i being cast upon the world by his masters death he determined to go through it upon his head and hands and iaccordingly began to tumble forhis bread


finding howeveri his english birthl an insurmountable


obstacle


to his advancemnenit int tbis pursuit notwithstanding that this arty was in high repute and favour he assumed the iame of an italian image lad withwhom heihad become ac quainted and afterwards tumbled with extraordinary succeqs and tooverlowing audieaces


little mrs qquilp never quite forgave herselftlib one deceit that lay so heavyion herconsclicdi and never spoke nor thoughtof it but with bitterieirit


her husband had no relations and she vwas rich


hehad made no will or she would probably have been poor


having married the first time at


he mothers instigation she consulted in her second choice nobody but herself


it fell upon a smart young


fellow enough and as he mnade it a pre liminary condition that mrs jiniwin should be an outpensioner they lived together after marriage with no more than the average amount of quirrelliig and led a merry life upont he dead dwarfs money


mr and mrs garland and mr abel went don as usual except that there was a chaiinge in e ihouse hold as it willbe seen presentlyaiid in aie time the latterwent into partnership with hi friend the notary on which occasion there was a disneanidne a ball and great extentof dissipatio untbothis ball there happened to be invited the iost baihful oung lady that was ever seen with whi


mri abel hap


pened to fall in love


hiw it happenede or


osi theyfound itout or which oftcdiiboirunicated the discovery to thie other nnibbiljii biut certain it is that in course of tiiethey were married and equally certain itis that they werithe happiestst of the happy and no less certair itls thait thiey deserved to beso


and it ispleasantito wtiie dowp that they reared a family because any propaatiio of goodness and beneolence is o small addition ti thearistocracy of nature and no small ubjicto rejoicing for mancinhd at large


the pony preserved his character for independence and principle down to the istmoment of iii life which was an unusually idlog oe iad causied iim to be looked upon indeed as very old parr o ponies


he often went to and fro withithelittle phaetou between mr garlands and his sonis aand as the old people and the young were frequently together had a stable of his own at thii ne establishmentl into which he wotild walkbofhimself with surprising dignity


he condescended to play with thle childre ais they giew old enough to cul tivate his friendship and would irin up and dowi the little paddock with theni like adog but though he relaxed so far and allowed lthem suc


small freedoms aas caesses or evetiio look at his aoe or hang on him by his tail he never permitted any one among them to


mount his back or drive himi tlus showing that even their familiarityjmusit haveits limits and that there weri points between them far too serious for triflinig


he was not unusceptilble of warm attachments in his later life for whenktle good bachelorcame to live with mr garland uipon the clergyiians cease he conceived a great friendship for hlim and amiably submitted to be driven by lis hands withiout thlleast resistance


he did not work for twoo tlree years before be died buit lived it ilover aadhis last aci t like a choleric old genitlemain was i kic


its doctor


mr swiveller recoversgveri aldwif from h illness and entering iato theirecelp oi his iaut bought for the marchioness a handsomesiock of clothes and put her to school forthwith ihredmeip


tlionof the vow lihe hadmade upon his fevered bed


after castiogabout for sione time for a nae wliich should be worthy of her le decided ia favoi d oft sophroita sphynx as being euphoniiousand genteel


and furthermore indicative ofm mystery


undr this title the marchioness repaired in tears to the school of his selection from which a silihe soon


d s lanced all competitors she was removed


before thei lapse of many quarters to one ofa higher grade itt is bt bare justice toy mrswiveller to say tlhat although the expenses ofbher eductibonkepit him ip straitened circumstances for hilf a doien iyearsie never slackened in his zeal and alwayis ield himsrlf sufficiently rapid by the accounts lhe heard wish great gravity


o her advancement ar htis niodthl visits to the governess who lookedupoun him asii literary gentleman of eccentric habits ind of a itoli prodigious talent in quotatiop


i ina woyd mr swiyeller kept themarhiloneisb at this establishment until she was at a moderate guess full nineteen years of agegoodlooking clever and goodhumtured wen he began to consider seiriusly what was to be done nextts


on oneofhis periodiecall visits whilel he was revolving this question lanhis mind the marchioness came down to himj alone looking more smling nd


freshthan ever


t henit occurred to him but not for thersat time that if slit would marryb him how comfortable theynilghtr bel so licthard asked her w


hatever


shesaid t awssnti no g


and they were marriedinigood easnest thaf day weekwhicl gave mr swlvelleri fequenti ood casion to remark at divers subsequent peridds that there had been ayyoung ladyvsaving up for htnlafter a tlille eottage at hampstead being toletuwhl c had in its garden seoking bol thereaovy ofthir


civilised world they


agreed to become its teisantsa f and when the hoeeymeoonwasoverientered ulotai iilts ocaupationt totlis retreat


mrchuclkster repaired regularly every sutnday to apiend tlie dayi usually beginning with breakfast


and


her hhewasl sthe great purveyor of general newap and fashlonable integiieoce


for asome yearshe continued a deapli fop to icit protiesting hal e had abetter opldiloe of him when lhe assupposed to have stolotbhe fivepound mote than whe he was shown to ibe peirrfetdy free of the cle


inasmuchbasblnsingsllt


would have had i iit iso eling daring aglibolds whereas his noocence wn a buttanother proqofofbi seiakingsond crafty dilpostioan bllynwdegreea howver he was reconolled to


him in the end i and even went so far as to honour him with his patronage


as one who had in some measure reformed and was therefore to be forgiven


but he never forgot or


a pardoned that circumstance of the shilling holding i that if he came back to get another he would have done well enough but that his returning to work out the former gift was a stain upon his moral character which no penitence or contrition could ever wash away


mr swiveller having always been in some mea sure of a philosophic and reflective turn grew immensely contemplative at times in the smoking box ahd was accisiomed at such periods to debate in his own mind the mysterious question of so phroeias parentage


sophronia herself appposed that she was an orphan but mr swiveller putting various alight circumstances together often thought miss brass must know betterthan that and having heard from his wife of her strange interview with quilp entertained sundry misgivings whether that person in his lifetime might not also have been able to solve the riddle had he chosen


these speculations however gave him no uneasiness for sophronia was ever a most cheerful affectionate and provident wife to him and dick excepting for an occasional outbreak with mr chuckster which she had the good sense rather to encourage than opposewas to lier an attached and domesticated husband


and they played many hundred thousand games of cribbage together


and let it be added to dicks honour that though we have called her sophronia he called her the marchioness from first to last and that upon every anniversary of the dayon which he found her in his sick room mr chuckster came to dinner and there was great glorification


the gamblers isaac list and jowl with their trusty confederate mr james grove of unim


peachable memory pursued their course with varying success until the failure of a spirited enter prise in the way of their profession dispersed them in different directions and caused their career to receive a sudden check from the long and strong arm of the law


this defeat had its origin in the untoward detection of a new associate young frederick trentwho thus became the unconscious instrument of their punishment and his own


for the young man himself he rioted abroad for a brief term living by his wits which means by the abuse of every faculty that worthily employed raises man above the beasts and so degraded sinks him far below them


it was not long before his body was recognised by a stranger who chanced to visit that hospital in paris wheretthe drowned are laid out to beowned despite the bruises and disfigurements which were said to havebeen occa


sionedbysome previous scuffle


but the stranger wkepi his own counsel until he returned home and it was neverclaimed or cared for


theyounger brother or the singlegentleman for that designation i more familiar would have drawn the poor schoolmaster from his lone retreat and made him his companion and friend


but the is umble village teacher was timid of venturing into the noisy world and had become fond of his dwelling in the old churchyard


calmly happy in lis school and in


the spot and in the attachment of her little mourner he pursued his quiet course in peace and was through the righteous gratitude of his friend let this brief mention suffice for that a poor schoolmaster no more


that friend single gentleman or younger brother which you will had at his heart a heavy sorrow but it bred in him no misanthropy or monastic gloom


he went forth into the world a lover of his kind


for a long long time it was his chief delight to travel in the steps of the old man and the child so far as he could trace them from her last narrative to halt where they had halted sympathise where they had suffered and rejoice where they had been made glad


those who had been kind to them did not escape his search


the sisters at the school they who were her friends because themselves so friend less mlrs


jarley of the wax work codlin short he found them all and trust me that the man who fed the furnace fire was not forgetten


kits story having got abroad raised him up a host of friends and many offers of provision for his future life


he had no idea at first of ever quitting mr garlands service but after serious remon strance and advice from that gentleman began to contemplate the possibility of such achange being brought about in time


a good post was procured for him with a rapidity which took away his breath by some of the gentlemen who had believed him guilty of the offence laid to his charge and had acted


upon that belief


through the same kind agency his mother was secured from want and made quite happy


thus as it often said his great misfortune turned out to be the source of all his subsequent prosperity


did kit live a single man all his days or did he marry


of course he married and who should be his wife but barbara


and the best of it was he married so soon that little jacob was an uncle before the calves of his legs already mentioned in this history had ever been encased in broadcloth pants


oonsa though that was not quite the best either forof necessity the baby was an uncle too


the delight of kits mother dud of barbaras mother upon the geat occasion is past all telling


finding they agreed so wellon ltat and on all other subjects theyltook up their abode together and were a most harmonious pair pf friends from that time forth


and hiadnt


astleys cause to oless itself for their all going together once a quarter to the pit and didnt kits mother always say when they painted the out aide that kitslast treat lhad helped to that and wonder what the manager would feel if be but knew it as they passed his house


when kit had children six and seven years old there was a barbara among them and a pretty barbara she was


