not in the laste said tarryowen viva ciously iv a preference is to be made it must be in my favor rejoined bread man stoutly and for this reason australian born as i am i have not now to learn that the march of mind by means of the gigantic force of intellect has walked over superannuation


young englands qutta percha sole stands upon ould irelands caubeen and therefore im for a rowhoooooogh


nabock lish


screamed obluster in a tone very simi lar to that of a red indian taking the first turn in a scalping match


im wid yez coincided tarryowen like a a donnybrooker full of white herrings and whis key an show me the man who sthruck buckley


it strikes me said ticklesbob very qui etly that before settling the differences be tween the crown and my clients the discontented legal trio had better go out with an inspector and settle their own


if i might offer an opi nion upon legal etiquette i should say that in asmuch as the roman senate always made the tyros speak first in order that they the elders might gather wisdom from inexperience mr breadman is quite in order and ought to lead his followers


the bench agrees with you mr tickles bob said the captain curtly ergo mr bread man as i said before proceed


may it please your worships upon looking into this information your worships will see that is it is impossible you can fail to observe that the information now before you and which i hold in my hand is not an information at all


as mr breadman replied ticklesbob ris ing tells us that the information is not an in formation at all perhaps he will be kind enough to inform us as far as his information will allow what this information is


i object to this course rejoined obluster and his coadjutor tarryowen simultaneously by the mortial mr ticklesbob has no right to expect to learn the law from us


my learned friends need not fluster them selves responded ticklesbob quickly when i find it necessary to go to school again i shall certainly not trouble them for tutorage


i merely wished to cut the matter short


fortunately the matter was cut short in a dif ferent way


a portly old gentleman with a mulberrycoloured physiognomy entered by a side door and whispered something in the cap tains ear who rose in evident delight and in formed the legal litigants that he was wanted immediately at government house and that the case must be adjourned


it will be over in five minutes oriod bread man


half the time will suffice said tarryowen


a second will settle it ejaculated obluster


remanded till next week said the captain deaf to their promises of brevity the fallacy of which he had too often experienced


dis charge the prisoners on bail good morning gentlemen


and without waiting to hear another word of remonstrance he stumped out mounted his charger which was in waiting in the policeyard and hurried off in the direction of the viceregal mansion calling however in his way at mr danegans wine and spirit stores to make a few additions to his cellarage the stock of which was running rather low


mallison and wilson having entered into the necessary securities for their appearance when called upon left the hated precincts of the policecourt to report their misadventures to their companions in a more congenial locality and to concoct schemes for squaring their dif ferences with the offended dignitaries of the force to prevent the disagreeable necessity of encountering another public shewup


to be continued


pgk tom the bushranger


a


tale


of twenty years ago


by b l forest creek


chapter in


ivhen walter burton joined the party around the bush fire fighting dick had kept back actuated by a pardonable mo ioatv


which frequently assailed him in file presence of members of the constabu lary force


the fact was that although an excellent stockman and strictly honest fl regarded his paster there were some little transactions with respect to roosbians on the hills which were not so well adapted for police investiga tion and he knew besides that he was suspected and not without reason of correspondence with black toms dreaded gang


he therefore judged it expedient to walk his horse quietly away and pas the night at a shepherds hut about a mile distant and he was the rather induced to do so because he had a message to the hutkeeper from black tom himself which he had intended to deliver on his return the following morn ing


he didnot however depart unobserved


the black had heard his every motion and now followed him with noiseless step along the narrow track


slowly and care fully they threaded their way through the silent bush now plunging into the dark bed of the creek now mounting some stony rise till at last the stockriders horse stopped of its own accord at the door of a bark hut from the chinks in whose roof shone forth a cheerful glare


dick dismounted and entered


the blackfellow sat himself down on the grass and listened


he might have been taken for some fantastically shaped root or stump so motionless was he


as the bushman entered the hut the iinmates made room for him at the fire and s laced before him a chop and a huge amper


when he had done justice to these he turned and surveyed the circle with as keen a glance as his squint per mitted


ugly faces have scowled on the world ever since the time of cain but probably from that time to this a more repulsive visage than that of fighting dick never disfigured our globe


in his case art had embellished nature for he presented to the view at i once a broken nose and swollen eye


it was however evident that he was look j ed upon with intense respect by all the i rest of the conclave assembled in simon parkers tent


simon said dick at length ive heard from black tom


simons face beamed from a cloud of tobacco moke like a lamp from a fog


removing his pipe he growled out well what does he say say replied dick why he says that we are to collect all hands and wait for him in the cave at mount wombat and he will take us on a new lay


ill tell you what said a very small man whose words with difficulty strug gled through a dense mass of brown beard if master tom dbesht take care what hes a doing on hell get foul of the i winburn blacks for that cave is one of their quambies wheri they go their round and theyll be for


turning on him i out


i should like to sec em roared


dick


theyre ony a pack of cowards when alls said and done why i laid jthe stockwhip about one on em six months ago and he said hed kill me for it but i ant heern tell on him since fhen


hell nab you yet my lad said the bearded one believe me hell nab you yet


my oath lad theyll have


you and no two ways about it


there ant no gam mon about them coves


my word


assented the group in chorus


a well said dick carelessly let em come when they please


i arnt afraid o no man in fair fight and they must be knowing chaps if they catch me ksleep


with these words he went out unstrapped his blankets from bis saddle and took the bridle from his horses head


while so employed a jag spear whizzed past his head and buried itself in the eye of the horse who fell heavily to the ground with a violent shudder


he was dead


with a yell of rage dick rushed in tho direction whence the spear had come


the inmates of the hut alarmed at his cry followed with axes and lire brands


simon headed them bearing a san the bearded prophet alone remain ed by the fire and as he refilled his pipe and placed a hot qinder on the top skid meditatively i told you so my mi yu how it would be the party outside were meantime scouring the bush in all directions their fed brands shedding a fitful light amongst he giant gums around them


another aoment and grip the shepherds dog panting to his masters side


at him said the shepherd


din boy


away bounded the dog and disappear


m the ecrub


there was a growl a pud yell and then the dog bleeding and hpplng returned to the party who had low collected in one spot


mon fired his gun into the darkness hfay


sond reverberated through the s t the birds affrighted flew from rosts and the opossums chattered hey sought the higher branches of the e j and then all was silence broken


i y oy the chirping of the locusts and o mournful cry of the morepork


fur r search was useless and the busli r


returned to the hut tired and dis iptecl


j chatter iv


jltu pased away since albert a


first arrived at walter burtons pn and during that time every p ace with which the latter was looted had been explored but their if hacl a yet been ineffectual


uhnw rcvei m ruing had arrived and lambert had almost resolved on s


returning to melbourne when an unex pected visitor made his appearance


this was the black who has already been in troduced to our readers


he shut the door behind him and without speaking took his scat on a block placed within the spacious chimney


burton addressed him in the mixed jargon used in the inter course between the settlers and the blacks


name you


mister cato me


well mr cato what brought you here


you come pialla with me along a door byanbye i tell you bushranger yabber


burtons only reply was going out into the open air


the black followed him and as before shut the door after him


lambert sat still by the fire


after a short time burton returned and said as he took down a gun from the wall cato tells me that the bushrangers are now assembled in a cave at mount wombat and black tom himself is to meet them there


cato will lead us to a place where we can lie in ambush and see all that passes in the cave


shall we go can we trust the black fellow questioned albert


yes said burton i will answer for him for he is an old acquaintance of mine besides he has an enemy amongst the robber no less a person than our old friend fighting dick


we shall try his mettle tonight answered lambert as he went into the kitchen to prepare the troopers for a mid night expedition


at ten oclock the moon rose in all her splendour throwing a thousand silver spangles on the blackwood and sassafras trees


the two young men had taken a rather light supper for like most warri ors on tneir first expedition they were in a state of considerable excitement


hastily slipping on their blue shirts and hanging large sheath knives at their belts they proceeded to the kitchen to review their army


the men were soon in readi ness and when assembled in the open air really presented a formidable appearance


those who had come with albert lam bert were armed with sword and pistols


they had taken the latter from their holsters as cato had told them the road was impassable to horses


these men were used to encounters with desperate characters and had a sort of discipline which rendered their assistance very valuable


the rest of the men were the miscellaneous mob of a sheep station strong for the most part and skilled in the use of the guns they carried


many of them had personal enemies among the bushrangers and all of them were ready to stand by walter to the last for he bore amongst them the character of a fair and liberal employer and bad become a great favorite with those under him


the party now started for mount wombat the black leading the way and in two hours they were at the mouth of the cave to which he had referred


it was a spacious room which had been partly formed by nature and after wards enlarged and embellished by the hand ot man


it contained a party of fifteen men


black tom himself sat in the midst a powerful man of handsome appearance but his countenance was nearly concealed by enormous whiskers whose color had procured him his name


amongst the rest burton recognized fighting dick and simon the hutkeep er and the faces of the others were for the most part familiar to those who had been long on his station


lambert entered first and seizing black tom by the collar presented a pistol at him with the other hand


as he did so the rest of his party entered and a keen contest ensued


the lights were upset in the struggle and the fight had to be conducted in utter darkness


for some time the cave was filled with pistol shots and execrations


lambert felt himself thrown heavily to the ground where he lay for some time insensible


burton struggled for some time with a powerful opponent whom at last he brought to his knee


shadwell having stabbed some one found himself unex pectedly at liberty having positively nothing to do he employed himself in lighting the lamps which stood around


for some time the feeble illumination struggled in vain against the thick cloud of smoke but as the room gradually cleared it disclosed a ghastly scene


around lay the convulsed bodies of those who had fallen their face still wearing an expression of hate or fear


