fleet of them, of all sizes, but none so large as
the first. Some were quite small, but the
majority about as big as an average balloon,
and with much the same curvature at the top.
There was in them a delicacy of texture and
colouring which reminded me of the finest


122 THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS

small as I saw it first, but rapidly enlarging as
it approached me, until it appeared to be hun-
dreds of square feet in size. Though fashioned
of some transparent, jelly-like substance, it was
none the less of much more definite outline and
solid consistence than anything which I had seen
before. There were more traces, too, of a phy-
sical organization, especially two vast shadowy,
circular plates upon either side, which may
have been eyes, and a perfectly solid white
projection between them which was as curved
and crueLas the beak of a vulture.

" The whole aspect of this monster was for-
midable and threatening, and it kept changing
its colour from a very light mauve to a dark,
angry purple so thick that it cast a shadow as
it drifted between my monoplane and the sun.
On the upper curve of its huge body there were
three great projections which I can only describe
as enormous bubbles, and I was convinced as I
looked at them that they were charged with
some extremely light gas which served to buoy
up the misshapen and semi-solid mass in the
rarefied air. The creature moved swiftly along,
keeping pace easily with the monoplane, and for
twenty miles or more it formed my horrible
escort, hovering over me like a bird of prey
which is waiting to pounce. Its method of pro-
gression—done so swiftly that it was not easy to
follow — was to throw out a long, glutinous
streamer in front of it, which in turn seemed to
draw forward the rest of the writhing body.
So elastic and gelatinous was it that never for
two successive minutes was it the same shape-,


THE HORROR OP THE HEIGHTS 123

and yet each change made it more threatening
and loathsome than the last.

" I knew that it meant mischief. Every
purple flush of its hideous body told me so.
The vague, goggling eyes which were turned
always upon me were cold and merciless in
their viscid hatred. I dipped the nose of my
monoplane downwards to escape it. As I did
so, as quick as a flash there shot out a long
tentacle from this mass of floating blubber, and
it fell as light and sinuous as a whip-lash across
the front of my machine. There was a loud
hiss as it lay for a moment across the hot engine,
and it whisked itself into the air again, while the
huge flat body drew itself together as if in
sudden pain. I dipped to a vol-piqtte, but
again a tentacle fell over the monoplane and was
shorn off by the propeller as easily as it might
have cut through a smoke wreath. A long,
gliding, sticky, serpent-like coil came from
behind and caught me round the waist, drag-
ging me out of the fuselage. I tore at it, my
fingers sinking into the smooth, glue-like surface,
and for an instant I disengaged myself, but
only to be caught round the boot by another
coil, which gave me a jerk that tilted me almost
on to my back.

"As I fell over I blazed off both barrels of
my gun, though, indeed, it was like attacking
an elephant with a pea-shooter to imagine
that any human weapon could cripple that
mighty bulk. And yet I aimed better than I
knew, for, with-#, loud report, one of the great
blisters upon the creature's back exploded with


126 THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS

Such, in its entirety is the Joyce-Armstrong
Statement. Of the man nothing has since been
seen., Pieces of his shattered monoplane have
been picked up in the preserves of Mr. Budd-
Lushington upon the borders of Kent and
Sussex, within a few miles of the spot where the
note-book was discovered. If the unfortunate
aviator's theory is correct that this air-jungle,
;as he called it, existed only over the south-west
of England, then it wouM seem that he had
fled from it at the Ml speed of his monoplane,
'but had been overtaken and devoured by these
horrible creatures at some spot in the outer
atmosphere above the place where the grim relics
were found. The picture of that monoplane
skimming down the sky, with the*Jiameless
.terrors flying as swiftly beneath it and cutting
>it off always from the earth while they gradually
closed in upon their victim, is one upon which
a man who valued his sanity would prefer not
to dwell. There are many, as I am aware, who
still jeer at the facts which I have here set
down, but even they must admit that Joyce-
Armstrong has disappeared, and I would com-
mend to them his own words : " This note-book
may explain what I am trying to do, and how
I lost my life in doing it. But no drivel about
accidents or mysteries, if you please."


.130	BORROWED SCENES

before the empty fireplace. Him I took to be
the landlord, and I asked him what I should have
for my dinner.

He smiled, and said that he could not tell.

" But surely, my friend," said I, " you can
tell me what is ready 1 "

" Even that I cannot do," he answered ; " but
I doubt not that the landlord can inform us."
On this he rang the bell, and a fellow answered,
to whom I put the same question.

" What would you have ? " he asked.

I thought of the master, and I ordered a cold
leg of pork to be washed down with tea and beer.

" Did you say tea and beer ? " asked the
landlord.

" I did."

" For twenty-five years have I been in busi-
ness," said the landlord, " and never before have
I been asked for tea and beer."

" The gentleman is joking," said the man
with the shining coat.

" Or else-" said the elderly man in the

corner.

" Or what, sir ? " I asked.

" Nothing," said he—" nothing." There was
something very strange in this man in the corner
—him to whom I had spoken of Dafydd-ap-
Gwilyn.

" Then you are joking," said the landlord.

I asked him if he had read the works of my


136	BORROWED SCENES

She seemed annoyed at this. "You keep a
civil tongue, young man," said she.

" I meant no harm, Belle. I was but com-
paring you to one of whom the saga says her
eyes were like the shine of sun upon icebergs."

This seemed to please her, for she smiled.
" My name ain't Belle," she said at last.

" What is your name ? "

" Henrietta."

" The name of a queen," I said aloud.

" Go on," said the girl.

" Of Charles's queen," said I, " of whom
Waller the poet (for the English aI<o have their
poets, though in this, respect far interior to the
Basques)—of whom, I say, Waller the poet said :

That she was Queen was the Creator's act,

Belated man could but endorse the fact."

" I say! " cried the girl. " How you do
go on! "

" So now," said I, " since I have shown you
that you are a queen you will surely give me a
choomer "—this being a kiss in Romany talk.

"I'll give you one on the ear-hole," she
cried.

" Then I will wrestle with you," said I.
" If you should chance to put me down, I will
do penance by teaching you the Armenian
alphabet—the very word alphabet, as you will
perceive, shows us that our letters came from


BORROWED SCENES	137

Greece. If, on the other hand, I should chance
to put you down, you will give me a choomer."

I had got"so far, and she was climbing the
stile with some pretence of getting away from
me, when there came a van along the road,
belonging, as I discovered, to a baker in Swine-
hurst. The horse, which was of a brown colour,
was such as is bred in the New Forest, being
somewhat under fifteen hands and of a hairy,
ill-kempt variety. As I know less than the
master about horses, I will say no more of this
horse, save to repeat that its colour was brown
—nor indeed had the horse or the horse's'colour
anything to do with my narrative. I might
add, however, that it could either be taken as
a small horse or as a large pony, being some-
what tall for the one, but undersized for the
other. I have now said enough about this
horse, which has nothing to do with my story,
and I will turn my attention to the driver.

This was a man with a broad, florid face and
brown side-whiskers. He was of a stout build
and had rounded shoulders, with a small mole
of a reddish colour over his left eyebrow. His
jacket was of velveteen, and he had large, iron-
shod boots, which were perched upon the splash-
board in front of him. He pulled up the van
as he came up to the stile near which I was
standing with the maiden who had come from
the dingle, and in" a civil fashion he asked me if


138	BORROWED SCENES

I could oblige him with a light for his pipe.
Then, as I drew a matchbox from my pocket,
he threw his reins over the splashboard, and
removing his large, iron-shod boots he des-
cended on to the road. He was a burly man,
but inclined to fat and scant of breath. It
seemed to me that it was a chance for one of
those wayside boxing adventures which were
so common in the olden times. It was my in-
tention that I should fight the man, and that the
maiden from the dingle standing by me should
tell me when to use my right or my left, as the
case might be, picking me up also in case I
should be so unfortunate as to be knocked down
by the man with the iron-shod boots and the
small mole of a reddish colour over his left eye-
brow.

" Do you use Long Melford ? " I asked.

He looked at me in some surprise, and said
that any mixture was good enough for him.

" By Long Melford," said I, "I do not mean,
as you seem to think, some form of tobacco, but
I mean that art and science of boxing which
was held in such high esteem by our ancestors,
that some famous professors of it, such as the
great Gully, have been elected to the highest
offices of the. State. There were men of the
highest character amongst the bruisers of Eng-
land, of whom I would particularly mention
Tom of Hereford, better known as Tom Spring,


BORROWED SCENES	139

though his father's name, as I have been given
to understand, was Winter. This, however,
has nothing to do with the matter in hand,
which is that you must fight me."

The man with the florid face seemed very
much surprised at my words, so that I cannot
think that adventures of this sort were as
common as I had been led by the master to
expect.

" Fight! " said he. " What about ? "

" It is a good old English custom," said I,
" by which we may determine which is the
tetter man."

" I've nothing against you," said he.

" Nor I against you," I answered. " So that
we will fight for love, which was an expression
much used in olden days. It is narrated by
Harold Sygvynson that among the Danes it was
usual to do so even with battle-axes, as is told
in his second set of runes. Therefore you will
take ofi your coat and fight." As I spoke, I
stripped ofi my own.

The man's face was less florid than before.
" I'm not going to fight," said he.

" Indeed you are," I answered, " and this
young woman will doubtless do you the service
to hold your coat."

" You're clean balmy," said Henrietta.
- " Besides," said I, " if you will not fight me
for lo'tte, perhaps you will fight me for this,"


140	BORROWED SCENES

and I held out a sovereign. " Will you hold
his coat ? " I said to Henrietta.

" I'll hold the thick 'un," said she.

" No, you don't," said the man, and put the
sovereign into the pocket of his trousers, which
were of a corduroy material. " Now," said he,
" what am I to do to earn this ? "

" Fight," said I.

" How do you do it ? " he asked.

" Put up your hands," I answered.

He put them up as I had said, and stood
there in a sheepish manner with no idea of any-
thing further. It seemed to me that if I could
make him angry he would do better, so I
knocked off his hat, which was black and hard,
of the kind which is called billy-cock.

"Heh, guv'nor! " he"cried, "what are you
up to ? "

" That was to make you angry," said I.

" Well, I am angry," said he.

" Then here is your hat," said I, " and after-
wards we shall fight."

I turned as I spoke to pick up his hat, which
had rolled behind where I was standing. As I
stooped to reach it, I received such a blow
that I could neither rise erect nor yet sit down.
This blow which I received as I stooped for his
billy-cock hat was not from his fist, but from
his iron-shod boot, the same which I had observed
upon the splashboard. Being unable either to


BORROWED SCENES	141

rise erect or yet to sit down, I leaned upon the
oaken bar of the stile and groaned loudly on
account of the pain of the blow which I had
received. Even the screaming horror had given
me less pain than this blow from the iron-shod
boot. When at last I was able to stand erect, I
found that the florid-faced man had driven
away with his cart, which could no longer be
seen. The maiden from the dingle was standing
at the other side of the stile, and a ragged man
was running across the field from the direction
of the fire.

" Why did you not warn me, Henrietta ? "
I asked.

" I hadn't time," said-she. " Why were you
such a chump as to turn your back on him like
that ? "

The ragged man had reached us, where I
stood talking to Henrietta by the stile. I will
not try to write his conversation as he said it,
because I have observed that the master never
condescends to dialect, but prefers by a word
introduced here and there to show the fashion
of a man's speech. I will only say that the man
from the dingle spoke as did the Anglo-Saxons,
who were wont, as is clearly shown by the vener-
able Bede, to call their leaders 'Enjist and 'Orsa,
two words which in their proper meaning signify
a horse and a mare.

