by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER IV.
AN EXPLOSION.
At Christmas Hugh found that things were not so pleasant at home. Therewas nothing now to take his uncle away from Byrneside, and the dullnessof the place told upon him. His outbursts of ill-temper were thereforemore frequent than they had been the last holidays Hugh had spent athome. He sat much longer in the dining-room over his wine, after hiswife and Hugh had left him, than he did before, and was sometimesmoody, sometimes bad-tempered when he joined them. Hugh's own temperoccasionally broke out at this, and there were several quarrels betweenhim and his uncle; but there was a savage fierceness in the latter'smanner that cowed the boy, and whatever he felt he learned to hold histongue; but he came more and more to dislike his uncle, especially ashe saw that when angry he would turn upon his aunt and speak violentlyto her in her own language. Sometimes she would blaze out in return,but generally she continued to smoke her cigarette tranquilly as ifutterly unconscious that she was spoken to.
So for the next two years matters went on. During the summer holidaysHugh seldom saw his uncle, who was more and more away from home, beingnow a constant attendant at all the principal race-courses in thecountry. Even in winter he was often away in London, to Hugh's greatsatisfaction, for when he was at home there were frequent quarrelsbetween them, and Hugh could see that his uncle habitually drank agreat deal more wine than was good for him. Indeed it was always in theevening that these scenes occurred. At other times his uncle seemed tomake an effort to be pleasant with him.
In summer Hugh went away with his aunt for a time, but he spent apart of his holidays at Byrneside, for of all exercises he best lovedriding. His pony had been given up, but there were plenty of horses inthe stables, for although William Tunstall did not care for hunting, herode a good deal, and was an excellent horseman.
"What have you got in the stable, James?" Hugh asked one day on hisreturn from the school.
"I have got a set of the worst-tempered devils in the country, MasterHugh. Except them two ponies that I drives your aunt out with, thereisn't a horse in the stables fit for a Christian to ride. They are allgood horses, first-rate horses, putting aside their tempers; but youruncle seems to delight in buying creatures that no one else will ride.Of course he gets them cheap. He doesn't care how wicked they are, andhe seems to enjoy it when they begin their pranks with him. I thoughtat first he would get his brains dashed out to a certainty, but I neversaw a man keep his seat as he does. He told me once, that when a manhad been breaking bronchos--that is what he called them, which means,he said, wild horses that had never been backed--he could sit anything,and that English horses were like sheep in comparison.
"Of course, it is no use saying no to you, Master Hugh; but if you wantto go out, you must stick to that big meadow. You must mount there, andyou must promise me not to go beyond it. I have been letting the hedgesgrow there on purpose for the last two years, and no horse will tryto take them. The ground is pretty soft and you will fall light. Youhave been getting on with your riding the last three years, and havehad some pretty rough mounts, but none as bad as what we have got inthe stables now. I shall always go out with you myself with one of themen in case of accident, and I can put you up to some of their tricksbefore you mount."
Hugh was more than fifteen now, and was very tall and strong for hisage. He had ridden a great deal when he had been at home during thesummer, and in the winter when the weather was open, and had learnedto sit on nasty-tempered animals, for these had gradually taken theplace of his father's steady hunters; but this year he found thatthe coachman's opinion of those now under his charge was by no meansexaggerated. In spite of doing his best to keep his seat, he had manyheavy falls, being once or twice stunned; but he stuck to it, andby the end of the holidays flattered himself that he could ride theworst-tempered animal in the stable. He did not go away this year,begging his aunt to remain at home.
"It is a splendid chance of learning to ride well, aunt," he said."If I stick at it right through these two months every day I shallreally have got a good seat, and you know it is a lot better my gettingchucked off now than if I was older. You see boys' bones ain't set, andthey hardly ever break them, and if they do they mend up in no time."
His aunt had at first very strongly opposed his riding any of theanimals in the stable, and he had been obliged to bring in James toassure her that some of them were not much worse than those he hadridden before, and that a fall on the soft ground of the meadow was notlikely to be very serious, but it was only on his giving her his solemnpromise that he would not on any account go beyond the meadow that shefinally consented. On his return at Christmas he found his uncle athome, and apparently in an unusually pleasant humour. A frost had setin that seemed likely to be a long one, and the ground was as hard asiron.
