Arthur Wardlaw's Letter.
Over




To enable the reader to follow Mr. Undercli/'s Summary, the materials of his judgment are here reproduced  (See page I34.)
A cilr~aged./Wtco
Ysy 6AIdriryj  1ATrdaver, e




FOUL PLAY.
BY
CHARLES READE AND DION BOUCICAULT.
WITH IILUSTRATIONS BY GEORGE-DU MAiUIERi.
BOSTON:
TICKNO   A.N D  FIEELDS.
1868.




Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
TICKNOR AND FIELDS,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
AUTHORS' EDITION.
UNIVERSITY PRESS: WELCH, BIGELOW, & Co.,
CAMBRIDGE.




FOUL PLAY.
i., 
CHAPTER I.                      insinuated another, and seemed models of grave discretion: but were known to be all ears, and bound
THERE are places which appear at first sight in- by a secret oath to carry down each crumb of diaaccessible to romance: and such a place was Mr. logue to the servants' hall, for curious dissection, and
Wardlaw's dining-room in Russell Square. It was boisterous ridicule.
very large, had sickly green walls, picked out with    At last, however, those three smug hypocrites realdermen, full length; heavy maroon curtains; ma- tired, and, by good luck, transferred their suffocathogany chairs; a turkey carpet an inch thick: and ing epergne to the sideboard; so then father and
was lighted with wax candles only.               son looked at one another with that conscious air
In the centre, bristling and gleaming with silver which naturally precedes a topic of interest; and
and glass, was a round table, at which fourteen  Wardlaw senior invited his son to try a certain decould have dined comfortably; and at opposite sides canter of rare old port, by way of preliminary.
of this table sat two gentlemen, who looked as neat,   While the young man fills his glass, hurl*we in his
grave, precise, and unromantic, as the place; Mer- antecedents.
chant Wardlaw, and his son.                         At school till fifteen, and then clerk in his father's
Wardlaw senior was an elderly man, tall, thin, office till twenty-two, and showed an aptitude so reiron-gray, with a round head, a short, thick neck, a markable, that John Wardlaw, who was getting tired,
good, brown eye, a square jowl that betokened reso- determined, sooner or later, to put the reins ofgovernlution, and a complexion so sallow as to be almost ment into his hands. But he. conceived a desire
cadaverous. Hard as iron: but a certain stiff dig- that the future head of his office should be an uninity and respectability sat upon him, and became versity man.  So he announced his resolution, and
him.                                              to Oxford went young Wardlaw, though he had not
Arthur Wardlaw resembled his father in figure, looked at Greek or Latin for seven years. He was,
but his mother in face. He had, and has, hay-col- however, furnished with a private tutor, under whom
ored hair, a forehead singularly white and delicate, he recovered lost ground rapidly. The Reverend
pale blue eyes, largish ears, finely chiselled fea- Robert Penfold was a first-class man, and had the
tures, the under lip much. shorter than the upper; gift of teaching. The house of Wardlaw had pecuhis chin oval and pretty, but somewhat receding; liar claims on him, for he was the son of old Mihis complexion beautiful. In short, what nineteen chael Penfold, Wardlaw's cashier; he learned from
people out of twenty would call a handsome young young Wardlaw the stake he was playing for, and,
man, and think they had described him.           instead of merely giving him one hour's lecture per
Both the Wardlaws were in full dress, according day, as he did to his other pupils, he used to come to
to the invariable custom of the house; and sat in a his rooms at all hours, and force him to read, by
dead silence, that seemed natural to the great, sober reading with him..He also stood his friend in a seroom.                                            rious emergency. Young Wardlaw, you must know,
This, however, was not for want of a topic; on was blessed or cursed with Mimicry; his powers in
the contrary, they had a matter of great importance that way really seemed to have no limit, for he
to discuss, and in fact this was why they dined tete- could imitate any sound you liked with his voice,
a-tete: but their tongues were tied for the present; and any form with his pen or pencil. Now, we
in the first place, there stood in the middle of thle promise you, he was one man under his father's eye,
table an epergne, the size of a Putney laurel-tree; and another down at Oxford; so, one night, this
neither Wardlaw could well see the other, without gentleman, being warm with wine, opens his wincraning out his neck like a rifleman from behind  dow, and, seeing a group of undergraduates chatterhis tree: and then there were three live suppressors ing and smoking in the quadrangle, imitates the
of confidential intercourse, two gorgeous footmen, peculiar grating tones of Mr. Champion, vice-presiand a sombre, sublime, and, in one word, episcopal, dent of the college, and gives them various reasons
butler; all three went about as softly as cats after a why they ought to disperse to their rooms and study.
robin, and conjured one plate away, and smoothly " But, perhaps," says he, in conclusion, "you are too




2                                       FOUL PLAY.
blind drunk to read Bosh in crooked letters by can-   " We bear witness that Arthur Wardlaw, of St.
die-light? In that case -"  And he then gave Luke's College, has answered our questions in humane
them some very naughty advice how to pass the letters.
evening; still in the exact tones of Mr. Champion,                       "        GEORGE RICHARDSON,
who was a very, very strict moralist; and this unex-                     " ARTHUR SMYTHE,
pected sally of wit caused shrieks of laughter, and                       EDWARD IE iVALES
mightily tickled all the hearers, except Champion
ipse, who was listening and disapproving at another   Wardlaw senior took it, laid it beside him on the
window. He complained to the president. Then table, inspected it with his double eye-glass, and,
the ingenious Wardlaw, not having come down to not knowing a word of Latin, was mightily imus in a direct line from Bayard, comnitted a great pressed, and his respect for his son rosq 40, or 45,
mistake, - he denied it.                          per cent.
It was brought home to him, and the president,   "Very well, sir"; said he. "Now listen to me.
who had laughed in his sleeve at the practical Perhaps it was an old man's'fancy; but I have often
joke, looked very grave at the falsehood; Rusti- seen in the world what a stamp these Universities
cation was talked of and even Expulsion. Then  put upon a man. To send you back from commerce
VWardlaw  came sorrowfully to Penfold, and said to Latin and Greek, at two and twenty, was trying
to him, "I must have been awfully tut, for I you rather hard; it was trying you doubly; your
don't remember all that; I had been wining at obedience, and your ability into the bargain. Well,
Christchurch.  I do remember slanging the fel- sir, you have stood the trial, and I am proud of you.
lows, but how  can I tell what I said?  I say, And so now it is my turn: from this day and from
old fellow, it will be a bad job for me if they expel this hour, look on yourself as my partner in the old
me, or even rusticate me; my father will never for- established house of Wardlaw.  My balance-sheet
give me; I shall be his clerk, but never his partner; shall be prepared imniediately, and the partnership
and then he will find out what a lot I owe down deed drawn. You will enter on a flourishing conhere. I'm done for! I'm done for!"              cern, sir; and you will virtually conduct it, in writPenfold uttered not a word, but grasped his hand, ten communication with me; for I have;had five and
and went off to the president, and said his pupil had  forty years of it: and then my liver, you know!
wined at Christchurch, and could not be expected  Watson advises me strongly to leave my desk, and
to remember minutely. Mimicry was, unfortunate- try country air, and rest from  business and its
ly, a habit with him. He then pleaded for the cares."
milder construction, with such zeal and eloquence,   He paused a moment; and the young man drew
that the high-minded scholar he was addressing ad- a long breath, like one who was in the act of being
mitted that construction was possible, and therefore relieved of some terrible weight.
must be received.  So the affair ended in a written    As for the old gentleman, hewas not observing
apology to Mr. Champion, which had all the smooth- his son just then, but thinking of his own career; a
ness and*neatness of a merchant's letter. Arthur certain expression of pain and regret came over his
Wardlaw was already a master in that style.      features; but he shook it off with manly dignity.
Six months after this, and one fortnight before I Come, come," said he, " this is the law of Nature,
the actual commencement of our tale, Arthur and must be submitted to with a good grace. WardWardlaw, well crammed by Penfold, went up for law junior, fill your glass."  At the same time he
his final examination, throbbing with anxiety. He stood up and said, stoutly, " The setting sun drinks
passed; and was so grateful to his tutor that, when to the rising sun "; but could not maintain that artithe advowson of a small living near Oxford came in- ficial style, and ended with, "God bless you, my
to the market, he asked Wardlaw senior to lend  boy, and may you stick to business; avoid speculaRobert Penfold a sum of money, much more than  tion, as I have done; and so hand the concern down
was needed: and Wardlaw senior declined without healthy to your son, as my father there (pointing to
a moment's hesitation.                           a picture) handed it down to me, and I to you."
This slight sketch will serve as a key to the dia-   His voice wavered slightly in uttering this benelogue it has postponed, and to subsequent inci- diction; but only for a moment: he then sat quietly
dents.                                           down, and sipped his wine composedly.
Not so the other: his color came and went vio"Well, Arthur, and so you have really taken your lently all the time his father was speaking, and,
degree?"                                        when he ceased, he sank into his chair with another
"No, sir; but I have passed my examination: the sigh deeper than the last, and two half-hysterical
degree follows as a matter of course, - that is a mere tears came to his pale eyes.
question of fees."                                  But- presently, feeling he was expected to say
" Oh! Then now I have something to say to you. something, he struggled against all this mysterious
Try one more glass of the'47 port.  Stop; you'll emotion, and faltered out that he should not fear
excuse me; I am a man of business; I don't doubt the responsibility, if he might have constant recourse
your word; Heaven forbid! but, do you happen to to his father for advice.
have any document you can produce in further con-   " Why, of course," was the reply. " My country
firmation of what you state; namely, that you have house is but a mile from the station: you can telepassed your final examination at the Universi- graph for me in any case of importance."
ty?"                                                 "When would you wish me to commence my
" Certainly, sir "; replied young Wardlaw. " My new duties? 
Testaiur."                                         " Let me see, it will take six weeks to prepare a
" What is that? "                              balance-sheet, such as I could be content to submit
The young gentleman put his hand in his pocket, to an incoming partner.  Say two months."
and produced his Testamur, or "We bear witness";   Young Wardlaw's countenance fell.
a short printed document in Latin, which may be    "Meantime you shall travel on the continent
thus translated: -                               and enjoy yourself."




FOUL PLAY.                                              3
"Thank you," said young Wardlaw, mechanically, Wardlaw junior.. e took it up with a sort of
and fell into a brown study.                     shiver, and bent his head very low over it; then
The room now returned to what seemed its nat- handed it back in silence.
ural state. And its silence continued until it was   Adams took it to Wardlaw senior, and laid it bebroken from without.                             fore him, by the side of Arthur's Testamur.
A sharp knocking was heard at the street-door,   The merchant inspected it with his glasses.
and resounded across the marble hall.              "The writing is mine, apparently."
The Wardlaws looked at one another in some    "I am very glad of it," said the bill-broker, ealittle surprise.                                 gerly.
" I have invited nobody," said the elder.        " Stop a bit," said Mr. Wardlaw. " Why, what is
Some time elapsed, and then a footman made his this?  For two thousand pounds! and, as you say,
appearance, and brought in a card.               not my form. I have signed no note for two thou"Mr. Christopher Adams."                      sand pounds this week. Dated yesterday. You
Now that Mr. Christopher Adams should call on have not cashed it, I hope?"
John Wardlaw, in his private room, at nine o'clock    "I am sorry to say my partner has."
in the evening, seemed to that merchant irregular,   "Well, sir, not to keep you in suspense,-the thing
presumptuous, and monstrous. "Tell him he will is not worth the stamp it is written on."
find me at my place of business to-morrow, as usual,"   "Mr. Wardlaw!- Sir! —Good heavens! Then
said he, knitting his brows.                     it is as I feared. It is a forgery."
The footman went off with this message; and,   " I should be puzzled to find any other name for
soon after, raised voices were heard in the hall, and it.  You need not look so pale, Arthur. We can't
the episcopal butler entered the room with an in- help some clever scoundrel imitating our hands;
jured countenance.                               and as for you, Adams, you ought to have been more
"He says he must see you; he is in great anxiety." cautious."' Yes, I am in great anxiety," said a quavering    "But, sir, your cashier's name is Penfold," falvoice at his elbow; and Mr. Adams actually pushed  tered the holder, clinging to a straw.  " May he not
by the butler, and stood, hat in hand, in those sa- have drawn- is the indorsement forged as well?"
cred precincts.  "Pray excuse me, sir," said he,   Mr. Wardlaw examined the back of the bill, and
"but it is very serious; I can't be easy in my mind looked puzzled. " No," said he. " My cashier's
till I have put you a question."                 name is Michael Penfold, but this is indorsed' Rob"This is very extraordinary conduct, sir," said ert Penfold.' Do you hear, Arthur?  Why, what
Mr. Wardlaw. " Do you think- I do business here, is the matter with you?  You look like a ghost. I
and at all hours?"                              say there is your tutor's name at the back of this
" 0 no, sir: it is my own business. I am come forged note. This is very strange. Just look, and
to ask you a very serious questiop. I could n't wait tell me who wrote these two words' Robert Pentill morning with such a doubt on my mind."      fold?'"
"Well, sir, I repeat this is irregular and extraor-   Young Wardlaw took the document, and tried to
dinary; but as you are here, pray what.is the mat- examine it calmly, but it shook visibly in his hand,
ter?"  He then dismissed the lingering butler with  and a cold moisture gathered on his brow. Hispale
a look. Mr. Adams cast uneasy glances on young eyes roved to and fro in a very remarkable way; and
Wardlaw.                                         he was so long before he said anything, that both
" 0," said the elder, "you can speak before the other persons present began to eye him with
him. This is my partner; that is to say, he will be wonder.
as soon as the balance-sheet can be prepared, and    At last he faltered out, " This' Robert Penfold'
thoedeed drawn. Wardlaw junior, this is Mr. Ad- seems to me very like his own handwriting. But
ams, a very respectable bill discounter."        then the rest of the writing is equally like yours, sir.
The two men bowed to each other, and Arthur I am sure Robert Penfold never did anything wrong.
Wardlaw sat down motionless.                     Mr. Adams, please oblige me. Let- this go no fur"Sir, did you draw a note of hand to-day? " in- ther till I have seen him, and asked him whether he
quired Adams of the elder merchant.              indorsed it."
" I dare say I did. Did you discount one signed    " Now don't you be in a hurry," said the elder
by me?                                          Wardlaw. " The first question is, who received the
"Yes, sir, we did."                            money!"
"Well, sir, you have only to present it at matu-   Mr. Adams replied that it was a respectable lookrity. Wardlaw and Son will provide for it, I dare ing man, a young clergyman.
say."  This with the lofty nonchalance of a rich    "Ah!" said Wardlaw, with a world of meaning.
man, who had never broken an engagement in his   "Father!" said young Wardlaw, imploringly,
life.                                            "for my sake, say no more to-night. Robert Pen"Ah, that I know they will if it is all right; but fold is incapable of a dishonest act."
suppose it is not?"                               "It becomes your years to think so, young man.
What d' ye mean? " asked Wardlaw, with some But I have lived long enough to see what crimes
astonishment.                                    respectable men are betrayed into in the hour of
"0, nothing, sir! It bears your signature, that temptation.  And, now I think of it, this Robert
is good for twenty times the amount; and it is in- Penfold is in want of money. Did he not ask me
dorsed by your cashier.  Only what makes me a lit- for a loan of two thousand pounds?  Was not that
tie uneasy, your bills used to be always on your own the very sum?  Can't you answer me?  Why, the
forms, and so I told my partner; he discounted it. application came through you."
Gentlemen, I wish you would just look at it."       Receiving no reply from his son, but a sort of ago"Of course we will look at it. Show it Arthur nized stare, he took out his pencil and wrote down
first; his eyes are younger than mine."          Robert Penfold's address. This he handed the billMr. Adams took out a large bill-book, extracted  broker, and gave him some advice in a whisper,
the note of hand, and passed it across the table to which Mr. Christopher Adams received with a pros




4                                      FOUL PLAY.
fusion of thanks, and bustled away, leaving Ward- hundred; the odd thousand,- but that is a secret
law senior excited and indignant, Wardlaw junior, for the present."
ghastly pale, and almost stupefied.'" 0, I am not inquisitive: I never was."
Scarcely a word was spoken for some minutes, and    They then chatted about things of no importance
then the younger man broke out suddenly: " Rob- whatever, and the old gentleman was just lighting
ert Penfold is the best friend I ever had; I should his candle to go to bed, when a visitor was ushered
have been expelled, but for him, and I should never into the room.
have earned that Testamur but for him."           The Penfolds looked a little surprised, but not
The old merchant interrupted him. "You exag- much. They had no street door all to themselves;
gerate: but, to tell the truth, I am sorry now I did no liveried dragons to interpose between them and
not lend him the money you asked for.' For, mark unseasonable or unwelcome visitors.
my words, in a moment of temptation, that mis-   The man was well dressed, with one exception;
erable young man has forged my name, and will he wore a gold chain. He had a hooked nose, and
be convicted of the felony, and punished accord- a black, piercing eye. He stood at the door, and
ingly."                                         observed every person and thing in the room mi"No, no: 0, God forbid! " shrieked young Ward- nutely, before he spoke a word.
law. "I could n't bear it. If he did, he must have   Then he said, quietly, " Mr. Michael Penfold, I
intended to replace it. I must see him; I will see believe."
him directly."  He got up all in a hurry, and was   "At your service, sir."
going to Penfold to warn him, and get him out of   "And Mr. Robert Penfold."
the way till the money should be replaced. But his   "I am Robert Penfold. What is your business?"
father started up at the same moment and forbade   "Pray is the'Robert Penfold' at the back of
him, in accents that he had never yet been able to this note your writing? "
resist.                                           " Certainly it is; they would not cash it without
"Sit down, sir, this instant," said the old man, that."
with terrible sternness. " Sit down, I say, or -you   "0, you got the money, then?"
will never be a partner of mine. Justice must take   "Of course I did."
its course. What business and what right have we   "You have not parted with it, have you?"
to protect a felon? I would not take your part if   "No."
you were one. Indeed it is too late now, for the   "All the better."  He then turned to Michael,
detectives will be with him before you could reach and looked at him earnestly a moment. " The fact
him. I gave Adams his address."                 is, sir," said he, " there is a little irregularity about
At this last piece of information Wardlaw junior this bill, which must be explained, or your son
leaned his head on the table, and groaned aloud, and might be called on to refund the cash."
a cold perspiration gathered in beads upon his white    Irregularity about - a bill?" cried Michael
forehead.                                       Penfold, in dismay. "Who is the drawer?  Let
me see it. 0, dear me, something wrong about a
CHAPTER II.                     bill indorsed by you, Robert? " and the old man
began to shake piteously.
THAT same evening sat over their tea, in Nor-   " Why, father," said Robert, " what are you
folk Street, Strand, another couple, who were also afraid of? If the bill is irregular, I can but return
father and son; but, in this pair, the Wardlaws were the money. It is in the house."
reversed. Michael Penfold was a reverend, gentle   " The best way will be for Mr. Robert Penfold to
creature, with white hair, blue eyes, and great timid- go at once with me to the bill-broker; he lives but
ity; why, if a stranger put to him a question, he a few doors off. And you, sir, must stay here, and
used to look all round the room before he ventured be responsible for the funds, till we return."
to answer.                                        Robert Penfold took his hat directly, and went
Robert, his son, was a young man, with a large off with this mysterious visitor.
brown eye, a mellow voice, square shoulders, and a   They had not gone many steps, when Robert's
prompt and vigorous manner. Cricketer. Scholar. companion stopped, and, getting in front of him,
Parson.                                         said, " We can settle this matter here."  At the
They were talking hopefully together over a liv- same time a policeman crossed the way, and joined
ing Robert was going to buy; it was near Oxford, them; and another man, who was in fact a policehe said, and would not prevent his continuing to man in plain clothes, emerged from a door-way, and
take pupils. " But, father," said he, " it will be a stood at Robert Penfold's back.
place to take my wife to if I ever have one; and,   The Detective, having thus surrounded him,
meantime, I hope you will run down now and then, threw off disguise. " My man," said he, " I ought
Saturday to Monday"                            to have done this job in your house. But I looked
"That I will, Robert. Ah! how proud she would at the worthy old gentleman, and his gray hairs. I
have been to hear you preach; it was always her thought I'd spare him all I could. I have a wardream, poor thing."                             rant to arrest you for forgery! " 
"Let us think she can hear me," said Robert.   "Forgery! arrest me for forgery!" said Robert
"And I have got you still; the proceeds of this Penfold, with some amazement, but little emotion;
living will help me to lodge you more comfort- for he hardly seemed to take it in, in all its horrible
ably."                                          significance.
"You are very good Robert; I would rather see   The next moment, however, he turned pale, and
you spend it upon yourself; but, dear me, what a almost staggered under the blow.
manager you must be to dress so beautifully as you    " We had better go to Mr. Wardlaw," said he.
do, and send your old father presents as you do, "I entreat you to go to him with me."
and yet put by fourteen hundred pounds to buy   "Can't be done," said the Detective. " Wardthis living."                                  law has nothing to do with it. The bill is stopped.
" You are mistaken, sir, I have only saved four You are arrested by the gent that cashed it. Here




FOUL PLAY. 
is the warrant; will you go quietly with us, or must   Baffled here, young Wardlaw went down to OxI put the darbies on? "                         ford and shut himself up in his own room, a prey to
Robert was violently agitated. "There is no fear and remorse. He sported his oak, and never
need to arrest me," he cried; " I shall not run from  went out. All his exercise was that of a wild beast
my accuser. Hands off, I say. I'm a clergyman  in its den, walking restlessly up and down.
of the Church of England, and you shall not lay    But all his caution did not prevent the prisoners
hands on me."                                    solicitor from  getting to him. One morning, at
But one of the policemen did lay hands on him. seven o'clock, a clerk slipped in at the heels of his
Then the. Reverend Robert Penfold shook him furi- scout, and, coming to young Wardlaw's bedside,
ously off, and, with one active bound, sprang into awoke him out of an uneasy slumber by serving him
the middle of the road.                          with a subpoena to appear as Robert Penfold's witThe officers went at him incautiously, and the ness.
head-detective, as he rushed forward, received a    This last stroke finished him. His bodily health
heavy blow on the neck and jaw, that sounded gave way under his mental distress. Gastric fever
along the street, and sent him rolling in the mud; set in, and he was lying tossing and raving in delirthis was followed by a quick succession of stagger- ium, while Robert Penfold was being tried at the
ing facers, administered right and left, on the eyes Central Criminal Court.
and noses of the subordinates. These, however,   The trial occupied six hours, and could easily be
though bruised and bleeding, succeeded at last in made rather interesting. But, for various reasons,
grappling their man, and all came to the ground to- with which it would not be good taste to trouble the
gether, and there struggled furiously; every win- reader, we decide to skim it.
dow in the street was open by this time, and at one    The indictment contained two counts; one for
the white hair and reverend face of Michael Pen- forging the note of hand, the other for uttering it,
fold looked out on this desperate and unseemly knowing it to be forged.
struggle, with hands that beat the air in helpless    On the first count, the Crown was weak, and had
agony, and inarticulate cries of terror.         to encounter the evidence of Undercliff, the distinThe Detective got up and sat upon Robert Pen- guished Expert, who swore that the hand which
fold's chest; and at last the three forced the hand- wrote "Robert Penfold " was not, in his opinion,
cuffs upon him, and took him in a cab to the sta- the hand that had written the body of the instrution-house.                                      ment. He gave many minute reasons, in support of
Next day, before the magistrate, Wardlaw senior this: and nothing of any weight was advanced conproved the note was a forgery, and Mr. Adams's tra. The judge directed the jury to acquit the
partner swore to the prisoner as the person who had prisoner 6n that count.
presented and indorsed the note. The officers at-   But, on the charge of uttering, the evidence was
tended, two with black eyes a-piece, and one with  clear, and on the question of knowledge, it was,
his jaw bound up, and two sound teeth in his pocket, perhaps, a disadvantage to the prisoner that he was
which had been driven from  their sockets by the tried in England, and could not be heard in person,
prisoner in his desperate attempt to escape. Their as he could have been in a foreign court; above
evidence hurt the prisoner, and the magistrate re- all, his resistance to the officers eked out the prefused bail.                                      sumption that he knew the note had been forged
The Reverend Robert Penfold was committed to by some person or other, who was probably his acprison, to be tried at the Central Criminal Court on complice.
a charge of felony.                                 The absence of his witness, Wardlaw junior, was
Wardlaw senior returned home, and told Ward- severely commented on by his counsel; indeed, he
law junior, who said not a word. He soon received  appealed to the judge to commit the said Wardlaw
a letter from Robert Penfold, which agitated him  for contempt of court. But Wardlaw senior was
greatly, and he promised to go to the prison and see recalled, and swore that he had left his son in a
him.                                             burning fever, not expected to live: and declared,
But he never went.                             with genuine emotion, that nothing but a high sense
He was very miserable, a prey to an inward of public duty had brought him hither from his dystruggle. He dared not offend his father on the ing son's bedside. He also told the court that Areve of being made partner. Yet his heart bled for thur's inability to clear his friend had really been
Robert Penfold.                                  the first cause of his illness, from which he was not
He did what might perhaps have been expected  expected to recover.
from that pale eye and receding chin,- he tem-   The jury consulted together a long time; and, at
porized. He said to himself, " Before that horrible last, brought in a verdict of " GUILTY"; but rectrial comes on, I shall be the house of Wardlaw, ommended him to mercy, on grounds which might
and able to draw a check for thousands. I'11 buy fairly have been alleged in favor of his innocence;
off Adams at any price, and hush up the whole but, if guilty, rather aggravated his crime.
matter."                                           Then an officer of the court inquired, in a sort of
So he hoped, and hoped. But the accountant chant or recitative, whether the prisoner had anywas slow, the public prosecutor unusually quick, thing to say why judgment should not be given in
and, to young Wardlaw's agony, the partnership  accordance with the verdict.
deed was not ready when an imploring letter was   It is easy to divest words of their meaning by
put into his hands, urging him, by all that men hold false intonation; and prisoners in general receive
sacred, to attend at the court as the prisoner's wit- this bit of singsong in dead silence.  For why?
ness.                                            the chant conveys no idea to their ears, and they
This letter almost drove young Wardlaw mad. would as soon think of -replying to the notes of a
He went to Adams, and entreated him not to carry cuckoo.
the matter into court. But Adams was inexorable.   But the Reverend Robert Penfold was in a keen
He had got his money, but would be revenged for agony that sharpened all his senses; he caught the
the fright.                                      sense of the words in spite of the speaker, and clung




6                                       FOUL PLAY.
wildly to the straw that monotonous machine ield'                 CHAPTER II.
out. " My Lord! my Lord!" he cried, " I'11 tell
you the real reason why young Wardlaw  is not   MR. WARDLAW went down to his son, and nursed
here."                                           him. He kept the newspapers from him, and on
The judge put up his hand with a gesture that his fever abating, had him conveyed by easy stages
enforced silence: "Prisoner," said he, " I cannot to the seaside, and then sent him abroad.'
go back to facts; the jury have dealt with them.   The young man obeyed in gloomy silence. He
Judgment can be arrested only on grounds of law. never asked after Robert Penfold, now; never menOn these you can be heard. But if you have none tioned his name. He seemed, somehow, thankful
to offer, you must be silent, and submit to your sen- to be controlled mind and body.
tence."  He then, without a pause, proceeded to    Butr before he had been abroad a month, he
point out the heinous character of the offence, but wrote for leave to return home and to throw himadmitted there was one mitigating circumstance; self into business. There was, for once, a nervous
and, in conclusion, he condemned the culprit to five impatience in his letters, and his father, who pitied
years penal servitude.                           him deeply, and was more than ever inclined to
At this the poor wretch uttered a cry. of anguish reward and indulge him, yielded readily enough;
that was fearful, and clutched the dock convul- and, on his arrival, signed the partnership.deed,
sively.                                          and, Polonius-like, gave him much good counsel;
Now a prisoner rarely sp'eaks to a judge without then retired to his country seat.
revolting him  by bad law, or bad logic, or hot   At first he used to run up every three days, and
words. But this wild cry was innocent of all these, examine the day-book and ledger, and advise his
and went straight from the heart in the dock to the junior; but these visits soon became fewer, and at
heart on the judgment-seat.  And so his lordship's last he did little more than correspond occasionally.
voice trembled for a moment, and then became firm    Arthur Wardlaw held the reins, and easily paid
again, but solemn and humane. "But," said-he, "my his Oxford debts out of the assets of the firm. Not
experience tells me this is your first crime, and may being happy in his mind he threw himself into compossibly be your last. I shall therefore use my influ- merce with feverish zeal, and very soon extended
ence that you may not be associated with more hard- the operations of the house.
ened criminals, but may be sent out of this country    One of his first acts of authority was to send for
to another, where you may begin life afresh, and in Michael Penfold into his room.  Now poor old
the course of years, efface this dreadful stain.  Give Michael, ever since his son's misfortune, as he called
me hopes of you; begin your repentance where now  it, had crept to his desk like a culprit, expecting
you stand, by blaming yourself, and no other man. every day to be discharged. When he received
No man constrained you to utter a forged note, and this summons he gave a sigh and went slowly to the
to receive the money; it was found in your posses- young merchant.
sion. For such an act there can be no defence in    Arthur Wardlaw looked up at his entrance, then
law, morality, or religion."                     looked down again, and said coldly, " Mr. Penfold,
These words overpowered the culprit. He burst you have been a faithful servant to us many years;
out crying with great violence.                  I raise your salary ~ 50 a year, and you will keep the
But it did not last long. He became strangely ledger."
composed all of a sudden; and said, " God forgive    The old man was dumbfoundered at first, and
all'concerned in this - but one - but one."      then began to give vent to his surprise and gratiHe then bowed respectfhlly, and like a gentleman, tude; but Wardlaw cut him short, almost fiercely.
to the judge and the jury, and walked out of the " There, there, there," said he, without raising his
dock with the air of a man who had parted with  eyes, " let me hear no more about it, and, above all,
emotion, and would march to the gallows now with- never speak to me of that cursed business. It was
out flinching.                                   no fault of yours, nor mine neither. There - go 
The counsel for the Crown required that the I want no thanks. Do you hear? leave me, Mr.
forged document should be impounded.             Penfold, if you please."
" I was about to make the same demand," said    The old man bowed low and retired, wondering
the prisoner's counsel.                          much at his employer's goodness, and a little at his
The judge snubbed them both, and said it was a irritability.
matter of course.                                  Wardlaw junior's whole soul was given to busiRobert Penfold spent a year in separate confine- ness night and day, and he soon became known for
ment, and then, to cure him of its salutary effect a very ambitious and rising merchant. But, by and
(if any), was sent on board the hulk " Vengeance," by, ambition had to encounter a rival in his heart.
and was herded with the greatest miscreants in  He fell in love; deeply in love; and with a worthy
creation. They did not reduce him to their level, object.
but they injured his mind: and, before half his sen-   The young lady was the daughter of a distintence had expired, he sailed for a penal colony, a guished officer, whose merits were universally recman with a hot coal in his bosom, a creature embit- ognized, but not rewarded in proportion. Wardtered, poisoned; hoping little, believing little, fear- law's suit was favorably received by the father, and
ing little, and hatinga much.                    the daughter gradually. yielded to an attachment,
He took with him the prayer-book his mother had the warmth, sincerity, and singleness of which were
given him when he was ordained deacon. But he manifest; and the pair would have been married,
seldom read beyond the fly-leaf; there the poor lady but for the circumstance that her father (partly
had written at large her mother's heart, and her through Wardlaw's influence by the by) had obpious soul aspiring heavenwards for her darling son. tained a lucrative post abroad which it suited his
This, when all seemed darkest, he would sometimes means to accept, at all events for a time. He was
run to with moist eyes: for he was sure of his moth- a widower, and his daughter could not let him go
er's love, but almost doubted the justice of his alone.
God.                                               This temporary separation, if it postponed a mar



FOUL PLAY.                                              7
riage, led naturally to a solemn engagement; and looking round, saw a young lady on the gravel path,
Arthur Wardlaw enjoyed the happiness of writing whose calm, but bright face, coming so suddenly,
and receiving affedtionate letters by every foreign literally dazzled him.  She had a clear cheek
post. Love, worthily bestowed, shed its balm upon blooming with exercise, rich, brown hair, smooth,
his heart, and, under its soft but powerful charm, glossy, and abundant, and a very light hazel eye,
he grew tranquil and complacent, and his character of singular beauty and serenity.  She glided along,
and temper seemed to improve. Such virtue is tranquil as a goddess, smote him with beauty and
there in a pure attachment.                      perfume, and left him staring after her receding figMeanwhile the extent of his operations alarmed  ure, which was, in its way, as captivating as her
old Penfold;but he soon reasoned that worthy  face.
down with overpowering conclusions and superior    She was walking up and down for exercise, brisksmiles.                                          ly, but without effort. Once she passed within a few
He had been three years the ruling spirit of yards of him, and he touched his hat to her. She
Wardlaw and Son, when some curious events took inclined her head gently, but her eyes' did not rest
place in another hemisphere; and in these events, an instant on her gardener; and so she passed and
which we are now to relate, Arthur Wardlaw was repassed, unconsciously sawing this solitary heart
more nearly interested than may appear at first with soft but penetrating thrills.
sight.                                             At last she went indoors to luncheon, and the
lawn seemed to miss the light music of her rustling
Robert Penfold, in due course, applied to Lieu- dress, and the sunshine of her presence, and there
tenant-General Rolleston for a ticket of leave. That was a painful void; but that passed, and a certain
functionary thought the application premature, the sense of happiness stole over James Seaton, - an
crime being so grave. Ile complained that the sys- unreasonable joy, that often runs before folly and
tem had become too lax, and for his part he seldom  trouble.
gave a ticket of leave until some suitable occupa-   The young lady was Helen Rolleston, just retion was provided for the applicant. "Will any- turned home from a visit. She walked in the garbody take you as a clerk? If so,- I'11 see about den every day, and Seaton watched her, and peeped
it."                                             at her, unseen, behind trees and bushes. He fed'his
Robert Penfold could find nobody to take him  eyes and his heart upon her, and, by degrees, she
into a post of confidence all at once, and wrote the became the sun of his solitary existence. It was
General an eloquent letter, begging hard to be madness; but its first effect was not unwholesome.
allowed to labor with his hands.                 The daily study of this creature, who, though by no
Fortunately,. General Rolleston's gardener had  means the angel he took her for, was at all events a
just turned him  off; so he offered the post to his pure and virtuous woman, soothed his sore heart, and
eloquent correspondent, remarking that he did not counteracted the demoralizing influences of his late
much mind employing a ticket of leave man him- companions.  Every day he drank deeper of an
self, though he was resolved to protect his neigh- insane, but purifying and elevating passion.
bors from their relapses..                 e avoided the kitchen still more; and that, by
The convict then came to General Rolleston, and  the by, was unlucky; for there he could have learned
begged leave to enter on his duties under the name something about Miss Helen Rolleston, that would
of James Seaton. At that General Rolleston hem'd have warned him to keep at the other end of the
and haw'd, and took a note. But his final decision garden, whenever that charming face and form glided
was as follows: " If you really mean to change to and fro amongst the minor flowers.
your character, why the name you have disgraced    A beautiful face fires our imagination, and we
might hang round your neck. Well, I'11 give you see higher virtue and intelligence in it, than we can
every chance. But," said this old warrior, suddenly  detect in its owner's head or heart when we descend
compressing his resolute lips just a little, "if you to calm inspection. James Seaton gazed on Miss
go a yard off the straight path now, look for no Rolleston day after day, at so respectful a distance,
mercy, - Jemmy Seaton."                          that she became,his goddess. If a day passed withSo the convict was re-christened at the tail of a out his seeing her, he was dejected. When she was
threat, and let loose among the warrior's tulips.  behind her time, he was restless, anxious, and his
His appearance was changed as effectually as his work distasteful; and then, when she came out at
name. Even before he was Seatoned he had grown  last, he thrilled all over, and the lawn, ay, the world
a silky mustache and beard of singular length and itself, seemed to fill with sunshine. His adoration,
beauty; and what with these, and his working timid by its own nature, was doubly so by reason of
man's clothes, and his cheeks and neck tanned by his. fallen and hopeless condition. He cut nosegays
the sun, our readers would never have recognized for her; but gave them to her maid Wilson for her.
in this hale, bearded laborer the pale prisoner that He had not the courage to offer them to herself.
had trembled, raged, wept, and submitted in the    One evening, as he went home, a man addressed
dock of the Central Criminal Court.              him familiarly, but in a low voice. Seaton looked
Our Universities cure men of doing things by at him attentively, and recognized him at last. It
halves, be the things mental or muscular; so Seaton  was a convict called Butt, who had come over in the
gardened much more zealously than his plebeian  ship with him. The man offered him  a glass of
predecessor: up at five, and did not leave till eight. ale; Seaton declined it. Butt, a very clever rogue,
But he was unpopular in the kitchen, - because seemed hurt: so then Seaton assented reluctantly.
he was always out of it: taciturn and bitter, he Butt took him to a public-house in a narrow street,
shunned his fellow-servants.                     and into a private room.. Seaton started as soon as
Yet working among the flowers -did him good; he entered, for there sat two repulsive ruffians, and,
these his pretty companions and nurselings had no by a look that passed rapidly between them and Butt,
vices.                                           he saw plainly they were waiting for him. He felt
One day, as he was rolling the grass upon the nervous; the place was so uncouth and dark, the
lawn, he heard a soft rustle at some distance, and  faces so villanous.




8                                       FOUL PLAY.
However, they invited him to sit down, roughly, the sweet sense of being the secret protector of her
but with an air of good fellowship; and very soon he adored.
opened their business over their ale. We are all   Meantime, Miss Rolleston's lady's maid, Wilson,
bound to assist our fellow-creatures, when it can be fell in love with him after her fashion; she had
done without trouble; and what they asked of him  taken a fancy to his face at once, and he had enwas a simple act of courtesy, such as in their opin- couraged  her a little, unintentionally; for he
ion no man worthy of the name- could deny to his brought the nosegays to her, and listened complafellow. It was to give General Rolleston's watch- cently to her gossip, for the sake of the few words
dog a piece of prepared meat upon a certain even- she let fall now and then about her young mistress.
ing: and in return for this trifling civility, they were As he never exchanged two sentences at a time
generous enough to offer him a full share of any  with any other servant, this flattered Sarah Wilson,
light valuables they might find in the General's house. and she soon began to meet and accost him oftener,
Seaton trembled, and put his face in his hands a and in cherrier-colored ribbons, than he could stand.
moment. "I cannot do it," said he.                So then he showed impatience, and then she, read"Why not?"                                    ing him by herself, suspected some vulgar rival.
" He has been too good to me."                    Suspicion soon bred jealousy, jealousy vigilance,
A coarse laugh of derision greeted this argu- and vigilance, detection.
ment; it seemed so irrelevant to these pure ego-   Her first discovery was, that, so long as she talked
tists. Seaton, however, persisted, and on that one of Miss Helen Rolleston, she was always welcome;
of the men got up and stood before the door, and  her second was, that Seaton slept in the tool-houise.
drew his knife gently.                              She was not romantic enough to connect her two
Seaton glanced his eyes round, in search of a  discoveries together. They lay apart in her mind,
weapon, and turned pale.                         until circumstances we are about to relate supplied
"Do you mean to split on us, mate? " said one a connecting link.
of the ruffians in front of him.                    One Thursday evening James Seaton's goddess
" No, 1 don't. But I won't rob my benefactor: sat alone with her papa, and - being a young lady
you shall kill me first."  And with that he darted  of fair abilities, who had gone through her course
to'the fireplace, and in a moment the poker was of music and other studies, taught brainlessly, and
high in air, and the way he squared his shoulders who was now going through a course of monotonous
and stood ready to hit to the on, or cut to the off, pleasures, and had not accumulated any great store
was a caution.                                   of mental resources - she was listless and languid,
" Come, drop that," said Butt, grimly; " and  and would have yawned forty times in her papa's
put up your knife, Bob. Can't a pal be out of a face, only she was too well-bred.  She always
job, and yet not split on them that is in it! "  turned her head away when it came, and either
"Why should I split?" said Robert Penfold. suppressed it, or else hid it with a lovely white
Has the law been a friend to me?  But I won't hand. At last, as she was a good girl, she blushed
rob my benefactor - and his daughter."            at her behavior, and roused herself up, and said she,
" That is square enough," said Butt.  " Why, "Papa, shall I play you the new quadrilles?"
pals, there are other cribs to be cracked besides that   Papa gave a start and a shake, and said, with
old bloke's. Finish the ale, mate, and part friends." well-feigned vehemence, " Ay, do, my dear," and so
" If you will promise me to' crack some other composed himself- to listen; and Helen sat down
crib,' and let that one alone."                  and played the quadrilles.
A sullen assent was given, and Seaton drank    The composer had taken immortal melodies, some
their healths, and walked away. Butt followed him  gay, some sad, and had robbed them of their dissoon after, and affected to side with him, and inti- tinctive character, and hashed them till they were
mated that he himself was capable of not robbing  all one monotonous rattle. But General Rolleston
a man's house who had been good to him, or to a was little the worse for all this. As Apollo saved
pal of his. Indeed' this plausible person said so Horace from hearing a poetaster's rhymes, so did
much, and his sullen comrades had said so little, Somnus, another beneficent little deity, rescue our
that Seaton, rendered keen and anxious by love, warrior from his daughter's music.
invested his savings in a Colt's revolver and ammunition.                                           She was neither angry nor surprised. A  deliHe did not stop there; after the hint about the cious smile illumined her face directly; she crept to
watch-dog, he would not trust that faithful but too him  on tiptoe, and bestowed a kiss, light as a
carnivorous animal; he brought his blankets into  zephyr, on his gray head. And, in truth, the bendthe little tool-house, and lay there every night in a ing attitude of this supple figure, clad in snowy
sort of dog's sleep. This tool-house was erected in muslin, the virginal face and light hazel eye beama little back garden, separated from the lawn only ing love and reverence, and the airy kiss, had someby some young trees in single file. Now Miss Rol- thing angelic.
leston's window looked out upon the lawn, so that   She took her candle, and glided up to her bedSeaton's watchtower was not many yards from it; room. And, the moment she got there, and could
then, as the tool-house was only lighted from above gratify her somnolence without offence, need we
he bored a hole in the wooden structure, and say she became wide-awake?  She sat down, and
through this he watched, and slept, and watched. wrote long letters to three other young ladies, gushHe used to sit studying theology by a farthing ing affection, asking questions of the kind nobody
rushlight till the lady's bedtime, and then he replies to, painting, with a young lady's colors, the
watched for her shadow. If it appeared for a few  male being to whom she was shortly to be married,
moments on the blind, he gave a sigh of content, wishing her dear friends a like demigod, if perand went to sleep, but awaked every now and then  chance earth contained two; and so to the last new
to see that all was well.                         bonnet and preacher.
After a few nights, his alarms naturally ceased,   She sat over her paper till one o'clock, and Seabut his love increased, fed now from this new source, ton watched and adored her shadow.




FOUL PLAY.                                              9
When she had done writing, she opened her win- seeing the General standing before him, stretched
dow and looked out upon the night. She lifted  out his hands, and said, in a faint but earnest voice,
those wonderful hazel eyes towards the stars, and before eleven witnesses, "Is she safe?  0, is she
her watcher might well be pardoned if he saw in safe?"
her a celestial being looking up from an earthly
resting-place towards her native sky.
At two o'clock she was in bed, but not asleep.                 CHAPTER IV.
She lay calmly gazing at the Southern Cross, and
other lovely stars shining with vivid, but chaste, fire   SARAHI WILSON left off crying, and looked down
in the purple vault of heaven.                   on the ground with a very red face. General RolWhile thus employed she heard a slight sound leston was amazed. "Is she safe?"  Is who safe?"
outside that made her turn her eyes towards a said he. "He means my mistress," replied Wilyoung tree near her window. Its top branches son, rather brusquely; and flounced out of the
were waving a good deal, though there was not a hall.
breath stirring.  This struck her as curious, very    "She is safe, no thanks to you," said General Rolcurious.                                         leston. " What were you doing under her window
Whilst she wondered, suddenly an arm  and a at this time of night?"  And.the harsh tone in
hand came in sight, and after them the whole figure which this question was put showed Seaton he was
of a man, going up the tree.                     suspected. This wounded him, and he replied, dogHelen sat up now, glaring with terror, and was gedly, " Lucky for you all I was there."
so paralyzed she did not utter a sound. About a   " That is no answer to my question," said the
foot below her window was a lead flat that roofed General, sternly.
the bay window below. It covered an area of sev- " It is all the answer I shall give you."
eral feet, and the man sprang on to it with perfect   "Then I shall hand you over to the officer, withease from the tree. Helen shrieked with terror. out another word."
At that very instant there was a flash, a pistol-shot,   "Do, sir, do," said Seaton, bitterly; but he added
and the man's arms went whirling, and he stag- more gently, "you will be sorry for it when you
gered and fell over the edge of the flat, and struck come to your senses."
the grass below with a heavy thud.  Shots and   At this moment Wilson entered with a message.
blows followed, and all the sounds of a bloody "If you please, sir, Miss Rolleston says the robber
struggle. rung in Helen's ears as she flung herself had no beard. Miss have never noticed Seaton's
screaming from the bed and darted to the door. face, but his beard she have; and 0! if you please,
She ran and clung quivering to her sleepy maid, sir, she begged me to ask him,  Was it you that
Wilson.  The house was alarmed, lights flashed, fired the pistol and shot the robber?"
footsteps pattered, there was universal commotion.    The delivery of this ungrammatical message but
General Rolleston soon learned his daughter's rational query, was like a ray of light streaming
story from Wilson, and aroused his male servants, into a dark place: it changed the whole aspect of
one of whom was an old soldier. They searched things. As for Seaton, he received it as if Heaven
the house first; but no entrance had been effected; was speaking to him through Wilson. His sullen
so they went out on the lawn with blunderbuss and air relaxed, the water stood in his eyes, he smiled
pistol.                                          affectionately, and said in a low, tender voice, " Tell
They found a man lying on his back at the foot her I heard some bad characters talking about this
of the bay window.                               house,   that was a month ago,-so, ever since then,
They pounced on him, and, to their amazement, I have slept in the tool-house to watch. Yes, I shot
it was the gardener, James Seaton. Insensible.    the robber with my revolver, and I marked one or
General Rolleston was quite taken aback for a two more; but they were three to one; I think I
moment. Then he was sorry. But after a little must have got a blow on the head; for I felt nothreflection, he said very sternly, "Carry the black- ing-"
guard in-doors; and run for an officer."           Here he was interrupted by a violent scream
Seaton was taken into the hall, and laid flat on from  Wilson.  She pointed downwards, with her
the floor.                                       eyes glaring; and a little blood was seen to be
All the servants gathered about him, brimful of trickling slowly over Seaton's stocking and shoe.
curiosity, and the female ones began to speak alto-   "Wounded," said the General's servant, Tom, in
gether; but General Rolleston told them  sharply the business-like accent of one who had seen a thouto hold their tongues, and to retire behind the man. sand wounds.
" Somebody sprinkle him with cold water," said    " Q! never mind that," said Seaton. "It can't
he; "and be quiet, all of you, and keep out of be very deep, for I don't feel it"; then, fixing his
sight, while I examine him."  He stood before the  eves on General Rolleston, he said, in a voice that
insensible figure with his arms folded, amidst a dead broke down suddenly, "there stands the only man
silence, broken only by the stifled sobs of Sarah who has wounded me to-night, to hurt me."
Wilson, and of a sociable housemaid who cried with   The way General Rolleston received this pointher for company.                                 blank reproach surprised some persons present, who
And now Seaton began to writhe and show signs had observed only the imperious and iron side of
of returning sense.                              his character. He hung his head in silence a moNext he moaned piteously, and sighed.  But ment; then, being discontented with himself, he
General Rolleston could not pity him; he waited went into a passion with his servants for standing
grimly for returning consciousness, to subject him  idle. "Run away, you women," said he, roughly.
toa merciless interrogatory.                     "Now, Tom, if you are good for anything, strip the
He waited just one second too long. He had to man and stanch his wound. Andrew, a bottle of
answer a question instead of putting one.        port, quick! "
The judgment is the last faiculty a man recovers   Then, leaving him for a while in friendly hands, he
when emerging from  insensibility; and  Seaton, went to his daughter,.and asked her if she saw any




O1                                       FOUL PLAY.
objection to a bed being made up in the house for fully, "We are all' on the keyfeet' just now. Miss
the wounded convict.                              Rolleston's beau is come on a visit."
" 0 papa," said she," why of course not. I am
all gratitude. What is he like, Wilson? for it is a    The patient opened his eyes with astonishment.
most provoking thing, I never noticed his face, only    "Miss Rolleston's beau?"
his beautiful beard glittering in the sunshine ever so    "Ay, her. intended. What, did n't you know,
far off. Poor young man! 0 yes, papa! send him  she is engaged to be married?"
to bed directly, and we will all nurse him. I never   " She engaged to be married? " gasped Seaton.
did any good in the world yet, and so why not be-   Wilson watched him with a remorseless eye.
gin at once? "                                     " Why, James," said she, after a while, " did you
General Rolleston laughed at this squirt of enthu- think the likes of her would go through the world
siasm from his staid daughter, and went off to give without a mate?"
the requisite orders.                               Seaton made no reply but a moan, and lay back
But Wilson followed him immediately and stopped like one dead, utterly crushed by this cruel blow.
him in the passage. " If you please, sir, I think you    A buxom middle-aged nurse now came up, and
had better not. I have something to tell you."  She said, with a touch of severity, " Come, my good
then communicated, to him by degrees her suspicion girl, no doubt you mean well, but you are doing ill.
that James Seaton was in love with his daughter. You had better leave him to us for the present."
He treated this with due ridicule at first; but she    On this hint Wilson bounced out, and left the pagave him one reason after another till she staggered  tient to his misery.
him, and he went down stairs in a most mixed and    At her next visit she laid a nosegay on his bed,
puzzled frame of mind, inclined to laugh, inclined to and gossipped away, talking of everything in the
be angry, inclined to be sorry.                  world, except Miss Rolleston.
The officer had just arrived, and was looking    At last she came to a pause, and Seaton laid his
over some photographs to see if James Seaton  hand on her arm directly, and looking piteously in
was "one of his birds."  Such, alas! was his ex- her face spoke his first word.
pression.                                           "Does she love him?"
At sight of this Rolleston colored up; but extri-   "What, still harping on her?" said  Wilson.
cated himself from the double difficulty with some "Well, she does n't hate him, I suppose, or she
skill. " Hexam," said he, "this poor fellow has be- would not marry him."
haved like a man, and got himself wounded in my    "For pity's sake don't trifle with me! Does she
service. You are to take him to the infirmary; but love him?"
mind, they must treat him like my own son, and    "La, James, how can I tell?  She may ri't love
nothing he asks for be denied him."               him quite as much as I could love a man that took
Seaton walked with feeble steps, and leaning on  my fancy" (here she cast a languishing glance on
two men, to the infirmary; and General Rolleston  Seaton); "but I see no difference between her and
ordered a cup of coffee, lighted a cigar, and sat cog- other young ladies. Miss is very fond of her papa,
itating over this strange business, and asking himself for one thing; and he favors the match. Ay, and
how he could get rid of this young madman, and yet she likes her partner well enough: she is brighter
befriend him. As for Sarah Wilson, she went to like, now he is in the house, and she reads all her
bed discontented, and wondering at her own bad  friends' letters to him ever so lovingly; and I do
judgment. She saw, too late, that, if she had held notice she leans on him, out walking, a trifle more
her tongue, Seaton would have been her patient and than there is any need for."
her prisoner; and as for Miss Rolleston, when it came    At this picture James Seaton writhed in his bed
to the point, why she would never have nursed him  like some agonized creature under vivisection; but
except by proxy, and the proxy would have been  the woman, spurred by jealousy, and also by egotisSarah Wilson.                                     tical passion, had no mercy left for him.
However, the blunder blind passion had led her   "And why not?" continued she; "he is young,
into was partially repaired by Miss Rolleston herself. and handsome, and rich, and he dotes on her. If
When she heard, next day, where Seaton was gone, you are really her friend, you ought to be glad she
she lifted up her hands in amazement. "What is so well suited."
could papa be thinking of to send our benefactor   At this admonition the tears stood in Seaton's
to a hospital? "  And, after meditating a while, she eyes, and after a while, he got strength to say,'" I
directed Wilson to cut a nosegay and carry it to know I ought, I know it. If he is only worthy of
Seaton. " He is a gardener," said she, innocently. her, as worthy as any man could be."
"Of course he will miss his flowers sadly in that   "That he is, James. Why, I'11 be bound you
miserable place."                                 have heard of him. It is young Mr. Wardlaw."
And she gave the same order every day with a    Seaton started up in bed. "Who? Wardlaw?
constancy, that, you must know, formed part of this what Wardlaw?"
young lady's character. Soup, wine, and jellies were    "What Wardlaw? why, the great London mersent from the kitchen every other day with equal chant, his son. Leastways he manages the whole
pertinacity.                                      concern now, I hear; the old gentleman, he is reWilson concealed the true donor of all those things, tired, by all accounts."
and took the credit to herself. By this means she    " CUnsE HIM! CURSE HIM! CURS   IM!" yelled
obtained the patient's gratitude, and he showed it so James Seaton, with his eyes glaring fearfully, and
frankly, she hoped to steal his love as well.     both hands beating the air.
But no! his fancy and his heart remained true    Sarah Wilson recoiled with alarm.
to the cold beauty he had served so well, and she    "That angel marry him!" shrieked  Seaton.
had forgotten him apparently.                     " Never, while I live: I 11 throttle him with these
This irritated Wilson at last, and she set to work hands first."
to cure him with wholesome, but bitter medicine.   What more his ungovernable fury would have
She sat down beside him one day, and said, cheer- uttered was interrupted by a rush of nurses and at



FOUL PLAY.                                           11
tendants, and Wilson was bundled out of the place This situation had tempted the burglars whom Seawith little ceremony.                           ton baffled; and now it tempted Seaton.
He contrived however to hurl a word after her,   Wardlaw must pass that way on leaving General
accompanied with a look of concentrated rage and Rolleston's house.
resolution.                                       At a bend of the lane two twin elms stood out a
" NEVER, I TELL YOU,- WHILE I LIVE."         foot or two from the hedge.  Seaton got behind
At her next visit to the hospital, Wilson was re- these at about ten o'clock, and watched for him with
fused admission by order of the Head Surgeon. She a patience and immobility that boded ill.
left her flowers daily all the same.              His preparations for this encounter were singuAfter a few days she thought the matter might lar. He had a close-shutting inkstand and a pen,
have cooled, and, having a piece of news to com- and one sheet of paper, at the top of which he had
municate to Seaton, with respect to Arthur Ward- written " Sydney," and the day of the month and
law, she asked to see that patient.             year, leaving the rest blank. And he had the re"Left the hospital this riorning," was the reply.   volver with which he had shot the robber at Helen
"What, cured?"                               Rolleston's window; and a barrel of that arm was
-" Why not?   We have cured worse cases than loaded with swan shot.
his.".
"Where has he gone to? Pray tell me."
"0, certainly."  And inquiry was made. But
the reply was, " Left no address."                              CHAPTER V.
Sarah Wilson, like many other women of high    THE moon went down; the stars shone out clearand low degree, had swift misgivings of mischief to er.
come. She was taken with a fit of trembling, and   Eleven o'clock boomed from a church clock in the
had to sit down in the hall.                   town.
And, to tell the truth, she had cause to tremble;   Wardlaw did not come, and Seaton did not move
for that tongue of hers had launched two wild *from his ambush.
beasts, - Jealousy and Revenge.                   Twelve o'clock boomed, and Wardlaw  never
When she got better she went home, and, cow- came, and Seaton never moved.
ard-like, said not a word to living soul.         Soon lAfter midnight, General Rolleston's halldoor opened, and a figure appeared in a flood of
That day, Arthur Wardlaw dined with General light. Seaton's eyes gleamed at the light, for it was
Rolleston and Helen. They were to be alone for a young Wardlaw, with a footman at his back holding
certain reason; and he came half an hour before a lighted lamp.
dinner. Helen thought he would, and was ready    Wardlaw, however, seemed in no hurry to leave
for him on the lawn.                            the house, and the reason soon appeared; he was
They walked arm-in-arm, talking of the happiness joined by Helen Rolleston, and she was equipped
before them, and regretting a temporary separation for walking. The watcher saw her serene face
that was to intervene. He was her father's choice, shine in the light. The General himself came next;
and she loved her father devotedly; he was her and, as they left the door, out came Tom with a
male property; and young ladies like that sort of blunderbuss, and brought up the rear.  Seaton
property, especially when they see nothing to dis- drew behind the trees, and postponed, but did not
like in it. He loved her passionately, and that was resign, his purpose.
her due, and pleased her and drew a gentle affec-   Steps and murmurings came, and passed him, and
tion, if not a passion, from her in return. Yes, that receded.
lovely forehead did come very near young Ward-   The only words he caught distinctly came from
law's shoulder more than once or twice, as they  Wardlaw, as he passed. " It is nearly high tide. I
strolled slowly up and down on the soft mossy fear we must make haste."
turf.                                             Seaton followed the whole party at a short disAnd, on the other side of the hedge that bounded tance, feeling sure they would eventually separate
the lawn, a man lay crouched in the ditch, and saw  and give him his opportunity with Wardlaw.
it all with gleaming eyes.                        They went down to the harbor and took a boat;
Just before the affianced ones went in, Helen  Seaton came nearer, and learned they were going on
said, "I have a little favor to ask you, dear. The board the great steamer bound for England, that
poor man, Seaton, who fought the robbers, and was loomed so black, with monstrous eyes of fire.
wounded,- papa says he is a man of education,   They put off, and Seaton stood baffled.
and wanted to be a clerk or something. Could you   Presently the black monster, with enormous eyes
find him a place?"                             of fire, spouted her steam like a Leviathan, and
" I think I can," said Wardlaw; "indeed, I am  then was- still; next the smoke puffed, the heavy
sure. A line to White and Co. will do it; they want paddles revolved, and she rushed out of the harbor;
a shipping clerk."                              and Seaton sat down upon the ground, and all
" O, how good you are! " said Helen; and lifted seemed ended. Helen gone to England! Wardlaw
her face all beaming with thanks.               g?'na with her!  Love and revenge had alike
The opportunity was tempting; the lover fond: eldded him. He looked up at the sky, and played
two faces met for a single moment, and one of the'- wth the pebbles at his feet, stupidly, stupidly. He
two burned for five minutes after.              wondered why he was born; why he consented
The basilisk eyes saw the soft collision; but the to live a single minute after this. His angel and his
owner of those eyes did not hear the words that demon gone home together! And he left here!
earned him that torture.  He lay still and bided   He wrote a few lines on the paper he had intendhis time.                                       ed for Wardlaw, sprinkled them with sand, and put
them in his bosom, then stretched himself out with a
General Rolleston's house stood clear of the town weary moan, like a dying dog, to wait the flow of
at the end of a short, but narrow and tortuous lane. the tide, and, with it, Death. Whether or not 1 is




12                                       FOUL PLAY.
resolution or his madness could have carried him so at Messrs. White and Co.'s was at his service, and
far cannot be known, for even as the water rippled  she hoped he would take it without an hour's furin and, trickling under his back, chilled him to the ther delay, for that she was assured. that many
bone, a silvery sound struck his ear. He started to  persons had risen to wealth and consideration in
his feet, and life and its joys rushed back upon him. the colony from such situations.
It was the voice of the woman he loved so madly.   Then, as this wary but courteous young lady had
Helen Rolleston was on the water, coming ashore no wish to enter into a correspondence with her exagain in the little boat.                        gardener, she added,He crawled, like a lizard, among the boats ashore             n     n  t       h      t      
* 1. 0. 11.1 ~.'"Mr. Seaton need not trouble himself to reply to
to catch a sight of her: he did see her, was near her, this note. A simple yes' to Mr. Hexam will be
unseen himself.  She landed with her father.  So              
Wardlaw was gone to England without her.  Sea-            ad        give  incere please to 
Seaton's
ton trembled with joy. Presently his goddess began          Obedient servant and well-wisher,
to lament in the prettiest way. "Papa!  Papa!"                      HELEN. A.NE ROLLESTON.
she sighed, "Why must friends part in this sad
world?  Poor Arthur is gone from me; and, by    Seaton bowed his head over this letter in silent
and by, I shall go from you, my own papa."  And but deep emotion.
at that prospect she wept gently.                   Hexam respected that emotion, and watched him
"Why, you foolish child! " said the old General, with a sort of vague sympathy.
tenderly, " what matters a little parting, when we are    Seaton lifted his head, and the tears stood thick
all to meet again, in dear old England. Well then, in his eyes. Said he, in a voice of exquisite softthere, have a cry; it will do you good."  He patted  ness, scarce above a whisper, " Tell her,' yes' and
her head tenderly, as she clung to his warlike'God bless her.' Good by. I want to go on my
breast* and she took him at his word; the tears ran  knees, and pray God to bless her, as she deserves.
swiftly and glistened in the very starlight.      Good by."
But, 0! how Seaton's heart yearned at all this.  Hexam took the hint, and retired softly.
What? must n't he say a word to comfort her; he
who, at that moment, would have thought no more
of dying to serve her, or to please her, than he                  CHAPTER VI.
would of throwing one of those pebbles into that
slimy water.                                        WHITE AND Co. stumbled on a treasure in James
Well, her pure tears somehow cooled his hot Seaton. Your colonial clerk is not so narrow and
brain, and washed his soul, and left him wondering  apathetic as your London clerk, whose two objects
at himself and his misdeeds this night. His guar- seem to be, to learn one department only, and not
dian angel seemed to go by and wave her dewy to do too much in that; but Seaton, a gentleman
wings, and fan his hot passions as she passed.    and a scholar, eclipsed even colonial clerks in this,
He kneeled down and thanked God he had not that he omitted no opportunity of learning the
met Arthur Wardlaw in that dark lane.             whole business of White and Co., and was also aniThen he went home to his humble lodgings, and mated by a feverish zeal, that now and then prothere buried himself; and from that day seldom went voked laughter from clerks, but was agreeable, as
out, except to seek employment. He soon obtained  well as surprising, to White and Co. Of that zeal,
it as a copyist.                                  his incurable passion was partly the cause.  ForMeantime the police were on his track, employed tunes had been made with great rapidity in Sydby a person with a gentle disposition, but a tenacity  ney; and Seaton now conceived a wild hope of
of purpose truly remarkable.                      acquiring one, by some lucky hit, before Wardlaw
Great was Seaton's uneasiness when one day he could return to Helen Rolleston.  And yet his
saw Hexham at the foot of his stair; greater still, common-sense said, if I was as rich as Croesus, how
when the officer's quick eye caught sight of him, could she ever mate with me, a stained man. And
and his light foot ascended the stairs directly. He yet his burning heart said, don't listen to reason;
felt sure Hexham had heard of his lurking about listen only to me. Try.
General Rolleston's premises.  However, he pre-   And so he worked double tides; and, in virtue
pared to defend himself to the uttermost.         of his University education, had no snobbish notions
Hexham came into his room without ceremony, about never putting his hand to manual labor: he
and looking -mighty grim. " Well, my lad, so we would lay down his pen at any moment, and bear a
have got you, after all."                         hand to lift a chest, or roll a cask.  Old White saw
"What is my crime now? " asked Seaton, sullenly. him thus multiply himself, and was so pleased that
"James," said the officer, very solemnly, "it is he raised his salary one third.
an unheard-of crime this time. You have been -      He never saw Helen Rolleston, except on Sunrunning - away - from a pretty girl. Now that is day. On that day he went to her church, and sat
a mistake at all times; but, when she is as beautiful half behind a pillar, and feasted his eyes and his
as a angel, and rich enough to slip a fiver into Dick  heart upon her. He lived sparingly, saved money,
Hexham's hands, and lay him on your track, what bought a strip of land, by payment of ~10 deposit,
is the use?  Letter for you, my man."            and sold it in forty hours for ~100 profit, and
Seaton took the letter, with a puzzled air.  It watched keenly for similar opportunities on a larwas written in a clear but feminine hand,,and ger scale; and all for her.  Struggling with a
slightly scented.                                 mountain: hoping against reason, and the world.
The writer, in a few polished lines, excused herself for taking extraordinary means to find Mr.   White and Co. were employed to ship a valuable
Seaton; but hoped he would consider that he had  cargo on board two vessels chartered by Wardlaw
laid her under a deep obligation, and that gratitude and Son; the Shannon and Proserpine.
will sometimes be importunate.  She had the pleas-   Both these ships lay in Sydney harbor, and had
ure to inform him that the office of shipping clerk, taken in the bulk of their cargoes: but the supple



FOUL PLAY.                                            13
ment was the cream; for Wardlaw, in person, had ing himself the first thing; and indeed he could not
warehoused eighteen cases of gold dust and ingots, burn it down at all; for the roof was flat, and was
and fifty of lead and smelted copper. They were in fact one gigantic iron tank, like the roof of Mr.
all examined, and branded, by Mr. White, who had  Goding's brewery in London: and, by a neat conduplicate keys of the gold cases.  But'the con- trivance of American origin, the whole tank could
tents as a matter of habit and prudence were not be turned in one moment to a shower bath, and
described outside; but were marked Proserpine drown a conflagration in thirty seconds or thereaand Shannon, respectively; the mate of the Proser- bouts. Nor could he rifle the place; the goods
pine, who was in Wardlaw's confidence, had writ- were greatly protected by their weight, and it was
ten instructions to look carefully to the stowage impossible to get out of the store without raising an
of all these cases, and was in and out of the store alarm, and being searched.
one afternoon just before closing, and measured    But, not to fall into the error of writers who
the cubic contents of the cases, with a view to underrate their readers' curiosity and intelligence,
stowage in the respective vessels.  The last time and so deluge them with comments and explanahe came he seemed rather the worse for liquor; tions, we will now simply relate what Wylie did,
and Seaton, who accompanied him, having stepped  leaving y6u to glean his motives as this tale adout for a minute fbr something or other, was rather vances. His jacket had large pockets, and he took
surprised on his return to find the door closed, out of them a bunch of eighteen bright steel keys,
and it struck him Mr. Wylie (that was the mate's numbered, a set of new  screw-drivers, a flask of
name) might be inside; the more so as the door rum, and two ship biscuits.
closed very easily with a spring bolt, but it could    He unlocked the eighteen cases marked Proseronly be opened by a key of peculiar construc- pine, &c., and, peering in with his lantern, saw the
tion.  Seaton took out his key, opened the door, gold dust and small ingots packed in parcelS, and
and called to the mate: but received no reply. surrounded by Australian wool of the highest posHowever, he took the precaution to go round the sible quality. It was a luscious sight.
store, and see whether Wylie, rendered somnolent   He then proceeded to a heavier task; he unby liquor, might not be lying oblivious among the screwed, one after another, eighteen of the cases
cases; Wylie, however, was not to be seen, and Sea- marked  Shannon, and the eighteen so selected,
ton finding himself alone did an unwise thing; he perhaps by private marks, proved to be packed
came and contemplated Wardlaw's cases of metal close, and on a different system from the gold, viz.
and specie. (Men will go too near the thing that in pigs, or square blocks, three, or in some cases
causes their pain.)  He eyed them with grief and four, to each chest. Now, these two ways of packwith desire, and could not restrain a sigh at these ing the specie and the baser metal respectively, had
material proofs of his rival's wealth: the wealth that the effect of producing a certain uniformity of
probably had smoothed his way to General Rolles- weight in the thirty-six cases Wylie was inspecting:
tIn's home, and to his daughter's heart; for wealth otherwise the gold cases would have been twice the
can pave the way to hearts, ay, even to hearts that weight of those that contained the baser metal; for
cannot be downright bought. This revery, no lead is proverbially heavy, but under scientific tests
doubt, lasted longer than he thought, for presently is to gold as five to twelve, or thereabouts.
he heard the loud rattle of shutters going up below:   In his secret and mysterious labor Wylie was
it was closing time; he hastily closed and locked  often interrupted.  Whenever he heard a step on
the iron shutters, and then went out and shut the door. the pavement outside, he drew the slide of his lanHe had been gone about two hours, and that tern and hid the light. If he had examined the
part of the street, so noisy in business hours, was iron shutters, he would have seen that his light
hushed in silence, all but an occasional footstep on could never pierce through them into the street.
the flags outside, when something mysterious oc- But he was not aware of this. Notwithstanding
curred in the warehouse, now as dark as pitch.   these occasional interruptions, he worked so hard
At an angle of the wall stood two large cases in and continuously, that the perspiration poured down
a vertical position, with smaller cases lying at their him ere he had unscrewed those eighteen chests
feet: these two cases were about eight feet high, containing the pigs of lead. However, it was done
more or less. Well, behind these cases suddenly  at last, and then he refreshed himself with a draught
flashed a feeble light, and the next moment two from his flask. The next thing was, he took the
brown and sinewy hands appeared on the edge of three pigs of lead out of one of the cases marked
one of the cases, -the edge next the wall; the  Shannon, &c., and numbered fifteen, and laid them
case vibrated and rocked a little, and the next mo- very gently on the floor. Then he transferred to
ment there mounted on the top of it not a cat, nor that empty case the mixed contents of a case branded
a monkey, as might have been expected, but an  Proserpine 1, &c., and this he did with the utmost
animal that in truth resembles both these quadru- care and nicety, lest gold dust spilled should tell
peds, viz. a sailor; and need; we say that sailor tales. And so he went on and amused himself by
was the mate of the Proserpine. He descended shifting the contents of the whole eighteen cases
lightly from the top of the case behind which he marked Proserpine, &c., into eighteen cases marked
had been jammed for hours, and lighted a dark  Shannon, &c., and refilling them with the Shannon's
lantern; and went softly groping about the store lead. Frolicsome Mr. Wylie! Then he sat down
with it.                                         on one of the cases Prosperined, and ate a biscuit
This was a mysterious act, and would perhaps and drank a little rum; not much: for at this part
have puzzled the proprietors of the store even of his career he was a very sober man, though
more than it would a stranger: for a stranger he could feign drunkenness, or indeed anything
would have said at once this is burglary, or else else.
arson: but those acquainted with the place would    The gold was all at his mercy, yet he did not
have known that neither of those crimes was pocket an ounce of it; not even a pennyweight
very practicable.  This enterprising sailor could to make a wedding-ring for Nancy Rouse. Mr.
not burn down this particular store without roast- Wylie had a conscience. And a very original one




14                                      FOUL PLAY.
it was; and, above all, he was very true to those he    "I think you are making a fuss about nothing,"
worked with. He carefully locked the gold cases said Hardcastle.
up again, and resumed the screw-driver, for there    Mr. White was of the same opinion, but, being too
was another heavy stroke of work to be done; and  wise to check zeal and caution, told Seaton he might
he went at it like a man. He carefully screwed go for his own satisfaction.
down again, one after another, all those eighteen    Seaton, with some difficulty, got a little boat and
cases marked Shannon, which he had filled with pulled across the harbor. He found the Shannon
gold dust, and then, heating a sailor's needle red- had shipped all the chests marked with her name;
hot over his burning wick, he put his own secret and the captain and mate of the Proserpine were
marks on those eighteen cases, -marks that no eye beginning to ship theirs. He paddled under the
but his own could detect. By this time, though a Proserpine's stern.
very powerful man, he felt much exhausted, and    Captain Hudson, a rough salt, sang out, and asked
would gladly have snatched an hour's repose. But, him roughly what he wanted there.
consulting his watch by the light of his lantern, he    "0, it is all right," said the mate; "he is come
found the sun had just risen. He retired to his for your receipt and Hewitt's. Be smart now, men;
place of concealment in the same cat-like way he two on board, sixteen to come."
had come out of it, -that is to say, he mounted on    Seaton saw the chests marked Proserpine stowed
the high cases, and then slipped down behind them, in the Proserpine, and went ashore with Captain
into the angle of the wall.                      Hewitt's receipt of forty cases on board the ShanAs soon as the office opened, two sailors, whom  non, and Captain Hudson's of eighteen on board the
he had carefully instructed overnight, came with a Proserpine.
boat for the cases; the warehouse was opened in    As he landed he met Lloyd's agent, and told him
consequence, but they were informed that Wylie what a valuable freight he had just shipped. That
must be present at the delivery.                 gentleman merely remarked that both ships were'  0, he won't be long," said they; "told us he underwritten in Sydney by the owners; but the
would meet us here."                             freight was insured in London, no doubt.
There was a considerable delay, and a good deal   There was still something about this business
of talking, and presently Wylie was at their backs, Seaton did not quite like; perhaps it was in the
and put in his word.                             haste of the shipments, or in the manner of the
Seaton  was greatly surprised at finding him  mate. At all events, it was too slight and subtle to
there, and asked him where he had sprung from. be communicated to others with any hope of con"Me!" said Wylie, jocosely, "why, I hailed vincing them; and, moreover, Seaton could not but
from Davy Jones's locker last."                  own to himself that he hated Wardlaw, and was,
"I never heard you come in," said  Seaton, perhaps, no fair judge of his acts, and even of the
thoughtfully.                                    acts of his servants.
"Well, sir," replied Wylie, civilly, "a man does   And soon a blow fell that drove the matter out of
learn to go like a cat on board ship, that is the his head and his heart. Miss Helen Rolleston called
truth. I came in at the door like my betters; but at the office, and, standing within a few feet of him,
I thought I heard you mention my name, so I made handed Hardcastle a letter from Arthur Wardlaw,
no noise. Well, here I am, any way, and,- Jack, directing that the ladies' cabin on board the Shanhow  many trips can we take these thundering  non should be placed at her disposal.
chests in?  Let un see, eighteen for the Proser-   Hardcastle bowed low to Beauty and Station,
pine, and forty for the Shannon. Is that correct, and promised her the best possible accommodation
sir?"                                           on board the Shannon, bound for England next week.
" Perfectly."                                    As she retired, she cast'one quiet glance round
" Then, if you will deliver them, I'11 check the the office in search of Seaton's beard. But he had
delivery aboard the lighter there; and then we'11 reduced its admired luxuriance, and trimmed it to
tow her alongside the ships."                    a narrow mercantile point. She did not know his
Seaton called up two more clerks, and sent one other features from Adam, and little th6ught that
to the boat, and one on board the barge. The young man, bent double over his paper, was her
barge was within hail; sb the cases were checked  preserver and protege; still less that he was at this
as they passed out of the store, and checked again moment cold as ice, and quivering with misery from
at the small boat, and also on board the lighter.  head to foot, because her own lips had just told him
When they' were all cleared out, Wylie gave she was going to England in the Shannon.
Seaton his receipt for them, and, having a steamtug in attendance, towed the lighter alongside the    Heart-broken, but still loving nobly, Seaton
Shannon first.                                   dragged himself down to the harbor, and went
Seaton carried the receipt to his employer.    slowly on board the Shannon to secure Miss Rolles"But, sir," said he, " is this regular for an officer ton every comfort.
of the Proserpine to take the Shannon's cargo from    Then, sick at heart as he was, he made inquiries
us?"                                            into the condition of the vessel which was to be
" No, it is not regular," said the old gentleman; trusted with so precious a freight; and the old boatand he looked through a window, and summoned man who was rowing him, hearing him make these
Mr. Hardcastle.                                  inquiries, told him he himself was always about, and
Hardcastle explained that the Proserpine shipped had noticed the Shannon's pumps were going every
the gold, which was the more valuable consign- blessed night.
ment; and that he saw no harm in the officer, who    Seaton carried this intelligence directly to Lloyd's
was so highly trusted by the merchant (on this and agent; he overhauled the ship, and ordered her into
on former occasions), taking out a few tons of lead the graving dock for repairs.
and copper to the Shannon.                         Then Seaton, for White and Co., wrote to Miss
"Well, sir," said Seaton, "suppose I was to go out Rolleston that the Shannon was not sea-worthy and
and see the chests stowed in those vessels? "   could not sail for a month, at the least.




FOUL PLAY.                                             15
The lady simply acknowledged Messrs. White's   Then Seaton's fortitude, sustained no longer by
communication, and Seaton breathed again.        the feverish stimulus of doing kindly acts for her,
Wardlaw had made Miss Rolleston promise him  began to give way, and he desponded deeply.
faithfully to sail that month in his ship the Shan-   At nine i-n the evening he crept upon Gennon. Now she was a slave to her word, and con- eral Rolleston's lawn, where he had first'seen her.
stant of purpose; so when she found she could not He sat down in sullen despair, upon the very
sail in the Shannon, she called again on Messrs. spot.
White, and took her passage in the Proserpine,   Then he came nearer the house. There was a
the essential thing to her mind was to sail when she lamp in the dining-room; he looked in and saw her.
had promised, and to go in a ship that belonged to
her lover.                                          She was seated at her father's knee, looking up
The Proserpine was to sail in ten days.        at him fondly; her hand was in his. The tears
Seaton inquired into the state of the Proser- were in their eyes; she had no mother; he no
pine. She was a good, sound vessel, and there son; they loved one another devotedly. This, their
was no excuse for detaining her.                 tender gesture, and their sad silence, spoke volumes
Then he wrestled long and hard with the selfish  to any one that had known sorrow. Poor Seaton
part of his great love. Instead of turning sullen, sat down on the dewy grass outside, and wept, beh  set himself to carry out Helen Rolleston's will. cause she was weeping.
He went on board the Proserpine and chose her   Her father sent her to bed  early.  Seaton
the best stern cabin.                            watched, as he had often done before, till her light
General Rolleston had ordered Helen's cabin to went out; and then he flung himself on the wot
be furnished, and the agent had put in the usual grass, and stared at the sky in utter misery.
things, such as a standing bedstead with drawers    The mind is often clearest in the middle of the
beneath, chest of drawers, small table, two chairs, night; and all of a sudden, he saw, as if written on
wash-stand, looking-glass, and swinging lamp.    the sky, that she was going to England expressly to
But Seaton made several visits to the ship, and  marry Arthur Wardlaw.
effected the following arrangements at his own cost.   At this revelation he started up, stung with hate
lie provided a neat cocoa mat for her cabin-deck  as well as love, and his tortured mind rebelled furifor comfortand foothold; he unshipped the regular ously. He repeated his vow that this should never
six-paned stern windows, and put in single pane be; and soon a scheme came into his head to preplate glass; he fitted venetian blinds, and hung two vent it; but it was a project so wild and dangerous,
little rose-colored curtains to each of the windows; that, even as his heated brain hatched it, his cooler
all so arranged as to be easily removed in case it judgment said, "Fly, madman, fly! or this love
should be necessary to ship dead lights in heavy  will destroy you! "
weather. He glazed the door leading to her bath-   He listened to the voice of reason, and in another
room and quarter gallery with plate glass; he pro- minute he was out of the premises. IIe fluttered to
vided a light easy-chair, slung and fitted with his lodgings.
grommets, to be hung on hooks screwed into the    When he got there he could not go in; he turned
beams in the midship of the cabin. On this Helen  and fluttered about the streets, not knowing or carcould sit and read, and so become insensible to the ing whither; his- mind was in a whirl; and, what
motion of the ship. He fitted a small bookcase, with his bodily fever, and his boiling heart, passion
with a button, which could be raised when a book began to overpower reason, that had held out so
might be wanted; he fixed a strike-bell in her gallantly till now. IHe found himself at the harbor,
maid's cabin, communicating with two strikers in staring with wild and bloodshot eyes at the ProHelen's cabin; he selected books, taking care that serpine, he who, an hour ago, had seen that he had
the voyages and travels were prosperous ones. No but one thing to do,  to try and forget young
"Seaman's Recorder," "Life-boat Journal," or Wardlaw's bride.  He groaned aloud, and ran
"Shipwrecks and Disasters in the British Navy."    wildly back into the town. He hurried up and
Her cabin was the after-cabin on the starboard  down one narrow street, raging inwardly, like some
side, was entered through the cuddy, had a door wild beast in its den.
communicating with the quarter gallery, two stern    By and by, his mood changed, and he hung round
windows, and a dead-eye on deck.  The maid's a lamp-post, and fell to moaning and lamenting his
cabin was the port after-cabin; doors opened into  hard fate, and hers.
cuddy and quarter gallery. And a fine trouble    A policeman came up, took him for a maudlin
Miss Rolleston had to get a maid to accompany  drunkard, and half-advised, half-admonished him
her; but at last a young woman offered to go with  to go home.
her for high wages, demurely suppressing the fact   At that he gave a sort of fierce, despairing snarl,
that she had just married one of the sailors, and and ran into the next street, to be alone.
would have gladly gone for nothing. Her name   In this street he found a shop open, and lighted,
was Jane Holt, and her husband's Michael Dono- though it was but five o'clock in the morning. It
van.                                             was a barber's, whose customers were working peoIn one of Seaton's visits to the Proserpine he ple. IIAIR-CUTTING, SIXPENCE. EASY SHAVING,
detected the mate and the captain talking together, TIIREEPENCE.- HOT COFFEE, FOURPENCE THE
and looking at him with unfriendly eyes, - scowling  cuP. Seaton's eye fell upon this shop. He looked
at him would hardly be too strong a word.        at it fixedly a moment from the opposite side of the
However, he was in no state'of mind to care way, and then hurried on.
much how two animals in blue jackets received his    He turned suddenlyand came back. He crossed
acts of self-martyrdom. He was there to do the the road and entered the shop. The barber was
last kind offices of despairing love for the angel that leaning over the stove, removing a can of boiling
had crossed his dark path, and illumined it for a water from the fire to the hob. He turned at the
moment, to leave it now forever.                 sound of Seaton's step, and revealed an ugly counAt last the fatal evening came; her last in Sydney. tenance, rendered sinister by a squint.




16                                      FOUL PLAY.
Seaton dropped into a chair, and said, " I want Arthur, and leave you. Why, why did I promise?
my beard taken off."                             Why am I such a slave to my word?"
The man looked at him, if it could be called look-   " Because," said the old General, with a voice not
ing at him, and said, dryly, "0, do ye?  How  so firm as usual, "I have always told you that a
much am I to have for that job? "                lady is not to be inferior to a gentleman in any
"You know your own charge."                    virtue except courage. I've heard my mother say
"Of course I do; threepence a chin."           so often; and I've taught it to my Helen. And,
"Very well. Be quick then."                    my girl, where would be the merit of keeping our
"Stop a bit: that is my charge to working folk. word, if we only ke)pt it when it cost us nothing?"
I must have something more off you."                He promised to come after, in three months at
"Very well, man, I'11 pay you double."         farthest, and the brave girl dried her tears, as well
"My price to you is ten shillings."            as she could, not to add to the sadness he fought
"Why, what is that for? " asked Seaton, in some against as gallantly as he had often fought the enealarm; he thought, in his confusion, the man must mies of his country.
have read his heart.                                The Proserpine was to sail at two o'clock: at
"I'11 tell ye why," said the squinting barber. a little before one, a gentleman boarded her, and
"No I won't; I'11 show ye."  He brought a small informed the captain that he was a missionary, the
mirror, and suddenly clapped it before Seaton's Rev. John Hazel, returning home, after a fever;
eyes. Seaton started at his own image; wild, and wished to take a berth in the Proserpine.
ghastly, and the eyes so bloodshot.  The barber   The mate looked him full in the face; and then
chuckled. This start was an extorted compliment told him  there was very little accommodation for
to his own sagacity. "Now was n't I right?" said passengers, and it had all been secured by White
he; " did I ought to take the beard off such a mug  and Co., for a young lady and her servants.
as that - for less than ten shillings?"            Mr. Hazel replied that his means were small, and
" I see," groaned Seaton; " you think I have com- moderate accommodation would serve him; but he
mitted some crime. One man sees me weeping must go to England without delay.
with misery; he calls me a drunkard; another sees    Captain Hudson put in his gracious word; " Then
me pale with the anguish of my breaking heart; he jump off the jetty at high tide and swim there; no
calls me a felon: may God's curse light on him and room for black coats in my ship."
you, and all mankind! "                           Mr. Hazel looked from one to the other piteously.
"All right," said the squinting barber, apatheti- " Show me some mercy, gentlemen; my very life
cally; my price is ten bob, whether or no."      depends on it."
Seaton felt in his pockets. "I have not got the    "Very sorry, sir," said the mate; "but it is imposmoney about me," said he.                        sible. There's the Shannon, you can go in her."
" 0, I'm not particular; leave your watch."      "But she is under repairs; so I am told."
Seaton handed the squinting vampire his watch    " Well, there are a hundred and fifty carpenters
without another word, and let his head fall upon on to her; and she will come out of port in our
his breast.  wake."
The barber cut his beard close with the scissors,   "Now, sir," said Hudson, roughly, "bundle down
and made trivial remarks from time to time, but the ship's side again if you please; this is a busy
received no reply.                               time. Hy!   rig the whip; here's the lady coming
At last, Extortion having put him in a good hu- off to us."
mor, he said, " Don't be so down-hearted, my lad.   The missionary heaved a deep sigh, and went
You are not the first that has got into trouble, and  down into the boat that had brought him. But he
had to change faces."                            was no sooner seated than he ordered the boatmen,
Seaton vouchsafed no reply.                    somewhat peremptorily, to pull ashore as fast as they
The barber shaved him clean, and was astonished  could row.
at the change, and congratulated him. " Nobody    His boat met the Rollestons, father and daughter,
will ever know you "; said he, "and I'11 tell you coming out, and he turned his pale face, and eyed
why; your mouth it is inclined to turn up a little; them as he passed. Helen Rolleston was struck
now a mustache it bends down, and that alters with that sorrowful countenance, and whispered her
such a mouth as yours entirely. But, I'11 tell you father, " That poor clergyman has just left the ship."
what, taking off this beard shows me something: She made sure he had been taking leave of some
you are a gentleman! / Make it a sovereign, sir."   beloved one, bound for England.  General RollesSeaton staggered out of the place without a ton looked round, but the boats had passed each
word.                                            other, and the wan face was no longer visible.
"Sulky, eh?" muttered the barber. He gath-   They were soon on board, and received with great
ered up some of the long hair he had cut off Seaton's obsequiousness. Helen was shown her cabin, and,
chin with his scissors, admired it, and put it away observing the minute and zealous care that had been
in paper.                                        taken of her comfort, she said, " Somebody, who
While thus employed, a regular customer looked  loves me, has been here," and turned her brimming
in for his cup of coffee. It was the policeman who eyes on her father. He looked quite puzzled; but
had taken Seaton for a convivial soul.           said nothing.
Father and daughter were then left alone in the
cabin, till the ship began to heave her anchor (she
CHAPTER VII.                     lay just at the mouth of the harbor), and then the
boatswain was sent to give General Rolleston warnGENERAL ROLLESTON'S servants made several ing. Helen came up with him, pale and distressed.
trips to the Proserpine, carrying boxes, etc.    They exchanged a last embrace, and General RollesBut Helen herself clung to the house till the last ton went down the ship's side. Helen hung over the
moment.  "0 papa!" she cried, "I need all my bulwarks and waved her last adieu, though she could
resolution, all my good faith, to keep my word with hardly see him for her tears.




FOUL PLAY.                                             17
At this moment a four-oared boat swept alongside; begin. General Rolleston's eye fbllowed her moveand Mr. Hazel came on board again. He presented  ments, and he observed the water in one of the
Hudson a written order to give the Rev. John Ha- basins was rather red. " What!" said he, "has
zel a passage in the small berth abreast the main  she had an accident; cut her finger? "
hatches. It was signed " For White and Co., James    "No, sir," said Wilson.
Seaton "; and was indorsed with a stamped acknowl-     Her nose been bleeding, then?"
edgment of the passage money, twenty-seven pounds.   "No, sir."
Hudson, and Wylie the mate, put their heads   "Not from her finger,- nor -? let me look."
together over this. The missionary saw them con-   He examined the basin narrowly, and his counsulting, and told them he had mentioned their mys- tenance fell. " Good heavens! " said he: "I wish
terious conduct to Messrs. White and Co., and that I had seen this before; she- should not have gone toMr. Seaton had promised to stop the ship if their day. Was it the agitation of parting?"
authority was resisted. " And I have paid my pas-   "0 no, sir," said Wilson; " don't go to fancy that.
sage money, and will not be turned out now except Why it is not the first time by a many."
by force," said the reverend gentleman, quietly.    "Not the first!'" faltered Rolleston. " In HeavWylie's head was turned away from Mr. Ihzel's, en's name, why was I never told of this?"
and on its profile a most gloomy, vindictive look, so    "Indeed, sir," said Wilson, eagerly, " you must not
much so, that Mr. Hazel was startled when the man  blame me, sir. It was as much as my place was
turned his front face to him with a jolly, genial air, worth to tell you. Miss is a young lady that will be
and said, " Well, sir, the truth is, we seamen don't obeyed; and she give me strict orders not to let you
want passengers aboard ships of this class; they get know: but she is gone now: and I always thought
in our way whenever it blows a capful. However, it was a pity she kept it so dark; but, as I was saysince you are here, make yourself as comfortable as ing, sir, she would be obeyed."
you can."                                           " Kept what so dark? 
" There, that is enough, palaver," said the captain,   "Why, sir, her spitting of blood at times: and
In his offensive way. " Hoist the parson's traps turning so thin by what she used to be, poor dear
aboard; and sheer off you. Anchor's apeak."    young lady."
He then gave his orders in stentorian roars; the    General Rolleston groaned. aloud. "And this she
anchor was hove up, catted, and fished; one sail hid from me; from me!"  He said no more, but
went up after another, the Proserpine's head came kept looking bewildered and helpless, first at the
round, and away she bore for England with a fair basin, discolored by his daughter's blood, and then
wind.                                             at the Proserpine, that was carrying her away,
perhaps forever: and at the double sight, his iron
General Rolleston went slowly and heavily home, features worked with cruel distress; anguish so mute
and often turned his head and looked wistfully at and male, that the woman Wilson, though not good
the ship putting out wing upon wing, and carrying  for much, sat down and shed genuine tears of pity.
off his child like a tiny prey.                     But he summoned all his fortitude, told Wilson he
To change the comparison, it was only a tender could not say she was to blame, she had but obeyed
vine detached from a great sturdy elm: yet the tree, her mistress's orders; and we must all obey orders.
thus relieved of its delicate encumbrance, felt bare; " But now," said he, " it is me you ought to obey:
and a soft thing was gone, that, seeking protection, tell me, does any doctor attend her?"
had bestowed warmth; had nestled and curled be-   "None ever comes here, sir. But, one day, she
tween the world's cold wind and that stalwart stem. let fall that she went to Dr. Valentine, him that has
As soon. as he got home he lighted a cigar, and  the name for disorders of the chest."
set to work to console himself by reflecting that it   In a very few minutes General Rolleston was at
was but a temporary parting, since he had virtually  Doctor Valentine's house, and asked him  bluntly
resigned his post, and was only waiting in Sydney  what was the matter with his daughter.
till he should have handed his papers in order over   "Disease of the lungs," said the doctor, simto his successor, and settled one or two.private mat- ply.
tea that could not take three months.              The unhappy father then begged the doctor to
When he had smoked his cigar, and reasoned away give him his real opinion as to the degree of danger;
his sense of desolation, Nature put out her hand, and and Dr. Valentine told him, with some feeling, that
tcxok him  by the breast, and drew him gently up  the case was not desperate, but was certainly alarmstairs to take a look at his beloved daughter's bed- ing.
room, by way of seeing the last of her.             Remonstrated with for letting the girl undertake a
The room  had one window looking south, and sea voyage, he replied rather evasively at first; that
another west; the latter commanded a view of the the air of Sydney disagreed with his patient, and a
sea. General Rolleston looked down at the floor, sea voyage was more likely to do her good than
littered with odds and ends,- the dead leaves of harm, provided the weather was not downright temdress that fall about a lady in the great process of pestuous.
packing,- and then gazed through the window at   "And who is to insure me against that?" asked
the flying Proserpine.                            the afflicted father.
He sighed and lighted another cigar. Before he   "Why, it is a good time of year," said Dr. Valenhad half finished it, he stooped down and took up a tine; "and delay might have been fatal."  Then,
little bow of ribbon that lay on the ground, and put after a slight hesitation, " The fact is, sir," said he,
it quietly in his bosom. In this act he was surprised  "I gathered from her servant that a husband awaits
by Sarah Wilson, who had come up to sweep all such Miss Rolleston in England; and I must tell you,
waifs and strays into her own box.                what of course I did not tell her, that the sooner she
"La, sir," said she, rather crossly, "why did n't enters the married state the better. In fact it is her
you tell me, and I'd have tidied the room: it is all one chance, in my opinion."
huggermugger, with Miss a leaving."                 General Rolleston pressed the doctor's hand, and
And with this she went tr the wash-hand-stand to  went away wthout another word.




