Reade_Foul_Play.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
CHAPTER I
There are places which appear at first sight inaccessible to
romance ; and such a place was Mr. Wardlaw's dining room
in Russell Square. It was very large ; had sickly green walls^
picked out with aldermen, full length; heavy maroon cur-
tains, mahogany chairs, a turkey carpet an inch thick, and
was lighted with wax candles only.
In the centre, bristling and gleaming with silver and glass,
was a round table, at which fourteen could have dined com-
fortably ; and at opposite sides of this table sat two gentle-
men, who looked as neat, grave, precise, and unromantic as
the place Merchant Wardlaw and his son.
Wardlaw senior was an elderly man, taU, thin, iron-grey,
with a round head, a short, thick neck, a good brown eye,
a square jowl that betokened resolution, and a complexion so
sallow as to be almost cadaverous. Hard as iron : but a
certain stiff dignity and respectability sat upon him, and
became him.
Arthur Wardlaw resembled his father in figure, but his
mother in face. He had, and has, hay-coloured hair, a fore-
head singularly white and delicate, pale blue eyes, largish
ears, finely chiselled features, the under lip much shorter than
the upper ; his chin oval and pretty, but somewhat receding,
his complexion beautiful. In short, what nineteen people
out of twenty would call a handsome young man, and thhik
they had described him.
Both the Wardlaws were in full dress, according to the
invariable custom of the house, and sat in a dead silence^
that seemed natural to the great, sober room.
This, however, was not for want of a topic ; on the con-
trary, they had a matter of great importance to discuss, and,
I A
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
in fact, this was why they dined teie-d-tete ; but their tongues
were tied for the present. In the first place, there stood in
the middle of the table an epergne, the size of a Putney laurel
tree neither Wardlaw could well see the other without
craning out his neck like a rifleman from behind his tree;
and then there were three live suppressors of confidential in-
tercourse, two gorgeous footmen, and a sombre, sublime, and,
in one word, episcopal butler. All three went about as softly
as cats after a robin, and conjured one plate away, and
smoothly insinuated another, and seemed models of grave
discretion ; but were known to be all ears, and bound by a
secret oath to carry down each crumb of dialogue to the
servants' hall, for curious dissection and boisterous ridicule.
At last, however, those three smug hypocrites retired, and,
by good luck, transferred their suffocating epergne to the
sideboard ; so then father and son looked at one another with
that conscious air whidi naturally precedes a topic of interest ;
and Wardlaw senior invited his son to try a certain decanter
of rare old port, by way of preliminary.
While the young man fills his glass, hurl we in his ante-
cedents.
At school till fifteen, and then clerk in his father's office
till twenty-two, and showed an aptitude so remarkable that
John Wardlaw, who was getting tired, determined, sooner or
later, to put the reins of government into his hands. But he
conceived a desire that the future head of his office should be
an university man. So he announced his resolution, and to
Oxford went young Wardlaw, though he had not looked at
Greek or Latin for seven years. He was, however, furnished
with a private tutor, under whom he recovered lost ground
rapidly. The Reverend Robert Penfold was a first-class man,
and had the gift of teaching. The house of Wardlaw had
peculiar claims on him, for he was the son of old Michael
Penfold, Wardlaw's cashier. He learned from young Wardlaw
the stake he was playing for, and, instead of merely giving
him one hour's lecture per day, as he did to his other pupils,
he used to come to his rooms at all hours, and force him to
read, by reading with him. He also stood his friend in a
serious emergency. Young Wardlaw, you must know, was
blessed, or cursed, with mimicry : his powers in that way
really seemed to have no limit, for he could imitate any sound
you liked with his voice, and any form with his pen or pencil.
Now, we promise you, he was one man under his father's eye,
and another down at Oxford ; so one night this gentleman,
2
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
being warm with wine^ opens his window^ and^ seeing a
group of undergraduates chattering and smoking in the quad-
rangle, imitates the peculiar grating tones of Mr. Champion,
vice-president of the college, and gives them various reasons
why they ought to disperse to their rooms and study. ^' But
perhaps," says he, in conclusion, ''you are too blind drunk to
read Bosh in crooked letters by candle-light f In that case
" And he then gave them some very naughty advice
how to pass the evening, still in the exact tones of Mr.
Champion, who was a very, very strict moralist; and this
unexpected sally of wit caused shrieks of laughter, and
mightily tickled all the hearers, except Champion ipse, who
was listening, and disapproving, at another window. He com-
plained to the president. Then the ingenious Wardlaw, not
having come down to us in a direct line from Bayard, com-
mitted a great mistake he denied it.
It was brought home to him, and the president, who had
laughed in his sleeve at the practical joke, looked very grave
at the falsehood ; rustication was talked of, and even ex-
pulsion. Then Wardlaw came sorrowftiUy to Penfold, and
said to him, " I must have been awfully cut, for I don't re-
member all that ; I had been wining at Christchurch. I do
remember slanging the fellows, but how can I tell what I
said ? I say, old fellow, it will be a bad job for me if they
expel me, or even rusticate me ; my father will never forgive
me ; I shall be his clerk, but never his partner ; and then he
will find out what a lot I owe down here. Tm done for ! Fm
done for ! "
Penfold uttered not a word, but grasped his hand, and
went off to the president, and said his pupil had wined at
Christchurch, and could not be expected to remember
minutely. Mimicry was, unfortunately a habit with him.
He then pleaded for the milder construction, with such zeal
and eloquence, that the high-minded scholar he was addressing
admitted that construction was possible, and therefore must
be received. So the affair ended in a written apology to Mr.
Champion, which had all the smoothness and neatness of a
merchant's letter. Arthur Wardlaw was already a master in
that style.
Six months after this, and one fortnight before the actual
commencement of our tale, Arthur Wardlaw, well crammed
by Penfold, went up for his final examination throbbing with
anxiety. He passed ; and was so grateful to his tutor that,
when the advowson of a small living near Oxford came into
Digitized by VjOOQIC
FOUL PLAY
the market, he asked Wardlaw senior to lend Robert Penfold
a sum of money, much more than was needed ; and Wardlaw
senior declined without a moment's hesitation.
This shght sketch will serve as a key to the dialogue it has
postponed, and to subsequent incidents.
" Well, Arthur, and so you have really taken your degree ? *'
" No, sir ; but I have passed my examination ; the degree
follows as a matter of course that is a mere question of
fees."
^' Oh, then now I have something to say to you. Try one
more glass of the '47 port. Stop ; you'll excuse me ; I am a
man of business ; I don't doubt your word ; Heaven forbid 1
but, do you happen to have any document you can produce
in further confirmation of what you state, namely, that you
have passed your final examination at the University } "
'^ Certainly, sir," replied young Wardlaw. " My Tes-
tamur."
" What is that. ?"
The young gentleman put his hand in his pocket, and pro-
duced his Testamur, or " We bear witness," a short printed
document in Latin, which may be thus translated :
" We hear witness that Arthur Wardlaw, of St, Lukes College,
has answered our questions in humane letters,
^'Geo. Richardson,
"Arthur Smythe,
"Edward Merivale,
" Examiners J'
Wardlaw senior took it, laid it beside him on the table, in-
spected it with his double eye-glass, and, not knowing a word
of Latin, was mightily impressed, and his respect for his son
rose 40 or 45 per cent.
" Very well, sir," said he. ^' Now listen to me. Perhaps
it was an old man's fancy ; but I have often seen in the world
what a stamp these Universities put upon a man. To send
you back from commerce to Latin and Greek, at two-and-
twenty, was trying you rather hard; it was trying you
doubly ^your obedience, and your ability into the bargain.
Well, sir, you have stood the trial, and I am proud of you.
And so now it is my turn : from this day and from this hour
look on yourself as my partner in the old-established house of
Wardlaw. My balance-sheet shall be prepared immediately,
and the partnership deed drawn. You will enter on a flourish-
ing concern, sir ; and you will virtually conduct it, in written
4
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
communication with me ; for I have had five-and-forty years
of it : and then my liver, you know ! Watson advises me
strongly to leave my desk, and try country air, and rest from
business and its cares."
He paused a moment, and the young man drew a long
breath, like one who was in the act of being relieved of some
terrible weight.
As for the old gentleman, he was not observing his son just
then, but thinking of his own career. A certain expression of
pain and regret came over his features ; but he shook it oflF
with manly dignity. "Come, come," said he, "this is the
law of Nature, and must be submitted to with a good grace.
Wardlaw junior, fill your glass." At the same time he stood
up and said stoutly, "The setting sun drinks to the rising
sun ; " but could not maintain that artificial style, and ended
with, ^' God bless you, my boy, and may you stick to business ;
avoid speculation, as I have done ; and so hand the concern
down healthy to your son, as my father there (pointing to a
picture) handed it down to me, and I to you."
His voice wavered slightly in uttering this benediction,
but only for a moment ; he then sat quietly down, and sipped
his wine composedly.
Not so the other ; his colour came and went violently all
the time his father was speaking ; and, when he ceased, he
sank into his chair with another sigh deeper than the last,
and two half-hysterical tears came to his pale eyes.
But presently, feeling he was expected to say something,
he struggled against all this mysterious emotion, and faltered
out that he should not fear the responsibility, if he might have
constant recourse to his father for advice.
" Why, of course," was the reply. " My country house is
but a mile from the station ; you can telegraph for me in any
case of importance."
" When would you wish me to commence my new duties } "
" Let me see : it will take six weeks to prepare a balance-
sheet, such as I could be content to submit to an incoming
partner. Say two months."
Young Wardlaw's countenance fell.
"Meantime you shall travel on the Continent, and enjoy
yourself"
" Thank you," said young Wardlaw mechanically, and fell
into a brown study.
The room now returned to what seemed its natural state,
and its silence continued until it was broken from without,
^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
A sharp knocking was heard at the street-door, and re-
sounded across the marble hall.
The Wardlaws looked at one another in some little sur-
prise.
'^ I have invited nobody," said the elder.
Some time elapsed, and then a footman made his appear-
ance, and brought in a card.
" Mr. Christopher Adams."
Now that Mr. Christopher Adams should call on John
Wardlaw, in his private room, at nine o'clock in the evening,
seemed to that merchant irregular, presumptuous, and mon-
strous. " Tell him he will find me at my place of business
to-morrow, as usual," said he, knitting his brows.
The footman went off with this message ; and soon after
raised voices were heard in the hall, and the episcopal butler
entered the room with an injured countenance.
" He says he must see you ; he is in great anxiety."
''Yes, I am in great anxiety," said a quavering voice at
his elbow ; and Mr. Adams actually pushed by the butler,
and stood, hat in hand, in those sacred precincts. ''Pray
excuse me, sir," said he, " but it is very serious ; I can't be
easy in my mind till I have put you a question."
" This is very extraordinary conduct, sir," said Mr. Ward-
law. '' Do you think I do business here, and at all hours ? "
'' Oh no, sir ; it is my own business. I am come to ask
you a very serious question. I couldn't wait till morning with
such a doubt on my mind."
'' Well, sir, I repeat this is irregular and extraordinary ; but,
as you are here, pray what is the matter ? " He then dis-
missed the lingering butler with a look. Mr. Adams cast
uneasy glances on young Wardlaw.
*' Oh," said the elder, " you can speak before him. This
is my partner ; that is to say, he will be as soon as the
balance-sheet can be prepared, and the deed drawn. Ward-
law junior, this is Mr. Adams, a very respectable bill dis-
counter."
The two men bowed to each other, and Arthur Wardlaw
sat down motionless.
" Sir, did you draw a note of hand to-day } " inquired
Adams of the elder merchant.
'' I dare say I did. Did you discount one signed by me ? "
'' Yes, sir, we did."
"Well, sir, you have only to present it at matunty.
Wardlaw & Son will provide for it, I dare say." This with
6
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
the lofty nonchalance of a rich man^ who had never broken
an engagement in his life.
" Ah, that I know they will if it is all right ; but suppose
it is not ? "
'* What d'ye mean ? " asked Wardlaw, with some astonish-
ment.
*' Oh, nothing, sir. It bears your signature that is good
for twenty times the amount; and it is endorsed by your
cashier. Only what makes me a little uneasy, your bills used
to be always on your own forms, and so I told my partner :
he discounted it Gentlemen, I wish you would just look
at it"
*' Of course we will look at it Show it Arthur first ;
his eyes are younger than mine."
Mr. Adams took out a large bill-book, extracted the note
of hand, and passed it across the table to Wardlaw junior.
He took it up with a sort of shiver, and bent his head very
low over it, then handed it back in silence.
Adams took it to Wardlaw senior, and laid it before him
by the side of Arthur's Testamur.
The merchant inspected it with his glasses.
*' The writing is mine, apparently."
" I am very glad of it," said the bill-broker eagerly.
"Stop a bit," said Mr. Wardlaw. ''Why, what is this?
For two thousand pounds ! and, as you say, not my form. I
have signed no note for two thousand pounds this week.
Dated yesterday. You have not cashed it, I hope ? "
'* I am sorry to say my partner has."
*' Well, sir, not to keep you in suspense, the thing is not
worth the stamp it is written on."
" Mr. Wardlaw ! Sir ! Good heavens ! Then it is as I
feared. It is a forgery."
" I should be puzzled to find any other name for it You
need not look so pale, Arthur. We can't help some clever
scoundrel imitating our hands ; and as for you, Adams, you
ought to have been more cautious."
" But, sir, your cashier's name is Penfold," faltered the
holder, clinging to a straw. ''May he not have drawn is
the indorsement forged as well } "
Mr. Wardlaw examined the back of the bill, and looked
puzzled. " No," said he. " My cashier's name is Michael
Penfold, but this is endorsed ' Robert Penfold.' Do you hear,
Arthur? Why, what is the matter with you? You look
like a ghost. I say, there is your tutor's name at the back of
7
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
this forged note. This is very strange. Just look, and tell
me who wrote these two words, ' Robert Penfold ' ? "
Young Wardlaw took the document, and tried to examine
it calmly; but it shook visibly in his hand, and a cold
moisture gathered on his brow. His pale eyes roved to and
fro in a very remarkable way ; and he was so long before
he said anjrthing, that both the other persons present began
to eye him with wonder.
At last he faltered out, " This ' Robert Penfold ' seems to
me very like his own handwriting. But then the rest of the
writing is equally like yours, sir. I am sure Robert Penfold
never did anything wrong. Mr. Adams, pray oblige me. Let
this go no further till I have seen him, and asked him
whether he indorsed it."
" Now don't you be in a hurry," said the elder Wardlaw.
" The first question is, who received the money } "
Mr. Adams rephed that it was a respectable looking man,
a young clergyman.
" Ah," said Wardlaw, with a world of meaning.
" Father," said young Wardlaw imploringly, " for my sake,
say no more to-night. Robert Penfold is incapable of a
dishonest act."
" It becomes your years to think so, young man. But I
have lived long enough to see what crimes respectable men
are betrayed into in the hour of temptation. And, now I
think of it, this Robert Penfold is in want of money. Did
he not ask me for a loan of two thousand pounds? Was
not that the very sum } Can't you answer me ? Why, the
application came through you."
Receiving no reply from his son, but a sort of agonised
stare, he took out his pencil and wrote down Robert Penfold's
address. This he handed the bill-broker, and gave him some
advice in a whisper, which Mr. Christopher Adams received
with a profusion of thanks, and bustled away, leaving Ward-
law senior excited and indignant, Wardlaw junior ghastly
pale, and almost stupefied.
Scarcely a word was spoken for some minutes, and then
the younger man broke out suddenly: ^'Robert Penfold is
the best friend I ever had ; I should have been expelled but
for him, and I should never have earned that Testamur but
for him."
The old merchant interrupted him. " You exaggerate ;
but to tell you the truth, I am sorry now I did not lend him
the money you asked for. For, mark my words, in a moment
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
of temptation that miserable young man has forged my
name^ and will be convicted of the felony, and punished
accordingly."
" No, no ; oh ! God forbid ! *' shrieked young Wardlaw. " I
couldn't bear it. If he did, he must have intended to replace
it. I must see him ; I will see him directly." He got up
all in a hurry, and was going to Penfold to warn him^ and
get him out of the way till the money should be replaced.
But his father started up at the same moment and forbade
him in accents that he had never yet been able to resist.
'' Sit down, sir, this instant," said the old man, with terrible
sternness. " Sit down, I say, or you will never be a partner
of mine. Justice must take its course. What business and
what right have we to protect a felon? I would not take
i/our part if you were one. Indeed it is too late now, for
the detectives will be with him before you could reach him.
I gave Adams his address."
At this last piece of information Wardlaw junior leaned his
head on the table, and groaned aloud, and a cold perspiration
gathered in beads upon his white forehead.
CHAPTER II
That same evening sat over their tea, in Norfolk Street,
Strand, another couple, who were also father and son ; but,
in this pair, the W^ardlaws were reversed. Michael Penfold
was a reverend, gentle creature, with white hair, blue eyes,
and great timidity ; why, if a stranger put to him a question,
he used to look all round the room before he ventured to
answer.
Robert, his son, was a young man, with a large brown eye,
a mellow voice, square shoulders, and a prompt and vigorous
manner cricketer, scholar, parson. -^
They were talking hopefully together over a living Robert
was going to buy ; it was near Oxford, he said, and would
not prevent his continuing to take pupils. "But, father,"
said he, " it will be a place to take my wife to if I ever have
one ; and, meantime, I hope you will run down now and
then, Saturday to Monday."
" That I will, Robert. Ah, how proud she would have been
to hear you preach ; it was always her dream, poor thing."
^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
^'Let us think she can hear me/' said Robert. "And I
have got you still ; the proceeds of this Uving will help me to
lodge you more comfortably."
" You are very good, Robert ; I would rather see you
spend it upon yourself; but, dear me, what a manager you
must be to dress so beautifully as you do, and send your old
father presents as you do, and yet put by fourteen hundred
pounds to buy this living."
'^ You are mistaken, sir, I have only saved four hundred ;
the rest but that is a secret for the present."
^^Oh, I am not inquisitive : I never was."
They then chatted about things of no importance what-
ever, and the old gentleman was just lighting his candle to go
to bed, when a visitor was ushered into the room.
The Penfolds looked a little surprised, but not much.
They had no street-door all to themselves; no liveried dragons
to interpose between them and unseasonable or unwelcome
visitors.
The man was well dressed, with one exception : he wore a
gold chain. He had a hooked nose, and a black, piercing eye.
He stood at the door and observed eveiy person and thing in
the room minutely before he spoke a word.
Then he said quietly, " Mr. Michael Penfold, I believe."
" At your service, sir."
"And Mr, Robert Penfold."
" I am Robert Penfold. What is your business } "
" Pray is the ' Robert Penfold ' at the back of this note
your writing } "
" Certainly it is ; they would not cash it without that."
" Oh, you got the money, then ? "
"Of couirsel did."
" You have not parted with it, have you ? "
"No."
"All the better." He then turned to Michael and looked
at him earnestly a moment. "The fact is, sir," said he,
"there is a little irregularity about this bill, which must be
explained, or your son might be called on to refund the cash."
"Irregularity about a bill?" cried Michael Penfold, in
dismay. "Who is the drawer? Let me see it Oh, dear
me, sometliing wrong about a bill endorsed by you, Robert ? "
and the old man began to shake piteously.
" Why, father," said Robert, " what are you afraid of ? If
the bill is irregular 1 can but return the money. It is in the
house."
10
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
"The best way will be for Mr. Robert Penfold to go at
once with me to the bill-broker ; he lives but a few doors off.
And you, sir, must stay here, and be responsible for the
funds till we return."
Robert Penfold took his hat directly, and went off with
this mysterious visitor.
They had not gone many steps when Robert's companion
stopped, and, getting in front of him, said, "We can settle
this matter here." At the same time a policeman crossed the
way, and joined them ; and another man, who was in fact a
policeman in plain clothes, emerged from a doorway and stood
at Robert Penfold* s back.
The detective, having thus surrounded him, threw off dis-
guise. " My man," said he, '^ I ought to have done this job
in your house. But I looked at the worthy old gentleman,
and his grey hairs. I thought I'd spare him all I could. I
have a warrant to arrest you for forgery."
" Forgery ! arrest me for forgery ! " said Robert Penfold,
with some amazement, but little emotion ; for he hardly
seemed to take it in, in all its horrible significance.
The next moment, however, he turned pale, and almost
staggered under the blow.
" We had better go to Mr. Wardlaw," said he. " I entreat
you to go to him with me."
"Can't be done," said the detective. "Wardlaw has
nothing to do with it. The bill is stopped. You are arrested
by the gent that cashed it. Here is the warrant : will you
go quietly with us, or must I put the darbies on ? "
Robert was violently agitated. " There is no need to arrest
me," he cried: "I shall not run from my accuser.- Hands
off, I say. I'm a clergyman of the Church of England, and
you shall not lay hands on me."
But one of the policemen did lay hands on him. Then the
Reverend Robert Penfold shook him furiously off, and, with
one active bound, sprang into the middle of the road.
The officers went at him incautiously, and the head-detec-
tive, as he rushed forward, received a heavy blow on the neck
and jaw, that sounded along the street, and sent him rolUng
in the mud ; this was followed by a quick succession of stag-
gering facers, administered right and left on the eyes and
noses of the subordinates. These, however, though bruised
and bleeding, succeeded at last in grappling their man, and
all came to the ground together, and there struggled furiously.
Every window in the street was open by this time, and at one
Digitized by CjOOQ IC .
FOUL PLAY
the white hair and reverend face of Michael Penfold looked
out on this desperate and unseemly struggle^ with hands
that beat the air in helpless agony, and inarticulate cries of
terror.
The detective got up and sat upon Robert Penfold's chest ;
and at last the three forced the handcuffs upon him^ and took
him in a cab to the station-house.
Next day, before the magistrate, Wardlaw senior proved
the note was a forgery, and Mr. Adams's partner swore to
the prisoner as the person who had presented and endorsed
the note. The officers attended, two with black eyes a-piece,
and one with his jaw bound up, and two sound teeth in his
pocket, which had been driven from their sockets by the
prisoner in his desperate attempt to escape. Their evidence
hurt the prisoner, and the magistrate refused bail.
The Reverend Robert Penfold was committed to prison,
to be tried at the Central Criminal Court on a charge of
felony.
Wardlaw senior returned home, and told Wardlaw junior,
who said not a word. He soon received a letter from Robert
Penfold, which agitated him greatly, and he promised to go
to the prison and see him.
But he never went.
He was very miserable, a prey to an inward struggle. He
dared not offend his father on the eve of being made partner.
Yet his heart bled for Robert Penfold.
He did what might perhaps have been expected from that
pale eye and receding chin ^he temporised. He said to
himself, '^ Before that horrible trial comes on, I shall be the
house of Wardlaw, and able to draw a cheque for thousands,
ril buy off Adams at any price, and hush up the whole
matter."
So he hoped, arid hoped. But the accountant was slow,
the public prosecutor unusually quick, and, to young Ward-
law's agony, the partnership deed was not ready when an
imploring letter was put into his hands, urging him, by all
that men hold sacred, to attend at the court as the prisoner's
witness.
This letter almost drove young Wardlaw mad. He went
to Adams, and entreated hhn not to carry the matter into
court. But Adams was inexorable. He had got his money,
but would be revenged for the fright.
Baffled here, young Wardlaw went down to Oxford and
shut himself up in his own room, a prey to fear and remorse.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
He sported his oak^ and never went out. All his exercise
was that of a wild beast in its den^ walking restlessly up
and down.
But all his caution did not prevent the prisoner's solicitor
from getting to him. One morning, at seven o'clock, a clerk
slipped in at the heels of his scout, and coming to young
Wardlaw's bedside, awoke him out of an. uneasy slumber by
serving him with a subpoena to appear as Robert Penfold's
witness.
This last stroke finished him. His bodily health gave way
under his mental distress. Gastric fever set in, and he was
lying tossing and raving in delirium, while Robert Penfold
was being tried at the Central Criminal Court.
The trial occupied six hours, and could easily be made
rather interesting. But, for various reasons, with which it
would not be good taste to trouble the reader, we decide to
skim it
The indictment contained two counts ; one for forging the
note of hand, the other for uttering it, knowing it to be
forged.
On the first count, the Crown was weak, and had to en-
counter the evidence of Undercliff, the distinguished expert,
who swore that the hand which wrote " Robert Penfold " was
not, in his opinion, the hand that had written the body of the
instrument. He gave many minute reasons in support of
this, and nothing of any weight was advanced contra. The
judge directed the jury to acquit the prisoner on that count
But, on the charge of uttering, the evidence was clear, and,
on the question of knowledge, it was perhaps a disadvantage
to the prisoner that he was tried in England, and ^uld not
be heard in person, as he could have been in a foreign court ;
above all, his resistance to the officers eked out the presump-
tion that he knew the note had been forged by some person
or other, who was probably his accomplice.
The absence of his witness, Wardlaw junior, was severely
commented on by his counsel; indeed, he appealed to the
judge to commit the said Wardlaw for contempt of court
But Wardlaw senior was recalled, and swore that he had left
his son in a burning fever, not expected to Hve ; and declared,
with genuine emotion, that nothing but a high sense of public
duty had brought him hither from his dpng son's bedside.
He also told the court that Arthur's inability to clear his
friend had really been the first cause of his illness, from
which he was not expected to recover.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
The jury consulted together a long time, and at last "
brought in a verdict of '' Guilty ! " but recommended him i
to mercy, on grounds which might fairly have been alleged t
in favour of his innocence, but, if guilty, rather aggravated
his crime. i
Then an officer of the court inquired, in a sort of chant
' or recitativo, whether the prisoner had anything to say i
why judgment should not be given in accordance with the
verdict.
It is easy to divest words of their meaning by false intona-
tion ; and prisoners in general receive this bit of sing-song in
dead silence. For why } the chant conveys no idea to their
ears, and they would as soon think of replying to the notes of
a cuckoo.
But the Reverend Robert Penfold was in a keen agony that
sharpened all his senses ; he caught the sense of the words
in spite of the speaker, and clung wildly to the straw that
monotonous machine held out. '' My lord ! my lord ! " he
cried, ^^TU tell you the real reason why young Wardlaw is
not here."
The judge put up his hand with a gesture that enforced
silence : " Prisoner," said he, " I cannot go back to facts ;
the jury have dealt with them. Judgment can be arrested
only on grounds of law. On these you can be heard. But,
if you have none to offer, you must be silent, and submit to
your sentence." He then, after a slight pause, proceeded to
point out the heinous character of the offence, but admitted
there was one mitigating circumstance, and in conclusion he
condemned the culprit to five years* penal servitude.
At this the poor wretch uttered a cry of anguish that was
fearful, and clutched the dock convulsively.
Now a prisoner rarely speaks to a judge without revolting
him by bad law, or bad logic, or hot words. But this wild
cry was innocent of all these, and went straight from the
heart in the dock to the heart on the judgment-seat And so
his lordship's voice trembled for a moment, and then became
firm again, but solemn and humane. "But," said he, ''my
experience tells me this is your first crime, and may possibly
be your last. I shall therefore use my influence that you
may not be associated with more hardened criminals, but may
be sent out of this country to another, where you may begin
life afresh, and, in the course of years, efface this dreadful
stain. Give me hopes of you ; begin your repentance where
now you stand, by blaming yourself and no other man. No
^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
man constrained you to utter a forged note and to receive the
money; it was found in your possession. For such an act
there can be no defence in law, morality, or rehgion."
These words overpowered the culprit. He burst out crying
with great violence.
But it did not last long. He became strangely composed
all of a sudden, and said, " God forgive all concerned in this
but one ^but one."
He then bowed respectfully, and like a gentleman, to the
judge and the jury, and walked out of the dock with the air
of a man who had parted with emotion, and would march to
the gallows now without flinching.
The counsel for the Crown required that the forged docu-
ment should be impounded.
'' I was about to make the same demand," said the prisoner's
counsel.
The judge snubbed them both, and said it was a matter of
course.
Robert Penfold spent a year in separate confinement, and
then, to cure him of its salutary effect (if any), was sent on
board the hulk Vengeance, and was herded with the
greatest miscreants in creation. They did not reduce him to
their level, but they injured his mind ; and, before half his
sentence had expired, he sailed for a penal colony, a man
with a hot coal in his bosom, a creature embittered, poisoned ;
hoping Uttle, believing Uttle, fearing Httle, and hating much.
He took with him the Prayer-book his mother had given
him when he was ordained deacon. But he seldom read
beyond the fly-leaf: there the poor lady had written at large
her mother's heart, and her pious soul aspiring heavenwards
for her darling son. This, when all seemed darkest, he
would sometimes run to with moist eyes ; for he was sure of
his mother's love, but almost doubted the justice of his God-
CHAPTER III
Mr. Wardlaw went down to his son and nursed him. He
kept the newspapers from him, and, on his fever abating,
had him conveyed by easy stages to the seaside, and then sent
him abroad.
The young man obeyed in gloomy silence. He never asked
15
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
after Robert Penfold now, never mentioned his name. He
seemed, somehow, thankful to be controlled mind and body.
But, before he had been abroad a month, he wrote for leave
to return home, and to throw himself into business. There
was, for once, a nervous impatience in his letters; and his
father, who pitied him deeply, and was more than ever in-
clined to reward and indulge him, pelded readily enough;
and, on his arrival, signed the partnership deed, and Polonius-
like, gave him much good counsel, and then retired to his
country seat.
At first he used to run up every three days, and examine
the day-book and ledger, and advise his junior; but these
visits soon became fewer, and at last he did little more than
correspond occasionally.
Arthur Wardlaw held the reins, and easily paid his Oxford
debts out of the assets of the firm. Not being happy in his
mind, he threw himself into commerce with feverish zeal, and
very soon extended the operations of the house.
One of his first acts of authority was to send for Michael
Penfold into his room. Now poor old Michael, ever since
his son's misfortune, as he called it, had crept to his desk
like a culprit, expecting every day to be discharged. When
he received this summons, he gave a sigh and went slowly to
the young merchant.
Arthur Wardlaw looked up at his entrance, then looked
down again, and said coldly, ^' Mr. Penfold, you have been a
faithful servant to us many years; I raise your salary 50
a year, and you will keep the ledger."
The old man was dumfoundered at first, and then began to
give vent to his surprise and gratitude ; but Wardlaw cut
him short, almost fiercely. '* There, there, there," said he,
without raising his eyes, " let me hear no more about it, and,
above all, never speak to me of that cursed business. It was
no fault of yours, nor mine neither. There ^go I want
no thanks. Do you hear } Leave me, Mr. Penfold, if you
please." ^
The old man bowed low and retired, wondering much at his \
employer s goodness, and a little at his irritability.
Wardlaw junior's whole soul was given to business night |
and day, and he soon became known for a very ambitious and j
rising merchant. But by-and-by ambition had to encounter j
a rival in his heart. He fell in love, deeply in love, and ^
with a worthy object. /
The young lady was the daughter of a distinguished officer,
Digitized-by VjOOQ IC ,
FOUL PLAY
whose merits were universally recognised, but not rewarded
in proportion. Wardlaw's suit was favourably received by the
father, and the daughter gradually pelded to an attachment,
the warmth, sincerity, and singleness of which were manifest ;
and the pair would have been married, but for the circum-
stance that her father (partly through Wardlaw's influence,
by-the-bye) had obtained a lucrative post abroad, which it
suited his means to accept, at all events for a time. He was
a widower, and his daughter could not let him go alone.
This temporary separation, if it postponed a marriage, led
naturally to a solemn engagement; and Arthur Wardlaw
enjoyed the happiness of writing and receiving affectionate
letters by every foreign post. Love, worthily bestowed, shed
its balm upon his heart; and under its soft but powerful
charm he grew tranquil and complacent, and his character
and temper seemed to improve. Such virtue is there in a
pure attachment.
Meanwhile the extent of his operations alarmed old
Penfold; but he soon reasoned that worthy down with
overpowering conclusions and superior smiles.
He had been three years the ruling spirit of Wardlaw and
Son, when some curious events took place in another hemi-
sphere ; and in these events, which we are now to relate,
Arthur Wardlaw was more nearly interested than may appear
at first sight.
Robert Penfold, in due course, applied to Lieutenant-
General Rolleston for a ticket-of-leave. That functionary
thought the application premature, the crime being so grave.
He complained that the system had become too lax, and for
his part he seldom gave a ticket-of-leave until some suitable
occupation was provided for the apphcant. "Will anybody
take you as a clerk ? If so I'll see about it."
Robert Penfold could find nobody to take him into a post
of confidence all at once, and wrote the general an eloquent
letter, begging hard to be allowed to labour with his hands.
Fortunately, General Rolleston's gardener had just turned
him ofi*: so he ofi*ered the post to his eloquent correspondent,
remarking that he did not much mind employing a ticket-
of-leave man himself, though he was resolved to protect his
neighbours from their relapses.
The convict then came to General Rolleston, and begged
leave to enter on his duties under the name of James Seaton.
At that General Rolleston hem'd and haw'd, and took a note.
^'^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
But his final decision was as follows : " If you really mean
to change your character, why, the name you have disgraced
might hang round your neck. Well, Til give you every
chance. But," said this old warrior, suddenly compressing
his resolute lips just a little, '^if you go a yard off the straight
path nowy look for no mercy Jemmy Seaton."
So the convict was re-christened at the tail of a threat, and
let loose among the warrior's tulips.
His appearance was changed as eflPectually as his name.
Even before he was Seatoned, he had grown a silky moustache
and beard of singular length and beauty; and what with
these, and his working man's clothes, and his cheeks and neck
tanned by the sun, our readers would never have recognised
in this hale, bearded labourer, the pale prisoner that had
trembled, raged, wept, and submitted in the dock of the
Central Criminal Court.
Our universities cure men of doing things by halves, be
the things mental or muscular; so Seaton gardened much
more zealously than his plebeian predecessor : up at five, and
did not leave till eight.
But he was unpopular in the kitchen ^because he was
always out of it ; taciturn and bitter, he shunned his fellow-
servants.
Yet working among the flowers did him good ; these, his
pretty companions and nurslings, had no vices.
One day, as he was rolling the grass upon the lawn, he
heard a soft rustle at some distance, and, looking round, saw
a young lady on the gravel path, whose calm but bright face,
coming so suddenly, literally dazzled him. She had a clear
cheek blooming with exercise, rich brown hair, smooth,
glossy, and abundant, and a very light hazel eye, of singular
beauty and serenity. She glided along, tranquil as a goddess,
smote him with beauty and perfume, and left him staring
afler her receding figure, which was, in its way, as capti-
vating as her face.
She was walking up and down for exercise, briskly, but
without effort. Once she passed within a few yards of him,
but her eyes did not rest an instant on her gardener ; and so
she passed and repassed, unconsciously sawing this solitary
heart with sofl but penetrating thrills.
At last she went indoors to luncheon, and the lawn seemed
to miss the light music of her rustling dress, and the sun-
shine of her presence; and there was a painful void; but
that passed, and a certain sense of happiness stole over
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
James Seaton an unreasonable joy, that often runs before
folly and trouble.
The young lady was Helen RoUeston, just returned home
from a visit. She walked in the garden every day, and
Seaton watched her, and peeped at her, unseen, behind trees
and bushes. He fed his eyes and his heart upon her, and,
by degrees, she became the sun of his solitary existence. It
was madness ; but its first effect was not unwholesome. The
daily study of this creature, who, though by no means the
angel he took her for, was at all events a pure and virtuous
woman, soothed his sore heart, and counteracted the demo-
ralising influences of his late companions. Every day he
drank deeper of an insane, but purifying and elevating
passion.
He avoided the kitchen still more ; and that, by-the-bye, was
unlucky ; for there he could have learned something about
Miss Helen RoUeston, that would have warned him to keep
at the other end of the garden, whenever that charming face
and form glided to and fro amongst the minor flowers.
A beautiful face fires our imagination, and we see higher
virtue and intelligence in it than we can detect in its owner's
head or heart when we descend to calm inspection. James
Seaton gazed on Miss Rolleston day after day, at so respectftd
a distance that she became his goddess. If a day passed
without his seeing her, he was dejected. When she was
behind her time, he was restless, anxious, and his work dis-
tasteftd; and then, when she came out at last, he thrilled
all over, and the lawn, ay, the world itself, seemed to fill
with sunshine. His adoration, timid by its own nature, was
doubly so by reason of his fallen and hopeless condition. He
cut nosegays for her ; but gave them to her maid Wilson for
her. He had not the courage to offer them to herself.
One evening, as he went home, a man addressed him
familiarly, but. in a low voice. Seaton looked at him atten-
tively, and recognised him at last. It was a convict called
Butt, who had come over in the ship with him. The man
offered him a glass of ale ; Seaton declined it. Butt, a very
clever rogue, seemed hurt : so then Seaton assented reluc-
tantly. Butt took him to a public-house in a narrow street,
and into a private room. Seaton started as soon as he
entered, for fliere sat two repulsive ruffians, and, by a look
that passed rapidly between them and Butt, he saw plainly
they were waiting for him. He felt nervous ; the place was
so uncouth and dark, the faces so villainous.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
However, they invited him to sit down, roughly, but with
an air of good fellowship ; and very soon opened their business
over their ale. We are all bound to assist our fellow-creatures,
when it can be done without trouble ; and what they asked
of him was a simple act of courtesy, such as in their opinion
no man worthy of the name could deny to his fellow. It was
to give General Rolleston's watch-dog a piece of prepared
meat upon a certain evening ; and in return for this trifling
civility, they were generous enough to offer him a full share
of any light valuables they might find in the general's house.
Seaton felt the danger of refusing, and put his face in his
hands a moment. " I cannot do it," said he.
^^ Why not?"
" He has been too good to me.**
A coarse laugh of derision greeted this argument; it seemed
so irrelevant to these pure egotists. Seaton, however, per-
sisted, and on that one of the men got up and stood before
the door, and drew his knife gently.
Seaton glanced his eyes round in search of a weapon, and
turned pale.
*' Do you mean to split on us, mate ? " said one of the
ruffians in front of him.
" No, I don't. But I won*t rob my benefactor : you shall
kill me first." And with that he darted to the fireplace, and
in a moment the poker was high in air, and the way he
squared his shoulders and stood ready to hit to the on, or cut
to the off, was a caution.
^^ Come, drop that," said Butt grimly ; " and put up i/our
knife. Bob. Can't a pal be out of a job, and yet not split on
them that is in it } "
''Why should I split ." said Robert Penfold. -^'Has the
law been a friend to me ? But I won't rob my benefactor
and his daughter."
"That is square enough," said Butt. ''Why, pals, there
are other cribs to be cracked besides that old bloke*s. Finish
the ale, mate, and part friends."
" If you will promise me to ' crack some other crib,' and
let that one alone."
A sullen assent was given, and Seaton drank their healths,
and walked away. Butt followed him soon after, and affected
to side with him, and intimated that he himself was capable
of not robbing a man's house who had been good to him, or
to a pal of his. Indeed, this plausible person said so much,
and his sullen comrades had said so little, that Seaton, ren-
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
dered keen and anxious by love, invested his savings in a
Colt's revolver and ammunition.
He did not stop there ; after the hint about the watch-dog,
he would not trust that faitliful, but too carnivorous animal ;
he brought his blankets into the little tool-house, and lay
there every night in a sort of dog's sleep. This tool-house
was erected in a little back garden, separated from the lawn
only by some young trees in single file. Now Miss Rolles-
ton's window looked out upon the lawn, so that Seaton's
watch-tower was not many yards from it ; then, as the tool-
house was only lighted from above, he bored a hole in the
wooden structure, and through this he watched, and slept,
and watched. He used to sit studying theology by a farthing
rushlight till the lady's bed-time, and then he watched for
her shadow. If it appeared for a few moments on the blind,
he gave a sigh of content, and went to sleep, but awaked
every now and then to see that all was well.
After a few nights his alarms naturally ceased; but his
love increased, fed now from this new source, the sweet sense
of being the secret protector of her he adored.
Meantime, Miss Rolleston's lady's-maid, Wilson, fell in love
with him after her fashion ; she had taken a fancy to his face
at once, and he had encouraged her a little, unintentionally ;
for he brought the nosegays to her, and listened complacently
to her gossip, for the sake of the few words she let fall now
and then about her young mistress. As he never exchanged
two sentences ^t a time with any other servant, this flattered
Sarah Wilson, and she soon began to meet and accost him
oftener, and in cherrier-coloured ribbons, than he could stand.
So then he showed impatience, and then she, reading him by
herself, suspected some vulgar rival.
Suspicion soon bred jealousy, jealousy vigilance, and vigi-
lance detection.
Her first discovery was that, so long as she talked of Miss
Helen RoUeston, she was always welcome ; her second was,
that Seaton slept in the tool-house.
She was not romantic enough to connect her two discoveries
together. They lay apart in her mind, until circumstances
we are about to relate supplied a connecting link.
One Thursday evening James Seaton's goddess sat alone
with her papa, and being a young lady of fair abilities, who
had gone through her course of music and other studies,
taught brainlessly, and who was now going through a course
of monotonous pleasures, and had not accumulated &m great
21 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
store of mental resources she was listless and languid^ and
would have yawned forty times in her papa's face, only she
was too well bred. She always turned her head away when it
came^ and either suppressed it, or else hid it with a lovely
white hand. At last, as she was a good girl, she blushed at
her behaviour, and roused herself up, and, said she, ^* Papa,
shall I play you the new quadrilles ? "
Papa gave a start and a shake, and said, with well-feigned
vehemence, " Ay, do, my dear," and so composed himself ^to
listen ; and Helen sat down and played the quadrilles.
The composer had taken immortal melodies, some gay,
some sad, and had robbed them of their distinctive character,
and hashed them, till they were all one monotonous rattle.
But General RoUeston was little the worse for all this. As
Apollo saved Horace from hearing a poetaster s rhymes, so
did Somnus, another beneficent little deity, rescue our warrior
from his daughter's music.
She was neither angry nor surprised. A delicious smile
illumined her face directly ; she crept to him on tip-toe, and
bestowed a kiss, light as a zephyr, on his grey head. And,
in truth, the bending attitude of this supple figure, clad in
snowy muslin, the virginal face and light hazel eye beaming
love and reverence, and the airy kiss, had something angelic.
She took her candle, and glided up to her bedroom. And
the moment she got there, and could gratify her somnolence
without offence, need we say she became wide-awake ? She
sat down and wrote long letters to three other young ladies,
gushing affection, asking questions of the kind nobody replies
to, painting, with a young lady's colours, the male being to
whom she was shortly to be married, wishing her dear friends
a like demi-god, if perchance earth contained two ; and so to
the last new bonnet, and preacher.
She sat over her paper till one o'clock, and Seaton watched
and adored her shadow.
When she had done writing, she opened her window and
looked out upon the night. She lifted those wonderful hazel
eyes towards the stars, and her watcher might well be par-
doned if he saw in her a celestial being looking up from an
earthly resting-place towards her native sky.
At two o'clock she was in bed, but not asleep. She lay
calmly gazing at the Southern Cross, and other lovely stars
shining with vivid, but chaste, fire in the purple vault of
heaven.
While thus employed she heard a slight sound outside that
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
made her turn her eyes towards a young tree near her
window. Its top branches were waving a good deal^ though
there was not a breath stirring. This struck her as curious^
very curious.
Whilst she wondered^ suddenly an arm and a hand came
in sights and after them the whole figure of a man^ going
up the tree.
Helen sat up now, glaring with terror, and was so para-
lysed she did not utter a sound. About a foot below her
window was a lead flat that roofed the bay window below.
It covered an area of several feet, and the man sprang on
to it with perfect ease from the tree. Helen shrieked with
terror. At that very instant there was a flash, a pistol shot,
and the man's arms went whirling, and he staggered and
fell over the edge of the flat, and struck the grass below
with a heavy thud. Shots and blows followed, and all
the sounds of fierce fighting rung in Helen's ears as she
flung herself screaming fit)m the bed and darted to the
door. She ran and clung quivering to her sleepy maid,
Wilson. The house was alarmed, lights flashed, footsteps
pattered there was universal commotion.
General RoUeston soon learned his daughter's story frtm
Wilson, and aroused his male servants, one of whom was
an old soldier. They searched the house first; but no
entrance had been effected; so they went out on the lawn
with blunderbuss and pistol.
They found a man lying on his back at the foot of the
bay window.
They pounced on him, and, to their amazement, it was
the gardener, James Seaton insensible.
General RoUeston was quite taken aback for a moment.
Then he was sorry. But after a little reflection, he said
very sternly, '^ Carry the blackguard indoors; and run for
an ofiicer."
Seaton was taken into the hall, and laid flat on the floor.
All the servants gathered about him, brimful of curiosity,
and the female ones began to speak all together ; but General
RoUeston told them sharply to hold their tongues, and to
retire behind the man. ^' Somebody sprinkle him with cold
water," said he ; '' and be quiet, all of you, and keep out of
his sight, while I examine him." He stood before the in-
sensible figure with his arms folded, amidst a dead silence,
broken only by the stifled sobs of Sarah Wilson, and of a
sociable housemaid who cried with her for company.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
And now Seaton began to writhe and show signs of return-
ing sense.
Next he moaned piteously, and sighed. But General
RoUeston could not pity him ; he waited grimly for returning
consciousness^ to subject him to a merciless interrogatory.
He waited just one second too long. He had to answer
a question instead of putting one.
The judgment is the last faculty a man recovers when
emerging from insensibility ; and Seaton, seeing the general
standing before him, stretched out his hands, and said, in
a faint but earnest voice, before eleven witnesses, ^^Is she
saSe } Oh, is she safe ? "
CHAPTER IV
Sarah Wilson left off crying, and looked down on the
ground with a very red face. General RoUeston was amazed.
" Is she safe I Is who safe } " said he. *' He means my
mistress," replied Wilson rather brusquely, and flounced
out of the hall.
" She is safe, no thanks to you," said General RoUeston.
^^What were you doing under her window at this time of
night } *' And the harsh tone in which this question was
put showed Seaton he was suspected. This wounded him,
and he repHed doggedly, ^' Lucky for you all I was there."
"That is no answer to my question," said the general
sternly.
" It is all the answer I shall give you."
''Then I shaU hand you over to the officer, without
another word."
''Do, sir, do," said Seaton bitterly; but he added, more
gently, "You will be sorry for it when you come to your
senses."
At this moment WUson entered with a message. " If you
please, sir. Miss RoUeston says the robber had no beard.
Miss have never noticed Seaton's face, but his beard she
have ; and, oh ! if you please, sir, she begged me to ask him
Was it you that fired the pistol and shot the robber ? "
The delivery of this ungrammatical message, but rational
query, was like a ray of light streaming into a dark place :
it changed the whole aspect of things. As for Seaton, he
received it as if Heaven was speaking to him through Wilson.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
His sullen air relaxed, the water stood in his eyes, he smiled
affectionately, and said in a low, tender voice, " Tell her I
heard some bad characters talking about this house that
was a month ago so, ever since then, I have slept in the
tool-house to watch. Yes, I shot the robber with my re-
volver, and I marked one or two more ; but they were three
to one ; I think I must have got a blow on the head ; for I
felt nothing "
Here he was interrupted by a violent scream from Wilson.
She pointed downwards, with her eyes glaring ; and a Uttle
blood was seen to be trickling slowly over Seaton's stocking
and shoe.
^^ Wounded," said the general's servant, Tom, in the busi-
ness-like accent of one who had seen a thousand wounds.
^'Oh, never mind that," said Seaton. ^^It can't be very
deep, for I don't feel it." Then, fixing his eyes on General
Rolleston, he said, in a voice that broke down suddenly,
" There stands the only man who has wounded me to-night,
to hurt me."
The way General Rolleston received this point blank
reproach surprised some persons present, who had observed
only the imperious and iron side of his character. He hung
his head in silence a moment ; then, being discontented with
himself, he went into a passion with his servants for standing
idle. ^'Run away, you women," said he roughly. "Now,
Tom, if you are good for anything, strip the man and staunch
his wound. Andrew, a bottle of port, quick I "
Then, leaving him for a while in friendly hands, he went
to his daughter, and asked her if she saw any objection to
a bed being made up in the house for the wounded convict.
^^Oh, papa," said she, "why, of course not. I am all
gratitude. What is he like, Wilson ? for it is a most pro*
voking thing, I never noticed his face, only his beautiful
beard ghttering in the sunshine ever so far off. Poor young
man ! Oh, yes, papa ; send him to bed directly, and we will
all nurse him. I never did any good in the world yet, and
so why not begin at once ? "
General Rolleston laughed at this squirt of enthusiasm
from his staid daughter, and went off to give the requisite
orders.
But Wilson followed him immediately and stopped him in
the passage. "If you please, sir, I think you had better
not. I have something to tell you. She then communicated
to him by degrees her suspicion that James Seaton was in
Digitized by CjOOQIC
FOUL PLAY
love with his daughter. He treated this with due ridicule at
first; but she gave him one reason after another till she
staggered him, and he went downstairs in a most mixed and
puzzled frame of mind, inclined to laugh, inclined to be
a^gjy* inclined to be sorry.
The ofiicer had just arrived, and was looking over some
photographs to see if James Seaton was '' one of his birds."
Such, alas ! was his expression.
At sight of this, RoUeston coloured up, but extricated
himself from the double difiiculty with some skill. ''Hexham,"
said he, " this poor fellow has behaved Uke a man, and got
himself wounded in my service. You are to take him to the
infirmary ; but, mind, they must treat him like my own son,
and nothing he asks for denied him."
Seaton walked with feeble steps, and leaning on two men,
to the infirmary; and General Rolleston ordered a cup of
coffee, lighted a cigar, and sat cogitating over this strange
business, and asking himself how he could get rid of this
young madman, and yet befriend him. As for Sarah Wilson,
she went to bed discontented, and wondering at her own
bad judgment. She saw, too late, that, if she had held her
tongue, Seaton would have been her patient and her prisoner ;
and as for Miss Rolleston, when it came to the point, why, she
would never have nursed him except by proxy, and the proxy
would have been Sarah Wilson.