"I hear, Hugh," his uncle said the second morning at breakfast, "thatyou are becoming a first-rate rider. I am glad to hear it. Out inthe Western States every man is a good rider. You may say that helives on horseback, and it comes natural even to boys to be able tosit bare-backed on the first horse that comes to hand. Of course itis not so important here, still a man who is a really good rider hasmany advantages. In the first place, all gentlemen here hunt, and aman who can go across any country, and can keep his place in the frontrank, has much honour among his neighbours; in the second place, he isenabled to get his horses cheap. A horse that will fetch two hundred ifhe is free from vice can be often picked up for twenty if he gets thereputation of being bad-tempered. There is another accomplishment weall have in the west, and that is to be good pistol-shots. As we cannotride, and there is nothing else to do, I will teach you, if you like."
Hugh accepted the offer with lively satisfaction, heedless of anexclamation of dissent from his aunt. When he had left the room WilliamTunstall turned savagely upon his wife.
"What did you want to interfere for? Just attend to your own businessor it will be the worse for you."
"It is my own business," she said fearlessly. "I like that boy, andI am not going to see him hurt. Ever since you told me, soon after wefirst came here, that by his father's will the whole property came toyou if Hugh died before he came of age, I have been anxious for him.I don't want to interfere with your way of going on. Lead your ownlife, squander your share of the property if you like, it is nothingto me; when it is spent I am ready to go back to our old life, but Iwon't have the boy hurt. I have always accepted your story as to howyou became possessed of the papers without question. I know you havekilled a score of men in what you call fair fight, but I did not knowthat you were a murderer in cold blood. Anyhow the boy sha'n't behurt. I believe you bought those horses knowing that he would try them,and believing they would break his neck. They haven't, but no thanksto you. Now you have offered to teach him pistol-shooting. It is soeasy for an accident to take place, isn't it? But I warn you that ifanything happens to him, I will go straight to the nearest magistrateand tell him who you really are, and that I am certain there was noaccident, but a murder."
The man was white with fury, and advanced a step towards her.
"Have you gone mad?" he asked between his teeth. "By heavens!--"
"No, you won't," she interrupted. "Don't make the threat, because Imight not forgive you if you did. Do you think I am afraid of you? Youare not in California or Mexico now. People cannot be shot here withoutinquiry. I know what you are thinking of; an accident might happen tome too. I know that any love you ever had for me has died out long ago,but I hold to my life. I have placed in safe hands--never mind where Ihave placed it--a paper telling all the truth. It is to be opened if Idie suddenly and without sending for it. In it I say that if my deathis said to have been caused by an accident, it would be no accident,but murder; and that if I die suddenly, without visible cause, thatI shall have been poisoned. Do you think I don't know you, and thatknowing you I would trust my life altogether in your hands? There, thatis enough, we need not threaten each other. I know you, and now youknow me. We will both go our
own way."
And she walked out of the room leaving her husband speechless with furyat this open and unexpected revolt. Half an hour later his dog-cart wasat the door and he left for London. Hugh was astonished when, on hisreturn from a walk down to Gowan's cottage, he found that his uncle hadgone up to town.
"Why, I thought, aunt, he was going to be at home all the holidays, andhe said that he was going to teach me pistol-shooting."
"Your uncle often changes his mind suddenly. I will teach youpistol-shooting, Hugh. Most Mexican women can use a pistol in case ofneed. I cannot shoot as he does, but I can teach you to shoot fairly,and after that it is merely a matter of incessant practice. If youever travel I daresay you will find it very useful to be able to use apistol cleverly. There are two or three revolvers upstairs and plentyof ammunition, so if you like we will practise in the conservatory; itis too cold to go out. You had better go and ask James to give you somethick planks, five or six of them, to set up as targets. If he has gotsuch a thing as an iron plate it will be better still. I don't want tospoil my picture. The place is forty feet long, which will be a longenough range to begin with."
Half an hour later the sharp cracks of a revolver rang out in theconservatory, and from that time to the end of the holidays Hughpractised for two or three hours a day, the carrier bringing over freshsupplies of ammunition twice a week. He found at first that the sharprecoil of the revolver rendered it very difficult for him to shootstraight, but in time he became accustomed to this, and at the end of afortnight could put every shot in or close to the spot he had marked asa bull's-eye. After the first day his aunt laid aside her pistol, andbetook herself to her favourite hammock, where, sometimes touching herguitar, sometimes glancing at a book, she watched his progress.