18                                       FOUL PLAY.
Only he hurried his matters of business; and took  shall know more when I have had a word with twc
his passage in the Shannon.                      parties."  With this he retired.
It was in something of a warrior's spirit that he    But he came again at night, and brought General
prepared to follow his daughter and protect her; Rolleston some positive information; with this, howbut often he sighed at the invisible, insidious nature ever, we shall not trouble the reader just here: for
of the foe, and wished it could have been a fair fight General Rolleston himself related it, and the perof bullets and bayonets, and his own the life at son to whom he did relate it, and the attendant cirstake.                                           cumstances, gave it a peculiar interest.
The Shannon was soon ready for sea.               Suffice it to say here, that General Rolleston went
But the gentleman who was to take General on board the Shannon, charged with curious inRolleston's post, met with something better, and de- formation about James Seaton; and sailed for Engclined it.                                       land in the wake of the Proserpine, and about two
General Rolleston, though  chafing with impa- thousand miles astern.
tience, had to give up going home in the Shannon.
But an influential friend, Mr. Adolphus Savage, was
informed of his difficulty, and obtained a year's                CHAPTER VIII.
leave of absence for him, and permission to put   WARDLAW  was at home before this, with his
young Savage in as his locum tenens; which, by hands full of business; and it is time the reader
the by, is how politic men in general serve their should be let into one secret at least, which this
friends.                                          merchant had contrived to conceal from the City of
The Shannon sailed, but not until an incident London, and from his own father, and from every
had occurred that must not be entirely passed over. human creature, except one poor, simple, devoted
Old Mr. White called on General Rolleston with a soul, called Michael Penfold.
long face, and told him James Seaton had disap-   There are men, who seem stupid, yet generally
peared.                                           go right; there are also clever men, who appear to
"Stolen anything?"                            have the art of blundering wisely: " sapienter de"Not a shilling. Indeed the last thing the poor scendunt in infernum," as the ancients have it; and
fellow did was to give us a proof of his honesty. some of these latter will even lie on their backs, after
It seems a passenger paid him twenty-seven pounds a fall, and lift up the/ir voices, and prove to you that
for a berth in the Proserpine, just before she sailed. in the nature of things they ought to have gone up,
Well, sir, he might have put this in his pocket, and  and their being down is monstrous; illusory.
nobody been the wiser: but no, he entered the trans-   Arthur Wardlaw was not quite so clever as all
action, and the numbers of the notes, and left the that; but still he misconducted the business of the
notes themselves in an envelope addressed to me. firm with perfect ability from the first month he enWhat I am most afraid of is, that some harm has tered on it. Like those ambitious railways, which
come to him, poor lad."                           ruin a goodly trunk with excess of branches, not to
"What day did he disappear?"                  say twigs, he set to work extending, and extending,
"The 11th of November."                        and sent the sap of the healthy old concern a-flying
"The day my daughter sailed for England," said to the ends of the earth.
General Rolleston, thoughtfully.                    He was not only too ambitious, and not cool
"Was it, sir? Yes, I remember.  She went in enough; he was also unlucky, or under a curse, or
the Proserpine."                                 something; for things, well conceived, broke down,
General Rolleston knitted his brows in silence for in his hands, under petty accidents. And, besides,
some time; then he said, "I'll set the Detectives on his new correspondents and agents hit him cruelly
his track."                                       hard. Then what did he? Why, shot good money
" Not to punish him, General. We do not want after bad, and lost both.  He could not retrench,
him punished."                                   for his game was concealment; his father, was kept
" To punish him, protect him, or avenge him, as in the dark, and drew his four thousand a year, as
the case may require," was the reply, uttered very usual, and, upon any hesitation, in that respect,
gravely.                                          would have called in an accountant and wound up
Mr.. White took his leave. General Rolleston the concern. But this tax upon the receipts, though
rang the bell, and directed his servant to go for inconvenient, was a trifle compared with the series
Hexham, the Detective.                            of heavy engagements that were impending. The
He then rang the bell again, and sent for Sarah future was so black, that Wardlaw junior was sore
Wilson. He put some searching questions to this tempted to realize twenty thousand pounds, which a
woman; and his interrogatory had hardly concluded man in his position could easily do, and fly the counwhen Hexham was announced.  General Rolleston  try. But this would have been to give up Helen
dismissed the girl, and looking now very grave in- Rolleston  and he loved her too well. His brain
deed, asked the Detective whether he remembered  was naturally subtle.and fertile in expedients; so he
James Seaton.                                     brought all its powers to bear on a double problem;
"That I do, sir."                              how to marry Helen; and restore the concern he
"lHe has levanted."                            had mismanaged to its former state. For this, a
"Taken muc7, sir?"                            large sum  of money was needed, not less than
"Not a shilling."                               ~90,000.
"Gone to the diggings?"                          The difficulties were great; but he entered on
"That vou must find out."                      this project with two advantages. In the first place,
"What day was he first missed, sir?"          he enjoyed excellent credit; in the second; he was
"Eleventh of November. The very day Miss not disposed to be scrupulous. He had been cheated
Rolleston left."                                 several times; and nothing undermines feeoDe recHexham took out a little greasy note-book, and titude more than that.  Such a man as Wardlaw is
examined it. "Eleventh of November," said he, apt to establish a sort of account current with hu"then I almost think I have got a clew, sir; but I inanity.




FOUL PLAY.                                             19
" Several fellow-creatures have cheated me. Well, faintly, " Double - the insurance - of the - ShanI must get as much back, by hook or by crook, from  non! "
several fellow-creatures."                          Men who walk in crooked paths are very subject
After much hard thought, he conceived his double to such surprises; doomed, like Ahab, to be pierced,
master-stroke: and it was to execute this he went through  the joints of their armor, by random
out to Australia.                                 shafts; by words uttered in one sense, but conWe have seen that he persuaded Helen Rolleston  science interprets them in another.
to come to England and be married; but, as to the
other part of his project, that is a matter for the    It took a good many underwriters to insure the
reader to watch, as it develops itself.           Proserpine's freight; but the business was done
His first act of business, on reaching England, at last.
was to insure the freights of the Proserpine and the    Then Wardlaw, who had feigned insouciance so
Shannon.                                          admirably in that part of his interview with ConHe sent Michael Penfold to Lloyd's, with the dell, went, without losing an hour, and raised a
requisite vouchers, including the receipts of the gold large sum of money on the insured freight, to meet
merchants. Penfold easily insured the Shannon, the bills that were coming due for the gold (for he
whose freight was valued  at only six thousand  had paid for most of it in paper at short dates), and
pounds.  The Proserpine, with her cargo, and a also other bills that were approaching maturity.
hundred and thirty thousand pounds of specie to  This done, he breathed again, safe for a month or
boot, was another matter. Some underwriters had  two from everything short of a general panic, and
an objection to specie, being subject to theft as well full of hope from his coming master-stroke. But
as shipwreck; other underwriters, applied to by  two months soon pass when a man has a flock of
Penfold, acquiesced; others called on Wardlaw him- kites in the air. Pass?  They fly. So now he
self, to ask a few questions, and he replied to them  looked out anxiously for his Australian ships; and
courteously, but with a certain nonchalance, treat- went to Lloyd's every day to hear if either had
ing it as an affair which might be big to them, but been seen, or heard of by steamers, or by faster sailwas not of particular importance to a merchant ing vessels than themselves.
doing business on his scale.                        And, though Condell had underwritten the ProTo one underwriter, Condell, with whom he was serpine to the tune of eight thousand pounds, yet
on somewhat intinmte terms, he said, " I wish I still his mysterious words rang strangely in the
could insure the Shannon, at her value; but that merchant's ears, and made him so uneasy, that he
is impossible: the City of London could not do it. employed a discreet person to sound Condell as to.The Proserpine brings me some cases- of specie, what he meant by "double the insurance of the
but my true treasure is on board the Shannon. Shannon."
She carries my bride, sir."                         It turned out to be the simplest affair in the
" 0 indeed! Miss Rolleston?"                    world; Condell had secret information that the
" Ah, I remember; you have seen her. Then you  Shannon was in bad repairs, so he had advised
will not be surprised at a proposal I shall make you. his friend to insure her heavily. For the same reaUnderwrite the Shannon a million pounds, to be son, he declined to underwrite her freight himpaid by you if harm befalls my Helen. You need  self.
not look so astonished; I was only joking; you    With respect to those ships, our readers already
gentlemen deal with none but substantial values; know two things, of which Wardlaw himself, nota
and, as for me, a million would no more compensate  bene, had no idea; namely, that the Shannon
me for losing her, than for losing my own life."  had sailed last, instead of first, and that Miss RolThe tears were in his pale eyes as he said these leston was not on board of her, but in the Proserwords; and Mr. Condell eyed him with sympathy. pine, two thousand miles ahead.
But he soon recovered himself, and was the man of   To that, your superior knowledge, we; posters of
business again.  "0, the specie on board the the sea and land, are about to make a large addiProserpine?  Well, I was in Australia, you know, tion, and relate things strange, but true.  While
and bought that specie myself of the merchants that anxious and plotting merchant strains his eyes
whose names are attached to the receipts. I depos- seaward, trying hard to read the future, we carry
ifhd the cases with White and Co., at Sydney. Pen- you, in a moment of time, across the Pacific, and
fold will show you the receipt. I instructed Joseph  board the leading vessel, the good ship ProserWylie, mate of the Proserpine, and a trustworthy  pine, homeward bound.
person, to see them stowed away in the Proser-   The ship left Sydney with a fair wind, but soon
pine, by White and Co. Hudson is a good seaman; encountered adverse weather, and made slow progand the Proserpine a new ship, built by Mare. We ress, being close-hauled, which was her worst point
have nothing to fear but the ordinary perils of the of sailing.  She pitched a good deal, and that had a
sea."                                             very ill effect on Miss Rolleston.  -She was not
"So one would think;" said Mr. Condell, and sea-sick, but thoroughly out of sorts: and, in one
took his leave; but, at the door, he hesitated, and  week, became perceptibly paler and thinner than
then, looking down a little sheepishly, said, "Mr. when she started.
Wardlaw, may I offer you a piece of advice? "      The young clergyman, Mr. Hazel, watched her
"Certainly."                                    with respectful anxiety, and this did not escape her
"Then, double the insurance on the Shannon, feminine observation. She noted quietly that those
if you can."                                      dark eyes of his followed her with a mournful tenWith these words he slipped out, evidently to  derness, but withdrew their gaze when she looked
avoid questions he did not intend to answer.      at him. Clearly, he was interested in her, but had
Wardlaw stared after him, stupidly at first, and no desire to intrude upon her attention. He would
then stood up and put his hand to his head in a sort bring up the squabs for her, and some of his own
of amazement. Then he sat down again, ashy pale, wraps, when she stayed on deck, and was prompt
and with the dew on his forehead, and muttered  with his arm when the vessel lurched; and showed)




20                                      FOUL PLAY.
her those other little attentions, which are called for low!  And I should not even know him if I saw
on board ship, but without a word. Yet, when she him."
thanked him in the simplest and shortest way, his   Mr. Hazel observed, in a low voice, that Mr. Seagreat eyes flashed with pleasure, and the color ton's conduct did not seem  wonderful to him.
mounted to his very temples.                      "Still," said he, " one is glad to find there is some
Engaged young ladies are, for various reasons, good left even in a criminal."
more sociable with the other sex, than those who are    "A criminal! " cried Helen Rolleston, firing up.
still on the universal mock-defensive: a ship, like a " Pray, who says he was a criminal? Mr. Hazel,
distant country, thaws even English reserve, and once for all, no friend of mine ever deserves such a
women in general are disposed to admit ecclesias- name as that. A friend of mine may commit some
tics to certain privileges.  No wonder then that great error or imprudence; but that is all. The
Miss Rolleston, after a few days, met Mr. Hazel half poor grateful soul was never guilty of any downway; and they made acquaintance on board the right wickedness: that stands to reason."
Proserpine, in monosyllables at first; but, the ice   Mr. Hazel did not encounter this feminine logic
once fairly broken, the intercourse of mind became with his usual ability; he muttered something or
rather rapid,                                     other, with a trembling lip, and left her so abruptly,
At first it was a mere intellectual exchange, but that she asked herself whether she had inadvertentone very agreeable to Miss Rolleston; for a fine ly said anything that could have offended him; a.rk
memory, and omnivorous reading from his very boy- awaited an explanation.  But none came.  The
hood, with the habit of taking notes, and reviewing  topic was never revived by Mr. Hazel; and his
them, had made Mr. Hazel a walking dictionary, manner, at their next meeting, showed he liked
and a walking essayist if required.               her none the worse that she stood up for her friends.
But, when it came to something, which most of all
the young lady had hoped from this temporary ac-   The wind steady from the west for two whole
quaintance, viz. religious instruction, she found him  days, and the Proserpine showed her best sailing
indeed as learned on that as on other topics, but qualities, and ran four hundred and fifty miles in
cold, and devoid of unction: so much so, that one that time.
day she said to him, " I can hardly believe you have    Then came a dead calm, and the sails flapped
ever been a missionary."  But at that he seemed so lazily, and the masts described an arc; and the sun
distressed, that she was sorry for him, and said, broiled; and the sailors whistled; and the Captain
sweetly, " Excuse me, Mr. Hazel, my remark was in  drank; and the mate encouraged him.
rather bad taste, I fear."                          During this calm, Miss Rolleston fell downright
" Not at all," said he. " Of course I am unfit for ill, and quitted the deck. Then Mr. Hazel was very
missionary work, or I should not be here."   -   sad: borrowed all the books in the ship, and read
Miss Rolleston took a good look at him, but said them, and took notes; and when he had done this,
nothing. However, his reply and her perusal of his he was at leisure to read men, and so began to study
countenance, satisfied her that he was a man with  Hiram Hudson, Joseph Wylie, and others, and take
very little petty vanity and petty irritability.  a few notes about them.
One day they were discoursing of gratitude; and    From these we select some that are better worth
Mr. Hazel said he had a poor opinion of those per- the reader's attention  than  anything we could
sons, who speak of " the burden of gratitude," and  relate in our own persons at this stagnant part of
make a fuss about being "laid under an obliga- the story.
tion."
"As for me," said he, "I have owed such a debt;,   PASS S  FRO          R. HAZEL'S  DIARY.
and found the sense of it very sweet."
" But perhaps you were always hoping to make a    " CHARACTERS ON BOARD THE PROSERPINE.
return," said Helen.                                " There are two sailors, messmates, who have
"That I was: hoping against hope."             formed an antique friendship; their names are John
"Do you think people are grateful, in general? " Welch and Samuel Cooper. Welch is a very able
"No, Miss Rolleston, I do not."                seaman and a chatterbox.  Cooper is a good sailor,
"Well, I think they are. To me at least. Why, but very silent; only what he does say is much to
I have experienced gratitude even in a convict. It the purpose.
was a poor man, who had been transported, for    "The gabble of Welch is agreeable to the silent
something or other, and he begged papa to take  Cooper; and Welch admires Cooper's taciturnity.
him for his gardener. Papa did, and he was so    "I asked Welch what made him like Cooper so
grateful that, do you know, he suspected our house much. And he said,' Why, you see, sir, he is my
wa.s to be robbed, and he actually watched in the messmate, for one thing, and a seaman that knows
garden night after night: and, what do you think? his work; and then he has been well eddycated, and
the house was attacked by a whole gang; but poor he knows when to hold his tongue, does Sam.'
Mr. Seaton confronted them and shot one, and was   " I asked Cooper why he was so fond of Welch.
wounded cruelly; but he beat them off for us; and He only grunted in an uneasy way at first;.but
was not that gratitude? "                        when I pressed for a reply, he let out two. words, -
While she was speaking so earnestly, Mr. Hazel's' Capital company'; and got away from me.
blood seemed to run through his veins like heavenly.  "Their friendship, though  often roughly exfire, but he said nothing, and the lady resumed with pressed, is really a tender and touching sentiment.
gentle fervor, " Well, we got him a clerk's place in I think either of these sailors would bare his back
a shipping-office, and heard no more of him; but he and take a dozen lashes in place of his messmate.
did not forget us; my cabin here was fitted up with  I too once thought I had made such a friend. Eheu I
every comfort, and every delicacy. I thanked papa    " Both Cooper and Welch seem, by their talk, to
for it; but he looked so blank, I saw directly, he consider the ship a living creature.  Cooper chews.
knew, nothing about it; and now, I think of it, it Welch only smokes, and often lets his pipe out: he
was Mr. Seaton. I am positive it was.  Poor fel- is so voluble.




FOUL PLAY.                                            21
"' Captain Hudson is quite a character: or, I before she marries him. For the present, be still,
mnight say, two characters; for he is one man when my heart.
he is sober, and another when he is the worse for   "She soon went below and left me desolate. I
liquor: and that I am sorry to see is very often. wandered all about the ship, and, at last, I came
Captain Hudson, sober, is a rough, bearish seaman, upon the inseparables, Welch and Cooper. They
with a quick, experienced eye, that takes in every were squatted on the deck, and Welch's tongue was
rope in the ship, as he walks up and down his going as usual. He was talking about this Wylie,
quarter-deck. He either evades, or bluntly declines and saying that, in all his ships, he had never known
conversation, and gives his whole mind to sailing such a mate as this; why the captain was under his
his ship.                                        thumb. He then gave a string of captains, each of
"Captain Hudson, drunk, is a garrulous man, whom would have given his mate a round dozen at
who seems to have drifted back into the past. He  the gangway, if he had taken so much on him, as
comes up to you and talks of his own accord, and this one does.
always about himself, and what he did fifteen or   "'Grog!' suggested Cooper, in extenuation.
twenty years since. He forgets whatever has oc-   "Welch admitted Wylie was liberal with that,
curred half an hour ago; and his eye, which was an and friendly enough with the men; but, still, he
eagle's is now a mole's. He no longer sees what preferred to see a ship commanded by the captain,
his. sailors are doing alow or aloft; to be sure he no and not by a lubber like Wylie.
longer cares; his present ship may take care of her-   " I expressed some surprise at this term, and said
self while he is talking of his past ones. But the I had envied Wylie's nerves in a gale of wind we
surest indicia of inebriety in Hudson are these two. encountered early in the voyage.
First, his nose is red. Secondly, he discourses upon." The talking sailor explained,' In course, he hae
a seaman's duty to his employers. Ebrius rings the been to sea afore this, and weathered many a gale.'
changes on his'duty to his employers' till drowsi- But so has the cook.' That don't make a man a
ness attacks his hearers.  Cicero de officiis was all sailor.'  You ask him  how to send down a to'very well at a certain period of one's life: but gallant yard or gammon a bowsprit, or even mark a
bibulus nauta de officiis is rather too much.    lead line, and he'11 stare at ye, like Old Nick,
"N. B. Except when his nose is red, not a word when the angel caught him with the red-hot tongs,
about his'duty to his employers.' That phrase, and questioned him out of the Church Catechism.
like a fine lady, never ventures into the morning Ask Sam there, if ye don't believe me. Sam, what
air. It is purely post-prandial, and sacred-to occa- do you think of this Wylie for a seaman?'
sions when he is utterly neglecting his duty to his  Cooper could not afford anything so precious, in
employers, and to everybody else.                his estimate of things, as a word; but he lifted a
"All this is ridiculous enough but somewhat great brawny hand, and gave a snap with his finger
alarming. To think that her precious life should  and thumb, that disposed of the mate's pretensions
be intrusted to the care and skill of so unreliable a to seamanship more expressively than words could
captain!                                        have done it.
" Joseph Wylie, the mate, is less eccentric, but   " The breeze has freshened, and the ship glides
even more remarkable. He is one of those power- rapidly through the water, bearing us all homeward.
fully built fellows, whom Nature, one would think, Helen Rolleston has resumed her place upon the
constructed to gain all their ends by force and deck; and all seems bright again. I ask myself
directness. But -no such thing; he goes about as how we existed without the sight of her.
softly as a cat; is always popping up out of holes
and corners; and I can see he watches me, ad tries   "This morning the wind shifted to the southto hear what I say to her. He is civil to me when west; the captain surprised us by taking in sail.
I speak to him; yet, I notice, he avoids me quietly. But his sober eye had seen something more than
Altogether, there is something about him that puz- ours; for at noon it blew a gale, and by sunset it
zles me. Why was he so reluctant to let me on was deemed prudent to bring the ship's head to the
board as a passenger?  Why did he tell a down- wind, and we are now lying-to. The ship lurches,
right falsehood?  For he said there was no room  and the wind howls through the bare rigging; but
for me; yet, even now, there are two cabins vacant, she rides buoyantly, and no danger is apprehended.
and he has taken possession of them.
"Last night, as I lay in my cabin, unable to sleep,
"The mate of this ship has several barrels of I heard some heavy blows strike the ship's side respirits in his cabin, or rather, cabins, and it is he peatedly, causing quite a vibration. I felt alarmed,
who makes the captain drunk. I learned this from  and went out to tell the captain. But I was obliged
one of the boys. This looks ugly. I fear Wylie is to go on my hands and knees, such was the force of
a bad, designing man, who wishes to ruin the cap- the wind. Passing the mate's cabin, I heard sounds
tain, and so get his place.  But, meantime, the that made me listen acutely; and I then found the
ship might be endangered by this drunkard's mis- blows were being struck inside the ship. I got to
conduct.  I shall watch Wylie closely, and per- the captain and told him.' O,' said he,'ten to
haps put the captain on his guard against this false one it's the mate nailing down his chests, or the
friend.                                          like.' But I assured him the blows struck the side
"Last night, a breeze got up about sunset, and of the ship, and, at my earnest request, hecame out
H. R. came on deck for half an hour. I welcomed  and listened. He swore a great oath, and said the
her as calmly as I could; but I felt my voice tremble lubber would be through the ship's side.  He then
and my heart throb.  She told me the voyage tired  tried the cabin-door, but it was locked.
her much; but it was the last she should have to    "The sounds ceased directly.
make. How strange, how hellish (God forgive me   "We called to the mate, but received no reply
for saying so!) it seems that she should love him. for a long time. At last Wylie came out of the gunBut, does she love him? Can she love him? Could room, looking rather pale, and asked what was the
she love him if she knh  w all?  Know him she shall matter.




22.FOUL PLAY.' I told him he ought to know best, for the blows them at sea; but still you possibly may; and my
were heard where he had just come from.          heart is so full of you, I seize any excuse for over"'Blows!' said he;'I believe you. Why, a flowing; and then I picture to myself that bright
tierce of butter had got adrift, and was bumping up face reading an unexpected letter in mid ocean, and
and down the hold like thunder.' He'then asked so I taste beforehand the greatest pleasure my mind
us whether that was what we had disturbed him for, can conceive,   the delight of giving you pleasure,
entered his cabin, and almost slammed the door iR  my own sweet Helen.
our faces.                                         " News, I have very little. You know how deep" I remarked to the captain on his disrespectful ly and devotedly you are beloved, - know it so well
conduct. The captain was civil, and said I was that I feel words are almost wasted in repeating it.
right; he was a cross-grained, unmanageable brute, Indeed, the time, I hope, is at hand when the word
and he wished he was out of the ship.' But you see, love will hardly be mentioned between us. For my
sir, he has got the ear of the merchant ashore; and part, I think it will be too visible in every act, and
so I am obliged to hold a candle to the Devil, as the look, and word of mine, to need repetition. We do
saying is.' He then fired a volley of oaths and  not speak much about the air we live in. We
abuse at the offender; and, not to encourage foul breathe it, and speak with it, not of it.
language, I retired to my cabin.                   "I suppose all lovers are jealous. I think I should
"The wind declined towards daybreak, and the go mad if you were to give me a rival; but then I
ship recommenced her voyage at 8 A. M.; but un- do not understand that ill-natured jealousy which
der treble-reefed topsails and reefed courses.   would rob the beloved object of all affections but the
"I caught the captain and mate talking together one. I know my Helen loves her father, — loves
in the friendliest way possible. That Hudson is a him, perhaps, as well, or better, than she does me.
humbug; there is some mystery between him and- Well, in spite of that, I love him too. Do you know,
the mate.                                        I never see that erect form, that model of courage
"To-day H. R. was on deck for several hours, and probity come into a room, but I say to myself,
conversing sweetly, and looking like the angel she' Here comes my benefactor; but for this man there
is. But happiness soon flies from me; a steamer would be no Helen in the world.' Well, dearest, an
came in sight, bound for Sydney. She signalled us unexpected circumstance has given me a little milto heave-to, and send a boat. This was done, and itary influence (these things do happen in the City);
the boat brought back a letter for her. It seems and I really believe that, what with his acknowledged
they took us for the Shannon, in which ship she merits (I am secretly informed a very high personwas expected.                                    age said, the other day, he had not received justice),
" The letter was from  him.  How her cheek  and the influence I speak of, a post will shortly be
flushed and her eye beamed as she took it. And offered to your father that will enable him to live,
O the sadness, the agony, that stood beside her un- henceforth, in England, with comfort, I might say,
heeded.                                          affluence. Perhaps he might live with us. That de" I left the deck.; I could not have contained my- pends upon himself.
self. What a thing is wealth! By wealth, that   "Looking forward to this, and my own still greatwretch can stretch out his hand across the ocean, er happiness, diverts my mind a while from the one
and put a letter into her hand under my very eye. ever-pressing anxiety. But, alas! it will return.
Away goes all that I have  gained by being near By this time my Helen is on the seas,- the terrible,
her, while he is far away. He is not in England the treacherous, the cruel seas, that spare neither
now, - he is here. His odious presence has driven  beauty nor virtue, nor the longing hearts at home.
me from' her.  O that I could be a child again, or I have conducted this office for some years, and
in my grave, to get away from this Hell of Love thought I knew care and anxiety. But I find I knew
and Hate."                                       neither till now.
"I have two ships at sea, the Shannon and the
At this point, we beg leave to take the narrative Proserpine. The Proserpine carries eighteen chests
into our own hands again.                          >. 
into our own hands again,                         of specie, worth a hundred and thirty thousand
Mr. Hazel actually left the deck to avoid the sight pounds. I don't care one straw whether she sinks
>  A 11    X.... pounds. I don't care one straw whether she sinks
of Helen Rolleston's flushed cheek and beaming eyes, or swims. But the    on  carries my darling;
or swims. But the Shannon carries my darling;
reading Arthur Wardlaw's letter.                  and every gust at night awakens me, and every
And here we may as well observe that he retired  y I go into the great room at Lloyd's and watch
not merely because the torture was hard to bear. the anemometer.  0 God! be merciful, and bring
He had some disclosures to make, on reaching Eng- my angel safe to me! 0 God  be just, and strike
land; but his good sense told him this was not the her not for my offences!
time, or the place, to make them, nor Helen Rolles-   "Besides the direct perils of the  sea are
ton the person to whom, in the first instance, they  some  others  you might  escape by prudence.
^5ought to be mad.                               Pray avoid the night air, for my sake, who could
While he tries to relieve his swelling  eart by  not live if any evil befell you; and be careful in
putting its throbs on paper (and, in truth, this is
puttin  tsthrobsonpaper (h,          your diet. You were not looking so well as usual,
some faint relief, for want of which many a less un-  n I left.   ld   had words to mae you know
when I left. Would I had words to make you know
happy man than Hazel has gone mad), let us stay your own value. Then you would feel it a duty to
by the lady's side, and read her letter with her.  be pr
be prudent.
"RUSSELL SQUARE, Dec. 15, 1865.   But I must not sadden you with my fears; let
"MY DEAR LOVE: Hearing that the Antelope me turn to my hopes. How bright they are; what
steam-packet was going to Sydney, by way of Cape joy, what happiness, is sailing towards me, nearer
Horn, I have begged the captain, who is under some and nearer every -day. I ask myself what am I that
obligations to me, to keep a good look-out for the such paradise should be mine.
Shannon, homeward bound, and board her with these    "My love, when we are one, shall we share evlines, weather permitting.                        ery thought, or shall I keep commerce, speculation,
"Of course, the chances are you will not receive and its temptations away from  your pure spirit?




FOUL PLAY.                                             23
Sometimes I think I should like to have neither again, he was pale and trembling. The revelation
thought nor occupation unshared by you; and that was so sudden.
you would purify trade itself by your contact; at   "Pray be calm, sir," said she. " We need speak
other times I say to myself,' 0, never soil that of this no more. But, now, I think, you will not be
angel with your miserable business; but go home to surprised that I come to you for religious advice
her as if you were going from earth to heaven, for and consolation, short as our acquaintance is."
a few blissful hours.' But you shall decide this   "I am in no condition to give them," said Hazel,
question, and every other.                       in great agitation. "I can think of nothing but
"Must I close this letter? Must I say no more how to save you. May Heaven help me, and give
though I have scarcely begun?                   me wisdom for that."
"Yes, I will end, since, perhaps, you will never   "This is idle," said Helen Rolleston, gently, but
see it.                                          firmly. "I have had the best advice for months,
"When I have sealed it, 1 mean to hold it in my  and I get worse; and, Mr. Hazel, I shall never be
clasped hands, and so pray the Almighty to take it better.  So, aid me to bow to the will of Heaven.
safe to you, and to bring you safe to him, who can  Sir, I do not repine at leaving the world; but it
never know peace nor joy till he sees you once more. does grieve me to think how my departure will af"Your devoted and anxious lover,        feet those whose happiness is very, very dear to me."
"ARTHUR WARDLAW."            She then looked at the letter, blushed, and hesitated a moment; but ended by giving it to him
Helen Rolleston read this letter more than once. whom she had applied to as her religious adviser.
She liked it none the less for being disconnected    " Oblige me by reading that. And, when you
and unbusiness-like.  She had seen her Arthur's have, I think you will grant me a favor I wish to
business letters; models of courteous conciseness. ask you. Poor fellow! so full of hopes that I am
She did not value such compositions. This one she doomed to disappoint."
did. She smiled over it, all beaming and blushing;   She rose to hide her emotion, and left Arthur
she kissed it, and read it again, and sat with it in  Wardlaw's letter in the hands of him.who loved
her lap.                                          her, if possible, more devotedly than Arthur WardBut, by and by, her mood changed, and, when law did; and she walked the deck pensively, little
Mr. Hazel ventured upon deck again, he found her dreaming how strange a thing she had done.
with her forehead sinking on her extended arm, and    As for Hazel, he was in a situation poignant with
the lax hand of that same arm holding the letter. agony; only the heavy blow that had just fallen
She was crying.                                  had stunned and benumbed him. He felt a natural
The whole drooping attitude was so lovely, so fem- repugnance to read this letter. But she had given
inine, yet so sad, that Hazelstood irresolute, looking  him no choice. He read it. In reading it he felt
wistfully at her.                                 a mortal sickness come over him, but he perseShe caught sight of him, and, by a natural im- vered; he read it carefully to the end, and he was
pulse, turned gently away, as if to hide her tears. examining the signature keenly, when Miss RollesBut, the next moment, she altered her mind, and  ton rejoined him, and, taking the letter from him,
said, with a quiet dignity that came naturally to placed it in her bosom before his eyes.
her at times, "Why should I hide my care from    "He loves me; does he not?" said she, wistyou, sir?  Mr. Hazel, may I speak to you as a fully.
clergyman? "                                       Hazel looked half-stupidly in her face for a mo" Certainly," said Mr. Hazel, in a somewhat faint ment; then, with a candor which was part of his
voice.                                            character, replied, doggedly, "Yes, the man who
She pointed to a seat and he sat down near her.  wrote that letter loves you."
She was silent for some time; her lip quivered a    "Then you can pity him, and I may venture to
little; she was strugglinginwardly for that decent ask you the favor to -   It will be a bitter grief
composure, which on certain occasions, distinguishes and disappointment to him.  Will you break it
the lady from the mere woman; and it was with a to him as gently as you can; will you say that
pretty firm voice she said what follows: —       his Helen -   Will you tell him what I have told
"I am going to tell you a little secret: one I have you? "
kept from my own father. It is, - that I have not   " I decline."
very long to live."                                 This point-blank refusal surprised Helen RollesHer hazel eye rested calmly on his face while she ton; all the more that it was uttered with a cersaid these words quietly.                         tain sullenness, and even asperity, she had never
He received them  with  amazement, at first; seen till then in this gentle clergyman.
amazement, that soon  deepened  into  horror.   It made her fear she had. done wrong in asking
" What do you mean?" he gasped. "What words it; and she looked ashamed and distressed.
are these?"                                        However, the explanation soon followed.
"Thank you for minding so much," said she,   "My business," said he, "is to prolong your presweetly. "I will tell you. I have fits of coughing, cious life; and, making up your mind to die is not
not frequent, but violent; and then blood very the way.  You shall have no encouragement in
often comes from my lungs. That is a bad sign, such weakness from me. Pray let me be your phyyou know. I have been so for four months now, sician."
and I am a good deal wasted; my hand used to be    " Thank you," said Helen, coldly; " I have my
very plump, look at it now. - Poor Arthur! "      own physician."
She turned away her head to drop a gentle, un-   " No doubt: but he shows me his incapacity, by
selfish tear or two; and Hazel stared with increas- allowing you to live on pastry and sweets; things
ing alarm  at the lovely but wasted hand she still that are utter poison to you. Disease of the lungs
held out to him, and glanced, too, at Arthur Ward- is curable, but not by drugs and unwholesome.
law's letter, held slightly by the beloved fiingers.    food."
He said nothing, and, when she looked round    "Mr. Hazel," said the lady, " we will drop the




24                                      FOUL PLAY.
subject, if you please. It has taken an uninterest-   She uttered a scream, and sailors came runing turn."                                       ning.
"To you, perhaps; but not to me."                 They lifted him, with rough sympathy; and Iel"Excuse me, sir; if you took that real friendly  en Rolleston retired to her cabin, panting with agiinterest in me and my condition I was vain enough  tation.  But she had little or no pity for the slanto think you might, you would hardly have re- derer.  She read Arthur Wardlaw's letter again,
fused me the first favor I ever asked you; and, kissed it, wept over it, reproached herself for not
drawing herself up proudly, "need I say the last-? " having loved the writer enough; and vowed to re" You are unjust," said Hazel, sadly; "unjust be- pair that fault. " Poor slandered Arthur," said she;
yond endurance. I refuse you anything that is for " from this hour I will love you as devotedly as you
your good'? I, who would lay down my life with love me."
unmixed joy for you? "
"Mr. Hazel!"  And she drew back from him
with a haughty stare.                                                A          IX.
"Learn the truth why I cannot, and will not, talk    AFTER this, Helen Rolleston and Mr. Hazel never
to Arthur Wardlaw about you. For one thing, he spoke. She walked past him on the deck with cold
is my enemy, and I am his."                       and haughty contempt.
"His enemy? my Arthur's! "                      He quietly submitted to it; and never presumed
" His mortal enemy. And I am going to Eng- to say one word to her again. Only, as his determiland to clear an innocent man, and expose Arthur nation was equal to his delicacy, Miss Rolleston
Wardlaw's guilt."                                found, one day, a paper on her table, containing ad"Indeed!" said  Helen with lofty contempt. vice as to the treatment of disordered lungs, ex"And pray what has he done to you "              pressed with an-rnnlntf. sl-,,     and  backed by
" He had a benefactor, a friend; he entrapped  a string of meaical authorities, quoted memoriter.
him  into cashing a note of hand, which he must   She sent this back directly, indorsed with a line,
have known, or suspected to be, forged; then base- in pencil, that she would try hard to live, now she
ly deserted him at the trial, and blasted his friend's had a friend to protect from calumny; but should
life forever."                                    use her own judgment as to the means.
"Arthur Wardlaw did that? "                      Yet women will be women. She had carefully
" He did; and that very James Seaton was his vic- taken a copy of his advice, before she cast it out
tim."                                             with scorn.
Her delicate nostrils were expanded with wrath    He replied, "Live, with whatever motive you
and her eyes flashed fire. "Mr. Hazel, you are a please; only live."
liar and a slanderer."                              To this she vouchsafed no answer; nor did this unThe man gave a kind of shudder, as if cold happy man trouble her again, until an occasion of a
steel had passed through his heart. But his forti- very different kind arose.
tude was great; he said, doggedly, "Time will   One fine night, he sat on the deck, with his back
show. Time, and a jury of our countrymen."        against the mainmast, in deep melancholy and list" I will be his witness. I will say, this is the mal- lessness, and fell, at last, into a doze, from which he
ice of a rival. Yes, sir, you forget that you have was wakened by a peculiar sound below. It was a
let out the motive of this wicked slander.  You love beautiful and stilly night; all sounds were magnime yourself; Heaven forgive me for profaning the fled; and the father of all rats seemed to be gnawname of love  "                                   ing the ship down below.
"Heaven forgive you for blaspheming the pur-   Hazel's curiosity was excited, and he went softly
est, fondest love, that ever one creature laid at the down the ladder to see what the sound really was.
feet of another. Yes, Helen Rolleston, I love you; But that was not so easy, for it proved to le below
and will save you from the grave and from the vil- decks; but he saw a light glimmering through a
lain Wardlaw; both from one and the other."      small scuttle abaft the mate's cabin, and the sounds
"0, said Helen," clenching her teeth, "I hope were in the neighborhood of that light.
this is true; I hope you do love me, you wretch;   It now flashed upon Mr. Hazel that this was the
then I may find a way to punish you for belying  very quarter where he had heard that mysterious
the absent, and stabbing me to the heart, through  knocking when the ship was lying-to in the gale.
him."                                               Upon this a certain degree of vague suspicion beHler throat swelled with a violent convulsion, and gan to mingle with his curiosity.
she could utter no more for a moment; and she put   He stood still a moment, listening acutely; then
her white handkerchief to her lips, and drew  it took off his shoes very quietly, and moved with
away discolored slightly with blood.              noiseless foot towards the scuttle.
" Ah! you love me," she cried; "then know, for   The gnawing still continued.
your comfort, that you have shortened my short life    He put his head through the scuttle, and peered
a day or two, by slandering him to my face, you into a dark, dismal place, whose very existence was
monster. Look there at your love, and see what it new to him. It was, in fact, a vacant space between
has done for me."                                the cargo and the ship's run. This wooden cavern
She put the handkerchief under his eyes, with was very narrow, but not less than fifteen feet long.
hate gleaming in her own.                         The candle was at the farther end, and between it
Mr. Hazel turned ashy pale, and glared at it and Hazel, a man was working, with his flank turned
with horror; he could have seen his own shed, with towards the spectator. This partly intercepted the
stoical firmness; but a mortal sickness struck his light; but still it revealed in a fitful way the huge
heart at the sight of her blood. His hands rose and ribs of the ship, and her inner skin, that formed the
quivered in a peculiar way, his sight left him, and right-hand partition, so to speak, of this black cavthe strong man, but tender lover, staggered, and fell ern; and close outside those gaunt timbers, was
heavily on the deck, in a dead swoon, and lay at her heard the wash of the sea.
feet, pale and motionless.                          There was something solemn in the close prox



FOUL PLAY.                                            25
imity of that tremendous element and the narrow-   "But drilling holes in her is not the way,' said
ness of the wooden barrier.                      Hazel, sternly.
The bare place, and the gentle, monotonous wash    The mate laughed. "Why, sir," said he, " what
of. the liquid monster, on that calm night, conveyed other way is there?  We cannot stop an irregular
to Mr. Hazel's mind a thought akin to David's.   crack; we can frame nothing to fit it. The way is
"As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there to get ready a plug measured a trifle larger than
is but a step between me and death."             the aperture you are going to make; then drill a
Judge whether that thought grew  weaker or round hole, and force in the plug. I know no other
stronger, when, after straining his eyes for some way than that; and I was a ship's carpenter for
time, to understand what was going on at that mid- ten years before I was a mate."
night hour, in that hidden place, he saw who was   This explanation, and the manner in which it
the workman, and what was his occupation.        was given, removed Mr. Hazel's apprehensions for
It was Joseph Wylie, the mate. His profile was the time being.  "It was very alarming," said he;
illuminated by the candle, and looked ghastly. He "but I suppose you know your business."
had in his hands an auger of enormous size, and    "Nobody better, sir," said Wylie.  "Why, it is
with this he was drilling a great hole through the not one seaman in three that would trouble his
ship's side, just below the water-mark; an act, the head about a flaw in a ship's inner skin; but I'm
effect of which would be to let the sea bodily into a man that looks ahead. Will you have a glass of
the ship and sink her, with. every soul on board, to grog, sir, now you are here?  I keep that under
the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.                 my eye, too; between ourselves, if the skipper ha1
" I was stupefied; and my hairs stood on end, as much in his cabin as I have here, that might D u
and my tongue clove to my jaws."                 worse for us all than a crack or two in the ship's
Thus does one of Virgil's characters describe the inner skin."
effect his mind produced upon his body, in a terrible    Mr. Hazel declined to drink grog at that time in
situation.                                       the morning, but wished him good night, and left
Mr. Hazel had always ridiculed that trite line as him with a better opinion of him than he had ever
a pure exaggeration; but he altered his opinion after had till then.
that eventful night.                                Wylie, when he was gone, drew a tumbler of neat
When he first saw what Wylie was doing, obstu- spirits, drank half, and carried the rest back to his
puit, he was merely benumbed; but, as his mind work.
realized the fiendish nature of the act, and its tre-   Yet Wylie was a very sober man in a general
mendous consequences, his hair actually bristled, way. Rum was his tool; not his master.
and for a few minutes at least, he could not utter a   When Hazel came to think of it all next day, he
word.                                             did not feel quite so easy as he had done. The
In that interval of stupor, matters took another inner skin! But, when Wylie withdrew his auger,
turn.  The auger went in up to the haft: then  the water had squirted in furiously. He felt it hard
Wylie caught up with his left hand a wooden plug to believe that this keen jet of water could be caused
he had got ready, jerked the auger away, caught up by a small quantity that had found its way between
a hammer, and swiftly inserted the plug.         the skin of the ship and her copper, or her top bootRapid as he was, a single jet of water came ing; it seemed rather to be due to the direct pressquirting viciously in. But Wylie lost no time; he sure of the liquid monster outside.
tapped the plug smartly with his hammer several   He went to the captain that afternoon, and first
times, and then, lifting a mallet with both hands, told him what he had seen, offering no solution.
rained heavy blows on it that drove it in, and shook  The captain, on that occasion, was in an amphibious
the ship's side.                                  state; neither wet nor dry; and his reply was
Then Hazel found his voice, and he uttered an  altogether exceptional.  He received the comejaculation that made the mate look round; he munication with pompous civility; then swore a
glared at the man, who was glaring at him, and, great oath, and said he would put the mate in
staggering backward, trod on the light, and all was irons: " Confound the lubber! he will be through
darkness and dead silence.                       the ship's bottom."
All but the wash of the sea outside, and that loud-   " But, stop a moment," said Mr. Hazel, " it is only
er than ever.                                     fair you should also hear how he accounts for his
proceeding."
But a short interval sufficed to restore one of the    The captain listened attentively to the explaparties to his natural self-possession.          nation, and altered his tone.  "0, that is a dif"Lord, sir," said Wylie, " how you startled me I ferent matter," said he. " You need be under no
You should not come upon a man at his work like alarm, sir; the thundering lubber knows what he is
that. We might have had an accident."            about, at that work. Why he has been a ship's
"What were you doing?" said Hazel, in a voice carpenter all his life. Him a seaman! If anything
that quavered in spite of him.                   ever happens to me, and Joe Wylie is set to navi" Repairing the ship. Found a crack or two in gate this ship, then you may say your prayers. He
her inner skin. There, let me get a light, and I'11 is n't fit to sail a wash-tub across a duck-pond. But
explain it to you, sir."                         I'll tell you what it is," added this worthy, with
He groped his way out, and invited Mr. Hazel more pomposity than  neatness of articulation,
into his cabin. There he struck a light, and, with  "here's respeckable passenger brought me a regreat civility, tendered an explanation. The ship, port; do my duty to m'employers, and - take a
he said, had labored a good deal in the last gale, look at the well."
and he had discovered one or two flaws in her,   He accordingly chalked a plumb-line, and went
which were of no immediate importance; but ex- and sounded the well.
perience had taught him that in calm weather a    There were eight inches of water. Hudson told
ship ought to be kept tight. " As they say ashore, him that was no more than all ships contained from
a stitch in time saves nine."                    various causes; "in fact," said he, "our pumps




26                                      FOUL PLAY.
suck, and will not draw, at eight inches."  Then    "To print psalm-books for the darkies, no doubt,"
suddenly grasping Mr. Hazel's hand, he said, in  suggested Wylie.
tearful accents, "Don't you trouble your head    "Insured as specie," continued Hudson, ignoring
about Joe Wylie, or any such scum. I'mn skipper the interruption.  "Well, just at daybreak one
of the Proserpine, and a man that does his duty  morning, all of a sudden there was a rakish-looking
to z'employers. Mr. Hazel, sir, I'd come to my craft on our weather-bow: lets fly a nine-pounder
last anchor in that well this moment, if my duty  across our fore-foot, and was alongside before my
to m'employers required it.  B- my eyes if I men could tumble up from below. I got knocked
would n't lie down there this minute, and never into the sea by the boom and fell between the ships;
move to all eternity and a day after, if it was my and the pirate he got hold of me and poured hot
duty to m'employers!"                           grog down my throat to bring me to my senses."
"No doubt," said Hazel, dryly. "But I think    " That is not what you use it for in general," said
you can serve your employers better in other parts Wylie. " Civil sort of pirate, though."
of the ship."  He then left him, with a piece of ad-   "Pirate be d-d.  That was my consort, rigged
vice; " to keep his eye upon that Wylie."        out with a black flag, and mounted with four nineMr. Hazel kept his own eye on Wylie so con- pounders on one side, and five dummies on the
stantly, that at eleven o'clock P. M. he saw that other. He blustered a bit, and swore, and took our
worthy go into the captain's cabin with a quart type and our cabbages (I complained to Downes
bottle of rum.                                   ashore about the vagabond taking the vegetables),
The coast was clear; the temptation great.     and ordered us to leeward under all canvas, and we
The e men then were still deceiving him with a never saw him again,- not till he had shaved off
feigned antagonism. He listened at the keyhole, his mustaches, and called on Downes to condole,
not without some compunction; which, however, and say the varmint had  chased his ship fifty
became less and less as fragments of the dialogue leagues out of her course; but he had got clear of
reached his ear.                                 him.  Downes complimented me publicly.  Says
For a long time the only speaker was Hudson, he,' This skipper boarded the pirate single handed;
and his discourse ran upon his own exploits at sea. only he jumped short, and fell between the two
But suddenly Wylie's voice broke in with an un- ships; and here he is by a miracle.' Then he takes
mistakable tone of superiority.  "Belay all that out his handkerchief, and flops his head on my
chat, and listen to me. It is time we settled some- shoulder.' His merciful preservation almost reconthing. I'11 hear what you have got to say; and ciles me to the loss of my gold,' says the thundering
then you'll do what I say. Better keep your hands crocodile.  Cleared $ 70,000, he did, out of the
off the bottle a minute; you have had enough for Marhattan Marine, and gave the pirate and me but
the present; this is business. I know you are good  ~ 200 between us both."
for jaw; but what.are you game to do for the gov-   "The Rose? " said Wylie.
ernor's money?  Anything?"                         " What a hurry you are in! Pass the grog.
"More than you have ever seen or heard tell of, Well the Rose; she lay off Ushant. We canted
ye lubber," replied the irritated skipper. "Who  her to wash the decks; lucky she had a careful
has ever served his employers like Hiram Hudson? " commander; not like Kempenfelt, whose eye was
"Keep that song for your quarter-deck," retorted  in his pocket, and his fingers -held the pen, so he
the  mate, contemptuously.  "No;  on  second went to the bottom, with Lord knows how many
thoughts, just tell me how you have served your men. I noticed the squalls came very sudden; so
employers, you old humbug.  Give me chapter and  I sent most of my men ashore, and got the boats
verse to choose from. Come now, the Neptune?"   ready in case of accident. A squall did strike her,
"'Vell, the Neptune; she caught fire a hun- and she was on her beam-ends in a moment: we
dred leagues from land."                          pulled ashore with two bales of silk by way of
"How came she to do that?"                     salvage, and sample of what warn't in her hold
"That is my business. Well, I put her head be- when she settled down.  We landed; and the
fore the wind, and ran for the Azores; and I stuck  Frenchmen were dancing about with excitement.
to her, sir, till she was as black as a coal, and we'Captain,' says one,'you have much sang fraw.'
couldn't stand on deck, but kept hopping like'Insured, munseer,' says I.'Bone,' says he.
parched peas; and fire belching out of her port-   "Then there was the Antelope, lost in charge
holes forward: then we took to the boats, and saved  of a pilot off the Hooghly. I knew the water as
a few bales of silk by way of sample of her cargo, well as he did. We were on the port tack, standing
and got ashore; and she'd have come ashore too towards the shoal. Weather it, as we should have
next tide and told tales, but Somebody left a keg done next tack, and I should have failed in my
of gunpowder in the cabin, with a long fuse, and duty to my employers. Anything but that!'Look
blew a hole in her old ribs, that the water came in, out!' said I.'Pilot, she forereaches in stays.'
and down she went, hissing like ten thousand sar- Pilot was smoking: those Sandhead pilots smoke in
pints, and nobody the wiser."                     bed and asleep. He takes his cigar out of his mouth
"Who lighted the fuse, I wonder?" said Wylie. for one moment.' Ready about,' says he. t Hands
"Did n't I tell ye it was'Somebody'?" said'bout ship. Helms a-lee. Raise tacks and sheets.'
Hudson.  "Hand me the stiff."  He replenished  Round she was coming like a top. Pilot smoking.
his glass, and, after taking a sip or two, asked Wylie Just as he was going to haul the mainsel Somebody
if he had ever had the luck to be boarded by pi- tripped against him, and shoved the hot cigar in
rates.                                            his eye. He sung out and swore, and there was no
No," said Wylie. " Have you?"                mainsel haul.  Ship in irons, tide running hard on
"Ay; and they rescued me from a watery grave, to the shoal, and before we could clear away for
as the lubbers call it. Ye sed, I was employed by anchoring, bump!   there she was hard and fast.
Downes and Co., down at the Havannah, and cleared  A stiff breeze got up at sunrise, and she broke up.
for Vera Cruz with some boxes of old worn-out Next day I was sipping my grog and reading the
printers' type."                                  Bengal Courier, and it told the disastrous wreck




FOUL PLAY.                                           27
of the brig Antelope, wrecked  in charge of a and I'll fill mine - Capital rum this. You talk of
pilot;'but no lives lost, and the owners fully in- my gills turning white; before long, we shall see
sured.'  Then there was the bark Sally. Why, whose keeps their color best, mine or yours, my
you saw her yourself distressed, on a lee shore."  Boy."
"Yes," said Wylie. "I was in that tub, the   There was a silence, during which Hudson was
Grampus, and we contrived to claw off the Scil- probably asking himself what Wylie meant; for
lies; yet you, in your smart Sally, got ashore. presently, he broke out in a loud, but somewhat
What luck!"                                    quivering voice, "Why, you mad, drunken devil of
"Luck be blowed!" cried Hudson, angrily. a ship's carpenter, red-hot from hell, I see what
"Somebody got into the chains to sound; and cut you are at, now; you are going-"
the weather halyards. Next tack the masts went   " Hush!" cried Wylie, alarmed in his turn.
over the side; and I had done my duty."         "Is this the sort of thing to bellow out for the
"Lives were lost that time, eh? " said Wylie, watch to hear?  Whisper, now."
gravely.                                          This was followed by the earnest mutterings of
"What is that to you? " replied Hudson, with two voices. In vain did the listener send his very
the sudden ire of a drunken man. " Mind your soul into his ear to hear. He could catch no single
own business. Pass me the bottle."              word. Yet he could tell, by the very tones of the
speakers, that the dialogue was one of mystery and
"Yes, lives was lost: and always will be lost in importance.
sea-going ships, where the skipper does his duty.   Here was a situation at once irritating and
There was a sight more lost at Trafalgar, owing to alarming; but there was no help for it. The best
every man doing his duty. Lives lost, ye lubber  thing, now, seemed to be to withdraw unobserved,
And why not mine? Because their time was come and wait for another opportunity. He did so;
and mine was n't. For I'11 tell you one thing, Joe and he had not long retired, when the mate came
Wylie, - if she takes fire and runs before the wind out staggering, and flushed with liquor, and that
till she is as black as a coal, and belching flame was a thing that had never occurred before. He
through all her portholes, and then explodes, and left the cabin door open, and went into his own
goes aloft in ten thousand pieces no bigger than my room.
hat, or your knowledge of navigation, Hudson is the    Soon after, sounds issued from the cabin, peculast man to leave her: Duty! —If she goes on her liar sounds, something between  grunting  and
beam ends and founders, Hudson sees the last of her, snoring.
and reports it to his employers: Duty!-If she   Mr. Hazel came and entered the cabin. There
goes grinding on Scilly, Hudson is the last man to he found the captain  of the Proserpine in a
leave her bones. Duty!-Some day perhaps I position very unfavorable to longevity. His legs
shall be swamped myself along with the craft: I were crooked over the seat of his chair, and his
have escaped till now, owing to not being insured; head was on the ground. His handkerchief was
but if ever my time should come, and you should tight round his neck, and the man himself dead
get clear, promise me, Joe, to see the owners, and tell drunk, and purple in the face.'em Hudson did his duty."                         Mr. Hazel instantly undid his stock, on which
Here a few tears quenched his noble ardor for a the gallant seaman muttered inarticulately. He
moment. But he soon recovered, and said, with then took his feet off the chair,and laid them on
some little heat, " You have got the bottle again. the ground, and put the empty bottle under the
I never saw such a fellow to get hold of the bottle. animal's neck.
Come, here's' Duty to our employers!"  And now    But he had no sooner done all this, than he had
I'11 tell you how we managed with the Carys- a serious misgiving. Would not this man's death
brook, and the Amelia."                         have been a blessing?  Might not his life prove
This promise was followed by fresh narratives; fatal?
in particular, of a vessel he had run upon the Flor-   The thought infuriated him, and he gave the
ida reef at night, where wreckers had been retained prostrate figure a heavy kick that almost turned it
in advance to look out for signals, and come on over, and the words, " Duty to employers," gurgled
board and quarrel in pretence and set fire to the out of its mouth directly.
vessel, insured at thrice her value.              It really seemed as if these sounds were indepenHudson got quite excited with the memory of dent of the mind, and resided at the tip of Hudson's
these exploits, and told each successive feat louder tongue: so that a thorough good kick could, at any
and louder.                                     time, shake them out of his inanimate body.
But now it was Wylie's turn. " Well," said he,   Thus do things ludicrous, and things terrible,
very gravely, " all this was child's play."     mingle in the real world; only to those who are in
There was a pause that marked Hudson's aston- the arena, the ludicrous passes unnoticed, being
ishment. Then he broke out, " Child's play, ye overshadowed by its terrible neighbor.
lubber! If you had been there your gills would    And so it was with Hazel. He saw nothing abhave been as white as your Sunday shirt; and a surd in all this; and in that prostrate, insensible
d-d deal whiter."                               hog, commanding the ship, forsooth, and carrying
" Come, be civil," said Wylie, " I tell you, all the all their lives in his hands: he saw the mysterious
ways you have told me are too suspicious. Our and alarming only, saw them so, and felt them, that
governor is a high-flyer: he pays like a prince, and, he lay awake all night thinking what he should do,
in return, he must not be blown on, if it is ever so and early next day he went into the mate's cabin,
little.'Wylie,' says he,'a breath of suspicion and said to him, " Mr. Wylie, in any other ship I
would kill me.'' Make it so much,' says I,'and should speak to the captain, and not to the mate;
that breath shall never blow on you.' No, no, but here that would be no use, for you are the masskipper; none of those ways will do for us; they ter, and he is your servant."
have all been worked twice too often. It must be   " Don't tell him so, sir, for he does n't think small
done in fair weather, and in a way - fill your glass beer of himself."




28                                      FOUL PLAY.
"I shaii waste no more words on him. It is to    "I can't help that," said Hazel, firmly; and took
you I speak, and you know I speak the truth. Iere a step towards the door.
is a ship, in which, for certain reasons known to    " Stop a bit," said the mate. " Don't be in such
yourself, the captain is under the mate."         a nation hurry: for, if you do, it will be bad for
" Well, sir," said Wylie, good-humoredly, "it is me, but worse for you."  The above was said so
no use trying to deceiveda gentleman like you. gravely, and with such evident sincerity, that Mr.
Our skipper is an excellent seaman, but he has got Hazel was struck, and showed it. Wylie followed
a fault."  Then Wylie imitated, with his hand, the up that trifling advantage. " Sit down a minute,
action of a person filling his glass.            sir, if you please, and listen to me. You never saw
" And you are here to keep him sober, eh?"     a mutiny on board ship, I'll be bound. It is a
Wylie nodded.                                  worse thing than any gale that ever blew: begins
"Then why do you ply him with liquor?"        fair enough, sometimes; but how does it end?  In
"I don't, sir."                                breaking into the spirit-room, and drinking to mad"You do. I have seen you do it a dozen times: ness, plundering the ship, ravishing the women, and
and last night you took rum into his room, and made cutting a throat or so for certain. You don't seem
him so drunk, he would have died where he lay if so fond of the picture, as you was of the idea. And
I had not loosed his handkerchief."              then they might turn a deaf ear to you after all.
I am sorry to hear that, sir; but he was sober. Ship is well found in all stores; provisions served
when I left him. The fool must have got to the out freely; men in good humor; and I have got
bottle the moment I was gone."                   their ear. And now I'11 tell you why it won't suit
" But that bottle you put in his way; I saw you: your little game to blacken me to the crew, upon
and what was your object? to deaden his con- the bare chance of a mutiny."  He paused for a
science with liquor, his and your own, while you moment, then resumed in'a lower tone, and revealed
made him your fiendish proposal. Man, man, do himself the extraordinary man he was.
you believe in God, and in a judgment to come for   "You see, sir," said he, " when a man is very
the deeds done in the body, that you can plan in ready to suspect me, I always suspect him. Now
cold blood to destroy a vessel with nineteen souls you was uncommon ready to suspect me.  You
on board, besides the live stock, the innocent ani- did n't wait till you came on board; you began the
mals that God pitied and spared, when he raised game ashore.  Oh! what, that makes you open one
his hand in wrath over Nineveh of old?"         eye, does it?   You thought I did n't know you
While the clergyman was speaking, with flashing again. Knew you, my man, the moment you came
eyes and commanding voice, the seaman turned  aboard. I never forget a face; and disguises don't
ashy pale; and drew his shoulders together like a pass on me."
cat preparing to defend her life.                   It was now Hazel's turn to look anxious and disI plan to destroy a vessel, sir! You never composed.
heard me say such a word; and don't you hint such    " So, then, the  moment I saw you suspected
a thing in the ship, or you will get yourself into me I was down upon you. Well, you come aboard
trouble."                                        under false colors. We didn't want a chap like
" That depends on you."                        you in the ship; but you would come.' What is
"How so, sir?"                                the bloke after?' says I, and watches. You was
"I have long suspected you."                   so intent suspecting me of this, that, and t' other,
"You need not tell me that, sir."              that you unguarded yourself, and that is common
"But I have not communicated my suspicions. too. I'n blowed if it is n't the lady you are after.
And now that they are certainties, I come first to With all my heart: only she might do better, and
you. In one word, will you forego your intention, I don't see how she could do worse, unless she went
since it is found out? "                         to old Nick for a mate. Now, I'll tell you what it
" How can I forego what never was in my head?" is, my man. I've been in trouble myself, and don't
said Wylie. " Cast away the ship! Why there's want to be hard on a poor devil, just because he
no land within two thousand miles. Founder a sails under an alias, and lies as near the wind as he
vessel in the Pacific! Do you think my life is not can, to weather on the beaks and the bobbies. But
as sweet to me as yours is to you?"              one good turn deserves another: keep your dirty
Wylie eyed him keenly to see the effect of these suspicions to yourself; for if you dare to open your
words, and by a puzzled expression that came over lips to the men, in five minutes, or less than that,
his face, saw at once he had assumed a more exact you shall be in irons, and confined to your cabin;
knowledge than he really possessed.               and we'll put you ashore at the first port that flies
Hazel replied that he had said nothing about a British flag, and hand you over to the authorifoundering the ship; but there were many ways of ties, till one of her Majesty's cruisers sends in a
destroying one. " For instance," said he," I know  boat for you."
how  the  Neptune was destroyed,-and so do    At this threat Mr. Hazel hung his head in confuyou; how the Rose and the Antelope were cast sion and dismay.
away, and so do you."                               " Come, get out of my cabin, Parson Alias,"
At this enumeration, Wylie lost his color and shouted the mate; "and belay your foul tongue in
self-possession for a moment; he saw Hazel had  this ship, and don't make an enemy of Joe Wylie,
been listening. Hazel followed up his blow. " Prom- a man that will eat you up else, and spit you out
ise me now, by all you hold sacred, to forego this vil- again, and never brag. Sheer off, I say, and be
lany; and I hold my tongue. Attempt to defy me, d-d to you."
or to throw dust in my eyes, and I go instantly    Mr. Hazel, with a pale face and sick heart,
among the crew, and denounce both you and Hud- looked aghast at this dangerous man, who could be.
son to them."                                    fox, or tiger, as the occasion demanded.
"Good Heavens!" cried Wylie in unfeigned    Surprised, alarmed, outwitted, and out-menaced,
terror.  "Why the men would mutiny on the he retired with disordered countenance, and uneven
spot."                                           steps, and hid himself in his own cabin.




FOUL PLAY.                                            29
The more he weighed the whole situation, the ral to him, it stirred up all the bile in his body, and
more clearly did he see that he was utterly power- brought on a severe attack of yellow jaundice,
less in the hands of Wylie.                      accompanied by the settled dejection that marks that
A skipper is an emperor; and Hudson had the disorder.
power to iron him, and set him  on shore at the    Meantime the Proserpine glided on, with a
nearest port. The right to do it was another mat- fair wind, and a contented crew. She was well
ter; but even on that head, Wylie could furnish a found in stores; and they were served out ungrudgplausible" excuse for the act. Retribution, if it ingly.
came at all, would not be severe, and would be    Every face on board beamed with jollity, except
three or four years coming: and who fears it much, poor Hazel's. He crept about, yellow as a guinea;
when it is so dilatory, and so weak, and so doubtful a very scarecrow.
into the bargain?                                  The surgeon, a humane man, urged him to drink
He succumbed in silence for two days; and then, sherry, and take strong exercise.
in spite of Wylie's threat, he made one timid at-   But persons afflicted with that distressing malady,
tempt to approach the subject with Welch and  are obstinately set against those things which tend
Cooper, but a sailor came up instantly, and sent to cure it; this is a feature of the disease. Mr.
them forward to reef topsails. And whenever he Hazel was no exception. And then his heart had
tried to enter into conversation with the pair, some received so many blows, it had no power left to
sailor or other was sure to come up and listen.  resist the depressing effect of his disorder. He took
Then he saw that he was spotted; or, as we say no exercise; he ate little food. He lay, listless and
nowadays, picketed.                              dejected, about the deck, and let disease do what it
IIe was at his wits' end.                      pleased with him.
He tried his last throw. IHe wrote a few lines to    The surgeon shook his head, and told Hudson the
Miss Rolleston, requesting an interview. Aware parson was booked.
of the difficulties he had to encounter here, he    " And good riddance of bad rubbish!" was that
stilled his heart by main force, and wrote in terms worthy's gracious comment.
carefully measured. He begged her to believe he    The ship now encountered an adverse gale, and,
had no design to intrude upon her, without abso- for three whole days, was under close-reefed toplute necessity, and for her own good. Respect for sails; she was always a wet ship under stress of
her own wishes forbade this, and also his self-respect. weather; and she took in a good deal of water on
" But," said he, " I have made a terrible discov- this occasion. On the fourth day it fell calm, and
ery. The mate and the captain certainly intend to  Captain Hudson, having examined the well, and
cast away this ship. No doubt they will try and found three feet of water, ordered the men to the
not sacrifice their own lives and ours; but risk pumps.
them they must, in the very nature of things. Be-   After working through one watch, the well was
fore troubling you, I have tried all I could, in the sounded again, and the water was so much reduced
way of persuasion and menace; but am defeated. that the gangs were taken off; and the ship being
So now it rests with you. You, alone, can save us now becalmed, and the weather lovely, the men
all. I will tell you how, if you will restrain your were allowed to dance upon deck to the boatrepugnance, and  accord  me a short interview. swain's fiddle.
Need I say thatno other subject shall be introduced    While this pastime went on, the sun, large and
by me. In England, should we ever reach it, I red, reached the horizon, and diffused a roseate
may perhaps try to take measures to regain your light over the entire ocean.
good opinion; but here, I am aware, that is impos-   Not one of the current descriptions of heaven
sible; and I shall make no attempt in that direction  approached the actual grandeur and beauty of the
upon my honor."                                  blue sky flecked with ruby and gold, and its liquid
To this, came a prompt and feminine reply: -    mirror that lay below, calm, dimpled, and glorified
"The ship is his. The captain and the mate are by that translucent, rosy tint.
able men, appointed by him. Your suspicions of   While the eye was yet charmed with this enthe^  poor men are calumnies, and of a.piece with chanting bridal of the sea and sky, and the ear
ou otr m          en are calunes and o a  ee  t  amused with the merry fiddle and the nimble feet,
your other monstrous slanders.                   that tapped the sounding deck so deftly at every
"I really must insist on your holding no further  that tappe   ho  hd  een soundin deftly at ever
communication of any sort with one, to whom yourn, o, wo  ad  en  ung the well, ran
character is revealed and odious.      H. R.     forward all of a sudden, and flung a thunderbolt in
the midst.
This letter benumbed his heart at first. A letter?   " A LEAK! "
It was a blow; a blow from her he loved, and she
hated him!
His long-suffering love gave way at last. What                  CHAPTER X.
folly and cruelty combined! He could, no longer
make allowances for the spite of a woman whose    THE fiddle ended in mid-tune, and the men
lover had been traduced.  Rage and despair seized crowded aft with anxious faces.
him; he bit his nails, and tore his hair with fury;   The captain sounded the well, and found three
and prayed Heaven to help him  hate her as she feet and a half water in it. He ordered all hands
deserved, " the blind, insolent idiot!"  Yes, these to the pumps.
bitter words actually came out of his mouth, in a    They turned to with a good heart, and pumped,
torrent of fury.                                 watch and watch, till daybreak.
But, to note down all he said, in his rage, would    Their exertions counteracted the leak, but did
be useless; and might mislead, for this was a gust no more; the water in the well was neither more
of fury; and, while it lasted, the long-suffering man nor less perceptibly.
was no longer himself.                              This was a relief to their minds, so far; but the
As a proof how little this state of mind was natu- situation was a very serious one. Suppose foul




30                                      FOUL PLAY.
weather should come, and the vessel ship water bleed to death, ye bitch! We sha'n't be long befrom above as well!                              hind ye."
Now, all those who were not on the pumps, set   Hazel inquired, and found the ship had a quanto work to find out the leak and stop it if possible. tity of dye-wood amongst her cargo; he told the men
With candles in their hands, they crept about the this, and tried to keep up their hearts by his words
ribs of the ship, narrowly inspecting every corner, and his example.
and applying their ears to every suspected place, if   He succeeded with some; but others shook their
haply they might hear the water coming in. The heads. And by and by, even while he was working
place where Hazel had found Wylie at work was double tides for them as well as for himself, omiexamined, along with the rest; but neither there nous murmurs met his ear.  " Parson aboard!"
nor anywhere else could the leak be discovered. "Man aboard, with t'other world in his face!"  And
Yet the water was still coming in, and required un- there were sinister glances to match.
remitting labor to keep it under. It was then sug-   He told this with some alarm, to Welch and
gested by Wylie, and the opinion gradually gained  Cooper. They promised to stand by him; and
ground, that some of the seams had opened in the  Welch told him it was all the mate's doing; he had
late gale, and were letting in the water by small gone amongst the men, and poisoned them.
but numerous apertures.                             The wounded vessel, with her ever-beating heart,
Faces beganto look cloudy; and Hazel, throwing had run three hundred miles on the new tack.
off his lethargy, took his spell at the main pump  She had ahlost ceased to bleed; but what was as
with the rest.                                    bad, or worse, small fragments of her cargo and stores
When his gang was relieved he went away, bathed  came up with the water, and their miscellaneous
in perspiration, and, leaningpver the well, sounded character showed how deeply the sea had now penit.                                               etrated.
While thus employed, the mate came behind him,   This, and their great fatigue, began to demoralize
with his cat-like step, and said, " See what has come the sailors. The pumps and buckets were still plied,
on us with your forebodings! It is the unluckiest but it was no longer with the uniform manner of
thing in the world to talk about losing a ship when brave and hopeful men.  Some stuck doggedly to
she is at sea."                                  their work, but others got flurried, and ran from
" You are a more dangerous man on board a ship one thing to another. Now and then a man would
than I am," was Hazel's prompt reply.             stop, and burst out crying.; then to work again in a
The well gave an increase of three inches.     desperate way.  One or two lost heart altogether,
Mr. Hazel now showed excellent qualities. He and had to be driven. Finally, one or two sucworked like a horse; and, finding the mate skulk- cumbed under the unremitting labor. Despair crept
ing, he reproached him before the men, and, strip- over others: their features began to change, so much
ping himself naked to the waist, invited him to do so, that several countenances were hardly recogniza man's duty. The mate, thus challenged, complied able, and each, looking in the other's troubled face,
with a scowl.                                     saw his own fate pictured there.
They labored for their lives, and the quantity of   Six feet water in the hold!
water they discharged from the ship was astonish-   The captain, who had been sober beyond his time,
ing; not less than a hundred and ten tons every now got dead drunk.
hour.                                               The mate took the command. On hearing this,
They gained upon the leak —only two inches; Welch and Cooper left the pumps. Wylie ordered
but, in the struggle for life, this was an immense them back. They refused, and coolly lighted their
victory. It was the turn of the tide.             pipes. A violent altercation took place, which was
A slight breeze sprung up from the southwest, brought to a close by Welch.
and the captain ordered the men from the buckets   " It is no use pumping the ship," said he. "She
to make all sail on the ship, the pumps still going.  is doomed. D' ye think we are blind, my mate and
When this was done, he altered the ship's course, me?  You got the long-boat ready for yourself beand put her right before the wind, steering for the fore ever the leak was sprung. Now get the cutter
island of Juan Fernandez, distant eleven hundred ready for my mate and me."
miles, or thereabouts.                              At these simple words Wylie lost color, and
Probably it was the best thing he could do, in walked aft without a word.
that awful waste of water. But its effect on the   Next day there were seven feet water in the
seamen was bad. It was like giving in. They got hold, and quantities of bread coming up through the
a little disheartened and flurried; and the cold, pumps.
passionless water seized the advantage. It is possi-   Wylie ordered the men from the pumps to the
ble, too, that the motion of the ship through the sea, boats. The jolly-boat was provisioned and lowered.
aided the leak.                                   While she was towing astern, the cutter was pre"The Proserpine glided through the water all pared, and the ship left to fill.
night, like some terror-stricken creature, and the    All this time Miss Rolleston had been kept in the
incessant pumps seemed to be her poor heart, beat- dark, not as to the danger, but as to its extent.
ing loud with breathless fear.                    Great was her surprise when Mr. Hazel entered
At daybreak she had gone a hundred and twenty  her cabin, and cast an ineffable look of pity on
miles. But this was balanced by a new and alarm- her.
ing feature. The water from the pumps no longer   She looked up surprised and then angry. " How
came up pure, but mixed with what appeared to be dare you? " she began.
blood.                                              He waved his hand in a sorrowful but commandThis got redder and redder, and struck terror ing way.  "0, this is no time for prejudice or
into the more superstitious of the crew.         temper. The ship is sinking: we are going into
Even Cooper, whose heart was stout, leaned over the boats. Pray make your preparations. Here is
the bulwarks, and eyed the red stream, gushing into  a list I have written of the things you ought to
the sea from the lee scuppers, and said aloud, "Ay, take: we may be weeks at sea- in an open boat."




FOUL PLAY.                                            31
Then, seeing her dumbfoundered, he caught up  Rolleston, and telling her she should have her maid
her carpet-bag, and threw her work-box into it for with her eventually, when Hazel came; he handed
a beginning. He then laid hands upon some of her down his own bag, and threw the blankets into ihe
preserved meats, and marmalade, and carried them  stern-sheets.  Then went down himself, and sat on
off to his own cabin.                            the midship-thwart.
His mind then flew back to his reading, and    "Shove off," said the captain; and they fell
passed in rapid review, all the wants that men had  astern.
endured in open boats.                             But Cooper, with a boat-hook, hooked on to the
He got hold of Welch, and told him to be sure lonc-boat; and the dying ship towed them both.
and see there was plenty of spare canvas on board,   Five minutes more elapsed, and the captain did
and sailing needles, scissors, etc.: also three bags of not come down, so Wylie hailed him.
biscuit, and, above all, a cask of water.           There was no answer. Hudson had gone into
He himself ran all about the ship, including the the mate's cabin. Wylie waited a minute, then
mate's cabin, in search of certain tools he thought hailed again. "Hy! on deck there!"
would be wanted.                                    " Hullo! " cried the captain, at last.
Then to his own cabin, to fill his carpet-bag.   " Why did n't you come in the cutter?"
There was little time to spare; the ship was low    The captain crossed his arms, and leaned over
in the water, and the men abandoning her. He the stern.
flung the things into his bag, fastened and locked it,   "Don't you know that Hiram Hudson is always
strapped up his blankets for her use, flung on his the last to leave a sinking ship? "
pea-jacket, and turned the handle of his door to run    "Well, you are the last," said Wylie. " So now
out.                                             come on board the long-boat at once. I dare not
The door did not open!                        tow in her wake much longer, to be sucked in when
He pushed it. It did not yield!               she goes down."
He rushed at it. It was fast!                   " Come on board your craft and desert my own?"
He uttered a cry of rage, and flung himself at it. said Hudson, disdainfully.  "Know  my duty to
Horror! It was immovable.                      m'employers better."
These words alarmed the mate. " Curse it all  "
he cried; "the fool has been and got some more
CHAPTER XI.                      rum. Fifty guineas to the man that will shin up
the tow-rope, and throw that madman into the sea,
THE fearful, the sickening truth burst on him in then we can pick him up. He swims like a cork."
all its awful significance.                         A sailor instantly darted forward to the rope.
Some miscreant or madman had locked the door, But, unfortunately, Hudson heard this proposal,
and so fastened him to the sinking ship, at a time and it enraged him. He got to his cutlass. The
when, in the bustle, the alarm, the selfishness, all sailor drew the boat under the ship's stern, but the
would be apt to forget him, and leave him to his drunken skipper flourished his cutlass furiously
death.                                           over his head. " Board me! ye pirates! the first
He tried the door in every way, he hammered at that lays a finger on my bulwarks, off goes his
it; he shouted, he raged, he screamed. In vain. hand at the wrist." Suiting the action to the word,
Unfortunately the door of this cabin was of very un- he hacked at the tow-rope so vigorously that it gave
usual strength and thickness.                    way, and the boats fell astern.
Then he took up one of those great augers he had    Helen Rolleston uttered a shriek of dismay and
found in the mate's cabin, and bored a hole in the pity. "0, save him!" she cried.
door; through this hole he fired his pistol, and then    " Make sail!" cried Cooper; and, in a few secscreamed for help. " I am shut up in the cabin. I onds, they got all her canvas set upon the cutter.
shall be drowned. 0, for Christ's sake, save me!   It seemed a hopeless chase for these shells to sail
save me! " and a cold sweat of terror poured down after that dying monster with her cloud of canvas
his whole body.                                  all drawing, alow and aloft.
What is that?                                   " But it did not prove so. The gentle breeze
The soft rustle of a woman's dress.            was an advantage to light craft, and the dying
0, how he thanked God for that music, and the Proserpine was full of water, and could only
hope it gave him!                               crawl.
It comes towards him; it stops, the key is turned,   After a few moments of great anxiety, the boats
the dress rustles away, swift as a winged bird; crept up, the cutter on her port, and the long-boat
he dashes at the door; it flies open.            on her starboard-quarter.
Nobody was near. He recovered his courage in    Wylie ran forward, and, hailing Hudson, impart, fetched out his bag and his tools, and ran plored him, in the friendliest tones, to give himself
across to the starboard side. There he found the a chance. Then tried him by his vanity, " Come,
captain lowering Miss Rolleston, with due care, and command the boats, old fellow. How can we
into the cutter, and the young lady crying; not at navigate them on the Pacific, without you?"
being shipwrecked, if you please, but at being    Hudson was now leaning over the taffrait utterly
deserted by her maid. Jane Holt, at this trying  drunk. He made no reply to the mate, but merely
moment, had deserted her mistress for her husband. waived his cutlass feebly in one hand, and his botThis was natural; but, as is the rule with persons tie in the other, and gurgled out " Duty to m'emof that class, she had done this in the silliest and ployers."
cruelest way. - Had she given half an hour's notice    Then Cooper, without a word, double-reefed the
of her intention, Donovan might have been on cutter's mainsail, and told Welch to keep as close
board the cutter with her and her mistress. But to the ship's quarter as he dare.  Wylie instinctiveno; being a liar and a fool, she must hide her bus- ly did the same, and the three craft crawled on,
band to the last moment, and then desert her mis- in solemn and deadly silence, for nearly twenty
tress.  The captain, then, was comforting Miss minutes.




32                                      FOUL PLAY.
The wounded ship seemed to receive a death- fact, it contains a few highways, and millions of byblow.  She stopped dead, and shook.              ways; and, once a cockle-shell gets into those byThe next moment she pitched gently forward, ways, small indeed is its chance of being seen and
and her bows went under the water, while her after- picked up by any sea-going vessel.
part rose into the air, and revealed to those in the    Wylie, who was leading, lowered his sail, and
cutter two splintered holes in her run, just below  hesitated between the two.courses wt have inthe water-line.                                  dicated. However, on: the cutter coming up with
Thenext moment her stern settled down; the sea him, he ordered Cooper to keep her head north,
yawned horribly, the great waves of her own mak- east, and so run all night. He then made all the
ing rushed over her upper deck, and the lofty masts sail he could, in the same direction, and soon outand sails, remaining erect, went down with sad sailed the cutter. When the sun-went down, he
majesty into the deep: and nothing remained but was about a mile ahead of her.
the bubbling and foaming of the voracious water,'Just before sunset, Mr. Hazel made a discovery
that had swallowed up the good ship and her cargo, that annoyed him  very much.  He found that
and her drunken master.                           Welch had put only one bag of biscuit, a ham, a
All stood up in the boats, ready to save him. keg of spirit, and a small barrel of water, on board
But either his cutlass sunk him, or the suction of so the cutter.
great a body drew him  down. He was seen no    He  remonstrated with him  sharply.  Welch
more in this world.                              replied that it was all right;'the cutter being small,
A loud sigh broke from every living bosom that he had put the rest of her provisions on board the
witnessed that terrible catastrophe.             long-boat.
It was beyond words: and none were uttered,   "On board the long-boat!"  said Hazel, with
except by Cooper, who spoke so seldom; yet now  a look of wonder. "You have actually made our
three words of terrible import burst from him, and, lives depend upon that scoundrel Wylie again.
uttered in his loud, deep voice, rang like the sunk  You deserve to be flung into the sea. You have
ship's knell over the still bubbling water,      no forethought yourself: yet you will not be guided
"SCUTTLED, - BY GOD "                          by those that have it,"
Welch hung his head a little at these reproaches.
However, he replied, rather sullenly, that it was
CHAPTE"R XII.                     only for one night; they could signal the long-boat
in the morning, and get the other bags, and the
"HOLD your tongue," said Welch, with an oath.  cask, out of her. But Mr. Hazel was not to be apMr. Hazel looked at Miss Rolleston, and she at peased.  "The morning!  Why, she sails three
him. It was a momentary glance, and her eyes feet to our two. How do you know he won't run
sank directly, and filled with patient tears.     away from us?  I never expect to get within ten
For the first few minutes after the Proserpine miles of him again. We know him; and he knows
went down, the survivors sat benumbed, as if await- we know him."
ing their turn to be ingulfed.                      Cooper got up, and patted Mr. Hazel on the
They seemed so little, and the Proserpine so big; shoulder, soothingly. " Boat-hook aft," said he to
yet she was swallowed before their eyes, like a Welch.
crumb. They lost, for a few moments, all idea of   He then, by an ingenious use of the boat-hook,
escaping.                                         and some of the spare canvas, contrived to set out a
But, true it is, that, "while there's life there's studding-sail on the other side of the mast.
hope": and, as soon as their hearts began to.beat   Hazel thanked him warmly. "But, 0  Cooper!
again, their eyes roved round the horizon, and their Cooper! "said he, " I'd give all I have in the world
elastic minds recoiled against despair.          if that bread and water were on board the cutter
This was rendered easier, by the wonderful beau- instead of the long-boat."
ty of the weather. There were men there, who    The cutter had now two wings, instead of one;
had got.down from a sinking ship, into boats heaving  the water bubbling loud under her bows marked
and tossing against her side in a gale of wind, and her increased speed; and all fear of being greatly
yet been saved: and here all was calm and de- outsailed by her consort began to subside.
lightful. To be sure, in those other shipwrecks,'A: slight sea-fret came on, and obscured the sea
land had been near, and their greatest peril was in part; but they had a good lantern and compass,
over, when once the boats got clear of the distressed and steered the course exactly, all night, according
ship without capsizing. Here was no immediate to Wylie's orders, changing the helmsman every
peril; but certain death menaced them, at an un- four hours.
certain distance.                                   Mr. Hazel, without a word, put a rug round
Their situation was briefly this.  Should it come Miss Rolleston's shoulders, and another round her
on to blow  a gale, these open boats, small and feet.
loaded, could not hope to live. Therefore they had    "0, not both, sir, please," said she.
two chances for life, and no more: they must either   "Am I to be disobeyed by everybody? " said he.
make land,- or be picked up at sea, -before the    Then she submitted in silence, and in a certain
weather changed.                                 obsequious way that was quite new, and well calBut how?  The nearest known land was the culated to disarm anger.
group of islands called Juan Fernandez, and they    Sooner or later, all slept, except the helmsman.
lay somewhere to leeward; but distant, at least.   At daybreak, Mr. Hazel was wakened by a loud
nine hundred miles: and, should they prefer the hail from a man in the bows.
other chance, then they must beat three hundred    All the sleepers started up.
miles, and more to windward; for Hudson under-   "Long-boat not in sight "
rating the leak, as is supposed, had run the Proserpine fully that distance out of tlfe track of trade.  It was too true.  The ocean was blank: not
Now the ocean is a highway -in law: but, in a sail, large or small, in sight.




s~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ON SHIPBOARD. —Seepage 23.








FOUL PLAY.                                            33
Many voices spoke at once.                       He then ordered the boat to be put before the
"He was carried on till he has capsized her."  wind again; but the men scowled, and not one
"He has given us the slip."                    stirred a finger; and he saw the futility of this,
Unwilling to believe so great a calamity, every  and did not persist: but groaned aloud: and then
eye peered and stared all over the sea. In vain. sat, staring wildly: finally, like a true sailor, he got
Not a streak that could be a boat's hull, not a to the rum, and stupefied his agitated conscience for
speck that could be a sail.                      a time.
The little cutter was alone upon the ocean.   While he lay drunk, at the bottom of the boat,
Alone, with scarcely two days' provisions, nine his sailors carried out his last instructions, beating
hundred miles from land, and four hundred miles to  southward right in the wind's eye.
leeward of the nearest sea-road.                    Five days they beat to windward, and never saw
Hazel, seeing his worst forebodings realized, sat a sail. Then it fell dead calm; and so remained for
down in moody, bitter, and boding silence.       three days more.
Of the other men some raged  and cursed.   The men began to suffer greatly from cramps, owSome wept aloud.                                 ing to their number and confined position. During
The lady, more patient, put her hands together, the calm, they rowed all day, and with this, and a
and prayed to Him who made the sea and all that light westerly breeze that sprung up, they got into
therein is. Yet her case was the cruelest. For she the sea-road again: but having now sailed three
was by nature more timid than the men, yet she hundred and fifty miles to the southward, they found
must share their desperate peril. And then to be a great' change in the temperature: the nights were
alone with all these men, and one of them had told so cold they were fain to huddle together, to keep a
her he loved her, and hated the man she was be- little warmth in their bodies.
trothed to! Shame tortured this delicate creature,   On the fifteenth day of their voyage it began to
as well as fear. Happy for her, that of late, and rain and blow, and then they were never a whole
only of late, she had learned to pray in earnest. minute out of peril.  Hand forever on the sheet,
"Qui precari novit, premi potest, non potest op- eye on the waves, to ease her at the right moment:
primi."                                          and, with all this care, the spray eternally flying
It was now  a race between starvation  and half way over her mast, and often a body'of water
drowning, and either way death stared them in the making a clean breach over her, and the men bailface.                                            ing night and day with their very hats, or she could
not have lived an hour.
CHAPTER XIII.                    At last, when they were almost dead with wet,
cold, fatigue, and danger, a vessel came in sight, and
THE long-boat was, at this moment, a hundred crept slowly up, about two miles to windward of the
miles to windward of the cutter.                  distressed boat. With the heave of the waters they
The fact is, that Wylie, the evening before, had  could see little more than her sails; but they ran up
been secretly perplexed as to the best course. He a bright bandana handkerchief to their mast-head;
had decided to run for the island; but he was not and the ship made them out. She hoisted Dutch
easy under his own decision; and, at night, he got colors, and - continued her course.
more and more discontented with it. Finally, at   Then the poor abandoned creatures wept, and
nine o'clock, P. M. he suddenly gave the order to raved, and cursed, in their frenzy, glaring after that
luff, and tack: and by daybreak he was very near cruel, shameless man, who could do such an act, yet
the place where the Proserpine went down: whereas hoist a color, and show of what nation he was the
the cutter, having run before the wind all night was, native - and the disgrace.
at least, a hundred miles to leeward of him.       But one of them said not a word. This was
Not to deceive the reader, or let him, for a mo- Wylie. He sat shivering, and remembered how he
ment, think we do business in monsters, we Jvill had abandoned the cutter, and all on board. Loud
weigh this act of Wylie's justly.                sighs broke from his laboring breast; but not a word.
It was justa piece of iron egotism. He preferred, Yet one word was ever present to his mind; and
for himself, the chance of being picked up by a ves- seemed written in fire on the night of clouds, and
sel. He thought it was about a hair's breadth bet- howled in his ears by the wind - Retribution!
ter than running for an island, as to whose bearing    And now came a dirty night - to men on ships;
he was not very clear, after all.                a fearful night to men in boats. The sky black, the
But he was not sure he was taking the best or sea on fire with crested billows, that broke over them
safest course. The cutter might be saved, after all, every minute; their light was washed out; their proand the long-boat lost.                          visions drenched and spoiled: bail as they would,
Meantime he was not sorry of an excuse to shake the boat was always filling. Up to their knees in
off the cutter. She contained one man at least who water; cold as ice, blinded with spray, deafened
knew he had scuttled the Proserpine; and there- with roaring billows, they tossed and tumbled in a
fore it was all-important to him to get to London  fiery foaming hell of waters, and still, though debefore her, and receive the three thousand pounds, spairing, clung to their lives, and bailed with their
which was to be his reward for that abominable hats unceasingly.
act.                                               Day broke, and the first sight it revealed to them
But the way to get to London before Mr. Hazel, was a brig to windward staggering along, and pitchor else to the bottom of the Pacific before him, was ing under close-reefed topsails.
to get back into the sea-road, at all hazards.     They started up, and waved their hats, and cried
He was not aware that the cutter's water and bis- aloud. But the wind carried their voices to leecuit were on board his boat; nor did he discover this ward, and the brig staggered on.
till noon next day. And, on making this fearful dis-   They ran up their little signal of distress; but still
covery, he showed himself human: he cried out, with the ship staggered on.
an oath, " What have I done? I have damned my-   Then the miserable men shook hands all round,
self to all eternity I"                          and gave themselves up for lost.