However, the blunder blind passion had led her into was
partially repaired by Miss Rolleston herself. When she
heard next day where Seaton was gone, she lifted up her
hands in amazement. ^' What could papa be thinking of to
send our benefactor to a hospital ? " And, after meditating
awhile, she directed Wilson to cut a nosegay and carry it to
Seaton. ''He is a gardener," said she innocently. "Of
course he will miss his flowers sadly in that miserable place."
And she gave the same order every day with a constancy
that, you must know, formed part of this young lady's
character. Soup, wine, and jellies were sent from the kitchen
every other day with equal pertinacity.
Wilson concealed the true donor of all those things, and
took the credit to herself. By this means she obtained the
patient's gratitude, and he showed it so frankly she hoped to
steal his love as well.
But no ! his fancy and his heart remained true to the cold
beauty he had served so well ; and she had forgotten him,
apparently.
26
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
This irritated Wilson at last, and she set to work to cure
him with wholesome but bitter medicine. She sat down
beside him one day, and said, cheerfully, "We are all 'on
the key-feet ' just now. Miss RoUeston's beau is come on a
visit
The patient opened his eyes with astonishment.
" Miss Rolleston's beau ? "
"Ay, her intended. What, didn't you know she is en-
gaged to be married ? "
" She engaged to be married ? " gasped Seaton.
Wilson watched him with a remorseless eye.
"Why, James," said she, after a while, "did you think
the likes of her would go through the world without a
mate .J*"
Seaton made no reply but a moan, and lay back like one
dead, utterly crushed by this cruel blow.
A buxom, middle-aged nurse now came up, and said, with
a touch of severity, ^^Come, my good girl, no doubt you
mean well, but you are doing ill. You had better leave him
to us for the present."
On this hint Wilson bounced out, and left the patient to
his misery.
At her next visit she laid a nosegay on his bed, and
gossiped away, talking of everything in the world except
Miss Rolleston.
At last she came to a pause, and Seaton laid his hand on
her arm directly, and looking piteously in her face, spoke his
first word,
" Does she love him ? "
" What, still harping on her f " said Wilson ; " well, she
doesn't hate him, I suppose, or she would not marry him."
" For pity's sake don't trifle with me ! Does she love him ? "
'^ La, James, how can I tell ? She mayn't love him quite
as much as I could love a man that took my fancy " (here
she cast a languishing glance on Seaton) ; " but I see no
difference between her and other young ladies. Miss is very
fond of her papa, for one thing ; and he favours the match.
Ay, and she Hkes her partner well enough : she is brighter
like now he is in the house, and she reads all her friends'
letters to him ever so lovingly ; and I do notice she leans on
him out walking, a trifle more than there is any need for."
At this picture James Seaton writhed in his bed like some
agonised creature under vivisection ; but the woman, spurred
2'^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
by jealousy, a^d also by egotistical passion, had no mercy
left for him.
" And why not ? " continued she ; " he is young, and hand- ^
some, and rich, and he dotes on her. If you are really her
friend, you ought to be glad she is so well suited."
At thds admonition the tears stood in Seaton s eyes, and, after
a while, he got strength to say, '' I know I ought, I know it.
If he is only worthy of her : as worthy as any man could be."
'^That he is, James. Why, Til be bound you have heard
of him. It is young Mr. Wardlaw."
Seaton started up in bed. *'Who.^ Wardlaw.^ what
Wardlaw } "
'* What Wardlaw ? ^why, the great London merchant, his
son. Leastways he manages the whole concern now, I hear j
the old gentleman, he is retired by all accounts."
"Arthur Wardlaw I He is a villain!" yelled James
Seaton, with his eyes glaring fearfully, and both hands
beating the air.
Sarah Wilson recoiled with alarm.
" That angel marry him ! " shrieked Seaton. " Never, while
I Hve : I'll throttle him with these hands first."
What more his imgovernable fury would have uttered was
interrupted by a rush of nurses and attendants, and Wilson
was bundled out of the place with little ceremony.
He contrived, however, to hurl a word after her, accom-
panied with a look of concentrated rage and resolution that
haunted her for years.
" Never, I tell you ^while I live."
At her next visit to the hospital Wilson was refused
admission, by order of the head surgeon. She left her
flowers daily all the same.
After a few days she thought the matter might have cooled,
and, having a piece of news to communicate to Seaton with
respect to Arthur Wardlaw, she asked to see that patient.
" Left the hospital this morning," was the reply,
'^What! cured?"
" Why not ? We have cured worse cases than his."
''Where has he gone to ? Pray tell me."
"Oh, certainly." And inquiry was made. But the reply
was, " Left no address."
Sarah Wilson, like many other women of high and low
degree, had swift misgivings of mischief to come. She was
taken with a fit of tremblings and had to sit down in the
halL
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
And, to tell the truth, she had cause to tremble ; for that
tongue of hers had launched two wild beasts jealousy and
revenge.
When she got better she went home, and, coward-like, said
not a word to living soul.
That day, Arthur Wardlaw dined with General Rolleston
and Helen. They were to be alone for a certain reason ; and
he came half-an-hour before dinner. Helen thought he would,
and was ready for him on the lawn.
They walked arm-in-arm, talking of the happiness before
them, and regretting a temporary separation that was to inter-
vene. He was her father's choice, and she loved her father
devotedly ; he was her male property ; and young ladies Hke
that sort of property, especially when they see nothing to
dislike in it. He loved her passionately, and that was her due,
and pleased her, and drew a gentle affection, if not a passion,
from her in return. Yes, that lovely forehead did come very
near young Wardlaw's shoulder, more than once or twice, as
they strolled slowly up and down on the soft mossy turf
And, on the other side of the hedge that bounded the
lawn, a man lay crouched in the ditch, and saw it all with
gleaming eyes.
Just before the affianced ones went in, Helen said, '^ I have
a Uttle favour to ask you, dear. The poor man, Seaton, who
fought the robbers, and was wounded papa says he is a man
of education, and wanted to be a clerk or something. Could
you find him a place ? "
'^ I think I can," said Wardlaw ; ^^ indeed, I am sure. A
line to White & Co. will do it; they want a shipping clerk."
'^ Oh, how good you are," said Helen ; and lifted her face
all beaming with thanks.
The opportunity was tempting ; the lover fond : two faces
met for a single moment, and one oi the two burned for five
minutes after.
The basilisk eyes saw the soft collision ; but the owner of
those eyes did not hear the words that earned him that
torture. He lay still and bided his time.
General Rolleston's house stood clear of the town, at the
end of a short, but narrow and tortuous lane. This situation
had tempted the burglars whom Seaton baffled ; and now it
tempted Seaton.
Wardlaw must pass that way on leaving General RoUeston's
house.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
At a bend of the lane two twin elms stood out a foot or
two from the hedge. Seaton got behind these at about ten
o'cloclc, and watched for him with a patience and immobiUty
that boded ill.
His preparations for this encounter were singular. He
had a close-shutting inkstand and a pen, and one sheet of
paper, at the top of which he had written '^ Sydney," and the
day of the month and year, leaving the rest blank. And he
had the revolver with which he had shot the robber at Helen
Rolleston's window.
CHAPTER V
The moon went down ; the stars shone out clearer.
Eleven o'clock boomed from a church clock in the town.
Wardlaw did not come, and Seaton did not move from his
ambush.
Twelve o'clock boomed, and Wardlaw never came, and
Seaton never moved.
Soon after midnight General RoUeston's hall-door opened,
and a figure appeared in a flood of light. Seaton's eyes
gleamed at the sight, for it was young Wardlaw, with a foot-
man at his back holding a Ughted lamp.
Wardlaw, however, seemed in no hurry to leave the house,
and the reason soon appeared; he was joined by Helen
Rolleston, and she was equipped for walking. The watcher
saw her serene face shine in the light. The General himself
came next ; and, as they left the door, out came Tom with a
blunderbuss, and brought up the rear, Seaton drew behind
the trees, and postponed, but did not resign, his purpose.
Steps and murmurings came, and passed him, and re-
ceded.
The only words he caught distinctly came from Wardlaw,
as he passed. " It is nearly high tide. I fear we must make
haste."
Seaton followed the whole party at a short distance, feelinp"
sure they would eventually separate, and give him his oppoi
tunity with Wardlaw.
They went down to the harbour and took a boat ; Seaton
came nearer, and learned they were going on board the great
steamer bound for England, that loomed so black, with ^mon-
strous eyes of fire.
SO
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
They put off, and Seaton stood baffled.
j Presently, the black monster, with enormous eyes of fire,
I spouted her steam like a leviathan, and then was still ; next
j the smoke puffed, the heavy paddles revolved, and she rushed
I out of the harbour ; and Seaton sat down upon the ground,
! and all seemed ended. Helen gone to England ! Wardlaw
i gone with her! Love and revenge had alike eluded him.
He looked up at the sky, and played with the pebbles at his
feet, stupidly, stupidly. He wondered why he was ever
j bom, why he consented to live a single minute after this.
I His angel and his demon gone home together ; and he left
here!
He wrote a few Unes on the paper he had intended for
Wardlaw, sprinkled them with sand, and put them in his
bosom ; tiien stretched himself out with a weary moan, like a
dying dog, to wait the flow of the tide and, with it, death.
Whether or not his resolution or his madness would have
carried him so far cannot be known, for even as the water
rippled in, and, trickling under his back, chilled him to the
1 bone, a silvery sound struck his ear. He started to his feet,
and life and its joys rushed back upon him. It was the voice
i of the woman he loved so madly.
Helen RoUeston was on the water, coming ashore again in
\ the little boat.
He crawled, like a lizard, among the boats ashore to catch
a sight of her : he did see her, was near her, unseen himself.
She landed with her father. So Wardlaw was gone to Eng-
land without her. Seaton trembled with joy. Presently his
goddess began to lament in the prettiest way. "Papa,
I papa," she sighed, ^^why must friends part, in this sad
f world ? Poor Arthur is gone from me : and, by-and-by, I
I shall go from you, my own papa." And at that prospect she
I wept gently.
^ '^Why, you foolish child," said the old General tenderly,
^, *'what matters a little parting, when we are all to meet
again in dear old England ? Well then, there, have a cry ; it
will do you good." He patted her head tenderly, as she
''^^ng to his warlike breast ; and she took him at his word ;
^ tears ran swiftly and gHstened in the very starlight.
^ Seaton's heart yearned at all this.
What ? musn't he say a word to comfort her ; he, who at
that moment would have thought no more of dying to serve
her, or to please her, than he would of throwing one of those
^bles into that shmy water.
31
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
/
X
^'i
Well, her pure tears somehow cooled his hot brain, and
washed his soul, and left him wondering at himself and hip
misdeeds this night. His guardian angel seemed to go by aiel
wave her dewy wings, and fan his hot passions as she passed.
He kneeled down and thanked God he had not met Arthur
Wardlaw in that dark lane.
Then he went home to his humble lodgings, and there
buried himself; and from that day seldom went out, except
to seek employment. He soon obtained it as a copjdst.
Meantime the police were on his track, employed by a
person with a gentle disposition, but a tenacity of purpose
truly remarkable.
Great was Seaton's uneasiness when one day he saw Hex-
ham at the foot of his stair ; greater still, when the officer's
quick eye caught sight of him, and his light foot ascended
the stairs directly. He felt sure Hexham had heard of his
lurking about General Rolleston's premises. However, he
prepared to defend himself to the uttermost.
Hexham came into his room without ceremony, and looking
mighty grim. *^ Well, my lad, so we have got you, after all."
" \^at is my crime now ? " asked Seaton sullenly.
^' James," said the officer, very solemnly, ^^ it is an unheard
of crime this time. You have been running away from a
pretty girL Now that is a mistake at all times ; but, when
she is as beautiful as an angel, and rich enough to slip a fiver
into Dick Hexham's hands, and lay him on your track, what
is the use ? Letter for you, my man."
Seaton took the letter with a puzzled air. It was written
in a clear but feminine hand, and slightly scented.
The writer, in a few polished lines, excused herself for
taking extraordinary means to find Mr. Seaton ; but hoped he
would consider that he had laid her under a deep obligation,
and that gratitude mil sometimes be importunate. She had
the pleasure to inform him that the office of shipping clerk,
at Messrs. White & Co.'s, was at his service, and she hoped
he would take it without an hour s further delay, for she Wj^^*
assured that many persons had risen to wealth and considera-'
tion in the colony from such situations.
Then, as this wary but courteous young lady had no wish
to 'enter into a correspondence with her ex-gardener, she
added "Mr. Seaton need not trouble himself to reply ^'^
this note. A simple ^ yes ' to Mr. Hexham will be enough,
and will give sincere pleasm'e to Mr. Seaton's obedient ser-
vant and well-wisher, Helen Anne Rolleston."
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Seaton bowed his head over this letter in silent but deep
aoaotion.
! Hexham respected that emotion, and watched him with a
! sort of vague sympathy.
y* Seaton lifted his head, and the tears stood thick in his
I eyes. Said he, in a voice of exquisite softness, scarce above
a whisper, ^'Tell her 'yes,' and 'God bless her.' Good-bye.
I want to go on my knees, and pray God to bless her as she
deserves."
Hexham took the hint, and retired softly.
r CHAPTER VI
White & Co. stumbled on a treasure in James Seaton. Your
colonial clerk is not so narrow and apathetic as your London
clerk, whose two objects seem to be to learn one department
only, and not to do too much in that ; but Seaton, a gentleman
and a scholar, ecHpsed even colonial clerks in this, that he
omitted no opportunity of learning the whole business of
White & Co., and was also animated by a feverish zeal, that
now and then provoked laughter from clerks, but was agree-
able, as well as surprising, to White & Co. Of that zeal,
incurable passion was partly the cause. Fortunes had been
made with great rapidity in Sydney ; and Seaton now con-
ceived a w3d hope of acquiring one, by some lucky hit,
before Wardlaw could return to Helen Rolleston. And yet his
f for his common-sense said. If I was as rich as Croesus, how could
jd he she ever mate with me, a stained man ? And yet his burning
itioD^ heart said. Don't listen to reason ; listen only to me. Try.
had And so he worked double tides; and, in virtue of his
jerk. University education, had no snobbish notions about never
oped^ putting his hand to manual labour : he would lay down his
w#!\ ^ '^n at any moment, and bear a hand to Hft a chest or roll a
lera- cask. Old White saw him thus multiply himself, and was so
pleased that he raised his salary one-third.
He never saw Helen Rolleston, except on Sunday. On
that day he went to her church, and sat half behind a pillar,
'^ feasted his eyes and his heart upon her. He lived spar-
^*ingly, saved money, bought a strip of land, by payment of
10 deposit, and sold it in forty hours for 100 profit, and
watched keenly for similar opportunities on a larger scale.
33
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
and all for her struggling with a mountain ; hoping against
reason and the world.
White & Co. were employed to ship a valuable cargo on
board two vessels chartered by Wardlaw & Son, the Shannon
and the Proserpine,
Both these ships lay in Sydney harbour, and had taken in
the bulk of their cargoes ; but the supplement was the cream.
For Wardlaw, in person, had warehoused eighteen cases of
gold dust and ingots, and forty of lead and smelted copper.
They were all examined and branded by Mr. White, who had
duplicate keys of the gold cases. But the contents, as a
matter of habit and prudence, were not described outside,
but were marked Proserpine and Shannon respectively. The
mate of the Proserpine^ who was in Wardlaw's confidence,
had written instructions to look carefully to the stowage of
all these cases, and was in and out of the store one afternoon
just before closing, and measured the cubic contents of the
cases, with a view to stowage in the respective vessels. The
last time he came he seemed rather the worse for liquor ; and
Seaton, who accompanied him, having stepped out a minute
for something or other, was rather surprised on his return to
find the door closed, and it struck him Mr. WyHe (that was
the mate's name) might be inside ; the more so as the door
closed very easily with a spring bolt, but could only be opened
by a key of peculiar construction. Seaton took out his key,
opened the door, and called to the mate, but received no
reply. However, he Jook the precaution to go round the
store, and see whether WyHe, rendered somnolent by liquor,
might not be lying oblivious among the cases. WyHe, how-
ever, was not to be seen ; and Seaton, finding himself alone,
did an unwise thing ; he came and contemplated Wardlaw's
cases of metal and specie. (Men will go too near the thing
that causes their pain.) He eyed them with grief and with
desire, and could not restrain a sigh at these material proofs
of his rival's wealth : the wealth that probably had smoothed
his way to General Rolleston's home, and to his daughter's
heart; for wealth can pave the way to hearts, ay, even to
hearts that cannot be downright bought. This reverie no
doubt lasted longer than he thought, for presently he heard
the loud rattle of shutters going up below: it was closing
time ; he hastily closed and locked the iron shutters, and
then went out and shut the door.
He had been gone about two hours ; and that part of the
34
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
v^i_
FOUL PLAY
street, so noisy in business hours, was hushed in silence, all
but an occasional footstep on the flags outside, when some-
thing mysterious occurred in the warehouse, now as dark
as pitch.
At an angle of the wall stood two large cases in a vertical
position, with smaller cases lying at their feet; these two
cases were about eight feet high, more or less. Well, behind
these cases suddenly flashed a feeble Hght, and the next
moment two brown and sinewy hands appeared on the
edge of one of the cases the edge next the wall ; the case
vibrated and rocked a little, and the next moment there
mounted on the top of it, not a cat, nor a monkey, as might
have been expected, but an animal that in truth resembles
both those quadrupeds, viz., a sailor ; and need we say that
sailor was the mate of the Proserpine, He descended lightly
from the top of the case, behind which he had been jammed
for hours, and Ughted a dark lantern, and went softly groping
about the store with it. This was a mysterious act, and would
perhaps have puzzled the proprietors of the store even more
than it would a stranger ; for a stranger would have said at
once this is burglary, or else arson ; but those acquainted
with the place would have known that neither of those crimes
was very practicable. The enterprising sailor could not bum
down this particular store without roasting himself the first
thing ; and indeed he could not bum it down at all : for the
roof was flat, and was, in fact, one gigantic iron tank, like the
roof of Mr. Goding's brewery in London ; and by a neat con-
trivance of American origin, the whole tank could be turned
in one moment to a shower-bath, and drown a conflagration
in thirty seconds or thereabouts ; nor could he rifle the place :
the goods were greatly protected by their weight, and it was
impossible to get out of the store without raising an alarm,
and being searched.
But, not to fall into the error of writers who underrate
their readers' curiosity and intelligence, and so deluge them
with comments and explanations, we will now simply relate
what Wyhe did, leaving you to glean his motives as this tale
advances.
His jacket had large pockets, and he took out of them a
bunch of eighteen bright steel keys, numbered, a set of new
screw-drivers, a flask of rum, and two ship biscuits.
He unlocked the eighteen cases marked Proserpine, &c.,
and, peering in with his lantern, saw the gold dust and small
ingots packed in parcels, and surrounded by Australian wool
35
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
of the highest possible quality. It was a luscious sight. He
then proceeded to a heavier task; he unscrewed, one after
another, eighteen of the cases marked Shannon, and the
eighteen so selected, perhaps by private marks, proved to be
packed close, and on a different system from the gold, viz., in
pigs, or square blocks, three, or in some cases four, to each
chest. Now, these two ways of packing the specie and the
baser metal respectively had the effect of producing a certain
uniformity of weight in the thirty-six cases Wylie was inspect-
ing; otherwise the gold cases would have been twice the
weight of those that contained the baser metal : for lead is
proverbially heavy, but under scientific tests is to gold as five
to twelve, or thereabouts.
In his secret and mysterious labour, Wylie was often inter-
rupted. Whenever he heard a step on the pavement outside,
he drew the slide of his lantern and hid the light. If he had
examined the iron shutters, he would have seen that his light
could never pierce through them into the street. But he was
not aware of this. Notwithstanding these occasional inter-
ruptions, he worked so hard and continuously, that the
perspiration poured down him ere he had unscrewed those
eighteen chests containing the pigs of lead. However, it was
done at last, and then he refreshed himself with a draught
from his flask. The next thing was, he took the three pigs
of lead out of one of the cases marked Shannon, &c., and
numbered fifteen, and laid them very gently on the floor.
Then he transferred to that empty case the mixed contents
of a case branded Proserpine 1, &c., and this he did with the
utmost care and nicety, lest gold dust spilled should tell tales.
And so he went on and shifted the contents of the whole
eighteen cases marked Proserpine, &c., into eighteen cases
marked Shannon, &c., and refilled them with the Shannon's
lead. Frolicsome Mr. Wylie ! Then he sat down on one of
the cases Proserpine, and ate a biscuit and drank a little rum :
not much : for at this part of his career he was a very sober
man, though he could feign drunkenness, or anything else.
The gold was all at his mercy, yet he did not pocket an
ounce of it, not even a pennyweight to make a wedding-
ring for Nancy Rouse. Mr. Wylie had a conscience, and a
very original one it was ; and, above all, he was very true to
those he worked with. He carefully locked the gold cases up
again, and resumed the screw- driver, for there was another
heavy stroke of work to be done ; and he went at it like a
man. He carefully screwed down again, one after another.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
all those eighteen eases marked Shannon, which he had filled
with gold-dust, and then, heating a sailor s needle red-hot
over ^ burning wick, he put his own secret marks on those
eighteen cases ^marks that no eye but his own could detect.
By this time, though a very powerful man, he felt much
exhausted, and would gladly have snatched an hour's repose.
But consulting his watch by the light of his lantern, he found
the sim had just'risen. He retired to his place of conceal-
ment in the same cat-like way he had come out of it ^that is
to say, he mounted on the high cases, and then slipped down
behind them, into the angle of the wall.
As soon as the office opened, two sailors, whom he had
carefully instructed over-night, came with a boat for the
cases ; the warehouse was opened in consequence, but they
were informed that Wylie must be present at the deUvery.
" Oh, he won't be long," said they ; ^' told us he would
meet us here."
There was a considerable delay, and a good deal of talk-
ing, and presently Wylie was at their backs, and put in his
word.
Seaton was greatly surprised at finding him there, and
asked him where he had sprung from.
" Me ! " said Wyhe jocosely, " why, I hailed from Davy
Jones's locker last."
" I never heard you come in," said Seaton thoughtfully.
"Well, sir," repHed Wylie civilly, "a man does learn to
go like a cat on board ship, that is the truth. I came in at
the door like my betters ; but I thought I heard you mention
my name, so I made no noise. Well, here I am, any way,
and Jack, how many trips can we take these thundering
chests in ? Let us see, eighteen for the Proserpine, and forty
for the Shannon, Is that correct, sir ? "
'' Perfectly."
"Then, if you will deliver them, I'll check the delivery
aboard the Hghter there ; and then we'll tow her alongside
the ships."
Seaton called up two more clerks, and sent one to the boat,
and one on board the barge. The barge was within hail ; so
the cases were checked as they passed out of the store, and
checked again at the small boat, and also on board the lifter.
When they were all cleared out, Wylie gave Seaton his receipt
for them, and, having a steam-tug in attendance, towed the
lighter alongside the Shannon first.
Seaton carried the receipt to his employer.
^"^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
'' But, sir," said he, ^' is this regular for an officer of the
Proserpine to take the Shannons cargo from us ? "
" No, it is not regular," said the old gentleman ; and he
looked through a window, and summoned Mr. Hardcastle.
Hardcastle explained that the Proserpine shipped the gold,
which was the more valuable consignment ; and that he saw
no harm in the officer, who was so highly trusted by the
merchant (on this and on former occasions), taking out a few
tons of lead and copper to the Shannon,
'^ Well, sir," said Seaton, " suppose I was to go out and see
the chests stowed in those vessels ? "
"I think you are making a fuss about nothing," said
Hardcastle.
Mr. White was of the same opinion, but being too wise to
check zeal and caution, told Seaton he might go for his own
satisfaction.
Seaton, with some difficulty, got a little boat and pulled
across the harbour. He found the Shannon had shipped all
the chests marked with her name ; and the captain and mate
of the Proserpine were beginning to ship theirs. He paddled
under the Proserpine's stem.
Captain Hudson, a rough salt, sang out, and asked him
roughly what he wanted there.
" Oh, it is all right," said the mate ; '^ he is come for your
receipt and Hewitt's. Be smart, now, men ; two on board,
sixteen to come."
Seaton saw the chests marked Proserpine stowed iti the
Proserpine, and went ashore with Captain Hewitt's receipt for
forty cases on board the Shannon, and Captain Hudson's of
eighteen on board the Proserpine,
As he landed, he met Lloyds' agent, and told him what a
valuable freight he had just shipped. That gentleman merely
remarked that both ships were underwritten in Sydney by the
owners ; but the freight was insured in London, no doubt.
There was still something about this business Seaton did
not quite like ; perhaps it was in the haste of the shipments,
or in the manner of the mate. At all events, it was too
slight and subtle to be communicated to others with any hope
of convincing them ; and, moreover, Seaton could not but own
to himself that he hated Wardlaw, and was perhaps no fair
judge of his acts, and even of the acts of his servants.
And soon a blow fell that drove the matter out of his head
and his heart Miss Helen Rolleston called at the office, and,
standing within a few feet of him, handed Hardcastle a letter
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
from Arthur Wardlaw, directing that the ladies' cabin on board
the Shannon should be placed as her disposal.
Hardcastle bowed low to beauty and station^ and promised
her the best possible accommodation on board the Shannon,
bound for England next week.
As she retired, she cast one quiet glance round the office hi
search of Seaton's beard. But he had reduced its admired
luxuriance, and trimmed it to a narrow mercantile point. She
did not know his other features from Adam, and little thought
that young man, bent double over his paper, was her pre-
server andprotSge; still less that he was at this moment cold
as ice, and quivering with misery from head to foot, because
her own lips had just told him she was going to England in
the Shannon.
Heart-broken, but still loving nobly, Seaton dragged
himself down to the harbour, and went slowly on board
the Shannon, to secure Miss Rolleston every comfort
Then, sick at heart as he was, he made inquiries into the
condition of the vessel which was to be trusted with so
precious a freight ; and the old boatman who was rowing him,
hearing him make these inquiries, told him he himself was
always about, and had noticed the Shannons pumps were
going every blessed night.
Seaton carried this intelligence directly to Lloyds' agent ;
he overhauled the ship, and ordered her into the graving
dock for repairs.
Then Seaton, for White & Co., wrote to Miss Rolleston
that the Shannon was not seaworthy, and could not sail for a
month, at the least.
The lady simply acknowledged Messrs. White's conmiuni-
cation, and Seaton breathed again.
Wardlaw had made Miss Rolleston promise him faithfully
to sail that month in his ship the Shannon, Now she was a
slave to her word, and constant of purpose ; so when she
found she could not sail in the Shannon, she called again
on Messrs. White, and took her passage in the Proserpine.
The essential thing to her mind was to sail when she had
promised, and to go in a ship that belonged to her lover.
The Proserpine was to sail in ten days.
Seaton inquired into the state of the Proserpine. She was
a good, sound vessel, and there was no excuse for detaining
her.
Then he wrestled long and hard with the selfish part of his
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
great love. Instead of turning sullen, he set himself to carry
out Helen Rolleston's will. He went on board the Proserpine,
and chose her the best stem cabin.
General Rolleston had ordered Helen's cabin to be fur-
nished, and the agent had put in the usual things, such as
standing bedstead with drawers beneath, chest of drawers,
small table, two chairs, wash-stand, looking-glass, and swing-
ing lamp.
But Seaton made several visits to the ship, and effected the
following arrangements at his own cost. He provided a neat
cocoa-mat for her cabin deck for comfort and foot-hold ; he
unshipped the regular six-paned stem windows, and put in
single-pane plate glass ; he fitted Venetian blinds, and hung
two little rose-coloured curtains to each of the windows ; all
so arranged as to be easily removed in case it should be
necessary to ship dead lights in heavy weather. He glazed
the door leading to her bath-room and quarter gallery with
plate glass ; he provided a light, easy chair, slung and fitted
with grummets, to be hung on hooks screwed into the beams
in the midship of the cabin. On this Helen could sit and
read, and so become insensible to the motion of the ship.
He fitted a small case of books, having a batten, secured from
falling out by a button, which could be raised when a book
might be wanted ; he fixed a strike-bell in her maid's cabin,
communicating with two strikers in Helen's cabin; he selected
books, taking care that the voyages and travels were pros-
perous ones no "Seaman's Recorder," '^ Life-Boat Journal,"
or '^Shipwrecks and Disasters in the British Navy."
Her cabin was the after-cabin on the starlxwid side : was
entered through the cuddy ; had a door communicating with
the quarter gallery ; two stem windows, and a dead eye on
deck. The maid's cabin was the port after-cabin ; doors
opened into cuddy and quarter gallery. And a fine trouble
Miss Rolleston had to get a maid to accompany her ; but at
last a young woman offered to go with her for high wages,
demurely suppressing the fact that she had just married one
of the sailors, and would have gladly gone for nothing.
Her name was Jane Holt, and her husband's Michael
Donovan.
In one of Seaton's visits to the Proserpine he detected the
mate and the captain talking together, and looking at him
with unfriendly eyes scowling at him would hardly be too
strong a word.
However, he was in no state of mind to care much how
40
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
two animals in blue jackets received his acts of self-martyrdom.
He was there to do the last kind offices of despairing love for
the angel that had crossed his dark path^ and illumined it for
a moment^ to leave it now for ever.
At last the fatal evening came, her last in Sydney.
Then Seaton's fortitude, sustained no longer by the feverish
stimidus of doing kindly acts for her, began to give way, and
he desponded deeply.
At nine in the evening he crept upon General Rolleston's
lawn, where he had first seen her. He sat down in sullen
despair upon the very spot.
Then he came nearer the house. There was a lamp in the
dining-room ; he looked in and saw her.
She was seated at her father's knee, looking up at him
fondly ; her hand was in his. The tears were in their eyes :
she had no mother; he no son; they loved one another
devotedly. This, their tender gesture, and their sad silence,
spoke volumes to any one that had known sorrow. Poor
Seaton sat down on the dewy grass outside, and wept, because
she was weeping.
Her father' sent her to bed early. Seaton watched, as he
had often done before, till her light went out ; and then he
flung himself on the wet grass, and stared at the sky in utter
misery.
The mind is often clearest in the middle of the night ; and
all of a sudden he saw, as if written on the sky, that she was
going to England expressly to marry Arthur Wardlaw.
At this revelation he started up, stung with hate as well as
love, and his tortured mind rebelled furiously. He repeated
his vow that this should never be ; and soon a scheme came
into his head to prevent it ; but it was a project so wild and
dangerous, that, even as his heated brain hatched it, his
cooler judgment said, " Fly, madman, fly ! or this love will
destroy you ! "
He listened to the voice of reason, and in another minute
he was out of the premises. He fluttered to his lodgings.
When he got there he could not go in; he turned and
fluttered about the streets, not knowing or caring whither ;
his mind was in a whirl ; and, what with his bodily fever,
and his boiling heart, passion began to overpower reason,
that had held out so gallantly till now. He found himself at
the harbour, staring with wild and blood-shot eyes at the
Proserpine he, who an hour ago, had seen that he had but
41
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
one thing to do to try and forget young Wardlaw's bride.
He groaned aloud and ran wildly back into the town. He
hurried up and down one narrow street, raging inwardly, like
some wild beast in its den.
By-and-by his mood changed, and he hung round a lamp-
post, and fell to moaning and lamenting his hard fate, and
hers.
A policeman came up, took him for a maudlin drunkard,
and half-advised, half-admonished him to go home.
At that he gave a sort of fierce, despairing snarl, and ran
into the next street, to be alone.
In this street he found a shop open, and lighted, though
it was but five o'clock in the morning. It was a barber s,
whose customers were working people. Hair-cutting, six-
pence. Easy shavino, threepence. Hot coffee, fourpence
THE cup. Seaton's eye fell upon this shop. He looked at
it fixedly a moment from the opposite side of the way, and
then hurried on.
He turned suddenly and came back. He crossed the road
and entered the shop. The barber was leaning over the stove,
removing a can of boiling water from the fire to the hob.
He turned at the sound of Seaton's step, and revealed an
ugly countenance, rendered sinister by a squint
Seaton dropped into a chair, and said, " I want my beard
taken off."
The man looked at him, if it could be called looking at
him, and said drily, " Oh, do ye ? How much am I to have
for that job ? "
" You know your own charge."
" Of course I do ; threepence a chin."
*^ Very well. Be quick then."
" Stop a bit : that is my charge to working folk. I must
have something more off you."
'* Very well, man. Til pay you double."
" My price to you is ten shillings."
" Why, what is that for ? " asked Seaton, in some alarm ;
he thought in his confusion the man must have read his
heart
'^I'U tell ye why," said the squinting barber. "No, I
wont;^ril show ye." He brought a small mirror, and
suddenly clapped it before Seaton's eyes. Seaton started at
his own image wild, ghastly, and the eyes so blood-shot
The barber chuckled. This start was an extorted compliment
to his own sagacity. '^ Now, wasn't I right ? " said he ; *^ did
42
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
I ought to take the beard off such a mug as that for less
than ten shillmgs ? "
''I see/' groaned Seaton; ^^you think I have committed
some crime. One man sees me weeping with misery; he
calls me a drunkard : another sees me pale with the anguish
of my breaking heart ; he calls me a felon. May God's curse
light on him and you^ and all mankind ! "
" All right," said the squinting barber apathetically ; '^ my
price is ten bob, whether or no."
Seaton felt in his pockets. "I have not got the money
about me," said he.
" Oh, I'm not particular ; leave your watch."
Seaton handed this squinting vampire his watch without
another word, and let his head fall upon his breast.
The barber cut his beard close with the scissors, and made
trivial remarks from time to time, but received no reply.
At last, extortion having put him in a good humour, he
said, '^ Don't be so down-hearted, my lad. You are not the
first that has got into trouble, and had to change faces."
Seaton vouchsafed no reply.
The barber shaved him clean, and was astonished at the
change, and congratulated him. ^^ Nobody will ever know
you," said he; ''and I'll tell you why; your mouth it is
inclined to turn up a little ; now a moustache it bends down,
and that alters such a mouth as yours entirely. But, I'll tell
you what, taking off this beard shows me something : you are
a gentleman. Make it a sovereign, sir."
Seaton staggered out of the place without a word.
'' Sulky, eh ? " muttered the barber. He gathered up some
of the long hair he had cut off Seaton's chin with his scissors,
admired it, and put it away in paper.
While thus employed, a regular customer Rooked in for his
cup of coffee. It was the policeman who had taken Seaton
for a convivial souL
CHAPTER VII
General Rollestojt's servants made several trips to the
Proserpine, carrying boxes, &c.
But Helen herself clung to the house till the last moment.
" Oh, papa ! " she cried, " I need all my resolution, all my
good faith, to keep my word with Arthur, and leave you.
43
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Why, why did I promise? Why am I such a slave to my
word?"
'^ Because," said the old general, with a voice not so firm
as usual, " I have always told you that a lady is not to be
inferior to a gentleman in any virtue, except courage. I've
heard my mother say so often; and I've taught it to my
Helen. And, my girl, where would be the merit of keeping
our word, if we only kept it when it cost us nothing ? "
He promised to come after, in three months at farthest;
and the brave girl dried her tears as well as she could, not to
add to the sadness he fought against as gallantly as he had
often fought the enemies of his country.
The Proserpine was to sail at two o'clock ; at a little before ^
one, a gentleman boarded her, and informed the captain that
he was a missionary, the Rev. John Hazel, returning home,
after a fever, and wished to take a berth in the Proserpine.
The mate looked him full in the face ; and then told him
there was very little accommodation for passengers, and it had
all been secured by White & Co., for a young lady and her
servants.
Mr. Hazel replied that his means were small, and moderate
accommodation would serve him ; but he must go to England
without delay.
Captain Hudson put in his gracious word: ''Then jump
off the jetty at high tide and swim there ; no room for black
coats in my ship."
Mr. Hazel looked from one to the other piteously. '' Show
me some mercy, gentlemen ; my very life depends on it."
''Very sorry, sir," said the mate; "but it is impossible.
There's the Shannon, you can go in her."
"But she is under repairs; so I am told."
" Well, there are a hundred and fifty carpenters on to her ;
and she will come out of port in our wake."
" Now, sir," said Hudson roughly, " bundle down the ship's
side again, if you please ; this is a busy time. Hy ! ^rig the
whip ; here's the lady coming off to us."
The missionary heaved a deep sigh, and went down into
the boat that had brought him. But he was no sooner seated
than he ordered the boatmen, somewhat peremptorily, to pull
ashore as fast as they could row. His boat met the Rolles-
tons, father and daughter, coming out, and he turned his
pale face; and eyed them as he passed. Helen Rolleston
was struck with that sorrowful countenance, and, when the
boats had passed each other, she whispered her father,
44
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
''That poor clergyman has just left the ship." She made
sure he had been taking leave of some beloved one, bound
for England. General Rolleston looked round, but the wan
face was no longer visible.
They were soon on board, and received with great obse-
quiousness. Helen was shown her cabin, and, observing the
minute and zealous care that had been taken of her comfort,
she said, "Somebody, who loves me, has been here," and
turned her brimming eyes on her father. He looked a little
puzzled, and said nothing.
Father and daughter were then left alone in the cabin, till
the ship began to heave her anchor (she lay just at the mouth
of the harbour), and then the boatswain was sent to give
General Rolleston warning. Helen came up with him, pale
and distressed. They exchanged a last embrace, and General
Rolleston went down the ship's side. Helen hung over the
bulwarks and waved her last adieu, though she could hardly
see him for her tears.
At this moment a four-oared boat swept alongside, and Mr.
Hazel came on board again. He presented Hudson a written
order to give the Rev. John Hazel a passage in the small
berth abreast the main hatches. It was signed for "White
and Co., James Seaton ; " and was endorsed with a stamped
acknowledgment of the passage money, twenty-seven pounds.
Hudson and WyUe, the mate, put their heads together over
this. The missionary saw them consulting, and told them he
had mentioned their mysterious conduct to Messrs. White and
Co., and that Mr. Seaton had promised to stop the ship if
their authority was resisted. " And I have paid my passage
money, and will not be turned out now except by force," said
the reverend gentleman quietly.
Wylie's head was turned away from Mr. Hazel's, and on its
profile a most gloomy, vindictive look, so much so that Mr.
Hazel was startled when the man turned his front face to
him with a jolly, genial air, and said, " Well, sir, the truth
is we seamen don't want passengers aboard ships of this
class: they get in our way whenever it blows a capful.
However, since you are here, make yourself as comfortable as
you can."
"There, that is enough palaver," said the captain, in his
offensive way. " Hoist the parson's traps aboard, and sheer
off, you shore boat ! Anchor's apeak."
He then gave his orders in stentorian roars ; the anchor
was hove up, catted, and fished; one sail went up after
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
another^ the Proserpine s head came round, and away she
bore for England with a fair wind.
General Rolleston went slowly and heavily home, and often
turned his head and looked wistfully at the ship putting out
wing upon wing, and carrying off his child like a tiny prey.
To change the comparison, it was only a tender vine de-
tached from a great sturdy elm : yet the tree, thus reheved
of its delicate encumbrance, felt bare ; and a soft thin^ was
gone, that, seeking protection, had bestowed warmth ; had
nestled and curled between the world's cold wind and that
stalwart stem.
As soon as he got home he Hghted a cigar, and set to
work to console himself by reflecting that it was but a tem-
porary parting, since he had virtually resigned his post, and
was only waiting in Sydney till he should have handed his
papers in order over to his successor, and settled one or two
private matters that could not take three months.
When he had smoked his cigar, and reasoned away his
sense of desolation. Nature put out her hand, and took him
by the breast, and drew him gently upstairs to take a look
at his beloved daughter s bedroom, by way of seeing the last
of her.
The room had one window looking north, and another
west: the latter commanded a view of the bay. General
. Rolleston looked down at the floor, littered with odds and
ends the dead leaves of dress that fall about a lady in the
great process of packing and then gazed through the window
at the flying Proserpine,
He sighed, and lighted another cigar. Before he had half
finished it, he stooped down and took up a little bow of ribbon
that lay on the ground, and put it quietly in his bosom. In
this act he was surprised by Sara Wilson, who had come up
to sweep all such waifs and strays into her own box. " La,
sir," said she, rather crossly, ^'why didn't you tell me, and
rd have tidied the room : it is all hugger-mugger, with miss
a leaving."
And with this she went to tidjdng the room. General
Rolleston's eye followed her movements, and he observed
amongst the litter a white handkerchief stained with blood.
''What," said he, ^'has' she had an accident; cut her
finger ? "
*' No, sir," said Wilson, and with a certain air of restraint
that made him uneasy.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
He examined the girl's face narrowly, and then the hand-
kerchief; the blood was of a pale red colour. RoUeston had
seen a similarly stained handkerchief fifteen years before, in
the hands of his young wife, a few months before she died of
consumption.
" Sara/' faltered Rolleston, " in God's name, why was I
never told of this ? "
*' Indeed, sir," said Wilson eagerly, '' you must not blame
me, sir. It was as much as my place was worth to tell you.
Miss is a young lady that will be obeyed; and she give me
strict orders not to let you know : but she is gone now ; and
I always thought it was a pity she kept it so dark ; but as I
was saying, sir, she would be obeyed."
" Kept what so dark ? "
"Why, sir, her spitting of blood at times: and turn-
ing so thin by what she used to be, poor dear young
lady."
General Rolleston groaned aloud. He said no more, but
kept looking bewildered and helpless, first at the handkerchief
and then at the Proserpine, that was carrying Helen away,
perhaps for ever: and his iron features worked with cruel
distress ; anguish so mute and male, that the woman Wilson,
though not good for much, sat down and shed genuine tears
of pity.
But he summoned all his fortitude, told Wilson he could
not say she was to blame she had but obeyed her mistress's
orders ; and we must all obey orders. *^ But now," said he,
''it is me you ought to obey: tell me, does any doctor
attend her?"
" None ever comes here, sir. But one day she let fall that
she went to Dr. Valentine, him that has the name for disorders
of the chest"
In a very few minutes General Rolleston was at Dr.
Valentine's house, and asked him bluntly what was the matter
with his daughter.
'' Disease of the lungs," said the doctor simply.
The unhappy father then begged the doctor to give him
his real opinion as to the degree of danger ; and Dr. Valentine
told him, with some feeling, that the case was not desperate,
but was certainly alarming.
Remonstrated with for letting the girl undertake a sea
voyage, he replied rather evasively, at first, that the air of
Australia disagreed with his patient, and a sea voyage was
more likely to do her good than harm.
47
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
General Rolleston pressed the doctor s hand, and went away
without another word.
Only he hurried his matters of business, and took his
{)assage in the Shannon.
It was in something of a warrior's spirit that he prepared
to follow his daughter and protect her ; but often he sighed
at the invisible, insidious nature of the foe, and wished it
could have been a fair fight of bullets and bayonets, and his
own the life at stake.
The Shannon was soon ready for sea.
Wardlaw was at home before this, with his hands full of
business ; and it is time the reader should be let into one
secret at least, which this merchant had contrived to conceal
from the City of London, and from his own father, and from
every human creature, except one poor, simple^ devoted soul,
called Michael Penfold.
There are men who seem stupid, yet generally go right ;
there are also clever men, who appear to have the art of
blundering wisely sapienter descendunt in it{femum as the
ancients have it ; and some of these latter will even lie on
their backs, after a fall, and lift up their voices, and prove to
you that in the nature of things they ought to have gone up,
and their being down is monstrous, illusory.
Arthur Wardlaw was not quite so clever as all that ; but
still he misconducted the business of the firm with perfect
abihty from the first month he entered on it. Like those
ambitious railways, which ruin a goodly trunk with excess of
branches, not to say twigs, he set to work extending, and
extendiug, and sent the sap of the healthy old concern a-flying
to the ends of the earth.
He was not only too fiunbitious, and not cool enough ; he
was also unlucky, or under a curse, or something ; for things,
well conceived, broke down, in his hands, under petty acci-
dents. And, besides, his new correspondents and agents hit
him cruelly hard. Then what did he ? Why, shot ffood money
after bad, and lost both. He could not retrench, for his game
was concealment ; his father was kept in the dark, and drew
his four thousand a year, as usual, and, upon any hesitation
in that respect, would have called in an accountant and wound
up the concern. But this tax upon the receipts, though
inconvenient, was a trifle compared with the series of heavy
engagements that were impending. The future was so black
that Wardlaw junior was sore tempted to reahse twenty
48
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
thousand pounds^ which a man in his position could easily
do, and fly the country. But this would have been to give
up Helen Rolleston ; and he loved her too well. His brain
was naturally subtle and fertile in expedients ; so he brought
all its powers to bear on a double problem : how to marry
Helen ; and restore the concern he had mismanaged to its
former state. For this a large sum of money was needed,
not less than 90,000.
The difficulties were great ; but he entered on this project
with two advantages. In the first place, he enjoyed excellent
credit ; in the second, he was not disposed to be scrupulous.
He had been cheated several times ; and nothing undermines
feeble rectitude more than that. Such a man as Wardlaw is
apt to establish a sort of account current with humanity.
'^ Several fellow-creatures have cheated me. Well, I must
get as much back, by hook or by crook, from several fellow-
creatures."
After much hard thought, he conceived his double master-
stroke : and it was to execute this he went out to Australia.
We have seen that he persuaded Helen Rolleston to come
to England and be married ; but, as to the other part of his
project, that is a matter for the reader to watch, as it de-
velops itself.
His first act of business, on reaching England, was to
insure the freights of the Proserpine and the Shannon.
He sent Michael Penfold to Lloyds', with the requisite
vouchers, including the receipts of the gold merchants.
Penfold easily insured the Shannon, whose freight was valued
at only six thousand pounds. The Proserpine, with her cargo,
and a hundred and thirty thousand pounds of specie to boot,
was another matter. Some underwriters had an objection to
specie, being subject to theft as well as shipwreck; other
underwriters, applied to by Penfold, acquiesced ; others called
on Wardlaw himself, to ask a few questions, and he replied to
them courteously, but with a certain nonchalance, treating it
as an affair which might be big to them, but was not of parti-
cular importance to a merchant doing business on his scale.
To one underwriter, Condell, with whom he was on some-
what intimate terms, he said : '^ I wish I could insure the
Shannon at her value ; but that is impossible : the City of
London could not do it. The Proserpine brings me some
cases of specie, but my true treasure is on board the Shannon,
She carries my bride, sir.'*
" Oh, indeed. Miss Rolleston ? "
49 D
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
'* Ah, I remember ; you have seen her. Then you will not
be surprised at a proposal I shall make you. Underwrite the
Shannon a million pounds, to be paid by you if harm befalls
my Helen. You need not look so astonished ; I was only
joking ; you gentlemen deal with none but substantial values ;
and, as for me, a million would no more compensate me for
losing her, than for losing my own life."
The tears were in his pale eyes as he said these words;
and Mr. Condell eyed him with s)anpathy. But he soon
recovered himself, and was the man of business again. " Oh,
the specie on board the Proserpine ? Well, I was in Australia,
you know, and bought that specie myself of the merchants
whose names are attached to the receipts. I deposited the
cases with White & Co., at Sydney. Penfold will show you
the receipt. I instructed Joseph Wylie, mate of the Proser-
pine, and a trustworthy person, to see them stowed away in
the Proserpine by White & Co. Hudson is a good seaman ;
and the Proserpine a new ship, built by Mare. We have
nothing to fear but the ordinary perils of the sea."
" So one would think," said Mr. Condell, and took his
leave ; but, at the door, he hesitated, and then, looking down
a little sheepishly, said, " Mr. Wardlaw, may I offer you ja
piece of advice ? "
"Certainly."
^' Then, double the insurance on the Shannon, if you can."
With these words he slipped out, evidently to avoid ques-
tions he did not intend to answer.
Wardlaw stared after him, stupidly at first, and then stood
up and put his hand to his head in a sort of amazement.
Then he sat down again, ashy pale, and with the dew on his
forehead, and muttered faintly, " Double the insurance of
the Shannon I "
Men who walk in crooked paths are very subject to such
surprises ; doomed, like Ahab, to be pierced, through the
joints of their armour, by random shafts ; by words uttered in
one sense, but conscience interprets them in another.
It took a good many underwriters to insure the Proserpine's
freight ; but the business was done at last.
Then Wardlaw, who had feigned insouciance so admirably in
that part of his interview with Condell, went, without losing an
hour, and raised a large sum of money on the insured freight,
to meet the bills that were coming due for the gold (for he
had paid for most of it in paper at short dates), and also other
50
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
bills that were approaching maturity. This done he breathed
again^ safe for a month or two from everything short of a
general panie^ and full of hope from his coming masteivstroke.
But two months soon pass when a man has a flock of kites in
the air. Pass ? They fly. So now he looked out anxiously
for his Australian ships; and went to Lloyds' every day to
hear if either had been seen or heard of by steamers^ or by
faster sailing vessels than themselves.
And, though Qjndell had underwritten the Proserpine to
the tune of JB8000, yet still his mysterious words rang
strangely in the merchant's ears, and made him so uneasy
that he employed a discreet person to sound Condell as to
what he meant by " double the insurance of the Shannon.*'
It turned out to be the simplest affair in the world ; Con-
dell had secret information that the Shannon was in bad
repair, so he had advised his friend to insure her heavily.
For the same reason he declined to underwrite her freight
himself.
With respect to those ships our readers already know two
things, of which Wardlaw himself, nota bene, had no idea;
namely, that the Shannon had sailed last, instead of first, and
that Miss Rolleston was not on board of her, but in the
Proserpine, two thousand miles ahead.
To that, your superior knowledge, we, posters of the sea
and land, are about to make a large addition, and relate
things strange, but true. While that anxious and plotting
merchant strains his eyes seaward, trying hard to read the
future, we carry you, in a moment of time, across the Pacific,
and board the leading vessel, the good ship Proserpine, home-
ward bound.
The ship left Sydney with a fair wind, but soon encountered
adverse weather, and made slow progress, being close hauled,
which was her worst point of sailing. She pitched a good
deal, and that had a very ill effect on Miss Rolleston. She
was not sea-sick, but thoroughly out of sorts ; and, in one
week, became perceptibly paler and thinner than when she
started.