At the end of the fortnight she said: "You begin to shoot fairlystraight. Keep on, Hugh, and with constant practice, you will be ableto hit a half-crown every time. In the West it is a common thing fora man to hold a copper coin between his finger and thumb for anotherto shoot at. I have seen it done scores of times, but it will take yousome time to get to that. You must remember that there is very seldomtime to take a steady deliberate aim as you do. When a man shoots hehas got to shoot quickly. Now, practise standing with your face theother way, and then turn and fire the instant your eye catches themark. After that you must practise firing from your hip. Sometimesthere is no time to raise the arm. Out in the West a man has got to doone of two things, either not to carry a revolver at all, or else hemust be able to shoot as quickly as a flash of lightning."
"I don't suppose I am ever going to the West, aunt; still I should liketo be able to shoot like that, for if one does a thing at all one likesto do it well."
HUGH PRACTICES SHOOTING WITH HIS REVOLVER.]
And so to the end of the holidays the revolver practice went onsteadily every morning, Hugh generally firing seventy or eightycartridges. He could not do this at first, for the wrench of the recoilstrained his wrist, but this gained strength as he went on. Before hewent back to school he himself thought that he was becoming a very fairshot, although his aunt assured him that he had hardly begun to shootaccording to western notions.
Mrs. Tunstall had one day, a year before this, driven over to Carlisle,and, somewhat to the surprise of Mr. Randolph, had called upon him athis office.
"Mr. Randolph," she began, "I do not know anything about English law.I want to ask you a question."
"Certainly, my dear madam."
"If a married woman was to leave a sealed letter in the hands of alawyer, could he retain possession of it for her, even if her husbandcalled upon him to give it up?"
"It is a nice question, Mrs. Tunstall. If the lawyer was acting asthe fiduciary agent of a lady he would at any rate see that her wisheswere complied with; whether he could absolutely hold the paper againstthe husband's claim is a point upon which I am not prepared at presentto give an answer. But anyhow there are ways of evading the law; forinstance, he could pass it on to a third party, and then, unless thehusband had been absolutely informed by his wife that she had handedover this document to him, the husband would be powerless, the lawyerwould simply declare that he had no such document. Are you asking foryour own sake, Mrs. Tunstall, or in the interest of a friend?"
"In my own interest, Mr. Randolph. I have a written paper here. I havenot signed it yet, because I believe it is necessary to sign papers inthe presence of witnesses."
"It depends upon the nature of the paper, Mrs. Tunstall; but in allcases it is a prudent step, for then no question as to the authenticitycan arise."
"And it is not necessary for the witnesses of the signature to read thecontents of the document?"
"By no means; they simply witness the signature."
"Well, Mr. Randolph, this is the document I want to leave in safehands, so that it can be opened after my death, unless I previouslyrequest, not by letter, but by word of mouth, that it should bereturned to me. I know of no one else to whom I could commit the paper,which is, in my opinion, a very important one; the only question iswhether, as you are Mr. Tunstall's solicitor, you would like to takeit."
"Frankly, without knowing the nature of the contents, Mrs. Tunstall,I should certainly prefer not to undertake such a charge. Shouldit remain in my hands, or rather in the hands of our firm--for wemay sincerely trust that there would be no occasion for opening ituntil very many years after my death--it might be found to containinstructions which could hardly be carried out by a firm situated as weare with regard to Mr. Tunstall."
"I see that, Mr. Randolph."
There was a pause, and then the lawyer said: "Will you be going up totown shortly, Mrs. Tunstall?"
"Yes, in the course of a month or so I shall be passing through Londonwith Hugh."
"Will the matter keep until then?"
"Certainly, there is no great hurry about it; but I wish the packetplaced in safe hands, where it would be opened in the event of mydeath, unless I recall it before that."
"In that case, Mrs. Tunstall, I will give you the address of thefirm who do my London business. They are an old established firm ofthe highest respectability, and the document will be perfectly safein their hands until you demand it back, or until they hear of yourdemise. I will give you a letter of introduction to them."
