OEWITT & SNELLINGI 
 
 eOOKSELLERS 
 
 Twri OTORPQ 1609 TELEGRAPH AYE, 
 IWU blOKtb 62Q FOURTEEHTH sr . 
 
 OAKLAND, GAL. 
 
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 PERLYCROSS 
 
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 BY 
 
 R. D. BLACKMORE 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "LORNA DOONE" " SPRINGHAVEN " ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
 1894 
 
Copyright, 1894, by HARPER & BROTHERS. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. THE LAP OF PEACE 1 
 
 II. FAIRY FAITH 7 
 
 III. THE LYCH-GATE '. 14 
 
 IV. NICIE 22 
 
 V. A FAIR BARGAIN 31 
 
 VI. DOCTORS THREE 40 
 
 VII. R. I. P 51 
 
 VIII. THE POTATO-FIKLD - ... 61 
 
 IX. THE NARROW PATH 71 
 
 X. IN CHARGE 78 
 
 XI. AT THE CHARGE 86 
 
 XII. A FOOL'S ERRAND 94 
 
 XIII. THE LAW OF THE LAND 108 
 
 XIV. REASONING WITHOUT REASON 116 
 
 XV. FRIENDS AND FOES 126 
 
 XVI. LITTLE BILLY 137 
 
 XVII. CAMELLIAS ' 148 
 
 XVIII. CONCUSSION 158 
 
 XIX. PERCUSSION 170 
 
 XX. DISCUSSION 182 
 
 XXI. BLACKMARSH 194 
 
 XXII. FIRE-SHIP AND GALLEON 207 
 
 XXIII. A MAGIC LETTER 222 
 
 XXIV. A WAGER 236 
 
 XXV. A SERMON IN STONE 253 
 
 XXVI. THE OLD MILL 266 
 
 XXVII. PANIC 278 
 
 XXVIII. VAGABONDS 292 
 
 XXIX. TWO PUZZLES 307 
 
 414578 
 
IV CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XXX. FRANKLY SPEAKING 317 
 
 XXXI. A GREAT PRIZE 328 
 
 XXXII. PLEADINGS 339 
 
 XXXIII. THE SCHOOL-MASTER ABROAD 350 
 
 XXXIV. LOYALTY 360 
 
 XXXV. A WRESTLING BOUT 371 
 
 XXXVI. A FIGHTING BOUT 383 
 
 XXXVII. GENTLE AS A LAMB 395 
 
 XXXVIII. AN INLAND RUN 406 
 
 XXXIX. NEEDFUL RETURNS 417 
 
 XL. HOME AND FOREIGN 430 
 
 XLI. THE PRIDE OF LIFE 441 
 
 XLII. HIS LAST BIVOUAC . 452 
 
 XLIII. TWO FINE LESSONS " 462 
 
 XLIV. AND ONE STILL FINER . , 473 
 
PERLYCKOSS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 THE LAP OF PEACE 
 
 IN the year 1835, the Rev. Philip Penniloe was Curate- 
 in-charge of Perly cross, a village in a valley of the Black- 
 down Range. It was ti*ue that the rector, the Rev. John 
 Chevithorne, M.A., came twice every year to attend to his 
 tithes ; but otherwise he never thought of interfering, and 
 would rather keep his distance from spiritual things. Mr. 
 Penniloe had been his college tutor, and still was his guide 
 upon any points of duty less cardinal than discipline of 
 dogs and horses. 
 
 The title of " Curate-in-charge " as yet was not invented 
 generally ; but far more curates held that position than 
 hold it in these stricter times. And the shifting of curates 
 from parish to parish was not so frequent as it is now, 
 theological views having less range and rage, and curates 
 less divinity. Moreover, it cost much more to move. 
 
 But the Curate of Perlycross was not of a lax or careless 
 nature. He would do what his conscience required, at the 
 cost of his last penny ; and he thought and acted as if this 
 world were only the way to a better one. In this respect 
 he differed widely from all the people of his parish, as well 
 as from most of his clerical brethren. And it is no little 
 thing to say of him that he was beloved in spite of his 
 piety. 
 
 Especially was he loved and valued by a man who had 
 known him from early days, and was now the squire and 
 
2>'.: 
 
 chief land-owner in the parish of Perlycross. Sir Thomas 
 Waldron, of Walderscourt, had battled as bravely with the 
 sword of steel as the churchman had with the spiritual weap- 
 on, receiving damages more abiding than the latter can 
 inflict. Although by no means invalided, perhaps he had 
 been pleased at first to fall into the easy lap of peace. 
 After eight years of constant hardship, frequent wounds, 
 and famishing, he had struck his last blow at Waterloo, 
 and then settled down in the English home, with its com- 
 forting cares and mild delights. 
 
 Now, in his fiftieth year, he seemed more likely to stand 
 on the battlements of life than many a lad of twenty. 
 Straight and tall, robust and ruddy, clear of skin, and 
 sound of foot ; he was even cited by the doctors of the 
 time as a proof of the benefit that flows from bleeding 
 freely. Few men living had shed more blood (from their 
 own veins at any rate) for the good of their native land, 
 and none had made less fuss about it ; so that his 
 country, with any sense of gratitude, must now put sub- 
 stance into him. Yet he was by no means over-fat ; sim- 
 ply in good case and form. In a word, you might search 
 the whole country, and fine no finer specimen of a man, 
 and a gentleman, too, than Colonel Sir Thomas Waldron. 
 
 All this Mr. Penniloe knew well ; and having been a 
 small boy when the colonel was a big one, at the best 
 school in the west of England, he owed him many a good 
 turn for the times when the body rules the roost, and 
 the mind is a little chick that can't say, " cockadoodle." 
 In those fine days education was a truly rational process, 
 creating a void in the juvenile system by hunger, and fill- 
 ing it up with thumps. Scientific research has now satis- 
 fied itself that the mind and the body are the self-same 
 thing ; but this was not understood as yet, and the one 
 ministered to the other. For example, the big Tom Wal- 
 dron supplied the little Phil Penniloe with dumps and- 
 penny-puddings, and with fists ever ready for his de- 
 fence ; while the quicker mind sat upon the broad arch of 
 chest sprawling along the old oak bench, and construed 
 the lessons for it, or supplied the sad hexameter. When 
 such a pair meet again in later life, sweet memories arise 
 and fine good-will. 
 
THE LAP OF PEACE 3 
 
 This veteran friendship even now was enduring a test 
 too severe, in general, for even the most sterling affection. 
 Bat a conscientious man must strive, when bound by 
 holy orders, to make every member of his parish dis- 
 charge his duty to the best advantage. And if there be a 
 duty which our beloved Church even in her snoring 
 period has endeavored to impress, the candid layman 
 must confess that it is the duty of alms-giving. Here 
 Mr. Penniloe was strong far in advance of the times he 
 lived in, though still behind those we have the privilege 
 to pay for. For as yet it was the faith of the general 
 parishioner that he had a strong parochial right to come 
 to church for nothing; and if he chose to exercise it, 
 thereby added largely to the welfare of the parson, and 
 earned a handsome reference. And as yet he could 
 scarcely reconcile it with his abstract views of religion 
 to find a plate poked into his waistcoat -pocket, not for 
 increase, but depletion thereof. 
 
 Acknowledging the soundness of these views, we may 
 well infer that Perlycross was a parish in which a well- 
 ordered parson could do anything reasonable. More than 
 one substantial farmer was good enough to be pleased at 
 first, and try to make his wife take it so, at these oppor- 
 tunities of ,grace. What that expression meant was more 
 than he could for the life of him make out; but he al- 
 ways connected it with something black, and people who 
 stretched out their hands under cocoanuts bigger than their 
 heads, while " come over and help us " issued from their 
 mouths. If a shilling was any good to them, bless their 
 woolly heads, it only co&t a quarter of a pound of wool ! 
 
 Happy farmer, able still to find a shilling in his Sunday 
 small-clothes, and think of the guineas in a nest beneath 
 the thatch ! For wheat was golden still in England, and 
 the good ox owned his silver side. The fair outlook over 
 hill and valley, rustling field and quiet meadow, was not 
 yet a forlorn view, a sight that is cut short in sighs, a 
 prospect narrowing into a lane that plods downhill to 
 workhouse. For as yet it was no mockery to cast the fat 
 grain among the clods, or trickle it into the glistening drill, 
 to clear the sleek blade from the noisome weed, to watch 
 the soft waves of silky tassels dimple and darken to the 
 
4 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 breeze of June, and then the lush heads with their own 
 weight bowing to the stillness of the August sun, thrilling 
 the eyes with innumerable throng, glowing with impen- 
 etrable depth of gold. Alas, that this beauty should be 
 of the past, and ground into gritty foreign flour ! 
 
 But in the current year of grace these good sons of our 
 native land had no dream of the treason which should 
 sell our homes and landscapes to the sneering foreigner. 
 Their trouble, though heavy, was not of their own mad- 
 ness, but inflicted from without ; and therefore could be 
 met and cured by men of strong purpose and generous 
 act. 
 
 That grand old church of Perlycross (standing forth in 
 gray power of life as against the black ruins of the Abbey) 
 had suddenly been found wanting wanting foundation, 
 and broad buttress, solid wall, and sound-timbered roof, 
 and even deeper hold on earth for the high soar of the 
 tower. This tower was famous among its friends not 
 only for substance and height and proportion and pierc- 
 ings and sweet content of bells, but also for its bold up- 
 lifting of the green against the blue. To wit, for a time 
 much longer than any human memory, a sturdy yew-tree 
 had been standing on the topmost stringing-course, in a 
 sheltering niche of the southern face, with its head over- 
 topping the battlements, and scraping the scroll of the 
 south-east vane. Backed as it was by solid stone, no 
 storm had succeeded in tugging its tough roots out of the 
 meshes of mortar ; and there it stood, and meant to stand, 
 a puzzle to gardeners, a pleasure to jackdaws, and the 
 pride of all Perlycmcians. Even Mr. Penniloe, that great 
 improver, could not get a penny towards his grand designs 
 until he had signed a document with both church-wardens 
 that, happen what might, not a hair of the head of the 
 sacred yew-tree should perish. 
 
 Many a penny would be wanted now, and who was to 
 provide them ? The parish, though large, and comprising 
 some of the best land in East Devon, had few resources 
 of commerce, and not much of manufacture. The bright 
 Perle running from east to west clove it in twain, and the 
 northern part, which was by far the larger, belonged to the 
 Waldrons ; while the southern (including the church and 
 
THE LAP OF PEACE 5 
 
 greater part of village) was of divers owners, the chiefest 
 being the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. It is needless to 
 say that this sacred body never came nigh the place, and 
 felt no obligation towards it, at the manhood of this cen- 
 tury. 
 
 " What is to be done ?" cried the only man who could 
 enter into the grief of it, when Richard Horner, of Pump- 
 ington, architect, land-agent, and surveyor, appeared be- 
 fore the clergyman and church -wardens with the report 
 required by them. 
 
 " One of two things," answered Mr. Horner, a man of 
 authority and brevity, " either let it crumble, or make up 
 your minds to spend a thousand pounds upon it." 
 
 " We should be prepared to spend that sum if we had 
 only got it," Mr. Penniloe said, with that gentle smile 
 which made his people fond of him. 
 
 " We ha'n't got a thousand, nor a hundred nayther. 
 You talk a bit too big, Dick. You always did have a big 
 mouth, you know." 
 
 The architect looked at his cousin, Farmer John (the 
 senior church -warden of Perly cross, and chief tenant of 
 the capitular estates), and if his own mouth was large, so 
 was that of his kinsman, as he addressed him thus. 
 
 " John Horner, we know well enough what you be. It 
 wouldn't make much of a hole in you to put down your 
 hundred pounds to begin with." 
 
 " Well," said his colleague, Frank Farrant, while the 
 elder was in labour of amazement, " if John will put down 
 his hundred pounds you may trust me to find fifty." 
 
 " And fifty to you is a good bit more than a thousand 
 to him, I reckon. Book it, Mr. Penniloe, before they run 
 back, and me for another five-and-twenty." 
 
 " I never said it ; I never said a word of it " Farmer 
 John began to gasp, while cousin and colleague were pat- 
 ting him on the back, crying, 
 
 " Don't go back from your word, John." 
 
 " Now did I say it, Parson Penniloe ?" he appealed, as 
 soon as they would let him speak ; " come now, I'll go by 
 what you say of it." 
 
 " No, Mr. Horner ; I wish you had. You never said 
 anything of the kind." 
 
6 PERLYOKOSS 
 
 " Parson, you are -a gentleman. I do like a man as tells 
 the truth. But as for them fellows, I'll just show them 
 what's what whether I said it, or no. I'll do it." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe smiled, but not with pleasure only. Simple 
 and charitable as he was, he could scarcely believe that 
 the glory of God was the motive power in the mind of 
 Farmer John. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 FAIRY FAITH 
 
 AT the beginning of July work was proceeding steadily, 
 though not quite so merrily, perhaps, as some of the work- 
 men might have wished, because Mr. Penniloe had for- 
 bidden the presence of beer-cans in consecrated ground. 
 A large firm of builders at Exeter (Messrs. Peveril, Gibbs 
 & Co.) had taken the contract according to Mr. Homer's 
 specifications, and had sent a strong staff of workmen 
 down under an active junior partner, Mr. Robson Adney. 
 There are very few noises that cannot find some ear to 
 which they are congenial, and the clink of the mason's 
 trowel is a delight to many good people. But that pleas- 
 ant sound is replaced too often by one of sadder har- 
 mony the chink of coin that says adieu, with all the re- 
 gret behind it. 
 
 Perlycross had started well on this, its greatest enter- 
 prise ; every man was astonished at his neighbour's gen- 
 erosity, and with still better reason at his own. Mr. 
 Penniloe's spirit rose above the solid necessity of repairs, 
 and aspired to richer embellishment. That hideous gallery 
 at the western end, which spoiled the tower entrance and 
 obscured a fine window, should go into the fire at last ; 
 the noble arch of the chancel (which had been shored with 
 timber braces) should be restored and reopened, and the 
 blocked -up windows should again display their lovely 
 carving. In the handsomest manner Sir Thomas Waldron 
 had sent him a check for five hundred pounds, which, 
 after all, was only just, because the vaults of the Waldron 
 race lay at the bottom of half the lapse. The Dean and 
 Chapter of Exeter had contributed a hundred pounds, 
 and the rector another hundred; and the curate's own 
 father an ancient clergyman in the north of Devon, with 
 
8 PERLYCROSS 
 
 a tidy living and a plump estate had gone as far as 
 twenty pounds for the honour of the family. 
 
 With this money in hand, and much more in hope, all 
 present designs might well be compassed. But, alas, a 
 new temptation rose, very charming, and very costly. 
 The curate had long suspected that his favourite church 
 had been endowed (like its smaller sister at Perly combe) 
 with a fair rood-screen, perhaps a fine one, worthy of the 
 days when men could carve. And now, when the heavy 
 wooden gallery of Queen Anne's time had been removed, 
 it happened that Sergeant Jakes, the school-master, who 
 had seen a great deal of old work in Spain, was minded 
 to inquire into the bearings of the great bressemer at the 
 back. He put his foot into a hole beneath it, where solid 
 brickwork was supposed to be, but down went his foot 
 into a lot of crumbling stuff, and being no more than a 
 one-armed man, Mr. Jakes had a narrow escape of his 
 neck. Luckily he clung with his one hand to a cross-beam 
 still in position, and being of a very wiry frame as all 
 the school-children knew too well was enabled to support 
 himself until a ladder was clapped to. Even then it was 
 no easy thing to extricate his foot, wedged between two 
 trefoils of sharply-cut stone ; and for more than a week it 
 was beyond his power to bring any fugitive boy to justice. 
 The parson was sent for at once, and discovered the finest 
 stone screen in the diocese, removed from its place by a 
 barbarous age, and plastered up in the great western wall. 
 
 There was little of that hot contention then which 
 rages now over every stock and stone appertaining to the 
 church. As the beauty of design and the skill of execu- 
 tion grew more and more manifest to his delighted eyes, 
 Mr. Penniloe was troubled with no misgivings as to "graven 
 images." He might do what he liked with this grand 
 piece of work if the money were forthcoming. And the 
 parish suspected no popery in it, when after much council 
 with all concerned, and with the needful faculty, he pro- 
 posed to set up this magnificent screen as a reredos be- 
 neath the great chancel window, and behind the stone 
 communion-table, generally called the altar now. 
 
 Yet brave as he was and of ardent faith, some little dis- 
 may was natural when the builders assured him that this 
 
FAIRY FAITH 9 
 
 could not be done with all needful repairs and proper 
 finish for less than three hundred and fifty pounds, and 
 they would not even bind themselves to that, for the 
 original was of the best Beere stone, difficult to match 
 and hard to work. Mr. Penniloe went to the quarries 
 and found that this was no exaggeration, and having 
 some faith in mankind as all who have much in their 
 Maker must have he empowered the firm to undertake 
 the task while he cast about zealously for the cash. 
 
 With filial confidence he made sure that his reverend 
 father must rejoice in another opportunity for glorifying 
 God, and to that effect he addressed him. But when the 
 postman wound his horn at the bottom of the village, and 
 the parson hurried down from the church-yard to meet 
 him, at the expense of eightpence he received the follow- 
 ing dry epistle : 
 
 "SoN PHILIP, We are much surprised and pained by 
 your extraordinary letter. You speak very largely of ' duty 
 to God,' which ought to be done without talking of it, 
 while you think lightly of your duty to your parents, the 
 commandment that carries the blessing. If you had not 
 abandoned your fellowship by marrying and having a 
 family it might have been more in your power to think 
 of church-windows and stone-carving. We did not ex- 
 pect to be treated like this after our very handsome gift 
 of not more than three months agone. Look for no more 
 money, but for that which a good son values more and 
 earns by keeping within his income the love of his 
 affectionate parents, ISAAC AND JOAN PENNILOE." 
 
 " Ah ! ah ! Well, well, I dare say I was wrong. But I 
 thought that he could afford it," said the curate in his 
 simple way ; " 'tis a sad day for me altogether. But I will 
 not be cast down, for the Lord knoweth best." 
 
 For on this very day, a year ago, he had lost the happi- 
 ness of his life and the one love of his manhood. His fair 
 wife (a loyal and tender helpmate, the mother of his three 
 children, and the skilful steward of his small means) had 
 been found lying dead at the foot of the " Horseshoe Pitch," 
 beneath Hagdon Hill. While her husband was obliged to 
 2* 
 
10 PERLYCROSS 
 
 remain in the village, waiting for a funeral, she had set 
 forth with none but her younger boy Michael to visit an 
 old woman on the outskirts of the parish, very far ad- 
 vanced in years, but still a very backward Christian. 
 
 The old woman was living at the present moment, but 
 could throw no light upon her visitor's sad fate, and indeed 
 denied that she had seen her on that day. And the poor 
 child who must have beheld what happened, though 
 hitherto a very quick and clever little fellow, could never 
 be brought to say a word about it. Having scarcely re- 
 covered from a sharp attack of measles, he had lost his 
 wits through terror, and ran all the way home at the top 
 of his speed shouting, " Rabbits ! Rabbits ! Rabbits !" 
 
 From the child's sad condition, and a strict search of 
 the " Horseshoe," it appeared that he had leaped after his 
 poor mother, but had been saved from death by a ledge 
 of brambles and furze which had broken his fall. Even 
 now, though all trace of his bruises was gone, and his blue 
 eyes were as bright as ever, the tender young brain was so 
 dazed and daunted by the fall and the fright and agony, 
 that the children of the village changed his nickname 
 from " Merry Michael " to " Mazed Mikey." 
 
 Mr. Penuiloe had been fighting bravely against the sad 
 memories of this day. To a deeply religious mind like his, 
 despondency was of the nature of doubt, and sorrow long 
 indulged grew into sin. But now a cloud of darkness fell 
 around him, the waves of the flood went over his soul, 
 his heart was afflicted and in sore trouble, and there was 
 none to deliver him. 
 
 All men have their times of depression, but few feel such 
 agonies of dejection as the firm believer and lover of his faith 
 when harrowing doubts assail him. The Rector of Perly- 
 cross, Mr. Chevithorne, though by no means a man of vast 
 piety, had a short way of dealing with such attacks, which 
 he always found successful. To his certain knowledge all 
 debility of faith sprang directly from " lowness of the 
 system, " and his remedy against all such complaints was 
 a glass of hot brandy-and-water. But his curate's religion 
 was a less robust because a far more active power, and his 
 keener mind was not content to repel all such sallies as 
 temptations of the devil. 
 
FAIRY FAITH 11 
 
 Sensitive, diffident, and soft-hearted, he was apt to feel 
 too acutely any wound to his affections ; and of all the 
 world now left to him, the dearest one was his mother. Or, 
 at any rate, he thought so for the present, though a cer- 
 tain little tender claim was creeping closer and closer into 
 the inmost cell of love. ' 
 
 " Can mother have forgotten what day it would be 
 when I should receive these cruel words ?" he said to him- 
 self, as he went sadly up the hill towards his whitewashed 
 dwelling-place, having no heart left for the finest of stone- 
 carvings. " If she did, it was not like her ; and if she re- 
 membered, it seems still worse. Surely he would not have 
 dared to sign her name without her knowledge. But 
 whenever he thinks of that fellowship well, perhaps it 
 was wrong on my part to attempt so much. It is high time 
 to look more closely into ways and means." 
 
 That was the proper thing to do beyond a doubt, and he 
 hastened inside to do it. But when he sat in his lonely 
 book-room, with the evening shadows of the dark ilex 
 slowly creeping over him, his mind went back into the 
 past, and a mighty sadness conquered him. Instead of the 
 list of subscriptions for the church he had drawn from the 
 long portfolio (which his wife had given him on the last 
 wedding-day they should ever keep together) a copy of a 
 sad, despondent hymn, which he had written in the 
 newness of his grief. As he read the forgotten lines 
 once more their deep gloom encompassed him ; even 
 the twinkle of hope in which they ended seemed a 
 mockery. 
 
 " Will it ever be so, or is it all a dream, inspired by 
 our longings and our self-conceit ? Whatever is pleasant 
 or good or precious is snatched from our grasp, and we 
 call it a trial, and live on, in the belief that we are pun- 
 ished for our good, and shall be rewarded tenfold. If so, 
 it can be for those alone who are able to believe always ; 
 who can dismiss every shadow of doubt, and live with 
 their Maker face to face. Oh, that I could do so ! But I 
 cannot ; my shallow mind is vexed by every breeze. When 
 I was a young man I felt pity and even contempt for 
 Gowler's unfaith a man of far superior powers. He gave 
 up his fellowship, like a conscientious man, while I 
 
12 PERLYOROSS 
 
 preach to others, and am myself a castaway. Oh, Ruth, 
 Ruth, if you could only see me I" 
 
 This man of holy life, and of pure devotion to his 
 sacred office, bent his head low in the agony of the mo- 
 ment, and clasped his hands over his whitening hair. 
 How far he was out of his proper mind was shown by his 
 sitting in the sacred chair,* the old " dropping-chair " of 
 the parish, which had been sent back that morning. Of 
 this, and of all around, he took no heed ; for the tide of 
 his life was at the lowest ebb, and his feeble heart was 
 fluttering like a weed in shallow water. 
 
 But his comfort was not far to seek. After sundry 
 soft taps and a shuffle of the handle the door was opened 
 quietly, and a little girl came dancing in, bringing a gleam 
 of summer sunshine in a cloud of golden hair. The gloom 
 of the cold room fled as if it had no business near her, 
 and a thrush outside (who knew her well) broke forth into 
 a gratitude of song. For this was little Faith Penniloe, 
 seven years old last Tuesday, the prettiest and the liveliest 
 soul in all the parish of Perly cross; and Faith being 
 too substantial, perhaps, everybody called her " Fay," or 
 "Fairy." Nothing ever troubled her except the letter r, 
 and even that only when it wanted to come first. 
 
 "Father, fathery, how much colder is the tea to get?" 
 she cried ; " I call it very yude of you to do what you 
 like, because you happen to be older." 
 
 As the little girl ran, with her arms stretched forth, 
 and a smile on her lips that was surety for a kiss a sud- 
 den amazement stopped her. The father of her love and 
 trust and worship was not even looking at her; his face 
 was cold and turned away ; his arms were not spread for 
 a jump and a scream. He might as well have no child at 
 all, or none to whom he was all in all. For a moment her 
 simple heart was daunted, her dimpled hands fell on her 
 pinafore, and the sparkle of her blue eyes became a gleam 
 of tears. 
 
 * In country parishes an easy-chair for the use of the sick and 
 elderly was provided from the communion offerings, and lent to those 
 most in need of it. When not so required, it was kept under cover, 
 and regarded with some reverence, from its origin and use. 
 
FAIRY FAITH 13 
 
 Then she gathered up her courage, which had never 
 known repulse, and came and stood between her father's 
 knees, and looked up at him very tenderly, as if she had 
 grieved him and yearned to be forgiven. 
 
 " Child, you have taught me the secret of faith," he 
 cried, with a sudden light shed on him ; " I will go as 
 a little one to my Father, without a word, and look up at 
 Him." 
 
 Then, as he lifted her into his lap, and she threw her 
 arms around his neck, he felt that he was not alone in the 
 world, and the warmth of his heart returned to him. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 THE LYCH-GATE 
 
 THE old church, standing on a bluff above the river, is 
 well placed for looking up and down the fertile valley. 
 Flashes of the water on its westward course may be caught 
 from this point of vantage, amid the tranquillity of an- 
 cient trees and sunny breadths of pasture. For there the 
 land has smoothed itself into a smiling plain, casting off 
 the wrinkles of hills and gullies, and the frown of shaggy 
 brows of heather. The rigour of the long flinty range is 
 past, and a flower can stand without a bush to back it, and 
 the wind has ceased from shuddering. 
 
 But the Perle has not come to these pleasures yet, as it 
 flows on the north of the church-yard, and some hundred 
 feet beneath it. The broad, shallow channel is strewn 
 with flint, and the little stream cannot fill it, except in times 
 of heavy flood ; for the main of its water has been divert- 
 ed to work the woollen factory, and rejoins the natural 
 course at the bridge two or three hundred yards below. 
 On the farther side the land rises to the barren height of 
 Beacon Hill, which shelters Sir Thomas Waldron's house, 
 and is by its conical form distinct from other extremities 
 of the Black-down Chain ; for the southern barrier of the 
 valley (which is about three miles wide at its mouth) is 
 formed by the long dark chine of Hagdon Hill, which 
 ends abruptly in a steep descent ; and seeing that all this 
 part of the vale, and the hills which shape it, are com- 
 prised in the parish of Perlycross, it will become clear that 
 a single parson, if he attempts to go through all his work, 
 must have a very fine pair of legs, and a sound constitu- 
 tion to quicken them. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe, now well advanced in the fifth decade, was 
 of very spare habit and active frame, remarkable also for 
 
THE LYCH-GATE 15 
 
 his springy gait, except at those periods of dark depres- 
 sion with which he was afflicted now and then. But the 
 leading fault of his character was inattention to his vict- 
 uals, not from any want of common -sense or crude de- 
 light in fasting, but rather through self-neglect and the 
 loss of the one who used to attend to him. To see to 
 that bodily welfare, about which he cared so little, there 
 was no one left except a careful, active, and devoted servant, 
 Thyatira Muggridge. Thyatira had been in his employ- 
 ment ever since his marriage, and was now the cook, house- 
 keeper, and general manager at the rectory. But though 
 in the thirty-fifth year of her age, and as steady as a pyr- 
 amid, she felt herself still too young to urge sound dietary 
 advice upon her master as she longed to do. The women 
 of the parish blamed her sadly as they watched his want 
 of fattening ; but she could only sigh, and try to tempt 
 him with her simple skill and zeal. 
 
 On the morrow of that sad anniversary which had 
 caused him such distress, the curate was blessed with his 
 usual vigour of faith and courage and philanthropy. An 
 affectionate letter from his mother, enclosing a bank-or- 
 der for ten pounds, had proved that she was no willing 
 partner in the father's harshness. The day was very 
 bright ; his three pupils had left him for their summer 
 holidays, and there happened to be no urgent call for any 
 parochial visits. There was nothing to stop him from a 
 good turn to-day among trowel and chisel and calipers ; 
 he would see that every man was at his work, and that 
 every stroke of work was truthful. 
 
 Having slurred his early dinner with his usual zest, he 
 was hastening down the passage for his hat and stick 
 when Thyatira Muggridge came upon him from the pantry, 
 with a jug of toast-and- water in her hand. 
 
 "Do'e give me just a minute, sir," she whispered, with 
 a glance at the door of the dining-room where the chil- 
 dren had been left ; and he followed her into the narrow 
 back-parlour, the headquarters of his absent pupils. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe thought very highly of his house-keeper's 
 judgment and discretion, and the more so, perhaps, because 
 she had been converted, by a stroke of his own readiness, 
 from the doctrines of the " Antipsedo-Baptists " as they 
 
1 6 PERLYCROSS 
 
 used to call themselves to those of the Church of Eng- 
 land. Her father, moreover, was one of the chief tenants 
 on the North Devon property of Mr. Penniloe the elder ; 
 and simplicity, shrewdness, and honesty were established 
 in that family. So her master was patient with her, though 
 his hat and stick were urgent. 
 
 " Would you please to mind, sir," began Thyatira, with 
 her thick red arms moving over her apron like rolling-pins 
 upon pie-crust, "if little Master Mike was to sleep with me a 
 bit, till his brother Master Harry cometh back from school?" 
 
 " I dare say you have some good reason for asking ; but 
 what is it, Mrs. Muggridge ?" The house-keeper was a 
 spinster, but had received brevet-rank from the village. 
 
 " Only that he is so lonesome, sir, in that end hattick, 
 by his little self. You know how he hath been, ever 
 since his great scare ; and now some brutes of boys in the 
 village have been telling him a lot of stuff about Spring- 
 heel Jack. They say he is coming into this part now, 
 with his bloody heart and dark lantern. And the poor 
 little lamb hath a window that looks right away over the 
 church-yard. Last night he were sobbing so in his sleep, 
 enough to break his little heart. The sound came all 
 across the lumber-room, till I went and fetched him into 
 my bed, and then he were as happy as an angel." 
 
 " Poor little man ! I should have thought of it, since 
 he became so nervous. But I have always tried to make 
 my children feel that the Lord is ever near them." 
 
 " He compasseth the righteous round about," Mrs. Mug- 
 gridge replied, with a curtsy, as a pious woman quoting 
 Holy Writ ; " but for all that, you can't call Him company, 
 sir; and that's what these little ones lacks of. Master 
 Harry is as brave as a lion, because he is so much older. 
 But, hoping no offence, his own dear mother would never 
 have left that little soul all by himself." 
 
 " You are right, and I was wrong," replied the master, 
 concealing the pain her words had caused. " Take him to 
 your room ; it is very kind of you. But where will you 
 put Susanna ?" 
 
 " That will be easy enough, sir. I will make up a bed 
 in the lumber-room, if you have no objection. Less time 
 for her at the looking-glass, I reckon." 
 
THE LYCH-GATE 17 
 
 Mr. Penniloe smiled gravely for that grievance was a 
 classic and had once more possessed himself of his hat 
 and stick, when the earnest house-keeper detained him once 
 
 If you please, sir, you don't believe, do you now, in 
 all that they says about that Spring-heeled Jack? It 
 scarcely seemeth reasonable to a Christian mind. And yet 
 when I questioned Mr. Jakes about it, he was not for deny- 
 ing that there might be such a thing and him the very 
 bravest man in all this parish !" 
 
 " Mrs. Muggridge, it is nonsense. Mr. Jakes knows 
 better. He must have been trying to terrify you. A man 
 who has been through the Peninsular campaign ! I hope 
 I may remember to reprove him." 
 
 " Oh no, I would beg you, sir, not to do that. It was 
 only said as one might express it, promiscuous, and in 
 a manner of speaking. I would never have mentioned 
 it if I had thought" 
 
 Knowing that her face was very red, her master re- 
 frained from looking at it, and went his way at last, after 
 promising to let the gallant Jakes escape. It was not 
 much more than a hundred yards along the chief street of 
 the village from the rectory to the southern and chief en- 
 trance of the church-yard, opposite to which, at a corner 
 of the road and partly in front of the ruined Abbey, stood 
 an old-fashioned inn, the Ivy-bush. This, though a very 
 well-conducted house, and quiet enough (except at fair- 
 time), was not in the parson's opinion a pleasing induction 
 to the lych-gate ; but there it had stood for generations, 
 and the landlord, Walter Haddon, held sound Church 
 views, for his wife had been a daughter of Channing, 
 the clerk, and his premises belonged to the Dean and 
 Chapter. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe glanced at the yellow porch with his usual 
 regret but no ill-will, when a flash of bright colour caught 
 his eye. In the outer corner he descried a long scarlet 
 fishing-rod propped against the wall, with the collar and 
 three flies fluttering. All was so bright and spick-and- 
 span, that a trout's admiration would be quite safe ; and 
 the clergyman (having been a skilful angler till his strict 
 views of duty deprived him of that joy) indulged in a 
 
1 8 PERLYCROSS 
 
 smile of sagacity, as he opened his double eye-glass and 
 scrutinized this fine object. 
 
 " Examining my flies, are you, reverend ? Well, I hope 
 you are satisfied with them." 
 
 The gentleman who spoke in this short way came out 
 of the porch, with a pipe in his hand and a large fish- 
 ing-creel swinging under his left arm. 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Dr. Gronow, for the liberty I 
 am taking. Yes ; they are very fine flies indeed. I hope 
 you have had good sport with them." 
 
 " Pretty fair, sir, pretty fair, 1 ' the owner answered, 
 cheerfully ; " one must not expect much in this weather. 
 But I have had at least three rises." 
 
 " It is much to your credit, so far as I can judge, 
 under the circumstances. And you have not had time 
 to know our water yet. You will find it pretty fishing 
 when you get accustomed to it." 
 
 The angler, a tall, thin man of sixty, with a keen, grave 
 face and wiry gray hair, regarded the parson steadfastly. 
 This was but the second time they had met, although 
 Dr. Gronow had been for some while an important pa- 
 rishioner of Perlycross, having bought a fair estate at 
 Priestwell, a hamlet little more than a mile from the vil- 
 lage. People who pretended to know all about him 
 said that he had retired suddenly, for some unknown 
 reason, from long and large medical practice at Bath. 
 There he had been, as they declared, the first authority in 
 all cases of difficulty and danger, but not at all a favour- 
 ite in the world of fashion because of his rough and 
 contemptuous manners and sad want of sympathy with 
 petty ailments. Some pious old lady of rank had 
 called him, in a passionate moment, " the godless Gro- 
 now," and whether he deserved the description or not, 
 it had cleaved to him like a sand-leech. But the doc- 
 tor only smiled and went his way ; the good-will of the 
 poor was sweeter to him than the good word of the 
 wealthy. 
 
 " Let me say a word to you, Mr. Penniloe," he began, 
 as the curate was turning away ; " I have had it in my mind 
 for some short time. I believe you are much attached 
 to Sir Thomas Waldron." 
 
THE LYCH-GATE 19 
 
 "He is one of my oldest and most valued friends. 
 I have the highest possible regard for him." 
 
 " He is a valuable man in the parish, I suppose 
 comes to church regularly sets a good example ?" 
 
 " If all my parishioners were like him, it would be a 
 comfort to me and and a benefit to them." 
 
 " Well said according to your point of view. I like 
 a straightforward man, sir. But I want you to be a lit- 
 tle crooked now. You have an old friend, Harrison 
 Gowler." 
 
 " Yes," Mr. Penniloe replied, with some surprise, " I 
 was very fond of Gowler at Oxford, and admired him 
 very greatly. But I have not seen him for some years." 
 
 " He is now the first man in London in his special line. 
 Could you get him to visit you for a day or two, and see 
 Sir Thomas Waldron, without letting him know why ?" 
 
 "You astonish me, Dr. Gronow. There is nothing 
 amiss with Sir Thomas, except a little trouble now and 
 then caused by an ancient wound, I believe." 
 
 "Ah, so you think; and so perhaps does he. But I 
 suppose you can keep a thing to yourself. If I tell you 
 something, will you give me your word that it shall go no 
 further ?" 
 
 The two gentlemen were standing in the shadow of the 
 lych-gate as a shelter from the July sun, while the clergy- 
 man gazed with much alarm at the other, and gave the 
 required promise. Dr. Gronow looked round, and then 
 said in a low voice : 
 
 " Sir Thomas is a strong and temperate man, and has 
 great powers of endurance. I hope most heartily that I 
 may be wrong. But I am convinced that within three 
 months he will be lying upon this stone, while you with 
 your surplice on are standing in that porch waiting for 
 the bearers to advance." 
 
 " Good God !" cried the parson, with tears rushing to 
 his eyes ; then he lifted his hat, and bowed reverently. 
 " May He forgive me for using His holy name. But the 
 shock is too terrible to think of. It would certainly break 
 poor Nicie's heart. What right have you to speak of such 
 a dreadful thing ?" 
 
 " Is it such a dreadful thing to go to heaven ? That of 
 
20 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 course you guarantee for your good friends. But the 
 point is how to put off that catastrophe of bliss." 
 
 " Flippancy is not the way to meet it, Dr. Gronow. We 
 have every right to try to keep a valuable life, and a life 
 dear to all that have the sense to feel its value. Even a 
 scornful man such as you appear to be, unable to per- 
 ceive the childish bitterness of scorn must admire valour, 
 sense of duty, and simplicity, though they may not be 
 his own leading qualities. And once more I ask you to 
 explain what you have said." 
 
 " You know Jemmy Fox pretty well, I think ?" Dr. 
 Gronow took a seat upon the coffin-stone, and spoke as if 
 he liked the parson's vigour "Jemmy is a very clever 
 fellow in his way, though of course he has no experience 
 yet. We old stagers are always glad to help a young 
 member of our profession who has a proper love for it, 
 and is modest, and hard-working. But not until he asks 
 us, you must clearly understand. You see we are not so 
 meddlesome as you reverends are. Well, from the ac- 
 count young Fox gives me, there can, I fear, be little doubt 
 about the nature of the case. It is not at all a common 
 one ; and so far as we know yet, there is but one remedy 
 a very difficult operation." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe was liable to a kind of nervous quivering 
 when anything happened to excite him, and some of his 
 very best sermons had been spoiled by this visitation. 
 
 " I am troubled more than I can tell you I am grieved 
 beyond description " he began with an utterance which 
 trembled more and more ; " and you think that Gowler is 
 the only man, to to " 
 
 " To know the proper course, and to afford him the last 
 chance. Gowler is not a surgeon, as I need not tell you. 
 And at present such a case could be dealt with best in 
 Paris, although we have young men rising now who will 
 make it otherwise before very long. Sir Thomas will lis- 
 ten to nothing, I fear, from a young practitioner like Fox. 
 He has been so knocked about himself, and so close to 
 death's door more than once, that he looks upon this as a 
 fuss about nothing. But I know better, Mr. Penniloe." 
 
 " You are too likely to be right. Fox has told me of 
 several cases of your wonderful penetration. That young 
 
THE LYCH-GATE 21 
 
 man thinks so much of you. Oh, Dr. Gronow, I implore 
 you as a man, whatever your own opinions are, say noth- 
 ing to unsettle that young fellow's mind. You know not 
 the misery you may cause, and you cannot produce any 
 happiness. I speak I speak with the strongest feelings. 
 You will think that I should not have spoken at all and 
 I dare say it is unusual. But you will forgive me, when 
 you remember it is my duty as a clergyman." 
 
 " Surely you are responsible for me as well," replied 
 the doctor, with a kinder tone ; " but perhaps you regard 
 me as beyond all cure. Well, I will promise what you 
 ask, good sir. Your sheep, or your foxes, shall not stray 
 through me. Will you do what I suggest about Gowler ?" 
 
 " I will try to get him down ; but from all that I hear, 
 he is one of the busiest men in London. And I dislike 
 procuring his opinion on the sly. Excuse me I know 
 how well you meant it. But perhaps, through Lady Wal- 
 dron, he may be brought down in the regular course, and 
 have the whole case laid before him." 
 
 " That would be the best thing, if it could be managed. 
 Good-bye ! I go a-fishing, as your prototypes expressed 
 it." 
 
CHAPTEE IV 
 NICIE 
 
 IN the bright summer sunshine the old church looked 
 like a ship that had been shattered by the waves, and was 
 hoisted in a dry-dock for repairs. To an ignorant eye it 
 appeared to be in peril of foundering and plunging into 
 the depth below, so frequent and large were the rifts and 
 chasms yawning in the ancient framework. Especially 
 was there one long gap in the footings of the south chan- 
 cel wall, where three broad arches were being turned, and 
 a solid buttress rising, to make good the weakness of the 
 Waldron vault. Sacks of lime, and piles of sand, coils of 
 cord, and blocks of stone, scaffold-poles and timber-balks, 
 wheelbarrows grovelling on their bellies, shovels and hods 
 and planks and ladders, hats upon tombstones, and jackets 
 on graves, sacred niches garnished with tobacco-pipes, and 
 pious memories enlivened by " Jim Crow " so cheerful 
 was the British workman, before he was educated. 
 
 " Parson coming," was whispered round, while pewter 
 pots jumped under slabs, and jugs had coats thrown over 
 them, for Mr. Penniloe would have none of their drinking 
 in the church-yard, and was loath to believe that they could 
 do it, with all the sad examples beneath them. But now 
 his mind was filled with deeper troubles, and even the 
 purpose of his visit had faded from his memory. 
 
 " Just in time, sir. I was waiting for you," said Mr. 
 Robson Adney, standing in front of the shored-up screen 
 on the southern side of the tower ; " if it bears the strain 
 of this new plinth, the rest is a matter of detail. Your 
 idea of the brace was capital, and the dovetail will never 
 show at all. Now, Charley, steady there not too heavy. 
 Five minutes will show whether we are men or muffs. 
 But don't stand quite so close, sir. I think we have got 
 
NICIE 23 
 
 it all right; but if there should happen to be a bit of 
 cross-grain stone bear to the left, you lubber there ! Beg 
 your pardon, sir, but I never said ' damn.' " 
 
 " I hope not I hope not, Mr. Adney. You remember 
 where you are too well for that. Though I trust that you 
 would say it nowhere. Ah, it is a little on the warp, I 
 fear." 
 
 " No, sir, no. Go to the end, and look along. It is 
 only the bevel that makes it look so. Could hardly be 
 better if the Lord Himself had made it. Trust Peveril, 
 Gibbs & Co. for knowing their work. Hollo! not so 
 hard ease her, ease her! Stand clear for your lives, 
 men ! Down she comes !" 
 
 They were none too quick, for the great stone screen, 
 after bulging and sagging and shaking like a cobweb 
 throughout its massive tracery, parted in the middle and 
 fell mightily. 
 
 "Any one hurt? Then you haven't got what you 
 ought," shouted Adney, with his foot upon a pinnacle ; 
 " old Peter made a saint of ? Get a roller, and fetch him 
 out. None the worse, old chap, are you now ? Take him 
 to the Ivy-bush, and get a drop of brandy." 
 
 Sudden as the crash had been no life was lost, no limb 
 broken, and scarcely a bruise received, except by an el- 
 derly workman, and he was little the worse, being safely 
 enshrined in the niche where some good saint had stood. 
 Being set upon his feet, he rubbed his elbows, and then 
 swore a little ; therefore, naturally enough, he was known 
 as " Saint Peter " for the residue of his life among us. 
 
 But no sooner did Mr. Adney see that no one was hurt 
 seriously than he began to swear anything but a little, in- 
 stead of thanking Providence. 
 
 " A pretty job a fine job, by the holy poker !" he kept 
 on exclaiming, as he danced among the ruins ; " why, 
 they'll laugh at us all over Devonshire. And that's not 
 the worst of it. By the Lord, I wish it was. Three or 
 four hundred pounds out of our pockets. A nice set of 
 
 fellows you are, aren't you ? I wish I might go this 
 
 very moment " 
 
 " Is this all your gratitude, Robson Adney, for the 
 goodness of the Lord to you ?" Mr. Penniloe had been 
 
24 PEBLYCEOSS 
 
 outside the crash, as he happened to be watching from 
 one end the adjustment of the piece inserted. " What 
 are a few bits of broken stone compared with the life of 
 a human being cut off, perhaps, with an oath upon his 
 lips, close to the very house of God ? In truth, this is a 
 merciful deliverance. Down upon your knees, my friends, 
 and follow me in a few simple words of acknowledgment 
 to the Giver of all good. Truly He hath been gracious 
 to us." 
 
 " Don't want much more of that sort of grace. Coup 
 de grace, I call it," muttered Mr. Adney. Nevertheless, 
 he knelt down, with the dust upon his forehead ; and the 
 workmen did the like ; for here was another month's good 
 wages. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe always spoke well and readily when his 
 heart was urgent; and now, as he knelt between two 
 lowly graves, the men were wondering at him. " Nev- 
 er thought a' could have dooed it without his gown !" 
 " Why, a' put up his two hands as if 'twor money in his 
 pockets !" " Blest if I don't send for he when my time 
 cometh !" " Faix, sor, but the Almighty must be proud 
 of you to spake for Him !" Thus they received it ; and 
 the senior church- warden coming in to see the rights of 
 the matter, told every one (when he recovered his wits) 
 that he had never felt so proud of the parish minister be- 
 fore. Even the parson felt warmly in his heart that he 
 had gone up in their opinions, which made him more 
 diffident in his own. 
 
 "Don't 'e be cast down, sir," said one fine fellow, 
 whom the heavy architrave had missed by about an inch, 
 saving a young widow and seven little orphans. " We 
 will put it all to rights in next to no time. You do put 
 up with it uncommon fine, though the Lord may have 
 laboured to tempt 'e, like Job. But I ha'n't heard a single 
 curse come out of your lips not but what it might with- 
 out my knowing. But here coom'th a young man in bright 
 clothes with news for 'e." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe turned, and behold it was Bob Cornish, 
 one of his best Sunday-school boys last year, patient and 
 humble in a suit of corduroy, but now gay and lordly in 
 the livery of the Waldrons, buff with blue edgings, and 
 
NICIE 25 
 
 buttons of bright gold. His father sold rush-lights at the 
 bottom of the village, but his mother spent her time in 
 thinking. 
 
 " From Sir Thomas ?" asked the curate, as the lad with 
 some attempt at a soldier's salute produced a note, folded 
 like a cocked hat, and not easy to undo. 
 
 " No, sir, from my lady," answered Robert, falling 
 back. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe was happy enough to believe that all 
 things are ordered and guided for us by supreme good- 
 ness and wisdom. But nature insisted that his hands 
 should tremble at anything of gravity to any one he loved ; 
 and now after Dr. Gronow's warning, his double eye-glass 
 rattled in its tortoise-shell frame, as he turned it upon the 
 following words : 
 
 " DEAR SIR, I am in great uncertainty to trouble you 
 with this, and beg you to accept apologies. But my hus- 
 band is in pain of the most violent again, and none the 
 less of misery that he conceals it from me. In this 
 country I have no one now from whom to seek good 
 counsel, and the young Dr. Fox is too juvenile to trust in. 
 My husband has so much value for your wise opinion. I 
 therefore take the liberty of imploring you to come, but 
 with discretion not to speak the cause to Sir Thomas 
 Waldron, for he will not permit conversation about it. 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 
 " ISABEL WALDRON." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe read these words again, and then closed 
 his eye-glass with a heavy sigh. Trusted and beloved 
 friend as he was of the veteran Sir Thomas, he had never 
 been regarded with much favour by the lady of the house. 
 By birth and by blood on the father's side this lady was 
 a Spaniard ; and although she spoke English fluently 
 much better, indeed, than she wrote it the country and 
 people were not to her liking, and she cared not to make 
 herself popular. Hence, her fine qualities and generous 
 nature were misprised and undervalued, until less and 
 less was seen of them. Without deserving it, she thus 
 obtained the repute of a haughty, cold-hearted person, 
 
26 TEBLYCKOSS 
 
 without affection, sympathy, or loving -kindness. Even 
 Mr. Penniloe, the most charitable of men, was inclined to 
 hold this opinion of her. 
 
 Therefore he was all the more alarmed by this letter of 
 the stately lady. Leaving Mr. Adney to do his best, he 
 set off at once for Walderscourt by way of the plank 
 bridge over the Perle, at no great distance above the 
 church, and then across the meadows and the sloping 
 corn-land, with the round Beacon-hill in front of him. 
 This path, saving nearly half a mile of twisting lanes, 
 would lead him to the house almost as soon as the mes- 
 senger's horse would be there. 
 
 To any one acquainted with the parson it would prove 
 how much his mind was disturbed that none of the fair 
 sights around him were heeded. The tall wheat reared 
 upon its jointed stalk, with the buff pollen shed, and the 
 triple awns sheltering the infancy of grain, the delicate 
 bells of sky-blue flax quivering on lanced foliage, the 
 glistening cones of teasels pliant yet as tasselled silk, and 
 the burly foxglove in the hedge -row turning back its 
 spotted cuffs at none of these did he care to glance, nor 
 linger for a moment at the treddled stile, from which the 
 broad valley he had left was shown, studded with brown 
 farm and white cottage, and looped about with glittering 
 water. 
 
 Neither did he throw his stick into his left hand, and 
 stretch forth the right as his custom was in the lonely 
 walks of a Saturday to invigorate a hit he would deliver 
 the next day at divine service in the school-room. 
 
 " What is to become of them ? What can be done to 
 help it ? Why should such a loving child have such a 
 frightful trial? How shall we let him know his danger, 
 without risk of doubling it ? How long will it take to get 
 Gowler down, and can he do any good if he comes?" 
 These and other such questions drove from his mind both 
 sermon and scenery as he hastened to the home of the 
 Waldrons. 
 
 Walderscourt was not so grand as to look uncomfort- 
 able, nor yet, on the other hand, so lowly as to seem in- 
 significant. But a large, old-fashioned house built of 
 stone, with depth and variety of light and shade, sobered 
 
NICIE 27 
 
 and toned by the lapse of time, yet cheerful on the whole 
 as is a well-spent life. For by reason of the trees, and the 
 wavering of the air flowing gently from hill to valley 
 the sun seemed to linger in various visits rather than to 
 plant himself for one long stare. The pleasure-grounds, 
 moreover, and the lawns were large, gifted with sur- 
 prising little ups and downs, and blessed with pretty cor- 
 ners where a man might sit and think, and perhaps espy 
 an old-fashioned flower unseen since he was five years 
 old. 
 
 Some of the many philosophers who understand our 
 ways, and can account for everything, declare that we of 
 the human race become of such and such -a vein and 
 turn and tone of character, according to the flow and 
 bend and tinge of early circumstance. If there be any 
 truth in this, it will help to account for a few of the 
 many delightful features and lovable traits in the character 
 of Nicie Waldron. That young lady, the only daughter 
 of the veteran colonel, had obtained her present Christian 
 name by her own merits, as asserted by herself. Unlike 
 her mother, she had taken kindly to this English air and 
 soil, as behooves a native ; and her childish lips finding 
 Inez hard had softened it into Nicie. That name appeared 
 so apt to all who had the pleasure of seeing her toddle 
 that it quite superseded the grander form, with all except 
 her mother^ " Nicie, indeed !" Lady Waldron used to 
 say, until she found it useless ; " I will feel much obliged 
 to you if you shall call my daughter Inez by her proper 
 name, sir." But her ladyship could no more subdue 
 the universal usage than master the English wills and 
 skulls. 
 
 And though she was now a full-grown maiden, lively, 
 tall, and self-possessed, Nicie had not lost as yet the 
 gentle and confiding manner, with the playful smile, and 
 pleasant glance, which had earned, by offering them, good- 
 will and tender interest. Pity, moreover, had some share 
 in her general popularity, inasmuch as her mother was 
 known to be sometimes harsh, and nearly always cold 
 and distant to her. Women, who should know best, 
 declared that this was the result of jealousy, because 
 Sir Thomas made such an idol of his loving daughter. 
 
28 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 On the other hand, the Spanish lady had her idol also 
 her only son, despatched of late with his regiment 
 towards India ; his father always called him Tom, and his 
 mother Rodrigo. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe had a very soft place in his heart for this 
 young lady ; but now, for the first time in his life, he was 
 vexed to see her white chip hat and pink summer frock 
 between the trees. She was sitting on a bench, with a 
 book upon her lap, while the sunlight, broken by the gen- 
 tle play of leafage, wavered and flickered in her rich brown 
 hair. Corkscrew ringlets were the fashion of the time ; 
 but Nicie would have none of them, with the bashful 
 knowledge of the rose, that Nature did enough for her. 
 
 And here came her father to take her part with his 
 usual decision ; daring even to pronounce, in presence of 
 the noblest fashion, that his pet should do what he chose, 
 and nothing else. At this the pet smiled very sweetly, 
 the words being put into his lips by hers, and dutifully 
 obeyed her own behest, sweeping back the flowing curves 
 into a graceful coronet in the manner of a Laconian maid. 
 
 Now the sly Penniloe made endeavour to pass her with a 
 friendly smile and bow, but her little pug, Pixie, would not 
 hear of such a slight. This was a thorough busybody, not 
 always quite right in his mind, according to some good 
 authorities, though not easily outwitted. Having scarcely 
 attained much obesity yet, in spite of never-flagging ef- 
 forts, he could run at a good pace, though not so very far; 
 and sometimes, at sight of any highly valued friend, he 
 would chase himself at full gallop round a giddy circle, 
 with his reasoning powers lost in rapture. 
 
 Even now he indulged in this expression of good-will, 
 for he dearly loved Mr. Penniloe ; and then he ran up with 
 such antics of delight that the rudest of mankind could 
 not well have passed unheeding. And behind him came 
 his fair young mistress, smiling pleasantly at his tricks, 
 although her gentle eyes were glistening with a shower 
 scarcely blown away. 
 
 " Uncle Penniloe," she began, having thus entitled him 
 in early days, and doing so still at coaxing times, " you 
 will not think me a sly girl, will you ? But I found out 
 that mother had sent for you ; and as nothing would make 
 
NICIE 29 
 
 her tell me why, I made up my mind to come and ask you 
 myself, if I could only catch you here. I was sure you 
 could never refuse me." 
 
 " Nice assurance, indeed, and nice manners, to try to 
 steal a march upon your mother !" The parson did his 
 utmost to look stern, but his eyes, meeting hers, failed to 
 carry it out. 
 
 " Oh, but you know better ; you could never fancy that ! 
 and your trying to turn it off like that only frightens me 
 ten times more. I am sure it is something about my fa- 
 ther. You had better tell me all I must know all. I am 
 too old now to be treated like a child. Who can have half 
 the right I have to know all about my darling dad ? Is he 
 very ill ? Is his precious life in danger ? Don't look at 
 me like that ! I know more than you imagine. Is he go- 
 ing to die ? I will never believe it. God could never do 
 such a cruel, wicked thing !" 
 
 " My dear, what would your dear father say, to hear you 
 talk like that ? a man so humble and brave and pious " 
 
 " As humble and brave as you please, Uncle Penniloe ; 
 but I don't want him to be pious for a long time yet. He 
 swore a little yesterday that is one comfort when he 
 had no idea I was near him. And he would not have 
 done that if there had been any Oh, don't go away so ! 
 I won't let you go until you have answered my question. 
 Why were you sent for in such haste ?" 
 
 " How can I tell you, my dear child, until I have had 
 time to ask about it? You know there is to be the 
 cricket - match on Tuesday, the north against the south 
 side of the valley, and even the sides are not quite settled 
 yet ; because Mr. Jakes will not play against his colonel, 
 though quite ready to play against his parson." 
 
 "Will you give me your word, Uncle Penniloe, that 
 you really believe you were sent for about that ?" 
 
 The clergyman saw that there was no escape, and as he 
 looked into her beseeching eyes it was all that he could 
 do to refrain his own from tears. 
 
 " I will not cry or, at least, not if I can help it," she 
 whispered, as he led her to the seat and sat by her. 
 
 " My darling Nicie," he began in a low voice, and as 
 tenderly as if he were her father, " it has pleased the Lord 
 
30 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 to visit us with a very sad trial ; but we may hope that it 
 will yet pass away. Your dear father is seriously ill ; and 
 the worst of it is, that, with his wonderful courage and 
 spirit, he makes light of it, and will not be persuaded. 
 He could scarcely be induced to say a word to Dr. Fox, 
 although he is so fond of him ; and nobody knows what 
 the malady is, except that it is painful and wearing. My 
 object to-day is to do my very utmost to get your dear 
 father to listen to us, and see a medical man of very large 
 experience and very great ability. And much as it has 
 grieved me to tell you this, perhaps it is better, upon the 
 whole ; for now you will do all you can to help us." 
 
 " Sometimes father will listen to me," Miss Waldron 
 answered, between her sobs, " when he won't when he 
 won't let anybody else because I never argue with him. 
 But I thought Dr. Fox was exceedingly clever." 
 
 " So he is, my dear ; but he is so young, and this is a 
 case of great perplexity. I have reason to believe that he 
 wishes just as we do. So now, with God's help, let us all 
 do our best." 
 
 She tried to look cheerful, but when he was gone a cold 
 terror fell upon her. Little Pixie tugged at her frock un- 
 heeded, and made himself a whirligig in chase of his own 
 tail. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 A FAIR BARGAIN 
 
 THE parson had a little shake in his system ; and his 
 faith in Higher Providence was weaker in his friend's case 
 than in his own, which is contrary, perhaps, to the general 
 rule. As he passed through the large gloomy hall, his hat 
 was quivering in his hand, like a leaf that has caught the 
 syringe ; and when he stood face to face with Lady Wal- 
 dron, he would have given up a small subscription to be 
 as calm as she was. 
 
 But her self-possession was the style of pride and habit 
 rather than the gift of nature. No one could look into her 
 very handsome face, or watch her dark eyes as she spoke, 
 without perceiving that her nature was strong and warm 
 and generous. Pride of birth taught her to control her 
 temper, but education had been insufficient to complete 
 the mastery. And so she remained in a foreign country, 
 vehement, prejudiced, and indifferent to things too large 
 for her to understand, jealous, exacting, and quick to take 
 offence ; but at the same time a lover of justice, truth- 
 ful, free-handed, and loyal to friends, kind to those in 
 trouble, and devoted to her husband. Her father had 
 been of Spanish and her mother of Irish birth, and her 
 early memories were of tumult, war, distress, and an- 
 archy. 
 
 All English clergymen were to her as heretics and usurp- 
 ers ; and being intensely patriotic, she disliked the Eng- 
 lish nation for its services to her country. Mr. Penniloe 
 had felt himself kept throughout at a very well-measured 
 distance ; but, like a large-hearted and humble man, had 
 concerned himself little about such trifles, though his wife 
 had been very indignant. And he met the lady now, as 
 he had always done, with a pleasant look and a gentle 
 
32 PERLYCROSS 
 
 smile. But she was a little annoyed at her own confession 
 of his influence. 
 
 " It is good of you to come so soon," she said, " and to 
 break your very nice engagements. But I have been so 
 anxious, so consumed with great anxiety ; and everything 
 grows worse and worse. What can I do ? There is none 
 to help me. The only one I could trust entirely, my dear 
 brother, is far away." 
 
 " There are many who would do their best to help you," 
 the curate answered, with a faltering voice, for her strange 
 humility surprised him. " You know without any words 
 of mine " 
 
 " Is it that you really love Sir Thomas, or only that you 
 find him useful ? Pardon me ; I put not the question 
 rudely. But all are so selfish in this England." 
 
 " I hope not I think not," he answered, very gently, 
 having learned to allow for the petulance of grief. " Your 
 dear husband is not of that nature, Lady Waldron ; and 
 he does not suppose that his friends are so." 
 
 " No ; it is true he makes the best of everybody. Even 
 of that young Dr. Fox, who is ill-treating him. That is 
 the very thing I come to speak of. If he had a good 
 physicianbut he is so resolute." 
 
 " But you will persuade him. It is a thing he owes to 
 you. And in one little way I can help you perhaps a little. 
 He fancies, I dare say, that to call in a man of larger ex- 
 perience would be unkind to Fox, and might even seem a 
 sort of slur upon him. But I think I can get Fox himself 
 to propose it, and even to insist upon it for his own sake. 
 I believe that he has been thinking of it." 
 
 " What is he, that his opinions should be consulted ? 
 He cannot see. But I see things that agitate me oh 
 darker, darker I cannot discover any consolation any- 
 where. And my husband will not hear a word ! It is so 
 this reason one day, and then some other, to excuse 
 that he is not better ; and his strong hands going, and his 
 shoulders growing round, and his great knees beginning 
 to quiver, and his face so what you call cheerful, lively, 
 jolly, turning to whiter than mine, and blue with cups and 
 cords and channels in it oh, I will not have my husband 
 long ; and where shall I be without him ?" 
 
A FAIR BARGAIN 33 
 
 As she turned away her face, and waved her hand for 
 the visitor to leave her, Mr. Penniloe discovered one more 
 reason for doubting his own judgment. 
 
 "I will go and see him. He is always glad to see me," 
 he said, as if talking to himself alone. " The hand of the 
 Lord is over us, and His mercy is on the righteous." 
 
 The old soldier was not the man to stay in-doors, or 
 dwell upon his ailments. As long as he had leg to move, 
 or foot at all to carry him, no easy-chair or study-lounge 
 held any temptation for him. The open air, and the 
 breezy fields, or sunny breadth of garden full of ever- 
 changing incident, the hill-top, or the river-side, were his 
 delight while his steps were strong ; and even now, when- 
 ever bodily pain relaxed. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe found him in his kitchen-garden, walking 
 slowly, as behooves a man of large frame and great stature, 
 and leaning on a staff of twisted Spanish oak, which 
 had stood him in good stead some five - and - twenty 
 years ago. Following every uncertain step, with her nose 
 as close as if she had been a spur upon either boot, and 
 yet escaping contact as a dog alone can do, was his favour- 
 ite little black spaniel Jess, as loving a creature as ever 
 lived. 
 
 " What makes you look at me in that way, Jumps ?" the 
 colonel inquired, while shaking hands. " I hope you are 
 not setting up for a doctor, too. One is quite enough for 
 the parish." 
 
 " Talking about doctors," replied the parson, who thought 
 it no scorn when his old school-mate revived the nick- 
 name of early days (conferred perhaps by some young 
 observer, in recognition of his springy step) " talking 
 about doctors, I think very likely that my old friend Gow- 
 ler you have heard me speak of him will pay me a little 
 visit, perhaps, next week." 
 
 " Gowler ? Was he at Peter's, after my time ? It scarcely 
 sounds like a West country name. No; I remember now. 
 It was at Oxford you fell in with him." 
 
 " Yes ; he got his fellowship two years after I got 
 mine. The cleverest man in the college, and one of the 
 best scholars I ever met with. I was nowhere with him, 
 though I read so much harder." 
 
 2* 
 
34 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 "Come now, Jumps, don't tell me that!" Sir Thomas 
 exclaimed, looking down with admiration at the laureate 
 of his boyhood ; " why, you knew everything as pat as 
 butter when you were no more than a hop-o'-my-thumb ! 
 I remember arguing with Gus Brown, that it must be be- 
 cause you were small enough to jump into the skulls of 
 those old codgers, Homer and Horace, and the rest of them. 
 But how you must have grown since then, my friend ! . I 
 suppose they gave you more to eat at Oxford. But I don't 
 believe in any man alive being a finer scholar than you are." 
 
 " Gowler was, I tell you, Tom ; and many, many others ; 
 as I soon discovered in the larger world. He had a much 
 keener and deeper mind, far more inquiring and penetrat- 
 ing, more subtle and logical and comprehensive, together 
 with a smaller share perhaps of of " 
 
 " Humility that's the word you mean; although you 
 don't like to say it." 
 
 " No ; that is not what I mean exactly. What I mean is 
 docility, ductility, sequacity if there is any such word. 
 The acceptance of what has been discovered, or at any rate 
 acknowledged, by the highest human intellect. Gowler 
 would be content with nothing because it had satisfied 
 the highest human intellect. It must satisfy his own, or 
 be rejected." 
 
 " I am very sorry for him," said Sir Thomas Waldron ; 
 " such a man must be drummed out of any useful regi- 
 ment." 
 
 " Well, and he was drummed out of Oxford ; or at any 
 rate would follow no drum there. He threw up his fel- 
 lowship rather than take orders, and for some years we 
 heard nothing of him. But he was making his way in 
 London, and winning reputation in minute anatomy. He 
 became the first authority in what is called histology, a 
 comparatively new branch of medical science " 
 
 " Don't, Phil, I beg of you. You make me creep. I 
 think of Burke and Hare and all those wretches fellows 
 who disturb a man's last rest ! I have a deep respect for 
 an honest, wholesome surgeon ; and wonderful things I 
 have seen them do. But the best of them are gone. It 
 was the war that made them ; and, thank God, we have no 
 occasion for such carvers now." 
 
A FAIR BARGAIN 35 
 
 " Come and sit down, Tom." You look at least, I mean, 
 I have been upon my legs many hours to-day, and there is 
 nothing like the jump in them of thirty years ago. Well, 
 you are a kind man, the kindest of the kind, to allow 
 your kitchen-gardeners such a comfortable bench." 
 
 "You know what I think," replied Sir Thomas, as he 
 made believe to walk with great steadiness and vigour, 
 " that we don't behave half well enough to those who do 
 all the work for us. And I am quite sure that we Tories 
 feel it, aye, and try to better it, ten times as much as all 
 those spouting radical reformers do. Why, who is at the 
 bottom of all these shocking riots and rick-burnings ? The 
 man who puts iron and boiling water to rob a poor fellow 
 of his bread and bacon. You'll see none of that on any 
 land of mine. But if anything happens to me, who knows ?" 
 
 " My dear friend," Mr. Penniloe began, while the hand 
 which he laid upon his friend's was shaking, " may I say 
 a word to you, as an ancient chum ? You know that I 
 would not intrude, I am sure." 
 
 " I am sure that you would not do anything which a 
 gentleman would not do, Phil." 
 
 " It is simply this we are most anxious about you. 
 You are not in good health, and you will not confess it. 
 This is not at all fair to those who love you. Courage, 
 and carelessness about one's self, are very fine things, but 
 may be carried too far. In a case like yours they are sin- 
 ful, Tom. Your life is of very great importance, and you 
 have no right to neglect it. And can you not see that it 
 is downright cruelty to your wife and children if you 
 allow yourself to get worse and worse, while their anxiety 
 increases, and you do nothing, and won't listen to advice, 
 and fling bottles of medicine into the bonfire ? I saw one 
 just now as we came down the walk as full as when Fox 
 put the cork in. Is that even fair to a young practitioner?" 
 
 " Well, I never thought of that. That's a new light al- 
 together. You can see well enough, it seems, when it is 
 not wanted. But don't tell Jemmy about that bottle. 
 Mind, you are upon your honour. But oh, Phil, if you 
 only knew the taste of that stuff ! I give you my 
 word " 
 
 " You shall not laugh it off. You may say what you 
 
36 PERLYCROSS 
 
 like, but you know in your heart that you are not acting 
 kindly, or even fairly, by us. Would you like your wife 
 or daughter to feel seriously ill and hide it as if it was 
 no concern of yours ? I put aside higher considerations, 
 Tom. I speak to you simply as an old and true friend." 
 
 It was not the power of his words so much as the 
 trembling of his voice and the softness of his eyes that 
 vanquished the tough old soldier. 
 
 " I don't want to make any fuss about it, Phil," Sir 
 Thomas answered, quietly ; " and I would rather have kept 
 it to myself a little longer. But the simple truth is that 
 I am dying." 
 
 There was no sign of fear or of sorrow in his gaze ; 
 and he smiled very cheerfully while offering his hand, as 
 if to be forgiven for the past concealment. Mr. Penniloe 
 could not speak, but fell back on the bench and feared to 
 look at him. 
 
 " My dear friend, I see that I was wrong to tell you," 
 the sick man continued, in a feebler tone ; " but you must 
 have found it out very shortly ; and I know that Jemmy 
 Fox is well aware of it. But not a word, of course, to my 
 wife or daughter, until until it can't be helped. Poor 
 things what a blow it will be to them ! The thought of 
 that makes me rebel sometimes. But it is in your power to 
 help me greatly to help me as no other man on earth can 
 do. It has long been in my thoughts, but I scarcely 
 dared to ask you. Perhaps that was partly why I told 
 you this. But you are too good and kind to call me 
 selfish." 
 
 " Whatever it is, I will do it for you readily, if God 
 gives me power and ordains it so." 
 
 " Never make rash promises. What was it you used to 
 construe to me in the Delectus ? This is a long and 
 troublesome job, and will place you in a delicate position. 
 It is no less a trouble than to undertake for a time, at 
 least, the management of my affairs, and see to the inter- 
 ests of my Nicie." 
 
 " But surely your wife surely Lady Waldron so res- 
 olute, ready, and capable " 
 
 " Yes, she is all that, and a great deal more honourable, 
 upright, warm, and loving. She is not at all valued as 
 
A FAIR BARGAIN 37 
 
 she should be here, because she cannot come to like our 
 country or our people. But that would be no obstacle ; 
 the obstacle is this: she has a twin - brother, a certain 
 Count de Varcas, whom she loves ardently, and I will not 
 speak against him ; but he must have no chance of inter- 
 fering here. My son Tom Rodrigo his mother calls him, 
 after her beloved brother is barely of age, as you know, 
 and sent off with his regiment to India ; a very fine fellow 
 in many ways, but as for business excuse me a moment, 
 Phil ; I will finish when this is over." 
 
 With one broad hand upon the bench he contrived to 
 rise, and to steady himself upon his staff, and stood for a 
 little while thus, with his head thrown back, and his fore- 
 head like a block of stone. No groan from the chest, or 
 contortion of the face was allowed to show his agony ; 
 though every drawn muscle and wan hollow told what he 
 was enduring. And the blue scar of some ancient wound 
 grew vivid upon his strong countenance, from the left 
 cheek-bone to the corner of the mouth, with the pallid 
 damp on either side. Little Jess came and watched him 
 with wistful eyes and a soft interrogative tremble of tail, 
 while the clergyman rose to support him ; but he would 
 have no assistance. 
 
 " Thank God, it is over ! I am all right now, for an- 
 other three hours, I dare say. What a coward you must 
 think me, Phil ! I have been through a good deal of pain 
 in my time. But this beats me, I must confess. The 
 worst of it is, when it comes at night, to keep it from 
 poor Isabel. Sit down again now, and let me go on with 
 my story." 
 
 " Not now, Tom. Not just yet, I implore you," cried 
 the parson, himself more overcome than the sufferer of 
 all that anguish. " Wait till you find yourself a little 
 stronger." 
 
 " No ; that may never be. If ypu could only know 
 the relief it will be to me. I have not a great mind. I 
 cannot leave things to the Lord except as concerns my 
 own self. Now that I have broken the matter to you, I 
 must go through with it. I cannot die until my mind is 
 easy about poor Nicie. Her mother would be good to 
 her, of course. But well, Tom is her idol ; and there is 
 
38 PERLYCROSS 
 
 that blessed count. Tom is very simple, just as I was at 
 his age. I have many old friends ; but all easy-going fel- 
 lows, who would leave everything to their lawyers none 
 at all to trust like you. And I know how fond you are 
 of Nicie." 
 
 "To be sure I am. How could I help it? But remem- 
 ber that I am not at all a man of business." 
 
 " What does that matter ? You are very clear-headed 
 and prudent at any rate for other people. And you will 
 have Webber, a careful and clever solicitor, to back you 
 up. And mind, I am not asking you to supersede my 
 wife, or take what should be her position. She is quite 
 unacquainted with English ways, she does not think as an 
 Englishwoman would. She must have an Englishman to 
 act with her, in the trusts that will arise upon my death ; 
 and when we were married in Spain, as you know, there 
 was no chance of any marriage-settlement. In fact, there 
 was nothing to settle as yet, for I was not even heir to this 
 property until poor Jack was killed at Quatre Bras. And 
 as for herself, all the family affairs were at sixes and sev- 
 ens, as you may suppose, during the French occupation. 
 Her father had been a very wealthy man, and the head of 
 an ancient race which claimed descent from the old Car- 
 thaginian Barcas, of whom you know more than I do. But 
 he had been too patriotic, and advanced immense sums to 
 the State without security, and in other ways dipped his 
 fine property, so that it would not recover for a generation. 
 At any rate nothing came to her then, though she ought 
 to have had a good sum afterwards. But whatever there 
 may have been, her noble twin -brother took good care 
 that none of it came this way. And I was glad to get 
 her without a peseta; and what is more, I have never re- 
 pented of it ; for a nobler and more affectionate woman 
 never trod the earth." 
 
 As the sick man passed his hand before his eyes, in sad 
 recollection of the by-gone bliss, Mr. Penniloe thought of 
 his own dear wife a far sweeter woman in his mild opin- 
 ion ; and, if less noble, none the worse for that. 
 
 " But the point of it is this, Tom," the clergyman said, 
 firmly, for he began to feel already like a man of business, 
 however sad and mournful the business must become ; 
 
A FAIR BARGAIN 39 
 
 " does Lady Waldron consent to receive me, as as co- 
 trustee, or whatever it is called, if if which God forbid 
 it should ever prove to be necessary ?" 
 
 " My dear friend, I spoke to her about it yesterday, in 
 such a way as not to cause anxiety or alarm ; and she 
 made no objection, but left everything to me ; so you 
 have only to agree and all is settled." 
 
 " In that case, Tom," said Mr. Penniloe, arising, and 
 offering both hands to his friend, " I will not shirk my 
 duty to a man I love so much. May the Lord be with 
 me, for I am not a man of business or, at least, I have 
 not attained that reputation yet ! But I will do my best, and 
 your Nicie's interests shall be as sacred to me as my own 
 child's. Is there anything you would like to say about her?" 
 
 " Yes, Phil, one thing most important. She is a loving 
 creature ; and I trust that she will marry a good man who 
 will value her. I have fancied, more than once, that 
 Jemmy Fox is very fond of her. He is a manly, straight^ 
 forward fellow, and of a very good old family, quite equal 
 to ours so far as that goes. He has not much of this 
 world's goods at present, and her mother would naturally 
 look higher. But when a man is in my condition he 
 takes truer views of life. If Jemmy loves her, and she 
 comes to love him, I believe that they would have a very 
 happy life. He is very cheerful, and of the sweetest 
 temper the first of all things in married life and he is 
 as upright as yourself. In a few years he will be very 
 well off. I could wish no better fortune for her suppos- 
 ing that she gives her heart to him." 
 
 " He is a great favourite of mine as well," the curate 
 replied, though surprised not a little. "But as I have 
 agreed to all that you wish, Tom, you must yield a little 
 to my most earnest wish, and at the same time discharge 
 a simple duty. I cannot help hoping that your fears or I 
 will not call them that, for you fear nothing but your views 
 of your own case are all wrong. You must promise to take 
 the highest medical opinion. If I bring Gowler over, with 
 Fox's full approval, will you allow him to examine you?" 
 
 " You are too bad, Phil. But you have caught me there. 
 If you let me put you into the hands of lawyers, it is tit 
 for tat that you should drive me into those of doctors." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 DOCTORS THREE 
 
 PUBLIC opinion at Perlycross was stirred, as with a 
 many - bladed egg -whisk, by the sudden arrival of Dr. 
 Gowler. A man who cared nothing about the crops, and 
 never touched bacon or clotted cream, nor even replied 
 to the salutation of the largest farmer, but glided along 
 with his eyes on the ground, and a broad hat whelmed 
 down upon his hairless white face ; yet seemed to know 
 every lane and foot-path as if he had been born among 
 them no wonder that, in that unsettled time, when 
 frightful tales hung about the eaves of every cottage, and 
 every leathern latch-thong was drawn inside at nightfall, 
 very strange suspicions were in the air about him. Even 
 the friendship of the well-beloved parson, and the frank ad- 
 miration of Dr. Fox, could not stem the current against him. 
 The children of the village ran away at his shadow, and the 
 mothers in the doorway turned their babies' faces from him. 
 
 Every one who loved Sir Thomas Waldron, and that 
 meant everybody in the parish, shuddered at hearing that 
 this strange man had paid two visits at Walderscourt, and 
 had even remained there a great part of one night. And 
 when it was known that the yearly cricket-match, between 
 the north side of the Perle and the south, had been 
 quenched by this doctor's stern decree, the wrath of the 
 younger men was rebuked by the sorrow of the elder. 
 Jakes the school-master, that veteran sergeant (known as 
 " High Jarks," from the lofty flourish of his one remaining 
 arm, and thus distinct from his younger brother, "Low 
 Jarks," a good but not extraordinary butcher), firm as he 
 was, and inured to fields of death, found himself unable to 
 refuse his iron cheeks the drop that he was better fitted to 
 produce on others. 
 
DOCTORS THKEE 41 
 
 Now that brave descendant of Mars and Minerva feared 
 one thing, and one alone, in all this wicked world ; and 
 that was holy wedlock. It was rumoured that something 
 had befallen him in Spain, or some other foreign out- 
 lands, of a nature to make a good Christian doubt wheth- 
 er woman was meant as a helpmate for him under the 
 New Covenant. The sergeant was not given to much 
 talking, but rigid and resolute and self-contained; more 
 apt to point and be the moral of his vast experience than 
 to adorn it with long tales. Many people said that hav- 
 ing heard so much of the roar of cannon and the roll of 
 drums, he could never come to care again for any toast- 
 and-butter ; while others believed that he felt it his duty 
 to maintain the stern silence which he imposed in school. 
 
 There was, however, one person in the parish with 
 whom he indulged in brief colloquy sometimes ; and, 
 strange to say, that was a woman. Mrs. Muggridge, the 
 curate's house -keeper, felt more indignation than she 
 could express if anybody whispered that she was fond of 
 gossip. But, according to her own account, she smiled at 
 such a charge, coming as it only could from the lowest 
 quarters, because she was bound for her master's sake to 
 have some acquaintance with her neighbours' doings ; for 
 they found it too easy to impose on him. And too often 
 little Fay would run with the best part of his dinner to 
 some widow, mourning deeply over an empty pot of beer. 
 For that mighty police force of charity, the district visitors, 
 were not established then. 
 
 Thyatira, though not perhaps unduly nervous for the 
 times were sadly out of joint was lacking to some ex- 
 tent in that very quality which the sergeant possessed in 
 such remarkable degree. And ever since that shocking 
 day when her dear mistress had been brought home from 
 the cliff stone-dead, the house -keeper had realized the 
 perils of this life even more deeply than its daily bless- 
 ings. Susanna, the maid, was of a very timid nature, and 
 when piously rebuked for her want of faith in Providence, 
 had a knack of justifying her distrust by a course of very 
 creepy narratives. Mrs. Muggridge would sternly com- 
 mand her to leave off, and yet contrive to extract every 
 horror down to its dying whisper. 
 
42 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 Moreover, the rectory, a long and rambling house, was 
 not a cheerful place to sit alone in after dark. Although 
 the high and whitewashed back abutted on the village 
 street, there was no door there, and no window looking 
 outward in the basement; and the walls being very thick, 
 you might almost as well be fifty miles from any com- 
 pany. Worst of all, and even cruel on the ancient build- 
 er's part, the only access to the kitchen and the rooms 
 adjoining it, was through a narrow and dark passage, 
 arched with rough flints set in mortar, which ran like a 
 tunnel beneath the first-floor rooms, from one end of the 
 building to the other. The front of the house was on a 
 higher level, facing southward upon a grass -plat and 
 flower-garden, and as pretty as the back was ugly. 
 
 Even the stoutest heart in Perlycross might flutter a 
 little in the groping process, for the tunnel was pitch-dark 
 at night before emerging into the candlelight twinkling 
 in the paved yard beside the kitchen door. While the 
 servants themselves would have thought it a crime, if the 
 butcher or baker, or any one coming for them (ex- 
 cept the postman), had kept the front way up the open 
 gravel walk, and ventured to knock at the front door 
 itself. There was no bell outside to call them, and the 
 green-baize door at the end of the passage, leading to the 
 kitchen stairs, deadened the sound of the knocker so 
 much that sometimes a visitor might thunder away for a 
 quarter of an hour, with intervals for conscientious study 
 of his own temper, unless little Fay's quick ears were 
 reached, and her pink little palms and chest began to 
 struggle with the mighty knob. 
 
 So it happened, one evening in the first week of August, 
 when Mr. Penniloe was engaged in a distant part of the 
 parish, somebody or other came and knocked it was 
 never known how many times or how long at the upper- 
 folk door of the rectory. 
 
 There was not any deafness about Thyatira, and as for 
 Susanna, she could hear too much ; neither was little Fay 
 to blame, although the rest were rather fond of leaving 
 things to her. If the pupils had returned it could not 
 have happened so ; for although they made quite enough 
 noise of their own in the little back parlour allotted to 
 
DOCTORS THREE 43 
 
 them, they never failed to hear any other person's noise, 
 and to complain of it next morning when they did not 
 know their lessons. 
 
 But the present case was, that the whole live force of 
 the rectory, now on the premises, was established quite 
 happily in the kitchen yard, with a high wall between it 
 and the village street, and a higher wall topped with shrubs 
 between it and the garden. Master Harry, now at home 
 for his holidays (a tiger by day, but a lion at night, for 
 protection of the household), was away with his father, 
 and sleeping soundly through a Bible-lecture. And so it 
 came to pass that the tall dark man knocked, and knocked ; 
 and at last departed, muttering uncourteous expressions 
 through his beard. 
 
 Even that might never have been known inside without 
 the good offices of Mrs. Channing, the wife of the baker, 
 whose premises adjoined the rectory garden and the 
 drive from the front gate. 
 
 " 'Twas nort but them Gelany fowls," she explained, 
 before she had her breakfast, because her husband was the 
 son of old Channing, the clerk and sexton ; " them Gelany 
 birds of ours as drew my notice to it. They kept up 
 such a screeching in the big linhay just at dusk instead of 
 sticking their heads inside their wings that I thought they 
 must be worriting about a dog or cat. And so out of 
 house I runs ; but I couldn't see nort, till I heers a girt 
 knocking at passon's front door. Thinks I, * What's up 
 now ?' For I knowed a' wurn't at home, but away to they 
 Bible -readings. So I claps the little barn -steps again 
 your big wall and takes the liberty of peeping over, just 
 between the lalac bush and old holly. You must under- 
 stand, Mrs. Muggridge, that the light wurn't very clear ; 
 but I could make out a big tall man a-standing, with a long 
 furrin cloak, atwixt the pillars of your porch. 
 
 " ' Passon's not at home,' says I ; * can I give any 
 message ?' 
 
 " Then a' turns round sudden like, and stands just like 
 a pictur', with the postesses to either side of him, and his 
 beard falling down the same as Aaron's. But if a' said 
 ort, 'twur beyond my comprehension. 
 
 " ' Did you please to be looking for the doctor, sir ?' 
 
44 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 I said < the doctor as is 'biding now with Mr. Penniloe ? 
 I did hear that he was gone to Squire Waldron's house.' 
 For I thought that he was more the sort to belong to that 
 old Gowler. 
 
 " But he only shook his head and turned away ; and 
 presently off he walks most majestic, like the image of a 
 man the same as I have seen to Exeter. I felt myself in 
 that alarm that go away I couldn't until I heard your gate 
 fall to behind him. Then I thought to come and tell you, 
 but L hadn't got the nerves to face your black passage 
 after what had come across me. For to my mind it must 
 have been the evil one himself. May the Lord save us 
 from his roarings and devourings !" 
 
 When Mrs. Muggridge heard this tale she thought that 
 it had better go no further, and she saw no occasion to 
 repeat it to her master; because no message had been 
 left, and he might imagine that she had not attended to 
 her duty very well. 
 
 For it had chanced that at the very moment when some- 
 body wanted to disturb them, the house-keeper was giving 
 a most pleasant tea-party to the two little dears, Master 
 Michael and Miss Fay. 
 
 And by accident, of course, Sergeant Jakes had just 
 dropped in. No black passage could be anything but a 
 joke to a man of his valour, and no rapping at the door 
 could have passed unchallenged if it reached such ears. 
 But the hospitable Thyatira offered such a distraction of 
 good things, far beyond the largest larder-dreams of a 
 dry-tongued lonely bachelor, that the coarser and seldom 
 desirable gift of the ears lay in deep abeyance. For the 
 sergeant had felt quite enough of hardship to know a good 
 time when he tasted it. 
 
 " Now, my precious little dears," Thyatira had whispered, 
 with a sigh, when the veteran would be helped no more, 
 " there is light enough still for a game of hop-scotch down 
 at the bottom of the yard. Susanna will mark out the 
 bed for you. You will find the chalk under the knife- 
 board." 
 
 Away ran the children, and their merry voices rang 
 sweetly to the dancing of their golden hair. 
 
 " Sergeant schoolmaster," continued the lady, for she 
 
DOCTORS THKEE 45 
 
 knew that he liked this combination of honours, "how 
 pleasant it is when the shadows are falling to see the 
 little innocents delighting in their games ! It seems to be 
 no more than yesterday when I was as full of play as any 
 of them." 
 
 " A good many yesterdays have passed since that," Mr. 
 Jakes thought, as he looked at her ; but he was far too 
 gallant and polite to say so. " In your case, ma'am, it is 
 so," he replied ; " yesterday, only yesterday ! The last 
 time I was here, 1 was saying to myself that you ladies 
 have the command of time. You make it pass for us so 
 quickly, while it is standing still with you !" 
 
 "What a fine thing it is to have been abroad ! You do 
 learn such things from the gift of tongues. But it do 
 seem a pity you should have to say them so much to 
 yourself, Mr. Sergeant." 
 
 " Ma'am," replied the veteran, in some fear of becoming 
 too complimentary; "I take it that some of us are meant 
 to live apart, and to work for the good of others. But 
 have you heard how the colonel is to-day ? Ah, he is a 
 man, indeed !" 
 
 " There are doctors enough to kill him now. And they 
 are going to do it, this very night." Mrs. Muggridge spoke 
 rather sharply, for she was a little put out with her visitor. 
 
 "What?" cried the man of sword and ferule. "To 
 operate, ma'am, and I not there I, who know all about 
 operations !" 
 
 " No, Mr. Sergeant ; but to hold a council. And in this 
 very house, I believe ; the room is to be ready at ten 
 o'clock. Dr. Fox, Dr. Gronow, and Dr. Gowler. It is 
 more than I can understand. But not a word about it 
 to any one, for Sir Thomas would be very angry. To 
 frighten his people and make such a fuss they durst 
 not propose it at his own house. And Gronow has never 
 been called in, as you know. But Dr. Jemmy made a 
 favour of it, for he thinks very highly of that man ; and 
 the gentleman from London did not object. Only he said 
 that if it must be so, and everything was to be out of 
 proper form, he would like my master to be present with 
 them." 
 
 " Three doctors and a parson to sit upon him ! The 
 
46 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 Lord have mercy on the colonel's soul ! There is no hope 
 left for his poor body. I will tell you, ma'am, what I saw 
 once at Turry Vardoes but no, it is not fit for you to 
 hear. Well, my heart is like a lump of lead. I would 
 sooner have lost my other arm than heard such a thing of 
 the colonel. Good-night, ma'am ; and thanking you for all 
 your kindness, I'm no fit company for any one no longer." 
 
 lie was gone in a moment. His many-angled form sank 
 into the darkness of the flinty tunnel as swiftly as ever a 
 school-boy vanished, when that form became too conspicu- 
 ous. Thyatira heaved a deep sigh, and sat down in the 
 many-railed beechen chair at the head of her cruelly vacant 
 table. She began to count the empty dishes, and with less 
 than her usual charity mused upon the voracity of man. 
 But her heart was kind, and the tear she wiped away was 
 not wholly of selfish tincture. 
 
 " The hand of the Lord is upon us now. My master 
 will lose the best friend he has got," she was thinking, as 
 the darkness gathered ; " faithful as he is, it will try him 
 hard again ; for Satan has prevailed against us ; and this 
 will be a worse snare than any he has laid. To have in par- 
 sonage house a man as chooseth not to come to prayers ; 
 or, at any rate, standeth up at mantel -piece, with his 
 back turned on the kneelers, till my master told him, like 
 the Christian he is, that he would not desire him, as 
 his guest, to go contrary to his principles and pretty 
 principles they must be, I reckon but would beg him to 
 walk in the garden rather than set such example to his 
 household ! Alas, the day that such a man came here, to 
 the house of a holy minister ! No blessing can ever at- 
 tend his medicine. Ah, the times are not as they was ! 
 No wonder that Spring-heeled Jack is allowed to carry 
 on when such a heathen is encouraged in the land. It 
 would not go out of my grains if he was Spring-heeled 
 Jack himself !" 
 
 Much against her liking, and with a trembling hand, 
 this excellent woman brought in the candles, and prepared 
 the sitting-room for the consultation of unholy science. 
 
 But the first to arrive was a favourite of hers, and, in- 
 deed, of all the parish a young man of very cheerful 
 aspect, and of brisk and ready speech. No man had ever 
 
DOCTORS THREE 47 
 
 known Jemmy Fox despair of anything he undertook; 
 and there were few things he would not undertake ; only 
 he must tackle them in his own way. A square-built, 
 thick-set, resolute young fellow, of no great stature, but 
 good frame and fibre, and as nimble as a pea in a frying- 
 pan. There was nothing very wonderful about his face, 
 and at first sight a woman would have called him plain, 
 for his nose was too short, and his chin too square, and 
 his mouth too wide for elegance. But the more he was 
 looked at the better he was liked by any honest person ; 
 for he was never on the watch for fault in others as 
 haters of humbug are too apt to be. 
 
 And yet, without intending or knowing it at all, this 
 son of Chiron had given deep offence to many of his 
 brethren around Perlycross, and it told upon him sadly 
 afterwards, for he loved his profession, and looked upon 
 it as the highest and noblest in the world, and had worked 
 at it too thoroughly not to have learned how often it is 
 mere profession. By choice he would have dropped all 
 general practice, and become a surgeon only ; but this was 
 impossible except in some large place, and cities were not 
 to his liking. As the only son of a wealthy banker he 
 might have led an idle life if he pleased ; but that he 
 could not bear, and resolved to keep himself ; for the old 
 man was often too exacting, and the younger had some 
 little income of his own. Perlycross suited him well, and 
 he had taken a long and rambling house, which had for- 
 merly been a barn, about half a mile from the village. 
 
 " Seen anything of Spring-heeled Jack the last night 
 or two, Mrs. Muggridge ?" he inquired too lightly, as he 
 flung down his hat in similar style at a corner. " Have 
 you heard the last thing that has come to light about 
 him ?" 
 
 " No, sir ; no ! But I hope it is no harm," replied the 
 palpitating Thyatira. 
 
 " Well, that depends upon how you take it. We have 
 discovered for certain that he is a medical man from a 
 country parish, not such a very long way from here, who 
 found his practice too small for the slaughter on the 
 wholesale style he delights in. And so he turned his in- 
 struments into patent jumpers, tore the heart out of his 
 
48 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 last patient he was obliged to choose a poor one, or it 
 would have been too small and then he fitted a Bude- 
 light to his biggest dark-lantern. And you know better 
 than I do what he shows you at the window, exactly as 
 the church-clock strikes twelve." 
 
 " Oh, Dr. Jemmy, how you do make one creep ! Then, 
 after all, he is not, as everybody says, even a dissolute 
 nobleman ?" 
 
 " No ; that is where the disappointment lies. He set 
 that story afoot, no doubt, to comfort the relatives of 
 the folk he kills. By -the -bye, what a place this old 
 house would be for him ! He likes a broad window- 
 sill, just like yours, and the weather is the very thing 
 for him." 
 
 " I shall nail up a green baize every night. Oh, Dr. 
 Jemmy, there is a knock at the door ! Would you mind 
 seeing who it is that's a dear ?" 
 
 Dr. Fox, with a pleasant smile, admitted Dr. Gronow, 
 on his very first visit to the rectory. 
 
 " Others not come yet 2" asked the elder gentleman, as 
 the trembling house - keeper offered him a chair ; " his 
 reverence would hardly like a pipe here, I suppose. Well, 
 Jemmy, what is your opinion of all this strange affair ?" 
 
 Mrs. Muggridge had hurried off, with a shiver and a 
 prayer. 
 
 " I am mum before my betters," the young man re- 
 plied. " The case is gone out of my hands altogether." 
 
 " And a good thing for you. I am glad of it for your 
 sake. But we must not anticipate Gowler. I have no 
 business here, except as what the lawyers call amicus 
 curice. By4he-bye, I suppose you have never seen the 
 smallest ground for suspicion of foul play ?" 
 
 " Never ; I should have come to you first if I had. 
 There could be no possible motive, to begin with ; and 
 everybody loves him like a father." 
 
 " A man is too fatherly sometimes. One never can 
 understand those foreign women. But you know the 
 family and 1 do not. Excuse me for a horrible suggestion. 
 But I have had some very dark experiences." 
 
 " And so, no doubt, has Gowler. The idea crossed his 
 brain, but was scattered immediately when he knew the 
 
DOCTORS THKEE 49 
 
 facts. Hush, here they come ! Let us think no more of 
 that." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe was tired and in very low spirits, for he 
 looked upon this meeting as the fatal crisis. After seeing 
 to his visitors, and offering refreshment which none of 
 them accepted he took a chair apart, being present as a 
 listener only. 
 
 Thereupon Dr. Gowler, in very few words, gave his view 
 of the case, premising only that he spoke with some doubt, 
 and might well be mistaken, for the symptoms were per- 
 plexing, and the malady was one which had not as yet 
 been studied at all exhaustively. His conclusion agreed 
 in the main with that of his young and sagacious coadju- 
 tor, though he was enabled, by longer experience, to be, 
 perhaps, a little more definite. He spoke very well, and 
 with a diffidence which particularly impressed the others, 
 on the part of a man whose judgment was of the very 
 highest authority. 
 
 Dr. Gronow immediately confirmed his view, so far as 
 the details at second hand could warrant, and gave his 
 own account of a similar case, where the injury was caused 
 by the handle of a barrow, and continued latent for sev- 
 eral years. The unanimous decision was that no hope 
 remained, unless the poor patient would submit to a sur- 
 gical operation of great difficulty and danger in the then 
 condition of medical science, and for which it was advis- 
 able to have recourse to Paris. 
 
 " I know him too well. He will never consent," Mr. 
 Penniloe came forward, and sought from face to face for 
 some gleam of encouragement ; " surely there must be 
 some other course, something at least to alleviate " 
 
 " There may be ; but we do not know it yet, and I fear 
 that we never shall do so ; and for this very sufficient 
 reason " here Dr. Gowler took a glove from his pocket, 
 and presented a most simple and convincing explanation 
 of the mischief that had happened, and the consequence 
 that must of necessity ensue without surgical redress. 
 Even that, he admitted, was of very doubtful issue, in 
 plain English u either kill or cure." 
 
 The parson sighed heavily, and even Dr. Fox was too 
 much affected to say a word ; but the elder physicians 
 
50 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 seemed to think it right and natural, and a credit to their 
 science that they knew so much about it. Gowler and 
 Gronow were becoming mighty friends so far as two men 
 of the world care to indulge and the great London doc- 
 tor accepted with pleasure the offer of a day's fly-fishing. 
 
 " I have not thrown a fly since I was quite a boy," he said. 
 
 "And I never threw a fly till I was an old man," said 
 the other ; and their host knew well which would have the 
 better chance, though he felt a little vexed at their light 
 arrangements. 
 
 " It is not for the sake of the fishing, my dear fellow," 
 Dr. Gowler assured him, when the other two were gone ; 
 " I was to have left you in the morning, as you know ; 
 and I have not had such a holiday for seven years. I posi- 
 tively needed it, and shall be twice the man. But I felt 
 that I ought to stay one day longer, to give you one more 
 chance of persuading poor Sir Thomas. See how hand- 
 somely he has behaved I mean, according to country no- 
 tions, though I often make more in one day in town. He 
 slipped this into my hand, sealed up ; and I did not re- 
 fuse it, for fear of a fuss. But you will return it when I 
 am in the coach, and explain, with my kind regards, that 
 it is against my rule to take any fee upon a visit to a 
 friend. I came to renew our old friendship only, and 
 from my great regard for you. We do not think alike 
 upon the greatest of all matters. Perhaps that is better 
 for your happiness than mine. But, after all my knowl- 
 edge of the world, I do believe that the best friends are 
 those who are like you." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe took the check for fifty guineas, and placed 
 it in his desk without a word, for he knew his friend's 
 character too well to argue. Then he shook him very 
 warmly by the hand, and said, " Good-night." 
 
 But as he sank back in his chair to reflect, and examine 
 himself of the by-gone day, he hoped that his ears had 
 deceived him that night in a matter which had shocked 
 him sadly. Unless they had erred, Dr. Gronow had said : 
 " In a case of this kind, for the advance of knowledge, 
 autopsy should be compulsory ;" and Harrison Gowler 
 had replied, " Exactly so ; but in this benighted part I 
 suppose it is impossible." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 R. I. P. 
 
 " OH, Mr. Sergeant, how you did alarm me !" cried a 
 very pretty damsel, one fine October evening, as she al- 
 most fell upon the breast of " High Jarks," from some 
 narrow stone steps at the corner of a lane. She was com- 
 ing by the nearest way to the upper village, from the side- 
 entrance to Walderscourt, a picturesque way but a rough 
 one ; for the lane was overhung, and even overwhelmed, 
 with every kind of hinderance to the proper course of 
 trade. Out of the sides, and especially at corners, where 
 the right of way should have been most sacred, jutted 
 forth obstacles most inconsiderate, or even, of set purpose, 
 malicious. If a great stool of fern could be treated as 
 nothing, even with its jagged saws quivering, or a flexible 
 ash could be shoved aside lightly, with the cowardly 
 knowledge that it had no thorns ; yet in ambush, with 
 their spears couched, would be the files of furze, the 
 barbed brigade of holly, or the stiff picket of blackthorn. 
 And any man engaged with these deliveries of the mo- 
 ment might thank his stars (when visible through the 
 tangle overhead) if by any chance he missed a blinding 
 thump in both his eyes. 
 
 Alas ! it would have been indeed a blessing, as well as 
 a just correction, for the well-seasoned master of the youth 
 of Perlycross, if a benevolent switch from the hedge-row 
 had taken him sharply in the eyes that had so long de- 
 scried nothing but motes in more tender orbs. As the 
 young maid drew back from the warlike arm which had 
 been quite obliged to encircle her, one flash of her eyes 
 entered those of Mr. Jakes, and he never saw again as he 
 had seen before. 
 
 But his usual composure was not gone yet. A true 
 
52 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 school-master is well assured, whatever the circumstance 
 may be, that he is in the right, and all others in the 
 wrong. 
 
 " I beg you will offer no apologies, miss," he began, 
 with a very gracious smile, as he rubbed up the nap of his 
 old velvet coat where a wicked boy had tallow-candled it ; 
 " I take it that you are a stranger here, and not quite fa- 
 miliar with our kind of road. The roads about here have 
 a manner of showing that they know not in what direction 
 they are going." 
 
 " But, Mr. Sergeant, don't you know me ? Not so very 
 long ago I ran up this very lane, over the plank bridge 
 and up to this heling, because of the temper you were in. 
 It was my brother Watty you wanted to catch, but you 
 flourished your cane so that the girls ran, too. But you 
 would not have beaten poor me, Mr. Sergeant?" 
 
 She skipped back a step or two, as if still afraid, and 
 curtsied to show her pretty figure, and managed to let 
 her bright hair fall down over the blush of her soft, round 
 cheeks. Then she lifted her eyes with the sweetest ap- 
 peal, for the fair Tamar Haddon was a born coquette. 
 
 " Why, Tamar, my dear, can it possibly be you ? I could 
 never have supposed that you would come to this. You 
 were always the prettiest child among the girls. But, as 
 you know, I had nothing to do with them. My business 
 has always been with the boys." 
 
 " And quite right, Mr. Sergeant ; they are so much bet- 
 ter, so much quicker to learn, as well as better-looking and 
 more interesting." 
 
 " That depends upon who it may be," said Mr. Jakes, 
 judicially ; some girls are much better at round-hand, as 
 well as arithmetic. But why have I lost sight of you all 
 these years? And why have you grown such a well, 
 such a size?" 
 
 " Oh, you are rude ! I am not a size at all. I thought 
 that you always learned politeness in the wars. I am only 
 seventeen round the waist but you sha'n't see. No, no ; 
 stick you to the boys, Mr. Sergeant. I must be off. I 
 didn't come out for pleasure. Good -evening, sir; good- 
 evening to you." 
 
 " Don't be in such a hurry, Miss Haddon. Don't you 
 
K. I. P. 53 
 
 know when I used to give you sugar-plums out of this 
 horn box? And if I may say it without offence, you are 
 much too pretty to be in this dark place without somebody 
 to take care of you." 
 
 " Ah ! now you are more like the army again. There is 
 nothing like a warrior, in my opinion. Oh, what a plague 
 these brambles are ! Would you mind just holding my 
 hat for a moment ? I mustn't go into the village such a 
 fright, or everybody will stare at me. My hair is such a 
 trouble, I have half a mind sometimes to cut off every snip 
 of it. No, no, you can't help me ; men are much too 
 clumsy." 
 
 Mr. Jakes was lost in deep admiration, and Tamar Had- 
 don knew it well, and turned away to smile, as she sat 
 upon a bank of moss, drawing her long tresses through 
 the supple play of fingers and the rosy curve of palms ; 
 while her cherry lips were pouting and her brown eyes 
 sparkling in and out the golden shower from her saucy 
 forehead. The school - master held her little hat, and 
 watched every movement of her hands and eyes, and 
 wondered ; for the gayety of girlhood and the blushes 
 and the glances were as the opening of a new world 
 to him. 
 
 " I know what you are thinking now it's no good to 
 deny it !" she cried, as she jumped up and snatched her 
 hat away. "You are saying to yourself, 'What a poor 
 vain creature ! Servants' hats are not allowed in well-con- 
 ducted households.' But you must understand that I am 
 not a common servant. I am a private lady's-maid to her 
 ladyship, the countess ; and she has none of your old- 
 fashioned English ways about her. She likes to see me 
 look well, perhaps you would not call it l pretty,' for 
 that depends upon the wearer, and I have no pretension 
 to it, but tidy, and decent, and tolerably nice " 
 
 " Wonderfully nice, and as lovely as a rose." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Sergeant, you who must know so much bet- 
 ter ! But I have no time for such compliments, and they 
 would turn my little head from such a learned man as you 
 are. How can I think of myself for a moment, when 
 things are so dreadful? Poor Sir Thomas you know 
 how ill he is ; he is longing for something, and I am sent 
 
54 PEBLYCKOSS 
 
 to fetch it on the sly, so that Dr. Fox should have no idea, 
 but her ladyship says that it can do no harm, now." 
 
 " What, the poor colonel waiting, miss, and I have kept 
 you all this time ? I was just on my way to inquire for 
 him, when when I happened to meet you. I can scarce- 
 ly believe in any doctor conquering him." 
 
 " They are, though they are doing it. He is very low 
 to-day. They seem to have brought him down to a flat 
 knock-under, just as you do with the school-boys. I can't 
 hardly think of it without crying." 
 
 The fair Tamar dropped her eyes, and hung her head a 
 little, and then looked softly at the veteran to plead for 
 his warmest sympathy. 
 
 " There, I declare to you, I have cried so much that I 
 can't cry no more," she continued, with a sigh ; " but it is 
 a calf's sweetbread that I be bound to get; and where 
 from, I'd like to know, unless it is to Mr. Robert's." 
 
 A pang shot through the heart of Mr. Jakes, and if his 
 cane had been at hand he would have grasped it. For 
 Mr. Robert was his own brother, the only butcher in the 
 village, a man of festive nature (as a butcher ought to be), 
 of no habitual dignity and therefore known as "Low 
 Jarks " a favourite with the fair sex, and, worst of all, 
 some twenty years the junior of " High Jarks." 
 
 " What, young Bobby !" cried the sergeant, striking 
 out ; " there is nothing that he knows worth speaking of. 
 And what is more to the purpose, he never will know 
 nothing I mean to say 'anything.' Sometimes I go 
 back from all my instructions all over the world to the 
 way to the way you talk in this part of the world." 
 
 "But, Mr. Sergeant, that is only natural, considering 
 that you belong to this part of the world. Now, you do 
 don't you ? However learned you may be." 
 
 "Well, I will not deny that it comes up sometimes. 
 A man of my years I mean, a young man by age, and 
 yet one who has partaken in great motions, feels himself 
 so very much above butchers' -shops, and the like of them. 
 And all the women or as they call themselves now, all 
 the ladies of the neighbourhood, have now been so well 
 educated that they think a great deal of the difference." 
 
 " To be sure," said Tamar Haddon, " I can quite see 
 
R. I. P. 55 
 
 that. But how could they get their meat without J;he 
 butchers'-shops ? Some people are too learned, Mr. Ser- 
 geant." 
 
 " I know it, miss. But I am very particular not to let 
 any one say it of me. I could quote Latin if I chose ; 
 but who would put a spill to my pipe afterwards ? One 
 must never indulge in all one knows." 
 
 " Well, it does seem a pity, after spending years about 
 it. But here we are come to the river-side at last. You . 
 mustn't think of coming across the plank with me. It 
 would never do to have you drownded ; and you know 
 what Betty Cork is. Why, all the boys to Perlycross 
 would be making mouths to-morrow ! And I shall go 
 home along the turnpike-road." 
 
 The school-master saw the discretion of this. Charmed 
 as he was with this gay young maid, he must never for- 
 get what was thought of him. 
 
 For she was the daughter of Walter Haddon, the land- 
 lord of the Ivy-bush, a highly respectable place, and there- 
 fore jealous of the parish reputation. Moreover, the hand- 
 rail of the foot-bridge was now on the side of his empty 
 sleeve ; and the plank being very light and tremulous, he 
 feared to recross it without stepping backward, which was 
 better done without spectators. So he stayed where he 
 was, while she tripped across without even touching the 
 hand-rail ; and the dark gleam of the limpid Perle, in the 
 twilight of gray branches, fluttered with her passing 
 shadow. 
 
 Just as she turned on the opposite bank, where cart- 
 ruts ridged the water's brink, and was kissing her hand 
 to the ancient soldier, with a gay "Good -evening," the 
 deep boom of a big bell rang and quivered throughout 
 the valley. Cattle in the meadows ceased from browsing, 
 and looked up as if they were called ; birds made wing 
 for the distant wood, and sere leaves in the stillness rus- 
 tled, as the solemn thrill trembled in the darkening air. 
 
 " For God's sake, count !" the old soldier cried, raising 
 the hat from his grizzled head, and mounting a hillock 
 clear of bushes ; " it is the big bell tolling !" 
 
 But the frolicsome maiden had disappeared, and he was 
 left to count alone. 
 
56 PEELYCROS8 
 
 At intervals of a minute, while the fall of night grew 
 heavier, the burden of the passing-bell was laid on mortal 
 ears and hearts. 
 
 " Time is over for one more," 
 
 was graven on the front of it, and was borne along the 
 valley ; while the echo of the hills brought home the les- 
 son of the reverse 
 
 "Soon shall thy own life be o'er." 
 
 Keeping throbbing count, the listener spread the fingers 
 of his one hand upon his threadbare waistcoat, and they 
 trembled more and more as the number grew towards the 
 fatal forty-nine. When the forty-ninth stroke ceased to 
 ring, and the last pulsation died away, he stood as if his 
 own life depended on the number fifty. But the knell 
 was finished; the years it told of were but forty-nine 
 gone by, like the minutes between the strokes. 
 
 " Old Channing, perhaps, is looking at the tower-clock. 
 Hark ! In a moment he will strike another stroke." But 
 old Channing knew his arithmetic too well. 
 
 " Now God forgive me for a sinful man, or worse than 
 a man, an ungrateful beast !" cried the sergeant, falling 
 upon his knees, with sorrow imbittered by the shameful 
 thought that while his old chief was at the latest gasp, 
 himself had been flirting merrily with a handmaid of the 
 house, and sniggering like a raw recruit. He wiped his 
 eyes with the back of his hand, and the lesson of the bell 
 fell on him. 
 
 It had fallen at the same time upon ears more heedful 
 and less needful of it. Mr. Penniloe, on his homeward 
 road, received the mournful message, and met the groom 
 who had ridden so hard to save the angelical hour. And 
 truly, if there be any value in the ancient saying 
 
 " Happy is the soul 
 That hath a speedy toll," 
 
 the flight of Sir Thomas Waldron's spirit was in the right 
 direction. 
 
R. i. P. 57 
 
 The clergyman turned from his homeward path, and 
 hastened to the house of mourning. He scarcely expected 
 that any one as yet would care to come down or speak to 
 him ; but the least he could do was to offer his help. In 
 the hush of the dusk he was shown through the hall, and 
 into a little sitting-room favoured by the ladies. Believ- 
 ing that he was quite alone, for no one moved, and the 
 light was nearly spent, he took a seat by the curtained 
 window, and sank into a train of sombre thoughts. But 
 presently a lapping sound aroused him, and going to the 
 sofa, there he found his favourite Nicie overcome with sor- 
 row, her head drooping back like a wind -tossed flower; 
 while Pixie, with a piteous gaze, was nestling to her side, 
 and offering every now and then the silent comfort of his 
 tongue. 
 
 " What is it, my dear 2" the parson asked, as if he did 
 not know too well. But who knows what to say some- 
 times? Then, shocked at himself, he said, "Don't, my 
 dear." But she went on sobbing as if he had not spoken ; 
 and he thought of his little Fay when she lost her 
 mother. 
 
 He was too kind to try any consolations or press the 
 sense of duty yet ; but he put on his glasses, and took 
 little Pixie, and began to stroke his wrinkled brow. 
 
 " This dear little thing is crying, too," he whispered ; 
 and certainly there were tears, his own or another's, on 
 the velvet nose. Then Nicie rose slowly, and put back 
 her hair and tried to look bravely at both of them. 
 
 " If mother could only cry," she said ; " but she has 
 not moved once, and she will not come away. There is 
 one thing she ought to do, but she cannot ; and I am 
 afraid that I should never do it right. Oh, will you do it, 
 Uncle Penniloe ? It would be an excuse to get her out 
 of the room ; and then we might make her lie down 
 and be better. My father is gone ; and will mother go, 
 too ?" 
 
 Speaking as steadily as she could, but breaking down 
 every now and then, she told him that there was a cer- 
 tain old ring, of no great value, but very curious, which 
 her father had said many years ago he would like to 
 have buried with him. He seemed to have forgotten it 
 3* 
 
58 PERLYCROSS 
 
 throughout his long illness, but his wife had remembered 
 it suddenly and had told them where to find it. It was 
 found by a trusty servant now ; and she was present, while 
 Mr. Penniloe placed it on the icy finger, and dropped a 
 tear on the forehead of his friend, holy now in the last 
 repose. 
 
 On his homeward path that night the curate saw 
 through the gloom of lonely sorrow many a storm impend- 
 ing. Who was there now to hold the parish in the bonds 
 of amity, to reconcile the farmers' feuds, to help the strug- 
 gling tradesman, to bury the aged cripple, to do any of 
 those countless deeds of good -will and humanity which 
 are less than the discount of the interest of the debt due 
 from the wealthy to the poor ? 
 
 And who would cheer him now with bold decision and 
 kind deference in all those difficulties which beset the 
 country clergyman who hates to strain his duty, yet is 
 fearful of relaxing it ? Such difficulties must arise ; and 
 though there certainly was in those days a great deal more 
 fair give-and-take than can be now expected, there was 
 less of settled rule and guidance for a peaceful parson. 
 Moreover, he felt the important charge which he had 
 undertaken as cotrustee of large estates, as well as a nerv- 
 ous dread of being involved in heavy outlay, with no rich 
 friend to back him now, concerning the repairs, and, in 
 some measure, the rebuilding, of the large and noble par- 
 ish church. 
 
 But all these personal troubles vanished in the mem- 
 ories of true friendship, and in holy confidence, when he 
 performed that last sad duty in the dismantled church, and 
 then in the eastern nook of the long graveyard. He had 
 dreaded this trial not a little, but knew what his dear 
 friend would have wished ; and the needful strength was 
 given him. 
 
 It has been said, and is true too often (through our 
 present usages), that one funeral makes many. A strong 
 east wind of unwonted bitterness at this time of year 
 it was now the last day of October whistled through 
 the crowd of mourners, fluttered scarf and crape and veil, 
 and set old Channing's last tooth raging, and tossed the 
 minister's whitening locks and the leaves of the Office for 
 
E. I. P. 59 
 
 the Dead. So cold was the air that people of real pity 
 and good feeling, if they had no friends in the village, 
 hied to the Ivy-bush when all was over, and called for hot 
 brandy-and-water. 
 
 But among them was not Mr. Jakes, though he needed 
 a stimulus as much as any. He lingered in the church- 
 yard till the banking up was done, and every one else had 
 quitted it. When all alone, he scooped a hole at the head 
 of the grave and filled it with a bunch of white chrysan- 
 themums, embedded firmly to defy the wind. Then he 
 returned to the sombre school-room at the west end of the 
 church-yard, and with one window looking into it. There, 
 although he had flint and tinder, he did not even light a 
 dip, but sat for hours in his chair of office with his head 
 laid on the old oak desk. Rough and sad and tumbled 
 memories passed before his gray-thatched eyes, and stirred 
 the recesses of his rugged heart. 
 
 Suddenly a shadow fell across his desk. He rose from 
 his dream of the past, and turning, saw the half -moon 
 quivering aslant through the diamond panes of the lattice. 
 For a minute he listened, but there was nothing to be 
 heard except a long, low, melancholy wail. Then he but- 
 toned his coat, his best Sunday black, and was ashamed to 
 find the empty cuff wet as the bib of an infant, but with 
 the tears of motherless old age. 
 
 After his manner when no boys were nigh he con- 
 demned himself for an ancient fool, and was about to 
 strike a light when the sad, low sound fell again upon his 
 ears. Determined to know what the meaning of it was, 
 he groped for his hat and stout oak staff, and entered the 
 church-yard by the little iron gate, the private way from 
 the school premises. 
 
 The silence was as deep as the stillness of the dead ; 
 but, by the light of the westering moon, he made his way 
 among the white tombstones and the rubbish of the 
 builders to the eastern corner where Sir Thomas Waldron 
 lay. His old chief's grave was fair and smooth, and the 
 crisp earth glistened in the moonlight, for the wind had 
 fallen, and a frost was setting in ; but a small black figure 
 lay on the crown, close to the bunch of flowers. A low 
 growl met him, and then a dismal wail of anguish, be- 
 
60 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 yond any power of words or tears, trembled along the wan 
 alleys of the dead, and lingered in the shadowy recesses 
 of the church. 
 
 " Good little Jess, thou art truer than mankind," said 
 the sergeant, and marched away to his lonely bed. 
 
CHAPTER VHI 
 THE POTATO-FIELD 
 
 LIVE who may, and die who must, the work of the 
 world shall be carried on. Of all these works, the one 
 that can never be long in arrears is eating ; and of all 
 British victuals, next to bread, the potato claims, perhaps, 
 the foremost place. Where the soil is light towards Hag- 
 don Hill, on the property of the Dean and Chapter, pota- 
 toes meet for any dignitary of the Church could be dug 
 by the ton in those days. In these democratic and epi- 
 demic times, it is hard to find a good potato ; and the 
 reason is too near to seek. The finer the quality of fruit 
 or root, the fiercer are they that fall on it ; and the Nem- 
 esis of excellence already was impending. But the fatal 
 blow had not fallen yet ; the ripe leaves strewed the earth 
 with vivid gold instead of reeking, weltering smut, and 
 the berries were sound for boys and girls to pelt one 
 another across the field ; while at the lift of the glis- 
 tening fork across the crumbling ridges, up sprang a 
 cluster of rosy globes, clean as a codlin and chubby as 
 a cherub. 
 
 Farmer John Homer, the senior church- warden, and the 
 largest rate-payer on the south side of the Perle, would 
 never have got on as he did without some knowledge of 
 the weather. The bitter east wind of the previous night, 
 and the keen frost of the morning, had made up his mind 
 that was high time to lift his best field of potatoes. He 
 had two large butts to receive the filled sacks assorted 
 into ware and chats and every working-man on the farm, 
 as well as his wife and children, had been ordered to stick 
 at this job, and clear this four-acre field before nightfall. 
 The field was a good step from the village, as well as from 
 Fanner Homer's house ; and the lower end (where the 
 
62 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 gate was) abutted on the Susscot lane, leading from the 
 ford to Perlycross. 
 
 It was now All-Hallows Day, accounted generally the 
 farewell of autumn and arrival of the winter. Birds and 
 beasts that know their time without recourse to calendar 
 had made the best use of that knowledge and followed 
 suit of wisdom. Some from the hills were seeking down- 
 ward, not to abide in earnest yet, but to see for them- 
 selves what men had done for their comfort when the 
 pinch should come ; some of more tender kind were gone 
 with a whistle at the storms they left behind ; and others 
 had taken their winter apparel and meant to hold fast to 
 the homes they understood. 
 
 Farmer John, who was getting rather short of breath 
 from the fatness of his bacon, stirred about steadfastly 
 among the rows, exhorting, ordering, now and then up- 
 braiding, when a digger stuck his fork into the finest of 
 the clump. He had put his hunting gaiters on, because 
 the ground would clog as soon as the rime began to melt ; 
 and the fog, which still lingered in the hollows of the 
 slopes, made him pull his triple chin out of his comforter 
 to cough as often as he opened his big mouth to scold. 
 For he was not (like farmers of the present day) too thank- 
 ful for anything that can be called a crop to utter a cross 
 word over it. 
 
 Old Mr. Channing, the clerk, came in by the gate from 
 the lane when the sun was getting high. Not that he 
 meant to do much work for anything but graves, his 
 digging time was past, and it suited him better to make 
 breeches but simply that he liked to know how things 
 were going on, and thought it not impossible that if he 
 praised the " 'taturs," church-warden might say, " Bob, you 
 shall taste them ; we'll drop you a bushel when the butt 
 comes by your door." So he took up a root or two here 
 and there and " hefted it " (that is to say, poised it care- 
 fully to judge the weight as one does a letter for the post), 
 and then stroked the sleek skin lovingly, and put it down 
 gingerly for fear of any bruise. -Farmer John watched 
 him, with a dry little grin ; for he knew what the old gen- 
 tleman was up to. 
 
 " Never seed such 'taturs in all my life," Mr. Channing 
 
THE POTATO-FIELD 63 
 
 declared, with a sigh of admiration. " Talk of varmers ! 
 There be nobody fit to hold a can'le to our Measter John. 
 I reckon them would fry even better than they b'iled ; and 
 that's where to judge of a 'tatur, I contends." 
 
 "Hollo, Mr. Clerk! How be you then, this fine morn- 
 ing?" the farmer shouted out, as if no muttering would 
 do for him, while he straddled over a two-foot ridge, with 
 the rime thawing down his gaiters. " Glad to see 'e here, 
 old veller. What difference do 'e reckon, now, betwixt a 
 man and a 'tatur ?" 
 
 Farmer John was famous for his riddles. He made 
 them all himself in conversation with his wife for he had 
 not married early and there was no man in the^ parish 
 yet with brains enough to solve them. And if any one 
 attempted it the farmer alway snubbed him. 
 
 " There, now, ye be too deep for me !" Mr. Channing 
 made a hole in the ground with his stick, as if Mr. Homer 
 was at the bottom of it. " It requireth a deal more than 
 us have got to get underneath your meaning, sir." 
 
 " No, Bob, no ! It be very zimple and zuitable, too, for 
 your trade. A 'tatur cometh out of ground when a' be 
 ripe, but a man the zame way goeth underground. And 
 a good thing for him if he 'bideth there, according to what 
 hath been done in these here parts, or a little way up 
 country. No call for thee to laugh, Bob, at thy time of 
 life, when behooveth thee to think over it. But I'll give 
 thee an order for a pair of corduroys, and thou shalt have 
 a few 'taturs when the butt comes by. Us, as belongs to 
 the Church, is bound to keep her agoing when the hogs 
 won't miss it. But there, Lord now, I want a score of 
 nose- rings! Have 'e seed anything of Joe Crang this 
 morning ? We never heerd nort of his anvil all the time ! 
 Beckon Joe had a drop too much at the Bush last night." 
 