" What did he hit you for ? " asked the man


142	BORROWED SCENES

from the dingle. He was exceedingly ragged,
with a powerful frame, a lean brown face, and
an oaken cudgel in his hand. Hi8 voice was
very hoarse and rough, as is the case with those
who live in the open air. " The bloke hit you,"
said he. " What did the bloke hit you for 1 "
" He asked him to," said Henrietta.

"Asked him to—asked him what? "
" Why, he asked him to hit him. Gave him
a thick 'un to do it."

The ragged man seemed surprised. " See
here, gov'nor," said he. " If you're collecting
I could let you have one half-price."

" He took me unawares," said I.

" What else would the bloke do when you
bashed his hat ? " said the maiden from the
dingle.

By this time I was able to straighten myself
up by the aid of the oaken bar which formed the
top of the stile. Having quoted a few lines of
the Chinese poet Lo-tun-an to the effect that,
however hard a knock might be, it might always
conceivably be harder, I looked about for my
coat, but could by no means find it..

" Henrietta," I said, " what have you done
with my coat ? "

" Look here, gov'nor," said the man from the
dingle, " not so much Henrietta, if it's the same
to you. This woman's my wife. Who are you
to call her Henrietta ? "


BORROWED SCENES

143

I assured the man from the dingle that I had
meant no disrespect to his wife. " I had
thought she was a mort," said I; " but the ria
of a Romany chal is always sacred to me."

" Clean balmy," said the woman.

" Some other day," said I, " I may visit you
in your camp in the dingle and read you the
master's book about the Romanys."

" What's Romanys % " asked the man.

Myself. Romanys are gipsies.

The Man. We ain't gipsies.

Myself. What are you then ?

The Man. We are hoppers.

Myself (to Henrietta). Then how did you
understand all I have said to you about gipsies %

Henrietta. I didn't.

I again asked for my coat, but it was clear
now that before offering to fight the florid-faced
man with the mole over his left eyebrow I must
have hung my coat upon the splashboard of his
van. I therefore recited a verse from Ferideddin-
Atar, the Persian poet, which signifies that it is
more important to preserve your skin than your
clothes, and bidding farewell to the man from
the dingle and his wife I returned into the old
English village of Swinehurst, where I was able
to buy a second-hand coat, which enabled me
to make my way to the station, where I should
start for London. I could not but remark with
some surprise that I was followed to the station


144 * BORROWED SCENES

by many of the villagers, together with the man
with the-shiny coat, and that other, the strange
man, he who had slunk behind the clock-case.
From time to time I turned and approached
them, hoping to fall into conversation with
them; but as I did so they would break and
hasten down the road. Only the village con-
stable came on, and he walked by my side and
listened while I told him the history of Hunyadi
Janos and the events which occurred during the
wars between that hero, known also as Corvinus
or the crow-like, and Mahommed the second, he
who captured Constantinople, better known as
Byzantium, before the Christian epoch. To-
gether with the constable I entered the station,
and seating myself in a carriage I took paper from
my pocket and I began to write upon the paper
all that had occurred to me, in order that I might
show that it was not easy in these days to follow
the example of the master. As I wrote, I heard
the constable talk to the station-master/ & stout,
middle-sized man with a red neck-tie, and tell
him of my own adventures in the old English
village of Swinehurst.

" He is a gentleman too," said the constable,
" and I doubt not that he lives in a big hpuse in
London town."

" A very big house if every man had his rights,"
said the station-master, and waving his hand he
signalled that the train should proceed.


146 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

had long been deserted, and was crumbling
rapidly to ruin. In the winter floods, the Gaster
Beck, which runs down Gaster Fell, where the
little dwelling stood, had overswept its banks and
torn away a part of the wall. The roof was in ill
case, and the scattered slates lay thick amongst
the grass. Yet the main shell of the house stood
firm and true; and it was no<great task for me
to have all that was amiss set right.

The two rooms I laid out in a widely different
manner—my own tastes are of a Spartan turn,
and the outer chamber was so planned as to
accord with them. An oil-stove by Rippingille
of Birmingham furnished me with the means of
cooking ; while two great bags, the one of flour,
and the other of potatoes, made me independent
of all supplies from without. In diet I had long
been a Pythagorean, so that the scraggy, long-
limbed sheep which browsed upon the wiry grass
by the Gaster Beck had little to fear from their
new companion. A nine-gallon cask of oil
served me as a sideboard ; while a square table,
a deal chair and a truckle-bed completed the list
of my domestic fittings. At the head of my
couch hung two unpainted shelves—the lower
for my dishes and cooking utensils, the upper for
the few portraits which took me back to the little
that was pleasant in the long, wearisome toiling
for wealth and for pleasure which had marked
the life I had left behind.


]48 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

I had fixed upon for my change of dwelling, when
I was conscious of a bustle in the house beneath,
with the bearing of heavy burdens up the creak-
ing stair, and the harsh voice of my landlady,
loud in welcome and protestations of joy. From
time to time, amid the whirl of words, I could
hear a gentle and softly modulated voice, which
struck pleasantly upon my ear after the long
weeks during which I had listened only to the
rude dialect of the dalesmen. For an Jiour I
could hear the dialogue beneath—the high
voice and the low, with clatter of cup and clink
of spoon, until at last a light, quick step passed
my study door, and I knew that my new fellow
lodger had sought her room.

On the morning after this incident I was up
Retimes, as is my wont; but I was surprised, on
glancing from my window, to see that our new
inmate was earlier still. She was walking down
the narrow pathway, which zigzags over the fell
—a tall woman, slender, her head sunk upon
her breast, her arms filled with a bristle of wild
flowers, which she had gathered in her morning
rambles. The white and pink of her dress, and
the touch of deep red ribbon in her broad drooping
hat, formed a pleasant dash of colour against the
dun-tinted landscape. She was some distance
off when I first set eyes upon her, yet I knew that
this wandering woman could be none other than
our arrival of last night, for there was a grace


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 149

and refinement in her bearing which marked
her from the dwellers of the fells. Even as I
watched, she passed swiftly and lightly down
the pathway, and turning through the wicket
gate, at the further end of our cottage garden she
seated herself upon the green bank which faced
my window, and strewing her flowers in front of
her, set herself to arrange them.

As she sat there, with the rising sun at her
back, and the glow of the morning spreading like
an aureole around her stately and well-poised
head, I could see that she was a woman of extra-
ordinary personal beauty. Her face was Spanish
rather than English in its type—oval, olive, with
black, sparkling eyes, and a sweetly sensitive
mouth. From under the broad straw hat two
thick coils of blue-black hair curved down on
either side of her graceful, queenly neck. I was
surprised, as I watched her, to see that her shoes
and skirt bore witness to a journey rather than
to a mere morning ramble. Her light dress was
stained, wet and bedraggled; while her boots
were thick with the yellow soil of the fells. Her
face, too,wore a weary expression, and her young
beauty seemed to be clouded over by the shadow
of inward trouble. Even as I watched her, she
burst suddenly into wild weeping, and throwing
down her bundle of flowers ran swiftly into the
house.

Distrait as I was and weary of the ways of the


150 THE SURGEON OP GASTER FELL

world, I was conscious of a sudden pang of
sympathy and grief as I looked upon the spasm
of despair which seemed to convulse this strange
and beautiful woman. I bent to my books, and
yet my thoughts would ever turn to her proud
clear-cut face, her weather-stained dress, her
drooping head, and the sorrow which lay in each
line and feature of her pensive face.

Mrs. Adams, my landlady, was wont to carry
up my frugal breakfast; yet it was very rarely
that I allowed her to break the current of my
thoughts, or to draw my mind by her idle chatter
from weightier things. This morning, however,
for once, she found me in a listening mood, and
with little prompting, proceeded to pour into
my ears all that she knew of our beautiful visitor.

"Miss Eva Cameron be her name, sir," she
said : " but who she be, or where she came fra,
I know little more than ycrarselV Maybe it
was the Same reason that brought her to Kirkby-
Malhouse as fetched you there yourseF, sir."

" Possibly," said I, ignoring the covert ques-
tion ; " but I should hardly have thought that
Kirkby-Malhouse was a place which offered any
great attractions to a young lady."

" Heh, sir! " she cried, " there's the wonder
of it. The leddy has just come fra France;
and how her folk come to learn of me is just a
wonder. A week ago, up comes a man to my
door—a fine man, sir, and a gentleman, as one


THE SURGEON OF GASTER. FELL 151

could see with half an eye. ' You are Mrs.
Adams,' says he. ' I engage your rooms for Miss
Cameron,' says he. ' She will be here in a
week,' says he ; and then off without a word of
terms. Last night there comes the young leddy
hersel'—soft-spoken and downcast, with a touch
of the French in her speech. But my sakes, sir!
I must away and mak' her some tea, for she'll
feel lonesome-like, poor lamb, when she wakes
under a strange roof."

II—How I WENT FORTH TO GASTER FELL

I was still engaged upon my breakfast when
I heard the clatter of dishes and the landlady's
footfall as she passed toward her new lodger's
room. An instant afterward she had rushed
down the passage and burst in upon me with
uplifted hand and startled eyes. " Lord 'a
mercy, sir ! " she cried," and asking your pardon
for troubling you, but I'm feared o' the young
leddy, sir; she is not in her room."

" Why, there she is," said I, standing up and
glancing through the casement. " She has gone
back for the flowers she left upon the bank."

" Oh, sir, see her boots and her dress ! " cried
the landlady, wildly. " I wish her mother was
here, sir—I do. Where she has been is more
than I ken, but her bed has not been lain on this
night."

" She haa felt restless, doubtless, and went for
11


152 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

a walk, though the hour was certainly a strange

one."

Mrs. Adams pursed her lip and shook her head.
But then as she stood at the casement, th^ girl
beneath looked smilingly up at her and beckoned
to her with a merry gesture to open the window.

" Have you my tea there ? " she asked in a
rich, clear voice, with a touch of the mincing
French accent.

" It is in your room, miss."

" Look at my boots, Mrs. Adams! " she cried,
thrusting them out from under her skirt. " These
fells of yours are dreadful places—effroyable—
one inch, two inch; never have I seen such mud!
My dress, too—voild! "

" Eh, miss, but you are in a pickle," cried the
landlady, as she gazed down at the bedraggled
gown. " But you must be main weary and
heavy for sleep."

" No, no," she answered, laughingly, " I care
not for sleep. What is sleep ? it is a little death
—voild tout. But for me to walk, to run, to
beathe the air—that is to live. I was not tired,
and so all night I have explored these fells of
Yorkshire."

" Lord 'a mercy, miss, and where did you go ? "
asked Mrs. Adams.

She waved her hand round in a sweeping
gesture which included the whole western horizon.
" There," she cried. " 0 comme elles sont tristes


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 153

et sauvages; ces collines! But I have flowers
here. You will give me water, will you not?
They will wither else." She gatheredher treasures
in her lap, and a moment later we heard her
light, springy footfall upon the stair.

So she had been out all night, this strange
woman. What motive could have taken her
from her snug room on to the bleak, wind-swept
hills ? Could it be merely the restlessness, the
love of adventure of a young girl ? Or was there,
possibly, some deeper meaning in this nocturnal
journey ?

Deep as were the mysteries wfiich my studies
had taught me to solve, here was a human prob-
lem which for the moment at least was beyond
my comprehension. I had walked out on the
moor in the forenoon, and on my return, as I
topped the brow that overlooks the little town,
I saw my fellow-lodger some little distance of!
among the gorse. j3he had raised a light easel
in front of her, and with papered board laid across
it, was preparing to paint the magnificent land-
scape of rock and moor which stretched away
in front of her. As I watched her I saw that she
was loolgmg anxiously to right and left. Close
by me a pool of water had formed in a hollow.
Dipping the cup of my pocket-flask into it, I
carried it across to her.