34                                      FOUL PLAY.
But, at this moment, the brig hoisted a vivid  articles with  Captain Slocum, and entered  the
flag all stripes and stars, and altered her course a American Mercantile Navy.
point or two.                                      Two days after this they sighted the high lands at
She crossed the boat's track a mile ahead, and  the mouth of the Rio de la Plata at 10 P. M., and
her people looked over the bulwarks, and waved lay-to for a pilot. After three hours' delay they
their hats to encourage those tossed and desperate were boarded by a pilot-boat, and then began to
men.                                             creep into the port. The night was very dark, and
Having thus given them the weather-gage the brig  a thin white fog lay on the water.
hove-to for them.                                  Wylie was sitting on the taffrail, and conversing
They ran down to her, and crept under her lee; with Slocum, when the look-out forward sung out,
down came ropes to them, held by friendly hands, " Sail ho!"
and friendly faces shone down at them: eager grasps    Another voice almost simultaneously yelled out
seized each as he went up the ship's side, and so, in of the fog, " Port your helm! "
a very short time, they sent the woman up, and the    Suddenly out of the mist, and close aboard the
rest being all sailors, and clever as cats, they were Maria, appeared the hull and canvas of a large ship.
safe on board the whaling brig Maria, Captain Slo- The brig was crossing her course, and her great
cum, of Nantucket, U. S.                         bowsprit barely missed the brig's mainsail. It stood
Their log, compass, and instruments were also for a moment over Wylie's head. He looked up,
saved.                                           and there was the figure-head of the ship looming
The boat was cast adrift, and was soon after seen  almost within his reach. It was a colossal green
bottom upwards on the crest of a wave.           woman; one arm extended grasped a golden harp,
The good Samaritan in command of the Maria the other was pressed to her head in the attitude of
supplied them with dry clothes out of the ship's holding back her wild and flowing hair. The face
stores, good food, and medical attendance, which seemed to glare down upon the two men: in another
was much needed, their legs and feet being in  moment the monster, gliding on, just missing the
a deplorable condition, and their own surgeon  brig, was lost in the fog.
crippled.                                           " That was a narrow squeak," said Slocum.
A southeasterly gale induced the American skip-   Wylie made no answer, but looked into the darkper to give Cape Horn a wide berth, and the Maria ness after the vessel.
soon found herself three degrees south of that per-   He had recognized her figure-head.
ilous coast. There she encountered field-ice. In    It was the Shannon!
this labyrinth they dodged and worried for eighteen
days, until a sudden chop in the wind gave the
captain a' chance, of which he promptly availed                  CHAPTER XIV
himself; and in forty hours they sighted Terra del
F'uego.                                             BEFORE the Maria sailed again, with the men
During this time, the rescued crew having recov- who formed a part of Wylie's crew, he made them
ered from the effects of their hardships, fell in to the sign a declaration before the English Consul at
work of the ship, and took their turns with the Buenos Ayres. This document set forth the manYankee seamen. The brig was short-handed; but ner in which the Proserpine foundered; it was artnow trimmed and handled by a full crew and the fully made up of facts enough to deceive a careless
Proserpine's men, who were first-class seamen, and  listener; but, when Wylie read it over to them, he
worked with a will, because work was no longer a slurred over certain parts, which he took care, also,
duty, she exhibited a speed the captain had almost to express in language above the comprehension of
forgotten was in the craft.  Now  speed at sea such men. Of course, they assented eagerly to what
means economy, for every day added to a voyage is they did not understand, and signed the statement
go much off the profits.  Slocum was part owner of conscientiously.
the vessel, and shrewdly alive to the value of the    So Wylie and his three men were shipped on
seamen. When about three hundred miles south of board the Boadicea, bound for Liverpool, in Old
Buenos Ayres, Wylie proposed that they should  England, while the others sailed with Captain Slobe landed there, from whence they might be trans- cum for Nantucket, in New England.
shipped to a vessel bound for home.                 The Boadicea was a clipper laden with hides, and
This was objected to by Slocum, on the ground  a miscellaneous cargo. For seventeen days she flew
that, by such a deviation from his course, he must before a southerly gale, being on her best sailing
lose three days, and the port-dues at Buenos Ayres point, and after one of the shortest passages she had
were heavy.                                       ever made, she lay-to outside the bar, off the MerWylie undertook that the house of Wardlaw and  sey. It wanted but one hour:to daylight, the tide
Son should indemnify the brig for all expenses and  was flowing; the pilot sprang aboard.
losses incurred.                                    "What do you draw?" he asked of the master.
Still the American hesitated; at last he honestly    "Fifteen feet, barely," was the reply.
told Wylie he wished to keep the men; he liked    "That will do," and the vessel's head was laid for
them, they liked him. He had sounded them, and the river.
they had no objection to join his ship, and sign arti-   They passed a large bark, with her top-sails
cles for a three years' whaling voyage, provided  backed.
they did not thereby forfeit the wages to which they    " Ay," remarked the pilot, " she has waited since
would be entitled on reaching Liverpool. Wylie the half-ebb; there ain't more than four hours in the
went forward and asked the men if they would take twenty-four that such craft as that can get in."
service with the Yankee captain. All but three ex-   "What is she?  An American liaer?" asked
pressed their desire to do so; these three had fami- Wylie, peering through the gloom.
lies in England, and refused. The mate gave the    "No," said the pilot; " she's an Australian ship.
others a release, and an order on Wardlaw and Co. She's the Shannon, from Sydney."
for their full wages for the voyage; then they signed    The mate started, looked at the man, then at the




FOUL PLAY.                                           35
vessel. Twice the Shannon had thus met him, as threw a portmanteau on its roof, and his military
if to satisfy him that his object had been attained, acquaintance took possession of it.
and each time she seemed to him not an inanimate   "All right," said the porter. " What address,
thing, but a silent accomplice.  A chill of fear sir?"
struck through the man's frame as he looked at her.   Wylie did not hear what the gentleman said, but
Yes, there she lay, and in her hold were safely the porter shouted it to the cabman, and then he
stowed ~ 160,000 in gold, marked lead and cop- did hear it.
per.                                              "No. -, Russell Square."
Wylie had no luggage nor effects to detain him   It was the house of Arthur Wardlaw!
on board; he landed, and having bestowed his three   Wylie took off his hat, rubbed his frowsy hair,
companions in a sailors' boarding-house, he was and gaped after the cab.
hastening to the shipping agents of Wardlaw and   He entered another cab, and told the driver to
Son to announce his arrival and the fate of the go to " No. -, Fenchurch Street."
Proserpine. He had reached their offices in Water   It was the office of Wardlaw and Son.
Street before he recollected that it was barely half
past five o'clock, and, though broad daylight on that
July morning, merchants' offices are not open at               C PTE  
that hour. The sight of the Shannon had so be-                 CA            V.
wildered him that he had not noticed that the shops   OUR scene now changes from the wild ocean and
were all shut, the streets deserted. Then a thought its perils, to a snug room in Fenchurch Street; the
occurred to him, - why not be a bearer of his own inner office of Wardlaw and Son: a large apartment,
news? He did not require to turn the idea twice'panelled with fine old mellow Spanish oak; and all
over, but resolved, for many reasons, to adopt it. the furniture in keeping; the carpet, a thick AxAs he hurried to the railway-station, he tried to minster of sober colors; the chairs, of oak and morecollect the hour at which the early train started; rocco, very substantial; a large' office-table, with
but his confused and excited mind refused to per- oaken legs like very columns, substantial; two Milform the function of memory. The Shannon dazed ner safes; a globe of unusual size, with a handsome
him.                                            tent over it, made of roan leather, figured; the walls
At the railway-station he found that a train had hung with long oak boxes, about eight inches broad,
started at 4 A. M., and there was nothing until 7.30. containing rolled maps of high quality, and great
This check sobered him a little, and he went back dimensions; to consult which, oaken sceptres tipped
to the docks; he walked out to the farther end of with brass hooks stood ready: with these, the great
that noble line of berths, and sat down on the verge maps could be drawn down and inspected; and, on
with his legs dangling over the water. He waited being released, flew up into their wooden boxes
an hour; it was six o'clock by the great dial at St. again. Besides these were hung up a few drawings,
George's Dock. His eyes were fixed on the Shan- representing outlines, and inner sections, of vessels:
non, which was moving slowly up the river; she and, on a smaller table, lay models, almanacs, etc.
came abreast to where he sat. The few sails requi- The great office-table was covered with writing masite to give her steerage fell.  Her anchor-chain terials and papers, all but a square space enclosed
rattled, and she swung round with the tide. The with a little silver rail, and inside that space lay a
clock struck the half hour; a boat left the side of purple morocco case about ten inches square; it was
the vessel and made straight for the steps near locked, and contained an exquisite portrait of Helen
where he was seated. A tall, noble-looking man Rolleston.
sat in the stern-sheets beside the coxswain; he was   This apartment was so situated, and the frames of
rut ashore, and, after exchanging a few words with the plate glass windows so well made and substanthe boat's crew, he mounted the steps which led tial, that, let a storm blow a thousand ships ashore,
him to Wylie's side, followed by one of the sailors, it could not be felt, nor heard, in Wardlaw's inner
who carried a portmanteau.                      office.
He stood for a single moment on the quay, and    But appearances are deceitful; and who can
stamped his foot on the broad stones; then heaving wall out a sea of troubles, and the tempests of the
a deep sigh of satisfaction, he murmured, " Thank mind?
God! "                                           The inmate of that office was battling for his comHe turned towards Wylie.                      mercial existence, under accumulated difficulties and
"Can you tell me, my man, at what hour the first dangers. Like those who sailed the Proserpine's
train starts for London?"                      long-boat, upon that dirty night, which so nearly
" There is a slow train at 7.30 and an express swamped her, his eye had now to be on every wave,
at 9."                                          and the sheet forever in his hand.
" The express will serve me, and give me time    His measures had been ably taken; but, as will
for breakfast at the Adelphi. Thank you; good happen when clever men are driven into a corner,
morning": and the gentleman passed on, followed he had backed events rather too freely against time;
by the sailor.                                  had allowed too slight a margin for unforeseen deWylie looked after him; he noted that erect lays. For instance,-he had averaged the Shannon's
military -carriage and crisp, gray hair and thick previous performances, and had calculated on her
white mustache; he had a vague idea that he arrival too nicely.  She was a fortnight overdue,
had seen that face before, and the memory troubled and that delay brought peril.
him.                                              He had also counted upon getting news of the
At 7.30 Wylie started for London; the military Proserpine. But not a word had reached Lloyd's
man followed him in the express at 9, and caught as yet.
him up at Rugby; together they arrived at the sta-   At this very crisis came the panic of'66. Overtion at Euston Square; it was a quarter to three. end and Gurney broke; and Wardlaw's experience
Wylie hailed a cab, but before he could struggle led him to fear that, sooner or later, there would be
through the crowd to reach it a railway porter a run on every bank in London. Now he had bore




36                                      FOUL PLAY.
rowed ~80,000 at one bank, and ~35,000 at another: - as if to throw a doubt even on that view of the
and, without his ships, could not possibly pay a quar- matter.
ter of the money. If the banks in question were    " Well, madam," says Wardlaw, " I am sorry to
run upon, and obliged to call in all their resources, say I can give you no information. I share your
his credit must go; and this, in his precarious posi- anxiety, for I have got ~160,000 of gold in the ship.
tion, was ruin.                                  You might inquire at Lloyd's. Direct her there,
He had concealed his whole condition from his Mr. Penfold, and bring me my letters."
father, by false book-keeping. Indeed, he had only    With this he entered his inner office, sat down,
two confidants in the world; poor old Michael Pen- took out a golden key, opened the portrait of Helen,
fold, and Helen Rolleston's portrait; and even to gazed at it, kissed it, uttered a deep sigh, and prethese two he made half confidences. He dared not pared to face the troubles of the day.
tell either of them all he had done, and all he was   Penfold brought in a leathern case, like an enorgoing to do.                                     mous bill-book: it had thirty vertical compartHis redeeming feature was as bright as ever. He ments: and the names of various cities and seastill loved Helen Rolleston with a chaste, constant, ports, with which Wardlaw and Son did business,
and ardent affection that did him honor. He loved were printed in gold letters on some of these conmoney too well: but he loved Helen better. In all partments; on others, the names of persons; and
his troubles and worries, it was his one consolation, on two compartments, the word " Miscellaneous."
to unlock her portrait, and gaze on it, and purify Michael brought this machine in, filled with a corhis soul for a few minutes.  Sometimes he would respondence, enough to break a man's heart to look
apologize to it, for an act of doubtful morality. at.
"How can I risk the loss of you?" was his favorite.   This was one of the consequences of Wardlaw's
excuse. No: he must have credit. He must have position. He durst not let his correspondence be
money. She must not suffer by his past impru- read, and filtered, in the outer office: he opened
dences. They must be repaired, at any cost - for the whole mass; sent some back into the outer
her sake.                                        office: then  touched a hand-bell, and a man
It was ten o'clock in the morning: Mr. Penfold  emerged from  the small apartment adjoining his
was sorting the letters for his employer, when a own. This was Mr. Atkins, his shorthand writer.
buxom young woman rushed into the outer office, He dictated to this man some twenty letters,
crying " O Mr. Penfold! " and sank into a chair, which were taken down in shorthand; the man rebreathless.                                      tired to copy them, and write them out in duplicate
"Dear heart! what is the matter now? " said the from his own notes, and this reduced the number to
old gentleman.                                   seven: these Wardlaw sat down to write, himself,
" I have had a dream, sir: I dreamed I saw Joe and lock up the copies.
Wylie out on the seas, in a boat; and the wind it   While he was writing them, he received a visitor
was a blowing and the sea a roaring to that degree or two, whom he despatched as quickly as his letas Joe looked at me, and says he,' Pray for me, ters.
Nancy Rouse.' " So I says,' 0 dear, Joe, what is   He was writing his last letter, when he heard in
the matter? and whatever is become of the Pros- the outer office a voice he thought he knew. He
erpine?'                                         got up and listened. It was so. Of all the voices
"' Gone to Hell!' says he: which he knows I in the city, this was the one it most dismayed him
object to foul language.' Gone - there -' says to hear, in his office, at the present crisis.
he,' and I am sailing in her wake.  O pray for me,   He listened on, and satisfied himself that a fatal
Nancy Rouse!' With that, I tries to pray in my blow was coming. He then walked quietly to his
dream, and screams instead, and wakes myself. O  table, seated himself, and prepared to receive the
Mr. Penfold, do tell me, have you got any news of stroke with external composure.
the Proserpine this morning?"                      Penfold announced, " Mr. Burtenshaw."
"What is that to you? " inquired Arthur Ward-   "Show him in," said Wardlaw, quietly.
law, who had entered just in time to hear this last   Mr. Burtenshaw, one of the managers of Morquery.                                           land's bank, came in, and Wardlaw motioned him
" What is it to me!" cried Nancy, firing up; " it courteously to a chair, while he finished his letter,
is more to me, perhaps, than it is to you, for that which took only a few moments.
matter."                                            While he was sealing it, he half turned to his
Penfold explained, timidly, " Sir, Mrs. Rouse is visitor, and said, "No bad news?  Morland's is
my landlady."                                    safe, of course."
"Which I have never been to church with any    "Well," said Burtenshaw, " there is a run upon
man yet of the name of Rouse, leastways, not in my  our bank, - a severe one. We could not hope to
waking hours," edged in the lady.                escape the effects of the panic.
"Miss Rouse, I should say," said Penfold, apol-   He then, after an uneasy pause, and with apparogizing. " I beg pardon, but I thought Mrs. might ent reluctance, added, " I am requested by the other
sound better in a landlady. Please, sir, Mr. Wylie, directors to assure you it is their present extremity
the mate of the Proserpine, is her - her - sweet- alone, that —in short, we are really compelled to
heart."                                          beg you to repay the amount advanced to you by
"Not he. Leastways, he is only on trial, after a the bank."
manner."                                            Wardlaw showed no alarm, but great surprise.
"Of course, sir - only after a manner," added  This was clever; for he felt great alarm, and no
Penfold, sadly perplexed. "Miss Rouse is incapa- surprise.
ble of anything else. But, if you please m'm, I   "The ~81,000," said he. "Why, that advance
don't presume to know the exact relation "; - and was upon the freight of the Proserpine. Forty-five
then with great reserve -" but, you know you are thousand ounces of gold. She ought to be here by
anxious about him."                              this time. She is in the Channel at this moment,
Miss Rouse sniffed, and threw her nose in the air, no doubt."




FOUL PLAY.                                            37
"Excuse me; she is overdue, and the under-   Wardlaw senior entered the room.
writers uneasy. I have made inquiries."            "Good morning, Arthur," said he. "I've got
" At any rate, she is fully insured, and you hold good news for you."
the policies.  Besides, the name of Wardlaw  on    Arthur was quite startled by an announcement
your books should stand for bullion."            that accorded so little with his expectations.
Burtenshaw shook his head. "Names are at a    " Good news - for me? " said he, in a faint, indiscount to-day, sir. We can't pay you down on credulous tone.
the counter. Why, our depositors look cross at   "Ay, glorious news! Have n't you been anxious
Bank of England notes."                          about the Shannon? I have; more anxious than I
To an inquiry, half ironical, whether the mana- would own."
gers really expected him to find ~81,"000 cash, at a    Arthur started up. "The Shannon! God bless
few hours' notice, Burtenshaw replied, sorrowfully, you, father."
that they felt for his difficulty whilst deploring their   " She lies at anchor in the Mersey," roared the
own; but that, after all, it was a debt: and, in old man, with all a father's pride at bringing such
short, if he could find no means of paying it, they good news. " Why, the Rollestons will be in Lonmust suspend payment for a time, and issue a state- don at 2.15. See, here is his telegram."
ment - and -                                       At this moment, in ran Penfold, to tell them that
He hesitated to complete his sentence, and Ward- the Shannon was up at Lloyd's, had anchored off
law did it for him.                              Liverpool last night.
"And ascribe your suspension to my inability to    There was hearty shaking of hands, and Arthur
refund this advance? " said he, bitterly.       Wardlaw was the happiest man in London - for a
"I am  afraid that is the construction it will little while.
bear."                                             "Got the telegram  at Elm-trees, this morning,
Wardlaw rose, to intimate he had no more to and came up by the first express," said Wardlaw
say.                                             senior.
Burtenshaw, however, was not disposed to go    The telegram was from  Sir Edward Rolleston.
without some clear understanding.  "May I say we "Reached Liverpool last night; will be at Euston,
shall hear from you, sir?"                      two-fifteen."
" Yes."                                          "Not a word from her!" said Arthur.
And so they wished each other good morning;   "0, there was no time to writ'e; and ladies do
and Wardlaw sank into his chair.                 not use the telegram."  He added, slyly, "Perhaps
In that quiet dialogue, ruin had been inflicted she thought coming in person would do as well, or
and received without any apparent agitation; ay, better, eh!"
and worse than ruin - exposure.                     " But why does he telegraph you instead of me?"
Morland's suspension, on account of money lost   "I am sure I don't know. What does it matter?
by Wardlaw and Son, would at once bring old Ward- Yes, I do know. It was settled months ago that he
law to London, and the affairs of the firm would be and Helen should come to me at Elm-trees, so I was
investigated, and the son's false system of book- the proper person to telegraph. I'll go and meet
keeping be discovered,                           them at the station; there is plenty of time. But, I
He sat stupefied a while, then put on his hat, and say,- Arthur, have you seen the papers? Bartley
rushed to his solicitor; on the way, he fell in with a Brothers obliged to wind up. Maple and CoxJof
great talker, who told him there was a rumor the Liverpool; gone; Atlantic trading.  Terry anid:
Shannon was lost in the Pacific.                 Brown, suspended, International credit gone.  Old
At this he nearly fainted in the street; and his friends, some of these. Hopley and Timms, railfriend took him back to his office in a deplorable way contractors, failed, sir; liabilities, seven huncondition. All this time he had been feigning anx- dred thousand pounds and more."
iety about the Proserpine, and concealing his real   "Yes, sir," said Arthur, pompously: "1866 will
anxiety'about the Shannon. To do him justice, he long be remembered for its revelations of commerlost sight of everything in the world now but Helen. cial morality."
He sent old Penfold in hot haste to Lloyd's, to in-   The old gentleman, on this, asked his son, with
quire for news of the ship; and then he sat down excusable vanity, whether he had done ill in steering
sick at heart; and all he could do now was to open clear of speculation; he then congratulated him on
her portrait, and gaze at it through eyes blinded  having listened to good advice, and stuck to legitiwith tears.. Even a vague rumor, which he hoped mate business. "I must say, Arthur," added he,
might be false, had driven all his commercial ma- " your books are models for any trading firm."
nceuvres out of him, and made all other calamities   Arthur winced in secret, under this praise, for, it
seem small.                                      occurred to him, that in a few days his father would
And so they all are small, compared with the discover those books were all a sham, and the acdeath of the creature we love.                   counts a fabrication.
While he sat thus, in a stupor of fear and grief,   However, the unpleasant topic was soon interrupthe heard a well-known voice in the outer office; ed, and effectually, too; for Michael looked in, with
and, next after Burtenshaw's, it was the one that an air of satisfaction on his benevolent countenance,
caused him  the most apprehension.  It was his and said, "Gentlemen, such an arrival! Here is
father's.                                        Miss Rouse's sweetheart, that she dreamed was
Wardlaw  senior rarely visited the office now; drowned."
and this was not his hour.  So Arthur knew some-   "What is the man to me? " said Arthur, peevishthing extraordinary had brought him up to town. ly. He did not recognize Wylie under that title.
And he could not doubt that it was the panic, and    "La, Mr. Arthur!  why he is the mate of the
that he had been to Morland's, or would go there Proserpine," said Penfold.
in course of the day; but, indeed, it was more prob-   "What! Wylie! Joseph Wylie?" cried Arable that he had already heard something, and was thur, in  a sudden excitement, that contrasted
come to investigate.                             strangely with his previous indifference.




38                                      FOUL PLAY.
"What is that? " cried Wardlaw senior; "the';No doubt; no doubt. I'll give you my signaProserpine; show him in at once."                ture; and you can fill in the amount."
Now this caused Arthur Wardlaw considerable    He drew a check in favor of Arthur Wardlaw,
anxiety; for obvious reasons he did not want his signed it, and left him to fill in the figures.
father and this sailor to exchange a word togeth-   He then looked at his watch, and remarked they
er. However, that was inevitable now: the door would barely have time to get to the station.
opened, and the bronzed face and sturdy figure of   " Good Heavens! " cried Arthur; "and I can't
Wylie, clad in a rough pea-jacket, came slouching go. I must learn the particulars of the loss of the
in.                                              Proserpine, and prepare the statement at once for
Arthur went hastily to meet him, and gave him  the underwriters."
an expressive look of warning, even while he wel-   "Well, never mind. I can go."
coined him in cordial accents.                     "But what will she think of me? I ought to be
" Glad to see you safe home," said Wardlaw se- the first to welcome her."
nior.                                              " I'11 make your excuses."
"Thank  ye, guv'nor," said Wylie. "Had a    "No, no; say nothing: after all, it was you who
squeak for it, this time."                       received the telegram: so you naturally meet her
" Where is your ship?"                        but you will bring her here, father: you won't
Wylie shook his head sorrowfully. "Bottom of whisk my darling down to Elm-trees, till you have
the Pacific."                                    blest me with the sight of her."
"Good heavens! What; is she lost?"             "I will not be so cruel, fond lover," said old Ward"That she is, sir: foundered at sea, 1,200 miles law, laughing, and took up his hat and gloves to go.
from the Horn, and more."                          Arthur went to the door with him, in great anxie"And the freight? the gold?" put in Arthur, ty, lest he should question Burtenshaw: but, peerwith well-feigned anxiety.                       ing into the outer office, he observed Burtenshaw
"Not an ounce saved," said Wylie, disconso- was not there. Michael had caught his employer's
lately.  "A hundred and sixty thousand pounds anxious look, and conveyed the Banker into the
gone to the bottom."                             small room, where the shorthand writer was at
"Good heavens."                                work. But Burtenshaw was one of a struggling
" Ye see, sir," said Wylie, "the ship encountered  firm; to him every minute was an hour: he had sat,
one gale after another, and labored a good deal, first fuming with impatience, so long as he heard talking
and last; and we all say her seams must have in the inner office; and, the moment it ceased, he
opened; for we never could find the leak that sunk  took the liberty of coming in: so that he opened
her," and he cast a meaning glance at Arthur the side door, just as Wardlaw senior was passing
Wardlaw.                                         through the centre door.
" No matter how it happened," said the old mer-   Instantly Wardlaw junior whipped before him,
chant: " are we' insured to the full; that is the first to hide his figure from his retreating father.
question? "                                        Wylie - who all this time had been sitting silent,
"To the last shilling."                        looking from one to the other, and quietly puzzling
"Well done, Arthur."                           out the game, as well as he could - observed this
"But still it is most unlucky.  Some weeks must movement, and grinned.
elapse before the insurances can be realized, and a    As for Arthur Wardlaw, he saw his father safe
portion of the gold was paid for in bills at short out, then gave a sigh of relief, and walked to his
date."                                           office table, and sat down, and began to fill in the
" The rest in cash?"                          check.
"Cash and merchandise."                          Burtenshaw  drew  near, and said, " I am  in"Then there is the proper margin. Draw on my structed to say that fifty thousand pounds on acyrivate account, at the Bank of England."        count will be accepted."
These few simple words showed the struggling    Perhaps if this proposal had been made a few
young merchant a way out of all his difficul- seconds sooner, the ingenious Arthur would have
ties.                                            availed himself of it: but, as it was, he preferred to
His heart leaped so, he dared not reply, lest he take the high and mighty tone. "I decline any
should excite the old gentleman's suspicions.    concession," said he. "Mr. Penfold, take this check
But, ere he could well draw his breath, for joy, to the Bank of England. ~ 81,647 10s. that is the
came a freezer.                                  amount, capital and interest, up to noon this day:
"Mr. Burtenshaw, sir."                         hand the sum to Mr. Burtenshaw, taking his receipt,
" Bid him wait," said Arthur aloud, and cast a or, if he prefers it, pay it across his counter, to my
look of great anxiety on Penfold, which the poor old credit. That will perhaps arrest the run."
man, with all his simplicity, comprehended well   Burtenshaw stammered out his thanks.
enough.                                            Wardlaw cut him short. "Good morning, sir,"
"Burtenshaw, from Morland's.  What does he said he. "I have business of importance.  Good
want of us? " said Wardlaw senior, knitting his day," and bowed him out.
brows.                                             "This is a Highflyer," thought Burtenshaw.
Arthur turned cold all over. " Perhaps to ask    Wardlaw then opened the side door, and called
me not to draw out my balance. It is less than usu- his shorthand writer.
al: but they are run upon; and, as you are good    "Mr. Atkins, please step into the outer office,
enough to let me draw on you,- by the by, per- and don't let a soul come in to me. Mind, I am out
haps you will sign a check before you go to the for the day. Except to Miss Rolleston and her
station."                                        father."
" How much do you want? "                        He then closed all the doors, and sunk exhausted
"I really don't know, till I have consulted Pen- into a chair, muttering, "Thank Heaven! I have
fold: the gold was a large and advantageous pur- got rid of them  all for an hour or two. Now,
chase, sir."                                     Wylie."




FOUL PLAY.                                            39
Wylie seemed in no hurry to enter upon the re-   "How do you make that out?"
quired subject.                                     "Why, White's clerk and the parson, they was
Said he, evasively, "Why, guv'nor, it seems one man."
to me you are among the breakers here, your-   Wardlaw stared in utter'amazement.
self."                                              " Don't ye believe me? " said Wylie. "I tell ye
"Nothing of the sort, if you have managed your that there clerk boarded us under an alias. He
work cleverly. Come, tell me all, before we are had shaved off his beard; but, bless your heart, I
interrupted again."                              knew him directly."
"Tell ye all about it! Why there's part on't,   "He came to verify his suspicions," suggested
I am  afraid to think on; let alone talk about Wardlaw, in a faint voice.
it."                                                "Not he. He came for love of the sick girl, and
"Spare me your scruples, and give me your nothing else; and you'll never see either him or
facts," said Wardlaw, coldly. " First of all, did her, if that is any comfort to you."
you succeed in shifting the bullion as agreed?"     "Be good enough to conceal nothing.  Facts
The sailor appeared relieved by this question.  must be faced."
" 0, that is all right," said he. " I got the bullion    " That is too true, sir. Well, we abandoned her,
safe aboard the Shannon, marked for lead."       and took to the boats. I commanded one."
"And the lead on board the Proserpine?"         " And Hudson the other?"
"Ay, shipped as bullion."                        "Hudson! No."
"Without suspicion?                             "Why, how was that? and what has become of
"Not quite."                                   him?"
"Great Heaven! Who?"                             "What has become of Hudson?" said Wylie,
"One clerk at the shipping agent's scented some- with a start. "There's a question! And not a
thing queer, I think. James Seaton. That was the drop to wet my lips, and warm my heart. Is this a
name he went by."                                tale to tell, dry?  Can't ye spare a drop of brandy
"Could he prove anything?"                     to a poor devil that has earned ye ~150,000, and
"Nothing. He knew nothing for certain; and risked his life, and wrecked his soul, to do it?"
what he guessed won't never be known in England    Wardlaw cast a glance of contempt on him, but
now."  And Wylie fidgeted in his chair.          got up, and speedily put a bottle of old brandy, a
Notwithstanding this assurance Wardlaw looked  tumbler, and a caraffe of water, on the table before
grave, and took a note of that clerk's name. Then him.
he begged Wylie to go on. " Give me all the    Wylie drank a wine-glassful neat, and gave a
details," said he. "Leave me to judge their relative sort of sigh of satisfaction. And then ensued a
value. You scuttled the ship?"                  dialogue, in which, curiously enough, the brave man
"Don't say that! don't say that!" cried Wylie, was agitated, and the timid man was cool and colin a low but eager voice. " Stone walls have ears." lected. But one reason was, the latter had not
Then rather more loudly than was necessary," Ship imagination enough to realize things unseen, though
sprung a leak, that neither the captain, nor I, nor he had caused them.
anybody could find, to stop. Me and my men, we    Wylie told him how Hudson got to the bottle,
all think her seams opened, with stress of weather." and would not leave the ship. "I think I see him
Then, lowering his voice again, "Try and see it as now, with his cutlass in one hand, and his rum
we do; and don't you ever use such a word as that bottle in the other, and the waves running over his
what come out of your lips just now. We pumped  poor, silly face, as she went down. Poor Hiram!
her hard; but't warn't no use. She filled, and we he and I had made many a trip together, before we
had to take to the boats."                       took to this."
"Stop a moment. Was there any suspicion ex-   And Wylie shuddered, and took another gulp at
cited?"                                         the brandy.
"Not among the crew: and, suppose there was,   While he was drinking to drown the picture,
I could talk'em all over, or buy'em all over, what Wardlaw was calmly reflecting on the bare fact.
few of'em is left. I've got'em all with me in one "Hum," saidhe, " we must use that circumstance.
house: and they are all square, don't you fear."  I'll get it into the journals. Heroic captain. Went
"Well, but you said'among the crew!' Whom  down with the ship. Who can suspect Hudson in
else can we have to fear?"                       the teeth of such a fact?  Now, pray go on, my
"Why, nobody. To be sure, one of the pas- good Wylie. The boats!"
sengers was down on me; but what does that mat-   " Well, sir, I had the surgeon, and ten men, and
ter now? "                                      the lady's maid, on board the long-boat; and there
" It matters greatly, -it matters terribly. Who was the parson, the sick lady, and five sailors aboard
was this passenger?"                            the cutter. We sailed together, till night, steering
"He called himself the Reverend John Hazel. for Juan Fernandez, then a fog came on and we
He suspected something or other; and what with lost sight of the cutter, and I altered my mind and
listening here, and watching there, he judged the. judged it best to beat to win'ard, and get into the
ship was never to see England, and I always fancied track of ships. Which we did, and were nearly
he told the lady."                               swamped in a sou'wester; but, by good luck, a
"What, was there a lady there?"               Yankee whaler picked us up, and took us to Buenos
" Ay, worse luck, sir; and a pretty girl she was: Ayres, where we shipped for E-land, what was
coming home to England to die of consumption; so left of us, only four, besides mysef; but I got the
our surgeon told me."                            signatures of the others to my tale of the wreck. It
" Well, never mind her. The. clergyman! This is all as square as a die, I tell you."
fills me with anxiety.  A clerk suspecting us at   "Well done. Well done. But, stop! the other
Sydney, and a passenger suspecting us in the vessel, boat, with that sham parson on board, who knows
There are two witnesses against us already."     all. She will be picked up, too, perhaps."
"No; only one."                                  "There is no chance of that.  She was out of tie




40                                      FOUL PLAY.
tracks of trade; and, I'11 tell ye the truth, sir." me. How is my child, Mr. Wardlaw?  Pray tell
He poured out half a tumbler of brandy, and drank  me the truth."
a part of it; and, now, for the first time, his hand    Both the Wardlaws looked at one another, and
trembled as he lifted the glass - " Some fool had at General Rolleston, and the elder Wardlaw said
put the main of her provisions aboard the long-boat; there was certainly some misunderstanding here.
that is what sticks to me, and won't let me sleep. " We fully believed that your daughter was coming
We took a chance, but we did n't give one. I think  home with you in the Shannon."
I told you there was a woman aboard the cutter,   "Come home with me?  Why, of course not.
that sick girl, sir. 0, but it was hard lines for her, She sailed three weeks before me. Good Heavens!
poor thing!  I see her face, pale and calm; O  Has she not arrived?"
Lord, so pale and calm; every night of my life; she    "No," replied old Wardlaw  "we have neither
kneeled aboard the cutter with her white hands a seen nor heard of her."
clasped together, praying."                         "Why, what ship did she sail in? " said Arthur.
" Certainly, it is all very shocking," said Ward-   "In the Proserpine."
law; "but, tlen, you know, if they had escaped,
they would have exposed us. Believe me, it is all
for the best."
CHAPTER XVII,
Wylie looked at him with wonder. " Ay," said
he, after staring at him in wonder; "you can sit   ARTHUR WARDLAW fixed on the speaker a gaze
here at your ease, and doom a ship and risk her fun of horror; his jaw  fell; a livid pallor spread
people's lives: but, if you had to do it, and see it, over his features; he echoed in a hoarse whisper,
and then lie awake thinking of it, you'd wish all " the Proserpine!" and turned his scared eyes upon
the gold on earth had been in hell, before you put Wylie, who was himself leaning against the wall,
your hand to such a piece of work."              his stalwart frame beginning to tremble.
Wardlaw smiled a ghastly smile. "In short,"    " The sick girl," murmured Wylie, and a cold
said he, "you don't mean to take the three thou- sweat gathered on his brow.
sand pounds I pay you for this little job."         General Rolleston looked from  one to another
"   yes, I do; but, for all the gold in Victoria, with strange misgivings, which soon deepened into
I would n't do such a job again. And, you mark  a sense of some terrible calamity; for now a strong
my words, sir, we shall get the money, and nobody  convulsion swelled Arthur Wardlaw's heart; his
will ever be the wiser." Wardlaw rubbed his hands face worked fearfully; and with a sharp and sudden
complacently: his egotism, coupled with his want cry, he fell forward on the table, and his father's
of imagination, nearly blinded him to everything but arm alone prevented him from sinking like a dead
the pecuniary feature of the business. " But," con- man on the floor. Yet though crushed and helptinued Wylie, "we shall never thrive on it. We less, he was not insensible; that blessing was denied
have sunk a good ship, and we have as good as mur- him.
dered a poor dying girl."                           General Rolleston implored an explanation.
" Hold your tongue, ye fool! " cried Wardlaw,   Wylie, with downcast and averted face, began to
losing his sang froid in a moment, for he heard some- stammer a few  disconnected  and unintelligible
body at the door.                                words; but old Wardlaw silenced him  and said,
It opened, and there stood a military figure in a with much feeling, " Let none but a father tell him.
travelling cap, - General Rolleston.             My poor, poor friend, -  The Proserpine!  How
can I say it?"
"Lost at sea," groaned Wylie.
CHTAPTPER XVTI.            At these fatal words the old warrior's countenance
CHAPTER XVI.
grew rigid; his large, bony hands gripped the back
As some eggs have actually two yolks, so Arthur of the chair on which he leaned, and were white
Wardlaw had two hearts; and at sight of Helen's with their own convulsive force; and he bowed his
father, the baser one ceased to beat for a while.  head under the blow, without one word.
He ran to General Rolleston, shook him warmly    His was an agony too great and mute to be spoby the hand, and welcomed him to England with ken to; and there was silence in the room, broken
sparkling eyes.                                  only by the hysterical moans of the miserable plotIt is pleasant to be so welcomed, and the stately  ter, who had drawn down this calamity on his own
soldier returned his grasp in kind.              head. He was in no state to be left alone; and
Is Helen with you, sir? " said Wardlaw, making even. the bereaved father found pity in his desolate
a movement to go to the door: for he thought she heart for one who loved his lost child so well; and
must be outside in the cab.                      the two old men took him home between them, in a
" No, she is not," said General Rolleston.     helpless and pitiable condition.
" There, now," said Arthur, "that cruel father of
mine has broken his promise, and carried her off to
Elm-trees!"
At this moment Wardlaw senior returned, to tell               CHAPTER XVIII.
Arthur he had been just too late to meet the Rolles-   BUT this utter prostration of his confederate betons. "0, here he is!" said he; and there were gan to alarm  Wylie, and rouse him to exertion.
fresh greetings.                                 Certainly, he was very sorry for what he had done,
"Well, but," slid Arthur, " where is Helen!"    and would have undone it and forfeited his ~ 3,000
"I think it is I who ought to ask that question," in a moment, if he could. But, as he could not
said Rolleston, gravely.  "I telegraphed you at undo the crime, he was all the more determined to
Elm-trees, thinking of course she would come with reap the reward. Why, that ~ 3,000, for aught he
you to meet mre at the station. It does not much knew, was the price of his soul; and he was not the
matter, a few hours; but her not coming makes me man to let his s6ol go gratis.
uneasy, for her health was declining when she left   He finished the rest of the brandy, and went after




FOUL PLAY.                                            41
his men, to keep them true to him by promises; but of lead and smelted copper on board the Shanthe next day he came to the office in Fenchurch  non."
Street, and asked anxiously for Wardlaw. Ward-   "Well?"
law had not arrived. He waited, but the merchant   "Ye see, sir," said Wylie, "Mr. YVardlaw was
never came; and Michael told him, with consider- particular about them, and I feel responsible like,
able anxiety, that this was the first time his young  having shipped them aboard another vessel."
master had missed coming this five years.           " Have you not the captain's receipt? "
In course of the day, several underwriters came    "That I have, sir, at home. But you could hardin, with long faces, to verify the report which had  ly read it for salt water."
now reached Lloyd's, that the Proserpine had foun-   "Well," said Wardlaw senior, " I will direct our
dered at sea.                                    agent at Liverpool to look after them, and send
"It is too true," said Michael; "and poor Mr. them up at once to my cellars in Fenchurch Street.
Wylie here has barely escaped with his life. He  Forty chests of lead and copper, I think you said."
was mate of the ship, gentlemen."                 And he took a note of this directly. Wylie was
Upon this, each visitor questioned Wylie, and  not a little discomfited at this unexpected turn
Wylie returned the same smooth answer to all in- things had taken; but he held his tongue now, for
quiries: one heavy gale after another had so tried  fear of making bad worse. Wardlaw senior went
the ship that her seams had opened, and let in more on to say that he should have to conduct the busiwater than all the exertions of the crew and passen- ness of the firm for a time, in spite of his old age
gers could discharge; at last, they had taken to the  and failing health.
boats; the long-boat had been picked up: the cut-   This announcement made Wylie perspire with
ter had never been heard of since.               anxiety, and his three thousand pounds seemed to
They nearly all asked after the ship's log.    melt away from him.
" I have got it safe at home," said he. It was in    "But never mind," said old Wardlaw; "I am
his pocket all the time.                         very glad you came. In fact, you are the very man
Some asked him where the other survivors were. I wanted to see. My poor afflicted friend has asked
He told them five had shipped on board the Maria, afteryou severaltimes. Begoodenough tofollowme."
and three were with him at Poplar, one disabled by    He led the way into the dining-room, and there
the hardships they had all endured.              sat the sad father in all the quiet dignity of calm,
One or two complained angrily of Mr. Wardlaw's unfathomable sorrow.
absence at such a time.                             Another gentleman stood upon the rug with his
"Well, good gentlemen," said Wylie, "I'11 tell back to the fire, waiting for Mr. Wardlaw; this was
ye.  Mr. Wardlaw's sweetheart was aboard the the family physician, who had just come down from
ship. He is a'most broken-hearted.  He vallied  Ar-thur's bedroom, and had entered by'another
her more than all the gold, that you may take your door through the drawing-room.
oath on."                                           " Well, doctor," said Wardlaw, anxiously, " what
This stroke, coming from a rough fellow in a pea- is your report?"
jacket, who looked as simple as he was cunning,   "Not so good as I could wish; but nothing to exsilenced remonstrance, and went far to disarm sus- cite immediate alarm. Overtaxed brain, sir; weakpicion; and so pleased Michael Penfold, that he ened and unable to support this calamity. Howsaid, "Mr. Wylie, you are interested in this busi- ever, we have reduced the fever; the symptoms of
ness, would you mind going to Mr. Wardlaw's delirium have been checked, and I think we shall
house, and asking what we are to do next? I'11 escape brain fever if he is kept quiet. I could not
give you his address, and a line, begging him to have said as much this morning."
make an effort and see you. Business is the heart's   The doctor then took his leave, with a promise to
best ointment. Eh, dear Mr. Wylie, I have known  call next morning; and as soon as he was gone,
grief too; and I think I should have gone mad when  Wardlaw turned to General Rolleston, and said,
they sent my poor son away, but for business, espe- "Here is Wylie, sir. Come forward, my man, and
cially the summing-up of long columns, &c."      speak to the General. He wants to know if you
Wylie called at the house in Russell Square, and can point out to him on the chart the very spot
asked to see Mr. Wardlaw.                        where the Proserpine was lost?"
The servant shook his head.  "You can't see    "Well, sir," said Wylie, " I think I could."
him; he is very ill."                               The great chart of the Pacific was then spread
"Very ill," said Wylie. "I'm  sorry for that. out upon the table, and rarely has a chart been exWell, but I sha'n't make him any worse; and Mr. amined as this was, with the bleeding heart as well
Penfold says 1 must see him. It is very particular, as the straining eye.
I tell you.  He won't thank you for refusing me,   The rough sailor became an oracle; the others
when he comes to hear of it."                    hung upon his words, and followed his brown finger
He said this very seriously; and the servant, on the chart with fearful interest.
after a short hesitation, begged him to sit down in    "Ye see, sir," said he, addressing the old merthe passage a moment. He then went into the din- chant, for there was something on his mind that
ing-room, and shortly reappeared, holding the door made him avoid speaking directly to General Rolopen. Out came, not Wardlaw junior, but Ward- leston, " When we came out of Sydney, the wind
law senior.                                     -being south and by west, Hudson took the north"My son is in no condition to receive you," said erly course, instead of running through Cook's
he, gravely; "but I am at your service. What is Straits. The weather freshened from  the same
your business?"                                 quarter, so that, with one thing and another, by
Wylie was taken off his guard, and stammered  when we were a month out, she was five hundred
out something about the Shannon.                 miles or so nor'ard of her true course. But that
"The Shannon!  What have you to do with  wasn't all; when the leak gained on us, Hudson
her?  You belonged to the Proserpine."           ran the ship three hundred miles by my reckoning
"Ay, sir; but I had his orders to ship forty chests to the nor'east; and, I remember, the day before




42                                     FOUL PLAY.
she foundered, he told me she was in latitude forty, to him. At last he stopped short, and stood' erect,
and Easter Island bearing due north."           as veterans halt, and pointed down at the chart.
"Here is the spot, then," said General Rolleston,   "I'll start at once for that spot," said he. "I'11
and placed his finger on the spot.              go in the next ship bound to Valparaiso, there I'll
"Ay, sir," said Wylie, addressing the merchant; charter a small vessel, and ransack those waters for
"but she ran about eighty-five miles after that, on some trace of my poor lost girl."
a northerly course — no -- wnd on her starboard    " Can you think of no better way than that? "
quarter, - and being deep irt the water, she'd make said old Wardlaw, gently, and with a slight tone of
lee way,- say eighty-two miles, nor'east by east."  reproach.
The General took eighty-two miles off the scale,   "No,- not at this moment. 0 yes, by the by,
with a pair of dividers, and set out that distance on the Greyhound and Dreadnought are going out to
the chart. He held the instrument fixed on the survey the islands of the Pacific. I have interest
point thus obtained,                            enough to get a berth in the Greyhound."
Wylie eyed the point, and after a moment's con-   "What! go in a Government ship! under the
sideration, nodded his head.                    orders of a man, under the orders of another man,
" There, or thereabouts," he said, in a low voice, under the orders of a Board. Why, if you heard our
and looking at the merchant.                    poor girl was alive upon a rock, the Dreadnought
A pause ensued, and the two old men examined would be sure to run up a bunch of red-tape to the
the speck pricked on the map, as if it were the wa- fore that moment to recall the Greyhound, and the
ters covering the Proserpine.                   Greyhound would go back. No," said he, rising sud"Now, sir," said Rolleston, "trace the course of denly, and confronting the General, and with the
the boats"; and he handed Wylie a pencil.       color mounting for once in his sallow face, " You
The sailor slowly averted his head, but stretched sail in no bottom but one freighted by Wardlaw and
out his hand and took it, and traced two lines, the Son, and the captain shall be under no orders but
one short and straight, running nearly northeast. yours. We have bought the steam sloop Spring" That's the way the cutter headed when we lost bok, seven hundred tons. I'11 victual her for a year,
her in the night."                              man her well, and you shall go out in her in less
The other line ran parallel to the first for half an than a? week. I give you my hand on that."
inch, then turning, bent backwards, and ran due   They grasped hands.
south.                                            But this sudden warmth and tenderness coming
"This was our course," said Wylie.           from a man habitually cold, overpowered the stout
General Rolleston looked up, and said, "Why  General. " What, sir," he faltered; " your own son
did you desert the cutter?"                    lies in danger, yet your heart goes so with me -
The mate looked at old Wardlaw, and, after such goodness- it is too much for me."
some hesitatidn, replied, "After we lost sight of   " No, no," faltered the merchant, affected in his
her, the men with me declared that we could not turn; " it is nothing. Your poor girl was coming
reach either Juan Fernandez or Valparaiso with home in that cursed ship to marry my son. Yes,
our stock of provisions, and insisted on standing he lies ill for love of her; God help him and me
for the sea-track of Australian liners between the too; but you most of all. Don't, General; don't!
Horn and Sydney."                               We have got work to do; we must be brave, sir;
This explanation was received in dead silence. brave I say, and compose ourselves. Ah, my friend,
Wylie fidgeted, and his eye wandered round the you and I are of one age; and this is a heavy blow
room.                                           for us: and we are friends no more; it has made us
General Rolleston applied his compasses to the brothers: she was to be my child as well as yours;
chart. "I find that the Proserpine was not one well now she is my child, and our hearts they bleed
thousand miles from Easter Island. Why did you together."  At this, the truth must be told, the two
not make for that land?"                       stout old men embraced one another like two wom"We had no charts, sir," said Wylie to the mer- en, and cried together a little.
chant, " and I'm no navigator."
"I see no land laid down hereaway, northeast of   But that was soon over with such men as these.
the spot where the ship went down."             They sat together and plunged into the details of."No," replied Wylie, "that's what the men the expedition, and they talked themselves into
said when they made me'bout ship."             hope.
"' Then why did you lead the way northeast at   In a week the Springbok steamed down the
all? "                                         Channel on an errand inspired by love not reason;
"I'm no navigator," answered the man, sullenly. to cross one mighty ocean, and grope for a lost
He then suddenly stammered, out, "Ask my daughter in another.
men what we went through.  Why, sir (to Wardlaw), I can hardly believe that I am alive, and sit
here talking to you about this cursed business. And            CHAPTER  XIX.
nobody offers me a drop of anything."             WE return to the cutter, and her living freight.
Wardlaw poured him out a tumbler of wine.   After an anxious, but brief consultation, it was
His brown hand trembled a little, and he gulped agreed that their best chance was to traverse as
the wine down like water.                       many miles of water as possible, while the wind was
General Rolleston gave Mr. Wardlaw a look, and fair; by this means they would increase their small
Wylie was dismissed. He slouched down the street chance of being picked up, and also of falling in
all in a cold perspiration; but still clinging to his with land, and would, at all events, sail into a lovethree thousand pounds, though small was now his ly climate, where intense cold was unknown, and
hope of ever seeing it.                         gales of wind uncommon.
When he was gone General Rolleston paced that   Mr. Hazel advised them to choose a skipper, and
large and gloomy room in silence. Wardlaw eyed give him absolute power, especially over the prohim with the greatest interest, but avoided speaking visions.  They assented to this. He then recom



FOUL PLAY.                                            43
mended Cooper for that post. But they had not fath-   At 4 P. M. several flying-fish, driven into the air
omed the sterling virtues of that taciturn seaman; by the dolphins and cat-fish, fell into the sea again
so they offered the command to Welch, instead.   near the boat, and one struck the sail sharply, and
" Me put myself over Sam Cooper! " said he; fell into the boat. It was divided, and devoured
"not likely."                                    raw, in a moment.
Then their choice fell upon Michael Morgan.   The next morning the wind fell, and, by noon,
The other sailors' names were Prince, Fenner, and  the ocean became like glass.
Mackintosh.                                         The horrors of a storm have been often painted;
Mr. Hazel urged Morgan to put the crew and pas- but who has described, or can describe, the horrors
sengers on short allowance at once, viz. two bis- of a calm, to a boat-load of hungry, thirsty creacuits a day, and four table-spoonsful of water: but tures, whose only chances of salvation or relief are
Morgan was a common sailor; he could not see wind and rain?
clearly very far ahead; and, moreover, his own ap-   The beautiful, remorseless sky was one vault of
petite counteracted this advice; he dealt out a purple, with a great flaming jewel in the centre,
pound of biscuit and an ounce of ham to each per- whose vertical rays struck, and  parched, and
son, night and morning, and a pint of water in scorched the living sufferers; and blistered and
course of the day.                               baked the boat itself, so that it hurt their hot hands
Mr. Hazel declined his share of the ham, and to touch it: the beautiful, remorseless ocean was
begged Miss Rolleston so earnestly, not to touch it, one sheet of glass, that glared in their blood-shot
that she yielded a silent compliance,            eyes, and reflected the intolerable heat of heaven
On the fourth day the sailors were all in good upon these poor wretches, who were gnawed to
spirits, though the provisions were now very low. death with hunger; and their raging thirst was
They even sang, and spun yarns. This was partly  fiercer still.
owing to the beauty of the weather.                 Towards afternoon of the eighth day, MackinOn the fifth day Morgan announced that he tosh dipped a vessel in the sea, with the manifest
could only serve out one biscuit per day: and this intention of drinking the salt water.
sudden  decline caused some  dissatisfaction and    "Stop him!" cried Hazel, in great agitation;
alarm.                                           and the others seized him, and overpowered him:
Next day, the water ran so low, that only a tea- he cursed them with such horrible curses, that Miss
spoonful was served out night and morning.       Rolleston put her fingers in her ears, and shuddered
There were murmurs and forebodings.            from head to foot. Even this was new to her, to
In all heavy trials and extremities some man or hear foul language.
other reveals great qualities, that were latent in    A calm voice rose in the midst, and said: "Let
him, ay, hidden from himself. And this general ob- us pray."
servation was verified on the present occasion, as it   There was a dead silence, and Mr. Hazel kneeled
had been in the Indian mutiny, and many other down and prayed loud and fervently; and, while
crises. Hazel came out.                           he prayed, the furious cries subsided for a while,
He encouraged the men, out of his multifarious and deep groans only were heard. He prayed for
stores of learning. He related at length stories of food, for rain; for wind, for Patience.
wrecks and sufferings at sea; which, though they    The men were not so far gone but they could
had long been in print, were most of them new to just manage to say " Amen."
these poor fellows. He told them, among the rest,   He rose from his knees, and gathered the pale
what the men of the Bona Dea, waterlogged at sea, faces of the men together in one glance; and saw
had suffered, - twelve days without any food but a that intense expression of agony which physical
rat and a kitten, - yet had all survived. He gave pain can mould with men's features: and then he
them  some details of the Wager, the Grosvenor, strained his eyes over the brassy horizon; but no
the Corbin, the Medusa; but, above all, a most cloud, no veil of vapor was visible.
minute account of the Bounty, and Bligh's wonder-     " Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink."
ful voyage in an open boat, short of provisions.   " We must be mad," he cried," to die of thirst,
He moralized on this, and showed his fellow-suf- with all this water round us."
ferers it was discipline and self-denial from the first,   His invention being stimulated by this idea, and
that had enabled those hungry spectres to survive, his own dire need, he eagerly scanned everything
and to traverse two thousand eight hundred miles in the boat, and his eyes soon lighted on two objects
of water, in those very seas; and that in spite of disconnected in themselves, but it struck him he
hunger, thirst, disease, and rough weather.      could use them in combination. These were a comBy these means he diverted their minds in some mon glass bottle, and Miss Rolleston's life-preservdegree from their own calamity, and taught them  ing jacket, that served her for a couch. He drew
the lesson they most needed.                     this garment over his knees, and considered it atThe poor fellows listened with more interest than  tentively; then untwisted the brass nozzle through
you could have thought possible under the pressure which the jacket was inflated, and so left a tube,
of bodily distress.  And Helen Rolleston's hazel some nine inches in length, hanging down from the
eye dwelled on the narrator with unceasing wonder. neck of the garment.
Yes, learning and fortitude, strengthened by those    He now applied his breath to the tube, and the
great examples learning furnishes, maintained a  jacket swelling rapidly proved that the whole resuperiority, even in the middle of the Pacific; and ceptacle was air-tight.
not the rough sailors only, but the lady, who had    He then allowed the air to escape. Next, he
rejected and scorned his love, hung upon the brave took the bottle and filled it with water from the
student's words: she was compelled to look up, with sea; then he inserted, with some difficulty, and
wonder, to the man she had hated and despised in great care, the neck of the bottle into the orifice of
her hours of ease.                               the tube: this done, he detached the wire of the
On the sixth day the provisions failed entirely. brass nozzle, and whipped the tube firmly round the
Not a crust of bread: not a drop of water.       neck of the bottle.




44.FOUL PLAY.
"Now, light a fire," he cried; "no matter what it This relieved the hell of thirst in some degree: but
costs."                                          the sailors could not be persuaded to practise it.
The fore thwart was chopped up, and a fire soon   In the afternoon Hazel took Miss Rolleston's
spluttered and sparkled, for ten eager hands were Bible from her wasted hands, and read aloud the
feeding it: the bottle was then suspended over it, forty-second Psalm.
and, in due course, the salt-water boiled and threw    When he had done, one of the sailors asked him
off vapor, and the belly of the jacket began to to pass the Bible forward.  He did so; and in
heave and stir. Hazel then threw cold water upon half an hour the leaves were returned him; the
the outside, to keep it cool, and, while the men ea- vellum binding had been cut off, divided and eaten.
gerly watched the bubbling bottle and swelling bag,   He looked piteously at the leaves, and after a
his spirits rose, and he took occasion to explain that while, fell upon his knees, and prayed silently.
what was now going on under their eyes was, after   He rose, and, with  Miss Rolleston's consent,
all, only one of the great processes of Nature, done offered the men the leaves as well. "It is the
upon a small scale. " The clouds," said he, " are Bread of Life for men's souls, not their bodies,"
but vapors drawn from the sea, by the heat of the said he. "But God is merciful; I think he will
sun: these clouds are composed of fresh water, and  forgive you; for your need is bitter."
so the steam we are now raising from salt-water will   Cooper replied that the binding was man's, but
be fresh. We can't make whiskey, or brew beer, the pages were God's; and, either for this or anlads; but, thank Heaven, we can brew water; and  other more obvious reason, the leaves were declined
it is worth all other liquors ten times told."   for food.
A wild " Hurrah  " greeted these words.          All that afternoon Hazel was making a sort of
But every novel experiment seems doomed to rough spoon out of a fragment of wood.
fail, or meet with some disaster. The water in the    The night that followed was darker than usual,
bottle had-been reduced too low, by vaporism, and and, about midnight, a hand was laid on Helen
the bottle burst suddenly, with a loud report. That Rolleston's shoulder, and a voice whispered, "Hush!
report was followed by a piteous wail.           say nothing. I have got something for you."
Hazel turned pale at this fatal blow: but, recov-   At the same time, something sweet and deliciousering himself, he said, "That is unfortunate; but it ly fragrant, was put to her lips; she opened her
was a good servant while it lasted: give me the mouth, and received a  spoonful of marmalade.
baler; and, Miss Rolleston, can you lend me a Never did marmaladetaste like that before. It disthimble?"                                       solved itself like Ambrosia over her palate, and even
The tube of the life preserver was held over the relieved her parched throat in some slight degree
baler, and out trickled a small quantity of pure by the saliva it excited.
water, two thimblesful apiece.  Even that, as it   Nature could not be resisted; her body took
passed over their swelling tongues and parched  whatever he gave. But her high mind rebelled.
swallows, was a heavenly relief: but, alas, the sup-   " 0, how base I am," said she, and wept.
ply was then exhausted.                             "Why, it is your own," said he, soothingly; "I
Next day hunger seemed uppermost, and the men took it out of your cabin expressly for you."
gnawed and chewed their tobacco-pouches: and    "At least, oblige me by eating some yourself, sir,"
two caps, that had been dressed with the hair on, said Helen, "or (with a sudden burst) I will die ere
were divided for food.                           I touch another morsel."
None was given to Mr. Hazel or Miss Rolleston;   " I feel the threat, Miss Rolleston; but I do not
and this, to do the poor creatures justice, was the need it, for I am very, very hungry. But no; if I
first instan:e of injustice or partiality the sailors take any, I must divide it all with them. But if you
had showl.                                       will help me unrip the jacket, I will suck the inside
The lady,. though tormented with hunger, was - after you."
more magnanimous; she offered to divide the con-   Helen gazed at him, and wondered at the man,
tents of her little medicine chest; and the globules and at the strange love which had so bitterly offendwere all devoured in a moment.                   ed her, when she was surrounded by comforts; but
And now their tortures were aggravated by the now it extorted her respect.
sight of abundance. They drifted over coral rocks,   They unripped the jacket, and found some moisat a considerable depth, but the water was so ex- ture left. They sucked it, and it was a wonderful,
quisitely clear that they saw five fathoms down. an incredible relief to their parched gullets.
They discerned small fish drifting over the bottom;   The next day was a fearful one. Not a cloud in
they looked like a driving cloud, so vast was their the sky to give hope of rain; the air so light, it only
number; and every now and then there was a just moved them  along; and the sea glared, and
scurry among them, and porpoises and dog-fish the sun beat on the poor wretches, now tortured
broke in and feasted on them. All this they saw, into madness with hunger and thirst.
yet could not catch one of those billions for their   The body of man, in this dire extremity, can suflives. Thus they were tantalized as well as starved. fer internal agony as acute as any that can be inThe next day was like the last, with this differ- flicted on its surface by the knife; and the cries, the
ence, that the sufferers could no longer endure their screams, the groans, the prayers, the curses, intertorments in silence.                             mingled, that issued from the boat, were not to be
T'he lady moaned constantly: the sailors groaned, distinguished from the cries of men horribly wounded
lamented, and cursed.                            in battle, or writhing under some terrible operation
The sun baked and blistered, and the water in hospitals.
glared.                                            O0, it was terrible and piteous to see and hear
The sails being useless, the sailors rigged them as the boat-load of ghastly victims, with hollow cheeks,
an awning, and salt-water was constantly thrown and wild-beast eyes, go groaning, cursing, and
over them.                                       shrieking loud, upon that fair glassy sea, below that
Mr. HIazel took a baler and drenched his own purple vault and glorious sun.
clothes and Miss Rolleston's upon their bodies.   Towards afternoon, the sailors got together, for



FOUL PLAY.                                            45
ward, and left Hazel and Miss Rolleston alone in    " It is fair," said Cooper, with a terrible doggedthe stern. This gave him an opportunity of speak- ness. "But it is hard," he added.
ing to her confidentially. He took advantage of it,   "Harder that seven should die for one," said
and said, "Miss Rolleston, I wish to consult you. Mackintosh. "No, no; one must die for the seven."
Am  I justified in secreting the marmalade any    Hazel represented, with all the force language
longer?  There is nearly a spoonful apiece."     possesses, that what they meditated was -a crime,
No," said Helen, "divide it amongst them all. the fatal result of which was known by experience.
0, if I had only a woman beside me, to pray with,   But they heard in ominous silence.
and cry with, and die with: for die we must."      Hazel went back to Helen Rolleston, and sat
" I am not so sure of that," said Hazel, faintly, down right before her.
but with a cool fortitude all his own. " Experience    "Well  " said she, with supernatural calmness.
proves that the human body can subsist a pro-   "You were mistaken," said he.
digious time on very little food: and saturating the    "Then why have you placed yourself between
clothes with water is, I know, the best way to allay them and me.  No, no; their eyes have told me
thirst. And women, thank Heaven, last longer than  they have singled me out. But what does it matmen, under privations."                          ter?  We poor creatures are all to die; and that
"I shall not last long, sir," said Helen. " Look one is the happiest that dies first, and dies unstained
at their eyes."                                  by such a crime. I heard every word you said,
" What do you mean?"                          sir."
"I mean that those men there are going to kill   Hazel cast a piteous look on her, and, finding he
me."                                             could no longer deceive her as to their danger, and
being weakened by famine, fell to trembling and
crying.
Helen Rolleston looked at him with calm  and
CHAPTER XX.
CAP R  XX.     gentle pity. For a moment, the patient fortitude
HAZEL thought her reason was going; and, in- of a woman made her a brave man's superior.
stead of looking at the men's eyes, it was hers he   Night came, and, for the first time, Hazel claimed
examined. But no; the sweet cheek was white, two portions of the rum; one for himself and one
the eyes had a fearful hollow all round them, but, for Miss Rolleston.
out of that cave, the light hazel eye, preternaturally    He then returned aft, and took the helm. He
large, but calm as ever, looked out, full of fortitude, loosened it, so as to be ready to unship it in a moresignation, and reason.                         ment, and use it as a weapon.
" Don't look at me," said she, quietly; " but take    The men huddled together forward; and it was
an opportunity and look at them. They mean to easy to see that the boat was now divided into two
kill me."                                         hostile camps.
Hazel looked furtively round; and, being enlight-   Hazel sat quaking, with his hand on the helm,
ened in part by the woman's intelligence, he ob- fearing an attack every moment.
served that some of the men were actually glaring    Both he and Helen listened acutely, and, about
at himself and Helen Rolleston, in a dreadful way. three o'clock in the morning, a new incident ocThere was a remarkable change in their eyes since curred, of a terrible nature.
he looked last. The pupils seemed diminished, the    Mackintosh was heard to say, " Serve out the rum,
whites enlarged; and, in a word, the characteristics no allowance," and the demand was instantly comof humanity had, somehow, died out of those blood- plied with by Morgan.
shot orbs, and the animal alone shone in them now;   Then Hazel touched Miss Rolleston on the shoulthe wild beast, driven desperate by hunger.      der, and insisted on her taking half what was left
What he saw, coupled with Helen's positive inter- of the marmalade, and he took the other half. The
pretation of it, was truly sickening.            time was gone by for economy; what they wanted
These men were six, and he but one. They had now was strength, in case the wild beasts, maddened
all clasp-knives; and he had only an old penknife by drink as well as hunger, should attack them.
that would be sure to double up, or break off, if a    Already the liquor had begun to. tell, and wild
blow were dealt with it.                         hallos and yells, and even fragments of ghastly songs,
He asked himself, in utter terror, what on earth mingled with the groans of misery, in the doomed
he should do.                                    boat.
The first thing seemed to be to join the men, and    At sunrise there was a great swell upon the water,
learn their minds: it might also be as well to pre- and sharp gusts at intervals; and on the horizon, to
vent this secret conference from going further.  windward, might be observed a black spot in the
He went forward boldly, though sick at heart, sky, no bigger than a fly. But none saw that; Haana baid,  Well, my lads, what is it?  zel's eye never left the raving wretches in the foreThe men were silent directly, and looked sullenly part of the boat; Cooper and Welch sat in gloomy
down, avoiding his eye; yet not ashamed.         despair amidships; and the others were huddled
In a situation so terrible, the senses are sharp- together forward, encouraging each other to a desened; and Hazel dissected, in his mind, this sinister perate act.
look, and saw that Morgan, Prince, and Mackintosh   It was about eight o'clock in the morning Helen
were hostile to him.                             Rolleston awoke from a brief doze, and said, " Mr.
But Welch and Cooler he hoped were still Hazel, I have had a strange dream. I'dreamed
friendly.                                        there was food, and plenty of it, on the outside of
"Sir," said Fenner, civilly but doggedly, "we this boat."
are come to this now, that one must die, for the    While these strange words were yet in her mouth,
others to live: and the greater part of us are for three of the sailors suddenly rose up with their
casting lots all round, and let every man, and every knives drawn, and eyes full of murder, and stagwoman too, take their chance. That is fair, Sam, gered aft as fast as their enfeebled bodies could.
is n't it? "                                       Hazel uttered a loud  ry, " Welch! Cooper! will




46                                     FOUL PLAY.
you see us butchered? " and, unshipping the helm, lent death, the unwounded sailor, Fenner, excited by
rose to his feet.                              the fracas, broke forth into singing, and so completCooper put out his arm to stop Mackintosh, but ed the horror of a wild and awful scene: fbr still
was too late. He did stop Morgan, however, and while he shouted, laughed, and sang, the shark swam
said, " Come, none of that; no foul play!"     calmly round and round, and the boat crept on,
Irritated by this unexpected resistance, and mad- her white sail bespattered with blood, - which was
dened by drink, Morgan turned on Cooper and not so before,-and in her bottom lay one man
stabbed him; he sank down with a groan; on this dead as a stone; and two poor wretches, Prince
Welch gave Morgan a fearful gash, dividing his and Welch, their short-lived feud composed forever,
jugular, and was stabbed, in return, by Prince, but sat openly sucking their bleeding wounds, to quench,
not severely: these two grappled and rolled over for a moment, their intolerable thirst.
one another, stabbing and cursing at the bottom of   0, little do we, who never pass a single day
the boat; meantime, Mackintosh was received by without bite or sup, know the animal man, in these
Hazel with a point blank thrust in the face from the dire extremities.
helm, that staggered him, though a very powerful
man, and drove him backwards against the mast;
but, in delivering this thrust, Hazel's foot slipped,         CHAPTER XXII.
and he fell with great violence on his head and arm;
Mackintosh recovered himself, and sprang upon the    AT last Cooper ordered Fenner to hold his jaw,
stern thwart with his knife up and gleaming over and come aft, and help sail the boat.
Helen Rolleston. Hazel writhed round where he   But the man, being now stark mad, took no notice
lay, and struck him desperately on the knee with of the order. His madness grew on him, and took
the helm. The poor woman knew only how to suf- a turn by no means uncommon in these cases.'He
fer; she cowered a little, and put up two feeble saw before him sumptuous feasts, and streams of
hands.                                          fresh water flowing. These he began to describe
The knife descended.                          with great volubility and rapture, smacking his lips,
But not upon that cowering figure.            and exulting: and so he went on tantalizing them
till noon.
Meantime, Cooper asked Mr. Hazel if he could
F CHA PT'E^7R  XXI.              sail the boat..  "I can steer," said he, "but that is all. My right
A PURPLE rippling line upon the water had for arm is benumbed."
some little time been coming down upon them with    The silvery voice of Helen Rolleston then uttered
great rapidity; but, bent on bloody work, they had brave and welcome words. "I will do whatever
not observed it. The boat heeled over under the you tell me, Mr. Cooper."
sudden gust; but the ruffian had already lost his   " Long life to you, miss!" said the wounded seafooting under Hazel's blow, and the boom striking man. He then directed her how to reef the sail,
him almost at the same moment, he went clean over and splice the sheet which he had been obliged to
the gunwale into the sea; he struck it with his cut; and, in a word, to sail the boat; which she did
knife first.                                    with some little assistance from Hazel.
All their lives were now gone if Cooper, who had    And so they all depended upon her, whom some
already recovered his feet, had not immediately cut of them had been for killing: and the blood-stained
the sheet with his knife; there was no time to slack boat glided before the wind.
it; and even as it was, the lower part of the sail was
drenched, and the boat full of water. " Ship the   At two P.M. Fenner jumped suddenly up, and,
helm!" he roared.                               looking at the- sea with rapture, cried out, "Aha!
The boat righted directly the sheet was cut, the my boys, here's.a beautiful green meadow; and
wet sail flapped furiously, and the boat having way there's a sweet brook with bulrushes: green, green,
on her yielded to the helm and wriggled slowly green   Let's have a roll among the daisies." And,
away before the whistling wind.                in a moment, ere any of his stiff and wounded shipMackintosh rose a few yards astern, and swam  mates could put out a hand, le threw himself on
after the boat, with great glaring eyes; the loose his back upon the water, and sunk forever, with
sail was not drawing, but the wind moved the boat inexpressible rapture on his corpse-like face.
onward. However, Mackintosh gained slowly, and    A feeble groan was the only tribute those who
Hazel held up an oar like a spear, and shouted to remained behind could afford him.
him that he must promise solemnly to forego all vio-   At three r. M. Mr. Hazel happened to look over
lence, or he should never come on board alive,  the weather-side of the boat, as she heeled to leeMackintosh opened his mouth to reply; but, at ward under a smart breeze, and he saw a shell or
the same moment, his eyes suddenly dilated in a two fastened to her side, about eleven inches above
fearful way, and he went under water, with a gurg- keel. He looked again, and gave a loud hurrah.
ling cry.* Yet, not like one drowning, but with a " Barnacles! barnacles! " he cried.  "I see them
jerk.                                           sticking."
The next moment there was a great bubbling of   He leaned over, and, with some difficulty, dethe water, as if displaced by some large creatures tached one, and held it up.
struggling below, and then the surface was stained   It was not a barnacle, ifut a curious oblong shellwith blood.                                    fish, open at one end.
And, lest there should be any doubt as to the   At sight of this, the wounded forgot their wounds,
wretched man's fate, the huge back fin of a mon- and leaned over the boat's side, detaching the shellstrous shark came soon after, gliding round and fish with their knives. They broke them with the
round the rolling boat, awaiting the next victim.    handles of their knives, and devoured the fish.
Now, whil~ the water was yet stained with his They were as thick as a man's finger, and about an
life-blood, who, hurrying to kill, had met with a vio- inch long, and as sweet as a nut. It seems that i,




FOUL PLAY.                                           47
the long calm these shell-fish had fastened on the others. Those, who are now gone, were guilty of a
boat. More than a hundred of them were taken terrible crime; but then they' were tempted more
off'her weather-side, and evenly divided.      than their flesh could bear, and they received their
Miss Rolleston, at Hazel's earnest request, ate punishment here on earth: we may therefore hope
only six, and these very slowly, and laid the rest by. they will escape punishment hereafter. And it is for
But the sailors could not restrain themselves; and us to profit by their fate, and bow to Heaven's will:
Prince, in particular, gorged himself so fiercely that. even when they drew their knives, food in plenty
he turned purple in the face, and began to breathe was'within their reach, and the signs of wind were
very hard.                                      on the sea, and of rain in the sky. Let us be more
That black speck on the horizon, had grown by patient than they were, and place our trust - What
noon to a beetle, and by three o'clock to something is that upon the water to leeward? A piece of wood
more like an elephant, and it now diffused itself into floating? "
a huge black cloud, that gradually overspread the   Welch stood up and looked.  "Can't make it
heavens; and at last, about half an hour before sun- out. Steer alongside it, miss, if you please."  And
set, came a peculiar chill, and then, in due course, he crept forward.
a drop or two fell upon the parched wretches.   Presently he became excited, and directed those
They sat, less like animals than like plants, all in the stern how to steer the boat close to the obstretching towards their preserver.             ject without going over it. He begged them all to
Their eyes were turned up to the clouds, so were be silent. He leaned over the boat side as they
their open mouths, and their arms and hands held neared it. He clutched it suddenly with both hands
up towards it.                                  and flung it into te boat with a shout of triumph;
The drops increased in number, and praise went but sank exhausted by the effort.
up to heayen in return.                           It was a young turtle; and being asleep on the
Patter, patter, patter; down came a shower, a water, or inexperienced, had allowed them to caprain,   a heavy, steady rain.                  ture it.
With cries of joy, they put out every vessel to   This was indeed a godsend: twelve pounds of
catch it; they lowered the sail, and, putting ballast succulent meat. It was instantly divided, and Mr.
in the centre, bellied it into a great vessel to catch Hazel contrived, with some difficulty, to boil a porit. They used all their spare canvas to catch it. tion of it. He enjoyed it greatly; but Miss RollesThey filled the water-cask with it; they filled the ton showed a curious and violent antipathy to it,
keg that had held the fatal spirit;. and all the time scarcely credible under the circumstances. Not so
they were sucking the wet canvas, and their own the sailors. They devoured it raw, what they could
clothes, and their very hands and garments on get at all. Cooper could only get down a mouthful
which the life-giving drops kept falling.       or two: he had received his death-wound, and was
Then they set their little sail again, and prayed manifestly sinking.
for land to Him who had sent them wind and rain.    He revived, however, from time to time, and
spoke cheerfully, whenever he spoke at all. Welch
informed him of every incident that took place,
CHAPTER XXIII.                    however minute. Then he would nod, or utter a
syllable or two.
THE breeze declined at sunset; but it rained at   On being told that they were passing through
intervals during the night; and by the morning seaweed, he expressed a wish to see some of it, and
they were somewhat chilled.                     when he had examined it, he said to Hazel, "Keep
Death had visited them again during the night. up your heart, sir; you are not a hundred miles
Prince was discovered dead and cold; his wounds from land."  He added gently, after a pause, " but
were mere scratches, and there seems to be no I am bound for another port."
doubt that he died by gorging himself with more    About five in the afternoon, Welch came aft,
food than his enfeebled system could possibly digest. with the tears in his eyes, to say that Sam was just
Thus dismally began a day of comparative bodily going to slip his cable, and had something to say to
comfort, but mental distress, especially to Miss Rol- them.
leston and Mr. Hazel.                             They went to him directly, and Hazel took his
Now that this lady and gentleman were no longer hand, and exhorted him to forgive all his enemies.
goaded to  madness by physical suffering, their   " Ha'n't a got none," was the reply.
higher sensibilities resumed their natural force, and    Hazel then, after a few words of religious exhortathe miserable contents of the blood-stained boat tion and comfort, asked him if he could do anything
shocked  them  terribly.  Two  corpses and two for him.
wounded men.                                      "Ay," said Cooper, solemnly. " Got pen and ink
Mr. Hazel, however, soon.came to one resolu- aboard, any of ye? "
tion, and that was to read the funeral service over   " I have a pencil," said Helen, earnestly; then
the dead, and then commit them to the deep. He tearfully, " 0 dear! it is to make his will."  She
declared this intention, and Cooper, who, though opened her prayer-book which had two blank leaves
wounded, and apparently sinking, was still skipper under each cover.
of the boat, acquiesced readily.                  The dying man saw them, and rose into that reMr. Hazel then took the dead men's knives and markable energy, which sometimes precedes the detheir money out of their pockets, and read the burial- parture of the soul.
service over them; they were then committed to   "Write!" said he, in his deep, full tones.
the deep. This sad ceremony performed, he addressed a few words to the survivors.             "I, Samuel Cooper, able seaman, am going to
" My friends, and brothers in affliction, we ought slip my cable, and sail into the presence of my
not to hope too much from Divine mercy for our- Maker."
selves; or we should come soon to forget Divine   He waited till this was written.
justice.  But we are not forbidden to hope for   "And so I speak the truth."




48                                      FOUL PLAY.
"The ship Proserpine was destroyed wilful."    ing new; except that they fell in with sea-weed in
such quantities, the boat could hardly get through it.
"The men had more allowance than they signed    Mr. Hazel examined this sea-weed carefully, and
for."                                            brought several kinds upon deck. Amongst the
varieties, was one like thin green strips of spinach,
"The mate was always plying the captain with very tender and succulent. His botanical researches
liquor."                                         included sea-weed, and he recognized this as one of
the ddible rock-weeds.
"Two days before ever the ship leaked, the mate    There was very little of it comparatively, but he
got the long-boat ready."                        took great pains, and, in two hours' time, had
gathered as much as might fill a good slop-basin.
"When the Proserpine sank, we was on her port   He washed it in fresh water, and then asked Miss
quarter, aboard the cutter, was me and my mess- Rolleston for a pocket handkerchief. This he tied
mate Tom Welch."                                 so as to make a bag, and contrived to boil it with
the few chips of fuel that remained on board.
" We saw two auger holes in her stern, about two    After he had boiled it ten minutes, there was no
inches diameter."           "                    more fuel, except a bowl or two, and the boat-hook,
one pair of oars, and the midship and stern thwarts.
"Them two holes was made from within, for the    He tasted it, and found it glutinous and delisplinters showed outside."                       cious; he gave Miss Rolleston some, and then fed
Welch with the rest. He, poor fellow, enjoyed this
" She was a good ship, and met with no stress of sea spinach greatly; he could no longer swallow
weather to speak of, on that voyage."            meat.
While Hazel was feeding him, a flight of ducks
"Joe Wylie scuttled her and destroyed her passed over their heads, high in the air.
people."                                            Welch pointed up at them.
" Ah!" said Helen, " if we had but their wings!"
"D-n his eyes! "                                 Presently a bird was seen coming in the same direction, but flying very low; it wabbled along towards them very slowly, and at last, to their great
Mr. Hazel was shocked at this finale: but he surprise, came flapping and tried to settle on the
knew what sailors are, and how little meaning there gunwale of the boat. Welch, with that instinct of
is in their set phrases. However, as a clergyman, slaughter which belongs to men, struck the boathe'could not allow these to be Cooper's last words; hook into the bird's back and it was soon deso he said earnestly, " Yes, but my poor fellow, you spatched. It proved to be one of that very flock
said you forgave all your enemies. We all need of ducks that had passed over their heads, and a
forgiveness, you know."                           crab was found fastened to its leg. It is supposed
"That is true, sir."                           that the bird, to break its long flight, had rested on
"And you forgive this Wylie, do you not?"     some reef, and, perhaps, been too busy fishing; and
"0 Lord, yes," said Cooper, faintly.  "I for- caught this Tartar.
give the lubber; d-n him!"                          Hazel pounced upon it. " Heaven has sent this
Having said these words with some difficulty, he for you, because you cannot eat turtle."  But the
became lethargic, and so remained for two hours. next moment he blushed and recovered his reason.
Indeed he spoke but once more, and that was to "See," said he, referring to her own words, " this
Welch; though they were all about him  then. poor bird had wings, yet death overtook her."
" Messmate," said he, in a voice that was now faint   He sacrificed a bowl for fuel, and boiled the duck
and broken, "you and I must sail together on this and the crab in one pot, and Miss Rolleston ate denew voyage. I'm going out of port first; but " (in  murely but plentifully of both.  Of the crab's shell
a whisper of inconceivable tenderness and simple he made a little drinking-vessel for Miss Rolleston.
cunning) "I'll lie to outside the harbor till you    Cooper remained without funeral rites all this
come out, my boy."  Then he paused a moment. time; the reason was that Welch lay with his head
Then he added, softly, " For I love you, Tom."   pillowed upon his dead friend, and Hazel had not
These sweet words were the last of that rugged, the heart to disturb him.
silent sailor, who never threw a word away, and    But it was the survivors' duty to commit him to
whose rough breast enclosed a friendship as of the the deep, and so Hazel sat down by Welch, and
ancient world, tender, true, and everlasting; that asked him kindly whether he would not wish the
sweetened his life and ennobled his death. As he services of the Church to be read over his departed
deserved mourners, so he had true ones. His last friend.
words went home to the afflicted hearts that heard    "In course, sir," said Welch. But the next mothem, and the lady and gentleman, whose lives he ment he took Hazel's meaning, and said hurriedly,
had saved at cost of his own, wept aloud over their " No, no; I can't let Sam be buried in the sea.
departed friend. But his messmate's eye was dry. Ye see, sir, Sam and I, we are used to one another,
When all was over, he just turned to the mourners, and I can't abide to part with him, alive or dead."
and said, gravely, " Thank ye, sir; thank ye kindly,   " Ah! " said Hazel, "the best friends must part
ma'am."  And then he covered the body decently  when death takes one."
with the spare canvas, and lay quietly down, with'Ay, ay, when t'other lives. But, Lord bless
his own head pillowed upon those loved remains.    you, sir! I sha'n't be long astarn of my messmate
Towards afternoon, seals were observed sporting here; can't you see that?"
on the waters; but no attempt was made to capture    "Heaven forbid!" said  Hazel, surprised and
them. Indeed, Miss Rolleston had quite enough to  alarmed. f' Why you are not wounded mortally, as
do to sail the boat with Mr. Hazel's assistance.  Cooper was. Have a good heart, man, and we
The night passed, and the morning brought noth- three will all see old England yet,"




FOUL PLAY.                                            49
"Well, sir," said Welch, coolly, "'11 tell ye: me    Helen, by one of those inspired impulses her sex
and my shipmate, Prince, was a cutting at one an- have, altered the boat's course directly, and followed
other with our knives a smart time, (and I do prop- the bird.
arly wonder, when I think of that day's work, for I
liked the man well enough, but rum atop of starva-   Half an hour before sunset, Helen Rolleston,
tion plays hell with seafaring men), well sir, as I whose vision was very keen, said she saw something
was a-saying, he let more blood out of me than I at the verge of the horizon, like a hair standing upcould afford to lose under the circumstances. And, right.
ye see, I can't make fresh blood, because my throat   Hazel looked, but could not see anything.
is so swelled by the drought, I can't swallow much   In ten minutes more, Helen Rolleston pointed it
meat, so I'm safe to lose the number of my mess; out again; and then Hazel did see a vertical line,
and, another thing, my heart isn't altogether set more like a ship's mast, than anything else one
towards living.  Sam, here, he give me an order; could expect to see there.
what, did n't ye hear him?   I'11 lie to outside the   Their eyes were now strained to make it out, and,
bar,' says he,'till you come out.' He expects me as the boat advanced, it became more and more
to come out in his wake. Don't ye, Sam,   that palpable, though it was hard to say exactly what it
was? " and he laid his hand gently on the remains. was.
" Now,, sir, I shall ax the lady and you a favor. I   Five minutes before the sun set, the air being
want to lie alongside Sam. But if you bury him in clearer than ever, it stood out clean against the sky.
the sea, and me ashore, why d-n my eyes if I A tree,- a lofty, solitary tree; with a tall stem,
sha'n't be a thousand years or so before I can find like a column, and branches only at the top.
my own messmate. Etarnity is a'nation big place,   A palm-tree - in the middle of the Pacific.
I'm told, a hundred times as big as both oceans.
No, sir; you'11 make land, by Sam's reckoning, tomorrow, or next day, wind and tide permitting.                  CHAPTER  XXIV
I'II take care of Sam's hull till then, and we'll lie
together till the angel blows that there trumpet;   AND but for the land-bird which rested on their
and then we'11 go aloft together, and, as soon as mast, and for their own mercy in sparing it, they
ever we have made our scrape to our betters, we'11 would have passed to the eastward, and never seen
both speak a good word for you and the lady, a that giant palm-tree in mid-ocean.
very pretty lady she is, and a good-hearted, and-the    "0, let us put out all our sails, and fly to it!"
best plucked one I ever did see in any distressed cried Helen.
craft; now don't ye cry, miss, don't ye cry, your   Welch smiled and said, "No, miss, ye must n't.
trouble is pretty near over; he said you was not a Lord love ye; what! run on to a land ye don't'
hundred miles from land: I don't know how he know, happy go lucky, in the dark, like that? Lay
knew that, he was always a better seaman than I her head for the tree, and welcome, but you must
be; but say it he did, and that is enough, for he lower the mainsel, and treble-reef the foresel.; and
was a man as never told a lie, nor wasted a word."  so creep on a couple of knots an hour, and, by dayWelch could utter no more just then; for the break, you'll find the island close under your lee.
glands of his throat were swollen, and he spoke Then you can look out for a safe landing-place."
with considerable difficulty.                      " The island, Mr. Welch! " said Helen. " There
What could Hazel reply?   The judgment is is no island, or I should have seen it."
sometimes ashamed to contradict the heart with    " 0, the island was hull down. Why, you don't
cold reasons.                                    think as palm-trees grow in the water?  You do as
He only said, with a sigh, that he saw no signs I say, or you'11 get wrecked on some thundering
of land, and believed they had gone on a wrong reef or other."
course, and were in the heart of the Pacific.       Upon this Mr. Hazel and Miss Rolleston set to
Welch made no answer, but a look of good-na- work, and, with considerable difficulty lowered the
tured contempt. The idea of this parson contradict- mainsail, and treble-reefed the foresail.
ing Sam Cooper!                                     " That is right," said Welch.  "To:morrow,
The sun broke, and revealed the illimitable ocean; you'11 land in safety, and bury my messmate and
themselves a tiny speck on it.                   me."
Mr. Hazel whispered Miss Rolleston that Cooper   " 0 no! " cried Helen Rolleston. " We must bury
must be buried to-day.                           him, but we mean to cure you."
At ten P. M. they passed through more sea-weed;   They obeyed Welch's instructions, and so crept
but this time they had to eat the sea-spinach raw, on all night; and, so well had this able seaman caland there was very little of it.                 culated distance and rate of sailing, that, when the
At noon, the sea was green in places.          sun rose, sure enough there was an island under
Welch told them this was a sign they were near- their lee, distant about a league, though it looked
ing land.                                        much less. But the palm-tree was more than twice
At four P. M. a bird, about the size and color of a that distance. Owing to wind and current they
woodpecker, settled on the boat's mast.          had made lee-way all night, and that tree stood on
Their glittering eyes fastened on it; and Welch the most westerly point of the island.
said, " Come, there's a supper for you as can eat it."    Hazel and Miss Rolleston stood up and hurrahed
" No, poor thing!" said Helen Rolleston.      for joy; then fell on their knees in silent gratitude.
"You are right," said Hazel, with a certain effort Welch only smiled.
of self-restraint. " Let our sufferings make us gen-   But the breeze had freshened, and, though there
tle, not savage: that poor bird is lost like us upon  were no great waves at sea, yet breakers, formidathis ocean. It is a land-bird."                  ble to such a craft as theirs, were seen foaming over
"How do you know? "                           long disjointed reefs ahead, that grinned black and
"Water-birds have webbed feet, - to swim with." dangerous here and there.
The bird, having rested, flew to the northwest.  They then consulted Welch, and he told them




50.                                     FOUL PLAY.
they must tack directly, and make a circuit of the But Hazel with the boat-hook propelled the boat
island; he had to show them how to tack; and, the gently over the pellucid water, that now seemed too
sea rising, they got thoroughly wetted, and Miss shallow to float a canoe; and at last looked like the
Rolleston rather frightened; for here was a peril mere varnish of that picture, the prismatic sands bethey had wonderfully escaped hitherto.           low; yet still the little craft glided over it, till it genHowever, before eleven o'clock, they had stood tly grazed the soft sand, and was stationary.  So
out to sea, and coasted the whole south side of the placidly ended that terrible voyage.
island: they then put the boat before the wind, and    Mr. Hazel and Miss Rolleston were on shore in a
soon ran past the east coast, which was very narrow, moment, and it was all they could do not to fall up-in fact, a sort of bluff-head, —and got on the on the land and kiss it.
north side of the island. Here the water was corn-   Never had the sea disgorged upon that fairy isle
paratively smooth, and the air warm and balmy. such ghastly spectres. They looked, not like people
They ranged along the coast at about a mile's dis- about to die, but that had died, and been buried,
tance, looking out for a good landing.           and just come out of their graves to land on that
Here was no longer an unbroken line of cliffs, blissful shore.  We should have started back with
but an undulating coast, with bulging rocks, and  horror; but the birds of tlat virgin isle merely
lines of reef. After a mile or two of that the coast stepped out of their way, and did not fly.
ran out seaward, and they passed close to a most   They had landed in paradise.
extraordinary phenomenon of vegetation.  Great   Even Welch yielded to that universal longing men
tangled woods crowned- the shore and the landward  have to embrace the land after perils at sea, and was
slopes, and their grand foliage seemed to flow over putting his leg slowly over the gunwale, when Hazel
into the sea: for here was a broad rocky flat, inter- came back to his assistance. He got ashore, but was
sected with a thousand little channels of the sea; contented to sit down with his eyes on the dimpled
and the thousand little islets so formed, were crowd- sea and the boat, waiting quietly till the tide should
ed, covered, and hidden with luxuriant vegetation. float his friend to his feet again.
Huge succulent leaves of the richest hue hung over   The sea-birds walked quietly about him, and
the water, and some of the most adventurous showed, minded him not.
by the crystals that sparkled on their green surface,   Miss 4Rolleston ascended a green slope very slowthat the waves had actually been kissing them at ly, for her limbs were cramped, and was lost to
high tide. This ceased, and they passed under a view.
cliff, wooded nearly to the point.                  Hazel now went up the beach, and took a more
This cliff was broad and irregular, and in one of minute survey of the neighborhood.
its cavities a cascade of pure fresh water came    The west side of the bay was varied. Half of it
sparkling, leaping and tumbling down to the foot of presented the soft character that marked the bay in
the rock. Thereit had formed a great basin of wa- general; but a portion of it was rocky, though
ter, cool, deep, transparent, which trickled over on streaked with vegetation, and this part was intersectto a tongue of pink sand, and went in two crystal ed by narrow clefts, into which, in some rare tempests
gutters to the sea.                              and high tides combined, tongues of the sea had enGreat and keen was the rapture this sight caused  tered, licking the sides of the gullies smooth; and
our poor parched voyagers; and eager their desire these occasional visits were marked by the sand,
to land at once, if possible, and plunge their burning  and broken shells, and other debris the tempestuous
lips, and swelling throats, and fevered hands into and encroaching sea had left behind.
that heavenly liquid; but the next moment they    The true high-water mark was several feet lower
were diverted from that purpose by the scene that than these debris, and was clearly marked. On the
burst on them.                                   land above the cliffs he found a tangled jungle of
This wooded cliff, with its wonderful cascade, was tropical shrubs, into which he did not penetrate, but
the very gate of paradise. They passed it, and in skirted it, and walking eastward, came out upon a
one moment were in a bay,  a sudden bay, won- delicious down or grassy slope, that faced the centre
derfully deep for its extent, and sheltered on three of the bay. It was a gentleman's lawn of a thousand
sides. Broad sands with rainbow tints, all spark- acres, with an extremely gentle slope from the cenling, and dotted with birds, some white as snow, tre of the island down to the sea.
some gorgeous. A peaceful sea of exquisite blue    A river flowing from some distant source ran eastkissing these lovely sands with myriad dimples; ward through this down, but at its verge, and aland, from the land side, soft emerald slopes, em- most encircled it. Hazel traversed the lawn until
broidered with silver threads of water, came to the this river, taking a sudden turn towards the sea, invery edge of the sands; so that, from all those glo- tercepted him at a spot which he immediately fixed
rious hues, that flecked the prismatic and sparkling  on as Helen Rolleston's future residence.
sands, the eye of the voyagers passed at once to the    Four short, thick, umbrageous trees stood close to
vivid, yet sweet and soothing, green of Nature; the stream on this side, and on the eastern side was,
and over this paradise, the breeze they could no a grove of gigantic palm-trees, at whose very ankles
longer feel, wafted spicy but delicate odors from un- the river ran. Indeed, it had undermined one of
seen trees.                                      these palm-trees, and that giant at this moment lay
Even Welch raised himself in the boat, and sniffed all across the stream, leaving a gap through which
the heavenly air, and smiled at the heavenly spot. Hazel's eye could pierce to a great depth among
" Here's a blessed haven!" said he. "Down sail, those grand columns; for they stood wide apart,
and row her ashore."                             and there was not a vestige of brushwood, jungle, or
even grass, below their enormous crowns. He christened the place St. Helen's on the spot.
(-JDCHAPTER  XXVr.'He now dipped his baler into the stream and
found it pure and tolerably cool.
THEY Towed more than a mile, so deep was the    He followed the bend of the stream; it evaded the
glorious bay; and then their oars struck the ground. slope and took him by its own milder descent to the




FOUL PLAY.                                            51
sands: over these it flowed-smooth as glass into the undertone, and begged leave to pay her tribute first;
sea.                                             and with this, she detached her apron, and held it
Hazel ran to Welch to tell him all he had discov- out to them. Hazel easily climbed up to her, and
ered, and to give him his first water from the island. found her apron was full of sweet-smelling bark and
He found a roan-colored pigeon, with a purplish  aromatic leaves, whose fragrance filled the air.
neck, perched on the sick man's foot. The bird    "I want you to strew these over his poor reshone like a rainbow, and cocked a saucy eye at mains," she said.  " 0, not common earth! He
Hazel, and flew up into the air a few yards, but it saved our lives. And his last words were,'I love
soon appeared that fear had little to do with this you, Tom.'  0 dear, 0 dear, 0 dear!"  And
movement; for, after an airy circle or two, he fanned  with that she gave him the apron, and turned her
Hazel's cheek with his fast-flapping wings, and head away to hide her tears.
lighted on the very edge of the baler, and was for   Hazel blessed her for the thought, which, indeed,
sipping.                                         none but a lady would have had; and Welch and
"0, look here, Welch!" cried Hazel, in an ecsta- he, with the tears in their eyes, strewed the spicy
sy of delight.                                   leaves first; and soon a ridge of shingle neatly
" Ay, sir," said he. " Poor things, they han't a bound with sea-weed marked the sailor's grave.
found us out yet."
The talking puzzled the bird, if it did not alarm    Hazel's next anxiety, and that a pressing one, was
him, and he flew up to the nearest tree, and, perch- to provide shelter for the delicate girl and the sick
ing there, inspected these new and noisy bipeds at man, whom  circumstances had placed under his
his leisure.                                     care. He told Miss Rolleston Welch and he were
Hazel now laid his hand on Welch's shoulder and  going to cross the bay again, and would she be good
reminded him gently they had a sad duty to per- enough to meet them at the bend of the river where
form, which could not be postponed.              she would find four trees?  She nodded her head
"Right you are, sir," said Welch," and very kind  and took that road  accordingly.  Hazel rowed
of you to let me have my way with him. Poor eastward across the bay, and it being now high
Sam  "                                           water, he got the boat into the river itself near the
"I have found a place," said Hazel, in a low  edge of the shore, and, as this river had worn a
voice. " We can take the boat close to it. But channel, he contrived with the boat-hook to propel
where is Miss Rolleston?"                       the boat up the stream, to an angle in the bank
" 0, she is not far off; she was here just now, and within forty yards of the four trees. He could- get
brought me this here little cocoa-nut, and patted me no farther, the stream being now not only shallow,
on the back, she did, then off again on a cruise. but blocked here and there with great and rough
Bless her little heart! "                        fragments of stone. Hazel pushed the boat into the
Hazel and Welch then got into the boat, and  angle out of the current, and moored her fast. He
pushed off without much difficulty, and punted  and Welch then got ashore, and Miss Rolleston was
across the bay to one of those clefts we have indi- standing at the four trees. He went to her and
cated. It was now nearly high water, and they said enthusiastically, " This is to be your house. Is
moored the boat close under the cleft Hazel had se- it not a beautiful site?"
lected.                                             "Yes, it is a beautiful site, but - forgive me- I
Then they both got out and went up to the ex- really don't see the house," wa' her reply.
tremity of the cleft, and there, with the axe and with    "But you see the framework."
pieces of wood, they scraped out a resting-place for   Helen looked all about, and then said, ruefully,
Cooper. This was light work; for it was all stones, "I suppose I am blind, sir, or else you are dreamshells, fragments of coral, and dried sea-weed, lying ing, for I see nothing at all."
loosely together. But now  came a hard task in    "Why here's a roof ready made, and the frame
which Welch could not assist. Hazel unshipped a of a wall. We have only to wattle a screen bethwart, and laid the body on it: then by a great ef- tween these four uprights."
fort staggered with the burden up to the grave and    " Only to wattle a screen! But I don't know
deposited it. He was exhausted by the exertion, and  what wattling a screen is. Who does?"
had to sit down panting for some time.  As soon as   " Why you get some of the canes that grow a
he was recovered, he told Welch to stand at the head little farther up the river, and a certain long wiry
of the grave, and he stood at the foot, bareheaded, grass I have marked down, and then you fix and
and then, from memory, he repeated the service of weave till you make a screen from tree to tree; this
our church, hardly missing or displacing a word.    could be patched with wet clay; I know where
This was no tame recital; the scene, the circum- there is plenty of that. Meantime see what is done
stances, the very absence of the book, made it ten- to our hands. The crown of this great palm-tree
der and solemn. And then Welch repeated those lies at the southern aperture of your house, and
beautiful words after Hazel, and Hazel let him. blocks it entirely up: that will keep off the only
And how did he repeat them?  In such a hearty  cold wind, the  south wind, from  you  to-night.
loving tone, as became one who was about to followv, Then look at these long, spiky leaves interlaced
and all this but a short leave-taking. So uttered, over your head.  (These trees are screw-pines.)for the living as well as the dead, those immortal There is a roof ready made. You must have anwords had a strange significance and beauty.     other roof underneath that, but it will do for a day
And presently a tender, silvery voice came down or two."
to mingle with the deep and solemn tones of the    " But you will wattle the screen directly," said
male mourners. It was Helen Rolleston. She had Helen. "Begin at once, please. I am anxious to
watched most of their movements unseen herself, and see a screen wattled."
now, standing at the edge of the ravine, and looking'   "Well," said Welch, who had joined them,
down on them, uttered a soft but thrilling amen to " landsmen are queer folk, the best of'em. Why,
every prayer. When it was over, and the men pre- miss, it would take him a week to screen you with
pared to fill in the grave, she spoke to Welch in an  rushes and reeds, and them sort of weeds; and I'd




52                                       FOUL PLAY.
do it in half an hour, if I was the Tom Welch I as to call a cabbage, and your shipmates may have
used to be. Why, there's spare canvas enough in eaten for one, is nothing on earth but the last year's
the boat to go between these four trees breast high, growth of the palm-tree."
and then there's the foresel besides; the mainsel is   "Palm-tree be -" said Welch; and thereupon
all you and me shall want, sir."                 ensued a hot argument, which Helen's good sense
"0, excuse me," said Miss Rolleston, "I will cut short.
not be sheltered at the expense of my friends."'  "Mr. Hazel," said she, " can you by any possi
"Welch, you are a trump," said Hazel, and ran  bility get our poor friend the thing he wants?"
off for the spare canvas. He brought it, and the    "0, that is quite within the bounds of possicarpenter's basket of tools. They went to work, bility," said Hazel, dryly.
and Miss Rolleston insisted on taking part in it.   "Well, then, suppose you begin by getting him
Finding her so disposed, Hazel said that they had the thing. Then I will boil the thing, and he will
better divide their labors since the time was short. eat the thing; and after all that, it will be time to
Accordingly he took the axe and chopped off a argue about the name we shall give to the thing."
great many scales of the palm-tree and lighted a    The good sense of this struck Mr. Hazel forcibly.
great fire between the trees, while the other two He started off at once, armed with the axe, and a
worked on the canvas.                            net bag Welch had made since he became unfit for
"This is to dry the soil as well as cook our pro- heavy labor: he called back to them as he went, to
visions," said he; "and now I must go and find put the pots on.
food. Is there anything you fancy?"  He turned    Welch and Miss Rolleston complied; and then
his head from the fire he was lighting and addressed  the sailor showed the lady how to sew sailor-wise,
this question both to Welch and Miss Rolleston.  driving the large needle with the palm of the hand,
Miss Rolleston stared at this question, then smiled, guarded by a piece of leather. They had nailed
and, in the true spirit of a lady, said, " I think I two breadths of canvas to the trees on the north
should like a good large cocoa-nut, if you can find and west sides, and run the breadths rapidly toone."  She felt sure there was no other eatable gether; and the water was boiling and bubbling in
thing in the whole island.                       the balers, when Miss Rolleston uttered a scream,
" I wants a cabbage," said Welch, in a loud voice. for Hazel came running over the prostrate palm" 0, Mr. Welch, we are not at home," said Miss tree as if it was a proper bridge, and lighted in
Rolleston, blushing at the preposterous demand.  the midst of them.
"No, miss, in Capericorn. Whereby we shan't'Lot one," said he, cheerfully, and produced
have to pay nothing for this here cabbage. I'll from his net some limes, two cocoa-nuts, and a landtell ye, miss: when a sailor comes ashore he always turtle; from this last esculent Miss Rolleston withgoes in for green vegetables, for why, he has eaten  drew with undisguised horror, and it was in vain
so much junk and biscuit, nature sings out for he assured her it was a great delicacy.
greens. Me and my shipmates was paid off at   "No matter: it is a reptile.  0, please send it
Portsmouth last year, and six of us agreed to dine away."
together and each order his dish. Blest if six boiled     The Queen of the Island reprieves you," said
legs of mutton did not come up smoking hot; three he, and put down the terrapin, which went off very
was with cabbage, and three with turmots. Mine leisurely for a reprieved reptile.
was with turmots. But then I don't ask, so nigh the    Then Hazel produced a fine bream, which he had
Line: don't ye go to think, because I'm sick, and found struggling in a rock-pool, the tide having
the lady and you is so kind to me, and to him that turned, and three sea cray-fish, bigger than any
is a-waiting outside them there shoals for me, as I'm  lobster. He chopped their heads off outside, and
onreasonable; turmots I wish you both and plenty  threw their tails into the pots; he stuck a piece of
of'em, when some whaler gets driven out of her pointed wood through the bream, and gave it to
course and picks you up, and carries you into north- Welch to toast; but Welch waved it aside.
ern latitudes where turmots grow; but cabbage is   "I see no cabbage," said he, grimly.
my right, cabbage is my due, being paid off in a    "0, I forgot: but that is soon found," said
manner; for the ship is foundered and I'm ashore: Hazel. " Here, give me the fish, and you take the
cabbage I ask for, as a seaman that has done his saw, and examine the head of this palm-tree, which
duty, and a man that won't live to eat many more lies at Miss Rolleston's door. Saw away the succuof'em; and " (losing his temper), " if you are the lent part of last year's growth, and bring it here."
man I take you for, you'll run and fetch me a cab-   Welch got up slowly.
bage fresh from the tree" (recovering his temper).   "I'll go with you, Mr. Welch," said Miss Rolles" I know I did n't ought to ax a parson to shin up ton.
a tree for me: but, Lord bless you, there ain't no    She will not be alone with me for a moment, if
sarcy little boys a-looking on, and here's a poor fel- she can help it, thought Hazel, and sat moody by
low mostly dying for it."                        the fire. But he shook off his sadness, and forced
Miss Rolleston looked at Mr. Hazel with alarm in on a cheerful look the moment they came back.
every feature; and whispered, " Cabbage from the They brought with them a vegetable very like the'
tree. Is he wandering?"                          heart of a cabbage, only longer and whiter.
Hazel smiled. " No," said he. " He has picked    "There," said Welch, " what d' ye call that?"
up a fable of these seas, that there is a tree which    "The last year's growth of the palm," said Hazel,
grows cabbages."                                 calmly.
Welch heard him and said, with due warmth,   This vegetable was cut in two and put into the
" Of course there is a tree on all these islands, that pots.
grows cabbages; that was known a hundred years     " There, take the toasting-fork again," said Hazel
before you was born, and shipmates of mine have to Welch, and drew out from his net three huge
eaten them."                                     scallop-shells. " Soup-plates," said he, and washed
"Excuse me, what those old Admirals and Buc- them in the running stream: then put them before
caneers, that set the legend afloat, were so absurd the fire to dry.