 " Why, here a' cooin'th !" exclaimed the clerk. " Look, 
 a' be claimbin' of an open gate ! Whatever can possess the 
 man ? A' couldn't look more mazed and weist if a hun- 
 derd of ghostesses was after him !" 
 
 Joseph Crang, the blacksmith at Susscot ford, where the 
 Susscot brook passed on its way to the Perle, was by 
 nature of a merry turn, and showed it in his face. But 
 he had no red now, nor even any black about him, and the 
 
64 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 resolute aspect with which he shod a horse or swung a 
 big hammer was changed into a quivering ghastly stare ; 
 his lips were of an ashy-blue, like a ring of tobacco-smoke ; 
 and as for his body and legs and clothes, they seemed to 
 have nothing to do with one another. 
 
 " What aileth the man ?" cried Mr. Channing, standing 
 across, as he had the right to do after bestraddling so 
 many burials ; " Master Joe Crang, I call upon thee to col- 
 lect thy wits and out with it." 
 
 " Joe, thy biggest customer hath a right to know thy 
 meaning." Farmer John had been expecting to have to 
 run away, but was put in courage by the clerk, and 
 brought up his heels in a line with the old man's. 
 
 " Coompany, coompany is all I axes for," the black- 
 smith gasped, weakly, as if talking to himself " coom- 
 pany of living volk as rightly is alive." 
 
 " Us be all alive, old chap. But how can us tell as you 
 be ?" The clerk was a seasoned man of fourscore years, 
 and knew all the tricks of mortality. 
 
 " I wish I wadn't. A'most I wish I wadn't after all I 
 zeed last night. But veel of me, veel of me, Measter 
 Channin', if you plaise to veel of me." 
 
 " Tull 'e what," the church- warden interposed ; " gie 'un 
 a drink of zider, Bob. If a' be Joe Crang a' won't say no to 
 thiccy. There be my own little zup over by the hedge, Joe." 
 
 Without any scruple the blacksmith afforded this proof 
 of vitality. The cider was of the finest strain " three 
 stang three," as they called it and Joe looked almost like 
 himself as he put down the little wooden keg with a deep 
 sigh of comfort. 
 
 " Maketh one veel like a man again," he exclaimed, as 
 he napped himself on the chest. " Master Hornder, I owe 
 'e a good turn for this. Lord only knoweth where I 
 maight a' been after a' visited me zo last night. It was a 
 visit of the wicked one, by kitums." Master Crang hitched 
 up his trousers and seemed ready to be off again. But 
 the church-warden griped him by the collar. 
 
 " Nay, man. Sha'n't have it thy own way. After what 
 us have doed for thy throat, us have a call upon thy 
 breath. Strange ways with strangers ; open breast with 
 bellyful." 
 
THE POTATO-FIELD 65 
 
 The honest blacksmith stood in doubt, and some of his 
 terror crept back again. "Bain't for me to zettle. Be a 
 job for Passon Penniloe. Swore upon my knees I did. 
 Here be the mark on my small-clothes. Passon is the 
 only man can set my soul to liberty." 
 
 " What odds to us about thy soul ? 'Tis thy tongue we 
 want, lad !" the senior church-warden cried, impatiently. 
 " Thou shalt never see a groat of mine again, unless thou 
 speakest." 
 
 "Passon hath a chill in 's bones; and the doctor hath 
 been called to him," Mr. Channing added, with a look of 
 upper wisdom. " Clerk and church- warden, in council as- 
 sembled, hath all the godliness of a rubric." 
 
 The blacksmith was moved, and began to scratch his 
 head. " If a' could only see it so !" he muttered " how- 
 somever, horder they women vessels out o' zight. A 
 woman hath no need to hear if her can zee according as 
 the wise man sayeth. And come where us can see the 
 sun a-shinin', for my words will make 'e shiver if ye 
 both was tombstones. I feel myself a-busting to be rid 
 of them." 
 
 Master Crang's tale with his speech fetched up to the 
 manner of the east of England, and his flinty words broken 
 into our road-metal may fairly be taken for spoken as 
 follows : 
 
 " No longer agone than last night, I tell you, I went to 
 bed pretty much as usual, with nothing to dwell upon in 
 my mind, without it was poor squire's funeral, because I 
 had been attending of it. I stayed pretty nearly to the 
 last of that, and saw the ground going in again, and then 
 I just looked in at the Bush because my heart was down- 
 some. All the company was lonesome, and the room was 
 like a barn after a bad cold harvest, with a musty nose to 
 it. There was nobody with spirit to stand glasses round, 
 and nobody with heart to call for them. The squire was 
 that friendly-minded that all of us were thinking, * The 
 Lord always taketh the best of us. I may be the one to 
 be called for next.' Then an old man in the corner, who 
 could scarcely hold his pipe, began in a low voice about 
 burials and doctors and the way they strip the graves up 
 the country, and the others fell in about their experience, 
 
66 PEELYCROSS 
 
 and with only two candles and no snuffers but the tongs, 
 any one might take us for a company of sextons. 
 
 "The night was cruel cold when I come out, and every- 
 thing looking weist and unkid, and the big bear was right 
 across the jags of the church-tower ; and with nothing in- 
 side to keep me up to the mark, and no neighbour making 
 company, the sound of my own heels was forced upon my 
 ears, as you might say, by reason of the gloomy road ; 
 and a spark of flint sometimes coming up like steel-filings 
 when I ran to keep heat, for I had not so much as a stick 
 with me. And when I got home I roused up the forge- 
 fire so as to make sure where I was and comfort my knuc- 
 kles, and then I brashed it down, with coals at present fig- 
 ure, for the morning. 
 
 " As it happened, my wife had been a little put out 
 about something or other in the morning ; you know how 
 the women-folk get into ways and come out of them again 
 without no cause. But when she gets into that frame of 
 mind she never saith much to justify it, as evil-tempered 
 women do, but keeps herself quiet and looks away bigly, 
 and leaves me to do things for myself, until such time as 
 she comes round again. So I took a drink of water from 
 the shoot instead of warming up the teapot, and got into 
 bed like a lamb, without a word, leaving her to begin again 
 by such time as she should find repentance. And before 
 I went to sleep there was no sound to be heard in the 
 house or in the shop below ; without it was a rat or two, 
 and the children snoring in the inner room, and the baby 
 breathing very peaceful in the cradle to the other side of 
 the bed, that was strapped on, to come at for nursing of 
 her. 
 
 " Well, I can't say how long it may have been, because 
 I sleep rather heartily, before I was roused up by a thun- 
 dering noise going through the house like the roaring of 
 a bull. Sally had caught up the baby, and was hugging 
 and talking as if they would rob her of it, and when I 
 asked what all this hubbub was, ' You had better go and 
 see,' was all she said. Something told me it was no right 
 thing, and my heart began beating as loud as a flail when 
 I crept through the dark to the window in the thatch, 
 for the place was as black almost as the bottomt of my 
 
THE POTATO- FIELD 67 
 
 dipping-trough, and I undid the window and called out, 
 1 Who is there ?' with as much strength as ever I was 
 master of just then. 
 
 " ' Come down, or we'll roast you alive,' says a great 
 gruff voice that I never heard the like of ; and there I saw 
 a red-hot clinker in my own tongs a sputtering within an 
 inch of my own smithy thatch. 
 
 " ' For God's sake, hold hard !' says I, a-thinking of the 
 little ones ; ' in less than two minutes I'll be with you.' 
 I couldn't spare time to strike a light, and my hands were 
 too shaky for to do it. I huddled on my working-clothes 
 anyhow, going by the feel of them, and then I groped my 
 way down-stairs, and felt along the wall to the back way into 
 the workshop, and there was a little light throwing a kind 
 of shadow from the fire being bellowsed up, but not enough 
 to see things advisedly. The door had been kicked open 
 and the bar bulged in ; and there in the dark stood a ter- 
 rible great fellow, bigger than Dascombe, the wrestler, by 
 a foot, so far as I could make out by the stars and the 
 glimmer from the water. Over his face he had a brown 
 thing fixed like the front of a fiddle with holes cut through 
 it, and something I could not make out was strapped un- 
 der one of his arms like a holster. 
 
 " ' Just you look here, man, and look at nothing else, or 
 it will be worse for you. Bring your hammer and pin- 
 cers while I show a light.' 
 
 " l Let me light a lantern, sir,' I said, as well as I could 
 speak for shivering ; * if it is a shoeing job I must see 
 what I am about.' 
 
 " ' Do what I say, blacksmith, or I'll squash you under 
 your anvil.' 
 
 " He could have done it as soon as looked ; and I can't 
 tell you how I put my apron on and rose the step out of 
 the shop after him. He had got a little case of light in one 
 hand, such as I never saw before, all black when he chose, 
 but as light as the sun whenever he chose to flash it, and 
 he flashed it suddenly into my eyes, so that I jumped 
 back like a pig before the knife. But he caught me by 
 the arm where you see this big blue mark, and handed me 
 across the road like that. 
 
 " ' Blast the horse ! Put his rotten foot right/ he says. 
 
68 PERLYCROSS 
 
 And sure enough there was a fine nag before me, quaking 
 and shaking with pain and fright, and dancing his near 
 fore-foot in the air, like a Christian disciple with a bad fit 
 of the gout. 
 
 " That made me feel a bit like myself again, for there 
 never was no harm in a horse, and you always know what 
 you are speaking to. I took his poor foot gently, as if 
 I had kid gloves on, and he put his frothy lips into ray 
 whiskers, as if he had found a friend at last. 
 
 "The big man threw the light upon the poor thing's 
 foot, and it was oozing with blood and black stuff like tar. 
 
 ' What a d fuss he makes about nothing !' says the man, 
 
 or the brute I should call him, that stood behind me. But I 
 answered him quite spirity, for the poor thing was trying 
 
 to lick my hand with thankfulness, * You'd make a d der 
 
 if it was your foot,' I said ; he hath got a bit of iron 
 driven right up through his frog. Have him out of shafts. 
 He isn't fit to go no farther.' For I saw that he had a light 
 spring-cart behind him, with a tarpaulin tucked in along 
 the rails. 
 
 " ' Do him where he stands, or I'll knock your brains 
 out,' said the fellow, pushing in so as to keep me from the 
 cart. * Jem, stand by his head. So, steady, steady.' 
 
 " As I stooped to feel my pincers I caught just a 
 glimpse under the nag's ribs of a man on his off-side 
 with black clothes on, a short, square man, so far as I could 
 tell ; but he never spoke a word, and seemed ever so much 
 more afraid to show himself than the big fellow was, 
 though he was shy enough. Then I got a good gripe on 
 the splinter of the shoe, which felt to me more like steel 
 than iron, and pulled it out steadily and smoothly as I 
 could, and a little flow of blood came after it. Then the 
 naggie put his foot down, very tenderly at first, the same 
 as you put down an overfilled pint. 
 
 " * Gee-wugg's the word now,' says the big man to the 
 other, and sorry I am to my dying bones that I stopped 
 them from doing it. But I felt somehow too curious 
 through the thicket of my fright, and wise folks say that 
 the Lord hath anger with men that sleep too heartily. 
 
 " l Bide a bit,' I told him, till I kill the inflammation, 
 or he won't go a quarter of a mile before he drops ;' and 
 
THE POTATO-FIELD 69 
 
 before he could stop me I ran back and blew up a merry 
 little blaze in the shop as if to make search for something ; 
 and then out I came again with a bottle in my hand, 
 and the light going nickering across the road. The big 
 man stood across, as if to hide the cart, but the man be- 
 hind the horse skitted back into a bush very nimble and 
 clever, but not quite smart enough. 
 
 "The pretty nag for he was a pretty one and kind, 
 and now I could swear to him anywhere was twitching 
 his bad foot up and down as if to ask how it was getting 
 on ; and I got it in my hand, and he gave it like a lamb, 
 while I poured in a little of the stuff I always keep ready 
 for their troubles when they have them so, For the 
 moment I was bold, in the sense of knowing something, 
 and called out to the man I was so mortal frit of ' Mas- 
 ter, just lend a hand for a second, will you ? Stand at his 
 head in case it stingeth him a bit.' Horse was tossing of 
 his head a little, and the chap came round me and took 
 him by the nose, the same as he had squeezed me by the 
 arm. 
 
 " ' I must have one hind-foot up, or he will bolt,' says 
 I though the Lord knows that was nonsense and I 
 slipped along the shaft, and put my hand inside the 
 wheel, and twitched up the tarpaulin that was tucked be- 
 low the rail. At the risk of my life it was ; and I knew 
 that much, although I was out of the big man's sight. 
 And what think you I saw in the flickering of the light? 
 A flicker it was, like the lick of a tongue, but it's bound 
 to abide as long as I do. As sure as I am a living sinner, 
 what I saw was a dead man's shroud. Soft and delicate 
 and white it was, like the fine linen that Dives wore, and 
 frilled with rare lace, like a wealthy baby's christening; 
 no poor man, even in the world to come, could afford him- 
 self such a winding-sheet. Tamsin Tamlin's work it was ; 
 the very same that we saw in her window, and you know 
 what that was bought for. What there was inside of it 
 was left for me to guess. 
 
 " I had just time to tuck the tarpaulin back when the 
 big man comes at me with his light turned on. * What 
 
 the are you doing with that wheel ?' says he, and he 
 
 caught me by the scruff of the neck and swung me across 
 
70 PEELYCROSS 
 
 the road with one hand and into my shop, like a sack 
 with the corn shot out of it. ' Down on your knees !' he 
 said, with no call to say it, for my legs were gone from 
 under me, and I sprawled against my own dipping- 
 trough, and looked up to be brained with my own big 
 hammer. * No need for that,' he saith, for he saw me 
 glancing at it ; ' my fist would be enough for a slip such 
 as you. But you be a little too peart, Master Smith. 
 What right have you to call a pair of honest men sheep- 
 stealers ?' 
 
 " I was so astonished that I could not answer, for the 
 thought of that had never come nigh me. But I may 
 have said ' Shish shish !' to soothe the nag ; and if I did 
 it saved my life, I reckon. 
 
 " * Now swear, as you hope to be saved,' says he, ' that 
 never a word shall pass your lips about this here little 
 job to-night.' I swore it by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
 John ; but I knew that I never could stick to it. ' You 
 break it,' says he, * and I'll burn you in your bed, and 
 every soul that belongs to you. Here's your dibs, black- 
 smith ! I always pay handsome.' He flung me a crown of 
 King George and the dragon, and before I could get up 
 again the cart was gone away. 
 
 " Now, I give you my word, Farmer Hornder, and the 
 very same to you, Clerk Channing, it was no use of me to 
 go to bed again, and there never was a nightcap would 
 stay on my head without double-webbing girths to it. 
 By the mercy of the Lord I found a thimbleful of gin, 
 and then I roused up light enough to try to make it 
 cheerful ; and down comes Sally, like a faithful wife, to 
 find out whatever I was up to. You may trust me for 
 telling her a cock-and-bull affair; for 'twas no woman's 
 business, and it might have killed the baby." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 THE NARROW PATH 
 
 " Now, Master Joe Crang," the church-warden said, 
 firmly, but not quite as sternly as he meant to put it, 
 because he met the blacksmith's eyes coming out of his 
 head, " how are we to know that you have not told us 
 what you call a cock-and-bull affair? Like enough you 
 had a very fearsome dream, after listening to a lot about 
 those resurrection men, and running home at night with 
 the liquor in your head." 
 
 "Go and see my door a -hanging on the hinges, 
 master, and the mark of the big man's feet in the pilm, 
 and the track of wheels under the hedge, and the 
 blood from the poor nag's frog, and the splinter of shoe 
 I pulled out with the pincers. But mercy upon me, I be 
 mazed almost ! I forgot, I put the iron in my pocket. 
 Here it is !" 
 
 There it was sure enough, with dried blood on the jag 
 of it, and the dint from a stone which had driven it like a 
 knife through an oyster -shell into the quick. Such is 
 the nature of human faith that the men handling this 
 were convinced of every word. They looked at each 
 other silently, and shook their heads with one accord, 
 and gave the shivering blacksmith another draught of 
 cider. 
 
 " Joe, I beg your pardon for doubting of your word," 
 Farmer John answered, as his own terror grew ; " you 
 have been through a most awesome night. But tell us a 
 thing or two you have left out. What way do you reckon 
 the cart came from, and what was the colour, and was 
 there any name on it, and by the sound which way did 
 it drive off ?" 
 
 " Aye, aye, he hath hit it," the clerk chimed in ; " the 
 
72 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 finest head-piece in all the county belongeth to the hat of 
 our Master John Homer." 
 
 " I'll tell 'e every blessed thing I knows, but one," Joe 
 Crang was growing braver, after handing horrors on ; 
 " can't say which way the cart come from, because I was 
 sound in my bed just then. But her hadn't been through 
 the ford, by the look of wheels, and so it seems her must 
 have come from Perlycrass direction. The colour was 
 dark*, I should say a reddish-brown, so far as the light 
 supported me. There was no name to see ; but I was on 
 her near side, and the name would be t'other side, of 
 course, if there wur one. Her drove off the way her was 
 standing, I believe ; at least, according to the sound of it; 
 and I should have heard the splash if they had driven 
 through the ford. Any other questions, master ?" 
 
 " There may be some more, Joe, when I come to think. 
 But I don't see clearly how you could have been on the 
 near side of horse, to the other side of lane, in case they 
 were coming from our village way." 
 
 " You'm right enough there, sir, if so be they hadn't 
 turned. I could see by the marks that they went by my 
 shop, and then turned the poor horse, who was glad 
 enough to stop ; and then bided under hedge in a sort of 
 dark cornder. Might a' come down the lane a' purpose 
 like, seeking of me to do the job. Seemeth as if they 
 had heard of my shop, but not ezactually where it waz." 
 
 " When you come to think of it, it might be so." Farmer 
 John was pretty safe in his conclusions, because they 
 never hurried him. " And if that was the meaning, we 
 should all have reason to be very joyful, Joe. You cannot 
 see it yet, nor even Master Channing. But to my mind 
 it proveth that the chaps in this queer job mind, I don't 
 say but what they may have been respectable, and driving 
 about because they could afford it but to my mind it 
 showeth they were none of our own parish. Nor next 
 parish either, so far as reason goes. Every child in Perly- 
 cross with legs to go on knows afore his alphabet where 
 Susscot forge be." 
 
 "A' knoweth it too well, afore he gets his breeches. 
 Three-quarters of a mile makes no odds to they childer, 
 when they take it in their heads to come playing with the 
 
E. 
 
 THE NABBOW PATH 73 
 
 sparks. And then their mothers after 'em, and all the 
 blame on me !" 
 
 " It is the way of human nature when it is too young. 
 Master Clerk, a word with you before we go too far. Sit 
 down upon this sack, Joe, and try to eat a bit while the 
 wiser heads be considering." 
 
 The church-warden took the ancient clerk aside, and the 
 blacksmith, beginning to be in better heart, renewed his 
 faith in human nature upon bread and bacon. 
 
 Before he was sure that he had finished, the elder twain 
 came back to him, fortified by each other's sense of right 
 and high position in the parish. But Channing was to 
 ut the questions now, because they were unpleasant, and 
 e was poor. 
 
 " According to my opinion, Master Crang, you have 
 told us everything wonderful clear, as clear as if we had 
 been there to see it, considering of the time of night. 
 But still there is one thing you've kept behind, casually, 
 perhaps, and without any harm. But Church-warden Hor- 
 ner saith, and everybody knows the value of his opinion, 
 that the law is such that every subject of the King, what- 
 ever his own opinion may be, hath to give it the upper 
 course, and do no more harm than grumble." 
 
 " Big or little, old or young, male or female, no dis- 
 tinction, baronet or blacksmith," said Farmer John, im- 
 pressively. 
 
 " And therefore, Joe, in bounden duty we must put the 
 question and you must answer. Who was the man, ac- 
 cording to your judgment, that kept so close behind the 
 horse, and jumped away so suddenlike when the light of 
 your fire shone into the lane ? You said that the big man 
 called him 'Jem/ and you as good as told us that you 
 certified his identity." 
 
 " I don't understand 'e, Master Channing. I never was 
 no hand at big words." The blacksmith began to edge 
 away till the farmer took the old man's staff and hooked 
 him by the elbow. 
 
 " No lies, Crang ! You know me pretty well. I am 
 not the man to stand nonsense. Out of this potato-field 
 you don't budge till you've told us who the short man 
 
74 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 " A* worn't short, sir ; a' worn't short at all taller than 
 I be, I reckon ; but nort to what the other were. Do 'e 
 let go of me, Farmer Hornder. How could I see the man 
 through the nag ?" 
 
 " That's your own business, Crang. See him you did. 
 Horse or no horse, you saw the man ; and you knew him, 
 and you were astonished. Who was he, if you please, 
 Master Joseph Crang ?" 
 
 "I can't tell 'e, sir, if I was to drop down dead this 
 minute. And if I said ort to make 'e vancy that I 
 knowed the gentleman, I must a' been mazed as a drum- 
 meldrone." 
 
 " Oh, a gentleman, was it ? A queer place for a gentle- 
 man ! No wonder you cockle yourself to keep it dark. 
 A five-pound note to be made out of that, Joe ; if the 
 officers of justice was agreeable." 
 
 " Master Hornder, you'm a rich man and I be but a 
 poor one. I wouldn't like to say that you behaved below 
 yourself by means of what I thought, without knowing 
 more than vancy." 
 
 " Joe, you are right and I was wrong" the farmer was 
 a just man whenever he caught sight of it ; " I was agoing 
 to terrify of 'e, according to the orders of the evil-thinkers, 
 that can't believe good because it bain't inside theirselves. 
 But I put it to you now, Joe, as a bit of dooty, and it 
 must tell up for you in t'other way as well. For the sake 
 of all good Christians, and the peace of this here parish, 
 you be held to bail by your own conscience, the Lord 
 having placed you in that position, to tell us the full 
 names of this man, gentleman or ploughboy, gypsy or 
 home-liver." 
 
 The blacksmith was watching Mr. Homer's eyes, and 
 saw not a shadow of relenting. Then he turned to the 
 old man for appeal. But the clerk, with the wisdom of 
 fourscore years, said, " Truth goes the furthest. Who 
 would go to jail for you, Joe ?" 
 
 " Mind that you wouldn't give me no peace, and that I 
 says it against my will, under fear of the King and re- 
 ligion," Master Crang protested, with a twist, as if a clod- 
 crusher went over him ; " likewise that I look to you to 
 bear me harmless, as a man who speaketh doubtful of the 
 
THE NAEKOW PATH 75 
 
 sight of his own eyes. But unless they was wrong- and 
 misguided by the devil, who were abroad last night and 
 no mistake, t'other man in the flesh or out of it, and a' 
 might very well a' been out of it upon such occasion, and 
 with that there thing behind him, and they say that the 
 devil doth get into a bush, as my own grandmother zee'd 
 he once 'twixt a rosemary-tree, which goes far to prove 
 it, being the very last a' would have chosen " 
 
 "None of that stuff!" cried the church-warden, sternly; 
 and the clerk said, " No beating about the bush, Joe ! as 
 if us didn't know all the tricks of Zatan !" 
 
 " Well, then, I tell 'e it waz Dr. Jemmy Vox." 
 
 They both stood and stared at him, as if to ask whether 
 his brain was out of order or their own ears. But he met 
 their gaze steadily, and grew more positive on the strength 
 of being doubted. 
 
 " If ever I zee'd a living man, I tell 'e that man, t'other 
 side of the nag, waz Dr. Jemmy Vox, and no other 
 man." 
 
 The men of Devon have earned their place (and to their 
 own knowledge the foremost one) in the records of this 
 country, by taking their time about what they do, and 
 thinking of a thing before they say it. Shallow folk, 
 having none of this gift, are apt to denounce it as slowness 
 of brain, and even to become impatient with the sage 
 deliberators. 
 
 Both Horner and Channing had excellent reasons for 
 thinking very highly of Dr. Fox the church-warden, be- 
 cause the doctor had saved the life of his pet child, Sally, 
 under Providence ; and the clerk, inasmuch as he had the 
 privilege of making the gentleman's trousers for working 
 and for rustic use. 
 
 " Now I tell 'e what it is," said Farmer John, looking 
 wrathful, because he saw nothing else to do, and Channing 
 shrank back from doing anything, " either thou art a born 
 liar, Joe, or the devil hath gotten hold of thee." 
 
 " That's the very thing I been afeard of ; but would un 
 let me spake the truth without contempt of persons ?" 
 
 " Will 'e stand to it, Joe, afore a justice of the peace ?" 
 The clerk thought it was high time to put in a word. 
 " Upon occasion, I mean, and if the law requireth." 
 
76 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 " There now ; look at that ! The right thing cometh 
 soon or late !" cried the persecuted blacksmith. " Take 
 me afore Squire Walders himself no, no ; can't be, con- 
 siderin' I were at his funeral yesterday. Well, take me 
 afore Squire Mockham, if be fitty, and ax of him to 
 put, I don't care what it be, stocks, or dead-water, or 
 shears atop of me, and I'll tell un the very zame words I 
 telled to thee. Can't hev no relief from gospel if the 
 passon's by the heels ; shall have some relief by law if 
 the Lord hath left it living. No man can't spake no vairer 
 than that there be." 
 
 This adjuration was of great effect. " To Zeiser shalt 
 thou go !" replied the senior church-warden ; us have no 
 right to take the matter out of Zeiser's hands. I was 
 dwelling in my mind of that all along, and so was you, 
 clerk." 
 
 Mr. Channing nodded, with his conscience coming for- 
 ward, and, after some directions at the upper end of the 
 field, where the men had been taking it easily, and the 
 women putting heads together, the two authorities set off 
 along the lane, with the witness between them, towards 
 Perly cross. 
 
 But, as if they had not had enough of excitement to last 
 them for a month of thoughts and words, no sooner did 
 they turn the corner at the four .cross-roads (where the 
 rectory stands, with the school across the way) than they 
 came full butt upon a wondrous crowd of people hurrying 
 from the church-yard. 
 
 " Never heard the like of it !" " Can't believe my eyes 
 a'most." " Whatever be us acoming to ?" " The Lord 
 in heaven have mercy on the dead !" " The blessed dead 
 as can't help theirselves ?" 
 
 These, and wilder cries, and shrieks from weeping wom- 
 en along the cottage-fronts ; while in the middle of the 
 street came slowly men with hot faces and stern eyes. 
 Foremost of all was Sergeant Jakes, with his head thrown 
 back, and his gray locks waving and his visage as hard as 
 when he scaled the ramparts and leaped into the smoke 
 and sword-flash. Behind him was a man upon a foaming 
 horse, and the strength of the village fiercely silent. 
 
 " Where be all agoing to ? What's up now ? Can't 
 
THE NARROW PATH 77 
 
 any of 'e spake a word of sense ?" cried Farmer John, as 
 the crowd stopped short, and formed a ring around him. 
 
 " High Jarks, tell un." 
 
 " Us was going to your house." 
 
 " Hold your tongue, will 'e, and let High Jarks speak." 
 
 The sergeant took discipline, and told his tale in a 
 few strong words, which made the farmer's hair stand up. 
 
 " Let me see the proof," was all he said ; for his brain 
 was going round, being still unseasoned to any whirl 
 fiercer than rotation of farm-crops. All the others fell 
 behind him, with that sense of order which still swayed 
 the impulse of an English crowd ; for he was now the 
 foremost layman in the parish, and everybody knew that 
 the parson was laid up. The gloom of some black deed 
 fell upon them, and they passed along the street like a 
 funeral. 
 
 " Clap the big gate to, and shoot the iron bar across. 
 No tramping inside more than hath been a'ready." 
 
 Master Homer gave this order, and it was obeyed even 
 by those who excluded themselves. At the west end, 
 round the tower, was a group of " foreign " workmen, as 
 the artisans from Exeter were called, but under orders 
 from Mr. Adney they held back, and left the parish mat- 
 ter to the natives thereof. 
 
 " Now come along with me, the men I call for," com- 
 manded the church-warden, with his hand upon the bars, 
 as he rose to the authority conferred upon him ; " and 
 they be Sergeant Jakes, Clerk Channing, Bob, that hath 
 ridden from Walderscourt, and Constable Tapscott, if so 
 be he hath arrived." 
 
 " I be here, sure enough, and my staff along o' me 
 hath the pictur' of His Majesty upon him. Make way, 
 wull 'e, for the officer of the King ?" 
 
 Then these men, all in a cold sweat, more or less ex- 
 cept Sergeant Jakes, who was in a hot one backing up 
 one another, took the narrow path which branched to the 
 right from the church-yard cross, to the corner where 
 brave Colonel Waldron had been laid. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 IN CHARGE 
 
 " MY young friend, I must get up !" Mr. Penniloe ex- 
 claimed, if so feeble a sound could be called an exclama- 
 tion. " It is useless to talk about my pulse and look so 
 wise. Here have I been perhaps three days ; I am not 
 quite certain, but it must be that. And who is there to 
 see to the parish, or even the service of the Church, while 
 I lie like this ? It was most kind of you I have sense 
 enough to feel it to hurry from your long ride, without 
 a bit to eat ; Mrs. Muggridge said as much, and you could 
 not deny it. But up I must get, and more than that, I 
 must get out. It will soon be dark again, by the shadows 
 on the blind, and I am sure that there is something gone 
 amiss I know not what. But my duty is to know it 
 and to see what I can do. Now go and have some din- 
 ner while I just put on my clothes." 
 
 " Nothing of that sort, sir, will you do to-day. You 
 are weaker than a cat as that stupid saying goes. That 
 idiot Jackson has bled you to a skeleton, put a seton in 
 your neck and starved you. And he has plied you with 
 drastics by day and by night. Why, the moment I heard 
 of that Perliton booby getting you in his clutches but 
 thank God I was in time ! It is almost enough to make 
 one believe in special Providences." 
 
 " Hush, Jemmy, hush ! you cannot want to vex me 
 now." 
 
 " Neither now nor ever, sir ; as you are well aware. 
 So you must do likewise and not vex me. I have trouble 
 enough of my own, without rebellion by my patients." 
 
 " I forgot that, Jemmy. It was not kind of me. But 
 I am not quite clear in my head just now. I fear I am 
 neglecting some great duty ; but, just for the moment, I 
 
IN CHARGE 79 
 
 am not sure what it is. In a minute or two I shall re- 
 member what it is." 
 
 " No, you won't, my good friend, not for twenty hours 
 yet," the young doctor whispered to himself. " You have 
 had a narrow shave, and another day of Jackson would 
 have sent you to the world you think too much of. 
 There never was a man who dwelt in shadows, or in 
 glory as you take it, with his whole great heart as you 
 do. Well, I wish there were more of them, and that I 
 could just be one." 
 
 The peace that had settled on the parson's face was 
 such as no lineaments of man can win without the large 
 labours of a pure life past, and the surety of recompense 
 full in view. Fox kept his eye on him, and found his 
 pulse improve, as hovering slumber deepened into tran- 
 quil sleep. " Rare stuff that !" he said, referring not to 
 faith, but to a little vial-bottle he had placed upon the 
 drawers ; " he sha'n't go to glory yet, however fit he may 
 be. It is high time, I take it, for me to have a little 
 peck." 
 
 The young man was right. He had ridden thirty miles 
 from his father's house that afternoon, and hearing at the 
 " Old Barn," as he called his present home, of poor Mr. 
 Penniloe's serious illness, had mounted his weary mare 
 again, and spurred her back to the rectory. Of the story 
 with which all the parish was ringing he had not heard a 
 word as yet, being called away by his anxious mother on 
 the very night after the squire was buried. But one 
 thing had puzzled him, as he passed and repassed the 
 quiet streets of Perlycross the people looked at him as 
 if he were a stranger, and whispered to one another as he 
 trotted by. Could they have known what had happened 
 to his father ? 
 
 With the brown tops still upon his sturdy legs, and 
 spurs thickly clotted with Somerset mud (crustier even 
 than that of Devon), Fox left the bedroom with the door 
 ajar, and found little Fay in a beehive-chair, kneeling, 
 with her palms put together on the back, and striving 
 hard to pray, but disabled by deep sobs. Her lovely 
 little cheeks and thick bright curls were dabbled into one 
 another by the flood of tears, as a moss-rose, after a 
 
80 PEELYCRO8S 
 
 thunder-shower, has its petals tangled in the broidery of 
 its sheath. 
 
 " Will he die, because I am so wicked ? Will he die, 
 because I cannot see the face of God ?" she was whisper- 
 ing, with streaming eyes intent upon the skylight, as if 
 she were looking for a healthy Father there. 
 
 " No, my little darling, he will not die at all. Not for 
 many years, I mean, when Fay is a great, tall woman.". 
 
 The child turned round with a flash of sudden joy, and 
 leaped into his arms and flung her hair upon his shoul- 
 ders and kissed him vehemently, 
 
 "With a one, two, three! 
 If your want any more, you must kiss me," 
 
 like a true, tiny queen of the nursery. Many little girls 
 were very fond of Dr. Fox, although their pretty loves 
 might end in a sombre potion. 
 
 " Now shall I tell you what to do, my dear ?" said the 
 truly starving doctor, with the smell of fine chops coming 
 up the stairs, sweeter than even riper lips; "you want to 
 help your dear daddy, don't you ?" 
 
 Little Fay nodded, for her heart was full again, 
 and the heel-tap of a sob would have been behind her 
 words. 
 
 " Then go in very quietly and sit upon that chair, and 
 don't make any noise, even with your hair. Keep the 
 door as it is, or a little wider ; and never take your eyes 
 from your dear father's face. If he keeps on sleeping, 
 you stay quiet as a mouse ; if he opens his eyes, slip out 
 softly and tell me. Now you understand all that, but you 
 must not say a word." 
 
 The child was gazing at him with her whole soul in her 
 eyes, and her red lips working up and down across her 
 teeth, as if her father's life hung upon her self-control. 
 Dr. Fox was hard put to it to look the proper gravity. As 
 if he would have put this little thing in charge if there 
 had been any real charge in it! 
 
 " Grand is the faith of childhood. What a pity it gets 
 rubbed out so soon !" he said to himself, as he went 
 down the stairs, and the child crept into her father's 
 
IN CHARGE 81 
 
 room as if the whole world hung upon her pretty little 
 head. 
 
 Mrs. Muggridge had lighted two new candles, of a size 
 considered gigantic then for eight of them weighed a 
 pound almost ; and not only that, but also of materials 
 scarcely yet accepted as orthodox. For " composites " 
 was their name, and their nature was neither sound tallow 
 nor steadfast wax. Grocer Wood had sent them upon 
 trial gratis ; but he was a Dissenter, though a godly man ; 
 and the house -keeper, being a convert to the Church, 
 was not at all sure that they would not blow up. There- 
 fore she lit them first for Dr. Fox, as a hardy young man 
 with some knowledge of mixtures. 
 
 " He is going on famously, as well as can be, Mug- 
 gridge," the doctor replied to her anxious glance. " He 
 will not wake till twelve or one o'clock to-morrow, and 
 then I shall be here, if possible. The great point then will 
 be to feed him well. Beef-tea and arrow-root every two 
 hours, with a little port-wine in the arrow-root. No port- 
 wine in the house ? Then I will send some that came 
 from my father's own cellar. Steal all his clothes and keep 
 a female in the room. The parson is a modest man and 
 that will keep him down. But here comes my mutton- 
 chop. Well done, Susanna ! What a cook ! What skill 
 and science at the early age of ten !" 
 
 This was one of Dr. Jemmy's little jokes ; for he knew 
 that Susanna was at least seventeen, and had not a vestige 
 of cookery. But a doctor, like a sexton, must be jolly, 
 and leave the gravity to the middleman the parson. 
 
 But instead of cutting in with her usual protest and 
 claim to the triumph, whatever it might be, Mrs. Mug- 
 gridge, to his surprise, held back, and considered his 
 countenance from the neighbourhood of the door. She 
 had always been ready with her tit for tat, or lifting of 
 her hand in soft remonstrance at his youthful levity. But 
 now the good woman, from behind the candles, seemed to 
 want snuffing as they began to do. 
 
 "Anything gone wrong in Perly cross since I went away, 
 
 Mrs. Muggridge? I don't mean the great loss the parish 
 
 has sustained, or this bad attack of Mr. Penniloe's. That 
 
 will be over in a few days' time now his proper adviser is 
 
 4* 
 
82 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 come back again. By-the-way, if you let Jackson come 
 in at this front door no, it musn't lie with you, I will 
 write a little note, polite but firm, as the papers say ; it 
 shall go to his house by my boy Jack to save professional 
 amenities ; but if he comes before he gets it, meet him at 
 the door with another, which I will leave with you. But 
 what makes you look so glum at me, my good woman? Out 
 with it, if I have hurt your feelings. You may be sure that 
 I never meant to do so." 
 
 " Oh, sir, is it possible that you don't know what has 
 happened?" Thyatira came forward with her apron to her 
 eyes. She was very kind-hearted, and liked this young 
 man ; but she knew how young men may be carried away, 
 especially when puffed up with worldly wisdom. 
 
 "I have not the least idea what you mean, Mrs. Mug- 
 gridge." Fox spoke rather sternly, for his nature was 
 strong and combative enough upon occasion, though his 
 temper was sweet and playful ; and he knew that many 
 lies had been spread abroad about him, chiefly by mem- 
 bers of his own profession. " My ears are pretty sharp, 
 as suits my name, and I heard you muttering once or 
 twice ' He can't have done it. I won't believe it of 
 him.' Now if you please, what is it I am charged with 
 doing?" 
 
 " Oh, sir, you frighten me when you look like that. I 
 could never have believed that you had such eyes." 
 
 " Never mind my eyes. Look here, my good woman, 
 would you like to have wicked lies told about you? I 
 have been away for three days, called suddenly from 
 home before daylight on Saturday morning. My father 
 was seized with a sudden attack for the first time in his 
 life. He is getting old ; and I suppose a son's duty was 
 to go. Very well, I leave him on Tuesday morning, be- 
 cause I have urgent cases here, and he can do without 
 me. I pass up the village and everybody looks as if I had 
 cut his throat. I go home, concluding that I must be 
 mazed as you people call it from want of food and 
 sleep. But when I get home my own man and boy and 
 old Betty all rush out and stare at me. 'Are you mad?' 
 I call out, and instead of answering they tell me the par- 
 son is dying and at the mercy of Jervis Jackson. I know 
 
IN CHARGE 83 
 
 what that means, and without quitting saddle come 
 back here and rout the evil one. Then what happens ? 
 Why, my very first mouthful is poisoned by the black 
 looks of a thoroughly good woman. Tell me what it is, 
 or, by George and the Dragon, I'll ride home and drag it 
 out of my own people." 
 
 " Can you prove you were away, sir ? Can you show 
 when you left home?" Thyatira began to draw nearer, and 
 forgot to keep a full-sized chair between the doctor and 
 herself. 
 
 " To be sure, I can prove that I have been at Foxden by 
 at least a score of witnesses, if needful." 
 
 " Thank the Lord in heaven that he hath not quite for- 
 gotten us ! Susanna, have another plate hot, but be sure 
 you don't meddle with the gridiron. Bad enough for 
 Perlycross it must be, anyhow a disgrace the old parish 
 can never get over ; but ever so much better than if you, 
 our own doctor " 
 
 " Good-bye, Mrs. Muggridge ; you'll see me to-morrow." 
 
 " Oh no, sir, no. I will tell you now just. How could 
 I begin when I thought you had done it? At least, I 
 never thought that, I am sure. But how was I to contra- 
 dict it ? And the rudest thing ever done outside of 
 London ! The poor squire's grave hath been robbed by 
 somebody, and all Perlycross is mad about it." 
 
 " What !" cried Jemmy Fox; "do you mean Sir 
 Thomas Waldron ? It cannot be ; no one would dare to 
 do such a thing." 
 
 " But some one hath, sir, sure enough. Mr. Jakes it 
 was, sir, as first found it out, and a more truthfuller man 
 never lived in any parish. My master doth not know a 
 word of it yet. Thank the Lord almost for this chill upon 
 his lungs, for the blow might have killed him if he had 
 been there with such a disorderly thing to see to. We 
 must hide it from him as long as ever we can. To tell 
 the truth, I was frightened to let you go up to him, with 
 every one so positive about the one who did it. But you 
 wouldn't take denial, and I am very glad you wouldn't. 
 But do have t'other chop, sir ; it's a better one than this 
 was. Oh, I beg your pardon, I forgot to draw the blind 
 down." 
 
84 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 The truth was that she had been afraid till now to sever 
 herself from the outer world, and had kept Susanna on 
 the kitchen stairs ; but now she felt as certain of the young 
 man's innocence as she had been of his guilt before. 
 
 " Nothing more, thank you," said Fox, sitting back and 
 clinching his hand upon the long bread -knife; "and so 
 all the parish, and even you, were only too delighted to 
 believe that I, who have worked among you nearly three 
 years now, chiefly for the good of the poor and helpless, 
 and never taken sixpence when it was hard to spare 
 that I would rob the grave of a man whom I revered and 
 loved as if he were my father ! This is what you call 
 Christianity, is it ? And no one can be saved except such 
 Christians as yourselves ! The only Christian in the parish 
 is your parson. Excuse me ; I have no right to be angry 
 with with a woman for any want of charity. Come, tell 
 me this precious tale, and I'll forgive you. No doubt the 
 evidence is very strong against me." 
 
 Thyatira was not pleased with this way of taking it. 
 She thought that the charity was on her side for accepting 
 the doctor's own tale so frankly. So she fell back upon 
 her main buttress. 
 
 " If you please, Dr. Fox," she said, with some precision, 
 " as women be lacking in charity, therefore the foremost 
 of all godly graces, you might think it fairer to see Ser- 
 geant Jakes, a military man and upright. And being the 
 first as he was to discover, I reckon he hath the first right 
 to speak out. Susanna seeth light in the school-room 
 still, though all the boys be gone, and books into the cup- 
 boards. Ah, he is the true branch for discipline. Do'e 
 good to look in at the window after dusk, and the candles 
 as straight as if the French was coming. * I am the Vine,' 
 saith the Lord, ' and ye' but you know what it is, Dr. 
 Jemmy, though seldom to be found, whether church it be 
 or chapel. Only if you make a point of seeing the man 
 that knoweth more than all of us put together The new 
 pupil, Master Peckover, is a very obliging young gentle- 
 man, and one as finds it hard upon him to keep still." 
 
 " Oh, he is come, is he ? I have heard some tales of 
 him. It struck me there was more noise than usual in 
 the pupils' room. Let me think a moment, if you please. 
 
IN CHARGE 85 
 
 Yes, I had better see Sergeant Jakes ; he may be a queer 
 old codger, but he will stick to what he sees and says. 
 Tell those noisy fellows that they must keep quiet. They 
 want High Jarks among them with his biggest vine, as 
 you seem to call his cane." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 AT THE CHARGE 
 
 STRENUOUS vitality, strong pulse, thick skin, tough bone, 
 and steadfast brain, all elements of force and fortitude, 
 were united in this Dr. Fox ; and being thus endowed, 
 and with ready money too, he felt more of anger than of 
 fear when a quarrel was thrust upon him. While he waited 
 alone for the school-master he struck Mr. Penniloe's best 
 dining-table with a heavy fist that made the dishes ring 
 and the new-fashioned candles throw spots of grease upon 
 the coarse white diaper. Then he laughed at himself, and 
 put a calm face on as he heard the strong steps in the 
 passage. 
 
 " Sit here, Mr. Jakes," he said, pointing to a chair, as 
 the sergeant offered him a stiff salute. " Mrs. Muggridge, 
 you had better leave the room ; this is not a nice matter for 
 ladies. Now, sergeant, what is all this rotten stuff about 
 me?" 
 
 " Not about you, sir, I hope with all my heart." 
 
 Mr. Jakes met the young man's flashing eyes with a 
 gaze that replied " You don't scare me," and drew his 
 chair close enough to study every feature. If the young 
 man was full of wrath so was the old man implacable 
 wrath at the outrage to his colonel. 
 
 " Well, tell your pack of lies " Fox was driven beyond 
 himself by the other's suspicious scrutiny " oh, I beg 
 your pardon, you believe them true, of course. But out 
 with your stuff, like a man, sir !" 
 
 " It is your place to prove it a pack of lies," saicj, the 
 old man, with his shaggy eyebrows rigid as a line of Brit- 
 ish bayonets ; " and if you can't, by the God who made 
 me, I'll run my old sword though your heart." 
 
 " Rather hard upon me. Not got it here, I hope. Half 
 
AT THE CHARGE 87 
 
 an hour for repentance while you fetch it out of some 
 cheese-toasting rack. A nice man to teach the youth of 
 Perlycross ! What a fool you are, Jakes ! But that you 
 can't help ; even a fool, though, may try to be fair. Dur- 
 ing your long time in the wars were you ever accused 
 wrongfully, my friend ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir, a score of times ; and I like your spirit. If 
 you did what they say of you, you would be a cur. Every 
 evil name you call me makes me think the better of you." 
 
 " I will call you no more ; for I want no favour. All I 
 want is truth about this cursed outrage. Am I to wait all 
 night for it? Now just tell your tale as if you were sit- 
 ting at the Ivy-bush. You have been in command of men, 
 no "doubt just command yourself." 
 
 " That I will," said the veteran, with an upward glance 
 " not like the Ivy-bush, but as before the Lord. Sir, I will 
 command myself as you recommend, and perhaps you 
 would be none the worse for taking your own medicine." 
 
 " Jakes, you are right. It is enough to turn me savage, 
 but you shall not hear me speak again until you have 
 finished." 
 
 " It was just like this, sir," began the sergeant, looking 
 round for a glass by force of habit, and then ashamed of 
 himself for such a thought just now : " Everybody in this 
 parish knows how much I thought of Colonel Waldron, 
 for a better and a braver man never trod this earth. Even 
 Parson Penniloe will have to stand behind him when the 
 last muster cometh, because he hath not served his coun- 
 try. But I never was satisfied with any of you doctors. 
 You may be very well in your way, Mr. Fox, for toothing, 
 or measles, or any young complaint ; but where is your 
 experience in times of peace ? And as for that hang-dog 
 looking chap from London well, I won't say what I 
 thought of him, for I always keep my own opinions to 
 myself. But I knew it was all over with our poor colonel 
 the moment I clapped eyes on that fellow. Why, I went my- 
 self at once and begged the colonel to have him drummed 
 out of the parish to the rogue's tattoo. But the good 
 colonel only laughed and shook my hand the last time 
 it was, sir, the very last time. 
 
 " You were at the funeral, and there never was a truer 
 
88 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 one. I was proud to iny heart, though it felt like lead, 
 to see three old officers come from miles away, brave men 
 as ever led a storming column, with tears in their eyes 
 and not a thought of their own ends. There was no firing- 
 party as should have been, being nothing but peace go- 
 ing on nowadays, and only country bumpkins about here. 
 But I see you are impatient, because you know all that. 
 
 " As soon as all were gone away and the ground put 
 tidy, I brought a few of my own white flowers, as they do 
 in Spanish land, and put them in very carefully with a bit 
 of moss below them, and fastened them so as not to blow 
 away, although there was a strong east wind up. Later 
 on at night I came again by the little wicket from the 
 school -room just to see that all was right, for my mind 
 was uneasy somehow. 
 
 " The moon was going low, and it was getting very 
 cold, and not a soul about that I could see. The flowers 
 showed bright at the head of the mound, and close by was 
 a little guardian the colonel's pet dog, that could never 
 bear to leave him ; she was lying there all in the cold by 
 herself, sobbing every now and then, or as it were bewail- 
 ing, with her chin along the ground, as if her heart was 
 broken. It struck me so sad that I could look at her no 
 more. 
 
 " In the morning I slept past the usual time, being up 
 so late, and out of spirits. But I saw the white frost on 
 the ground, and I had a few boys to correct before school 
 began, and then lessons to see to till twelve o'clock, and 
 it must have been turned the half -hour when I went to 
 church-yard again to see how my flowers had stood the 
 frost. I had brought a bit of victuals in my pocket for 
 the dog ; but little Jess was gone, and I could not blame 
 her, considering how easily a man forgets his dog ; and yet 
 I was vexed with her for being so like us, for the poor 
 things have no religion such as we make smooth with. 
 My flowers were there, but not exactly as I thought I had 
 put them, and the bank appeared to me to be made up 
 sharper. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Fox, I am not one of them that notice little 
 things upon the earth so much (as if there was never any 
 sky above them), and make more fuss about a blade of 
 
AT THE CHARGE 89 
 
 grass than the nature of men and good metal. I thought 
 that old Channing had been at work again, not satisfied 
 with his understrapper's job. Then I drew forth my flow- 
 ers, and they looked almost as if they had been tossed 
 about the yard crumpled almost anyhow, as well as 
 scorched with frost. 
 
 " At this I was angry, when I thought how kind the 
 poor colonel had been to that old stick of a clerk, and even 
 let him muck up their liveries ; and so I set off for the old 
 man's cottage to have a word or two with him about it. 
 But he was not at home, and little Polly, his granddaugh- 
 ter, was sure that he had not been near the church that 
 day, but was gone to help dig Farmer John's potatoes. 
 
 "Then back I went again in a terrible quandary, re- 
 membering the wicked doings up the country, and the 
 things that had come across my fancy in the night. 
 
 " The first thing I saw when I came back by south gate 
 was a young man, red in the face and out of breath, jump- 
 ing in and out, over graves and tombstones, from the west 
 end where the contractor's work is. * What are you doing, 
 Bob ?' said I, rebuking of him pretty strongly, for I saw 
 that it was one of my old boys, now become a trusty 
 sort of groom at Walderscourt. 
 
 " * Sergeant, what have you been doing here ?' says he. 
 * Our little Jess has just come home with one leg cut in 
 two.' 
 
 " All my blood seemed to stand still, and I should have 
 dropped if I hadn't laid hold of that very tombstone 
 which the parson can't endure. The whole of it flashed 
 upon me in a moment, and a fool I must have been not to 
 see it all before. But wicked as our men were, and wicked 
 1 myself was as I will not deny it, in the rough-and-tum- 
 ble times such a blackguard dastard crime was out of my 
 conception. Considering who the colonel was consider- 
 ing what he was, sir !" 
 
 The sergeant turned away his face, and desired to snuff 
 the candles. No snuffers were there, for this new inven- 
 tion was warranted not to want them. So he fumbled 
 with his empty sleeve, but it would not come up to order, 
 and then he turned back as if brought to bay and reck- 
 less of public opinion, with his best new handkerchief in 
 
90 PERLYCROSS 
 
 his hand a piece of cotton goods imprinted with the 
 Union-Jack in colours. 
 
 " My friend, you are a noble fellow," said Fox, with his 
 own wrongs out of date in the movement of large feeling. 
 " Would to God that I had any one as true to me as you 
 are !" 
 
 " It is not that," resumed the sergeant, trying to look 
 stern again ; " it is the cursed cruelty that makes me hate 
 mankind, sir. That a man should kill a poor dumb thing 
 because it loved its master there, there, the Almighty 
 will smite the brute ; for all helpless things belong to Him. 
 
 " Well, sir, I hardly know what happened next, or what 
 I said to Bob Cornish. But he went round the wall 
 to fetch his horse, and the news must have spread like 
 wildfire. A young man who had helped to make up the 
 grave was going to his dinner through the church-yard, 
 and seeing us there he came and looked, and turned like 
 a ghost, and followed us. Presently we were in the street, 
 with half the village after us, going to the chief church- 
 warden's house, for we knew how ill the parson was. At the 
 cross-roads we met Farmer John, and old Clerk Channing 
 along of him, looking doiled as bad as we were, and be- 
 tween them the blacksmith from Susscot ford ; and a ter- 
 rible tale we had from them. 
 
 " Farmer John, as the head of the parish now, took the 
 lead, and well he did it. We went back by the big iron 
 gate, and there we kept the outsiders back ; and Mr. Ad- 
 ney was as good with his, who were working near the 
 tower. I was ordered to the eastern end, where the stone 
 stile leads into Perlycombe lane, by which the villains 
 must have got in ; with no house there in view of it, but 
 only the tumble -down abbey. Somebody was sent for 
 my old sword that I knocked away from the French offi- 
 cer, and now hangeth over the Commandments; and I 
 swore that I would slash off any hand that was laid on the 
 edge of the riser ; while Adney brought a pile of scaffold- 
 cords, and enclosed all the likelihood of footprints. 
 
 " By this time the other church-warden was come, and 
 they all put their heads together and asked what my opin- 
 ion was, and I said, * Make no bones of it.' But they had 
 done a wiser thing than that, with an eye to the law and the 
 
AT THE CHAEGE 91 
 
 penalties. They had sent Bob Cornish on the fast young 
 horse the colonel thought so much of to fetch the nearest 
 justice of the peace from his house this side of Perliton. 
 Squire Mockham came, as strong as he could ride, with 
 his mind made up about it ; and four digging men were 
 set to work at once. Squire Mockham was as sharp about 
 it as if he had just had the lid taken off of him by death 
 of superior officer ; and I, who had seen him on the bench 
 knock under to half a wink from the colonel's eye, was 
 vexed with the dignity he took over by reason of being 
 survivor. 
 
 " Clerk Channing will tell you more about the condi- 
 tion of things underground, for I never made them my 
 study ; though I have helped to bury a many brave men 
 in the rough, both French and English. My business it 
 was to keep people away ; and while I was putting a stern 
 face on, and looking fit to kill any of the bumpkins, the 
 Lord knows I could never have touched them, for my 
 blood was as cold as snow-water. And when they sang 
 up, * No colonel here !' just as if it made no difference, I 
 dropped the French sword, and my flesh clave to my 
 bones, the same as it did to King David. And ever since 
 that I have been fit for Bedlam, and the boys may stand 
 and make mouths at me." 
 
 " I can understand that," said Dr. Fox, with his medi- 
 cal instincts moving generously, as they always do with 
 a man worthy of that high calling. " Jakes, you are in a 
 depressed condition, and this exertion has made it worse. 
 What you want is a course of carminatives ; I will send 
 you a bottle this very night. No more excitement for you 
 at present. Lay aside all thought of this sad matter." 
 
 " As if I could, sir as if I could !" 
 
 " No, I am a fool for suggesting that, but think of it 
 as little as you can. Above all things, go in for more 
 physical exertion. Cane half a dozen boys before break- 
 fast." 
 
 " There's a dozen and a half, sir, that have been neg- 
 lected sadly." 
 
 " That will be a noble tonic. Making mouths at Ser- 
 geant Jakes ! You look better already, at the thought of 
 doing duty and restoring discipline." 
 
92 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 " Talk about duty, sir ! Where was I ? Oh, if I had 
 only gone out again if I had only gone out again, instead 
 of turning into my bed, like a sluggard ! I shall never 
 forgive myself for that." 
 
 "You would just have been killed, as poor Jess was. 
 Such scoundrels think nothing of adding murder to a 
 crime still worse. But before you go home which is 
 the best thing you can do, and have a dish of hot kidneys 
 from your brother's shop one thing I must ask, and you 
 must answer. What lunatic has dared to say that I had 
 anything to do with this ?" 
 
 "The whole parish is lunatic, if it comes to that, 
 sir." 
 
 "And all the world sometimes. But who began it? 
 Jakes, you are a just man, or you could not be so loyal. Is 
 it fair to keep me in the dark about the black things they 
 are saying of me ?" 
 
 " Sir, it is not ; and I will tell you all I know, what- 
 ever enemies I may make. When a thing flares about, 
 you can seldom lay your hand on the man or the woman 
 who fired the train. It was Crang, the shoeing smith at 
 Susscot ford, who first brought your name into it." 
 
 " Crang is an honest and a simple-minded man. He 
 would never speak against me of his own will. He has 
 been most grateful for what I did when his little girl had 
 scarlet - fever. How could he have started this cursed 
 tale?" 
 
 " From the evidence of his own eyes, sir ; according, at 
 least, to his use of them." 
 
 " Tell me what he saw, or thought he saw. He is not 
 the man to tell a lie. Whatever he said he believed in." 
 
 Fox spoke without any anger now; for this could be no 
 Gcheme of his enemies. 
 
 "You are wonderful fair, sir," said Sergeant Jakes. 
 "You deserve to have all above-board, and you shall 
 have it." 
 
 Tired as he was, and beginning to feel poorly at the 
 threat of medicine, the old soldier told the blacksmith's 
 tale with as few variations as can contrive to keep them- 
 selves out of a repetition. Fox began to see that the case 
 was not by any means so easy as he first supposed. Here 
 
AT THE CHARGE 93 
 
 was evidence direct against him from an impartial witness ; 
 a tale coherent and confirmed by facts independent of it, 
 a motive easily assigned ; and the public eager to accept it 
 after recent horrors. But he was young, and warm of 
 faith in friendship, candour, and good -will; or (if the 
 worst should come to the worst), in absolute pure justice. 
 
 " It will not take long to put this to rights," he said, 
 when the sergeant had finished his account. " No one 
 can really have believed it, except that blockhead o'f a 
 blacksmith. He was in a blue funk all the time, and no 
 need to be ashamed of it. There are two people I must 
 see to-night Mr. Mockham and that Joe Crang himself. 
 I shall borrow a horse from Walter Haddon ; my young 
 mare has had enough of it. I shall see how the parson 
 looks before I go. Now go to bed, sergeant, as I told you. 
 To-morrow you will find all the wiseacres saying what 
 fools they have made of one another." 
 
 But the veteran shook his head, and said, "If a cat has 
 nine lives, sir, a lie has ninety-nine." 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 A FOOL'S ERRAND 
 
 MR. JOHN MOCKHAM was a short stout man about five 
 or six and forty years of age, ruddy, kind-hearted, and 
 jocular. He thought very highly of Jemmy Fox, both as 
 a man and a doctor ; moreover, he had been a guest at 
 Foxden several times, and had met with the greatest 
 hospitality. But for all that he doubted not a little in his 
 heart though his tongue was not allowed to know it 
 concerning the young doctor's innocence of this most atro- 
 cious outrage. He bore in mind how the good and gentle 
 mother had bemoaned (while Jemmy was in turn-down 
 collars) the very sad perversity of his mind towards any- 
 thing bony and splintery. Nothing could keep him from 
 cutting up, even when his thumb was done round with 
 oozing rag, anything jointed or cellular ; and the smell of 
 the bones he collected was dreadful, even in the drawer 
 where his frilled shirts were laid. 
 
 The time was not come yet, and happily shall never 
 in spite of all morbid suisection when a man shall 
 anatomize his own mind and trace every film of its his- 
 tology. Squire Mockham would have laughed any one to 
 scorn who had dared to suggest that in the process of his 
 brain there was any connection of the frills in Jemmy's 
 drawer with the blacksmith's description of what he had 
 seen ; and yet, without his knowledge, it may even have 
 been so. But whatever his opinion on the subject was, he 
 did not refuse to see this young friend, although he was en- 
 tertaining guests, and the evening was now far advanced. 
 
 Fox was shown into the library by a very pale footman, 
 who glanced at the visitor as if he feared instant dissection, 
 and evidently longed to lock him in. " Is it come to this 
 already ?" thought poor Fox. 
 
95 
 
 " Excuse me for not asking you to join us in there," 
 Mr. Mockhara began, rather stiffly, as he pointed to the 
 dining-room; "but I thought you might wish to see me 
 privately." 
 
 " I care not how it is. I have come to you as a magis- 
 trate, and and " " an old friend of the family " was 
 what he meant to say, but substituted, " as a gentleman, 
 and a sensible and clear-sighted one, to receive my deposi- 
 tion on oath concerning the wicked lies spread abroad 
 about me." 
 
 " Of what use will it be ? The proper course is for you 
 to wait till the other side move in the matter, and then 
 prove your innocence if possible, and then proceed against 
 them." 
 
 "That is to say, I am to lie for six months, perhaps 
 twelve months, under this horrible imputation, and be grate- 
 ful for escaping at last from it ! I see that even you are 
 half inclined to think me guilty." 
 
 " All this to a magistrate is quite improper. It happens 
 that I have resolved not to act, to take no share in any 
 proceedings that may follow, on account of my acquaint- 
 ance with your family. But that you could not know until 
 I told you. I am truly sorry for you, but you must even 
 bear it." 
 
 " You say that so calmly because you think I deserve it. 
 Now as. you are not going to act in the matter, and have 
 referred to your friendship with my family, I will tell you 
 a little thing in confidence which will prove to you at 
 once that I am innocent that I never could by any possi- 
 bility have done it." 
 
 Before Mr. Mockham could, draw back, the visitor had 
 whispered a few words in his ear, which entirely changed 
 the whole expression of his face. 
 
 " Well, I am surprised ! I had no idea of it. How 
 could that fool Crang have made such a mistake ? But I 
 saw from the first how absurd it was to listen to such 
 fellows. I refused to give a warrant. I said that no con- 
 nection could be shown between the two occurrences. 
 How strange that I should have hit the mark so well! 
 But I seem to have that luck generally. Well, I am 
 pleased for your dear mother's sake as well as your own, 
 
96 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 Master Jemmy. There may be a lot of trouble, but you 
 must keep your heart up, and the winning card is yours. 
 After all, what a thing it is to be a doctor !" 
 
 " Not so very fine, unless your nature drives you into 
 it. And everybody thinks you make the worst of him 
 to exalt your blessed self. So they came for a warrant 
 against me, did they ? Is it lawful to ask who they were ?" 
 
 " To be sure it is, my boy. Everybody has a right to 
 that piece of information. Tapscott was the man that 
 came to swear strong reason for believing, etc., with two 
 or three witnesses, all from your parish ; Crang among 
 the others, hauled in by the neck, and each foremost in 
 his own opinion. But Crang wanted to be last, for he 
 kept on shouting that if he had to swear against Dr. 
 Jemmy the Lord would know that he never meant it. 
 This of course made it all the worse for your case ; and 
 every one was grieved, yet gratified. You are too young 
 to know the noise which the newspapers begin to call 
 ' public opinion ' worth about as much as a blue-bottle's 
 buzz, and as eager to pitch upon nastiness. I refused a 
 warrant as my duty was. Even if the blacksmith's tale 
 was true and there was no doubt that he believed it 
 what legal connection could they show betwixt that and 
 the matter at the church-yard ? In a case of urgency, and 
 risk of disappearance of the suspected person, I might 
 have felt bound to grant it. But I knew that you would 
 stand it out ; and unless they could show any others im- 
 plicated their application was premature." 
 
 " Then, unless you had ventured to stem the tide, I sup- 
 pose that I should have been arrested when I came back 
 to-day from my father's sick-bed. A pretty state of law 
 in this free country !" 
 
 "The law is not to blame. It must act promptly in 
 cases of strong suspicion. Probably they will apply to- 
 morrow to some younger magistrate. But your father is 
 ill ? How long have you been with him ? They made a 
 great deal out of your disappearance." 
 
 " My father has had a paralytic stroke. I trust that he 
 will get over it ; and I have left him in excellent hands. 
 But to hear of this would kill him. His mind is much 
 weakened, of course; and he loves me. I had no idea 
 
97 
 
 that he cared much for me. I thought he only cared for 
 my sister." 
 
 " Excuse me for a moment, I must go to my guests." 
 Mr. Mockham perceived that the young man was over- 
 come for the moment, and would rather be alone. " I will 
 make it all right with them, and be back directly." 
 
 Fox was an active and resolute young fellow, with great 
 powers of endurance, as behooved a man of medicine. 
 Honest indignation, and strong sense of injustice, had 
 stirred up his energy for some hours ; but since last Thurs- 
 day night he had slept very little, and the whole waking 
 time had been worry and exertion. So that now when he 
 was left alone, and had no foe to fire at, bodily weariness 
 began to tell upon him, and he fell back in an easy-chair 
 into a peaceful slumber. 
 
 When the guests had all departed, and the magistrate 
 came back, he stopped short for a moment, with a broad 
 smile on his face, and felt proud of his own discretion in 
 refusing to launch any criminal process against this trust- 
 ful visitor. For the culprit of the outcry looked so 
 placid, gentle, good-natured, and forgiving with the nat- 
 ural expression restored by deep oblivion that a woman 
 would have longed to kiss his forehead if she had known 
 of his terrible mishap. 
 
 " I have brought you a little drop of cordial, Master 
 Jemmy. I am sure you must want something good to 
 keep you up." Mr. Mockham put a spirit-stand and glass 
 upon the table as Fox arose and shook himself. 
 
 " That is very kind of you. But I never take spirits, 
 though I prescribe them sometimes for old folk when 
 much depressed. But a glass of your old port-wine, sir, 
 would help me very much if I am not giving you a lot 
 of trouble." 
 
 " You shall have a glass, almost as good as your father 
 has given me. There it is. How sorry I am to hear 
 about his illness ! But I will do what he would have 
 wished. I will talk to you as a friend, and one who 
 knows the world better than you can. First, however, you 
 must forgive me for my vile suspicions. They were 
 founded partly on your good mother's account of your 
 early doings. And I have known certain instances of the 
 *6 
 
98 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 zeal of your profession, how in the name of science and 
 the benefits to humanity but I won't go on about that 
 just now. The question is, how shall we clear you to the 
 world ? The fact that I doubted you is enough to show 
 what others a-re likely to conclude. Unluckily the story 
 has had three days' start, and has fallen upon fruitful 
 ground. Your brother-doctors about here are doing their 
 best to clinch the nail" Mr. Mockham, like almost 
 everybody else, was apt to mix metaphors in talking " by 
 making lame excuses for you instead of attempting to 
 deny it." 
 
 " Such fellows as Jervis Jackson, I suppose. Several 
 of them hate me because I am not a humbug. Perhaps 
 they will get up a testimonial to me for fear there should 
 be any doubt of my guilt." 
 
 " That is the very thing they talk of doing. How well 
 you understand them, my young friend ! Now what have 
 you to show against this general conclusion? For of 
 course you cannot mention what you confessed to me." 
 
 " I can just do this I can prove an alibi. You forget 
 that I can show where I have been, and prove the receipt 
 of the letter which compelled me to leave home. Surely 
 that will convince everybody who has a fair mind. And 
 for the rest, what do I care ?" 
 
 " I don't see exactly what to say to that." Mr. Mock- 
 ham was beginning to feel tired also, after going through 
 all his best stories to his guests. " But what says Cicero, 
 or some other fellow that old Dr. Kichards use to drive 
 into my skin ? ' To neglect what every one thinks of one's 
 self is the proof not only of an arrogant but even of a 
 dissolute man.' You are neither of these. You must con- 
 tend with it, and confound your foes, or else run away. 
 And upon the whole, as you don't belong here, but up the 
 country as we call it and your father wants your atten- 
 tion, the wisest thing you can do is to bolt." 
 
 " Would you do that, if it were your own case ?" Fox 
 had not much knowledge of Squire Mockham, except as a 
 visitor at his father's house, and whether he should re- 
 spect or despise him depended upon the answer. 
 
 " I would see them all d d first," the magistrate re- 
 plied, looking as if he would be glad to do it ; " but that 
 
99 
 
 is because I am a Devonshire man. You are over the bor- 
 der, and not to be blamed." 
 
 " Well, there are some things one cannot get over," 
 Dr. Jemmy answered, with a pleasant smile, " and the 
 worst of them all is to be born outside of Devon. If I 
 had been of true Devonshire birth, I believe you would 
 never have held me guilty." 
 
 " Others may take that view, but I do not," said the 
 magistrate, very magnanimously ; " it would have been 
 better for you, no doubt. But we are not narrow-minded ; 
 and your mother was a Devonshire woman, connected with 
 our oldest .families. No, no ; the question is now of evi- 
 dence, and the law does not recognize the difference. The 
 point is to prove that you were really away." 
 
 " Outside the holy county where this outrage was com- 
 mitted ? Foxden is thirty miles from Perlycross, even by 
 the shortest cuts, and nearer thirty -five to all who are 
 particular about good roads. I was at my father's 
 bedside some minutes before ten o'clock on Saturday 
 morning." 
 
 " That is not enough to show. We all know in com- 
 mon-sense that the ride would have taken at least four 
 hours ; probably more, over those bad roads, in the dark- 
 ness of a November morning. The simplest thing will be 
 for you to tell me the whole of your movements on the 
 night of this affair." 
 
 " That I will, as nearly as I can remember ; though I 
 had no reason then for keeping any special record. To 
 begin with : I was at the funeral of course, and saw you 
 there, but did not cross over to speak to you. Then I 
 walked home to the Old Barn where I live, which stands 
 as you know at the foot of Hagdon Hill. It was nearly 
 dark then, perhaps half-past five ; and I felt out of spirits 
 and sadly cut up, for I was very fond of Sir Thomas. I 
 sat thinking of him for an hour or so ; and then I changed 
 my clothes for riding togs, and had a morsel of cold beef 
 and a pipe, and went to look for the boy that brings my 
 letters ; for old Walker, the postman, never comes near 
 the Barn. There was no sign of the boy, so I saddled Old 
 Rock for my inan was ' keeping funeral ' still, as they ex- 
 press it and I rode to Northend, the farthest corner of 
 
100 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 the parish, to see to a little girl who has had a dangerous 
 attack of croup. Then I crossed Maiden Down by the 
 gravel-pits to see an old stager at Old Bait, who abuses 
 me every time, and expects a shilling. Then homeward 
 through Priestwell, and knocked at Gronow's door, having 
 a general permission to come in at night. But he was not 
 at home, or did not want to be disturbed ; so I lost very 
 little time by that. It must have been now at least nine 
 o'clock, with the moon in the south-west, and getting very 
 cold; but I had managed to leave my watch on the 
 drawers when I pulled my mourning clothes off. 
 
 " From Priestwell I came back to Perlycross, and was 
 going straight home to see about my letters for I knew 
 that my father had been slightly out of sorts, when I saw 
 a man waiting at the cross-roads for me to say that I was 
 wanted at the Whetstone pits, for a man had tumbled 
 down a hole and broken both his legs. Without asking 
 the name, I put spurs to Old Rock, and set off at a spank- 
 ing pace for the Whetstone pits, expecting to find the 
 foreman there to show me where it was. It is a long, 
 roundabout way from our village, at least for any one on 
 horseback, though not more than three miles perhaps in 
 a straight line, because you have to go all round the butt 
 of Hagdon Hill, which no one would think of riding over 
 in the dark. I should say it must be five miles at least 
 from our cross-roads." 
 
 " Every yard of that distance," said the magistrate, 
 who was following the doctor's tale intently, and making 
 notes in his pocket-book ; " five miles at least, and road out 
 of repair. Your parish ought to be indicted." 
 
 "Very well; Old Rock was getting rather tired. A 
 better horse never looked through a bridle ; but he can't 
 be less than sixteen years of age. My father had him 
 eight years, and I have had him three ; and even for a 
 man with both legs broken I could not drive a willing 
 horse to death. However, we let no grass grow beneath 
 our feet; and dark as the lanes were, and wonderfully 
 rough, even for this favoured county, I got to the pit at 
 the corner of the hill as soon as a man could get there 
 without breaking his neck." 
 
 " In that case he never would get there at all." 
 
A FOOL'^s FyRRAND 101 
 
 " Perhaps not ; or, at least, not in working condition. 
 Well, you know what a queer sort of place it is. I had 
 been there before, about a year ago ; but then it was day- 
 light, and that makes all the difference. I am not so very 
 fidgety where I go when I know that a man is in agony ; 
 but how to get along there in the dark, with the white 
 grit up to my horse's knees, and black pines barring out 
 the moonshine, was I don't mind confessing it a thing 
 beyond me. And the strangest thing of all was that no- 
 body came near me. I had the whole place to myself, so 
 far as I could see and I did not want it. 
 
 " I sat on Old Rock and I had to sit close, for the old 
 beauty's spirit was up in spite of all his weariness. His 
 hunting days came to his memory, perhaps ; and you 
 should have seen how he jumped about. At the risk of 
 his dear old bones, of course ; but a horse is much pluckier 
 than we are. What got into his old head who shall say ? 
 But I failed to see the fun of it as he did. There was all 
 the white stuff that comes out of the pits, like a great 
 cascade of diamonds, glittering in the level moonlight, 
 with broad bars of black thrown across it by the pines, all 
 trembling and sparkling and seeming to move. 
 
 " Those things tell upon a man, somehow, and he seems 
 to have no right to disturb them. But I felt that I was not 
 brought here for nothing, and began to get vexed at seeing 
 nobody. So I set up a shout, with a hand to my mouth, 
 and then a shrill whistle between my nails. The echo 
 came back very punctually ; but nothing else, except a 
 little gliding of the shale, and shivering of black branch- 
 es. Then I jumped off my horse and made him fast to 
 a tree, and scrambled along the rough bottom of the 
 hill. 
 
 " There are eight pits on the south side and seven upon 
 the north, besides the three big ones at the west end of 
 the hill, which are pretty well worked out, according to 
 report. Their mouths are pretty nearly at a level, about 
 a hundred and fifty feet below the chine of hill. But the 
 tumble-down I forget what the proper name is the ex- 
 cavated waste that comes down, like a great beard, to the 
 foot where the pine-trees stop it : 
 
 " Brekkles is their name for it," interrupted Mr. Mock- 
 
102 
 
 ham ; " brekkles, or brockles, I am not sure which. You 
 know they are a colony of Cornishmen." 
 
 " Yes, and a strange outlandish lot, having nothing to 
 do with the people around whenever they can help it. It 
 is useless for any man to seek work there. They push 
 him down the brekkles if that is what they call them. 
 However, they did not push me down, although I made 
 my way up to the top when I had shouted in vain along 
 the bottom. I could not get up the stuff itself ; I knew 
 better than to make the trial. But I circumvented them 
 at the farther end, and there I found a sort of terrace, 
 where a cart could get along from one pit - mouth to an- 
 other. And from mouth to mouth I passed along this 
 rough and stony gallery, under the furzy crest of hill, 
 without discovering a sign of life, while the low moon 
 across the broad western plains seemed to look up rather 
 than down at me. Into every black pit-mouth, broad or 
 narrow, bratticed with timber or arched with flint, I sent 
 a loud shout, but the only reply was like the dead mur- 
 muring of a shell. And yet all the time I felt somehow 
 as if I were watched by invisible eyes, as a man upon a 
 cliff is observed from the sea. 
 
 " This increased my anger, which was rising at the 
 thought that some one had made a great fool of me ; and, 
 forgetting all the ludicrous side of the thing as a man 
 out of temper is apt to do I mounted the most conspicu- 
 ous pile at the end of the hill, and threw up my arms, 
 and shouted to the moon, l Is this the way to treat a 
 doctor ?' 
 
 " The distant echoes answered ' Doctor ! docter !' as 
 if they were conferring a degree upon me ; and that made 
 me laugh and grow rational again, and resolve to have 
 one more try instead of giving in. So I climbed upon a 
 ridge where I could see along the chine through patches 
 of white among the blackness of the furze, and in the 
 distance there seemed to be a low fire smouldering. For 
 a moment I doubted about going on, for I have heard that 
 these people are uncommonly fierce with any one they take 
 for a spy upon them, and here I was entirely at their 
 mercy. But whenever I have done a cowardly thing I 
 have always been miserable afterwards, and so I went 
 
103 
 
 cautiously forward towards the fire, with a sharp lookout, 
 and my hunting-crop ready. Suddenly a man rose in front 
 of me, almost as if he jumped out of the ground, a wild- 
 looking fellow, stretching out both arms. I thought I was 
 in for a nasty sort of fight, and he seemed a very ugly 
 customer. But he only stepped back and made some 
 inquiry, so far as I could gather from his tone, for his 
 words were beyond my intelligence. 
 
 "Then I told him who I was, and what had brought me 
 there; and he touched his rough hat, and seemed as- 
 tonished. He had not the least difficulty in making out 
 my meaning, but I could not return the compliment. ' Naw 
 hoort along o' yussen' was his nearest approach to 
 English; which I took to mean 'no accident among us;' 
 and I saw by his gestures that he meant this. In spite of 
 some acquaintance with the Mendip miners, and pretty 
 fair mastery of their brogue, this Whetstoner went beyond 
 my linguistic powers, and I was naturally put out with 
 him. Especially when in reply to my conclusion that I 
 had been made a fool of, he answered 'yaw, yaw,' as if 
 the thing was done with the greatest ease, and must 
 be familiar to me. But, in his rough style, he was par- 
 ticularly civil, as if he valued our profession, and was 
 sorry that any one should play with it. He seemed to 
 have nothing whatever to conceal ; and so far as I could 
 interpret, he was anxious to entertain me as his guest, 
 supposing that time permitted it. But I showed him 
 where my horse was, and he led me to him by a better 
 way and helped me with him, and declined the good shil- 
 ling which I offered him. This made me consider him a 
 superior sort of fellow; though to refuse a shilling shows 
 neglected education. 
 
 " When I got back to the Ancient Barn as I call my 
 place, because it is in reality nothing else it was two 
 o'clock in the morning, and all my authorities were locked 
 in slumber. George was on a truss of hay up in the tallat, 
 making more noise than Perle weir in a flood, although 
 with less melody in it; and old Betty was under her 
 ' Mark, Luke, and John ' as they call the four-poster, 
 when one is gone. So I let them 'bide, as you would say ; 
 gave Old Rock a mash myself, because he was coughing, 
 
104 PERLYCROSS 
 
 and went in pretty well tired, I can assure you, to get a 
 bit of bread and cheese, and then embrace the downy. 
 
 " But there on my table was a letter from my mother, 
 which I ought to have received before I started ; but the 
 funeral had even thrown the post out, it appears. I don't 
 believe that my boy was at all to blame. But you know 
 what Walker the postman is when anything of interest is 
 moving. He simply stands still to see the end of it, 
 sounding his horn every now and again, to show his right 
 to look over other folk's heads. Every one respects him 
 because he walks so far thirty miles a day, by his own 
 account ; but it must be eighteen, even when he gets no 
 beer." 
 
 " A worthy old soul," said the magistrate. " And he 
 had a lot of trouble last winter. Nobody likes to com- 
 plain on that account. He is welcome to get his peck of 
 nuts on the road, and to sell them next day at Pumpington, 
 to eke out his miserable wages. But this is an age of prog- 
 ress, and a strict line must be drawn somewhere. The 
 post is important sometimes, as you know, though we pay 
 so many eightpences for nothing. Why, my friends were 
 saying, only this very evening, that Walker must submit 
 henceforth to a rule to keep him out of the coppices. 
 When he once gets there all his sense of time is gone. 
 And people are now so impatient." 
 
 " But the nutting-time is over, and he has not that ex- 
 cuse. He must have been four hours late on Friday, and 
 no doubt he was as happy as ever. But to me it would 
 have made all the difference, for I should have started that 
 evening for Foxden. My mother's letter begged me to 
 come at once, for she feared that my father would never 
 speak again. There had been some little trifles between 
 us, as I don't mind telling you, who are acquainted with 
 the family. No doubt I was to blame, and you may sup- 
 pose how much I was cut up by this sad news. It was 
 folly to start in that tangle of cross-lanes, with the moon 
 gone down and my horse worn out. I threw myself down 
 upon my bed and sobbed, as I thought of all the best parts 
 of the governor. 
 
 " What a fool a man is when a big blow falls upon him. 
 For two or three hours I must have lain like that, as if all 
 
105 
 
 the world were in league against me, and nothing to be 
 done but feel helpless and rebel. I knew that there was 
 no horse near the place to be hired for the ride to Foxden, 
 even if the owner could be fetched out of his bed. And 
 all the time I was forgetting the young mare that I had 
 bought about a month ago a sweet little thing, but not 
 thoroughly broken, and I did not mean to use her much 
 until the spring. She was loose in a straw-run at the top of 
 my home-meadow, with a nice bit of after-math still pretty 
 fresh, and a feed of corn at night, which I generally took 
 to her myself. Now she came to the gate and whinnied 
 for me, because she had been forgotten ; and hearing the 
 sound I went down-stairs and lit a lantern to go to the corn- 
 bin. But she had better have gone without her supper, for 
 I said to myself why not try her ? It was a long way for 
 a young thing just off grass, but if only she would take me 
 to the great London road, I might hire on if she became 
 distressed. 
 
 " Of course I went gently and carefully at first, for I 
 found her a little raw and bridle-shy ; but she carried me 
 beautifully when the daylight came, and would have gone 
 like a bird if I had let her. She will make a rare trotter, 
 in my opinion, and I only gave fifteen pounds for her. I 
 would not look at fifty now, after the style she brought me 
 back a mouth like a French kid-glove, and the kindest of 
 the kind." 
 
 " You deserve a good horse because you treat them well, 
 Jemmy. But what about your good father?" 
 
 " Well, sir, thank God, he is in no danger now ; but he 
 must be kept very quiet. If he were to hear of this lying 
 tale it might be fatal to him. And even my mother must 
 not know it. Your Exeter paper never goes that way, but 
 the Bristol ones might copy it. My only sister, Christie, 
 is a wonderful girl ; very firm and quick and sensible. 
 Some say that she has got more sense than I have, though 
 I don't quite see it. I shall write to her to-morrow, just to 
 put her upon guard, with a line for Dr. Freeborn too 
 my father's old friend and director, who knows exactly 
 how to treat him. What a rage they will be in when they 
 hear of this ! But they will keep it as close as a limpet. 
 Now what do you advise me to do about myself ?" 
 5* 
 
106 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 " You must look it in the face like a man, of course ; 
 though it is enough to sour you for life almost, after all 
 your good works among the poor." 
 
 " No fear of that, sir. It is the way of the world. 
 ' Fair before fierce ' is my family motto, and I shall try to 
 act up to it. Though I dare say my temper will give out 
 sometimes, especially with brother pill-box." 
 
 " You take it much better than I should, I fear" Mr. 
 Mockham spoke the truth in this ; " you know that I will 
 do my utmost for you, and if you keep your head you will 
 tide over this and be the idol of all who have abused you 
 I mean, who have abused you honestly. You seem to 
 have solid stuff inside you, as is natural to your father's 
 son. But it will take a lot out of your life; and it seems 
 very hard upon a fine young fellow, especially after what 
 you have told me. Things will be very black there, as 
 you must see." 
 
 " Certainly they will. But I am not a boy. I know a 
 noble nature when I come across it. And if ever there 
 was but I won't go on with that. If she believes in me 
 I am content, whatever the low world may say. I have 
 never been romantic." 
 
 " I am not at all sure of that, my boy. But I felt that 
 sort of wildness before I was married. Now let me put 
 one or two questions to you, just to get up your case, as if 
 I was your counsel. Did any of your people at the 
 Old Barn see you after your return from the Whetstone 
 pits ?" 
 
 " Not one, to my knowledge. My household is small 
 in that ram-shackle place. Old Betty up-stairs, and George 
 over the stables, and the boy who goes home to his 
 mother at night. I have only those three in the domestic 
 line, except upon great occasions. Old Betty was snoring 
 in her bed, George doing the like upon a truss of hay, 
 and the boy, of course, off the premises. They must have 
 found in the morning that I had been there, but without 
 knowing when, or how long I stayed." 
 
 " That is most unlucky. Did you pass near the church ? 
 Did you meet any people who would know you, anywhere 
 between midnight and morning ?" 
 
 " Neither man, woman, nor child did I see, from the 
 
107 
 
 time I left the Whetstone Hill until I passed Perlycombe 
 next morning. It was either too late or too early for our 
 very quiet folk to be stirring." 
 
 " Bad again very bad. You cannot show your where- 
 abouts during any part of the critical time. I suppose you 
 would know the man on the Whetstone Hill ; but that was 
 too early to help you much. The man at the cross-roads 
 would you know him ?" 
 
 " Not to be certain. He kept in the shadow, and spoke 
 as if he were short of breath. And the message was so 
 urgent that I never stopped to examine him." 
 
 " Very little comfort anywhere. Is it usual for Dr. 
 Gronow to be from home at night ?" 
 
 Mr. Mockham put this question abruptly, and pro- 
 nounced the doctor's name as if he did not love him. 
 
 " Not very usual ; but I have known it happen. He is 
 wild about fishing, though he cannot fish a bit ; and he 
 sometimes goes late to his night-lines." 
 
 " He would scarcely have night-lines laid in November, 
 however big a poacher he may be. Betwixt you and me, 
 Jemmy, in the very strictest confidence, I believe he is at 
 the bottom of all this." 
 
 " I will answer for it that he is not. In the first place 
 he is a gentleman, though rough in his manners, and very 
 odd. And again, he had no motive none whatever. He 
 has given up his practice, and cares more for Walton and 
 Cotton than for all the Hunterian Museum. And he knew, 
 as well as I do, the nature of the case. No, sir, you must 
 not suspect him for a moment." 
 
 " Well, then it must be that man I forget his name 
 who was staying with Mr. Penniloe. A very sarcastic, 
 unpleasant fellow, as several people said who spoke to him. 
 He would take good care to leave no trace. He looked as 
 crafty as old Nick himself. It will never be found out if 
 that man did it. No, no, Jemmy, don't attempt to argue ; 
 it must be one of you three. It is neither you nor Gronow ; 
 then it must be that Harrison Gowler." 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 
 
 THE LAW OF THE LAND 
 
 ONE comfort there was among all this trouble and ter- 
 ror and perplexity little Jess was not dead, as reported ; 
 nor even inclined to die, just at present. It was true that 
 she had been horribly slashed with a spade or shovel, or 
 whatever it might have been, and had made her way home 
 on three legs by slow stages, and perhaps with many a 
 fainting fit. But when she had brought her evil tidings, 
 and thrown down her stanch little frame to die at the 
 spot where she was wont to meet her master, it happened 
 that Mr. Sharland crossed the garden from the stables. 
 This was a veterinary surgeon, full of skill and large of 
 heart, awake to the many pangs he caused in systems finer 
 than the human, and pitiful to the drooping head and the 
 legs worn out in man's service. In a moment he had 
 gathered up the story of poor Jess, and he said, " If any 
 dog deserves to Tbe saved, it is this faithful little dear." 
 
 Then he pulled off his coat and tucked up his sleeves, 
 and pronounced, with a little pomposity for a good man 
 should make his impression 
 
 " Deep cut across the humerus. Compound fracture of 
 the ulna. Will never do much with that limb again. But 
 if the little thing is only half as sagacious as she is faith- 
 ful, and pyretic action does not supervene, we shall save 
 her life and it is worth saving." 
 
 Jess licked his hand as if she understood it all, and re- 
 signed herself to human wisdom. And now she had a 
 sweet bed in a basket, airy and buoyant, yet proof against 
 cold draughts; and there she was delighted to receive old 
 friends, with a soft look of gratitude in large black eyes, 
 and a pretty little quiver of the tail too wise to wag, for 
 fear of arousing their anxiety. Pixie, the pug, had many 
 
THE LAW OF THE LAND 109 
 
 qualms of jealousy, as well as some pangs of deep in- 
 terest for what dog, however healthy, could feel certain 
 in his heart that he might not be reduced to the same 
 condition ? And he was apt to get a human kick when 
 he pressed his kind inquiries. 
 
 But upon the loftier level of anthropic interests less of 
 harmony prevailed, and more of hot contention. The 
 widowed lady of the house had felt her loss intensely, 
 and with the deeper pain because her generous nature told 
 her of many a time when she had played a part a little 
 over the duty of a loyal wife. Her strong will and rather 
 imperious style and widely different view-point had some- 
 times caused slight disagreements between the Spanish lady 
 and the English squire ; and now she could not claim the 
 pleasure of having waived herself to please him. But she 
 had the sorrow of recalling how often she had won the 
 victory and pushed it to the utmost, and how seldom she 
 had owned herself in the wrong, even when she had per- 
 ceived it. A kinder and a nobler husband no woman was 
 ever blessed with ; and having lost him, how could she 
 help disparaging every other man, as a tribute to his 
 memory ? 
 
 Even with her daughter Inez she was frequently pro- 
 voked when she saw the tears of filial love or heard the 
 unconsidered sigh. "What is her loss compared with 
 mine?" "But for this child he would have loved me 
 more." " Shallow young creature, like a tinkling zither 
 she will start a new tune in a week or two." Such were 
 her thoughts ; but she kept them to herself, and was an- 
 gry with herself for forming them. 
 
 So it may be supposed what her fury was, or rather her 
 boundless and everlasting rage, when she heard of the 
 miscreant villany which could not long be concealed from 
 her. Her favourite maid, Tamar Haddon, was the one 
 who first let fall an unwary word ; and that young woman 
 received a shock which ought to have disciplined her 
 tongue for life. With a gaze, and a gesture there was 
 no withstanding, her mistress tore out of her everything 
 she knew, and then with a power of self-control which 
 few men could have equalled, she ordered the terrified 
 damsel away, and sat down alone to think miserably. 
 
110 PEELYCROSS 
 
 How long she stayed thus was unknown to any, for 
 Tamar made off with all speed to her room, and was seized 
 with a fit of hysterics. But the lady's only movement was 
 to press one hand upon her labouring heart. By-and-by 
 she rose, and unlocked the door of her little oratory a 
 place not very often favoured with her presence. There 
 she took down a crucifix of ivory not the Indian, but 
 the African, which hardens and whitens with the lapse of 
 years, though green at first, as truth is and she set it 
 upon a velvet shelf and looked at it without much rever- 
 ence. In the stormy times when Spain was writhing under 
 the heel of an infidel, her daughters lost their religious 
 grounding and gained fierce patriotism. "My country is 
 my God," was a copy set in schools. 
 
 At first she looked with scorn and pity at such meek 
 abandonment. What had her will and heart to do with 
 mild submission, drooping head, and brow of wan benig- 
 nity ? But the sculptor had told more than that. He 
 had filled the Sufferer's face with love, and thrilled the 
 gaze of death with sweet celestial compassion. So well 
 had the human hand conveyed the tender heart of 
 Heaven. 
 
 The sting of mortal injuries began to grow less venom- 
 ous. The rancorous glare was compelled to soften, and 
 suffused with quivering tears. She had come to have a 
 curse attested and a black vow sanctified; but earthly 
 wrong and human wrath were quelled before the ruth of 
 Heaven and conquest of the Tortured One. She fell upon 
 her knees and laid her hands upon the spike-torn feet; and 
 her face became that of a stricken woman, devoted to sor- 
 row, but not to hate. 
 
 How long this higher influence would last is quite 
 another point, especially with a woman. But it proved at 
 least that she was not altogether narrow and hard and 
 arrogant. Then she went to her bed and wept for hours; 
 and perhaps her reason was saved thereby. At any rate, 
 her household, which had been in wretched panic, was 
 saved from the fearful outburst and the timid cast-up of 
 their wages. 
 
 On the following morning she was calm, at least to all 
 outward semblance, and said not a word .to any one of the 
 
THE LAW OF THE LAND 111 
 
 shock she had suffered yesterday. But as soon as busi- 
 ness-time allowed she sent for Mr. Webber, the most active 
 member of the steady firm in which her husband had 
 placed confidence. He was good enough to come at once, 
 although, as he told his nervous wife, he would have pre- 
 ferred an interview with the lioness who had just escaped 
 from a travelling menagerie. 
 
 But, like all other terrors, when confronted, this proved 
 tolerably docile; and upon his return he described this 
 foreign lady's majestic beauty and angelic fortitude in 
 warmer terms than his wife thought needful over his own 
 mahogany. After recounting all he knew, and being heard 
 with patience, he had taken instructions which he thought 
 sagacious and to the purpose, for they were chiefly of his 
 own suggestion. 
 
 Now this Mr. Webber was a shrewd, as well as a very 
 upright man, but of rather hasty temperament, and in 
 many of his conclusions led astray, without the least sus- 
 picion of it, by prejudices and private feelings. One of 
 his favourite proverbs was, "A straw will show how the 
 wind blows" and the guiding straw for him was prone to 
 float on the breath of his own favour. Although he knew 
 little of Dr. Fox, he was partly prepared to think ill of 
 him, according to the following inclination. 
 
 Waldron Webber, the lawyer's eldest son, and godson 
 of the brave Sir Thomas, had shown no capacity for the 
 law, and little for anything else except a good thumb for 
 the gallipots. Good friends said, " What a doctor he will 
 make !" and his excellent mother perceived the genius, and 
 felt how low it would be to lament that such gifts were 
 seldom lucrative till half the life is over. So the second 
 son took to the ruler and the elder to the pestle, instru- 
 ments of equal honour, but of different value. And Wal- 
 dron, although his kind father had bought him a snug 
 little practice at Perlycombe, was nibbling at the bottom 
 of the bag at home while his brother cast in at the top 
 of it. 
 
 Why was this ? Simply because young Fox, the heir of 
 a wealthy family, had taken it into his wicked head to 
 drop down from the clouds at Perlycross. It was true 
 that he had bought a practice there; but his predecessor 
 
112 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 had been a decent fellow, observing the rules of the pro- 
 fession. If a man could not pay for it, let him not be ill; 
 or, at any rate, go to the workhouse and be done for in the 
 lump. But this interloper was addicted to giving tick un- 
 limited, or even remission of all charges, and a cure when 
 nature would not be denied without the patient paying 
 for it, if he had no money. One thing was certain this 
 could not last long. But meanwhile a doctor of common- 
 sense was compelled to appeal to his parents. 
 
 "All cannot be right," Mr. Webber senior had observed, 
 with emphasis, when he heard the same tale from his son's 
 bosom friend, Jervis Jackson, of Perliton ; "there are cer- 
 tain rules, my dear, essential to the existence of all sound 
 professions, and one of the most fundamental is, to en- 
 courage nobody who cannot pay. This Fox must be a 
 sadly radical young man, though his family is most 
 respectable. Mischief will come of it, in my firm 
 opinion." 
 
 The mischief was come, and in a darker form than the 
 soundest lawyer could anticipate. Mr. Webber lamented 
 it, and his wife (who had seen Jemmy waltzing at a Taun- 
 ton ball with one of her pretty daughters, had been edified 
 with castles in the air) lifted up her hands, and re- 
 fused to listen to it; until she thought of her dear son. 
 " If it is the will of God," she said, " we must accept it, 
 Theodore." 
 
 But this resignation is not enough for an attorney with 
 a criminal case in hand. Lady Waldron had urged de- 
 spatch, and he knew that she was not to be trifled with. 
 He had taken the blacksmith's deposition, which began as 
 if his head were on the anvil, as well as Farmer John's and 
 Channing's and that of Mr. Jakes, the school-master. And 
 now it was come to Monday night, and nothing had been 
 heard of Fox. 
 
 But it was not so easy to know what to do. There was 
 no police force as yet to be invoked with certainty of 
 some energy, and the Bow-Street Runners, as they were 
 called possibly because they never ran had been of no 
 service in such cases, even when induced to take them up. 
 Recourse must be had to the ancient gear of magistrate 
 and constable, for to move any higher authorities would 
 
THE LAW OF THE LAND 113 
 
 require time and travel. Strong suspicion there might 
 be, but no strong chain of evidence ; for no connection 
 could be established (whatever might be the inference) 
 between the occurrence at Susscot and the sacrilege at 
 Perlycross. 
 
 Moreover, our ancient laws are generally rough and brisk 
 and able-bodied to stick out bravely for the purse, but leave 
 the person to defend itself. If it cannot do this after 
 death, let it settle the question with its Maker ; for it 
 cannot contribute to the realm, and belongs to the resur- 
 rection. This larger view of the matter will explain to the 
 live content how it came to pass that the Legislature (while 
 providing, for the healthy use of anatomy, the thousands 
 of criminal bodies despatched for the good of their choicer 
 brethren) failed to perceive any duty towards those who 
 departed this life in the fear of God, after paying their 
 rates and taxes for the term prescribed by heavenly stat- 
 ute. In a word, when the wicked began to fall short 
 through clemency human or divine no man of the high- 
 est respectability could make sure of what he left behind. 
 Only, by the ancient common law, to dig him up again 
 without a faculty was indictable as a misdemeanour. 
 
 Mr. Webber was familiar with all these truths, and 
 obliged to be careful of their import. If the theft of a sheep 
 could be brought home to Fox, the proceeding would have 
 been more simple and the penalties far heavier. But, for 
 his enemies, the social outrage was the thing to look at. 
 As it stood, there was small chance yet of saddling the 
 culprit with legal guilt ; nevertheless, if the tide of gen- 
 eral opinion set against him, even the noblest medical 
 science must fail to make head against it. And the first 
 step was to give some public form to the heinous accusa- 
 tion without risk of enormous damages. Hence the ap- 
 plication to Mr. Mockham, under the name of Tapscott, as 
 before related, and justly refused by that magistrate. 
 
 Mr. Webber, of course, did not appear, nor allow his 
 name to be quoted, knowing how small the prospect was 
 of the issue of a warrant. But his end was gained, for 
 all who were present including the magistrate himself - 
 left the place with dark and strong suspicion against the 
 absent doctor. The question now was certain to be taken 
 
114 PERLYCROSS 
 
 up by county journals ; whereupon the accused might well 
 be trusted to do something foolish, even if nothing more 
 were learned from the stealthy watch kept on him. 
 
 There was much to justify this view ; for Fox did many 
 foolish things, and even committed blunders such as none 
 but the sagest of the sage could avoid in his position. He 
 was young and hot of blood, and raging at the sweet 
 readiness of his friends as such dastards dared to call 
 themselves to accept the wicked charge against him on 
 such worthless evidence. Now was the time for any gen- 
 erous nature to assert itself ; for any one with a grain of 
 faith, or even of common charity, to look him in the face 
 and grasp his hand, and exclaim with honest anger, "Not 
 a word of those cursed lies do I believe. You are an 
 honest fellow, Jemmy, whatever skulks and sneaks may 
 say ; and if any one says it in my presence, down he goes 
 like a dabchick." 
 
 Did any one do this of all who had been so much 
 obliged to him, or even of those who without that had 
 praised him in his prosperous days and been proud of 
 his acquaintance ? It made his young heart cold with 
 bitterness, and his kind eyes flash with scorn, when even 
 young fellows of healthy nature, jovial manners, and care- 
 less spirit, spied something of deepest interest across the 
 road as he came by ; or favoured him with a distant nod, 
 and a passing " How doo, doctor ?" perhaps with an 
 emphasis on the title, suggestive of dissection. It was 
 enough to sour any man of even bright intelligence and 
 fair discrimination ; for large indeed is the heart of him, 
 and heavenly his nature, who does not judge of his breth- 
 ren by their behaviour to this brother. 
 
 Yet there were some few who did behave to this poor 
 brother as if they had heard of the name of Christ, or 
 deserved, in a way, to do so. These were the very poor, 
 who feel some gratitude for kindness; because it comes 
 not as a right, but as a piece of rare luck to them. " 'Tis 
 nort to I what the lad hath dooed, and I'll never belave a' 
 dooed it. If it worn't for he our little Johnny would be 
 in church-yard, instead of 's cot." So spake one or two; 
 and if the reasoning was unsound, why, then, so much the 
 worse for reason. 
 
THE LAW OF THE LAND 115 
 
 But a fine young farmer of the name of Gilham (a man 
 who worked hard for his widowed mother at the north- 
 west end of the parish) came forward like a brave Eng- 
 lishman, and left no doubt about his opinion. This young 
 man was no clodhopper, but had been at a Latin school, 
 founded by a great high -priest of the Muses in the woollen 
 line, and worthy of the infula. Gilham had shown some 
 aptness there, and power in the resurrection of languages, 
 called dead by those who would have no life without 
 them. His farm was known as the " White Post," be- 
 cause it began with a grand old proof of the wisdom of 
 our ancestors. Upon the mighty turnpike-road from Lon- 
 don even to Devonport no trumpery stick of foreign fir, 
 but a massive column of British oak had been erected in 
 solid times for the benefit of wayfarers. If a couple of 
 them had been hanged there, as tradition calmly said of 
 them, it was only because they stopped the others, and 
 owed them this enlightenment. 
 
 Frank Gilham knew little of Dr. Fox, and had never 
 swallowed physic ; which may have had something to do, 
 perhaps, with his genial view of the subject. 
 
 "A man is a man," he said to his mother, as if she 
 were an expert in the matter ; " and Fox rides as straight 
 as any man I ever saw when his horse has not done too 
 much parish work. What should I do if people went 
 against me like this, and wouldn't even stand up to their 
 own lies ? That old John Horner is a pompous ass, and 
 Crang loses his head with a young horse by daylight. 
 Where would his wits be, pulled out of bed at night, with 
 a resurrection-man standing over him ? I am thoroughly 
 ashamed of the parish, mother; and though some of our 
 land is under Lady Waldron, I shall go and see Fox, and 
 stick up for him." 
 
 So he did ; and though he was a younger man than 
 Jemmy, and made no pretence of even offering advice, his 
 love of fair play and fine healthy courage were more than 
 a houseful of silver and gold, or a legion of soldiers direct 
 from heaven. 
 
CHAPTEK XIV 
 REASONING WITHOUT REASON 
 
 ONE of the most unlucky things that could befall an 
 unlucky man in the hour of tribulation had befallen that 
 slandered Fox ; to wit, the helpless condition of the lead- 
 ing spirit and most active head in the troubled parish of 
 Perlycross. Mr. Penniloe was mending slowly ; but his 
 illness had been serious, and the violent chill in a low 
 state of health had threatened to cause inflammation of 
 the lungs. To that it would have led, there can be little 
 doubt, but for the opportune return of Fox, and the speedy 
 expulsion of Jackson. Now the difficulty was to keep the 
 curate quiet ; and his great anxiety to get to work pro- 
 longed the disability, even as a broken arm in splinters is 
 not likely to do without them while the owner works a 
 pump. 
 
 The doctor caught his patient, on the Friday morning, 
 groping his way through the long dark tunnel which un- 
 derran the rectory, and just emerging, with crafty triumph, 
 into the drive by his own main gate. Thyatira was gone 
 to Jakes the butcher, after locking the front door and 
 carrying off the key. The parson looked miserably thin 
 and wan, but proud of this successful sortie. He was 
 dressed as if for action in his Sunday clothes, though tot- 
 tering on his black -varnished stick; while his tortoise- 
 shell eye-glass upon its watered ribbon dangled across his 
 shrunken chest. But suddenly all his scheme collapsed. 
 
 " Ah, ah, ah !" he began with his usual exclamation, 
 while his delicate face fell sadly, and his proud simper 
 waned into a nervous smile ; " fine morning, Fox ; I hope 
 you are quite well pleasant morning for a walk." 
 
 " It may be pleasant," returned the doctor, trying to 
 look most awful ; " but like many other pleasant things 
 
REASONING WITHOUT REASON 117 
 
 it is wrong. Will you do me the honour to take my 
 arm ?" 
 
 Fox hooked the baffled parson by the elbow, and gently 
 led him towards his own front door, guilty looking, sadly 
 smiling, striving vainly to walk as if he were fit to contest 
 a hurdle-race. But the cup of his shame was not full 
 yet. 
 
 " Oh, sir, oh !" exclaimed Mrs. Muggridge, rushing in 
 from the street with a dish of lamb's fry reposing among 
 its parsley. " I never would have believed it, sir, if an 
 angel was to speak the words. To think that he have 
 come to this !" 
 
 " She refers to my moral condition, I fear " Mr. Pen- 
 niloe held his head down, while the key he had thought 
 to elude was used to restore him to safer durance. " Well, 
 perhaps I was wrong ; but I only meant to go a very short 
 way, I assure you ; only as far as the spot where my dear 
 old friend is sleeping." 
 
 " What a blessing as we caught you, sir !" cried the im- 
 pulsive Muggridge ; while her master looked up in sharp 
 wonder, and the doctor frowned at her clumsiness. 
 
 " Not to the repairs, sir ? Oh, come, come, come !" 
 Jemmy cut in rapidly, with this attractive subject. 
 
 " No, not even to the repairs, or I might even say the 
 arrest of ruin. Without the generosity of my dear friend 
 we never should have achieved so much for the glory of 
 I will not speak proudly for the doing up of our old 
 church. Those who should have been foremost but no 
 doubt they had good reason for buttoning up their pock- 
 ets. Comparatively, I mean, comparatively ; for they 
 really did give something. Possibly, all that they could 
 afford." 
 
 " Or all they thought they couldn't help. It was very 
 hard upon them, sir. But you are getting into a rebel- 
 lious humour. Sit down by the fire, and allow me to ex- 
 amine you." 
 
 " I will carry my rebellion further," said the invalid, af- 
 ter sitting down. " I know how kind you have been to 
 me, kinder by far than I ever could deserve. And I be- 
 lieve it was the goodness of the Lord that delivered me 
 from Jackson. lie meant well ; but he cannot be positive 
 
118 PERLYCROSS 
 
 whether the lungs should be higher up or deeper down 
 than the liver. I have been examined, and examiner as 
 well, at Oxford, and in some public schools ; but the ques- 
 tion has never arisen ; and 1 felt myself unable to throw 
 any light on it. Still it struck me that he ought to know, 
 as a properly qualified medical man." 
 
 " No, sir, no. That is quite a trifle. That should never 
 have lessened your confidence in him." Dr. Fox spoke so 
 gravely that Mr. Penniloe was angry with his own inside. 
 
 " Well, after all, the mind and soul are the parts that 
 we should study. I see that I have wronged poor Jack- 
 son, and I will apologize. But what I have to say to you 
 is this, even if I am not to take a walk, I must be allowed 
 some communication with people of the parish. I have 
 no idea what is going on. I am isolated as if I had the 
 plague, or the cholera of three years ago. Let me see 
 Channing, or Jakes, or Mr. Homer, or even Robson Ad- 
 ney." 
 
 " In a day or two, sir. You are 'getting stronger fast, 
 and we must not throw you back. You must have a lit- 
 tle patience. Not a service has been missed, and you 
 can do no good." 
 
 " That may be true," said the parson, with a sigh. " Un- 
 happily they always tell me that, but it does not absolve 
 me. All my duties are neglected now. Three pupils, and 
 not a lesson have I heard them. How can that new boy 
 get on without me? A very odd youth, from all that I 
 am told. He will require much attention. No, no, it will 
 never do, Fox. I know how kind everybody has been in 
 doing with only one sermon, and the Lord has provided 
 an uncommonly good man. But I feel as if there was 
 something wrong. I am sure you are hiding something 
 from me. I am not allowed to see anybody, and even 
 Fay looks odd sometimes, as if the others were puzzling 
 her. And the pupils, too, must have heard of something 
 bad ; for poor little Michael has been forbidden to talk to 
 any of them. What is it? It would hurt me less to 
 know than to keep on wondering, and probably imagine 
 it worse than it is. And good or bad for my bodily 
 health, my first duty is not to myself, but to those in- 
 trusted to me." 
 
REASONING WITHOUT REASON 119 
 
 Mr. Penniloe had spoken with more excitement than he 
 often showed when in his usual health, and the doctor 
 had observed it with some alarm. But he had long fore- 
 seen that this must come, and it might come in a more 
 abrupt and dangerous manner when he was out of reach. 
 So he made up his mind at once, and spoke without fur- 
 ther hesitation. 
 
 " Yes, sir, a most disgraceful thing has happened in this 
 parish, and it is better perhaps that you should know it 
 than be kept in the dark any longer. But you must not 
 be angry with me, though I have given all the orders 
 which puzzled you. It was not for my own sake, you may 
 be sure ; for God only knows how much I have longed 
 for your advice in this miserable affair. And yet, before 
 I tell you, you must promise to do nothing whatever about 
 it for at least three days. By that time you will be your- 
 self again, if we can keep you quiet, and if you take this 
 sad blow with your usual strength of mind and piety." 
 
 The parson began to tremble, and the blue lines on his 
 delicate forehead shone like little clews of silk. He fin- 
 gered his open glasses, and began to raise them, until it 
 struck him that he might seem rude if he thus inspected 
 Fox throughout his narrative. A rude act was impossible 
 to him ; so he leaned back in his ancient chair and sim- 
 ply said, " Be quick, my friend, if you can thus oblige 
 me." 
 
 The young man watched him very narrowly, while he 
 told his dreadful tale ; and Thyatira in the passage sobbed 
 and opened her smelling-bottle, for she had been making 
 urgent signs and piteous appeals from the background to 
 the doctor to postpone this trial. But her master only 
 clasped his hands and closed his quivering eyelids. With- 
 out a word he heard the whole, though little starts and 
 twitching lips and jerkings of his gaitered foot, made 
 manifest that self-control was working at high pressure. 
 
 " And who has done this inhuman thing ?" asked Mr. 
 Penniloe, at last, after hoping that he need not speak un- 
 til he felt that he could speak. " Such things have been 
 done about Bristol, but never in our county. And my 
 dear friend, my best friend Tom ! We dare not limit the 
 mercy of God ; for what are we ? Ah, what are we ? But 
 
120 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 speaking as a frail man should, if there is any crime on 
 earth " He threw his handkerchief over his head ; for 
 what can the holiest man pronounce? And there was 
 nothing that moved him more to shame than even to be 
 called a " holy man." 
 
 " The worst of it is," said Dr. Fox, with tears in his 
 eyes, for he loved this man, although so unlike him in his 
 ways of thought ; " the worst of it is or at least from a 
 wretchedly selfish point of view, the worst that all the 
 neighbourhood has pitched upon the guilty person." 
 
 " Who is supposed to have done this horribly wicked 
 thing ? Not Gowler ?" 
 
 " No, sir ; but somebody nearer home. Somebody well 
 known in the village." 
 
 " Tell me who it is, my dear fellow. I am sure there is 
 no one here who would have done it." 
 
 "Everybody else is sure there is. And the name of 
 the scoundrel is James Fox." 
 
 " Fox, it is not a time for jokes. If you knew how I 
 feel, you would not joke." 
 
 " I am not joking, sir," said Fox, and his trembling voice 
 confirmed his words. " The universal conclusion is that 
 I am the villain that did it." 
 
 " My dear friend, my noble fellow !" The parson sprang 
 up on his feeble legs, and took both of Jemmy's strong 
 thick hands in his quivering palms and looked at him ; " I 
 am ashamed of my parish, and of myself, as a worthless 
 labourer. And with this crushing lie upon you, you have 
 been tending me, day and night, and shown not a sign of 
 your bitter disdain !" 
 
 " I knew that you would acquit me, sir, and what did I 
 care for the rest of them ? Except one, of course well, 
 you know what I mean ; and I must now give up all hope 
 of that. Now take a little of this strengthening stuff, and 
 rest for a couple of hours." 
 
 " I will take the stuff, but I will not rest until you have 
 told me upon what grounds this foul accusation has been 
 brought. That I should be in this helpless state, when I 
 ought to go from house to house truly, the ways of Prov- 
 idence are beyond our poor understanding." 
 
 The young man told him in a few hot words upon what 
 
REASONING WITHOUT REASON 121 
 
 a flimsy tale his foes had built this damning charge, and 
 how lightly those who called themselves his friends had 
 been ready to receive it. He had had a long interview 
 with Crang, and had shaken the simple blacksmith's faith 
 in his own eyes ; and that was all. Owing to the sharp 
 frost of the night, there was no possibility of following the 
 track of the spring-cart up the road, though its course had 
 first been eastward, and in the direction of the Old Barn. 
 For the same reason, all attempts had failed in the imme- 
 diate scene of the outrage ; and the crisp white frost had 
 settled on bruised herbage and heavy footmark. 
 
 " There is nothing more to be done in that way " the 
 doctor finished, with a bitter smile " their luck was in 
 the right scale, and mine in the wrong one, according to the 
 usual rule. Now what do you advise me to do, dear sir ?" 
 
 " I am never very quick, as some men are," Mr. Penni- 
 loe replied, without even the reproof which he generally 
 administered to those who spoke of " luck." " I am slow 
 in perceiving the right course, when it is a question of 
 human sagacity. But the Lord will guide this for our 
 good. Allow me to think it over, and to make it a sub- 
 ject of earnest prayer." 
 
 Fox was well content with this, though his faith in 
 prayer was limited. But he knew that the clergyman was 
 not of those who plead so well that the answer tallies 
 with their inclinations. For such devoted labourers, when 
 a nice preferment comes in view, lay it before the 
 " Throne of Grace ;" and the heavenly order always is, 
 " Go thou into the fatter Vineyard." Mr. Penniloe had 
 not found it thus, when a college living was offered to 
 him as a former Fellow, at a time when he and his wife 
 could scarce succeed in making both ends meet. The 
 benefice being in a part of Wales where the native tongue 
 alone prevailed, his ministry could be blessed to none but 
 the occupants of the rectory. Therefore he did not pray 
 for guidance, but for grace to himself and wife especially 
 the latter to resist this temptation without a murmur. 
 Therein he succeeded, to the huge delight of the gentleman 
 next upon the roll, and equally ignorant of Welsh, whose 
 only prayer upon the occasion was, " Thank the Lord, O 
 my soul!" 
 
122 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 In the afternoon, when Fox returned according to ar- 
 rangement, he found his much -respected patient looking 
 pale and sad, but tranquil. He had prayed as only those 
 who are in practice can accomplish it ; and his countenance 
 showed that mind and heart, as well as soul, were forti- 
 fied. His counsel to Fox was to withstand, and not to be 
 daunted by the most insidious stratagem of the Evil One 
 whose existence was more personal in those days than it 
 now appears, and therefore met more gallantly ; to pay no 
 heed to furtive looks, sly whispers, cold avoidance, or even 
 spiteful insults, but to carry himself as usual, and show an 
 example to the world of a gentleman and a Christian. 
 
 Fox smiled in his sleeve, for his fist was sore with 
 knocking down three low cads that day ; but he knew 
 that the advice was sound, and agreed with that of Squire 
 Mockham, only it was more pacific, and grounded on larger 
 principles. 
 
 " And now, my dear young friend," the parson continued, 
 very earnestly, " there are two things I have yet to speak 
 of, if you will not think me intrusive. You ought to have 
 some one in the Old Barn to comfort and to cheer you. 
 The evenings are very long and dark, and now I suppose 
 you will have to spend the greater part of them at home. 
 Even without such trouble as yours, a lonely man is apt to 
 become depressed and sometimes bitter. I have heard 
 you speak of your sister, I think your only sister, I be- 
 lieve and if your father could spare her " 
 
 " My father is much stronger, sir. But I could not think 
 of bringing Christie here. Why, it would be wretched 
 for her. And if anybody insulted her " 
 
 " Who could insult her in your own house ? She would 
 stay at home mostly in that very quiet place, and have her 
 own amusements. She would come across no one but old 
 Betty and yourself. It would feel lonely at first, no doubt ; 
 but a loving sister would not mind that. You would take 
 care not to vex her by speaking of any of the slights you 
 suffered, or even referring to the subject at all, whenever 
 it could be avoided. If it were only for one week, till you 
 get used to this sad state of things, what a difference it 
 would make to you ! Especially if she is of a lively nat- 
 ure. What is her character at all like yours ?" 
 
REASONING WITHOUT REASON 123 
 
 " Not a bit. She lias ten times the pluck that I have. 
 I should like to hear any one dare to say a word against 
 me before Christie. But it is not to be thought of, my 
 dear sir. A pretty coward I should be to bring a girl here 
 to protect me !" 
 
 " What is her name ? Christine, I suppose. A very 
 good name indeed ; and I dare say she deserves it." The 
 curate looked at Fox, to have his inference confirmed, and 
 the young man burst into a hearty laugh his first for a 
 most unaccustomed length of time. 
 
 " Forgive me, sir. I couldn't help it. I was struck 
 with the contrast between your idea of a Christian and 
 Christie's. Though if any one called her anything else 
 he would have a specimen of zeal. For she is of the mili- 
 tant Christian order, girt with the sword of the Spirit. A 
 great deal of St. Peter, but not an atom of St. John. Thor- 
 oughly religions, according to her lights ; and always in a 
 flame of generosity. Her contempt for any littleness is 
 something splendid, except when it is found in any one she 
 loves. She is always endeavouring to " see herself from 
 the outside," as she expresses it ; and yet she is inside all 
 the time. Without any motive that a man can see, she 
 flares up sometimes like a rocket, and then she lies rolling 
 in self-abasement. She is as full as she can be of reason- 
 ing; and yet there is not a bit of reason in her. Yet, 
 somehow or other, everybody is wonderfully fond of 
 Christie." 
 
 " What a valuable addition to this parish ! And the 
 very one to keep you up in this mysterious trial. She 
 would come at once, of course; if she is as you describe 
 her." 
 
 " Come, sir ? She would fly or, at least, post with four 
 horses. What a sensation in Perlycross ! But she is not 
 the one to live in a cupboard and keep silence. She would 
 get up in your pulpit, sir, and flash away at your church- 
 wardens. No, I could not think of bringing her into this 
 turmoil. If I did, it would serve me right enough never 
 to get out of it." 
 
 "Very well; we shall see," Mr. Penniloe said, quietly, 
 having made up his mind, after Fox's description, to 
 write for this doughty champion, whatever offence might 
 
124 PEELYCROSS 
 
 come of it. " Now one other matter, and a delicate one. 
 Have you seen Lady Waldron since this terrible occur- 
 rence ?" 
 
 " No ; I have feared to go near the house. It must 
 be. so awful for them. It is horrible enough for me, God 
 knows. But I am ashamed to think of my own trouble 
 in comparison with theirs. I shall never have the courage 
 to go near them." 
 
 " It would be a frightful visit; and yet I think that you 
 should go there. But it is most difficult to say. In all the 
 dark puzzles and trials of this world, few men have been 
 placed, I should say, in such a strange dilemma. If you 
 go, you may shock them beyond expression. If you don't 
 go, you must confirm their worst ideas. But there is one 
 who holds you guiltless." 
 
 " I am afraid that you only mean the Lord," Jemmy 
 Fox said, with his eyes cast down. " It is out of my luck 
 to hope for more. He is very good, of course but then 
 He never comes and does it. I wish that you meant some 
 one nearer." 
 
 " My dear young friend, my dear young friend ! who 
 can be nearer to us?" The parson thought of his own 
 dark times, and spoke with reproach, but not rebuke. " I 
 ought to have meant the Lord, no doubt. But, in plain 
 truth, I didn't. I meant a mere mortal, like yourself. Oh, 
 how we all come down to ground ! I should have referred 
 to Providence. What a sad relapse from duty !" 
 
 " Relapse more, sir ! Relapse more !" cried the young 
 man, insisting on the human vein. " You have gone so 
 far that you must speak out, as as a messenger of good 
 tidings." 
 
 " Really, Jemmy, you do mix things up " the parson's 
 eyes twinkled at this turn upon him " in a very extraor- 
 dinary manner. You know what I mean, without any 
 words of mine." 
 
 " But how can you tell, sir ? Oh, how can you tell? If I 
 could only be sure of that, what should I care for any- 
 thing?" 
 
 " Young man, you are sure," said Mr. Penniloe, placing 
 his hand upon Jemmy's shoulder; "or, if you are not, 
 you are not worthy to have faith in anything. Next to 
 
REASONING WITHOUT REASON 125 
 
 the word of God, I place my confidence in a woman's 
 heart." 
 
 Fox said not another word. His heart was as full as 
 the older man's. One with the faithful memory, and the 
 other with the hopeful faith of love. But he kept out of 
 sight, and made a stir with a box of powders and some 
 bottles. 
 
 When he got home, in a better state of mind than he 
 had been able to afford for a long time, out rushed some- 
 body and pulled him off his horse, and took the whole 
 command of him with kisses. 
 
 " I will never forgive you, never, never !" cried a voice 
 of clear music, out of proper pitch with tears. "To think 
 that you have never told me, Jemmy, of all the wicked 
 things they are doing to you !" 
 
 " Why, Christie, what on earth has brought you here ? 
 Look out ! You are going all to tatters with my spurs ! 
 Was there ever such a headlong girl ? What's up now ?" 
 
 "It won't do, Jemmy. Your poor mind is all abroad. 
 I saw the whole thing in the Exeter Gazette. You deserve 
 to be called anything, for behaving so to me." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 FRIENDS AND FOES 
 
 IN for a penny, in for a pound. Throw the helve after 
 the hatchet. As well to be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. 
 He that hath the name may as well enjoy the game. These 
 and other reckless maxims of our worthy grandsires (which 
 they may have exemplified in their own lives, but took care 
 for their own comfort to chastise out of their children) 
 were cited by Miss Christie Fox with very bright ferocity 
 for her poor brother's guidance. It was on the morning 
 after her arrival, when she had heard everything there 
 was to hear, and had taken the mastery of Old Barn as 
 if it were her pony - carriage. Fox stood and looked at 
 her in this queer old dwelling-place, which had once been 
 the tithe-barn of the parish, but proving too far from the 
 chief growth of corn had been converted by the Dean and 
 Chapter into a rough and rambling but commodious and 
 roomy house ; for the tithes of Perlycross were fat, worthy 
 of a good roof and stout walls. 
 