" Miss Cameron, I believe," said I. "I
'am your fellow-lodger. Upperton is my name.


154 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

We must introduce ourselves in these wilds if
we are not to be for ever strangers."

" Oh, then, you live also with Mrs. Adams ! "
she cried. " I had thought that there were none
but peasants in this strange place."

" I am a visitor, like yourself," I answered.
" I am a student, and have come for quiet and
repose, which my studies demand."

" Quiet, indeed ! " said she, glancing round
at the vast circle of silent moors, with the one
tiny line of grey cottages which sloped down
beneath us.

" And yet not quiet enough," I answered,
laughing," for I have been forced to move further
into the fells for the absolute peace which I
require."

" Have you, then, built a house upon the fells 1"
she asked, arching her eyebrows.

" I have, and hope within a few days to occupy
it."

" Ah, but that is triste," she cried. " And
where is it, then, this house whichyou have builtl"

" It is over yonder," I answered. " See that
stream which lies like a silver band upon the
distant moor ? It is the Gastei Beck, and it runs
through Gaster Fell."

She started, and turned upon me her great
dark, questioning eyes with a look in which sur-
prise, incredulity, and something akin to horror
seemed to be struggling for mastery.


THE SURGEON OF GASTER EELL 155

" And you will live on the Gaster Fell ? " she
cried.

" So I have planned. But what do you know
of Gaster Fell, Miss Cameron ? " I asked. " I
had thought that you were a stranger in these
parts."

" Indeed, I have never been here before," she
answered. " But I have heard my brother talk
of these Yorkshire moors ; and, if I mistake not,
I have heard him name this very one as the
wildest and most savage of them all."

" Very likely," said I, carelessly. "It is
indeed a dreary place.

" Then why live there ? " she cried, eagerly.
" Consider the loneliness, the barrenness, the
want of all comfort and of all aid, should aid be
needed."

" Aid ! What aid should be needed on Gaster
Fell ? "

She looked down and shrugged her shoulders.
" Sickness may come in all places," said she.
" If I were a man I do not think I would live
alone on Gaster Fell."

" I have braved worse dangers than that,"
said I, laughing; " but I fear that your picture
will be spoiled, for the clouds are banking up,
and already I feel a few raindrops."

Indeed, it was high time we were on our way
to shelter, for even as I spoke there came the
sudden, steady swish of the shower. Laughing


156 THE SUEGEON OF GASTER FELL

merrily, my companion threw her light shawl
over her head, and, seizing picture and easel, ran
with the lithe grace of a young fawn down the
furze-clad slope, while I followed after with

camp-stool and paint-box.

• • • • •

It was the eve of my departure from Kirkby-
Malhouse that we sat upon the green bank in the
garden, she with dark dreamy eyes looking sadly
out over the sombre fells; while I, with a book
upon my knee, glanced covertly at her lovely
profile and marvelled to myself how twenty years
of life could have stamped so sad and wistful
an expression upon it.

" You have read much," I remarked at last.
" Women have opportunities now such as their
mothers never knew. Have you ever thought of
going further—or seeking a course of college or
even a learned profession ? "

She smiled wearily at the thought.

" I have no aim, no ambition," she said.
" My future is black—confused—a chaos. My
life is like to one of these paths upon the fells.
You have seen them, Monsieur Upperton. They
are smooth and straight and clear where they
begin; but soon they wind to left and wind to
right, and so mid rocks and crags until they lose
themselves in some quagmire. At Brussels my
path was straight; but now, mon Dieu ! who is
there can tell me where it leads ? "


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 157

" It might take no prophet to do that, Miss
Cameron," quoth I, with the fatherly manner
which twoscore years may show toward one.
" If I may read your life, I would venture to say
that you were destined to fulfil the lot of women—
to make some good man happy, and to shed
around, in some wider circle, the pleasure which
your society has given me since first I knew you."

" I will never marry," said she, with a sharp
decision, which surprised and somewhat amused
me.

" Not marry—and why ? "

A strange look passed over her sensitive fea-
tures, and she plucked nervously at the grass on
the bank beside her.

" I dare not," said she in a voice that quivered
with emotion.

" Dare not ? "

" It is not for me. I have other things to do.
That path of which I spoke is one which I must
tread alone."

" But this is morbid," said I. " Why should
your lot, Miss Cameron, be separate from that
of my own sisters, or the thousand other young
ladies whom every season brings out into the
world 1 But perhaps it is that you have a fear
and distrust of mankind. Marriage brings a
risk as well as a happiness."

" The risk would be with the man who married
me," she cried. And then in an instant, as


158 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

though she had said too much, she sprang to her
feet and drew her mantle round her. " T he night
air is chill, Mr. Upperton," said she, and so swept
swiftly away, leaving me to muse over the strange
words which had fallen from her lips.

Clearly, it was time that I should go. I set
my teeth and vowed that another day should not
have passed before I should have snapped this
newly formed tie and sought the lonely retreat
which awaited me upon the moors. Breakfast
was hardly over in the morning before a peasant
dragged up to the door the rude hand-cart which
was to convey my few personal belongings to my
new dwelling. My fellow-lodger had kept her
room ; and, steeled as my mind was against her
influence, I was yet conscious of a little throb of
disappointment that she should allow me to
depart without a word of farewell. My hand-
cart with its load of books had already started,
and I, having shaken hands with Mrs. Adams,
was about to follow it, when there was a quick
scurry of feet on the stair, and there she was
beside me all panting with her own haste.

" Then you go—you really go ? " said she.

" My studies call me."

" And to Gaster Fell ? " she asked.

" Yes; to the cottage which I have built there."

" And you will live alone there ? "

" With my hundred companions who lie in
that cart."


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 159

" Ah, books ! " she cried, with a pretty shrug
of her graceful shoulders. " But you will make
me a promise ? "

" What is it ? " I asked, in surprise.

" It is a small thing. Y ou will not refuse me?"

" You have but to ask it."

She bent forward her beautiful face with an
expression of the most intense earnestness.
"You will bolt your door at night ? " said she;
and was gone ere I could say a word in answer to
her extraordinary request.

It was a strange thing for me to find myself at
last duly installed in my lonely dwelling. For
me, now, the horizon was bounded by the barren
circle of wiry, unprofitable grass, patched over
with furze bushes and scarred by the profusion
of Nature's gaunt and granite ribs. A duller,
wearier waste I have never seen; but its dullness
was its very charm.

And yet the very first night which I spent at
Gaster Fell there came a strange incident to
lead my thoughts back once more to the world
which I had left behind me.

It had been a sullen and sultry evening, with
great livid cloud-banks mustering in the west.
As the night wore on, the air within my little
cabin became closer and more oppressive. A
weight seemed to rest upon my brow and my
chest. From far away the low rumble of thunder
came moaning over the moor. Unable to sleep,


160 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

I dressed, and standing at my cottage door, looked
on the black solitude which surrounded me.

Taking the narrow sheep path which ran by
this stream, I strolled along it for some hundred
yards, and had turned to retrace my steps, when
the moon was finally buried beneath an ink-
black cloud, and the darkness deepened so sud-
denly that I could see neither the path at my
feet, the stream upon my right, nor the rocks
upon my left. I was standing groping about in
the thick gloom, when there came a crash of
thunder with a flash of lightning which lighted
up the whole vast fell, so that every bush and
rock stood out clear and hard in the vivid light.
It was but for an instant, and yet that momentary
view struck a thrill of fear and astonishment
through me, for in my very path, not twenty
yards before me, there stood a woman, the livid
light beating upon her face and showing up every
detail of her dress and features.

There was no mistaking those dark eyes,
that tall, graceful figure. It was she—Eva
Cameron, the woman whom I thought I had
for ever left. For an instant I stood petrified,
marvelling whether this could indeed be she, or
whether it was some figment conjured up by my
excited brain. Then I ran swiftly forward in the
direction where I had seen her, calling loudly
upon her, but without reply. Again I called,
and again no answer came back, save the melan-


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 161

choly wail of the owl. A second flash, illuminated
the landscape, and the moon burst out from
behind its cloud. But I could not, though I
climbed upon a knoll which overlooked the whole
moor, see any sign of this strange midnight
wanderer. For an hour or more I traversed the
fell, and at last found myself back at my little
cabin, still uncertain as to whether it had been a
woman or a shadow upon which I gazed.

Ill—Of the Grey Cottage in the Glen

It was either on the fourth or the fifth day
after I had taken possession of my cottage that
I was astonished to hear footsteps upon the grass
outside, quickly followed by a crack, as from a
stick upon the door. The explosion of an infernal
machine would hardly have surprised or dis-
comfited me more. I had hoped to have shaken
off all intrusion for ever, yet here was somebody
beating at my door with as little ceremony as
if it had been a village ale-house. Hot with
anger, I flung down my book and withdrew the
bolt just as my visitor had raised his stick to
renew his rough application for admittance.
He was a tall, powerful man, tawny-bearded and
deep-chested, clad in a loose-fitting suit of tweed,
cut for comfort rather than elegance. As he
stood in the shimmering sunlight, I took in every
feature of his face. The large, fleshy nose;
the steady blue eyes, with their thick thatch of


162 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

overhanging brows; the .broad forehead, all
knitted arid lined with furrows, ^hich were
strangely at variance with his youthful bearing.
In spite of his weather-stained felt hat, and the
coloured handkerchief slung round his muscular
brown neck, I could see at a glance he was a man
of breeding and education. I had been prepared
for some wandering shepherd or uncouth tramp,
but this apparition fairly disconcerted me.

" Yoa look astonished," said he, with a smile.
"Did you think, then, that you were the only man
in the world with a taste for solitude ? You see
that there are other hermits in the wilderness
besides yourself."

" Do you mean to say that you live here ? "
I asked in no conciliatory voice.

"Up yonder," he answered, tossing his head
backward. " I thought as we were neighbours,
Mr. Upperton, that I could not do less than look
in and see if I could assist you in any way."

" Thank you," I said coldly, standing with my
hand upon the latch of the door. " I am a man
of simple tastes, and-you can do nothing for me.
You have the advantage of me in knowing my
name."

He appeared to be chilled by my ungracious
manner.

" I learned it from the masons who were at
work here," he said. " A s for me, I am a surgeon,
the surgeon of Gaster Fell. That is the name


164 THE SURGEON OP GASTER PELL

wizened man, who stood erect as the other ap-
proached, and advanced to meet him. The two
talked for a minute or more, the taller man
nodding his head frequently in my direction, as
though describing what had passed between us.
Then they walked on together, and disappeared
in a dip of the fell. Presently I saw them ascend-
ing once more some rising ground farther .on.
My acquaintance had thrown his arm round his
elderly friend, either from affection or from a
desire to aid him up the steep incline. The square
burly figure and its Shrivelled, meagre companion
stood out against the sky-line, and turning their
faces, they looked back at me. At the sight, I
slammed the door, lest they should be encouraged
to return. But when I peeped from the window
some minutes afterward, I perceived that they
were gone.

