Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN
 
 OF CALIF. LIBBAfiY, LQS UKKJg
 
 
 
 ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 

 
 
 KOMANCE IN A YACHT 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS SUTTON, B.A 
 
 FORMERLY MEMBER OB THE ROYAL THAMES 
 AND ROYAL LONDON YACHT CLITB8. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 CHAPMAN & HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1867.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE following Yachting Tale was written within 
 sight and sound of the ocean by one to whom 
 yachting has been a favourite pastime from boyhood. 
 About a dozen years ago he owned a schooner 
 yacht of forty tons, and therefore rather larger 
 than the fictitious BAGATELLE ; and he has now a 
 schooner yacht rather smaller. In these two vessels 
 he has visited at different times most of the places 
 alluded to in the tale. He must be permitted to 
 mention these facts, and to ask the reader to accept 
 them as proof of the general truthfulness of the 
 descriptive matter, and of the interest which he 
 himself took in writing this romance. 
 
 T. S.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. Page 
 
 1. A MIDSUMMER GALE ST. OUEN'S BAY 1 
 
 2. THE OLD MAN OF LA PULENTE 8 
 
 3. THE BAGATELLE IN THE SUBF 15 
 
 4. FIEST SUSPICIONS 36 
 
 5. AN INQUEST A EECLUSE 48 
 
 6. THE BELL FAMILY AN INVITATION 52 
 
 7. TEAITS OF CHARACTER 69 
 
 8. ANGRY WORDS SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED ... 79 
 
 9. AN ADVERTISEMENT ... 97 
 
 10. A DRIVE HASTY EESOLVES 107 
 
 11. A PEOJECT A TETE-A-TETE 116 
 
 12. A NIGHTLY VIGIL 128 
 
 13. A STAET CHASE OF THE BAGATELLE LETTERS. 135 
 
 14. ST. MALO LA SANTE PRESENTIMENTS ... 150 
 
 15. EEPOETS SCANDAL FRIENDSHIP LOVE. 168 
 
 16. LEHON ABBEY DINAN CHATELIEE 179 
 
 17. A BETRAYAL A NEW ACTOE IN THE SCENE... 193 
 
 18. HOMEWAED BOUND A DAEING ESCAPE ... 210 
 
 19. A TEST OF FRIENDSHIP 229 
 
 20. OFF CAPE FEEHEL 239 
 
 21. Viao HOPE SUGGESTED AND HOPE DEFEEEED. 250 
 
 22. NAEEATIVE OF A CRIME 263 
 
 23. HOPE CRUSHED A MOMENT'S MADNESS 286 
 
 24. CHRISTIAN MORALS 293 
 
 25. AN ENGLISH GIRL IN A SPANISH BOWER ... 312 
 
 26. AT SEA AGAIN 322 
 
 27. SCENE IN AN ATTIC 333 
 
 28. NEW FRIENDS THE END. 346
 
 BOMANCE IN A YACHT 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 A MIPSUMMEK GALE. ST. OUEN S BAY. 
 
 ABOUT thirty years ago, in the height of summer, 
 one of those violent circular storms, the nature of 
 which is beginning to be better understood now 
 than it was then, swept over the English Channel, 
 and strewed its shores with wrecks. 
 
 This tempest at midsummer lasted three days 
 and four nights. It began with a thunderstorm, 
 and subsided in a flat calm. A sultry and oppres- 
 sive afternoon was followed by a gorgeous sunset. 
 But the most splendid array of cloud scenery 
 was not in the west, but in the south-east.
 
 2 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 There Alpine masses of cumulus, deeply dyed 
 with purple and vennillion, were piled up, and 
 illuminated, not from behind but in front by 
 the setting sun. Slowly they spread against the 
 wind over the coppery sky, until they covered 
 it like a pall ; and then was seen upon the horizon 
 the first flash of forked lightning, followed at a 
 long interval by a growl of distant thunder. To 
 this first trumpet note of an electric battle 
 between the earth and sky reply was made from 
 the opposite quarter, and soon the lightnings 
 were darting from all sides, and old ocean 
 shook beneath the frequent reverberations of 
 the thunderclaps. To this succeeded a torrent of 
 hail-stones, which seemed to wake the monster 
 like a parcel of boys pea-shooting a sleeping 
 giant and he began to ruffle his mane and 
 prepare to take part in the contest. Nor was 
 the true provocative long in coming. First the 
 sigh, and then the whistle, and then the full 
 blast of a hurricane were heard, and the battle 
 of the elements was at its height. During the 
 time the storm lasted, the wind shifted gradually 
 from the south-east, through the southward, and 
 westward, to north-west, in which quarter it 
 finally fell.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 
 
 Such, was the wild freak of one of those vast 
 eddies in the atmosphere, which are engendered 
 by a sudden rarefaction in the tropics, and which, 
 when they stray into these northern latitudes, do 
 an immensity of mischief in their course. 
 
 Now, when a gale of this sort, from the 
 Atlantic, sweeps up the English Channel, there 
 is no spot upon which it wreaks worse violence 
 than the desolate bay o St. Ouen, in the Island 
 of Jersey. This is of some five or six miles in 
 extent, with but little indentation, and it spreads 
 out its arms to the western ocean like a concave 
 mirror to the sun's rays. Here an Atlantic gale 
 meets the first solid obstacle to its mad career, 
 and beaten back into a focus by its own recoil 
 from a high range of sterile sand-hills, which 
 form a background to the bay and a screen to 
 the fertile country beyond, and turned upon 
 itself, it whirls up the loose sand in eddies, and 
 lashes into worse fury a sea which has been 
 already tortured into overfalls by the rushing 
 of a swift tide over a rocky bed. Nor is this 
 all, for even when the winds are hushed, heavy 
 rollers, through which it is impossible to launch 
 a boat, and which have been compared without 
 exaggeration to the surf at Madras, come
 
 4 .';_ THE BAGATELLE 
 
 tumbling in with every flood tide, and make 
 a bellowing that may be heard over the whole 
 island, even to the little town of Gorey, which 
 is twelve miles distant on its opposite side. 
 Imagine . then the scene which this wild coast 
 must have, presented on the morning of the 
 departure of the hurricane which has just been 
 described ! 
 
 But dreary and barren as is St. Ouen's Bay 
 though not without a certain solemn beauty of 
 its own it is still thinly inhabited by a hardy 
 race of fishermen, vraickers, and little farmers, 
 whose dwellings and appointments are indicative 
 of their semi-barbarous mode of life. Near its 
 Northern extremity, and within the partial shelter 
 of some high cliffs, is a cluster of stiff ugly stone 
 houses, with red-tiled roofs, forming the village of 
 L'Etacq ; and within a similar nook at its Southern 
 extremity lie ensconced a few detached cottages, 
 which constitute the still humbler village of 
 La Pulente. The former of these is inhabited 
 chiefly by fishermen, who moor their boats, for 
 want of a proper harbour, across a sort of natural 
 roadway that exists within a flat reef of half- 
 tide rocks, in which exposed spot they lie 
 broadside to the sea, moored by strong chains
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 5 
 
 from bow and stern. As for the inhabitants of 
 La Pulente as nature has been less bountiful 
 to them in the matter of a harbour, however 
 rough they seem rather to eschew boating, and 
 to prefer earning a hard livelihood in a more 
 regular and less exciting way, by the collection 
 of sea- weed, or vraic, which is highly prized for 
 manure. The two villages are about four miles 
 apart ; and between them is the gentle curve of 
 a hard flat sandy beach, fringed at high-water 
 mark with a bank of slate - coloured pebbles. 
 Near the edge of this, on the land side, are dotted 
 at regular intervals a row of martello towers, 
 two of which have been undermined by the sea 
 within the last ten years. Between these now 
 useless military works, and the high ridge of 
 sand-hills before alluded to, is a common, which 
 reminds one, on a small scale, of the Roman 
 Campagna ; for when the shadows of the summer 
 clouds flit across it on a sunny day, it requires 
 but little stretch of fancy to imagine those sand- 
 hills the range of Appenines, and the blue waters 
 of the Channel the Mediterranean on the west. 
 Such, at least, is a dream in which the writer of 
 these lines has indulged, whilst wandering in a 
 rather favourite bay. On the common, which
 
 6 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 may be half a mile wide in its broadest part, 
 may be seen, at all times of the year, lean horses 
 and heifers tethered, cropping the stunted herbage 
 within the circle that their rope allows ; while 
 immediately beneath the sand-hills, and in such 
 more fertile spots as are found between their 
 spurs which stretch out upon the plain, are a 
 few homesteads, with an enclosed field or two 
 around, where the owners of the aforesaid animals 
 reside, and make their butter, and rear their pig, 
 and grow cabbages and onions for their conger 
 soup, and barley and rye, potatoes and turnips 
 for their own consumption and that of their live 
 stock. 
 
 Such is the present aspect of St. Ouen's Bay ; 
 nor is it probable that it has varied greatly from 
 this for centuries past, for it is a spot which 
 civilization is not likely to invade too closely, and 
 where nature seems resolved to have it all her 
 own way. It only remains to add to this de- 
 scription of the Western wilderness of Jersey 
 an island which is otherwise remarkable for much 
 attractive beauty and luxuriance of scenery 
 that steep granite cliffs, and formidable reefs 
 stretching far out to sea, guard both its Northern 
 and Southern extremities ; while, as if these,
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 7 
 
 and the heavy surf upon the beach were not 
 thought enough of themselves to scare away 
 an invading foe, a strong tower, mounted with 
 guns, has been erected upon a rocky islet called 
 La Eocco, near the centre of the bay, which 
 is accessible on foot only at low water spring 
 tides.
 
 8 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 2. 
 
 THE OLD MAN OF LA PUXENXE. 
 
 IT wanted about an hour to sunrise on the day 
 of the abatement of the gale described in the 
 preceding chapter, and the short darkness of a 
 midsummer night was still brooding over land 
 and sea, when, notwithstanding the early hour, 
 an old man and his daughter, a woman of middle 
 age, were already astir, and looking out anxiously 
 over the troubled ocean from a small attic 
 window in the gable end of one of the cottages at 
 La Pulente. The attention of the old man, ever 
 on the alert during a westerly gale, had been 
 already attracted by an object in the offing, 
 indistinctly seen, and which he believed to be a 
 vessel dismasted and waterlogged ; and he had 
 called to his daughter to assist him with her 
 younger eyes in making it out. The two were
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 
 
 therefore eagerly engaged in watching, as well as 
 the darkness would permit, the movements of the 
 floating body, whatever it might be, while they 
 speculated on the chances of its being driven 
 ashore beneath their very window, and longed 
 for the advent of daylight to clear up the mystery 
 concerning it. 
 
 The cottage in question, which was named 
 La Bie, resembled most of the others in the place, 
 that is to say, its walls were of rough stone, 
 its roof of red tiles with a high pitch, and its 
 shape a simple box, with a gable at each end, one 
 of which was surmounted by a chimney stack of 
 red brick ; but it stood apart from the rest, and 
 nearer to the edge of the beach, so as to command 
 a better sea view. Like many other cottages in 
 Jersey, instead of facing the road by the side of 
 which it stood, it was placed at right angles to it, 
 so that, as the road ran parallel to the shore, one 
 gable end of the cottage, viz., that in which the 
 attic window was, exactly faced the sea. Behind 
 the cottage were the usual lean-to and outhouse ; 
 and around it was a sandy garden, a large portion 
 of which was devoted to the cultivation of pinks, 
 wallflowers, and stocks, to the exclusion of the 
 cabbage and potatoe. With the exception, then,
 
 10 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 of the rather unusual produce of the garden, this 
 tenement resembled externally the other humble 
 dwellings in La Pulente. The same must also be 
 said of the two rooms on the ground floor, one of 
 which was a kitchen. The appointments and 
 general appearance of these rooms were the same 
 as those of the other cottages in the place. There 
 was the same wide and deep hearth for burning 
 furze and sea-weed, with its large swing boiler, 
 its trivet, and its heap of vraic ashes. There 
 were the same dirty floors, and grimy walls and 
 ceiling ; the same old carved corn-chest which 
 collectors of curiosities prize so highly ; the same 
 ricketty chairs, and round tables with two flaps ; 
 and the same gaudy pictures of Napoleon the 
 First, and Mr. T. P. Cook as William, in Black- 
 Eyed Susan, which are to be found in most 
 cottages of this class. But the two lower rooms 
 were considered public ones, in which a neighbour 
 might at any time enter ; and the old man alluded 
 to, who had purchased the cottage two years 
 before, had also included in the purchase the 
 furniture of those rooms, and had allowed it to 
 remain as he found it. The attics above, which 
 were approached by a narrow step-ladder, were 
 considered strictly private ; and there, strange
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 11 
 
 to say, the appointments were widely different 
 from those in the rooms below, and such as to 
 let the visitor at once into the secret that 
 the old man and his daughter had belonged to a 
 higher class than the peasantry about them, and 
 were people of some education and taste. The 
 daughter, at any rate, possessed the lady-like 
 virtue of cleanliness, as shown by the general 
 order and neatness of these two attics. That in 
 which her father slept is worthy of particular 
 description. 
 
 Its floor was fastidiously clean, and its walls 
 neatly whitewashed, as well as the under side of 
 the tiles, which were simply pointed with mortar 
 and exposed to view. The old man was bedridden, 
 and never left this room, so that he had all those 
 chattels about him which he required. His bed 
 was a large low chest, or ottoman, on castors ; 
 and its counterpane was a green and black 
 woollen one, very thick and handsome, and of 
 French manufacture. The furniture seemed to 
 have belonged mostly to a ship's cabin: and 
 on the shelves against the walls were rolls of 
 charts, as well as some law books, the Newgate 
 Calendar, and novels. The window commanded 
 a view over the entire bay, and the bed was
 
 12 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 placed immediately under it, and so that its 
 occupant could look out of it as he lay. In order 
 to prevent a draught from entering through any 
 joint or cranny, a single large pane of plate glass 
 had been puttied into the window frame itself, 
 solid, so as not to open ; and in order that a 
 telescope might be used, a corner of this pane had 
 been cut off, and the space covered by a wooden 
 panel, in which there was a round hole to admit 
 of the glass being passed through. It will 
 readily be believed that the chief delight of the 
 bedridden old man, when not otherwise employed 
 over his books and papers, consisted in looking 
 out upon the ocean from this little window, and 
 watching the vessels as they passed. 
 
 The cottagers of La Pulente were but little 
 aware of the kind of neighbour they had amongst 
 them, for as he was never seen about, his 
 existence and habits could only be known to 
 them through such information as his daughter 
 chose to impart ; and that was the least possible, 
 as she had no inducement to be communicative 
 on that topic. The various articles of furniture 
 which the attics contained had been originally 
 introduced into the house wrapped up in old 
 sails and matting, and no surmises had been
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT, 13 
 
 excited on that score. As for the lady herself, 
 she had soon adopted in her dress the picturesque 
 and convenient fashions of the place, and she 
 performed without help the menial offices of 
 their little menage, without apparent reluctance 
 or affectation. Nevertheless, there is gossiping 
 even in such places as La Pulente ; and wiseacres, 
 who take a delight in illnatured scandal, would 
 sometimes whisper stories to the discredit of the 
 Smiths, of La Bie. There was a report afloat 
 that the old man and his daughter were not so 
 much the victims of a seeming poverty, as exiles 
 from society for a far less worthy cause ; and 
 it was even hinted that old Smith's seclusion 
 from the world did not proceed so much from 
 his being bed-ridden, which was a sham, as 
 from his wish to escape a hempen collar round 
 his neck ; and that the truth would leak out 
 some day. These insinuations were, however, 
 received by the more sensible and good-natured 
 of the neighbours as a joke ; for the daughter 
 Hannah, at any rate, was a good kind soul, 
 against whom no cause of ill-feeling existed ; 
 whilst all that could be positively known about 
 the old man was that he often received letters 
 and parcels by the post, and occasionally a
 
 14 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 visit from a fisherman whose occupation lay on 
 the opposite side of the island. To which may 
 be added, that the Smiths, however reduced 
 their circumstances might be, always paid their 
 humble way with scrupulous punctuality. 
 
 Daylight came at last; and while the old 
 man and his daughter were still watching from 
 their attic window the fate of what then 
 proved really to be a small vessel in distress, 
 their neighbours were hurrying down to the 
 shore to be present at the crisis of the wreck ; 
 for she was evidently drifting fast into the 
 bay, and seemed nearly certain to go to pieces 
 in the surf, or on the rocks.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 15 
 
 CHAPTER 3. 
 
 THE BAGATELLE IN THE SURF. 
 
 OLD Smith, was directing his telescope towards 
 the group of people on the beach, as well as 
 towards the various footpaths and cart-tracks 
 which led down to it, rather than to the vessel 
 which was the object of general attention. 
 
 " I don't see Jim and Joe about anywhere," 
 he remarked, with the glass still at his eye, and 
 addressing his daughter. 
 
 " But I do," she replied. " They have just 
 this instant gone down the slip, to join the other 
 people." 
 
 " Ha, so they have," said her father, looking 
 in the direction indicated. " I knew they'd be 
 coming down here, pretty smart, as soon as the 
 gale took off. Where the carcase is there will 
 the eagles be gathered together. But why did
 
 16 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 they pass our cottage without coming up to see 
 me? Run and stop them, Hannah, and say I 
 want to speak to them directly." 
 
 As he gave this order, somewhat harshly, he 
 (}ook his eye from the telescope and glanced at 
 his daughter's face. It was a good kind honest 
 one, and pleasant to look at; but its expression 
 at that moment was one of painful anxiety for 
 the fate of the ship, mingled with some other 
 momentary feeling which her father's remarks 
 had aroused. This he perceived as their eyes 
 met, and instantly added, in a gentler tone 
 
 " We may have a chance, Hannah, of doing 
 a good and a Christian deed this day. That 
 unfortunate ship is doomed, and will strike the 
 ground in a few minutes ; then the first sea that 
 breaks over her will sweep those two poor 
 creatures off the deck you see them, don't 
 you? and their bodies, dead or alive, will be 
 flung ashore by the rising tide. Now, when the 
 crisis comes in the fate of those poor things, I 
 foresee that nothing whatever will be done, by 
 that gaping crowd of lookers-on, to save them. 
 There will be plenty of shouting, no doubt, and 
 hurry-scurry, and rushing this way and that, 
 and tumbling over each other, and getting wet
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 17 
 
 up to their knees, and wringing of hands, and 
 sympathy loudly expressed, but nothing will be 
 done that is of any use, except to the dead bodies, 
 when it is too late to save life. But perhaps the 
 old cripple lying here may help the poor things 
 with a little forethought and common sense. So 
 run, my girl, and send up Jim and Joe at once 
 to me, and then light a fire, and put on lots of 
 furze, and all the pans you can get full of water, 
 and make it boil quick for hot water will be 
 wanted, Hannah, as soon as you can get it mark 
 my words ! " 
 
 With this exhortation the good woman went 
 off on her errand of benevolence, with the speed 
 of one who is in earnest in a good work ; and in 
 a couple of minutes the aforesaid Jim and Joe 
 stood before the doorway of La Bie. 
 
 These two the former a man, the latter a lad, 
 were the only human beings in Jersey who were 
 known to be admitted to any sort of intimacy 
 with the Smiths ; and even they were not 
 frequent visitors to La Pulente. Jim was a 
 thick-set strong-built sailor, about forty years 
 of age, who gained his living during the "Winter 
 on board an oyster dredger at Gorey, and during 
 the Summer months by mackerel and conger
 
 18 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 fishing, and trawling, in the same craft. The 
 boy Joe was the kind of young chap you may 
 see in any coasting or fishing smack that hails 
 from an English port. But why these two 
 sailor-fellows should be connected in any way 
 with the Smiths, no one could exactly divine. 
 Of course, Jim had been questioned on the subject 
 by his pals, both directly and indirectly, but 
 without getting anything out of him that was 
 really to the point. And yet he was by no 
 means a reserved or taciturn man. On the 
 contrary, he was considered a sociable and 
 highly communicative chap ; and the offer of a 
 glass of grog, or a handful of baccy would at 
 any time provoke him into spinning a long yarn. 
 " Come now, old shipmate," a comrade would 
 say, as they sat together over the fire in their 
 little caboose, " tell us true, on your honour like 
 a man, who is that rum old fogey that you go 
 to see so slyly up at La Pulente ? " " Well 
 then," Jim would answer, "I'll tell you I 
 will, so help me Bob. But pour a fellow out 
 another glass first, and let me fill a fresh pipe." 
 Then would follow a marvellous tale, the only 
 fault of which would be that it bore no sort of 
 resemblance in any particular to a dozen others,
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 19 
 
 on the same topic, that the same narrator had 
 told before, with an equally solemn asseveration 
 of their truth. The fact is, Jim had a talent 
 for romance, and to such an extent that he had 
 gained for himself, by the liberal exercise of it, 
 the nickname of " lying Jim ; " but that was 
 always sotto voce, for he was a strong chap, and 
 choleric withal, and sometimes affected much 
 sensitiveness on points of honour. " Jim of the 
 Peggy," or " Jim of the Jersey Maid," or " Jim 
 of the Jupiter," was his more common name, 
 according to the smack he might belong to at 
 the time ; for his surname no one had ever 
 heard, or what his antecedents were either. 
 He was a strong, ruddy, weather-beaten- visaged 
 Englishman, with sandy hair and whiskers, and 
 a blue eye that had a wicked twinkle in it at times, 
 but with which he could look you honestly in the 
 face, nevertheless. On the present occasion, he 
 had been up all night, and was invested in his 
 roughest seaman's garb, viz., a red night-cap, 
 three blue woollen Guernseys, one over the other, 
 two pair of trousers, and strong top-boots well 
 greased. Such was the man Jim in dress, 
 features, form, and idiosyncrasy. As for Joe, 
 he was no relation of the other's, and a lazy
 
 20 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 lad, who knew nothing but just how to pull and 
 haul as he was told, but with plenty of cheek 
 nevertheless. He was Jim's satellite, and that 
 is all that need be said. 
 
 The two quickly mounted the step ladder to 
 Old Smith's room, and presented themselves 
 before him. He was at the time looking intently 
 through his glass at the drifting vessel, which 
 was then getting pretty close in shore. He 
 merely said to the lad, as they entered, " Go 
 down, Joe, and help my daughter," and bestowed 
 not a syllable of greeting upon Jim. But the 
 latter was not in the least abashed at this cool 
 reception, but took it all in good part. He 
 walked up to the old man's bedside, and accosted 
 him boldly with the following rigmarole every 
 word of which happened to be true : 
 
 " Good morning, your honour. I was coming 
 up here I was, so help me Bob, but I just 
 wanted to have a close view of the little vessel 
 first, and hear if any o' them chaps knew anything 
 about her. I've been watching her for the 
 last half-hour, as I came down the cotil. My 
 eyes, didn't it blow last night ! But Lor', we 
 didn't feel it where I was, as you do here. Why 
 I was aboard all night, at anchor off Gorey,
 
 OB ROMANCE IN A YACHT, 21 
 
 playing cards with another chap, and there was 
 no sea on a bit, but here my eyes, isn't that 
 a surf ! How she will hammer at it when 
 her keel takes the ground and what '11 become 
 of them two poor creturs aboard ? That 'a what 
 I want to know ain't they in a precious mess ? 
 She 's a yacht and one of them long legged 
 ones, I '11 be bound, that draws as much water 
 as a 500-ton ship deep loaded and that man 
 and woman aboard of her looks to me like a 
 gen'l'man and his wife perhaps the owner 
 and there 's a young babby too. You 've seen 
 'em all, your honor, ain't you ? But what 's 
 become of the crew ? that 's what I can't 
 make out. I reckon they deserted her in the 
 gig, for I can't see any boats aboard but they 
 made a nasty job of it, I know. Well, if I 
 was aboard of her now, I 'd just peel off and 
 take to my fins, that 's what I 'd do a fellow 'd 
 have just half a chance of his life that way 
 but then there's the woman to look after he 
 couldn't leave her behind. Bother me now, but 
 if I had our dingey here, I 'd try and get off 
 to 'em somehow but the chaps hereabouts are 
 afeard to launch a boat. Do you see, your honour, 
 how the gale 's gone down all at once ? I never
 
 22 
 
 see'd sucli a thing in all my life and I 've seen 
 many gales of wind too but there 's a mortal 
 sea on yet it '11 go down with the ebb tide 
 though it soon goes down on soundings it ain't 
 like the main ocean here, is it your honour, you 
 know that ? Can you make any more out, your 
 honour ? That man on board the wreck has 
 been up and down twenty times but I 've only 
 seen the woman put her head up once, with the 
 babby in her arms, poor thing ! He chucked 
 out an anchor he 's a terrible strong young 
 chap but Lor' the cable parted with the first 
 pitch she gave I '11 get that anchor at low 
 water you see if I don't that '11 be worth three 
 pound. Then he set a sort of staysail on her, 
 between the stump of the foremast, and the 
 main cross-trees, with the main haulyard blocks 
 but Lor' the sail wouldn't draw a bit there 
 ain't a breath of wind now, and the tide was 
 heaving her right in. She's done for that's 
 sure enough. But I say, your honour, you 
 ain't offended with me, are you ? I was coming 
 up to see you in course I was." 
 
 " Offended, Jim ? Stuff," replied the old man. 
 " Do you take me for Beau Brummel, or 
 Talleyrand, that I 'm always bound to be polite ?
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 23 
 
 I sent for you, man, to try and see what we could 
 do to help those two poor creatures and the child. 
 She '11 strike soon. She looks to me not more 
 than forty tons, but I dare say she draws eleven 
 feet of water aft. The heel of her stern post 
 will strike first then she '11 slew round broadside 
 to it and the first sea that strikes her, down 
 she '11 go upon her bilge she '11 never rise again 
 and then the seas will make a clean breach 
 over all. But we must try and save those 
 people, Jim." 
 
 And as he said it, he grasped the sailor's 
 thick forearm with his bony fingers, and looked 
 earnestly in his face, adding, 
 
 " You 've got the muscle, Jim, and I 've got 
 the brains that 's a law of nature she couldn't 
 give either of us the muscles and the brains 
 both that would be too much a man who had 
 them both would be too dangerous, and his 
 fellows would join to strangle him when they 
 found him out but she has given ,you the 
 muscles, Jim, and me the brains you are the 
 machine, and I 'm the engineer so now attend. 
 Don't try to think for yourself, but do just as I 
 tell you. It will be for your own good, I promise 
 you, you pig, as well as theirs ; and a good deed
 
 24 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 done this day will weigh in the balance of the 
 King of Kings, when your soul and mine, Jim, 
 stand shivering before the Judgment Seat. Now 
 don't grin at me, you idiot for what I say is 
 true, and you know it is." 
 
 But Jim did grin a great deal ; and wasn't 
 offended in the least at being called an idiot, 
 and a pig, and a machine. He replied good- 
 naturedly 
 
 " You talk just like a parson, your honour ; 
 and I always said they ought to have sent you 
 to a college for them sort of covies, instead of 
 where they did. But that's neither here nor 
 there. I 've got muscles, sure enough and if 
 I could but get a fair grip of them poor creturs, 
 if it was only with my eyelids, I 'd soon have 'em 
 all ashore, safe enough. Trust me for pulling 
 and hauling, if that 'd save 'em but how to 
 hook on to 'em that 's the rub." 
 
 " Help me off this bed," said the old man, 
 " and I '11 soon show you how." 
 
 " Well, that is a good 'un," said Jim, ironically. 
 
 " You scoundrel," answered the other angrily. 
 "Hav'n't I told you a hundred times that about ten 
 years ago I broke both legs, compound fractures. 
 It is true the bones may have joined again, but
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 25 
 
 the marrow has always been diseased, and it 
 always aches, except when I have no sensation 
 in it at all. Do you think I should be the 
 cowardly poltroon to lie here all my life, if I 
 could walk about ? " 
 
 " I beg your honour's pardon," said Jim, 
 helping him off his couch, " but I have seen you 
 hop about once, smart enough." 
 
 " Lift up that lid," said the old man sharply, 
 pointing to the top of the ottoman which formed 
 his bed, " and take out the bow and arrow, and 
 the coil of line that you will find inside." 
 
 Jim did as he was told ; and said a word or 
 two which proved his comprehension of the 
 scheme. Then, with the above implements in 
 his hands, he took himself off, and was soon 
 seen hurrying across the sands to where the 
 crowd had collected to watch the fate of the 
 unfortunate yacht, and of the helpless beings 
 upon her deck. 
 
 It was full ten minutes before the vessel 
 grounded ; and during that time Hannah and 
 Joe had lighted a roaring furze fire, and put 
 on pans of water to boil. The former then 
 rejoined her father at the window, who was 
 eagerly watching the fate of the yacht.
 
 26 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " She has touched the ground at last," he said, 
 excitedly. " Look, girl, look with all your eyes. 
 Bravo, Jim well shot the man on board has 
 caught the line see the woman has got a 
 life-helt on a capital idea that and he is 
 tying the end of the line to it, so as not to 
 chafe her flesh Bravo that 's right and see 
 she 's holding the baby tight between her arms 
 none but a mother would do that now. But here 
 comes a heavy surge off with you all, poor 
 things haul away, Jim in with them haul, 
 I say, with all your might and main." 
 
 " Oh Gtad, have mercy on them," cried Hannah, 
 with her two hands pressed together in the 
 attitude of prayer. 
 
 " That was a smasher," continued the old man, 
 " what a sea it is right over all where are 
 they now ? I can't see one of 'em. Yes I can 
 there 's the baby gone adrift why, you mother, 
 couldn't you keep firmer hold of your little one 
 than that ? it 's parted from you now for ever 
 you '11 never clasp it in your arms again alive at 
 at least never, never ! But the man what 's 
 become of him ? Oh, I see him there he is 
 striking out good heavens, and in such a surf 
 close to the child, too but that 's no good look
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 27 
 
 to yourself, my poor fellow never mind the 
 child now it '11 take all your strength and pluck 
 to save yourself the child 's as good as lost. No, 
 it isn't it floats bravely, like a cork the roll of 
 flannel round it keeps it up and I see the man 
 pushing it before him bravo fine fellow why 
 they're as good as half way in already. But 
 stand by here comes another smasher what a 
 monster right over all again where are they 
 all now ? the woman I can't see a bit but Jim 
 keeps hauling something in go easy, man 
 you '11 smother her give her time to breathe 
 don't keep her under too long twenty seconds 
 are enough to drown. Now I see the child again 
 bravo and there 'a the man close to it, 
 pushing it along again what a time a roll of 
 flannel will keep up brave fellow, that man, 
 Hannah see how he's striking out how he 
 sticks to it, to save the child why he 's almost 
 now within his depth you lubbers standing 
 there, why don't you rush in and bear a hand 
 fling a rope, or anything. Well done, lads 
 didn't I say so in they go, sure enough one, 
 two, three of them, hand in hand. But look 
 out here comes another smasher over all again 
 they retreat, the caitiffs oh fie, you dogs. I
 
 28 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 say, Hannah, respectable men those, very ; 
 how they do take care of number one. I wish 
 poor Coles was here, the thief, who got seven 
 years, poor vagabond he 'd soon have 'em out 
 a thief, but with grand instincts, poor devil. 
 Your thieves and vagabonds for me, and none of 
 your too respectable men, I say sharks, and pigs, 
 and monkeys, all of 'em I hate the lot sometimes. 
 But see by heavens he touches bottom now 
 and in they all go again, up to their necks, this 
 time well done lads now they've got hold of 
 him, child and all and Jim has hauled out the 
 woman too he 's got her in his arms capital, 
 that's first-rate. Now Hannah, girl, it's your 
 turn next didn't I tell you so ? see to the 
 hot water, quick the woman looks exhausted 
 dead, I think and bleeding from the head. 
 Here they come with her make haste, Hannah 
 girl be quick, quick, quick." 
 
 The above disjointed sentences describe exactly 
 what occurred. 
 
 For a few instants after the woman was hauled 
 ashore, the entire crowd collected round her; 
 and then it separated into two groups, forming 
 two processions which moved quickly towards 
 the slip. First, came the man who had saved
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 29 
 
 himself and the child, bearing it in his arms, 
 and hurrying on before the rest, followed by 
 half-a-dozen of the lookers-on, mostly women ; 
 and then followed Jim, and the remainder, 
 carrying the body of the woman, with extreme 
 care. Hannah went to meet the first group, 
 and led them into the kitchen of the cottage ; 
 and the rest soon followed, and went with the 
 body into the other ground floor room. 
 
 The old man in the attic could see no more, 
 but as the door was open he heard much of what 
 was going on below. At first there was a buzz 
 of voices, and much hurrying to and fro, in 
 the midst of which an infant's cries were heard. 
 Then the voices became more subdued, and almost 
 sank into a whisper, while the footsteps became 
 less frequent, and more solemn in their tread ; 
 until at length, most of the good people had left 
 the house, and formed themselves into little 
 groups outside, discussing with solemn faces 
 something tragic that oppressed their hearts. 
 The child was living ; but the woman, what was 
 she ? The old man's sense of hearing was acute, 
 and he listened most intently, but no one ever 
 thought of him. Still, he knew the full meaning 
 of every sound he heard, and guessed too truly
 
 80 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 what was going on in the room beneath that 
 in which he lay the creak of tables drawn into 
 the middle of it the lifting of a body upon 
 them the hanging of a sail before the window 
 and the mutterings of women who were laying 
 out a corpse. He knew what such sounds boded, 
 and needed none to tell him that the child was 
 living, but that its mother was no more ! 
 
 A full hour then elapsed, and at last Jim 
 went up to the old man him with brains and 
 forethought, whom the machines without either 
 had never once thought it worth their while to 
 go to, and consult. 
 
 The rough sailor seated himself upon the bed, 
 and there was deep grief, and something very 
 like a tear in his blue eye. But the old man 
 looked cold and stern. His excitement was over 
 he had been mortified by their neglect and 
 there was no longer any show of feeling in his 
 face. He had come to think only of himself. 
 
 " It 's all up, your honour, with that poor 
 thing," said Jim, at last, in broken accents, very 
 different from his common blunt defiant tone. 
 " I know'd, as soon as I touched her that she 
 was stone dead. She wasn't drowned, but killed 
 by something which smashed in her poor head
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 31 
 
 poor little darling pretty cretur wasn't she a 
 beauty and to die like that so young ! " 
 
 Here the good fellow brushed off a tear with 
 his sleeve, and then continued his lament. 
 
 " And so straight and slim with long black 
 curly hair, and little soft white hands such a 
 pictur' and there she lies now cold and dead 
 on the tables just below us. We 've laid her out, 
 all ready for the inquest and the parson 's been 
 here and the doctor too but Lor', what good 
 can they do now ?" 
 
 " How about the child, and the young man ? 
 Are they all right ?" asked Smith. 
 
 But Jim didn't heed the question. He went on. 
 
 " It was all my fault, I 'm half afeard 
 pulling and hauling too hard at first. Bother 
 that nasty bow of your's if I hadn't sent 'em 
 a line, it wouldn't have happened. She had a 
 life-belt on and she 'd soon have come ashore 
 the tide would have washed her up safe enough 
 just like the rest. Any fool might have known 
 that but I 've smashed the nasty thing bother 
 your engineering, old man, I say let natur' do 
 her work. Poor thing I sha' n't never get her 
 out of my thoughts she '11 lie on my heart like
 
 32 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 a pig of cold iron ballast, and I 've got enough 
 of that sort aboard already, God knows." 
 
 "For the second time of asking, how about 
 the father, and the child ? " demanded the old 
 man, angrily, adding, " Let the dead bury their 
 dead what is that to us ?" 
 
 " Lor', your honour they 're all right didn't 
 you hear 'em ? they made noise enough I never 
 see 'd a man take on as that young chap did at 
 first but he soon came cool enough, and then 
 all his thoughts were about the child. She 's 
 quite safe it 's a little girl we 've got a young 
 woman come to nurse it and she 's to stay here 
 with your daughter for ever so long it's all 
 arranged and they 're to have the room below." 
 
 " The devil they are," retorted Smith. 
 
 " Well and why not, I should like to know, 
 old growler," replied Jim. " If your daughter 
 chooses to turn an honest penny by looking after 
 that child what's that to you. Better that a 
 hundred times than " 
 
 "You simpleton, you pig, you everlasting 
 idiot," retorted the old man. " Ask yourself 
 rather, what is that to you? Is anything of 
 to-day's work anything to you ? If it is, give
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 33 
 
 up blubbering, and look to yourself. Tell me. 
 now, what have you learnt about the man, the 
 child, the yacht ? By twelve o'clock she '11 be 
 high and dry. "What then, eh ? I think I 
 know. Shall I tell you what will happen ? Why 
 just this. Let us go through it all from the very 
 first. When she grounded, and slewed round 
 broadside on, that sea that swept them off went 
 clean over her and filled her, and down she went. 
 There she lies now, safe enough, and you can 
 just see her mast head. Her V-bottom saved 
 her from hammering herself to pieces in the 
 surf. If she'd had a flat floor, she would have 
 been knocked about, and hove right up to high 
 water mark, and stove in, and shattered to matches 
 and shivereens. But now, when the tide goes 
 down you '11 find her not hurt a bit. But what 
 will happen next? Why a lot of fellows will 
 get round her, and tip each other the wink, and 
 tear her copper off, and prig, and do nothing to 
 save her from becoming a total wreck for the 
 sooner she breaks up the better luck for them. 
 But that won't do for tis for you and me, I 
 mean mark that." 
 
 "It ain't unlikely," answered Jim, "but 
 there's time enough to think of that. /'m
 
 34 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 most in with the gen'l'man, and I mean to have 
 the first chance. He 's gone down on the sands 
 just now, to look at her, and if I don't go after 
 him, and pitch something into him that '11 make 
 him wide awake, my name 's not ." 
 
 " Gro and pitch yourself to , ungrateful 
 
 hound," cried the old man, passionately. "What 's 
 that to me ?" 
 
 " I say, old growler, none of that," replied the 
 sailor, with an angry spot upon his cheek. "I 
 
 won't stand too much of that I won't, by . 
 
 You got out o* bed the wrong way this morning. 
 Take care or I'll make you get out a worse 
 way yet." 
 
 So saying, he flung himself out of the room 
 slammed the door went heavily down the step- 
 ladder, and left the house. 
 
 " Hannah," called out the old man, as soon as 
 Jim was gone. " Come here, I want you." 
 
 She came at once. 
 
 " What have you been about all this time ? " 
 he demanded, pettishly. 
 
 " My poor father," she replied, " I 'm so sorry 
 I couldn't come to you before but we've all 
 been in a peck of trouble down below."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 35 
 
 " Stuff I know it. G-o and fetch the gentle- 
 man up here at once. I want to see him, and I 
 must see him, and I ought to have seen him long 
 ago. You'll let that scoundrel Jim have the 
 first chance." 
 
 " I was afraid, my father, to show him up, 
 until I had had a word with you about it first." 
 
 " Pooh, girl ! What, do you think I care for 
 that ? Show him up here at once." 
 
 She carried the message quickly, and the 
 gentleman left the side of Jim, who had already 
 joined him, and returned with her to the cottage.
 
 36 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 4. 
 
 FIRST SUSPICIONS. THE BAGATELLE LEFT HIGH 
 AND DRY. 
 
 THE stranger mounted the step ladder to the 
 attic in which the old man lay, and presented 
 himself at the open door, but paused a minute 
 before he entered, in a state of much surprise at 
 seeing an apartment within the roof, so superior 
 in its appointments to those below. On the 
 other hand, the curious spectacle which he 
 himself presented was as closely scrutinized by 
 the old man. On leaving the vessel for his 
 struggle in the surf, he had 'simply worn a pair 
 of swimming drawers and canvas shoes, in 
 order not to throw away a chance for life. The 
 shoes he still had on, but the drawers had been 
 exchanged for a pair of Jim's overalls ; in 
 addition to which he had also borrowed a 
 Guernsey from the latter, and a rough pilot
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 37 
 
 coat from another sailor. Nevertheless, in this 
 rude garb, and with his hair matted with salt 
 water, he still looked, what in truth he was, and 
 what no attire could ever have concealed, a 
 gentleman, and a handsome young fellow also, 
 tall and strongly built. On the other hand, 
 the old man was sufficiently picturesque too, 
 and not more carefully got up as regarded 
 toilet, than his visitor. Over his shoulders was 
 cast a thick scarlet knitted woollen cape, with 
 short wide sleeves. His night dress, which he 
 wore beneath it, was open in front, and displayed 
 his bony chest. A long grey beard partly 
 concealed his sinewy neck ; and on his head, 
 which was . bald, and fringed with grey curls 
 round the sides and back, he wore a close-fitting 
 black velvet cap. His features were bold and 
 striking, but the eyes indicative of cunning. 
 He had a high forehead, Roman nose, square 
 chin, and shaggy eyebrows. Add to this 
 description, that his bed was so placed 
 near the narrow window that the light from 
 it streamed in obliquely upon his remarkable 
 figure and physiognomy, and it will readily 
 be believed that the effect formed a study 
 worthy of Rembrandt.
 
 38 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 After the brief pause alluded to, the young 
 stranger walked up to the bedside of the old 
 man and accosted him thus : 
 
 " It is to your kind daughter, Sir, I am told, 
 that I am indebted for most valuable services 
 in this, my hour of need. My thanks " 
 
 "Not another word of that, pray," replied 
 the old man interrupting him. "Our warmest 
 sympathy, and all that we can do for you 
 in your heavy trouble are yours to command. 
 But, as you see, we are poor, and. ..." 
 
 " Yes, I see that ; but still you can perhaps 
 be better friends to me than you think, for some 
 time to come. I am a perfect stranger to this 
 place, and shall, no doubt, be detained here 
 for many weeks. During that time your kind 
 daughter has agreed to undertake the charge 
 of my little one, who has been so miraculously 
 saved. It is a comfort to me, I assure you, to 
 think that she will be so well cared for by a 
 lady who has contributed largely to save her 
 life, by forethought and judicious treatment, 
 while for several minutes she lay hovering on 
 the verge of death. This kindness I shall 
 never forget. For the rest what has chanced
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 39 
 
 is sad indeed it is crushing but it must be 
 borne. No one was to blame for what occurred, 
 but how it happened I cannot tell. No one 
 saw, and no one can form any idea. The only 
 consolation is, that shocking as the misfortune 
 is, it might have been worse still. 3 ' 
 
 The old man took the hand of his young 
 visitor, pressed it warmly, and enquired in a 
 low tone 
 
 ""Was she your wife, my poor young fellow? 
 They tell me so?" 
 
 " Yes," replied the other briefly. 
 
 " And beautiful, I have been told," continued 
 the old man. " You will feel her loss." 
 
 " She was a little fairy," replied the stranger, 
 " and five years younger than myself. I had 
 known her from childhood. We were cousins, 
 and for some years we lived together in the same 
 house. As children we loved each other, and 
 our love never waxed cold. She was an angel 
 of goodness. Oh ! that I could have saved her 
 life but I thought that with the swimming-belt 
 tied round her, and the line from shore attached 
 to that, there could have been no danger. But 
 thank Heaven, I have saved her child ; and
 
 40 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 the rest of my life I dedicate to her. I swear 
 it by the God who made me ; and you, Sir, 
 are a witness to this vow." 
 
 " Sad, indeed ! " muttered the old man, heedless 
 apparently of the last words which the other 
 had been saying. " Sad, indeed, to die so young ! 
 But life is still before you and an exciting scene 
 is life. Time heals every wound, and believe 
 me you will live to forget this trouble, heavy 
 as it is. Besides, your child will remind you 
 of her whom you have lost, when your present 
 grief has subsided into a sentiment, and a 
 memory without a pang." 
 
 " Yes, indeed, I am glad it is a daughter ; and 
 my earnest hope will be that she may grow up 
 like her mother, and love me perhaps all the 
 better some day for knowing that when she was 
 an infant I helped to save her life, by stretching 
 out a hand, at a time when it was a struggle to 
 save my own?" 
 
 "I saw it from this window, and a frightful 
 scene it was," replied the old man, "but poor 
 helpless being as I am, what could I do, except 
 pray idly that you might all be saved. You 
 struck out bravely, and have earned, I trust,
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 41 
 
 a rich reward. How old may your little darling 
 be?" 
 
 "About fourteen months. She was born in 
 Malta." 
 
 " And may I ask you one more bold question?" 
 added the old man. "Have you any valuables 
 on board the yacht ? Anything you would 
 greatly care to lose?" 
 
 " Some deeds and papers only. Nothing that 
 would be of value to anyone except myself. 
 In fact, when you sent for me just now, I was 
 looking along the edge of the tide, for such 
 waifs and strays from my cabin as might be 
 washed up, and I have already found an old 
 letter. Look." 
 
 " My daughter shall dry it for you," said the 
 old man, " and she shall go and help you search 
 for more." 
 
 " No, no, she has got enough on her hands 
 already, with the child. And now, excuse me, 
 Sir, for the present, for I must return to the 
 shore, and keep an eye on what may be thrown 
 up. We will have a longer chat another time. 
 In fact, I want to ask you whether we might 
 not save the yacht, for both the sea and wind 
 are going down quite fast."
 
 42 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 At this crisis in their conversation, Jim's 
 heavy step was heard upon the ladder ; and a 
 glance at his broad red face, as he entered the 
 room, unceremoniously enough it is true, sufficed 
 to show that he had recovered his good temper 
 to all outward appearance at least. 
 
 " You 've come in the nick of time, Jim," said 
 the old man, good-naturedly. " The gentleman 
 was talking to me about how to save his yacht, 
 and I was going to tell him we could manage 
 that for him, easy enough. I was right, Jim, 
 was I not ? " 
 
 The reader shall be spared the conversation 
 that ensued ; enough that it was arranged 
 between them that Jim was to take charge of 
 the little vessel, and keep watch on her, and act 
 in all matters relating thereunto, according to 
 the suggestions and orders of old Smith, and 
 her owner. 
 
 This having been arranged, the sailor departed ; 
 and the young stranger was about to follow him, 
 but before doing so he approached nearer to 
 the old man, and said, in a lower tone 
 
 " You understand, of course, my kind old 
 friend, that all these valuable services of yours and 
 your daughter's will be properly acknowledged
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 43 
 
 by-and-bye. I have wealth wherewith to repay, 
 as far as money can do, such obligations as 
 you are both laying me under now." 
 