The young clerg3naaan, Mr. Hazel, watched her with re-
spectful anxiety, and this did not escape her feminine observa-
- tion. She noted quietly that those dark eyes of his followed
her with a mournful tenderness, but withdrew their gaze
when she looked at him. Qearly, he was interested in her,
but had no desire to intrude upon her attention. He would
bring up the squabs for her, and some of his own wraps,
51
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
TOUL PLAY
when she stayed on deck, and was prompt with his arm when
the vessel lurched ; and showed her those other little atten-
tions which are called for on board ship, but without a
word. Yet, when she thanked him in the simplest and
shortest way, his great eyes flashed with .pleasure, and the
colour mounted to his very temples.
Engaged young ladies are, for various reasons, more sociable
with the other sex than those who are still on the universal
mock-defensive ; a ship, like a distant country, thaws even
English reserve, and women in general are disposed to admit
ecclesiastics to certain privileges. No wonder then that Miss
Rolleston, after a few days, met Mr. Hazel half-way ; and
they made acquaintance on board the Proserpine in mono-
syllables at first ; but, the ice once fairly broken, the inter-
course of mind became rather rapid.
At first it was a mere intellectual exchange, but one very
agreeable to Miss Rolleston ; for a fine memory, and omni-
vorous reading from his very boyhood, with the habit of
taking notes, and reviewing them, had made Mr. Hazel a
walking dictionary, and a walking essayist if required.
But, when it came to something, which most of all the
young lady had hoped from this temporary acquaintance, viz.,
reUgous instruction, she found him indeed as learned on that
as on other topics, but cold, and devoid of unction : so much
so, t^jat one day she said to him, " I can hardly believe you
have ever been a missionary." But at that he seemed so dis-
tressed, that she was sorry for him, and said sweetly, " Excuse
me, Mr. Hazel ; my remark was in rather bad taste, I fear."
^' {^ot at all," said he. ^' Of course I am unfit for mis-
sionary work, or I should not be here."
Miss Rolleston took a good look at him, but said nothing.
However, his reply and her perusal of his countenance satis-
fied her that he was a man with very little petty vanity and
petty irritability.
Day succeeded day, with a monotony which had been
unendurable to Helen but for the variety she found in her
fellow-passenger. The true modesty of learning made his
mind, like a library, mute until consulted. Shallow streams
are garrulous. She had studied botany; she observed that
he was studious to conceal that he was her master in that
science. A conversation between him and the ship's surgeon,
drew from the latter an expression of surprise to find the
^clergyman's knowledge of chemistry exceeded his own.
Helen did not understand a word of the discussion, but she
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
read the faces of the two men, and saw which was out of
his depth.
One mornings after ten days* murky weather, the sky
suddenly cleared, and a rare opportunity occurred to take
an observation. Hazel suggested to Wylie, the mate, the
propriety of taking advantage of the moment, as the fog
bank out of which they had just emerged would soon
envelope them again, and they had not more than an hour
or so of such weather available. The man gave a shuffling
answer. So Hazel sought the captain in his cabin. He
found him in bed. He was dead drunk.
On a shelf lay the instruments. These Hazel took, and
then looked round for the chronometers. They were safely
locked in their cases.
He carried the instruments on deck, together with a book
of Tables, and quietly began to make preparations, at which
Wylie, arresting his walk, gazed with utter astonishment.
'^Now, Mr. Wylie, I want the key of the chronometer
cases."
'^Here is a chronometer, Mr. Hazel," said Helen very
innocently, "if that is all you want."
Hazel smiled, and explained that a ship's clock is made to
keep the most exact time ; that he did not require the time
of the spot where they were, but Greenwich time.
He took the watch, however. It was a large one for a
lady to carry ; but it was one of Frodsham's masterpieces
for was it not Arthur Wardlaw's gift ?
'* Why, Miss RoUeston," said he, " this watch must be two
hours slow. It marks ten o'clock ; it is now nearly mid-day.
Ah, I see," he added, with a smile: "you have wound it
regularly every day ; but you have forgotten to set it daily.
Indeed, you may be right; it would be a useless trouble,
since we change our longitude hourly. Well, let us presume
that this watch shows the exact time at Sydney, as I presume
it does ; I can work the ship's reckoning from that meridian^
instead of that of Greenwich."
And he set about doing it. He looked up, and saw that
the crew were assembling as near the quarter-deck as dis-
cipline permitted.
" Mr. Wylie, would you kindly obtain a chart for me } "
The mate betrayed some curiosity at first ; but now, when
he perceived that the crew had become witnesses of the cap-
tain's incapacity to fulfil this impoi'tant duty, he answered
doggedly
53 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
'^ I think, sir, you took a great liberty in overhauling the
skipper's books and tackle."
" We have not had an observation for ten days. Surely it
is necessary to find the position of the ship/* remonstrated
Hazel.
^' He'll make you find yours, when he comes on deck,"
muttered the man.
Hazel stepped up to him and whispered
" The captain is drunk, senselessly drunk. Do not compel
me to remember the fact, and report it at Lloyds', and to the
owners, when we arrive in England."
Wylie gazed stupidly for a moment into Hazel's face, and
then shuffled off and disappeared into the captain's cabin.
In a few moments he emerged with the chronometers and
the charts, bearing also the thanks of Captain Hudson, who
was down with bilious fever. Hazel received the message
and the instruments without remark. He verified Miss
Rolleston's chronometer, and allowing for difference of time,
found it to be accurate. He returned it to her, and pro-
ceeded to work on the chart. The men looked on ; so did
Wylie. After a few moments Hazel read as follows : '' West
longitude, 146' 53' 18". South latitude, 35^* 24'. The
Island of Oparo and the Four Crowns, distant 420 miles on
the N.N.E. The white banks of fog prevailing on the south
seem to indicate ice-floes in that quarter; Barometer
Thermometer in the sea as compared with yesterday .
There," said he, handing the paper to Wylie, " I leave these
to be filled in by the captain. I presume he keeps some such
record in his log."
Wylie removed the instruments, the men retired to the
forecastle, and Miss Rolleston fixed her large soft eyes on the
young clergyman, with the undisguised admiration a woman
is apt to feel for what she does not understand.
One day they were discoursing of gratitude ; and Mr.
Hazel said he had a poor opinion of those persons who speak
of " the burden of gratitude," and make a fuss about being
"laidlmder an obligation."
" As for me," said he, ^' I have owed such a debt, and found
the sense of it very sweet."
" But perhaps you were always hoping to make a return,"
said Helen.
'^ That I was : hoping against hope."
'* Do you think people are grateful, in general ? "
"No^ Miss Rolleston, I do not."
^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
''Well, I think they are. To me, at least. Why, I have
experienced gratitude, even in a convict. It was a poor man,
who had been transported, for something or other, and he
begged papa to take him for his gardener. Papa did, and
he was so grateful that, do you know, he suspected our house
was to be robbed, and he actually watched in the garden
night after night : and what do you think ? the house w(u
attacked by a whole gang ; but poor Mr. Seaton confronted
them and shot one, and was wounded cruelly ; but he beat
them off for us ; and was not that gratitude ? "
While she was speaking so earnestly, Mr. Hazel's blood
seemed to run through hfe veins like heavenly fire ; but he
said nothing, and the lady resumed, with gentle fervour:
" Well, we got him a clerk's place in a shipping-office, and
heard no more of him ; but he did not forget us : my cabin
here was fitted up with every comfort and every delicacy.
I thanked papa for it ; but he looked so blank, I saw directly
he knew nothing about it ; and now, I thiidc of it, it was
Mr. Seaton. I am positive it was. Poor fellow ! And I
should not even know him if I saw him."
Mr. Hazel observed, in a low voice, that Mr. Seaton's
conduct did not seem wonderful to him. *' Still," said he,
''one is glad to find there is some good left even in a
criminal."
" A criminal ! " cried Helen Rolleston, firing up. " Pray
who says he was a criminal.'^ Mr. Hazel, once for all, no
firiend of mine ever deserves such a name as that. A friend
of mine may commit some great error or imprudence ; but
that is all. The poor grateful soul was never guilty of any
downright wickedness ; that stands to reason'*
Mr. Hazel did not encounter this feminine logic with his
usual ability ; he muttered something or other, with a trem-
bling Up, and left her so abruptly, that she asked herself
whether she had inadvertently said anything that could have
offended him, and awaited an explanation. But none came.
The topic was never revived by Mr. Hazel ; and his manner,
at their next meeting, showed he liked her none thp worse
that she stood up for her friends.
The vrind steady from the west for two whole days, and
the Proserpine showed her best sailing qualities, and ran four
hundred and fifty miles in that time.
Then came a dead calm, and the sails flapped lazily, and
the masts described an arc; and the sun broiled; and the
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
sailors whistled ; and the captain drank ; and the mate en-
couraged him.
During this calm Miss Rolleston fell downright ill, and
quitted the deck. Then Mr. Hazel was very sad : borrowed
all the books in the ship, and read them, and took notes ; and
when he had done this, he was at leisure to read men, and so
began to study Hiram Hudson, Joseph Wylie, and others, and
take a few notes about them.
From these we select some that are better worth the
reader's attention than anything we could relate in our own
persons at this stagnant part of the story.
PASSAGES FROM MR. HAZEL'S DIARY.
Characters on hoard the " Proserpine"
'^ There are two sailors, messmates, who have formed an
antique friendship ; their names are John Welch, and Samuel
Cooper. Welch is a very able seaman and a chatterbox.
Cooper is a good sailor, but very silent; only what he does
say is much to the purpose.
^' The gabble of Welch is agreeable to the silent Cooper ;
and Welch admires Cooper s taciturnity.
"I asked Welch what made him like Cooper so much.
And he said, ' Why, you see, sir, he is my messmate, for one
thing, and a seaman that knows his work ; and then he has
been well eddycated, and he knows when to hold his tongue,
does Sam.*
" I asked Cooper why he was so fond of Welch. He only
grunted in an uneasy way at first ; but when I pressed for a
reply, he let out two words ^Capital company.' And got
away from me.
"Their friendship, though often roughly expressed, is
really a tender and touching sentiment I think either of
these sailors would bare his back and take a dozen lashes in
place of his messmate. I too once thought I had made such
a friend. Eheu !
" Both Cooper and Welch seem, by their talk, to consider
the ship a living creature. Cooper chews. Welch only
smokes, and oflen lets his pipe out : he is so voluble.
"Captain Hudson is quite a character: or, I might say,
two characters ; for he is one man when he is sober, and
another when he is the worse for liquor : and that I am sorry
to see is very often. Captain Hudson, sober, is a rough,
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
bearish seaman, with a quick, experienced eye, that takes in
every rope in the ship, as he walks up and down his quarter-
deck. He either evades, or bluntly declines conversation,
and gives his whole mind to sailing his ship.
'^ Captain Hudson, drunk, is a garrulous man, who seems
to have drifted back into the past. He comes up to you and
talks of his own accord, and always about himself, and what
he did fifteen or twenty years since. He forgets whatever
has occurred half-an-hour ago; and his eye, which was an
eagle's, is now a mole's. He no longer sees what his sailors
are doing alow or aloft ; to be sure he no longer cares ; his
present ship may take care of herself while he is talking of
his past ones. But the surest indicia of inebriety in Hudson
are these two. First, his nose is red. Secondly, he dis-
courses upon a seaman's duty to his employers, Ebrius rings
the changes on his 'duty to his employers' till drowsiness
attacks his hearers. Cicero de Officiis was all very well at a
certain period of one's Hfe: but hihuhts nauta de officiis is
rather too much.
'' N.B, Except when his nose is red, not a word about his
' duty to his employers.' That phrase, like a fine lady, never
ventures into the morning air. It is purely post-prandial, and
sacred to occasions when he is utterly neglecting his duty to
his employers, and to everybody else.
''All this is ridiculous enough, but somewhat alarming.
To think that her precious life should be entrusted to the care
and skill of so unreliable a captain !
"Joseph Wyhe, the mate, is less eccentric, but even more
remarkable. He is one of those powerfully built fellows,
whom Nature, one would think, constructed to gain all their
ends by force and directness. But no such thing ; he goes
about as softly as a cat ; is always popping up out of holes
and comers ; and I can see he watches me, and tries to hear
what I say to her. He is civil to me when I speak to him ;
yet, I notice he avoids me quietly. Altogether, there is
something about him that puzzles me. Why was he so re-
luctant to let me on board as a passenger ? Why did he tell
a downright falsehood ? For he said there was no room for
me ; yet, even now, there are two cabins vacant, and he has
taken possession of them.
" The mate of this slgp has several barrels of spirits in his
cabin, or rather cabins, and it is he who makes the captain
drunk. I learned this from one of the boys. This looks
; . . Uigitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
ugly. I fear Wylie is a bad, designing man, who wishes to
ruin the captain, and so get his place. But, meantime, the
ship might be endangered by this drunkard's misconduct. I
shall watch Wylie closely, and perhaps put the captain on his
guard against this false friend.
'^Last night a breeze got up about sunset, and H
R came on deck for half-an-hour. I welcomed her as
calmly as I could ; but I felt my voice tremble and my heart
throb. She told me the voyage tired her much; but it
was the last she should have to make. How strange, how
hellish (God forgive me for saying so !) it seems that she
should love him. But, does she love him? Can she love
him.^ Q)uld she love him if she knew all? Know him
she shall before she marries him. For the present, be still,
my heart.
" She soon went below and left me desolate. I wandered
all about the ship, and at last I came upon the inseparables,
Welch and Cooper. They were squatted on the deck, and
Welch's tongue was going as usual. He was talking about
this Wylie, and sa3ring that, in all his ships, he had never
known such a mate as this ; why, the captain was under his
thumb. He then gave a string of captains, each of whom
would have given his mate a round dozen at the gangway, if
he had taken so much on him as this one does.
" ^ Grog ! ' suggested Cooper, in extenuation.
" Welch admitted Wylie was liberal with that, and friendly
enough with the men; but, still he preferred to see a
ship commanded by the captain, and not by a lubber like
Wylie.
^* I expressed some surprise at this term, and said I had
envied WyHe's nerves in a gale of wind we encountered early
in the voyage.
" The talking sailor explained, ^ In course, he has been to
sea afore this, and weathered many a gale. But so has the
cook. That don't make a man a sailor. You ask him how
to send down a to'-gallant yard, or gammon a bowsprit, or
even mark a lead line, and he'll stare at ye, like Old Nick,
when the angel caught him with the red-hot tongs, and ques-
tioned him out of the Church Catechism. Ask Sam there,
if ye don't beheve me. Sam, what do you think of this
Wylie for a seaman ? '
"Cooper could not afford anything so precious, in his
estimate of things, as a word ; but he lifted sT^great brawny
hand, and gave a snap with his finger and thumb, that dis-
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
posed of the mate's pretensions to seamanship more expres-
sively than words could have done it.
^'The breeze has freshened, and the ship glides rapidly
through the water, bearing us all homeward. H R
has resumed her place upon the deck ; and all seems bright
again. I ask myself how we existed without the sight of her.
^*This morning the wind shifted to the south-west; the
captain surprised us by taking in sail. But his sober eye
had seen something more than ours ; for at noon it blew a
gale, and by sunset it was deemed prudent to bring the
ship's head to the wind, and we are now lying-to. The ship
lurches, and the wind howls through the bare rigging; but
she rides buoyantly, and no danger is apprehended.
^^ Last night, as I lay in my cabin, unable to sleep, I heard
some heavy blows strike the ship's side repeatedly, causing
quite a vibration. I felt alarmed, and went out to tell the
captain. But I was obliged to go on my hands and knees,
such was the force of the wind. Passing the mate's cabin,
I heard sounds that made me Hsten acutely; and I then
found the blows were being struck inside the ship. I got
to the captain and told him. ' Oh,' said he, ' ten to one
it's the mate nailing down his chests, or the like.* But
I assured him the blows struck the side of the ship, and,
at my earnest request, he came out and Hstened. He
swore a great oath, and said the lubber would be through
the ship's side. He then tried the cabin door, but it was
locked.
'^ The sounds ceased directly.
" We called to the mate, but received no reply for a long
time. At last Wylie came out of the gun-room, looking
rather pale, and asked what was the matter.
" I told him he ought to know best, for the blows were
heard where he had just come from.
^^ ^ Blows ! ' said he ; ' I believe you. Why, a tierce of
butter had got adrift, and was bumping up and down the
hold like thunder.' He then asked us whether that was what
we had disturbed him for, entered his cabin, and almost
slammed the door in our faces.
" I remarked to the captain on his disrespectful conduct
The captain was civil, and said I was right ; he was a cross-
grained, unotanageable brute, and he wished he was out
of the ship. ^^ But you see, sir, he has got the ear of the
pierchant ashore ; and so I am obliged to hold a candle to
^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
the devil, as the saying is.' He then fired a volley of oaths
and abuse at the offender ; and, not to encourage foul
language, I retired to ray cabin.
"The wind declined towards daybreak, and the ship
recommenced her voyage at 8 a.m. ; but under treble reefed
topsails, and reefed courses.
" I caught the captain and mate talking together in the
friendliest way possible. That Hudson is a humbug ; there
is some mystery between him and the mate.
"To-day H R was on deck for several hours,
conversing sweetly, and looking like the angel she is. But
happiness soon files from me : a steamer came in sight, bound
for Sydney. She signalled us to heave-to, and send a boat.
This was done, and the boat brought back a letter for her.
It seems they took us for the Shannon, in which ship she
was expected.
" The letter was from him. How her cheek fiushed, and
her eye beamed athat midnight hour in that hidden place,
he saw who was the workman, and what was his occupation.
It was Joseph Wylie, the mate. His profile was illuminated
by the candle, and looked ghastly. He had in his hands
an auger of enormous size, and with this he was drilling a
great hole through the ship's side, just below the water-mark,
an act the effect of which would be to let the sea bodily into
the ship, and sink her, with every soul on board, to the bottom
of the Pacific Ocean.
*^ I was stupefied ; and my hairs stood on end, and my
tongue clove to my jaws."
Thus does one of Virgil's characters describe the effect his
mind produced on his body, in a terrible situation.
Mr. Hazel had always ridiculed that trite line as a pure
exaggeration ; but he altered his opinion after that eventful
night.
When he first saw what Wylie was doing obstupuit; he
was merely benumbed ; but, as his mind realised the fiendish
nature of the act and its tremendous consequences, his hair
actually bristled, and, for a few minutes at least, he could not
utter a word.
In that interval of stupor, matters took another turn. The
auger went in up to the haft: then Wylie caught up with
his left hand a wooden plug he had got ready, jerked the
auger away, caught up a hammer, and swiftly inserted the
plug.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Rapid as he was, a single jet of water came squirting
viciously in. But Wylie lost no time; he tapped the plug
smartly with his hammer several times, and then, lifting a
mallet with both hands, rained heavy blows on it that drove
it in, and shook the ship's side.
Then Hazel found his voice, and he uttered an ejaculation
that made the mate look round ; he glared at the man, who
was glaring at him, and, staggering backward, trod on the
light, and all was darkness and dead silence.
All but the wash of the sea outside, and that louder than
ever.
CHAPTER IX
But a short interval sufficed to restore one of the parties to
his natural self-possession.
"Lord, sir," said Wylie, "how you startled me! You
should not come upon a man at his work like that. We
might have had an accident."
''What were you doing?" said Hazel, in a voice that
quivered in spite of him.
" Repairing the ship. Found a crack or two in her inner
skin. There, let me get a light, and I'll explain it to you,
sir."
He groped his way out, and invited Mr. Hazel into his
cabin. There he struck a light, and, with great civility,
tendered an explanation. The ship, he said, had laboured a
good deal in the last gale, and he had discovered one or two
flaws in her, which were of no immediate importance ; but
experience had taught him that in calm weather a ship
ought to be kept tight. "As they say ashore, a stitch in
time saves nine."
"But drilling holes in her is not the way," scdd Hazel
sternly.
The mate laughed. "Why, sir," said he, what other
way is there ? We cannot stop an irregular crack ; we can
frame nothing to fit it. The way is to get ready a plug,
measured a trifle larger than the aperture you are going to
make, then drill a round hole, and force' in the plug. I
know no other way than that ; and I was a ship's carpenter
for ten years before I was a mate."
This explanation, and the manner in which it was given,
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Temoved Mr. Hazel's apprehensions for the time being. '' It
was very alarming/' said he ; '* but I suppose you know your
business."
'^Nobody better, sir," said Wylie. *^Why, it is not one
seaman in three that would trouble his head about a flaw in a
ship's inner skin ; but I'm a man that looks ahead. Will you
have a glass of grog, sir, now you are here ? I keep that
under my eye too ; between ourselves, if the skipper had as
much in his cabin as I have here, that might be worse for us
all than a crack or two in the ship's inner skin."
Mr. Hazel declined to drink grog at that time in the
morning, but wished him good night, and left him with a
better opinion of him than he ever had till then.
Wyhe, when he was gone, drew a tumbler of neat spirits,
drank half, and carried the rest back to his work.
Yet Wylie was a very sober man in a general way. Rum
was his tool, not his master.
When Hazel came to think of it all next day, he did not
feel quite so easy as he had done. The inner skin ! But,
when WyHe withdrew his auger, the water had squirted in
furiously. He felt it hard to believe that this keen jet of
water could be caused by a small quantity that had found its
way between the skin of the ship and her copper, or her top
booting ; it seemed rather to be due to the direct pressure of
the liquid monster outside.
He went to the captain that afternoon, and first told him
what he had seen, offering no solution. The captain, on that
occasion, was in an amphibious state, neither wet nor dry ;
and his reply was altogether exceptional. He received the
communication with pompous civility ; then swore a great
oathj and said he would put the mate in irons : '^ Confound
the lubber ! he will be through the ship's bottom."
"But, stop a moment," said Mr. Hazel, "it is only fair
you should sdso hear how he accounts for his proceeding."
The captain Ustened attentively to the explanation, and
altered his tone. " Oh, that is a different matter," said he.
" You need be under no alarm, sir ; the thundering lubber
knows what he is about at that work. Why, he has been a
ship's carpenter all his life. Him a seaman ! If anjrthing
ever happens to me, and Joe Wylie is set to navigate this
ship, then you may say your prayers. He isn't fit to sail a
wash-tub across a duck-pond. But I'll tell you what it is,"
added this worthy, with more pomposity than neatness of
articulation, '^here's a respeckable passenger brought me a
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
report; do my duty m'employers, and take a look at the
well."
He accordingly chalked a plumb-line, and went and
sounded the well.
There were eight inches of water. Hudson told him that
was no more than all ships contained from various causes;
''in* fact/* said he, ''our pumps suck, and will not draw at
eight inches." Then suddenly grasping Mr. Hazel's hand, he
said, in tearful accents, " Don't you trouble your head about
Joe Wylie, or any such scum. I'm skipper of the Proserpine,
and a man that does his duty to z'employers. Mr. Hazel,
sir, I'd come to my last anchor in that well this moment, if
my duty to m' employers required it. I'd lie down there this
minute, and never move to all eternity, and a day after, if it
was my duty to m'employers."
"No doubt," said Hazel drily. "But I think you can
serve your empolyers better in other parts of the ship,** He
then left him with a piece of advice, " to keep his eye upon
that Wylie."
Mr. Hazel kept his own eye on Wylie so constantly, that
at eleven o'clock p.m. he saw that worthy go into the captain's
cabin with a quart bottle of rum.
The coast was clear ; the temptation great ; these men were
still deceiving him with a feigned antagonism. He listened at
the keyhole, not without some compunction ; which, however,
became less and less as fragments of the dialogue reached
his ear.
For a long time the only speaker was Hudson, and his
discourse ran upon his own exploits at sea. But suddenly
Wylie's voice broke in with an unmistakable tone of supe-
riority. " Belay all that chat, and listen to me. It is time
we settled something. I'll hear what you have got to say ;
and then you'll do what / say. Better keep your hands off
the bottle a minute ; you have had enough for the present ;
this is business. I know you are good for jaw ; but what are
you game to do for the governor's money } Anything ? "
" More than you have ever seen or heard tell of, ye lubber,"
replied the irritated skipper. "Who has ever served his
employers like Hiram Hudson ? "
" Keep that song for your quarter-deck," retorted the mate
contemptuously. " No ; on second thoughts, just tell me how
you have served your employers, you old humbug. Give me
chapter and verse to choose from. Come now, the Neptune?"
"Well, the Neptune; she caught fire a hundred leagues
- Digitized by VjOOQIC
FOUL PLAY
from land. Somebody set a lighted candle on a gallon of tur-
pentine. Well^ I put her head before the wind^ and ran for
the Azores ; and I stuck to her^ sir^ till she was as black as a
coal^ and we couldn't stand on deck^ but kept hopping like
parched peas ; and fire belching out of her port-holes forward.
Then we took to the boats^ and saved a few bales of silk by
way of sample of her cargo, and got ashore ; and she'd have
come ashore too next tide and told tales ; but somebody left a
keg of gunpowder in the cabin^ with a long fuse, and blew a
hole in her old ribs, that the water came in, and down she
went, hissing like ten thousand serpents, and nobody the
wiser."
^^Who Ughted the fuse, I wonder?" said Wylie.
'^ Didn't I tell ye it was Somebody ? " said Hudson. " Hand
me the stiff." He replenished his glass, and after taking a
sip or two, asked WyHe if he had ever had the luck to be
boarded by pirates.
No," said Wylie. " Have you ? "
^' Ay ; and they rescued me from a watery grave, as the
lubbers call it. Ye see, I was employed by Downes & Co.,
down at the Havannah, and cleared for Vera Cruz with some
boxes of old worn-out printers' type."
^'To print psalm-books for the darkies, no doubt," sug-
gested Wylie.
" Insured as specie," continued Hudson, ignoring the inter-
ruption. ^'WeU, just at daybreak one morning, all of a
sudden there was a rakish-looking crafl on our weather-bow ;
lets fly a nine-pounder across our fore-foot, and was alongside
before my men could tumble up from below. I got knocked
into the sea by the boom, and fell between the ships ; and
the pirate he got hold of me, and poured hot grog down my
throat to bring me to my senses."
" That is not what you use it for in general," said Wylie.
*' Civil sort of pirate, though."
'^ Pirate be blowed. That was my consort, rigged out with
a black flag, and mounted with four nine-pounders on one
side, and five dummies on the other. He blustered a bit, and
swore, and took our t3rpe and our cabbages (I complained to
Downes ashore about the vagabond taking the vegetables), and
ordered us to leeward under all canvas, and we never saw him
again ^not till he had shaved off his mustaches, and called on
Downes to condole, and say the varmint had chased his ship
fifty leagues out of her course ; but he had got clear of him.
Downes complimented me publicly. Says he, 'This skipper
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
boarded the pirate single-handed ; only he jumped shorty and
fell between the two ships; and here he is by a mirade/
Then he takes out his handkerchief, and flops his head on my
shoulder. ' His merciful preservation almost reconciles me to
the loss of my gold,' says the thundering crocodile. Cleared
70,000 dollars, he did, out of the Manhattan Marine, and gave
the pirate and me but 200 between us both/'
'' The Rose ? " said Wylie.
*'What a hurry you are in! Pass the grog. Well, the
Rose she lay off Ushant. We canted her to wash the decks ;
lucky she had a careful commander; not like Kempenfelt,
whose eye was in his pocket, and his fingers held the pen, so
he went to the bottom, with Lord knows how many men. I
noticed the squalls came very sudden ; so I sent most of my
men ashore, and got the boats ready in case of accident. A
squall did strike her, and she was on her beam-ends in a
moment ; we pulled ashore with two bales of silk by way
of salvage, and sample of what wasn't in her hold when
she settled down. We landed; and the Frenchmen were
dancing about with excitement. * Captain,' says one, * you
have much sang f raw! ' Insured, mounseer,' says L * Bone,*
says he.
" Then there was the Antelope, lost in charge of a pilot off
the Hooghly. I knew the water as well as he did. We were
on the port tack, standing towards the shoaL Weather it, as
we should have done next tact, and I should have failed in
my duty to my employers. Anything but that. ' Look out ! '
said I ; ' pilot, she forereaches in stays.' Pilot was smoking :
those Sandhead pilots smoke in bed and asleep. He takes his
cigar out of his mouth for one moment. ^ Ready about,' says
he. 'Hands 'bout ship. Helm's a-lee. Raise tacks and
sheets.' Round she was coming like a top. Pilot smoking.
Just as he was going to haul the mainsail, somebody tripped
against him, and shoved the hot cigar in his eye. He sung
out and swore, and there was no mainsail haul. Ship in
irons, tide running hard on to the shoal, and before we could
clear away for anchoring, bump ! ^there she was, hard and
fest. A stiff breeze got up at simrise, and she broke up.
Next day I was sipping my grog and reading the Bengal
Courier, and it told the disastrous wreck of the brig Antelope,
wrecked in charge of a pilot; 'but no lives lost, and the
owners fully insured.' Then there was the bark Sallt^. Why,
you saw her yourself distressed on a lee shore."
''Yes," said Wylie. "I was in that tub, the Grampus,
72
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
and we contrived to claw off the Scillies^ yet you in your
smart Sally got ashore. What luck I "
" Luck be blowed ! " cried Hudson angrily. '* Somebody
got into the chains to sound; and cut the lee halyards.
Next tack the masts went over the side; and I had done
my duty."
" Lives were lost that time, eh ? " said Wylie gravely.
*' What is that to you ? " replied Hudson, with the sudden
ire of a drunken man. ^^ Mind your own business. Pass the
bottle."
" Yes, lives was lost ; and always will be lost in sea-going
ships, where the skipper does his duty. There was a sight
more lost at Trafalgar, owing to every man doing his duty.
Lives lost, ye lubber ! And why not mine ? Because their
time was come, and mine wasn't. For Fll tell you one thing,
Joe WyHe ^if she takes fire and runs before the wind tUl
she is as black as a coal, and belching flame through all her
port-holes, and then explodes, and goes aloft in ten thousand
pieces no bigger than my hat, or your knowledge of naviga-
tion, Hudson is the last man to leave her : Duty 1 If she
goes on her beam ends and founders, Hudson sees the last of
her, and reports it to his employers: Duty! If she goes
grinding on Scilly, Hudson is the last man to leave her bones :
Duty .* -Some day perhaps I shall be swamped myself along
with the craft: I have escaped till now, all owing to not
being insured; but if ever my time should come, and you
should get clear, promise me, Joe, to see the owners, and
tell 'em Hudson did his duty."
Here a few tears quenched his noble ardour for a moment.
But he soon recovered, and said with some little heat, ** You
have got the bottle again. I never saw such a fellow to get
hold of the bottle. Come, here's ^ Duty to our employers ! '
And now I'll tell you how we managed with the Catysbrook
and the Amelia"
This promise was followed by fresh narratives : in parti-
cular of a vessel he had run upon the Florida reef at night,
where wreckers had been retained in advance to look out for
signals, and come on board and quarrel in pretence, and set
fire to the vessel, insured at thrice her value.
Hudson got quite excited with the memory of these ex-
ploits, and told each successive feat louder and louder.
But now it was Wylie's turn. '^Well," said he gravely,
"all this was child's play."
7-^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
There. was a pause that marked Hudson's astonishment.
Then he broke out, '^ Child's play, ye lubber ! If you had
been there, your gills would have been as white as your
Sunday shirt."
'^ Come, be civil," said Wylie. " I tell you all the ways
you have told me are too suspicious. Our governor is a high-
flyer ; he pays like a prince, and, in return, he must not be
blown on, if it is ever so Uttle. ^ Wylie,' says he, ' a breath
of suspicion would kill me.' 'Make it so much,' says I,
' and that breath shall never blow on you.' No, no, skipper ;
none of those ways will do for us : they have all been worked
twice too often. It must be done in fair weather, and in a
way ^fill your glass, and I'll fill mine capital rum this.
You talk of my gills turning white ; before long, we shall see
whose keeps their colour best, mine or yours, my Bo."
There was a silence, during which Hudson was probably
asking himself what Wylie meant ; for presently he broke
out into a loud but somewhat unsteady voice, ''Why, you
mad, drunken devil of a ship's carpenter, red-hot from heU, 1
see what you are at, now ; you are going "
" Hush I " cried Wylie, alarmed in his turn. " Is this the
sort of thing to bellow out for the watch to hear ? Whisper,
now."
This was followed by the earnest mutterings of two voices.
In vain did the listener send his very soul into his ear to hear.
He could catch no single word. Yet he could tell, by the
very tones of the speakers, that the dialogue was one of
mystery and importance.
Here was a situation at once irritating and alarming ; but
there was no help for it. The best thing, now, seemed to be
to withdraw unobserved, and wait for another opportunity.
He did so : and he had not long retired, when the mate came
out staggering, and flushed with Uquor, and that was a thing
that had never occurred before. He left the cabin door open,
and went into his own room.
Soon after sounds issued from the cabin, peculiar sounds,
something between grunting and snoring.
Mr. Hazel came and entered the cabin. There he found
the captain of the Proserpine in a position very unfistvourable
to longevity. His legs were crooked over the seat of his
chair, and his head was on the ground. His handkerchief was
tight round his neck, and the man himself dead drunk, and
purple in the face.
Mr. Hazel instantly undid his stock ; on which the gallant
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
seaman muttered inarticulately. He then took his feet off
the chair, and laid them on the ground, and put the empty
bottle under the animal's neck. He gave the prostrate figure
a heavy kick that almost turned it over, and the words, "Duty
to m* employers," gurgled out of its mouth directly.
It really seemed as if these sounds were independent of the
mind, and resided at the tip of Hudson's tongue ; so that a
thorough good kick could at any time shake them out of his
inanimate body.
Thus do things ludicrous, and things terrible, mingle in the
real world ; only, to those who are in the arena, the ludicrous
passes unnoticed, being overshadowed by its terrible neighbour.
And so it was with Hazel. He saw nothing absurd in all
this ; and in that prostrate, insensible hog, commanding the
ship, forsooth, and canying all their lives in his hands : he
saw the mysterious and alarming only ; saw them so, and felt
them, that he lay awake all night thinking what he should do,
and early next day he went into the mate's cabin, and said to
him, " Mr. Wylie, in any other ship 1 should speak to the
captain, and not to the mate ; but here that would be no use,
for you are the master, and he is your servant."
" Don't tell him so, sir, for he doesn't think small beer of
himself."
"I shall waste no more words on him. It is to you I
speak, and you know I speak the truth. Here is a ship, in
which, for certain reasons known to yourself, the captain is
under the mate."
" Well, sir," said Wylie good-humouredly, " it is of no use
trying to deceive a gentleman like you. Our skipper is an
excellent seaman, but he has got a fault." Then Wylie
imitated, with his hand, the action of a person filling his glass.
" And you are here to keep him sober, eh ? " \'
Wylie nodded.
" Then why do you ply him with liquor ? "
"I don't, sir."
" You do. I have seen you do it a dozen times : and last
night you took rum into lUs room, and made him so drunk,
he would have died where he lay if 1 had not loosed his
handkerchief."
'' I am sorry to hear that, sir ; but he was sober when I
left him. The fool must have got to the bottle the moment
I was gone."
'* But that bottle you put in his way ; I saw you : and what
was your object? to deaden his conscience with liquor, his
7a
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
and your own, while yoa made him your fiendish proposaL
Man, man, do you believe in God, and in a judgment to come
for the deeds done in the body, that you can plan in cold
blood to destroy a vessel with nineteen souls on board, besides
the live stock, the innocent animals that God pitied and
spared, when He raised his hand in wrath over Nineveh of
old?"
While the clergyman was speaking, with flashing eyes and
commanding voice, the seaman turned ashy pale, and drew
his shoulders together like a cat preparing to defend her life.
^^ I plan to destroy a vessel, sir ! You never heard me say
such a word ; and don't you hint such a thing in the ship, or
you will get yourself into trouble."
" That depends on you."
" How so, su- ? "
'' I have long suspected you."
" You need not tell me that, sir."
'^ But I have not communicated my suspicions. And now
that they are certainties, I come first to you. In one word,
will you forego your intention, since it is found out ? "
^' How can I forego what never was in my head? " said Wylie.
" Cast away the ship ! Why, there's no land within three
thousand miles. Founder a vessel in the Pacific ! Do you
think my life is not as sweet to me as yours is to you ? "
Wylie eyed him keenly to see the effect of these words,
and by a puzzled expression that came over his face, saw
at once he had assumed a more exact knowledge than he
really possessed.
Hazel replied that he had said nothing about foundering
the ship ; but there were many ways of destroying one. " For
instance," said he, '' I know how the Neptune was destroyed
and so do you; how the Rose and the Antelope were cast
away and so do you."
At this enumeration, Wylie lost his colour and self-posses-
sion for a moment ; he saw Hazel had been listening. Hazel
followed up his blow. " Promise me now, by all you hold
sacred, to forego this villainy ; and I hold my tongue. At-
tempt to defy me, or to throw dust in my eyes, and I go
instantly among the crew, and denounce both you and
Hudson to them."
" Good Heavens ! " cried Wylie, in unfeigned terror. "Why,
the men would mutiny on the spot."
" I can't help that," said Hazel firmly ; and took a step
towards the door.
76
Digitized
by"Google
POUL PLAY
''Stop a bit," said the mate, and springing before the
clergyman, he set his back against the door. " Don't be in
such a 'nation hurry ; for if you do, it will be bad for me, but
worse for you." The above was said so gravely, and with
such evident sincerity, that Mr. Hazel was struck, and showed
it. Wylie followed up that trifling advantage. " Sit down a
minute, sir, if you please, and listen to me. You never saw
a mutiny on board ship, Fll be bound. It is a worse thing
than any gale that ever blew ; begins fair enough, sometimes ;
but how does it end ? In breaking into the spirit room, and
drinking to madness, plundering the ship, ravishing the
women, and cutting a throat or so for certain. You don't
seem so fond of the picture as you was of the idea. And
then they might turn a deaf ear to you, after all. Ship is
well found in all stores ; provisions served out freely ; men in
good humour ; and I have got their ear. And now I'll tell
you why it won't suit your httle game to blacken me to the
crew upon the bare chance of a mutiny." He paused for a
moment, then resumed in a lower tone : " You see, sir, when
a man is very ready to suspect me, I always suspect him.
Now you was uncommon ready to suspect me. You didn't
wait till you came on board; you began the game ashore.
Oh ! that makes you open one eye, does it ? You thought I
didn't know you again. Knew you, my man, the moment
you came aboard. I never forget a face ; and disguises don't
pass on me."
It was now Hazel's turn to look anxious and discomposed.
" Well, then, the moment I saw you suspected me I was
down upon you. You come aboard under false colours. We
didn't want a chap like you in the ship ; but you would come.
'What is the bloke after?' says I, and watches. You was
so intent suspecting me of this, that, and t'other, that you un-
guarded yourself : and that is common too. ' I'm blowed if
it isn't the lady he is after,' says I. With all my heart : only
she might do better, and I don't see how she could do worse,
unless she went to Old Nick for a mate. Now, I'll tell you
what it is, my Ticket-o'-Leave. I've been in trouble myself,
and don't want to be hard on a poor devil, just because he
sails under an aUas, and lies as near the wind as he can, to
weather on the beaks and the bobbies. But one good turn
deserves another: keep your dirty suspicions to yourself; for
if you dare to open your lips to the men, in fiw^ minutes, or
less than that, you shall be in irons, and confined to your
cabin ; and we'll put you ashore at the first port that flies a
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
British flag, and hand you over to the authorities, till one of
Her Majesty's cruisers sends in a boat for you."
At this threat Mr. Hazel hung his head in con^sion and
dismay.
" Come, get out of my cabin. Parson Alias," shouted the
mate ; " and belay your foul tongue in this ship, and don't
make an enemy of Joe Wyhe, a man that can eat you up and
spit you out again, and never brag. Sheer off, I say, and be
d d to you."
Mr. Hazel, with a pale face and sick heart, looked aghast
at this dangerous man, who could be fox, or tiger, as the
occasion demanded.
Surprised, alarmed, outwitted, and out-menaced, he retired
with disordered countenance and uneven steps, and hid him-
self in his own cabin.
The more he weighed the whole situation, the more clearly
did he see that he was utterly powerless in the hands of
Wyhe. A skipper is an emperor ; and Hudson had the
power to iron him, and set him on shore at the nearest
port. The right to do it was another matter; but even
on that head, Wylie could furnish a plausible excuse for
the act Retribution, if it came at all, would not be severe,
and would be three or four years coming : and who fears it
much, when it is so dilatory, and so weak, and doubtful into
the bargain ?
He succumbed in silence for two days ; and then, in spite
of Wylie's threat, he made one timid attempt to approach the
subject with Welch and Cooper, but a sailor came up in-
stantly, and sent them forward to reef topsails. And when-
ever he tried to enter into conversation with the pair, some
sailor or other was sure to come up and listen.
Then he saw that he was spotted; or, as we say nowa-
days, picketed.
He was at his wits* end.
He tried his last throw. He wrote a few lines to Miss
RoUeston, requesting an interview. Aware of the difficulties
he had to encounter here, he stilled his heart by main force,
and wrote in terms carefully measured. He begged her to
beheve he had no design to intrude upon her, without
absolute necessity, and for her own good. Respect for her_
own wishes forbade this, and also his self-respect.
" But," said he, " I have made a terrible discovery. The
mate and the captain certainly intend to cast away this ship.
No doubt they will try and not sacrifice their gwn Uves and
78
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
ours ; but risk them they must^ in the very nature of things.
Before troubling you, I have tried all I could, in the way of
persuasion and menace, but am defeated. So now it rests
with you. You, alone, can save us all. 1 will tell you how,
if you will restrain your repugnance, and accord me a short
interview. Need I say that no other subject shall be intro-
duced by me. In England, should we ever reach it, I may
perhaps try to take measures to regain your good opinion ;
but here, I am aware, that is impossible ; and I shall make
no attempt in that direction, upon my honour."
To this there came a prompt and feminine reply.
''The ship is Mr. Arthur Wardlaw's. The captain and
the mate are able men appointed by him ; I shall hand them
your letter ; and I request, sir, this may be your last commu-
nication of any kind with Helen Anne Rolleston."
That night Wylie came to his cabin and laid on the table
before him his letter to Miss RoUeston.
" Now, lookye here, mate," said the man, '' what's to be
the game between you and me ? Has love for this gal druv
you off your head ? Take warning, and a last one, mind ye !
If you stir your eye to cross my business, 1 blow the gaff.
I'll introduce you to the lady under your true colours, and
introduce your reverend ankles to the irons atween decks !
What's got into ye ? " hissed the mate, advancing his face
close to Hazel's. And the rogue looked down the honest
man's eye that quailed before him. When Hazel looked up
he was gone. The poor fellow gazed on the letter, which
Helen had handed to the captsdn; he saw that resistance
was useless; his eyes wanderc^l about in despair; his arms
hung Ustlessly by his side. He was beaten.
His mental distress brought on an attack of that terrible
malady, jaimdice.
He crept about, yellow as a guinea, a very scarecrow.
He took no exercise ; he ate httle food. He lay, listless
and dejected, about the deck.
The ship now encountered an adverse gale, and, for three
whole days, was under close-reefed topsails. She was always
a wet ship under stress of weather, and she took in a good
deal of water on this occasion. On the fourth day it fell
calm, and Captain Hudson, having examined the well, and
found three feet of water, ordered the men to the pumps.
After working through one watch, the well was sounded
^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
again, and the water was so much reduced that the gangs
were taken off; and the ship being now becalmed, and the
weather lovely, the men were allowed to dance upon deck to
the boatswain's fiddle.
While this pastime went on, the sun, large and red,
reached the horizon, and difiused a roseate light over the
entire ocean.
Not one of the current descriptions of heaven approach the
actual grandeur and beauty of the blue sky fleck^ with ruby
and gold, and its Uquid mirror that lay below, calm, dimpled,
add glorified by that translucent, rosy tint.
While the eyes were yet charmed with this enchanting
bridal of the sea and sky, and the ear amused with the merry
fiddle and the nimble feet, that tapped the sounding deck so
deftly at every note. Cooper, who had been sounding the
well, ran forward all of a sudden, and flung a thunderbolt in
the midst.
"A Leak!"
CHAPTER X
The fiddle ended in mid-tune, and the men crowded aft
with anxious faces.
The captain sounded the well, and found three feet and
a half water in it. He ordered all hands to the pumps.
They turned to with a good heart, and pumped, watch and
watch, till daybreak.
Their exertions counteracted the leak, but did no more ;
the water in the well was neither more nor less perceptibly.
This was a rehef to their minds, so far ; but the situation was
a very serious one. Suppose foul weather should come, and
the vessel ship water from above as well !
Now, all those who were not on the pumps, set to work to
find out the leak and stop it if possible. With candles in
their hands, they crept about the ribs of the ship, narrowly
inspecting every comer, and applying their ears to every sus-
pected place, if haply they might hear the water coming in.
The place where Hazel had found Wylie at work was examined^
along with the rest ; but neither there nor anywhere else could
the leak be discovered. Yet the water was still coming in,
and required unremitting labour to keep it under. It was
then suggested by WyUe, and the opinion gradually gained
ground, that some of the seams had opened '-^ t^e late
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
gale^ and were letting in the water by small but numeroos
apertures.
Faces began to look cloudy ; and Hazel^ throwing off his
lethargy^ took his spell at the main pump with the rest.
When his gang was relieved^ he went away^ bathed in per-
spiration^ and^ leaning over the well^ sounded it.
While thus employed the mate came behind him^ with his
cat-like step^ and said^ ^^ See what has come on us with your
forebodings ! It is the unluckiest thing in the world to talk
about losing a ship when she is at sea."
^' You are a more dangerous man on board a ship than I
am," was Hazel's prompt reply.
The well gave an increase of three inches.
Mr. Hazel now showed excellent qualities. He worked
like a horse ; and, finding the mate skulking, he reproached
him before tihe men, and, stripping himself nidced to the waist,
invited him to do a man's duty. The mate, thus challenged,
complied with a scowL
They laboured for their lives, and the quantity of water
they discharged fi*om the ship was astonishing ^not less than
a hundred and ten tons every hour.
They gained upon the leak only two inches ; but, in the
struggle for life, this was an immense victory. It was the
turn of the tide.
A light breeze sprung up from the south-west, and the
captain ordered the men firom the buckets to make all sail on
the ship, the pumps still going.
When this was done, he altered the ship's course, and put
her right before the wind, steering for the island of Juan
Fernandez, which, though distant, was the nearest known
land.
Probably it was the best thing he could do in that awful
waste of water. But its effect on the seamen was bad. It
was like giving in. They got a little disheartened and
flurried ; and the cold, passionless water seized the advantage.
It is possible, too, that the motion of the ship through the
sea aided the leak.
The Proserpine glided through the water all night, like
some terror-stricken creature, and the incessant pumps seemed
to be her poor heart beating loudly with breathless fear.
At daybreak she had gone a hundred and twenty miles.
But this was balanced by a new and alarming feature. The
water from the pumps no longer came up pure, but mixed
with what appeared to be blood.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
This got redder and redder, and struck terror into the more
superstitious of the crew.
Even Cooper, whose heart was stout, leaned over the bul-
warks, and eyed the red stream, gushing into the sea from the
lee scuppers, and said aloud, ^' Ay, bleed to death, ye bitch !
We shan't be long behind ye."
Hazel inquired, and found the ship had a quantity of dye-
wood amongst her cargo ; he told the men this, and tried to
keep up their hearts by his words and his example.
He succeeded with some: but others shook their heads. '
And, by-and-by, even while he was working double tides, for
them as well as for himself, ominous murmurs met his ear.
*' Parson aboard ! '* " Man aboard, with t'other world in his
face ! " And there were sinister glances to match.
He told this, with some alarm, to Welch and Cooper.
They promised to stand by him ; and Welch told him it was
all the mate's doing; he had gone amongst the men, and
poisoned them.
The wounded vessel, with her ever-beating heart, had run
three hundred miles on the new tack. She had almost ceased
to bleed ; but what was as bad, or worse, small fragments of
her cargo and stores came up with the water, and their mis-
cellaneous character showed how deeply the sea had now
penetrated.
This, and their great fisttigue, began to demoralise the
sailors. The pumps and buckets were still plied, but it was
no longer with the uniform manner of brave and hopeful men.
Some stuck doggedly to their work, but others got flurried,
and ran from one thing to another. Now and then a man
would stop, and burst out crying ; then to work again in a
desperate way. One or two lost heart altogether, and had to
be driven. Finally, one or two succumbed under the un-
remitting labour. Despair crept over others : their features
began to change, so much so, that several countenances
were hardly recognisable, and each, looking in the other's
troubled face, saw his own fate pictured there.
Six feet water in the hold !
The captain, who had been sober beyond his time, now got
dead drunk.
The mate to4c the command. On hearing this, Welch and
Cooper left the pumps. Wylie ordered them back. They
refused, and coolly lighted their pipes. A violent altercation
took place, which was brought to a close by Welch.
'^ It is no use pumping the ship," said he. " She is doomed.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
D'ye think we are blind^ my mate and me ? You got the
long-boat ready for yourself before ever the leak was sprung.
Now get the cutter ready for my mate and me."
At these simple words Wylie lost colour, and walked aft
without a word.
Next day there was seven feet water in the hold, and
quantities of bread coming up through the pumps.
Wylie ordered the men firom the pumps to the boats. The
long-boat was provisioned and lowered. While she was towing
astern, the cutter was prepared, and the ship left to filL
All this time Miss RoUeston had been kept in the dark, not
as to the danger, but as to its extent. Great was her surprise
when Mr. Hazel entered her cabin, and cast an ineffable look
of pity on her.
She looked up surprised, and then angry. ^'How dare
you ? " she began.
He waved his hand in a sorrowful but commanding way.
*' Oh, this is no time for prejudice or temper. The ship is
sinking : we are going into the boats. Pray make your pre-
parations. Here is a list I have written of the things you
ought to take : we may be weeks at sea, in an open boat'
Then, seeing her dumfoundered, he caught up her carpet-
bag, and threw her work-box into it for a beginning. He
then laid hands upon some of her preserved meats and
marmalade, and carried them off to his own cabin.