four of the troopers had been slain and burtons stockman and two of the shepherds were also amongst the dead


in one corner the corpse of simon parker stood erect against the wall and near him lay the bleeding form of lambert of those who had survived the dreadful conflict each held his prisoner with the exception of shadwell who walking round bound the robbers one by one with handkerchiefs


black tom and dick with two others had escaped six yet remained in the hands of the captors and seven bleeding and distorted forms told the fate of the rest


hastily constructing a litter of boughs they placed the wounded lam bert upon it and conveyed him with the prisoners to the public house at barra yatta while burton returned to his own station


that day three weeks witnessed the execution of the prisoners at mel bourne and about a fortnight more wa sufficient to restore lambert to perfect health


black tom and his mates were not heard of till about two months after when having organized another hand they again became the terror of the sur rounding country


to be concluded on friday next


how arc the mighty fallen


the daily news says that a horse which was iu tho famous cavalry charge at balaclava now runs in a southampton omnibus


if it hear the sound of a gun it starts off and there is the greatest difficulty in reining it in


chapter xxiv


nips gets discharged without a certificate of character


the unfortunate issue of the grand electrify alloye exhibition at migration lodge caused two separate emigrations that of professor brayly and the humble nips


the one set sail in the first vessel to give the neighbouring colonies the benefit of his transcendant genius and extraordi nary scientific discoveries and the otherbut we must not anticipate


when mrs osqueeze sat in her drawing room amidst shivered glasses and broken crockery like a marius in petticoats and embraced the dread resolve of parting with nips to whom she ascribed the wreck of matter and the crush of her showroom beauties


for a long time she wa vered between his services without pay and his breakages the latter won and the orphian was doomed to quit migration lodge for ever


in order to make the scene of his discharge more impressive mrs osqueeze collected around her the company who witnessed the catastrophe with the exception of the professor but the puffing painted old female pedagogue mrs toady tellaly was invited in his stead no in different exchange for the latter was unquestion ably proficient in the art aye all the arts of humbug


the person who was to play the principal cha racter in this serious drama certainly laboured under considerable disadvantages as the rest were furnished with their parts although some of them altered the text materially whereas he was perfectly innocent of his


in reality he was stu diously kept in the dark for mrs osqueeze was frequently compelled to feel that the lad was more than a match for her and certain qualms of conscience arose in her breast at turning the halfstarved penniless orphan upon the world to seek his fortune


miss katie coincided with this treacherous step


and so nips went on toiling and moiling perfectly unconscious of the avalanche about to topple upon his unoffending head at the sound of mrs osqueezes voice


the continual appeals to the door as the va rious parties came to the conclave irritated him not a little it was morning service time and his costume was of that undress character which in duced its wearer rather to shun than seek the light


when the last rap summoned his atten tion to the outer entrance his indignation found vent in blow you vait a bit till ive peeled the tunnips


as the person would not condescend to attend to an unheard command but made extra appeals to the knocker nips left the kitchen placed a slop pail in the darkest part of the passage and proceeded to his janitorial duties


vats the row he said opening the door to mrs toady tellaly


she was always behind her time it was so fashionable


her cousin the duke of irishtown and her uncle the earl of buthermilk were always late and the foreign count snobbinski shoeemcker who married into her family was late until his death and ever afterwards


it really was so fashion able


sorry i kept you vaiten mem but you must have wittles to mangee as mussher jam pot used to say


vy mem you looks as bloomin as a reddish and as nateral as vax vork said nips casting a thousand notes of admiration at the sexagenarian girl


mrs toady tellaly had that morning opened a fresh box of carmine and the flush of it was on her cheek


she knew nips and felt the full force of his compliments


she dashed by him with a haughty wave of her hand and in an in stant was sprawling on the floor while the con tents of the shop pail were pouring in myriad streams upon her person


her cries had the effect of bringing mrs osquaze and katie from the drawing room they rescued their unfortu nate friend from her unpleasant position and led her up stairs into a private apartment in order to restore her to something like her pristine magni ficence


but the liquid had swept tbe bloom from her countenance the paleness of which she ascribed to fright with a touch of spasms


nips received orders to make himself decent that is to don his livery garb and attend to the visi tors


vots up now i vonder


full dress afore dinner time theres a screw loose someveres has rents riz


dessay they has howsever im togged


hurrah


now for the grand secret


when nips entered he was struck by the for mal arrangement of the company who were seated in a court of justice sort of manner mrs osqueeze katie and mrs toady tellaly being apart from the rest looked like the three judges whilst jack stunner mr ticklelass melson en sign sparks and dr blarney formed no unapt re presentatives of a jury of four


there was a dead silence in the assembly which was broken by a loud hem from mrs osqueeze for the purpose of clearing her throat


please mem try a jewjub theyre uncom mon plummy and pulls the cobvebs out ovuns throat in no time said nips proffering a wafer box which contained two or three gummy looking things cut diamond fashion some brass buttons shankys an assortment of marbles fishing hooks dried bait and other juvenile treasures


be quite and asy said mrs osqueeze sternly tis no joke as youll find to your cost


werry good mem only dont charge over and above much cos you see ven vun dont get no vages vy vun cant be expected to have more than enough to build three or four rows o houses ven labour is so werry dear


what shall i do wid this boy exclaimed mrs osqueeze in an affected distress of mind


vell if youll take my adwice id recom mend you to let him go and look arter the mut ton and tunnips for they vas all a bilin like vun oclock ven i left em replied nips in a free and easy way


discharge him sighed mrs toady tel laly


discharge him simpered miss katie


discharge him growled dr blarney


the other three gentlemen expressed their dis sent to this proceeding


thankee gennlmen


much obliged to you for nothin tother side


now missus the wotes are eakvil please give the orphian a plumper for luck


lt tares my heart to pieces but i cant do it nips for the life of me it goes against my conscience replied mrs osqueeze hysteri cally


werry good mem i vont trouble you to break that ere walluable part of you into little bits nor to stretch that ere conscience of yourn to kiver in the race course though i have often seen it stand a pretty good pull


i wondher at your bearing his insolence my dear madam exclaimed dr blarney with em phasis


youve guv your wote and ant a right to speak


ill tell you vot


it is donkey ears the doctor indulged in extensive auriculars if ever i catches you killin coves without a licence ill just lay your case afore the collidge of saw bones and get you smashed out and out


youre a nice chap to knock a orphian down and wallop him cos he cant get up i dont think


let me plead for the lad said jack stun ner he is young and a little exuberant in his fancies but he is evidently sincere and faithful qualities which should outweigh a thousand little peccadilloes


give us your hand mr stunnin they say youre fast but my vord youre a right un


dont vaste your breath gennlmen continued nips to mr melson and the ensign who were about to put in their appeal against the sentence its no go them crockerdiles has been a layin their eggs for a long vile and now theyre hatched


offs the vord vith the orphian and migracious lodge may shut up shop


will you enter my service nips said stunner


or mine enquired the ensign


or mine followed up mr melson


i thank you gennlmen replied the boy in a tone of feeling unlike its usual flippancy but i cant accept your offers they were made in a charitable spirit and i scorn to take advantage of them


i should only be a burden to you


there is only one person i will engage with on quitting this house tis a promise made long ago yet i am not the less grateful to you


now mem said nips relapsing into his accustomed manner just write out a sistificate of character vile i fetch up my boxes and has em searched


he quitted the room without waiting to hear a word and returned with two small boxes which having done their duty in the cigar line now held the wardrobe of the page


here you are mem said he turning out the contents two pair of socks vun pair vants mendin dreadful and tothers ant got no feet one cotton handkercher vith the rise of the ragged school in twelve compartments torn and vun cotton ditter fayrers daughter finding a orphian in the bullrushes mem a scripture piece in werry good conditionprice twopence each ven new vun pair of burlin gluvs vith the fingers off sposed to have belonged to a plece man who was nipped in the hands vun cold night picked em up myself and adwer tized em but the owner never came arter em vun black ribbin neck tie guv as a present by miss katie arter shed vored it out for a garter vun pair of light summer trowgers no deception about em mem they let the light in all over em vun jane veskit presented to me by sally next door for reasons best known to myself vun grasscloth blowze werry bad grass vere that vas fed mem as thin as a vippin post you see


thats all i bleeve


vait a bit vun blue votshizname next your skin varranted to vashraytheravay


ven im tired a turnin it i borrers the garding engin next door and pumps on it


my vord that cleans it stunnin


vun razor for cuttin vood a brass thimble four needles a hank of thread a bit of vax candel and a smalltooth cumb and there you have a full inwentory of my domestick property


i spose youre satisfied i havent got any of your walluables about me


i niver quistioned yer honesty nips said mrs osqueeze


werry good mem then tip us the sistificate and avay i goes to my mounting home as the chap sings in the play


i am so nervous l raally cannot write said mrs osqueeze


vell if you cant ax that wenerable paint pot mrs yellowly shell drore out the har ticles for you tis all in her line


come be qvick i vant to be off


mama mama the livery he must leave that suggested katie


vy you didnt think i vas a goin to bolt vith this here uniform they voud pelt me in the streets for vearin sich livin skiliton toggery


hold hard miss


nips then commenced to disencumber himself of the pages garments and throw them on the floortheres the jacket wantin three buttons pulled off by miss katies cockatoo theres the veskit the pockets is out conseqvently not licenced to carry money theres the trowgers


the ladies screamed simultaneously and rushed out of the room as nips deposited his nether garments on the heap and shifted himself into a pair of light summers


he then packed up the remainder of his slender wardrobe looked thanks at his friends contempt at dr blarney and walked from migration lodge boldly into the world