nor was there wanting an exact facsimile and copy of liitle jacob as he appeared in thoseremote times when they taught him what oysters meant of course thiere was an abel own godson tothemr garland of that name and there was adick whom mr swiveller especially favored


the little group would often gather round him of a night and beg hinm to tell again the story of good miss nell who died


thiiskit would do and when they cried to hear it wishing it longer too he would teach them how sheihad gone to heaven as all good people did and how if they were good like her theymight hope to be there too oie day and to see god know her as hlie had done when he was quite a boy


theonhle would relate to them how needy hie used to beand how she hid taught him what hie sras itherwise too poor to learn andlhow the old man bad been usedto say she always laughs at kit as which they would brush away their tears and laugh themselves to think that she had done eo and be again quitemarry


he sometishes took them to the street vvwhero slhe had lived but new improvemosnti his altered it so much it was not likelhesamim


i


the old hboutse had beenlong ago pulleilddownr aid a fine broad road was ia its place at llrst he would irasv lwitlt his stick a square upon the ground ioshibw the where lt uaddto stand


buti hesoon bicame uincertiln of thelspbtsnd iouldaoly rhy it wti thbereabrutsle bought acet thai tlhes althratlon volee bafiisig


such are the changes which a few years bring about and so do things pass awaylike a tale that is told i tend of the old cuttosity shop


hfemtmo the stoby of feather


ki sjougla scrrollf


a story from pcxcit chapter ix


the prince of wales exhibitedthe countess blushrosedreadful acci dent to mr flamingo


continued from our last


i soon discovered that their majesties george the third and tineen charlotte bud benevolently consented that their baby should he exhibited to the men and women of england


these tidings had rung like a merry peal of bellsthroughout london and on the very morning after my exaltation to the prince of wnlcss coronet crowds were clustering at the gates of the palace


here however must fain confess to a disappointment


heilig in the very temple of royalty i at first indulged in the most extravagant expectations of the moral dignitythe uttered wisdom of the high and fortunate people about mc


i watched hie kings mouth as a bride gazes on her wedding casket rapt with an assurance of its contained richness


i followed the motions of the queen as though for a time she had taken leave of the skies to dazzle and to dignify a benighted planet


such were my first emotions but let me be frank they were of brief endurance


i very soon discovered his dread majesty to be a mern man who loved mutton for dinnerand the queen from paradise a quiet little woman with a humility so marked that it disdained not decimal fractions


and then there were the lords in waitingthe gentlemen of the bedchamberthe women of the like elysiumand those doomed fragile dolls and victims of stategod help them i the maids of honour


in the simplicity of my inexperience i believed all these people to be of another order of flesh mid bloodto possess a more exquisite anatomyto be refined by the pure and healthful atmosphere of a court into natures above the sordid influences of this nether sphere to be indeed mid intelligences between men and angels


must i say it


i have found the coarse mind of the merest footman in the lacquey peer and in the lady of the bedchamber the small envy the petty heartburning of molly the chambermaid at the star and garter


alas too i for the maids of honour i hap less images of ceremonypoor moving anatomies with eyes that must not wink tongues that must not speak and hardest tyranny of all with mouths that must not yawn at the dull dis cipline that consumes them


i have seen them in the royal presence stand on their throbbing feet until the blood has vanished from their lips and had i been a fairywand i would have changed them straighthave bestowed upon them the paradise of u threelegged stool with a cow to milk and to carol beneath the odourbreathing hawthorn


if however the maids of honour affected merely my sympathies the ladies in waiting excited my highest admira tion


here i thought are womendoting wives and loving mothersquitting the serene and holy circle of their own hearthsrelinquishing for au appointed term the happiness and tenderness of home to endure a glorifying servitude be neath the golden yoke of ceremony


here at least thought is selfdevotion here a noble sacrifice to noble objectshere at once the heroism and the true religion of loyalty


the countess ulushrose was a lady in waiting


provi dence had expressly fashioned her for the ennobling function


she had some vague notion that there were human creatures awhile race something higher in the scheme of the world than the mere hottentot but it was also a part of her creed that like horses and oxen they were sent for no other purpose to this earth save for that of ministering in any manner to the will and wish of herself her friends and her immediate ac quaintance


the countess never neglected her religious duties for she had a pew that a sybarite might have slept fn


and therefore generally once a week seemed to listen to the homesimplicities of the pulpitof death and common dust and common judgment


nevertheless it was plain that her ladyship possessed a strength of mind that continued superior to such antique prejudiceshence to her dying hour she re mained an unconverted bearer


the world the habitable world to her was composed of about au area of two miles with st jamess palace for the centre


any part beyond that boun dary was to her mysterious as the mogul country she looked upon it with the intelligence that possessed the theological opponents of columbus when he talked of a new continent allowing it to exist and to he once reached there were certain currents that rendered impossible any return from it


to the countess ulushrose nature herself had written nee ultra on i the west side of temple liar


the countess was allowed to be beautiful as the most beautiful statue and save in the presence of tnnjesty viewed all things unbendingly and with a stony gaze


she seemed to make the atmosphere about her cold by her very looks


she rather appeared an exquisite piece of machineryan improvement on maximi lians wooden dove and iron fly of olda wonderful work con structed and adorned by the laboured ingenuity of man than a creature warmed by human blood and sanctified with a human soul


yet men called her beautiful


nay horn a baronets daughter she had ow ed her coronet to her creamy cheek and high abstracted gaze


the heart of the earl of ulushrose had been led away it would seem in chains of ice


he had been frozen into matrimony by the spells of a sorceress and in fluenced by his partner seemed to his old friends never to have recovered his natural heat


at the time of my elevation to saint jamess the countess had ouly one day relieved a sister ladyinwaiting in her exalted ceremonies


at that time the countess had an infant sonlord tootlein the cradle


she was very fond of it really very fond of it but then she felt such devotion towards the palace


this truth i afterwards learned from a brief incident


the child was horn weak and puny


madam said the doctor you must nurse this babe yourself


how can you talk so ridiculously doctor said the coun tess indeed your ladyship i advise only what is necessary indispensable urged the doctor


necessary i how can submit to such a tie when there is the palace to well madam said the doctor in conclusion casting a significant glance at the babe and then at its mother if you do not nurse the child yourself my word upon it twill die die madamdie


whereupon the countess gently elevating her eyelids said and said only poor thing


have dwelt thus long upon the character of the countess lilushrose as she will be found a somewhat important person in my narrative


indeed it was to her that owed my speedy removal from the palace


but of this in due timelet me not anticipate


at the opening of this chapter the reader was acquainted with the condescending intention of their majesties the prince of wales in his cot or cradle of state was to be exhi bited in bib and tucker to his future liege subjects


every due precaution had been carried out to prevent the too near approxi


mation of the curious vulgar to the resplendent baby the rockers sat at the cradle within an enclosure at the end of a stateapartment part of the royal household lined the room and then units of the world without were suffered to enter at one door and walking past the cradle and casting one look for a second was scarcely possibleat the majestic infant were rapidly conducted out at a door opposite to the world they had come from a world they felt themselves henceforth doomed to gladden with tales of the baby princeof the glories of a palace


it was curiously instructive to watch the beaming counte nances of tbe happy few who having elbowed it lustily in the crowd outsidewho in the excess of loyalty had thrust and fought their neighbours to catch a look of princely babyhood now arranged their rumpled habits and tried to conjure serenity to their red and streaming faces


men and women of nearly all conditions poured along the room and glanced at that mar


vellous baby


tbe only court attire commanded for the event was decent cleanlinessin very truth if history be anything not always palace wear


i greet wa the veneration paid to the prince t men whom i afterwards recognised in the world came to look their homage lo ta allexcelling infant men wbo with red wine on their tata mad ibeir knees at tbe christmas fire would with barred and bolted door bear the starved orphan wail the christian cartt io


the frozen street men with hearts close as their robs feittwsiatd hearts marvellously touched and melted when they liie upon the prince how deep how exceeding their sympathy for baby helplessness hedged about by palace guards how beautiful how touchingly beautiful is infancy bora to dominion whereon the sun sets not


and there were other lookershonest simple souls who i with a hurried almost fearfui glance at baby royalty felt them selves richer for their coming lives


they had seen things called babies before but the prince was a blessinga glory in lace only for the first time vouchsafed to the world


some trod the palace floor as though they feared to hear their own breath had their shoes creaked it was plain they must have fainted


others again looked anxiously fearfully about them as though like men in an indian wood they feared some wild beast with death in its jaws to spring out upon them


many of thesei watched themnever saw the prince at all


they approached the cradle puntingly but urged on by the atten dants passed it ere they could call up courage to look upon the daszling glory within


i was thus contemplating the various characters of the crowd when i beheld a face i thought not wholly strange to me


after a minute recognized the visitor it was my first acquaintance in england shadwell jacobs the old jew of the miones


having that day washed himself it was difficult for any one to detect the hebrew dealer through the strange disguise


washed however he had beenwashed and drest in black and buckles as though he hud been going to court at the new jerusalem


ile hobbled past the cradle gazing with his raven eye which kindled sparklingly but whether at the babe or the lace that half smothered it i leave to be divined by the genii of solomons brazen kettles


immediately following the jew came miriam his voluminous daughter


great was her beauty but greater still her strength else how at her enrs her neck wrists and fingers could she have borne the many trophies of her victories bought hy sailors wages out of goldsmiths cases


