Tales of the Wonder Club, Volume III

by M. Y. Halidom

  CHAPTER XIII.

  It was the midnight hour, and the sky dark as pitch. The wind howleddismally through the trees, and seemed to shake the very foundations ofthis ancient hostelry. All the inmates of the 'Headless Lady' hadretired to rest; that is to say, all the members of the club. Our hostabove was stirring, and had not yet made up his mind to go to roost. Infact, he seemed disposed to make a night of it, and enjoy himself asmuch as circumstances would permit.

  The wind dashed the sleet against the window panes, and the ground wasgetting fast covered with snow. But our host stirred the fire, put on afresh log, and filled himself up a glass of his own home brewed ale.First he took a sip, then setting his glass down, he next walkedleisurely into the room adjoining for his tobacco box, with theintention of filling his yard of clay. His back was no sooner turnedthan the bulky figure of a man, in his stockinged feet, tripped lightlyacross the hall, and, quick as thought, dexterously emptied a whitepowder into the glass our host had left standing, then as speedilyvanished.

  He had hardly disappeared, when our host, suspecting nothing,re-appeared upon the scene, and proceeded to fill his churchwarden withsome of his strongest tobacco. He then lighted his pipe by the fire, andthrowing himself into an easy chair, puffed away complacently for atime. He was apparently musing, when, as if suddenly recollecting thathis glass was at his elbow, he raised it to his lips and drained it tothe dregs; making a wry face, as if he had just tossed off a dose ofphysic. He was on the point of filling up again from the jug close athand, when a yawn escaped him. He had grown unaccountably sleepy. Thisfeeling he at first endeavored to combat by having recourse to his snuffbox, but the effect of the pungent herb was only temporary, for soon hiseyelids fell, as if weighed down with lead, and he was now snoring loud,and as utterly oblivious as a corpse.

  "I've drugged the old boy," said the man in black to his master, with achuckle. "It's all plain sailing now. We've only got to pick the lock ofthe lady's room, stuff a handkerchief in her mouth, and carry herdownstairs. The carriage is in readiness outside. Quick! Let's up and bedoing."

  Upstairs tripped the ruffianly bully as lightly and noiselessly as agrasshopper, followed closely by his aristocratic patron, and in amoment the two men stood before the chamber of the unconscious sleeper.It was locked, as they had anticipated; but with a deftness that arguedmuch practice in this art, the bully soon succeeded in causing the lockto yield, and the door swung noiselessly back on its hinges. Aided bythe light of a taper, which his lordship carried, the ruffian wasenabled to make straight for the bed, and seizing the fair sleeperroughly in his powerful arms, was in the act of rushing downstairs withher when a shriek, so loud and piercing that it bid fair to waken thedead, resounded through the walls of this ancient hostel, startling fromtheir sleep all its inmates, save our host, who was still as fast in thearms of Morpheus as when we left him.

  "Damnation!" cried the bully, between his teeth, as he thrust ahandkerchief into his victim's mouth, and hurried with her towards thehall door, whilst Lord Scampford followed close at his heels, a horsepistol in either hand.

  The door of the inn was soon unbolted, and before any of the householdcould hurry to the spot, the pair of scoundrels were already outside inthe bleak night air, and hailing his lordship's carriage, which now drewup. The liveried footman had opened the door of the carriage, and inanother moment it would have closed securely upon these two arrantscoundrels and their helpless victim, while a crack of the coachman'swhip would have carried them miles out of reach of all human opposition,had not at this juncture something quite unforeseen occurred.

  THE DUEL]

  From out the darkness a cloaked figure, with broad sombrero drawn downtightly over his eyes, suddenly emerged, and with a well-directed blowfrom a leaden-headed cane upon the bare head of the man in black, felledthe gigantic bully, who measured his full length upon the ground coveredwith snow, still clasping in his arms the terrified and trembling formof our heroine, whose shrieks of "murder" and cries for help at lengthbrought all the members of the club to the spot.