to be continued


i marie antoinette or the chevalier of the red house


continued from colonial times july j chapter xxxv


peace could not as one may anticipate for ever inhabit the same house as that in which maurice and genevive lived


in tempests when the winds are unchained and the thunder rolls tho nest of tho pigeon is agi tated as well as the rooking trees on which it is perched


genevive had only fallen from one species of alarm into another


she no longer trembled for tho safety of the chevaliershe feared the security of maurice


she knew her husband sufficiently to be con vinced that from the moment he disappeared ha had been saved


satisfied of his safety she trembled for her own


she dare not however confide her grief to that man who was certainly one of the least timid men of the period when few exhibited any symptoms of fear


nevertheless her suffering wus self evident in her suffused eyes and pale lips


one day maurice entered the roora so softly that genevive who was plunged in a profound reverie did not perceive his entrance


maurice paused on the threshold and observing genevive seated motionless her eyes fixed her powerless arms extended on her knees and her pensivo head inclined on her breast


ho gazed at hor for a moment in profound sad ness for everything that was passing in the mind of tho young woman was revealed to him as if he had read her last thoughts


he stepped towards her and remarked genevive you do not love france confess it to me at once


you even dread the very air you breathe and even approach the window with repugnance


alas v said geneviove i know well i cannot conceal my thoughts from you


you have divined thom correctly maurice


it is however said tho young man avery beautiful country


life is valuablo and fully oc cupied in the present day


this turbulent energy of the club addresses tho conspiracies and general activity and bustle out of doors renders the hours spent at the fireside peculiarly sweet


one loves more ardently on returning home there is a sacred dread that tomorrow one may love no moro because tomorrow one may have j ceased to live


i genevive bent her head


it is an ungrateful country to serve said she how so


aro not you who have done so much in the cause of liberty now half suspected


whilst you genevive said maurice with a look of overwhelming tenderness tho sworn enemy of liberty you who havo done so much against it you sleep peacefully and inviolate under the roof of the republican


there is you see some compensation for other evils


yes aid genevive but that will not exist long for that which is unjust oannot long enduro


what do you mean


i mean that i who am an aristocrat i who dream of tho prospective defeat of your party and the overthrow of your principles i who conspire now even in your houso for tho restoration of tfie ancient regime i who if known would condemn you to death and shame at least according to your opinions i maurice will not remain hore as the evil genius of the house


i will not bo the means of dragging you to the scaffold


and whero will you go genevive whore willi go


some day when you gb out maurico i will go and denounce myself with out eaying from whence i carno


oh i exclaimed maurico pierced to the very heart ingratitude so soon


no replied the young woman throwing her self into his arms


no my friend it is love pure devoted love i swear to you


i did not wish my brother to bo taken and killed as a rebel nor do i wish my lover to be arrested and slain uko a traitor


you will do that genevive will you


ex claimed maurice


ah certainly as there is a god in heaven re plied the young woman


besides it is nothing to avow fear i havo remorse


and she bent her head as if the feeling bore her down


oh genevive said maarice


maurice continuod geneviovo you compre hend what i say and above all what i feel for you also participate in the feeling of remorse


you know maurice that i have given myself away withoutpossessing the right and you have taken me without the authority to do so


enough said maurice enough


his forehead grow pale and a deep resolution shonoin his clear eye


i will prove to you genevive continued the young man that i love you alone


i will prove to you that no sacrifie is superior to my love


you hate france


wolli be it so


we shall leave franco


gonovlove folded her hands and gazed at her lover with an expression ofenthusiastio admiration


you are not deceiving me maurice


stam mored she


when havo i deceived you


asked maurice


was it on that day when i dishonoured myself to gain you


genevive placed her lips on his for an instant


oh maurice said she you are right


i now feel no longer any remorse


it is perhaps some derangement of mind that oauses this but you at least will understand that i love you too much to experience any other sentiment than that which is excited by the fear of losing you


let us my friend fly from hence


let us go where no one can reaeh us


thanks thanks said maurice transported with joy


but how can we fly said genevive starting at the terrible idea


people cannot now esonpe so easily from the poinard of the assassins of the nd of september or from the axe of the execu tioners of the st of january


genevive said maurice god will proteot us


hear me on that nd of september of which you spoke a short time ago i performed a good action which will now bring its fruits


i wished to save a poor priest who was my fellow student and i with that view waited upon danton who requested the committee of publio safety to grant a passport


but the unfortunate priest in stead of coming to my hoube as i had advised him shut himself up at cannes where he died


and the passpoit said genevive i have it still and it is worth a million in the present day moro than that genevive it can procure life and happiness which are beyond all price


oh i my god iexclaimed genevive praise be to theo


my fortuno consists as you know of an estate which is managed by an old servant of the family a pure putriol and a faithful soul in whom wo may entirely confide


he will transmit the rent to mo wherever i desire it to be sent


as we pro ceed to boulogno we shall pass near his house


where does he live then


near to abbeville


when shall wo depart maurice


in an hour hence of course it is unnecessary to let any one know wo are departing


no ono shall know it


i will hasten to lorins house


he possesses a cabriolet without a horse and i have a horse without a carriage


wo will set out as soon as i return again


yon will remain here genevive and prepare everything necessary for our departure


we shall require very little baggage because we con purchase everything in england


i will send scevola off on some mission


lorin will inform him this evening of our departure by which time we shall bo far enough from this place


but suppose we are arrested on the road


have we not our passport


we shall call upon hubert my steward


hubert is a member of the municipal council of abbeville


ho will accompany us to boulogne as our safeguard


once in tho latter town wo can hire or purchase boat


i could however seo the committee of public safely and get appoiuted on some mission to abbeville


but no lot us practice no fraud goneviovo


lot us secure our happiness even at the ruk of our lives


yes yes my friend said gonoviove and wo shall succeed


but


maurice how you are per fumed this morning


true i purchased a bouquet of violets this morning for you as i was passing the palace of equality but as i entered i saw you were very sad and i only thought then of discovering the cause of your sorrow


oh givo it me and i will return you tho favour


maurice


genevive inhaled the perfume with that species of frenzy which nervous temperaments uko hers always exhibit towards flowers


suddenly her oyos hecamo suffused with tears


what is the matter asked maurice


poor hcloise murmured genevive


ah i yes replied maurice with a sigh


but my dear let the dead rest in peace within the tomb which devotion to their cause has hallowed for them


let us think of ourselves


adieu


i am going


return as quickly as you can


i shall be with you in less than half an hour


but should lorin not be at home


what does it signify


his servant knows me


cannot i take what suits me in his house whether ho is at home or absent


good good said genevive


as for you genevive set about your prepa rations and confine yourself to things strictly necessary


we must not give to our departure the air of a removal


bo perfectly easy on that head maurice the young man then turned towards the door


maurice i exclaimed geneviove


and on turning round again ho perceived her arms extended toward him


my love said maurice embracing lier havo courage until we meet again


in half an hour i shall return


genevive was thus left alone charged with the duty of preparing for the journey


the preparations were made with feverish anxiety


so long as she remained in paris it seemed to her that she was doubly culpable


once out of france however and in the land of the strangers it occurred to her mind that her crime which really resulted more from fatality than intention would press less heavily upon her


she oven went so far as to hopo that amidst solitude arid one isolated from tho world she might cease to remember that any other man than maurice existed on the face of the earth


to be continued


marie antoinette


t


or the chevalier op the bed house


continuedfrom our last


chartcr xx


during the whole of the day they searched in the court garden undi neighbourhood for the piece of paper which had caused all the disturbance and which they had no doubt contained some con spiracy


the queen was examined apart from her sister and daughter but she made no other reply except that she encountered a young woman on the stairs bearing a bouquet that the latter had pre sented her with the flowers and that she contented herself with taking one


besides had she not taken the flower with the consent of municipal maurice


she had nothing more to state


it was the truth in all its simplicity and force


all was repeated to maurice when his turn came and he corroborated the queens deposition as faithful and exact


then said the president there was no consp racy


it is impossible replied maurice


it was i who proposed when dining with madame dixmer that she should see tho queen whomshe had never beheld


but nothing was arranged as to the day or the means


but they were provided with flowers said the president and the bouquet must have been previously prepared


not at all j i myself purchased them from a flowergirl who offered them to us at the corner of the street vieil s haiidriettes atleast this flowergirl presented you the bouquet


intenogated the president


no citizen i chose it myself out of a dozen it is true i picked out the prettiest


during the remain er of your walk a note might have been introduced among them impossible citizen i did not leave madame dumer a single minute


if it is true what simon says each of the flowers must have enclosed a note and that operation would have occupied at least halfaday


in short might nottwd notes prepared before hand have been slipped amongst the flowers suggested the president


the prisoner in my presence took one at a hazard after having refused the whole of the bouquet


then according to yoar opinion citizen lindey there has been no conspiracy certainly there has been a conspiracy re sumed maurice and i am the first not only to believe it but to affirm it only i assert that this conspiracy did uot proceed from my friends


however as it is necessary that the nation should not be exposed to any danger i offer myself as a precaution a prisoner


not at all answered santerre we do not deal thus with tried men like you


if you consti tute yourself a prisoner to answer for your friend i shall constitute myself also a prisoner to answer for you thus the thing is simple enough there is no positive denunciation


is it not so


no one shall know what has passed


let us redouble our surveillanceyou above alland we shall soon unriddle the mystery by avoiding publicity


thanks commandant said maurice but i shall answer as you would in my place we ought not to rest here


we must discover the flower girl


the flowergirl is doubtless far enough away but rest satisfied they shall seek for her you watch your friends and i shall guard the cor respondence of the prison


they did not think of simon but he had his own project


he arrived at the close of the examina tion to ask the news and learned the decision of the commune ah i we must have a denunciation according to rule said he to settle this business