All day I bent over the Egyptian papyrus
upon which I was engaged; but neither the
subtle reasonings of the ancient philosopher of
Memphis, nor the mystic meaning which lay in
his pages, could raise my mind from the things of
earth. Evening was drawing in before I threw
my work aside in despair. My heart was bitter
against this man for his intrusion. Standing
by the beck which purled past the door of my
cabin, I cooled my heated brow, and thought the
matter over. Clearly it was the small mystery
hanging over these neighbours of mine which had


166 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

objects from which I might draw deductions as
to the dwellers within. Yet even in these there
was food for thought, for as I drew nearer, still
concealing myself behind the ridge, I saw that
thick bars of iron covered the windows, while the
old door was slashed and placed with the same
metal. These strange precautions, together with
the wild surroundings and unbroken solitude,
gave an indescribably ill omen and fearsome
character to the solitary building. Thrusting
my pipe into my pocket, I crawled upon my hands
and knees through the gorse and ferns until I
was within a hundred yards of my neighbour's
door. There, finding that I could not approach
nearer without fear of detection, I crouched down,
and set myself to watch.

I had hardly settled into my hiding place,
when the door of the cottage swung open, and
the man who had introduced himself to me as
the surgeon of (raster Fell came out, bareheaded,
with a spade in his hands. In front of the door
there was a small cultivated patch containing
potatoes, peas and other forms of green stuff,
and here he proceeded to busy himself, trimming,
weeding and arranging, singing the while in a
powerful though not very musical voice. He
was all engrossed in his work, with his back to
the cottage, when there emerged from the half-
open door the same attenuated creature whom I
had seen in the morning. I could perceive now


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 167

that he was a man of sixty, wrinkled, bent, and
feeble, with sparse, grizzled hair, and long,
colourless face. With a cringing, sidelong gait,
he shuffled toward his companion, who was
unconscious of his approach until he was close
upon him. His light footfall or his breathing
may have finally given notice of his proximity,
for the* worker sprang round and faced him.
Each made a quick step toward the other, as
though in greeting, and then—even now I feel
the horror of the instant—the tall man rushed
upon and knocked his companion to the earth,
then whipping up his body, ran with great speed
over the intervening ground and disappeared
with his burden into the house.

Case hardened as I was by my varied life, the
suddenness and violence of the thing made me
shudder. The man's age, his feeble frame, his
humble and deprecating manner, all cried shame
against the deed. So hot was my anger, that I
was on the point of striding up to the cabin, un-
armed as I was, when the sound of voices from
within showed me that the victim had recovered.
The sun had sunk beneath the horizon, and all
was grey, save a red feather in the cap of Penni-
gent. Secure in the failing light, I approached
near and strained my ears to catch what was
passing. I could hear the high, querulous voice
of the elder man and the deep, rough monotone
of his assailant, mixed with a strange metallic
12


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 169

room was a wooden framework resembling a
hencoop, and in this, still absorbed in prayer,
knelt the man whose voice I heard. The red
glow beating upon his upturned face made it
stand out from the shadow like a painting from
■Rembrandt, showing up every wrinkle upon the
parchment-like skin. I had but time for a
fleeting glance; then, dropping from the window,
I made ofE through the rocks and the heather,
nor slackened my pace until I found myself back
in my cabin once more. There I threw myself
upon my coucjfi, more disturbed and shaken
than I had ever thought to feel again.

Such doubts as I might have had as to whether
I had indeed seen my former fellow-lodger upon
the night of the thunderstorm were resolved the
next morning. Strolling along down the path
which led to the fell, I saw in one spot where the
ground was soft the impressions of a foot—the
small, dainty foot of a well-booted woman.
That tiny heel and high instep could have
belonged to none other than my companion of
Kirkby-Malhouse. I followed her trail for some
distance, till it still pointed, as farjas I could
discern it, to the lonely and ill-omened cottage.
What power could there be to draw this tender
girl, through wind and rain and darkness, across
the fearsome moors to that strange rendezvous ?

I have said that a little beck flowed down the
valley and past iny very door. A week or so


170 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

after the doings which I have described, I was
seated by my window when I perceived some-
thing white drifting slowly down the stream. My
first thought was that it was a drowning sheep;
but picking up my stick, I strolled to the bank
and hooked it ashore. On examination it proved
to be a large sheet, torn and tattered, with the
initials J. C. in the corner. What gave it its
sinister significance, however, was that from
hem to hem it was all dabbled and discoloured.

Shutting the door of my cabin, I set off up
the glen in the direction of the surgeon's cabin.
I had not gone far before I perceived the very
man himself. He was walking rapidly along the
hillside, beating the furze bushes with a cudgel
and bellowing like a madman. Indeed, at the sight
of him, the doubts as to his sanity which had arisen
in my mind were strengthened and confirmed.

As he approached I noticed that his left arm
was suspended in a sling. On perceiving me he
stood irresolute, as though uncertain whether
to come over to me or not. I had no desire for
an interview with him, however, so I hurried
past him, on which he continued on his way,
still shouting and striking about with his club.
When he had disappeared over the fells, I made
my way down to his cottage, determined to find
some clue to what had occurred. 1 was sur-
prised, on reaching it, to find the iron-plated door
flung wide open. The ground immediately out-


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 171

side it was marked with the signs of a struggle.
The chemical apparatus within and the furniture
were all dashed about and shattered. Most
suggestive of all, the sinister wooden cage was
stained with blood-marks, and its unfortunate
occupant had disappeared. My-heart was heavy
for the little man, for I was assured I should
never see him in this world more.

There was nothing in the cabin to throw any
light upon the identity of my neighbours. The
room was stuffed with chemical instruments.
In one corner a small bookcase contained a choice
selection of works of science. In another was a
pile of geological specimens collected from the
limestone.

I caught no glimpse of the surgeon upon my
homeward journey; but when I reached my
cottage I was astonished and indignant to find
that somebody had entered it in my absence.
Boxes had been pulled out from under the bed,
the curtains disarranged, the chairs drawn out
from the wall. Even my study had not been safe
from this rough intruder, for the prints of a heavy
boot were plainly visible on the ebony-black carpet.

IV—Op the Man who came in the Night

The night set in gusty and tempestuous, and
the moon was all girt with ragged clouds. The
wind blew in melancholy gusts, sobbing and
sighing over the moor, and setting all the gorse


172 THE SURGEON OP GASTER FELL

bushes agroaning. From time to time a little
sputter of rain pattered up against the window-
pane. I sat until near midnight, glancing over
the fragment on immortality by Iamblichus, the
Alexandrian platonist, of whom the Emperor
Julian said that he was posterior to Plato in
time but not in genius. At last, shutting up my
book, I opened my door and took a last look at
the dreary fell and still more dreary sky. As I
protruded my head, a swoop of wind caught me
and sent the red ashes of my pipe sparkling and
dancing through the darkness. At the same
moment the moon shone brilliantly out from
between two clouds, and I saw, sitting on the
hillside, not two hundred yards from my door,
the man who called himself the surgeon of Gaster
Fell. He was squatted among the heather, his
elbows upon his knees, and his chin resting upon
his hands, as motionless as a stone, with his gaze
fixed steadily upon the door of my dwelling.

At the sight of this ill-omened sentinel, a chill
of horror and of fear shot through me, for his
gloomy and mysterious associations had cast a
glamour round the man, and the hour and place
were in keeping with his sinister presence. In
a moment, however, a manly glow of resentment
and self-confidence drove this petty emotion
from my mind, and I strode fearlessly in his
direction. He rose as I approached and faced
me, with the moon shining on his grave, bearded


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 173

face and glittering on his eyeballs. '' What is the
meaning of this ? " I cried, as I cajne upon him.
" What right have you to play the spy on me ? "

I could see the flush of anger rise on his face.
" Your stay in the country has made you forget
your manners," he said. " The moor is free to
all."

"You will say next that my house is free to
all," I said, hotly. "You have had the imperti-
ence to ransack it in my absence this afternoon."

He started, and his features showed the most
intense excitement. " I swear to you that I had
no hand in it! " he cried. " I have never set
foot in your house in my life. Oh, sir, sir, if you
will but believe me, there is a danger hanging
over you, and you would do well to be careful."

" I have had enough of you," I said. " I
saw that cowardly blow you struck when you
thought no human eye rested upon you. X have
been to your cottage, too, and know all that it has
to tell. If there is a law in England, you shall
hang for what you have done. As to me, I am
an old soldier, sir, and I am armed. I shall not
fasten my door. But if you or any other villain
attempt to cross my threshold it shall be at your
own risk." With these words, I swung round
upon my heel and strode into my cabin.

For two days the wind freshened and in-
creased, with constant squalls of rain until on
the third night the most furious storm was


174 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

raging which I can ever recollect in England. I
felt that it was positively useless to go to bed,
nor could I concentrate my mind sufficiently
to read a book. I turned my lamp half down
to moderate the glare, and leaning back in my
chair, I gave myself up to reverie. I must have
lost all perception of time, for I have no recol-
lection how long I sat there on the borderland
betwixt thought and slumber. At last, about
3 or possibly 4 o'clock, I came to myself with a
start—not only came to myself, but with every
sense and nerve upon the strain. Looking
round my chamber in the dim light, I could not
see anything to justify my sudden trepidation.
The homely room, the rain-blurred window and
the rude wooden door were all as they had been.
I had begun tQ persuade myself that some half-
formed dream had sent that vague thrill through
my nerves, when in a moment I became conscious
of what it was. It was a sound—the sound of
a human step outside my solitary cottage.

Amid the thunder and the rain and the wind
I could hear it—a dull, stealthy footfall, now
on the grass, now on the stones—occasionally
stopping entirely, then resumed, and ever draw-
ing nearer. I sat breathlessly, listening to the
eerie sound. It had stopped now at my very
door, and was replaced by a panting and gasp-
ing, as of one who has travelled fast and far.

By the flickering light of the expiring lamp


176 THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL

with extreme rapidity across the fells. Even at
that distance the contrast between them forbid
all doubt as to their identity. The first was the
small, elderly man, whom I had supposed to be
dead; the second was my neighbour, the sur-
geon. For an instant they stood out clear and
hard in the unearthly light; in the next, the
darkness had closed over them, and they were
gone. As I turned to re-enter my chamber, my
foot rattled against something on my threshold.
Stooping, I found it was a straight knife,fashioned
entirely of lead, and so soft and brittle that it
was a strange choice for a weapon. To render
it more harmless, the top had been cut square
off. The edge, however, had been assiduously
sharpened against a stone, as was evident from
the markings upon it, so that it was still a dan-
gerous implement in the grasp of a determined
man.

And what was the meaning of it all? you
ask. Many a drama which I have come across
in my wandering life, some as strange and as
striking as this one, has lacked the ultimate
explanation which you demand. Fate is a grand
weaver of tales; but she ends them, as a rule,
in defiance of all artistic laws, and with an un-
becoming want of regard for literary propriety.
As it happens, however, I have a letter before me
as I write which I may add without comment,
and which will clear all that may remain dark.


THE SURGEON OF GASTER FELL 177

" Kirkby Lunatic Asylum,

"September 41885,

" Sir,—I am deeply conscious that some apology and
explanation is due to you for the very startling and,
in your eyes, mysterious events which have recently
occurred, and which have so seriously interfered with the
retired existence which you desire to lead. I should
have called upon you on the morning after the recapture
of my father, but my knowledge of your dislike to
visitors and also of—you will excuse my saying it—
your very violent temper, led me to think that it was
better to communicate with you by letter.

" My poor father was a hard-working general prac-
titioner in Birmingham, where his name is still remem-
bered and respected. About ten years ago he began
to show signs of mental aberration, which we were
inclined to put down to overwork and the effects of a
sunstroke. Feeling my own incompetence to pronounce
upon a case of such importance, I at once sought the
highest advice in Birmingham and London. Among
others we consulted the eminent alienist, Mr. Fraser
Brown, who pronounced my father's case to be inter-
mittent in its nature, but dangerous during the par-
oxysms. 4 It may take a homicidal, or it may take
a religious turn/ he said; 8 or it may prove to be a
mixture of both. For months'he may be as well as
you or me, and then in a moment he may break out.
You will incur a great responsibility if you leave him
without supervision/

" I need say no more, sir. You will understand the
terrible task which has fallen upon my poor sister and
me in endeavouring to save my father from the asylum
which in his sane moments filled him with horror. I
can only regret that your peace has been disturbed by
our misfortunes, and I offer you in my sister's name
and my own our apologies."