  Before they arrived, however, the mysterious stranger, who had soopportunely come to the rescue, had succeeded in releasing Helen fromthe clasp of the unconscious ruffian, and carried her inside, but notbefore Lord Scampford had discharged his brace of horse pistols athim--we need not say without any effect, save that of startling thehorses so terribly that they became perfectly unmanageable, and boltedwith the carriage, before the footman had time to spring to the box. Hislordship, finding his pistols useless, flung them from him, and drawinghis rapier, made for the stranger, who likewise drew _his_ sword, and askirmish ensued.

  At this moment all the inmates of "The Headless Lady" hurrieddownstairs, half dressed, with lighted candles, and armed with whatweapons of offence they could first lay their hands upon. One carried atorch, by the light of which the spectators could clearly note theposition of affairs. Lord Scampford and the Unknown were still in thethick of the fray, and appeared well matched, when suddenly an openingpresented itself, and the sword of the Unknown pierced the heart of hislordship, who fell back lifeless on the snow.

  The greatest confusion reigned. Questions were asked on all hands, andno one seemed to be wiser than his neighbour, yet the main facts of thecase were apparent to all. Helen had retreated hurriedly to her chamber,and locked herself in afresh. Our host seemed not yet sufficientlyconscious to be able to take in the situation. It was not till the smallhours of the morning that each returned to his bed. On looking round forthe stranger he had vanished.

  * * * * *

  Now, it will readily be imagined that at the breakfast table nextmorning, at which our members assembled rather late, little else wasdiscussed save the adventures of the previous night.

  "The scoundrels!" thundered out Mr. Oldstone, with an indignant snort.

  "The villains!" chimed in Professor Cyanite and Mr. Crucible together.

  "The world is well rid of such a pair of jail birds," said Mr. Hardcase;"only it is a pity that they were allowed to cheat the gallows."

  "Poor Helen!" sighed Parnassus; "I think there is matter for an epicpoem in her misadventure."

  "You are right," agreed Mr. Blackdeed. "The incident was pre-eminentlydramatic; just suited to the stage, and would certainly bring down thehouse. I intend to dramatise it at my earliest convenience."

  "And how is our patient, Dame Hearty?" enquired Dr. Bleedem of ourhostess, who was waiting upon the members at table this morning insteadof her daughter.

  "Still very feverish, doctor," was the reply. "The poor child has caughta dreadful cold from being turned out of her warm bed and carried intothe cold night air and the snow by those ruffians, and she with scarce astitch of clothing on."

  "Poor dear!" cried Dr. Bleedem, compassionately. "I'll come and see howshe is getting on after breakfast."

  "Why, doctor," observed Mr. Crucible, "you've got your work pretty wellcut out for you. There's his lordship--well, you can dissect him; andhis man, too, for the matter of that. Then there's the coachman, who wasbrought back here in his lordship's carriage early this morning, withhis shoulder-blade broken; then the horses, with their knees broken: andnow it's our sweet Helen----"

  "Say, doctor," broke in Professor Cyanite, "was that rascally bullysufficiently conscious before his death to give an account of himself?"

  "Oh, yes, he was conscious, though he hadn't time to say much. I sawfrom the first that the case was fatal. He admitted that he had been ad----d scoundrel, but added that his lordship was every whit as bad--andworse. He alleged that had he taken a situation as servant under anhonest man, instead of entering the service of an unprincipled rake anddebauchee like Lord Scampford, that he himself might have become anhonest man. He showed some contrition for the part he had played lastnight, and begged me to ask the lady's forgiveness for the same, as wellas to pray for his soul. Then his mind seemed to wander, and he calledout: 'There's his lordship! I see him enveloped in a sheet of flame,with fir
e issuing from his eyes and mouth, and from the tips of hisfingers. He is beckoning to me! He is calling me down to Hell! Howhorrible the forms that hover round me. Mercy! mercy! Oh! my God,' Herehe uttered a despairing groan, and spoke no more."