FOUL PLAY.                                            53
While the fish and vegetable were cooking, he she heard " Miss Rolleston" called in anxious tones.
went and  cut off some of the leafy, pinnated But she tossed her little head, and revenged herself
branches of the palm-tree, and fastened them hori- for her night of agony by not replying.
zontally gbove the strips of canvas. Each palm-, However, Nature took her in hand; imperious
branch traversed a whole side of the bower. This hunger drew her back to her late place of torture;
closed the northern and western sides.           and there she found a fire, and Hazel cooking crayOn the southern side, the prostrate palm-tree, on fish.  She ate the cray-fish heartily, and drank
striking the ground, had so crushed its boughs and cocoa-nut milk out of half a cocoa-nut, which the
leaves together, as to make a thick wall of foliage.  ingenious Hazel had already sawn, polished, and
Then he took to making forks; and primitive mounted for her.
ones they were. He selected a bough the size of a    After that, Hazel's whole day was occupied in
thick walking-stick; sawed it off the tree; sawed a stripping a tree that stood on the high western prompiece six inches long off it, peeled that, split it in ontory of the bay, and building up the materials
four, and, with his knife, gave each piece three of a bonfire a few yards from it, that if any whaler
points, by merely tapering off and serrating one should stray that way, they might not be at a loss
end; and so he made a fork a minute. Then he for means to attract her attention.
brought all the rugs and things from the boat, and,   Welch was very ill all day, and Miss Rolleston
the ground being now thoroughly dried by the fire, nursed him. He got about towards evening, and
placed them for seats; gave each person a large leaf Miss Rolleston asked him, rather timidly, if he could
for a plate, besides a scallop-shell; and served out put her up a bell-rope.
supper. It was eaten with rare appetite; the palm-   " Why, yes, miss," said Welch, "that is easy
tree vegetable in particular was delicious, tasting  enough; but 1 don't see no bell."
between a cabbage and a cocoa-nut.                  0, she did not want a bell, -she only wanted a
When they had supped, Hazel removed the bell-rope.
plates and went to the boat. He returned, dragging    Hazel came up during this conversation, and she
the foremast and foresail, which were small, and then gave her reason.
called Welch out. They agreed to rig the mainsail   "Because, then, if Mr. Welch is ill in the night,
tarpaulin-wise and sleep in the boat. Accordingly  and wants me, I could come to him.  Or -" findthey made themselves very busy screening the east ing herself getting near the real reason she stopped
side of Miss Rolleston's new abode with the foresail, short.
and fastened a loop and drove a nail into the tree,   "Or what? " inquired Hazel, eagerly.
and looped the sail to it, then suddenly bade her    She replied to Welch. " When tigers and Things
good night in cheerful tones, and were gone in a come to me, I can let you know, Mr. Welch, if you
moment, leaving her to her repose as they imagined. have any curiosity about the result of their visit."
Hazel, in particular, having used all his ingenuity to    "Tigers!" said Hazel, in answer to this side slap;
secure her personal comfort, was now too bent on  "there are no tigers here; no large animals of prey
showing her the most delicate respect and forbear- exist in the Pacific."
ance to think of anything else. But, justly count-   " What makes you think that?"
ing on the delicacy, he had forgotten the timidity,   "It is notorious: naturalists are agreed."
of her sex, and her first night in the island was a    "But I am not. I heard noises all night. And
terribly trying one.                             little I expected that anything of me would be left
Thrice she opened her mouth to call Welch and  this morning, except, perhaps, my back hair. Mr.
Hazel back, but could not. Yet, when their foot- Welch, you are clever at rigging things, -that is
steps were out of hearing, she would have given the what you call it, - and so please rig me a bell-rope,
world to have them between her and the perils with then I shall not be eaten alive without creating some
which she felt herself surrounded.               little disturbance."
Tigers; Snakes; Scorpions; Savages! what would    "I'11 do it, miss," said Welch, " this very night."
become of her during the long night?               Hazel said nothing, but pondered. Accordingly,
She sat and cowered before the hot embers. She that very evening a piece of stout twine, with a
listened to what seemed the angry roar of the sea. stone at the end of it, hung down from the roof of
What with the stillness of the night and her sharp- Helen's house; and this twine clove the air, until it
ened senses she heard it all round the island.  She reached a ring upon the mainmast of the cutter;
seemed environed with peril, and yet surrounded  thence it descended, and was to be made fast to
by desolation. No one at hand to save her in time something or somebody. The young lady inquired
from a wild beast. No one anywhere near except no further. The very sight of this bell-rope was a
a sick sailor, and one she would almost rather die great comfort to her; it reunited her to civilized life.
than call singly to her aid, for he had once told her   That night she lay down, and quaked considerahe loved her.                                    bly less. Yet she woke several times; and an hour
"0  papa! 0 Arthur!" she cried, "are you before daylight she heard distinctly a noise that
praying for your poor Helen? "' Then she wept made her flesh creep. It was like the snoring of
and prayed; and half nerved herself to bear the some great animals. This horrible sound was faint
worst. Finally, her vague fears completely over- and distant; but she heard it between the roll of the
mastered her. Then she had recourse to a strata- waves, and that showed it was not the sea roaring;
gem that belongs to her sex, - she hid herself from  she hid herself in her rugs, and cowered till daythe danger, and the danger from her: she covered break. A score of times she was minded to pull her
herself face and all, and so lay trembling, and long- bell-ro.,; but always a womanly feeling, strong as
ing for the day.                                 her love of life, withheld her. "Time to pull that
At the first streak of dawn she fled from her bell-rope when the danger was present or immiplace of torture, and after plunging her face and nent," she thought to herself. " The Thing will
hands in the river, which did her a world of good, come smelling about before it attacks me, and then
she went off, and entered the jungle, and searched I will pull the bell "; and so she passed an hour of
it closely, so far as she could penetrate it.  Soon  agony.




54                                      FOUL PLAY.
Next morning, at daybreak, Hazel met her just   "What am I to do?" said Hazel. "For every
issuing from her hut, and pointing to his net told her such cabbage, a king must die."
he was going to forage; and would she be good    "Goodness me!"
enough to make the fire and have boiling water   " A monarch of the grove."
ready: he was sorry to trouble her; but poor Welch    "0, a King Log. Why, then down with them
was worse this morning. Miss Rolleston cut short all, of course; sooner than dear Mr. Welch shall go
his excuses. " Pray do not take me for a child; of without his cabbage."
course I will light the fire, and boil the water. Only    He cast a look of admiration on her, which she
I have no lucifer matches."                      avoided, and very soon his axe was heard ringing
"Here are two," said he. "I carry the box, in the wood hard by. Then came a loud crash.
wrapped in oil-skin: for if anything happen to them, Then another. Hazel came running with the cabHeaven help us."                                 bage, and a cocoa-pod.  " There," said he, "and
He crossed the prostrate palm-tree, and dived into  there are a hundred more about. Whilst you cook
the wood. It was a large beautiful wood, and ex- that for Welch, I will store them."  Accordingly he
cept at the western edge, the trees were all of the returned to the wood with his net, and soon came
palm-tree genus, but contained several species, in- back with five pods in it, each as big as a large
eluding the cocoa-nut tree.  The turf ran under pumpkin.
these trees for about forty yards and then died    He chucked these one at a time across the river,
gradually away under the same thick shade which  and then went for more. It took him all the afterdestroyed all other vegetation in this wood, and  noon to get all the pods across the river. He was
made it so easy to see and travel.                obliged to sit down and rest.
He gathered a few cocoa-nuts that had burst out   But a suggestion of Helen's soon set him to work
of their ripe pods and fallen to the ground; and ran  again.
on till he reached a belt of trees and shrubs, that   "You were kind enough to say you would store
bounded the palm forest. Here his progress was no these for me. Could you not store them so as to
longer easy: but he found trees covered with a small wall out those terrible beasts with them."
fruit resembling quinces in every particular, of look,   " What terrible beasts? "
taste, and smell, and that made him persevere, since    "That roar so all night, and don't eat us, only beit was most important to learn the useful products cause they have not found out we are here yet. But
of the island.  Presently he burst through some they will."
brushwood into a swampy bottom  surrounded by    "I deny their existence," said Hazel. "But I'1
low trees, and instantly a dozen large birds of the wall them out all the same," said he.
Osprey kind rose flapping into the air like windmills   "Pray do," said Helen. " Wall them out first,
rising. He was quite startled by the whirring and  and disprove them afterwards; I shall be better able
flapping, and not a little amazed at the appearance to believe they don't exist, when they are well
of the place. Here was a very charnel-house; so walled out- much."
thick lay the shells, skeletons, and loose bones of   Hazel went to work, and with her assistance laid
fish. Here too he found three terrapin killed but cocoa-pods two wide and three deep, outside the
not eaten: and also some fish, more or less pecked. northern and western side of her leafy bower, and
" Aha! my worthy executioners, much obliged," he promised to complete the walls by the same
said he: "you have saved me that job": and  means in two days more.
into the bag went the terrapin, and two plump    They all then supped together, and, to oblige him,
fish, but slightly mutilated.  Before he had gone she ate a little of the terrapin, and when they parted
many yards, back came the sailing wings, and the for the night, she thanked him, and said, with a deep
birds settled again before his eyes. The rest of the blush, "You have been a good friend to me-of
low wood was but thin, and he soon emerged upon late."
the open country: but it was most unpromising; and    He colored high, and his eyes sparkled with defitter for geese than men: a vast sedgy swamp with light; and she noticed, and almost wished she had
water in the middle, thin fringes of great fern-trees, kept her gratitude to herself.
and here and there a disconsolate tree like a weep-   That night, what with her bell-rope and her little
ing-willow, and at the end of this lake and swamp, bit of a wall, she was somewhat less timorous, and
which altogether formed a triangle, was a barren  went to sleep early.
hill without a blade of vegetation on it, and a sort   But even in sleep she was watchful, and she was
of jagged summit, volcanic! Hazel did not at all awakened by a slight sound in the neighborhood of
like the look of.                                the boat.
Somewhat dismayed at finding so large a slice of   She lay watching, but did not stir.
the island worthless, he returned through the wood,   Presently she heard a footstep.
guiding himself due west by his pocket-compass, and    With a stifled cry she bounded up, and her first
so got down to the shore, where he found scallops impulse was to rush out of the tent. But she conand cray-fish in incredible abundance.  Literally, quered this, and gliding to the south side of her
he had only to go into the water and gather them. bower, she peered through the palm-leaves, and the
But " enough" is as good as " a feast."  He ran to first thing she saw, was the figure of a man standing
the pots with his miscellaneous bag, and was not between her and the boat.
received according to his deserts. Miss Rolleston    She drew her breath hard. The outline ot the
told him, a little severely, the water had been boil- man was somewhat indistinct. But it was not a
ing a long time. Then he produced his provender, savage: the man was clothed; and his stature beby way of excuse.                                trayed him.
"Tortoises again  " said she, and shuddered vis-   He stood still for some time. " He is listening to
ibly.                                            see if I am awake," said Helen, to herself.
But the quinces and cocoa-nuts were graciously    The figure moved towards her bower.
received.  Welch, however, cried out for cab-   Then all in a moment she became another wobage.                                            man. She did not rely on her bell-rope; she felt it




FOUL PLAY.                                           55
was fast to nothing that could help her. She looked formed of Welch's fancy, made no opposition; but,
round for no weapon; she trusted to herself. She on the contrary, said that such men had sometimes
drew herself hastily up, and folded her arms; her very happy inspirations. He tasted it, however,
bosom panted, but her cheek never paled. Her and said the smell was the best part of it in his
modesty was alarmed; her blood was up, and life.opinion. He then put it aside to cool for the sick
or death were nothing to her.                   man's use.
The footsteps came nearer; they stopped at her   They ate their usual breakfast, and then Welch
door; they went north; they came back south. sipped his spice tea, as he called it. Morning and
They kept her in this high-wrought attitude for afternoon he drank copious draughts of it, and
half an hour. Then they retired softly; and when seemed to get suddenly better, and told them not
they were gone, she gave way, and fell on her knees, to hang about him any longer; but go to their
and began to cry hysterically. Then she got calmer, work: he was all right now.
and then she wondered and puzzled herself; but   To humor him they went off in different direcshe slept no more that night.                   tions; Hazel with his axe to level cocoa-nut trees:
In the morning she found that the fire was lighted and Helen to search for fruits in the jungle.
on a sort of shelf close to the boat. Mr. Hazel had    She came back in about an hour, very proud of
cut the shelf and lighted the fire there for Welch's some pods she had found with nutmegs inside them.
sake, who had complained of cold in the night.  She ran to Welch. He was not in the boat. She
Whilst Hazel was gone for the cray-fish, Welch saw his waistcoat, however, folded and lying on the
asked Helen to go for her prayer-book. She brought thwart: so she knew he could not be far off, and
it directly, and turned the leaves to find the prayers concluded he was in her bower. But he was not
for the sick. But she was soon undeceived as to his there; and she called to Mr. Hazel. He came to
intention.                                      the side of the river laden with cocoa-nuts.
" Sam had it wrote down how the Proserpine was   " Is he with you? " said Helen.
foundered, and I should like to lie alongside my    "Who? Welch? no."
messmate on that there paper, as well as in t' other   " Well, then, he is not here. O dear! something
place " (meaning the grave). "Begin as Sam did, is the matter."
that this is my last word."                       Hazel came across directly. And they both beO, I hope not. 0, Mr. Welch, pray do not gan to run anxiously to every part whence they
leave me!"                                     could command a view to any distance.
" Well, well then, never mind that; but just put   They could not see him anywhere, and met, with
down as I heard Sam; and his dying words, that blank faces, at the bower.
the parson took down, were the truth."            Then Helen made a discovery.
" I have written that."                         This very day, while hanging about the place,
"And that the two holes was on her port-side, Hazel had torn up from the edge of the river an
and seven foot from her starn-post; and I say them  old trunk, whose roots had been loosened by the
very augers that is in our cutter made them holes. water washing away the earth that held them, and
Set down that."                                this stump he had set up in her bower for a table,
" It is down."                                after sawing the roots down into legs. Well, on the
"Then I'11 put my mark under it; and you are smooth part of this table, lay a little pile of money,
my witness."                                    a ring with a large pearl in it, and two gold earHelen, anxious to please him  in everything, rings, Helen had often noticed in Welch's ears.
showed him where to put his mark. He did so;   She pointed at these and turned pale. Then sudand she signed her name as his witness.         denly waving her hand to Hazel to follow her, she
" And now, Mr. Welch," said she, " do not you darted out of the bower, and, in a moment, she was
fret about the loss of the ship; you should rather at the boat.
think how good Providence has been to us in saving    There she found, beside his waistcoat, his knife,
us three out of so many that sailed in that poor ship. and a little pile of money, placed carefully on the
That Wylie was a wicked man; but he is drowned, thwart; and, underneath it, his jacket rolled up,
or starved, no doubt, and there is an end of him. and his shoes and sailor's cap, all put neatly and in
You are alive, and we are all three to see Old Eng- order.
land again. But to live, you must eat; and so now    Hazel found her looking at them. He began to
do pray make a good breakfast to-day. Tell me have vague misgivings. "What does this mean? "
what you can fancy. A cabbage? "               he said, faintly.
" What, you own it is a cabbage? "             "' What does it mean! "' cried Helen, in agony.
"Of course I do," said Helen, coaxing: "You "Don't you see? A Legacy!  The poor thing has
must excuse Mr. Hazel; these learned men are so divided his little all.  0, my heart!  What has
crotchety in some things, and go by books; but you become of him? Then, with one of those inspiraand I go by our senses, and to us a cabbage is a tions her sex have, she cried, " Ah! Cooper's grave!"
cabbage, grow where it will. Will you have one? "   Hazel, though not so quick as she was, caught her
"No, miss, not this morning. What I wants this meaning at a word, and flew down the slope to the
morning very bad, indeed, it is, - I wants a drink sea-shore. The tide was out: a long irregular track
made of the sweet-smelling leaves, like as you of footsteps indented the sand. He stopped a mostrewed over my messmate, - the Lord in heaven ment and looked at them. They pointed towards
bless you for it."                              that cleft where the grave was. He followed them
" 0, Mr. Welch, that is a curious fancy; but you all across the sand.  They entered the cleft, and
shall not ask me twice for anything; the jungle is did not return. Full of heavy foreboding he rushed
full of them, and I'11 fetch you some in five minutes. into the cleft.
So you must boil the water."                      Yes; his arms hanging on each side of the grave,
She scudded away to the jungle, and soon re- and his cheek laid gently on it, there lay Tom
turned with some aromatic leaves. Whilst they Welch, with a loving smile on his dead face. Only
were infusing, Hazel came up, and on being in- a man; yet faithful as a dog.




56                                     FOUL PLAY.
Hazel went back slowly, and crying. Of all men sore perplexity, and did not sleep till morning; and
living, he could best appreciate Fidelity, and mourn so she overslept her usual time. However, when
its fate.                                       she was up, she determined to find her own breakBut, as he drew near Helen, he dried his eyes; fast; she felt it would not do to be too dependent,
for it was his duty to comfort her.             and on a person of uncertain humor; such for the
She had at first endeavored to follow him; but moment she chose to pretend to herself was HazeL
after a few steps her knees smote together, and she Accordingly she went down to the sea to look for
was fain to sit down on the grassy slope that over- crayfish. She found abundance. There they lay
looked the sea.                                 in the water; you had but to stoop and pick them
The sun was setting huge and red over that vast up.
and peaceful sea.                                 But alas! they were black, lively, viperish; she
She put her hands to her head, and, sick at heart, went with no great relish for the task to take one
looked heavily at that glorious and peaceful sight. up; it wriggled maliciously: she dropped it, and at
Hazel came up to her. She looked at his face, and that very moment, by a curious coincidence, rethat look was enough for her. She rocked herself membered she was sick and tired of crayfish; she
gently to and fro.                              would breakfast on fruits. She crossed the sand,
"Yes," said he in a broken voice: "He was there, took off her shoes, and paddled through the river,
- quite dead."                                  and, having put on her shoes again, was about to
He sat gently down by her side, and looked at walk up through some rank grass to the big wood,
that setting sun and illimitable ocean and his heart when she heard a. voice behind her, and it was Mr.
felt deadly sad. " He is gone, - and we are alone, Hazel. She bit her lip (it was broad daylight now),
- on this island."                              and prepared quietly to discourage this excessive
The man said this in one sense only: but the wo- assiduity. He came up to her panting a little, and
man heard it in more than one.                  taking off his hat, said, with marked respect, "I
ALONE!.beg your pardon, Miss Rolleston, but I know you
She glanced timidly round at him, and, without hate reptiles; now there are a few snakes in that
rising, edged a little away from him, and wept in long grass; not poisonous ones."
silence.                                          " Snakes!" cried Helen; "let me get home:
there,- I'11 go without my breakfast."
FCHAPTER  XXVI.                     "Oh, I hope not," said Hazel, ruefully; " why, I
have been rather fortunate this morning, and it is
AFTER a long silence, Hazel asked her in a low  all ready."
voice if she could be there in half an hour. She   " That is a different thing," said Helen, gracioussaid yes, in the same tone, but without turning her ly; " you must not have your trouble for nothing, I
head.  On reaching the graves, she found that suppose."
Hazel had spared her a sad sight; nothing remained    Directly after breakfast, Hazel took his axe and
but to perform the service. When it was over she some rope from the boat, and went off in a great
went slowly away in deep distress on more accounts hurry to the jungle. In half an hour or so he rethan one. In due course Hazel came to her bower, turned, dragging a large conical shrub, armed with
but she was not there. Then he lighted the fire, spikes for leaves, incredibly dense and prickly.
and prepared everything for supper; and he was so   " There,"said he,' there's a vegetable porcupine
busy, and her foot so light, he did not hear her for you. This is your best defence against that
come. But, by and by, lifting'his head, he saw her roaring Bugbear."          "
looking wistfully at him, as if she would read his   "That little tree!" said Helen; "the tiger would
soul in his minutest actions. He started and bright- soon jump over that."
ened all over with pleasure at the sudden sight of   "Ay, but not over this and sixty more; a wall of
her, and  said  eagerly, " Your supper is quite stilettos. Don't touch it, please."
ready."                                           He worked very hard all day, and brought twelve' Thank you, sir," said she, sadly and coldly (she of these prickly trees to the bower by sunset. He
had noted that expression of joy), "I have no appe- was very dissatisfied with his day's work; seemed
tite; do not wait for me." And soon after strolled quite mortified.
away again.                                       " This comes of beginning at the wrong end," he
Hazel was dumbfoundered. There was no mis- said; "I went to work like a fool. I should have
taking her manner; it was chilly and reserved all begun by making a cart."
of a sudden. -It wounded him; but he behaved    " But you can't do that," said Helen, soothingly;
like a man; what! I keep her out of her own " no gentleman can make a cart."
house, do I? said he to himself. He started up,   "0, surely anybody can make a cart, by a little
took a fish out of the pot, wrapped it in a leaf, and thinking," said he.
stalked off to his boat. Then he ate a little of the   " I wish," said Helen, listlessly, " you would think
fish, threw the rest away, and went down upon the of something for me to do; I begin to be ashamed
sands, and paced them in a sad and bitter mood.    of not helping."
But the night calmed him, and some hours of   "Hum! you can plait?"
tranquil thought brought him fortitude, patience,   "Yes, as far as seven strands."
and a clearer understanding. He went to his boat,   "Then you need never be unemployed.  We
elevated  by generous and  delicate resolutions. want ropes, and shall want large mats for the rainy
Now  worthy resolves are tranquillizing, and he weather."
slept profoundly.                                  He went to the place where he had warned her
Not so she, whose sudden but very natural change of the snakes, and cut a great bundle of long silky
of demeanor had hurt him. When'she returned grass, surprisingly tough, yet neither harsh norjuicy;
arid found he was gone for the night, she began to he brought it her, and said he should be very glad
be alarmed at having offended him.              of a hundred yards of light cord, three ply and five
For this and other reasons she passed the night in ply.




FOUL PLAY.                                           57
She was charmed with the grass, and the very rope to the big rope, and so making the big rope a
next morning she came to breakfast with it nicely receptacle, partly by artful tying, they dragged
prepared, and a good deal of cord made and hang- home an incredible load. To be sure some of it
ing round her neck. She found some preparations draggled half along the ground: and came after,
for carpenters' work lying about.               like a peacock's tail.
" Is that great log for the cart? " said she.   He made six trips, and then the sun was low; so
"Yes! it is a section of a sago-tree."       he began to build. He raised a rampart of these
"What, our sago?"                            prickly trees, a rampart three feet wide and eight
"The basis. See, in the centre it is all soft pith." feet high; but it only went round two sides and a
He got from the boat one of the augers that had half of the bower. So, then, he said he had failed
scuttled4the Proserpine, and soon turned the pith again; and lay down worn out by fatigue.
out. " They pound that pith in water, and run it   Helen Rolleston, though dejected herself, could
through linen; then set the water in the sun to not help pitying him for his exhaustion in her serevaporate. The sediment is the sago of commerce, vice, and for his bleeding hands: she undertook the
and sad insipid stuff it is."                   cooking, and urged him kindly to eat of every dish;
"0, please don't call anything names one has and, when he rose to go, she thanked him with as
eaten in England," said Helen, sorrowfully.     much feeling as modesty for the great pains he had
After a hasty meal, she and Mr. Hazel worked taken to lessen those fears of hers, which she saw he
for a wager. Her taper fingers went like the wind, did not share.
and though she watched him, and asked questions,   These kind words more than repaid him. He
she never stopped plaiting. Mr. Hazel was no car- went to his little den in a glow of' spirits; and the
penter, he was merely Brains spurred by Necessity. next -morning went off in a violent hurry, and,
He went to work and sawed off four short discs of for once, seemed glad to get away from her.
the sago-log.                                -    "Poor Mr. Hazel," said she, softly, and watched
" Now what are those, pray? " asked Helen.   him out of sight. Then she got her plait, and went
"The wheels: primeval wheels. And here are to the high point where he had barked a tree; and
the linchpins, made of hard wood; I wattled them  looked far and wide for a sail. The air was wonat odd times."                                  derfully clear; the whole ocean seemed in sight:
He then produced two young lime-trees he had but all was blank.
rooted up that morning, and sawed them into poles   A great awe fell upon her, and sickness of heart;
in a minute. Then he bore two holes in each pole, and then first she began to fear she was out of the
about four inches from either extremity, and fitted known world, and might die on that island; or
his linchpins; then he drew out his linchpins, never be found by the present generation: and this
passed each pole first through one disc, and then sickening fear lurked in her.from that hour and led
through another, and fastened his linchpins.  Then to consequences that will be related shortly.
he ran to the boat, and came back with the stern    She did not return for a long while, and, when
and midship thwarts. He drilled with his centre-bit she did, she found Hazel had completed her fortifithree rows of holes in these, two inches from the cations.  He invited her to explore the western
edge: and now Helen's work came in; her grass part of the island, but she declined.
rope bound the thwarts tight to the horizontal poles   " Thank you," said she; "not to-day; there is
leaving the discs room to play easily between the something to be done at home.. I have been comthwarts and the linchpins; but there was an open paring my abode with yours, and the  contrast
space thirteen inches broad between the thwarts; makes me uncomfortable, if it does n't you. Oblige
this space Hazel herring-boned over with some of me by building yourself a house."
Helen's rope drawn as tight as possible. The cart   "What, in an afternoon? "
was now made. Time occupied in its production,   " Why not? you made a cart in a forenoon.
three hours and forty minutes.                  How can I tell your limits? you are quite out of
The coachmaker was very hot: and Helen asked my poor little depth. Well, at all events, you must
him timidly whether he had not better rest and eat. roof the boat, or something.  Come, be good for
"No time for that," said he. *' The day is not half once, and think a little of yourself. There, I'11 sit
long enough for what I have to do."  He drank by and - what shall I do whilst you are working
copiously from the stream; put the carpenter's bas- to oblige me?"
ket into the cart: got the tow-rope from the boat   "Make a fishing net of cocoa-nut fibre, four feet
and fastened it to the cart in this shape A, putting deep. Here's plenty of material all prepared."
himself in the centre. So now the coachmaker was   "Why, Mr. Hazel, you must work in your sleep."
the horse, and off they went, rattling and creaking,   "No; but of course I am not idle when I am
to the jungle.                                  alone; and luckily I have made a spade out of
Helen turned her stool and watched this pageant hard wood at odd hours, or all the afternoon would
enter the jungle. She plaited on, but notso merrily. go in making that."
Hazel's companionship and bustling way somehow    " A spade! You are going to dig a hole in the
kept her spirits up.                            ground and call it a house. That will not do for me."
But, whenever she was left alone, she gazed on    "You will see," said Hazel.
the blank ocean, and her heart died within her.   The boat lay in a little triangular creek; the surAt last she.strolled pensively towards the jungle, rounding earth was alluvial clay; a sort of black
plaiting busily as she went, and hanging the rope cheesy mould, stiff; but kindly to work with the
round her neck as fast as she made it.          spade. Hazel cut and chiselled it out at a grand
At the edge of the jungle she found Hazel in a rate, and throwing it to the sides, raised, by degrees,
difficulty.  He had  cut down a wagon-load of two mud banks, one on each'side the boat; and at
prickly trees and wanted to get all this mass of noli last he dug so deep that he was enabled to draw the
me tangere on to thatwretched little cart, but had boat another yard inland.
not rope enough to keep it together: she gave him    As Helen sat by netting and forcing a smile now
plenty of new line, and partly by fastening a small and then, though sad at heart, he was on his mettle,




58                                      FOUL PLAY.
and the mud walls he raised in four hours were banks, a tremendous fall of rain is indicated. The
really wonderful. He squared their inner sides rainy months (in these latitudes) are at hand, and
with the spade. When he had done, the boat lay if these rains catch us in our present condition, it
in a hollow, the walls of which, half natural, half will be a calamity. You have walls, but no roof to
artificial, were five feet above her gunwale, and, of keep it out. I tremble when I think of it. This is
course, eight feet above her bottom, in which Hazel my main anxiety. My next is about our sustenance
used to lie at night. He then made another little during the rains: we have no stores under cover;
wall at the boat's stern, and laid palm-branches no fuel; no provisions, but a few cocoa-nuts.  We
over all, and a few huge banana-leaves from the use two lucifer matches a day; and what is to bejungle; got a dozen large stones out of the river, come of us at that rate?  In theory, fire can be got
tied four yards-lengths of Helen's grass-rope from  by rubbing two pieces of wood together; Selkirk is
stone to stone, and so passing the ropes over the said to have so obtained it from pimento wood on
roof, confined it, otherwise asudden gust of wind Juan Fernandez; but, in fact, I believe, the art is
might lift it.                                    confined to savages. I never met a civilized man
"There," said he; " am I not as well off as you? who could do it, and I have questioned scores of
-I, a great tough man.  Abominable waste of voyagers. As for my weapons, they consist of a
time, I call it."                                boat-hook and an axe; no gun, no harpoon, no bow,
" Hum! " said Helen, doubtfully, "all this is very no lance. My tools are a blunt saw, a blunter axe,
clever; but I doubt whether it will keep out much a wooden spade, two great augers, that I believe
rain."                                           had a hand in bringing us here, but have not been
"More than yours will," said Hazel, " and that is any use to us since, a centre-bit, two planes, a hama very serious thing. I am afraid you little; know  mer, a pair of pincers, two brad-awls, three gimlets,
how serious. But, to-morrow, if you please, I will two scrapers, a plumb-lead and line, a large pair of
examine our resources, and lay our whole situation  scissors, and you have a small pair, two gauges, a
before you, and ask your advice. As to your Bug- screw-driver, five claspknives, a few screws and
bear, let him roar his heart out, his reign is over. nails of various sizes, two small barrels, two bags,
Will you not come and see your wooden walls? "    two tin bowls, two wooden bowls, and the shell of
He then took Helen and showed her the tremen- this turtle, and that is a very good soup tureen,
dous nature of her fortification, and assured her that only we have no meat to make soup with.'
no beast of prey could face it, nor even smell at it   "Well, sir," said Miss Rolleston, resignedly, "we
with impunity. And, as to the door, here the de- can but kneel down and die."
fence was double and treble; but attached to four   "That would be cutting the gordian knot, ingrass cords; two passed into the abode round each  deed," said Hazel. "What, die to shirk a few diffiof the screw pine-trees at the east side, and were culties?  No. I propose an amendment to that.
kept in their places by pegs driven into the trees.   After the words kneel down, insert the words,' and
"When you are up," said Hazel, " you pull these get up again, trusting in, that mercifil Providence
four cords steadily, and your four guards will draw  which has saved us so far, but expects us to exert
back right and left, with all their bayonets, and you ourselves too.'"
can come out."                                      "It is good and pious advice," said  Helen,
Helen was very much pleased with this arrange- " and let us follow it this moment."
ment, and did not disguise her gratitude. She slept
in peace and comfort that night. Hazel, too, prof-   "Now, said Hazel, " I have three propositions to
ited by the mud walls and leafy roof she had com- lay before you. 1st, That I hereby give up walking
pelled him to rear; for this night was colder, as it and take to running; time is so precious.  2d,
happened, than any preceding night since they  That we both work by night as well as day. 3d,
came ashore. In the morning, Hazel saw a green  That we each tell the other our principal wants, so
turtle on the shore, which was unusual at that time that there may be four eyes on the lookout, as we
of year. He ran and turned her, with some diffi- go, instead of two."
culty; then brought down his cart, cut off her head    " I consent," said Helen   "Pray what are your
with a blow, and, in due course, dragged her up the wants?"
slope. She weighed two hundred pounds.  He    "Iron, oil, salt, tar, a bellows, a pickaxe, planks,
showed Miss Rolleston the enormous shell, gave her thread, nets, light matting for roofs, bricks, chima lecture on turtles, and especially on the four ney-pots, jars, glass, animal food, some variety of
species known  to South  Sea navigators, - the vegetable food, and so on. I'll write down the entrunk turtle, the logger-head, the green turtle, and tire list for-you."
the hawksbill, from which last, and not from any    " You will be puzzled to do that without ink or
tortoise, he assured her came the tortoise-shell of paper."
commerce.                                           "Not in the least. I shall engrave it in alto
"And now," said he, " will you not give up, or relievo, make the words with pebbles on the turf
suspend, your Reptile theory, and eat a little green just above high-water mark.  Now tell me your
turtle, the king of them all?"                  wants."
" I think I must after all that," said she; and    "Well, I want - Impossibilities."
rather relished it.                                 "Enumerate them."
That morning he kept his word, and laid their   "What is the use?"
case before her.                                    "It is the method we have agreed upon."
He said: "We are here on an island that has   "0, very well, then. I want —a sponge."
probably been seen, and disregarded, by a few    "Good. What next?" 
whalers, but is not known to navigators nor down    "I have broken my comb."
on any chart. There is a wide range of vegetation,   "Good."
proving a delightful climate on the whole, and one    "I'm  glad you think so.  I want, -  0, Mr.
particularly suited to you, whose lungs are delicate. Hazel, what is the use?   well, I should like a matBut then, comparing the beds of the rivers with the tress to lie on."




FOUL PLAY.                                            59
"Hair or wool? "                               from the jungle radiant, carrying vegetable treas" I don't care which. And it is a shame to ask ures in her apron. First she produced some golden
you for either."                                 apples with reddish leaves.
" Go on."                                          There," said she; " and they smell delicious"
"I want a looking-glass."                        Hazel eyed them keenly.
"Great Heaven! What for?"                        "You have not eaten any of them?"
"0, never mind: I want one; and some more    "What! by myself?" said Helen.
towels, and some soap, and a few hair-pins; and   "'Thank Heaven!" said Hazel, turning pale.
some elastic bands; and some pen, ink, and paper, "These are the manchanilla, the poison apple of the
to write my feelings down in this island for nobody Pacific."
ever to see."                                       "Poison! " said Helen, alarmed in her turn.
When she began Hazel looked bright, but the    " Well, I don't know that they are poison; but
list was like a wasp, its sting lay in its tail. How- travellers give them a very bad name. The birds
ever, he put a good face on it. "'11 try and get never peck them; and I have read that even the
you all those things: only give me time. Do you leaves falling into still water have killed the fish.
know I am writing a dictionary on a novel method." You will not eat anything here till you have shown
"That means on the sand."                      it me, will you? " said he, imploringly.
"No; the work is suspended for the present.   "No, no," said Helen; and sat down with her
But two of the definitions in it are, - DIFFICUL- hand to her heart a minute. " And I was so pleased
TIES, - things to be subdued; IMPOSSIBILITIES, -   when I found them," she said; " they reminded me
things to be trampled on."                 \      of home.  I wonder whether these are poison,
" Well, subdue mine. Trample on- a sponge too? " and she opened her apron wide, and showed
for me."                                          him some long yellow pods, with red specks, some"That is just what'I was going to do," said he; thing like a very large banana.
opened a claspknife and jumped coolly into the    " Ah, that is a very different affair," said Hazel,
river.                                            delighted; "these are plantains, and the greatest
Helen screamed faintly, but after all the water find we have made yet. The fruit is meat, the
was only up to his knees.                        wood is thread, and the leaf is shelter and clothes.
He soon cut a large sponge off a piece of slimy  The fruit is good raw, and better baked, as you shall
rock, and held it up to her.  "There," said he, see, and, I believe this is the first time the dinner and
" why, there are a score of them at your very door, the dish were both baked together."
and you never saw them?"                           He cleared the now heated hearth, put the meat
" 0, excuse me, I did see them, and shuddered; and fruit on it, then placed his great platter over it,
I thought they were reptiles; dormant, and biding  and heaped fire round the platter, and light corntheir time."                                     bustibles over it. Whilst this was going on, Helen
When he was out of the river again, she thought took him to her bower, and showed him three rusty
a little, and asked him whether old iron would be iron hoops, and a piece of rotten wood with a rusty
of any use to him.                               nail, and  the  marks where  others had  been.
"0, certainly," said he; "what do you know  " There," said she; "that is all I could find."
of any?"                                            " Why, it is a treasure," cried he; "you will see.
"I think I saw some one day. I'11 go and look I have found something, too."
for it."                                            He then showed her the vegetable wool and vegShe took the way of the shore; and he got his etable hair he had collected, and told her where
cart and spade, and went post-haste to his clay-pit.  they grew.  She owned they were wonderful imitaHe made a quantity of bricks, and brought them  tions, and would do as well as the real things; and
home, and put them to dry in the sun. He also ere they had done comparing notes, the platter and
cut great pieces of the turtle, and wrapped them in the dinner under it were both baked. Hazel refresh banana-leaves, and enclosed them in clay. moved the platter or milk-pan, and served the dinHe then tried to make a large narrow-necked ves- ner in it.
sel, and failed utterly; so he made the clay into a    If Hazel was inventive, Helen was skilful and
great rude platter like a shallow milk-pan. Then  quick at any kind. of woman's work; and the folhe peeled the sago-log, off which he had cut his lowing is the result of three weeks' work under his
wheels, and rubbed it with turtle-fat, and using it direction.  She had made as follows:as a form, produced two clay cylinders. These he    1. Thick mattress, stuffed with the vegetable hair
set in the sun, with bricks round them to keep them  and wool described above. The mattress was only
from falling. Leaving all these to dry and set before two feet six inches wide; for Helen found that she
he baked them, he went off to the marsh for fern- never turned in bed now. She slept as she had
leaves. The soil being so damp the trees were cov- never slept before. This mattress was made with
ered with a brownish-red substance, scarce distin- plantain-leaves, sewed together with the thread furguishable fromwool. This he had counted on. But nished by the tree itself, and doubled at the edges.
he also found in the same neighborhood a long cy-   2. A long shallow net four feet deep,    cocoapress-haired moss that seemed to him very promising. fibre.
He made several trips, and raised quite a stack of   3. A great quantity of stout grass-rope, and light
fern-leaves. By this time the sun had operated on but close matting for the roof, and some cocoa-Inut.
his thinner pottery; so he laid down six of his large matting for the ground, and to go under the matthick tiles, and lighted a fire on them with dry ba- tress. But Hazel instructed by her had learned to
nana-leaves, and cocoa-nut, etc., and such light com- plait, - rather clumsily, — and he had a hand in the
bustibles, until he had heated and hardened the clay; matting.
then he put the ashes on one side, and swept the    Hazel in the mean time heightened his own mud
clay clean; then he put the fire on again, and made banks in the centre, and set up brick fireplaces
it hotter and hotter till the clay began to redden.   with hearth and chimney, one on each side; and
While he was thus occupied, Miss Rolleston came now did all the cooking; for he found the smoke




60                                       FOUL PLAY.
from wood made Miss Rolleston cough. He also    But he very soon had the mortification of seeing
made a number of pigeon-holes in his mud walls and  that she for whom it was all done did not share his
lined them with clay. One of these he dried with  complacency.
fire, and made a pottery door to it, and there kept   A change took place in her; she often let her
the lucifer-box.  He made a vast number of bricks, work fall, and brooded.  She spoke sometimes
but did nothing with them.  After several failures sharply to Mr. Hazel, and sometimes with strained
he made two large pots, and two great pans, that civility.  She wandered away from him, and from
would all four bear fire under them, and in the his labors for her comfort, and passed hours at Telpans he boiled sea-water till it all evaporated and  egraph Point, eying the illimitable ocean.  She
left him a sediment of salt. This was a great addi- was a Riddle.  All sweetness at times, but at
tion to their food, and he managed also to put by a others irritable, moody, and scarce mistress of herlittle. But it was a slow process.                self.  Hazel was sorry and perplexed, and often
He made a huge pair of bellows, with a little as- expressed a fear she was ill. The answer was alsistance from Miss Rolleston; the spout was a sago ways in the negative. He did not press her, but
stick, with the pith driven out, and the substitute  worked on for her, hoping the mood would pass.
for leather was the skin of a huge eel he found  And so it would no doubt, if the cause had not restranded at the east point.                       mained.
Having got his bellows and fixed them to a post   Matters were still in this uncomfortable and myshe drove into the ground, he took for his anvil a terious state when Hazel put his finishing stroke to
huge flint stone, and a smaller one for hammer; her abode.
heated his old iron to a white heat, and hammered    He was in high spirits that evening: for he had
it with a world of trouble into straight lengths; made a discovery  he had -at last found time for a
and at last with a portion of it produced a long saw  walk, and followed the river to its source, a very
without teeth, but one side sharper than the other. remarkable lake in a hilly basin. Near this was a
This by repeated experiments of heating and im- pond, the water of which he had tasted and found
mersing in water, he at last annealed; and when it highly bituminous; and making further researches,
he wanted to saw, he blew his embers to a white he had found at the bottom of a rocky ravine a very
heat (he kept the fire alive now night and day); wonderful thing, a dark resinous fluid bubbling up
heated his original saw red-hot, and soon sawed in quite a fountain, which, however, fell down again
through the oleaginous woods of that island. If he as it rose, and hardly any overflowed. It was like
wanted to cut down a tree in the jungle, he put the thin pitch.
bellows and a pot of embers on his cart with other    Of course, in another hour he was back there
fuel, and came and lighted the fire under the tree with a great pot, and half filled it. It was not like
and soon had it down. He made his pickaxe in  water: it did not bubble so high, when some had been
half an hour, but with his eyes rather than his taken: so he just took what he could get. Pursuhands. He found a young tree growing on the ing his researches a little farther he found a range
rock, or at least on soil so shallow that the root of rocks with snowy summits apparently; but the
was half above ground and at right angles to the snow was the guano of centuries. He got to the
stem.  He got this tree up, shortened the stem, western extremity of the island, saw another deep
shaped the root, shod the point with some of bay or rather branch of the sea, and on the other
his late old iron; and with this primitive tool, and side of it a tongue of high land running out to sea:
a thick stake baked at the point, he opened the on that promontory stood a gigantic palm-tree.
ground to receive twelve stout uprights, and he He recognized that with a certain thrill, but was
drove them with a tremendous mallet made upon in a great hurry to get home with his pot of pitch;
what might be called the compendious or Hazelian  for it was in truth a very remarkable discovery,
method; it was a section of a hard tree with a thick  though not without a parallel. He could not wait
shoot growing out of it, which shoot, being short- till morning, so with embers and cocoa-nut he made
ened, served for the handle. By these arts he at a fire in the bower, and melted his pitch which had
last saw a goal to his labors.  Animal food, oil, become nearly solid, and proceeded to smear the
pitch, ink, paper, were still wanting; but fish were inside of the matting in places, to make it thoroughabundant, and plantains and cocoa - nuts stored. ly water-tight.
Above all, Helen's hut was now weather-tight.   Helen treated the discovery at first with mortifyStout horizontal bars were let into the trees, and, ing indifference: but he hoped she would appreciate
being bound to. the uprights, they mutually sup- Nature's bounty more when she saw the practical
ported each other; smaller horizontal bars at inter- use of this extraordinary production. He endeavvals kept the prickly ramparts from being driven  ored to lead her to that view. She shook her head,
in by a sudden gust. The canvas walls were re- sorrowfully.  He persisted.  She met him  with
moved, and the nails stored in a pigeon-hole, and a silence. He thought this peevish, and ungrateful to
stout network substituted, to which huge plantain- Heaven; we have all different measures of the
leaves were  cunningly fastened  with  plantain- wonderful; and to him a fountain of pitch was a
thread. The roof was double: first that extraordi- thing to admire greatly and thank God for: he said
nary mass of spiked leaves which the four trees as much.
threw out, then several feet under that the huge    To Helen it was nasty stuff, and who cares where
piece of matting the pair had made.  This was it came from. She conveyed as much by a shrug
strengthened by double strips of canvas at the edges of the shoulders, and then gave a sigh that told her
and in the centre, and by single strips in other parts. mind was far away.
A great many cords and strings made of that won-   He was a little mortified, and showed it.
derful grass was sewn to the canvas-strengthened    One word led to another, and at last what had
edges, and so it was fastened to the trees, and fast- been long fermenting came out.
ened to the horizontal bars.                        "Mr. Hazel," said she, " you and I are at cross
When this work drew close to its completion, purposes. You mean to live here. I do not."
Hazel could not disguise his satisfaction.          Hazel left off working and looked greatly per



FOUL -PLAY.                                          61
plexed, the attack was so sudden in its form, tlough prison. Call sea and land to our rescue. Let them
it had been a long time threatening. He found know a poor girl is here in unheard-of, unfathomnothing to say, and she was impatient now to speak able misery: here, in  the middle of this awful
her mind, so she replied to his look.           ocean."
"You are making yourself at home here. You    Hazel sighed deeply. "No ships seem to pass
are contented. Contented? You are happy in this within sight of us," he muttered.
horrible prison."                                 " What does that matter to you? You are not a
"And why not?" said Hazel.  But he looked common man; you are an inventor. Rouse all the
rather guilty.  "Here are no traitors; no mur- powers of your mind. There must be some way.
derers. The animals are my friends, and the one Think for me. THINK! THINK! or my blood will
human being I see makes me better to look at her." be on your head."
"Mr. Hazel, I am in a state of mind, that roman-   Hazel turned pale and put his head in his hands,
tic nonsense jars on me. Be honest with me, and and tried to think.
talk to me like a man. I say that you beam all   She leaned towards him with great flashing eyes
over with happiness and content, and that you -  of purest hazel.
now answer me one question; why have you never   The problem dropped from his lips a syllable at a
lighted the bonfire on Telegraph Point?"       time.   "To diffuse   intelligence- a hundred
"Indeed I don't know," said he, submissively. leagues from a fixed point —an island?"
"I have been so occupied."                        She leaned towards him with flashing expectant
"You have: and how? Not in trying to deliver eyes.
us both from this dreadful situation, but to reconcile   But he groaned, and said; "That seems imposme to it. Yes sir, under pretence (that is a harsh sible."
word, but I can't help it) of keeping out the rain.   " Then trample on it," said she, bringing his own
Your rain is a Bugbear: it never rains, it never words against him; for she used to remember all
will rain.  You are killing yourself almost to make he said to her in the day, and ponder it at night.
me  comfortable in this place.  Comfortable? " "Trample on it, subdue it, or never speak to me
She began to tremble all over with excitement long again. Ah, I am an ungrateful wretch to speak so
restrained. "And do you really suppose you can harshly to you. It is my misery, not me. Good,
make me live on like this, by building me a nice kind, Mr. Hazel, 0 pray, pray, pray bring all the
hut.  Do you think I am all body and no soul, powers of that great mind to bear on this one thing,
that shelter and warmth and enough to eat can and save a poor girl, to whom you have been so
keep my heart from breaking, and my cheeks from  kind, so considerate, so noble, so delicate, so forblushing night and day.  When I wake in the bearing; now save me from despair."
morning I find myself blushing to my fingers'   Hysterical sobs cut her short here, and Hazel,
ends."  Then she walked away from him.  Then whose loving heart she had almost torn out of his
she walked back. " 0, my dear father, why did I body, could only falter out in a broken voice, that
ever leave you!"  " Keep me here? make me he would obey her. "I'11 work no more for you at
live months and years on this island. Have you present," said he, "sweet as it has been. I will
sisters?  Have you a mother'?  Ask yourself, is it think instead. I will go this moment beneath the
likely?  No; if you will not help me, and they stars and think all night."
don't love me enough to come and find me and take    The young woman was now leaning her head
me home, I'11 go to another home without your help languidly back against one of the trees, weak as
or any man's."  Then she rose suddenly to her feet. water after her passion. He cast a look of ineffable
I'11 tie my clothes tight round me, and fling love and pity on her, and withdrew slowly to think
myself down from that point on to the sharp rocks beneath the tranquil stars.
below.  I'11 find a way from this place to Heaven,   Love has set men hard tasks in his time. Whethif there's no way from it to those I love on earth."  er this was a light one, our reader shall decide.
Then she sank down and rocked herself and    To DIFFUSE INTELLIGENCE FROM A FIXED ISLsobbed hard.                                    AND OVER A HUNDRED LEAGUES OF OCEAN
The strong passion of this hitherto gentle creature
quite frightened her unhappy friend, who knew
more of books than women. He longed to soothe                 CH  PTE   XVII
her and comfort her; but what could he say. He
cried out in despair, "My God, can I do nothing    THE perplexity into which Hazel was thrown
for her?"                                      by the outburst of his companion, rendered him
She turned on him like lightning, " You can do unable to reduce her demand at once to an intellianything: everything. You can restore us both to gible form. For some moments he seriously emour friends. You can save my life, my reason. ployed his mind on the problem  until it assumed
For that will go first, I think. What had I done? this shape.
what had I ever done since I was born, to be so   Firstly: I do not know where this island is,
brought down? Was ever an English lady-?  having no means of ascertaining either its latitude
And. then I have such an irritation on my skin, all or longitude.
over me. I sometimes wish the tiger would come    Secondly: If I had such a description of its
and tear me all to pieces; yes, all to pieces."  And  locality, how might the news be conveyed beyond
with that her white teeth clicked together convul- the limits of the place?
sively. "Do!" said she, darting back to the point   As the wildness of Helen's demand broke upon
as swiftly as she had rushed away from it. " Why, his mind, he smiled sadly, and sat down upon the
put down that nasty stuff; and leave off inventing bank of the little river, near his boat-house, and
fifty little trumpery things for me, and do one great buried his head in his hands. A deep groan burst
thing instead.  0, do not fritter that great mind  from him, and the tears at last came through his
of yours away in painting and patching my prison; fingers, as in despair he thought how vain must be
but bring it all to bear on getting me out of my  any effort to content or to conciliate her. Impatient




62                                      FOUL PLAY.
with his own weakness he started to his feet, when  can be erected, such as may be visible to ships at
a hand was laid gently upon his arm.  She stood sea."
beside him.                                         "But will they remark such signals?"
"Mr. Hazel," she said, hurriedly, -her voice was   "Be assured they will, if they come within sight
husky,  "do not mind what I have said. I am  of the place."
unreasonable; and I am sure I ought to feel obliged    Hazel knew that there was little chance of such
to you for all the-"                              an event; but it was something not to be neglected.
Hazel turned his face towards her, and the moon He also explained that it was necessary he should
glistened on the tears that still flowed down his arrive at a knowledge of the island, the character
cheeks. He tried to check the utterance of her of its shores; and from the sea he could rapidly
apology: but, ere he could master his voice, the obtain a plan of the place, ascertain what small
irl's cold and constrained features seemed to melt. rivers there might be, and, indeed, see much of its
She turned away, wrung her hands, and with a interior; for he judged it to be not more than ten
sharp quivering cry, she broke forth,-           miles in length, and scarce three in width.
" 0 sir! 0 Mr. Hazel! do forgive me.  I am    Helen felt rather disappointed that no trace of
not ungrateful, indeed, indeed, I am not; but I am  the emotion he displayed on the previous night
mad with despair.  Judge me with compassion. remained in his manner, or in the expression of his
At this moment, those who are very very dear to  face. She bowed her permission to him  rather
me are awaiting my arrival in London; and when  haughtily, and sat down to breakfast on some
they learn the loss of the Proserpine, how great baked yams, and some rough oysters, which he had
will be their misery! Well, that misery is added to raked up from the bay while bathing that morning.
mine. Then my poor papa: he will never know  The young man had regained an elasticity of bearhow much he loved me until this news reaches him. ing, an independence of tone, to which she was not
And to think that I am dead to them, yet living! at all accustomed; his manners were always soft
living here helplessly, helplessly.  Dear, dear, and deferential; but his expression was more firm,
Arthur, how you will suffer for my sake. 0 papa, and she felt that the reins had been gently removed
papa! shall I never see you again?" and she wept from her possession, and there was a will to guide
bitterly.                                         her which she was bound to acknowledge and'I am helpless either to aid or to console you, Miss obey.
Rolleston. By the act of a Divine Providence you    She did not argue in this wise, for it is not huwere cast upon this desolate shore, and by the man to reason and to feel at the same moment.
same Will I was appointed to serve and to provide  She felt then instinctively that the man was quietly
for your welfare. I pray God that He will give me asserting his superiority, and the child pouted.
health and strength to assist you. Good night."     Hazel went about his work briskly; the boat was
She looked timidly at him for a moment, then  soon laden with every requisite. Helen watched
slowly regained her hut. He had spoken coldly, these preparations askance, vexed with the expediand with dignity. She felt humbled, the more so, tion which she had urged him to make. Then she
that he had only bowed his acknowledgment to fell to reflecting on the change that seemed to have
her apology.                                     taken place in her character; she, Who was once
For more than an hour she watched him, as he so womanly, so firm, so reasonable, - why had sho
paced up and down between the boat-house and the become so petulant, childish, and capricious?
shore; then he advanced a little towards her shel-   The sail was set, and all ready to run the cutter
ter, and she shrank into her bed, after gently clos- into the surf of the rising tide, when, taking a suding the door. In a few moments she crept again  den resolution, as it were, Helen came rapidly
to peep forth, and to see if he were still there, but down, and said, " I will go with you, if you please,"
he had disappeared.                               half in command and half in doubt. Hazel looked
The following morning Helen was surprised to  a little surprised, but very pleased; and then she
see the boat riding at anchor in the surf, and Hazel added, "I hope I shall not be in your way."
busily engaged on her trim. He was soon on shore,   He assured her, on the contrary, that she might
and by her side.                                 be of great assistance to him; and now with doubled
"I am afraid I must leave you for a day, Miss alacrity, he ran out the little vessel and leaped into
Rolleston," he said. "I wish to make a circuit of the prow as she danced over the waves. He taught
the island; indeed, I ought to have done so many her how to bring the boat's head round with the help
days ago."                                       of an oar, and when all was snug, left her at the'Is such an expedition necessary?  Surely you helm. On reaching the mouth of the bay, if it
have had enough of the sea."                      could so be called, he made her remark that it was
" It is very necessary. You have urged me to closed by reefs, except to the north and to the west.
undertake this enterprise. You see, it is the first The wind being southerly, he had decided to pass
step towards announcing to all passing vessels our to the west, and so they opened the sea about half a
presence in this place. I have commenced opera- mile from the shore.
tions already. See on yonder bluff; which I have    For about three miles they perceived it consisted
called Telegraph Point, I have mounted the boat's of a line of bluffs, cleft at intervals by small narrow
ensign, and now it floats from the top of the tree bays, the precipitous sides of which were lined with
beside the bonfire.  I carried it there at sunrise. dense foliage.:Into these fissures the sea entered
Do you see that pole I have shipped on board the with a mournful sound, that died away as it crept
boat? that is intended as a signal, which shall be up the yellow sands with which these nooks were
exhibited on your great palm-tree. The flag will carpeted. An exclamation from Helen attracted
then stand for a signal on the northern coast, and his attention to the horizon on the northwest, where
the palm-tree, thus accoutred, will serve for a simi- a long line of breakers glittered in the sun. A reef
lar purpose on the western extremity of the isl- or low sandy bay appeared to exist in that direction,
and.  As I pass along the southern and eastern  about fifteen miles away, and something more than
shores, I propose to select spots where some mark  a mile in length. As they proceeded, he marked




EXPLORING THE ISLAND.-Seepage64.








FOUL PLAY.                                            63
roughly on the side of his tin baler, with the point ing to the tree, and dragged it high up on shore.
of a pin borrowed from  Helen, the form  of the  Scarcely had he disposed it conveniently, intending
coast line.                                      to return in a day or two, with the means of affixAn hour and a half brought them  to the north- ing it in a prominent and- remarkable manner, in
western extremity of the island. As they cleared the form of a spar across the trunk of the palm,
the shelter of the land, the southerly breeze coming when a cry from Helen recalled him. A large numwith some force across the open sea caught the cut- ber of the sea-lions were coasting quietly down the
ter, and she lay over in a way to inspire Helen with surf towards the boat; indeed, a dozen of them had
alarm; she was about to let go the tiller, when Ha- made their appearance around it.
zel seized it, accidentally enclosing her hand under   Hazel shouted to her not to fear, and desiring
the grasp of his own, as he pressed the tiller hard to that her alarm  should not spread to the swarm, he
port.                                            passed back quietly but rapidly. When he reached
"Steady, please; don't relinquish your hold; it the water, three or four of the animals were already
is all right,- no fear," he cried, as he kept his eye floundering between him and the boat.  He waded
on their sail.                                   slowly towards one of them, and stood beside it.
He held this course for a mile or more, and then  The man and the creature looked quietly at each
judging with a long tack he could weather the other, and then the seal rolled over, with a snuffling,
southerly side of the island, he put the boat about. self-satisfied air, winking its soft eyes with immense
He took occasion to explain to Helen how this oper- complacency.
ation was necessary, and she learned the alphabet   Helen, in her alarm, could not resist a smile at
of navigation. The western end of their little land  this conclusion of so terrible a demonstration; for,
now lay before them; it was about three miles in  with all their gentle expression, the tusks of the
breadth. For two miles the bluff coast line contin- brute looked formidable. But, when she saw Hazel
ued unbroken; then a deep bay, a mile in width  pushing them  aside, and patting a very small cub
and two miles in depth, was made by a long tongue on the back, she recovered her courage completely.
of sand projecting westerly; on its extremity grew    Then he took to his oars again; and, aided by
the gigantic palm, well recognized as Helen's land- the tide, which was now on the ebb, he rowed
mark. Hazel stood up in the boat to reconnoitre round the southwestern extremity of the island.
the coast. He perceived the sandy shore was dot- He found the water here, as he anticipated, very
ted with multitudes of dark objects. Erelong, these shallow.
objects were seen to be in motion, and, pointing    It was midday when they were fairly on the
them out to Helen, with a smile, he said, —      southern coast; and now, sailing with the wind aft,
"Beware, Miss Rolleston, yonder are your bug- the cutter ran through the water at racing speed.
bears, - and in some force, too. Those dark masses, Fearing that some reefs or rocky formations might
moving upon the hillocks of sand, or rolling on the exist in their course, he reduced sail, and kept away
surf, are sea-lions, - the phoca leonina, or lion-seal." from the shore, about a mile. At this distance he
Helen strained her eyes to distinguish the forms, was better able to see inland, and mark down the
but only descried the dingy objects. While thus accidence of its formation.
engaged, she allowed the cutter to fall off a little,   The southern coast was uniform, and Helen said
and, ere Hazel had resumed his hold upon the tiller, it resembled the cliffs of the Kentish or Sussex
they were fairly in the bay; the great palm-tree on coast of England, only the English white was here
their starboard-bow.                             replaced by the pale*volcanic gray. By one o'clock
"You seem determined to make the acquaintance they came abreast the very spot where they had
of your nightmares," he remarked; "you perceive  first made land; and, as they judged, due south of
that we are embayed."                            their residence. Had they landed here, a walk of
Her consternation amused him; she saw that if three miles across the centre of the island would
they held their present course, the cutter would have brought them home.
take the beach about a mile ahead, where these    For about a similar distance the coast exhibited
animals were densely crowded.                    monotonous cliffs unbroken even by a rill. It was
At this moment, something dark bulged up close plain that the water-shed of the island was all northbeside her in the sea, and the rounded back of a ward.  They now approached the eastern end,
monster rolled over and disappeared.  Hazel let where rose the circular mountain of which mention
drop the sail, for they were now fairly in the smooth has been already made. This eminence had eviwater of the bay, and close to the sandy spit, the dently at one time been detached from the rest of
gigantic stem of the palm-tree was on their quarter, the land to which it was now joined by a neck of
about half a mile off.                           swamp about a mile and a half in breadth, and two
He took to the oars, and rowed slowly towards miles in length.
theshore. A small seal rose behind the boat and    Hazel proposed to reconnoitre this part of the
followed them, playing with the blade, its gambols shore nearly, and ran the boat close in to land.
resembling that of a kitten. He pointed out to The reeds or canes with which this bog was densely
lelen the mild expression of the creature's face, clothed, grew  in a dark spongy soil. Here and
and assured her that all this tribe were harmless there this waste was dotted with ragged trees which
animals, and susceptible of domestication.  The he recognized  as the cypress: from  its gaunt
cub swam up to the boat quite fearlessly, and he branches hung a black, funeral kind of weeper, a
touched its head gently; he encouraged her to do kind of moss, resembling iron gray horsehair both
the like, but she shrank from its contact. They in texture and uses, though not so long in the
were now close ashore, and Hazel, throwing out his staple.
anchor in two feet of water, prepared to land the    This parasite, Hazel explained to Helen, was very
beam of wood he had brought to decorate the palm- common in such marshy ground, and was the deathtree as a signal.                                flag hung out by Nature to warn man that malaria
The huge stick was soon heaved overboard, and and fever were the invisible and inalienable inhabihe leaped after it. He towed it to the nearest land- tants of that fatal neighborhood.




64                                      FOUL PLAY.
Looking narrowly along the low shore for some various stages; some were just opening like tulips
good landing, where under shelter of a tree they  others, more advanced, had expanded like umbretmight repose for an hour, and spread their midday las, and quite overlapped the fruit, keeping it from
repast, they discovered an opening in the reeds, a sun and dew; others had served their turn in that
kind of lagoon or bayou, extending into the morass way, and been withered by the sun's rays. But,
between the highlands of the island and the circular wherever this was the case, the fruit had also burst
mountain, but close under the base of the latter. open and displayed or discharged its contents, and
This inlet he proposed to explore, and accordingly those contents looked like seeds; but on narrowthe sail was taken down and the cutter was poled er inspection proved to be little insects with pink
into the narrow creek. The water here was so shal- transparent wings, and bodies of incredibly vivid
low that the keel slid over the quicksand into which crimson.
the oar sank freely. The creek soon became nar-   Hazel examined the fruit and flowers very carerow, the water deeper, and of a blacker color, and fully, and stood rapt, transfixed.
the banks more densely covered with canes. These    " It must be! - and it is!" said he, at last.
grew to the height of ten and twelve feet, and as " Well, I'm glad I've not died without seeing it."
close as wheat in a thick crop. The air felt dank    "What is it? " said she.
and heavy, and hummed with myriads of insects.   " One of the most valuable productions of the
The black water became so deep and the bottom so earth. It is cochineal. This is the Tunal-tree."
sticky that Hazel took to the oars again.  The    " 0! indeed," said Helen, indifferently: "cochicreek narrowed as they proceeded, until it proved  neal is used for a dye; but as it is not probable we
scarcely wide enough to admit of his working the shall require to dye anything, the discovery seems to
boat. The height of the reeds hindered the view on me more curious than useful."
either side. Suddenly, however, and after proceed-   "You wanted some ink. This pigment, mixed
ing very slowly through the bends of the canal, they with lime-juice, will form a beautiful red ink. Will
decreased in height and density, and they emerged you lend me your handkerchief and permit me to
into an oper space of about five acres in extent, a try if I have forgotten the method by which these
kind of oasis in this reedy desert, created by a mossy little insects are obtained."  He asked her to hold
mound which arose amidst the morass, and afforded her handkerchief under a bough of the Tunal-tree,
firm footing, of which a grove of trees and innumer- where the fruit was ripe. He then shook the bough.
able shrubs availed themselves. Helen uttered an  Some insects fell at once into the cloth. A great
exclamation of delight as this island of foliage in a number rose and buzzed a little in the sun not a
sea of reeds met her eyes, that had been famished yard from where they were born; but the sun dried
with the arid monotony of the brake.             their blood so promptly that they soon fell dead in
They soon landed.                              the handkerchief. Those that the sun so killed went
Helen insisted on the preparations for their meal through three phases of color before their eyes.
being left to her, and having selected a sheltered  They fell down black or nearly. They whitened on
spot she was soon busy with their frugal food. Ha- the cloth: and after that came gradually to their
zel surveyed the spot, and selecting a red cedar, was final color, a flaming crimson. The insect thus
soon seated forty feet above her head; making a treated, appeared the most vivid of all.
topographical survey of the neighborhood. He found    They soon secured about half a tea-cup full; they
that the bayou by which they had entered continued  were rolled up and put away, then they sat down
its course to the northern shore, thus cutting off the and made a very hearty meal, for it was now past
mountain or easterly end, and forming of it a sepa- two o'clock. They re-entered the boat, and passing
rate island. He saw that a quarter of a mile farther once more into the morass they found the channel
on the bayou or canal parted, forming two streams, of the bayou as it approached the northern shore
of which that to the left seemed the main channel. less difficult of navigation. The bottom  became'This he determined to follow. Turning to the west, sandy and hard, and the presence of trees in the
that is towards their home, he saw at a distance of swamp proved that spots of terra firma were more
two miles a crest of hills broken into cliffs, which frequent. But the water shallowed, and as they
defined the limit of the mainland.  The sea had opened the shore, he saw with great vexation that
at one time occupied the site where the morass the tide in receding had left the bar at the mouth
now stood. These cliffs formed a range, extending  of the canal visible in some parts. He pushed on,
from north to south: their precipitous sides clothed however, until the boat grounded. This was a sad
here and there with trees, marked where the de- affair. There lay the sea not fifty yards ahead.
scent was broken by platforms. Between him and  Hazel leaped out, and examined and forded the
this range the morass extended. Hazel took note channel, which at this place was about two hundred
of three places where the descent from these hills feet wide.  He found a narrow passage near the
into the marsh could, he believed, most readily be eastern side, and to this he towed the boat. Then
made.                                             he begged Miss Rolleston to land, and relieved the
On the eastern side, and close above him arose the boat of the mast, sail, and oars. Thus lightened, he
peculiar mountain.  Its form was that of a trun- dragged her into the passage: but the time occupied
cated cone, and its sides densely covered with trees in these preparations had been also occupied by
of some size.                                     Nature, - the tide had receded, and the cutter stuck
The voice of Helen called him from his perch, and immovably in the water-way, about six fathoms
he descended quickly, leaping into a mass of brush- short of deeper water.
wood growing at the foot of his tree. Helen stood    "What is to be done now? " inquired Helen,
a few yards from him, in admiration, befbre a large when Hazel returned to her side, panting, but
shrub.                                           cheerful.
"Look, Mr. Hazel, what a singular production,"   "We must await the rising of the tide. I fear we
said the girl, as she stooped to examine the plant. are imprisoned here for three hours at least."
It bore a number of red flowers, each growing out   There was no help for it. Helen made light of
Df a fruit like a prickly pear. These flowers were in  the misfortune. The spot where they had landed




FOUL PLAY.                                           65
was encluoed between the two issues of the lagoon. he caught a glisten of the sea. The sun was in
They walked along the shore to the more easterly, the north behind him, and by this alone he guided
and the narrower canal, and, on arriving, Hazel his road due southerly and upward. Once only he
found to his great annoyance that there was ample found a small cleared space about an acre in extent,
water to have floated the cutter had he selected and here it was he uttered the cry Helen heard.
that, the least promising road. He suggested a re- He waited a few moments in the hope to hear her
turn by the rmad they came, and, passing into the voice in reply, but it did not reach him. Again he
other canal, by that to reach the sea. They hur- plunged upward, and now the ascent became at
ried back, b't found by this time the tide had. left times so arduous that more than once he almost rethe cutter high and dry on the sand. So they had solved to relinquish, or, at least, to defer his task;
no choice but to wait.                          but a moment's Zest recalled him to himself, and he
Having three hours to spare, Hazel asked Miss was one not easily baffled by difficulty or labor, so
Rolleston's permission to ascend the mountain. She he toiled on until he judged the summit ought to
assented to remain near the boat while he was en- have been reached. After pausing to take breath
gaged in this expedition. The ascent was too rug- and counsel, he fancied that he had borne too much
ged and steep for her powers, and the seashore and to the left, the ground to his right appeared to rise
adjacent groves would find her ample amusement more than the path that he was pursuing, which had
during his absence. She accompanied him to the become level, and he concluded, that, instead of asbank of the smaller lagoon, which he forded, and cending, he was circling the mountain-top.  He
waving an adieu to her he plunged into the dense turned aside, therefore, and after ten minutes' hard
wood with which the sides of the mountain were climbing he was pushing through a thick and high
clothed.                                        scrub, when the earth seemed to give way beneath
She waited some time, and then she heard his him, and he fell - into an abyss.
voice shouting to her from the heights above. The   He was engulfed. He fell from bush to bushmountain-top was about three quarters of a mile down - down - scratch - rip - plump! until he
from where she stood, but seemed mVch nearer. lodged in a prickly bush more winded than hurt.
She turned back towards the boat, walking slowly, Out of this he crawled, only to discover himself thus
but paused as a faint and distant cry again reached landed in a great and perfectly circular plain of
her ear. It was not repeated, and then she entered about thirty acres in extent, or about 350 yards in
the grove,                                      diameter. In the centre was a lake, also circular,
The ground beneath her feet was soft with vel- the broad belt of shore around this lake was covvety moss, and the dark foliage of the trees ren- ered with rich grass, level as a bowling-green, and
dered the air cool and deliciously fragrant. After all this again was surrounded by a nearly perpenwandering for some time, she regained the edge of dicular cliff, down which indeed he had fallen: this
the grove near the boat, and selecting a spot at the cliff was thickly clothed with shrubs and trees.
foot of an aged cypress, she sat down with her back    Hazel recognized the crater of an extinct volagainst its trunk. Then she took out Arthur's let- cano.
ter, and began to read those impassioned sentences:   On examining the lake he found the waters imas she read she sighed deeply, as earnestly she found pregnated with volcanic products. Its bottom was
herself pitying Arthur's condition'more than she formed of asphaltum. Having made a circuit of the
regretted her own. She fell into reverie, and from  shores, he perceived on the westerly side- that
reverie into a drowsy languor. How long she re- next the island- a break in the cliff; and on a
mained in this state she could not remember, but a narrow examination he discovered an outlet. It apslight rustle overhead recalled her senses. Believ- peared to him that the lake at one time had emping it to be a bird moving in the branches she was tied its waters through this ancient water-course.
resigning herself again to rest when she became The descent here was not only gradual, but the old
sensible of a strange emotion, a conviction that river-bed was tolerably free from obstructions, essomething was watching her with a fixed gaze. She pecially of the vegetable kind.
cast her eyes around, but saw nothing. She looked    He made his way rapidly downwards, and in half
upwards. From the tree immediately above her lap an hour reached marshy ground. The cane-brake
depended a snake, its tail coiled around a dead now lay before him. On his left he saw the sea on
branch. The reptile hung straight, its eyes fixed the south, about a third of a mile. He knew that
like two rubies upon Helen's, as very slowly it let to the right must be the sea on the north, about
itself down by its uncoiling tail. Now its head was half a mile or so. He bent his. way thither. The
on a level with hers; in another moment it must edge of the swamp was very clear, and though
drop into her lap.                              somewhat spongy, afforded good walking unimpeded
She was paralyzed.                            As he approached the spdt where he judged the
boat to be, the underwood thickened, the trees again
interlaced their arms, and he had to struggle through
the foliage. At length he struck the smaller lagoon,
CHAPTER  XXVIII.                   and, as he was not certain whether it was fordable,
he followed its course to the shore, where he had
AFTER toiling up a rugged and steep ascent, en- previously crossed. In a few moments he reached
cumbered with blocks of gray stone, of which the the boat, and was pleased to find her afloat. The
island seemed to be formed, forcing his way over rising tide had even moved her a few feet back into
fallen trees and through the tangled undergrowth the canal.
of a species of wild vine, which abounded on the   Hazel shouted to apprise Miss Rolleston of his
mountain-side, Hazel stopped to breathe and peer return, and then proceeded to restore the mast to
around, as well as the dense foliage permitted. He its place, and replace the rigging and the oars.
was up to his waist in scrub, and the stiff leaves of This occupied some little time. He felt surprised
the bayonet plant rendered caution necessary in' that she had not appeared. He shouted again. No
walking. At moments, through the dense foliage, reply.