 " Another time," was the reply. " Not a word 
 about such things at present. But let me ask 
 you one more question. Your wardrobe, and 
 your arrangements for the night have you 
 thought of those things ? I see what my man 
 has lent you, but I am afraid he may want 
 them back, however much you may come to take 
 a fancy to them. My own helplessness and 
 poverty are such that I fear I can offer you 
 no better substitute from my own outfit." 
 
 " Thank you all the same," was the reply, 
 with a half-smile. " I have already thought 
 about what you suggest. A boy named Joe has 
 been sent to the nearest town for a carriage, 
 which is to come here for me in the afternoon. 
 In that I shall leave, in my present guise, but 
 with such articles of apparel as we may be able 
 to save from the wreck at low water. I shall, 
 of course, return here early to-morrow, and in 
 the meantime the rest of my belongings will 
 remain under your friendly charge, and Jim's." 
 
 " We will do our best to look after them ; but 
 may I ask you one word more ? Your name ? "
 
 44 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " My name ? " echoed the young man in a 
 sort of absent fit. 
 
 The querist smiled, and waited for a reply. 
 
 " My name ? Oh, I understand you. It is 
 a very common one, and easy to remember 
 John Smith." 
 
 " How singular," replied the old man. " It 
 is the same as mine. And the yacht what 
 may her name be, if I am not too bold to ask ? " 
 
 " The yacht's name ? Oh the BAGATELLE." 
 
 " Of the R.T.Y.C., I think ? At least I judge 
 so from the burgee which is still flying at the 
 main-mast head, a yard or two above the waves." 
 
 " No, no. You are mistaken. That is some 
 old flag that was hoisted by mistake. At this 
 moment she does not belong to any club. I 
 bought her in the East, and my name is not 
 yet entered on a Club. And now, Sir, I must 
 wish you good morning, for the present." 
 
 So saying, Mr. John Smith the younger took 
 his leave ; while Mr. John Smith the elder 
 remained to speculate on the information he had 
 received. 
 
 " He 's a fine young fellow, certainly," he 
 muttered to himself, " and a gentleman there
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 45 
 
 can't be a doubt of that but but let us see 
 how it all sums up. Shipping intelligence. 
 Wrecked on the west coast of Jersey, on the 
 morning of June 21, 18 , the fore-and-aft 
 schooner-yacht, BAGATELLE, belonging to no club, 
 John Smith, Esq., owner crew missing, and 
 boats also owner and a young child saved 
 wife rescued from the surf, but with a fractured 
 skull. "Wouldn't that sound rather odd ? I 
 fancy so. To my mind it wouldn't read exactly 
 fair and straight, and my own impression is, 
 mark, that there is something wrong behind the 
 scenes. He coloured when I asked him whether 
 she was his wife and he hesitated when I asked 
 his name and the flag produced another hitch. 
 Jim must tell me what name is painted on 
 her stern, but yachts don't always carry their 
 name outside, like traders. We must get to 
 see her papers, anyhow. Ha, my fine young 
 gentleman, I think I smell a rat." 
 
 Nothing of any consequence was cast ashore 
 as the tide went down, and at noon the yacht 
 was left high and dry upon the sands. To all 
 appearance she had sustained no harm. Her 
 great depth of keel had saved her. The first 
 roller that struck her after she had touched
 
 46 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 bottom, made her heel over till her skylights and 
 scuttle-holes were under water, and then she 
 filled, and went down at once upon her side. 
 She never rose again, and the seas passed over 
 her as harmless as if she had been a pig of lead. 
 Jim, with some men he had engaged to help 
 him, then began their work of salvage by boring 
 holes in her bottom to let the water from her 
 cabins run out, and as soon as it was practicable, 
 the owner crawled inside to save the papers of 
 which he had been in search. He found 
 apparently what he looked for, in the midst 
 of a heap of sodden and shattered relics of 
 what were once the elegant appointments of the 
 cabin, and then crawled out again, and directed 
 the men not to disturb anything inside, but to 
 proceed at once to batten down companions, and 
 skylights, and scuttle-holes, and caulk and pay 
 all seams, so as to make her water-tight on 
 deck, in order that she might rise to it, and 
 float when the tide came up. In this job some 
 hours were consumed ; and when the flowing 
 tide just reached her keel once more, the carriage 
 which had been ordered was seen standing at 
 the cottage door. 
 
 In half - an-hour the stranded BAGATELLE was
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 47 
 
 once more afloat, and the gang of men were 
 proceeding to warp her into deep water, and 
 anchor her until the tide should serve for towing 
 her into the nearest harbour they could reach 
 that night. 
 
 " Now, my good fellows," said the owner, 
 " you have all done your best so far, and I 
 must leave her in your charge. If anything 
 should go wrong, of course I sha' n't blame you. 
 Another day I will reckon with you all for 
 this. But it has been a sad day for me, and 
 I can tell you I am sick at heart." 
 
 The good fellows touched their hats respect- 
 fully ; and the owner walked to the carriage, 
 got in, and was driven off. 
 
 "That's a fine young cove, ain't he?" said 
 one of the men to Jim. " If you want a hand 
 to tow her into harbour put me down for one." 
 
 And here's a dozen more of -us will join," 
 said another. " "We 'd do anything for that sort 
 of young gent ay, if he hadn't a sou in his 
 pocket to bless himself with. He 's made of the 
 right stuff, ain't he my lads ? But don't shout. 
 Hush ! Think of the poor young cretur in the 
 cottage yonder, with the shutters shut. It ain't 
 often hereabouts that we see a house shut up."
 
 THE BAGATELLE : 
 
 CHAPTER 5. 
 
 AN INQUEST A RECLUSE. 
 
 WE will not linger over the details of a sad 
 incident. An inquest was held on the body of 
 the deceased ; and the verdict given was " acci- 
 dental death." The medical evidence, however, 
 went to show that it was not drowning which 
 had proved fatal, but the fracture of the skull. 
 The funeral passed off with the usual solemnity, 
 and the mourning coach which contained the 
 bereaved husband was followed by the majority 
 of the male population of La Pulente, on foot. 
 It is customary in Jersey to pay this mark of 
 respect to the dead, and a praiseworthy custom 
 it is. In illustration of it the writer of these 
 lines can testify to the following fact, which 
 came under his own knowledge not many 
 years ago: A skeleton of a man was thrown
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 49 
 
 up in St. Brelade's Bay, the only vestige of 
 clothing being a pair of heavy peasant's shoes 
 still firmly tied to the bones of the legs. No 
 one knew who the drowned man might be, or 
 how recently the fatal accident had occurred, but 
 a coffin was provided, and the remains were 
 decently interred, twelve of the farmers in the 
 neighbourhood following them to the grave. Thus 
 the funeral procession of the deceased young wife 
 of the stranger who had been cast upon that coast 
 included more than the above-named number of 
 mourners, composed of the little farmers, vraickers, 
 and fishermen of St. Ouen's Bay, decently attired, 
 each in his own suit of black ; and the body was 
 interred in the strangers' burial ground of the 
 parish in which the accident occurred. In the 
 course of time, a neat gravestone was put up, 
 inscribed with the following simple words : 
 
 " In memory of ZOE, who was accidentally killed 
 in St. Ouen's Bay, on June 21st, 18 . She was 
 both a wife and a mother, and died in her eighteenth 
 year. This stone has been erected to her memory 
 by one who was present at the accident, but was 
 helpless to save, and who had known her from her 
 childhood, had loved her dearly, and will ever 
 deeply deplore her fate." 
 
 G
 
 50 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 Weeks and months then rolled on. The child 
 remained at La Bie, in the charge of Hannah 
 Smith, under whose kind and fostering care it 
 grew and prospered ; and the yacht was saved, 
 repaired, and refitted in exactly its former style ; 
 with the man Jim placed in suh- command as 
 mate. But the owner did not remove her from 
 the Island, except for an occasional short cruise 
 to the neighbouring French ports ; and when 
 not in use, she remained in the harbour of 
 St. Helier's, the Capital town, with her legs on, 
 and her sails unbent, which sometimes happened 
 for months together, so that Jim led a very 
 easy and idle life. At first her owner lived 
 on board, as a perfect recluse, making no 
 acquaintances whatever, and merely following his 
 quiet hobbies of reading, sketching, and music, 
 in a strange and solitary way; but by degrees 
 he began to shake off these lonely habits, and 
 took lodgings in the town, and finally gave 
 up altogether his berth on board the yacht. 
 It will readily be believed that these returning 
 signs of a yearning after social life were well 
 received in a place which is said to be one of 
 the most dissipated in the world, and where a 
 wealthy young widower would find but little
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 51 
 
 difficulty in making friends of either sex. Once, 
 and once only, since his arrival in the Island 
 had he been to England, and that for but a few 
 days, immediately after the funeral of his wife. 
 Whenever wonder was expressed that one so 
 young and independent should have so readily 
 adopted Jersey as his home, his reply would 
 be, that he had associations with the place, 
 although painful ones, which had endeared it 
 to him, that his child was taken care of by 
 people whom he liked, that his yacht lay in a 
 snug berth, where, in ten minutes he could 
 be on board of her at any time, and that 
 he liked the Island for its own sake, and 
 thought its scenery lovely, and its climate the 
 most charming in the world, besides which, all 
 places were alike to him, as he had no profession 
 to follow, or any coercive duties to bind him to a 
 particular spot, and if he preferred to live in 
 Jersey, why not? Such explanation he considered 
 ought to be sufficient for any one to whom it 
 might be addressed ; but if not, then he had a 
 way of silencing all further queries respecting 
 his mode of life, by a coolness of manner 
 which intimated pretty plainly that he had said 
 enough.
 
 52 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 6. 
 
 THE BELL FAMILY AN INVITATION. 
 
 Two years had elapsed since the events occurred 
 which have been related in the preceding 
 chapters ; and again it was the height of the 
 summer season. 
 
 In the drawing-room of a ready-furnished 
 house, which had been taken for the summer 
 months by its present inmates, and was cheerfully 
 situated in a terrace commanding a view over 
 the town of St. Helier's and St. Aubin's Bay 
 beyond, a small family party was assembled, 
 engaged in such occupations as were suitable 
 to an evening without guests. Paterfamilias 
 who must be introduced to the reader, as the 
 Rev. Alfred Bell, was seated in an easy chair 
 reading a copy of the Times, which had arrived 
 that day from England by the mail-steamer ; 
 his wife was hurrying over the concluding pages
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 53 
 
 of a new novel from Mudie's ; and their daughters 
 three, whose names were respectively, Sophy, 
 Ellen, and Catherine the latter a girl of 
 seventeen, and the others older by steps of 
 two years each were seated at a loo table, 
 strewn with ladies' graceful litter, and were 
 chatting together in a low tone whilst otherwise 
 thus engaged, viz. : Sophy was transferring 
 sea-weeds from a dish of water in which they 
 floated, to sheets of paper upon which they 
 were to remain attached, and which in due 
 time were to be bound up together in a handsome 
 volume, which was to be presented to the Queen ; 
 Ellen was less ambitiously employed in hemming 
 a piece of plain needlework, intended for some 
 charitable purpose; and Kate was reading, though 
 not so attentively as it deserves, that pretty poem, 
 Lalla Rookh. 
 
 " Mamma," said the latter, as her mother 
 concluded, and put down with a yawn the 
 fashionable novel she had been reading, or rather 
 skimming for an hour or more, " Did Sir Evelyn 
 marry Alice at last ? " 
 
 " Of course she did, child," was the reply. 
 "Anyone could foresee that. In novels every- 
 body gets married at last."
 
 54 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " It is only in real life," said the father of the 
 family, with a pretended sigh, and looking quiz- 
 zically over the top of his newspaper, " that a man 
 with three daughters has to calculate the extreme 
 probability there is of their all dying old maids." 
 
 " Oh, Papa," said Kate, laughing. " I 'm sure 
 / don't mean to die an old maid." 
 
 But her father took no heed of the remark, 
 and went on reading his paper. How rude 
 fathers are, to be sure, sometimes. 
 
 " No, my child, I don't think you will," said 
 her Mamma, answering for him. " If any of 
 you is to be an old maid it will be Sophy 
 for men have a wholesome dread of a blue 
 stocking, and they are quite right. So if you '11 
 take- my advice, my love, you '11 put away those 
 sea- weeds, and sea-monsters that you're so fond 
 of, and spend more time at your piano." 
 
 " Oh, Mamma, how can you say such things 
 of poor Sophy," retorted Kate. " Why I saw 
 Mr. Smith, only a week ago, paying her most 
 marked attentions, at a pic-nic." 
 
 " You little story-teller," replied her elder 
 sister, with real, and not affected indignation. 
 " How can you say such things, when you know 
 how I hate that odious man."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 55 
 
 " Then you 're the only one who does," said 
 Ellen. " I 'm sure it 's wicked of you to hate 
 a man like that so kind to everybody, and 
 particularly to children." 
 
 " And so strikingly handsome," added Kate. 
 " Who could dislike a handsome man ? " 
 
 " Call him handsome ! " said her Mamma. 
 " What, little Smith, with his penny trumpet, 
 and that odious yacht. I call him half a fool." 
 
 " But surely not little," said EUen. " He 's 
 taller than Papa, and broader too, and Papa's 
 six feet high." 
 
 " What does a little humpty-dumpty like you, 
 know about tall men ? " replied her Mamma, not 
 very flatteringly ; but it was true that the young 
 lady addressed was somewhat shorter than the 
 average, and a trifle stouter too than might 
 be thought consistent with elegance ; but she 
 had a very sweet, good face, with all the 
 freshness and frankness of Aurora. She coloured 
 slightly at her Mamma's remark ; and her younger 
 sister, after a short pause in the conversation, 
 whispered chaflingly in her ear, " I know another 
 clergyman who is a tall man too, and kind to 
 children." 
 
 "If Mr. Smith flirts with any of us, it
 
 56 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 certainly is not with me," said the eldest young 
 lady, tossing her head disdainfully, "for if ever 
 / say a thing, no matter what, he is sure to 
 make fun of it ; and I never met anyone so rude 
 and contradictory. If I were to say to him 
 now, it's a fine evening, he would answer at 
 once, no it isn't, the sky is becoming overcast. 
 I never met such a disagreeable man in my 
 life and what is more, I regard him as a goose." 
 
 Her Papa had now finished his leading article : 
 so he put down the Times, got up, and stood 
 with his back to the mantle-shelf, before the 
 empty grate, prepared to take part in the 
 conversation. It was a habit of his to stand 
 in that way, with his hands spreading out the 
 tails of his coat behind, while conversing with 
 his family ; and one which he had acquired in 
 cold weather, and retained through all seasons, 
 and to which no one ever disputed his right. 
 He was a tall, benevolent-looking old gentleman, 
 with curly grey hair, a slight frame, and an 
 inelegant stoop. 
 
 " What was that you were saying about my 
 friend Smith ?" he retorted upon his eldest 
 daughter, " that he is a goose ? I deny it. 
 I consider him a very talented young man.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 57 
 
 Now you have my opinion of him. He is not 
 only talented in all matters relating to the arts, 
 such as painting and music, but his order of 
 mind shows innate refinement and good breeding, 
 besides which he has a shrewdness and a 
 knowledge of the world which is quite extra- 
 ordinary in so young a man, and he has evidently 
 moved in good society. I like him, but I don't 
 like a simpleton, or an ill-mannered brute." 
 
 " Well, Papa," the young lady replied, " all 
 I can say is, that he does not number natural 
 history among his accomplishments, and that 
 he is an idle man. His life is a useless one. 
 But men of extraordinary talent are never idle, 
 they are always too ambitious for that. At 
 least such is my conclusion from reading the 
 lives of some really great men, in a book which 
 you have yourself lately given me." 
 
 " But you must remember," replied her father, 
 with the utmost courtesy, and good temper, and 
 not in the least ruffled by the contradiction, for 
 he had rather encouraged a spirit of argument 
 in his eldest daughter, " You must remember 
 that all men's natures are not alike. In 
 some, transcendant ability shows itself quite 
 early for instance, Pitt was Prime Minister at 
 
 H
 
 58 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 twenty-three while in others it is more slowly 
 developed. Circumstances also may concur to 
 call it forth early in some cases, and to retard 
 its manifestation in others. Take the case 
 of Buonaparte it was by a mere chance that 
 he was not a cab-driver in the streets of 
 Paris." 
 
 " But still," replied his daughter, " Napoleon 
 had distinguished himself as a mathematician 
 when a youth, and had always shown a marked 
 predilection for a military career." 
 
 " Then, take a better case, still," replied her 
 father. " I have just been reading in this paper 
 about a quiet middle-aged country gentleman 
 in France, whom nobody had ever heard of 
 before, but who has just made a really wonderful 
 discovery, viz., that of fixing upon stone, or 
 plates of metal, the fleeting images formed in 
 the camera-obscura. His name is Niepce ; and 
 I venture to say that it will find as honourable 
 and as permanent a place in history as that of 
 Napoleon, or Pitt." 
 
 " But you surely don't mean to say, Papa, that 
 Mr. Smith is ever likely to become a Niepce?" 
 
 " Don't be so contradictory and disagreeable, 
 child," said her Mamma, interposing between
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 59 
 
 the combatants. " If your Papa likes Mr. Smith, 
 and thinks him a great genius, what business is 
 that of ours ?" 
 
 " No, no, don't scold her," said her Father. 
 " What she said was quite to the purpose, and 
 I 'm not at all sure she hadn't the best of the 
 argument." 
 
 There was a pause after this, and then the 
 second daughter said timidly, " I don't know 
 whether Mr. Smith is clever or not, but I'm 
 sure he is a very kind man, and never inten- 
 tionally rude to anyone. See how fond he is 
 of his little daughter, and how he romps with 
 her, and tosses her about. I'm sure he never 
 goes over to La Pulente to see her, without a 
 quantity of sweetmeats and toys, and what a 
 lovely little creature she is, and so fond of him 
 too." 
 
 " But not in the least like him in face," said 
 the youngest sister, "though they've both got 
 magnificent eyes ; besides, he is very tall, and 
 I think she seems to be short for her age." 
 
 "I have not yet seen her," said the Papa. 
 " That is a treat to come. But I 've seen several 
 portraits of her, for his rooms are hung all 
 over with his own pretty sketches of her in
 
 60 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 charcoal and red chalk. He knocks off one 
 of these in a couple of hours, and very masterly 
 they are, I can tell you. I wish he would do 
 one for me of my own little pet," and as he said 
 it, he looked archly at his youngest daughter, 
 until the colour began to mantle 011 her cheek. 
 
 " Why, you monkey," said her Mamma, " You 
 have been flirting with him already I know 
 you have. You are blushing, child, I declare 
 you are." 
 
 At this rebuke, the poor girl absolutely put 
 her hands before her face ; and they all laughed 
 immensely at her but her father the most. 
 
 " I heard him say once," he remarked, " that 
 he liked young things, and that if he were ever 
 to have the choice of a wife from a family of 
 daughters, it would be odds but he took the 
 youngest. Come here, my youngest one, confess 
 now, what has he been saying to you, Eh ? 
 Tell me, like a good girl. I '11 keep it a secret 
 I will indeed." 
 
 " Oh, Papa, nothing at all, I assure you." 
 
 " No, no, that won't do for me. I know he 
 has. Come here, now. I must and will have 
 it out of you." 
 
 " He asked her, only yesterday, Papa," said
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 61 
 
 Ellen, laughing, " to let him paint her portrait. 
 I heard it myself, and I vouch for the fact." 
 
 " Gracious goodness," said their mother, "what 
 next, I should like to know ? Why, I 've heard 
 that he has been for two months, or more, 
 painting that horrid bold creature, Eliza Kemp ; 
 and his housekeeper told me that the picture 
 is now hanging over his mantel- shelf, and that 
 he made her take down the pier glass to make 
 way for it, because he said he liked to see her 
 face there better than his own. Her great 
 vulgar staring eyes seem to follow you all 
 about the room. I told Mrs. Brown to turn 
 it with its face to the wall every time he 
 went out, and to let him see it so when he came 
 in again." 
 
 " It 's not a bad picture though," said Mr. Bell. 
 " I 've seen it, and I consider myself rather a 
 judge. She 's a fine creature, that girl, even if 
 she is a lump of vulgarity, and he has idealized 
 her, and made quite a Juno of her. As for his 
 offer to paint my Katie, if that's really true, 
 I 'm sure I don't see why not, if I go with her. 
 I should like a portrait of her immensely, and 
 she 'd make a perfect Flora wouldn't she ? " 
 and as he said it, he pulled her towards him,
 
 62 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 and put his arm kindly round her waist, and 
 gave her forehead a loving kiss. 
 
 " Well, I don't know what some men are made 
 of," said the Mamma. " I dare say you 'd let 
 him paint me, if he were to ask. Wouldn't you 
 now ? I '11 be bound you would." 
 
 " We won't discuss that possible contingency, 
 my love," was the reply. " Suppose we drop the 
 conversation. Go and give us some music, girls, 
 before I 'm off to the Club." 
 
 But it happened that the conversation about 
 Mr. Smith whom the reader has already per- 
 ceived to be the owner of the BAGATELLE was 
 not to be brought to a close so suddenly, for 
 no sooner had Sophy and Ellen seated themselves 
 at the piano, to perform a duet, than a maid- 
 servant entered the room and put into their 
 father's hand a note, which she said had been 
 brought by a sailor man, who was to wait for 
 a reply. 
 
 " What 's aU this about ? " said Mr. Bell, 
 running his eye hastily over the contents. " Oh, 
 show the man into the kitchen, Betsy, and give 
 him a glass of ale. I'll just talk this matter 
 over with your mistress, and send him down a 
 note to take back."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 63 
 
 He then added, when the girl had left, 
 
 " Why this note is from Smith himself. They 
 say, talk of the old gentleman and he shows 
 himself, and this is something like it. He invites 
 us all to go out in the BAGATELLE, for a sail in 
 the Bay, and luncheon afterwards within the 
 harbour, the day after to-morrow and to meet 
 some mutual friends. "What say you, girls ?" 
 
 " Oh, how delightful, " half screamed the 
 young lady of seventeen, answering for the whole 
 party, and in her eagerness almost snatching 
 the note from her father's hand, in order that 
 she might read it for herself. Very rude indeed, 
 but she was the spoilt child, that same Katie 
 as youngest daughters often are by their good 
 Papas. 
 
 " Come, read it out," said her mother, " don't 
 keep it all to yourself, child we want to hear." 
 So the young lady read as follows, with a sparkle 
 in her eye, and a flush upon her cheek. 
 
 " The BAGATELLE, Wednesday, June 19. 
 " Mr. Smith presents his compliments to Mrs. and 
 the Rev. Alfred Bell, and their daughters, and will 
 feel much pleasure if they will join him, and a few 
 mutual friends, for a sail in the Bay in his little 
 yacht, the day after to-morrow, the sail to be
 
 64 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 followed by a luncheon on board, within the harbour. 
 Weather permitting, of course, so far as the sail is 
 concerned. To meet at the harbour-slip at ten 
 not later, on account of the tide." 
 
 " Oh, won't it be nice ? " said the gleeful 
 girl, handing the note to her Mamma, and never 
 for a moment doubting that the rest would view 
 the invitation in the same light as she did 
 herself. And, in fact, they did all look pleased, 
 even Sophy herself, notwithstanding her previous 
 remarks in disparagement of the writer of the 
 note. 
 
 " It is certainly very kind of him to think 
 of us," said the Mamma, " and I really don't see 
 why we shouldn't accept, although we know 
 but little of him at present. He is often giving 
 these luncheons on board his yacht this season, 
 and people say they're very nice and distinguds 
 indeed. I thought some day he might be inviting 
 us to one." 
 
 " But stop a bit," said Papa. " We mustn't 
 all go that would be bad taste. You can fancy 
 how small the cabin is. Ten are quite enough 
 to fill it, and if we go five strong, I'm sure 
 he would think it a mistake. Two, or at most, 
 three of us, would be quite enough. Suppose
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 65 
 
 I accept for myself and one of my daughters 
 that will look the best and no doubt the turn 
 will come for Mamma and the others another 
 time." 
 
 Ellen was the first to acquiesce in her Papa's 
 proposal that some of them should stand out. 
 " I '11 be one, Papa, to give up," she said. 
 
 Her elder sister was bound to follow suit, if 
 only for the sake of consistency ; and their 
 Mamma added 
 
 " "Well, I _hate the water, so Papa shall go 
 with Kate." 
 
 This being arranged to the satisfaction of all 
 parties at least so far as appearance went 
 the Reverend Papa adjourned to his study, and 
 wrote the following reply to the note of invitation 
 which he had received : 
 
 " MY DEAR SMITH, It is veiy kind of you to ask 
 us all to join you in a sail in your pretty BAGATELLE 
 on Friday, but we fear that five of us would be 
 crowding your cabin too much particularly as you 
 talk of inviting other friends. We have arranged 
 therefore that I will accept for myself and my 
 youngest daughter only, if that is quite agreeable 
 
 to you. 
 
 " Very faithfully yours, 
 
 " ALFRED BELL." 
 > i
 
 66 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 The note was handed to our old friend Jim ; 
 and the parson returned to the drawing-room, 
 and repeated its contents, adding 
 
 " I am not sure whether it is very wise of 
 me, though, to introduce him up here, for of 
 course, after this we shall have to include him 
 in our circle of friends, and return his kindness 
 in some way. It was not exactly etiquette of 
 him either, to invite us, now I think of it ; 
 for although he and I are pretty intimate at 
 the Club, yet he knows but little of any of you, 
 and has never been formally introduced to you 
 by me. He ought by rights to have waited 
 until I had made the first advance. However, 
 I suppose etiquette need not be very strictly 
 observed in a place like this, where we are 
 only visitors for a time, and where intimacies can 
 easily be shaken off, and need not extend to our 
 own home when we get back. Still, it is one 
 thing to be friends with a pleasant fellow whom 
 you may happen to meet at a club at a watering 
 place, and even to like him immensely as a 
 companion to yourself, but another thing to 
 introduce him to your wife and daughters. One 
 can't be too particular ; and now I think of it 
 people do whisper strange things about him."
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 67 
 
 " Oh. Papa, how can you talk in that way ? " 
 said the much-indulged Kate. " L What a perfect 
 gentleman he is. I'm sure no one should say 
 a word against him to me, if I were ever to 
 call myself his friend." And having delivered 
 herself of the above spirited sentiment, with a 
 blush a second time mantling to her cheek, she 
 darted from under her long lashes a beam of 
 reproach into her father's face. 
 
 " Much you know about these things, Miss," 
 was the reply. " People do talk about him, 
 there 's no doubt ; and they think it odd that 
 he never seems to know anyone in England, 
 and that he avoids so systematically as he does, 
 all allusion to any kith or kin, except his little 
 daughter ; and I have certainly noticed how 
 proud and supercilious he can be, when chaffed 
 about himself. He has not a good temper, I 
 fancy ; in fact I 'm sure he has not." 
 
 " Oh, Papa," said Ellen, " what a shame ! " 
 
 " Well, I grant you there is much in his 
 favour too," continued her Papa, " or I should 
 never have become so thick with him as I 
 
 
 
 am. For instance, he never gambles, and has 
 no low tastes. I believe he smokes, but not 
 much, and he certainly doesn't drink. His
 
 68 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 tastes are all rational and intellectual, and he 
 has talent, beyond a doubt. He seems to have 
 plenty of money, yet is not extravagant ; and 
 he pays his way punctually, and never gets in 
 debt, at least so they say. Mrs. Brown swears 
 by him, and says he's the model lodger the 
 best she ever had. Then, in his person, he is 
 neat and gentlemanly, without being a fop ; 
 and all the college boys like him, for he goes 
 down with them to bathe, and plays cricket 
 and football with them, and that sort of thing, 
 and tips them when they do well. All this is 
 greatly in his favour ; and upon my word I 
 don't know what you can say for a man more 
 than this. For my own part, I like him ; and 
 I don't see a bit why we shouldn't all know 
 Ijim, and ask him up." 
 
 Thus the worthy Rector conciliated his con- 
 science, and stifled a scruple which some people 
 might think overstrained.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 69 
 
 CHAPTER 7. 
 
 TRAITS OF CHARACTER. 
 
 FROM the conversation recorded in the preceding 
 Chapter the reader will have caught a glimpse 
 of the mode of life and tastes of the owner of 
 the BAGATELLE at that time that is to say after 
 he had been in Jersey two years. He lived 
 in comfortable well-appointed lodgings, he kept 
 his yacht at the pier, he was beginning to mix 
 in the best society of the island, and he amused 
 himself with painting and sketching, in which 
 arts he appeared to possess something far beyond 
 mere amateur proficiency. He was tall and 
 strikingly handsome in person, a gentleman 
 in manners and appearance, and apparently 
 well off. To this must now be added that he 
 made no secret of his continued regard for his 
 old friends at La Pulente. And yet it need
 
 70 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 not be thought strange that he should feel 
 attached to them, when it is remembered that 
 they had befriended him in a great trouble, 
 and were people of education who, although 
 poor then, had seen better days. Thus, his 
 little daughter, Mabel by name, remained in 
 Hannah's charge, and he went over to see her, 
 and gossip with the old man at least once in 
 every week. Nor were these visits to St. Ouen's 
 Bay by any means unentertaining ones ; for old 
 Smith, the bedridden hermit, lying on his 
 ottoman by the side of his little window, in 
 his strangely-appointed attic, was a profound 
 original in his way. Before the accident 
 happened which had cost him the use of his 
 legs, he had travelled a good deal, had been 
 to sea, had made money in a variety of ways 
 and lost it again, had been a smuggler, a 
 lawyer, a doctor, a ship-broker, and heaven 
 knows what ; besides which he had read, and 
 reflected much after a fashion of his own ; and 
 had earned money by contributions to newspapers 
 and magazines. He had also a rich and racy 
 talent in conversation, with just so much laxity 
 of moral tone as to render his anecdotes piquants 
 and diverting. It is not wonderful, therefore,
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 71 
 
 that his young namesake should have continued 
 to visit him, or have come to regard him with 
 some sort of liking, if not with esteem. 
 
 But the reader may be inclined to ask why 
 little Mabel was left in the charge of such 
 strange people, and in such an outlandish 
 place ; and why her Papa did not let her live 
 with him in the town, where she could have 
 had a proper nurse, or governess, and other 
 children to play with ? 
 
 The reply is simple enough. On the one 
 hand, nothing could induce Old Smith to 
 remove his quarters from La Bie ; while, on 
 the other hand, nothing could induce young 
 Smith to remove Mabel from Hannah's charge. 
 That is why he left her where she was. Once, 
 when the old man was hard pressed by him 
 to give up his homely quarters in St. Ouen's 
 Bay, and remove from his attic to a more 
 comfortable bedroom in the town, he replied 
 with much energy and animation 
 
 " My good fellow, you don't understand 
 my idiosyncrasy at all. You think that because 
 I lie here inactive, from day to day, and year 
 to year, that therefore I must be dull, and 
 want society. It is no such thing. I am by
 
 72 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 nature an unsocial being, and my chief enjoyment 
 in life is to lie and watch a view from my 
 window, over some grand solitude like this 
 Bay. The love of grand scenery has always 
 been a passion of mine, and a view a necessity 
 of life. I can't live without it. You, who 
 are an artist, ought to understand this. Now, 
 look through my little pane, and tell me what 
 you could show me in your town to compare 
 with that great Western ocean, which I have 
 only to raise my head to see at any time, in 
 calm or gale, in sunshine or shadow, in 
 moonlight or starlight, at sunrise or sunset ? 
 Why, dingy brick houses, and streets full of 
 people whose occupations would not amuse me 
 in the least. What now, do you suppose, is 
 the real event of the day to me, as I lie here? 
 I'll be bound you think, to read the latest 
 copy of the Times that you bring me, or to 
 watch the mail boat pass, and note exactly the 
 hour of her arrival, and speculate on the news 
 she brings. Not a bit. My great event of 
 every day is the sunset over yonder sea. Then 
 I build my castles in the air, and grow young 
 again for my mind and fancy are young yet, 
 quite as young as ever. Now, what could you
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 73 
 
 give me in the town to compare with such a 
 sight as that, which, even if I could see it 
 there at all, would have its exquisite illusions 
 and fairy visions disturbed by the jarring sounds 
 and sights of a civilization which does not 
 greatly concern myself, and which seems to 
 get uglier with every fresh step it takes, and 
 to be the antagonistic element of beauty in 
 the world. What I should lose by a removal 
 to the town would be the greatest delight I 
 have in life ; while I should gain, what ? You 
 tell me I should oftener get a change of books 
 but what are books to me ? other men's 
 thoughts while for the most part I prefer my 
 own. And then, as to visitors and gossiping 
 friends they would only bore me for there 
 would be no sympathy between us, and I 
 should have to amuse them. No. I prefer to 
 live in this wild spot, and so does Hannah too. 
 I may not have many years to live perhaps 
 not many months, or even weeks but my 
 earnest prayer is that I may be left to die in 
 this place in peace, on some calm evening, 
 when I may breathe forth my last sigh alone, 
 and lying here, as the sun goes down upon 
 
 the sea. To disturb me now would be to kill 
 
 X
 
 74 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 me outright, by robbing me of the last joy I 
 have on earth the poetry of nature the sights 
 and the sounds of this wild coast. No, my 
 friend. Through your kindness, this little 
 cottage has been rendered as comfortable to us 
 as it can be, and all the cares of life have 
 been removed. Come here then, and gossip 
 with the old man when you like, and as often 
 as you like, and the oftener the better, but 
 never again allude to the possibility of my 
 removing from this place. You don't under- 
 stand my idiosyncrasy. The love of nature has 
 been a passion with me all my life, and therefore 
 my bane when it was not gratified ; besides 
 which, I am an unsocial being, because I have 
 never found anyone constituted like myself." 
 
 " But the child must be a trouble to you, 
 my dear Sir. Its endless noise and boisterous 
 spirits, which no one can control, must worry 
 you I know they must." 
 
 " No there you 're wrong again. Hav' n't I 
 told you a hundred times that I love that little 
 darling more than I can express. She is like a 
 ray of sunshine in the house. If you ever dare 
 to take her from me mind I '11 be revenged 
 and that I could be, in a way you little think."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 75 
 
 " I dare say you could," replied the other, 
 laughing. 
 
 "Don't tempt me that's all. If you ever 
 dare to take away my little pet, before I 'm taken 
 away myself, feet foremost, I '11 I won't say 
 what." 
 
 " "Well then, she shall stay another year with 
 you, at any rate. I am quite content ; and when 
 she does leave you, it shall be only her noise 
 and worry that you shall miss. This I promise 
 you do you understand ? " 
 
 " Never mind. Speak no more about it. 
 Hand me your books and papers. What 's the 
 best news to-day ? There, leave me now, and 
 go and romp with her, and make the most 
 noise you can, for I love to hear it. It 's the 
 next best music to the sea." 
 
 Then the old man would bury himself in the 
 batch of news ; for notwithstanding all that he 
 had said about the sunset, and the poetry of 
 nature, and the sights and sounds of that wild 
 coast, he loved dearly, helpless as he was and 
 solitary, to con over the news from England, and 
 was even better posted in it, so far as the date of 
 his last newspaper went, than many an active 
 citizen of the great Babylon itself. The sequel
 
 76 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 will show, moreover, that the true character of 
 this old man was difficult to fathom, even by a 
 deep sea lead. 
 
 As for little Mabel, then three years old, she 
 seemed likely to prove a character too, as she 
 grew up. Her animal spirits were unbounded, 
 and quite beyond Hannah's control ; and she 
 looked the picture of rosy and exuberant health. 
 Her great delight was to toddle down to the 
 sea beach, and dabble in the pools amongst the 
 rocks, and scream with a child's ecstacy as she 
 watched the gambols of the shrimps and little fish ; 
 or decked herself with long fronds of seaweed, 
 and clambered up to the attic, and teazed " old 
 Jack " with them as he had taught her to call 
 him. She was not exactly a pretty child, although 
 she had fine hazel eyes, and an abundance of 
 wavy brown curls ; but her face was expressive 
 of every transient feeling of an impulsive nature, 
 and with the beauty which perfect health always 
 adds to youth. She was small for her age, but 
 seemed to have inherited much of her mother's 
 grace. On the whole she was a loveable and 
 amusing child, and a favourite with all who knew 
 her, both old and young. 
 
 The reader has now been fairly introduced to
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 77 
 
 the two Smiths and little Mabel ; but first 
 impressions are often erroneous, and no person's 
 character can be thoroughly understood until 
 it has been tested by some ordeal in which the 
 amount of selfishness, which is more or less 
 inherent in every human being as a motive or 
 guiding principle of action, is correctly ascer- 
 tained in its relation to other influences. It is 
 just possible that first impressions may be wrong 
 in the present case, and that a further revelation 
 of character, as regards the two men, to be made 
 in the next chapter, may prove a surprise. 
 Moreover the reader must be reminded, before 
 proceeding further with the tale, of certain 
 suspicions which old Smith had formed respecting 
 his young namesake, on the day when they 
 first became acquainted. During the two years 
 which had since elapsed, the mind of the old 
 man had never ceased to brood over those 
 suspicions ; and with an inherent meanness of 
 disposition, and love of dark romance and 
 intrigue, he had been ever on the watch, with 
 cat-like patience and fox-like cunning, for such 
 further light as chance might throw upon what 
 had become deeply and personally interesting 
 to him to discover, viz. : the antecedents of the
 
 78 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 owner of the BAGATELLE. The sequel will show 
 that chance had been singularly propitious on 
 many occasions in helping him to a solution 
 of an enigma which had engrossed his thoughts ; 
 and that at length, in his opinion, the time 
 for turning his knowledge to his own advantage 
 had actually arrived.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 79 
 
 CHAPTER 8. 
 
 ANGRY WORDS. SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED. 
 
 ON the day preceding that which had been fixed 
 for the sail and pic-nic in the BAGATELLE, her 
 owner had an altercation with his man Jim, 
 whom long idleness had rendered independent 
 and saucy ; and this, in connexion with other 
 circumstances about to be described, led to a far 
 more serious quarrel with the old man at La Bie. 
 How all this happened, we shall now proceed 
 to tell. 
 
 On the day in question, young Smith was seen, 
 shortly after leaving his yacht, driving in a hired 
 horse and gig at a great pace, in the direction of 
 La Pulente. There was a cloud upon his brow, 
 and anger in his eye, and anyone could see at a 
 glance that his temper had been severely ruffled 
 that morning. On arriving at the cottage where 
 his old namesake dwelt, he put up his steaming
 
 80 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 horse in the outhouse at the back ; and then, 
 not finding either Hannah or Mabel in either of 
 the lower rooms, mounted at once to the attic, 
 and presented himself, in the worst possible 
 humour, at the bedside of the old man. 
 
 " You are an unexpected visitor this morning," 
 said the latter, sitting up to receive his guest. 
 " I did not think to see you over until Sunday. 
 Nothing wrong has happened, I trust, to put you 
 out of sorts for you look as black as the old 
 father of mischief himself ? " 
 
 " I am sorry to say that something has 
 occurred to vex me," was the reply, " and I have 
 driven over to-day to be the first to tell you of it 
 for Jim will give you his version of the affair, 
 no doubt. You know that his conduct to me for 
 some time past has not been so respectful as I 
 like, and I have had to complain to you about it ; 
 but this morning he has thought fit to break out 
 into open mutiny, and defy me. "What he said 
 I shall not repeat, but it was something which I 
 don't quite understand, and don't mean to put up 
 with either. He was half drunk at the time, or I 
 verily believe I should have given him in charge 
 of the Cen (enter. As it is, he has simply had 
 notice to quit my service in a week. I am not
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 81 
 
 one to stand much cheek from a man to whom I 
 have been so uniformly kind and indulgent as I 
 have to him, and who has led a nearly idle life 
 at my expense for two years." 
 
 " Ha ! " replied the old man, fixing his 
 expressive grey eyes keenly upon his visitor. 
 " Have you and Jim quarrelled at last ? I 
 thought it would come to that some day. I 
 suppose he has been reading the Times paper 
 lately, instead of minding his work." 
 
 This was said with a marked expression of 
 irony and defiance, and it had by no means a 
 mollifying effect upon the other who replied 
 
 " I have no conception what you mean, Sir, 
 or what Jim meant either; but this I can tell 
 you, that I am not one to brook any impudence, 
 either from him or you, and that if you back 
 him in his improper conduct to me, our connexion 
 will cease too. I shall settle with you, and 
 take my child away at once." 
 
 "Whew," whistled the old man contemptuously. 
 "Don't you know, Sir, that Jim is a very 
 particular protege of mine, and that you must 
 not dismiss him from your service, unless I 
 choose or take away the child either ? "
 
 82 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 "Pooh you forget yourself, Sir," was the 
 reply. " "What power have you, I should like to 
 know, over my actions ? How can you prevent 
 my doing as I please, either in the matter of Jim, 
 or of little Mabel ? If you suppose I will submit 
 to be dictated to by you, or by any man living, 
 you are egregiously mistaken in my character. 
 I have merely come over now to tell you what has 
 occurred, and what I have actually done, in order 
 that you might hear it first from me not to ask 
 your advice in the matter. I now wish you good 
 morning, Sir ; and when your account against me 
 is made out, you will know where to send it 
 although, now I think of it, the balance will be 
 in my favour, as I have always paid you in 
 advance." 
 
 So saying, he was about to leave the room in a 
 towering passion, and had actually put his hand 
 upon the door, when the old man called him back, 
 in a tone as proud and resolute as his own. 
 
 " Henry Clifford," he said, " I command you to 
 return to my bedside, and listen to what I have 
 got to tell you, and propose to you for your own 
 safety ; for know that both your life and your 
 property are in my power." 
 
 At the sound of that name, Henry Clifford,
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 83 
 
 the young man started as if a thunderbolt had 
 fallen at his feet ; and his cheek lost at once 
 its crimson hue of passion. For a full minute 
 he remained motionless, with his hand upon the 
 door latch ; and then he returned to the bedside 
 of the old man. 
 
 " What is it that you know about me ? " he 
 asked, in accents of ill-suppressed emotion. 
 
 " Much," was the cool reply. " Just so much 
 as to place you completely in my power. If you 
 dare to take away that child, or attempt to leave 
 this island without my full knowledge and 
 consent, the Sheriff of St. Helier's shall lay his 
 hand upon your collar and lodge you in the town 
 jail and that without any other warrant than a 
 word from me, which could be conveyed to him 
 by letter, in an hour, from this place. Jerseymen 
 know how to make laws in their own defence, and 
 if strangers think them oppressive they should 
 keep away. You are in my power, Henry 
 Clifford. Now, what have you got to say ? " 
 
 There was again a pause for a full minute ; and 
 then the old man put his hand beneath his pillow, 
 and drew out a pistol, which he cocked, saying at 
 the same time
 
 84 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 "I may be an old bedridden, abject, helpless 
 thing, but I have still strength enough left 
 to pull a trigger, and eyesight enough to take 
 deadly aim. That menacing glance of yours, 
 Mr. Clifford, will avail nothing." 
 
 " Pooh," replied the young man, with recovered 
 composure and hauteur. "My glance was one 
 of contempt not of menace. You mistake 
 me most absurdly, through your own foolish 
 fears. I menace no one with personal violence 
 who does not first threaten me with the same 
 but most assuredly not a helpless old being 
 like you. Put that thing away at once. I 
 have simply come back to your bedside to hear 
 what it is that you profess to know about 
 me, as well as . to ascertain the sources of 
 your information, and the meaning of your 
 threats." 
 
 The old man uncocked his weapon, and put 
 it back, saying in a milder tone 
 
 "We are both fools to quarrel, and lose 
 our temper. Our interests are the same, and 
 we must try and pull together. I had a 
 great deal to talk over with you calmly, had 
 you come on Sunday ; but you have forestalled 
 it by coming here so suddenly to-day, and
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. CO' 
 
 aggravating me with that story of your silly 
 altercation with Jim. Suppose you leave me for 
 an hour ? and take a walk upon the beach ; then 
 return, and I will discuss with you calmly what I 
 have got to say. We are both too excited now 
 to continue this conversation in a style which 
 will lead to any good. Believe me, I do not 
 want to break with you, but rather to act as 
 your counsellor and your friend. There go now 
 and leave me to myself for the time I said." 
 
 The young man, somewhat softened and 
 reassured, complied with this request, and took 
 a stroll upon the beach. 
 
 The hour of suspense was over at last, and 
 he returned to the cottage. He met Hannah 
 and little Mabel at the door. The latter did 
 not bound up into his arms with her usual 
 glee, but looked at him timidly, and turned 
 away her face for there was an unwonted 
 expression in his own that frightened her. He 
 tapped her kindly on the neck, and passed on. 
 To Hannah he did not say a word. 
 
 The old man was waiting to receive him, 
 with a clear and open brow. All traces of the 
 late quarrel had passed off. He was the first 
 to speak. He said
 
 86 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " Sit down, Mr. Clifford, by my side upon 
 the bed. We must have a long talk, and I 
 must tell you what I know about you, and 
 make you a definite proposition also. I will 
 come quickly to the point, and will not keep 
 you in suspense. It is important to us both 
 that we should understand each other fully. 
 Now your account of yourself is this : that 
 your name is John Smith that the yacht's 
 name is the BAGATELLE that she belongs to 
 you that the young creature who perished in 
 the surf was your wife, Zoe by name and 
 that the child whom you saved, with Hannah's 
 help, is your daughter Mabel. But I have 
 learnt a very different story. It is, that your 
 name is Henry Clifford that the yacht's name 
 is the LURLINE that she does not rightly belong 
 to you that Zoe was not your wife, but the wife 
 of one Charles Marsden and that Mabel is not 
 your daughter, but his. What have you to say to 
 this ? Is your story, or mine, the true one ? " 
 
 " May I ask where you learnt all these 
 particulars respecting me ? " replied the young 
 man, evasively. 
 
 " By all means. Ask what you like, and I 
 will answer it."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 87 
 
 " Then how did you learn that my name is 
 Henry Clifford, and not John Smith ? " 
 
 " I saw it written on the fly leaf of a book 
 which you once lent me." 
 