  "Ha! Quite dramatic again," remarked the tragedian, who had no thoughtbut what had reference to the stage; "the repentant sinner on hisdeath-bed--excellent! I will take a note of that, and introduce it intomy next play."

  "Then there is the rescuer; you forget him," observed the poet. "Themysterious stranger, with cloak and slouched hat, appearing on the spotin the very nick of time to succour Beauty in distress."

  "True, true," assented the tragedian; "I had nigh forgot. If thisepisode wouldn't bring down the house I don't know what would."

  "I wonder who he was," observed Mr. Oldstone. "His sudden appearance wasmost remarkable; his disappearance no less so."

  In the middle of this discussion, the door opened, and our host enteredwith a letter, which he handed to the antiquary, who mechanically putit in his pocket as of no immediate importance, without even looking atthe handwriting, while he joined in the merry banter of the othermembers, who, as soon as our landlord made his appearance fixed upon himat once as the butt of their satire.

  "Hullo, Jack!" cried one, "got over your little nap at last, eh?"

  "That last glass of your home-brewed ale, by way of a night cap was mosteffectual," jeered another.

  Our host, however, did not view the matter by any means in the light ofa joke, and answered savagely, "Ah! the dastardly cowards! They _did_ meat last. Can't make out how they found time to do it. Such a trick wasnever played me before, and I'll take jolly good care they don't catchme again."

  "Well, that's not likely under the circumstances, is it, Jack?" repliedMr. Hardcase.

  "Just like these lawyer fellows," observed Professor Cyanite, "they arealways tripping one up."

  "Nor yet anyone else," persisted the landlord. Then added, "To thinkthat _my_ daughter who has been brought up from a kid under my veryeyes, and never seen no one save her parents and you gentlemen of theclub, who have always treated her with courtesy as though she were ahigh born lady--she, what's never heard a word in her life as she didn'toughter have heard--what never knowed nothink of the ways of this wickedworld--that _she_, poor child, should be subjected to outrage from tworuffianly bullies--one o' them a peer of the realm, forsooth, and all onaccount of her picter being exhibited at that d----d Royal Academy!" Heconcluded with a thump of his fist on the breakfast table that set allthe cups and saucers rattling, and felt better afterwards.

  "Yes, it was a narrow shave. Wasn't it, Jack?" remarked Parnassus. "Ifit hadn't been for that stranger----"

  "Ah! I'ld like to find out who _he_ was. _That_ I would. Can any of yougentlemen guess?" demanded our host.

  "Not I."

  "Nor I," replied several voices at once.

  "Why on earth don't he show hisself?" asked Jack. "Well, he's a trump,whoever he is, say I."

  The company now broke up, and the members of the club began to set abouttheir several avocations. Dr. Bleedem went upstairs to visit his fairpatient, and Mr. Oldstone found himself once more alone. He paced theroom slowly, with his hands clasped behind his back and his chin uponhis breast, as if lost in a reverie. Then suddenly blurted out, with asnort, "The d----d rascals! The double-dyed sons of Belial! To dare tocarry off _my_ Helen! That sweet child that I love as if she were my ownflesh and blood. And how nearly they succeeded!" Here his eyes filledwith tears, and thrusting his hand into his large pocket in search ofhis handkerchief, his fingers clutched something crisp, and herecollected the letter that Jack Hearty had put into his hand atbreakfast. "Some shoemaker's bill, I suppose," he muttered, as he moppedhis eyes with his handkerchief. "Hullo!" he exclaimed, glancing at thehandwriting. "What! am I dreaming? Isn't this the writing of my youngfriend Vandyke McGuilp? But how? I am only just in possession of hisletter from Rome, and this letter bears no postmark, being brought hereby some casual messenger. Then he must be _here_! Don't understand it atall." Here he broke the seal and read as follows:

  "_Letter from Mr. Vandyke McGuilp to Mr. Oldstone_

  "MY DEAR FRIEND,

  "I am nearer to you than you imagine. I send these lines by a boy from a neighbouring village, where I slept last night, but which I leave this morning, without being able to call upon you, as I have important family business in the adjacent county of ---- which I cannot afford to neglect. I had no sooner sent off to you my last letter, dated from Rome, when I received orders to return post haste to England at all costs, as my uncle had been taken suddenly ill, and now lies on his death-bed. He is not expected to last long, and I must be in the house when he dies, and remain till the funeral is over.