"Yours truly,

"J. Cameron."


HOW IT HAPPENED	179

gone, and his saying that he thought she was
excellent.

" I'll try her myself," said I, and I climbed
into the driver's seat. ^

" The gears are not the same," said he.
" Perhaps, sir, I had better drive."

" No; I should like to try her," said I.

And so we started on the five-mile drive for
home.

My old car had the gears aB they used always
to be in notches on a bar. In this car you passed
the gear-lever through a gate to get on the
higher ones. It was not difficult to master, and
soon -I thought that I understood it. It was
foolish, no doubt, to begin to learn a new system
in the dark, but one often does foolish things,
and one has not always to pay the full price for
them. I got along very well until I came to
Claystall Hill. It is one of the worst hills in
England, a mile and a half long and one in six
in places, with three fairly sharp curves. My
park gates stand at the very foot of it upon the
main London road.

We were just over the brow of this hill, where
the grade is steepest, when the trouble began.
I had been on the top speed, and wanted to get
her on the free; but she stuck between gears,
and I had to get her back on the top again.
By this time she was going at a great rate, so I
clapped on both brakes, and one after the other


180	HOW JT HAPPENED

they gave way. I didn't mind so much when I
felt my footbrake snap, but when I put all my
weight on my side-brake, and the lever clanged
to its full limit without a catch, it brought a cold
sweat out of me. By this time we were fairly
tearing down the slope. The lights were bril-
liant, and I brought her round the first curve all
right. Then we did the second one, though it
was a close shave for the ditch. There was a
mile of straight then with the third curve be-
neath it, and after that the gate of the park.
If I could shoot into that harbour all would be
well, for the slope up to the house would bring
her to a stand.

Perkins behave^ splendidly. I should like
that to be known. He was perfectly cool and
alert. I had thought at the very beginning of
taking the bank, and he read rrjy intention.*

" I wouldn't do it, sir," said he. " At this
pace it must go over and we should have it on
the top of us."

Of course he wa;s right. He got to the electric
switch and had it off, so we were in the free;
but we were still running a fearful pace. He
laid his hands on the wheel.

" I'll keep her steady," said he, " if you care
to jump and chance it. We can never get round
that curve. Better jump, sir."

"No," said I; "I'll stick it out. You can
jump if you like."


HOW IT HAPPENED	181

" I'll stick it with you, sir," said he.

If it had been the old car I should have
jammed the gear-lever into the reverse, and
seen what would happen. I expect she would
have stripped her gears or smashed up somehow,
but it would have been a chance. As it was,
I was helpless. Perkins tried to climb across,
but you couldn't do it going at that pace.
The wheels were whirring like a high wind and
the big body creaking and groaning with the
strain. But the lights Were brilliant, and one
could steer to an inch. I remember thinking
what an awful and yet majestic sight we should
appear to any one who met us. It was a narrow
road, and we were just a great, roaring, golden
death to any one who came in our path.

We got round the corner with one wheel three
feet high upon the bank. I thought we were
surely over, but after staggering for a moment
she righted and darted onwards. That was the
third corner and the last one. There was only
the park gate now. It was facing us, but, as luck
would have it, not facing us directly. It was
about twenty yards to the left up the main road
into which we ran. Perhaps I could have done
it, but I expect that the steering-gear had been
jarred when we ran on the bank. The wheel
did not turn easily. We shot out of the lane.
I saw the open gate on the left. I whirled round
my wheel with all the strength of my wrists.


HOW IT HAPPENED	183

were exceedingly alert. I saw the wreck of the
motor lit tip by the moving lanterns. I saw the
little group of people and heard the hushed
voices. There were the lodge-keeper and his
wife, and one or two more. They were taking
no notice of me, but were very busy round the
car. Then suddenly I heard a cry of pain.

" The weight is on him. Lift it easy," cried
a voice.

" It's only my leg! " said another one, which
I recognized as Perkins's. " Where's master ? "
he cried.

" Here J am," I answered, but they did not
seem to hear me. They were all bending over
something which lay in front of the car.

Stanley laid his hand upon my shoulder, and
his touch was inexpressibly soothing. I felt
light and happy, in spite of all.

" No pain, of course ? " said he.

" None," said I.

" There never is," said he.

And then suddenly a wave of amazement
passed over me. Stanley! Stanley! Why,
Stanley had surely died of enteric at Bloem-
fontein in the Boer War !

" Stanley! " I cried, and the words seemed
to choke my throat—" Stanley, you are dead."

He looked at me with the same old gentle,
wistful smile.

" So are you," he answered.

13


IX

THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE

The circumstances, so far as they were known
to the public, concerning the death of the beau-
tiful Miss Ena Garnier, and the fact that Captain
John Fowler, the accused officer, had refused
to defend himself on the occasion of the proceed-
ings at the police-court, had roused very general
interest. This was increased by the. statement
that, though he withheld his defence, it would
be found to be of a very novel and convincing
character. The assertion of the prisoner's lawyer
at the police-court, to the effect that the answer
to the charge was such that it could not yet be
given, but would be available before the Assizes,
also caused much speculation. A final touch
was given to the curiosity of the public when it
was learned that the prisoner had refused all
offers of legal assistance from counsel and was
determined to conduct his own defence. The
case for the Crown was ably presented, and was
generally considered to be a very damning one,
since it showed very clearly that the accused
was subject to fits of jealousy, and that he had
already been guilty of some violence owing to

184


THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE 185

this cause. The prisoner listened to the evi-
dence without emotion, and neither interrupted
nor cross-questioned the witnesses. Finally, on
being informed that the time had come when
he might address the jury, he stepped to the
front of the dock. He was a man of striking
appearance, swarthy, black-moustached, ner-
vous, and virile, with a quietly confident manner.
Taking a paper from his pocket he read the
following statement, which made the deepest
impression upon the crowded court:—

I would wish to say, in the first place, gentle-
men; of the jury, that, owing to the generosity
of my brother officers—for my own means are
limited—I might have been defended to-day by
the first talent of the Bar. The reason I have
declined their assistance and have determined
to fight my own case is not that I have any con-
fidence in my own abilities or eloquence, but it
is because I am convinced that a plain, straight-
forward tale, coming direct from the man who
has been the tragic actor in this dreadful affair,
will impress you more than any indirect state-
ment could do. If I had felt that I were guilty
I should have asked for help. Since, in my own
heart, I believe that I am innocent, I am plead-
ing my own cause, feeling that my plain words
of truth and reason will have more weight with
you than the most learned and eloquent advo-


186 THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE

cate. By the indulgence of the Court I have
been permitted to put my remarks upon paper,
bo that I may reproduce certain conversations
and be assured of saying neither more nor less
than I mean.

It will be remembered that at the trial at the
police-court two months ago I refused to defend
myself. This has been referred to to-day as a
proof of my guilt. I said that it would be some
days before I could open my mouth. This was
taken at the time as a subterfuge. Well, the
days are over, and I am now able to make clear
to you not only what took place, but also why
it was impossible for me to give any explana-
tion. I will tell you now exactly what I did
and why it was that I did it. If you, my fellow-
countrymen, think that I did wrong, I will
make no complaint, but will suffer in silence
any penalty which you may impose upon me.

I am a soldier of fifteen years' standing, a
captain in the Second Breconshire Battalion.
I have served in the South African Campaign
and was mentioned in despatches after the battle
of Diamond Hill. When the war broke out with
Germany I was seconded from my regiment,
and I was appointed as adjutant to the First
Scottish Scouts, newly raised. The regiment
was quartered at Radchurch, in Essex, where the
men were placed partly in huts and were partly
billeted upon the inhabitants. All the officers


THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE 187

were billeted out, and my quarters were with
Mr. Murreyfield, the local squire. It was there
that I first met Miss Erta Gamier.

It may not seem proper at such a time and
place as this that-I should describe that lady.
And yet her personality is the very essence of
my case. Let me only say that I cannot be-
lieve that Nature ever put into female form a
more exquisite combination of beauty and in-
telligence. She was twenty-five years of age,
blonde and tall, with a peculiar delicacy of fea-
tures and of expression. I have read of people
falling in love at first sight, and had always
looked upon it as an expression of the novelist.
And yet from the moment that I saw Ena
Gamier life held for me but the one ambition—
that she should be mine. I had never dreamed
before of the possibilities of passion that were
within me. I will not enlarge upon the subject,
but to make you understand my action—for I
wish you to comprehend it, however much you
may condemn it—you must realize that I was
in the grip of a frantic elementary passion which
made, for a time, the world and all that was in
it seem a small thing if I could but gain the love
of this one girl. And yet, in justice to myself,
I will say that there was always one thing which
I placed above her. That was my honour as a
soldier and a gentleman. You will find it hard
to believe this when i tell you what occurred,


188 THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE

and yet—though for one moment I forgot myself
—rpy whole legal offence consists in my desper-
ate endeavour to retrieve what I had done.

I soon found that the lady was not insensible
to the advances which I made to her. Her
position in the household was a curious one.
She had come a year before from Montpellier,
in the South of France, in answer to an adver-
tisement from the Murreyfields in order to teach
French to their three young children. She was,
however, unpaid, so that she was *rather a
friendly guest than an employee. She had
always, as I gathered, been fond of the English
and desirous to live in England, but the out-
break of the war had quickened her feelings
into passionate attachment, for the ruling emo-
tion of her soul was her hatred of the Germans.
Her grandfather, as she told me, had been killed
under very tragic circumstances in the campaign
of 1870, and her two brothers were both in the
French army. Her voice vibrated with passion
when she spoke of the infamies of Belgium,
and more than once I have seen her kissing
my sword and my revolver because she hoped
they would be used upon the enemy. With
such feelings in her heart it can be imagined
that my wooing was not a difficult one. I
should have been glad to marry her at once,
but to this she would not consent. Everything
was to come after the war, for it was necessary,


190 THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE

that there were scenes owing to my jealousy,
and that once Mrs. Murreyfield had to interfere.
I admit that I was jealous. When a man loves
with the whole strength of his soul it is impos-
sible, I think, that he should be clear of jealousy.
The girl was of a very independent spirit. I
found that she knew many officers at Chelmsford
and Colchester. She would disappear for hours
together upon her motor-cycle. There were
questions about her past life which she would
only answer with a smile unless they were closely
pressed. Then the smile would become a frown.
Is it any wonder that I, with my whole nature
vibrating with passionate, whole-hearted love,
was often torn by jealousy when I came upon
those closed doors of her life which she was so
determined not to open ? Reason came at
times and whispered how foolish it was that I
should stake my whole life and soul upon one of
whom I really knew nothing. Then came a wave
of passion once more and reason was submerged.