His mind then flew back to his reading, and passed in
rapid review all the wants that men had endured in open
bcMits.
He got hold of Welch, and told him to be sure and see
there was plenty of spare canvas on board, and sailing needles,
scissors, &c., also three bags of biscuit, and, above all, a cask
of water.
He himself ran all about the ship, including the mate's
*abiny in search of certain tools he thought would be wanted.
Then to his own cabin, to fill his carpet-bag.
There was little time to spare; the ship was low in the
water, and the men abandoning her. He flung the things
into his bag, fastened and locked it, strapped up his blankets
for her use, flung on his pea-jacket, and ran across to the
starboard side. There he found the captain lowering Miss
Rolleston, with due care, into the cutter, and the young lady
crying not at being shipwrecked, but at being deserted by
her maid. Jane Holt, at this trpng moment, had deserted
her mistress for her husband. This was natural ; but, as is
^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
the rule with persons of that elass^ she had done it in the
silHest and cruellest way. Had she given half-an-hour's
notice of her intention, Donovan might have been on board
the cutter with her and her mistress. But no ; being a liar
and a fool, she must hide her husband to the last moment,
and then desert her mistress. The captain, then, was com-
forting Miss Rolleston, and telling her she should have her
maid with her eventually, when Hazel came; he handed
down his own bag, and threw the blankets into the stem-
sheets; then went down himself, and sat on the midship
thwart.
^' Shove off," said the captain ; and they fell astern.
But Cooper, with a boat-hook, hooked on to the long-boat ;
and the dying ship towed them both.
Five minutes more elapsed, and the captain did not come
down, so Wyhe hailed him.
There was no answer. Hudson had gone into the mate's
cabin. Wylie waited a minute, then hailed again. " Hy ! on
deck there!"
" Hullo ! " cried the captain, at last.
*^ Why didn't you come in the cutter ? "
The captain crossed his arms, and leaned over the stem.
^^ Don't you know that Hiram Hudson is always the last to
leave a sinking ship } "
" Well, you are the last," said WyHe. " So now come on
board the long-boat at once. I dare not tow in her wake
much longer, to be sucked in when she goes down,"
^'Come on board your craft, and desert my own .5^" said
Hudson disdainfully. '* Know my duty to m'employers
better."
These words alarmed the mate. '^ Curse it all ! " he cried,
" the fool has been and got some more rum. Fifty guineas
to the man that will shin up the tow-rope, and throw that
madman into the sea ; then we can pick him up. He swims
like a cork."
A sailor instantly darted forward to the rope. But, unfor-
tunately, Hudson heard this proposal, and it enraged him.
He got to his cutlass. The sailor drew the boat under the
ship's stem, but the drunken skipper flourished his cutlass
furiously over his head. " Board me ? ye pirates ! the first
that lays a finger on my bulwarks, off goes his hand at the
wrist." Suiting the action to the word, he hacked at the
tow-rope so vigorously that it gave way, and the boats fell
astern.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Helen RoUeston uttered a shriek of dismay and pity.
" Oh, save him ! " she cried.
^^ Make sail ! ** cried Cooper ; and, in a few seconds, they
got all her canvas set upon the cutter.
It seemed a hopeless chase for these shells to sail after
that dying monster with her cloud of canvas all drawing,
alow and ^oft.
But it did not prove so. The gentle breeze was an advan-
tage to light craft, and the dying Proserpine was full of water,
and could only crawl.
After a few moments of great anxiety, the boats crept up,
the cutter on her port, and the long-boat on her starboard
quarter.
Wylie ran forward, and, hailing Hudson, implored him, in
the friendliest tones, to give himself a chance. Then tried
him by his vanity: '^Come, and command the boats, old
fellow. How can we navigate them on the Pacific without
your'
Hudson was now leaning over the tafirail utterly drunk.
He made no reply to the mate, but merely waved his cutlass
feebly in one hand, and his bottle in the other, and gurgled
out, " Duty to m'employers."
Then Cooper, without a word, double reefed the cutter's
mainsail, and ordered Welch to keep as close to the ship's
quarter as he dare. Wylie instinctively did the same, and
tiie three craft crawled on, in solemn and deadly silence, for
nearly twenty minutes.
The wounded ship seemed to receive a death-blow. She
stopped dead, and shook.
The next moment she pitched gently forward, and her
bows went under the water, while her after-part rose into the
air, and revealed to those in the cutter two splintered holes
in her run, just below the water-line.
Welch started up and griped Cooper by the shoulder; he
pointed to the holes, from which the water was pouring in
jets.
The next moment her stem settled down ; the sea yawned
horribly ; the great waves of her own making rushed over her
upper deck ; and the lofty masts and sails, remaining erect,
went down with sad majesty into the deep : and nothing
remained but the bubbling and foaming of the voracious
water, that had swallowed up the good ship and her cargo,
and her drunken master.
All stood up in the boats, ready to save him. But the
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
suction of the timber leviathan drew him down. He was
seen no more in this world.
A loud sigh broke from every living bosom that witnessed
that terrible catastrophe.
It was beyond words : and none were uttered, except by
Cooper, who spoke so seldom; yet now three words of
terrible import burst from him, and, uttered in his loud deep
voice, rang like the sunk ship's knell over the still bubbling
water
''Scuttled by God I'*
CHAPTER XI
" Hold your tongue," said Welch, with an oath.
Mr. Hazel looked at Miss Rolleston, and she at him. It
was a momentary glance, and her eyes sank directly, and
filled with patient tears. For the first few minutes after
the Proserpine went down, the survivors sat benumbed, as if
awaiting their turn to be engulfed.
They seemed so httle, and the Proserpine so big ; yet she
was swallowed before their eyes like a crumb. They lost,
for a few moments, all idea of escaping.
But true it is that " while there's life there's hope ; " and,
as soon as their hearts began to beat again, their eyes roved
round the horizon, and their elastic minds recoiled against
despair.
This was rendered easier by the wondered beauty of the
weather. There were men there who had got down from a
sinking ship, into boats heaving and tossing against her side
in a gale of wind, and yet been saved : and here all was calm
and delightful To be sure, in those other shipwrecks, land
had been near, and their greatest peril was over when once
the boats got clear of the distressed ship without capsizing.
Here was no immediate peril; but certain death menaced
them, at an uncertain distance.
Their situation was briefly this. Should it come on to
blow a gale, these open boats, small and loaded, could not
hope to live. Therefore they had two chances for Hfe, and
no more : they must either make land or be picked up at
sea ^before the weather changed.
But how? The nearest kaown land was the group of
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
islands called Juan Fernandez^ and they lay somewhere to
leeward^ but distant more than one thousand miles; and
should they prefer the other chance^ then they must beat
three hundred miles and more to windward; for Hudson^
underrating the leak^ as is supposed^ had run the Proserpine
fully that distance out of the track of trade.
Now the ocean is a highway ^in law ; but, in fact, it con-
tains a few highways, and millions of by-ways ; and once a
cockle-shell gets into those by-ways, small indeed is its chance
of being seen and picked up by any sea-going vessel.
Wylie, who was leading, lowered his sail, and hesitated
between the two courses we have indicated. However, on
the cutter coming up with him, he ordered Cooper to keep
her head north-east, and so run all night. He then made all
the sail he could in the same direction, and soon outsailed
the cutter. When the sun went down, he was about a mile
ahead of her.
Just before sunset Mr. Hazel made a discovery that
annoyed him very much. He found that Welch had put
only one bag of biscuit, a ham, a keg of spirit, and a small
barrel of water on board the cutter.
He remonstrated with him sharply. Welch repHed that it
was all right ; the cutter, being small, he had put the rest of
her provisions on board the long-boat.
^' On board the long-boat ! " said Hazel, with a look of
wonder. "You have actually made our lives depend upon
that scoundrel Wyhe again. You deserve to be flung into
the sea. You have no forethought yourself; yet you will not
be guided by those that have it."
Welch hung his head a little at these reproaches. How-
ever, he rephed, rather sullenly, that it was only for one
night ; they could signal the long-boat in the morning, and
get the other bags, and the cask, out of her. But Mr. Hazel
was not to be appeased. ^' The morning ! Why, she sails
three feet to our two. How do you know he won't run away
from us ? I never expect to get within ten miles of him
again. We know him ; and he knows we know him."
Cooper got up, and patted Mr. Hazel on the shoulder
soothingly. " Boat-hook aft," said he to Welch.
He then, by an ingenious use of the boat-hook, and some
of the spare canvas, contrived to set out a studding-sail on
the other side of the mast.
Hazel thanked him warmly. " But, oh. Cooper I Cooper ! "
said he, "Td give all I have in the world if that bread
87
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
and water were on board the cutter instead of the long^
boat."
The cutter bad now two wmgs instead of one ; the water
bubbling loud under her bows marked her increased speed ;
and all fear of being greatly outsailed by her consort began
to subside.
A slight sea-fret came on, and obscured the sea in part ;
but they had a good lantern and compass, and steered the
course exactly, all night, according to Wylie's orders, changing
the helmsman every four hours.
Mr. Hazel, without a word, put a rug round Miss Rolleston s
shoulders, and another round her feet.
" Oh, not both, sir, please," said she.
*' Am I to be disobeyed by everybody ? " said he.
Then she submitted in silence, and in a certain obse-
quious way that was quite new, and well calculated to disarm
anger.
Sooner or later all slept except the helmsman.
At day-break Mr. Hazel was wakened by a loud hail from
a man in the bows.
All the sleepers started up.
" Long-boat not in sight ! "
It was too true. The ocean was blank : not a sail, large or
small, in sight.
Many voices spoke at once.
" He has carried on till he has capsized her."
" He has given us the slip,"
Unwilling to believe so great a calamity, every eye
peered and stared all over the sea. In vain. Not a streak
that could be a boat's hall, not a speck that could be
a sail.
The little cutter was alone upon the ocean. Alone,
with scarcely two days' provisions, one thousand miles from
land, and four hundred miles to leeward of the nearest
sea-road.
Hazel, seeing his worst forebodings realised, sat down in
moody, bitter, and boding silence.
Of the other men, some raged and cursed, some wept
aloud.
The lady, more patient, put her hands together, and prayed
to Him who made the sea, and all that therein is. Yet her
case was the cruellest. For she was by natui^ more timid
than the men, yet she must share their desperate peril. And
88
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
then to be alone with all these men^ and one of them had
told her he loved her I Shame tortured this delicate crea-
ture, as well as fear. Happy for her, that of late, and only of
late, she had learned to pray in earnest Quiprecari tuwit,
pretni potest, non potest opprimi.
It was now a race between starvation and drowning, and
either way death stared them in the f&ce.
CHAPTER XII
The long-boat was at this moment a hundred miles to wind-
ward of the cutter.
The fact is, that Wylie, the evening before, had been
secretly perplexed as to the best course. He had decided to
run for the island; but he was not easy under his own
decision ; and at night he got more and more discontented
with it. Finally, at nine o'clock p.m., he suddenly gave the
order to luff, and tack ; and by daybreak he was very near
the place where the Proserpine went down: whereas the
cutter, having run before the wind all night, was at least a
hundred miles to leeward of him.
Not to deceive the reader, or let him for a moment think
we do business in monsters, we will weigh this act of Wylie's
justly.
It was a piece of iron egotism. He preferred, for himself,
the chance of being pick^ up by a vessel. He thought it
was about a hair's-breadth better than running for an island,
as to whose bearing he was not very clear after all.
But he was not sure he was taking the best or safest
course. The cutter might be saved, after all, and the long-
boat lost
Meantime he was not sorry of an excuse to shake off
the cutter. She contained one man at least who knew he
had scuttled the Proserpine ; and therefore it was all im-
portant to him to get to London before her, and receive the
two thousand pounds, which was to be his reward for that
abominable act.
But the way to get to London before Mr. Hazel, or else to
the bottom of the Pacific before him, was to get back into
the sea-road at all hazards.
He was not aware that the cutter's water and biscuit were
^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
on board his boat ; nor did he discover this till noon next day.
And on making this fearful discovery, he showed himself
human : he cried out with an oath, " What have I done ? I
have damned myself to all eternity ! "
He then ordered the boat to be put before the wind again ;
but the men scowled, and not one stirred a finger ; and he
saw the futility of this, and did not persist: but groaned
aloud, and then sat, staring wildly ; finally, like a true sailor,
he got to the rum, and stupefied his agitated conscience for a
time.
While he lay drunk, at the bottom of the boat, his sailors
carried out his first instructions, beating southward right in
the wind's eye.
Five days they beat to windward, and never saw a sail.
Then it fell dead calm; and so remained for three days
more.
The men began to suffer greatly from cramps, owing to
their number and confined position. During the calm, they
rowed all day, and with this, and a light westerly breeze
that sprung up, they got into the sea-road again ; but having
now sailed three hundred and fifty miles to the southward,
they found a great change in the temperature : the nights
were so cold they were fain to huddle together, to keep a
little warmth in their bodies.
On the fifteenth day of their voyage it began to rain and
blow, and then they were never a whole minute out of peril.
Hand for ever on the sheet, eye on the waves, to ease her at
the right moment ; and, with all this care, the spray eternally
flying half way over her mast, and often a body of water
making a clean breach over her, and the men baling night
and day with their very hats, or she could not have lived an
hour.
At last, when they were almost dead with wet, cold, fatigue,
and danger, a ship came in sight, and crept slowly up, about
two miles to windward of the distressed boat. With the
heave of the waters they could see Httle more than her sails ;
but they ran up a bright bandana handkerchief to their mast-
head; and the ship made them out She hoisted Dutch
colours, and continued her course.
Then the poor abandoned creatures wept, and raved, and
cursed, in their frenzy, glaring after that cruel, shameless
man, who could do such an act, yet hoist a colour, and show
of what nation he was the native and the disgrace.
But one of them said not a word. This was Wylie. He
90 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
sat shivering^ and remembered how he had abandoned the
cutter^ and all on board. Loud sighs broke from his
labouring breast; but not a word. Yet one word was
ever present to his mind^ and seemed written in fire on
the night of clouds^ and howled in his ears by the wind
Retribution !
And now came a dirty night to men in ships ; a fearful
night to men in boats. The sky blacky the sea on fire with
crested billows, that broke over them every minute. Their
light was washed out ; their provisions drenched and spoiled :
bale as they would, the boat was always filling. Up to their
knees in water; cold as ice, blinded with spray, deafened with
roaring billows, they tossed and tumbled in a fiery foaming
hell of waters, and still, though despairing, clung to their
lives, and baled with their hats unceasingly.
Day broke, and the first sight it revealed to them was a
brig to windward staggering along, and pitching under close-
reefed topsails.
They started up, and waved their hats, and cried aloud.
But the wind carried their voices to leeward^ and the brig
staggered on.
They ran up their little signal of distress; but still the
vessel stagger^ on.
Th^i the miserable men shook hands all round, and gave
themselves up for lost.
But at this moment the brig hoisted a vivid flag all stripes
and stars, and altered her course a point or two.
She crossed the boat's track a ndle ahead, and her people
looked over the bulwarks, and waved their hats to encourage
those tossed and desperate men.
Having thus given them the weather gauge, she hove-to for
them.
They ran down to her, and crept under her lee; down
came ropes to them, held by friendly hands, and friendly
fsLces shone down at them: eager grasps seized each as he
went up the ship's side, and so, in a very short time, they
sent the woman up, and the rest being all sailors, and clever
as cats, they were safe on board the whaling brig Maria,
Captain Slocum, of Nantucket, U.S.
Their log, compass, and instruments were also saved.
The boat was cast adrift, and was soon after seen bottom
upwards on the crest of a wave.
The good Samaritan in command of the Maria supplied
them with dry clothes out of the ship's storesi good food, and
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
medical attendance, which was much needed, their legs and
feet being in a deplorable condition, and their own surgeon
crippled.
A south-easterly gale induced the American skipper to
give Cape Horn a wide berth, and the Maria soon found her-
self three degrees south of that perilous coast. There she
encountered field-ice. In this labyrinth they dodged and
worried for eighteen days, until a sudden chop in the wind
gave the captam a chance of which he promptly availed him-
self, and in forty hours sighted Terra del Fuego.
During this time the rescued crew, having recovered from
the effects of their hardships, fell in to the work of the ship,
and took their turns with the Yankee seamen. The brig was
short-handed, but trimmed and handled by a fuU crew
and the Proserpine s men, who were first-class seamen, worked
with a will, because work was no longer a duty she exhi-
bited a speed the captain had almost forgotten was m the
craft. Now speed at sea means economy, for every day added
to a voyage is so much off the profits. Slocum was part
owner of the boat, and shrewdly ahve to the value of the
seamen. When about three hundred miles south of Buenos
A)rres, Wylie proposed that they should be landed there,
from whence they might be transhipped to a vessel bound for
home. This was objected to by Slocum, on the ground that
by such a deviation from his course he must lose three days,
and the port dues at Buenos Ayres were heavy.
Wyhe undertook that the house of Wardlaw & Son should
indemnify the brig for all expenses and losses incurred.
Still the American hesitated ; at last he honestly told Wylie
he wished to keep the men : he liked them ; they liked him.
He had sounded them, and they had no objection to join his
ship, and sign articles for a three years' whaling voyage,
provided they did not thereby forfeit the wages to which
they would be entitled on reaching Liverpool Wylie went
forward, and asked the men if they would take service with
the Yankee captain. All but three expressed their desire to
do so; these three had famiUes in England, and refused.
The mate gave the others a release, and an order on Wardlaw
and Co. for their full wages for the voyage ; then they signed
articles with Captain Slocum, and entered the American
Mercantile Navy.
Two days after this they sighted the high lands at the
mouth of the Rio de la Plata at 10 p.m., and lay-to for a
pilot. After three hours' delay they were boarded by a pilot-
. Digitized by CjOOQIC
FOUL PLAY
boat^ and then began to creep into the port. The night was
very dark^ and a thin white fog lay on iiie water.
Wylie was sitting on the taffirail, and conversing with
Slocum, when the look-out forward sung out, '^ Sail ho ! "
Another voice almost simultaneously yelled out of the fog,
" Port your helm ! "
Suddenly, out of the mist, and close aboard the Maria,
appeared iJie hull and canvas of a very large ship. The brig
was crossing her course, and the ship's great bowsprit barely
missed the brig's mainsail. It stood for a moment over
Wylie's head. He looked up, and there was the figure-head
of the ship looming almost within his reach. It was a colossal
green woman ; one arm extended grasped a golden harp, the
other was pressed to her head in the attitude of holding back
her wild and flowing hair. The face seemed to glare down
upon the two men. In another moment the monster, gliding
on, just missing the brig, was lost in the fog.
" That was a narrow squeak," said Slocum.
Wylie made no answer, but looked into the darkness after
the vessel.
He had recognised her figure-head.
It was the Shannon.
CHAPTER XIII
Before the Maria sailed again with the men who formed
a part of Wylie's crew, he made them sign a declaration
before the English Consul at Buenos Ayres. This document
set forth the manner in which the Proserpine foundered. It
was artfully made up of &icts, enough to deceive a careless
listener ; but when Wylie read it over to them, he slurred
over certain parts, wl^ch he took care also to express in
language above the comprehension of such men. Of course
they assented eagerly to what they did not understand, and
signed the statement conscientiously.
So WyHe and his three men were shipped on board the
Boadicea, bound for Liverpool, in Old England, while the
others sailed with Captain Slocum, for Nantucket, in New
England.
The Boadicea was a clipper laden with hides and a miscel-
laneous cargo. For seventeen days she flew before a southerly
gale, being on her best sailing point ; and after one of the
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
shortest passages she had ever made, she lay-to outside the
bar, off the Mersey. It wanted but one hour to daylight; the
tide was flowing ; the pilot sprang aboard.
" What do you draw ? " he asked of the master.
" Fifteen feet, barely," was the reply.
" That will do," and the vessel's head was laid for the river.
They passed a large barque, with her top-sails backed.
^' Ay," remarked the pilot, ^' she has waited since the half-
ebb ; there ain't more than four hours in the twenty-four that
such craft as that can get in."
^' What is she ? An American liner ? " asked Wyhe, peer-
ing through the gloom.
"No," said the pilot; "she's an AustraHan ship. The
Shannon, from Sydney."
The mate started, looked at the man, then at the vesseL
Twice the Shannon had thus met him, as if to satisfy him
that his object had been attained, and each time she seemed
to him not an inanimate thing, but a silent accomphce. A
chiU of fear struck through the man's frame as he looked at
her. Yes, there she lay, and in her hold were safely stowed
160,000 in gold, marked lead and copper.
Wylie had no luggage nor effects to detain him on board ;
he landed, and having bestowed his three companions in a
sailors' boarding-house, he was hastening to the shipping
agents of Wardlaw & Son, to announce his arrival and the
fate of the Proserpine. He had reached their offices in Water
Street before he recollected that it was barely half-past ^\e
o'clock, and though broad daylight on that July morning,
merchants' offices are not open at that hour. The sight of
the Shannon had so bewildered him that he had not noticed
that the shops were all shut, the streets deserted. Then a
thought occurred to him ^why not be the bearer of his own
news ? He did not require to turn the idea twice over, but
resolved for many reasons to adopt it As he hurried to the
railway station, he tried to recollect the hour at which the
early train started; but his confused and excited mind re-
fused to perform the function of memory. The Shannon
dazed him.
At the railway station he found that a train had started at
4 A.M., and there was nothing until 7*30. This check sobered
him a little, and he went back to the docks. He walked out
to the further end of that noble line ci berths, and sat down
on the verge with his legs dangling over the water. He
waited an hour : it was six o'clock by the great dial at St,
^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
George's Dock. His eyes were fixed on the Shannon, which
was moving slowly up the river ; she came abreast to where
he sat The few sails requisite to give her steerage, felL
Her anchor-chain rattled, and she swung round with the tide.
The clock struck the half-hour : a boat left the side of the
vessel, and made straight for the steps near where he was
seated. A tall, noble-looking man sat in the stem sheets,
beside the coxswain ; he was put ashore, and, after exchanging
a few words with the boat's crew, he mounted the steps which
led him to Wylie's side, followed by one of the sailors, who
^carried a portmanteau.
He ' stood for a single moment on the quay, and stamped
his foot on the broad stones; then heaving a deep sigh of
satisfaction, he murmured, '* Thank (jod I "
He turned towards Wylie.
" Can you tell me, my man, at what hour the first train
starts for London ? "
'' There is a slow train at 7*50, and an express at 9*"
'* The express will serve me, and give me time for break-
fast at the Adelphi Thank you ^good morning ; " and the
gentleman passed on, followed by the sailor.
Wylie looked after him ; he noted that erect military car-
riage, and crisp grey hair, and thick white moustache: he
had a vague idea that he had seen that face before, and the
memory troubled him.
At 7*30 Wylie started for London ; the military man fol-
lowed him in the express at 9* and caught him up at Watford ;
together they arrived at the station at Euston Square ; it
wanted a quarter to three. Wylie hailed a cab, but, before
he could struggle through the crowd to reach it, a railway
porter threw a portmanteau on its roof, and his military
acquaintance took possession of it.
All right," said the porter. '' What address, sir ? "
Wylie did not hear what the gentleman said, but the porter
shouted it to the cabman, and then he did hear it.
No Russell Square."
It was the house of Arthur Wardlaw !
Wylie took oflF his hat, rubbed his frowsy hair, and gaped
after the cab.
He entered another cab and told the driver to go to
* No. Fenchurch Street."
It was the office of Wardlaw & Son.
95
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER XIV
Our scene now changes from the wild ocean and its perils/
to a snug room in Fenchurch Street^ the inner office of
Wardlaw & Son : a large apartment^ panelled with fine old
mellow Spanish oak^ and all the furniture in keeping; the
carpet^ a thick Axminster of sober colours ; the chairs^ of oak
and morocco, very substantial ; a large office table, with oaken
legs like very columns, substantial ; two Milner safes ; a globe
of unusual size, with a handsome tent over it, made of roan
leather, figured ; the walls hung with long oak boxes, about
eight inches broad, containing rolled maps of high quality,
and great dimensions ; to consult which, oaken sceptres
tipped with brass hooks stood ready. With these, the
great maps could be drawn down and inspected; and, on
being released, flew up into their wooden boxes again. Be-
sides these were hung up a few drawings, representing
outlines, and inner sections, of vessels ; and on a smaller
table lay models, almanacs, &c. The great office-table was
covered with writing materials and papers, all but a square
space enclosed with a little silver rail, and inside that space
lay a purple morocco case about ten inches square. It
was locked, and contained an exquisite portrait of Helen
Rolleston.
This apartment was so situated, and the frames of the plate-
glass windows so well made and substantial, that, let a storm
blow a thousand ships ashore, it could not be felt, nor heard,
in Wardlaw's inner office.
But appearances are deceitful ; and who can wall out a sea
of troubles, and the tempests of the mind ?
The inmate of that office was battling for his commercial
existence, under accumulated difficulties and dangers. Like
those who sailed the Proserpine's long-boat upon that dirty
night, which so nearly swamped her, his eye had now to be
on every wave, and the sheet for ever in his hand.
His measures had been ably taken ; but, as will happen
when clever men are driven into a comer, he had backed
events rather too freely against time ^had allowed too slight
a margin for unforeseen delays. For instance, he had
averaged the Shannons previous performances, and had
calculated on her arrival too nicely. She was a fortnight
overdue, and that delay brought peril
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
He had also counted upon getting news of the Proserpine,
But not a word had reached Lloyd's as yet.
At this very crisis came the panic of *66. Overend and
Gumey broke ; and Wardlaw's experience led him to fear
that, sooner or later, there would be a run on every bank in
London. Now he had borrowed 80,000 at one bank, and
MfSBfiOO at another ; and, without his ships, could not pos-
sibly pay a quarter of the money. If the banks in question
were run upon, and obliged to call in all their resources, his
credit must go; and this, in his precarious position, was
ruin.
He had concealed his whole condition from his father by
false book-keeping. Indeed, he had only two confidants in
the world, poor old Michael Penfold, and Helen Rolleston s
portrait; and even to these two he made half confidences.
He dared not tell either of them all he had done, and all he
was going to do.
His r^eeming feature was as bright as ever. He still
loved Helen Rolleston with a chaste, constant, and ardent
affection, that did him honour. He loved mcmey too well ;
but he loved Helen better. In all his troubles and worries
it was his one consolation to unlock her portrait and gaze
on it, and purify his soul for a few minutes. Sometimes he
would apologise to it, for an act of doubtful morality. ^' How
can I risk the loss of you ? " was his feivourite excuse. No :
he must have credit. He must have money. She must not
suffer by his past imprudences. They must be repaired^ at
any cost ^for her sake.
It was ten o'clock in the morning. Mr. Penfold was sorting
the letters for his employer, when a buxom young woman
rushed into the outer office, crying, '^Oh, Mr. Penfolds!"
and sank into a chair, breathless.
'^Dear heart! what is the matter now?" said the old
gentleman.
'^ I have had a dream, sir : I dreamed I saw Joe Wylie out
on the seas, in a boat ; and the wind it was a blowing and
the sea a roaring to that degree as Joe looked at me, and says
he, ' Pray for me, Nancy Rouse.'
'' So I says, ^ Oh, dear Joe, what is the matter } and what-
ever is become of the Proserpines?"
'^ Says he again, ^ Pray for me, Nancy Rouse ! ' With that,
I tries to pray in my dream, and screams instead, and wakes
mysell Oh, Mr. Penfolds, do tell me, have you got any news
of the Proserpines this morning ? "
97 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
''What is that to you?" inquired Arthur Wardlaw, who
had entered just in time to hear this last ^uery,
" What is it to me I " cried Nancy, firing up ; '' it is more
to me, perhaps, than it is to you, for that matter."
Penfold explained timidly : '^ Sir, Mrs, Rouse is my land-
lady."
'' Which I have never been to church with any man yet
of the name of Rouse, leastways, not in my waking hours,"
edged in the lady
''Miss Rouse, I should say," said Penfold, apologising.
" I beg pardon, but I thought Mrs. might sound better in a
landlady. Please, sir, Mr. Wylie, the mate of the Proserpine,
is her her sweetheart."
" Not he. Leastways, he is only on trial, after a manner."
"Of course, sir only after a manner," added Penfold,
sadly perplexed. " Miss Rouse is incapable of anything else.
But, if you please, m'm, I don't presume to know the exact
relation;" and then with great reserve "but, you know
you are anxious about him."
Miss Rouse sniffed, and threw her nose in the air ^as if
to throw a doubt even on that view of the matter.
" Well, madam," said Wardlaw, " I am sorry to say I can
give you no information. I share your anxiety, for I have
got ^160,000 of gold in the ship. You might inquire at
Lloyd's. Direct her there, Mr. Penfold, and bring me my
letters."
With this he entered his inner office, sat down, took out
a golden key, opened the portrait of Helen, gazed at it,
kissed it, uttered a deep sigh, and prepared to face the
troubles of the day.
Penfold brought in a leathern case, like an enormous bill-
book : it had thirty vertical compartments ; and the names
of various cities and seaports, with which Wardlaw & Son
did business, were printed in gold letters on some of these
compartments ; on others, the names of persons ; and on two
compartments the word " Miscellaneous." Michael brought
this machine in, filled with a correspondence enough to break
a man's heart to look at
This was one of the consequences of Wardlaw's position.
He durst not let his correspondence be read and filtered in
the outer office ; he opened the whole mass, sent some back
into the outer office, then touched a hand-bell, and a man
emerged from the small apartment adjoining his own. This
was Mr. Atkins, his shorthand writer. He dictated to this
98
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
man some twenty letters, which were taken down in short-
hand ; the man retired to copy them, and write them out
in duplicate from his own notes, and this reduced the number
to seven; these Wardlaw sat down to write himself, and
lock up the copies.
While he was writuig them, he received a visitor or two,
whom he despatched as quickly as his letters.
He was writing his last letter, when he heard in the outer
office a voice he thought he knew. He got up and listened.
It was so. Of all the voices in the city, this was the one
it most dismayed him to hear, in his office, at the present
crisis.
He listened on, and satisfied himself that a fatal blow
was coming. He then walked quietly to his table, seated
himself, and prepared to receive the stroke with external
composure.
Penfold announced ^^ Mr. Burtenshaw."
'' Show him in," said Wardlaw quietly.
Mr. Burtenshaw, one of the managers of Morland's bank,
came in, and Wardlaw motioned him courteously to a
chair, while he finished his letter, which took only a few
moments.
While he was sealing it, he half turned to his visitor, and
said, '^ No bad news ? Morland's is safe, of course."
''Well," said Burtenshaw, ''we could not hope to escape
the effects of the panic. There is a run upon our bank a
severe one."
He then, after an uneasy pause, and with apparent re-
luctance, added, "I am requested by the other directors
to assure you it is their present extremity alone, that ^in
short, we are really compelled to beg you to repay the
amount advanced to you by the bank."
Wardlaw showed no alarm, but great surprise. This was
clever, for he felt great alarm, and no surprise.
"The 80,000," said he. "Why, that advance was upon
the freight of the Proserpine forty-five thousand ounces of
gold. She ought to be here by this time. She is in the
Channel at this moment, no doubt."
" Excuse me ; she is overdue, and the underwriters uneasy.
I have made inquiries."
"At any rate, she is fully insured, and you hold the
policies. Besides, the name of Wardlaw on your books
should stand for bullion."
Burtenshaw shook his head. "Names are at a discount
^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
to-day, sir. We can't pay them across our counter. Why,
our depositors look cross at Bank of England notes."
To an inquiry, half ironical, whether the managers really
expected him to find 80,000 cash at a few hours' notice,
Burtenshaw replied sorrowfully that they felt for his diffi-
culty, whilst deploring their own ; but that, after all, it was a
debt : and, in short, if he could find no means of paying it,
they must suspend payment for a time, and issue a statement
and "
He hesitated to complete his sentence, and Wardlaw did it
for him. ''And ascribe your suspension to my inabiUty to
refund this advance ? " said he bitterly.
" I am afraid that is the construction it will bear."
Wardlaw rose, to intimate he had no more to say.
Burtenshaw, however, was not disposed to go without
some clear understanding. " May I say we shall hear from
you, sir ? "
"Yes."
And so they wished each other good morning ; and Ward-
law sank into his chair.
In that quiet dialogue, ruin had been inflicted and received
without any apparent agitation ; ay, and worse than ruin
exposure.
Morland's suspension, on account of money lost by Ward-
law & Son, would at once bring old Wardlaw to London,
and the affairs of the firm would be investigated, and the
son's false system of book-keeping be discovered.
He sat stupefied awhile, then put on his hat, and rushed to
his solicitor ; on the way, he fell in with a great talker, who told
him there was a rumour the Shannon was lost in the Pacific.
At this he nearly fainted in the street ; and his friend took
him back to his office in a deplorable condition. All this
time he had beeh feigning anxiety about the Proserpine, and
concealing his real anxiety about the Shannon, To do him
justice, he lost sight of everything in the world now but
Helen. He sent old Penfold in hot haste to Lloyd's, to
inquire for news of the ship ; and then he sat down sick at
heart ; and all he could do now was to open her portrait, and
gaze at it through eyes blinded with tears. Even a vague
rumour, w;hich he hoped might be false, had driven all his
commercial manoeuvres out qf him, and made all other
calamities seem small.
And so they all are small, compared with the death of the
creature we love.
100
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
While he sat thus in a stupor of fear and grief, he heard
a well-known voice in the outer office ; and^ next after
Burtenshaw's, it was the one that caused him the most
apprehension. It was his father's.
Wardlaw senior rarely visited the office now ; and this was
not his hour. So Arthur knew something extraordinary had
brought him up to town. And he could not doubt that it
was the panic, and that he had been to Morland's, or would
go there in' course of the day ; but, indeed, it was more
probable that he had already heard something, and was come
to investigate.
Wardlaw senior entered the room.
" Good morning, Arthur," said he. " I've got good news
for you."
Arthur was quite startled by an announcement that accorded
so little with 1^ expectations.
''Good news for me?" said he, in a faint, incredulous
tone.
** Ay, glorious news ! Haven't you been anxious about the
Shannon ? I have ; more anxious than I would own."
Arthur started up. ''The Shannon! God bless you,
father."
" She lies at anchor in the Mersey," roared the old man,
dth all a father's pride at bringing such good news. " Why,
the Rollestons will be in London at 2.30. See, here is Ids
telegram."
There was hearty shaking of hands, and Arthur Wardlaw
was the happiest man in London.
" Got the telegram at Elmtrees this morning, and came up
by the first express."
The telegram was from Sir Edward Rolleston. " Reached
Liverpool last night ; will be at Euston, two-thirty."
" Not a word from her ! " said Arthur.
" Oh, there was no time to write ; and ladies do not use
the telegram." He added slily, " Perhaps she thought com-
ing in person would do as well, or better, eh ? "
" But why does he telegraph you instead of me ? "
"I am sure I don't know. What does it matter? Yes,
I do know. It is settled he and Helen are to come to me
at Elmtrees, so I was the proper person to telegraph. I'll
go and meet them at the station ; there is plenty of time.
But, I say, Arthur, have you seen the papers? Bartley
Brothers obliged to wind up. Maple & Cox, of Liverpool,
101
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
gone; Atlantic trading. Terry & Brown suspended; Inter-
national credit gone. Old friends, some of these. Hopley
and Timms, railway contractors, failed, sir ; liabilities, seven
hundred thousand pounds and more."
"Yes, sir," said Arthur pompously; "1866 will long be
remembered for its revelations of commercial morahty."
The old gentleman, on this, asked his son, with excusable
vanity, whether he had done ill in steering clear of specu-
lation; he then congratulated him on having listened to
good advice, and stuck to legitimate business. " I must say,
Arthur," added he, "your books are models for any trading
firm."
Arthur winced in secret under this praise, for it occurred
to him, that in a few days his father would discover those
books were all a sham, and the accounts a fstbrication.
However, the unpleasant topic was soon interrupted, and
effectually, too ; for Michael looked in, with an air of satis-
faction on his benevolent countenance, and said, " Gentlemen,
such an arrival 1 Here is Nancy Rouse's sweetheart, that she
dreamed was drowned."
"What is the man to me?" said Arthur peevishly. He
did not recognise Wylie under that title.
" La, Mr. Arthur ! why, he is the mate of the Proserpine,*'
said Penfold.
" What ! Wylie I Joseph Wylie ? " cried Arthur, in a
sudden excitement, that contrasted strangely with his pre-
vious indifference.
" What is that ? " cried Wardlaw senior ; " the Proserpine /
Show him in at once."
Now this caused Arthur Wardlaw considerable anxiety ;
for obvious reasons he did not want his father and this
sailor to exchange a word together. However, that was in-
evitable now; the door opened, and the bronzed face and
sturdy figure of Wylie, clad in a rough pea-jacket, came
slouching in.
Arthur went hastily to meet him, and gave him an expres-
sive look of warning, even while he welcomed him in cordial
accents.
" Glad to see you safe home," said Wardlaw senior.
^' Thank ye, guv'nor," said Wylie. " Had a squeak for it,
this time."
" Where is your ship ? "
WyUe shook his head sorrowfully. "Bottom of the
Pacifia"
102
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
" Good heavens ! What ; is she lost ? "
" That she is, sir : foundered at sea. 1 200 miles from the
Horn, and more/*
''And the freight, the gold?" put in Arthur, with well-
feigned anxiety.
"Not an ounce saved," said Wylie disconsolately. "A
hundred and sixty thousand pounds gone to the bottom."
" Good heavens ! "
" Ye see, sir," said Wylie, " the ship encountered one gale
after another, and laboured a good deal, first and last ; and
we all say her seams must have opened ; for we never could
find the leak that sunk her," and he cast a meaning glance
at Arthur Wardlaw.
"No matter how it happened," said the old merchant:
" are we insured to the full } ^that is the first question."
" To the last shilling."
"Well done, Arthur."
"But still it is most unlucky. Some weeks must elapse
before the insurances can be realised, and a portion of the
gold was paid for in bills at short date."
"The rest in cash?"
" Cash and merchandise. *
" Then there is the proper margin. Draw on my private
account at the Bank of England."
These few simple words showed the struggling young mer-
chant a way out of all his difficulties.
His heart leaped so, he dared not reply, lest he should
excite the old gentleman's suspicions.
But ere he had well drawn his breath for joy, came a
freezer.
" Mr. Burtenshaw, sir."
"Bid him wait," said Arthur aloud, and cast a look of
great anxiety on Penfold, which the poor old man, with all
his simplicity, comprehended well enough.
"Burtenshaw, from Moreland's. What does he want of
us ? " said Wardlaw senior, knitting his brows.
Arthur turned cold all over. " Perhaps to ask me not to
draw out my balance. It is less than usual; but they are
run upon ; and as you are good enough to let me draw on
you by-the-bye, perhaps you will sign a cheque before you
go to the station."
" How much do you want ? '
" I really don't know, till I have consulted Penfold : the
gold was a large and advantageous purchase, sir/'
103
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
"No doubt, no doubt. I'll give you my signature, and
you can fill in the amount."
He drew a cheque in favour of Arthur Wardlaw, signed it,
and left him to fill in the figures.
He then looked at his watch, and remarked they would
only just have time to get to the station.
"Good heavens!" cried Arthur; "and I can't go. I
must learn the particulars of the loss of the Proserpine, and
prepare the statement at once for the underwriters."
" Well, never mind. / can go."
" But what will she think of me ? I ought to be the first
to welcome her."
" I'll make your excuses."
" No, no ; say nothing : after all, it was you who received
the telegram ; so you naturally meet her ; but you will bring
her here, father : you won't whisk my darling down to Elm-
trees till you have blest me with the sight of her ? "
"I will not be so cruel, fond lover," said old Wardlaw,
laughing, and took up his hat and gloves to go,
Arthur went to the door with him in great anxiety, lest he
should question Burtenshaw ; but peering into the outer
office, he observed Burtenshaw was not there. Michael had
caught his employer's anxious look, and conveyed the banker
into the smaU room, where the shorthand writer was at
work. But Burtenshaw was one of a struggling firm; to
him every minute was an hour; he had sat, fuming with
impatience, so long as he heard talking in the inner office ;
and the moment it ceased, he took the liberty of coming in,
so that he opened the side door, just as Wardlaw senior was
passing through the centre door.
Instantly Wardlaw junior whipped before him, to hide his
figure from his retreating father.
Wylie, who all this time had been sitting silent, looking
from one to the other, and quietly puzzling out the game, as
well as he could, observed this movement, and grinned.
As for Arthur Wardlaw, he saw his father safe out, then
gave a sigh of relief, and walked to his office table, and sat
down, and began to fill in the cheque.
Burtenshaw drew near, and said, " I am instructed to say
that fifty thousand pounds on account will be accepted."
Perhaps if this proposal had been made a few seconds
sooner, the ingenious Arthur would have availed himself of
it : but, as it was, he preferred to take the high and mighty
tone. " I decline any concession," said he. " Mr. Penfold,
104
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
take this cheque to the Bank of England. S1,647, 10s.
That is the amount^ capital and interest^ up to noon this day :
hand the sum to Mr. Burtenshaw^taking his receipt^ or, if he
prefers it, pay it across the counter, to my credit That will
perhaps arrest the run."
Burtenshaw stammered out his thanks.
Wardlaw cut him short. "Good morning, sir," said he.
" I have business of importance. Good day/' and bowed him
out.
'' This is a Highflyer," thought Burtenshaw.
Wardlaw then opened the side door, and called his short-
hand writer.
*' Mr. Atkins, please step into the outer office, and don't let
a soul come in to me. Mind, I am out for the day. Except
to Miss RoUeston and her father."
He then closed all the doors, and simk exhausted into a
chair, muttering, '' Thank Heaven ! I have got rid of them
all for an hour or two. Now, Wylie."
Wylie seemed in no hurry to enter upon the required
subject.
Said he evasively, " Why, guv'nor, it seems to me you are
among the breakers here yourself."
"Nothing of the sort, if you have managed your work
cleverly. Come, tell me all, before we are interrupted
again."
" Tell ye all about it ! Why, there's part on't I am afraid
to think on ; let alone talk about it."
"Spare me your scruples, and give me your facts," said
Wardlaw coldly. " First of all, did you succeed in ^fting
the bulUon as agreed ? "
The sailor appeared relieved by this question.
"Oh, that is all right," said he. "I got the bullion safe
aboard the Shannon, marked for lead."
" And the lead on board the Proserpine ? "
*' Ay, shipped as bullion."
" Without suspicion ? "
"Nofr-quite."
" Great Heaven I Who ? "
"One clerk at the shipping agent's scented something
queer, I think. His name was James Seaton."
" Could he prove an3rthing ? "
"Nothing. He knew nothing for certain; and what he
guessed won't never be known in England now." And Wylie
fidgeted in his chair.
105 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Notwithstanding this assurance Wardlaw looked grave, and
took a note of that clerk's name. Then he begged WyUe to
go on. ^* Give me all the details/' said he. " Leave me to
judge their relative value. You scuttled the ship } "
" Don't say that ! don't say that ! " cried Wylie, in a low
but eager voice. '^ Stone walls have ears." Then rather
more loudly than was necessary, '^ Ship sprung a leak, that
neither the captain, nor I, nor anybody could find to stop.
Me and my men, we all think her seams opened, with stress
of weather." Then, lowering his voice again, ^' Try and see
it as we do ; and don't you ever use such a word as that, what
come out of your hps just now." Then, raising his voice
suddenly, " We pumped her hard ; but 'twam't no use. She
filled, and we had to take to the boats."
" Stop a moment. Was there any suspicion excited ? "
" Not among the crew : and, suppose there was, I could
talk 'em all over, or buy 'em all over, what few of 'em is left.
I'll keep 'em all with me in one house; and they are all
square, don't you fear."
^' Well, but you said ' among the crew I * Whom else can
we have to fear ? "
''Why, nobody. To be sure, one of the passengers was
down on me ; but what does that matter now ? "
''It matters greatly ^it matters terribly. Who was this
passenger ? "
" He called himself the Reverend John Hazel. He sus-
pected something or other ; and what with listening here, and
watching there, he judged the ship was never to see England,
and I always fancied he told the lady.''
" What, was there a lady there ? "
" Ay, worse luck, sir ; and a pretty girl she was : coming
home to England to die of consumption; so our surgeon
told me."
" Well, never mind her. The clergyman ! This fills me
with anxiety. A clerk suspecting us at Sydney, and a
passenger suspecting us in the vessel. There are two wit-
nesses against us already."
'' No ; only one."
" How do you make that out ? "
" Why, White's clerk and the parson, they was one man."
Wardlaw stared in utter amazement.
"Don't ye believe me?" said Wylie. "I tell ye that
there clerk boarded us under an alias. He had shaved off
his beard ;' but, bless your heart, I knew him directly."
106
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
"He came to verify his suspicions/' suggested Wardlaw
in a faint voice.
" Not he. He came for love of the sick girl, and nothing
else, and you'U never see either him or her, if that is any
comfort to you."
"Be good enough to conceal nothing. Facts must be
feced."
"That is too true, sir. Well, the ship went down in
latitude ^but you have got a chart there before you. She
went down hereabouts."
" Why, that was a long way from land," said Arthur.
"You may say that, sir. Well, we abandoned her, and
took to the boats. I commanded one."
" And Hudson the other ? "
"Hudson! No."
" Why, how was that ? and what has become of him ? "
" What has become of Hudson ? " said Wylie, with a start
" There's a question ! And not a drop to wet my lips, and
warm my heart. Is this a tale to tell, dry ? Can't ye spare
a drop of brandy to a poor devil that has earned ye l 60,000,
and risked his life, and wrecked his soul to do it ? "
Wardlaw cast a glance of contempt on him, but got up, and
speedily put a bottle of old brandy, a tumbler^ and a caraffe
of water on the table before him.
Wylie drank a wine-glassfid neat, and gave a sort of sigh
of satisfaction. And then ensued a disJogue, in which,
curiously enough, the brave man was agitated, and the timid
man was cool and collected. But one reason was, the latter
had not imagination enough to realise things unseen, though
he had caused them.
Wylie told him how Hudson got to the bottle, and would
not leave the ship. " I think I see him now, with his cutlass
in one hand, and his rum bottle in the other, and the waves
running over his poor, silly face, as she went down. Poor
Hiram ! he and I had made many a trip together, before we
took to this."
And Wylie shuddered, and took another gulp at the
brandy.
While he was drinking to drown the picture, Wardlaw was
calmly reflecting on the bare fact. " Hum," said he, " we
must use that circumstance. I'll get it into the journals.
Heroic captain. Went down with the ship. Who can sus-
pect Hudson in the teeth of such a fact ? Now, pray go on,
my good Wylie. The boats ? "
107 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
'* Well, sir, I had the surgeon, and ten men, and the lady's
maid, on bos^ the long-boat ; and there was the parson, the
sick lady, and five sailors aboard the cutter. We sailed
together till night, steering for Juan Fernandez ; then a fog
came on and we lost sight of the cutter, and I altered my
mind and judged it best to beat to win'ard, and get int6 the
track of ships. Which we did, and were nearly swamped in
a sou'wester ; but, by good luck, a Yankee whaler picked us
up, and took us to Buenos A3rres, where we shipped for
i^gland, what was left of us, only three, besides myself; but
1 got the signatures of the others to my tale of the wreck.
It is all as square as a die, I tell you."
*' Well done. ~ Well done. But stop ! the other boat, with
that sham parson on board who knows all. She will be
picked up, too, perhaps."
^' There is no chance of that. She was out of the tracks of
trade ; and, FU tell ye the truth, sir." He poured out half a
tumbler of brandy, and drank a part of it ; and, now, for the
first time, his hand trembled as he lifted the glass. ^* Some
fool had put the main of her provisions aboard the long-boat ;
that is what sticks to me, and won't let me sleep. We took
a chance, but we didn't give one. I think I told you there
'was a woman aboard the cutter, that sick girl, sir. Oh, but it
was hard lines for her, poor thing ! I see her face, pale and
calm ; O Lord, so pale and calm ; every night of my life ;
she kneeled aboard the cutter with her white hands a clasped
together, praying."
'^ Certainly, it is all very shocking," said Wardlaw ; '^ but
then, you know, if they had escaped, they would have ex-
posed us. Believe me, it is all for the best."
Wylie looked at him with wonder. ^' Ay," said he, after
staring at him a long time ; ^^ you can sit here at your ease,
and doom a ship, and risk her people's lives. But if you had
to do it, and see it, and then lie awake thinking of it, you'd
wish all the gold on earth had been in hell, before you put
your hand to such a piece of work."
Wardlaw smiled a ghastly smile. ^'In short," said he,
" you don't mean to take the two thousand pounds I pay you
for this Httle job."
" Oh yes, I do ; but, for all the gold in Victoria, I wouldn't
do such a job again. And, you mark my words, sir, we shall
get the money, and nobody will ever be the wiser." Ward-
law rubbed his hands complacently, his egotism, coupled with
his want of imagination, nearly blinded him to everything
108 r" T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
but the pecuniary feature of the business. "But," con-
tinued WyHe, '^ we shall never thrive on it. We have sunk
a good ship, and we have as good as murdered a poor dying
girl."
" Hold your tongue, ye fool ! " cried Wardlaw, losing
his sangfroid in a moment, for he heard somebody at the
door.
It opened, and there stood a miUtary figure in a traveUing
cap General Rolleston.
CHAPTER XV
As some eggs have actually two yolks, so Arthur Wardlaw
had two hearts ; and at sight of Helen's &ther, the baser one
ceased to beat for a while.
He ran to General Rolleston, shook him warmly by the
hand, and welcomed him to England with sparkling eyes.
It is pleasant to be so welcomed, and the stately soldier
returned his grasp in kind.
*' Is Helen with you, sir } " said Wardlaw, making a move-
ment to go to the door : for he thought she must be outside
in the cab.
" No, she" is not," said Greneral Rolleston.
" There now," said Arthur, '^ that cruel father of mine has
broken his promise, and carried her off to Elmtrees."