66                                      FOUL PLAY.
CHAPTER  XXIX.                     that they were at home. She answered by a soo.
In half an hour, the keel grated on the sand, near
HAZEL advanced hurriedly into the grove, which the boat-house. Then he asked her if she were
he hunted thoroughly, but without effect. He satis- strong enough to reach her hut. She raised her
fied himself that she could not have quitted the spot, head, but she felt dizzy; he helped her to land; all
since the marsh enclosed, it on one side, the canals power had forsaken her limbs; her head sank on his
on the second and third, the sea on the fourth. He shoulder, and his arm, wound round her lithe fig-ue,
returned to the boat more surprised than anxious. alone prevented her falling helplessly at his feet.
He waited a while, and again shouted her name, -   Again he raised her in his arms and bore her to the
stopped,- listened,- no answer.                  hut. Here he laid her down on her bed, and stood
Yet surely Helen could not have been more than for a moment beside her, unable to restrain his tears,
a hundred yards from where he stood. His heart
beat with a strange sense of apprehension. He heard
nothing but the rustling of the foliage and the sop             CHAPTER XXX.
of the waves on the shore, as the tide crept up the
shingle. As his eyes roved in every direction, he   IT was a wretched and anxious night for Hazel.
caught sight of something white near the foot of a He watched the hut, without the courage to approach
withered cypress-tree, not fifty yards from where he it. That one moment of weakness which occurred
stood. He approached the bushes in which the tree to him  on board the Proserpine when he had alwas partially concealed on that side, and quickly  lowed Helen to perceive the nature of his feelings
recognized a portion of Helen's dress. He ran to- towards her, had rendered all his actions open to
wards her, - burst through the underwood, and  suspicion. He dared not exhibit towards her any
gained the enclosure. She was sitting there, asleep, sympathy,- he might not extend to her the most
as he conjectured, her back leaning against the ordinary civility. If she fell ill, if fever supervened 
trunk. He contemplated her thus for one moment, how could he nurse her, attend upon her?  His
and then he advanced, about to awaken her; but touch must have a significance, he knew that; for, as
was struck speechless. Her face was ashy pale, her he bore her insensible form, he embraced rather than
eyes open and widely distended; her bosom heaved carried the precious burden.  Could he look upon
slowly. Hazel approached rapidly, and called to her. her in her suffering without betraying his forbidden
Her eyes never moved, not a limb stirred.  She love?  And then would not his attentions afflict
sat glaring forward. On her lap was coiled a snake, more than console?
- gray, mottled with muddy green.                   Chewing the cud of such bitter thoughts, he
Hazel looked round and selected a branch of the passed the night, without noticing the change which
dead tree, about three feet in length. Armed with was taking place over the island. The sun rose;
this, he advanced slowly to the reptile. It was very and this awakened him from his reverie, which had
quiet, thanks to the warmth of her lap. He pointed  replaced sleep; he looked around, and then became
the stick at it; the vermin lifted its head, and its sensible of the warnings in the air.
tail began to quiver; then it darted at the stick,   The sea-birds flew about vaguely and absurdly,
throwing itself its entire length. Hazel retreated, and seemed sporting in currents of wind; yet there
the snake coiled again, and again darted. By re- was but little wind down below. Presently clouds
peating this process four or five times, he enticed the came flying over the sky, and blacker masses gathcreature away; and then availing himself of a mo- ered on the horizon. The sea changed color.
ment before it could recoil, he struck it a smart blow    Hazel knew the weather was breaking. The wet
on the neck.                                      season was at hand, -the moment when fever, if
When Hazel turned to Miss Rolleston, he found such an invisible inhabitant there was on that island,
her still fixed in the attitude into which terror had would visit them. In a few hours the rain would be
transfixed her. The poor girl had remained mo- upon them, and he reproached himself with want of
tionless for an hour, under the terrible fascination of care in the construction of the hut. For some hours
the reptile, comatized. He spoke to her, but a quick he hovered around it, before he ventured to approach
spasmodic action of her throat and a quivering of the door, and call to Helen. He thought he heard
her hands, alone responded. The sight of her suf- her voice faintly, and he entered. She lay there as
fering agonized him beyond expression, but he took he had placed her. He knelt beside her, and was
her hands,- he pressed them, for they.were icy appalled at the change in her appearance.
cold, —he called piteously on her name. But she    The poor girl's system had received a shock for
seemed incapable of effort. Then stooping heraised which it was unprepared. Her severe sufferings at
her tenderly in his arms, and carried her to the boat, sea had, strange to say, reduced her in appearance
where he laid her still unresisting and incapable.    less than could have been believed; for her physical
With trembling limbs and weak hands, he launched  endurance proved greater than that of the strong
the cutter; and they were once more afloat and men around her. But the food which the island
bound homeward.                                   supplied was not suited to restore her strength, and
He dipped the baler into the fresh water he had  the nervous shock to which she had been subjected
brought with him for their daily supply, and dashed was followed by complete prostration.
it on her forehead. This he repeated until he per-   Hazel took her unresisting hand, which he would
ceived her breathing became less painful and more have given a world to press. He felt her pulse; it
rapid. Then he raised her a little, and her head  was weak, but slow. Her cheeks were hollow, her
rested upon his arm. When they reached the en- eyes sunken; her hand dropped helplessly when he
trance of the bay he was obliged to pass it, for the released it.
wind being still southernly, he could not enter by    Leaving the hut quietly, but hastily, he descended
the north gate, but came round and ran in by the the hill to the rivulet, which he crossed. About
western passage, the same by which they had left half a mile above the boat-house the stream forked,
the same morning.                                one of its branches coming from the west, the other
Hazel bent over Helen, and whispered tenderly  from the east. Between this latter branch and Ter



FOUL PLAY.                                             67
rapin Wood, was a stony hill; to this spot Hazel She watched him with a smile, but he persevered.
went, and fell to gathering a handful of poppies. So that day passed. The next morning the rope
When he had obtained a sufficient quantity he re- was finished.  Helen was not so well, and was
turned to the boat-house, made a small fire of chips, about to help herself to the poppy liquor, when Haand filling his tin baler with water, he set down the zel happily stopped her hand in time; he showed
poppies to boil. W.hen the lquor was cool, he meas- her the exact dose necessary, and explained minutely
ured out a portion and drank it. In about twenty  the effects of a larger draught.  Then he shoulminutes his temples began to throb, a sensation  dered the rope, and set out for Palm-tree Point.
which was rapidly followed by nausea.               He was absent about six hours, of which Helen
It was midday before he recovered from the ef- slept four. And for two, which seemed very long,
fects of his experiment sufficiently to take food. she ruminated. What was she thinking of that
Then he waited for two hours, and felt much re- made her smile and weep at the same moment?
stored. He stole to the hut and looked in. Helen  and she looked so impatiently towards the door.
lay there as he had left her. He stooped over her:   He entered at last, very fatigued. It was eleven
her eyes were half-closed, and she turned them  miles to the Point and back. While eating his fruslowly upon him; her lips moved*a little,   that was gal supper, he gave her a detail of his day's advenall.. He felt her pulse again; it was still weaker, tures.  Strange to say, he had not seen a single seal
and slower. He rose and went away, and regain- on the sands. He described how he had tied one
ing the boat-house, he measured out a portion of the end of her rope to the middle of the spar, and with
poppy liquor, one third of the dose he had previously  the other between his teeth, he climbed the great
taken, and drank it. No headache or nausea sue- palm. For more than an hour he toiled; he gained
ceeded; he felt his pulse; it became quick and vio- its top, passed the rope over one of its branches, and
lent, while a sense of numbness overcame him, and hauled up the spar to about eighty feet above the
he slept. It was but for a few minutes. He awoke ground; then descending with the other end, he
with a throbbing brow, and some sickness; but with  wound the rope spirally round and round the tree,
a sense of delight at the heart, for he had found an  thus binding'to its trunk the first twenty feet by
opiate, and prescribed its quantity.              which the spar hung from the branch.
He drained the liquor away from the poppy leaves,   She listened very carelessly, he thought, and beand carried it to the hut. Measuring with great trayed little interest in this enterprise which had
care a small quantity, he lifted the girl's head and cost him so much labor and fatigue.
placed it to her lips.  She drank it mechanically.   When he had concluded, she was silent a while,
Then he watched beside her, until her breathing  and then, looking up quickly, said, to his great surand her pulse changed in character.  She slept. prise, -
He turned aside then, and buried his face in his   "I think I may increase the dose of your medihands and prayed fervently for her life, - prayed  cine there. You are mistaken in its power. I am
as we pray for the daily bread ofthe heart. He sure I can take four times what you gave me."
prayed and waited.                                  " Indeed you are mistaken," he answered, quickly. " I gave you the extreme measure you can take
with safety."
C<HTAPTER A   xxxiT.        "How do you know that? you can only guess at
CHAPTER XXXI.
its effects. At any rate, I shall try it."
THE next morning, when Helen awoke, she was   Hazel hesitated, and then confessed that he had
very weak; her head ached, but she was herself. made a little experiment on himself before risking
Hazel had made a broth for her from the fleshy part its effects upon her. 
of a turtle; this greatly revived her, and by mid-   Helen looked up at him as he said this so simply
day, she was able to sit up. Having seen that her and quietly. Her great eyes filled with an angelic
wants were within her reach, he left her; but in a light. Was it admiration?  Was it thankfulness?
few moments, she heard him busily engaged on the  Her bosom heaved, and her lips quivered. It was
roof of her hut.                                  but a moment, and she felt glad that Hazel had
On his return, he explained to her his fears that turned away from her and saw nothing.
the structure was scarcely as weather-proof as he    A long silence followed this little episode, when
desired;- and he anticipated hourly the commence- she was aroused from her reverie.
ment of the rainy season. Helen smiled and pointed    Patter' pat - pat - patter.
to the sky, which here was clear and bright. But   She looked up.
Hazel shook his head doubtingly. The wet season    Pat - patter - patter.
would commence probably with an atmospheric con-   Their eyes met. It was the rain. Hazel only
vulsion, and then settle down to uninterrupted rain. smiled a little, and then ran down to his boat-house,
Helen refused obstinately to believe in more rain  to see that all was right there, and then returned
than they had experienced on board the boat,- a with a large bundle of chips, with which he made a
genial shower.                                   fire, for the sky had darkened overhead. Gusts of
You will see," replied Hazel. " If you do not wind ran along the water; it had become suddenly
change your views within the next three days, then  chilly. They-had almost forgotten the feel of wet
call me a false prophet."                         weather.
The following day passed, and Helen recovered    Ere the fire had kindled, the rain came down in
more strength, but still was too weak to walk; but torrents, and the matted roof being resonant, they
she employed herself, at Hazel's request, in making heard it strike here and there above their heads.
a rope of cocoa-nut fibre, some forty yards long.   Helen sat down on her little stool and reflected.
This he required to fish up the spar to a sufficient   In that hut were two persons. One had foretold
height on the great palm-tree; and bind it firmly in this, and feared it, and provided against it. The
its place. While she worked nimbly, he employed other had said petulantly it was a bugbear.
himself in gathering a store of such things as they    And now the rain was pattering, and the Prophet
would require during the coming wintry season. was on his knees making her as comfortable as he




68                                      FOUL PLAY.
could in spite of all, and was not the man to re- formed a piece of excellent parchment, and he demind her he had foretold it.                     sired to draw upon it a map of the island. To acShe pondered his character while she watched complish this, the first thing was to obtain a good
his movements. He put down his embers, then he red ink from the cochineal, which is crimson. He
took a cocoa-pod out from the wall, cut it in slices did according to his means. He got one of the tin
with his knife, and made a fine clear fire; then he vessels, and filed it till he had obtained a consider
ran out again, in spite of Helen's remonstrance, and  able quantity of the metal.  This he subjected for
brought a dozen large scales of the palm-tree. It forty hours to the action of lime-juice. He then
was all the more cheering for the dismal scene with- added the cochineal, and mixed till he obtained a
out and the pattering of the rain on the resounding fine scarlet. In using it he added a small quantity
roof.                                             of a hard and pure gum, - he had found gum
But thanks to Hazel's precaution, the hut proved  abounded in the island. His pen was made from
weather-tight; of which fact having satisfied him- an osprey's feather, hundreds of which were strewn
self, he bade her good night. He was at the door about the cliffs, and some of these he had already
when her voice recalled him.                      secured and dried.
"Mr. Hazel, I cannot rest this night without ask-   Placing his tin baler before him, on which he had
ing your pardon for all the unkind things I may scratched his notes, he drew a map of the island.
have done and said; without thanking you hum-   "What shall we call it? " said he.
bly for your. great forbearance and your - respect   Helen paused, and then replied, "Call it' GODfor the unhap   I mean the unfortunate girl thus SEND' Island."
cast upon your mercy."                              " So I will," he said, and wrote it down.
She held out her hand; he took it between his   Then they named the places they had seen. The
own, and faintly expressed his gratitude for her reef Helen had discovered off the northwest coast
kindness; and so she sent him  away. brimful of they called " White Water Island," because of the
happiness.                                        breakers.  Then  came  "Seal Bay," Palm-tree
The rain was descending in torrents. She heard  Point," "Mount Lookout" (this was the hill due
it, but he did not feel it; for she had spread her south of where they lived). They called the caneangel's wings over his existence, and he regained  brake " Wild Duck Swamp," and the spot where
his sheltered boat-house he knew not how.         they lunched " Cochineal Clearing."  The mountain was named " Mount Cavity."
"But what shall we call the capital of the kingCHAPTER;:0XXXII.  -dom - this hut? " said Miss Rolleston, as she leaned
over him and pointed to the spot.
THE next day was Sunday. Hazel had kept a    " Saint Helen's," said Hazel, looking up; and he
calendar of the week, and every seventh day was wrote it down ere she could object.
laid aside with jealousy, to be devoted to such sim-   Then there was a little awkward pause, while he
ple religious exercises as he could invent.  The was busily occupied in filling up some topographical
rain still continued, with less violence indeed, but details.  She turned it off gayly.
without an hour's intermission. After breakfast he    "What are those  caterpillars that you have
read to her the exodus of the Israelites, and their drawn there, sprawling over my kingdom? "she
sufferings during that desert life. He compared  asked.
those hardships with their own troubles, and pointed    "Caterpillars! you are complimentary, Miss Rolout to her how their condition presented many  leston. Those are mountains."
things to be thankful for. The island was fruitful,   "0, indeed; and those lines you are now drawthe climate healthy. They might have been cast ing are rivers, I presume."
away on a sandy key or reef, where they would    "Yes; let us call this branch of our solitary
have perished slowly and miserably of hunger and  estuary, which runs westward, the River Lee, and
exposure. Then they were spared to each other. this, to the east, the River Medway. Is such your
Had she been alone there, she could not have pro- majesty's pleasure?"
vided for herself; had he been cast away a solitary    "La Reine  le veut," replied  Helen, smiling.
man, the island would have been to him an intoler- " But, Master Geographer, it seems to me, that you
able prison.                                      are putting in mountains and rivers which you have
In all these reflections Hazel was very guarded  never explored: how do you know that these turns
that no expression should escape him to arouse her and twists in the stream  exist as you represent
apprehension. He was so careful of this, that she them? and those spurs, which look so real, have
observed his caution and watched his restraint. you not added them only to disguise the caterpillar
And Helen was thinking more of this than of the character of your range of hills  "
holy subject on which he was discoursing. The    Hazel laughed as he confessed to drawing on his
disguise he threw over his heart was penetrable to fancy for some little details. But pleaded that all
the girl's eye.  She saw his love in every careful geographers, when they drew maps, were licensed
word, and employed herself in detecting it under to fill in a few such touches, where discovery had
his rigid manner.  Secure in her own position, she failed to supply particulars.
could examine his from the loopholes of her soul,   Helen had always believed religiously in maps,
and take a pleasure in witnessing the suppressed  and was amused when she reflected on her former
happiness she could bestow with a word. She did credulity.
not wonder at her power. The best of women have
the natural vanity to take for granted the sway they           CIAPTER  XXXITT
assume over the existence which submits to them.
A week passed thus, and Hazel blessed the rain    HELEN'S strength was coming back to her but
that drove them to this sociability. He had pre- slowly; she complained of great lassitude and want
pared the bladder of a young seal which had drifted  of appetite. But the following day having cleared
ashore dead.  This membrane dried in the sun up, the sun shone out with great power and bril



FOUL PLAY.                                             69
liancy. She gladly welcomed the return of the she had taken out a letter, and she was reading it
fine weather, but Hazel shook his head; ten days' by the fire.
rain was not their portion, - the bad weather would    As she read it her face was a puzzle. But Hazel
return, and complete the month or six weeks' win- saw the act alone; and a dart of ice seemed to go
ter to which Nature was entitled. The next even- through and through him:
ing the appearance of the sky confirmed his opin-   This, then, was her true source of consolation.
ion. The sun set like a crimson shield; gory, and  He thought it was so before.  He had even reason
double its usual size. It entered into a thick bank to think so. But never seeing any palpable proofs,
of dark violet cloud that lay on the horizon, and he had almost been happy. He turned sick with
seemed to split the vapor into rays, but of a dusky jealous misery, and stood there rooted and frozen.
kind; immediately above this crimson, the clouds   Then came a fierce impulse to shut the sight out
were of a brilliant gold, but higher they were the that caused this pain.
color of rubies, and went gradually off to gray.    He almost flung her portcullis to, and made his
But, as the orb dipped to the horizon a solid pile hands bleed. But a bleeding heart does not feel
of unearthly clouds came up from the southeast; scratches.
their bodies were singularly and unnaturally black,   "Good night," said he, hoarsely.
and mottled with copper color, and hemmed with a    " Good night," said she, kindly.
fiery yellow: and these infernal clouds towered up    And why should she not read his letter?  bne
their heads, pressing forward as if they all strove was his affianced bride, bound to him by honor as
for precedency; it was like Milton's fiends attack- well as inclination.  This was the reflection to
ing the sky. The rate at which they climbed was which, after a sore battle with his loving heart, the
wonderful. The sun set and the moon rose full, much-enduring man had to come at last; and he
and showed those angry masses surging upwards had come to it, and was getting back his peace of
and jostling each other as they flew.             mind, though not his late complacency, and about
Yet below it was dead calm.                    to seek repose in sleep, when suddenly a clap of
Having admired the sublimity of the scene, and  wind came down like thunder, and thrashed the
seen the full moon rise, but speedily lose her light island and everything in it.
in a brassy halo, they entered the hut, which was   Everything animate and inanimate seemed to cry
now the head-quarters, and they supped together out as the blow passed.
there.                                              Another soon followed, and another, - intermitWhile they were eating their little meal the tops tent gusts at present, but of such severity that not
of the trees were heard to sigh, so still was every- one came without making its mark.
thing else. None the less did those strange clouds   Birds were driven away like paper; the sea-lions
fly northward, eighty miles an hour. After supper whimpered, and crouched into corners, and hudHelen sat busy over the fire, where some gum, col- dled together, and held each other, whining.
lected by Hazel, resembling India-rubber, was boil-   Hazel saw but one thing; the frail edifice he had
ing; she was preparing to cover a pair of poor built for the creature he adored. He looked out
Welch's shoes, inside and out, with a coat of this of his boat, and fixed his horror-stricken eyes on
material, which Hazel believed to be waterproof. it; he saw it waving to and fro, yet still firm. But
She sat in such a position that he could watch her. he could not stay there. If not in danger she must
It was a happy evening.  She seemed content. be terrified. He must go and support her. He
She had got over her fear of him; they were good left his shelter, and ran towards her hut. With a
comrades if they were nothing more. It was hap- whoop and a scream another blast tore through the
piness to him to be by her side even on those terms. wood, and caught him. He fell, dug his hands into
He thought of it all as he looked at her. How dis- the soil, and clutched the earth. While he was in
tant she had seemed once to him; what an unap- that position, he heard a sharp crack; he looked
proachable goddess. Yet there she was by his side up in dismay, and saw that. one of Helen's trees had
in a hut he had made for her.                     broken like a carrot, and the head was on the
He could not help sipping the soft intoxicating ground leaping about; while a succession of horridraught her mere presence offered him.  But by  ble sounds of crashing, and rending, and tearing,
and by he felt his heart was dissolving within him, showed the frail hut was giving way on every side;
and he was trifling with danger. He must not look racked and riven, and  torn to pieces.  Hazel,
on her too long, seated by the fire like a wife. The though a. stout man, uttered cries of terror death
much-enduring man rose, and turned his back upon  would never have drawn from him; and, with a
the sight he loved so dearly: he went out at the desperate headlong rush, he got to the place where
open door intending to close it and bid her good the bower had been; but now it was a prostrate
night. But he did not do so, just then; fbr his at- skeleton, with the mat roof flapping like a loose sail
tention as an observer of nature was arrested by  above it, and Helen below.
the unusual conduct of certain animals.  Gannets    As he reached the hut, the wind got hold of the
and other sea-birds were running about the oppo- last of the four shrubs, that did duty for a door,
site wood and craning their necks in a strange way. and tore it from the cord that held it, and whirled
He had never seen one enter that wood before.    it into the air; it went past Hazel's face like a bird
Seals and sea-lions were surrounding the slope, flying.
and crawling about, and now and then plunging    Though staggered himself by the same blow of
into the river, which they crossed with infinite diffi- wind, he clutched the tree and got into the hut.
culty, for it was running very high and strong.   He found her directly.  She was kneeling beThe trees also sighed louder than ever.  Hazel neath the mat that a few minutes ago had been
turned back to tell Miss Rolleston something extraor- her roof.  He extricated her in a moment, uttering
dinary was going on.  She sat in sight from  the inarticulate cries of pity and fear.
river, and as he came towards the hut, he saw her   "Don't be frightened," said she. "I am  not
sitting by the fire reading.                      hurt."
Ile stopped short.  Her work lay at her feet:   But he felt her quiver from head to foot. He




-70                                      FOUL PLAY.
wrapped her in all her rugs, and, thinking of noth- and Helen Rolleston stood near him a moment or
ing but her safety, lifted her in his strong arms to two, and watched the play of his countenance with
take her to his own place, which was safe from wind a very inquisitive and kindly light in her own eyes.
at least.                                           " Never mind," said she, soothingly.
But this was no light work. To go there erect   Hazel started at the music.
was impossible.                                    "Never mind your house being blown to atoms,
Holding tight by the tree, he got her to the lee and mine has stood? " said he, half reproachfully.
of the tent and waited for a lull.  He went rapidly    "You took too much pains with mine."
down the hill, but ere he reached the river, a gust   "I will take a great deal more with the next."
came careering over the sea. A sturdy young tree    "I hope not. But I want you to come and look
was near him.  He placed her against it, and at the havoc. It is terrible; and yet so grand."
wound his arms round her and its trunk.  The blast And thus she drew him away from the sight that
came: the tree bent down almost to the ground, caused his pain.
then whirled round, recovered, shivered; but he    They entered the wood by a path Hazel had cut
held firmly. It passed. Again he lifted her, and from the seashore, and viewed the devastation in
bore her to the boat-house. As he went, the wind  Terrapin Wood. Prostrate trees lay across one
almost choked her, and her long hair lashed his another in astonishing numbers, and in the strangest
face like a whip. But he got her in, and then sat positions; and their glorious plumes swept the earth.
panting and crouching, but safe. They were none "Come," said she, "it is a bad thing for the poor
too soon; the tempest increased in violence, and  trees, but not for us. See, the place is strewed with
became more continuous. No clouds, but a ghastly  treasures. Here is a tree full of fans all ready
glare all over the sky. No rebellious waves, but a made. And what is that?  A horse's tail growing
sea hissing and foaming under its master's lash. on a cocoa-tree! and a long one too! that will make
The river ran roaring and foaming by, and made ropes for you, and thread for me. Ah, and here is
the boat heave even in its little creek. The wind, a cabbage. Poor Mr. Welch! Well, for one thing,
though it could no longer shake them, went scream- you need never saw nor climb any more.  See the
ing terribly close over their heads, - no longer like advantages of a hurricane."
air in motion, but, solid and keen, it seemed the    From the wood she took him to the shore, and
Almighty's scythe mowing down Nature; and soon there they found many birds lying dead; and Hazel
it became, like turbid water, blackened with the picked up several that he had read of as good to
leaves, branches, and fragments of all kinds it eat. For certain signs had convinced him his fair
whirled along with it. The trees fell crashing on and delicate companion was carnivora, and must be
all sides, and the remains passed over their heads nourished accordingly.  Seeing him  so employed,
into the sea.                                    she asked him archly whether he was beginning to
Helen behaved admirably.  Speech was impossi- see the comforts of a hurricane. "Not yet," said
ble, but she thanked him without it, -eloquently; he; "the account is far from even."
she nestled her little hand into Hazel's, and, to Ha-   " Then come to where the rock was blown down."
zel that night, with all its awful sights and sounds, She led the way gayly across the sands to a point
was a blissful one.  She had been in danger, but where an overhanging crag had fallen, with two
now was safe by his side. She had pressed his hand trees, and a quantity of earth and plants that grew
to thank him, and now she was cowering a little above it. But, when they got nearer, she became
towards him in a way that claimed him as her pro- suddenly grave, and stood still. The mass had faltector. Her glorious hair blew over him and seemed len upon a sheltered place, where seals were hiding
to net him: and now and then, as they heard some from the wind, and had buried several; for two or
crash nearer and more awful than another, she three limbs were sticking out, of victims overwhelmed
clutched him quickly though lightly; for, in danger, in the ruin; and a magnificent sea-lion lay clear of
her sex love to feel a friend; it is not enough to see the smaller rubbish, but quite dead.  The cause
him near: and once, when a great dusky form of a was not far to seek: a ton of hard rock had struck
sea-lion came crawling over the mound, and whim- him, and then ploughed up the sand in a deep
pering, peeped into the boat-house, she even fled to furrow, and now rested within a yard or two of the
his shoulder with both hands for a moment, and was animal, whose back it had broken. Hazel went up
there, light as a feather, till the creature had passed to the creature afid looked at it: then he came to
on. And his soul was full of peace, and a great Helen; she was standing aloof: " Poor bugbear,"
tranquillity overcame it. He heard nothing of the said he. "Come away: it is an ugly sight for
wrack, knew nothing of the danger.               you."
O mighty Love! The tempest might blow, and    "O  yes," said Helen. Then, as they returned,
fill the air and earth with ruin, so that it spared her. " Does not that reconcile you to the loss of a hut?
The wind was kind, and gentle the night, which  We are not blown away nor crushed."
brought that hair round his face, and that head so    " That is true," said Hazel; "but suppose your
near his shoulder, and gave him the holy joy of health should suffer from the exposure to such fearprotecting under his wing the soft creature he ful weather.  So unlucky! so cruel! just as you
adored.                                          were beginning to get stronger."
"I am all the better for it. Shall I tell you?
CHAPTER  XXXIV.                     excitement is a good thing; not too often, of course;
but now and then; and when we are in the humor
ON the morning that followed this memorable for it, it is meat and drink, and medicine to us."
night, our personages seemed to change characters.   " What! to a- delicate young lady?"
Hazel sat down before the relics of the hut - three    "Ay,'to a delicate young lady.' Last night has
or four strings dangling, and a piece of network  done me a world of good. It has shaken me out of
waving- and eyed them with shame, regret, and  myself. I am  in better health and spirits.  Of
humiliation. He  was so absorbed in his self- course I am very sorry the hut is blown down,-eproaches that he did not hea, a light footstep, because you took so much trouble to b ild it: but




FOUL PLAY.                                            71
on my own account, I really don't care a straw, be allowed to monopolize the labor attendant upon
Find me some corner to nestle in at night, and all their condition.
day I mean to be about, and busy as a bee, helping    "No," said she, " you are always working for me,
you, and-Breakfast! breakfast! 0, how hungry  and I shall work for you. Cooking and washing
I am."  And this spirited girl led the way to the are a woman's work, not a man's; and so are plaitboat with a briskness and a vigor that charmed and ing and netting."
astonished him.                                     This healthy resolution once formed was adhered
Souvent femme varie.             to with a constancy that belonged to the girl's charThis gracious behavior did not blind Hazel to the acter.  The roof of the ruined hut came ashore in
serious character of the situation, and all breakfast- the bay that evening, and was fastened over the
time he'was thinking and thinking, and often kept boat. Hazel lighted a bonfire in the cavern, and
a morsel in his mouth, and forgot to eat it for several had the satisfaction of seeing some of the smoke
seconds, he was so anxious and puzzled. At last, issue above. But he would not let Miss Rolleston
he said, " I know a large hollow tree with apertures. occupy it yet. He shifted her things to the boat,
If I were to close them all but one, and keep that and slept in the cave himself. However, he lost no
for the door?  No: trees have betrayed me; I'll time in laying down a great hearth, and built a firenever trust another tree with you. Stay; I know -  place and chimney in the cave. The chimney went
I know - a cavern. He uttered the verb rather up to the hole in the arch of the cave; then came
loudly, but the substantive with a sudden feebleness the stone funnel, stolen from Nature; and above,
of intonation that was amusing. His timidity was on the upper surface of the cliff, came the chimneysuperfluous; if he had said he knew "a bank where- pot.  Thus, the chimney acted like a German
on the wild thyme grows," the suggestion would stove: it stood in the centre, and soon made the
have been well received that morning.            cavern very dry and warm, and a fine retreat dur"A cavern!" cried Helen. "It has always been ing the rains. When it was ready for occupation,
the dream of my life to live in a cavern."       Helen said she would sail to it: she would not go
Hazel brightened up. But the next moment he by land; that was too tame for her.  Hazel had
clouded again. "But I forgot. It will not do: only to comply with her humor, and at high water
there is a spring running right through it; it comes they got into the boat, and went down the river
down nearly perpendicular, through a channel it into the sea with a rush that made Helen wince.
has bored, or enlarged; and splashes on the floor."  He soon rowed her across the bay to a point distant
"How convenient!" said Helen; "now I shall not more than fifty yards from the cavern, and inhave a bath in my room, instead of having to go stalled her. But he never returned to the river;
miles for it. By the by, now you have invented  it was an inconvenient place to make excursions
the shower-bath, please discover Soap. Not that from; and, besides, all his work was now either in.one really wants any in this island; for there is or about the cavern; and that convenient hurrino dust, and the very air seems purifying. But cane, as Helen called it, not only made him a
who can shake off the prejudices of early educa- builder again; it also made him a currier, a soaption?"                                          boiler, and a salter.  So they drew the boat just
Hazel said, " Now I'll laugh as much as you like, above high-water mark in a sheltered nook, and he
when once this care is off my mind."             set up his arsenal ashore.
He ran off to the cavern, and found it spacious   In this situation, day glided by after day, and
and safe; but the spring was falling in great force, week after week, in vigorous occupations, brightand the roof of the cave glistening with moisture. ened by social intercourse, and in some degree by
It looked a hopeless case. But if Necessity is the the beauty and the friendship of the animals.  Of
mother of Invention, surely Love is the father. He all this industry we can only afford a brief summounted to the rock above, and found the spot mary. Hazel fixed two uprights at each side of
where the spring suddenly descended into the earth  the cavern's mouth, and connected each pair by a
with the loudest gurgle he had ever heard; a gurgle beam; a netting laid on these, and covered with
of defiance. Nothing was to be done there. But gigantic leaves from the prostrate palms, made a
he traced it upwards a little way, and found a place sufficient roof in this sheltered spot. On this terwhere it ran beside a deep decline. " Aha, my race they could sit even in the rain, and view the
friend! " said he. He got his spade, and with some sea. Helen cooked in the cave, but served dinner
hours' hard work dug it a fresh channel, and carried  up on this beautiful terrace. So now she had a But
it away entirely from its course. He returned to and a Ben, as the Scotch say. He got a hogshead
the cavern. Water was dripping very fast; but, of oil from the sea-lion; and so the cave was alon looking up, he could see the light of day twink- ways lighted now, and that was a great comfort,
ling at the top of the spiral watercourse he had and gave them more hours of in-door employment
robbed of its supply. Then he conceived a truly  and conversation. The poor bugbear really brightoriginal idea: why not turn his empty watercourse ened their existence.  Of the same oil, boiled down
into a chimney, and so give to one element what he and mixed with wood - ashes, he made soap, to
had taken from another?  He had no time to exe- Helen's great delight.  The hide of this animal
cute this just then, for the tide was coming in, and was so thick he could do nothing with it but cut off
he could not afford to lose any one of those dead pieces to make the soles of shoes if required. But
animals. So he left the funnel to drip, that being a the seals were miscellaneous treasures; he contrived
process he had no means of expediting, and moored with guano and aromatics to curry their skins; of
the sea-lion to the very rock that had killed him, their bladders he made vile parchment, and of their
and was proceeding to dig out the seals, when a entrails gut, catgut, and twine, beyond compare.
voice he never could hear without a thrill, summoned  He salted two cubs, and laid up the rest in store,
him to dinner.                                   by enclosing large pieces ix clay. When these
It was a plentiful repast, and included roast were to be used, the clay was just put into hot empintado and cabbage-palm.  Helen Rolleston in- bers for some hours, then broken, and the, meat
formed him during dinner that he would no longer eaten with all its juices preserved.




72                                      FOUL PLAY.
Helen cooked and washed, and manufactured  himself it was little more than a very long, large reef,
salt; and collected quite a store of wild cotton, the neighborhood of which ought to be avoided by
though it grew very sparingly, and it cost her hours ships of burden, and resolving to set some beacon
to find a few pods. But in hunting for it she found  or other on it erelong, he christened it White Waother things,- health for one.  After sunset she ter Island, on account of the surf: he came about
was generally employed a couple of hours on mat- and headed for the East Bluff.
ters which occupy the fair in every situation of life.   Then Tommy gave him up in disgust; perhaps
She made herself a sealskin jacket and pork-pie thought his conduct vacillating.  Animals all dehat. She made Mr. Hazel a man's cap of seal-skin spise that.
with a point; But her great work was with the    He soon landed almost under the volcano, and
cotton, which will be described hereafter.       moored his boat not far from  a cliff peaked with
However, for two hours after sunset, no more guano. Exercising due caution this time, he got
(they rose at peep of day), her physician allowed up to the lagoons, and found a great many ducks
her to sit and work; which she did, and often swimming about. He approached little parties to
smiled, while he sat by and discoursed to her of all examine their varieties. They all swam out of his
the things he had read, and surprised himself by way; some of them even flew a few yards, and then
the strength and activity of his memory. He attrib- settled. Not onewould let him come within forty
uted it partly to the air of the island. Nor were yards. This convinced Hazel the ducks were not
his fingers idle even at night. He had tools to natives of the island, but strangers, who were not
sharpen for the morrow, glass to make and polish much afraid, because they had never been molested
out of a laminated crystal he had found. And then  on this particular island; but still distrusted man.
the hurricane had blown away, amongst many prop-   While he pondered thus, there was a great noise
erties, his map; so he had to make another with of wings, and about a dozen ducks flew over his
similar materials. He completed the map in due head on the rise, and passed westward still rising
course, and gave it to Helen. It was open to the till they got into the high currents, and away upon
same strictures she had passed on the other. Hazel the wings of the wind for distant lands.
was no chartographer. Yet this time she had noth-   The grand rush of their wings and the off-hand
ng but praise for it. How was that?             way in which they spurned, abandoned, and disappeared from, an island that held him tight, made
To the reader it is now presented, not as a speci eared  rom, an  sland that held him tight, made
Hazel feel very small. His thoughts took the form
men of  artorapic art, but as a little curiosity in of Satire. "Lords of the creation, are we?  We
its way, being a fac-simile of the map John Hazel     i  wer        r  e t le; on earth we
sink in water; in air we tumble; on earth we
drew for Helen Rolleston, with such out-of-the-way stumle."
materials as that out-of-the-way island afforded.   These pleasing reflection  did not prevent his
Above all, it will enable the reader to follow our
taking their exact line of flight, and barking a tree
personages in their little excursions past and future, tkih eir exa  lie of fight, an  a     a tree
and also to trace the course of a mysterious event he hard ai splashing not far from l im   and ther
we have to record.                               he heard a splashing not far from him, and there
was a duck jumping about on the water in a strange
Relieved of other immediate cares, Hazel's mind way. Hazel thought a snake had got hold of her
had time to dwell upon the problem Helen had set and ran to her assistance. He took her out of the
him; and one fine day a conviction struck him that water and soon found what was the matter; her
he had taken a narrow and puerile view of it, and  bill was open and a fish's tail was sticking out.
that, after all, there must be in the nature of things Hazel inserted his finger and dragged out a small
some way to attract ships from a distance. Pos- fish which had erected the spines on its back so opsessed with this thought, he went up to Telegraph  portunely as nearly to kill its destroyer. The duck
Point, abstracted his mind from all external objects, recovered enough to quack in a feeble and dubious
and fixed it on this idea, - but came down as he manner. Hazel kept her for Helen, because she
went. He descended by some steps he had cut zig- was a plain brown duck. With some little reluczag for Helen's use, and as he put his foot on the tance he slightly shortened one wing, and stowed
fifth step, - whoo - whirr - whizz - came nine away his captive in the hold of the boat.
ducks, cooling his head, they whizzed so close; and    He happened to have a great stock of pitch in the
made right for the lagoons.                      boat, so he employed a few hours in writing'upon
"Hum!"  thought Hazel; "I never sqe you the guano rocks. On one he wrote in huge letters: —
ducks fly in any other direction but that."
This speculation rankled in him all night, and he    AN ENGLISH LADY WRECED. HERE.
told Helen he should reconnoitre at daybreak, but            HASTE TO HER RESCUE.
should not take her, as there might be snakes. He
On another he wrote in smaller letters:made the boat ready at daybreak, and certain gan-       aother he wrote in smaller letters
nets, pintadoes, boobies, and noddies, and divers    BEWARE THE REEFS ON THE NORTH SIDE.
with eyes in their heads like fiery jewels  birds             LIE OFF FOR SIGNALS.
whose greedy maws he had often gratified- chose
to fancy he must be going a fishing, and were on    Then he came home and beached the boat, and
the alert, and rather troublesome.  However, he brought Helen his captive.
got adrift, and ran out through North Gate, with a    "Why, it is an English duck! " she cried, and was
light westerly breeze, followed by a whole fleet of enraptured.
birds. These were joined in due course by another   By this visit to the lagoons, Hazel gathered that
of his satellites, a young seal he called Tommy, also this island was a half-way house for migrating birds,
fond of fishing.                                 especially ducks; and he inferred that the line
The feathered convoy soon tailed off; but Tom- those vagrants had taken was the shortest way from
my stuck to him for about eight miles. He ran that this island to the nearest land. This was worth
distance to have a nearer look at a small island knowing, and set his brain working. He begged
which lay due north of Telegraph Point. He satisfied  Helen to watch for the return of the turtle-doves