I have spoken of the closed doors of her life.
I was aware that a young, unmarried French-
woman has usually less liberty than her English
sister. And yet in the case of this lady it
continually came out in her conversation that
she had seen and known much of the world.
It was the more distressing to me as whenever
she had made an observation which pointed to
this she would afterwards, as I could plainly


THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE 191

Bee, be annoyed by her own indiscretion, and
endeavour to remove tlie impression by every
means in her power. We had several small
quarrels on this account, when I asked questions
to which I could get no answers, but they have
been exaggerated in the address for the prosecu-
tion. Too much has been made also of the
intervention of Mrs. Murreyfield, though I admit
that the quarrel was more serious upon that
occasion. It arose from my finding the photo-
graph of a man upon her table, and her evident
confusion when I asked her for some particulars
about him. The name " H. Vardin" was
written underneath—evidently an autograph.
I was worried by the fact that this photograph
had the frayed appearance of one which has been
carried secretly about, as a girl might conceal
the picture of her lover in her dress. She abso-
lutely refused to give me any information about
him, save to make a statement which I found
incredible, that it was a man whom she had
never seen in her life. It was then that I forgot
myself. I raised my voice and declared that I
should know more about her life or that I
should break with her, even if my own heart
should be broken in the parting. I was not
violent, but Mrs. Murreyfield heard me from
the passage, and came into the room to remon-
strate. She was a kind, motherly person who
took a sympathetic interest in our romance,


THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE 195

" Glorious! " slie cried. " I see it all. The
attack will be at the point where the French
and British lines join. Together they will rush
forward in one glorious advance."

"No," I said. " They will not be together."

"But I understood you to say—of course,
women know nothing of such matters, but I
understood you to say that it would be a joint
advance."

" Well, if the French advanced, we will say,
at Verdun, and the British advanced at Ypres,
even if they were hundreds of miles apart it
would still be a joint advance."

"Ah, I see," she cried, clapping her hands
with delight. " They would advance at both
ends of the line, so that the Boches would not
know which way to send their reserves."

" That is exactly the idea—a real advance
at Verdun, and an enormous feint at Ypres."

Then suddenly a chill of doubt seized me. I
can remember how I sprang back from her and
looked hard into her face. " I've told you too
much! " I cried. " Can I trust you ? I have
been mad to say so much."

She was bitterly hurt by my words. That
I should for a moment doubt her was more than
she could bear. " I would cut my tongue out,
Jack, before I would tell any human being one
word of what you have said." So earnest was
she that my fears died away. I felt that I could


196 THE PRISONERS' DEFENCE

trust her utterly. Before we had reached Rad-
church I had put the matter from my mind, and
we were lost in our joy of the present and in
our plans for the future.

I had a business message to deliver to Colonel
Worral, who commanded a small camp at
Pedley-Woodrow. I went there and was away
for about two hours. When I returned I inquired
for Miss Garnier, and was told by the maid
that she had gone to her bedroom, and that she
had asked the groom to bring her motor-bicycle
to the door. It seemed to me strange that she
should arrange to go out alone when my visit
was such a short one. I had gone into her
little study to seek her, and here it was that I
waited, for it opened on to the hall passage,
and she could not pass without my seeing her.

There was a small table in the window of
this room at which she used to write. I had
seated myself beside this when my eyes fell
upon a name written in her large, bold hand-
writing. It was a reversed impression upon the
blotting-paper which she had used, but there
could be no difficulty in reading it. The name
was Hubert Vardin. Apparently it was part of
the address of an envelope, for underneath I was
able to distinguish the initials S.W., referring to a
postal division of London, though the actual name
of the street had not been clearly reproduced.

Then I knew for the first time that she was


198 THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE

page caught my eyes, and I started as if I had
been stung by an adder. " Verdun "—that was
the word. I looked again. " Ypres" was im-
mediately below it. I sat down, horror-stricken,
by the broken desk, and I read this letter, a
translation of which I have in my hand:—

Murreyfield House, Hadchurch.

Dear M. Vardin,—Stringer has told me that
he has kept you sufficiently informed as to
Chelmsford and Colchester, so I have not troubled
to write. They have moved the Midland Terri-
torial Brigade and the heavy guns towards the
coast near Cromer, but only for a time. It is
for training, not embarkation.

And now for my great news, which I have
straight from the War Office itself. Within a
week there is to be a very severe attack from
Verdun, which is to be supported by a holding
attack at Ypres. It is all on a very large scale,
and you must send off a special Dutch messenger
to Von Starmer by the first boat. I hope to
get the exact date and some further particulars
from my informant to-night, but meanwhile you
must act with energ)

I dare not post this here—you know what
village postmasters are, so I am taking it into
Colchester, where Stringer will include it with
his own report which goes by hand.—Yours
faithfully, Sophia Heefner.

I was stunned at first as I read this letter,
and then a kind of cold, concentrated rage came
over me. So this woman was a German and a


THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE 199

spy! I thought of her hypocrisy and her
treachery towards me, but, above all, I thought
of the danger to the Army and the State. A
great defeat, the death of thousands of men,
might spring from my misplaced confidence.
There was still time, by judgment and energy,
to stop this frightful evil. I heard her step
upon the stairs outside, and an instant later she
had come through the doorway. She started,
and her face was bloodless as she saw me seated
there with the open letter in my hand.

" How did you get that 1" she gasped. " How
dared you break my desk and steal my letter ?"

I said nothing. I simply sat and looked at
her and pondered what I should do. She sud-
denly sprang forward and tried to snatch the
letter. I caught her wrist and pushed her down
on to the sofa, where she lay, collapsed. Then
I rang the bell, and told the maid that I must
see Mr. Murreyfield at once.

He was a genial, elderly man, who had treated
this woman with as much kindness as if she
were his daughter. He was horrified at what I
said. 1 could not show him the letter on account
of the secret that it contained, but I made him
understand that it was of desperate importance.

" What are we to do ? " he asked. " I never
could have imagined anything so dreadful.
What would you advise us to do ? "

" There is only one thing that we can do,"
14


200 THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE

I answered. " This woman must be arrested,
and in the meanwhile we must so arrange
matters that she cannot possibly communicate
with any one. For all we know, she has con-
federates in this very village. Can you under-
take to hold her securely while I go to Colonel
W orral at Pedley and get a warrant and a guard %"

" We can lock her in her bedroom."

" You need not trouble," said she. " I give
you my word that I will stay where I am. I
advise you to be careful, Captain Fowler. You've
shown once before that you are liable to do
things before you have thought of the conse-
quence. If I am arrested all the world will
know that you have given away the secrets that
were confided to you. There is an end of your
career, my friend. You can punish me, no
doubt. What about yourself ? "

" I think," said I, " you had best take her
to her bedroom."

" Very good, if you wish it," said she, and
followed us to the door. When we reached the
hall she suddenly broke away, dashed through
the entrance, and made for her motor-bicycle,
which was standing there. Before she could
start we had both seized her. She stooped and
made her teeth meet in Murreyfield's hand.
With flashing eyes and tearing fingers she was
as fierce as a wild cat at bay. It was with some
difficulty that we mastered her, and dragged her


THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE 201

—almost carried her—up the stairs. We thrust
her into her room and turned the key, while she
screamed out abuse and beat upon the door inside.
„ " It's a forty-foot drop into the garden," said
Murreyfield, tying up his bleeding hand. " I'll
wait here till you come back. I think we have
the lady fairly safe."

"I have a revolver here," said I. "You
should be armed." I slipped a couple of car-
tridges into it and held it out to him. "We
can't afford to take chances. How do you know
what friends she may have ? "

" Thank you," said he. " I have a stick
here, and the gardener is within call. Do you
hurry off for the guard, and 1 will answer for
the prisoner."

Having taken, as it seemed to me, every pos-
sible precaution, I ran to give the alarm. It
was two miles to Pedley, and the colonel was
out, which occasioned some delay. Then there
were formalities and a'magistrate's signature to
be obtained. A policeman was to serve the
warrant, but a military escort was to be sent
in to bring back the prisoner. I was so filled
with anxiety and impatience that I could not
wait, but I hurried back alone with the promise
that they would follow.

The Pedley-Woodrow Eoad opens into the
high-road to Colchester at a point about half a
mile from the village of Kadchurch. It was


THREE OF THEM

205

eyes that read and win the heart. He is shy and
does not shine before strangers. I have said that
he is unselfish and brave. When there is the
usual wrangle about going to bed, up he gets in
his sedate way. " I will go first," says he, and
off he goes, the eldest, that the others may have
the few extra minutes while he is in his bath. As
to his courage, he is absolutely lion-hearted
where he can help or defend any one else. On one
occasion Daddy lost his temper with Dimples
(Boy ^umber 2), and, not without very good
provocation, gave him a tap on the side of the
head. Next instant he felt a butt down some-
where in the region of his waist-belt, and there
was an angry little red face lookiflg up at him,
which turned suddenly to a brown mop of hair as
the butt was repeated. No one, not even Daddy,
should hit his little brother. Such was Laddie,
the gentle and the fearless.

Then there is Dimples. Dimples is nearly
seven, and you never saw a rounder, softer,
dimplier face, with two great roguish, mis-
chievous eyes of wood-pigeon grey, which are
sparkling with fun for the most part, though they
can look sad and solemn enough at times.
Dimples has the making of a big man in him.
He has depth and reserves in his tiny soul. But
on the surface he is a boy of boys, always in
innocent mischief. " I will now do mischufi," he
occasionally announces, and is usually as good as


206	THREE OF THEM

his word. He has a love and understanding of
all living creatures, the uglier and more slimy
the better, treating them all in a tender, fairylike
fashion which seems to come from some inner
knowledge. He has b een found holding a butter-
cup under the mouth of a slug " to see if he
likes butter." He finds creatures in an
astonishing way. Put him in the fairest garden,
and presently he will approach you with a
newt, a toad, or a huge snail in his custody.
Nothing would ever induce him to hurt them,
but he gives them what he imagines to be a little
treat and then restores them to their homes.
He has been known to speak bitterly to the Lady
when she has given orders that caterpillars be
killed if found upon the cabbages, and even the
explanation that the caterpillars were doing the
work of what he calls " the Jarmans" did not
reconcile him to their fate.

He has an advantage over Laddie, in that he
suffers from no trace of shyness and is perfectly
friendly in an instant with any one of every class
of life, plunging straight into conversation with
"Borne such remark as " Can your Daddy give a
war-whoop or " Were you ever chased by
a bear ? " He is a sunny creature but combative
sometimes, when he draws down his brows, sets
his eyes, his chubby cheeks flush, and his lips
go back from his almond-white teeth. " I am
Swankie the Berserker/' says he, quoting out of


THREE OF THEM	207

his favourite " Erling the Bold," which Daddy
reads aloud at bed-time. When he is in this
fighting mood he can even drive back Laddie,
chiefly because the elder is far too chivalrous to
hurt him. If you want to see what Laddie
can really do, put the small gloves on him and
let him go for Daddy. Some of those hurricane
rallies of his would stop Daddy grinning if they
could get home, and he has to fall back off his
stool in order to get away from them.

If that latent power of Dimples should ever
come out, how will it be manifest ? Surely in his
imagination. Tell him a story and the boy is
lost. He sits with his little round, rosy face
immovable and fixed, while his eyes never budge
from those of the speaker. He sucks in every-
thing that is weird or adventurous or wild.
Laddie is a rather restless soul, eager to be up and
doing; but Dimples is absorbed in the present
if there be something worth hearing to be heard.
In height he is half a head shorter than his
brother, but rather more sturdy in build. The
power of his voice is one of his noticeable charac-
teristics. If Dimples is coming you know it
well in advance. With that physical gift upon
the top of his audacity, and his loquacity, he fairly
takes command of any place in which he may find
himself, while Laddie, his soul too noble for
jealousy, becomes one of the laughing and
admiring audience.