  "I daren't risk seeing you even for a moment, but I _had_ to be very near you last night, though you knew me not. I had heard from the gossip of the village that a grand carriage and pair with liveried coachman and footman were putting up at 'The Headless Lady,' and I guessed the worst and prepared myself accordingly to frustrate the diabolical plans of those villains. If I were to be hanged to-morrow for it, I should die happy in the consciousness of having rescued innocence from the clutches of vice.

  "Immediately after the fray I reported myself to the authorities, who will by this time have sent over a constable to the hostel to interview his lordship's coachman and footman. For the present I am free, but I am bound to appear when called for at the next assizes. Matters are apt to go hard with a commoner like myself when the slain man happens to be a person of title; but I have hopes, as both the serving men are bound to give evidence that my act was to protect innocence; also that Lord Scampford first drew his sword upon me, having previously attempted to shoot me. No more for the present. With kind remembrances to all,--I remain,

  "Your very faithful friend, "VANDYKE MCGUILP."

  Our antiquary had hardly finished reading the letter, and thrust it intohis pocket, when Dr. Bleedem re-entered the room with a very seriousexpression on his face.

  "Well, doctor," said Mr. Oldstone cheerily, not noticing hiscountenance, "What news?"

  "Bad, bad, very bad indeed," replied the leech gravely. "She is in ahigh fever and delirious. Quite off her head. If I ever get her throughthis----"

  "Good heavens! doctor," ejaculated Oldstone, "you don't mean to say thatthere is any actual danger of her life?"

  "Very considerable danger, I am afraid," responded the physician. "Shewill require the most careful nursing, such as I am afraid she is notlikely to get even from her own mother."

  "Doctor, you frighten me," cried Oldstone. "Surely someone can be foundto attend upon her to relieve her mother."

  "They are a rough lot about here, and not always dependable," answeredBleedem. "It must be someone who will remain with her all night longwithout going to sleep. If she ever _should_ get over it----"

  "Nonsense! doctor. She _must_ get over it, if _I_ myself have to sit upto attend upon her."

  "Well, well, we must see how we can manage; but it is a very bad case,for besides the chill she caught, which was of itself enough, there was,in addition, the mental shock to the nervous system. She is sodelicately organised."

  "Poor dear! poor dear!" whimpered Oldstone. "If _she_ dies under yourtreatment, doctor, I shall never----"

  "Under _my_ treatment!" exclaimed Dr. Bleedem, with vehemence. "Godbless the man! She'ld die all the sooner under anyone else's. Do youthink I shan't do my best to bring her round--if it were only for myreputation. If _I_ fail, no man in the whole wide world will be able tosave her."

  Our antiquary then, by way of changing the conversation, fearing he hadsomewhat nettled the physician, inquired, "By the way, doctor, did shediscourse much during her delirium?"

  "Lord, yes; a lot of rubbish, of course," replied the leech. "Imaginedshe was undergoing again the adventure of last night. Thought LordScampford w
as after her with his bully. Stretched out her arms forsuccour towards an imaginary angel, whom she said had been sent downfrom heaven to protect her; ever and anon confounding him with Mr.McGuilp."

  Here the man of medicine indulged in the ghost of a smile.

  "Did she indeed, doctor? Well, this is most interesting. Now, while youhave a moment of leisure, oblige me by reading this letter."

  Here the antiquary handed over the epistle of our artist to Dr. Bleedem.

  The physician seized it gravely, read it through in silence to the end;re-read it, slowly folded it up, and returned it to Oldstone.

  "Humph! remarkable--very," he observed, after a pause.