FOUL PLAY.                                                   73
/5.
o~~~~ _.l                    ~i.
(they had'all' left the island just before the rain)  hilarating.  They followed the course of the river
and learn, if possible, from what point of the com- till they came to the lake that fed it, and was fed
pass they arrived.                                      itself by hundreds of little natural gutters. down
The next expedition was undertaken to please  which the hills discharged the rains. This was new
Helen; she wished to examine the beautiful creeks  to Helen, though not to Hazel: she produced the
and caves on the north side, which they had seen  map, and told the lake slyly that it was incorrect, a
from  a distance when they sailed round the isl- little too big.  She took some of the water in her
and. "                                                  hand, sprinkled the lake with it, and called it HaThey started on foot one delightful day, and  zelmere. They bore a little to the right and prowalked briskly, for the air, though balmy, was ex- ceeded till they found a creek shaped like a wedge,
-;P ~       S   ~            ___
~~~~~~~6,       B
walked briskly, for the air, though balmy, was ex- ceeded till they found a creek shaped like a wedge,




74                                      FOUL PLAY.
at whose broad end shone an arch of foliage studded    The vapor descended and spread, and covered sea
with flowers, and the sparkling blue water peeped and land. Then the sun set: and it was darkness
behind. This was tempting, but the descent was visible. Coming from the south, the sea-fret caught
rather hazardous at first; great square blocks of Hazel sooner and in a less favorable situation.
rock, one below another, and these rude steps were Returning from the palm-tree, he had taken the
coated with mosses of rich hue, but wet and slip- shortest-cut through a small jungle, and been so
pery; Hazel began to be alarmed for his compan- impeded by the scrub, that, when he got clear, the
ion.  However, after one or two difficulties, the fog was upon him. Between that and the river, he
fissure opened wider to the sun, and they descended lost his way several times, and did not hit the river
from  the slimy rocks into a sloping hotbed of till near midnight. He followed the river to the
exotic flowers, and those huge succulent leaves that lake, and coasted the lake, and then groped his way
are the glory of the tropics. The ground was car- towards the creek. But, after a while, every step
peted a yard deep with their luxuriance, and others he took was fraught with danger; and the night
more aspiring, climbed the warm sides of the di- was far advanced when he at last hit off the creek,
verging cliffs, just as creepers go up a wall, lining as he thought. He halloed; but there was no
every crevice as they rose. In this blessed spot, reply; halloed again, and to his joy, her voice
warmed, yet not scorched, by the tropical sun, and replied; but at a distance. He had come to the
fed with trickling waters, was seen what marvels wrong creek.  She was farther westward.  He
"boon Nature" can do. Here our vegetable dwarfs groped his way westward, and came to another
were giants, and our flowers were trees.  One love- creek. He halloed to her, and she answered him.
ly giantess of the jasmine tribe, but with flowers But to attempt the descent would have been mere
shaped like a marigold, and scented like a tube- suicide. She felt that herself, and almost ordered
rose, had a stem as thick as a poplar, and carried him to stay where he was.
its thousand buds and amber-colored flowers up    "Why, w.e can talk all the same," said she; "and
eighty feet of broken rock, and planted on every it is not for long."
ledge suckers, that flowered again, and filled the    It was a curious position, and one typical of the
air with perfume.  Another tree about half as high relation between them. So near together, yet the
was covered with a cascade of snow-white tulips, barrier so strong.
each as big as a small flower-pot, and scented like    "I am afraid you must be very cold," said he.
honeysuckle. An aloe, ten feet high, blossomed in    "   no; I have my seal-skin jacket on; and it
a corner, unheeded among loftier beauties. And is so sheltered here. I wish you were as well off."
at the very mouth of the fissure a huge banana    "You are not afraid to be alone down there?"
leaned across, and flung out its vast leaves, that   "I am not alone when your voice is near me.
seemed translucent gold against the sun; under it Now don't you fidget yourself, dear friend. I like
shone a monstrous cactus in all her pink and crim- these little excitements. I have told you so before.
son glory, and through the maze of color streamed  Listen: how calm and silent it all is; the place;
the deep blue of the peaceful ocean, laughing, and the night! The mind seems to fill with great ideas,
catching sunbeams.                                and to feel its immortality."
Helen leaned against the cliff and quivered with    She spoke with solemnity, and he heard in silence.
delight, and that deep sense of flowers that belongs   Indeed it was a reverend time and place: the
to your true woman.                              sea, whose loud and penetrating tongue had, in some
Hazel feared she was ill.                      former age, created the gully where they both sat
"Ill?" said she. ".Who could be ill here?  It apart, had of late years receded, and kissed the
is heaven upon earth.  0, you dears! 0, you sands gently that calm night: so gently, that its long,
loves! And they all seemed growing on the sea, low murmur seemed but the echo of tranquillity.
and floating in the sun."                           The voices of that pair sounded supernatural, one,
"And it is only one of a dozen such," said Hazel. speaking up, and the other down, the speakers
" If you would like to inspect them at your leisure, quite invisible.
I'll just run to Palm-tree Point; for my signal is all   "Mr. Hazel," said Helen, in a low, earnest voice;
askew. I saw that as we came along."             "they say that Night gives wisdom even to the wise;
Helen assented readily, and he ran off; but left think now, and tell me your true thoughts. Has
her the provisions. She was not to wait dinner for the foot of man ever trod upon this island before? "
him.                                                There was a silence due to a question so grave,
Helen examined two or three of the flowery and put with solemnity, at a solemn time, in a solfissures, and found fresh beauties in each, and also emn place.
some English leaves, that gave her pleasure of   At last Hazel's thoughtful voice came down.
another kind; and, after she had revelled in the "The world is very, very, very old.  So old, that
flowers, she examined the shore, and soon discovered the words,' Ancient History' are a falsehood, and
that the rocks, which abounded here, (though there Moses wrote but as yesterday. And man is a very
were also large patches of clear sand,) were nearly  old animal upon this old, old planet; and has been
all pure coral, in great variety. Red coral was everywhere. I cannot doubt he has been here."
abundant; and even the pink coral, to which fashion    Her voice went up. "But have you seen any
was just then giving a fictitious value, was there by signs?"
the ton. This interested her, and so did some    His voice came down. "I have not looked for
beautiful shells that lay sparkling. The time passed them. The bones and the weapons of primeval
swiftly; and she was still busy in her researches, man are all below earth's surface at this time of
when suddenly it darkened a little, and, looking day."
back, she saw a white vapor stealing over the cliff,   There was a dead silence. Then Helen's voice
and curling down.                                went up again. "But in modern times?  Has no
Upon this, she thought it prudent to return to the man landed here from  far-off places, since ships
place where Hazel had left her; the more so as it were built?"
was near sunset.  The voice came sadly down. " I do not know."




FOUL PLAY.                                            75
The voice went up. "But think!"                in a sort of oval. These stones, streaked with sea
The voice came down. "What calamity can be grass, and encrusted with small shells, were not at
new in a world so old as this?  Everything we can  equal distances, but yet, allowing for gaps, they
do, and suffer, others of our race have done, and formed a decided figure. Their outline resembled
suffered."                                        a great fish, wanting the tail.
The voice went up, "Hush! there's something
moving on the sand."                                                          
__~__                         0~~ S
CHAPTER XXXV.
HAZEL waited and listened.  So did Helen, and          ~                             o
her breath came fast; for in the stilly night she                   * 
heard light but mysterious sounds.' Something was  ~
moving on the sand very slowly and softly, but
nearer and nearer. Her heart began to leap.  She    "Can this be chance?" asked Helen; "0, if
put out her hand instinctively to clutch Mr. Hazel; it should be what I fear, and that is - Savages I"
but he was too far off. She had the presence of   Hazel considered  it attentively a long time.
mind and the self-denial to disguise her fears; for she " Too far at sea for living savages," said he. "And
knew he would come headlong to her assistance.    yet it cannot be chance. What on earth is it?  It
She said in a quivering whisper, "I'm  not looks Druidical. But how can that be?  The islfrightened; only v-very c-curious."              and was smaller when these were placed here than
And now she became'conscious that not only one it is now."  He went nearer and examined one of
but several things were creeping about.          the stones; then he scraped away the sand from its
Presently the creeping ceased, and was followed base, and found it was not shaped like a stone, but
by a louder and more mysterious noise. In that more like a whale's rib. He became excited; went
silent night it sounded like raking and digging. on his knees, and tore the sand up with his hands.
Three or four mysterious visitants seemed to be Then he rose up agitated, and traced the outline
making graves.                                    again. "Great Heaven!" said he, "why it is a
This was too much; especially coming as it did ship."
after talk about the primeval dead. Her desire to
scream was so strong, and she was so afraid Hazel   "A ship!"
would break his neck, if she relieved her mind in    "Ay," said he, standing in the middle of it;
that way, that she actually took her handkerchief "here, beneath our feet, lies man; with his work,
and bit it hard.                                  and his treasures. This carcass has been here for
But this situation was cut short by a beneficent many a long year; not so very long neither; she is
luminary. The sun rose with a magnificent bound, too big for the 16th century, and yet she must have
-it was his way in that latitude,- and everything  been sunk when the island was smaller. I take it
unpleasant winced that moment; the fog shivered  to be a Spanish or Portuguese ship: probably one
in its turn, and appeared to open in furrows as great of those treasure-ships our commodores, and charjavelins of golden light shot through it from the tered pirates, and the American buccaneers, used to
swiftly rising orb.  Soon, those golden darts in- chase about these seas. Here lie her bones, and the
creased to streams of potable fire, that burst the fog bones of her crew. Your question was soon anand illumined the wet sands: and Helen burst out swered. All that we can say has been said; can
laughing like chanticleer, for this first break of day do has been done; can suffer has been suffered."
revealed the sextons that had scared her, - three    They were  silent, and the sunk ship's bones
ponderous turtles, crawling, slow and clumsy, back moved them strangely. In their deep isolation from
to sea. Hazel joined her, and they soon found what the human race, even the presence of the dead
these evil spirits of the island had been at, poor brought humanity somehow nearer to them.
wretches. They had each buried a dozen eggs in    They walked thoughtfully away, and made across
the sand: one dozen of which were very soon set the sands for Telegraph Point.
boiling. At first, indeed, Helen objected that they    Before they got home, Helen suggested that perhad no shells, but Hazel told her she might as well haps, if he were to dig in the ship, he might find
complain of a rose without a thorn. He assured her something useful.
turtles' eggs were a known delicacy, and very supe-   He shook his head. " Impossible! The iron has
rior to birds' eggs; and so she found them; they  all melted away like sugar long before this. Nothwere eaten with the keenest relish.              ing can have survived but gold and silver, and they
"And now," said Helen, "for my discoveries. are not worth picking up, much less digging for;
First, here are my English leaves, only bigger. I my time is too precious. No, you have found two
found them on a large tree."                     buried treasures to-day, - turtles' eggs, and a ship,
"English leaves!" cried Hazel, with rapture. freighted, as I think, with what men call the pre" Why it is the caoutchouc! "                   cious metals. Well, the eggs are gold, and the gold
" 0 dear," said Helen, disappointed; "I took is a drug,- there it will lie for me."
it for the India-rubber tree."
"It is the India-rubber tree; and I have been    Both discoveries bore fruits. The ship: Hazel
hunting for it all over the island in vain, and using made a vow that never again should any poor ship
wretchedly inferior gums for want of it."        lay her ribs on this island for want of warning. He
"I'm so glad," said Helen. " And now I have buoyed the reefs. He ran out to White Water Islsomething else to show you: something that cur- and, and wrote an earnest warning on the black
died my blood; but I dare say I was very foolish." reef, and, this time, he wrote with white on black.
She then took him half across the sand and pointed  He wrote a similar warning, with black on white,
out to him a number of stones dotted over the sand  at the western extremity of Godsend Island.




76                                      FOUL PLAY.
The eggs: Hazel watched for the turtles at to be resisted. A wild excitement grew on them'
daybreak; turned one now  and then; and fed both.  They ran about like persons crazed, and
Helen on the meat or its eggs, morn, noon, and took things up, and laid them down again, scarcely
night.'                      knowing what they were doing.  But presently
For some time she had been advancing in health  they were sobered a little, for the ship did not apand strength. But, when the rains declined consid- pear.  They ran.across the sands, where they
erably, and she was all day in the air, she got the could see the Bluff; she ought to have passed that
full benefit of:the wonderful climate, and her health, half an hour ago.
appetite, and muscular vigor became truly astonish-   Hazel thought she must have anchored.
ing; especially under what Hazel called the turtle    Helen looked.at him steadily.
cure; though, indeed, she was cured before. She   ".Dear friend," said she, " are you sure there is a
ate three good meals a day, and needed them; for ship at all?  Are you. not under a delusion?  This
she was up with the sun, and her hands and feet island  fills the mind with fancies.  One day I
never idle till he set.  -  though I saw a ship sailing in the sky. Ah! "  She
Four months on the island had done this. But'uttered a faint scream, for, while she was speaking,
four months had not shown those straining eyes the the bowsprit and jib of a vessel. glided-past the
white speck on the horizon; the sail, so looked and  Bluff so closely, they seemed toscrape it, and a ship
longed for.                                      emerged grandly, and glided along the cliff.
-" Are.they mad," cried Hazel, "to hug the shore
Hazel often walked the island by himself; not to'like that?'Ah! they have seen my warning."
explore, for he knew the place well by this time,   And it appeared so, for the ship just then came
but he went his rounds to see that all his signals up in the wind several points, and left the Bluff
were in working order.                           dead astern. 
HIe went to Mount Look-out one day with this   She sailed a little way on that course, and then
view. It was about an hour before noon. Long  paid offagain, and seemedinclined to range along
before he got to the mountain he had scanned the the coast. But presently she was up in the wind
horizon carefully, as a matter ofcourse; but not a again, and made a greater offing.  She was sailed
speck. So, when he got there, he did not look  in a strange, vacillating way; but Hazel ascribed
seaward, but just saw that his flagstaff was all right this to her people's fear of the reefs he had indiand was about to turn away and go home, when he cated to all comers.' The better to watch her mahappened to glance at the water; and there, under- nceuvres, and signal her, if necessary, they both
neath him, he saw -a ship; standing towards the  went up to Telegraph Point.  They could not go
island.                    -                     out to her, being low water. Seen from this height,
the working of this vessel was unaccountable.  She
was to and off the wind as often as if she was
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Adrunk herself, or commanded by a drunken skipper.
HE started, and rubbed his eyes, and looked  However, she was kept well clear of the home reefs,
again. It was no delusion. Things never did come and made a good offing, and so at last she opened
as they are expected to come. There was still no the bay heading N.W., and distant four miles, or
doubtful speck on the horizon; but within eight thereabouts. Now was the time to drop her anchor.
miles of the island- and in this lovely air that So Hazel worked the telegraph to draw her attenlooked nearly close-was a ship, under canvas. tion, and waved his hat and hand to her. But the
She bore S.E. from Mount Look out, and S.S.E. ship sailed on.  She yawed immensely, but she
from the East Bluff' of the island, towards which  kept her course; and, when she had gone a mile or
her course was apparently directed.  She had a two more, the sickening truth forced itself at last
fair wind, but was not going fast; being heavily  upon those eager watchers.  She had decided not
laden, and under no press of sail. A keen thrill to touch at the island. In vain their joyful signals.
went through him; and his mind was a whirl. He In vain the telegraph. In vain that cry for help
ran home with the great news.                    upon the eastern cliff: it had saved her but not
But, even as he ran, a cold sickly feeling crawled pleaded for them. The monsters saw them on the
over him.                                        height,  their hope, their joy,  saw and aban"That ship parts her and me."                  doned them.
He resisted the feeling as a thing too monstrous    They looked at one another with dilating eyes, to
and selfish, and resisted it so fiercely, that, when he read in a human face whether such a deed as this
got to the slopes and saw Helen busy at her work, could really be done  by man upon his fellow.
he waved his hat and hurrahed again and again, and  Then they uttered wild cries to the receding vessel.
seemed almost mad with triumph.                     Vain, vain, all was in vain.
Helen stood transfixed, she had never seen him    Then they sat down stupefied, but still glaring at
in such a state.                                 the ship, and each at the same moment held out a
"Good news!" he cried; " great news! A ship hand to the other, and they sat hand in hand; all
in sight! You are rescued!"                     the world to each other just then, for there was the
Her heart leaped into her mouth.               world in sight abandoning them in cold blood.
"A ship! she screamed. " Where? Where?"          Be calm, dear friend," said Helen, patiently.
He came up to her, panting.                    " 0  my poor father!"   And  her other hand
" Close under.the island. Hid by the bluff; but threw her apron over her head, and then came a
you will see her in half an hour.  God be praised! burst of anguish that no words could utter.
Get everything ready to go. Hurrah! This is our   At this Hazel started to his feet in fury.
last day on the island."                           "Now may the God that made sea and land
The words were brave, and loud, and boisterous, judge between those miscreants there and you! "
but the face was pale and drawn, and Helen saw it,   "Be patient," said  Helen, sobbing.  "0  be
and though she bustled and got ready to leave, the patient."
tears were in her eyes. But the event was too great   "No!  I will not be patient," roared Hazel




" ST. HELEN'S."- See page 68.








FOUL PLAY.                                           77
" Jldge thou her cause, 0 God; each of these tears   And the worst of it was, it began to blow a gale;
against a reptile's soul."                      and this wind sent the sea rolling into the bay in a
And so he stood glaring, and his hair blowing manner that alarmed her seriously.
wildly to the breeze; while she sighed patiently at   The night wore on; no signs of the boat; and
his knee.                                       now there was a heavy gale outside, and a great sea
Presently he began to watch the vessel with a rolling in, brown and foaming.
grim and bitter eye.  Anon he burst out suddenly,   Day broke, and showed the sea for a mile or two;Aha'! that is right. Well steered. Don't cry, the rest was hidden by driving rain.
sweet one; our cause is heard. Are they blind?   Helen kneeled on the shore and prayed for him.
Are they drunk? Are they sick? I see nobody on    Dire misgivings oppressed her. And soon these
deck! Perhaps I have been too- God forgive me, were heightened to terror; for the sea began to disthe ship's ashore! "                           gorge things of a kind that had never come ashore
before. A great ship's mast came tossing: huge as
CHA PTER XXXVII.         it was, the waves handled it like a toy. Then came
a barrel; then a broken spar. These were but the
HELEN looked up; and there was the ship fast, forerunners of more fearful havoc.
and on her side. She was on the White Water Reef.   The sea became strewed and literally blackened
Not upon the black rocks themselves, but on a part with fragments; part wreck, part cargo of a broken
of them that was under water.                   vessel.
Hazel ran down to the beach; and there Helen    But what was all this compared with the horror
found him  greatly agitated. All his anger was that followed?
gone; he had but one thought now,  to go out to   A black object caught her eye; driven in upon
her assistance. But it still wanted an hour to high the crest of a wave.
water, and it was blowing smartly, and there was   She looked, with her hair flying straight back,
nearly always a surf upon that reef. What if the and her eyes almost starting from her head.
vessel should break up, and lives be lost?       It was a boat, bottom up; driven on, and tossed
He paced the sands like a wild beast in its cage, like a cork.
in an agony of pity, remorse, and burning impa-   It came nearer, nearer, nearer.
tience. His feelings became intolerable; he set his   She dashed into the water with a wild scream,
back to the boat, and with herculean strength but a wave beat her backward on the sand, and, as
forced it down a little way to meet the tide.  He she rose, an enormous roller lifted the boat upright
got logs and put them down for rollers. He strove, into the air, and breaking, dashed it keel uppermost
he strained, he struggled, till his face and hands were on the beach at her side - empty!
purple. And at last he met the flowing tide, and
in a moment, jumped into the boat, and pushed off.
Helen begged with sparkling eyes to be allowed to           CHAPTER  XXXVIII.
accompany him.
"What, to a ship smitten with scurvy or Heaven    HELEN uttered a shriek of agony, and her knees
knows what? Certainly not. Besides, you would smote together, and she would have swooned on the
be wet through; it is blowing rather fresh, and I spot but for the wind and the spray that beat against
shall carry on. Pray for the poor souls I go to help; her. 
and for me, who have sinned in my anger."         To the fearful stun succeeded the wildest distress.
He hoisted his sail, and ran out.             She ran to and fro like some wild animal bereaved;
Helen stood on the bank, and watched him -with she kept wringing her hands and uttering cries of
tender admiration. How good and brave he was! pity and despair, and went back to the boat a
And he could go into a passion too, when she was hundred times; it held her by a spell.
wronged, or when he thought she was. Well! she   It was long before she could think connectedly,
admired him none the less for that.  She watched and, even then, it was not of herself, nor of her
him at first with admiration, but soon with anxiety; lonely state, but only, Why did not she die with
for he had no sooner passed North Gate, than the him? Why did she not die instead of him?
cutter having both sails set, though reefed, lay down    He had been all the world to her; and now she
very much and her hull kept disappearing. Helen knew it. 0, what a friend, what a champion, what
felt anxious; and would have been downright fright- a lover these cruel waves had destroyed?
ened, but for her confidence in his prowess.      The morning broke, and still she hovered and
By and by only her staggering sails were visible; hovered about the fatal boat, with great horrorand the sun set ere she reached the creek. The stricken eyes, and hair flying to the breeze; and
wind declined with the sun; and Helen made two not a tear. If she could only have smoothed his
great fires, and prepared food for the sufferers; for last moments, have spoken one word into his dying
she made sure Hazel would bring them off in a ear! But no! Her poor hero had died in going to
few hours more. She promised herself the happi- save others; died thinking her as cold as the waters
ness of relieving the distressed. But to her infinite that had destroyed him.
surprise she found herself almost regretting that the   Dead or alive he was all the world to her now.
island was likely to be peopled with strangers. No She went, wailing piteously, and imploring the
matter, she should sit up for them all night, and be waves to give her at least his dead body to speak to,
very kind to them, poor things; though they had and mourn over. But the sea denied her even that
not been very kind to her.                      dismal consolation.
About midnight, the wind shifted to the north-   The next tide brought in a few more fragments
west, and blew hard.                            of the wreck, but no corpse-floated ashore.
Helen ran down to the shore, and looked sea-   Then at last, as the waves once more retired,
ward. This was a fair wind for Hazel's return; and leaving, this time, only petty fragments of wreck on
she began to expect him every hour. But no; he the beach, she lifted up her voice, and almost wept
delayed unaccountably.                          her heart out of her body.




78                                      FOUL PLAY.
Such tears as these are seldom without effect on    The stubborn boat seemed elastic, and all- but
the mind: and Helen now began to rebel, though  moved. Then instinct taught her where her true
faintly, against despair.   She had  been quite strength lay. She got to the stern of the boat, and
crushed, at first, under the material evidence, -the setting the small of her back under the projecting
boat driven empty by the very wind and waves that gunwale, she gathered herself together and gave a
had done the cruel deed. But the heart is averse superb heave, that moved the boat a foot.  She folto believe calamity and especially bereavement; lowed it up, and heaved again with like effect.
and very ingenious in arguing against that bitterest Then, with a cry of joy, she ran and put down anof all woes. So she now sat down and brooded, and other roller forward. The boat was now on two
her mind fastened with pathetic ingenuity on every  rollers: one more magnificent heave with all her
circumstance that could bear a favorable construc- zeal, and strength, and youth, and the boat glided
tion. The mast had not been broken; how, then, forward. She turned and rushed at it as it went,
had it been lost?  The body had not come ashore. and the water deepening, and a gust catching the
He had had time to get to the wreck before the gale sail, it went out to sea, and she had only just time
from the north came on at all; and why should a to throw herself across the gunwale, panting.  She'
fair wind, though powerful, upset the boat?  On  was afloat. The wind was S.W., and before she
these slender things she began to build a superstruc- knew where she was, the boat headed towards the
ture of hope; but soon her heart interrupted the home reefs, and slipped through the water pretty
reasoning.  " What would he do in my place? fast considering how small a sail she carried. She
would he sit guessing while hope had a hair to hang ran to the helm. Alas! the rudder was broken off
by? "  That thought struck her like a spur: and in above the water-line. The helm was a mockery,
a moment she bounded into action, erect, her lips and the boat running for the reefs. She slacked the
fixed, and her eye on fire, though her cheek was sheet and the boat lost her way, and began to drift
very pale.  She went swiftly to Hazel's store, and  with the tide, which luckily had not yet turned. It
searched it; there she found the jib-sail, a boat- carried her in shore.
hook, some rope, and one little oar, that Hazel was   Helen cast her eyes around for an expedient, and
making for her, and had not quite completed. The she unshipped one of the transoms, and by trailing
sight of this, his last work, overpowered her again; over the side, and alternately slacking and hauling
and she sat down and took it on her knees, and the sheet, she contrived to make the boat crawl
kissed it, and cried over it. And these tears weak- like a winged bird through the western passage.
ened her for a time. She felt it, and had the resolu- After that it soon got becalmed under the cliff, and
tion to leave the oar behind. A single oar was of no drifted into two feet water.
use to row with. She rigged the boat-hook as a mast;   Instantly she tied a rope to the mast, got out into
and fastened the sail to it; and,?with this poor equip- the water, and took the rope ashore. She tied it
ment, she actually resolved to put out to sea.   round a heavy barrel she found there, and set the
The wind still blew smartly, and there was no barrel up, and heaped stones round it and on it,
blue sky visible.'    which, unfortunately, was a long job, though she
*And now she remembered she had eaten nothing; worked with feverish haste; then she went roundthat would not do. Her strength might fail her. the point, sometimes wet and sometimes dry, for the
She made ready a meal, and ate it almost fiercely, little oar she had left behind, because it broke her
and by a pure effort of resolution; as she was doing heart to look at.  Away with such weakness now!
all the rest.                                    With that oar, his last work, she might steer if she
By this time, it was nearly high-tide.  She could not row.  She got it.  She came back to the
watched the water creeping up. Will it float the boat to recommence her voyage.
boat?  It rises over the keel; two inches, three    She found the boat all safe but in six inches of
inches. Five inches water! Now she pushes with water, and the tide going out. So ended her voyall her strength. No; the boat has water in it she age; four hundred yards at most, and then to wait
had forgotten to bale out.  She strained every  another twelve hours for the tide.
nerve, but could not move it. She stopped to take    It was too cruel: and every hour so precious;
breath, and husband her strength.. But, when she for, even if Hazel was alive, he would die of cold
renewed her efforts, the five inches were four, and and hunger ere she could get to him. She cried
she had the misery of seeing the water crawl away like any woman.
by degrees, and leave the boat high and dry.        She persisted like a man.
She sighed, heart-broken, a while; then went   She made several trips, and put away things in
home and prayed.                                 the boat that could possibly be of use, - abundant
When she had prayed a long time for strength  provision, and a keg of water; Hazel's wooden
and wisdom, she lay down fbr an hour, and tried to spade to paddle or steer with; his basket of tools,
sleep, but failed. Then she prepared for a more &c. Then. she snatched some sleep; but it was
serious struggle with the many difficulties she had  broken by sad and terrible dreams: then she waited
to encounter. Now she thanked God more than ev- in an agony of impatience for high-water.
er for the health and rare strength she had acquired    We are not always the best judges of what is
in this island: without them she could have done good for us. Probably these delays saved her own
nothing now. She got a clay platter, and baled the life. She went out at last under far more favorable
vessel nearly dry. She left a littlewaterfor ballast. circumstances,- a light westerly breeze, and no
She fortified herself with food, and put provisions reefs to pass through.  She was, however, severely
and water on board the boat.  In imitation of incommoded with a ground-swell.
Hazel, she went and got two round logs, and as   At first she steered with the spade as well as she
soon as the tide crawled up to four inches, she lifted could; but she found this was not sufficient. The
the bow a little, and got a roller under. Then she current ran westerly, and she was drifting out of
went to the boat's stern, set her teeth, and pushed her course. Then she remembered Hazel's lessons,
with a rush of excitement that gave her almost a and made shift to fasten the spade to the helm,
man's strength.                                  and then lashed the helm. Even this did not quite




FOUL PLAY.                                           79
do; so she took her little oar, kissed it, cried over her head down, utterly desolate. She sat thus for
it a little, and then pulled manfully with it so as to a long time indeed, until she was interrupted by a
keep the true course. It was a muggy day, neither most unexpected visitor.
wet nor dry. White Water Island was not in sight
from Godsend Island; but as soon as she lost the    Something came sniffing up to her and put a
latter, the former became visible, — an ugly grin- cold nose to her hand. She started violently and
ning reef, with an eternal surf on the south and both her hands were in the air in a moment.
western sides.                                    It was a dog, a pointer. He whimpered and
Often she left off rowing, and turned to look at tried to gambol, but could not manage it; he was
it. It was all black and blank, except the white too weak. However, he contrived to let her see
and fatal surf.                                 with the wagging of his tail, and a certain contemWhen she was about four miles from the nearest poraneous twist of his emaciated body, that she
part of' the reef, there was a rush and bubble in the was welcome.  But, having performed this cerewater, and a great shark came after the boat. mony, he trotted. feebly away, leaving her very
Helen  screamed, and turned  very cold.  She much startled, and not knowing what to think;
dreaded the monster not for what he could do now; indeed, this incident set her trembling all over.
but for what he might have done. He seemed to    A dog saved from the wreck! Then why not a
Know the boat, he swam so vigilantly behind it. man? And why not that life?  0, thought she,
Was he there when the boat upset with Hazel in would Vxod save that creature, and not pity my poor
it?  Was it in his greedy maw the remains of her angel and me?
best friend must be sought. Her lips opened, but no    She got up animated with hope, and recomsound. She shuddered and hid her face at this menced her researches. She now kept at the outawful thought.                                  ward edge of the island, and so went all round till
The shark followed steadily.                 she reached her boat again. The shark was swimShe got to the reef, but did not hit it off as she ming to and fro, waiting for her with horrible per-.ntended. She ran under its lee, lowered the little tinacity. She tried to eat a mouthful, but, though
sail, and steered the boat into a nick where the she was faint, she could not eat. She drank a
shark could hardly follow her.                  mouthful of water, and then went to search the
But he moved to and fro like a sentinel, while very small portion that remained of the reef, and
she landed in trepidation and secured the boat to to take the poor dog home with her, because he she
the branches of a white coral rock.             had lost was so good to animals. Only his example
She found the place much larger than it looked is left me, she said; and with that came another
from Telegraph Point. It was an archipelago of burst of'sorrow. But she got up and did the rest
coral reef incrusted here and there with shells. of her work, crying as she went. After some seShe could not see all over it, where she was, so she vere travelling she got near the northeast limit, and
made for what seemed the highest part, a bleak, in a sort of gully she saw the dog, quietly seated
seaweedy mound, with some sandy hillocks about high on his tail. She called him; but he never
it.  She went up to this, and looked eagerly all moved. So, then, she went to him, and, when she
round.                                          got near him, she saw why he would not come.
Not a soul.                                   He was watching. Close by him lay the form of a
She called as loud as her sinking heart would let man nearly covered with seaweed. The feet were
her.                                            visible, and so was the face, the latter deadly pale.
Not a sound.                                  It was he. In a moment she was by him, and leanShe felt very sick, and sat down  upon  the ing over him with both hands quivering. Was he
mound.                                          dead? No; his eyes were closed; he was fast
When she had yielded a while to the weakness of asleep.
her sex, she got up, and was her father's daughter   Her hands flew to his face to feel him alive, and
again. She set to work to examine every foot of then grasped both his hands and drew them up
the reef.                                      towards her panting bosom: and the tears of joy
It was no easy task. The rocks were rugged and streamed from  her eyes, as she sobbed and mursharp in places, slippery in others; often she had to inured over him, she knew not what. At that he
go about, and once she fell and hurt her pretty. awoke and stared at her. He uttered a loud ejachands and made them bleed; she never looked at ulation of joy and wonder, then taking it all in,
them, nor heeded, but got up and sighed at the in- burst into tears himself and fell to kissing her hands
terruption: then patiently persisted. It took her and blessing her. The poor soul had almost given
two hours to examine thus, in detail, one half the himself up for lost. And to be saved, all in a moisland: but at last she discovered something. She ment, and by her!
saw at the eastern side of the reef a wooden figure   They could neither of them speak, but only minof a woman, and, making her way to it, found the gled tears of joy and gratitude.
figure-head, and a piece of the bow, of the ship,   Hazel recovered himself first; and rising somewith a sail on it, and a yard on that. This frag- what stiffly, lent her his arm. Her father's spirit
ment was wedged into an angle of the reef, and went out of her in the moment of victory, and she
the seaward edge of it shattered in a way that was all woman, —sweet, loving, clinging woman.
struck terror to Helen, for it showed her how om- She got hold of his hand as well as his arm, and
nipotent the sea had been. On the reef itself she clutched it so tight, her little grasp seemed velvet
found a cask with its head stove in, also a little keg and steel.
and two wooden chests or cases. But what was all   "Let me feel you," said she: " but no words! no
this to her?                                   words! "
She sat dowr. again, for her knees failed her.   He supported his preserver tenderly to the boat,
Presently therr was a sort of moan near her, and a then, hoisting the sail, he fetched the east side in
seal splashed.nto the water and dived out of her two tacks, shipped the sail and yard, and also the
sight. She p-it her hands on her heart, and bowed cask, keg, and boxes. He then put a great quantity




80                                       FOUL PLAY.
of loose oysters on board, each as large as a plate. Helen's cave was not removed as usual. She was
She looked at him with amazement.                 on her bed with a violent headache.
" What," said she, when he had quite loaded the    Hazel fed Ponto, and corrected him. He was at
boat, "only just out of the jaws of death, and yet present a civilized dog; so he made a weak rush
you can trouble your head about oysters and  at the boobies and noddies directly.
things."                                            He also smelt Tommy inquisitively, to learn was
"Wait till you see what I shall do with them," he an eatable. Tommy somehow divined the end
said he. " These are pearl oysters. I gathered  of this sinister curiosity, and showed his teeth.
them for you, when I had little hope I should ever   Then Hazel got a rope, and tied one end round
see you again to give them you."                  his own waist, and one round Ponto's neck, and at
This was an unlucky speech. The act, that every outbreak of civilization, jerked him sharply
seemed so small and natural a thing to him, the on to his back. The effect of this discipline was
woman's heart measured more correctly.  Something rapid; Ponto soon found that he must not. make
rose in her throat; she tried to laugh instead of cry- war on the inhabitants of the island. He was a
ing, and so she did both, and went into a violent fit docile animal, and, in a very short time, consented
of hysterics that showed how thoroughly her nature to make one of " the happy family," as Hazel called
had been stirred to its depths.  She quite frightened the miscellaneous crew that beset him.
Hazel; and, indeed, the strength of an excited    Helen and Hazel did not meet till past noon;
woman's weakness is sometimes alarming to manly  and, when they did meet, it was plain she had been
natures.                                          thinking a great deal, for her greeting was so shy
He did all he could to soothe her; without much and restrained as to appear cold and distant to
success. As soon as she was better he set sail, Hazel. He thought to himself, I was too happy
thinking home was the best place for her. She yesterday, and she too kind. Of course it could
leant back exhausted; and, after a while, seemed to not last.
be asleep. We don't believe she was, but Hazel   This change in her seemed to grow rather than
did; and sat, cold and aching in body, but warm at diminish.  She carried it so far as to go and almost
heart, worshipping her with all his eyes.         hide during the working hours.  She made off to
At last they got ashore; and he sat by her fire the jungle, and spent an unreasonable time there.
and told her all, while she cooked his supper and  She professed to be collecting cotton, and it must
warmed clothes at the fire for him.               be admitted she brought a good deal home with her.
" The ship," said he, " was a Dutch vessel, bound  But Hazel could not accept cotton as the only mofrom Batavia to Callao, that had probably gone on tive for this sudden separation.
her beam ends, for she was full of water. Her crew    He lost the light of her face till the evening.
had abandoned her; I think they underrated the Then matters took another turn: she was too polite.
buoyancy of the ship and cargo. They left the  Ceremony and courtesy appeared to be gradually
poor dog on board. Her helm was lashed a-weather encroaching upon tender friendship and familiarity:
a couple of turns, but why that was done, I cannot yet, now and then, her soft hazel eyes seemed to
tell for the life of me. I boarded her; unshipped  turn on him in silence, and say, forgive me all this.
my mast, and moored the boat to the ship; fed the Then at those sweet looks, love and forgiveness
p'oor dog; rummaged in the hold, and contrived to poured out of his eyes. And then hers sought the
hoist up a small cask of salted beef, and a keg of ground. And this was generally followed by a cerrum, and some cases of grain and seeds. I managed tain mixture of stiffness, timidity, and formality, too
to slide these on to the reef by means of the mast subtle to describe.
and oar lashed together. But a roller ground the    The much-enduring man began to lose patience.
wreck farther on to the reef, and the sudden snap    "This is caprice," said he. " Cruel caprice."
broke the rope, as I suppose, and the boat went to    Our female readers will probably take a deeper
sea. I never knew the misfortune till I saw her view of it than that. Whatever it was, another
adrift. I could have got over that by making a change was at hand.  Since he was so exposed to
raft; but the gale from the north brought such a the weather on the reef, Hazel had never been free
sea on us.  I saw she must break up, so I got from pain; but he had done his best to work it off.
ashore how I could.  Ah, I little thought to see He had collected all the valuables from the wreck,
your face again, still less that I should owe my life made a new mast, set up a rude capstan to draw
to you."                                         the boat ashore,. and cut a little dock for her at low
" Spare me," said Helen, faintly.              water, and clayed it in the full heat of the sun; and,
" What, must not I thank you even for my life? " having accomplished this drudgery, he got at last to
"No.  The account is far from even yet."       his labor of love; he opened a quantity of pearl
"You are no arithmetician to say so. What oysters, fed Tommy and the duck with them, and
astonishes me most is, that you have never once began the great work of linhig the cavern with them
scolded me for all the trouble and anxiety   "    The said cavern was somewhat shell-shaped, and
" I am too happy to see you sitting there, to scold his idea was to make it out of a gloomy cavern into
you. But, still I do ask you, to leave the sea alone, a vast shell, lined entirely, roof and sides, with gloafter this.  The treacherous monster!  0, think rious, sweet, prismatic, mother-of-pearl, fresh from
what you and I have suffered on it."              ocean. Well, one morning, while Helen was in the
She seemed quite worn out. He saw that, and jungle, he made a cement of guano, sand, clay, and
retired for the night, casting one more wistful glance water, nipped some shells to a shape with the pinon her. But at that moment she was afraid to look  cers, and  cemented  them  neatly, like Mosaic
at him. Her heart was welling over with tender- almost; but in the middle of his work he was cut
ness for the dear friend whose life she had saved.    down by the disorder he had combated so stoutly.
He fairly gave in, and sat down groaning with pain.
Next morning Hazel rose at daybreak as usual, And in this state Helen found him.
but found himself stiff in the joints, and with a pain    "0, what is the matter? " said she.
in his back. The mat that hung at the opening of   He told her the truth and said he had violent pains




FOUL PLAY.                                            81
m the back and head.  She did not say much, but   He turned round and slept for several hours as
she turned pale.   She bustled and lighted a great he supposed; but in reality he was silent for just
fire, and made him lie down by it. She propped  three seconds. "Well," said he, "and is a gardenhis head up; she set water on to boil for him, and  er a man to be looked down upon by upstarts?
would not let him move for anything; and all the When Adam delved and Eve span, where was then
time her features were brimful of the liveliest con- the gentleman?  Why, where the spade was. Yet
cern. He could not help thinking how much better I went through the Herald's College and not one of
it was to be ill and in pain, and have her so kind, our mushroom aristocracy (' bloated' I object to;
than to be well, and see her cold and distant. they don't eat half as much as their footmen) had
Towards evening he got better, or rather he mis- a spade for a crest. There's nothing ancient west
took an intermission for cure, and retired to his of the Caspian. Well, all the better. For there's
boat; but she made him take her rug with him; no fool like an old fool. A spade's a spade for a
and, when he was gone, she could not sleep for that, an a that, an a that, an a that,   an a that, -
anxiety; and it cut'her to the heart to think how  an a that. Hallo! Stop that man; he's gone off
poorly he was lodged compared with her.          on his cork leg, of a that, on a that,- and it is my
Of all the changes fate could bring, this she had wish to be quiet. Allow me respectfully to obnever dreamed of, that she should be so robust, and  serve," said he striking off suddenly into an air of
he should be sick and in pain.                   vast politeness, "that man requires change. I've
She passed an uneasy, restless night, and long done a jolly good day's work with the spade for this
before morning she awoke for the sixth' or seventh old Buffer, and now the intellect claims its turn.
time, and she awoke with a misgiving in her mind, The mind retires above the noisy world to its Acropand some sound ringing in her ears.  She listened  olis,and there discusses the great problem of the day;
and heard nothing; but in a few moments it began the Insular Enigma. To be or not to be, that is the
again.                                           question, I believe. No it is not. That is fully disIt was Hazel talking, - talking in a manner so cussed elsewhere. Hum! To diffuse - intelligence
fast, so strange, so loud, that it made her blood run - from a fixed island- over one hundred leagues
cold. It was the voice of Hazel, but not his mind.  of water.
She drew  near, and, to her dismay, found him    "It's a stinger. But I can't complain. I had
fever-stricken, and pouring out words with little read Lempriere, and Smith and Bryant, and mytholsequence.  She came close to him and tried to ogy in general: yet I must go and fall in love with
soothe him, but he answered her quite at random, the Sphinx. Men are so vain. Vanity whispered
and went on fliningn  out the strangest things in she will set you a light one; why is a cobbler like a
stranger order. She trembled and waited for a lull, king, for instance. She is in love with you, ye fool,
hoping then to soothe him with soft words and tones if you are with her. The harder the riddle the
of tender pity.                                  higher the compliment the Sphinx pays you. That
" Dens and caves " he roared, answering an im- is the way all sensible men look at it. She is not
aginary detractor. "Well, never mind, love shall the Sphinx: she is an angel, and I call her my
make that hole in the rock a palace for a queen; for Lady Caprice. Hate herfor being Caprice? You
a queen?  For the queen."  Here he suddenly incorrigible muddle head. Why, I love Caprice for
changed characters and fancied he was interpreting  being her shadow. Poor, impotent love that can't
the discourse of another. " He means the Queen  solve a problem. The only one she ever set me.
of the Fairies," said he, patronizingly: then, resum- I've gone about it like a fool. What is the use
ing his own character with loud defiance, "I say putting up little bits of telegraphs on the island?
her chamber shall outshine the glories of the Alham- I'll make a kite a hundred feet high, get five miles
bra, as far as the lilies outshone the artificial glories of rope ready against the next hurricane; and
of King Solomon. 0 mighty Nature, let others re- then I'11 rub it with phosphorus and fly it.  But
ly on the painter, the gold-beater,, the carver of what can I fasten it to?  No tree would hold it.
marble, come you and help me adorn the temple of Dunce! To the island itself, of course.  And
my beloved. Amen."                               now  go to  Stantle, Magg, Melton, and  Cope(The poor soul thought, by the sound of his own stake for one thousand yards of silk, — Money 
words, it must be a prayer he had uttered.)      Money!  Money!  Well, give them  a mortgage
And now Helen, with streaming eyes, tried to put on the island, and a draft on the galleon. Now
in a word, but he stopped her with a wild hush! stop the pitch-fountain, and bore a hole near it;
and went off into a series of mysterious whisperings. fill fifty balloons with gas, inscribe them with the
"Make no noise, please, or we shall frighten her. latitude and longitude, fly them, and bring  all
There- that is her window- no noise, please! the world about our ears. The problem is solved.
I've watched and waited four hours, just to see her It is solved, and I am destroyed.  She leaves me;
sweet, darling shadow on the blinds, and shall I she thinks no more of me. Her heart is in Englose it for your small talk? all paradoxes and plati- land."
tudes! excuse my plain speaking —hush! here it   Then he muttered for a long time unintelligibly;
comes,    her shadow — hush - how my heart beats. and Helen ventured near, and actually laid her hand
It is gone.  So now" (speaking out), "Good on his brow to soothe him. But suddenly his mutternight, base world! Do you hear? you company of ing ceased, and he seemed to be puzzling hard over
liars, thieves, and traitors, called the world, go and  something.
sleep if you can. I shall sleep: because my con-   The result came out in a clear articulate sentence,
science is clear. False accusations!  Who can that made Helen recoil, and holding by the mast,
help them?  They are the act of others. Read of cast an indescribable look of wonder and dismay on
Job, and Paul, and Joan of Arc. No, no, no, no; I the speaker.
did n't say read'em out with those stentorian lungs.   The words that so staggered her were these, to the
I must be allowed a little sleep, a man that wastes letter.
the midnight oil, yet brushes the early dew. Good    " She says she hates reptiles. Yet she marries
night."                                          Arthur Wardlaw."




82                                      FOUL PLAY.
CHTAPTER  XXXIX.                    with what success may be imagined.  She would
have bought those pains, or a portion of them; ay,
TaE very name of Arthur Wardlaw startled Hel- and paid a heavy price for them.
en, and made her realize how  completely her   But pain, like everything, intermits, and in those
thoughts had been occupied with another.         blessed intervals his mind was more active than ever,
But add to that the strange and bitter epigram! and ran a great deal upon what he called the
Or was it a mere fortuitous concourse of words?  Problem.
She was startled, amazed, confounded, puzzled.   But she, who had set it him, gave him little enAnd, ere she could recover her composure, Hazel couragement now to puzzle over it.
was back to his problem again: but no longer with    The following may serve as a specimen of their
the same energy.                                  conversation on that head.
He said in a faint and sleepy voice: "'He mak-   " The air of this island," said he, "gives one a
eth the winds His messengers, and flames of fire His sort of vague sense of mental power. It leads to no
ministers.' Ah! if I could do that! Well, why not? result in my case: still, it is an agreeable sensation
I can do anything she bids me, -.to have it floating across my mind that some day I
Grculus esuriens clm jusseris ibi."  shall solve the Great Problem.  Ah! if I was only
G'eculus esuriens coelum jusseris ibit..            ~
an inventor!"
And soon after this doughty declaration he dozed off,   "And so you are."
and forgot all his trouble for a while.             "No, no," said Hazel, disclaiming as earnestly
The sun rose, and still he slept, and Helen  as some people claim; "I do things that look like
watched him with undisguised tenderness in her acts of invention, but they are acts of memory. 1
face; undisguised now that he could not see it.   could show you plates and engravings of all the
Erelong she had companions in her care. Ponto things I have seemed to invent. A man who studcame out of his den, and sniffed about the boat; and  ies books instead of skimming them, can cut a dash
then began to scratch it, and whimper for his friend. in a desert island, until the fatal word goes forth, 
Tommy swam out of the sea, came to the boat, dis- invent; and then you find him out."
covered, Heaven knows how, that his friend was   " I am  sure I wish I had never said the fatal
there, and, in the way of noises, did everything but word. You will never get well if you puzzle your
speak. The sea-birds followed and fluttered here brain over impossibilities."
and there in an erratic way, with now and then a    "Impossibilities! But is not that begging the
-peck at' each other.  All animated nature seemed question?  The measure of impossibilities is lost in
to be uneasy at this eclipse of their Hazel.     the present age. I propose a test. Let us go back
At last Tommy raised himself quite perpendicu- a century, and suppose that three problems were
lar, in a vain endeavor to look into the boat, and in- laid before the men of that day, and they were
vented a whine in the minor key, which tells on  asked to decide which is the most impossible: 1st,
dogs: it set Ponto off in a moment; he sat upon to diffuse intelligence from a fixed island over a
his tail, and delivered a long and most deplorable hundred leagues of water:- 2d, to make the sun
howl.                                             take in thirty seconds likenesses more exact than
"Everything loves him," thought Helen.         any portrait-painter ever took, - likenesses that can
With Ponto's music Hazel awoke, and found her be sold for a shilling at fifty per cent profit: 3d,
watching him, with tears in her eyes; he said soft- for New York and London to exchange words by
ly  "Miss Rolleston! There is nothing the matter, wire so much faster than the earth can turn, that
I hope. Why am I not up getting things for your London shall tell New York at ten on Monday mornbreakfast? "                                     ing what was the price of consols at two o'clock Mon" Dear friend," said- she, " why you are not doing day afternoon."
things for me and forgetting yourself, is because you    " That is a story," said Helen, with a look of anhave been very ill. And I am your nurse. Now  gelic reproach.
tell me what I shall get you. Is there nothing you    "I accept that reply," said Hazel.  " As for me,
could fancy?"                                    I have got a smattering of so many subjects, all full
No; he had no appetite; she was not to trouble of incredible truths, that my faith in the impossibilabout hin. And then he tried to get up; but that ity of anything is gone. Ah! if James Watt was
gave him such a pain in his loins, he was fain to lie only here instead of John Hazel,  James Watt
down again. So then he felt that he had got rheu- from the Abbey with a head as big as a pumpkin,matic fever. He told her so; but seeing her sweet he would not have gone groping about the island,
anxious face, begged her not to be alarmed,- he writing on rocks, and erecting signals. No; he
knew what to'take for it. Would she be kind  would have had some grand and bold idea worthy of
enough to go to his arsenal and fetch some speci- the proposition." 
mens of bark she would find there, and also the keg    " Well, so I think," said Helen,.archly; " that
"of rum.                                          great man with a great head would have begun by
She flew at the word, and soon made him an in- making a kite a hundred yards high."
fusion of the barks in boiling water; to which the    " Would he?  Well, he was quite capable of it."
rum was added.                                      " Yes; and rubbed it with phosphorus, and flown
His sweet nurse administered this from time to it the first tempest, and made the string fast to -
time. The barks used were of the cassia-tree, and the island itself:"
a wild citron-tree.  Cinchona did not exist in this   " Well, that is an idea," said Hazel, staring;
island, unfortunately. Perhaps there was no soil "rather hyperbolical, I fear. But after all, it is an
for it at a sufficient elevation above the sea.  idea."
Nevertheless with these inferior barks they held    " Or else," continued Helen, " he would weave
the fever in check. But the pain was obstinate, and  a thousand yards of some light fabric, and make
cost Helen many a sigh; for if she came softly, she balloons; then he would stop the pitch-fountain,
could often hear him moan; and the moment lie bore a hole in the rock near it, and so get the gas,
heard her foot, he set-to and whistled, for a blind; fill the balloons, inscribe them with our sad story




FOUL PLAY.                                           83
and our latitude and longitude, and send them fly-   "And forty-nine minutes past eight at Sydney,"
ing all over the ocean,- there  "               said Helen, holding out her chronometer; for she
Hazel was amazed.                             had been sharp enough to get it ready of her own
"I resign my functions to you," said he. "What accord.
imagination! What invention!"                    Hazel looked at her and at the watch with
"0 dear no," said Helen, slyly;  acts ofmem- amazement and incredulity.
ory sometimes pass for invention, you know. Shall   "What?" said he.  "Impossible.  You can't
I tell you? when first you fell ill, you were rather have kept Sydney time all this while."
light-headed, and uttered the strangest things.   "And pray why not?" said Helen.  "Have
They would have made me laugh heartily, only I you forgotten that once somebody praised me for
could n't, -for crying. And you said that about keeping Sydney time; it helped you, somehow or
kites and balloons, every word."                other, to know where we were."
"Did I? then I have most brains when I have   "And so it will now," cried Hazel, exultingly.
least reason, that's all."                     "But no! it is impossible. We have gone through
" Ay," said Helen, " and other strange things, -  scenes that- you can't have wound that watch up
very strange and bitter things. One I should like without missing a day."
to ask you about, what on earth you could mean    "Indeed but I have," said Helen. "Not wind
by it; but perhaps you meant nothing after all."    my watch up! Why, if I was dying I should wind
"I'll soon tell you," said Hazel; but he took the my watch up. See, it requires no key; a touch or
precaution to add, " Provided I know what it means two of the fingers and it is done.  0, I am remyself."                                        markably constant in all my habits; and this is an
She looked at him steadily, and was on the point old friend I never neglect. Do you remember that
of seeking the explanation so boldly offered; but terrible night in the boat, when neither of us exher own courage failed her. She colored and hesi- pected to see the morning,- 0, how good and
tated.                                          brave you were! - well, I remember winding it up
" I shall wait," said she, " till you are quite, quite that night. I kissed it, and bade it good by; but
well. That will be soon, I hope; only you must be I never dreamed of not winding it up, because I
good, and obey my prescriptions.  Cultivate pa- was going to be killed. What! am I not to be
tierffe; it is a wholesome plant; bow the pride of praised again, as I was on board ship?  Stingy!
that intellect which you see a fever can lay low in can't afford to praise one twice for the same thing."
an hour: aspire no more beyond the powers of man.   "Praised! " cried Hazel, excitedly; "worshipped,
Here we shall stay unless Providence sends us a you mean. Why, we have got the longitude by
ship. I have ceased to repine: and don't you be- means of your chronometer. It is wonderful!  It
gin. Dismiss that problem altogether; see how hot is providential! It is the finger of Heaven! Pen
it has made your poor brow. Be good now, and and ink, and let me work it out."
dismiss it; or else do as I do,- fold it up, put it   In his excitement he got up without assistance,
quietly away in a corner of your mind, and, when and was soon busy calculating the longitude of Godyou least expect, it will pop out solved."      send Isle.
[0, comfortable  doctrine!  But how  about
Jamie Watt's headaches?  And why are the signs
of hard thoughts so much stronger in his brow and              CHAPTER  XL.
face than in Shakespeare's? Mercy on us, there is
another problem.]                                 "THERE," said he. "Now the latitude I must
Hazel smiled, well-pleased, and leaned back, guess at by certain combinations.  In the first
soothed, silenced, subdued, by her soft voice, and place the slight variation in the length of the days.
the exquisite touch of her velvet hand on his hot Then I must try and make a rough calculation of
brow; for, woman-like, she laid her hand like down the sun's parallax. And then my botany will help
on that burning brow to aid her words in soothing me a little; spices furnish a clew; there are one or
it. Nor did it occur to him just then that this ad- two that will not grow outside the tropic. It was
monition delivered with a kind maternal hand, the longitude that beat me, and now we have conmaternal voice, came from  the same young lady quered it. Hurrah! Now I know what to diffuse,
who had flown at him like a wild cat with this very and in what direction; east, southeast; the ducks
roblem in her mouth. She mesmerized him, pro- have shown me that much. So there's the first
blem and all; he subsided into a complacent lan- step towards the impossible problem."
guor, and at last went to sleep, thinking only of   "Very well," said Helen; " and I am sure one
her.  But the topic had entered his mind too step is enough for one day. I forbid'you the topic
deeply to be finally dismissed. It returned next for twelve hours at least.  I detest it because it
day, though in a different form. You must know  always makes your poor head so hot."
that Hazel, as he lay on his back in the boat, had    " What on earth does that matter? " said Hazel,
often, in a half-drowsy way, watched the effect of impetuously, and almost crossly.
the sun upon the boat's mast: it now stood, a bare    " Come, come, come, sir," said Helen, authoritapole, and at certain hours acted like the needle of tively; " it matters to me."
a dial, by casting a shadow on the sands. Above   But when she saw that he could think of nothing
all, he could see pretty well by means of this pole else, and that opposition irritated him, she had the
and its shadow when the sun attained its greatest tact and good sense not to strain her authority, nor
elevation. He now asked Miss Rolleston to assist to irritate her subject.
him in making this observation exactly.
She obeyed his instructions, and the moment the   Hazel spliced a long, fine-pointed stick to the
shadow reached its highest angle, and showed the mast-head, and set a plank painted white with
minutest symptom of declension, she said, " Now," guano at right angles to the base of the mast; and
and Hazel called out in a loud voice:-         so whenever the sun attained his meridian altitude,
" Noon! "                                     went into a difficult and subtle calculation to arrive




84                                      FOUL PLAY.
at the latitude, or as near it as he could without   "Go to where your old hut stood, and follow the
proper instruments; and he brooded and brooded river about a furlong: you will find a bed of high
over his discovery of the longitude, but unfortu- rushes: cut me a good bundle, cut them below the
nately he could not advance. In some problems water, choose the stoutest. Here is a pair of shears
the first step once gained leads, or at least points I found in the ship."
to the next; but to know whereabouts they were,   She took the shears and went swiftly across the
and to let others know it, were two difficulties sands and up the slope. He watched her with an
heterogeneous and distinct,                      admiring eye; and well he might, for it was the
Having thought and thought till his head was very poetry of motion. Hazel in his hours of health
dizzy, at last he took Helen's advice and put it by  had almost given up walking; he ran from point to
for a while. He set himself to fit and number a point, without fatigue or shortness of breath. Helen,
quantity of pearl oyster shells, so that he might be equally pressed for time, did not run; but she went
able to place them at once, when he should be able almost as fast. By rising with the dawn, by three
to recommence his labor of love in the cavern.   meals a day of animal food, by constant work, and
One day Helen had left him so employed, and heavenly air, she was in a condition women rarely
was busy cooking the dinner at her own place, but, attain to.  She was trained. Ten miles was no
mind you, with one eye on the dinner and another more to her than ten yards. And, when she was in
on her patient, when suddenly she heard him shout- a hurry, she got over the ground by a grand but
ing very loud, and ran out to see what was the feminine motion not easy to describe. It was a
matter.                                          series of smooth undulations, not vulgar strides, but
He was roaring like mad, and whirling his arms swift rushes, in which the loins seemed to propel the
over his head like a demented windmill,          whole body, and the feet scarcely to touch the
She ran to him.                                ground: it was the vigor and freedom of a savage,
"Eureka! Eureka!" he shouted, in' furious ex- with the grace of a lady.
citement.                                           And so it was she swept across the sands and up
O dear!" cried Helen; "never mind."  She the slope,
was all against her patient exciting himself.                   Et vera incessu patuit Dea.
But he was exalted beyond even her control.
"Crown me with laurel," he cried; "I have solved    While she was gone, Hazel cut two little squares
the problem ": and up went his arms.             of seals' bladder, one larger than the other.  On the
"0, is that all? " said she, calmly.          smaller he wrote: " An English lady wrecked on an
" Get me two squares of my parchment," cried island. Longitude, S., latitude between the
he; "and some of the finest gut."                    and    parallels. Haste to her rescue." Then
" Will not after dinner do?"                  he folded this small, and enclosed it in the larger
" No; certainly not," said Hazel, in a voice of slip, which he made into a little bag, and tied the
command. " I would n't wait a moment for all the neck extremely tight with fine gut, leaving a long
flesh-pots of Egypt."                             piece of the gut free.
Then she went like the wind and fetched them.    And now Helen came gliding back, as she went,
" O, thank you! thank you! Now I want, -let and brought him a large bundle of rushes.
me see,- ah, there's an old rusty hoop that was   Then he asked her to help him fasten these rushes
washed ashore, on one of that ship's casks. I put it round the iron hoop.
carefully away; how the unlikeliest things come in    "It must not be done too regularly," said he; " but
useful soon or late!"                            so as to look as much like a little bed of rushes as
She went for the hoop, but not so rapidly, for possible."
here it was that the first faint doubt of his sanity    Helen was puzzled still, but interested.  So she
came in. However, she brought it, and he thanked  set to work, and, between them, they fastened rushher.                                             es all round the hoop, although it was a large one.
"And now," said he, " while I prepare the intelli-   But, when it was done, Hazel said they were too
gence, will you be so kind as to fetch me the rushes." bare.
"The what? " said Helen, in growing dismay.      "Then we will fasten another row," said Helen,
"The rushes! I'11 tell you where to find some."  good-humoredly. And, without more ado, she was
Helen thought the best thing was to temporize. off to the river again.
Perhaps he would be better after eating some whole-   When she came back, she found him up, and he
some food. "I'll1 fetch them directly after dinner," said the great excitement had cured him,- such
said she. " But it will be spoiled if I leave it for power has the brain over the body. This convinced
long; and I do so want it to be nice for you to- her he had really hit upon some great idea. And
day."                                            when she had made him eat his dinner by her fire,
"Dinner?" cried Hazel. "What do I care for she asked him to tell her all about it.
dinner now. I am solving my problem. I'd rather   But, by a natural reaction, the glorious and glowgo without dinner, for years than interrupt a great ing excitement of mind, that had battled his very
idea. Pray let dinner take its chance, and obey me rheumatic pains, was now followed by doubt and defor once."                                       jection.
"For once!" said Helen, and turned her mild    "Don't ask me yet," he sighed. " Theory is one
hazel eyes on him with such a look of gentle re- thing; practice is another. We count without our
proach.                                           antagonists. I forgot they will set their wits against
"Forgive me! But don't take me for a child, mine: and they are many, I am but one. And I
asking you for a toy; I'm a poor crippled inventor, have been so often defeated. And, do you know, I
who sees daylight at last. 0, I am on fire; and, if have observed that whenever I say beforehand now
you want me not to go into a fever, why, get me my I am going to do something clever, I am always derushes."                                         feated. Pride really goes before destruction, and
"Where shall I find them? " said Helen, catching vanity before a fall,"
fire at him.                                        The female mind, rejecting all else, went like a




FOUL PLAY.                                           85
needle's point at one thing in this explanation.               CHAPTER 
" Our antagonists? " said Helen, looking sadly puz-ER 
zled. " Why, what antagonists have we?"          WARDLAW senior was not what you would call a
"The messengers," said Hazel, with a groan. tender-hearted man: but he was thoroughly moved
"The airial messengers."                        by General Rolleston's distress, and by his fortitude.
That did the business. Helen dropped the sub- The gallant old man! Landing in England one
ject with almost ludicrous haste; and, after a few  week, and going back to the Pacific the next! Like
commonplace observations, made. a nice comfortable goes with like; and Wardlaw senior, energetic and
dose of grog and bark for him. This she adminis- resolute himself, though he felt for his son, stricken
tered as an independent transaction, and not at all down by grief, gave his heart to the more valiant
by way of comment on his antagonists, the aerial distress of his contemporary.  He manned and
messengers.                                     victualled the Springbok for a long voyage, ordered
It operated unkindly for her purpose: it did him  her to Plymouth, and took his friend down to her
so much good, that he lifted up his dejected head, by train.
and his eyes sparkled again, and he set to work, and,   They went out to her in a boat. She was a screw
by sunset, prepared two more bags of bladder with steamer, that could sail nine knots an hour without
inscriptions inside, and long tails of fine gut hang- burning a coal. As she came down the Channel,
ing. He then set to work, and, with fingers far less the General's trouble got to be well known on board
adroit than hers, fastened another set of rushes her, and, when he came out of the harbor, the sailround the hoop. He set them less evenly, and some ors by an honest, hearty impulse, that did them
of them not quite perpendicular; and, while he was credit, waited for no orders, but manned the yards
fumbling over this, and examining the effect with to receive him with the respect due to his services,
paternal glances, Helen's hazel eye dwelt on him  and his sacred calamity.
with furtive pity; for, to her, this girdle of rushes   On getting on board, he saluted the captain and
was now an instrument, that bore an ugly likeness the ship's company with sad dignity, and retired to
to the sceptre of straw, with which vanity run to his cabin with Mr. Wardlaw. There the old merseed sways imaginary kingdoms in Bedlam or Bice- chant forced on him by way of loan seven hundred
tre.                                            pounds, chiefly in gold and silver, telling him there
And yet he was better. He walked about the was nothing like money, go where you will. He
cavern and conversed charmingly; he was diction- then gave him a number of notices he had printed,
ary, essayist, raconteur, anything she liked; and, as and a paper of advice and instructions: it was
she prudently avoided and ignored the one fatal top- written in his own large, clear, formal hand.
ic, it was a delightful evening: her fingers were as   General Rolleston tried to falter out his thanks.
busy as his tongue: and, when he retired, she pre- John Wardlaw interrupted him.
sented him with the fruits of a fortnight's work, a   "Next to you I am her father; am I not?"
glorious wrapper made of fleecy cotton enclosed    "You have proved it."
in a plaited web of flexible and silky grasses. He   "Well, then. However, if you do find her, as I
thanked her, and blessed her, and retired for the pray to God you may, I claim the second kiss, mind
night.                                          that: not for myself, though; for my poor Arthur,
About midnight she awoke and felt uneasy: so that lies on a sick-bed for her."
she did what since his illness she had done a score   General Rolleston assented to that in a broken
of times without his knowledge, she stole from her voice. He could hardly speak.
lair to watch him.                                And so they parted: and that sad parent went
She found him wrapped in her present, which out to the Pacific.
gave her great pleasure; and sleeping like an in-   To him it was indeed a sad and gloomy voyage;
fant, which gave her joy. She eyed him eloquently and the hope with which he went on board oozed
for a long time; and then very timidly put out her gradually away as the ship traversed the vast tracks
hand, and, in her quality of nurse, laid it lighter of ocean. One immensity of water to be passed
than down upon his brow.                        before that other immensity could be reached, on
The brow was cool, and a very slight moisture on whose vast, uniform, surface the search was to be made.
it showed the fever was going or gone.            To abridge this gloomy and monotonous part of
She folded her arms and stood looking at him; our tale, suffice it to say that he endured two months
and she thought of all they two had done and suf- of water and infinity ere the vessel, fast as she was,
fered together. Her eyes absorbed him, devoured reached Valparaiso. Their progress, however, had
him. The tnime flew by unheeded. It was so sweet been more than once interrupted to carry out Wardto be able to set her face free from its restraint, and law's instructions. The poor General himself had
let all its sunshine beam on him: and even when but one idea; to go and search the Pacific with his
she retired at last, those light hazel eyes, that could own eyes; but Wardlaw, more experienced, directed
flash fire at times, but were all dove-like now, hung him to overhaul every whaler and coasting vessel
and lingered on him as if they could never look at he could, and deliver printed notices; telling the
him enough.                                     sad story, and offering a reward for any positive information, good or bad, that should be brought in to
Half an hour before daybreak she was awakened his agent at Valparaiso. Acting on these instrucby the dog howling piteously. She felt a little un- tions they had overhauled two or three coasting veseasy at that: not much. However she got up, and sels as they steamed up.from the Horn: They now
issued from her cavern, just as the sun showed his placarded the port of Valparaiso, and put the notices
red eye above the horizon. She went towards the on board all vessels bound westward; and the capboat as a matter of course. She found Ponto tied tain of the Springbok spoke to the skippers in the
to the helm: the boat was empty, and Hazel no- port. But they all shook their heads, and could
where to be seen.                               hardly be got to give their minds seriously to the
She uttered a scream of dismay.              inquiry when they heard in what water the cutter
The dog howled and whined louder than ever.    was last seen, and on what course.




86                                     FOUL PLAY.
One old skipper said, " Look on Juan Fer- struggled. Hazel soused him under directly, and
nandez, and then at the bottom of the Pacific; but so quenched the sound; then he glided slowly to
the sooner you look there the less time you will the bank, so slowly that the rushes merely seemed
lose."                                         to drift ashore. This he did not to create suspicion,
From  Valparaiso they ran to Juan Fernandez, and so spoil the next attempt. As he glided, he
which indeed seemed the likeliest place; if she was gave his duck air every now and then, and soon
alive.                                          got on terra firma. By this time he had taught the
When the larger island of that group, the island duck not to quack, or he would get soused and
dear alike to you who read, and to us who write, held under. He now took the long gut-end and
this tale, came in sight, the father's heart began to tied it tight round the bird's leg, and so fastened
beat higher.                                    the bag to him. Even while he was effecting this,
The ship anchored and took in coal, which was a posse of ducks rose at the west end of the marsh,
furnished at a wickedly high price by Mr. Joshua Ful- and took their flight from the island.  As they
lalove, who had virtually purchased the island from  passed, Hazel threw his captive up in the air; and
Chili, having got it on lease for longer than the such was the force of example, aided, perhaps, by
earth itself is to last, we hear.              the fright the captive had received, that Hazel s
And now Rolleston found the value of Wardlaw's bird instantly joined these travellers, rose with them
loan; it enabled him to prosecute his search through into the high currents, and away, bearing the news
the whole group of islands; and he did hear at last eastward upon.the wings of the wind. Then Hazel
of three persons, who had been wrecked on Masa returned to the pool, and twice more he was so
Fuero; one of them  a female. He followed this fortunate as to secure a bird, and launch him into
up and at last discovered the parties. He found space.
them to be Spaniards, and the woman smoking a
pipe.                                             So hard is it to measure the wit of man, and to
After this bitter disappointment he went back to define his resources. The problem was solved; the
the ship, and she was to weigh her anchor next aerial messengers were on the wing, diffusing over
morning.                                        hundreds of leagues of water the intelligence that
But while General Rolleston was at Masa Fuero, an English lady had been wrecked on an unknown
a small coasting vessel had come in, and brought a island, in longitude 103 deg. 30 min., and between
strange report at second-hand, that in some degree the 32d and 25th parallels of south latitude; and
unsettled Captain Moreland's mind; and, being calling good men and ships to her rescue for the
hotly discussed on the forecastle, set the ship's con- love of God.
pany in a ferment.
CHAPTER  XLIII.
CHAPTER XLII.                      AND now for the strange report that landed at
Juan Fernandez while General Rolleston was
HAZEL had risen an  hour before dawn for searching Masa Fuero.
reasons well known to himself. He put on his   The coaster who brought it ashore had been in
worst clothes, and a leathern belt, his little bags company at Valparaiso, with a whaler from Nanround his neck, and took his bundle of rushes in his tucket, who told him he had fallen in with a Dutch
hand. He also provided himself with some pieces whaler out at sea, and distressed for water: he had
of raw fish and fresh oyster; and, thus equipped, supplied the said Dutchman, who had thanked him,
went up through Terrapin Wood, and got to the and given him a runlet of Hollands, and had, told
neighborhood of the lagoons before daybreak.    him in conversation that he had seen land and a
There was a heavy steam  on' the water, and river reflected on the sky, in waters where no land
nothing else to be seen. He put the hoop over his was marked in the chart; namely, somewhere behead, and walked into the water, not without an tween Juan Fernandez and Norfolk Island; and
internal shudder, it looked so cold.            that, believing this to be the reflection of a part of
But instead of that, it was very warm, unac- some island near at hand, and his water being low,
countably warm. He walked in up tohis middle, though not at that time run out, he had gone conand tied his iron hoop to his belt, so as to prevent siderably out of his course in hopes of finding this
it sinking too deep. This done, he waited motion- watered island, but could see nothing of it. Neverless, and seemed a little bed of rushes. The sun theless, as his grandfather, who had been sixty years
rose, and the steam gradually cleared away, and at sea, and logged many wonderful things, had told
Hazel, peering through a hole or two he had made him the sky had been known to reflect both ships
expressly in his.bed of rushes, saw several ducks and land at a great distance, he fully believed there
floating about, and one in particular, all purple, was an island somewhere in that longitude, not
without a speck but his amber eye. He contrived down on any chart: an island wooded and wato detach a piece of fish, that soon floated to the tered.
surface near him.  But no duck moved towards   This tale soon boarded the Springbok, and was
it. He tried another, and another; then a mal- hotly discussed on the forecastle. It came to Caplard he had not observed swam up from behind tain Moreland's ears, and he examined the skipper
him, and was soon busy pecking at it within a of the coasting-smack. But this examination elicityard of him. His heart beat; he glided slowly ed nothing new, inasmuch as the skipper had the
and cautiously forward till the bird was close to the tale only at third hand. Captain Moreland, howrushes.                                         ever, communicated it to General Rolleston on his
Hazel stretched out his hand with the utmost arrival, and asked him whether he thought it worth
care, caught hold of the bird's feet, and dragged while to deviate from their instructions upon inforhim sharply under the water, and brought him up mation of such a character. Rolleston shook his
within the circle of the rushes. He quacked and head. "An island reflected in the sky!"




FOUL PLAY.                                            87
" No, sir: a portion of an island containing a point or two on our weather-quarter like, full two
river."                                          hours, and then she just melted away like a lump o'
" It is clearly a fable," said Rolleston, with a sugar. We kept on our course a day and a half,
sigh.                                            and, at last, we sighted the real Peak, and anchored
"What is a fable, General?"                   off the port; whereby, when we saw Teneriffe
"That the sky can reflect terrestrial objects."  Peak in the sky to winnard, she lay a hundred
" 0, there I can't go with you. The phenomenon  leagues to looard, s' help me God!"
is rare, but it is well established. I never saw it   "That is wonderful,"  said  General Rollesmyself, but I have come across those that have. ton.
Suppose we catechise the forecastle. Hy! Fok'-   "That will do, Isaac," said the captain. "Mr.
sel!"                                            Butt, double his grog for a week, for having seen
" Sir! "                                       more than I have."
" Send a man aft: the oldest seaman aboard."     The captain and General Rolleston had a long
" Ay, ay, sir."                                discussion; but the result was, they determined to
There was some little delay: and then a sailor go to Easter Island first, for General Rolleston was
of about sixty slouched aft, made a sea scrape, and, a soldier, and had learned to obey as well as comremoving his cap entirely, awaited the captain's mand. He saw no sufficient ground for deviating
commands.                                        from Wardlaw's positive instructions.
" My man," said the captain, " I want you to an-   This decision soon became known throughout the
swer a question. Do you believe land and ships ship; and she was to weigh anchor at 11 A.M. next
have ever been seen in the sky, reflected?"     day, by high water.
" A many good seamen holds to that, sir," said
the sailor, cautiously.                            At eight next morning, Captain Moreland and
" Is it the general opinion of seamen before the General Rolleston being on deck, one of the ship's
mast?  Come, tell us. Jack's as good as his, mas- boys, a regular pet, with rosy cheeks and black eyes,
ter in these matters."                           comes up to the gentlemen, takes off his cap, and,
" Could n't say for boys and lubbers, sir. But I panting audibly at his own audacity, shoves a paper
never met a full-grown seaman as denied that there. into General Rolleston's hand, and scuds away for
Sartainly few has seen it: but all of'em has seen his life.
them as has seen it; ships, and land, too; but most-   "This won't do," said the captain, sternly.
ly ships. Hows'ever, I had a messmate once as was   The high-bred soldier handed the paper to him
sailing past a rock they call Ailsa Craig, and saw a unopened.
regiment of soldiers marching in the sky. Logged    The captain opened it, looked a little vexed,
it, did the mate; and them soldiers was a march- but more amused, and handed it back to the Gening between two towns in Ireland at that very eral.
time."                                             It was a ROUND ROBIN.
" There, you see, General," said Captain More-   Round Robins are not ingratiating as a rule.
land.                                            But this one came from some rough but honest fel"But' this is all second-hand," said General lows, who had already shown that kindliness and
Rolleston, with a sigh; " and I have learned how  tact may reside in a coarse envelope. The sailors
everything gets distorted in passing from one to an- of the Springbok, when they first boarded her in
other."                                          the Thames, looked on themselves as men bound on
"Ah," said the captain, "we can't help that; the an empty cruise; and nothing but the pay, which
thing is rare. I never saw it for one; and I sup- was five shillings per month above the average, reepose you never saw a phenomenon of the kind, onciled them to it; for a sailor does not like going
Isaac?"                                         to sea for nothing, any more than a true sportsman
"Ha'n't I! " said Isaac, grimly. Then, with sud- likes to ride to hounds that are hunting a red herden, and not very reasonable, heat, " D-    my eyes ring trailed.
and limbs if I ha'n't seen the Peak o' Teneriffe in    But the sight of the General had touched them
the sky topsy-turvy, and as plain as I see that there afar off. His gray hair and pale face, seen as he
cloud there" (pointing upwards).                 rowed out of Plymouth Harbor, had sent them to
"Come," said Moreland; "now we are getting the yards by a gallant impulse; and all through the
to it. Tell us all about that."                  voyage the game had been to put on an air of alac" Well, sir," said the seaman, "I don't care to rity and hope, whenever they passed the General or
larn them as laughs at everything they ha'n't seen in came under his eye.
maybe a dozen voyages at most; but you know me,   If hypocrisy is always a crime, this was a very
and I knows you; though you command the ship, criminal ship; for the men, and even the boys, were
and I work before the mast. Now I axes you, sir, hypocrites, who, feeling quite sure that the daughter
should you say Isaac Aiken was the man to take a was dead at sea months ago, did, nevertheless, make
sugar-loaf, or a cocked hat, for the Peak o' Tene- up their faces to encourage the father into thinking
riffe?                                          she was alive, and he was going to find her. But
" As likely as I am myself, Isaac."            people who pursue this game too long, and keep up
"No commander can say fairer nor that," said  the hopes of another, get infected at last themselves;
Isaac, with dignity. "Well, then, your honor, I'11 and the crew of the Springbok arrived at Valpatell ye the truth, and no lie: We was bound for raiso infected with a little hope. Then came the
Teneriffe with a fair wind, though not so much of it Dutchman's tale, and the discussion, which ended
as we wanted, by reason she was a good sea-boat, adversely to their views; and this elicited the cirbut broad in the bows. The Peak hove in sight in cular we have now the honor to lay before our
the sky, and all the glasses was at her. She lay a readers.




88                                     FOUL PLAY.
About this line,        -                      j
hoepe none offence and mean none.
We think Easter Island is out of her course. 
Such of us as can be spared are ready and                 \
willing to take the old cutter, that lies for sale,
to Easter Island if needs be; but to waste the
Szy.Z.s, Steamer it is a Pity.  We are all agreed the Dutch  Monkey  e*
skipper saw  land and water aloft sailing  between
Juan Fernandez and Norfolk'Isle, and what a
Dutchman can see on the sky we think an Eng-.\     AqO    lishman can find it in the sea, God willing..4 
^^~0\      Whereby we pray our good Captain to'jc e
"A     \              follow  the Dutchman's course with a 
\              good heart and a willing crew.  
And so say we 
Ae                                   ~.Whose names here be.
\.S                fi                 "          o 
General Rolleston and Captain Moreland returned    She passed within sixty miles of Mount Look-out;
to the cabin and discussed this document.  They but never saw Godsend Island: and so pursued her
came on deck again, and the men were piped aft. way to the Society Islands; sent out her boats;
General Rolleston touched his cap, and with the made every inquiry around about the islands, but
Round Robin in his hand, addressed them thus:-    with no success; and, at last, after losing a couple
"My men, I thank you for taking my trouble to of months there, brought the heart-sick father
heart as you do. But it would be a bad return to back on much the same course, but rather more
send any of you to Easter Island in that cutter: for northerly.
she is not seaworthy: so the captain tells me.  I
will not consent to throw away your lives in trying
to save a life that is dear to me: but, as to the            CHAPTER  XLIV.
Dutchman's story, about an unknown island, our
captain seems to think that is possible; and you tell   HAZEL returned homewards in a glow of triumph,
us you are of the same opinion. Well, then, I give and for once felt disposed to brag to Helen of his
up my own judgment, and yield to yours. Yes, we victory,- a victory by which she was to profit; not
will go westward with a good heart (he sighed), and he.
a willing crew."                                  They met in the wood;, for she had tracked
The men cheered.  The boatswain piped; the him by his footsteps. She seemed pale and disanchor was heaved, and the Springbok went out on turbed, and speedily interrupted his exclamations ot
a course that bade fair to carry her within a hun- triumph by one of delight, which was soon, however,
dred miles of Godsend Island.                   followed by one of distress.
"', look at you! " she said. "You have been in
She ran fast. On the second day, some ducks the water: it is wicked; wicked."
passed over her head, one of which was observed to   "But I have solved the problem.  I caught three
have something attached to its leg.             ducks one after the other, and tied the intelligence




FOUL PLAY.                                           89
to their legs: they are at this moment careering would have been to grasp the nettle, if she could
over the ocean, with our story and our longitude, not let it alone.
and a guess at our latitude. Crown me with bays."   Said she one day, quietly, though with a deep
"With foolscap, more likely," said Helen: " only blush: " D; you know Mr. Arthur Wardlaw?"
just getting well of rheumatic fever, and to go and    Hazel gave a shiver, and said "I do."
stand in water up to the middle."                 "Do you know anything about him?"
" Why, you don't listen to me!" cried Hazel, in    "I do."
amazement. "I tell you I have solved the prob-   "Nothing to his discredit, I am sure."
lem."                                             "If you are sure, why ask me? Do I ever men"It is you that don't listen to common sense," re- tion his name?"
torted Helen. " If you go and make yourself ill, all   "Perhaps you do, sometimes, without intending it."
the problems in the world will not compensate me.   "You are mistaken: he is in your thoughts, no
And I must say I think it was not very kind of you doubt; but not in mine."
to run off so without warning: why give me hours   " Ought I to forget people entirely, and what I
of anxiety for want of a word? But there, it is owe them?"
useless to argue with a boy: yes, sir, a boy. The    "That is a question I decline to go into."
fact is, I have been too easy with you of late. One   "How harshly you speak to me? Is that fair?
indulges sick children. But then they must not You know my engagement, and that honor and
slip away and stand in the water, or there is an end duty draw me to England; yet I am. happy here.
of indulgence; and one is driven to severity. You You, who are so good and strong, might pity me at
must be rfled with a rod of iron. Go home this least; for I am torn this way and that:" and here
moment, sir, and change your clothes; and don't the voice ceased, and the tears began to flow.
you presume to come into the presence of the nurse   " I do pity you," said Hazel: "I must pity any
you have offended, till there's not a wet thread one who is obliged to mention honor and duty in
about you."                                    the same breath as Arthur Wardlaw."
And so she ordered him off. The inventor in his   At this time Helen drew back, offended bitterly.
moment of victory slunk away crestfallen to change " That pity I reject and scorn," said she. " No, I
his clothes.                                    plighted my faith with my eyes open, and to a
worthy object. I never knew him  blacken any
So far Helen Rolleston was a type of her sex in person who was not there to speak for himself, and
its treatment of inventors. At breakfast she became that is a very worthy trait, in my opinion. The
a brilliant exception. The moment she saw Hazel absent are like children; they are helpless to defend
seated by her fire in dry clothes she changed her themselves."
key, and made him relate the whole business, and    Hazel racked with jealousy, and irritated at this
expressed the warmest admiration and sympathy.   galling comparison, lost his temper for once, and
" But," said she, " I do ask you not to repeat this said those who lay traps must not complain if others
exploit too often; now, don't do it again for a fort- fall into them.
night. The island will not run away. Ducks come   "Traps! Who lay them?"
and go every day, and your health is very, very    "You did, Miss Rolleston.  Did I ever condeprecious."                                      scend to mention that man's name since we have been
He colored with pleasure, and made the promise on the island? It is you make me talk of him."
at once. But, during this fortnight, events occurred.   " Condescend?"
In the first place, he improved his invention. He   " That is the word. Nor will' I ever deign to
remembered how a duck, over-weighted by a crab, mention him again. If my love had touched your
which was fast to her leg, had come on board the heart, I should have been obliged to mention him,
boat. Memory dwelling on this, and invention di- for then I should.have been bound to tell you a
gesting it, he resolved to weight his next batch of story in which he is mixed, my own miserable story,
ducks; for he argued thus: " Probably our ducks — my blood boils against the human race when I
go straight from this to the great American Conti- think of it. But no, I see I am nothing to you;
nent. Then it may be long ere one of them falls and I will be silent."
into the hands of a man; and perhaps that man will   " It is very cruel of you to say that," replied
not know English. But, if I could impede the flight Helen, with tears in her eyes; " tell me your story,
of my ducks, they might alight on ships: and three and you will see whether you are nothing to me."
ships out of four know English."                  " Not one word of it," said Hazel, slowly, " until
Accordingly, he now inserted stones of various you have forgotten that man exists."
sizes into the little bags. It was a matter of nice   " Oh! thank you, sir, this is plain speaking. I
calculation: the problem was to weight the birds just am to forget honor and plighted faith; and then
so much that they might be able to fly three or four you will trust me with your secrets, when I have
hundred miles, or about half as far as their unen- shown myself unworthy to be trusted with anything.
cumbered companions.                            Keep your secrets, and I'11 try and keep faith; ay,
But in the midst of all this, a circumstance oc- and I shall keep it, too, as long as there's life in my
curred that would have made a vain man, or indeed body."
most men, fling the whole thing away. Helen and    "Can't you keep faith without torturing me, who
he came to a rupture. It began by her fault, and love you?"
continued by his. She did not choose to know her   Helen's bosom began to heave at this, but she
own mind, and, in spite of secret warnings from her fought bravely. " Love me less, and respect me
better judgment, she was driven by curiosity or by more," said she, panting; "you affront me, you
the unhappy restlessness to which her sex are pecu- frighten me. I looked on you as a brother, a dear
liarly subject at odd times, to sound Hazel as to the brother. But now I am  afraid of you —I am
meaning of a certain epigram that rankled in her. afraid-"
And she did it in the most feminine way, that is to   He was so injudicious as to interrupt her, instead
say, in the least direct: whereas the safest way of giving her time to contradict herself. "You




90                                      FOUL PLAY.
have nothing to fear," said he; " keep this side of that morning, and kept about the premises. But he
the island, and I'll live on the other, rather than got worse, and he had hardly any use in his right
hear the name of Arthur Wardlaw."                side, from the waist downwards, and was in great
Helen's courage failed her at that spirited propo- pain.
sal, and she made no reply at all, but turned her   As the day wore on, the pain and loss of power
back haughtily, and went away from  him, only increased, and resisted all his remedies; there was
when she had got a little way her proud head no fever to speak of; but Nature was grimly revengdrooped, and she went crying.                    ing herself for many a gentler warning neglected.'A coolness sprang up between them, and neither When he realized his condition, he was terribly cut
of them knew how to end it. Hazel saw no way to up, and sat on the sand with his head in his hands
serve her now, except by flying weighted ducks; for nearly two hours. But, after that period of deand he gave his mind so to this that one day he told spondency, he got up, took his boat-hook, and using
her he had twenty-seven ducks in the air, all it as a staff, hobbled to his arsenal, and set to work.
charged, and two thirds of them  weighted. He    Amongst'his materials was a young tree he had
thought that must please her now. To his surprise pulled up; the roots ran at right angles to the stem
and annoyance, she received the intelligence coldly, He just sawed off the ends of the roots, and then
and asked him whether it was not cruel to the proceeded to shorten the stem.
birds.                                              But meantime, Helen, who had always a secret
Hazel colored with mortification at his great act eye on him and his movements, had seen there was
of self-denial being so received,                something wrong, and came timidly and asked what
He said, " I don't think my worst enemy can say  was the matter.
I am wantonly cruel to God's creatures."            " Nothing," said he, doggedly.
Helen threw in, deftly, " And I am  not your   "Then why did you sit so long on the sand?  I
worst enemy."                                    never saw you like that."
"But what other way is there to liberate you from    "I was ruminating."
this island, where you have nobody to speak to but   "What upon?  Not that I have any right to ask."
me?  Well, selfishness is the best course. Think    "On the arrogance and folly of men; they atonly of others, and you are sure not to please tempt more than they can do, and despise the petty
them."                                           prudence and common-sense of women, and smart for
" If you want to please people, you must begin it; as I am smarting now for being wiser than you."
by understanding them," said the lady, not ill-   " 0!" said Helen; "why, what is the matter? and
naturedly.                                       what is that you have made? It looks like — 0
"But if they don't understand themselves? "   dear! "
" Then pity them; you can, for you are a man."   "It is a crutch," said Hazel, with forced calmness;
"What hurts me," said Hazel, "is that you really  " and I am a cripple."
seem to think I fly these ducks for my pleasure.   Helen clasped her hands, and stood trembling.
Why, if I had my wish, you and I should never   Hazel lost his self-control for a moment, and cried
leave this island, nor any other person set a foot on out in a voice of agony, " A useless cripple. I wish
it. I am frank, you see."                        I was dead and out of the way."
"Rather too frank."                              Then, ashamed of having given way before her,
"What does it matter, since I do my duty all the he seized his crutch, placed the crook under his arm,
same, and fly the ducks?  But sometimes I do and turned sullenly away from her.
yearn for a word of praise for it; and that word    Four steps he took with his crutch.
never comes."                                       She caught him with two movements of her.sup" It is a praiseworthy act," said Helen, but so icily ple and vigorous frame.
that it is a wonder he ever flew another duck after   She just laid her left hand gently on his shoulder,
that.                                            and with her right she stole the crutch softly away,
" No matter," said he, and his hand involuntarily  and let it fall upon the sand. She took his right
sought his heart; "you read me a sharp but whole- hand, and put it to her lips like a subject paying
some lesson, that we should do our duty for our homage to her sovereign; and then she put her
duty's sake. And as I am quite sure it is my duty strong arm under his shoulder, still holding his right
to liberate you and restore you to those you - I'11 hand in hers, and looked in his face. " go wooden
fly three ducks to-mtrrow morning instead of two."  crutches when I am by," said she, in a low voice,
"It is not done by my advice," said Helen. full of devotion.
"You will certainly maks yourself ill."             He stood surprised, and his eyes began to fill.
" 0, that is all nonsense!" said Hazel.          "Come," said she, in a voice of music. And, thus
"You are rude to me," said Helen, "and I am  aided, he went with her to her cavern. As they
not aware that I deserve it."                    went, she asked him tenderly where the pain was.
" Rude, am I?  Then I'11 say no more," said    "It was in my hip and knee," he said: " but now
Hazel, half humbly, half doggedly.               it is nowhere; for joy has come back to my heart.
"And to mine too," said Helen; " except for this."
His parchment was exhausted, and he was driven
to another expedient. He obtained alcohol by dis-   The quarrel dispersed like a cloud, under this catillation from rum, and having found dragon's blood lamity. There'was no formal reconciliation; no dis.
in its pure state, little ruby drops, made a deep red cussion; and this was the wisest course: for the unvarnish that defied water; he got slips of bark, happy situation  remained unchanged; and the
white inside, cut his inscription deep on the inner friendliest discussion could only fan the embers of
side, and filled the incised letters with this red  discord and misery gently, instead of fiercely.
varnish. He had forty-eight ducks in the air, and    The pair so strangely thrown together commenced
was rising before daybreak to catch another couple, a new chapter of their existence. It was not patient
when he was seized with a pain in the right hip and and nurse over again; Hazel, though very lame, had
knee, and found he could hardly walk, so he gave in too much spirit left to accept that position. But still




FOUL PLAY.                                            91
the sexes became in a measure reversed, —elen the    "Why? do  ships never pass  an  unknown
fisherman and forager, Hazel the cook and domestic. island?"
lie was as busy as ever, but in a narrow circle;   "Yes. But that steamer will not pass us."
he found pearl oysters near the sunk galleon, and,   "But why?"
ere he had been lame many weeks, he had entirely    At this question Hazel hung his head, and his
lined the sides of the cavern with mother-of-pearl lip quivered. He answered her at last. "Because
set in cement, and close as mosaic.              she is looking for you."
Every day he passed an hour in Paradise; for his   Helen was struck dumb at this.
living crutch made him take a little walk with her;   He gave his reasons.  "Steamers never visit
her hand held his; her arm supported his shoulder; these waters. Love has brought that steamer out;
her sweet face was near his, full of tender solicitude; love that will not go unrewarded.  Arthur Wardthby seemed to be one; and spoke in whispers to law is on board that ship."
each other, like thinking aloud. The causes of happiness wore ever present; the causes of unhappiness    " Have they seen us yet?"
were out of sight, and showed no signs of approach.   Hazel forced on a kind of dogged fortitude.  He
And of the two, Helen was the happiest. Before said, " When the smoke ceases to elongate, you will
a creature so pure as this marries and has children, know they have changed their course, and they will
the great maternal instinct is still there, but feeds on change their course the moment the man at the
what it can get, - first a doll, and then some help- masthead sees us."
less creature or other. Too often she wastes her   " Oh! But how do you know they have a man
heart's milk on something grown up, but as selfish as at the masthead?"
a child. Helen was more fortunate; her child was     I know by myself. I should have a man at the
her hero, now so. lame that he must lean on her to masthead night and day."
walk. The days passed by, and the island was fast   And now the situation was beyond words. They
becoming the world to those two, and as bright a both watched, and watched, to see the line of smoke
world as ever shone on two mortal creatures.     cease.
It was a happy dream.                            It continued to increase, and spread eastward;
What a pity that dreams dissolve so soon! This and that proved the steamer was continuing her
had lasted for nearly two months, and Hazel was course.
getting better, though still not well enough, or not   The sun drew close to the horizon.
fool enough, to dismiss his live crutch; when one af-   "They don't see us," said Helen, faintly.
ternoon Helen, who had been up on the heights,   " No," said Hazel;." not yet."
observed a dark cloud in the blue sky towards the    "And the sun is just setting. It is all over."
west. There was not another cloud visible, and the  She put her handkerchief to her eyes a moment,
air marvellously clear; time, about three quarters and then, after a sob or two, she said almost cheerof an hour before sunset.  She told Hazel about this fully, " Well, dear friend, we were happy till that
solitary cloud, and asked him, with some anxiety, if smoke came to disturb us: let us try and be as
it portended another storm. He told her to be un- happy now it is gone. Don't smile like that, it
der no alarm, - there were no tempests in that lati- makes me shudder."
tude except at the coming in and going out of the        Did I smile? It must have been at your simrains,- but he should like to go round the Point plicity in thinking we have seen the last of that
and look at her cloud.                           steamer."
She lent him her arm, and they went round the    "And so we have."
Point; and there they saw a cloud entirely different     "Not so. In three hours she will be at anchor
from anything they had ever seen since they were in that bay."
on the island. It was like an enormous dark ribbon      "Why, what will bring her? "
stretched along the sky, at some little height above    "I shall bring her."
the horizon. Notwithstanding its prodigious length    "You?  How?"
it got larger before their very eyes.               "By lighting my bonfire."
Hazel started.
Helen felt him start, and asked him, with some
surprise, what was the matter.
"Cloud!" said he, "that is no cloud. That is                 CHAPTER  XLVI
smoke."
"Smoke!" echoed Helen, becoming agitated in    HELEN had forgotten all about the bonfire. She
her turn.                                        now asked whether he was sure those on board the
"Yes; the breeze is northerly, and carries the steamer could see the bonfire. Then Hazel told
smoke nearer to us; it is the smoke of a steamboat." her that it was now of prodigious size and height.
Some six months before he was crippled he had
added and added to it.
CHAPTER  XLV.                        "That bonfire," said he, "will throw  a ruddy
glare over the heavens, that they can't help seeing
BOTH were greatly moved; and after one swift on board the steamer. Then, as they are not on a
glance Helen stole at him, neither looked at the course, but on a search, they will certainly run a
other. They spoke in flurried whispers.          few miles southward to see what it is. They will
"Can they see the island?"                    say it is either a beacon or a ship on fire; and, in
"I don't know; it depends on how far the boat is either case, they will turn the boat's head this way.
to windward of her smoke."                       Well, before they have run southward half a dozen
"How shall we know?"                          miles, their look-out will see the bonfire, and the
"If she sees the island, she will make for it that island in its light.  Let us get to the boat, my
moment."                                         lucifers are there.




92                                      FOUL PLAY.
She lent him her arm to the boat, and stood by glittered in the moonlight: there was no red light
while he made his preparations. They were very  on the water.
aimple. He took a pine torch and smeared it all   "Why, what is this?" said Hazel. "You can't
over with pitch; then put his lucifer-box in his have lighted the bonfire in eight places, as I told
bosom, and took his crutch. His face was drawn  you."
pitiably, but his closed lips betrayed unshaken and    She folded her arms and stood before him in an
unshakable resolution. He shouldered his crutch, attitude of defiance; all but her melting eye.
and hobbled up as far as the cavern. Here Helen    "I have not lighted it at all," said she.
interposed.                                         Hazel stood aghast. " What have I done?" he
"Don't you go toiling up the hill," said she. cried.  "Duty, manhood, everything, demanded
" Give me the lucifers and the torch, and let me that I should light that beacon, and I trusted' it to'ght the beacon. I shall be there in half the time you."
you will."                                          Helen's attitude of defiance melted away: she
" Thank you! thank you I " said Hazel, eagerly, began to cower, and hid4 her blushing face in her
not to say violently.                            hands.  Then she looked up imploringly.  Then
He wanted it done; but it killed him to do it. she uttered a wild and eloquent cry, and fled from
He then gave her his instructions.               him like the wind.
" It is as big as a haystack," said he, " and as dry
as a chip; and there are eight bundles of straw
placed expressly. Light the bundles to windward                 CHAPTR  XV
first, then the others; it will soon be all in aER                              VI
blaze."                                             THAT cloud was really the smoke of the Spring"Meanwhile," said Helen, "you  prepare  our bok, which had mounted into air so thin that it
supper. I feel quite faint  for want of it."     could rise no higher. The boat herself was many
Hazel assented.                                miles to the northward, returning full of heavy
"It is the last we shall-" he was going to  hearts from a fruitless search.  She came back in a
say it was the last they would eat together; but his higher parallel of latitude, intending afterwards to
voice failed him, and he hobbled into the cavern, steer N.W. to Easter Island. The life was gone
and tried to smother his emotion in work.  He out of the ship; the father was deeply dejected, and
lighted the fire, and blew it into a flame with a the crew could no longer feign the hope they did
palmetto-leaf, and then he sat down awhile, very  not feel.  Having pursued the above course to
sick at heart; then he got up and did the cooking, within four hundred  miles. of Juan Fernandez,
sighing all the time; and, just when he was begin- General Rolleston begged the captain to make a bold
ning to wonder why Helen was so long lighting deviation to the S.W., and then see if they could
eight bundles of straw, she came in, looking pale.   find nothing there before going to Easter Island.
"Is it all right? " said he.                     Captain Moreland was very unwilling to go to
" Go and look," said she. "No, let us have our the S.W., the more so as coal was getting short.
supper first.                                     However, he had not the heart to refuse General
Neither had any appetite: they sat and kept Rolleston anything. There was a, northerly breeze.
casting strange looks at one another.             He had the fires put out, and, covering the ship
To divert this anyhow Hazel looked up at the with canvas, sailed three hundred miles S.W. But
roof, and said faintly, "If I had known, I would found nothing. Then he took in sail, got up steam
have made more haste, and set pearl there as well." again, and away for Easter Island. The ship ran
" What does that matter?" said Helen, looking so fast that she had got into latitude thirty-two by
down.                                            ten A.M. next morning.
" Not much, indeed," replied he, sadly. " I am    At 10h. 15m. the dreary monotony of this cruise
a fool to utter such childish regrets; and, more was broken by the man at the mast-head.
than that, I am a mean selfish cur to have a regret.   "On deck there!"
Come, come, we can't eat; let us go round the    "Hullo!"
Point and see the waves reddened by the beacon    "The schooner on our weather-bow!"
that gives you back to the world you were born to     Well, what of her? "
embellish."                                         "She has luffed."
Helen said she would go directly.  And her   "Well, what o' that?"
languid reply contrasted strangely with his excite-   " She has altered her course."
ment.  She played with her supper, and wasted    "How many points? "
time in a very unusual way, until he told her plump    "She was sailing S.E., and now her head is
she was not really eating, and he could wait no N.E."
longer, he must go and see how the beacon was   " That is curious."
burning.                                            General Rolleston, who had come' and listened
" 0, very well," said she; and they went down  with a grain of hope, now sighed, and turned away.
to the beach.                                       The captain explained kindly that the man was
She took his crutch and gave it to him. This quite right to draw his captain's attention to the
little thing cut him to the heart. It was the first fact of a trading-vessel altering her course. "There
time she had accompanied him so far as that with- is a sea-grammar, General," said he; " and, when
out offering herself to be his crutch. He sighed one seaman sees another violate it, he concludes
deeply, as he put the crutch under his arm; but there is some reason or other. Now, Jack, what
he was too proud to complain, only he laid it all on d' ye make of her? "
the approaching steamboat.                          "I can't make much of her: she don't seem to
The subtle creature by his side heard the sigh, know her own mind, that is all. At ten o'clock
and  smiled sadly at being misunderstood,- but she was bound for Valparaiso or the Island. But
what man could understand her?  They hardly  now she has come about and beating to windward."
spoke till they reached the Point.  The waves   "Bdund for Easter Island?"




FOUL PLAY.                                            93
" 1 dunno."                                      Having allowed this a moment to sink into the
"Keep your eye on her."                        mind, he reversed the board, and showed these
"Ay, ay, sir."                                 words, also printed large, THE SPRINGBOK?
Captain Moreland told General Rolleston that   There was a thrilling murmur on board; and,
very lew ships went to Easter Island, which lies in after a pause of surprise, the question was answered
a lovely climate, but is a miserable place; and he by a loud cheer and waving of hats.
was telling the General that it is inhabited by sav-   The reply was perfectly understood; almost images of a low order, who half worship the relics of mediately a boat was lowered by some novel mainasonry left by their more civilized predecessors, chinery, and pulled towards the steamer. There
when Jack hailed the deck again.                 were two men in it: the skipper and the negro.
"Well," said the captain.                      The skipper came up the side of the Springbok.
"I think she is bound for the Springbok."      He was loosely dressed in some light drab-colored
The soldier received this conjecture with aston- stuff and a huge straw  hat; a man with a long
ishment and incredulity, not to be wondered at. Puritanical head, a nose inclined to be aquiline,
The steamboat headed N.W., right in the wind's a face bronzed by weather and heat, thin, resolute
eye. Sixteen miles off, at least, a ship was sailing lips, and a square chin. But for a certain breadth
N.E.  So that the two courses -might be repre- between his keen gray eyes, which revealed more
sented thus:                                     intellect than Cromwell's Ironsides were encumbered with, he might have passed for one of that
hard-praying, harder-hitting fraternity.
He came on deck, just touched his hat, as if to
A \                             /   B       brush away a fly, and, removing an enormous cigar
from  his mouth, said, " WVal, and so this is the.^l-~      ^jr~            ~Springbok. Spry little boat she is: how many
knots can ye get out of her now? Not that I am
And there hung in the air, like a black mark against curious."
the blue sky, a fellow, whose oracular voice came    "About twelve knots."
down and said B was endeavoring to intercept A.    "And when the steam's off the bile, how many
Nevertheless, time confirmed the conjecture; the can you sail? Not that it is my business."
schooner, having made a short board to the N.E.,     Eight or nine. What is your business? "
came about, and made a long'board due west, which    " Hum! You have been over some water looking
was as near as she could lie to the wind.  On this for that gal. Where do ye hail from last?"
Captain Moreland laid the steamboat's head due    "The Society Islands. Did you board me to hear
north. This brought the vessels rapidly together.   me my catechism?"
When they were about two miles distant, the    "No, I am not one of your prying sort. Where
stranger slackened sail and hove to, hoisting stars are ye bound for now?"
and stripes at her mizzen. The union jack went up    "I am bound for Easter Island."
the shrouds of the Springbok directly, and she pur-   "Have you heard anything of the gal?"
sued her course, but gradually slackened her steam.   " No."
General Rolleston walked the deck in great agi-   "And when do ye expec' to go back to England
tation, and now indulged in wild hopes, which Cap- as wise as ye came?"
tain Moreland thought it best to discourage at   "Never while the ship can swim," cried Moreland,
once.                                            angrily, to hide his despondency from this stranger.
" Ah, sir," he said; " don't you run into the " And now it is my turn, I think. What schoonother extreme, and imagine he has come on our er is this? by whom  commanded, and whither
business. It is at sea as it is ashore: if a man goes bound?"
out of his course to speak to you, it is for his own    " The Julia Dodd; Joshua Fullalove; bound for
sake, not yours. This Yankee has got men sick Juan Fernandez with the raw material of civilizawith scurvy, and is come for lime-juice.  Or his tion-look at the varmint skippin'-and a printwater is out.  Or — hallo, savages aboard."      ing-press; an' that's the instrument of civilization,
It was too true. The schooner had a cargo of I ratther think."
savages, male and female; the males were nearly    "Well, sir; and why in Heaven's name did you
raked, but the females, strange to say, were dressed change your course?"
to the throat in ample robes, with broad and flowing    "Wal, I reckon I changed it - to tell you a lie."
skirts, and had little coronets on their heads. As   "To tell us a lie?"
soon as the schooner hove to, the fiddle had struck    "Ay; the darnedest etarnal lie that ever came out
up, and the savages were now dancing in parties of a man's mouth. Fust, there's an unknown island
of four; the men doing a sort of monkey hornpipe somewheres about. That's a kinder flourish beforein quick pace, with their hands nearly touching the hand.  On that island there's an English gal
ground; the women, on the contrary, erect and wrecked."
queenly, swept about in slow rhythm, with most   Exclamations burst forth on every side at this.
graceful and coquettish movements of the arms   " And she is so tarnation'cute, she is flying ducks
and hands, and bewitching smiles.                all over creation with a writing tied to their legs,
The steamboat came alongside, but at a certain telling the tale, and setting down the longitude.
distance, to avoid all chance of collision; and the There, if that is n't a buster, I hope I may never live
crew clustered at the side and cheered the savages to tell another."
dancing. The poor General was forgotten at the    "God bless you, sir," cried the General. "Where
merry sight.                                     is the island?"
Presently a negro in white cotton, with a face   "What island?"
blacker than  the savages, stepped forward and    "The island where my child is wrecked."
hoisted a board, on which was printed very large    "What, are you the gal's father? " said Joshua,
ARE YOU                                          with a sudden touch of feeling.




94                                       FOUL PLAY.
" I am, sir. Pray withhold nothing from me you his cabin, and there the General thanked him with
know."                                            great warmth and agitation for his humanity.
"Why, Cunnle," said the Yankee, soothingly; "We will follow your advice at once," he said.
"don't I tell you it's a buster. However, the lie is "Is there anything I can offer you, without ofnone o' mine. It's that old cuss Skinflint set it fence?"
afloat;  he is always pisoning  these  peaceful   " Wal," drawled the Yankee, "I guess not. Busiwaters."                                          ness an' sentiment won't mix no how.  Business
Rolleston asked eagerly who Skinflint was, and took me to the island, sentiment brought me here.
where he could be found.                          I'll take a shake hand all round: and if y' have got
"Wal, he is a sorter sea Jack-of-all-trades, etar- live fowls to spare, I'11 be obliged to you for a
nally cruising about to buy gratis,   those he buys couple. Ye see I'm colonizing that darned island:
of call it stealing.  Got a rotten old cutter, manned  an' sowing in with grain, an' Otaheitans, an' niggers,
by his wife and family. They get coal out of me an' Irishmen, an' all the cream o' creation; an' I'd
for fur, and sell the coal at double my price; they be glad of. a couple o' Dorkins to crow the lazy varkill seals and dress the skins aboard; kill fish and  mint up."
salt'em aboard. Ye know when that fam'ly is at sea    This very moderate request was heartily comr
by the smell that pervades the briny deep an' heralds plied with, and the acclamations and cheers of the
their approach.  Yesterday the air smelt awful: so crew followed this strange character to his schooner,
I said to Vespasian here, I think that sea-skunk is at which his eye glistened and twinkled with quiet
out, for there's something a pisoning the cerulean satisfaction, but he made it a point of honor not
waves an' succumambient air. We had n't sailed to move a muscle.
not fifty miles more before we run agin him. Their   Before he could get under way, the Springbok
clothes were drying all about the rigging. Hails me, took a circuit, and, passing within a hundred yards
the varmint does. Vesp and I, we work the print- of him, fired a gun to leeward by way of compliing-press together, an' so order him to looward, not ment, set a cloud of canvas, and tore through the
to taint our Otaheitans, that stink of ile at home, but water at her highest speed.  Outside the port of
I had'em biled before I'd buy'em, an' now they're Valparaiso she fell in with Skinflint, and found him
vilets.'Wal, now, Skinflint,' says I;'I reckon  not quite so black as he was painted. The old fellow
you're come to bring me that harpoon o' mine showed some parental feeling, produced the bag at
you stole last time you was at my island?''I never once to General Rolleston, and assured  him  a
saw  your harpoon,' says he,'I want to know, wearied duck had come on board, and his wife had
have you come across the Springbok?''Mebbe, detached the writing.
I have,' says I;'why do you ask?''Got news   They took in coal: and then ran westward once
for her,' says he;'and can't find her nowheres.' more, every heart beating high with confident hope.
So then we set to and fenced a bit; and this old
varmint, to put me off the truth, told me the buster.
A month ago or more he was boarded -by a duck.
And this yar duck had a writing tied to his leg, and
this yar writing said an English gal was wrecked               CHAPTER  XLVIII.
on an island, and put down the very longitude.'Show me that duck,' says I, ironical.' D' ye take    HELEN'S act was strange, and demands a word
us for fools?' says he;'we ate the duck for supper.' of explanation. If she had thought the steamboat'That was like ye,' says I;'if an angel brought was a strange vessel, she would have lighted the
your pardon down from  heights celestial, you'd  bonfire: if she had known her father was on board,
roast him, and sell his feathers for swan's-down; she would have lighted it with joy. But Hazel,
mebbe ye ate the writing?  I know yar a hungry  whose every word now was gospel, had said it was
lot.'' The writing is in my cabin,' says he.'Show  Arthur Wardlaw  in  that boat, searching  for
it me,' says I,' an' mebbe I'll believe ye.' No, the her.
cuss would only show it to the Springbok;' there's   Still, so strong is the impulse in all civilized beings
a reward,' says he.' What's the price of a soul to get back to civilization, that she went up that
aboard your cutter?' I asked him.'Have you hill as honestly intending to light the bonfire as
parted with yours, as you want to buy one?' says Hazel intended it to be lighted. But, as she went,
he.'Not one as would carry me right slick away her courage cooled, and her feet began to go slowly,
to everlasting blazes,' says I. So then we said good as her mind ran swiftly forward to consequence upon
morning, and he bore away for Valparaiso. Present- consequence. To light that bonfire was to bring
ly I saw your smoke, and that you would never Arthur Wardlaw down upon herself and Hazel living
overhaul old Stinkamalee on that track; so I came alone and on intimate terms. Arthur would come
about. Now I tell ye that old cuss knows where and claim her to his face.  Could she disallow his
the gal is, and mebbe got her tied hand and fut in claim?  Gratitude would now be on his side as well
his cabin. An' I'm kinder sot on English gals; as good faith. What a shock to Arthur! What
they put me in mind of butter and honey. Why, torture for Hazel! torture that he foresaw, or why
my schooner is named after one. So, now, Cunnle, the face of anguish, that dragged even now at her
clap on steam for Valparaiso, and you'11 soon over- heart-strings?  And then it could end only in one
haul the old stink-pot: you may know him by the way; she and Hazel would leave the island in
brown patch in his jib-sail, the ontidy varmint. Arthur's ship. What a voyage for all three! She
Pull out your purse and bind him  to drop lying stood transfixed by shame; her whole body blushed
about ducks and geese, and tell you the truth; he at what she saw coming. Then once more Hazel's
knows where your gal is, I swan. Wal, ye need n't face rose before her; poor crippled Hazel! her hero
smother me."  For by this time he was the centre and her patient. She sat down and sighed, and
of a throng, all pushing and driving to catch his could no more light the fire than she could have put
words.                                           it out if another had lighted it.
Captain Moreland begged him to step down into    She was a girl that could show you at times she




FOUL PLAY.                                          95
had a father as well as a mother: but that evening warm air breathed heavenly odors; flaming macaws
she was all woman.                              wheeled overhead; humming-birds, more gorgeous
They met no more that night.                 than any flower, buzzed round their heads, and
In the morning his face was haggard, and showed amazed the eye with delight, then cooled it with
a mental struggle; but hers placid and quietly beam- the deep green of the jungle into which they dived.
ing, for the very reason that she had made agreat   It was a Paradise with the sun smiling down on
sacrifice. She was one of that sort.           it, and the ocean smiling up, and the air impregnated
And this difference between them  was a fore- with love. Here they-were both content now to
taste.                                          spend the rest of their daysHis tender conscience pricked him sore. To seeThe world forgetting; by the world  ot
her sit beaming there, when, if he had done his own
duty with his own hands, she would be on her way
to England! Yet his remorse was dumb; for, if he
gave it vent, then he must seem ungrateful to her             CHAPTER  XLIX.
for her sacrifice.
She saw his deep and silent compunction, ap-   THE Springbok arrived in due course at longitude
proved it secretly; said nothing, but smiled, and  103 deg. 1 m. but saw no island. This was disbeamed, and soothed. He could not resist this: piriting; but still Captain Moreland did not deand wild thrills of joy and hope passed through him, spair.
visions of unbroken bliss far from the world.     He asked General Rolleston to examine the writBut this sweet delirium was followed by misgiv- ing carefully, and tell him was that Miss Rolleston's
ings of another kind. And here she was at fault. handwriting.
What could they be?                              The General shook his head sorrowfully.
It was the voice of conscience telling him that he   "No," said he; "it is nothing like my child's
was really winning her love, once inaccessible; and, hnd.