 " And how did you learn about Marsden, 
 and Zoe, and Mabel, and the LURLINE ? " 
 
 " From a letter which Jim found in the 
 pocket of his overalls, which you wore on the 
 day of the wreck. Here it is. Read it," said 
 the old man, handing him the letter. 
 
 It was written upon thin Foreign paper 
 was much discoloured by sea water, and half 
 effaced but was legibly addressed to Charles 
 Marsden, Esq., Lurline Yacht, Nice. The first 
 few sentences, which were all, except the 
 signature and a short postcript, that could be 
 clearly made out, ran thus 
 
 " London, April 20, 18. 
 
 " MY DEAR CHARLES, I 've got lots of news for 
 you about my precious self, and your old pals, but 
 first let me congratulate you on your own sublime 
 good luck. I heard it through the 'fiddler.' It is 
 most refreshing to the mind. It falls like rain upon 
 the parched sand. So the old cock is dead at last, 
 and your pretty Zoe entitled to the interest of 
 15,000 during her life, and the principal to come 
 to little Mabel at her death. Let me see. Mabel
 
 88 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 is now a year old; and that detested Harry Clifford 
 is executor to the will. 
 
 " Your idea, of course, is grand, if you can only 
 carry it. . .." 
 
 The rest of the letter was effaced, all but 
 the name of the writer, and an unimportant 
 postscript at the end. 
 
 When he had read it, the young man returned 
 it, and said 
 
 " But how did you know that the name of 
 my yacht was the LURLINE ? " 
 
 " Jim told me that. The name is carved 
 upon one of the beams of the forecastle." 
 
 " And is this all the wonderful evidence you 
 have against me, Sir?" demanded the young 
 man, with a contemptuous smile. 
 
 " Not quite. Observe," was the reply, " that 
 the letter is signed Jeremiah Stubbs. Now> 
 whether that was a mere nom de plume, or the 
 real name of the writer, matters not. Suppose 
 I tell you that I have advertised in the Times, 
 thus. If Jeremiah Stubbs, who addressed a 
 letter, dated London, April 20, 18 , to Charles 
 Marsden Esq., Lurline Yacht, Nice, will com- 
 municate with so-and-so, he will hear of
 
 OK ROMANCE TN A YACHT. 89 
 
 something to his advantage ; and if I tell you 
 besides, that this advertisement has met with 
 a satisfactory reply, what will you say then ?" 
 
 " Simply that you are a deceitful and ungrate- 
 ful old villain that is all an old reptile who 
 deserves to be stamped out." 
 
 " Delicious," cried the old man, rubbing his 
 hands with glee. " I suppose now, Mr. Clifford, 
 I have told you quite enough. You won't 
 want to hear any more. But stop a bit. Wait 
 till I pay you the balance of your account. 
 Then you may take the child away, and be 
 off. We will give you a week's start of us, if 
 only for a better chase." 
 
 There was a pause again, during which each 
 of them looked sternly in the other's face. 
 At length the young man said, with calmness, 
 but with deep reproach 
 
 " I did not deserve this from you, Sir. 
 Whatever may have been my crime or I 
 should rather say my blunder, for it was not 
 a crime I have been more than kind and 
 generous to you and Hannah. But denounce 
 me, if you choose. I promise you there shall 
 be no chase. I am not a hare, or a fox, to 
 
 run for dear life at the first baying of the 
 
 M
 
 90 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 hounds. I shall take away the child from you 
 to-day, and wait where all the world can 
 find me. Then, if it should be proved against 
 me that I have really broken the strict letter of 
 the law, I will tell my own tale truly, and 
 let people condemn me or not, as they think fit. 
 It is enough for me to know that I acted 
 unselfishly, and as I thought for the best, in 
 a way that my conscience approved. I wish 
 you good morning, vile old man, and I leave 
 you to do your worst. I defy you, and I spit 
 upon you with contempt." 
 
 " Hush !" said the other. " You and I are 
 fools to quarrel, for our interests are now the 
 same. You can make it worth my while to 
 shield you ; and I can do so effectually, if 
 you will only follow my advice. Let us not 
 insult and' irritate each other. Let us be 
 friends. Have I not kept your secret inviolate 
 for two years ? Why then should I divulge 
 it now ? I offer you my hand. Forget what 
 I have said. Go and romp with the little one 
 again, and let us be as happy as we were before. 
 I am sorry I said what I did, but you provoked 
 me to it. You have nothing to fear from me or 
 Jim, so long as you let things go on as I
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 91 
 
 wish ; but you must give him work, and stop 
 his drink. He has not had half enough to do." 
 To this offer of renewed friendship, couched 
 in the very blandest tones, the young man 
 made no reply, but sat down upon the bed, 
 and rested his head upon his hand, as if in 
 a train of painful thought. At length he said 
 raising his eyes and fixing them sternly upon 
 his companion 
 
 " You told me, Sir, just now, that my life 
 as well as my property was in your power. 
 What did you mean by that ? Am I to 
 understand that you, or any other persons, 
 suspect me of foul play towards poor Zoe? 
 You must and shall answer me this question 
 truly, and on your oath." 
 
 " I will, then, most willingly and gladly," 
 was the reply. " I swear to you that if for 
 a moment I did conceive it possible that you 
 might have struck her on the head with a 
 marlinspike, or some such implement, as she 
 was struggling after her fall into the sea, yet 
 that I abandoned the suspicion at once, as 
 quite improbable and absurd. No one who 
 saw you, as I did through my glass, behave 
 so gallantly in rescuing the young ehild,
 
 92 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 could suppose for a moment that you had 
 murdered that child's mother but an instant 
 before. Such an idea would be scouted even 
 in the wildest romance. I think the probability 
 is that the poor young creature fell backwards, 
 when that heavy roller rushed against her 
 as she stood upon the rail, and that she 
 struck her head against the channel as she 
 fell into the sea. That I swear to you is 
 my belief and always has been." 
 
 " Then why did you dare to hint at something 
 worse ? However, I breathe more freely now. 
 The rest can be explained. I have been guilty 
 of no act of fraud as little Mabel shall 
 herself admit one day, when she is old enough 
 to understand my recital of what occurred 
 on board the yacht, and since. My conduct, 
 I grant, may have been peculiar, and I may 
 have taken the law into my own hand ; but I 
 distinctly deny having committed any intentional 
 act of fraud, or having acted with any but the 
 very best intentions towards her." 
 
 " My poor lad," replied the old man, offering 
 him a second time the hand of reconciliation, 
 " I know that what you say is true. I believe 
 it firmly, and would maintain it against the
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 93 
 
 world. I have read your character through 
 and through, and I have never met a man 
 in whose integrity I would place more faith 
 than I would in yours. No doubt the temptation 
 to what you did was great, and you acted as 
 you thought was best; but I must tell you 
 that there are now two parties to be consulted 
 before your plans can be carried out and that 
 I am. one. I hold the sword of Damocles 
 above your head; but I promise you that the 
 hair by which it hangs shall not snap in my 
 hands, so long as you consult me, and follow 
 in all things my advice. My terms are easy 
 ones, I promise you. Agree to them, and 
 you shall be safe. Do you consent " ? 
 
 The young man smiled, and shook his head. 
 
 " Then you think me an old rogue, presuming 
 on the hold I have got over you to act the 
 tyrant and extortioner, Eh ? But I will prove 
 to you that I am in truth your friend, and 
 that you will find me one, as long as you 
 remain one to yourself. Listen. When you 
 first knew me, I was in the hard gripe of 
 poverty. True, I had bought this desolate 
 hut, in quartiers, as they call it here, by 
 paying one third of its price, or thereabouts,
 
 94 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 in money, and saddling myself with the 
 rest in rentes ; but bedridden and helpless as 
 I am, I had then but little left in fact only 
 just so much to live upon as I could contrive 
 to earn as I lay here, by the use of my 
 brains and pen. How we managed for two 
 years to make a wretched income, and eke 
 it out, does not matter now, for that trial 
 has been passed, and with it passed away also 
 the temptation to evil, and the curse of want. 
 You came thrown up like a blessing to 
 us by the waves and you placed the child 
 in our care, and paid us so handsomely for 
 her support as to supply our every want. 
 Then followed rest to me from the grinding 
 worry of earning a wretched income as I lay 
 here ; and the multitude of little comforts 
 which you heaped upon us with a generosity 
 that you little thought was so well repaid by 
 me for I have known your secret from the 
 very first. All this generosity I liked you 
 for ; and by degrees I came to love the child. 
 "With my altered circumstances I became an 
 altered man, and a better man ; and I wish 
 now to be your friend if you will let me. Do 
 you take my hint?"
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 95 
 
 " Plainly then, I do not," was the somewhat 
 stern reply. " What you say sounds plausible 
 enough, but I have sufficient knowledge of the 
 human face to perceive in yours a crafty 
 expression which belies your words. You are 
 keeping something back." 
 
 "All in good time, " replied the other. "You 
 have had a fox to deal with, no doubt ; but 
 you have gained in that wise old fox a partner 
 in your scheme and it is lucky for you that 
 you have. Henceforth, then, let us pull together. 
 Shall I tell you what I have proposed ? It is 
 that you shall be the 'sleeping partner, and I 
 the active one. Do you agree to that ? " 
 
 " Positively, Sir, I don't understand you in 
 the least." 
 
 " Pooh ! " said the old man, pettishly. "Then 
 I won't waste any more of my precious words 
 upon you. Pay me down a thousand pounds or 
 I will betray your secret at once." 
 
 " I thought it was coming to that," replied 
 the young man, contemptuously. " You want 
 me to bribe you handsomely, to hold your 
 tongue. But suppose I tell you that your 
 surmises about me are so indefinite as not to 
 be worth my notice ; and that the scraps of
 
 96 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 evidence which you have collected are insufficient 
 to form just grounds for my arrest. "What then ? 
 What does your wonderful evidence amount to 
 after all ? An old letter, half-effaced ; a word 
 carved upon a beam ; and a name written 
 upon the fly-leaf of a book ! It is too absurd." 
 
 " But you forget," said the old man, " how 
 strong the circumstantial evidence against you 
 is, which that letter supplies." 
 
 " And you forget too, old fox," replied the 
 other, "how easily I can snatch it from you, 
 and destroy it on the spot." 
 
 And with the rapidity of thought, as he said 
 this, he seized the old man's wrists in his iron 
 grip, and whilst he held them tight in one hand, 
 he removed the letter, and the pistol also, from 
 beneath the pillow with the other, adding 
 
 " Palavering old fool, I shall now leave you to 
 do your worst. Consult with Jeremiah Stubbs, and 
 take any course you like. I know you now for the 
 most ungrateful, the most lying, and the meanest 
 old hypocrite on earth, and I shall act accordingly, 
 without any scruple, in my own defence." 
 
 He left the room, descended the step-ladder 
 quickly, and went out. Five minutes after, the 
 old man heard him drive away at a swift pace.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 97 
 
 CHAPTER 9. 
 
 AN ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE sound of wheels had scarcely died away, 
 when Hannah, who had heard from her own 
 room the altercation in the attic, went to her 
 father's side. She was in tears, and trembling, 
 and there was a look of deep anxiety as well 
 as of reproach in her good honest face. 
 
 "This is how things always end with us," 
 she said. " My father, experience will never 
 make you wise. It is the same old story over 
 and over again. You are always plotting and 
 scheming, and knowing more than your neigh- 
 bours, and thinking to outwit people who are 
 kind to you, and doing you all the good they 
 can. See how happy we have been for the last 
 two years ; and now we shall be destitute and 
 in misery again, because you could not let well 
 
 N
 
 98 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 alone. That horrid advertisement that you saw 
 a week ago seems to have turned your brain, 
 and made an altered man of you. What 
 insane folly it is. What business have you 
 with other people's affairs ? What good can an 
 old helpless man like you do, by intermeddling ? 
 You can only bring misery by it on yourself 
 and me. Now you have offended that most 
 kind and excellent young man, who has been 
 an angel of goodness to us, and we shall see 
 no more of him, or his bank notes either. It 
 is the same old story, over and over again 
 always squabbling and acting meanly, and never 
 content. Here we are, left destitute again !" 
 
 "Hush, my child, and don't torment me 
 in my trouble," replied her father. " When 
 a man is down, some woman that is dear to 
 him, or ought to be, is always sure to come 
 and kick him. I did the best I could. I kept 
 bad temper down. I tried to mollify him. 
 Twice I offered him my hand, which he refused. 
 He is an intractable young bull or rather a 
 wild hyaena, whom it is impossible to tame by 
 any arts. A more hot-headed young fool I 
 never came across. But then, it is true, he 
 did not know of this advertisement, which
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 
 
 appeared in the Times a fortnight since. He 
 brought me himself the very paper that it was 
 in the idiot. Here girl, read it, and see 
 what you can make of it ; and when you have 
 read it, advise me what to do." 
 
 So saying, he handed her the copy of the 
 Times, in the second column of which the 
 following advertisement had appeared : - 
 
 100 REWARD! 
 
 TO anyone who will give true information re- 
 specting the fate of the yacht LURLINE, a 
 schooner of 28 tons, N.M., which was deserted by 
 her crew on the night of June 19th, 18 , off the 
 Wolf Rock, near the Land's End ; and also of a 
 lady and her infant child, who remained on board, 
 and whose names are respectively ZOE and MABEL 
 MARSDEN. The same reward will also be given to 
 anyone who will supply such information as shall 
 lead to the conviction of a young man, 24 years of 
 age, named HEXRY CLIFFORD, who is known to 
 have embezzled and diverted to his own use the 
 property of CHARLES MARSDEN, husband of the 
 aforesaid ZOE, and who is still alive. Address to 
 CHARLES MARSDEN, Albion Coffee House, South- 
 ampton. 
 
 " Well, Hannah, what do you think of that P" 
 asked the old man, as soon as she had read it 
 over twice.
 
 100 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 "Who is Henry Clifford? And what yacht 
 is meant by the LURLINE ?" she enquired. 
 
 " Henry Clifford, alias John Smith, is a person 
 whom you know well ; and the LURLINE, alias 
 the BAGATELLE, is a yacht which you have 
 seen, Hannah. Now do you understand?" 
 
 " Are you sure of this ?" 
 
 "There cannot be a doubt. See, here is the 
 name Henry Clifford, at full, written on a fly 
 leaf of a book that he lent me, and Jim has 
 seen the name LURLINE carved upon a beam 
 above his berth. Besides, was it not a Zoe 
 who was brought dead into this house, and 
 is not her child's name Mabel ? The date of 
 the desertion of the vessel by her crew also 
 agrees exactly with that of the day when she 
 was cast ashore at our very feet. There cannot 
 be a doubt at all about who is who, and what 
 is what. The only question is, what course 
 are we now to follow ? Let your woman's 
 instinct guide me to a right decision. Before 
 us now are destitution, and the workhouse ; but, 
 on the other hand, I may gain 100 reward." 
 
 "By betraying one who has been so kind 
 to us, and causing him to be transported, for 
 life ? Oh, never ! We cannot be so mean."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 101 
 
 " But think, Hannah, of an only child severed 
 from its true parent ; and he, perhaps, himself 
 in need." 
 
 " That is shocking too ! Who could have 
 thought that a youth so kind and good, 
 apparently, could have done this wicked thing ! 
 But why has the father waited all this time? 
 "Why did he not advertise before ?" 
 
 " That is odd, certainly," replied the old man. 
 " But I think it can be explained thus. He 
 was on board the yacht during the gale, and 
 may have left her in the boat along with the 
 crew. They may have been picked up by an 
 outward bound vessel, and taken to the world's 
 end ; and he may have had to wait for months in 
 an outlandish place, without money and without 
 friends, and then have received information that 
 his property had been seized, and his child 
 taken off, and have had to endure hardships 
 and poverty on his tedious return home. He 
 may have reached England a beggar and in 
 rags who can say ? The picture I draw is not 
 a fanciful one it is most probably quite true." 
 
 " But what does the unhappy youth himself 
 say?" enquired Hannah, "for I heard angry 
 words between you both just now ?"
 
 102 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " I have not shown him this advertisement. 
 I reserved that heaviest coup of all for the last; 
 but he was off before I had the chance to say a 
 word about it. He has no conception that Mabel's 
 father is still alive. If he had, I dare say he 
 would return the money. The man, I fancy, was 
 a scamp ; and Clifford, for fear that Mabel's 
 money should be dissipated, is holding it in trust 
 for her. He told me that he and Zoe were 
 cousins. That, I think, is how the matter stands ; 
 but mind, it is only my suspicion. Young 
 Clifford is a violent, passionate man, but warm- 
 hearted, and not dishonourable. Still, he has 
 broken the law, and put himself in jeopardy. 
 I had hoped to be his friend, and to have 
 screened him effectually while he worked out 
 his own good intentions ; but I asked him for 
 a material guarantee for the payment for my 
 services, and at the bare mention of the thing 
 he flew into a rage, insulted me, and took 
 himself off. Now then, my daughter, what 
 are we to do ? There is nothing but destitution 
 before us, since we are no longer to be supported 
 by him. Shall we go to the workhouse or 
 do something else?" 
 
 "What else?" she asked.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 103 
 
 " Give information, and take the 100," said 
 her father. 
 
 " No, it would be mean and despicable to 
 do that ; and I should hate myself for ever 
 after," replied Hannah. 
 
 " Then, shall we leave bad alone, and do 
 nothing, and let Jim get the 100 for I fancy 
 he knows already a great deal too much. But 
 tell me, where is the child ?" 
 
 " Down stairs, I think at least she was there 
 ten minutes ago." 
 
 "He didn't take her off with him, did he? 
 I couldn't see him go from this window. He 
 started from the back." 
 
 At this question, poor Hannah looked quite 
 aghast. The possibility of little Mabel having 
 been whipped up and carried off, without her 
 stock of clothes and rattletraps, had never once 
 occurred to her. " I '11 go and look," she said. 
 
 A full quarter of an hour elapsed, and then 
 the old man heard a buzz of neighbours' voices 
 about the house. Their talk was of the child. 
 Two of them asserted most confidently that 
 they had seen the young Mr. Smith galloping 
 up the hill in the gig, but that he was quite 
 alone, and there was no Mabel with him.
 
 104 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 Where, then, was she ? What had become of 
 her, for she could not be found high or low? 
 Possibly she had toddled down upon the beach, 
 and got lost amongst the rocks and pools, and 
 the tide had come up and cut her off. What 
 a horrible idea ! But still it might be true. 
 Where was she ? What on earth had become 
 of her? Some one thought, but could not be 
 sure, that he had seen her in the garden, near 
 the outhouse, when her father left. 
 
 "Do you think, Hannah," said the old man, 
 " that he could have popped her into the locker 
 of the gig ? Was it large enough to hold her 
 she is a little creature?" 
 
 But poor Hannah could only wring her hands, 
 and sob out, " No, she can't be there." 
 
 " I 'm not so sure of that," replied her father, 
 "and what is more, I am not sorry this has 
 happened, for I can make it an excuse for writing 
 to him. Quick, girl, and find a messenger to 
 run after him to the town, while I write him 
 a few lines." 
 
 They were as follow : 
 
 " Mabel is missing. We cannot find her anywhere. 
 I implore you to relieve our anxiety about her. My 
 daughter is distracted, thinking that the tide may
 
 OK KOMANCE IN A YACHT. 105 
 
 have surrounded her, perhaps. I beseech you also 
 not to suppose me capable of betraying you. My 
 only wish is that the happy state of things before 
 oui* quarrel just now could be restored. I have known 
 what I told you for two years, without betraying you, 
 Why then need you doubt me now ? Do not leave 
 the Island until I have seen you, at any rate, once 
 more. In the name of our old friendship, I ask you 
 to forgive and forget, and to accord me this favour. 
 I have also something of the utmost importance to 
 reveal to you." 
 
 A man was found to carry the above note 
 to Clifford's lodgings in the town. "When 
 he got there, lie heard tidings of the child. 
 In fact, he saw her. She had been brought 
 there by Clifford in the gig, an hour or two 
 before, but he had gone out again. The man, 
 true to his instructions, would not leave the 
 note in anyone's hands save his to whom it 
 was addressed ; and after waiting about, in vain, 
 until nearly midnight, he walked back with, 
 it in his pocket, and returned it to the writer. 
 
 In the meantime, old Smith, without the 
 knowledge of his daughter, wrote another note, 
 ready to be posted at a moment's notice, and 
 which ran thus : 
 
 " If Charles Marsden will multiply his promised
 
 106 THE BAGATELLK 
 
 reward by ten, he shall receive at once all the 
 information for which he has advertised. His reply 
 to this intimation must be by another advertisement 
 in the same newspaper, headed J. S. The sooner 
 the better, as the culprit has already taken alarm." 
 
 The above was addressed as stated in the 
 advertisement ; but in order that the Jersey 
 postmark might not appear upon the envelope, 
 it was enclosed in a wrapper addressed to an 
 acquaintance in London, with a request that 
 the enclosed note might be posted at the 
 General Post Office, at St. Martin's-le-Grand. 
 
 " I would not do this," said the old man to 
 himself, as he directed it, " except for fear of 
 Jim, who is not to be trusted now."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 107 
 
 CHAPTER 10. 
 
 A DRIVE. HASTY RESOLVES. 
 
 How wonderful is the elasticity of some mens' 
 temper their buoyancy of spirit which nothing 
 can keep down their pluck which nothing can 
 daunt their insolent self-reliance which no 
 amount of failure seems to quell. Clifford for 
 we must no longer call him Smith was blessed 
 with a disposition of this sort. Anyone would 
 suppose that on his drive back to town that day, 
 he would have exhibited a miserable picture of 
 dejection and care, after his discovery that the 
 old man at La Pulente knew so much more about 
 him than was either pleasant or safe. But it 
 was no such thing. After descending from the 
 attic he looked about for Mabel in both of the 
 lower rooms, but could find neither her nor 
 Hannah there. Then he went round to the back
 
 108 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 of the cottage, where he had put up the horse, 
 and spied her playing in the garden, amongst 
 the pinks and wallflowers, by herself. He said 
 nothing, but put the horse into the gig, and then 
 went and fetched her in his arms, popped her 
 into the locker under the seat, and drove off. 
 The little creature was not frightened, but 
 delighted at the fun ; and when he had gone a 
 few hundred yards, he took her out and stood 
 her between his knees. Then, away they went 
 again. Like the son of Mmshi he drove along 
 the country roads, and the child's spirits rose to 
 a perfect ecstasy at the rate they went at, and 
 the fun of leaving " old Jack " and Hannah so 
 far behind, and having a ride with her dear Papa. 
 Her merriment was contagious. The brow of 
 her companion soon cleared up, and his laughter 
 became as riotous as her own. Once, when they 
 slackened their pace a bit to mount a hill, he tore 
 up an old newspaper for her into little scraps, 
 which he crumpled into pellets, and gave her by 
 the handful to pelt the people with, by the road- 
 side, when they dashed on again. It was true 
 that Clifford loved young things. Some men do, 
 and they show it all through life. The mere 
 companionship of the little fairy of three years
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 109 
 
 old, who was standing between his knees, routed 
 the blue devils, and he was himself again. 
 And yet he had already decided on leaving Jersey 
 that night, in the BAGATELLE, for any port to 
 which the fickle winds might waft her. He had 
 decided also on another step, of a more interesting 
 nature as will appear in due time. 
 
 On they went, those two, in the gig, 
 at the same rattling pace, even through the 
 suburbs of the town, until on turning a sharp 
 corner they almost knocked over a respectable old 
 gentleman in black, who proved to be no other 
 than a friend of the driver's the Rev. Alfred 
 Bell. So the horse was pulled up short, and the 
 following dialogue ensued : 
 
 " Mr. Smith ! Is that you ? Why, God bless 
 me you nearly drove over me, and extinguished 
 the vital spark." 
 
 "Mr. Bell ! My dear Sir ! I beg you ten 
 thousand pardons. But you 're not hurt, or a 
 man to be much frightened either. Besides, 
 you're the very man I most wanted to see just 
 now. Which way were you going ? My way ? 
 Then do pray jump in, and let us have a chat. 
 I 've got a great deal to tell you."
 
 110 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " But not if you mean to drive like that, my 
 good fellow. Remember, we are in the town 
 now, and not at La Pulente. And who may this 
 little darling be, with her merry eyes and rosy 
 cheeks, Eh? I think I know her, bless her, 
 though I 've never seen her little face before. 
 But you hav' n't surely brought her all this way 
 without her hat ?" 
 
 " Oh, that 's nothing. I couldn't wait till she 
 was dressed, besides, she often runs about 
 without her hat, don't you Maby? I'm going 
 to leave 1 her at my lodgings as we drive past, and 
 then go on to the old harbour, to the yacht. 
 Come with me, do, and dine on board, for I 
 shall be all alone to night, and as sulky as a bear 
 with a sore head." 
 
 " I can't promise about dining," replied the 
 old gentleman, " for I 've left my youngest 
 daughter all alone her mamma and sisters 
 having gone to an archery meeting somewhere 
 out of town and the invitation to which, I must 
 tell you, came in very opportunely as a set off to 
 their disappointment about the sail with you 
 to-morrow. So I couldn't very well stay to dine 
 with you, but I '11 just go on board, with 
 pleasure."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. Ill 
 
 "Pray don't let that be a hindrance," said 
 young Clifford, persuasively. "Let us call for 
 Miss Kate, and take her too. The more the 
 merrier, I always say particularly when the 
 addition to the party is a charming young lady 
 of seventeen." 
 
 "No, no, not to-day. It is very kind of 
 you to offer, and say such pretty things but 
 but you know it wouldn't do to-day." And 
 so saying, the worthy old gentleman in the 
 black coat and white choker got into the 
 gig, and they drove off together. Mabel was 
 left with Clifford's housekeeper as they passed 
 who was much surprised, but at the same 
 time delighted to have the charge of her 
 while in the quick transitions of a child's 
 temper, the little one piped at first at seeing 
 her Papa drive off", but was pacified the instant 
 after; and in another five minutes the gig 
 was brought up alongside the BAGATELLE. 
 
 It was about four o'clock, and high water 
 at the time, so she was theii t afloat. They 
 hailed Jim, and he put off for them in the 
 dingey ; and then a boy was found to take 
 back the gig to the stable from which it had 
 been hired. Thus, in a very few minutes, the
 
 112 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 owner of the yacht and his reverend friend 
 were standing together on the deck. 
 
 It was evident, from half a glance at Jim, 
 that his temper had undergone as marvellous 
 a change for the better as his master's had, 
 since their quarrel in the morning for he was 
 as civil and respectful as a man could be, and 
 had been busy all day bending the sails, and 
 getting ready for the little cruise and picnic 
 which was to come off on the following morning. 
 Something to do was, in fact, one part of the 
 secret of this happy change of mood in Jim, 
 coupled with the sincere wish to please a 
 master whom he really liked immensely, and 
 was sorry to have offended. Indeed, had anyone 
 else dared to say to that kind master of Jim's 
 half the saucy things that he had himself said 
 that morning, he would have had his jacket 
 off, and have tapped the fellow's claret, for 
 Jim was a true British tar at the bottom, every 
 inch of him, and he swore by his young master, 
 and thought him fit to be the first gen'l'man 
 in the land no matter what might be going 
 on behind the scenes. 
 
 The visitor was shown into the cabin, 
 and left there for an instant, while Jim
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 113 
 
 and his master had a word or two privately 
 on deck. 
 
 " Jim," said the owner, looking his man 
 gravely in the face, " your impudence this 
 morning has opened my eyes rather considerably, 
 and what is more, it has got me into trouble 
 with the old man at La Pulente. Now, just 
 say yes, or no, at once, are you and I to be 
 friends any longer, or not ? " 
 
 " Lor', Mr. Clifford, how can you be afeard 
 of me ? Why I 'd rather ' ' 
 
 " Afraid, Jim ? Stuff," replied his master. 
 " I 'm not afraid of anything don't think that 
 only the old man, and you too, it appears, 
 have got hold of a cock-and-bull story, which 
 makes my stay here any longer out of the 
 question that's all and I mean to make a 
 bolt to-night. We had a tremendous row, and 
 he threatened to have me arrested on some 
 foolish suspicions of his, which would lead to 
 nothing, only it would be very unpleasant for 
 me, you understand." 
 
 " I thought as much," said Jim. " When I 
 see'd you go off this morning in such a wax 
 I thought you'd be going over there and I 
 knew what would come of that. So I just
 
 114 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 bent on the sails, and took off her legs, and 
 filled the water cask, and it's only to put that 
 old gen'l'man ashore again, and cast off from the 
 buoy I moored her to, and up forestaysail, 
 and round she goes, right before the wind, which 
 is North-East, and fair for France. We'll be 
 there in five hours if it don't come calm." 
 
 His master laughed outright. " Jim, my boy, 
 you're a brick give us your great dirty fist 
 I '11 trust you, and that 's enough. But I didn't 
 mean to be off quite so sharp as that either. 
 I've got a few little things to do ashore yet. 
 In the night will be quite soon enough to 
 start." 
 
 Jim looked thoughtful. " No, no, Cap'n, don't 
 bide here. Off with you at once to some French 
 port and then I can come back in one of the 
 little coasting smacks, and do anything you 
 want done here. The old man is a crafty old 
 customer, and if he means to nab you, it '11 be 
 done at once." 
 
 " I can't help that. I must take my chance. 
 There are people I must see once more before 
 I start. But I tell you what suppose we cast off 
 from here now, and take her outside into the 
 small roads, and hold on to the mail-steamer's
 
 OR KOMANCE IN A YACHT. 115 
 
 red buoy a bit, and keep a sharp look-out. 
 The gentleman below is going to dine with 
 me ; and as soon as it gets dusk, if nothing 
 happens, I shall run ashore with him, and be 
 back again very soon. Then, if the wind keeps 
 fair, and there's enough of it to stem the tide, 
 we'll cast off for good." 
 
 " Ah, Cap'n," said his man, looking quizzically 
 at him, " I sees how it is." 
 
 " But you know, I must fetch little Mabel 
 on board. I'm not going to leave her behind, 
 you blockhead." 
 
 " And who 's going to look arter her, I 
 wonder ? " said the man, with a sly twinkle of 
 his blue eye. " That old gen'l'man below eh ? " 
 
 " Pooh hold your saucy tongue, Jim. Now 
 just do what I tell you, and don't say a word. 
 Cast off slyly up jib and round with her and 
 then steer her out before the wind, while I go 
 below and talk to him. I've got something 
 to say to him. I don't want him to cut away. 
 You understand ? " 
 
 Jim tipped his master the wink, and very 
 soon the little vessel was under weigh, and 
 gliding slowly and noiselessly down the harbour, 
 towards the open sea.
 
 116 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 A PROJECT A TETE-A-TETE. 
 
 CLIFFORD had no great difficulty in persuading 
 his reverend friend to dine with him on board the 
 BAGATELLE that afternoon, after they had moored 
 her outside the harbour, in smooth water under 
 the shadow of Elizabeth Castle an island fortress 
 about a mile from the shore. During their meal 
 which it must be confessed was a cold one, 
 consisting of some of the viands which had been 
 procured for the proposed picnic on the following 
 day and over the wine and dessert which 
 followed, the host submitted to his guest a plan, 
 to which the latter acceded, on the condition 
 of its also meeting the approval of his family. 
 It was this that as circumstances had occurred 
 to compel the owner of the yacht to leave Jersey 
 suddenly for France with his little daughter,
 
 OR ROMANCE IX A YACHT. 117 
 
 and therefore to put off the proposed sail and 
 luncheon on the following day the whole Bell 
 family should take a trip across with him, in 
 her, to St. Malo ; starting as early as possible 
 the following morning, and making the yacht 
 their home when in France, for just so long 
 as they might find it agreeable to them- 
 selves to do so. 
 
 The infinite coolness of such a proposition, 
 coming from Clifford at such a time, and situated 
 as he then was, will probably astonish and 
 amuse the reader not a little, and exhibit a new 
 phase of that young gentleman's character; but 
 it may possibly scarcely astonish him more 
 than the fact of the old clergyman's acceding 
 to it, in the innocence of his heart, and the 
 great personal liking he had for the author 
 of the scheme. The only difficulty in the way 
 of carrying out so agreeable a project seemed 
 to be, the getting his wife and daughters up 
 and packed, ready to start by six the next 
 morning, on so short a notice. On the other 
 hand, however, we are bound to state that 
 previously to this invitation, Mr. Bell had 
 actually contemplated taking his family for a 
 fortnight's trip to the very port above-mentioned,
 
 118 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 during their summer holiday in Jersey, so 
 that the chance of going over in a yacht, with 
 the fun and novelty of living on board of her 
 instead of at a French hotel, added to the 
 saving of expense, and the fineness of the 
 weather just then, decided him on accepting 
 his young friend's offer conditionally, as afore- 
 said. But would his wife and daughters consent 
 to the arrangement ? That was just the hitch ; 
 and the only way to settle it was, to take 
 Clifford home with him at once, and talk it 
 over with them. 
 
 The sunset gun had just fired its one bang 
 from Elizabeth Castle, as the two friends stepped 
 into the dingey, and were rowed ashore by Jim. 
 As the latter landed them at the steps at the 
 harbour mouth, his master's last words aside 
 to him were. " Stop here with the boat until 
 I come back which may not be for a couple 
 of hours, or may be at any moment and keep 
 one eye on the yacht, and the other on the 
 boats and people about here." Jim's reply 
 need not be repeated, but it contained an 
 allusion to his grandmother, and the art of 
 sucking eggs. 
 
 The two friends then walked off briskly
 
 OR KOMANCE IN A YACHT. 119 
 
 together to the town. First they called at 
 Mrs. Brown's, and ascertained that " the little 
 innocent, bless her," had been duly put to bed, 
 invested in some borrowed night clothes ; and 
 having thus assured themselves that Mabel had 
 been cared for, they proceeded to the clergyman's 
 own home, in the hired house on the pretty 
 terraoe commanding the fine view over town 
 and sea. There they learnt that Miss Kate was 
 in the drawing-room alone her Mamma and 
 sisters not having yet returned from the archery 
 meeting at Rozel. 
 
 The young lady was standing at the window 
 when they entered the room, enjoying in loneliness 
 and reverie the summer sunset over the distant 
 range of hills and placid sea ; and it was as well 
 perhaps that the ruddy glow which suffused 
 her face as the visitor was announced was in 
 harmony with the crimson hues of nature 
 outside, and might be attributed to reflected 
 light rather than to any inward emotion of 
 her own. Certain it is, however, that as she 
 laid her little hand somewhat passively in his, 
 it received a pressure many shades warmer and 
 more expressive than it had ever received from 
 him before.
 
 120 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " So they've not come back yet," said her 
 Papa. "How tiresome it is of them to stay 
 out so late. Why, it must be near ten o'clock. 
 Mr. Smith has kindly offered to take us all over 
 with him in his yacht to France to-morrow ; 
 and as the wind is fair, and the weather so 
 very fine, I have agreed to go, if your Mamma 
 consents. But we must positively start at six, 
 or even earlier if possible. Now, do you think, 
 Katie, that we could all get ready, with your 
 things packed up for a fortnight's trip, by 
 that time to-morrow morning, for it is very 
 short notice, I'm afraid?" 
 
 " Oh yes, Papa, I am sure we could," said his 
 daughter, vainly attempting to conceal her 
 delight at the proposition. " Half an hour 
 would be quite time enough for us to pack in 
 at least I think it would for me." 
 
 " But would the rest of you like to go, Kate ? 
 That 's the question." 
 
 "Yes, Papa, I think they would. Ellen, I 
 know would be enchanted, and Sophy would 
 like it too, I 'm nearly sure." 
 
 " I am not so sure, however. But look here 
 they come." 
 
 As he said it, a large char-a-banc, drawn by
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 121 
 
 four horses, and containing about twenty people, 
 drove up to the door, and Mrs. Bell, with her two 
 elder daughters, were set down. 
 
 The old clergyman went at once to meet them 
 in the hall leaving Kate and Clifford alone 
 together in the drawing room. 
 
 They were standing within the recess of the 
 window at which Kate had been found when 
 Clifford entered. 
 
 " Do you think your Mamma will let you go ?" 
 he asked, in his softest of accents. 
 
 " I am almost afraid not," she replied, looking 
 down, and rather confused. "Mamma dislikes 
 the sea so very much." 
 
 " But you and your sisters might go without 
 her, surely ?" 
 
 " That is almost too much to hope for." 
 
 " You would like it then ?" 
 
 " Perhaps I fancy so." 
 
 There was a pause for some minutes, and then 
 Clifford spoke again. 
 
 " Kate," he said and it was the first time he 
 had ever addressed her by her Christian name 
 " I am compelled to leave Jersey to-morrow 
 morning, suddenly and for ever. If you don't 
 go this trip with me, we may never meet again."
 
 122 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 The young lady made no reply, but her little 
 heart began to beat quicker than she had ever 
 felt it beat before. 
 
 " Kate dear Kate," he added, " my tongue 
 must tell you now what my eyes, I am sure, 
 have told you a thousand times before, that I 
 love you dearly, and that if this is to be our last 
 parting, life will have no more joy for me. Oh, 
 say, then, that it is not to be say that I may 
 write to you and may meet you again in 
 England when you return home. Say so, dearest 
 Kate, or this horrid parting will crush me quite." 
 
 He took her hand, and pressed it to his 
 lips. She did not resist, but still looked down, 
 and trembled. 
 
 " Kate," he added, " You love me I know 
 you do Oh, happiness ! " And as he said it he 
 looked for a reply into her half-averted face. She 
 was silent, and did not positively deny the 
 charge. There was no more need for questioning, 
 and Clifford stole his first embrace. 
 
 At that instant a noise was heard, and the door 
 was seen closing gently, being pulled by some 
 one from without. They both left the window, 
 and went to the table in the middle of the room. 
 
 In the meantime Mr. Bell had met his wife
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 123 
 
 and two elder daughters in the hall, and had 
 taken them into the dining room to hear his 
 plan developed, and to endeavour to gain for it 
 the approval of the higher powers. We will 
 not repeat the various arguments, pro and con, 
 which were advanced on either side. Let it 
 suffice that not one of the three ladies consulted 
 would agree to go. It was ruled, however, that 
 Katie might go, if she liked, and if her Papa 
 chose to take her, and saw no impropriety in 
 doing so. The fact was, her Mamma and sisters 
 had that day received two pressing invitations 
 for the following week, which were more 
 attractive to them than the proposed yachting 
 trip. 
 
 "With respect to Katie going," said her Papa, 
 "the poor child seems delighted at the idea 
 of it and she has been left alone all day in 
 anticipation of a sail to-morrow and she does 
 not seem to have been included in either of your 
 invitations for next week and as I fully intend 
 to go myself, it really seems a pity not to take 
 her. Such a chance of a little yachting might 
 never occur again in her whole life, and she will 
 remember the fun and novelty of it ever after ; 
 besides which, she will be of use in looking' after
 
 124 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 the child on the passage over, and will be a 
 companion to me as well, and help me with the 
 French. I hate going on a pleasure trip without 
 seme of you with me; and as for there being 
 any objection to her going, on the score of 
 propriety, I really don't see any for I shall 
 always be with her, and as soon as we get to 
 France a Ion ne will be engaged to wait upon 
 her, and remain with her on board. Well, 
 then, it's settled that Katie and I, at any 
 rate, will go." 
 
 The news was received by that young lady 
 with just the proper expression of delight ; and 
 it was further arranged that a carriage was to 
 be ordered to be at the door at five the next 
 morning, to take her and her Papa and their 
 luggage to the Pier Head, and to pick up little 
 Mabel on the way. Clifford then took his leave, 
 and spent an hour at his own lodgings ; after 
 which he strolled back to the terrace, by the 
 light of the full moon, and for more time than 
 he was probably aware of stood watching the 
 shadow of a fairy figure, passing and repassing 
 before one of the upper windows, as it was 
 thrown upon the blind. At length, fearful 
 perhaps of being observed by strangers, he
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 125 
 
 turned away and walked quickly off in the 
 direction of the Pier. 
 
 The dingey was still at the steps where he had 
 left her, and Jim waiting by her side. 
 
 " There 's been a man down here, Cap'n, 
 enquiring for you," he said, in a low tone. 
 (Be it known, that with Jim, his master's name 
 was always " Cap'n" when there was any 
 yachting going on, and "your honor" when 
 the yacht was laid up) ; " and he had a letter 
 which he wouldn't give to no one but yourself. 
 I know the chap well. He's one of them 
 vraickers out at La Pulente, and the letter was 
 from our old man a crafty old party that. 
 Now, you mind Cap'n, what I say if you stay 
 lingering hereabouts all night till daylight comes, 
 you'll be nabbed and I'm afeard you don't 
 mean to make a start, for you ain't brought down 
 the child with you now. As for that chap 
 he got nothing out of me. I know'd nothing, in 
 course but Lor' how was I going to gammon 
 him ? Didn't he see the yacht outside, and me 
 waiting here for you ? Any lubber might have 
 known you meant to give 'em the slip to-night. 
 The chap had been up to your lodgings and 
 down here twice but I knew where you was,
 
 126 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 well enough. Didn't you meet him nowhere, 
 as you come along ? " 
 
 " No, Jim, I 've seen no man but now I think 
 of it, Mrs. Brown did say that a sort of sailor 
 fellow had been up there, waiting about for me. 
 But I can't start to-night that 's flat. I must 
 stop till to-morrow. That old gentleman who 
 dined on board is going across with us, and Mabel 
 too and they are to be at the Pier Head, in a 
 carriage, about six so we can't start before. 
 Now, not another word, my good fellow that's 
 settled, and I must take my chance." 
 
 " Is the gen'l'man going to bring any young 
 ladies with him, Cap'n ? " asked Jim, in the 
 most respectful tone he could assume but the 
 mock gravity of which was more comic by far 
 than any sly chaff he might have ventured on, 
 with a good-natured master. 
 
 " Well yes, Jim I think he is." 
 
 "How many on 'em are coming? I merely 
 ask, because I must set about and get berths 
 ready for 'em, as soon as we get aboard." 
 
 " Then arrange the ladies' cabin for one lady 
 only, and little Maby," said his master ; " and 
 let us get aboard now as quick as we can.
 
 Oil KOMANCK IN A YACHT. 127 
 
 But Jim, has any one been down with, a lot of 
 luggage of mine ? " 
 
 Yes, Cap'n, it's all right I stowed it away 
 in the bow, and the small parcel is in the 
 stern sheets." 
 
 " Well then, off with you." 
 
 "With this hint Jim shoved off at once. As 
 they were nearing the yacht his master said 
 
 " I wonder what that letter was about Jim, 
 that the man had brought for me from old 
 Smith." 
 
 " Don't you bother about that, Cap'n," was 
 the reply. " Let him write to you in France, 
 if he has got any last words to say. Don't you 
 trust nothing to him. I know our old man 
 well and I could never work to wind'ard of 
 him, or strike soundings on him either ain't 
 he a deep cove, my eyes ! If he's got much 
 to say to you, Cap'n, you jump on the other 
 side of the gutter first that 's my advice. 
 He can speak a chap fair enough but he ain't 
 got no honor in him like a real gen'l'man. 
 Lor', don't he yaw, and wear, and tack about ! " 
 
 "I think you're right," said his master, as 
 he laid his hand upon the rail, and sprung on 
 board the BAGATELLE.
 
 128 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 12. 
 
 A NIGHTLY VIGIL. 
 
 IT was a heavenly night not a cloud above, or 
 a ripple beneath the sea like a looking-glass 
 scarce a breath of wind stirring and the full 
 moon making it as light as day. The BAGATELLE 
 lay motionless upon the still water, as if asleep 
 with her mainsail and gaff-topsail set, like the 
 folded wings of a great butterfly her foresail 
 down on deck, but ready to be hoisted at any 
 instant the fore- stay sail the same and the jib 
 hauled out to the bowsprit-end, with the haul- 
 yards hooked on to the head, and a stopper 
 passed loosely round the foot of it, close by the 
 stem. She was moored, it is true, to a great 
 buoy, and lay with her head pointed to such 
 little airs of wind from off the shore as would 
 sometimes shake the peak of her gaff-topsail,
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 129 
 
 but there was no tide running there, and the 
 rope which held her to the ring hung loosely 
 in a festoon, with no strain upon it but its own 
 weight. There were no other craft near her, 
 large or small, nor any boats about the 
 fishermen having all gone further out to sea. 
 
 It was midnight. Jim and his master the 
 only two on board had already refreshed their 
 inner men with coffee and sausage rolls, and 
 were indulging in a glass of something hot, 
 and a smoke on deck the former with his 
 meerschaum, the latter with his short clay pipe 
 the only visible motion in the scene being 
 the smoke which they puffed forth, and that 
 which rose in rivalry of it from the copper 
 chimney of the cooking stove below. 
 
 " I say, Jim," said his master, good humouredly, 
 after a long pause in their conversation, " tell 
 me now, like an honest fellow, what you meant 
 this morning, when you jeered me about the 
 LURLINE and the Wolf Bock." 
 
 Jim took his pipe from his mouth, looked 
 serious, and helped himself to another glass 
 of grog. 
 
 " Come, Sir," said his master, " I 'm waiting 
 
 to hear." 
 
 R
 
 130 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " Well then I '11 teU you, Cap'n and truly 
 too I will, so help me Bob I will tell you 
 there that 's flat." 
 
 " You must. I shall be angry if you don't. 
 The old man told me a deal more than I liked 
 to hear but he said nothing about the "Wolf 
 Rock. What do you know about that ? Come, 
 tell me all, like an honest fellow, and let us 
 have a fair start." 
 
 " So I means to do, Cap'n but it aint much 
 I 've picked up, after all and I ought to have 
 had my tongue cut out afore I blurted out what 
 I did to you this morning. Well- then there 's 
 her old name, LURLIKE, cut in the beam right 
 over my own bunk, and as for the Wolf Rock, 
 why I saw something about a LURLINE yacht 
 being wrecked upon it, in an old newspaper. 
 There now that 's all it is, so help me ." 
 