  Further discussion on the subject was checked by the entry of the othermembers for their mid-day meal, during which no secret was made as tothe identity of the mysterious stranger.

  "Well, well, well," cried our host, when the mystery had been clearedup. "If I didn't half suspect it all along. Why, bless my soul, if Ithink there could be found another man in the world capable of it. Eh,Molly?"

  As for our hostess, she went right off into hysterics, and Mr. Oldstonewas not the only member of the club who was visibly affected.

  A month had passed over, and it was now time for the case of thatmemorable night to be tried at the assizes. Our host, the two servingmen, and every member of the club had received a summons to appear aswitnesses. Helen herself would have been obliged to put in anappearance, had not Dr. Bleedem signed a certificate that her state ofhealth prevented her from attending. The greatest excitement prevailedwhen our artist appeared in court. Nearly all were prepossessed in hisfavour, and several women were overheard to express hopes that theywould not hang so good-looking a man. The two serving men were thencalled, one after the other, and both deposed that their deceasedmaster, Lord Scampford, had first drawn his sword on the gentleman, whowas forced to act on the defensive.

  The case was soon settled. The jury brought it in as justifiablehomicide, and in spite of some ineffectual opposition on the part of thefamily of the defunct Lord Scampford, who wondered what had come ofnobility in these times, when a mere commoner like the defendant couldwaylay and assassinate a peer of the realm and get off unscathed, etc.,etc. In spite, however, of all opposition, our artist was acquitted andleft the court without a stain on his character, amid the cheers andcongratulations of the crowd. As he left the court house he wasaccompanied to the "Headless Lady" by all the members of the club, whovied with each other in the cordiality of their welcome.

  Many changes of importance had taken place of late. Our artist'srelative had long since breathed his last, and he now slept with hisfathers. His nephew had sat up with him to the end, and was chiefmourner at his funeral. The will of deceased had been read, and ourfriend Vandyke McGuilp was known to have inherited his entire fortune,which was considerable, so that the once struggling limner was nowlittle short of a millionaire.

  A sudden change for the better had taken place in the health of ourheroine, which now mended apace in a way that surprised the doctor.Still, it was deemed advisable, for the present, to keep her inignorance of her hero's arrival on the scene.

  After some discussion on the subject, _i.e._, when her medical attendantpronounced her out of all danger, it was generally agreed upon thatconsidering the great confidence which had always existed between Mr.Oldstone and the daughter of our host, that he should be the manentrusted to break the joyful news to the patient.

  Our antiquary accordingly bent him to the task; so mounting thestaircase, he tapped at the patient's door. On entering the chamber, hewas greeted by a beaming smile from its fair occupant.

  "Why! my pretty pet!" cried the old man, cheerily, "what a time it seemssince I saw you last! Why! you _are_ pulled down, poor dear."

  "Am I?" answered Helen. "I am feeling much better now, though; and I amgetting tired of lying in bed all day. I feel quite well now, and wantto get up."

  "Don't do anything without Dr. Bleedem's permission," remonstratedOldstone, "or you may throw yourself back, and then what should we alldo without you?"

  "Yes, Dr. Bleedem says I have been most seriously ill--that he has justrescued me from the jaws of death."

  "Ah!" remarked the antiquary with a quiet smile, "and someone elserescued you quite lately from something very like the jaws ofdeath--only worse," he added, in a low tone.

  "Oh!" she cried, covering her face with her hands, as if to shut outsome horrible vision; "don't mention those two villainous men, or Ishall go mad."

  "No, no; we won't mention them again. They have gone to their account atlast--and--there, there, let us not judge, but try to forgive, as weourselves would wish to be forgiven," said Oldstone.

  "But what harm had I done them? Why should they--I mean, what did theywant to do to me?" asked the girl, ingenuously.

  "_Do_ to you, silly child! He! he! What all wicked men seek to do whenthey get the chance," replied her friend. "Let us not talk of them, butrather of the brave man who rescued you in the very nick of time from aliving death."