if so, was bound to tell her his whole story, and let   Why, all the better," said Captain Moreland;
her judge between him and the world, before she " the lady has got somebody about her who knows a
made any more sacrifices for him. But it is hard to thing or two. The man that could catch wild ducks
stop great happiness: harder to stop it and ruin it. and turn'em into postmen could hit on the longiEvery night, as he lay alone, he said, " To-morrow I tude.somehow; and he does n't pretend to be exact
will tell her all, and make her the judge."  But in in the latitude."
the morning her bright face crushed his purpose by    Upon this he ran northward 400 miles; which
the fear of clouding it. His limbs got strong and took him three days; for they stopped at night.
his heart got weak: and they used to take walks,   No island.
and her head came near his shoulder: and the path    He then ran south 500 miles; stopping at night.
of duty began to be set thicker than ever with   No island.
thorns; and the path of love with primroses. One   Then he took the vessel zigzag.
day she made him sit to her for his portrait; and
under cover of artistic enthusiasm, told him his beard   Just before sunset, one lovely day, the man at the
was godlike, and nothing in the world could equal mast-head sang out:it for beauty. She never saw but one at all like it,   " O  deck there! "
poor Mr. Seaton's; but even that was very inferior   " Hllo!"
to his: and then she dismissed the sitter: " Poor   "Something i sight; on our weather-bow.
thing," said she, "you are pale and tired."  And    "     What is it  "
she began to use ornaments: took her bracelets out   "Lookslike a mast. No.   on't know whatit is.
of her bag, and picked pearls out of her walls, and    "Point."
made a coronet, under which her eyes flashed at   The sailor pointed with his finger.
night with superlative beauty, - conscious beauty    Captain Morelandorrdered the ship's course to be
brightened by the sense of being admired and altered accordingly. By this time, General Rolleslooked at by the eye she desired to please.    ton was on deck. The ship ran two miles on the
She revered him. He had improved her charac- new course; and all this time  the  topman's glass
ter, and she knew it, and often told him so. " Call was lvelled, and the crew climbed about the rigme Hazelia," she said; " make me liker you, still."  ging all eyes and ears.
One day, he came suddenly through, the jungle,   At last the clear hail came down.
and found her reading her prayer-book.            "I can make it out now, sir."
He took it from her, not meaning to be rude,   "What is it?"
neither, but inquisitive.                         "It is a palm-tree."
It was open at the marriage-service, and her   The captain jumped on a gun, and waved his hat
cheeks were dyed scarlet.                       grandly, and instantly the vessel rang with a lusty
His heart panted. He was a clergyman; he cheer; and, for once, sailors gabbled like washercould read that service over them both.         women.
WVould it be a marriage?                       They ran till they saw the island in the moonlight,
Not in England: but in some countries it would. and the giant Palm, black, and sculptured out of the
Why not in this? This was not England.         violet sky; then they set the lead going, and it
He looked up.' Her head was averted; she was warned them not to come too close. They anchored
downright distressed.                           off the west coast.
He was sorry to have made her blush: so he took    At daybreak they moved slowly on, still soundher hand and kissed it tenderly, so tenderly that his ing as they went; and, rounding the West Point,
heart seemed to go into his lips. She thrilled under General Rolleston saw written on the guanoed rocks
it, and her white brow sank upon his shoulder.  in large letters:The sky was a vault of purple with a flaming AN ENGLISH LADY WRECKED HERE. HASTE TO HER
topaz in the centre; the sea, a heavenly blue; the                  RESCUE.




96                                      FOUL PLAY.
He and Moreland shook hands; and how their knew them all that way off. He stretched out his
eyes glistened!                                  hands as eloquently, and then he got up to meet
Presently there was a stranger inscription still up- her; but the stout soldier's limbs were stiffer than
on the rocks, - a rough outline of the island on an of old; and he got up so slowly, that, ere he could
enormous scale, showing the coast-line, the reefs, the take a step, there came flying to him with little
shallow water, and the deep water.               screams and inarticulate cries, no living skeleton,
"Ease her!  Stop her!"                        nor consumptive young lady, but a grand creature,
The captain studied this original chart with his tanned here and there, rosy as the morn, and full of
glass, and crept slowly on for the west passage.  lusty vigor; a body all health, strength, and beauty,
But, warned by the soundings marked on the a soul all love. She flung herself all over him in a
rock, he did not attempt to go through the passage, moment, with cries of love unspeakable; and then
but came to an anchor, and lowered his boat.     it was " 0 my darling, my darling! 0 my own,
The sailors were all on the qui vive to land, but own! Ha, ha, ha, ha! -, 0, 0, 0! Is it you?
the captain, to their infinite surprise, told them only is it? can it? Papa! Papa! " then little convulthree persons would land that morning, —himself; sive hands patting him, and feeling his beard and
his son, and General Rolleston.                  shoulders; then a sudden hail of violent kisses on
The fact is, this honest captain had got a misgiv- his, head, his eyes, his arms, his hands, his knees.
ing, founded on a general view of human nature. Then a stout soldier, broken down by this, and sobHe expected to find the girl with two or threesailors, bing for joy. "0 my child! My flesh and blood!
one of them united to her by some nautical ceremo- 0, 0, 0!"  Then all manhood melted away exny, duly witnessed, but such as a military officer of cept paternity; and a father turned mother, and
distinction could hardly be expected to approve. clinging, kissing, and rocking to and fro with his
He got into the boat in a curious state of delight, child, and both crying for joy as if their hearts
dashed  with uncomfortable suspense; and they would burst.
rowed gently for the west passage.                  A sight for angels to look down at and rejoice.
As for General Rolleston, now it was he needed    But what mortal pen could paint it?
all his fortitude. Suppose the lady was not Helen!
After all, the chances were against her being there.
Suppose she was dead and buried in that island!
Suppose that fatal disease, with which she had sailed,            CHAPTER L.
had been accelerated by hardships, and Providence
permitted him only to receive her last sigh. All   THEY gave a long time to pure joy before either
these misgivings crowded on him the moment he of them cared to put questions or compare notes.
drew so near the object, which had looked all bright- But at last he asked her, " Who was on the island
ness so long as it was unattainable.   He sat, pale besides her? "
and brave, in the boat; but his doubts and fears     0," said she, " only my guardian angel. Poor
were greater than his hope.                      Mr. Welch died the first week we were here."
They rounded Telegraph Point, and in a moment   He parted the hair on her brow, and kissed it tenParadise Bay burst on them, and Hazel's boat with- derly. " And who is your guardian angel? "
in a hundred  yards of them. It was half-tide.   " Why, you are now, my own papa: and well you
They beached the boat, and General Rolleston land- have proved it. To think of your being the one to
ed.  Captain Moreland grasped his hand, and said, come, at your age! "
"' Call us, if it is all right."                    " Well, never mind me. Who has taken such care
General Rolleston returned the pressure of that of my child? -this the sick girl they frightened me
honest hand, and marched up the beach just as if he about! "
was going into action.                              "Indeed, papa, I was a dying girl. My very
He came to the boat. It had an awning over the hand was wasted. Look at it now; brown as a
stern, and was clearly used as a sleeping-place. A  berry, but so plump; you owe that to him: and,
series of wooden pipes standing on uprights led papa, I can walk twenty miles without fatigue: and
from this up to the cliff. The pipes were in fact so strong; I could take you up in my arms and carmere sections of the sago-tree with the soft pith ry, I know. But I am  content to eat you."  (A
driven out.  As this was manifestly a tube of com- shower of kisses.)  " I hope you will like him."
munication, General Rolleston followed it until he    "My own Helen. Ah! I am a happy old man
came to a sort of veranda with a cave opening on this day.  What is his name?"
it; he entered the cave, and was dazzled by its    "Mr. Hazel.  He is a clergyman.  0 papa, I
most unexpected beauty. He seemed to be in a hope you will like him, for he has saved my life
gigantic nautilus. Roof and sides, and the very more than once: and then he has been so generous,
chimney, were one blaze of mother-of-pearl. But, so delicate, so patient; for I used him very ill at
after the first start, brighter to him was an old shawl first; and you will find my character as much imhe saw on a nail; for that showed it was a woman's proved as my health: and all owing to Mr. Hazel.
abode. He tore down the old shawl, and carried it He is a clergyman; and 0, so good, so humble, so
to the light. He recognized it as Helen's. Her clever, so self-denying! Ah! how can I ever repay
rugs were in a corner; he rushed in, and felt them  him?"
all over with trembling hands.  They were still   " Well, I shall be glad to see this paragon, and
warm, though she had left her bed some time. He shake him by the hand. You may imagine what I
came out wild with joy, and shouted to Moreland, feel to any one that is kind to my darling. An old
"She is alive! She is alive! She is alive!"  Then gentleman? about my age?"
fell on his knees and thanked God.                 " 0 no, papa."
A cry camb down to him from above: he looked    "Hum! "
up as he knelt, and there was a female figure    "If he:had been old I should not be here; for he
dressed in white, stretching out its hands as if it has had to fight for me against cruel men with
would fly down to him. Its eyes gleamed; he knives: and work like a horse. He built me a hut,




FOUL PLAY.                                            97
and made me this cave, and almost killed himself   "Why, you don't mean to tell me you don't
in my service. Poor Mr. Hazel! "                know this man?"
" How old is he? "                              " Know him, papa! why, of course I know Mr.
"Dearest papa, I never asked him that: but I Hazel; know him and revere him, beyond all the
think he is four or five years older than me, and a world, except you."
hundred years better than I shall ever be, I am    The General lost patience.  " Are you out of
afraid.  What is the matter, darling?"          your senses? " said he; " this man here is no Hazel.
"Nothing, child, nothing."                     Why, this is James Seaton- our gardener —-a
"Don't tell me. Can't I read your dear face?"  ticket-of-leave man."
"Come, let me read yours. Look me in the
face, now: full."
lie took her by the shoulders, firmly, but not the
least roughly, and looked straight into her hazel                 CHAPTER  LT.
eyes. She blushed at this ordeal, — blushed scarlet; but her eyes, pure as Heaven, faced his fairly,   AT this fearful insult Helen drew back from her
though with a puzzled look.                      father with a-cry of dismay, and then moved towards
He concluded this paternal inspection by kissing  Hazel with her hands extended, as if to guard him
her on the brow. " I was an old fool," he muttered. from another blow, and at the same time deprecate
"What do you say, dear papa?"                 his resentment. But then she saw his dejected atti"Nothing, nothing. Kiss me again. Well, love, tude; and she stood confounded, looking from one
you had better find this guardian angel of yours, to the other.
that I may take him by the hand and give him a   "I knew him in a moment by his beard," said the
father's blessing, and make him some little return  General, coolly.
by carrying him home to England along with my    " Ah! " cried Helen, and stood transfixed.  She
darling."                                        glared at Hazel and his beard with dilating eyes,
" I'11 call him, papa. Where can he be gone, I and began to tremble.
wonder."                                           Then she crept back to her father and held him
She ran out to the terrace, and called,-       tight; but still looked over her shoulder at Hazel
" Mr. Hazel! Mr. Hazel! I don't see him; but with. dilating eyes and paling cheek.
he can't be far off. Mr. Hazel! "                 As for Hazel, his deportment all this time went
Then she came back, and made her father sit far towards convicting him; he leaned against the
down: and she sat at his knee, beaming with delight. side of the cave, and hung his head in silence: and
" Ah, papa," said she, "it was you who loved me his face was ashy pale. When General Rolleston
best in England. It was you that came to look for saw his deep distress, and the sudden terror and reme."                                             pugnance the revelation seemed to create in his
" No," said he, " there are others there that love daughter's mind, he felt sorry he had gone so far,
you as well in their way. Poor Wardlaw! on his and said, " Well, well; it is not for me to judge you
sick-bed for you, cut down like a flower the mo- harshly; for you have laid me under a deep obligament he heard you were lost in the Proserpine. tion: and, after all, I can see good reasons why you
Ah, and I have broken faith."                    should conceal your name from other people. But
" That is a story," said Helen; " you could n't."  you ought to have told my daughter the truth."
"For a moment I mean; I promised the dear   Helen interrupted him; or, rather, she seemed
old man - he furnished the ship, the men, and the unconscious he was speaking.  She had never for
money, to find you. He says you are as much his an instant taken her eye off the culprit: and now
daughter as mine."                               she spoke to him:
"' Well, but what did you promise him? " said    "Who, and what, are you, sir?"
Helen, blushing and interrupting hastily, for she    "My name is Robert Penfold."
could not bear the turn matters were taking.       " Penfold! Seaton!" cried Helen.   Alias upon
S 0, only to give you the second kiss from Ar- alias!"  And she turned to her father in despair.
thur. Come, better late than never."  She knelt Then  to Hazel again.  "Are you what papa
before him, and put out her forehead instead of her says? "
lips.  "There," said the General, " that kiss is   "I am."
from Arthur Wardlaw, your intended. Why, who    "0 papa! papa!" cried Helen, "then there is no
the deuce is this?"                             truth nor honesty in all the world! " And she turned
A young man was standing wonder-struck at the her back on Robert Penfold, and cried and sobbed
entrance, and had heard the General's last words; upon' her father's breast.
they went through him like a knife. General Rol-   0 the amazement and anguish of that hour 
leston stared at him.                            The pure affection and reverence, that would have
Helen uttered an ejaculation of pleasure, and blest a worthy man, wasted on a convict! Her
said, " This is my dear father, and he wants to thank  heart's best treasures flung on a dunghill! This is
you -"                                           a woman's greatest loss on earth. And Helen sank,
" I don't understand this," said the General. " I and sobbed under it.
thought you told me there was nobody on the    General Rolleston, whose own heart was fortified,
island but you and your guardian angel. Did you took a shallow view of the situation; and, moreover,
count this poor fellow for nobody?  Why, he did  Helen's face was hidden on his bosom; and what he
you a good turn once.".saw was Hazel's manly and intelligent countenance
"0 papa!" said Helen, reproachfully. "Why, pale, and dragged with agony and shame.
this is mm guardian angel. This is Mr. Hazel."    "Come, come," he said, gently, " don't cry about
The  General looked from  one to another in it; it is not your fault: and don't be too hard on
amazement, then he said to Helen, " This your Mr. the man. You told me he had saved your life."
Hazel?                      "                       Would he had not! " said the sobbing girl.
"Yes, papa."                                     "There, Seaton," said the General.   Now you




98                                     FOUL PLAY.
see the consequences of deceit: it wipes out the you. You remember how he suspected burglars,
deepest obligations."  He resumed, in a different and watched night after night under your window.
tone, "But not with me. This is a woman: but I That was out of love for you. His insanity took
am a man, and know how a bad man could have the form of fidelity and humble devotion. Ie got
abused the situation in which I found you two."  a wound for his pains, poor fellow! and you made
"Not worse than he has done," cried Helen.    Arthur Wardlaw get him a clerk's place."
" What do you tell me, girl! " said General Rol-   " Arthur Wardlaw!" cried Seaton. " Was it to
leston, beginning to tremble in his turn.       him I owed it?" and he groaned aloud.
"What could he do worse than steal my esteem    Said Helen, "He hates poor Arthur, his beneand veneration, and drag my heart's best feelings in factor."  Then to Penfold: "If you are that James
the dirt?  0, where - where can I ever look for a Seaton, you received a letter from me."
guide, instructor, and faithful friend, after this? He    "I did," said Penfold; and putting his hand in
seemed all truth; and he is all a lie: the world is his bosom he drew out a letter and showed it her.
all a lie: would I could leave it this moment!"  "Let me see it," said Helen.
"This is all romantic nonsense," said General   "O no! don't take this from me too," said he,
Rolleston, beginning to be angry. " You are a little piteously.
fool, and in your ignorance and innocence have no    General Rolleston continued.  "The day you
idea how well this young fellow has behaved on the sailed he disappeared; and I am afraid not without
whole. I tell you what; - in spite of this one fault, some wild idea of being in the same ship with you.
I should like to shake him by the hand. I will too; This was very reprehensible. Do you hear, young
and then admonish him afterwards."              man? But what is the consequence? You get ship"You shall not. You shall not," cried Helen, wrecked together, and the young madman takes
seizing him  almost violently by the arm. " You such care of you that I find you well and hearty,
take him by the hand! A msnster! How dare and calling him  your guardian angel. And — anyou steal into my esteem?  How dare you be a other thing to his credit —he has set his wits to
miracle of goodness, self-denial, learning, and every work to restore you to the world. These ducks, one
virtue that a lady might worship and thank God of which brings me here?  Of course it was he who
for, when all the time you are a vile, convicted -" contrived that, not you. Young man, you must learn
" I'11 thank you not to say that word," said Hazel, to look things in the face; this young lady is not of
firmly.                                         your sphere, to begin; and, in the next place, she is
"I'11 call you what you are, if I choose," said engaged to Mr. Arthur Wardlaw; and I am come out
Helen, defiantly. But for all that she did not do it. in his steamboat to take her to him. And as for you,
She said piteously, " What offence had I ever given Helen, take my advice; think what most convicts are
you? What crime had I ever committed, that you compared to this one. Shut your eyes entirely to his
must make me the victim of this diabolical deceit? folly, as I shall; and let you and I Vlnk only of his
0, sir, what powers of mind you have wasted to good deeds, and so make him all the return we can.
achieve this victory over a poor unoffending girl! You and I will go on board the steamboat directly;
What was your motive?  What good could come and, when we are there, we can tell Moreland there
of it to you? He won't speak to me. He is not is somebody else on the island.  I1de then turned to
even penitent. Sullen and obstinate'! He shall be Penfold, and said: "My daughter and I will keep in
taken to England, and well punished for it. Papa, the after-part of the vessel, and anybody that likes
it is your duty."                               can leave the ship at Valparaiso. Helen, I know it
" Helen," said the General, " you ladies are rather is wrong; but what can I do? - I am so happy.
too fond of hitting a man when he is down. And You are alive and well: how carn I punish or afflict
you speak daggers, as the saying is; and then wish a human creature to-day? and, above all, how can
you had bitten your tongue off sooner. You are I crush this unhappy young man, without whom I
my child, but you are also a British subject; and, if should never have seen you again in this world?
you charge me on my duty to take this man to Eng- My daughter! my dear lost child! " and he held her
land and have him imprisoned, I must. But, before at arm's length and gazed at her, and then drew her
you go that length, you had better hear the whole to his bosom, and for him Robert Penfold ceased to
story."                                         exist, except as a man that had saved his daughter.
Sir," said Robert Penfold, quietly, "I will go   "Papa," said Helen, after a long pause, "just
back to prison this minute, if she wishes it."  make him tell why he could not trust to me. Why
" How dare you interrupt'papa," said Helen, he passed himself off to me for a clergyman."
haughtily, but with a great sob.                  " I am a clergyman," said Robert Penfold.
"Come, come," said the General, " be quiet,'both    "! " said Helen, shocked to find him so harof you, and let me say my say. (To Robert.)  You dened, as she thought. She lifted her hands to heahad better-turn your head away, for I am a straight- ven, and the tears streamed from her eyes. " Well,
forward man, and I'm going to show her you are sir," said she, faintly, " I see I cannot reach your connot a villain, but a madman. This Robert Penfold science.- One question more, and then I have done
wrote me a letter, imploring me to find him some with you forever. Why in all these months that
honest employment, however menial. That looked we have been alone, and that you have shown me
well, and I made him my gardener. He was a cap- the nature, I don't say of an honest man, but of an
ital gardener; but one fine day he caught sight of angel, - yes, papa, of an angel, - why could you not
you. You are a very lovely girl, though you don't show me one humble virtue, sincerity? It belongs
seem to know it; and he is a madman; and he fell to a man. Why could you not say,'I have commitin love with you."  Helen uttered an ejaculation of ted one crime in my life, but repented forever;'
great surprise. The General resumed: " He can judge by this confession, and by what you have seen
only have seen you at a distance, or you would rec- of me, whether I shall ever commit another. Take
ognize him; but (really it is laughable) he saw you me as I am, and esteem me as a penitent and more
somehow, though you did not see him, and -  worthy man; but I will not deceive you and pass for
Well, his insanity hurt himself, and did not hurt a paragon.' Why could ycu not say as much as




FOUL PLAY.                                            99
this to me?  If you loved me, why deceive me so " What do I care for steamboats and captains? If I
cruelly?"                                       stay here to all eternity, I'11 know from your own
These words, uttered no longer harshly, but in a lips and your own face whether you are a felon or
mournful, faint, despairing voice, produced an efi  a martyr. It is no phrase, papa. He is a felon or a
feet the speaker little expected. Robert Penfold martyr; and I am a most unfortunate girl, or else a
made two attempts to speak, but though he opened base, disloyal one."
his mouth, and his lips quivered, he could get no    "Fiddle-dee," said General Rolleston, angrily.
word out. He began to choke with emotion; and  Then, looking at his watch: " I give you five minthough he shed no tears, the convulsion that goes utes to humbug us in- if you can."
with weeping in weaker natures overpowered him in    Robert Penfold sighed patiently. But from that
a way that was almost terrible.                  moment he ignored General Rolleston, and looked
"Confound it! " said General Rolleston, "this is to Helen only. And she fixed her eyes upon his
monstrous of you, Helen; it is barbarous. You are face with a tenacity and an intensity of observation
not like your poor mother."                      that surpassed anything he had ever seen in his life..
She was pale and trembling, and the tears flow- It dazzled him; but it did not dismay him.
ing; but she showed her native obstinacy.  She said,   "Miss Rolleston," said he, "my history can be told
hoarsely, " Papa, you are blind.  He must answer in the time my prejudiced judge allows me. I am a
me. He knows he must!"                           clergyman, and a private tutor at Oxford. One of
"I must," said Robert Penfold, gasping still. my pupils was - Arthur Wardlaw. I took an interThen he manned himself by a mighty effort, and est in him because my father, Michael Penfold, was
repeated with dignity, "I will."  There was a in Wardlaw's employ. This Arthur Wardlaw had
pause while the young man still struggled for com- a talent for mimicry; he mimicked one of the colposure and self-command.                         lege officers publicly and offensively, and was about
to be expelled, and that would have ruined his imWas I not often on the point of telling you my mediate prospects; for his father is just, but stern.
sad story?  Then is it fair to say that I should I fought hard for him, and, being myself popular
never have told it you?  But, O Miss Rolleston, with the authorities, I got him off  He was grateful,
you don't know what agony it may be to an unfor- or seemed to be, and we became greater friends than
tunate man to tell the truth. There are accusations ever. We confided in each other. He told me he
so terrible, so defiling, that, when a man has proved was in debt in Oxford, and much alarmed lest it
them false, they still stick to him and soil him. Such should reach his father's ears, and lose him  the
an accusation I labor under, and a judge and a jury  promised partnership. I told him I was desirous to
have branded me. If they had called me a murder- buy a small living near Oxford, which was then
er, I would have told you; but that is such a dirty  vacant; but I had only saved ~400, and the price 
crime. I feared the prejudices of the world. I was ~1,000; I had no means of raising the balance.
dreaded to see your face alter to me. Yes, I trem- Then he said,' Borrow ~2,000 of my father; give me
bled, and hesitated, and asked myself whether a fourteen hundred of it, and take your own time to
man is bound to repeat a foul slander against him- repay the ~600. I shall bemy father's partner in a
self, even when thirteen shallow men have said it, month or two,' said he;'you can pay us back by
and made the lie law."                           instalments.' I thought this very kind of him. I
"There," said General Rolleston, " I thought how  did not want the living for myself, but to give my
it would be, Helen; you have tormented him into  dear father certain comforts and country air every
defending himself, tooth and nail; so now we shall week; he needed it: he was born in the country.
have the old story; he is innocent; I never knew  Well, I came to London about this business; and a
a convict that was n't, if he found a fool to listen to stranger called on me, and said he came from Mr.
him. I decline to hear anotherword. You need n't Arthur Wardlaw, who was not well enough to come
excuse yourself for changing your name; I excuse himself. He produced a note of hand for ~ 2,000,
it, and that is enough. But the boat is waiting, and signed John Wardlaw, and made me indorse it, and
we can't stay to hear you justify a felony."     told me where to get it cashed; he would come
"I AM NOT A FELON. I AM A MARTYR."             next day for Arthur Wardlaw's share of the money.
Well, I suspected no ill; would you? I went and
got the note discounted, and locked the money up.
It was not my money: the greater part was Arthur
CHAPTER  LII.                     Wardlaw's. That same evening a policeman called,
and asked several questions, which of course I anROBERT PENFOLD drew himself up to his full swered. He then got me out of the house on some
height, and uttered these strange words with a sad pretence, and arrested me as a forger."
majesty that was very imposing. But General Rol-   "Oh! " cried Helen.
leston, steeled by experience of convicts, their plausi-   "I forgot the clergyman; I was a gentleman, and
bility, and their histrionic powers, was staggered  a man, insulted, and I knocked the officer down dionly for a moment. He deigned no reply; but rectly.  But his myrmidons overpowered me. I
told Helen Captain Moreland was waiting for her, was tried at the Central Criminal Court on two
and she had better go on board at once.          charges. First, the Crown (as they call the attorSh^, stood like a statue.                      ney that draws the indictment) charged me with
"No, papa, I'll not turn my back on him till I forging the note of hand; and then with not
know whether he is a felon or a martyr."         forging it, but passing it, well knowing that some" My poor child, has he caught you at once with a body else had forged it. Well, Undercliff, the Exclever phrase?  A judge and a jury have settled pert, swore positively that the forged note was not
that."                                           written by me; and the Crown, as they call it, was
" They settled it as you would settle it, by refus- defeated on that charge; but being proved a liar in
ing to hear me."                                 a court of justice did not abash my accuser; the
"Have I refused td hear you?" said Helen. second charge was pressed with equal confidence.




100                                     FOUL PLAY.
The note, you are to understand, was forged: that animals, more reasonable than you, have the sense
admits of no doubt; and I passed it; the question  to see my real character. I'11 not sail in the same
was whether I passed it knowing it to be forged. ship with any man, nor any woman either, who can
How was that to be determined?  And here it was look me in the face, and take me for a felon."
that my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, de-   He swelled and towered with the just wrath of
stroyed me. Of course, as soon as I was put in an honest man driven to bay; and his eye shot black
prison, I wrote and sent to Arthur Wardlaw. Would lightning. He was sublime.
you believe it? he would not come to me. He    Helen cowered; but her spirited old father turned
would not even write. Then, as the time drew near, red, and said, haughtily, " We take you at your
I feared he was a traitor. I treated him like one. word, and leave you, you insolent vagabond! FolI told my solicitor to drag him into court as my wit- low me this instant, Helen! "
ness, and make him tell the truth. The clerk went   And he marched out of the cavern in a fury.
down accordingly, and found he kept his door always   But, instead of following him, Helen stood stocklocked; but the clerk outwitted him, and served still, and cowered, and cowered till she seemed sinkhim,,ith the subpoena in his bedroom, before he ing forward to the ground, and she got hold of Robcould crawl under the bed.  But he baffled -us at ert Penfold's hand, and kissed it, and moaned over it.
last; he never appeared in the witness-box; and,   " Martyr! Martyr! " she whispered, and still
when my counsel asked the court to imprison him, kissed his hand, like a slave offering her master pity,
his father swore he could not come: he was dying, and asking pardon.
and all out of sympathy with me. Fine sympathy!   "Martyr! Martyr! Every word is true-true
that closed the lips, and concealed the truth; one as my love."
syllable of which. would have saved his friend and    In this attitude, and with these words on her lips,
benefactor from a calamity worse than death. Is they were surprised by General Rollestop, who came
the truth poison, that to tell it makes a sick man  back, astonished at his daughter niot following him
die?  Is the truth hell, that a dying man refuses to Judge of his amazement now.
speak it?  How can a man die better than speak-   "What does this mean?" he cried, turning pale
ing the truth?  How can he die worse than with- with anger.
holding it? I believe his sickness and his death    " It means that he has spoken the truth, and that
were lies like himself. For want of one word from  I shall imitate him. He is my martyr, and my love.
Arthur Wardlaw to explain that I had every rea- When others cast shame on you, then it is time for
son to expect a note of hand from him, the jury  me to show my heart. James Seaton, I love you
condemned me. They were twelve honest but shal- for your madness and your devotion to her whom
low men- invited to go inside another man's bosom  you had only seen at a distance. Ah! that was
and guess what was there. They guessed that I love! John Hazel, I love you for all that has passed
knew and understood a thing which to this hour I between us. What can any other man be to me? -
neither know nor understand, by God!"            or woman to you?  But, most of all, I love you,
He paused a moment, then resumed: —            Robert Penfold,- my hero and my martyr. When
" I believe they founded their conjecture on my I am told to your face that you are a felon, then to
knocking down the officer. There was a reason for your face I say you are my idol, my hero, and my
you! Why, forgers and their confederates are rep- martyr. Love! the word is too tame, too common.
tiles, and have no fight in them.   Experience I worship you, I adore you! How beautiful you are
proves this. But these twelve men did not go by  when you are angry! How noble you are now you
experience; they guessed, like babies, and, after forgive me! for you do forgive me, Robert; you
much hesitation, condemned me; but recommended  must, you shall. No; you will not send your Helen
me to mercy. Mercy! What mercy did I deserve? away from you for her one fault so soon repented!
Either I was innocent, or hanging was too good for Show me you forgive me; show me you love me still,
me. No; in their hearts they doubted my guilt; almost as much- as I love you. He is crying.  O
and their doubt took that timid form instead of ac- my darling, my darling, my darling!"  And she
quitting me. I was amazed at the verdict, and was round his neck in a moment, with tears and
asked leave to tell the judge why Arthur Wardlaw  tender kisses, the first she had ever given him.
had defied the court, and absented himself as my    Ask yourself whether they were returned.
witness. Had the judge listened for one minute, he
would have seen I was innocent. But no. I was in    A groan, or rather, we might say, a snort of fury,
England where the mouth of the accused is stopped, interrupted the most blissful moment either of these
if he is fool enough to employ counsel. The judge young creatures had ever known. It came from
stopped my mouth, as your father just now tried  General Rolleston, now white with wrath and horror.
to stop it; and they branded me as a felon.        " You villain  " he cried.
" Up to that moment my life was honorable and    Helen threw herself upon him, and put her hand
worthy. Since that moment I have never wronged before his mouth.
a human creature. Men pass from virtue to vice,   "Not a word more, or I shall forget I am your
from vice to crime; this is the ladder a soul goes daughter. No one is to blame but 1. I love him.
down; but you are invited to believe that I jumped  I made him love me. He has been trying hard not
from innocence into a filthy felony, and then jumped to love me so much. But I am awoman; and could
back again none the worse, and was a gardener that not deny myself the glory and the joy of being loved
fought for his employer,' and a lover that controlled  better than woman was ever loved before. And so
his passion. It is a lie, - a lie that ought not to take I am; I am. Kill me, if you like; insult me, if you
in a child. But prejudice degrades a man below  will: but not a word against him, or I give him my
the level of a child. I'11 say no more; my patience hand, and we live and die together on this island.
is exhausted by wrongs and insults. I am as honest 0 papa! he has often saved that life you value so;
a man as ever breathed; and the place where we and I have saved his. He is all the world to me.
stand is mine, for I made it. Leave it and me this Have pity on your child. Have pity on him who
moment. Go to England, and leave rie where the carries my heart in his bosom."




FOUL PLAY.                                           101
She flung herself on her knees, and strained him  you are a man of honor; you love my child truly,
tight, and implored him, with head thrown back, and notselfishly; -you have behaved nobly until toand little clutching hands, and eloquent eyes.   day; go one step farther on the right road; call
Ah! it is hard to resist the voice and look and  worldly honor and the God whose vows you have
clinoing of a man's own flesh and blood. Children  taken, sir, to your aid, and do your duty."
are so strong - upon their knees: their dear faces,   " 0 man, man!" cried Robert Penfold, "you ask
bright copies of our own, are just the height of our more of me than flesh and blood can bear. What
hearts then.                                     shall I say?  What shall I do?"
The old man was staggered, was almost melted.   Helen replied, calmly: " Take my hand, and let
"Give me a moment to think," said he, in a broken  us die together, since we cannot live together with
voice. "This blow takes my breath away."         honor."
Helen rose, and laid her head upon her father's    General Rolleston groaned. "For this, then, I
shoulder, and still pleaded for her love by her soft have traversed one ocean, and searched another,
touch and her tears that now flowed freely.      and found my child. I am nothing to her — nothing.  0, who would be a father! "  He sat down
He turned to Penford with all the dignity of age oppressed with shame and grief, and bowed his
and station. "Mr. Penford," said he, with grave stately head in manly but pathetic silence.
politeness, " after what my daughter has said, I must     0 papa, papa!" cried Helen, "forgive your
treat you as a man of honor, or I must insult her. ungrateful child! "  And she kneeled and sobbed,
Well, then, I expect you to show me you are what with her forehead on his knees.
she thinks you, and are not what a court of justice    Then Robert Penfold, in the midst of his own
has proclaimed you. Sir, this young lady is engaged  agony, found room in that great suffering heart of
with her own free will to a gentleman who is uni- his for pity. He knelt down himself, and prayed
versally esteemed, and has never been accused to for help in this bitter trial. He rose haggard with
his face of any unworthy act. Relying on her the struggle, but languid and resigned, like one
plighted word, the Wardlaws have fitted out a whose death-warrant has been read.
steamer and searched the Pacific, and found her.   "Sir," said he, " there is but one way. You must
Can you, as a man of honor, advise her to stay here take her home; and I shall stay here."
and compromise her own honor in every way?   "Leave you all alone on this.island! " said Helen.
Ought she to break faith with her betrothed on "Never! If you stay here, I shall stay to comfort
account of vague accusations made behind  his you."
back?"                                             "I decline that offer. I am beyond the reach of
" It was only in self-defence I accused Mr. Arthur comfort."
Wardlaw," said Robert Penfold.                      "Think what you do, Robert," said Helen, with
General Rolleston resumed: —                   unnatural calmness. " If you have no pity on your"You said just now there are accusations which self, have pity on us. Would you rob me of the
soil a man. If you were in my place, would you very life you have taken such pains to save? My
let your daughter marry a man of honor, who had poor father will carry nothing to England but my
unfortunately been found guilty of a felony?"   dead body. Long before we reach that country I
Robert groaned and hesitated, but he said "No." loved so well, and now hate it for its stupidity and
"Then what is to be done?  She must either cruelty to you, my soul will have flown back to this
keep her plighted word, or else break it. For island to watch over you, Robert. You bid me to
whom?  For a gentleman she esteems and loves, abandon you to solitude and despair. Neither of
but cannot marry. A leper may be a saint; but I you two love me half as much as I love you both."
would rather bury my child than marry her to a    General Rolleston sighed deeply. "If I'thought
leper. A convict may be a saint; but I'll kill her that," said he, -then, in a faint voice, "my own
with my own hand sooner than she shall marry a courage fails me now. I look into my heart, and I
convict: and in your heart and conscience you can- see that my child's life is dearer to me than all the
not blame me. Were you a father, you would do world. She was dying, they say. Suppose I send
the same. What then remains for her and me but Moreland to the Continent for a clergyman, and
to keep faith? and what can you do better than marry you. Then you can live on this island forleave her, and carry away her everlasting esteem  ever.  Only you must let me live here too; for I
and her father's gratitude?  It is no use being good could never show my face again in England after
by halves, or bad by halves. You must either be a acting so dishonorably. It will be a miserable end
selfish villain, and urge her to abandon all shame, of a life passed in honor; but I suppose it will not
and live here on this island with you forever, or you be for long. Shame can kill as quickly as disapmust be a brave and honest man, and bow to a part- pointed love.":ng that is inevitable.  Consider, sir; your eloquence    " Robert, Robert!" cried Helen in agony.
and her pity have betrayed this young lady into a   The martyr saw that he was master of the situaconfession that separates you. Her enforced resi- tion, and must be either base or very noble, - there
dence here with you has been innocent. It would was no middle way. He leaned his head on his
be innocent no longer, now she has been so mad as hands, and thought with all his might.
to own she loves you. And I tell you frankly, if,   " Hush! " said Helen: " he is wiser than we are.
after that confession, you insist on going on board Let him speak."
the steamer with her, I must take you; humanity
requires it; but, if I do, I shall hand you over to the   "If I thought you would pine and die upon the
law as a convict escaped before his time. Perhaps voyage, no power should part us. But you are not
I ought to do so as it is; but that is not certain; I such a coward. If my life depended on yours, wbuld
don't know to what country this island belongs. I you not live? "
may have no right to capture you in strange domin-   "You know I would."
ions; but an English ship is England,- and if you    "When I was wrecked on White-water Island,
set foot on the Springbok you are lost. Now, then, you played the man. Not one woman in a thousand




102                                      FOUL PLAY.
could have launched a boat, and sailed it with a    The General came back, and he and Robert took
boat-hook for a mast, and -"                     Helen, shivering and fainting, to the boat. As the
Helen interrupted him. "It was nothing; I loved boat put off, she awoke from her stupor, and put out
you. I love you better now."                     her hands to Robert with one piercing cry.
"I believe it, and therefore I ask you to rise    They were parted.
above your sex once more, and play the man for
me. This time it is not my life you are to rescue,
but that which is more precious still: my good                   CHAPTER LIIL
name."
"Ah! that would be worth living for!" cried   IN that curious compound the human heart, a
Helen.                                           respectable motive is sometimes connected with a
" You will find it very hard to do; but not harder criminal act. And it was so with Joseph Wylie:
for a woman than to launch a boat, and sail her he had formed an attachment to Nancy Rouse, and
without a mast.  See my father, Michael Penfold. her price was two thousand pounds.
See Undercliff, the expert.  See the solicitor    the    This Nancy Rouse was a character.  She was
counsel.  Sift the whole story; and, above all, find  General Rolleston's servant for many years; her
out why Arthur Wardlaw dared not enter the wit- place was the kitchen: but she was a woman of
ness-box. Be obstinate as a man; be supple as a such restless activity, and so wanting in the proper
woman; and don't talk of dying when there is a pride of a servant, that she would help a housemaid,
friend to be rescued from dishonor by living and or a lady's maid, or do anything almost, except be
working."                                        idle! to use her own words, she was one as could n't
" Die! while I can rescue you from death or dis- abide to sit mumchance. That fatal foe to domeshonor! I will not be so base. Ah, Robert, Robert, tic industry, the London Journal, fluttered in vain
how well you know me! "                          down her area, for she could not read.  She sup"Yes, I do know you, Helen. I believe that ported a sick mother out of her wages, aided by a
great soul of yours will keep your body strong to few presents of money and clothes from  Helen
do this brave work for him you love, and who loves Rolleston, who had a great regard for Nancy, and
you. And as for me, I am man enough to live for knew what a hard fight she had to keep a sick woyears upon this island, if you will only promise me man out of her twenty pounds a year.
two things."                                        In love, Nancy was unfortunate; her buxom
"I promise, then."                             looks and sterling virtues were balanced by a pro" Never to die, and never to marry Arthur Ward- voking sagacity, and an irritating habit of speaking
law, until you have reversed that lying sentence her mind. She humbled her lovers' vanity, one after
which has blasted me. Lay your hand on your another, and they fled. Her heart smarted more
father's head, and promise me that."             than once.
Helen laid her hand upon her father's head, and    Nancy was ambitious; and her first rise in life
said, "I pledge my honor not to die, if life is possi- took place as follows: When the Rollestons went
ble, and never to marry any man, until I have re- to Australia, she had a good cry at parting with
versed that lying sentence which has blasted the Helen; but there was no help for it: she could not
angel I love."                                   leave her mother. However, she told Helen she
"And I pledge myself to help her," said General could not stomach any other service, and, since she
Rolleston, warmly, "for now I know you are a man must be parted, was resolved to better herself. This
of honor. I have too often been deceived by elo- phrase is sometimes drolly applied by servants, bequence to listen much to that. But now you have cause they throw Independence into the scale. In
proved by your actions what you are. You pass a Nancy's case it meant setting up as a washerwoman.
forged check, knowing it to be forged! I'd stake Helen opened her hazel eyes with astonishment at
my salvation it's a lie. There's my hand.  God this, the first round in the ladder of Nancy's ambicomfort you!  God reward you, my noble fel- tion; however, she gave her ten pounds, and thirty
low!"                                            introductions, twenty-five of which missed fire, and
" I hope he will, sir," sobbed Robert Penfold. with the odd five Nancy set up her tub in the sub"You are her father; and you take my hand; per- urbs, and by her industry, geniality, and frugality,
haps that will be sweet to think of by and by; but got on tolerably well. In due course she rented a
no joy can enter my heart now; it is broken. Take small house backed by a small green, and adverher away at once, sir. Flesh is weak. My powers tised for a gentleman lodger. She soon got one;
of endurance are exhausted."                     and soon'got rid of him. However, she was never
General Rolleston acted promptly on this advice. long without one.
He rolled up her rugs, and the things she had made,   Nancy met Joseph Wylie in company: and, as
and Robert had the courage to take them down to sailors are brisk wooers, he soon became her acthe boat. Then he came back, and the General knowledged suitor, and made some inroad into her
took her bag to the boat.                        heart, though she kept on the defensive, warned by
All this time the girl herself sat wringing her past experience.
hands in anguish, and not a tear. It was beyond    Wylie's love-making had a droll feature about it;
that now.                                        it was most of it carried on in the presence of three
As he passed Robert, the General said, " Take  washerwomen, because Nancy had no time to spare
leave of her alone. I will come for her in five from her work, and Wylie had no time to lose in
minutes. You see how sure I feel you are a man his wooing, being on shore for a limited period.
of honor."                                       And this absence of superfluous delicacy on his part
When Robert went in, she rose and tottered to gave him  an unfair advantage over the tallowhim, and fell on his neck. She saw it was the chandler's foreman, his only rival at present. Many
death-bed of their love, and she kissed his eyes, and a sly thrust, and many a hearty laugh, from his feelung to him. They moaned over each other, and male auditors, greeted his amorous eloquence: but,
clung to each other, in mute despair.            for all that, they sided with him, and Nancy felt her




FOUL PLAY.                                           103
importance, and brightened along with her mates    Now, when Wylie returned to England safe after
at the sailor's approach, which was generally an- his crime and his perils, he comforted himself with
nounced by a cheerful hail. He was good company, the reflection that Nancy would have her house and
to use Nancy's own phrase, and she accepted him  garden, and he should have Nancy.
as a sweetheart on probation.  But, when Mr.   But young Wardlaw lay on his sick-bed; his faWylie urged her to marry him, she demurred, and ther was about to return to the office, and the gold
gave a string of reasons, all of which the sailor and disguised as copper was ordered up to the cellars in
his allies, the subordinate washerwomen, combated  Fenchurch Street. There, in all probability, the
in full conclave.                                contents would be examined  erelong, the fraud
Then she spoke out, " My lad, the wash-tub is a exposed, and other unpleasant consequences might
saddle as won't carry double. I've seen poverty follow over and above the loss of the promised
enough in my mother's house, it sha'n't come in at ~2,000.
my door to drive love out o' window. Two comes   Wylie felt very disconsolate, and went down to
together with just enough for two; next year instead Nancy Rouse depressed in spirits. To his surprise
of two they are three, and one of the three can't she received him with more affection than ever,
work and wants a servant extra, and by and by and, reading his face in a moment, told him not to
there is half a dozen, and the money coming in at fret.
the spigot and going out at the bung-hole."         "It will be so in your way of life," said this homeOne day, in the middle of his wooing, she laid ly comforter; "your sort comes home empty-handed
down her iron, and said, " You come along with me. one day, and money in both pockets the next. I'm
And I wonder how much work will be done whilst glad to see you home at all, for I've been in care
my back is turned, for you three gabbling and won- about you. You're very welcome, Joe. If you are
dering whatever I'm agoing to do with this here come home honest and sober, why, that is the next
sailor."                                         best thing to coming home rich."
She took Wylie a few yards down the street, and    Wylie hung his head and pondered these words;
showed him a large house with most of the windows and well he might, for he had not come home either
broken. " There," said she, " there's a sight for a so sober or so honest as he went out, but quite as
seafaring man. That's in Chancery."              poor.
"Well, it's better to be there than in H-,"   However, his elastic spirits soon revived in Nansaid Wylie, meaning to be sharper.               cy's sunshine, and he became more in love with her
"Wait till you've tried'em both," said Nancy.   than ever.
Then she took him to the back of the house, and    But when, presuming upon her affection, he urged
showed him a large garden attached to it.        her to marry him  and trust to Providenne, she
"Now, Joseph," said she, "I've showed you a laughed in his face.
lodging-house and a drying-ground; and I'm a cook    "Trust to himprovidence, you mean," said she;
and a clear-starcher, and I'm wild to keep lodgers "no, no, Joseph. If you are unlucky, I must be
and do foi'em, washing and all. Then, if their foul lucky, before you and me can come togetller."
linen goes out, they follows it: the same if they has   Then Wylie resolved to have his ~2,000 at all
their meat from  the cook-shop.  Four hundred  risks. He had one great advantage over a landspounds a year lies there a waiting for me. I've man who has committed a crime. He could always
been at them often to let me them premises: but go to sea and find employment, first in one ship,
they says no, we have got no horder from the court and then in another. Terra firma was not one of
to let. Which the court would rather see'em go to the necessaries of life to him.
rack an' ruin for nothing, than let'em to an honest   He came to Wardlaw's office to feel his way, and
woman as would pay the rent punctual, and make talked guardedly to Michael Penfold about the loss
her penny out of'em, and nobody none the worse. of the Proserpine.  His apparent object was to give
And to sell them, the price is two thousand pounds, information; his real object was to gather it.  He
and if I had it I'd give it this minit: but where are learned that old Wardlaw was very much occupied
the likes of you and me to get two thousand pounds? with fitting out a steamer; that the forty chests of
But the lawyer he says,' Miss Rouse, from you one copper had actually come up from the Shannon and
thousand down, and the rest on mortgige at ~45 were under their feet at that moment, and that
the year,' which it is dirt cheap, I say. So now, my young Wardlaw was desperately ill and never came
man, when that house is mine, I'm yours. I'm put- to the office. Michael had not at that time learned
ting by for it o' my side. If you means all you say, the true cause of young Wardlaw's illness. Yet
why not save a Fit o' yours. Once I get that house Wylie detected that young Wardlaw's continued
and garden, you need n't go to sea no more: nor absence from the office gave Michael singular uneasiyou sha'n't. If I am to be bothered with a man, let ness. The old man fidgeted, and washed the air
me know where to put my finger on him  at all with his hands, and with simple cunning urged Wyhours, and not lie shivering and shaking at every  lie to go and see him about the Proserpine, and get
window as creaks, and him out at sea. And if you him to the office, if it was only for an hour or two.
are too proud to drive the linen in a light cart, why " Tell him we are all at sixes and sevens, Mr. Wylie;
I could pay a man."  In short she told him plainly  all at sixes and sevens."
she would not marry till she was above the world;   "Well," said Wylie, affecting a desire to oblige,
and the road to above the world was through that "give me a line to him; for I've been twice, and
great battered house and seedy garden, in Chancery. could never get in."
Now it may appear a strange coincidence that   Michael wrote an earnest line to say that WardNancy's price to Wylie was two thousand pounds, law senior had been hitherto much occupied in fitand Wylie's to Wardlaw was two thousand pounds: ting out the Springbok, but that he was going into
but the fact is it was a forced coincidence. Wylie, the books next week. What was to be done?
bargaining with Wardlaw, stood out for two thou-   The note was received; but Arthur declined to
sand pounds, because that was the price of the house see the bearer. Then Wylie told the servant it was
and garden and Nancy.                            Joseph Wylie, on a matter of life and death. " Tell




104                                     FOUL PLAY.
him I must stand at the stair-foot and hallo it out,   "Leave the paper with me," said Arthur, lanif he won't hear it any other way."              guidly, " and tell Penfold I'11 crawl to the office toThis threat obtained his admission to Arthur morrow.  You can meet me there; I shall see
Wardlaw. The sailor found him on a sofa, in a dark- nobody else."
ened room, pale and worn to a shadow.               Wylie called next day at the office, and was
"Mr. Wardlaw," said Wylie, firmly, " you must received by Penfold, who had now learned the cause
n't think I don't feel for you   but, sir, we are gone of Arthur's grief, and ushered the visitor in to him
too far to stop, you and me. There is two sides to with lqoks of benevolent concern.  Arthur was
this business; it is ~150,000 for you, and ~2,000 for seated like a lunatic, pale and motionless; on the
me, or it is -     "  What do I care for money now?" table before him was a roast fowl and a salad, which
groaned Wardlaw. "Let it all go to the devil, who he had forgotten to eat. His mind appeared to
tempted me to destroy her I loved better than  alternate between love and fraud; for, as soon as
money, better than all the world."  "Well, but he saw Wylie he gave himself a sort of shake, and
hear me out," said Wylie.  " I say it is ~150,000 handed Wylie the log and the papers.
to you and ~2,000 to me, or else it is twenty years'   " Examine them; they agree better with each
penal servitude to both on us."                  other now."
" Penal servitude!"  And the words roused the    Wylie examined the log, and started with surmerchant from his lethargy like a shower-bath.   prise and superstitious terror.  " Why, Hiram's
"You know  that well enough," said Wylie. ghost has been here at work!" said he. "It is his
"Why,'t was a hanging matter a few years ago. very handwriting."
Come, come, there are no two ways; you must be a    "Hush! " said Wardlaw; " not so loud. Will it
man, or we are undone."                           do? "
Fear prevailed in that timorous breast, which' The writing will do first-rate; but any one can
even love of money had failed to rouse. Wardlaw  see this log has never been to sea."
sat up, staring wildly, and asked Wylie what he   Inspired by the other's ingenuity, he then, after
was to do.                                       a moment's reflection, emptied the salt-cellar into a
" First, let me ring for a bottle of that old brandy plate, and poured a little water over it. He wetted
of yours."                                       the leaves of the log with this salt water, and dog'sThe brandy was got. Wylie induced him  to eared the whole book.
drink a wineglassful neat, and then to sit at the table    Wardlaw sighed. " See what expedients we are
and examine the sailors' declaration and the logs. driven to," said he. He then took a little soot from
"I'in no great scholard," said he. "I warn't a the chimney, and mixed it with salad oil. He apgoing to lay these before the underwriters till you plied some of this mixture to the parchment cover,
had overhauled them. There, take another drop rubbed it off, and by much manipulation gave it a
now, —'t will do you good,    while I draw up this certain mellow look, as if it had been used by workthundering blind."                               ing hands.
Thus encouraged and urged, the broken-hearted    Wylie was armed with these materials, and furschemer languidly compared the seamen's declara- nished with money, to keep his sailors to their tale,
tion with the logs; and, even in his feeble state of in case of their being examined.
mind and body, made an awkward discovery at   Arthur begged, in his present affliction, to be
once.                                            excused from going personally into the matter of
"Why, they don't correspond I" said he.        the Proserpine; and said that Penfold had the
"What don't correspond? "                      ship's log, and the declaration of the survivors,
"Your men's statement and the ship's log. The which the insurers could inspect, previously to their
men speak of one heavy gale after another, in Jan- being deposited at Lloyd's.
uary, and the pumps going; but the log says,'A    The whole thing wore an excellent face, and
puff of wind from the N. E.' And here, again, the nobody found a peg to hang suspicion on so far.
entry exposes your exaggeration; one branch of   After this preliminary, and the deposit of the
our evidence contradicts the other; this comes of papers, nothing was hurried; the merchant, abtrying to prove too much. You must say the log sorbed in his grief, seemed to be forgetting to ask
was lost, went down with the ship."              for his money. Wylie remonstrated; but Arthur
" How can I? " cried Wylie.  "I have told too convinced him they were still on too ticklish ground
many I had got it safe at home."                 to show any hurry without exciting suspicion.
"Why did you say that?  What madness!"         And so passed two weary months, during which
" Why were you away from your office at such a Wylie fell out of Nancy Rouse's good graces, for
iime?  How can I know everything and do every- idling about doing nothing.
thing?  I counted on you for the headwork ashore.   " Be you a waiting for the plum to fall into your
Can't ye think of any way to square the log to that mouth, young man?" said she.
part of our tale? might paste in a leaf or two, eh? "    The demand was made on the underwriters, and
"That would be discovered at once. You have Arthur contrived that it should come from  his
committed an irremediable error.  What broad father. The firm was of excellent repute, and had
strokes this Hudson makes. He must have written  paid hundreds of insurances, without a loss to the
with the stump of a quill."                      underwriters. The Proserpine had foundered at
Wvlie received this last observation with a look  sea; several lives had been lost, and of the surof contempt for the mind that could put so trivial a vivors, one had since died, owing to the hardships
question in so great an emergency.               he had endured.  All this betokened a genuine
" Are you. quite sure poor Hudson is dead?" calamity. Nevertheless, one ray of suspicion rested
asked Wardfaw, in a low voice.                   on the case, at first. The captain of the Proserpine
" Dead! Don't'I tell you I saw him die!" said had lost a great many ships; and, on the first anWylie, trembling all of a sudden.                nouncement, one or two were resolved to sift the
He took a glass of brandy, and sent it flying down matter on that ground alone. But when five eyeais throat.                                      witnesses, suppressing all mention  of the word




FOUL PLAY.                                           105
"drink," declared that Captain Hudson had re- You kep' dark. Do you call yourself a man, to
fused to leave the vessel, and described his going leave my poor young lady to shift for herself? -"
down with the ship, from  an obstinate and too    "She had as good a chance to live as I had,"
exalted sense of duty, every chink was closed; and, said Wylie, sullenly.
to cut the matter short, the insurance money was   "No, she had n't; you took care o' yourself.
paid to the last shilling, and Benson, one of the Well, since you are so fond of yourself, keep yoursmall underwriters, ruined.  Nancy Rouse, who self to yourself, and don't come here no imo e.
worked for Mrs. Benson, lost eighteen shillings and  After this, I hate the sight on ye. You are like the
sixpence, and was dreadfully put out about it.   black dog in my eyes, and always will be. Poor,
Wylie heard her lamentations, and grinned; for dear Miss Helen! Ah, I cried when she left, - my
now his ~2,000 was as good as in his pocket, he mind misgave me; but little I thought she would
thought.  Great was his consternation when Arthur perish in the salt seas, and all for want of a man in
told him that every shilling of the money was fore- the ship. If you had gone out again after in the
stalled, and that the entire-profit of the transaction  steamboat, —Mr. Penfold have told me all about
was yet to come, viz. by the sale of the gold dust.  it,- I'd believe you were n't so much to blame.
"Then, sell it," said Wylie.                   But no; lolloping and looking about all day for
"I dare not. The affair must cool down before I months. There's my door, Joe Wylie; I can't cry
can appear as a seller of gold; and even then I comfortable before you, as had a hand in drowning
must dribble it out with great caution. Thank  of her. You and me is parted forever. I'11 die as
Heaven, it is no longer in those cellars."       I am, or I'11 marry a man; which you ain't one,
" Where is it, then? "                        nor nothing like one. Is he waiting for you to hold
"That is my secret. You will get your two the door open, Mr. Penfold? or don't I speak
thousand all in good time; and, if it makes you one plain enough?  Them as I gave the sack to afore
tenth part as wretched as it has made me, you will you did n't want so much telling."
thank me for all these delays."                     " Well, I'm going," said Wylie, sullenly; then,
At last Wylie lost all patience, and began to with considerable feeling, " This is hard lines."
show his teeth; and then Arthur Wardlaw paid    But Nancy was inexorable, and turned him out,
him his two thousand pounds in forty crisp notes.    with the ~2,000 in his pocket.
He crammed them into a side pocket, and went   He took the notes out of his pocket, and flung
down triumphant to Nancy Rouse. Through her them furiously down in the dirt.
parlor window he saw the benign countenance of   Then he did what everybody does under similar
Michael Penfold. He then remembered that Pen- circumstances, — he picked them  up again, and
fold had told him some time before that he was pocketed them, along with the other dirt they had
going to lodge with her, as soon as the present gathered.
lodger should go.                                   Next day he went down to the docks, and looked
This, however, rather interrupted Wylie's design  out for a ship; he soon got one, and signed as
of walking in and chucking the two thousand second mate.  She was to sail in a fortnight.
pounds into Nancy's lap.  On the contrary, he    But, before a week was out, the bank-notes had
shoved them deeper down in his pocket, and re- told so upon him, that he was no longer game to go
solved to see the old gentleman to bed, and then  to sea. But the captain be had signed with was a
produce his pelf, and fix the wedding-day with  Tartar, and not to be trifled with. He consulted a
Nancy.                                           knowing friend, and that friend advised him to disHe came in, and found her crying, and Penfold guise himself till the ship had sailed. Accordingly
making weak efforts to console her. The tea-things he rigged himself out with a long coat, and a beard,
were on the table, and Nancy's cup half emptied.   and spectacles, and hid his" sea-slouch as well as he
Wylie came in, and said, "Why, what is the could, and changed his lodgings. Finding lie sucmatter now?"                                    ceeded so well, he thought he might as well have
He said this mighty cheerfully, as one who car- the pleasure of looking at Nancy Rouse, if he could
ried the panacea for all ills in his pocket, and a not talk to her. So he actually had the hardihood
medicine peculiarly suited to Nancy Rouse's con- to take the parlor next door; and by this means he
stitution.  But he had not quite fathomed her heard her move about in her room, and caught a
yet.                                             sight of her at work on her little green; and he was
As soon as ever she saw him she wiped her eyes, shrewd enough to observe she did not sing and
and asked him, grimly, what he wanted there. whistle as she used to do. The dog chuckled at
Wylie stared at the reception; but replied stoutly, that.
that it was pretty well known by this time what he    His bank-notes worried him night and day. He
wanted in that quarter.                          was afraid to put them in a bank; afraid to take
" Well, then," said Nancy, " Want will be your them about with him into his haunts; afraid to leave
master. Why did you never tell me Miss Helen  them at home; and out of this his perplexity arose
was in that ship? my sweet, dear mistress as was, some incidents worth relating in their proper order.
that I feel for like a mother. You left her to
drown, and saved your own great useless carcass,   Arthur Wardlaw returned to business; but he
and drowned she is, poor dear. Get out o' my was a changed man. All zest in the thing was
sight, do."                                      gone. His fraud set him above the world; and that
"It was n't my fault, Nancy," said Wylie, ear- was now enough for him, in whom  ambition was
nestly. "I didn't know who she was, and I ad- dead, and, indeed, nothing left alive in him  but
vised her to come with us; but she would go with deep regrets.
that parson chap."                                  He drew in the horns of speculation, and went
" What parson chap? What a liar you be! She on in the old safe routine; and to the restless acis Wardlaw's sweetheart, and don't care for no tivity that had jeopardized the firm succeeded a
parsons. If you did n't know you was to blame, strange torpidity. He wore black for Helen, and
why did n't you tell me a word of your own accord? sorrowed without hope. He felt he had offended




106                                     FOUL PLAY.
Heaven, and had met his punishment in Helen's   She had a mission to fulfil, and her whole nature
death. Wardlaw senior retired to Elm Trees, and  was stringing itself up to do the work.
seldom saw his son. When they did meet, the old    She walked so many miles a day, partly from
man sometimes whispered hope, but the whisper was excitement, partly with a deliberate resolve to cherfaint, and unheeded.                             ish her health and strength; "I may want them
both," said she, " to clear Robert Penfold." Thought
One day Wardlaw senior came up express, to and high purpose shone through her so, that after
communicate to Arthur a letter from General Rol- a while nobody dared trouble her much with comleston, written at Valparaiso. In this letter, Gen- monplaces. To her father, she was always sweet
eral Rolleston deplored his unsuccessful search: but and filial, but sadly cold compared with what she
said he was going westward, upon the report of a had always been hitherto. He was taking her body
Dutch whaler, who had seen an island reflected in  to England, but her heart stayed behind upon that
the sky, while sailing between Juan Fernandez and  island: he saw this, and said it.
Norfolk Isle.                                       " Forgive me," said she, coldly; and that was all
Arthur only shook his head with a ghastly smile. her reply.
"She is in heaven," said he, "and I shall never see    Sometimes she had violent passions of weeping;
her again, not here or hereafter."                and then he would endeavor to console her; but in
Wardlaw senior was shocked, at this speech; but vain. They ran their course, and were succeeded
he made no reply. He pitied his son too much to by the bodily activity and concentration of purpose
criticise the expressions into which his bitter grief they had interrupted for a little while.
betrayed him. He was old, and had seen the tri-   At last, after a rapid voyage, they drew near the
umphs of time over all things human, sorrow in- English coast; and then General Rolleston, who
eluded. These, however, as yet, had done nothing had hitherto spared her feelings, and been most infor Arthur Wardlaw. At the end of six months, his dulgent and considerate, felt it was high time to
grief was as sombre and as deadly as the first come to an understanding with her as to the course
week.                                             they should both pursue.
But one day, as this pale figure in deep mourning    "Now, Helen," said he, " about the Wardlaws!"
sat at his table, going listlessly and mechanically    Helen gave a slight shudder. But she said, after
through the business of scraping money together for a slight hesitation, " Let me know your wishes."
others to enjoy, whose hearts, unlike his, might not        0, mine are, not to be too ungrateful to the
be in the grave, his father burst in upon him, with father, and not to deceive the son."
a telegram in his hand, and waved it over his head    "I will not be ungrateful to the father, nor dein triumph. "She is found! she is found!" he ceive the son," said Helen, firmly.
roared: " read that! " and thrust the telegram into    The General kissed her on the brow, and called
his hands.                                        her his brave girl. " But," said he, "on the other
Those hands trembled, and the languid voice hand, it must not be published that you have been
rose into shrieks of astonishment and delight, as for eight months on an island alone with a convict.
Arthur read the words, "We have got her, alive Anything sooner than that. You know the malice
and well: shall be at Charing Cross Hotel, 8 P.M."  of your own sex; if one woman gets hold of that,
you will be an outcast from society."
Helen blushed and trembled. "Nobody need be
told that but Arthur; and I am sure he loves me
CHAPTER  LIV.                     well enough not to injure me with the world."
"But he would be justified in declining your
WHILST the boat was going to the Springbok, hand, after such a revelation."
General Rolleston whispered to Captain Moreland;   " Quite. And I hope he will decline it when he
and what he said may be almost guessed from what knows I love another, however hopelessly."
occurred on board the steamer soon afterwards.   "You are going to tell Arthur Wardlaw all that?"
Helen w'as carried trembling to the cabin, and the    "I am."
order was given to heave the anchor and get under   "Then all I can say is, you are not like other
way. A groan of disappointment ran through the women."
ship; Captain Moreland expressed the General's   "I have been brought up by a man."
regret to the men, and divided ~200 upon the cap-   "If I was Arthur Wardlaw, it would be the last
stan; and the groan ended in a cheer.            word you should ever speak to me."
As for Helen's condition, that was at first mis-   "If you were Arthur Wardlaw, I should be on
taken for ill health.  She buried herself for two that dear island now."
whole days in her cabin; and from that place faint   " Well, suppose his love should be greater than
moans were heard now and then. The sailors called his spirit, and -"
her the sick lady.                                  "If he does not go back when he hears of my
Heaven knows what she went through in that hopeless love, I don't see how I can. I shall marry
forty-eight hours.                               him: and try with all my soul to love him. I'11
She came upon deck at last in a strange state of open every door in London to Robert Penfold; exmind and body: restless, strung up, absorbed. The cept one; my husband's.  And that door, while I
rare vigor she had acquired on the island came out live, he shall never enter. 0 my heart; my heart! "
now with a vengeance.  She walked the deck with  She burst out sobbing desperately: and her father
briskness, and a pertinacity that awakened admira- laid her head upon his bosom, and sighed deeply,
tion in the crew at first, but by and by superstitious and asked himself how all this would end.
awe. For, while the untiring feet went briskly to    Before they landed, her fortitude seemed to reand fro over leagues and leagues of plank every  turn; and of her own. accord she begged her father
day, the great hazel eyes were turned inwards, and to telegraph to the Wardlaws.
the mind, absorbed with one idea, skimmed the    "Would you- not like a day to compose yourself,
men and things about her listlessly.             and prepare for this trying interview? " said he.




FOUL PLAY.                                          107
"I should: but it is mere weakness. And I must you are excited more than is good for you. You
cure myself of weakness, or I shall never clear Rob- had better go to bed."
ert Penfold. And then, papa, I think of you. If   " Yes, papa," said Helen.
old Mr. Wardlaw heard you had been a day in   She took her candle, and as she passed young
town, you might suffer in his good opinion. We Wardlaw, she told him, in a low voice, she would
shall be in London at seven. Ask them at eight. be glad to speak to him alone to-morrow.
That will be one hour's respite. God help me,   "At what hour?" said he, eagerly.
and strengthen poor Arthur to bear the blow I   "When you like. At one."
bring him!"                                      And so she retired, leaving him in ecstasies. This
Long before eight o'clock that day, Arthur Ward- was the first downright assignation she had ever
law had passed from a state of sombre misery and made with him.
remorse to one of joy, exultation, and unmixed happiness. He no longer regretted his crime, nor the    They met at one o'clock; he radiant as the sun,
loss of the Proserpine: Helen was alive and well, and a rose in his button-hole; she sad and sombre,
and attributed not her danger, but only her preser- and with her very skin twitching at the thought of
vation, to the Wardlaws.                        the explanation she had to go through.
Wardlaw senior kept his carriage in town, and    He began with amorous commonplaces; she
precisely at eight o'clock they drove up to the door stopped him, gravely. "Arthur," said she, "you
of the hotel.                                   and I are alone now, and I have a confession to.
They followed the servant with bounding hearts, make. Unfortunately, I must cause you painand rushed into the room where the General and terrible pain. 0! my heart flinches at the wound
Helen stood ready to receive'them. Old Wardlaw  I am going to give you; but it is my fate either to
went to the General with both hands out, and so wound you or to deceive you."
the General met him, and between these two it was   During this preamble, Arthur sat amazed, rather
almost an embrace. Arthur ran to Helen with cries than alarmed. He did not interrupt her, though
of joy and admiration, and kissed her hands again she paused, and would gladly have been interrupted,
and again, and shed such genuine tears of joy over since an interruption is an assistance in perplexi
them that she trembled all over, and was obliged to ties.
sit down. He kneeled at her feet, and still impris-   "Arthur, we suffered great hardships on the boat,
oned one hand, and mumbled it, while she turned  and you would have lost me but for one person.
her head away and held her other hand before her He saved my life again and again; I saved his upon
face to hide its real expression, which was a mixture the island. My constancy was subject to trials -
of pity and repugnance. But as her face was hid- 0, such trials!  So great an example of every
den, and her eloquent body quivered, and her hand  manly virtue forever before my eyes! My gratiwas not withdrawn, it seemed a sweet picture of tude and my pity eternally pleading! England and
feminine affection to those who had not the key.    you seemed gone forever. Make excuses for me if
At last she was relieved from a most embarrass- you can. Arthur — I  I have formed an attaching situation by old Wardlaw; he cried out on this ment."
monopoly, and Helen instantly darted out of her   In making this strange avowal she hung her head
chair, and went to him, and put up her cheek to and blushed, and the tears ran down her cheeks.
him, which he kissed; and then she thanked him  But we suspect they ran for him, and not for
warmly for his courage in not despairing of her life, Arthur..
and his goodness in sending out a ship for her.   Arthur turned deadly sick at this tremendous
Now, the fact is, she could not feel grateful; but blow, dealt with so soft a hand. At last he gasped
she knew she ought to be grateful, and she was out, "If you marry him, you will bury me."
ashamed to show no feeling at all in return for so   " No, Arthur," said Helen, gently; " I could not
much; so she was eloquent, and the old gentleman marry him, even if you were to permit me. When
was naturally very much pleased at first; but he you know more, you will see that, of us three uncaught an expression of pain on Arthur's face, and happy ones, you are the least unhappy. But, since
thlen he stopped her. "My dear," said he, "you  this is so, am  I wrong to tell you the truth, and
ought to thank Arthur, not me; it is his love for leave you to decide whether our engagement ought
you which was the cause of my zeal. If you owe to continue?  Of course, what I have owned to you
me anything, pay it to him, for he deserves it best. releases you."
He nearly died for you, my sweet girl. No, no, you   "Releases me! but it does not unbind my heart
must n't hang your head for that, neither. What a from yours," cried Arthur, in despair.
fool I am to revive old sorrows! Here we are, the    Then his hysterical nature came out, and he was
happiest four in England."  Then he whispered to so near fainting away that Helen sprinkled water
her, " Be kind to poor Arthur, that is all I ask. His on his temples, and applied eau-de-cologne to his
very life depends on you."                      nostrils, and murmured, "Poor, poor Arthur! 0,
Helen obeyed this order, and went slowly back to was I born only to afflict those I esteem? "
Arthur; she sat, cold as ice, on the sofa beside him,   He saw her with the tears of pity in her eyes, and
and he made love to her. She scarcely heard what he caught her hand, and said, "You were always
he said; she was asking herself how she could end the soul of honor; keep faith with me, and I will
this intolerable interview, and escape her father's cure you of that unhappy attachment."
looks, who knew the real state of her heart.      "What! Do you hold me to my engagement after
At last she rose, and went and whispered to him: what I have told you?"
"My courage has failed me. Have pity on me, and    " Cruel Helen! you know I have not the power
get me away. It is the old man; he kills me."   to hold you."
General Rolleston took the hint. and acted with    "I am not cruel; and you have the power. But,
more tact than one would have given him credit 0, think!  For your own sake, not mine."
for. He got up and rang the bell for tea; then he   "I have thought; and this attachment to a man
said to Helen, "You don't drink tea now, and I see you cannot marry is a mere misfortune, - yours as




108                                      FOUL PLAY.
well as mine. Give me your esteem until your love    Helen, whose eyes had never left his face, and
comes.back, and let our engagement continue."    had followed his retiring figure, was frightened at
"It was for you to decide," said Helen, coldly, the weight of the blow she had struck; and strange
" and you have decided. There is one condition I thoughts and conjectures filled her mind. Hitherto,
must. ask you to submit to."                     she had felt sure Robert:Penfold was under a delu"I submit to it."                              sion as to Arthur Wardlaw,' and that his suspicions
" What, before you hear it?"                  were as unjust as they certainly were vague. Yet,
"Helen, you don't know what a year of misery I now, at the name of Robert:Penfold, Arthur turned
have endured, ever since the report came of your pale, and fled like a guilty thing. This was a coincideath. My happiness is cruelly dashed now, but dence that confirmed her good opinion of Robert
still it is great happiness by comparison. Make Penfold, and gave her ugly thoughts of Arthur.
your conditions. You are my queen, as well as my  Still, she was one very slow to condemn a friend,
love and my life."                                and too generous and candid to condemn on suspiHelen hesitated. It shocked her delicacy to lower cion; so she resolved as far as possible to suspend
the man she had consented to marry.               her unfavorable judgment of Arthur, until she should
"0 Helen," said Arthur, " anything but secrets have asked him why this great emotion, and heard
between you and me. Go on as you have begun, his reply.
and let me know the worst at once."                 Moreover, she was no female detective, but a pure
"Can you be very generous, Arthur? - generous creature bent on clearing innocence.  The object
to him who has caused you so much pain? "        of her life was, not to discover the faults of Arthur
"I'11 try," said Arthur, with a groan.        Wardlaw, or any other person, but to clear Robert
" I would not marry him, unless you gave me up: Penfold of a crime. Yet Arthur's strange behavior
for I am your betrothed, and you are true to me. was a great shock to her; for here, at the very outI could not marry him, even if I were not pledged  set, he had somehow made her feel she must hope
to you; but it so happens, I can do him one great for no assistance from him. She sighed at this check,
service without injustice to you; and this service I and asked herself to whom she should apply first for
have vowed to do before I marry. I shall keep that aid. Robert had told her to see his counsel, his
vow, as I keep faith with you. He has been driven  solicitor, his father, and Mr. Undercliff, an expert,
from society by a foul slander; that slander I am to  and to sift the whole matter.
sift and confute. It will be long and difficult; but   Not knowing exactly where to begin, she thought
I shall do it; and you could help me if you chose. she would, after all, wait a day or two to give ArBut that I will not be so cruel as to ask."      thur time to recover himself; and decide calmly
Arthur bit his lip with jealous rage; but he was whether he would co-operate with her or not.
naturally cunning, and his cunning showed him there   In this trying interval, she set up a diary, - for
was at present but one road to Helen's heart. He the first time in her life; for she was no egotist: and
quelled his torture as well as he could, and resolved she noted down what we have, just related, only in
to take that road. He reflected a moment, and then  a very condensed form, and wrote at the margin:
he said,  Mysterious.
"If you succeed in that, will you marry me next   Arthur never came near her for two whole days.
day?"                                            This looked grave.  On the third day she said to
I will, upon my honor."                        General Rolleston:" Then I will help you."                          "Papa, you will help me in the good cause, - will
"Arthur, think what you say. Women have you not?"
loved as unselfishly as this; but no man, that ever I   He replied that he would do what he could, but
heard of."                                       feared that would be little.
"No man ever did love a woman as I love you.   " Will you take me down to Elm-trees, this mornYes, I would rather help you, though with a sore ing?"
heart, than hold aloof from, you. What have we to    "With all my heart."
do together?"                                       He took her down to Elm-trees.  On the way
"Did I not tell you? -to clear his character of a she said: " Papa, you must let me get a word with
foul stigma, and restore him to England, and to the Mr. Wardlaw alone."
world which he is so' fitted to adorn."             "0, certainly. But, of course, you will not say a
" Yes, yes," said Arthur; " but who is it? Why  word to hurt his feelings."
do I ask, though?  He must be a stranger to me."   " 0 papa! "
"No stranger at all," said Helen; " but one who    "Excuse me: but, when a person of your age is
is almost as unjust to you as the world has been to  absorbed with one idea, she sometimes forgets that
him"; then, fixing her eyes full on him, she said, other people have any feelings at all."
"Arthur, it is your old friend and tutor, Robert   Helen kissed him meekly, and said that was too
Penfold."                                        true; and she would be upon her guard.
To General Rolleston's surprise, his daughter no
CHAP R  L.    sooner saw old Wardlaw than she went  or seemed.  to go -into high spirits, and was infinitely agreeARTHUR WAnDLAW  was thunderstruck; and, able.
for some time, sat stupidly staring at her. And to-  But at last, she got him all to herself, and then
this blank gaze succeeded a look of abject terror, she turned suddenly grave, and said:
which seemed to her strange, and beyond the occa-     Mr. Wardlaw, I want to ask you a question. It
sion. But this was not all; for, after glaring at her is something about Robert Penfold."
with scared eyes and ashy cheeks a moment or two,   Wardlaw shook his head. "That is a painful
he got up and literally staggered out of the room  subject, my dear. But what do you wish to know
without a word.                                  about that unhappy young man? "
He had been taken by surprise, and, for once, all   " Can you tell me the name of the counsel who
his arts had failed him.                         defended him at the trial?"




HELEN ROLLESTON AND ARTHUR WARDLAW.-SeepageIo8.








FOUL PLAY.                                           109
"No, indeed, I cannot."                          When she got home, she cried bitterly at her fem"But perhaps you can tell me where I could inine weakness and her incapacity; and she entered
learn that."                                     this pitiable failure in her journal with a severity
"His father is in our office still; no doubt he our male readers will hardly, we think, be disposed
could tell you."                                 to imitate; and she added, by way of comment:
Now, for obvious reasons, Helen did not like to " Is this how I carry out my poor Robert's precept:
go to the office; so she asked faintly if there was Be obstinate as a man; be supple as a woman? "
nobody else who could tell her.                     That night she consulted her father on this diffiI suppose the solicitor could."               culty, so slight to any but an inexperienced girl.
"But I don't know who was the solicitor," said  He told her there must be a report of the trial in the
Helen, with a sigh.                              newspapers, and the report would probably mention
" Hum!" said the merchant. "Try the bill- the counsel; she had better consult a file.
broker. I'll give you his address"; and he wrote    Then the thing was where to find a file. After
it down for her.                                 one or two failures, the British Museum was sugHelen did not like to be too importunate, and she gested.  She went thither, and could not get in to
could not bear to let Wardlaw  senior know  she read without certain formalities. While these were
loved anybody better than his son; and yet some being complied with, she was at a stand-still.
explanation was.necessary: so she told him, as calmly    That same evening came a line from  Arthur
as she could, that her father and herself were both  Wardlaw:well acquainted with Robert Penfold, and knew        DEAREST HELEN,-I hear from  Mr. Adams
many things to his credit.
many things to his credit,                       that you desire to know the name of the counsel who
I am glad to hear that," said Wardlaw;  and I defended Robert Penfold. It was Mr. Tollemache.
can believe it. He bore an excellent character He has chamber in inold.  It r.
He has chambers in Lincoln's Inn.
here, till, in an evil hour, a strong temptation came,            Ever devotedly yours,
~and he      t.fell."                                              "C  ARTHUR WARDLAW."
" What! You think he was guilty?
"I do. Arthur, I believe, has his doubts still.   Helen was touched with this letter, and put it
But he is naturally prejudiced in his friend's favor: away indorsed with a few words of gratitude and esand, besides, he was not at the trial; I was."   teem; and copied it into her diary, and remarked,
" Thank you, Mr. Wardlaw," said Helen, coldly; " This is one more warning not to judge hastily.
and, within five minutes, she was on her way home. Arthur's agitation was probably only great emotion
" Arthur prejudiced in Robert Penfold's favor! " at the sudden mention of one whose innocence he
That puzzled her extremely.                      believes, and whose sad fate distresses him."  She
She put down the whole conversation while her wrote back and thanked him sweetly, and in terms
memory was fresh.  She added this comment: that encouraged a visit. Next day she went to Mr.
"What darkness I am groping in!"                 Tollemache. A seedy man followed her at a disNext day she went to the bill-broker, and told  tance. Mr. Tollemache was not at his chambers, nor
him Mr. Wardlaw senior had referred her to him  expected till four o'clock. He was in court.  She
for certain information. Wardlaw's name was evi- left her card, and wrote on it in pencil that she
dently a passport. Mr. Adams said obsequiously, would call at four.
"Anything in the world I can do, madam."            She went at ten minutes after four. Mr. Tolle" It is about Mr. Robert Penfold. I wish to know  mache declined through his clerk to see her if she
the name of the counsel he had at his trial."    was a client; he could only be approached by her
"Robert Penfold! What, the forger?"            solicitor.  She felt inclined to go away and cry; but
" He was accused of that crime," said Helen, turn- this time she remembered she was to be obstinate
ing red.                                         as a man and supple as a woman.  She wrote on a
"Accused, madam! He was convicted. I ought card: "I am not a client of Mr. Tollemache, but a
to know; for it was my partner he tried the game lady deeply interested in obtaining some informaon. But I was too sharp for him. I had him ar- tion, which Mr. Tollemache can with perfect prorested before he had time to melt the notes; indicted priety give me. I trust to his courtesy as a gentlehim, and sent him across the herring pond, in spite man not to refuse me a short interview."
of his parson's coat, the rascal! "                " Admit the lady," said a sharp little voice.
Helen drew back, as if a serpent had stung her.  She was ushered in, and found Mr. Tollemache
It was you who had him transported!" cried standing before the fire.
she, turning her eyes on him with horror.           "Now, madam, what can I do for you?"
"Of course it was me," said Mr. Adams, firing    " Some years ago you defended Mr. Robert Penup; "and I did the country good service. I look fold; he was accused of forgery."
upon a forger as worse than a murderer. What is   "0, was he? I think I remember something
the matter?  You are ill."                       about it. A banker's clerk, - was n't he?"
The poor girl was half fainting at the sight of the   " 0 no, sir. A clergyman."
man who had destroyed her Robert, and owned it.    " A clergyman? I remember it perfectly. He
"No, no," she cried, hastily; " let me get away-   was convicted."
let me get away from here, - you cruel, cruel man!"   " Do you think he was guilty, sir?"
She tottered to the door, and got to her carriage,   "There was a strong case against him."
she scarcely knew how, without the information she   " I wish to sift that case."
went for.                                           " Indeed. And you want to go through the paThe bill-broker was no fool; he saw now how the pers."
land lay; he followed her down the stairs, and tried    " What papers, sir?"
to stammer excuses.                                 " The brief for the defence."
" Charing Cross Hotel," said she faintly, and hid    " Yes," said Helen, boldly, " would you trust me
her face against the cushion to avoid the sight of with that, sir. 0, if you knew how deeply I am in.
him.                                              terested!"  The tears were in her lovely eyes.




110                                     FOUL PLAY.'4 The brief has gone back to the solicitor, of   She sent the cabman in to inquire for Mr. Pencourse. I dare say he will let you read it upon a fold; a sharp girl of about thirteen came out to her,
proper representation."                           and told her Mr. Penfold was not at home.
" Thank you, sir. Will you tell me who is the so-   " Can you tell me when he svill be at home?"
licitor, and where he lives? "                     " No, miss. He have gone to Scotland. A tele"0, I can't remember who was the solicitor. graphum came from Wardlaws'last night, as he was to
That is the very first thing you ought to have ascer- go to Scotland first thing this morning, and he
tained. It was no use coming to me."              went at six o'clock."
"Forgive me for troubling you, sir," said Helen,   " 0, dear! How unfortunate!"
with a deep sigh.                                   " Who shall I say called, miss? "
" Not at all, madam; I am only sorry I cannot be    "Thank you, I will write. What time did the
of more service. But do let me advise you to em- telegram come?"
ploy your solicitor to  make these preliminary    "Between five and six last evening, miss."
inquiries. Happy to consult with him, and re-open    She returned to the hotel. Fate seemed to be
the matter, should he discover any fresh evidence." against her. Baffled at the very threshold! At the
He bowed her out, and sat down to a brief while she hotel she found Arthur Wardlaw's card, and a beau
was yet in sight.                                 tiffil bouquet.
She turned away heart-sick. The advice she had    She sat down directly, and wrote to him affectionreceived was good; but she shrank from baring her ately, and asked him in the postscript if he could
heart to her father's solicitor.                  send her a report of the trial.  She received a
She sat disconsolate awhile, then ordered another reply directly, that he had inquired in the office, for
cab, and drove to Wardlaw's office. It was late, and  one of the clerks had reports of it; but this clerk
Arthur was gone home; so, indeed, was everybody, was unfortunately out, and had locked up his desk.
except one young subordinate, who was putting up    Helen sighed. Her feet seemed to be clogged at
the shutters. "Sir," said she, "can you tell me every step in this inquiry.
where old Mr. Penfold lives?"                      Next morning however, a large envelope came
"Somewhere in the subbubs, miss."              for her, and a Mr. Hand wrote to her thus: 
"Yes, sir; but where?"                               M
" MADAMI,
"I think it is out Pimlico way."    
"Could you not give me the street?  I would bego   Having been requested by Mr. Arthur Wardlaw
" Con~you to accept a present if you could."',to send you my extracts of a trial, the Queen v.
is sharp ened the  young gentleman's wits; he Penfold, I herewith forward the same, and would
This sharpened the young gentleman's wits; he feel obliged by your returning them at your convenwent in, and groped here and there till he found the         
address, and gave it her: No. 3, Fairfield Cot- ience.
tages, Primrose Lane, Pimlico.  She gave him  aobedient se
Z!)  gave him  a                               LL JAMES ]AND."
sovereign, to his infinite surprise and delight, and
told the cabman to drive to the hotel.              Helen took the enclosed extracts to her bedroom,
The next moment the man, who had followed her, and there read them both over many times.
was chatting familiarly with the subordinate, and    In both these reports the case for the Crown was
helping him put up the shutters.                  neat, clear, cogent, straightforward, and supported
I say, Dick," said the youngster, " Penfolds is up  by evidence. The defence was chiefly argument of
in the market; a duchess was here just now, and counsel to prove the improbability of a clergyman
gave me a sov. to tell her where he lived. WYait a and a man of good character passing a forged note.
moment till I spit on it for luck."               One of the reports stated that Mr. Arthur'WardThe agent, however, did not-wait to witness that law, a son of the principal witness, had taken the
interesting ceremony. He went back to his han- accusation so much to heart that he was now dansom round the corner,'and drove at once to Arthur gerously ill at Oxford. The other report did not
Wardlaw's house with the information.             contain this, but, on the other hand, it stated that the
Helen noted down Michael Penfold's address in prisoner, after conviction, had endeavored to lay the
her diary, and would have gone to him that evening, blame on Mr. Arthur Wardlaw, but that the judge
but she was to dine tete-a-tfte with her father.  had stopped him, and said he could only aggravate
Next day she went down to 3 Fairfield Cottages at his offence by endeavoring to cast a slur upon the
half past four.  On the way her heart palpitated, for Wardlaws, who had both shown a manifest desire to
this was a very important interview. Here at least shield him, but were powerless for want of evishe might hope to find some clew, by following out dence.
which she would sooner or later establish Robert's   In both reports the summing up of the judge was
innocence.  But then came a fearful thought': moderate in expression, but leaned against the prisWhy had not his father done this already, if it was oner on every point, and corrected the sophistical
possible to do it?  His father must love him. His reasoning  of his counsel very  sensibly. Both
father must have heard his own story, and tested it reports said an expert was called for the prisoner,
in every way. Yet his father remained the servant whose ingenuity made the court smile, but did not
of a firm, the senior partner of which had told her counterbalance the evidence. Helen sat cold as ice
to her face Robert was guilty."                   with the extracts in her hand.
It was a strange and terrible enigma. Yet she   Not that her sublime faith was shaken, but that
clung to the belief that some new light would come poor Robert appeared to have been so calmly and
to her from Michael Penfold. Then came bashful fairly dealt with by everybody. Even Mr. Irennesfears. " How should she account to Mr. Penfold for sy, the counsel for the Crown, hod opened the case
the interest she took in his son, she who was affi- with humane regret, and confined himself to facts,
anced to Mr. Penfold's employer."  She arrived at and said nobody would be more pleased than he
3 Fairfield Cottages with her cheeks burning, and  would, if this evidence could be contradicted, or exrepeating to herself: "Now is the time to be sup- plained in a manner consistent with the prisoner'
ple as a woman but obstinate as a man."           innocence.




FOUL PLAY.                                           111
What a stone dhe had undertaken to roll - up tesy to send her by messenger the name and address
what a hill!                                     of the solicitor who had defended Robert Penfold,
What was to be her next step?  Go to the Mu- Lovejoy and James, Lincoln's Inn  Fields. Slhe
seum, which was now open to her, and read more called on them, and sent in her card. She was
reports?  Sle shrank from that.                  kept waiting a long time in the outer office, and felt
"The newspapers are all against him," said she; ashamed, and sick at heart, seated among young
"and I don't want to be told he is guilty, when I clerks. At last she was admitted, and told Mr.
know he is innocent."                             Lovejoy she and her father, General Rolleston, were
She now re-examined the extracts with a view to much interested in a late client of his, Mr. Robert
names, and found the only names mentioned were Penfold; and would he be kind enough to let her see
those of the counsel.  The expert's name was not the brief for the defence?
given in either. However, she knew  that from    "Are you a relation of the Penfolds, madam? "
Robert.  She resolved to speak to Mr. Hennessy    "No, sir," said Helen, blushing.
first, and try and get at the defendant's solicitor   "Humph!" said Lovejoy.
through him.                                        He touched a hand-bell. A clerk appeared.
She found him out by the Law Directory, and    "Ask Mr. Upton to come to me."
called at a few minutes past four.                  Mr. Upton, the managing clerk, came in due
Hennessy was almost the opposite to Tollemache. course, and Mr. Lovejoy asked him:He was about the size of a gentleman's wardrobe;   "Who instructed us in the Queen v. Penfold? "
and, like most enormous men, good-natured. He    "It was Mr. Michael Penfold, sir."
received her, saw with his practised eye that she   Mr. Lovejoy then told Helen that she must just
was no common person, and, after a slight hesitation  get a line from Mr. Michael Penfold, and then the
on professional grounds, heard her request. He papers should be submitted to her.
sent for his note-book, found the case in one mo-   "Yes; but, sir," said Helen, " Mr. Penfold is in
ment, remastered it in another, and told her the  Scotland."
solicitor for the Crown in that case was Freshfield.  " Well, but you can write to him."
" Now," said he, "you want to know who was the    "No; I don't know in what part of Scotland he
defendant's solicitor? Jenkins, a stamped envelope. is."
Write your name and address on that."               "Then you are not very intimate with him?"
While she was doing it, he scratched a line to Mr.   "No, sir; my acquaintance is with Mr. Robert
Freshfield, asking him to send the required informa- Penfold." 
tion to the enclosed address.                       "Have you a line from him?"
She thanked Mr. Hennessy with the tears in her   "I have no written authority from him; but will
eyes.                                             you not take my word that I act by his desire? "
"I dare not ask you whether you think him guil-   "My dear madam," said the lawyer, " we go by
ty," she said.                                    rule. There are certain forms to be observed in these
Hennessy shook his head with an air of good- things. I am sure your own good sense will tell you
natured rebuke.                                   it would be cruel and improper of me to submit
"You must not cross-examine counsel," said he: those papers without an order from Robert or Mi"but, if it will be any comfort to you, I'11 say this chael Penfold. Pray consider this as a delay, not a
much, there was just a shadow of doubt, and Tolle- refusal."
mache certainly let a chance slip. If I had defend-   " Yes, sir," said Helen; "but I meet with nothed your friend, I would have insisted on a postpone- ing but delays, and my heart is breaking under
ment of the trial until this Arthur Wardlaw" them."
(looking at his note-book) "could be examined,   The solicitor looked sorry, but would not act irregeither in court or otherwise, if he was really dying. ularly. She went home sighing, and condemned to
Is he dead, do you know? "                       wait the return of Michael Penfold.
" No."                                            The cab-door was opened for her by a seedy man
"I thought not. Sick witnesses are often at she fancied she had seen before.
death's door; but I never knew one pass the thresh-   Baffled thus, and crippled in every movement she
old. Ha! ha! The trial ought to have been post- made, however slight, in favor of Robert Penfold,
poned till he got well. If a judge refused me a she was seduced on the other hand into all the innopostponement in such a case, I would make him so cent pleasures of the town. Her adventure had
odious to the jury, that the prisoner would get a transpired somehow or other, and all General Rolverdict in spite of his teeth."                   leston's acquaintances hunted him  up; and both
" Then, you think he was badly defended?"     father and daughter were courted by people of ton
"No; that is saying a great deal more than I as lions. A shipwrecked beauty is not offered to
4ould justify. But there are counsel who trust too society every day. Even her own sex raved about
mJuch to their powers of reasoning, and underrate a her, and about the chain of beautiful pearls she had
chink in the evidence pro or con. Practice, and a picked up somehow on her desolate island. She alfew back-falls, cure them of that."               ways wore them; they linked her to that sacred
Mr. Hennessy uttered this general observation  purpose she seemed to be forgetting. Her father
with a certain change of tone, which showed he drew her with him into the vortex, hiding from her
thought he had said as much or more than his that he embarked in it principally for her sake, and
visitor had any right to expect from  him; and she she went down the current with him out of filial
therefore left him, repeating her thanks.  She went duty. Thus unfathomable difficulties thrust her back
home, pondering on every word he had said, and from her up-hill task: and the world, with soft but
entered it all in her journal, with the remark, powerful hand, drew her away to it. Arthur brought
"How  strange! the first doubt of Robert's guilt her a choice bouquet, or sent her a choice bouquet,
comes to me from the lawyer who caused him to be every evening, but otherwise did not intrude much
found guilty. He calls it the shadow of a doubt."   upon her; and though she was sure he would assist
That very evening, Mr. Freshfield had the cour- her, if she asked him, gratitude and delicacy forbade




112                                      FOUL PLAY.
her to call him again to her assistance. She pre-   "Ah! " said she, and flushed to the brow.
ferred to await the return of Michael Penfold. She    She lifted up her head and became conscious of a
had written to him at the office to tell him she had formidable old woman, who was standing behind the
news of his son, and begged him to give her instant counter at a side door, eying her with the severest
notice of his return from Scotland.               scrutiny. This old woman was tall and thin, and
Day after day passed, and he did not write to her. had a fine face, the lower part of which was feniShe began to chafe, and then to pine. Her father nine enough; but the forehead and brows were
saw, and came to a conclusion that her marriage alarming. Though her hair was silvery, the brows
with Arthur ought to be hastened. He resolved to were black and shaggy, and the forehead was dividact quietly but firmly towards that end.          ed by a vertical furrow into two temples. Under
those shaggy eyebrows shone dark-gray eyes, that
passed for black with most people; and those eyes
were fixed on Helen, reading her. Helen's lightCHAPTER  LVI.                     hazel eyes returned their gaze.  She blushed, and,
still looking, said, "Pray, madam, can I see Mr.
UTJ to this time Helen's sex, and its attributes, had Undercliff "
been a great disadvantage to her.  She had been    " My son is out for the day, miss," said the old
stopped on the very threshold of her inquiry by lady, civilly.
petty difficulties, which a man would have soon sur- " 0, dear! how unfortunate I am!" said Helen
mounted. But one fine day the scale gave a little with a sigh.
turn, and she made a little discovery, thanks to her    "He comes back to-night. You can see him tosex. Women, whether it is that they are born to morrow  at ten o'clock. A question of handwritbe followed, or are accustomed to be followed, seem  ing?"
to have eyes in the backs of their heads, and instinct   " Not exactly," said Helen; "but he was witness
to divine when somebody is after them. This inex- in favor of a person, I know was innocent."
perienced girl, who had missed seeing many things   "But he was found guilty," said the other with
our readers have seen, observed in merely passing cool keenness.
her window a seedy man in the courtyard of the ho-   " Yes, madam: and he has no friend to clear him
tel. Would you believe it, she instantly recognized  but me: a poor weak girl, baffled and defiated whichthe man who had opened her cab-door for her in  ever way I turn."  She began to cry.
Lincoln's Inn Fields.  Quick as lightning it passed    The old woman looked at her crying with that
through her. mind, " Why do I see the same figure steady composure which marks her sex on these ocin Lincoln's Inn Fields, and at Charing Cross."  At casions; and, when she was better, said quietly
various intervals she passed the window; and twice " You are not so weak as you think."  She added,
she saw the man again. She pondered, and deter- after a while, " If you wish to retain my son, you
mined to try a little experiment. Robert Penfold, had better leave a fee."
it may be remembered, had mentioned an expert as   " With pleasure, madam. What is the fee? "
one of the persons she was to see. She had looked    "One guinea.  Of course, there is a separate
for his name in the Directory; but experts were not charge for any work he may do for you."
down in the book. Another fatality! But at last   "That is but reasonable, madam."  And with this
she had found Undercliff, a lithographer, and she she paid the fee, and rose to go.
fancied that must be the same person.  She did not   "Shall I send any one home with you? "
hope to learn much from him; the newspapers said    "No, thank you," said Helen. " Why?"
his evidence had caused a smile. She had a dis-   "Because you are followed, and because you are
tinct object in visiting him, the nature of which will not used to be followed."
appear. She ordered a cab, and dressed herself.   " Why, how did you find that out?"
She came down, and entered the cab; but, instead of   " By your face, when a man passed the window, -
telling the man where to drive, she gave him a slip a shabby-genteel fellow; he was employed by some
of paper, containing the address of the lithographer. gentleman, no doubt. Such faces as yours will be
" Drive there," said she, a little mysteriously. The followved in London. If you feel uneasy, miss, I will
cabman winked, suspecting an intrigue, and went put on my bonnet, and see you home."
off to the place. There she learned Mr. Undercliff    Helen was surprised at this act of substantial
had moved to Frith Street, Soho, number not known. civility from  the Gorgon. " 0, thank you, Mrs.
She told the cabman to drive slowly up and down  Undercliff," said she. "No, I am *not the least
the street, but could not find the name. At last she afraid. Let them follow me, I am doing nothing
observed some lithographs in a window.  She let that I am ashamed of. Indeed, I am glad I am
the cabman go all down the street, then stopped  thought worth the trouble of following. It shows
him, and paid him off. She had no sooner done this me I am not so thoroughly contemptible.  Goodthan she walked very briskly back, and entered the by, and many thanks. Ten o'clock to-morrow."
little shop, and inquired for Mr. Undercliff. He was   And she walked home without looking once beout, and not expected back for an hour. "I will hind her till the Hotel was.in sight; then she stopped
wait," said Helen; and she sat down with her head  at a shop-window, and in a moment her swift eye
upon her white hand. A seedyman passed the win- embraced the whole landscape. But the shabbydow rapidly with a busy air; and, if his eye shot a genteel man was nowhere in sight
glance into the shop, it was so slight and careless
nobody could suspect he was a spy, and had done
his work effectually as he flashed by. In that moment the young lady, through the chink of her fin-               CHAPTER  LVII.
gers, which she had opened for that purpose, not
only recognized the man, but noticed his face, his   WHEN Joseph Wylie disappeared from the scene,
hat, his waistcoat, his dirty linen, and the pin in his Nancy Rouse made a discovery, which very often
neck-tie.                                         follows the dismissal of a suitor,- that she was con



FOUL PLAY.                                         113
siderably more attached to him than she had thought. ought to know my bark is worse than my bite by
The house became dull, the subordinate washer- this time. You can, though."
women languid: their taciturnity irritated and de-   "Me bite, ma'am? " said the old gentleman.
pressed Nancy by turns.                           "Bite? no: advertise, since you're so fond of it.
In the midst of this, Michael Penfold discovered  Come, you sit down and write one; and I'11 pay for
that Helen had come back safe. He came into her it, for that matter."
parlor, beaming with satisfaction, and told her of the   Michael sat down, and drew up the following:
good news. It gave her immense delight at first. " If Mr. Joseph Wylie will call on Michael Penfold,
But, when she had got used to her joy on that score, at No. 3, E. C., he will hear of something to his adshe began to think she had used Joe Wylie very ill. vantage."
Now that Helen was saved, she could no longer   "To his advantage?" said Nancy, doubtfully.
realize that Wylie was so very much to blame.   "Why not tell him the truth?"
She even persuaded herself that his disappearance    " Why, that is the truth, ma'am. Is n't to his adwas the act of a justly offended man: and, as he vantage to be reconciled to an honest, virtuous,
belonged to a class, of whose good sense she had a painstaking lady, that honors him with her affection
poor opinion, she was tormented with fears that he - and me with her friendship? Besides, it is the
would do some desperate act,    drown himself, or go common form; and there is nothing like sticking to
to sea; or, worst of all, marry some trollop. She form."
became very anxious and unhappy. Before this   "Mr. Penfold," said Nancy," any one can see you
misfortune she used to go about singing the first was born a gentleman; and I am a deal prouder to
verse of a song, and whistling the next, like any have you and your washing, than I should him as
ploughboy; an eccentric performance, but it made pays you your wages: pale eyes, - pale hair, - pale
the house gay. Now both song and whistle were eyebrows, -I wouldn't trust him  to mangle a
suspended! and, instead, it was all hard work and duster."
hard crying; turn about.                          " O Miss Rouse! Pray, don't disparage my good
She attached herself to Michael Penfold because master to me."
he had known trouble, and was sympathetic: and    "I can't help it, sir: thought is free, especially in
these two opened their hearts to one another, and this here compartment. Better speak one's mind
formed a friendship that was very honest and touch- than die o' the sulks. So shut your ear when my
ing.                                            music jars. But one every other day is enough: if
The scene of their conversation and mutual con- he won't come back for that, why he must go, and I
solation was Nancy's parlor; a little mite of a room  must look out for another; there's as good fish in the
she had partitioned off from her business. " For," sea as ever came out of it. Still, I'11 not deny I
said she, "a lady I'11 be, - after my work is done, have a great respect for poor Joe. O Mr. Penfold,
- if it is only in a cupboard."  The room had a what shall I do! Oh, oh, oh!"
remarkably large fireplace, which had originally    "There, there," said Michael, "I'll put this into
warmed the whole floor, but now was used as a the Times every day."
ventilator only. The gas would have been stifling   "You are a good soul, Mr. Penfold.  Oh - oh,
without it. As for lighting a fire in it, that was out oh "
of the question.                                   When he had finished the advertisement in a
On a certain evening, soon after Mr. Penfold's clerkly hand, and she had finished her cry, she felt
return from Scotland, the pair sat over their tea, comparatively comfortable, and favored Mr. Penfold
and the conversation fell on the missing sweetheart. with some reflections.
Michael had been thinking it over, and was full of   "Dear heart, Mr. Penfold, how you and I do
encouragement. He said: -                       take to one another, to be sure. But so we ought:
"Miss Rouse, something tells me that, if poor Mr. for we are honest folk, the pair, and has had a hard
Wylie could only know your heart, he would turn time. Don't it never strike you rather curious that
up again directly. What we ought to do is to send two thousand pounds was at the bottom of both our
sonmebody to look for him in all the sailors' haunts: troubles, yourn and mine? I might have married
some sharp fellow, - dear me, what a knocking they Joe and been a happy woman with him; but the
keep up next door! "                            devil puts in my head -  There you go again ham" 0, that is always the way when one wants a mering! Life ain't worth having next door to that
quiet chat. Drat the woman! I'11 have her in- lodging-house. Drat the woman, if she must peck,
dieted."                                        why don't she go in the churchyard and peck her
" No, you won't, Miss Rouse: she is a poor soul, own grave; which we shall never be quiet till she is
and has got no business except letting lodgings; there:.and these here gimcrack houses, they won't
she is not like you. But I do hope she will be so stand no more pecking at than a soap-sud. -Ay,
kind as not to come quite through the wall."    that's what hurts me, Mr. Penfold: the Lord had
"Dear heart!" said Nancy, "go on, and never given him and me health and strength and honesty;
mind her noise, which it is worse than a horgan- our betters had wed for love and wrought for money,
grinder."                                       as the saying is; but I must go again Nature, that
" Well, then, if you can't find him that way, I say, cried' Come couple'; and must bargain for two thou-Advertise."                                    sand pounds. So now I've lost the man, and not
" Me! " cried Nancy, turning very red. "Do I got the money, nor never shall: and, if I had, I'd
look like a woman as would advertise for a man? "  burn - Ah- ah- ah- ah -ah  "
"No, ma'am: quite the reverse. But what I   This tirade ended in stifled screams of terror,
mean is, you might put in something not too plain. caused by the sudden appearance of a human hand,
For instance: If J. W. will return to N. R., all in a place and in a manner well adapted to shake
will be forgotten and forgiven."               the stoutest laundress's nerves.
" He'd have the upper hand of me for life," said   This hand came through the brickwork of the
Nancy. "No, no; I won't advertise for the fool. chimney-place, and there remained a moment or
What right had he to run off at the first word? He two: then slowly retired, and, as it retired, some



114                                     FOUL PLAY.
thing was heard to fall upon the shavings and tinsel   They sat on each side of the notes; Penfold agiof the fireplace.                                tated and terrified, Nancy confounded and perNancy, by a feminine impulse, put her hands r xed.
before her face, to hide this supernatural hand; and,
when she found courage to withdraw them, and glare
at the place, there was no aperture whatever in the             CHAPTER  LVIII.
brick-work; and, consequently, the hand appeared
to have traversed the solid material, both coming    PUNCTUALLY at ten o'clock Helen returned to
and going.                                        Frith Street, and found Mr. Undercliff behind a
"O Mr. Penfolds," cried Nancy; "I'm a sinful sort of counter, employed in tracing; a workman
woman. This comes of talking of the devil arter was seated at some little distance from  him; both
sunset"; and she sat trembling so that the very  bent on their work.
floor shook.                                        " Mr. Undercliff? " said Helen.
Mr. Penfold's nerves were not strong. He and    He rose, and turned towards her politely, -a pale,
Nancy both huddled together for mutual protection, fair man, with a keen gray eye and a pleasant
and their faces had not a vestige of color left in voice and manner: " I am Edward Undercliff. You
them.                                             come by appointment?"
However, after a period of general paralysis, Pen-   "Yes, sir."
fold whispered: -                                   "A question of handwriting?"
"I heard it drop something on the shavings."      "Not entirely, sir. Do you remember giving wit"Then we shall be all in a blaze o' brimstone," ness in favor of a young clergyman, Mr. Robert
shrieked Nancy, wringing her hands.               Penfold, who was accused of forgery?"
And they waited to see.                           "I remember the circumstance, but not the
Then, as no conflagration took place, Mr. Penfold details."
got up, and said he must go and see what it was the    "0, dear! that is unfortunate," said Helen, with a
hand had dropped.                                 deep sigh; she often had to sigh now.
Nancy, in whom curiosity was beginning to battle    "Why, you see," said the Expert, "I am called
with terror, let him go to the fireplace without a on such a multitude of trials. However, I take
word of objection, and then cried out,-           notes of the principal ones. What year was. it
"Don't go anigh it, sir; it will do you a mischief; in?"
don't touch it whatever.  Take the tongs."          " In 1864."
He took the tongs, and presently flung into the    Mr. Undercliff went to a set of drawers arranged
middle of the room a small oilskin packet. This, chronologically, and found his notes directly. "It
as it lay on the ground, they both eyed like two was a forged bill, madam, indorsed and presented
deer glowering at a piece of red cloth, and ready to by Penfold. I was called to prove that the bill was
leap back over the moon if it should show signs of not in the handwriting of Penfold. Here is my facbiting. But oilskin is not preternatural, nor has simile of the Robert Penfold indorsed upon the bill
tradition connected it, however remotely, with the by the prisoner."  He handed it her, and she examEnemy of man.                                     ined it with interest. " And here are fac-similes of
Consequently, a great revulsion took place in  genuine writing by John Wardlaw; and here is a
Nancy, and she passed from fear to indignation at copy of the forged note."
having been frightened so.                          He laid it on the table before her. She started,
She ran to the fireplace,-and, putting her head  and eyed it with horror. It was a long time before
up the chimney, screamed, " Heave your dirt where she could speak. At length she said, "And that
you heave your love, ye Brazen! "                wicked piece of paper destroyed Robert Penfold."
While she was objurgating her neighbor, whom,   "Not that piece of paper, but the original; this is a
with feminine justice, she held responsible for every fac-simile, so far as the writing is concerned. It was
act done in her house, Penfold undid the packet, and  not necessary in this case to imitate paper and color.
Nancy returned to her seat, with her mind more at Stay, here is a sheet on which I have lithographed
ease, to examine the contents.                   the three styles: that will enable you to follow my
"Bank-notes!" cried Penfold.                   comparison. But perhaps that would not interest
-" Ay," said Nancy, incredulously, " they do look  you."  Helen had the tact to say it would. Thus
like bank-notes, and feel like'em; but they ain't encouraged, the Expert showed her that Robert
w-ate like them. Bank-notes ain't wrote black like  Penfold's writing had nothing in common with the
that ir the left-hand corner."                   forged note. He added, "I also detected in the
Penfold explained.                             forged note habits which were entirely absent from
"Ten-pound notes are not, nor fives; but large the true writing of John Wardlaw. You will underiotes are. These are all fifties."               stand there were plenty of undoubted specimens
" Fifty whats?"                               in Court to go by."
"Fifty pounds."                                   "Then, O  sir," said Helen, " Robert Penfold
"What, each of them  bits of paper worth fifty was not guilty."
pounds?"                                           "Certainly not of writing the forged note.  I
"Yes. Let us count them; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, swore that, and I'll swear it again. But when it
9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,- 0 Lord!-  came to questions whether he had passed the note,
20. Why, it is two thousand pounds-just two and whether he knew it was forged, that was quite
thousand pounds. It is the very sum that ruined  out of my province."
me; it did not belong to me, and it's being in the    " I can understand that," said Helen; " but you
house ruined my poor Robert.  And this does heard the trial; you are very intelligent, sir, you
not belong to you. Lock all the doors, bar all must have formed some opinion as to whether he
the windows, and burn them  before the police was guilty or not."
come."                                              The Expert shook his head. "Madam," said he,
"Wait a bit," said Nancy, " wait a bit."       "mine is a profound and difficult art, which aims at




FOUL PLAY.                                           115
certainties. Very early in my career I found that rival art of reading faces, but that he doubted the
to master that art I must be single-minded, and not existence of the art.
allow my ear to influence my eye. By purposely    Mrs. Undercliff took the profile, and, coloring
avoiding all reasoning from external circumstan- slightly, said to Miss Rolleston, " It is living faces I
ces, I have distanced my competitors in expertise; profess to read: there I can see the movement of
but I sometimes think I have rather weakened my the eyes and other things that.my son here has
powers of conjecture through disuse. Now, if my not studied." Then she scrutinized the profile. "'It
mother had been at the trial, she would give you an is a very handsome face," said she.
opinion of some value on the outside facts. But   The Expert chuckled.  " There's a woman's
that is not my line. If you feel sure he was inno- judgment," said he. " Handsome! the fellow I got
cent, and want me to aid you, you must get hold of transported for life down at Exeter was an Adonis,
the handwriting of every person who was likely to and forged wills, bonds, and powers of attorney by
know old Wardlaw's handwriting, and so might the dozen."
have imitated it; all the clerks in his office, to begin,' There's something noble about this face," said
with. Nail the forger; that is your only chance."   Mrs. Undercliff, ignoring the interruption,-" and
" What, sir!" said Helen, with surprise, " if you yet something simple. I think him more likely to
saw the true handwriting of the person who wrote be a cat's-paw than a felon." Having delivered this
that forged note, should you recognize it?'      with a certain modest dignity, she laid the profile
"Why not?  It is difficult; but I have done it on the counter before Helen.
hundreds of times."                                 The Expert had a wonderful eye and hand; it
"Oh! Is forgery so common?"                    was a good thing for society he had elected to be
"No: but I am in all the cases; and, besides, I gamekeeper instead of poacher, detector of forgery
do a great deal in a business that requires the same instead of forger. No photograph was ever truer
kind of expertise,    anonymous letters. I detect than this outline. Helen started, and bowed her
assassins of that kind by the score. A gentleman  head over the sketch to conceal the strong and vaor lady, down in the country, gets a poisoned arrow  rious emotions that swelled at sight of the portrait
by the post, or perhaps a shower of them. They  of her martyr. In vain; if the eyes were hidden
are always in disguised handwriting; those who the tender bosom heaved, the graceful body quivreceive them send them up to me, with writings of ered, and the tears fell fast upon the counter.
all the people they suspect. The disguise is gen-   Mrs. Undercliff was womanly enough, though
erally more or less superficial; five or six unconscious she looked like the late Lord Thurlow in petticoats;
habits remain below it, and often these undisguised  and she instantly aided the girl to hide her beating
habits are the true characteristics of the writer. heart from the man, though that man was her son.
And I'11 tell. you something curious, madam; it is She distracted his attention. " Give me all your
quite common for all the suspected people to be notes, Ned," said she, "and let me see whether I
innocent; and then I write back,'Send me the can make something of them; but first perhaps
handwriting of the people you suspect the least'; Miss Rolleston will empty her bag on the counter.
and amongst them I often find the assassin."      Go back to your work a moment, for I know you
" 0 Mr. Undercliff," said Helen, "you make my have enough to do."
heart sick."                                        The Expert was secretly glad to be released from
"0, it is a vile world, for that matter," said the a case in which there were no materials; and so
Expert;- "and the country no better than the town, Helen escaped unobserved except by one of her
for all it looks so sweet with its green fields and  own sex.  She saw directly what Mrs. Undercliff
purling rills. There they sow anonymous letters had done for her, and lifted her sweet eyes, thick
like barley: the very girls wrote anonymous letters with tears, to thank her. Mrs. Undercliff smiled
that make my hair stand on end. Yes, it is a vile maternally, and next these two ladies did a stroke
world."                                           of business in the twinkling of an eye, and without
"Don't you believe him, miss," said Mrs. Under- a word spoken; whereof anon. Helen being once
cliff, appearing suddenly. Then, turning to her son, more composed, Mrs. Undercliff took up the prayer" How can you measure the world?  You live in a book, and asked her with some curiosity what could
little one of your own, - a world of forgers and anony- be in that.
mous writers; you see so many of these, you fancy    "0," said Helen, "only some writing of Mr.
they are common as dirt; but they are only common Penfold.  Mr. Undercliff does not want to see
to you because they all come your way."           that; he is already sure Robert Penfold never
0, that is it, is it? " said the Expert, doubtfully. wrote that wicked thing."
"Yes, that is it, Ned," said the old lady, quietly;   " Yes, but I should like to see some more of his
then after a pause she said, " I want you to do your handwriting, for all that," said the Expert, looking
very best for this young lady."                   suddenly up.
" I always do," said the Artist. " But how can I   " But it is only in pencil."
judge without materials?  And she brings me none."   "Never mind; you need not fear I shall alter my
Mrs. Undercliff turned to Helen, and said: " Have opinion."
you brought him nothing at all, no handwritings -   Helen colored high.  "You are right; and I
in your bag?"                                    should disgrace my good cause by withholding anyThen Helen sighed again. "I have no hand- thing from your inspection. There, sir."  And she
writing except Mr. Penfold's; but I have two printed  opened the prayer-book, and laid Cooper's dying
reports of the trial."                            words before the Expert; he glanced over them
"Printed reports," said the Expert, " they are no with an eye like a bird, and compared them with
use to me. Ah! here is an outline I took of the  his notes.
prisoner during the trial. You can read faces:   "Yes," said he, "that is Robert Penfold's writtell the lady whether he was guilty or not," and he ing; and I say again that hand never wrote the
handed the profile to his mother witl an ironical forged note."
look; not that he doubted her proficiency in the    "Let me see that," said Mrs. Undercliff.




116                                     FOUL PLAY.
O, yes," said Helen, rather irresolutely; "'but she must have taken a great fancy to you, for as a
you look into the things as well as the writing, and rule she never does us the honor to meddle."
I promised papa-" -                                 " Have you taken a fancy to me, madam?" said
"Can't you trust me?" said Mrs. Undercliff, Helen, modestly and tenderly, yet half archly.
turning suddenly cold and a little suspicious.     " That I have," said the other. " Those eyes of
" 0, yes, madam; and indeed I have nothing to yours went straight into my heart last night, or I
reproach myself with. But my papa is anxious. should not be here this morning. That is partly
However, I am sure you are my friend; and all I ask owing to my own eyes being so dark and yours the