At this moment Wardlaw senior returned, to tell Arthur
he had been just too late to meet the RoUestons. **Oh,
here he is ! " said he ; and there were fresh greetings.
"Well, but," said Arthur, "where is Helen?"
"I thhik it is I who ought to ask that question," said
Rolleston gravely. " I telegraphed you at Elmtrees, think-
ing of course she would come with you to meet me at the
station. It does not much matter, a few hours : but her not
coming makes me uneasy, for her health was declining when
she left me. How is my child, Mr. Wardlaw ? Pray tell me
the truth."
Both the Wardlaws looked at one another, and at General
Rolleston, and the elder Wardlaw said there was certainly
some misunderstanding here.
" We fully believed that your daughter was coming home
with you in the Shannon"
109 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
" Come home with me ? Why, of course not. She sailed
three weeks before me. Has she not arrived ? "
"No/* replied old Wardlaw, '^we have neither seen nor
heard of her."
" Why, what ship did she sail in ? " said Arthur.
" In one of your own ships the Proserpine'*
Arthur Wardlaw fixed on the speaker a gaze full of horror ;
his jaw fell ; a livid pallor spread over his features ; he echoed
in a hoarse whisper, '^ The Proserpine I " and turned his scared
eyes upon Wylie, who was himself leaning against the wall,
his stalwart frame beginning to tremble.
''The sick girl," murmured Wylie, and a cold sweat
gathered on his brow.
General RoUeston looked from one to another with strange
misgivings, which soon deepened into a sense of some terrible
calamity ; for now a strong convulsion swelled Arthur Ward-
law's heart ; his face worked fearfully ; and with a sharp and
sudden cry, he fell forward on the table, and his father's arm
alone prevented him from sinking like a dead man on the
floor. Yet, though crushed and helpless, he was not insen-
sible ; that blessing was denied him.
General Rolleston implored an explanation.
Wylie, with downcast and averted face, began to stammer
a few disconnected and miintelligible words ; but old Wardlaw
silenced him, and said, with much feeling, '' Let none but a
father tell him. My poor, poor friend The Proserpine I
How can I say it ? "
'' Lost at sea," groaned Wylie.
At these fatal words the old warrior^s countenance grew
rigid ; his large, bony hands griped the back of the chair,
on which he leaned, and were white with their own con-
vulsive force; and he bowed his head under the blow,
without one word.
His was an agony too great and mute to be spoken to ; and
there was silence in the room, broken only by the hysterical
moans of the miserable plotter, ^ho had drawn down this
calamity on his own head. He was in no state to be left
alone ; and even the bereaved father found pity in his
desolate heart for one who loved his lost child so well;
and the two old men took him home between them, in a
helpless and pitiable condition.
110
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER XVI
But this utter prostration of his confederate began to alarm
Wylie, and rouse him to exertion. Certainly, he was very
sorry for what he had done, and would have undone it and
forfeited his 2000 in a moment, if he could. But, as he
could not undo the crime, he was all the more determined
to reap the reward. Why, that 2000, for aught he knew,
was the price of his soul ; and he was not the man to let
his soul go gratis.
He finished the rest of the brandy, and went after his
men, to keep them true to him by promises ; but the next
day he came to the office in Frenchurch Street, and asked
anxiously for Wardlaw. Wardlaw had not arrived. He
waited, but the merchant never came; and Michael told
him, with considerable anxiety, that this was the first time
his young master had missed coming this five years.
In course of the day several underwriters came in, with
long Eices, to verify the report which had now reached
Lloyd's, that the Proserpine had foundered at sea.
" It is too true," said Michael ; " and poor Mr, Wylie
here has barely escaped with his life. He was mate of the
ship, gentlemen."
Upon this each visitor questioned Wylie, and Wylie
returned the same smooth answer to all inquiries : one
heavy gale after another had so tried the sMp that her
seams had opened, and let in more water than all the
exertions of the crew and passengers coul4 discharge;
at last they had taken to the boats; (he long boat
had been picked up: the cutter had nev^ been heard of
since. ' , "
They nearly all asked after the ship's'log.
'^ I' have got it safe at home," said he. It was in his
pocket all the time.
Some asked him where* the other survivors were. He
told them five had shi{4)ed on board the Maria, and three
were with him at Poplar, one disabled by the hardships
they had all endured.
One or two complained angrily of Mr. Wardlaw's absence
at such a time. f^
"Well, good gentlemen," said Wylie, "I'll tell ye. Mr.
Wardlaw's swee^eart was aboard the ship. He is a'most
111
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
broken-hearted. He vallied her more than all the gold ; that
you may take your oath on."
This stroke coming from a rough fellow^ in a pea-jacket^
who looked as simple as he was cunning, silenced remon-
strance, and went far to disarm suspicion; and so pleased
Michael Penfold, that he said, *' Mr. Wylie, you are inter-
ested in this business ; would you mind going to Mr. Ward-
law's house, and asking what we are to do next } I'll give
you his address, and a line, begging him to make an eSmt
and see you. Business is the heart's best ointment. h, dear,
Mr Wylie, I have known grief too; and I think I should
have gone mad when they sent my poor son away, but for
business, especially the summing-up of long columns, &c."
This commission suited Mr. Wylie, who was alarmed on
his own account at Arthur Wardlaw's absence from business.
He called at the house in Russell Square, and asked to see
Mr. Wardlaw.
The servant shook his head. ^' You can't see him ; he is
very ill."
Very ill," said Wylie. " I'm sorry for that. Well, but
I shan't make him any worse ; and Mr. Penfold says I must
see him. It is very particular, I tell you. He won't thank
you for refusing me, when he comes to hear of it"
He said this very seriously ; and the servant, after a shMrt
hesitation, begged him to sit down in the passage a mcmient.
He then went into the dining-room, and slurtly reappeared,
holding the door open. Out came, not Wardlaw junior, but
Wardlaw senior.
" My son is in no condition to receive you," said he gravely ;
" but I am at your service. What is your business ? "
Wylie was taken off his guard, and stammered out some-
thing about the Shannon,
" The Shannon ! What have you to do with her ? You
belonged to the ProserpineJ'
" Ay, sir ; but I had his orders to ship forty chests of lead
and smelted copper on board the Shannon,"
WeU?"
''Ye see, sir," said Wylie, "Mr. Wardlaw was particular
about them, and I feel responsible like, having shipped them
aboard another vessel."
" Have you not the captain's receipt ? "
" That I have, sir, at home. But you could hardly read it
for salt water."
*' Well," said Wardlaw senior, '' I will direct our agent at
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Liverpool to look after them, and send them up at once to my
cellars in Fenchurch Street Forty chests of lead and copper,
I think you said." And he took a note of this directly.
WyUe was not a little discomfited at this unexpected turn
things had taken ; but he held his tongue now, for fear of
making bad worse. Wardlaw senior went on to say that he
should have to conduct the business of the firm for a time, in
spite of his old age and &iling health.
This announcement made Wylie perspire with anxiety, and
his jB2000 seemed to melt away from him.
" But never mind," said old Wardlaw ; '* I am very glad
you came. In fact, you are the very man I wanted to see.
My poor afflicted friend has asked after you several times.
Be good enough to follow me."
He led the way into the dining-room, and there sat the
sad father in all the quiet dignity of calm, unfathomable
sorrow.
Another gentleman stood upon the rug with his back to the
fire, waiting for Mr. Wardlaw ; this was the family physician,
who had just come down from Arthur's bedroom, and had
entered by another door, through the drawing-room.
'^Well, doctor," said Wardlaw anxiously, ^^what is your
report .J^"
" Not so good as I could wish ; but nothing to excite imme-
diate alarm. Overtaxed brain, sir ; weakened, and unable to
support this calamity. However, we have reduced the fever ;
the symptoms of delirium have been checked, and I think we
shall escape brain fever, if he is kept quite quiet. I could not
have said as much this morning."
The doctor then took his leave, with a promise to call next
morning; and as soon as he was gone, Wardlaw turned to
General RoUeston, and said, " Here is Wylie, sir. Come for-
ward, my man, and speak to the general. He wants to know
if you can point out to him on the chart the very spot where
the Proserpine was lost.'
^^Well, sir," said WyUe, ''I think I could."
The great chart of the Pacific was then spread out upon
the table, and rarely has a chart been examined as this was^
with the bleeding heart as well as the straining eye.
The rough sailor became an oracle ; the others hung upon
his words, and followed his brown finger on the chart with
fearful interest.
" Ye see, sir," said he, addressing the old merchant, for
there was something on his mind that made him avoid si^d^-
1 1 Q
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
ing directly to General Rolleston^ '^when we came out of
Sydney, the wind being south and by east, Hudson took the
easterly course, instead of running through Cook's Straits.
The weather freshened from the same quarter, so that, with
one thing and another, by when we were a month out, she
was five hundred miles or so nor'ard of her true course. But
that wasn't all : when the leak gained on us, Hudson ran the
ship three hundred miles by my reckoning to the nor'-east ;
and, I remember, the day before she foundered, he tM me she
was in latitude forty, and Easter Island bearing due north."
'^Here is the spot, then," said General Rolleston, and
placed his finger on the spot.
"Ay, sir," said Wylie, addressing the merchant; ''but
she ran about eighty-five miles after that, on an easterly
course ^no ^wind on her starboard quarter and being deep
in the water, she'd make lee way say eighty-two miles
nor'-east by east."
The general took eighty-two miles off the scale, with a
pair of dividers, and set out that distance on the chart. He
held the instrument fixed on the point thus obtained.
Wylie eyed the point, and, after a moment's consideration,
nodded his head.
" There, or thereabouts," he said, in a low voice, and look-
ing at the merchant.
A pause ensued, and the two old men examined the speck
pricked on the map, as if it were the waters covering the
Proserpine,
" Now, sir," said RoUeston, " trace the course of the boats,"
and he handed Wylie a pencil.
The sailor slowly averted his head, but stretched out his
hand and took it, and traced two lines, the one short and
straight, running nearly north-east. "That's the way the
cutter headed when we lost her in the night"
The other line ran parallel to the first for half an inch,
then turning, bent backwards, and ran due south.
" This was our course," said Wylie.
General Rolleston looked up, and said, "Why did you
desert the cutter ? "
The mate looked at old Wardlaw, and, after some hesita-
tion, replied, " After we lost sight of her, the men with me
declared that we could not reach either Juan Fernandez or
Valparaiso with our stock of provisions, and insisted on
standing for the sea track of Australian liners between the
Horn and Sydney."
^^* - d by Google
Digitized t
FOUL PLAY
This explanation was received in dead silence. Wylie
fidgeted, and his eye wandered round the room.
General RoUeston applied his compasses to the chart. " I
find that the Proserpine was not 1000 miles from Easter
Island. Why did you not make for that land ? "
"We had no charts, sir/' said Wylie to the merchant,
'^and I'm no navigator."
"I see no land laid down hereaway, north-east of the
spot where the ship went down."
"No," replied Wylie, "that's what the men said when
they made me 'bout ship."
" Then why did you lead the way north-east at all ? "
" I'm no navigator," answered the man sullenly.
He then suddenly stammered out: "Ask my men what
we went through. Why, sir (to Wardlaw), I can hardly
believe that I am alive, and sit here talking to you about
this cursed business. And nobody ofiTers me a drop of
anyi^bing."
Wanilaw poured him out a tumbler of wine. His brown
hand trembled a little, and he gulped the wine down like
water.
General RoUeston gave Mr. Wardlaw a look, and Wylie
was dismissed. He slouched down the street all in a cold
perspiration; but still clinging to his jB2000, though small
was now his hope of ever seeing it
When he was gone, Generad RoUeston paced that large
and gloomy room in silence. Wardlaw eyed him with the
greatest interest, but avoided speaking to him. At last he
stopped short, and stood erect, as veterans halt, and pointed
down at the chart.
" ril start at once for that spot," said he. " I'll go in the
next ship bound to Valparaiso : there I'll charter a small
vessel, and ransack those waters for some trace of my poor
lost girl."
"Can you think of no better way than that?" said old
Wardlaw gently, and with a slight tone of reproach.
"No ^not at this moment. Oh yes, by-the-bye, the
Greyhound and Dreadnought are going out to survey the
islands of the Pacific. I have interest enough to get a berth
in the Greyhmmd**
" What ! go in a Government ship ! under the orders of a
man, under the orders of another man, under the orders of
a Board. Why, if you heard our poor girl was alive upon a
rock, the Dreadnought would be sure to run up a bunch of
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
red tape to the fore that moment to recall the Greyhound,
and the Greyhound would go back. No/' said he, rising
suddenly, and confronting the general, and with the colour
mounting for once in his sallow face, " you sail in no bottom
but one freighted by Wardlaw & Son, and the captain shall
be under no orders but yours. We have bought the steam
sloop Springbok, 700 tons. Fll victual her for a year, man
her weU, and you shall go out in her in less than a week. I
give you my hand on that."
They grasped hands.
But this sudden warmth and tenderness coming from a
man habitually cold, overpowered the stout general. " What,
sir," he faltered ; " your own son lies in danger, yet your heart
goes so with me such goodness ^it is too much for me."
'^ No, no," faltered the merchant, affected in his turn ; ^^ it
is nothing. Your poor girl was coming home in that cursed
ship to marry my son. Yes, he lies ill for love of her ; God
help him and me too ; but you most of all. Don't, general ;
don't ! We have got work to do ; we must be brave, sir,
brave, I say, and compose ourselves. Ah, my friend, you and
I are of one age ; and this is a heavy blow for us : and we
are friends no more ; it has made us brothers : she was to be
my child as well as yours ; well, now she is my child, and our
hearts they bleed together." At this, the truth must be told,
the two stout old men embraced one another like two women,
and cried together a Uttle.
But that was soon over with such men as these. They sat
together and plunged into the details of the expedition, and
they talked themselves into hope.
In a week the Springbok steamed down the Channel on
an errand inspired by love, not reason, to cross one mighty
ocean, and grope for a lost daughter in another.
CHAPTER XVII
We return to the cutter, and her living freight
After an anxious but brief consultation, it was agreed that
their best chance was to traverse as many miles of water as
possible, while the wind was fair ; by thiis means they would
increase their small chance of being picked up, and also of
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY /^
falling in with land^ and would^ at all events^ sail into a
lovely climate, where intense cold was unknown, and gales of
wind uncommon.
Mr. Hazel advised them to choose a skipper, and give him
absolute power, especially over the provisions. They assented
to this. He then recommended Cooper for that post. But
they had not fathomed the sterling virtues of that taciturn
seaman ; so they offered the command to Welch instead.
*' Me put myself over Sam Cooper ! " said he ; *^ not likely."
Then their choice fell upon Michael Morgan. The other
sailors' names were Prince, Fenner, and Macintosh.
Mr. Hazel urged Morgan to put the crew and passengers
on short allowance at once, viz., two biscuits a day, and four
tablespoonsful of water ; but Morgan was a common sailor ;
he could not see clearly very fer ahead ; and, moreover, his
own appetite counteracted this advice ; he dealt out a pound
of biscuit and an ounce of ham to each person night and
morning, and a pint of water in the course of the day.
Mr. Hazel declined his share of the ham, and begged Miss
Rolleston, so earnestly, not to touch it, that she yielded a
silent compliance.
On the fourth day the sailors were all in good spirits,
though the provisions were now veiy low. They even sang,
and spun yams. This was partly owing to the beauty of the
weather.
On the fifth day Morgan announced that he could only
serve out one biscuit per day : and this sudden decline
caused some dissatisfaction and alarm.
Next day the water ran so low, that only a teaspoonful
was served out night and morning.
There were murmurs and forebodings.
In all heavy trials and extremities some man or other
reveals great quaUties, that were latent in him, ay, hidden
from himself. And this general observation was verified on
the present occasion, as it had been in the Indian mutiny,
and many other crises. Hazel came out.
He encouraged the men, out of his multifarious stores of
learning. He related at length stories of wrecks and suffer-
ings at sea; which, though they had long been in print,
were most of them new to these poor fellows. He told them,
among the rest, what the men of the Botm Dea, waterlogged
at sea, had suffered twelve days without any food but a
rat and a kitten ^yet had all survived. He gave them some
details of the Wager, the Grosvenor, the Corhiuy the Medusa ;
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
but, above all, a most minute account of the Bauntyy and
Bligh's wonderful voyage in an open boat, short of provisions.
He moralised on this, and showed his fellow-sufferers it
was discipline and self-denial from the first that had en-
abled those hungry spectres to survive, and to traverse two
thousand eight hundred miles of water, in those very seas ;
and that in spite of hunger, thirst, disease, and rough
weather.
By these means he diverted their minds, in some degree,
from their own calamity, and taught them the lesson they
most needed.
The poor fellows listened with more interest than you
could have thought possible under the pressure of bodily
distress ; and Helen Rolleston's hazel eye dwelled on the
narrator with unceasing wonder.
Yes, learning and fortitude, strengthened by those great
examples learning furnishes, maintained a superiority, even
in the middle of the Pacific ; and not the rough sailors only,
but the lady, who had rejected and scorned his love, hung
upon the brave student's words : she was compelled to look
up with wonder to the man she had hated and despised in
her hours of ease.
On the sixth day the provisions failed entirely. Not a
crust of bread ; not a drop of water.
At 4 P.M. several flying-fish, driven into the air by the
dolphins and cat-fish, fell into the sea again near the boat,
and one struck the sail sharply, and fell into the boat. It was
divided, and devoured raw in a moment.
The next morning the wind fell, and, by noon, the ocean
became like glass.
The horrors of a storm have been often painted ; but who
has described, or can describe, the horrors of a calm, to a
boat-load of hungry, thirsty creatures, whose only chances of
salvation or relief are wind and rain ?
The beautiful, remorseless sky was one vault of purple,
with a great flaming jewel in the centre, whose vertical rays
struck and parched and scorched the living sufferers, and
blistered and baked the boat itself, so that it hurt their hot
hands to touch it : the beautiful, remorseless ocean was one
sheet of glass, that glared in their bloodshot eyes, and re-
flected the intolerable heat of heaven upon these poor
wretches, who were gnawed to death with hunger ; and their
raging thirst was fiercer still.
Towards afternoon of the eighth day. Mackintosh dipped
118 n T
Digitized by VjOOQIC
FOUL PLAY
a vessel in the sea, with the manifest intention of drinking
the salt water.
"Stop him!" cried Hazel, in great agitation; and the
others seized him, and overpowered him : he cursed them
with such horrible curses, that Miss RoUeston put her fingers
in her ears, and shuddered from head to foot. Even this was
new to her, to hear foul language.
A calm voice rose in the midst, and said : " Let us pray."
There was a dead silence, and Mr. Hazel kneeled down
and prayed loud and fervently; and, while he prayed, the
furious cries subsided for a while, and deep groans only were
heard. He prayed for food, for rain, for wind, for patience.
The men were not so far gone but they could just manage
to say "Amen."
He rose from his knees, and gathered the pale faces of the
men together in one glance, and saw that intense expression
of agony which physical pain can mould with men's features ;
and then he strained his eyes over the brassy horizon ; but no
cloud, no veil of vapour was visible.
** Water, water everywhere, bat not a drop to drink."
" We must be mad," he cried, " to die of thirst, with all
this water round us."
His invention being stimulated by this idea, and his own
dire need, he eagerly scanned everything in the boat, and
his eyes soon lighted on two objects, disconnected in them-
selves ; but it struck him he could use them in combination.
These were a common glass bottle, and Miss Rolleston's Kfe-
preserving jacket, that served her for a couch. He drew this
garment over his knees, and considered it attentively ; then
untwisted the brass nozzle through which the jacket was in-
flated, imd so left a tube, some nine inches in length, hanging
down from the neck of the garment.
He now applied his breath to the tube, and the jacket,
swelling rapidly, proved that the whole receptacle was air-
tight.
He then allowed the air to escape. Next, he took the
bottle and filled it with water from the sea ; then he inserted,
with same difficulty and great care, the neck of the bottle
into the orifice of the tube ; this done, he detached the wire
of the brass nozzle, and whipped the tube firmly round the
neck of the bottle.
" Now, light a fire," he cried ; " no matter what it costs.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
The fore thwart was chopped up, and a fire soon spluttered
and sparkled^ for ten eager hands were feeding it : the bottle
was then suspended over it, and, in due course, the salt-water
boiled and threw off vapour, and the belly of the jacket began
to heave and stir. Hazel then threw cold water upon the
outside, to keep it cool ; and, while the men eagerly watched
the bubbling bottle and swelling bag, his spirits rose, and he
took occasion to explain that what was now going on under
their eyes was, after all, only one of the great processes of
Nature, done upon a small scale. ^^The clouds," said he,
" are but vapours drawn from the sea, by the heat of the sun :
these clouds are composed of fresh water, and so the steam
we are now raising from salt-water will be fresh. We can't
make whisky, or brew beer, lads ; but, thank Heaven ! we
can brew water ; and it is worth all other liquors ten times
told."
A wild '* Hurrah ! " greeted these words.
But every novel experiment seems doomed to fail, or meet
with some disaster. The water in the bottle had been re-
duced too low, by vaporisation ; and the bottle burst suddenly,
with a loud report. That report was followed by a piteous
wail.
Hazel turned pale at this fatal blow ; but, recovering him-
self, he said, '^ That is unfortunate ; but it was a good servant
while it lasted. Give me the baler ; and. Miss RoUeston, can
you lend me a thimble ? "
The tube of the life-preserver was held over the baler, and
out trickled a small quantity of pure water, two thimblesful
a-piece. Even that, as it passed over their swollen tongues
and parched swallows, was a heavenly reHef ; but, alas ! the
supply was then exhausted.
Next day hunger seemed uppermost, and the men gnawed
and chewed their tobacco pouches ; and two caps, that had
been dressed with the hair on, were divided for food.
None was given to Mr. Hazel or Miss Rolleston ; and this,
to do the poor creatures justice, was the first instance of
partiality the sailors had shown.
The lady, though tormented with hunger, was more mag-
nanimous; she offered to divide the contents of her little
medidne-chest ; and the globules were all devoured in a
moment.
And now their tortures were aggravated by the sight of
abundance. They drifted over coral rocks, at a considerable
depth, but the water was so exquisitely clear that they saw
120 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
five fathoms down. They discerned small fish drifting over
the bottom ; they looked like a driving cloudy so vast was
their number ; and every now and then there was a scurry
among them^ and porpoises and dog-fish broke in and feasted
on them. All this they saw, yet could not catch one of those
bilhons for their lives. Thus they were tantalised as well as
starved.
The next day was like the last, with this difierence, that
the sufferers could no longer endure their torments in
silence.
The lady moaned constantly ; the sailors groaned, lamented,
and cursed.
The sun baked and blistered, and the water glared.
The sails being useless, the sailors rigged them as an
awning, and salt water was constantly thrown over them.
Mr. Hazel took a baler, and drenched his own clothes and
Miss Rolleston's upon their bodies. This relieved the hell of
thirst in some degree ; but the sailors could not be persuaded
to practise it
In the afternoon Hazel took Miss Rolleston's Bible from
her wasted hands, and read aloud the forty-second Psalm.
When he had done, one of the sailors asked him to pass
the Bible forward. He did so; and in half-an-hour the
leaves were returned him ; the vellum binding had been cut
off, divided, and eaten.
He looked piteously at the leaves, and, after a while, fell
upon his knees, and prayed silently.
He rose, and, with Miss Rolleston's consent, offered the
men the leaves as well. '^ It is the Bread of Life for men's
souls, not their bodies," said he. '^ But God is merciful ; I
think He will forgive you ; for your need is bitter."
Cooper replied that the binding was man's, but the pages
were God's; and, either for this or another more obvious
reason, the leaves were declined for food.
All that afternoon Hazel was making a sort of rough spoon
out of a fragment of wood.
The night that followed was darker than usual, and, about
midnight, a hand was laid on Helen Rolleston's shoulder, and
a voice whispered, ^^ Hush ! say nothing. I have got some-
thing for you."
At the same time something sweet and deliciously fragrant
was put to her lips ; she opened her mouth, and received a
spoonful of marmalade. Never did marmalade taste like that
befwe. It dissolved itself like Ambrosia over her palate, and
^^^ - d by Google
Digitized t
FOUL PLAY
evn relieved her parched throat in some slight degree by the
saliva it excited.
Nature could not be resisted ; her body took whatever he
gave. But her high mind rebelled.
^^ Oh^ how base I am^" said she^ and wept.
'^Why, it is your own," said he soothingly; "I took it
out of your cabin expressly for you."
''At leasts oblige me by eating some yourself, sir," said
Helen, ''or (with a sudden burst) I will die ere I touch
another morsel."
" I feel the threat. Miss RoUeston ; but I do not need it,
for I am very, very hungry. But, no ; if / take any, I must
divide it all with them. But if you will help me unrip the
jacket, I will suck the inside after you."
Helen gazed at him, and wondered at the man, and
at the strange love which had so bitterly offended her, when
she was surrounded by comforts; but now it extorted her
respect.
They unripped the jacket, and found some moisture left.
They sudced it, and it was a wonderful, an incredible relief
to their parched gullets.
The next day was a fearful one. Not a cloud in the sky
to give hope of rain ; the air so light, it only just moved
them along; and the sea glared, and the sun beat on the
poor wretches, now tortured into madness with hunger and
thirst
The body of man, in this dire extremity, can suffer internal
agony as acute as any that can be inflicted on its surface by
the knife ; and the cries, the screams, the groans, the prayers,
the curses, intermingled, that issued from the boat, were not
to be distinguished from the cries of men horribly wounded
in battle, or writhing under some terrible operation in
hospitals.
Oh, it was terrible and piteous to see and hear the boat-
load of ghastly victims, with hollow cheeks, and wild-beast
eyes, go groaning, cursing, and shriddng loud, upon that
fair glassy sea, below that purple vault and glorious sun.
Towards afternoon the sailors got together, forward, and
left Hazel and Miss RoUeston alone in ^e stem. This gave
him an opportunity of speaking to her confidentially. He
took advantage of it, and said, " Miss RoUeston, I wish to
consult you. Am I justified in secreting the marmalade any
longer ? There is nearly a spoonful a-piece."
"No," said Helen, "divide it amongst them aU. Oh, if I
122
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
had (mly a woman beside me, to pray with^ and cry with, and
die with : for die we must."
^^ I am not so sure of that/' said Hazel faintly, but with a
cool fortitude all his own. "Experience proves that the
human body can subsist a prodigious time on very little
food ; and saturating the clothes with water is, I know, the
best way to allay thirst. And women^ thank Heaven, last
longer than men, under privations."
" I shall not last long, sir/' said Helen. ^^ Look at their
eyes."
" What do you mean ? "
*^ I mean that those men there are going to kill me."
CHAPTER XVni
Hazel thought her reason was going ; and^ instead of looking
at the men's eyes, it was hers he examined. But, no ; the
sweet cheek was white, the eyes had a fearful hollow all
round them, but, out of that cave, the light hazel eye, preter-
naturally large, but calm as ever, looked out, full of fortitude,
resignation, and reason.
"Don't look at me,** said she quietly; "but take an
opportunity and look at them. They mean to kill me."
Hazel looked furtively round ; and, being enlightened in
part by the woman's intelligence, he observed that some of
the men were actually glaring at himself and Helen Rolleston
in a dreadful way. There was a remarkable change in their
eyes since he looked last. The pupils seemed diminished,
the whites enlarged; and, in a word, the characteristics of
humanity had, somehow, died out of those bloodshot orbs,
and the animal alone shone in them now, the wild beast
driven desperate by hunger.
What he saw, coupled with Helen's positive interpretation
of it, was truly sickening.
These men were six, and he but one. They had all
clasp knives; and he had only an old penknife that would
be sure to double up, or break off, if a blow were dealt
with it.
He asked himself, in utter terror, what on earth he
should do.
The first thing seemed to be to join the men^ and leam
123 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
their minds ; it might also be as well to prevent this secret
conference from going further.
He went forward boldly, though sick at heart, and said,
" Well, my lads, what is it ? "
The men were silent directly, and looked sullenly down,
avoiding his eye, yet not ashamed.
In a situation so terrible the senses are sharpened; and
Hazel dissected, in his mind, this sinister look, and saw that
Morgan, Prince, and Mackintosh were hostile to him.
But Welch and Cooper he hoped were still friendly.
" Sir," said Fenner, civilly but doggedly, ^^ we are come to
this now, that one must die, for the others to Hve ; and the
greater part of us are for casting lots all round, and let every
man, and every woman too, take their chance. That is fair,
Sam, isn't it ? "
*' It is fair," said Cooper, with a terrible doggedness.
But it is hard," he added.
'^ Harder that seven should die for one," said Mackintosh.
^* No, no : one must die for the seven."
Hazel represented, with all the force language possesses,
that what they meditated was a crime, the fatal result of
which was known by experience.
But they heard in ominous silence.
Hazel went back to Helen Rolleston, and sat down right
before her.
^' Well ! " said she, with supernatural calmness.
*' You were mistaken," said he.
'^ Then why have you placed yourself between them and
me? No, no; their eyes have told me they have singled
me out But what does it matter? We poor creatures
are all to die ; and that one is the happiest that dies first,
and dies unstained by such a crime. / heard every roord
you said, sir / "
Hazel cast a piteous look on her, and, finding he could no
longer deceive her as to their danger, and being weakened
by simine, fell to trembling and crying.
Helen Rolleston looked at him with calm and gentle pity.
For a moment, the patient fortitude of a woman made her a
brave man's superior.
Night came, and, for the first time. Hazel claimed two por-
tions of the rum one for himself, and one for Miss Rolleston.
He then returned aft, and took the helm. He loosened it,
so as to be ready to unship it in a moment^ and use it as a
weapon.
124
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
The men huddled together forward ; and it was easy to see
that the boat was now divided into two hostile camps.
Hazel sat quaking^ with his hand on the helm^ fearing an
attack every moment.
Both he and Helen listened acutely^ and about three
o'clock in the mornings a new incident occurred^ of a terrible
nature.
Mackintosh was heard to say, '^ Serve out the rum, no
allowance/' and the demand was instantly complied with by
Morgan.
Then Hazel touched Miss RoUeston on the shoulder, and
insisted on her taking half what was left of the marmalade ;
Mid he took the other half. The time was gone by for
economy : what they wanted now was strength, in case the
wild beasts, maddened by drink as well as hunger, should
attack them.
Already the liquor had begun to tell, and wild hallos and
yells, and even fi^gments of ghastly songs, mingled with the
groans of misery, in the doomed boat.
At sunrise there was a great swell upon the water, with
sharp gusts at intervals ; and on the horizon, to windward,
might be observed a black spot in the sky, no bigger than a
fly. But none saw that ; Hazel's eye never left the raving
wretches in the forepart of the boat ; Cooper and Welch sat in
gloomy despair amidships ; and the others were huddled to-
gether forward, encouraging each other to a desperate act.
It was about eight o'clock in the morning, Helen RoUeston
awoke from a brief doze, and said, " Mr. Hazel, I have had a
strange dream. I dreamed there was food, and plenty of it,
on the outside of this boat."
While these strange words were yet in her mouth, three of
the sailor suddenly rose up with their knives drawn, and eyes
full of murder, and staggered aft as fast as their enfeebled
bodies could.
Hazel uttered a loud cry, " Welch ! Cooper ! will you see
us butchered ? " and rose to his feet.
Cooper put out his arm to stop Mackintosh, but was too
late. He did stop Morgan, however, and said, " Come, none
of that ; no foul play ! "
Irritated by this unexpected resistance, and maddened by
drink, Morgan turned on Cooper and stabbed him ; he sank
down with a groan. On this Welch gave Morgan a fearftd
gash, dividing his jugular, and was stabbed, in return, by
Prince, but not severely ; these two grappled and rolled over
125 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
one another^ stabbing and cursing at the bottom of the boat.
Meantime^ Hazel had unshipped the helm^ and Mackintosh
was received by him with a point-blank thrust in the face
from it that staggered him^ though a very powerful man, and
drove him backwards against the mast; but^ in delivering
this thrust, Hazel's foot slipped, and he fell with great
violence on his head and arm ; Mackintosh recovered himself,
and sprang upon the stem thwart with his knife up and
gleaming over Helen Rolleston. Hazel writhed round where
he lay, and struck him desperately on the knee with the helm.
The poor woman knew only how to suffer; she cowered a
little, and put up two feeble hands.
The knife descended.
But not upon that cowering figure.
CHAPTER XIX
A PURPLE rippling line upon the water had for some little time
been coming down from the east with great rapidity; but, bent
on bloody work, the crew had not observed it. The boat heeled
over under the sudden gust ; but Mackintosh had already lost
his footing under Hazel's blow, and the boom striking him
suddenly almost at the same moment, he went clean over the
gunwale into the sea. He struck it with his knife first.
All their lives were now gone if Cooper, who had already
recovered his feet, had not immediately cut the sheet with
his knife ; there was no time to slack it ; and, even as it was,
the lower part of the sail was drenched, and the boat full
of water.
" Ship the helm," he roared.
The boat righted directly the sheet was cut, the wet sail
flapped furiously, and the boat having way on her, yielded
to the helm, and wriggled slowly away before the whistling
wind.
Mackintosh rose a few yards astern, and swam after the
boat, with great glaring eyes ; the loose sail was not drawing,
but the wind moved the boat onward. However, Mackintosh
gained slowly, and Hazel held up an oar like a spear, and
shouted to him that he must promise solemnly to forego all
violence, or he should never come on board alive.
Mackintosh opened his mouth to reply ; but, at the same
126 ^ y
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
moment^ his eyes suddenly dilated in a fearfiil way^ and he
went under water, with a gurgling cry. Yet, not like one
drowning, but with a jerit.
" The next moment there was a great bubbling of the water,
as if displaced by some large creatures struggling below, and
then the surface was stained with blood.
And, lest there should be any doubt as to the wretched
man's fate, the huge back fin of a monstrous shark came
soon after, gliding round and round the rolling boat, awaiting
the next victim.
Now, while the water was yet stained with his life blood,
who, hurrying to kill, had met a violent death, the un-
wounded sailor, Fenner, excited by the fracasy broke forth
into singing, and so completed the horror of a wild and awfiil
scene ; for still while he shouted, laughed, and sang, the
shark swam calmly round and round, and the boat crept on,
her white sail bespattered with blood which was not so
before ^and in her bottom lay one man dead as a stone ; and
two poor wretches, Prince and Welch, their short-lived feud
composed for ever, sat openly sucking their bleeding wounds,
to quench, for a moment, their intolerable thirst.
Oh, little do we, who never pass a single day without bite
or sup, know the animal, Man, in these dire extremities.
CHAPTER XX
At last Cooper ordered Fenner to hold his jaw, and come
aft and help sail the boat.
But the man, being now stark mad, took no notice of the
order. His madness grew on him, and took a turn by no
means imcommon in these cases. He saw before him sump-
tuous feasts, and streams of fresh water flowing. These he
began to describe with great volubility and rapture, smadcing
his lips, and exulting ; and so he went on tantalising them
till noon.
Meantime, Cooper asked Mr. Hazel if he could sail the
boat. The squall had passed, and the breeze was now steady
from the south-west.
"I can steer," said Hazel, ^^but that is all. My right
arm is benumbed."
The silvery voice of Helen RoUeston then uttered brave
127
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
and welcome words. *^ I will do whatever you tell me, Mr.
Cooper."
'* Long life to you, miss," said the wounded seaman. He
then directed her how to reef the sail, and splice the sheet
which he had been obliged to cut ; and in a word, to sail the
boat ; which she did with some little assistance from Hazel.
And so they all depended upon her, whom some of them
had been for killing ; and the blood-stained boat ghded
before the wind.
At two P.M. Fenner jumped suddenly up, and looking at
the sea with rapture, cried out, "Aha! my boys, here's a
beautiful green meadow; and there's a sweet brook with
bulrushes; green, green, green! Let's have a roll among
the daisies." And, in a moment, ere any of his stiff and
wounded shipmates could put out a hand, he threw himself
on his back upon the water, and sunk for ever, with inex-
pressible rapture on his corpse-like face.
A feeble groan was the only tribute those who remained
behind could afford him.
At three p.m. Mr. Hazel happened to look over the
weather-side of the boat, as she heeled to leeward under a
smart breeze, and he saw a shell or two fastened to her side,
about eleven inches above her keel. He looked again, and
gave a loud hurrah. '' Barnacles I barnacles I " he cried. " I
see them sticking."
He leaned over, and with some difficulty detached one,
and held it up.
It was not a barnacle, but a curious oblong shell-fish, open
at one end.
At sight of this the wounded forgot their wounds, and
leaned over the boat's side, detaching the shell-fish with
their knives. They broke them with the handles of their
knives, and devoured the fish. They were as thick as a
man's finger, and about an inch long, and as sweet as a nut.
It seems that in the long calm these shell-fish had fastened
on the boat. More than a hundred of them were taken oflf
her weather-side, and evenly divided.
Miss Rolleston, at Hazel's earnest request, ate only six,
and these very slowly, and laid the rest by. But the sailors
could not restrain themselves; and Prince, in particular,
gorged himself so fiercely that he turned purple in the face,
and began to breath very hard.
That black speck on the horizon had grown by noon to
128
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
a beetle, and by three o'clock to something more like an
elephant, and it now diffused itself into a huge black cloud,
that gradually overspread the heavens ; and at last, about
half-an-hour before sunset, came a peculiar chill, and then,
in due course, a drop or two fell upon the parched wretches.
They sat, less like animals than like plants, all stretching
towards their preserver.
Their eyes were turned up to the clouds, so were their
open mouths, and their arms and hands held up towards it.
The drops increased in number, and praise went up to
Heaven in return.
Patter, patter, patter; down came a shower, a rain a
heavy, steady rain.
With cries of joy they put out every vessel to catch it ;
they lowered the sail, and putting ballast in the centre,
belhed it into a great vessel to catch it. They used all their
spare canvas to catch it. They filled the water-cask with
it; they filled the keg that had held the fatal spirit; and
all the time they were sucking the wet canvas and their own
clothes, and their very hands and garments on which the
life-giving drops kept falling.
Then they set their little sail again, and prayed for land
to Him who had sent them wind and rain.
CHAPTER XXI
The breeze declined at sunset; but it rained at intervals
during the night, and by the morning they were somewhat
chilled.
Death had visited them again during the night. Prince
was discovered dead and cold; his wounds were mere
scratches, and there seems to be no doubt that he died by
gorging himself with more food than his enfeebled system
could possibly digest.
Thus dismally began a day of comparative bodily comfort, but
mental distress, especially to Miss RoUeston and Mr. Hazel.
Now that this lady and gentleman were no longer goaded
to madness by physical suffering, their higher sensibiUties
resumed their natural force, and the miserable contents of the
blood-stained boat shocked them terribly two corpses and
two wounded men.
^^^ Digitized by OoOgle
FOUL PLAY
Mr. Hazel, however, soon came to one resolution, and that
was to read the funeral service over the dead, and then
commit them to the deep. He declared his intention ; and
Cooper, who, though wounded and apparently sinking, was
still skipper of the boat, acquiesced readily.
Mr. Hazel took the dead men's knives and their money out
of their pockets^ and read the burial service over them ; they
were then committed to the deep. This sad ceremony per-
formed, he addressed a few words to the survivors.
^'My friends and brothers in affliction^ we ought not to
hope too much from Divine mercy for ourselves; or we
should soon come to forget Divine justice. But we are not
forbidden to hope for others. Those who are now gone were
guilty of a terrible crime ; but then they were tempted more
than their flesh could bear ; and they received their punish-
ment here on earth : we may therefore hope they will escape
punishment hereafter. And it is for us to profit by their
fate, and bow to Heaven's will ; even when they drew their
knives food in plenty was within their reach, and the signs
of wind were on the sea, and of rain in the sky. Let us
be more patient than they were, and place our trust
What is that upon the water to leeward ? A piece of wood
floating?"
Welch stood up and looked. " Can't make it out. Steer
alongside it, miss, if you please." And he crept forward.
Presently he became excited, and directed those in the
stem how to steer the boat close to the object without
going over it. He begged them all to be silent. He leaned
over the boat side as they neared it. He clutched it sud-
denly with both hands, and flung it into the boat with a
shout of triumph, but sank exhausted by the efibrt.
It was a young turtle ; and being asleep on the water,
or inexperienced, had allowed them to capture it.
This was indeed a godsend : twelve pounds of succulent
meat. It was instantly divided, and Mr. Hazel contrived,
with some difficulty, to boil a portion of it. He enjoyed
it greatly ; but Miss RoUeston showed a curious and violent
antipathy to it, scarcely credible under the circumstances.
Not so the sailors. They devoured it raw, what they could
get at all. Cooper could only get down a mouthful or
two: he had received his death wound, and was mani-
festly sinking.
He revived, however, from time to time, and spoke cheer-
fully, whenever he spoke at all. Welch informed him of
ISO
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
every incident that took place, however minute. Then he
would nod, or utter a syllable or two.
On being told that they were passing through seaweed,
he expressed a wish to see some of it ; and, when he had
examined it, he said to Hazel, "Keep up your heart, sir;
you are not a hundred miles from land." He added gently,
after a pause, " But I am bound for another port"
About five in the afternoon Welch came aft, with the tears
in his eyes, to say that Sam was just going to slip his cable,
and had something to say to them.
They went to him directly, and Hazel took his han4, and
exhorted him to forgive all his enemies.
" Han't a got none," was the reply.
Hazel then, after a few words of religious exhortation and
comfort, asked him if he could do anything for him.
" Ay," said Cooper solemnly. " Got pen and ink aboard,
any of ye } "
"1 have a pencil," said Helen earnestly; then tearfully,
'' oh ! dear ; it is to make his will." After searching in vain
for paper she offered her Prayer-Book, which had two blank
leaves under each cover.
The dying man saw it, and rose into that remarkable energy
which sometimes precedes the departure of the soul.
" Write ! " said he, in his deep, full tones.
" I, Samuel Gwper, able seaman, am going to slip my
cable, and sail into the presence of my Maker."
He waited till this was written.
" And so I speak the truth."
''The ship Proserpine was destroyed wilfid."
'' The men had more allowance than they signed for."
'' The mate was always plying the captain with liquor."
'' Two days before ever the ship leaked the mate got the
long-boat ready."
''When the Proserpine sank, we was on her port quarter,
aboard the cutter was me and my messmate Tom Welch."
" We saw two auger holes in her stam, about two inches
diameter." *
1^1 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
" Them two holes was made from within, for the splinters
showed outside."
'* She was a good ship, and met with no stress of weather
to speak of, on that voyage."
" Joe Wylie scuttled her and destroyed her people."
^' D n his eyes ! "
Mr. Hazel was shocked at this finale : but he knew what
sailors are, and how little meaning there is in their set
phrases. However, as a clergyman, he could not allow these
to be Cooper s last words ; so he said earnestly, " Yes, but,
my poor fellow, you said you forgave all your enemies. We
all need forgiveness, you know."
'^Thatis true, sir."
"And you forgive this Wylie, do you not ?"
"Oh, Lord, yes," said Cooper faintly. "I forgive the
lubber ; d ^n him ! "
Having said these words with some difficulty, he became
lethargic, and so remained for two hours. Indeed, he spoke
but once more, and that was to Welch ; though they were
all about him then. " Messmate," said he, in a voice that was
now faint and broken, " you and I must sail together on this
new voyage. Fm going out of port first ; but " Tin a whisper
of inconceivable tenderness and simple cunning) " I'll lie-to
outside the harbour till you come out, my bo." Then he
paused a moment. Then he added softly, " For I love you,
Tom."
These sweet words were the last of that rugged, silent
sailor, who never threw a word away, and whose rough
breast enclosed a friendship as of the ancient world, tender,
true, and everlasting, that sweetened his life, and ennobled
his death. As he deserved mourners, so he had true ones.
His last words went home to the afiUcted hearts that heard
them, and the lady and gentleman, whose lives he had saved
at cost of his own, wept aloud over their departed friend.
But his messmate's eye was dry. When all was over, he just
turned to the mourners, and said gravely, " Thank ye, sir ;
thank ye kindly, ma'am." And then he covered the body
decently with the spare canvas, and lay quietly down, with
his own head pillowed upon those loved remains.
Towards afternoon seals were observed sporting on the
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
watei^ ; but no attempt was made to capture them. Indeed^
Miss Rolleston had quite enough to do to sail the hoat with
Mr. Hazel's assistance.
The night passed^ and the morning brought nothing new,
except that they fell in with seaweed in such quantities, the
boat could har(fly get through it. Mr. Hazel examined this
seaweed carefully, and brought several kinds upon deck.
Amongst the varieties was one like thin green strips of
spinach, very tender and succulent. His botanical researches
included seaweed, and he recognised this as one of the edible
rock-weeds. There was very httle of it comparatively, but
he took great pains, and in two hours' time had gathered
as much as might fill a good slop-basin. He washed it in
fresh water, and then asked Miss Rolleston for a pocket-
handkerchief. This he tied so as to make a hag, and
contrived to boil it with the few chips of fuel that remained
on board.
After he had boiled it ten minutes, there was no more fuel,
except a bowl or two, and the boat-hook, one pair of oars,
and the midship and stem thwarts.
He tasted it, and found it glutinous and delicious ; he gave
Miss Rolleston some, and then fed Welch with the rest. He,
poor fellow, enjoyed this sea-spinach greatly; he could no
longer swallow meat.
While Hazel was feeding him, a flight of ducks passed over
their heads, high in the air.
Welch pointed up at them.
" Ah ! " said Helen, " if we had but their wings I "
Presently a bird was seen coming in the same direction,
but flying very low; it wobbled along towards them very
slowly, and at last, to their great surprise, came flapping and
tried to settle on the gunwale of the boat. Welch, with that
instinct of slaughter which belongs to men, stuck the boat-
hook into the bird's back, and it was soon despatched. It
proved to be one of that very flock of ducks that had passed
over their heads, and a crab was found fastened to its leg.
It is supposed that the bird, to break its long flight, had
rested on some reef, and, perhaps, been too busy fishing, and
caught this tartar.
Hazel pounced upon it. '' Heaven has sent this for you,
because you cannot eat turtle." But the next moment he
blushed and recovered his reason. " See," said he, referring
to her own words, ^^this poor bird had wings; yet death
overtook her."
133
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
He sacrificed a bowl for fuel, and boiled the duck and the
crab in one pot, and Miss Rolleston ate demurely but plenti-
fully of both. Of the crab's shell he made a little drinking
vessel for Miss Rolleston.
Cooper remained without funeral rites all this time, the
reason was that Welch lay with his head pillowed upon his
dead friend, and Hazel had not the heart to disturb hhn.
But it was the survivors' duty to commit him to the deep,
and so Hazel sat down by Welch, and asked him kindly
whether he would not wish the services of the Church to be
read over his departed friend.
"In course, sir," Said Welch. But the next moment he
took Hazel's meaning, and said hurriedly, " No, no ; I can't
let Sam be buried in the sea. You see, sir, Sam and I, we
are used to one another, and I can't abide to part with him,
alive or dead."
"Ah," said Hazel, "the best friends must part, when
death takes one."
" Ay, ay, when t'other livebi But^ Lord bless you, sir ! I
shan't be long astam of my messmate here ; can't you see
that ? "
" Heaven forbid 1 " said Hazel, surprised and alarmed.
" Why, you are not wounded mortally, as Cooper was. Have
a good heart, man, and we three will all see old England
yet."
"Well, sir," said Welch coolly, "I'll tell ye : me and my
shipmate. Prince, was a cutting at one another with our
knives a smart time (and I do properly wonder, when I think
of that day's work, for I liked the man well enough ; but rum
atop of starvation plays hell with seafaring men.) Well, sir,
as I was a-sapng, he let more blood out of me than I could
afford to lose under the circumstances. And, ye see, I can't
make fresh blood, because my throat is so swelled by the
drought, I can't swallow much meat, so I'm safe to lose the
number of my mess; and, another thing, my heart isn't
altogether set towards Uving. Sam, here, he give me an
order; whatl didn't ye hear him? 'I'll lie-to outside the
bar,' says he, 'till you come out.' He expects me to come
out in his wake. Don't ye, Sam that was ? " and he laid
his hands gently on the remains. " Now, sir, I shall ax the
lady and you a favour. I want to He alongside Sam. But if
you bury him in the sea, and me ashore, why d ^n my eyes
if I shan't be a thousand years or so before I can find my
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
own messmate. Etamity is a 'natioii big place I am told a
hundred times as big as both oceans. No, sir; you'll make
land, by Sam's reckoning, to-morrow or next day, wind and
tide permitting. I'll t^e care of Sam's hull till then, and
we'll lie together till the angel blows that there trumpet;
and then we'll go aloft together, and, as soon as ever we
have made our scrape to our betters, we'll both speak a good
word for you and the lady ; a very pretty lady she is, and a
good-hearted, and the best plucked one I ever did see in any
distressed cradft. Now don't ye cry, miss, don't ye cry; your
trouble is pretty near over ; he said you was not a hundred
miles from land ; I don't know how he knew that he was
always a better seaman than I be; but say it he did, and
that is enough, for he was a man as never told a lie, nor
wasted a word."
Welch could utter no more just then; for the glands of
his throat were swollen, and he spoke with considerable
difficulty.
What could Hazel reply? The judgment is sometimes
ashamed to contradict the heart with cold reasons.
He only said, with a sigh, that he saw no signs of land^
and believed they had gone on a wrong course, and were in
the heart of the Pacific.
Welch made no answer, but a look of good-natured con-
tempt. The idea of this parson contradicting Sam Cooper !
l3ie sun broke, and revealed the illimitable ocean ; them-
selves a tiny speck on it.
Mr. Hazel whispered Miss RoUeston that Cooper must be
buried to-day.
At ten P.M. they passed through more seaweed; but this
time they had to eat the sea-spinach raw, and there was very
little of it
At noon the sea was green in places.
Welch told them this was a sign they were nearing land.
At four P.M. a bird, about the size and colour of a wood-
pecker, settled on the boat's mast.
Their glittering eyes fastened on it ; and Welch said,
" Come, there's a supper for you as can eat it"
*' No, poor thing ! " said Helen Rolleston.