 She sat by the window in the full light of the sun for 
 she never thought much about her complexion, and no sun 
 could disparage it a lovely girl, with a sweet expression, 
 though manifest knowledge of her own mind. Her face 
 was not set off by much variety of light and shade, like 
 that of Inez Waldron, dark lashes, or rich damask tint, or 
 contrasts of repose and warmth ; but pure, straightforward 
 English beauty (such as lasts a lifetime) left but little to be 
 desired except the good-luck to please it. 
 
 " There was not too much of her," as her father said 
 indeed, he never could have enough and she often felt it 
 a grievance that she could not impress the majesty of her 
 sentiments through lack of size ; but all that there was of 
 her was good stuff ; and there very well may be, as a tall 
 
FRIENDS AND FOES 127 
 
 admirer of hers remarked, " a great deal of love in five feet 
 two." 
 
 However, this specimen of that stature had not dis- 
 covered that fact yet, as regards any other than her own 
 kin ; and now with the sun from over Hagdon Hill throw- 
 ing wintry light into her spring-bright eyes she was making 
 herself quite at home, as an English girl always tries to 
 do, with her own belongings about her, while she was rail- 
 ing at this strange neighbourhood. Not that she meant 
 even half of what she said, but her spirit was up, and be- 
 ing always high it required no great leap to get far above 
 the clouds. And her brother kept saying, "now you 
 don't mean that," in a tone that made her do her very best 
 to mean it. 
 
 As for avoiding the subject, and the rest of the cautious 
 policy suggested by the peaceful parson, the young lady 
 met that wise proposal with a puff of breath, and nothing 
 more. In gestures, and what on a plainer face would have 
 been called " grimaces," she was so strong that those who 
 had not that short-cut of nature to the meaning of the 
 moment were inclined to scoff and mimic ; which they 
 could not do at all, because it was not in them. Jemmy 
 being some years older, and her only brother, felt himself 
 responsible for the worst part of her character. He was 
 conscious, when he thought about it, that he had spoiled 
 her thoroughly, from the date of her first crawl on the 
 floor until her path in life was settled. And, upon the 
 whole, the result was not so bad as to crush him with 
 much self-reproach. 
 
 " All I want is just to have the names of your chief 
 enemies." This valiant sister, as she spoke, spread forth 
 an ivory deltis, as that arrangement then was called, a 
 baby-fan with leaves of no more substance than a wafer. 
 "Have no fear, Jemmy, I will not kill them, unless my 
 temper rises. You are so abominably forgiving that I 
 dare say you don't know their names." 
 
 " Not I," said the doctor, beginning to fill his after- 
 breakfast pipe, for now he had no round to make among 
 his patients of the paying class ; " Chris, they are all 
 alike ; they have no ill-will at all against me, unless it is 
 Jackson and young Webber, and half a dozen other muffs, 
 
128 PERLYCROSS 
 
 perhaps, with a grudge because I have saved poor fellows 
 they were killing. I have never interfered in any rich 
 man's case, so they have no right to be so savage." 
 
 "They are dummies," answered Christie, just waving 
 her hand, and then stopping it, as if they were not worth 
 the trouble. " I don't mean them. They could never lead 
 opinion. I mean people of intelligence, or, at any rate, of 
 influence." 
 
 " Well, really, I don't know any of that sort who have 
 gone against me openly. Such people generally wait to 
 hear both sides, unless their duty drags them into it. 
 Both the church-wardens are against me, I believe. But 
 that must be chiefly because they saw with their own wise 
 eyes what had been done. You know, or perhaps you 
 don't, but I do, what an effect is produced on the average 
 mind by the sight of anything. Reason seems to fly, and 
 the judgment is lost. But Horner is a very decent fellow, 
 and I have been of some service to his family. Farrant is 
 a man of great honesty and sense, but carried away per- 
 haps for the moment. I hear that he is coming round to 
 my side." 
 
 "Then I won't put down either of them. But come, 
 there must be some one at the head of it." 
 
 " Upon my word I don't think there is ; or, if there is, 
 he keeps quite in the background. It seems to be rather 
 a general conclusion than any conspiracy against me. 
 That makes it so much harder to contend with. One 
 proof of what I say is that there has been no further ap- 
 plication for a warrant since Mr. Mockham's refusal. If 
 there were any bitter enemy, he would never have been 
 content with that." 
 
 " I am not so sure of that," replied sage Christie, long- 
 ing for a foe more definite ; " I am not, of course, a law- 
 yer, though papa was a magistrate before I was born, and 
 ever since ; and that gives me a great deal of insight. 
 And I have come to the conclusion that there is some 
 one besides those poor little pill-grinders you see what 
 comes of taking to the pill-box, Jemmy some one of a 
 hateful nature, and low cunning, who is working in the 
 dark against you. The mischief has been done, and they 
 know that; and they don't want to give you any chance 
 
FRIENDS AND FOES 129 
 
 of putting your own case clearly, and confounding them. 
 You see that reel of silk now, don't you ?" 
 
 " I see about fifty. What a child you are ! Are you 
 going to decorate a doll's house ?" 
 
 "I never lose my temper with you, dear Jemmy, be- 
 cause you are so stupid. But if you can't see the force 
 of it, I can. That reel of silk is an honest reel, a reel you 
 know how to deal with. The end is tucked into a nick at 
 the side, and you set to at once and thread your needle. 
 But the one next to it is a rogue same colour, same size, 
 same everything, except that the maker has hidden the 
 end to hide his own short measure, so that you may hunt 
 for it for half an hour. Even a man can see that, can't he ? 
 Very well, apply that to this frightful affair. If your ene- 
 mies would only come forward, they would give you a 
 chance to clear yourself. You would get hold of the end 
 and unwind it, just as I bite off this knot. There ! What 
 can be easier than that, I'd like to know ?" 
 
 " You are very clever, Christie, but you don't see the 
 real difficulty. Who would believe my denial on oath 
 any more than they would without it ? 1 can offer no wit- 
 ness except myself. The man at the pits would avail me 
 nothing, even if I could get hold of him. There was 
 plenty of time after I left him for me to have been in the 
 thick of it. I can prove no alibi. I have only my word 
 to show that I was in this house while the miscreants 
 were at work. It is the blackest piece of luck that poor 
 George was so tipsy and old Betty so buried in slumber. 
 It is no good to deceive ourselves, my dear. I shall never 
 be cleared of this foul charge till the fellows who did the 
 thing are found out." 
 
 This was what Jemmy had felt all along ; and no one 
 knew better than himself how nearly impossible it is to 
 bring such criminals to justice. But his sister was not to 
 be discouraged. 
 
 " Oh, as for that, I shall just do this : I have money of 
 my own, or, at least, I shall have a lot of it when I come 
 of age next year. I'll find out the cleverest lawyer about 
 here, a man who is able to enter into rogues, and I'll make 
 him advertise a great reward, and promise him the same 
 for himself if he succeeds. That is the only way to make 
 
 6* 
 
130 PERLYCROSS 
 
 them look sharp. A thousand pounds will be sure to 
 tempt the poor dirty villains who must have been em- 
 ployed, and a thousand pounds will tempt a good lawyer 
 to sell his own wife and family. Free pardon to every one 
 except the instigator. I wonder that you never even 
 thought of that." 
 
 " I did think of it long ago. It is the first thing that 
 occurs to an Englishman in any case of wrong-doing. 
 But it would be useless here. 1 heard much of these 
 cases when I was a student. They are far more frequent 
 than the outer world supposes. But I won't talk about it. 
 It would only make you nervous. It is not a thing for 
 girls to dwell upon." 
 
 " I know that very well. I don't want to dwell upon 
 it. Only tell me why even a large reward would not be 
 of any service." 
 
 " Because there is only a very small gang, and a traitor 
 would never live to get his money. Rewards have been 
 tried, but vainly, except in one case, and then the end was 
 dreadful. For the most part, they manage so well that 
 no one ever dreams of what has happened. In the pres- 
 ent case, though a most daring one, the villainy would 
 scarcely have been discovered except for the poor little 
 faithful dog. If she had been killed and thrown into 
 the river, perhaps nothing would ever have been heard 
 of it." 
 
 " Oh, Jemmy, what a dreadful thing to say ! But surely 
 you forget the blacksmith ?" 
 
 "Not at all. His story would have come to nothing 
 without this to give it special meaning. Even as it is, 
 no connection has been proved, though of course there 
 is a strong presumption between the affair at Susscot and 
 the crime at Perlycross. There was nothing to show 
 where the cart came from. Those fellows travel miles 
 with them these long nights. There is an old chapel- 
 yard at Monkswell, more than a mile from any house, and 
 I firmly believe but I will not talk about it." 
 
 " Then you know who did this ! Oh, Jemmy, Jemmy, 
 is it some horrible secret of your trade ?" Christie leaped 
 up, and away from her brother. 
 
 " I know nothing, except that it happened. I have not 
 
FRIENDS AND FOES 131 
 
 the least idea who the scoundrel is. Now no more of 
 this, or you won't sleep to-night." 
 
 " I am not a coward for a girl, at least. But this is a 
 dark and lonely house. I shall have my bed put against 
 the partition of your room before ever I go into it this 
 night. Then you can hear me knock if I get frightened." 
 
 Miss Fox sat down, and leaned her head upon her 
 hands for a moment, as in deep meditation upon the 
 wrongs of humanity ; and then she announced the result 
 of her thoughts. 
 
 " One thing is certain. Even you cannot deny it. If 
 the government of this country allows such frightful 
 things to be done, it is bound to provide every woman in 
 the land with a husband to protect her, or at any rate to 
 keep her courage up. If I had seen that cart at Susscot I 
 should have died with terror." 
 
 " Not you. But I must make one rule, I see ; and you 
 know there are times when I will be obeyed. You have 
 come here, my dear child, with the greatest kindness, and 
 no small courage as well, just to keep up my spirits, and 
 console me in this trouble. I would never have let you 
 come if I had known it ; and now I will not have your 
 health endangered. Back you go this very day, sad as I 
 shall be without you, unless you promise me two things : 
 one is that you will avoid these subjects, although you 
 may talk of my position; and the other is that you will 
 not stir from this house except in my company; and 
 when you are with me you will be totally unconscious of 
 anything anybody says or looks uncivil, unpleasant, or 
 even uncordial. You understand now that I am in earnest." 
 
 Fox stuck his solid legs into a stiff position, and 
 crested up his whiskers with his finger-tips ; which action 
 makes a very fine impression on a young man's younger 
 sister. 
 
 "Very well; I agree to all of that," said Christie, a 
 little too airily for one who is impressed with an engage- 
 ment. " But one thing I must have before we begin the 
 new code. Here are my tablets. As you won't tell the 
 names of your enemies, Jemmy, I must have the names of 
 your friends to set down. It won't require many lines, I 
 fear, you gentle Jemmy." 
 
132 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 ** Won't it ? Why, all the good people about here are on 
 my side, every one of them. First, and best of them all, 
 Philip Penniloe; and then Mr. Mockham, the magistrate; 
 and then Sergeant Jakes, the school - master ; and after 
 him Thyatira Muggridge, a person of considerable influ- 
 ence, because she takes hot meat or pudding in a basin to 
 half the old women in the village whenever her master 
 can afford it, and can't get through all of it. That is how 
 they put it, in their grateful way. But it strengthens their 
 tongues against his enemies, and they seem to know them 
 though he doesn't. Well, then there is Farrant, the 
 junior church-warden, coming round fast to my side; and 
 Baker, the cooper, who made me a tub for salting my last 
 pig ; and Channing not the clerk, he is neutral still, but 
 will rally to my side when I pay him twelve shillings, as I 
 shall do to-morrow, for a pair of corduroys ; but Channing 
 the baker, a noble man, with a wife who knows everything 
 about it, because she saw a dark man over the wall last 
 summer, and he would not give his name. She has caused 
 a reaction already, and is confident of being right because 
 she got upon a pair of steps. Oh, you must not imagine 
 that I am forlorn. And then there is Frank Gilham, last 
 not least, a fine young fellow, and a thorough English- 
 man." 
 
 " I like that description. I hate foreigners as a rule I 
 mean, of course," said Christie Fox, with a look of large 
 candour, that proved what a woman of the world she was; 
 " there may be good individuals among them, when they 
 have come to know what home-life means ; but take them 
 altogether they are really very queer. But surely we ought 
 to know a little more as to what it was Mrs. Baker Channing 
 saw ; and over the church-yard wall, you say." 
 
 " Waste of time, Christie. Why, it was back in August, 
 when Harrison Gowler was staying here. And it was not 
 the church-yard wall at all, but the wall of the rectory gar- 
 den, that she peeped over in the dark. It can have had 
 nothing to do with it." 
 
 " I am not so sure of that. Things come out so oddly. 
 You remember when my poor Flo was poisoned, how I 
 found it out at last. I never left off. I wouldn't leave 
 off. Prying, listening, tiptoeing, even spying, without any 
 
FRIENDS AND FOES 133 
 
 sense of shame. And I found it out at last at last ; and 
 didn't I have my revenge ? Oh, I would have hanged that 
 woman if the law had been worth a farthing, and stuck 
 her all over with needles and pins.' 
 
 " You spiteful and meanly vindictive little creature ! 
 But you never found it out by yourself, after all. It came 
 out quite by accident." 
 
 " Well, and so will this. You take my word. I dare 
 say I am stupid, but I always prove right. Yet we are 
 bound to use the means of grace, as they tell us in every 
 blessed sermon. Oh, come, I may go and see your pet par- 
 son. I'll be bound I shall not care for him an atom of an 
 atom. I hate those perfect people; they are such a slur 
 upon one. I like a good minister, who rides to hounds in 
 pink, and apologizes to the ladies every time he swears. 
 But, come, brother Jemmy, are there no more friends ? I 
 have put down all you mentioned, and the list looks 
 very short. There must be a few more, for the sake of 
 Christianity." 
 
 " To be sure, there is one more, and a frightfully zeal- 
 ous one -certain to do more harm than good. A mere 
 boy, though he flies into a fury at the word. Mr. Penni- 
 loe's new pupil preparing for the church by tearing all 
 across the country. He breaks down all the hedges, and 
 lie drives the sheep-dogs mad. He is mad as a March hare 
 himself, by all accounts ; but everybody likes him. His 
 name is Horatio Peckover, but everybody calls him 'Hop- 
 per,' by syncope, as we used to say at school. One of his 
 fellow-pupils, young Pike, who is a very steady-going young 
 fellow, and a fine rising fisherman, told me that Hopper 
 is double -jointed; and they believe it devoutly. They 
 tied him on a chair, at his own request, the other day, in 
 order that he might learn his lessons. But that only made 
 him worse than ever; for he capered round the room, 
 chair and all, until Mr. Penniloe sent to ask who was 
 churning butter." 
 
 " What a blessing that boy must be in a sick-house ! But 
 what has made him take up our case, Jemmy ?" 
 
 " The demand of his nature for violent motion. Every 
 day of his life, except Sunday, he scours the country for 
 miles around. On foot, mind not on horseback, which 
 
134 PERLYCROSS 
 
 one could understand. Moreover, he is hot in my favour 
 because he comes from somewhere near Wincaunton, and 
 is a red-hot 'Zon ov' Zummerzet,' and contemptuous of 
 Devon. But it is not for me to inquire into motives. I 
 shall want every single friend I can scrape together if 
 what I heard this morning is anything like true. You 
 asked me last night what Lady Waldron thought." 
 
 "To be sure I did. It seemed most important. But 
 now," continued Christie, as she watched her brother's 
 face, "there are reasons why I should scarcely attach so 
 much weight to her opinion." 
 
 "The chief reason being that you see it is against me. 
 Well, truly you are a brave reasoner, my dear. But I 
 fear that it is so. I am told that my name must never 
 again be heard in the house where once I was so 
 welcome." 
 
 " Oh, I am rather glad of that. That will go a long 
 way in our favour. I cannot tell how many times I have 
 heard, not from one, but from all who have met her, that 
 she is a most unpleasant, haughty person, even for a 
 foreigner. It must lie very heavy on the poor woman's 
 conscience that everybody says she helped, by her nasty 
 nature, to shorten her poor husband's days. Possibly 
 now well, that throws a new light. What has happened 
 may very well have been done at the order of some of his 
 relatives, who, knowing her character, suspect foul play. 
 And of course she would like to hear no more about it. 
 You know all those foreigners, how pat they are with 
 poison." 
 
 " What a grand thing it is to have a sister !" Fox ex- 
 claimed, looking with astonishment at Christie, who was 
 quite excited with her new idea. " Better almost to have 
 a sister than than I mean than any one else. I almost 
 feared to tell you my last piece of news, because I thought 
 that it must upset you so. And behold, it has greatly en- 
 couraged you ! But remember, on no account must you 
 drop a hint, even to our best friends, of your last brilliant 
 idea. What frightful things flow into the sweetest little 
 head!" 
 
 " Well, I don't see at all why I should try to conceal it. 
 I think it is a case for very grave suspicions. And if she 
 
FRIENDS AND FOES 135 
 
 spreads shameful reports about you, I'll soon let her know 
 that two can play at that." 
 
 " Nonsense, my dear child. There is evidence against 
 me. " None, not even a shadow of suspicion against her. 
 She loved Sir Thomas devotedly, and I always thought 
 that jealousy was the cause of her coldness to his English 
 friends. But to come to common -sense again what I 
 heard to-day settles my doubts as to what I should do. 
 Penniloe thought that I should call at Walderscourt ; 
 though he saw what a difficult thing it was to do, and 
 rather referred it to my own decision. I shrank from it 
 more than I can describe. In fact, I could not bring my- 
 self to go ; not for my own sake, but for theirs. But this 
 behaviour on her part puts a new aspect upon it. I feel 
 myself bound, as an innocent man, to face her, however 
 unpleasant it may be. It will only be the worse for put- 
 ting off. I shall go this afternoon." 
 
 " I love to bring anything to a point. You are quite 
 right," replied Christie, with her bright colour rising at 
 the prospect of a brush ; " Jemmy dear, let me come with 
 you." 
 
 " Not quite, you gallant Chris ! No such luck for me. 
 Not that I want you to back me up. But still it would 
 have been a comfort. But you "know it is out of the 
 question for a stranger to call at such a time." 
 
 " Well, I fear it is. Though I shouldn't mind that. 
 But it would look very odd for you. Never mind ; I won't 
 be far away. You can leave me outside, and I will wait 
 for you somewhere in the shrubbery, if there is one. Not 
 that I would dream of keeping out of sight. Only that 
 they might be afraid to ee me." 
 
 " They might reasonably fear it, if you looked as you do 
 now. Ferocity does not improve the quality of your smile, 
 dear. What will mother say when you go home ? And 
 somebody else, perhaps? Now, you need not blush. I 
 have a very high opinion of him." 
 
 " Jemmy, I won't have it. Not another word ! Get it 
 out of your silly mind forever. Men never understand 
 such things. There's no romance in me, as goodness 
 knows. But you'll never catch me marrying a man with 
 none of it in him." 
 
136 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 " You are too young to think of such things yet, though 
 sometimes even younger girls but come along; let us 
 have a breath of fresh air, after all this melancholy talk. 
 That foot-path will take us up to Hagdon in ten minutes. 
 You are eager to try our Old Barn style of victualling, and 
 it suits the system better than your long late dinners. 
 We dine at two o'clock. Come and get an appetite." 
 
 A short sharp climb, and with their lungs expanded 
 they stood upon the breezy hill, and looked back at the 
 valley. Before them rolled the sweep of upland, black in 
 some places with bights of fired furze ; but strewn with 
 long alleys of tender green, where the flames had not fed 
 or the rains had wept them off. The soft western air, 
 though the winter had held speech with it, kept enough 
 of good-will yet to be a pleasant change for those who 
 found their fellow-creatures easterly. And more than that, 
 the solemn distance and expanse of trackless gray, hover- 
 ing with slow wings of sleepy vapour touched with sun- 
 shine, if there was no comfort in them, yet spread some 
 enlargement. These things breathed a softer breath, as 
 nature must (though it be unfelt) on young imaginations 
 fluttering, like a wisp of brambled wool in the bridle-paths 
 and stray sheep-walks of human trouble. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 LITTLE BILLY 
 
 WHEN he has refreshed his memory with the map of 
 England, let any man point out upon it if he can deliber- 
 ately any two parishes he knows well, which he can also 
 certify to be exactly like each other in the character of 
 their inhabitants. Do they ever take alike a startling 
 piece of news about their most important people ? Do they 
 weigh in the same balance the discourses of the parson, 
 the merits of those in authority, or the endeavours of the 
 rich to help them ? If a stranger rides along the street he 
 is pretty sure to be stared at; but not with quite the 
 same expression as in the last village he came through. 
 Each place has its own style and tone, vein of sentiment, 
 and lines of attitude, deepened, perhaps, by the lore and 
 store of many generations. 
 
 For instance, Perlycombe, Perlycross, and Perliton are 
 but as three pearls on one string, all in a line and contig- 
 uous. The string is the stream, which, arising at the 
 eastern extremity of Perlycombe parish, passes through 
 the village, then westward through Perlycross, and west- 
 ward still through the much larger village of Perliton. At 
 Perlycombe it is a noisy little brook, at Perlycross a genial 
 trout-stream anon of glassy wanderings, anon of flickered 
 hurry ; while Perliton, by the time it gets there, entitles it 
 " the River Perle," and keeps two boats upon it, which are 
 not always more aground than landsmen should desire. 
 
 Now any one would fancy that these three adjoining 
 parishes would, in all their ways and manners, be as like 
 each other as three peas vertebrated in one pod. But the 
 fancy would prove that he was only fit for fiction, not for 
 the clearer heights of history such as this. For these three 
 parishes are quite as distinct, one from another, as all three 
 
138 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 taken together admit that they are, and deserve to be, from 
 the rest of England. 
 
 All three are simple, all old-fashioned, highly respecta- 
 ble, and wonderfully quiet except when lashed up by 
 some outrage slightly contemptuous of one another, and 
 decidedly so of the world outside the valley. From it 
 they differ widely, and from one another visibly, in their 
 facial expression and figure and walk; perceptibly also 
 in tone of feeling, habits of thought (when they think at 
 all), voices, pet words, and declivities of slouch. So that, 
 in these liberal times of free disintegration, each of them 
 has nature's right to be a separate nation. And in proof 
 of this they beat their bounds, and often break each oth- 
 er's heads, upon St. Clement's Day. 
 
 " What an extraordinary sound I hear !" said Christie 
 to her brother, as they turned to quit the hill. " Just lis- 
 ten a moment. I can't make it out. It sounds like a 
 frightful lot of people in the distance." 
 
 " Well, I declare, I had forgotten all about it ! How 
 very stupid I am getting now !" cried Jemmy. " Why, 
 this is St. Clement's Day, and no mistake !" 
 
 " Who is he ? I never heard of him. And what right 
 has he got to make such a dreadful noise ? He couldn't 
 do it all by himself, Jemmy, even if he was on a gridiron." 
 
 " But he has got half of Perly cross to help him. Come 
 here, Chris. Here is a nice dry hollow, away from the 
 damp and the mist ; and the noise below follows the curve 
 of it." Fox led his sister into a little scarp of flint, with 
 brows of gray heather and russet fern quivering to the 
 swell of funnelled uproar. " Don't be afraid," he said, *'it 
 is only our own parish. There ought to be three of them ; 
 but this is only ours." 
 
 "Well, if your parish can make all that noise, what 
 would all three of them do together ? Why, ten packs of 
 hounds couldn't equal it !" 
 
 " You have hit the very point ; you have a knack of do- 
 ing that," answered Jemmy, as he landed her upon a gray 
 ledge. " We don't let the other two in any more. The 
 business had always been triennial. But the fighting grew 
 more and more serious, till the stock of sticking-plaster 
 could not stand it. Then a man of peaceful genius sug- 
 
LITTLE BILLY 139 
 
 gested that each parish should keep its own St. Clement's 
 Day, at intervals of three years as before ; but in succession, 
 instead of all three at once, so that no two could meet upon 
 the frontier in force. A sad falling off in the spirit of the 
 thing, and threatening to be better for the lawyers than 
 for us. Perlycombe had their time last year, and now 
 Perlycross has to redress it. Our eastern boundary is 
 down in that hollow ; and Perlycombe stole forty feet 
 from us last year. We are naturally making a little stir 
 about it." 
 
 "If that is a little stir, what would be a big one ? But 
 I want to see them, and the fogginess of the trees in that 
 direction stops me. I should say there must be at least 
 five hundred people there. I can't stop up here like a 
 dummy." 
 
 " Very well ; if you love a row so much. But there are 
 no five hundred there, because it is more than thirty miles 
 round this parish, and the beaters start in two companies 
 from Perle wear, one lot to the north and the other <o the 
 south, and they go round till they meet each other, some- 
 where at the back of Beacon Hill. One church-warden with 
 each party, and the overseers divided, and, the constables, 
 and so on. The parson should be in the thickest of the 
 fray; but I strictly forbade Mr. Penniloe, and told him to 
 send Jakes as his deputy. Still, I should not be sur- 
 prised if he turns up. He is hot upon the rights of his 
 parish. Come round this way ; there is no fear of missing 
 them any more than a pack of hounds in full cry." 
 
 Christie was quite up for it. She loved a bit of skir- 
 mish, and thought it might fetch her brother's spirits up 
 again. So they turned the steep declivity, and after many 
 scratches crept along a tangled path leading down to a 
 wooded gully. 
 
 Here they found themselves rather short of breath, but 
 in a position to command fair view of the crowd, full of 
 action in the dingle and the bramble-land. How it could 
 matter to any sane humanity whether the parish-bound 
 ran even half a league on this side or on that of such 
 a desert wild, only those who dwell on human nature can 
 explain. 
 
 However, so it was ; and even Mr. Penniloe had flouted 
 
140 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 the doctors, and was here, clad in full academicals ac- 
 cording to the ancient rule, flourishing his black-varnished 
 stick, and full of unfeigned wrath at some gross crime. 
 
 "Thou shalt not move thy neighbour's landmark," he 
 was shouting, instead of swallowing pills ; and as many of 
 his flock as heard his text smote right and left in accord- 
 ance with it. 
 
 "What on earth is it all about?" asked Christie, peeping 
 through a holly-bush and flushing with excitement. 
 
 "All about that stone down in the hollow, where the 
 water spurts so. Don't be afraid. They can't see us." 
 The girl looked again, and wondered. 
 
 Some fifty yards before them was a sparkling little 
 watercourse, elbowing its way in hurried zigzag down 
 the steep ; but where it landed in the fern-bed with a toss 
 of tresses some ungodly power of men had heaved across 
 its silver foot a hugeous bowlder of the hill, rugged, 
 bulky, beetle-browed the " shameless stone " of Homer. 
 And with such effect that the rushing water, like a scared 
 horse, leaped aside, and swerving far at the wrongful im- 
 pulse, cut a felomous cantel out of the sacred parish of 
 Perlycross ! 
 
 Even this was not enough. To add insult to injury, 
 some heartless wag had chiselled on the lichened slab of 
 bowlder a human profile in broad grin, out of whose 
 wicked mouth came a scroll, inscribed in deep letters, 
 " P. combe Parish." 
 
 The Perly crucians stood before this incredible sight 
 dumfounded. Thus far they had footed it in a light and 
 merry mood, laughing, chaffing, blowing horns, and rattling 
 bladders, thumping trees and gates and cow-sheds, bump- 
 ing school-boys against big posts, and daubing every cor- 
 ner of contention from kettles of tar or sheep-wash with 
 a big P. +. 
 
 But now as this outrage burst upon them, through a tall 
 sheaf of yellow flags, their indignation knew no bounds, 
 parochial or human. As soon as they could believe their 
 eyes, they lifted their hands and closed their lips ; while 
 the boys, who were present in great force for Jakes 
 could not help the holiday put their fingers in their 
 mouths and winked at one another. ~ Five or six otter- 
 
LITTLE BILLY 141 
 
 hounds from the kennels of a sporting yeoman had joined 
 the procession with much good-will ; but now they recog- 
 nized the check, and sat upon their haunches, and set up a 
 yell with one accord, in the dismay of human silence. 
 
 Not an oath was uttered, nor a ribald laugh; but presently 
 all eyes were turned upon the pale Mr. Penniloe, who stood 
 at the side of Mr. Farrant, the junior church-warden, who 
 had brought him in his four-wheeled chaise as far as wheels 
 might venture. Few were more pained by this crime than 
 the parson ; he nodded under his college cap, and said, 
 
 " My friends, abate this nuisance." 
 
 But this was easier said than done, as they very soon 
 discovered. Some called for crow-bars, and some for gun- 
 powder, and some for a team of horses ; but nothing of 
 the sort was near at hand. Then Sergeant Jakes, as an old 
 campaigner, came to the rescue, and borrowing a hatchet 
 (of which there were plenty among them), cut down a 
 sapling oak, hard and tough and gnarled from want of 
 nourishment ; therewith at the obnoxious rock they rushed, 
 butting, ramming, tugging, levering, with the big pole 
 below and a lot of smaller staves above, and men of every 
 size and shape trampling and kicking out and exhorting 
 one another. But the bowlder had been fanged into its 
 socket so exactly, probably more by luck than skill, that 
 there it stuck, like a gigantic molar, and Perlycross la- 
 boured in vain at it. 
 
 " What muffs ! As if they could do it like that ! Penniloe 
 ought to know better ; why, the pressure is all the wrong 
 way. But of course he is an Oxford man. Chris, you 
 stay here till I come back. Cambridge v. Oxford, any day, 
 when it comes to a question of engineering." 
 
 Speaking too lightly, he leaped in like manner into the 
 yellow-ribbed breast of the steep, while Christie communed 
 with herself like this: 
 
 " Oh, what a pity he left St. John's ! He must have 
 been senior-wrangler, if he had stayed on, instead of those 
 horrible hospitals. And people would have thought 
 so much more of him. But perhaps he would not have 
 looked so bright; and he does more good in this line. 
 Though nobody seems to thank him much. It would be 
 ever so much better for him, and he would be valued 
 
142 PEBLTCKOSS 
 
 more if he did ever so much less good. But I like the 
 look of Mr. Pcnniloe." 
 
 The man who should have been senior wrangler as 
 every man ever yet sent to Cambridge should have been, 
 if justice had been done him went in a style of the 
 purest mathematics along the conic section of the very 
 noble Hagdon. The people in the gully shouted to him, 
 for a single slip would have brought him down upon 
 their hats ; but he kept his breath for the benefit of his 
 legs ; and his nerves were as sound as an oyster's before 
 its pearly tears begin. Christie watched him without fear ; 
 she had known the construction of his legs from the days 
 of balusters and rocking-horses. 
 
 " Give me up a good pole not too heavy you see how 
 I have got to throw my weight ; but a bit of good stuff 
 with an elbow to it." 
 
 Thus spake Jemmy, and the others did their best. He 
 stuck his heel and foot -side into a soft place he had 
 found, and let the ledge of harder stuff overlap his boot- 
 vamps, then he took the springy spar of ash which some 
 one had handed up to him, for he stood about twelve feet 
 above them, and getting good purchase against a scrag of 
 flint, brought the convexity of his pole to bear on the top- 
 most jag of bowlder. 
 
 " Slew away as high as you can reach," he cried, " but 
 don't touch it anywhere near the bottom." As they all 
 put their weights to it the rock began to sway, and with 
 a heavy groan lurched sideways. 
 
 " Stand clear !" cried Jemmy, as the whole bulk swung, 
 with the pillar of water helping it, and then settled grandly 
 back into the other niche, with the volume of the fall leap- 
 ing generously into the parish of Perlycombe. 
 
 "Hurrah !" shouted everybody young enough to shout; 
 while the elder men leaned upon their staves and thanked 
 the Lord. Not less than forty feet was recovered, and 
 another forty added from the substance of big rogues. 
 " 'Tis the finest thing done ever since I were a boy," said 
 the oldest man present, as he wiped his dripping face. 
 " Measter Vox, come down, and shake hands round. Us 
 will never believe any harm of thee no more." 
 
 This reasoning was rather of the heart than head ; but 
 
LITTLE BILLY 143 
 
 it held good all round, as it generally does. And now as 
 the sound of the water went away into its proper course 
 with the joy of the just pursuing it, Miss Fox, who had 
 watched all proceedings from the ridge, could hear how 
 the current of public opinion was diverted and rushing 
 in her brother's favour. So she pinned up a torn skirt 
 and smoothed out another, and putting back her bright 
 hair, tripped down the wooded slope, and stood with a 
 charming blush before them. The labourers touched their 
 hats, and the farmers lifted theirs, and every one tried to 
 look his best; for Perly cross being a poetical parish is 
 always very wide awake to beauty. 
 
 " My sister !" explained Dr. Fox, with just pride. " My 
 sister, Mr. Penniloe ! My sister, Mr. Farrant ! Sergeant 
 Jakes, my sister ! Miss Christie Fox will be glad to know 
 you all." 
 
 " And I am sure that everybody will be glad to know 
 Miss Fox," said the parson, coming forward with his soft 
 sweet smile. "At any time she would be welcome, but 
 now she is come at the time of all times. Behold what 
 your brother has done, Miss Fox ! That stream is the 
 parish boundary." 
 
 " He maketh the rivers to run in dry places," cried 
 Channing, the clerk, who had been pulling at his keg, 
 " and lo, he hath taken away the reproach of his people, 
 Israel !" 
 
 " Mr. Channing ! Fie, Mr. Channing !" began the rep- 
 resentative of the upper desk, and then suddenly checked 
 himself, lest he should put the old man to shame before 
 the children of the parish. 
 
 " By-the-bye," said Mr. Farrant, coming in to fill the 
 pause, " Dr. Fox is the likeliest person to tell us what 
 this curious implement is. It looks like a surgical in- 
 strument of some sort. We found it, doctor, in this same 
 watercourse, about a furlong farther down, where the 
 Blackmarsh lane goes through it. We were putting our 
 parish-mark on the old tree that overhangs a deep hole, 
 when this young gent, who is uncommon spry I wish 
 you luck of him, I'm sure, Mr. Penniloe there he spies 
 it, and in he goes like an otter, and out with it before he 
 could get wet, almost." 
 
144 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 " Not Kkely I was going to leave it there," young Peck- 
 over interrupted ; " I thought it was a clot of eels, or a pair 
 of gloves, or something. Though, of course, a glove would 
 float, when you come to think of it. Perhaps the young 
 lady knows she looks so clever." 
 
 " Hopper, no cheek !" Dr. Fox spoke sharply, for the 
 youth was staring at his sister. " Mr. Farrant, I can't tell 
 you what it is, for I never saw a surgical instrument like 
 it. I should say it was more like a blacksmith's, or per- 
 haps a turner's tool ; though not at all a common one 
 in either business. Is Crang here, or one of his appren- 
 tices ?" 
 
 " No, sir. Joe is at home to-day got a heavy job," 
 answered some one in the crowd ; " and the two prentices 
 be gone with t'other lot of us." 
 
 "I'll tell you what I'll do," volunteered the Hopper, 
 who was fuming at the slowness of parochial demarca- 
 tion, for he would have been at the back of Beacon Hill 
 by this time ; " I'll go straight with it to Susscot, and be 
 back again before these old codgers have done a brace of 
 meadows. It is frightful cold work to stand about like 
 this. I found it, and I'll find out what it is, too." 
 
 The tool was handed to him, and he set off, like a 
 chamois, in a straight line westward ; while two or three 
 farmers, who had suffered already from his steeple-chase 
 tracks, would have sent a brief word after him but for the 
 parson's presence. Fox, who was amused with this speci- 
 men of his county, ran part way up the hill to watch his 
 course, and then beckoned to his sister to return to the 
 Old Barn by the foot-path along the foot of Hagdon. 
 
 They had scarcely finished dinner, which they had to 
 take in haste by reason of the shortness of the days and 
 their intended visit to Walderscourt, when Joe Crang, the 
 blacksmith, appeared in the yard, pulling his hat off, and 
 putting it on again, and wiping his face with a tongs-swab. 
 
 Fox saw that the man was in a state of much excite- 
 ment, and made him come in, while Miss Christie went up- 
 stairs to prepare for their drive to Walderscourt. 
 
 " What's the matter, Crang ? Take a chair there. You 
 needn't be nervous," said the doctor, kindly ; " I have no 
 grudge against you for saying what you believe. It has 
 
LITTLE BILLY 145 
 
 done me a world of harm, no doubt ; but it's no fault of 
 yours. It's only my bad luck that some fellow very like 
 me and also a Jemmy should have been in that black 
 job that night. But I wish you had just shown a little 
 more pluck, as I told you the other day. If you had just 
 gone round the horse and looked, or even sung out, * Is 
 that you, doctor ?' why, you might have saved me from 
 from knowing so much about my friends. 71 
 
 " Oh, sir, 'twaz an awesome night ! But what I be come 
 for to say, sir, is just this : I absolve 'e, sir I absolve 'e, 
 Measter Vox. If that be the right word and a' cometh 
 from the Baible, I absolve 'e, Measter Vox." 
 
 " Absolve me from what, Crang ? I have done nothing. 
 You mean, I suppose, that you acquit me ?" 
 
 " Well, now, you would never believe but that's the 
 very word of discoorse that have been sticking in my 
 throat all the way from the ford. You never done it, sir 
 not you. You never done it, sir ! You may put me on 
 my oath." 
 
 " But you have been very much upon your oath ever 
 since it happened, that I was the man, and no other man, 
 that did the whole of it* Joseph Crang. And the ale you 
 have had on the strength of it." 
 
 " The ale, sir, is neither here nor there " the black- 
 smith looked hurt by this imputation " it cometh to-day, 
 and it goeth to-morrow, the same as the flowers of the 
 field. But the truth is the thing as abideth, Measter 
 Jemmy. Not but what the ale might come upon the 
 other view of it. Likewise likewise, if the Lord in 
 heaven ordereth it, the same as the quails from the sky, 
 sir." 
 
 "The miracle would be if it failed to come wherever 
 you are, Joseph. But what has converted you from 
 glasses against me to glasses in my favour ?" 
 
 " Nothing more than this, sir : seemeth to a loose 
 mind neither here nor there ; but to them that knoweth 
 it, beyond when human mind began, perhaps afore the 
 flood waz, there's nought that speaks like Little Billy." 
 
 " Why this," exclaimed Fox, as he unrolled the last new 
 leathern apron of the firm of Crang and wife " this is the 
 thing they found to-day in beating the bounds of the 
 
146 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 parish ! Nobody could make out what it was. What can 
 it have to do with me, or the sad affair at Perlycross ?" 
 
 " Little Billy, sir," replied the blacksmith, dandling the 
 tool with honest love, as he promptly recovered it from 
 Fox, " have been in our family from father to son since 
 time runneth not to the contrary. Half her can do is un- 
 beknown to me, not having the brains as used to be. Ah, 
 we was clever people then, afore the times of the New 
 Covenant. It runneth in our race that there was a Joe 
 Crang did the crafty work for the Tabernacle as was set up 
 in the wilderness, and it might a' been him as made 
 Little Billy." 
 
 " Very hard, indeed, to prove. Harder still to disprove. 
 But giving you the benefit of the doubt, Master Crang, 
 how have you used this magic tool yourself ?" 
 
 " That's where the very p'int of the whole thing lies ; 
 that's what shows them up so ungrateful, sir. Not a soul 
 in the parish to remember what Little Billy hath been to 
 them ! Mind, I don't say as I understand this tool, 
 though I does a'most anything with her. But for them 
 not to know ! For them to send to ax the name of 'un, 
 when there bain't one in ten of '^n as hathn't roared over 
 'un, when her was screwed to a big back tooth." 
 
 " The ungrateful villains ! It is really too bad. So, 
 after all, it proves to be what Mr. Farrant thought it was 
 a genuine surgical instrument. But go on, Crang; will 
 you never tell me how this amounts to any proof, either 
 of my guilt or innocence ?" 
 
 " Why, according of this here, sir, and no way out of 
 it : Little Billy were took off my shelf, where her always 
 bideth from father to son, by the big man as come along 
 of the lame horse and the cart that night. When I was 
 a kneeling down I zeed 'un put his hand to it, though I 
 dussn't say a word for the life of me. And he slipped 'un 
 into his pocket, same as he would a penny dolly." 
 
 " Come now, that does seem more important," said the 
 doctor, cogitating. "But what could the fellow have 
 wanted it for ?" 
 
 " Can't tell 'e, sir," replied the blacksmith. " For some 
 of his unchristian work, maybe. Or he might have thought 
 it would come in handy if aught should go amiss with 
 
LITTLE BILLY 147 
 
 the poor nag again. Many's the shoe I've punched off 
 with Little Billy." 
 
 " A Billy of all trades, it seems to be. But how does 
 the recovery of this tool show that you made a mistake 
 about me, Crang ?" 
 
 " By reason of the place where her was cast away. You 
 can't get from Old Barn to Blackmarsh lane with wheels, 
 sir, anyway, can you ? You know how that is, Dr. Jemmy." 
 
 " Certainly I do. But that proves nothing to my mind 
 at all conclusive." 
 
 " To my mind it do prove everything collusive. And 
 here be the sign and seal of it. As long as I spoke again' 
 you, Dr. Yox, I was forced to go without my Little Billy. 
 Not a day's work hath prospered all that time, and two 
 bad shillings from chaps as rode away. But now I be 
 took to the right side again, here comes my Little Billy 
 and an order for three harries !" 
 
 " But it was the Little Billy that has made you change 
 sides. It came before, and not in consequence of that." 
 
 " And glad I be to see 'un, sir, and glad to find you 
 clear of it. Tell 'e what I'll do, Dr. Jemmy. You draw 
 a table up as big as Ten Commandments, and three 
 horseshoes on the top for luck, in the name of the Lord 
 and King William the Fourth, and we'll have it on church 
 door by next Sunday, with my mark on it, and both 
 prentices. You put it up, sir, like Nebuchadnezzar ; be- 
 ginning, * I, Joseph Crang, do hereby confess, confirm, 
 and convince all honest folk of this here parish " 
 
 " No, no ; nothing of that, Joe. I am quite satisfied. 
 Let people come round, or not ; just as they like. I am 
 having a holiday, and I find it very pleasant." 
 
 " Meaning to say, as it have spoiled your trade ? Never 
 would I forgive a man as did the like to me. But I see 
 you be going for a trip somewhere, sir, with a pretty lady. 
 Only you mind one thing : Joe Crang will shoe your 
 horses as long as you bide in Perlycrass for the whole- 
 sale price of the iron, Dr. Jemmy ; time and labour and 
 nails thrown in, free gratis, and for nothing." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 CAMELLIAS 
 
 WHILE at the Old Barn, and Rectory also, matters were 
 thus improving, there was no lifting of the clouds but 
 even deeper gloom at Walderscourt. The house that had 
 been so gay and happy, warm and hospitable, brisk with 
 pleasant in-door amusement ; or eager to sally forth upon 
 some lively sport whenever the weather looked tempting ; 
 the house that had been the home of many joyful dogs 
 true optimists, and therefore the best friends of man 
 and had daily looked out of its windows, and admired 
 (with noddings of pretty heads, and glances of bright 
 eyes) the manner a good horse has of saying, " by your 
 leave, I want to see a little bit of the world. Two days 
 looking at my own breath and your nasty whitewash ! It 
 would grieve me very much to pitch you oif. But remem- 
 ber you have seventy years, and I about seventeen, for 
 seeing God's light and the glories of the earth." 
 
 None of these high-mettled things happened now. If 
 a horse had an airing it was with a cloth on, and heels of 
 no perception sticking under him, like nippers ; instead of 
 the kind and intelligent approach of a foot that felt every 
 step, and went with it though thankful for being above 
 the mud or, better still, that stroking of his goodness 
 with the grain, which every gentlemanly horse throws up 
 his head to answer, when a lady of right feeling floats 
 upon the breeze to please him. 
 
 Neither was there any dog. Volumes of description 
 close with a bang the moment such a thing is said. Any 
 lawn, where dogs have played, and any gravel -walk 
 whereon they have sauntered, with keener observation 
 than even Shakespeare can have felt, or rushed with head- 
 long interest into the life-history of some visitor lawn, 
 
CAMELLIAS 149 
 
 and walk, and even flower-beds (touchy at times about 
 sepulture of bones) wear a desolate aspect, and look as if 
 they are longing to cry, too late, " Oh, bark again, as 
 thou wast wont to bark !" 
 
 The premises may not have felt it thus ; or, if they did, 
 were too mute to tell it. But an air of desolation broods 
 over its own breath, and silence is a ghost that grows 
 bigger at each stalk. There were no leaves left, to make 
 a little hush by dropping, as a dead man does from the 
 human tree ; for the nip of early frost had sent them down 
 on the night of their master's funeral to a grave more 
 peaceful and secure than his. Neither had men worked 
 over -hard to improve the state of things around them. 
 "With true philosophy they had accepted the sere and yel- 
 low leaf, because nobody came to make them sweep it up. 
 The less a man labours, the longer will he last, according 
 to general theory ; and these men, though plentiful, de- 
 sired to last long. So that a visitor of thoughtful vein 
 might form a fair table of the course of " earth-currents," 
 during the last three weeks, from the state of the big lawn 
 at Walderscourt, where Sir Thomas used to lean upon his 
 stick, and say, " That man is working almost too hard ; he 
 looks as if he ought to have a glass of beer." 
 
 But the gentleman now coming up the drive was not 
 in the proper frame of mind for groundling observation. 
 Not that he failed to look about him, as if to expand or 
 improve his mind ; but the only result upon his nervous 
 system was to make it work harder upon his own affairs. 
 He was visited with a depressing sense of something 
 hanging over him of something that must direct and 
 shape the whole course of his future life ; and whether it 
 might be for good or evil, he was hurrying to go through 
 with it. 
 
 " I don't care I don't care," he kept saying to himself ; 
 but that self was well aware that he did care very much 
 as much as for all the rest of the world put together. 
 " I've a great mind to toss up about it," he said, as he felt 
 a lucky sixpence in his pocket ; but his sense of the fit- 
 ness of things prevailed, so he put on a fine turn of speed 
 and rang the bell. 
 
 The old house looked so different, and everything 
 
1 50 PEELYCROSS 
 
 around so changed, that our friend Fox had a weak im- 
 pression, and perhaps a strong hope, that the bell would 
 prove to be out of its duty and refuse to wag. But alas ! 
 far otherwise ; the bell replied with a clang that made him 
 jump, and seek reassurance in the flavour of his black kid 
 glove. He had plenty of time to dwell fully upon that, 
 and even write a report upon the subject, ere ever door 
 showed any loyalty to bell, and even then there was stiff- 
 ness about it ; for one of the stiffest of mankind stood 
 there, instead of the genial John or Bob Mr. Binstock 
 himself, a tall man of threescore, major of the cellar and 
 commander of the household. He, in a new suit of black 
 and bearing a gold chain on his portly front, looked down 
 upon the vainly upstanding Jemmy, as if in need of an 
 introduction. 
 
 But Dr. Fox was not the man to cave in thus. The 
 door was a large one, with broad aperture, and this al- 
 lowed the visitor to march in as if he had failed to see the 
 great Binstock. Taking his stand upon a leopard's skin 
 in the centre of the entrance hall, he gazed around calmly, 
 as if he were the stranger contemplated by the serving- 
 man. 
 
 " You will have the goodness to take this card up. No, 
 thank you, my man, I will stay where I am." 
 
 The butler's face deepened from the tint of a radish to 
 that of the richest beet-root ; but he feared to reply, and 
 took the card without a word. " My turn will come very 
 soon," was in his eyes. 
 
 Acquainted as he was with the domestic signs and sea- 
 sons, Fox had not a shadow of a doubt" about his fate, so 
 far as the lady of the house could pronounce it. But for 
 all that, he saw no reason to submit to rudeness, and all 
 his tremors vanished now at this man's servile arrogance. 
 How many a time had that fat palm borne the impress of 
 a five -shilling piece, slipped into it by the sympathetic 
 Jemmy ! And now to think that this humbug did not 
 know him, and looked at him as a young man aiming at 
 the maids but come to the wrong door ! If anything is 
 wormwood to an Englishman that a low, supercilious, 
 ungrateful lackey Well, here he comes again. Now 
 for it ! 
 
CAMELLIAS 151 
 
 Binstock descended the old oak staircase in a very ma- 
 jestic manner, with the light from a long, quaiied window 
 playing soft hop-scotch upon his large countenance. The 
 young doctor, as in absent mood, felt interest in the his- 
 tory, value, and probable future of the beings on the pan- 
 els stags, otters, foxes, martens, polecats, white hares, 
 badgers, and other noble members of west -county suf- 
 frage ; some entire and too fat to live, some represented 
 by a very little bit. 
 
 Binstock descended, in deep silence still. He felt that 
 the crown had passed away. No other five-shilling piece 
 would ever flutter as a tip on the sly should have the 
 wings to do from the gentleman of vials to the man of 
 bottles. 
 
 The salver in his hand was three times as large as the 
 one upon which he had received the card ; but the little 
 card was on it, very truly in the centre, squaring the cir- 
 cle of a coat of many arms. 
 
 The butler came down and brought his heels together, 
 then made a low bow, and, without a word, conveyed to 
 the owner of that piece of pasteboard how frankly and cord- 
 ially it lay at his disposal. Fox had been expecting at 
 least some message, some shade, however cold it might 
 be, of courtesy and acknowledgment. But this was a 
 queer sort of reception ; and Binstock did not even grin. 
 The turn of his lips suggested only that others might do 
 so not he, at such a trifle. 
 
 Fox should have taken all with equal silence. The 
 Foxes were quite as old a race as any Waldrons ; Foxden 
 was a bigger place than Walderscourt, and stouter men 
 than Binstock were in service there. But the young man 
 was in love, and he forgot those spiteful things. 
 
 " No message, Binstock ?" he asked, with timid glance, 
 while he fumbled very clumsily with his nails (now bitten 
 short, during many sad hours of dark brooding) to get his 
 poor card out of graven heraldry ; " not a word of any sort 
 from from anybody ?" 
 
 " Had there been a message, sir, I should have delivered 
 it." 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Binstock. To be sure of course 
 you would. Very well. Good-afternoon. There is noth- 
 
1 52 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 ing more to say. I will put this in my pocket for for a 
 last remembrance." 
 
 He put the rejected card in his waistcoat-pocket, and 
 glanced round, as if to say " Good-bye " to the old haunt 
 of many a pleasant hour. 
 
 Then Binstock, that grave and majestic butler, surprised 
 him by giving a most unmajestic wink. Whether he was 
 touched with reminiscence of his youth for he had been 
 a faithful man in love as well as wine or whether sweet- 
 er memory of crown-pieces moved him, from sympathy or 
 gratitude or both combined, beyond any question Bin- 
 stock winked. Fox felt very thankful, and received a 
 lasting lesson that he had not given utterance to the small 
 contempt within him. 
 
 " There was a little pipe, sir," said the butler, glancing 
 round, and speaking in a low voice rather fast, " that our 
 poor Sir Thomas gived to you, from the Spanish, now 
 called the Provincial, War. John Hutchings made the ob- 
 servation that he had heard you pronounce opinion that it 
 was very valuable, and never would you part with it, high 
 or low. And John says that to his certain knowledge 
 now it is lying in our Camellia-house." 
 
 " Oh, never mind about it now. It is kind of you to 
 think of it. Perhaps you will put it by for me." 
 
 " Moreover, John was a-saying, sir," continued Mr. Bin- 
 stock, with a still more solemn wink, " that you ought al- 
 most to have a look at our poor little dog, that all the 
 parish is so full of, including our Miss Nicie, sir. Vets 
 may be aft very well in their way, but a human doctor 
 more immortal. And that makes the young lady so par- 
 ticular, no doubt, to keep her in the Camellia-house, be- 
 cause of being cool and warm, sir." 
 
 " Oh, to be sure ! That poor, dear little Jess ! What a 
 fine heart you have, Binstock ! I suppose I may go out 
 that way ?" 
 
 " The same to you, sir," said Binstock, as he proved 
 the truth of the proverb " a fine heart is a vein of gold." 
 " The shortest way out, sir, John always says, when her 
 ladyship's nerves have locked her up ; and the quietest 
 way, with no one about, unless it should happen to be 
 Miss Nicie, certainly is through the west quarry door." 
 
CAMELLIAS 153 
 
 The butler closed the front door with a bang, as if he 
 had thrust the intruder forth ; while Jemmy, with his heart 
 in his mouth, hurried down the west corridor to the green- 
 house. 
 
 Colonel Waldron, while in Portugal five -and -twenty 
 years ago, had been greatly impressed with the glorious 
 sight of noble camellia-trees in full bloom, a sight perhaps 
 unequalled in the world of flowers. He had vowed that 
 if ever he returned alive, and could afford the outlay, ca- 
 mellias he would have in England ; not so magnificent, of 
 course, but worthy to remind him of Parque da Pena. He 
 had studied the likings of the race, and built a house on 
 purpose for them ; and here they were, in this dark month, 
 beginning to offer bright suggestion of the spring. Fine 
 trees of twenty years' sturdy growth, flourishing in the 
 prime flush of health, with the dark leaves glancing like 
 bulls'-eyed glass, and the younger ones gleaming like gauf- 
 fered satin ; and these but a cushion and a contrast for 
 the stately luxuriance of blossom some in the perfect 
 rosette already of clean-cut, snow-white ivory ; some just 
 presenting the pure deep chalice ; others in the green bud, 
 tipped with snow, or soft maiden blush, or lips of coral. 
 
 For the trees were planted in a border of good sod, cut 
 from healthy pasture, instead of being crammed and 
 jammed in pots, with the roots like a ganglion or burr- 
 knot wen. Hence, the fibres spread and sucked up 
 strength, and poured the lush juices into elastic cells, 
 ready to flow into grace of form and colour, and offer fair 
 delight and pride to the eyes and heart of watchful men. 
 
 But Fox was not a watchful man at all of any of the 
 charming feats of vegetation now. Flowers were all very 
 well in their way, but they were not in his way just at 
 present, or worse again some of them were, and stopped 
 him from clear view of something worth all the flowers, 
 all the fruit, and all the fortunes of the wide, wide world. 
 
 For lo, not far away, between a pink tree and a white 
 one, sat Miss Inez Waldron in a square -backed garden 
 chair. At her feet was a cushioned basket with an invalid 
 dog asleep in it, while a sound dog of pug race was nudg- 
 ing in between, fain to push it out of sight if his body 
 had been big enough. Jealousy lurked in every wrinkle 
 7* 
 
1 54 PERLYCBOSS 
 
 of his face, and governed every quiver of his half-cocked 
 tail. 
 
 The girl looked very pale and sad, and could not even 
 raise a smile at all the sharp manoeuvres and small-minded 
 whines of Pixie. Heartily as she loved the dogs, their 
 sorrows, views, and interests now were not the first she 
 had to dwell on. With the colour gone from her cheeks, 
 and her large deep -gray eyes dulled with weeping, her 
 face was not so lovely as in gayer times, but even yet 
 more lovable and tender. 
 
 Following Pixie's rush, without much expectation in her 
 gaze for she thought it was her mother coming her 
 eyes met those of the young man parted by such a dark 
 cloud from her. For an instant her pale cheeks flushed, 
 and then the colour vanished from them, and she trembled 
 so that she could not rise. Her head fell back on the 
 rail of the chair, while trees and flowers and lines of glass 
 began to quiver and lose their shape and fade away from 
 her languid eyes. 
 
 " You are faint she has fainted !" cried Fox, in dismay, 
 as he caught up the handkerchief she had dropped and 
 plunged it into a watering-pot, then wrung and laid it 
 gently on her smooth white forehead. Then he took 
 both her hands in his and chafed them, kneeling at her 
 side in a state of agitation unlikely to add to his medical 
 repute ; and from time to time he whispered words of 
 more than sympathy or comfort words that had never 
 passed between them yet. 
 
 For a while she knew not what he said, until, as she 
 slowly revived, one word attracted her vague attention. 
 
 " Happy !" she said, only conscious yet of speaking to 
 some kind person ; " no, I must never think of such a 
 thing again." The sadness of her own voice told upon 
 her, reacting on the sad heart from which it came. She 
 looked as if for somebody to comfort her ; perhaps the 
 dear father who had always loved to do it. He was not 
 to be found oh, piteous grief ! If he could come, would 
 he ever leave her thus ? 
 
 Then the whole of her misery broke upon her. She 
 knew too well where she was and what. Turn away the 
 face there is none to kiss, and toss back the curls there is 
 
CAMELLIAS 155 
 
 nobody to stroke. From a woman she fell back into a 
 petted child, spoiled by sweet love, and now despoiled by 
 bitter fate. She could look at nothing more. Why did 
 consciousness come back ? The only thing for her was to 
 sob and weep tears that rolled more big and heavy, be- 
 cause they must ever roll in vain. 
 
 Fox had never been in such a state of mind before. 
 Hundreds of times he had been driven to the end of his 
 wits, and the bottom of his heart, to know what to do with 
 wailing women, stricken down at last by inexorable 
 death from the hope that laughs at doctors. But the 
 difference was this : he was the doctor then, and now he 
 was the lover the lover without acknowledged right to 
 love ; but the shadow of death, and worse than that, 
 between him and the right to love. 
 
 While he was feebly holding on, knowing that he could 
 not leave her thus for there was a large tank near her 
 yet feeling that no man, save husband or father, should 
 be admitted to this deep distress, he heard the light steps 
 of a woman in the corridor, and he muttered, " Thank 
 God ! there is some kind person coming," 
 
 But his joy was premature. The branches of a fine 
 camellia -tree were swept aside like cobwebs, and there 
 stood Lady Waldron, drawing the heavy black folds around 
 her, and bearing him down with her cold, dark eyes. Her 
 gaze of contemptuous loathing passed from him, as if he 
 were not worth it, to the helpless embodiment of anguish 
 in the chair, and even then there was no pity. 
 
 Inez turned and faced her, and the meeting of their 
 eyes was not of the gentle sweetness due between a mother 
 and her daughter. Without another glance at Fox, Lady 
 Waldron swept by as if he were not present, and, stand- 
 ing before her daughter, spoke a few Spanish words very 
 slowly, pronouncing every syllable ; then, with a smile far 
 worse to see than any frown, she turned away, and her 
 stately figure disappeared in the shadows of the corridor. 
 
 The maiden watched her without a word, and the sense 
 of wrong renewed her strength. Her eyes met the light 
 as if they had never known a tear, and she threw up her 
 head and swept ( her long hair back ; for her proud spirit 
 rose through the storm of her trouble as a young palm 
 
156 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 stands forth from the cloud it has defied. She cast a 
 glance at Fox, and to her great relief saw nothing in his 
 face but anxiety about herself. But she must have his 
 ignorance confirmed. 
 
 " What trouble I have given you !" she said, with her 
 usual clear soft tones and gentle look. " I am quite 
 ashamed of myself for having so very little strength of 
 mind. I cannot thank you as I ought to do. My mother 
 would have done it, I I suppose, at least, if she had been 
 at all like herself. But she has not been well, not at all 
 as she used to be, ever since I need not tell you what. 
 We are doing our best to bear things, but we find it very, 
 very hard. As the Spanish proverb is but I beg your 
 pardon, you don't know Spanish ?" 
 
 " I am nothing of a linguist. I am no exception to the 
 general rule of Englishmen, that their own tongue is 
 enough for them." 
 
 "Please to tell me plainly. My memory seems con- 
 fused. But I think you have shown some knowledge of 
 it. And I think I have heard my father say that you 
 could read Don Quixote very fairly from his copy." 
 
 " No ; but just a little, very badly, and with the help of 
 a dictionary and my own recollection of Latin." 
 
 "Then you know what my mother said just now? I 
 hope not. Oh, I should grieve so !" 
 
 " Well, Miss Waldron, if you insist upon the truth, I 
 cannot deny that I understood her." 
 
 Nicie's eyes flashed as he spoke ; then she rose and went 
 to him hastily, for he was going, and had taken up his hat 
 to leave her, inasmuch as she now could take care of herself. 
 
 "Put down your hat," she said, in her own pretty 
 style of issuing orders in the days of yore ; " now give 
 me both your hands, as you held mine just now, and look 
 at me honestly and without reserve." 
 
 " All that I am doing," answered Jemmy Fox, happy 
 to have her so, and throwing the dawn of a smile into the 
 depth of her dear eyes. " Miss Waldron, I am doing it." 
 
 "Then go on like this: 'Miss Waldron' or you may 
 even for once say, 'Nicie' ' I have never been base enough 
 for a moment to imagine that you had any doubt of me.' 
 Say all that from the bottom of your heart." 
 
CAMELLIAS 157 
 
 " Nicie, I say from the bottom of my heart that I knew 
 you were too noble to have any doubt of me in that way." 
 
 " I should hope so," she said, as she dropped her eyes, 
 for fear of showing all that was in them. " You have 
 done me justice, and it will be done to you. I was only 
 afraid, though I knew better, that you might for men 
 are not like us " 
 
 " No, they are not ; and more shame for them. Oh, 
 Nicie, what do I care now if the whole world goes against 
 me?" 
 
 She gave him one steadfast look, as if that recklessness 
 had no shock for her, and, in fact, had been duly expected. 
 Then, knowing by the eyes what had been nursing in her 
 heart for months, she smiled the smile that is deeper 
 almost in the human kind than tears, and happily more 
 lasting. The young man proved himself worthy of her by 
 cherishing it without a word. 
 
 " I may never see you again," said Nicie, coming back 
 to proper form, though they both knew that was humbug 
 " never again, or not for years. It will be impossible for 
 you now to come to come as you used to do. But re- 
 member, if it is any comfort to you, and I think it will 
 be a little, that no one is more miserable about this 
 wicked, wicked charge, than the one who has more right 
 than any yes, much more than she has " and she waved 
 her hand after her mother's steps. 
 
 " Yes ; or at any rate quite as much. Darling, darling 
 Nicie dear, don't get excited again, for my sake." 
 
 " I am not excited ; and I don't mean to be. But you 
 are welcome to tell everybody, everybody, Jemmy, exactly 
 what I think of you ; and my dear father thought the 
 same." 
 
 " You are an angel, and nothing less. Something con- 
 siderably more, I think," said Jemmy, confining himself 
 to moderation. 
 
 " Hush !" she replied, though not in anger ; for ladies 
 like that comparison. And then, as he could not better it, 
 he whispered, "God bless you, dear, as you have blessed 
 me !" Before she could answer he was gone. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 CONCUSSION 
 
 ALL the time these things were going on the patient 
 Christie had been waiting, or rather driving to and fro, 
 on the outskirts of the private grounds. These were large, 
 and well adorned with trees of ancient growth and clumps 
 of shrubs and ferny dingles. Southward stretched the 
 rich Perle valley, green with meadows beloved by cows, 
 who expressed their fine emotions in the noblest cream ; 
 on the north-east side was the Beacon Hill, sheltering 
 from the bitter winds, and forming a goodly landmark ; 
 while to the north and west extended heathery downs 
 with sweet short grass, knolls of Scotch fir here and there, 
 and gorse forever blooming. Across these downs, and well 
 above the valley margin, ran one of the two great western 
 roads, broad and smooth as a ball-room floor, and ringing 
 some forty times a day with the neigh and the tramp and har- 
 ness-rattle of four steeds tossing their heads up, and the mu- 
 sical blasts of long brass horn, or merry notes of key-bugle. 
 
 Christie Fox, in her own opinion, was an exceedingly 
 fine whip. Tandem-driving was then much in vogue ; and 
 truly to be a good tandem-whip was one of the loftiest 
 aspirations of the rational being who could afford it. 
 Christie was scarcely up to that mark yet, although she 
 had been known to " tool a team," when her father had 
 the gout, and there was some one at her side. So it may 
 be supposed with what sweet contempt her sparkling eyes 
 regarded Church-warden Farrant's rattle-trap and his old 
 cob Punch anteceding it. 
 
 " Now don't you go capering about, Miss Chris," her 
 brother had said when he left her. "I should have 
 brought George, or at any rate the boy. These lanes are 
 so narrow, and the ditches such a depth." 
 
CONCUSSION 159 
 
 " Well, Jemmy, it shows how little you have been at 
 home! Why, I can drive Sparkler and Wild -oats and 
 Hurricane. To think of my coming to grief with this old 
 screw !" 
 
 " You are a wonder, no doubt. But at any rate, be 
 careful. He is a quiet old buffer, but he has got a temper 
 of his own. Why, he upset the reverend last summer." 
 
 " He won't spill me, I can tell him that. The reverend 
 is a muff he should have let him say his prayers." 
 
 For a long time the young lady proved that she was 
 right. Punch went up and down, and even on the com- 
 mon, as grave as a judge, and as steady as a church. 
 " Poor old chap !" said Christie to him. " Why, you 
 haven't got the pluck to call your soul your own." 
 Punch only replied with a whisk of his tail, as if to say, 
 ** Well, I can call this my own," and pursued his reflec- 
 tions with a pensive head. 
 
 But suddenly the scene changed. A five-barred gate 
 was flung mightily open, half across the lane, with a 
 fierce creak of iron and a shivering of wood ; and out 
 poured a motley crowd of all sorts and sizes, rattling tea- 
 kettles, and beating frying-pans, blowing old cow's horns, 
 and flourishing a blown dozen of Bob Jakes's bladders 
 with nuts inside of them. Punch was coming past in a 
 moody state of mind, down upon his luck in some degree, 
 and wondering what the world was made for, if a piece of 
 iron in a horse's mouth was allowed to deny him the Al- 
 mighty's gift of grass. However, he resigned himself 
 about all that. 
 
 But when this tremendous uproar broke upon him for 
 it happened to be the northern party of the parish, beat- 
 ing bounds towards the back of Beacon Hill, and eager to 
 win a bet about where they met the other lot and when 
 a gate was flung almost into his shaky knees, which had 
 begun for some time to " come over," up rose the spirit 
 of his hunting-days, for he had loved the hounds when 
 he was young. There was no room to rise the gate, or 
 perhaps he would have tried it, for the mettle of springier 
 times sprang up, and he had never heard a louder noise 
 in the most exciting burst. Surely, his duty was at least 
 to jump a hedge. 
 
160 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 He forgot altogether that he was between two shafts, 
 and that a young lady was intrusted to his care. Swerv- 
 ing to the off-side he saw a comely gap, prepared, no 
 doubt, by Providence, for the benefit of a horse not quite 
 so young as he used to be. And without hesitation he 
 went at it, meaning no harm, and taking even less heed of 
 the big ditch on this side of it. Both shafts snapped, 
 though of fine lance-wood, the four-wheeler became two 
 vehicles, each with a pair of wheels to it, and over the 
 back flew Christie like a sail blown out of the bolt-ropes. 
 
 Luckily she wore large bell-sleeves, as every girl with 
 self-respect was then compelled to do ; and these, like 
 parachutes expanding, broke the full speed of her head- 
 long flight. Even so it must have fared very badly with 
 her for her hat, being stringless, had flown far away had 
 she been allowed to strike the earth ; but quicker than 
 thought a very active figure sprang round the head of the 
 gate, and received the impact of her head upon a broad, 
 staunch breast. The blow was severe, and would have 
 knocked the owner down, had he not been an English 
 yeoman. 
 
 Upon a double-breasted waistcoat made of otter skin, 
 soft and elastic, he received the full brunt of the young 
 lady's head as the goal-keeper stops a foot-ball. Throw- 
 ing forward his arms, he was just in time to catch more 
 of her as it descended ; and thus was this lovely maiden 
 saved from permanent disfigurement, if not from death. 
 But for the time she knew nothing of this. 
 
 Frank Gilham held her very firmly in his arms and 
 wondered, as well he might do, at her good-fortune and 
 his own. Others came crowding round the gate, but none 
 had the least idea who she was, and Gilham would not 
 permit one of them to touch her, though many would 
 gladly have shared his load. Throughout all history it 
 has been the nature of the British yeoman to bear his 
 own burden, be it good or be it evil. 
 
 " Her be crule doiled," " A' vear her neck be bracken," 
 "Look e' zee what purty hair her hath!" " Vetch a drap 
 of watter," " Carr' un up to big 'ouze," " Her be scrunched 
 like a trummot" in this way they went on, all gaping 
 and staring, eager to help, but not sure of the way. 
 
CONCUSSION 161 
 
 " Lift the gate from its hinges and lay it down here," 
 said Gilham, for she still remained senseless ; " run to 
 yon rick they've been hay-binding there ; bring a couple 
 of trusses, and spread them on the gate." 
 
 In two minutes Christie was lying on the gate for Dev- 
 onshire men can be quick when they like bedded and 
 pillowed among sweet hay, with Frank Gilham's coat 
 spread across her pretty dress, and his hand supporting 
 her fair head, and easing the jerks as they bore her up 
 the road. But before they had gone more than ten or 
 twenty yards towards Walderscourt, whom should they 
 come upon but Dr. Jemmy Fox, looking very joyful, un- 
 til he met them ? 
 
 " My sister ! My own dear Chris !" he exclaimed ; and 
 they fell away, while he examined her. 
 
 " Concussion. Only slight, I hope. Thank God !" he 
 said, with his eyes full of tears ; " keep her head like that. 
 I will take this end ; now, who the other ? But not to the 
 court. anywhere but that. Never mind why. I can't stop 
 to explain. What is the nearest house this other way ?" 
 
 " Mother's is not more than half a mile away, and good 
 level road," answered Gilham. " She'd be well treated 
 there. You may trust us for that." 
 
 " You are a brick. Take the other end, Frank. Some 
 fellow with good legs run in front, and tell Mrs. Gilham 
 what her son has said. No crowding round there ; we 
 want all the air. One or two of you run and catch Mr. 
 Farrant's horse, before he tumbles through that harrow. 
 The rest of you go on with your beating work." For 
 Punch was careering across a ploughed field like a wreck- 
 er with his plunder at his heels. 
 
 By the time they arrived at White Post Farm, Mrs. 
 Gilham was ready to receive them, a kind old lady as 
 ever lived, sensible, quiet, and ready-witted. A bed on 
 the ground-floor was ready, and poor Christie, who still 
 lay as if in a heavy sleep, was carried in very gently and 
 placed as well as might be upon it. Sometimes she was 
 breathing with long gasps, and at other times showing no 
 life at all, and her eyes were closed as in a soft, deep 
 sleep. " The pretty dear ! The poor young thing !" 
 cried Mrs. Gilham, and a real cry it was. 
 
162 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 " I shall not leave her till she comes to herself that is, 
 if you will let me stop," said her brother, who was much 
 more anxious than he cared to let them see. " But if you 
 could send a note to my Old Barn, George would come 
 over with a little chest I want." 
 
 " In twenty minutes I will be there," answered Gilham, 
 " and back in another fifteen with it, if it will come on 
 horseback." 
 
 He had saddled a horse, and was off in two minutes, 
 while Fox called after him down the lane, to see on his 
 road through Priestwell whether Dr. Gronow was at 
 home, and beg him to come up if possible. 
 
 Gronow came at once when called ; for if anything is 
 remarkable among the professors of the healing art (be- 
 yond their inability to heal) it is the good - will with 
 which they always try their best, and the largeness of 
 their ministrations to each other's families. Parsons ap- 
 peal to one another for a leg -up very freely; but both 
 reading-desk and pulpit feel that the strange foot is not 
 up to much unless it has its footing paid. 
 
 But Dr. Gronow (besides the kindness of his kind pro- 
 fession, always at the service of its members) had an 
 especial regard for Fox, as a young man much of his own 
 type, one who dared to think for himself, and being 
 thoroughly well-grounded, often felt impatient at the vast 
 uncertainty above. Whatever faith a young man may 
 feel in his own powers of perception, it is a happy mo- 
 ment when a veteran confirms him. 
 
 " She will be all right," said the man of long practice, 
 after careful examination ; " only she must have her time, 
 which you know as well as I do. Never mind if she lies 
 like this for twelve or even for twenty -four hours; 
 though I do not think that it will last so long. She 
 ought to have a face she knows and loves to meet her 
 own when her consciousness returns. Then you know 
 how to treat her. Verbum sat. . But I want to have a 
 long talk with you when this anxiety is over. Why have 
 you kept so long out of my way ? Come down to my 
 house when your sister can spare you." 
 
 Fox would have found it hard to say, or at any rate to 
 tell Gronow, what were his reasons for avoiding Priest- 
 
CONCUSSION 163 
 
 well while the present black cloud hung over him. In 
 fact, to himself his own motives had not been very clear 
 or well considered ; but pride was perhaps the foremost. 
 If Gronow intended to take his part, the first thing to do 
 was to call at Old Barn, and let everybody know it. And 
 the young man failed to recollect that the elder might 
 have good reasons of his own for keeping his distance 
 just at first. Nothing but kind consideration had pre- 
 vented Gronow from calling upon Fox straightway, for 
 he knew what significance people would attach to such a 
 visit. Suspicion had fallen upon him as well ; and many 
 of the baser sort declared that old and young doctor had 
 arranged that piece of work between them. 
 
 Liberal as he was, and kind, whenever a case of real 
 want or trouble was brought before him, the retired phy- 
 sician was not beloved yet by his neighbours, and he 
 knew it, and was well content to have it so. 
 
 " A queer old chap !" was the usual summary of his 
 character in the parish ; and the charitable added, u no call 
 to blame him ; a little bit touched in the upper story." 
 
 To the vast relief of her brother, and the delight of her 
 kind hostess, Christie Fox that very night contrived to 
 come to herself almost as suddenly as she had left it. 
 
 " What is all this about ?" she asked, opening her clear 
 eyes strongly. " Why, Jemmy, you have got no hat on ! 
 And where is mine ? Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! Thirty shillings, 
 without the trimming." 
 
 " There it is, dear, as large as life, and not a speck upon 
 it. Now drink this cup of tea, and then I'll finish what 
 I was saying." 
 
 " No, you always talk so fast, and you never let me say 
 a word. I might just as well have no tongue at all." 
 
 The young lady spoke in such fine ignorance of the self 
 she had come back to that there could be no doubt of 
 her being all there. And presently the " cup of tea " had 
 such a tranquillizing power that she fell into a sweet, deep 
 sleep, and did not awake until the sun was as high as he 
 meant to go at that time of the year. At first she had a 
 slow, dull headache, and felt stiff, all over. But Mrs. Gil- 
 ham appearing with a napkined tray, thin toast and butter, 
 a couple of pullet's eggs just laid, and one or two other 
 
164 PERLYCROSS 
 
 brisk challenges at the hands of her youngest daughter, 
 nature arose with an open mouth to have the last word 
 about it, and Christie made a famous breakfast. 
 
 Very soon Dr. Gronow looked in again, and smiled in 
 his dry way at her, for he was not a man of many words. 
 She gave her round wrist to be felt, and the slim pink 
 tongue to be glanced at, and the bright little head to be 
 certified cool and sound under the curls ; and, passing this 
 examination with high honours, she thought him a " very 
 nice old man ;" though his face was not at first sight per- 
 haps of the sweet and benevolent order. 
 
 Then the old doctor took the young doctor aside for 
 Jemmy had not been out of hail all night and said, " She 
 will do. I congratulate you. No serious lesion, no feverish 
 symptoms just a bump on her head from a mother-of- 
 pearl button. But she has been severely shaken. I would 
 not move her for a day or two." 
 
 " May she get up ?" asked Jemmy, in that spirit of pure 
 submission with which a doctor resigns his own family to 
 the care of another, who knows perhaps less then he him- 
 self does. But the plan is wise for the most part, inas- 
 much as love is apt to cloud the clearest eyes. 
 
 " To be sure she may. It will do her good. But not to 
 walk about yet. These people are the kindest of the kind. 
 You may safely leave all that to the ladies. Meanwhile, 
 you are better out of the way. Come down for an hour 
 or two, and share my early dinner. You want looking to 
 yourself. You have not had a bit for some twenty-four 
 hours." 
 
 It was little more than ten minutes' walk to Gronow's 
 house at Priestwell, and Fox accepted the invitation gladly. 
 Neither in the course of their walk, nor during their meal, 
 did his entertainer refer to the mysterious subject which 
 was always in the mind of one, and often in that of the 
 other. But Gronow enlarged upon his favourite topic the 
 keen sagacity, and almost too accurate judgment possessed 
 by trout, and the very great difficulty he experienced in 
 catching them, unless the stream was muddy. 
 
 "But you can't fish at this time of year," observed 
 Fox ; " at least, so people say. I know nothing about it. 
 Hunting and shooting are more to my taste." 
 
CONCUSSION 165 
 
 " You can fish every day in the year," replied Gronow ; 
 "at any rate in this river. There is nothing against it 
 but prejudice. The little ones are as bright as a new 
 shilling now, and the old ones as a guinea." 
 
 " But surely they should be allowed time to breed." 
 
 " That is their business, and none of mine. If they 
 choose to neglect what they should be doing, and come 
 to my hook, why I pull them out that is to say, if they 
 don't slip off." 
 
 " But your hook has no right to be there just then." 
 
 " Is it for a fish to dictate to me how I should employ 
 my time ? I bought this property for the fishing. The 
 interest of my money runs all the year round, and so must 
 what I spent it on." Fox saw that he would only irritate 
 this concise logician by further contention on behalf of the 
 fish ; and he was quite disarmed, when the candid doctor 
 added, " I don't mean to say that such a fellow as young 
 Pike, Penniloe's senior pupil, should be allowed to fish all 
 the year round ; for he never goes out without catching 
 something. But my case is different ; the winter owes me 
 all the blank days I had in the summer ; and as they were 
 nine out of every ten, I shall not have caught up the 
 record by the time the May-fly comes back again." 
 
 " Then you can't do much harm now," thought Fox ; 
 "and the trout will soon have their revenge, my friend 
 a fine attack of rheumatism, well in season." 
 
 " And now," said Dr. Gronow, when dinner was over, 
 and " red and white wine," as they were always called 
 then, had been placed upon the table, not upon a cloth, 
 but on the dark -red sheen "now you can smoke if 
 you like ; I don't, just at present. Let us talk of all this 
 botheration. What an idiot world it is ! You are young, 
 and will have to wag your tail to it. I go along with my 
 tail straight ; like a dog who does not care to fight, but is 
 ready, if it comes to that." 
 
 " I know pretty well how you look at things. And it is 
 the best way for those who can afford it. Of course, I 
 am bound to pretend not to care ; and I keep up pretty 
 well, perhaps. But for all that, it is not very jolly. If 
 my sister had not turned up, I am not sure how I should 
 have got on at all. Though Penniloe was very good, and 
 
166 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 so were several others, especially Mockham. I must have 
 a pipe, if you don't mind. It makes me feel so grateful." 
 
 " That is something in its favour, and shows how young 
 you still remain. I would cultivate the pipe more than I 
 do, if so it would bring back my youth ; not for the 
 youth blind puppyhood but for thinking better of my 
 race, and of myself as one of them." 
 
 " It is not for me to reason with you," Fox answered, 
 humbly, as he blew a gentle cloud ; " you are far above 
 me in every way. I am stupid enough, but I always 
 know when I come across a stronger mind." 
 
 " Not a stronger, but a harder one. We will not go 
 into that question now. Reams have been written about 
 it, and they leave us none the wiser. The present point is 
 how are you to get out of this very nasty scrape ?" 
 
 " I don't care to get out. I will face it out. When a 
 man knows his own innocence " 
 
 " That is all very fine ; but it won't w6rk. Your pros- 
 pects do not depend, I know, at all upon your profession. 
 But for the sake of all your friends, your sweet, high- 
 spirited sister, your good mother, and all your family, you 
 must not rest upon that manly view. Your innocence may 
 be a coat of mail to yourself, but it will not shelter them." 
 
 " I have thought of all that. I am not so selfish. But 
 who can prove a negative ?" 
 
 " The man who can prove the positive. You will never 
 be quit until you show who was the real perpetrator. A 
 big word to use ; for, after all, the horror at such things 
 is rather childish. The law regards it so, and in its 
 strong perception of mortal rights has made it a felony 
 to steal the shroud, to steal the body an indictable offence, 
 to be punished with fine, or (if a poor man did it) with 
 imprisonment." 
 
 " Is that the law ? I could scarcely have believed it. 
 And they talk of the absurdities of our profession !" 
 
 " Yes, that is the law. And perhaps you see now why 
 your enemies have not gone further. They see that it 
 damns you ten times more to lie under the imputation 
 than it would to be brought to trial and be acquitted, as 
 you must be. You have not to thank them for any mercy, 
 only for knowing their own game." 
 
CONCUSSION 167 
 
 " It is enough to make one a misanthrope for life," said 
 TY>x, looking really fierce once more. " I hoped that they 
 had found their mistake about me, and were sorry for ac- 
 cusing an innocent man." 
 
 " Alas, for the credulity of youth ! No, Jemmy, the 
 Philistines are upon thee. You have to reckon with a 
 wily lot, and an implacable woman behind them. They will 
 take every advantage of the rank cowardice of the clod- 
 hopper, and the terror of all those pitch - plaster tales. 
 You know how these things have increased ever since that 
 idiotic Act of two or three years back. That a murderer 
 should be prevented even from affording some posthumous 
 expiation ! And yet people call it a religious age to rob 
 a poor wretch of his last hope of heaven !" 
 
 " Your idea is a grim one," answered Fox, with a smile ; 
 " I never saw it in that light before. But now, tell me 
 one thing and it is a main point. You know that you 
 can trust me with your opinion. I confess that I am at 
 my wit's end. The thing must have been done to solve 
 some doubt. There is no one about here who would dare 
 the risk, even if there were any one zealous enough ; and 
 so far as I know, short of Exeter, there are none but hum- 
 drums and jog-trots." 
 
 " You have expressed your opinion already a little too 
 freely to that effect, Master Jemmy." 
 
 " Perhaps I have ; but I never meant it to go round. 
 It was young and silly of me. But what I want to ask 
 you is this, do you think it possible that you know 
 who " 
 
 -" Harrison Gowler?" said Dr. Gronow, calmly. "It is 
 possible, but most improbable. Gowler knew what it was, 
 even better than you did, or I from your account of it. 
 Introsusception is not so very rare, even without a strain, 
 or the tendency to it from an ancient wound. Putting 
 aside all the risk and expense and I know that friend 
 Gowler sticks close to his money and dropping all the 
 feelings of a gentleman what sufficient motive could 
 Gowler have ? An enthusiastic tyro might have longed to 
 verify, etc., but not a man of his experience. He knew it 
 all as well as if he had seen it. No, you may at once dis- 
 miss that idea, if you ever formed it." 
 
168 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 " I never did form it. It was suggested ; and all that 
 you have said occurred to me. Well, I know not what to 
 think. The mystery is hopeless. All we can be certain 
 of is that the thing was done." 
 
 " Even of that I am not quite so certain. I am never 
 sure of anything unless I see it. I have come across such 
 instances of things established beyond doubt and yet they 
 never occurred at all. And you know what a set of fools 
 these fat-chopped yokels are when scared. Why they act- 
 ually believe in Spring - heeled Jack, Lord Somebody, and 
 the ten -thousand -guinea bet! And they quake in their 
 beds if the windows rattle. Look at that idiot of a black- 
 smith swearing that he saw you with the horse ! A horse ? 
 A nightmare, or a mare's-nest, I should say. Why, it 
 would not surprise me a bit if it proved that the worthy 
 baronet is reposing in his grave, as calmly as his brave and 
 warlike spirit could desire. If not, it is no fault of our 
 profession, but the result of some dark history to which 
 as yet we have no clew." 
 
 Dr. Gronow had a manner of saying things, in itself so 
 distinct and impressive, and seconded so ably by a lower- 
 ing of his eyebrows and wrinkling of his large steep fore- 
 head, that when he finished up with his mouth set close, 
 and keen eyes fixed intently, it was hard to believe that he 
 could be wrong supposing, at least, that he meant to be 
 right. 
 
 " Well, sir," said the young man, strongly feeling this 
 effect ; " you have often surprised me by the things you 
 have said. And strange as they seemed they have gen- 
 erally proved correct in the end. But as to your first 
 suggestion, it is impossible ; I fear to think of it, after 
 what at least a dozen people saw, without hurry, and in 
 broad daylight. The other matter may be as you say. If 
 so, it only makes it worse for me. What hope can I have 
 of ever getting at the bottom of it ?" 
 
 " Time, my dear fellow, time will show. And the sus- 
 picion against you will be weakening every day if you 
 meet it with calm disdain. You already have the black- 
 smith's recantation a blow in the teeth for your enemies. 
 I am not exactly like your good parson, who exhorts 
 you devoutly to trust in the Lord. * The Lord helps 
 
CONCUSSION 169 
 
 those who help themselves,' is my view of that question ; 
 though I begin to think highly of Penniloe. He was in- 
 clined to be rude about the flies I use once or twice last 
 summer. But I shall look over that, as he has been so ill. 
 I shall call and inquire for him to-morrow." 
 
 " But what am I to do to help myself ? It is so easy to 
 say, ' take it easily.' What is the first step for me to take? 
 I could offer rewards and all that sort of thing. I could 
 send for experienced men from London. I have written 
 to a friend of mine there already, but have had no answer. 
 I could put myself in a clever lawyer's hands. I could do 
 a lot of things, no doubt, and spread the matter far and 
 wide. But the first result would be to kill my dear father. 
 I told you in what a condition he lies." 
 
 " Yes ; you are terribly * handicapped ' as the racing 
 people call it. Penniloe's illness was much against you. 
 So was your own absence. So were several other things. 
 But the worst of all is your father's sad state, and the bet- 
 ter he gets, the worse the danger. But for all that, I can 
 give you one comfort. I have never yet known things 
 combine against a man, persistently and relentlessly, if he 
 went straight ahead at them. They jangle among them- 
 selves by-and-by, even as his enemies are sure to do ; and, 
 instead of being hunted down, he slips out between them. 
 One thing I can undertake, perhaps. But I won't talk of 
 it until I know more, and have consulted Penniloe. What, 
 have you never had a glass of wine ? Well, that is too bad 
 of me ! These are the times when even a young man 
 wants it, and an old one should sympathize with him thus. 
 Oh, you want to get back to the fair Miss Christie ? Very 
 well, take her half a dozen of my pears. These people 
 about here don't know what a pear is, according to my in- 
 terpretation of the word." 
 8 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 PERCUSSION 
 
 THIS was not the time of year for spring of hope and 
 bounding fancy ; the first bloom-bud of the young heart 
 growing milky, and yet defiant ; and the leaf-bud pricking 
 up, hard and reckless, because it can never have a family. 
 Not the time of year for whispered openings, and shy blush 
 of petals still uncertain of the air, and creeping into the 
 clasp of one another, because they are afraid of coming 
 out too soon. Neither was there in the air itself that coy, 
 delusive, tricksome way, which it cannot help itself for 
 having, somewhere about the month of April, when the 
 sun is most to blame. 
 
 In a word (though no man can prove a negative, as 
 Jemmy Fox had well remarked) it was the very time when 
 no young man, acquainted with the calendar of his Church, 
 should dream of falling into love, even though he had a 
 waistcoat of otter-skin and fourteen pearl buttons upon it. 
 
 In spite of all that, it was the positive which prevailed 
 in this case. Frank Gilham had received such a blow 
 upon his heart that the season and the weather were noth- 
 ing to it. The fall of the leaf and retirement of the sap 
 though the Saps now tell us that it never does retire 
 had less than no effect upon his circulation. He went in 
 vainly for a good day's ploughing, for he could hold as 
 well as drive ; but there was his waistcoat, and his heart 
 inside it ; and even when he hung the one upon an oak- 
 tree the other kept going on upon its private business, 
 and " Whoa ! Stand still, will 'e ?" had no effect upon it. 
 
 He sneaked into the house as if he had no right there 
 though his mother had only a life - interest and he 
 made a serious matter of the shortness of his nails, and 
 felt a conscientious longing, when he saw his whiskers, to 
 
PERCUSSION 171 
 
 kick the barber at Pumpington, who had shorn them with 
 a pair of tailor's scissors so abominably on the last mar- 
 ket-day. But last market-day this young man's heart had 
 been inditing of pigs and peas, whereof he had made a 
 tidy penny, because he was a sharp fellow then. 
 
 " How is she now ?" he asked his young sister, Rose, 
 when he came down at last, discontented with himself, 
 though appearing unusually smart to her. 
 
 " Well, thank you, Frank, mother is not quite the thing 
 to-night. She did not get quite her proper rest you know, 
 on account of the strange young lady. And she never 
 took her horehound lozenges. She thinks too much of 
 others and too little of herself " 
 
 " As if I did not know all that ! Will you never tell 
 me anything I want to know ? But I suppose the young 
 lady won't keep her up to-night ?" 
 
 "She? Oh, she is all right enough. You should just 
 see her eat. My goodness ! Talk of farm - house ap- 
 petites !" 
 
 " Rose, who are you to understand such things ? You 
 have seen so very little of the world, and you judge it en- 
 tirely by yourself. I suppose the door is not open ?" 
 
 " Oh yes. Anybody can look in, if that's what you 
 want to do. She has been sitting up ever so long, with 
 mother's dressing-gown and Sunday shawl on. Such a 
 guy you never see in all your life !" 
 
 " A pity you can't be a guy, then. Why, Rose, if you 
 only had a hundredth part " 
 
 " Yes, I dare say. But I don't want, don't you see ? I 
 am quite contented as I am ; and better judges than you 
 will ever be why, that coloured hair is quite out of fashion 
 now. Everybody goes in for this sort of tint, and a lead- 
 en comb to make it darker. Corkscrews are all the rage, 
 and they can't be too black. Why, Minnie Farrant told 
 me, last Sunday, that she read on the best authority " 
 
 Her Bible, or her Prayer-book?" 
 
 "Don't be so absurd. The very best authority that 
 Queen Adelaide herself told his Majesty as much, and he 
 said he was a tar, and the best pitch wasn't black. That 
 was to please her, you know. Wasn't it clever of him? 
 Oh, Frank, why don't you fall in love with Minnie Farrant 
 
172 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 your own godfather's favourite child, and they say she'll 
 have four thousand pounds ?" 
 
 " Minnie Farrant ! Why, I'd rather have a broomstick. 
 Though she is all very well in her way, of course." 
 
 " She is the prettiest girl in this parish by long chalks, 
 except, of course, Nicie Waldron. And I suppose you 
 wouldn't quite stick up to her." 
 
 " Stick up, indeed ! Is that the way you learn to express 
 yourself at a finishing - school ? But do look sharp with 
 the frying-pan, if your corkscrews are not too precious. I 
 don't want Minnie Farrant, nor even Miss Waldron ; I want 
 my little bit of supper, and you know it well enough. I 
 am sorry for the ninny that ever falls in love with you." 
 
 " So am I. Because I won't have him. But what fun 
 it will be ! I shall starve him out. All you men think 
 about is eating ; and I shall say " 
 
 " Rose again, as usual ! Her long tongue running away 
 with her." Mrs. Gilham looked very serious, for every 
 day she found stronger proof that girls were not as they 
 used to be. " You have had your tea, child, and you want 
 nothing more. I am sure you should be the very last to 
 talk as if eating were a sin. Go and help Mary with your 
 dear brother's supper. He has been hard at work all day." 
 
 "Sticks to his work, wants no diverting 
 
 A model young man in the farming line! 
 Never goes hunting, dancing, flirting, 
 
 Doesn't know the flavour of a glass of wine." 
 
 Away danced Rosie to the tune of her own song, with 
 her light figure frisking from side to side of the long stone 
 passage. 
 
 " Ah, me ! I fear we shall have trouble yet with that 
 very thoughtless girl. She can only see the light side of 
 everything. It is high time for her now ; why, before I 
 was seventeen But Frank, you don't look like yourself 
 to-night !" The old lady went up to him, and pushed 
 aside his hair, as crisp and curly as a double hyacinth. 
 " I am almost sure there is something on your mind. Your 
 dear father had exactly that expression upon his face at 
 periods of his married life. But then it was always the 
 
PERCUSSION 173 
 
 times when he had rheumatics in his left shoulder-blade ; 
 and I used to iron them out with brown paper, the dark- 
 est brown that you can get, and a sprinkle of vinegar un- 
 derneath, as hot as ever you can bear it ; in fact, until it 
 begins to singe, and then " 
 
 " Well, nobody will ever do that to me, thank God !" 
 Frank spoke in a very reckless tone, and strictly avoided 
 his mother's eyes. 
 
 " I will, my son, if I live long enough. Old Mrs. Hor- 
 ner used to say not the present Mrs. John, you know, but 
 her husband's mother " 
 
 " Excuse me, dear mother, but I thought I heard a call. 
 Shall I go and knock at the young lady's door ?" 
 
 " Frank, how can you ask such a question ? Not that 
 she is not in very pretty order, and fit for any one to look 
 at her ; with my dressing-gown on as good as new, and the 
 big picture-Bible on one side of her, and The Fashiona- 
 ble Lady's Vade Mecum on the other." 
 
 "How queer she must look in your dressing-gown, 
 mother ! Quite an old frump, I suppose ?" 
 
 " I am very much obliged to you, my son. But as it 
 happens, Miss Christie Fox does not look at all like an old 
 frump, though your poor mother would, of course, and 
 must expect it, though not perhaps quite to be told of it. 
 On the contrary, Miss Fox looks very bright and bloom- 
 ing, with her eyes like the sky itself, and her lovely hair 
 flowing all down her shoulders." 
 
 " I had better go and see whether she has knocked for 
 something. I need not go in, of course. In fact, I should 
 not think of it, only just to pop my head inside the door, 
 and then " 
 
 " No, you won't pop it, sir, in any place of the kind. 
 Remember that it is a bedroom, and you are a gentleman 
 or ought to be." 
 
 " Oh, come, mother ! That's a little too hard on me. 
 I never meant anything, except to save you trouble by 
 just asking Well, I didn't think you would speak to 
 me in that way." 
 
 " Well, my boy, perhaps I spoke too hastily. Words 
 turn so different outside the lips ! But I should not like 
 a visitor of ours to think she had fallen among savages. 
 
174 PEELYCROSS 
 
 But here comes your supper at last, and small thanks to 
 Rosie. Why, at her time of life, I should have been too 
 proud to serve my only brother, hand and foot. But I 
 must just run back, and get my young lady tucked up. 
 High time for her to be in bed again. Her brother has 
 sent her a box full of things, and so we shall be able to get 
 her out a bit to-morrow, if the weather permits, and Dr. 
 Gronow." 
 
 Dr. Gronow permitted, and so did the weather. Can 
 any man remember when he was stopped from making a 
 fool of himself by the weather, or encouraged in any wis- 
 dom by it? How many a youth under vast umbrella, 
 warranted to shelter two, if their shoulders came nice and 
 close together, with the storm beating on them, and sug- 
 gesting but such umbrellas are not made now, fine cano- 
 pies of whalebone who would buy them ? Who thinks 
 of more than his own top-hat, unless he sees a chance 
 of a gold-band round it? And that, to tell the truth, has 
 been very charming always. 
 
 But here was Frank Gilham, without any thought of that. 
 He knew that Jemmy Fox was a fine young fellow, per- 
 haps a little bit above him in the social scale, and likely 
 to be a wealthy man some day. But of sweet Christie he 
 knew nothing, except that he wanted to know a great deal. 
 
 Therefore he found that the young mare was puffing, 
 and wanted wet bandages, and a day in stable excess of 
 synovial oil is a serious study. While on the other hand 
 old Tommy, as hard and as dry as a brick-bat, was not al- 
 together free from signs of rheumatism, and had scraped 
 up his litter in a manner that meant something. He put 
 it to his mother, whether they should plough to-day. It 
 might be all right, and the horses were hers. If she 
 thought wise to venture it 
 
 " It is no use trying to persuade me, Frank," Mrs. Gil- 
 ham answered ; " I won't risk it. Your dear father lost a 
 good horse once, although I advised him to the contrary. 
 Under Providence, our first duty is to the faithful and 
 long-suffering creatures provided by Him for the benefit 
 of mankind. You may try to persuade me as much as 
 you like. But you don't seern to have got your plough- 
 ing trousers on !" 
 
PERCUSSION 175 
 
 " That is not a question of ten minutes. When I looked 
 out of window the first thing this morning " 
 
 " Yes, to be sure. You were considering the weather. 
 Your dear father did the same ; though always wrong 
 about it. But it is useless to argue with me, Frank. I 
 must have my own way sometimes." 
 
 " Very well. Very well, then I won't go. I have got 
 a lot of little things to see to here. Why, the rack in the 
 kitchen would soon be rack and ruin." 
 
 " Frank, you do say the very cleverest things. And I 
 feel in myself that it never comes from me. Thank God 
 that I have such a dutiful son, though his mind is so su- 
 perior." 
 
 The young man exerted his superior mind upon a very 
 solid breakfast, topped up with honey, gushing limpid 
 from the comb, sweeter than the softest beeswing of the 
 meed of love. Then he sauntered in the mow-yard with 
 his ginger terrier Jack, whom no wedded love could equal 
 in aptitude to smell a rat. But hay was sweet, and clover 
 sweeter, and the rich deep ricks of wheat golden piles on 
 silver straddles showed the glossy stalk, and savoured 
 of the glowing grain within. A man might thrust his arm 
 into the yellow thicket here and there, and fetch the 
 chined and plump ear out, and taste the concrete milki- 
 ness. 
 
 " Rose told me that I should just see her eat," Frank 
 Gilham meditated ; " what a greedy thing to say ! Was 
 it because eggs are now so scarce, and Rose wanted all of 
 them for herself? But if she likes good things I could 
 have this rick of brown wheat threshed to-morrow. The 
 bread is ten times as sweet and toothsome oh, by-the-bye, 
 what teeth she has, like wind-flower buds among roses. 
 Two or three times her lips just showed them, while she 
 was lying upon that hay. But what are her teeth to com- 
 pare with her lips? And did anybody ever see such 
 cheeks, even with the pink flown out of them ? There's 
 nothing that you could find a flaw in ; forehead, hair, and 
 eyes, and nose though I can't pretend quite that I have 
 seen her eyes yet merely a sort of a flash in the air while 
 she was flying over the back rail of the trap. Only there 
 is no denying that they must be like heaven itself, full of 
 
176 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 angels. Mother says the sky, but that sounds so common. 
 So far as that goes, everybody is allowed to look at the 
 sky; but who would care ever to see it again, after a 
 glimpse Jack, what are you about there ? Got into a 
 gin ? Well, serves you right." 
 
 "Frank! Frank! Frank!" A loud call rang among 
 the ricks. " Got away smoking again, I'll be bound. I 
 never can understand how it is he doesn't set every bless- 
 ed rick on fire." 
 
 " Not smoking at all, as it happens. But how fright- 
 fully shrill your voice is, Rosie !" 
 
 " What a swell we are, to be sure, to-day ! And get- 
 ting quite nervous. Wants cotton-wool in his ears, poor 
 dear ! But the precious young lady is just coming out. 
 And mother says you should be somewhere handy, in case 
 of her being taken faint. About as likely to faint as I am, 
 I should say. Now mind your P's and Q's, in spite of all 
 your Greek and Latin. You may make your bow about 
 ten miles off ; but not to speak until spoken to. That's 
 right, flourish your hair up. But you needn't run twenty 
 miles an hour." 
 
 On the gravel-walk bordered by hollyhocks now a row 
 of gaunt sceptres without any crowns the kind Mrs. Gil- 
 ham was leading her guest, who did not require to be led 
 at all, but was too well-bred to reject the friendly hand. 
 Christie was looking a little delicate, and not quite up to 
 the mark of her usual high spirits; but the man must 
 have been very hard to please who could find much fault 
 on that score. 
 
 " Oh, what a beautiful view you have !" she exclaimed, 
 as the sun broke through the mist, spreading Perle valley 
 with a veil of purest pearl. " I had no idea it was such a 
 lovely place. And the house and the garden and the glen 
 that slopes away. Why, that must be Perlycross tower in 
 the distance, and that tall white house the rectory. Why, 
 there's the bridge with seven lofty arches, and the light 
 shining through them ! More light than water, I should 
 say. What on earth induced them to put such a mighty 
 bridge across such a petty river? I dare say they knew 
 best ; but just look at the meadows, almost as green as 
 they would be in May ! No wonder you get such lovely 
 
PERCUSSION 177 
 
 butter. And the trees down the valley, just in the right 
 places to make the most of themselves and their neighbour- 
 hood. Why, half of them have got their leaves on still, 
 here nearly at the end of November, and such leaves, too 
 gold, red, and amber, straw-colour, cinnamon, and rus- 
 set !" 
 
 " And if you come up to that bench, my dear," replied 
 Mrs. Gilham, as proud as Punch at the praises of her na- 
 tive vale, " that bench at the top of our little orchard my 
 poor dear husband had such taste he could find the proper 
 place for everything gravel-walk all the way, and noth- 
 ing but a little spring to cross ; why, there you can hear 
 the key-bugle of the ' Defiance.' Punctual every day at 
 half -past ten. We always set our kitchen clock by it. 
 The guard, as soon as he sees our middle chimney, strikes 
 up as loud as ever he can blow, ' Oh, the roast-beef of Old 
 England,' or ' To glory we steer,' for the horses to be 
 ready. So some people say, but I happen to know that it 
 is done entirely to please us. Because we sent cider out 
 every day when that hot week was last summer." 
 
 " What a grateful man ! Oh, I must go and hear him. 
 I do think there's nothing like gratitude. By-the-bye, I 
 am not acting up to that. I have never even seen your 
 son to thank him." 
 
 " Oh, Miss Fox, it is not fair to him for any young lady 
 to try to do that. He has no opinion of anything he does ; 
 and the last time he saved a young lady's life he ran away 
 because because it wouldn't do to stay. You see, she 
 had been at the very point of drowning, and the people 
 on the bank declared that she came up three times. My 
 son Frank never pulled his coat off he would have de- 
 spised himself if he had stopped to do it he jumped in, 
 they said it was forty feet high, but there is no bank on 
 the river (except the cliff the church stands on) much 
 over five-and-twenty. However, in he went, and saved 
 her ; and everybody said that she was worth ten thousand 
 pounds, but carried away by the current. And from that 
 day to this we heard nothing more about it ; and my son, 
 who has a very beautiful complexion, blushes oh, he 
 blushes so, if he only hears of it !" 
 
 " Oh, he is too good, Mrs. Gilham ! It is a very great 
 8* 
 
178 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 mistake, with the world becoming all so selfish. But I 
 am not the young lady that went with the current. I go 
 against the current, whenever I find any. And your son 
 has had the courage to do the same, in the question of my 
 dear brother. I say what I mean, you must understand, 
 Mrs. Gilham. I am not at all fond of shilly-shally." 
 
 "Neither is my son, Miss Fox. Only he thinks so very 
 little of himself. Why there he is ! Hard at work as usual. 
 Don't say a syllable of thanks, my dear, if he comes up 
 to pull his hat off. He can stand a cannon-ball, but not 
 to be made much of." 
 
 " Won't I, though, say * thank you ' to him ? I am bound 
 to consider myself, and not only his peculiar tendencies. 
 Mr. Frank Gilham, do please to come here, if I mean 
 supposing you can spare just half a minute." 
 
 Frank had a fair supply of hard as well as soft in his 
 composition. He was five-and-twenty years old, or close 
 upon it, and able to get a dog out of a trap in the deep- 
 est of his own condition. He quitted his spade which 
 he had found, by -the -bye, left out all night, though 
 the same is high -treason as if he could scarcely get 
 away from it, and could see nothing so fine as a fat spit 
 of sod. And he kept his eyes full upon Christie's, as if 
 he had seen her before, but was wondering where. 
 
 This was the proper thing to do. Though he knew 
 himself to be in no small fright throughout all this 
 bravery. But there is no monopoly of humbug, though 
 many do their utmost to establish one. 
 
 " Miss Fox, I believe you have seen my son before." 
 The old lady took to the spirit of the moment with the 
 quickness in which ladies always take the front. " And 
 my son Frank has had the honour of seeing you." 
 
 " And feeling me, too pretty sharp against his chest," 
 Christie thought within herself, but she only said, " Yes ; 
 and it was a happy thing for me." 
 
 "Not at all, Miss Fox a mere casual accident, as the peo- 
 ple about here express it. I explained to you that Frank 
 cannot help himself. Be kind enough not to speak of it." 
 
 "That won't do," replied Christie, looking steadfast. 
 " It may do for him, but not for me. Allow me one mo- 
 ment, Mrs. Gilham." 
 
PERCUSSION 179 
 
 Without more ado she ran up to Frank Gilham, who 
 was turning away again towards his work, and gave him 
 both hands, and looked full at him, with the glitter of 
 tears in her deep blue eyes. 
 
 " My senses have not quite forsaken me," she said ; 
 " and I know whom I have to thank for that, and in all 
 probability for my life as well. It is useless to talk about 
 thanking you, because it is impossible to do it. And even 
 before that I was deeply in your debt for the very noble 
 way in which you took my brother's part when every- 
 body else was against him. It was so brave and generous 
 of you." 
 
 It was more than she could do, with all her spirit, to 
 prevent two large and liberal tears from obeying the laws 
 of nature ; in fact, they were not far from obtaining the 
 downright encouragement of a sob when she thought of 
 her poor brother. 
 
 "Well, you are a sweet, simple dear!" exclaimed the 
 fine old lady, following suit in the feminine line, and feel- 
 ing for her pocket-handkerchief. " Frankie should be 
 proud to his dying day of doing any trifle for such 
 a precious dear. Why don't you say so, Frankie, my 
 son ?" 
 
 " Simply because my mother has said it so much better 
 for me." He turned away his eyes, in fear of looking 
 thus at Christie, lest they should tell her there was no one 
 else in the world for them to see. 
 
 " Here comes the * Defiance !' Hurrah ! hurrah !" shouted 
 Rose, rushing in, for once just at the right moment. " I 
 can hear the horses' hoofs springing up the rise. If you 
 want to know anything about roast beef you must put on 
 a spurt up the periwinkle walk. Here goes number one. 
 Slow coaches come behind." 
 
 " I am not a slow coach. At least, I never used to be," 
 cried Christie, setting off in chase. 
 
 " Miss Fox, Miss Fox, don't attempt to cross the brook 
 without my son's hand," Mrs. Gilham called after them ; 
 for she could not live the pace. " Oh, Rose is wrong as 
 usual it's * To glory we steer ' this time." 
 
 The obliging guard gave it three times over, as if he 
 had this team also in full view ; then he gave the " Roast 
 
1 80 PERLYCROSS 
 
 beef," as the substance of the glory ; and, really, it was 
 finer than a locomotive screech. 
 
 Presently Rose heard the cackle of a pullet which 
 had laid, and off she ran to make sure of the result, be- 
 cause there was an old cock sadly addicted to the part 
 that is least golden in the policy of Saturn. So the three 
 who remained sat upon the bench and talked, with the 
 cider-apples piled in pink and yellow cones before them, 
 and the mossy branches sparkling (like a weeping smile) 
 above, and the sun glancing shyly under eaves and along 
 hedge-rows, like the man denied the privilege of looking 
 at the horse. By this light, however, Frank Gilham con- 
 trived to get many a peep round his mother's bonnet 
 which, being of the latest fashion, was bigger than a well- 
 kept hedge-row at a very lovely object on the other side 
 thereof, which had no fear as yet of being stolen. 
 
 Miss Fox had fully made up her mind that (happen what 
 might) she would not say a single word to sadden her 
 good hostess with the trouble her brother had fallen into, 
 or the difficulties now surrounding him. But ladies are 
 allowed to unmake their minds, especially if it enlarges 
 them ; and finding in the recesses of that long bonnet a 
 most sympathetic pair of ears, all the softer for being 
 " rather hard of hearing," and enriched with wise echoes 
 of threescore years, she also discovered how wrong and 
 unkind it would be to withhold any heart -matter from 
 them. 
 
 " And one of the most dreadful things of all," Christie 
 concluded, with a long-drawn sigh, "is that my dear 
 father, who has only this son Jemmy, is now in such a 
 very sad state of health that if he heard of this it would 
 most likely take him from us. Or if he got over it, one 
 thing is certain, he would never even look at my brother 
 again. Not that he would believe such a wicked thing of 
 him, but because he would declare that he brought it on 
 himself by going (against his father's wishes) into this 
 medical business. My father detests it ; I scarcely know 
 why, but have heard that he has good reason. We must 
 keep this from him, whatever it costs us ; even if it keeps 
 poor Jemmy under this cloud for months to come. Luck- 
 ily father cannot read now very well, and his doctor has 
 
PERCUSSION 181 
 
 ordered him not to read at all ; and mother never looks at 
 a newspaper; and the place being five -and -thirty miles 
 away, and in another county, there is no great risk, unless 
 some spiteful friend should rush in to condole with him. 
 That is what I dread to hear of sometimes ; though good 
 Dr. Freeborn, who attends him, will prevent any chance 
 of it if possible. But you see, Mrs. Gilham, how it crip- 
 ples us. We cannot move boldly and freely, as we ought, 
 and make the thing the topic of the county, as we should 
 by an action of libel for instance, or any strong mode of 
 vindication. I assure you sometimes I am ready to go 
 wild, and fly out and do anything. And then I recollect 
 poor father." 
 
 " It is a cruel, cruel thing, my dear. I never heard of 
 anything resembling it before. That's the very thing that 
 Frank says. From the very first he saw what a shameful 
 thing it was to speak so of Dr. Fox. I believe he has 
 knocked down a big man or two ; though I am sure I 
 should be the last to encourage him in that." 
 
 " Come, mother, come ! Miss Fox, you must not listen 
 to a quarter of what mother says about me. I dare say 
 you have found that out long ago." 
 
 " If so, it is only natural, and you deserve it ;" this 
 Hibernian verdict was delivered with a smile too bright to 
 be eclipsed by a score of hedge-row bonnets ; " but there 
 is one thing I should like to ask Mr. Frank Gilham, with 
 his mother's leave, and it is this : how was it that you, Mr. 
 Frank, almost alone of all the parish qf Perly cross, and 
 without knowing much of my brother at the time, were so 
 certain of his innocence ?" 
 
 "Because I had looked in his face," replied Frank, 
 looking likewise into the sister's face, with a gaze of equal 
 certainty. 
 
 "That is very noble," Christie said, with a little toss 
 meaning something. " But most people want more to go 
 upon than that." 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 DISCUSSION 
 
 Now Mrs. Fox, Dr. Jemmy's mother, was an enthusi- 
 astic woman. She was twenty years younger than her 
 husband, and felt herself fifty years his senior (when 
 genuine wisdom was needed), and yet in enterprise fifty 
 years junior. The velocity of her brain had been too 
 much for the roots of her hair, as she herself maintained, 
 and her best friends could not deny it. Except that the 
 top of her head was snow-white, and she utterly scorned 
 to disguise it, she looked little older than her daughter 
 Christie in some ways, though happily tougher. She was 
 not too fat, and she was not too thin ; which is more 
 than most people can tell themselves at the age of eight 
 and forty. Into this ancient county race, which had 
 strengthened its roots by banking, she had brought a fine 
 vein of Devonian blood, very clearing for their complex- 
 ions. She had shown some disdain for mercantile views 
 until she began to know better, when her father, and others 
 of her landed lineage, slipped down the hill-top into bank- 
 ruptcy, without any free-trade, or even tenants' superior 
 rights, to excuse them. Then she perceived that mercantile 
 views are the only ones left to insure a quiet man a fair 
 prospect from his own front windows. She encouraged 
 her husband to cherish the bank, which at one time she 
 had derided ; and she quite agreed with him that no ad- 
 vances could save her own relations in their march down- 
 hill. 
 
 The elder James Fox, who, like his father, had refused 
 a title for although they were not Quakers now, they 
 held to their old simplicity Mr. James Fox, of Foxden, 
 was a fine sample of the unmixed Englishman. He had 
 never owed a penny of his large fortune to any unworthy 
 
DISCUSSION 183 
 
 trick of trade, or even to lucky gambling in stocks, or 
 bitter mortgages. Many people called him stubborn, and 
 they were welcome to take that view of it. In business 
 that opinion served him well, and saved a lot of useless 
 trouble. But he himself knew well, and his wife knew 
 even better, that though he would never budge an inch 
 for claim, or threat, or lawsuit, there was no man who 
 gave a longer ell when drawn out by mercy, or even gen- 
 tle equity. 
 
 But in the full vigour of his faculties, mental if not 
 bodily and the latter had not yet failed him much that 
 mysterious blow descended which no human science can 
 avert, relieve, or even to its own content explain. One 
 moment he was robust and active, quick with the pulse of 
 busy life, strong with the powers of insight, foresight, dis- 
 crimination, promptitude another moment, and all was 
 gone. Only a numb lump remained, livid, pallid, deaf and 
 dumb, sightless, breathless (beyond a wheezy snore), in- 
 capable even of a dream or moan. And knowing all these 
 things, men are proud ! 
 
 His strong heart and firm brain bore him through, or, 
 rather, they gradually shored him up a fabric still upon 
 the sands of time, but waiting only for the next tidal wave. 
 
 Now the greatest physician, or metaphysician, that ever 
 came into the world can tell us no more than an embryo 
 could what the relics of the mind will be in such a case, 
 or how far in keeping with its former self. Thoroughly 
 pious men have turned blasphemers ; very hard swearers 
 have taken to sweet hymns ; tempers have been changed 
 from diabolical to angelic ; but the change more often has 
 been the other way. Happily for himself and all about 
 him, this fine old man was weakened only, and not per- 
 verted from his former healthful self. His memory was 
 deranged, in veins and fibres, like an ostrich-plume draggled 
 in a gale of wind and rain ; but he knew his old friends, 
 and the favoured of his heart, and before and above all 
 his faithful wife. He had fallen from his pride with the 
 lapse of other powers ; and to those who had known him 
 in his stronger days his present gentleness was touching, 
 and his gratitude for trifles affecting ; but notwithstanding 
 that, he was sometimes more obstinate than ever. 
 
184 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 " I wonder why Chris stays away so long," he said, as 
 he sat one fine day upon the terrace, for he was ordered 
 to stay out-of-doors as much as possible, and his wife as 
 usual sat beside him. " She is gone to nurse Jemmy 
 through a very heavy cold, as I understood you to say, my 
 dear. But my memory is not always quite clear now. 
 But it must be some days since I heard that ; and I miss 
 little Chrissy with her cheerful face. You are enough, of 
 course, my dear Mary, and I very seldom think much of 
 anybody else. Still, I long sometimes to see my little 
 Chrissy." 
 
 " To be sure ; and so do I. The house seems very sad 
 without her," replied Mrs. Fox, as if it could be merry 
 now. " We won't give her more than another day or two. 
 But we must remember, dear, how differently poor Jemmy 
 is placed from what we are in this comfortable house. 
 Only one old rough Devonshire servant ; and everybody 
 knows what they are a woman who would warm his bed, 
 as likely as not, with a frying-pan, and make his tea out 
 of the rain-water boiler." 
 
 " He has no one to thank for it but himself." 
 
 After this delivery the father of the family shut his 
 mouth, which he still could do as well as ever, though one 
 of his arms hung helpless. 
 
 " And I did hear that there was some disturbance there, 
 something, I think, about the clergyman, who is a great 
 friend of Jemmy's." Mrs. Fox spoke this in all good 
 faith, for Dr. Freeborn had put this turn upon a story 
 which had found its way into the house ; " and you know 
 what our Chris is when she thinks any one attacks the 
 Church; you may trust her for flying to the rescue at 
 any rate, so far as money goes." 
 
 "And money goes a long way, in matters eccles you 
 know what I mean I can't pronounce those long words 
 now. Christie is too generous with her good aunt's 
 money. The trustees let her have it much too freely. I 
 should not be much surprised if they get a hundred 
 pounds out of Chris, at let me see, what is the place 
 called something like a brooch or trinket. Ah, there, it's 
 gone again !" 
 
 u You must not talk so much, my dear ; and, above all, 
 
DISCUSSION 185 
 
 you must not try your memory. It is wonderfully good, 
 I am sure, thank God ! 1 only wish mine was half as 
 good." 
 
 Now Mrs. Fox was quite aware that she had an exceed- 
 ingly fine memory. 
 
 " Well, never mind," resumed the invalid, after roving 
 among all the jewels he could think of. " But I should 
 be very glad, before I die, to see Chrissy married to Sir 
 Henry Haggerstone, a man of the highest character, as 
 well as a very fine estate. Has he said anything to you 
 about it lately ?" 
 
 " No, father " Mrs. Fox always called him " father " 
 when a family council was toward " how could he while 
 you I mean why should he be in such a hurry ? Christie 
 is a girl who would only turn against him if he were to 
 worry her. She is a very odd child ; she is not like her 
 mother ; a little spice of somebody else, I think, who has 
 always contrived to have his own way ; and she hates the 
 idea of being a step-mother, though there are only two 
 little girls after all, and Chrissy 's son would be the heir 
 of course. She says it is so frightfully unromantic to 
 marry a wealthy widower. But talk of the I am sure I 
 beg his pardon but here comes Sir Henry himself, with 
 Dr. Freeborn. You had better see the doctor first, my 
 dear, while I take a turn with Sir Henry." 
 
 This gentleman was, as Mr. Fox had pronounced, of the 
 very highest character, wealthy, moreover, and of pleasant 
 aspect, and temper mild and equable ; neither was his age 
 yet gone fatally amiss, though a few years off would have 
 improved it, as concerning Christie ; for he was not more 
 than thirty-three or thirty-four, and scarcely looked that, 
 for he led a healthful life. But his great fault was that 
 he had no great fault ; nothing extreme in any way about 
 him, not even contempt for " extreme people." He had 
 been at Oxford, and had learned, by reading for a first- 
 class in classics (which he got) that victue is a " habit of 
 fore-choice, being in the mean that concerns ourselves, 
 defined by reason, and according as the man of perception 
 would define it." 
 
 Sir Henry was a man of very clear perception, and his 
 nature was well fitted to come into definitions. He never 
 
186 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 did much thinking of his own, for deeper minds had 
 saved him all that trouble, and he was quite content to 
 accept the results. There was nobody who could lead 
 him much, and no one who could not lead him a little, 
 when he saw a clear path to go along. This was not al- 
 together the way to enchant romantic maidenhood. 
 
 Christie cared for him about as much as she would for 
 a habit, that was in a mean. Not that he was in any way 
 a prig, or laid down the law to any one. He had not 
 kept up his classics, for he had no real love for them ; 
 and in those days a man might get a first at Oxford who 
 could scarcely scan a Latin hexameter, if he were excep- 
 tionally strong in " science " then meaning philosophy, 
 before the age of " stinks." To none of these subjects 
 did Christie pay heed she did not care for the man, and 
 that was all about it. 
 
 " You are quite right, Mrs. Fox ; I think exactly as you 
 do," this gentleman was replying to the lady of the house, 
 as they walked upon the gentle slope towards the flower- 
 garden ; " there are no real Whigs in the present head- 
 long days. Men like your husband and myself, who have 
 fancied ourselves in the happy mean, are either swept 
 aside or carried down the deluge. For the moment there 
 seems to be a slight reaction ; but it will not last ; the 
 rush will only be more headlong. And in private life it 
 is just the same. Individual rights are to be no more 
 respected ; everything belongs to everybody. I will tell 
 you a little thing that happened to myself, just as a spec- 
 imen of the spirit of the age. A year or two ago I 
 bought some old manorial rights in a thinly peopled part 
 of Devonshire ; in fact, at the western end of the great 
 Blackdown Range, a barren, furzy, flinty sort of place. 
 By -the -bye, not many miles away from the place where 
 your son has gone to live Perlycross. I only bought the 
 manor to oblige a friend who wanted a little ready money, 
 and to go there now and then, perhaps, for a little rough 
 shooting, for the country is beautiful, and the air very 
 fine. Well, the manorial rights included some quarries 
 or pits or excavations of some sort, where those rough 
 scythe-stones are dug, such as you see lying on that lawn. 
 The land itself was actually part of the manor from a 
 
DISCUSSION 187 
 
 time beyond memory or record ; but it seems as if stran- 
 gers had been allowed to settle on the hill-side and work 
 these ancient quarries, and sell the produce on their own 
 account ; only paying a small royalty to the manor every 
 Martinmas, or about that time, not so much for the value 
 of the money though it would perhaps be considerable 
 under a proper computation but as an acknowledgment of 
 the ownership of the manor. But I fear I am tiring you." 
 