miriam was there hut where was jack lipscomb


where was my first english friend


alas i sick perilously sick on an outwardbound voyage


poor jack was in his hammock


no matter


tom dracely of the good intent went with miriam to st jamess


thus seeing an old acquaintance my thoughts went to patty butler


will she i asked myself be here


then i looked hopefully about me


another minute and i sawnot pattybut her smug empoyer mr flamingo with mrs flamingo beside himboth gazing about them joyous as spirits new lo paradise


though flamingo was loyal to the veiy nails his visit was not paid only to the infant prince


no feathers had something to do at the tradesmans heart and he camekindly bringing his wife with himlo behold the exaltation of his ware


i could sec him look up at myself and two companions as if he felt the soul of the prince was then in the white plumes and nowhere else as if the dignity of the prince would have been naked as a dayold sparrow but for the feathers which werein flamingos mindits natural clothing


with these feelings flamingo approached the cradle and flamingos evil spirit kept close at his skirts


the prince of wales lins fallen fast asleep


flamingo advances to look his homage


he is as close as ceremony per mits his advance when some demon in the air tickles his nos trils for the feathermerchant stands fixed throws his head back and explodes in the loudest sneeze that ever profaned the rooftree of a palace


as flamingo sneezed the prince of wales startled bv the noise wokeund waking roared most lustily


the baby of a baconfed ploughman never yelled in higher pitch


flamingo vas about to pray that the floor would open and swallow him


ere however he could frame his petition he was hurried to the door by the attendants further admission was denied to thronging sightseers and for that day and all owing to the untowardness of a sneeze the exhibition was concluded


to lo continued


wobtiwm


the stolly of a feather j jbauglatf retrain


chafteb iii


flamingo the court feather merchantthe dukepineapple birth of prince of wales


continued from our lost


my next remove was far westward


i became the property of feathermerchant to the court or as the tradesman himself delighted to blazon in gold letters over his shopdoor plu tnassicr lo their majesties


i confess i felt myself somewhat humiliated by the ilircport of mr flamingo who in his deal ing with miriam jacobson this occasion ambassadress from her sire in the minoriesprotested that i was the inferior article of the whole lot and that no pains of cleaning and dressing would ever enable me to return sixpence to my pur chaser


this melancholy feeling however gave place to better hopes when on the departure of the jewessmiriam had been compelled by the hard chaffering of the feathermerchanl to throw a green monkey into the bargain for the especial delec tation of the youngest miss flamingomy new master selected me from my companions and shaking mc tenderly asked the wife of his bosom if i wasnt a perfect beauty


this pleasing flattery was moreover adequately responded to by mrs flamingo who with glistening eyes declared me quite lover i have already said mr flamingo was featherseller to the court of great britain


he felt intensely felt the surpass ing importance of his position


his very soul seemed plumed with the dignity


hence like my parent ostrich he would when full of the consciousness of bis greatness scarcely tread the shopfloor but raised upon the wings or winglets of his selfconceit halffly halfwalk


it was the religion of peter flamingo that the hole moral and social condition of min depended solely upon feathers


nay believe it to have been his innercreed that plumes were not so much designed for kins and nobles as that potentates and peers were especially sent into this world for plumes


i sjy innercreed because my experience of mankind has convinced mc that there are some people who have an outside faithcovering a faith in the same way that jugglers have a box within a box the last in its small sanctuary generally containing the conjured shilling


when peter flamingo read or heard of the possible perfectibility of man i am certain that man appeared to him like a poland cock with o natural crest of feathers


with this faith ft was consequent that mr flamingo should pay profoundest reverence to those privileged to wear the artificial glory such reverence being at the prime cost of those to whom fate had rigorously denied that proud advantage


hence the reader can imagine the separate places of the marchioness of mannaville born to the right of a plumed coronet and of patty butler also born to the duty of dressing featherscan conceive their separate conditions in the mind of mr flamingo


the marchioness was a creature aparta glory to be numbered with the stars of heaven the featherdresser a mere weed of earth millions of miles aay from that starry presence


therefore like a good penny turning chaldean flamingo thought to properly worship the star he miut tread upon the weed


mr flamingo in the observance of this faith did at times forget the mere naked meaning of words substituting another set of syllables for the only set rightly called for by the occa sion


in homespun phrase flamingo was a liar but then his lies if i must call them so were used to the very best advantage


he dressed himself in falsehood but then he looked all the better for it


he made positive goldleaf of his untruths which casta lustre on him covered as he would still be covered with borrowed radiance


being feathcrseller to the court he was of course intimate with the hole peerage


ile would at a moment cast you up the number of dimples to be found in the cheeks and chins of countesseswould minutely describe to j ou the hangings and furniture of every best bedroom of every noblemans mansion in the kingdom he in the course of his glorifying profession having been an honoured guest thereat with him true friendship was a flower that was only to be plucked from the gardens of the nobility and this flouer flamingo was for ever twisting between his tips or sporting in his buttonhole


my friend the marquis


my most scellent friend the duke my worthy acquaintance the baronet lhus continually spoke flamingo and so speak ing


he thought he let fall diamonds and rubies from his tongue for the world to wonder at


a man with so many and with such friends had of course frequent evidences that friendship was not what tho poetic cynic calls it only a name


by no means to flamingo it was sometimes a turbotsometimes a turkey


his friend the marquis would now and then appear upon the feather dressers table in the not less attractive though twin shape of a brace of pheasants his most excellent friend the duke has smoked upon the board in the solid beauty of a haunch of venison


of all men in the world flamingo would have been the tatt to deprive the peerage of their proxies


more how often did some exalted dowager appear in a rich and candled preservehow often some earls daughter the last out of the season sent a basket of peaches ripe and pulpy as her own ups


at least if these gifts were really not made by the exalted people praised by flamingo for their generosity it was riot the fault of the featherdresser no the more his virtue to preach up the necessity of liberality to the world even by apocryphal examples of true beneficence


it was sometime after i bad passed from the hands of the feathermerchant that heard a story illustrative of this his theoretical virtue


as however i may not find a fitter place than the present for the story i will here narrate it the more specially as the occurrence took place whilst i was yet fla


ingos property albeit then ignorant of the history have to speak of


peter flamingo gave a dinner


i should say he rather pre sided at a dinner given to him for there was no dish upon the table that might not have borne above it the banner of the noble house from which it emanated


believe flamingo and the banquet was no other than a collection of offerings made to him by the english nobility he could have pointed out the representatives ol the peerage from the noble who came to cut throats with william the conqueror at hastings to the last baron ennobled for cutting the throats of his constituents at westminster


how flamingos guestsbenevolently picked out by him from the very mob of tradesmenwondered at the banquet how they praised their hosts for his high connexions and how they hated him


the dinner passed off with excessive cordiality


the wino every drop of it from the cellars of the peerage made nt ali events a passing call at the hearts of the drinkers ero it mounted into their heads and all was sincerity and noisy happiness


i


the dettert appears


was then ever seen such magnificent pine apples


flamingo drops his eye proudly yet lovingly upon the fruit and says with soft voice so modulated that not one man shall lose one syllableha


my dear duke of diddleum


be is indeed a friend allal from his own gracious pinery i


blets my heart i


well you are a lucky man i cries brown


wai there ever such duke in tho world exclaims johnson


its m shame to put a knife into em remark field directing his looks sharpened to a very keen edge on the crown of the ducal gift


pooh pooh


what are pines grown for ifnot to be eaten


ries flamingo handling his knife looking full at the pines but only looking at them


dont cut the dukes giftits a tharne


i wouldnt touch


bit of it taya dobinson but theres a couple of little ones there that


well if you prefer themtheyre not so large but their iavonr it


delicious


they were sent byyet i think by him by


sfr harry bargate a baronet of the last batch will you venture


and without waiting for a reply flamingo cuts into veryvery small pieces the smallest pine


and till all proceed with increasing felicity


the bottle goes round and round and at length the headi of the drinkers begin obediently lo follow it the faugh increasesthe shout wellsand alls botiteroot merriment


brown jumpt to bis legs


its no ute he cries i have fougtii against it long enough i mutt have a cut at the duke


ayjg


brpwitj wises the largest pine and with furious pre ipitney ttribi fels knife into it flamingos blood running omto bu very toa


and so nutt crie uwwlth drunken johnson foi ithrlag brotrnl ftaaapla


and screams field and the third knife enters the dukes third pine


and i too shouts robinson rising to commit execution but flamingo restored by the third attack to something like consciousness snatches up the pine and robinson missing his mark falls sprawling on the table


the charm of the night is broken flamingo looks sulky the guests a little sobered by a sense of their attack upon the dukes gifts depart


we were wrung says brown to demolish those pines for it flamingo had had to buy em what must they have cost


inonder whats the marketprice now says johnson lets ask


and as be spoke he turned into a fashionable fruiterers


whats the price of those pines


three guineas each sir answered melon the fruiterer


theyre very small said johnson


have you none bigger


yes fourvery large ave guineas each


but i cant show them now for the fact is theyre out on hire for a night to my neighbour mr flamingo


and so the duke of liddleton was melon the shopkeeper and so flamingo paid fifteen guineas he saved one pine for a lie certainly if there be any means of testing the value of lies not north half the money


this little banquet took place on the i ltli of august


with much melancholy did peter flamingo rise on the th


his bile however was blown away by the park guns for they announced the birth of queen charlottes firstburnthe prince of wales


the rudiments of an angel were begun in george the fourth


did peter flamingo rejuice at the birth of a prince of wales


i think so but certain i am his his heart leapt up at the fine prospect for feathers


in ta yorkshircman of ja


is tlie report of a meeting of the stockton mechanics institute william dailey esq


in the chair


the chairman in introducing the prince of wales and piiucejh lioyal said kcvcrence in tlie son the future man and in the prince tlie future king