208	THREE OF THEM

Then there is Baby, a dainty elfin Dresden-
china little creature of five, as fair as an angel
and as deep as a well. The boys are but shallow,
sparkling pools compared with this little girl with
her self-repression and dainty aloofness. You
know the boys, you never feel that you quite
know the girl. Something very strong and
forceful seems to be at the back of that wee body.
Her will is tremendous. Nothing can break or
even bend it. Only kind guidance and friendly
reasoning can mould it. The boys are helpless
if she has really made up her mind. But this is
only when she asserts herself, and those are rare
occasions. As a rule she sits quiet, aloof, affable,
keenly alive to all that passes and yet taking no
part in it save for some subtle smile or glance.
And then suddenly the wonderful grey-blue
eyes under the long black lashes will gleam like
coy diamonds, and such a hearty little chuckle
will come from her that every one else is bound
to laugh out of sympathy. She and Dimples
are great allies and yet have continual lovers'
quarrels. One night she would not feven include

his name in her prayers. " God bless-"

every one else, but not a word of Dimples.
" Come, come, darling! " urged the Lady.
" Well, then, God bless horrid Dimples!" said she
at last, after she had named the cat, the goat,
her dolls, and her Wriggly.

That is a strange trait, the love for the Wriggly,


THREE OF THEM	209

It would repay thought from some scientific
brain. It is an old, faded, disused downy from
her cot. Yet go where she will, she must take
Wriggly with her. All her toys put together
would not console her for the absence of Wriggly.
If the family go to the seaside, Wriggly must
come too. She will not sleep without the absurd
bundle in her arms. If she goes to a party she
insists upon dragging its disreputable folds along
with her, one end always projecting " to give it
fresh air." Every phase of childhood represents
to the philosopher something in the history of the
race. From the new-born baby which can hang
easily by one hand from a broomstick with its
legs drawn up under it, the whole evolution of
mankind is re-enacted. You can trace clearly
the cave-dweller, the hunter, the scout. What,
then, does Wri'ggly represent ? Fetish worship—
nothing else. The savage chooses some most
unlikely thing and adores it. This dear little
savage adores her Wriggly.

So now we have our three little figures drawn
as clearly as a clumsy pen can follow such subtle
elusive creatures of mood and fancy. We will
suppose now that it is a summer evening, that
Daddy is seated smoking in his chair, that the
Lady is listening somewhere near, and that the
three are in a tumbled heap upon the bear-skin
before the empty fireplace trying to puzzle out
the little problems of their tiny lives. When


THREE OF THEM

213

another slice for supper and another for break-
fast—but, I say, Daddy, a 'stricter couldn't
swallow a porkpine, could he ? He would have
a sore throat all the way down."

Shrieks of laughter and a welcome rest for
Daddy, who turned to his paper.

" Daddy! "

He put down his paper with an air of conscious
virtue and lit his pipe.

" Well, dear ? "

" What's the biggest snake you ever saw ? "

" Oh, bother the snakes! I am tired of them."

But the children were never tired of them.
Heredity again, for the snake was the worst
enemy of arboreal man.

" Daddy made soup out of a snake," said
Laddie. " Tell us about that snake, Daddy."

Children like a story best the fourth or fifth
time, so it is never any use to tell them that they
know all about it. The story which they can
check and correct is their favourite.

" Well, dear; we got a viper and we killed it.
Then we wanted the skeleton to keep and we
didn't know how to get it. At first we thought
we would bury it, but that seemed too slow.
Then I had the idea to boil all the viper's flesh
off its bones, and I got an old meat-tin and we put
the viper and some water into it and put it above
the fire."

" You huiig it on a hook, Daddy."


214	THREE OF THEM

" Yes, we hung it on the hook that they put
the porridge pot on in Scotland. Then just as
it was turning brown in came the farmer's wife,
and ran up to see what we were cooking. When
she saw the viper she thought we were going to
eat it. * Oh, you dirty divils!' she cried, and
caught up the tin in her apron and threw it
out of the window."

Fresh shrieks of laughter from the children,
and Dimples repeated " You dirty divil! " until
Daddy had to clump him playfully on the
head.

" Tell us some more about snakes," cried
Laddie. " Did you ever see a really dreadful
snake ? "

" One that would turn you black and dead you
in five minutes ? " said Dimples. It was always
the most awful thing that appealed to Dimples.

"Yes, I have seen some beastly creatures.
Once in the Sudan I was dozing on the sand when
1 opened my eyes and there was a horrid creature
like a big slug with horns, short and thick, about
a foot long, moving away in front of me."

" What was it, Daddy ? " Six eager eyes were
turned up to him,

" It was a death-adder. I expect that would
dead you in five minutes, Dimples, if it got a bite
at you."

" Did you kill it ? "

■ " No; it was gone before I could get to it."


THREE OF THEM	215

" Which is the horridest, Daddy—a snake or
a shark % "

" I'm not very fond of either ! "

" Did you ever see a man eaten by sharks ? "
"No, dear, but I was not so far off being
eaten myself/'

" Oo ! " from all three of them.

" I did a silly thing, for I swam round the ship
in water where there are many sharks. As I was
drying myself on the deck I saw the high fin of a
shark above the water a little way off. It had
heard the splashing and come up to look for
me."

" Weren't you frightened, Daddy ? "
" Yes. It made me feel rather cold." There
was silence while Daddy saw once more the
golden sand of the African beach and the snow-
white roaring surf, with the long, smooth swell
of the bar.

Children don't like silences.

" Daddy," said Laddie., " Do zebus bite ? "
" Zebus! Why, they are cows. No, of course
not."

" But a zebu could butt with its horns."
" Oh, yes, it could butt."

" Do you think a zebu could fight a crocodile ?"
" Well, I should back the crocodile."
" Why ? "

" Well, dear, the crocodile has great teeth and
would eat the zebu."

15


216	THREE OF THEM

" But suppose the zebu came up when the
crocodile was not looking and butted it."

" Well, that would be one up for the zebu.
But one butt wouldn't hurt a crocodile."

" No, one wouldn't, would it ? But the zebu
would keep on. Crocodiles live on sand-banks,
don't they ? Well, then, the zebu would come and
live near the sandbank too—just so far as the
crocodile would never see him. Then every time
the crocodile wasn't looking the zebu would butt
him. Don't you think he would beat the
crocodile ? "

" Well, perhaps he would."

" How long do you think it would take the
zebu to beat the crocodile ? "

" Well, it would depend upon how often he
got in his butt."

" Well, suppose he butted him once every three

hours, don't you think-? "

" Oh, bother the zebu! "

" That's what the crocodile would say," cried
Laddie, clapping his hands.

" Well, I agree with the crocodile," said Daddy.
" And it's time all good children were in bed,"
said the Lady as the glimmer of the nurse's
apron was seen in the gloom.

II—About Cricket

Supper was going on down below and all good
children should have been long ago in the land


THREE OF THEM	217

%■

of dreams. Yet a curious noise came from
above.

" What on earth-? " asked Daddy.

" Laddie practising cricket," said the Lady,
with the curious clairvoyance of motherhood.
" He gets out of bed. to bowl. I do wish
you would go up and speak seriously to him
about it, for it takes quite an hour off his
rest."

Daddy departed upon his mission intending
to be gruff, and my word, he can be quite gruff
when he likes ! When he reached the top of the
stairs, however, and heard the noise still con-
tinue, he walked softly down the landing and
peeped in through the half-opened door.

The room was dark save for a night-light. In
the dim glimmer he saw a little white-clad figure,
slight and supple, taking short steps and swinging
its arm in the middle of the room.

" Halloa ! " said Daddy.

The white-clad figure turned and ran forward
to him.

" Oh, Daddy, how jolly of you to come up ! "

Daddy felt that gruffness was not quite so easy
as it had seemed.

" Look here! You get into bed! " he said,
with the best imitation he could manage.

"Yes, Daddy. But before I go, how is this ? "
He sprang forward and the arm swung round
again in a swift and graceful gesture.


THREE OF THEM	219

" It was a cat/' said Dimples.

" No; I tell you it never happened."
" But tell us about Spofforth," cried Laddie.
Dimples, with. Ms imaginative mind, usually
wandered, while the elder came eagerly back to
the point. "Was he very fast ? "

" He could be very fast. I have heard
cricketers who had played against him say that
his yorker-^that is a ball which is just short of a
full pitch—was the fastest hall in England. I
have myself seen his long arm swing round and
the wicket go down before ever the batsman had
time to ground his bat."

" Oo! " from both beds.

"He was a tall, thin man, and they called
him the Fiend. That means the Devil, you
know."

" And teas he the Devil ? "

" No, Dimples, no. They called him that
because he did such wonderful things with the
ball."

"Can the Devil do wonderful things with a
ball ? " •

Daddy felt that he was propagating devil-
worship and hastened to get to safer ground.

" Spofforth taught us how to bowl and Black-
ham taught us how to keep wicket. "When I
was young we always had another fielder, called
the long-stop, who stood behind the wicket-
keeper. I used to be a thick, solid boy, bo


222

THREE OF THEM

" Yes, he was splendid. He was always like
a great jolly schoolboy who was hiding behind
a huge black beard."

" Whose beard ? "

" I meant that he had a great bushy beard.
He looked like the pirate chief in your picture-
books, but he had as kind a heart as a child.
I have been told that it was the terrible things
in this war that really killed him. Grand old
W. G.! "

" Was he the best bat in the world, Daddy ? "

" Of course he was," said Daddy, beginning
to enthuse to the delight of the clever little
plotter in the bed. " There never was such a
bat—never in the world—and I don't believe
there ever could be again. He didn't play on
smooth wickets, as they do now. He played
where the wickets were all patchy, and you had
to watch the ball right on to the bat. You
couldn't look at it before it hit the ground and
think,' That's all right. I know where that one
will be t' My word, that was cricket. What
you got you earned."

"Did you ever see W. G. make a hundred,
Daddy ? "

"See him ! I've fielded out for him and melted
on a hot August day while he made a hundred
and fifty. There's a pound or two of your
Daddy somewhere on that field yet. But I loved
to see it, and I was always sorry when he got out


THREE OF THEM

223

for nothing, even if I were playing against
him."

" Did lie ever get out for notliing ? "
"Yes, dear; the first time I ever played in
his company he was given out leg-before-wicket
before he made a- run. And all the way to the
pavilion—that's where people go when they are
out—he was walking forward, but his big black
beard was backward over his shoulder as he told
the umpire what he thought."

" And what did he think ? "

" More than I can tell you, Dimples. But
I dare say he was right to be annoyed, for it was
a left-handed bowler, bowling round the wicket,
and it is very hard to get leg-before to that.
However, that's all Greek to you."

" What's Gweek 1 "

" Well, I mean you can't understand that.
Now I am going."

" No, no, Daddy; wait a moment! Tell us
about Bonner and the big catch."

" Oh, you know about that! "

Two little coaxing voices came out of the
darkness.

" Oh, please! Please! "

" I don't know what your mother will say!
What was it you asked ? "

"Bonner!"

" Ah, Bonner! " Daddy looked out in the
gloom and saw green fields and golden sunlight,


THREE OF THEM	225

" Oh, yes, Bonner. Bonner in white flannels
on the green sward with an English June sun
upon him. That was a picture of a man! But
you asked me about the catch. It was in a test
match at the Oval—England against Australia.
Bonner said before he went in that he would hit
Alfred Shaw into the next county, and he set
out to do it. Shaw, as I have told you, could
keep a very good length, so for some time Bonner
could not get the ball he wanted, but at last he
saw his chance, and he jumped out and hit that
ball the most awful ker-wallop that ever was
seen in a cricket-field."

" Oo! " from both boys: and then, " Did it go
into the next county, Daddy ? " from Dimples.