 " Not at all, Sir Henry ; I like any story of that sort. 
 Our laws are so very, very queer." 
 
 "Sometimes they are. Well, my friend had not de- 
 ceived me. He said that this Whetstone money was very 
 hard to get, and was so trifling that he had let it go some- 
 times when the people objected to paying it, as they did 
 after any bad season. Last Martinmas the matter slipped 
 my memory, through domestic trouble ; but this year, as 
 the day approached, I sent orders to a man a rough sort 
 of game-keeper, who lives near there and looks after the 
 shooting and gravel and peat to give notice at the pits 
 that 1 meant to have my money. A very close corpora- 
 tion they seem to have established, and have made their 
 encroachments uncommonly secure, being quite distinct 
 in race and character, dialect, and even dress, I believe, 
 from the settled people round them. Now, what message 
 do you think they sent me ?" 
 
 " Something very insolent, I have no doubt." Mrs. Fox 
 did not call herself even a Whig, but a downright deter- 
 mined Tory. 
 
 " This was it my man got the school-master to put it 
 into writing, and I happen to have it in my pocket. * Not 
 a penny will we pay this year ; but if you like to come 
 yourself and take a turn at the flemmer' something they 
 use for getting out the stone * we won't charge you any- 
 thing for your footing.' " 
 
 " Your footing on your own land ! Well, that is very 
 fine. What do you mean to do, Sir Henry ?" 
 
 "Grin and bear it, I suppose, Mrs. Fox. You know 
 what the tendency of the time is, even in the law-courts ; 
 and, of course, all the press would be down upon me 
 as a monster of oppression if I ventured to assert my 
 rights. And though I am out of the House ever since the 
 
188 PEKLYOROSS 
 
 * Broom of Reform ' as the papers call it swept my two 
 little seats away, I might like to stand again some day ; 
 and what a Whetstone this would be for my adversaries ! 
 And I hear that these people are not a bad lot ; rough 
 and uncivilized, and wonderfully jealous over the ' rights ' 
 they have robbed me of ; but among themselves faithful 
 and honest and quiet and sober, which is the strangest 
 thing of all in England. As for their message, why they 
 speak out plainly, and look upon their offer as a great 
 concession to me. And we in this more enlightened part 
 must allow for the manners of that neighbourhood. In 
 fact, this is such a perfect trifle, after what they have 
 been doing at Perlycross. If I were a magistrate about 
 there " 
 
 " At Perlycross ! What do you mean ? Some little 
 matter about the clergyman ? I want to know all about 
 that, Sir Henry. It seems so strange that Christie never 
 mentioned it." 
 
 Sir Henry perceived that he had " put his foot in it." 
 Dr. Freeborn had warned him that the " Sacrilege in 
 Devon " as the Somerset papers had begun to call it 
 must be kept most carefully from the knowledge of his 
 patient, and from that of the lady also, for there was no 
 saying how she might take it. And now Mrs. Fox could 
 not fail to find out everything. He was ready to bite off 
 his tongue, as ladies put it. 
 
 "Oh, ah I was thinking of something which had 
 better not be referred to perhaps ; not quite fit to be dis- 
 cussed when one has the honour of being with ladies. 
 But about those very extraordinary people. I have heard 
 some things that are highly interesting, things that I am 
 certain you would like to hear " 
 
 " Not half so much as I want to hear the story about 
 the parish where my son lives, and my daughter is staying 
 and will not come back for some reason which we cannot 
 make out. I must insist, Sir Henry, upon hearing all that 
 you know. I am not a young woman, and know the world 
 pretty well by this time. You will not offend me by any- 
 thing you say, but you will by anything you hide." 
 
 Sir Henry Haggerstone looked about, and saw that he 
 was in for it. The elderly lady as some might call her 
 
DISCUSSION 189 
 
 looked at him with that pretty doubt which ladies so 
 thoroughly understand how to show, and intend to be un- 
 derstood without expression. The gentleman glanced at 
 her ; he had no mustache to stroke, for only cavalry 
 officers and cads of the most pretentious upturn as yet 
 wore ginger hackles a relief still to come in a downier age. 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Fox, there is nothing improper, from a 
 lady's point of view, I mean, in the very sad occurrence at 
 Perlycross. It is a question for the local authorities, 
 and not one for me to meddle with." 
 
 " Then why did you speak of it ? Either tell me all, or say 
 that you won't, and leave me to find out." The lady had 
 the gentleman, the Tory had the temporizer, on the nail. 
 
 " We are nothing in your hands," he murmured, and 
 with perfect truth ; for when the question comes to the 
 pulling out of truth, what chance has a man against a 
 clever woman, ten times as quick as he is, and piercing 
 every glance? 
 
 " I am truly sorry that it has come to this" Mrs. Fox 
 did not sympathize with his regret, but nodded, as if to 
 say, "no cure now for that; for my part I am rather 
 glad." " It was simply through terror of distressing you 
 that all your best friends have combined, as I may say, at 
 least have thought it wiser " 
 
 " Then they made a great mistake ; and I am not at 
 all thankful to any of them. Let me sit down here. And 
 now for all this frightful wonder ! Is Jemmy dead ? Let 
 me have the worst at once." 
 
 This was a sudden relief to Sir Henry, enabling him to 
 offer immediate comfort, and to whisper, " How could you 
 imagine such a thing ?" 
 
 " No, my dear madam," he continued, having now the 
 upperhand, and hers beneath it, " I have the pleasure of 
 assuring you that your noble son is in the very best of 
 health, and improving by his admirable knowledge of 
 medicine the health of all around him. It is acknowl- 
 edged that he has advanced the highest interests of the 
 profession." 
 
 " That he was sure to do, Sir Henry. And he has a 
 copy of my dear grandmother's recipe for the pounded 
 cherry-stone elixir." 
 
190 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 " With all the resources of modern science added, and 
 his own trained insight in their application. But the worst 
 of it is that these leading intellects, as you must have ex- 
 perienced long ago, can never escape a sad amount of 
 narrow professional jealousy. Your son must have fallen 
 among those heavy-witted Devonshire doctors like a thun- 
 der-bolt or worse, a phenomenon come to heal their pa- 
 tients gratis" 
 
 " That would drive them to do anything to poison 
 him, if they had the courage. For every one knows how 
 they run up their bills." 
 
 Having brought the lady thus to the practical vein, Sir 
 Henry (as gently as possible, and as it were by the quarter- 
 drachm) administered the sombre draught he was now 
 bound to exhibit. Jemmy's dear mother took it with a 
 closeness of attention and critical appreciation seldom 
 found in the physical recipients in such cases. But to the 
 administrator's great surprise, her indignation was by no 
 means vivid in the direction anticipated. 
 
 " I am heartily glad that I know this at last. I ought 
 to have been told of it long ago," said Mrs. Fox, looking 
 resolutely at Sir Henry Haggerstone. " A very great mis- 
 take and want of judgment on the part of Dr. Freeborn. 
 What a frightful risk to run supposing my husband had 
 been told suddenly of this !" 
 
 " All has been done for the best, my dear madam. The 
 great anxiety was to keep it from him." 
 
 "And who was the proper one to see to that? I should 
 have thought his wife and constant nurse. Was it thought 
 impossible that I should show discretion? Clever men 
 always make one great mistake. They believe that no 
 woman can command her tongue. If they had their own 
 only half as well controlled there would not be a tenth part 
 of the mischief in the world." 
 
 " You are quite right there. That is a very great truth, 
 and exceedingly well expressed," replied Sir Henry, not 
 that he was impressed with it so deeply, but that he 
 wanted to appease the lady. "However, as regards Dr. 
 Freeborn's ideas I really know very little ; no doubt he 
 thought it was for your own good, too, not to be burdened 
 at such a time with another great anxiety." 
 
DISCUSSION 191 
 
 " He has taken too much upon himself. It would have 
 been no great anxiety to me. My son is quite capable of 
 fighting his own battles. And the same orders issued to 
 my son and daughter ! At last I can understand poor 
 Christie's letters why she has been so brief, for fear of 
 losing all self-control, like her mother. Stupid, stupid, 
 clever men ! Why, there is infinitely less chance now of 
 Mr. Fox ever knowing it. You may tell our sapient doc- 
 tor that. Perhaps I shall astonish him a little. I'll prove 
 to him that I can control my tongue by never mentioning 
 the subject to him." 
 
 " Excuse me, Mrs. Fox, if I make one or two remarks. 
 May I speak without reserve, as an old friend of the fam- 
 ily, and one who has had a great deal to do with criminal 
 at least, I mean to say, with public proceedings in this 
 county ?" 
 
 " To be sure, Sir Henry ; I shall be much obliged by 
 any suggestions you may make." 
 
 " In the first place, then, it is quite impossible to leave 
 your son under this imputation. I can quite understand 
 how he has been impeded in taking any steps for his own 
 vindication, by his sense of duty towards his father and 
 yourself. In that respect, his behaviour has been most 
 admirable. He has absolutely done nothing; not even 
 protested publicly, and challenged any evidence against 
 him, but been quite content to lie at the mercy of any 
 wicked slanderers. And for this there can be no reason 
 but one that public proceedings would increase the stir, 
 and make it certain that the whole must come to his father's 
 knowledge." 
 
 " To be sure, Sir Henry. There can be no other reason." 
 The old friend of the family was surprised at the tone in 
 which Mrs. Fox uttered this opinion. 
 
 " Of course not. And so it is all the more incumbent 
 upon his family to clear him. Let me tell you what I 
 should do, if I were his father, in sound health, and able 
 to attend to business. Of course I am too young to speak 
 so " he had suddenly remembered Christie " but that 
 you understand ; and you also admit that I am not likely 
 to offer advice unless asked for." 
 
 " I beg you particularly to give it. You are a magis- 
 
192 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 trate of large, if not long, experience. And I know that 
 you are our true friend." 
 
 " That you may rely upon, Mrs. Fox, And you know 
 now much I admire your son ; for enthusiasm is a rare 
 gift now, and becoming rarer every year in these days of 
 liberal sentiment. If the case were my own, I should just 
 do this. I should make application at once to the Court of 
 King's Bench to have the matter sifted. It is no use shilly- 
 shallying with any county authorities. A special commis- 
 sion has been granted in cases less important. But without 
 pressing for that, it is possible to get the whole question 
 investigated by skilled officers from headquarters. Those 
 who bring the charge should have done it, and probably 
 would have done it, if they had faith in their own case. 
 But they are playing a deeper game according, at least, 
 to my view of the matter. They have laid themselves 
 open to no action. Your son lies helpless, and must ' live 
 it down,' as people say glibly, who have never had to do 
 it. Is this a thing you mean to allow?" 
 
 " You need scarcely ask me that, Sir Henry. But re- 
 member that I know nothing of the particulars which have 
 been kept so so amiably from my knowledge." 
 
 " Yes ; but I know them all at least so far as they 
 can be gathered from the Devonshire journals, and these 
 are very careful what they say. In spite of all the ene- 
 mies who want to keep it going, the whole thing may be 
 brought to a point at once by applying for a warrant in 
 the Court of King's Bench, with the proper informa- 
 tion sworn. They would grant it at once. Your son 
 would appear, and be released of course on bail, for the 
 case is only one of misdemeanour. Then the proper 
 officers would be sent down, and the real criminals de- 
 tected." 
 
 " A warrant against my Jemmy ! Oh, Sir Henry, you 
 can never mean that." 
 
 " Simply as a matter of form, Mrs. Fox. Ask your so- 
 licitors. They are the proper people. And they should 
 have been consulted long ago, and would have been, but 
 for this terrible disadvantage. I only suggest the quick- 
 est way to bring the matter to an issue. Otherwise the 
 doubt will hang over your son, with his friends and his 
 
DISCUSSION 193 
 
 conscience to support him. And what are these among 
 so many ?" 
 
 This was not altogether a counsel of perfection, or even 
 of a very lofty view ; but, unhappily, we have to contend 
 with a world neither perfect nor very lofty. There was 
 no other hole to be found in the plan, or even to be picked 
 by the ingenuity of a lady. But who, that is worthy of 
 that name, cannot slip round the corner gracefully, what- 
 ever is presented ? 
 
 " I thank you so deeply, Sir Henry, for your very kind 
 interest in this strange matter," said. Mrs. Fox, looking all 
 gratitude, with a smile that shone through tears, " and for 
 your perfectly invaluable advice. You see everything so 
 distinctly, and your experience is so precious. To think 
 of my poor boy in such a position ! Oh dear, oh dear ! 
 I really have not the courage to discuss it any more. But 
 a kind heart like yours will make every allowance for the 
 feelings of a mother." 
 
 Thus was Sir Henry neatly driven from the hall of coun- 
 cil to the carpeted chamber of comfort. But he knew, as 
 well as if the lady had put it into so many words, that she 
 meant to accept none of his advice. Her reason, however, 
 for so resolving was far beyond his perception, simple as 
 it was and natural. 
 
 Mrs. Fox had known little of the young doctor's doings, 
 since he had settled at Perlycross, having never even paid 
 him a visit there, for her husband was sore upon that sub- 
 ject. So that she was not acquainted with the depth of 
 Jemmy's regard for Sir Thomas, and had never dreamed 
 of his love for Inez ; whereas she was strongly and bitter- 
 ly impressed with his life-long ardour for medical research. 
 The mother felt no indignant yearning for prompt and 
 skilled inquiry, because she suspected in the bottom of 
 her heart that it would prove her son the criminal. 
 9 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 BLACKMARSH 
 
 A LONG way back among the Blackdown Hills, and in 
 nobody knows what parish, the land breaks off into a bar- 
 ren stretch, uncouth, dark, and desolate. Being neither 
 hill nor valley, slope nor plain, morass nor woodland, it has 
 no lesson for the wanderer except that the sooner he gets 
 out of it the better. For there is nothing to gratify him if 
 he be an artist, nothing to interest him if his tastes are 
 antiquarian, nothing to arouse his ardour, even though he 
 were that happy and most ardent creature, a naturalist free 
 from rheumatism. And as for any honest fellow mainly 
 concerned with bread-and-butter, his head will at once go 
 round with fear and with looking over his shoulders. For 
 it is a lonesome and grewsome place, where the weather 
 makes no difference ; where Nature has not put her hand 
 on this part or on that, to leave a mark or show a prefer- 
 ence, but slurred the whole with one black frown of deso- 
 late monotony. 
 
 That being so, the few and simple dwellers on the moor- 
 land around, or in the lowland homesteads, might well be 
 trusted to keep their distance from this dreary solitude. 
 There were tales enough of hapless travellers last seen 
 going in this direction, and never in any other ; as well 
 as of spectral forms, low groans, and nightly processions 
 through the air. 
 
 Not more than a hundred years ago there had been a 
 wicked baronet, profane, rapacious, arrogant, black-hearted, 
 foul, and impious. A blessed curate prayed him not to 
 hunt on Holy Friday. He gave the blessed curate taste 
 of whip -thong from his saddle; then blew seven blasts 
 of his horn, to proclaim that he would hunt seven days in 
 every week, put spurs to his black horse and away. The 
 
BLACKMARSH 195 
 
 fox, disturbed on Holy Friday, made for this " forbidden 
 land ;" which no fox had ever done before. For his life 
 he plunged into it, feeling for the moment that nothing 
 could be worse than to be torn in pieces. The hounds 
 stopped, as if they were turned to stone in the fury of 
 their onslaught. The huntsman had been left far behind, 
 having wife and family. But the wicked baronet cracked 
 his whip, blew three blasts on his horn, leaned forward on 
 his horse and gave him the rowel. The hounds in a frenzy 
 threw up their sterns, and all plunged headlong into it. 
 And ever since that they may be seen (an hour after sun- 
 down, on every Sunday of the season, and any Holy Fri- 
 day) in full cry scouring through the air, with the wicked 
 baronet after them, lashing his black horse and blowing 
 his horn, but with no fox in front to excuse them. 
 
 These facts have made the " forbidden land," or the Black- 
 marsh, as some call it, even less desirable than its own 
 complexion shows it. And it is so far from Perlycross 
 that any man on foot is tired by the time he gets there, 
 and feels that he has travelled far enough, and in common- 
 sense must go home again. 
 
 But there was one Perlycrucian now by domicile, not 
 nativity of tireless feet and reckless spirit, too young for 
 family ties, and too impetuous for legends. By this time 
 he was admitted to the freedom of every hedge and ditch 
 in the parish, because he was too quick to be caught and 
 too young to be prosecuted. " Horatio Peckover" was his 
 name, by usage cut short into " Hopper ;" a lad in advance 
 of his period, and the precursor of all " paper-chases." 
 
 Like many of those who are great in this line, he was 
 not equally strong in the sedentary uses of that article. 
 Mr. Penniloe found him so far behind, when pen and ink 
 had to be dealt with, that he put him under the fine Roman 
 hand of Sergeant Jakes the school-master. Jakes was not 
 too richly endowed by a grateful country for years of 
 heroism, neither was his stipend very gorgeous for swing- 
 ing cane in lieu of gun. Sixpence an hour was his figure 
 for pen-drill of private pupils, and he gladly added Hopper 
 to the meagre awkward-squad. 
 
 Soon an alliance of the closest kind was formed ; the 
 veteran taking warm interest in the spirited sallies of 
 
196 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 youth, and the youth with eager thirst imbibing the fine 
 old Peninsular vintage of the brightest ruby, poured forth 
 in the radiance of a yellow tallow-candle. For the long 
 school-room was cleared at night of coats and hats and 
 green-baize bags, cracked slates, bead-slides, and spelling- 
 books, and all the other accoutrements, and even toys of 
 the youthful Muse ; and at seven o'clock Horatio stepped 
 across the road from the rectory, sat down at the master's 
 high black desk, and shouldered arms for the copy-drill. 
 The sergeant was famed for his flourishes, chiefly of his 
 own invention, and had promised to impart that higher 
 finish when the fancy capitals were mastered. 
 
 " What a whack of time it does take, sergeant !" cried 
 Hopper, as he dipped his pen one Friday night. " Not 
 half so bad as Latin though, and there is something to 
 look at afterwards. Capitals almost captured now. Ah, 
 you have taken the capitals of many a country, sergeant. 
 Halloa! 'Xerxes was conqueror at Marathon,' to-night! 
 Sergeant, are you quite sure of that ? I thought it was 
 another fellow, with a longer name Milly, Tilly some- 
 thing." 
 
 " No, Master Hopper ; if it had been, we must have 
 passed him long ago among the big M's." 
 
 " To be sure. What a muff I was not to think of that ! 
 I beg your pardon, sergeant. There's scarcely anything 
 you don't know." 
 
 " I had that on the highest authority right elbow more 
 in to your side, sir, if you please that Xerxes copy was 
 always set by commanding officer at Turry Vardoes 
 could not tell what to do with the men at night so many 
 ordered to play at nine-pins, and so many told off to learn 
 round-hand. If it had not been for that, sir, I should 
 never have been equal to my present situation." 
 
 "Then it must have been Xerxes, sergeant. And 
 after all, how can it matter, when it happened so long ago ? 
 A blot again ! D it." 
 
 " Master Hopper, I am very sorry, but it is my duty to 
 reprimand you for the use of profane language. Never 
 permitted, sir, in school-hours. Would you do it before 
 Mr. Penniloe ?" 
 
 "I should rather hope not. Wouldn't old Pen stare? 
 
BLACKMARSH 197 
 
 And then he'd be down upon me like the very capital 
 D. Sergeant, pray excuse me ; I only thought of him 
 without any name. I suppose we may call him ' Old Nick ' 
 though, without having to go to him for doing it. I 
 never could see what the difference was. But, my eye, 
 sergeant, I expected to see the old chap yesterday, cloven 
 hoof, tail, eyes of fire, and everything !" 
 
 " What do you mean, sir ? Where was he ? Not in 
 Perlycross, I hope." Sergeant Jakes glanced down the 
 long dark room, and then at the pegs where his French 
 sword was hanging. 
 
 " No, not here. He daren't come so near the church. 
 But in the place where he lives all day, according to the 
 best authorities. You have heard of Blackmarsh, haven't 
 you ? No marsh at all that's the joke of it but the 
 queerest place I ever saw in all my life. Criky jimminy, 
 but it is a rum un !" 
 
 " You don't mean to say you were there, sir !" The 
 sergeant took his hand from Hopper's shoulder, and went 
 round to see whether he was joking. 
 
 " To be sure I was, as large as life and twice as natural ! 
 Had a holiday, as you know, and got leave off from din- 
 ner. Mother Muggridge gave me grub enough to go to 
 Halifax. I had been meaning to go there ever so long, 
 because everybody seems to funk it so. Why, there's 
 nothing there to be afraid of ; though it makes you look 
 about a bit. And you aren't sorry to come out of it." 
 
 " Did you tell Mr. Penniloe you had been there, Master 
 Hopper ?" 
 
 " Sergeant, do you see any green in my eye ?" Horatio 
 dropped his pen and enlarged the aperture of one eye, in 
 a style very fashionable just then, but never very elegant. 
 
 " No, sir ; I can't answer fairly that I do. And I don't 
 believe there ever was much even when you was a babby." 
 
 "Mum's the word, you see then even to old Mug- 
 gridge, or she might be fool enough to let out. But I say, 
 sergeant, I've got a little job for you to do. Easy enough. 
 I know you won't refuse me." 
 
 " No, sir, that I won't. Anything whatever that lays in 
 my power, Master Hopper." 
 
 "Well, it's only this just to come with me to-mor- 
 
198 PERLYCROSS 
 
 row half-holiday, you know, and I can get off plum- 
 duffs always plum-duffs on a Saturday, and you should 
 just see Pike pitching into them and we'll give the after- 
 noon to it, and examine Blackmarsh pretty thoroughly." 
 
 " Blackmarsh, Master Hopper! The 'forbidden land' 
 where Sir Robert, upon his black horse and forty hounds 
 in full cry before him, may be seen and heard sweeping 
 through the air like fiends !" 
 
 " Oh, that's all my eye and Betty Martin ! Nobody be- 
 lieves that, I should hope. Why, sergeant, a man who 
 knows all about Xerxes, and has taken half the capitals in 
 Europe oh, I say, sergeant, come, you are not afraid 
 now ; and a fellow of sixteen, like me, to go there all by 
 myself and stop well, nearly half an hour !" 
 
 " Afraid ! Not I. No, certainly not, after mountains 
 and forests and caverns and deserts. But the distance, 
 Master Hopper, for a man of my age, and troubled with 
 rheumatism in the knee-joint." 
 
 " Oh, that's all right ! I have planned out all that. 
 Of course I don't expect you to go ten miles an hour. 
 But Baker Channing's light cart goes every other Satur- 
 day to Crooked-post Quarry, at the farther end of Hag- 
 don, to fetch back furze enough to keep his oven going 
 from a stack he bought there last summer. To-morrow is 
 his day ; and you have no school, you know, after half- 
 past ten or eleven. You ride with old Tucker to the 
 Crooked-post, and come back with him when. he is loaded 
 np. It sha'n't cost you a farthing. I have got a shilling 
 left, and he shall have it. It is only two miles or so from 
 Crooked-post to this end of Blackmarsh ; and there you 
 will find me waiting. Come, you can't get out of that." 
 
 "But what do you want me there for, sir ? Of course, 
 I'd go anywhere you would venture, if I could see any 
 good in it." 
 
 "Sergeant, I'll tell you what. You thought a great 
 deal of Sir Thomas Waldron, didn't you ?" 
 
 " More than of any man that ever lived or ever will see 
 the light of this wicked world." 
 
 " And you didn't like what was done to him, did you ?" 
 
 " Master Hopper, I tell you what. I'd give ten years of 
 my poor life if I could find out who did it." 
 
BLACKMAKSH 199 
 
 "Then I fancy I have found out something about it. 
 Not much, mind ; but still something, and may come to 
 more if we follow it up. And if you come to-morrow I'll 
 show you what it is. You know that my eyes are pretty 
 sharp, and that I wasn't born yesterday. You know who 
 it was that found ' Little Billy.' And you know who 
 wants to get Fox out of this scrape because he is a Som- 
 erset man, and all that, and doesn't deserve this trouble. 
 And still more, because " 
 
 " Well, Master Hopper, still more because of what ?" 
 
 "I don't mind telling you something, sergeant you 
 have seen a lot of the world, you know. Because Jemmy 
 Fox has got a deuced pretty sister." 
 
 " Oh come, Master Hopper, at your time of life ! And 
 not even got into the flourishes !" 
 
 " It doesn't matter, Jakes. I may seem rather young 
 to people who don't understand the question. But that is 
 my own business, I should hope. Well, I shall look out 
 for you to-morrow. Two o'clock at the latest." 
 
 "But why shouldn't we tell Dr. Fox himself, and get 
 him to come with us? That seems the simplest thing." 
 
 "No; there are very good reasons against that. I have 
 found this out. and I mean to stick to it. No one would 
 have dreamed of it, except for me. And I won't have it 
 spoiled by every nincompoop poking his nose into it. 
 Only if we find anything more, and you agree with me 
 about it, we will tell old Pen, and go by his opinion." 
 
 " Very well, sir. It all belongs to you ; as it did to me, 
 when I was first after Soult's arrival to discover the ad- 
 vance of the French outposts. You shall have the credit, 
 though I didn't. Anything more, sir? The candle is al- 
 most out." 
 
 "Sergeant, no more. Unless you could manage I 
 mean, unless you should think it wise to bring your fine old 
 sword with you. You say there is no such piece of steel " 
 
 " Master Hopper, there is no such piece, unless it was 
 Lord Wellington's. They say he had one that he could 
 lean on not a dress -sword, not flummery, but a real 
 workman and although he was never a heavy man, a 
 stone and a half less than I was then, it would make any 
 figure of the multiplication-table that he chose to call for 
 
200 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 under him. But I mustn't carry arms in these days, Mas- 
 ter Hopper. I shall bring a bit of Spanish oak, and trust 
 in the Lord." 
 
 On the following day the sun was shining pretty well 
 for the decrepitude of the year. There had been no frost 
 to speak of since that first sharp touch about three weeks 
 back. The air was mild, and a westerly breeze played 
 with the half-ripe pods of gorse, and the brown welting of 
 the heather. Hopper had brought a long wand of withy 
 from the bank of the last brook he had leaped, and he 
 peeled it with his pocket-knife, and sat (which he seldom 
 did when he could help it) on a tuft of rush, waiting for 
 the sergeant. He stretched his long wiry legs, and count- 
 ed the brass buttons on his yellow leathern gaiters, which 
 came nearly to his fork, and were made fast by narrow 
 straps to his brace-buttons. 
 
 This young man as he delighted to be called had not 
 many grievances, because he ran them off so fast ; but 
 the two he chiefly dwelt upon, in his few still moments, 
 were the insufficiency of cash and calf. For the former 
 he was chiefly indebted to himself, having never cultivated 
 powers of retention ; for the deficiency of calves, however, 
 Nature was to blame, although she might plead not un- 
 fairly that they were allowed no time to grow. He re- 
 garded them now with unmerited contempt, and slapped 
 them in some indignation with the supple willow wand. 
 It might well be confessed that they were not very large, 
 as is often the case with long-distance runners ; but, for 
 all that, they were as hard as nails, and endowed with 
 knobs of muscle, tough and tense as coiled main-spring. 
 In fact, there was not a bit of flabby stuff about him ; and 
 his high clear colour, bright eyes, and ready aspect, made 
 him very pleasant to behold, though his nose was rather 
 snubby, and his cheek-bones high, and his mouth of too 
 liberal aperture. 
 
 " Come along, sergeant; what a precious time you have 
 taken !" Hopper shouted, as the angular outline of the 
 veteran appeared at last in a gap between two ridges. 
 " Why, we shall scarcely have two hours of good daylight 
 left. And how do you know that Tucker won't go home 
 without you ?" 
 
BLACKMARSH 201 
 
 " He knows a bit better than that," replied Jakes, smil- 
 ing with dark significance. "Master Hopper, I've got 
 three of Tucker's boys in < Horseshoe.' Tucker is bound 
 to be uncommon civil." 
 
 Now the " Horseshoe " was a form in the school at 
 Perlycross especially adapted for corporal applications, 
 snug as a cockpit, and affording no possibility of escape. 
 And what was still better, the boys of that class were in 
 the very prime of age for attracting, as well as appreciat- 
 ing, healthy and vigorous chastisement ; all of them big 
 enough to stand it, none of them big enough to kick, and 
 for the most part newly-trousered into tempting chubbiness. 
 Truly, it might be said that the parents of playful boys in 
 the " Horseshoe " had given hostages to education. 
 
 "But, bless my heart what what?" continued the 
 ancient soldier, as he followed the rapid steps of Hopper, 
 " why, I don't like the look of this place at all. It looks so 
 weist as we say about here, so unwholesome and strange 
 and ungodly and and so timoursome." 
 
 " It is ever so much worse farther on, and you can't tell 
 where you are at all. But to make sure of our coming 
 back, if if there should be nothing to prevent us, I have 
 got this white stick ready, and I am going to fix it on the 
 top of that clump. There now, we shall be able to see 
 that for miles." 
 
 "But we are not going miles, I hope, Master Hopper. 
 I'm a little too stiff for such a walk as that. You don't 
 know what it is to have a pain in your knee." 
 
 " Oh, don't I ? I come down on it often enough. But 
 I don't know exactly how far we are going. There is noth- 
 ing to measure distance by. Come along, sergeant ! We'll 
 be just like two flies going into one of your big inkpots." 
 
 " Don't let me lose sight of you, Master Hopper. I 
 mean, don't you lose sight of me. You might want some- 
 body to stand by you. It is the darkest bit of God's earth 
 I ever did see. And yet nothing overhead to darken it. 
 Seems almost to make its own shadow. Good Lord ! what 
 was that came by me ?" 
 
 " Oh, a bat, or an owl, or a big dorr-beetle ; or it might 
 be a thunder-bolt just the sort of place for them. But 
 what a bad place it is for finding things !" 
 9* 
 
202 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 There could scarcely have been a worse one at least, 
 upon dry and unforested land. There was no marsh what- 
 ever, so far as they had come, but a dry, uneven, shingly 
 surface, black as if fire had passed over it. There was 
 no trace, however, of fire, neither any substance sufficient 
 to hold it, beyond the mere passage of a shallow flame. 
 The blackness that covered the face of the earth, and 
 seemed to stain the air itself and heavily dim the daylight, 
 was of something unknown upon the breezy hills, or in the 
 clear draught of a valley. It reflected no light and received 
 no shadow, but lay like the strewing of some approach to 
 quarters undesirable. Probably from this (while unexam- 
 ined by such men as we have now) the evil repute of the 
 place had arisen, going down generations of mankind, 
 while the stuff at the bottom renewed itself. 
 
 This stuff appeared to be the growth of some lanky, 
 trailing weeds, perhaps some kind of Persicaria, but un- 
 usually dense and formless, resembling what may be seen 
 sometimes at the bottom of a dark watercourse, where the 
 river slides without a wrinkle, and trees of thick foliage 
 overhang it. And the same spread of life, that is more 
 like death, may be seen where leagues of laver strew the 
 foreshore of an Atlantic coast when the spring-tides are 
 out and the winds gone low. 
 
 " By George ! here we are at last. Thought I should 
 never have made it out in the thick of this blessed cobob- 
 bery !" shouted Hopper, stopping short and beckoning. 
 " Now, sergeant, what do you say to that ? Queer thing 
 just here, isn't it ?" 
 
 The veteran's eyes, confused and weary with the long 
 monotony, were dazzled by sudden contrast. Hitherto the 
 dreary surface, uniform and trackless, had offered only 
 heavy plodding, jarred by the jerk of a hidden stone some- 
 times, but never elastic. All the boundary-beaters of the 
 parish, or even a regiment of cavalry, might have passed 
 throughout and left no trace upon the padded cumber. 
 But here a glaring stripe of silver sand broke through t)ie 
 blackness, intensely white by contrast, though not to be 
 seen a few yards off, because sunk below the level. 
 Like a crack of the ground from earthquake, it ran across 
 from right to left, and beyond it all was black again. 
 
BLACKMARSH 203 
 
 The ancient soldier glanced around, to be sure that no 
 surprise was meant ; and then with his big stick tried the 
 substance of the white material. With one long stride he 
 could have reached the other side, but the caution of 
 perilous days awoke. 
 
 " Oh, there's nothing in that, and it is firm enough. 
 But look here," said his young companion, " this is what 
 floors me altogether." 
 
 He pointed to a place where two deep tracks, as of nar- 
 row wheels, crossed the white opening; and between 
 them were three little pits about the size and depth of a 
 gallon saucepan. The wheel-tracks swerved to the left, 
 as if with a jerk to get out of the sandy hollow, and one 
 of the three footprints was deeper and larger than the 
 other two. 
 
 " Truly this is the doing of the archenemy of mankind 
 himself." Sergeant Jakes spoke solemnly, and yet not 
 very slowly, for he longed to make off with promptitude. 
 
 " The doing, more likely, of those big thieves who 
 couldn't let your colonel rest in his grave. Do you mean 
 to turn tail upon them, Sergeant Jakes ?" 
 
 " May the Lord turn His back upon me, if I do !" The 
 veteran's colour returned to his face, and all thoughts of 
 flight departed. " I would go to the ends of the world, Mas- 
 ter Hopper, after any living man, but not after Satan." 
 
 " The devil was in them, no doubt about that ; but 
 he made them do it for him. Does Old Nick carry whip- 
 cord ? You see how that was, don't you ?" 
 
 The youth leaped across, and brought back the lash of 
 a whip which he had concealed there. " Plain as a pike- 
 staff, sergeant. When the wheels plunged into this soft 
 stuff the driver must have lashed like fury to make him 
 spring the cart out again. Off came the old lash, and here 
 it is. But wait a minute. I've got something more to 
 show you, that spots the villains pretty plain." 
 
 "Well, sir," said Jakes, regarding Hopper with no 
 small admiration, " you deserve your stripes for this. 
 Such a bright young gent shouldn't be thrown away in 
 the Church. I was just going to say, ' How can we tell 
 they did it V Though none but thundering rogues would 
 come here. Nothing can be clearer than that, I take it." 
 
204 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 " Then you and I are thundering rogues. Got you 
 there, sergeant ; by gum, I did ! Now come on a few 
 steps farther. 
 
 They stepped out boldly, having far less fear of human 
 than of superhuman agency ; though better had they met 
 Apollyon, perhaps, than the wild men they were tracing. 
 Within less than a furlong they reached an opening where 
 the smother of the black weeds fell away, and an open 
 track was left once more. Here the cart-wheels could be 
 traced distinctly, and at one spot something far more 
 convincing. In the middle of the track a patch of firm 
 blue clay arose above the surface for a distance of per- 
 haps some fifty yards ; and on it were frequent impres- 
 sions of the hoofs of a large horse moving slowly. And 
 of these impressions one (repeated four or five times, very 
 clearly) was that of the near fore-foot, distinctly showing 
 a broken shoe, and the very slope and jag of the fracture. 
 
 " What do you think of that now, sergeant ?" asked 
 Hopper, as he danced in triumph, but took good" care not 
 to dance upon the clay. " They call me a hedger and 
 ditcher, don't they ? Well, I think I am a roadster, too." 
 
 " Master Hopper, to my mind you are an uncommonly 
 remarkable young gent. The multiplication-table may not 
 be strongly in your line, sir ; but you can put two and 
 two together, and no fear to jump on top of them." 
 
 " Oh, but the bad-luck of it, sergeant ! The good-luck 
 for them, and the shocking luck for me. I never came to 
 old Pen's shop, you see, till a day or two after it was found 
 out. And then it took me a fortnight or more to get up 
 the lay of the country, and all that. And I was out of 
 condition for three days, with a blessed example in the 
 Eton grammar. Percontatoremfugito, that frightened me 
 no end, and threw me off the hooks. But I fancy I am 
 on the right hook now." 
 
 "That you are, sir, and no mistake. And a braver 
 young man never came into a regiment, even in Sir Ar- 
 thur's time. Sir, you must pitch away copy-books. Edu- 
 cation is all very fine for those who can't do no better. 
 But it spoils a young man with higher gifts." 
 
 " Don't say a good word of me till you know all," re- 
 plied the candid Hopper. " I thought that I was a pretty 
 
BLACKMARSH 205 
 
 plucky fellow, because I was all by myself, you under- 
 stand, and I knew that no fellow could catch me in a run 
 across the open. But I'll show you where I was stodged 
 off ; and it has been on my conscience ever since. Just 
 come to that place where the ground breaks off." 
 
 He led the way along a gentle slope, while the light be- 
 gan to fail behind them, until they stood upon the brink 
 of a steep descent, with a sharp rise upon the other side. 
 It was like the back way to the bottom of a lime-kiln, but 
 there was no lime for many leagues around. The track of 
 cart-wheels was very manifest, and the bottom was dark 
 with the approach of night. 
 
 " My turn, Mr. Hopper, to go first now. No wife or 
 family, and naught to leave behind." With these words, 
 spoken in a whisper, the sergeant (who had felt much self- 
 reproach at the superior courage of a peaceful generation) 
 began to go stiffly down the dark incline, waving his hand 
 for the other to wait there. 
 
 " In for a penny, in for a pound. I can kick like 
 winkin', though I can't fight much." With these words 
 the gallant Hopper followed, slowing his quick steps to 
 the heavier march in front. 
 
 When they came to the bottom they found a level 
 space, with room enough to turn a horse and cart. It 
 was getting very dusky where they stood, with the grim 
 sides gathering round them, and not a tree or bush to 
 give any sign of life, but the fringe of the dominant black 
 weed, like heavy brows, shagging the outlook. But on 
 the left hand, where the steep fell back, was the mouth as 
 of a cave scooped roughly. Within it all was black with 
 gloom, and the low narrow entrance showed little hospi- 
 tality. 
 
 " I don't care a d !" said Sergeant Jakes, forgetful of 
 
 school discipline ; " if there's any scoundrel there I'll drag 
 him out. If it's old colonel's bones well, I'm not afraid 
 of them." There remained just light enough to show that 
 the cart had been backed up to the entrance. 
 
 " Where you go, I go," replied the dauntless Hopper ; 
 and into it they plunged, with their hearts beating high, 
 but their spirit on fire for anything. 
 
 The sound of their steps, as they passed into the dark- 
 
206 PERLYCROSS 
 
 ness, echoed the emptiness of the place. There was noth- 
 ing to be felt, except rugged flinty sides, and the damp 
 chill which gathered in their hair ; and in the middle a 
 slab of broken stone, over which they stumbled into one 
 another's arms. They had no means of striking a light ; 
 but as their eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, they as- 
 sured themselves that there was nothing more to learn, 
 unless it might be from some small object on the floor. 
 There seemed to be no shelves, no sort of fixtures, no re- 
 cesses ; only the bare and unoccupied cave. 
 
 " I tell you what," said Sergeant Jakes, as they stood 
 in the open air again, " this has been a smuggler's store 
 in the war-time ; a natural cave, improved no doubt. What 
 we thought to find is gone farther on, I fear. Too late. 
 Master Hopper, to do any more to-day, and, perhaps, too 
 late to do any more at all. But we must come again with 
 a light, if possible on Monday." 
 
 " Well, one thing we have proved that the villains, 
 whoever they were, must have come from up the country ; 
 perhaps as far off as the Mendip Hills. But keep it to 
 yourself, till we have settled what to do. Not a word to 
 Tucker, or the news will be all over Perlycross to-night. 
 Come back to the hoof-marks, and I'll take a copy. If we 
 could only find the impressions of the men's feet, too ! 
 You see, after all, that Joe Crang spoke the truth. And 
 it was the discovery of his * Little Billy ' that led me on 
 in this direction." 
 
 There was light enough still when they came back to 
 the clay -patch to make a rough tracing of the broken 
 shoe on the paper in which the youth had brought his 
 bread and bacon ; and even that great steeple-chaser was 
 glad to go home in company, and upon a truss of furze, 
 with a flour-sack to shield him from the stubs and pric- 
 kles. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 FIRE-SHIP AND GALLEON 
 
 MEANWHILE, the fair Christie was recovering nerve so 
 fast, and established in such bouncing health again by 
 the red -wheat bread of White Post farm that nothing 
 less would satisfy her than to beard if the metaphor ap- 
 plies to ladies the lion in the den, the arch -accuser in 
 the very court of judgment. In a word, she would not 
 rest until she stood face to face with Lady Waldron. She 
 had thought of it often, and became quite eager in that 
 determination, when her brother related to her what had 
 passed in his interview with Miss Waldron. 
 
 Truly, it was an enterprise of great pith for a fair 
 young English girl to confront the dark majestic foreign 
 lady, stately, arrogant, imperious, and, above all, imbit- 
 tered with a cruel wrong, fierce, malignant, rancorous. 
 But, for all that, Christie was resolved to do it, though 
 perfectly aware that the Spanish lady would never be " at 
 home " to her if she could help it. 
 
 For this reason, and this alone, as she positively as- 
 sured herself, did Miss Fox make so long a stay with Mrs. 
 Gilham, the while she was quite well enough to go back 
 to Old Barn, and the path of duty led her to her brother's 
 side. But let her once return to that side, and all hope 
 would be lost of arranging an encounter with the slan- 
 derer ; inasmuch as Dr. Jemmy would most sternly inter- 
 dict it. Her good hostess, all the while, was only too glad 
 to keep her ; and so was another important member of 
 the quiet household ; and even the flippant Rosie was de- 
 lighted to have such patterns. For Miss Fox had sent for 
 a large supply of dresses, all the way to Foxden, by the key- 
 bugleman of the " Defiance;" because it would save such 
 a vast amount in carriage, while one was so near the Great 
 
208 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 Western road. "I can't understand it," protested Dr. 
 Jemmy. " As if men ever could !" replied the young 
 lady. 
 
 However, the sweetest slice of sugar-cane must have 
 empty pores too soon, and the last drop of honey drains 
 out of the comb, and the silver voice of the flute expires, 
 and the petals of the fairest rose must flag. All these 
 ideas (which have been repeated, or repeated themselves, 
 for some thousands of years) were present for the first 
 time in all existence according to his conviction in the 
 mind of an exalted yet depressed young farmer one fine 
 Monday morning. Miss Fox had received her very last 
 despatch, to the tune of " Roast beef," that morning, and, 
 sad to say, she had not cut the string, though her pretty 
 fingers flirted with it. 
 
 " My dear," said Mrs. Gilham, longing much to see 
 within, inasmuch as she still had a tender heart for dainty 
 tint and true elegance of tone, " if you wish to save the 
 string fine whip-cord every inch of it Frank has a pick- 
 er in the six-bladed knife his Godfather Farrant gave him 
 that will undo any knot that was ever tied by Samson." 
 Upon him, she meant, perhaps ; however, the result is quite 
 the same. 
 
 " No, thank you," answered Christie, with a melancholy 
 glance ; " it had better be put in my trunk as it is. What 
 induced them to send it, when I'm just going away ?" 
 
 " Going away ! Next week, my dear, you may begin to 
 think about it." 
 
 " To-morrow I must go. I am as well as ever. Better, 
 a great deal, I ought to say. What did Dr. Gronow say 
 on Saturday ? And I came down here, not to enjoy my- 
 self, but to keep up the spirits of my poor dear brother." 
 
 " Why, his spirits are fine, Miss Fox. I only wish my 
 poor dear Frank had a quarter of them. Last night I am 
 sure and a Sunday too, when you and my son were gone 
 to church " 
 
 " To the little church close by, you mean, with Mrs. 
 Coombes and Mary ; because the sermon in the morning 
 had felt so so edifying." 
 
 " Yes, to be sure. But when your brother came in, and 
 was surprised not to find you with us, you know ; his con- 
 
FIEE-SHIP AND GALLEON 209 
 
 versation oh dear, oh dear, rather worldly-minded, I must 
 confess, bearing in mind what day it was ; but he and Rose 
 they kept it up together, for the tip of her tongue is fit for 
 anybody's ear-ring, as the ancient saying goes laughing, 
 Miss Fox, and carrying on, till, although I was rather put 
 out about it, and would have stopped any one but a visit- 
 or, I was absolutely compelled, I assure you, to pull out 
 my pocket-handkerchief. Oh, I don't think there need be 
 much fear about Dr. Jemmy's spirits !" 
 
 " But don't you think, Mrs. Gilham, it is chiefly his 
 pride that supports him ? We do the same sort of thing 
 sometimes. We go into the opposite extreme, and talk 
 and laugh as if we were in the highest spirits when we 
 when we don't want to let somebody know that we care 
 what he thinks." 
 
 " Oh, you have learned that, have you, my dear ?" The 
 old lady looked at her with some surprise. " Well, well ! 
 Happy will be the man that you do it for." 
 
 Christie felt that she was blushing, and yet could not 
 help giving one sharp glance at her simple hostess. And 
 it would have gone hard with Frank Gilham's chances if 
 the maiden had spied any special meaning in the eyes of 
 his dear mother. But the elderly lady gazed benignant, 
 reflecting softly upon the time when she had been put to 
 those disguises of the early maidenhood ; which are but 
 the face with its first bloom upon it. For the plain truth 
 was that she did not wish her son to fall in love for some 
 ten years yet, at the age that had suited his father. And 
 as for Miss Fox, half a glimpse at her parcels would show 
 her entire unfitness. 
 
 " I shall never do it for any man," said Christie, in scorn 
 of her own suggestion ; " if I am anything, I am straight- 
 forward. And if ever I care for any man, I shall give him 
 my hand and tell him so ; not, of course, till I know that 
 he is gone upon me. But now I want to do a crafty thing. 
 And money can do almost anything except in love, Mrs. 
 Gilham. I would not do it without your knowledge ; for 
 that would be a very mean return for all your kindness to 
 me. I have made up my mind to see Lady Waldron, and 
 tell her just what I think of her." 
 
 " My dear, Lady Waldron is nothing to me. The Gil- 
 
210 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 hams have held their own land from the time of cross- 
 bows and battle-axes. Besides our own, we rent about 
 fifty acres of the outside of the Waldron property. But 
 if they can get more for it, let them do so. Everybody 
 loved poor Sir Thomas, and it was a pleasure to have to 
 deal with him. But there is no such feeling about her 
 ladyship ; noble enough to look at, but best to deal with 
 at a distance." 
 
 " Well, I mean to see her at close quarters. She has 
 behaved shamefully to my brother. And who is she to 
 frighten me ? She is at the bottom of all these wicked, 
 wretched falsehoods that go about. And she would not 
 even see him, to let him speak up for truth and justice. 
 I call that mean and low and nasty. Of course the sub- 
 ject is horrible to her; and perhaps well, perhaps I 
 should have done the same. But for all that, I mean to 
 see her ; for I love fair play, and this is foul play." 
 
 " What a spirit you have, my dear ! I should never 
 have thought it was in your gentle face. But you are in 
 the right. And if I can help you that is, if you are 
 equal to it " 
 
 " I am more than equal to it, my dear friend. What is 
 there to fear, with the truth against black falsehoods?" 
 
 Mrs. Gilham turned her wedding-ring upon her "mar- 
 riage-finger" a thing she never failed to do when her 
 heart was busy with the by-gone days. Then she looked 
 earnestly at her guest, and saw that the point to be consid- 
 ered was not shall we attempt it, but how shall it be 
 done? 
 
 " Your mind is entirely set upon it. And therefore we 
 will do our best," she promised. "But it cannot be man- 
 aged in a moment. Will you allow me to consult my son? 
 It seems like attacking a house, almost. But I suppose it 
 is fair in a case like this." 
 
 "Perfectly fair. In -doors it must be, as there is no 
 other chance. A thief must be caught inside a house, 
 when he will not come out of it. And a person is no bet- 
 ter than a thief who locks her doors against justice." 
 
 When Frank was consulted he was much against the 
 scheme ; but his opposition was met more briefly than his 
 mother's had been. 
 
FIRE-SHIP AND GALLEON 211 
 
 " Done it shall be ; and if you will not help, it shall be 
 done without you" was the attitude taken, not quite in 
 words, but so that there was no mistaking it. Then he 
 changed sides suddenly, confuted his own reasoning, and 
 entered into the plan quite warmly ; especially when it was 
 conceded that he might be near the house, if he thought 
 proper, in case of anything too violent, or carried beyond 
 what English ladies could be expected to endure. For, as 
 all agreed, there was hardly any saying what an arrogant 
 foreigner might not attempt. 
 
 "I am quite aware that it will cost a large amount of 
 bribery," said Christie, with a smile which proved her faith 
 in her own powers in that line ; " will ten pounds do it, 
 Mr. Frank, should you suppose?" 
 
 Though far gone in that brilliant and gloomy, nadir and 
 zenith, tropical and arctic condition of the human mind 
 called love, Frank Gilham was of English nature; which, 
 though torn up by the roots, ceases not to stick fast to the 
 main chance. And so much the nobler on his part was 
 this, because the money was not his, nor ever likely so 
 to be. 
 
 " I think that three pounds ought to do it, or even fifty 
 shillings," he replied, with an estimate perhaps too low of the 
 worth of the British domestic. " If we could choose a day 
 when old Binstock is off duty, it would save the biggest 
 tip of all. And it would not matter what he thought 
 afterwards, though doubtless he would be in a fury." 
 
 " Oh, I won't do it. I don't think I can do it. It does 
 seem so nasty and underhanded." 
 
 Coming now to the practical part, Miss Fox was sud- 
 denly struck with the objections. 
 
 "My dear, I am very glad that you have come to see it 
 in such a proper light," cried Mrs. Gilham a little prema- 
 turely, while her son nodded very sagely, ready to say 
 "amen" to either side, according to the final jump of the 
 vacillating reasoner. 
 
 " No, but I won't, then I won't see it so. When people 
 behave most improperly to you, are you bound to stand 
 upon propriety with them? Just answer me that, if you 
 can, Mrs. Gilham. My mind is quite settled by that con- 
 sideration. I'll go in for it wholesale, Binstock and all, if 
 
212 PERLYCROSS 
 
 he means a five-pound note for every stripe in his waist- 
 coat." 
 
 " Mr. Binstock is much too grand to wear a striped 
 waistcoat," said Frank, with the gravity of one who under- 
 stands his subject. "But he goes to see his parents every 
 Wednesday. And he will not be wronged in reality, for 
 it will be worth all that to him for the rise he will get by 
 his absence." 
 
 " Binstock's parents ? Why, he must be over sixty !" 
 exclaimed Frank's mother in amazement. She had greatly 
 undervalued her son's knowledge. 
 
 " They are both in the poor-house at Pumpington, the 
 father eight-five and the mother eighty-two. They mar- 
 ried too early in life," said Frank, " and each of their fif- 
 teen children leaves the duty of supporting them to the 
 other fourteen. Our Binstock is the most filial of the 
 whole, for he takes his parents two ounces of tobacco 
 every Wednesday." 
 
 " The inhuman old miser !" cried Miss Fox. " He shall 
 never have two pence out of me. That settles it. Mr. 
 Frank, try for Wednesday." 
 
 " Well, Frank, you puzzle me altogether," said Mrs. 
 Gilham, with some annoyance. " To think of your know- 
 ing all those things, and never telling vour own mother!" 
 
 "I never talk of my neighbour's affairs until they be- 
 come my own business." Frank pulled up his collar, and 
 Christie said to herself that his mind was very large. " But 
 don't run away with the idea, mother, that I ever pry into 
 such small matters. I know them by the merest accident. 
 You know that the game -keeper offers me a day or two 
 when the woodcock come in ; and Batts detests old Bin- 
 stock. But he is on the very best terms with Charles 
 and Bob and Tamar Haddon. Through them I can man- 
 age it perhaps for Wednesday, if Miss Fox thinks fit to 
 intrust me with the matter." 
 
 It happened that Lady Waldron held an important 
 council with Mr. Webber on the following Wednesday. 
 She had long begun to feel the helplessness and sad dis- 
 advantages of her position as a foreigner who had never 
 even tried to understand the country in which she lived, 
 or to make friends of any of the people round her. And 
 
FIKE-SHIP AND GALLEON 213 
 
 this left her so much the more at the mercy of that 
 dawdling old solicitor. 
 
 " Oh, that I could only find my dear brother !" was the 
 constant cry of her sorrow and her wrath. "I wonder 
 that he does not rush to help me. He would have done 
 so long ago if he had only known of this." 
 
 "No reply, no reply yet?" she asked, after listening 
 with patience that surprised herself to the lawyer's long 
 details of nothing, and excellent reasons for doing still 
 less. "Are you certain that you have had my demand, 
 my challenge, my supplication to my only brother entered 
 in all the Spanish journals, the titles of which I supplied 
 to you and entered in places conspicuous?" 
 
 "In every one of them, madam, with instructions that 
 all replies should be sent to the office of the paper, and 
 then direct to you. Therefore you would receive them, 
 and not our firm. Shall we try in any other country ?" 
 
 "Yes, oh yes! That is very good, indeed. I was think- 
 ing of that only yesterday. My brother has much love 
 for Paris sometimes, whenever he is in good in afflu- 
 ence, as your expression is. For I have not concealed 
 from you, Mr. Webber, that although of the very first 
 families of Spain, the count is not always through ca- 
 price of fortune his resources are disposed to rise and 
 fall. You should, therefore, try Paris and Lyons and 
 Marseilles. It is not in my power to present the names 
 of the principal journals. But they can be discovered 
 even in this country." 
 
 Mr. Webber was often hard put to it by the lady's calm 
 assumption that barbarism is the leading characteristic of 
 an Englishman. For Theodore Webber was no time-server ; 
 only bound by his duty to the firm, and his sense of loyal 
 service to a client of lofty memory. And he knew that 
 he could take the lead of any English lady, because of her 
 knowledge of his character, and the way in which he pro- 
 nounced it. But with this Spanish lady all his really solid 
 manner and true English style were thrown away. 
 
 " Even in this country, madam, we know the names of 
 the less enlightened journals of the Continent. They are 
 hard to read, because of the miserable paper they are 
 printed on ; but my younger son has the gift of languages, 
 
214 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 and nothing is too outlandish for him. That also shall be 
 attended to. And now about this question that arises be- 
 tween yourself and Mr. Penniloe ?" 
 
 " I will not yield. I will sign nothing. Everything 
 shall be as my husband did intend. And who can declare 
 what that was, a stranger, or his own wife, with the most 
 convincing?" 
 
 " Yes, madam, that is true enough. But according to 
 English law, we are bound by the words of the will ; and 
 unless those are doubtful, no evidence of intention is ad- 
 missible, and even then " 
 
 " I will not be bound by a by an adaptation of words 
 that was never intended. What has a heretic minister to 
 do with my family, and with Walderscourt ?" 
 
 " But, madam, excuse me. Sir Thomas Waldron asked 
 you, and you consented to the appointment of the Rev. 
 Philip Penniloe, as your coexecutor and cotrustee for 
 your daughter, Miss Inez." 
 
 " If I did, it was only to please my husband, because 
 he was in pain so severe. It should have been my broth- 
 er, or else my son. I have said to you before, that after 
 all that has been done, I refuse to adhere to that interpre- 
 tation." 
 
 The solicitor fixed his eyes on her, not in anger, but in 
 pure astonishment. He had deep, gray eyes in a rugged 
 setting, with large wrinkles under, and dark gabled brows 
 above ; and he had never met a lady yet except his own 
 wife who was not overpowered by their solemn wisdom. 
 Lady Waldron was not overpowered by them. In her ig- 
 norance of English usage, she regarded this gentleman of 
 influence and trust as no more than a higher form of Bin- 
 stock. 
 
 " I shall have to throw it up," said Mr. Webber, to him- 
 self ; " but oh, what gorgeous picking for that very low- 
 principled Bubb & Cockshalt !" The eminent firm he 
 thought of thus were always prepared to take anything 
 he missed. 
 
 " Your ladyship is well aware," he said, being moved 
 by that last reflection, " that we cannot have anything 
 perfect in this world, but must take things as we find 
 them. Mr. Penniloe is a most reasonable man, and ac- 
 
FIRE-SHIP AND GALLEON 215 
 
 knowledges the value of my experience. He will not act 
 in any way against your wishes, so far as may be in con- 
 formity with sound legal practice. That is the great point 
 for us to consider, laying aside all early impressions 
 which are generally loose when examined of of Con- 
 tinental codes, and so on. We need not anticipate any 
 trouble from your coexecutor, who as a clergyman is to 
 us a layman, if proper confidence is reposed in us. Al- 
 ready we are taking the regular steps to obtain probate 
 of a very simple will, prepared very carefully in our office, 
 and by exceedingly skilful hands. We act for Mr. Pen- 
 niloe as well as for your ladyship. All is proceeding 
 very smoothly, and exactly as your dear husband would 
 have wished." 
 
 " Then he would have wished to have his last rest dis- 
 honoured, and his daughter estranged from her own 
 mother." 
 
 " The young lady will probably come round, madam, as 
 soon as you encourage her. Your mind is the stronger 
 of the two, in every way. W T ith regard to that sad and 
 shameful outrage, we are doing everything that can be 
 done. We have very little doubt that if matters are left 
 to our judgment and discreet activity " 
 
 " Activity, sir ! And what have you done ? How long 
 is it a month ? I cannot reckon time, because day and 
 night are the same thing to me. Will you never detect 
 that abominable crime ? Will you never destroy those 
 black miscreants ? Will you never restore oh, I cannot 
 speak of it and all the time you know who did it all ! 
 There is no word strong enough in your poor tongue for 
 such an outcast monster. Yet he goes about, he attends 
 to his business, they shake him by the hand, they smile 
 at him ; instead of spit, they smile at him ! And this is 
 called a Christian land ! My God, what made You make 
 it?" 
 
 " I implore your ladyship not to be excited. Hitherto 
 you have shown such self-command. Day and night we 
 are on the watch, and something must speedily come of 
 it. We have three modes of action, each one of them 
 sure to be successful, with patience. But the point is 
 this : to have no mistake about it, to catch him with evi- 
 
216 PEBLYCEOSS 
 
 dence sufficient to convict him, and then to punish and 
 disgrace him forever." 
 
 " But how much longer before you will begin ? I am 
 so tired, so weary, so worn out can you not see how it 
 is destroying me ?" 
 
 Mr. Webber looked at her, and could not deny that this 
 was a very different Lady Waldron from the one who had 
 scarcely deigned to bow to him only a few months ago. 
 The rich warm colour had left her cheeks, the large dark 
 eyes were wan and sunken, weariness and dejection spread 
 where pride and strength of will had reigned. The law- 
 yer replied in a bolder tone than he would have employed 
 last summer. 
 
 *' Lady Waldron, we can do no more. If we attempted 
 any stronger measures the only result would be to destroy 
 our chance. If you think that any other firm, or any kind 
 of agency, would conduct matters more to your satisfac- 
 tion, and more effectually than we have done, we would 
 only ask you to place it in their hands. I assure you, 
 madam, that the business is not to our liking, or even to 
 our benefit. For none but an old and most valued client 
 would we have undertaken it. If you think proper, we 
 will withdraw, and hand over all information very gladly 
 to our successors." 
 
 " To whom can I go ? Who will come to my rescue in 
 this wicked, impious, accursed land? If my brother were 
 here, is it possible to doubt what he would do how he 
 would proceed ? He would tear that young man, arm 
 from arm, and leg from leg, and lay him in the market- 
 place, and shoot any one who came to bury him. Listen, 
 Mr. Webber, I live only for one thing to find my noble 
 brother, and to see him do that." 
 
 The lady stood up, with her eyebrows knitted, her dark 
 eyes glowing, and her white hands thrown apart and quiv- 
 ering, evidently tearing an imaginary Jemmy. 
 
 " Let us hope for the best, madam, hope for the best, 
 and pray for the blessing of the Almighty upon our weak 
 endeavours." 
 
 This was anything but a kind view to take of the dis- 
 persion of poor Jemmy ; but the lawyer was terrified for 
 the moment by the lady's vehemence. That she, who had 
 
FIRE-SHIP AND GALLEON 217 
 
 hitherto always shown such self-command and dignity 
 he began to fear that there was too much truth in her ac- 
 count of the effect upon her. 
 
 Suddenly, as if all her passion had been feigned 
 though none who had seen, or even heard her, could 
 believe that possible she returned to her tranquil, 
 self-possessed, and even cold and distant style. The 
 fire in her eyes, and the fury of her gestures sank 
 and were gone, as if by magic ; and the voice became 
 soft and musical, as the sound of a bell across a sum- 
 mer sea. 
 
 " You will pardon me," she said, as she fell back into 
 the chair from which, in her passion, she had risen ; " but 
 sometimes my trouble is more great than I can bear. La- 
 dies of this country are so delicate and gentle they can- 
 not have much hatred, because they have no love. And 
 yet they can have insolence, very strong, and very won- 
 derful. Yesterday, or two days ago, I obtained good 
 proof of that. The sister of that man is here the man 
 who has overwhelmed me thus and she has written a 
 letter to me, very quiet, very simple, very polite, requesting 
 me to appoint an interview for her in my own house " 
 this had been done on Monday, at the suggestion of Frank 
 Gilham, that fair means should be exhausted first ; " but 
 after writing thus, she has the insulting to put in under 
 something like this, I remember very well * if you refuse 
 to see me, I shall be compelled to come without permis- 
 sion.' Reflect upon that, Mr. Webber." 
 
 " Madam, it was not the proper thing to say. But la- 
 dies are, even when very young, a little perhaps a little 
 inclined to do what they are inclined to." 
 
 " I sent her letter back, without a word, by the insolent 
 person who brought it. Just in the same manner as her 
 wicked brother's card. It is quite certain that she will 
 never dare to enter into my presence." 
 
 " You have made a mistake there, Lady Waldron. Here 
 I am, to thank you for your good manners ; and to speak 
 a few truths, which you cannot answer." 
 
 Christie Fox walked up the room, with her eyes fixed 
 steadfastly upon the other's, made a very graceful courtesy, 
 and stood, without even a ribbon trembling. She was 
 
 10 
 
218 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 beautifully dressed, in dove-coloured silk, and looked like 
 a dove that has never been fluttered. All this Lady Wal- 
 dron perceived at a glance, and knew that she had met 
 her equal in a brave young Englishwoman. 
 
 Mr. Webber, who longed to be far away, jumped about 
 with some agility, and manoeuvred not to turn his back 
 upon either of the ladies, while he fetched a chair for the 
 visitor. But his trouble was lost, for the younger lady 
 declined with a wave of her hand, while the elder said, 
 " Sir, I will thank you to ring the bell." 
 
 " That also is vain," said Miss Fox, calmly. " I will not 
 leave this room, Lady Waldron, until I have told you my 
 opinion of your conduct. The only question is do you 
 wish to hear it in the presence of this gentleman, or do 
 you wish me to wait until he is gone ?" 
 
 To all appearances the lawyer was by far the most 
 nervous of the three ; and he made off for the door, but 
 received a sign to stop. 
 
 "It is just as well, perhaps, that you should not be 
 alone," Christie began, in a clear, firm voice, with her 
 bright eyes flashing so that the dark Spanish orbs were but 
 as dead coals in comparison, " and that you should not be 
 ashamed ; because it proves at least that you are honest 
 in your lunatic conclusions. I am not speaking rudely. 
 The greatest kindness that any one can do you is to be- 
 lieve that you are mad." 
 
 So great was the force of her quiet conviction that 
 Lady Waldron raised one hand and laid it upon her 
 throbbing temples. For weeks she had been sleepless and 
 low and feverish, dwelling on her wrongs in solitude, and 
 estranged from her own daughter. 
 
 " Hush, hush, my good young lady !" pleaded the old 
 solicitor ; but his client gazed heavily at her accuser, as if 
 she could scarcely apprehend ; and Christie thought that 
 she did not care. 
 
 " You have done a most wicked thing," Miss Fox con- 
 tinued, in a lower tone ; " as bad, in its way, as the great 
 wrong done to you. You have condemned an innocent 
 man, ruined his life to the utmost of your power, and re- 
 fused to let him even speak for himself. Is that what you 
 call justice ?" 
 
FIEE-SHIP AND GALLEON 219 
 
 " He was not innocent. He was the base miscreant. 
 We have the proof of the man who saw him." 
 
 Lady Waldron spoke slowly, in a strange, dull tone, while 
 her lips scarcely moved, and her hands fell on her lap. 
 
 " There is no such proof. The man owns his mistake. 
 My brother can prove that he was miles away. He was 
 called to his father's sick-bed that very night. And be- 
 fore daylight he was far upon the road. He never re- 
 turned till days afterwards. Then he finds this black 
 falsehood, and you for its author !" 
 
 " Is there any truth in this ?" 
 
 Lady Waldron turned slightly towards Mr. Webber, as 
 if she were glad to remove her eyes from her visitor's 
 contemptuous and overpowering gaze. 
 
 " There may be some, madam. I believe it is true that 
 the blacksmith has changed his opinion, and that Dr. Fox 
 was called suddenly away." 
 
 The old solicitor was beginning to feel uneasy about his 
 own share in the matter. He had watched Miss Fox in- 
 tently through his glasses; and long experience in law- 
 courts told him that she thoroughly believed every word 
 she uttered. He was glad that he had been so slow and 
 careful, and resolved to be more so, if possible, hence- 
 forth. 
 
 " And now if you are not convinced of the great wrong 
 you have done," said Christie, coming nearer, and speak- 
 ing with a soft thrill in her voice, for tears were not far 
 distant, " what have you to say to this ? My brother, 
 long before your husband's death, even before the last 
 illness, had given his heart to your daughter Inez. Her 
 father more than suspected that, and was glad to think it 
 likely. Inez also knew it well. All this also I can prove, 
 even to your satisfaction. Is it possible, even if he were 
 a villain, and my brother is a gentleman of as good a 
 family as your own, Lady Waldron ask yourself, would 
 he offer this dastard outrage to the father of the girl he 
 loved ? If you can believe it, you are not a woman. And 
 that would be better for all other women. Oh, it is too 
 cruel, too atrocious, too inhuman ! And you are the one 
 who has done it all. Lay this to heart and that you 
 may think of it, I will leave you to yourself." 
 
220 PERLYCROSS 
 
 Brave as she was, she could not quite accomplish this. 
 It is a provision of Nature that her highest production 
 should be above the rules of inferior reason ? When this 
 fair young woman ceased to speak, and having discharged 
 her mission should have walked away in silence strange 
 to say, she could do nothing of the kind. As if words 
 had been her spring and motive power, no sooner were 
 they exhausted than she herself broke down entirely. She 
 fell away upon the rejected chair, covered her face with 
 both hands, reckless of new kid gloves just come from 
 Paris, and burst into a storm of tears and sobs. 
 
 " You have done it now," cried Mr. Webber ; " I 
 thought you would ; but you wouldn't be stopped." He 
 began to rush about helplessly, not on account of the 
 poor girl's plight for he had wife and daughter of his 
 own, and knew that tears are never fatal, but often highly 
 beneficial. " You have done it now ; I thought you would." 
 His prophetic powers seemed to console him. 
 
 Christie looked up through her dabbled gloves, and saw 
 a sight that frightened her. Lady Waldron had been sit- 
 ting at a large oak table covered with books and papers 
 for the room was chiefly used for business, and not a lady's 
 bower and there she sat still ; but with this change, that 
 she had been living, and now was dead. Dead to all per- 
 ception of the life and stir around her, dead to all sense 
 of right or wrong, of daylight or of darkness ; but living 
 still to the slow sad work that goes on in the body when 
 the mind is gone. Her head lay back on the stout oak 
 rail ; her comely face showed no more life than granite 
 has, or marble ; and her widow's hood dropped off and 
 shed the coils of her long black hair around. 
 
 " I can't make it out," cried Mr. Webber, hurrying to 
 the bell-rope, which he pulled to such purpose that the 
 staple of the crank fell from the ceiling and knocked him 
 on the head. But Christie, recovering at a glance, ran 
 round the end of the table, and with all her strength sup- 
 ported the tottering figure. 
 
 What she did afterwards she never knew, except 
 from the accounts of others ; for she was too young to 
 have presence of mind when every one else was dis- 
 tracted. But from all that they said and they were all 
 
FIRE-SHIP AND GALLEON 221 
 
 against her she must have shown readiness and strength 
 and judgment, and taken Mr. Webber under her com- 
 mand. 
 
 One thing she remembered because it was so bitter and 
 so frightfully unjust ; and if there was anything she val- 
 ued next to love and truth and honour, most of which 
 are parts of it Christie valued simple justice and impar- 
 tiality. To wit as Mr. Webber might have put it when 
 she ran out to find Mr. Gilham, who had been left there 
 only because he did not choose to go away, and she only 
 went to find him that he might run for Dr. Gronow 
 there was her brother standing with him, and words less 
 friendly than usual were, as it seemed to her, passing 
 between them. 
 
 " No time for this sort of thing now," she said, as well 
 as her flurried condition would permit ; and then she 
 pulled her brother in, and sent Frank, who was wonder- 
 fully calm and reasonable, to fetch that other doctor, too. 
 Her brother was not in a nice frame of mind, according 
 to her recollection, and there was no time to reason with 
 him, if he chose to be so stupid. Therefore she sent him 
 where he was wanted, and of course no doctor could re- 
 fuse to go under such frightful circumstances. But as for 
 herself, she felt as if it mattered very little what she did, 
 and so she went and sat somewhere in the dark, without 
 even a dog for company, and finished, with many pathetic 
 addenda, the good cry that had been broken off. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 A MAGIC LETTER 
 
 " OH, here you are at last, then, are you ?" said some- 
 body, entering the room with a light, by the time the 
 young lady had wept herself dry, and was beginning to 
 feel hungry ; " what made you come here ? I thought 
 you were gone. To me it is a surprising thing that you 
 have the assurance to stay in this house." 
 
 " Oh ? Jemmy, how can you be so cruel, when every bit 
 of it was for you ?" 
 
 " For me, indeed ! I am very much obliged. For your 
 own temper, I should say. Old Webber says that if she 
 dies there may be a verdict of manslaughter." 
 
 " I don't care two pins if there is, when all the world 
 is so unjust to me. But how is she, Jemmy ? What has 
 happened to her ? What on earth is it all about ?" 
 
 " Well, I think you ought to know that best. Webber 
 says he never heard any one like you, in all his experience 
 of criminal courts." 
 
 " Much I care what he says the old dodderer ! You 
 should have seen him hopping about the room like a frog 
 with the rheumatism. You should have seen him stare 
 when the bell -rope fell. When I said the poor thing's 
 hands were cold, he ran and poked the fire with his spec- 
 tacles. But can't you tell me how she is ? Surely I have 
 a right to know, if I am to be manslaughtered." 
 
 " Well," replied Dr. Fox, with that heavy professional 
 nod which he ridiculed in others, " she is in a very pecul- 
 iar state. No one can tell what may come of it." 
 
 " Not a fit, Jemmy ? Not like dear father's ; not a mild 
 form of no, it seemed quite different." 
 
 " It is a different thing altogether, though proceeding 
 probably from the brain ; an attack of what we call cata- 
 
A MAGIC LETTER 223 
 
 lepsy ; not at all a common thing, and quite out of my 
 own experience, though I know of it from the books a 
 little. Gronow knew of it, of course, at a glance. Fortu- 
 nately I had sense enough not to try any strong measures 
 till he came. Any other young fellow in this part of the 
 world would have tried venesection instantly, and it might 
 have killed her. My treatment happened to be quite 
 right from my acquaintance with principles. It is noth- 
 ing less than a case of entirely suspended animation ; 
 how long it may last none can foretell." 
 
 " But you don't think it will kill her, Jemmy ? Why, 
 ray animation was suspended ever so long the other 
 day" 
 
 " That was quite a different thing this proceeds from 
 internal action, overpowering emotion in a very anaemic 
 condition ; yours was simply external concussion, operat- 
 ing on a rather highly charged " 
 
 " You are very polite. My own fault, in fact. Who 
 gave me the horse to drive about ? But surely if a dis- 
 ordered brain like mine contrives to get right again " 
 
 " Christie, I wish to do you good. You have brought 
 me into a frightful mess, because you are so headlong ; 
 but you meant it for the best, I know, and I must not be 
 too hard upon you." 
 
 " What else have you been for the last five minutes ? 
 Oh, Jemmy, Jemmy, I am so sorry ! Give me a kiss, and 
 I will forgive you." 
 
 " You are a very quick, warm-hearted girl, and such 
 have never too much reason." 
 
 The doctor kissed his sister in a most magnanimous 
 manner, and she believed implicitly (until the next time 
 of argument) that she had done the injury, and her 
 brother sweetly borne it. 
 
 "Now come, while it is hot," said he ; "get your courage 
 up, and come. Never let a wound grow cold. Between 
 you two there must be no ill-will ; and she is so noble." 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! Who is it then ? It is so good and so 
 elevating to be brought into contact with those wonder- 
 fully lofty people." 
 
 " It is exactly what you want. If you can only obtain 
 her friendship, it will be the making of your character." 
 
224 PEBLYCKOSS 
 
 " For goodness' sake don't lose a moment ; I feel my- 
 self already growing better, nobler, loftier." 
 
 " There is nothing in you grave and stable, none of the 
 stronger elements," said the doctor, as he led the way 
 along an empty passage. 
 
 " Don't you be too sure of that," his sister answered, 
 in a tone which he remembered afterwards. 
 
 Lady Waldron lay on a broad and solid sofa, well-pre- 
 pared for her, and there was no sign left of life or move- 
 ment in her helpless figure. She was not at all like " re- 
 cumbent marble " which is the ghost of death itself 
 neither was she stiff or straight, but simply still, and in 
 such a condition that, however any part of her frame 
 might be placed, so it would remain ; submissive only to 
 the laws of gravitation, and to no exercise of will, if will 
 were yet surviving. The face was as pale as death, the 
 eyes half open but without expression, the breathing 
 scarcely perceptible, and the pulse like the flutter of eider- 
 down, or gossamer in a sheltered spot. 
 
 There was nothing ghastly, repulsive, or even greatly 
 distressing at first sight ; for the fine and almost perfect 
 face had recovered, in placid abandonment, the beauty im- 
 paired by grief and passion. And yet the dim uncertainty, 
 the hovering between life and death, the touching frailty 
 of human power, overtried and vanquished, might move 
 the bitterest foe to tears, and waken the compassion 
 planted in all human hearts by Heaven. 
 
 Christie was no bitter foe, but a kind, impulsive, gen- 
 erous maiden, rushing at all hazards to defend the right, 
 ready to bite the dust when in the wrong, if properly con- 
 vinced of it. Jemmy stepped back and spread forth his 
 hand more dramatically than was needed, as much as to 
 say, " See what you have done ! Never forget this while 
 you live. I leave you to self-abasement." 
 
 The sensitive and impetuous girl required no such ad- 
 monishment. She fell on her knees and took one cold 
 hand, while her face turned as pale as the one she watched. 
 The pity of the sight became more vivid, deep, and over- 
 powering, and she whispered her little bedside prayer, for 
 that was the only one she recalled ; then she followed it 
 up with confession. 
 
A MAGIC LETTER 225 
 
 " I know what ought to be done to me. I ought to be 
 taken by the neck no, that's not right I ought to be 
 taken to the place of execution, and there hanged by the 
 neck, till I am dead, dead, dead." 
 
 All this she may have deserved, but what she got was 
 very different. 
 
 Around her bended neck was flung no hangman's 
 noose, but a gentle arm, the softest and loveliest ever felt, 
 while dark eyes glistened into her own, and seeming to 
 be encouraged there, came closer through a clustering 
 bower; and in less time than it takes to tell, two fair 
 young faces touched each other, and two quick but heavy 
 hearts were throbbing very close together. 
 
 " It is more my fault than yours," said Nicie, leading 
 the way to another room, when a few soft words of com- 
 fort and good-will had passed ; " I am the one who has 
 done all this ; and Dr. Gronow says so or at least he 
 would, if he said what he thinks. It was the low condi- 
 tion caused by long and lonely thinking and the want of 
 sufficient food and air, and the sense of having no one, 
 not even rne." 
 
 "But that was her fault. She discouraged you, she 
 showed no affection for you ; she was even very angry 
 with you, because you dared to think differently, because 
 you had noble faith and trust." 
 
 " For that I deserve no credit, because I could not help it. 
 But I might have been kinder to her, Christie ; I might have 
 shown less pride and temper. I might have said to myself 
 more often, * she is sadly shattered, and she is my mother.' 
 It will teach me how to behave another time. For if she does 
 not get well and forgive me, I shall never forgive myself. 
 I must have forgotten how much easier it is to be too hard 
 than to be too soft." 
 
 " Probably you never thought about it," said Christie, 
 who knew a great deal about what were then called " the 
 mental processes" now gone into much bigger names, 
 but the same nut in a harder shell. " You acted accord- 
 ing to your senses of right ; and that meant what you felt 
 was right ; and that came round to mean Jemmy." 
 
 Nicie, who never examined her mind perhaps the best 
 thing to be done with it was not quite satisfied with this 
 10* 
 
226 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 abruptly concrete view of the issue. " Perhaps I did," 
 she said, and sighed, because everything felt so cloudy. 
 
 "Whatever you did you are a darling," said the 
 more experienced one. " There is a lot of trouble before 
 us both. Never mind, if we only stick together. Poor 
 Jemmy believes that he is a wonder. Between us we will 
 fetch him down." 
 
 Nicie could perceive no call for that, being as yet of 
 less practical turn. She was of that admirable, and too 
 rare, and yearly diminishing, type of women who see and 
 feel that Heaven meant them, not to contend with and 
 outdo, but to comfort, purify, and ennoble that stronger, 
 coarser, and harder half, called men. 
 
 "I think that he wants fetching up," she said, with very 
 graceful timidity ; " but his sister must know best, of 
 course. Is it right to talk of such things now ?" 
 
 " Decidedly not," Miss Fox replied. " In fact, it is 
 downright wicked ; but somehow or other I always go 
 astray. Whenever I am out of sorts with myself I take 
 a turn at other people. But how many turns must I have 
 at others before I get my balance now ! Did you ever 
 see anything so sad ? But how very beautiful she is ! I 
 never noticed it this afternoon, because I was in such a 
 rage, I suppose. How long is she likely to remain like 
 this ?" 
 
 " Dr. Gronow cannot say. He has known one case 
 which lasted for a month. But then there was no con- 
 sciousness at all. He thinks that there is a little now. 
 But we can perceive no sign of it." 
 
 " Well, I think I did. I am almost sure I did," Christie 
 answered, eagerly ; "when I said * dead, dead, dead,' in that 
 judicial manner, there came a little gleam of light into her 
 eyes as if she approved of the sentence. And again, when 
 you called me your sister, there seemed to be a sparkle of 
 astonishment, as if she thought you were in too much of a 
 hurry ; and perhaps you were, my darling. Oh, what a 
 good judge Jemmy is ! No wonder he is getting so con- 
 ceited." 
 
 " If there is any consciousness at all," said Nicie, 
 avoiding that other subject, "this trance (if that is the 
 English word for it) will not last long, at least, Dr. Gro- 
 
A MAGIC LETTER 227 
 
 now says so, and Dr. Jemmy what a name for a gen- 
 tleman of science ! thoroughly confirms it. But Dr. 
 Fox is so diffident and modest that he seems to wait for 
 his friend's opinion ; though he must know more, being 
 younger." 
 
 " Certainly he ought," Miss Fox replied, with a twinkle 
 of dubious import ; " I hear a great deal of such things. 
 No medical man is ever at his prime, unless it is at thirty- 
 nine years and a half. Under forty he can have no ex- 
 perience, according to the general public ; and over forty 
 he is on the shelf, according to his profession. For that 
 one year they ought to treble all their fees." 
 
 " That would only be fair, for they always charge too 
 little." 
 
 "You are an innocent duck," said Christie. "There 
 is a spot on your cheek that I must kiss, because it al- 
 ways comes when you hear the name of Jemmy. Ab- 
 stract affection for unknown science. Oh, do have a try 
 at Dr. Gronow. He knows fifty times as much as poor 
 Jemmy." 
 
 " But he doesn't know how to please me," replied 
 Nicie ; " and I suppose that ought to count for some- 
 thing, after all. I must go and tell him what you 
 thought you saw. That is his step in the passage now, 
 and he ordered us to watch for any symptoms of that 
 sort. Oh, what will he think of me for leaving nurse 
 alone? Good-night, dear Christie; I shall come away no 
 more. But Binstock, our great man, is come back; he 
 will attend to you, and see that you don't go home starv- 
 ing, or by yourself." 
 
 " Positive statements suit young men," Dr. Gronow de- 
 clared, as he buttoned up his coat about an hour after- 
 wards ; " and so does sitting up all night. Fox, you had 
 better act up to that. But I shall just see your sister 
 safe as far as the hospitable White Post, and then I shall 
 go home to my supper. There is not the slightest dan- 
 ger now, but constant attention is needful, in case of 
 sudden revival. That I do not at all expect; but you 
 know what to do if it happens. The third day will be 
 the most likely time ; and then any pleasing excitement, 
 or attraction but I shall be here, and see to that." 
 
228 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 " Oh, Dr. Gronow," exclaimed Miss Fox, as she fastened 
 her cloak to go with him, " how 1 wish I had been born 
 a little sooner, to see you more positive than you are 
 now !" 
 
 "Miss Fox, it is a happy thing for me that I anticipated 
 all such views. Young ladies, I meant of course and not 
 young men. Yet, alas, the young ladies are too negative." 
 
 On the third day from Lady Waldron's seizure, the 
 postman of the name of Walker, finding not even a mush- 
 room left to retard the mail-delivery, and having a cold 
 north wind at his back, brought to the house soon after 
 noon a very large letter, marked " Ship Despatch. Two 
 shillings and tenpence to pay," and addressed to Lady 
 Waldron. 
 
 " It must be from dear Tom," pronounced Nicie ; " we 
 have not heard from him since he sailed for India. There 
 is no other person in the world capable of such a fright- 
 ful scrawl." 
 
 "Why, this is the very thing we want,"' said Gronow, 
 who was present according to promise ; " large, conspic- 
 uous, self - assertive. Let somebody fetch me a green 
 flower-stick." 
 
 Slitting one end of the stick, he inserted the lower edge 
 of the letter, and fixed it upright in the scroll-work at the 
 bottom of the couch. Then he drew the curtain back, and 
 a slant of cheerful sunshine broke upon the thick, bold 
 writing. But the figure on the couch lay still, without a 
 sign of interest, cold, rigid, and insensible. 
 
 " I'll keep out of sight," the doctor whispered, " and 
 let no one say a word. But presently, when I hold my 
 hand up, let Miss Nicie strike a few notes, not too rap- 
 idly, on her guitar some well-known Spanish melody." 
 
 Gliding round the back of the couch, with a very gentle 
 touch he raised the unconscious lady's head and propped 
 it with a large firm pillow, so that the dim half-open eyes 
 were level with and set point-blank upon the shining let- 
 ter. Securing it so, he withdrew a little, and held up his 
 hand to Nicie. 
 
 She, upon a low chair farther off, touched the strings 
 of her mother's own, and in younger days, much loved 
 guitar; gently at first, like a distant ripple, then with a 
 
A MAGIC LETTER 229 
 
 strong, bold swell arising into a grand melodious strain 
 the " March of Andalusia." All present held their breath 
 to watch, and saw a strange and moving sight. 
 
 The Spanish lady's eyes began to fill with soft and 
 quivering light, like a lake when the moon is rising ; the 
 fringe of their dark lashes rose ; a little smile played on 
 her lips, and touched them with a living tint ; then all the 
 brilliance of her gaze flashed forth and fastened on that 
 letter. She lifted both her trembling hands, and the let- 
 ter was put into them. Her face was light with vivid joy, 
 and her lips pronounced, " My son, my son !" Then want- 
 ing nothing more, she drew the precious token to her 
 breast, concealed it there, and sank into profound and 
 tranquil and sweet sleep. 
 
 " She will be all right when she awakes, and then she 
 will want a lot of food," said Dr. Gronow, with a quiet 
 grin, while Nicie and Chris wept tears of joy, and Dr. Fox 
 and the nurse looked queer. " Mind, she can't live on her 
 son's letter. Beef-tea, arrowroot, and port-wine, leg-of- 
 mutton gravy, and neat's-foot jelly finer than the sweet- 
 est sweetheart's letters, let alone a boy who writes with 
 the stump of a cigar. Ladies and gentlemen, my job is 
 over ; what a blessing Penniloe is gone to London ! We 
 should have had a prayer-meeting every day. Miss Fox, 
 I think I shall call you ' Christie,' because you are so un- 
 christian." 
 
 " You may call me anything you like that is, so long 
 as it is something you do like. I shall almost begin to 
 have faith in doctors now, in spite of poor Jemmy being 
 one." 
 
 "Jemmy, you had better throw up the trade. Your 
 sister understands it best. The hardest work, and the 
 hardest paid however, I go a trout -fishing, ere ever the 
 river freezes." 
 
 The wind was very cold, and everybody there shivered 
 at the shudders he would have to undergo, as they saw 
 him set forth with an eager step. He waved his hand 
 back from a turn of the walk which reminded him of the 
 river, and his shoulders went up as if he had a trout on 
 hook. 
 
 " He is happy. Let him be," said the percipient Chris- 
 
230 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 tie ; " he won't catch anything in fact, but the miraculous 
 draught in fancy." 
 
 " He ought to be pitched in," replied her brother, who 
 was put out about something, possibly the fingering of 
 the second fiddle ; " the least that can be done to him is 
 to pitch him in for trying to catch trout in December. 
 Pike had vowed to do it ; but those fellows are gone 
 home, Hopper and all, just when the world was most in 
 want of them. Christie, you will just come back with me 
 to the Old Barn." 
 
 " Why does Dr. Gronow address nearly all his very ex- 
 cellent remarks to me ? And why does he always look at 
 me when he speaks?" 
 
 " Because you are so pretty, dear. And because you 
 catch his meaning first. They like that sort of thing," 
 said Nicie. 
 
 " For looks I am nowhere, with Nicie present. But he 
 sees advanced intelligence in me. And he comes from 
 where they appreciate it. I shall go back to Old Barn 
 just when I think right." 
 
 " We are coming to something !" cried Dr. Jemmy, 
 who looked pleasantly but loftily at all the female race 
 save Nicie, who was saved, perhaps, till two months 
 after marriage " stay, if you like, where you are appre- 
 ciated so highly so very highly." 
 
 Christie's face became red as a rose, for really this was 
 too bad on his part, and after all she had done for him, 
 as witnessed those present. 
 
 " They like me," she said, in an off-handed manner ; " and 
 I like them which is more than one can do to everybody. 
 But it makes very little difference, I am afraid, for I shall 
 never see them any more unless they come to Foxden. I 
 had made up my mind to go home the moment Lady 
 Waldron was out of danger. I did not come here to 
 please myself, and this is all I get for it. Good-bye to 
 fair Perlycross to-morrow ! One must not neglect one's 
 dear father and mother, even for even for such a dear 
 as Nicie." 
 
 " Well, I never knew what it was to be out of temper." 
 There was much truth in this assertion, though it seems 
 a large one, for Jemmy Fox had a remarkably sweet 
 
A MAGIC LETTER 231 
 
 temper ; and a man who takes stock of himself, when 
 short of that article, has already almost replaced it. " But 
 how will you go, my dear little Cayenne pepper ? Will 
 you pack up all your grandeur, and have a coach-and- 
 four ?" 
 
 " Yes, that I will," answered Christie, quick as light, 
 "though it won't cost me quite as much as the one I hired 
 when I came post-haste to your rescue. The name of my 
 coach is the * Defiance ;' and the guard shall play * Roast- 
 beef ' all the way, in honour of the coming Christmas- 
 time. Won't we have a fine time at Foxden if father is 
 in good health again ?" 
 
 Jemmy wisely left her to her own devices for she gen- 
 erally " took the change out of him " and consoled him- 
 self with soft contemplation of a lovelier, nicer, and (so 
 far as he knew yet) ten thousand times sweeter-tempered 
 girl, whose name was Nicie Waldron. 
 
 Now that sweet creature had a worry of her own, 
 though she did not afflict the public with it. She was 
 dying with anxiety all the time to know the contents of 
 her brother Tom's letter, which had so enlivened her dear 
 mother. 
 
 It is said that the only thing the all-wise Solomon could 
 not explain to the Queen of Sheba was the process of her 
 own mind, or rather, perhaps, the leaps of it, which landed 
 her in conclusions quite correct, yet unsupported even by 
 the shadow of an enthymeme. Miss Waldron was not so 
 clever as the Queen of Sheba, or even as Miss Christie 
 Fox ; yet she had arrived at a firm conviction that the one 
 who was destined to solve the sad and torturing question 
 about her dear father was no other than her brother, Tom 
 Rodrigo. She had observed that his letter bore no token 
 of the family bereavement, neither was that to be ex- 
 pected yet, although six weeks had now elapsed since the 
 date of their sore distress. 
 
 Envelopes were not as yet in common use, and a letter 
 was a cumbrous and clumsy-looking thing, one of the 
 many reasons being that a writer was bound by economy, 
 and very often by courtesy as well, to fill three great 
 pages before he began to double in. This naturally led 
 to a vast sprawl of words, for the most part containing 
 
232 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 very little; and "what shall I say next?" was the con- 
 stant inquiry of even the most loving correspondent. 
 Nicie knew well that her brother was not gifted with the 
 pen of a ready writer, and that all his heart indited of 
 was, " what shall I put to get done with it ?" This in- 
 creased the value of his letters (by means of their rarity) 
 and also their interest, according to the canon that plenty 
 of range should be allowed for the reader's imagination. 
 
 But now even too much range was left for that of the 
 affectionate and poetic maiden, inasmuch as her mother 
 lay asleep for hours with this fine communication to sup- 
 port her heart. There was nothing for Nicie to do ex- 
 cept to go to sleep patiently on her own account, and that 
 she did in her own white bed, and saw a fair vision through 
 tears of joy. 
 
 Behold, she was standing at the door, the sacred portal 
 of Walderscourt, gazing at trees that were full of singing 
 birds, with her milk-white pony cropping clover honey- 
 sweet, and Pixie teetotuming after his own tail. All the 
 air was blossoming with dance of butterflies, and all the 
 earth was laughing at the flatteries of the sun. And be- 
 hold a very tall form arose from beyond the weeping wil- 
 low, leading a form yet taller, and looking back for fear of 
 losing it. Then a loud voice shouted, and it was brother 
 Tom's, "Here he is at last! No mistake about it. I 
 have found the governor hurrah, hurrah !" The maiden 
 sprang up with a bounding heart to embrace her darling 
 father. But, alas, there was nothing except the cold moon 
 and a pure virgin bosom that glistened with tears. 
 
 When Tom's letter came to the reading at last, there 
 was plenty of blots in it and brown sand, but not a 
 blessed bit of poetry. The youth had been at Eton, and 
 exhausted there all the tendency of his mind towards me- 
 tre. Even now people who ought to know better ask 
 why poetry will not go down with the tall and imaginative 
 and romantic public. It must be from the absence of the 
 spark divine among them. Nay, rather because ere they 
 could spell their flint was fixed for life with the "fire" 
 used up by classic hammer. 
 
 Of these things the present Sir Thomas Rodrigo Wal- 
 dron had neither thought nor heed. For him it was enough 
 
A MAGIC LETTER 233 
 
 to be released ; and the less he saw of book and pen for the 
 rest of his natural life the better for the book, the pen, 
 and him. So that on the whole he deserved much credit, 
 and obtained even more (from his mother) as the author 
 of the following fine piece of correspondence ; though 
 all the best bits were adapted from a book entitled " The 
 young man's polite letter-writer, to his parents, sisters, 
 sweethearts, friends, and the minister of his native parish, 
 etc., etc. also when applying for increase of wages." 
 
 "' Valetta, in the Island of Malta, Mediterranean Sea, etc. 
 November the 5th, also Guy Fawkes' Day, A.D. 1835. 
 
 " * MY BELOVED AND RESPECTED MOTHER, I take Up 
 
 my pen with mingled feelings of affection and regret. 
 The bangs " oh, he ought to say " pangs," thought Nicie, 
 as her mother read it on most gravely " which I have 
 suffered, and am suffering still, arise from various sources. 
 Affection, because of your unceasing and unmerited pa- 
 rental goodness ; regret, because absence in a foreign land 
 enhances by a hundred-fold the value of all those lost en- 
 dearments. I hope that you will think of me, whenever 
 you sit on the old bench by the door, and behold the sun 
 setting in the east.' " 
 
 "It is very beautiful," said Lady Waldron, animated by 
 a cup of strong beef -tea ; " but Rodrigo was so hard to kiss. 
 Very often I have knocked my head but he is competent 
 to feel it in his own head now." 
 
 " Mother, there is no bench by the door. And how can 
 the sun set in the east ? Oh, I see, it was ' west,' and he has 
 scratched it out, because of his being in the East himself." 
 
 "That means the same thing," replied Lady Waldron. 
 " Inez, if you intend to find fault with your dear brother's 
 letter about such trifles you deserve to hear no more of it." 
 
 " Mother, as if it made any difference where the sun 
 sets, so long as he can see it !" 
 
 " He always had large thoughts," reflected his mother ; 
 "he is not of this cold geography. Harken how beauti- 
 fully he proceeds to write 
 
 " * But it is vain to indulge these contemplations. 
 Thanks to your careful tuition, and the lofty example set 
 
234 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 before me, I trust that I shall never be found wanting in 
 my duty to the country that gave me birth. Unfortunately 
 in these foreign parts, the price of every article is exces- 
 sive ; and although I am guided, as you are well aware, by 
 the strictest principles of economy, my remembrance of 
 what is due to you, and the position of a highly respected 
 family, have in some degree necessitated an anticipation 
 of resources. Feeling assured of your sympathy, and that 
 it will assume a practical form by return of post, I vent- 
 ure to state for your guidance that the house of Plumper, 
 Wiggins & Golightly in this city have been advised, and 
 have consented to receive on my behalf a remittance of 
 120, which will, I trust, appear a very reasonable sum.' " 
 
 "Mother, dear mother, let me go on," cried Nicie, as 
 the letter dropped from her mother's hand; "the pleasure 
 and excitement have been too much for you, although the 
 style is so excellent." 
 
 " It is not the style, but my breath has been surprised 
 by by the expressions of that last sentence. The sum 
 that I myself placed to his credit, out of my bonds of the 
 City of Corduba, was in addition, and without his father's 
 knowledge but no doubt he will give explanation more fur- 
 ther down ; though the writing appears now to become of a 
 different kind, shorter and less polished. But why is he in 
 Malta, when the ship sailed for Bombay ? Oh, I am terri- 
 fied, there will be some war. The English can never stay 
 without fighting very long. And, behold, his letter seems 
 to go into three pieces! See now, it is quite crooked, 
 Inez, and of less correction. Nevertheless, I approve more 
 of it so. Listen again, child. 
 
 " I was almost forgetting to say that we were mett be- 
 fore we had got very far on our way by a Despatch Vessle 
 bringing urgent orders for all of the Draught to be sent to 
 this place, which is not half so hot as the other place 
 would be, and much more convenient and healthy but too 
 white. But it does make the money fly, and they are a 
 jolley sett. I have long been wanting to write home, 
 but waited until there was some news to tell, and 
 we could tell where we are going next. But we shall 
 have to stay here for some time, because most of our 
 
A MAGIC LETTER 235 
 
 things were sent to West Indies, and the other part 
 went on to East India. It will all be for the best because 
 so strong a change of climate will be almost certain to 
 destroy the moths. I have bought three dogs. There is 
 a new sort here, very clever, and can almost speak. I hope 
 all the dogs at home are well. I miss the shooting very 
 much, and there are no horses in the Mediterranean big 
 enough to carry me. Now I must conclude with best love 
 and duty to the Governor and you and Nicie and old nurse 
 Sweetland, and anybody else who inquires for 
 
 u< remaining your affectionate and dutiful Son, 
 
 " ' TOM R. WALDRON. 
 
 <p. S. Your kind letter of Aug. 30th just come. 
 They must be very clever to have found us here. I am 
 dredfully cutt up to hear dear Governor not at all 
 well when you wrote. Shall hope for better news every 
 day. There is a Greek gentleman here with a pill war- 
 anted to cure everything yet discovered. They are as 
 large as yellow sluggs, and just the same shape. He will 
 let me have 10 for my amathist studds which are no good 
 to me. Shall try to send them by .the next ship that goes 
 home. Do write at once, because I never heard before of 
 anything wrong with dear Governor. T. R. W.' " 
 
 " Poor darling !" said his mother, with tears in her eyes, 
 while Nicie was sobbing quietly ; " by this time he may be 
 aware of it, perhaps, though not of the dreadful thing that 
 happened since. It will not be for his happiness that he 
 should ever know. Remember that, Inez. He is of so 
 much vigour and high blood, of the best Andalusian, that 
 he would become insane, and perhaps do himself deep in- 
 jury. He would cast away his office what you call the 
 commission and come back to this country, and be put in 
 prison for not accepting quietly the sacrilegious laws." 
 
 " Mother, you have promised never to speak of that sub- 
 ject. If it is too much for poor Tom, what is it likely to 
 be for us ? All we can do is to leave it to God." 
 
 " There is not the same God in this country as we have. 
 If there was, He would never endure it." 
 
CHAPTEK XXIV 
 A WAGER 
 
 IT was true enough that Mr. Penniloe was gone to Lon- 
 don, as Gronow said. But it was not true that otherwise 
 he would have held a prayer-meeting every day in Lady 
 Waldron's room for the benefit of her case. He would 
 have been a great support and strength to Inez in her 
 anxiety, and doubtless would have joined his prayers with 
 hers ; that would have been enough for him. Dr. Gronow 
 was a man who meant well upon the whole, but not in 
 every crick and cranny, as a really fine individual does. 
 But the parson was even less likely than the doctor to 
 lift a latch plugged by a lady against him. 
 
 " Thyatira, do you think that you could manage to see 
 to the children, and the butcher's bill, during the course 
 of next week," he inquired, when the pupils were off for 
 their holiday, with accordions and pan pipes and pea- 
 shooters ; " I have particular business in London. Only 
 Betty Cork and old Job Tapscott have come to my read- 
 ings of Solomon's Song, and both of them are as deaf as 
 mile-stones. Master Harry will be home again in three 
 days' time, and when he is in the house you have no fear ; 
 though your confidence should be placed much higher. 
 Master Michael is stronger of late, and if we can keep 
 shocking stories from him, his poor little head may be 
 right again. There really has been no proof at all of the 
 existence of any Spring-heeled Jack, and he would never 
 come here to earn his money. He may have been men- 
 tioned in prophecy, as the Wesleyan minister declared, 
 but I have failed to come across the passage. Our Church 
 does not deal in those exciting views, and does not recog- 
 nize dark lanterns." 
 
 " No, sir, we are much soberer like ; but still there re- 
 mains the seven vials." 
 
A WAGER 237 
 
 The parson was up to snuff if the matter may be put 
 upon so low a footing. Mrs. Muggridge had placed her 
 arms akimbo, in challenge theological. He knew that 
 her views were still the lowest of the low, and could not 
 be hoisted by any petard to the High-Church level. And 
 the worst of it is that such people are pat with awkward 
 points of Holy Writ, as hard to parry as the stroke of 
 Jarnac. In truth he must himself confess that partly thus 
 had Thyatira, at an early and impressible age, been in- 
 duced to join the Church, when there chanced to be a 
 vacancy for a house-maid at the parsonage. It was in his 
 father's parish, where her father, Stephen Muggridge, 
 occupied a farm belonging to the Rev. Isaac Penniloe. 
 Philip, as a zealous churchman, urged that the parson's 
 chief tenant should come to church, but the Rev. Isaac 
 took a larger view, preferring his tangible corn-land to his 
 spiritual vineyard. 
 
 "You had better let Stephen alone," he said; "you 
 would very soon get the worst of it, with all your new 
 Oxford theology. Farmer Steve is a wonderfully stout 
 Antipsedobaptist ; and he searches the Scriptures every day, 
 which leaves no chance for a churchman, who can only 
 find time on a Saturday." 
 
 This dissuasion only whetted the controversial appetite, 
 and offset Philip with his Polyglot Bible under his arm. 
 When Farmer Stephen saw him coming, he smiled a grim 
 and gallant smile, being equally hot for the combat. Says 
 he, after a few preliminary passes, 
 
 "Now, young sir, look here ! I'll show 'e a text as you 
 can't explain away, with all Oxford College at the back of 
 thee. Just you turn to Gospel of John, third chapter and 
 fifth verse, and you read it, after me : ' Except a man be 
 born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the 
 Kingdom of God.' The same in your copy, bain't it now ? 
 Then, according to my laming, m-a-n spells man, and 
 b-a-b-e spells babe. Now, till you can put b-a-b-e in the 
 place of rn-a-n in that there text, what becomes of your 
 Church baptism ?" 
 
 The farmer grinned gently at the parson, in the pride 
 of triumph, and looked round for his family to share it. 
 
 " Farmer Stephen, that sounds well," replied the un- 
 
238 PEBLYCEOSS 
 
 daunted Philip, " but perhaps you will oblige me by turn- 
 ing over a few leaves, as far as the sixteenth chapter of 
 the same Gospel, and verse twenty-one. You see how it 
 begins with reference to the pains of a mother, and then 
 occur these words : * she remembereth no more the an- 
 guish, for joy that a man is born into the world.' Now, 
 was that man born full-grown, Farmer Stephen?" 
 
 The farmer knitted his brows and stared ; there was no 
 smile left upon his face, but in lieu of it came a merry 
 laugh from beside his big oaken chair ; and the head of 
 her class in the village school was studying his counte- 
 nance. 
 
 " Her can go to parsonage," quoth the Antipsedobap- 
 tist, " her won't take no harm in a household where they 
 know their Bible so." 
 
 Farmer Stephen was living still, and, like a gentleman, 
 had foregone all attempts to recapture his daughter. 
 With equal forbearance Penniloe never pressed his own 
 opinions concerning smaller matters upon his pious house- 
 keeper, and therefore was fain to decline, as above, her 
 often-proffered challenges. 
 
 " There are many things still very dark before us," he 
 answered, with his sweet, sad smile ; " let us therefore be 
 instant in prayer, while not neglecting our worldly duties. 
 It is a worldly duty now which takes me from my parish, 
 much against my own desires. I shall not stay an hour 
 more than can be helped, and shall take occasion to for- 
 ward, if I can, the interests of our restoration fund." 
 
 Mrs. Muggridge, when she heard of that, was ready at 
 once to do her best. Not that she cared much about the 
 church repairs, but that her faithful heart was troubled by 
 her master's heavy anxieties. As happens (without any 
 one established exception) in such cases, the outlay had 
 proved to be vastly greater than the most exhaustive esti- 
 mate. Mr. Penniloe felt himself liable for the repayment 
 of every farthing ; and though the contractors at Exeter 
 were most lenient and considerate (being happily a firm 
 of substance), his mind was much tormented at the low- 
 er tides of faith about it. At least twelve hundred 
 pounds was certain to fall due at Christmas, that season 
 of peace and good-will for all Christians who can pay for 
 
A WAGES 239 
 
 it. Even at that date there were several good and use- 
 ful corporations, societies, associations, ready to help the 
 Church of England even among white men, when the case 
 was put well before them. The parson had applied by 
 letter vainly ; now he hoped to see the people and get a 
 trifle out of them. 
 
 The long and expensive journey, and the further ex- 
 pense of the sojourn, were quite beyond his resources 
 drained so low by the House of the Lord but now the 
 solicitors to the estate of Sir Thomas Waldron, Bart., de- 
 ceased, required his presence in London for essential for- 
 malities, and gladly provided the viaticum. Therefore he 
 donned his warmest clothes, for the weather was becom- 
 ing wintry, put the oil-skin over his Sunday hat a genuine 
 beaver, which had been his father's and started in life at 
 two guineas, and even now in its curate stage might stand 
 out for twenty-one shillings and committing his house- 
 hold solemnly to the care of the Almighty, met the first 
 up-coach before daylight on Monday, when it changed 
 horses at the Blue Ball Inn, at the north-east corner of his 
 parish. 
 
 All western coaches had been quickened lately by ti- 
 dings of steam in the North, which would take a man 
 nearly a score of miles in one hour ; and though nobody 
 really believed in this, the mere talk of it made the horses 
 go. There was one coach already, known by the rather 
 profane name of " Quicksilver," which was said to travel at 
 the almost impious pace of twelve miles an hour. But 
 few had much faith in this break-neck tale, and the " Quick- 
 silver " flew upon the southern road, which never comes nigh 
 the Perle valley. Even so, there were coaches on this 
 upper road which averaged nine miles an hour all the way, 
 foregoing, for the sake of empty speed, breakfast and din- 
 ner and even supper on the road. By one of these, called 
 the " Tallyho," Mr. Penniloe booked his place for London, 
 and arrived there, in good health but very tired, early on 
 the Tuesday morning. 
 
 The Curate of Perlycross was not at all of the rustic 
 parson type, such as may still be found in many an out-of- 
 the-way parish of Devon. He was not likely to lose him- 
 self in the streets of " Mighty Bahylon," as London was 
 
240 PERLYCROSS 
 
 generally called in those days and he showed some per- 
 ception of the right thing to do by putting up at the Old 
 Hummums. His charges for the week were borne by the 
 lawyers upon whose business he was come ; and therefore 
 the whole of his time was placed at the disposal of their 
 agents, Messrs. Spindrift, Honeysweet & Hoblin, of 
 Theobald's Road, Gray's Inn. That highly respected firm 
 led him about from office to office, and pillar to post, 
 sometimes sitting upon the pillar, sometimes leaning 
 against the post, according to the usage immemorial of 
 their learned profession. But one of the things he was 
 resolved to do between Doe and Roe, and Notes and 
 Styles, was to see his old friend Harrison Gowler concern- 
 ing the outrage at Perlycross. 
 
 There happened to be a great run now upon that emi- 
 nent physician, because he had told a lady of exalted rank, 
 who had a loose tendon somewhere, that she had stepped 
 on a piece of orange-peel five -and -twenty years ago. 
 Historical research proved this to be too true, although it 
 had entirely escaped the august patient's memory. For 
 this Dr. Gowler was made a baronet at once, his practice 
 was doubled, though it had been very large, and so were 
 all his fees, though they had not been small. In a word, 
 he was the rage, and was making golden hay in the full 
 blaze of a royal sun. 
 
 No wonder, then, that the simple friend for a long time 
 sought the great man vainly. He could not very well 
 write to ask for an interview on the following day because 
 he never knew at what hour he might hope to be delivered 
 from the lawyers ; and it never occurred to him to prepay 
 the postage of his card from door to table to either of the 
 haughty footmen. Slow as he was to take offence, he 
 began to fear that it must be meant, for the name of his 
 hotel was on his cards ; until, as he was turning away once 
 more, debating with himself whether self-respect would 
 allow him to lift that brass knocker again, the great man 
 himself came point-blank upon him. The stately footman 
 had made a rush for his pint of half-and-half round the 
 corner, and Sir Harrison had to open his own door to show 
 a noble patient forth. 
 
 " What, you in London, Penniloe !" And a kind grasp 
 
A WAGEK 241 
 
 of the hand made it clear that the physician was not him- 
 self to blame. In a few quick words it was arranged that 
 the parson should call again at six o'clock and share his 
 old friend's simple meal. " We shall have two good 
 hours for a talk," said Gowler, " for all the great people 
 are at dinner then. At eight I have a consultation on." 
 
 " I never have what can be called a dinner," Sir Har- 
 rison said, when they met again ; " only a bit of I for- 
 get what the Greek expression is. There is an American 
 turn for it." 
 
 "You must indeed be overdone if you are forgetting 
 your Greek," replied his friend; "you were far in front 
 of me there always ; though I think I was not so far be- 
 hind in Latin." 
 
 " I think you were better in both. But what matter ? 
 We have little time now for such delights. How often I 
 wish I were back again at Oxford ; ten times poorer, but 
 a thousand times happier. What is the good of my hun- 
 dred pounds a day. I often get that, and am ashamed 
 of it." 
 
 The parson refrained from quoting any of the plentiful 
 advice upon that matter from the very highest authorities. 
 He tried to look cheerfully at his old friend, and did not 
 even shake his head. But a very deep sadness was in 
 his own heart, and yet a confirmation of his own higher 
 faith. 
 
 Then, knowing that the time was very short, and feeling 
 his duty to his own parish, he told the tale he was come 
 to tell ; and Sir Harrison listened intently to it. 
 
 " I scarcely know what to think," he said ; " even if I 
 were on the spot, and knew every one whom it was pos- 
 sible to suspect, it would he a terrible puzzle to me. One 
 thing may be said, with confidence, amounting almost to 
 certainty, that it is not a medical matter at all. That 
 much I can settle, beyond all doubt, by means which I 
 need not specify. Even with you I cannot enter upon 
 questions so professional. W"e know that irregular things 
 are done, and the folly of the law compels them. But 
 this is quite out of the course they pursue. However, I 
 can make quite certain about all that within a week. 
 Meanwhile you should look for a more likely clew. You 
 
242 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 have lost invaluable time by concluding, as of course the 
 stupid public would, especially after all the Burke and 
 Hare affairs, that * the doctors must be at the bottom of it.' 
 Most unlucky that you were so unwell, or you might have 
 set the inquiry on the right track from the first. Surely 
 it must have occurred to you that medical men, as a gen- 
 eral rule, are the sharpest fellows of the neighbourhood, ex- 
 cept, of course of course excepting the parsons ?" 
 
 " They are sharper than we are," said the parson, with 
 a smile ; " but perhaps that is the very thing that tells 
 against our faith in them." 
 
 " Very likely. But still it keeps them from utterly 
 mad atrocities. Sir Thomas Waldron, a famous, man, a 
 grand old soldier, and above all a wealthy man ! Why, 
 they could have done no more to a poor old wretch from 
 the workhouse !" 
 
 " The crime in that case would have been as great, per- 
 haps greater, because more cowardly." 
 
 "You always were a highflyer, my friend. But never 
 mind the criminality. What we want to know is the 
 probability. And to find out that, we have to study not 
 the laws of morality, but the rules of human conduct. 
 What was the name of the man I met about the case at 
 your house? Oh, I remember Gronow ; a very shrewd, 
 clear-headed fellow. Well, what does he say about it ?" 
 
 " As nearly as possible what you have said. Some 
 slight suspicion has fallen upon him. But, as I told you, 
 Jemmy Fox has come in for the lion's share of it." 
 
 " Poor young fellow ! It must be very hard to bear. 
 It will make him hate a profession in which he would 
 have been sure to distinguish himself, because he really 
 loves it. What a thick-headed monster the English pub- 
 lic is! They always exult in a wild-goose chase. Are 
 you sure that the body was ever carried off at all ?" 
 
 " The very question Doctor Gronow asked ! Unhap- 
 pily, there can be no doubt whatever upon that point. 
 As I ought to have told you, though I was not there to 
 see it, the search was made in the middle of the day, 
 and with a dozen people round the grave. They went to 
 the bottom, found the brickwork broken down and no sign 
 of any coffin." 
 
A WAGER 243 
 
 " Well, that ought to lead us to something clear. 
 That alone is almost certain proof of what I said just 
 now. * Resurrection - men,' as the stupid public calls 
 them, would have taken the body alone. Not only be- 
 cause they escape all charge of felony by doing so, but 
 that it is so much easier ; and for many other reasons 
 which you may imagine. I begin to see my way more 
 clearly. Depend upon it, this is some family matter. 
 Some private feud, or some motive of money, or perhaps 
 even some religious scruple lies at the bottom of this 
 strange affair. I begin to think that you will have to go 
 to Spain before you understand it all. How has Lady 
 Waldron behaved about it ?" 
 
 " She has been most bitter against poor Jemmy." Mr. 
 Penniloe had not heard of what was happening this very 
 week at Walderscourt. " She will not see him, will not 
 hear his name, and is bitter against any one who takes 
 his part. She cannot even bring herself to speak to me, 
 because, in common fairness, I have done my best for him 
 against the general opinion and her own firm conclusion. 
 That is one reason why I am in London now. She will 
 not even act with me in taking probate of the will. In 
 fact, it has driven her, as I fear, almost to the verge of 
 insanity ; for she behaves most unkindly even to her 
 daughter. But she is more to be pitied than blamed, 
 poor thing." 
 
 " I agree with you, in case of all this being genuine. 
 But is it so ? Or is it a bit of acting overacted ? I have 
 known women who could act so as to impose upon their 
 own brains." 
 
 " It has never once entered my head," replied the sim- 
 ple-minded parson, " to doubt that all she says and does 
 is genuine. Even you could not doubt if you beheld her." 
 
 "I am not so sure of that," observed Sir Harrison, 
 very dryly ; " the beauty of your character is the grand 
 simplicity. You have not the least idea of any wicked- 
 ness." 
 
 " My dear fellow," cried the parson, deeply shocked ; 
 " it is, alas, my sad duty to find out and strive with the 
 darkest cases of the depravity of our fallen race !" 
 
 " Of course ; but you think none the worse of them 
 
244 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 for that. It is water on a duck's back to such a man as 
 you. Well, have it so ; if you like. I see the worst of 
 their bodies, and you the worst of their souls, as you 
 suppose. But I think you put some of your own into 
 them infusion of sounder blood, as it were." 
 
 "Gowler, you may think as ill as fallen nature can 
 make you think of all your fellow-creatures " Mr. Pen- 
 niloe spoke with a sharpness very seldom found in words 
 of his " but in fair truth, it is beyond the blackest of 
 all black bitterness to doubt poor Lady Waldron's simple 
 and perfect sincerity." 
 
 "Because of her very magnificent eyes," Sir Harrison 
 answered, as if to himself, and to meet his own too chari- 
 table interjections. " But what has she done to carry 
 out her wild revenge at an outrage which she would feel 
 more keenly perhaps than the most sensitive of English- 
 women ? Has she moved high and low, ransacked the 
 earth, set all the neighbourhood on fire, and appealed with 
 tears and threats and money (which is the strongest of all 
 appeals) to the Caesar enthroned in London ? If she had 
 done any of these things I fancy I should have heard of 
 them." 
 
 For the moment Mr. Penniloe disliked his friend, as 
 a man may feel annoyance at his own wife even, when her 
 mind for some trivial cause is moving on a lower level 
 than his own. 
 
 " As yet she has not taken any strong steps," he con- 
 fessed, with some reluctance ; " because she has been 
 obliged to act under her lawyer's guidance. Remember 
 that she is a foreigner, and knows nothing of our legal 
 machinery." 
 
 " Very "likely not. But Webber does Webber, her so- 
 licitor. I suppose Webber has been very energetic." 
 
 " He has not done so much as one might have ex- 
 pected. In fact, he has seemed to me rather remiss. He 
 has had his own private hands at work, which, as he says, 
 is the surest plan ; but he has brought no officers from 
 London down. He tells me that in all such cases they 
 have failed ; and more than that, they have entirely spoiled 
 the success of all private inquiry." 
 
 " It looks to me very much as if private inquiry had no 
 
A WAGER 245 
 
 great desire to succeed. My conclusion grows more and 
 more irresistible. Shall I tell you what it is ?" 
 
 " My dear fellow, by all means do. I shall attach very 
 great importance to it." 
 
 "It is simply this" Sir Harrison spoke less rapidly 
 than usual " all your mystery is solved in this : Lady 
 Waldron knows all about it. How you all have missed 
 that plain truth puzzles me. She has excellent reasons 
 for restricting the inquiry, and casting suspicion upon 
 poor Fox. Did I not hear of a brother of hers, a Span- 
 ish nobleman I think he was ?" 
 
 " Yes, her twin-brother, the Count de Varcas. She has 
 always been warmly attached to him ; but Sir Thomas 
 did not like him much. I think he has been extravagant. 
 Lady Waldron has been doing her utmost to discover 
 him." 
 
 " I dare say. To be sure she has ! Advertised largely, 
 of course. Oh dear, oh dear ! What poor simple creat- 
 ures we men are, in comparison with women !" 
 
 Mr. Penniloe was silent. He had made a good dinner and 
 taken a glass of old port-wine ; and both those proceed- 
 ings were very rare with him. Like all extremely ab- 
 stemious men, when getting on in years, he found his 
 brain not strengthened but confused by the unusual supply. 
 The air of London had upon him that effect which it often 
 has at first upon visitors from the country quick increase 
 of appetite and hearty joy in feeding. 
 
 " Another thing you told me which confirms my view," 
 resumed the relentless doctor, " the last thing discovered 
 before you came away but not discovered, mark you, by 
 her ladyship's agents was that the cart supposed to have 
 been employed had been traced to a smuggler's hiding- 
 place, in a desolate and unfrequented spot, probably in the 
 direction of the coast. Am I right in supposing that ?" 
 
 " Partly so. It would be towards the sea, though cer- 
 tainly not the shortest way." 
 
 " But the best way probably of getting at the coast, if 
 you wish to avoid towns and villages ? That you admit ? 
 Then all is plain. Poor Sir Thomas was to be exported. 
 Probably to Spain. That I will not pretend to determine, 
 but I think it most likely. Perhaps to be buried in Catho- 
 
246 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 lie soil and with Catholic ceremonial, which they could 
 not do openly here because of his own directions. How 
 simple the very deepest mystery becomes when once you 
 have the key to it ! But how strange that it never oc- 
 curred to you ! I should have thought Gronow at any 
 rate would have guessed it." 
 
 " He has more penetration than I have ; I am well 
 aware of that," replied the humble parson ; " and you, of 
 course, have more than either of us. But for all that, 
 Gowler, and although I admit that your theory is very 
 plausible, and explains many points that seemed inexplic- 
 able, I cannot, and I will not accept it for a moment." 
 
 " Where is your difficulty ? Is it not simple consist- 
 ent with all that we know of such people, priest-ridden of 
 course, and double-faced and crafty ? Does it not solve 
 every difficulty ? What can you urge against it ?" 
 
 " My firm belief in the honesty, affection, and good faith 
 of women." 
 
 " Whew !" The great physician forgot his dignity in 
 the enjoyment of so fine a joke. He gave a long whistle, 
 and then put his thumb to his nose, and extended his 
 fingers as school-boys of that period did. " Honesty of 
 women, Penniloe ! At your age, you surely know better 
 than that. A very frail argument, indeed." 
 
 " Because of my age it is perhaps that I do know better. 
 I would rather not discuss the subject. You have your 
 views, and I have mine." 
 
 " I am pleased with this sort of thing, because it re- 
 minds one so much of boyhood." Sir Harrison stood by 
 the fire and began to consult his short gray whiskers. 
 " Let me see, how many years is it since I cherished such 
 illusions ? Well, they are pleasant enough while they last. 
 I suppose you never make a bet, Penniloe ?" 
 
 " Of course not, Gowler. You seem to be as ignorant 
 of clergymen as you are of women." 
 
 " Don't be touchy, my dear fellow. Many of the cloth 
 accept the odds, and have privilege of clergy when they 
 lose. Well, I'll tell you what I will do. You see that little 
 cupboard in the panelling ? It has only one key, and the 
 lock is peculiar. Here 1 deposit behold my act and 
 deed these two fifty -pound notes. You take the key. 
 
A WAGER 247 
 
 Now you shall come, or send either church-warden, and 
 carry them off for the good of your church-restoration fund 
 the moment you can prove that my theory is wrong." 
 
 " I am not sure," said the clergyman, with a little agi- 
 tation, as the courage of that single glass of port declined, 
 " that this is not too much in the nature of a wager." 
 
 " No ; there is no wager. That requires two parties. It is 
 simply a question of forfeiture. No peril to a good cause 
 as you would call it in case of failure. And a solid 
 gain to it if I prove wrong. Take the key, my friend ; my 
 time is up." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe, the most conscientious of mankind, and 
 therefore the most gentle, had still some qualms about the 
 innocence of this. But his friend's presumptuous manner 
 hushed them. He dropped the key into his deep watch- 
 pocket, specially secured against the many rogues of Lon- 
 don ; and there it was when he mounted on the " Magnet " 
 coach at two o'clock on the Friday afternoon, prepared for 
 a long and dreary journey to his home. 
 