destroy not in either royal sciun the rudiments vj an aiijtl to be continued


barnaby rudge


ccaptwen xxv


leaving the favoured and wellreceived and flattered of the world hle of theworld most worldly who never compromiseduhimself by an ungentlemanly action and was neverguilty of a manly one to lie smilingly asleepfor even sleep working but little change in his dissembling face


becamse with him


a plce of cold conventional hypocrisywe follow in the steps of two slow travellers on foot making towards chigwell


barnaby and his mother


grip in their company


of course


the widow to whom each painful mile seemed longer than the last toiled wearily along while barnaby yielding to every inconstant impulse fluttered here and there now leaviog her far behind now lingering far behind himself now darting into some bylane or path and leaving her to pursue her way alone until he stealthily emerged again and came upon her with a wild shout of merriment as his wayward and capricious nature prompted


now he would call to her from the topmost branch of some high tree by the roadside now using his tall staff as a leapingpole come flying over ditch or hedge orfivebarred gate now run with surprising swiftness for a mile or moroeon the straight road and halting sport upon a patch of grass with grip till she came up


these were his delights and when his patient mother heard his merry voice or looked into his flushed face she would not have abated them by one sad word or murmur though eachhad been to her a source of suffering in the same degree as it was to him of pleasure


it is something to look upon enjoyment so that it be free and wild and in the face ofr nature though it is but the enjoyment of an idiot


it is something to know that heaven has left the capacity of gladness in such a creatures breast it is something to be assured that however lightly men may crush that faculty in their fellows the great creator of man kind imparts it even to his despised and slighted work


who would not rather see a poor idiot happy in the sunlight than a wise man pinnig in a darkened jail


ye men of gloom and austerity who paint the face of infinite benevolence with an eternal frown read in the everlasting book wide open to your view the lesson it would leach


its pictures are not in black and sombre hues but bright and glowina tints its musicsave when ye drown itis not in sighs and groans but songs and cheerful sounds


listen to the million voices in the summer air and find one dismal as your own


remember if ye can the sense of hope and pleasure which every glad return of day awakens in the breastof all your kind who have not changed their nature and learn some wisdom even from the witless when their hearts are lifted up they know not why by all the mirthand happiness it brings


the widows breast was full of care was laden heavilywith secret dread and sorrow but her boys gaiety of heart gladdened her and beguiled the long journey


sometimes he would bid her lean upon his arm and would keep beside her steadily for a short distance but it was more his nature to be rambling to and fro and she better liked to see him free and happy even than to have him near her because she loved him better than herself


she had quitted the place to which they were travelling directly after the event which had changed her whole existence and for twoandtwenty years had never had courage to revisit it


it was her native village


how many recollections crowded on her mind when it appeared in sight i twoandtwenty years


her boys whole life and history


the last time she looked back upon those roofs among the trees she carried him in her arms an infant


how often since that time had she sat be side him night and day watching for the dawn of maind that never came how had she feared and doubted and yet hoped long after conviction forced itself upon her


the little stratagems she had devised to try him the little tokens he had given in his childish waynot of dullness but of something infinitely worse so ghastly and unchildlike in its cunningcame back as vividly as if but yesterday had irtesvened


the room in which they used to be the spot in which his cradle stood he old and elfinlikein face but ever dear to her gazing at her with a wild and vacant eye and crooning some uncouth song as she sat by and rocked him every circumstance of his infancy came thronging back and the most trivial perhaps the most distinctly


his older childhood too the strange imaginings he had his terror of certain senseless thiogs familiar objects he endowed with life the slow and gradual breaking out of that one horror in which before his birth his darkened intellect began how in the midst of all she had found some hope and comfort in his being unlike another child and had gone on almost believing in the slow development of his mind until he grew a man and then his childhood was complete and lasting one after another all these old thoughts sprung rip within her strong after their long slumber and bitterer than ever


she took his arm and they hurried through tre village street


it was the same as it was wont to be in old times yet different too and wore another air


the change was in herself not it but she never thought of that and wondered at its alteration and where it lay and what it was


the people all knew barnaby and the children of the place came flocking round himas she remem bered to have done with their fathers and mothers round some silly beggarman when a child herself


none of them knew her they passed each well remema ered house and yard and homestead and striking into the fields were soon alone again


tir warren was the end of their journey


mr laredale was walking in the garden and seeing them as they passed the irongate unlocked it and bade them enter that way


at length you have mustered heart to visit the old place he said to the widow


am glad you have for the first time and the last air she replied


the first for many years but not the last the very last


you mean said mr haredale regarding her ithl somesurprise that having made this effort you are resolired not to persevere and are determined to relapse


tlhis is unworthy of you


i have often told goioyou should return here


you woiild be hapiberhe tban elsewhere i know


as to bar


ahyi cuitehsis home


and gmipssaid bainaby holding the basket qpen


the raven hopped gravely out and perching on his shoulder and addressing himself to mr hare


dale criedas a hint perlhaps that some temperate refreshment would be acceptable


polly put the kettie on well all have tea i hlear me mary said mr haredale kindly as lie motioned her to walk with him towards the house


your life has been an esiample of patience and fortitude except in this one particular which has often given me great pain


it is enough to know that you were cruelly involved in the calamity which deprived me of an only brother and emmaof her father without being obliged to suppose as i some times am thatyou associate us with the author of our joint misfortunes


aesociafe yon with him sir l she cried


indeed said mlr


haredale ithink you do


i almost believe that because your husband was bound by so many ties to our relation add died in his service and defence you have come in some sort to connect us with his murder


alas i she answered


you little know my heart sir you little know the truth i it ii natural


you should do ss it is very pro bable you may without being conscious of it said mr aredale speaking niore to himself than her


we are a fallen house


money dispenadedvvith the most lavish hand would be a poor recompense for sufferings like yours and thinly scattered by hands so pinched and tied as oauras it becomes a miserable mockery


i feel it so god knows he added ihastilj why should i wonder if she does i you do


me wrong dear sir indeed she re joined with great earnestness asd yetwhen you come io hear what i desire your leave to say i shall find my doubts confirmed hire said observing that she falteied and biecame confused well i he quickened his pace or a few steps but fell back again to her sidle and said and have you come all this way at last solely to speak to me sheanswered yes


a curse he muttered upon the wretched state of us protid beggarli from whom the poot and rich are equally aet si itance thi one being frced to treat us with a show of cold respect the otlier condiscenditig to us in theirveriey ded d sd coid and keiping more aloof thd harer hey abpisdah in


wv hy if litder patlh toyou as it rhuathave iiis to breakforthia salight purpoase the ohainf likbit forged through twoandtweity years could ydu isot let me knuow your wish atidheg ine cometoyou there was not time sirshe rejoined


took my resolution but last night and taking it felt that i must not lose a dayaday


an hourin having speech with you


stlhey had by this time reached the house


mr haredalo paused


for ivmoment andlooked at her as ifsuiprised by the eiergy of herianner


observing however that she took no heed of him but glanced tp shuddering at the old walls with which such horrors were connected in her mind he led her by a private stair into his library where emma was seated on a window reading


the young lady seeing who approached hastily rose and laid aside her book and with many kind words and not without tears gave her a warm and earnest welcome


but the widow shrunk from her embrace as though she feared her and sunk down trembling on a chair


it is the return to this place after so long an absence said emma gently


pray sing dear uncleor staybarnaby will run himself and ask for wine not for the world she cried


it would have another tastei could not touch it


i want but a minutes rest


nothing but that


miss haredale stood beside her chair regarding her with silent pity


she remained for a little time quite still then rose and turned to mir


haredale who had sat down in his easy chair and was con templating her with fixed attention


the tale connected with the mansion borne in mind it seemed as has been already saidthe chosen theatre for such a deed as it bad known


the room in which this group were now assembledhard by the very chamber where the act was donedull dark and sombre heavy with wormeaten books deadened and shut in by faded hangings muffling every sound shadowed mournfully by trees whose rustling boughs gave ever and anon a spectral knocking at the glass wore beyood all others in the house a ghostly gloomy air


nor were the group assembled there unfitting tenants of the spot


the widow with her marked and startling face end downcast eyes mr haredalestern andi despondent ever his niece beside him like yet most unlike the picture of her father which gazed reproachfully down upon them from the blackened wall barnaby with his vacant look and restless eye were all in keeping with the place and actors in the legend


nay tihe very raven who had hopped upon the table and with the air of some old necromancer appeared to be pro foundly studying a great folio volume that lay open on a desk was strictly in unison with the rest and looked like the embodied spirit of evil biding his time of mischief


i scarcely know said the widow breaking silence how to begin


you will think my mind disordered


the whole tenor of your quiet and reproachless life since you were last here returned mr hare dale mildly shall bear witness for you


why do you fear to awaken such a suspicion


i you do not speak to strangers


you have not to claim our interest or consideration for the first time


be more yourself


take heart


any advice or assistance that i can give you you know is yours of right and freely yours


hat if i came sir she rejoined i who have but one other friend on earth to reject your aid from this moment and to say that henceforth i launch myself upon the world alone and unassisted to sink or swim as heaven may decree you would have if you came to me for such a purpose said dir


haredale calmly some reason to assign for conduct so extraordinary which if one may entertain the possibility of anything so wild and strange would have its weight of course


that sir site answered is the misery of my distress


i can give no reason whatever


my own bare word is all that i can offer


it is my duty my imperative and bounden duty


if i did not dis charge it should be a base and guilty wretch


having said that my lips are sealed and i can say no more


as though she felt relieved at having said so much and had nerved herself to the remainder of her task she spoke from this time with a firmer voice and heightened courage