" Well, I'm telling you I " said Daddy, who
was always testy when one of his stories was
interrupted. " Bonner thought he had made the
ball a half-volley—that is the best ball to hit—
but Shaw had deceived him and the ball was really
on the short side. So when Bonner hit it, up
and up it went, until it looked as if it were going
out of sight into the sky."

"Oo!"

" At first everybody thought it was going far
outside the ground. But soon they saw that all
the giant's strength had been wasted in hitting
the ball so high, and that there was a chance that
it would fall within the ropes. The batsmen had
run three runs and it was still in the air. Then it


THREE OF THEM

229

" Daddy, dear," said Laddie. " I've been
wondering about the deluge."

"Yes, dear. What was it ? "

" Well, the story about the Ark. All those
animals were in the Ark, just two of each, for
forty days. Wasn't that so ? "

" That is the story."

" Well, then, what did the carnivorous animals
eat ? "

One should be honest with children and not
put them off with ridiculous explanations. Their
questions" about such matters are generally
much more sensible than their parents' replies.

" Well, dear," said Daddy, weighing his words,
"these stories are very, very old.. The Jews
put them in the Bible, but they got them from
the people in Babylon, and the people in Babylon
probably got them from some one else away back
in the beginning of things. If a story gets passed
down like that, one person adds a little and
another adds a little, and so you never get things
quite as they happened. The Jews put it in the
Bible exactly as they heard it, but it had been
going about for thousands of years before then."
" So it was not true ? "

" Yes, I think it was true. I think there
was a great flood, and I think that some people
did escape, and that they saved their beasts,
just as we should try to save Nigger and the
Monkstown cocks and hens if we were flooded


232

THREE OP THEM

" Why, God rules everything, of course."

" Then why doesn't He kill the Devil % "

" And scalp him ? " added Dimples.

" That would stop all trouble, wouldn't it,
Daddy ? "

Poor Daddy was rather floored. The Lady
came to his help.

" If everything was good and easy in this
world, then there would be nothing to fight
against, and so, Laddie, our characters would
never improve."

" It would be like a football match with all
the players on one side," said Daddy.

" If there was nothing bad, then, nothing
would be good, for you would have nothing to
compare by," added the Lady.

" Well, then," said Laddie, with the remorse-
less logic of childhood, " if that is so, then the
Devil is very useful; so he can't be so very bad,
after all."

" Well, I don't see that," Daddy answered.
" Our Army can only show how brave it is by
fighting the German Emperor, but that does
not prove that the German Emperor is a very
nice person, does it now ?

" Besides," Daddy continued, improving the
occasion, " you must not think of the Devil as
a person. You must think of all the mean
things one could do, and all the dirty things,
and all the cruel things, and that is really the


THREE OF THEM

233

Devil you are fighting against. You couldn't
call them useful, could you ? "

The children thought over this for a little.
" Daddy," said Laddie, " have you ever seen
God ? "

" No, my boy. But I see His works. I
expect that is as near as we can get in this world.
Look at all the stars at night, and think of the
Power that made them and keeps each in its
proper place."

" He couldn't keep the shooting stars in their
proper place," said Dimples.

" I expect He meant them to shoot," said
Laddie.

" Suppose they all shot, what jolly nights we
should have ! " cried Dimples.

"Yes," said Laddie; " but after one night
they would all have gone, and a nice thing then! "
" Well, there's always the moon," remarked
Dimples. " But, Daddy, is it true that God
listens to all we say ? "

" I don't know about that," Daddy answered,
cautiously. You never know into what trap
those quick little wits may lead you. The Lady
was more rash, or more orthodox.

" Yes, dear, He does hear all you say."
" Is He listenin' now ? "

" Yes, dear."

"Well, I call it vewy rude of Him ! "

Daddy smiled, and the Lady gasped.


234	THREE OF THEM

" It isn't rude," said Laddie. " It is His
duty, and He has to notice what you are doing
and saying. Daddy, did you ever see a fairy 1 "
" No, boy."

" I saw one once."

Laddie is the very soul of truth, quite pain-
fully truthful in details, so that his quiet remark
caused attention.

" Tell us about it, dear."

He described it with as little emotion as if
it were a Persian cat. Perhaps his perfect faith
had indeed opened something to his vision.

" It was in the day nursery. There was. a
stool by the window. The fairy jumped on the
stool and then down, and went across the room."

% " What was it dressed like ? "

" All in grey, with a long cloak. It was about
as big as Baby's doll. I could not see its arms,
for they were under the cloak."

" Did he look at you ? "

" No, he was sideways, and I never really
saw his face. He had a little cap. That's the
only fairy I ever saw. Of course, there was
Father Christmas, if you call him a fairy."

" Daddy, was Father Christmas killed in the
war ? "

" No, boy."

" Because he has never come since the war
began. I expect he is fightin' the Jarmans."
It was Dimples who was talking.


THREE OF THEM	235

" Last time he came," said Laddie, " Daddy
said one of his reindeers had hurt its leg in the
ruts of the Monkstown Lane. Perhaps that's
why he never comes."

" He'll come all right after the war," said
Daddy, " and he'll be redder and whiter and
jollier than ever." Then Daddy clouded sud-
denly, for he thought of all those who would be
missing when Father Christmas came again.
Ten loved ones were dead from that one house-
hold. The Lady put out her hand, for she
always knew what Daddy was thinking.

" They will be there in spirit, dear."

" Yes, and the joiliest of the lot," said Daddy,
stoutly. " We'll have our Father Christmas
back and all will be well in England."

" But what do they do in India ? " asked
Laddie.

" Why, what's wrong with them ? "

" How do the sledge and the reindeer get
across the sea ? All the parcels must get wet."

"Yes, dear, there have been -several com-
plaints," said Daddy, gravely. " Halloa, here's
nurse ! Time's up ! Ofl to bed! "

They got up resignedly, for they were really
very good children. " Bay your prayers here
before you go," said the Lady. The three little
figures all knelt on the rug, Baby still cuddling
her Wriggly.

" You pray, Laddie, and the rest can join ic."


238

THREE OF THEM

for little rosy Cousin John from next door always
caipe in for an Indian game. They had all
Indian dresses with high feathers and wooden
clubs or tomahawks. Daddy was in his usual
untidy tweeds, but carried a rifle. He was
very serious when he entered the room, for one
should be very serious in a real good Indian
game. Then he raised his rifle slowly over his
head in greeting and the four childish voices
rang out kuthe war-cry. It was a prolonged
wolfish howl which Dimples had been known
to offer to teach elderly ladies in hotel corridors.
"You can't be in our tribe without it, you know.
There is none body about. Now just try once
if you can do it." At this moment there are
half-a-dozen elderly people wandering about
England who have been made children once
more by Laddie and Dimples.

" Hail to the tribe! " cried Daddy.

" Hail, Chief! " answered the voices.

" Eed Buffalo! "

" Here ! " cried Laddie.

" Black Bear! "

" Here! " cried Dimples.

" White Butterfly ! "

" Go on, you silly squaw! " growled Dimples.

" Here," said Baby

" Prairie Wolf! "

" Here," said little four-year-old John.

" The muster is complete. Make a circle


THREE OF THEM

239

round the camp-fire and we stall drink the fire-
water of the Palefaces and smoke the pipe of
peace."

That was a fearsome joy. The fire-water
was ginger-ale drunk out of the bottle, which
was gravely passed from hand to hand. At
no other time had they ever drunk like that,
and it made an occasion of it which was increased
by the owlish gravity of Daddy. Then he lit
his pipe and it was passed also from one tiny
hand to another, Laddie taking a hearty suck
at it, which set him coughing, while Baby only
touched the end of the amber with her little
pink lips. There was dead silence until it had
gone round and returned to its owner.

" Warriors of the Leatherskins, why have
we come here? " asked Daddy, fingering his rifle.

" Humpty Dumpty/' said little John, and
the children all began to laugh, but the por-
tentous gravity of Daddy brought them back
to the warrior mood.

" The Prairie Wolf has spoken truly," said
Daddy. "A wicked Paleface called Humpty
Dumpty has taken the prairies which once
belonged to the Leatherskins and is now camped
upon them and hunting our buffaloes. What shall
be his fate ? Let each warrior speak in turn."

" Tell him he has jolly well got to clear out,"
said Laddie.

" That's not Indian talk," cried Dimples,


240

THREE OF THEM

with all his soul'in the game. "Kill him,
great Chief—him and his squaw, too." The
two younger warriors merely laughed and little
John repeated " Humpty Dumpty ! "

" Quite right! Remember the villain's name !"
said Daddy. " Now, then, the whole tribe
follows me on the war-trail and we shall teach
this Paleface to shoot our buffaloes."

" Look here, we don't want squaws," cried
Dimples, as Baby toddled at the rear of the
procession. "You stay in the wigwam and cook."

A piteous cry greeted the suggestion.

" The White Butterfly will cofTie with us and
bind up the wounds," said Daddy.

" The squaws are jolly good as torturers,"
remarked Laddie.

" Really, Daddy, this strikes me as a most
immoral game," said the Lady, who had been a
sympathetic spectator from a corner, doubtful of
the ginger-ale, horrified at the pipe, and delighted
at the complete absorption of the children.

" Rather! " said the great Chief, with a sad
relapse into the normal. " I suppose that is
why they love it so. Now, then, warriors,
we go forth on the war-trail. One whoop all
together before we start. Capital! Follow
me, now, one behind the other. Not a sound!
If one gets ssparated from the others let him
give the cry .of a night owl and the others will
answer with the squeak of the prairie lizard."


242	THREE OF THEM

at the Lady, who still hovered fearfully in the
background like a dear hen whose chickens were
doing wonderful and unaccountable things. The
two younger Indians slapped each other and
giggled. Presently there came the " coo" of
a wood-pigeon from in front. Daddy and the
tribe moved forward to where the advance
guard were waiting in the bushes.

" Great Chief, we could find no scout," said
Laddie.

" There was none person to kill," added
Dimples.

The Chief was not surprised, since the scout
had been entirely of his own invention. It
would not do to admit it, however.

" Have you found his trail ? " he asked.

"No, Chief."

"Let me look." Daddy hunted about with
a look of preternatural sagacity about him.
"Before the snows fell a man passed here with
a red head, grey clothes, and a squint in his
left eye. His trail shows that his brother has
a grocer's shop and his wife smokes cigarettes
on the sly."

" Oh, Daddy, how could you read all that ? "

" It's easy enough, my son, when you get
the knack of it. But look here, we are Indians
on the war-trail, and don't you forget it if you
value your scalp! Aha, here is Humpty Dumpty's
trail! "


THREE OP THEM

243

Uncle Pat had laid down a paper trail from
this point, as Daddy well knew; so now the
children were off like a little pack of eager
harriers, following in and out among the bushes.
Presently they had a rest.

" Great Chief, why does a wicked Paleface
leave paper wherever he goes ? "

Daddy made a great effort.

" He tears up the wicked letters he has
written. Then he writes others even wickeder
and tears them up in turn. You can see for
yourself that he leaves them wherever he goes.
Now, warriors, come along

Uncle Pat had dodged all over the limited
garden, and the tribe followed Ms trail. Finally
they stopped at a gap in the hedge which leads
into the field. There was a little wosden hut
in the field, where Daddy used to go and put
up a printed cardboard : " WORKING." He
found it a very good dodge when he wanted a
quiet smoke and a nap. Usually there was
nothing else in the field, but this time the Chief
pushed the whole tribe hurriedly behind the
hedge, and whispered to them to look carefully
out between the branches.

In the middle of the field a tripod of sticks
supported a kettle. At each side of it w&s a
hunched-up figure in a coloured blanket. Uncle
Pat had done his work skilfully and well.
" You must get them before they can reach