 " Stop," said his master, " no lies, Jim. 
 When did you see that in the paper? How 
 long ago was it ? " 
 
 " Lor' Cap'n ain't you never seen it ? Why 
 it was years and years ago so long ago that 
 I've well nigh forgot all about it. I think it 
 was a brig reported seeing her go down, after 
 she struck, and all the crew in the gig capsized
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 131 
 
 and lost. Her foremast was gone by the board, 
 but there was a burgee of some yacht club 
 flying at the mainmast head and they made 
 it out, and sent word to the Secretary and he 
 wrote to the paper. That's all I know about 
 it, Cap'n and it was a terrible long time back 
 that I see'd it but I think I 've got the paper 
 shoved away now somewhere down below, in 
 the fore-peak, for I wrapped up my baccy in 
 it for two years or more." 
 
 " Then go and get it Jim, as quick as you 
 can, for I'd give the world to see it." 
 
 Jim did as he was told, and dived down 
 through the scuttle into the forecastle with 
 much alacrity ; nor was he long in finding a 
 paper containing an allusion to the LURLINE 
 and the "Wolf Bock, but it was quite a recent 
 one in fact, the Times of the same date as that 
 in which old Smith had seen the advertisement 
 headed 100 Eeward. This Jim no sooner 
 found than he cut out the advertisement, folded 
 it up neatly, and put it into his tobacco box, 
 while he crammed the rest of the paper into 
 the stove. He then waited a few minutes, in 
 order to pretend he was looking for something, 
 and mounted again to his master's side.
 
 132 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " I can't find it nowhere, Cap'n," he said. 
 " It 's clean gone most likely burnt." 
 
 " The d 1,'* said his master, " that is 
 
 unlucky. But try, Jim, and remember all you 
 can about it. Was it an advertisement or a 
 notice or what ?" 
 
 " Shipping intelligence, Cap'n just a short 
 notice, for the comfort of surviving friends." 
 
 "And you've seen nothing more about it 
 since?" 
 
 " Not a word, so help I mean upon my soul, 
 Cap'n, I hav' n't but then it ain't often I reads 
 a paper. What time has a poor chap like me 
 got for that?" 
 
 " Did the old man see it ?" 
 
 " No that I '11 'swear he didn't and that 's 
 why I kept it to myself." 
 
 "But tell me what did you think about it, 
 Jim?" 
 
 " Well now I ain't going to tell you that 's 
 flat I ain't going to give you no more cheek 
 about it for Lor', I love you, my lad, as if 
 you was my own son. If you like to put 
 this and that together, perhaps you may find 
 out easy enough what I think and then you '11 
 know. It's all one to me I ain't going to
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 133 
 
 leave you in your trouble, my poor lad nor 
 you ain't going to turn me off either. Now 
 you knows what I mean. And I can tell you 
 this here place ain't safe for you to lie in a 
 single hour longer, now that you've quarrelled 
 with the old man." 
 
 "But, Jim, I won't have you think badly 
 of me mark that. I 've done nothing really 
 wrong. If you think I have, off with you 
 for you and I shouldn't agree together for a 
 single week." 
 
 " Lor,' now what a fiery young chap you 
 are. Why I swear there ain't a better young 
 gen'l'man going. There and as for doing 
 wrong, let him as ain't never done it throw 
 the first stone as I heard our old man say 
 once and it's in the Bible too, I think." 
 
 " Well I suppose it 's no use arguing Jim, 
 or trying to get anything more out of you. 
 If you thought me very wicked, I dare say 
 you wouldn't be here now, and sticking to me 
 like a brick. So give me your fist, my man 
 and let us say good night for I 'm going to 
 turn in, and you 'd better do so too." 
 
 "No, no, Cap'n here's my place one of 
 us must keep watch till daylight and then
 
 134 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 both of us together won't have eyes enough. 
 I '11 call you up when I want you and I hope 
 at sunrise there'll be a bit more wind for 
 we sha'n't get two knots an hour out of her 
 if it keeps calm like this. It 's a regular paddy's 
 hurricane, blowing all ways at once." 
 
 Clifford shook the faithful fellow warmly by 
 the hand, and dived into the cabin below. 
 There he stretched himself upon his berth 
 the same that he had occupied in years gone by 
 when the blue Mediterranean was beneath her 
 keel and in the ladies' cabin a young mother, 
 who had since been laid beneath the sod. For 
 an hour, or more, sleep came not to his pillow, 
 and he tossed about from side to side in the 
 restlessness of a mind which was ill at ease. 
 The past day had been a most eventful one 
 to him ; and he was then alone for the first 
 time with his own thoughts.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 135 
 
 CHAPTER 13. 
 
 A START CHASE OF THE BAGATELLE LETTERS. 
 
 THE weather continued clear and calm through- 
 out the night, and at length daylight dawned in 
 the north east, chill and dewy, and the sun's red 
 disc rose above the line of hills behind the town, 
 in naked splendour, and with all heaven to 
 himself. The wind had freshened up a little from 
 off the land, but not much ; and Jim, after a 
 fashion of his own, prayed anxiously for more. 
 As soon as it was broad daylight, he aroused his 
 master from the deep sleep into which he had at 
 length fallen ; and then they both kept watch on 
 deck, awaiting the arrival of the carriage at the 
 Pier Head, but nevertheless resolved to cast off 
 instantly and make sail, should any treacherous 
 looking craft pop out from the harbour mouth.
 
 136 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 The hour of six arrived at last, and punctual to a 
 minute the expected carriage hove in sight. 
 Clifford insisted on fetching the party off himself, 
 and no remonstrances of Jim's could keep him 
 back. So far all had gone well, and he would 
 listen to no hints of any possible danger from his 
 rowing ashore. His greeting, however, to his 
 friends, although cordial in the extreme, was 
 hurried, and he got them quickly into the 
 dingey, and their luggage stowed, and then 
 pushed off. Little Maby, who sat on Kate's knee, 
 was delighted to see her Papa again, and to feel 
 for the first time in her short life the motion of a 
 boat ; while the young lady who took such careful 
 charge of her looked almost as radiant with glee, 
 and her reverend father in high good humour too. 
 The rower put forth all his strength to reach the 
 yacht, and made both paddles and stretcher bend 
 again to his vigorous strokes; and the dingey's 
 bluff bow went surging through it, and left a 
 long frothy wake behind. As now and then his 
 eyes met those of the lovely girl who was seated 
 opposite to him in the stern sheets, merry 
 glances were exchanged between them, while 
 her kind father, by her side, was admiring in 
 his own way the athletic form and handsome
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 137 
 
 countenance of their young host. And thus the 
 dingey dashed along and neared the yacht. 
 
 On their way the following short dialogue took 
 place : 
 
 " How many hands have you got on board this 
 morning ?" enquired Mr. Bell. 
 
 " Only Jim," was the reply. " One hand 
 besides myself are quite enough for the run 
 across, with a fair wind." 
 
 " Is it possible ? Why, I thought you would 
 have required four hands at least to work a yacht 
 so large as that." 
 
 " Oh no there are coasting smacks much 
 larger than her, which ply between here and 
 France, and only carry two men and a boy. The 
 boy takes the helm while the men work the sails. 
 The three are quite enough for a smack of fifty 
 tons." 
 
 "But a schooner takes more hands than a 
 smack, doesn't she ? " 
 
 " No, fewer, because her sails are smaller." 
 
 "Then you'll be wanting one of us to steer 
 sometimes, I suppose. Katie, you can steer our 
 boat on the canal, and pretty straight too, can't 
 you?" 
 
 "That's famous," said Clifford, smiling.
 
 138 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " Then, we '11 make her work her passage over, 
 while we look on and smoke. With beauty at 
 the helm, a fair wind, a smooth sea, and a sunny 
 sky, we ought indeed to feel ourselves in luck's 
 way to-day." 
 
 By way of saying something in reply to this 
 pretty compliment, the young lady remarked that 
 the yacht, which they were then pretty near to, 
 seemed to be turning round, and starting off 
 without them, which she observed might rather 
 interfere with their pleasant anticipations. At 
 this intimation, the rower looked round, and saw, 
 sure enough, that Jim had already cast off the 
 rope from for'ard, and was hauling her stern 
 towards the buoy, at the same time that both the 
 jib and staysail had been run up, and were backing 
 and making her head pay off. On looking aft 
 again, to ascertain the cause of this sudden 
 evolution on Jim's part, he perceived to his 
 dismay that a boat which had just cleared the 
 harbour mouth, with two rowers in it, was 
 evidently giving them chase, while a man in the 
 stern was standing up hailing them by waving 
 his hat. At a sight which boded him no good, 
 he at once redoubled his former efforts, and in a 
 minute or two reached the yacht, which was then
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 139 
 
 actually in motion, and put before the wind. Jim 
 seemed too busy to offer them any help in 
 scrambling up the side for he was running- 
 hither and thither, pulling and hauling at ropes, 
 belaying sheets, steering, &c., but saying not a 
 word to anyone, and as cool apparently as if 
 what he was doing had been all a matter of 
 course; so Clifford himself made the dingey's 
 painter ' fast to the main shroud, and helped his 
 passengers on board, and handed them down 
 below, while the luggage was left in the boat 
 for the present, and she was allowed to drop 
 astern, in tow. Mr. Bell and Mabel were the first 
 to dive through the cabin door, but while their 
 backs were turned, Clifford whispered softly to Kate 
 to stay and take the tiller for a minute, while he 
 and Jim set the foresail and foretopsail, as they 
 wanted to lose no time, in order to save the tide. 
 The request was granted, with a smile, and 
 the young lady took the great tiller within her 
 little palm, and obeyed, as well as she was able, 
 the Captain's orders if that is not too harsh 
 a term. The foresail was then run quickly up ; 
 and the BAGATELLE, with her bow pointed 
 towards the open sea, began to shoot a-head 
 and make more way.
 
 140 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 Unfortunately, however, the wind was light ; 
 and the boat in chase, which the two rowers 
 were propelling with all their might, continued 
 steadily to gain upon the yacht, until at length 
 it was within pistol shot. A cloud then gathered 
 upon Clifford's brow, which Kate, whose eyes 
 were fixed upon him, did not fail to perceive ; 
 and on looking aft in the same direction as 
 himself she at once divined the cause the 
 boat in chase ! What could it possibly mean ? 
 and he showing signs, not of fear exactly, but 
 of an anxiety which he could not conceal ? Then 
 she saw him go for'ard and consult with Jim 
 for a few seconds; after which they both dived 
 below, and returned quickly, Jim bearing in 
 his arms a heavy pig of ballast, and his master 
 a pistol, the stock of which stuck out as he 
 crammed it into the side pocket of his coat. 
 Then they both went aft and stood by the 
 tuffrail, until the boat came fairly up, and hailed. 
 
 " BAGATELLE, a-hoy Why don't you heave to 
 for us we 're well-nigh blown." 
 
 No answer. 
 
 " Is young Mr. Clifford a-board ? " 
 
 Still no answer. 
 
 A hand was then laid upon the rail.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 141 
 
 " Stand from under," said Jim, sternly, 
 " I '11 heave this pig of iron a-board of you, 
 and knock a hole in you, and sink you, if you 
 come too close ; I will, by G ." 
 
 " Why, it 's all right, Jim," said the man 
 in the stern, reproachfully, who had been 
 the first to hail. " We don't want nothing 
 except just to pitch this here bundle a-board, 
 and give the young gen'l'man a letter, and 
 wait while he answers it that's all. We've 
 come from your old man up there yonder, at 
 La Pulente." 
 
 "Oh, that's your game, is it?" said Jim. 
 " Then chuck the bundle into the dingey, and 
 chuck the letter a-board, and stand from under, 
 and don't come too nigh, that 's all. Catch a 
 weazel asleep." 
 
 " What is it, my good fellow ? " said Clifford, 
 in a friendlier tone, "A letter for me and a 
 bundle ? Well, never mind what my man says 
 make your boat fast and jump a-board, and 
 you shall have a glass of grog apiece. There, 
 carry that thing below again, Jim, we sha'n't 
 want that and haul the foresail to windward, 
 and lay her to. Port, Miss Kate, please 
 hard-a-port that's right let her sails shake,"
 
 142 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 and as lie said it he jumped down by her side 
 and hauled aft the main sheet. The yacht 
 then luffed up into the wind, with her way 
 stopped) her sails shivering and backing, and 
 her bow pointing towards the shore. 
 
 So the boat was allowed to come alongside 
 the bundle was handed up and the letter 
 put into Clifford's hand. 
 
 As he ran his eye over its contents an 
 angry flush suffused his face. He crushed the 
 letter up into a mass, which he crammed into 
 his pocket, and he told the man who brought 
 it to say that no answer would be given, for 
 that he regarded both old Smith and his letters 
 with supreme contempt. 
 
 The three men in the boat then tossed off 
 each their promised potation of fire-water, and 
 were cast off, to get back to shore again against 
 wind and tide as best they could; and the 
 yacht was put once more before the wind. 
 
 This scene was lost upon Mr. Bell, who had 
 been below the whole time with Mabel ; but 
 he had heard the shaking of the sails, and 
 the creaking of the main boom, and strange 
 voices overhead. 
 
 " What have we been stopping for, Katie ? '*
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 143 
 
 he enquired, as he came out into the fresh 
 air, and took the tiller from his daughter's 
 hand. 
 
 Clifford answered for her. 
 
 " My old friend Smith, at La Pulente, has 
 sent a boat off to us, with a letter and a 
 bundle containing Mabel's clothes. They will 
 be very acceptable to the poor child, for we 
 started in such a hurry that her outfit was 
 rather of the scantiest." 
 
 This was said with a forced smile and a 
 grim attempt at pleasantry, which may possibly 
 have deceived the old gentleman to whom the 
 remark was addressed, but his daughter, who 
 had witnessed the whole proceeding of the chase, 
 could not but feel that some strange mystery 
 involved a man, in whom a romantic interest 
 on her part had been already confessed. 
 
 The yacht proceeded gaily on her way, and 
 soon the cloud which the event at starting 
 had cast across her owner's brow passed off, 
 and to all appearance he recovered the gaiety 
 and high spirits which for a moment had 
 received a check. In a few minutes they had 
 cleared the Violet bank, and then they jibed 
 sail, and made for the eastern passage to
 
 144 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 St. Malo, between the Minquiers rocks and the 
 island of Chausey. The sails were trimmed 
 afresh, the compass was uncovered, and Clifford 
 took the helm himself with his friends 
 on either side of him, and with Mabel, who 
 had quickly been rigged out in her own hat 
 and cloak, racing and romping about in all 
 a child's delight at the novelty of the scene. 
 The vessel heeled over gently to the light breeze, 
 and did her four knots, with scarcely a ripple 
 at her bow, and glided noiselessly and smoothly 
 across the glassy sea. Jim went down below, 
 for'ard, to get the breakfast ready ; and the 
 smoke of the cooking stove was soon seen rising 
 gaily from the copper funnel, while various 
 savoury smells were wafted aft through the 
 open cabin door. All went merry as a marriage 
 bell. They had started at six, and would arrive 
 perhaps at four in the afternoon, if the wind 
 kept fair, and as it was, the distance to be 
 run being forty miles, or thereabouts. 
 
 Happily the wind kept steady and from the 
 same point, and the day seemed made on purpose 
 for them. And thus, noiselessly and smoothly 
 they glided on, until the Maitre Isle was passed, 
 and Chausey, and the French coast came in
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 145 
 
 sight, and Cezembre Island, and the City of 
 St. Malo, and the Conche*e Fort. 
 
 It was nearly two o'clock. Breakfast had 
 been dismissed, and luncheon also for yachting 
 in fine weather, on a smooth sea, is hungry 
 work and once more the young lady passenger 
 was at the helm, for she had owned to their 
 gallant Captain that it was a greater pleasure 
 to her to steer the yacht than her Papa's little 
 skiff on the canal. So, with strict injunctions 
 to keep Cezembre just seen above the weather 
 bow and with Jim to look out for'ard and 
 see that all went right Clifford left her side 
 and went below. There, having shut himself 
 up alone, he took from his pocket and spread 
 out before him the crumpled letter from the 
 old man at La Pulente, and read it over many times 
 with deep attention. It ran thus: 
 
 La Bie, 2 o'clock, a.m., June 21, 18 . 
 
 MY BEAK YOTJNG FRIEND, If the man who is the 
 bearer of this should have the good luck to catch 
 you before you start, he will deliver into your custody 
 a bundle also, containing Mabel's things all except 
 some rattletraps which it will be pleasing to us to 
 keep in remembrance of her, and as a souvenir of 
 the two happy years during which you were our
 
 146 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 friend. But she is gone and with her all our 
 happiness has flown too and Hannah and I are 
 left to destitution, and as Job's wife said, to curse 
 God and die. 
 
 That is the real fact. We are destitute, and 
 what are we to do ? I cannot now recover the 
 broken threads of my former web, and resume my 
 mode of life before you came to help us, and place 
 us above want. I have therefore one of three courses 
 left, viz., to die by my own hand to die in a 
 workhouse or to raise money by betraying you. 
 For this 100 are offered, and I have only to reply 
 to an advertisement, and write a few words on 
 paper, and you will be a ruined man. There will 
 not then be a corner of this wide earth where the 
 pursuers will not track you, and no country whose 
 laws will not yield them the redress they seek. 
 Your life will be like that of the flying-fish a 
 constant chase to end in the fate of a galley slave, 
 or worse. Murder, forgery, and robbery are the 
 crimes of which you will be charged and of the 
 last two you will certainly be convicted, if caught. 
 
 You are therefore in my power ; whilst I am 
 in a state of destitution, from which betraying you 
 would at once release me; for 100 represents four 
 more years of life and comfort to my daughter 
 and myself, in the humble way in which we live. 
 
 And now I will tell you what two courses are in 
 their turn open to you. To despise my power, and 
 brave the temptation which in my misery is put before
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 147 
 
 me, or to outbid the tempter by a higher offer still. 
 Secure to me, then, a small annuity, sufficient for my 
 humble wants, and you shall be safe from me. 
 
 Do you hesitate to grant me this favour ? Then 
 reflect on all that we have done for that dear child. 
 We have saved her life, for when Hannah first 
 received her in her arms, her chest had ceased to 
 heave, and but for Hannah's timely aid she would be 
 lying by her mother's side in the churchyard ; while 
 since then we have carefully tended her and brought 
 her up, and have taught her little tongue to prattle, 
 and her feet to walk. Think of all this, and then ask 
 yourself what she would do, if she were old enough, 
 with her money, of which you constitute yourself 
 trustee, if she were told that two of her three best and 
 earliest friends were in deep distress, and that a little 
 from her own abundance would rescue them from 
 meanness, and yourself from a felon's fate. 
 
 I will say no more. I leave you to decide. It is 
 not much I ask and that not as a favour but as a 
 duty which you owe to her and to us, as well as to 
 yourself. Agree, and you shall be safe from me. 
 Return to Jersey, and send her back to us, if you think 
 fit ; let all past unpleasantness between us be forgotten 
 and forgiven, and let things go on as they did before. 
 
 Write me a line to say yes, or no, by the man who 
 
 gives you this and believe me still your friend. 
 
 J. S. 
 
 Having read the above letter many times, 
 Clifford at length folded it and put it away.
 
 148 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 He then opened his writing case, and answered 
 it thus : 
 
 I am sorry I sent you so hasty and angry a 
 message back this morning, because I did not then 
 perceive so clearly as I do now the line of conduct 
 which I ought to pursue. My reply was such as I 
 should always give to any man who insults and 
 threatens me, or who meanly begs a favour of me ; 
 because it is my first impulse to reply to such a one 
 with defiance, and with the toe of my boot. But 
 your letter contained in the latter paragraphs a logic 
 which I cannot resist. It is true that I have 
 constituted myself a trustee for Mabel, and I must 
 therefore act, not on my own feelings or impulses, 
 but as she will approve when she arrives at an age 
 to understand my conduct, both as a whole and in 
 detail. To be brief, then, I agree to your request, 
 because it would be only common gratitude in her, 
 after all your kind and valuable services, to pension 
 you for life. I shall post this as soon as we reach 
 St. Malo, and in the mean time I hope you will 
 not have taken any rash or violent step, without at 
 least writing to hear the result of my further 
 consideration of your offer. I shall probably, under 
 the circumstances, trust you so far as to return to 
 Jersey in a fortnight, when my arrangement with 
 you can be carried out. I must, however, decline to 
 place the child again with you. My forgetfulness of 
 unpleasant passages which have passed between us is
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 149 
 
 impossible, but my forgiveness you have. That I still 
 place some faith in your honour, and entertain some 
 belief in your personal regard, let my future conduct 
 testify. HENRY CLIFFORD. 
 
 The above was sealed and directed, ready for 
 the post ; and then, with a mind relieved from 
 a load of care which had oppressed it more or 
 less at intervals all day, the writer returned to 
 his friends on deck. 
 
 He did so just as the BAGATELLE was abreast 
 of the Jardin Beacon, and about to enter that 
 dangerous passage amongst a labyrinth of rocks, 
 known as the " Grande Porte," by which vessels 
 commonly thread their way into St. Malo roads. 
 But Jim knew the Channel well. Their last 
 three miles of intricate navigation were passed 
 in safety, and they dropped anchor off the town 
 as the Cathedral bell tolled four.
 
 150 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 14. 
 
 ST. MALO LA SANTE PRESENTIMENTS. 
 
 THE BAGATELLE did not remain long at her 
 anchor in St. JVlalo roads. A Government 
 schooner, rather smaller than herself and simi- 
 larly rigged, but with lug sails, presently 
 sailed up alongside, hove to, and three douaniers 
 jumped out of her into their boat astern, and 
 pulled off to the yacht. After a few questions 
 put with the utmost civility for French politesse 
 is a never-failing virtue through all ranks of 
 society, so long as it meets with a suitable 
 return they made their boat fast and stepped 
 on board. They then explained that no one 
 was permitted to land from a strange vessel 
 until their state of health had been inspected, 
 and a free pass allowed. This announcement 
 was received with much amusement by the
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 151 
 
 yachting party ; and Mademoiselle had the 
 compliment paid her of being the first to 
 undergo examination. But a glance at her 
 bright eye and elastic form would have sufficed 
 to convince even more sceptical judges than the 
 sailors of the POTASS, that she, at any rate, 
 was not likely to be the bearer of any infectious 
 disorder to their port, although, as one of 
 them archly remarked, the jolie jeune Anglaise 
 might still prove dangerous amongst his 
 countrymen by introducing maladies de cceur. 
 Clifford's turn came next, amidst a smile from 
 all ; and then little Mabel was trotted up and 
 patted on the cheek. Lastly, the Protestant 
 priest in his black garb and white choker was 
 allowed to pass, with congratulations on his 
 belonging to a sect which permitted him the 
 privilege of possessing a family so very charming 
 in all respects. At this the merriment of the 
 party reached its climax, and Clifford intimated 
 that he should in future take the hint, and call 
 his lady passenger " Sister Kate." The matter 
 of la sante having thus been quickly and 
 pleasantly arranged, the men gave a look round 
 the cabins, but quite as a matter of form, and 
 then requested to see the yacht's papers, and
 
 152 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 to be told her name. Happily there was no 
 hitch there, and everything was strictly en regie. 
 So the BAGATELLE was set down upon their 
 book as belonging to Monsieur Jean Smith, 
 member of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, and 
 the scrutiny was at an end. 
 
 It then became the owner's turn to put some 
 questions to the men. First, he wished to know 
 whether the yacht might be allowed to lie 
 within the harbour instead of in the open roads, 
 and secondly, whether any of them could 
 recommend a clean respectable bonne to attend 
 upon the young lady, and take charge of the 
 child during their stay in that port, which 
 might extend to a fortnight or more. These 
 queries received a prompt reply from all three 
 men at once, accompanied with the full amount 
 of French gesticulation. The yacht, they said, 
 might be moored under shelter of the jetty, 
 and left with her legs on, to take the ground, 
 and as for the bonne, it was a providential thing 
 that the question had been put to them instead 
 of to anyone else, because one of the douaniers 
 had himself a daughter who would undertake 
 the task, and whose natural powers, talents, 
 bias of mind, and previous training were all
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 153 
 
 such as to render her eminently qualified for 
 the post of stewardess on board a yacht. The 
 parent of this paragon moreover affirmed that 
 if Monsietir k Capitaine should wish to take her 
 to England with him, or even to the uttermost 
 ends of the earth, she would be as enchantte 
 to go as he, her Papa, would be to let her go. 
 
 So the end of it was, that with the help of 
 the good douaniers, the BAGATELLE'S anchor was 
 hove up again at once, and she was moored in 
 a snug berth beneath the harbour wall, while 
 a promise was exacted from the men that the 
 bonne should be sent on board that night. The 
 party then went ashore to take a stroll about 
 the town Clifford carrying little Mabel on his 
 shoulder, and " Sister Kate " walking between 
 him and her Papa. 
 
 St. Malo is one of the queerest little cities 
 in France, or indeed in the world, and therefore 
 the very port at which a visitor to the Continent 
 for the first time should disembark. It is 
 prettily situated at the extremity of a narrow 
 tongue of land jutting out into the sea, near 
 the mouth of the river Ranee, and is of course 
 very small. High walls hem it in on all sides, 
 and keep out air and light, whilst the houses,
 
 154 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 which are mostly higher still, have steep roofs 
 and tall chimney stacks, which break the sky 
 line, and give the place picturesqueness from the 
 sea. The streets are narrow and winding, with 
 a gutter in the middle ; and many of the houses 
 have an antiquated Prouty look. But the chief 
 characteristic of this little sea-girt city in a 
 pill-box is its smell, from which, however, 
 you can readily escape by mounting the walls, 
 on the top of which there is a promenade 
 affording glorious views over the sea, the 
 neighbouring coasts, and the islets which lie 
 dotted around. 
 
 From the above description the reader will 
 probably conclude, and truly, that our friends 
 were better lodged on board their yacht than 
 they would have been at the Hotel de France 
 at any rate in the sultry month of June. 
 
 At length the shades of evening were coming 
 on apace their first stroll was over their first 
 impressions had been formed they had dined 
 at a table d'Hote and had enjoyed the novelty 
 of the scene no less than the good cheer 
 they had seen and engaged the bonne the 
 weary Mabel had been put to bed in the very 
 berth which, as an infant, she had occupied
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 155 
 
 two years before and again young Clifford 
 and his guests had started for another ramble 
 through the town. Backwards and forwards 
 they threaded the same labyrinth of narrow 
 streets, losing themselves perpetually but 
 coming always to one of the three outlets upon 
 the quays, and then returning in much 
 amusement within the maze. Slowly they 
 sauntered, stopping at this shop window and 
 at that, reading the names above the doors 
 Simon, Charcutier Ici on Rase Veuve 
 Jacquart, Modiste Nouveautes Marchand Epi- 
 cier Cafe Restaurant Debit de Tabac and 
 inspecting the strange articles which were hung 
 up to view outside, speculating, questioning, 
 commenting on all they saw in a scene so new 
 at least to two of the party, who had never 
 been out of England before and themselves 
 no less the subject of observation to the natives, 
 who smiled, and with a shrug of the shoulder 
 whispered to each other "Anglais" ; and what 
 a pleasant stroll it was, on that first summer's 
 evening in France and what a pity that Mamma, 
 and Sophy and Ellen had not come too what 
 a loss to them and how silly of them, was 
 it not ?
 
 156 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 All of a sudden Papa was missed ! Kate and 
 her companion had stopped, it seemed to them 
 but an instant, to look into a shop window 
 filled with crucifixes, pictures and images of the 
 Virgin, tall wax candles, &c., and lo ! in 
 that brief space Papa had disappeared ! How 
 could it possibly have happened? The reader 
 may smile, but truly no one was much to 
 blame, for that little town is a perfect maze 
 of streets, and a false turning leads you heaven 
 knows where. Strangers should keep together 
 in a place like that, particularly if they walk 
 in threes. But where was poor Papa ? What 
 could have become of him? What would he do 
 for he could not speak a word of French? 
 Had he been lost in Rome or Athens, Jerusalem 
 or Thebes in the olden time, he might have got 
 on well enough, but at St. Malo in the 
 nineteenth century he would be sadly at a loss. 
 What was to be done? Surely he would not 
 scold, for he must know that it was through no 
 fault of theirs that he had slipped away. They 
 thought he had been behind them all the time. 
 So Clifford offered Kate his arm, that she might 
 not lose him too, and they strolled on in search 
 of her lost parent, little dreaming in their
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 157 
 
 innocence that he had only popped for a moment 
 or two inside the shop. Of course, the pair 
 became quickly at a loss themselves in that 
 labyrinth of streets, and the further they 
 proceeded the more hopeless seemed their search, 
 until at length a winding staircase tempted 
 them to mount upon the walls above. There 
 they strolled again, and lingered, but Papa came 
 not, and at length they descended to the 
 beach, where some bathing machines were seen, 
 thinking it just possible that he might have 
 eloped to take a dip, but no, he was not there 
 either. What were they to do ? 
 
 " Suppose," said Clifford, " we extend our walk 
 across the sands to yonder island, called the 
 Grand Bey. I see some people walking there, 
 and one of them, I do think, is your Papa. Let 
 us go and see, shall we? It might be him." 
 
 Who could resist words of such persuasion, 
 uttered in such a tone, on a lovely summer's 
 eve particularly in hopes of meeting with Papa? 
 They went, of course. 
 
 The island in question can be reached on 
 foot at dead low water, which it happened to be 
 then ; but Clifford had to help his fair companion 
 over a rugged path amongst pools and boulders,
 
 158 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 which every tide disturbed. They crossed in 
 safety, and he then let go her hand and offered 
 her his arm again regardless of the etiquette 
 in France. 
 
 The persons they had seen were returning 
 to the town, and the first they met was a 
 gendarme. "Monsieur and Madame must not 
 stay long," he said, " for the tide is coming up." 
 The young lady smiled and turned away her face. 
 
 They mounted quickly some rude steps cut 
 in the granite rock, and followed a winding 
 footpath to the summit of the little isle, but 
 Papa could nowhere be seen from thence; then 
 they descended on the opposite side to the ruins 
 of an old fort, but he had not secreted himself 
 there, and lastly they followed the little path 
 to the edge of a steep precipice, at which it 
 stopped. The sea was roaring and surging a 
 hundred feet beneath ; and in front of them was 
 the setting sun, with a bar of golden light upon 
 the water, stretching to their feet. 
 
 " How grand !" said Kate. " There is surely 
 nothing in Jersey to compare with this." 
 
 " If Sophy had said so," replied her com- 
 panion, " I should have contradicted her flatly 
 should I not?"
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 159 
 
 " But my errors and delusions you indulge. 
 I am to be a spoilt child always humoured, 
 laughed at, and never understood." 
 
 Clifford made no reply, but pressed her arm 
 closer to his side, and continued looking at 
 the setting sun. 
 
 " Let us sit down here," he said at last, 
 "and rest a bit. You are tired. It has been 
 a fatiguing day. You were up early this 
 morning, and have walked about a good deal. 
 See, the grass is nice and dry." 
 
 "No, not now," she answered. "The tide is 
 rising, and we may be cut off besides, it's 
 getting late Papa will wonder where we are 
 perhaps he will be angry let us return at 
 once and go on board see, the dew is falling, 
 and it begins to feel quite cold." 
 
 " But I ask it as a little favour," Clifford 
 replied, " just one, to be granted me to-day. 
 Let us sit here two minutes and watch the 
 setting sun. This, you know, is the longest 
 day. Let us stay and see it out together 
 here, and make a note of it as an event in 
 both our lives." 
 
 So they sat down together, side by side, upon 
 a mound of turf, with the great and wide sea
 
 160 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 before them, and the sun sinking fast. For 
 some time neither of them spoke. 
 
 " If I were to live in yonder little town," 
 said Kate, at length, "I should often come 
 and sit here. This would be my favourite 
 walk." 
 
 " You like thinking," was the reply, " and 
 that is why people say you are not so clever 
 as your sisters, because they sing and play, 
 and do their German and Italian best. But 
 I know you better. I have dived deeper 
 benseath the surface of your mind. You have 
 more sentiment and imagination than they 
 have your vivacity is assumed and your 
 idleness a myth. You will astonish us all some 
 day by writing a tragedy, or a wild romance." 
 
 " And you are not you a myth and a 
 mystery? People tell me so sometimes." 
 
 " And perhaps they add, betvare. Is it so ? " 
 
 " Perhaps." 
 
 " And what do you say to that ? Do you 
 tell them that you know me best ? " 
 
 " Alas I know but little of you." 
 
 " I understand you. But you love me, Katie, 
 do you not ? Happen what may, I may always
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 161 
 
 count on that ? I shall not be leaning on a 
 broken reed, shall I ? Suppose I were to 
 become an outcast, destitute, friendless, with 
 every man's hand against me you would still 
 believe in me, and love me would you 
 not?" 
 
 The poor girl made no reply. Perhaps he 
 had put a question which she had already 
 asked herself for her heart beat quicker at 
 his words. 
 
 As he ceased speaking, the sun's lower edge 
 came down upon the sea. They watched him 
 sink, in silence. The most solemn sight in 
 nature passed before their eyes. As the last 
 speck of sunlight vanished, Clifford laid his 
 hand fondly upon Kate's, but felt it shiver 
 at his touch. 
 
 " You are cold," he whispered tenderly. 
 
 " No, but a sort of strange presentiment 
 of trouble crept over me a shiver, like a 
 warning from the grave." 
 
 " Impossible ! Who could have his grave in 
 such a spot as this ? But, naughty one, you 
 did not answer my last question." 
 
 " Must I then ? " 
 
 " Oh, do." 
 
 x
 
 162 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " And you won't be vexed ? Well then I 
 have read, and I believe, that love is a deep and 
 a holy feeling, based upon mutual confidences, 
 and casting out all fear that it is too enduring 
 to be of quick or sudden growth and that it 
 is a sentiment running through one's whole 
 life, and not a mere romance. But you forget 
 how young I am and how little I know of 
 the great world. You have been very very kind 
 but but must I say it I do not understand 
 you quite. Oh, don't deceive me, or my heart 
 would I mean, I should be sorry to find you 
 not exactly what I think." 
 
 " I comprehend you, Kate," he answered 
 kindly, " but listen. Ever since my hopes were 
 centered on your love I resolved to tell you 
 my strange story, before things went too far. 
 It is written, and you shall read it when you 
 get back. Will you like to do so ?" 
 
 " Ah yes and now let us go let us talk 
 as we return we have stayed away too long 
 Papa will wonder forgive me if I said anything 
 unkind just now I did not mean it do not 
 think I doubt you. I never did, and never 
 will." 
 
 " Bless you dear, dear Kate, for that," replied
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 
 
 her lover, as lie helped her to rise from her 
 seat upon the turf. " "We will love each other 
 always, whatever may befal me. But a strange 
 awe creeps over me sometimes. Storm and 
 darkness may be gathering round me who can 
 tell ? " 
 
 " Oh, do not say so you terrify me what 
 can I think of you when you talk like that ? " 
 
 " Come then, let us go. I feel too some 
 strange presentiment. Forgive my folly, but 
 I have lived too much alone of late. Strange 
 fancies sometimes haunt me. How chilly it 
 feels here. Come, my Katie, let us go." 
 
 Some years after the above scene occurred, 
 the renowned Chateaubriand was buried beneath 
 the very spot on which the pair had sat that 
 night. His tomb may now be seen there, 
 surmounted by a granite cross, and protected 
 by iron rails. It is one of the lions of the 
 place. He was a native of St. Malo, and in 
 his will he expressed a wish to be buried on 
 that rock. 
 
 On their way back, Clifford said 
 
 " Three times in my life has the longest day 
 been an eventful one to me. It was on the 
 longest day last year that I first met you,
 
 164 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 do you remember at a picnic, when 
 you came over to Jersey alone, on a visit to 
 your Aunt ? Our tablecloth was spread on a 
 wild spot such as we have left. Two years ago, 
 on the longest day, the yacht was cast ashore 
 at La Pulente, and I came to know the Smiths. 
 To-day has been an eventful one, too. In the 
 morning you saw me fling defiance and contempt 
 at a man who may have great power to injure 
 me, but in the afternoon I repented, and posted 
 a submissive letter to him. And now, in the 
 evening, you and I are walking alone together 
 for the first time, and we have seen the sun set 
 in the sea." 
 
 " But I cannot fancy you submissive," she 
 replied. 
 
 " Do you think I have a cold proud heart ? 
 No, I hav' n't. But I am passionate, and much 
 too rash for safety. Caution is a virtue that I 
 have yet to learn. May we never need it, Katie." 
 
 They walked on quickly for some time, and 
 not a word was said. At last Clifford broke 
 the silence, in a gayer mood. 
 
 " Do you know who you remind me of ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 No who ? "
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 165 
 
 " You are like a little bust from the antique, 
 which I saw in a shop window an hour ago, as 
 we passed. I will buy it for you to-morrow. 
 It is a copy of a large one in the Vatican. I 
 have got a cast from that at home. It is one 
 of the nine Muses. Which of them, now, do 
 you think you resemble ? Can you guess ? " 
 
 " Papa sometimes calls me the laughter-loving 
 Aphrodite but she was not a Muse, I think." 
 
 "He is mistaken. He does not know you 
 half so well as I do. The Muse whom you 
 resemble most is her of Tragedy." 
 
 " Melpomene ? Oh, surely not. She is a 
 monstrous Amazon and I am not much above 
 the middle height." 
 
 " And light and graceful as a deer. But 
 you are Melpomene for all that. I mean her 
 of the Vatican. You are thinking of the 
 Muse in the British Museum." 
 
 " Do you mean that little bust we saw, with 
 a mass of foliage round the head ? Oh, surely I 
 am not like her ? " 
 
 " But your Papa admits the likeness too. 
 When he first saw it in my rooms he said, why 
 that 's like Kate. I brought that cast from Rome, 
 and it has always been my beau ideal of a
 
 166 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 lovely face. Shall we go there Katie, in the 
 yacht, one day, and tow her up the yellow 
 Tiber, and live on board?" 
 
 " Why, where on earth have you two been ? " 
 said the lost Papa, suddenly pouncing on them 
 as they emerged from under a gateway upon 
 the quay. "I lost you all of a sudden two 
 hours ago. I just went into a shop for an 
 instant where they wrote up "English spoken 
 here," and when I came out, behold you were 
 nowhere to be seen. I have been hunting for 
 you ever since." 
 
 "Then it will be funny to compare our logs," 
 said Clifford, " for we have been all that time in 
 search of you. But how are we to get on board 
 now, for I see she's high and dry ? " 
 
 " And knee deep in mud all round. You are 
 a nice Captain not to have thought of that." 
 
 " But how are we to manage it ? It must be 
 a case of pig-a-back, I think." 
 
 "No I have engaged a cart to take us 
 alongside." 
 
 " A bright idea I should never have thought 
 of that." 
 
 In a cart then they were put on board. 
 
 The reverend Papa said little, and did not scold,
 
 OR KOMANCE IN A YACHT. 167 
 
 whatever may have been his thoughts; and as 
 they were all weary with their first day's 
 pleasuring, they soon retired to their respective 
 berths.
 
 168 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 15. 
 
 REPORTS SCANDAL FRIENDSHIP LOVE. 
 
 CLIFFORD made but one nap of it that night, and 
 when he awoke, the sun, which he had seen 
 set the evening before, was shining gaily 
 through the cabin skylight. He looked for 
 his companion on the opposite berth, but 
 Mr. Bell was up, dressed, and off and yet 
 by his watch it was only half-past five. Then 
 he listened, but all was quiet in the forecastle, 
 and Jim must have taken himself off too. On 
 looking aft towards the ladies' cabin, he perceived 
 the door ajar, and presently heard Mabel's 
 loud and merry laugh, and the bonne's reproof. 
 At last he understood that Kate and her Papa 
 had already started for a walk, and taken 
 Jim with them. What a shame not to have 
 called him. He dressed quickly and went
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 169 
 
 on deck. The dingey was at the slip, left in 
 charge of a soldier on duty. He had therefore 
 no means of getting ashore. By -and -bye, 
 however, a passage boat full of market people 
 from the opposite village of Dinard hove in 
 sight, and as they lowered their great lug 
 sails and ran in, he hailed, and they passed 
 near enough for him to spring on board, 
 and land with them. Then his instincts took 
 him to the Market, and there sure enough 
 were his Kate and her Papa, and Jim alongside, 
 with a large basket already nearly filled with 
 good things of all sorts, including fish and 
 strawberries for breakfast. The meeting was 
 a joyous one. on all sides, but not without 
 reproaches and expostulations from Clifford 
 to which his reverend friend replied 
 
 " Nonsense, my good fellow. You keep to your 
 province and navigate the ship, and let me be 
 caterer that is my department, which I flatter 
 myself I understand a deal better than you do. 
 Jim, suppose you take the basket aboard, and 
 come back and get the hot rolls. You remember 
 the shop, don't you ?" 
 
 "Ay, ay, your honor. This ain't the first 
 time I 've been to this here town." 
 
 Y
 
 170 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " But Jim, how about the tide ? It 's going 
 down, isn't it ? Let us understand that, for it 's 
 awkward when she 's high and dry." 
 
 "She'll float to-day from three till half-past 
 eight, and an hour later to morrow," replied 
 Clifford. 
 
 " Then we must have breakfast ready at the 
 latest by half-past seven, or we sha' n't be able to 
 land in the boat afterwards, eh, Jim ? " 
 
 " All right, your honor, I '11 have it ready. 
 You leave that to me. The tide never don't 
 cheat me." 
 
 "Well, then, we've got a good hour for a 
 stroll. Which way shall we go ? What is that 
 town opposite? Is that too far?" 
 
 "St. Servan," replied Clifford. "I was 
 thinking it would be fun to go there after 
 breakfast in a one-horse trap. There's plenty 
 to see in this neighbourhood Dinard, Cancalle, 
 the river Ranee, Dinan, and perhaps we 
 might manage a day or two to go and see 
 Mont St. Michel." 
 
 " Well, anything you like. This change is 
 really charming to me quite a new sensation 
 but where shall we go now, that's the question. 
 We've seen the town. Where did you two go
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 171 
 
 last night ? Kate, my child, you don't speak a 
 word this morning what 's the matter ?" 
 
 "Oh, Papa how can you say so? I've been 
 talking the whole time." 
 
 " Last night," said Clifford, with desperate 
 truthfulness, "we strolled to a neighbouring 
 island, but the tide is round it now and we took 
 a turn on the walls and down to a bit of beach 
 where the bathing machines are kept." 
 
 " And Papa has been there this morning," said 
 Kate, " and I have had a dip." 
 
 " In tunic and trousers," said her father, 
 laughing, " along with a dozen other girls, 'and 
 there was a priest amongst them in the water, 
 with a long black robe, and a three-cornered hat 
 on. Who would believe that, out of France ?" 
 
 " And I was fast asleep all the while," said 
 Clifford. " What a shame ! " 
 
 Come, then, let us mount the walls and get an 
 appetite for breakfast, " said Mr. Bell gaily, and 
 offering Kate his arm. 
 
 After making the circuit of the town they 
 came at length opposite to where the yacht was 
 lying, and there they rested for a time, leaning 
 on the parapet, watching the grey smoke
 
 172 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 rising from the copper funnel, with its queer 
 shaped cowl. 
 
 " I am no judge of yachts," said the parson, 
 addressing her- owner, "but she looks to me a 
 very pretty one. Now tell me candidly, do you 
 consider her a perfect model, and all that sort of 
 thing? Are we to brag about our trip in her, 
 when we get back to England or not ? " 
 
 " Well, according to some tastes she would be 
 thought perfection but / think her model all 
 wrong, from stem to stern. Her bottom is 
 horribly wedge-shaped, and she draws a great 
 deal too much water besides being too full 
 for'ard, and too lean aft." 
 
 " You must write all that down for me, or I 
 fear I shall forget it before the day 's over. But 
 if you don't admire her, why not sell her and 
 build another, more to your own taste?" 
 
 This was touching on delicate ground, and 
 Clifford replied, with some slight embarrasment 
 
 " I have associations with her. She was left 
 to me by my Uncle, about two years ago and 
 with all her faults I mean to keep her at least 
 until Mabel comes of age." 
 
 " That is, for eighteen years ! How we talk 
 of years to come, at your age ! Happy youth ! 
 
 *
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 173 
 
 But, ah, my friend, many an odd thing may 
 happen before Mabel comes of age." 
 
 " Look, Papa," said Kate, anxious for her 
 lover's sake to change the conversation. " Jim 
 is coming ashore again in the little boat." 
 
 But her Papa took no heed of her remark. 
 
 "Did you ever hear of a yacht named the 
 LURLINE ? " he enquired of his friend. 
 
 This was dreadful ; but Clifford did not lose 
 his presence of mind. Happily the eyes of his 
 companions were turned away from him at the 
 moment, and he was able to answer boldly 
 
 "Yes. That was once the name of the 
 BAGATELLE. But why do you ask me ?" 
 
 " Because my wife and daughters heard some 
 strange rumours about you in connexion with a 
 yacht of that name, the day before we left 
 Jersey." 
 
 For some moments there was a pause, and then 
 Clifford answered in a cold and altered tone 
 
 " You surprise me, Sir, or rather you torture 
 me. I conjure you to tell me plainly what 
 rumours they have heard." 
 
 " That is surely needless," replied Mr. Bell, in 
 the kindest tone. "Am I not here now as 
 your guest, and is not my child, whom I dearly
 
 174 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 love, your guest also ? You must feel that if we 
 had not both implicit faith in you we should not 
 be here. Why then ask me to repeat unpleasant 
 rumours which it is evident I disregard ? I will 
 even say more than that. So far from these 
 surmises and reports about you having had any 
 effect in deterring me from joining you on this 
 trip, they helped to decide me on doing so. I 
 have not known you many months, but quite 
 long enough to form a high opinion of you, and 
 to entertain a regard for you. I therefore felt it a 
 sort of duty I owed you to show, by my example, 
 how little importance I attach to ill-natured 
 remarks. If I should prove to be mistaken in 
 you, then all I can say is that half a century 
 of experience of human nature will be worth 
 nothing, and at sixty I must begin again to 
 learn ; and yet it is my profession to read and 
 try to understand the human heart." 
 
 " You are very kind, dear Sir very to put 
 faith in me and I shall never forget it. But 
 may I beg of you most earnestly to tell me what 
 those rumours were ? " 
 
 " Nothing, I assure you, but what went in at 
 one ear and out at the other. "We may hear 
 sometimes unpleasant things about a friend,
 
 OR KOMANCE IN A YACHT. 175 
 
 because we cannot help it ; but our duty is, at 
 any rate, never to repeat them." 
 