wait five minutes and i will bring it


what is it then asked the president


his answered the cobbler the courageous citizen tison who denounces the hollow practices of that paitisan to the aristocracy maurice and the ramifications to one of his friends the false patriot lorin


take care i take care simon i said tlie pre sident your zeal for the nation perhaps leads you astiay maurice lindey and hyacinth loriu are tried men


i


we shall see that on trial replied simon


think better of it simon this may prove a scandalous prosecution to all sound patriots


scandalous or not what is that to me


do you think i fear scandal


the whole truth at least shall be known concerning the traitors


so you persist in your denunciation in the name of the woman tison i shall myself citizen president denounce them at the cordeliers end you amongst the rest if you do not instantly decide the arrest of the traitor maurice lindey


well be it so said the president who yield ing to the custom of that wretched epoch ti emblcd before him who made the loudest oucry


well be it so they shall be arrested


during the time that judgment was given against him maurice had returned to the temple where a letter awaited him thus conceived our guard having been violently interrupted i shall not in all probability be able to see you be fore tomoirow morning j come and breakfast with me and put nie in possession of those schemes and conspiracies discovered by simon


the evil from carnation springs so simon says he can depose tis my resolve whateer it brings to go interrogate the rose


tomorrow i shall inform you what answer arthe mise has made


your friend lorw


maurice flsswercd nothing new


rest in peace this night and breakfast without me tomorrow seeing that on ac count of the incidents of the day i may not go out before noon


i wish i was a zephyr to bo entitled to send a kiss to the rose of whom you speakyou may whistle down my prose as i do your verse


your friend maunicb


psi believe after all that the conspiracy was merely a false alarm


loi in had indeedthanks to the brutal motive of the cobblerdopai ted about eleven oclock with the whole of his battalion


he consoled himself in the midst of his humiliation by a ditty and as he stated he had set out to visit arthemise


aithemie was delighted to sec lorin arrive


the weather being beautiful she proposed a promenade along the quays which was acce ned


they proceeded along conversing on politics loi in recounting his expulsion from the temple and wondering what circumstance could have pro voked it when on reaching the summit of the stret des baires they perceived a flowergirl who like themselves was ascending the right bank of the seine


oh citizen lol in said arthemise i hope you will present me with a bouquet certainly two said lorin if it is ogree able to vou


the couple increased their pace to overtake the i flowergirl who proceeded onward very rapidly j on reaching the pont marie the young girl pansed and leaning over the parapet emptied her basket info the river


the scattered flowers whirled in the air for an instant but the bouquets inclined by their weight rapidlydescended and then both swum on the surface following the course of the stream bld said arthemise addressing the flower girl who made such a strangcmarket of her goods one might declareyesnoyesah i all this is very strange t the flower jgirl put her finger on her lips to en


join silence and disappeared


what is it asked loi in


do you know this mortal goddess no i believe i did at fiist but i am as suredly deceived


how was it then that she made a sign to you questioned lorin


why is she a flowergirl this morning


in wardly asked arthemise interrogating herself


you admit then resumed lorin that you know her yesanswred arthemise she is a flower girl from whom i make purchases at times


at all eventssaid lorin shebas a singular mode of disposing of her merchandize


both paused for a moment and watched for the last time tlie flowers which had already reached the wooden bridge where they eceived a fresh impulse from the arm of the river passing through its arches


then our couple continued their jour ney intending to dine together at la rpe


the incident was attended with no immediate result only as the event seemed of such a strange and mysterious character it was implanted in the poetic imagination of lorin


in the meantime the denunciation of the woman tison directed against maurice and lorin cwtcd i a great commotion in the jacobin club and maurice received notice at the temple that his liberty was menaced by public indignation


he was advised to conceal himself if guilty but strong in conscious rectitude maurice remainedat the templewhere he was found at hispost when they came to arrest him


maurice was immedi ately examined


remaining arm to his resolution not to implicate any of his friends in whom he had confidence


maurice who was not a man to sa crifice himself ridiculously by his silencelike an hero ofromance demanded the accusation of the flowergirl


it was five oclock when lorin returned


he instantly heard of the arrest of maurice and was informed of tho demand he had made


the flowergirl of the pont marie throwing her bouquets into the seine instantly recurred to his miud


the revelation was sudden


this strange fldwergirl the coincidence of the neighbourhood the half avowal of arthemise all instinctively pointed out to him the revelation of the mystery which maurice demanded


he sprang out of his chamber rushed down the stairs and hastened to the goddess of reason who was embroidering golden stars upon a blue gauze robe


it was her


lolje of divinity


k a truce to the stars my dear friend said loris maurice has been arrested this morning and i shall be most probably this evening


maurice arrested


oh mon dieu j yes


in these times nothing is so common as great events


no attention is paid to them because they occur in crowds that is all


but as all these great events spring from trifles let us not ncglefit trifles


who was the flowergirl whom we encountered this morning my dear friend


arthemise started


which flowergirl par dieu


she who with such prodigality threw her flowers into the seine


eh i my god iis this circumstance so grave that you return with such a request


so serious my dear friend that beg you will


answer mc without hesitation


alas my friend i cannot goddess i nothing is impossible to you


i am bound in honor to be silent


and i am for the same reason compelled to make you speak


but why do you insist so much why i morbleu


that maurice may not have his head cut off


oh my god i maurice guillotined ex claimed the young woman becoming dreadfully alarmed


yes


without speaking of myself who in fact dare not now answer for my own head re maining on my shoulders


oh i no no i said arthemise i would cer tainly destroy her first


at that moment lorins domestic precipitated himself into the room


ah citizen cried he fly fly i and why so asked lorin


because the gensdarmes have presented them selves at your house and whilst they beat in the door i gained the neighbouring house by the roof and ran to warn you


arthemise uttered a terrible cry


she really loved lorin


arthemise said lorin place the life of a flowergirl against that of maurice and your lover


if it is thus i declare that i cease to consider you as the goddess of reason and may proclaim you the goddess of folly


poor ileloise i exclaimed the opera dancer it is not my fault if i deceive you


gdod good my dear friend saidlorin pre senting a paper to arthemise you have already gratified me with the baptismal give me now the family name and address


write it ob


i never never i exclaimed arthemise


to speak it is enough


speak it then and feel perfectly satisfied that i shall forget it


she then quickly gave thename and address of the pretended flowergirl


she is called heloise tison and lives in the street nonandieres no


lot in uttered a cry and ran off as quick as he could


vhc had not reached the end of the street when a letter arrived for arthemise


it contained only three lines


dear fan ndnot a word about me


the revelation of my name would infallibly ruin me


wait until tomorrow before you give my name because this evening i sh


u leave paris


tiiy heloise


oh my god exclaimed the future goddess if i could have divined it i should hate waited until tomorrow


she sprang to the window to recall lorin if there was still time but he had disappeared


to be continued j


the streets of sydney with some account of the houses thereof and the people who dwell therein


by hooke


y walker a very extensive traveller


chapter iii


a wonderful tale of wooloomooloo related to me by mr nicholas dubbo over a composing draft of brandy cold without


i never could tell a story from the hour i was born premised my friend modestly


i want common assurance as the lawyers say


divil the word of a lie in that i inherited dye understand me considerable personal attractions from my much respected parents with a large share of accomplishments but sorra a bit of tongue and this impediment of speech is my work ahead


like samsons foes i have always been beaten by the jawbone of an ass and dis in the race of life by hacknied roarers


by the hokeyi dont mean to be personal walkerif i had the powers of that princess with the long name in the arabian nights i should have talked myself into a sydney knight or some such illustrious title long ago


i read hard at school but was never able to repeat a lesson in maturer years my friends when short handed at whist invariably selected dummy for my partner in the debating club i was dubbed dubbo the silent member


i once tried to awaken the wonderful echoes of killarney yet all the answer i got from them was why the divil dont you spake man


i might have been married long ago but i could not find tongue to propose and may i be hanged presuming i were called upon to study that law of descent if i could give the judges a reason why i should not be


you know my weakness old fellow therefore dont expect me to request you to re plenish your tumblerthe bottle is next your fist


at the conclusion of this silent oration a cloud of thought and cigar smoke stole over the countenance of mr dubbo which however was speedily sponged out by an application of the potent fluid standing before him and he re sumed


shakespeare would preach sermons in stones vainly to me and a bishop bid me discourse without any chance of success


i have chewed the pebbles of demosthenes and swallowed murrays grammar but could never find my parts of speech


here mr dubbo threw out an interjection which rather disproved his assertion


by


walker if i had a pronouncing dictionary id beat the tatler by chalks


but tis no use talking an unhappy fatality sur rounds mepass the bottle old fellow


at all events i remarked you have escaped the character of a telltale


och youre there are you


funny dog


i catch the idea waiting for the story of woo loomooloo


here goes at it through the silence of the night


once upon a timenever mind the exact chronologythere lived in this neigh bourhoodthe precise spot is not of any conse quencea highly respectable elderly gentleman who indulged in the name ofcall him grigg for shortness


he was however far from being as lively as one of those piscine delicacies upon its introduction to a gridiron on the contrary grigg was anything but a merry man he was a staid serious steady going customer who wouldnt do a bill without half a score of good names at the back of it to save you from a cart load of on


sas


and fi


fas


not that we know much about such unpleasant little scraps


mrs gregg was her husbands ditto with if pos sible a trifle more of the verjuicy flavour about her just the sort of person that few travellers would select for a vade mecum unless it were for the pleasure of seeing her smothered in an avalanche run over by a railway train or blown up in a steamboat


notwithstanding her defects she suited grigg as she looked after the cheese parings and other trifling articles of home con sumption mighty well and vented most of her storms of illhumour upon margaret their single servant maid