 The " Magnet " was one of those calm and considerate 
 coaches which thought a great deal more of the comfort 
 and safety of their passengers and horses than of the 
 fidgety hands of any clock be it even a cathedral clock 
 on the whole road from London to Exeter. What are the 
 most important hours of the day ? Manifestly those of 
 feeding. Each of them is worth any other three. There- 
 fore you lose three times the time you save by omitting 
 your dinner. This coach breakfasted, dined, and supped, 
 and slept on the road, or rather out of it, and started 
 again, as fresh as paint, quite early enough in the morning. 
 
 With his usual faith in human nature, Mr. Penniloe had 
 not inquired into these points, but concluded that this 
 coach would rush along in the breathless manner of the 
 " Tallyho." This leisurely course began to make him very 
 nervous, and when on Saturday at two o'clock another de- 
 liberate halt was made at a little way-side inn, some fifty 
 miles still from Perlycross, and every one descended with 
 a sprightly air, the clergyman marched up to the coach- 
 man to remonstrate. 
 
 " Unless we get on a little faster," he said, with a kind 
 but anxious smile, " I shall not be at home for Sunday." 
 
248 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 "Can't help that, sir; the coach must dine," replied 
 the fat driver, as he pulled his muffler down to give his 
 capacious mouth fair play. 
 
 "But but consider, Mr. Coachman, I must get home. 
 I have my church to serve." 
 
 " Must serve the dinner first, sir, if you please," said 
 the landlord, coming forward with a napkin, which he 
 waved as if it were worth a score of sermons ; all the gents 
 are waiting, sir, for you to say the grace hot soup, 
 knuckle of veal, boiled round, and baked potatoes. Gents 
 has to pay if they dine or if they don't. Knowing this, 
 all gents does dine. Preach all the better, sir, to-morrow 
 for it." 
 
 If this preparation were needful, the curate's sermon 
 would not have been excellent, for anxiety had spoiled his 
 appetite. When at length they lumbered on again, he 
 strove to divert his thoughts by observing his fellow- 
 passengers. And now for the first time he descried, over 
 the luggage piled on the roof, a man with a broad slouched 
 hat and fur cloak, who sat with his back towards him for 
 Mr. Penniloe had taken his place on the hinder part of 
 the coach. That man had not joined the dinner-party, 
 yet no one remained on the coach or in it during the 
 dinner-hour, for the weather was cold and windy, with a 
 few flakes of snow flying idly all day, and jusfc making 
 little ribs of white upon the road. Mr. Penniloe was not 
 a very observant man, least of all on a Saturday, when his 
 mind was dwelling chiefly upon Scriptural subjects ; but 
 he could not help wondering how this man came there, 
 for the coach had not stopped since they left the little inn. 
 
 This, perhaps, drew his attention to the man, who ap- 
 peared to be " thoroughly a foreigner," as John Bull in 
 those days expressed it. For he wore no whiskers, but a 
 long black beard streaked with silver, as even those be- 
 hind could see, for the whirl of the north wind tossed it 
 now and then upon his left shoulder. He kept his head 
 low behind the coachman's broad figure, and appeared to 
 speak to nobody, but smoked cigars incessantly, lighting 
 each from the stump of its predecessor, and scattering 
 much ash about, to the discomfort of his neighbours' eyes. 
 Although Mr. Penniloe never smoked, he enjoyed the fra- 
 
A WAGEK 249 
 
 grance of a good cigar perhaps more than the puffer him- 
 self does (especially if he puff too vehemently), and he was 
 able to pronounce this man's tobacco very fine. 
 
 At length they arrived at Pumpington, about six miles 
 from Perlycross, and here Mr. Penniloe fully expected 
 another halt for supper, and had made up his mind in that 
 case to leave the coach and trudge home afoot. But to 
 his relief they merely changed horses, and did that with 
 some show of alacrity, for they were bound to be at Exeter 
 that night, and the snow was beginning to thicken. At 
 the turnpike-gate two men got up, one of them a sailor 
 going 'probably to Plymouth, who mounted the tarpaulin 
 that covered the luggage, and threw himself flat upon it 
 with a jovial air and made himself quite at home, smoking 
 a short pipe, and waving a black bottle when he could 
 spare time from sucking it. The other man came and sat 
 beside the parson, who did not recognize him at first, for 
 the coach carried only two lamps, both in front, and their 
 light was thrown over their shoulders now and then in 
 rough streams, like the beard of the foreigner. All the best 
 coaches still carried a guard, and the Royal Mail was 
 bound to do so, but the " Magnet," towards the end of its 
 career, had none. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe meekly allowed the new-comer to edge his 
 feet gradually out of the straw nest and work his own into 
 the heart of it; for now it was truly a shivering and a shud- 
 dering night. The steam of the horses and their breath 
 came back in turbid clouds, and the snow or soft hail 
 (now known as graupel) cut white streaks through them 
 into the travellers' eyes, and danced on the roof like loz- 
 enges. Nobody opened mouth except the sailor, and his 
 was stopped as well as opened by the admirable fit of the 
 neck of his rum -bottle. But this being overstrained be- 
 came too soon a hollow consolation ; and the rim of the 
 glass rattled dryly against his chattering teeth till he cast 
 it away. 
 
 "Never say die, mates. I'll sing you a song. Don 
 Darkimo, give us a cigar to chaw. Never could smoke 
 them things, gentlemen and ladies. Can't 'e speak, or 
 won't 'e, then ? Never mind, here goes !" 
 
 To his own encouragement, this jolly fellow, with his 
 11* 
 
250 PERLYCROSS 
 
 neck and chest thrown open, and his summer duds on, be- 
 gan to pour forth a rough nautical ballad, not only beyond 
 the pale of the most generous orthodoxy, but entirely out 
 of harmony with the tone of all good society. In plainer 
 words, as stupid a bit of ribaldry and blasphemy as the 
 most advanced period could produce. 
 
 Then up rose Mr. Penniloe, and in a firm voice, clear 
 above the piping of the wind and the roar of wheels 
 and rattle of loose harness, administered to that mariner 
 a rebuke so grave and solemn, and yet so full of large 
 kindness and of allowance for his want of teaching, that 
 the poor fellow hung his head, and felt a rising in his 
 throat, and being not advanced beyond the tender stage 
 of intoxication, passed into a liquid state of terror and re- 
 pentance. 
 
 With this the clergyman was content, being of longer ex- 
 perience than to indulge in further homily. But the mo- 
 ment he sat down up rose the gentleman who had cribbed 
 his straw, and addressed the applauding passengers. 
 
 " My friends, the Reverend Penniloe has spoken well 
 and eloquently. But I think you will agree with me that 
 it would be more consistent of him, and more for the serv- 
 ice of the Lord, if he kept his powers of reproof for the 
 use of his own parishioners. He is the clergyman of Per- 
 lycross, a place notorious throughout the county for the 
 most infamous of crimesa place where even the dead are 
 not allowed to sleep in peace." 
 
 After this settler the man sat down and turned his back 
 on the parson, who had now recognized him, with deep sor- 
 row at his low malevolence. For this was no other than 
 Solomon Pack, watchmaker and jeweller at Pumpington, 
 well known among his intimates as " Pack of lies," from 
 his affection for malignant gossip. Mr. Penniloe had of- 
 fended him by employing the rival tradesman, Pack's own 
 brother-in-law, with whom he was at bitter enmity. 
 
 " Mr. Pack, you have done much harm, I fear ; and this 
 is very unjust of you " was all that the parson deigned 
 to say. But he had observed, with some surprise, that 
 while Pack was speaking the foreigner turned round and 
 gazed intently, without showing much of his swarthy face, 
 at himself Philip Penniloe. 
 
A WAGER 251 
 
 Before silence was broken again the " Magnet " drew up 
 at the Blue Ball Inn, where the lane turns off towards 
 Perlycross, and the clergyman, leaving his valise with the 
 landlord, started upon his three-mile trudge. But before 
 he had walked more than a hundred yards he was surprised 
 to see, across the angle of the common, that the coach had 
 stopped again at the top of a slight rise, where a foot-path 
 led from the turnpike road towards the northern entrance 
 to Walderscourt. The clouds were now dispersing, and 
 the full moon shining brightly, and the ground being 
 covered with newly-fallen snow, the light was as good as 
 it is upon many a winter afternoon. Mr. Penniloe was 
 wearing a pair of long-sight glasses, specially adapted to 
 his use by a skilful optician in London, and he was as 
 proud of them as a child is of his first whistle. Without 
 them the coach might have been a hay-stack, or a whale, 
 so far as he could tell ; with them he could see the horses 
 and the passengers and the luggage. 
 
 Having seen too much of that coach already, he was 
 watching it merely as a test for his new glasses ; and the 
 trial proved most satisfactory. " How proud Fay will be," 
 he was thinking to himself, " when I tell her that I can see 
 the big pear-tree from the window, and even the thrushes 
 on the lawn !" But suddenly his interest in the sight in- 
 creased. The man who was standing in the road with 
 his figure shown clearly against a snowy bank was no 
 other than that dark foreigner who had stared at him so 
 intently. There was the slouched hat, and there was the 
 fur cloak, and even the peculiar bend of the neck. A 
 parcel was thrown to him from the roof, and away he 
 went across the common, quite as if he knew the way, 
 through furze and heather, to the back entrance of Wal- 
 derscourt grounds. He could not see the parson in the 
 darker lane below, and doubtless believed himself unseen. 
 
 The circumstance aroused some strange ideas in the 
 candid mind of Penniloe. That man, knowing who he 
 was from Pack's tirade, must have been desirous to avoid 
 him, otherwise he would have quitted the coach at the 
 Blue Ball, and taken this better way to Walderscourt ; for 
 the lane Mr. Penniloe was following led more directly 
 thither by another entrance. What if there were some- 
 
252 PEELYCROSS 
 
 thing, after all, in Gowler's too plausible theory ? That 
 man looked like a Spaniard, probably a messenger from 
 Lady Waldron's scapegrace brother ; for that was his 
 character if plain truth were spoken, without any family 
 gloss upon it. And if he were a messenger, why should 
 he come thus, unless there were something they wanted 
 to conceal ? 
 
 The curate had not traversed all this maze of medita- 
 tions, which made him feel very miserable for of all 
 things he hated suspiciousness, and that one hundred 
 pounds, though needed so sadly, would be obtained at too 
 high a cost if the cost were his faith in womankind 
 when, lo, his own church-tower rose grandly before him, 
 its buttresses and stringing courses capped with sparkling 
 snow, and the yew-tree by the battlements feathered with 
 the same, and away to the east the ivy mantle of the ab- 
 bey, laced and bespangled with the like caprice of beauty, 
 showered from the glittering stores of heaven. 
 
 He put on a spurt through the twinkling air, and the 
 frozen snow crunched beneath his rapid feet, and present- 
 ly he had shaken hands with Muggridge, and Fay in hei" 
 nightgown made a reckless leap from the height of ten 
 stairs into his gladsome arms. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 A SERMON IN STONE 
 
 Now Sergeant Jakes was not allowed to chastise any 
 boys on Sunday. This made the day hang very heavy 
 on his hands ; and as misfortunes never come single, the 
 sacred day robbed him of another fine resource. For Mr. 
 Penniloe would not permit even Muggridge, the pious, the 
 sage, and the prim, to receive any visitors superciliously 
 called by the front-door people " followers " upon that 
 blessed day of rest, when surely the sweeter side of hu- 
 man nature is fostered and inspirited from reading-desk 
 and lectern, from gallery and from pulpit. 
 
 However, even clergymen are inconsistent, as their own 
 wives acknowledge confidentially ; and Mr. Penniloe's lect- 
 ures upon Solomon's Song a treatise then greatly ad- 
 mired as a noble allegory by high-churchmen were not 
 enforced at home by any warmth of practice. Thus stood 
 the law ; and of all offences upon the sergeant's hecat- 
 ologue, mutiny was the most heinous ; therefore he could 
 not mutiny. 
 
 But surely, if Mr. Penniloe could have received, or con- 
 ceived, a germ of the faintest suspicion concerning this 
 faithful soldier's alternatives on the afternoon of the Sab- 
 bath as churchmen still entitled it he would have 
 thrown open every door of kitchen, back-kitchen, scullery, 
 and even pantry to him, that his foot might be kept from 
 so offending. Aye, and more than his foot his breast and 
 arm the only arm he had, and therefore leaving no other 
 blameless. 
 
 It is most depressing to record the lapse of such a 
 lofty character, so gallant, faithful, self-denying, true, 
 austere, and simple though some of these merits may 
 be refused him when the truth comes out as, alas, it 
 must. All that can be pleaded in his favour, is that an- 
 
254 PERLYCROSS 
 
 cient, threadbare, paltry, and (as must even be acknowl- 
 edged) dastardly palliation the woman tempted him, 
 and he fell! Fell from his brisk and jaunty mien, his 
 noble indifference to the fair, and severity to their little 
 ones, his power of example to the rising age, and his pure- 
 minded loyalty to Thyatira, watered by rivers of tea, and 
 fed by acres of bread-and-butter. And the worst of it 
 was that he had sternly resolved, with haughty sense of 
 right and hearty scorn of a previous slip towards back- 
 sliding, that none of this weakness should ever, even in a 
 vision, come anigh him any more. Yet see how easily 
 this rigid man was wound round the ringer of a female 
 " teener " as the Americans beautifully express it ! 
 
 He was sitting very sadly at his big black desk one 
 mild and melancholy Sabbath eve, with the light of the 
 dull day fading out, and failing to make facets from the dia- 
 monds of the windows, and the heavy school-clock ticking 
 feebly, as if it wished time was over ; while shadows that 
 would have frightened any other unmarried man in the 
 parish came in from the silent population of the old 
 church-yard as if it were the haze of another world. A 
 little cloud of smoke, to serve them up with their own 
 sauce, would have consoled the school-master ; but he 
 never allowed any smoking in this temple ef the Muses, 
 and as the light waned he lit his tallow-candle to finish 
 the work that he had in hand. 
 
 This was a work of the highest criticism to revise, 
 correct, and arrange in order of literary merit all the sum- 
 maries of the morning sermon prepared by the head- 
 class in the school. Some of these compositions were 
 of extreme obscurity, and some conveyed very strange 
 doctrinal views. He was inclined to award the palm to 
 the following fine epitome practical, terse, and unim- 
 peachably orthodox : " The sermon was, sir, that all men 
 ort to be good, and never to do no wikked things when- 
 never they can help it." But while he yet paused, with 
 long quill in hand, the heavy oak door from the inner 
 yard was opened very gently, and a slender form attired 
 in black appeared at the end of the long and gloomy 
 room. 
 
 Firm of nerve as he was, the master quailed a little at 
 
A SERMON IN STONE 255 
 
 this unexpected sight ; and therefore it became a very 
 sweet relief when the vision brightened into a living and 
 a friendly damsel, and more than that, a very charming 
 one. All firm resolutions like shadows vanished ; in- 
 stead of a stern and distant air and a very rigid attitude, 
 a smile of delight and a bow of admiration betrayed the 
 condition of his bosom. 
 
 That fair and artless Tamar knew exactly how to place 
 herself to the very best advantage. She stood on the 
 farther side of the candle, so that its low uncertain light 
 hovered on the soft curve of her cheeks and came back 
 in a flow of steady lustre from her large brown eyes. She 
 brushed an unbidden tear away, and timidly allowed those 
 eyes to rest upon the man of learning. No longer was 
 she the gay coquette, coying with frolic challenge, but the 
 gentle, pensive, submissive maiden, appealing to a loftier 
 mind. The sergeant's tender heart was touched, up sprang 
 his inborn chivalry ; and he swept away with his strong 
 right hand the efforts of juvenile piety and the lessons of 
 Holy Writ. 
 
 " Sergeant School-master, no chair for me," Tamar be- 
 gan, in a humble voice, as he offered his own official seat. 
 " I have but a moment to spare, and I fear you will be so 
 angry with me for intruding upon you like this. But I 
 am so oh, so unhappy !" 
 
 " What is it, my dear ? Who has dared to vex you ? 
 Tell me his name, and although it is Sunday ah, just let 
 me come across him !" 
 
 " Nobody, nobody, Sergeant School-master " here she 
 pulled out a handkerchief which a woman would have 
 pronounced at a glance the property of her mistress. 
 " Oh, how shall I dare to tell you who it is ?" 
 
 " I insist upon knowing," said the sergeant, boldly tak- 
 ing the upperhand, because the maiden looked so hum- 
 ble "I insist upon knowing who it is this very moment." 
 
 " Then, if I must tell, if you won't let me off," she an- 
 swered, with a sweet glance and a sweeter smile, " it is 
 nobody else but Sergeant Jakes himself." 
 
 " Me !" exclaimed the veteran ; " whatever have I done? 
 You know that I would be the last in all the world to vex 
 you." 
 
256 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 " Oh, it is because you are so fierce. And that, of 
 course, is because you are so brave." 
 
 " But, my dear my pretty dear, how could I ever be 
 fierce to you ?" 
 
 " Yes, you are going to cane my brother Billy in the 
 morning." 
 
 This was true beyond all cavil deeply and beautifully 
 true. The sergeant stared, and frowned a little. Justice 
 must allow no dalliance. 
 
 "And oh, he has got such chilblains, sir! Two of 
 them broke only yesterday, and will be at their worst in 
 the morning. And he didn't mean it, sir, oh, he never 
 meant it, when he called you an * old beast !' " 
 
 " The discipline of the school must be maintained." 
 Mr. Jakes stroked his beard, which was one of the only 
 pair then grown in the parish (the other being Dr. Gro- 
 now's), for the growth of a beard in those days argued a 
 radical and cantankerous spirit, unless it were that of a 
 military man. Without his beard Mr. Jakes would not 
 have inspired half the needful awe ; and he stroked it 
 now with dignity, though the heart beneath it was indit- 
 ing of an infra dig. idea. " Unhappily, he did it, miss, in 
 the presence of the other boys. It cannot be looked 
 over." 
 
 " Oh, what can I do, sergeant ? What can I do ? I'll 
 do anything you tell me, if you'll only let him off." 
 
 The school-master gave a glance at all the windows. 
 They were well above the level of the ground outside. No 
 one could peep in without standing on a barrel, or getting 
 another boy to give him a leg-up. 
 
 " Tamar, do you mean what you say ?" he inquired, 
 with a glance of mingled tenderness and ferocity the ten- 
 derness for her, the ferocity for her brother. 
 
 " If you have any doubt you have only got to try me. 
 There can't be any harm in that much, can there j" She 
 looked at him with a sly twinkle in her eyes, as much as 
 to say, " Well now, come, don't be so bashful." 
 
 Upon that temptation this long-tried veteran fell from 
 his loyalty and high position. He approached the too 
 fascinating damsel, took her pretty hand, and whispered 
 something through her lovely curls. Alas, the final word 
 
A SERMON IN STONE 257 
 
 of his conditions of abject surrender was one which 
 rhymed with " this," or " Miss," or that which it should 
 have been requited with a hiss. Oh, Muggridge, Mug- 
 gridge, where were you ? Just stirring a cup of unbre- 
 friended tea, and meditating on this man's integrity ! 
 
 " Oh, you are too bad, too bad, sergeant !" exclaimed the 
 young girl, starting back, with both hands lifted, and a 
 most becoming blush. " I never did I never could have 
 thought that you had any mind for such trifles. Why, 
 what would all the people say if I were only to men- 
 tion it ?" 
 
 " Nobody would believe you," replied Mr. Jakes, to 
 quench that idea, while he trembled at it ; adding thereby 
 to his iniquities. 
 
 " Well, perhaps they wouldn't. No, I don't believe 
 they would. But everybody likes a bit of fun some- 
 times. But we won't say another word about it." 
 
 " Won't we though ? I have got a new cane, Tamar 
 the finest I ever yet handled for spring. The rarest thing 
 to go round chilblains. Bargain, or no bargain, now ?" 
 
 " Bargain !" she cried ; " but I couldn't do it now. It 
 must be in a more quieter place. Besides, you might cheat 
 me, and cane him after all. Oh, it is too bad, too bad to 
 thiuk of. Perhaps I might try, next Sunday." 
 
 " But where shall I see you next Sunday, my dear ? 
 ' Never put off ; it gives time for to scoff.' Give me one 
 now, and I'll stick to it." 
 
 " No, Sergeant Jakes. I don't like to tell you, and my 
 father would be so angry. But I don't see what right he 
 has to put me in there. And oh, it is so lonely ! And I am 
 looking out for ghosts, and never have a happy mouth- 
 ful. That old woman will have something to answer for. 
 But it's no good to ask me, sergeant; because because 
 ever so many would be after me, if they only got a hint 
 of it." 
 
 This of course was meant to stop him ; but somehow it had 
 quite the opposite effect ; and at last he got out of the inno- 
 cent girl the whole tale of her Sunday seclusion. The very 
 best handmaid, as everybody knows, will go through the 
 longest and bitterest bout of soaking, shivering, freezing, 
 starving, dragging under wheels, and being blown up to 
 
258 PERLYCROSS 
 
 the sky, rather than forego her " Sunday out." Miss 
 Tamar Haddon was entitled always to this Sabbath 
 travail ; and such was her courage that have it she would, 
 though it blew great guns, and rained cats and dogs. 
 
 Now, her father, as may have been said before, was 
 Walter Haddon of the Ivy-bush, as respectable a man as 
 ever lived, and very fond of his children. This made him 
 anxious for their welfare ; and welfare meaning even 
 then, though not so much as it now does, fair wealth, 
 and farewell poverty, Mr. Haddon did his best to please 
 his wealthy aunt, a childless widow who lived at Perly- 
 combe. For this old lady had promised to leave her 
 money among his children, if they should fail to offend 
 her. In that matter it was a hundredfold easier to suc- 
 ceed than it was to fail ; for her temper was diabolical. 
 Poor Tamar, being of flippant tongue, had already suc- 
 ceeded fatally ; and the first question Mrs. Pods always 
 asked before she got out of her pony-carriage was worded 
 thus : " Is that minx Tamar in the house ?" 
 
 Whatever the weather might be, this lady always drove 
 up with her lame pony to the door of the Ivy-bush at half- 
 past one of a Sunday, expecting to find a good hot dinner, 
 and hot rum-and- water afterwards. For all this refresh- 
 ment she never paid a penny, but presented the children 
 with promises of the fine things they might look forward 
 to. And thus, like too many other rich people, she kept 
 all her capital to herself, and contrived to get posthumous 
 interest upon it on the faith of contingent remainders. 
 
 Now, Tamar's mother was dead ; and her father, know- 
 ing well that all the young sparks of the village were but 
 as the spoils of her bows and bonnets, had contrived a 
 very clever plan for keeping her clear of that bitter Mrs. 
 Pods, without casting her into the way of yokel youths 
 and spry young bachelors of low degree. At the back 
 of his hostlery stood the old abbey, covered with great 
 festoons of ivy, from which the inn probably took its 
 name ; and the only entrance to the ruins was by the 
 arched gateway at the end of his yard, other approaches 
 having been walled up ; and the key of the tall iron gate 
 was kept at this inn for the benefit of visitors. 
 
 The walls of the ancient building could scarcely be seen 
 
A SERMON IN STONE 259 
 
 anywhere for the ivy ; and the cloisters and roofless rooms 
 inside were overgrown with grass and briers. But one 
 large chamber at the end of the passage still retained its 
 vaulted ceiling and stone pavement scarred with age. 
 Perhaps it had been the refectory, for at one side was a 
 deep fireplace, where many a hearty log had roared ; at 
 present its chief business was to refresh Miss Tamar 
 Haddon. A few sticks kindled in the old fireplace, and a 
 bench from the kitchen of the inn, made it a tolerable 
 keeping-room, at least in the hours of daylight ; though 
 at night the bold sergeant himself might have lacked the 
 courage for sound slumber there. 
 
 To this place was the fair Tamar banished, for the sake 
 of the money-bags of Mrs. Pods, from half -past one till 
 three o'clock, on her Sunday visits to the Ivy-bush. 
 Hither the fair maid brought her dinner, steaming in a 
 basin hot, and her father's account-book of rough jottings, 
 which it was her business to verify and interpret ; for, as 
 is the duty of each newer generation, she had attained to 
 higher standard of ennobling scholarship. 
 
 In a few words now she gave the loving sergeant a 
 sketch of this time-serving policy, and her exile from the 
 paternal dinner table, which aroused his gallant wrath ; 
 and then she told him how she had discovered entrance 
 unknown to her father, at a spot where a thicket of syca- 
 mores at the back of the ruins concealed a loop-hole not 
 very difficult to scale. She could make her escape by 
 that way, if she chose, after her father had locked her in, 
 if it were not for spoiling her Sunday frock. And if her 
 father went on so, for the sake of pleasing that ugly old 
 frump, she was blest if she would not try that plan, and 
 sit on the river-bank far below, as soon as the spring dried 
 up the rubbish. But if the sergeant thought it worth 
 his while to come and afford her a little good advice, per- 
 haps he might discover her Sunday hat waving among 
 the ivy. 
 
 This enamoured veteran accepted tryst with a stout 
 heart but frail conscience. The latter would haply have 
 prevailed, if only the wind had the gift of carrying words 
 which the human being does not utter, but thinks and 
 forms internally. For the sly maid to herself said this, 
 
260 PERLYCROSS 
 
 while she hastened to call her big brother Watty to see 
 her safe back to Walderscourt. 
 
 " What a poor old noodle ! As if I cared twopence 
 how much he whacks Billy ! Does he think I would ever 
 let him come anigh me if it wasn't to turn him inside 
 out ? Now if it were Low Jarks, his young brother, that 
 would be quite another pair of shoes." 
 
 On the following Sunday it was remarked, by even 
 the less observant boys, that their venerated master was 
 not wearing his usual pair of black Sunday breeches, with 
 purple worsted stockings showing a wiry and muscular 
 pair of legs. Strange to say, instead of those, he had his 
 second-best small-clothes on, with dark brown gaiters to 
 the knee, and a pair of thick laced shoes instead of Sunday 
 pumps with silk rosettes. So wholly unversed in craft, 
 as yet, was this good hero of a hundred fights. Thyatira 
 also marked this change, with some alarm and wonder ; 
 but little dreamed she in her simple faith of any rival 
 Delilah. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe's sermon that Sunday morning was of a 
 deeply moving kind. He felt that much was expected of 
 him, after his visit to London, where he must have seen 
 the King and Queen, and they might even have set eyes on 
 him. He put his long-sight glasses on so that he could 
 see anybody that required preaching at ; and although he 
 was never a cushion-thumper, he smote home to many a 
 too comfortable bosom. Then he gave them the soft end 
 of the rod to suck, as a conscientious preacher always 
 does, after smiting hip and thigh, with a weapon too in- 
 digenous. In a word, it was an admirable sermon, and 
 one even more to be loved than admired, inasmuch as it 
 tended to spread good-will among men, as a river that has 
 its source in heaven. 
 
 Sergeant Jakes, with his stiff stock on, might be 
 preached at forever without fetching a blink. He sat 
 bolt upright, and every now and then flapped the stump of 
 his left arm against his sound heart, not with any eager- 
 ness to drive the lesson home, but in proof of cordial ap- 
 probation of hits that must tell upon his dear friends 
 round about. One cut especially was meant for Farmer 
 John ; and he was angry with that thick-skinned man for 
 
A SEKMON IN STONE 261 
 
 staring at another man as if it were for him. And then there 
 was a passage that was certain to come home to his own 
 brother Robert, who began to slaughter largely, and was 
 taking quite money enough to be of interest to the pulpit. 
 But everybody present seemed to Jakes to be applying 
 everything to everybody else a disinterested process of 
 the noblest turn of thought. 
 
 However, those who have much faith and who can fail 
 to have some ? in the exhortations of good men who prac- 
 tise their own preaching, would have been confirmed in 
 their belief by this man's later conduct. Although the 
 body of the church had been reopened for some weeks 
 now, with the tower-arch finished and the south wall re- 
 built, yet there were many parts still incomplete, especially 
 the chancel where the fine stone screen was being erected 
 as a reredos ; and this still remained in the builder's hands, 
 with a canvas partition hiding it. 
 
 When the congregation had dispersed, Mr. Jakes slipped 
 in behind that partition and stood by a piece of sculpture 
 which he always had admired. In a recess of the north- 
 ern wall was a kneeling figure in pure white marble of a 
 beautiful maiden, claimed by death on the very eve of her 
 wedding-day. She slept in the Waldron vaults below, while 
 here the calm sweet face, portrayed in substance more 
 durable than ours, spoke through everlasting silence of 
 tenderness, purity, and the more exalted love. 
 
 The sergeant stood with his hard eyes fixed upon that 
 tranquil countenance. It had struck him more than once 
 that Tamar's face was something like it ; and he had come 
 to see whether that were so. He found that he had been 
 partly right, but in more important matters wrong. In 
 profile, general outline, and the rounding of the cheeks, 
 there was a manifest resemblance. But in the expression 
 and quality of the faces, what a difference ! Here all was 
 pure, refined and noble, gentle, placid, spiritual. There 
 all was tempting, flashing, tricksome, shallow, earthly, sen- 
 suous. 
 
 He did not think those evil things, for he was not a 
 physiognomist ; but still he felt the good ones ; and his 
 mind being in the better tone through commune with 
 the preacher's face, which does more than the words some- 
 
262 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 times, when all the heart is in it the wonted look of firm- 
 ness, and of defiance of the devil, returned to his weath- 
 er-beaten face. The gables of his eyebrows, which had 
 expanded and grown shaky, came back to their proper span 
 and set ; he nodded sternly, as if in pursuit of himself with 
 a weapon of chastisement; and his mouth closed as hard 
 as a wrench-hammer does with the last turn of the screw 
 upon it. Then he sneered at himself, and sighed as he 
 passed the empty grave of his colonel what would that 
 grand old warrior have thought of this desertion to the 
 enemy ? 
 
 But, ashamed as he was of his weak surrender and 
 treachery to his colours, his pride and plighted word com- 
 pelled him to complete his enterprise. The abbey stood 
 near the church-yard wall, but on that side there was no 
 entrance ; and to get at the opposite face of the buildings, 
 a roundabout way must be taken ; and Jakes resolved now 
 that he would not skulk by the lower path from the corner, 
 but walk boldly across the meadow from the lane that led 
 to Perlycombe. This was a back way with no house upon 
 it, and, according to every one's belief, here must have 
 lurked that horse and cart on the night of that awful out- 
 rage. 
 
 Even to a one-handed man, there was no great diffi- 
 culty in entering one of the desolate courts by the loop- 
 hole from the thicket ; and there he met the fair recluse 
 in a manner rather disappointing to her. Not that she 
 cared at all to pursue her light flirtation with him, but that 
 her vanity was shocked when he failed to demand his 
 sweet reward. And he called her " Miss Haddon," and 
 treated her with a respect she did not appreciate. But 
 she led him to her lonely bower, and roused up the fire for 
 him, for the weather was becoming more severe, and she 
 rallied him on his clemency, which had almost amount- 
 ed to weakness, ever since he allowed her brother Billy to 
 escape. 
 
 " Fair is fair, miss," the master answered, pensively. 
 " As soon as you begin to let one off, you are bound to 
 miss the rest of them." 
 
 " Who have they got to thank for that ? I am afraid 
 they will never know," she said, with one of her most be- 
 
A SERMON IN STONE 263 
 
 witching smiles, as she came and sat beside him. " Poor 
 little chaps ! How can I thank you for giving them such 
 a nice time, sergeant ?" 
 
 The veteran wavered for a moment, as that comely face 
 came nigh, and the glossy hair she had contrived to loosen 
 fell almost on his shoulders. She had dressed herself in a 
 killing manner, while a lover's knot of mauve-coloured rib- 
 bon relieved the dulness of her frock, and enhanced the 
 whiteness of her slender neck. But, for all that, the ser- 
 geant was not to be killed, and his mind was prepared for 
 the crisis. He glanced around first, not for fear of any- 
 body, but as if he desired witnesses ; and then he arose 
 from the bench, and looked at this seductive maiden with 
 eyes that had a steady sparkle, hard to be discomfited by 
 any storm of flashes. 
 
 " Tamar," he said, " let us come to the point. I have 
 been a fool, and you know it. You are very young, but 
 somehow you know it. Now, have you meant, from first 
 to last, that you would ever think of marrying me ?" 
 
 It never should have been put like that. Why, you 
 must never say a word, nor use your eyes except for read- 
 ing, nor even look in your looking-glass, if things are taken 
 in that way. 
 
 " Oh, sergeant, how you frighten me ! I suppose I 
 am never to smile again. Who ever dreamed of marry- 
 ing?" 
 
 "Well, I did," he answered, with a twinkle of his eyes 
 and squaring of his shoulders. " I am riot too old for 
 everybody, but I am much too old for you. Do you think 
 I would have come here else ? But it is high time to stop 
 this fun." 
 
 " I don't call it fun at all," said Tamar, fetching a lit- 
 tle sob of fright. " What makes you look so cross at 
 me?" 
 
 " I did not mean to look cross, my dear." The ser- 
 geant's tender heart was touched. "I should be a brute 
 if I looked cross. It is the way the Lord has made my 
 eyes. Perhaps they would never do for married life." 
 
 " That's the way all of them look," said Tamar, " unless 
 they get everything they want. But you didn't look like 
 that last Sunday." 
 
264 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 "No. But I ought. Now settle this: Would you ever 
 think of marrying me ?" 
 
 " No. Not on no account. You may be sure of that. 
 Not even if you was dipped in diamonds." The spirit 
 of the girl was up, and her true vulgarity came out. 
 
 " According to my opinion of you, that would make all 
 the difference," said the sergeant, also firing up. " And 
 now, Miss Haddon, let us say 'Good-bye.'" 
 
 " Let me come to myself, dear Sergeant Jakes. I never 
 meant to be rude to you. But they do court me so differ- 
 ent. Sit down for a minute. It is so lonely, and I have 
 heard such frightful things. Father won't be coming for 
 half an hour yet. And, after the way you went on, I am 
 so nervous. How my heart goes pit-a-pat! You brave 
 men cannot understand such things." 
 
 At this moving appeal Mr. Jakes returned and endeav- 
 oured to allay her terrors. 
 
 " It is all about those dreadful men," she said ; " I can- 
 not sleep at night for thinking of them. You know all 
 about them. If you could only tell me what you are do- 
 ing to catch them. They say that you have found out 
 where they went, and are going to put them in jail next 
 week. Is it true ? People do tell such stories. But you 
 found it all out by yourself, and you know all the rights 
 of it." 
 
 With a little more coaxing and trembling and gasping, 
 she contrived to get out of him all that he knew concern- 
 ing the matter to the present time. Crang had identified 
 the impressions as the footmarks of the disabled horse, 
 and a search of the cave by torchlight showed that it 
 must have been occupied lately. A large button with a 
 raised rim, such as are used on sailor's overalls, had been 
 found near the entrance, and inside were prints of an 
 enormous boot, too big for any man in Perlycross. Also, 
 the search had been carried farther, and the tracks of a 
 horse and a narrow-wheeled cart could be made out here 
 and there, until a rough flinty lane was come to, leading 
 over the moors to the Honiton road. All these things 
 were known to Dr. Fox, and most of them to Mr. Penni- 
 loe, who had just returned from London, and the matter 
 was now in skilful hands. But everything must be kept 
 
A SEEMON IN STONE 265 
 
 very quiet, or the chance of pursuing the clew might be 
 lost. 
 
 Tamar vowed solemnly that she would never tell a word ; 
 and away went the sergeant, well pleased with himself, as 
 the bells began to ring for the afternoon service. 
 12 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 THE OLD MILL 
 
 COMBING up on the south like a great tidal wave, Hag- 
 don Hill for miles looks down on the beautiful valley of 
 the Perle, and then at the western end breaks down into 
 steep declivities and wooded slopes. Here the Susscot 
 brook has its sources on the southern side of the long, 
 gaunt range outside the parish of Perlycross ; and gather- 
 ing strength at every stretch from flinty trough and mossy 
 runnel, is big enough to trundle an old millwheel a long 
 while before it gets to Joe Crang's forge. 
 
 This mill is situated very sweetly for those who love to 
 be outside the world. It stands at the head of a winding 
 hollow fringed along the crest with golden gorse, wild 
 roses by the thousand, and the silvery gleam of birch. 
 Up this pretty " goyal," as they call it, there is a fine 
 view of the ancient mill lonely, decrepit, and melancholy 
 with the flints dropping out of its scarred wall-face, the 
 tattered thatch rasping against the wind, and the big wheel 
 dribbling idly ; for the wooden carrier that used to keep 
 it splashing and spinning merrily sprawls away on its 
 trestles, itself a wreck, broken-backed and bulging. 
 
 And yet in its time this mill has done well, and pound- 
 ed the corn of a hundred farms ; for, strange as it may 
 be, the Perle itself is exceedingly shy of mill-work, being 
 broken upon no wheel save those of the staring and white- 
 washed factory which disfigures the village of Perlycross. 
 Therefore from many miles around came cart and butt and 
 van and wain to this out-of-the-way and hard-to-find but 
 flourishing and useful Tremlett mill. That its glory has 
 departed and its threshold is deserted, came to pass through 
 no fault of wheel or water, or even wanton trade seduced 
 by younger rivals. Man alone was to blame, and he could 
 
THE OLD MILL 267 
 
 not seldom incapable as he is of that even put the fault 
 on woman. 
 
 The Tremletts were of very ancient race, said to be of 
 Norman origin, and this mill had been theirs for genera- 
 tions. Thrifty, respectable, and hard-working, they had 
 worn out many millstones one of which had been set up 
 in the church-yard, an honour to itself and owner and 
 patched up a 'lot of ages of millwheels (the only useful 
 revolution) until there came into the small human sluice a 
 thread of vile weed that clogged everything up a vein of 
 bad blood that tainted all varicose, sluggish, intractable. 
 
 What man can explain such things, even to his own 
 satisfaction ? Yet everybody knows that it is so, and too 
 often with the people who have been in front of him. 
 Down went the Tremletts for a hundred years quite a 
 trifle to such an old family and the wheel ceased to turn, 
 and the hearth had nought to burn, and the brook took to 
 running in a low, perverted course. 
 
 But even sad things may be beautiful, like the grandest 
 of all human tragedies ; and here before Mr. Penniloe's 
 new long-sighted glasses, which already had a fine effect 
 upon his mind, was a new sight, worth all the three sov- 
 ereigns he had paid, in addition to the three he had lived 
 under. No monarch of the world let alone this little 
 isle could have gilded and silvered and pearled and jew- 
 elled his most sumptuous palace and his chambers of de- 
 light with a tithe of the beauty here set forth by nature, 
 whose adornments come and go at every breath. 
 
 For there had just been another heavy fall of snow, and 
 the frost having firm hold of the air, the sun had no more 
 power than a great white star, glistening rather than shin- 
 ing, and doubtful of his own dominion in the multitude of 
 sparkles. Everything that stood across the light was clad 
 with dazzling raiment; branch and twig and reed and 
 osier, pillowed with lace of snow above and fringed with 
 chenille of rime below. Under and through this arcade 
 of radiance stood the old millwheel for now it could 
 stand black and massive, and leaning on pellucid pillars 
 of glistening ice. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe lifted up his heart to God, as he always 
 did at any of His glorious works, and then he proceeded 
 
268 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 to his own less brilliant but equally chilling duty. Several 
 times he knocked vainly at the rickety door of the remain- 
 ing room, until at last a harsh voice cried, "Come in, 
 can't 'e ? Nort for 'e to steal here." 
 
 Then he pulled the leather thong, an old boot-lace, and 
 the grimy wooden latch clicked up, and the big door stag- 
 gered inward. Everything looked cold and weist and 
 haggard in the long, low room he entered, and hunger- 
 stricken, though of solid fabric once, and even now tolera- 
 bly free from dirt. At the farther end, and in a gloomy 
 recess, was a large, low bedstead of ancient oak, carved 
 very boldly and with finely flowing lines. Upon it lay a 
 very aged woman of large frame and determined face, 
 wearing a high yellow cap, and propped by three coarse 
 pillows, upon which fell the folds of a French shawl of 
 rich material. 
 
 She had thick eyebrows, still as black as a coal, and 
 fierce gray eyes with some fire in them still, and a hooked 
 nose that almost overhung a pointed chin, and her long 
 bony arms lay quivering upon a quilt of well-worn patch- 
 work. She looked at Mr. Penniloe, discerning him clearly 
 without the aid of spectacles, and saluted him with a slight 
 disdainful nod. 
 
 " Oh, passon, is it ? Well, what have 'e got to say to 
 me ?" Her voice was hard and pitched rather high, and 
 her gaunt jaws worked with a roll of wrinkles intended for 
 a playful grin. 
 
 " Mrs. Tremlett, I was told that you wished to see me, 
 and that it is a solemn moment with you that soon you 
 will stand in the presence of a merciful but righteous 
 Judge." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe approached her with a kind and gentle 
 look, and offered to take one of her clinched and with- 
 ered hands ; but she turned the knuckles to him with a 
 sudden twist, and so sharp were they that they almost 
 cut his palm. He drew back a little, and a flash of 
 spiteful triumph told him that she had meant this rasper 
 for him. 
 
 " Bain't a-gwain' to die yet," she said ; " I be only nine- 
 ty-one, and my own moother wor ninety-five afore her lost 
 a tooth. I reckon I shall see 'e out yet, Master Passon ; 
 
THE OLD MILL 269 
 
 for 'e don't look very brave no, that 'e don't. Wants a 
 little drap out o' my bottle, I conzider." 
 
 The clergyman feared that there was little to be done ; 
 but he never let the devil get the best of him, and he 
 betook himself to one of his most trustworthy resources. 
 
 " Mrs. Tremlett, I will, with your permission, offer a few 
 simple words of prayer, not only for you, but for myself, 
 my friend. You can repeat the words after me, if you 
 feel disposed." 
 
 " Stop !" she cried, " stop !" and threw out both hands 
 with great vigour as he prepared to kneel. " Why, you ha'n't 
 gi'en me the zhillin' yet. You always gives Betty Cork a 
 zhillin' afore 'e begins to pray to her. Bain't my soul 
 worth every penny of what Betty Cork's be ?" 
 
 The parson was distressed at this inverted view of the 
 value of his ministrations. Nevertheless he pulled out 
 the shilling, which she clapped with great promptitude 
 under her pillow, and then turned her back upon him. 
 
 " Goo on now, passon, as long as ever 'e wull } but not 
 too much noise like, case I might drop off to sleep." 
 
 Her attitude was not too favourable ; but the curate had 
 met with many cases quite as bad, and he never allowed 
 himself to be discouraged. And something perhaps in his 
 simple words, or the powers of his patient humility, gave 
 a better and a softer turn to the old woman's moody 
 mind. 
 
 "Passon, be you a honest man?" she inquired, when he 
 had risen, pronouncing the "h" in "honest" very strongly, 
 as is often done in Devonshire. " B'lieve 'e be a good 
 man. But be 'e honest ?" 
 
 " My goodness, as you call it, would be very small in- 
 deed, unless I were honest, Mrs. Tremlett. Without hon- 
 esty all is hypocrisy." 
 
 " And you bain't no hypocrite ; though 'e may be a vule. 
 Most fine scholards is big vules, and half-scholards always 
 maketh start for rogues. But I'll trust 'e, passon ; and 
 the Lord will strike 'e dead, being in his white sleeves, if 
 'e goo again the truth. What do 'e say to that, Passon 
 Penniloe ? What do 'e think of that there ? And thee 
 praying for me, as if I hadn't got ne'er a coffin's worth !" 
 
 The old lady pulled out a canvas bag, and jingled it 
 
270 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 against Mr. Penniloe's gray locks. Strong vitality was in 
 her face. How could she die, with all that to live for ? 
 
 " Vifty-two guineas of Jarge the Zecond. T'other come 
 to the throne afore I did it ; but his head wasn't out 
 much, and they might goo back of his 'en. So I took 
 'un of the man as come afore, and there they has 
 been ever since threescore years, and ten, and two. 
 The Lord knoweth, if He reckon'th up the sparrows, what 
 a fine young woman I were then. There bain't such a 
 one in all the county now. Six foot high, twenty inch 
 across the shoulders, and as straight as a hazel wand 
 sucker'd from the root. Have mercy on you, passon ! 
 Your wife, as used to come to see me, was a very purty 
 woman. But in the time of my delight I could a' taken 
 her with one hand, and done well, chucked her over 
 Horseshoe." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" Mr. Penniloe asked, and his 
 quiet eyes bore down the boastful gaze, and altered the 
 tone of the old virago. 
 
 " Nort, sir, nort. It bain't no use to worrit me. Her 
 tumbled off the clift, and her bruk her purty nack. Her 
 was spying too much after coney's holes, I reckon. 
 But her always waz that tender-hearted. You bain't fit to 
 hold a can'le to her, with all your precious prayers and lit- 
 anies. But I'll trust 'e, passon, for her zake. Vetch 
 thiccy old book out o' cubbert." 
 
 In the cupboard near the fireplace he found an ancient 
 Bible, bound in black leather, and fortified with silver 
 clasps and corners. 
 
 " Hold that there book in your right hand, and this 
 here bag in t'other ;" the old lady still clave to the bag, 
 as if far more precious than the Bible " and then you 
 say slowly after me, same as I was to do the prayers, " I, 
 Passon Penniloe, of Perlycross, Christian minister, do 
 hereby make oath and swear that I will do with this bag 
 of money as Zipporah Tremlett telleth me, so help me 
 God Almighty." 
 
 " Stop, if you please. I will make no such promise 
 until I know all about it ;" objected Mr. Penniloe, while 
 she glared at him with rising anger, and then nodded as 
 something occurred to her. 
 
THE OLD MILL 271 
 
 " Well, then, I'll tell 'e fust ; and no call for prabbles. 
 This money bain't none o' they Tremletts ; every farden of 
 theirs is gone long ago, although they had ten times so 
 much as this, even while I can mind of 'un. All this, ex- 
 cept for a bit of a sto'un in the lower cornder, and that 
 hath been hundreds of years with the Tremletts, but all 
 the rest cometh from my own father, and none on 'em 
 knoweth a word of it. Wouldn't believe if they did, I 
 reckon. Zippy, that's my granddarter as minds me, her 
 hath orders to hum for her life and vetch you night or 
 day, mind fust moment the breath be gone out of my 
 body. And every varden of it is for she. You be to 
 take it from this here little nestie, wi'out a word to no 
 one, and keep it zealed up under lock and key, till Zippy 
 be eighteen year of age, and then, accordm' to your oath, 
 you putt it into her two hands. If 'e do that, passon, 
 I'll die a Christian, arid you be welcome of me to your 
 church-yard. But if 'e 'on't do it, then I'll die a hathen, 
 and never go to no church-yard, same as scores and scores 
 of the Tremletts is. Now, do 'e care for the soul of an 
 old 'ooman ? Or would 'e soonder her went to the devil?" 
 
 By this alternative the curate felt much pressure put 
 upon his conscience. If there were no other way to save 
 her, he must even dispense with legal form, and accept a 
 trust which might for all he knew defraud the revenue 
 of legacy-duty, and even some honest solicitor of a con- 
 tribution to his livelihood. But first he must be certain 
 that the scheme was just and rational. 
 
 " No fear of robbing nobody. They Tremletts be a 
 shocking lot," she said, with amiable candour. "Just slip 
 the wedge on top of latch, for fear one on 'em should 
 come to see if I be dead ; though, I reckon, this weather 
 it would be too much for either son or darter. Wouldn't 
 'em hum, if 'emknowed of this? But here I may lie and 
 be worm-eaten. And chillers of my own my own buys 
 and girls. Dree-quarters of a score I've had, and not 
 one on 'em come anigh me ! Never was a harrier-bird 
 could fly so fast as every one on 'em would to this old 
 bed, if 'em knowed what be in it. No, I be a liar every 
 one on 'em can't, because the biggest half be gone. 
 Twelve buys there was, and dree wenches of no 'count. 
 
272 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 Dree buys was hanged, back in the time of Jarge the 
 Third, to Exeter jail, for ship-staling, and one to Gibbet- 
 moor, for what a' did upon the road. Your on 'em was 
 sent over seas, for running a few bits of goods from 
 France. Two on 'em be working to Whetstone pits, 'cord- 
 ing to their own account, though I reckon they does 
 another sort of job now and again. And as for t'other 
 two, the Lord, or the devil, knoweth what be come to 
 they. Not one on 'em comes nigh poor old moother, 
 who might a' died years ago 'cept for little Zippy. 
 Though little Zip's father have a' been here now and then. 
 The biggest and the wildest of the dozen I call him, though 
 a' kapeth wonderful out of jail. 'Tis his cheel he comes 
 to see, not his poor old moother. Look 'e 'ere, passon, all 
 the ins and outs of 'un be set down rarely in that there 
 Book ; same as the game with lines and crosses we used 
 to play with a oyster - shell, fourscore years agone and 
 more." 
 
 On three or four leaves of the ancient Bible, bound in 
 for that purpose, was a pedigree of these Tremletts of the 
 Mill, descending from the fourteenth century. Mr. Pen- 
 niloe looked at it with no small interest. What a pity to 
 find them come to this ! The mill itself had been a fall, 
 no doubt; but the Whetstone pits were a great descent 
 from that. 
 
 " Tremletts has always had one or two fine scholards" 
 the old woman had a strange theory about this. " 'Twor 
 all along o' that they come down so. Whenever any man 
 taketh much to books, a' stoppeth up his ears to good ad- 
 vice, and a' heedeth of his head-piece, and robbeth of 's 
 own belly. But there, no matter. I can do a bit myself. 
 Have 'e made up your mind about my poor soul?" 
 
 From the toss of her nose, Mr. Penniloe was afraid that 
 she was not much in earnest about that little matter. And 
 in common-sense, he was loath to get entangled with the 
 nettles and briers of such a queer lot. 
 
 " I think, Mrs. Tremlett," he said, with a smile contain- 
 ing some light of wavering, " that your wisest plan by far 
 would be to have a short will drawn up, and leave the 
 money " 
 
 " Gi'e me my bag, and go thy ways," she screamed in a 
 
THE OLD MILL 273 
 
 fury, though the bag was in her claws. " No church-yard 
 for me, and my soul at thy door, thou white-livered, black- 
 smocked passon !" 
 
 Her passion struck into her lungs or throat, and she 
 tore at her scraggy chest to ease the pain and gripe of a 
 violent coughing-fit. Mr. Penniloe supported her massive 
 head, for if it fell back it might never rise again. 
 
 " A drap out o' bottle !" she gasped at last, pointing 
 to the cupboard where the Bible had been. He propped 
 up her head with a pillow on end, and took from the cup- 
 board a long-necked bottle of the best French brandy and 
 a metal pannikin. 
 
 " No watter ! No watter !" the old woman shrieked, as 
 he went towards a pitcher that stood by the chimney. 
 " Watter spileth all. No vear ! Vill up !" 
 
 He gave her the pannikin full, and she tipped it off like 
 a mouthful of milk, and then sat up and looked at him 
 steadily. 
 
 " I be no drunkard," she said, " though a man as know- 
 eth nort might vancy it. Never touches that stuff, excep' 
 for physic. I've a seed too much what comes of that. 
 Have a drap, wull 'e ? Clane glass over yanner." 
 
 She seemed annoyed again at his refusal, but presently 
 subsided into a milder vein, as if she were soothed by the 
 mighty draught instead of becoming excited. 
 
 " Naden't have troubled 'e, passon," she said, " but for 
 zending of little Zip away. I'll tell 'e why, now just. Bet- 
 ter cheel never lived than little Zip. Her tendeth old 
 granny night and day, though her getteth a tap on the 
 head now and then. But her mustn't know of this here 
 money, or her father 'd have it out of her in two zeconds. 
 Now 'e see why I won't make no will. Now, will 'e do 
 what I axed of 'e ?" 
 
 After some hesitation the parson gave his promise. He 
 had heard from his wife about poor little Zip, and how 
 faithful she was to her old grandmother, and he felt that 
 it would be unfair to the child to deprive her of the 
 chance in life this money might procure ; while he knew 
 that if he declined the trust, not a penny would she ever 
 see of it. He insisted, however, upon one precaution 
 that the owner should sign a memorandum of the gift, 
 12* 
 
274 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 and place it with the guineas in the bag, and then hand 
 the whole to him as trustee, completing by delivery the 
 donatio mortis causA. In spite of her sufferings from the 
 ruinous effects of the higher education, Zipporah could 
 sign her name very fairly, and a leaf of her grandchild's 
 copy-book served very well for the memorial prepared by 
 Mr. Penniloe. 
 
 " Now rouse up the fire there, 'e must be vroze a'most," 
 Mrs. Tremlett said when that was finished, and she had 
 shown him where she concealed the treasure. " * One good 
 toorn desarves another,' as I've heerd say, though never 
 had much chance of proving it ; and I could tell 'e a thing 
 or two 'e might be glad to know, Passon Penniloe, wi'out 
 doing harm to nobody. Fust place, then, you mind hear- 
 ing of the man as gi'ed that doiled zany of a blacksmith 
 such a turn how long agone was it? I can't say justly ; 
 but the night after Squire Waldron's vuneral." 
 
 " To be sure. The big man with the lame horse, at 
 Susscot ford." 
 
 " Well, that was my son Harvey, little Zip's father. 
 You see the name in big Bible. French name it waz 
 then, spelled different, and with a stroke to the tail, as 
 maight be. Tremletts had a hankering after foreign lan- 
 guages. See 'un all down the page you can." 
 
 " What, Mrs. Tremlett !" exclaimed the parson. " Are 
 you aware what you are doing ? Informing against your 
 own son and one of the very few remaining !" 
 
 "Zober now, zober! Don't 'e be a vule, passon. I 
 knows well enough what I be adoing of. Just I wants 
 'un out of way, till arter I be buried like. I zent his little 
 darter to the pits to-day, to tell 'un as how you knowed 
 of it. That '11 mak' 'un cut sticks, till I be underground, 
 I reckon." 
 
 As the old woman grinned and nodded at her own sa- 
 gacity, a horrible idea crossed the mind of Mr. Penniloe. 
 Could she be afraid that her own son would dig up her 
 body and dispose of it ? 
 
 Before he had condemned himself for such a vile sus- 
 picion Mrs. Tremlett seemed to have read his thoughts ; 
 for she smiled with bitter glory, as if she had caught a 
 pious man yielding to impiety. 
 
THE OLD MILL 275 
 
 " No, Harvey bain't no body-snatcher leastways not as 
 I ever heer'd on ; though most volk would say a' was bad 
 enough for anything. All that I wants 'un out of way 
 for is that he mayn't have the chance to rob his darter. 
 He loveth of the little maid so much as Old Nick 'loweth 
 him. But he could never kape his hands out of this here 
 bag if a' zeed 'un. And as for your folk doin' any hurt 
 to 'un, 'twould be more use for 'e to drive nails into a 
 shadow than to lay hold of Harvey when he knoweth you 
 be arter 'un. And even if 'e wor to vind 'un, man alive, it 
 would be a bad job for you, or for zix such men as you be, 
 to come nigh the hands of Harvey Tremlett. Yolk about 
 these parts don't know nort of 'un, else they'd have had 
 'un for the 'rastling long ago. He hath been out a good 
 deal among the gypsies and sailor-folk and so on; and 
 the Lord knows He mustn't look for too very much of 
 good in 'un." 
 
 " We must make allowances, Mrs. Tremlett. We never 
 do justice to our fellow-men, in that way." Mr. Penniloe 
 was saying to himself, while he spoke " and a great deal 
 must be allowed for such bringing-up as yours, ma'am." 
 " But have you anything more to tell me about that 
 shocking thing that is such a sad disgrace to Perlycross?" 
 The parson buttoned up his spencer, as if he still felt that 
 dirty Pack's hits below the belt. 
 
 " I could tell 'e a zight of things, if I waz so minded, 
 about what they vules to Perlycross, and you among 
 t'others, be mazed about. I can't make 'un out myself ; 
 but I be free to swear you'm a passel of idiots. Tremletts 
 was bad enough ; no vamley could be worse a'most ; and 
 much older they was than any Waldrons. But none on 
 'em never was dug up for generations. Won'erful things 
 has come to them things as would fill books bigger than 
 this Bible ; because 'em always wor above the lids of the 
 Ten Commandments. But 'em always had peace, so soon 
 as they was dead, till such time as the devil could come 
 for'un, and he don't care for no corpses. They Waldrons 
 is tame no French blood in 'em. Vitted for big pews 
 in church, and big vunerals. Vellers not laikely to be dug 
 up, when that waz never done to Tremletts. Passon, I 
 could tell 'c such a saight of things as would make the hair 
 
276 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 creep round the head of thee. Can't talk no more, or my 
 cough will come on. Will tell 'e all about your little boy, 
 Mike ; if 'e come again when this vrost is over. And 
 then I'll show 'e Zip. But I can't talk vair while the 
 houze be so cold. I've a dooed too much to-day, for a 
 'ooman in her ninety-zecond year. You come again about 
 this day wake. I trust 'e now, passon. You be a good 
 man, because you'm got no good blood in you. A old 
 'ooman's blessing won't do 'e no harm." 
 
 Vast is the power of a good kind face, and of silence 
 at the proper moment. The Curate of Perlycross pos- 
 sessed that large and tender nature at which the weak 
 are apt to scoff, because they are not afraid of it. Over 
 them no influence can last, for there is nothing to lay hold 
 of. But a strong-willed person, like that old woman, has 
 substance that can be dealt with, if handled kindly and 
 without pretence. Thus Mr. Penniloe indulged seme 
 hope of soothing and softening that fierce and flinty nat- 
 ure, and guiding it towards that peace on earth which 
 is the surest token of the amnesty above. 
 
 But while he was at breakfast on the following day he 
 was told that a little maid was at the front door, crying 
 very bitterly, and refusing to come in. He went out alone, 
 but not a syllable would she utter until he had closed the 
 door behind him. There she stood, shivering in the 
 snow and sobbing bitterly, very poorly dressed, and with 
 nothing on her head, but mopping her eyes and nose 
 as she turned away with a handkerchief of the finest 
 lace. 
 
 " Zip," was all the answer Mr. Penniloe could get to 
 his gentle inquiry as to who she was ; and then she looked 
 at him with large and lustrous eyes, beautifully fringed 
 below as well as above, and announcing very clearly that 
 she was discussing him within. Although he guessed what 
 her errand was, the clergyman could not help smiling at 
 her earnest and undisguised probation of his character ; 
 and that smile settled the issue in his favour. 
 
 " You be to coom to wance ;" her vowel-sounds were of 
 the purest Devonshire air, winged by many a quill, but 
 never summed in pen by any ; " wi'out no stapping to 
 think, you be to coom !" 
 
THE OLD MILL 277 
 
 " What an imperious little Zenobia !" said Mr. Penni- 
 loe, in self-commune. 
 
 " Dunno, whatt thiccy be. Grandmoother zayeth, 'e must 
 coom to wance. But her be dead, zince the can'le gooed 
 out." Her eyes burst into another flood, and she gave up 
 the job of sopping it. 
 
 "My dear, I will come with you in half a minute. 
 Come and stand in the warmth till I am ready." 
 
 " Noo, noo ; I bain't to stop. Putt on hat and coom 
 raight awai. Vire gooed out, and can'le gooed out, and 
 granny gooed out along wi' 'un." 
 
 Mr. Pennilo.e huddled his spencer on while the staring 
 child danced with impatience in the snow ; and quiet 
 little Fay came and glanced at her and wondered how 
 such things could be. But Fay would not stare, because 
 she was a little lady. 
 
 The clergyman was very quick of foot ; but the child, 
 with her long Tremlett legs, kept easily in front of him 
 all the way, with the cloud of her black hair blowing out 
 on the frosty air, to hurry him. 
 
 " I bain y t aveared of her. Be you ?" said the little maid, 
 as she rose on tiptoe to pull the thong of the heavy latch. 
 " If her coom back, her would say, * Good cheel, Zippy !' " 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 PANIC 
 
 CHRISTMAS DAY fell on Friday that year, and the fu- 
 neral of that ancient woman took place on the previous 
 afternoon. The curate had never read the burial-service 
 before so small an audience. For the weather was bitterly 
 cold, and poor Mrs. Tremlett had outlived all her friends, 
 if she ever had any ; no one expected a farthing from her, 
 and no one cared to come and shudder at her grave. Of 
 all her many descendants none except the child Zip was 
 present; and she would have stood alone upon the frozen 
 bank unless Mrs. Muggridge had very kindly offered to 
 come and hold the shivering and streaming little hand. 
 
 What was to be done with Zip ? Nobody came for- 
 ward. There were hundreds of kind people in the parish, 
 and dozens to whom the poor waif would have been a 
 scarcely perceptible burden. Yet nobody cared to have a 
 Tremlett at his hearth, and everybody saw the duty marked 
 out for his neighbour. 
 
 " Then I will take her," said Mr. Penniloe, with his true 
 benevolence, "but the difficulty is where to place her. 
 She cannot well be among my children yet until I know 
 more about her. And, although the old family is so re- 
 duced, the kitchen is scarcely the place for her." How- 
 ever, that question soon answered itself ; and though lit- 
 tle Zip was at first a sad puzzle (especially to the staid 
 Muggridge), her grateful and loving nature soon began to 
 win a warm hold and a tranquil home for her. 
 
 That winter, although it began rather early, was not of 
 prolonged severity, for the frost broke up on Christmas 
 night at least, in the west of England with a heavy fall 
 of snow which turned into rain. But Christmas Day 
 itself was very bright and pleasant, with bracing air, hard 
 
PANIC 279 
 
 frozen snow, and firm sunshine throwing long shadows 
 on it, and sparkling on the icicles from thatch and spout 
 and window-frame. As the boys of the Sunday-school 
 filed out, at the call of the bells in the tower chiming 
 (after long silence while the arch was being cut), and as 
 they formed into grand procession under the military eye 
 of Jakes, joyfully they watched their cloudy breath as- 
 cending, or blew it in a column on some other fellow's cap. 
 Visions were before them a pageantry of joy, a fortnight 
 of holidays, a fortnight of sliding, snow-balling, bone-run- 
 ners, Cooper Baker's double-hoops, why not even skates ? 
 
 But, alas, even now the wind was backing, as the four 
 vanes with rare unanimity proclaimed, a white fog that 
 even a boy could stand out of was stealing up the val- 
 ley, while the violet tone of the too transparent sky, and 
 the whiteness of the sun (which used to be a dummy fire- 
 ball), and even the short, sharp clack of the bells, were 
 enough to tell any boy with weather eyes and ears that 
 the nails on his heels would do no cobbler's click again 
 till the holiday time was over. 
 
 But blessed are they who have no prophetic gift, be it 
 of the weather, or of things yet more unstable. All went 
 to church in a happy frame of mind ; and the parson, in 
 a like mood, looked upon them. Every head was there 
 that he had any right to count, covered or uncovered. Of 
 the latter, perhaps, more than a Sunday would produce ; 
 of the former not so many, but to a Christian mind 
 enough ; for how shall a great Church festival be kept 
 without a cook ? But the ladies who were there were in 
 very choice attire, happy in having nothing but them- 
 selves to dress ; all in good smiling condition, and re- 
 serving for home use their candid reviews of one another. 
 
 There was the genial and lively Mrs. Farrant, whose 
 good word and good sayings everybody valued ; close at 
 her side was her daughter Minnie, provided by nature with 
 seasonable gifts lips more bright than the holly-berry, 
 teeth more pearly than mistletoe, cheeks that proved the 
 hardiness of the rose in Devon, and eyes that anticipated 
 Easter-tide with the soft glance of the forget-me-not. 
 Then there was Mrs. John Horner, interdum aspera cornu, 
 but foenum habens for the roast-beef time ; and kind Mrs. 
 
280 PERLYCROSS 
 
 Anning (quite quit of this tale, though the Perle runs 
 through her orchard), and tall Mrs. Webber, with two 
 pretty girls all purely distinct from the lawyer and 
 Mrs. James Hollyer, and Mrs. John Hollyer, both great 
 in hospitality ; and others of equally worthy order, for 
 whom the kind hearts of Bright and Cobden would have 
 ached, had they not been blind seers. 
 
 To return to our own sheep, themselves astray, there 
 was no denying Mrs. Gilham, looking still a Christian, up 
 a fathom of sea-green bonnet; and her daughter Rose, 
 now so demure if ever she caught a wandering eye that it 
 had to come again to beg pardon; and by her side a young 
 man stood, with no eyes at all for the prettiest girl inside 
 the sacred building ! 
 
 But, strange as it may seem, he had eyes enough and to 
 spare for a young man opposite ; whose face he perused 
 with perpetual inquiry, which the other understood, but 
 did not want to apprehend. For instance, " How is your 
 very darling sister? Have you heard from her by the 
 latest post ? Did she say anything about me ? When is 
 she coming to Perlycross again ? Do you think she is 
 reading the same Psalm that we are ? Have they got 
 any Christmas parties on ? I hope there is no mistletoe 
 up that way, or at any rate no hateful fellow near her 
 with it?" 
 
 These, and fifty other points of private worship, not to 
 be discovered in the Book of Common Prayer even by 
 the cleverest anagram of Ritualist did Frank Gilham 
 vainly strive to moot with Jemmy Fox across the aisle, in- 
 stead of being absorbed and rapt in the joyful tidings of 
 the day. 
 
 Neither was Jemmy Fox a ha'porth more devout. With 
 the innate selfishness of all young men, he had quite an- 
 other dish of fish to fry for his own plate. As for Frank 
 Gilham's, he would upset it joyfully, in spite of all sympa- 
 thy or gratitude. And, if so low a metaphor can ever be 
 forgiven, Jemmy's fish, though not in sight but in a brambly 
 corner, was fairly hooked and might be felt; whereas 
 Frank Gilham's, if she had ever seen his fly, had (so far as 
 he could be sure) never even opened mouth to take it ; but 
 had sailed away up-stream, leaving a long furrow, as if like 
 
PANIC 281 
 
 the celebrated trout in Crocker's Hole she scorned any 
 tackle a poor farmer could afford. 
 
 Fox, on the other hand, had reasonable hopes that pa- 
 tience and discretion and the flowing stream of time 
 would bring his lovely prize to bank at last. For the chief 
 thing still against him was that black and wicked charge ; 
 and even now he looked at all the women in the church, 
 with very little interest in their features, but keen inquiry 
 as to their expression. His eyes put the question to them, 
 one after another, " My good madam, are you still afraid 
 of me?" And, sad to say, the answer from too many of 
 them was, " Well, I had rather not shake hands with you 
 till you have cleared your reputation." So certain is it 
 that if once a woman has believed a thing be it good, or 
 be it evil nothing but the evidence of her own eyes will 
 uproot that belief ; and sometimes not even that. 
 
 Especially now, with Lady Waldron, Fox felt certain that 
 his case stood thus : that in spite of all the arguments of 
 Christie and of Inez, he was not yet acquitted, though less 
 stubbornly condemned ; and as long as that state of things 
 lasted he could not (with proper self-respect) press his 
 suit upon the daughter. For it should be observed that he 
 had no doubt yet of the genuine strength of her ladyship's 
 suspicions. Mr. Penniloe had not thought it right or 
 decent, placed as he was towards the family, to impart 
 to young Jemmy Sir Harrison Gowler's hateful (because 
 misogynic) conclusions. 
 
 That excellent preacher, and noble exemplar, the Rever- 
 end Philip Penniloe, gave out his text in a fine sonorous 
 voice, echoing through the great pillars of his heart, three 
 words as many as can ever rouse an echo and all of them 
 short: "On earth, peace." 
 
 He was gazing on his flock with large good-will, and 
 that desire to see the best side of them which is creditable 
 to both parties ; for, take them altogether, they were a peace- 
 ful flock when a crack, as of thunder and lightning all in 
 one, rang in every ear, and made a stop in every heart. 
 Before anybody could start up to ask about it, a cavern- 
 ous rumble rolled into a quick rattle ; and then deep silence 
 followed. 
 
 Nervous folk started up, slower persons stared about, 
 
282 PEELYCROSS 
 
 even the coolest and most self-possessed doubted their 
 arrangements for the Day of Judgment. The sunlight 
 was shining through the south aisle windows, and none 
 could put the blame on any storm outside. 
 
 Then panic arose, as at a trumpet-call. People huddled 
 anyhow, to rush out of their pews, without even sense 
 enough to turn the button-latch. Bald heads were plunging 
 into long-ribboned bonnets, fathers forgot their children, 
 young men their sweethearts ; but mothers pushed their 
 little ones before them. " Fly for dear life " was the im- 
 pulse of the men ; " save the life dearer than my own " 
 was that of the women. That is the moment to be sure 
 what love is. 
 
 " Sit still, boys, or I'll skin you !" Sergeant Jakes's 
 voice was heard above the uproar ; many believed that 
 the roof was falling in ; every kind of shriek and scream 
 abounded. 
 
 " My friends," said Mr. Penniloe, in a loud, clear voice, 
 and lifting up his Bible calmly, "remember in Whose 
 house and in Whose hands we are. It is but a fall of some- 
 thing in the chancel. It cannot hurt you. Perhaps some 
 brave man will go behind the screen, and just tell us what 
 has happened. I would go myself if I could leave the 
 pulpit." 
 
 People were ashamed when they saw little Fay run from 
 her seat to the newly-finished steps, and begin groping at 
 the canvas, while she smiled up at her father. In a mo- 
 ment three men drew her back and passed in. They were 
 Jemmy Fox, Frank Gilham, and the gallant Jakes ; and a 
 cloud of dust floated out as they vanished. Courage re- 
 turned, and the rush and crush were stayed, while Hom- 
 er and Farrant, the two church-wardens, came with long 
 strides to join the explorers. 
 
 Deep silence reigned when Dr. Fox returned, and at 
 the request of Farmer John, addressed the parson so that 
 all could hear. " There is no danger, sir, of any further 
 fall. There has been a sort of settlement of the south-east 
 corner. The stone screen is cracked, and one end of it has 
 dropped, and the small lancet window has tumbled in. All 
 is now quite firm again. There is not the smallest cause 
 for fear." 
 
PANIC 283 
 
 " Thank God !" said Mr. Penniloe, " and thank you, 
 my friends, for telling us. And now, as soon as order is 
 quite restored, I shall beg to return to the discussion 
 of my text, which with your permission I will read 
 again." 
 
 As soon as he had finished a very brief discourse, 
 worthy of more attention than it could well secure, his 
 flock hurried gladly away, with much praise of his courage 
 and presence of mind, but no thought of the heavy loss 
 and sad blow cast upon him. Fox alone remained behind 
 to offer aid and sympathy, when the parson laid his gown 
 aside and came to learn the worst of it. They found that 
 the south-east corner of the chancel-wall, with the external 
 quoin and two buttresses, had parted from the rest, and 
 sunk bodily to the depth of a yard or more, bearing 
 away a small southern window, a portion of the roof, and 
 several panels of that equally beautiful and unlucky 
 screen. 
 
 At a rough guess, at least another hundred pounds 
 would be required to make good the damage. It was not 
 only this, but the sense of mishaps so frequent and unac- 
 countable few of which have been even mentioned here 
 that now began to cast heavy weight and shadow upon 
 the cheerful heart of Penniloe. For it seemed as if all 
 things combined against him, both as regarded the work 
 itself, and the means by which alone it could be carried 
 on. And this last disaster was the more depressing, be- 
 cause no cause whatever could be found for it. That wall 
 had not been meddled with in any way externally, because 
 it seemed quite substantial. And even inside there had 
 been but little done to it, simply a shallow excavation made 
 for the plinth, or footings, of the newly erected screen. 
 
 " Never mind, sir," said Fox ; " it can soon be put to 
 rights ; and your beautiful screen will look ever so much 
 better without that lancet-window, which has always ap- 
 peared to me quite out of place." 
 
 " Perhaps," replied the parson, in a sad, low voice, and 
 with a shake of his head which meant, " all very fine, but 
 how on earth am I to get the money ?" 
 
 Even now the disaster was not complete. Subscriptions 
 had grown slack, and some had even been withdrawn on 
 
284 PERLYCROSS 
 
 the niggardly plea that no church was worth preserving 
 which could not protect even its own dead. And now the 
 news of this occurrence made that matter worse again, for 
 the blame of course fell upon Penniloe. " What use to 
 help a man who cannot help himself ?" " A fellow shouldn't 
 meddle with bricks and mortar unless he was brought up 
 to them." " I like him too well to give him another penny. 
 If I did, he'd pull the tower down upon his own head." 
 Thus and thus spoke they who should have flown to the 
 rescue; some even friendly enough to deal the coward's 
 blow at the unfortunate. 
 
 Moreover, that very night the frost broke up, with a fall 
 of ten inches of watery snow, on the wet back of which 
 came more than half an inch of rain, the total fall being 
 ten inches and three-quarters. The ground was too hard 
 to suck any of it in ; water by the acre lay on streaky 
 fields of ground-ice ; every gateway poured its runnel and 
 every flinty lane its torrent. The Perle became a roaring 
 flood, half a mile wide in the marshes ; and the Susscot 
 brook dashed away the old mill-wheel, and whirled some 
 of it down as far as Joe Crang's anvil, fulfilling thereby 
 an old prophecy. Nobody could get, without swimming 
 horse or self, from Perlycombe to Perlycross, or from Per- 
 lycross to Perliton ; and old Mother Pods was drowned 
 in her own cottage. The view of the valley, from either 
 Beacon Hill or Hagdon, was really grand for any one tall 
 enough to wade so far up the weltering ways. Old Chan- 
 ning vowed that he had never seen such a flood, and 
 feared that the big bridge would be washed away ; but 
 now was seen the value of the many wide arches which 
 had puzzled Christie Fox in the distance. Alas for the 
 Hopper, that he was so far away at this noble time for a 
 cross-country run < But he told Pike afterwards, and 
 Mrs. Muggridge too, that he had a good time of it, even 
 in the Mendips. 
 
 In this state of things the condition of the chancel, with 
 the shattered roof yawning to the reek of the snow-slides, 
 and a southern gale hurling floods in at the wall-gaps, may 
 better be imagined than described, as a swimming rat per- 
 haps reported to his sodden family. And people had a 
 fine view of it at the Sundav service, for the canvas cur- 
 
PANIC 285 
 
 tain had failed to resist the swag and the bellying of the 
 blast, and had fallen in a squashy pile, and formed a 
 rough breakwater for the mortary lake behind it. 
 
 There was nothing to be done for the present except to 
 provide against further mischief. The masons from Exe- 
 ter had left work, by reason of the frost, some time ago ; 
 but under the directions of Mr. Richard Horner the quoin 
 was shored up, and the roof and window made water-proof 
 with tarpaulins. So it must remain till Easter now ; when 
 the time of year, and possibly a better tide of money, 
 might enable beaten Christians to put shoulder to the hod 
 again. Meanwhile was there any chance of finding any 
 right for the wrong which put every man who looked for- 
 ward to his grave out of all conceit with Perly cross ? 
 
 " Vaither, do 'e care to plaze your hiving darter, as 'e 
 used to doo ? Or be 'e channged, and not the zame to her ?" 
 
 " The vurry za-am the vurry za-am," Mr. Penniloe an- 
 swered, with his eyes glad to rest on her, yet compelled 
 by his conscience to correct her vowel sounds. It had 
 long been understood between them that Fay might for- 
 sake upon occasion what we now call " higher culture," 
 and try her lissome tongue at the soft Ionic sounds which 
 those who know nothing of the West call Doric. 
 
 " Then, vaither," cried the child, rising to the situation, 
 " whatt vor do 'e putt both han's avore the eyes of 'e ? 
 The Lard in heaven can zee 'e, arl the zaam." 
 
 The little girl was kneeling with both elbows on a chair, 
 and her chin set up steadfastly between her dimpled hands, 
 while her clear eyes, gleaming with the tears she was re- 
 pressing, dwelt upon her father's downcast face. 
 
 "My darling, my own darling, you are the image of 
 your mother !" Mr. Penniloe exclaimed, as he rose and 
 caught her up. " What is the mammon of this world to 
 heaven's angels ?" 
 
 After that his proper course would have been to smoke 
 a pipe, if that form of thank-offering had been duly rec- 
 ommended by the rising school of churchmen. His omis- 
 sion, however, was soon repaired ; for before he could 
 even relapse towards " the blues " the voice of a genuine 
 smoker was heard, and the step of a man of substance, 
 the time being now the afternoon of Monday. 
 
286 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 " Hollo, Penniloe !" this gentleman exclaimed ; " how 
 are you, this frightful weather ? Very glad to see you. 
 Made a virtue of necessity ; can't have the hounds out, 
 and so look up my flock. Never saw the waters out so 
 much in all my life. * Nancy' had to swim at Susscot ford. 
 Thought we should have been washed down, but Crang 
 threw us a rope. Says nobody could cross yesterday. 
 ' Nancy ' must have a hot wash, please, Mrs. Muggridge. I'll 
 come and see to it, if you'll have the water hot. Harry's 
 looking after her till I come back. Like to see a boy that 
 takes kindly to a horse. What a job I had to get your 
 back gate open ! Never use your stable-yard, it seems. 
 Beats me how any man can live without a horse ! Well, 
 my dear fellow, I hope the world only deals with you ac- 
 cording to your merits. Bless my heart, why, that can 
 never be Fay ! What a little beauty ! Got a kiss to spare, 
 my dear ? Don't be afraid of me ; children always love 
 me. Got one little girl just your height. Won't I make 
 her jealous when I get home ! Got something in my vady 
 that will make your pretty eyes flash. Come, come, Penni- 
 loe, this won't do you don't look at all the thing ! Want 
 a thirty-mile ride and a drop of brown mahogany put a 
 little colour into your learned face. Just you should have 
 a look at my son Jack. Mean him for this little puss, if 
 ever he grows good enough. Not a bad fellow, though. 
 And how's your little Mike ? Why, there he is, peeping 
 round the corner ! I'll have it out with him when I've 
 had some dinner. Done yours, I dare say? Anything 
 will do for me. A rasher of bacon and a couple of poached 
 eggs is a dinner for a lord, I say. You don't eat enough, 
 that's quite certain. Saw an awful thing in the papers last 
 week parsons are going to introduce fasting ; Protestant 
 parsons, mind you ! Can't believe it. Shall have to join 
 the Church of Rome, if they do. All jolly fellows there 
 never saw a lean one. I suppose I am about the last man 
 you expected to turn up. Glad to see you, though, upon 
 my soul ! You don't like that expression ha, how well I 
 know your face ! Strictly clerical, I call it, though, or, at 
 any rate, professional. But bless my heart alive if you 
 like that better what has all our parish been about? 
 Why, a dead man belongs to the parson, not the doctor. 
 
PANIC 287 
 
 The doctors have done for him, and they ought to have 
 done with him. But we parsons never back one another 
 up. Not enough colour in the cloth, I always say. Get- 
 ting too much of black, and all black." 
 
 The Rev. John Chevithorne, rector of the parish, was 
 doing his best at the present moment to relieve " the 
 cloth " of that imputation. For his coat was dark green, 
 and his waistcoat of red shawl-stuff, and his breeches of 
 buff corduroy, while his boots heavy jack-boots coming 
 half-way up the thigh might have been of any colour 
 under the sun, without the sun knowing what the colour 
 was, so spattered and plastered and cobbed with mud 
 were they. And throughout all his talk he renewed the 
 hand-shakes, in true pump-handle fashion, at short inter- 
 vals, for he was strongly attached to his curate. They 
 had been at the same college, and on the same staircase ; 
 and although of different standing and very different 
 characters, had taken to one another with a liking which 
 had increased as years went on. Mr. Penniloe had an 
 Englishman's love of field-sports ; and though he had re- 
 pressed it from devotion to his calling, he was too good a 
 Christian to condemn those who did otherwise. 
 
 " Chevithorne, I have wanted you most sadly," he said, 
 as soon as his guest was reclad from his vady, and had 
 done ample justice to rashers and eggs , " I am really 
 ashamed of it, but fear greatly that I shall have to be 
 down upon you again. Children, you may go, and get a 
 good run before dark. Things have been going on in 
 fact, the Lord has not seemed to prosper this work at all." 
 
 " If you are going to pour forth a cloud of sorrows, you 
 won't mind my blowing one of comfort." 
 
 The rector was a pleasant man to look at, and a pleasant 
 one to deal with, if he liked his customer. But a much 
 sharper man of the world than his curate ; prompt, reso- 
 lute, and penetrating, short in his manner, and when at all 
 excited apt to indulge himself in the language of the 
 laity. 
 
 " Well," he said, after listening to the whole church 
 history, " I am not a rich man, as you know, my friend. 
 People suppose that a man with three livings must be roll- 
 ing in money, and all that. They never think twice of the 
 
288 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 outgoings. And Jack goes to Oxford in January. That 
 means something, as you and I know well. Though he 
 has promised me not to hunt there ; and he is a boy who 
 never goes back from his word. But chancel, of course, is 
 my special business. Will you let me off for fifty, at any 
 rate for the present ? And don't worry yourself about the 
 debt. We'll make it all right among us. Our hunt will 
 come-down with another fifty, if I put it before them to 
 the proper tune, when they come back to work, after this 
 infernal muck. Only you mustn't look like this. The 
 world gets worse and worse every day, and can't spare the 
 best man it contains. You should have seen the rick of 
 hay I bought last week, just because I didn't push my 
 knuckles into it. Thought I could trust my brother Tom's 
 church-warden. And Tom laughs at me ; which digs it in 
 too hard. Had a rise out of him last summer though, and 
 know how to do him again for Easter offerings. Tom is 
 too sharp for a man who has got no family. Won't come 
 down with twopence for Jack's time at Oxford. And he 
 has got all the Chevithorne estates, you know. Nothing 
 but the copyhold came to me. Always the way of the 
 acres, with a man who could put a child to stand on every 
 one of them. However, you never hear me complain. But 
 surely you ought to get more out of those Waldrons. An 
 offering to the Lord in memoriam a proper view of chas- 
 tisement ; have you tried to work it up ?" 
 
 " I have not been able to take that view of it," Mr. Pen- 
 niloe answered, smiling for a moment, though doubtful of 
 the right to do so. "How can I ask them for another far- 
 thing, after what has happened ? And leaving that aside, I 
 am now in a position in which it would be unbecoming. 
 You may have heard that I am trustee for a part of the 
 Waldron estates, to secure a certain sum for the daughter 
 Nicie." 
 
 "Then that puts it out of the question," said the rector. 
 " I know what those trust-plagues are. I call them a tax 
 upon good repute. ' The friendly balm that breaks the 
 head.' I never understood that passage till in a fool's mo- 
 ment I accepted a trusteeship. However, go on with that 
 Waldron affair. They are beginning to chaff me about it 
 shamefully, now that their anger and fright are gone by. 
 
PANIC 289 
 
 Poor as I am, I would give a hundred pounds for the sake 
 of the parish, to have it all cleared up. But the longer it 
 goes on the darker it gets. You used to be famous for 
 concise abstracts. Do you remember our Thucydides? 
 Wasn't it old Short that used to put a year of the war on 
 an oyster-shell, and you beat him by putting it on a thumb- 
 nail? Give us in ten lines all the theories of the great 
 Perlycrucian mystery. Ready in a moment. I'll jot them 
 down. What's the Greek for Perlycross? Puzzle even 
 you, I think, that would. Number them, one, two, and so 
 on. There must be a dozen by this time." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe felt some annoyance at this too jocular 
 view of the subject ; but he bore in mind that his rector 
 was not so sadly bound up with it as his own life was. So 
 he set down, as offering the shortest form, the names of 
 those who had been charged with the crime, either by the 
 public voice or by private whisper. 
 
 1. Fox. 
 
 2. Gronow. 
 
 3. Gowler. 
 
 4. Some other medical man of those parts conjecture 
 founded very often upon the last half-year's account. 
 
 5. Lady Waldron herself. 
 
 6. Some relative of hers, with or without her knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 " Now, I think that exhausts them," the curate contin- 
 ued ; " and I will discuss them in that order. No. 1 is the 
 general opinion still. I mean that of the great majority, 
 outside the parish, and throughout the county. None who 
 knew Jemmy could conceive it, and those who know noth- 
 ing of him will dismiss it, I suppose, when they hear of 
 his long attachment to Miss Waldron. 
 
 " Nos. 2, 3, and 4 may also be dismissed, being founded 
 in each case on personal dislikes, without a scintilla of 
 evidence to back it. As regards probability, No. 4 would 
 take the lead ; for Gronow and Gowler are out of the 
 question. The former has given up practice, and hates it, 
 except for the benefit of his friends. And as for Gowler, 
 he could have no earthly motive. He understood the case 
 as well as if he had seen it ; and his whole time is occu- 
 pied with his vast London practice. But No. 4 also is re- 
 13 
 
290 PERLYCROSS 
 
 duced to the very verge of impossibility. There is no one 
 at Exeter who would dream of such things. No country 
 practitioner would dare it, even if the spirit of research 
 could move him. And as for Bath and Bristol, I have re- 
 ceived a letter from Gowler disposing of all possibility 
 there." 
 
 " Who suggested No. 5 ? That seems a strange idea. 
 What on earth should Lady Waldron do it for ?" 
 
 " Gowler suggested it. I tell you in the strictest con- 
 fidence, Chevithorne. Of course you will feel that. I 
 have told no one else, and I should not have told you ex- 
 cept that I want your advice about it. You have travelled 
 in Spain. You know much of Spanish people. I reject 
 the theory altogether ; though Gowler is most positive, 
 and laughs at my objections. You remember him, of 
 course ?" 
 
 "I should think so," said the rector, "a wonderfully 
 clever fellow, but never much liked. Nobody could ever 
 get on with him but you ; and two more totally different 
 men however, an opinion of his is worth something. 
 What motive could he discover for it ?" 
 
 " Religious feelings. Narrow, if you like for we are 
 as catholic as they are but very strong, as one could well 
 conceive, if only they suited the character. The idea 
 would be that the wife, unable to set aside the husband's 
 wishes openly, or unwilling to incur the odium of it, was 
 secretly resolved upon his burial elsewhere, and with the 
 rites which she considered needful." 
 
 " It is a most probable explanation. I wonder that it 
 never occurred to you. Gowler has hit the mark. What 
 a clever fellow 1 And see how it exculpates the parish ! 
 I shall go back with a great weight off my mind. Upon 
 my soul, Penniloe, I am astonished that you had to go 
 to London to find out this a b c. If I had been over 
 here a little more often, I should have hit upon it long 
 ago." 
 
 " Chevithorne, I think that very likely," the curate re- 
 plied, with the mildness of those who let others be rushed 
 off their legs by themselves. " The theory is plausible 
 accounts for everything fits in with the very last dis- 
 coveries, proves this parish, and even the English nation, 
 
PANIC 291 
 
 guiltless. Nevertheless, it is utterly wrong, according at 
 least to my views of human nature." 
 
 " Your view of human nature was always too benevo- 
 lent. That was why everybody liked you so. But, my 
 dear fellow, you have lived long enough now to know that 
 it only does for Christmas-day sermons." 
 
 " I have not lived long enough, and hope to do so 
 never," Mr. Penniloe answered, very quietly, but with a 
 manner, which the other understood, of the larger sight 
 looking over hat-crowns. " Will you tell me, Chevithorne, 
 upon what points you rely? And then I will tell you 
 what I think of them." 
 
 " Why, if it comes to argument, what chance have I 
 against you ? You can put things, and I can't. But I can 
 sell a horse, and you can buy it fine self-sacrifice on your 
 side. I go strictly upon common-sense. I have heard a 
 lot of that Lady Waldron. I have had some experience 
 of Spanish ladies. Good and bad, no doubt, just as Eng- 
 lish ladies are. It is perfectly obvious to my mind that 
 Lady Waldron has done all this." 
 
 " To my mind," replied Mr. Penniloe, looking stead- 
 fastly at the rector, " it is equally obvious that she has 
 not." 
 
 " Upon what do you go ?" asked the rector, rather 
 warmly, for he prided himself on his knowledge of man- 
 kind, though admitting very handsomely his ignorance of 
 books. 
 
 " I go upon my faith in womankind." The curate spoke 
 softly, as if such a thing were new, and truly it was not 
 at all in fashion then. " This woman loved her husband. 
 Her grief was deep and genuine. His wishes were sacred 
 to her. She is quite incapable of double-dealing. And, 
 indeed, I would say that if ever there was a straightfor- 
 ward, simple-hearted woman " 
 
 "If ever, if ever," replied Mr. Chevithorne, with a fine 
 indulgent smile. " But upon the whole, I think well of 
 them. Let us have a game of draughts, my dear fellow, 
 where the queens jump over all the poor men." 
 
 " Kings, we call them here," answered Mr. Penniloe. 
 
CHAPTEE XXVIII 
 VAGABONDS 
 
 ALTHOUGH Mr. Penniloe's anxiety about the growth of 
 church debt was thus relieved a little, another of his 
 troubles was by no means lightened through the visit of 
 the rector. That nasty suspicion suggested by Gowler 
 and heartily confirmed by Chevithorne was a very great 
 discomfort, and even a torment, inasmuch as he had no 
 one to argue it with. He reasoned with himself that even 
 if the lady were a schemer so heartless as to ruin a young 
 man (who had done her no harm) that she might screen 
 herself, as well as an actress so heaven-gifted as to impose 
 on every one both of which qualifications he warmly de- 
 nied yet there was no motive, so far as he could see, 
 strong enough to lead her into such a crooked course. To 
 the best of his belief, she was far too indifferent upon 
 religious questions ; he had never seen nor heard of a 
 priest at Walderscourt ; and although she never came to 
 church with the others of the family, she had allowed her 
 only daughter to be brought up as a Protestant. She cer- 
 tainly did not value our great nation quite as much as it 
 values itself, and in fact was rather an ardent Spaniard, 
 though herself of mixed race. But it seemed most un- 
 likely that either religion or patriotism, or both combined, 
 were strong enough to drive her into action contrary to 
 her dead husband's wishes and to her own character, so far 
 as an unprejudiced man could judge it. 
 
 There remained the last theory, No. 6, as given above. 
 To the curate it seemed the more probable one, although 
 surrounded with difficulties. There might be some Span- 
 ish relative, or even one of other country, resolute to save 
 the soul of Sir Thomas Waldron, without equal respect for 
 his body ; and in that case it was just possible that the 
 
VAGABONDS 293 
 
 whole thing might have been arranged and done without 
 Lady Waldron's knowledge. But if that were so, what 
 meant the visit of the foreigner who had tried to escape 
 his notice when he left the coach ? 
 
 Before Mr. Penniloe could think it out, Jemmy Fox 
 (who might have helped him, by way of Nicie, upon that 
 last point) was called away suddenly from Perlycross. 
 His mother was obliged, in the course of nature, to look 
 upon him now as everybody's prop and comfort, because 
 her husband could not be regarded in that light any 
 longer. And two or three things were coming to pass, of 
 family import and issue, which could not go aright except 
 through Jemmy's fingers. And of these things the most 
 important was concerning his sister Christina. 
 
 " I assure you, Jemmy, that her state of mind is most un- 
 satisfactory," the lady said to her son, upon their very 
 first consultation. " She does not care for any of her 
 usual occupations. She takes no interest in parish mat- 
 ters. She let that wicked old Margery Daw get no less 
 than three pairs of blankets, and Polly Church go without 
 any at all at least, she might, so far as Christie cared. 
 Then you know that admirable Huggins Charity a loaf and 
 three half -pence for every cottage containing more than 
 nine little ones ; well, she let them pass the children from 
 one house to another, and neither loaves nor half-pence 
 held out at all ! * I'll make it good,' she said, * what's the 
 odds?' or something almost as vulgar. How thankful I 
 was that Sir Henry did not hear her ! ' Oh, I wish he had, 
 rayther !' she exclaimed, with a toss of her head. You 
 know that extremely low, slangish way of saying ' rayther ' 
 to everything. It does irritate me so, and she knows it. 
 One would think that, instead of desiring to please as ex- 
 cellent a man as ever lived, her one object was to annoy 
 and disgust him. And she does not even confine herself 
 to to the language of good society. She has come back 
 from Perlycross with a sad quantity of Devonshirisms ; 
 and she always brings them out before Sir Henry, who is, 
 as you know, a fastidious man, without any love of jocu- 
 larity. And it is such a very desirable thing. I did hope 
 it would have been all settled before your dear father's 
 birthday." 
 
294 PERLYCROSS 
 
 " Well, mother, and so it may easily be. The only 
 point is this : after all her bad behaviour, will Sir Henry 
 come to the scratch ?" 
 
 " My dear son ! My dear Jemmy, what an expression ! 
 And with reference to wedded life ! But if I understand 
 your meaning, he is only waiting my permission to pro- 
 pose ; and I am only waiting for a favourable time. The 
 sweetest-tempered girl I ever saw ; better even than yours, 
 Jemmy and yours has always been very fine. But now 
 and she has found out, or made up, some wretched low 
 song, and she sings it down the stairs, or even comes singing 
 it into the room, pretending that she does not see me. All 
 about the miseries of step-mothers. Oh, she is most wor- 
 rying and aggravating ! And to me, who have laboured 
 so hard for her good ! Sometimes I fancy that she must 
 have seen somebody. Surely it could never have been at 
 Perly cross ?" 
 
 " I'll put a stop to all that pretty smartly !" the doctor 
 exclaimed, with fine confidence. " But but perhaps it 
 would be better, mother, for me not to seem to take Sir 
 Henry's part too strongly. At any rate until things come 
 to a climax. He is coming this afternoon, you said ; let 
 him pop the question at once ; and if she dares to refuse 
 him, then let me have a turn at her. She has got a rare 
 tongue ; but I think I know something at any rate, you 
 know that I don't stand much nonsense." 
 
 They had scarcely settled their arrangements for her 
 when down the stairs came Christie, looking wonderfully 
 pretty ; but her song was not of equal beauty. 
 
 "There was an old dog, and his name was 'Shep;' 
 Says he to his daughter don't you ever be a Step." 
 
 She nodded to her mother very dutifully, and to her 
 brother with a smile that made him laugh ; and then she 
 went out of the front door almost as if she felt contempt 
 for it. 
 
 " Won't do. Won't do at all ;" said Jemmy. " She'll 
 say 'no' this afternoon. Girls never know what they are 
 about. But better let him bring it to the point. And then 
 leave it to me, mother. I understand her. And she 
 knows I am not to be trifled with." 
 
VAGABONDS 295 
 
 Sir Henry Haggerstone came in time for luncheon, 
 showed no signs of nervousness, and got on very well 
 with everybody. He knew something of everything that 
 is likely to be talked of anywhere ; and yet he had the 
 knack of letting down his knowledge as a carpet for his 
 friends to walk upon. Everybody thought " Well, I have 
 taught him something. He could not be expected to un- 
 derstand that subject. But now, from his own words, I 
 feel that he will. What a fool Smith is to be bothering 
 a man like Sir Henry with the stuff that is a b c to 
 him ! I wonder that he could put up with it." 
 
 But however great Sir Henry was in powers of conver- 
 sation, or even of auscultation, his eloquence if there 
 was any fell flat, and his audience was brief, and the an- 
 swer unmistakable. 
 
 " It can't be. It mustn't be. It sha'n't be, at any 
 price." That last expression was a bit of slang, but it 
 happened to fit the circumstances. 
 
 " But why can it not be ? Surely, Miss Fox, I may ask 
 you to give me some reason for that." 
 
 The gentleman thought "What a strange girl you 
 are !" while the lady was thinking " What a difference 
 there is between an artificial man and a natural one !" 
 
 "What o'clock is it, by that timepiece, if you please, 
 Sir Henry Haggerstone ?" 
 
 " Half-past two, within about two minutes." 
 
 " Thank you ; can you tell me why it isn't half-past 
 ten? Just because it isn't. And so now you under- 
 stand." 
 
 " I am sorry to say that I do not, very clearly. Prob- 
 ably it is very stupid of me. But can you not give me a 
 little hope, Miss Fox ?" 
 
 " Yes, a great deal ; and with my best wishes. There 
 are thousands of nice girls, a thousand times nicer than I 
 ever was, who would say ' yes ' in a minute." 
 
 " But the only one whose ' yes ' I want says * no ' in 
 half a minute !" 
 
 " To be sure she does and means it all over ; but begs 
 to offer no end of thanks." 
 
 " Perhaps it is all for the best," he thought as he rode 
 homeward slowly ; " she is a very sweet girl ; but of late 
 
296 PERLY CROSS 
 
 she seems to have grown so fond of slang expressions all 
 very well for a man, but not at all what I like in a woman. 
 I should have been compelled to break her of that trick ; 
 and even the sweetest-tempered woman hates to be cor- 
 rected." 
 
 This gentleman would have been surprised to hear that 
 the phrases he disliked were used because he so thor- 
 oughly disliked them, which, to say the least, was un- 
 amiable. 
 
 " All settled ? Hurrah ! My dear Chris, let me con- 
 gratulate you," cried Jemmy, rushing in with a jaunty air, 
 though he well knew what the truth was. 
 
 " Amen ! It is a happy thing. That golden parallelo- 
 gram, all tapered and well-rounded, will come to harass 
 me no more." 
 
 " What a mixture of quotations ! A girl alone could 
 achieve it. A tapered parallelogram ! But you have never 
 been fool enough to refuse him ?" 
 
 " I have been wise enough to do so." 
 
 " And soon you will be wise enough to think bet- 
 ter of it. I shall take good care to let him know that 
 no notice is to be taken of your pretty little vagaries." 
 
 " Don't lose your temper, my dear Jemmy. As for tak- 
 ing notice of it, Sir Henry may be nothing very wonder- 
 ful. But, at any rate, he is a gentleman." 
 
 " I am heartily glad that you have found that out. I 
 thought nobody could be a gentleman unless he lived in a 
 farm-house, and could do a day's ploughing, and shear his 
 own sheep." 
 
 " Yes, oh yes ! If he can roll his own pills, and mix 
 his own black draughts, and stick a knife into any one." 
 
 " Now, it is no use trying to insult me, my dear girl. 
 My profession is above all that." 
 
 " What, above its own business ? Oh, Jemmy, Jemmy ! 
 And yet, you know, you were afraid sometimes of leaving 
 it all to that little boy George. However, George did the 
 best part of it." 
 
 " Christie, I shall be off, because you don't know what 
 you are talking of. I am sorry for any man who gets 
 you." 
 
 " Ha ! That depends upon whether I like him. If I 
 
VAGABONDS 297 
 
 do, wouldn't I polish his boots ? If I don't, wouldn't I 
 have the hair off his head ?" 
 
 "Good-bye, my dear child. You will be better by- 
 and-by." 
 
 " Stop," exclaimed Christie, who perceived that dear 
 Jemmy preferred to have it out with her when she might 
 be less ready ; " don't be in such a hurry. There is no 
 child with the measles, which is about the worst human 
 complaint that you can cure. Just answer me one ques- 
 tion. Have I ever interfered between you and Nicie 
 Waldron ?" 
 
 " The Lord look down upon me ! What an idea ! As 
 if you could ever be so absurd !" 
 
 " The Lord looks down upon me, also, Jemmy," said 
 Christie, passing into a different mood. " And He gives 
 me the right to see to my own happiness without con- 
 sulting you any more than you do me." 
 
 The doctor made off without another word, for he was 
 not a quarrelsome fellow, especially when he felt that he 
 would get the worst of it. 
 
 " Let her alone a bit," he told his mother. " She has 
 been so much used to have her own way that she expects 
 to have it always. It will require a little judgment and 
 careful handling to bring her out of her absurdities. You 
 must not expect her to have the sense a man has. And 
 she has got an idea that she is so clever, which makes 
 her confoundedly obstinate. If you had heard how inso- 
 lent she was to me you would have been angry with her. 
 But she cannot vex me with her childish little talk. I 
 shall go for a thirty-mile ride, dear mother, to get a little 
 fresh air after all that. Don't expect me back to dinner. 
 Be distant with her, and let her see that you are grieved ; 
 but give her no chance of arguing if, indeed, she calls 
 such stuff argument." 
 
 In a few minutes he was on the back of " Perle " as he 
 called the kindly and free-going little mare who had brought 
 him again from Perlycross and trotting briskly towards 
 the long curve of highlands which form the western bul- 
 wark of the Mendip Hills. The weather had been very 
 mild and rather stormy, ever since the Christmas frost 
 broke up, and now, in the first week of the year, the air 
 13* 
 
298 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 was quite gentle and pleasant. But the roads were heavy 
 and very soft, as they always are in a thaw ; and a great 
 deal of water was out in the meadows, and even in the 
 ditches alongside of the lanes. 
 
 In a puzzle of country roads and commons, farther from 
 home than his usual track, and very poorly furnished with 
 guide-posts, Fox rode on without asking whither ; caring 
 only for the exercise and air, and absorbed in thought 
 about the present state of things, both at Perly cross 
 and Foxden. To his quick perception and medical knowl- 
 edge it was clear that his father's strength was failing 
 gradually, but without recall. And one of the very few 
 things that can be done by medical knowledge is that it 
 can tell us (when it likes) that it is helpless. 
 
 Now Jemmy was fond of his father, although there 
 had been many breezes between them ; and, as nature will 
 have it, he loved him a hundred-fold now that he was sure 
 to lose him. Moreover, the change in his own position, 
 which must ensue upon his father's death, was entirely 
 against his liking. What he liked was simplicity, plain liv- 
 ing, and plain speaking, with enough of this world's goods 
 to help a friend in trouble or a poor man in distress; but 
 not enough to put one in a fright about the responsibility, 
 that turns the gold to lead. But now, if he should be 
 compelled to take his father's place at Foxden, as a land- 
 owner and a wealthy man, he must give up the practice 
 of his beloved art, he must give up the active and 
 changeful life, the free-and-easy manners, and the game 
 with Bill and Dick, and assume the slow dignity and 
 stiff importance, the consciousness of being an example 
 and a law, and all the other briers and blackthorns in the 
 paradise of wealth and station. Yet, even while he sighed 
 at the coming transformation, it never occurred to him 
 that his sister was endowed with tastes no less simple 
 than his own, and was not compelled by duty to forego 
 them. 
 
 Occupied thus, and riding loose-reined without knowing 
 or caring whither, he turned the corner of a high-banked 
 lane and came upon a sight which astonished him. The 
 deep lane ended with a hunting-gate, leading to an open 
 track across a level pasture, upon which the low sun cast 
 
VAGABONDS 299 
 
 long shadows of the rider's hat and shoulders and elbow 
 lifted to unhasp the gate. Turning in the saddle he be- 
 held a grand and fiery sunset, such as in mild weather 
 often closes a winter but not wintry day. 
 
 A long cloud-bank, straight and level at the base, but 
 arched and pulpy in its upper part, irabosomed and turned 
 into a deep red glow the yellow flush of the departing 
 sun. Below this great volume of vapoury fire were long, 
 thin streaks of carmine, pencilled very delicately on a 
 background of limpid hyaline. It was not the beauty of 
 the sky, however, nor the splendour, nor the subtlety, that 
 made the young man stop and gaze. Fine sunsets he had 
 seen by the hundred, and looked at them, if there was 
 time to spare ; but what he had never seen before was the 
 grandeur of the earth's reply. 
 
 On the opposite side of the level land, a furlong or so 
 in front of him, arose the great breastwork to leagues of 
 plain ; first a steep pitch of shale and shingle, channelled 
 with storm-lines, and studded with gorse ; and then, from 
 its crest, a tall crag, towering straight and smooth as a 
 castle wall. The rugged pediment was dark and dim, and 
 streaked with sombre shadows ; but the bastion cliff above 
 it mantled with a deep red glow, as if colour had its 
 echo, in answer to the rich suffusion of that sunset cloud. 
 Even the ivy and other creepers on its kindled face shone 
 forth like chaplets thrown upon a shield of ruddy gold. 
 And all the environed air was thrilling with the pulses of 
 red light. 
 
 Fox was smitten with rare delight for he was an ob- 
 servant fellow and even "Perle's" bright eyes expanded, 
 as if they had never seen such a noble vision. "I'll be up 
 there before it is gone," cried Jemmy, like a boy in full 
 chase of a rainbow ; " the view from that crag must be 
 glorious." 
 
 At the foot of the hill stood a queer little hostel called 
 the Smoking Limekiln ; and there he led his mare into 
 the stable, ordered some bread and cheese for half an 
 hour later, and made off at speed for the steep ascent. 
 Active as he was and sound of foot, he found it a slip- 
 pery and awkward climb, on account of the sliding shin- 
 gle ; but after a sharp bout of leaping and scrambling he 
 
300 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 stood at the base of the vertical rock, and looked back 
 over the lowlands. 
 
 The beauty of colour was vanishing now, and the glory 
 of the clouds grown sombre, for the sun had sunk into a 
 pale gray bed ; but the view was vast and striking. The 
 fairest and richest of English land, the broad expanse of 
 the western plains for leagues and leagues rolled before 
 him, deepening beneath the approach of night, and shin- 
 ing with veins of silver where three flooded rivers wound 
 their way. Afar towards the north a faint gleam showed 
 the hovering of light above the Severn sea, whence slender 
 threads of fog began to steal like snakes up the water- 
 courses and the marshy inlets. Before there was time to 
 watch them far the veil of dusk fell over them, and things 
 unwatched stood forth, and took a prominence unaccount- 
 able, according to the laws of twilight, arbitrary and mys- 
 terious. 
 
 Fox felt that the view had repaid his toil, and set his 
 face to go down again, with a tendency towards bread and 
 cheese ; but his very first step caused such a slide of shin- 
 gle and loose ballast that he would have been lucky to 
 escape with a broken bone had he followed it. There- 
 upon, instead of descending there, he thought it wiser to 
 keep along the ledge at the foot of the precipice, and 
 search for a safer track down the hill. None, however, 
 presented itself, until he had turned the corner of the lime- 
 stone crag, and reached its southern side, where the de- 
 scent became less abrupt and stony. 
 
 Here he was stepping sideways down, for the pitch was 
 still sharp and dangerous, and the daylight failing in the 
 blinks of the hill, when he heard a loud shout " Jemmy ! 
 Jemmy !" which seemed to spring out of the earth at 
 his feet. In the start of surprise he had shaped his lips 
 for the answering hollo, when good-luck more than dis- 
 cretion saved him ; for both his feet slipped, and his 
 breath was caught. By a quick turn he recovered his bal- 
 ance ; but the check had given him time to think, and 
 spying a stubby cornel-bush, he came to a halt behind it, 
 and looked through the branches cautiously. 
 
 Some twenty yards farther down the hill he saw a big 
 man come striding forth from the bowels of the earth 
 
VAGABONDS 301 
 
 as it seemed at first and then standing with his back 
 turned, and the haze beyond enlarging him. And then 
 again that mighty shout rang up the steep and down the 
 valley " Jemmy, Jemmy, come back, I tell thee ; or I'll 
 let thee know what's what !" 
 
 Fox kept close, and crouched in his bush, for he never 
 had seen such a man till now, unless it were in a caravan ; 
 and a shudder ran through him as it came home that his 
 friend down there could with one hand rob, throttle, and 
 throw him down a mining-shaft. This made him keep 
 a very sharp lookout, and have one foot ready for the 
 lightest of leg-bail. 
 
 Presently a man of moderate stature, who could have 
 walked under the other's arm, came panting and grum- 
 bling back again from a bushy track leading downward. 
 He flung something on the ground and asked 
 
 " What be up now, to vetch me back uphill forV Har- 
 vey, there bain't no sense in 'e. Maight every bit as well 
 a' had it out over a half -pint of beer." 
 
 " Sit you there, Jem," replied the other, pressing him 
 down on a ledge of stone with the weight of one thumb 
 on his shoulder. Then he sat himself down on a higher 
 ridge, and pulled out a pipe, with a sigh as loud as the 
 bellows of a forge could compass ; and then slowly spread 
 upon the dome of his knee a patch of German punk, and 
 struck sparks into it. 
 
 There was just light enough for Fox to see that the 
 place where they sat was the mouth of a mining shaft, or 
 sloping adit, over the rough stone crown of which, stand- 
 ing as he did upon a higher level, he could descry their 
 heads and shoulders, and the big man's fingers as he 
 moved them round his pipe. Presently a whiff of coarse 
 brown smoke came floating uphill to the doctor's nostrils, 
 and his blood ran cold as he began to fear that this great 
 Harvey must be the Harvey Tremlett of whom he had 
 heard from Mr. Penniloe. 
 
 "Made up my maind, I have. Can't stand this no 
 longer," said the big man, with the heavy drawl which 
 nature has inflicted upon very heavy men. " Can't get no 
 more for a long day's work than a hop-o'-my-thumb like 
 you does." 
 
302 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 " And good raison why, mate. Do 'e ever do a hard 
 day's work?" Fox could have sworn that the smaller 
 throat gave utterance to the larger share of truth. "What 
 be the vally of big arms and legs, when a chap dothn't 
 care to make use of 'un ?" 
 
 But the big man was not controversial. Giants are 
 generally above that weakness. He gave a long puff, and 
 confined himself to facts. 
 
 " Got my money, and d little it is. And now I 
 
 means to hook it. You can hang on, if you be vule 
 enough." 
 
 " What an old Turk it is !" Jem replied, reproachfully. 
 " Did ever you know me throw you over, Harvey ? Who 
 is it brings you all the luck ? Tell 'e what let's go back 
 to Clampits. What a bit o' luck that louderin' wor !" 
 
 " Hor, hor, hor !" the big man roared. " A purty lot 
 they be to Perlycrass ! To take Jemmy Kettel for a gen- 
 tleman ! And a doctor, too ! O Lord ! Lord ! Doctor 
 Jemmy Vox Kettel ! Licensed to deal in zalts and zenna, 
 powders, pills, and bolusses. Oh, Jemmy, Jemmy, my 
 eye, my eye !" 
 
 " Could do it, I'll be bound, as well as he doth. A 
 vaine doctor, to dig up the squire of the parish, and do it 
 wrong way, too, they zay of 'un ! Vaine doctor, wasn't un ? 
 O Lord ! O Lord !" 
 
 As these two rovers combined in a hearty roar of mirth 
 at his expense, Dr. Jemmy Fox, instead of being grateful 
 for a purely impartial opinion, gave way to ill feeling, and 
 stamped one foot in passionate remonstrance. Too late he 
 perceived that this movement of his had started a pebble 
 below the cornel-bush and sent it rolling down the steep. 
 Away went the pebble with increasing skips, and striking 
 the crown of the pit-mouth flew just over the heads of the 
 uncouth jokers. 
 
 "Hollo, Jemmy! Anybody up there? Just you goo 
 and look, my boy." 
 
 Fox shrunk into himself as he heard those words in a 
 quicker roar coming up to him. If they should discover 
 him, his only chance would be to bound down the hill, 
 reckless of neck, and desperate of accident. But the light 
 of the sky at the top of the hill was blocked by the ram- 
 
VAGABONDS 303 
 
 part of rock, and so there was nothing for him to be 
 marked upon. 
 
 " Nort but a badger or a cony there, I reckon," Jem 
 Kettel said, after peering up the steep ; and just then a 
 rabbit of fast style of life whisked by. " Goo on, Harvey. 
 Yon haVt offered me no 'bacco !" 
 
 "You tak' and vinish 'un ;" said the lofty -minded 
 giant, poking his pipe between the other fellow's teeth. 
 " And now you give opinion, if the Lord hath gived 
 thee any." 
 
 " Well, I be up for bunkum every bit so much as you. 
 be. But where shall us be off to ? That's the p'int of 
 zettlement. Clampits, I say. Roaring fun there, and the 
 gim'-keepers aveared of 'e." 
 
 " Darsn't goo there yet, I tell 'e. Last thing old moother 
 did was to send me word passon to Perlycrass had got the 
 tip on me. Don't want no bother with them blessed 
 Beaks again." 
 
 " Wonder you didn't goo and twist the passon's neck." 
 The faithful mate looked up at him as if the captain had 
 failed of his duty unaccountably. 
 
 " Wouldn't touch a hair of that man's head if it wor 
 here atwixt my two knees." Harvey Tremlett brought his 
 fist down on his thigh with a smack that made the stones 
 ring round him. " Tell 'e why, Jem Kettel. He have 
 took my little Zip along of his own chiller, and a' maneth 
 to make a lady on her. And a lady the little wench hath 
 a right to be just you say the contrairy if hanncient 
 vam'ley, and all that, have right to count. Us Tremletts 
 was here long afore they Waldrons." 
 
 The smaller man appeared afraid to speak. He knew 
 the weak point of the big man, perhaps, and that silence 
 oils all such bearings. 
 
 "Tull 'e what, Jemmy," said the other, coming round 
 after stripping his friend's mouth of his proper pipe, " us 
 ? 11 go up country shoulder packs and be off, soon as 
 ever the moon be up. Like to see any man stop me, I 
 would." 
 
 He stood up with the power of his mighty size upon 
 him a man who seemed fit to stop an avalanche, and able 
 to give as much trouble about stopping him. 
 
304 PEELYCROSS 
 
 " All right ; I be your man," replied the other, speak- 
 ing as if he were quite as big, and upon the whole more 
 important. " Bristol fust, and then Lunnon, if so plaise 
 'e. Always a bit of louderin' there. But that remindeth 
 me of Perlycrass. Us be bound to be back by fair-time, 
 you know. Can't afford to miss old Timberlegs." 
 
 "Time enow for that," Harvey Tremlett answered. "Zix 
 or zeven weeks yet to Perlycrass fair. What time wor it 
 as old Timberlegs app'inted ?" 
 
 " Ten o'clock at naight, by church-yard wall. Reckon 
 the old man hath another job of louderin' handy. What 
 a spree that wor, and none a rap the wiser ! Come along, 
 Harvey, let's have a pint at the Kiln, to drink good-luck 
 to this here new start." 
 
 The big man took his hat off, while the other jumped 
 nimbly on a stump and flung over his head the straps of 
 both their bundles ; and then, with a few more leisurely 
 and peaceful oaths, they quitted their stony platform and 
 began to descend the winding path from which Jem Ket- 
 tel had been recalled. 
 
 Fox was content for a minute or two with peeping warily 
 after them, while his whole frame tingled with excitement, 
 wrath, and horror, succeeded by a burning joy at the 
 knowledge thus vouchsafed to him by a higher power 
 than fortune. As soon as he felt certain that they could 
 not see him, even if they looked back again, he slipped 
 from his lurking-place, and at some risk of limb set off in 
 a straighter course than theirs for the public-house in the 
 valley, where a feeble light was twinkling. From time to 
 time he could hear the two rovers laughing at their leisure, 
 probably with fine enjoyment of very bad jokes at his ex- 
 pense. But he set his teeth and made more speed, and 
 keeping his distance from them easily arrived first at the 
 inn, where he found his bread and cheese set forth in a 
 little private parlour having a fair view of the bar. 
 
 This suited him well, for his object was to obtain so 
 clear a sight of them that no change of dress or disguise 
 should cast any doubt upon their identity; and he felt 
 sure that they were wending hither to drink godspeed 
 to their enterprise. There was not much fear of their 
 recognizing him, even if his face were known to them, 
 
VAGABONDS 305 
 
 which he did not think at all likely. But he provided 
 against any such mishap by paying his bill beforehand, 
 and placing his candle so that his face was in the dark. 
 Then he fell to and enjoyed his bread and cheese ; for the 
 ride and the peril had produced fine relish, and a genuine 
 Cheddar now sighed for so vainly did justice to its 
 nativity. He also enjoyed, being now in safety, the sweet 
 sense of turning the tables upon his wanton and hateful 
 deriders. 
 
 For sure enough, while his mouth was full, and the 
 froth on his ale was winking at him, in came those two 
 scoffing fellows, followed by a dozen other miners. It ap- 
 peared to be pay-night, and generous men were shedding 
 sixpences on one another; but Fox saw enough to con- 
 vince him that the rest fought shy of his two acquaint- 
 ances. 
 
 When he saw this a wild idea occurred to him for a 
 moment was it not possible to arrest that pair with the 
 aid of their brother miners? But a little consideration 
 showed the folly of such a project. He had no warrant, 
 no witness, no ally, and he was wholly unknown in that 
 neighbourhood. And even if the miners should believe 
 his tale, would they combine to lay hands on brother 
 workmen and hand them over to the mercies of the law ? 
 Even if they would, it was doubtful that they could, sturdy 
 fellows though they were. 
 
 But the young man was so loath to let these two vaga- 
 bonds get away, that his next idea was to bribe somebody 
 to follow them and keep them in view until he should 
 come in chase, armed with the needful warrant and sup- 
 ported by stout posse comitatus. He studied the faces of 
 his friends at the bar, to judge whether any were fitted 
 for the job. Alas ! among all those rough and honest 
 features there was not a spark of craft nor a flash of swift 
 intelligence. If one of them were put to watch another, 
 the first thing he would do would be to go and tell him 
 of it. 
 
 And what justice of the peace would issue warrant upon 
 a stranger's deposition of hearsays? Much against his 
 will, Jemmy Fox perceived that there was nothing for it 
 but to give these two rogues a wide berth for the present, 
 
306 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 keep his own counsel most jealously, and be ready to meet 
 them at Perlycross fair. And even so, on his long home- 
 ward ride, he thought that the prospect was brightening 
 in the west; and that he with his name cleared might 
 come forward and assert his love for the gentle Nicie. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 TWO PUZZLES 
 
 " THEN, if I understand aright, Lady Waldron, you wish 
 me to drop all further efforts for the detection of those 
 miscreants? and that, too, at the very moment when we 
 had some reason to hope that we should at last succeed ; 
 and all the outlay, which is no trifle, will have been sim- 
 ply thrown away. This course is so extraordinary that 
 you will not think me inquisitive if I beg you to explain it." 
 
 Mr. Webber, the lawyer, was knitting his forehead, and 
 speaking in a tone of some annoyance and much doubt as 
 to the correctness of his own reluctant inference. Mean- 
 while the Spanish lady was glancing at him with some 
 dismay, and then at Mr. Penniloe, who was also present, 
 for the morning's discussion had been of business matters. 
 
 " No, I doubt very much if you quite comprehend," she 
 answered, with Mr. Penniloe's calm eyes fixed upon her. 
 " I did not propose to speak entirely like that. What I 
 was desirous of describing to you is, that to me it is less 
 of eagerness to be going on with so much haste until the 
 return of my dear son. He, for instance, will direct things, 
 and with his great great command of the mind, will make 
 the proceedings to succeed if it should prove possible for 
 the human mind to do it ; and there is no one in this re- 
 gion that can refuse him anything." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe saw that she spoke with some misgivings, 
 and shifted her gaze from himself to the lawyer and back 
 again with more of inquiry and less of dictation than her 
 usual tone conveyed. 
 
 " The matter is entirely one for your ladyship's own de- 
 cision," replied Mr. Webber, beginning to fold up the pa- 
 pers he had submitted. " Mr. Penniloe has left that to us, 
 as was correct, inasmuch as it does not concern the trust. 
 
308 PERLYCROSS 
 
 I will stop all inquiries at once, upon receiving your in- 
 structions to that effect." 
 
 " But but I think you do not well comprehend. Per- 
 haps I could more clearly place it with the use of my own 
 tongue. It is nothing more than this : I wish that my 
 dear son should not give up his appointment as officer, 
 and come back to this country, for altogether nothing. I 
 wish that he should have the delight of thinking that 
 that it shall be of his own procuration to unfold this mys- 
 terious case. Yes, that is it that is all that I wish to 
 let things wait a little until my son comes." 
 
 If either of her listeners had been very keen, or en- 
 dowed with the terrier nose of suspicion, he would have 
 observed, perhaps, that the lady had found some relief 
 from an after-thought, and was now repeating it as a happy 
 hit. But Mr. Penniloe was too large and Mr. Webber too 
 rough of mind, in spite of legal training, to pry into a 
 lady's little turns of thought. 
 
 "Very well, madam," said the lawyer, rising, "that fin- 
 ishes our business for to-day, I think. But I beg to con- 
 gratulate you on your son's return. I cannot call to mind 
 that I have heard of it before. Every one will be delight- 
 ed to see him. Even in his father's time everybody was 
 full of him. When may we hope to see him, Lady Wal- 
 dron ?" 
 