" You are right," said Hazel, with a certain effort of self-
restraint " Let our sufferings make us gentle not savage ;
that poor bird is lost like us upon this ocean. It is a land^
bird."
^* How do you know that ? "
135 r^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
*' Water birds have webbed feet to swim with."
The bird, having rested, flew to the north-west
Helen, by one of those inspired impulses her sex have,
altered the boat's course directly, and followed the bird.
Half-an-hour before sunset, Helen Rolleston, whose vision
was very keen, said she saw something at the verge of the
horizon, like a hair standing upright.
Hazel looked, but could not see an3rtliing.
In ten minutes more, Helen Rolleston pointed it out
again ; and then Hazel did see a vertical line, more like a
ship's mast than anything else one could expect to see there.
Their eyes were now strained to make it out, and as the
boat advanced, it became more and more palpable, though
it was hard to say exactly what it was.
Five minutes before the sun set, the air being clearer than
ever; it stood out clean against the sky. A tree a lofty,
solitary tree ; with a tall stem, hke a column, and branches
only at the top.
A palm-tree in the middle of the Pacific.
CHAPTER XXn
And but for the land-bird which rested on their mast, and
for their own mercy in sparing it, they would have passed
to the eastward, and never seen that giant palm tree in
mid-ocean.
" Oh, let us put out all her sails, and fly to it ! " cried
Helen.
Welch smiled, and said, '^No, miss, ye mustn't. Lord
love ye; what! run on to a land ye don't know, happy-
go-lucky, in the dark, like that? Lay her head for the
tree, and welcome, but you must lower the mainsel, and
treble reef the foresel ; and so creep on a couple of knots
an hour, and, by day-break, you'll find the island under your
lee. Then you can look out for a safe landing-place."
^^The island, Mr. Welch I" said Helen. "There is no
island, or I should have seen it."
" Oh, the island was hull down. Why, you don't think as
palm-trees grow in the water ? You do as I say, or you'll
get wrecked on some thundering reef or other."
136
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
, Upon this Mr. Hazel and Miss Rolleston set to work, and,
with considerable -difficulty, lowered the mainsaO, and treble
reefed the foresail.
" That is right/' said Welch. '' To-morrow you'll land in
safety, and bury my messmate and me."
" Oh, no ! " cried Helen Rolleston. " We must bury him,
but we mean to cure you."
They obeyed Welch's instructions, and so crept on all
night ; and, so well had this able seaman calculated distance
and rate of saihng, that, when the sun rose, sure enough
there was an island under their lee, distant about a league,
though it looked much less. But the palm-tree was more
than twice that distance. By force of wind and current
they had made lee-way all night, and that tree stood on the
most westerly point of the island.
Hazel and Miss Rolleston stood up and hurrahed for joy,
then fell on their knees in silent gratitude. Welch only
smiled.
But though there was no broken water at sea, yet breakers,
formidable to such a craft as theirs, were seen foaming over
long disjointed reefs ahead that grinned black and dangerous
here and there.
They then consulted Welch, and he told them they must
tack directly, and make a circuit of the island to land. He
had to show them how to tack ; and the sea rising, they got
thoroughly wetted, and Miss Rolleston rather frightened ; for
here was a peril they had wonderfully escaped hitherto.
However, before eleven o'clock, they had stood out to sea,
and coasted the whole south side of the island ; they then
put the boat before the wind, and soon ran past the east
coast, which was very narrow in fact, a sort of bluff-head
and got on the north side of the island. Here the water was
comparatively smooth, and the air warm and balmy.
They kept about a mile off the shore, and ranged along the
north side, looking out for a good landing.
Here was no longer an unbroken line of cliffs, but an un*
dulating shore, with bulging rocks, and lines of reef Afler
a mile or two of that the coast ran out seaward, and they
passed close to a most extraordinary phenomenon of vegeta-
tion ; great tangled woods crowned the shore and the land-
ward slopes, and their grand foliage seemed to flow over into
the sea : for here was a broad rocky flat intersected with a
thousand little channels of the sea ; and the thousand little
islets so formed were crowded, covered, and hidden with
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PI^Y
luxuriant vegetation. Huge succulent leaves of the richest
hue hung over the water, and one or two of the most ad-
venturous of them showed, by the crystals that sparkled on
their green surface, that the waves had actually been kissing
them at high tide. This ceased, and they passed right under
a ch^ crowned with trees above.
This cHff was broad and irregular, and in one of its cavities
a cascade of pure fresh water came sparkling, leaping, and
tumbling down to the foot of the rock. There it had formed
a great basin of water, cool, deep, transparent, which trickled
over on to a tongue of pink sand, and went in two crystal
gutters to the sea.
Great and keen was the rapture this sight caused our poor
parched voyagers, and eager their desire to land at once, if
possible, and plunge their burning Ups, and swelling throats,
and fevered hands into that heavenly liquid; but the next
moment they were diverted from that purpose by the scene
that burst on them.
This wooded cliff, with its wonderful cascade, was the very
gate of paradise. They passed it, and in one moment were
in a bay a sudden bay wonderfrdly deep for its extent, and
sheltered on three sides. Broad sands with rainbow tints, all
sparkling, and dotted with birds, some white as snow, some
gorgeous. A peacefril sea of exquisite blue kissing these
lovely sands with myriad dimples ; and, from the land side,
soft emerald slopes, embroidered with silver threads of water,
came to the very edge of the sands ; so that, from all those
glorious hues that flecked the prismatic and sparkling sands,
the eye of the voyagers passed at once to the vivid, yet sweet
and soothing, green of Nature; and over this paradise the
breeze they could no longer feel wafted spicy but delicate
odours from unseen trees.
Even Welch raised himself in the boat, and sniffed the
heavenly air, and smiled at the heavenly spot. "Here's
a blessed haven ! " said he. " Down sail, and row her
ashore."
138 ^ ** T -
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER XXIII
Thev rowed more than a mile, so deep was the glorious bay ;
and then their oars struck the ground. But Hazel with the
boat-hook propelled the boat gently over the pellucid water,
that now seemed too shallow to float a canoe ; and at last
looked like the mere varnish of that picture, the prismatic
sands below ; yet still the Httle craft glided over it, till it
gently grazed the soft sand, and was stationary. So placidly
ended that terrible voyage.
Mr. Hazel and Miss Rolleston were on shore in a moment,
and it was all they could do not to fall upon the land and
kiss it.
Never had the sea disgorged upon that fairy isle such
ghastly spectres. They looked not Hke people about to die,
but that had died, and been buried, and just come out of
their graves to land on that blissful shore. We should have
started back with horror; but the birds of that virgin isle
merely stepped out of their way, and did not fly.
They had landed in paradise.
Even Welch yielded to that universal longing men have to
embrace the land after perils at sea, and was putting his leg
slowly over the gunwale, when Hazel came badi: to his assist-
ance. He got ashore, but was contented to sit down with his
eyes on the dimpled sea and the boat, waiting quietly till the
tide should float his friend to his feet again.
The sea-birds walked quietly about him, and minded him
not.
Miss Rolleston ascended a green slope very slowly, for her
limbs were cramped, and was lost to view.
Hazel now went up the beach, and took a more minute
survey of the neighbourhood.
The west side of the bay was varied. Half of it presented
the soft character that marked the bay in general; but a
portion of it was rocky, though streaked with vegetation ; and
this part was intersected by narrow clefts, into which, in 9ome
rare tempests and high tides combined, tongues of the sea had
entered, licking the sides of the gullies smooth ; and these
occasicoial visits were marked by the sand, and broken shells,
and other debris the tempestuous and encroaching sea had
left behind.
The true high-water mark was several feet lower than these
139 n T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
debris, and was clearly marked. On the land above the cliffs
he found a tangled jungle of tropical shrubs, into which he
did not penetrate, but skirted it, and, walking eastward, came
out upon a delicious down or grassy slope, that ^ed the
centre of the bay. It was a gentleman's lawn of a thousand
acres, with an extremely gentle slope from the centre of the
island down to the sea.
A river flowing from some distant source ran eastward
through this down, but at its verge, and almost encircled it.
Hazel traversed the lawn until this river, taking a sudden turn
towards the sea, intercepted him at a spot which he immedi-
ately fixed on as Helen RoUeston's future residence.
Four short, thick, umbrageous trees stood close to the
stream on this side, and on the eastern side was a grove of
gigantic palm trees, at whose very ankles the river ran.
Indeed, it had undermined one of these palm trees, and that
giant at this moment lay all across the stream, leaving a gap
through which Hazel's eye could pierce to a great depth
among those grand columns ; for they stood wide apart, and
there was not a vestige of brushwood, jungle, or even grass,
below their enormous crowns. He christened the place St.
Helen's on the spot.
He now dipped his baler into the stream, and found it pure
and tolerably cool.
He followed the bend of the stream ; it evaded the slope,
and took him by its own milder descent to the sands ; over
these it flowed smooth as glass into the sea.
Hazel ran to Welch to tell him all he had discovered, and
to give him his first water from the island.
He found a roan-coloured pigeon, with a purplish neck,
perched on the sick man's foot. The bird shone like a rain-
bow, and cocked a saucy eye at Hazel, and flew up into the
air a few yards, but it soon appeared that fear had little to
do with this movement ; for, after an airy circle or two, he
fanned Hazel's cheek with his fast flapping wings, and lighted
on the very edge of the baler, and was for sipping.
^' Oh, look here, Welch ! " cried Hazel, in an ecstasy of
delight
'' Ay, sir," said he. " Poor things, they han't a found us
out yet."
The talking puzzled the bird, if it did not alarm him, and
he flew up to the nearest tree, and perching there, inspected
these new and noisy bipeds at his leisure.
Hazel now laid his hand on Welch's shoulder, and reminded
140
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
him gently they had a sad duty to perform, which could not
be postponed.
'* Right you are, sir/' said Welch, " and very kind of you to
let me have my way with him. Poor Sam ! "
" I have found a place/' said Hazel, in a low voice. " We
can take the boat close to it. But where is Miss RoUeston ? "
" Oh, she is not far off; she was here just now, and brought
me this here Httle cocoa-nut, and patted me on the back, she
did, then off again on a cruise. Bless her little heart ! "
Hazel and Welch then got into the boat, and pushed off
without much difficulty, and punted across the bay to one
of those clefts we have indicated. It was now nearly high
water, and they moored the boat close under the cleft Hazel
had selected.
Then they both got out and went up to the extremity of
the cleft, and there, with the axe and with pieces of wood
they found there, they scraped out a resting-place for Cooper.
This was hght work ; for it was all stones, shells, fragments
of coral, and dried seaweed, lying loosely together. But now
came a hard task, in which Welch could not assist. Hazel
unshipped a thwart, and laid the body on it ; then, by a great
effort, staggered with the burden up to the grave and deposited
it. He was exhausted by the exertion, and had to sit down
panting for some time. As soon as he was recovered, he told
Welch to stand at the head of the grave, and he stood at the
foot, bareheaded, and then from memory he repeated the
service of our Church, hardly missing or displacing a word.
This was no tame recital ; the scene, the circumstances, the
very absence of the book made it tender and solenm. And
then Welch repeated those beautiftil words after Hazel, and
Hazel let him. And how did he repeat them ? In such a
hearty loving tone, as became one who was about to follow,
and all this but a short leave-taking. So uttered for the
Uving as well as the dead, those immortal words had a strange
significance and beauty.
And presently a tender, silvery voice came down to mingle
with the deep and solemn tones of the male mourners. It was
Helen Rolleston. She had watched most of their movements
unseen herself, and now, standing at the edge of the ravine,
and looking down on them, uttered a soft but thrilling Amen
to every prayer. When it was over, and the men prepared
to fill in the grave, she spoke to Welch in an undertone, and
begged leave to pay her tribute first; and with this she
detached her apron, and held it out to them. Hazel easily
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
climbed up to her, and found her apron was full of sweet
smelling bark and aromatic leaves, whose fragrance filled
the air.
" I want you to strew these over his poor remains," she
said. " Oh, not common earth ! He saved our lives. And
his last words were, ' I love you, Tom.' Oh dear, oh dear,
oh dear!" And with that she gave him the apron, and
turned her head away to hide her tears.
Hazel blessed her for the thought, which, indeed, none but
a lady would have had ; and Welch and he, with the tears in
their eyes, strewed the spicy leaves first ; and soon a ridge
of shingle neatly bound with seaweed marked the sailor's
grave.
Hazel's next care, and that a pressing one, was to provide
shelter for the delicate girl and the sick man, whom circum-
stances had placed under his care. He told Miss Rolleston
that Welch and he were going to cross the bay again, and
would she be good enough to meet them at the bend of the
river where she would find four trees ? She nodded her head,
and took that road accordingly. Hazel rode eastward across
the bay, and it being now high water, he got the boat into
the river itself near the edge of the shore, and, as this river
had worn a channel, he contrived with the boat-hook to propel
the boat up the stream, to an angle in the bank within forty
yards of the four trees. He could get no farther, the stream
being now not only shallow, but blocked here and there with
great and rough fragments of stone. Hazel pushed the boat
into the angle out of the current, and moored her fast. He
and Welch then got ashore, and Miss Rolleston was standing
at the four trees. He went to her and said enthusiastically,
" This is to be your house. Is it not a beautiful site ? " .
*' Yes, it is a beautiful site, but forgive me I really don't
see the house," was her reply.
" But you see the framework."
Helen looked all about, and then said ruefully, ^ I suppose
I am blind, sir, or else you are dreaming, for I see nothing
at aU."
" Why here's a roof ready made, and the frame of a wall.
We have only to wattle a screen between these four uprights."
*' Only to wattle a screen ! But I don't know what wattling
a screen is. Who does ? "
" Why, you get some of the canes that grow a little farther
up the river, and a certain long wiry grass I have marked
^*^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
down, and then you Ex and weave till you make a screen from
tree to tree ; this could be patched with wet clay. I know
where there is plenty of that Meantime, see what is done
to our hands. The crown of this great palm tree lies at the
southern aperture of your house, and blocks it entirely up ;
that will keep off the only cold wind, the south wind, from
you to-night. Then look at these long, spiky leaves inter-
laced over your head. (These trees are screw pines.) There
is a roof ready made. You must have another roof under-
neath that, but it will do for a day or two."
''But you will wattle the screen directly," said Helen.
''Begin at once^ please. I am anxious to see a screen
wattled."
"Well," said Welch, who had joined them, "landsmen
are queer folk, the best of 'em. Why, miss, it would take
him a week to screen you with rushes and reeds, and them
sort of weeds ; and Vd do it in half-an-hour, if I was the
Tom Welch I used to be. Why, there's spare canvas enough
in the boat to go between these four trees breast high, and
then there's the foresel besides ; the mainsel is all you and
me shall want, sir."
"Oh, excuse me," said Miss Rolleston, "I will not be
sheltered at the expense of my friends."
"Welch, you are a trump," said Hazel, and ran off for the
spare canvas. He brought it, and the carpenter's basket of
tools. They went to work, and Miss Rolleston insisted on
taking part in it. Finding her so disposed. Hazel said that
they had better divide their labours, since the time was short.
Accordingly, he took the axe and chopped off a great many
scales of the palm tree, and lighted a great fire between the
trees, while the other two worked on the canvas.
"This is to dry the soil as well as cook our provisions,"
said he ; " and now I must go and find food. Is there any-
thing you fancy?" He turned his head from the fire he
was lighting, and addressed this question both to Welch and
Miss Rolleston.
Misa Rolleston stared at this question, then smiled, and
in the true spirit of a lady, said, " I think I should like a
good large cocoa-nut, if you can find one." She felt sure
there was no other eatable thing in the whole island.
" I wants a cabbage," said Welch in a loud voice.
" Oh, Mr. Welch, we are not at home," said Miss Rolleston,
blushing at the preposterous demand.
"No, miss, in Capericom. Whereby we shan't have to
143 ,
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
pay nothing for this here cabbage. Til tell ye, miss : when
a sailor comes ashore he always goes in for green vegetables ;
for why, he has eaten so much junk and biscuit, nature sings
out for greens. Me and my shipmates was paid off at Ports-
mouth last year, and six of us agreed to dine together and
each. order his dish. Blest if six boiled legs of mutton did
not come up smoking hot; three was with cabbage, and
three with turmots. Mine was turmots. But them I don't
ask so nigh the Line : don't ye go to think, because I'm sick,
and the lady and you is so kind to me, and to him that is
a-waiting outside them there shoals for me, as I'm onreason-
able ; turmots I wish you both, and plenty of 'em, when some
whaler gets driven out of her course and picks you up, and
carries you into northern latitudes where turmots grow ; but
cabbage is my right, cabbage is my due, being paid off in
a manner; for the ship is foundered and I'm ashore: cabbage
I ask for, as a seaman that has done his duty, and a man
that won't live to eat many more of 'em ; and " (losing his
temper), " if you are the man I take you for, you'll run and
fetch me a cabbage fresh from the tree." (Recovering his
temper), " I know I didn't ought to ax a parson to shin up
a tree for me : but. Lord, bless you ! there ain't no sarcy
little boys a-looking on, and here's a poor fellow mostly
dying for it."
Miss Rolleston looked at Mr. Hazel with alarm in every
feature; and whispered, ''Cabbage from the tree. Is he
wandering ? "
Hazel smiled. "No," said he. ''He has picked up a
fable of these seas, that there is a tree which grows
, cabbages."
Welch heard him and said, with due warmth, " Of course
there is a tree on all these islands that grows cabbages;
that was known a hundred years before you was bom, and
shipmates of mine have eaten them."
" Excuse me, what those old admirals and buccaneers, that
set the legend afloat, were so absurd as to call a cabbage,
and your shipmates may have eaten for one, is nothing on
earth but the last year's growth of the palm-tree."
" Palm-tree be " said Welch ; and thereupon ensued
a hot argument, which Helen's good sense cut short.
"Mr. Hazel," said she, "can you by any possibility get
our poor friend the thing he wants ? "
" Oh, that is quite within the bounds of possibility," said
Hazel dryly.
144
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
^* Well then suppose you begin by getting him the thing.
Then I will boil the thing, and he will eat the thing: and
after all that it will be time to argue about the name we shall
give to the tiling**
The good, sense of this struck Mr. Hazel forcibly. He
started off at once^ armed with the axe^ and a net-bag Welch
had made since he became unfit for heavy labour ; he called
back to them as he went^ to put the pots on.
Welch and Miss Rolleston complied ; and then the sailor
showed the lady how to sew sailor-wise^ driving the large
needle with the palm of the hand^ guarded by a piece of
leather. They had nailed two breadths of canvas to the trees
on the north and west sides^ and run the breadths rapidly
together; and the water was boiling and bubbhng in the
balers^ when Miss Rolleston uttered a scream^ for Hazel came
running over the prostrate palm-tree as if it was a proper
bridge^ and hghted in the midst of them.
" Lot one," said he cheerfully, and produced from his ,
net some limes, two cocoa-nuts, and a land turtle; from'
this last esculent Miss Rolleston withdrew with undisguised
horror, and it was in vain he assured her it was a great
delicacy.
^^ No matter : it is a reptile. Oh, please, send it away."
'' The Queen of the Island reprieves you," said he, and put
down the terrapin, which went off very leisurely for a re-
prieved reptile.
Then Hazel produced a fine bream, which he had foxmd
struggling in a rock-pool, the tide having turned, and three
sea cray-fish, bigger than any lobster. He chopped their heads
off outside^ and threw their tails into the pots ; he stuck a
piece of pointed wood through the bream, and gave it to
Welch to toast ; but Welch waved it aside.
*' I see no cabbage," said he grimly.
"Oh, I forgot; but that is soon found," said Hazel.
" Here, give me the fish, and you take the saw, and examine
the head of this palm-tree, which lies at Miss Rolleston's
door. Saw away the succulent part of last year s growth, and
bring it here."
Welch got up slowly.
" ril go with you, Mr. Welch," said Miss Rolleston.
She will not be alone with me for a moment, if she can
help it, thought Hazel, and sat moody by the fire. But he
shook off his sadness, and forced on a cheerful look the
moment they came back. They brought with them a vege-r
145 it. .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
table very like the heart of a cabbage^ only longer and
whiter.
''There/' said Welch, "what d'ye call that?"
'' The last year's growth of the palm/' said Hazel calmly.
This vegetable was cut in two, and put into the pots.
"There, take the toasting-fork again," said Hazel to
Welch, and drew out from his net three huge scallopHshells.
"Soup-plates," said he, and washed them in the running
stream ; then put them before the fire to dry.
While the fish and vegetable were cooking, he went and
cut off some of the leafy, pinnated branches of the palm-tree,
and fastened them horizontally above the strips of canvas.
Each palm branch traversed a whole side of the bower. This
closed the northern and western sides. -
On the southern side the prostrate palm-tree, on striking
the ground, had so crushed its boughs and leaves together, as
to make a thick wall of foliage.
Then he took to making forks ; and primitive ones they
were. He selected a bough the size of a thick walking-stick ;
sawed it off the tree ; sawed a piece six inches long off it,
peeled that, split it in four, and, with his knife, gave each
piece three points, by merely tapering off and serrating one
end ; and so he made a fork in a minute. Then he brought
all the rugs and things fi*om the boat, and, the ground being
now thoroughly dried by the fire, placed them for seats ; gave
each person a large leaf for a plate, besides a scallop-shell,
and served out supper. It was eaten with rare appetite ; the
palm-tree vegetable in particular was delicious, tasting be-
tween a cabbage and a cocoa-nut.
When they had supped. Hazel removed the plates and
went to the boat He returned, dragging the foremast and
foresail, which were small, and called Welch out. They
agreed to rig the mainsail tarpaulin-wise and sleep in the
boat. Accordingly they made themselves very busy screening
the east side of Miss Rolleston's new abode with the foresail,
and fiEistened a loop and drove a nail into the tree, and looped
the sail to it, then suddenly bad her good night in cheerful
tones, and were gone in a moment, leaving her to her repose,
as they imagined. Hazel, in particular, having used all his
ingenuity to secure her personal comfort, was now too bent
on showing her the most delicate respect and forbearance to
think of anything else. But, justly counting on the delicacy,
he had forgotten the timidity of her sex, and her first night
in the island was a terribly trying one.
146 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Thrice she opened her mouth to call Welch and Hazel
back^ but could not. Yet when their footsteps were out of
hearing, she would have given the world to have them
between her and the perils with which she felt herself
surrounded.
Tigers, snakes, scorpions, savages ! ^what would become
of her during the long night ?
She sat and cowered before the hot embers. She listened
to what seemed the angry roar of the sea. What with the
stillness of the night and her sharpened senses she heard
it all round the island. She seemed environed with peril,
and yet surrounded by desolation. No one at hand to save
her in time from a wild beast. No cme anywhere near
except a sick sailor, and one she would almost rather die
than call singly to her aid, for he had once told her he loved
her.
^'Oh, papa; oh Arthur I" she cried, ^'are you praying for
your poor Helen?" Then she wept and prayed, and half
nerved herself to bear the worst Finally her vague fears
completely overmastered her. Then she had recourse to a
stratagem that belongs to her sex she hid herself from the
danger, and the danger from her ; she covered herself face and
all, and so lay trembling, and longing for the day.
At the first streak of dawn she fled fitjm her place of
torture, and after plunging her face and hands in the river,
which did her a world of good, she went off, and entered the
jungle, and searched it closely, so far as she could penetrate
it. Soon she heard '^ Miss Rolleston " called in anxious
tones. But she tossed her little head, and revenged herself
for her night of agony by not replying.
However, Nature took her in hand ; imperious hunger
drew her back to her late place of torture ; and there she
found a fire, and Hazel cooking cray-fish. She ate the cray-
fish heartily, and drank cocoa-nut milk out of half a cocoa-
nut, which the ingenious Hazel had already sawn, polished,
and mounted for her.
After that. Hazel's whole day was occupied in stripping a
tree that stood on the high western promontory of the bay,
and building up the materials of a bonfire a few yards from
it, that if any whaler should stray that way, they might not
be at a loss for means to attract her attention.
Welch was very ill all day, and Miss Rolleston nursed him.
He got about towards evening, and Miss Rolleston asked
him rather timidly if he could put her up a bell-rope.
1^7 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
" Why, yes, miss," said Welch, " that is easy enough ; but
I dcm't see no belL"
Oh, she did not want a bell she only wanted a bell-
rope.
Hazel came up during this conversation, and she then
gave her reason.
" Because, then, if Mr. Welch is ill in the night and wants
me, I could come to him. Or " Finding herself getting
near the real reason, she stopped short.
" Or what ? " inquired Hazel eagerly.
She replied to Welch. " When tigers and things come to
me, I can let you know, Mr. Welch if you have any curiosity
about the result of their visit."
*^ Tigers ! " said Hazel, in answer to this side slap ; ^' there
are no tigers here; no large animals of prey exist in the
Pacific."
^' What makes you think that ? "
'' It is notorious : naturaUsts are agreed."
''But I am not. I heard noises all night. And Uttle I
expected that anything of me would be left this morning,
except, perhaps, my back hair. Mr. Welch, you are clever
at rigging things that is what you call it and so please rig
me a bell-rope ; then I shall not be eaten up alive, without
creating some little disturbance."
'' ril do it, miss," said Welch, " this very night"
Hazel said nothing, but pondered. Accordingly, that very
evening a piece of stout twine, with a stone at the end of it,
hung down from the roof of Helen's house ; and this twine
clove the air, until it reached a ring upon the mainmast of
the cutter; thence it descended, and was to be made fast
to something or somebody. The young lady inquired no
further. The very sight of this bell-rope was a great com-
fort to her : it reunited her to civilised life.
That night she lay down, and quaked considerably less.
Yet she woke several times ; and an hour before daylight she
heard distinctly a noise that made her flesh creep. It was
like the snoring of some great animals. This horrible sound
was faint and distant ; but she heard it between the roll of
the waves, and that showed it was not the sea roaring ; she
hid herself in her rugs, and cowered till daybreak. A score
of times she was minded to pull her bell-rope ; but always a
womanly feeling, strong as her love of life, withheld her.
" Time to pull that bell-rope when the danger is present or
imminent," she thought to herself. '' The thing will come
148 ^ ,
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
smelling about before it attacks me, and then I will pull the
bell ; " and so she passed an hour of agony.
Next morning at daybreak. Hazel met her just issuing
from her hut, and pointing to his net told her he was going
to forage ; and would she be good enough to make the fire
and have boiling water ready ; he was sorry to ^trouble her ;
but poor Welch was worse this morning. Miss Rolleston
cut short his excuses. " Pray do not take me for a child ;
of course I will light the fire, and boil the water. Only I
have no lucifer matches."
^^ Here is one," said he ; " light it with great precaution.
I have but nine. I carry them wrapped in oil-skin ; for if
anjrthing happen to them, Heaven help us."
He crossed the prostrate palm-tree, and dived into the
wood. It was a large beautiful wood, and except at the
western edge, the trees were all of the palm-tree genus,
but contained several species, including the cocoar-nut tree.
The turf ran under these trees for about forty yards, and
then died gradually away under the same thick shade which
destroyed all other vegetation in this wood, and made it so
easy to see and travel.
He gathered a few cocoa-nuts that had burst out of their
ripe pods and fallen to the ground ; and ran on till he reached
a belt of trees and shrubs, that bounded the palm forest.
Here his progress was no longer easy; but he found trees
covered with a small fruit resembling quinces in every
particular of look, taste, and smell, and that made him per-
severe, since it was most important to learn the useful
products of the island. Presently he burst through some
brushwood into a swampy bottom surrounded by low trees,
and instantly a dozen large birds of the osprey kind rose
flapping into the air like windmills rising. He was quite
startled by the whirring and flapping, and not a little
amazed at the appearance of the place. Here was a very
chamel house so thick lay the shells, skeletons, and loose
bones of fish. Here, too, he found a terrapin killed but not
eaten : and also some fish, more or less pecked. " Aha !
my worthy executioners, much obliged," said he: "you
have saved me that job." And into the bag went the
terrapin, and two plump fish, but slightly mutilated.
Before he had gone many yards, back came the sailing
wings, and the birds settled again before his eyes. The
rest of the low wood was but thin, and he soon emerged
upon the open country; but it was most unpromising; and
149 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
fitter for geese than men a vast sedgy swamp, with water
in the middle, thin fringes of great fern-trees, and here and
there a disconsolate tree like a weeping-willow, and at the
end of this lake and swamp, which altogether formed a
triangle, was a barren hill without a blade of vegetation on
it, and a sort of jagged summit Hazel did not at all like
the look of. Volcanic !
Somewhat dismayed at finding so large a slice of the island
worthless, he returned through the wood, guiding himself
due west by his pocket compass, and so got down to the
shore, where he found scallops and cray-fish in incredible
abundance. Literally he had only to go into the water
and gather them. But " enough " is as good as '' a feast."
He ran to the pots with his miscellaneous bag, and was
not received according to his deserts. Miss Rolleston told
him a little severely the water had been boiling a long time.
Then he produced his provender by way of excuse.
'^ Tortoises again I " said she, and shuddered visibly.
But the quinces and cocoa-nuts were graciously received.
Welch, however, cried out for cabbage. ''What am I
to do?" said Hazel. ''For every such cabbage, a king
must die."
" Goodness me ! "
" A monarch of the grove."
"Oh, a King Log. Why, then, down with them all of
course : sooner than dear Mr. Welch should go without his
cabbage."
He cast a look of admiration on her, which she avoided,
and very soon his axe was heard ringing in the wood hard
by. Then came a loud crash. Then another. Hazel came
running with the cabbage, and a cocoa-pod. " There," said
he, " and there are a hundred more about. Whilst you cool
that for Welch, I will store them." Accordingly he returned
to the wood with his net, and soon came back with five pods
in it, each as big as a large piunpkin.
He chucked these one at a time across the river, and
then went for more. It took him all the afternoon to get
all the pods across the river. He was obliged to sit down
and rest.
But a suggestion of Helen's soon set him to work again.
" You were kind enough to say you would store these for
me. Could you not store them so as to wall out those
terrible beasts with them ? "
"What terrible beasts?"
no
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
''That roar so all night, and don't eat us, only because
they have not found out we are here yet. But they will."
"J deny their existence/' said Hazel ; "but I'll wall them
out all the same^" said he.
'' Pray do," said Helen. " Wall them out first, and disprove
them afterwards ; I shall be better able to believe they don't
exist, when they are well walled out ^much."
Hazel went to work, and, with her assistance, laid cocoa
pods, two wide and three deep, outside the northern and
western side of her leafy bower, and he promised to com-
plete the walls by the same means.
They all then supped together, and, to oblige him, she ate
a little of the terrapin ; and when they parted for the night,
she thanked him and said, with a deep blush, ''You have
been a good friend to me of late."
He coloured high, and his eyes sparkled with delight ; and
she noticed, and almost wished she had kept her gratitude
to herself.
That night, what with her bell-rope and her little bit of
a wall, she was somewhat less timorous, and went to sleep
early.
But even in sleep she was watchftil, and she was awakened
by a slight sound in the neighbourhood of the boat.
She lay watching, but did not stir.
Presently she heard a footstep.
With a stifled cry she bounded up, and her first impulse
was to rush out of the tent. But she conquered this, and
gliding to the south side of her bower, she peered through
the p^m leaves, and the first thing she saw was the figure of
a man standing between her and the boat.
She drew her breath hard. The outline of the man was
somewhat indistinct. But it was not a savage: the man
was clothed ; and his stature betrayed him.
He stood still for some time. " He is listening to see if I
am awake," said Helen to herself.
The figure moved towards her bower.
Then all in a moment she became another woman. She
did not rely on her bell-rope ; she felt it was fast to nothing
that could help her. She looked round for no weapon;
she trusted to herself. She drew herself hastily up, and
folded her arms ; her bosom panted, but her cheek never
paled. Her modesty was alarmed ; her blood was up, and
life or death was nothing to her.
The footsteps came nearer; they stopped at her floor;
151
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
they went north ; they came back south. They kept her
in this high-wrought attitude for half-an-hour. Then they
retired softly ; and when they were gone, she gave way, and
fell on her knees, and began to cry hysterically. Then she
got calmer, and then she wondered, and puzzled herself;
but she slept no more that night.
In the morning she found that the fire was lighted on a
sort of shelf close to the boat. Mr. Hazel had cut the shelf
and lighted the fire there for Welch's sake, who had com-
plained of cold in the night.
Whilst Hazel was gone for the 6ray-fish, Welch asked
Helen to go for her Prayer-Book. She brought it directly,
and turned the leaves to find the prayers for the sick. But
she was soon undeceived as to his intention.
''Sam had it wrote down how the Proserpine was foun-
dered, and I should like to lie alongside my messmate on
that there paper, as well as in t'other place " (meaning the
grave). '' Begin as Sam did, that this is my last word."
''Oh, I hope not. Oh, Mr. Welch, pray do not leave
me!"
"Well, well, then, never mind that; but just put down
as I heard Sam ; and his dying words, that the parson took
down, were the truth."
" I have written that"
" And that the two holes was on her port-side, and seven
foot from her stam-post ; and / say them very augers, that is
in our cutter, made them holes. Set down that."
" It is down."
"Then I'll put my mark under it; and you are my
witness."
Helen, anxious to please him in everything, showed him
where to put his mark. He did so ; and she signed her
name as his witness.
" And now, Mr. Welch," said she, " do not you fret about
the loss of the ship ; you should rather think how good Provi-
dence has been to us in saving us three out of so many that
sailed in that poor ship. That Wylie was a wicked man;
but he is drowned, or starved, no doubt, and there is an end
of him. You are alive, and we are all three to see old
England again. But to live, you must eat ; and so now do
pray make a good breakfast to-day. Tell me what you can
fancy. A cabbage ? "
" What, you own it is a cabbage ? "
"Of course I do," said Helen, coaxing. "You must
152
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
excuse Mr. Hazel; these learned men are so crotchety m
some things, and go by books; but you and I go by our
senses, and to us a cabbage is a cabbage, grow where it will.
Will you have one } **
^' No, miss, not this morning. What I wants this morning
very bad, indeed, it is I wants a drink made of them sweet
smelling leaves, like as you strewed over my messmate the
Lord in heaven bless you for it."
''Oh, Mr. Welch, that is a curious fancy: but you shall
not ask me twice for anything ; the jungle is full of them,
and ril fetch you some in five minutes. So you must boil
the water."
She scudded away to the jungle, and soon returned with
some aromatic leaves. Whilst they were infusing. Hazel
came up, and on being informed of Welch's fancy, made no
opposition; but, on the contrary, said that such men had
sometimes very happy inspirations. He tasted it, however,
and said the smell was the best part of it, in his opinion. He
then put it aside to cool for the sick man's use.
They ate their usual breakfast, and then Welch sipped his
spice tea as he called it. Morning and afternoon he drank
copious draughts of it, and seemed to get suddenly better,
and told them not to hang about him any longer, but go to
their work : he was all right now.
To humour him they went off in different directions:
Hazel with his axe to level cocoa-nut trees, and Helen to
search for fruits in the jungle.
She came back in about an hour, very proud of some pods
she had found with nutmegs inside them. She ran to Welch.
He was not in the boat. She saw his waistcoat, however,
folded and Ijang on the thwart ; so she knew he could not be
far off, and concluded he was in her bower. But he was not
there ; and she called to Mr. Hazel. He came to the side of
the river laden with cocoa-nuts.
" Is he with you ? " said Helen.
''Who.? Welch.? No."
" Well, then, he is not here. Oh, dear ! something is the
matter."
Hazel came across directly. And they both began to run
anxiously to every part whence they could command a view
to any distance.
They could not see him anywhere, and met with blank
faces at the bower.
Then Helen made a discovery.
153
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
This very day, while hanging about the place. Hazel had
torn up from the edge of the river an old trunk, whose roots
had been loosened by the water washing away the earth that
held them, and this stump he had set up in her bower for a
table, after sawing the roots down into legs. Well, on the
smooth part of this table, lay a little pile of money, a ring
with a large pearl in it, and two gold earrings Helen had
often noticed in Welch's ears.
She pointed at these and turned pale. Then suddenly
waving her hand to Hazel to follow her, she darted out of
the bowers, and, in a moment, she was at the boat.
There she found, beside his waistcoat, his knife and a little
pile of money, placed carefully on the thwart ; and, under-
neath it, his jacket rolled up, and his shoes and sailor's cap,
all put neatly and in order.
Hazel found her looking at them. He began to have vague
misgivings. *^ What does this mean ?" he said faintly.
'^ ' What does it mean I ' " cried Helen, in agony. ** Don't
you see ? A legacy ! The poor thing has divided his little
all. Oh, my heart I What has become of him ? " Then,
with one of those inspirations her sex have, she cried, '^ Ah !
Cooper's grave I "
Hazel, though not so quick as she was, caught her meaning
at a word, and flew down the slope to the seashore. The
tide was out : a long irregular track of footsteps indented the
sand. He stopped a moment and looked at them t they
pointed towards the cleft where the grave was. He followed
them all across the sand. They entered the cleft, and did not
return. Full of heavy foreboding, he rushed into the cleft.
Yes : his arms hanging on each side of the grave, and his
cheek laid gently on it, there lay Tom Welch, with a loving
smile on his dead face. Only a man, yet &ithful as a dog.
Hazel went back slowly, and crying. Of all men living,
he could best appreciate fidelity ; and mourn its fate.
But, as he drew near Helen, he dried his eyes ; for it was
his duty to comfort her.
She had at first endeavoured to follow him; but after a
few steps her knees smote together, and she was fedn to sit
down on the grassy slope that overlooked the sea.
The sun was setting huge and red over that vast and peace-
ful expanse.
She put her hands to her head, and, sick at heart, looked
heavily at that glorious and peaceful sights HazQl. o^me up
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
to her. She looked at his &ce, and that look was enough
for her. She rocked herself gently to and fro.
"Yes," said he in a broken voice. "He was there.
Quite dead/'
He sat gently down by her side, and looked at that setting
sun and illimitable ocean, and his heart felt deadly sad. "He
is gone and we are alone on this island."
The man said this in one sense only ; but the woman heard
it in two.
Alone I
She glanced timidly round at him, and without rising,
edged a httle away from him, and wept in silence.
CHAPTER XXIV
After a long silence. Hazel asked her in a low voice if she
could be there in half-an-hour. She said yes, in the same
tone, but without turning her head. On reaching the graves,
she found that Hazel had spared her a sad sight; nothing
remained but to perform the service. When it was over she
went slowly away in deep distress on more accounts than one.
In due course Hazel came to her bower, but she was not
there. Then he lighted the fire, and prepared everything for
supper ; and he was so busy, and her foot so light, he did
not hear her come. But, by-and-by, lifting his head, he saw
her looking wistftilly at him, as if she would read his soul
in his minutest actions. He started and brightened all over
with pleasure at the sudden sight of her, and said eagerly,
" Your supper is quite ready."
" Thank you, sir," said she, sadly and coldly (she had noted
that expression of joy), " I have no appetite ; do not wait for
me." And soon after strolled away again.
Hazel was dumfoundered. There was now no mistaking
her manner ; it was chilly and reserved all of a sudden. It
wounded him ; but he behaved hke a man. " What ! I keep
her out of her own house, do I ? " said he to himself. He
started up, took a fish out of the pot, wrapped it in a leaf,
and stalked off to his boat. Then he ate a little of the fish,
threw the rest away, and went down upon the sands, and
paced them in a sad and bitter mood.
But the night calmed him, and some hours of tranquil
155
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
thought brought him fortitude, patience, and a clearer under-
standing. He went to his boat, elevated by generous and
delicate resolutions. Now worthy resolves are tranquillising,
and he slept profoundly.
Not so she, whose sudden but very natural change of
demeanour had hurt him. When she returned and found
he was gone for the night, she began to be afraid she had
offended him. For this and other reasons she passed the
night in sore perplexity, and did not sleep till morning ; and
so she overslept her usual time. However, when she was up,
she determined to find her own breakfast ; she felt it would
not do to be too dependent, and on a person of uncertain
humour ; such for the moment she chose to pretend to her-
self was Hazel. Accordingly, she went down to the sea to
look for cra3rfish. She found abundance. There they lay
in the water ; you had but to stoop and pick them up.
But, alas ! they were black, lively, viperish ; she went with
no great relish for the task to take one up; it wriggled
maliciously; she dropped it, and at that very moment, by
a curious coincidence, remembered she was sick and tired
of crayfish; she would breakfast on fruits. She crossed
the sand, took off her shoes, and paddled through the river,
and, having put on her shoes again, was about to walk up
through some rank grass to the big wood, when she heard
a voice behind her, and it was Mr. Hazel. She bit her
lip (it was broad daylight now), and prepared quietly to
discourage this excessive assiduity. He came up to her
panting a little, and taking off his hat, said, with marked
respect, ''I beg your pardon. Miss Rolleston, but I know
you hate reptiles ; now, there are a few snakes in that long
grass, not poisonous ones."
" Snakes ! " cried Helen. " Let me get home : there I'll
go without my breakfast."
" Oh, I hope not," said Hazel ruefully ; *' why, I have been
rather fortunate this morning, and it is all ready."
"That is a different thing," said Helen graciously; "you
shall not have your trouble for nothing."
Directly after breakfast Hazel took his axe and some
rope from the boat, and went off in a great hurry to the
jungle. In half-an-hour or so he returned, dragging a large
conical shrub, armed with spikes for leaves incredibly dense
and prickly.
" There," said he, " there's a vegetable porcupine for you.
This is your best defence against that roaring bugbear."
156 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
'^That little tree/' said Helen; 'Hhe tiger would soon
jump over that."
*^ Ay, but not over this and sixty more : a wall of stilettos.
Don't touch it, please."
He worked very hard all day, and raised a low rampart of
these prickly trees; but it only went round two sides and
a half of the bower. So then be said he had failed again,
and lay down worn out by fatigue.
Helen RoUeston, though dejected herself, could not help
pitying him for his exhaustion in her service, and for his
bleeding hands; she undertook the cooking, and urged
him kindly to eat of every dish ; and, when he rose to go,
she thanked him with as much feeling as modesty for the
great pains he had taken to lessen those fears of hers,
which she saw he did not share.
These kind words more than repaid him. He went to
his little den in a glow of spirits ; and the next morning
went off in a violent hurry, and, for once, seemed glad to get
away from her.
'^Poor Mr. Hazel," said she softly, and watched him
out of sight. Then she went to the high point where he
had barked a tree, and looked far and wide for a sail.
The air was wonderfully clear; the whole ocean seemed
in sight : but all was blank.
jtnatwe ^ i*^.^ ^^^^ upon her, and sickness of heart; and
cnen first she' Ijegan to fear she was out of the known
world, and might die on that island, or never be found
by the present generation; and this sickening fear lurked
in her from that hour, and led to consequences which will
be related shortly.
She did not return for a long while, and, when she did, she
found Hazel had completed her fortifications. He invited her
to explore the western part of the island, but she declined.
" Thank you," said she ; " not to-day ; there is something
to be done at home. I have been comparing my abode with
yours, and the contrast makes me uncomfortable, if it doesn't
you. Oblige me by building yourself a house."
" What, in an afternoon ? "
'* Well, at all events, you must roof tdbie boat, or something.
There, I'll sit by and what shall I do, whilst you are working
to oblige me ? "
Hazel reflected a minute, and then asked her if she could
plait. She said she could as far as five strands.
'^ And net, of course ? "
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOOL PLAY
"Oh yes."
' Then, if you will make a fishing-net of cocoa-nut fibre, I
will soon give myself all the shelter a healthy man requires
in this climate."
The boat lay in a little triangular creek ; the surrounding
earth was alluvial clay ; a sort of black cheesy mould, stiff,
but kindly to work. Hazel contrived to cut and chisel it out
with a clumsy wooden spade he had made, and, throwing it to
the sides, raised, by degrees, two mud banks, one on each side
the boat ; and at last he dug so deep that he was enabled to
draw the boat another yard inland.
As Helen sat by, netting, and forcing a smile now and then,
though sad at heart, he was on his mettle, and the mud walls
rose rapidly. He squared their inner sides with the spade.
When he had done, the boat lay in a hollow, the walls of
which, half natural, half artificial, were five feet above her
gunwale, and, of course, eight feet above her bottom, in
which Hazel used to He at night He then laid the mainsail
across so as to roof the stem part of the ^oat; and put
four heavy stones on it, lest a sudden gust of wind might
lift it
Helen said it was all very clever, but she doubted whether
it would keep out much rain.
''More than yours will," said Hazel, "an ' ^* ' - very
serious thing. In your state of health " ' .^^ST^** hit het
fatal. But to-morrow, if you please, '*^*^^ul excuiime oiir
resources, and lay our whole situation before you, and ask
your advice."
Next morning he kept his word, and laid their case
before her.
He said : " We are here on an island that has probably
been seen, and disregarded, by a few whalers, but is not
known to navigators, nor down on any chart. There is a
wide range of vegetation, proving a delightful climate on the
whole, and one particularly suited to you, whose lungs are
delicate. But, then, comparing the beds of the rivers with
the banks, a tremendous fedl of rain is indicated. The rainy
months (in these latitudes) are at hand, and if those rains
catch us in our present condition, it will be a calamity. You
have no roof to keep it out I tremble when I think of it
This is my main anxiety. My next is about our sustenance
during the rains : we have no stores under cover ; no fuel ;
no provisions, but a few cocoa-nuts. We use two lucifer
matches a day ; and what is to become of us at that rate ?
158 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
In theory, fire can be got by rubbing two pieces of wood
together. Selkirk is said to have so obtained it from pimento
wood on Juan Fernandez ; but, in fact, I believe, the art is
confined to savages. I never met a civilised man who could
do it, and I have questioned scores of voyagers. As for my
weapons, they consist of a boat-hook and an axe ; no gun, no
harpoon, no bow, no lance. My tools are a blunt saw, a
blunter axe, a wooden spade, two great augers, that I believe
had a hand in bringing us here, but have not been any use to
us since ; a centre-bit, two planes, a hanuner, a pair of pincers,
two bradawls, three gimlets, two scrapers, a plumb-lead and
line, a large pair of scissors and you have a small pair;
two gauges, a screw-driver, five clasp knives, a few screws
and nails of various sizes, two small barrels, two bags,
two tin bowls, two wooden bowls, and the shell of a turtle,
whose skeleton I found on the shore, and that is a very
good soup tureen, only we have no meat to make soup
with."
'' Well, sir," said Miss Rolleston resignedly, " we can but
kneel down iiZ. die."
^^ That would be cutting the gordian knot, indeed," said
F-*--' '' What, die to '""'^ !" ' few difficulties } No. I have
three ^ - ositions to lay tt^ ^ e you. 1st, That I hereby give
up walki* and ta! to running ; time is so precious. 2nd,
That we l^ h work by night as well as day. Srd, That we
each tell ti ' ' other our principal wants, so that there may be
four eyes o ^'^ ^ look-out, as we go, instead of two."
" I conse; ^\' - 'd Helen. ** Pray, what are your wants ? "
^Irbh, oilT^sSl^' lar, a bellows, a pickaxe, thread, nets,
light matting for roofs, bricks, chimney-pots, jars, glass,
animal food, some variety of vegetable food, and so on. Now
tell me your wants."
^' Well, I want impossibilities."
"Enumerate them."
"What is the use.?"
" It is the method we have agreed upon."
'f Oh, very well, then. I want a sponge."
"Good. What next?"
" I have broken my comb."
"Good."
" I'm glad you think so. I want -oh, Mr. Hazel, what is
the use } well, I want a looking-glass."
" Great heavens ! What for ? "
" Oh, never mind : I want one ; and some more towels, and
159 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
some soap, and a few hair-pins ; and some elastic bands ; and
some pens, ink, and paper, to write my feelings down in this
island for nobody ever to s^e."
When she began. Hazel looked bright ; but the Ust was
like a wasp, its sting lay in its tail. However, he put a
good face on it ^' Fll try and get you all those things ; only
give me time. Do you know, I am writing a dictionary on
a novel method.**
"That means on the sand."
" No ; the work is suspended for the present. But two of
the definitions in it are Difficulties ^things to be subdued;
Impossibilities things to be trampled on." And so he tried
to keep her heart up.
She strolled towards the jungle ; and he got his spade, and
went post-haste to his clay-pit.
He made a quantity of bricks and tiles, and brought them
homeland put them to dry in the sun. He then tried to
make a large narrow-necked vessel, and failed utterly; so
utterly that he lay down flat on his back and accepted' foilure
for full twenty minutes. Then he got up and turned the
dead failure into a great rude platter Hke a shallow milk-
pan. Leaving all these to dry and getj jefore he baked thnpHi ^
he went off to the marsh for fern-leaves. He made^*!*' several
trips, and raised quite a stack of them. By this * - time the
sun had operated on his thinner pottery ; so he ^ bitaid down
six of his large thick tiles, and lighted a Are on iiiuir^i^eia with
dry banana-leaves, and cocoa-nut, &c., and suchi, an light com-
bustibles, until he had heated and hardened tK , ^^ . then
he put the ashes on one side, and swept the xl^ ifirerfti*. i-^ r-i Ji-"
he put the fire on again, and made it hotter and hotter, till
the clay began to redden.
While he was thus occupied. Miss RoUeston came from the
juil^le, carrying vegetable treasures in her apron. First she
produced some golden apples with reddish leaves.
'^ There,*' said she ; '^and they smell deUcious.*'
Hazel eyed them keenly.
" You have not eaten any of them ? "
'^What ! by myself.?** said Helen.
'' Thank Heaven ! *' said Hazel, turning pale. '' These are
the raanchanilla, the poison apple of the Pacific.**
" Poison ! '* said Helen, alarmed in her turn.
" Well, I don't know that they are poison ; but travellejs
give them a very bad name. The birds never peck them ;
and I have read that even the leaves falling into still water
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
have killed the fish. You will not eat anything here till you
have shown it me, will you ? " said he imploringly.
'^No, no," said Helen, and sat down with her hand to her
heart a minute. ^' And I was so pleased when I found them,"
she said ; '' they reminded me of home. I wonder whether
these are poison, too ? " and she opened her apron wide, and
showed him some long yellow pods, with red specks, some-
thing like a very large banana.