poor creature


sad fate


but i must not anticipate


i cannot exactly say whether she was an irish orphan or a distressed needlewoman she certainly had a touch of the brogue and a capi tal eye in her head and numbering work she did with the pair of them


members of council military gentlemen government officers mer chants clerks assistant drapers and errant golddiggers as they passed by griggs garden gate strove to catch a glimpse of margaret


such standing in stirrups and on tiptoes such peeping and peering through chinks and cre vices were never seen in wooloomooloo before and perhaps will not be again to the end of time


mr prince the australian adonis as he was termed fell into such a pining declining state that he was compelled to visit england for the recovery of his health


he endeavoured to transplant margaret and set her in his own vineyard but his efforts were fruitless the grapes then became too sour for his constitution


dye understand me


i pleaded ignorance of the meaning of this mysterious allusion which excited a slightly petulant answer


by the powers youre as dull as a mudheap


margarets tinder heart had been lighted by another spark so she put the extinguisher on his flame


mr prince went out under those cir cumstances of course full of envy


try another sip of brandyit is a capital thing at a pinch old fellow


from this brief abstract of the grigg propensities you may be sure margaret had a very indifferent time of it


she was hard worked dieted upon the hompathic system scolded most liberally mewed up like a suspected cat and a sunday out was an enormity not to be mentioned


despite all these annoyances she managed to keep in capital allwork condition ready to run for a cup or a maiden plate with every chance of not being dished


there was a mystery about this to which mrs grigg could not find the key


she invariably locked up the pantry and in order to make the safe bind safe find principle doubly sure carved private marks in the comestibles to discover if they had been tampered with


her pains were useless


on reproduction of the viands the grigg notches were found as firm as robinson crusoes cal endar


even this did not quench the inveterate of suspicion on the mind of the mistress


margaret continued to increase in plumpness whilst mrs grigg was dwindling into the tenuity of a rush light an inversion ratio which puzzled her reasoning faculties


but she vowed she might be whipped like a top if she did not find the bottom of it and determined to force grigg into joining her vigilance committeea task of no trifling difficulty as although he minded his ps and qs he always looked out for his ease at home a wise principle which you and i see clearly ought to be adopted


dye understand me walker


it chanced upon a raw and gusty night when the moon was hid behind a sooty cloud like a fritter beneath a fryingpan and the trees were bowing their heads politely to each other as the rushing gale passed over them and their branches seemed much inclined to hop the twig and the two policemen deputed to guard the thousand houses of wooloomooloo from burg larious attacks and four square miles of territory from robbery and murder were snoring fearless of the inspectors whistle under the cozy veran dah of a green grocers shop their favorite dor mitoryit was on just such a night that mrs grigg determined to turn her husbands feather bed into a pillow of thorns by worrying him into the embrace of her operations


grigg was fast asleep but a few touches on the ribs from the sharp angle of her arm soon roused him from his somnolency


what the devil is in the wind now


ex claimed the irritated spouse in a disturbed napoleon voice


mr g im astonished to hear such diabolical expressions fall from your mouth


a pretty ex ample you would set to your childrenif you had any replied his better half with a sneer


grigg murmured a vote of thanks for the scarcity of claims upon his estate of paternity


no wonder she continued administering an extra dose of aloes with such notions that things go on as they do in this house


you see me fretting myself to skin and bone but you dont care about itnot you


you are wrong there mrs g i feel it acutely at times responded grigg recollecting the unpleasant nudges which had broken his rest


none of your jeers if you please mr g the affair is beyond a joke and youll find it out to your cost as sure as eggs are eggs


what mares nest have you discovered now


one that will hatch you plenty of mischief but you men are all alike you are blind as beetles


i dont want any of your spectacles growled the offended grigg


of course not such folks as you are sharp as needles


mrs g come to the point at once


in one word who are you driving at margaret replied mrs grigg quickly


margaret


what has she been doing spilling the milk


no


dipping her fingers into the sugar basin no


demolishing the crockery no


upsetting the ebenezers in the parlour no


asking for an advance in wages no


winking at a policeman no


mrs grigg cried the exasperated spouse springing suddenly from his couch as if about to take an aerial flight through the ceiling you are enough to drive a man out of his senses


a minute since you were all tongue and now you are nothing but noes


what in the name of the hem


and dr faustus would you do with margaret


take her down a peg


replied mrs grigg solemnly


whew


shes too jolly for you cuts it ra


ther fat


eh


my dear said the old gentleman restored to his better humour


she is too fat mr g and i shrewdly sus pect


she is not so thin skinned as yourself


i shrewdly suspect that it is not honestly come by in fact mr grigg if you will make me speak out i suspect she has found an entry into our larder


i am sure she would not make any bones of it


she would not make much else if she got there urged grigg ironically


pooh psha


pish


mrs g the things impossible


you lock the place too carefully for that


but there are such articles as duplicate keys


now suppose margaret has formed an acquain tance with one of those vagabonds we read of in the newspapers who can open all the wards of the city with a wax key or something of that sort


and suppose you let me resume my sleep which has been broken by your absurd ideas


there turn round and dont breathe hard


not another word mrs g i will have my natural rest said mr grigg sternly decidedly finally


but mr griggs imperative mood was not all potential


ere he could settle his night cap com fortably a crash resounded through the house sounding fearfully like the falling mills in the ears of don quixote


a dreadful noise and clatter mixed with female screams struck terror into the hearts of the pair


the fear of being robbed however overcame their timidity


mr grigg jumped out of bed struck a light donn ed his inexpressibles and armed himself with a bootjack which was the handiest implement of warfare he could find


mrs grigg turbanned herself in a flannel petticoat and followed her husband with faltering steps she was afflicted with what old ladies term a creepy crawly feel and wished herself at jericho or some other locality equally remote from wooloomooloo


by all thats handsome i should have preferred a safety cab in such a moment of peril walker i should indeed


i couldnt fancy myself in so ticklish a stuation for the life of me


grigg pushed against the kitchen door i forgot to tell you margaret roosted in the culinary depart ment and found some impediment to his en trance


a few vigorous thrusts removed the difficulty then what a scene of horror was pre sented


there stood margaret in a corner en veloped in a blanket with her hair standing on end and pale as a spectre whilst pots pans and dishcovers were strewed about in all directions looking as if some desperate conflict had taken place


whats it all about margaret exclaimed the griggs simultaneously


wirra stru masther


och tis the bad luck that come over me


im murtheredclane kilt and utherly undone


wirra stru


and tis why did i lave my own quite counthry to be aten up by black cannibals and the likes of sich croco dhiles


och murther murther cried mar garet as if her heart were breaking


be composed my good girl no one will eat you here plump as you are


what has caused this fright and confusion enquired grigg


och shure masther dear


tis meself as cant get a wink of slape in the house for the ghost responded she in a mixed tone of moan groan and sob


only a ghost hey


i thought it was some thing more material


ill soon lay his ghost ship


said grigg valorously


och masther dont mock the ghost faith an tis mighty powerful


fudgeonly let me set eyes on it and ill soon exorcise it without book or candle


och there it is screamed margaret


where ejaculated the startled grigg


there


there responded she describing a circle with her finger


grigg had only time to perceive a tall gaunt form clothed in dark vestments emerge from behind the kitchen door ere the candlestick was knocked out of his hand the light extinguished and he himself laid prostrate on the floor with mrs grigg by his side


fear nailed them to the spot till morning dawned when the twain arose from their recumbency stiff and sore from the battering they had undergone


but what became of poor margaret


i en quired with much sympathy for her grievous troubles


by the jabers that would puzzle a priest to tell im thinking


sorra bit of vestige was left of her


my opinion is the ghost spirited her away


was there nothing found on the premises which could remove the preposterous idea of a supernatural visitation


nothing to speak of


grigg certainly found a dark lantern or a bulls eye one and a curi ously shaped scotch cap in the kitchen which did not belong to him


of course it were pre posterous to imagine a ghost would walk about with such articles of wearing apparel


im very unwilling to give up the ghost


a few months after the dreadful affair somebody said some other body told him that some one had seen somebody very like margaret in melbourne with a remarkably fine babby in her arms and that she was married to a lucky gold digger who rocked the cradle while she sewed buttons on his shirts


but this could only be a fetch walker


besides she was so much thinner


it is a strange story mr dubbo and reminds one somewhat of the rogueries of nicholas which i once saw played


on the modesty of an irish gentleman there is not the slightest similarity in the performances


if i could talk id soon convince you of that


faith the bottle is empty but we can easily re place it in this land of spirits as father mathew terms this colony


i declined the offer and bade my hospitable friend farewell


as i traced my path homewards i meditated much upon this wonderful tale of wooloomooloo and the hallucination of my friend who had talked himself into the idea of being a remarkably silent man


to be continued


irvcto tt iflttfcjjei


r


love at first sight oe the fish out of water


chapter vt


i


the next morning having been refreshed by a long nights sleep paul summoned up energy enough to attend r chapel and finding that no one there seemed to have the slightest knowledge of his late ridiculous mishaps he took heart and returned home to breakfast with the elastic pace of one who has just unexpectedly surmounted a difficulty ithe


burden of which has been long weighing upon his spirits


in fact he would have become quite as happy as ever had it not been for the clouding recollection of


bpplna lor whom


as las seltconruience increased his old affection


revived how delicate had been her conduct in rnot returning to the scene of his humiliation


how prompt and generous her interference with the magistrate in his behalf


yet she was lost to him for how could he expect that lady of her sensitive nature would ever dream of accepting as a husband a man who had been publicly exposed in the stocks