 " Before very long, I have reason for good hope," the 
 lady replied, with a smile restoring much of the beauty of 
 her care-worn face. " I have not heard the day yet, but I 
 know that he will come. He has to obtain permission 
 from all the proper authorities, of course. And that is like 
 your very long and very costful processes of the Great 
 British law, Mr. Webber. But now I will entreat of you 
 to excuse me any more. I have given very long attention. 
 Mr. Webber, will you then oblige me by being the host to 
 Mr. Penniloe? The refreshment is in the approximate 
 room." 
 
 " Devilish fine woman !" Mr. Webber whispered, as her 
 ladyship sailed away. " Wonderfully clever, too ! How 
 she does her w's ! I don't know much about them, but I 
 always understood that there never was any one born out 
 of England who could make head or tail of his w's. Why, 
 
TWO PUZZLES 309 
 
 she speaks English quite like a native. But I see you are 
 looking at me. Shocking manners, I confess, to swear in 
 the presence of a parson, sir, though plenty of them do it 
 ha, ha, ha ! in their own absence, I suppose." 
 
 " It is not my presence, Mr. Webber that makes it nei- 
 ther better nor worse ; but the presence of God is every- 
 where." 
 
 " To be sure so it is. Come into the next room. Her 
 ladyship said we should find something there. I suppose 
 we sha'n't see missy, though," said the lawyer, as he led 
 the parson to the luncheon-table. " She fights very shy of 
 your humble servant now. Girls never forgive that sort of 
 thing. I don't often make such a mistake though, do I? 
 And it was my son Waldron's fault altogether. Waldron 
 is a sharp fellow, but not like me can't see very far into 
 a mile-stone. Pity to stop the case before we cleared Fox. 
 I don't understand this new turn, though. A straw shows 
 the way the wind blows. Something behind the scenes, 
 Mr. Penniloe more there than meets the eye. Is it true 
 that old Fox is dropping off the hooks ?" 
 
 " If you mean to ask me, Mr. Webber, what I have heard 
 about his state of health, I fear that there is little hope 
 of his recovery. Dr. Fox returns to-morrow, as you may 
 have heard through through your especial agents. You 
 know what my opinion is of that proceeding on your part." 
 
 " Yes, you spoke out pretty plainly. And, by George, 
 you were right, sir ! As fine a property as any in the 
 county. I had no idea it was half as much. Why, bless 
 my heart, sir, Jemmy Fox will be worth his 8000 a year, 
 they tell me !" 
 
 " I am glad that his worth," Mr. Penniloe said, quietly, 
 "is sufficient per annum to relieve him from your very 
 dark suspicion." 
 
 " Got me there !" replied Webber, with a laugh. " Ah, 
 you parsons always beat the lawyers. Bury us, don't you? 
 if you find no other way. But we get the last fee, after 
 all. Probate, sir, probate is an expensive thing. Well, I 
 must be off. I see my gig is ready. If you can make 
 my peace with Jemmy Fox, say a word for me. After all, 
 it looked uncommonly black, you know. And young men 
 should be forgiving." 
 
310 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 Scarcely had his loud steps ceased to ring, when a very 
 light pitapat succeeded, and Mr. Penniloe found himself 
 in far more interesting company. Nicie came softly, and 
 put back her hair, and offered her lovely white forehead 
 to be kissed, and sat down with a smile that begged par- 
 don for a sigh. 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Penniloe, I am so glad ! I thought I should 
 never have a talk with you again. My fortune has been so 
 frightful lately. Everything against me, the same as it 
 has been with this dear little soul here." 
 
 She pointed to Jess, the wounded one, who trotted in 
 cheerfully upon three legs, with the other strapped up in 
 a white silk pouch. The little doggie wagged her tail, 
 and looked up at the clergyman with her large eyes full 
 of soft gratitude and love ; as by that reflex action, which 
 a dog's eyes have without moving, they took in and told 
 their intense delight in that vigilant nurse and sweet 
 comrade, Nicie. 
 
 " Oh, she is so proud," Miss Waldron said, looking 
 twice as proud herself ; " this is the first time that she 
 has had the privilege of going upon three legs without 
 anybody's hand ; and she does think so much of herself ! 
 Jess, go and show Uncle Penniloe what she can do, now 
 her health is coming back. Jess, go and cut a little 
 caper very steadily, you know, for fear of going twisty ; 
 and keep her tail up all the time ! Now Jess, come and 
 have a pretty kiss ; because she has earned it splendidly. 
 She takes my breath away, because she is so good," 
 continued Nicie, leaning over her. " I have studied her 
 character for six weeks now, and there is not a flaw to 
 be found in it, unless it is a noble sort of jealousy. 
 Pixie" here Jess uttered a sharp, small growl, and 
 showed a few teeth as good as ever "I must not 
 mention his name again, because it won't do to excite 
 her ; but he is out in the cold altogether, because he has 
 never shown any heroism. No, no, he sha'n't come, Jess. 
 He is locked up for want of chivalry. Oh, Uncle Penni- 
 loe, there is one question I have long been wanting to ask 
 you. Do you think it possible for even God to forgive 
 the man the brute, I mean who slashed this little dear 
 like that for being so loving and so true ?" 
 
TWO PUZZLES 311 
 
 " My dear child," Mr. Penniloe replied, " I have just 
 been saying to myself, how like your dear father you are 
 growing in goodness and kindness of face, I mean. 
 But when you look like that, the resemblance is quite lost. 
 I should never have thought you capable of such a fero- 
 cious aspect." 
 
 " Ah, that is because you don't know what I can do." 
 But as she spoke her arched brows were relaxing, and her 
 flashing eyes filled with their usual soft gleam. " You for- 
 get that I am half a Spaniard still, or at any rate a quar- 
 ter one, and therefore I can be very terrible sometimes. 
 Ah, you should have seen me the other day. I let some- 
 body know who I am. He thought, perhaps, that butter 
 wouldn't melt in my mouth. Did not I astonish him, the 
 impertinent, low wretch ?" 
 
 " Why Nicie, this is not at all like you : I always 
 quote you as a model of sweet temper. Who can have 
 aroused your angry passions thus ?" 
 
 " Oh, never mind. I should like to tell you, and I want 
 to tell you very much. But I am not permitted, though 
 I don't know why. My mother has begged me particularly 
 not to speak of that man who came gentleman, I suppose 
 he would call himself but there, I am telling you all 
 about him ! And mother is so different, and so much 
 more humble now. If she were still as unfair as she was, 
 I should not be so particular. But she seems to be so 
 sad, and so mysterious now, without accusing any one. 
 And so I will not say a word against her orders. You 
 would not wish it, Uncle Penniloe, I am sure." 
 
 " Certainly not, my dear. I will not ask another ques- 
 tion. I have noticed that your mother is quite differ- 
 ent, myself. I hope she is not falling into really bad 
 health." ' 
 
 " No, I don't think that but into frightfully low spir- 
 its. We have enough to account for that, haven't we, 
 Uncle Penniloe? To think of my dear father, all this 
 time ! What can I do ? I am so wretchedly helpless. I 
 try to trust in God, and to say to myself * What does the 
 earthly part matter, after all, when the soul is with the 
 Lord, or only waiting for His time, and perhaps reward- 
 ed all the better because because of wicked treatment 
 
312 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 here ?' But oh, it won't do, Uncle Penniloe, it won't, when 
 I think how noble and how good he was, and to be treated 
 in that way I And then I fall away, and cry, and sob, and 
 there comes such a pain such a pain in my heart, that 
 I have no breath left, and can only lie down and pray 
 that God would take me to my father. Is it wicked ? I 
 suppose it is. But how am I to help it ?" 
 
 " No, my dear, it is not wicked to give way sometimes." 
 The parson's voice was tremulous at sight of her distress, 
 and remembrance of his own, not so very long ago. " Sor- 
 row is sent to all of us, and doubtless for our good ; and 
 if we did not feel it, how could we be at all improved by 
 it ? But you have borne it well, my child ; and so has 
 your good mother, considering how the first sad blow has 
 been doubled and prolonged so strangely. But now it will 
 be better for you, ever so much better, Nicie, with your 
 dear brother home again." 
 
 " But when will that be ? Perhaps not for years. We 
 do not even know where he is. They were not likely to 
 stay long in Malta. He may be at the Cape of Good 
 Hope by this time, if the ship has had long enough to get 
 there. Everything seems to be so much against us." 
 
 " Are you sure that you are right, my dear ?" Mr. Pen- 
 niloe asked, with no little surprise. " From what your 
 mother said just now, I hoped that I should see my old 
 pupil very soon." 
 
 " I am afraid not, Uncle Penniloe. My dear mother 
 seems to confuse things a little, or not quite understand 
 them. Through her late illness, no doubt it is. We have 
 not had a word from Tom since that letter which had such 
 a wonderful effect, as I told you, when you were gone to 
 London. And then, if you remember, he had no idea how 
 long they were to be at Valetta. And he said nothing 
 about their future movements very clearly. So full of his 
 duties, no doubt, that he had no time to write long particu- 
 lars. Even now he may never have heard of of what has 
 happened, and our sad condition. They may have been 
 at sea ever since he wrote. Soldiers can never tell where 
 they may have to be." 
 
 " That has always been so, and is a part of discipline" 
 the parson was thinking of the Centurion and his men. 
 
TWO PUZZLES 313 
 
 " But even if your letter should have gone astray, they 
 must have seen some English newspapers, I should think." 
 
 " Tom is very clever, as you know, Uncle Penniloe ; 
 but he never reads a word when he can help it. And be- 
 sides that, it is only fair to remember that he is under 
 Government. And the Government never neglects an op- 
 portunity of turning right into left, and the rest upside- 
 down. If all the baggage intended for their draft was 
 sent to the West Indies because they were ordered to 
 the East, it ought to follow that their letters would go, 
 too. But the worst of it is that one cannot be sure they 
 will stick to a mistake after making it." 
 
 " It is most probable that they would ; especially if it 
 were pointed out to them. Your dear father told me 
 that they never forgive anybody for correcting them. But 
 how, then, could your mother feel so sure about Tom's com- 
 ing home almost immediately ?" 
 
 " It puzzles me, until I have time to think," answered 
 Nicie, looking down. " She has never said a word to me 
 about it, beyond praying and hoping for Tom to come 
 home. Oh, I know, or at least I can guess, how ! She 
 may have had a dream she believes firmly in her dreams, 
 and she has not had time to tell me yet." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe had no right to seek further, and no incli- 
 nation so to do. The meanest, mangiest, and most sneak- 
 ing understrapper of that recent addition to our liberal 
 institutions the " Private Inquiry Firm " could never 
 have suspected Nicie Waldron, after looking at her, of any 
 of those subterfuges which he (like a slack-skinned worm) 
 wriggles into. But, on the other hand, who could suppose 
 that Lady Waldron would endeavour to mislead her own 
 man of business by a trumpery deceit ? And yet, who 
 was that strange visitor, of whom her daughter was not 
 allowed to speak ? 
 
 Unable to understand these things, the curate shortly 
 took his leave, being resolved, like a wise man, to think 
 as little as he could about them, until Time that mighty 
 locksmith, at whom even Love rarely wins the latest laugh 
 should bring his skeleton key to bear on the wards of 
 this enigma. 
 
 What else can a busy man do, when puzzled even by 
 14 
 
314 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 his own affairs? And how much more must it be so in 
 the business of other persons, which he doubts his right 
 to meddle with ? Perhaps it would have been difficult to 
 find any male member of our race more deeply moved by 
 the haps and mishaps of his fellow-creatures than this 
 parson of Perlycross ; and yet he could take a rosier view 
 for most of them than they took for themselves. So 
 when he left the grounds of Walderscourt he buttoned 
 up his spencer, and stepped out bravely, swinging his 
 stick vigorously, and trusting in the Lord. 
 
 " What did 'e hat me vor, like that ?" cried a voice of 
 complaint from a brambled ditch outside a thick copse 
 known as " Puddicombe Wood." Mr. Penniloe had not 
 got his glasses on, and was grieved to feel rather than 
 to see, although he was at the right end of his stick, 
 that he had brought it down (with strong emphasis of 
 a passage in his coming sermon) on the head of a croucher 
 in that tangled ditch. 
 
 " Oh, I beg your pardon ! I am so sorry. I had not 
 the least idea there was anybody there. I was thinking 
 of the sower, and the tares that choke the seed. But 
 get up, and let me see what I have done. What made 
 you hide yourself down there ? I am not the game-keeper. 
 Why, it is Sam Speccotty ! Poaching again, I am afraid, 
 Sam. But I hope I have not hurt you so very much." 
 
 " Bruk' my head in two. That's what you have done, 
 passon. Oh, you can't goo to tell on me, after hatting 
 me on the brains with club-stick ! Ooh, ooh, ooh ! I be 
 gooing to die, I be." 
 
 " Speccotty, no lies and no shamming !" Mr. Penniloe 
 put on his spectacles, for he knew his customer well 
 enough a notorious poacher, but very seldom punished, 
 because he was considered " a natural." " This is no club- 
 stick, but a light walking-stick; and between it and your 
 head there was a thick brier, as well as this vast mop of 
 hair. Let me see what you have got under that tree- 
 root." 
 
 Sam had been vainly endeavouring to lead his minister 
 away from his own little buried napkin, or rather sack of 
 hidden treasure. " Turn it out," commanded the parson, 
 surprised at his own austerity. 
 
TWO PUZZLES 315 
 
 " A brace of cock-pheasants, a couple of woodcocks, 
 two couple of rabbits and a leash of hares ! Oh, Sam, 
 Sam ! What have you done ? Speccotty, I am ashamed 
 of you." 
 
 "Bain't no oother chap within ten maile," said Spec- 
 cotty, regarding the subject from a different point of view, 
 " as could a' dooed that since dree o'clock this marnin' 
 now, passon, do 'e know of wan ?" 
 
 " I am happy to say that I do not ; neither do I wish for 
 his acquaintance. Give up your gun, Sam. Even if I let 
 you off, I insist upon your tools, as well as all your 
 plunder." 
 
 " Ha'n't a got no goon," replied the poacher, looking 
 slyly at the parson through the rough shock of his hair. 
 " Never vired a goon, for none on 'un. Knows how to 
 vang 'un wi'out thiccy." 
 
 " I can well believe that." Mr. Penniloe knew not a little 
 of poachers from his boyish days, and was not without 
 that secret vein of sympathy for them which every sports- 
 man has, so long as they elude and do not defy the law. 
 " But I must consider what I shall do. Send all this to 
 my house to-night, that I may return it to the proper 
 owners. Unless you do that you will be locked up to- 
 morrow." 
 
 "Oh, passon, you might let me have the Roberts, to 
 make a few broth for my old moother." 
 
 " Not a hair nor a feather shall you keep. Your mother 
 shall have some honest broth but none of your stolen 
 rabbits, Speccotty. You take it so lightly that I fear you 
 must be punished." 
 
 " Oh, don't 'e give me up, sir. Oh, my poor head do 
 go round so ! Don't 'e give me up, for God's sake, pas- 
 son. Two or dree things I can tell 'e, as 'e 'd give the 
 buttons off thy coat to know on. Do 'e mind when the 
 Devil wor seen on Hagdon Hill, the day avore the good 
 lady varied all down the Harseshoe?" 
 
 " I do remember hearing some foolish story, Sam, and 
 silly people being frightened by some strange appearances 
 very easily explained, no doubt." 
 
 " You volk as don't zee things can make 'un any colour 
 to your own liking. But I tell 'e Old Nick gooed into the 
 
316 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 body of a girt wild-cat up there ; and to this zide of val- 
 ley her be toorned to a black dog. Zayeth so in the Bai- 
 ble, don't 'un?" 
 
 " I cannot recall any passage, Sam, to that effect ; 
 though I am often surprised by the knowledge of those 
 who use Holy Scripture for argument much more freely 
 than for guidance. And I fear that is the case with you." 
 
 " Whuther a' dooed it, or whuther a' did not, I be the 
 ekal of 'un, that I be. When her coom to me, a-gapin' 
 and a-yawnin', I up wi' billhook and I gie'd 'un zummat. 
 If 'tis gone back to hell a' harth, a' wun't coom out again, 
 I reckon, wi'out Sam Speccotty's mark on 'un. 'Twill 
 zave 'e a lot of sarmons, passon. Her 'ont want no more 
 knockin' on the head this zide of Tester, to my reckon- 
 ing. Hor ! passon be gone a'ready ; a' don't want to hear 
 of that. Taketh of his trade away. Ah, I could tell 'un 
 zomethin', if a' wadn't such a softie." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe had hastened on, and no longer swung his 
 holly-stick not through fear of knocking any more skulk- 
 ing poachers on the head, but from the sadness which al- 
 ways fell upon him at thought of the dark and deadly blow 
 the Lord had been pleased to inflict on him. 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 FRANKLY SPEAKING 
 
 SUPPOSING a man to be engaged as he often must be 
 even now, when the general boast of all things is that 
 the} 7 have been done by machinery in the useful and in- 
 teresting work of sinking a well by his own stroke and 
 scoop ; and supposing that, when he is up to his hips, 
 and has not got a dry thread upon him, but reeks and 
 drips like a sprawling jelly-fish at such a time there 
 should drop upon him half a teaspoonf ul of water from the 
 bucket he has been sending up surely one might expect 
 that man to accept with a smile that little dribble, even if he 
 perceives it. 
 
 Alas, he does nothing of the kind ! He swears and 
 jumps, as if he were in a shower-bath of vitriol, then he 
 shouts for the ladder, drags his drenched legs up, and as- 
 cends for the purpose of thrashing his mate, who has dared 
 to let a drop slip down on him. Such is the case ; and no 
 rate-payer who has had -to delve for his own water (after 
 being robbed by sewage- works) will fail to perceive the 
 force of it. 
 
 Even so (if it be lawful to compare small things with 
 great), even so it has been, and must be forever, with a 
 young man over head and ears in love, and digging in the 
 depths of his own green gault. He throws back his head, 
 and he shovels for his life ; he scorns the poor fellows who 
 are looking down upon him; and he sends up bucketfuls 
 of his own spooning, perhaps in the form of gravelly verse. 
 The more he gets water -logged the deeper is his glow, 
 and the bowels of the earth are as gold-beaters' skin to him. 
 But let anybody cast cold water, though it be but a drop, 
 on his fervid, frozen loins, and up he comes with both fists 
 clinched. 
 
318 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 These are the truths that must be cited in explanation 
 of the sad affair next to be recorded the quarrel between 
 two almost equally fine fellows Dr. Jemmy Fox, to wit, 
 and Master Frank Gilham. These two had naturally good 
 liking for each other. There was nothing very marvellous 
 about either of them, although their respective mothers 
 perceived a heavenful of that quality. But they might be 
 regarded as fair specimens of Englishmen more wonder- 
 ful, perhaps, than admirable, in the eyes of other races. 
 If it were needful for any one to make choice between 
 them, that choice would be governed more by points of 
 liking than of merit. Both were brave, straightforward, 
 stubborn, sensible, and self-respecting fellows, a little 
 hat-headed sometimes, perhaps, but never consciously un- 
 just. 
 
 It seemed a great pity that such a pair should fall away 
 from friendship, when there were so many reasons for 
 good -will and amity; not to mention gratitude that 
 flower of humanity, now extinct, through the number of 
 its cuttings that have all damped off. Jemmy Fox, in- 
 deed, had cherished a small slip of that, when Gilham 
 stood by him in his first distress ; but unhappily the 
 slightest change of human weather is inevitably fatal to 
 that very miffy plant. 
 
 Young as he was, Frank Gilham had been to market 
 already too many times to look for offal value in gratitude ; 
 and, indeed, he was too generous to regard it as his due ; 
 still his feelings of friendship and of admiration for the 
 superior powers of the other were a little aggrieved when 
 he found himself kept at a distance and avoided for rea- 
 sons which he understood too well. So when he heard 
 that young Dr. Fox had returned from that visit to his 
 father, he rode up to Old Barn to call upon him, and place 
 things upon a plainer footing. 
 
 Jemmy received him in a friendly manner, but with his 
 mind made up to put a stop to any nonsense concerning 
 his sister Christie, if Gilham should be fool enough to af- 
 ford him any opening. And this the young yeoman did 
 without delay, for he saw no good reason why he should 
 be made too little of. 
 
 " And how did you leave Miss Fox ?" he asked, as they 
 
FRANKLY SPEAKING 319 
 
 took tlieir chairs opposite the great fireplace in the bare 
 room, scientific with a skull or two, and artistic with a few 
 of Christie's water-colour sketches. 
 
 " I had no difficulty in leaving her," Jemmy answered, 
 with a very poor attempt at wit, which he intended to be 
 exasperating. 
 
 " How was she, I mean ? I dare say you got away 
 without thinking much of anybody but yourself." Frank 
 Gilham was irritated, as he deserved to be. 
 
 " Thank you ; well, I think upon the whole " Jemmy 
 Fox drawled out his words as if his chin were too slack to 
 keep them going, and he stroked it in a manner which is al- 
 ways hateful; "yes, I think I may say upon the whole that 
 she was quite as well as can be expected. I hope you can 
 say the same of your dear mother." 
 
 Frank Gilham knew that he was challenged to the com- 
 bat ; and he came forth, as the duty is, and the habit of an 
 Englishman. 
 
 " This is not the first time you have been rude to me," 
 he said, "and I won't pretend not to know the reason. 
 You think that I have been guilty of some presumption in 
 daring to lift my eyes to your sister." 
 
 " To tell you the truth," replied Fox, getting up, and 
 meeting his steadfast gaze steadfastly, " you have expressed 
 my opinion better than I could myself have put it." 
 
 " It is not the sort of thing one can argue about," said 
 the other, also rising ; " I know very well that she is too 
 good for me, and has the right to look ever so much high- 
 er. But for all that, I have a perfect right to set my heart 
 upon her; especially, considering considering that I can't 
 help it. And if I do nothing to annoy her, or even to let 
 her know of my presumption, what right have you to make 
 a grievance of it." 
 
 " I have never made a grievance of it. I simply wish 
 you to understand that I do not approve of it." 
 
 " You have a perfect right to disapprove, and to let me 
 know that you do so. Only it would have been more to 
 your credit if you had done it in an open manner, and in 
 plain English, instead of cutting me, or, at any rate, drop- 
 ping my acquaintance. I don't call that straightforward." 
 
 " The man is a jackass. What rot he talks ! Look 
 
320 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 here, ray fine fellow, how could I speak to you about it 
 before you acknowledged your infatuation ? Could I come 
 up to you in the street, and say l Hi, there ! You are 
 in love with my sister, are you? If you want to keep a 
 sound skin, you'll haul off.' Is that the straightforward 
 course I should have taken ?" 
 
 " Well, there may be something in the way you put it. 
 But I would leave it to anybody whether you have acted 
 fairly. And why should I haul off, I should like to know. 
 I won't haul off for fifty of you. Because I have got no 
 money, I suppose ! How would you like to be ordered to 
 haul off from Miss Waldron, in case you were to lose your 
 money, or anything went against you ? Instead of haul- 
 ing off, I'll hold on in my own mind, at any rate. I 
 don't want a farthing of the money of your family. I 
 would rather not have it dirty stuff, what good is it? 
 But I tell you what if your dear sister would only give 
 me one good word, I would snap my fingers at you and 
 everybody. I know I am nothing at all. However, I am 
 quite as good as you are, though not to be spoken of in 
 the same week with her. I tell you, I don't care twopence 
 for any man, or all the men in the world put together 
 if only your sister thinks well of me. So now you know 
 what you may look out for." 
 
 " All this is very fine ; but it won't do, Gilham." Fox 
 thought he saw his way to settle him. " Surely you are 
 old enough to see the folly of getting so excited. My sis- 
 ter will very soon be married to Sir Henry Haggerstone, 
 a man of influence and large fortune ; and you well, to 
 some lady who can see your value through a ball of glass, 
 as you do. That power is not given to all of us, but on 
 no account would I disparage you ; and when this little 
 joke is over you will come and beg my pardon, and we 
 shall be hearty friends again." 
 
 " Sir Henry Haggerstone !" Gilham replied, in a tone of 
 contempt which would justly have astonished that exem- 
 plary baronet. " Not she ! Why, that's the old codger 
 that has had three wives ! Fiddles and fiddlesticks ! I'm 
 not afraid of him. But just tell me one thing, now, upon 
 your honour : would you object to me, if she liked me, 
 and I had a hundred thousand pounds ?" 
 
FRANKLY SPEAKING 321 
 
 " Well, no; I don't know that I should, Mr. Gilham." 
 
 " Then, Dr. Fox, you would sell your sister for a hun- 
 dred thousand pounds. And if she likes to put a lower 
 price upon herself, what right have you to stop her ?" 
 
 11 1 tell you, Gil ham, all this is childish talk. If Christie 
 has been fool enough to take a fancy to you, it is your 
 place, as a man of honour, to bear in mind how young she 
 is, and to be very careful that you do nothing to encour- 
 age it." 
 
 "But there is no chance of such luck. Has it ever 
 seemed likely to you, my dear Jemmy, that she that she 
 even had any idea " 
 
 " A great deal too much, I am afraid. At least, I don't 
 mean to say that exactly ; but at any rate well, enough 
 to place you on your honour." 
 
 " And upon my honour I will be not to neglect any 
 shadow of a chance that turns up in my favour. But I 
 can never believe it, Jemmy ; she is ever so much too lofty 
 and too lovely and too clever ; did anybody ever see such 
 fingers and such eyes and such a smile and such a voice ? 
 And altogether " 
 
 " Altogether a pack of rubbish ! The sooner you order 
 your horse the better. I can't have you raving here, and 
 fetching all the parish up the hill." 
 
 " I am a sensible man, Jemmy Fox. I know a noble 
 thing when I see it. You are too small of nature and too 
 selfish for such perception. But you may abuse me to 
 your heart's content. You will never get a harsh word in 
 reply, after what you have told me ; because there must 
 be good in you, or you would never have such a sister. I 
 shall take my own course now, without the smallest con- 
 sideration for your crotchets. Now don't make any mis- 
 take about that. As for honour clearly understand that 
 I shall pitch it to the devil." 
 
 " Well, don't come here with any more of your raving ; 
 and don't expect me to encourage you. You have been a 
 good fellow I don't mind saying that until you took 
 this infernal craze." 
 
 " Oh, I won't trouble you, never you fear. You are do- 
 ing what you think right, no doubt ; and you are welcome 
 to do your worst. Only there is one thing I must say : I 
 H* 
 
322 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 know that you are too much of a man to belie me to your 
 sister, or run me down behind my back. Shake hands, 
 Jemmy, before I go ; perhaps we shall never shake hands 
 again." 
 
 " Get somebody to leave you that hundred thousand 
 pounds," said Fox, as he complied with this request; 
 " and then we'll shake hands all day long instead of shak- 
 ing fists at each other." 
 
 '"Jem Crow said to his first wife's mother, 
 
 What right have you to be anybody's brother ?' " 
 
 Gilham responded, being in high spirits, with this quota- 
 tion from that piece of negro doggerel with which Eng- 
 land was at that time crazed. And thus they parted with 
 a neutral smile ; and none the less, perhaps, in that each of 
 them perceived that the parting would prove a long one. 
 
 " What will Nicie have to say about all this ? I shall 
 not be contented until I know," said Fox to himself, when 
 his visitor was gone ; "I have a great mind to go and get 
 my riding- gaiters. That blessed mother of hers can 
 scarcely growl at me if I call to-day, considering how 
 long I have been away. I seem to knock under to every- 
 body now ; I can't think what has come over me." 
 
 When a man begins to think that of himself it shows 
 that he is getting pugnacious, and has not found his proper 
 outlet. The finest thing for him is a long ride then, or a 
 long walk if he has only two legs. Fox was shaking down 
 upon his merits, but still a little crusty with himself, and 
 therefore very much so with every one outside it, when 
 his pretty mare pulled up, to think about the water she 
 was bound to walk through at Priestwell. 
 
 This is one of the fairest hamlets to be found in Eng- 
 land. There are houses enough to make one think of the 
 other people that live in them, but not so many as to 
 make it certain that a great many people will be nasty. 
 You might expect, if you lived there, to know something 
 about everybody in the place ; and yet only to lift up your 
 hands and smile when they did a thing you were too wise 
 to do. The critical inhabitant in such a place, unless he 
 is very wicked, must be happy. He falls into a habitude 
 of small smiles; "many a mickle makes a rnuckle" if 
 
FRANKLY SPEAKING 323 
 
 that be the right way to quote it, which it isn't however, 
 the result is all the same, he knows what he is about, and 
 it leads him to smile twenty times for one smile he would 
 have had in town. 
 
 All these things were producing a fine effect upon 
 the character of Dr. Gronow. By head and shoulders, 
 without standing up for himself for a single moment, he 
 was the biggest man at Priestwell ; in knowledge of the 
 world, in acquaintance with books, in power to give good 
 advice, and to help the people who took it the largest. 
 And after the many hot contentions of his life, and the 
 trouble in being understood (where the game never pays 
 for the candle), here he was taken at his own appraise- 
 ment after liberal prepayment. 
 
 He was not a bad man, take him all in all, though in- 
 clined by nature to be many -angled rather than many- 
 sided. And now, as he stood on the plank that goes over 
 the brook where the road goes under it, he was about as 
 happy as the best of men can be. The old doctor, in truth, 
 was as full of delight though his countenance never ex- 
 pressed it as the young doctor was of dejection. And 
 why ? For the very noble reason that the wiser man now 
 had his fly-rod in hand, fly-book in pocket, creel on back, 
 and waterproof boots upon stiff but sturdy legs. And, 
 main point of all he was just setting forth ; his return 
 might be effected, perhaps, in quite another pair of shoes. 
 
 The Priestwell water flows into the Perle from the 
 north some half-mile higher up than the influx of Susscot 
 brook from the south, and it used to be full of bright 
 stickles and dark hovers, peopled with many a bouncing 
 trout. For a trout of a pound is a bouncer there ; and a 
 half-pounder even is held a comely fish ; and, sooth to 
 say, the angler is not so churlish as to fail of finding joy in 
 one of half that size. Not a sign of spring was on the 
 earth as yet, and very little tidings of it in the air ; but 
 any amount was in the old man's heart, as he listened to 
 the warbling of the brook, and said to himself that he 
 should catch, perhaps, a fish. He was going to fish down- 
 ward, as he always did, for he never liked to contradict 
 the water. At the elbow of the stream was his own wil- 
 low-tree, at the bottom of his lawn, and there a big fish 
 
324 PERLYCROSS 
 
 lived the Dr. Gronow of the liquid realm, who defied the 
 Dr. Gronow of the dry land. Ha, why not tackle him this 
 very afternoon and ennoble the opening day thereby, for 
 the miserable floods, and the long snow -time, and the 
 shackling of the stream is over; no water-colour artist 
 could have brought the stickles to a finer fishing tint ; and 
 lo, there is a trout upon the rise down there, tempted by 
 the quiver of a real iron-blue ! 
 
 With these thoughts glowing in his heart, and the 
 smoke of his pipe making rings upon the naked alder- 
 twigs, he was giving his flies the last titivating touch 
 for he always fished with three, though two were one too 
 many when he heard a voice not too encouraging. 
 
 " I say, doctor, if you don't look out you'll be certain 
 to get bogged, you know." 
 
 " Don't care if I do," replied the doctor, whisking his 
 flies around his head, and startling Perle with the flash of 
 his rod. 
 
 "You had better go home," continued Jemmy, "and 
 let the banks dry up a bit, and some of your fish have 
 time to breed again. Why, the floods must have washed 
 them all down into the Perle, and the Perle must have 
 washed them all down into the sea." 
 
 " That shows how much you know about it. I have got 
 a most splendid patent dodge at the bottom of my last 
 meadow. I'll show it to you some fine day, if you are 
 good. It is so constructed that it keeps all my trout from 
 going down into the Perle, and yet it lets all the Perle 
 trout come up to me, and when they are up they can't 
 get back again, of course ; and the same thing reversed 
 at the top of my grounds. I expect to have more fish than 
 pebbles in my brook. And nobody can see it, that's the 
 beauty of it. But mind, you mustn't say a word about it, 
 Jemmy. People are so selfish !" 
 
 " Of course I won't ; you may trust me. But when 
 you have got everybody else's fish in your water, can you 
 get them out of it ? I know nothing at all about it. But 
 to make any hand of angling, is it not the case that you 
 must take to it in early life ? Look at Pike, for instance, 
 what a hand he is ! Never comes home without a basket- 
 ful. He'll be here again next week, I believe." 
 
FRANKLY SPEAKING 325 
 
 Fox knew well enough that Dr. Gronow hated the very 
 name of Pike. 
 
 " I am truly sorry to hear it. I am sure it must be high 
 time for that lad to go to college. Penniloe ought to be 
 sent to prison for keeping such a poacher. But, as for 
 myself, if I caught too many I should not enjoy it half so 
 much, because I should think there was no skill in it." 
 
 " Well now, I never thought of that. And pari ratione 
 if we save too many of our patients, we lay ourselves open 
 to the charge of luck." 
 
 " No fear for you, Jemmy ; you are not a lucky fellow. 
 Come in and have a talk with me by-and-by. I want to 
 hear the last news, if there is any." 
 
 " Yes, there is some ; but I must tell you now or never, 
 for I have to ride round through Pumpington. And I 
 came this way on purpose to get the benefit of your 
 opinion." 
 
 "But, rny dear fellow, it gets dark so soon" Dr. Gronow 
 looked wistfully at his flies. " Well, if you won't be more 
 than five minutes, I will put an iron-blue on instead of a 
 half -kingdon. But don't be longer than you can help. 
 You are the only man in the parish I would stop for." 
 
 Omitting all description, except of persons, Fox told the 
 elder doctor what he had learned at the mouth of the Men- 
 dip mines and at the Smoking Limekiln, as well as what 
 he knew of Harvey Tremlett from Mr. Penniloe's account, 
 reminding him also of Joe Crang's description, and show- 
 ing how well it tallied. 
 
 " My advice can be given in a word, and that is 'Not a 
 word,' " answered Gronow, forgetting his flies for the mo- 
 ment. " Not a word to any one but Mockham the magis- 
 trate, and not even to him until needful. Shrove Tues- 
 day, you say, is the date of the Fair. Don't apply for 
 your warrant until that morning, if you can get it then 
 without delay. Only you must make sure that Mockham 
 will be at home to issue it, and you must have Joe Crang 
 there quietly, and gag him somewhere for the rest of the 
 day perhaps a little opiate in his beer. You see it is of 
 the first importance that not a word should leak out about 
 your intention of nabbing those fellows at the Fair until 
 you are down upon them, for your birds would never 
 
326 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 come near the trap. It is perfectly amazing how such 
 things spread, faster than a bird can fly almost ; for the 
 whole world seems to be in league against the law. There 
 is plenty of time for us to talk it over between this and 
 then, if you only keep it close. Of course you have not 
 mentioned it to anybody yet." 
 
 " Not to a soul. I had sense enough for that. But I 
 might have done so before long, if I had missed meeting 
 you to-day. Shall I not tell even Penniloe? He has 
 known everything hitherto." 
 
 " Certainly not yet. He is quite safe, of course, so far 
 as mere intention goes ; but he might make a slip, and he 
 is a nervous man. For his own sake he had better not 
 have this upon his mind. And his ideas are so queer. If 
 he were questioned, I feel sure that he would not even tell 
 a white lie, but be frightfully clumsy, and say, ' I refuse 
 to answer.' Better tell the whole truth than do that, for 
 suspicion is shrewder than certainty." 
 
 " But I don't like concealing it from him at all. I fear 
 he will be hurt when he comes to know it ; because we 
 have acted together throughout, and the matter so closely 
 concerns his parish." 
 
 " Have no fear, Jemmy ; I'll make that all right. We 
 will tell him about it on the day of action, and let him 
 know that for his own sake only, I persuaded you to keep 
 it from him. Why, that fellow's daughter is in his house, 
 and a wonderfully clever imp, they say. And I am not 
 at all sure that he would not preach about it. He thinks 
 so much more of people's souls than of their parts that 
 are rational." 
 
 " Very well, then, for his own sake, I won't say a word 
 to him about it. You are right ; it would make him miser- 
 able to have such a shindy so long in prospect, for it 
 will be a rare fight, I can tell you. The fellow is as big 
 as an elephant almost; and my namesake, Jem Kettel, is a 
 stuggy young chap, very likely to prove a tough customer. 
 And then there will be Timberlegs, whoever he may be." 
 
 " All right, Jemmy, we will give a good account of them. 
 Mind v. Matter always wins the verdict. But let me con- 
 gratulate you upon your luck. We must get to the bottom 
 of this strange affair now, if we can only nab those fellows." 
 
FRANKLY SPEAKING 327 
 
 " I should hope so. But how do you think it will 
 prove ? Who will be detected as the leading villain ? For 
 these rogues have only been hired of course." 
 
 " Well, I own myself puzzled, Jemmy, worse than ever. 
 Until this last news of yours, I was inclined to think that 
 there had been some strange mistake all through, while 
 the good colonel slept still undisturbed. But now it ap- 
 pears that I must have been wrong. And I hardly like to 
 tell you my last idea because of your peculiar position." 
 
 " I know what you mean, and I thank you for it," Fox 
 replied, with a rapid glance. " But to my mind that seems 
 the very reason why I should know everything." 
 
 " Well, if you take it so, friend Jemmy, as my first 
 theory is now proved wrong, my second one is that Lady 
 Waldron knows more about this matter than anybody 
 else. She has always shown herself hostile to you, so 
 that my idea cannot shock you, as otherwise it might. 
 Are you angry with me ?" 
 
 " Not in the least ; though I cannot believe it, thereby 
 returning good for evil ; for she was quick enough to be- 
 lieve it or feign to do so about me. There are things 
 that tend towards your conclusion. I am sorry to ac- 
 knowledge that there are. And yet, until it is positive- 
 ly proved, I will not think it possible. She is no great 
 favourite of mine, you know, any more than I am of hers. 
 Also, I am well aware that women do things a man never 
 would believe ; and some women don't mind doing any- 
 thing. But I cannot persuade myself that she is one of 
 that sort ; she has too much pride to be a hypocrite." 
 
 " So I should have thought. But against facts, where 
 are you? Shrove Tuesday will tell us a thing or two, 
 however. That is a very nice mare of yours. I know 
 nothing of horses, but judge them by their eyes ; though 
 their legs are the proper study. Good-bye, my boy! 
 Perhaps I shall amaze you with a dish of trout to-morrow. 
 They are always in very fine condition here." 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 A GREAT PRIZE 
 
 ONE of the beauties of this world is, for the many who 
 are not too good for it, that they never can tell what may 
 turn up next, and need not overexert themselves in the 
 production of novelty, because somebody will be sure to 
 do it for them. And those especially who have the honour 
 and pleasure of dealing with the gentler sex are certain, 
 without any effort of their own, to encounter plenty of 
 vicissitude. 
 
 Such was the fortune of Dr. Fox when he called that 
 day at Walderscourt. He found his sweet Nicie in a sad 
 condition, terribly depressed and anxious, in consequence 
 of a long interview with her mother, which had been as 
 follows : 
 
 For the last fortnight or three weeks Lady Waldron 
 had not recovered strength, but fallen away even more, 
 declining into a peculiar and morbid state. Sometimes 
 gloomy, downcast, and listless, secluding herself and tak- 
 ing very little food, and no exercise whatever; at other 
 times bewildered, excited, and restless ; beginning a sen- 
 tence and breaking it off, laughing about nothing, and then 
 morose with every one. Pretty Tamar Haddon had a great 
 deal to put up with, and probably would not have shown 
 the needful patience, except for handsome fees lightly 
 earned by reports collected in the village. But Sergeant 
 Jakes being accessible no more for he had cast off the 
 spell in the abbey that Sunday poor Lady Waldron's 
 anxiety was fed with tales of very doubtful authority. 
 And the strange point was that she showed no impatience 
 at the tardiness of the inquiry now, but rather a petulant 
 displeasure at its long continuance. 
 
 Now that very morning, while Fox was on the road to 
 
A GREAT PRIZE 329 
 
 call upon his beloved, she was sent for suddenly by her 
 mother, and hastened with some anxiety to the room which 
 the widow now left so seldom. Inez had long been fa- 
 miliar with the truth that her mother's love for her was 
 not too ardent ; and she often tried, but without much 
 success, to believe that the fault was on her part. The 
 mother ascribed it very largely to some defect in her 
 daughter's constitution. " She has not one drop of Span- 
 ish blood in her. She is all of English, except, perhaps, 
 her eyes ; and the eyes do not care to see things of Spain." 
 Thus she justified herself, unconscious, perhaps, that jeal- 
 ousy of the father's love for this pet child had been, be- 
 yond doubt, the first cause of her own estrangement. 
 
 This terribly harassed and lonely woman (with no one 
 but God to comfort her, and very little sense of any con- 
 solation thus) was now forsaken by that support of pride 
 and strength of passion which had enabled her at first to 
 show a resolute front to affliction. Leaning back upon a 
 heavy couch, she was gazing without much interest at 
 the noble ivory crucifix which had once so strongly affect- 
 ed her, but now was merely a work of art, a subject for 
 admiration perhaps, but not for love or enthusiasm. Of 
 these there was no trace in her eyes, only apathy, weari- 
 ness, despondence. 
 
 "Lock the outer door. 1 want no spies," she said, in 
 a low voice which alarmed her daughter ; " now come and 
 sit close to me in this chair. I will speak in my own 
 language. None but you and I understand it here now." 
 
 " It is well, mother mine," replied her daughter, speak- 
 ing also in Spanish ; " but I wish it were equally well with 
 you." 
 
 " It will never be well with me again, and the time will 
 be long before it can be well with you. I have doubted 
 for days about telling you, my child, because I am loath 
 to grieve you. But the silence upon this matter is very 
 bitter to me ; moreover, it is needful that you should know, 
 in case of my obtaining the blessed release, that you also 
 be not triumphed over. It is of that unholy outrage I 
 must speak. Long has it been a black mystery to us. 
 But I understand it now alas, I cannot help understand- 
 ing it !" 
 
330 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 Inez trembled exceedingly; but her mother, though 
 deadly pale, was calm. Both face and voice were under 
 stern control, and there were no dramatic gestures. 
 
 " Never admit him within these doors, if I am not here 
 to bar them. Never take his hand, never listen to his 
 voice, never let your eyes rest upon his face. Never give 
 him a crust, though he starve in a ditch ; never let him be 
 buried with holy rites. As he has treated my dear hus- 
 band, so shall God treat him when he is dead. It is for 
 this reason that I tell you. If you loved your father, re- 
 member it." 
 
 " But who is it, mother ? What man is this who has 
 abandoned his soul to the Evil One ? Make me sure of 
 his name, that I may obey you." 
 
 " The man who has done it is my own twin-brother, 
 Rodrigo, Count de Varcas Rodrigo, the accursed one." 
 
 The Spanish lady clasped her hands, and fell back 
 against the wall, and dropped her eyes, as if the curse 
 were upon her also, for being akin to the miscreant. Her 
 daughter could find no words, and was in doubt of be- 
 lieving her own ears. 
 
 " Yes, I know well what I am saying," Lady Waldron 
 began again, with some contempt. " I am strong enough. 
 Offer me nothing to smell. Shall I never die ? I ought 
 to have died before I knew this, if there were any mercy 
 in heaven. That my twin-brother, my own twin-brother, 
 the one I have loved and laboured for, and even insulted 
 my own good husband, because he would not bow down 
 to him not for any glory, revenge, or religion, but for 
 the sake of grovelling money oh, Inez, my child, that he 
 should have done this !" 
 
 " But how do you know that he has done it ? Has he 
 made any confession, mother? Surely it is possible to 
 hope against it, unless he himself has said so." 
 
 " He has not himself said so. He never does. To ac- 
 cuse himself is no part of his habits, but rather to blame 
 every other. And such is his manner that every one 
 thinks he must be right, and his enemies wrong. But to 
 those who have experience of him, the question is often 
 otherwise. You remember that very very faithful gen- 
 tleman, who came to us about a month ago ?" 
 
A GREAT PRIZE 331 
 
 " Mother, can you mean that man, arrogant but low, who 
 consumed all my dear father's boxes of cigars, and called 
 himself Seiior Jose Quevedo, and expected even me to 
 salute him as of kin ?" 
 
 " Hush, my child ! He is your uncle's foster-brother, 
 and trusted by him in everything. You know that I have 
 in the journals announced my desire to hear from my be- 
 loved brother beloved, alas, too much, and vainly. I was 
 long waiting, I was yearning, having my son in the distance, 
 and you who went against me in everything, to embrace 
 and be strengthened by my only brother. What other 
 friend had I on earth ? And in answer to my anxiety ar- 
 rives that man, sedate, mysterious, not to be doubted, but 
 regarded as a lofty cavalier. I take him in, I trust him, I 
 treat him highly, I remember him as with my brother al- 
 ways in the milky days of childhood, although but the 
 son of a well-intentioned peasant. And then I find what? 
 That he has come for money for money, which has al- 
 ways been the bane of my only and well-born brother, for 
 the very dismal reason that he cannot cling to it, and yet 
 must have both hands filled with it forever. Inez, do you 
 attend to me ?" 
 
 " Mother, I am doing so with all my ears, and with all 
 my heart as well I heed. But these things surprise 
 me much, because I have always heard from you that 
 my Uncle Rodrigo was so noble, so chivalrous, so far 
 above all Englishmen by reason of the grandeur of his 
 spirit." 
 
 " And in that style will he comport himself, upon most 
 of life's occasions, wherein money does not act as an im- 
 pediment. Of that character is he always, while having 
 more than he can spend of it. But let him see the neces- 
 sity, and the compulsion to deny himself, too near to him 
 approaching, and he will not possess that loftiness of 
 spirit, and benevolence universal. Departing from his 
 larger condition of mind, he will do things which honour 
 does not authorize things unworthy of the mighty Bar- 
 cas, from whom he is descended. But the Barcas have 
 often been strong and wicked ; which is much better than 
 weak and base." 
 
 Her ladyship paused, as in contemplation of the ster- 
 
332 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 ling nobility of her race, and apparently derived some 
 comfort from the strong wickedness of the Barcas. 
 
 " Mother, I hope that it is not so." Nicie's view of ex- 
 cellence was milder. " You are strong, but never wicked. 
 I am not strong, but, on the other hand, I trust that I am 
 not weak and base." 
 
 " You never can tell what you can do. You may be 
 most wicked of the wicked yet. Those English girls 
 that are always good are braised vegetables without 
 pepper. The only one I ever saw to approve was the one 
 who was so rude to me. How great her indignation was ! 
 She is worthy to be of Andalusia." 
 
 " But why should so wicked a thing be done so hor- 
 rible even from a stranger?" The flashing of Nicie's dark 
 eyes was not unworthy of Andalusia. " How could the 
 meanest greed of money be gratified by such a deed ?" 
 
 " In this manner, if I understand aright : During the 
 time of the French invasion, just before our marriage, the 
 Junta of our city had to bear a great part of the burden 
 of supporting and paying our brave troops. They fell into 
 great distress for money, which became scarcer and 
 scarcer, from the terrible war, and the plundering. All 
 lovers of their country came with both hands full of 
 treasure ; and among them my father contributed a loan 
 of noble magnitude, which has impaired for years to 
 come the fortunes of our family. For not a peseta will 
 ever be repaid, inasmuch as there was no security. When 
 all they could thus obtain was spent, and the richest men 
 would advance no more without prospect of regaining it, 
 the Junta (of which my father was a member) contrived 
 that the city should combine with them in pledging its 
 revenues, which were large, to raise another series of 
 loans. And to obtain these with more speed, they ap- 
 pealed to the spirit of gambling, which is in the hearts 
 of all men, but in different forms and manners. 
 
 " One loan that was promulgated thus amounted to one 
 hundred thousand dollars, contributed in twenty shares of 
 five thousand dollars each ; and every share was to have a 
 life of not less than fifteen years in age appointed to rep- 
 resent it. No money was to be repaid ; but the interest 
 to accumulate, until nineteen out of those twenty lives 
 
A GREAT PRIZE 333 
 
 became extinct, and thereupon the whole was to go to the 
 last survivor, and by that time it would be a very large 
 sum. I believe that the scheme came from the French, 
 who are wonderfully clever in such calculations ; whereas 
 finance is not of us. Do you seem to yourself to under- 
 stand it ?" 
 
 " Not very much, but to some extent. I have read of 
 a wheel of life ; and this appears to me to be a kind of 
 wheel of death." 
 
 " So it is, my child. You can scarcely be so stupid as 
 you have been described to me. I am not too strong of 
 the arithmetic science, though in other ways not wanting. 
 You will see that there was a royal treasure, thus in- 
 creasing for the one who should deserve it, by having 
 more of life than the nineteen others, and acquiring it 
 thus for the time he had to come. That kind of lottery, 
 coming from Paris, was adopted by other governments, 
 under the title of 'Tontine,' I think. My dear father, who 
 was a warm patriot, but unable to contribute more with- 
 out hope of return, accepted two of those five-thousand- 
 dollar shares, and put into one the name of my brother, 
 and into the other that of my dear husband, then about to 
 be ; because those two were young, while himself was grow- 
 ing old. Your father has spoken to me of his share several 
 times as it became of greater value ; and he provided for 
 it in his will, supposing that he should ever become the pos- 
 sessor, although he approved not of any kind of gambling. 
 
 " If you can represent to yourself that scheme, you will 
 see that each share was enlarged in prospect as the others 
 failed of theirs by death; and of the twenty lives ap- 
 pointed the greater part vanished rapidly many by war, 
 and some by duels, and others by accident and disease ; 
 until it appears, though we knew it not, that your father 
 and your Uncle Rodrigo were the sole survivors. Your 
 father and I kept no watch upon it, being at such a 
 distance ; but now I have learned that your uncle has 
 been exceedingly acute and vigilant, having no regard for 
 your dear father, and small affection, I fear, for me ; but a 
 most passionate devotion to the huge treasure now accu- 
 mulated upon heavy interest, and secured by the tolls of 
 the city. 
 
334 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 " I arn grieved by discovering from this man Quevedo 
 that your uncle has been watching very keenly everything 
 that has happened here ; he has employed an agent, whose 
 name I could not by any means extort from Quevedo, and 
 not contented with his reports, but excited by the tidings 
 of your father's ill-health, he has even been present in 
 these parts himself, to reconnoitre for himself ; for he is 
 capable of speaking English even better than I do. Que- 
 vedo is very cautious ; but by plying him with Spanish 
 wine, such as he cannot procure in Spain, feigning also to 
 be on his side, I extorted from him more than he wished 
 to part with. No suspicion had I, while he was here, that 
 his master was guilty of the black disgrace thus inflicted 
 upon us ; or can you imagine that I would allow that man 
 to remain in the house of the outraged one ? And Que- 
 vedo himself either feigns, or possesses, total ignorance of 
 this vile deed." 
 
 " But, mother dear, how did this suspicion grow upon 
 you ? And for what purpose, if I may inquire, was that 
 man Quevedo sent to you ?" 
 
 " He was sent with two objects : to obtain my signa- 
 ture to an attested declaration as to the date of your 
 father's death ; and in the second place to borrow money 
 for the support of your uncle's claim. It could not be ex- 
 pected that the city would discharge so vast a sum (more 
 than five hundred thousand crowns they say) without in- 
 terposing every possible obstacle and delay ; and our fam- 
 ily, through your uncle's conduct, has lost all the influence 
 it possessed when I was young. I am pleased to think 
 now that he must be disappointed with the very small sum 
 which I advanced, in my deep disgust at discovering that 
 at the very time when I was sighing and languishing for 
 his support he was at my very doors, but through his own 
 selfish malignity avoided his twin-sister. Quevedo meant 
 not to have told me that. But alas ! I extorted it from 
 him, after a slip of his faithful tongue. For you know, I 
 believe, that your father and uncle were never very friend- 
 ly. My brother liked not that I should wed an English- 
 man ; all men of this nation he regarded with contempt, 
 boasting as they did in our country, where we permitted 
 them to come and fight. But you have never been told, 
 
A GEE AT PKIZE 335 
 
 my child, that the scar upon your dear father's face 
 was inflicted by your uncle's sword, employed (as I 
 am ashamed to confess) in an unfair combat. Upon 
 recovering from the stealthy blow, your father in his 
 great strength could have crushed him to death, for he 
 was then a stripling ; but for my sake he forbore. It 
 has been concealed from you. There is no concealment 
 now." 
 
 "Oh, mother, how savage and ignominious also! I 
 wonder that you ever could desire to behold such a man 
 again ; and that you could find it in your heart to receive 
 his envoy kindly." 
 
 "Many years have passed since then, my child. And 
 we have a saying, * To a fellow-countryman forgive much, 
 and to a brother everything.' Your father had forgiven 
 him before the wound was healed. Much more slowly 
 did I forgive. And, but for this matter, never would I 
 have spoken." 
 
 " Oh, mother dear, you have had much sorrow ! I have 
 never considered it as I should have done. A child is 
 like an egg, as you say in Spain, that demands all the 
 warmth for itself, and yields none. Yet am I surprised 
 that, knowing so much of him, you still desired his pres- 
 ence, and listened to the deceits of his messenger. But 
 you have wisdom, and I have none. Tell me, then, what 
 he had to gain by an outrage hateful to a human being, 
 and impossible to a Christian." 
 
 " It is not clear, my child, to put it to your comprehen- 
 sion. The things that are of great power with us are not 
 in this country so copious. We are loftier. We are 
 more friendly with the Great Powers that reside above. 
 In every great enterprise we feel what would be their own 
 sentiments, though not to be explained by heretical logic. 
 Your uncle has never been devoted to the Church, and has 
 profited little by her teaching; but he is not estranged 
 from her so much that he need in honour hesitate to have 
 use and advantage from her charitable breast. For she 
 loves every one, even those who mock her with feeble im- 
 itation of her calls." 
 
 " Mother, but hitherto you have cared little or nothing 
 for Holy Church. You have allowed me to wander from 
 
336 PEKLYCBOSS 
 
 her, and my mind is the stronger for the exercise. Why, 
 then, this new zeal and devotion ?" 
 
 " Inez, the reason is very simple, although you may not 
 understand it yet. We love the institutions that make 
 much of us, even when we are dead, and comfort our bodies 
 with ceremonies, and the weepers with reasons for smil- 
 ing. This heretic corporation to which Mr. Penniloe be- 
 longs has many good things imitated from us, but does 
 not understand itself. Therefore, it is not a power in the 
 land to govern the law, or to guide great actions of prop- 
 erty and of behaviour, as the Holy Catholic Church can 
 do in the lands where she has not been deposed. Knowing 
 how such things are with us, your uncle (as I am impelled 
 to believe), having plenty of time for preparation, had ar- 
 ranged to make one master-stroke towards this great ob- 
 ject of his life. ' At once to bring all the ecclesiastics to 
 his side with fervour, and before the multitude to prove 
 his claim in a manner the most dramatic. 
 
 " Behold it thus, as upon a stage ! The whole city is 
 agitated with the news, and the immensity of his claim. 
 The young men say that it is just to pay it, if it can be 
 proved, for the honour of the city. But the old men 
 shake their heads, and ask where is the money to come 
 from; what new tolls' can be imposed; and who can be- 
 lieve a thing that must be proved by the oaths of foreign 
 heretics ? 
 
 " Lo, there appears the commanding figure of the Count 
 de Varcas before the great cathedral doors ; behind him 
 a train of sailors bear the body of the great British war- 
 rior, well known among the elder citizens by his lofty 
 stature and many wounds, renowned among the younger 
 as a mighty hero. The bishop, archbishop, and all pow- 
 ers of the Church (being dealt with privately beforehand) 
 are moved to tears by this act of grace, this manifest con- 
 version of a noble Briton, claiming the sacred rites of 
 ' Campo Santo,' and not likely to enjoy them without much 
 munificence when that most righteous claim upon the 
 seculars is paid. Dares any one to doubt identity ? Be- 
 hold, upon the finger of the departed one is the very ring 
 with which the city's benefactor sealed his portion of the 
 covenant, and which he presented to his son-in-law as 
 
A GREAT PEIZE 337 
 
 a holy relic of his ancient family, upon betrothal to his 
 daughter ! 
 
 " Thereupon arises the universal cry, * Redeem the hon- 
 our of the city.' A few formalities still remain ; one of 
 which is satisfied by the arrival of Quevedo with my dep- 
 osition. The noble count, the descendant of the Barcas, 
 rides in a chariot extolled by all, and scatters a few pesetas 
 of his half a million dollars. It was gained by lottery, it 
 goes by gambling ; in six months he is penniless again. 
 He has robbed his brother's grave in vain. For another 
 hundred dollars he would rob his twin-sister's." 
 
 " Oh, mother, it is horrible ! Too horrible to be true. 
 And yet how it clears up everything ! And even so, how 
 much better it is than what we supposed and shuddered 
 at ! But have you any evidence beyond suspicion ? If 
 it is not unbecoming, I would venture to remind you that 
 you have already in your mind condemned another whose 
 innocence is now established." 
 
 " Nay, not established, except to minds that are, like 
 mine, full of charity. It is not impossible that he may 
 have joined my brother oh that I should call him so ! 
 in this abominable enterprise. I say it not to vex you 
 in your lofty faith. But it would have made that enter- 
 prise far easier to arrange. And if a noble Spaniard can 
 stoop thus, why should not a common Englishman ?" 
 
 " Because he is a gentleman," cried Nicie, rising with a 
 flash of indignation, " which a nobleman sometimes is not. 
 And since you have spoken thus, I doubt the truth of 
 your other accusation. But that can very soon be put to 
 the test, by making inquiry on the spot. If what you 
 suppose has happened at all, it must be of public knowl- 
 edge there. Have you sent any one to inquire about it ?" 
 
 " Not yet. I have not long seen things clearly. Only 
 since that Quevedo left it has come upon me by reason- 
 ing. Neither do I know of any trusty person. It must 
 be one faithful to the family, and careful of its reputation, 
 for the disgrace shall never be known in this cold Eng- 
 land. Remember, therefore, I say, that you speak no word, 
 not even to Mr. Penniloe or Dr. Fox, of this conclusion 
 forced upon me. If in justice to others we are compelled 
 to avow that the deed was of the family, we must declare 
 15 
 
338 PERLYCROSS 
 
 that it was of piety and high religious feeling, and strictly 
 conceal that it was of sordid lucre." 
 
 " But, mother, they may in the course of their own in- 
 quiries discover how it was at last. The last things ascer- 
 tained tend that way. And if they should find any trace 
 of ship" 
 
 " I have given orders to drop all further searches. And 
 you must use your influence with with all you have any 
 sway upon, that nothing more shall be done at present. 
 Of course you will not supply the reason, but say that it 
 has been so arranged. Now go, my child; I have talked 
 too long. My strength is not as it was, and I dwell most 
 heavily on the better days. But one thing I would enjoin 
 upon you : until I speak again of that which I have seen 
 in my own mind, to its distress and misery, ask me no 
 more about it, neither in any way refer to it. The Lord 
 who is not of this Church or that, but looks down upon 
 us from the crucifix He can pity and protect us. But 
 you will be glad that 1 have told you this, because it will 
 devour me the less." 
 
CHAPTER XXXII 
 PLEADINGS 
 
 " AND it will devour me the more. My mother cannot 
 love me," the poor girl was obliged to think, as she sat 
 in her lonely room again. " She has laid this heavy bur- 
 den on me ; and I am to share it with no one. Does 
 she suppose that I feel nothing, and am wholly absorbed 
 in love proceedings, forgetting all duty to my father ? 
 Sometimes I doubt almost whether Jemmy Fox is worthy 
 of my affection. I am not very precious. I know that - 
 the lesson is often impressed upon me but I know that 
 I am simple and loving and true ; and he takes me too 
 much for granted. If he were noble, and could love with 
 all his heart, would he be so hard upon his sister for lik- 
 ing a man who is her equal in everything but money ? > 
 The next time I see him I will try him about that. If a ,' 
 man is noble, as I understand the word, he will be noble 
 for others as well as for himself. Uncle Penniloe is the 
 only real nobleman I know ; because to him others are 
 equal to himself." 
 
 This was only a passing mood, and not practical enough 
 to be permanent. However, it was the prevailing one, 
 when in came Jemmy Fox himself. That young doctor 
 plumed himself upon his deep knowledge of the fairer 
 sex ; and yet, like the rest of mankind who do so, he 
 showed little of that knowledge in his dealings with 
 them. 
 
 In the midst of so many doubts and fears, and with a 
 miserable sense of loneliness, Miss Waldron was in " a 
 high-strung condition " as ladies themselves describe it 
 though as gentle and affectionate as ever. She was gaz- 
 ing at little pet Pixie, and wondering in her self-abase- 
 ment whether there is any human love so deep, devoted, 
 
340 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 and everlasting (while his little life endures) as that of an 
 ordinary dog. Pixie, the pug-dog sitting at her feet, was 
 absorbed in wistful watching, too sure that his mistress 
 was plunged in trouble, beyond the reach of his poor 
 mind, but not perhaps beyond the humble solace of such 
 a yearning heart. 
 
 In this interchange of tender feelings a still more ten- 
 der vein was touched. " Squeak !" went Pixie, with a 
 jump, and then a long eloquence of yelp and howl proved 
 that he partook too deeply of the woe he had prayed to 
 share. A heavy riding-boot had crushed his short but 
 sympathetic tail the tail he was so fond of chasing as a 
 joyful vision, but now too mournfully and materially his 
 
 own i 
 
 Dr. Fox, with a cheerful smile, as if he had done some- 
 thing meritorious, gazed into Nicie's sparkling eyes. 
 Perhaps he expected a lovely kiss after his long absence. 
 
 " Why, you don't seem to care a bit for what you have 
 done !" cried the young girl, almost repelling him. " Al- 
 low me to go to my wounded little dear. Oh, you poor 
 little persecuted pet ; what did they do to you ? Was his 
 lovely taily broken ? Oh, the precious little martyr, that 
 he should have come to this ! Did a monstrous elephant 
 come and crush his darling life out ? Give his missy a 
 pretty kiss, with the great tears rolling on his cheek." 
 
 " Well, I wish you'd make half as much fuss about 
 me," said Fox, with all the self-command that could well 
 be expected. " You haven't even asked me how I am !" 
 
 " Oh, I beg your pardon, then, 1 ' she answered, looking 
 up at him, with the little dog's nose cuddled into her 
 neck, and his short sobs puffing up the golden under- 
 growth of her darkly-clustering hair. " Yes, to be sure, 1 
 should have asked that ; it was very forgetful of me. 
 But his poor tail seems to be a little easier now, and the 
 vigour of your step shows how well you have come back 
 to us." 
 
 " Well, more than welcome, I am afraid. I can always 
 make allowance for the humours of young ladies ; and I 
 know how good and sweet you are. But I think you 
 might have been glad to see me." 
 
 " Not when you tread upon my dear dog's tail, and 
 
PLEADINGS 341 
 
 laugh ill my face afterwards, instead of being very sorry. 
 I should have begged pardon, if I had been so clumsy as 
 to tread upon a dog of yours." 
 
 " Dogs are all very well in their way, but they have no 
 right to get into our way. This poor little puggie's tail 
 is all right now. Shake hands, Puggie. Why, look ! he 
 has forgiven me." 
 
 " That shows how wonderfully kind he is, and how lit- 
 tle he deserves to be trodden on. But I will not say 
 another word about that ; only you might have been 
 sorrier. Their consciences are so much better than ours. 
 He is licking your hand, as if he had done the wrong. 
 Your sister agreed with me about their nobility. How is 
 darling Christie ?" 
 
 " Everybody is a darling, except me, to-day ! Christie 
 is well enough. She always is, except when she goes a 
 cropper out of a trap, and knocks young men's waistcoat- 
 buttons off." 
 
 " How coarsely you put it, when you ought to be most 
 thankful ta the gentleman who rescued her, when you left 
 her at the mercy of a half-wild horse !" 
 
 " I don't know what to make of you to day, Miss Wal- 
 dron. Have I done anything to offend you ? You are 
 too just and sensible, and gentle, I should like to say 
 not to know that you have put an entirely wrong con- 
 struction upon that little accident with Farrant's old screw. 
 It was Christie's own fault, every bit of it. She thought 
 herself a grand whip, and she came to grief, as girls gen- 
 erally do when they are bumptious." 
 
 " You seem to have a great contempt for girls, Dr. Fox. 
 What have the poor things done to offend you so ?" 
 
 " Somebody must have been speaking against me. I'd 
 give a trifle to know who it is. I have always been ac- 
 customed to reasonable treatment." 
 
 " There now, his dear little tail is better ! Little Pixie 
 loves me so. Little Pixie never tells somebody that she 
 is an unreasonable creature. Little Pixie is too polite for 
 that." 
 
 " Well, I think I had better be off for the day. I have 
 heard of people getting out of bed the wrong side ; and 
 you can't make it right all the day, when that has hap- 
 
342 PERLYCROSS 
 
 pened. Miss Waldron, I must not go away without say- 
 ing that my sister sends you her very best love. I was to 
 be sure to remember that." 
 
 " Oh, thank you, Dr. Fox ! Your sister is always so very 
 sweet and considerate. And I hope she has also been 
 allowed to send it where it is due a thousand times as 
 much as here." 
 
 " Where can that be ? At the rectory, I suppose. .Yes, 
 she has not forgotten Mr. Penniloe. She is not at all 
 fickle in her likings." 
 
 " Now that is a very fine quality indeed, as well as a 
 very rare one. And another she has, and will not be 
 driven from it and I own that I quite agree with her 
 she does not look down upon other people, and think 
 that they belong to another world, because they are not 
 so well off in this one as she is. A gentleman is a gentle- 
 man, in her judgment, and is not to be cast by, after many 
 kind acts, merely because he is not made of money." 
 
 " Ah, now I see what all this comes to !" exclaimed 
 Fox, smiling pleasantly. " Well, I am quite open to a 
 little reasoning there, because the whole thing is so ridic- 
 ulous. Now put it to yourself: how would you like to be 
 a sort of son-in-law to good Mother Gilham's green coal- 
 scuttle? A coal-scuttle should make one grateful, you 
 will say. Hear, hear ! not at all a bad pun that ; though 
 quite involuntary." 
 
 " The bonnet may be behind the age, or in front of it, 
 I know not which," said Nicie, very resolute to show no 
 smile ; "but a better and sweeter old face never looked " 
 
 "A better horse never looked out of a bridle. It is 
 bridle and blinkers and saddle all in one." 
 
 " It is quite useless trying to make me laugh." Her 
 voice, however, belied her ; and Pixie, watching her face, 
 began to wag the wounded tail again. " Your sister, who 
 knows what bonnets are, to which you can have no preten- 
 sion, is well acquainted with the sterling value " 
 
 " Oh come, I am sure it would not fetch much now, 
 though it may have cost two guineas or more in the days 
 before * my son Frank ' was born." 
 
 " Really, Jemmy, you are too bad, when I want to talk 
 seriously." 
 
PLEADINGS 343 
 
 " So long as I am 'Jemmy ' once more, I don't care how 
 bad I am." 
 
 " That was a slip. But you must listen to me. I will 
 not be laughed off from saying what I think. Do you 
 suppose that it is a joking matter for poor Frank Gil- 
 ham r 
 
 " I don't care a copper for his state of mind, if Chris 
 is not fool enough to share it. The stupid fellow came 
 to me this morning, and instead of trying to smooth me 
 down, what does he do but blow me up sky-high ( You 
 should have heard him. He never swore at all, but gave 
 utterance to the noblest sentiments just because they 
 were in his favour." 
 
 " Then I admire him for it. It was very manly of him. 
 Why were all large ideas in his favour ? Just because the 
 small ones are on your side. I suppose you pretend to 
 care for me ?" 
 
 " No pretence about it. All too true. And this is 
 what I get done to me !" 
 
 " But how would you like my brother to come and say, 
 'I disapprove of Dr. Fox I forbid you to say another 
 word to him ?' Would you recognize his fraternal right 
 in the matter, and go away quietly ?" 
 
 " Hardly that. I should leave it to you. And if you 
 held by me, I should snap my fingers at him." 
 
 " Of course you would. And so would anybody else ; 
 Frank Gilham among the number. And your sister is 
 she to have no voice because you are a roaring lion ? 
 Surely her parents, and not her brother, should bar the 
 way, if it must be barred. Just think of yourself, and 
 ask yourself how your own law would fit you." 
 
 " The cases are very different, and you know it as well as 
 I do. Frank Gilham is quite a poor man ; and, although 
 he is not a bad kind of fellow, his position in the world 
 is not the same as ours." 
 
 " That may be so. But if Christie loves him, and is 
 quite content with his position in the world, and puts up 
 with the coal-scuttle as you call it and he is a good 
 man and true, and a gentleman, are they both to be miser- 
 able to please you ? And more than that you don't 
 know Christie. If Frank Gilham shows proper courage, 
 
344 PEELYCROSS 
 
 and is not afraid of mean imputations, no one will ask 
 your leave, I think." 
 
 " Well, I shall have done my best ; and if I cannot stop 
 it, let them rue the day. Her father and mother will 
 never allow it ; and as I am responsible for the whole af- 
 fair, and cannot consult them as things are now, I am 
 bound to act in their place, I think. But never mind that. 
 One may argue forever, and a girl in a moment can turn 
 the tables on the cleverest man alive. Let us come back 
 to our own affairs. I have some news which ought to 
 please you. By rare good-luck I have hit upon the very 
 two men who were employed upon that awful business. I 
 shall have them soon, and then we shall know all about 
 this most mysterious case. By George ! it shall go hard 
 indeed with the miscreant who plotted it." 
 
 " Oh don't oh don't ! What good can it be ?" cried 
 Nicie, trembling and stammering. " It will kill my moth- 
 er; I am sure it will. I implore you not to go on with 
 it." 
 
 " What !" exclaimed Fox with amazement. " You to ask 
 me you, his only daughter, to let it be so to hush up the 
 matter to submit to this atrocious wrong? And your 
 father it is the last thing I ever should have thought to 
 hear." 
 
 In shame and terror she could not speak, but quailed 
 before his indignant gaze, and turned away from him 
 with a deep, low sob. 
 
 " My darling, my innocent dear," he cried in alarm at 
 her bitter anguish, " give me your hand ; let me look at 
 your face. I know that no power on earth would make 
 you do a thing that you saw to be shameful. I beg your 
 pardon humbly, if I spoke too harshly. You know that 
 I would not vex you, Inez, and beyond any doubt you can 
 explain this strange this inconceivable thing. You are 
 sure to have some good reason for it." 
 
 " Yes, you would say so if you knew all. But not now 
 I dare not ; it is too dreadful. It is not for myself. If 
 1 had my own way but what use ? I dare not even tell 
 you that. For the present, at least for the present, do 
 nothing. If you care about me at all, I beg you not to 
 do what would never be forgiven. And my mother is in 
 
PLEADINGS 345 
 
 such a miserable state, so delicate, so frail and helpless ! 
 Do for my sake, do show this once that you have some 
 affection for me." 
 
 Nicie put her soft hand on his shoulder, and pleaded 
 her cause with no more words, but a gaze of such tender- 
 ness and sweet faith that he could not resist it. Es- 
 pecially as he saw his way to reassure her without de- 
 parting from the plan he had resolved upon. 
 
 " I will do anything, my pretty dove," he said, with a 
 noble surrender, "to relieve your precious and trustful 
 heart. I will even do this, if it satisfies you : I will take 
 no steps for another month, an entire month from this 
 present time. I cannot promise more than that, now can 
 I, for any bewitchment ? And in return you must pledge 
 yourself to give your mother not even a hint of what I have 
 just told you. It would only make her anxious, which 
 would be very bad for her health, poor thing ; and she has 
 not the faith in me that you have. She must not even 
 dream that I have heard of those two villains." 
 
 This was a bright afterthought of his; for if Lady 
 Waldron should know of his discovery, she might con- 
 trive to inform them that he had his eye upon them. 
 
 " Oh, how good you are !" cried Nicie. " I can never 
 thank you enough, dear Jemmy ; and it must appear so 
 cruel of me to ask you to forego so long the chance of 
 shaming those low people who have dared to belie you 
 so." 
 
 " What is a month compared to you ?" Jemmy asked, 
 with real greatness. " But if you feel any obligation, you 
 know how to reward me, dear." 
 
 Nicie looked at him with critical eyes ; and then, as 
 if reckless of anything small, flung both arms round his 
 neck and kissed him. 
 
 " Oh, it is so kind so kind of him !" she declared to 
 herself, to excuse herself ; while he thought it was very 
 kind of her. And she, being timid of her own affection, 
 loved him all the more for not encroaching on it. 
 
 Jemmy rode away in a happy frame of mind. He loved 
 
 that beautiful maiden, and he was assured of her love for 
 
 him. He knew that she was far above him in the gifts of 
 
 nature and the bloom that beautifies them the bloom that 
 
 15* 
 
346 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 is not of the cheeks alone, but of the gentle dew of kind- 
 ness, and the pearl of innocence. Fox felt a little ashamed 
 of himself for a trifle of sharp practice ; but his reason 
 soon persuaded him that his conscience was too ticklish ; 
 and that is a thing to be stopped at once. 
 
 While jogging along in this condition on the road tow- 
 ards Pumpington, he fell in with another horseman less 
 inclined to cheerfulness. This was Farmer Stephen Hor- 
 ner, a younger brother of Farmer John, a less substantial, 
 and therefore, perhaps, more captious agriculturist. He 
 was riding a very clever cob, and looked both clever and 
 smart himself in his bottle-green cutaway coat, red waist- 
 coat, white cord breeches, and hard brown hat. Striking 
 into the turnpike road from a grass-track skirting the Bea- 
 con Hill, he hailed the doctor and rode beside him. 
 
 " Heard the news, have 'e ?" asked Farmer Steve, as his 
 fat calves creaked against the saddle-flaps within a few 
 inches of Jemmy's, and their horses kept step like a 
 dealer's pair. "But there come to think of it, I be a 
 fool for asking, and you always along of passon so !" 
 
 " Only came home yesterday. Haven't seen him yet," 
 the doctor answered, briskly. " Haven't heard anything 
 particular. Nothing the matter with him, I hope ?" 
 
 ** Not him, sir, so much as what he've taken up. Hath 
 made up his mind, so people say, to abolish our old Fair 
 to Perlycross." Farmer Steve watched the doctor's face. 
 He held his own opinion, but he liked to know the other's 
 first. Moreover, he owed him a little bill. 
 
 " But surely, he cannot do that," said Fox, who cared 
 not a jot about the Fair, but thought of his own concern 
 with it. " Why, it was granted by charter, I believe, hun- 
 dreds of years ago, when Perlycross was a much larger 
 place, and the main road to London passed through it, as 
 the pack-saddle teams do still sometimes." 
 
 " So it were, sir so it were. Many's the time when I 
 were a boy, I have read of Magner Charter, and the time 
 as they starved the King in the island, afore the old yew- 
 tree come on our old tower. But my brother John, he 
 reckoneth as he knoweth everything, and he saith our 
 market-place belongeth to the Dean and Chapter, and 
 Fair was granted to Church, he saith, and so Church can 
 
PLEADINGS 347 
 
 abolish it. But I can't see no sense in that. Why, it be 
 outside of church railings altogether. Now, you are a 
 learned man, Dr. Fox, and if you'll give me your opin- 
 ion, I can promise 'e it sha'n't go no further." 
 
 " The plain truth is," replied Jemmy, knowing well that 
 if his opinion went against the parson it would be all over 
 the parish by supper-time, " I have never gone into the 
 subject, and I know nothing whatever about it. But we all 
 know the Fair has come down to nothing now. There 
 has not been a beast there for the last three years, and 
 nothing but a score of pigs and one pen of sheep last 
 year. It has come to be nothing but a pleasure-fair, with 
 a little show of wrestling and some single-stick play, fol- 
 lowed by a big bout of drinking. Still, I should have 
 thought there would be at least a twelvemonth's notice, 
 and a public proclamation." 
 
 " So say I, sir ; and the very same words I used to my 
 brother John last night. John Homer is getting a'most 
 too big with his church-warden, and his hundred pounds 
 he had better a' kept for his family. Let 'un find out who 
 have robbed his own church-yard afore a' singeth out again' 
 a poor man's glass of ale. I don't hold with John in all 
 things ; though a' hath key pianner for 's dafters and add- 
 eth field to field, same as rich man in the Bible laid up 
 treasure for his soul this night. I tell you what, doctor, 
 and you may tell John Homer I likes old things for 
 being old ; though there may be more bad than good in 
 them. What harm if a few chaps do get drunk, and the 
 quarrelsome folks has their heads cracked ? They'd only 
 go and do it somewhere else, if they was stopped of our 
 place. Passon be a good man as ever lived, and wonner- 
 ful kind to the poor folk. But a' beginneth to have his 
 way too much ; and all along of my brother John. To tell 
 you the truth, doctor, I couldn't bear the job about that 
 old tombstone to memory of Squire Jan Toms, and a fine 
 piece of poetry it were, too. Leap-frogged it hundreds 
 and hundreds of times, when I were a boy, I have ; and so 
 has my father and grandfather afore me ; and why not my 
 sons, and my grandsons, too, when perhaps my own stand- 
 eth 'longside of 'un ? I won't believe a word of it but 
 what thic old ancient stone were smashed up a' purpose 
 
348 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 by order of Passon Penniloe. Tell 'e what, doctor, thic 
 there channging of every mortial thing, just for the sake of 
 channging, bain't the right way for to fetch folks to church ; 
 'cordin', at least, to my mind. Why do us go to church ? 
 Why, because can't help it ; 'long of wives and children, 
 when they comes, and lookin' out for 'un, when the chil- 
 dren was ourselves. Turn the bottom up, sir, and what be 
 that but custom, same as one generation requireth from an- 
 other ? And to put new patches on it, and be proud of 
 them, is the same thing as tinker did to wife's ham- 
 boiler drawed the rivets out and made 'un leak worse 
 than ever. Not another shilling will they patchers get 
 from me." 
 
 Farmer Steve sat down in his saddle, and his red waist- 
 coat settled down upon the pommel. His sturdy cob also 
 laid down his ears, and stubborn British sentiment was in 
 every line of both of them. 
 
 " Well, I won't pretend to say about the other matters," 
 said Fox, who, as an Englishman, could allow for obstinacy. 
 " But, farmer, I am sure that you are wrong about the tomb- 
 stone. Parson did not like it, and no wonder. But he is 
 not the man to do things crookedly. He would have 
 moved it openly, or not at all. It was quite as much an 
 accident as if your horse put his foot upon a nut and 
 cracked it." 
 
 " Well, sir well, sir, we has our own opinions. Oh, you 
 have paid the pike for me? Thank 'e doctor. I'll pay 
 yours next time we come this way together." 
 
 The story of the tombstone was simply this : John 
 Toms, a rollicking cavalier of ancient Devonshire lineage, 
 had lived and died at Perlycross nearly two centuries 
 agone. His grave was towards the great southern porch, 
 and there stood his headstone large and bold, confronting 
 the faithful at a corner where two causeways met. Thus 
 every worshipper who entered the House of Prayer by its 
 main approach was invited to reflect upon the fine quali- 
 ties of this gentleman, as recorded in large letters. To a 
 devout mind this might do no harm ; but all Perly- 
 cross was not devout, and many a light thought was sug- 
 gested, or perhaps an untimely smile produced, by this too 
 sprightly memorial. "A spirited epitaph that, sir," was 
 
PLEADINGS 349 
 
 the frequent remark of visitors. " But scarcely conceived 
 in a proper spirit," was the parson's general reply. 
 
 The hideous western gallery, the parish revel called the 
 Fair, and this unseemly tombstone, had been sore tribu- 
 lations to the placid mind of Penniloe ; and yet he durst 
 not touch that stone, sacred, not to memory only, but to 
 vested rights and living vein of local sentiment. However, 
 the fates were merciful. 
 
 "Very sad accident this morning, sir= I do hope you 
 will try to forgive us, Mr. Penniloe," said Robson Adney, 
 the manager of the works, one fine October morning and 
 he said it with a stealthy wink ; " seven of our chaps have 
 let our biggest scaffold-pole, that red one with a butt as big 
 as a mile-stone roll off their clumsy shoulders, and it has 
 smashed poor Squire Toms's old tombstone into a thousand 
 pieces. Never read a word of it again, sir such a sad loss 
 to the church-yard ! But quite an accident, sir, you know 
 purely a casual accident." 
 
 The curate looked at him, but he " smiled none " as 
 another tombstone still expresses it ; and if charity com- 
 pelled Mr. Penniloe to believe him, gratitude enforced an- 
 other view ; for Adney well knew his dislike of that stone, 
 and was always so eager to please him. 
 
 But that every one who so desires may judge for him- 
 self whether Farmer Steve was right or Parson Penniloe, 
 here are the well-remembered lines that formed the preface 
 to divine worship in the Parish of Perlycross : 
 
 " ' Halloa ! who lieth here ?' 
 
 1 1, old Squire Jan Toms.' 
 ' What dost lack ?' ' A tun of beer, 
 For a tipple with them fantoms.' " 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 THE SCHOOL-MASTER ABEOAD 
 
 " BOYS, here's a noise !" 
 
 Sergeant Jakes strode up and down the long school-room 
 on Friday morning flapping his empty sleeve, and swing- 
 ing that big cane with the tuberous joints whose taste 
 was none too saccharine. That well-known ejaculation, so 
 expressive of stern astonishment, had for the moment its 
 due effect. Curly heads were jerked back, elbows squared, 
 sniggers were hushed, the munch of apples (which had 
 been as of milching kine) stuck fast, or was shunted into 
 bulging cheek ; never a boy seemed capable of dreaming 
 that there was any other boy in the world besides himself. 
 Scratch of pens, and grunts of mental labour, were the 
 only sounds in this culmination of literature known as 
 " copy-exercise." As Achilles, though reduced to a ghost, 
 took a longer stride at the prowess of his son ; and as deep 
 joys, on a similar occasion, pervaded Latona's silent breast, 
 even so High Jarks sucked the top of his cane, and felt 
 that he had not lived in vain. There are many men still 
 hearty though it is so long ago who have led a finer 
 life through that man's higher culture. 
 
 But presently such is the nature of human nature in 
 its crude probation the effect of that noble remonstrance 
 waned. Silence (which is itself a shadow cast by death 
 upon life, perhaps) began to flicker as all dulness should 
 with the play of small ideas moving it. Little timid 
 whispers, a cane's length below the breath, and with the 
 heart shuffling out of all participation; and then a tacit 
 grin that was afraid to move the molars ; and then a cock 
 of eye that was intended to involve (when a bigger eye 
 was turned away) its mighty owner ; and then a clink of 
 marbles in a pocket down the leg; and then a downright 
 
THE SCHOOL-MASTER ABROAD 351 
 
 joke, of such very subtle humour that it stole along the 
 bench through funnelled hands; and then, alas, a small boy 
 of suicidal levity sputtered out a laugh, which made wiser 
 wigs stand up ! 
 
 His crime was only deepened by ending in a sham cough ; 
 and, sad to say, the very boy who had made the fatal joke 
 (instead of being grateful for reckless approbation) stood 
 up and pointed an unmanly finger at him. The sergeant's 
 keen eye was upon them both ; and a tremble ran along 
 the oak that bore many tempting aptitudes for the vindi- 
 cation of ethics. But the sergeant bode his time. His 
 sense of justice was chivalrous. Let the big boy make an- 
 other joke. 
 
 " Boys, here's a noise again !" 
 
 Those who have not had the privilege of the sergeant's 
 lofty discipline can never understand far less convey 
 the significance of his second shout. It expressed pro- 
 found amazement, horror at our fallen state, incredulity 
 of his own ears, promptitude to redress the wrong, and 
 yet a pathetic sorrow at the impending grim necessity. 
 The boys knew well that his second protest never ascend- 
 ed to heaven in vain ; and the owners of tender quarters 
 shrunk, and made ready to slide beneath the protection 
 of their bench. Other boys, with thick corduroys, quail- 
 ed for the moment, and closed their mouths ; but what 
 mouth was ever closed permanently by the opening of an- 
 other ? 
 
 " Now you shall have it, boys !" the sergeant thundered, 
 as the uproar waxed beyond power of words. " Any boy 
 slipping out of stroke shall have double cuts for coward- 
 ice. Stop the ends up. All along both rows of benches ; 
 I am coming, I am coming !" 
 
 " Oh, sir, please sir, 'twadn' me, sir ! 'Twor all along 
 o' Bill Cornish, sir." 
 
 He had got this trimmer by the collar, and his cane 
 swung high in air, when the door was opened vigor- 
 ously, and a brilliant form appeared. Brilliant less by its 
 own merits than by brave embellishment, as behooves a 
 youth ascending stairs of state from page to footman, and 
 mounting upward ever upward to the vinous heights of 
 butlerhood. For this was Bob Cornish, Bill's elder brother ; 
 
352 PERLYCROSS 
 
 and he smiled at the terrors of the hurtling cane, compul- 
 sive but a year ago of tears. 
 
 With a dignity already imbibed from Binstock, this 
 young man took off his hat, and employing a spare slate 
 as a tray, presented a letter with a graceful bow. He was 
 none too soon, but just in time. The weapon of outraged 
 law came down, too lightly to dust a jacket; and the 
 smiter, wonder-smitten, went to a desk, and read as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " Lady Waldron will be much obliged if Sergeant Jakes 
 will come immediately in the vehicle sent with the bearer 
 of this letter. Let no engagement forbid this. Mr. Pen- 
 niloe has kindly consented to it." 
 
 The roof resounded with shouts of joy, instead of heavy 
 wailing, as the sergeant at once dismissed the school ; and 
 in half an hour he entered the business-room at Walders- 
 court, and there found the lady of the house, looking very 
 resolute, and accompanied by her daughter. 
 
 " Soldier Jakes will take a chair. See that the door is 
 closed, my child, and no persons lingering near it. Now, 
 Inez, will you say to this brave soldier of your father's 
 regiment what we desire him to undertake, if he will be 
 so faithful, for the benefit of his colonel's family ; also, for 
 the credit of this English country." 
 
 This was clever of my lady. She knew that the veter- 
 an's liking was not particularly active for herself, or any 
 of the Spanish nation , but that he had transferred his love 
 and fealty of so many years to his officer's gentle daugh- 
 ter. Any request from Nicie would be almost as sacred 
 a command to him as if it had come from her father. 
 He stood up, made a low bow followed by a military salute, 
 and gazed at the sweet face he loved so well. 
 
 " It is for my dear father's sake and I am as sure as 
 he himself would be" Miss Waldron spoke with tears in 
 her eyes, and a sad smile on her lips that would have 
 moved a heart much harder than this veteran's " that you 
 will not refuse to do us a great, a very great service, if 
 you can. And we have nobody we can trust like you, be- 
 cause you are so true and brave." 
 
 The sergeant rose again, and made another bow, even 
 deeper than the former one ; but instead of touching his 
 
THE SCHOOL-MASTER ABROAD 353 
 
 grizzled locks he laid his one hand on his heart ; and al- 
 though by no means a gushing man, he found it impossible 
 to prevent a little gleam, like the upshot of a well, quiver- 
 ing under his ferny brows. 
 
 " We would not ask you, even so," continued Nicie, with 
 a grateful glance, " if it were not that you know the place, 
 and perhaps may find some people there still living to re- 
 member you. When my father lay wounded at the house 
 of my grandfather, and was in great danger of his life, 
 you, being also disabled for a time, were allowed at his 
 request to remain with him and help him. Will you go 
 to that place again, to do us a service no one else can 
 do?" 
 
 " To the end of the world, miss, without asking why. 
 But the Lord have mercy on all them boys ! Whatever 
 will they do without me 2" 
 
 " We will arrange about all that, with Mr. Penniloe's 
 consent. If that can be managed, will you go at once, 
 and at any inconvenience to yourself ?" 
 
 " No ill convenience shall stop me, miss. If I thought 
 of that twice I should be a deserter afore the lines of the 
 enemy. To be of the least bit of use to you is an honour 
 as well as a duty to me." 
 
 " I thought that you would ; I was sure that you would." 
 Inez gave a glance of triumph at her less trustful mother. 
 " And what makes us hurry you so is the chance that has 
 suddenly offered for your passage. We heard this morn- 
 ing, by an accident almost, that a ship is to sail from 
 Topsham to-morrow bound direct for Cadiz. Not a large 
 ship, but a fast-sailing vessel a schooner, I think they 
 call it ; and the captain is one of Binstock's brothers. You 
 would get there in half the time it would take to go to Lon- 
 don and wait about for passage, and then come all down 
 the Channel. And from Cadiz you can easily get on. You 
 know a little Spanish, don't you ?" 
 
 " Not reg'lar, miss. But it will come back again. I 
 picked up just enough for this I couldn't understand 
 them much ; but I could make them look' as if they under- 
 standed me." 
 
 " That is quite sufficient. You will have letters to 
 three or four persons who are settled there, old servants 
 
354 PERLYCROSS 
 
 of my grandfather. We cannot tell which of them may 
 be alive, but may well hope that some of them are so. 
 The old house is gone, I must tell you that. After all the 
 troubles of the war, there was not enough left to keep it 
 up with." 
 
 " That grand old house, miss, with the pillars and the 
 carrots and the arches, the same as in a picture \ And 
 everybody welcome ; and you never knew if there was 
 fifty or a hundred in it " 
 
 " Sergeant, you describe it well," Lady Waldron inter- 
 rupted. " There are no such mansions in this country. 
 Alas, it is gone from us forever, because we loved our 
 native land too well !" 
 
 " Not only that," said the truthful Inez, " but also be- 
 cause the young count, as you would call him, has wasted 
 the relics of his patrimony. And now I will explain to 
 you the reasons for our asking this great service of you." 
 
 The veteran listened with close attention and no small 
 astonishment to the young lady's clear account of that 
 great public lottery, and the gorgeous prize accruing on 
 the death of Sir Thomas Waldron. This was enough to 
 tempt a ruined man to desperate measures ; and Jakes had 
 some knowledge in early days of the young count's head- 
 strong character. But if it should prove so, if he were 
 guilty of the crime which had caused so much distress and 
 such prolonged unhappiness, yet his sister could not bear 
 that the sordid motive should be disclosed at least, in this 
 part of the world. For the sake of others it would be 
 needful to denounce the culprit ; but if the detection were 
 managed well, no motive need be assigned at all. Let 
 every one form his own conclusion. Spanish papers and 
 Spanish news came very sparely to Devonshire ; and the 
 English public would be sure (in ignorance of that finan- 
 cial scheme whose result supplied the temptation) to 
 ascribe the assault upon Protestant rites to Popish con- 
 tempt and bigotry. 
 
 " I should tell the whole if I had to decide it," said 
 Nicie, with the candour and simplicity of youth. " If he 
 has done it for the sake of nasty money, let everybody 
 know what he has done it for." 
 
 But the sergeant shook his head, and quite agreed with 
 
THE SCHOOL-MASTER ABROAD 355 
 
 Lady Waldron. The world was quite quick enough at 
 bad constructions without receiving them ready-made. 
 
 " Leave busybodies to do their own buzzing," was his 
 oracular suggestion. " 'Tis a grand old family, even on 
 your mother's side, miss" Nicie smiled a little as her 
 mother stared at this new comparative estimate. " And 
 what odds to our clodhoppers what they do ? A don 
 don't look at things the same as a dung-carter, and it takes 
 a man who knows the world to make allowance for him. 
 The count may have done it, mind. I won't say no until 
 such time as I can prove it. But, after all, 'tis comforting 
 to think that it was so, compared to what we all was 
 afraid of. Why, the dear old colonel would be as happy 
 as a king in the place he was so nigh going to after the 
 battle of Barosa, looking down over the winding of the 
 river, and the moon among the orange-trees, where he was 
 a-making love !" 
 
 " Hush !" whispered Nicie, as her mother turned away 
 with a trembling in her throat; and the old man saw that 
 the memory of the brighter days had brought the shadows 
 also. 
 
 " Saturday to-morrow. Boys will do very well till Mon- 
 day " he came out with this abruptly, to cover his con- 
 fusion. " By that time, please God, I shall be in the 
 Bay of Biscay. This is what I'll do, miss, if it suits you 
 and my lady. I'll come again to-night at nine o'clock, 
 with my kit slung tidy, and not a word to anybody. Then 
 I can have the letters, miss, and my last orders. Ship 
 sails at noon to-morrow, name of Montilla. Mail-coach to 
 Exeter passes White Post a little after half -past ten to- 
 night. Be aboard easily afore daylight. No, miss, thank 
 you, I sha'n't want no money. Passage paid to and fro. 
 Old soldier always hath a shot in the locker." 
 
 " As if we should let you go like that ! You shall not 
 go at all unless you take this purse." 
 
 That evening he received his last instructions, and the 
 next day he sailed in the schooner Montilla. 
 
 Even after the many strange events which had by this 
 time caused such a whirl of giddiness in Perly cross that 
 if there had been a good crack across the street every 
 man and woman would have fallen headlong into it, and 
 
356 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 even before there had been leisure for people to try to tell 
 them anyhow to one another much less discuss them at 
 all as they deserved this sudden break-up of the school 
 and disappearance of High Jarks would have been absolute- 
 ly beyond belief if there had not been scores of boys too 
 loudly in evidence everywhere. But when a chap about 
 four feet high came scudding in at any door that was 
 open, and kicking at it if it dared to be shut, and then went 
 trying every cupboard-lock, and making sad eyes at his 
 mother if the key was out ; and then again, when he was 
 stuffed to his buttons which he would be, as sure as eggs 
 are eggs if the street went howling with his playful ways, 
 and every corner was in a jerk with him, and no elderly 
 lady could go along without her umbrella in front of her 
 how was it possible for any mother not to feel herself 
 guilty of more harm than good ? 
 
 In a word, " High Jarks " was justified (as all wisdom 
 is) of his children*, and the weak-minded women who 
 had complained that he smote too hard were the first to 
 find fault with the feeble measures of his substitute, Vick- 
 ary Toogood, of Honiton. This gentleman came into of- 
 fice on Monday, smiling in a very superior manner at his 
 predecessor's arrangements. 
 
 " I think we may lock up that," he said, pointing to the 
 sergeant's little tickler ; " we must be unworthy of our 
 vocation if we cannot dispense with such primitive tools." 
 A burst of applause thrilled every bench; but knowing 
 the boys of his parish so well, Mr. Penniloe shook his 
 head with dubious delight. 
 
 And truly, before the week was out, many a time would 
 he murmur sadly, " Oh for one hour of the sergeant !" as 
 he heard the babel of tongues outside, and, entering, saw 
 the sprawling elbows, slouching shoulders, and hands in 
 pockets, which the "Apostle of moral force" moral 
 farce was its sound and meaning here permitted as the 
 attitude of pupilage. 
 
 " Sim'th I be quite out in my reckoning," old Channing 
 the clerk had the cheek to say, as he met the parson out- 
 side the school-door ; " didn't know it were Whitmonday 
 yet." ' 
 
 Mr. Penniloe smiled, but without rejoicing ; he under- 
 
THE SCHOOL-MASTER ABROAD 357 
 
 stood the reference too well. Upon Whitmonday the 
 two rival benefit clubs of the village held their feast, and 
 did their very utmost from bridge to abbey to out-drum, 
 out -fife, and out -trumpet one another. Neither in his 
 house was his conscience left untouched. 
 
 " I think Lady Waldron might have sent us a better 
 man than that is," Mrs. Muggridge observed one after- 
 noon when the uproar came across the road and pierced 
 the rectory windows. "1 am not sure but what little Mas- 
 ter Mike could keep better order than that is. Why, the 
 beating of the bounds was nothing to it. What could you 
 be about, sir, to take such a man as that ?" Thyatira had 
 long established full privilege of censure. 
 
 " Certainly there is a noise " the curate was always 
 candid "but he brought the very highest credentials 
 from the Institute. We have scarcely given him fair trial 
 yet. The system is new, you see, Mrs. Muggridge, and it 
 must be allowed some time to take effect. No physical 
 force, the moral sense appealed to, the higher qualities 
 educed by kindness ; the innate preference of right pro- 
 moted and strengthened by self -exertion ; the juvenile fac- 
 ulties to be elevated from the moment of earliest develop- 
 ment by a perception of their high responsibility, and 
 and well, I really forget the rest, but you perceive that it 
 amounts to " 
 
 "Row and riot and roaring rubbish that's what it 
 amounts to, sir. But I beg your pardon, sir ; excuse my 
 boldness for speaking out upon things so far above me. 
 But when they comes across the road at ten o'clock in the 
 morning to beg for a lump of raw beefsteak, by reason of 
 two boys getting four black eyes in fighting across the 
 master's desk, the new system seems not apostolical. An 
 apostle about as much as I am ! My father was above me 
 and had gifts, and he put himself back, when not under- 
 standed, to the rising generation ; but he never would de- 
 mean himself to send for raw beefsteak for their black 
 eyes." 
 
 " And I think he would have shown his common-sense 
 in that. What did you do, my good Thyatira?" Mr. Pen- 
 niloe had a little spice of mischief in him, which always 
 accompanies a sub-sense of humour. 
 
358 TEELYOKOSS 
 
 " This was what I did, sir : I looked at him, and he 
 seemed to have been in the wars himself, and to have 
 come across, perhaps, to get out of them, being one of the 
 clever ones, as true school-master sayeth, and by the same 
 token not so thick of head ; and he looked up at me, as if 
 he was proud of it, to take me in, while the real fighting- 
 boys look down, as I know by my brother who was guilty 
 of it ; and I said to him, very quiet-like, * No steak kept 
 here for moral-force black-eyes-boys. You go to Robert 
 Jakes, the brother of a man that understands his business, 
 and tell him to enter in his books half a pound prime-cut, 
 for four black eyes, to the credit of Vickary Toogood.' " 
 
 It was not only thus, but in many other ways, that the 
 village at large shed painful tears (sadly warranted by the 
 ears), and the Church looked with scorn at the children 
 straggling in, like a lot of Dissenters going anyhow ; and 
 the cross at the meeting of the four main roads, which had 
 been a fine stump for centuries, lost its proper coat of 
 whitewash on Candlemas Day, and the crystal Perle itself 
 began to be threaded with red from pugnacious noses. 
 For the lesson of all history was repeated, that softness 
 universal and unlimited concession, set off very grandly, 
 but come home with broken heads to load their guns with 
 grapnel. 
 
 And what could Mr. Penniloe do when some of the 
 worst belligerents were those of his own household upon 
 one frontier his three pupils, and upon another Zip Trem- 
 lett? Pike, Peckover, and Mopuss, the pupils now come 
 back again, were all very decent and law-abiding fellows, 
 but had drifted into a savage feud with the factory-boys 
 at the bottom of the village. As they were but three 
 against threescore, it soon became unsafe for them to 
 cross Perle bridge without securing their line of retreat. 
 Of course they looked down from a lofty height upon 
 " cads who smelled of yarn, and even worse ;" but what 
 could moral or even lineal excellence avail them against 
 the huge disparity of numbers ? Each of them held him- 
 self a match for any three of the enemy, and they issued 
 a challenge upon that scale ; but the paper - capped host 
 showed no chivalry. On one occasion this noble trio held 
 the bridge victoriously against the whole force of the en- 
 
THE SCHOOL-MASTER ABROAD 359 
 
 emy, inflicting serious loss, and even preparing for a 
 charge upon the mass. But the cowardly mass found a 
 heap of road-metal, and in lack of their own filled the air 
 with it, and the Pennilovian heroes had begun to bite the 
 dust, when luckily Farmer John rode up, and saved the 
 little force from annihilation by slashing right and left 
 through the operative phalanx. 
 
 When Mr. Penniloe heard of this pitched battle he was 
 deeply grieved, and, sending for his pupils, administered 
 a severe rebuke to them. But John Pike's reply was a 
 puzzler to him. 
 
 " If you please, sir, will you tell us what to do when they 
 fall upon us?" 
 
 " Endeavour to avoid them," replied the clergyman, feel- 
 ing some want of confidence, however, in his counsel. 
 
 " So we do, sir, all we can," Pike made answer, with the 
 aspect of a dove ', " but they won't be avoided when they 
 think they've got enough cads together to lick us." 
 
 "I should like to know one thing," inquired the Hop- 
 per, striking out his calves, which were now becoming of 
 commanding size, " are we to be called * parson's pups,' 
 and then do nothing but run away ?" 
 
 " My father says that the road is called the King's high- 
 way," said Mopuss, who was a fat boy, with great delibera- 
 tion, "because all his subjects have a right to it, but no 
 right to throw it at one another." 
 
 " I admit that a difficulty arises there," replied Mr. Pen- 
 niloe as gravely as he could, for Mopuss was always quot- 
 ing his papa, a lawyer of some eminence. " But really, 
 my lads, we must not have any more of this. There is 
 fault upon both sides, beyond all doubt. I shall see the 
 factory manager to-morrow, and get him to warn his pug- 
 nacious band. I am very unwilling to confine you to these 
 premises ; but if I hear of any more pitched battles, I shall 
 be compelled to do so until peace has been proclaimed." 
 
 Here again was Jakes to seek ; for the fear of him lay 
 upon the factory boys as heavily as upon his own school- 
 children. And perhaps as sore a point as any was that he 
 should have been rapt away without full reason rendered. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 LOYALTY 
 
 " I DO not consider myself at all an inquisitive man," 
 Mr. Penniloe reflected, and here the truth was with him, 
 " nevertheless it is hard upon me to be refused almost the 
 right to speculate upon this question. They have told me 
 that it is of the last importance to secure this great disci- 
 plinarian never appreciated while with us, but now de- 
 plored so deeply for a special service in the south of 
 Spain. What that special service is I am not to know 
 until his return, possibly not even then. And Mr. Webber 
 has no idea what the meaning of it is. But I know that 
 it has much to do all to do, I might even say with that 
 frightful outrage of last November, three months ago, 
 alas! alas! and a sad disgrace upon this parish still. Mar- 
 vellous are the visitations of the Lord. Practically speak- 
 ing, we know but little more of that affair now than on the 
 day it was discovered. If it were not for one thing, I 
 should even be driven at last to Gowler's black conclusion, 
 and my faith in the true love of a woman, and in the hon- 
 esty of a proud, brave woman, would be shattered, and 
 leave me miserable. But now it is evident that good and 
 gentle Nicie is acting entirely with her mother, and to 
 imagine that she would wrong her father is impossible. 
 Perhaps I shall even get friend Gowler's hundred pounds. 
 What a triumph that would be ! To obtain a large sum 
 for the service of God from an avowed ah well ! who am 
 I, to think harshly of him ? But the money might even 
 be blessed to himself, which is the first thing to consider. 
 It is my duty to accept it, therefore, if I can only get it. 
 
 " And here again is Jemmy Fox, not behaving at all as 
 he used to do. Concealing something from me I am 
 almost sure of it by his manner and discussing it, I do 
 
LOYALTY 361 
 
 believe, with Gronow an intimacy that cannot be good 
 for him. I wish I could perceive more clearly in what 
 points I have neglected my duty to the parish ; for I seem 
 to be losing hold upon it, which must be entirely my own 
 fault. There must be some want of judgment somewhere 
 what else could lead to such very sad fighting ? Even 
 Zip, a little girl, disgracing us by fighting in the streets ! 
 That, at any rate, I can stop, and will do so pretty speedily." 
 
 This was a lucky thought for him, because it led to ac- 
 tion instead of brooding, into which miserable condition he 
 might otherwise have dropped. And when a man too keen 
 of conscience hauls himself across the coals the governor 
 of a hot place takes advantage to peep up between them. 
 Mr. Penniloe rang the bell and begged Mrs. Muggridge to 
 be good enough to send Miss Zippy to him. 
 
 Zip, who had grown at least two inches since the death 
 of her grandmother not in length, perhaps, so much as in 
 the height she made of it came slyly into the dusky book- 
 room with one of her long hands crumpling the lower cor- 
 ner of her pinafore into her great brown eyes. She knew 
 she was going to catch it, and knew also the way to meet 
 it, for she opened the conversation with a long-drawn sob. 
 
 " Don't be frightened, my dear child," said the parson, 
 with the worst of his intention waning , " I am not going 
 to scold you much, my dear." 
 
 "Oh, I was so terrible afraid you was." The little girl 
 crept up close to him and began to play with his button- 
 hole, curving her lissome fingers in and out, like rosebuds 
 in a trellis, and looking down at the tear-drops on her pinny. 
 " Plaise, sir, 1 knows well enough as I desarves a bit of it." 
 
 " Then why did you do it, my dear child ? But I am 
 glad that you feel it to be wrong." 
 
 The clergyman was sitting in the deep, square chair, 
 where most of his sermons came to him, and he brought 
 his calm face down a little to catch the expression of the 
 young thing's eyes. Suddenly she threw herself into his 
 arms and kissed his lips and cheeks and forehead, and 
 stroked his silvery hair, and burst into a passionate wail ; 
 and then slid down upon a footstool and nursed his foot. 
 
 " Do 'e know why I done that ?" she whispered, look- 
 ing up over his knees at him. " Because there be nobody 
 16 
 
362 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 like 'e in the heavens or the earth or the waters under the 
 earth. Her may be as jealous as ever her plaiseth, but I 
 tell 'e I don't care a cuss." 
 
 "My dear little impetuous creature" Mr. Penniloe knew 
 that his darling Fay was the one defied thus recklessly 
 " I am sure that you are fond of all of us. And to please 
 me, as well as for much higher reasons, you must never 
 use bad words. Bad deeds, too, I have heard of, Zip, 
 though I am not going to scold much now. But why did 
 you get into conflict with a boy ?" 
 
 Zip pondered the meaning of these words for a mo- 
 ment, and then her conscience interpreted : 
 
 " Because he spoke bad of 'e about the Fair." She 
 crooked her quick fingers together as she spoke, and tore 
 them asunder with vehemence. 
 
 " And what did you do to him ? Eh, Zip ? Oh, Zip !" 
 
 " Nort, for to sarve 'un out as a' desarved. Only pulled 
 most of 's hair out. His moother hurned arter me ; but I 
 got inside the ge-at." 
 
 " A nice use, indeed, for my premises to make them a 
 refuge after committing assault and battery ! Well, what 
 shall we come to next?" 
 
 " Plaise, sir, I want to tell 'e zummut," said the child, 
 looking up very earnestly. " Bain't it Perlycrass Fair 
 come Tuesday next?" 
 
 " I am sorry to say that it is. A day of sad noise and 
 uproar. Remember that little Zip must not go outside 
 the gates that day." 
 
 " Nor passon, nayther " the child took hold of his 
 hand as if she were pulling him inside the gate, for her 
 nature was full of gestures ; and then she gazed at him 
 with a sage smile of triumph " and passon mustn't go 
 nayther." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe took little heed of this (though he had to 
 think of it afterwards), but sent the child to have her 
 tea with Muggridge and the children. 
 
 But before he could set to his work in earnest, although 
 he had discovered much to do, in came his own child, lit- 
 tle Fay, looking round the room indignantly. With her 
 lady-like style she was much too grand to admit a sus- 
 picion of jealousy, but she smoothed her golden hair 
 
LOYALTY 363 
 
 gently back, and just condescended to glance round the 
 chairs. Mr. Penniloe said nothing, and feigned to see 
 nothing, though getting a little afraid in his heart; for 
 he always looked on Fay as representing her dear mother. 
 He knew that the true way to learn a child's sentiments is 
 to let them come out of their own accord. There is 
 nothing more jealous than a child except a dog. 
 
 " Oh, I thought Darkie was here again !" said Fay, 
 throwing back her shoulders and spinning on one leg. 
 " This room belongs to Darkie now altogether, though I 
 can't see what right she has to it." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe treated this soliloquy as if he had not 
 heard it, and went on with his work as if he had no time 
 to attend to children's affairs just now. 
 
 " It may be right or it may be wrong," said Fay, ad- 
 dressing the room in general, and using a phrase she had 
 caught up from Pike, a very great favourite of hers ; " but 
 I can't see why all the people of this house should have 
 to make way for a gypsy." 
 
 This was a little too much for a father and clergyman 
 to put up with. " Fay !" said Mr. Penniloe, in a voice that 
 made her tremble ; and she came and stood before him, 
 contrite and sobbing, with her head down and both hands 
 behind her back. Without raising her eyes the fair child 
 listened, while her father spoke impressively ; and then, 
 with a reckless look, she tendered full confession. 
 
 " Father, I know that I am very wicked, and I seem to 
 get worse every day. I wish I was the devil altogether, 
 because then I could not get any worse." 
 
 " My little child," said her father, with amazement, " I 
 can scarcely believe my ears. My gentle little Fay to use 
 such words !" 
 
 " Oh, she thinks nothing of saying that ! And you 
 know how fond you are of her, papa. I thought it might 
 make you fond of me." 
 
 " This must be seen to at once," thought Mr. Penniloe, 
 when he had sent his jealous little pet away ; " but what 
 can I do with that poor deserted child ? Passionate, lov- 
 ing, very strong-willed, grateful, fearless, sensitive, in- 
 clined to be contemptuous, wonderfully quick at learning, 
 she has all the elements of a very noble woman or of a 
 
364 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 very pitiable wreck. Quite unfit to be with my children, 
 as my better judgment pronounced at first. She ought 
 to be under a religious, large-minded, firm, but gentle 
 woman a lady, too, or she would laugh at her. Though 
 she speaks broad Devonshire dialect herself, she detects 
 in a moment the mistakes of others, and she has a lofty 
 contempt for vulgarity. She is thrown, by the will of God, 
 upon my hands, and I should be a coward or a heartless 
 wretch if I shirked the responsibility. It will almost 
 break her heart to go from me ; but go she must for her 
 own sake, as well as that of my little ones." 
 
 " How are you, sir ?" cried a cheerful voice. " I fear 
 that I interrupt you. But I knocked three or four times 
 and got no answer. Excuse my coming in like this. Can 
 I have a little talk with you ?" 
 
 " Certainly, Dr. Fox. I beg your pardon ; but my mind 
 was running upon difficult questions. Let us have the 
 candles, and then I am at your service." 
 
 " Now," said Jemmy, when they were alone again, " I 
 dare say you think that I have behaved very badly in 
 keeping out of your way so long." 
 
 " Not badly, but strangely," replied the parson, who 
 never departed from the truth, even for the sake of polite- 
 ness. " I concluded that there must be some reason, 
 knowing that I had done nothing to cause it." 
 
 " I should rather think not. Nothing ever changes 
 you. But it was for your sake. And now I will en- 
 lighten you, as the time is so close at hand. It appears 
 that you have not succeeded in abolishing the Fair." 
 
 " Not for this year. There were various formalities. 
 But this will be the last of those revels, I believe. The 
 proclamation will be read on Tuesday morning. After 
 this year, I hope, no more carousals prolonged far into 
 the Penitential day. It will take them by surprise ; but it 
 is better so. Otherwise there would have been prepara- 
 tions for a revel more reckless, as being the last." 
 
 " I suppose you know, sir, what bitter offence you are 
 giving to hundreds of people all around ?" 
 
 " I am sorry that it should be so. But it is my simple 
 duty." 
 
 " Nothing ever stops you from your duty. But I hope 
 
LOYALTY 365 
 
 you will do your duty to yourself and us by remaining 
 upon your own premises that day." 
 
 " Certainly not. If I did such a thing I should seem 
 to be frightened of my own act. Please G-od, I shall be 
 in the market-place to hear the proclamation read, and 
 attend to my parish work afterwards." 
 
 " I know that it is useless to argue with you, sir. None 
 of our people would dare to insult you ; but one cannot 
 be sure of outsiders. At any rate, do keep near the vil- 
 lage, where there are plenty to defend you." 
 
 " No one will touch me. I am not a hero ; and I can't 
 afford to get my new hat damaged. I shall remain among 
 the civilized unless I am called away." 
 
 " Well, that is something, though not all that I could 
 wish. And now I will tell you why I am glad, much as I 
 dislike the Fair, that for this year at least it is to be. It 
 is a most important date to me, and I hope it will bring 
 you some satisfaction also. Unless we manage very bad- 
 ly indeed, or have desperately bad-luck, we shall get hold 
 of the villains who profaned your church-yard, and through 
 them of course find the instigator." 
 
 With this preface Fox told his tale to Mr. Penniloe, 
 and quite satisfied him about the reasons for concealing 
 it so long, as well as made him see that it would not do 
 to preach upon the subject yet. 
 
 " My dear young friend, no levity, if you please," said 
 the parson, though himself a little a very little prone to 
 it on the sly among people too solid to stumble. " I draw 
 my lessons from the past or present. Better men than 
 myself insist upon the terrors of the future, and scare peo- 
 ple from looking forward. But our Church, according to 
 my views, is a cheerful and progressive mother, encourag- 
 ing her children, and fortifying " 
 
 " Quite so," said Jemmy Fox, anticipating too much on 
 that head ; " but she would not fortify us with such a 
 Lenten fare as this. Little pun, sir, not so very bad. 
 However, to business. I meant to have told you nothing 
 of this till Monday or Tuesday, until it struck me that 
 you would be hurt, perhaps, if the notice were so very 
 short. The great point is that not a word of our inten- 
 tions should get abroad, or the rogues might make them- 
 
366 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 selves more scarce than rogues unluckily are allowed to 
 be. This is why we have put off our application to Mock- 
 ham until Tuesday morning; and even then we shall lay 
 our information as privately as possible. But we must 
 have a powerful posse when we proceed to arrest them, for 
 one of the men, as I told you, is of tremendous bulk and 
 stature, and the other not a weakling. And perhaps the 
 third, the fellow they come to meet, will show fight on 
 their behalf. We must allow no chance of escape, and 
 possibly they may have fire-arms. We shall want at least 
 four constables, as well as Gronow and myself." 
 
 " But all good subjects of the King are bound to assist, 
 if called upon in the name of his Majesty, at the execution 
 of a warrant." 
 
 " So they are ; but they never do it, even when there 
 is no danger. In the present case they would boldly run 
 away. And more than that, by ten o'clock on Fair-night 
 how will his Majesty's true lieges be ? Unable to keep 
 their own legs, 1 fear. The trouble will be to keep our 
 own force sober. But Gronow has undertaken to see to 
 that. If he can do it we shall be all right. We may fair- 
 ly presume that the enemy also will not be too steady 
 upon their pins. The only thing that I don't like is that 
 a man of Gronow's age should be in the scuffle. He has 
 promised to keep in the background ; but if things get 
 lively, can I trust him ?" 
 
 " I should think it very doubtful. He looks an uncom- 
 monly resolute man. If there is a conflict, he will be in 
 it. But do you think that the big man Harvey really is 
 our Zippy's father? If so, I am puzzled by what his 
 mother said, and I think the old lady was truthful. So 
 far as I could understand what she said, her son had never 
 been engaged in any of the shocking work we hear so 
 much of now. And she would not have denied it from 
 any sense of shame, for she confessed to even worse things 
 on the part of other sons." 
 
 " She may not have known it. He has so rarely been 
 at home. A man of that size would have been notorious 
 throughout the parish if he had ever lived at home ; 
 whereas nobody knows him, not even Joe Crang, who 
 knows every man and horse for miles around. But the 
 
LOYALTY 367 
 
 Whetstone people are a tribe apart, and keep all their des- 
 olate region to themselves." 
 
 " The district is extra-parochial, a sort of No-man's Land 
 almost," Mr. Penniloe answered, thoughtfully. " An en- 
 tire parish intervenes between their hill and Hagdon, so 
 that I cannot go among them without seeming to intrude 
 upon a neighbour's duties. Otherwise it is very sad to 
 think that a colony almost of heathens should be per- 
 mitted in the midst of us. I hear that there is a new 
 landowner now, coming from your father's part of the 
 country, who claims seigniorial rights over them, which 
 they intend to resist with all their might." 
 
 " To be sure. Sir Henry Haggerstone is the man, a 
 great friend of mine, and possibly something nearer before 
 long. He cares not a pin for the money ; but he is not 
 the man to forego his rights, especially when they are 
 challenged. I take a great interest in those people. Sir 
 Henry promised me an introduction, through his steward, 
 or whoever it is ; and but for this business I should have 
 gone over. But as these two fellows have been among 
 them I thought it wiser to keep away. I intend to know 
 more of them when this is over. I rather like fellows who 
 refuse to pay." 
 
 " You have plenty of experience of them, doctor, with- 
 out going over to the Whetstone. Would that we had a few 
 gratuitous church-builders, as well as a gratuitous doctor 
 in this parish ! But I sadly fear that your services will 
 be too much in demand after this arrest. You should 
 have at least six constables if our people will not help 
 you. Supposing that the Whetstone men are there, would 
 they not attempt a rescue ?" 
 
 " No, sir ; they will not be there ; it is not their custom. 
 I am ashamed, as it is, to take four men against two, and 
 would not, except for the great importance of it. But I 
 am keeping you too long. I shall make a point of behold- 
 ing yon no more until Wednesday morning; except, of 
 course, in church on Sunday. You must be kept out of 
 it altogether. It is not for me to tell you what to 
 do, but I trust that you will not add to our anxieties 
 by appearing at all in the matter. Your busiest time 
 of the year is at hand, and I scarcely know whether 
 
368 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 I have done right in worrying you at all about this 
 affair." 
 
 " Truly the time is appointed now for conflict with the 
 unseen powers rather than those of our own race. But 
 why are we told to gird our loins of which succincture 
 the spencer is expressive, and therefore curtly clerical 
 unless we are also to withstand evil-doers, even in the 
 market - place ? Peace is a thing that we all desire, but 
 no man must be selfish of it. If every man stuck to his 
 own corner only, would there ever be a dining-table ? Be 
 not surprised then, Master Jemmy Fox, if I should appear 
 upon the warlike scene. As the statesmen of the age say 
 when they don't know what to say I reserve my right 
 of action." 
 
 Fox was compelled to be satisfied with this, because he 
 could get no better. Yet he found it hard to be comfort- 
 able about the now urgent outlook. Beyond any doubt, 
 he must go through with the matter in hand, and fight it 
 well out. But where would he be if the battle left him 
 with two noble heroes disabled, and both of them beyond 
 the heroic time of life. As concerned himself, he was 
 quite up for the fight, and regarded the prospect with 
 pleasure, as behooves a young man who requires a little 
 change, and has a lady - love who will rejoice in his feats. 
 Moreover, he knew that he was very quick of foot, and 
 full of nimble dodges ; but these elderly men could not so 
 skip away, even if their dignity allowed it. After much 
 grim meditation, when he left the rectory, he made up his 
 mind to go straight to Squire Mockham ; and, although it 
 was a doubtful play of cards to consult thus informally 
 the justice before whom the information was soon to be 
 laid, it seemed to him, on the whole, to be the proper 
 course. On Tuesday it would be too late to receive any 
 advice upon the subject. 
 
 But Mr. Mockham made no bones of it. Whether he 
 would grant the warrant or not was quite another question, 
 and must depend upon the formal depositions when re- 
 ceived. The advice that he gave was contingent only 
 upon the issue of the warrant, as to which he could say 
 nothing yet. But he did not hesitate, as the young man's 
 friend, to counsel him about his own share in the matter. 
 
LOYALTY 369 
 
 " Keep all your friends out of it. Let none of them be 
 there. The execution of a warrant is the duty of the au- 
 thorities, not of amateurs and volunteers. Even you your- 
 self should not appear, unless it be just to identify; 
 though afterwards you must do so, of course, when the 
 charge comes to be heard. Better even that criminals 
 should escape than that non-official persons should take the 
 business on themselves. As a magistrate's son you must 
 know this." 
 
 " That is all very well in an ordinary case," said Fox, 
 who had got a great deal more than he wanted ; " but 
 here it is of such extreme importance to get to the bottom 
 of this matter ; and if they escape where are we ?" 
 
 " All very true. But if you apply to the law you must 
 let the law do its own work and in its own way, though 
 it be not perfect. All you can do is to hope for the 
 best." 
 
 "And probably get the worst," said Jemmy, with a 
 grin of resignation. "But I suppose I may be at hand, 
 and ready to give assistance, if called upon ?" 
 