Accordingly when Mrs. Tunstall went up to town the next time with Hughshe called upon the firm of solicitors, whose place of business wasin Essex Street, and upon reading Mr. Randolph's letter, which statedthat she was the wife of one of his clients, a gentleman of means, shewas courteously received, and they at once agreed to take charge of anydocument she might place in their hands, upon the understanding that ifshe did not write or call for it, it should be opened when they heardof her death, and its contents, whatever they might be, acted upon.
"You will stand in the position of our client, Mrs. Tunstall, and wewill do all in our power to carry out your wishes as expressed in thisdocument, whatever it may be. It is no unusual matter for a will to beleft with us under precisely similar circumstances."
"If the packet should be opened under the conditions I name," Mrs.Tunstall said, "you will probably not regret having undertaken itscharge, for I can assure you that it may put a considerable amount ofbusiness in your hands. But how will you know of my death?"
"Mr. Randolph or his successor would inform us. Of course we shallrequest him to do so."
"And as soon as he knows of the event," Mrs. Tunstall added, "it isof the utmost importance that the paper should be opened as soon aspossible after my death."
"We will request Mr. Randolph to inform us by telegraph immediately hereceives the news. But, pardon me, you look well and healthy, and areyoung to be making such careful provisions for an event that may be fardistant."
"That may or may not be far distant," she said, "but for certainimportant reasons I wish to be prepared for it at all points. I willnow sign it in your presence, Mr. Curtice. I have not yet put mysignature to it."
"Very well, Mrs. Tunstall. Tw
o of my clerks shall witness yoursignature. It may be many years before any question as to theauthenticity of the signature may arise; so I shall be a witness also."
The document was a lengthy one, written on sixteen pages of foolscap.Two of the clerks were called in.
"Now if you will turn that last page down, Mrs. Tunstall, so that itscontents cannot be seen, you can sign your name and we will witnessit." This was done. "Now, Mrs. Tunstall, if you will put a sheet ofbrown paper over the other sheets, and place your initials on themargin at the bottom, we will put ours, so that no question can ariseas to the whole of them forming part of the document signed by you.Now, madam, if you will fold it up and place it in this envelope I willattach my seal. I presume you do not carry a seal?"
"No, sir."
"I think it would be more satisfactory that you should affix a seal ofsome sort, no matter how common a thing it may be. Mr. Carter, willyou go up into the Strand with this lady, and take her to some shopwhere she can purchase a seal? It does not matter what it is, Mrs.Tunstall; any common thing, with a bird or a motto or anything elseupon it. These things are not cut in duplicate, therefore if you sealthe envelope in two or three places with it and take the seal away withyou, it will be a guarantee to you, should you ever require it to bereturned, that it has not been opened. In the meantime I will get asmall strong-box similar to those you see round the room, and have yourname painted on it. When it is completed I shall put the envelope init, lock it up, and place it in our strong-room downstairs."
The seal was purchased and fixed, and Mrs. Tunstall took her departure,satisfied that she had left the document in safe hands. Mr. Curticetalked the matter over with his partner. The latter laughed.
"Women love a little mystery, Curtice. I suppose she has got a littleproperty in her own right, and does not mean to leave it to herhusband, and is afraid he may get hold of her will and find out how shehas left it."
"I don't think it is that," Mr. Curtice said, "although, of course, itmay be. I should say she was a foreigner--a Spaniard or Italian; shespoke with a slight accent. Besides, the thing extends over sixteenpages of foolscap."
"That is likely enough if she made the will herself, Curtice. She mayhave gone into a whole history as to why she has not left her money toher husband."
"Possibly, but I don't think so. You mark my words, Harris, if thatpacket ever comes to be opened there will be some rum disclosuresin it. That woman was no fool, and there is no doubt about her beingthoroughly in earnest. She said it was likely to give us some work whenit was opened, and I believe her. I will write a letter to Randolphand ask him to give us a few particulars about this client he hasintroduced to us."
When he received Mr. Randolph's reply, stating briefly the historyof Mr. William Tunstall, the husband of the lady he had introduced tothem, Mr. Curtice was more convinced than before that the delivery ofthis packet into his charge was not a mere freak, and offered to bethis partner a new hat that the document was not merely a will, but thatit would turn out something altogether unusual.