no the case was clear


he must resign all thoughts of her and henceforth like the elder brother in beaumont and fletchers comedy


marry himself to mathematics


he was busy pondering this matter when a letter was brought to him by the college gyp


could he believe his eyesight


it was from sophia dixon from that very paragon of loveliness whose loss he was just then so deeply


deploring


the fair writer made not the slightest allu sion to his recent misfortune but enquired kindly after his health mentioned a beautiful ballad that had been sent her by a friend in london and concluded byexpress ing a modest hope that ma might shortly be favoured with a visit from him when he should hear the lovely air in


question


paul was in ecstasies


all his past griefs were forgotten and had the scamps who had popped him into the boot appeared at that moment before him and confessed their delinquency he would have forgiven them with all his soul


having persued the precious billet at least a dozen times and as often pressed it to his lips the enamoured student determined on posting off that very hour to the village and delivering his reply in person


he had not the slightest apprehension of being discovered by any of the inhabitants for who could recognise in the well dressed gentleman of today the hatl ess mudbedaubed vagabond of yesterday


accordingly he set forth brisk and confident with a fixed resolution to abandon the silly shally system make a bold stroke for a wife and win all for loose all ere the sun should have attained his meridian


as paul moved rapidly along his road with a fine brac ing wind blowing freshly against him every object on which his eye rested seemed flush of grace and chearful


ness


the dull square forecourt of catherinehall ap peared a model of architectural elegance and even the formal outline of the hogmagogs exhibited the ne plus ultra of the picturesque


how different from the proceed ing day when the same sun which now lent life and splendour and beauty to all things looked as though it shone for no other purpose tlau to mock the dirty and forlorn vagrant


after about an hour and a halfs smart walking paul drew near the village and turning down the well known lane soon reached the dixons cottage


and now for the first his courage began to fail him


suppose instead of accepting his offers sophia should make him the subject of


her redicule


but no she would not could not do so for she was all melting softness and therefore far more


likely so hope whispered in pauls ear to sympathise with than to laugh at him


this last encouraging reflection deceived him and knocking at the door the maidservant who opened it ard seemed as if she had anticipated his visit informed him with a significent simper that her young mistress was in the kitchengarden


thither accordingly he repaired and


in an instant stands in the divine presence of sophia


how charming she looked with her light morninggown fitting close to her taperwaist the single wliite rose in her hair and the glow of health blushing on her damask cheek


the moment she beheld her visiter she hurried forward


and smilingly held out her hand


ah that smile that irresistible smile


it has dispelled all pauls doubts


no more timidity no more embarrassment he can now endure to treat his yesterdays adventure as a good joke


and even sympathise with the vissible though subdued merriment of his companion


and thus the interesting couple pacing up and down the kitchengarden converse in the most sportive and familiar manner till suddenly inspired by a strange cour age paul just as sophia is halting in the central walk seizesher lilly hand and there in that sylvan and se cluded spot with a row of potatoes on one side of him ainl ofcabages and tsuch


like sentimental vegtables on the


other pours forth the cherished secret of the heart


the lady stared sighed blushed professed the utmost degree of amazement and then faltering out i must speak to


ma vanished from her lovers side leaving him hi a


state of mind which to quote the eloquent language of george bobbins advertisements may be better coh ceived than described


luckily however he was not kept long in suspense


for in about ten minutas the venerable mother of his sphia made her appearence and observing that she could not bear the idea of delaying explanation when the happi ness of her darling child was at stake came at once to the point in a matteroffact businesslike style that


somewhat disconcerted the impassioned suitor who how


ever replied fraukly and readily to all her questions touching his prospects and so forth aiidi even


felt grateful when his first surprise was over for the warm v interest she took in one so dear to his heart


satisfied with his auswers the kindjiecuad old lady unhesitniting


uy gave her consent to the match which after some grace ful demurrings on sophias part it was arranged should take place that day week as term would then be ended and paul would have the long three months vacation be fore him ior a honeymoon


accordingly on the appointed day all the requisite legal


preliminaries having been duly settled paul who had previously introduced sophia to his friend powis was married by him in the village church which stood most conveniently a few yards from the cottage


the ceremony was quite as awful as such ceremonies are apt to be but when it was ended a cold collation soon restored all parties to their usual cheerfulness and nothing could possibly exceed the exhilaration of the bridegrooms spirits when having bade adieu to powis he found himself whirling along as fast as four posthorses could carry him on the road to lowestoff with his wife on one side of him and his motherinlaw on the other


on his return after a fortnights pleasuring to a small readyfurnished house which he had secured at cambridge pauls fenstanton friend called over to pay him a visit and found him quite an altered man


hitherto he had been grave and reserved in manner


he was now become as playful as a kitten


then too he was so affectionate so inexpressibly endearing in his ways


if for an instant his sophia quitted the room minutes were hours till she returned and when he addressed her though it were only to ask her if she would take a slice more mut ton or another glass of wine the tones of his voice were as sweet as barleysugar


never since the fall was there witnessed such domestic felicity


adam in paradise ere eve had yet set an example of insubordination was pauls only


prototype


i


so passed the auspicious month of the honeymoon dui ing which period our benedick like the shepherd in sir phillip sidneys arcadia kept piping and chirping away as though he should never grow old


at the expira tion of that time however his angel wife whose love of innocent gaiety was at least as remarkable as her grace and beauty and sensibility began delicately to intimate her wish for a change of scene if only as she observed to give a new zest to the pleasures of home when they should return to it after a brief absence


paul who had a sort of instinctive dislike to locomotion would far rather have continued in the peaceful seclusion of cambridge but sophia was so pressing she had such an arch coax ing manner with her and was besides so dottingly fond of him that he felt it was impossible to deny her any thing


accordingly the happy couple accompanied by their venerable kinswoman set oui on a trip to london where they put up at an expesive westend hotel and after see ing all that was to be seen spending large sums of money end living in a constant state of bustle from morning till night returned home infinitely to pauls delight who felt persuaded that now the autumnal evenings were ap proaching his wife would give up all further idea of quitt ng cambridge and settle down into a quiet staid alfec ionate fireside companion a matter about which he was ii more anxious as the vacation would terminate in a few weeks when it was his intention to resume his college studies chapter vii


gentle reader the scene is now about to change


alas that it should be so


but this is a rough bleak woild ex posed constantly to the malign influence of storm and cloud and love is the most delicate plant that springs up from its rugged soil


at the expiration of his second month when the novelty of his situation had in a degree subsided paul somehoy or other felt himself not quite so comfortable as he had been


his darling sophia so far from sobering down tc the staid peaceful housewife that he had so confidently calculated on and esteeming it the pride of her life to administer to the domestic comforts of her husband was incessxntly importuning him to quit that humdrum cambridge and take up


his abode in one of the fashionable squares of the metropolis


she had no notion she said of bong moped to death in a stupid country town where there were no parks nor theatres nor balls nor exhibitions and where she new scarcely a single soul


it might be all very well for those who liked the sort of things to take long dull walks and go pouring over a parcel if musty books but she had no lelish for such a commonplace mode of life her nature required the excitemen of novelty and if she remained much longer where shethen was she felt it would be her death


j when paul first hearj his wife declare these sentiments he staggered as if he hal been shot


was this the same sophia he asked himsef who but eight short weeks be fore had seemed wholly devoted to the simple and unso phisticated pleasures of iomestic retirement


whose tastes were so refined whosefiature was so amiable and artless who had derived suchpujoyment from his conversation and appeared so every way qualified to appreciate him


fain would he have peraaded himself that this heretofore paragon of perfection wjs still unchanged and that he had misinterpreted the tendsncy of her remarks but the sad truth was made but toq apparent when in reply to some observations he had ofce hastily let drop respecting the increasing predilection


pf his motherinlaw for strong waters his wife as tfe saying is took him up


short and reminded him of hij own adventurein the stocks


when once a hastyword has passed between man and wife it is surprising ho soon she breach widens between them


from having ben one and indivisible they become two rnd disassociated sophia was naturally hottempered and having once past the rubicon pursued her onward course without the sligliest regard to consequences


she no longer took countr strolls with her husband no longer sang to him on te piano or charmed him with her melodious recitation o sentimental poesy but sulked from morning till nigl like a disappointed thoughtless coquette as


she


was


j


ari even went so far on the memo rable occasion asto teljpaul withput reserye


or circimn locution that if he


didnot shortly quit cambridge where she was wasting away by inches and take up his residence in london as a man of his means should do she would plague his life out asking at the same time what else he supposed she married him for


one day on his return home from a visit feo his sym pathising friend powis paul saw his wife busily engaged


in writing letters to london and about a week afterwards the driver of the cambridge telegraph deposited in the drawing room a boy about seven years of age a strapping broadfaced lad with a prodigious play of lungs and an eye full of mischief who had been consigned to the coach mans special custody by the proprietor of a boardings school at hammersmith


my god whats this exclaimed paul staring at the urchin who was clasped in his mothers arras sophiit mrs pimpernek i mean can you explain this most extraordinary cireumstaace


explain


replied her venerable parent with a terse ness very uncommon in age lord bless usjwhat is there to explain


this is my grandson and a sweet child he is isnt he


here tommy go and kiss your new pa


i


take it away


vociferated the indignant and asioh


ished paul backing to the very extremity of the appart ment i know nothing of it


ill have nothing to do with it its none of mine and so saying he caught up his hat and flang out of the house banging all the doors after him with the fury of sir arthur wardour


when insulted by his host the antiquary


when he returned at a late hour he found bis wife seated with her mother at supper aud looking as composed ed as if nothing had happened not a word was


spokeii during the meal exrept by tommy who talked and laughed away with his little mouth full in a way which considering his near affinity to him oiaght to have made pauls lungs crow like chanticleer