heaven is my witness as my own heart isand yours dear young lady will speak for me i know that i have lived since that time we all have bitter reason to remember in unchanging devotion and gratitude to this family


heaven is my witness that go where i may i shall preserve those feelings unimpaired


and it is tny witness too that they alone impel me to the course i must take and from which nothing now shall turn me as i hope for mercy


s these are strange riddles said mr haredale


in this world sir she replied they may perhaps never be explained


in another the truth will be discovered in its own good time


and may that time she added in a low voice be lar distant


let me be sure said mr haredale that i understand you for i am doubtful of my own senses


do you mean that you are resolved volun tarily to deprive yourself of those means of support you have received from us so long that you are determined to resign the annuity we settled on you twenty years ago to leave house and home and goods and begin life anew and this for some secret reason or monstrous fancy which is incapable of explanation which only now exists and has been dormant all this times


in the name of god under what delusion are you labouring as i am deeply thankful she made answer forihe kindness of those alive or dead who have owned this house and as i would not have its roof fall down and crush me or its very walls drip blood my name being spoken in their hearing i never will again subsist upon their bounty or let it help me to subsistence


you do not know she added suddenly to what uses it may be applied into what hands it may pass


i do and i renounce it


surely said mr haredale its uses rest with you


they did


they rest with me no longer


it may beit isdevoted to purposes that mock the dead in their graves


it never can prosper with me


it will bring some heavy judgment on the head of my dear son whose innocence will suffer for his mothiers guilt


what words are thesel cried mjr


liaedale regarding her with wonder


among what asso ciates have you fallen i into what guilt have you ever been betrayed iam guilty and yet innocent wrong yet right good in intention though constrained to shield and aid the bad


ask me no more questions sir but believe that i am rather to be pitied thon coindemned


i most leave my house tomorrow for whilelatoyiiere it is haunted


my future dwelling i if i ani to live in peace must be a secret


if my poor boy should ever stray this way do not tempt himi to disclose it or have himn watched when he returns for i ifweare hunted we must fly again


and now this load is off my mind i beseech yousnd you dear miss haredale looto trust me if you can and think of me kindlyas you have been used to do


sif i die and cannot tell my secret even then for i that may come to pass it will sit the lighter on my breast in that hour for this days work and on that day and every day until it comes i will pray for and thank you both and trouble you no more


with that she would haire left them but tlrey detained her and with niany soothing words and kind entreatics besought her to consider what she did and above all to repose more freely upon them and say what weighed so sorely on her minod


find ing her deaf to their persuasions air


haredale suggested as a last resource that she should confide in emma of whom as a young person and one of her own sex she might stand in less dread than of hirnself


fromthis proposal however sire recoiled with the same indescribable repugnance she had manifested when thiey met the utmost that could be wrung from her was a promise that she would receive mr haredale at her own house nextevening and in the mean time reconsider her determination and their dissuasions though any change on her part as she told them was quite hopeless


this condition made at isal they reluctantly suffered her to depart since she would neither eat nor drink within the house and shre and barnaby and grip accordingly went out as they had come by the pri vate stair and garden gate seing and being seen of no one by the way


it was remarkable in the raven that during the twhole interview he had kept his eye on the book with exactly the air or a very sly human rascal who under the mask of


pretending to read hard was listcning toteverythiogd


he still appeared io have the conversation very strongly in his miind for altliough when they were alone again he itsued orders for the instant piepabation of itnumerable kettlesfor ilurposes if ti he wat thoughtful and rathert beeinedhi to dosb frotd adibsttact arie ef duty than wvith aoy regard it making himself atee table or be ngwhat ics sommoly called gooid csm npany


they were to rturn by theo coach


atherg was an interval of full two hours before it started and they needed rest and some refreshmnent farnaby begged hard for a visit to tie maypole but his mother who had no wish to be recogniped by any of those who had known her long ago and who feared besides that mr haredale might on second thoughts despatch some messenger to that place of entertainment in quest of her proposed to wait in the churchyard instead


as it was easy for barnaby to buy and carry thither such humble viands as they required he cheerfully assented and in the church yard they sat down to take their frugal dinner


here again the raven was in a highly reflective state walking up and down when he had dined with an air of elderly complacency which was strongly suggestive of his having his hands under his coat tails and appearing to read the tombstones with a very critical taste


sometimes after a long inspec


sion of an epitaph he would strop his beak upon the grave to which it referred and cry in his hoarse tones im a devil im a devil im a devil but whether he addressed his observations to any sup


posed person below or merely threw them off as a general remark is matter of uncertainty


it was a quiet pretty spot but a sad one for bar


nabys mother for mr reuben haredale lay there and near the vault in which his ashes rested was a stone to the memory of her own husband with a brief inscription recording how and whein he had lost his life


she sat here thoughtful and apart until their time was out and the distant horn told that the coach was coming


barnaby who had been sleeping on tho grass sprung up quickly at the sound and grip who appeared to understand it equally well walked into has basket straightway entreating society in general as though he intended a kind of satire upon them in connection with churchyards never to say die on any terms


they were soon on the coach top and rolling along the road


it went round by the maypole and stopped at the door


joe was from honmeand hugh came sluggishly out to hand up the parcel that it called for


there was no fear of old john coming out


they could see him from the coach roof fast asleep in his cosey bar


it was a part of johns character


he made a point of going to sleep at the coachs time


he despised gadding about he looked upon coaches as things that ought to be indicted as disturbers of the peace of mankind as restless bust ling busy born blowing contrivances quite beneath the dignity of men and only suited to giddy girls that did nothing but chatter and go a shopping


we know nothing about coaches here sir john would say if any unlucky stranger made inquiry touching the offensive vehicles we dont book forem wed rather not theyre more trouble than theyre worth with their noise and rattle


if you like to wait forem you can but we dont know anything about em they may call and they may nottheres a carrierie was looked upon as quite good enough for us when i was a boy


she dropped her veil as hugh climbed up and while he hung behind and talked to barnaby in whispers


but neither he nor any other person spoke to her or noticed her or had any curiosity about her and so an alien site visited and left the village where site had been born and had lived a merry child a comely girl a happy wifewhere she had known all her enjoyment of life and had entered on its hardest sorrows


to be continued


barnaby rudge


o


ciaptbr xxxix


it was not all noise and jest however at the boot nor were the whole party listeners to tdie


speech


there were some men at the other end of the room which was a long lowroofed chamber in earnest conversation all the time and when any of this group went out fresh people were sure to come in soon afterwards and sit down in their places as though the others had relieved them on some watch or duty which it was pretty clear they did for these changes took place by the clock at intervals of half an hour


these persons whispered very much among themselves and kept aloof and often looked round as jealous of their speech being overheard some two or three among them entered in books what seemed to bereports from the others when they were not thus employed one of them would turn to the newspapers which were strewn upon the table andfroni the st jamess chronicle the herald chronicle or


public advertiser would read to the rest in a low voice some passage having reference to the tople in which they were all so deeply inter


ested


but the great attraction was a pamphlet called the thunderer which espoused their own opinions and was supposed at that time to emanate directly from the association


this was always in request and whether read aloud to an eager knot of listeners or by some solitary man was certain to be followed by stormy talking and excited looks


in the midst of all his merriment and admiration of his captain hugh was made sensible by these and other tokens of the presence of an air of mys tery akin to that which had so much impressed him out of doors


it was impossible to discard a sense that something serious was going on and that under


the noisy revel of the public house there lurked uhseen and dangerous matter


little affected by this however he was perfectly satisfied with his quarters and would have remained there till morn


ing but that his conductor rose soon after midnight to go home mr tappertit following his example left him no excuse to stay


so they all three left the house together roaring a nopopery song until


the fields resounded with the dismal noise


cheer up captain i cried hugh when they had


roared themiselves out of breath


another stave t mr tappertit nothing loath began again aid a so the three went staggering on arm in arm shouting like madmen and defying the watch with great


valour


indeed this did not require any unusqgi bravery or boldness as the watchmen of thattime beiog selected for the office on account of excessive


age


and extraordinary infirmity had a custom of shttting themselves up tight in their boxes on the firstsymptoms of disturbance and remaining there until they disappeared


in these proceedings mr dennis who had a gruff voice and lungs of con siderable power guished himself very much andi acquired great c it with his companions


whata queer fellow you arel said mr tasp pertit


youre so precious sly and close


why dont you ever tell what trade youre oft answer the captain


instantly cried hugh beatinghis hat on his head why dont you ever tell what trade youre of


mij of as genteel a calling btothe ss any man in englandas lighita iusiness ias so


man could desire


j wasyou prenticed to it isked mr tappertit


no natural genius said mr dennis


no prenticing


it come by natur


muster gashlord knows my calling


look at that hand of minemany and many a job that hand has done with a neatness and dexterity never known afore


when i look at that hand said mr dennis shaking it in the air and remember the helegant


bits of work it has turned off i feel quite mollon choly to think it should ever grow old and feeble


but sich is life he heaved a deep sigh as he indulged in these reflections and putting his fingers with an absent air on hoghs throat and particularly under his left ear as if he were studying the anatomical


deve


lopment of that part of his frame shook his head in a despondent manner and actually siedtears


youre a kind of artist i supposeehb said


mr tappertit


yes rejoined dennis yesi may call my self a artista fancy workmanart improve


natur thats my motto


i and what doyou


call this said mr tap


perti taking his stick oitof his hand thaits mi portraith atop dennis dreplied dye think its like