 " But I will find out, when I return, who my 
 accusers are, and what they mean the filthy 
 jackals," said Clifford, in deep anger. 
 
 " No ! There you would be very wrong. The 
 proper way to treat scandal is to take no notice 
 of it, and live it down. It has always this good 
 effect, although an evil in itself it proves to you 
 who are your true friends, and who are not. 
 Those who are not you can continue to treat 
 civilly, but nothing more, while those who are 
 come in for a larger share of your esteem by just 
 so much as the others have lost." 
 
 "But still I should like to know what it is 
 they say about me and what foundation they 
 have for it." 
 
 " Don't trouble yourself about the matter. You 
 can easily imagine it all. You have only to seek 
 in such facts as you know to be true, for the 
 foundation of reports, and then imagine how 
 they can be coloured and perverted not always 
 out of sheer malice, but from a low order of 
 mind which takes delight in disparaging and 
 finding fault. It is astonishing how much evil- 
 speaking and slandering there is in the world,
 
 176 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 even amongst persons who ought to know better. 
 Meanness is a very common vice, and generosity 
 a rare virtue. Let us all try to practise it much 
 more than we do, and make it enter more largely 
 into every thought and action." 
 
 "But I do not ask for generosity," replied 
 Clifford. " I demand justice aa a right, and 
 justice I would have from an assailant." 
 
 " You are angry and excited," said Mr. Bell, 
 " and I regret that I made that unlucky remark. 
 It was very thoughtless of me, I own, but if I 
 had attached the slightest importance to what I 
 heard I should not have done so." 
 
 " I am sorry too," replied the other, " that I 
 should have shown such a burst of temper. But 
 since we have broached this subject, let me ask 
 you how a true friend should really act in the 
 event of hearing slanderous reports which have 
 a strong show of probability to support them." 
 
 " In that case, he would simply obey his 
 generous and affectionate instincts," was the 
 clergyman's reply. " If one's dog were in 
 trouble one would not desert him far less 
 one's friend. Friendship is not based on the 
 supposition of perfection, for no man is perfect. 
 On the contrary, any man may fall, or why do
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 177 
 
 we pray ' lead us not into temptation ' ? If 
 then our friend should fall we must not leave 
 him in the mire, but strive to pull him out, and 
 set him on his legs again." 
 
 " But suppose that in his fall he should 
 have broken both his legs, and be unable to 
 stand again ; or suppose that the mire should 
 stick so closely to him that no one could touch 
 him without being himself defiled ; what then ? " 
 asked Clifford. 
 
 Mr. Bell answered 
 
 " You put an extreme case, but my reply is 
 still the same. A man must never desert his 
 friend. He must be found by his side to protect 
 him from insult he must be found by his side 
 in the cell of the criminal and he must be 
 amongst the last to leave him if he should be 
 led forth to the convict-ship, the gallows, or the 
 guillotine." 
 
 " And these are the principles on which you 
 would yourself act and which you instil into 
 your children ? " 
 
 " I hope so." 
 
 "But if you should find yourself deceived in 
 your friend. If you should discover that he had
 
 178 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 never been worthy of your regard, that, in fact, 
 he had been an impostor from the first ? " 
 
 " Then I should have to suffer from an error 
 of judgment ; but still, once having entertained 
 friendship for him would have given him a place 
 in my heart." 
 
 "Your sentiments are noble, my dear Sir, 
 may they never be too severely tried in real life. 
 But we must go now. I see Jim waiting for us 
 at the slip." 
 
 As Clifford said this, he rose from his stooping 
 posture on the parapet, and on turning to leave 
 perceived Kate's eyes bent upon him with an 
 expression of deep and tender interest. The 
 momentary glance which they exchanged acted 
 on him like a talisman. In an instant, doubt, 
 anxiety, anger vanished from his mind, and hope 
 stepped in again. "With the singular buoyancy 
 of his nature he seemed to forget at once, or to 
 defy the hints which had been dropped of the 
 danger in which he stood, and he lived only in 
 the present. They all returned to the boat in 
 better spirits even than before that strange 
 dialogue took place.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 179 
 
 CHAPTER 16. 
 
 LEHON ABBEY DINAN CHATELIEK. 
 
 WE are not writing the diary of that yachting 
 trip, or it would be a pleasing task to recount 
 in order the adventures of each day of a happy 
 fortnight, as it glided, as happiness is said to 
 do, away. But a record of these events was 
 kept, nevertheless, by one of the party ; and 
 the reader's instincts will tell him which of 
 them it was. These notes, or jottings of each 
 day's adventures, were made by Kate, at such 
 odd times as opportunity offered, in lead pencil, 
 in a little book with a lock and key which 
 Clifford bought for her in St. Malo ; and not 
 unfrequently with him at her elbow as she 
 wrote. Sometimes even he would write a few 
 lines in it himself and generally in a comic 
 vein so that there were pages in it where
 
 180 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 his own writing might be seen mixed funnily 
 with hers. After the lapse of years, that little 
 book, with its half-effaced contents, came back 
 into his own possession, and then he observed 
 in many places the traces of a tear. Life has 
 its alloy of evil, more or less ; and a diary of 
 the past must always come to be, sooner or 
 later, a mournful thing to read. 
 
 "We shall not dwell long on that happy 
 fortnight in the BAGATELLE. The reader must 
 imagine much of what occurred, in the midst 
 of thorough harmony and perfect understanding 
 on all sides. Not one of the party ever forgot 
 those happy hours not even the little prattling 
 toddling child, for some incidents of that yachting 
 trip were amongst the earliest impressions 
 engraved upon her mind. By turns they visited 
 all the places which Clifford had enumerated 
 on the first day Mont St. Michel being that 
 which delighted them the most ; while these 
 excursions were rendered infinitely amusing by 
 the odd sorts of novel vehicles in which the 
 party were conveyed, and the odd shifts to 
 which they were sometimes put. And all this 
 followed by their funny home' on board the 
 yacht, for the feeling of home, when they
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 181 
 
 returned to it after a temporary absence, cast 
 a romance over their "wanderings which no 
 ordinary style of travelling permits. 
 
 On the last of these excursions, while Clifford 
 sat with his sketch book on his knee before 
 the ruins of a fine old abbey amongst the 
 trees, his reverend friend joined him, and for 
 some time seemed greatly interested in the 
 progress of his work. They were alone, for 
 Kate and Mabel were having a merry romp 
 together in a meadow, a few yards off. 
 
 " So fond as you are of Art," said Clifford, 
 " I am surprised you never took up the brush 
 yourself." 
 
 The old Clergyman replied 
 
 " I have had other brushes to paint with, 
 my young friend, than camel hair, and other 
 subjects for my study than ruins and trees. 
 You see me now indulging in a holiday which 
 has become a necessary change after many 
 uninterrupted years of toil. At home, in my 
 little rectory, I am quite another man as I 
 trust you will find out for yourself some day.'' 
 
 " It is very kind of you to say so," replied 
 Clifford, "for I cannot but feel that there is 
 more couched in such an invitation than the
 
 182 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 mere words convey. May I live to convince 
 you that I appreciate your great kindness, and 
 am not altogether unworthy of it." 
 
 " Do you know that I rather pride myself 
 on being a judge of character ? " 
 
 " I can believe it, for during the last fortnight 
 I have often felt that your eyes were upon 
 me, taking notes." 
 
 " But you did not quail beneath them and 
 you guessed that I had no wish to interfere 
 with your designs and that I was satisfied of 
 your honourable intentions, eh ? " 
 
 " I felt that you tacitly encouraged them 
 and I was infinitely grateful for your kindness." 
 
 " Then, before our return home together, we 
 have a little confidence to exchange on a delicate 
 subject, have we not ? " 
 
 " By all means. Now, if you please. I am 
 willing," said Clifford. 
 
 " Good, then let us have our gossip now. 
 We have time to spare for it, and both time and 
 place are fit. Let me tell you then my own tale 
 first. It was about two months ago that I first 
 discovered that an attachment was growing up 
 between yourself and my dear Kate, and then I 
 began to observe and to analyse your character
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 183 
 
 with much interest. But my most anxious study 
 of it only dates from the evening before we 
 started for this trip. You remember when 
 I left you both together in the drawing- 
 room for a few minutes, while I went 
 below to consult with my wife and my other 
 daughters about their accepting your invitation 
 to go to France with you in the yacht ? "Well, 
 on my return to tell you the arrangement we had 
 made, the door of the room happening to be ajar, 
 I entered without disturbing your te"te-a-tete. 
 You were both standing within the recess of one 
 of the windows, with your backs towards me, and 
 you did not hear me approach you over the soft 
 carpet, until I came near enough to overhear, 
 but without any design or suspicion on my part, 
 your ardent protestations of affection as you 
 held her hand in yours. At such a moment I 
 felt, of course, that it would have been a meanness 
 in me to act the eaves- dropper, and I immediately 
 left the room without either of you imagining 
 that I had witnessed what I did. I returned 
 shortly after, and found you both expecting me. 
 A glance at Kate's happy face was enough. I 
 knew how your proposal had been received ; and 
 you remember the message I brought up, as
 
 184 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 regarded the trip. But I had learnt your secret, 
 and it gave me food for anxious thought that 
 night. Would it be right and prudent, I asked 
 myself a hundred times, to join you, after such a 
 scene, and with her ? But all I knew of you was 
 greatly in your favour, so far as my own obser- 
 vation went, and I resolved therefore to trust 
 you, but at the same time keep a careful watch, 
 for I have already intimated that my wife told 
 me that evening of some rumours which she 
 had heard about you during the day. These, 
 however, were very vague, and I reckoned them 
 at just so much as ill-natured reports are 
 commonly worth which suggest conduct at total 
 variance with a man's general habits of life. 
 When I hinted at these, on the second morning 
 of our trip, your manner satisfied me of your 
 integrity, but it led me to believe that a mystery 
 of some sort nevertheless involved your circum- 
 stances. If this should be so, I trust you will 
 explain. But understand me I merely ask you 
 for this confidence because it is essential to 
 happiness between near and dear friends that 
 there should be no concealment in these matters. 
 If you were without a penny, and I had 
 confidence in you and liked you, I should simply
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 185 
 
 say, wait until you can support her, and then 
 your union shall have my full consent. I must 
 say, however, that the suddenness of your 
 proposal that evening startled me, and took me 
 greatly by surprise, for I had then no idea either 
 that your feelings or hers had gone to such a 
 length." 
 
 "But you must remember, dear Sir," replied 
 Clifford, " that I have known Kate for a longer 
 time than you suppose. I met her a year ago 
 when she came over on a visit to her Aunt, and 
 although it is true that I had never been to her 
 own home before the evening you speak of, yet 
 I had often met her on other occasions, at parties, 
 pic-nics, and so forth. It was, in fact, a sudden 
 change in my circumstances and prospects, 
 revealed to me only that day, which convinced 
 me how much I loved her, and how deeply I 
 should have felt a separation from her, unless 
 some mutual pledge had been exchanged." 
 
 " But the nature of that sudden change in 
 your circumstances and prospects you will 
 confide to me, will you not ? " said Mr. Bell. 
 
 " I will indeed, most frankly," replied Clifford. 
 " You shall know all. But mine is a long and a 
 painful story, too harrowing to tell you by word 
 
 of mouth. I have written it all out expressly 
 
 2 A
 
 186 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 for you to read some day, and the manuscript is 
 now on board the yacht." 
 
 " Has Kate seen it ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 ." Then the sooner I read it the better. 
 Suppose you give it to me to-night." 
 
 " No, not to night," said Clifford. " Grant 
 me one favour. This happy little trip let that 
 pass over first. Then, read it when you get back 
 to Jersey. That will be quite time enough. 
 Nothing presses. Things may go on for years 
 as they have done ; in fact until Mabel comes 
 of "age." 
 
 " Well then, we will say no more about it now ; 
 but if I have expressed a shade of solicitude it 
 has been on my dear child's account for there 
 are moments when even in her presence your 
 thoughts seem far away." 
 
 "It is true," said Clifford, "a slight cause of 
 anxiety has arisen lately to disturb my peace. 
 In fact, I hardly knew, when we left Jersey, 
 whether I should return with you myself, or send 
 Jim with a couple more hands to take you back 
 again without me. A letter, however, which was 
 brought to me that morning by the boat decided 
 me to return with you."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 187 
 
 " How strange ! " said Mr. Bell. " But Jhat 
 little trouble has now passed off?" 
 
 " Trouble ! " replied Clifford. " I don't know 
 the word. I am in heaven in a paradise of 
 hopes and bliss. My happiness seems almost too 
 great to last. I can scarcely realise it. The very 
 cloud which passed over me has been a blessing, 
 for its shadow revealed to us both how sincerely 
 we were attached." 
 
 After a pause of some minutes in their 
 conversation, the old clergyman said, with deep 
 feeling in his tone, 
 
 " My poor Kate ! Do you know, Sir, you 
 are stealing away from me my favourite child ? 
 Ellen has a charming loveable disposition too, 
 but in Kate there is more force of character, 
 and more mind. In her's you will find a rich 
 field to cultivate, and you will be repaid. She 
 may be less accomplished than the others, but 
 what she knows is sound, and her taste is 
 more refined. She is a lady, in the highest 
 sense, and with all a woman's true and generous 
 instincts. I can see already that she loves you 
 with devotion and I have not opposed her 
 choice, for I fully believe that she has chosen 
 well. Had I not thought so we should not
 
 188 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 have been your guests. May you be happy 
 in each other's love and may I live to see it. 
 My children are now my last stake in life, 
 and my chief care. T do not covet wealth for 
 them, or -station, but simply an honest happy 
 home, where love presides and where intellect 
 lends a grace. There I will leave you now 
 for my old heart is full." 
 
 With these words, the kind old man got up 
 and strolled away. 
 
 It was the last day of their holiday ashore 
 when the above conversation took place. The 
 yacht, notwithstanding her great draught of 
 water, had been towed up the river Ranee, by 
 a passenger steamer, as far as the pretty town 
 of Dinan, about sixteen miles above its mouth, 
 and four above the first lock, and the party 
 had that day proceeded three miles higher up 
 still, in the dingey, to Lehon Abbey, and had 
 there picnic'd and spent the afternoon. Thus 
 it was their last day amidst the placid wooded 
 scenery of the interior, and on the morrow 
 the storm-beaten coast and the unquiet sea 
 were to welcome them back again. That very 
 evening, indeed, it had been arranged that the 
 yacht was to be towed down by a horse to the
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 189 
 
 first lock, at Chatelier, and at daybreak the 
 next morning they were to take to their long 
 oars, and drop down the river with the ebb 
 tide, and then, without stopping at St. Malo, 
 stand on straight for Jersey, should the wind 
 and weather permit. 
 
 It was already time to start for Dinan in the 
 dingey, and Clifford was tying up his sketch 
 book, when Kate joined him. 
 
 " Are you ashamed of your performance, 
 that you won't let me see it ? " she asked, with 
 a smile. 
 
 " The fact is," replied her lover, " I have 
 not done much this afternoon, for at first I 
 was watching you and Mabel at play, and then 
 your Papa came and sat by me, and we had 
 a long talk about something, and he invited 
 me to the Rectory, and I accepted. Is not 
 that good news ? " 
 
 The young lady blushed, but it was with 
 joy. Her lover drew her fondly towards him, 
 and added 
 
 " But you have now, Kate, a rival in my 
 regard. It is your dear Papa. Look at the 
 kind creature he is leaving us together, that 
 I may tell you about all this happiness. He
 
 190 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 has given his full consent. In another month, 
 perhaps, I may call you mine only fancy in 
 another month." 
 
 " But I came to see your painting ; show it me, 
 please," she said, evasively. 
 
 So he opened his sketch book, and there 
 she beheld the old abbey and the majestic 
 trees, roughly rendered by a few broad touches, 
 but true to nature as true could be. It was 
 the best sketch he took on that trip, and the 
 last sheet upon the block. The rest of the 
 drawings were in the pocket of the book. They 
 had all been taken during that happy fortnight. 
 As he handed the last sketch to her to look 
 at, he said 
 
 " Keep this book, for my sake, and never 
 part with it. Every sketch in it is full of 
 associations, and eloquent of the past fortnight's 
 happiness. Look at them sometimes, Katie, 
 when you are alone, and think of this happy 
 trip when they were taken." 
 
 " How pretty the one is which you have 
 done this afternoon," she answered. " I like 
 $iat the best of all. How truthfully, and yet 
 how rapidly you paint. Your sketches always 
 suggest beauties in the view which I did not
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 191 
 
 perceive before and yet all done with a few 
 touches of the brush. What a marvellous art 
 it is. How ever did you learn it ? " 
 
 " Would you like to do it too ? I know you 
 could, and I will teach you. You will soon beat 
 me. I have too bold a brush, and not enough 
 detail. I could never get beyond a sketch, but 
 with you, Katie, sitting by my side, I should be 
 able to paint on the same spot for ever, and never 
 finish half enough. Oh, happiness ! What a trip 
 we 've had and to end in all this joy and more 
 to follow without end ! Do you remember what 
 I told you that first night, just when we met 
 Papa? the yellow Tiber, and my dear old Rome ? 
 Shall we go there in the yacht this autumn, and 
 take him, and Ellen too ?" 
 
 " And leave poor Sophy and Mamma behind ?" 
 " Poor Sophy," he replied. " Yes, I like her 
 too." 
 
 "And not Mamma?" 
 " Oh, yes if only for your sweet sake." 
 They strolled together to the dingey, which 
 had been tied up under a summer house in the 
 Abbey grounds, and then Clifford rowed them 
 back, while Kate steered, and her Papa and 
 Mabel sat on either side. How lovely the little
 
 192 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 river looked that night, winding so tranquilly 
 between lichen-covered granite rocks and 
 wooded slopes, reflected in it like a glass. What 
 a heavenly summer's eve it was. What a rich 
 golden light. What a scene to be remembered 
 for the rest of life ! 
 
 At length the town was reached. Their last 
 row in the little boat was over. Swiftly they 
 shot beneath the lofty viaduct then but half 
 completed, and now one of the finest engineering 
 works in France and then through an arch 
 of the picturesque old bridge. The yacht was 
 at the Pier close by, and a horse already 
 waiting to tow them to the lock. They stepped 
 on board, and at once cast off. Again Kate 
 steered ; and again, in the glow of a summer 
 sunset, her lover was seated by her side.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 193 
 
 CHAPTER 17. 
 
 A BETRAYAL A NEW ACTOR IN THE SCENE. 
 
 LEAVING our friends to their repose in the cabins 
 of the BAGATELLE, on that, the last night of their 
 trip to France as she lay moored in a sort of 
 basin of deep water just above the lock at 
 Chatelier we will step across to Jersey and see 
 what had been going on there during their 
 fortnight's absence from the island. 
 
 One of the men who had rowed after the 
 BAGATELLE in the boat which gave chase to her 
 on the morning of her start for France, conveyed 
 Clifford's defiant message to old Smith. The old 
 man sat up in bed, had it thrice repeated to him, 
 put many questions respecting the chase of the 
 yacht, her probable destination, the name of the 
 young lady who had been seen on board, and the 
 conduct of Clifford from first to last. He then 
 
 2 B
 
 194 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 put into the man's hand a letter which he 
 requested him to post on his return to the town, 
 and dismissed him with his fee. 
 
 That letter was a reply to the advertisement in 
 the Times, in which 100 reward had been 
 offered for information respecting the fate of the 
 LURLINE, &c. It ran thus : 
 
 If Charles Marsden will communicate with John 
 Smith, of La Pulentc, in the Island of Jersey, the 
 latter will furnish him, for the reward stated in his 
 advertisement, with full particulars of all that he 
 requires to know. 
 
 The above letter was addressed, as directed in 
 the advertisement, to Charles Marsden, Albion 
 Coffee House, Southampton ; and the boatman 
 posted it that same day. 
 
 About a week after, a visitor was announced at 
 La Bie. It was Charles Marsden himself. 
 
 He was a man of middle age, rather tall, of 
 slight figure, and in appearance what is called 
 " shabby genteel." His hair was light coloured 
 and long, and he wore a moustache and beard 
 trimmed in the French style. His gait was 
 feeble, and like that of a man many years older ; 
 and his .face, which was of a sickly cadaverous 
 hue, bore testimony to a constitution which had
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 195 
 
 been broken by early habits of dissipation. Its 
 expression, moreover, was characterized by a 
 concentration of purpose, and that not a 
 beneA r olent one. On the whole, the appearance 
 of the man was disagreeable, and not such as 
 to inspire the confidence of a stranger. 
 
 His arrival was announced to old Smith by 
 Hannah, who was requested to show him up at 
 once into the attic. At that time Clifford's 
 apologetic letter to Smith, written on board the 
 BAGATELLE on the first day of the trip, and 
 posted the same evening at St. Malo, had not 
 been received. It had been lying two days at a 
 post-office a couple of miles from La Pulente, and 
 had not been sent for, or forwarded. 
 
 The visitor walked up to old Smith's bedside, 
 and announced himself as Charles Marsden, from 
 Southampton, adding, " and you, I suppose, are 
 the John Smith who answered my advertisement." 
 
 " I am," replied the old man. 
 
 " Then let us proceed to business at once," 
 said the other. " Have the goodness to listen 
 attentively to the following story : About two 
 years ago, I left my wife Zoe, together with 
 her infant daughter Mabel, and a young man
 
 196 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 named Henry Clifford, on board a yacht named 
 the LURLINE, which was then in imminent 
 danger of destruction in a gale, off the Cornish 
 coast. I, with four hands who composed the 
 crew, escaped in the yacht's boat, and were 
 picked up by a passing vessel. That boat, I 
 may as well tell you, was a lifeboat, or we 
 must have been swamped a dozen times, for 
 she was frequently filled, and turned over. 
 The gale moderated shortly after, and the vessel 
 proceeded on her way. She was bound to 
 California for hides, and was short-handed. 
 Our accession of force was valuable, and no 
 means were taken to send us home by any 
 homeward-bound ship that hove in sight. So in 
 the course of time we arrived at our destination. 
 After many months of toil I contrived to reach 
 England again, and then made enquiries about 
 the yacht, &c. All I could learn was that 
 Clifford had survived the danger in which I 
 left him, as well as my infant child, but that 
 my wife was dead. No one, however, had 
 heard anything of Clifford or Mabel for nearly 
 two years. I could discover no clue to their 
 whereabouts, neither could I learn what had 
 become of the LURLINE. My present object is
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 197 
 
 to find Clifford and my daughter. Can you 
 then tell me where they are ? " 
 
 " I can." 
 
 " Then may I request that you will do so 
 at once." 
 
 " I will answer that question by another. 
 Have you come prepared to pay me the 100 
 down ? That is the * open sesame ' of my lips. 
 Without that first in my possession I decline 
 to give you any information whatever." 
 
 Marsden seemed taken a little aback ; but as 
 it was pretty clear to him that the old man 
 was not one to be easily outwitted, he replied 
 frankly 
 
 " To tell you the truth, I have not brought 
 the money with me, simply because I have not 
 yet got it myself. You remember that the 
 reward was conditional. The advertisement 
 stated, as clearly as words could do, that the 
 information was to be such as would lead to 
 an arrest. Until I have brought Clifford to 
 book, and have recovered property which is 
 due to me, and which he has embezzled, I 
 shall have nothing wherewith to pay you the 
 promised reward." 
 
 " "Whew " whistled the old man, con-
 
 198 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 temptuously. Then, Sir, our conference is at 
 an end, I fear." 
 
 " Not exactly. I can place you in a witness 
 box, upon your oath, and extort your information 
 from you for nothing, if I choose." 
 
 " No you can't," replied the old man, smiling. 
 " But even if you could, I have been many 
 times in a witness box before now, and I 
 know how to behave myself there. Besides, 
 what would prevent my giving warning to 
 Clifford, and sending you on a wild goose 
 chase ? I know what I am about. The man 
 who can outwit me in a matter of this sort 
 must come from very far north from the pole 
 itself." 
 
 There was a pause for some minutes. At 
 length Marsden said 
 
 " Suppose I tell you exactly how I am 
 situated. You may then be induced to help 
 me." 
 
 " Do so, by all means. I will listen to you 
 with pleasure." 
 
 " Then the simple fact is this," replied 
 Marsden. " Clifford has forged a will, by which 
 he has come into possession of property which 
 ought to belong to me. His Uncle, and namesake,
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 199 
 
 Henry Clifford, had a daughter Zoe, whom I 
 married. He died intestate, leaving no other 
 child. Under these circumstances, the property 
 of the deceased would go to her, and consequently 
 to me. Clifford, the nephew, in order to prevent 
 this, forged a will in which he constituted 
 himself executor and residuary legatee, and in 
 such a way as to deprive me of every farthing." 
 
 " That is bad indeed ! " said Smith, " I could 
 never have believed such a thing possible of 
 him. A few years ago he would have been 
 hanged for it, and now he would be transported 
 for life. Can you prove that he has done this ? " 
 
 "'Very easily." 
 
 " How ? " 
 
 " That is a long story." 
 
 " But I am afraid I cannot help you unless 
 I know all the particulars," said Smith. " I 
 advise you to tell me. My help may be worth 
 something, for I was once in the legal profession, 
 and have listened to many a strange tale of 
 human frailty. You may confide anything to 
 me with perfect safety, for our interests are 
 sure to be identical in this matter." 
 
 " "Well then, I will tell you how the case 
 stands. Henry Clifford, the Uncle, did not
 
 200 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 exactly die intestate, as I said just now. He 
 made a will, which was duly signed and 
 witnessed the day before his death, but that will 
 was afterwards lost. Young Clifford happened 
 to have amongst his papers the lawyer's original 
 draft of it, so he copied that cut fair, and 
 forged the old signatures." 
 
 " That was not quite so bad," said Smith. 
 " It was a very risky thing to do, but not 
 dishonourable so far as intention to defraud 
 went. Some people might think it right. But 
 how can you prove that the will which he 
 deposited at Doctors' Commons is a forged 
 one ? " 
 
 " Because I happen to have found the original 
 will, and I have it now in my pocket." 
 
 " But how is anyone to know whether that 
 or the other is the original will, and what 
 can it signify to you, since the bequests are 
 the same in both ? May I see it ? " 
 
 " Assuredly. Here it is." 
 
 Old Smith took the document, and read it 
 carefully through from beginning to end. 
 
 " This appears to be quite formal and straight- 
 forward," he said. " I observe that one of the 
 witnesses is an English solicitor, then residing
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 201 
 
 at Nice. Is lie alive now, and could he be 
 produced as a witness to swear to his own 
 handwriting, so as to settle which of the two 
 wills is genuine, and which forged ? " 
 
 "He could." 
 
 " But supposing the original will to have 
 been really lost, do you think this same witness 
 would then be prepared to swear to the other 
 will being a forged one ? " 
 
 " I cannot say. The signatures are extremely 
 well done, and the original will was written 
 out by Clifford from the lawyer's draft. The 
 testator was in the very jaws of death at the 
 time, and the thing was done in a hurry." 
 
 " What has become of the other witness ? " 
 
 " He is dead." 
 
 " There is certainly a case against young 
 Clifford," said Smith, " though not a very 
 good one. The lawyer's memory might be at 
 fault." 
 
 " That might be quickened," replied Marsden, 
 with a cunning look. 
 
 " But still I don't see how your prosecuting 
 Clifford would benefit yourself. The two wills 
 are the same in effect, and in both the property 
 
 is so bequeathed as to cut you off from a single 
 
 2 c
 
 202 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 sou. What was left to your wife Zoe is to 
 go to her children at her death. You could not 
 touch any of it. The yacht and the rest of the 
 property are left to the nephew of the testator." 
 
 " But I am alive, and I am my child's natural 
 guardian," said Marsden. 
 
 "Then you have only to show yourself to 
 Clifford, and suggest that fact to him. Prose- 
 cuting him for a forgery, and proving your case 
 by the production of the real will, which is the 
 same as the other in all its bequests, would avail 
 you nothing. The act would be merely one of 
 malice, without any benefit to yourself." 
 
 "But I hate him, and long to be revenged," 
 replied Marsden. " He has always crossed my 
 path, and I mean to clear him away now, once 
 and for ever. Besides, the mere sight of me 
 alive, knowing what power I have over him, will 
 terrify him into giving me any bribe I choose to 
 name, to keep silent on the subject of his crime. 
 As it is, he thinks me dead, and the genuine will 
 at the bottom of the sea with me. But I have 
 only to show myself and say, Clifford, I have the 
 original will in my possession, and I shall have 
 my enemy at my feet. Bemember, but for his 
 forgery, I should only have to destroy this will
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 203 
 
 and the whole property would become mine. For 
 months I toiled home from abroad, inch by inch, 
 expecting on my arrival to find myself a rich 
 man, and behold he has forged a will ! There is 
 good cause for my revenge and revenge is 
 sweet." 
 
 As Marsden said this, an expression of 
 diabolical malice crossed his features. Old Smith 
 observed it. He had been deeply interested in 
 the conversation, and had watched the counte- 
 nance of his visitor most attentively. His 
 impression was that the true culprit was Marsden 
 himself. The loss of the will, and his finding it, 
 looked very suspicious. The whole story was 
 beginning to assume a palpable shape. 
 
 At that moment Hannah entered the room, and 
 placed in her father's hands a letter which a 
 man had just brought him. from the post-office. 
 
 It was the letter from Clifford. Old Smith did 
 not open it, but said to his visitor 
 
 " Will you excuse me for a few minutes ? 
 This letter is one which requires my immediate 
 attention. Perhaps you will be good enough to 
 leave me whilst I read and answer it." 
 
 " Then I will take a walk on the sands," said 
 Marsden, " and return in half an hour."
 
 204 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " Do so. I shall then be ready to hear what 
 you have got further to say." 
 
 Marsden departed, and left the old man to read 
 the letter, and reflect on its contents. 
 
 The reader will remember what that letter was 
 about. It was written in a conciliatory tone, it 
 recognized services rendered, it proposed an 
 annuity by way of compensation, and it contained 
 a full and frank apology for insults offered. 
 
 It pleased old Smith extremely. It ceded to 
 him all that he wanted. It was entirely satis- 
 factory. He had always liked Clifford, and he 
 now resolved to accept his offer, and become 
 his staunch friend. Besides, Marsden was evidently 
 a villain, whilst Clifford's act, although illegal, 
 might be regarded as done in self-defence. At 
 any rate, old Smith was not one to be too nice in 
 his criticism on such a point, although he could 
 moralise at times with any right reverend lord 
 bishop, or learned judge upon the bench. 
 
 To return to Marsden. While he was at 
 Southampton, and as soon as he had received a 
 letter from Jersey in answer to his advertisement, 
 he concluded, naturally enough, that the LURLINE 
 had been cast ashore upon the coast of that 
 island. The first sight of the wild and desolate
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 205 
 
 Bay of St. Ouen, with its long flat sandy beach 
 exposed to the West, made him think it probable 
 that it was there that she had been wrecked. 
 So he resolved to make some enquiries on the 
 spot, before renewing his conference with Smith. 
 When he left the cottage for a stroll upon the 
 sands, there happened to be two men and a 
 woman loading a cart with vraic. He therefore 
 went up to them, and learnt, by their answers to 
 his questions, much of what he wished to know. 
 They told him that a yacht had come ashore 
 there two years before that its name was the 
 BAGATELLE, and that of its owner John Smith 
 that the wife of the latter, a beautiful young 
 creature, had been killed in the surf by a blow 
 on the head, but that her infant daughter had 
 been saved also that Mr. Smith had lived in 
 Jersey ever since, had kept his yacht at the 
 Town Pier, and had gone a week before in her to 
 France. 
 
 All this was information of the highest 
 importance to Marsden. At the expiration of 
 the half-hour he returned to old Smith's room. 
 
 "I have just learnt," he said, with an air of 
 triumph, "pretty nearly all I wanted to know. 
 Henry Clifford, it appears, is now in France
 
 206 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 that is to say, John Smith left in the BAGATELLE 
 for France a week ago. Do you happen to know 
 what port he went to ? " 
 
 " I have not the least idea," said Smith, with 
 perfect composure, "but that could be easily 
 ascertained." 
 
 " Would he be safe from arrest in France ? " 
 
 " I should think so." 
 
 "But if I were to charge him with stealing 
 my yacht ? " 
 
 " You would not be able to prove the charge, 
 and the prosecution would fall to the ground. 
 You would be saddled with the costs, and laughed 
 at for a lunatic." 
 
 " But is there not an extradition treaty between 
 the French and English Governments for the 
 mutual cession of persons who have committed 
 forgery ? " 
 
 "I think not." 
 
 " Then how can I get redress ? " 
 
 " Lay the case before the Lord Chancellor." 
 
 " And what will he do ? " 
 
 "Prove, perhaps, that you, stole the original 
 will, and secreted it." 
 
 Marsden began to look angry.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 207 
 
 "Where is the will?" he asked. "I don't see 
 it. I left it on the bed." 
 
 " I don't know," replied Smith. " You took 
 it with you, did you not ? " 
 
 Marsden felt in all his pockets, but it was 
 not there. 
 
 "I left it on the bed," he said. "What 
 have you done with it ? " 
 
 " I have not touched it," replied Smith. " If 
 you have lost it, don't blame me." 
 
 " You old scoundrel ! " said Marsden, perfectly 
 livid with anger. " Give it up, or I will strangle 
 you on the spot." 
 
 The old man fumbled under his pillow, and 
 at length produced, not the lost will but the 
 loaded pistol which he always kept there. It 
 was on full-cock. 
 
 The two men glared upon each other, but 
 there was so much resolution in Smith's face 
 that Marsden did not dare to attack him. 
 
 " The will has been lost, and found, and lost 
 again," said Smith, ironically. 
 
 " And it will be found again," said Marsden, 
 "if there is such a thing as a search-warrant, 
 and a constable to be had in this place."
 
 208 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " It will never be found again by you" 
 replied the other. 
 
 " We shall see," was the reply, as Marsden 
 left the room. 
 
 That same day Smith's cottage was searched 
 by a connttabh and two centeniers, and every 
 nook and corner of it thoroughly examined, 
 but no will was found. Moreover, it was 
 proved that no one had either been to, or left 
 the house, since Marsden went for his walk 
 upon the beach, except himself. The search 
 was fruitless ; and the man who had come to 
 Jersey for his revenge had been outwitted at 
 the first step. 
 
 Marsden went to the town, and on enquiry 
 the next day amongst the boatmen at the 
 harbour, learnt that the BAGATELLE had started 
 for France a few days before, with Mr. Bell 
 and his daughter as passengers. He then 
 ascertained the address of that gentleman's 
 lodgings, and on calling there was informed 
 by Mrs. Bell that the yacht had gone to 
 St. Malo. A steamer left for that port two 
 days after, and in her Marsden took his passage. 
 
 The same steamer carried the mail, and in 
 the letter bag was the following communication
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 209 
 
 from Smith to Clifford, addressed Poste Restante, 
 St. Malo. 
 
 I received your letter at a lucky moment for you, 
 as you will find some day. I accept your proposition 
 respecting the annuity you offer me, and will endeavour 
 to deserve it by heing your friend and looking after 
 your interests, which are somewhat complex and 
 require careful watching. Marsden has been here to 
 see me. He brought a will to show me, of which, like 
 a fool, he allowed me to gain possession. You shall 
 see it some day and have it if you choose. The little 
 cottage was searched for it by three constables, but in 
 vain. 
 
 You must keep out of Marsden's way. He is 
 highly dangerous. There is the adder in his eye, and 
 something of the lunatic too. He has found out much 
 of what he wanted to know, from the people about 
 here. He will probably cross to France after you, and 
 worry you as long as his funds last. 
 
 I trust that the good deed which I have lately 
 done for you will be allowed to cancel my previous 
 perfidy, but your rude and scornful message provoked 
 me to it, and my destitution left me no other course. 
 
 Clifford never received the above letter. It 
 lay in the French post-office for a year, uncalled 
 for, and was then destroyed.
 
 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 18. 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND A DARING ESCAPE. 
 
 To return to the BAGATELLE : 
 
 A river pilot boarded her at daybreak, and as 
 it was then high water they at once passed her 
 through the lock, and commenced rowing her 
 down the narrow winding river, with the ebb 
 tide. The weather was calm and hazy, with the 
 prospect of a sultry day. Jim rowed in the bow, 
 and the pilot aft, and at the same time directed 
 Clifford where to steer. Kate and her Papa were 
 both up and on deck too ; and the bonne, having 
 left her little charge asleep, lighted the fire for 
 their last breakfast on board. The reaches of 
 the river where they then were are hemmed in 
 by rocky heights and hanging woods, and are
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 211 
 
 therefore completely land-locked ; so the smoke 
 rose straight up from the little flue, and not a 
 breath of air was felt, and not a leaf of the dense 
 foliage on the banks seemed to stir. No one 
 spoke for although all were really happy, yet 
 they could not but feel that a delightful trip was 
 drawing to a close, and that they were bidding 
 a long farewell to charming scenery which they 
 might never see again, but which had become 
 rich ii^associations of past enjoyment. Besides, 
 their farewell was to the beautiful, and they were 
 about to enter upon the grand which is always 
 a solemn feeling in any change of scene. 
 
 Thus, reach by reach was passed, and the 
 banks grew lower, and the river wider, and the 
 tide ran stronger, and a little breeze directly up 
 the stream, and therefore against them, came on 
 as the day advanced. This was unfortunate, as 
 they could not tack for that would have taken 
 them out of the only deep channel which was 
 practicable for the yacht and thus their masts' 
 and rigging held the wind, little as it was, and 1 
 stopped her way, and rendered rowing and 
 steering much more difficult. At length the 
 river widened for a mile or two into a sort of 
 shallow lake, and there the wind freshened and
 
 212 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 impeded them so much, that in the next narrow 
 reach they lost their tide, and had to anchor. 
 
 It was then ten o'clock, and in that spot they 
 were constrained to lie inactive until four, when it 
 would be high water and the tide in their favour 
 again. But what rendered this delay more 
 provoking was, that no sooner had they anchored 
 than the head wind which had impeded them 
 went down, and it became calm again. There 
 was no help for it, therefore, but to pack up a 
 basket of eatables, and go ashore, and while away 
 the hours of the flood tide by a stroll. The banks 
 were very pretty in that spot, and wooded again, 
 and there seemed to be many winding walks 
 about the heights, so they went ashore in the 
 dingey, and took another ramble in France. 
 
 The scenery of the reach of the river in which 
 the yacht lay was a strange mixture of the 
 inland and the marine. The water was brackish 
 and frothy, the tide strong, the banks formed 
 of red clay and not of rock, and the trees 
 somewhat stunted; while through an opening 
 might already be seen a blue line, not of sea 
 exactly but of rocky coast. About a mile above 
 them was a pretty little village, with a long 
 jetty, and a fleet of sea-going craft lying within
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 213 
 
 a small bay to which it afforded perfect shelter 
 the whole overtopped by a convent peeping 
 out from amongst the trees. 
 
 So in due time the party went ashore all 
 but Jim and the pilot, who remained on board 
 and were landed at the little village aforesaid. 
 Then some time was spent in rambling about 
 the lanes, mounting to the Convent, and lastly 
 looking over the grounds of an old Chateau 
 belonging to a wealthy merchant of the neigh- 
 bouring port. These extended along the heights 
 immediately abreast of where the yacht was 
 lying, and commanded lovely views. There 
 they whiled away the hours until hunger came 
 strong upon them for dawdling about in the 
 fresh air is hungry work and then their basket 
 was opened, and the prog produced. The spot 
 chosen for their picnic was a level platform, 
 cut in the bank above the river, and as it 
 happened, exactly opposite the yacht. Its 
 height above the water might be about thirty 
 feet, and the bank, which was of clay, was 
 quite perpendicular, except near the bottom, 
 where it had been hollowed out slightly by 
 the tide. Round the back of this platform a rustic 
 seat had been put up, and a pathway led
 
 214 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 to it from the grounds above. At no great 
 distance beneath, it there was a little quay or 
 landing belonging to the Chateau, and a 
 boathouse near. 
 
 By the time that they had picnic'd it was 
 three o'clock, and in another hour the yacht 
 was to be under weigh again. The old clergyman, 
 with the bonne and Mabel, then strolled off 
 towards the little quay, while Kate and Clifford 
 still lingered on their rustic seat. There they 
 chatted, and chatted, until their talk at length 
 was about her happy home in England that, 
 little rectory where she had been born, and so 
 well brought up, and to which her lover was 
 to accompany her when her family returned. 
 
 " Now tell me," he said, " how you pass 
 your time at home." 
 
 " Well, you must know we all have lessons 
 still for Papa says that education is never 
 finished so long as anyone has time to learn. 
 My Aunt, his sister, whom you met in Jersey 
 last year, teaches us. She is very clever in 
 some things mostly languages, history, and 
 grammar." 
 
 " Capital. One can never know too much. 
 Your Papa is right. I shall get her to teach -
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 215 
 
 me too, and I shall join your class may I ? 
 I promise to be more diligent than any of you. 
 Perhaps I could give you a wrinkle in Italian, 
 for I speak it much better than I do French, 
 having lived in Rome and Florence so long. 
 But tell me, what comes next, when lessons 
 are over ? " 
 
 " Then I am afraid I run wild until dinner 
 time, and go off somewhere on the grey pony, 
 or have a row in our boat on the canal, or see 
 what the old gardener is about." 
 
 " And what sort of an old fellow is he ?" 
 
 " A dear old man quite a character and he 
 is our clerk as well." 
 
 " And plays the fiddle in church too, I '11 
 be bound." 
 
 " No, not now. We have got a nice little 
 organ, and Ellen plays upon it." 
 
 " And you sing ? " 
 
 " Well, I 'm afraid I do sometimes but 
 Mamma sings the best. We all sit up in the 
 gallery. It is such a funny dear little old- 
 fashioned church." 
 
 " And the prettiest little churchyard in the 
 world, I '11 be bound, with long wooden 
 tomb-stones I was almost going to say, with
 
 216 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 texts of scripture on them, reminding the 
 reader of the vanity of life. But the great 
 people have their hatchments, and their marble 
 tablets, and their monuments by Flaxman, and 
 all that sort of thing, inside, hav' n't they ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and last year a painted window was 
 put up. "We all did something towards it, and 
 subscribed our mite." 
 
 "That was a pity, for I am sure it must dis- 
 figure the dear old church. I shall get up some 
 night, and smash it, when I go." 
 
 " Oh, you rude thing how can you say so ? 
 It is beautiful. But look do you see there 
 is a boat with some people in it, by the side 
 of the yacht ? " 
 
 Clifford had not seen it, for he had been 
 looking fondly in his companion's face and 
 watching every movement of her rosy lips, 
 but at her remark he turned and saw the boat. 
 
 " Ah, what can they be doing ? " he said. 
 " There are three of them a common-looking 
 man and two soldiers. I wonder what they 
 want. Now, see, they 're off again, and rowing 
 up the stream. How fast they go the tide 
 must be running strong yet. And now look 
 Jim and the pilot are beginning to hoist the
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 217 
 
 mainsail. We have only half an hour more 
 to stop and then adieu to La Belle France! 
 I shall always love it for the happiness I 
 have known here." 
 
 " Perhaps we had hetter go at once," said 
 Kate, rising from her seat and walking to the 
 edge of the platform. Clifford followed her, 
 and held her hand while she looked over. 
 
 " What an awful height it looks !" she said. 
 " Fancy if either of us should tumble over 
 and how deep the water looks too it was all 
 mud there when we first came." 
 
 " But now it is high water nearly, and in this 
 river the spring tides rise forty feet." 
 
 He picked up some large stones, and flung 
 them in. 
 
 " Oh, pray take care," said Kate, " don't go so 
 near the edge it makes me quite giddy to see 
 you." 
 
 "Come then, let us sit down once more, just 
 for five minutes, until Jim puts off for us in the 
 little boat. Look those soldiers have landed at 
 the village now, and see how busy Jim is, 
 running out the jib, and heaving on the anchor, 
 all ready for a start. He's a first rate fellow, 
 
 that. I don't think the tide runs quite so fast 
 
 2 E
 
 218 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 now. It will turn soon. One more little talk, 
 and then we'll start." 
 
 So they sat down together for just five minutes 
 more, as they fondly thought but which proved 
 to be twenty when all of a sudden, and with 
 cat-like noiselessness of step, the man and the two 
 soldiers whom they had seen in the boat, and after- 
 wards land at the village jetty, emerged from the 
 little path and stepped upon the platform. 
 
 At that instant Clifford was looking fondly into 
 the sweet face of his companion, and saying 
 " And then my Katie you will be all my own." 
 
 Suddenly he felt her hand squeeze his own 
 tightly, and her whole frame shiver. He looked 
 up, and for an instant his blood seemed turned to 
 ice. The man from the boat, whom he had 
 pronounced common-looking, stood facing him, 
 drawn up to his full height, with his arms 
 folded, and a smile of diabolical hatred and 
 gratified revenge upon his face ! 
 
 For an instant Clifford trembled, but he 
 recovered himself, and rose to confront his foe. 
 
 " Charles Marsden ! " he exclaimed. " Alive ! " 
 
 " Yes ! Henry Clifford ! Alive, and come to 
 assert my rights backed by the officers of the 
 law. You are our prisoner."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 219 
 
 "There was no need for this," was Clifford's 
 mild reply. " You have but to state your claim, 
 and all that is justly your's shall be returned, to 
 the uttermost farthing. I have been a faithful 
 steward, and have kept account of all that I was 
 compelled to spend in your child's behalf. Your 
 money and your child shall both be returned to 
 you, when and where you like." 
 
 " But my WIFE, and my REVENGE," hissed the 
 other, like an enraged snake. " What of them ?" 
 
 "The former you deserted, and I risked my 
 own life to save," said Clifford, sternly. " As for 
 the latter, I can protect myself. I laugh your 
 threats to scorn." 
 