but that aggrieved benedick was in no mood to relish his artless and mercurial prattle


he sat with an awful scowl on his brow absorbed in thoughts too deep and it is to be feared too malignant far utterance and long after the rest of


the family had retired for the night was heard pacing up and down the room with the hurried strides of a cageti tiger


early the next morning the aged parent of his angel wife set out on a journey to london


paul was now left alone with sophia but his situation was little improved thereby for she never ceased subjecting him to a thou sand petty annoyances taunting him with his selfishness and stinginess and severest cut of all contrasting his conduct with that of the late lamented captain dicksoh who she said would not have hesitated an instant in tak ing her a house in town but even been glad of the op portunity of thus showing the ardour of his affection for her


in vain the illstarred victim of love at first sight repelled these taunts with all the indignation he could muster in vain swore with an oath that he would be mas ter of his own actions and pursue hjs own course of study and retirement just as he pleased his wifes dogged perseverance was too much for him and a shuddering apprehension would at times cross his mind that after alf he should be compelled to give up his darling studies now become his only solace forego all thoughts of the senior wranglership and take up his residence in the metropolis


such was pauls distracted state of mind when his esteemed motherinlaw returned from her visit to lon don but alas not alone


for she was accompanied by


a laughing dark eyed girl about five or six years of age who no sooner entered the appartment thrn quitting grandmammas side she flew off to mrs pimpernel with all the fond enthusiasm of childhood


what another exclaimed paul his eyes starting from their sockets and his lips quivering with passion


by god madam this is infamous


but til stand itno longer


ill have a separate maintenance ill sue for a divorce


ill expose the whole affair to the world ill


hoitytoity said grandmamma what a fuss the man makes about a trifle


why you


should be proud of such fine children instead of


pray madam interrupted paul addressing his wife why dicint you tell me you were plagued with these infernal


incumbrances before you married me


because it did not suit my purpose replied sophia quietly and with remarkable candour for as her husband had observed to powis during his courtship she was singularly frank in her nature


i dare say not he replied with a malicious sneer it was necessary that they should he kept out of the way until you had hooked a second husband


for shame mr p said his motherinlaw i iieyer heard of such behaviour in


all my born days


but you hayent a spark of feeling dont wonder at the dear children being quite frightened in your presence youre a monster rejoined sophia and


i w heartily sorry i ever had anything to say


to you


ah if poor dear captain dickson were alive at


this moment i wish with all my soul he was though ive no doubt hes far happier where he is


at these words mrs pimpeinell made preparations for bursting into a hysteri cal flood of tears with a view tomelt her husbands iron heart


she was soon howerer diverted from her senti


mental purpose by his addressing her with a spiteful malignant laugh as follows pray madam will you be kind enough to inform me how many more of these vuluable consignments i am to expect


there are two


london coaches will stop at the eagleandchild


tomor row night


am i to expect a babe by each


will


the


darlings come inside or outside madam


perhaps they may come in the boot replied sonliia ojvinff


eager vent to one of those arch sallies that had once so fascinated her hnsbaiia upon which his motherinlaw set up a brisk shout which was ohoroussed by the two children and paul had nothing


left for it but to beat an expeditious retreat


from this time forward he was as miserable as the veriest hy pochondriac could reasonably desire to be tbq children in parv ticular were a perfect torment to him


they entered that sanctum sayctorwp his study when he was absent dogseared his books


purloined his mathematical instruments and strewed his papers in inextricable confusion about the floor


on one occasion they even went so far as to tear half the leaves out of his goods al gebra on which he had been entering some valuable marginal notes the boy in order to make a tail for his kite and the girl to curl her dolls hair with


if their outraged stepfather ever ven tured to correct them for these enormities he was sure to bring the whole house in thunder about his ears infinitely to the alarm bf the old maid next door who had long since made up her mind that


paul was a miracle of brutality and the scene would be wound up by sophias going off in hysterics to the imminent peril of her hrsband


shoill


he venture within sweep of her am


under these circumstances pauls only consolation consisted in corresponding with his old friend powis who was now passing a few weeks afc the seaport of cromer


his letters as might be anticipated overflowed with spleen and bitterness


writing to inform him of the unexpected arrival of his last stepchild he observed in that exaggerated spirit of savage jocularity to which despair bo often flies for refuge


almost every coach now brings me down a child and i tremble at the very sound of the wheels


i expect twins by the next waggon


call me no longer pimpernell my name is pidcock and i keep a menagerie


oh that


i had taken your advice my kind disinterested friend


take mine in return and whenever you see a pettycoat run from it as you would from the devil


dont think yourself safe even with your grandmother


let my fate hold out a warning to you


i have been married little more than seven weeks and i feel as if i had served an apprenticeship of as many years


the stocks were nothing to what i now endure and as for the hearse i wish to god i had never got out of it but qualified myself for a legiti mate conveyance by it


on another occasion he addressed the same friend as follows nothing surprises me so much as my late infatuation


to think that j who am a steady reserved student and dote upon domes tic quiet should have surrendered my happiness into the custody of a frivolous heartless coquette ensnared by a show of gentle ness and sensibility that ought not to have deceived a schoolboy to think that i of all the men in the worlr should have acted in this blind manner


there must clearly have been witchcraft at work or i could not have been so infatuated


however the spell


is broken now my eyes are opened and i awake to the full


wretchedness of my condition


conceive my deplorable state


mv wifes mother has just bought one of the brats a big drum and the other a sqeaking fife and promises them a rattle tomorrow


heaven help me


but fiendish thoughts flit across my mind and i


sometimes think i will leave two penny tarts drugged with arsenic on the nursery table


p s when ever you take up the country newbpaser be sure you skip all the coroners inquests or one of these days you may chauce to read therein what will wring your fond heart


but fortunately for paul this sort of life was about to have an end


it is a long lane that has no turning


one morning while he was seated alone in bis study his wife and her mother accom panied by the children having set out in a hired carriage for the newmarket eaces he was surprised by a visit from his friend powis who entering the room with a smiling face and grasping him cordially by the hand told him to cheer up for that he was


the bearer of good news


paul looked up at his visitor with lacklustre eye and then pettishly replied cheer up indeed


that advice comes too late now


you might just as well tell a criminal under sentence of execution to cheer up


no no my destiny is settled in this world


perhaps not at any rate listen to this for it is ivell worth your attention and so saying the speaker drew the times newspaper of the preceeding day from his pocket and read from it an advertisement signed samuel dickson wherein the writer a west india captain expressed his wish that if this notice should meet the eyes of his wife mrs sophia dickson who he had reason to believe had with many other of his friends and relatives been deceived by a false report and supposed him drowned on his last voyage to jamaica she would instantly acquaint him with her place of residence


hey whats that whats that you say


eead that again


exclaimed paul starting up with wondrous vivacity but no let me read it


and with these words he snatched the paper from his friend and having finished the persual of the precious docu ment he clasped his hands above his head and exclaimed with fervour while the tears of joy started to his eyes by g d then


i shall be senior wrangler after all


sit down man sit down said powis and let us talk the matter over rationally


but paul was far tco excited just then to be able to follow his friends advice


he snapped his fingers capered ahout the room and played so many antics that powis at length said why youre mad pimpernell this news has quite turned your brain


true true i am mad who would nt be mad in my situation


ive shaken off my fetters im emancipated free as the winds


i can say what i please and do what i please and spend what i


please


no more drums and fifes dinging in my ear from morn ing till night


no more pettycoat tyranny


im free im free


huzza and sayinsr the delighted speaker began pirouett ing and spi ning round on one leg like john beve in cupid


do pray sit down pimpernel said his friend or i shall think yon cracked hi right earnest sit down


i cant sit nor stand either


im as buoyant and mercurial as fol de rol


i say do you see that chair


yes what of it


here goes


and paul was actually about to clear the chair at a leap when powis in sheer astonishment at his vagaries flung himself suddenly back in his seat and by so doing overbalanced it and came to the ground right in front of paul who stumbled


headlong over him and both lay sprawling on the carpet one over the other in the exact form of a cross


this accident somewhat moderated our cuntabs ecstasies and in a short time having by a prodigious effort recovered his com posure powis at his special request sat down and penned an answer to the advertisement in which a cordial invitation was


given to captain dickson who was requested to loose no lime in making his appearance at cambridge as his faithful and affection ate sophia was dying with impatience to see him


the letter then was despatched to the post and powis left his friend in a happier state of mind than he had known for many weeks


two


days had passed since the answer had been sent to


the ad vertisement during which paul bore with the utmost indifference and good humour the taunts of his wife and the noise of his step children and the third was now drawing towards its close


surely captain dickson will come by tonights coach thought the anxious pimpernel as he kept constantly referring to the watch which he held in his hand


ten minutes to six


oh come theres hope yet the stage wdl not be in till a quarter pist saying which he threw open the window and seated him self beside it


for the first time for many a long day he listened with eagerness to the sound of the coachwheels


hitherto they had brought him down nothing but misfortunes


now


he trusted they were about to make compensation


and


bring him down a remedy


time meanwhila slipped on st marysolmrch had already


struck six and the collegebells were all ringing for every chapel yet still no telegraph


tis strange


exclaimed paul starting up fronr his seat


but hark i bear the sound of wheels


away he rushed


withoutbisliat


to the hulldooi


it was


a damp foggy evening one of those evenings which would haye justified a horse in poking his nose through a shop window


tlie lamps on the opposite side of the street glimmered with a wan sickly light and the collegians as they passed and eepassed in


their dark silkgowns close by where paul was stand ing


resemfc led spectres flitting home


to the churchyard surely i heard the sound of wheels just now ay and here it comes pshaw tis only a brewers draycart