swhyits alittle too handsome said mr tappertit


who did it


you ii


repeated dennis gazing fondly on his image


wish i had the talent


that was carved by a friend of mine as is now no more


the very day afore he died he cut that with his pocket knife from memoryi ill die game says my friend and my last moments shall be dewoted to making denniss picter


thats it


that was a queer fancy wasnt it said mr tappertit


it ers a queer fancy rejoined the other breath


ing on his fictitious nose and polishing it with the i cuff of hii coat but he was a queer subject alto gethera kind of gipsyone of the finest standup men you ever see


ah i


he told me some things that would startle you a bit did that friend of mine on the morning when he died


you were with him at the time wereyout said mir


tapportit


yes he answered withl a curious look


was there


oh i


yes certainly i was there


he wouldnt have gone off half as comfortable without me


i had been withthree br four of his family under the same circumstances


they were all fls fellows


they must have been fond of you remarked mr tapportit looking at him sideways


i dont know that they were exactly fond of me said dennis with a little hesitation but they had me near em vwhen they departed


i come in for their wndrobes too


this very hanke cher that you see round my neck belonged to him that ive been speakingofhim as did that likeo ness


lr


tappestit glanced at the article referred to sand appeared to think that tihe deceaseds ideas of dress were of a peculiar and by no means an er spensive kind


lie made no remark upon the point however and suffered his mysterious companion to proceed sitliout interruption


these smalls said dennis rubbing his legs these very smallsthey belonged to a friend of miae thats left off sich incumbrancesfor ever this coat toove often walked behind this coat in the streetsannd wondered whether it would ever come ino me this pair of shoes have danced a horupipe for another man afore my eyes full half a dozen times at least and as to my hat heisaid taking it offl and twirling it round upon his fiat


lordi ive seen this hat go up tiolborn upon the box of a hackneycoachnlh many and many a diay you dont mean to say their old weaiers are all deall i hope said mr taprpertit falling a litile distance froti him as he spoke


every one ofemsn replied dennis


very tman jack


i there was


something so voery ghastly in this circurmstance and it appeared to account in such a very strange and dismal mnahner for his faded dress which in this aspect seemed discolouired by the earthi from graves that mr tappcrtit abruptly


founid hei was going another way and stopping short bade him good night with the utmost ieasti noes


as theyhappened ito be near the old bailey and mr dennis knew there weore turnkeysain the lodge williwhom


he couldi passs the night and discuss professional subjects of common interest amonig thein before a rousinig fire and over a social glass e separated from his companions without any


great regret and warmly shaking hands with hugh and making an early appointment for their meeting at the boot leftthem to pursue their road


sthats a strange sort of man said mr tap


sierti


watching the hiackneycoaclimans hat as it went bobbing down the street


dont know


what to make of him


why cant liehave his malls made to order or wear live clothes at any rate s hes a lucky miacaptain t cried hugh


i sshould like to have such friends as his


i hope li doit getern to make their wills and theni knick em ion tlie ad said mr tappertit mnusing


but come


the united b a expect me


on i w hats the niatter i quite forgot said huglh who had started at the istrikitng of a neighbouring clock i ave someblody to see tonighti must turn back directly


the driniking iand singing nput it out of myhead ists well i renieieredl it


ir tapperiitlooked it him as though


e were a lout to give utterance to some very majeistic sentis ments in reference to this act of deserlionbut as it was clear froml ugh is hasty manner that the en gagement was one ofa


pressing nature he graci


ously forbore


naid rgave him his permission to depart


imrmediately which


hlugh i acknowledged ti


ha roar of laughter


good d night captaiin l he cried


i am yours to the death remember i


fa ewell i said ir tappertit waving his hand be bold ind vigilant l no popery captain roared hugh


england inl blood first l cried his desperate leader


whereat hugliclieered and laughed and thait man will prove a credit to my corps said simon turning thoughtfully upon his heel


andd let me see


in an altered state of society


ch must ensue if


we break out and are victorious twhentihe locksmiths child is aiine miggs must be got rid of


eomelhow or ishelli poison the tea kcettle one evening when im out


he mighlt marry miiggs if he was drunk enough


it shall be done


ih make a note of it


toliooo


progress of a pupil


an original story


a certain clergyman from his inability to support a large family of female adults by his profession of a minister of the gospel had recourse to the alternative of establishing a seminary for the laudable purpose of instructing the farmers sons in his neighborhood in the higher branches of education of which from the absence of any well regulated school in their immediate vicinity they were deplorably ignorant


the good man whose ostensible purpose it was by his exertions to realize an independence such as should place his children of whom he was particularly proud in such respectable circumstances as befitted their rank education and indeed their high birth for mr whitefield was himself descended of the richest and most noble family in all northumberland in addition he was prompted by his philanthrophy and his zeal in the cause of religions literature and science to promote the influence of these amongst all with whom he was conversant and enlighten the comparatively benighted youths of his district


he had been now engaged for upwards of three years in his profession and he looked with delight on the success which had prospered his exertions


during the past three years he had seen the scions of a rising generation springing up to maturity and intelligence beneath his fostering care


many of those who at the period of his opening the seminary were young and comparatively il literate were now fast approaching to manhood and their latent faculties being developed by his kind and insinuating manner had also acquired a sound and fundamental education which their reverend instructor was so well qualified to in culcate


a fortnight before the summer vacation mr whitefield intimated to his more advanced pupils that previous to issuing forth on their periodical recreation he should expect as forming a part of their halfyearly examination each one to give him a specimen of his manner of composition the subject to be left to choice and taste in each particular and the time for producing it a week thence or six days before vacation


accordingly on the day appointed the miscellaneous articles were produced not a few of which had been de voted to the muses comprising poetry from the short epic to the pseudo drama and comic song


but one there was frank milton who deviated from the general course and wrote a short story which after bestowing a due share of praise or perhaps a mild censure as each production had elicited mr whitefield elevating his spectacles above his eyebrows had composed himself in his armchair to listen to


the writer was a young man of comely mien just emerging from his teens and from whose age and superior acquire ments


mr whitefield had expected something more than from his junior predecessors in the art of composition


he commenced as follows pre facing his short story by observing to his master that he had chosen ireland that land of gallantry rebellion and disturbance for the scene of his novelette mr whitefield smiled at this last sentence and the young man proceeded in the county of meath in the provincial district of ireland there lived a wealthy farmer whose thousand acres and double that number of meaths best sheep and cattle with all the ap purtenances of a farm or rather farms and a splendid farmhouse were all in due succession to descend to mary his only child and a worthier scion or a more handsome kind and generous female could not inherit his wealth


mr oflaherty as this bluff old farmer was called well knew the worth of his daughter and nothing which gold could procure was wanting to contribute to her pleasure and give substance as well as polish to her various accomplishments


mickey he said one evening to his ostler a young lad of nineteen or twenty you mickey dogfighting again eh do you know what it is you infernal young scamp do you know that youll be hanged yet


why masther subjoined the waggish mickey as its drowning yes always planned out for me i am sure according to your own prophecy i cant be hanged


hangin and drownin both to you be off and saddle miss marys pony shes going to ride out and you take the chesnut mare and ride after her


mickey hastened to obey his masters orders and in a few minutes miss oflahertys palfrey was caparisoned in a gorgeous style fit for the dignity of even a princess royal mickey mounted on his chesnut charger now proceeded at a stately and impatient pace after his young mistress whose miniature steed of arabian ex traction seemed as if conscious of the treasure he bore so proudly tossed he his head and so lightly pranced he along the highway which stretched through the shady plantations opposite to oflahertys halldoor until merging in the windings of the road the lady and her servant were both lost to view


when the lady proceeded a little farther she was met and addressed by a young man who had apparently watched her de parture from the house and waited this oppor tunity of speaking to her unobserved


everbeloved and amiable mary he said we meet again in the happiness of our private attachment and once more to treat of its probable consummationbut why these tears


oriely replied the weeping girl when last we met we both were happy in our mutual attachment and my heart was light and buoyant as those sweetsinging birds in yonder grove but alas


i have bad news for you this evening


francis ohara has been again soliciting me from my father who now consents to our union he has invited him to the house where he is expected in less than a fortnight and my father seems to be inexorable and says i must marry him


this then is the father retorted oriely who is said to be so kind to his daugher


do not i beseech you oriely interposed the sorrowing maiden do not speak irreverently of my poor affectionate father he favors ohara through as mistaken love for me because the young man is rich and wealthy


and perhaps his wealth has found favor in your own eyes too said the jealous lover forsooth i am poor and you cannot expect that your union with me would be attended with any great demonstration of respect and then your rich haughty father would forbid you his presence and denounce you


this is unkind oriely she replied you know that i have had many opportunities before now of becoming the wife of richer men than you or than even ohara and you also know that i have rejected all of them for your sake for your sake i shall now reject oharaand must i again and again protest my constancy to you and repeat my former my first vows of fidelity


blame me not mary dear said oriely if i sometimes appear uneasy and fretful you see what disparity exists in our circumstances can you wonder if i should sometimes betray fear and sorrow that some wealthy rival might at length be successful and yet mary my own beloved i should never for a moment doubt you


but he continued why not become mine at once delays are useless and often dangerous


my heart is yours already returned the de voted girl and so it shall ever be but myself shall no man wed without my fathers con sent


that which you dont ask you cant expect to get observed her lover


since you desire your fathers consent and permission divulge to him our attachment and all then depends upon your power of pleading


i see no other alternative you know for me to open it to him would be worse than folly aye worse than the greatest madness