 "Do you? Then listen. To the destitute 
 this world is a bed of thorns, and through your 
 infernal robbery I have been doomed to crawl 
 upon it, on my belly, in agony, for the last two 
 months, while you have made it a bed of down at 
 my expense. MURDERER and FORGER ! I have 
 come for my revenge ! It is your turn to suffer 
 now, and I will have it out of you, ten times 
 told. You prate to me of my money and my 
 child, you forget my deadly hatred, and the 
 sweetness of my revenge. Murderer and Forger, 
 you are found out at last ! "
 
 220 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 "Dare to repeat that word," said Clifford, 
 in a tone scarcely above a whisper, but with an 
 intensity of will, "and by the God above us, 
 I will take you by the neck and fling you like 
 a dead puppy into yonder stream." 
 
 " Will you ? " said the other sarcastically, 
 and at the same time drawing a pistol from his 
 pocket, and cocking it "Move but one step 
 towards me, and I will drive a bullet through 
 your heart. When I go to trap dangerous 
 vermin I go armed." 
 
 As Marsden stood thus confronting Clifford 
 and awaiting in mocking irony his reply, he 
 looked a fiend in human form. He was slight 
 and weak in frame, and his broken gait and 
 jaded face told a tale of a constitution which had 
 been shattered by early dissipation and recent 
 hardship of no ordinary kind, but his hollow eye 
 was then preternaturally lighted up like that of 
 an adder about to spring, and there was a 
 mocking smile upon his lip which left no hope 
 of quarter to his hated foe. That man, in the 
 midst of his fiendish passions, was a loathsome 
 and an awful sight. As for his antagonist the 
 hot blood had mounted to his face, and there 
 was anger in his flashing eye, but no deadly
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 221 
 
 malice, and his thoughts had already turned 
 to some daring act by which he might escape. 
 
 At that momentous crisis Clifford looked at 
 Kate, and beheld her eyes fixed upon him in 
 speechless agony. " Leave me, I implore you," 
 he whispered. "Without you to guard I can 
 still escape. They are but three. Hurry to the 
 boat. I will meet you there." 
 
 But she heeded not his words. She still 
 continued looking in his face, like one petrified 
 with horror. 
 
 " He is a liar," said Clifford to her, in a 
 louder tone. "Believe him not. There does 
 not crawl upon this fair earth a fouler reptile 
 than that man." 
 
 At this, Marsden stepped aside and gave the 
 signal to the two gendarmes to arrest their 
 prisoner. 
 
 But the nearer of the two soldiers had scarcely 
 moved a step towards him, when, with the 
 speed of thought, Clifford rushed to the edge of 
 the platform, and leaped into the river beneath ! 
 
 Was that an attempt at suicide or a desperate 
 effort to escape ? By a common impulse they 
 all stepped to the edge to see. There could 
 be no doubt about it. That daring act, so
 
 222 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 quickly improvised and so swiftly executed, was 
 an attempt to escape, and brave all risks. But 
 still the hazard was not great, and he had 
 not miscalculated his own skill. He had leaped 
 as all good divers do when jumping from 
 an enormous height feet foremost into the 
 water ; and then, after sinking in the same 
 position until he touched the muddy bottom, 
 he rose quickly and struck out, as if the 
 leap had been a mere act of sport, for the 
 yacht, which was still at anchor in the middle 
 of the river and in slack tide. 
 
 On seeing that his victim had thus far, at any 
 rate, escaped his malice, Marsden presented his 
 pistol at the swimmer, and fired ; but the bullet 
 missed. He then produced a second pistol, and 
 was again about to aim, when one of the gen- 
 darmes called out 
 
 "Hold! That is against the law of France. 
 I warn you not to fire. Leave that to us. It 
 is our duty to arrest the prisoner, not yours." 
 
 But the warning was unheeded. Marsden fired, 
 and this time hit his mark. A sharp cry, and 
 presently a stain of blood upon the water, told 
 that the swimmer had been struck, but still he 
 struggled on, though now with one arm only.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 223 
 
 At that sharp cry of pain, and the sight of her 
 lover's blood, Kate uttered a faint scream, and 
 then, perceiving that one of the gendarmes was 
 raising his weapon and about to fire too, she 
 flung herself before him, and clung to him so 
 forcibly and so dangerously over the very edge 
 of the platform, that the man had to retire a step 
 or too, and drag her back. She then elapsed his 
 knees, and would have implored him in words 
 of agonised entreaty to spare her lover, but 
 the words failed her, and her eyes alone were 
 eloquent in his behalf. The man stooped and 
 whispered a word or two, which however she 
 did not comprehend, and then fired but the bullet 
 missed. The other man also fired, and with the 
 same result. 
 
 Clifford still swam on, despite his wound, and 
 had more than half reached the yacht ; while 
 Jim, who had witnessed the whole proceeding, 
 was already in the dingey and sculling towards 
 him. 
 
 " Sacrd Cochonsf" exclaimed Marsden, in his 
 anger, to the gendarmes. " Reload and give me 
 your guns, I warrant you I will hit him." 
 
 But the men pushed him contemptuously 
 aside, and reloaded at their leisure. Their
 
 224 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 second shots were not more successful than their 
 first, for they both missed again. 
 
 Clifford had now escaped. Jim had got safe 
 hold of him, and was hauling him into the little 
 boat. For the gendarmes to have fired a third 
 time would have been against the law, for it 
 would have put in peril the life of an innocent 
 man. 
 
 The rage of Marsden knew no bounds. He 
 heaped upon the gendarmes every vituperative 
 epithet which a perfect knowledge of their 
 language, so rich in such expressions, affords 
 and then added 
 
 " The scoundrel will escape ! There is a breeze 
 now in their favour, and they are all ready to 
 start. But there is still a chance. Back to our 
 boat, and after them. We might catch them yet. 
 The wind may baffle them, perhaps, in one of the 
 reaches or they may stick on some shoal spot." 
 
 " They have a river pilot on board," answered 
 the elder of the gendarmes, with a sneer, " and 
 the wind is now quite steady from the south- 
 east, and right aft. It is all plain sailing now 
 with them. The tide has turned and they 
 are fairly off. Nothing but a fast steamer could 
 catch them now."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 225 
 
 At these words Kate uttered a cry of joy, 
 and then fainted in the arms of the other 
 soldier, who was supporting her. 
 
 " Dog ! " hissed Marsden between his teeth, 
 to the man who had spoken last. " You shall 
 pay for this. I will report you to the Prefet. 
 I heard you whisper to her that you meant 
 to miss. She shall swear to it herself." 
 
 The gendarme who was thus addressed smiled 
 contemptuously, and touched Marsden on the 
 shoulder, saying in a stern voice 
 
 " You are my prisoner. I warned you not 
 to fire I told you it was against the law but 
 you took no heed. You fired with intent to 
 kill, and your bullet struck the man. There 
 are three witnesses to prove it. The case is 
 simple, and the law is strict and plain. You 
 will have to serve ten years at the galleys 
 for what you did just now. Come, brave Anglais, 
 you are my prisoner. Follow me at once." 
 
 " I understand you," replied Marsden. " I 
 was angry, and used strong words. I humbly 
 beg your pardon. Accept this trifle, and buy 
 yourself some drink." 
 
 So saying, he offered him a five-franc piece. 
 
 " Francois," said the gendarme to his com- 
 
 2
 
 226 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 pardon, as he held up the piece of money 
 contemptuously between his finger and thumb. 
 " Look you are a witness to this bribe." And 
 then he added, turning to Marsden, " Come Sir, 
 you and I must go." 
 
 " Shall you want me to go with you to guard 
 him ? " asked Francois. 
 
 " No. Attend to the young lady, and restore 
 her to her friends. One man armed as I am 
 is enough guard for him." 
 
 " He has weapons, Jean. Take care," was 
 the reply. 
 
 " Give me your pistols then," said the 
 gendarme to his prisoner. 
 
 Marsden flung them down ; and as his guard 
 stooped to pick them up he took exact measure 
 of him at all points. He was a powerful man, 
 and well armed for his musket had been 
 reloaded, and his bayonet was fixed. There 
 was no hope from a scuffle with him, nor did 
 there seem to be a hope of escape at all ; but 
 defeated malice is equal to any desperate act. 
 
 " You go first along the path," said the 
 gendarme to Marsden, " while I follow ; and be 
 careful not to go too fast, or I promise you a 
 bullet shall bring you to a dead halt."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 227 
 
 They disappeared, leaving the other soldier 
 alone with Kate. She had recovered from her 
 swoon, but was sobbing violently, with her face 
 buried in her hands. 
 
 " Mademoiselle," said the man kindly, " permit 
 me to conduct you to your friends." 
 
 " No, no leave me not yet I can't go yet." 
 
 Five minutes had scarcely elapsed when they 
 heard the other gendarme calling loudly from 
 the path 
 
 " Franois Francois come here." 
 
 The latter instantly left Kate's side and 
 hastened to the assistance of his comrade. On 
 reaching him, at a sudden turn of the footpath 
 amongst the bushes, he beheld a hideous sight ! 
 His brother gendarme was wiping his bloody 
 bayonet with a tuft of grass, and Marsden lay 
 upon the ground a corpse ! 
 
 " How is this, Jean ? " asked Francois. 
 
 "Very simple," was the reply. "His foot 
 slipped, and as I stooped to pick him up he 
 stabbed me twice with a long clasp knife. 
 The blows were well aimed, but he had not 
 strength enough to drive them home. Then, I did 
 but point my bayonet at him in iny own defence,
 
 228 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 and lie rusted upon it, and it pierced him 
 through the heart." 
 
 " Are you hurt yourself ? " 
 
 " Only a scratch, I think, but let us see." 
 
 He pulled open his coat and shirt, and found 
 the two wounds to be no more than he had 
 thought. The point of the knife only had 
 penetrated the thick clothing, and scratched 
 the skin. The " brave Anglais " had been too 
 weak to inflict a mortal wound. 
 
 The yacht was now fairly out of sight, and 
 Clifford had escaped !
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 229 
 
 CHAPTER 19. 
 
 A TEST OF FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 As soon as Clifford had been helped on board the 
 yacht, he was left standing by the main shrouds 
 while Jim and the pilot got her under weigh. 
 The latter had already hove up the anchor until 
 it swung beneath the stem, and then it was but 
 the work of a minute to run up the jib and 
 forestaysail, and let her head pay off. A fine 
 fresh breeze had sprung up from the south-east, 
 right down the river, at the turn of the tide, 
 and the little vessel quickly filled and made way, 
 with her bow pointing seawards. Then the pilot 
 took the helm, and Jim set the foresail on her, 
 and away she went, laying over it, and bounding 
 onwards like a thing of life. Nothing but a 
 yacht of greater tonnage as clipper built, or a
 
 230 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 fast steamer could have caught, her. The 
 gendarme was right in what he said. Clifford 
 had escaped. 
 
 But what were his feelings then wet, wounded, 
 panting still and left with life in him it was 
 true, but with all that seemed to make life worth 
 having gone ? During the first rapid manoeuvres 
 with the sheets and sails he had simply got out 
 of the way of the men, and stood aside, like one 
 half stupified and in a dream, but when at last 
 the yacht was fairly off, and bearing him away, 
 he remained with his eyes rivetted upon the 
 platform in the bank, where she could still be 
 seen. Many times he waved his hand to her, but 
 she returned him no farewell sign for in truth 
 her eyes were blinded with tears, and she only 
 saw the vessel dimly as it sailed away. But still 
 he stood with eyes fixed upon her, until at length 
 she dwindled to a speck, and then a sudden turn 
 of the river hid her from his view. 
 
 And then came the crushing thoughts that he 
 had left her, alone and unguarded, to the mercy 
 of his deadly foe that he had deceived her that 
 he had offered her the hand of a felon that he 
 had blasted her young life that her father would 
 despise him and that she would herself come in
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 231 
 
 time to execrate his memory. He had been called 
 a murderer and a forger, in her presence and she 
 must have believed it, or surely she would once 
 at least have waved him a farewell. Such were his 
 thoughts ; and while that agony lasted it would 
 have been a mercy to have struck him dead ! 
 
 " Come, my poor lad," said Jim, touching him 
 respectfully upon the shoulder, "Bear up you 
 will see 'em all again one day don't take on 
 come down below with me, and let's have off 
 your wet things, and see what 's the harm done. 
 Come I '11 be as good as a mother to you, and 
 better than some mothers that I 've know'd. 
 Why that sweet lassie that we've left behind 
 don't love you better than rough old Jim does. 
 Come then let me help you down." 
 
 A word of sympathy at the right time acts 
 like balm. At its soothing cadence the racked 
 nerves cease to ache, and the burning brain 
 to reel under its load of grief. But the right time 
 for administering this precious medicine is often 
 quickly passed and then it becomes an irritating 
 poison and a deadly offence. Jim, with all 
 his faults, had a heart, and his instincts in any 
 matter of feeling were certain to be right. 
 He had always liked his master, as a fine
 
 232 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 young fellow, and that sort of gentleman of 
 the highest type, of which men in Jim's station 
 have mostly a keen appreciation, involving as 
 that character does the absence of all meanness, 
 and the frank recognition of equality between 
 man and man in all essential points. Jim had 
 always liked his master ; but since their little 
 quarrel, and since he had come to know that 
 a cloud was hanging over him, his liking had 
 intensified into a sort of rough affectionate 
 fidelity, and he had resolved to stick by him 
 through thick and thin. This strong affection, 
 which, without any offence to human nature, 
 may be compared to that of a faithful dog, 
 Jim had now an opportunity for showing. 
 Clifford, soothed by the good fellow's kind words 
 at such a moment, and conscious of their common 
 sense as well as kindness, went down with 
 him below. There he changed his wet clothes, 
 and Jim examined his wound. 
 
 " Why, the bullet warn't no bigger than a 
 pea," he said, " and the pistol no bigger than 
 a popgun. See, here it is it tumbled out at 
 the first touch, and the bleeding aint bad 
 now. I'll bind the place up tight, and we'll 
 let that do for a day or two till we can get a
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 233 
 
 reg'lar doctor on the job and then why 
 lor', it'll soon be all right again it aint 
 much to hurt only a little leaden pill buried 
 skin deep in the shoulder." 
 
 " Jim, you 're a rare good fellow," said his 
 master, " and I owe you my life for I was 
 nearly beaten when you picked me up. Those 
 other bullets dropped pretty close about me, 
 didn't they ? It was touch and go. But what 
 a cowardly swab I was to hollo out when the 
 first one struck me. I don't know what it 
 was made me do it. It wasn't pain or funk 
 I think it was despair." 
 
 " Oh, gammon don't talk like that why 
 the more trouble a young chap gets into the 
 more the lassies love him give me a woman 
 for that it '11 all come right again some day. 
 But I say, Cap'n, what port are we to make 
 for now, when we get ourselves safe out of 
 this ? Not as I think they could catch us 
 now, if the little schooner should give chase 
 for lor', they couldn't get more than seven 
 knots out of her anyhow, and we're running 
 that now and I think the wind '11 freshen 
 still, and chop round more to the east'ard and 
 
 nor'ard before dark." 
 
 2 G
 
 234 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " Jim," cried the pilot, " Come up, and haul aft 
 all the sheets she's on a wind now, in this reach." 
 
 So for a time Clifford was left alone in the 
 cabin with his own thoughts. 
 
 It is in such situations as he was then placed 
 in that the difference between mens' characters 
 is chiefly shown. Without being weak-minded 
 or pusillanimous exactly, some men require time 
 to think, and form their plans, and take counsel 
 of their friends, whilst others, more dashing and 
 self-reliant, make up their mind at once. The 
 former class comprises perhaps the safest men 
 of business, the best legal advisers, and the 
 soundest men of science ; and if life were like 
 a game of chess, with time allowed to think 
 between each move, such men would no doubt 
 win in the long run. But life is in reality 
 more like the nobler game of whist, in which 
 a player must be smart, and act well and 
 promptly at the same time. Hence it is that 
 the ready, bold, and self-reliant men are oftenest 
 the winners in the battle of life, and always 
 leaders in the strife. Clifford belonged to the 
 latter type as proved by the boldness and 
 dash of his escape, as well as by other incidents 
 recorded of him in this tale.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 235 
 
 Jim had left him but a few minutes, when 
 he took down his writing case and penned 
 the following lines which he enclosed in an 
 envelope, and addressed to the Rev. Alfred 
 Bell, Terrace, Jersey. 
 
 A man whom you once called your friend is now in 
 the mire ! He would remind you of your own words 
 spoken one morning on the ramparts of St. Malo. For 
 him, earth which but an hour ago was a heaven has 
 become a hell ! He supplicates you for a drop of water 
 to cool his tongue, for he is tormented in this flame. 
 A letter addressed to Henry Clifford, Post-Office, Vigo, 
 will find one whom you knew in happier hours under 
 the alias of John Smith. That poor wretch will wait 
 at Vigo until he gets a letter from you and until then 
 his life will be an agony hard to bear. Should no 
 letter come from you, then Vigo will be his last resting 
 place his grave ! 
 
 As he folded the letter a solitary tear fell upon 
 it a man's tear ! He blotted it off, but still the 
 trace remained. There was no time to write 
 another letter, so he let that go. 
 
 Jim now returned to the cabin. 
 
 " The wind has come short," he said, " but 
 it don't matter we 're all right we sha' n't 
 have to make a tack." 
 
 " Where abouts are we, Jim?" asked Clifford.
 
 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " The Citadel of St. Servan has just hove 
 in sight." 
 
 " Then there 's no time to lose. Listen to me, 
 Jim. You are a brave faithful fellow, and I 
 won't insult you by asking you to leave me 
 now, as if I thought you would for I know 
 you won't. But the pilot we must put him 
 ashore, somehow." 
 
 " Never mind he," said Jim, with a knowing 
 wink. " We want another hand. Take him 
 on with us, and pay his passage back." 
 
 " No, no that won't do. Besides, I want 
 this letter posted. We must lay-to and hail 
 a boat or you must put him ashore in the 
 dingey." 
 
 Jim looked thoughtful for a minute, and then 
 smiled grimly and replied 
 
 " I sees how the cat jumps the letter must 
 go, or there '11 be no peace aboard. Well then, 
 Cap'n, you must go on deck and take the helm, 
 while we watch our chance for some ferry boat, 
 or fishing smack, to run alongside of and drop 
 him in, and if we don't see none about 
 anywhere in the roads as we slip through, 
 why then we'll lay-to outside all, and I'll land 
 him on Cezembre Island. A five-franc piece
 
 OR KOMANCE IN A YACHT. 237 
 
 over and above will make all straight with, 
 him." 
 
 So the matter was explained to the pilot, 
 that the yacht was not going to bring up at 
 St. Malo but to stand right out to sea and 
 that he was to be landed the best way they 
 could, and was to go and find the old gentleman 
 whom he had seen aboard, and give a letter 
 into his own hand; but that if he couldn't 
 find him he was to put it into the post. 
 
 This being clearly understood, and a prodigious 
 douceur added to sharpen the fellow's wits, they 
 still cracked on upon the yacht, and looked out 
 sharp for some means of putting him ashore. 
 Happily a chance turned up for a fishing boat 
 was seen at anchor a very little out of their 
 right course. The yacht bore down upon her 
 under full sail, and as she dashed swiftly 
 past, the pilot leaped from her gunwale into 
 the boat. 
 
 The wind had by this time chopped round to 
 the north-east, and therefore, close-hauled to it, 
 they threaded the intricate channel of the Grande 
 Porte one well-known to Jim and having 
 passed to leeward of Cezembre and the Jardin 
 Beacon, stood out to sea on the same tack.
 
 238 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 In another hour the French coast had dwin- 
 dled to a grey line upon the horizon, and 
 St. Malo could no longer be discerned. Clifford 
 and his faithful mate were alone upon the waste 
 of waters!
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 239 
 
 CHAPTER 20. 
 
 OFF CAPE FEEHEL. 
 
 We must follow the fortunes of those two men 
 in the BAGATELLE. What happened in France 
 after Clifford's escape the reader will learn in due 
 time. 
 
 " What port are we bound for now, Cap'n ?" 
 said Jim at length for since putting out the 
 pilot he and his master had hardly exchanged a 
 word. 
 
 " Vigo," replied Clifford. " Do you know 
 the place?" 
 
 " Vigo ? I 'm blow'd if I ever heard of 
 such a place. Where may that be, Cap'n?" 
 
 " It 's a snug little port on the coast of 
 Spain, not far from Cape Ortegal. I know 
 it well. I was in there once and we stayed 
 a week." 
 
 " Then it must be on t'other side of the 
 Bay of Biscay, and we '11 soon have to pay
 
 240 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 out more sheet, and up squaresail if the 
 wind keeps like this as I 'm of opinion it 
 will, for the next week to come. See what 
 baffling winds we've had for the last month 
 from the south'ard, and south-east'ard regular 
 calms, and Paddy's hurricanes up and down 
 the mast. And then it always blows from the 
 nor'ard, or nor'ard and east'ard, all down 
 that coast at this time of the year -just like 
 being in the trades. We'll keep this wind, 
 I '11 bet, all the way and that '11 be a good 
 job, as we're so short of hands. How many 
 hundred miles may it be, Cap'n, to Vigo, eh ?" 
 
 " Five or six hundred, I think, Jim, but 
 I must go down below now and look at the 
 charts. You take the helm." 
 
 " Why lor', then we '11 be there in three 
 or four days, if the weather keeps like this. 
 My eyes, ain't she walking why she 's doing 
 now nine knots easy if not ten." 
 
 " Are you glad to go, Jim?" 
 
 " Ain't I just ? Why this is like plum pudding 
 to me. They may hunt you about, Cap'n, 
 all over the world, if they likes I 'm game. 
 
 This is a d d sight better than lying in 
 
 the mud of St. Helier's harbour all one's life.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 241 
 
 Something to do, and something to think on 
 that's what I like." 
 
 " "What provisions and water have we got 
 aboard, Jim?" 
 
 " Lots don't you fash about that enough 
 to last us two till Michaelmas. I never puts to 
 sea on short allowance trust me for that." 
 
 Clifford now went below, and Jim took 
 the helm. 
 
 He looked round the cabins and first at that 
 in which he and Mr. Bell had slept. There 
 was the kind old gentleman's luggage, just 
 as he had left it when they started for their 
 walk some things lying about, the rest neatly 
 put away. What would he do without it ? 
 Then he turned gently the handle of the door 
 of the ladies' cabin, and opened it with hesitation, 
 as if he half thought she might still be there. 
 How neat and tidy how beautifully clean 
 it was her berth on one side Mabel's on 
 the other and the bonne's athwartship. Every- 
 thing in order, and nicely put away, all but 
 certain little slippers, and gloves, and a straw 
 hat, and one of Mabel's toys, and the bonne's 
 funny Breton white cap. He looked round 
 
 on all this, but touched nothing, and then 
 
 2 H
 
 242 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 resolutely retreated, as if it was profanation 
 for him to remain in such a spot. He closed 
 the door and locked it and put away the key, 
 saying to himself as he did so "Not a soul 
 shall enter that cabin again until she does 
 that I swear." Then he spent some minutes 
 looking at the charts and then he went on 
 deck again. 
 
 " We '11 go through the Eace of Brehat, Jim, 
 and inside the Roches Douvres, and inside the 
 Seven Islands too, in sight of the French lights. 
 They'll be a comfort to us in the night," said 
 Clifford. 
 
 " And the nearest course too," said Jim, 
 " and by to-morrow morning at daylight we '11 
 have passed the Isle de Batz." 
 
 " Let us keep all standing, Jim, and carry on 
 upon her till the crack of doom. I can work 
 and do my share. I've got one arm good. 
 Blow, St. Antonio, blow, and drive us quickly 
 on. It warms the blood." 
 
 He took the helm again. Jim slacked off 
 all the sheets a bit, and they went a little 
 more off the wind, and changed her course a 
 point. Then he dived below, and came up 
 presently with a black bottle in his hand.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 243 
 
 " I never thought of this here comforter 
 before," he said. " If any chap had told me 
 that, I'd have said he was liar to his face. 
 Come Cap'n, take a glass it'll do you good 
 you wants it, my poor lad, if ever a fellow 
 did. Will you have something to eat too ? " 
 
 Clifford smiled. Natures like his are never 
 long depressed and a downright friend by your 
 side in trouble, no matter in what station, is 
 inspiring and if to this comfort there be 
 added something to be done and thought of, 
 together with rapid change of scene, and the 
 swift motion of a sail, or a gallop, or a drive, 
 the demon of melancholy has soon to spread 
 his dark wings and make way for hope. So 
 Clifford positively smiled. 
 
 " "Well Jim, since you press it on me with 
 such bewitching eloquence, perhaps I could 
 eat a bit if I tried and you could too, my 
 faithful fellow so bring up something and let 
 us buckle to, here on deck." 
 
 The reader must not be shocked if he is told 
 that the result of that experiment was a complete 
 success. They both made a hearty meal, and 
 grouted it with a bottle of Mr. Bell's best port. 
 
 When that was over they began to chat again.
 
 244 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " Now Jim," said Clifford, " you must tell me 
 all you know about my affairs. You must keep 
 nothing back, because that would be no kindness 
 now. I want to know first what those men in 
 the boat said to you when they went alongside, 
 in the river." 
 
 " "Well now, that I can't tell you, Cap'n, 
 for I don't understand much of their lingo, 
 although I've been so many years knocking 
 about on this here coast. It was the pilot 
 who spoke them, and the soldiers who asked; 
 the other man didn't say a word. I expect 
 he told 'em all they wanted to know, and 
 that was just where you'd gone ashore. I 
 guessed what they wanted, and I'd have sent 
 'em on a wild-goose chase only I hadn't half 
 a chance." 
 
 " Had you ever seen that man before, Jim ? " 
 " Never, Cap'n. On my soul I never had." 
 " Then how could you guess what he wanted ? " 
 " Well then, I '11 tell you all about it. Do 
 you remember my gammoning of you about 
 that notice in the paper, the night before we 
 started on the trip ? "Well then here it is." 
 
 He took out of his tobacco box the advertise- 
 ment which he had folded up and put there
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 245 
 
 for safety a fortnight before, and handed it 
 to his master to read. 
 
 As Clifford read it his brow grew dark 
 again. 
 
 " You should have shown me this before, 
 Jim." 
 
 " JS~o I shouldn't because I know'd that 
 would have spoilt all your fun with the young 
 lassie. I meant to show it you as soon as we 
 got back to Jersey." 
 
 " But still I can't understand on what charge 
 Marsden could venture to arrest me in France. 
 Surely I was safe in France only I couldn't 
 think of everything at once and the galleys 
 for life would have been a sell." 
 
 " The pilot told me he charged you with 
 having robbed him of the yacht." 
 
 " He was mad. I'm certain of it now. 
 I was a fool not to stand my chance, and 
 charge him with insanity, and have him 
 locked up." 
 
 Jim made no reply; and after a pause of 
 some minutes Clifford said, in a low tone, as 
 if talking to himself, 
 
 " Marsden alive ! What a strange thing ! I 
 could have declared I saw them all swallowed
 
 246 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 up, and the boat swamped ; and Zoe saw it too. 
 That vessel must have picked him up, and 
 taken him abroad. Then I suppose he wrote 
 to England, and heard the news, and worked 
 his way home in a fury at finding his plans 
 contravened by me. And so he swore to be 
 revenged. I understand it now. But where 
 could he get that hundred pounds from ? I 
 wonder if he has any friends." 
 
 There was another long pause, and then 
 Jim said "It has been the old man's doing, 
 all this. He peached to get the hundred 
 pound. When you took the child away he 
 had nothing left to live on. When you sent 
 him back that saucy message by the boatman 
 I know'd well enough how the affair would 
 end." 
 
 " The old scoundrel ! " said Clifford. " And 
 yet how kind I always was to him." 
 
 " He ain't a bad old chap either, Cap'n, all 
 round the compass. He 's got some good points." 
 
 " Perhaps. Have you told me all now, Jim ? 
 Have you kept nothing back ? " 
 
 " No. I knows nothing more. The old man 
 never said a word to me about it. But shall 
 I tell you what I 've been thinking, Cap'n ? "
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 247 
 
 " Yes, what ? " 
 
 " Had that chap any right to fire on you ? 
 If he had that's mm law. I'm bothered if 
 I think he had. It was the soldier's place to 
 arrest you not his." 
 
 " By heavens, Jim, I wish you had told me 
 that before." 
 
 " Shall I tell you what I see'd quite plain 
 through our big glass, just before we turned 
 the corner and lost sight of 'em ? " 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " Why, I see'd one of the red-coats trot 
 him off. I'll swear I did and the other one 
 stayed with the young lassie, and led her to the 
 seat. I see'd the man throw down his pistols 
 and the red-coat pick 'em up, and then the 
 man went off first along the path, and the 
 other followed close behind, guarding him as 
 he went." 
 
 " Ha ! Did you see that ? Are you quite 
 sure ? " 
 
 " Well, a fellow can't always be quite sure 
 at half a mile off but it looked deuced like it." 
 
 " Shall we put back, Jim ? I 've half a 
 mind," said Clifford." 
 
 " No, no, dash it, don't put back let 's keep
 
 248 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 on to where we 're going, I say out of England, 
 and out of France. Then the young lassie will 
 write to you there, and you'll soon know for 
 certain how it all was and then you can do 
 what you like. Don't go and jump into a 
 trap with your eyes shut go easy there's lots 
 of time. If they nabbed him they '11 keep him 
 fast enough you may be sure of that." 
 
 " Perhaps you 're right," said Clifford. " Now 
 Jim, you take the tiller, and I '11 go for'ard and 
 have a spy. I thought just now I caught sight 
 of Brehat Light." 
 
 At the thoughts of the young lassie, and the 
 red-coat leading her to the seat, Clifford's heart 
 was full again to overflowing. He could stand 
 no more. He went for'ard in order to be alone. 
 
 They were then abreast of Frehel Light, and 
 about ten miles to the nor'ard of it. It was 
 getting dusk. Clifford flung himself along the 
 deck by the windlass, and lay with his head 
 resting upon his arm, and that upon the rail, 
 gazing mechanically on the receding coast, and 
 the tall slender lighthouse, looking like a pencil 
 stuck into the highest point of a steep bluff. 
 Presently he saw it dart a brilliant flash 
 the first it gave that night. The men had
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 249 
 
 just lighted the revolving lamp, which they 
 always do at sunset, as he well knew. He 
 therefore turned and looked the other way, 
 and saw in the nor'west the sun's red disc 
 just sinking in the sea. He watched the solemn 
 sight, and thought of the first evening of their 
 trip when she had watched it with him, on 
 the Grand Bey. He struggled with his feelings, 
 but in vain. He could contain himself no 
 longer. He laid his face upon his sleeve, 
 and yes, the truth must positively be told 
 that proud, strong, high-spirited young man 
 absolutely wept ! 
 
 2 I
 
 250 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 21. 
 
 VIGO HOPE SUGGESTED AND HOPE DEFERRED. 
 
 THERE would be nothing to amuse the reader 
 in the log of the trip of those two men in the 
 BAGATELLE to Vigo, for happily it was a plain 
 sail all the way, and without exciting events. 
 The wind continued fair and steady the whole 
 time, and for a week after, as Jim had prophesied 
 it would ; and they had a singularly quick 
 run. On reaching their destined port they 
 were, however, greatly fagged from want of 
 sleep during their long and anxious watches; 
 but before Clifford would take a moment's rest, 
 after casting anchor in the roads, he must 
 needs go to the post-office to enquire for a 
 letter, and leave his address-card although, 
 as Jim told him, they had far outstripped 
 the mail, and he could hear nothing for at
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 251 
 
 least a week. But notwithstanding the sound 
 logic of their having taken the shortest cut 
 and gone at nine knots an hour all the 
 way, he was grieved to find no letter, and 
 returned on board with leaden steps and 
 a heavy heart. There are few worse tortures 
 in life than to be disappointed of a letter 
 when your fate seems to hang on that reply. 
 His shoulder too was still very painful, and 
 the day after their arrival he went to a doctor 
 and had it dressed. On that day also no letter 
 for him arrived. How he cursed the weary 
 hours from day to day. The heat also was 
 oppressive : and once he imparted to Jim, in 
 a moment of unusual confidence, that he felt 
 like a caged wild beast, and that if no letter 
 came for him within a week he should put 
 an end to his hateful existence. At which 
 Jim grinned, and said, that if a sweet young 
 girl like Miss Kate should pretend to be vexed 
 with his master, he, Jim, would go to her 
 himself even if he had to trudge barefoot 
 and beg all the way and hear from her own 
 lips the reason why. 
 
 Happily these dreadful threats of what they 
 both would do had no need of being put to the
 
 252 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 crucial test, for at last the long hoped-for letter 
 came. On the fourth day after their arrival, the 
 post-office official handed to Clifford, with a smile, 
 a long narrow note, rose colour, addressed to 
 him in a pretty ladies' scrawl. How his hand 
 trembled as he took it, and how his heart beat 
 as he walked swiftly off with it to a leafy solitude 
 on the promenade, and broke the seal. 
 
 But the envelope contained no letter after all ! 
 Oh, what cruelty of Kate ! There was nothing in 
 it but a little pencil sketch in outline, and what 
 could that possibly mean ? It was a copy by her, 
 from memory, of part of one of his own sketches 
 which he had taken, with her seated by his side, 
 on one of their happy days together, and had 
 given her on their last evening at Lehon, with 
 the others in the book. There was, of course, 
 some deep meaning in her sending him this but 
 what? The original was a simple little bit 
 enough, but in her copy much of that had been 
 suppressed. Her outline simply consisted of a 
 distant line of coast, with a lighthouse at one 
 end, while in the foreground there was a stranded 
 fishing lugger, with an anchor hanging from the 
 bow. That was all. What could it possibly 
 mean ? Can the reader guess ? Clifford was not
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 253 
 
 long in doing so. The stranded lugger he 
 thought meant himself ; the anchor meant hope ; 
 and the lighthouse meant her constancy to him, 
 and watchful care in trouble, and a star in the 
 darkness of his night. Poetical perhaps, and 
 far-fetched, but that was what he thought it 
 meant. 
 
 But was it not cruel of her not to have enclosed 
 him a single line not a word not half a word 
 not even a letter which she might have put upon 
 the stern of the boat without the least charge 
 of impropriety ? And after he had taken that 
 dreadful leap, and had been shot at six times, 
 and wounded, and insulted, and chased for dear 
 life; and when he had so often waved his hand 
 to her at parting and all ! So he thought, or 
 fancied he thought ; but still it was exquisite to 
 know that she had written to him at all, and that 
 her message suggested hope for every one has 
 heard of the anchor of hope. There could be no 
 mistake as to what the anchor meant. 
 
 He told Jim that a letter had come at last from 
 the " young lassie," and that they must wait for 
 further news ; but with true delicacy of feeling 
 he did not tell him what the letter really was. 
 Then followed more days of anxious waiting and
 
 254 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 suspense. The place, however, was new to Jim, 
 and he had picked up some pals on board an 
 English collier there, and seemed happy enough. 
 So, as Clifford preferred to stay on board all day, 
 except at the hour when the post came in, Jim 
 had plenty of time to stroll about, and he at 
 least was as contented as could be under the 
 trying circumstances of the case. 
 
 But the days hung heavily on Clifford's hands, 
 and his old hobbies of reading and painting 
 afforded him no relief, for his mind would not 
 bend or yield to any other thought than that 
 which eternally oppressed it. At last he 
 began to chafe bitterly at not hearing again 
 from Kate, or receiving any reply from her 
 Father in answer to the lines which he had 
 written to him on that hated afternoon. 
 
 It was the tenth day of this harrowing state 
 of things. He went to the post-office, as usual, 
 for his letter, but found none ; and then he took 
 his customary stroll round the promenade on his 
 way back to the yacht. He was quite alone 
 there, for the heat happened to be at its maximum 
 just then, and everyone was in doors except 
 himself. It was that time of day when foreigners 
 tell you that dogs and Englishmen are the only
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 255 
 
 living objects to be seen about. The solitude 
 of that public walk, so gaily thronged at a later 
 hour, was then complete ; and he seated himself 
 on a bench under a shady tree, with the pretty 
 roadstead spread out before him, and the parched 
 hills, and the coppery sky, and communed thus 
 with himself : 
 
 " Why do I go on like this from day to day, 
 fretting, and chafing, and wearing myself out ? 
 Will they write, or will they not ? Kate will 
 not that I think is certain now. But will her 
 Father ? Yes, I think he will. But why then 
 doesn't he? Perhaps he is making enquiries 
 about me first. It must be so. Then I must 
 wait, wait, wait, as I said I would. But if they 
 only knew how cruel it is of them. If they could 
 but see me here, for one dreary day and night, 
 and feel all that I feel. Oh, what a hideous 
 penalty this is to pay for what I did. And yet 
 I thought it justifiable why not ? Well then, 
 I shall hear from Mr. Bell some day if only to 
 tell me what has become of Mabel, and what 
 steps Marsden took after I got off. I am 
 certain to hear from him some day. But things 
 can't go on like this. Shall I do something to 
 try and pass away the time ? I will but what ?
 
 256 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 Let me think. Society, amusements, fishing 
 all would be a bore. Country walks or rides 
 no, it 's too hot for that. Suppose I learn Spanish. 
 That's a bright idea. Thank God for that. 
 I will. I will begin this very day. I will buy a 
 dictionary, and a grammar, and an exercise book 
 as I go back, and work hard at it, and show 
 her one day all that I have done. That 's capital. 
 What folly to be idle. It is idleness that makes 
 this torture ten times worse." 
 
 With the above good resolution he returned to 
 the town, and looked about for a bookseller's 
 shop where he could buy a dictionary and 
 grammar of the Spanish language. He walked 
 at a brisker pace, and seemed all of a sudden 
 to have become quite an altered man, at the 
 thoughts of a new hobby and something to do. 
 
 As he went through one of the principal 
 streets in search of a book shop, it suddenly 
 occurred to him that he had just passed one 
 with the blind down. On turning quickly to 
 retrace his steps, he caught a momentary glance 
 of a young lady who was standing at an open 
 window opposite, but who, on perceiving that 
 she had been observed by him, immediately 
 withdrew within the room. Her face and figure,
 
 OR. ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 257 
 
 thus momentarily seen, were marvellously like 
 his Kate's ; and the thought that it might 
 really be her come to see him, with her Papa, 
 almost made him stagger. For a minute or 
 two he stopped, and watched the now vacant 
 window to see if she would return but she 
 did not ; then he looked more closely at the 
 house, and perceived that it formed part of an 
 hotel, and that the words " English spoken 
 here" were painted upon a blind. This con- 
 firmed him in his impression that the young lady 
 was really Kate, and with a beating heart he 
 entered the lobby to enquire. An English waiter 
 presently appeared, and the following dialogue 
 ensued : 
 
 " I have just seen a lady at an upper window 
 of this hotel, whom I think I know," said 
 Clifford. " Can you inform me whether a young 
 English lady and her father are stopping here 
 now ? " 
 
 " I will ask the landlord, Sir," was the man's 
 rather cautious reply. 
 
 In a few minutes he returned. 
 
 " No, Sir. There are no English stopping 
 here now, answering to that description." 
 
 " Are you quite sure of that ? " 
 
 /* K
 
 258 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " The landlord has himself told me to say so." 
 
 " Thank you," said Clifford ; and as he 
 walked away he mechanically took the turning 
 towards the Quay. The dictionary and the 
 grammar were forgotten. He had seen a 
 vision which put all but one idea completely out 
 of his head. On reaching the water side he 
 found the dingey there, with a boy belonging 
 to the collier left in charge of her. 
 
 "Where's Jim?" he asked. 
 
 " Gone ashore to look for you, Sir." 
 
 " Well, put me on board the yacht, my lad, 
 and then you can come back here again." 
 
 The boy did so. As Clifford stepped upon 
 the lonely deck of the BAGATELLE he felt 
 dejected and sick at heart, and leant across the 
 main boom, with his face upon his arm. 
 
 He remained thus for about five minutes, 
 little dreaming that someone had in the 
 meantime come up from the cabin, and was 
 standing behind him. That someone at length 
 touched him lightly on the shoulder. He 
 turned, and beheld the Rev. Mr. Bell ! 
 
 Clifford held out his hand to him at once, 
 in a transport of joy, but his old friend drew 
 back and would not take it. Then, for a full
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 259 
 
 minute, the two stood facing each other, while 
 neither of -them spoke. At last Clifford could 
 endure this no longer, and said, in accents 
 trembling with agitation 
 
 " Speak Sir, speak, I conjure you. Have 
 you come here as my friend or as my foe ?" 
 
 " I have come," was the reply, " to hear 
 your story of yourself from your own lips ; or, 
 if you prefer it, to read it from your own. pen 
 and that in order that I may decide what 
 had best be done for my child's welfare. You 
 told me once that you had written out that 
 narrative, and that it was then on board the 
 yacht. If it is so now, may I see it?" 
 
 The manner in which this was said was not 
 exactly cold, but neither was it kind or reas- 
 suring. Clifford was much hurt, and replied 
 with the same formality 
 
 " It is on board still, Sir, and you may 
 see it if you choose." 
 
 " Then please to go and fetch it." 
 
 Clifford went into his cabin, and in a few 
 minutes returned with a little volume, secured 
 by a lock and key. He handed it, with the 
 key, to Mr. Bell. 
 
 " May I take it away with me, and read it
 
 260 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 this evening at my leisure?" enquired the 
 latter. 
 
 " By all means. Take it, and return it 
 whenever you think fit. There is nothing there 
 which I do not really wish that you should see." 
 
 Mr. Bell took the volume, and as he did so said 
 
 " Now answer me, Henry Clifford, on your 
 honor. Is this all strictly true? Can I 
 depend upon every word of it?" 
 
 At this question Clifford's pride was thoroughly 
 aroused, and he was about to make an angry reply, 
 but he checked himself, and resolved to keep 
 his temper a thing which any one can do 
 under any circumstances, if he will only take 
 the trouble to try. 
 
 " On my honor then," he replied, " every 
 word of that document is true. There is neither 
 exaggeration, nor false coloring, nor malice in 
 any part of it. It is all plain simple matter of 
 fact, to the best of my knowledge and belief." 
 
 "You assert this on your honor," replied 
 Mr. Bell. "But do you know what honor 
 means ? It is just that question which I 
 have come here now to solve. May I tell 
 you what I think about it? It is that honor 
 is a moral quality characteristic of the higher
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 261 
 
 races of mankind, and lying at the basis 
 of their higher civilization. Without honor 
 we English should sink to the level of the 
 Asiatics. A certain state of civilization is 
 compatible with universal lying as you may see 
 by reference to the Chinese, the Japanese, and 
 the Malays but unless, as a rule, a man can 
 put faith in the word of his fellow, no state 
 of society above that is possible. Hence, a man 
 of a higher type who has no sense of honor, 
 or who knowingly breaks any law of his country, 
 is a traitor to the civilization from which he 
 derives many inestimable benefits." 
 
 After a pause of some seconds Clifford looked 
 imploringly in the face of his old friend, and 
 said, with passionate earnestness 
 
 " Why do you torture me ? Why are you 
 so cold so stern ? Have you only come here 
 to insult me ? Have I waited here through days 
 and nights of agony for this ? I could not 
 have believed it of you ! If this is a right 
 result of your higher civilization, then the 
 Pariah and the savage shall be my friends in 
 future, and not the white man." 
 
 To this Mr. Bell made no other reply than 
 to request that he might be put ashore at once.
 
 262 
 
 Clifford therefore hailed the boy, and in a few 
 minutes the dingey was alongside. Mr. Bell 
 stepped into it, without taking Clifford's hand, 
 and the boy pushed off. 
 
 " And this is friendship ! " muttered Clifford in 
 a low tone, but loud enough for Mr. Bell to hear. 
 
 He replied " It is ; the truest, the most 
 devoted friendship as I trust you may live 
 to admit, one day." 
 
 " May it prove so ! " replied Clifford. 
 
 The boy in the dingey was now told to 
 push off, but as the lad was in the act of 
 doing so, Mr. Bell remembered that he had 
 made no absolute appointment with Clifford 
 for another meeting. 
 
 " Stop," he said ; and turning to the latter 
 added " I shall read this narrative to-night, 
 and I will come on board and see you again 
 to-morrow morning at nine o'clock, if that hour 
 will suit you." 
 
 " Name your own time," said Clifford. " All 
 hours are now alike to me." 
 
 " Then nine o'clock let it be. Expect me at 
 that hour. I will not keep you in suspense." 
 
 And thus they parted !
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 263 
 
 CHAPTER 22. 
 
 NARRATIVE OF A CRIME. 
 
 WHEN Mr. Bell had been put ashore, he 
 wandered into a shady secluded spot in the 
 suburbs of the town, and there read over 
 many times the manuscript which Clifford had 
 put into his hand, and which was as follows : 
 
 HENRY CLIFFORD'S CRIME, 
 
 Narrated by Himself. 
 
 My Father's name was George Clifford. He 
 had an only brother, Henry Clifford, and no 
 sisters. I was named Henry, after my Uncle. 
 The two brothers were on the Stock Exchange. 
 I was an only child ; and my Uncle had an 
 only child, a daughter named Zoe, five years 
 younger than myself. Both our mothers died 
 when we were very young, and my Father
 
 264 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 died when I was ten years old. He was then 
 a poor man, having recently lost a good deal 
 of money in a speculation. My Uncle, on the 
 other hand, was very comfortably off. Th e 
 two brothers were extremely attached; and 
 when my Father was on his death bed, my 
 Uncle promised him to take charge of me, and 
 bring me up and provide for me, the same 
 as if I had been his own son. This promise 
 he faithfully kept. 
 
 Zoe and I lived together in the same house, 
 more like brother and sister than cousins; and 
 when we grew up neither of us dreamt of 
 falling in love with the other, although as 
 relations we were very much attached. I was 
 educated at a public school, and Zoe by a 
 governess at home. When I left school I 
 wished to be an artist, so my Uncle sent me 
 to Italy, in order that I might study there; 
 and on my coming of age he allowed me 
 200 a year. I was very fond of my studies, 
 and worked hard. About the time of my leaving 
 school my Uncle gave up business, and retired 
 upon his fortune. He bought a yacht, named 
 the LURLINE, which he kept at Nice, Spezzia, 
 &c., and spent much of his time in Italy. Zoe
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 265 
 
 and her governess always accompanied him. 
 Whilst I was following my studies in Rome 
 and Florence, I often saw my Uncle, of course ; 
 and sometimes took a cruise with him. We 
 were at that time a very united family. I 
 liked my Uncle extremely, and he was very 
 kind to me, and treated me like a son. I 
 have sometimes thought that he wished to see 
 me married to Zoe. She grew up a beauti- 
 ful girl, but petite. In her way she was quite 
 a litte genius, very imaginative and romantic, 
 with an affectionate heart, and an impulsive 
 temper. Her Father was dotingly fond of 
 her. 
 