Mr. Randolph congratulated himself on his forethought, when, a yearafter Mrs. Tunstall's visit, Mr. Tunstall came into the office.
"I am just on my way up to town," he said. "I wish you would let mehave a couple of hundred in advance on the next rents."
"Certainly, Mr. Tunstall. You have already had L200 on them, you know."
"Yes, I know; but I have been a little unlucky lately, and have got anaccount I want to settle. By the way," he said carelessly, as he placedthe bank-notes in his pocket-book, "Mrs. Tunstall asked me to get fromyou the letter or packet she left in your charge."
"A letter, Mr. Tunstall? I think there must be some mistake. Mrs.Tunstall has certainly left nothing whatever in my charge."
"Oh! I suppose I misunderstood her. I only made up my mind to start ashort time before I came off, and did not pay much attention to whatshe was saying; but it was something about a letter, and she mentionedyour name; there were half a dozen commissions she wanted me to executefor her in London, and I suppose they all got mixed up together. Idaresay it is of no consequence one way or the other. Well, thanks forthe money--now I am off."
"I am very much afraid that William Tunstall is a liar," Mr. Randolphsaid to himself thoughtfully after his client had left. "He has foundout that his wife has intrusted some document or other to someone,and he guessed naturally enough that she had most likely come to mewith it, and he played a bold stroke to get it. I do not like the wayhe has fallen into of spending all his time going about the countryto race-courses. I don't believe he has been at home two months thisyear. Besides, he sounded me last time he was here about raising a fewthousands on a mortgage. He is not turning out well. I thought when hefirst came back that his wanderings had done him no harm. No doubt Ihad been prepossessed in his favour by his refusal to accept Edgar'soffers to divide the rents with him, but I was too hasty. I am afraidthere will be trouble at Byrneside. It is very fortunate Edgar putmy name in as trustee for his son, so that his share of the propertyis safe whatever happens to the other; but I hate to see a man of agood old family like the Tunstalls going wrong. I wonder what thismysterious document his wife wanted to leave with me is? It must besomething of great importance, or he would never have come to me andlied in order to get it into his hands. It is a queer business."
Hugh did not see his uncle when he was at home for the summer holidays.His aunt seemed to take his absence as a matter of course.
"Don't you expect uncle home soon?" he asked her one day.
"I never expect him," she said quietly.
"I think it a shame he stays away so, leaving you all by yourself,aunt!" Hugh said indignantly.
"I am accustomed to it by this time, Hugh; and, upon the whole, I thinkperhaps he is better away than here while you are at home. You see youdo not get on very well together."
"Well, aunt, I am sure I don't want any rows."
"I don't say you do, Hugh; but still there are rows. You see he ispassionate, and you are passionate, and it is very much better youshould be apart. As for me, I have always been accustomed to his beingaway from me a good deal ever since we married, and it does not troubleme at all. I would much rather have you all to myself. Your being heremakes it a very pleasant time for me; we ride together, drive together,and practise shooting together. It is all a change to me, for exceptwhen you are here I seldom stir beyond the gardens."
Hugh had indeed no doubt that his aunt was more comfortable when hisuncle was away, for he heard from Wilson that when Mr. Tunstall was athome there were constant quarrels between him and his wife.
"He ain't like your father, Mr. Hugh. Ah! he was a gentleman ofthe right sort! Not that your uncle is a bad master. He is hasty ifeverything is not quite right, but in general he is pleasant spokenand easy to get on with. He is popular with the gentry, though of latethey have held off a bit. I hear it said they don't hold to a gentlemanspending all his life on the race-courses and leaving his wife byherself. Your aunt is well liked, and would be better liked if shewould only go abroad and visit; but she never drives out unless whenyou are here, and people have given up calling. It is a bad job; but Ihope when you come of age, Mr. Hugh, we shall have the old times backagain, when the Tunstalls were one of the first families in the county,and took the lead of pretty nigh everything."
"Well, they have five years to wait for that, Wilson. I am just sixteennow, and I mean when I do come of age and am my own master to travelabout for a bit before I settle down into a country squire."
"Well, I suppose that is natural enough, Mr. Hugh, though why peoplewant to be running off to foreign parts is more than I can make out.Anyhow, sir, I hope you won't be bringing a foreign wife back withyou."