 " Certainly," answered Mr. Mockham, rubbing his hands 
 gently; "that is the privilege of every subject, though not 
 claimed very greedily. By-the-bye, I was told that there 
 is to be some sort of wrestling at your Fair this year. 
 Have you heard anything about it ?" 
 
 " Well, perhaps a little." The young man looked slyly 
 at the magistrate, for one of the first things he had heard 
 was that Mockham had started the scheme by giving ten 
 guineas towards the prize-fund. " Among other things I 
 heard that Polwarth is coming the Cornish champion, 
 as they call him." 
 
 " And he holds the West of England belt. It is too 
 bad," said the magistrate, " that we should have no man 
 to redeem it. When I was a boy we should all have been 
 mad if the belt had gone over the border long. But who 
 is there now ? The sport is decaying, and fisticuffs (far 
 more degrading work) are ousting it altogether. I think 
 you went to see the play last year." 
 
 " I just looked in at it once or twice. It did not mat- 
 ter very much to me, as a son of Somerset ; but it must 
 have been very grievous to a true Devonian to see Corn- 
 16* 
 
370 PERLYCROSS 
 
 wall chucking his countrymen about like a lot of wax- 
 headed ninepins. And no doubt he will do the same 
 thing this year. You can't help it can you, squire ?" 
 
 "Don't be too sure of that, my friend. A man we 
 never heard of has challenged for the belt on behalf of 
 Devon. He will not play in the standards, but have best 
 of three backs with the Cornishman for the belt and a 
 special prize raised by subscription. When I was a lad I 
 used to love to see it, aye, and I knew all the leading men. 
 Why, all the great people used to go to see it then. The 
 lord -lieutenant of the county would come down from 
 Westminster for any great match ; and as for magistrates 
 well, the times are changed." 
 
 " You need not have asked me the news, I see. To 
 know all about it I must come to you. I should have 
 been glad to see something of it, if it is to be such a big 
 affair. But that will be impossible on account of this 
 job. Good-night, sir. Twelve o'clock, I think you said, 
 will suit for our application ?" 
 
 " Yes, and to stop malicious mouths for they get up 
 an outcry if one knows anybody I shall get Sir Edwin 
 Sanford to join me. He is in the Commission for Somer- 
 set, too; and so we can arrange it if issued at all, to hold 
 good across the border." 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 A WRESTLING BOUT 
 
 VALENTINE'S DAY was on Sunday that year, and a vio- 
 lent gale from the south and west set in before daylight and 
 lasted until the evening without bringing any rain. Anxi- 
 ety was felt about the chancel roof, which had only been 
 patched up temporarily, and water-proofed with thick tar- 
 paulins ; for the Exeter builders had ceased work entirely 
 during that December frost, and as yet had not returned 
 to it. To hurry them while engaged elsewhere would not 
 have been just, or even wise, inasmuch as they might very 
 fairly say, " Let us have a little balancing of books first, 
 if you please." 
 
 However, the old roof withstood the gale, being shel- 
 tered from the worst of it, and no further sinking of the 
 wall took place ; but at the abbey, some fifty yards east- 
 ward, a very sad thing came to pass. The south-western 
 corner and the western end (the most conspicuous part 
 remaining) were stripped, as if by a giant's rip-hook, of 
 all their dark mantle of ivy. Like a sail blown out of 
 the bolt-ropes, away it all went bodily, leaving the white 
 flint rough and rugged and staring like a suburban villa 
 of the most choice effrontery. The contrast with the 
 remainder of the ruins and the old stone church was 
 hideous ; and Mr. Penniloe at once resolved to replace 
 and secure afresh as much of the fallen drapery as had 
 not been shattered beyond hope of life. Walter Had- 
 don very kindly offered to supply the ladders and pay 
 half the cost ; for the picturesque aspect of his house 
 was ruined by this bald background. This job was to 
 be put in hand on Thursday ; but worse things happened 
 before that day. 
 
 " Us be going to have a bad week of it," old Channing, 
 
372 PERLYOROSS 
 
 the clerk, observed on Monday, as he watched the four 
 vanes on the tower (for his eyes were almost as keen as 
 ever) and the woodcock feathers on the western sky ; 
 "never knowed a dry gale yet but were follered by a 
 wet one twice as bad ; leastways if a' coom from the Dart- 
 moor mountains." 
 
 Ho*vever, things seemed right enough on Tuesday morn- 
 ing to people who seldom think much of the sky, and 
 the rustics came trooping in to the Fair, as brave as need 
 be, and with all their Sunday finery. A prettier lot of 
 country girls no Englishman might wish, and perhaps no 
 other mau might hope to see, than the laughing, gig- 
 gling, blushing, wondering, simpering, fluttering, or brid- 
 ling maidens, fresh from dairy or churn or linhay, but all 
 in very bright array, with love-knots on their breasts and 
 lavender in their pocket-handkerchiefs. With no depress- 
 ing elegance perhaps among them, and no poetic sighing 
 for impossible ideals ; and probably glancing backward 
 more than forward on the path of life, because the rule 
 and the practice is for the lads of the party to walk 
 behind. 
 
 Louts are these, it must be acknowledged, if looked at 
 from too high a point ; and yet, in their way, not by any 
 means so low as a topper on the high horse with astral 
 spurs and a banner of bad Latin might condemn them for 
 to be. If they are clumsy and awkward and sheepish, and 
 can only say, " Thank'e, sir I Veyther is quite well," in 
 answer to "How are you to-day, John?" some of it 
 surely is by reason of a very noble quality, now rarer 
 than the great auk's egg; and known, while it was a 
 noun still substantive, as modesty. But there they were, 
 and plenty of them, in the year 1836 ; and they meant to 
 spend their money in good fairing, if so be their girls 
 were kind. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe had a lot of good heart in him ; and when 
 he came out to stand by the bellman and trumpeter 
 who thrilled the market-place, his common -sense and 
 knowledge of the darker side had as much as they could 
 do to back him up against the impression of the fair 
 young faces that fell into the dumps at his sad decree. 
 The strong evil-doers were not come yet, their time would 
 
A WRESTLING BOTJT 373 
 
 not begin till the lights began to flare, and the dark cor- 
 ners hovered with temptation. Silence was enjoined three 
 times by ding-dong of bell and blare of trump, and thrice 
 the fatal document was read with stern solemnity and 
 mute acceptance of every creature except ducks, whom 
 nothing short of death can silence, and scarcely even that 
 when once their long valves quiver with the elegiac 
 strain. 
 
 The trumpeter from Exeter, with scarlet sash and tassel, 
 looked down from an immeasurable height upon the vil- 
 lage bellman and a fiddler in the distance, and took it 
 much amiss that he should be compelled to time his sono- 
 rous blasts by the tinkle tinkle of old nunks. 
 
 " Truly I am sorry," said the curate to himself, while 
 lads and lasses, decked with primrose and the first white 
 violets, whispered sadly to one another, " No more fair- 
 ing after this," "I am sorry that it should be needful 
 to stop all these innocent enjoyments." 
 
 " Then why did you send for me, sir ?" asked the trump- 
 eter, rather savagely, as one who had begged at the rectory 
 for beer to medicate his lips against the twang of brass, 
 but won not a drop from Mrs. Muggridge. 
 
 Suddenly there came a little volley of sharp drops not 
 of the liquid he desired dashed into the trumpeter's red 
 face, and against the back of the parson's hak the first 
 skit of rain, that seemed rather to rise as if from a blow- 
 pipe than fall from the clouds. Mr. Penniloe hastened to 
 his house close by, for the market-place was almost in a 
 straight line with the school, and taking his old gingham 
 umbrella, set off alone for a hamlet called Southend, not 
 more than half a mile from the village. Although not so 
 learned in the weather as his clerk, he could see that 
 the afternoon was likely to prove wet, and the longer he 
 left it the worse it would be, according to all indications. 
 Without any thought of adversaries, he left the village at 
 a good brisk pace to see an old parishioner of whose ill- 
 ness he had heard. 
 
 Crossing a meadow on his homeward course, he ob- 
 served that the foot-path was littered here and there with 
 strips and patches of yellow osier peel, as if, since he had 
 passed an hour or so ago, some idle fellow had been 
 
374 PERLYCROSS 
 
 " whittling " wands from a withy-bed which was not far 
 off. For a moment he wondered what this could mean ; 
 but not a suspicion crossed his mind of a rod in prepara- 
 tion for his own back. 
 
 Alas, too soon was this gentleman enlightened. The 
 lonely foot-path came sideways into a dark and still more 
 lonesome lane, deeply sunk between tangled hedges, ex- 
 cept where a mouldering cob-wall stood, sole relic of a 
 worn-out linhay. Mr. Penniloe jumped lightly from the 
 treddled stile into the mucky and murky lane, congratu- 
 lating himself upon shelter here, for a squally rain was 
 setting in ; but the leap was into a den of wolves. 
 
 From behind the cob-wall, with a yell, out rushed four 
 hulking fellows, long of arm and leg, still longer of the 
 weapons in their hands. Each of them bore a white 
 withy switch, flexible, tough, substantial, seemly instru- 
 ment for a pious verger; but what would pious vergers be 
 doing here, and why should their faces retire from view ? 
 Each of them had tied across his most expressive and too 
 distinctive part a patch of white muslin, such as imparts 
 the sweet sense of modesty to a chamber-window ; but 
 modesty in these men was small. 
 
 Three of them barred the parson's road, while the 
 fourth cut off his communications in the rear ; but even 
 so did he not perceive the full atrocity of their intentions. 
 To him they appeared to be inditing of some new form of 
 poaching, or some country game of skill, perhaps, or these 
 might be rods of measurement. 
 
 " Allow me to pass, my friends," he said ; " I shall not 
 interfere with your proceedings. Be good enough to let 
 me go by." 
 
 " Us has got a little bit o' zummat," said the biggest of 
 them, with his legs astraddle, " to goo with 'e, passon, 
 and to 'baide with 'e a bit. A choice bit of fairing, zort 
 o' peppermint stick, or stick lickerish." 
 
 " I am not a fighting-man, but if any man strikes me, 
 let him beware for himself. I am not to be stopped on a 
 public highway like this." 
 
 As Mr. Penniloe spoke, he unwisely closed his umbrel- 
 la, and, holding it as a staff of defence, advanced against 
 the enemy. 
 
A WRESTLING BOUT 375 
 
 One step was all the advance he made, for ere he could 
 take another he was collared and tripped up, and cast for- 
 ward heavily upon his forehead. There certainly was a 
 great stone in the mud ; but he never knew whether it was 
 that, or a blow from a stick, or even the ebony knob of his 
 own umbrella, that struck him so violently as he fell ; but 
 the effect was that he lay upon his face, quite stunned, and 
 in danger of being smothered in the muck. 
 
 " Up with 's coat-tails ! Us '11 dust his jacket. Ring 
 the bull on 'un one, two, dree, vour." 
 
 The four stood round, with this very fine Christian, 
 ready, as the Christian faith directs, for weak members 
 not warmed up with it ready to take everything he could 
 not help ; and the four switches hummed in the air with 
 delight, like the thirsty swords of Homer, when a rush as 
 of many winds swept them back to innocence. A man of 
 great stature, and with blazing eyes, spent no words upon 
 them, but lifted up the biggest with a chuck below his 
 chin which sent him sprawling into the ditch with a broken 
 jaw ; then took another by the scruff of his small-clothes 
 and hefted him into a dogrose stool, which happened to 
 stand on the top of the hedge with shark's teeth ready for 
 their business ; then he leaped over the prostrate parson, 
 but only smote vacant air that time. " The devil, the devil, 
 'tis the devil himself !" cried the two other fellows, cutting 
 for their very lives. 
 
 " Reckon I were not a breath too soon," said the man 
 who had done it, as he lifted Mr. Penniloe, whose lips 
 were bubbling and nose clotted up ; " why, they would 
 
 have killed 'e in another minute, my dear. D if I 
 
 bain't afeared they has done it now !" 
 
 That the clergyman should let an oath pass unrebuked 
 would have been proof enough to any one who knew 
 him that it never reached his mind. His silver hair was 
 clogged with mud and his gentle face begrimed with 
 it, and his head fell back between the big man's inees, 
 and his blue eyes rolled about without seeing earth or 
 heaven. 
 
 " That d Jemmy Fox, we wants 'un now. Never 
 
 knowed a doctor come when a' were wanted. Hollo ! 
 you be moving there, be you ? You dare stir, you mur- 
 
376 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 derer !" It was one of the men lately pitched into the 
 hedge ; but he only groaned again at that great voice. 
 
 "Do 'e veel a bit better now, my dear? I've a girt 
 mind to kill they two hosebirds in the hedge ; arid what's 
 more, I wull, if 'e don't come round pretty peart." 
 
 As if to prevent the manslaughter threatened, the parson 
 breathed heavily once or twice and tried to put his hand to 
 his temples, and then looked about with a placid amazement. 
 
 " You 'bide there, sir, for a second," said the man, set- 
 ting him carefully upon a dry bank, with his head against 
 an ash-tree. " Thy soul shall zee her desire of thine en- 
 emies, as I've a-read when I wor a little buy." 
 
 To verify this promise of Holy Writ, he took up the 
 stoutest of the white switches, and visiting the ditch first, 
 and then the hedge-trough, left not a single accessible part 
 of either of those ruffians without a weal upon it as big 
 as his thumb, and his thumb was not a little one. They 
 howled like a couple of pigs at the blacksmith's when he 
 slips the ring into their noses red-hot, and it is lawful to 
 hope that they felt their evil deeds. 
 
 " T'other two shall have the very same, bumbai ; I knows 
 where to put hands on 'em both," said the operator, point- 
 ing towards the village ; and it is as well to mention that 
 he did it. 
 
 " Now, sir, you come along of I." He cast away the 
 fourth rod, having elicited their virtues, and taking Mr. 
 Penniloe in his arms, went steadily with him to the near- 
 est house. This stood alone in the outskirts of the village ; 
 and there two very good old ladies lived, with a handsome 
 green railing in front of them. 
 
 These, after wringing their hands for some minutes, en- 
 abled Mr. Penniloe to wash his face and head, and gave 
 him some red-currant wine, and sent their child of all work 
 for Mrs. Muggridge. Meanwhile the parson began to take 
 a more distinct view of the world again, his first emotion 
 being anxiety about his Sunday beaver, which he had been 
 wearing in honour of the Proclamation the last duty it 
 was ever destined to discharge. But the "gigantic indi- 
 vidual," as the good ladies called him, was nowhere to be 
 seen when they mustered courage to persuade one another 
 to peep outside the rails. 
 
A WRESTLING BOUT 377 
 
 By this time the weather was becoming very bad. 
 Everybody knows how a great gale rises ; not with any 
 hurry or assertion of itself (as a little squall does that is 
 limited for time), but with a soft hypocritical sigh and 
 short puffs of dissimulation. The solid great storm that 
 gets up in the south, and means to make every tree in 
 England bow, to shatter the spray on the Land's-end cliffs 
 while it shakes all the towers of London, begins its ad- 
 vance without any broad rush, but with many little tick- 
 lings of the space it is to sweep. A trumpery frolic where 
 four roads meet, a woman's umbrella turned inside out, a 
 hat tossed into a horse-pond, perhaps, a weathercock be- 
 fooled into chase of head with tail, and a clutch of big 
 rain-drops sheafed into the sky and shattered into mist 
 again these, and a thousand other little pranks and pleas- 
 antries, are as the shrill admonitions of the fife in the van- 
 guard of the great invasion of the heavens. 
 
 But what cares a man, with his money in his pockets, 
 how these larger things are done ? And even if his money 
 be yet to seek, still more shall it preponderate. A tourney 
 of wrestlers for cash and great glory was crowding the 
 court-yard of the Ivy-bush with every man who could raise 
 a shilling. A steep roof of rick-cloth and weather-proof 
 canvas, supported on a massive ridge-pole, would have pro- 
 tected the enclosure from any ordinary storm ; but now 
 the tempestuous wind was tugging, whistling, panting, 
 shrieking, and with great might thundering, and the violent 
 rain was pelting, like the rattle of pebbles on the Chessil 
 beach, against the strained canvas of the roof ; while the 
 rough hoops of candles inside were swinging, with their 
 crops of guttering tallow welted like sucked stumps of 
 asparagus. Nevertheless, the spectators below, mounted 
 on bench or stool or trestle, or huddled against the rope- 
 ring, were jostling and stamping and craning their necks, 
 and digging elbows into one another, and yelling and 
 swearing, and waving rotten hats, as if the only element 
 the Lord ever made was mob. 
 
 Suddenly all jabber ceased, and only the howls of the 
 storm were heard, and the patter from the sodden roof, 
 as Polwarth of Bodmin, having taken formal back from 
 Dascombe of Devon (the winner of the Standards, a very 
 
378 PERLYCROSS 
 
 fine player, but not big enough for him), skirred his flat 
 hat into the middle of the sawdust, and stood there flap- 
 ping his brawny arms, and tossing his big-rooted nose like 
 a bull. In the flare of the lights his grin looked malig- 
 nant and the swing of his bulk overweening ; and though 
 he said nothing but " Cornwall forever !" he said it as if 
 it meant " Devonshire be d !" 
 
 After looking at the company with mild contempt, he 
 swaggered towards the umpires and took off his belt, with 
 the silver buckles and the red stones flashing, and hung it 
 upon the cross-rail for defiance. A shiver and a tremble 
 of silence ran through the hearts and on the lips of three 
 hundred sad spectators. Especially a gentleman who sat 
 behind the umpires, dressed in dark riding -suit and a 
 flapped hat, was swinging from side to side with strong 
 feeling. 
 
 " Is there no man to try a fall for Devonshire ? Won't 
 kill him to be beaten. Consolation-money fifty shillings," 
 the chairman of the committee announced, but nobody 
 came forward. 
 
 A deep groan was heard from old Channing, the clerk, 
 who had known such very different days ; while the Cor- 
 nishman made his three rounds of the ring before he should 
 buckle on the belt again, and snorted each time like Go- 
 liath. Gathering up the creases of his calves, which hung 
 like the chins of an alderman, he stuck his heels into the 
 Devonshire earth, to ask what it was made of. Then, 
 with a smile, which he felt to be kind and heartily large 
 to this part of the world, he stooped to pick up the hat, 
 gay with seven ribbons wrung from Devonshire button- 
 holes. 
 
 But behold ! while his great hand was going to pick it 
 up thus carelessly, another hat struck it and whirled it 
 away, as a quoit strikes a quoit that appears to have won. 
 
 " Devon forever ! And Cornwall to the devil !" A 
 mighty voice shouted, and a mighty man came in, shaking 
 the rain and the wind from his hair. A roar of hurrahs 
 overpowered the gale, as the man, taking heed of nobody, 
 strode up to the belt, and with a pat of his left hand, said 
 " I wants this here little bit of ribbon." 
 
 " Thee must plai for 'un fust," cried the hero of Cornwall. 
 
A WRESTLING BOUT 379 
 
 " What else be I come for?" the other inquired. 
 
 When formalities had been satisfied, and the proper 
 clothing donned, and the champions stood forth in the 
 ring looking at one another, the roof might have dropped 
 without any man heeding until it came across his eyes. 
 
 The challenger's name had been announced " Harvey 
 Tremlett, of Devonshire " but only one or two besides 
 old Channing had any idea who he was ; and even old 
 Channing was not aware that the man had been a wrestler 
 from early youth, so seldom had he visited his native place. 
 
 " 'A standeth like a man as understood it," " 'A be big- 
 ger in the back than Cornishman," " Hope 'a hath trained, 
 or 's wind won't hold ;" sundry such comments of critical 
 power showed that the public, as usual, knew ten times as 
 much as the performers. 
 
 These, according to the manner of the time, were clad 
 alike, but wore no pads, for the brutal practice of kicking 
 was now forbidden at meetings of the better sort. A jacket 
 or jerkin of tough sail-cloth, half-sleeved and open in front, 
 afforded firm grasp, but no clutch for throttling ; breeches 
 of the stoutest cord, belted at waist and strapped at knee, 
 red worsted stockings for Devonshire, and yellow on behalf 
 of Cornwall, completed their array ; except that the Cor- 
 nishman wore ankle boots, while the son of Devon, at his 
 own request, was provided only with sailor's pumps. The 
 advantage of these, for lightness of step and pliancy of 
 sole, was obvious ; but very few players would venture upon 
 them, at the risk of a crushed and disabled foot. " Fear 
 he bain't nim' enough for they pea-shells. They be all very 
 well for a boy," said Channing. 
 
 The Cornishman saw that he had found his match, per- 
 haps even his master in bodily strength, if the lasting power 
 could be trusted. Skill and endurance must decide the 
 issue, and here he knew his own pre-eminence. He had 
 three or four devices of his own invention, but of very 
 doubtful fairness ; if all other powers failed, he would have 
 recourse to them. 
 
 For two or three circuits of the ring their mighty frames 
 and limbs kept time and poise with one another. Each 
 with his left hand grasped the other by the shoulder lap- 
 pet ; each kept his right hand hovering like a hawk, and 
 
380 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 the fingers in play for a dash, a grip, a tug. Face to face 
 and eye to eye, intent upon every twinkle, step for step 
 they marched sideways as if to the stroke of a heavy bell, 
 or the beating of slow music. Each had his weight thrown 
 slightly forward, and his shoulders slouched a little, watch- 
 ing for one unwary move, and testing by some subtle thrill 
 the substance of the other, as a glass is filliped to try its 
 ring. 
 
 By a feint of false step and a trick of eye Polwarth got 
 an opening. In he dashed, the other's arm flew up, and 
 the Cornish grip went round him. In vain he put forth his 
 mighty strength, for there was no room to use it. Down 
 he crashed, but turned in falling, so that the back was 
 doubtful. 
 
 " Back !" " Fair back !" " No back at all." " Four pins." 
 " Never, no, three pins." "See where his arm was?" 
 " Foul, foul, foul !" Shouts of wrath and even blows en- 
 sued ; for a score or two of Cornishmen were there. 
 
 " Hush for the umpires !" " Hold your noise." " Thee 
 be a liar." " So be you." The wind and the rain were 
 well out-roared, until the umpires, after some little consul- 
 tation, gave award. 
 
 " We allow it true back for Cornwall. Unless the fall 
 claims foul below belt. If so, it will be for referee." 
 Which showed that they differed upon that point. 
 
 " Let 'un have it. I won't claim no foul. Let 'un do it 
 again, if 'a can." Thus spake the fallen man, striding up 
 to the umpires' post. A roar of cheers rang round the 
 tent, though many a Devonshire face looked glum, and a 
 few groans clashed with the frank hurrahs. 
 
 The second bout was a brief one, but afforded much sat- 
 isfaction to all lovers of fair play, and therefore, perhaps, 
 to the Cornishmen. What Tremlett did was simply this : 
 he feigned to be wholly absorbed in guarding against a 
 repetition of the recent trick. The other, expecting nothing 
 more than tactics of defence, was caught, quite unawares, 
 by his own device, and down he went a very candid four- 
 pin fall. 
 
 Now came the final bout, the supreme decision of the 
 tie, the crowning struggle for the palm. The issue was so 
 doubtful that the oldest and most sage of all palaestric ora- 
 
A WRESTLING BOUT 381 
 
 cles could but look and feared that voice might not prove 
 wise. Skill was equally divided (setting dubious tricks 
 aside), strength was a little in favour of Devon, but not to 
 much turn of the balance (for Cornwall had not produced 
 a man of such magnitude for many years), experience 
 was on Cornwall's side ; condition and lasting power 
 seemed to be pretty fairly on a par. What was to settle 
 it ? Devonshire knew. 
 
 That is to say, the fair county had its hopes though 
 always too modest and frugal to back them that some- 
 thing which it produces even more freely than fair cheeks 
 and kind eyes, and of which the corner land is not so 
 lavish to wit, fine temper and tranquillity of nature, might 
 come to their mother's assistance. Even for fighting, no 
 man is at the best of himself when exasperated. Far less 
 can he be so in the gentler art. 
 
 A proverb of large equity and time-honoured wisdom 
 declares (with the bluntness of its race) that " sauce for 
 the goose is sauce for the gander." This maxim is pleas- 
 ant enough to the goose, but the gander sputters wrath- 
 fully when it comes home to his breast. Polwarth felt it 
 as a heinous outrage that he had been the victim of his 
 own device. As he faced his rival for the last encounter, 
 a scowl came down upon his noble, knobby forehead, his 
 keen eyes glowered as with fire in his chest, and his wiry 
 lips closed viciously. The Devonshire man, endowed with 
 larger and less turbid outlook, perceived that the other's 
 wrath was kindled, and his own duty was to feed the 
 flame. 
 
 Accordingly, by quiet tricks and flicks, such as no man 
 would even feel unless already too peppery, he worked the 
 moral system hard, and roused in the other's ample breast 
 or brain, if that be the combative part a lofty disdain 
 of discretion. Polwarth ground his teeth and clinched his 
 fist, spat fire and all was up with him. One savage dash 
 he made, which might have swept a mile-stone backward, 
 breast clashed on breast, he swung too high^the great yel- 
 low legs forsook the earth, and the great red ones flashed 
 between them, then the mighty frame spun in the air like 
 a flail, and he fell flat as the blade of a turf -beater's spade. 
 
 " All over ! All up ! Needn't ask about that. Three 
 
382 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 times three for Devonshire ! Again, again, again ! Car- 
 nies, what can 'e say to that now ?" 
 
 Wild triumph, fierce dejection, yearning to fight it out 
 prevailed ; every man's head was out of the government of 
 his neck when these two leading counties were quenched 
 alike. The great pole of red pine, fit mast for an admiral, 
 bearing all the structure overhead, snapped like a carrot 
 to a vast wild blast. In a weltering squash lay victor and 
 vanquished, man with his fists up, and man eager to go at 
 him ; hearts too big to hold themselves for exultation, and 
 hearts so low that wifely touch was needed to encourage 
 them ; glorious head that had won fifty shillings, and poor 
 numskull that had lost a pot of beer. Prostrate all, with 
 mouths full of tallow, sawdust, pitch, and another fellow's 
 toes. Many were for a twelvemonth limpers ; but no- 
 body went to church-yard. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 A FIGHTING BOUT 
 
 AFTER that mighty crash every body with any sense left 
 in its head went home. There was more to talk about 
 than Perlycross had come across in half a century. And 
 the worst of it was that every blessed man had his own 
 troubles first to attend to, which is no fun at all, though 
 his neighbour's are so pleasant. The Fair in the covered 
 market-place had long been a dreary concern, contending 
 vainly against the stronger charm of the wrestling-booth, 
 and still more vainly against the furious weather. Even 
 the biggest and best -fed flares and they were quite as 
 brisk in those days as they are now gifted though they 
 might be with rage and vigour, lost all self-control, and 
 dashed in yellow forks here, there, and everywhere, singe- 
 ing sometimes their own author's whiskers. Like a man 
 who lives too fast, they killed themselves; and the poor 
 cheap-jacks, the universal oracles, the benevolent bounty- 
 men, chucking guineas right and left, the master of Cupid's 
 bower, who supplied every lass with a lord, and every lad 
 with a lady having a lapf ul of a hundred thousand pounds 
 sadly they all strapped up and lit their pipes, and shiv- 
 ered at that terrible tramp before them, cursing the weather 
 and their wives, and even the hallowed village of Perly- 
 cross. 
 
 Though the coaches had forsaken this ancient track from 
 Exeter to London, and followed the broader turnpike roads, 
 there still used to be every now and then a string of pack- 
 horses, or an old stage-wagon, not afraid of hills and mak- 
 ing no fuss about time, but straggling at leisure through 
 the pristine thoroughfares, thwarted less with toll-bars. 
 
 Notably, old Hill's " God-be-with-us " van left Exeter on 
 Tuesdays, with the good-will of three horses, some few 
 
384 PEEL YCKOSS 
 
 hours in the afternoon, and might be trusted to appear at 
 Perlycross according to the weather and condition of the 
 roads. What more comfortable course of travel could there 
 be for any one who understood it, and enjoyed sound sleep 
 and a good glass of ale at intervals, with room enough to 
 dine inside if he thought fit, than the " God-be-with-us " van 
 afforded? For old Hill was always in charge of it himself, 
 and expected no more than a penny a mile, and perhaps 
 the power to drink the good health of any peaceful sub- 
 ject of the King who might be inclined to come along with 
 him and listen to his moving tales. The horses were fat, 
 and they rested at night, and took it easily in the day- 
 time ; and the leader had three little bells on his neck, 
 looking, when you sat behind him, like a pair of scales; 
 and without them he always declined to take a step, and 
 the wheelers backed him up in that denial. For a man 
 not bound to any domineering hour, or even to a self-im- 
 portant day, the broad-wheeled wagon belonging to old 
 Hill " Old-as-the-Hills," some flippant younkers called 
 him was as good an engine as need be for crossing of the 
 country, when it wanted to be crossed, and halting at any 
 town of hospitable turn. 
 
 That same Shrove Tuesday and it is well to mark the 
 day, because Master Hill was so superior to dates this 
 man who asserted the dignity of our race by not allowing 
 matter to disturb him, was coming downhill with his heavy 
 drag on, in a road that was soft from the goodness of the 
 soil, when a man with two legs made of better stuff than 
 ours either came out of a gate across the van, or else 
 fairly walked it down by superior speed behind. " Ship 
 ahoy !" he shouted ; and old Hill was wide awake, for he 
 had two or three barrels that would keep rolling into the 
 small of his back as he called it, with his usual obliv- 
 ion of chronology and so he was enabled to discern this 
 man, and begin at his leisure to consider him. 
 
 If the man had shouted again, or shown any other 
 symptom of small hurry, the driver or, properly speak- 
 ing, the drifter, for the horses did their own driving 
 would have felt some disappointment in him, as an inferi- 
 or fellow-creature. But the man on foot, or, at least, on 
 stumps, was in no more hurry than old Hill himself, and 
 
A FIGHTING BOUT 385 
 
 steadfastly trudged to the bottom of the hill, looking only 
 at the horses a very fine sign. 
 
 The land being Devon, it is needless to say that there 
 was no inconsistency about it. Wherever one hill ends, 
 there another begins, with just room enough between them 
 for a horse to spread his legs and shake himself with 
 self -approbation. And he is pretty sure to find a crystal 
 brook purling across the road and twinkling bright temp- 
 tation to him. 
 
 " Hook up skid, and then 'e can jump in," said old Hill, 
 in the hollow, where the horses backed ; and he knew by 
 the clank that it had been done, and then, by a rattle on 
 the floor behind him, that the stranger had embarked by 
 the chains at the rear. After about a mile or so of soft, 
 low whistling, in which he excelled all carriers, old Hill 
 turned round with a pleasant grin for there was a great 
 deal of good about him. 
 
 " Going far ?" he asked, as an opening of politeness 
 rather than of curiosity. 
 
 " Zort of a place called Perly crass," replied the wooden- 
 legged man, who was sitting on a barrel. Manifestly an 
 ancient sailor, weather-beaten and taciturn, the residue of 
 a strong and handsome man. 
 
 The whole of this had been as nearly to the carrier's 
 liking as the words and deeds of any man can be to any 
 other's. Therefore, before another mile had been travelled, 
 old Hill turned round again, with a grin still sweeter. 
 
 " Pancake-day, bain't it ?" was his very kind inquiry. 
 
 " B'lieve it be," replied the other, in the best and tru- 
 est British style. After this no more was lacking to se- 
 cure old Hill's regard than the very thing the sailor did. 
 There was a little flap of canvas, like a loophole in the tilt, 
 fitted for the use of chawers and the cleanliness of the 
 floor. Timberlegs, after using this with much delibera- 
 tion and great skill, made his way forward, and, in deep 
 silence, poked old Hill with his open tobacco-box. If it 
 were not silver, it was quite as good to look at, and as 
 bright as if it held the freedom of the city ; the tobacco, 
 moreover, was of goodly reek, and a promise of inspira- 
 tion such as never flows through Custom-house. 
 
 " Thank 'e, I'll have a blade bumbai. Will 'e zit upon 
 17 
 
386 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 that rope of onions ?" The sailor shook his head, for the 
 rim of a barrel, though apt to cut, cuts evenly like a good 
 school-master. 
 
 " 'Long of Nelson ?" Master Hill inquired, pointing to 
 the places where the feet were now of deputy. The old tar 
 nodded, and then, with that sensitive love of accuracy which 
 marks the tar, growled out, " Leastways, wan of them." 
 
 " And what come to t'other wan ?" Master Hill was 
 capable of really large human interest. 
 
 " Had 'un off to square the spars, and for zake of vam- 
 ily." He had no desire to pursue the subject, and closed 
 it by a big squirt through the flap. 
 
 Old Hill nodded with manly approbation. Plymouth 
 was his birthplace, and he knew that other sons of Nel- 
 son had done this, for it balanced their bodies, and com- 
 posed their minds with another five shillings a week for 
 life, and the sale of the leg covered all expenses. 
 
 " You'rn a very ingenious man" he glanced as he 
 spoke at the sailor's jury-rig " I'll war'n no doctor could 
 a' vitted 'e up like thiccy." 
 
 "Vitted 'un myself with double swivel. Can make 
 four knots an hour now. They doctors can undo 'e, but 
 'em can't do 'e up. A cove can't make sail upon a truck- 
 head." 
 
 "And what do 'e say to the weather, cap'n?" Master 
 Hill inquired of his passenger, when a few more compli- 
 ments had passed, and the manes of the horses began to 
 ruffle, and the tilt to sway and rattle with the waxing 
 storm. 
 
 " Think us shall have as big a gale of wind as ever come 
 out of the heavens," the sailor replied, after stumping to 
 the tail of the van and gazing windward ; " heave to 
 pretty smart, and make all snug afore sunset, is my ad- 
 vice. Too much sail on this here little craft for such a 
 blow as us shall have to-night." 
 
 " Can't stop short of taunton town." Old Hill was 
 famed for his obstinacy. 
 
 " Can 'e take in sail ? Can 'e dowse this here canvas ? 
 Can 'e reef it then, somehow ?" The old man shook his 
 head. " Tell 'e what then, shipmate, if 'e carry on for six 
 hours more, this here craft will be on her beam-ends, 
 
A FIGHTING BOUT 387 
 
 wi'out mainsail parteth from his lashings, sure as my name 
 is Dick Herniman." 
 
 This tar of the old school, better known as " timber- 
 legged Dick," disembarked from the craft, whose wreck he 
 had thus predicted, at a turning between Perliton and 
 Perlycross, and stumped away up a narrow lane at a pace 
 quite equal to that of the " God-be-with-us " van. The 
 horses looked after him, as a specimen of biped hitherto 
 beyond their experience ; and old Hill himself, though in- 
 capable of amazement (which is a rapid process), con- 
 fessed that there were some advantages in this form of 
 human pedal, as well as fine economy of cloth and leather. 
 
 " How 'a doth get along, nimbler nor I could !" the car- 
 rier reflected, as his nags drove on again. " Up to zum- 
 mat ratchety, I'll be bound he be now. A leary old salt 
 as ever lived. Never laughed once, never showed a smile, 
 but gotten it all in his eyes he have ; and the eyes be 
 truer folks than the lips. Enough a'most to tempt a man 
 to cut off 's own two legses." 
 
 Some hours later than this, and one hour later than the 
 downfall of the wrestler's roof, the long market-place, 
 forming one side of the street a low narrow building set 
 against the church-yard wall, between the school and the 
 lych-gate looked as dismal and dreary and deserted as 
 the bitterest enemy of fairs could wish. The torrents of 
 rain and fury of the wind had driven all pleasure-seekers, 
 in a grievously drenched and battered plight, to seek for 
 wiser comfort ; and only a dozen or so of poor creatures, 
 either too tipsy to battle with the wind or too reckless in 
 their rags to care where they were, wallowed upon sacks, 
 and scrabbled under the stanchion-boards where the gayety 
 had been. The main gates, buckled back upon their 
 heavy hinges, were allowed to do nothing in their proper 
 line of business until the church -clock should strike 
 twelve, for such was the usage ; though as usual nobody 
 had ever heard who ordained it. A few oil-lamps were 
 still in their duty, swinging like welted horn-poppies in 
 the draught, and shedding a pale and spluttering light. 
 
 The man who bore the keys had gone home three times, 
 keeping under hele with his oil-skins on, to ask his wife, 
 who was a woman of some mark, whether he might not 
 
388 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 lock the gates, and come home and have his bit of bacon. 
 But she having strong sense of duty, and a good log blaz- 
 ing, and her cup of tea, had allowed him very generously 
 to warm his hands a little, and then begged him to think 
 of his family. This was the main thing that he had to 
 do ; and he went forth again into the dark to do it. 
 
 Meanwhile, without anybody to take heed (for the ser- 
 geant, ever vigilant, was now on guard in Spain), a small 
 but choice company of human beings was preparing for 
 action in the old school-porch, which stood at the back of 
 the building. Staffs they had, and handcuffs too, and 
 supple straps, and loops of cord ; all being men of some 
 learning in the law, and the crooked ways of people out 
 of harmony therewith. If there had been light enough 
 to understand a smile, they would have smiled at one 
 another, so positive were they that they had an easy job, 
 and so grudgeful that the money should cut up so small. 
 The two worthy constables of Perlycross felt certain that 
 they could do it better by themselves, and the four in- 
 voked from Perliton were vexed to have to act with village 
 lubbers. Their orders were not to go nigh the wrestling, 
 or show themselves inside the market-place, but to keep 
 themselves quiet and shun the weather, and what was a 
 great deal worse, the beer. Every now and then the ideas 
 of jolly noises, such as were appropriate to the time, were 
 borne upon the rollicking wings of the wind into their 
 silent vestibule, suggesting some wiping of lips, which, 
 alas, were ever so much too dry already. At a certain 
 signal they were all to hasten across the corner of the 
 church-yard at the back of the market-place, and enter a 
 private door at the east end of the building, after passing 
 through the lych-gate. 
 
 Suddenly the rain ceased, as if at sound of trumpet ; 
 like the mouth of a cavern the sky flew open, and the 
 wind, leaping three points of the compass, rushed upon 
 the world from the chambers of the west. Such a blast 
 as had never been felt before filled the whole valley of 
 the Perle, and flung mowstack and oakwood, farm-house 
 and abbey, under the sweep of its wings as it flew. The 
 roar of the air overpowered the crash of the ruin it made, 
 and left no man the sound of his own voice to himself. 
 
A FIGHTING BOUT 389 
 
 These great swoops of wind always lighten the sky, and 
 as soon as the people blown down could get up they were 
 able to see the church-tower still upright, though many 
 men swore that they heard it go rock. Very likely it 
 rocked, but could they have heard it? 
 
 In the thick of the din of this awful night, when the 
 church-clock struck only five instead of ten and it might 
 have struck fifty without being heard three men managed, 
 one by one, and without any view of one another, to creep 
 along the creases of the storm and gain the gloomy shel- 
 ter of the market-place. " Every man for himself " is 
 the universal law when the heavens are against the whole 
 race of us. Not one of these men cared to ask about the 
 condition of the other two, nor even expected much to 
 see them, though each was more resolute to be there him- 
 self, because of its being so difficult. 
 
 " Very little chance of Timberlegs, to-night," said one 
 to another, as two of them stood in deep shadow against 
 the back wall, where a voice could be heard if pitched in 
 the right direction ; " he could never make way again' a 
 starm like this." 
 
 " Thou bee'st a liar," replied a gruff voice, as the clank 
 of metal on the stone was heard. "Timberlegs can goo 
 where flesh and bone be mollichops." He carried a staff 
 like a long handspike, and prodded the biped on his need- 
 less feet to make him wish to be relieved of them. 
 
 " Us be all here now," said the third man, who seemed 
 in the wavering gloom to fill half the place. "What hast 
 thou brought us for, Timber-leg'd Dick ?" 
 
 " Bit of a job, same as three months back. Better than 
 clam-pits, worn't it now ? Got a good offer for thee, too, 
 Harvey, for that old ramshackle place. Handy hole for a 
 louderin' job, and not far from them clam-pits." 
 
 " Aye, so a' be. Never thought of that. And must 
 have another coney, now they wise 'uns have vound out 
 Nigger's Nock. Lor' what a laugh we had, Jem and I, at 
 they fules of Perlycrass !" 
 
 "Then Perlycross will have the laugh at thee. Harvey 
 Tremlett and James Kettel, I arrest 'e both in the name 
 of his Majesty the King." 
 
 Six able - bodied men (who had entered unheard in the 
 
390 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 roar of the gale, and unseen in the gloom) stood with 
 drawn staves, heels together, and shoulder to shoulder, in 
 a semicircle, enclosing the three conspirators. 
 
 " Read thy warrant aloud," said Dick Herniman, strik- 
 ing his handspike upon the stones, and taking command 
 in right of intellect, while the other twain laid their backs 
 against the wall and held themselves ready for the issue. 
 
 Dick had hit a very hard nail on the head. None of 
 these constables had been young enough to undergo Ser- 
 geant Jakes, and thenceforth defy the most lofty examiner. 
 
 " Didn't hear what 'e zed," replied the head - constable, 
 making excuse of the wind, which had blown him but lit- 
 tle of the elements. But he lowered his staff, and held 
 a consultation. 
 
 " Then I zay it again," shouted Timber-legged Dick, 
 stumping forth with a power of learning, for he had picked 
 up good leisure in hospitals ; " if thou representest the 
 King, read his Majesty's words, afore taking his name 
 in vain." 
 
 These six men were ready and resolute enough to meet 
 any bodily conflict, but the literary crisis scared them. 
 
 " Can 'e do it, Jack?" " Don't know as I can." " Wish 
 my boy Bill was here." " Don't run in my line " and 
 so on. 
 
 " If none on 'e knows what he be about," said the man 
 with the best legs to stand upon, advancing into the midst 
 of them, " I know a deal of the law, and I tell 'e as a 
 friend of the King, who hath lost two legs for 'un in the 
 Royal Navy, there can't be no lawful arrest made here. 
 And the liberty of the subject cometh in the same as a 
 doth again' highwaymen. Harvey Tremlett and Jem 
 Kettel, the law be on your side to < protect the liberty of 
 the subject.' " 
 
 This was enough for the pair who had stood, as law- 
 abiding Englishmen, against the wall, with their big fists 
 doubled and their great hearts doubting. " Here goo'th 
 for the liberty of the subject," cried Harvey Trernlett, 
 striding forth; "I sha'n't strike none as don't strike me. 
 But if V doth, a' must look out." 
 
 The constables wavered, in fear of the law and doubt of 
 their own duty ; for they had often heard that every man 
 
A FIGHTING BOUT 391 
 
 had a right to know what he was arrested for. Unluckily 
 one of them made a blow with his staff at Harvey Trein- 
 lett ; then he dropped on the flags with a clump in his ear, 
 and the fight in a moment was raging. 
 
 Somebody knocked Jemmy Kettel on the head as being 
 more easy to deal with, and then the blood of the big 
 man rose. Three stout fellows fell upon him all together, 
 and heavy blows rung on the drum of his chest from 
 truncheons plied like wheel-spokes. Forth flew his fist- 
 clubs right and left, one of them meeting a staff in the air 
 and shattering it back into its owner's face. Never was 
 the peace of the King more broken ; no man could see 
 what became of his blows, legs and arms went about like 
 windmills, substance and shadow were all as one, till the 
 substance rolled upon the ground and groaned. 
 
 This dark fight resembled the clashing of a hedge-row 
 in the fury of a midnight storm, when the wind has got in 
 and cannot get out, when ground-ash and sycamore, pole, 
 stub, and sapling are dashing and whirling against one an- 
 other, and even the sturdy oak-tree in the trough is sway- 
 ing and creaking and swinging on its bole. 
 
 " Zoonder not to kill e'er a wan of 'e, I 'ood. But by 
 the Lord, if 'e comes they byses," shouted Harvey Trem- 
 lett, as a rope was thrown over his head from behind, but 
 cut in half a second by Herniman "more of 'e, be there?" 
 as the figures thickened " have at 'e then, wi' zummat 
 more harder nor visties be !" 
 
 He wrenched from a constable his staff and strode on- 
 ward, being already near the main gate now. As he 
 whirled the heavy truncheon round his head the constables 
 hung back, having two already wounded, and one in the 
 grip of reviving Jem, who was rolling on the floor with 
 him. " Zurrender to his Majesty !" they called out, pre- 
 ferring the voluntary system. 
 
 " A varden for the lot of 'e !" the big man said, and he 
 marched in a manner that presented it. 
 
 But not so did he walk off, blameless and respectable. 
 He had kept his temper wonderfully, believing the law to 
 be on his side, after all he had done for the county. 
 
 Now his nature was pressed a little too hard for itself, 
 when just as he called out "Coorn along, Jem; there be 
 
392 PERLYCROSS 
 
 nort to stop 'e, Timberlegs," retiring his forces with hon- 
 our two figures, hitherto out of the moil, stood across 
 him at the mouth of exit. 
 
 " Who be you ?" he asked, with his anger in a flame, 
 for they showed neither staff of the King nor warrant. 
 " Volunteers, be 'e ? Have a care what be about." 
 
 " Harvey Tremlett, here you stop," said a tall man, 
 square in front of him. But, luckily for his life, the lift 
 of the sky showed his hair was silvery. 
 
 " Never hits an old man. You lie there ;" Tremlett 
 took him with his left hand, and laid him on the stones. 
 But meanwhile the other flung his arms around his 
 waist. 
 
 " Wult have a zettler? Then thee shall," cried the big 
 man, tearing him out like a child, and swinging his trun- 
 cheon for to knock him on the head, and Jemmy Fox felt 
 that his time was come. 
 
 Down came the truncheon like a paviour's rammer, and 
 brains would have weltered on the floor like suds, but a 
 stout arm dashed across and received the crash descending. 
 
 " Pumpkins !" cried the smiter, wondering much what he 
 had smitten, as two bodies rolled between his legs and on 
 the stones. " Coom along, Jemmy boy. Nare a wan to 
 stop V 
 
 The remnant of the constables upon their legs fell back. 
 The Lord was against them. They had done their best. 
 The next job for them was to heal their wounds, and get 
 an allowance for them if they could. 
 
 Now the human noise was over, but the wind roared on, 
 and the rushing of the clouds let the stars look down 
 again. Tremlett stood victorious in the middle of the 
 gateway. Hurry was a state of mind beyond his under- 
 standing. Was everybody satisfied ? Well, no one came 
 for more. He took an observation of the weather, and 
 turned round. 
 
 " Sha'n't bide here no longer," he announced. " Dick, 
 us '11 vinish up our clack to my place. Rain be droud up, 
 and I be off." 
 
 " No, Harvey Tremlett, you will not be off. You will 
 stay here like a man, and stand your trial." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe's hand was upon his shoulder, and the 
 
A. FIGHTING BOUT 393 
 
 light of the stars, thrown in vaporous waves, showed the 
 pale face firmly regarding him. 
 
 " Well, and if I says no to it, what can 'e do ?" 
 
 " Hold you by the collar, as my duty is." The parson 
 set his teeth, and his delicate white fingers tightened their 
 not very formidable grasp. 
 
 " Sesh !" said the big man, with a whistle, and making 
 as if he could not move. " When -a man be baten, a' must 
 gie in. Wun't 'e let me goo, passon ? Do 'e let me goo." 
 
 " Tremlett, my duty is to hold you fast. I owe it to a 
 dear friend of mine, as well as to my parish." 
 
 " Well, you be a braver man than most of 'em, I zim- 
 meth. But do 'e tell a poor chap, as have no chance at 
 all wi' 'e, what a' hath dooed, to be lawed for 'un so crule 
 now." 
 
 " Prisoner, as if you did not know. You are charged 
 with breaking open Colonel Waldron's grave, and carry- 
 ing off his body." 
 
 " O Lord ! O Lord in heaven !" shouted Harvey 
 Tremlett. " Jem Kettel, hark to thiccy ! Timberlegs, do 
 'e hear thic ? All they blessed constables, as has got their 
 bellyful, and ever so many wise gen'lemen too, what do 'e 
 think 'em be arter us for ? Arter us for resurrectioneer- 
 ing! Never heered tell such a joke in all my life. They 
 hosebirds to Ivy-bush cries ' Carnwall forever !' But I'm 
 blest if I don't cry out * Perlycrass forever !' O Lord, 
 O Lord ! Was there ever such a joke ? Don't 'e hold 
 me, sir, for half a minute, just while I has out my laugh 
 fear I should be too heavy for 'e." 
 
 Timber-legged Dick came up to his side, and not being 
 of the laughing kind, .made up for it by a little hornpipe 
 in the lee ; his metal feet striking, from the flints pitched 
 there, sparks enough to light a dozen pipes ; while Kettel, 
 though damaged severely about the mouth, was still able 
 to compass a broad and loud guffaw. 
 
 " Prisoners," Mr. Penniloe said, severely, for he dis- 
 liked the ridicule of his parish, " this is not at all a mat- 
 ter to be laughed at. The evidence against you is very 
 strong, I fear." 
 
 " Zurrender, zurrender to his Majesty the King ! " 
 cried Tremlett, being never much at argument. " Consta- 
 17* 
 
394 PERLYCROSS 
 
 bles, if 'ee can goo, take charge. But I 'ont have no 
 handicuffs, mind. Wudn't a gie'd 'ee a clout, if I had 
 knawed it. Zarve 'ee right, though, for not rading of thic 
 warrant-paper. Jemmy, boy, you zurrender to the King, 
 and I be passon's prisoner. Honour bright fust though 
 nort to come agin' us, unless a' be zet down in warrant- 
 papper. Passon, thee must gi'e thy word for that. Tim- 
 berlegs, coom along for layyer." 
 
 " Certainly, I give my word, as far as it will go, that no 
 other charge shall be brought against you. The warrant 
 is issued for that crime only. Prove yourselves guiltless 
 of that, and you are free." 
 
 " Us won't be very long in prison then. A day or two 
 bain't much odds to we." 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII 
 GENTLE AS A LAMB 
 
 OF the nine people wounded in that Agoraic struggle, 
 which cast expiring lustre on the fairs of Perly cross, 
 every one found his case most serious to himself, and still 
 more so to his wife, and even solemn in the presence of 
 those who had to settle compensation. Herniman had 
 done some execution, as well as received a nasty splinter 
 of one leg, which broke down after his hornpipe ; and 
 Kettel had mauled the man who rolled over with him. But, 
 as appeared when the case was heard, Tremlett had by no 
 means done his best ; and his lawyer put it touchingly 
 and with great effect that he was loath to smite the sons 
 of his native country, when he had just redeemed their 
 glory by noble discomfiture of Cornwall. 
 
 One man only had a parlous wound ; and, as is generally 
 ordained in human matters, this was the one most impartial 
 of all, the one who had no interest of his own to serve, 
 the one who was present simply out of pure benevolence, 
 and a Briton's love of order. So at least his mother said, 
 and every one acknowledged that she was a woman of 
 high reasoning powers. Many others felt for him, as who 
 would have done the same, with like opportunity. 
 
 For only let a healthy, strong, and earnest- minded 
 Englishman to use a beloved compound epithet of the 
 day hear of a hot and lawful fight impending, with peo- 
 ple involved in it of whom he has some knowledge, and 
 we may trust him heartily to be there or thereabouts to 
 see as he puts it to his conscience fair play. But an 
 if he chance to be in love just then, with a very large 
 percentage of despair to reckon up, and one of the com- 
 batants is in the count against him, can a doubt remain 
 of his eager punctuality ? 
 
396 PERLYCBOSS 
 
 This was poor Frank Gilham's case. Dr. Gronow was 
 a prudent man, and liked to have the legions on his side. 
 He perceived that young Frank was a stanch and stal- 
 wart fellow, sure to strike a good blow on a friend's be- 
 half. He was well aware, also, of his love for Christie, 
 and could not see why it should come to nothing, while 
 Jemmy Fox's faith in the resources of the law, and in his 
 own prowess as a power in reserve, were not so convinc- 
 ing to the elder mind. " Better make sure than be too 
 certain," was a favourite maxim of this shrewd old stager ; 
 and so, without Jemmy's knowledge, he invited Frank to 
 keep out of sight unless wanted. 
 
 This measure saved the life of Dr. Fox, and that of 
 Harvey Tremlett too, some of whose brothers had adorned 
 the gallows. Even as it was, Jemmy Fox lay stunned, 
 with the other man's arm much inserted in his hat. 
 Where he would have been without that buffer, the cher- 
 ub who sits on the chimney-pots of Harley Street alone 
 can say'. Happily the other doctor was unhurt, and left 
 in full possession of his wits, which he at once exerted. 
 After examining the wounded yeoman, who had fainted 
 from the pain and shock, he borrowed a mattress from 
 the rectory, a spring-cart and truss of hay from Channing 
 the baker, and various other appliances ; and thus, in spite 
 of the storm, conveyed both patients to the hospital. This 
 was the Old Barn itself, because all surgical needs would 
 be forthcoming there more readily, and so it was wiser to 
 decline Mr. Penniloe's offer of the rectory. 
 
 With the jolting of the cart, and the freshness of the 
 air, ]?ox began to revive ere long ; and though still very 
 weak and dizzy, was able to be of some service at his 
 own dwelling-place ; and although he might not, when 
 this matter first arose, have shown all the gratitude 
 which the sanguine do expect in return for Frank Gil- 
 ham's loyalty, he felt very deep contrition now, when 
 he saw this frightful fracture, and found his own head 
 quite uncracked. 
 
 The six constables, though they had some black eyes, 
 bruised limbs, and broken noses, and other sources of re- 
 gret, were (in strict matter of fact, and without any view 
 to compensation) quite as well as could be expected. 
 
GENTLE AS A LAMB 397 
 
 And as happens too often, the one who groaned the most 
 had the least occasion for it. It was only the wick of a 
 lamp that had dropped, without going out, on this man's 
 collar, and burned a little hole in his niddick, as it used to 
 be called in Devonshire. 
 
 Tremlett readily gave his word that no escape should 
 be attempted ; and when Mrs. Muggridge came to know 
 that this was the young man who had saved her master, 
 nothing could be too good for him. So constables and 
 prisoners were fed and cared for, and stowed for the night 
 in the long school-room, with hailstones hopping in the 
 fireplace. 
 
 In the morning the weather was worse again ; for this 
 was a double-barrelled gale, as an ignorant man might 
 term it ; or rather perhaps two several gales, arising 
 from some vast disturbance and hitting into one an- 
 other. Otherwise, why should it be known and remem- 
 bered even to the present day, as the great Ash- Wed- 
 nesday gale, although it began on Shrove-Tuesday, and 
 in many parts raged most fiercely then. At Perlycross 
 certainly there was no such blast upon the second day 
 as that which swept the Abbey down ; when the wind 
 leaped suddenly to the west, and the sky fell open, as 
 above observed. 
 
 Upon that wild Ash- Wednesday forenoon the curate 
 stood in the church-yard mourning, even more than the 
 melancholy date requires. Where the old Abbey had 
 stood for ages (backing up the venerable church with 
 grand, dark-robed solemnity, and lifting the buckler of 
 ancient faith above many a sleeping patriarch) there was 
 nothing but a hideous gap, with murky clouds galloping 
 over it. Shorn of its ivy curtain by the tempest of last 
 Sunday, the mighty frame had reeled and staggered, and 
 with one crash gone to ground last night before the im- 
 petuous welkin's weight. 
 
 "Is all I do to be always vain, and worse than vain 
 destructive, hurtful, baneful, fatal I might say, to the very 
 objects for which I strive ? Here is the church, unfinished, 
 leaky, with one of its corners gone underground, and the 
 grand stone screen smashed in two ; here is the Abbey, or 
 alas not here, but only an ugly pile of stones ! Here is 
 
398 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 the outrage to my dear friend, and the shame to the parish 
 as black as ever ; for those men clearly know nothing of it. 
 And here, or at any rate close at hand, the sad drawback 
 upon all good works ; for at Lady-day in pour the bills, 
 and my prayers (however earnest) will not pay them. It 
 has pleased the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, to leave me 
 very short of cash." 
 
 Unhappily, his best hat had been spoiled in that inter- 
 view with the four vergers ; and in his humility he was not 
 sure that the one on his head was good enough even to go 
 to the commination service. However, it need not have 
 felt unworthy ; for there was not a soul in the church to 
 be adjured, save thLt which had been under its own brim. 
 The clerk was off for Perliton, swearing even at his time 
 of life ! that he had been subpoenaed, as if that could be 
 on such occasion ; and as for the pupils, all bound to be in 
 church, the Hopper had been ordered by the constables to 
 present himself to the magistrates (though all the consta- 
 bles denied it), and Pike and Mopuss felt it their duty to 
 go with him. 
 
 In a word, all Perlycross was off, though services of the 
 church had not yet attained their present continuity ; and 
 though every woman and even man had to plod three wet 
 miles, with the head on the chest, in the teeth of the gale 
 up the river. How they should get into the room when 
 there was a question that never occurred to them. There 
 they all yearned to be ; and the main part, who could not 
 raise a shilling, or prove themselves uncles or aunts or 
 former sweethearts of the two constables who kept the 
 door, had to crouch under dripping shrubs outside the 
 windows, and spoiled all Squire Mockham's young cro- 
 cusses. 
 
 That gentleman was so upright, and thoroughly impar- 
 tial, that to counteract his own predilections for a cham- 
 pion wrestler, he had begged a brother-magistrate to come 
 and sit with him on this occasion ; not Sir Edwin Sanford, 
 who was of the quorum for Somerset, but a man of some 
 learning and high esteem, the well-known Dr. Morshead. 
 Thus there would be less temptation for any tattler to cry 
 "hole and corner," as spiteful folk rejoice to do, while 
 keeping in that same place themselves. Although there 
 
GENTLE AS A LAMB 399 
 
 was less perhaps of mischief-making in those days than 
 now ; and there could be no more. 
 
 The constables marched in, with puff and blow, like vic- 
 tors over rebels, and as if they had carried the prisoners 
 captive every yard of the way from Perlycross. All of 
 them began to talk at once, and to describe with more 
 vigour than truth the conflict of the night before. But 
 Dr. Morshead stopped them short, for the question of re- 
 sistance was not yet raised. What the Bench had first to 
 decide was whether a case could be made out for a mitti- 
 mus, in pursuance of the warrant, to the next Petty Ses- 
 sions on Monday ; whence the prisoners would be remitted 
 probably to the Quarter Sessions. 
 
 The two accused stood side by side (peaceful and de- 
 corous, as if they were accustomed to it), and without any 
 trepidation admitted their identity. It was rather against 
 their interests that the official clerk was absent this not 
 being a stated meeting, but held for special purpose for 
 magistrates used to be a little nervous, without their prop- 
 er adviser ; and in fear of permitting the guilty to es- 
 cape, they sometimes remanded upon insufficient grounds. 
 
 In the present case there was nothing whatever to con- 
 nect these two men with the crime except the testimony 
 of Joe Crang, and what might be regarded as their own 
 admission, overheard by Dr. Fox. The latter was not in 
 court, nor likely so to be ; and as for the blacksmith's evi- 
 dence, however positive it might be, what did it amount 
 to ? And such as it was, it was torn to rags through the 
 quaking of the deponent. 
 
 For a sharp little lawyer started up, as lawyers are sure 
 to do everywhere, and crossed the room to where Herni- 
 man sat, drumming the floor with metallic power, and look- 
 ing very stolid. But a glance had convinced the keen at- 
 torney that here were the brains of the party, and a few 
 short whispers settled it. " Guinea, if 'e gets 'em off ; if 
 not, ne'er a farden." " Right !" said the lawyer, and an- 
 nounced himself. 
 
 " Blickson, for the defence, your worships Maurice 
 Blickson of Silverton." The proper bows were inter- 
 changed, and then came Crang's excruciation. Already 
 this sturdy and very honest fellow was, as he elegantly 
 
400 PERLYCROSS 
 
 described it, in a " lantern - sweat " of terror. It is one 
 thing to tell a tale to two friends in a potato-field, and an- 
 other to narrate the same on oath, with four or five. quills 
 making unknown strides, two most worshipful signors 
 bending brows of doubt upon you, and thirty or forty 
 faces scowling, at every word " What a liar you be !" 
 And when on the top of all this stands up a noble gen- 
 tleman with keen eyes, peremptory voice, contemptuous 
 smiles, and angry gestures, all expressing his Christian 
 sorrow that the devil should have so got hold of you what 
 blacksmith, even of poetic anvil (whence all rhythm and 
 metre spring), can have any breath left in his own bellows ? 
 
 Joe Crang had fallen on his knees to take the oath, as 
 witnesses did, from a holy belief that this turned the 
 rungs of the gallows the wrong way ; and then he had 
 told his little tale most sadly, as one who hopes never to 
 be told of it again. His business had thriven, while his 
 health was undermined, through the scores of good peo- 
 ple who could rout up so much as a knife that wanted a 
 rivet, or even a boy with one tooth pushing up another ; 
 and though none of them paid more than fourpence for 
 things that would last them a fortnight to talk about, their 
 money stayed under the thatch, while Joe spent nothing 
 but a wink for all his beer. 
 
 But ah, this was no winking time ! Crang was begin- 
 ning to shuffle off with his knuckles to his forehead, and 
 recovering his mind so loudly that he got in a word about 
 the quality of his iron which for the rest of his life he 
 would have cited, to show how he beat they justesses 
 when he found himself recalled, and told to put his feet 
 together. This, from long practice of his art, had become 
 a difficulty to him, and in laboring to do it he lost all pos- 
 sibility of bringing his wits into the like position. This 
 order showed Blickson to be almost a Verulam in his 
 knowledge of mankind. Joe Crang recovered no self-pos- 
 session on his own side of better than a gallon strong. 
 
 " Blacksmith, what o'clock is it now ?" 
 
 Crang put his ears up, as if he expected the church-clock 
 to come to his aid ; and then with a rally of what he was 
 hoping for as soon as he got round the corner, replied, 
 " Four and a half, your honour." 
 
GENTLE AS A LAMB 401 
 
 " I need not remind your worships," said Blickson, 
 when the laughter had subsided, " that this fellow's evi- 
 dence, even if correct, proves nothing whatever against 
 my clients ; but just to show what it is worth, I will, with 
 your worships' permission, put a simple question to him. 
 He has sworn that it was two o'clock on a foggy morn- 
 ing, and with no church-clock to help him, when he saw 
 in his nightmare this ghostly vision. Perhaps he should 
 have said * four and a half ' ; which in broad day- 
 light is his idea of the present hour. Now, my poor fel- 
 low, did you swear, or did you not, on a previous occa- 
 sion, that one of the men who so terrified you out of your 
 heavy sleep was Dr. James Fox a gentleman, Dr. Mors- 
 head, of your own distinguished profession. Don't shuffle 
 with your feet, Crang, nor yet with your tongue. Did 
 you swear that, or did you not ?" 
 
 " Well, if I did, twadn't arkerate." 
 
 " In plain English, you perjured yourself on that occa- 
 sion, and yet you expect their worships to believe you 
 now ! Now look at the other man, the tall one. By 
 which of his features do you recognize him now, at four 
 and a half in the morning ?" 
 
 "Dun'now what veitchers be. Knows 'un by his size 
 and manner of standin'. Should like to hear 's voice, if 
 no object to you, layyer." 
 
 '* My friend, you call me by your own name. Such is 
 your confusion of ideas. Will your Worships allow me to 
 assist this poor numskull ? The great Cornish wrestler is 
 here, led by that noble fraternal feeling which is such a 
 credit to all men distinguished in any walk of life. Mr. 
 Polwarth of Bodmin, will you kindly stand by the side of 
 your brother in a very noble art?" 
 
 It was worth a long journey in bad weather (as Squire 
 Mockham told his guests at his dinner - party after- 
 wards, and Dr. Morshead and his son confirmed it) to 
 see the two biggest growths of Devonshire and of Corn- 
 wall standing thus amicably side by side, smiling a little 
 slyly at each other, and blinking at their worships with 
 some abashment, as if to say, " this is not quite in our 
 line." 
 
 For a moment the audience forgot itself, and made it- 
 
402 PERLYCROSS 
 
 self audible with three loud cheers. " Silence !" cried 
 their worships, but not so very sternly. 
 
 " Reckon I could drow 'e next time," said Cornwall. 
 
 " Wun't zay but what 'e maight," answered Devon, 
 courteously. 
 
 " Now, little blacksmith," resumed the lawyer, though 
 Joe Crang was considerably bigger than himself, " will 
 you undertake to swear, upon your hope of salvation, 
 which of those two gentlemen you saw that night?" 
 
 Joe Crang stared at the two big men, and his mind gave 
 way within him. He was dressed in his best, and his wife 
 had polished up his cheeks and nose with yellow soap, 
 which gleamed across his vision with a kind of glaze, and 
 therein danced pen, ink, and paper, the figures of the big 
 men, the faces of their worships, and his own hopes of 
 salvation. 
 
 " Maight 'a been Carnisher," he began to stammer, with 
 a desire to gratify his county ; but a hiss went round the 
 room from Devonian sense of justice, and to strike a bet- 
 ter balance, he finished in despair " Wull then, it waz 
 both on 'em." 
 
 " Stand down, sir !" Dr. Morshead shouted, sternly, while 
 Blickson went through a little panorama of righteous as- 
 tonishment and disgust. All the audience roared, and a 
 solid farmer called out, " Don't come near me, you infer- 
 nal liar," as poor Crang sought shelter behind his top- 
 coat. So much for honesty, simplicity, and candour, when 
 the nervous system has broken down. 
 
 "After that, I should simply insult the intelligence of 
 your worships," continued the triumphant lawyer, "by 
 proceeding to address you. Perhaps I should ask you to 
 commit that wretch for perjury ; but I leave him to his 
 conscience, if he has one." 
 
 " The case is dismissed," Dr. Morshead announced, after 
 speaking for a moment to his colleague. " Unless there 
 is any intention to charge these men with resisting or as- 
 saulting officers in the execution of their warrant. It has 
 been reported, though not formally, that some by-stander 
 was considerably injured. If any charge is entered on 
 either behalf, we are ready to receive the depositions." 
 
 The constables, who had been knocked about, were be- 
 
GENTLE AS A LAMB 403 
 
 ginning to consult together, when Blickson slipped among 
 them, after whispering to Herniman, and a good deal of 
 nodding of heads took place, while pleasant ideas were in- 
 terchanged, such as, " handsome private compensation ;" 
 " twenty -five pounds to receive to-night, and such men are 
 always generous ;" " a magnificent supper - party at the 
 least, if they are free. If not, all must come to nothing." 
 
 The worthy custodians now represented by a still 
 worthier body, and one of still finer feeling perceived the 
 full value of these arguments ; and luckily for the pris- 
 oners, Dr. Gronow was not present, being sadly occupied 
 at Old Barn. 
 
 " Although there is no charge, and no sign of any charge, 
 your worships, and therefore I have no locus standi " 
 Mr. Blickson had returned to his place, and adopted an 
 airy and large-hearted style " I would crave the indul- 
 gence of the Bench for one or two quite informal remarks ; 
 my object being to remove every stigma from the charac- 
 ters of my respected clients. On the best authority I 
 may state that their one desire and intention was to sur- 
 render, like a pair of lambs" at this description a grin 
 went round, and the learned magistrates countenanced it 
 " if they could only realize the nature of the charge against 
 them. But when they demanded, like Englishmen, to 
 know why their liberty should be suddenly abridged, what 
 happened ? No one answered them ! All those admirable 
 men were doubtless eager to maintain the best traditions 
 of the law ; but the hurricane outroared them. They la- 
 boured to convey their legal message ; but where is edu- 
 cation in a whirl like that? On the other hand, one of 
 these law-abiding men had been engaged gloriously in 
 maintaining the athletic honour of his county. This does 
 not appear to have raised in him at all the pugnacity that 
 might have been expected. He strolled into the market- 
 place, partly to stretch his poor, bruised legs, and partly, 
 perhaps, to relieve his mind ; which men of smaller nature 
 would have done by tippling. Suddenly he is surrounded 
 by a crowd of very strong men in the dark. The fair has 
 long been over ; the lights are burning low ; scarcely 
 enough of fire in them to singe the neck of an enterpris- 
 ing member of our brave constabulary. In the thick 
 
404 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 darkness and hubbub of the storm, the hero who has re- 
 deemed the belt, and therewith the ancient fame of our 
 county, supposes naturally supposes, charitable as his 
 large mind is, that he is beset for the sake of the money, 
 which he has not yet received, but intends to distribute so 
 freely when he gets it. The time of this honourable 
 Bench is too valuable to the public to be wasted over any 
 descriptions of a petty skirmish, no two of which are at 
 all alike. My large -bodied client, the mighty wrestler, 
 might have been expected to put forth his strength. It is 
 certain that he did not do so. The man who had smitten 
 down the pride of Cornwall would strike not a blow against 
 his own county. He gave a playful push or two, a chuck 
 under the chin, such as a pretty milkmaid gets when she 
 declines a sweeter touch. I marvel at his wonderful self- 
 control. His knuckles were shattered by a blow from a 
 staff ; like a roof in a hail-storm his great chest rang for 
 the men of Perliton can hit hard yet is there anything 
 to show that he even endeavoured to strike in return ? 
 And how did it end ? In the very noblest way. The 
 pastor of the village, a most saintly man, but less than an 
 infant in Harvey Tremlett's hands, appears at the gate, 
 when there is no other let or hinderance to the freedom of 
 a Briton. Is he thrust aside rudely ? Is he kicked out of 
 the way ? Nay, he lays a hand upon the big man's breast, 
 the hand of a minister of the Cross. He explains that the 
 law, by some misapprehension, is fain to apprehend this 
 simple-minded hero. The nature of the sad mistake is 
 explained ; and to use a common metaphor, which excited 
 some derision just now, but which I repeat, with facts to 
 back me gentle as a lamb, yonder lion surrenders !" 
 
 " The lamb is very fortunate in his shepherd," said Dr. 
 Morshead, dryly, as Blickson sat down, under general ap- 
 plause. "But there is nothing before the Bench, Mr. 
 Blickson. What is the object of all this eloquence?" 
 
 " The object of my very simple narrative, your worships, 
 is to discharge my plain duty to my clients. I would ask 
 this worshipful Bench not only to dismiss a very absurd 
 application, but also to add their most weighty opinions, 
 that Harvey Tremlett, and James Fox no, I beg pardon, 
 that was the first mistake of this ever erroneous black- 
 
GENTLE AS A LAMB 405 
 
 smith James Kettel, I should say, have set a fine example 
 of perfect submission to the law of the land." 
 
 " Oh come, Mr. Blickson, that is out of the record. We 
 pronounce no opinion upon that point. We simply ad- 
 judge that the case be now dismissed." 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 AN INLAND RUN 
 
 " WON'ERFUL well, 'e doed it, sir. If ever I gets into 
 Queer Street, you be the one to get ms out." 
 
 This well-merited compliment was addressed by Dick 
 Herniman to Attorney Blickson at a convivial gathering 
 held that same afternoon to celebrate the above- recorded 
 triumph of Astrsea. The festal party had been convoked 
 at the Wheatsheaf Tavern in Perliton Square, and had 
 taken the best room in the house, looking out of two win- 
 dows upon that noble parallelogram, which Perliton never 
 failed to bring with it, orally, when it condescended to 
 visit Perlycross. The party had no idea of being too ab- 
 stemious, the object of its existence being the promotion, 
 as well as the assertion, of the liberty of the subject. 
 
 Six individuals were combining for this lofty purpose, 
 to wit, the two gentlemen so unjustly charged, and their 
 stout ally of high artistic standing, that very able lawyer 
 who had vindicated right ; also Captain Timberlegs, and 
 Horatio Peckover, Esquire ; and pleasant it is as well as 
 strange to add, Master Joseph Crang, of Susscott, black- 
 smith, farrier, and engineer. For now little differences of 
 opinion, charges of perjury and body -snatching, assault 
 and battery, and general malfeasance, were sunk in the 
 large liberality of success, the plenitude of John Barley- 
 corn and the congeniality of cordials. 
 
 That a stripling like the Hopper should be present was 
 a proof of some failure of discretion upon his part, for 
 which he atoned by a tremendous imposition ; while the 
 prudent Pike and the modest Mopuss had refused with 
 short gratitude this banquet and gone home. But the 
 Hopper regarded himself as a witness although he had 
 not been called upon in right of his researches at Black- 
 
AN INLAND KUN 407 
 
 marsh, and declared that officially he must hear the matter 
 out, for an explanation had been promised. The greater 
 marvel was perhaps that Joe Crang should be there, after 
 all the lash of tongue inflicted on him. But when their 
 worships were out of sight, Blickson had taken him by 
 the hand, in a truly handsome manner, and assured him 
 of the deep respect he felt, and ardent admiration, at his 
 too transparent truthfulness. Joe Crang, whose heart was 
 very sore, had shed a tear at this touching tribute, and was 
 fain to admit, when the lawyer put it so, that he was com- 
 pelled in his own art to strike the finest metal the hardest. 
 
 So now all six were in very sweet accord, having dined 
 well, and now refining the firmer substances into the genial 
 flow. Attorney Blickson was in the chair, for which nat- 
 ure had well qualified him ; and perhaps in the present 
 more ethereal age, he might have presided in a "syndi- 
 cate" producing bubbles of gold and purple, subsiding 
 into a bluer tone. 
 
 For this was a man of quick natural parts, and gifted in 
 many ways for his profession. Every one said that he 
 should have been a barrister ; for his character would not 
 have mattered so much, when he went from one town to 
 another, and above all to such a place as London, where 
 they think but little of it. If he could only stay sober, and 
 avoid promiscuous company, and make up his mind to 
 keep his hand out of quiet people's pockets, and do a few 
 other respectable things, there was no earthly reason that 
 any one could see why he should not achieve fifty guineas 
 a day, and even be a match for Mopuss K. C., the father of 
 Mr. Penniloe's fattest pupil. 
 
 " This honourable company has a duty now before it ;" 
 Mr. Blickson drew attention by rapping on the table, and 
 then leaning back in his chair, with a long pipe rested on 
 a bowl of punch, or rather nothing but a punch-bowl now. 
 On his right hand sat Herniman, the giver of the feast 
 or the lender at least, till prize-money came to fist and on 
 the other side was Tremlett, held down by heavy nature 
 from the higher flights of Bacchus, because no bowl was 
 big enough to make him drunk ; " yes, a duty, gentlemen, 
 which I, as the representative of law, cannot see neglect- 
 ed. We have all enjoyed one another's ' good health ' in 
 
408 PERLYCROSS 
 
 the way in which it concerns us most ; we have also pro- 
 moted by such prayers the weal of the good Squire Mock- 
 ham, and that of another gentleman, who presented him- 
 self as Amicus curice gentlemen, excuse a sample of my 
 native tongue a little prematurely perhaps last night, and 
 left us to sigh for him vainly to-day. I refer to the gen- 
 tleman with whom another, happily now present, and the 
 soul of our party, and rejoicing equally in the Scriptural 
 name of James, was identified in an early stage of this still 
 mysterious history, by one of the most conscientious, 
 truthful, and self-possessed of all witnesses I have ever 
 had the honour yet of handling in the box. At least he 
 was not in the box, because there was none ; but he fully 
 deserves to be kept in a box. I am sorry to see you smile 
 at my prolixity, I fear ; therefore I will relieve you of it. 
 Action is always more urgent than words. Duty demands 
 that we should have this bowl refilled. Pleasure, which is 
 the fairer sex of duty, as every noble sailor knows too 
 well, awaits us next in one of her most tempting forms, as 
 an ancient poet has observed. If it is sweet to witness 
 from the shore the travail of another, how much sweeter 
 to have his trials brought before us over the flowing bowl, 
 while we rejoice in his success and share it. Gentlemen, I 
 call upon Captain Richard Herniman for his promised nar- 
 rative of that great expedition, which by some confusion 
 of the public mind has become connected with a darker 
 enterprise. Captain Richard Herniman to the fore !" 
 
 " Bain't no cappen, and bain't got no big words," said 
 Timber-legged Dick, getting up with a rattle, and standing 
 very stanchly ; " but can't refuse this here gentleman, 
 under the circumstances. And every word as I says will 
 be true." 
 
 After this left-handed compliment, received with a 
 cheer in which the lawyer joined, the ancient salt premised 
 that among good friends he relied on honour bright, that 
 there should be no dirty turn. To this all pledged them- 
 selves most freely ; and he, trusting rather in his own res- 
 ervations than their pledge that no harm should ever come 
 of it, shortly told his story, which in substance was as fol- 
 lows. But some names which he omitted have been filled 
 in, now that all fear of inquiry is over. 
 
AN INLAND BUN 409 
 
 In the previous September, when the nights were grow- 
 ing long, a successful run across the channel had been 
 followed by a peaceful and well-conducted landing at a 
 lonely spot on the Devonshire coast, where that pretty 
 stream the Otter flows into the sea. That part of the 
 shore was very slackly guarded then ; and none of the 
 authorities got scent, while scent was hot, of this cordial 
 international transaction. Some of these genuine wares 
 found a home promptly and pleasantly in the neighbour- 
 hood, among farmers, tradesman, squires, and others, in- 
 cluding even some loyal rectors, and zealous justices of 
 the peace, or peradventure their wives and daughters, 
 capable of minding their own keys. Some, after dwell- 
 ing in caves, or furze-ricks, barns, potato-buries, or hollow 
 trees, went inland, or to Sidmouth, or Seaton, or any- 
 where else where a good tax-payer had plastered up his 
 windows, or put " Dairy " on the top. 
 
 But the prime of the cargo, and the very choicest 
 goods, such as fine cognac, rich silk, and rare lace, too 
 good for peddlers, and too dear for country churches, still 
 remained stored away very snugly in some old dry cellars 
 beneath the court-yard of a ruined house at Budleigh ; 
 where nobody cared to go poking about, because the old 
 gentleman who lived there once had been murdered near- 
 ly thirty years ago for informing against smugglers, and 
 was believed to be in the habit of walking there now. 
 These shrewd men perceived how just it was that he 
 should stand guard in the spirit over that which in the 
 flesh he had betrayed, especially as his treason had been 
 caused by dissatisfaction with his share in a very fine 
 contraband venture. Much was now committed to his 
 posthumous sense of honour ; for the free-traders vowed 
 that they could make a thousand pounds of these choice 
 wares in any wealthy town like Bath or Bristol, or even 
 Weymouth, then more fashionable than it is now. 
 
 But suddenly their bright hopes were dashed. Instead 
 of reflecting on the value of these goods, they were 
 forced to take hasty measures for their safety. A very 
 bustling man, of a strange, suspicious turn, as dry as a mull 
 of snuff, and as rough as a nutmeg-grater ; in a word, a 
 Scotchman out of sympathy with the natives, was ap- 
 18 
 
410 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 pointed to the station at Sidmouth, and before he un- 
 packed his clothes began to root about, like a dog who 
 has been trained to hunt for morels. Very soon he came 
 across some elegant French work in cottages, or fishers' 
 huts, or on the necks of milkmaids ; and nothing would 
 content him until he had discovered, even by such deep 
 intriguery as the distribution of lollipops, the history of 
 the recent enterprise. 
 
 "Let by-gones be by-gones," would have been the 
 Christian sentiment of any new-comer at all connected 
 with the district; and Sandy MacSpudder must have 
 known quite well that his curiosity was in the worst of 
 taste, and the result too likely to cast discredit on his own 
 predecessor, who was threatening to leave the world just 
 then with a large family unprovided for. Yet such was 
 this Scotchman's pertinacity and push that even the little 
 quiet village of Budleigh, which has nothing to do but to 
 listen to its own brook prattling to the gently smiling 
 valley, even this rose-fringed couch of peace was ripped 
 up by the slashing of this rude lieutenant's cutlass. A 
 spectre, even of the best Devonian antecedents, was of 
 less account than a scarecrow to this matter-of-fact Low- 
 lander. "A' can smell a rat in that ghostie," was his pro- 
 fane conclusion. 
 
 This put the spirited free-traders on their mettle. Fifty 
 years ago that Scotch interloper would have learned the 
 restful qualities of a^ greener sod than his. But it is of 
 interest to observe how the English nature softened when 
 the smiting times had lapsed. It scarcely occurred to this 
 gentler generation that a bullet from behind a rock 
 would send this spry inquirer to solve larger questions 
 on his own account. Savage brutality had less example 
 now. 
 
 The only thing therefore was to overreach this man. 
 He was watching all the roads along the coast, to east and 
 west; but to guard all the tangles of the inward roads 
 and the blessed complexity of Devonshire lanes would 
 have needed an army of pure natives. Whereas this busy 
 foreigner placed no faith in any man born in that part of 
 the world such was his judgment and had called for a 
 draft of fellows having different vowels. 
 
AN INLAND BUN 411 
 
 This being so, it served him right to be largely out- 
 witted by the thick-heads he despised. Arid he had made 
 such a fuss about it, at headquarters, and promised such 
 wonders if the case were left to him, that when he capt- 
 ured nothing but a string of worn-out kegs filled with 
 diluted sheep-wash, he not only suffered for a week from 
 gastric troubles through his noseless hurry to identify 
 cognac but also received a stinging reprimand, and an 
 order for removal to a very rugged coast, where he might 
 be more at home with the language and the manners. 
 And his predecessor's son obtained that sunny situation. 
 Thus is zeal rewarded always, when it does not spell suc- 
 cess. 
 
 None will be surprised to hear that the simple yet mas- 
 terly stratagem, by means of which the fair western coun- 
 ty vindicated its commercial rights against northern arro- 
 gance and ignoble arts, was the invention of a British tar, 
 an old Agamemnon, a true heart of oak, remembered also 
 in the same fine material. The lessons of Nelson had not 
 been thrown away ; this humble follower of that great 
 hero first misled the adversary, and then broke his line. 
 Invested as he was by superior forces seeking access even 
 to his arsenal, he despatched to the eastward a lumbering 
 craft, better known to landsmen as a wagon, heavily laden 
 with straw newly threshed, under which was stowed a tier 
 of ancient kegs, which had undergone too many sinkings 
 in the sea (when a landing proved unsafe) to be trusted 
 any more with fine contents. Therefore they now con- 
 tained sheep-wash, diluted from the brook to the com- 
 plexion of old brandy. In the loading of this wagon 
 special mystery was observed, which did not escape the 
 vigilance of the keen lieutenant's watchmen. With a pair 
 of good farm-horses, and a farm-lad on the ridge of the 
 load, and a heavy fellow whistling not too loudly on the 
 lade-rail, this harmless car of fictitious Bacchus, crowned 
 by effete Ceres, wended its rustic way towards the lowest 
 bridge of Otter, a classic and idyllic stream. These two 
 men, of pastoral strain and richest breadth of language, 
 received orders of a simplicity almost equal to their own. 
 
 No sooner was this wagon lost to sight and hearing in 
 the thick October night, and the watchmen speeding by 
 
412 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 the short cuts to report it, than a long, light cart, with a 
 strong out-stepping horse, came down the wooded valley 
 to the ghostly court. In half an hour it was packed, and 
 started inland, passing the birthplace of a very great man, 
 straight away to Farringdon and Kockbear, with orders to 
 put up at Clist Hidon before daylight, where lived a 
 farmer who would harbor them securely. On the follow- 
 ing night they were to make their way, after shunning 
 Cullompton, to the shelter in Blackmarsh, where they 
 would be safe from all intrusion, and might await fresh 
 instructions, which would take them probably towards 
 Bridgwater and Bristol. By friendly ministrations of 
 the Whetstone men, who had some experience in trade of 
 this description, all this was managed with the best suc- 
 cess; Jem Kettel knew the country roads by dark as well 
 as by daylight, and Harvey Tremlett was not a man to be 
 collared very easily. In fact, without that sad mishap to 
 their very willing and active nag, they might have fared 
 through Perlycross, as they had through other villages 
 where people wooed the early pillow, without a trace or 
 dream of any secret treasure passing. 
 
 Meanwhile that pure and earnest Scotchman was enjoy- 
 ing his own acuteness. He allowed that slowly rolling 
 wagon of the Eleusine dame to proceed some miles upon 
 its course before his men stood at the horses' heads. There 
 was wisdom in this, as well as pleasure the joy a cat 
 prolongs with a mouse inasmuch as all these good things 
 were approaching his own den of spoil. When the 
 Scotchmen challenged the Devonshire swains, with flourish 
 of iron, and of language even harder, an interpreter was 
 sorely needed. Not a word could the Northmen under- 
 stand that came from the broad, soft Southron tongues ; 
 while the Devonshire men feigning, as they were bidden, 
 to take them for highwaymen, feigned also not to know a 
 syllable of what they said. 
 
 This led, as it was meant to, to very lavish waste of 
 time and increment of trouble. The carters, instead of 
 lending hand for the unloading of their wagon, sadly 
 delayed that operation, by shouting out " thaves !" at the 
 top of their voices, tickling their horses into a wild start 
 now and then, and rolling the preventive men off at the 
 
AN INLAND RUN 413 
 
 tail. MacSpudder himself had a narrow escape ; for just 
 when he chanced to be between two wheels, both of them 
 set off, without a word of notice ; and if he had possessed 
 at all a western body, it would have been run over. Be- 
 ing made of corkscrew metal by hereditary right, he 
 wriggled out as sound as ever ; and looked forward all 
 the more to the solace underlying this reluctant pile, as 
 dry as any of his own components. 
 
 Nothing but his own grunts can properly express the 
 fattening of his self-esteem (the whole of which was 
 home-fed) when his men, without a fork for the Boreal 
 mind had never thought of that but with a great many 
 chops of knuckles (for the skin of straw is tougher than a 
 Scotchman's) found their way at midnight, like a puzzled 
 troop of divers, into the reef at bottom of the sheafy bil- 
 lows. Their throats were in a husky state, from chaff too 
 penetrative, and barn-dust over-volatile, and they risked 
 their pulmonary weal by opening a too sanguine cheer. 
 
 " Duty compels us to test the staple," the officer in 
 command decreed ; and many mouths gaped round the 
 glow of his bull's-eye. " Don't 'ee titch none of that their 
 wassh !" the benevolent Devonians exclaimed in vain. 
 Want of faith prevailed ; every man suspected the verdict 
 of his predecessor, and even his own at first swallow. If 
 timber-legged Dick could have timed the issue, what a 
 landing he might have made ! For the coast-guard tested 
 staple so that twenty miles of coast were left free for fifty 
 hours. 
 
 Having told these things in his gravest manner, Herni- 
 man, who so well combined the arts of peace and war, 
 filled another pipe, and was open to inquiry. Everybody 
 accepted his narrative with pleasure, and heartily wished 
 him another such a chance of directing fair merchandise 
 along the lanes of luck. The blacksmith alone had some 
 qualms of conscience for apparent backslidings from the 
 true faith of free-trade. But they clapped him on the 
 back, and he promised with a gulp that he never would 
 peep into a liberal van again. 
 
 " There is one thing not quite clear to me," said the 
 Hopper, when the man of iron was settled below the table, 
 whereas the youth had kept himself in trim for steeple- 
 
414 PERLYCROSS 
 
 chasing. " What could our friend have seen in that 
 vehicle of free-trade to make him give that horrible ac- 
 count of its contents ? And again, why did Mr. Harvey 
 Tremlett carry off that tool of his, which I found in the 
 water?" 
 
 With a wave of his hand for his tongue had now lost, 
 by one of nature's finest arrangements, the copiousness of 
 the morning, whereas a man of sober silence would now 
 have bloomed into fluency the chairman deputed to 
 Herniman and Tremlett the honour of replying to the 
 Hopper. 
 
 " You see, sir," said the former, " it was just like this. 
 We was hurried so in stowing cargo that some of the 
 finest laces in the world, such as they calls Valentines, 
 worth maybe fifty or a hundred pounds a yard, was shot 
 into the hold anyhow, among a lot of silks and so on. 
 Harvey and Jemmy was on honour to deliver goods as 
 they received them ; blacksmith seed some of this lace 
 a-flappin' under black tarporly ; and he knowed as your 
 poor squire had been figged out for's last voyage with same 
 sort of stuff, only not so good. A clever old 'ooman mak- 
 eth some, to Perlycrass ; Honiton lace they calls it here. 
 What could a' think but that squire was there ? Reckon 
 Master Crang would a' told 'e this, if so be a 7 hadn't had 
 a little drop too much." 
 
 " Thou bee'st a liar. Han't had half enough, I tell 'e," 
 the blacksmith from under the table replied, and then 
 rolled away into a bellowsful of snores. 
 
 " To be sure !" said Peckover. " I see now. Tamsin 
 Tamlin's work it was. Sergeant Jakes told me all about 
 it. With all the talk there had been of robbing graves, 
 and two men keeping in the dark so, no wonder Crang 
 thought what he did. Many people went to see that lace, 
 1 heard ; and they said it was too good to go underground ; 
 though nothing could be too good for the squire. Well 
 now, about that other thing -why did Mr. Tremlett make 
 off with little Billy ?" 
 
 " Can't tell 'e, sir, very much about 'un," the wrestler 
 answered, with a laugh at the boy's examination. " Hap- 
 pen I tuk 'un up, a-veelin' of 'un, to frighten blacksmith 
 maybe ; and then I vancied a' maight come ooseful, if nag's 
 
AN INLAND RUN 415 
 
 foot went wrong again. Then when nag gooed on all 
 right, I just chucked 'un into a pool of watter, for to kape 
 'un out o' sight of twisty volk. Ort more to zatisfy this 
 young gent ?" 
 
 " Yes. I am a twisty folk, I suppose. Unless there is 
 any objection, I should like very much to know why Dr. 
 Fox was sent on that fool's errand to the pits." 
 
 " Oh, I can tell 'e that, sir," replied Jem Kettel, for the 
 spirit of the lad, and his interest in their doings, had made 
 him a favourite with the present company. "It were one 
 of my mates as took too much trouble. He were appointed 
 to meet us at the cornder of the four roads, an hour afore 
 that or more ; and he got in a bit of a skear, it seems, not 
 knowing why we was so behindhand. But he knowed Dr. 
 Vox, and thought 'un better out o' way, being such a sharp 
 chap, and likely to turn meddlesome. He didn't want 'un to 
 hang about up street, as a' maight with some sick 'ooman, 
 and so he zent un' t'other road, to tend a little haxi- 
 dent. Wouldn't do he no harm, a' thought, and might 
 zave us some bother. But, Lord ! if us could have only 
 knowed the toorn your volk would putt on it, I reckon us 
 should have roared and roared, all droo the strates of 
 Perlycrass. Vainest joke as ever coom to my hearing or 
 ever wall, however long the Lord kapeth me a-livin'. And 
 to think of Jem Kettel being sworn to for a learned 
 doctor ! Never had no teethache I han't, since the day I 
 heered on it." A hearty laugh was held to be a sovereign 
 cure for toothache then, and perhaps would be so still, 
 if the patient could accomplish it. 
 
 " Well, so far as that goes, you have certainly got the 
 laugh of us," Master Peckover admitted, not forgetting 
 that he himself came in for as much as any one. " But 
 come now, as you are so sharp, just give me your good 
 opinion. And you being all aloug the roads that night, 
 ought to have seen something. Who were the real people 
 in that horrid business ?" 
 
 " The Lord in heaven knoweth, sir," said Tremlett, very 
 solemnly. " Us passed in front of Perlycrass church, 
 about dree o'clock of the morning Nort were doing then, 
 or us could scarcely have helped hearing of it. Even if 
 'em heered our wheels, and so got out of sight, I reckon, 
 
416 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 us must a' seed the earth-heap, though moon were gone a 
 good bit afore that. And zira'th there waz no harse there. 
 A harse will sing out a'most always to another harse at 
 night, when a' heareth of him coming, and a' standeth 
 lonely. Us met nawbody from Perlycrass to Blackmarsh. 
 As to us and Clam-pit volk, zoonder would us goo to gal- 
 lows than have ort to say to grave-work. And gallows be 
 too good for 'un, accardin' my opinion. But gen'lemen, 
 afore us parts, I wants to drink the good health of the 
 best man I've a knowed on airth. Bain't saying much, 
 perhaps, for my ways hath been crooked like. But mak- 
 eth any kearless chap belave in good above 'un, when a 
 hap'th acrass a man as thinketh nort of his own zell, but 
 gi'eth his life to other volk. God bless Passon Penniloe !" 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX 
 NEEDFUL RETURNS 
 
 Now it happened that none of these people, thus rejoic- 
 ing in the liberty of the subject, had heard of the very sad 
 state of things, mainly caused by their own acts, and now 
 prevailing at Old Barn. Tremlett knew that he had struck 
 a vicious blow at the head of a man who had grappled 
 him, but he thought he had missed it and struck something 
 else, a bag, or a hat, or he knew not what, in the pell-mell 
 scuffle and the darkness. His turn of mind did not incline 
 him to be by any means particular as to his conduct, in a 
 hot and hard personal encounter ; but knowing his vast 
 strength he generally abstained from the use of heavy 
 weapons, while his temper was his own. But in this hot 
 struggle, he had met with a mutually shattering blow from 
 a staff, as straight as need be upon his right-hand knuckles ; 
 and the pain from this, coupled with the wrath aroused at 
 the access of volunteer enemies, had carried him like the 
 raging elements outside out of all remembrance of the 
 true "sacredness of humanity." He struck out, with a 
 sense of not doing the right thing, which is always 
 strengthened afterwards ; and his better stars being 
 ablink in the gale, and the other man's gone into the 
 milky way, he hit him too hard ; which is a not uncom- 
 mon error. 
 
 Many might have reasoned (and before all others, Har- 
 vey Tremlett's wife, if still within this world of reason, 
 and a bad job it was for him that she was now outside it) 
 that nothing could be nobler, taking people as we find 
 them and how else can we get the time to take them ? 
 than the behaviour of this champion wrestler. But, with- 
 out going into such sweet logic of affinity, and rhetoric of 
 friends (whose minds have been made up in front of it), 
 18* 
 
418 PERLYCROSS 
 
 there was this crushing fact to meet, that an innocent 
 man's better arm was in a smash. 
 
 No milder word, however medical, is fit to apply to 
 Frank Gilham's poor fore-arm. They might call it the 
 ulna for a bit of Latin is a solace to the man who feels 
 the pain in a brother Christian's member and they might 
 enter nobly into fine nerves of anatomy ; but the one-sided 
 difficulty still was there they had got to talk about it; 
 he had got to bear it. 
 
 Not that he made any coward outcry of it. A truer test 
 of manliness (as has been often said by those who have 
 been through either trial), truer than the rush of blood 
 and reckless dash of battle, is the calm, open-eyed, and 
 firm-fibred endurance of long, ever-grinding, never-gradu- 
 ating pain. The pain that has no pang, no paroxysm, no 
 generosity to make one cry out " Well done !" to it, and 
 be thankful to the Lord that it must have done its worst ; 
 but a fluid that keeps up a slow boil, by day and night, 
 and never lifts the pot -lid, and never whirls about, but 
 keeps up a steady stew of flesh and bone and marrow. 
 
 " I fear there is nothing for it but to have it off," Dr. 
 Gronow said, upon the third day of this frightful anguish. 
 He had scarcely left the patient for an hour at a time ; 
 and if he had done harsh things in his better days, no 
 one would believe it of him who could see him now. "It 
 was my advice at first, you know ; but you would not 
 have it, Jemmy. You are more of a surgeon than I am. 
 But I doubt whether you should risk his life like this." 
 
 " I am still in hopes of saving it. But you see how 
 little I can do," replied Fox, whose voice was very low, 
 for he was suffering still from that terrible concussion, 
 and but for the urgency of Gilham's case he would now 
 have been doctoring the one who pays the worst for it. 
 " If I had my proper touch, and strength of nerve, I never 
 should have let it come to this. There is a vile bit of 
 splinter that won't come in, and I am not firm enough to 
 make it. I wish I had left it to you, as you offered. 
 After all, you know much more than we do." 
 
 "No, my dear boy. It is your special line. Such a 
 case as Lady Waldron's I might be more at home with. 
 I should have had the arm off long ago. But the mother 
 
NEEDFUL RETURNS 419 
 
 the mother is such a piteous creature ! What has be- 
 come of all my nerve? I am quite convinced that fly- 
 fishing makes a man too gentle. I cannot stand half the 
 things I once thought nothing of. By-the-bye, couldn't 
 you counteract her ? You know the old proverb 
 
 ' One woman rules the men ; 
 Two makes them think again.' 
 
 It would be the best thing you could do." 
 
 " I don't see exactly what you mean," answered Jemmy, 
 who had lost nearly all of his sprightliness. 
 
 "Plainer than a pikestaff. Send for your sister. You 
 owe it to yourself and her ; and, most of all, to the man 
 who has placed his life in peril to save yours. It is not 
 a time to be too finical." 
 
 " I have thought of it once or twice. She would be of 
 the greatest service now. But I don't much like to ask 
 her. Most likely she would refuse to come, after the way 
 in which I packed her off." 
 
 "My dear young friend," said Dr. Gronow, looking at 
 him steadfastly, " if that is all you have to say, you don't 
 deserve a wife at all worthy of the name. In the first 
 place, you won't sink your own little pride ; and in the 
 next, you have no idea what a woman is." 
 
 "Young Farrant is the most obliging fellow in the 
 world," replied Fox, after thinking for a minute. " I will 
 put him on my young mare Perle, who knows the way ; 
 and he'll be at Foxden before dark. If Chris likes to 
 come, she can be here well enough by twelve or one 
 o'clock to-morrow." 
 
 " Like or no like, I'll answer for her coming ; and I'll 
 answer for her not being very long about it," said the 
 older doctor ; and on both points he was right. 
 
 Christie was not like herself when she arrived, but 
 pale and timid and trembling. Her brother had not 
 mentioned Frank in his letter, doubting the turn she 
 might take about it, and preferring that she should come 
 to see to himself, which was her foremost duty. But young 
 Mr. Farrant, the churchwarden's son, and pretty Minnie's 
 brother, had no embargo laid upon his tongue ; and had 
 
420 PEELYCROSS 
 
 there been fifty, what could they have availed to debar 
 such a clever young lady ? She had cried herself to sleep, 
 when she knew all, and dreamed it a thousand times 
 worse than it was. 
 
 Now she stood in the porch of the Old Barn, striving 
 and sternly determined to show herself rational, true to 
 relationship, sisterly, and no more. But her white lips, 
 quick breath, and quivering eyelids were not altogether 
 consistent with that. Instead of amazement, when Mrs. 
 Gilham came to meet her, and no Jemmy, she did not 
 even feign to be surprised, but fell into the bell-sleeves 
 (which were fine things for embracing) and let the deep 
 throbs of her heart disclose a tale that is better felt than 
 told. 
 
 " My dearie," said the mother, as she laid the damask 
 cheek against the wrinkled one, and stroked the bright 
 hair with the palm of her hand, " don't 'e give way, that's 
 a darling child. It will all be so different, now you are 
 come. *It was what I was longing for, day and night, but 
 could not bring myself to ask ; and I felt so sure in my 
 heart, my dear, how sorry you would be for him." 
 
 " I should think so. I can't tell you. And all done 
 for Jemmy, who was so ungrateful ! My brother would 
 be dead if your son was like him. There has never been 
 anything half so noble in all the history of the world." 
 
 " My dear, you say that because you think well of our 
 Frankie I have not called him that since Tuesday, now. 
 But you do think well of him, don't you, now ?" 
 
 "Don't talk to me of thinking well indeed. I never 
 can endure those weak expressions. When I like people 
 I do like them." 
 
 " My dear, it reminds me quite of our own country, to 
 hear you speak out so hearty. None of them do it up 
 your way much, according to what I hear of them. I 
 feel it so kind of you to like Frank Gilham." 
 
 " Well ! am I never to be understood ? Is there no 
 meaning in the English language ? I don't like him only, 
 but with all my heart I love him." 
 
 " He won't care if doctors cut his arm off now, if he 
 hath one left to go round you." The mother sobbed a 
 little, with second fiddle in full view; but being still a 
 
NEEDFUL RETURNS 421 
 
 mother, wiped her eyes and smiled with content at the 
 inevitable thing. 
 
 "One thing remember," said the girl, with a coaxing, 
 domestic smile, and yet a lot of sparkle in her eyes, " if 
 you ever tell him what you twisted out of me, in a man- 
 ner which I may call well, too circumstantial I am 
 afraid that I never should forgive you. I am awfully 
 proud, and I can be tremendous. Perhaps he would not 
 even care to hear it. And then what would become of me ? 
 Can you tell me that ?" 
 
 " My dear, you know better. You know, as well as I 
 do, that ever since he saw you he has thought of nothing 
 else. It has made me feel ashamed that I should have a 
 son capable of throwing over all the world beside " 
 
 " But, don't you see, that is the very thing I like ? No- 
 ble as he is, if it were not for that, I well, I won't go 
 into it ; but you ought to understand. He can't think half 
 so much of me as I do of him." 
 
 " Then there is a pair of you, and the Lord has made 
 you so. But never fear, my pretty, not a whisper shall he 
 have. You shall tell him all about it, with your own sweet 
 lips." 
 
 " As if I could do that indeed ! Why, Mrs. Gilham, 
 was that what you used to do when you were young? I 
 thought people were ever so much more particular in those 
 days." 
 
 " I can hardly tell, my dear. Sometimes I quite forget, 
 because it seems so long ago ; and at other times I'm not 
 fit to describe it, because I am doing it over again. But 
 for pretty behaviour, and nice ways nice people have 
 them in every generation, and you may take place with 
 the best of them. But we are talking as if nothing was 
 the matter, and you have never asked even how we are 
 going on !" 
 
 "Because I know all about it from the best authority. 
 Coming up the hill we met Dr. Gronow, and I stopped the 
 chaise to have a talk with him. He does not think the 
 arm will ever be much good again, but he leaves it to 
 younger men to be certain about anything. That was 
 meant for Jemmy, I suppose. He would rather have the 
 pain than not, he says ; meaning, of course, in the patient 
 
422 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 not himself. It shows healthy action though I can't 
 see how and just the proper quantity of inflammation, 
 which I should have thought couldn't be too little. He 
 has come round to Jemmy's opinion this morning : that if 
 one something or other can be got to stay in its pl?ce, 
 and not do something or other the poor arm may be 
 saved, after all, though never as strong as it was before. 
 He says it must have been a frightful blow. I hope that 
 man will be punished for it heavily." 
 
 " I hope so too, with all my heart ; though I am not 
 revengeful. Mr. Penniloe was up here yesterday, and he 
 tried to make the best of it. I was so vexed that I told 
 him he would not be quite such a Christian about it, per- 
 haps, if he had the pain in his own arm. But he has 
 made the man promise to give himself up if your brother 
 or my son require it. I was for putting him in jail at 
 once, but the others think it better to wait a bit. But as 
 for his promise, I wouldn't give much for that. However, 
 men manage those things, and not women. Did the doc- 
 tor say whether you might see my Franky ?" 
 
 " He said I might see Jemmy, though Jemmy is very 
 queer. But as for Frank, if I saw him through a chink 
 in the wall, that would be quite enough. But he must 
 not see me, unless it was with a telescope through a two- 
 inch door. That annoyed me rather. As if we were such 
 babies ! But he said that you were a sensible woman, 
 and that was the advice you gave him." 
 
 " What a story ! Oh, my dear, never marry a doctor 
 though I hope you will never have the chance but they 
 really don't seem to care what they say. It was just the 
 same in my dear husband's time. Dr. Gronow said to 
 me. ' If she comes when I am out, don't let her go near 
 either of them. She might do a lot of mischief. She 
 might get up an argument or something.' And so I said " 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Gilham, that is a great deal worse than tell- 
 ing almost any story. An argument ! Do I ever argue ? 
 I had better have stayed away if that is the way they 
 think of me. A telescope, and a two-inch door, and not 
 be allowed perhaps to open my mouth ! There is some- 
 thing exceedingly unjust in the opinions men entertain of 
 women." 
 
NEEDFUL KETUKNS 423 
 
 " Not my Frank, my dear. That is where he differs 
 from all the other young men in the world. He has the 
 most correct and yet exalted views; such as poets had, 
 when there were any. If you could only hear him going 
 on about you, before he got that wicked knock, I mean, of 
 course his opinions not only of your hair and face, nor 
 even your eyes, though all perfectly true, but your mind, 
 and your intellect, and disposition, and power of perceiv- 
 ing what people are, and then your conversation almost 
 too good for us, because of want of exercise and then, 
 well, I really forget what came next." 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Gilham, it is all so absurd ! How could he 
 talk such nonsense ? I don't like to hear of such things ; 
 and I cannot believe there could be anything to come next." 
 
 " Oh yes, there was, my dear, now you remind me of it. 
 It was about the small size of your ears, and the lovely 
 curves inside them. He had found out in some ancient 
 work for I believe he could hold his own in Greek and 
 Latin, even with Mr. Penniloe that a well-shaped ear is 
 one of the rarest of all feminine perfections. That made 
 him think, no doubt, of yours, for men are quite babies 
 when they are in love ; and he found yours according to 
 the highest standard. Men seem to make all those rules 
 about us simply according to their own ideas ! What 
 rules do we ever make about them ?" 
 
 " I am so glad that you look at things in that way," 
 Christie answered, with her fingers going slyly up to her 
 hair, to let her ears know what was thought of them ; " be- 
 cause I was afraid that you were too much well, perhaps, 
 that thinking so much of your son, you might look at 
 things one-sidedly. And yet I might have known from 
 your unusual common-sense. But I do believe Dr. Gronow 
 is coming back, and I have not even got my cloak off ! 
 Wait a bit till things come round a little. A telescope 
 and a two-inch door ! One had better go about in a coal- 
 sack and curl-papers. Not that I ever want such things 
 curves enough in my ears, perhaps. But really I must 
 make myself a little decent. They have taken my things 
 up to my old room, I suppose. Try to keep him here till 
 I come back. He says that I get up arguments. Let me 
 get up one with him." 
 
424 PERLYCROSS 
 
 " My orders are as stern as they are sensible," Dr. 
 Gronow declared, when she had returned, beautifully 
 dressed and charming, and had thus attacked him with 
 even more of blandishment than argument. " Your broth- 
 er you may see, but not to talk much at one time to him, 
 for his head is in a peculiar state, and he does much more 
 than he ought to do. He insists upon doing everything, 
 which means perpetual attention to his friend. But he 
 does it all as if by instinct, apparently without knowing 
 it ; and that he should do it all to perfection is a very 
 noble proof of the thoroughness of his grounding. The 
 old school, the old school of training there is nothing 
 like it, after all. Any mere sciolist, any empiric, any 
 smatterer of the new medical course and where would 
 Frank Gilham's arm be now ? Not in a state of lenitive 
 pain, sanative, and in some degree encouraging, but in a 
 condition of incipient mortification. For this is a case of 
 compound comminuted fracture so severe that my own 
 conviction was however, no more of that to you two ladies. 
 Only feel assured that no more could be done for the pa- 
 tient in the best hospital in London. And talking of up- 
 start schools, indeed, and new-fangled education, have 
 you heard what the boys have done at Perlycross ? I 
 heard the noise upstairs, and I was obliged to shut the 
 window, although it is such a soft spring day. I was go- 
 ing down the hill to stop it when I met Miss Fox. It is 
 one of the most extraordinary jokes I ever knew." 
 
 " Oh, do tell us. We have not heard a word about it. 
 But I am beginning to think that this is not at all a com- 
 mon place. I am never surprised at anything that hap- 
 pens at Perlycross." This was not a loyal speech on the 
 part of the fair Christie. 
 
 "From what I have heard of that Moral-Force man," 
 Mrs. Gilham remarked, with slow shake of her head, " I 
 fear that his system would work better in a future exist- 
 ence than as we are now. From what my son told me, 
 before his accident, I foresaw that it must lead up to 
 something quite outrageous. Nothing ever answers long 
 that goes against all the wisdom of our ancestors." 
 
 " Excuse me for a minute ; I must first see how things 
 are going on upstairs. As soon as I am at liberty I will 
 
NEEDFUL RETURNS 425 
 
 tell you what I saw, though I like the march of intellect 
 when discipline is over it." 
 
 Dr. Gronow, who was smiling, which he seldom was, ex- 
 cept after whirling out a two-ounce trout, went gently up- 
 stairs, and returned in a few minutes and sat down to tell 
 his little tale. 
 
 "Everything there going on as well as can be. Your 
 brother is delighted to hear that you are come. But the 
 other patient must not hear a word about it yet. We 
 don't want any rapid action of the heart. Well, what the 
 young scamps have done is just this. The new school- 
 master has abolished canes, you know, and birches, and 
 every kind of physical compulsion. He exclaims against 
 coercion, and pronounces that boys are to be guided by 
 their hearts instead of being governed by their pardon 
 me, a word not acknowledged in the language of these 
 loftier days. This gentleman seems to have abolished the 
 old system of the puerile body and mind without putting 
 anything of cogency in its place. He has introduced nov- 
 elties, very excellent no doubt, if the boys would only 
 take to them with intellects as lofty as his own. But that 
 is the very thing the boys won't do. I am a Liberal so far 
 as feelings go when not overpowered by the judgment 
 but I must acknowledge that the best extremes of life, 
 the boyhood made of nature and the age made of experi- 
 ence, are equally staunch in their Toryism. But this man's 
 great word is Reform. As long the boys thought it 
 meant their benches, and expected to have soft cushions 
 on them, they were highly pleased, and looked forward to 
 this tribute to a part which had hitherto been anything 
 but sacred. Their mothers, too, encouraged it, on account 
 of wear and tear ; but their fathers could not see why they 
 should sit softer at their books than they had to do at 
 their trenchers. 
 
 " But yesterday, unluckily, the whole of it came out. 
 There arrived a great package, by old Hill, the carrier, 
 who has had his van mended that was blown over, and out 
 rushed the boys, without asking any leave, to bring in 
 their comfortable cushions. All they found was a great 
 blackboard, swinging on a pillar, with a socket at the 
 back, and a staple and chain to adjust it. Toogood ex- 
 
426 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 pected them to be in raptures, but instead of that they all 
 went into sulks ; and the little fellows would not look at 
 it, having heard of black magic and witchcraft. Toogood 
 called it a ' Demonstration-table, for the exhibition of Ob- 
 ject-lessons.' 
 
 " Mr. Penniloe, as you may suppose, had long been an- 
 noyed and unhappy about the new man's doings ; but he is 
 not supreme in the week-day school, as he is on Sunday, 
 and he tried to make the best of it till the right man 
 should come home. And I cannot believe that he went 
 away on purpose to-day in order to let them have it out. 
 But the boys found out that he was going, and there is 
 nobody else they care twopence for. 
 
 " Everybody says, except their mothers, that they must 
 have put their heads together overnight, or how could they 
 have acted with such unity and precision? Not only in 
 design but in execution the accomplished tactician stands 
 confessed. Instead of attacking the enemy at once, when 
 many might have hastened to his rescue, they deferred 
 operations until to-day, and even then waited for the 
 proper moment. They allowed him to exhaust all the best 
 of his breath in his usual frothy oration for, like most of 
 such men, he can spout forever, and finds it much easier 
 than careful teaching. 
 
 "Then, as he leaned back, with pantings in his chest 
 and eyes turned up at his own eloquence, two of the big- 
 gest boys flung a piece of clothes-line round his arms from 
 behind, and knotted it, while another slipped under the 
 desk, and buckled his ankles together with a satchel-strap 
 before he knew what he was doing. Then as he began to 
 shout and bellow, scarcely yet believing it, they with much 
 panting and blowing, protrusion of tongues, and grunts of 
 exertion, some working at his legs, and some shouldering 
 at his loins, and others hauling on the clothes-line, but all 
 with perfect harmony of action, fetched their preceptor to 
 the Demonstration-board, and laying him with his back flat 
 against it, strapped his feet to the pedestal ; then pulling 
 out the staple till the board was perpendicular, they se- 
 cured his coat-collar to the shaft above it, and there he 
 was as upright as need be, but without the power to 
 move, except at his own momentous peril. Then to make 
 
NEEDFUL RETURNS 427 
 
 quite sure of him, a clever little fellow got upon a stool, 
 and drew back his hair, bright red, and worn long like a 
 woman's, and tied it with a book-tape behind the pillar. 
 You may imagine how the poor preceptor looks. Any 
 effort of his to release himself will crush him beneath the 
 great Demonstration like a mouse in a figure-of-four trap." 
 
 " But arc we to believe, Dr. Gronow," asked Christie, 
 " that you came away, and left the poor man in that help- 
 less state ?" 
 
 " Undoubtedly I did. It is no concern of mine, and the 
 boys had only just got their pea-shooters. He has not had 
 half enough to cure him yet. Besides, they had my prom- 
 ise, for the boys have got the keys. They are charging a 
 penny for a view of this Reformer, but they won't let any 
 one in without a promise of strict neutrality. I gave a 
 shilling, for I am sure they have deserved it. Somebody 
 will be sure to cast him loose in plenty of time for his own 
 good. This will be of the greatest service to him, and cure 
 him for a long time of big words." 
 
 " But suppose he falls forward upon his face, and the 
 board falls upon him and suffocates him. Why, it would 
 be the death of Mr. Penniloe. You are wanted here, of 
 course, Dr. Gronow ; but I shall put my bonnet on, and 
 rush down the hill to the release of the Higher Educa- 
 tion." 
 
 "Don't rush too fast, Miss Fox. There's a tree blown 
 down across the lane after you turn out of the one you 
 came by. We ought to have had it cleared, but they say 
 it will take a fortnight to make some of the main roads 
 passable again. I would not go if I were you. Somebody 
 will have set him free before you get there. I'll go out 
 and listen. With the wind in the north we can hear their 
 hurrahing quite plainly at the gate. You can come with 
 me, if you like." 
 
 "Oh, it is no hurrahing, Dr. Gronow! How can you 
 deceive me so ? It is a very sad sound indeed," said 
 Christie, as they stood at the gate, and she held her pret- 
 ty palms like funnels for her much-admired ears. " It 
 sounds like a heap of boys weeping and wailing. I fear 
 that something sadly vindictive has been done. One never 
 can have a bit of triumph without that." 
 
428 PEELYCROSS 
 
 She scarcely knew the full truth of her own words. It 
 was indeed an epoch of Nemesis. This fourth generation 
 of boys in that village are beginning to be told of it, on 
 knees that shake with time as well as memory. And thus 
 it befell. 
 
 " What, lock me out of my own school door ! Can't 
 come in without I pay a penny ! May do in Spain, but 
 won't do here." 
 
 A strong foot was thrust into the double of the door, a 
 rattle of the handle ran up the lock and timber, and con- 
 science made a coward of the boy that took the pennies. 
 An Odic Force, as the present quaky period calls it, per- 
 meated doubtless from the Master hand. Back went the 
 boy, and across him strode a man, rather tall, wiry, torve 
 of aspect, hyporhined with a terse mustache, hatted with 
 a vast sombrero. At a glance he had the whole situation 
 in his eye and his heart worst of all, in his strong arm. 
 He flung off a martial cloak that might have cumbered ac- 
 tion, stood at the end of the long desk, squared his shoul- 
 ders and eyebrows, and shouted : 
 
 " Boys, here's a noise !" 
 
 As this famous battle-cry rang through the room every 
 -mother's darling knew what was coming. Consternation 
 is too weak a word. Grinning mouths fell into graves of 
 terror, castaway pea-shooters quivered on the floor, fat legs 
 rattled in their boots, and flew about, helter-skelter, any- 
 where, to save their dear foundations. Vain it was ; BO 
 vanishing-point could be discovered. Wisdom was come, 
 to be justified of her children. 
 
 The school-master of the ancient school marched with a 
 grim smile to the door, locked it, and pocketed the key. 
 Three little fellows, untaught as yet the expediency of let- 
 ting well alone, had taken the bunch of keys, and brought 
 forth and were riding disdainfully the three canes dor- 
 mant under the new dispensation. " Bring me those im- 
 plements," said Sergeant Jakes ; " perhaps they may do to 
 begin with." He arranged them lovingly, and then spoke 
 wisely. 
 
 " My dear young friends, it is very sad to find that while 
 I have been in foreign parts you have not been studying 
 discipline. The gentleman whom you have treated thus 
 
NEEDFUL RETURNS 429 
 
 will join me, I trust, by the time I have done, in maintain- 
 ing that I do not bear the rod in vain. Any boy who 
 crawls under a desk may rest assured that he will get it ten 
 times worse." 
 
 Pity draws a mourning veil, though she keeps a place 
 to peep through, when her highly respected cousin, Jus- 
 tice, is thus compelled to assert herself. Enough that 
 very few indeed of the highly cultured boys of Perly cross 
 found themselves in a position that day to enjoy their din- 
 ners as usual. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 HOME AND FOREIGN 
 
 Six weeks was the average time allowed for the voyage 
 to and fro of the schooner Montilla (owned by Messrs. 
 Besley, of Exeter) from Topsham to Cadiz, or whatever 
 it might be ; and little uneasiness was ever- felt if her ab- 
 sence extended to even three months. For Spaniards are 
 not in the awkward habit of cracking whips at old Time 
 when he is out at grass, much less of jumping at his fore- 
 lock ; and Iberian Time is nearly always out at grass. 
 When a thing will not help to do itself to-day, who knows 
 that it may not be in a kinder mood to-morrow ? The 
 spirit of worry and unreasonable hurry is a deadly blast 
 to all serenity of mind and dignity of demeanor, and can 
 be in harmony with nothing but bad weather. Thus the 
 Mantilla's period was a fluctuating numeral. 
 
 As yet English produce was of high repute, and the 
 Continent had not been barb-wired by ourselves against 
 our merchandise. The Spaniards happened to be in the 
 vein for working, and thus on this winter trip the good 
 trader's hold was quickly cleared of English solids and re- 
 filled with Spanish fluids; and so the Montilla was ready 
 for voyage homeward the very day her passenger rejoined. 
 This pleased him well, for he was anxious to get back, 
 though not at all aware of the urgent need arising. Luck- 
 ily for him and for all on board, the schooner lost a day 
 in getting out to sea, and thus ran into the rough fringes 
 alone of the great storm that swept the English coast and 
 Channel. In fact, she made good weather across the Bay 
 of Biscay, and ran into her berth at Topsham several days 
 before she was counted due. 
 
 The sergeant's first duty was, of course, to report him- 
 self at Walderscourt ; and this he had done before he 
 
HOME AND FOREIGN 431 
 
 made that auspicious re-entry upon his own domain. The 
 ladies did not at all expect to see him for days or even 
 for weeks to come, having heard nothing whatever of his do- 
 ings ; for the post beyond France was so uncertain then 
 that he had received orders not to write. 
 
 When Jakes was shown into the room, Lady Waldron 
 was sitting alone, and much agitated by a letter just re- 
 ceived from Mr. Webber, containing his opinion of all 
 that had happened at Perliton on Wednesday. Feeling 
 her unfitness for another trial, she sent for her daughter 
 before permitting the envoy to relate his news. Then she 
 strove to look calmly at him, and to maintain her cold 
 dignity as of yore ; but the power was no longer hers. 
 Months of miserable suspense, perpetual brooding, and 
 want of sleep had lowered the standard of her pride, and 
 nothing but a burst of painful sobs saved her from a 
 worse condition. 
 
 The sergeant stood hesitating by the door, feeling that 
 he had no invitation to see this, and not presuming to offer 
 comfort. But Miss Waldron seeing the best thing to do, 
 called him and bade him tell his news in brief. 
 
 " May it please your ladyship," the veteran began, star- 
 ing deeply into his new Spanish hat, about which he had 
 received some compliments, " all I have to tell your lady- 
 ship is for the honour of the family. Your ladyship's broth- 
 er is as innocent as I be. He hath had naught to do with 
 any wicked doing here. He hath not got his money,, but 
 he means to have it." 
 
 " Thank God !" cried Lady Waldron, but whether about 
 the money or the innocence was not clear ; and then she 
 turned away to have things out with herself ; and Jakes 
 was sent into the next room, and sat down, thanking the 
 crown of his hat that it covered the whole of his domes- 
 tic interests. 
 
 When the feminine excitement was in some degree 
 spent, and the love of particulars (which can never long 
 be quenched by any depth of tears) was reviving, Ser- 
 geant Jakes was well received, and told his adventures like 
 a veteran. A young man is apt to tell things hotly, as 
 if nothing had ever come to pass before ; but a steady- 
 goer knows that the sun was shining and the rain was 
 
432 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 raining ere he felt either. Alike the whole must be cut 
 short. 
 