" Ah, that is a very different affair," said Hazel, delighted ;
^' these are plantains, and the greatest find we have made
yet. The fruit is meat, the wood is thread, and the leaf is
shelter and clothes. The fruit is good raw, and better baked,
as you shall see ; and I believe this is the first time the dinner
and the dish were both baked together."
He cleared the now heated hearth, put the meat and fruit
on it, then placed his great platter over it, and heaped fire
round the platter, and light combustibles over it. Aid, in a
word, the platter and the dinner under it were both baked.
Hazel removed the platter or milk-pan, and served the
dinner in it.
A lady and gentleman cast upon a desert island must use
their eyes, hands, and feet in earnest, or die the death of
fools. And the first week these two passed was, therefore,
mainly characterised by hard work, and the invention that is
the natural fruit of necessity. This it was .our duty to show,
or else give a thoroughly false picture of human life.
But, as to the manner of working, that varies greatly,
according to the sentiments of the heart.
Helen RoUeston worked well and neatly. She invented
but little : her execution of what she did was superior to Mr.
Hazel's. She showed considerable tact in adapting new
products to old purposes. She made as follows :
1. Thick mattress, stuffed with vegetable hair and wcfcl.
The hair was a cypress moss dried, and the wool was the soft
coating of the fern-trees. This mattress was made with
plantain-leaves, sewed together with the thread furnished by
the tree itself, and doubled at the edges.
2. A long shallow net cocoa-fibre.
3. A great quantity of stout grass rope, and light but close
matting for the roof.
But, while she worked, her mind was often far away, and
her heart in a tumult of fear, trouble, shame, and perplexity,
which increased rather than diminished as the days rolled by
and brought no ship to the island. On the other hand, she
161 L
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
was deeply grateful to Mr. Hazel as well she might. But
she found many little opportunities of showing that senti-
ment to him. That war of sentiments which agitated her, as
a lady affianced by her own consent to Arthur Wardlaw, she
sup{H*essed and hid from him as long as she could.
Now it is the nature of suppressed sentiments to accumulate
force.
To Hazel^ on the contrary, the feverish labour of the first
three weeks was an unmixed joy. He was working, not only
for the comfort, but the health, and even the life of the lady he
loved a life she had herself despaired of not so very long ago.
These sentiments made his homeliest work poetical : it was
in this spirit he heightened his own mud banks in the centre,
and set up brick fireplaces with hearth and chimney, one on
each side^ and now did all the cooking; for he found the
smoke from wood made Miss Rolleston cough. He also made
a number of pigeon-holes in his mud-walls, and lined them
with clay. One of these he dried with fire, and made a
pottery door to it, and there kept the ludfer box. He made
a vast number of bricks, but did nothing with them. After
several disheartening failures, he made two large pots, and
two great pans, that would all four bear fire under them, and
in the pans he boiled sea water till it all evaporated and left
him a sediment of salt This was a great addition to their
food, and he managed also to put by a little. But it was a
slow and inefficient process.
But that was nothing compared to the zest with which he
attacked the most important work of all, and the longest
Helen's hut, or bower. He had no experience or skill as a
carpenter, but he had love and brains. He found sandstones,
sqme harsh, some fine, with which he contrived to sharpen
his axe and saw. He fixed some uprights between the four
trees. He let stout horizontal bars into the trees, and bound
them to the uprights with Helen's grass-rope. Smaller hori-
zontal bars at intervals kept the prickly ramparts from b^ng
driven in by a sudden gust. The canvas walb were removed,
and the naUs stored in a pigeon-hole, and a stout net-work
substituted, to which huge plantain leaves were cunningly
fastened with plantain thread. The roof was double : first
that extraordinary mass of spiked leayes which the four trees
threw out, then, several feet under that, the huge piece of
matting the pair had made. This was streqgthened by double
strips of canvas at the edges and in the centre, and by single
strips in other parts. A great many cords and strings, made
162
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
of that long silky grass peculiar to the island^ were sewn to
the canvas-strengthened edges, and so it was fastened to the
trees, and to the horizontal bars.
When this work drew close to its completion, there came a
new disappointment. He had the mortification of seeing that
she for whom it was all done did not share his complacency.
The strife of sentiments in her mind seemed to be mider-
mining her self-command, and, at times, even her good-
breeding. She often let her work fall, and brooded for hours.
She spoke sometimes fretfully, and the next moment with a
slight excess of civility. She wandered away from him, and
from his labours for her comfort, and passed hours at Tele-
graph Point, eyeing the illimitable ocean. She was a riddle.
All sweetness at times, but at others irritable, moody, and
scarce mistress of herself. Hazel was sorry and perplexed,
and often expressed a fear she was ill. She always replied in
the negative, and the next moment her eyes would fill with
tears. The truth is, she was in considerable irritation of
body, and a sort of mental distress which, perhaps, only the
more sensitive of her own sex can fully appreciate.
Matters were still in this uncomfortable and mysterious
state when Hazel put his finishing stroke to her abode.
He was in high spirits that evening, for he had made a
discovery ; he had at last found time for a walk, and followed
the river to its source, a very remarkable lake in a hilly basin.
And making further researches, he had found at the bottom
of a rocky ravine a curious thing, a dark resinous fluid
bubbling up in quite a fountain, which, however, fell down
again as it rose, and hardly any overflowed. It was like thin
pitch.
Of course in another hour he was back there with a great
pot, and half filled it. Pursuing his researches a little farther,
he found a range of rocks with snowy summits apparently ;
but the snow was the guano of centuries. He was in a great
hurry to get home with his pot of pitch ; for it was in truth a
very remarkable discovery, though not without a parallel.
He could not wait till morning, so with embers and cocoa-nut
he made a fire just outside the bower, and melted his pitch,
which had become nearly solid, and proceeded to smear the
inside of the matting in places, to make it thoroughly water-
tight.
Helen treated the discovery at first with mortifying indif-
ference ; but he hoped she would appreciate Nature's bounty
more, when she saw the practical use of this extraordinary
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
production. He endeavoured to lead her to that view. She
shook her head sorrowfully. He persisted. She met him
with silence. He thought this peevish, and ungrateful to
Heaven. We have all different measures of the wonderful ;
and to him a fountain of pitch was a thing to admire greatly
and thank God for : he said as much.
To Helen it was nasty stuff, and who cared where it came
from? She conveyed as much by a shrug of the shoulders,
and then gave a sigh that told her mind was far away.
He was a little mortified, and showed it.
One word led to another, and at last what had been long
fermenting came out.
" Mr. Hazel," said Miss Rolleston, " you and I are at cross
purposes. You mean to live here. I do not."
Hazel left off working and looked greatly perplexed ; the
attack was so sudden in its form, though it had been a long
time threatening. He found nothing to say, and she was im-
patient now to speak her mind ; so she replied to his look.
'^ You are making yourself at home here. You are con-
tented. Contented ? You are happy in this horrible prison."
*' And why not ? " said Hazel. But he looked rather
gtdlty. " Here are no traitors ; no murderers. The animals
are my friends, and the one human being I see makes me
better to look at her."
" Mr. Hazel, I am in a state of mind that romance jars on
me. Be honest with me, and talk to me Hke a man. I say
that you beam all over with happiness and content, and that
you now answer me one questions why have you never
lighted the bonfire on Telegraph Point ? "
"Indeed, I don't know," said he submissively. ''I have
been so occupied."
" You have : and how ? Not in trying to deliver us both
from this dreadful situation, but to reconcile me to it. Yes,
sir, under pretence (that is a harsh word, but I can't help it)
of keeping out the rain. Your rain is a bugbear. It never
rains ; it never will rain. You are killing yourself almost, to
make me comfortable in this place. Comfortable ? " She
began to writhe, and pant, with excitement long restrained.
*' And do you really suppose you can make me live on like
this, by building me a nice hut ? Do you think I am all
body and no soul, that shelter and warmth and enough to eat
can keep my heart from breaking, and my cheeks from blush-
ing night and day ? When I wake in the morning I find
myself blushing to my fingers' ends." Then she writhed
164 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Away from him. '^ Oh, my dear father, why did I ever leave
you ! " Then she writhed back. '^ Keep me here ? make me
live months and years on this island. Have you sisters ?
Have you a mother ? Ask yourself is it likely ? No ; if you
will not help me, and they don't love me enough to come and
find me and take me home, I'll go to anotlier home without
your help or any man's." She rose suddenly to her feet. " I'll
tie my clothes tight round me, and fling myself down from
that point on the sharp rocks below. I'll find a way from
this place to heaven, if there's no way from it to those I
love on earth."
Then she sank down and rocked herself and sobbed
hard.
The strong passion of this hitherto gentle creature quite
frightened her unhappy friend, who knew more of books than
women. He longed to soothe her and comfort her ; but what
could he say } He cried out in despair, " My God, can I do
nothing for her ? "
She turned on him like lightning, *' You can do anything ;
everjrthing. You can restore us both to our friends. You
can save my life, my reason. For tJiat will go first, I think.
What had I done ? what had I ever done since I was bom, to
be so brought down? Was ever an English lady ?"
And with that her white teeth clicked together convulsively.
" Do ! " said she, darting back to the point as swiftly as she
had rushed away from it. " Why, put down that, and leave
off inventing fifty Httle trumpery things for me, and do one
great thing instead. Oh, do not fritter that great mind of
yours away in painting and patching my prison ; but bring
it all to bear on getting me out of my prison. Call sea and
land to our rescue. Let them know a poor girl is here in
unheard-of, unfathomable misery ; here, in the middle of
this awful ocean."
Hazel sighed deeply. '^No ships seem to pass within
sight of us," he muttered.
*' What does that matter to i/ou ? You are not a common
man; you are an inventor. Rouse all the powers of your
mind. There must be some way. Think for me. Think !
Think ! or my blood will be on your head."
Hazel turned pale, and put his head in his hands, and
tried to think.
She leaned towards him with great flashing eyes of purest
hazel.
The problem dropped from his Hps a syllable at a time.
165
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
"To diffuse intelligence a hundred leagues from a fixed
point an island ? "
She leaned towards him with flashings expectant eyes.
But he groaned, and said, '* That seems impossible."
*'Then trample on it,*' said she, bringing his own words
against him ; for she used to remember all he said to her
in the day, and ponder it at night. " Trample on it, subdue
it, or never speak to me again. Ah, I am an ungratefid wretch
to speak harshly to you. It is my misery, not me. Good,
kind Mr. Hazel, oh pray, pray, pray, bring all the powers
of that great mind to bear on this one thing, and save a poor
girl, to whom you have been so kind, so considerate, so noble,
so delicate, so forbearing ; now save me from despair ! "
Hysterical sobs cut her short here, and Hazel, whose
loving heart she had almost torn out of his body, could only
falter out in a broken voice that he would obey her. *' Fll
work no more for you at present,*' said he, " sweet as it has
been. I will think instead. I will go this moment beneath
the stars and think all night."
The young woman was now leaning her head languidly
back against one of the trees, weak as water after her passion.
He cast a look of ineffable love and pity on her, and with-
drew slowly to think beneath the tranquil stars.
Love has set man hard tasks in his time. Whether this
was a hght one, our readers shall decide.
To DIFFUSE INTELLIGENCE FROM A FIXED ISLAND OVER A
HUNDRED LEAGUES OF OCEAN.
CHAPTER XXV
The perplexity into which Hazel was thrown by the outburst
of his companion, rendered him unable to reduce her demand
at once to an intelhgible form. For some moments he seriously
employed his mind on the problem until it assumed this
Firstly: I do not know where this island is, having no
means of ascertaining either its latitude or longitude.
Secondly : If I had such a description of its locality, how
might the news be conveyed beyond the limits of the place }
As the wildness of Helen's demand broke upon his mind,
he smiled sadly, and sat down upon the bank of the little
166
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
river^ near his boat-house^ and buried his head in his hands.
Presently he heard a sofi; rustle near him^ and looked up.
To his surprise^ she stood beside him.
^Mr. Hazel," she said hurriedly her voice was husky
'^ do not mind what I have said. I am unreasonable ; and I
am sure I ought to feel obliged to you for all the "
Hazel tried to check the utterance of her apology ; but,
ere he could master his voice, the girl's cold and constrained
features seemed to melt She turned away, wrung her hands,
and, with a sharp, quivering cry, she broke forth
" Oh, sir ! oh, Mr. Hazel I do forgive me. I am not un-
grateful, indeed ; indeed I am not ; but I am mad with
despair. Judge me with compassion. At this moment, those
who are very, very dear to me are awaiting my arrival in
London; and when they learn the loss of the Proserpine,
how great will be their misery ! Well, that misery is added
to mine. Then my poor papa : he will never know how
much he loved me until this news reaches him. And to think
that I am dead to them, yet living 1 Hving here helplessly,
helplessly. Dear, dear Arthur, how you will suffer for my
sake. Oh, papa, papa ! shall I never see you again ? " and
she wept bitterly.
" I am helpless either to aid or to console you. Miss RoUeston.
By the act of a Divine Providence, you were cast upon this
desolate shore, and by the same Will I was appointed to serve
and to provide for your welfare. I pray God that He will
give me health and strength to assist you."
She looked timidly at him for a moment, then slowly re-
gained her hut. He had spoken coldly, and with dignity.
She felt humbled, the more so that he had only bowed his
acknowledgment to her apology.
For more than an hour she watched him, as he paced up
and down between the boat-house and the shore ; then she
shrank into her bed, after gently closing the door.
The following morning Helen was surprised to see the boat
riding at anchor in the surf, and Hazel busily engaged on her
trim. He was soon on shore, and by her side.
*' I am afraid I must leave you for a day. Miss RoUeston,"
he said. '* I wish to make a circuit of the island ; indeed, I
ought to have done so many days ago."
" Is such an expedition necessary } Surely you have had
enough of the sea."
*' It is very necessary. It is the first step towards announc-
ing to all passing vessels our presence in this place. I have
167
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
commenced operations already. See on yonder bluffy which I
have called Telegraph Point, I have mounted the boat's
ensign, and now it floats from the top of the tree beside the
bonfire. Do you see that pole I have shipped on board the
boat ? that is intended as a signal, which shall be exhibited
on your great palm-tree. The flag will then stand for a signal
on the northern coast, and the palm-tree, thus accoutred, will
serve for a similar purpose on the western extremity of the
island. As I pass along the southern and eastern shores, I
propose to select spots where some mark can be erected, such
as may be visible to ships at sea."
" But will they remark such signals ? "
'* Be assured they will, if they come within sight of the
place."
Hazel knew that there was Uttle chance of such an event ;
but it was something not to be neglected.
Helen felt rather disappointed that no trace of the emotion
he displayed on the previous night remained in his manner,
or in the expression of his face. She bowed her permis-
sion to him rather haughtily, and sat down to breakfast
on some baked yams, and some rough oysters, which he had
raked up from the bay while bathing that morning. The
young man had regained an elasticity of bearing, an in-
dependence of tone, to which she was not at all accustomed ;
his manners were always soft and. deferential ; but his ex-
pression was more firm, and she felt that the reins had been
gently removed from her possession, and there was a will
to guide her which she was bound to acknowledge and
obey.
She did not argue in this wise, for it is not human to reason
and to feel at the same moment. But she felt instinctively
that the man was quietly asserting his superiority, and the
result will appear.
Hazel went about his work briskly; the boat was soon
laden with every requisite. Helen watched these preparations
askance, vexed with the expedition which she had urged him
to make. Then she fell to reflecting on the change that
seemed to have taken place in her character ; she, who was
once so womanly, so firm, so reasonable why had she become
so petulant, childish, and capricious ?
The sail was set, and all ready to run the cutter into the
surf of the rising tide, when, taking a sudden resolution, as it
were, Helen came rapidly down, and said, " I will go with
you, if you please," half in command, half in doubt. Hazel
168
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
i
FOUL PLAY
looked a little surprised, but very pleased; and then she
added^ " I hope I shall not be in your way."
He assured her, on the contrary, that she might be of
great assistance to him ; and now, with doubled alacrity, he
ran out the Httle vessel and leaped into the prow as she
danced over the waves. He taught her how to bring the
boat's head round with the help of an oar, and when all was
snug, left her at the helm. The wind being southerly, he
had decided to pass to the west, and so they opened the sea
about half a mile from the shore.
For about three miles it consisted of a line of bluffs, cleft
at intervals by small narrow bays, the precipitous sides of
which were lined with dense foliage. Into these fissures the
sea entered with a mournful sound, that died away as it
crept up the yellow sands with which these nooks were
carpeted. An exclamation irom Helen attracted his atten-
tion to the horizon on the north-west, where a long line
of breakers glittered in the sun. A reef or low sandy bay
appeared to exist in that direction about fifteen miles away,
and something more than a mile in length. As they pro-
ceeded, he marked roughly on the side of his tin baler, with
the point of a pin borrowed from Helen, the form of the
coast line.
An hour and a half brought them to the north-western
extremity of the island. As they cleared the shelter of the
land, the southerly breeze coming with some force across the
open sea, caught the cutter, and she lay over in a way to
inspire Helen with alarm ; she was about to let go the tiller,
when Hazel seized it, accidentally enclosing her hand under
the grasp of his own, as he pressed the tiller hard to port.
*' Steady, please ; don't relinquish your hold ; it is all right
^no fear," he cried, as he kept his eye on their sail.
He held this course for a mile or more, and then judging
that with a long tack he could weather the southerly side of
the island, he put the boat about. He took occasion to
explain to Helen how this operation was necessary, and she
learned the alphabet of navigation. The western end of
their little land now lay before them; it was about three
miles in breadth. For i;wo miles the bluff coast-line con-
tinued unbroken ; then a deep bay, a mile in width and two
miles in depth, was made by a long tongue of sand projecting
westerly; on its extremity grew the gigantic palm, well
recognised as Helen's landmark. The sandy shore was dotted
with multitudes of dark objects. Ere long these objects
^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
were seen to be in motion ; and, pointing them out to Helen,
with a smile. Hazel said: ^'Beware, Miss Rolleston, yonder
are your bugbears and in some force too. Those dark
masses, moving upon the hillocks of sand, or rolling on the
surf, are sea-lions the phoca leonina, or lion-seal/'
Helen strained her eyes to distinguish the forms, but only
descried the dingy objects. While thus engaged, she allowed
the cutter to fall off a Httle, and, ere Hazel had resumed his
hold upon the tiller, they were fairly in the bay ; the great
palm-tree on their starboard bow.
*^ You seem determined to make the acquaintance of your
nightmares," he remarked; '^you perceive that we are
embayed."
At this moment, something dark bulged up close beside
her in the sea, and the rounded back of a monster rolled over
and disappeared. Hazel let drop the sail, for they were now
fairly in the smooth water of the bay, and close to the sandy
spit ; the gigantic stem of the palm-tree was on their quarter,
about half a mile off.
He took to the oars, and rowed slowly towards the shore.
A small seal rose behind the boat and followed them, pla3dng
with the blade, its gambols resembling that of a kitten. He
pointed out to Helen the mild expression of the creature's
face, and assured her that all this tribe were harmless animals,
and susceptible of domestication. The cub swam up to the
boat quite fearlessly, and he touched its head gently ; he en-
couraged her to do the like, but she shrank from its contact.
They were now close ashore, and Hazel, tJirowing out his
anchor in two feet of water, prepared to land the beam of
wood he had brought to decorate the palm-tree as a signal.
The huge stick was soon heaved overboard, and he leaped
after it. He towed it to the nearest landing to the tree, and
dri^ged it high up on shore. Scarcely had he disposed it
conveniently, intending to return in a day or two, with the
means of affixing it in a prominent and remarkable manner,
in the form of a spar across the trunk of the palm, when a
cry from Helen recalled him. A large number of the sea-
lions were coasting quietly down the surf towards the boat ;
indeed, a dozen of them had made their appearance around it.
Hazel shouted to her not to fear, and desiring that her
alarm should not spread to the swarm, he passed back quietly
but rapidly. When he reached the water, three or four of
the animals were already floundering between him and the
boat. He waded slowly towards one of them, and stood
170 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
beside it. The man and the creature looked quietly at each
other^ and then the seal rolled over, with a snuffling^ self-
satisfied air^ winking its soft eyes with immense complacency.
Helen^ in her alarm^ could not resist a smile at this con-
clusion of so terrible a demonstration; for, with all their
gentle expression, the tusks of the brute looked formidable.
But when she saw Hazel pushing them aside, and patting a
cub on the back, she recovered her courage ccMnpletely.
Then he took to his oars again ; and, aided by the tide,
which was now on the ebb, he rowed round the south-
western extremity of the island. He found the water here,
as he anticipated, very shallow.
It was mid-day when they were fairly on the southern
coast; and, now sailing with the wind aft, the cutter ran
through the water at racing speed. Fearing tliat some reefs
or rocky formations might exist in their course, he reduced
sail, and kept away from the shore about a mile. At this
distance he was better able to see inland, and mark down the
accidence of its formation.
The southern coast was uniform, and Helen said it re-
sembled the clifis of the Kentish or Sussex coast of England,
only the English white was here replaced by the pale volcanic
grey. It was plain that the watershed of the island was all
northward. After some miles of this they approached the
eastern end, where rose the circular mountain of which
mention has been already made. This eminence had evi-
dently at one time been detached from the rest of the land,
to which it was now joined by a neck of swamp about a mile
and a half in breadth, and two miles in length.
Hazel pn^Ksed to reconnoitre this part of the shore nearly,
and ran the boat close in to land. Ilie reeds or canes with
which this bog was densely clothed grew in a dark spongy
soO. Here and there this waste was dotted with ragged
trees which he recognised as the C3rpress. From their gaunt
branches hung a black, funereal kind of weeper, a kind of
moss, resembling iron grey horsehair both in texture and
uses, though not so long in the staple.
This parasite. Hazel explained to Helen, was very common
in such marshy ground, and was the death flag hung out by
Nature to warn man that malaria and fever were the invisible
and inalienable inhabitants of that fatal neighbourhood.
Looking narrowly along the low shore for some good land-
ing, where Imder shelter of a tree they might repose for an
hour, and spread their mid-day repast, they discovered an
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
opening in the reeds, a kind of lagoon or bayou, extending
into the morass between the high lands of the ishmd and the
circular mountain, but close under the base of the latter.
This inlet he proposed to explore, and accordingly the sail
was taken down and the cutter was poled into the narrow
creek. The water here was so shallow that the keel slid over
the quicksand, into which the oar sank freely. The creek
soon became narrow, the water deeper, and of a blacker
colour, and the banks more densely covered with canes.
These grew to the height of ten and twelve feet, and as close
as wheat in a thick crop. The air felt dank and heavy, and
hummed with myriads of insects. The black water became
so deep and the bottom so sticky that Hazel took to the oars
again. The creek narrowed as they proceeded, until it
proved scarcely wide enough to admit of his working the
boat. The height of the reeds hindered the view on either
side. Suddenly, however, and after proceeding very slowly
through the bends of the canal, these decreased in height and
density, and the voyagers emerged into an open space of
about lave acres in extent, a kind of oasis in this reedy desert,
created by a mossy mound which arose amidst the morass,
and afforded firm footing, of which a grove of trees and in-
numerable shrubs availed themselves. Helen uttered an
exclamation of delight as this island of foliage in a sea of
reeds met her eyes, that had been famished with the arid
monotony of the brake.
They soon landed.
Helen insisted on the preparations for their meal being
left to her, and having selected a sheltered spot, she was
soon busy with their frugal food. Hazel surveyed the spot,
and selecting a red cedar, was soon seated forty feet above
her head, making a topographical survey of the neighbour-
hood. He found that the bayou by which they had entered
continued its course to the northern shore, thus cutting off
the mountain or easterly end, and forming of it a separate
island. A quarter of a mile farther on the bayou or canal
parted, forming two streams, of which that to the left seemed
the main channel. This he determined to follow. Turning
to the west, that is, towards their home, he saw at a distance
of two miles a crest of hills broken into cliffs, which defined
the limit of the mainland. The sea had at one time occupied
the site where the morass now stood. These cliffs formed a
range, extending ftom north to south ; their precipitous sides,
clothed here and there with trees, marked where the descent
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
was broken by platforms. Between him and this range the
morass extended. Hazel took note of three places where
the descent from these hills into the marsh could^ he believed,
most readily be made.
On the eastern side, and close above him, arose the peculiar
momitain. Its form was that of a truncated cone, and its
sides densely covered with trees of some size.
The voice of Helen called him from his perch, and he
descended quickly, leaping into a mass of brushwood growing
at the foot of his tree. Helen stood a few yards from him,
in admiration, before a large shrub.
'' Look, Mr. Hazel, what a singular production," said the
girl, as she stooped to examine the plant. It bore a nmnber
of red flowers, each growing out of a fruit like a prickly pear.
These flowers were in various stages : some were just opening
hke tulips ; others, more advanced, had expanded like um-
brellas, and quite overlapped the fruit, keeping it from sun
and dew ; others had served their turn in that way, and been
withered by the sun's rays. But, wherever this was the case,
the fruit had also burst open and displayed or discharged
its contents, and those contents looked like seeds; but on
narrower inspection proved to be little insects with pink,
transparent wings, and bodies of incredibly vivid crimson.
Hazel examined the fruit and flowers very eareftiUy, and
stood rapt, transfixed.
'at must be! and it isl" said he, at last "WeU, Tm
glad Fve not died without seeing it."
''What is it?" said she.
" One of the most valuable productions of the earth. . It is
cochineal. This is the tunal tree."
" Oh, indeed," said Helen indifferently ; " cochineal is
used for a dye; but as it is not probable we shall require
to dye anything, the discovery seems to me more curious
than useful."
'' You wanted some ink. This pigment, mixed with lime-
juice, will form a beautifrd red ink."
He asked her to hold her handkerchief under a bough of
the tunal tree, where the fruit was ripe. He then shook
the bough. Some insects fell at once into the cloth. A
great number rose and buzzed a little in the sun not a yard
from where they were bom ; but the sun dried their blood
so promply that they soon fell dead in the handkerchief.
Those that the sun so killed went through three phases of
colour before their eyes. They fell down black or nearly ;
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
they whitened on the cloth ; and after that came gradually
to their final colour^ a flaming crimson. The insects thus
treated appeared the most vivid of all.
They soon secured about half a tea-cup full, rolled them
up, and put them away; then they sat down and made a
very hearty meal, foe it was now past two o'clock. They re-
entered the boat, and passing once more into the morass,
they found the channel of the bayou as it approached the
northern shore less difficult of navigation. The bottom be-
came sandy and hard, and the presence of trees in the swamp
proved that spots of terra Jirma were more frequent. But
the water shallowed, and, as they opened the shore, he saw
with great vexation that the tide in receding had left the
bar at the mouth of the canal visible in some parts. He
pushed on, however, until the boat grounded. This was a
sad affair. There lay the sea not fifty yards ahead. Hazel
leaped out, and examined and forded the channel, which at
this place was about two hundred feet wide. He found a
narrow passage near the eastern side, and to this he towed
the boat. Then he begged Miss RoUeston to land, and
relieved the boat of the mast, sail, and oars. Thus lightened,
he dragged her into the passage ; but the time occupied in
these preparations had been also occupied by Nature the
tide had receded, and the cutter stuck immovably in the
water-way, about six fathoms short of deeper water.
*' What is to be done now ? " inquired Helen, when Hazel
returned to her side, panting but cheerful.
"We must await the rising of the tide. I fear we are
imprisoned here for three hours at least."
There was no help for it. Helen made light of the mis-
fortune. The spot where they had landed was enclosed
between the two issues of the lagoon. They walked along
the shore to the more easterly and the narrower canal, and
on arriving. Hazel found to his great annoyance that there
was ample water to have floated the cutter had he selected
that, the least promising road. He suggested a return by
the road they came, and passing into the other canal, by
that to reach the sea. They hurried back, but found by this
time the tide had left the cutter high and dry on the sand.
So they had no choice but to wait.
Having three hours to spare. Hazel asked Miss RoUeston's
permission to ascend the mountain. The ascent was too
rugged and steep for her powers, and the seashore and
adjacent groves would find her ample amusement during his
174 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
absence. She accompanied him to the bank of the smaller
lagoon^ which he forded^ and waving an adieu to her^ he
plunged into the dense wood with which the sides of the
mountain were clothed.
She waited some time, and then she heard his voice shout-
ing to her from the heights above. The mountain top was
al^ut three-quarters of a mile from where she stood, but
seemed much nearer. She turned back towards the boat,
walking slowly, but paused as a faint and distant cry again
reached her ear. It was not repeated, and then she entered
the grove.
The ground beneath her feet was soft with velvety moss,
and the dark foliage of the trees rendered the air cool and
deliciously fragrant. After wandering for some time, she
regained the edge of the grove near the boat, and selecting
a spot at the foot of an aged C3rpress, she sat down with her
back against its trunk. Then she took out Arthur's letter,
and began to read those impassioned sentences : as she read
she sighed deeply. But she detected herself pitying Arthur's
condition more than she regretted her own. She fell into
reverie, and from reverie into a drowsy languor. How long
she remained in this state she could not remember, but a
slight rustle overhead recalled her senses. Believing it to
be a bird moving in the branches, she was resigning herself
again to rest, when she became sensible of a strange emotion,
a conviction that something was watching her with a fixed
gaze. She cast her eyes around, but saw nothing. She
looked upwards. From the tree immediately above her lap
depended a snake, its tail coiled around a dead branch. The
reptile hung straight, its eyes fixed like two rubies upon
Helen's, as very slowly it let itself down by its uncoiling tail.
Now its head was on a level with hers ; in another moment
it must drop into her lap.
She was paralysed.
CHAPTER XXVI
After toiling up a rugged and steep ascent, encumbered
wit& blocks of grey stone, of which the island seemed to be
formed, forcing his way over fallen trees and through the
tangled undergrowth of a species of wild vine, which abounded
on the mountain side. Hazel stopped to breathe, and peer
175 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
around^ as well as the dense foliage permitted. He was up
to his waist in scrubs and the stiff leaves of the bayonet plant
rendered caution necessary in walking. At moments, through
the dense foliage, he caught a glisten of the sea. The sun
was in the north behind him, and by this alone he guided his
road due southerly and upward. Once only he found a small
cleared space about an acre in extent, and here it was he
uttered the cry Helen heard. He waited a few moments in
the hope to hear her voice in reply, but it did not reach him.
Again he mounted upward, and now the ascent became at
times so arduous that more than once he almost resolved to
relinquish, or at least to defer his task ; but a moment's rest
recalled him to himself, and he was one not easily baffled by
difficulty or labour, so he toiled on until he judged the
summit ought to have been reached. After pausing to take
breath and counsel, he fancied that he had borne too much
to the left, the ground to his right appeared to rise more
than the path that he was pursuing, which had become level ;
and he concluded that, instead of ascending, he was circling
the mountain top. He turned aside, therefore, and after ten
minutes' hard cfimbing he was pushing through a thick and
high scrub, when the earth seemed to give way beneath him,
and he fell ^into an abyss.
He was engulfed. He fell from bush to bush down
down ^scratch rip plump! until he lodged in a prickly
bush, more winded than hurt. Out of this he crawled, only
to discover himself thus landed in a great and perfectly cir-
cular plain of about thirty acres in extent, or about 350 yards
in diameter. In the centre was a lake, also circular. The
broad belt of shore around this lake was covered with rich
grass, level as a bowling-green, and all this again was sur-
rounded by a nearly perpendicular cliff, down which indeed
he had fallen : this cliff was thickly clothed with shrubs and
trees.
Hazel recognised the crater of an extinct volcano.
On examining the lake, he found the waters impregnated
with volcanic products. Its bottom was formed of asphaltum.
Having made a circuit of the shores, he perceived on the
westerly side ^that next the island a break in the cliff;
and on a narrow examination he discovered an outlet. It
appeared to him that the lake at one time had eniptied its
waters through this ancient watercourse. The descent here
was not only gradual, but the old river bed was tolerably
free from obstructions, especially of the vegetable kind.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
He made his way rapidly downwards, and in half-an-hour
reached marshy ground. The cane brake now lay before him.
On his left he saw the sea on the south, about a third of a
mile. He knew that to the right must be the sea on the
north, about half-a-mile or so. He bent his way thither.
The edge of the swamp was very clear, and, though somewhat
spongy, afforded good walking unimpeded. As he approached
the spot where he judged the boat to be, the underwood
thickened, the trees again interlaced their arms, and he had
to struggle through the foliage. At length he struck the
smaller lagoon, and followed its course to the shore, where
he had previously crossed. In a few moments he reached
the boat, and was pleased to find her afloat. The rising tide
had even moved her a few feet back into the canal.
Hazel shouted to apprise Miss Rolleston of his return, and
then proceeded to restore the mast to its place, and replace
the rigging and the oars. This occupied some Httle time.
He felt surprised that she had not appeared. He shouted
again. No reply.
CHAPTER XXVn
Hazel advanced hurriedly into the grove, which he hunted
thoroughly, but without effect. He satisfied himself that
she could not have quitted the spot, since the marsh enclosed
it! on one side, the canals on the second and third, the sea
on the fourth. He returned to the boat more surprised than
anxious. He waited awhile, and again shouted her name
stopped ^listened no answer.
Yet surely Helen could not have been more than a hun-
dred yards from where he stood. His heart beat with a
strange sense of apprehension. He beard nothing but the
rustling of the foliage and the sop of the waves on the shore,
as the tide crept up the shingle. As his eyes roved in every
direction, he caught sight of something white near the foot
of a withered cypress tree, not fifty yards from where he
stood. He approached the bushes in which the tree was
partially concealed on that side, and quickly recognised a
portion of Helen's dress.. He ran towards her, burst through
the underwood, and gained the enclosure. She was sitting
there, asleep, as he conjectured, her back leaning against the
trunk. He contemplated her thus for one moment, and
177
by (Google
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
then he advanced, about to awaken her, but was struck
speechless. Her face was ashy pale ; her eyes open and
widely distended; her bosom heaved slowly. Hazel ap-
proached rapidly, and called to her.
Her eyes never moved, not a limb stirred. She sat
glaring forward. On her lap was coiled a snake ^grey
mottled with muddy green.
Hazel looked round and selected a branch of the dead
tree, about three feet in length. Armed with this, he ad-
vanced slowly to the reptile. It was very quiet, thanks to
the warmth of her lap. He pointed the stick at it; the
vermin lifted its head, and its tail began to quiver ; then it
darted at the stick, throwing itself its entire length. Hazel
retreated, the snake coiled again, and again darted. By
repeating this process four or fiye times, he enticed the crea-
ture away ; and then availing himself of a moment before it
could recoil, he struck it a smart blow on the neck.
When Hazel turned to Miss Rolleston he found her still
fixed in the attitude into which terror had transfixed her.
The poor girl had remained motionless for an hour, under
the terrible fascination of the reptile, comatised. He spoke to
her, but a quick spasmodic action of her throat, and a quiver-
ing of her hands, alone responded. The sight of her suffering
agonised him beyond expression, but he took her hands ^he
pressed them, for they were icy cold, he called piteously on
her name. But she seemed incapable of effort. Then stoop-
ing, he raised her tenderly in his arms, and carried her to the
boat, where he laid her, still unresisting and incapable.
With trembling limbs and weak hands, he launched the
cutter; and they were once more afioat and bound homeward.
He dipped the baler into the fresh water he had brought
with him for their daily supply, and dashed it on her fore-
head. This he repeated until he perceived that her breathing
became less painful and more rapid. Then he raised her a
little, and her head rested upon his arm. When they reached
the entrance of the bay he was obliged to pass it, for the wind
being still southerly, he could not enter by the north gate^
but came round and ran in by the western passage, the same
by which they had left the same morning.
Hazel bent over Helen, and whispered tenderly that they
were at home. She answered by a sob. In half-an-hour the
keel grated on the sand, near the boat-house. Then he asked
her if she were strong enough to reach her hut. She raised
her head, but she felt dizzy ; he helped her to land ; all power
178
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
had forsaken her limbs ; her head sank on bis shoulder^ and
his arm, wound round her hthe figure, alone prevented her
falling helplessly at his feet. Again he raised her in his
arms and bore her to the hut. Here he laid her down on her
bed, and stood for a moment beside her, unable to restrain
his tears.
CHAPTER XXVIII
It was a wretched and anxious night for Hazel. He watched
the hut, without the courage to approach it. That one
moment of weakness which occurred to him on board the
Proserpine, when he had allowed Helen to perceive the nature
of his feelings towards her, had rendered all his actions open
to suspicion. He dared not exhibit towards her any sympathy
^he might not extend to her the most ordinary civility. If
she fell* ill, if fever supervened! how could he nurse her,
attend upon her.^ His touch must have a significance, he
^ knew that ; for, as he bore her insensible form, he embraced
rather than carried the precious burthen. Could he look upon
her in her suffering without betraying his forbidden love.''
And then would not his attentions afllict more than console .''
Chewing the cud of such bitter thoughts, he passed the
night, without noticing the change which was taking place
over the island. The sun rose ; and this awakened him from
his reverie, which had replaced sleep ; he looked around, and
then became sensible of the warnings in the air.
The sea-birds flew about vaguely and absurdly, and seemed
sporting in currents of wind ; yet there was but little wind
down below. Presently clouds came flying over the sky, and
blacker masses gathered on the horizon. The sea changed
colour.
Hazel knew the weather was breaking. The wet season
was at hand ^the moment when fever, if such an invisible
inhabitant there was on that island, would visit them. In a
few hours the rain would be upon them, and he reproached
himself with want of care in the construction of the hut.
For some hours he hovered around it, before he ventured to
approach the door, and call to Helen. He thought he heard
her voice faintly, and he entered. She lay there as he had
placed her.
Hazel took her unresisting hand, which he would have
179
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
given a world to press. He felt her pulse ; it was weak^ but
slow. Her hand dropped helplessly when he released it.
Leaving the hut quietly but hastily^ he descended the hill
to the rivulet, which he crossed. About half a mile above the
boat-house the stream forked, one of its branches coming
from the west, the other from the east. Between this latter
branch and Terrapin Wood was a stony hill ; to this spot
Hazel went, and fell to gathering a handful of poppies.
When he had obtained a sufficient quantity, he returned to
the boat-house, made a small fire of chips, and filling his tin
baler with water, he set down the poppies to boil. When the
liquor was cool, he measured out a portion and drank it In
about twenty minutes his temples began to throb, a sensation
which was rapidly followed by nausea.
It was mid-day before he recovered from the efiects of his
experiment sufficiently to take food. Then he waited for
two hours, and felt much restored. He stole to the hut
and looked in. Helen lay there as he had left her. He
stooped over her : her eyes were half-closed, and she turned
them slowly upon him; her lips moved a little that was
all. He felt her pulse again ; it was still weaker, and slower.
He rose and went away, and regaining the boat-house, he
measured out a portion of the poppy liquor, one-third of the
dose he had previously taken, and drank it. No headache
or nausea succeeded ; he felt his pulse ; it became quick and
violent, while a sense of numbness overcame him, and he
slept. It was but for a few minutes. He awoke with a
throbbing brow, and some sickness ; but with a sense of
delight at the heart, for he had found an opiate, and pre-
scribed its quantity.
He drained the liquor away from the poppy leaves, and
carried it to the hut. Measuring with great care a small
quantity, he lifted the girl's head and placed it to her lips.
She drank it mechanically. Then he watched beside her,
until her breathing and her pulse changed in character. She
slept. He turned aside then, and buried his face in his hands,
and prayed fervently for her life prayed as we pray for the
daily bread of the heart. He prayed and waited.
180 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER XXIX
The next morning, when Helen awoke, she was still weak ;
her head ached, but she was herself. Hazel had made a
broth for her from the fleshy part of a turtle ; this greatly
revived her, and, by mid-day, she was able to sit up. Having
seen that her wants were within her reach, he left her ; but
she heard him busily engaged on the roof of her hut.
On his return, he explained to her his fears that the
structure was scarcely as weather-proof as he desired; and
he anticipated hourly the commencement of the rainy season.
Helen smiled, and pointed to the sky, which here was clear
and bright. But Hazel shook his head doubtingly. The
wet season would commence probably with an atmospheric
convulsion, and then settle down to uninterrupted rain.
Helen refused obstinately to believe in more rain than they
had experienced on board the boat a genial shower.
''You will see," replied Hazel. " If you do not change
your views within the next three days, then call me a false
prophet."
The following day passed, and Helen recovered more
strength, but still was too weak to walk ; but she employed
herself, at Hazel's request, in making a rope of cocoa-nut
fibre, some forty yards long. This he required to fish up the
spar to a sufiicient height on the great palm-tree, and bind it
firmly in its place. While she worked nimbly, he employed
himself in gathering a store of such things as they would
require during the coming wintry season. She watched him
with a smile, but he persevered. So that day passed. The
next morning the rope was finished. Helen was not so well,
and was about to help herself to the poppy liquor, when
Hazel happily stopped her hand in time ; he showed her the
exact dose necessary, and explained minutely the effects of a
larger draught. Then he shouldered the rope, and set out
for Palm-tree Point.
He was absent about six hours, of which Helen slept
four. And for two, which seemed very long, she ruminated.
What was she thinking of that made her smile and weep at
the same moment ? and she looked so impatiently towards
the door.
He entered at last, very fatigued. It was eleven miles to
the Point and back. While eating his frugal supper, he gave
^^^ - d by Google
Digitized t
FOUL PLAY
her a detail of his day's adventures. Strange to say he had
not seen a single seal on the sands. He described how he
had tied one end of her rope to the middle of the spar^ and
with the other between his teeth, he climbed the great palm.
For more than an hour he toiled ; he gained its top, passed
the rope over one of its branches, and hauled up the spar to
about eighty feet above the ground ; then descending with the
other end, he wound the rope spirally round and round the
tree, thus binding to its trunk the first twenty feet by which
the spar hung from the branch.
She listened very carelessly, he thought, and betrayed little
interest in this enterprise, which had cost him so much labour
and fatigue.
When he had concluded, she was silent awhile, and then,
looking up quickly, said, to his great surprise
" I think I may increase the dose of your medicine there.
You are mistaken in its power. I am sure I can take four
times what you gave me."
^^ Indeed, you are mistaken," he answered quickly. '^I
gave you the extreme measure you can take with safety."
" How do you know that ? you can only guess at its effects.
At any rate, I shall try it."
Hazel hesitated, and then confessed that he had made a
little experiment on himself before risking its effects upon her.
Helen looked up at him as he said this so simply and
quietly. Her great eyes filled with an angelic light. Was
it admiration? Was it thankfulness? Her bosom heaved,
and her lips quivered. It was but a moment, and she felt
glad that Hazel had turned away from her and saw nothing.
A long silence followed this little episode, when she was
aroused from her reverie.
Patter pat pat ^patter.
She looked up.
Pat patter patter.
Their eyes met. It was the rain. Hazel only smiled a
little, and ran down to his boat-house, to see that all was
right there, and then returned with a large bundle of chips,
with which he made a fire, for the sky had darkened over-
head. Gusts of wind ran along the water ; it had become
suddenly chilly. They had almost forgotten the feel of wet
weather.
Ere the fire had kindled, the rain came down in torrents,
and the matted roof being resonant, they heard it strike here
and there above their heads.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Helen sat down on her little stool and reflected.
In that hut were two persons. One had foretold this, and
feared it, and provided against it. The other had said petu-
lantly it was a bugbear.
And now the rain was pattering, and the prophet was on
his knees, making her as comfortable as he could, in spite of
all, and was not the man to remind her he had foretold it.
She pcmdered his character while she watched his move-
ments. He put dom his embers, then he took a cocoa-pod
out from the wall, cut it in slices with his knife, and made a
fine clear fire ; then he ran out again, in spite of Helen's
remonstrance, and brought a dozen large scales of the palm-
tree. It was all the more cheering for the dismal scene with-
out and the pattering of the rain on the resounding roof.
But, thanks to Hazel's precaution, the hut proved weather-
tight ; of which fact having satisfied himself, he bade her
good night. He was at the door when her voice recalled him.
" Mr. Hazel, I cannot rest this night without asking your
pardon for all the unkind things I may have done and said ;
without thanking you humbly for your great forbearance and
your ^respect for the unhap I mean the unfortunate girl
thus cast upon your mercy."
She held out her hand ; he took it between his own, and
faintly expressed his gratitude for her kindness ; and so she
sent him away brimful of happiness.
The rain was descending in torrents. She heard it, but he
did not feel it ; for she had spread her angel's wings over his
existence, and he regained his sheltered boat-house he knew
not how.
CHAPTER XXX
The next day was Sunday. Hazel had kept a calendar of
the week, and every seventh day was laid aside with jealousy,
to be devoted to such simple religious exercises as he could
invent. The rain still continued, with less violence indeed,
but without an hour's intermission. After breakfast he read
to her the exodus of the Israelites, and their sufferings during
that desert life. He compared those hardships with their
own troubles, and pointed out to her how their condition
presented many things to be thankful for. The island was
fruitful, the climate healthy. They might have been cust
1^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
away on a sandy key or reef, where they would have perished
slowly and miserably of hunger and exposure. Then they
were spared to each other. Had she been alone there, she
could not have provided for herself ; had he been cast away
a solitary man^ the island would have been to him an intoler-
able prison.
In all these reflections Hazel was very guarded that no
expression should escape him to arouse her apprehension.
He was so careful of this, that she observed his caution, and
watched his restraint. And Helen was thinking more of
this than of the holy subject on which he was discoursing.
The disguise he threw over his heart was penetrable to the
girl's eye. She saw his love in every careful word, and
employed herself in detecting it under his rigid manner.
Secure in her own position, she could examine him from the
loopholes of her soul, and take a pleasure in witnessing the
suppressed happiness she could bestow with a word. She
did not wonder at her power. The best of women have the
natural vanity to take for granted the sway they assume over
the existence which submits to them.
A week passed thus, and Hazel blessed the rain that drove
them to this sociability. He had prepared the bladder of a
young seal which had drifted ashore dead. This membrane
dried in the sun formed a piece of excellent parchment, and
he desired to draw upon it a map of the island. To accom-
plish this, the first thing was to obtain a good red ink from
the cochineal, which is crimson. He did according to his
means. He got one of the tin vessels, and filed it till he
had obtained a considerable quantity of the metaL This he
subjected for forty hours to the action of lime-juice. He
then added the cochineal, and mixed till he obtained a fine
scarlet. In using it he added a small quantity of a hard and
pure gum he had found gum abounded in the island. His
pen was made from an osprey's feather, hundreds of which
were strewn about the cliffs, and some of these he had
already secured and dried.
Placing his tin baler before him, on which he had
scratched his notes, he drew a map of the island.
" What shall we call it ? " said he.
Helen paused, and then replied, "Call it 'God-send'
Island."
^' So I will," he said, and wrote it down.
Then they named the places they had seen. The reef
Helen Jiad discovered off the north-west coast they called
^^^ - d by Google
Digitized t
FOUL PLAY
''White Water Island/' because of the breakers. Then
came "Seal Bay/' "Pahn-tree Point/' "Mount Lookout"
(this was the hill due south of where they lived)i They
called the cane brake ''Wild Duck Swamp/' and the spot
where they lunched "Cochineal Clearing." The mountain
was named " Mount Cavity."
"But what shall we call the capital of the kingdom
this hut ? " said Miss Rolleston^ as she leaned over him and
pointed to the spot.
" Saint Helen's/' said Hazel, looking up ; and he wrote it
down ere she could object.
Then there was a little awkward pause, while he was
busily occupied in filling up some topographical details. She
turned it off gaily.
" What are those caterpillars that you have drawn there,
sprawling over my kingdom } " she asked.
" Caterpillars ! you are complimentary. Miss RoUeston.
Those are mountains."
" Oh, indeed ; and those lines you are now drawing are
rivers, I presume."
" Yes ; let us call this branch of our solitary estuary,
which runs westward, the River Lea, and this, to the east,
the River Medway. Is such your majesty's pleasure ?"
CHAPTER XXXI
Helen's strength was coming back to her but slowly; she
complained of great lassitude and want of appetite. But
the following day having cleared up, the sun shone out with
great power and brilliancy. She gladly welcomed the return
of the fine weather, but Hazel shook his head : ten days' rain
was not their portion the bad weather would return, and
complete the month or six weeks' winter to which nature
was entitled. The next evening the appearance oi the sky
confirmed his opinion. The sun set like a crimson shield;
gory, and double its usual size. It entered into a thick bank
of dark violet cloud that lay on the horizon, and seemed to
split the vapour into rays, but of a dusky kind. Immediately
above this crimson, the clouds were of a brilliant gold, but
higher they were the colour of rubies, and went gradually off
to grey.
1S5 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
But, as the orb dipped to the horizon, a solid pile of un-
earthly clouds came up from the south-east; their bodies
were singularly and unnaturally black, and mottled with
copper colour, and hemmed with a fiery yellow; and these
infernal clouds towered up their heads, pressing forward as
if they all strove for precedency ; it was like Milton's fiends
attacking the sky. The rate at which they climbed was
wonderful. The sun set and the moon rose full, and showed
those angry masses surging upwards and jostling each other
as they flew.
Yet below it was dead calm.
Having admired the sublimity of the scene, and seen the
full moon rise, but speedily lose her light in a brassy halo,
they entered the hut, which was now the headquarters, and
they supped together there.
While they were eating their Httle meal, the tops of the
trees were heard to sigh, so still was everything else. None
the less did those strange clouds fly northward, eighty miles
an hour. After supper Helen sat busy over the fire, where
some gum, collected by Hazel, resembling indiarubber, was
boiling. She was preparing to cover a pair of poor Welch's
shoes, inside and out, with a coat of this material, which
Hazel believed to be waterproof She sat in such a position
that he could watch her. It was a happy evening. She
seemed content. She had got over her fear of him ; they
were good comrades if they were nothing more. It was
happiness to him to be by her side even on those terms.
He thought of it all as he looked at her. How distant
she had seemed once to him: what an unapproachable
goddess. Yet there she was by his side, in a hut he had
made for her.