and the disap pointed listener heaved a bitter sigh as the lumbering vehicle toiled onwards


a thousand apprehensions now began to beset him


the coach might be overturned in the fog captain dickson might be pitch ed headfureniost into a ditch and chonked with cliickweed and tadpoles or what was more likely ho might repent having ac quainted his wife with the fact of his resurrection


this last supposition than which nothing seemed to paul more natural put him into a perfect fever and he was just in the act ot returning to his study when he heard the welcome sound of a horn


presently two coachlamps were seen dimly gleaming through the mist the clatter of horses hoofs drew neur and the old cam bridge telegraph came rattling down the street


how pauls heart beat at this moment


will the coach turn round the corner into the peasemarket


no it keeps right on already it is within a few yards of his door the driver tightens his reins the horses are drawn up right opposite where our hero is standing and down jumps a goodnatured jollylooking sailor whom paul gues ing at once to be captain dickson welcomes with a convulsive grasp of the hand and introduces without ceremony into the drawingroom


an extraordinary sensation was created by the bluff tars ap pearance


sophia fainted tommy screamed pa


and began turning his coat pockets inside out aad


the grandmother stared through her spectacles at the new comer as though he had just risen from the dead


an eclair dsscment immediately took place after which came an act of unparrelled disinterestedness on pauls part


that generous young man in the handsomest manner pos sible resigned all claims on sophia observing that his sense of justice and honor would not allow him to withold such a treasure from the arms of one who was so much more deserving of her


at first the captain seemed inclined to take matters in high dud geon but when the strange circumstances of the case had been minutely and impartially explained to him more especially when he learned that his wife had secured a settlement for life from the second husband he agreed to take her back again because as he coarsely observed in justification of his conduct after all she did not seem much the worse for wear


and so paul escaped


the fish out of water returned to its natural element that it is to say our emancipated student went back to his mathematical studies and his snug rooms in tha pease market and in the fulness of time achieved the great object of his ambition and was proclaimed senior wrangler


bttms hm a fife granta


by the authoress op gertrude


concluded from page


ihe pudiic nouse at tue comer was crowded


there was a dazzling glare of lamps and a fire burned in the tap room grate several persons were sing ing evidently from the style they were the professionals of such


localities in a group of political dispu tants i recognised doctor willoughby essaying to address the assembly on the rights of the people


i made my way to him and touching his arm whispered annie is ill come home


he was too much absorbed in his oration to heed me and repeated shakes were requisite to attract his attention then in bewilderment he pronounced my name while bis companions rudely stared at the grave intruder


come home annie is illperhaps dying


me took up his hat muttered some thing about having looked in to see a sick child as if explanatory of his presence there and accompanied me


the cool air and a shower of rain perhaps only added to the mental con fusion but we trusted to the instinct of previous knowledge guiding him aright


he wrote with trembling hand a pre scription and gave it to me and taking our only halfcrown the last money we possessed ihastened togetit dispensed


the chemist lived at some distance and the hour for closing the shop had come but he delayed to give me what i required he read and reread the j almost illegible directions


will the doctor administer the medicines himself


t


yes


they are very dangerous and he


murmured the supposed significance of the latin abbreviations and compounded a vial full of mixtures clasping which in my hand i ran home


annie was worse and the expected remedies were at once administered then followed convulsions and groans of agony


some dim consciousness of the truth sobered the miserable man he took up the vial and tasted its contents


etheline what did i write


i had read the prescription and re peated what i and the chemist believed it to be


i did not mean thatits a mis take


then we knew that she was poisoned


after a while came the collapse the antidotes and stomach pump had failed to prolong life but consciousness re turned


she spoke and bid us farewell then turning her eyes on the unhappy cause of her death she said


i forgive you gerrard but you have murdered me


let it be a warning


you are destroying yourself your wife and child your companions in intempe ranceall on whom your influence falls


oh take warning there is a futurity i know it


there was a struggle for breath and life the doctor had fallen on his knees by her bedside the chemist whom i had summoned stood gravely by mrs willoughby and her child sobbed in unison


you may be happy and respected even now it is not yet too late


repent gerrardre pent at once


by that deathbed the intemperate vowed to taste the fatal glass no more


there was an inquirythechemist had mistaken the prescription the medical man was severely reproved for careless writing but the mistake met no legal punishment


who shall mea sure the punishment of an accusing conscience


who shall guage the agony of that echo you have murdered me or the sense of apostacy from the faith in christ once professed


distress of mind brought on a severe fit of illness in mrs willoughby and we feared that she would not long survive her sister


her husband exerted all his skill and watched over her day and night while i unceasingly plied my needle and tended little willie but youth and a naturally strong constitu tion triumphed and once more she rose from the bed of suffering


but oh


how changed cadaverous thin and melancholy


her husband could not look on the wreck he had made


one evening he approached me and leaning over me as i sat at work whispered pointing to his sleeping wife who re clined in an arm chair by the fire


u i am going to leave her etheline


i have written to her mother some days back and you must give her thishe held out a letter i could see it was closely written and crossed


one day he pursued i may be more worthy of her


you have been the best and truest of friends god bless you etheline


then he turned from me and kissed the little white face of the boy slumbering at my feet and hung for a while over the unconscious form of mrs willoughby strong feelings worked in the yet handsome features


a ghastly fear seized me i sprung to his side


you would noti exclaimed in a tone hushed by extreme emotion and the silence of the hour and my com panionsyou would not take your own life you would not rush into the presence of the almighty unbidden


no etheline no


i have had that temptation often it is the cowards wish to flee from the present but god has restrained my hands


there is enough of llood on them now


what then do you mean to seek some employment and if ever i am worthy of the name of man again to claim her and our boy then with a farewell look he crossed the threshold


my heart misgave me of approaching evil


i followed to beg him to return but he ed from me


marie antoinette or the chevalier of the red house chapter iv continuedfrom our last


the same dav and at the same hour in which maurice disippomted repased the bridge de la tournelle several municipal gunrds under sinterre commandant of the parisn national guards made a strict seareh in the principal tower of the temple which since the th of august had been transformed mtoa prison


the official visit was pirticularly exercised in the apartments of the third story consisting of an ante chamber ind three adjoining rooms


one of these chnmbers was occ ipied by two females a young gul and a child nine years or age all elad in mourning


the elder of the women miht be thirtyeven or thirtyeight she was seated at a table i eachng the sqcnd wns working a piece of tapestry and might he twentyeijiht or twentymne


the young girl was fourteen and stood beside the child who sick and tn bed hid its eyes closed as if asleep although t was evident that sleep was impos sible m consequence of the noise created by the municipal offices some tossed upthe beds others unfolded the linen whilst those who had finished their eptnm ition gazed with fixed insolence on their unfortunate prisoners all of wjiom obstinately bent their eyes the one on her nook the other on the tapestry and the third on her brother the eldest of these ladies was tall pale and beautiful


she who read appeared to concentrate all her attention upon her book although no doubt the eyes alone were occupied and not the mind


one of the municipal guards then drew near seized with brutality the hook which she held in her hand and threw jtintothemiddle of the chamber


the prisoner reached out her hand towards the table took a secondvolume and continued to read


the montagnard one of the mountain faction made a furious gesture to snatch the second volume awayjis jie jhjid done ih first but the movement made the second prisoner engaged with her embroidery to start flu yourigfgll hrougfvherelf forward and s robingthe headof itliferadr withher mi murmuredthrough her teara p


popr mother


poor mother i


she then embraced her


the prisoner put her ups to the ear of the young girl as if to embrace her in turn and said marie i there is a letter concealed in the entrance of the stove lake it away come come said the municipal sepa rating the two rudely how long do j ou intend to embrace each other sir said the young girl


has the con vention decreed that children must no longer embrace their mothers


no but it has resolved to punish traitors and aristocrats and it is for ithat purpose that we are hero to examine you


antoinette j answer


t she whom they addressed with such a gross interrogatory did not condescend to answer


on the other hand she turned away her head and a flush passed over her countenance pale with grief and furrowed with tears it is impossible continued the man that you could ba ignorant of last nights attempt


from whence did it originate continued silence on the part of the prisoner


answer antoinette said santerre ad vancing without remarking the hudder of horror which seized the young woman at the appearance of this man who on the st of january in the morning came to the temple to conduct louis xvi to the scaffold


an swer


i


there has been a conspiracy against the republic with the view of relieving you from captivity which the will of the people imposes upon you previous to the punishment of jour crimes


are juu awarespeak that they have conspired


marie started on hearing that voice which she seemed to shun by drawing back on her chair as far as she could


but she made no answer to the question


you will not answer


exclaimed santerre stamping on the floor


the prisoner took up a third volume


san terre tuined round


the brutal power of this man who commanded men who had only to make a gesture and overwhelm the voice of louis xvi was destroyed by the dignity of a poor prisoner whosehead he in turn might have taken but whose spirit he could never bend


and you elizabeth said he to the other person who had momentarily ceased her em broidery to join her hands in prayernot to these men but to god will you answer i dont understand what you ask said she and i cannot reply


i morbleu i citizen capet said santerre with impatience


it is however evident that an attempt was made yesterday to procure your escape and you ought to know the criminals


we have sir no communication with those without we cannot therefore know what any parties have done for or against us


very good said the municipal


we shall now hear what your nephew has to say j j and he approached the bed of the young dau phin


at this menace maria antoinette started up


sir my son is indisposed and asleep do not awaken him


answer me then


i know nothing


the municipal guard then went straight to the little prisoners bed who as we have stated feigned being asleep


come come capet arouse yourself said he rudely shaking him


the child opened his eyes and smiled


the municipal guard then surrounded his bed