"There is no fear of that"--Hugh laughed--"at least according to mypresent ideas. But I suppose that is a thing no one can settle aboutuntil their time comes. At any rate aunt is a foreigner, and I am sureno one could be kinder or nicer than she is."
"That she is, Mr. Hugh. I am sur
e everyone says that. Still, you see,there is drawbacks. Her ways are different from the ways of the ladiesabout here, and that keeps her apart from them. She don't drive about,and call, and make herself sociable like, nor see to the charities downin the village. It ain't as she doesn't give money, because I know thatwhenever the rector says there is a case wants help she is ready enoughwith her purse; but she don't go among them or know anything about themherself. No, Mr. Hugh; your aunt is a wonderful nice lady, but you takemy advice and bring home an English wife as mistress of the Hall."
When he came home for the Christmas holidays Hugh found his uncleagain at home. For a time matters went on smoothly. Mr. Tunstall madean evident endeavour to be friendly with him, talked to him about hislife at school, asked whether he wished to go to the university when heleft; and when Hugh said that he didn't see any use in spending threeyears of his life there when he did not intend entering any of theprofessions, and that he would much rather travel and see something offoreign countries, he warmly encouraged the idea.
"Quite right, Hugh! There is nothing opens a man's mind like foreigntravel. But don't stick in the great towns. Of course you will wanta year to do Europe; after that strike out a line of your own. If Ihad my time over again I would go into Central Asia or Africa, or someplace where there was credit to be gained and some spice of adventureand danger."
"That is just what I should like, uncle," Hugh said eagerly; andlooking at his aunt for confirmation, he was surprised to see herwatching her husband intently beneath her half-closed eyelids. "Don'tyou think so, aunt?"
HUGH, SEIZING A POKER, SPRANG AT HIS UNCLE.]
"I don't know, Hugh," she said quietly. "There is a good deal to besaid both ways. But I don't think we need settle it now; you haveanother year and a half at school yet, you know."
Hugh went out skating that afternoon, for it was a sharp frost. Ashe was passing through the hall on his return he heard his uncle'svoice raised in anger in the drawing-room. He paused for a moment. Hecould not catch the words, for they were spoken in Mexican. There wassilence for a moment, and he imagined that his aunt was answering. Thenhe heard a loud exclamation in Mexican, then a slight cry and a heavyfall. He rushed into the room. His aunt lay upon the hearthrug, hisuncle was standing over her with clenched hand.
"You coward, you brutal coward!" Hugh exclaimed, rushing forward,and, throwing himself upon his uncle, he tried to force him back fromthe hearth-rug. For a moment the fury of his assault forced his uncleback, but the latter's greatly superior strength then enabled him toshake off his grasp, and the moment he was free he struck the lad asavage blow across the face, that sent him reeling backwards. Mad withpassion, Hugh rushed to the fender, and seizing a poker, sprang at hisuncle. William Tunstall's hand went behind him, and as Hugh struck, helevelled a pistol. But he was too late. The blow came down heavily, andthe pistol exploded in the air; as the man fell back his head came withterrible force against the edge of a cabinet, and he lay immovable.Hugh's passion was stilled in an instant. He dropped the poker, andleaned over his uncle. The blood was flowing down his forehead from theblow he had given him, but it was the injury to the back of the headthat most alarmed the lad. He lifted an arm, and it fell heavily again.He knelt down and listened, but could hear no sound of breathing. Herose to his feet, and looked down, white and trembling, at the body.
"I have killed him," he said. "Well, he brought it on himself, andI didn't mean it. It was the cabinet that did it. Perhaps he is onlystunned. If he is, he will charge me with trying to murder him. Well,it is no use my staying here; they will be here in a moment," and heglanced at the door. But the servants at Byrneside were so accustomedto the sound of pistol shots that they paid no attention to it. Hughpicked up the weapon that had dropped from his uncle's hand and put itin his pocket; then glanced at his aunt and hesitated. "She will comeround in time," he muttered, "and I can do nothing for her." Then hewalked out of the room, turned the key in the door, and took it withhim. He went out to the stable, and ordered his horse to be saddled,keeping in the stable while it was being done, so that his white faceshould not attract notice. As soon as the horse was brought out heleapt into the saddle and galloped off.