is that you will never mention to a soul what you loveliest hazel. It is twenty years since eyes like
read there."                                     yours have gazed into mine.  Diamonds are not
"I promise that," said the elder lady, and in- half so rare, nor a tenth part so lovely, to my fanstantly bent her black brows upon the writing. cy." She turned her head away, melted probably by
And, as she did so, Helen observed her countenance some tender reminiscence.  It was only for a morise, as a f:ce is very apt to do when its owner an- ment. She turned round again, and said quietly,
ters on congenial work.                          " Yes, Ned, I should like to try what I can do; I
"You would have made a great mistake to keep think you said these are reports of his trial. I'll bethis from me," said she, gravely. Then she pon- gin by reading them."
dered profoundly; then she turned to her son and    Sie read them both very slowly and carefully, and
said, "Why, Edward, this is the very young lady her face grew'like a iudge's, and Helen watched
who was wrecked in the Pacific Ocean, and cast on each shade of expression with deep anxiety.
a desolate island. We have all read about you in    That powerful countenance showed alacrity and
the papers, miss; and I felt for you, for one, but, hope at first: then doubt, and difficulty, and at last.
of course, not as I do now I have seen you. You dejection. Helen's heart turned cold, and for the
must let me go into this with you."              first time she began to despair.  For -now a shrewd
" Ah, if you would! " said Helen.  " 0 madam, I person, with a plain prejudice in her favor and Robhave gone through tortures already for want of ert's, was staggered by the simple facts of the
somebody of my own sex to keep me in counte- trial.
nance! 0, if you could have seen how I have been
received, with what cold looks, and sometimes with
impertinent stares, before I could even penetrate
into the region of those cold looks and petty for-               CHAPTER  LIX.
malities! Any miserable straw was excuse enough
to stop me on my errand of justice and mercy and    MRs. UNDERCLIFF, having read the reports,
gratitude."                                      avoided Helen's eye (another bad sign). She turned
" Gratitude?"                                 to Mr. Undercliff, and, probably because the perusal of
"0, yes, madam. The papers have only told you the reports had disappointed her, said, almost angrily,
that I was shipwrecked and cast away. They don't " Edward, what did you say to make them laugh at
tell you that Robert Penfold warned me the ship that trial? Both these papers say that' an Expert
was to be destroyed, and I disbelieved and affronted  was called, whose ingenuity made the court smile,
him in return, and he never reproached me, not but did not counterbalance the evidence.'"
even by a look.  And we were in a boat with the    " Why, that is a falsehood on the face of it," said
sailors, all starved- not hungry: starved- and the Expert, turning red. "I was called simply and
mad with thirst, and yet in his own agony he hid solely to prove Penfold did not write the forged
something for me to eat. All his thought, all his note; I proved it to the judge's satisfaction, and he
fear, was for me.  Such things are not done in directed the prisoner to be acquitted on that count.
those great extremities of the poor, vulgar, suffer- Miss Rolleston, the lawyers often, do sneer at exing body, except by angels, in whom the soul rises perts; but then four experts out of five are rank
above the flesh. And he is such an angel. I have impostors, — a set of theorists, who go by arbitrary
had a knife lifted over me to kill me, madam, -   rules framed in the closet, and not by large and layes:and again it was he who saved me. I owe my  borious comparison with indisputable documents.
life to him on the island over and over again; and These charlatans are not aware that five thousand
in return I have promised to give him  back his cramped and tremulous, but genuine, signatures are
honor, that he values far more than life, as all such written every day by honest men, and so they denoble spirits do. Ah, my poor martyr, how feebly nounce every cramped or tremulous writing as a forI plead your cause! 0, help me! pray, pray, help gery. The varieties in a man's writing, caused by his
me!  All is so dark, and I so weak, so weak." writing with his glove on or off, with a quill or a bad
Again the loving eyes streamed; and this time not steel pen, drunk or sober, calm or agitated, in full dayan eye was dry in the little shop.               light or dusk, etc. etc., all this is a dead letter to them,
The Expert flung down his tracing with some- and they have a bias towards suspicion of forgery;
thing between a groan and a curse.  " Who can do and a banker's clerk, with his mere general impresthat drudgery," he cried, " whilst the poor young sion, is better evidence than they are. But I am an
lady -  Mother, you take it in hand; find me some artist of a very different stamp. I never reason a
material, though it is no bigger than a fly's foot, priori.  I compare; and I have no bias. I never
give me but a clew no thicker than a spider's web, will have. The judges know this, and the pains
and I'11 follow it through the whole labyrinth. But and labor I take to be right, and they treat me with
you see I'm impotent; there's no basis for me. It courtesy. At Penfold's trial the matter was easy';
is a case for you. It wants a shrewd sagacious body I showed the court he had not written the note, and
that can read facts and faces; and - I won't jest my evidence crushed the indictment so far. How
any more, Miss Rolleston, for you are deeply in ear- could they have laughed at my testimony?  Why,
nest.- Well, then, she really is a woman with a they acted upon it. Those reports are not worth a
wonderful insight into facts and faces. She has got straw. What journals were they cut out of? "
a way of reading them as I read handwriting; and    " I don't know," said Helen.




FOUL PLAY.                                           117
"Is there nothing  on the  upper margin to magnifier in his eye, and looked through them with
show?"                                           that. Then he took two pieces of card, wrote
"No."                                          on them Re Penfold, and looked about for his other
What, not on either of them?"                materials, to put them all neatly together. Lo! the
"No."                                          profile of Robert Penfold was gone.
"Show them  me, please. This is a respectable    "Now that is too bad," said he. "So much for
paper too: the Daily News."                      her dovelike eyes, that you admired so. Miss Inno"0 Mr. Undercliff, how can you know that? "    cence has stolen that profile."
" I don't know it; but I think so, because the type    " Stolen! she bought it - of me."
and paper are like that journal; the conductors are    "Why, she never said a word."
fond of clean type; so am I. Why, here is another   "No; but she looked a look. She asked me,
misstatement; the judge never said he aggravated  with those sweet imploring eyes, might she have it;
his offence by trying to cast a slur upon the Ward- and I looked yes: then she glanced towards you,
laws. I'11 swear the judge never said a syllable of and put down a note. Here it is."
the kind. What he said was' You can speak in ar-   "Why, you beat the telegraph, you two! Ten
rest of judgment on grounds of law, but you must not pounds for that thing! I must make it up to her
impugn the verdict with facts.'  That was the only somehow."
time he spoke to the prisoner at all. These reports   "I wish you could. Poor girl, she is a lady every
are not worth a button."                         inch. But she is in love with that Penfold. I'm
Helen lifted up her hands and eyes in despair. afraid it is a hopeless case."
" Where shall I find the truth? " said she. " The    " I have seen a plainer. But hopeless it is not.
world is a quicksand."                           However, you work  your way, and I'll work
" My dear young lady," said Mrs. Undercliff, mine."
" don't you be discouraged: there must be a correct   "But you can't; you have no materials."
report in some paper or other."                    "No; but I have found a door that may lead to
"I am not so sure of that," said Undercliff' "I materials."
believe the reporters trundle off to the nearest pub-   Having delivered himself thus mysteriously, he
lic-house together, and light their pipes with their shut himself up in obstinate silence until Helen
notes, and settle something or other by memory. Rolleston called again, two days afterwards. She
Indeed, they have reached a pitch of inaccuracy  brought a bag full of manuscript this time: to wit,
that could not be attained without co-operation. copies in her own handwriting of eight reports, the
Independent liars contradict each other' but these  Queen v. Penfold.  She was in good spirits, and
chaps follow one another in falsehood, like geese told Mrs. Undercliff that all the reports were sometoddling after one another across a common."     what more favorable than the two she had left;
" Come, come," said Mrs. Undercliff,' if you can't and she was beginning to tell Mr. Undercliff he
help us, don't hurt us. We don't want a man to was quite right in his recollection, when he intertalk yellow jaundice to us. Miss Rolleston must em- rupted her, and said, " All that is secondary now.
ploy somebody to read all the other papers and  Have you any objection to answer me a question? "
compare the reports with these."                    She colored; but said, ", no. Ask me any" I'11 employ nobody but myself," said Helen. thing you like "; then she blushed deeper.
"'11 go to the British Museum directly.           " fow did you become possessed of those two
" The Museum!" cried Mr. Undercliff, looking reports you left with me the other day?"
up with surprise. "Why, they will be half an    At this question, so different from  what she
hour groping for a copy of the Times. No, no; go to feared, Helen cleared up and smiled, and said,
Peele's Coffee House."  He directed her where to  "From  a Mr. Hand, a clerk in Mr. Wardlaw's
find that place; and she was so eager to do some- office; they were sent me at my request."
thing for Robert, however small, that she took up    The Expert seemed pleased at this reply; his
her bag directly, and put up the prayer-book, and  brow cleared, and he said, "Then I don't mind tellwas going to ask for her extracts, when she observed ing you that those two reports will bring Penfold's
Mr. Undercliff was scrutinizing them with great in- case within my province.  To speak plainly, Miss
terest, so she thought she would leave them  with Rolleston, your newspaper extracts - ARE FORhim; but, on looking more closely, she found that he GERIES."
was examining, not the reports, but the advertisements and miscellanea on the reverse side.
She waited out of politeness, but she colored and             CHAPTER  LX.
bit her lip. She could not help feeling hurt and indignant. " Any trash is more interesting to people    "FORGERIES!" cried Helen, with innocent hor.
than poor Robert's case," she thought. And at last ror.
she said bitterly,                                  " RANK  FORGERIES," repeated  the  Expert,
"Those advertisements seem to interest you, sir; coolly.
shall I leave them. with you?"                     "Forgeries!"  cried  Helen, "Why, how  can
"If you please," said the Expert, over whose head, printed things be that?"
bent in dogged scrutiny, this small thunderbolt of   "That is what I should like to know," said the
feminine wrath passed unconscious.                old lady.
Helen drove away to Peele's Coffee House..       "Why, what else can you call them? " said the
Mrs. Undercliffpondered over the facts that had  Expert. "They are got up to look like extracts
been elicited in this conversation; the Expert re- from newspapers. But they were printed as they
mained absorbed in the advertisements at the back  are, and were never in any journal. Shall I tell
of Helen's reports.                               you how I found that out?
When he had examined every one of them mi-   "If you please, sir," said Helen.
nutely, he held the entire extracts up to the light,   "Well, then, I looked at the reverse side, and I
and looked through them; then he stuck'a double found seven misprints in one slip, and five in the




118                                     FOUL PLAY.
other. That was a great number to creep into    "And leave the prayer-book with me," said Mrs.
printed slips of that length. The trial part did not Undercliff.
show a single erratum.' Hullo!' said I to myself;   Helen complied with these instructions, and in' why, one side is printed more carefully than the due course received a civil line from Mr. Hand, to
other.' And that was not natural. The printing  say that the extracts had been sent him from the
of advertisements is looked after quite as sharply as country by one of his fellow-clerks, and he had
any other part in a journal. Why, the advertisers locked them up, lest Mr. Michael Penfold, who was
themselves cry out if they are misprinted! "     much respected in the office, should see them. He
"0, how shrewd! " cried Helen.                could not say where they came from; perhaps from
"Child's play," said the Expert. "Well, from  some provincial paper.  If of any value to Miss,hat blot I went on. I looked at the edges, and  Rolleston, she was quite at liberty to keep them.
they were cut too clean. A gentleman with a pair He added there was a coffee-house in the city where
of scissors can't cut slips out of a paper like this. she could read all the London papers of that date.
They were cut in the printer's office. Lastly, on  This letter, which contained a great many more
holding them to the light, I found they had not words than the other, was submitted to Undercliff.
been machined upon the plan now adopted by all It puzzled him so that he set to work, and dissected
newspapers; but worked by hand. In one word every curve the writer's pen had made; but he
- forgeries! "                                   could come to no positive conclusion, and he refused
"Oh!" said Helen, "to think I should have to utter his conjectures.
handled forgeries, and shown them to you for real.   "We are in a deep water," said he.
Ah! I'm so glad; for now I have committed the    Finally, he told his mother he was at a standsame crime as Robert Penfold; I have uttered a still for the present.
forged document. Take me up, and have me put   "But I am  not," said Mrs. Undercliff.  She
in prison, for I am as guilty as ever he was."  Her added, after a while, " I think there's felony at the
face shone with rapture at sharing Robert's guilt.   bottom of this."
The Expert was a little puzzled by sentiments so   "Smells like it to me," said the Expert.
high-flown and unpractical.                        " Then I want you to do something very clever' I think," said he, " you are hardly aware what for me."
a valuable discovery this may prove to you. How-   "What is that?"
ever, the next step is to get me a specimen of the    "I want you to forge something."
person's handwriting who furnished you with these.   "Come! I say."
The chances are, he is the writer of the forged note.  "   Quite innocent, I assure you."
Helen uttered an exclamation that was almost a    "Well, but it is a bad habit to commence.
scream. The inference took her quite by surprise.   "All depends on the object. This is to take in a
She looked at Mrs. Undercliff.                   forger, that is all."
" He is right, I think," said the old lady.      The Expert's eyes sparkled. He had always been
" Right or wrong," said the Expert, "the next sadly discontented with the efforts of forgers, and
step in the inquiry is to do what I said. But that thought he could do better.
demands great caution. You must write a short   "I'11 do it," said he, gayly.
civil note to Mr. Hand, and just ask him some
question. Let me see: ask him what newspapers
his extracts are from, and whether he has got any
more. He will not tell you the truth; but no mat-                CHAPTER LXI.
ter, we shall get hold of his handwriting."
" But, sir," said Helen, "there is no need for that.   GENERAL ROLLESTON and his daughter sat at
Mr. Hand sent me a note along with the extracts."  breakfast in the  hotel.  General Rolleston was
"The deuce he did. All the better. Any words reading the Timnes, and his eye lighted on something
in it that are in the forged note? Is Penfold in it, that made him start. He looked towards Helen,
or Wardlaw?"                                    and his first impulse was to communicate it to her:
Helen reflected a moment, and then said she but, on second thoughts, he preferred to put: a
thought both those names were in it.             question to her first.
" Fetch me that note," said Undercliff, and his   "You have never told the Wardlaws what those
eyes sparkled. He was on a hot scent now.        sailors said?"
"And let me study the genuine reports, and    "No, papa. I still think they ought to have been
compare what they say with the forged ones," said told; but you know you positively forbade me."
Mrs. Undercliff.                                   " Of course I did. Why afflict the old gentleman
" 0, what friends I have found at last! " cried with such a tale?  A  couple of common sailors!
Helen.                                           who chose to fancy the ship was destroyed."
She thanked them  both warmly, and hurried    "Who are better judges of such a thing than
home, for it was getting late.                   sailors?"
Next day she brought Hand's letter to Mr. Un- " Well, my child, if you think so, I can't help it.
dercliff, and devoured his countenance while he in- All I say is, spare the old gentleman such a report.
spected it keenly, and compared it with the forged  As for Arthur, to tell you the truth, I have mennote.                                            tioned the matter to him."
The comparison was long and careful, but unsat-   "0 papa! Then why forbid me to tell him?
isfactory. Mr. Undercliff could not conscientiously  What did he say?"
say whether Hand had written the forged note or   "He was very much distressed.'Destroy the
not. There were pros and cons.                   ship my Helen was in,' said he:' if I thought Wylie
"We are in deeper water than I thought," said had done that I'd kill him  with my own hand,
he.  "The comparison must be enlarged.  You though I was hanged for it next minute.' I never
must write as I suggested, and get another note out saw the young fellow fire up so before. But when
of Mr. Hand."                                    he came to think calmly over it a little while, he




FOUL PLAY.                                           119
said:'I hope this slander will never reach my of a servant, who had been scolded by Nancy for
father's ears; it would grieve him deeply. I only not extracting that information on Helen's last
laugh at it.'"                                   visit.
"Laugh at it! and yet talk of killing?"         "Of course, I must receive her," said Michael,
0, people say they laugh at a thing when they half consulting the mite; it belonged to a sex which
are very angry all the time. However, as you are promptly assumes the control of such gentle creaa good girl, and mind what you are told, I'll read tures as he was.
you an advertisement that will make you stare.   "Is Miss Rouse in the way?" said he.
Here is Joseph Wylie, who, you say, wrecked the    The mite laughed, and said:Proserpine, actually invited by Michael Penfold to    "She is only gone down the street. I'11 send her
call on him, and hear of something to his advan- in to take care on you."
tage"                                               With this she went off, and in due course led
"Dear me!" said Helen, " how strange! Surely Helen up the stairs. She ran in, and whispered in
Mr. Penfold cannot know  the character of that Michael's ear, -
man. Stop a minute! Advertise for him?  Then    " It is Miss Helen Rolleston."
nobody knows where he lives?  There, papa: you    Thus they announced a lady at No. 3.
see he is afraid to go near Arthur Wardlaw; he   Michael stared with wonder at so great a personknows he destroyed the ship. What a mystery it age, visiting him; and the next moment Helen
all is! And so Mr. Penfold is at home, after all; glided into the room, blushing a little, and even
and not to send me a single line.  I never met panting inaudibly, but all on her guard.  She saw
with so much unkindness and discourtesy in all my  before her a rather stately figure, and a face truly
life."                                           venerable, benignant, and beautiful, though defi"Ah, my dear," said the General, "you never cient in strength.  She cast a devouring glance on
defied the world before, as you are doing now."   him as she courtesied to him; and it instantly flashed
Helen sighed; but, presently  recovering  her across her, " But for you there would be no Robert
spirit, said she had done without the world on her Penfold."  There was an unconscious tenderness in
dear island, and she would not be its slave now.  her voice as she spoke to him, for she had to open
As she was always as good as her word, she the interview.
declined an invitation to play the lion, and, dressing    "Mr. Penfold, I fear my visit may surprise you,
herself in plain merino, went down that very even- as you did not write to me. But, when you hear
ing to Michael Penfold's cottage.                 what I am come about, I think you will not be disWe run thither a little before her, to relate briefly pleased with me for coming."
what had taken place there.                         "Displeased, madam! I am highly honored by
Nancy Rouse, as may well be imagined, was not your visit, - a lady who, I understand, is to be marthe woman to burn two thousand pounds.  She ried to my worthy employer, Mr. Arthur. Pray be
locked the notes up; and after that night became seated, madam."
very reserved on that head, so much so that, at last,   "Thank you, sir."
Mr. Penfold saw it was an interdicted topic, and
dropped it in much wonder.                          Helen began in a low, thrilling voice, to which,
When Nancy came to think of it in daylight, she however, she gave firmness by a resolute effort of
could not help suspecting Wylie had some hand in her will.
it; and it occurred to her that the old gentleman,   "I am come to speak to you of one who is very
who lodged next door, might be an agent of Wylie's, dear to you, and to all who really know him."
and a spy on her. Wylie must have told him  to    "Dear to me? It is my son. The rest are gone.
push the ~2,000 into her room; but what a strange It is Robert."
thing to do! To be sure, he was a. sailor, and sailors   And he began to tremble;
had been known to make sandwiches of bank-notes   " Yes, it is Robert," said she, very softly; then
and eat them. Still, her good sense revolted against turning her eyes away from him, lest his emotion
this theory, and she was sore puzzled; for, after all, should overcome her, she said, 
there was the money, and she had seen it come    " He has laid me and my father under deep oblithrough the wall.  One thing appeared certain, Joe gations."
had not forgotten her; he was thinking of her as   She dragged her father in; for it was essential
much as ever, or more than ever; so her spirits not to show Mr. Penfold she was in love with Robrose, she began singing and whistling again, and ert.
waited cunningly till Joe should reappear and    "Obligations to my Robert?  Ah, madam, it is
explain his conduct. Hostage for his reappearance very kind of you to say that, and cheer a desolate
she held the ~2,000. She felt so strong and saucy father's heart with praise of his lost son! But how
she was half sorry she had allowed Mr. Penfold to could a poor unfortunate man in his position serve a
advertise; but, after all, it did not much matter; she lady like you?"
could always declare to Joe she had never missed    "He defended me against robbers, single-handed."
him, for her part, and the advertising was a folly of   "Ah," said the old iwan, glowing with pride, and
poor Mr. Penfold's.                              looking more beautiful than ever, "he was always
Matters were in this condition when the little as brave as a lion."
servant came up one evening to Mr. Penfold and    "That is nothing; he saved my life again, and
said there was a young lady to see him.           again, and again."
"A young lady for me?" said he.                  "God bless him for it! and God bless you for
"Which she won't eat you, while I am by," said coming and telling me of it! 0 madam, he was althe sharp little girl. "It is a lady, and the same ways brave, and gentle, and just, and good; so
what come before."                                noble, so unfortunate."
" Perhaps she will oblige me with her name," said    And the old man began to cry.
Michael, timidly.                                   Helen's bosom heaved, and it cost her a bitter
"I won't show her up till she do," said this mite struggle not to throw her arms around the dear old




120                                     FOUL PLAY.
man's neck and cry with him. But she came pre- She went to the window and peered through the
pared for a sore trial of her feelings, and she clenched  curtains.  She saw a man walking slowly by; he
her hands and teeth, and would not give way an quickened his pace the moment she opened the
inch.                                            curtain.
"Yes," said she, "it was intercepted, and I am
" Tell me how he saved your life, madam."      watched wherever I go."
i He was in the ship, and in the boat, with me."  Before she could say any more a bustle was heard
" Ah, madam," said Michael, "that must have on the stairs, and in bounced Nancy Rouse, talking
been some other Robert Penfold; not my son.  He as she came. " Excuse me, Mr. Penfolds, but I
could not come home. His time was not up, you can't wait no longer with my heart a bursting; it
know."                                           is! it is!  O my dear; sweet young lady; the Lord
"It was Robert Penfold, son of Michael Pen- be praised! You really are here alive and well.
fold."                                           Kiss you I must and shall; come back from  the
"Excuse me a moment," said Michael; and he dead; there - there - there "
went to a drawer, and brought her a photograph of   "Nancy! my good, kind Nancy," cried Helen,
Robert. " Was it this Robert Penfold? "         and returned her embrace warmly. 
The girl took the photograph, and eyed it, and    Then followed a burst of broken explanations;
lowered her head over it.                        and at last Helen made out that Nancy was the
"Yes," she murmured.                           landlady, and had left Lambeth long ago.
"And he was coming home in the ship with you.   "But, dear heart! " said she, " Mr. Penfolds, I'm
Is he mad?  More trouble! more trouble!"       properly jealous of you. To think of her coming
" Do not alarm yourself," said Helen; "he will here to see you, and not me! "
not land in England for years," - here she stifled a    "But I did n't know you were here, Nancy."
sob, -" and long ere that we shall have restored  Then followed a stream  of inquiries, and such
him to society."                                 warm-hearted sympathy with all her dangers and
Michael stared at that, and shook his head.    troubles, that Helen was led into revealing the
"Never," said he; " that is impossible."       cause of it all.
" Why impossible? "                             " Nancy," said she, solemnly, " the ship was wil.
" They all say he is a felon."                 fully cast away; there was a villain on board' They all shall say that he is a martyr."     that made holes in her on purpose, and sunk
"And  so he is; but how can that ever be her."
proved?"                                           Nancy lifted up her hands in astonishment. But
"I don't know. But I am sure the truth can  Mr. Penfold was far more surprised  and agialways be proved, if people have patience and per- tated.
severance."                                         " For Heaven's sake, don't say that! " he cried.
"My sweet young lady," said Michael, sadly,   "Why not, sir?" said Helen; "it is the truth;
"' you don't know the world."   v                and I have got the testimony of dying men to prove
" I am learning it fast, though. It may take me it."
a few years, perhaps, to make powerful friends, to    "I am  sorry for it. Pray, don't let anybody
grope my way amongst forgers, and spies, and know. Why, Wardlaws would lose the insuranc(
wicked, dishonest people of all sorts, but so surely of ~150,000."
as you sit there I'll clear Robert Penfold before I   "Arthur Wardlaw knows it: my father told.
die."                                            him."
The good feeble old man gazed on her with ad-   "And he never told me," said Penfold, with
miration and astonish ment.                      growing surprise.
She subdued her flashing eye, and said with a  -" Goodness me! what a world it is!" cried Nancy.
smile, "And you shall help me. Mr. Penfold, let "Why, that was murder, and no less. It is a wonder
me ask you a question. I called here before; but she wasn't drownded, and another friend into the
you were gone to Edinburgh.  Then I wrote to bargain that I had in that very ship. 0, I wish I
you at the office, begging you to let me know the had the villain here that done it, I'd tear his eyes
nloment you returned. Now, do not think I am  out!"
angry; but pray tell me why you would not answer   Here the mite of a servant bounded in, radiant
my letter."                                      and giggling, gave Nancy a triumphant glance, and
Michael Penfold was not burdened with amour popped out again, holding the door open, through
ppopre, but who has not got a little of it in some which in slouched a seafaring man, drawn by Pencorner of his heart? "Miss Rolleston," said he, "I fold's advertisement, and decoyed into Nancy's
was born a gentleman, and was a man of fortune presence by the imp of a girl, who thought to please
once, till false friends ruined me. I am in business her mistress.
now, but still a gentleman; and neither as a gentle-   Nancy, who for some days had secretly expected
man nor as a man of business could I leave a lady's this visit, merely gave a little squeak; but Helen
letter unanswered. I never did such a thing in all uttered a violent scream; and, upon that, Wylie recmy life.  I never got your letter," he said, quite ognized her, and literally staggered back a step or
pu-t out; and his wrath was so like a dove's that two, and these words fell out of his mouth: -
Helen smiled and said, " But I posted it myself.   "The sick girl!"
And my address was in it; yet it was not re-   Helen caught them.
turned."                                           " Ay!" cried she; " but she is alive in spite of
" Well, madam, it was not delivered, I assure you: alive to denounce you and to punish you."
you."                                               She darted forward, and her eyes flashed light"It was intercepted, then."                    ning.
He looked at her.  She blushed, and said, "Yes,   "Look at this man, all of you," she cried.
I am getting suspicious, ever since I found I was "Look at him well: THIS IS THE WRETCH THAT
followed and watched.  Excuse me a moment." SCUTTLED THE PROSERPINE!"




FOUL  PLAY.                                        121
CHAPT:ER LXIiT TTmy heart if he committed a crime; ay, though I tore
my soul out of my body to do it."
" 0 Miss HELEN, how can you sa..hat?" cried   " No, you would n't," said Nancy, recovering some
Nancy, in utter dismay. "I'll lay m) ite poor Joe of her natural pugnacity; "for we are all tarred
never did no such wickedness."                  with the same stick, gentle or simple."
But Helen waved her off without looking at her,   "But I assure you I would," cried Helen; " and
and pointed at Wylie.                          so ought you."
"Are you blind? Why does he cringe and cow-   " Well, miss, you begin," cried Nancy, suddenly
er at sight of me? I tell you he scuttled the Pros- firing up through her tears. " If the Proserpine was
erpine, and the great augur he did it with 1 have scuttled, which I've your word for it, Miss Helen,
seen and handled. Yes, sir, you destroyed a ship, and I never knew you tell a lie, why, your sweetand the lives of many innocent persons, whose blood heart is more to blame for it than mine."
now cries to Heaven against you; and if I am alive   Helen rose with dignity.
to tell the cruel tale, it is no thanks to you; for   "You are in grief," said she. " I leave you to
you did your best to kill me, and, what is worse, to consider whether you have done well to affront me
kill Robert Penfold, this gentleman's son; for he in your own house."  And she was moving to the
was on board the ship. You are no better than an door with great dignity, when Nancy ran and
assassin."                                      stopped her.
"I am a man that's down," said Wylie, in a low    "0, don't leave me so, Mits Helen," she cried;
and broken voice, hanging his head.  "Don't hit " don't you go to quarrel with me for speaking the
me any more. I did n't mean to take anybody's truth too plain and rude, as is a plain-spoken body at
life: I took my chance with the rest, lady, as I'm  the best; and in such grief myself, I scarce know
a man. I have lain in my bed many's the night, cry- what I do say. But. indeed, and in truth, you
ing like a child, with thinking you were dead. And must n't go and put it abroad that the ship was scutnow I am glad you are alive to be revenged on me. tied; if you do, you won't hurt Joe Wylie; he'11 get
Well, you see, it is your turn now; you have lost a ship, and fly the country. Who you'll hurt will be
me my sweetheart, there; she'll never speak to me your own husband as is to be, -Wardlaws."
again, after this. Ah, the poor man gets all the    "Shall I, Mr. Penfold?" asked Helen, disdainblame! You don't ask who tempted me; and, if I fully.
was to tell you, you'd hate me worse than ever; so   "Well, madam, certainly it might create some
I'11 belay. If I'm a sinner, I'm a sufferer. Eng- unworthy suspicion."
land's too hot to hold me. I've only to go to sea, and    "Suspicion?" cried Nancy. "Don't you think
get drowned the quickest way."  And with this to throw dust in my eyes. What had poor Joe to
he vented a deep sigh, and slouched out of the gain by destroying that there ship? you know very
room.                                           well he was bribed to do it; and risk his own
Nancy sank into a seat, and threw her apron over life.  And who bribed him?  Who should bribe
her head, and rocked and sobbed as if her heart him, but the man as owned the ship? "
would break.                                      " Miss Rouse," said Mr. Penfold, " I sympathize
As for Helen Rolleston, she still stood in the mid- with your grief, and make great allowance; but I
die of the room, burning with excitement.       will not sit here and hear my worthy employers
Then poor old Michael came to her, and said, al- blackened with such terrible insinuations. The great
most in a whisper, -                            house of Wardlaw bribe a sailor to scuttle their own
It is a bad business; he is her sweetheart, and ship, with Miss Rolleston and one hundred and sixshe had the highest opinion of him."            ty thousand pounds' worth of gold on board! MonThis softened Helen in a great measure. She strous! monstrous!"
turned and looked at Nancy, and said, —           "Then what did Joe Wylie mean?" replied
" 0 dear, what a miserable thing! But I could n't Nancy.  " Says he,' The poor man gets all the
know that."                                     blame. If I was to tell you who tempted me,' says
After a while, she drew a chair, and sat down by he,' you'd hate me worse.' Then I say, why should
Nancy, and said, -                              she hate him worse? Because it's her sweetheart
" I won't punish him, Nancy."                 tempted mine. I stands to that."
Nancy burst out sobbing afresh.                 This inference, thus worded, struck Helen as so
"You have punished him," said she, bruskly, droll that she turned her head aside to giggle a lit"and me too, as never did you no harm. You have tie. But old Penfold replied loftily,driven him out of the country, you have."         "Who cares what a Wylie says against a great
At this piece of feminine justice Ielen's anger re- old mercantile house of London City?"
vived. "So, then," said she, "ships are to be de-   "Very well, Mr. Penfolds," said Nancy, with one
stroyed, and ladies and gentlemen murdered, and great final sob, and dried her eyes with her apron;
nobody is to complain, or say an angry word, if the and she did it with such an air, they both saw she
wretch happens to be paying his addresses to you. was not going to shed another tear about the matter.
That makes up for all the crimes in the world. " Very'well; you are both against me; then'11 say
What! Can an honest woman like you lose all no more. But I know what I know."
sense of right and wrong for a man? And such a   "And what do you know? " inquired Helen.
man!"                                            "Time will show," said Nancy, turning suddenly
"Why, he is as well-made a fellow as ever I saw," very dogged,-" time will show.'
sobbed Nancy.
" 0, is he?" said Helen, ironically, - her views   Nothing more was to be got out of her after that;
of manly beauty were different, and black eyes a and Helen, soon after, made her a civil, though stiff,
sine qua non with her, -" then it is a pity his soul little speech; regretted the pain she had inadveris not made to correspond.  I hope by my next visit tently caused her, and went away, after leaving Mr.
you will have learned to despise him as you ought. Penfold her address.
Why, if I loved a man ever so, I'd tear him out of   On her return home, she entered the whole ad



122                                      FOUL PLAY.
venture in her diary. She made a separate entry    "Yes."
to this effect:-                                    "Does he zo to church with you ever?
Mysterious.- My letter to Mr. Penfold at the    "No."
office intercepted.                                 "But he would, if you were to ask him."
Wylie hints that he was bribed by Messrs. Ward-   "I havc- no doubt he would; but why? "
law.                                               "Manage matters so that he shall go to churce
Nancy Rouse suspects that it was Arthur, and  with you, and then put the book down for him tc
says time will show.                             see the writing, all in a moment. Watch his face
As for me, I can neither see why Wylie should  and tell me." 
scuttle the ship unless he was bribed by somebody,   Helen colored up and said, " No; I can't do that.
nor what Arthur or his father could gain by destroy- W by, it would be turning God's temple into a trap!
ing that ship. This is all as dark as is that more  Besides — "
cruel mystery which alone I care to solve.            The real reason first, if you please," said this
horribly shrewd old woman.
"Well, Mr. Arthur Wardlaw is the gentleman I
CHAPTER  LXIILTTT         am going to marry.".  Good Heavens!" cried Mrs. Undercliff, taken
NEXT morning, after a sleepless night, Nancy utterly aback by this most unexpected turn. " Why,
Rouse said to Mr. Penfold, " Have n't I heard you you never told me that!"
say as bank-notes could be traced to folk? "        "No," said Helen, blushing. "I did not think it
"Certainly, madam," said Michael: "but it is necessary to go into that. Well, of course, it is not
necessary to take the numbers of them."          in human nature that Mr. Wardlaw should be zeal"Oh! And how do you do that?"                ous in my good work, or put himself forward; but
"Why, every note has its own number."          he has never refused to lend me any help that was
"La! ye don't say so; then them fifties are all in his power; and it is repugnant to my nature to
numbered, belike."                               suspect him of a harm, and to my feelings to lay a
"Certainly, and if you wish me to take down the trap for him."
numbers, I will do so."                             "Quite right," said Mrs. Undercliff; " Of course I
" Well, sir, some other day you shall. I could had no idea you were going to marry Mr. Wardlaw.
not bear the sight of them just yet; for it is them  I made sure Mr. Penfold was the man."
as has been the ruin of poor Joe Wylie, I do    Helen blushed higher still, but made no reply.
think."                                             Mrs. Undercliff turned the conversation directly.
Michael could not follow this; but, the question " My son has given many hours to Mr. Hand's two
having been raised, he advised her, on grounds of letters, and he told me to tell you he is beginning
common prudence, not to keep them in the house to doubt whether Mr. Hand is a real person, with
without taking down their numbers.                a real handwriting, at all."
"We will talk about that in the evening," said    " 0  Mrs. Undercliff!  Why, he wrote me two
Nancy.                                           letters! However, I will ask Mr. Penfold whether
Accordingly, at night, Nancy produced the notes, Mr. Hand exists or not. When shall I have the
and Michael took down the numbers and descrip- pleasure of seeing you again? "
tions in his pocket-book. They ran from 16,444 to    " Whenever you like, my dear young lady; but
16,463. And he promised her to try and ascertain  not upon this business of Penfold and Wardlaw. I
through what hands they had passed. He said he have. done with it forever; and my advice to you,
had a friend in the Bank of England, who might miss, is not to stir the mlud any more."  And with
perhaps be able to discover to what private bank  these mysterious words the old lady retired, leaving
they had been issued in the first instance, and then  Helen deeply discouraged at her desertion.
those bankers, on a strong representation, might   However she noted down the conversation in her
perhaps examine their books, and say to whom they  diary, and made this comment: People find no
had paid them. He told her the notes were quite pleasure in proving an accused person innocent; the
new, and evidently had not been separated since charm is to detect guilt. This day a good, kind
their first issue.                                friend abandons me because I will not turn aside
Nancy caught a glimpse of his meaning, and set from my charitable mission to suspect another person
herself doggedly to watch until the person who as wrongfully as he I love has been suspected.
had passed the notes through the chimney should    Mem: To see, or make inquiries about, Mr.
come for them. "He will miss them," said she, Hand.
" you mark my words."
Thus Helen, though reduced to a stand-still her-   General Rolleston had taken a furnished house
self, had set an inquiry on foot which was alive and in Hanover Square. He now moved into it, and
ramifying.                                        Helen was compelled to busy herself in household
In the course of a few days she received a visit arrangements.
from Mrs. Undercliff.  That lady came in, ahnd laid    She made the house charming; but unfortunately
a prayer-book on the table, saying, "I have brought stood in a draught whilst heated, and caught a chill,
it you back, miss; and I want you to do something which a year ago would very likely have gone to
for my satisfaction."                             her lungs and killed her, but now settled on her
"0, certainly," said Helen. " What is it?"    limbs in violent neuralgic pains, and confined her to
"Well, miss, first examine the book and the her bed for a fortnight.
writing. Is it all right?"                         She suffered severely, but had the consolation of
Helen examined it, and said it was: "Indeed," finding she was tenderly beloved. Arthur sent
said she, "the binding looks fresher, if anything."   flowers every day, and affectionate notes twice a
"You have a good eye," said Mrs. Undercliff. day. And her, father was constantly by her bed"Well, what I want you to do is - of course, Mr. side.
Wardlaw is a good deal about you? "                At last she came down to the drawing-room, but




FOUL PLAY.                                           123
lay on the sofa, well wrapped up, and received only of suspicions, some of them reasonable, some of them
her most intimate friends. The neuralgia had now rather absurd.
settled on her right arm and hand, so that she could    He had too little art to conceal his change of
not write a letter; and she said to herself with a mind; and so, very soon after his vain attempt to see
"sigh, "0, how unfit a girl is to do anything great! Helen Rolleston at the inn, he was bundled off to
We always fall ill just when health and strength  Scotland on business of the office.
are most needed."                                   Nancy missed him sorely. She felt quite alone
Nevertheless, during this period of illness and  in the world. She managed to get through the day,
inaction, circumstances occurred that gave her - work helped her; but at night she sat disconsojoy.                                             late and bewildered, and she was now beginning to
Old Wardlaw had long been exerting himself in  doubt her own theory. For certainly, if all that
influential channels to obtain what he called justice money had been Joe Wylie's, he would hardly have
for his friend Rolleston, and had received some very  left the country without it.
encouraging promises; for the General's services   Now, the second evening after Michael's departwere indisputable; and, while he was stirring the ure, she was seated in his room, brooding, when sudmatter, Helen was unconsciously co-operating by denly she heard a peculiar knocking next door.
her beauty, and the noise her adventure made in    She listened a little while, and then stole softly
society.  At last a gentleman, whose wife was about down stairs to her own little room.
the queen, promised old Wardlaw one day, that, if a    Her suspicions were correct. It was the same
fair opportunity should occur, that lady should tell sort of knocking that had preceded the phenomenon
Helen's adventure, and how the gallant old General, of the hand and bank-notes.  She peeped into the
when everybody else despaired, had gone out to the kitchen and whispered, " Jenny - Polly — come
Pacific, and found his daughter, and brought her here."
home. This lady was a courtier of ten years' stand-   A stout washerwoman and the mite of a servant
ing, and waited her opportunity; but when it did came, wondering.
come, she took it, and she soon found that no great   "Now you stand there," said Nancy, " and do as
tact or skill was necessary on such an occasion as I bid you. Hold your tongues, now. I know all
this. She was listened to with ready sympathy, and  about it."
the very next day some inquiries were made, the re-   The myrmidons stood silent, but with panting
suit of which was that the Horse Guards offered bosoms; for the mysterious knocking now  conLieutenant-General Rolleston the command of a eluded, and a brick in  the chimney began to
crack regiment and a full generalship. At the same move.
time, it was intimated to him from another official   It came out, and immediately a hand with a ring
quarter, that a baronetcy was at his service, if he felt on it came through the aperture, and felt about.
disposed to accept it. The tears came into the stout   The mite stood firm, but the big washerwoman
old warrior's eyes at this sudden sunshine of royal gave signs of agitation that promised to end in a
favor, and Helen kissed old Wardlaw of her own scream.
accord; and the star of the Wardlaws rose into the    Nancy put her hand roughly before the woman's
ascendant, and for a time Robert Penfold seemed to mouth.  "Hold your tongue, ye great soft —"
be quite forgotten.                              And, without finishing her sentence, she darted
to the chimney and seized the hand with both her
The very day General Rolleston became Sir Ed- own and pulled it with such violence that the wrist
ward, a man and a woman called at the Charing followed it through the masonry, and a roar was
Cross Hotel, and asked for Miss Helen Rolleston.   heard.
The answer was, she had left the hotel about ten    "Hold on to my waist, Polly," she cried. " Jendays.                                            ny, take the poker, and that string, and tie his hand
"Where is she gone, if you please?"            to it while we hold on. Quick! quick! Are ye
"We don't know."                               asleep?"
"Why, has n't she left her new address?"        Thus adjured, the mite got the poker against the
"No.  The footman came for letters several wall, and tried to tie the wrist to it.
times."                                             This, however, was not easy, the hand struggled
No information was to be got here, and Mr. Pen- so desperately.
fold and Nancy Rouse went home greatly disap-   However, pulling is a matter of weight rather than
pointed, and puzzled what to do.                 muscle: and the weight of the two women pulling
At first sight it might appear easy for Mr. Penfold  downwards overpowered the violent struggles of the
to learn the new address of MissRolleston. He had  man; and the mite contrived to tie the poker
anly to ask Arthur Wardlaw. But, to tell the truth, to the wrist, and repeat the ligatures a dozen
during the last fortnight Nancy Rouse had impressed  times in a figure of eight.
ker views steadily and persistently on his mind, and    Then the owner of the hand, who had hithertp
he had also made a discovery that co-operated with shown violent strength, taken at a disadvantage,
her influence and arguments to undermine his con- now showed intelligence.  Convinced that skill as
idence in his employer. What that discovery was well as force were against him, he ceased to strugwe must leave him to relate.                     gle, and became quite quiet.
Looking, then, at matters with a less unsuspicious    The women contemplated their feat with flushed
tye than heretofore, he could not help observing cheeks and sparkling eyes.
ihat Arthur Wardlaw never put into the office let-   When they had feasted a reasonable time on the
ier-box a single letter for his sweetheart.  He imprisoned hand, and two of them, true to their sex,
must write to her, thought Michael: but I am  had scrutinized a green stone upon one of the fingers,
not to know her address., Suppose, after all, he did to see whether it was real or false, Nancy took them
intercept that letter.                           by the shoulders, and bundled them good-humoredly
And now, like other simple, credulous men whose out of the room.
confidence has been shaken, he was literally brimful   She then lowered the gas and came out, and




124                                     FOUL PLAY.
locked the room  up, and put the key in her   Helen, weakened already by days of suffering,
pocket.                                          began to cry, and say, "What shall I do? what
"I'11 have my supper with  you," said she. shall I do?"
"Come, Jenny, I'm  cook; and you make the    "If you have any doubt, my dear," said Sir
kitchen as a body could eat off it, for I expect Edward, " then think of what I owe to these Wardvisitors."                                       laws."
" La, ma'am," said the mite; " he can't get out   And, with that he kissed her, and left her in
of the chimbley to visit hus through the street tears; and, soon after, sent Arthur himself up to
door."                                           plead his own cause.
" No, girl," said Nancy. " But he can send a ham-   It was a fine summer afternoon; the long French
bassador; so Show her heyes and plague her art, as casements, looking on the garden of the Square,
the play says, for of all the dirty kitchens give me were open, and the balmy air came in and wooed
hers. I never was there but once, and my slipper the beautiful girl's cheek, and just stirred her hair
come off for the muck, a sticking to a body like at times.
bird-lime."                                         Arthur Wardlaw came softly in, and gazed at
her as she lay; her loveliness filled his heart and
There was a knock at Nancy's street door; the soul; he came and knelt by her sofa, and took her
little servant, full of curiosity, was for running to it hand, and kissed it, and his own eyes glistened with
on the instant. But Nancy checked her.           tenderness.
" Take your time," said she. "It is only a lodg-   He had one thing in his favor. He loved her.
nng-house keeper."                                 Her knowledge of this had more than  once
befriended him, and made her refuse to suspect him
of any great ill; it befriended him now. She turned
CHAPTER  LXIV.                     a look of angelic pity on him.
" Poor Arthur! "' she said. " You and I are both
SIR EDWARD ROLLESTON  could not but feel unhappy."
his obligations to the Wardlaws, and, when his   " But we shall be happy, erelong, I hope," said
daughter got better, he spoke warmly on the subject, Arthur.
and asked her to consider seriously whether she had    Helen shook her head.
not tried Arthur's affection sufficiently.          Then he patted her, and coaxed her, and said he
" He does not complain to you, I know," said he; would be her servant, as well as a husband, and no
"but he feels it very hard that you should punish wish of her heart should go ungratified.
him  for an act of injustice that has already so    "None?" said she, fixing her eyes on him.
deeply afflicted him. He says he believes some fool   "Not one," said he;'{upon my honor."
or villain heard him say that two thousand pounds   Then he was so soft and persuasive, and alluded
was to be borrowed between them, and went and so delicately to her plighted faith, that she felt like
imposed on Robert Penfold's credulity; meaning, a poor bird caught in a silken net.
perhaps, to call again after the note had been    " Sir Edward is very good," said he; "he feels
cashed, and get Arthur's share of the money."    for me."
"But why did he not come forward?"              At that moment, a note was sent up.
"He declares he did not know when the trial was   "Mr. Wardlaw is here, and has asked me when
till a month after: and his father bears him  out; the marriage is to be. I can't tell him; I look like
says he was actually delirious, and his life in danger. a fool."
I myself can testify that he was cut down just in    Helen sighed deeply and had began to gather
this way, when he heard the Proserpine was lost, those tears that weaken a woman. She glanced
and you on board her. Why not give him  credit despairingly to and fro: and saw no escape. Then,
for the same genuine distress at young Penfold's Heaven knows why or wherefore, - probably with
misfortune?  Come, Helen, is it fair to afflict and  no clear design at all but a woman's weak desire to
punish this gentleman for the misfortune of another, cause a momentary diversion, to put off the inevitawhom he never speaks of but with affection and ble for five minutes, -she said to Arthur: "Please
pity?  He says that if you would marry him at give me that prayer-book. Thank you. It is right
once, he thinks he should feel strong enough to throw  you should know  this."  And she put Cooper's
himself into the case with you, and would spare deposition, and Welch's, into his hands.
neither money nor labor to clear Robert Penfold;   He devoured them, and started  up in great
but, as it is, he says he feels so wretched, and so indignation. "It is an abominable slander," said
tortured  with jealousy, that he can't co-operate he. "We have lost ten thousand pounds by the
warmly with you, though his conscience reproaches wreck of that ship, and Wylie's life was saved by a
him every day. Poor young man! His is really a miracle as well as your own. It is a foul slander.
very hard case. For you promised him your hand I hurl it from me."  And he made his words good
before you ever saw Robert'Penfold."              by whirling the prayer-book out of window.
"I did," said Helen; " but I did not say when.   Helen uttered a scream. " My mother's prayerLet me have one year to my good work, before I book! " she cried.
devote my whole life to Arthur."                    "Oh! I beg pardon," said he.
" Well, it will be a year wasted. Why postpone    "As well you may," said she. " Run and send
your marriage for that?"                         George after it."
"I promised."                                    " No, I'11 go myself," said he. "Pray forgive me:
"Yes, but he chose to fancy young Wardlaw  is you don't know what a terrible slander they have
his enemy. You might relax that, now he tells you desecrated your prayer-book with."
he will co-operate with you as your husband. Now,   He ran out, and was a long time gone. He came
Helen, tell the truth, —is it a woman's work? back at last, looking terrified.
Have you found it so?  Will not Arthur do it   "I can't find it," said he.  somebody has carried
better than you? "                              it off. 0, how unfortunate I am   "




FOUL PLAY.                                           125
"Not find it!" said Helen. "But it must be    "Thank you, sir."
found."                                             She put the check into her purse, and brought
"Of course it must be found," said Arthur. "A  the prayer-book to Helen.
pretty scandal to go into the hands of Heaven    "Lock it up at once," said she, in a voice so low
knows who. I shall offer twenty guineas reward for that Arthur heard her murmur, but not the words;
it at once. I'11 go down to the Times this moment. and she retired, leaving Helen staring with amazeWas ever anything so unlucky? "                 ment, and Arthur in a cold perspiration.
" Yes, go at once," said Helen; " and I'11 send
the servants into the Square. I don't want to say
anything unkind, Arthur, but you ought not to
have thrown my prayer-book into the public street."             CHAPTER  LXV.
"I know I ought not. I am ashamed of it myself."                                              WHEN the Springbok weighed anchor and left
"Well, let me see the advertisement."          the island, a solitary form was seen on Telegraph
"You shall. I have no doubt we shall recover Hill.
it."                                                When she passed eastward, out of sight of that
Next morning the Times contained an advertise- point, a solitary figure was seen on the cliffs.
ment offering twenty guineas for a prayer-book lost   When her course brought the island dead astern
in Hanover Square, and valuable not in itself, but of her, a solitary figure stood on the east bluff of the
as a relic of a deceased parent.                 island, and was the last object seen from the boat
In the afternoon, Arthur called to know  if any- as she left those waters forever.
body had brought the prayer-book back.
Helen shook her head sadly, and said, " No."     What words can tell the sickening sorrow and
He seemed very sorry, and so penitent, that utter desolation  that possessed  that yearning
Helen said,-                                     bosom!
"Do not despair. And if it is gone, why, I must   When the boat that had carried Helen away was out
remember you have forgiven me something, and I of sight, he came back with uneven steps to the cave,
must forgive you."                                and looked at all the familiar objects with stony eyes,
The footman came in.                           and scarce recognized them, for the sunshine of her
"If you please, miss, here is a woman wishes to presence was there no more. He wandered to and
speak to you; says she has brought a prayer- fro in a heavy stupor, broken every now and then
book."                                           by sharp pangs of agony that almost made him
" 0, show her up at once," cried Helen.        scream. And so the poor bereaved creature wanArthur turned away his head to hide a cynical dered about all day. He could not eat, he could
smile. He had good reasons for thinking it was not not sleep, his misery was more than he could bear.
the one he had flung out of the window  yester- One day of desolation succeeded another. And what
day.                              -              men say so hastily was true for once, " His life
A tall woman came in, wearing a thick veil, that was a burden."  He dragged it about with him he
concealed her features.                          scarce knew how.
She entered on her business at once.             He began to hate all the things he had loved
"You lost a prayer-book in this Square yesterday, whilst she was there. The beautiful cave, all glorimadam."                                          ous with pearl, that he had made for her, he could
" Yes."                                        not enter it, the sight killed him, and she not
"You offer twenty guineas reward for it."      there.
" Yes."                                          He left Paradise Bay altogether at last, and an"Please to look at this one."                  chored his boat in a nook of Seal Bay. And there he
Helen examined it, and said with joy it was slept in general. But sometimes he would lie down,
hers.                                            wherever he happened to be, and sleep as long as
Arthur was thunderstruck. He could not believe he could.
his senses.                                         To him to wake was a calamity. And, when he
" Let me look at it," said he.                 did wake, it was always with a dire sense of revivHis eyes went at once to the writing. He turned  ing misery, and a deep sigh at the dark day he
as pale as death, and stood petrified,           knew awaited him.
The woman took4the prayer-book out of his unre-   His flesh wasted on his bones, and his clothes hung
sisting hand, and said, -                        loosely about him. The sorrow of the mind reduced
"You'll excuse me, sir; but it is a large reward, him almost to that miserable condition in which he
and gentlefolks sometimes go from their word when  had landed on the island.
the article is found."                              The dog and the seal were faithful to him; used
Helen, who was delighted at getting back her to lie beside him, and often whimpered; their minds,
book, and rather tickled at Arthur having to pay  accustomed to communicate without the aid of
twenty guineas for losing it, burst out laughing, and speech, found out, Heaven knows how! that he was
said,-                                           in grief or in sickness.
"Give her the reward, Arthur; I am not going    These two creatures, perhaps, saved his life or his
to pay for your misdeeds."                       reason. They came between his bereaved heart and
" With all my heart," said Arthur, struggling for utter solitude.
composure.
He sat down to draw a check.                     Thus passed a month of wretchedness unspeak" What name shall I put?"                     able.
"Hum! Edith Hesket."                             Then his grief took a less sullen form.
"Two t's? "                                     He came back to Paradise Bay, and at sight of it
"No, only one."                                burst into a passion of weeping.
"There."                                         These were his first tears, and inaugurated a grief




126                                    FOUL PLAY.
more tender than ever, but less akin to madness and ter and looked at it close, and held it at arm's
despair.                                        length, and devoured it, and the effect of this keen
Now he used to go about and cry her name aloud, examination was very remarkable. It seemed to
passionately, by night and day.                 restore the man to energy and to something like
O Helen! Helen!"                           hope. His eyes sparkled, and a triumphant "Ah "
And next his mind changed in one respect, and he burst from his bosom.
clung to every reminiscence of her. Every morning    He became once more a man of action. He rose,
he went round her haunts, and kissed every place and bathed, and walked rapidly to and fro upon the
where he had seen her put her hand.             sands, working himself up to a daring enterprise.
Only the cave he could not yet face.         He took his saw into the jungle, and cut down a tree
He tried, too. He went to the mouth of it again of a kind common enough there. It was wonderfuland again, and looked in; but go into it and face it, ly soft, and almost as light as cork. The wood of
empty of her - he could not.                   this was literally useless for any other purpose than
He prayed often.                              that to which Penfold destined it. He cut a great
One night he saw her in a dream.             many blocks of this wood, and drilled holes in them,
She bent a look of angelic pity on him, and said and, having hundreds of yards of good line, attached
but these words, "Live in my cave," then van- these quasi corks to the gunwale, so as to make a
ished.                                          life-boat. This work took him several days, during
Alone on an island in the vast Pacific, who can which time an event occurred that encouraged him.
escape superstition? It fills the air. He took this   One morning he saw about a million birds very
communication as a command, and the next night busy in the bay, and it proved to be a spermaceti
he slept in the cave.                           whale come ashore.
But he entered it in the dark, and left it before   He went out to her directly with all his tools, for
dawn.                                           he wanted oil for his enterprise, and the seal oil was
By degrees, however, he plucked up courage and exhausted.
faced it in daylight. But it was a sad trial; he   When he got near the whale in his boat, he
came out crying bitterly after a few minutes.   observed a harpoon sticking in the animal's back.
Still he persevered, because her image had bade He cut steps with his axe in the slippery carcass,
him; and at last, one evening, he even lighted the and got up to it as well as he could, extracted it by
lamp, and sat there looking at the glorious walls and cutting and pulling, and threw it down into his boat,
roof his hapless love had made.                 but not till he had taken the precaution to stick a
Getting stronger by degrees, he searched about, great piece of blubber on the barbed point. He
and found little relics of her,- a glove, a needle, a then sawed and hacked under difficulties, being
great hat she had made out of some large leaves. buffeted and bothered with thousands of birds, so
All these he wept over and cherished.           eager for slices, that it was as much as he could do to
But one day he found at the very back of the avoid the making of minced fowl; but, true to his
cave a relic that made him start as if a viper had gentle creed, he contrived to get three hundredstung his loving heart. It was a letter.        weight of blubber without downright killing any of
He knew it in a moment. It had already caused these greedy competitors, though he buffeted some
him many a pang; but now it almost drove him  of them, and nearly knocked out what little sense
mad. Arthur Wardlaw's letter.                  they had. He came ashore with his blubber and
He recoiled from it, and let it lie. He went out harpoon, and, when he came to examine the latter,
of the cave, and cursed his hard fate. But he came he found that the name of the owner was cut deepback. It was one of those horrible things a man ab- ly in the steel, - Josh. Fullalove, J. Fernandez. This
hors, yet cannot keep away from. He took it up inscription had a great effect on Robert Penfold's
and dashed it down with rage many times; but it mind. It seemed to bring the island of Juan Ferall ended in his lighting the lamp at night, and tor- nandez, and humanity in general, nearer to him.
turing himself with every word of that loving let-   He boiled down the blubber, and put a barrel of
ter.                                            oil on board his life-boat. He had a ship's lantern
And she was going home to the writer of that to burn it in. He also pitched her bottom-as far as
letter, and he was left prisoner on the island. He he could get at it, and provisioned her for a long
cursed his generous folly, and writhed in agony at voyage; taking care to lash the water-cask and
the thought. He raged with jealousy, so that his beef-cask to the fore-thwart and foremast, in case of
very grief was blunted for a time.              rough weather.
He felt as if he must go mad.                   When he had done all this, it occurred to him
Then he prayed,- prayed fervently. And at suddenly, that, should he ever escape the winds and
last, worn out with such fierce and contending emo- waves, and get- to England, he would then have to
tions, he fell into a deep sleep, and did not wake encounter difficulties and dangers of another class,
till the sun was high in heaven.                and lose the battle by his poverty.
He woke; and the first thing he saw was the   "I play my last stake now," said he. "I will
fatal letter lying at his feet in a narrow stream of throw no chance away."
sunshine that came peering in.                    He reflected, with great bitterness, on the misery
He eyed it with horror. This was then to haunt that want of money had already brought on him;
him by night and day.                           and he vowed to reach England rich, or go to the
He eyed it and eyed it. Then turned his face bottom of the Pacific.
from it; but could not help eyeing it again.      This may seem a strange vow for a man to make
And at last certain words in this letter seemed on an unknown island; but Robert Penfold had a
to him to bear an affinity to another piece of writing powerful understanding, sharpened by adversity,
that had also caused him a great woe. Memory by and his judgment told him truly that he possessed
its subtle links connected these two enemies of his wealth on this island, both directly and indirectly.
together. He eyed it still more keenly, and that In the first place, knowledge is sometimes wealth,
impression became strengthened. He took the let- and the knowledge of this island was a thing he




FOUL PLAY.                                           127
could sell to the American merchants on the coast of he reached the bluff. He got under this, and, by
Chili; and with this view, he put on board his boat means of his compass and previous observations, set
specimens of the cassia and other woods, fruit, the boat's head exactly on the line the ducks used
spices, pitch, guano, pink and red coral, pearl to take. Then he set his mainsail too, and stretched
oysters, shells, cochineal, quartz, cotton, &c., &c.    boldly out across the great Pacific Ocean.
Then he took his chisel, and struck all the larger
pearls off the shells that lined Helen's cave.  The    Time seems to wear out everything, even bad
walls and roof yielded nine enormous pearls, thirty  luck. It ran strong against Robert Penfold for
large ones, and a great many of the usual size.  years: but, when it had struck its worst blow, and
He made a pocket inside his waistcoat to hold the parted him and Helen Rolleston, it relaxed, and a
pearls safe.                                     tide of good luck set in, which, unfortunately, the
Then he took his spade and dug into the Spanish broken-hearted man could not appreciate at the
ship for treasure. But this was terrible work. The time. However, so it was. He wanted oil; and a
sand returned upon  the spade and trebled his whale came ashore. He wanted treasure, and the
labor.                                           sea gave him a little back of all it had swallowed;
The condition to which time and long submer- and now he wanted fine weather; and the ocean for
sion had reduced this ship and cargo were truly  days and nights was like peach-colored glass, dimpled
remarkable. Nothing to be seen of the deck but a here and there; and soft westerly airs fanned him
thin brown streak that mingled with the sand in along by night and day.
patches; of the timbers nothing but the uprights,   To be sure, he was on the true Pacific Ocean, at a
and of those the larger half eaten and dissolved.    period when it is really free from  storms.  Still,
He dug five days, and found nothing solid,     even for t At latitude, he had wonderful weather for
On the sixth, being now at the bottom of the ship, six days   ad on the seventh he fell in with a schoonhe struck his spade against something hard and  er, the   pper and crew of which looked over the
heavy.                                           bulwa.t   at him with wonder and cordiality, and,
On inspection it looked like ore, but of what casting out a rope astern, took him in tow.
metal he could not tell; it was as black as a coal.   The skipper had been eyeing him with amazeHe- threw this on one side, and found nothing more; ment fbr some hours through his telescope; but he
but the next day he turned up a smaller fragment, was a man that had seen a great many strange
which he took home and cleaned with lime-juice. things, and it was also a point of honor with him
It came out bright in places like silver.         never to allow that he was astonished, or taken by
This discovery threw light on the other. The surprise, or greatly moved.
piece of black ore, weighing about seven pounds,   " Wal, stranger," said he, "what craft is that?"
was in reality silver coin, that a century of submer-   "The Helen."
sion had reduced to the very appearance it wore    "Where d' ye hail from.? not that I am curious."
before it ever went into the furnace.               "From an unknown island."
He dug with fresh energy on this discovery, but   "Do tell.  What, another!  Is it any ways
found nothing more in the ship that day.         nigh? "
Then it occurred to him to carry off a few hun-    Not within seven hundred miles."
dredweight of pink coral.                          "Je-rusalem! Have you sailed all that in a
He got some fine specimens; and, while he was cockle-shell?"
at that work, he fell in with a piece that looked very    "Yes."
solid at the root and unnaturally heavy. On a    "Why, what are ye? the.Wandering Jew afloat,
nearer examination this proved to be a foreign or the Ancient Mariner? or only a kinder nautisubstance incrusted with coral. It had twined and  lus?"
twisted and curled over the thing in a most unheard-   "I'm a landsman."
of way. Robert took it home, and by rubbing here    "A landsman! then so is Neptune. What is your
and there with lemon-juice, at last satisfied himself name when you are ashore?"
that this object was a silver box about the size of an    "Robert Penfold.  The Reverend Robert Penoctavo volume.                                    fold."
It had no keyhole, had evidently been soldered    "The Reverend-  Je-rusalem! "
up for greater security, and Robert was left to con-   "May I ask what is your name, sir?"
jecture how it had come there.                      "Wal, I reckon you may, stranger. I'm  Joshua
He connected it at once with the ship, and felt Fullalove from the States, at present located on the
assured that some attempt had been made to save it. island of Juan Fernandez! "
There it had lain by the side of the vessel all these    "Joshua Fullalove! That is lucky. I've got
years, but, falling clear of the sand, had been em- something that belongs to you."
braced by the growing coral, and was now a curi-   He looked about, and found the harpoon, and
osity, if not a treasure.   -                    handed it up in a mighty straightforward simple
He would not break the coral, but put it on board  way.
his life-boat just as it was.                       Joshua stared at him incredulously at first, but
And now he dug no more. He thought he could afterwards with amazement. He handled the harsell the galleon as well as the island, by sample, and poon, and inquired where Robert had fallen in with
he was impatient to be gone.                     it. Robert told him.
He reproached himself, a little unjustly, for allow-   "You're an honest man," said Fullalove, "you
ing a woman to undertake the task of clearing him.  air. Come aboard."  He was then pleased to con"To what annoyances, and perhaps affronts, have gratulate himself on his strange luck in having
I exposed her," said he. " No, it is a man's business drifted across an honest man in the middle of the
to defend, not to be defended."                   ocean. "I've heerd," said he, "of an old chap as
To.conclude: At high tide one fine afternoon he groped about all his life with a lantern, and could n't
went on board with Ponto, and, hoisting his foresail find one. Let's liquor."
only, crossed the bay, ranging along the island till   He had some celestial mixture or other made, in



128                                     FOUL PLAY.
eluding rum, mint, and snow from the Andes, and    The Yankee saw, and kept silence.
then began his interrogatories, again disclaiming cu-   But when the cigar was nearly smoked out, he
riosity at set intervals.                        said he was afraid Robert would not find a custom" Whither bound, honest man? "                er for his island, and what a pity Joshua Fulla"The coast of Chili."                          love was cool on islands just now.
"What for?"                                        Oh!" said Robert, " I know there are enter"Trade."                                       prising Americans on the coast who will give me
"D' ye buy or sell? Not that it is my business." money for what I have to sell."
"I wish to sell."                                Fuilalove was silent a minute, then he got a piece
" What's the merchandise? "                   of wood and a knife, and said, with an air of resig"Knowledge, and treasure."                     nation.
Fullalove scratched his head. " Ha'n't ye got a    "I reckon we'11 have to deal."
few conundrums to swap for gold dust as well?"    Need we say that to deal had been his eager deRobert smiled faintly: the first time this six sire from the first.
weeks.                                             He now began to whittle a peg, and awaited the
" I have to sell the knowledge of an island with attack.
rich products: and I have to sell  the contents of   " What will you give me, sir?"
a Spanish treasure-ship that I found buried in the    "What, money down?  And you got nothing to
sand of that island."                            sell but chances. Why, there's an old cuss about
The Yankee's eyes glistened.                   that knows where the island is as well as you do."
"Wal," said he, " I do business in islands myself.   "Then of course you will treat with him," said
I've leased this Juan Fernandez. But   - of them  Robert, sadly.
is enough at a time. I'm monarch of al  survey:   "Darned if I do," said the Yankee. " You are
but then what I survey is a mixallaneout;lin' of in trouble, and he is not, nor never will be till he
Irish and Otaheitans, that it's pizen to be,,onarch dies, and then he'11 get it hot, I calc'late. He is a
of. And now them darned Irish hastaken to con- thief and stole my harpoon; you are an honest man
verting the heathens to superstition and the worship and brought it back. I reckon I'11 deal with you
of images, and breaks their heads if they won't: and  and not with that old cuss; not by a jugful! But
tie heathens are all smiles and sweetness and im- it must be on a percentage. You tell me the bearmorality. No, islands is no bait to me."         ings of that there island, and I'11 work it and pay
" I never asked you," said Robert. " What I do five per cent on the gross."
ask you is to land me at Valparaiso. There I'11 find   Would you mind throwing that piece of wood
a purchaser, and will paysyou handsomely for your into the sea, Mr. Fullalove?" said Robert.
kindness."                                         "Caen't be done, nohow. I caen't deal without
"That is fair," said Fullalove, dryly. "What will whittlin'."
you pay me?                    "You mean you can't take an unfair advantage
"I'11 show you," said Robert. He took out of his without it. Come, Mr. Fullalove, let us cut this
pocket the smaller conglomeration of Spanish coin, short. I am, as you say, an honest and most unforand put it into Fullalove's hand. " That," said he, tunate man. Sir, I was falsely accused of a crime
" is silver coin I dug out of the galleon."      and banished my country. I can prove my innoFullalove inspected it keenly, and trembled slight- cence now if I can but get home with a great deal
ly. Robert then went lightly over the taffrail, and of money.  So much for me. You are a member
slid down the low rope into his boat. He held up of the vainest and most generous nation in the
the black mass we have described,                world."
"This is solid silver. I will give it you, and my    "Wal, now that's kinder honey and vinegar
best thanks, to land me at Valparaiso."          mixed," said Fullalove; "pretty good for a Brit" Heave it aboard," said the Yankee.           isher, though."
Robert steadied himself, and hove it on board.   "You are a man of that nation, which in all the
The Yankee caught it, heavy as it was, and sub- agonies and unparalleled expenses of civil war,
jected it to some chemical test directly.        smarting, too, under anonymous taunts from Eng"Wal," said he, " that is a bargain. I 11 land ye land, did yet send over a large sum to relieve the
at Valparaiso for this. Jack, lay her head S. S. E. distresses of certain poor Englishmen who were
and by E."                                       indirect victims of that same calamity. The act,
Having given this order, he leaned over the taff- the time, the misery relieved, the taunts overlooked,
rail and asked for more samples. Robert showed prove your nation superior to all others in generhim the fruits, woods, and shells, and the pink coral, osity. At least my reading, which is very large,
and bade him observe that the boat was ballasted affords no parallel to it, either in ancient or modern
with pearl oysters. He threw him up one, and a history. Mr. Fullalove, please to recollect that you
bunch of pink coral. He then shinned up the rope are a member of that iration, and that I am very
again, and the interrogatories recommenced. But unhappy and helpless, and want money to undo
this time he was questioned closely as to who he cruel wrongs, but have no heart to chaffer much.
was, and how he came on the island? and the ques- Take the island and the treasure, and give me half
tions were so shrewd and penetrating that his forti- the profits you make. Is not that fair?"
tude gave way, and he cried out in anguish, " Man,   Fullalove wore a rueful countenance.
man! do not torture me so.  0, do not make me    "Darn the critter," said he, " he'11 take skin off
talk of my grief and my wrongs! they are more my bones if I don't mind. Fust Britisher ever I
than I can bear."                                met as had the sense to see that.'T was ratther
Fullalove forbore directly, and offered him  a handsome, warn't it?  Wal, human nature is deep;
cigar. He took it, and it soothed him a little; it every man you tackle in business larns ye something.
was long since he had smoked one. His agitation  What with picking ye out o' the sea, and you givsubsided, and a. quiet tear or two rolled down his ing me back the harpoon the cuss stole, and your
haggard cheek.                                   face like a young calf, when you are the'cutest fox




FOUL PLAY.                                           129
out, and you giving the great United States their shiver, and gazed at it with terror and amazedue, I'm no more fit to deal than mashed potatoes. ment.
Now I cave: it is only for once. Next time don't   It was the prayer-book he had picked up in the
you try to palaver me. Draw me a map of our Square and locked up in that safe. Yet that very
island, Britisher, and mark where the Spaniard lies: prayer-book had been restored to Helen before his
I tell you I know her name, and the year she was eyes, and was now locked up in her desk. He sat
lost in: larned that at Lima one day. Kinder down with the book in his hand, and a great dread
startled me, you did, when you showed me the coin came over him.
out of her. Wal, there's my hand on haelfprofits,   Hitherto Candor and Credulity only had been
and, if I'm keen, I'm squar'."                   opposed to him, but now Cunning had entered the
Soon after this he led Robert to his cabin, and  field against him; a master-hand was co-operating
Robert drew a large map from  his models; and  with Helen.
Fullalove, being himself an excellent draughtsman,   Yet, strange to say, she seemed unconscious of
and provided with proper instruments, aided him  that co-operation. Had Robert Penfold found his
to finish it.                                    way home by some strange means?  Was he watch
Next day they sighted Valparaiso, and hove to ing over her in secret?
outside the port.                                  He had the woman he loved watched night and
All the Specimens of insular wealth were put on day, but no Robert Penfold was detected.
board the schooner and secreted; for Fullalove's    He puzzled his brain night and day, and at last
first move was to get a lease of the island from  he conceived a plan of deceit which is common
the Chilian Government, and it was no part of enough in the East, where Lying is one of the fine
his plan to trumpet the article he was going to arts, but was new in this country, we believe, and
buy.                                             we hope to Heaven we shall not be fhe means of
After a moment's hesitation, he declined to take importing it.
the seven pounds of silver. He gave as a reason,   An old clerk of his father's, now superannuated
that, having made a bargain which compelled him  and pensioned off, had a son upon the stage, in a
to go to Valparaiso at once, he did not feel like very mean position. Once a year, however, and of
charging his partner a fancy price for towing his course in the dog-days, he had a kind of benefit at
boat thither.  At the same time he hinted that, his suburban theatre; that is to say, the manager
after all this, the next customer would find him a allowed him to sell tickets, and take half the price
very difficult Yankee to get the better of.      of them. He persuaded Arthur to take some, and
VWith this understanding, he gave Robert a draft even to go to the theatre for an hour. The man
for ~80 on account of profits; and this enabled him  played a little part, of a pompous sneak, with some
to take a passage for England with all his be- approach to Nature. He seemed at home.
longings.                                           Arthur found this man out; visited him  at his
He arrived at Southampton very soon after the own place. He was very poor, and mingled pomevents last related, and thence went to London, posity with obsequiousness, so that Arthur felt confully alive to the danger of his position.       vinced he was to be bought, body and soul, what
He had a friend in his long beard, but he dared  there was of him..
not rely on that alone. Like a mole, he worked at   He sounded him accordingly, and the result was
night.                                           that the man agreed to perform a part for him.
Arthur wrote it, and they rehearsed it together.
As to the dialogue, that was so constructed that it
CHAPTER  LXVI.                     could be varied considerably according to the cues,
which could be foreseen to a certain extent; but
HELEN asked Arthur Wardlaw why he was so not precisely, since they were to be given by Helen
surprised at the prayer-book being brought back. Rolleston, who was not in the secret.
Was it worth twenty pounds to any one except   But whilst this plot was fermenting, other events
herself?                                         happened, with rather a contrary tendency; and
Arthur looked keenly at her to see whether she these will be more intelligible if we go back to
intended more than met the ear, and then said that Nancy Rouse's cottage, where indeed we have kept
he was su'rprised at the rapid effect of his advertise- Joseph Wylie in an uncomfortable position a very
ment, that was all.                              long time.
"Now you have got the book," said he, "I do    Mrs. James, from next door, was at last admitted
hope you will erase that cruel slander on one whom  into Nancy's kitchen, and her first word was, " I supyou mean to honor with your hand."                pose you know what I'm come about, ma'am."
This proposal made Helen blush, and feel very    "Which it is to return me the sass-pan you bormiserable. Of the obnoxious lines some were written  rowed, no doubt," was Nancy's ingenuous reply.
by Robert Penfold, and she had so little of his dear   " No, ma'am. But I'll send my girl in with it,
handwriting. " I feel you are right, Arthur," said  as soon as she have cleaned it, you may depend."
she; "but you must give me time. Then, they    "Thank ye, I shall be glad to see it again."
shall meet no eye but mine; and on our wedding    "You're not afeard I shall steal it, I hope?"
day-  of course -  all memorials of one."    "La, bless the woman! don't fly out at a body
Tears completed the sentence.                    like that. I can't afford to give away my sassArthur Wardlaw, raging with jealousy at the pan."
absent Penfold, as heretofore Penfold had raged at   "Sass-pans is not in my head."
him, heaved a deep sigh and hurried away, while   "Nor in your hand neither."
Helen was locking up the prayer-book in her desk.   "I'm come about my lodger; a most respectable
By this means he retained Helen's pity.          gentleman, which he have met with an accident.
He went home directly, mounted to his bedroom, He did but go to put something away in the chimunlocked a safe, and plunged his hand into it. His bley, which he is a curious gent, and has travelled a
hand encountered a book; he drew it out with a good deal, and learned the foreign customs, when




130                                      FOUL PLAY.
his hand was caught in the brick-work, somehows, lodger."  She tapped the chimney three times with
and there he is hard and fast."                  the poker, and, telling Mr. Wylie she had a few words
" Do you know anything about this? " said Nan- to say to him in private, retired for the present.
cy to the mite, severely.                        Mrs. James sat down and mourned the wickedness
" No," said the mite, with a countenance of pol- of mankind, the loss of her lodger (who would now
ished granite,                                   go bodily next door instead of sending his hand),
"La, bless me! " said Nancy, with a sudden start, and the better days she had by iteration brought
"Why, is she talking about the thief as you and I herself to believe she had seen.
catched putting his hand through the wall into    Wylie soon entered Nancy's house, and her first
my room, and made him fast again the policeman  question was, " The ~2,000, how did you get them?"
comes round? "                                      "No matter how I got them," said Wylie, sulkily.
"Thief!" cried Mrs. James: "no more a thief " What have you done with them?"
than I am. Why, sure you would n't ever be so   "Put them away."
cruel! O dear! O dear! Spite goes a far length.   " That is all right. I'in blest if I did n't think
There, take an' kill me, do, and then  you'1 they were gone forever."
be easy in your mind. Ah, little my poor father   "I wish they had never come. Ill-gotten money
thought as ever I should come down to letting  is a curse."  Then she taxed him with scuttling the
lodgings, and being maltreated this way! I am -" Proserpine, and asked him whether that money had
"Who is a maltreating of ye?  Why, you're not been the bribe. But Joe was obdurate. " I
dreaming. Have a drop o' gin?"                  never split on a friend," said he. " And you have
"With them as takes the police to my lodger? nobody to blame but yourself, you would n't splice
It would choke ime!"                              without ~2,000. I lovedyou, and I got it how I
" Well, have a drop, and we'll see about it."  could.  D' ye think a poor fellow like me can make
"You're very kind, ma'am, I'm sure. Heaven  ~2,000 in a voyage by hauling in ropes, and tying
knows I need it! Here's wishing you a good hus- true-lovers' knots in the foretop."
band; and towards burying all unkindness."          Nancy had her answer ready; but this rememWhich you means drounding of it."             brance pricked her own conscience and paved the
" Ah, you're never at a loss for a word, ma'am, way to a reconciliation. Nancy had no high-flown
and always in good spirits.  But your troubles is to  notions.  She loved money, but it must be got withcome. I'm a widdy. You will let me see what is out palpable dishonesty; per contra, she was not
the matter with my lodger, ma'am? "              going to denounce her sweetheart, but then again she
"Why not?  We'll go and have a look at him." would not marry him so long as he differed with her
Accordingly, the three women and the mite pro- about the meaning of the eighth commandment.
ceeded to the little room; Nancy turned the gas   This led to many arguments, some of them warm,
on, and then they inspected the imprisoned hand. some affectionate; and so we leave Mr. Wylie under
Mrs. James screamed with dismay, and Nancy asked  the slow but salutary influence of love and unpreher drily whether she was to blame for seizing a tending probity. He continued to lodge next door.
hand which had committed a manifest trespass.     Nancy would only receive him as a visitor.
"You have got the rest of his body," said she,
" but this here hand belongs to me."
" Lord, ma'am, what could he take out of your                 CHAPTER LXVII
chimbley, without't was a handful of soot?  Do,   HELEN had complained to Arthur, of all people,
pray, let me loose him."                         that she was watched and followed; she even asked
"Not till I have said two words to him."       him whether that was not the act of some enemy.
" But how can you? He is n't here to speak to, -   Arthur smiled, and said, " Take my word for it, it
only a morsel of him."                           is only some foolish admirer of your beauty; he
"I can go into your house and speak to him."   wants to know your habits, in hopes of failling in
Mrs. James demurred to that; but Nancy stood with you; you had better let me go out with you
firm; Mrs. James yielded. Nancy whispered her for the next month or so; that sort of thing will
myrmidons, and, in a few minutes, was standing  soon die away."
by the prisoner, a reverend person in dark specta-   As a necessary consequence of this injudicious
cles, and a gray beard, that created commiseration, revelation, Helen was watched with greater skill
or would have done so, but that this stroke of ill- and subtlety, and upon a plan well calculated to
fortune had apparently fallen upon a great philoso- disarm suspicion; a spy watched the door, and by a
pher. He had contrived to get a seat under him, signal unintelligible to any but his confederate,
and was smoking a pipe with admirable sang-froid. whom Helen could not possibly see, set the latter on
At sight of Nancy, however, he made a slight her track. They kept this game up unobserved for
motion, as if he would not object to follow his in- several days, but learned nothing, for Helen was at a
prisoned hand through the party wall. It was only standstill. At last they got caught, and by a truly femfor a moment, the next, he smoked imperturbably.  inine stroke of observation. A showily dressed man
"Well, sir," said Nancy, " I hopes you are corn- peeped into a shop where Helen was buying gloves.
fortable? "                                        With one glance of her woman's eye she recog"Thank ye, miss; yes. I'm at a double sheet- nized a large breastpin in the worst possible taste;
anchor."                                         thence her eye went up and recognized the features
"Why do you call me miss? "                   of her seedy follower, though he was now dressed up
-" I don't know. Because you are so young and  to the nine. She withdrew' her eye directly, coinpretty."                                          pleted her purchase, and went home, brooding de" That will do. I only wanted to hear the sound fence and vengean-o
of your voice, Joe Wylie."  And with the word she    That evening she dined with a lady who had a
snatched his wig off with one hand, and his beard  large acquaintance with lawyers, and it so happened
with the other, and revealed his true features to his that Mr. Tollemache and Mr. Hennessy were both
astonished landlady.                              of the party. Now, when these gentlemen saw Helen
"There, mum," said she, "I wish you joy of your in full costume, a queen in form as well as face, coro



FOUL PLAY.                                           131
neted with her island pearls, environed with a halo  innocent man; sent me two guineas too, and said he
of romance, and courted by women as well as men, would make it twenty but he was poor as well as
they looked up to her with astonishment, and made unfortunate; that letter has stuck in my gizzard
up to her in a very different style from that in  ever since; can't see the color of felony in it. Your
which they had received her visit. Tollenache she felon is never in a fault; and, if he wears a good
received coldly; he had defended Robert Penfold  coat, he is n't given to show fight."
feebly, and she hated him for it. Hennessy she re-   "It was very improper of him to strike you,"
ceived graciously, and, remembering Robert's pre- said Helen, "and very noble of you to forgive it.
cept to be supple as a woman, bewitched him. He Make him still more ashamed of it: lay him under
was good-natured, able, and vain.  By eleven  a deep obligation."
o'clock she had enlisted him in her service. When    "If he is innocent, I'll try and prove it," said the
she had conquered him, she said, slyly, " But I ought Detective. He then asked her if she had taken notes.
not to speak of these things to you except through a She said she had a diary. He begged to see it.
solicitor."                                       She felt inclined to withhold it, because of the
"That is the general rule," said the learned coun- comments; but, remembering that this was womansel; " but in this case no dark body must come be- ish, and that Robert's orders to her were to be
tween me and the sun."                           manly on such occasions, she produced her diary.
In short he entered into Penfold's case with such  Mr. Burt read it very carefully, and told her it was a
well-feigned warmth, to please the beauteous girl, that very promising case. " You have done a great deal
at last she took him by the horns and consulted.  more than you thought," he said. " You have netted
" I am followed," said she.                    the fish."
" I have no doubt you are; and on a large scale;
if there is room for another, I should be glad to join         CHAPTER  LXVIII.
the train."                                         "I! NETTED the fish! what fish?"
"Ha! ha! I'll save you the trouble. I'll meet   " The man who forged the promissory note."
you half-way. But, to be serious, I am watched,   "0 Mr. Burt!"
spied, and followed by some enemy to that good    "The same man  that forged the newspaper
friend whose sacred cause we have undertaken. extracts to deceive you foiged the promissory note
Forgive me for saying'we."'                      years ago, and the man who is setting spies on you
"I am too proud of the companionship to let you  is the man who forged those extracts; so we are
off.' We' is the word."                         sure to nail him. He is in the net; and very much
" Then advise me what to do. I want to retal- to your credit. Leave the rest to me. I'11 tell you
iate. I want to discover who is watching me, and  more about it to-morrow. You must order your
why. Can you advise me?  Will you?"              carriage at one o'clock to-morrow and drive down
The counsel reflected a moment, and Helen, who to Scotland Yard; go into the yard, and you will see
watched him, remarked the power that suddenly  me; follow  me without a word. When you go
came into his countenance and brow..     back, the other spies will be so frightened, they will' You must watch the spies. I have influence in go off to their employer, and so we shall nail him."
Scotland Yard, and will get it done for you. If   Helen complied with their instructions strictly,
you went there yourself, they would cross-examine  and then returned home, leaving Mr. Burt to work.
you and decline to interfere. I'll go myself for you, She had been home about half an hour, when the
and put it in a certain light. An able detective servant brought her up a message saying that a man
will call on you: give him ten guineas, and let him  wanted to speak to her. " Admit him," said Helen.
into your views in confidence; then he will work  " He is dressed very poor, miss."  "Never mind;
the public machinery for you."                    send him to me."  She was afraid to reject anybody
" 0 Mr. Hennessy, how can I thank you?"       now, lest she might turn her back on information.
"By succeeding. I hate to fail: and now your    A man presented himself in well-worn clothes,
cause is mine."                                   with a wash-leather face and close-shaven chin; a
Next day a man with a hooked nose, a keen black  little of his forehead was also shaven.  "Madam,
eye, and a solitary foible (Mosaic), called on Helen  my name is Hand."  Helen started. " I have alRolleston, and told her he was to take her instruc- ready had the honor of writing to you."
tions. She told him she was watched, and thought   " Yes, sir," said Helen, eyeing him with fear and
it was done to baffle a mission she had undertaken: aversion.
but, having got so far, she blushed and hesitated.  "Madam, I am come "- (he hesitated) -" I am
"The more you tell me, miss, the more use I can  an unfortunate man. Weighed down by remorse for
be," said Mr. Burt.                               a thoughtless act that has ruined an innocent man,
Thus encouraged, and also remembering  Mr. and nearly cost my worthy employer his life, I come
HI nnessy's advice, she gave Mr. Burt, as coldly as to expiate as far as in me lies. But let me be brief,
she could, an outline of Robert Penfold's case, and  and hurry over the tale of shame. I was a clerk at
of the exertions she had made, and the small result. Wardlaw's office. A bill-broker called Adams was
Burt listened keenly, and took a note or two; and, talking to me and my fellow-clerks, and boasting that
when she had done, he told her something in return, nobody could take him in with a feigned signature.
"Miss Rolleston," said he, " I am the officer that Bets were laid; our vanity was irritated by his prearrested Robert Penfold. It cost me a grinder that tension. It was my fortune to overhear my young
he knocked out."                                  master and his friend Robert Penfold speak about a
" 0, dear! " said Helen, "how unfortunate! Then  loan of two thousand pounds. In an evil hour I lisI fear I cannot reckon on your services."        tened to the tempter, and wrote a forged note for
"Why not, miss?  What, do you think I hold that amount. I took it to Mr. Penfold; he prespite against a poor fellow for defending himself? sented it to Adams, and it was cashed. I intended,
Besides, Mr. Penfold wrote me a very proper note. of course, to call next day, and tell Mr. Penfold, and
Certainly for a parson the gent is a very quick hit- take him to Adams, and restore the money, and get
ter; but he wrote very square; said he hoped I back the note. It was not due for three months.
would allow for the surprise and the agitation of an  Alas! that very day it fell under suspicion.  Mr.




1382                                    FOUL PLAY.
Penfold was arrested. My young master was struck    "This day fortnight.  Let me speak to your
down with illness at his friend's guilt, though he father: let him name the day."
never could be quite got to believe it; and I - mis-   As she made no reply, he kissed her hand devoterablecoward!-darednot tell thetruth. Eversince edly, and did speak to her father.  Sir Edward,
that day I have been a miserable man. The other meaning all for the best, said, " This day fortnight."
day I came into money, and left Wardlaw's service.
But I carry my remorse with me. Madam, I am
come to tell the truth. I dare not tell it to Mr.A                           LXIX.
Wardlaw; I think he would kill me. But I will   THE next morning came the first wedding prestell it to you, and you can tell it to him; ay, tell it ents from the jubilant bridegroom, who was deterto all the world. Let my shame be as public as his mined to advance step by step, and give no breathwhom I have injured so deeply, but, Heaven knows, ing time.  When Helen saw them laid out by her
unintentionally. I — I —    "                     maid, she trembled at the consequences of not givMr. Hand sank all in a heap where he sat, and  ing a plump negative to so brisk a wooer.
could say no more.                                  The second post brought two letters; one of them
Hcien's flesh crawled at this confession, and at the from  Mrs. Undercliff.  The other contained no
sight of this reptile who owned that he had de- words, but only a pearl of uncommon size, and pearstroyed Robert Penfold in fear and cowardice. For shaped. Helen received this at first as another weda long time her wrath so overpowered all sense of ding present, and an attempt on Arthur's part to give
pity, that she sat trembling; and, if eyes could kill, her a pearl as large as those she had gathered on
Mr. Hand would not have outlived his confession.   her dear island. But, looking narrowly at the adAt last she contrived to speak. She turned her head  dress, she saw it was not written by Arthur; and,
away not to see the wretch, and said, sternly, -  presently, she was struck by the likeness of this
" Are you prepared to make this statement on pearl in shape to some of her own. She got out her
paper, if called on?"                            pearls, laid them side by side, and began to be
Mr. Hand hesitated, but said " Yes."           moved exceedingly.  She had one of her instincts,'Then write down that Robert Penfold was in- and it set every fibre quivering with excitement.
nocent, and you are ready to prove it whenever It was some time before she could take her eyes off
you may be called upon."                         the pearls, and it was with a trembling hand she
" Write that down? " said Hand.               opened Mrs. Undercliffs letter. That missive was
"Unless your penitence is feigned, you will."   not calculated to calm her. It ran thus:"Sooner than that should be added to my crime    " MY DEAR YOUNG LADY,- A person called
I will avow all."  He wrote the few lines she re- here last night and supplied the clew. If you have
quired.                                          the courage to know the truth, you have only to come
" Now your address, that I may know where to here, and to bring your diary, and all the letters you
find you at a moment's notice."  He wrote "J. have received from any person or persons since you
Hand, 11 Warwick Street, Pimlico."               landed in England. I am yours obediently,
Helen then dismissed him, and wept bitterly. In                        " JANE UNDERCLIFF."
that condition she was found by Arthur Wardlaw,   The courage to know the truth!
who comforted her, and, on hearing her report of   This mysterious sentence affected Helen considIand's confession, burst out into triumph, and re- erably. But her faith in Robert was too great to
minded her he had always said Robert Penfold was be shaken.  She would not wait for the canonical
innocent.  "My father," said he, "must yield  hour at which young ladies go out, but put on her
to this evidence, and we will lay it before the Sec- bonnet directly after breakfast. Early as she was, a
rotary of State, and get his pardon."             visitor came before she could start,- Mr. Burt, the
"His pardon! when he is innocent!"            Detective.  She received him in the library.
" 0, that is the form, -the only form. The rest   Mr. Burt looked at her dress and her little bag, and
must be done by the warm reception of his friends. said, " I'm very glad I made bold to call so early."
I, for one, who all these years have maintained his   " You have got information of importance to cominnocence, will be the first to welcome him to my  municate to me?"
house, an honored guest.  What am  I saying?    "I think so,' miss"; and he took out his noteCan I? dare I? ought I? when my wife —  Ah! book. "The person you are watched by is Mr.
I am more to be pitied than my poor friend is: my Arthur Wardlaw." The girl stared at him. " Both
friend, my rival. Well, I leave it to you whether spies report to him twice a day at his house in Rushe can come into your husband's house."          sell Square."
Never."                                         " Be careful, Mr. Burt; this is a serious thing to
"But, at least, I can send the Springbok out, and say, and may have serious consequences."
bring him home; and that I will do without one   "Well, miss, you told me you wanted to know
day's delay."                                    the truth."
"0 Arthur! " cried Helen, " you set me an ex-   " Of course I want to know the truth."
ample of unselfishness."                            " Then the truth is that you are watched by or"I do what I can," said Arthur. "I am no saint. der of Mr. Wardlaw."
I hope for a reward."                               Burt continued his report.
Helen sighed. " What shall I do? "              "A shabby-like man called on you yesterday."
" Have pity on me! your faithful lover, and to    "Yes; it was Mr. Hand, Mr. Wardlaw's clerk.
whom your faith was plighted before ever you saw  And 0 Mr. Burt, that wretched creature came and
or knew my unhappy friend. What can I do or confessed the truth. It was he who forged the note,
suffer more than I have done and suffered for you? out of sport, and for a bet, and then was too cowardMy sweet Helen, have pity on me, and be my wife." ly to own it."  She then detailed Hand's confession.
"I will; some day."                              " His penitence comes too late," said she, with a
"Bless you: bles you.  One effort more: what deep sigh.
lay?"                                              "It hasn't come yet," said Burt, dryly. " Of
"I can't. I can't  My heart is dead."          course my lambs followed the man. He went first




FOUL PLAY.                                           133
to his employer, and then he went home. His name    " O, Heaven forbid!" cried Helen, and turned so
is not Hand. He is not a clerk at all, but a little faint she had to be laid back on a chair, and salts
actor. at the Corinthian Saloon. Hand is in Ameri- applied to her nostrils.
ca; went three months ago. I ascertained that   She soon came to, and cried and trembled, but
from another quarter."                           prepared to defend her Robert with all a woman's
" 0, goodness I " cried Helen, " what a wretched  wit. Burt and Undercliff were conversing in a low
world! I can't see my way a yard for stories."   voice, and Burt was saying he felt sure Wardlaw's
"How should you, miss? It is clear enough, for spies had detected Robert Penfold, and that Robert
all that. Mr. Wardlaw hired this actor to pass for would be arrested and put into prison as a runaway
Hand, and tell you a lie that he thought would convict. " Go to Scotland Yard this minute, Mr.
please you.'                                      Burt," said Helen, eagerly.
Helen put her hand to her brow, and thought;   "What for?"
but her candid soul got sadly in the way of her   "Why, you must take the commission to arrest
brain. " Mr. Burt," said she, "will you go with me him. You are our friend."
to Mr. Underclif, the Expert? "                    Burt slapped his thigh with delight.
" With pleasure, ma'am; but let me finish my re-    t That is first-rate, miss," said he: " I'l take the
port. Last night there was something new. Your real felon first, you may depend. Now, Mr. Underhouse was watched by six persons. Two were cliff, write your report, and hand it to Miss Helen
Wardlaw's, three were Burt's; but the odd man was with fac-similes. It will do no harm if you make a
there on his own hook; and my men could not make declaration to the same effect before a magistrate.
him out at all; but they think one of Wardlaw's You, Miss Rolleston, keep yourself disengaged, and
men knew him; for he went off to Russell Square like please don't go out. You will very likely hear from
the wind, and brought Mr. Wardlaw here in dis- me again to-day."
guise. Now, miss, that is all; and shall I call a cab,   He drove off, and Helen, though still greatly
and we'11 hear Undercliff's tale?"             agitated by Robert's danger and the sense of his
The cab was called, and they went to Undercliff. presence, now  sat down, trembling a little, and
On the way Helen brooded; but the Detective eyed compared Arthur's letter with the forged document.
every man and everything on the road with the ut- The effect of this comparison was irresistible. The
most keenness.                                   Expert, however, asked her for some letter of
Edward Undercliff was at work at lithographing. Arthur's that had never passed through Robert PenHe received Helen cordially, nodded to Burt, and fold's hands. She gave him the short note in which
said she could not have a better assistant.      he used the very words, Robert Penfold. He said
He then laid his fac-simile of the forged note on he would make that note the basis of his report.
the table, with John Wardlaw's genuine writing and    While he was writing it, Mrs. Undercliff came
Penfold's indorsement. "Look at that, Mr. Burt."  in, and Helen told her all. She said, "I came to
Burt inspected the papers keenly.              the same conclusion long ago; but when you said
"You know, Burt, I swore at Robert Penfold's he was to be your husband -"
trial that he never wrote that forged note."        " Ah," said Helen, " we women are poor crea" I remember," said Burt.                      tures; we can always find some reason for running
"The other day this lady instructed me to dis- away from  the truth.  Now explain about the
cover, if I could, who did write the forged note. prayer-book."
But, unfortunately, the materials she gave me were    "Well, miss, I felt sure he would steal it, so I
not sufficient. But, last night, a young man dropped  made Ned produce a fac-simile. And he did steal
from the clouds, that I made sure was an agent of it. What you got back was your mother's prayeryours, Miss Rolleston. Under that impression I was book.  Of course I took care of that."
rather unguarded, and I let him know how far we   " 0 Mrs. Undercliff," cried Helen, " do let me
had got, and could get no farther.'I think I can kiss you."
help you,' says this young man, and puts a letter on    Then they had a nice little cry together, and, by
the table. " Well, Mr. Burt, a glance at that letter the time they had done, the report was ready in
was enough for me. It was written by the man duplicate.
who forged the note."                               " I'll declare this before a magistrate," said the
"A letter  " said Helen.                       Expert, " and then I'll send it you."
"Yes.  I'll put the letter by the side of the    At four o'clock of this eventful day, Helen got a
forged note; and, if you have any eye for writing  message from Burt to say that he had orders to arat all, you'11 see at once that one hand wrote the rest Robert Penfold, and that she must wear a
forged note and this letter. I am also prepared to mask, and ask Mr. Wardlaw to meet her at old Mr.
swear that the letters signed Hand are forgeries by Penfold's at nine o'clock. But she herself must be
the same person."  He then coolly put upon the ta- there at half-past eight, without fail, and bring Unble the letter from Arthur Wardlaw that Helen had  dercliff's declaration and report with her, and the
received on board the Proserpine, and was proceed- prayer-book, etc.
ing to point out the many points of resemblance be-   Accordingly, Helen went down to old Mr. Pentween the letter and the document, when he was fold's at half-past eight, anct was received by Nancy
interrupted by a scream from Helen.               Rouse, and ushered into Mr. Penfold's room; that is
" Ah! " she cried, " he is here. Only one man in to say, Nancy held the door open, and, on her enterthe world could have brought that letter. I left it on ing the room, shut it sharply and ran down stairs.
the island. Robert is here: he gave you that letter."    Helen entered the room; a man rose directly,
"You are right," said the Expert, " and what a and came to her; but it was not Michael Penfold, 
fool I must be! I have no eye except for handwrit- it was Robert. A faint scream, a heavenly sigh,
ing. He had a beard: and such a beard!"           and her head was on his shoulder, and her arm
" It is Robert! " cried Helen, in raptures. " He round his neck, and both their hearts panting as
is come just in time."                           they gazed, and then clung to each other, and then
" In time to be arrested," said Burt. "Why, his gazed again with love unutterable.  After a while
time is not out. He'11 get into a trouble again."   they got sufficient composure to sit down hand in




134                                     FOUL PLAY.
hand and compare notes. And Helen showed him    "You were not the cause? "
their weapons of defence, the prayer-book, the Ex-   " Never -- so help me Heaven! "
pert's report, etc.                                 "Monster!" said Helen, turning away in conA discreet tap was heard at the door. It was tempt and horror.
Nancy Rouse.  On being invited to enter, she came    "0, that is it, - is it?" said Arthur, wildly. "You
in, and said, " 0 Miss Helen, I've got a penitent break faith with me for him? You insult me for
outside, which he done it for love of me, and now  hin? I must bear anything from you, for I love
he'11 make a clean breast, and the fault was partly  you; but, at least, I will sweep him out of the path."
mine. Come in, Joe, and speak for yourself."        He ran to the door, opened it, and there was Burt,
On this, Joe Wylie came in, hanging his head  listening. "Are you an officer?"
piteously.' Yes."
"She is right, sir," said he; "I'm come to ask    " Then arrest that man this moment: he is Robert
your pardon and the lady's. Not as I ever meant Penfold, a convict returned before his time."
you any harml; but to destroy the ship, it was a bad    Burt came into the room, locked the door, and put
act, and I've never throve since. Nance, she have the key in his pocket. " Well, sir," said he to Robgot the money. I'll give it back to the underwrit- ert Penfold, " I know you are a quick hitter. Don't
ers; and, if you and the lady will forgive a poor let us have a row over it this time. If you have got
fellow that was tempted with love and money, why  anything to say, say it quiet and comfortable."'11 stand to the truth for you, though it's a bitter   "I will go with you on one condition," said Robert.
pill."                                            " You must take the felon as well as the martyr.
I forgive you," said Robert; "and I accept your This is the felon," and he laid his hand on Arthur's
offer to serve me."                              shoulder, who cowered under the touch at first, but
"And so do I," said Helen. "Indeed, it is not soon began to act violent indignation.
us you have wronged. But, I am  glad, for   " Take the ruffian away at once," he cried.
Nancy's sake, that you repent."                     " What, before I hear what he has got to say."
"Miss, I'11 go through fire and water for you,"    "Would you listen to him against a merchant of the
said Wylie, lifting up his head.                  city of London, a man of unblemished reputation."
Here old Michael came in to say that Arthur   " Well, sir, you see we have got a hint that you
Wardlaw was at the door, with a policeman.        were concerned in scuttling a ship; and that is a
"Show him in," said Robert.                    felony. So I think I'11 just hear what he has got
"0  no,, Robert!" said Helen.  "He fills me to say. You need notfear any man's tongue if you
with horror."                                     are innocent."
"Show him in," said Robert, gently. "Sit down,   "Sit down, if you please, and examine'these docall of you."                                      uments," said Robert Penfold. " As to the scuttling
Now Burt had not told Arthur who was in the of the ship, here is the deposition of two seamen,
house, so he came, rather uneasy in his mind, but taken on their death-bed, and witnessed by Miss
still expecting only to see Helen.                Rolleston and myself."
Robert Penfold told Helen to face the door, and    " And that book he tried to steal," said Helen.
the rest to sit back; and this arrangement had not   Robert continued: " And here is Undercliff's facbeen effected one second, when Arthur came in, simile of the forged note. Here are specimens of
with a lover's look, and, taking two steps into the Arthur Wardlaw's handwriting, and here is Underroom, saw  the three men waiting to receive him. cliff's report."
At sight of Penfold, he started, and turned pale as   The Detective ran his eye hastily over the report,
ashes; but, recovering himself, said: "My dearest which we slightly condense.
Helen, this is indeed an unexpected pleasure. You    On comparing  the forged note with genuine
will reconcile me to one whose worth and innocence  specimens of John Wardlaw's handwriting, no less
I never doubted, and tell him I have had some little than twelve deviations from his habits of writing
hand in clearing him."  His effrontery was received  strike the eye; and every one of these twelve
in dead silence. This struck cold to his bones, and, deviations is a deviation into a habit of Arthur
being naturally weak, he got violent.  He'said, Wardlaw, which is an amount of demonstration
" Allow me to send a message to my servant."     rarely attained in cases of forgery.
He then tore a leaf out of his memorandum-book,   1. TIE  CAPITAL  L.-  Compare in  London
wrote on it, "Robert.Penfold is here; arrest him  (forged note) with the same letter in London in
directly, and take him away," and, enclosing this Wardlaw's letter.
in an envelope, sent it out to Burt by Nancy.       2. THE CAPITAL D. —Compare this letter in
Helen seated herself quietly, and said, "Mr. "]Date," with the same letter in "Dearest."
Wardlaw, when did Mr. Hand go to America? "        3. THE CAPITAL T. —Compare it in "Two"
Arthurstammeredout," Idon'tknowthe exactdate." and " Tollemache."
"Two or three months ago?"                       4. The word "To;" see "To pay," in forged
" Yes."                                         note and third line of letter.
"Then the person you sent to ine to tell me that   5. Small " o" formed with a loop in the upfalsehood was not Mr. Hand?"                     stroke.
"I sent nobody."                                  6. The manner of finishing the letter "v."
" 0, for shame! - for shame! Why have you    7. Ditto the letter " w."
set spies? Why did you make away with my prayer-   8. The imperfect formation of the small "a."
book;- or what you thought was my prayer-book? This and the looped " o" run through the forged
Here is my prayer-book, that proves you had the note and Arthur Wardlaw's letter, and are habits
Proserpine destroyed; and I should have lost my life entirely foreign to the style of John Wardlaw.
but for another, whom you had done your best to de-   9. See the " th " in connection.
stroy. Look Robert Penfold in the face, if you can."   10. Ditto the " of" in connection.
Arthur's eyes began to waver. "I can," said he.   11. The incautious use of the Greek e. John
"I never wronged him. I always lamented his mis- Wardlaw never uses this e.  Arthur Wardlaw
fortune."                                         never uses any other, apparently. -The writer of




FOUL PLAY.                                              135
the forged note began right, but at the word Robert    "And the newspaper extracts you sent me," said
Penfold glided insensibly into his Greek e, and  Helen, " and the letters from Mr. Hand."
maintained it to the end of the forgery.  This looks    Arthur groaned. "Must I tell all that?" said he.
as if he was in the habit of writing those two words.    "Every word, or be indicted," said Robert Pen12. Compare the words "Robert Penfold" in the fold, sternly.
forged document with the same words in the letter.   He wrote it all down, and then sat staring stuThe similarity is so striking, that, on these two  pidly.  And the next thing was, he gave a loud
words alone, the writer could be identified beyond  shriek, and fell on the floor in a fit. They sprinkled
a doubt.                                            water over him, and Burt conveyed him home in
13. Great pains were taken with the signature, and  a cab, advising him to leave the country, but at the
it is like John Wardlaw's writing on the surface; but same time promising him not to exasperate those he
go below the surface, and it is all Arthur Wardlaw.  had wronged so deeply, but rather to moderate them,
The looped o, the small r, the 1 dropping below  if required.  Then he gave Burt fifty guineas.
the d, the open a, are all Arthur Wardlaw's.  The    Robert Penfold, at Helen's request, went with
open loop of the final w is a still bolder deviation  her to Mr. Hennessy, and with the proofs of Arinto A. W.'s own hand. The final flourish is a curi- thur's guilt and Robert's innocence; and he underous mistake.  It is executed with skill and freedom; took that the matter should go in proper form bebut the writer has made the lower line the thick  fore the Secretary of State. But, somehow, it transone. Yet John Wardlaw never does this.              pired that the Proserpine had been scuttled, and
How was the deviation caused?  Examine the several of the underwriters wrote to the Wardlaws
final flourish in Arthur Wardlaw's signature.  It to threaten proceedings.  Wardlaw senior returned
contains one stroke only, but then that stroke is a but one answer to these gentlemen: " Bring your
thick one.  He thought he had only to prolong his proofs to me at my place of business next Monday
own stroke and bring it round. -Ite did this ex- at twelve, and let me judge the case, before you go
tremely well, but missed the deeper characteristic, elsewhere."
the thick upper stroke.  This is proof of a high    "That is high and mighty," said one or two; but
character: and altogether I am quite prepared to  they conferred, and agreed to these terms, so high
testify upon oath that the writer of the letter to  stood the old merchant's name.
Miss Rolleston, who signs himself Arthur Wardlaw,    They came; they were received with stiff couris the person who forged the promissory note.       tesy.  The deposition of Cooper and Welch was
To these twelve proofs one more was now added. prodlced, and Wylie, kept up to the mark by
Arthur Wardlaw rose, and, with his knees knock- Nancy, told the truth, and laid his two thousand
ing together, said, " Don't arrest him, Burt; let pounds intact down on the table.  " Now that is off
him go."                                            my stomach," said he, " and I'm a man again."
"Don't let him go," cried old Penfold. " A vil-   "Ay, and'll marry you next week," said Nancy.
lain! I have got the number of the notes from         " Well, gentlemen," said  old  Wardlaw, " my
Benson. I can prove he bribed this poor man to  course seems very clear. I will undo the whole transdestroy the ship. Don't let him go.  He has ruined  action, and return you your money less the premiums,
my poor boy."                                       but plus five per cent interest."  And this he did
At this Arthur Wardlaw  began to shriek for on the spot, for the firm was richer than ever.
mercy.  " 0 Mr. Penfold," said he, "you are a    When they were gone, Robert Penfold came in,
father, and hate me. But think of my father. I'll and said, "I hear, sir, you devote this day to repairsay anything, do anything.'11 clear Robert Penfold  ing the wrongs done by your firm: What can you
at my own expense.  I have lost her.  She loathes do for me? "  He laid a copy of Arthur's confession
me now. Have mercy on me, and let me leave the before him.
country! "  He cringed and crawled so that he dis-   The old man winced a moment where he sat, and
armed anger, and substituted contempt.              the iron passed through his soul. It was a long time
"Ay," said Burt.  " He don't hit like you, Mr. before he could speak.  At last he said, " This
Penfold; this is a chap that ought to have been in  wrong is irreparable, I fear."
Newgate long ago.  But take my advice; make    Robert said nothing.  Sore as his own heart was,
him clear you on paper, and then let him go. I'11 he was not the one to strike a grand old man, struggo down stairs awhile. I must n't take part in com- gling so bravely against dishonor.
pounding a felony."                                   Wardlaw senior touched his hand-bell.
"O  yes, Robert," said Helen, " for his father's      Request Mr. Penfold to step this way."
sake."                                                Michael Penfold came.
"Very well," said Robert.  "Now then, reptile,   "Gentlemen," said the old merchant, " the house
take the pen, and write in your own hand, if you can." of Wardlaw exists no more. It was built on honesHe took the pen, and wrote to dictation:          ty, and cannot survive a fraud.  Wardlaw and Son
"I, Arthur Wardlaw, confess that I forged the  were partners at will. I had decided to dissolve
promissory note for ~ 2,000, and sent it to Robert tlat partnership, wind up the accounts, and put up
Peifold, and that ~ 1,400 of it was to be for my own  the shutters. But now, if you like; I will value the
use, and to pay my Oxford debts.  And I confess effects, and hand the business over to Penfold and
that I bribed Wylie to scuttle the ship Proserpine  Son on easy terms.  Robert Penfold has been acin order to cheat the underwriters.'                cused of forging John Wardlaw's name; to prove
Penfold then turned to Wylie, and asked him the  this was a calumny, I put Penfold over my door
true motive of this fraud.'                         instead of Wardlaw.  The city of London will un"Why, the gold was aboard the Shannon," said  derstand that, gentlemen, believe me."
Wylie; " I played hanky panky with the metals in    "Mr. Wardlaw," said Robert, "you are a just,
White's store."                                     a noble -"  He could say no more.
"Put that down," said Penfold.  " Now go on."       " Ah, sir," said Michael, "if the young gentleMake a clean breast," said Wylie. "I have.  lan had only been like you!"
Say as how you cooked the Proserpine's log, and    " MAention his name no more to me. His crime
forged Hiram Hudson's writing."                     and his punishment have killed me."
-— s — ----------— ~~ —— r




136                                     FOUL PLAY.
"0," said Robert, hastily, "he shall not be    Her Majesty pardoned this scholar, hero, and
punished, for your sake."                        worthy, the crime he had never committed.'"Not be punished? It is not in your hands to    Nancy Rouse took the penitent Wylie without the
decide.  God has punished him. He is insane."    ~ 2,000. But old Penfold, who knew the whole
" Good Heavens!"                              story, lent the money at three percent; so the
"Quite mad; —quite mad. Gentlemen, I can no  Wylies pay a groundrent of ~60 a year for a
longer support this interview.  Send me your so- property which, by Mrs. Wylie's industry and judglicitor's address; the deeds shall be prepared. I ment, is worth at least ~400.  She pays this very
wish the new firm. success. Probity is the road  cheerfully, and appeals to Joe whether that is not
to it. Good day."                                better than the other way.
He wound up the affairs, had his name and Ar-   "Why, Joe," says she, "to a woman like me,
thur's painted out at his own expense, and directed  that's afoot all day,'t is worth sixty pounds a year
the painters to paint the Penfolds' in at theirs; went to be a good sleeper; and I should i't be that if I
home to Elm Trees, and died in three days. He had wronged my neighbor."
died lamented and honored, and Robert Penfold    Arthur Wardlaw is in a private lunatic asylum,
was much affected. He got it into his head that he and is taken great care of. In his lucid intervals
had killed him with Arthur's confession, putting it he suffers horrible distress of mind; but, though sad
before him so suddenly. "I have forgotten who said to see, these agonies furnish the one hope of his'Vengeance is mine,'" said Robert Penfold.       ultimate recovery.  When not troubled by these
The merchant priest left the office to be conducted  returns of reason, he is contented enough.  His
by his father; he used the credit of the new firm to favorite employment is to get Mr. Undercliff's facpurchase a living in the Vale of Kent; and thither similes, and to write love-letters to Helen Rolleshe retired, grateful to Providence, lout not easy in  ton which are duly deposited in the post-office of
his conscience.  He now accused himself of having the establishment. These letters are in the handoften distrusted God, and seen his fellow-creatures writing of Charles I., Paoli, Lord Bacon, Alexander
in too dark a light.  He turned towards religion  Pope, Lord Chesterfield, Nelson, Lord Shaftesbury,
and the care of souls.                           Addison, the late Duke of Wellington, and so on.
Past suffering enlightens a man, and makes him  And, strange to say, the Greek e never appears in
tender; and people soon began to walk and drive any of them. They are admirably like, though, of
considerable distances to hear the new vicar.  He course, the matter is not always equally consistent
had a lake with a peninsula, the shape of which he with the characters of those personages.
altered, at a great expense, as soon as he came    Helen Rolleston married Robert Penfold.   On
there.  He wrote to Helen every day, and she to the wedding-day, the presents were laid out, and
him. Neither could do anything con amore till the amongst them  there was a silver-box encrusted
post came in.                                    with coral. Female curiosity demanded that this
One afternoon, as he was preaching with great box should be opened.  Helen objected, but her
unction, he saw a long puritanical face looking up bridesmaids rebelled; the whole company sided
at him with a droll expression of amazement and  with them, and Robert smiled a careless assent.
half irony. The stranger called on him, and began  A  blacksmith and carpenter were both enlisted,
at once, "Wal, parson, you are a buster, you air. and with infinite difficulty the poor box was riven
You ginn it us hot,-you'did. I'm darned if I ain't open.
kinder ashamed to talk of this world's goods to a saint   Inside was another box, locked, but with no key..
upon airth like you. But I never knowed a parson  That was opened with comparative ease, and then
yet as couldn't collar the dollars."             handed to the bride.  It contained nothing but
After this preamble he announced that he had Papal indulgences and rough stones, and fair throats
got a lease of the island from Chili, dug a lot of were opened in some disappointment.
silver plate out of the galleon, sold ten tons of choice    A lady, however, of more experience, examined
coral, and a ship-load of cassia and cocoa-nuts. the contents, and said, that, in her opinion, many
He had then disposed of his lease to a Californian  of them were uncut gems of great price; there were
Company for a large sum. And his partner'S share certainly a quantity of jaspers and bloodstones, and
of net profits came to 17,2471. 13s. 3-d., which sum  others of no value at all. "But look at these two
he had paid to Michael, for Robert, Penfold in pearl-shaped diamonds," said she; "why, they are a
drafts on Baring, at thirty days after sight.    little fortune! and, Oh!"  The stone that struck
Robert shook his hand, and thanked him sincerely this fair creature dumb was a rough ruby as big as
for his ability and probity. He stayed that night at a blackbird's egg, and of amazing depth and fire.
the Vicarage, and by that means fell in with an- "No lady in England," said she, "has a ruby to
other acquaintance.  General Rolleston and his compare with this."
daughter drove down to see the Parsonage.  Helen    The information proved correct. The box furwanted to surprise Robert; and, as often happens, mished Helen with diamonds and emeralds of great
she surprised herself.  She made him  show  her thickness and quality.  But the huge ruby placed
everything; and so he took her on to his peninsula. her on a level with sovereigns.  She wears it now
Lo! the edges of it had been cut and altered, so that and then in London, but not often. It attracts too
it presented a miniature copy of Godsend Island.    much attention, blazing on her fair forehead like a
As soon as she saw this, Helen turned round with star, and eclipses everything.
a sudden cry of love, "O Robert!" and the lovers   Well, what herruby is amongst stonessheis amongst
were in each other's arms.                       wives. And he is worthy of her. Through much
"What could any other man ever be to me?"    injustice, suffering, danger, and trouble, they have
"And what could any other woman ever be to me?" passed. to health, happiness, and peace, and that enThey knew that before. But this miniature is- tire union of two noble hearts, in loyal friendship
land made them speak out and say it. The wed- and wedded love, whichis the truest bliss this earth
ding day was fixed before she left.              affords.
THE END.