 Now begins the sad part of my story. 
 
 Zoe made in Florence the acquaintance of 
 a man named Marsden, whom both her father 
 and I detested, as a snob. He had been an 
 actor, and was a poor devil, a vaut rien, and an 
 unprincipled dissipated fellow, much older than 
 herself, and without either talent or good 
 looks. What she could see to like in him 
 no one could conceive. Her Father, although 
 kind as a man could be, was firm, and had a 
 will of his own. He would not hear of her 
 marrying the scamp; so the end of it was 
 
 Ai L
 
 266 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 that she eloped with him. This only made 
 matters worse between herself and. her father. 
 He refused to recognise the match, or to have 
 anything to say to her husband; but at the 
 same time he offered her a home again if she 
 would be separated from him. At the end of 
 two months she consented, and returned to 
 her father's house. During that time she had 
 lived in a state of poverty and misery, and 
 had begun to be ill-treated by her husband, 
 since he discovered that her father was inexorable, 
 and would not advance him any money for 
 her support. All this preyed upon my Uncle's 
 mind, and brought on an attack of illness, 
 from which he never recovered. At last 
 little Mabel was born ; and about a year after 
 that my Uncle died. In the meantime Marsden 
 had disappeared. No one knew what had 
 become of him, except his wife ; for they, as 
 she afterwards confessed to me, had occasionally 
 corresponded. 
 
 The day before my Uncle died, he had an 
 old will destroyed, and a new one made. This 
 happened at Nice. He had become very 
 suddenly worse, and an English Solicitor 
 residing there was sent for to make the will.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 267 
 
 The dying man called us all around him, 
 and with perfect intelligence, although in 
 feeble accents, expressed to us briefly his 
 wishes in regard to the distribution of his 
 property after his death. To his daughter 
 Zoe he left the interest of 15,000 during 
 her life, and the principal to be equally divided 
 amongst her children at her death. To me 
 he left the remainder of his property, including 
 of course the yacht, and worth perhaps as 
 much more. He appointed me sole Executor 
 of his will. The lawyer took notes and 
 wrote out a draft, which he read to the old 
 man. It was approved of, and left to me to 
 copy out fair upon a sheet of foolscap paper, 
 whilst the lawyer left for half an hour in order 
 to keep another equally pressing engagement. 
 On his return, my copy was read to the 
 dying man, and he signed it, in presence of 
 the lawyer and his clerk as witnesses. My 
 Uncle died the following day. 
 
 He was hardly cold in his grave before 
 Marsden turned up again, and was received by 
 his wife into favour. Shortly after, we all 
 started together in my yacht for England, 
 taking the will with us, in order that I might
 
 268 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 perform my part as Executor. "We sailed from 
 Nice to Narbonne, and there entered the 
 Canal du Midi, in order to avoid going round 
 by the Straits of Gibraltar, as Marsden hated 
 the sea. We were towed to Bordeaux, and 
 there set sail again for England. During 
 this trip my antipathy to Marsden revived 
 and increased, for he appeared to be a thoroughly 
 selfish bad-hearted man ; besides which, he 
 chose to let me see that he could be jealous. 
 In fact, we hated each other. On leaving 
 Bordeaux, Marsden discharged Mabel's nurse, 
 who had accompanied us thus far which I 
 thought an unfeeling proceeding. We had 
 then four working hands on board. I navigated 
 the vessel myself. 
 
 When we had arrived almost within sight 
 of the English coast, a violent gale came on, 
 in which we carried away our foremast. There 
 was nothing to be done then but to lay-to 
 at the mercy of the winds and tides. One 
 night, during the middle of the storm, a strange 
 moaning noise was heard. This was familiar 
 to one of the sailors, as proceeding from a 
 cavern in a detached rock called the Wolf, 
 lying within sight of the Land's End. Shortly
 
 OR ROMANCE JN A YACHT. 269 
 
 after, the rock itself was made out, with, the 
 sea breaking over it. We were drifting straight 
 upon it. There was a heavy sea running at 
 the time. The danger we were in appeared 
 to be imminent. 
 
 The yacht had one boat, built according to 
 a plan of my Uncle's, so as to right itself in 
 any sea, if upset, and never sink. It had four 
 thwarts for the rowers, and a seat in the stern. 
 It could therefore hold five. The men considered 
 the yacht doomed, and proposed to launch 
 the boat ; so it was slung from the davits all 
 ready to let go. At this time Marsden was 
 below, and I had been on deck for some hours. 
 There were six of us on board, besides Zoe and 
 Mabel. Presently Marsden came up, and then 
 displayed in perfection the brutal selfishness of 
 his nature. I will not describe the scene which 
 occurred. Out of eight persons five only could 
 be taken in the boat. The three who remained 
 in the yacht were Zoe, Mabel, and myself. The 
 others left us to our fate. I am glad to be able 
 to say that of those four sailors not one was 
 English. Three of them were Italians, and the 
 fourth French. 
 
 By a special Providence, as it almost seemed,
 
 270 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 the yacht drifted clear of the Wolf, and as the 
 wind had veered round to the nor'west we 
 had then a hundred miles of sea-room to leeward. 
 
 "With her foremast gone she laid-to beautifully. 
 I felt that we were comparatively safe for some 
 hours, unless the wind should shift. 
 
 As for the boat, that seemed to come to 
 grief. Once, if not offcener, I could declare that 
 I saw it completely swallowed up but it rose 
 again; and once I heard Marsden's agonised 
 cry for help. The night was so dark, however, 
 that it was impossible to see what the fate of 
 those five men might be. I gave them all up 
 for lost. I had not a shadow of doubt of it. 
 Once, in the thick darkness, I thought I saw 
 the form of a vessel near, but could not be 
 quite sure. At daybreak the English coast was 
 still in sight, and as I thought dangerously 
 near, but the wind was rather off shore. The 
 tide, however, was running up strong, and I 
 feared might drift us into the dreaded race of 
 Portland. After due consideration of what had 
 best be done, I formed the rather daring plan 
 of setting the spitfire jib upon her as a main- 
 staysail, and trying to make the island of Jersey, 
 which I had once visited in a yacht, and which
 
 OK KOMANCE IN A YACHT. 271 
 
 I knew could be safely approached with, the 
 wind from nor'west. This would, at any rate, be 
 less dangerous than lying where we were ; and 
 as Jersey was completely under our lee, and a 
 stiff nor'wester blowing, I hoped to reach it 
 before dark. So the spitfire was set, and I 
 stood for some hours at the tiller, with Zoe 
 frequently by my side. That was a day never 
 to be forgotten ! The yacht flew before the 
 hurricane at a prodigious pace, until at length 
 bang went the sail into a thousand tatters, and 
 she broached to ! For the rest of that day we 
 drifted at the mercy of the gale, and until the 
 middle of the next night. The wind then 
 suddenly moderated, leaving the tortured sea 
 to rock itself to sleep. At daybreak I perceived 
 a line of coast just under our lee. The tide 
 seemed bearing us swiftly towards it. A 
 dangerous crisis was evidently approaching. 
 The yacht drew nine feet of water. If she 
 struck at a distance from the shore, how were 
 Zoe and Mabel to be saved for we had no 
 boat? 
 
 There was still a little breeze, setting straight 
 on to the land ; and as the daylight increased 
 I could see that we were nearer to the coast
 
 272 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 than I at first thought. A heavy surf was 
 breaking on the beach. I set the largest jib on 
 her, between the main and the stump of the 
 foremast, but it did no good, for the wind was 
 dead on the shore, and very little of it. Then 
 I let go the best bower anchor ; it held for 
 scarcely a minute, for the cable snapped. 
 The second bower shared the same fate. I 
 had then done my best, and all I could do. We 
 were on a lee-shore, without a chance of getting 
 off. I could see people running down to watch us, 
 but they did not launch a boat, or apparently take 
 any steps to help us. There was a tremendous 
 surf. I have never seen anything like it. I 
 knew the land for the west coast of Jersey. 
 
 I went to Zoe, and tied a life belt tightly 
 round her, and rolled up Mabel in several folds 
 of flannel which I secured with a piece of line. 
 Then I stripped myself ready for a swim, all but 
 a pair of bathing drawers, and canvas slippers. 
 My hope was that I could push them both before 
 me, and get ashore. A forlorn hope perhaps, 
 but it was our only chance. The reader of these 
 lines must believe me when I say that my only 
 thought then was for their safety. I never once 
 thought of my own as distinct from theirs.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 273 
 
 "We went on. deck. The yacht lay rearing and 
 curvetting to the heavy rollers which passed 
 under her, with her head to the sea, or else any 
 one of them must have swamped her. As near 
 as I could judge she would touch the ground in 
 about ten minutes, and then would come our 
 struggle for life or death. I was perfectly calm, 
 and Zoe's fine animal spirits and natural pluck 
 supported her. At that awful moment she 
 thought of the will. I went down to see for it. 
 On going to my desk, where I had kept it 
 locked up, I found that burst open, and the will 
 gone ! This I knew to be Marsden's doing ; and 
 I had then very little doubt that he had all 
 along intended to steal the will and destroy 
 it, in hopes that the whole of my Uncle's 
 property would thereby become Zoe's, and 
 consequently his. At any rate the will was 
 gone ! It happened, however, that the draft of 
 the will had not been destroyed, and that I found 
 in another desk. I put it into an empty wine 
 bottle, together with some bank notes, and corked 
 them up. Then I wrapped some cloths round 
 the bottle, and jammed it into a safe place 
 between the ceiling and the outer planking. 
 
 When I went on deck again, I told Zoe what 
 
 2 M
 
 274 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 had happened to the will. Her reply consisted 
 of the last words she spoke on earth. I shall 
 never forget them. She said 
 
 " That was Charles's doing. May God 
 forgive him ! Henry, when it comes to the 
 struggle in the water, don't trouble about me, 
 but save my child. Save her and if I am 
 drowned, and you two escape, swear to be a 
 father to her always, as mine always was 
 to you." 
 
 I took the oath, and we embraced. 
 
 At that moment the heel of the sternpost 
 gave its first bump upon the sand, and the 
 bow began to slew round. The next sea 
 hove her broadside to the surf. A man on 
 the shore then shot an arrow at us, with a 
 line attached. I caught the line, and fastened the 
 bight of it to Zoe's belt. 
 
 The scene which followed has been already 
 related in the local papers, and it is too painful 
 to repeat. 
 
 "When the yacht was left high and dry at low 
 water, I found the bottle safe as I had no doubt 
 it would be. But previously to that, I had 
 partly formed my plans about the will. It is 
 my nature to decide quickly, and act promptly
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 275 
 
 in any matter ; so that, extraordinary as it may 
 seem, I had made up my mind, even whilst 
 carrying Mabel in my arms to the cottage, to say 
 that I was her father, and that Zoe was my wife. 
 I also determined to assume an alias,' and. to give 
 a false name to the yacht. In the course of some 
 conversation I had with old Smith, an hour or 
 two afterwards, I called myself John Smith, and 
 the yacht the BAGATELLE. 
 
 During the next few days I considered care- 
 fully what I had better do in the matter of the 
 will. I understood but little of law, and took a 
 common sense view of the case, assuming that 
 Marsden had been drowned. I reasoned thus : 
 If I let things take their course, the whole of my 
 Uncle's property will become Mabel's, and I shall 
 be left entirely destitute, which, if my Uncle 
 were alive, he would be very grieved to see. 
 Suppose it were possible, I said to myself, that 
 his spirit could return to earth, and advise me 
 what to do, what advice would it give ? Clearly, 
 I thought, to carry out his own wish and inten- 
 tion with respect to his property, and not to act 
 like a coward and give up my own rights, for 
 the sake of a mere sentimental scruple. Then 
 in, I reflected that I had sworn to Zoe to act 
 
 '
 
 276 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 like a father to her child always ; but how could 
 I do this with any good effect, so long as I was 
 myself destitute of all resources, and she possibly 
 with another guardian appointed by law ? These 
 considerations suggested to me the forging of a 
 new will, exactly like that which had been stolen ; 
 and they seemed to render such an act justifiable 
 under the circumstances, although illegal. On 
 the other hand, it occurred to me that I might 
 still retain my rights, without breaking the law, 
 thus: I might state, before the proper legal 
 authorities, that the original will had been 
 stolen ; and in support of my statement I might 
 obtain the evidence of the lawyer at Nice, to the 
 effect that the original will had been properly 
 signed and witnessed ; that he had himself seen 
 it after my Uncle's death ; and that the draft 
 of it which still existed was the same, word for 
 word, as the original will. 
 
 Such were the considerations on which I had 
 to form my conclusion as to how I ought to act. 
 Nothing could be simpler, on the one hand, 
 than to make another fair copy from the draft 
 of my Uncle's will, and to imitate the old 
 signatures; while on the other hand, putting 
 the matter into Chancery would involve much
 
 OK KOMANCE IN A YACHT. 277 
 
 expense, delay, and the risk of an adverse 
 verdict. Therefore, knowing, as I said before, 
 nothing of law, and being unable to foresee what 
 course the law might take in the matter, I 
 resolved on taking the law into my own hands. 
 I forged a new will precisely like the old one ; 
 so like it, in fact, in all respects, that I doubt 
 whether the witnesses themselves would have 
 been able to tell which was which, if the two 
 had been laid before them side by side. 
 
 Next, when I came to consider what I had 
 done so hastily in changing my name, and 
 calling myself Mabel's father, it appeared to 
 have been an unwise and unnecessary proceeding, 
 of which I half repented. But still, when I con- 
 sidered that there was just a chance of Marsden 
 having escaped with life, I resolved to adhere to 
 my alias, as a measure of precaution at any rate 
 for three or four years. Subsequent events have 
 proved that it was fortunate that I did so. 
 
 I went to London shortly after Zoe's funeral, 
 and transacted the business connected with the will, 
 and the Executorship. The whole of my Uncle's 
 property became then at my own disposal. 
 
 On my return to Jersey I maintained my 
 alias of John Smith. I had the yacht repaired
 
 278 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 and refitted in the old style, and for many 
 months lived entirely on board. Mabel I left 
 in charge of Hannah Smith. 
 
 For a long time I was very unhappy. I 
 soon felt that I had made a grievous mistake 
 in breaking the law of my country ; and I 
 would gladly have given every penny of my 
 fortune to recover my lost innocence and self- 
 respect. But repentance was unavailing, and 
 as nobody had been wronged by my act I 
 was denied the luxury of reparation. There 
 were times also when, as I lay in my narrow 
 berth at midnight, the thoughts of Marsden 
 being possibly still alive, and returning one 
 day with the stolen will as evidence against 
 me, would haunt my fancy until I could endure 
 it no longer, and I had to get up and dress 
 myself, and walk upon the Pier until daybreak. 
 
 Thus time wore on. Marsden returned not, 
 and my spirits recovered by degrees their tone 
 and elasticity. I felt safe. The past began to 
 fade from my mind and the future to look bright. 
 A year after I had been in Jersey I made the 
 acquaintance of Miss Catherine Bell, then a 
 lovely girl of sixteen. She came over to Jersey 
 for a few months on a visit to her Aunt. That
 
 OR, ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 279 
 
 was a year ago. In a hundred ways we met, 
 though not at her Aunt's house, and a new hope 
 filled my heart. She left in the Autumn, but 
 it was to return with the rest of her family in the 
 Spring. They came. At the Club I met her 
 Father. He was a man whom I soon began 
 greatly to like and respect, and we were much 
 together. I longed to be introduced by him 
 to his wife and daughters, and to visit them 
 at their own home, but that happiness was 
 for some reason or other always deferred ; and 
 then I began to hear that vague rumours 
 were whispered about me in the island. It 
 was reported that I had no friends in England, 
 nor relations ; that I had come to Jersey without 
 letters of introduction ; and that a mystery of 
 some sort enveloped me in connexion with 
 the Yacht. It was said also that the inscription 
 on Zoe's tombstone was peculiar and equivocal, 
 and that Mabel did not in the least resemble 
 me. I know now that the originator of 
 these rumours was my man Jim. He had 
 discovered the name LURLINE carved upon a 
 beam in the forecastle of the yacht ; and had 
 also found a letter of Marsden's, which I had 
 picked up on the shore on the day of the
 
 280 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 wreck, and had left in the pocket of his 
 overalls which I wore that day and which 
 letter contained an allusion to Zoe and Mabel 
 as being Marsden's wife and daughter, not 
 mine. I do not, however, blame Jim for any 
 bad intention in spreading these reports ; but 
 men in his station will talk, aye, and persons 
 who ought to know better also. 
 
 At length I took a bold step, for Mr. Bell's 
 visit to Jersey was drawing to a close. I 
 invited him and his family to a sail and 
 picnic in the yacht. To my delight the invitation 
 was accepted. The next morning, however, 
 I had a dispute with Jim, who was getting 
 tired of his idle life; and I went to tell old 
 Smith about it. At that interview I learnt 
 that he knew enough about me to render my 
 residence in Jersey any longer impossible, and 
 perhaps even to cause me to be arrested on 
 mere vague suspicions. We quarrelled. I took 
 away Mabel, and resolved to leave Jersey at 
 once. That night, impelled by the sudden 
 change in all my plans, I confessed my love 
 to Kate, and was not refused. The next 
 morning she and her Father accompanied me 
 to France in the BAGATELLE.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 281 
 
 On the last afternoon of our trip, Marsden 
 suddenly appeared before me ! He charged 
 me with murder and forgery ! I was thunder- 
 struck, and at .the moment thought only of how 
 I could escape. I have since learnt, however, 
 that the ground of my attempted arrest was 
 simply the less formidable and very absurd 
 charge of his, that I had stolen his yacht ; 
 a charge which he could not have proved, and 
 which must have ended in my release and 
 his discomfiture. I have also learnt from Jim 
 that Marsden was enabled to track me, in 
 consequence of old Smith having given him 
 information of my whereabouts, in answer to 
 a recent advertisment in the Times offering 
 100 reward for such information. 
 
 I have nothing more to say. A friend will 
 not need that I should add any attempt at a 
 justification of my conduct, or any expression 
 of unhappiness which he may have it in his 
 power to relieve. 
 
 Such was Henry Clifford's sad tale. He 
 had, by his own confession, actually committed 
 forgery and perjury, which, if proved against him, 
 
 might cause him to be transported for life. 
 
 2 N
 
 282 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 Mr. Bell read the story many times. He 
 then returned to his hotel, and in the privacy 
 of his own room threw himself upon his knees 
 and prayed for guidance from above, as to 
 the line of conduct which it would be his 
 duty to pursue in relation to all whom this 
 terrible confession might involve. 
 
 He rose with a heavy heart and a clouded 
 brow. He had never dreamt that things could 
 have been so bad as this. Marsden's charge 
 against Clifford, of having stolen the yacht, as 
 he learnt at St. Malo, if not altogether absurd, 
 he imagined could be cleared up and set straight, 
 even if it did involve, as might just be possible, 
 some youthful indiscretion. But deliberate for- 
 gery and perjury ! Such crimes seemed truly 
 awful. They could admit of no excuse. He 
 had left St. Malo for Yigo, with his daughter, 
 hoping, and indeed feeling certain in his own 
 mind, from his knowledge of Clifford's honorable 
 character, that his narrative would contain a sa- 
 tisfactory explanation of his conduct, or at any 
 rate one on which a reasonable excuse might be 
 founded, and that a happy reunion would result , 
 and they would return together, probably in the 
 yacht. He had never dreamt of such a blow as this !
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 283 
 
 For several hours lie remained in his own 
 room writing letter after letter to Clifford, 
 every one of which he tore up when he 
 had written it, because it seemed too cruel 
 but every one of which was in fact a shade 
 sterner than that which had gone before 
 until he satisfied himself at last ; and then 
 the lines which were to crush his poor young 
 friend and his daughter's lover to the very 
 dust, were resolutely folded up and sealed. 
 
 During all those weary hours Kate had been 
 left in a state of suspense, it is true, but she had 
 been shown the way to a sort of summer-house 
 upon the roof of the building, which commanded 
 a view over the Harbour, and there she had 
 amused herself with a telescope, watching the 
 manoeuvres of the boats and ships, but especially 
 the BAGATELLE, little dreaming of the sorrow 
 which was in store for her that night ! 
 
 At length her Father joined her. He put 
 Clifford's manuscript into her hand, and said 
 to her, in a voice thick and scarcely articulate 
 through emotion 
 
 " Take this, dear child, to your own room, 
 and carefully read it through. I will come to 
 you by -and -bye, and tell you then what I
 
 284 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 mean to do. May we both be supported 
 through this heavy trial!" 
 
 Kate took the manuscript with trembling 
 hands, and descended with it to her own 
 room. Her Father's manner left no room for 
 doubt. Poor Clifford was in deep disgrace! 
 
 For more than three hours that night, her 
 lover paced backwards and forwards before the 
 window of the Hotel, at which he had no 
 doubt then that it was Kate whom he 
 had seen in the afternoon. There was 
 a light burning in the room, as he could 
 perceive through the jalousie blind, but no 
 one seemed astir. She might have gone to 
 bed, weary with her tedious land journey of 
 a thousand miles through dust and heat, from 
 St. Malo ; or she might be reading his narrative 
 of his crime. He thought most probably the 
 latter ; and still he waited on, and was repaid 
 at last. Her shadow was suddenly cast 
 across the blind, and then that was thrown 
 back, and she looked out from the open window. 
 With instinctive delicacy he remained in the 
 shadow of a wall for a few moments, and 
 watched ^er. She did not look up and down 
 the street as if in search of any one, but
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 285 
 
 simply came to the window to breathe the 
 night air and cool her brow. She had not 
 begun to undress, and yet it was past mid- 
 night. He could not see her features distinctly, 
 but there was in her attitude a sort of melancholy 
 unconsciousness and reverie. At length he 
 stepped forth into the middle of the street, 
 took off his hat, and stood before her. 
 
 She did not acknowledge him she made 
 him no sign she did not move she stood 
 like a figure suddenly turned to stone with 
 her eyes fixed, not on him but on the pavement 
 at his feet ! There he stood, with beating 
 heart but hers it seemed had ceased to beat 
 for him. He felt deeply hurt. At length 
 he put on his hat again, and was about to 
 go with a vow to weigh anchor that night 
 and never see her more when just as he was 
 leaving* 1 , her woman's heart could stand it no 
 longer, and she waved her hand breaking 
 by that act a solemn promise made to her 
 Father but a few minutes before. Clifford 
 raised his hat in deep acknowledgement of her 
 kindness, and was about to speak to her, but 
 she instantly retired within the room.
 
 286 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 23. 
 
 HOPE CKUSHED A MOMENT'S MADNESS. 
 
 CLIFFORD returned on board the yacht, undressed, 
 and threw himself upon his berth ; but it will 
 readily be believed he could not sleep a wink 
 that night. It was his nature to hope, and some- 
 thing seemed to tell him that his old friend's 
 coldness was assumed that he would be satisfied 
 with the narrative that he would be convinced 
 of his, Clifford's, perfect integrity and purity of 
 motive and that the next day would be one of 
 joy of delicious reunion of happiness which 
 would repay him a hundredfold for what had 
 passed that he should clasp his Kate to his fond 
 heart again that all would be made up and 
 that they would return together in the yacht. 
 As for Marsden, and his uncompromising revenge
 
 OK, ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 287 
 
 Mr. Bell, lie thought, would become a mediator 
 the money would be restored and then he, 
 Clifford, would only have to do what the rest of 
 the world were mostly doing, work, and gain an 
 income honorably in some way probably by 
 means of his brush. Or, should Marsden really 
 have a heart, and any sort of sense of honor, he 
 might it was just possible hand over to him 
 out of his abundance, what he must know and 
 feel was justly Clifford's due. Such were his 
 thoughts and hopes, as he lay tossing and 
 turning all that night upon his sleepless bed. 
 
 At length came the dawn of the looked- for happy 
 day, and he could lie there no longer, but got up. 
 First he took his usual plunge over the aide 
 which refreshed him and brought the color into 
 his careworn face and then he dressed himself 
 with more than usual pains, and went ashore. 
 He walked straight to the Hotel, and found the 
 servants already on the move for in Summer, 
 in that hot climate, the early morning is the 
 pleasantest time, and very early rising is the 
 universal rule. He was shown into the Salon, 
 by the waiter whom he had spoken to on the 
 previous day ; and he begged the man to knock 
 at the doors of his friends' rooms, and say that
 
 288 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 Mr. Clifford was below, never for a moment 
 doubting that they would both very soon come 
 down, and greet him with the same kindness as 
 of old, for if they had not intended this why 
 had they travelled so many hundred miles to see 
 him ? Never doubting therefore, but full of 
 impatient hope, he paced the room incessantly, 
 listening to every sound, and with his eyes 
 rivetted upon the door, expecting every moment 
 that it would open, and his long-lost Kate be the 
 first to enter, and rush into his arms. 
 
 At length the handle turned, the waiter 
 entered, and put into his hand a parcel from 
 Mr. Bell. 
 
 He tore open the wrapper with trembling 
 hands, and found within it the book of his 
 narrative returned, and a letter from his friend. 
 But on the back of the envelope, close above the 
 seal, were written these ominous words : " I trust 
 to your honor to leave us now, and not to open 
 this letter until you are on board the yacht." 
 
 His heart began to sink. He burned to 
 open the letter then and there, but his honor 
 was on its trial, and he dared not. He therefore 
 left the house, and hurried at his swiftest pace 
 to the Quay. Happily the dingey was then
 
 OB ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 289 
 
 alongside, and Jim about to go on board in it, 
 with a can of fresh water which he had fetched 
 from a fountain near. At last Clifford was 
 in his cabin ; and there, with eager haste, he 
 tore the letter open, and read what follows : 
 
 Clifford, your story is a most painful disap- 
 pointment to me! I feared it might be, but still I 
 hoped that it might not. Had my faith in you 
 been borne out by that narrative, you would have 
 found that I had made a toilsome and expensive 
 journey in order to save you a few days' delay in 
 hearing of the happiness which might then have 
 been ours. 
 
 But alas ! that cannot be now. You have been 
 guilty of a crime which no man of honor under 
 any circumstances could possibly commit, because, 
 as I told you yesterday, he could never consent to 
 be a traitor to the civilization from which he reaps 
 all those blessings that make life dear. No reasoning 
 will justify your crime. It must remain a stigma 
 upon your life ; and you ought not to dream of any 
 pure-minded woman sharing your disgrace. 
 
 Believe me I am still your friend your mos^ 
 faithful and devoted friend but I cannot be more 
 than this. No other relation between us can be 
 possible now. I cannot tell you how strongly I feel 
 this but so it is. 
 
 And now I request that, as an atonement for the 
 
 past, you will help me to soften the affliction to 
 
 2 o
 
 290 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 poor Kate. We shall have left Vigo by the time 
 you have read these lines. I implore you not to 
 follow us. My mind* is fully made up as to the 
 course of conduct which I ought to pursue, and I 
 have prayed most earnestly for God's help to go 
 through with it, and do my duty to my child. 
 Time but above all, occupation will bring relief to 
 you. Do not act meanly. Those who once loved 
 you will watch your future career in life with deep 
 interest. Strive to make that such as to prove that 
 you were not altogether unworthy of their regard. 
 
 Believe me to remain, ever your most sincere 
 friend, in the very highest meaning of that word, 
 
 ALFRED BELL. 
 
 Clifford, after reading the above but once, 
 pressed his hands against his throbbing temples 
 thought intensely for a minute then took his 
 writing case, and hastily penned the following 
 lines : 
 
 Kate my best beloved my only beloved my 
 dearest, dearest Kate think of me to-night at sunset, 
 and pray for me then. Cherish my memory afterwards. 
 Think sometimes of our past happiness. If my spirit 
 should be permitted to revisit you on earth it will 
 be ever at your side. 
 
 Farewell, farewell, farewell, until we meet again in 
 another, and I still hope a happier world ! 
 
 He wrote these lines through eyes blinded
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 291 
 
 with, tears he folded them hastily then rushed 
 on deck, sprang into the dingey, and pulled 
 himself ashore with the energy of a madman. 
 Then he rushed along the streets to that in 
 which was the hotel. A carriage had just left 
 its door, and was being driven swiftly towards 
 him. As it passed, he saw Kate and Mr. Bell 
 inside. The face of the former was buried in 
 her handkerchief, and she was sobbing violently. 
 He rushed up to the carriage door, sprang 
 upon a step, and putting his arm in through 
 the open window, thrust his note between her 
 fingers, and then sprang back again to the 
 ground. The act occupied but a second, and 
 was done with the speed of thought. The 
 carriage did not stop. He staggered towards 
 a wall, against which he leant, and there watched 
 the vehicle roll on. In another minute it had 
 turned a corner of the street, and he could see 
 it no more ! 
 
 Happily he was alone, or the expression of 
 his face at that moment would have terrified 
 a passer by. We know of nothing in nature 
 to which the outward expression of such 
 anguish as he then felt can be justly compared. 
 The face of a poor horse undergoing vivisection
 
 292 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 at the hands of a French Medical student would 
 merely express acute physical pain ; but there 
 is assuredly in mental agony something far worse 
 than this. Human nature may have to endure 
 worse torture than a lower animal can ever feel. 
 To the sublime pathos of deep mental suffering 
 there is nothing in lower nature which can 
 be compared. It stands alone just as in the 
 physical world do the lightning, the thunder, 
 the earthquake, the tempest-tossed ocean, the 
 avalanche, the flaming comet, the dismal solar 
 eclipse ! 
 
 Clifford had staked his all of earthly happiness 
 upon his love for Kate, and he had lost his stake. 
 There was nothing more worth living for. A 
 few more hours remained of work below, in which 
 to settle his affairs for the sake of others ; and 
 then, with the setting sun, would come release !
 
 OB ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 293 
 
 CHAPTER 24. 
 
 CHRISTIAN MOKALS. 
 
 CLIFFORD'S first paroxysm of grief did not, to 
 all appearance, last long. The sound of the 
 carriage wheels had scarcely ceased before he 
 roused himself, stood erect, and composed his 
 features. Then he walked a few steps each one 
 being firmer than its predecessor and then he 
 became apparently himself again. This control 
 over the outward expression of suffering is 
 peculiar to the human species. Animals can be 
 patient under physical pain, but their patience 
 is a negative virtue. They never exhibit that 
 pride which scorns the expression of pain. 
 
 Clifford walked to the corner where the 
 carriage had turned off, in order to see whether 
 it had been detained by any circumstance in the
 
 294 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 next street ; but not seeing it he retraced his 
 steps, and walked at his usual pace towards the 
 hotel, and then past it. He met several people 
 by the way, but none of them remarked anything 
 peculiar in his manner or appearance. He 
 entered a chemist's shop. A chubby little child 
 ran up to him. He patted its cheek and smiled. 
 Then he endeavoured to make the man behind 
 the counter understand the nature of the articles 
 which he wished to purchase. That little 
 difficulty gave rise to some amusing attempts at 
 practically illustrating his wants. One of these 
 articles was a tooth brush, another a cake of 
 soap, a third a box of cough lozenges, a fourth 
 one of those dangerous substances used in 
 medicine, which kill if taken in too large a dose, 
 but of which he required no more than a doctor 
 would prescribe for one dose. After this, he 
 went to three other chemist's shops, and bought 
 similar articles, but always as much of that 
 particular drug as he could obtain without 
 suspicion. In every shop his manner was 
 cheerful, if not absolutely gay. The people who 
 served him thought him a pleasant gentleman. 
 Lastly he strolled to the promenade, and seated 
 himself on his usual bench, which overlooked the
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 295 
 
 roadstead. Happening to have a pocket telescope 
 with him, he put it occasionally to his eye. He 
 also once took out a note book, and set down 
 memoranda of some letters which he wished to 
 write that day. 
 
 It was then about eight o'clock in the morning, 
 and it therefore wanted twelve hours to sunset 
 at which time he had requested Kate to think of 
 him, and to pray for him. 
 
 There was no one else on the promenade 
 then, for the place was usually deserted during 
 the day. 
 
 He sat for half-an-hour in profound thought, 
 and nearly motionless. 
 
 At length he took from his pocket the little 
 parcels of things which he had bought at the 
 three chemists' shops, and spread them on his knee. 
 They consisted of three tooth brushes, a small 
 tooth comb, two boxes of cough lozenges, one of 
 rhubarb pills, a cake of soap, a pot of scented 
 mutton suet, yclept " beard beautifier," some gen- 
 uine bears' -grease for promoting the growth of the 
 hair, with a portrait of bruin on the lid, some pipe 
 liquorice, and three little paper parcels containing 
 that particular drug, in powder, which was to 
 send the spirit to another if not a happier world.
 
 296 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 He opened one of those little parcels 
 examined its contents both, by touch, taste, and 
 smell smiled and scattered the powder on the 
 ground. He did the same to the contents of 
 the other two parcels. Just as he had finished, 
 a merry burst of laughter arose from some 
 children who were at play in a garden on the 
 opposite side of a high stone wall, at a few 
 yards distance from him. He got up, went to it, 
 and threw over it amongst the children the 
 articles which had been spread out upon his knee. 
 Presently he heard them laughing again, and 
 scrambling for the things in great glee; and 
 in a minute or two one of the youngsters 
 mounted the wall, and peeped over at him. 
 He had not thrown the galleypot of grease 
 from the haunches of the fine bear which had 
 just been slaughtered, for fear it might strike 
 one of the children on the head ; so he handed 
 that up to the youngster in question, who 
 immediately stuck his finger into the contents, 
 and then sucked it, with a wry face. Clifford 
 positively burst out laughing. He then returned 
 to his seat. 
 
 After sitting a few minutes in precisely the 
 same posture as before, he got up and took
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 297 
 
 two or three turns on the promenade. He 
 seemed to have grown taller all of a sudden ; 
 and although he was not himself conscious of it, 
 his step was proud, stately, and defiant. If 
 Kate had seen him then she would have thought 
 he had never before looked so handsome. 
 
 Once more he returned to his seat, put the 
 telescope to his eye, and was watching some 
 operations of Jim's which were going on 
 on board his yacht, when he felt a light tap 
 upon his shoulder. He turned, and beheld 
 Mr. Bell. 
 
 " You see I have come back again already," 
 said that gentleman, offering Clifford his hand. 
 
 The latter took it, but not very cordially, 
 and replied quite calmly 
 
 " I suppose my note frightened you, Sir. I 
 was very foolish to write it. I ought to have 
 known better. I am sorry you attached any 
 importance to it." 
 
 " Well I confess it has brought me back 
 again for I know your violent and impulsive 
 temper," said Mr. Bell. 
 
 " I must say you have not been addicted to 
 flattering me of late," replied Clifford. " Perhaps 
 
 some day you may think better of me. That 
 
 2 P
 
 298 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 note meant nothing whatever. You should have 
 regarded it as no more than the first moan of 
 a patient, when the surgeon draws his knife 
 across a mass of diseased and swollen flesh. 
 The operator who becomes nervous at that moan 
 is not fit to handle the knife. I fear, Sir, you 
 are but a bungler in your present character of 
 operating surgeon." 
 
 " I am truly glad to hear you say so," replied 
 Mr. Bell, " although your remark shows contempt 
 for my own skill." 
 
 " You might have known, I think," added 
 Clifford, "that that note was written in a 
 moment of great excitement, and could not 
 possibly mean anything serious. I hardly 
 remember what I said, but I am sure it would 
 raise a smile if we had it now before us." 
 
 " Here it is," said Mr. Bell, handing him 
 the note which he had thrust into Kate's hand 
 an hour before. 
 
 Clifford read it ; then tore it up, and scattered 
 the fragments on the ground adding 
 
 " I hope you did not let your daughter see it." 
 
 " I am sorry to say I did ; and it created a 
 terrible scene between us in the midst of which 
 she fainted."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 299 
 
 " I am grieved to hear that. Poor Kate ! 
 She ought to have known me better. Those 
 lines were merely some melodramatic nonsense 
 which I suppose I must have picked up from 
 a French novel. A brave man can never long 
 contemplate such an act of cowardice as those 
 lines insinuated ; and I trust that neither you 
 nor she could suppose me guilty of that 
 meanness." 
 
 " Then you intend to be a brave good fellow, 
 Clifford, and do battle with your feelings, and 
 conquer them, eh ? Is that what you will 
 commission me to tell her ? " asked Mr. Bell. 
 
 " I was looking at my poor faithful Jim, 
 when you touched me on the shoulder," he 
 replied evasively. " When I left him at five 
 o'clock this morning, to go to see you at the 
 hotel full of hope then I told him there 
 might be three of us to breakfast ; so I see 
 that he has been borrowing a sail from an 
 English collier in the roads, and is trying to 
 spread it out for an awning. The poor fellow 
 will be sadly cut up when I return alone, and 
 tell him that we are to start to-night, without 
 his old passengers." 
 
 There was a pause for a minute or two in
 
 300 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 their conversation. When Mr. Bell spoke again 
 his voice betrayed evident emotion. 
 
 " Shall you leave so soon ? " he asked. 
 
 But Clifford made no direct reply. At length 
 he said 
 
 " I was trying, as I sat here, to understand 
 the motives of your conduct, and see whether 
 I could reconcile them with humanity." 
 
 " Are they not plain enough ? " replied 
 Mr. Bell. " Am I not consulting my daughter's 
 happiness, and sacrificing all my own feelings 
 to a strong and manifest sense of duty ? " 
 
 " Stop ; let me put the case," said Clifford. 
 " It seems to stand thus : You are a clergyman 
 a gentleman a man of respectability and 
 you do not wish your daughter to ally herself 
 with one who has committed a forgery, and who 
 may at any moment be charged with it, be 
 found guilty, and be transported for life." 
 
 " Exactly so. Change places with me, in 
 imagination, for one moment, and you will 
 then perceive that I am right. I should have 
 the opinion of the whole world to back me, 
 if it were put to the vote." 
 
 " Then we understand each other," replied 
 Clifford. " Let that pass. Let us change the
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT 301 
 
 subject. There are some questions I wish to 
 ask you about Marsden, and his little daughter. 
 You left this morning without giving me the 
 slightest information on points of such vital 
 importance to me to know. On what principle 
 do you defend so unfeeling an act of for- 
 getfulness ? " 
 
 To this accusation Mr. Bell replied 
 " I have written an account of all that occurred 
 that afternoon after you started, and had left 
 it for you at the hotel ; but since I came back 
 I called for it, and it is now in my pocket. 
 Take it and read it ; you will find therein 
 all the information you require." 
 
 So saying he gave him the manuscript. Clifford 
 took it, and went to read it alone on another 
 seat, at the further end of the promenade. 
 His perusal of it occupied several minutes, 
 although the matter was condensed into a sheet 
 of note paper ; for in his excited state of mind 
 he had to read it over many times before he 
 could clearly comprehend its meaning. And 
 yet it was simple enough, and consisted only 
 of the following terse sentences : 
 
 Marsden is dead ! He was killed in a scuffle with 
 one of the gendarmes, who was arresting him for
 
 302 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 having broken the law by firing upon you. No friend g 
 claimed the body. No articles of any importance 
 were found on his person. He was buried in the 
 cemetery of the gaol at St. Servan. He had charged 
 you with having stolen his yacht, and it was on that 
 charge that your arrest was attempted. 
 
 I was standing at the little quay abreast of where 
 the yacht was lying, with Mabel and the bonne by 
 my side, waiting for you and Kate to join me, in 
 order that we might all be put on board together 
 by Jim in the dingey, when I heard a heavy plunge 
 in the water not many yards from where I was 
 standing, and presently saw you rise to the surface 
 and swim towards the yacht ; after which I heard 
 shots fired at you, and shouting from above. Then 
 I saw Jim put off for you, and save you in the 
 dingey; after which I hastened to the assistance of 
 Kate, who had been left on the platform above. 
 Before I could reach her, however, the fatal scuffle had 
 taken place between the gendarme and Marsden, and I 
 met the two soldiers carrying his dead body along the 
 path ! They described minutely all that had occurred. 
 
 I reached Kate's side shortly after the yacht had 
 passed out of sight. I then repaired with her, Mabel, 
 and the bonne, to the village where we landed, and 
 engaged a boat to take us to St. Malo at once. Your 
 letter was put into my hand by the pilot that night. 
 
 Mabel is now with my family in Jersey, who will 
 take care of her until my return. I shall then, of 
 course, await your instructions respecting her.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 303 
 
 When Clifford did at length comprehend 
 from the above, that the hated Marsden was 
 really dead, and that he was himself re- 
 leased from the eternal persecution of an 
 implacable foe, earth seemed to become a 
 heaven again, and he could scarcely express 
 an outburst of thankfulness and joy. But then 
 the thought occurred to him that although 
 Mr. Bell was himself aware of the fact, he had 
 nevertheless cancelled his daughter's engage- 
 ment. "Why was that ? The answer was evident. 
 Since there were no longer any material obstacles 
 in the way of that engagement, the objections 
 to it on Mr. Bell's part must now be entirely 
 sentimental ones. At this obvious conclusion 
 Clifford felt deeply hurt ; and when he at 
 length reseated himself by the side of hia 
 quondam friend, it was without the slightest 
 change in his manner. He was still no more 
 than coldly polite. 
 
 "Are you not astonished, and I had almost 
 said delighted, with the information which that 
 paper conveys ? " asked Mr. Bell. 
 
 " Of course ; but now I am all at sea again 
 respecting the motives of your present conduct. 
 I could understand that so long as I was the
 
 304 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 object of constant pursuit and revenge by that 
 bad and implacable man, you had good grounds 
 for not allowing your daughter to share my 
 fate. But now, when earth smiles upon me 
 again, what becomes of your objection ? Please 
 to state it clearly ; and I will then tell you 
 candidly whether I shall respect it as valid, 
 or not." 
 
 " My poor fellow," replied Mr. Bell, " if you 
 cannot now understand the impropriety of my 
 permitting an engagement between yourself and 
 my daughter, I shall believe there must still 
 be some obliquity in your moral perceptions. 
 Remember, I have a wife and two other 
 daughters to satisfy as well as myself; and I 
 have a position in society to maintain as a 
 clergyman who is supposed to set an example 
 in such matters. What would my family, my 
 friends, the world at large think of me, were 
 I to sanction Kate's engagement with a man 
 who for two years had lived in Jersey under 
 a feigned name who had proclaimed himself 
 falsely to be the father of a certain little girl 
 who had acted a lie with respect to himself 
 in every important particular for the time I 
 name and who had once committed a forgery ?
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 305 
 
 Under such circumstances, is it possible that 
 I can sanction your engagement with Kate ? 
 You will remember that when I did so before, 
 it was conditional for I believed you when 
 you intimated that you had done nothing morally 
 wrong. Unfortunately, however, your own ac- 
 count of yourself proves the contrary." 
 
 " I thank you, Sir, for putting the matter 
 thus plainly," replied Clifford, " and you must 
 permit me to reply to your remarks with equal 
 candour. 
 
 " Now what did my crime, as you call it, 
 really amount to ? An error of judgment only, 
 committed under very trying circumstances, and 
 with no friend near to give me advice. My 
 intentions were perfectly honorable, and there 
 was no idea of defrauding or injuring anyone 
 for I supposed Marsden to be dead. If ever a 
 mistake for I will not call it a crime was 
 committed under extenuating circumstances, it 
 was mine. But if that disqualifies me, as you 
 say it does, from ever forming an alliance with a 
 pure-minded woman, observe what results. I must 
 either remain single, or else marry a woman of 
 low tastes and low moral tone. Now surely 
 this involves a reductio ad absurdum does it not ? 
 
 2 Q
 
 306 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " Then again, if none but a faultless being 
 will satisfy you, where is such to be found ? 
 Run your eye over the catalogue of great and 
 good men in history, and name one, if you can, 
 who would satisfy your conditions. Do not 
 think me trifling with sacred things if I call 
 to your memory the names of David, Peter, 
 and Paul. The very frailties of human nature 
 seem to me to add another bond of tenderness 
 to friendship and to love. Then, my crime, 
 such as it was, was committed under the firm 
 belief of Marsden's death ; but as soon as I 
 found that he was alive, I offered to make 
 full restitution of property, which nevertheless 
 I knew by strict right belonged to myself. 
 Now, under all these circumstances, I call on 
 you to ask yourself whether you are acting on 
 broad Christian principles, or merely according 
 to conventional notions of taste and propriety, 
 in cancelling my engagement with Kate ? " 
 
 " On both principles," was Mr. Bell's reply, 
 " for the two are, or ought to be, in harmony 
 with each other." 
 
 " Then I fear," replied Clifford, " that our 
 ideas are widely different. Your moral code 
 is too sentimental and theoretical for me. It
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 307 
 
 ignores altogether a great fact in nature. It is 
 unpractical, and consists of mere words, and 
 lectures, and questions of taste and etiquette. 
 It is the moral code of a man who has lived in 
 a favoured position above the arena in which 
 the struggle of human life goes on. It is 
 the very code which the Saviour condemned. 
 There is no heart, no large human sympathy 
 in it. It is cold, calculating, unfeeling. By 
 it the sinner, however penitent, is debarred 
 from grace. I have been grievously mistaken 
 in you. Your profession of friendship is a 
 mere empty word. My real friend now is a 
 poor sinner like myself, a man in humble 
 station, in a rough sailors' garb, with tarry 
 hands and uncombed locks. When I go on 
 board and tell that man my sad story, depend 
 upon it he will condemn you, for he is one 
 of the toilers of the world, and his instincts, 
 which were- right by nature, have been kept 
 right by use. Jim will condemn you ; and 
 so will your daughter Ellen; and so, I am 
 certain, does my poor Kate, whose happiness 
 you would sacrifice to an idea a point of 
 propriety a question of taste. If you persist 
 in your present conduct you will have a
 
 308 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 cold and unfeeling heart ; and bitter as the 
 trial may be to Kate to oppose your wishes 
 in this matter, I shall use all my influence to 
 persuade her to do so. This morning I yielded 
 passive obedience to a decree which seemed 
 right at the time, and against which my pride 
 forbad me to expostulate, for how could I 
 entreat you to reverse it and allow your daughter 
 to share the fate of an outcast, against your 
 own moral convictions and apparently hers also ? 
 But now that I have heard of Marsden's death, 
 the case becomes widely different. I have ceased 
 to be an outcast. I can enter into society again 
 without fear, and safe from persecution. The 
 sword which during his lifetime might have 
 constantly hung over me has fallen harmless, 
 and I am free. Therefore I say now, cancel 
 your letter to me retract your refusal to my 
 engagement with Kate or I declare open war 
 with you at once. "What have you to say to 
 this?" 
 