 It appears that the sergeant had a fine voyage out, and 
 picked up a good deal of his lapsed Spanish lore from 
 two worthy Spanish hands among the crew. Besley, of 
 Exeter, did things well as the manner of that city is 
 victuals were good, and the crew right loyal, as generally 
 happens in that case. Captain Binstock stood in awe of 
 his elder brother the butler, and never got out of his 
 head its original belief that the sergeant was his brother's 
 school-master. Against that idea chronology strove hazi- 
 ly, and therefore vainly. The sergeant strode the deck 
 with a stick he bought at Exeter, spoke of his experience 
 in transports, regarded the masts as a pair of his own 
 canes in a word, was master of the ship whenever there 
 was nothing to be done to her. A finer time he never 
 had, for he was much too wiry to be sea-sick. All the 
 crew liked him, whether present or absent, and never 
 laughed at him but in the latter case. lie corrected their 
 English when it did not suit his own, and thus created a 
 new form of discipline. Most of this he recounted in his 
 pungent manner without a word of self-laudation, and it 
 would have been a treat to Christie Fox to hear him ; but 
 his present listeners were too anxious about the result to 
 enjoy this part of it. 
 
 Then he went to the city to which he was despatched, 
 and presented his letters to the few he could find entitled 
 to receive them. The greater part were gone beyond the 
 world of letters, for twenty-five years make a sad gap 
 in the post. And of the three survivors, one alone cared 
 to be troubled with the by-gone days. But that one was 
 a host in himself, a loyal retainer of the ancient family 
 in the time of its grandeur, and now in possession of an 
 office as well as a nice farm on the hills, both of which 
 he had obtained through their influence. He was de- 
 lighted to hear once more of the beautiful lady he had 
 formerly adored. He received the sergeant as his guest, 
 and told him all that was known of the present state of 
 things concerning the young count as he still called 
 him and all that was likely to come of it. 
 
 It was true that the count had urged his claim and 
 
HOME AND FOREIGN 433 
 
 brought evidence in support of it ; but at present there 
 seemed to be very little chance of his getting the money 
 for years to come, even if he should do so in the end; 
 and for that he must display, as they said, fresh powers 
 of survivorship. He had been advised to make an offer 
 of release and quitclaim upon receipt of the sum origi- 
 nally advanced without any interest ; but he had answered 
 sternly, " Either I will have all or none." 
 
 The amount was so large that he could not expect to 
 receive the whole immediately, and he was ready to accept 
 it by instalments ; but the authorities would not pay a 
 penny, nor attempt an arrangement with him for fear of 
 admitting their liability. In a very brief and candid but 
 by no means honest manner, they refused to be bound at 
 all by the action of their fathers. When that was of no 
 avail, because the city tolls were in the bond, they began 
 to call for proof of this and proof of that, and set up 
 every possible legal obstacle, hoping to exhaust the claim- 
 ant's sadly dwindled revenues. Above all, they main- 
 tained that two of the lives in the assurance-deed were 
 still subsisting, although their lapse was admitted in their 
 own minutes and registered in the record. And it was 
 believed that in this behalf they were having recourse to 
 personation. 
 
 That scandalous pretext must be demolished before it 
 could become of prime moment to the count to prove the 
 decease of his brother-in-law ; and certain it was that no 
 such dramatic incident had occurred in the city as that 
 which her ladyship had witnessed by means of her imagi- 
 nation. With a long fight before him, and very scanty 
 sinews of war to maintain it, the claimant had betaken 
 himself to Madrid, where he had powerful friends, and 
 might consult the best legal advisers. But his prospects 
 were not encouraging ; for unless he could deposit a good 
 round sum for expenses of process and long inquiry, and 
 even counter-bribing, no one was likely to take up his case, 
 so strong and so tough were the forces in possession. 
 Rash friends went so far as to recommend him to take the 
 bull by the horns at once, to lay forcible hands upon the 
 city tolls without any order from a law-court, for the deed 
 was so drastic that this power was conferred ; but he saw 
 19 
 
434 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 that to do this would simply be to play into the hands of 
 the enemy. For thus he would probably find himself out- 
 lawed, or perhaps cast into prison, with the lapse of his 
 own life imminent ; for the family of the Barcas were no 
 longer supreme in the land, as they used to be. 
 
 " Ungrateful thieves ! Vile pigs of burghers !" Lady 
 Waldron exclaimed, with just indignation. " My grand- 
 father would have strung them up with straw in their 
 noses, and set them on fire. They sneer at the family of 
 Barca, do they ? It shall trample them under foot. My 
 poor brother shall have my last penny to punish them ; for 
 that I have wronged him in my heart. Ours is a noble 
 race, and most candid. We never deign to stoop ourselves 
 to mistrust or suspicion. I trust, Master Sergeant, you 
 have not spoken so to the worthy and loyal Diego that 
 my brother may ever hear of the thoughts introduced into 
 my mind concerning him ?" 
 
 " No, my lady, not a word. Everything I did or said 
 was friendly, straightforward, and favourable to the hon- 
 our of the family." 
 
 " You are a brave man ; you are a faithful soldier. For- 
 get that by the force of circumstances I was compelled to 
 have such opinions. But can you recite to me the names 
 of the two persons whose lives they have replenished ?" 
 
 " Yes, my lady. Senor Diego wrote them down in this 
 book on purpose. He thought that your ladyship might 
 know something of them." 
 
 " For one I have knowledge of everything ; but the other 
 I do not know," Lady Waldron said, after reading the 
 names. " This poor senorita was one of my bridesmaids, 
 known to me from my childhood. La Giralda was her 
 name of intimacy what you call her nickname by reason 
 of her stature. Her death I can prove too well and ex- 
 pose any imitation. But the Spanish nation you like 
 them much? You find them gentle, brave, amiable, sober, 
 not as the English are, generous, patriotic, honourable ?" 
 
 " Quite as noble and good, my lady, as we found them 
 five-and-twenty years agone. And I hope that the noble 
 count will get his money. A bargain is a bargain, as we 
 say here. And if they are so honourable " 
 
 " Ah, that is quite a different thing. Inez, I must leave 
 
HOME AND FOREIGN 435 
 
 you. I desire some time to think. My mind is very much 
 relieved of one part, although of another still more dis- 
 tressed. I request you to see to the good refreshment of 
 this honourable and faithful soldier." 
 
 Lady Waldron acknowledged the sergeant's low bow 
 with a kind inclination of her Andalusian head (which is 
 something in the headway among the foremost), and left 
 the room with a lighter step than her heart had allowed 
 her for many a week. 
 
 " This will never do, sergeant ; this won't do at all," 
 said Miss Waldron, coming up to him as soon as she had 
 shut the door behind her lofty mother. " I know by your 
 countenance, and the way you were standing, and the side- 
 way you sit down again, that you have not told us every- 
 thing. That is not the right way to go on, Sergeant 
 Jakes." 
 
 " Miss Nicie !" cried Jakes, with a forlorn hope of 
 frightening her, for she had sat upon his knee many a 
 time ten or twelve years ago, craving stories of good boys 
 and bad boys. But now the eyes which he used to fill 
 with any emotion he chose to call for could produce that 
 effect upon his own. 
 
 " Can you think that I don't understand you ?" said 
 Nicie, never releasing him from her eyes. " What was 
 the good of telling me all those stories when I was a little 
 thing, except for me to understand you ? When anybody 
 tells me a story that is true, it is no good for him to try 
 anything else. I get so accustomed to his way that I 
 catch him out in a moment." 
 
 " But my dear, my dear Miss Nicie" the sergeant looked 
 all about as in a large appeal instead of a steady gaze 
 " if I have told you a single word that is not as true as 
 gospel, may I " 
 
 " Now don't be profane, Sergeant Jakes. That was the 
 custom of the war-time. And don't be crooked which 
 is even worse. I never called in question any one thing 
 you have said. All I know is that you have stopped short. 
 You used to do just the same with me when things I was 
 too young to hear came in. You are easier to read than 
 one of your own copies. What have you kept in the back- 
 ground, you unfaithful soldier ?" 
 
436 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 " Oh miss, how you do remind me of the colonel ! Not 
 that he ever looked half as fierce. But he used to say, 
 * Jakes, what a deep rogue you are !' meaning how deeply 
 he could trust me against all his enemies. But, miss, I 
 have given my word about this." 
 
 "Then take it back, as some people do their presents. 
 What is the good of being a deep rogue if you can't be a 
 shallow one ? I should hope you would rather be a rogue 
 to other people than to me. I will never speak to you 
 again unless you show now that you can trust me as my 
 dear father used to trust in you. No secrets from me, if 
 you please." 
 
 " Well, miss, it was for your sake more than anybody 
 else's. But you must promise, honour bright, not to let 
 her ladyship know of it ; for it might be the death of her. 
 It took me by surprise, and it hath almost knocked me 
 over; for I never could have thought there was more 
 troubles coming. But who do you think I ran up against, 
 in Exeter ?" 
 
 " How can I tell ? Don't keep me waiting. That kind 
 of riddle is so hateful always." 
 
 " Master Tom, Miss Nicie ! Your brother, Master Tom ! 
 4 Sir Thomas Waldron ' his proper name is now. You 
 know they have got a new oil they call gas to light the 
 public places of the big towns with, and it makes every- 
 thing as bright as day, and brighter than some of the days 
 we get now. Well, I was intending to come on last night 
 by the Bristol mail, and wait about till you was up ; and 
 as I .was standing with my knapsack on my shoulder, to 
 see her come in from Plymouth, in she comes, and a tall 
 young man dressed all in black gets down slowly from the 
 roof, and stands looking about very queerly. 
 
 " ' Bain't you going no further, sir ?' says the guard to 
 him very civil, as he locked the bags in ; ' only allows us 
 three minutes and a half ' for the young man seemed as 
 if he did not care what time it was. 
 
 " ' No. I can't go home,' says he, as if nothing mat- 
 tered to him. I was handing up my things, to get up 
 myself, when the tone of his voice took me all of a heap. 
 
 " ' What, Master Tom !' says I, going up to him. 
 
 " * Who are you ?' says he. ' Master Tom, indeed !' 
 
HOME AND FOREIGN 437 
 
 For I had this queer sort of hat on and cloak, like a 
 blessed foreigner. 
 
 " Well, when I told him who I was he did not seem at 
 all as he used to be, but as if I had done him a great in- 
 jury ; and as for his luggage, it would have gone on with 
 the coach if the guard had not called out about it. 
 
 " * Come in here,' he says to me as if I was a dog, him 
 that was always so well-spoken and polite! And he 
 turned sharp into the Old London Inn, leaving all his 
 luggage on the stones outside. 
 
 " ' Private sitting-room and four candles !' he called out, 
 marching up the stairs, and making me a sign to follow 
 him. Everybody seemed to know him there, and I told 
 them to fetch his things in. 
 
 " ' No fire ! Hot enough already. Put the candles 
 down and go,' said he to the waiter ; and then he locked 
 the door and threw the key upon the table. It takes a 
 good deal to frighten me, miss, but I assure you I was 
 trembling, for I never saw such a pair of eyes not furious, 
 but so desperate ; and I should have been but a baby in 
 his hands, for he is bigger than even his father was. Then 
 he pulled out a newspaper and spread it among the can- 
 dles. 
 
 " * Now, you man of Perlycross,' he cried, ' you that 
 teach the boys, who are going to be grave-robbers, is this 
 true, or is it all a cursed lie?' Excuse me telling you, miss, 
 exactly as he said it. ' The Lord in heaven help me, I think 
 I shall go mad unless you can tell me it is all a wicked lie.' 
 Up and down the room he walked as if the boards would 
 sink under him, while I was at my wits' ends, as you may 
 well suppose, miss. 
 
 " ' I have never heard a word of any of this, Master 
 Tom,' I said, as soon as I had read it ; for it was all about 
 something that came on at Perliton before the magistrates 
 last Wednesday. ' I have been away in foreign parts.' 
 
 " Miss Nicie, he changed to me from that moment. I 
 had not said a word about how long I was away, or any- 
 thing whatever to deceive him. But he looked at my hat 
 that was lying on a chair, and my cloak that was still on 
 my back, as much as to say, * I ought to have known it ;' 
 and then he said, * Give me your hand, Old Jakes. I beg 
 
438 PERLYCROSS 
 
 your pardon a thousand times. What a fool I must be to 
 think you would ever have allowed it !' 
 
 " This put me in a very awkward hole, for I was bound 
 to acknowledge that I had been here when the thing he 
 was so wild about was done. But I let him go on and 
 have his raving out. For men are pretty much the same 
 as boys ; though expecting of their own way more, which 
 I try to take out of the young ones. But a loud singing 
 out and a little bit of stamping brings them into more 
 sense of where they are. 
 
 " * I landed at Plymouth this morning,' he said, ' after 
 getting a letter, which had been I don't know where, to 
 tell me that my dear father, the best man that ever lived, 
 was dead. I got leave immediately, and came home to 
 comfort my mother and sister, and to attend to all that 
 was needful. I went into the coffee-room before the 
 coach was ready, and taking up the papers, I find this ! 
 They talk of it as if it was a thing well known a case of 
 great interest in the county ; a mystery they call it, a 
 very lively thing to talk about The great Perlycross 
 Mystery, in big letters, cried at every corner, made a fine 
 joke of in every dirty pot-house. It seems to have been 
 going on for months. Perhaps it has killed my mother 
 and my sister. It would soon kill me if I were there and 
 could do nothing.' 
 
 " Here I found a sort of opening ; for the tears rolled 
 down his face as he thought of you, Miss Nicie, and your 
 dear mamma ; and the rage in his heart seemed to turn into 
 grief, and he sat down in one of the trumpery chairs that 
 they make nowadays, and it sprawled and squeaked under 
 him, being such an uncommon fine young man in trouble. 
 So I went up to him and stood before him, and lifted his 
 hands from his face, as I had done many's the time when 
 he was a little fellow, and broke his nose perhaps in his 
 bravery. And then he looked up at me quite mild, and 
 said: 
 
 " * I believe I am a brute, Jakes. But isn't this enough 
 to make me one ?' 
 
 " I stayed with him all night, miss, for he would not go to 
 bed, and he wouldn't have nothing for to eat or drink, and 
 I was afraid to leave him so. But I got him at last to 
 
HOME AND FOREIGN 439 
 
 smoke a bit of my tobacco ; and that seemed to make him 
 look at things a little better. I told him all I knew, and 
 what I had been to Spain for, and how you and her lady- 
 ship were trying bravely to bear the terrible will of the 
 Lord ; and then I coaxed him all I could to come along of 
 me, and help you to bear it. But he said : ' I might take 
 him for a coward, if I chose ; but come to Walderscourt 
 he wouldn't, and face his mother and sister he couldn't 
 until he had cleared off this terrible disgrace.' " 
 
 "He is frightfully obstinate, he always was," said 
 Nicie, who had listened to his tale with streaming eyes; 
 " but it would be such a comfort to us both to have him 
 here. What has become of him ? Where is he now ?" 
 
 " That is the very thing I dare not tell you, miss, be- 
 cause he made me swear to keep it to myself. By good 
 rights, I ought to have told you nothing ; but you man- 
 aged so to work it out of me. I would not come away 
 from him till I knew where he would be, because he was 
 in such a state of mind. But I softened him down a good 
 bit, I believe, and he might take a turn if you were to write, 
 imploring of him. I will take care that he gets it, for he 
 made me promise to write and let him know exactly how 
 I found things here, after being away so long. But he is 
 that bitter against this place that it will take a great deal 
 to bring him here. You must work on his love for his 
 mother, Miss Nicie, and his pity for both of you. That 
 is the only thing that touches him. And say that it is no 
 fault of Perlycross, but strangers altogether." 
 
 " You shall have my letter before the postman comes, 
 so that you may send it with your own. What a good 
 friend you have been to us, dear Jakes ! My mother's 
 heart would break at last if she knew Tom was in Eng- 
 land, and would not come first of all to her. I can scarcely 
 understand it. To me it seems so unnatural." 
 
 " Well, miss, you can never tell by yourself how other 
 people will take things not even your own brother. And 
 I think he will soon come round, Miss Nicie. According 
 to my opinion, it was the first shock of the thing, and the 
 way he got it, that drove him out of his mind a'most. 
 Maybe he judges you by himself, and fancies it would 
 only make you worse to see him with this disgrace upon 
 
440 PERLYCROSS 
 
 him. For that's what he can't get out of his head ; and 
 it would be a terrible meeting for my lady, with all the 
 pride she hath in her. I reckon 'tis the Spanish blood 
 that does it, Englishman as he is, all over. But never 
 fear, Miss Nicie, we'll fetch him here, between the two of 
 us, afore we are much older. He hath always been loving 
 in his nature, and love will drive the anger out." 
 
CHAPTER XLI 
 THE PRIDE OF LIFE 
 
 HARVEY TREMLETT kept his promise not to leave the' 
 neighbourhood until the result of the grievous injury 
 done to Frank Gilham should be known. Another war- 
 rant against him might be issued for that fierce assault, 
 and he had made up his mind to stand a trial, whatever 
 the* issue might be. What he feared most, and would 
 have fled from, was a charge of running contraband goods, 
 which might have destroyed a thriving trade, and sent him 
 and his colleagues across the seas. Rough and savage as 
 he became (when his violent temper was provoked), and 
 scornful of home-life and quiet labour, these and other far 
 from exemplary traits were mainly the result of his roving 
 habits, and the coarse and lawless company into which he 
 had fallen. And it tended little to his edification that he 
 exercised lordship over them in virtue of superior strength. 
 
 But his nature was rather wild than brutal ; in its depths 
 were sparks and flashes of manly generosity, and even 
 warmth of true affection, for the few who had been kind to 
 him if they took him the right way of his stubborn grain. 
 He loved his only daughter Zip, although ashamed of 
 showing it ; and he was very proud of his lineage and the 
 ancient name of Tremlett. Thus Mr. Penniloe had taken 
 unawares the straightest road to his good-will by adopting 
 the waif as an inmate of his house, and treating her, not 
 as a servant, but a child. That Zip should be a lady, as 
 the daughters of that Norman race had been for genera- 
 tions, was the main ambition of her father's life. He had 
 seen no possibility of it ; and here was almost a surety of 
 it unless she herself threw away the chance. 
 
 E-ather a pretty scene was toward for those who are 
 fond of humanity, at the ruined Tremlett mill, on the 
 19* 
 
442 PEELYCROSS 
 
 morning of Saint David's Day. Harvey had taken to this 
 retreat and a very lonely home it was for sundry good 
 reasons of his own, the most important of which was not 
 intrusted even to his daughter or the revered and beloved 
 parson. This was to prepare a refuge and a storehouse 
 for Free-trade, more convenient, better placed, larger, and 
 much safer than the now notorious fastness of Blackmarsh. 
 Here were old buildings and mazy webs of wandering; 
 soft cliff was handy, dark wood and rushing waters, tan- 
 gled lanes, furzy corners, nooks of overhanging, depths of 
 in-and-out fantiques of Nature when she does not wish 
 man to know everything about her. The solid firm, di- 
 rected by Timber-legged Dick, were prepared to pay a fine 
 price, as for a paper-mill, for this last feudal tenure of the 
 Tremlett race. 
 
 But the last male member of that much-discounted 
 stock (or, at any rate, the last now producible in court 
 without criminal procedure) had refused to consider the 
 most liberal offers, even of a fine run of Free-trade, all to 
 himself as still it is for the alienation in fee-simple of 
 this last sod of hereditament. For good consideration he 
 would grant a lease, which Blickson might prepare for 
 them ; but he would be something the nadir of benedic- 
 tion if he didn't knock down any man who would try to 
 make him rob his daughter. The league of Free-traders 
 came into his fine feelings, and took the mills and prem- 
 ises on a good elastic lease. But the landlord must put 
 them into suitable condition. 
 
 This he was doing now, with technical experience, en- 
 deavouring at the same time to discharge some little of his 
 new parental duties. Jem Kettel found it very hard that 
 though allowed to work he was not encouraged (as he 
 used to be) to participate in the higher moments. " You 
 clear out when my darter cometh. You be no fit com- 
 pany for she." Jem could not see it, for he knew how 
 good he was. 
 
 But the big man had taken a much larger turn. He 
 was not going to alter his own course of life ; that was quite 
 good enough for him. And really in those days people 
 heard so much of " Reform, Reform," dinged forever in 
 their ears, that any one at all inclined to think for himself 
 
THE PRIDE OF LIFE 443 
 
 had a tendency towards backsliding. None the less 
 must he urge others to reform, as the manner has been 
 of all ages. 
 
 Tremlett's present anxiety was to provide his daughter 
 with good advice and principles so exalted that there 
 might be no further peril of her becoming like himself. 
 From him she was to learn the value of proper pride and 
 dignity, of behaving in her new position as if she had 
 been born in it, of remembering distant forefathers, but 
 forgetting her present father at any rate, as an example. 
 To this end he made her study the great ancestral Bible 
 not the Canonical books, however, so much as the covers 
 and fly-leaves the wholly uninspired records of the 
 Tremlett family. These she perused with eager eyes, 
 thinking more highly of herself and laying in large store 
 of pride, a bitter stock to start with, even when the course 
 of youth is fair. 
 
 But whether for evil or for good, it was pleasant to see 
 the rough man sitting, this first day of the spring-time, 
 teaching his little daughter how sadly he and she had 
 come down in the world. Zip had been spared from her 
 regular lessons, by way of a treat, to dine with her father, 
 before going as was now arranged to the care of a lady 
 at Exeter. Jem Kettel had been obliged to dine upon in- 
 ferior victuals, and at the less fashionable hour of 11 A.M. ; 
 for it was not to be known that he was there, lest atten- 
 tion should be drawn to the job they were about. Trem- 
 lett had washed himself very finely, in honor of this great 
 occasion, and donned a new red woollen jacket, following 
 every curve and chunk of his bulky chest and rugged 
 arms. He had finished his dinner, and was in good spir- 
 its, with money enough from his wrestling-prize to last 
 him until the next good run, and a pipe of choice tobacco 
 (such as could scarcely be got at Exeter), issuing soft 
 rings of turquoise tint to the black oak beams above. The 
 mill-wheel was gone ; but the murmur of the brook, and 
 the tinkle of the trickle from the shattered trough, and 
 the singing of birds in their love-time came, like the wav- 
 ing of a branch that sends the sunshine in. 
 
 The dark-haired child was in the window-seat, with her 
 Sunday frock on, and her tresses ribboned back, and her 
 
444 PEELYCROSS 
 
 knees wide apart to make a lap for the Bible, upon which 
 her great dark eyes were fixed. Puffs of the March wind 
 now and then came in, where the lozenges of glass were 
 gone, and lifted loose tussocks of her untrussed hair, and 
 made the sunshine quiver on the worn planks of the floor. 
 But the girl was used to breezes, and her heart was in 
 her lesson. 
 
 " Hunderds of 'em, more than all the kings and queens 
 of England !" she said, with her very clear voice trem- 
 bling, and her pointed fingers making hop-scotch in and out 
 the lines of genealogy. " What can Fay Penniloe show 
 like that ? But was any of 'em colonels, father ?" 
 
 " Maight a' been, if 'em would a' corned down to it. 
 But there wasn't no colonels in the old times, I've a' 
 heered. Us was afore that sort of thing were found out." 
 
 " To be sure. I might have knowed. But was any of 
 'em sirs, the same as Sir Thomas Waldron was ?" 
 
 " Scores of 'ein, when they chose to come down to it. 
 But they kept that, most ways, for the younger boys 
 among 'em. The father of the family was bound to be a 
 lord." 
 
 " Oh, father ! Real lords ? And me to have never seed 
 one! What hath become of the laws of the land? But 
 why bain't you a real lord, the same as they was ?" 
 
 " Us never cared to keep it up," said the last of the 
 visible Tremletts, after pondering over this difficult point. 
 " You see, Zip, it's only the women cares about that. 'Tis 
 no more to a man than the puff of this here pipe." 
 
 "But right is right, father. And it soundeth fine. 
 Was any of them earls and marquises and dukes, and 
 whatever it is that comes over that ?" 
 
 " They was everything they cared to be. Barons and 
 counts and dukes, spelled the same as duck, and holy em- 
 pires and holy sepulchres. But do 'e, my dear, get my 
 baccy-box." 
 
 What summit of sovereignty they would have reached 
 if the lecture had proceeded no one knows ; for as Zip, 
 like a princess, was stepping in and out among the holes 
 of the floor, with her father's tin box, the old door shook 
 with a sharp and heavy knock ; and the child, with her 
 face lit up by the glory of her birth, marched away to 
 
THE PRIDE OF LIFE 445 
 
 open it. This she accomplished with some trouble, for 
 the timber was ponderous and rickety. 
 
 A tall young man strode in as if the place belonged to 
 him, and said, " I want to see Harvey Tremlett." 
 
 " Here be I. Who be you ?" 
 
 The wrestler sat where he was, and did not even nod 
 his head ; for his rule was always to take people just as 
 they chose to take him. But the visitor cared little for 
 his politeness or his rudeness. 
 
 " I am Sir Thomas Waldron's son. If I came in upon 
 you rudely, I am sorry for it. It is not what I often do. 
 But just now I am not a bit like myself." 
 
 " Sir, I could take my oath of that, for your father was 
 a gen'leman. Zippy, dust a cheer, my dear." 
 
 " No, young lady, you shall not touch it," said the 
 young man, with a long stride, and a real bow to the 
 comely child. " I am fitter to lift chairs than you are." 
 
 This pleased the father mightily ; and he became quite 
 gracious when the young Sir Thomas said to him, while 
 glancing with manifest surprise at his quick and intelli- 
 gent daughter : 
 
 " Mr. Tremlett, I wish to speak to you of a matter too 
 sad to be talked about in the presence of young ladies." 
 
 This was not said by way of flattery or conciliation; 
 for Zip, with her proud step and steadfast gaze, was of a 
 very different type from that of the common cottage-lass. 
 She was already at the door when her father said : 
 
 "Go you down to the brook, my dear, and see how 
 many nestesses you can find. Then come back and say 
 good-bye to daddy afore go home to passonage. Must be 
 back afore dark, you know." 
 
 " What a beautiful child !" Young Waldron had been 
 looking with amazement at her. " I know what the Trem- 
 letts used to be ; but I had no idea they could be like 
 that. I never saw such eyes in all my life." 
 
 " Her be well enough," replied Tremlett, shortly. " And 
 now, sir, what is it as I can do for you ? I knows zum- 
 mat of the troubles on your mind ; and if I can do 'e any 
 good, I wull." 
 
 " Two things I want of you. First, your word of hon- 
 or and I know what you Tremletts have been in better 
 
446 PEELYCROSS 
 
 days that you had nothing to do with that cursed and 
 devilish crime in our church-yard." 
 
 " Sir," answered Tremlett, standing up for the first time 
 in this interview, " I give you my oath by that book yon'- 
 ner that I knows nort about it. We be coom low ; but 
 us bain't zunk to that yet." 
 
 He met Sir Thomas Waldron, eye to eye, and the young 
 man took his plastered hand, and knew that it was not a 
 liar's. 
 
 " Next, I want your good advice," said the visitor, sit- 
 ting down by him, " and your help, if you will give it. 
 I will not speak of money first, because I can see what 
 you are. But to follow it up there must be money. Shall 
 I tell you what I shall be glad to do without risk of of- 
 fending you? Very well; I don't care a fig for money 
 in a matter such as this. Money won't give you back 
 your father, or your mother, or anybody, when they are 
 gone away from you. But it it may help you to do your 
 duty to them. At present I have no money to speak of, 
 because I have been with my regiment, and there it goes 
 away like smoke. But I can get any quantity almost by 
 going to our lawyers. If you like, and will see to it, I 
 will put a thousand pounds in your hands for you to be 
 able to work things up ; and another thousand if you 
 make anything of it. Don't be angry with me. I don't 
 want to bribe you. It is only for the sake of doing right. 
 I have seen a great deal of the world. Can you ever get 
 what is right without paying for it ?" 
 
 " No, sir, you can't. And not always if you do. But 
 you be the right sort, and no mistake. Tell you what, 
 Sir Thomas, I won't take a farden of your money, 'cos it 
 would be a' robbin' of you. I han't got the brains for 
 gooin' under other folk, like. Generally they does that to 
 me. But I know an oncommon sharp young fellow, 
 Jemmy Kettel is his name. A chap as "can goo and come 
 fifty taimes, a'most, while I be a toornin' round wance ; a' 
 knoweth a'most every rogue for fifty maile around. And 
 if you like to goo so far as a ten-pun' note upon him, I'll 
 zee that a' doth his best wi' un. But never a farden over 
 what I said." 
 
 " I am very much obliged to you. Here it is ; and 
 
THE PKIDE OF LIFE 447 
 
 another next week, if he requires it. I hate the sight of 
 money while this thing lasts, because I know that money 
 is at the bottom of it. Tremlett, you are a noble fellow ; 
 your opinion is worth something. Now don't you agree 
 with me in thinking that, after all, it comes to this (every- 
 thing else has been proved rubbish) : the doctors are at 
 the bottom of it ?" 
 
 " Well, sir, I am afeared they be. I never knowed nort 
 of 'em, thank the Lord. But I did hear they was oncom- 
 mon greedy to cut up a poor brother of mine as coom to 
 trouble. I was out o' country then ; or, by gosh, I wud 
 a' found them a job or two to do at home." 
 
 The young man closed his lips and thought. Tremlett's 
 opinion, although of little value, was all that was needed 
 to clinch his own. " I'll go and put a stop to it at once," 
 he muttered ; and after a few more words with the wrest- 
 ler, he set his long legs going rapidly, and his forehead 
 frowning, in the direction of that JEsculapian fortress 
 known as the Old Barn. 
 
 By this time Dr. Fox was in good health again, recover- 
 ing his sprightly tone of mind and magnanimous self-con- 
 fidence. His gratitude to Frank Gilham now was as keen 
 and strong as could be wished ; for the patient's calmness 
 and fortitude and very fine constitution had secured his 
 warm affection by affording him such a field for skill and 
 such a signal triumph as seldom yet have blessed a heart 
 at once medical and surgical. Whenever Dr. Gronow 
 came, and dwelling on the ingenious structure designed 
 and wrought by Jemmy's skill, poured forth kind ap- 
 proval and the precious applause of an expert, the youth- 
 ful doctor's delight was like a young mother's pride in her 
 baby. And it surged within him all the more because he 
 could not as the mother does inundate all the world 
 with it. Wiser, too, than that sweet parent, he had re- 
 fused most stubbornly to risk the duration of his joy or 
 imperil the precious subject by any ardour of excitement 
 or flutter of the system. 
 
 The patient lay like a well-set specimen in the box of a 
 naturalist, carded and trussed and pinned and fibred, 
 bound to maintain one immutable plane. His mother 
 hovered round him with perpetual presence, as a house- 
 
448 PEKLYCROSS 
 
 martin flits round her fallen nestling, circling about that 
 one pivot of the world, back for a twittering moment, 
 again sweeping the air for a sip of him. 
 
 But the one he would have given all the world to have 
 a sip of, even in a dream he must not see. Such was the 
 stern decree of the power, even more ruthless than that to 
 which it punctually despatches us ^Esculapius, less man- 
 suete to human tears than vEacus. To put it more plainly, 
 and therefore better, Master Frank did not even know that 
 Miss Christie was on the premises. 
 
 Christie was sitting by the window, thrown out where 
 the barn door used to be where the cart was backed up 
 with the tithe-sheaves golden, but now the gilded pills 
 were rolled, and the only wholesome bit of metal was the 
 sunshine on her hair when she saw a large figure come 
 in at the gate (which was still of the fine agricultural sort), 
 and a shudder ran down her shapely back. With femi- 
 nine speed of apprehension she felt that it could be one 
 man only : the man she had heard so much of, a monster 
 of size and ferocity, the man who had " concussed " her 
 brother's head, and shattered an arm of great interest to 
 her. That she ran to the door, which was wide to let the 
 spring in, and clapped it to the post speaks volumes for 
 her courage. 
 
 "You can't come in here, Harvey Tremlett !" she cried, 
 with a little foot set, as a forlorn hope, against the bottom 
 of the door, which (after the manner of its kind) refused 
 to go home when called upon ; " you have done harm 
 enough, and I am astonished that you should dare to im- 
 agine we would let you in." 
 
 " But I am not Harvey Tremlett at all. I am only Tom 
 Waldron. And I don't see why I should be shut out 
 when I have done no harm." 
 
 The young lady was not to be caught with chaff. She 
 took a little peep through the chink, having learned that 
 art in a very sweet manner of late ; and then she threw 
 open the door and showed herself, a fine figure of blushes. 
 
 " Miss Fox, I am sure," said the visitor, smiling, and 
 lifting his hat as he had learned to do abroad. " But I 
 won't come in, against orders, whatever the temptation 
 may be." 
 
THE PRIDE OF LIFE 449 
 
 "We don't know any harm of you, and you may come 
 in," answered Chris, who was never long taken aback. 
 " Your sister is a dear friend of mine. I am sorry for be- 
 ing so rude to you." 
 
 Waldron sat down, and was cheerful for a while, greatly 
 pleased with his young entertainer and her simple account 
 of the state of things there. But when she inquired for 
 his mother and sister, the cloud returned, and he meant 
 business. 
 
 " You are likely to know more than I do," he said, " for 
 I have not been home, and cannot go there yet. I will 
 not trouble you with dark things but may I have a little 
 talk with your brother ?" 
 
 Miss Fox left the room at once and sent her brother 
 down ; and now a very strange surprise befell the sprightly 
 doctor. Sir Thomas Waldron met him with much cordi- 
 ality and warmth, for they had always been good friends, 
 though their natures were so different ; and then he de- 
 livered this fatal shot. 
 
 " I am very sorry, my dear Jemmy, but I have had to 
 make up my mind to do a thing you won't much like. I 
 know you have always thought a great deal of my sister 
 Inez, and now I am told, though I have not seen her, that 
 you are as good as engaged to her. But you must per- 
 ceive that it would never do. I could not wish for a better 
 sort of fellow, and I have the highest opinion of you. 
 Really I think that you would have made her as happy as 
 the day is long, because you are so clever and cheerful 
 and good-tempered, and and in fact I may say, good all 
 round. But you must both of you get over it. I am now 
 the head of the family, and I don't like saying it, but I 
 must. I cannot allow you to have Nicie ; and I shall for- 
 bid Nicie to think any more of you." 
 
 " What the deuce do you mean, Tom ?" asked Jemmy, 
 scarcely believing his ears. " What's up now, in the name 
 of goodness ? What on earth have you got into your pre- 
 cious noddle ?" 
 
 " Jemmy, my noddle as you call it may not be a quar- 
 ter so clever as yours ; and in fact I know it is not over- 
 bright without having the benefit of your opinion. But 
 for all that, it has some common-sense ; and it knows its 
 
450 PEELYCROSS 
 
 own mind pretty well ; and what it says, it sticks to. You 
 are- bound to take it in a friendly manner, because that is 
 how I intend it ; and you must see the good sense of it. I 
 shall be happy and proud myself to continue our friend- 
 ship. Only you must pledge your word that you will have 
 nothing more to say to my sister Inez." 
 
 " But why, Tom, why ?" Fox asked again, with increas- 
 ing wonder. He was half-inclined to laugh at the other's 
 solemn and official style, for he saw that it would be a dan- 
 gerous thing, for Waldron's colour was rising. " What ob- 
 jection have you discovered, or somebody else found out 
 for you ? Surely you are dreaming, Tom !" 
 
 " No, I am not. And I shall not let you. I should al- 
 most have thought that you might have known without 
 my having to tell you. If you think twice you will see 
 at once that reason and common -sense and justice and 
 knowledge of the world and the feeling of a gentleman 
 all compel you to to knock off, if I may so express it. I 
 can only say that if you can't see it, everybody else can at 
 a glance." 
 
 " No doubt I am the thickest of the thick though it 
 may not be the general opinion. But do give me ever 
 such a little hint, Tom something of a twinkle in this 
 frightful fog." 
 
 " Well, you are a doctor, aren't you now ?" 
 
 " Certainly I am, and proud of it. Only wish I was a 
 better one." 
 
 " Very well. The doctors have dug up my father. And 
 no doctor ever shall marry his daughter." 
 
 The absurdity of this was of a very common kind as 
 the fallacy is of the commonest ; and there was nothing 
 very rare to laugh at. But Fox did the worst thing he 
 could have done he laughed till his sides were aching. 
 Too late he perceived that he had been as scant of discre- 
 tion as the other was of logic. 
 
 " That's how you take it, is it, sir ?" young Waldron 
 cried, read^i to knock him down if he could have done 
 so without cowardice. " A lucky thing for you that you 
 are on the sick - list, or I'd soon make you laugh the 
 other side of your mouth, you guffawing jackanapes. If 
 you can laugh at what was done to my father, it proves 
 
THE PRIDE OF LIFE 451 
 
 that you are capable of doing it. When you have done 
 with your idiot grin I'll just ask you one thing : never 
 let me set eyes on your sniggering, grinning, pill-box of a 
 face again." 
 
 " That you may be quite sure you never shall do," an- 
 swered Fox, who was ashy pale with anger, " until you 
 have begged my pardon humbly, and owned yourself a 
 thick-headed, hot-headed fool. I am sorry that your fa- 
 ther should have such a ninny of a cad to come after 
 him. Everybody acknowledges that the late Sir Thomas 
 was a gentleman." 
 
 The present Sir Thomas would not trust himself near 
 such a fellow for another moment, but flung out of the 
 house without his hat, while Fox proved that he was no 
 coward by following and throwing it after him. And the 
 other young man proved the like of himself by not turn- 
 ing round and smashing him. 
 
CHAPTER XLII 
 HIS LAST BIVOUAC 
 
 " HAVE I done wrong ?" young Waldron asked himself, 
 as he strode down the hill with his face still burning, and 
 that muddy hat on. u Most fellows would have knocked 
 him down. I hope that nice girl heard nothing of the 
 row. The walls are jolly thick, that's one good thing as 
 thick as my poor head, I dare say. But when the fellow 
 dared to laugh ! Good heavens, what are people coming 
 to ? I dare say I am a hot-headed fool, though I kept my 
 temper wonderfully ; and to tell me I am not a gentleman ! 
 Well, I don't care a rap who sees me now, for they must 
 hear of this affair at Walderscourt. I think the best thing 
 that I can do is to go and see old Penniloe. He is as 
 honest as he is clear-headed. If he says I'm wrong I'll 
 believe it. And I'll take his advice about other things." 
 
 This was the wisest resolution of his life, inasmuch as 
 it proved to be the happiest. Mr. Penniloe had just fin- 
 ished afternoon work with his pupils, and they were set- 
 ting off Pike with his rod to the long pool up the mead- 
 ows, which always fished best with a cockle up it ; Peck- 
 over for a long steeple - chase, and Mopuss to look for 
 chalcedonies and mosses among the cleves of Hagdon 
 Hill, for nature had nudged him into that high bliss 
 which a child has in routing out his father's pockets. The 
 parson, who felt a warm regard for a very fine specimen 
 of hot youth, who was at once the son of his oldest friend 
 and his own son in literature though Minerva sat cross- 
 legged at that travail he, Mr. Penniloe, was in a gentle 
 mood, as he seldom failed to be ; moreover, in a fine mood, 
 as behooves a man who has been dealing with great authors 
 and walking as in a crystal world, so different from our 
 turbid fog. 
 
HIS LAST BIVOUAC 453 
 
 To him the young man poured forth his troubles, deeper 
 than some classic woes, too substantial to be laid by any 
 triple cast of dust. And then he confessed his flagrant 
 insult to a rising member of the great profession. 
 
 " You have behaved very badly according to your own 
 account," Mr. Penniloe said with much decision, knowing 
 that his own weakness was to let people off too easily, 
 and feeling that duty to his ancient friend compelled him 
 to chastise his son ; " but your bad behaviour to Jemmy 
 Fox has some excuse in quick temper provoked. Your 
 conduct towards your mother and sister is ten times worse, 
 because it is mean." 
 
 " I don't see how you can make that out." Young 
 Waldron would have flown into a fury with any other man 
 who had said this. Even as it was he stood up with a 
 sullen countenance, glancing at the door. 
 
 " It is mean in this way," continued the parson, leaving 
 him to go if he thought fit, " that you have thought more of 
 yourself than them. Because it would have hurt your pride 
 to go to them, with this wrong still unredressed, you have 
 chosen to forget the comfort your presence must have af- 
 forded them, and the bitter pain they must feel at hearing 
 that you have returned and avoided them. In a like case 
 your father would not have acted so." 
 
 Waldron sat down again, and his great frame trembled. 
 He covered his face with his hands, and tears shone upon 
 his warted knuckles, for he had not yet lost all those ex- 
 uberances of youth. 
 
 " I never thought of that," he muttered ; " it never oc- 
 curred to me in that way. Though Jakes said something 
 like it. But he could not put it as you do. I see that I 
 have been a cad, as Jemmy Fox declared I was." 
 
 "Jemmy is older, and he should have known better than 
 to say anything of the sort. He must have lost his tem- 
 per sadly, because he could never have thought it. You 
 have not been what he calls a cad ; but in your haste and 
 misery you came to the wrong decision. I have spoken 
 strongly, Tom, my boy more strongly, perhaps, than I 
 should have done. But your mother is in weak health 
 now, and you are all in all to her." 
 
 " The best you can show me to be is a brute, and I am 
 
454 PERLYCROSS 
 
 not sure that that is not worse than a cad. I ought to be 
 kicked every inch of the way home, and I'll go there as 
 fast as if I was." 
 
 "That won't do at all," replied the curate, smiling. 
 " To go is your duty, but not to rush in like a thunder- 
 bolt and amaze them. They have been so anxious about 
 your return that it must be broken very gently to them. 
 If you wish it, and can wait a little while, I will go with 
 you, and prepare them for it." 
 
 " Sir, if you only would but no, I don't deserve it. It 
 is a great deal too much to expect of you." 
 
 " What is the time ? Oh, a quarter-past four. At half- 
 past I have to baptize a child well advanced in his seventh 
 year, whose parents have made it the very greatest per- 
 sonal favour to me to allow him to be * crassed,' as they 
 express it. And I only discovered their neglect last week! 
 Who am I to find fault with any one ? If you don't mind 
 waiting for about half an hour I will come back for you, 
 and meanwhile Mrs. Muggridge will make your hat look 
 better; Master Jemmy must have lost his temper too, I 
 am afraid. Good-bye for the moment ; unless I am punct- 
 ual to the minute, I know too well what will happen 
 they will all be off. For they * can't zee no vally in it,' 
 as they say. Alas, alas, and we are wild about missions 
 to Hindoos and Hottentots !" 
 
 As soon 'as Mr. Penniloe had left the house, the youth, 
 who had been lowered in his own esteem, felt a very 
 strong desire to go after him. Possibly this was in- 
 creased by the sad, reproachful gaze of Thyatira, who, as 
 an old friend, longed to hear all about him, but was too 
 well-mannered to ask questions. Cutting all consideration 
 short which is often the best thing to do with it he put 
 on his fairly re-established hat, and cared not a penny 
 whether Mrs. Channing, the baker's wife, was taking a 
 look into the street or not ; or even Mrs. Tapscott, with 
 the rosemary over her window. 
 
 Then he turned in at the lych-gate, thinking of the day 
 when his father's body had lain there (as the proper thing 
 was for a body to do), and then he stood in the church- 
 yard, where the many ways of death divided. Three main 
 paths, all well gravelled, ran among those who had toddled 
 
HIS LAST BIVOUAC 455 
 
 in the time of childhood down them with wormwood 
 and stock-gilly flowers in their hands ; and then sauntered 
 along them with hands in pockets, and eyes for the maidens 
 over tombstone-heads ; and then had come limping along 
 on their staffs ; and now were having all this done for 
 them without knowing anything about it. 
 
 None of these ways was at all to his liking. Peace 
 at least in death was there, green turf and the rounded 
 bank, gray stone, and the unhousehold name, to be made 
 out by a grandchild perhaps, proud of skill in ancient 
 letters, prouder still of a pocket-knife. What a faint 
 scratch on soft stone! And yet the character far and 
 away stronger than that of the lettered times that follow it. 
 
 Young Waldron was not of a morbid cast, neither was 
 his retrospective, as (for the good of mankind) is or- 
 dained to those who have the world before them. He 
 turned to the right by a track across the grass, followed 
 the bend of the church-yard wall, and fearing to go any 
 farther, lest he should stumble on his father's outraged 
 grave, sat down upon a gap of the gray enclosure. This 
 gap had been caused by the sweep of tempest that went 
 up the valley at the climax of the storm. The wall being 
 low, had taken little harm ; but the great west gable of 
 the Abbey had been smitten, and swung on its back as a 
 trap-do.or swings upon its hinges. Thick flint structure and 
 time-worn mullion, massive buttress and deep foundation, 
 all had gone flat and turned their fangs up, rending a 
 chasm in the tattered earth. But this dark chasm was 
 hidden from view by a pile of loose rubble and chunks of 
 flint that had rattled down when the gable fell, and strik- 
 ing the cross-wall had lodged thereon, breaking the cope 
 in places, and hanging (with tangles of ivy and tufts of 
 toad-flax) over the interval of wall and ruin as a snow-drift 
 overhangs a ditch. 
 
 Here the young man sat down, as if any sort of place 
 would do for him. The gap in the wall was no matter to 
 him, but happened to suit his downcast mood and the 
 misery of the moment. Here he might sit and wait until 
 Mr. Penniloe had got through a job superior to the burial- 
 service, because no one could cut you in pieces directly 
 afterwards without being hanged for it. He could see 
 
456 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 Mr. Penniloe's black stick, standing like a little parson 
 for some of them are proud of such resemblance in the 
 great south porch of the church, and thereby he knew 
 that he could not miss his friend. As he lifted his eyes 
 to the ancient tower, and the black yew-tree still stead- 
 fast, and the four vanes (never of one opinion as to the 
 direction of the wind in anything less than half a gale), 
 and the jackdaws come home prematurely, after digging 
 up broad-beans, to settle their squabble about their nests ; 
 and then as he lowered his gaze to the tombstones, and 
 the new foundation- arches, and other labours of a parish 
 now so hateful to him, heavy depression and crushing 
 sense of the wrath of God against his race fell upon his 
 head, as the ruin behind him had fallen on its own 
 foundations. 
 
 He felt like an old man fain to die, when time is gone 
 weary and empty. What was the use of wealth to him, 
 of bodily strength, of bright ambition to make his country 
 proud of him, even of love of dearest friends and wedded 
 bliss if such there were and children who would 
 honour him? All must be under one black ban of mystery 
 insoluble ; never could there be one hearty smile, one gay 
 thought, one soft delight; but ever the view of his 
 father's dear old figure, desecrated, mangled, perhaps lect- 
 ured on. He could not think twice of that, but groaned: 
 " The Lord in heaven be my help ! The Lord deliver me 
 from this life !" 
 
 He was all but delivered from this life happy or 
 wretched, it was all but gone. For as he flung his body 
 back, suiting the action to his agony of mind crash ! 
 went the pile of jagged flint, the hummocks of dead mor- 
 tar, and the wattle of shattered ivy. He cast himself for- 
 ward just in time, as all that had carried him broke and 
 fell, churning and grinding and clashing together, send- 
 ing up a cloud of powdered lime. 
 
 So sudden was the rush that his hat went with it, leav- 
 ing his brown curls grimed with dust, and his head for a 
 moment in a dazed condition, as of one who has leaped 
 from an earthquake. He stood with his back to the wall, 
 and the muscles of his great legs quivering, after the 
 strain of their spring for dear life. Then scarcely yet 
 
HIS LAST BIVOUAC 457 
 
 conscious of his hair-breadth escape, he descried Mr. 
 Penniloe coming from the porch, and hastened without 
 thought to meet him. 
 
 " Billy-jack !" said the clergyman, smiling, yet doubtful 
 whether he ought to smile. " They insisted on calling 
 that child ' Billy-jack.' * William-John ' they would not 
 hear of. I could not object, for it was too late ; and there 
 is nothing in it uncanonical But I scarcely felt as I 
 should have done when I had to say : ' Billy-jack, I 
 baptize thee,' etc. I hope they did not do it to try me. 
 Now the Devonshire mind is very deep and subtle, 
 though generally supposed to be the simplest of the sim- 
 ple. But what has become of your hat, my dear boy? 
 Surely Thyatira has had time enough to clean it." 
 
 " She cleaned it beautifully. But it was waste of time. 
 It has gone down a hole. Come, and I will show you. I 
 wonder my head did not go with it. What a queer place 
 this has become !" 
 
 " A hole ! What hole can there be about here ?" Mr. 
 Penniloe asked, as he followed the young man. " The 
 downfall of the Abbey has made a heap rather than what 
 can be called a hole. But I declare you are right ! Why, 
 I never saw this before ; and I looked along here with 
 Haddon not more than a week ago. Don't come too 
 near ; it is safe enough for me, but you are like Neptune, 
 a shaker of the earth. Alas for our poor ivy !" 
 
 He put on his glasses, and peered through the wall- 
 gap into the flint -strewn depth outside. Part of the 
 ruins, just dislodged, had rolled into a pit, or some deep 
 excavation, the crown of which had broken in, probably 
 when the gable fell. The remnant of the church-yard wall 
 was still quite sound, and evidently stood away from all 
 that had gone on outside. 
 
 " Be thankful to God for your escape," Mr. Penniloe said, 
 looking back at the youth. " It has indeed been a narrow 
 one. If you had been carried down there head-foremost, 
 even your strong frame would have been crushed like an 
 egg-shell." 
 
 " I am not sure about that ; but I don't want to try it. 
 I think I can see a good piece of my hat, and I am not 
 going to be done out of it. Will you be kind enough, sir, 
 20 
 
458 PEELYCROSS 
 
 to wait while I go round by the stile and get in at that 
 end? You see that it is easy to get down there, but a 
 frightful job from this side. You won't mind waiting, 
 will you, sir ?" 
 
 " If you will take my advice," said the curate, " you 
 will be content to let well alone. It is the great lesson of 
 the age. But nobody attends to it." 
 
 The young man did not attend to it ; and for once Mr. 
 Penniloe had given bad advice, though most correct in 
 principle, and in practice, too, nine times and a half out of 
 every ten. 
 
 " Here I am, sir. Can you see me ?" Sir Thomas Wal- 
 dron shouted up the hole. " It is a queer place, and no 
 mistake. Please to stop just where you are. Then you 
 can give me notice if you see the ground likely to cave 
 in. Hollo! Why, I never saw anything like it! Here's 
 a stone arch and a tunnel beyond it, just like what you've 
 got at the rectory, only ever so much bigger. Looks as 
 if the old Abbey had butted up against it until it all got 
 blown away. If I had got a fellow down here to help me 
 I believe I could get into it. But all these chunks are in 
 the way." 
 
 " My dear young friend, it will soon be dark, and we 
 have more important things to see to. You are not at all 
 safe down there ; if the sides fell in you would never 
 come out alive." 
 
 " It has cost me a hat, and I won't be done. I can't 
 go home without a hat till dark. I am not coming up 
 till I know all about it. Do oblige me, sir, by having the 
 least little bit of patience." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe smiled. The request, as coming from such 
 a quarter, pleased him. And presently the young man be- 
 gan to fling up great lumps of clotted flint, as if they were 
 marbles, right and left. 
 
 " What a volcano you are !" cried the parson as the 
 youth in the crater stopped to breathe. "It is nothing 
 but a waste of energy. The hole won't run away, my 
 dear Tom. You had much better leave it for the proper 
 man to-morrow." 
 
 " Don't say that. I am the proper man." How true 
 his words were he had no idea. " But I hear somebody 
 
HIS LAST BIVOUAC 459 
 
 whistling. If I had only got a fellow to keep this stuff 
 back I could get on like a house on fire." 
 
 It was Pike coming back from the long pool in the 
 meadow with a pretty little dish of trout for supper. 
 His whistling was fine, as a fisherman's should be, for 
 want of something better in his mouth ; and he never got 
 over the church-yard stile without this little air of consola- 
 tion for the ghosts. 
 
 As he topped the ridge of meadow that looks down on 
 the river, Mr. Penniloe waved his hat to him over the 
 breach of tke church-yard wall ; and he, nothing loath, stuck 
 his rod into the ground, pulled off his jacket, and went 
 down to help. 
 
 " All clear now. We can slip in like a rabbit. But it 
 looks uncommonly black inside, and it seems to go a long 
 way underground !" Waldron shouted up to the clergyman. 
 " We cannot do anything without a light." 
 
 " I'll tell you what, sir," Pike chimed in ; " this passage 
 runs right into the church, I do believe." 
 
 "That is the very thing I have been thinking," an- 
 swered Mr. Penniloe. " I have heard of a tradition to that 
 effect. I should like to come down and examine it." 
 
 " Not yet, sir, if you please. There is scarcely room 
 for three. And it would be a dangerous place for you. 
 But if you could only give us something like a candle " 
 
 " Oh, I know !" the sage Pike suggested, with an an- 
 gler's quickness. " Ask him to throw us down one of the 
 four torches stuck up at the lych-gate. They burn like fury; 
 and I dare say you have got a lucifer or a Promethean." 
 
 " Not a bad idea, Pike," answered Mr. Penniloe. " I 
 believe that each of them will burn for half an hour." 
 
 Soon he returned with the driest of them from the iron 
 loop under the covered space, and this took fire very 
 heartily, being made of twisted tow soaked in resin. 
 
 " I am rather big for this job ;" said Sir Thomas, as the 
 red flame sputtered in the archway ; " perhaps you would 
 like to go first, my young friend." 
 
 " Very much obliged," replied Pike, drawing back, 
 " but I don't seem to feel myself called upon to rush into 
 the bowels of the earth among six centuries of ghosts. I 
 had better stop here, perhaps, till you come back." 
 
460 PEKLYCEOSS 
 
 "Very well. At any rate, hold my coat. It is bad enough ; 
 I don't want to make it worse. I sha'n't be long, I dare 
 say. But I am bound to see the end of it." 
 
 " Young Waldron handed his coat to Pike, and, stooping 
 his tall head with the torch well in front of him, plunged 
 into the dark arcade. Grim shadows flitted along the roof 
 as the sound of his heavy steps came back ; then the torch- 
 light vanished round a bend of wall, and nothing could 
 either be seen or heard. Mr. Penniloe, in some anxiety, 
 leaned over the breach in the church-yard fence, striving 
 to see what was under his feet, while Pike mustered cour- 
 age to stand in the archway which was of roughly chis- 
 elled stone but kept himself ready for instant flight as 
 he drew deep breaths of excitement. 
 
 By-and-by the torch came quivering back, throwing 
 flits of light along the white-flint roof; and behind it a 
 man, shaking worse than any shadow, and whiter than 
 any torchlit chalk. 
 
 " Great God !" he cried, staggering forth, and falling 
 with his hand on his heart against the steep side of the 
 pit, " as sure as there is a God in heaven, I have found 
 my father !" 
 
 " What !" cried the parson ; "Pike, see to the torch, or 
 you'll both be on fire." 
 
 In a moment he ran round by way of the stile and slid 
 into the pit without thinking of his legs, laying hold of 
 some long rasps of ivy. Pike very nimbly leaped up the 
 other side this was not the sort of hole to throw a 
 fly in. 
 
 " Give me the torch. You stay here, Tom. You have 
 had enough of it." Mr. Penniloe's breath was short be- 
 cause of the speed he had made of it. " It is my place 
 now. You stop here and get the air." 
 
 " I think it is rather my place than of any other man 
 upon the earth. Am I afraid of my own dear dad ? Fol- 
 low me, and I will show him to you." 
 
 He went with a slow step, dazed out of all wonder as 
 a man in a dream accepts everything down the dark pas- 
 sage again, and through the ice-cold air and the shivering 
 fire. Then he stopped suddenly and lowered the torch, 
 stooping his curly head in lowliness behind it ; and there, 
 
HIS LAST BIVOUAC 461 
 
 as if set down by the bearers for a rest, lay a long oaken 
 coffin. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe came to his side and gazed. At their feet 
 lay the good and true-hearted colonel, or all of him left 
 below the heavens, resting placidly, unprofaned, untouched 
 by even the hand of time ; unsullied and honourable in his 
 death as in his loyal and blameless life. 
 
 The clear light fell upon the diamond of glass (framed 
 in the oak above his face, as was often done then for the 
 last look of love), and it showed his white curls and tran- 
 quil forehead, and eyelids forever closed against all dis- 
 appointment. 
 
 His son could not speak, but sobbed and shook with 
 love and reverence and manly grief. But the clergyman, 
 with a godly joy and immortal faith and heavenly hope, 
 knelt at the foot, and lifted hands and eyes to the God of 
 heaven. 
 
 " Behold, He hath not forsaken us I His mercy is over 
 all His works. And His goodness is upon the children of 
 
CHAPTEE XLIII 
 
 TWO FINE LESSONS 
 
 AT the Old Barn that afternoon no sooner was young 
 Sir Thomas gone than remarkable things began to hap- 
 pen. As was observed in a previous case, few of us are 
 yet so vast of mind as to feel deeply and fairly enjoy the 
 justice of being served with our own sauce. Haply this 
 is why sauce and justice are in Latin the self-same word. 
 Few of us even are so candid as to perceive when it 
 comes to pass ; more often is a world of difference found 
 between what we gave and what we got. 
 
 Fox was now treated by Nicie's brother exactly as he 
 had treated Gilham about his sister Christie. He was not 
 remarkably rash of mind which was ever so much better 
 for himself and friends yet he was quick of perception ; 
 and when his sister came and looked at him, and said with 
 gentle sympathy " Oh, Jemmy, has Sir Thomas forbid- 
 den your bans ? No wonder you threw his hat at him " 
 it was a little more than he could do not to grin at the 
 force of analogy. 
 
 " He is mad," he replied, with strong decision. Yet at 
 the twinkle of her eyes he wondered whether she held 
 that explanation valid, in a like case, not so very long 
 ago. 
 
 " I have made up my mind to it altogether," he contin- 
 ued, with the air magnanimous. " It is useless to strive 
 against the force of circumstances." 
 
 " Made up your mind to give up Nicie because her 
 brother disapproves of it?" Christie knew well enough 
 what he meant. But can girls be magnanimous ? 
 
 " I should think not. How can you be so stupid? What 
 has a brother's approval to do with it? Do you think I 
 care twopence for fifty thousand brothers ? Brothers are 
 
TWO FINE LESSONS 463 
 
 all very well in their way ; but let them stick to their own 
 business. A girl's heart is her own, I should hope ; and 
 her happiness depends on herself, not her brother. I call 
 it a great piece of impudence for a brother to interfere in 
 such matters." 
 
 " Oh !" said Christie, and nothing more. Neither did 
 she even smile ; but went to the window, and smoothed 
 her apron-, the pretty one she wore when she was mixing 
 water-colours. 
 
 " You shall come and see him now," said Jemmy, look- 
 ing at the light that was dancing in her curls, but too lofty 
 to suspect that inward laughter made them dance. " It 
 can't hurt him now, and my opinion is that it might even 
 do him a great deal of good. I'll soon have him ready, 
 and I'll send his blessed mother to make another sauce- 
 panful of chicken broth. And, Chris, I'll give you clear 
 decks, honour bright." 
 
 " I am quite at a loss to understand your meaning." 
 The mendacious Christie turned round, and fixed her bright 
 eyes upon his most grandly, as girls often do, when they 
 tell white lies perhaps to see how they are swallowed. 
 
 " Very well, then ; that is all right. It will save a lot of 
 trouble, and perhaps it is better to leave him alone." 
 
 " There again ! You never seem to understand me, 
 Jemmy ! And of course you don't care how much it up- 
 sets a poor patient never to see a change of faces. Of 
 course you are very kind, and so is Dr. Gronow ; and 
 poor Mrs. Gilham is a most delightful person. Still, after 
 being for all that time so desperately limited that's not 
 the word at all I mean so, to some extent restricted, or if 
 you prefer it, prohibited, from from any little change, 
 any sort of variety of expressions, of surroundings, of, in 
 fact, society " 
 
 "Ah yes, no doubt! Of etcetera, etcetera. But go 
 you on floundering till I come back, and perhaps then you 
 will know what you mean. Perhaps also you would look 
 a little more decent with your apron off," Dr. Fox sug- 
 gested, with the noble rudeness so often dealt out to sis- 
 ters. " Be sure you remind him that yesterday was Leap- 
 year's Day ; and then perhaps you will be able to find some 
 one to understand you." 
 
464 PERLYCROSS 
 
 " If that is the case, you may be quite certain I won't 
 go near him." 
 
 But before very long she thought better of that. Was 
 it just to punish one for the offences of another ? With 
 a colour like the first bud of monthly rose peeping through 
 its sepals in the southern corner, she ran into the shrub- 
 bery for there was nothing to call a garden and gath- 
 ered a little posy of Russian violets and wild primrose. 
 Then she pulled her apron off, and had a good look at 
 herself, and could not help knowing that she had not seen 
 a lovelier thing for a long time ; and if love would only 
 multiply by two and it generally does so by a thousand 
 the result would be something stupendous, ineffable, 
 adorable. 
 
 Such thoughts are very bright and cheerful, full of glow- 
 ing youth and kindness, young romance, and contempt of 
 earth. But the longer we plod on this earth the deeper we 
 stick into it ; as must be when the foot grows heavy, having 
 no talaria. Long- enduring pain produces a like effect 
 with lapse of years. The spring of the system loses coil 
 from being on perpetual strain; sad proverbs flock into 
 the brain instead of dancing verses. 
 
 Frank Gilham had been ploughed and harrowed, clod- 
 crushed, drilled, and sacrificed by the most advanced, en- 
 lightened, and practical of all medical high -farmers. If 
 ever Fox left him to get a breath of air, Gronow came in 
 to keep the screw on; and when they were both worn 
 out, young Webber (who began to see how much he had 
 to learn, and what was for his highest interest) was al- 
 lowed to sit by and do nothing. A consultation was held 
 whenever the time hung heavily on their hands, and Web- 
 ber would have liked to say a word if it could have been 
 uttered without a snub. Meanwhile Frank Gilham got 
 the worst of it. 
 
 At last he had been allowed to leave his bed and taste 
 a little of the fine spring air flowing down from Hagdon 
 Hill, and bearing the first waft of the furze-bloom. Hag- 
 gard weariness and giddy lightness, and a vacant wonder- 
 ing doubt (as to who or what he was, that scarcely seemed 
 worth puzzling out) would have proved to any one who 
 cared to know it that his head had lain too long in one 
 
TWO FINE LESSONS 465 
 
 position, and was not yet reconciled to the change. And 
 yet it should have welcomed this relief, if virtue there be 
 in heredity, inasmuch as this sofa came from White Post 
 Farm, and must have comforted the head of many a sick 
 progenitor. 
 
 The globe of thought being in this state, and the arm 
 of action crippled, the question was: Would heart arise, 
 dispense with both, and have its way ? 
 
 For a while it seemed a doubtful thing, so tedious had 
 the conflict been, and such emptiness left behind it. The 
 young man, after dreams most blissful and hopes too gold- 
 en to have any kin with gilt, was reduced to bare bones and 
 plastered elbows and knees unsafe to go down upon. But 
 the turn of the tide of human life quivers to the influence 
 of heaven. 
 
 In came Christie, like a flush of health, rosy with bright 
 maidenhood, yet tremulous as a lily is with gentle fear and 
 tenderness. Pity is akin to love, as those who know them 
 both and in their larger hearts have felt them, for our 
 smaller sakes pronounce ; but when the love is far in front 
 and pauses at the check of pride, what chance has pride 
 if pity comes and takes her mistress by the hand, and 
 whispers, " Try to comfort him ?" 
 
 None can tell who are not in the case, and those who are 
 know little of it, how these strange things come to pass. 
 But sure it is that they have their way. The bashful, 
 proud, light-hearted maiden, ready to make a joke of love 
 and laugh at such a fantasy, was so overwhelmed with 
 pity that the bashfulness forgot to blush, the pride cast 
 down its frightened eyes, and the levity burst into tears. 
 But of all these things she remembered none. 
 
 And, forsooth, they may well be considered doubtful, in 
 common with many harder facts, because the house was 
 turned upside-down before any more could be known of 
 it. There was coming, and going, and stamping of feet ; 
 horses looking in at the door and women calling out of it ; 
 and such a shouting and hurrahing, not only here but all 
 over the village, that the Perle itself might well have 
 stopped, like Simois and Scamander, to ask what the fish 
 out of water were doing. And it might have stopped long, 
 without being much wiser, so thoroughly everybody's 
 20* 
 
466 PERLYCROSS 
 
 head was flown, and everybody's mouth filled with much 
 more than the biggest ears found room for. 
 
 To put it in order is a hopeless job, because all order 
 was gone to grit. But as concerns the Old Barn (whose 
 thatch, being used to quiet eaves-droppings, had enough 
 to make it stand up in sheaf again) first dashed up a 
 young man on horseback (and the sympathetic nag was 
 half mad also), the horse knocking sparks out of the ground 
 as if he had never heard of lucifers, and the man with his 
 legs all out of saddle, waving a thing that looked like a 
 letter, and shouting as if all literature were comprised in 
 viva voce. Now this was young Farrant, the son of the 
 church-warden ; and really there was no excuse for him ; 
 for the Farrants are a very clever race ; and as yet com- 
 petitive examination had not made the sight of paper 
 loathsome to any mind cultivating self-respect. 
 
 " You come out and just read this !" he shouted to the 
 Barn in general. " You never heard such a thing in all 
 vour life. All the village is madder than any March hare. 
 I sha'n't tell you a word of it. You come cut and read ; 
 and if that doesn't fetch yon out, you must be a clam of 
 oysters. If you don't believe me, come and see it for 
 yourselves. Only you will have to get by Jakes, and he is 
 standing at the mouth, with his French sword drawn." 
 
 " In the name of Heaven, what the devil do you mean ?" 
 cried Fox, running out, and catching fire of like madness, 
 of all human elements the most explosive; "and this why, 
 this letter is the maddest thing of all ! A man who was 
 bursting to knock me down scarcely two gurgles of the 
 clock ago ! And now I am his beloved Jemmy ! Mrs. 
 Gilham, do come out ! Surely that chicken has been stewed 
 to death. Oh, ma'am, you have some sense in you. Every- 
 body else is gone off his head. Who can make head or tail 
 of this ? Let me entreat you to read it, Mrs. Gilham. Far- 
 rant, you'll be over that colt's head directly ! Mrs. Gilham, 
 this is meant for a saner eye than mine. Your head-piece 
 is always full of self-possession." 
 
 Highly flattered with this tribute, the old lady put on 
 her spectacles and read, slowly and decorously : 
 
 " BELOVED JEMMY, I am all that you called me a hot- 
 
TWO FINE LESSONS 46*7 
 
 headed fool and a cad, and everything vile on the back of 
 it. The doctors are the finest chaps alive, because they 
 have never done harm to the dead. Come down at once, 
 and put a bar across, because Jakes must have his sup- 
 per. Perlycross folk are the best in the world, and the 
 kindest-hearted, but we must not let them go in there. I 
 am off home, for if anybody else was to get in front of 
 me and tell my mother, I should go wild, and she would 
 be quite upset. When you have done all you think prop- 
 er, come up and see poor Nicie. 
 
 " From your affectionate and very sorry 
 
 " T. R. WALDRON." 
 
 " Now the other, ma'am !" cried Dr. Fox. " Here is 
 another from the parson. Oh, come now, we shall have a 
 little common-sense." 
 
 " MY DEAR JEMMY, It has pleased the Lord, who never 
 afflicts us without good purpose, to remove that long and 
 very heavy trouble from us. We have found the mortal 
 remains of my dear friend, untouched by any human hand, 
 in a hollow way leading from the Abbey to the church. 
 We have not yet discovered how it happened, and I can- 
 not stop to tell you more, for I must go at once to Wal- 
 derscourt, lest rumour should get there before us ; and Sir 
 Thomas must not go alone, being of rather headlong 
 though very noble nature. Sergeant Jakes has been placed 
 on guard against any rash curiosity. I have sent for the 
 two church-wardens, and can leave it safely to them and 
 to you to see that all is done properly. If it can be man- 
 aged without undue haste, the coffin should be placed in- 
 side the church, and the doors locked until the morning. 
 When that is done, barricade the entrance to the tunnel, 
 although I am sure that the people of our parish would 
 have too much right feeling, as well as apprehension, to 
 attempt to make their way in after dark. To-morrow I 
 trust we shall offer humble thanks to the Giver of all 
 good for this great mercy. I propose to hold a short 
 special service, though I fear there is no precedent in the 
 Prayer-book. This will take a vast weight off your mind, 
 as well as mine, which has been sorely tried. I beg you 
 
468 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 not to lose a minute, as many people might become un- 
 duly excited. 
 
 " Most truly yours, 
 
 " PHILIP PENNILOE." 
 
 "P.S. This relieves us also from another dark anxiety, 
 simply explaining the downfall of the S.E. corner of the 
 chancel." 
 
 " It seems hard upon me, but it must be right, because 
 the parson has decreed it !" Dr. Fox cried, without a par- 
 ticle of what is now called "slavish adulation of the 
 Church " which scarcely stuck up for herself in those 
 days but by virtue of the influence which a kind and 
 good man always gains when he does not overstrain his 
 rights. " I am off, Mrs. Gilham ; I can trust you to see to 
 the pair of invalids upstairs." 
 
 Then he jumped upon young Mr. Farrant's horse, and 
 leaving him to follow at foot leisure, dashed down the hill 
 towards Perly cross. At the four cross-roads, which are 
 the key of the position, and have all the village and the 
 valley in command, he found as fine a concourse perhaps 
 as had been there since the great days of the Romans. 
 Not a rush of dread and doubting and of shivering back- 
 bones, such as had been on that hoary morning, when the 
 sun came through the fog and showed Church-warden 
 Farmer John, and Channing the clerk, and Blacksmith 
 Craig, trudging from the potato-field full of ghostly tid- 
 ings, and encountering at that very spot Sergeant Jakes 
 and Cornish, and the tremulous tramp of half the village, 
 afraid of resurrection. 
 
 Instead of hurrying from the church-yard, as a haunt of 
 ghouls and fiends, all were hastening towards it now with 
 deep respect reviving. The people who lived beyond the 
 bridge, and even beyond the factory, and were much in- 
 clined by local right to sit under the dissenting minister 
 himself a very good man, and working in harmony with 
 the curate many of these, and even some from Priest- 
 well, having heard of it, pushed their right to know every- 
 thing in front of those who lived close to the church and 
 looked through the railings every day. Farmer John 
 Horner was there on his horse, trotting slowly up and 
 
TWO FINE LESSONS 469 
 
 down as brave as a mounted policeman is, and, knowing 
 every one by name, called out to him to behave himself. 
 Moreover, Walter Haddon stood at the door of the Ivy- 
 bush, with his coat off, and his shirt-sleeves rolled, and 
 ready to double his fist at any man who only drank small 
 beer, at the very first sign of tumult. But, candidly 
 speaking, this was needless, powerful as the upheaval was, 
 and hot the spirit of inquiry ; for the wives of most of 
 the men were there, and happily in an English crowd that 
 always makes for good manners. 
 
 Fox was received with loud hurrahs, and many ran for- 
 ward to shake his hand ; some, who had been most black 
 and bitter in their vile suspicions, having the manliness to 
 beg his pardon and abuse themselves very heartily. He 
 forgave them with much frankness, as behooves an English- 
 man, and with a pleasant smile at their folly, which also 
 is nicely national. For, after all, there is no other race 
 than can give and take as we do ; not by any means head- 
 long, yet insisting upon decision of the other side, at 
 any rate and thus quickening the sense of justice, upon 
 the average, in our favour. 
 
 Fox, with the truly British face of one who is under- 
 stood at last, but makes no fuss about it, gave up his horse 
 at the lych-gate, and made off where he was beckoned 
 for. Here were three scaffold-poles and slings fixed over 
 the entrance to the ancient under-way ; and before dark 
 all was managed well. And then a short procession, 
 headed by the martial march of Jakes, conveyed into the 
 venerable church the mortal part of a just and kind man 
 and a noble soldier, to be consigned to-morrow to a more 
 secure and ever tranquil and still honoured resting-place. 
 
 This being done, the need of understanding must be 
 satisfied. Dr. Fox and Dr. G-ronow, with the two church- 
 wardens and Channing the clerk, descended the ladder 
 into the hole, and with a couple of torches kindled went 
 to see the cause and manner of this strange yet simple 
 matter a four-month mystery of darkness henceforth as 
 clear as daylight. 
 
 When they beheld it they were surprised, not at the 
 thing itself for it could scarcely have happened other- 
 wise under the circumstances but at the coincidences, 
 
470 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 which had led so many people of very keen intelligence 
 into, as might almost be said, every track except. the right 
 one. And this brought home to them one great lesson : 
 " If you wish to be sure of a thing, see it with your own 
 good eyes" And another but that comes afterwards. 
 
 The passage, dug by the monks no doubt, led from the 
 Abbey directly westward to the chancel of the church, 
 probably to enable them to carry their tapers burning, 
 and discharge their duties there promptly and with vest- 
 ments dry, in defiance of the weather. The crown of 
 loose flints set in mortar was some eight feet under- 
 ground, and the line it took was that adopted in all Chris- 
 tian burial. The grave of the late Sir Thomas Waldron 
 was prepared, as he had wished, far away from the family 
 vault (which had sadly undermined the church), and 
 towards the eastern end of the yard, as yet not much in- 
 habited. As it chanced, the bottom lay directly along a 
 weak or worn-out part of the concrete arch below ; and 
 the men who dug it said at the time that their spades 
 had struck on something hard, which they took to be 
 loose blocks of flint. However, being satisfied with their 
 depth, and having orders to wall the bottom, they laid on 
 either side some nine or ten courses of brickwork, well 
 flushed in with strong and binding mortar ; but the ends 
 being safe and bricks running short, to save any further 
 trouble they omitted the cross -wall at the ends. Thus 
 when the weight of earth cast in pressed more and more 
 heavily upon the heavy coffin, the dome of concreted flints 
 below collapsed, the solid oaken box dropped quietly to 
 the bottom of the tunnel, and the dwarf brick sides hav- 
 ing no tie across, but being well bonded together and 
 well-footed, fell across the vacancy into one another, form- 
 ing a new arch, or more correctly a splay span-roof, in 
 lieu of the old arch which had yielded to the strain. 
 Thus the earth above took this new bearing, and the sur- 
 face of the ground was no more disturbed than it always 
 is by settlement. 
 
 No wonder, then, that in the hurried search, by men who 
 had not been down there before, and had not heard of any 
 brickwork at the sides, and were at that moment in a high- 
 ly nervous state, not only was the grave reported empty 
 
TWO FINE LESSONS 47 1 
 
 which, of course, was true enough but no suspicion was 
 entertained that the bottom they came to (now covered 
 with earth) was anything- else than a rough platform for 
 the resting-place. And the two who could have told them 
 better, being proud of their skill in foundations, had joined 
 the builders' staff, and been sent away to distant jobs. 
 
 In the heat of foregone conclusion, and the terror created 
 by the blacksmith's tale, and the sad condition of that 
 faithful little Jess, the report had been taken as final. No 
 further quest seemed needful ; and at Squire Mockham's 
 order the empty space had been filled in at once for fear 
 of the excitement and throng of vulgar gazers, gathering 
 and thickening around the empty grave. 
 
 Such are the cases that make us wonder at the power 
 of coincidence, and the very strange fact that the less 
 things seem to have to do with one another, the greater is 
 their force upon the human mind when it tries to be too 
 logical. 
 
 Many little things, all far apart, had been fetched to- 
 gether by fine reasoning process, and made to converge 
 towards a very fine error, with certainty universal. 
 
 Even that humble agent, or patient, little Jess despised 
 as a dog by the many who have no delight in their better 
 selves had contributed very largely to the confluence of 
 panic. If she could only have thrown the light of lan- 
 
 fuage on her woful plight, the strongest clinch to the 
 lacksmith's ta^e would never have come near his pincers. 
 For the slash that rewarded her true love fell, not from 
 the spade of a church-yard robber, but from a poacher's 
 bill - hook. This has already been intimated ; and Mr. 
 Penniloe must have learn sd it then if he had simply 
 taken time, instead of making off at five miles an hour 
 when Speccotty wanted to tell his tale. This should be a 
 warning to clergymen ; for perhaps there was no other 
 man in the parish whose case the good parson would thus 
 have postponed without prospect of higher consolation. 
 And it does seem a little too hard upon a man that be- 
 cause his mind is gone astray unawares his soul should 
 drop out of cultivation ! 
 
 That poor little spaniel was going home sadly to get a 
 bit of breakfast and come back to her duty, when, tres- 
 
472 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 passing unwittingly upon the poacher's tricks, at early 
 wink of daylight, she was taken for a minion of the Evil 
 One, and met with a vigour which is shown too seldom, by 
 even true sportsmen, to his emissaries. Perhaps before 
 she quitted guard she may have had a nip at the flowers 
 on the grave, and dropped them back when she failed to 
 make sweet bones of them. 
 
 Without further words though any number of words, 
 if their weight were by the score, would be too few the 
 slowest-headed man in Perlycross might lay to his heart 
 the second lesson, read in as mild a voice as Penniloe's, 
 above. And without a word at all he may be trusted to 
 go home with it, when the job is of other folk's hands, 
 but his own pocket. 
 
 "Never scamp your work " was preached more clearly 
 by this long trouble and degradation of an honourable par- 
 ish than if Mr. Penniloe had stood in the pulpit for a 
 week of Sundays, with the mouth of King Solomon laid 
 to his ear and the trump of the Royal Mail upon his lips. 
 
CHAPTER XLIV 
 AND ONE STILL FINER 
 
 IF it be sweet to watch at ease the troubles of another, 
 how much sweeter to look back from the vantage-ground 
 of happiness upon one's own misfortunes. To be able to 
 think : " Well, it was too bad ! Another week would have 
 killed me. How I pulled through it is more than I can 
 tell, for everybody was against me. And the luck the 
 luck kept playing leap-frog; fifty plagues all upon one 
 another's back, and my poor little self at the bottom. 
 Not a friend came near me ; they were all so sorry, but 
 happened to.be frightfully down themselves. I assure 
 you, my dear, if it had not been for you, and the thought 
 of our blessed children, and perhaps my own well, I 
 won't say * pluck,' but determination to go through with 
 it, instead of arranging these flowers for dinner you would 
 have been wreathing them for a sadder purpose." 
 
 The lady sheds a tear, and says : " Darling Jack, see 
 how you have made my hand shake ! I have almost 
 spoiled that truss of Hoya, and this Schubertia won't 
 stand up. But you never said a word about it at 
 the time ! Was that fair to me, Jack ?" And the like 
 will come to pass again, perhaps next year, perhaps next 
 week. 
 
 But the beauty of country-life as it then prevailed (ere 
 the hungry hawk of stock-exchange poised his wings above 
 the stock-dove) was to take things gently, softly, with a 
 cooing faith of goodness, both above us and around. Men 
 must work ; but being born (as their best friends, the 
 horses, are) for that especial purpose, why should they 
 make it still more sad by dwelling upon it at the nose- 
 bag time? How much wiser to allow that turbulent bit 
 of stuff, the mind, to abide -at ease, and take things in, 
 
474 PEELYCROSS 
 
 rather than cast them forth half-chewed, in the style of 
 our present essayists? 
 
 Now this old village was the right sort of place to do 
 such things without knowing it. There was no great 
 leading intellect (with his hands returned to feet), to beat 
 the hollow drum, and play shrill fife, and set everybody 
 tumbling over his best friend's head. The rule of the 
 men was to go on according to the way in which their 
 fathers went ; talking as if they were running on in front, 
 but sticking effectually to the old coat-tail. Which in the 
 long-run is the wisest thing to do. 
 
 They were proud of their church, when the Sunday 
 mood was on, and their children came home to tell about it. 
 
 There she was. Let her stand, if the folk with money 
 could support her. It was utterly impossible to get into 
 their heads any difference between the church in the 
 church-yard and the one that inhabits the sky above. 
 When a man has been hard at work all the week, let his 
 wife be his better half on Sunday. 
 
 Nothing that ever can be said or done by the most 
 ardent " pastor" will ever produce that enthusiasm among 
 the tegs of his flock which spreads so freely among the 
 ewes and lambs. Mr. Penniloe would not be called a 
 Pastor; to him the name savoured of a cant conceit. Neith- 
 er did he call himself a Priest; for him it was quite enough 
 to be a Clergyman of the Church of England, and to give 
 his life to that. 
 
 Therefore, when the time came round, and the turn of 
 the year was fit for it, this parson of that humbler type was 
 happy to finish, without fuss, the works that he had un- 
 dertaken, with a lofty confidence in the Lord, which had 
 come to ground too often. His faith, though fine, had 
 never been of that grandly abstract quality which expects 
 the ravens to come down with bread instead of bills, and 
 build a nest for sweet doves gratis. To pay every penny 
 that was fairly due, and shorten no man of his Saturday 
 .wage towards the Sunday consolation ; to perceive that 
 business must not be treated as a purely spiritual essence ; 
 and to know that a great many very good people drip away 
 (as tallow does from its own wick) from the quick flare of 
 promises ; also to bear the brunt of all, and cast up the top- 
 
AND ONE STILL FINER 475 
 
 pling column, with the balance coming down on his own 
 chest what wonder that he had scarcely any dark hair 
 left, and even the silver was inclined to say adieu ? 
 
 When a man who is getting on in years comes out of 
 a long anxiety about money, and honour, and his sense of 
 right, he finds even in the soft flush of relief that a great 
 deal of his spring is gone. A Bachelor of Arts, when his 
 ticks laave been paid by a groaning governor, is fit and 
 fresh to start again, and seldom dwells with due remorse 
 upon the sacrifice Vicarious. His father also, if of right 
 paternal spirit, soars above the unpleasant subject ; leaves 
 it to the mother to drive home the lesson which she feels 
 already to be too severe and says, " Well, Jack, you have 
 got your degree ; and that's more than the squire's son can 
 boast of." 
 
 But the ancient M.A. of ten lustres, who has run into 
 debt on his own hook, and felt the hook running into him, 
 is in very different plight, even when he has wriggled off. 
 Parson Penniloe was sorely humbled, his placid forehead 
 sadly wrinkled, and his kindly eyes uncertain how to look 
 at his brother men, even from the height of pulpit, when 
 in his tremulous throat stuck fast that stern and difficult 
 precept : "Owe no man anything." 
 
 Even the strongest of mankind can scarcely manage to 
 come up to that when fortune is not with him, and his 
 family tug the other way. The glory of the Lord may be 
 a lofty prospect, but becomes a cloudy pillar when the 
 column is cast up and will not square with cash in hand. 
 Scarcely is it too much to say that since the days of Abra- 
 ham it would have been hard to find a man of stronger 
 faith than Penniloe except at the times when ha broke 
 down (in vice of matters physical), and proved at one break 
 two ancient creeds Exceptio probat regulam, and Cor- 
 ruptio optimi pessima. 
 
 While he was on the balance now, as a man of the high- 
 er ropes should be, lifting the upper end of his pole that 
 the glory of his parish shone again, yet feeling the butt in- 
 clined to swag by reason of the bills stuck upon it, who 
 should come into the audience and audit but young Sir 
 Thomas Waldron ? This youth had thought perhaps too 
 little of himself because those candid friends, his brother- 
 
476 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 boys, had always spoken of his body so kindly without a 
 single good word for his mind but now he was author- 
 ized, and even ordered, by universal opinion to take a much 
 fairer view of his own value. 
 
 Nothing that ever yet came to pass has gone into words 
 without some shift of colour, and few things even without 
 change of form ; and so it would have been beyond all nat- 
 ure if the events above reported had been told with per- 
 fect accuracy even here. How much less could this be so, 
 in the hot excitement of the time, with every man eager to 
 excel his neighbour's narrative, and every woman burning 
 to recall it with her own pure imagination ! What, then, 
 of the woman who had been blessed enough to enrich the 
 world, and by the same gift ennoble it, with the hero, who 
 at a stroke had purged the family, the parish, and the na- 
 tion? 
 
 Nevertheless, he came in gently, modestly, and with 
 some misgivings, into the room where he had trembled, 
 blushed, and floundered on all fours over the old gray 
 Latin steps which have broken many a knee-cap. 
 
 " If you please, sir," he said to his old tutor, who alone 
 had taught him anything, for at Eton he had barely learned 
 good manners, "my mother begs you to read this. And 
 we are all ashamed of our behaviour." 
 
 " No, Tom, no. You have no cause for that. Your 
 mother may have been a little hard at first. But she has 
 meant to be just throughout. The misery she has passed 
 through none but herself can realize." 
 
 " You see, sir, she does not sing out about things, as 
 most women do ; and that of course makes it ever so much 
 worse for her." 
 
 The young man spoke like some deep student of femi- 
 nine nature ; but his words were only those of the good 
 house-keeper at Walderscourt. Mr. Penniloe took them in 
 that light, and began to read without reply : 
 
 " TRULY ESTEEMED AND VALUED SIR, With some hesi- 
 tation of the mind, I come to say that in all I have said and 
 done my mind has been of the wrong intelligence most 
 largely. It always appears in this land of Britain as if 
 nobody of it could make a mistake. But we have not in 
 
AND ONE STILL FINER 477 
 
 my country such great wisdom and good-fortune. Also in 
 any other European land of which I have the acquaintance 
 the natives are wrong in their opinions sometimes. 
 
 " But this does not excuse me of my mistake. I have 
 been unjust to you and to all people living around my 
 place of dwelling. But by my dear son, and his very deep 
 sagacity, it has been made manifest that your good people 
 were considered guilty, without proper justice, of a wrong 
 upon my husband's memory. Also that your good church, 
 of which he thought so well in the course of his dear life, 
 has treated him not with ignominy, but with the best of 
 her attention, receiving him into the sacred parts, where 
 the priests of our religion in the times of truth conversed. 
 This is to me of the holiest and most gracious consola- 
 tion. 
 
 " Therefore I entreat you to accept, for the uses of so 
 good a building, the little sum herewith committed to your 
 care, which flows entirely from my own resources, and not 
 from the property of my dear husband, so much engaged 
 in the distribution of the law. When that is disengaged, 
 my dear son Rodrigo, with my approbation, will contrib- 
 ute from it the same amount for the perfection of the 
 matter." 
 
 " One, two, three, four, five. And every one of them a 
 hundred pounds ! My dear Tom, I feel a doubt " 
 
 Mr. Penniloe leaned back and thought. He was never 
 much excited about money, except when he owed it to or 
 for the Lord. 
 
 " I call it very poor amends indeed. What would ten 
 times as much be, after all that you have suffered ? And 
 how can you refuse it when it is not for yourself? My 
 mother will be hurt most dreadfully, and never think well 
 again of the Church of England." 
 
 "Tom, you are right," Mr. Penniloe replied, while a 
 smile flitted over his conscience. " I should indeed con- 
 vey a false impression of the character of our dear mother. 
 But as for the other 500 well " 
 
 " My father's character must be considered as well as 
 your good mother's." Sir Thomas was not strong at meta- 
 phor. " And I am sure of one thing, sir. If he could 
 
478 PERLY CROSS 
 
 have known what would happen about him, and how 
 beautifully every one behaved, except his own people 
 but it's no use talking. If you don't take it I shall join 
 the Early Methodists. What do you think of that, sir ? 
 I am always as good as my word, you know." 
 
 " Ah, ah, it may be so," the curate answered thought- 
 fully, returning to the mildness of exclamation from which 
 these troubles had driven him. " But allow me a little 
 time for consideration. Your mother's very generous gift 
 I can accept without hesitation, and have no right to do 
 otherwise. But as to your father's estate, I am placed in 
 a delicate position by reason of my trusteeship ; and it is 
 possible that I might go wrong ; at any rate, I must con- 
 sult" 
 
 " Mrs. Fox, sir, from Foxden !" Thyatira Muggridge cried, 
 with her face as red as a turkey's wattles, and throwing the 
 door of the humble back room as wide as if it never could 
 be wide enough. For the lady was beautifully arrayed. 
 
 " I come to consult, not to be consulted. My confidence 
 in myself has been misplaced," said the mother of Jemmy 
 and Christie, after making the due salutation. " Sir 
 Thomas, I beg you not to go. You have some right to a 
 voice in the matter if, as they tell me at Old Barn, you 
 have conquered your repugnance to my son, and are ready 
 to receive him as your brother-in-law." 
 
 " Madam, I was a fool," said Tom, offering his great 
 hand with a sheepish look. " Your son has forgiven me, 
 and I hope that you will. Jemmy is the finest fellow ever 
 born." 
 
 " A credit to his mother, as his mother always thought. 
 And what is still better for himself, a happy man in win- 
 ning the affections of the sweetest girl on earth. I have 
 seen your dear sister what a gentle darling !" 
 
 " Nicie is very well in her way, madam. But she has a 
 strong will of her own. Jemmy will find that out some 
 day. Upon the whole, I am sorry for him." 
 
 " He talks in the very same way of his sister. If young 
 men listened to young men, none of them would ever 
 marry. Oh, Mr. Penniloe, you can be trusted, at any rate, 
 to look at things from a higher point of view." 
 
 " I try sometimes, but it is not easy. And I generally 
 
AND ONE STILL FINEK 479 
 
 get into scrapes when I do. But I have one consolation. 
 Nobody ever takes my advice." 
 
 " I mean to take it," Mrs. Fox replied, looking into his 
 gentle eyes with the faith which clever women feel in a 
 nature larger than their own. " You need not suppose 
 that I am impulsive. But I know what you are. When 
 every one else in this stupid little place condemned my 
 son, without hearing a word, there was one who was too 
 noble, too good a Christian, to listen to any reason. He 
 was right when the mother herself was wrong. For I don't 
 mind telling you, as I have even told my son, that know- 
 ing what he is, I could not help suspecting that he that 
 he had something to do with it. Not that Lady Waldron 
 had any right whatever and it will take me a long time 
 to forgive her, and her son is quite welcome to tell her 
 that. What you felt yourself was quite different, Sir 
 Thomas." 
 
 " I can't see that my mother did any harm. Why, she 
 even suspected her own twin-brother ! If you were to bear 
 ill-will against my mother " 
 
 " Of such little tricks I am incapable, Sir Thomas. And, 
 of course, I can allow for foreigners. Even twenty years 
 of English life cannot bring them to see things as we do. 
 Their nature is so well, I won't say narrow. Neither will 
 I say * bigoted,' although " 
 
 " We quite understand you, my dear madam." Mr. 
 Penniloe was shocked at his own rudeness in thus inter- 
 rupting a lady ; but he knew that very little more would 
 produce a bad breach between Walderscourt and Foxden. 
 " What a difference really does exist among people equally 
 just and upright " 
 
 " My dear mother is as just and upright as any English- 
 woman in the world, Protestant or Catholic !" the young 
 man exclaimed, having temper on the bubble, yet not al- 
 lowing it to boil against a lady. " But if his own mother 
 condemned him, how I can't put it into words, as I mean 
 it how can she be in a wax with my mother ? And more 
 than that as it happens, Mrs. Fox, my mother starts for 
 Spain to-day, and I cannot let her go alone." 
 
 " Now the Lord must have ordered it so," thought the 
 parson. " What a clearance of hostile elements !" But 
 
480 PEELYCKOSS 
 
 fearing that the others might not so take it, he said only : 
 " Ah, indeed 1" 
 
 " To her native land ?" asked Mrs. Fox, as a Protestant 
 not quite unbigoted, and a woman who longed to have it 
 out. " It seems an extraordinary thing just now. But 
 perhaps it is a pilgrimage." 
 
 " Yes, madam, for about 500,000," answered Sir Thom- 
 as, in his youthful Tory vein, not emancipated yet from 
 disdain of commerce ; " not for the sake of the money, of 
 course ; but to do justice to the brother she had wronged. 
 Mr. Penniloe can tell you all about it. I am not much of 
 a hand at arithmetic." 
 
 " We won't trouble any one about that now," the lady 
 replied, with some loftiness. " But I presume that Lady 
 Waldron would wish to see me before she leaves this 
 country." 
 
 " Certainly she would if she had known that you were 
 here. My sister had not come back yet to tell her. She 
 will be disappointed terribly when she hears that you 
 have been at Perlycross. But she is compelled to catch 
 the packet, and I fear that I must say 'good-bye'; mother 
 would never forgive me if she lost her voyage through 
 any fault of mine." 
 
 " You see how they treat us !" said Mrs. Fox of Foxden, 
 when the young man had made his adieu with great polite- 
 ness. "I suppose you understand it, Mr. Penniloe, though 
 your mind is so very much larger ?" 
 
 The clergyman scarcely knew what to say. He was not 
 at all quick in the ways of the world ; and all feminine 
 rush was beyond him. " We must all allow for circum- 
 stances," was his quiet platitude. 
 
 " All possible allowance I can make," the lady replied, 
 with much self-command. " But I think there is nothing 
 more despicable than this small county-family feeling ! Is 
 Lady Waldron not aware that I am connected with the 
 very foremost of your Devonshire families ? But because 
 my husband is engaged in commerce, a military race may 
 look down upon us ! After all, I should like to know, 
 what are your proudest landowners but mere agriculturists 
 by deputy? I never lose my temper; but it makes me 
 laugh when 1 remember that, after all, they are simply de- 
 
AND ONE STILL FINER 481 
 
 pendent upon farming. Is not that what it comes to, Mr. 
 Penniloe ?" 
 
 " And a very noble occupation, madam. The first and 
 the finest of the ways ordained by the Lord for the suste- 
 nance of mankind. Next to the care of the human soul, 
 what vocation can be " 
 
 " You think so. Then I tell you what I'll do, if only to 
 let those Waldron's know how little we care for their prej- 
 udices. Everything depends upon me now in my poor 
 husband's sad condition. I will give my consent to my 
 daughter's alliance great people call it alliance, don't 
 they ? with a young man who is a mere farmer !" 
 
 " I am assured that he will make his way," Mr. Penniloe 
 answered with some inward smile, for it is a pleasant path 
 to follow in the track of ladies. " He gets a higher price 
 for pigs than either of my church-wardens." 
 
 " What could you desire more than that ? It is a proof 
 of the highest capacity. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Grilham shall 
 send their wedding-cards to Walderscourt with a prime 
 young porker engraved on them. Oh, Mr. Penniloe, I am 
 not perfect. But I have an unusual gift perhaps of large- 
 ness of mind and common-sense, and I always go against 
 any one who endeavours to get the whip-hand of me. And 
 I do believe my darling Christie gets it from her mother." 
 
 " She is a most charming young lady, Mrs. Fox. What 
 a treasure she would be in this parish ! The other day she 
 said a thing about our church " 
 
 " Just like her. She is always doing that. And when 
 she comes into her own money but that is a low consider- 
 ation. It is gratitude, my dear sir, the deepest and the no- 
 blest feeling that still survives in these latter days. Without 
 that heroic young man's behaviour, which has partly dis- 
 abled him for life, I fear, I should have neither son nor 
 daughter. And you say that the Gilhams are of very good 
 birth?" 
 
 " The true name is Guillaume, I believe. Their ances- 
 tor came with the Conqueror. Not as a rapacious noble, 
 but in a most useful and peaceful vocation ; in fact " 
 
 "Quite enough, Mr. Penniloe. In such a case, one 
 scorns particulars. My daughter was sure that it was so. 
 But I doubted, although you can see it in his bearing. A 
 21 
 
482 PEELYCEOSS 
 
 more thoroughly modest young man never breathed ; but 
 I shall try to make him not afraid of me. He told my 
 daughter that, in his opinion, I realized but you would 
 think me vain, and I was justly annoyed at such nonsense. 
 However, since I have had your advice, I shall hesitate no 
 longer." 
 
 Mrs. Fox smiled pleasantly, because her mind was quite 
 made up to save herself a world of useless trouble in this 
 matter, and yet appear to take the upperhand in her sur- 
 render. 
 
 Wondering what advice he could have been supposed to 
 give, the mild but gallant parson led her to the Foxden 
 carriage, which had halted at his outer gate and opposite 
 the school-house. Here with many a bow they parted, 
 thinking well of one another, and hoping for the like re- 
 gard. But as the gentle curate passed the mouth of the 
 Taenarian tunnel leading to his lower realms, a great sur- 
 prise befell him. 
 
 " What has happened ? There is something wrong. 
 Surely at this time of day one ought to see the sunset 
 through that hole," he communed with himself in wonder, 
 for the dark arcade ran from east to west. "There must 
 be a stoppage somewhere. I am almost sure I can see 
 two heads. Good people, come out, whoever you may be." 
 
 " The fact of it is, sir," said Sergeant Jakes, marching 
 out of the hole with great dignity, though his hat was white 
 with cobwebs " the fact of it is that this good lady hath 
 received a sudden shock " 
 
 " No sir, no sir. Not at all like that, sir. Only as St. 
 Paul saith in chapter 5 of Ephesians: 'This is a great 
 mystery.' " 
 
 " It is indeed. And I must request to have it explained 
 immediately." 
 
 Thyatira's blushes and the sparkling of her eyes made 
 her look quite pretty, and almost as good as young again, 
 while she turned away with a final shot from the locker of 
 old authority. 
 
 " You ought to be ashamed, sir, according to my think- 
 ing, to be standing in this wind so long without no hat 
 upon your head." 
 
 " You see, sir, it is just like this," the gallant sergeant 
 
AND ONE STILL FINER 483 
 
 followed up, when his love was out of hearing ; " time 
 hath come for Mrs. Muggridge to be married, now or 
 never. It is not for me to say, as a man who fears the 
 Lord, that I think He was altogether right in the institoot- 
 ing of wedlock, supposing as ever He did so. But whether 
 He did it, or whether He did not, the thing hath been so 
 taken up by the humankind women particular that 
 for a man getting on in years 'tis the only thing respect- 
 able. Thyatira hath proven that out of the Bible many 
 times." 
 
 " Mr. Jakes, the proper thing is to search the Script- 
 ures for yourself." 
 
 " So Thyatira saith. But Lord ! she findeth me wrong 
 at every text, from looking up to women so. If she hold- 
 eth by St. Paul a quarter as much as she quoteth him, 
 there won't be another man in Perlycross with such a 
 home as I shall have." 
 
 " You have chosen one of the few wise virgins. Jakes, 
 I trust that you will be blessed not only with a happy home 
 in this world, but what is a thousand-fold more important, 
 the aid of a truly religious wife to lead a thoroughly hum- 
 ble, prayerful, and consistent Christian life." 
 
 " Thank 'e, sir ; thank 'e. With the grace of God, she 
 will; and my first prayer to the Lord in heaven will be 
 just this: to let me live long enough for to see that 
 young fool of a Bob the butcher a-hanging from his own 
 steelyard. By reason of the idiot he hath made of his- 
 self by marrying of that silly minx, Tamar Haddon !" 
 
 "The grace of God is boundless, and Tamar may im- 
 prove. Try to make the best of her, Mr. Jakes. She will 
 always look up to you, I am sure, feeling the strength of 
 your character and the example of higher principles." 
 
 " She !" replied the sergeant without a blush, but after 
 a keen reconnoitring glance. " The likes of her doesn't 
 get no benefit from example. But I must not keep you, 
 sir, so long without your hat on." 
 
 "This is a day of many strange events," Mr. Penniloe 
 began to meditate as he leaned back in his long sermon- 
 chair, with the shadows' of the spring night deepening. 
 " Lady Waldron gone to support her brother's case in 
 Spain, because she had so wronged him ; a thousand 
 
484 PEKLYCKOSS 
 
 pounds suddenly forthcoming to lift us out of our afflic- 
 tion ; sweet Nicie left in the charge of Mrs. Webber, who 
 comes to live at Walderscourt ; Christie Fox allowed to 
 have her own way, as she was pretty sure to do ; and 
 now Thyatira, Thyatira Muggridge, not content to lead a 
 quiet, useful, respectable, Christian, and well-paid life, but 
 launched into matrimony with a man of many stripes ! I 
 know not how the school will be conducted, or my own 
 household, if it comes to that. Truly, when a clergyman 
 is left without a wife " 
 
 " I want to come in, and the door won't open " a 
 clear but impatient voice was heard " I want to see you 
 before anybody else does." And then another shake was 
 given. 
 
 " Why, Zip, my dear child ! Zip, don't be so head- 
 long. I thought you were learning self-command. W^hy, 
 how have you come ? What is the meaning of all this ?" 
 
 " Well, now they may kill me if they like. I told them 
 I would hear your voice again, and then they might skin 
 me if it suited them. I won't have their religion. There 
 is none of it inside them. You are the only one I ever 
 saw that God has made with his eyes open. I like them 
 very well, but what are they to you ? Why, they won't 
 let me speak as I was made ! It is no good sending me 
 away again. Parson, you mustn't stand up like that. 
 Can't you see that I want to kiss you ?" 
 
 " My dear little child, with all my heart. But I never 
 saw any one half so ", 
 
 " Half so what ? I don't care what, so long as I have 
 got you round the neck !" cried the child as she covered 
 his face with kisses, drawing back every now and then to 
 look into his calm blue eyes with flashes of adoration. 
 " The Lord should have made me your child, instead of 
 that well-conducted waxy thing look at my nails ! She 
 had better not come now." 
 
 "Alas ! Have you cultivated nothing but your nails ? 
 But why did the good ladies send you home so soon ? 
 They said they would keep you until Whitsuntide." 
 
 " I got a punishment on purpose, and I let the old girls 
 go to dinner. Then I said the Lord's Prayer, and slipped 
 down the back stairs." 
 
AND ONE STILL FINER 485 
 
 " And you plodded more than twenty miles alone ! Oh, 
 Zip, what a difficult thing it will be to guide you into the 
 ways of peace !" 
 
 " They say I talks broad a bit still sometimes, and they 
 gives me ever so much roilying. But I'd sit up all night 
 with a cork in my mouth, if so be I could plaize 'e, par- 
 son." 
 
 " You must want something better than a cork, my 
 dear " vexed as he was, Mr. Penniloe admired the vigor- 
 ous growth and high spirit of the child " after twenty- 
 two miles of our up and down roads. Now go to Mrs. 
 Muggridge, but remember one thing : if you are unkind 
 to my little Fay, how can you expect me to be kind to 
 you !" 
 
 " Not a very lofty way for me to put it," he reflected, 
 while Zip was being cared for in the kitchen ; " but what 
 am I to do with that strange child? If the girl is mother 
 to the woman, she will be none of the choir Angelic, con- 
 tented with duty and hymns of repose. If ' nature mak- 
 eth nadders,' as our good people say, Zippy hath more 
 of sting than sugar in her bowl." * 
 
 But when the present moment thrives, and life is warm 
 and active, and those in whom we take delight are pros- 
 perous and happy, what is there why we should not smile, 
 and keep in tune with all around, and find the flavour of 
 the world returning to our relish ? This may not be of 
 the noblest style of thinking or of living; but he who 
 would, in his little way, rather help than harm his fellows, 
 soon finds out that it cannot be done by carping and gird- 
 ing at them. By intimacy with their lower parts, and 
 rank insistence on them, one may for himself obtain some 
 power, yielded by a hateful shame. But who esteems 
 him, who is better for his fetid labours, who would go to 
 him for comfort when the world is waning, who though 
 in his home he may be lovable can love him ? 
 
 Mr. Penniloe was not of those who mount mankind 
 by lowering it. From year to year his influence grew, as 
 grows a tree in the backwood age, that neither shuns nor 
 defies the storm. Though certain persons opposed him 
 
 * This proved too true, as may be shown hereafter. 
 
486 PERLYCKOSS 
 
 still as happens to every active man there was not one 
 of them that did not think all the others wrong in doing 
 so. For instance, Lady Waldron, when she returned with 
 her son from Spain, thought Mrs. Fox by no means reason- 
 able, and Mrs. Fox thought Lady Waldron anything but 
 sensible, when either of them differed with the clergyman 
 and the other. For verily it was a harder thing to settle 
 all the important points concerning Nicie and Jemmy Fox 
 than to come to a perfect understanding in the case of 
 Christie and Frank Gilham. 
 
 However, the parish was pleased at last to hear that 
 everything had been arranged ; and a mighty day it was 
 to be for all that pleasant neighbourhood, although no 
 doubt a quiet, and as every one hoped, a sober one. On 
 account of her father's sad condition, Christie as well as 
 Nicie was to make her vows in the grand old church, 
 which was not wholly finished yet, because there was so 
 much more to do through the fine influx of money. Cur- 
 rency is so called, perhaps, not only because it runs away 
 so fast, but also because it runs together, the prefix being 
 omitted through our warm affection and longing for the 
 terms of familiarity. At any rate, the parson and the stout 
 church-wardens of Perly cross had just received another hun- 
 dred pounds when the following interview came to pass. 
 
 It was on the bank of the crystal Perle, at the place 
 where the Priestwell brook glides in, and a single plank 
 without a hand-rail crosses it into the meads below. Here 
 are some stickles of good speed and right complexion 
 for the fly to float quietly into a dainty mouth, and pro- 
 duce a fine fry in the evening ; and here, if any man re- 
 joice not in the gentle art, yet may he find sweet comfort 
 and release of worldly trouble by sitting softly on the 
 bank, and letting all the birds sing to him, and all the 
 flowers fill the air, and all the little waves go by, as his 
 own anxieties have gone. 
 
 Sometimes Mr. Penniloe, whenever he could spare the 
 time, allowed his heart to go up to heaven, where his soul 
 was waiting for it and wondering at its little cares. And 
 so, on this fair morning of the May, here he sat upon a 
 bank of spring, gazing at the gliding water through the 
 mute salaam of twigs. 
 
AND ONE STILL FINER 487 
 
 " Reverend, I congratulate you. Never heard of a finer 
 hit. A solid hundred out of Gowler ! Never bet with a 
 parson, eh ? I thought he knew the world too well." 
 
 A few months back and the clergyman would have risen 
 very stiffly, and kept his distance from this joke. But 
 now he had a genuine liking for this " Godless Gronow," 
 and knew that his mind was the worst part of him. 
 
 "Doctor, you know that it was no bet," he said, as he 
 shook hands heartily. " Nevertheless, I feel some doubts 
 about accepting " 
 
 "You can't help it. The money is not for yourself, 
 and you rob the church if you refuse it. The joke of it 
 is that I saw through the mill-stone where that conceited 
 fellow failed. Come, now, as you are a sporting man, I'll 
 bet you a crown that I catch a trout in this little stickle 
 above the plank." 
 
 " Done !" cried Mr. Penniloe, forgetting his position, 
 but observing Gronow's as he whirled his flies. 
 
 The doctor threshed heartily and at his very best, even 
 bending his back as he had seen Pike do, and screwing up 
 his lips, and keeping in a strict line with his line his body 
 and his mind and whole existence. 
 
 Mr. Penniloe's face wore an amiable smile as he watched 
 the intensity of his friend. Crowns in his private purse 
 were few and far between, and if he should attain one by 
 the present venture it would simply go into the poor-box ; 
 yet such was his sympathy with human nature that he 
 hoped against hope to see a little trout pulled out. But 
 the willows bowed sweetly, and the wind went by, and the 
 water flowed on with all its clever children safe. 
 
 " Here you are, reverend !" said the philosophic Gronow, 
 pulling out his cart-wheel like a man; "you can't make 
 them take you when they don't choose, can you ? But I'll 
 make them pay out for it when they begin to rise." 
 
 "The fact of it is that you are too skilful, doctor; and 
 you let them see so much of you that they feel it in their 
 hearts." 
 
 " There may be truth in that. But my own idea is 
 that I manage to instil into my flies too keen a sense of 
 their own dependence upon me. Now, what am I to do ? 
 I must have a dish and a good dish, too of trout for this 
 
488 PERLYCEOSS 
 
 evening's supper. You know the honour and the pleasure 
 I am to have of giving the last bachelor and maiden feast 
 to the heroes and heroines of to-morrow Nicie and Jemmy 
 Fox, Christie and Frank Gilham. Their people are glad 
 to be quit of them in the fuss, and they are too glad to be 
 out of it. None of your imported stuff for me. Nothing 
 is to be allowed upon the table unless it is the produce of 
 our own parish. A fine fore - quarter, and a ripe sirloin, 
 my own asparagus and lettuce and sea -kail and frame- 
 potatoes in their jackets. Stewed pears and clotted cream, 
 grapes, and a pineapple (coming, of course, from Wal- 
 derscourt) oh, reverend, what a good man you would be 
 if you only knew what is good to eat !" 
 
 "But I do. And I shall know still better by-and-by. 
 I understood that I was kindly invited." 
 
 " To be sure, and one of the most important. But I 
 must look sharp, or I shall never get the fish. By-the-bye, 
 you couldn't take the rod for half an hour, could you ? 
 I hear that you have been a fine hand at it." 
 
 Mr. Penniloe stood with his hand upon a burr-knot of 
 oak, and looked at the fishing-rod. If it had been a good, 
 homely, hard-working, and plain-living bit of stuff, such 
 as St. Peter might have swung upon the banks of Jor- 
 dan, haply the parson might have yielded to the sweet 
 temptation. For here within a few clicks of reel was good- 
 ly choice of many waters, various as the weather placid 
 glides of middle currents rippling off towards either bank, 
 petulant swerves from bank or bole, with a plashing and 
 a murmur and a gurgling from below, and then a spread 
 of quiet dimples deepening to a limpid pool. Taking all 
 the twists and turns of river Perle and Priestwell brook, 
 there must have been a mile of water in two flowery mead- 
 ows, water bright with stickle-runs, gloomy with still cor- 
 ners, or quivering with crafty hovers where a king of fish 
 might dwell. 
 
 But lo, the king of fishermen, or at least the young 
 prince, was coming ! The doctor caught the parson's 
 sleeve, and his face assumed its worst expression, perhaps 
 its usual one before he took to church-going and fly-fish- 
 ing. 
 
 '* Just look ! Over there, by that wild-cherry tree !" 
 
AND ONE STILL FINER 489 
 
 he whispered very fiercely. " I am sure it's that sneak 
 of a Pike once more. Come into this bush, and watch 
 him. I thought he was gone to Oxford. Why, I never 
 saw him fishing once last week." 
 
 " Pike is no sneak, but a very honest fellow," his tutor 
 answered, warmly. " But I was obliged by a sad offence 
 of his to stop him from handling the rod last week. He 
 begged me to lay it on his back instead. The poor boy 
 scarcely took a bit of food. He will never forget that 
 punishment." 
 
 " Well, he seems to be making up for it now. What 
 luck he has, and I get none !" 
 
 Mr. Penniloe smiled as his favourite pupil crossed the 
 Perle towards them. He was not wading in such small 
 waters there is no necessity for that but stepping lightly 
 from pile to pile, and slab to slab, where the relics of an 
 ancient weir stood above the flashing river. Whistling 
 softly, and calmly watching every curl and ripple, he was 
 throwing a long line up the stream, while his flies were 
 flitting as if human genius had turned them in their post- 
 humous condition into moths. His rod showed not a 
 glance of light, but from spike to top-ring quivered with 
 the vigilance of death. 
 
 While the envious Gronow watched, with bated breath 
 and teeth set hard, two or three merry little trout were 
 taught what they were made for; then in a soft swirl 
 near the bank that dimpled like a maiden's cheek, an ex- 
 cellent fish with a yellow belly bravely made room in it 
 for something choice. Before he had smacked his lips 
 thoroughly, behold another fly of wondrous beauty laced 
 with silver, azure-pinioned, and with an exquisite curl of 
 tail came fluttering through the golden world so marvel- 
 lous to the race below. The poor fly shuddered at the 
 giddy gulf, then folded his wings and fell helpless. " I 
 have thee," exclaimed the trout but ah ! more truly the 
 same thing said the Pike. A gallant struggle, a thrilling 
 minute, silvery dashes, and golden rolls, and there be- 
 tween Dr. Gronow's feet lay upon Dr. Gronow's land a 
 visitor he would have given half the meadow to have 
 placed there. 
 
 "Don't touch him," said Pike, in the calmest manner, 
 
 21* 
 
490 PEELYCROSS 
 
 " or you'll be sure to let him in again. He will turn the 
 pound handsomely, don't you think ?" 
 
 " A cool hand, truly, this pupil of yours !" quoth the 
 doctor to the parson. "To consult me about the weight 
 of my own fish, and then put him in his basket ! Young 
 man, this meadow belongs to me." 
 
 " Yes, sir, I dare say ; but the fish don't live altogether 
 in the meadow. And I never heard that you preserve the 
 Perle. Priest well brook you do, I know. But I don't 
 want to go there, if I might." 
 
 " I dare say. Perhaps the grapes are sour. Never 
 mind ; let us see how you have done. I find them taking 
 rather short to-day. Why, you don't mean to say you 
 have caught all those !" 
 
 " I ought to have done better," said the modest Pike, 
 " but I lost two very nice fish by being in too much of a 
 hurry. That comes of being stopped from it all last week. 
 But I see you have not been lucky yet. You are welcome 
 to these, sir, if Mr. Penniloe does not want them. By 
 strict right, I dare say they belong to you." 
 
 " Not one of them, Mr. Pike. But you are very gener- 
 ous. I hope to catch a basketful very shortly still, it is 
 just possible that this may not occur. I will take them 
 provisionally, and with many thanks. Now, will you add 
 to the obligation by telling, if your tutor has no objection, 
 why he put you under such an awful veto ?" 
 
 " My boy, you are welcome to tell Dr. Gronow. It was 
 only a bit of thoughtlessness, and your punishment has 
 been severe." 
 
 " I shall never touch cobbler's wax again on Sunday. 
 But I wanted to finish a May-fly entirely of my own pat- 
 tern ; and so after church I was touching up his wings 
 when in comes Mr. Penniloe with his London glasses on." 
 
 "And I am proud to assure you, Dr. Gronow, that the 
 lad never tried to deceive me. I should have been deeply 
 pained if he had striven to conceal it." 
 
 " Well done ! That speaks well for both of you. Pike, 
 you are a straightforward fellow. You shall have a day 
 on my brook once a week. Is there anything more I can 
 do for you ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir, unless it is too much to ask ; and perhaps 
 
AND ONE STILL FINER 491 
 
 Mr. Penniloe would like to hear it, too. Hopper and I 
 have had many talks about it ; and he says that I am su- 
 perstitious. But his plan of things is to cut for his life 
 over everything that he can see, without stopping once to 
 look at it. And when he has jumped over it, he has no 
 more idea what it was than if he had run under it. He 
 has no faith in anything that he does not see, and he nev- 
 er sees much of anything." 
 
 " Ha, Master Pike. You describe it well," said the doc- 
 tor, looking at him with much interest. " Scepticism with- 
 out inquiry. Reverend, that Hop-jumper is not the right 
 stuff for a bishop." 
 
 " If you please, Dr. Gronow, we will not discuss that 
 now," the parson replied, with a glance at young Pike, 
 which the doctor understood and heeded. " What is it, 
 my boy, that you would ask of Dr. Gronow, after serious 
 debate with Peckover?" 
 
 " Nothing, sir, nothing. Only we would like to know, 
 if it is not disagreeable to any one, how he could have 
 managed from the very first to understand all about Sir 
 Thomas Waldron, and to know that we were all mak- 
 ing fools of ourselves. I say that he must have seen a 
 dream, like Jacob, or have been cast into a vision, like so 
 many other saints. But Hopper says no; if there was 
 any inspiration, Dr. Gronow was more likely to have got 
 it from the devil." 
 
 " Come now, Pike, and Hopper, too if he were here 
 to fly my brook I call that very unfair of you. No, it 
 was not you who said it ; I can quite believe that. No 
 fisherman reviles his brother. But you should have given 
 him the spike, my friend. Reverend, is this all the the- 
 ology you teach ? Well, there is one answer as to how I 
 knew it, and a very short one the little word brains" 
 
 Mr. Penniloe smiled a pleasant smile, and simply said, 
 " Ah !" in his accustomed tone, which everybody liked for 
 its sympathy and good faith. But Pike took up his rod, 
 and waved his flies about, and answered very gravely : 
 " It must be something more than that." 
 
 " No, sir," said the doctor, looking down at him com- 
 placently, and giving a little tap to his grizzled forehead ; 
 " it was all done here, sir just a trifling bit of brains." 
 
492 PERLYCROSS 
 
 "But there never can have been such brains before," 
 replied Pike, with an angler's persistence. "Why,, every- 
 body else was a thousand miles astray, and yet Dr. Gro- 
 now hit the mark at once !" 
 
 " It is a little humble knack he has, sir. Just a little 
 gift of thinking," the owner of all this wisdom spoke as 
 if he were half-ashamed of it ; " from his earliest days it 
 has been so. Nothing whatever to be proud of, and 
 sometimes even a trouble to him, when others require to 
 be set right. But how can one help it, Master Pike ? 
 There is the power, and it must be used. Mr. Penniloe 
 will tell you that." 
 
 " All knowledge is from above," replied the gentleman 
 thus appealed to, "and beyond all question it is the duty 
 of those who have this precious gift to employ it for the 
 good of others." 
 
 " Young man, there is a moral lesson for you. When 
 wiser people set you right, be thankful and be humble. 
 That has been my practice always, though I have not 
 found many occasions for it." 
 
 Pike was evidently much impressed, and looked with 
 reverence at both his elders. " Perhaps, then," he said, 
 with a little hesitation and the bright blush of ingenuous 
 youth, " I ought to set Dr. Gronow right in a little mis- 
 take he is making." 
 
 " If such a thing be possible, of course you should," 
 his tutor replied, with a smile of surprise, while the doctor 
 recovered his breath, made a bow, and said, lt Sir, will you 
 point out my error ?" 
 
 " Here it is, sir," quoth Pike, with the certainty of truth 
 overcoming his young diffidence, " this wire-apparatus in 
 your brook a very clever thing; what is the object of 
 it?" 
 
 " My Ichthyophylax ? A noble idea that has puzzled all 
 the parish. A sort of a grill that only works one way. It 
 keeps all my fish from going down to my neighbours, and 
 yet allows theirs to come up to me ; and when they come 
 up, they can never get back. At the other end of my 
 property I have the same contrivance inverted, so that all 
 the fish come down to me, but none of them can go up 
 again. I saw the thing offered in a sporting paper, and 
 
AND ONE STILL FINER 493 
 
 paid a lot of money for it in London. Reverend, isn't it 
 a grand invention ? It intercepts them all, like a sluice- 
 
 " Extremely ingenious, no doubt," replied the parson ; 
 " but is not it what a fair-minded person would consider 
 rather selfish?" 
 
 " Not at all. They would like to have my fish, if they 
 could, and so I anticipate them and get theirs. Quite the 
 rule of the Scriptures, reverend." 
 
 " I think that I have read a text," said Master Pike, 
 stroking his long chin, and not quite sure that he quoted 
 aright ; " the snare which he laid for others, in the same 
 are his own feet taken !" 
 
 " A very fine text," replied Dr. Gronow, with one of his 
 most sarcastic smiles ; " and the special favourite of the 
 Lord must have realized it too often. But what has that 
 to do with my Ichthyophylax ?" 
 
 " Nothing, sir, only that you have set it so that it works 
 in the wrong direction. All the fish go out, but they can't 
 come back. And if it is so at the upper end, no wonder 
 that you catch nothing." 
 
 " Can I ever call any man a fool again ?" cried the doc- 
 tor, when thoroughly convinced. 
 
 " Perhaps that disability will be no loss," Mr. Penniloe 
 answered, quietly. 
 
 THE END 
 
R. D. BLACKMORE'S NOVELS. 
 
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WILLIAM BLACK'S NOVELS. 
 
 LIBRARY EDITION. 
 
 A DAUGHTER OF HETH. 
 
 A PRINCESS OF THULE. 
 
 DONALD ROSS OF HE1MRA. 
 
 GREEN PASTURES AND PICCA- 
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BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST. 
 
 By LEW. WALLACE. 16mo, Cloth, $1 50. Garfidd 
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THE PRINCE OF INDIA; 
 
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TH,S BOOK 
 
 ON THE FOURTH 
 
 DAY 
 
 MAY 8 
 
414578 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY