when lie had finished hie walked slowly backward from the writing admiring it as one might contemplate a beautiful picture but with somethling of sadness in his voice and manner which quite touchled the chlild though shre was urnacquainted with the cause


a little hirand indeed said thie poor school master


far beyond all his companions in hiris learning and his sports too how did hie ever come to be so fond of mel that i should love him is no wonder but that he should love me and there thie schoolmaster stopped and took off hris specta


cles to wipe them as though they had grown dim


i hiope there is nothing thre matter sir said nell anxiously


not much my dear returned the schloolnaster


i hoped to hiave seen him on the green tonight


he was always foremost among them


but hell be there tomorrow


has he been asked the child with a clhilds quick sympathy


not very


they said he was wandering in his head yesterday dear boy and so they said the day before


but thats a part of that kind of disorder


its not a bad signnot at all a bad sign


tihe child was silent


he walked to the door and looked wistfully out


the shadows of night were gathering and all was still


if he could lean upon anybodys arm ihe would come to me i know he said returning into the room


lhe alwayscame into the garden to say good night


but perhaps his illness hias only just taken a favourable turn and its too late for him to come out for its very damp and theres a heavy dew


its much better ihe shouldnt come tonight


the schoolmaster lighted a candle fastened the windowshutter and closed thie door


but after he had done this and sat silent a little time he took down hiris hat and said he would go and satisfy him


self if nell would sit up till he returned


tihe child readily complied and he went out


she sat there half an hour or mrore feeling the place very strange and lonely for she hiad prevailed upon the old man to go to bed and there was nothing to be hieard but the ticking of an old clock oand tlre whistling of tile wind among thie trees


when ire returned he took his seat in tile chimney corner but remained silent for a long time


at length he turned to her and speaking very gently hioped she would say a prayer that night for a sick child


my favourite scholar l said tho poor school master smoking a pipe he had forgotten to light and looking mournfully round upon the walls


it is a little hand to have done all that and waste away with sickness


it is a very very little hand to bo continued


chapter xlviii


sears tidings op jiarttin and op aiark as well as ov a thibd peh son not quite iiekoo to the hkaukh


exhibits filial piety in an ugly aspect and casts a doudtful ay of light ulon a vkky daiik luck


tom piuch and ruth were setting at their early breakfast with the window open and a row of the freshest little plants arranged before it on the inside by ruths own hands and ruth had fastened a sprig of geranium in toms buttonhole to make him very smart and summerlike for the day it was obliged to be fastened in or that dear old tom was certaiu to lose it and people trere crying flowers up and down the street and a blundering bee who hud got himself in between the tiro sashes of the window was bruising liia head against the glass endeavouring to force himself out into the fine morning and considering himself en chanted because lie couldut do it and the morning was as fine a murning as ever was seen and the fragrant air was kissing ruth and rustling about tom as if it said


how are you my dears i came all this way on purpose to salute you and it was one of those glad times when we form or ought to form the wish that every one on earth were able to be happy and catching glimpses of the ummer of tbe heart to feel the beauty of the summer of the year


it was even a pleosanter breakfast than usual and it was always a pleasant one


for little ruth had now two pupils to at tend each three times a week and each two hours at a time and besides this she had painted some screens and cardracks and unknown to tom was there ever any thing so delightful i had walked into a certain shop whwi dealt in such articles and had taken courage to ask the mistress whether she would buy them


and the mistress bad not only bought them hut bad ordered more and liat very morning she


bad made confession pf these facts to tom and had handed


um the money in a little purse she bad worked exprebsly for the purpose


the had been n a flutter about this end perhaps badshed a happy tear or two for anything the hiblory knowbto die contrary but it was all over now and a brighter face than toms or a brighter face than uulhs tbe bright sun had hot looked on since lie went to bed last night


my dear girl said tom coming so abruptly on tbe subject that be interrupted himself in the act of cutting a elice of bread and left the knife sticking in the lonf what a queer fellow our landlord is i dont believe be has been borne once since be got me into that unsatisfactory scrape


i begin to think be will nerer come again


what a mysterious life that man does lead to be sure very strange


is it not tom


really i hope it is only strange


i liopc there may be nothing wrong in it


sometimes i begin to be doubtful of that


i must bave an explanation with him said tom shaking his head as if this were a most tremendous threat when i can see him a short double knock at the door put toms menacing looks to flight and awa kened an expression of surprise instead


heyday i said tom


an early hour for visitors


it must be john i suppose


i i dont think it was bis knock tom observed his little sister


not said tom


it surely cant be my employer suddenly arrived in town and come fur the key of the office


its some body enquiring for me i declare


come in if you please


but when the person came in tom pincli instead of saying did you wish to speak with me sir or addressing him in any such distant terms cried out good gracious heaven i and seized him by both bands with the liveliest manifestations of astonishment and pleasure


the visitor was not less moved than torn himself and they shook hands a great many times without another word being spoken on cither side


tom was the first to find his voice


mark tapley too said tom running towards the door and shaking bunds with somebody else


my dear mark come in


how are you mark i


he dont look a day older tban he used to do at tbe dragon


how are you mark


uncommon jolly sir thankce re turned sir


tapley all smiles and bows


i hope i see you well sir


good gracious me cried tom patting him tenderly on the back


how delight ful it is to bear bis old voice again


my dear alartin bit down


my sister martin


mr cbuzzlewit my love


mark tapley from the dragon my dear


good gracious me what a surprise this is


sit down tom was in such a state of excitement that he couldnt keep himself still for a moment but was constantly running between mark and martin shaking bands with them alternately and presenting them over and over again to hib sister


i remember the day ire parted martin as well as if it were yesterday said tom


what a day it was and what a passion you were in and dont you remember my overtaking you in the road that morning mark when i was going to salisbury in the gig to fetch him and you were looking out for a situation t and dont you recol lect the dinner we had at salisbury war tin with john wesllock eb t good


gracious me


i itutb my dear more cups and saucers


bless my soul bow glad i am to see you both


and then tom as john westlocb had done on his arrival ran off to tbe loaf to cut some bread aud butter for them and before be bad spread a single slice remem bered ometbing else and came running back again to tell it and then he shoolr hands with them again and then he did everything be had done already all over again and nothing tom could do and nothing tom could say was half sufficient to express his joy at their safe return


mark was the first to resume bis compo sure


in a very short space of time he was discovered lo have somehow installed him self in office as waiter or atteudaut upon the party a fact which was first suggested to them by bis temporary absence in tbe kitchen and speedy return with a kettle of water from which he replenished the tea pot witb a selfpossession that was quite bis own


sit down and take your breakfast mark said tom


make him sit down aud take his breakfast murtin


oh i gave him up long ago as quite incorrigible martin replied


he takes his own way tom


you wpuld excuse him miss pinch if you knew bis value


she knowb it bless you i said tom


i have told her all about mark tapley


have i not ruth


yes tom not all returned martin in a low voice


tbe best of mark


tapley is only known to one man tom andbutfor mark be would hardly be alive to tell it


markl said tompincb energetically if you dont sit down this minute


ill swear at you


well air returned mr tajiley sooner tban you should do that ill cornply


its a considerable invasion of a mans jollity to be made so particular welcome but a werb is a word as signifies to be to do or to suffer which is all tbe grammar and quite enough too as ever i wob taught and if theres a averb alive im it


for im always a bein sometimes a doin and con tinually a bufferin


i hot jolly yet


p abbedtom witb a smile


jyhjp i was ratherso over the water sir returned


mart qpa not entirely without credit


but human kauir ib in si conspiracy again mejiioantgeton


i shall bave to ieave it in my will sir to be njte upon my tomb he was a man as might bave come out strong if be could bave got a chance but it was denied him


mr tapley took this occasion of looking about him with a grin and subsequently attacking the breakfast witb an appetite not at all expressive of blighted hopes or insurmountable despondency


chapter xvi


the hospitals os thb bosrnonus


tho sick forming so large a portion of tbe army as stated in the last chapter it becomes a matter of interest to see how they were disposed of


a soldier seized with illness generally lay a abort time in the hospital tents large and lofty marquees round tbe sides of which the patients were ranged on wooden stretchers while sick officers remained in their own tents which were in nowise superior except in privacy to those te nanted by the men


nothing could well bo more desolate than the interior of tbe tent of an officer wbo had landed with the army and whose baggage might be on board a transport not yet arrived in balak lava a pallet of cloaks and blankets in one corner a couple of bullock trunks or portmanteaus serving as tables on which to arrange the tin platter and cup which constituted a crimean service of plate or two huge bags of russian leather pur chased in the bazaar of constantinople as mom portable or more easily packed than trunks these formed the only spots of furniture on the grassy or mudspread floor


those officers who joined subsequently from england were better provided bring ing portable beds and chairs and other coveniences of camp life as well as plenty of warm clothing


the men of the compa nies of artillery which arrived from england in december bad strong serviceable long boots and warm great coats and under clothing which rendered them tho envy of their halfclad comrades


but the generality of tents both of offi cers and men were very comfortless and afforded little chance of recovery to the sick wbo were therefore sent the slighter cascb to balaklava where they were placed under roofs or on shipboard the more serious to the great hospitals at scutari where they remained till either fit to return to the camp or invalided to england the ambulance waggons long omnibusshaped vehicles containing brackets on wbicb those unable to sit up could be laid stretch ers and all as on shelves and seats dosa dos with supports for tbe arms and feet the whole cased by high springs were much more comfortable and better adapted for invalids than tbe french ambulance mules with a seat for a man on each side but were far too few to accommodate tbe hobt of sufferers who were daily requiring removal


most of them were accordingly sent down mounted on cavalry horses another heavy though most necessary tax on our feeble means of transport and few sights can be imagined more melancholy than that of a troop of cadaverous feeble suffer ing beings wrapt up m their blankets swaying to and fro on the saddle or crouch ing on the necks of the horses which bore them glowly towards the longedfor haven where they might hope for some remis sion of their misery


too often it happened that on reaching the beach no sufficient measures had been taken for conveying them on board or accommodating them in the ships


many died before being laid in the boats and many more on their passage to scutari while a voyago across tho stormy euxino roust to a great number have been more terrible torture than all they bad previously undergone


in the middle of january i was des patched to constantinople in the sphinx a warsteamer to send up a number of transport animate equipped with waggons clothing and drivers for the service of tbe army


riding down to kamicsch in a thick blinding snowstorm through which tbe track was hardly discernible i em barked the ship started at once as she waited only for the despatches which i had charge of to deliver to tbe queens mes senger at constantinople and after a stormy passage with a head wind we reach ed the mouth of tbe bosphorus in hours


tho next morning saw us anchored off the tophana


i had last seen the city and the banks of the seariver clad in all the warmth and brilliancy of summer


the white walls would then bave been too dazzling in the hot sunlight but for tbe lavish relief of trees whose cool foliage or gay blossoms everywhere spotted tbe glare while the light blue water unrippled as a lake was so transparent that tbe caiques bung as if balanced in air on their own reflections floating a double ligbf in air and wave


on each side jutted farther and farther off and still becoming more fairylike in their indistinctness the green and flowery banks of tho bosphorus till a low line purpled by distance closed tbe view and every where the white birds the white sails or the white tunics of the boatmen specked brightly tbe blue or the green


going on deck on a bitter cold morning the th of january i saw close before mo tho city dieamliko as ever tut of a character altogether changed


every dome and roof was covered with snow the grey shadows melttag into the grey background of sky


an icy purity had taken the place of the brilliant glow the minaret points sparkkd with a cold glitter the mosques rose like huge twellth cakes frpbted and fretted above tho snowclad roofs and the building on the shunboul side of the golden horn looked taint and sketchy against the sky


keen squalls whistled down the bosphorus casting shadows like stains on the slaty water and making the caiques reel and dance while tho whitened waves marked the hasty footseeps of tbe blast upward aud down ward cold shores stretched whitely aad mistily out between the dull sky and dark water the black atrpes of cypresses giving solidity to the else vapoury landsorpe toe boatmen had exohanged their white tunics for warm brown jackets and had wound shawls round their skuilcaps i tho caiques faded and dim in color seemed to think it no longer worth while to look at themselves in the water and floated ehadowlcst


to be continued


j


the bellmanship a true story


from blackwoods magazine chapter the labours of the statistical society i suppose have left very few people in ignorance that ours is a borough town though the inhabitants have not the inestimable privilege of hating each other on principles of the purest patriotism once every three or four years when some soaring squire or plethoric manufacturer is ambitious of a seat in parliament by which periphrasis i would have it understood that we return no member albeit we have a mayor and corporation a townhall and lockup house and other visible signs of corporate dignity


cast your eye oh reader


through the dim vista of departed years and it is highly probable if you look sharp you will see a youthful couple seated under the elm trees at the west end of the flourishing town of buzzleton on the fourth day of june eighteen hundred and thirtyseven cannot take it upon me positively to affirm that the lady was beautiful exceedingly or that she had the slightest appearance of being a native of a far countrie for it was impossible to suppose for a moment that those bright cherrylooking lips rosy coloured cheeks and mild happy blue eyes belonged by possibility to any one but a nice modest english girl of eighteen or nineteen


nor would it be safe to delude the reader into an improper sympathy with the hero by hinting that he had the slightest resemblance to those whiskered pandours and those fierce hussars who make such a tremendous sensation in novels of fashionable life


no one could ever have fancied him a hungarian magnate or polish prince or even a german baron for the fat county of suffolk was visible in every feature of the object of my description


a brown surtout with black buttons thrown loosely back showed a considerable extent of a fancycoloured waistcoat for the interesting individualbut why keep up a vain mystery which the accomplished reader has penetrated long ago it was simpkinson junior himselfin short john plantagenet simpkinson sitting ttedtte with mary padden for the interesting individualas i was going to say when this parenthesis interrupted me rejoiced in a vast expanse of chest of which he was a little conceited though candour at the same time compels me to admit that the ample breadth and verge enough which was so becoming and indeed heroic as revealed by the aforesaid fancycoloured waistcoat extended itself considerably below the point at which it ought to have grown fine by degrees and beautifully less and constituted altogether a squarebuilt young man with every appearance of health and strength but none of that stiffnecked noodleism which the french people and english milliners call an air distingu


you will perhaps ask why this jolly good humoured looking young gentleman had such a magnificent name as plantagenet but submit that this is a question more properly directed to his godfathers and godmothers than to me but at the same time if you merely ask for information and with no sinister intention i will only mention that his father was the most eloquent man in our parish and rejoiced in long words


now as plantagenet is a name you will observe of four syllables whereas stubbs is only of one you will at once see a prim facie reason why the royal denomination was preferred and the name of the maternal unclemr stubbs the opulent brewer in chadfieldfor this occasion rejected


this is my own opinion but of course you are at liberty to devise any other reason for it that may be more agreeable to yourself


we are not to suppose that the couple i have now introduced to you sat silent all this time merely because i have not yet given you any account of their conversation for it is a circum stance well known to our whole town that miss padden had a total aversion to the absurd doc trines of the pythagoreans so far as their silence was concerned and in fact lost no opportunity of practicing the divine faculty of speech


she spoke very well and prettily and there can be no doubt that such beautiful lips and interesting blue eyes would have made very inferior language pass off for eloquence at all events in the mind of simpkinson junior


so you are going off to morrow


tadgy


and here oh reader in another parenthesis let me call your attention to the endearing diminutive tadgy short for plantagenet to what vile uses may we come horatio


yes said tadgy with a mournful shake of the head


oh it must be such a pretty place that lon don with hyde park and almacks and west minster abbey and madame tassaud


how i envy you all the sights


aint you happy tadgy


no replied the youth i would rather stay at buzzleton and be near you polly


your servant mr plantagenet said the young lady gently withdrawing her hand from the clasp of the sentimental swainbut whether from coquetry or propriety or to preserve a new white kid glove i will not undertake to determine i wasnt fishing for a compliment l assure you


but it is no compliment pollyit is only the truth and why shouldnt i be sorry to leave buzzleton


there will be no nice walks like this nor listening to your songs nor talking of whats to happen


when interrupted miss padden


why when your father and mine think we are sensible


now dont pretend pollyfor this is our last day together and want to hear you tell me again seriously and solemnly that you will keep constant for the two years and marry me at the end


shall we be sensible then tadgy


enquired the lady looking archly at the earnest face of her admirer


father says so was the reply and in a tone that showed that that awful authority would have secured mr plantagenets credence to a still more wonderful event


we ought to be much obliged to our father said the young lady for guaranteeing such a reformation but indeed tadgy the chance of changing your mind is all on your side


you will see such designing people at almacks and vauxhall and never trouble yourself about designing people dear polly write to me every week and as i am to come down every half year for three weeks we shall do almost as well as if we met


and you will write faithfully and think of me always


said mary in a voice from which all liveliness had disappeared


mr plantagenet simpkinson again laid his hand upon the pretty little white kid glove which this time was not withdrawn and looking in the sweet blue eyes which i have already mentioned said wont i thats all


miss padden seemed quite as satisfied with this declaration as if it had been made in words of fire upon the bended knee and i do not feel myself at liberty to give any account of what was said on either side for at least ten minutes


at the end of that time an individual was seen walking towards them at the other extremity of the alley


heres that horrid boy bob said mary looking somewhat displeased


infernal troublesome fool muttered mr plantagenet i should like to kick him into the river


chapter ii


the enquiring reader is anxious to be informed who and what was bob


bob was marys younger brother and the most disagreeable detestable boy that was ever known in buzzleton


those who had studied gullivers travels called him the yahoo those who trusted only to their own sense of fitness in the art of nomenclature called him the beast


but this being a generic name was varied by the more acute disciples of buffon by referring him to any particular species which appeared appropriate to his peculiar qualities the ass the owl the ostrich the baboon and a variety of other respectable citizens of the animal kingdom were called upon to furnish a designation for mr robert padden and it was this amalgam of mr politos menagerie that caused such a disagreeable sensation by his appearance in the elm walk and excited a strong inclination in the usually pacific bosom of plantagenet to drown him in the deep waters of the buzzle


bob however as if unconscious of any feelings of the kind lounged up to where the youthful pair were seated and with a sulky look towards the young gentleman enquired of his sister what she was always walking about with tadgy simpksn for


now this is a very embarrassing sort of ques tion and accordingly miss mary whether from not having studied the motives of her so doing or not wishing to reveal them remained silent whereupon mr simpkinson addressed the yahoo in a tone of voice by no means common with that goodnatured individual and said your sister has a right to please herself i suppose


i spose


she hasand she does it too replied the agreeable youth i only want to know who shell walk with next when youre gone up to the grocers shop in london


grocers shop


exclaimed plantagenet it is the greatest west india house in the city


well they sell sugar dont they


and thats a grocer isnt it


theres no use trying to gammon us here


youre going to be a grocer now the last man mary was spooney with was something better than that at any rate


what do you mean robert


enquired the sister


why bob darrell the chadfield doctor you know very well but hes married now and so youre doing the civil to tadgy


never mind him mary my dear said tadgy i dont believe a word he says


at the same time i never knew that you were acquainted with dr darrell


i had a fever three years ago when i was staying at your uncle stubbss and be was called in


yes and nearly called out too for young stubbs thats gone into the army wanted to shoot him for being too attentive


those doctor fellows are always squeezing hands and clutching hold of arms and pretend its only feeling the pulse


think stubbs should have shot him


what for


asked plantagenet


why for marrying that other woman


he ought to have married mary


how can you listen to such nonsense tadgy


said mary you know bobs agreeable way of saying pleasant things


i assure you dr darrell was only a very good and kind doctor and if you like to believe me rather than bob you will not mind anything more he says


plantagenet looked at the honest open countenance of his future bride and saw that no deceit could possibly lie on those sunny cheeks and in those clear innocent eyes so he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and looked with ineffable disdain on the mischevous countenance of mister bob


well said that gentle squire you neednt sit billing and cooing here all day


im afraid somebody may go and tell father and i know he would be very angry if he knew you had been carrying on your rigs before the whole town


you had better come home mary for if anybody does tell father and im called in as a witness am afraid i must tell all ive seen


what have you seen you insolent blockhead


said plantagenet springing up


oh never mind


if youre really going to marry our mar y it doesnt much matter


i only hope she wont be disappointed againthats all


i never was disappointed you idle falsetongued intolerable wretch


exclaimed mary the tears of anger and vexation springing into her eyes


were nt you


replied the benevolent brother then thats a pleasure to come for you may depend upon it when tadgy rises to be a grocer on his own account hell forget you as easily as doctor darrell


the speaker came more abruptly to a close than was his custom for he saw something so peculiar in the flashing eyes and swelling chest of plantagenet that he thought it better to decamp at once


he accordingly strolled off in the same listless manner in which he had made his approach and the lovers felt as if relieved from some horrible oppression when they saw the long figure of the overgrown yahoo with his coat a mile too large for his thin body and his trowsers a mile too short for his long legs


thereby revealing nearly the whole extent of his wellingtons slowly disappear at the turning of the elm walk


thank heaven


i have not shoved him in the water


was the pious exclamation of planta genet when he found that for this occasion he was free from guilt of murder


i cant understand what pleasure the boy can have in saying disagreeable things and inventing such abominable stories was the contemporaneous observation of his sister


and hereupon followed a full explanation of all the incidents that the yahoo either then or at any former time had alluded to and as usually happens in affiairs of that kind both paities felt that the attempt of mr bob to sow dissension had had the very opposite effect by giving an opening to a more full and free communication than could have been found under any other circumstances


on getting up to go home it might have been remarked by those who are superstitiously inclined that the first object that presented itself to the eyes of the lovers was an enormous placard on a mans back containing in letters at least three inches long the words tapps for bellman and in small letters come to the poll on tuesday the eleventh


i do not know whether any thrill of sympathetic horror rushed through the hearts of mary and her admirer on seeing those appalling words but it is highly probable if they had forseen all the misfortunes that those large red letters gave rise to they would have wished that the father of mr tapps the candidate had died in his infancy or that tapps himself had been run over by the manchester and liverpool train


i have no reason to suppose however that any of those aspirations with regard to mr tapps or his father were uttered by either of our friends so i will not detain the reader any longer but inform him that with a heavy heart a large trunk and two carpet bags plantagenet simpkinson took his departure from buzzleton on the following day and in due course of time arrived at his destination in the city


and there for a short space i leave him to his invoices and bills of ladinghis threelegged stool and his letter once aweek to the truehearted mary padden


i dont believe that there ever was a man who was a great orator or a great poet or a great anything except perhaps a great ass without knowing it


there never was such a thing as a mute inglorious milton a dumb demosthenes or a blind thomson or daddingstone


it is therefore not to be supposed that mr simpkinson senior was ignorant of his own powers so far from it indeed that i have even heard it hinted that if it were possible he overrated them but this even if it were true is a very venial fault for it is surely much belter to be a little anxious to discover and dwell upon modest merits wherever they are found whether in ones self or in others than to deny or undervalue them


there were few things in which mr simpkinson found himself deficient history theology architecture spoiling politics business or accomplishments were equally at his fingerends but his forte as i have already hinted in my attempt to explain the reason of his calling his son plantagenet instead of stubbs was decidedly oratory


he was oratorical at breakfast at dinner in the newsroom in buying a pound of snuff in ordering a pair of trowsers


in fact he was altogether an orator and you could no more have stood five minutes under an archway with him than with edmund burke without discover ing that he was an extraordinary man


mr simp kinson was of no profession it was hinted he was sleeping partner in the chadfield clothmills and also that he had a share in stubbs brewery but whether he had entered into any of those speculations or not does not materially concern any body but himself


mr padden also lived as the phrase has it on his meansa plain man without much affectation except an affectation of knowing whether anything was gentlemanly or nota sort of provincial chesterfield who for gave any thing however wrongmurder itself i verily believeprovided it were done in a gentle manly manner


his origin like that of the guelph family was unknown


he maintained a strict silence as indeed you find is done by all the real aristocracy on the subject of his ancient descent and even on the inferior point of the achievements of his former days but people in our town suspected from an almost superhuman knowledge he dispayed about ribbons and sarsenets that he must have come from coventry


this suspicion had been hinted to him by one or two of his acquaintance but he showed so much touchiness andd irritability on the subject that few people would have ventured to renew the insinuation


this i grant is a very meagre account of our two chief inhabitants but i hope any deficiency in exactness or resemblance will be supplied in the next edition of lord broughams sketches of distinguished characters in the reigns of the two last georges


therein also let be permitted me to hope that tapps will not be forgotten


on the eventful tuesday the eleventh the whole town rushed distractedly to the townhall tapps on the one side of the chair hicks the rival candidate on the other the mayor between the two looking as like as he could to hercules between vice and virtue the


expectant faces of the as semblagefor it was rumoured that mr simpkinson would speakthese with the inferior access sories of clerks at the table and the widow of the deceased bellman in the foregound bearing the badge of her late husbands during this momentous interregnum formed a subject which i feel surprised has not been seized upon by hayter or wilkie


a bustle is heard in the middle of the hallan arm bearing aloft a best white beaver waves impatiently forward to the chair a way is made and mr padden mounts the steps and turns towards the audience as if in act to speak


he speakshe swellshe waves his handhe thumps the table


oh heavens


oh earth


oh sea


he concludes a powerful harangue by proposing hicks


what


padden propose hicks when he knewwhen all buzzletonwhen all england knew that simpkinson supported tapps


astonishment kept the whole assembly silent for a space which was only interrupted by the short proud cough with which the orator cleared his throat


his throat was at last cleared he stood forward little and beginning in a low tone of voice he worked himself into a paroxysm of eloquence then sinking his tone again went through the whole compass of his wonderful voice fleeching praying roaring bullying scold ing stamping and thumping sometimes the little table sometimes one hand against the other till it was impossible not to believe that he was demosthenes and was speaking greek


i have every reason to believe that what he did say was in fact as good every bit as that illustrious language to the greater part of his auditory


when i reflect he said on the mountaneous interests for which we are here assembled i feel that in this question is evolved not the mere office of bellman high and honorable as that office is but the glory the might the power and independence of the ratepayers of buzzleton


are we to cringe to a divaricated hallucination


are we to bend ourselves at the shrine of dephlogisticated parabola and yield intense submission to the dictates of an anathematised hyperbole


perish the thought


tapps and no otherno hickscreeping through existence under the adumbrated essence of metaphorical seclusion


other the faded majesty of meretricious susceptibility no hicks with the tiger eyes of humanity breathing forth the condensed malignity of atrocious horror


tapps


tapps only shall be bellman of this town


great cheers


but it is impossible to report the speech as it deserves and therefore as i recollect reading in some book of criticism that the great art of elevating ones hero consists not in mere description but in representing the effects produced by him upon others i shall proceed to the next morning namely wednesday the th when the following correspondence took place


to be continued


chapter on whaling


concluded


the cutting in along side is the signal for a sort of parliamentary assembly of albatrosses blue sharks c with here and there perhaps a penguin the former amusing you as they gorge with an unceosins


querulous noise not unlike the braying of ten thousand pigmy trumpets


they make very tolerable messengers and if you in cline to society well saddle one with a card of invitation for the next ship describing ourselves at home lat long


the next cutting in ship wherever she be will attract onr envoy and the card will probably be recovered


here is much pleasant visiting and exchanging of boats as straggling ships chance to come together with no little fiddling anil occasionally dancing


to say nothing of the tramp of masculine heels imagine reader the surprise of the tritons here abouts at the first heard notes of the brisk awakening viol hereabouts i say as whaling stations are remote from the common route of merchantmen whence the local deities might be supposed more unsophisticated in their education and habits


apropos to fiddling take an illustra tion of the singular contempt of danger often to be met with in yonder whales the growth of his double hazardous employment


i was once re turning from a sociable evening call on board of a neighbouring vessel with our captain the night was egregious dark our ship very distant


midway in passingbehold us suddenly surrounded by a herd of whales puffing and blowing and kicking up their heels till the water was a vortex of foam


completely hedged in drenched with brine from their spoutholes expecting immediate contact and as immediate destruction jack said the captain caut you hit the snortin var mint


why have nt we a lance here v re mark reader that you are not embarking on board the vessel we selected for observation audtlianks me for the asmodean privilege we have retained of leaving her at will for another or for home as wun us ui uausiennig ourselves out ui any uoat into wilicu we uij nuiur ouniia sue is ojuimuiud into atoms which must unavoidable happen now aud then


be grateful too for your escape from the tedium of confinement whichit is disagreeable even to sympathise with


now as i grow tired we will avail ourselves of my ingenious expedient to withdraw sans cercvumic


you may fancy if you like a lonering of fourteen or fifteen boats at once from different ships the rivalry is highly amusing in the pursuit of a sperm whale


there the description just given will assist you with variations may he of a boat bitten in two or but ted to pieces or a boat enveloped in fog its fish horn bleating in vain or lost in the haze of the horizon and overtaken by night with an accom paniment of an anxious gun from its guardian snip wnicn trets ana worries ana tacks adout with every symptom of motherly anxiety


the ensuing display of lanterns as twilight thickens


then their gradual extinction when the recovered boat is swung up to its place alongside with some congratulation and no little scolding on the part of the tired shipkeepers


all these you may imagine or overlook but one thing i pray thee forget not to honour with a parting glance a nightscene around the tryworks it is too like danto purgatory to be neglected


three ovens amidships surmounted by three huge cauldrons of oil the oil boiling the ovens lapping out tongues of flickering flame the watch clustering and flitting and gibbering iii a light now lurid now livid some feeding the gaping furnaces with