oriely she said i fear his resentment


oh he is a fearful man when angry


though the passion is soon over and he feels sorry for any rash act he might have done


and what then my beloved mary is to be done said the impatient lover evidently excited and agitated with apprehension what is to be done


time wears ohara will soon be at your fathers house to claim your hand and you may be wrested from me for ever but if so by my love for you and oh said the trembling mary do not for heavens sake talk so i like not such vehement words affairs i hope will have a better issue but she reluctantly added it is growing late and we must separate tomorrow evening we meet again when perhaps we shall be able to devise some effectual plan


for the present my dear oriely good night


a few minutes brought the lady and her footman back to her fathers when she met mr oflaherty in unusual good humor


he was just then after reading a letter of mr oharas which he had received a few minutes after miss oflaherty set out on her evenings ride saying he would be at bal tinglass oflahertys residence in a few days more and that he had made every preparation at his own dwelling for the reciprocal visit of the oflaherty family


this news he communicated to his daughter and elated himself he noticed not the melancholy which shaded the lovely face of his amiable daughter as her fathers intimation of visiting dropped ominously on her ear but except by her indifference she betrayed no symptom of repugnance to his visitors and this the unsophisticated oflaherty construed to not only a consent but even a desire to comply with oharas invitation


now my girl he complacently added after dilating on the prospects and results of their forthcoming visitings and tapping his daughter kindly on the cheek now my girl tomorrow we shall go into town when you must purchase the best silk dress bonnet and veil which the town of trim can afford


i know he playfully added you dont fancy new dresses but your dislike must give way


indeed dear father replied his meek child i have now more dresses of every description than i shall be able to wear these ten years to come and i see neither use nor novelty in buy ing any more at present


well well said the jocular parent if you will not be able to wear them your young daughters will wear them for you i hope


here the modest maiden blushed and remained silent


this conversation had taken place at the tea table and when that repast was finished he pro ceeded to the kitchen to give mickey orders to have the horse and gig ready at nine oclock the next morning for the purpose of conveying them to town


here he had another opportunity of directing one of his rhodomantade bursts of re buke at the unfortunate mickey at finding him romping with young maggie one of the female servants and singular to say though mickey of all the domestics under his roof was his very greatest favorite there was not one of them who had been visited with half the vocal chastisement of their master as he not that he at all merited it or that his master seriously meant half the threats reproaches and rebukes which he in flicted far from it but somehow or other the goodhumoured jocose manner in which he bore or rather parried the testiness of his master seemed to open an inviting field for the latters harmless blusterings


no matter what mickey did he was sure to be threatened with vengeance he did nothing right and yet nothing could be done without him in a word mickey seemed to stand in the same relation with his master in point of humour as wives do with a certain class of grumbling uxorious husbands these latter always finding fault with the former and yet thinking them in the meantime the very best creatures in the world


the reader who does not exactly coincide with the writers opinion of this species of conjugal affection felicity if you will to be convinced we recommend him the next time he hears a shortlegged snubnosed mid dleaged little husband grumbling and scolding his young handsome rosychecked wife and telling her she does this that and the other and nothing right but every thing wrong we recommend him just to say to the hapless hus band indeed sir i pity you i dont know i assure you how you can ever bear with her


but as we invariably consult our kind readers health and welfare we also recommend the sceptic in question first before uttering a syllable of the above to see that the door is open and the way clear for be assured he has incurred the little mans remorseless wrath but if on the other hand our sceptical reader will endeavor to excuse the wife palliate her conjugal sins and throw all the blame on the husbands own shoulders the snubnosed little gentleman may get some what excited heap still more censure on his handsome wife but believe our experimental re searches in these matters he who blames the husband and will not be convinced of any of his partners faults is his sworn friend for ever


but to the point when oflaherty entered the kitchen and saw mickey pulling and romping with maggie he could not refrain from so golden an opportunity of indulging in a copious shower of reproaches mixed up with a few prophecies relating to mickeys future fate so with head outstretched lips compressed and altogether in attitude of amazement he disdaining to address the accused mickey spoke to maggie maggie he said maggie have a care have nothing to do with that fellowhes a devil incarnate hanging highhanging is too good for him and if he is not hanged mark me colleen as sure as you have a head on your body hell be drowned or shot so take my advice and never let the vagabone talk another word to you


mickey who was all the time making faces at mr oflaherty behind his back now stepped forward and with an air of the most seriocomic nonchalance said masther its a bad thing to be putting between man and wife


man and wife man and wife echoed the astounded farmer what you ragamuffin you didnt do it unkown to me did you


maggie tell me are you the rascals wife


why masther interposed the imperturbable mickey with an astonishing degree of gravity why sir shes not my wife exactly yet but then its all the same as you might say for she will be mine


out upon you you vagrant


how dare you you have the impudence of old nick said the enraged old farmer no nor you scoundrel of the world she never will be yours if i can help it


maggie take my advice and have nothing to do with him


and now he continued turning to mickey myself and mary is going to town tomorrow and you had better have the horse and gig ready in good time in the morning or else my gossoon ill may be lay the stick to your back


and off mr oflaherty walked satisfied that he had blasted mickies hopes of maggie for ever not that he had wished to injure him in any way or mar his happinessby no means but he could not resist the temptation of tormenting and chiding the favourite young rogue whenever he had the semblance of an excuse


mickie himself knew all this very well and he sometimes sought more than avoided a scolding match for he knew very well that the old fellow would be sorry for it immediately and be actually frightened lest he might have vexed him or hurt his feelings and the next moment would perhaps come to him and coaxingly call him all the good boys in the world telling him to take good care of the horses or perhaps consult him on some improvement he designed to make on the farm and before he had another quarrel with his darling pet he would invariably make amends for the last when the farmer and his ostler would be as good friends as though the former had never prophesied the future hanging of the latter


thus the next morning when mickie was harnessing the horse which was to take his master into town mr oflaherty came into the stable when mickie looked unusually sullen and me lancholy and the farmer thought he had done him irreparable injury in his courtship with maggie but avoided recurring to the unfortunate occurrence in the way of an apology yet wishing to efface the disagreeable impression from mickies mind by some means


the horse looks nice and clane this morning he said patting the animal on the neck and the harness too is elegantly polished up


well mickie my boy he continued rubbing his hands and smiling hoping the still gloomy ostler would follow his example and smile too well mickie youre the best boy i ever had in my life and signs will be on you avick ill give you some good present one of those days


mickie looked as if he had not heard the com pliment or the promise of the intended gift and to achieve his purpose the more effectually seemed to avoid all attempts at a reconciliation ob serving they say masther that merica is a fine counthry just now


so i believe it is said the farmer


i wish i was there subjoined the other


mickie avick sure you dont mane to lave me that away do you interposed the good natured old man


why to be sure im livin with you a good bit but whats the good o that when i cant turn on my heel but youre ready to knock my head off i was thinkin in altherin my life and gettin married but you wont let me


so masther every one to his fancy i fancy takin a wife and you fancy you wont let mei must leave you


just at this moment the dialogue was interrupted by a messenger from miss oflaherty wishing to see her father for a minute and not until mickey had the horse in the gig and stood waiting for his master for some time holding the horse by the reins was the conversation resumed when the farmer and his daughter fully dressed and pre pared for their town excursion made their ap pearance the latter jumping into the gig while her father stood settling the reins and talking to mickie


and so mickie youre seriously thinking of marriage are you resumed the old man


yes in the name o god replied mickie forcing a sigh as if he felt the great importance of his undertaking


well mickie im sure you have my consent and my blessing too said the old man evidently moved at the idea of parting with his favorite and im surehe continued youll never be better than i wish you


may god bless both you and your wife and may ye live long and happy together


remember mickie that im your friend and will always do any thing that lies in my power to serve you but well talk more about it at some other time


now my boy take good care of every thing till i come back


ill be home plase god early in the evening


the farmer and his daughter drove off


four days after the present date of our story mr oflaherty received a latter from dublin stating to him that michael oriely and his daughter were duly married


the reader will at once conceive concluded frank milton that mickie the arch hostler and oriely the favored lover were one and the same person


ha ha said mr whitefield rubbing his hands a short story frank but a very nice plot


there are he critically added con siderable defects in your style of composition tautology for instance occurs very frequently and perhaps you have made mickie the ostler speak more sentimentally when addressing your heroine mary than any matterofact ostler of our acquaintance could do yet the plot which ingeniously conceived may compensate in a great measure for some literary inaccuracies in your story


frank was highly pleased at the encomiums passed by mr whitefield on his maiden essay of talewriting and though he studied hard to write it correctly yet he was not quite so chary of the correctness of his style as observing uni formity in his plot


my dear said mrs whitefield to her husband one morning after the pupils were all gone home on vacation and mr whitefield and his family were seated round the breakfast table my dear i dont know what ever could have tempted her to do such a thing ellen was always a kind and dutiful child and i believe his parents are not at all wealthy


alas and this too with out our consent or even knowledge


oh i suppose said mr whitefield he construed my approval of the plot of his story the other day into an assent of any thing of the kind real or fictitious


to make the above colloquial and incoherent sentences intelligible it is necessary to state that frank milton and ellen whitefield second daughter to the worthy clergyman had become acquainted shortly after the former was entered in the school when in the course of a short time each became enamoured of the other but dread ing the delays attendant on minority they choose to keep their attachment a secret


miss white field however having a reluctance to do any thing without her fathers consent milton her young lover wrote his pupils progress in which he aimed at indirectly obtaining her fathers consent


in what way he had done so the reader has seen but how he could reconcile the mode to his con science the writer leaves to the impartial decision of any lovestricken swain


franks parents were notwithstanding mrs whitefields appre hension wealthy and respectable and gave him a handsome fortune


both families became coalesced and united and frank and his wife lived happily together until death


a voyage from sydney to south australia and back again with mems social political agricultural moral and mining


chapter vii


it was on the fifth day of our sojourn in the good town of adelaide that in company with my fellowtraveller the north countryman i proceeded to the liverystables to hire a gig for the purpose of visiting the adelaide copper mine distant about thirteen miles


we had no sooner mentioned our destination than the proprietor shook his head and said he could not let out his gigs for such a road as we had to travel and that what we wished to do could only be done with saddle horses


upon this we were obliged reluctantly to over haul his stables for the purpose of selecting the special steeds who were to be put upon such responsible employment


our room for choice was of course as limited as it usually is in colonial livery stables


as far as one might judge by the eye almost every animal we saw was miserably low unhappy and superan nuated and fast passing away into the state of catsmeat


yet there was not one of them who notwithstanding his unprepossess ing appearance had not if you took his owners account of himand who should know him bettersome peculiar virtue or good quality which distinguished him from the vulgar mass of horseflesh in general


leaving it therefore to the proprie tor himself to select for us two of the least deathly among the inmates of his stables the animals are in a few minutes led forth which in consideration of tenandsixpence to be paid for the services of each are to carry us to the mine and back


one is a moderate sized just passablelooking cob the other a monstrous and revolting structure of skin and bone and acute angles with a neck almost as long as that of a dromedary and so tall that he ap peared to have originally outgrown his strength and never to have recovered it


as almost any rider of less stature than the irish giant would have required a ladder in order comfortably to ascend this animal my fellowtraveller with characteristic northern sagacity lost no time in appropriating the more moderate sized steed having mounted him whilst i was wonderingly regarding the other


i was thus left for the bigun as the tall horse was familiarly called by his friend the groom who from force of habit and perhaps to persuade me if possible that the poor dejected creature had a great fund of ani mal spirits which required repressingheld him hard and close up to the mouth by the bridle as if he would have made off any where else but back again into the stable if he had been allowed to follow his own impulses at all


disgusted as i was i nevertheless felt that before i could get to the mine i must devote myself to the study of scaling the only other broken saddle horse that was left for me and therefore although perfectly conscious of the gratuitous diversion i was affording to that por tion of the public who were looking over the palings of the yard i submitted myself to that temporary deformity of the figure which re sults to every man who attempts to lift his foot as high as his face at the same time af fecting to look cool and comfortable and in no degree like a person who is nearly breaking a bloodvessel


i found myself at length and after a desperate struggle looking down from the saddle upon the scene below


the first intelligible sounds i heard were from some of the stableyard loungers who were hanging about for excitement and who were engaged in a quiet and speculative discussion as to whether my steed could do it one averring hed been a good old os once and another express ing his opinion that he had done his work


as i felt that this kind of thing now that i was upon his back was becoming personal i determined to start at once and i requested the loan of a whip upon which an instrument was presented to me with which i believe i might nearly have knocked the horse down altogether if i had been so inclined


thus equipped and accoutred our cavalcade goes forth from the livery stable keepers premises the cob ambling off with becoming and unexpected liveliness whilst mine followed after with a spectral and stalking sort of walk as if he had never done anything in his life before but funerals


still i could not bring myself to use my bludgeon of a whip and therefore with that natural human pride which deters every man of ordinary good taste from flagellating his unlively steed before the public i con tented myself with furtive digs of the heel promising him in my own mind that he should distinctly know the difference as soon as i had got him out of town


our road we were told lay through large and cultivated plains beautifully covered with farms until we should come to a gully between two mountains a darker coloured and a lighter coloured one visible in the distance pursuing which gully and crossing a certain other mountain we should come to would bring us sooner or later according to the horses to the adelaide and montacute mines


the proper road however until we came to the gully involved accord ing to the directions of a waggoner we met so many distracting turnings off at this or that fence and keepings to the right or bearings to the left when we came to this mill or that house that i was fully convinced i should lose myself if i attempted to follow it


i there


fore determined to keep my eye on the distant gully and to ride straight across the farms until i got to it


my companion who averred that he was utterly destitute of the bump of locality and that he should rely upon me to bring him to the mine seemed at first rather disconcerted at the proposed series of trespasses to real property but upon my acknowledge ment that it was the only means i had of assuring our arrival at the proper part of the mountain he became reconciled to the neces sary and innocent illegality


away then went the cob whilst my animal followed in his wake haud passibus aquis


an occasional shower of kicks and blows now and then awoke my brute from his natural state of somnambulism into a kind of long solemn but transitory trot which lifted me at every step so high out of my seat that i believe a spectator from behind might at any moment have seen a considerable portion of the landscape between me and the saddle


it was probably as much out of commiseration for myself as from the natural heartiness of the people that not one of the farmers over whose land we rode complained of the liberty we had taken


i made my companion dis mount to remove and replace slippannels whilst i rode forward to state to the proprie tors how careful and conscientious we had been in this respect and to propitiate them with compliments upon the farm which i could always more or less be paid with per fect sincerity


thus proceeding we in about an hour and a half reached the pass between the hills


here we are then as it were in an instant away from all cultivation from all human habitation


the majestic and towering mountains stretch up far away on either side of us


it was as if we had in an instant become retransported to the high lands of scotland


all sorts of pleasant recol lections come crowding upon us and we invo luntarily stopped to enjoy the scene


this our companion takes as a signnot that we are rapt and romanticbut that we have lost the road for he checks his cob directly to look back and ask it were sure were right


i push on my beast who stares about him as leisurely as if i had brought him out only to ad mire the scenery and from his obstinate de liberateness of movement it seems as if we should never get to the top of the mountain


the road winds spirally about it and when we have got threefourths upwith a high cut on the left hand like a wall and a very deep de clivity almost a precipice on the rightmy horse stands still altogether and looks at it like a surveyor


kicks and blows avail not


he will have nothing further to say to the bu siness


here is a pretty go or rather no go


i suddenly recollect that i am invited out to dine that day and shall perhaps be obliged to abandon my expedition and make the best of my way back to adelaide


to all my appeals with whip and heels my quadruped only returns a violent shrug or debilitated buck which although merely a demonstration of impotent vice is dreadfully disconcerting in my present situation


my companion having already satisfied himself from the confidence of my countenance that i am all right as to the road has pushed on and left me to carry on the war all alone with my unsatisfactory beast who at each successive shrug or jump threatens to grind my left leg against the wall of earth and stones on the one side or swerves alarmingly near the precipi tous declivity on the other


and as his whole conduct from the beginning of the journey has been excessively eccentric to say the least of it i cannot but shudder as i contemplate the possibility of his plunging himself in a moment of mental aberrationwith me on his back down the declivity without giving any kind of notice


i therefore descend from my ex alted seat and lead him by the rein which appears to reconcile him to the rest of the mountain path for he stalks after me not pulling back so hard as might have been ex pected


thus humouring him i at length reached the top of the mountain and never have i beheld a fairer sight of the kind than from that spot


behind me lay adelaide plains covered with rich and beautiful farms for many a fair mile


afar off to the left glittered in the bright light the gulf of st vincent and before me rose range after range of noble hills further than the eye could reach


how inex pressibly solemn and sweet and awful is this deep stillness and solitude


the mind is lifted up by the vastness of the surrounding objects above the petty cares and thoughts of our town life into something of a state that we would almost call religious rapture if we felt that we deserved to be called religious at all


what can human life afford better than the world of delights which memory yields when the mind wanders away into luxurious reverie and seems to create and to repose upon its creations at one and the same time


here could i have stood and gazed for hours


here also could my horse have stood and grazed for hours of which fact and of the passing time i was at length reminded by the sound of his active jawsby far the most active part about himdoing full justice to the patches of pasture here and there to be found upon the top of the mountain


having coaxed and led him to a slight elevation we a second time as cended to his saddle whereupon as if in better humour from the bait of grass he had enjoyed he descended the hill at a much improved pace


about a third of the way down


i overtook my companion who unaware of what had de tained me above and thinking that i had at last discovered that we were in the wrong road was just about to return in search of me


perhaps he did not fancy being in so solitary a spot by himself for it was certainly a beautiful scene either for a poet or a highwayman


i however was extremely comfortable for my heart was light and my pockets were empty and cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator


away we go then once more in company at the bottom of the hill we come upon a dray load of goods a team of bullocks and the driver who has knocked off the road and pulled up upon a patch of grass having given up the attempt at passing the mountain as a bad job


in answer to my question as to what are his plans he says he is waiting for the ar rival of two more bullocks for which he had some time before sent his mate


he also told us that we were all right for the adelaide mine which was distant about two miles


this distance we soon travel meeting no one else but two of the directors returning on horseback from an in spection who in answer to our interrogatories tell us that although we are late the cap tain will show us the works


in a few minutes we came into a very picturesque little valley with a fine flowing creek running along it and hills before us and on either side


the nearest mountain to the right is the montacute mine not worked at present and the next is the one on which the adelaide mining company who have bought all round the montacute are at present at work


we rode up to the cot tages and selecting the best as likely to con tain the captain we were very civilly treated and at our request to be allowed to see the works the captain at once led the way straight up one of the steepest parts of the mountain and in a few minutes brought us to a cut or adit about four or five feet wide and large enough for any man conveniently to enter without stooping


this was a newly discovered lode


the miners had followed it in a horizon tal direction for about five and twenty or thirty feet into the body of the mountain propping up the superincumbent earth as they went