 Mr. Bell did not immediately reply. He was 
 evidently much agitated, but his countenance 
 betrayed no sign of anger at Clifford's somewhat 
 strong and rude remarks. He was by nature 
 an extremely kind-hearted and good-tempered
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 309 
 
 man, besides which, the control of temper had 
 become habitual to him, and a matter of principle 
 which he always strove to obey. But he did 
 not even feel angry. His agitation proceeded 
 from a struggle between his affections and what 
 he had at first considered to be his duty in 
 opposition to them. At length he said, in the 
 very kindest tone 
 
 " Clifford, don't misunderstand me. My heart 
 pleads for you. You need no advocate there. 
 Much of what you say is right and good; but 
 remember how young Kate is how short a time 
 you have known her how slight after all the 
 impression may be that you have really made 
 upon her. If she were five years older, and you 
 had known her by just so much longer ; and 
 if what may now be only a romantic feeling 
 should actually have taken such deep root as 
 to affect seriously the happiness of both your 
 lives, then I might take a very different view 
 of the matter. It is because I hardly believe 
 that either her feelings or yours can have become 
 too deeply interested, that I have desired, under 
 the changed aspect of your circumstances, to nip 
 this attachment in the bud. You see I am 
 not so heartless as you think. I am willing
 
 310 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 to make a rational concession to what you 
 call broad Christian principles, and to admit 
 the universality of human frailty as well as 
 the efficacy of repentance. If you are both 
 so deeply attached as to render the cancelling 
 of your engagement a blow which would abso- 
 lutely embitter the whole of your future lives, 
 then then " 
 
 " Then," said Clifford, interrupting him, and 
 with a returning smile, " Then you will allow 
 the matter to turn upon whether Kate really 
 loves me or not, after a sufficient term of 
 probation ? So be it. I accept these conditions ; 
 and I would suggest to you as the best means 
 of making your experiment, that you both 
 return with me to Jersey in the yacht. You 
 owe me this for having been my passenger 
 at all, and for having thrown us so much 
 together, and encouraged my suit. I cast myself 
 upon your generosity. I will answer for the 
 state of my own affections. The happiness of 
 my own life, at any rate, is at stake. Two 
 months ago possibly your objections might 
 have been valid, but they are not so now. 
 Prove to us both that you have a heart." 
 
 Mr. Bell heaved a deep sigh, and replied
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A i'ACHT. 311 
 
 " You are all wrong, Clifford, and I know 
 it, and could prove it to you if I had not a 
 heart but but oh dear ! What will they say 
 to me at home? How ever shall we get out 
 of the scrape ? " 
 
 " Now, dear Sir," said Clifford, " you are not 
 acting you are yourself again. What has 
 happened during the last few hours has been 
 a hideous mistake an attempt of yours to solve a 
 pure problem of feeling without the intervention 
 of the heart. May I offer you my hand once 
 more, and ask you to forgive the past, and think 
 as kindly of me as you once did ? " 
 
 The old clergyman took his young friend's 
 hand, and pressed it warmly. 
 
 " Clifford," he said, " I loved you, and it 
 is I who have really suffered most from all 
 this horror. But it is over now. I yield the 
 point. I am helpless. Two young hearts have 
 proved more than a match for an old man's 
 scruples. Kate's entreaties almost prevailed 
 against them last night, and now your remon- 
 strances have left me helpless. There go 
 now and leave me to myself to make peace 
 as best I may with my own conscience. I will 
 join you by-and-bye on board the yacht."
 
 312 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 25. 
 
 AN ENGLISH GIRL IN A SPANISH BOWER. 
 
 CLIFFORD did as lie was told with, the greatest 
 alacrity; that is to say, he left his old friend 
 on the promenade to his own meditations, and 
 went his way. Where that way led him the 
 reader will easily guess to the hotel where 
 Kate was staying. He seemed to walk on air, 
 and the distance to it from the promenade 
 appeared to have dwindled to a fourth of what 
 it was or rather to no distance at all if 
 measured by time. When he got there he 
 asked no one's leave, and made no more 
 enquiries of the cautious English waiter, but 
 mounted at once to Kate's room, and tapped 
 at the door. 
 
 No one answered. She was not within. What
 
 OB ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 313 
 
 had become of her ? He must find the English 
 waiter after all and enquire. 
 
 The latter came to his assistance, and informed 
 him that the young lady was then in a summer 
 house, or belvedere, upon the roof of the 
 building, which commanded a view of the 
 Harbour. He piloted him to the foot of some 
 stairs which led to the same, and Clifford 
 strode up them three at a time. At the top 
 of all there was a door which opened upon a 
 lead flat ; and then, opposite to him was the 
 building in question. The door was shut. He 
 tapped, and Kate opened it. She had been 
 sitting there alone, looking through a glass 
 at the shipping in the roads or rather at 
 a particular ship the dear little BAGATELLE, 
 with her British ensign and Irish burgee. 
 
 Clifford stood before her, with joy and hope 
 beaming in every feature. A single glance at 
 his happy face was enough. There was no 
 resisting it no time then for buts, and ifs, 
 and questionings. She put her two hands 
 upon his broad shoulders they gazed fondly 
 into each other's eyes for an instant and then 
 he pressed her to his heart once more. 
 
 We will not repeat their first expressions
 
 314 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 of delight at meeting, after those anxious days 
 and recent hours of trouble ; but by means of 
 her lover's first broken sentences Kate understood 
 that he had seen her Papa had had a long 
 talk with him that he had " come round" 
 and that it was " all right now." 
 
 "And what do you think, my Kate," he 
 added, as soon as he could collect ideas enough 
 for an entire sentence " What do you think 
 is the only difficulty in our way now? Your 
 Papa is not satisfied that we love each other 
 enough. His fear is that we have only formed 
 a romantic attachment which could easily be 
 nipped in the bud. It all turns now on 
 whether we love each other enough. That 
 is what he doubts, and what we have got to 
 prove to him. So you are to go back with 
 me in the yacht, just by way of an experiment 
 as to the intensity of our affection. Isn't it 
 ecstatic, after all this morning's horrid work ?" 
 
 " Dear, kind old Papa ! " said Kate. " I 
 knew that it would come to this at last. You 
 can't imagine what an affectionate creature 
 he is. Our carriage this morning was only 
 engaged for one stage, and I am sure he was 
 quite glad of any excuse to turn back. But,
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 315 
 
 you very naughty one, you don't know how 
 you frightened me by that note ; and Papa too, 
 for he said he knew your violent temper." 
 
 " But Katie, only think what a poor wretch 
 I was then. You lost to me the hope I had 
 of your Father's mediation with Marsden cut 
 off the hand of every man against me only 
 fancy what that means and to lead the life 
 of a flying fish, hunted eternally, and never at 
 peace day or night ! And then, if caught at last, 
 to be tried for a felon's crime, and condemned 
 to pay the horrible penalty for the rest of my 
 life ! Fancy, if you can, the loss of liberty 
 for ever the prison dress the lash for every 
 slight offence the hair cropped close the 
 odious profitless toil the mind snuffed out 
 the dreary, weary, hopeless future ! Such, at 
 least, in that paroxysm was the picture presented 
 by my disordered brain. If then, in my despair, 
 I did meditate for a brief half hour such an 
 act as my note insinuated, there was some 
 excuse. But it was not in my nature that 
 such a thought should continue long. The 
 fit soon wore off. I was in my right senses 
 again when your father found me." 
 
 " My poor What name must I call you
 
 316 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 now?" she asked, looking with amusing 
 ndivett into his face. 
 
 " Your poor Harry, if you like. Don't you 
 like Henry Clifford better than John Smith ?" 
 
 She smiled at this question, but evaded a 
 direct reply by answering 
 
 " But what a strange story your's was ! I 
 read it last night. Do you know I always 
 felt certain there was something mysterious 
 about you ? I have seen you sometimes not 
 answer to your old name ; and I was quite 
 sure that Mabel was not your daughter. You 
 liked her you loved her even but it was 
 not a father's love it was an elder brother's 
 rather." 
 
 " Then you knew all along what I dared 
 not tell you that you were really my first, 
 first love and you believed in me in spite of 
 my mysteriousness?" 
 
 " Women have instincts in such matters, and 
 I suppose these are always right. But what 
 a deal we have got to talk about. And your 
 poor shoulder how is that now ? I see it 
 is still bandaged up." 
 
 " A mere trifle but it throbs sometimes. 
 It throbbed last night when I stood before you
 
 OH ROMANCE IK A YACHT. 317 
 
 in the street. Why wouldn't you speak to 
 
 V J 
 
 a poor fellow at first, Katie? It seemed so 
 cruel of you." 
 
 " Because Papa had made me promise I would 
 not, only five minutes before. I had just 
 finished reading your narrative, and he came 
 in and told me that it was to be all over 
 between us, and that I was never to speak 
 to you again never never!" 
 
 "And you promised you would not?" 
 
 " I thought it best to do so, for I knew he 
 would come round in time." 
 
 " But what a journey you must have had all 
 through the heat and dust from St. Malo ! " 
 
 " No, it was a delicious journey. We crossed 
 the Pyrenees. Oh, such lovely scenery ; and 
 we were both in such high spirits all the way 
 at the thoughts of taking you by surprise. 
 That was why Papa did not write. The 
 misery only began last night. Papa never 
 dreamt of your having done anything really 
 wrong only something very foolish, perhaps 
 or rash." 
 
 " So you enjoyed crossing the mountains," 
 replied Clifford, evasively. "They were a new 
 idea a real treat were they not ? "
 
 318 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " And the sunrises we saw oh, how grand 
 they were amongst the mountain passes ! 
 
 "And the sunsets too?" enquired Clifford. 
 " And then you thought of the Grand Bey ? 
 I almost think you did?" 
 
 " Ah yes !- and our strange presentiments ! " 
 she added, smiling. 
 
 " Tell me where you slept at St. Malo that 
 night after the yacht left," enquired Clifford. 
 
 " At the Hotel de France. I had a little 
 upper room overlooking the sea. I sat at the 
 window for hours that night, thinking of you 
 two poor things all alone in the yacht and 
 it seemed to blow so and the sea looked so 
 wild and I saw the sunset that night too." 
 
 " And did you bestow one little tear on the 
 memory of the poor wanderer ? Tell me ! 
 almost think you did." 
 
 " Just one perhaps and then I sat at my 
 table, and made that little sketch I sent you. 
 Did you understand it ? I dared not write you 
 a line, because I had promised Papa I would 
 not. But after all, what could a whole quire 
 of words have told you more than hope?" 
 
 " And so your Papa came here, quite intend- 
 ing to go back with me in the yacht ? I
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 319 
 
 never could have dreamt that from his manner. 
 You can't think how cold he was at first." 
 
 " I knew him better and so will you some 
 day. He is such a dear kind creature and 
 we all love him so at home. If anything goes 
 wrong he reasons with us, and reasons, and 
 reasons, and then at last he makes it up. But 
 you must know we never have any secrets 
 from him for that's a thing he can't forgive. 
 But don't let us talk about this now. Tell 
 me what that dear old Jim is doing in the 
 yacht. I've been watching him for the last 
 hour. He has been spreading an awning over 
 the deck, and sprinkling it with water, and 
 bringing up a table, and laying a cloth, and 
 putting things out, I suppose for breakfast 
 in the open air. It seems all ready now; and 
 he is waiting for some one in the dingey at 
 the water side." 
 
 "He is waiting for us, my child," said her 
 Father, smiling, and putting his hands upon 
 her shoulders from behind. He had stolen upon 
 them unperceived, and had heard every syllable 
 that his Kate had said about him. 
 
 " Oh Papa, how you made me jump !" she 
 said, looking timidly into his face.
 
 320 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 He stroked her soft waving tresses affection- 
 ately, and patted her pale cheek for it was 
 pale that morning and said in a whisper 
 
 " Run, Kate, and put your bonnet on, or Jim's 
 patience will be worn out." 
 
 She threw her arms round her Papa's neck, and 
 kissed him fondly ; then ran off to her own room. 
 
 Clifford watched her till she was out of sight, 
 and thought she had never looked half so beauti- 
 ful, and that he had never loved her half so 
 well as he did then. 
 
 " My poor fellow," said Mr. Bell to him as 
 soon as they were alone, " forgive me if I 
 have caused you pain to-day. I am afraid 
 you thought me a most unpleasant old bore, 
 and an ungrateful one too for all your kindness." 
 
 " Well really, my dear Sir, if you will have 
 the plain truth," said Clifford, smiling, "you 
 did contrive to make yourself, for about three 
 hours, as intensely disagreeable as a man well 
 could in that limited time." 
 
 " I may ask you perhaps to sign a certificate 
 to that effect, when we get home," said Mr. Bell. 
 
 "But if I do," replied Clifford, "you must 
 endorse it with your solemn promise never to 
 behave thus again."
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 321 
 
 " We shall see." replied his old friend. " But 
 let us go on board now. I don't feel at home 
 here a bit ; and we have got a world of things 
 to talk about yet. Poor Katie wants rest too, 
 and she will be glad, I know, to stretch 
 herself again upon her old berth. 
 
 They had not long to wait for her ; and in 
 another ten minutes the trio were once more 
 on board the BAGATELLE. 
 
 2 s
 
 322 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 26. 
 
 AI SEA AGAIN. 
 
 " WELL Jim," said Mr. Bell, as lie crept 
 under the awning, out of the broiling sunshine, 
 and looked at the good things which the said 
 Jim had been spreading out for breakfast 
 including fish and fruit from the early Market, 
 " "Well Jim here we are, back again at last." 
 
 " In course you are, your honor," replied 
 the good fellow addressed, with a broad grin. 
 "I know'd you wouldn't be long away and 
 I told our young cap'n so, lots of times. Not 
 as I know much about you gen'l'folks either, 
 but I could see pretty plain as how you 
 liked him, and I said to him many times, when 
 he was well nigh giving in, don't take on like 
 that, my lad just give 'em a fortnight or 
 so more, and they'll turn up again you see.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 323 
 
 They ain't a-going to leave you in the lurch. 
 And as to what you've been and done years 
 ago why that ain't nothing, I know and the 
 old genTman will put that straight with the 
 big wigs over the water and then it'll be all 
 plain sailing again, and stun-s'ls set alow and 
 aloft." 
 
 " I don't know, Jim, about that," replied 
 Mr. Bell, smiling. " I'm afraid you sadly 
 overrate my influence with your supposed big- 
 wigs. Don't you know that I am only a 
 poor parson, living in a little quiet country 
 village, out of the great world ? " 
 
 Jim grinned, as much as to insinuate that 
 he knew better ; and added 
 
 " Well it 's a good job you 've all come back 
 anyhow for when I seed him cut off this 
 morning in the dingey, and run like a mad 
 dog along the Pier, I said to myself clap 
 a stopper on that, somebody and take a turn." 
 
 " But you set to work, Jim, and got the 
 breakfast ready, nevertheless." 
 
 " In course I did. I know'd the first sight 
 of the young lassie would bring him up sharp. 
 Gen'Pfolks are like the rest on us, for that. 
 We're all spun out of the same yarns only
 
 324 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 one's rope's hawser-laid, and another 's served 
 and wormed, and another's only a plain twist." 
 
 The above elegant conversation was confined 
 to themselves, for Kate had dived down the 
 companion, and Clifford was awaiting her 
 return,^ with curiosity at the result. 
 
 She soon came back and asked him, with 
 a smile, for the key of the ladies' cabin, as the 
 door was locked. 
 
 He took it from a safe corner of his coat 
 pocket, where it had remained ever since the 
 afternoon when he and Jim left St. Malo 
 together, and gave it her. 
 
 In a few minutes she returned again. 
 
 " Well," he asked, " did you find your things 
 all right?" 
 
 " Yes exactly as we left them not a thing 
 touched Mabel's box of soldiers, and the bonne's 
 cap, and the book of sketches half open, just 
 as I left it when we started for our walk." 
 
 " Katie do you know what vow I made 
 that day, when I locked the door?" 
 
 "No what?" 
 
 " That no one should ever open it again 
 until your little fingers turned the key." 
 
 " You silly creature ! "
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 325 
 
 "Come, Kate, my child," cried her father, 
 from the breakfast table. " We are all ready 
 and waiting you forget we 've had no breakfast 
 yet and it 's near eleven o'clock." 
 
 There is nothing romantic in unalloyed hap- 
 piness ; that may always be left to the imagi- 
 nation of the reader ; so a very few words will 
 suffice for a detail of the principal events of 
 the next few days. 
 
 The yachting party remained nearly a week 
 longer at Vigo, in order to see the place and 
 take some trips in the vicinity; and then they 
 started for Jersey. Jim found a young English 
 sailor to share the forecastle with him, and 
 bear a hand ; and the waiter at the hotel 
 recommended a French girl, to attend upon 
 Kate. But if the truth must be told, Mr. Bell 
 did not look forward without misgivings to 
 crossing the dreaded Bay, and being perhaps 
 a week at sea in a craft of only eight and 
 twenty tons, N.M. to say nothing of the 
 chances there were of the heavy contributions 
 which old Neptune might exact by the way. 
 Kate, however, was in high spirits, and laughed 
 at such chances, and to her the idea of the
 
 326 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 trip home was all couleur de rose. Fancy, how 
 much she would have to tell her Mamma and 
 sisters when she got back all about the Pyrenees, 
 and the coast of Spain, and the reader can 
 guess what else. There was only one thing 
 which they all regretted, and that was the 
 absence of little Mabel. Children are trouble- 
 some, it is true ; but how one misses their merry 
 prattle and funny ways when they are not 
 rollicking about. What a sober old world it 
 is then. 
 
 On their first stroll together in the promenade 
 Kate gave Clifford a present which she had 
 brought for him from St. Malo, and the cost 
 of which had nearly run away with all her 
 pocket money for she had bought it unknown 
 to her good Papa. What does the reader 
 suppose it was ? A new sketching-block exactly 
 like the first and the very thing he wanted. 
 What tact the women have in all these matters 
 have they not ? How sure they are, when 
 they make you a present, to give you the very 
 thing you most want. 
 
 So Clifford took some souvenirs of Yigo, 
 without delay ; and you may be sure that the 
 old bench on the promenade the view from
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 327 
 
 thence over the roadstead, with the BAGATELLE 
 at anchor the garden wall over which he had 
 thrown the things to the children and the 
 window of the hotel at which he had seen Kate, 
 were amongst them. He added also a few comic 
 pages and sketches to her diary of the trip. 
 
 It was a fine afternoon in August, just a week 
 after they had left Vigo. A six-knot breeze 
 from the nor'west was ruffling the green sea 
 with little dancing waves, and the BAGATELLE 
 was bowling along before it, with both her 
 jib-headed topsails and her squaresail set. 
 Jersey could be seen like a long thin grey 
 line upon the horizon ; and behind them were 
 the Roches Douvres, so graphically described 
 in Victor Hugo's " Toilers of the Sea." Their 
 trip was now really drawing to a close ; and 
 they talked of anchoring in the small roads of 
 St. Helier before dusk that night. Jim was at 
 the helm his pal was chatting with him at 
 his side the French girl was getting tea ready 
 below Kate was seated on a buffet stuffed with 
 cork, in the shadow of the mainsail, watching 
 the bubbles as they danced merrily by, and
 
 328 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 indulging in her own sweet fancies whatever 
 those might be and Mr. Bell and Clifford 
 were together for'ard, looking out a-head, and 
 sitting with their backs against the windlass, 
 chatting, and the latter solacing himself at the 
 same time with a cheroot. 
 
 " I am not by any means sure," said Mr. Bell, 
 " that you will be quite safe in Jersey yet. Sup- 
 pose Marsden should have kept the original will, 
 and have left it with the old man at La Pulente. 
 He seems to be an unprincipled scamp, that ; 
 and he might take advantage of you if he 
 could turn a penny by so doing. Or suppose 
 Marsden should have had a friend to whom 
 he communicated the circumstances of the case, 
 and who might take it up with the hope of 
 extorting money from you, as a bribe to keep 
 silent respecting what he knew. The affair has 
 still a threatening look, I think." 
 
 " I don't agree with you quite," said Clifford, 
 in reply. "The old man is not altogether 
 bad. He is a character in his way, and I have 
 made rather a study of him for the last two 
 years. There is good in him ; and his meanness 
 is not natural it is an acquired vice. I believe 
 he would rather serve me than a stranger
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 329 
 
 even if the balance did preponderate a little in 
 favour of my foe." 
 
 " You know best, of course but it -won't 
 do to trust him too far. I confess I am getting 
 nervous as I get near home." 
 
 " And beginning to repent, perhaps," said 
 Clifford, somewhat coldly, " that you did not 
 leave me to my fate." 
 
 " Hush ! " said Mr. Bell. " You know I have 
 acted for the best, so far as my poor judgment 
 went, for you and Kate, regardless of myself 
 and of what the world may say of me. I 
 had a long, a very long talk with her that 
 night, after she had read your story. I then 
 represented to her the danger in which you 
 might still stand after your return to English 
 soil the possibility of all sorts of horrors 
 turning up the all but certainty there was 
 that you would be compelled to live abroad 
 the remonstrances of my own family and friends 
 against the match the secrecy and misery 
 which a long engagement might involve in 
 fact, I entreated her to break it off. I had 
 come to disapprove of it myself when I found 
 what a bad case it was, according to your 
 
 own confession ; and I pointed out to her 
 
 2 T
 
 330 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 that my objections were not founded on false 
 sentiment or narrow views, but on common 
 sense, such as every one would approve." 
 
 " And what was her reply ? " asked Clifford. 
 
 " A woman's every word," replied Mr. Bell. 
 " She said, the deeper you might be in the 
 mire the more she should love you and cling 
 to you, and the more resolved she should become 
 to share your fate. In fact, she defied her 
 poor old Father. I never saw her so animated. 
 It almost made me smile. It proved to me 
 that she loved you ; and I had then to learn 
 whether you really loved her. The next morning 
 was to afford me the test of that. You remember 
 what occurred, and how you defied me too. 
 Then I saw that both your minds were made 
 up, and that it would be as cruel as useless 
 of me to interfere. I gave way. And now, 
 Clifford, believe me I have nothing to regret. 
 Personally I like you, and I believe in your 
 integrity. You have nothing to fear from any 
 change in me ; and as the rest of my family 
 take their tone from me, you will be favour- 
 ably received by them also. But we must 
 carefully weigh all the risks and liabilities 
 before you set your foot on shore,"
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 331 
 
 " My own idea was this," replied Clifford. 
 ' For me to go to the old man, take him by 
 surprise, and judge for myself how the land 
 lies." 
 
 " No, no. Let me go alone first, as your 
 representative," said Mr. Bell. " Then I would 
 make him a definite offer as regards an annuity, 
 in order to place him beyond the reach of 
 temptation ; and hear what he would have to 
 say. In the meantime you could remain on 
 board, and be ready to start again in the 
 event of there being any risk of your arrest. 
 The production of the real will, backed by the 
 evidence of the old man as to what Marsden 
 may have communicated to him, might be 
 highly serious. It might involve your forced 
 confession, and an appeal for pardon to the 
 Crown. You must remember that in spite of 
 your conciliatory letter old Smith betrayed you. 
 He may not possibly have heard of Marsden's 
 death since then. Going to see him yourself 
 would be very hazardous, I think." 
 
 " I tell you what," said Clifford. " Suppose we 
 go to him together to-night. We could anchor 
 in St. Brelade's Bay, only two miles from the 
 cottage, and the yacht would lie there safe
 
 332 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 enough, with this wind, until we come back. 
 Look the cottage is already in sight. I just 
 caught a flash of sun-light reflected from the 
 little window in the gable end. There it is 
 again. We shall be in Jersey in another hour 
 or two. Let us both go and see the old scamp 
 to-night." 
 
 So thus it was arranged between them. 
 
 We must remind the reader that neither 
 Mr. Bell nor Clifford knew anything then of 
 what had occurred between old Smith and 
 Marsden at their interview, related in a pre- 
 ceding chapter. All they knew was, that 
 notwithstanding Clifford's apologetic letter to 
 Smith, and the offer of the annuity, the latter 
 had betrayed him to his foe.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 333 
 
 CHAPTER 27. 
 
 A SCENE IN AN ATTIC. 
 
 THE moon had just risen above the sand- 
 hills of St. Ouen's that night, when three 
 persons presented themselves at the humble 
 doorway of La Bie cottage, and knocked for 
 admittance. They were Mr. Bell, Clifford, and 
 Kate. The latter had begged so hard of her 
 Papa to be allowed to go too, that he had 
 not been able to refuse her request. 
 
 Hannah had already gone to bed ; but she 
 dressed herself with haste, and went to the 
 door. 
 
 Clifford was the first to speak. He offered 
 his hand to Hannah, and said, as she took it 
 with unfeigned pleasure at seeing him again, 
 
 " Can we speak a word or two with your 
 Father to-night ? "
 
 334 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " Oh, dear yes of course you can he will 
 be delighted to see you pray come in." 
 
 So they were all shown into the parlour 
 on the ground floor, whilst Hannah went up 
 to her Father, to prepare him to receive his 
 visitors. 
 
 " I knew Clifford's voice," he whispered, " but 
 who are the other two ? " 
 
 " An old clergyman and a young lady," 
 was the reply. 
 
 " Ah the same who went with him in 
 the yacht of course. Mr. Bell and his 
 daughter. Show up the two gentlemen, Hannah ; 
 the young lady you can entertain yourself, in 
 the room below. 
 
 Clifford and Mr. Bell mounted the step 
 ladder, and presented themselves before old 
 Smith. 
 
 " You are looking all the better for your 
 voyage," he said to Clifford. " I am glad to 
 see you back." 
 
 " Why ? " asked Clifford, laconically. 
 
 " Because I like you," was the terse reply. 
 
 " Then why did you betray me to Marsden ? " 
 
 " I will tell you," said the old man, " if you 
 really don't understand. I did it on the
 
 OR HOMAXCE IN A YACHT 335 
 
 same principle that I would have killed and 
 eaten you, had I been starving for food. You 
 have heard of boats' crews casting lots, and 
 people eating their best friends ; and I dare 
 say you have thought it right and so it was. 
 The first necessities of life must be provided 
 for, at any cost. "We are animals, and all the 
 rest is secondary, and comes next, when 
 our pressing animal wants have been supplied. 
 If the crew could have caught a fat turtle 
 alongside, they would not have cast lots, and 
 have eaten each other until there was only 
 one left. Is my reasoning suggestive? Does 
 my logic satisfy you ? Can you see its application 
 to our own case ? " 
 
 " Ask my friend the clergyman what he 
 thinks,'' replied Clifford. "He knows all the 
 facts." 
 
 " May I venture to offer a remark or two ? " 
 asked Mr. Bell. 
 
 " By all means," said the old man. 
 
 " Then I understand your plea to be this, 
 you were sorely tempted, and you fell." 
 
 " Exactly so. The case before me was simply 
 this to sacrifice my own life, or to betray my 
 friend. I chose the latter course. The animal
 
 336 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 and the moral pulled different ways, and the 
 animal triumphed. Whether that was right or 
 wrong, no one ought to say whose moral 
 sentiments have never triumphed over his own 
 animal instincts in a similar contest. A crime, 
 and the temptation to it, should never be 
 separated ; they should be weighed against each 
 other in opposite scales. The difference deter- 
 mines the true amount of moral turpitude when 
 the wrong scale goes down. You must never 
 judge of a crime in the abstract." 
 
 " But forgive me if I remind you," replied 
 Mr. Bell, " that society provides an alternative 
 to meet these cases of over-temptation. There 
 is the workhouse for the destitute." 
 
 " True. There was Lambeth workhouse for 
 me. Society could do no more, I grant. But 
 the transporting me from here to the romantic 
 parish in which I was born would have been 
 excruciating. The journey would have killed 
 me by inches. It would have occasioned my 
 death by torture. And who would have cared 
 for the death or the sufferings of a pauper ? " 
 
 "Let us change the subject," said Clifford. 
 " Did you ever get my letter which I posted 
 to you at St Malo, in reply to your's to me ? "
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 337 
 
 " Do you mean my first letter, which the 
 boatman took ; or my second, addressed to you 
 Poste Restante St. Malo, in your true name ? " 
 asked the old man. 
 
 "Your second? I don't understand you. 
 I never had but one that which the boatman 
 brought me." 
 
 " Then you have not received my second 
 letter, containing the news about my interview 
 with Marsden, and what occurred on that oc- 
 casionEh ? " 
 
 " I have not indeed," replied Clifford. 
 
 " And still you come to see me ! " said the old 
 man, with a peculiar expression, and a half 
 smile at an idea which occurred to him at the 
 moment. " That was very imprudent, Mr. Clifford. 
 Do you know that you have placed yourself in my 
 power and that you deserve your fate for your 
 stupidity ? Am I a man, think you, to forgive 
 and forget such insults as you have heaped 
 upon me? 
 
 "Fate? Stupidity?" replied Clifford. "I 
 don't know what you mean, Sir. Explain 
 yourself, if you please." 
 
 The old man's reply was given with singular 
 
 slowness and distinctness, and as he spoke he 
 
 2 u
 
 338 THK BAGATELLE 
 
 fixed his eyes upon Clifford's, and watched 
 intently the effect of his communication. He 
 said 
 
 "You had no right to count on my forbear- 
 ance. You had no right to assume that I should 
 forgive your insulting message sent to me by 
 the boatman. You might have known that I 
 should at once write to England on the receipt 
 of such a message, without waiting for any 
 further communication from you. You might 
 have known that your penitent letter would 
 arrive too late to prevent my betraying you. 
 And so it really happened. Now listen. I am 
 in the interest of your foe '; and he has put 
 his case into the hands of the authorities here. 
 I saw the yacht approach the island three 
 hours ago. I immediately sent word of it 
 to the town. She has no doubt been seized 
 by this time ; and a party of police have 
 already tracked your footsteps hither. I heard 
 them a minute ago outside the cottage, whilst 
 your friend was suggesting that I should go 
 to the workhouse. In five minutes you will 
 be their prisoner. Your liberty will be gone 
 for ever. A something worsa than the honest 
 man's workhouse awaits yourself ; and you
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 339 
 
 will not have your friend there to comfort you 
 with his moral reflections on your fall." 
 
 At that moment a knock was heard at the 
 door below, and a man's gruff voice without 
 called on Hannah peremptorily to open it, and 
 let him in. What old Smith had said about 
 the police appeared to be only too true ! 
 
 Clifford cast a hasty glance around the room. 
 The little window was just large enough for 
 his body to pass through, but he would be 
 cut to pieces by the strong fragments of the 
 plate glass. To rush down stairs would have 
 been to leap into the very arms of the police. 
 To spring up to the roof dash off some tiles 
 and force himself between the rafters, which 
 were rather wide apart, seemed his only chance. 
 He was about to make this desperate attempt 
 to escape, when the old man called out 
 
 ''Stop that won't help you it is sheer 
 madness." I can save you but it must be on 
 one condition the same old story over again. 
 Read this paper, which I have drawn up ready 
 to meet this possible contingency. Sign it, and 
 you shall be free not a soul shall touch you 
 a word of mine shall save you." 
 
 " What is this ? " said Clifford, casting his
 
 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 eye over the following unsigned document which 
 the old man had put into his hand : 
 
 Jersey, , . 
 
 One Month after date, I promise to pay to John 
 Smith, or order, One Thousand Pounds, value received. 
 
 1000. 
 
 "Never!" said Clifford. "You should have 
 the last drop of my blood before I would sign 
 that. Old scoundrel ! I defy you and all your 
 arts ! " 
 
 " But Clifford my dear fellow think," said 
 Mr. Bell, " think of the consequences of your 
 refusal. For Kate's sake for Mabel's sake 
 for all our sakes sign it, I implore you. There 
 is no time to lose." 
 
 " And what if I do sign it ? " said Clifford 
 to the old man. " How can you then save me 
 from arrest ? " 
 
 " The moments are precious," replied Smith. 
 " There is no time to parley I can't explain 
 that now I hear Hannah already at the door." 
 
 Mr. Bell put the pen into Clifford's hand, 
 and the old man passed him the ink but still 
 he hesitated. 
 
 " This is rank cowardice and folly," he said.
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 341 
 
 " Oh, sign it for pity's sake, sign it," said 
 Mr. Bell. 
 
 " I will NOT ! " said Clifford ; and he tore the 
 document to fragments, and flung them on the 
 floor. 
 
 A man's heavy footstep \vas now heard upon 
 the ladder. It was too late for Clifford to 
 attempt an escape by the roof. He turned and 
 faced the door. The lion stood at bay. How 
 many of his adversaries could he upset and leap 
 over, as he made one bound from the top of 
 the step ladder to the passage, and thence out ? 
 Such was his momentary thought. 
 
 The door opened, and Jim walked in ! 
 
 " I thought I 'd just come up arter you," he 
 said, " and keep an eye on the old man I 
 know'd he 'd be glad to see me." 
 
 " What 's all this folly ? " said Clifford. " Are 
 there any other men down below, Jim ? " 
 
 " None, as I could see," replied Jim. 
 
 " Clifford," said the old man, " May I ask 
 you one last favour ? Let me feel your pulse." 
 
 " If you were not a bedridden old fool, I 'd 
 half strangle you," said Clifford ; but at the 
 same time, in a grim vein of comedy, offering 
 him his wrist.
 
 342 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " You are a bold fellow," said Smith, as he 
 felt and counted its regular pulsations ; " and 
 you ought to be Admiral of the Channel Fleet. 
 There is no fitful jerking and fluttering that 
 I can hear. The thumps are as steady as a 
 steam-engine at work. And now for your reward 
 for I have taken a mighty fancy to you. Do 
 you know this document? Take it it is yours 
 I obtained possession of it by a stratagem 
 and I now give it back into the hand of its 
 rightful owner and I cast myself upon his 
 forgiveness and generosity." 
 
 So saying, he placed the original will in 
 Clifford's hand. The story of the police, the 
 unsigned note, &c., had it been no more than 
 a joke ? Who can say ? 
 
 Clifford examined the will for a moment ; 
 then folded it up, and put it into his pocket, 
 with the utmost sangfroid. 
 
 " Did you ever receive my letter, Smith ? " 
 he asked, in a more friendly tone. "I mean 
 the one I wrote to you that day on board the 
 BAGATELLE, and posted at St. Malo the same 
 night?" 
 
 " I did, and I answered it," was the reply, 
 " but you don't seem to have received my
 
 OR KOMAMCE IN A YACHT. 343 
 
 answer. It was addressed to you at St. Halo, 
 Paste Restante." 
 
 " I have never had it to this day. What 
 were its contents?" enquired Clifford. 
 
 " I agreed," said Smith, " to accept the 
 annuity which you offered me as an acknowledge- 
 ment of services rendered to Mabel. You 
 remember making me that offer, of course ? But 
 if not, I have still your letter by me. It was 
 a definite proposition, and one upon which I 
 acted on your behalf." 
 
 " Then," said Clifford, " I am now a debtor, 
 by my own showing so hand me the pen and 
 ink again, and a fresh sheet of paper." 
 
 The old man did so ; and Clifford wrote a 
 second promissory note, worded as the other 
 had been, but with this exception, that he sub- 
 stituted the name of Hannah for that of John. 
 
 " Understand me, Smith," he said, as he 
 handed it to the old man. " I regard this 
 donation, not as the reward of your successful 
 artifice, but as Hannah's reward for saving 
 Mabel's life, and all her subsequent kindness 
 to the child. The money is your daughter's, 
 and not your's. I wish I could say that I like 
 you, and respect you, more than I do."
 
 344 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 " But I have still some questions to put to 
 you, Clifford/' said the old man. 
 
 " I will answer them by letter," was the 
 reply. " I wish you good night." 
 
 "Clifford," said Mr. Bell, when they had 
 had all assembled in the lower room, " Your 
 conduct was magnificent, but frightfully risky ! 
 I trembled for you. My heart was in my 
 mouth. It was a happiness that it ended as 
 it did. Jim, I have often been charmed with 
 the sight of your jolly red face, but never so 
 much as I was just now." 
 
 "The old man's a crafty one ain't he, 
 your honor?" said Jim, grinning. "I know'd 
 there 'd be a scrimmage when my master got 
 alongside of him and that's why I came up 
 just to see the fun, and in case I might be 
 wanted." 
 
 On their way out, Kate promised Hannah 
 to bring Mabel over one day to see her ; and 
 Clifford added 
 
 " I have given your Father a thousand pounds 
 for you, Hannah. Mind he doesn't chisel you 
 out of it. It will buy you an annuity, for all
 
 OK ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 345 
 
 your kindness to the child. God bless you. I 
 thank you a thousand times. Good-bye." 
 
 They were off before Hannah, in the fulness 
 of her heart, could find words for a reply. 
 
 On their way back to the yacht Kate was 
 regaled by her Papa with the full particulars 
 of her lover's magnificent conduct, as he called 
 it, with old Smith, whilst she was in the room 
 below. 
 
 They slept on board the yacht that night, 
 as she lay at anchor in the little Boilly roadstead 
 of St. Brelade's Bay ; and the next morning 
 they weighed anchor, and took her up to her 
 old quarters with the flood tide. At high water 
 the BAGATELLE was safely moored again in her 
 old berth in St. Helier's Harbour, after an 
 eventful and never-to-be-forgotten trip. 
 
 2x
 
 346 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 CHAPTER 28. 
 
 
 
 NEW FRIENDS THE END. 
 
 THE reader must now stride over a few weeks 
 in imagination, while we shift the scene to the 
 
 quiet little rectory of , a village situated 
 
 amongst the stately trees and undulating slopes 
 of one of the midland counties, and of which 
 Mr. Bell had been for five and twenty years 
 the much respected incumbent. 
 
 A part of the flower garden of the parsonage 
 was wisely devoted to a perfectly level and close 
 shaven lawn, not cut up, as was too often the 
 case with lawns before the introduction of the 
 modern game of Croquet, by a number of little 
 flower beds of tadpole and other fantastic shapes, 
 but left clear for playing bowls upon, or lawn 
 billiards, or battledore and shuttlecock, or any 
 similar out-of-door game that everybody finds
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 347 
 
 amusement in at times. Such was the nice 
 and useful lawn ; and at one end of it was 
 an arbour, overhung by trees, with ivy and 
 honeysuckle creeping over it, and having a 
 table in the centre and a seat all round but 
 not formed of three uncomfortably knotted limbs 
 of trees, but of nice smooth well-planed planks, 
 with another to lean your back against ; for 
 this arbour, be it known, was a little room in 
 the fresh air, intended for use, and not for 
 picturesqueness only. 
 
 It was one of those calm golden days in the 
 early part of October, when the equinoxial 
 gales are past, and the trees have put on 
 their autumnal livery, and the sun comes out 
 lazily through the haze at eleven, and pops 
 in again at two. It was the middle, and the 
 sunniest part of one of those calm golden days. 
 Kate and her cousin Annie, a merry clever 
 spinster of thirty, who has not before been 
 introduced to the reader, were playing at Les 
 Graces upon the aforesaid lawn, with sticks and 
 hoops; Mabel was romping about in her usual 
 high spirits; Sophy and Ellen were in doors 
 with their Mamma, very busy indeed, for the 
 morrow was to be an eventful day in that
 
 348 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 little household (can the reader guess why ?) ; 
 and from the arbour were proceeding both the 
 smoke and the odour of cigars ; while upon 
 its table still remained the debris of a rather 
 substantial luncheon, of which its occupants had 
 just partaken. - These consisted of the good 
 Rector himself, our friend Henry Clifford, and 
 a middle-aged gentleman who was the very 
 personification of fun and good humour, the 
 father of Cousin Annie aforesaid, and the 
 younger brother of Mr. Bell, by name "Uncle 
 Jack." 
 
 The three were engaged in such gossip as the 
 event which was .to come off on the following 
 morning might be supposed to suggest, viz., 
 the bridegroom's future prospects now under 
 discussion by the same parties for the fiftieth 
 time. 
 
 " My only fear, Jack, is," said Mr. Bell, 
 " that if you build your river yacht, or barge, 
 or whatever you like to call it, and take Harry 
 to Brittany with you, you'll make him as idle 
 as you are yourself; and that won't do at all, 
 because his five or six hundred a-year and your 
 five or six thousand are vastly different things. 
 You married a fortune ; but Kate, poor child,
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 349 
 
 hasn't got a penny, except the little I can leave 
 her at my death. I want to impress upon him 
 that in all probability he will have to work 
 some day to increase his income, and therefore 
 the sooner he begins the better. What say you, 
 Harry ? Am I right or not ? " 
 
 " Most decidedly you are right," was Clifford's 
 reply. " I have been idle quite long enough, 
 and I mean to buckle to now in earnest* and 
 follow my own profession of landscape painting. 
 The Arts are beginning to be largely encouraged, 
 and will be more so every year as people get 
 wiser and wealthier." 
 
 " Well then," said Uncle Jack," it all amounts 
 to what I have been trying to beat into your 
 two noddles for the last month that my pro- 
 posed expedition will be the very thing for 
 Harry to join me in. There will be Annie as a 
 companion for Kate everything as comfortable 
 as in our own homes Jim to work the boat, 
 a French cook, and a bonne to look after Mabel. 
 And then Harry and I will bring out together 
 a book of the trip. I '11 do the antiquarian 
 parts, he the illustrations, and the two girls 
 the log and the comicalities between them. 
 The rivers of Brittany are a complete terra
 
 350 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 incognita both to artists and tourists ; and what 
 can be more lovely than the scenery of the 
 Vilaine, the Blavet, the Erdre, the Oust, and 
 the Aulne ? I have tramped it all, and know- 
 it well. And then, by building a suitable barge 
 with six cabins, and living entirely on board, 
 you avoid all the dirt and discomfort of the 
 picturesqueness which you go to see, and it 
 gives you time for writing and sketching on 
 the very spot. We shall be a jolly party ; 
 and, in fact, I've set my heart upon it, and 
 the thing is to be." 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Bell, "It's as Harry 
 likes. So long as he doesn't settle down into 
 confirmed idleness, without a hobby, reading 
 newspapers, novels and magazines by day, and 
 playing whist at night, and doing nothing that 
 is original with his own faculties, I don't care. 
 Let a man have a hobby, and work at it in 
 earnest, I say ; and that will keep his faculties 
 bright, and he will take a practical view of 
 things ; but a mere life of reading papers, and 
 gossiping, and criticising, is no intellectual 
 training at all ; and a man's taste becomes 
 ignorantly fastidious, and his opinion on any 
 practical question of common sense not worth
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 351 
 
 a dump. Besides which, the chances are that 
 as he grows grey over this sort of work, he 
 becomes mean, selfish, and helpless. "When a 
 man with an independence degenerates into the 
 useless kind of being I describe, it is a sin 
 and a shame, and I regard him as one of the 
 blemishes and eyesores of civilized life. Work 
 is a necessity of a healthy state of mind, just 
 as exercise is necessary to bodily health. I am 
 not talking at you, Jack, because your anti- 
 quarian pursuits are a hobby." 
 
 Kate and Annie now joined them. 
 
 " The barge again, Papa ? " said the latter. 
 "Are you still talking about that everlasting 
 barge, when there is a pretty yacht all ready, 
 and only waiting for us to step on board, at 
 "Weymouth ? I am quite of Kate's opinion. 
 After the Sea and the Pyrenees I'm sure the 
 barge and the Brittany rivers would be very 
 slow. Rome and the Ripa Grande for me. It 
 has been the dream of my life to go to Italy. 
 Do let us all go. "We have had enough of the 
 Mediaeval and the Gothic for the rest of our 
 lives. Let us have a peep at the sunny South 
 the vines and the orange groves and the 
 remains of Classic times."
 
 352 THE BAGATELLE 
 
 "Annie, you traitress !" said Uncle Jack. "You 
 are in league with my madcap niece. And 
 is it really so, Kate ? You prefer the sea and 
 a longer trip, or is the old BAGATELLE herself 
 the great attraction ? Well then, for the first 
 year we must indulge you, I suppose. Harry 
 with your permission, I charter the BAGATELLE 
 for the next year, and pay all expenses. But 
 don't say Yes to my offer, if you mean No." 
 
 Clifford pointed, with a smile, at Kate, and 
 said "Ask her." So Kate put her arms round 
 her kind Uncle's neck, and whispered " It shall 
 be Yes, of course, you dear kind Jack." 
 
 The next morning Clifford and Kate were 
 married in the funny little old-fashioned church 
 amongst the trees with its new organ and 
 painted window and its hatchments and marble 
 monuments inside and its pretty churchyard, 
 with the long wooden tomb-boards and the 
 texts over the more humble graves without. 
 Mr. Bell himself performed the ceremony, with 
 much solemnity ; and that dear old man, the 
 gardener, officiated as clerk. Uncle Jack gave 
 the bride away, and her cousin and two sisters 
 were bridesmaids. It was quite a private
 
 OR ROMANCE IN A YACHT. 353 
 
 wedding, and no friends were asked ; but the 
 pews and aisle were filled both with old and 
 young from every cottage round, and many a 
 glistening eye amongst those humble friends 
 watched every movement of the youthful bride, 
 and many a blessing was invoked upon her 
 as she left the church. 
 
 And then followed the wedding breakfast ; 
 and the speeches, so simple, and affectionate, 
 and genuinely true ; and then the strangely 
 mingled emotions of joy and sorrow, as the 
 bride of seventeen bade farewell to the home 
 of her infancy, her childhood, and her youth. 
 
 They were gone but to return again in a 
 few weeks. And then followed another and a 
 longer parting ; and Jim had work that he 
 liked to do again ; and Clifford and his lovely 
 partner made once more a happy home on 
 board the BAGATELLE. 
 
 THE END.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
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