fuel some couchant on the windlass spinning yarns one brandishing a mighty fork another spairging about the hruuistauc cootie with a louglong ladle aud occasionally anointing the fire till it makes the rigging and the sails and the weltering waters gleam again in its blaze and each busy smutty diabolical looking figure of the attendant group flash into second daylight all together afford a spectacle beautiful as rare and leave nothing to be guessed at would you realize the air of a lodgingcell in the freehold of auld nickie ben


martin ch bzz lwit


by c dickens esq chapter xli


sin


jonas and his kriend arriving at a pleasant understanding set forth upon an enteiipbise


the office of the anglobengalee disin terested loan and life insurance company being near at hand and mr montague driving tonnsstraigutthere they had very little way to go


but tlie journey tnigut bare been one of several hours duration without provoking a remark from eilher for it was clear that jonas did not mean to break tlie silence which prevailed between item mid that it was not as yet his denr frieod cue to tempt him into conversation


he had thrown aside his cloak ns having now no motive for concealment and with that garment huddled on his knees eat as far removed from his companion as tlie limited space in such a carriage would allow


there was a striking difference in his manner compared with what it bud been within n few minutes when tom encountered him so unexpectedly on board the packet or when the ugly change had fallen on him in mr montagues dressing room


he liad the aspect of a man found out and held at bay of being baffled liuniej and beset but there was son a dawning and increasing purpose in his face which changed it very much


it was gloomy distrustful lowering pale with anger and defeat it still was humbled abject cowardly and mean but let the conflict go on as it would there was one strong purpose wrestling with every emo tion of his mind and casting tlie whole series down as they arose


not prepossessing in appearance at the best of times it may be readily supposed that he was not so now


he had left deep marks of his front teeth in his nether lip and those tokens of the agitation he had lately undergone improved his looks as little as the heavy corrugations in his fore head


but he was selfpossessed now unnaturally selfpossessed indeed as men quite otherwise than brave are known to be in desperate extremities


and when the carriage stopped he waited for no invitation but leaped hardily out and went up stairs


the chairman followed him and closing he boardroom door as soon as they had entered threw himself upon a sofa


jonas stood before the window looking down into the street and leaned against the sash resting his head upon his arms


this is iiothandsomecbuzzlewiti said montague at length


not handsome upon my soul what would you have me do


he answered looking round abruptly what do you expect t confidence my good fellow


some confidence i said montague in au injured tone


ecodl you show great confidence in me retorted jonas


dont you f


do i not said his companion raising his head and looking at him hut he had turned again


do i not


have i not confided to you the easy schemes i have formed for our advantage our advantage mind not mine alone and what is my return


attempted flight


how do you know that


who said i meant to fly v who saidl come come


a foreign boat my friend an early hour a figure wrapped up for disguise who said


if you didnt mean to jilt me why were you there


if you didnt mean to jilt me why did you come back


i came back said jonas to avoid disturbance


you were wise i rejoined his friend


jonas stood quite silent still looking down into the street and resting his head upon his arms


now chuzzlewit said montague notwithstanding what lias passed i will be plain with you


are you attending to me there t i only see your back


i hear you


go on i


i say that notwithstanding what has passed i will be plain with you


you said that before


ami i have told you once i beard you say it


go on


you are a little chafed but i can make allowance for that and am foitunately myself in the very best of tempers


now let us see how circumstances stand


a day or two ago i mentioned to you my dear fellow tliat i thought i had discovered will you hold your tongue


said jonas looking fiercely round and glancing at the door


well well said montague


judi cious quite correct


my discoveries being published would be like many other mens discoveries in this honest world of no further use o me


you see chuzzlewit how ingenuous and frank i am in showing you the weakness of my own position i to return


i moke or think i make a certain discovery which i take an early opportu nity of mentioning io your ir in that spirit of confidence which i really hoped did prevail between us and was reciprocated by you


perhaps there is something in it perhaps there is nothing


i have my knowledge and opinion on the subject


you have yours


we will not discuss the ques tion


but my good fellow you have been weak what i wish to point out to you is that you have been weak


i may desire to turn this little incident to my account indeed i do


ill uot deuy it but my account does not lie in probing it or using it against you


what do you call using it against me asked jonas who bad not yet changed his attitude


oh i said jloutague wiui a laugh


well not enter into that


using it to make a beggar of me


is that the use you mean


no


ecod muttered jonas bitterly


thats the use in which your account does lie


you speak the truth there


i wish you to venture its a very safe venture a little more with us certainly and to keep quiet said montague


you promised me you would and you must


i say it plainlychuzzlewii you must


reason the matter


if you dont my secret is worthless to me and being so it may as well become the public property as mine better for i shall gain some credit bring ing it to light


i want you besides to act as a decoy in a case i have already told you of


you dont mind that i know


you care nothing for the man you care nothing for any mau you ore too sharp so am i i hope and could bear any loss of his with pious fortitude


jla ha ha


you have tried to escape from the first conse quence


you cunnol escape it i assure you


i have shown you that loday


now


i am not a moral man you know


i am not the least in the world affected by cmy tbing you may have done by any little indiscretion you may have committed but i wish to profit by it if i can and to a man of your intelligence i make thit free con fession


i am not at all singular in that infirmity


everybody profits by the indis cretion of his neighbour and the people in the best repute tlie most


why do you give me this trouble


it must come to a friendly agreement orau unfriendly crash


it must


if the former you are very little hurt


if the latter well you know best what is likely to happen then


jouas left the window and walked up close to him


he did uot look him in the face it was not bis habit to do that but he kept his eyes towards him on his breast or thereabouts and was at great pains to speak slowly and distinctly in reply


just as a man in aetateofcousciousdiunkeuuess might be


lying is of no use now he said


i did think of getting away his morning and making better terms from a distance


to be sure


to be sure replied mon tague


nothing more natural


i toresaw that and provided against it


but i am afraid i am interrupting you


how the devil pursued jonas with a still greater effort you made choice of your messenger and where you found him ill uot ask you


owed him


one good turn before today


if you are eo careless of men in general as you said you were just now you are quite indifferent what becomes of such a croptaiied cur as that and will leave me to settle my accouct with him iu my own manner


if he had raised his eyes to his com panions face he would have seen that montague was evidently unable to compre hend his meaning


butcoutinuiug to stand before him with iris furtive gaze directed as before and pausing here only to moisten his dry lips with his tongue the fact was lost upon him


it might have struck a close observer that this fixed and steady glance of jonass was a part of the altera tion which had taken place in his demea nour


he kept it riveted on one spot with which hie thoughts had manifestly nothing to do like a juggler walking on a cord or wire to any dangerous slid holds sonic object in sight to steady him and never wanders from it lest he trip


montague was quick in his rejoinder though he made it at a venture


there was no difference of opinion between him and his friend ou that point


nut the least


your great discovery jonas proceeded with a savage tneer thut got the belter of him for the moment may be true and may be false


whichever it is i dare say im no worse than oilier men


not a bit said tigg


not a bit


were all alike or nearly so


i want to know this jonas went on tosayis ityouroivn


youll uot wonder at my asking ihe question


my own i repeated montague


aye i returned the other gruffly


is it known to anybody else


gomel doul waver about that


no i said


montague without the smallest hesitation


what would it be worth do you think unless huil he keep ing of it


now for the first time jonas luoked ai him


after a pause he put out his hand and said with a laugh come i make tilings easy to me nncl im yours


i dont know that i limy not be belter off here alter ull than if had gone away this morning


but here i am and here ill stay now


tuke your oath he cleared his throat for he was speak ing hoarsely and buid in a lighter tone shall i go to pecksniff r


when


say when i immediately cried montague


he cannot be enticed loo soon


ecod i cried jonas ih a wild laugh


theres some fun iu catching tliut old hypocrite


i hate him


shall i go to night


aye i this said montague ecstati cally is like business


i we understand each other now


toniglit my good fel low by all means


come with roe


cried jonab


we must make a dash go down in stale and carry documents for hes a deep one to deal with and must be drawn tin with an artful hind or liell not follow


i know him


as i caut take your lodgings or your dinners down i must take you


will you come toniglit


his friend appeared to hesitate and neither to have anticipated this proposal nor to relish it very much


we can concert our plans upon the road said jonas we must uot go direct to him but crass over from some other place and turn out of our way to see him


i muy not want to introduce you but i must have you on the spot


know the man i tell you


but what if the mnn itioivs jne


saij montague shrugging his shoulders


he know


cried jonas dont you run that risk with fifty men a day i would your father know you


did i know you


ecod you were another figure when saw you first


ha ha hat


i see


the rents and patches now i no false hair then no blank dye you were mother sort of juker in those days you were i you even spoke different then


youve acted the


gen tleman so seriously since that youvetuken in yourself


it lie should know you what does it matter


such a change is a proof of your success


you know that or you would not have made jourself known iu me


will you come


my gond fellow snid montague still hesitating i can trust you alone trust mel ecod you may trust me now fur enough


ill try tu go away no more no mare lie stopped un


i added in a more sober tone i cant get on without you


i will said momngue if thats your opinion


and they shuok bauds upon it


to he continued


j


good advice a yarn for the roaujjaearoated to pilgrims in the journey of life and


written expressly for the moreton bay courier


f continued fiom the courier of oct


j chapter iii


through man va livelong scorching day and many a still rv dreary lonely night hud the vision of country home and wife sustained my oft fainting spirits mid failing limbs


and now again the shadow lengthened and now again the lingering rays of tho setting sun mingled their golden hues with the feeble beams of the crescentmoon strug


gle np her eastern path midst stormbetokening clouds lho wind from the cast swept liowlingly across mv forest boskirted road and hero and there ft few large drops of heavy rain spattered down upon and around me


i sighed for shelter and rest but knew full well that some six or eight


miles of mv days alloted journey lay between mc and it


iwas therefore with satisfaction and joy i hailed the prospect of a fellow traveller whom o lum in the road revealed riding slowly on before me


i hastened to overtako him


wo exchanged salutaf ions and had soon forgotten our wearinesi in animated and interesting discussion