  "I understand nothing of their object, and I can't get anyone to explainto me; but I want to know more of the brave man who, at the risk of hisown life, came to my assistance."

  "Perhaps I can tell you something of _him_, too," said Oldstone,mysteriously. "Did you note him well?"

  "Not I. How could I? I was half fainting when he carried me into thehall. Besides, he was so muffled up in a cloak and hat that I was unableto see his face."

  "True; neither could any of us--he was so successfully disguised. But wehave discovered since who he was, for all that."

  "Then you have seen him--spoken to him? Please convey him my mostsincere thanks and blessings for his heroic conduct towards a perfectstranger."

  "Perhaps you would like to thank him yourself--some day--when you areable to get up, and feel quite well again," suggested Oldstone.

  "I suppose I ought," replied Helen. "I feel most grateful to him, I amsure; for don't I owe him my life? But I am so shy withstrangers--and--and I don't know what to say," pleaded the girl. Then,at length, "Tell me what manner of man he is?"

  "Oh! he's a gentleman," replied Oldstone; "you may depend uponthat--and, what is more, he's young, and, _I_ think, very good-looking.I am sure you would say so, too."

  Here a knowing look came into the antiquary's face, which puzzled thepatient, who, with eyes and mouth wide open, appeared to scan hiscountenance as if to read the very secrets of his soul. Then, like aPythoness of old, suddenly inspired, she exclaimed, "I have it! In vainyou try to keep it from me. Mr. McGuilp has returned. It was _he_----"

  Oldstone marvelled at her penetration, but replied only by a successionof little nods of his head, fixing his eyes steadily, yet laughingly,upon her the while.

  "I knew it; I knew it!" she exclaimed. "My dreams confirmed it. Oh, Godbe praised," and she clasped her hands in ecstasy.

  "Calm yourself; calm yourself, my sweet one," began Oldstone, nowseriously alarmed lest the patient should suffer a relapse, "What wouldDr. Bleedem say to me if he knew I had been so precipitate?"

  "Dr. Bleedem! Does _he_ then know of our----?"

  "Oh! I never said anything to him about it, you may be sure. What I meanis--he wishes you to be spared all emotion, lest you should throwyourself back, and all his care be in vain."

  "Oh! no fear of that," replied Helen. "I feel so much better since youtold me. Stay!--if you have seen him, he is here. Perhaps in this veryinn--tell me!"

  "Well, not very far off, I dare say," said Oldstone, cautiously.

  "Mr. Oldstone!" cried the girl, "you can hide nothing from me. I _know_he is here, and I _insist_ upon seeing him."

  "My dear! my dear! How can you? Just think! You must wait till you arewell enough to get up," protested her friend and counsellor. "Dr.Bleedem will decide all that."

  "I want to see him _now_, _this instant_."

  "What! In your bedroom!" exclaimed Oldstone. "My dear child! It's notproper."

  "Then why do you
come yourself, and Dr. Bleedem?"

  "That is a very different matter? I am an old man, and Dr. Bleedem isyour medical attendant," replied the antiquary. "Mr. McGuilp isyoung--and people _might_ talk."

  "Nonsense! If you don't let me see him, I'll make myself ill and die,"exclaimed the patient, petulantly.

  The antiquary began to be alarmed, but tried to pacify her by saying hewould see Dr. Bleedem, and consult with him as to what were best to bedone.

  As he did so, the doctor mounted the stairs. He came to administer acordial.

  "She seems much better now, doctor," remarked Mr. Oldstone.

  Here a muttered consultation took place just outside the patient's door.After which the physician entered the sick-room, and finding hispatient's nerves somewhat excited, administered a calm soothing dosewhich sent her off into a peaceful sleep, while our antiquary sought hisyoung protege, and explained that, owing to the patient having taken acomposing draught, the doctor's advice was, that he had better postponehis visit till the morrow.