i soon discovered my companion to be a wealw merchant returning to his home with the resnlts of a three months barter amongst the sons of the desert


he was intending to remain for the night at the village to which was journeying and then to go on for many days journey along the rond i also had to take


we soon arranged that we should stay together fur tho night at tho same khan and travel in company the distance that remainodi of his journey


we had hardly ratified this arrangement and exchanged mutual congra tulation when we wore overtaken by two others also merchants and going to hie same villago


thoy were in evory respect agreeable and mtelli gent companions and so engaging was their con versation that night had stolen upon me all but uuperceived though once or twice it had occurred to mo that the forest became moro donso and the road more narrow and circuitous


a gleam of light from heaven more bright than those which hud preceded it put the matter beyond a doubt anil a clap of unusually cashing thunder which immediately succeeded it seemed ns it reechoed in the depths ef the distant forest to murmur to my innermost soul old serjabils advice kisep tiie main road


immediately pulled up and inrpiired if we had not left the road in whioh we had fallen in with each other


and finding my surmise to bo well founded made the best apology i could and prepared to retrace my steps for liad determined to act upon serjiibils ad vice


mycompnniuns did all they could to dis suade me from my resolvo especially the two i ho hud joined us


in


company


avowing that they had often travelled the road that they knew it well and moreover that three miles would bring us to the pluce of our destint inn for the night whereas to return now would mply a distance of pven or eight miles at least with every prospect of a heavy storm i again apolo gised for what i confessed must appear to them singular and perverso conduct renewed my


en gagement


lo meet my first fiiend at the village khan bid adieu to the other two turned my horses head and retraced my steps


twns not however without some misgivings that i urged ray poor jaded beast back again over tho ground my own thoughtlessness had caused him to travel and as the heavens became more black the lightning moro vivid and the thunder moro terrible i regrottcd this the more


i lind well nigh arrived at tho point whenco had diterged from the main rond and there was a moments lull in the fury of the storm


could it be fancy j or was it really so


sounds of a human voice ns if uttered in prayer fell upon my usfonmied ears and seemed to issue from the forest hard by


i paused n moment to listen and a bright flash of lightning revealed the prostrate form of a pious mtissulmim who it immediately occurred to mo had dismounted at the hour of evening prayer mid had thus long remained in wrapped devotion


fearful of disturbing his hol lowed occupation i seemed for the moment as though rivettcd io tho very spot


and above the murmur of the distant ienl roso the voico of fer vent prayer


i listened und heard oh allah


source ol light let a ray of thy brightness fall upon thi gloomy woild mid show the path that may lead my restless feet to my loved cherished lojiglosfc tnona


then even ns the lightning flush


i dashed from my horse and louder than the thunders voice i shouted rapidlytardn trangorpeace


bo willi theebut whence that nnvieoh hy allah


i conjure thee whence that name and dost thou know the name basis


i am


even he wasthe reply i and heard no moro


for years i had not dared to hreitho those names even in the softest whis i per of solitude and ioi


i had hoard thom shouted ubovo the blast ol the wind mid wash of the i thunder storm


j


my first moments of consciousness seomed du


i don with ages of bliss


they found me em i braced by the arms of one whoin vouths sunny


i days lind been dearer thun lito


llasis and thora


tho beautiful orphan were the pride of our country and the theme of our songs and happy and envied was hassnn to share their moments of transitory sorrow and bask in ho sunny hours of j their youthful joy


we had pived together by i tho streamlets brink till the suit had well nigh


mt and culled our evenings tiibute of flowers


frim its wooded banks and were reurniii to our joyous homes when wo were startled by awild y chamois disturbed by our uppronoh as it lapped t le stream hounding across our path


ami hush lull of youthful glee dashed iuto the forest in hot pursuitwe never saw him more


days and nights and weeks mid months of diligent en ipiiry and search proved fruitless


poor thora treasured ns a holy prizo those inst culled flowers and for months seemed to droop as they had droop ed mid wither even as they lind withered


many s years of deepest borrow succeeded for no clue s conld be discovered no trnco detected and hasis i was deemed mid mourned as dead and thora became the wife of hassan


tims had obedience to old sorjabils advice


keep ran main noan j restored to mo the long lost and dearest of the iii friends of my youth


jj we were not long in remounting and as we


t pursued our journoy together lie related the few j particulars ho could give respecting his mysterious j disappearance and long absence


a body of disguised men had seiwd bim that night and horne him away blindfolded to the extreme limits of our country where thoy corn il mitted him to the charge of tho commandant of jj ii largo caravan of the desert by whom he was f kindly treated during an inland journey of four month


he like myself lind been received at i and uttrtohed toa barbarous court but during all the years of his absence could never obtain the lenst information of country or friends


at l length nu old man who had lho reputation of l being n seer and to whom hasis had always been kind rewarded his kindness by hieing in his jw hands the moans of escape together with coni i jilote mid cflioient directions for tho way and i nsbunng him that if he could succeed in inuking


his way to the village hoforo iib he should there r bo instructed ns to the means ol returning to his y own land


wo wero soon within the mud walls j of our khan had taken our evenings refresh ment and wore enjoying our repose


with the mornings light returned my recol lection of my friend the merchant whom the joy ol meeting with hasis hud excluded from my thoughts of tho previous night


upon inquiry i found ho had not onie as agreed to the khuii and my anxiety was excited hy information that a merchant answering to tho description i had given had been decoyed into the forest by two of ii noted bund of banditti wholind long infested the nqighbouriiig country and by thom had been murdo ed and robbed


my worst suspicions wero confirmed for on going to view lho body i dis covered in it tho mangled remains of my fellow traveller of the past evening


as returned hasis welcomed mo ivilli a glad


some smilo to the mornings repast but i hud no heart to cut


so we recommenced our journey


and often ns i turned my eye upon my own loved hasis now my trnvellinu companion i involun tarily exclaimedoh serjabil


thou art verily wiset have kept lho


jiaiv itotn


and thereby preserved my life my properly and discovered hms


cpo le continued


j


a tale of two cities


in three books


by charles dickens


continued fron the jlgt of jlvgutt


book the first


recalled to lira cnaprer iv


tqe preparation


when the null got successfully to dover ia the course of tho forenoon the headdrawer at the royal george hotel openod tho coaohdoor as his custom was


he did u with some flourish of oere mony for a mall journey from london ia winter wna an achievement to congratulate aa adven turous traveler upon


by ihat limn there wb only one adventurous traveller left to be congratulated for the two other b had been tet clown lit their reactive road side defltluiuldu liltt mimuw lufiiue ui uitt coach with its dump nnd flirty straw its disagree able smoll and ita obscurity was rather like a larger sort of dogkennel


mr lorry the pas senger fhaking himself out of it in chains of straw a tangle of bhuggy wrapper flipping hat and muddy legs was latherlike a larger eort of dog there will be a packet to calais tomorrow drawer i yes fir if the weather holds and the witid sets tolerable fair


the tide will serve protty nicely at about two in the afternoon sir


bed air


i ihall not go to bed till night but i want a bedroom and a barber


and then breakrast sir t yes mr that way sir if you please show concord gentlemans valise and bot water to concord


pull off gentle mnnfl bootp in concord


you will ilnd a line sea ooal ore sir


fetch barber to concord


stir about there now for concord


the concord bodebamber being always assigned to a passenger by the mail and pasedgers by the mail beiug always heavily wrapped up from head to foutj the room had the odd interest for the esta blishment of the royal george tbat


although but one kind of man was seen to go iutoit ml kind and varieties of rcon came out of it


consequently another drawer and two porter and several maid and the landlady were all loitering by ac oident at various points of tue road betwoen the concord oud the coffee room when a gentlenun of sixty formally dressed in a brown tuit of clotheb pretty well worn but very well kept with large square cuffs and large flips to tbo posketp paeed alone on his way to his breakfast


ths coffee room nau no other oceupnnt tbat forenoon than the gentleman in brown


his breakfast table was drawn before the fire and as bo pat with its light shining on him waiting for the meat be sat bo still that he might have been sitting for hia portrait


very orderly and methodical be looked with a hand on eivcb knee and a loud watch ticking a sonorous sermon under hia flipped wautcoat as though it pitted its gravity and longevity against the levity and evanescence of the brisk ore


he bad a good le and was a little vain of it for his brown stockings fitted sleek and close and wore of a fine texture his shoes and buokleb too though plain were trim


he wore an odd little sleek crisp flaxen wig setting very close to his head which wig it is to be prceumvd wab made of hair but whion looked far more as though it were spun from laments of silk or glass


his linon tliocigh not of a flneuese


in accordance with his stockings was as white aa the tops of the waves that broke upon the neighboring boach or the specks of sail that glinted in the sunlight far at sea


a face habitually suppressed and quieted was still lighted up under ibe quaint wig by a iair of moist bright eyes that it must have cost tbeir owner in yearbgone by some pains to drill to the composed and reserved expression of tellsons bank


he had a healthy color in hia eheekf aod bli fws though llnd boro few traeei of anxiety


bat perhaps the confidential bachelor clerks in tellsons bank were principally occupied with the cares of other people and perhaps secondhand oircs like becond hand olothes come easily off and on


j completing his reemblance to a man who win sitting for his portrait mr lorry dropped off j aelrop


the arrival of bis breakfatt roused him and be eaid to the drawer es he moved his chair to it


i wish accommodation prepared for a young lady ho mny como here at any time today


she i miy ask for mr jarvis larry or she


may only ask for a gentleman from tcluona bank


pierre to let me know yob sir


tellsons bank in london


yes bir we hive oftentimes the honor to entertain your gentlemen in lheir travelliug back wards and forwards between london and paris fir


a vast deal of travelling tlr in tellson and companys house yts


we are quite e french house ab well as tn english one


yep sir


not much ia fbo hjbit of sunh travelling yourself i think sir not ol late years


it is fifteen years ainco wo since i came last from france


indeed mr that waa before my time here elr


before our peoples time here sir


the george was in other bands at that time sir


i believe so


but i would hold a pretty wager sir that a house like tullaon nnd company was flourish ing n matter of flfiy not to jpeak of fifteen years ago


you mighi treble that and say a hundred and fifty yet not be tar from the truth indeed sir rounding his mouth and bath hia eyss as he vjpcu uauawaiu irum me tauie me waiter shifted his napkin from his riglit arm to his left dropped into a comfortable attitude and stood surveying the guest while he ate and drank aa from an observatory or wutch tower


accord ing to the immemorial usage of waiters in all ages


when mr lorry had finished his breakfast be went out for a stroll on the beach


the little narrow crooked town of dover hii itself away from the beach aud ran its head into tho chalk clifti like a marine ostrich


the beach was a desert of heaps of eea and stones tumbling wildly about and the ea did what it liked and what it likod was de struction


it thundered at the town and thundered at the olifls and brought the coast down madly


the air among the houses was of bo strong a pia oatory flavor that one might have supposed eick fiih wentup to be dipped in it as sick people went down to be dipped iu the eoa


a little fishing was done in the port and a quantity of strolling about by night aad lookiog seaward particularly at those times when the tide made and wan no r flood


small tradesmen who did no business whatever sometimes unaccountably realised large fonunes and it was remarkable that nobody in


tho ueigh borhood could endure a lamnlicrhlnr


ah


the dy declined into the afternoon and the air which had been at intervals clear enough to allow the french coast to be seen became again charged with mist and vapor mr lorrys thoughts seemed to cloud too


wben it was dark and ho it befor the ooflee room fire awaiting his dinner as he bad awaited his breakfast his mind was busily digging dlggid digging in the live red coalg


a bottle of good claret after dinner does a digger in the red coals no harm otherwise than it has a tendaucy to throw him out of work


mr lorry had bjen idle a loo lime and had just poured out his last glassful of wine with as complete an appear ance of satisfaction as is ever to be found in an elderly gentleman of a fresh complexion who has got to the end of a bottle when a rattling of wheels came up the narrow street and rumbled into the inn yard


he set down his glass untouched


this mamselle i baid he


in a very few minutes the waiter came id to announce tbat miss mauette had arrived from lon don and would be happy to see the gentleman from tellbons immediately if it euited hia plea euro and couvouience


the gentleman from tellsons had nothing left for it but to emply hia glass with an air of stolid desperation settle bis edd little flaxen wig at the earb and follow the waiier tomifs muuette apart ment


it was a large dark room furnished in a funereal manner wiih black hors hair aud loaded tflth heavy dark tables


these had beou oiled and oiled until tue two tall oaiidies on the tabe in the middle of the room gloomily rtflected on every leaf as if they were buried iu deep gruvus of black mahogany and no light to epoak of could ba expectuu from them until they were dug out


the obscurity was so difficult to penetrate that mr lorry picking his way over ihe wollworn turkey carpet suppos d miss taanette to be for the moment in some urljcent room until having j got past the two tall candles he sav standing to receive him by tho table between them and the fire a young laoy of not more than seventeen in a rdiug cloak nnd ptill holding her straw travellinghat by its ribfeon in her hand


aa his eyes rested on u ehorr slight pretty figure a quantity cf goldea hair a pali of blue eyes umt met hia own with an in jliringlook


and a forebuad with a bingular capa city remembering how young and smooth it was of lilting and knitting itseif imo an expression that waa not quite one cf perplexity or wonder or alarm or merely of a bright used attention


hough it included all the four expressions aa bia eyes rested on theeo things a sudden vivid like ness passed before him of a child whom he had held in his arms on the passage across that very channel one cold lime when ihe hail drifted heavily and the bea ran high


tha likeness passed away say like a breath along the surtao of the gaunt pier glass behind her on the frame of which a hospital procession of negro cupids several beadlesi and all crippler were offering black basketb of dead so fruit to black diviniiies of the fminino gender and he made his formal bow to hiss manette


pray take a seat sir


in a vory clear and pleasiiit young voice a little foreign iu its acceut out u very little indeed


i kiss your hand miss said mr lrrry with the manners of au earlier date as he made bis formal bow again aud took bis teat


i received a letter from the bank sir yeslor day informing me that some new intelligence or discovery


the word is not material mits either word vill do


respecting tho email property of my poor father whom i never saw so long dead


mr lorry moved iu his chair and cast a troubled ook towrtrja the hospital proceebioa of negro cu pida


aa if they had any holp for ituybody in thtir absurd baskets


rendered it necesbary that i should go to paris there to communicate wiih a gentlcwuu of the bank so gooi as to be dtsputched topatis for the purpose


alyaelf a j t inn n nrnnofarl


tii tinat cl


i


shecurtseyed to him yoi tig udieb made curtseys in those days with a pretty desire to convey to him that she felt how much older and wiser he wus than eho


he made her another bow


i replied to the bai k eir that as it was con sidered uiceseary by those who know and who are no kind as to ajvifii me tbat i ehuuld go to france and tbat ab


i am au orphau und have no friends who could go witn me i should esteem it highly if i might bo permitted to place myself during the journey uuder that worthy gentle mans protection


the gentleman had left london but i think a messenger was bunt ufter him to beg the fjvor of his waiting for me here


i was bppy said mr lorry to be en trusted with tno charge


i shall be more happy to execute it


sir i thank ycu indeed


i thank you very gratefully


it was told me by tho bunk that the gentleman would explain to me the details of the huaiueas and that i must prepare myeelt to find them of a eurprising nature


i have done my best to prepare myself aud i naturally have a strong and eager interest to know what tho nra


naturally said mr lorry


yes i


after a pauso he added again settling the crisp flaxen wig at the ears it is very difficult to begin


be did nut begin but iu hia iudeoieion met her glance


the youug forehead lifted itself into thut singular expression but it was pretty and charac teristic bebidea bein singulur and the raised her hand as if with an involuntary action eho caught at or stayed some passing shadow


are you quite a stranger to me ir f am not mr lorry opened hia hands and extended them outward wiih au argumenta tive smile


between the eyebrows and just over be little feminine nssr the line of which was as delicate aud


fine


oh it was possible to bo the expression deepoued itself as she took hit flet thoughtfully in the chair by which she


had hitherto remaiid standing


he watched her as she mused aud th moment she rtisfd her eyes again went on i in your adoped country i presume i cannot do better than address you aa a younir edelish lady mits manette


s if yiti pleaee eir


miss maiiette i urn a man of bufine


i huvo a bumucss charge to acquit myself ol


in your re ception oi jt do not hi id ran any more than if i i was n ppeaking machine truly


i urn not much


pae


i will with your leave relate to you mis the story f one of our customers


story i


he fcetned wilfully ta mistake the word she bad repeated when ha added in a hurry ye cua i tomere ii he banking business we usutlly call our countxion cur customers


ha was a french gentleman a bctenlific gentleman a man of great acquirements n doctor


not ofbeaiitais


why yes of betuvab


like moneieur manette your father the gentleman was of fieauvaia


like monsieur manette your father the gontlemaji was of repute in paris


i hud the honor of knowing him there


our relations were business rela tions but confidential


i wan at that time in our french house and had been oh i twenty years


afc


tqat time


may i ask at what time i speak mipf of twenty years ego


lie mar ried an english lady and i whb one of iha trustees


his ufjuirp like the affairs of many other french gentlemen mid french families were en tirely in tellsons lnndp


in a similar way i am or i have been truetie of one kind or other for scores of our cuktomerc


these are mere business relations miss there ia no friendship in them no particular interest nothing like sentiment


i have patseo irora oce to another in the course of my i business life just bb i pass from one of our cua i tomers to another in the course of my business day in short i have uo feelings i am a mere machine


to go on


but tliis is my fathers story sir and i begin to think the curiously roughened forehead was very intent upon him that when i was left an orphan through my mothers surviving my father only two years it


wig you who brought me to england


i am almobt sure it was you


mr lorry took the hesitating little hand that confi ingly advanced to take his and he put it with some ceremony to his lips


he then conducted tho young lmly atniightway to her chair agiin and holding the chair back with his jeft hand and uing his right by turns to rub his chin


pull hia wig at the ear or point what he said stood looking down iuto her face while she sat looking up into hia


misamaoette it was i


and you will see how truly i spoke of myself just now in buying i had no feelings and that all the relations i bold with my fellow creatures are mere bueinesa rela tion when you reflect that i have never seen you hbce


no you have been the ward of tellioaa house bine and i have been busy with the other business of tensions house tince


feelings


i have no time for them no charce of them


i pass my whole life mies in turning au immense pecu niary v angle


after ibis odd description of his daily routine of employment mr lorry flittened his flaxen wig upon his head with both hands which was most unnecesfnry for nothiug could b flitter thau ita shining surface was before and resumed his for mer altitude


so far miss as you have remarked thia is the story of your regretted father


now comes the difference


if your father haa not died when he did


dont bs frightened


how you start i


she did indeed start


and she caught his wribt with both her hands


pray said mr lorry in a soothing tono bringing hia left hand from the back of the chair to lay it on the supplicatory fingers thai clapped him in go violent a tremble pray control your agitfttion a matter of businesa


as i was saying her look bo discomposed him that he stopped wandered and began anow


as i wab miyiiig if monsieur manette hid not died if he hud suddenly and eilonilv ds appeared if he hd been bpirited away if it had not been diffljult to guess to what dreadful pluce though uo art could trace him if he had an enemy in eobii compatriot who could exercipe a privilege thit i in my oivu time have kuown hie boldest people afraid to speak of iu e nhiper across thu water there for instauce the privilege of filling up buiitc forma lor the coneiguineut of buy one io the oblivion of a prieoa for uny lengh of time if hia wife had implored ths king the queen th oourt the clergy for any tidinga oi him und all quite in vain


ihsn the histiry of jour fulber would have beeu ihe history of this unfortu nate gentlcrmiu tha dootor of beuuvais


i entreil


you to tell ma mote sir


i will


i am tfoing t you can bear it


i can biir tmythiug but the uncertainty you leave me iu at tun moment


you opeak collectedly and you are collected


that a good


though hia manner waa less satis fied than in wordo a mntfi r nf luibinnsa n gard it as n matter oi business business that must be done


no if this doctors wife though a lady of great courage and spirit had suffered so intensely from this cause before ier lfttlo child was boru


the little child wan a daughter sir


a daughter


a a matter of lusiness jlont be distressed


llise if i ha poor lady had suffered eo intensely belorp her little child waa born that bhe came to th determination of sparing the poor child the inheritance of any part cf the ftgony she hud known ihe paiub of by rearing her in the bolief that her father was dead


no dont kneel i in hoieua


uome


why should you kneel to roel for the truth


o dear good compassionate sir fur thu truth i


a a matter of business


you confuse me and how can i irausact business if i um cooftieed


let us be clearheaded


if you could kindly mention now for instance what nine times niuepence are or how many shillings in twenty guinea it would be so encouraging


i bhould be so much more ftt


my ease nboui your mate of mind


wi hout directly answeiing fo thin appeal bhe sat so siill whem he had very gently raised her and the hands that hud not ceased to clasp bis wrists were iruch more bteaoy than thej had been hit she commueicatud some reassurance to mr jarvis lurry thats right thats right


courcge


busi ness


misi miinette your mother took thia course with yoli


and yhen sbe died i be lieve brokeubeartiid having never slackened her unavailing roaich for your father nhe left von at two yeara old to glow to be blooming beautiful and haj py i iiiiout ihu dmk cloud upon you if living in unctitaiuty whether your fat liar soon vrore his heart out in prison or wasted there through miny liugoriug jeaie


as ho biiil tun wnrrln


hi onkerl down with an admiriug pity on tbo flowing golden hair ai if he pictured to himself that it might have been al ready tinged with grry


you know that your pnronjs hnd no great possessions and that what they had was fecured to your mother und to you


there has bsen uonew diacovery of money or of any otuur jropert but he felt hia wrist held closer and ho stopped


the exprcesion in the forehead which had so particularly at traded his notice mid which was now immovable had leepened into one of paiu and horror but be has boon been found


be ii alive


greatly changed it ia too probable almost n wreck it is possible though we will hope thu best


still alive


yourtuther hua been taken to tho house of au old servant in paris and we are going there


i to identify him if i can you lo rtgtoro him to life love duly rest comfort


a shirer ran through her frama and from it through his


she baid iu a low distiuot awe fjtrickea


vocp as if shy were eayiug it iu a ilream x fiiu ujm u auc uia guueb it will ub his ghobt not him


mr lorry quietly chafed the hands that held hib urm


there there there


seo now see now i the best and the vrorbt aie kaown


lo you now


you are well on your way to the poor wronged gentleman and with a fair sea voynga and a tair laud journey you will bo soou at bis dear side


she repeated in the eamo tone sunk to a whisper


i h


ive been free i have been happy yet his ghost has never haunted me only one thing more said mr lorry laying stress upon it as a wholesome means of enforcing her atteniion he has been found under another nainu hia own long forgotten or long concealed


it would be worse han usules now to inquire which worse thau usekea to seek to know whether he has been for years overlooked or always de signedly held prlhoner


it would be worse than ioicu oow to make any inquiries beoiuae u


i would be dingerouf


better not to mention the fmjeot anywhere or in nny way and to removo mm for a while at all cventsout of france


even i fafe as an englishman and even tellsonv itnportnnt as they are to french credit uviitj hll naming of the matter


i carry atut me eoi a ji cp of writing oppnly referring to if


m is a secret service nltogbr


my credentials cmrits und memorandn are ill coniprclicndel in the one line ilecallw


to lfc which may nan anything


but what is i be matter


she doosnt noiice u word


miss maiiette


peifectly still and silent and not even fallen back in her chair biio rat under hia hand utterly obenjblc with her eyes open and fixed upon him nnd with tnat last expressioi looking aa if it weie curved or branded into her forehead


so clofe was her bold upon hia arm tbat he feared to detach himself lest he shoud hurt her there fore he called out loudly for assistance without raovlug


a wild looking woman whom even in hi agitation mr lorry observed to be ull of a red color and to have rfd hair and to be areed in aome extraordinary tight fitting fashion nnd to have on htr head a most wondeiful bonnut like a grenadier wooden neatsure and good measure too or a great stilton cheese came running into the room in advance of the inn servants and fcoon nettled the question of his detachment from the poor youu lady bj liying a brawny hand upon bin chest aud lending him fly ing back ogninet the nearest wall


i really think this rnuat be a man was mr lorrys breathless reflection


simuhanecusly with his coming against ihe wall


why look at you all v hawled thia figure addressing the inn servants


why dont you go and fetch things instead of standing there blaring at me


i am not bo much to look at am i


why dont you ko and fetch thines


ill let vou know


if you dont bring smelllngsalta cod water aod vinegar quick i will


there waa an immense dispersal for these restor atives and she softly laid ihe patient on a sofa and tended her with great skill and gentleness calling lor my precious


and my bird


aadspteidinj her golden hair aside over her shoulders with eroat i pride and care


aud you in brown


she said indignantly turning on mr lorry couldnt you toll her what you had to tell her without frightening her to death


look at her with her pretty pale face and her cold hands


do you call that beinl a banker


mr lorry was go exceedingly disconcerted by a question so hard to anwer that he could only


j


iiwwj invu uuuu igtulul r v lli pthy and humility while the slrong woman having banished the inn servants under the mysterious penalty of letting them know something not mentioned if they stayed there btaring recovering her charge by a regular series of gradations and coaxed her to lay her drooping head upon her shoulder


i hope she will do well now fatd mr lorry


no thanks to you in brown if she doge


my darling pretty


i hope siid mr lorry after another pause of feeble sympathy and humility that you ac company miss manette to france a likely thing too


replied the strong wo man


if it was ever intended thitl hhouldgo


rcross salt water do ycu suppose providence would havo cast my lot in an island this being anoiher question hard to antwer mr jarvii lorry wiihdrow to comidsr it


onirarii


thb wjxb shi r a iarob cask of wine had teen dropped ana broken in the street


the accident had hippened in getting it out cf a cart the cask had tumbled out with a run tueioop had burst and it lay on the ftones just outside tho door of the wine ihop shattered like a walnut shell


all the people within reach had euupended their business or their idleness to ruu to tho srot and drink the wine


tho rough irregular stones of the street pointidg every way and designed one might have ibought expressly to lame all living creatures that npi roacbed them had dammed i


ino little pools these were surrounded each by itsown jotliag group or crowd according to its size


some men itneeled down made scoops of their two hands joined and sipped or tried to help women who bent over their shoulderp to sip before the wine bad all run out between their fin geib olhers men and wsnen dipped in the pud dles with little muga of mutilated earthenware or even with handkerchiefs from womens heads which were squeezed dry into infants mouth ofcbera mide snwil mudembankments to stem the wine as it ran others dirscted by lookerson up at high window darted hero and liiere to cutoff little streams of wine that started asvay in new di rections others devoted thomselves lo tho codden and leodyed pieces of tlit cuk licking and even champing the moisture wine rotted fragments with eaaer relish


there was no drainage to carry oq the wine and not only did it all get taken up but bo much mud got taken up along with it that there might have been a scavenger in tho street if any bbdy acquainted wiih it could have believed iu such a mirasulousj presence


a shrill sound of laughter and of amused voles voices of men women nnd children resounded in the street while this winegame lasted


there nrni lililn rnnnlirmps in thn onnpf nn rvmnl


nlnn


ibij hhu


a u


uv t jl vuv oju um uuuu uiu v fulness


there waa a special companionship in it an observable inclination on the part nf every one to join some other one which led especially among the luckier or lighterhearted to frolicbjme embraces drinking of healths shaking of hands and even joining of hands and dancing a dlzun together


when the wine was gone and the plaeos where it hnd been most abundant were raked into a gridironpattern by fingers these de monstrations ceased ag suddenly as they bad broken out


tue mau who had left bis saw slick ing iu tho firewood


he was cutting set it in motion iignia the woman who had left on a dnorntep the little pot of hotashes at which iht had been trying to eoften the pain iu her own btai vod fingers and toes or in tboee of her child returned to it men with bare arms matted locks and cadaverous faces who had emerged into tho winter light from cellars moved away todrscend eguin and a gloom gathered ou tha fiaenethat appeared more natural to it than sunshine


ths wino was red wine and had stained the ground of the narrow street iu the suburb of saint antoineinparip where it was spilled


ithud stained many bauds too ami many iaces und many naked feet nnd many wooden shoos


the hands of the mau who sawed the wood left red innrkd on the billets and tho firehead of tho woman who nursed her baby was stained viilh the sluia of the old rag ihe wound about her heads gain


those who bad been greedy with the stavei of tho cos had acquired u tigerish smear nbout the mouth and ono tall joker so besmirched his head more out of a long tqualid ling


rf u nightcap than in it scravled upoi a wall with hia finger dipped in mudflv wiria xopii


llrnnn the time was to come when that wine too would bo spilled on the street btones and when the staiu of it would be red upon many there


and uow uiat the cloud settled uon saint antoine which a momentary gleam had driven from hia caored countenance the darkness of it was heavy cold dirt bicknope ignoradco and want were the lords in waiting on tin saintly presence nobles of great power nil of them but moat especially the last


samplea of a people that hud undergone a terrible grinding and regrindiag in the mill and certainly not in ihe fubulom mill which ground old people young shivered at every comer pased in aud out at every doorway looked from every window fluttered in every vostigo of a garment that the wind thook


the mill which had worked them down was tho mill ihat grinds young people old the children had ancient faces and grave voices j and upon them nnd upon the grown luces ncd ploughed into every furrov of age and coming up afresh waa the sign hungir


it waa prevalent everywhere


hunger wan pushed out of the tall houses in the wrotchud clothing ihat hung upon poles and lines j hunger waa patohed into thorn with straw and rag and wood and paper hunger was repeated in every fragment of the small modicum of orewood that the man sawed off hunger stared down from the smokeless chimneys und started up from the filthy street that had no offal among its rofusp of anything to eat


hunger wns the inscription on tho bakers shelves written in every small loal of his scanty stock of bad bread at ihe aaubage shop in evsry dead dog preparation ihat wna offered for gale


hunger rattled its dry bones among the roasting chesnuts in the turned cylinder hunger was shred into atomies in every farthing porringer of husky chips of potato fried with some reluctant drops of oil


its abiding place waa in all t linga fitted to it


a narrow winding street full of offence and tench with other narrow winding street i diverging all peopled by rtig and


nightoape aad


i


i all nnalling of ragh and nightcaps and ell visible hmgs with a brroilits look upou them tint looked in


in tho hunted air of the people there was jet fome nildbunft thought of tho possibility of laming at bay


depreajcd nnd flinkins though they vrore eyes of firo wore not wrnling imoiiz


hern nor compressed lip v kits wiih wiat they oppressed nor fortbends knitttd into the likeness pi llih gallowsrope they mused about enduring or inflicting


the trade signs and they were almost br lrnn


ra tho sqp wero all grim illustrations ct want


the butcher and the porknun painted up


oily tho leanest tcrags of meat tha baker tho coarsest of meagre loaves


tho people rudely pictured as di inking in the winoshrp croaked over their soanly measures of thin wine and beer and were gweringiy confidential together


nothing wab ropreaentod in a houi ithing condition ebvo tool and weipods but the cutle ra jjnivcs and axei were sharp rind bright the smiths hammers were heavy and the gunmakeis stock was murderous


tha cripplingttones of tho pave ment with thtir many hale retcrvoirs of mnl rim water had no footways but broke off nbn ptlyftt the doors


the kennel to make amends ran down the middle of the street when it run at ll which was only after heavy rains tied then it ran by many eccentric fits iuto ihe houses


across he ptreels at wide intervale onu clumsy lamp was slung by a rope and pulley at night when the lamplighter had let these down and lighted and hoited them again a feeble grove of dim wicka swung in a sickly manner overhead as if they were at fea


inde


i d they were it sea and the ship nnd crow were in peril of tempest


for the time wa to come when the gunt ecarecrowa of that region nkould hive watched tho lamplighter in their idleness and hunger to long us to conceive tho ideja of improving on bis method and hauling up men by thope ropes and pulleys to flure upon the darkness of their conditiou


but the time was not come yet and every wind that blew over france ohook the rags of the eoarecrowa in vain for tho birds fine of song and feather took no warning


the wine shop was a corner shop bolter than most others in its appearance and degree anil the master of the wino shop had blood outside it in a yellow waistcoat and green breeches looking on at he etruggle for the lost wine


its not my affair siid h with a final shrug of his ehoulders


the people from the market did it


let them bring another


there his eyes happening to catch be tall joker writing up his joke he called to him across the ivay say the my gaspard what do yos do hare p


the fellow pointed to his joke with immense aig mucance na ie often tho way with hia tribe


it missed its mark and completely failed rb is often the way with his tribe too


what now


are you a subject for ibe mad hospital


said tho winesihop keeper orossing the road and obliterating the jest with a handful of mud picked up for the purpose and smeared over it


why do you write in the publio streets


it there tell me then is there no other placo to write such words in v in his expostulation he dropped hib cleaner hand perhaps accidentally perhaps cot upon tho jokers heart


the joker rapped it with hia own tsok a nimble rpring upward and catle down in a fantastio dancing attitude with one of bin atained shoea jerked off his foot into his hand and held out


ajoker of an sxtremely not to say wolfishly practical charaoter ho looked uuder those circumstances


put it on put it on said the other


call wine wine and finish there


with that advico


he wiped hia soiled hand upon the jokers dress such us it was quite deliberately as having dirtied the hand on bis account and then recrotid tha road and entered tho wineshop


this wineshop keeper was a bullnecked martial looking man of thirty and he should have been cf a hot temperament for although it was a bitter day he woro no coat but carried one slung over hia shoulder


his shirt uleeves were rolled up too and his brown arms weru bare to the elbow


neither did he wear anything more ou his head than hia own orieply curling short dark hair


ha was a dark man altogether with good eyes and a good bold broudth between them


good humored looking on the whole but implacable looking too evidently a msn of u strong resolution and a eoc purpose a man not deuirable to be mei rnshing down a narrow pias with a gulf on either eido for nothing would turn the man


lludame defarge hia wife ait in the shop hehind the counter as bo carao in


itudame


defurge was a btout woman of about his own a no with a watch ful eye that seldom seemed to look at anylhing a large hand heavily ringed a ftiady acu strong featurtb and great coiupoure of manner


thero was a charaoter abaut


aladamo defarge from which one might have predicted that the did not often make mistakes against liorfelfin any of the reckon ingaoverwhich tho presided


madnmc defarge being eensiiive to colil was wrapped in fur und had u quantity of bright shawl twined nbout her head though not to tho concealment of her large ear rings


her knitting wa before her but rhu hud laid it down to pick her teeth with a toothpick


thus engaged with her right elbow supported by her left hand maluine defargo said nothing when her lord cams in but coughed just ono grain of cough


this in combination with tho lifting of her darkly defined eyebrows over her toothpick by the breadih of a hue suggested to her husband ihat ho would do well to look round the hop among the oustomers for any new customer who had dropped in while ho stepped over the way


a cruel disappointment


a little in the way of romance in real life occurred here a few days since


a young lady yet in her teens ar rived the other day from australia with the ob ject of marrying a gentleman in the navy whosa portrait with recommendations had been pre viously forwarded to her from calcutta by an old lady friend


the likeness appeared to be that of a young man of about twentytwo or twentyfive with comely fcaturos and his other good qualities being duly testified to by her friend the young lady who was possessed of a most ardent desire to visit tho east thought that the match might be an eligible ono so con sented and at once came out


her advent was telegraphed from the sandheada and on arrival in harbor her friend was in readiness to receive her


she went ashore in high spirits felt quite charmed with what little she had been able to see of the city of palaces and thought that she would like the place very well indeed


evening came and some friends who had been invited to dinner began dropping in


amongst the number a man above the middle age was ushered out of a dingylooking palankeen and slowly limped up the staircase with the help of a walkingstick


miss u had just uttered an exclamation of pity for the poor man when mrs g hastening up took him by the hand and introduced him to his intended


i can hardly describe to you tho astonishment of the young lady and verily be lieve that had it been offered


to


her


she would have as readily swallowed a tumbler of brandy or any other spirit as a certain king did on a similar occasion


however the evening passed off and eurly next dawn saw miss


on board the vessel sho had come in determined des pite all that her friends could say evory argu ment persuasion and inducement to return to australia in her


and on board she remained till the ship sailed when doubtless the proud hearted girl was glad enough to lose sight of all that reminded her of the cruel sell


such waa tiie indomitable resolution of the australian lass


tho portrait however was not a counter feit but had been taken some fifteen years ago long before tho time of our newlanda and bakers and when the unlucky lieutenant of navy had not been stricken with paralysis in his left understanding


liicknow herald st may


a new hoop disease


a new disease has made its appearance siuaa the introduction of hoops


it exhibits itself in cold weather and then is only dis covurablo ia cities whero tuj buildings are warmed with furnaces


two ladies were standing over a i ister the other day talking and laughing whoa one


endattvoriug to sit was suddenly attacked aud screamed violently


tho other soon ako tried to sit and was attacked in the same manner


the explanation is that by standing so long over tho register their ruetal ho hoops became heated to ttucli a degree that wben they attempted to bo seated it was like silting ou a hot gridiron


of course they wore not a great ltingth of tinio getting up again aud nnturally enough ut tered screama all of which would bo very mysttirioui to a looker on unacquainted with the tnrtrl a a uoop ntvi yorkpafxri


fere jean or the jesuit missionary


a catholic story founded on facts


chapter x


the torture


j


immediately after the breaking up of tho council the mohawks began their preparations for the coming festival


four stakes were planted in front f the lodge and piles of fagots were gathered in the forest


at a little distance beyond the first four other stakes were placed to which the prisoners whose fate was postponed were to be bound that they might witness the agony of their brethren and suffer themselves in anticipation


the yohths of the village now commenced to gather about the lodge in order to enjoy the preliminary torture which was permitted them for their own especial amusement and to practise them in the ways of cruelty


this sometimes endured until tnken part in by the braves when it did not cease until death brought relief to the victim


le loup and father laval were brought forth and tied to two of the stakes and the clamorous mob hovered around them pelting and annoying them in a thousand ingenious modes of petty torture


they soon however be came more systematic and drawing off to a little distance practised upon their living targets with the bow and arrow and the tomahawk


lo loup stood up with the proud and fearless bearing of the warrior his steady eye gleaming unmoved upon the flashing weapon as hurled from the skilful hand it grazed his temple and sank quivering into the post behind him


another and another threw it was a desperate game in which the winner was he who came nearest to death without touching life


father laval endured with the meekness anil patience of the martyr his eyes upturned to heaven he dared not look tipon the hand that threw the coming weapon


kiohba the mohawk stretched out upon the soft turf watched the youthful tormen


tors with quiet enjoyment occasionally suggesting to them some new mode of increasing the sufferings of the victims


at length as his appetite for cruelty became excited jie arose and seizing one of the tomahawks drew back and hurled it at the jesuit


the weapon whistled through the air and struck the post by his temple driving a lock of his lnir into the wood


a shout of delight arose from the crowd at this evidence of skill and kiohba raising another weapon aimed a second time at the priest


it struck upon the other side as truly as the first anil the victim stood drawn back to the post by his own hair


renewed applause broke from the youths and each one endeavourtd tu emulate the skill of the warrior


after soio time they grew tired of their sport an i tho prisoners were permitted far awhile to remain unmolested


as the crowd draw away from the spnt tho figure of a maiden glided silently to the side of the jesuit and offering a cooling drauglit to the parched lips bathed his brow wliicli the intense excitement had caused to throb with feverish pain