  Our artist's disappointment at being refused an interview with his_inamorata_ after so long an absence may be imagined, but he wasconsoled in a measure by the doctor's promise that she would be wellenough to see him on the following day. On one thing he had thoroughlymade up his mind, and that was to ask her in marriage of her father. Hehad never ceased to love her all the time he had been absent, but up tothe present he had no position to offer her. Were she to marry one ofthe many country bumpkins who flocked around her, it would be affluenceto what he could have offered her. He could not afford to havequarrelled with his only relative. The consequences would have beenfatal. Now everything had changed. He was rich, and could afford toplease himself. Therefore on the morrow he was resolved to speak to herfather.

  It will readily be imagined that our artist's return to his native land,to say nothing of the chain of events that followed--his heroism, histrial and acquittal, were events that could not be passed over withoutcelebration. Therefore it is needless to say that the evening was spentround the merry punch bowl, as usual on festive occasions.

  Mr. Oldstone was again elected chairman, which post none of the membersfelt inclined to dispute with him. The evening opened with acongratulatory speech from the chairman, addressed to our artist, towhich he replied with brevity and grace. To say that his health wasdrunk with the usual three times three would be superfluous.

  Jack Hearty was called in to join in the toast and invited to take aseat, while our artist was called upon by the members of the club togive an account of his adventures among the brigands, which he did in amanner so graphic, and with such grace and easy command of language,that the company remained spellbound, drinking in every detail of hisnarrative, whether it were a description of natural scenery orclimate--the dress or physiognomy of his captors--their attitudes, theirlanguage, or what not. Nothing was forgotten. His trials and privations,his thoughts of home, and the friends he had left behind him. (Hementioned nothing of the girl he left behind him). Then he described thefinal tussle with the carabineers, and his subsequent rescue. Thus herambled on in one continual flow of diction like a mill stream withoutinterruption, carried away by his enthusiasm in such a manner as toleave no doubt in the minds of his hearers as to his having taken parthimself in the adventures he described.

  "Now, mine host," said the chairman, at the conclusion of this somewhatprolonged narrative, "what do you say to that?"

  "Well, well, well," replied that worthy, musingly. "To think that allthat should have happened to one of my gentlemen customers, what's beenin furren parts. Why, it beats the story books out and out. Blessed if Ican't see it all a goin' on before my very eyes."

  "True, Jack," agreed Mr. Oldstone, "such is the power of our youngfriend's eloquence, that one feels that we ourselves have taken part init."

  "Might I point out to the company," began Mr. Blackdeed, "the intenselydramatic situation of----"

  "Also the highly poetical episode----" broke in Mr. Parnassus.

  "And if you had been there," interrupted our artist in his turn, "youwould have noticed the vivid colouring, the fine grouping of thefigures, the chiaroscuro--the fantastic light and shade that would haveimpressed the scene upon your memory in a way never to be forgotten."

  "Hark at him! Hark at him!" cried several members at once, as theyrefilled their glasses from the punch-bowl.

  The conversation then drifted towards more recent adventures, and ourartist explained in full his sudden appearance on the spot in time tofrustrate the designs of the ravishers, and rescue innocence frompollution.

  "And to think that you rescued _my_ daughter from those ruffians, sir,and at the risk of your own life, too. Why it was admirable! But there,sir, I can't find no words to thank you with--that I can't."

  Here our worthy host became very moist; but the chairman filled up hisglass again for him, which he tossed off at a gulp, and felt better.

  "And now, gentlemen," said the chairman, rising, "just one more toastbefore I dismiss this honourable meeting, which I am sure you will alljoin in. Here is 'Health, long life, and happiness, both to the rescuerand the rescued!'"--(Shouts of "Hear, hear!" and "Yes; none but thebrave deserve the fair.")--"Then, here goes with a 'Hip! hip!hip!--hurrah!'"

  Our artist, somewhat taken aback, blushed up to his scalp, and drank offthe toast good humouredly, after which there was shaking of hands allround, and every one retired to his dormitory in a comfortable frame ofmind and body.