He could not help sipping the soft intoxicating draught
her mere presence offered 1dm. But by-and-by he felt his
heart was dissolving within him, and he was trifling with
danger. He must not look on her too long, seated by the
fire like a wife. The much-enduring man rose, and turned
his back upon the sight he loved so dearly ; he went out at
the open door, intending to close it and bid her good night.
But he did not do so, just then; for his attention as an
observer of nature was arrested by the unusual conduct of
certain animals. Gannets and other sea-birds were running
about the opposite wood and craning their necks in a strange
way. He had never seen one enter that wood before.
Seals and sea-lions were surrounding the slope, and craw^-
186 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
ing about, and now and then plunging into the river, which
they crossed with infinite difficulty, for it was running very
high and strong. The trees also sighed louder than ever.
Hazel turned back to tell Miss RoUeston something extra-
ordinary was going on. She sat in sight from the river, and,
as he came towards the hut, he saw her sitting by the fire
reading.
He stopped short Her work lay at her feet : she had
taken out a letter, and she was reading it by the fire.
As she read it her face was a puzzle. But Hazel saw
the act alone ; and a dart of ice seemed to go through and
through him.
This, then, was her true source of consolation. He thought
it was so before. He had even reason to think so. But,
never seeing any palpable proofs, he had almost been happy.
He turned sick with jealous misery, and stood there rooted
and frozen.
Then came a fierce impulse to shut the sight out that
caused this pain.
He almost fiung her portcullis to, and made his hands
bleed. But a bleeding heart does not feel scratches.
" Good night," said he hoarsely.
'^ Good night," said she kindly.
And why should she not read his letter? She was his
affianced bride, bound to him by honour as well as inclina-
tion. This was the reflection to which, after a sore battle
with his loving heart, the much-enduring man had to come
at last; and he had come to it, and was getting back his
peace of mind, though not his late complacency, and about
to seek repose in sleep, when suddenly a clap of wind came
down like thunder, and thrashed the island and everything
in it.
All things animate and inanimate seemed to cry out as
the blow passed.
Another soon followed, and another ^intermittent gusts
at present, but of such severity that not one came without
making its mark.
Birds were driven away like paper; the sea-lions whim-
pered, and crouched into comers, and huddled together,
and held each other, whining.
Hazel saw but one thing ; the frail edifice he had built for
the creature he adored. He looked out of his boat, and
fixed his horror-stricken eyes on it: he saw it waving to
and fro, yet still firm. But he could not stay there. If
187 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
not in danger she must be terrified. He must go and
support her. He left his shelter, and ran towards her hut.
With a whoop and a scream another blast tore through the
wood, and caught him. He fell, dug his hands into the
soil, and clutched the earth. While he was in that position,
he heard a sharp crack; he looked up in dismay, and saw
that one of Helen's trees had broken like a carrot, and the
head was on the ground leaping about; while a succession
of horrible sounds of crashing, and rending, and tearing,
showed the frail hut was giving way on every side, racked
and riven, and torn to pieces. Hazel, though a stout man,
uttered cries of terror death would never have drawn from
him; and, with a desperate, headlong rush, he got to the
place where the bower had been ; but now it was a prostrate
skeleton, with the mat roof flapping like a loose sail above
it, and Helen below.
As he reached the hut, the wind got hold of the last of
the four shrubs that did duty for a door, and tore it from
the cord that held it, and whirled it into the air. It went
past Hazel's face like a bird flying.
Though staggered himself by the same blow of wind,
he clutched the tree and got into the hut.
He found her directly. She was kneeling beneath the
mat that a few minutes ago had been her roof. He ex-
tricated her in a moment, uttering inarticulate cries of pity
and fear.
" Don't be frightened," said she. " I am not hurt."
But he felt her quiver from head to foot. He wrapped
her in all her rugs, and, thinking of nothing but her safety,
lifted her in his strong arms to take her to his own place,
which was safe from wind at least.
But this was no light work. To go there erect was im-
possible.
Holding tight by the tree, he got her to the lee of the
tent, and waited for a lull. He went rapidly down the
hill, but ere he reached the river, a gust came careering
furiously. A sturdy young tree was near him. He placed
her against it, and wound his arms round her and its trunk.
The blast came ; the tree bent down almost to the ground
then whirled round, recovered, shivered ; but he held firmly.
It passed. Again he lifted her, and bore her to the boat-
house. When he turned a moment to enter it, the wind
almost choked her, and her long hair lashed his face like a .
whip. But he got her in, and they sat panting and crouchin*^
188 Digitized by Google ,^
FOUL PLAY
but safe. They were none too soon ; the tempest increased
in violence, and became more continuous.
No clouds, but a ghastly glare all over the sky. No
rebellious waves, but a sea hissing and foaming under its
master's lash. The river ran roaring and foaming by, and
made the boat heave even in its little creek. The wind,
though it could no longer shake them, went screaming
terribly close over their heads no longer like air in motion,
but, solid and keen, it seemed the Almighty's scjrthe mow-
ing down Nature; and soon it became like turbid water,
blackened with the leaves, branches, and fragments of all
kinds it whirled along with it. Trees fell crashing on all
sides, and the remains of the hut passed over their heads
into the sea.
Helen behaved admirably. Speech was impossible, but
she thanked him without it eloquently; she nestled her
little hand into Hazel's, and, to Hazel, that night, with
all its awful sights and sounds, was a blissful one. She had
been in danger, but now was safe by his side. She had
pressed his hand to thank him, and now she was cowering
a little towards him in a way that claimed him as her pro-
tector. Her glorious hair blew over him and seemed to
net him; and now and then, as they heard some crash
nearer and more awful than another, she clutched him
quickly though lightly ; for, in danger, her sex love to feel
a friend ^it is not enough to see him near ; and once, when
a great dusky form of a sea-lion came crawling over the
mound, and, whimpering, peeped into the boat-house, she
even fled to his shoulder with both hands for a moment,
and was there, light as a feather, till the creature had
passed on. And his soul was full of peace, and a great
tranquillity overcame him. He heard nothing of the wrack,
knew nothing of the danger.
Oh, mighty Love ! The tempest might blow, and fill air
and earth with ruin, so that it spared her. The wind was
kind, and gentle the night, which brought that hair round
his face, and that head so near his shoulder, and gave him the
holy joy of protecting under his wing the soft creature he
adored.
189 n ^
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER XXXII
On the morning that followed this memorable night, our
personages seemed to change characters. Hazel sat down
before the relics of the hut three or four strings dangling,
and a piece of network waving and eyed them with shame,
regret, and humiliation. He was so absorbed in his self-
reproaches that he did not hear a light footstep, and Helen
Rolleston stood near him a moment or two, and watched the
play of his countenance with a very inquisitive and kindly
light in her own eyes.
'^ Never mind," said she soothingly.
Hazel started at the music.
" Never mind your house being blown to atoms, and mine
has stood ? " said he, half reproachfully.
^'You took too much pains with mine. And now I want
you to come and look at the havoc. It is terrible ; and yet
so grand." And thus she drew him away from the sight
that caused his pain.
They entered the wood, and viewed the devastation. Pros-
trate trees lay across one another in astonishing numbers, and
in the strangest positions ; and their glorious plumes swept
the earth. " Come," said she, ''it is a bad thing for the
poor trees, but not for us. See, the place is strewed with
treasures. Here is a tree full of fans all ready made. And
what is that ? A horse's tail growing on a cocoa tree ! and.
a long one too ! that will make ropes for you, and thread for
me. Ah, and here is a cabbage. Poor Mr. Welch ! Well,
for one thing, you need never saw nor climb any more. See
the advantages of a hurricane."
From the wood she took him to the shore, and there they
found many birds lying dead ; and Hazel picked up several
that he had read of as good to eat. For certain signs had
convinced him his fair and delicate companion was camivora,
and must be nourished accordingly. Seeing him so employed,
she asked him archly whether he was beginning to see the
comforts of a hurricane. " Not yet," said he ; '' the account
is far from even."
"Then come to where the rock was blown down." She
led the way gaily across the sands to a point where an over-
hanging crag had fallen, with two trees, and a quantity of
earth and plants that grew above it. But, when they got
190
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
nearer, she became suddenly grave, and stood still. The
mass had fallen upon a sheltered place, where seals were
hiding from the wind, and had buried several ; for two or
three limbs were sticking out, of victims overwhelmed in
the ruin ; and a magnificent sea-lion lay clear of the smaller
rubbish, but quite dead. The cause was not far to seek : a
ton of hard rock had struck him, and then ploughed up
the sand in a deep furrow, and now rested within a yard
or two of the animal, whose back it had broken. Hazel
went up to the creature and looked at it : then he came to
Helen; she was standing aloof '^Poor bugbear," said he.
'^ Come away : it is an ugly sight for you."
" Oh, yes," said Helen. Then, as they returned, ^^ Does
not that reconcile you to the loss of a \mt} We are not
blown away nor crushed."
''^That is true," said Hazel; ''but suppose your health
should suffer from the exposure to such fearful weather. So
unlucky I so cruel ! just as you were beginning to get
stronger."
'' I am all the better for it. Shall I tell you ? Excitement
is a good thing ; not too often, of course ; but now and then,
and when we are in the humour for it, it is meat and drink,
and medicine to us.
"What ! to a delicate young lady ? "
'' Ay, * to a delicate young lady.' Last night has done me
a world of good. It has shaken me out of myself I am in
better health and spirits. Of course I am very sorry the hut
is. blown down ^because you took so much trouble to build
it; but, on my own account, I really don't care a straw.
Find me some comer to nestle in at night, and all day I
mean to be about, and busy as a bee, helping you, and
Breakfast ! breakfast ! Oh, how hungry I am." And this
spirited girl led the way to the boat with a briskness and a
vigour that charmed and astonished him.
*' Souvenl femmt varieJ*
This gracious behaviour did not blind Hazel to the serious
character of the situation, and all breakfast time he was
thinking and thinking, and often kept a morsel in his mouth,
and forgot to eat it for several seconds, he was so anxious and
puzzled. At last he said, " I know a large hollow tree with
apertures. If I were to close them all but one, and keep that
for the door ? No : trees have betrayed me ; I'll never trust
191 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
another tree with you. Stay: I know I know a cavern."
He uttered the verb rather loudly, but the substantive with a
sudden feebleness of intonation that was amusing. His
timidity was superfluous ; if he had said he knew " a bank
whereon the wild thyme grows/' the suggestion would have
been well received that morning.
" A cavern ! " cried Helen. '^ It has always been the
dream of my life to live in a cavern."
Hazel brightened up. But the next moment he clouded
again. "But I forgot. It will not do: there is a spring
running right through it; it comes down nearly perpen-
dicular, through a channel it has bored, or enlarged ; and
splashes on the floor."
"How convenient!" said Helen; '^then I shall have a
bath in my room, instead of having to go miles for it. By-
the-bye, now you have invented the shower-bath, please dis-
cover Soap. Not that one really wants any in this island ;
for there is no dust, and the very air seems purifying. But
who can shake off the prejudices of early education ? "
Hazel said, " Now Fll laugh as much as you hke, when
once this care is off my mind."
He ran off to the cavern, and found it spacious and safe ;
but the spring was falling in great force, and the roof of the
cave glistening with moisture. It looked a hopeless case.
But if necessity is the mother of invention, surely love is the
father. He mounted to the rock above, and found the spot
where the spring suddenly descended into the earth with
the loudest gurgle he had ever heard ; a gurgle of defiance.
Nothing was to be done there. But he traced it upwards a
little way, and found a place where it ran beside a deep
decUne. " Aha, my friend ! " said he. He got his spade,
and with some hours' hard work dug it a fresh channel, and
carried it away entirely from its course. He returned to the
cavern. Water was dripping very fast ; but, on looking up,
he could see the light of day twinkling at the top of the
spiral watercourse he had robbed of its supply. Then he
conceived a truly original idea : why not turn his empty
watercourse into a chimney, and so give to one element whfii
he had taken from another? He had no time to execute this
just then, for the tide was coming in, and he could not afford
to lose any one of those dead animals. So he left the funnel
to drip, that being a process he had no means of expeditinr
and moored the sea-Hon to the very rock that had kill. ;
him, and was proceeding to dig out the seals, when r
192
Digitized by VjOOQIC
FOUL PLAY
voice he never could hear without a thrill summoned him
to dinner.
It was a plentiful repast, and included roast pintado and
cabbage-palm. Helen Rolleston informed him during dinner
that he would no longer be allowed to monopoUse the labour
attendant upon their condition.
'* No," said she, " you are always working for me, and I
shall work for you. Cooking and washing are a woman's work,
not a man's ; and so are plaiting and netting."
This healthy resolution once formed was adhered to with a
constancy that belonged to the girl's character. The roof of
the ruined hut came ashore in the bay that evening, and was
fastened over the boat. Hazel lighted a bonfire in the
cavern, and had the satisfaction of seeing some of the smoke
issue above. But he would not let Miss Rolleston occupy it
yet. He shifted her things to the boat, and slept in the
cave himself. However, he lost no time in laying dawn a
great hearth, and built a fireplace and chimney in the cave.
The chimney went up to the hole in the arch of the cave ;
then came the stone funnel, stolen from Nature ; and above,
on the upper surface of the cliff, came the chinmey-pot.
Thus the chimney acted like a German stove: it stood in.
the centre, and soon made the cavern very dry and warm,
and a fine retreat during the rains. When it was ready for
occupation, Helen said she would sail to it ; she would not
go by land ; that was too tame for her. Hazel had only to
comply with her humour, and at high water they got into
the boat, and went down the river into the sea with a rush
that made Helen wince. He soon rowed her across the bay
to a point distant not more than fifty yards from the cavern,
and installed her. But he never returned to the river; it
was an inconvenient place to make excursions from; and
besides, all his work was now either in or about the cavern ;
and that convenient hurricane, as Helen called it, not only
made him a builder again, it also made him a currier, a soap-
boiler, and a Salter. So they drew the boat just above high-
water mark in a sheltered nook, and he set up his arsenal
ashore.
In this situation, day glided by after day, and week after
week, in vigorous occupations, brightened by social inter-
course, and in some degree by the beauty and the friendship
"^f the animals. Of all this industry we can only afford a
'*irief summary. Hazel fixed two uprights at each side of
^;the cavern's mouth, and connected each pair by a beam ; a
19s
by Google
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
netting laid n these, and covered with gigantic leaves from
the prostrate palms, made a sufficient roof in this sheltered
spot. On this terrace they could sit even in the rain, and n
view the sea. Helen cooked in the cave, but served dinner H
up on this beautiful terrace. So now she had a but and a
ben, as the Scotch say. He got a hogshead of oil from the ^
sea-lion ; and so the cave was always lighted now, and that ^
was a great comfort, and gave them more hours of indoor
employment and conversation. The poor bugbear really
brightened their existence. Of the same oil, boiled down fo|
and mixed with wood ashes, he made soap, to Helen's great f^
delight. The hide of this animal was so thick he could do
nothing with it but cut off pieces to make the soles of shoes
if required. But the seals were miscellaneous treasures ; he to
contrived with guano and aromatics to curry their skins ; of ^^
their bladders he made vile parchment, and of their entrails p,
gut, catgut, and twine, beyond compare. He salted two cubs, ^j
and laid up the rest in store, by enclosing large pieces in clay, p
When these were to be used, the clay was just put into hot al
embers for some hours, then broken, and the meat eaten with t]
all its juices preserved, ^
Helen cooked and washed, and manufactured salt, and \
collected quite a store of wild cotton, though it grew very ^
sparingly, and it cost her hours to find a few pods. But j
in hunting for it she found other things health for.
one. After sunset she was generally employed a couple of | ^
hours on matters which occupy the fair in every situation j
of life. She made herself a sealskin jacket and pork-pie }
hat. She made Mr. Hazel a man's cap of sealskin with ] \,
a point. But her great work was with the cotton, which
she plaited, and then sewed the plaits together and made
pieces, which after long labour were made into jacket and
petticoat.
For two hours after sunset, no more (they rose at peep of ^
day), her physician allowed her to sit and work ; which she
did, and often smiled, while he sat by and discoursed to her ' f^
of all the things he had read, and surprised himself by the ' ^
strength and activity of his memory. He attributed it partly i
to the air of the island. Nor were his fingers idle even at
night. He had tools to sharpen for the morrow, glass to },
make and polish out of a laminated crystal he had found. ^
And then the hurricane had blown away, amongst many
other properties, his map ; so he had to make another
with similar materials. He completed the map in due
19^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
esfin course, and gave it to Helen. It was open to the same
eltd strictures she had passed on the other. Hazel was no charto-
iiijjai grapher. Yet this time she had nothing but praise for it.
diMJ How was that ?
snhi To the reader it Ls now presented, not as a specimen of
m tkj chartographic art, but as a Httle curiosity in its way, being a
i tki facsimile of the map John Hazel drew for Helen Rolleston,
ndd with such out-of-the-way materials as that out-of-the-way
realj island afforded. Above all, it will enable the reader to
dom follow our personages in their Httle excursions past and
greati futiu-e, and also to trace the course of a mysterious event we
d k have to record.
hoes' Relieved of other immediate cares. Hazel's mind had time
; he to dwell upon the problem Helen had set him ; and one fine
; ofj day a conviction struck him that he had taken a narrow and
rails! puerile view of it, and that, after all, there must be in the
lbs, nature of things some way to attract ships from a distance.
ay J Possessed with this thought, he went up to Telegraph Point,
lotj abstracted his mind from all external objects, and fixed it on
ith this idea ^but came down as he went. He descended by
some steps he had cut zig-zag for Helen's use, and as he put
nd his foot on the fifth step ^whoo ^whirr ^whizz came nine
ry ducks, cooling his head, they whizzed so close ; and made
at right for the lagoons.
9r "Hum!" thought Hazel; '^I never see you ducks fly in
d/ any direction but that."
n This speculation rankled in him all night, and he told
e Helen he should reconnoitre at daybreak, but should not
h take her, as there might be snakes. He made the boat
I ready at daybreak, and certain gannets, pintadoes, boobies
; and noddies, and divers with eyes in their heads like fiery
j jewels ^birds whose greedy maws he had often gratified
j chose to fancy he must be going a fishing, and were on the
alert, and rather troublesome. However, he got adrift, and
I ran out through North Gate, with a light westerly breeze,
followed by a whole fleet of birds. These were joined in
' due course by another of his sateUites, a young seal he called
Tommy, also fond of fishing.
The feathered convoy soon tailed off; but Tommy stuck to
I him for about eight miles. He ran that distance to have a
I nearer look at a small island which lay due north of Tele-
graph Point. He satisfied himself it was little more than
a very long, large reef, the neighbourhood of which ought
to be avoided by ships of burden ; and resolving to set some
^^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
beacon or other on it ere long, he christened it White Water
Island, on account of the surf. He came about and headed
for the East Bluff.
Then Tommy gave him up in disgust perhaps thought
his conduct vacillating. Animals all despise that
He soon landed, almost under the volcano, and moored
his boat not far from a cliff that seemed peaked with
snow; but the snow was the guano of a thousand years.
Exercising due caution this time, he got up to the lagoons,
and found a great many ducks swimming about. He ap-
proached Httle parties to examine their varieties. They
all swam out of his way ; some of them even flew a few
yards, and then settled. Not one would let him come
within forty yards. This convinced Hazel the ducks were
not natives of the island, but strangers, who were not much
afraid, because they had never been molested on this parti-
cular island, but stUl distrusted man.
While he pondered thus, there was a great noise of wings,
and about a dozen ducks flew over his head on the rise, and
passed eastward, still rising till they got into the high
currents, and away upon the wings of the wind for distant
lands.
The grand rush of their wings and the ofihand way in
which they spumed, abandoned, and disappeared from an
island that held him tight, made Hazel feel very small His
thoughts took the form of satire. ^' Lords of the creation,
are we ? We sink in water ; in air we tumble ; on earth we
slaughter." *
These pleasing reflections did not prevent his taking their
exact line of flight, and barking a tree to mark it. He was
about to leave the place, when he heard a splashing not far
from him, and there was a duck jumping about on the water
in a strange way. Hazel thought a snake had got hold of
her, and ran to her assistance. He took her out of the water,
and soon found what was the matter ; her bill was open and
a fish's tail sticking out Hazel inserted his finger and
dragged out a small fish which had erected the spines on its
back so opportunely as nearly to kill its destroyer. The duck
recovered enough to quack in a feeble and dubious manner.
Hazel kept her for Helen, because she was a plain brown
duck. With some little reluctance he slightly shortened
one wing, and stowed away his captive in the hold of the
boat
He happened to have a great stock of pitch in the boat^
Digitized by VjOOQIC
FOUL PLAY
so he employed a few hours in writing upon the guano rocks.
On one he wrote in huge letters :
AN ENGLISH LADY WRECKED HERE.
HASTE TO HER RESCUE.
On another he wrote in smaller letters :
BEWARB THB RBBFS ON THE NORTH SIDB.
LIB OFF FOR SIGNALS.
Then he came home and beached the boat^ and brought
Helen his captive.
"Why, it is an English duck!" she cried, and was en-
raptured.
By this visit to the lagoons. Hazel gathered that this island
was a half-way house for migrating birds, especially ducks;
and he inferred that the Une those vagrants had taken was
the shortest way from this island to the nearest land. This
was worth knowing, and set his brain working. He begged
Helen to watch for the return of the turtle doves (they had
all left the island just before the rain) and learn, if possible,
from what point of the compass they arrived.
The next expedition was undertaken to please Helen ; she
wished to examine the beautiful creeks and caves on the north
side, which thev had seen from a distance when they sailed
^round the island. .
They started on foot one delightful day, and walked briskly,
for the air, though balmy, was exhilarating. They followed
the course of the river till they came to the lake that fed it,
and was fed itself by hundreds of little natural gutters down
which the hills discharged the rains. This was new to Helen,
though not to Hazel ; she produced the map, and told the
lake slily that it was incorrect, a Uttle too big. She took
some of the water in her hand, sprinkled the lake with it,
and called it Hazelmere. They bore a little to the right, and
proceeded till they found a creek shaped like a wedge, at
whose broad end shone an arch of foliage studded with
flowers, and the sparkling blue water peeped behind. This
was tempting, but the descent was rather hazardous at first :
great square blocks of rock, one below another, and these
rude steps were coated with mosses of rich hue, but wet and
slippery. Hazel began to be alarmed for his companion.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
However, after one or twx difficulties, the fissure opened wider
to the sun, and they descended from the slimy rocks into a
sloping hot-bed of exotic flowers, and those huge succulent
leaves that are the glory of the tropics. The ground was
carpeted a yard deep with their luxuriance, and others, more
aspiring, climbed the warm sides of the diverging cliffs, just
as creepers grow up a wall, lining every crevice as they rose.
In this blessed spot, warmed, yet not scorched, by the tropical
sun, and fed with trickling waters, was seen what marvels
boon Nature can do. Here, our vegetable dwarfs were giants,
and our flowers were trees. One lovely giantess of the
jasmine tribe, but with flowers shaped like a marigold, and
scented like a tube rose, had a stem as thick as a poplar, and
carried its thousand buds and amber-coloured flowers up
eighty feet of broken rock, and planted on every ledge
suckers, that flowered again, and filled the air with perfume.
Another tree about half as high was covered with a cascade
of snow-white tulips, each as big as a small flower-pot, and
scented like honeysuckle. An aloe, ten feet high, blossomed
in a comer, unheeded among loftier beauties. And at the
very mouth of the fissure a huge banana leaned across, and
flung out its vast leaves, that seemed translucent gold against
the sun ; under it shone a monstrous cactus in all her pink
and crimson glory, and through the maze of colour streamed
the deep blue of the peaceftd ocean, laughing, and catching
sunbeams.
Helen leaned against the cliff and quivered with delight,
and that deep sense of flowers that belongs to your true
woman.
Hazel feared she was ill.
" 111 ? " said she. " Who could be ill here ? It is heaven
upon earth. Oh, you dears ! oh, you loves ! And they all
seem growing on the sea, and floating in the sun."
^' And it is only one of a dozen such," said HazeL " If
you would like to inspect them at your leisure, I'll just run
to Palm-tree Point ; for my signal is all askew. I saw that
as we came along."
Helen assented readily, and he ran off, but left her the
provisions. She was not to wait dinner for him.
Helen examined two or three of the flowery fissures, and
found fresh beauties in each, and also some English leaves,
that gave her pleasure of another kind ; and, after she had
revelled in the flowers, she examined the shore, and soon dis-
covered that the rocks, which abounded here (though there
198
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
were also large patches of clear sajid), were nearly all pure
coral, in great variety. Red coral was abundant; and even
the pink coral, to which fashion was just then giving a
fictitious value, was there by the ton. This interested her,
and so did some beautiful shells that lay sparkling. The
time passed swiftly ; and she was still busy in her researches,
when suddenly it darkened a little, and, looking back, she
saw a white vapour stealing over the cliff, and curling down.
Upon this, she thought it prudent to return to the place
where Hazel had left her ; the more so as it was near
sunset
The vapour descended and spread, and covered sea and
land. Then the sun set, and it was darkness visible. Com-
ing from the south, the sea-fret caught Hazel sooner and in
a less favourable situation. Returning from the palm-tree,
he had taken the shortest cut through a small jungle, and
been so impeded by the scrub that, when he got clear, the
fog was upon him. Between that and the river, he lost his
way several times, and did not hit the river till near mid-
night. He followed the river to the lake, and coasted the
lake, and then groped his way towards the creek. But,
after a while, every step he took was fraught with danger ;
and the night was far advanced when he at last hit off the
creek, as he thought. He halloed, but there was no reply ;
halloed again, and to his joy her voice replied, but at a
distance.. He had come to the wrong creek. She was
farther westward. He groped his way westward, and came
to another creek. He halloed to her, and she answered him.
But to attempt the descent would have been mere suicide.
She felt that herself, and almost ordered him to stay where
he was.
** Why, we can talk all the same," said she ; '^ and it is not
for long."
It was a curious position, and one typical of the relation
between them. So near together, yet the barrier so strong.
" I am afraid you must be very cold," said he.
''Oh no; I have my sealskin jacket on; and it is so
sheltered here. I wish you were as well off."
" You are not afraid to be alone down there } "
'' I am not alone when your voice is near me. Now don't
you fidget yourself, dear friend. I like these little excite-
ments. I have told you so before. Listen : how calm and
jsUent it all is the place ; the night ! The mind seems to
fill with great ideas, and to feel its immortality."
199
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
She spoke with soleranity/and he heard in silence.
Indeed it was a reverend time and place : the sea, whose
loud and penetrating tongue had, in some former age,
created the gully where they both sat apart, had of late
years receded, and kissed the sands gently that calm night;
so gently, that its long low murmur seemed but the echo of
tranquillity.
The voices of that pair sounded supernatural, one speaking
up, and the other down, the speakers quite invisible.
" Mr. Hazel," said Helen, in a low, earnest voice ; " they
say that night gives wisdom even to the wise ; think now,
and tell me your true thoughts. Has the foot of man ever
trodden upon this island before ? "
There was a silence due to a question so grave, and put
with solemnity, at a solemn time, in a solemn place.
At last Hazel's thoughtful voice came down. " The world
is very, very, very old. So old, that the words, ^Ancient
History * are a falsehood, and Moses wrote but as yesterday.
And man is a very old animal upon this old, old planet ; and
has been everjrwhere. I cannot doubt he has been here."
Her voice went up. " But have you seen any signs ? "
His voice came down. *^I have not looked for them.
The bones and the weapons of primeval men are all below
earth's surface at this time of day."
There was a dead silence. Then Helen's voice went up
again. ^' But in modem times ^ Has no man landed here
from far-off places, since ships were built ? "
The voice came sadly down. '^ I do not know."
The voice went up. '' But think ! "
The voice came down. '^ What calamity can be new in a
world so old as this ? Everything we can do and suffei^
others of our race have done and suffered."
The voice went up. " Hush ! there's something moving
on the sand."
Hazel waited and listened. So did Helen, and her breath
came fast ; for in the stilly night she heard light but mys-
terious sounds. Something was moving on the sand very
slowly and softly, but nearer and nearer. Her heart began
to leap. She put out her hand instinctively to clutch Mr.
Hazel ; but he was too far off. She had the presence of
mind and the self-denial to disguise her fears ; for she knew
he would come headlong to her assistance.
She said, in a quavering whisper, "Vm not frightened;
only V ery c urious."
200 n J
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
And now she became conscioas that not only one but
several things were creepmg about.
Presently the creeping ceased^ and was followed by a
louder and more mysterious noise. In that silent night it
sounded like raking and digging. Three or four mysterious
visitants seemed to be making graves.
This was too much^ especially coming as it did after talk
about the primeval dead. Her desire to scream was so
strongs and she was so afraid Hazel would break his neck^ if
she relieved her mind in that way, that she actually took her
handkerchief and bit it hard.
But this situation was cut short by a beneficent luminary.
The sun rose with a magnificent bound ^it was his way in
that latitude and everything unpleasant winced that
moment ; the fog shivered in its turn, and appeared to open
in furrows, as great javelins of golden light shot through
it from the swiftly rising orb. Soon, those golden darts in-
creased to streams of potable fire, that burst the fog and illu-
mined the wet sands; and Helen burst out laughing like
chanticleer, for this first break of day revealed the sextons
that had scared her three ponderous turtles, crawling, slow
and clumsy, back to sea. Hazel joined her, and they soon
found what these evil spirits of the island had been at, poor
wretches. They had each buried a dozen eggs in the sand :
one dozen of which were very soon set boiling. At first,
indeed, Helen objected that they had no shells, but Hazel
told her she might as well complain of a rose without a
thorn. He assured her turtles' eggs were a known delicacy,
and very superior to birds' eggs; and so she found them.
They were eaten with the keenest relish.
'^ And now," said Helen, '^ for my discoveries. First, here
are my English leaves, only bigger. I found them on a large
tree."
" English leaves ! " cried Hazel, with rapture. ^^ Why, it
is the caoutchouc."
^' Oh, dear," said Helen, disappointed ; " I took it for the
indiarubber tree."
" It is the indiarubber tree ; and I have been hunting for
it all over the island in vain, and using wretchedly inferior
gums for want of it."
" I'm so glad," said Helen. ''And now I have something
else to show you, something that curdled my blood. But I
dare say I was very foolish." She then took him half across
the sand, and pointed out to him a number of stones dotted
201 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
over the sand in a sort of ovaL These stones, streaked with
sea-grass, and encrusted with small shells, were not at equal
distances, but yet, allowing for gaps, they formed a decided
figure. Their outline resembled a great fish wanting the taiL
''Can this be chance?" asked Helen. "Oh, if it should
be what I fear, and that is savages ! "
Hazel considered it attentively a long time. '' Too far at
sea for living savages," said he. "And yet it cannot be
chance. What on earth is it? It looks Druidical. But
how can that be ? The island was smaller when these were
placed here than it is now." He went nearer, and examined
one of the stones ; then he scraped away the sand from its
base, and found it was not shaped like a stone, but more like
a whale's rib. He became excited, went on his knees, and
tore the sand up with his hands. Then he rose up agitated,
and traced the outline again. " Great Heaven ! " said he,
"why, it is a ship."
"A ship!"
"Ay," said he, standing in the middle of it; "here, be-
neath our feet, lies man, with his work and his treasures.
This carcass has been here for many a long year ; not so very
long neither ; she is too big for the l6th century, and yet she
must have been sunk when the island was smaller. I take it
to be a Spanish or Portuguese ship : probably one of those
treasure-ships our commodores, and chartered pirates, and the
American buccaneers used to chase about the seas. Here lie
her bones, and the bones of her crew. Your question was
soon answered. All that we can say has been said, can do
has been done, can suffer has been suffered."
They were silent, and the sunk ship's bones moved them
strangely. In their deep isolation from the human race, even
the presence of the dead brought humanity somehow nearer
to them.
They walked thoughtfully away, and made across the sands
for Telegraph Point.
202
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
Before they got home, Helen suggested that perhaps if he
were to dig in the ship, he might find something useful.
He shook his head. '^Impossible! The iron has all
melted away like sugar long before this. Nothing can have
survived but gold and silver, and they are not worth picking
up, much less digging for ; my time is too precious. No, you
have found two buried treasures to-day ^turtles' eggs, and a
ship, freighted, as I think, with what men call the precious
metals. Well, the eggs are gold, and the gold is a drug
there it will he for me."
Both discoveries bore fruits. The ship Hazel made a
vow that never again should any poor ship lay her ribs on
this island for want of warning. He buoyed the reefs. He
ran out to White Water Island, and wrote an earnest warning
on the black reef, and, this time, he wrote with white on
black. He wrote a similar warning, with black on white, at
the western extremity of Godsend Island.
The eggs Hazel watched for the turtles at daybreak;
turned one now and then ; and fed Helen on the meat or its
eggs, mom, noon, and night.
For some time she had been advancing in health and
strength ; but, now she was all day in the air, she got the
frill benefit of the wonderful climate, and her health, appetite,
and muscular vigour became truly astonishing; especially
under what Hazel called the turtle cure ; though, indeed,
she was cured before. She ate three good meals a day, and
needed them ; for she was up with the sun, and her hands
and feet were never idle till he set.
Four months on the island had done this. But four
months had not shown those straining eyes the white speck
on the horizon the sail, so looked and longed for.
Hazel often walked the island by himself, not to explore,
for he knew the place well by this time, but he went his
rounds to see that all his signals were in working order.
He went to Mount Lookout one day with this view. It
was about an hour before noon. Long before he got to the
mountain he had scanned the horizon carefully, as a matter
of course ; but not a speck. So, when he got there, he did
not look seaward, but just saw that his flag-staff was all
right, and was about to turn away and go home, when he
happened to glance at the water; and there, underneath
him, he saw a ship, standing towards the island.
203
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER XXXIII
He started^ and rubbed his eyes^ and looked again. It was
no delusion. Things never did come as they are expected to
come. There was still no doubtful speck on the horizon;
but within eight miles of the island and in this lovely air
that looked nearly close ^was a ship, under canvas. She
bore SK from Mount Lookout, and SSE. from the East
Bluff of the island, towards which her course was apparently
directed. She had a fair wind, but was not going fast ; being
heavily laden, and under no press of saiL A keen thrill went
through him, and his mind was in a whirl. He ran home
with the great news.
But, even as he ran, a cold sickly feeling crawled over
him.
" That ship parts her and me."
He resisted the feehng as a thing too monstrous and selfish,
and resisted it so fiercely that, when he got to the slopes and
saw Helen busy at her work, he waved his hat and hurrahed
again and again, and seemed almost mad with triumph.
Helen stood transfixed ; she had never seen him in such
a state.
" Good news ! " he cried ; ''great news I A ship in sight !
You are rescued ! "
Her heart leaped into her mouth.
" A ship ! " she screamed. " Where ? where ? " He came
up to her, panting.
'' Close under the island. Hid by the Bluff; but you will
see her in half-an-hour. God be praised ! Get everything
ready to go. Hurrah ! This is our last day on the island."
The words were brave, and loud, and boisterous ; but the
face was pale and drawn, and Helen saw it ; and though she
bustled and got ready to leave, the tears were in her eyes.
But the event was too great to be resisted. A wild excite-
ment grew on them both. They ran about like persons
crazed, and took things up, and laid them down again,
scarcely knowing what they were doing. But presently
they were sobered a little, for the ship did not appear.
They ran across the sands, where they could see the Bluff;
she ought to have passed that half-an-hour ago.
Hazel thought she must have anchored.
Helen looked at him steadily.
204 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
" Dear friend," said she, ^^ are you sure there is a ship at
all? Are you not under a delusion? This island fills the
mind with fancies. One day I thought I saw a ship sailing
in the sky. Ah ! " She uttered a faint scream, for, while
she was speaking, the bowsprit and jib of a vessel glided
past the Bluff so closely, they seemed to scrape it, and a ship
emerged grandly, and glided along the cliff.
'^ Are they mad/' cried Hazel, " to hug the shore like that ?
Ah ! they have seen my warning."
And it appeared so, for the ship just then came up in the
wind several points, and left the Bluff dead astern.
She sailed a little way on that course, and then paid off
again, and seemed inclined to range along the coast. But
presently she was up in the wind again, and made a greater
offing. She was sailed in a strange, vacillating way; but
Hazel ascribed this to her people's fear of the reefs he had
indicated to all comers. The better to watch her manoeuvres,
and signal her if necessary, they both went up to Telegraph
Point. They could not go out to her, being low water. Seen
from this height, the working of this vessel was unaccount-
able. She was to and off the wind as often as if she was
drunk herself, or commanded by a drunken skipper. How-
ever, she was kept well clear of the home reefs, and made
a good offing, and so at last she opened the bay heading
NW., and distant four miles, or thereabouts. Now was the
time to drop her anchor. So Hazel worked the telegraph
to draw her attention, and waved his hat and hand to her.
But the ship sailed on. She yawed immensely, but she
kept her course; and when she had gone a mile or two
more, the sickening truth forced itself at last upon those
eager watchers. She had decided not to touch at the
island. In vain their jo3rfbl signals. In vain the tele-
graph. In vain that cry for help upon the eastern cliff: it
had saved her, but not pleaded for them. The monsters
saw them on the height ^their hope, their joy ^saw and
abandoned them.
They looked at one another with dilating eyes, to read in
a human face whether such a deed as this could really be
done by man upon his fellow. Then they uttered wild cries
to the receding vessel.
Vain, vain, all was in vain.
llien they sat down stupefied, but still glaring at the ship,
and each, at the same moment, held out a hand to the other^
and they sat hand in hand ; all the world to each other just
205 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
tben^ for thkre was the world in sight abandoning them in
cold blood.
" Be ealm^ dear friend," said Helen patiently. *' Oh, my
poor father I" And her other hand threw her apron over
her head, and then came a burst of anguish that no words
could utter.
At this Hazel started to his feet in fury.
'^ Now may the God that made sea and land judge between
those miscreants there and you ! "
'^ Be patient," said Helen, sobbing. ''Oh, be patient"
*' No I I will not be patient," roared Hazel. '' Judge thou
her cause, O God; each of these tears against a reptile's
souL"
And so he stood glaring, and his hair blowing wildly to
the breeze, while she sighed patiently at his knee.
Presently he began to watch the vessel with a grim and
bitter eye. Anon he burst out suddenly, "Aha I that is
right. Well steered. Don't cry, sweet one; our cause is
heard. Are they blind ? Are they drunk ? Are they sick !
I see nobody on deck I Perhaps I have been too God for-
give me, the ship's ashore 1 "
CHAPTER XXXIV
Helen looked up ; and there was the ship fast, and on her
side. She was on the White Water Reef Not upon the
black rocks themselves, but on a part of them that was under
water.
Hazel ran down to the beach, and there Helen found
him greatly agitated. All his anger was gone ; he had but
one tiiought now ^to go out to her assistance. But it still
wanted an hour to high water, and it was blowing smartly,
and there was nearly always a surf upon that reef What if
the vessel should break up, and lives be lost ?
He paced the sands like a wild beast in its cage, in an
agony of pity, remorse, and burning impatience. His feel-
ings became intolerable; he set his back to the boat, and
with herculean strength forced it down a little way to meet
the tide. He got logs and put them down for rollers. He
strove, he strained, he struggled till his face and hands were
purple. And at last he met the flowing tide, and in a
206 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
moment jumped into the boat^ and pushed ibfT. Helen
begged with sparkling eyes to be allowed to accompany
him.
'^What, to a ship smitten with scurvy, or Heaven knows
what ? Certainly not. Besides, you would be wet through ;
it is blowing rather fresh, and I shall carry on. Pray for
the poor souls I go to help ; and for me, who have sinned in
my anger."
He hoisted his sail, and ran out.
Helen stood on the bank, and watched him with tender
admiration. How good and brave he was ! And he could
go into a passion too, when she was wronged, or when he
thought she was. Well, she admired him none the less for
that. She watched him at first with admiration, but soon
with anxiety ; for he had no sooner passed North Gate, than
the cutter, having both sails set, though reefed, lay down
very much, and her hull kept disappearing. Helen felt
anxious, and would have been downright lightened, but
for her confidence in his prowess.
By-and-by only her staggering sails were visible ; and the
sun set ere she reached the creek. The wind declined with
the sun, and Helen made two great fires, and prepared food
for the sufferers, for she made sure Hazel would bring them
off in a few hours more. She promised herself the happiness
of relieving the distress. But to her infinite surprise she
found herself almost regretting that the island was likely to
be peopled with strangers. No matter, she should sit up for
them all night, and be very kind to them, poor things,
though they had not been very kind to her.
About midnight the wind shifted to the north-west, and
blew hard.
Helen ran down to the shore, and looked seaward. This
was a fair wind for Hazel's return ; and she began to expect
him every hour. But, no ; he delayed unaccountably.
And the worst of it was, it began to blow a gale ; and this
wind sent the sea rolling into the bay in a manner that
alarmed her seriously.
The night wore on ; no signs of the boat ! and now there
was a heavy gale outside, and a great sea rolling in, brown
and foaming.
Day broke, and showed the sea for a mile or two ; the rest
was hidden by driving rain.
Helen kneeled on the shore and prayed for him.
Dire misgivings oppressed her. And soon these were
207
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
heightened %o terror ; for the sea began to disgorge things of
a kind that had never come ashore before. A great ship's
mast came tossing : huge as it was^ the waves handled it l&e
a toy. Then came a barrel ; then a broken spar. These were
but the forerunners of more fearful havoc.
The sea became strewed and literally blackened with frag-
ments ; part wreck, part cargo of a broken vessel.
But what was all this compared with the horror that
followed ?
A black object caught her eye driven in upon the
crest of a wave.
She looked, with her hair flying straight back, and her
eyes almost starting from her head.
It was a boat, bottom up; driven on, and tossed like
a cork.
It came nearer, nearer, nearer.
She dashed into the water with a wild scream, but a
wave beat her backwards on the sand, and, as she rose,
an enormous roller lifted the boat upright into the air,
and, breaking, dashed it keel downwaids on the beach
at her side empty!
CHAPTEB XXXV
Helen uttered a shriek of agony, and her knees smote
together, and she would have swooned on the spot but
for the wind and the spray that beat against her.
To the fearful stun succeeded the wildest distress. She ran
to and fro like some wild animal bereaved ; she kept wringing
her hands and uttering cries of pity and despair, and went
back to the boat a hundred times ; it held her by a spell.
It was long before she could think connectedly, and,
even then, it was not of herself, nor of her lonely state ;
but only. Why did not she die with him? Why did she
not die instead of him ?
He had been all the world to her; and now she knew
it. Oh, what a friend, what a champion, what a lover
these cruel waves had destroyed !
The morning broke, and still she hovered and hovered
about the fatd boat, with great horror-stricken eyes, and
hair flying to the breeze, and not a tear. If she could
only have smoothed his last moments, have spoken one
208
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
word into his dying ear ! But, no ! Her poor hero had
died in going to save others, died thinking her as cold
as the waters that had destroyed him.
Dead or alive, he was all the world to her now. She
went wailing piteously, and imploring the waves to give
her at least his dead body to speak to, and mourn over.
But the sea denied her even that dismal consolation.
The next tide brought in a few more fragments of the
wreck, but no corpse floated ashore.
Then at last, as the waves once more retired, leaving this
time only petty fragments of wreck on the beach, she lifted
up her voice, and almost wept her heart out of her body.
Such tears as these are seldom without effect on the mind :
and Helen now began to rebel, though faintly, against despair.
She had been quite crushed at first under the material
evidence the boat driven empty by the very wind and
waves that had done the cruel deed. But the heart is
averse to believe calamity, and especially bereavement, and
very ingenious in arguing against that bitterest of all woes.
So she now sat down and brooded, and her mind fastened
with pathetic ingenuity on every circumstance that could
bear a favourable construction. The mast had not been
broken; how, then, had it been lost? The body had not
come ashore. He had had time to get to the wreck before
the gale from the north came on at all ; and why should a
fair wind, though powerful, upset the boat ? On these slender
things she began to build a superstructure of hope ; but soon
her heart interrupted the reasoning. " What would he do in
my place ? Would he sit guessing while hope had a hair to
hang by ? " That thought struck her Hke a spur ; and in a
moment she bounded into action, erect, her lips fixed, and her
eye on fire, though her cheek was very pale. She went swiftly
to Hazel's store, and searched it ; there she found the jib-sail,
a boat-hook, some rope, and one little oar, that Hazel was
making for her, and had not quite completed. The sight of
this, his last work, overpowered her again ; and she sat down
and took it on her knees, and kissed it, and cried over it.
And these tears weakened her for a time. She felt it, and
had the resolution to leave the oar behind. A single oar was
of no use to row with. She rigged the boat-hook as a mast,
and fastened the sail to it ; and, with this poor equipment, she
actually resolved to put out to sea.
The wind still blew smartly, and there was no blue sky
visible.
209
byC^OOgk
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
And now she remembered she had eaten nothing; that
would not do. Her strength might fail her. She made ready
a meal^ and ate it almost fiercely, and by a pure efibrt of reso-
lution, as she was doing all the rest
By this time it was nearly high tide. She watched the
water creeping up. Will it float the boat ? It rises over the
keel ; two inches, three inches. Five inches water ! Now
she pushes with all her strength. No ; the boat has water
in it she had forgotten to bail out. She strained every nerve,
but could not move it. She stopped to take breath, and
husband her strength. But, when she renewed her efforts,
the five inches were four, and she had the misery of seeing
the water crawl away by degrees, and leave the boat high
and dry.
She sighed, heartbroken, awhile; then went home and
prayed.
When she had prayed a long time for strength and wisdom,
she lay down for an hour, and tried to sleep, but failed. Then
she prepared for a more serious struggle with the many diffi-
culties she had to encounter. Now she thanked God more
than ever for the health and rare strength she had acquired
in this island : without them she could have done nothing
now. She got a clay platter, and baled the vessel nearly dry.
She left a little water for ballast. She fortified heiself with
food, and put provisions and water on board the boat. In
imitation of Hazel, she went and got two round logs, and, as
soon as the tide crawled up to four inches, she lifted the bow
a little, and got a roller under. Then she went to the boat's
stem, set her teeth, and pushed with a rush of excitement
that gave her almost a man's strength.
The stubborn boat seemed elastic, and all but moved.
Then instinct taught her where her true strength lay. She
got to the stem of the boat, and setting the small of her back
under the projecting gunwale, she gathered herself together
and gave a superb heave, that moved the boat a foot. She
followed it up, and heaved again with like effect Then,
with a cry of joy, she ran and put down another roller for-
ward. The boat was now on two rollers : one more magni-
ficent heave with all her zeal, and strength, and youth, and
the boat glided forward. She turned and mshed at it as
it went, and the water deepening, and a gust catching the
sail, it went out to sea, and she had only just time to throw
herself across the gunwale, panting. She was afloat The
wind was SW., and before she knew where she was, the
210 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
boat headed towards the home reefs, and slipped through
the water pretty fast, considering how small a sail she car-
ried. She ran to the helm. Alas I the rudder was broken
off above the water-line. The helm was a mockery, and the
boat running for the reefs. She slacked the sheet, and the
boat lost her way, and began to drift with the tide, which,
luckily, had not yet turned. It carried her in shore.
Helen cast her eyes around for an expedient, and she un-
shipped one of the transoms, and, by trailing it over the side
and alternately slacking and hauling the sheet, she contrived
to make the boat crawl like a winged bird through the western
passage. After that it soon got becalmed under the clifl^ and
drifted into two feet water.
Instantly she tied a rope to the mast, got out into the
water, and took the rope ashore. She tied it round a heavy
barrel she found there, and set the barrel up, and heaped
stones round it and on it, which, unfortunately, was a long
job, though she worked with feverish haste ; then she went
round the point, sometimes wet and sometimes dry, for the
little oar she had left behind, because it broke her heart to
look at Away with such weakness now ! With that oar,
his last work, she might steer if she could not row. She
got it. She came back to the boat to recommence her
voyage.
She found the boat all safe, but in six inches of water, and
the tide going out. So ended her voyage : four hundred
yards at most, and then to wait another twelve hours for
the tide.
It was too cruel, and every hour so precious ; for, even if
Hazel were alive, he would die of cold and hunger ere she
could get to him. She cried like a woman. She persisted
like a man.
She made several trips, and put away things in the boat
that could possibly be of use abundant provision, and a keg
of water ; Hazel's wooden spade to paddle or steer with ; his
basket of tools, &c. Then she snatched some sleep ; but it
was broken by sad and terrible dreams ; then she waited in
an agony of impatience for high water.
We are not always the best judges of what is good for us.
Probably these delays saved her own life. She went out at
last under far more favourable circumstances a light westerly
breeze, and no reefe to pass through. She was, however,
severely incommoded with a ground-swell.
At first she steered with the spade as well as she could ;
211
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
but she found this was not sufficient. The current ran
westerly, and she was drifting out of her course. Then
she remembered Hazel's lessons, and made shift to fasten
the spade to the helm, and then lashed the helm. Even
this did not quite do ; so she took her little oar, kissed it,
cried over it a Uttle, and then pulled manfully with it so as
to keep the true course. It was a muggy day, neither wet
nor dry. White Water Island was not in sight from Godsend
Island ; but as soon as she lost the latter, the former became
visible an ugly grinning reef with an eternal surf on the
south and western sides.
Oft;en she left off rowing, and turned to look at it It was
all black and blank, except the white and fatal surf.
When she was about four miles from the nearest part of
the reef, there was a rush and bubble in the water, and a
great shark came after the boat. Helen screamed, and
turned very cold. She dreaded the monster not for what
he could do now; but for what he might have done. He
seemed to know the boat, he swam so vigilantly behind it }
Was he there when the boat upset with Hazel in it ? Was
it in his greedy maw the remains of her best friend must be
sought ? Her lips opened, but no sound. She shuddered,
and hid her face at this awful thought.
The shark followed steadily.
She got to the reef, but did not hit it off as she intended.
She ran under its lee, lowered the little sail, and steered the
boat into a nick where the shark could hardly follow her.
But he moved to and fro Uke a sentinel, while she landed
in trepidation and secured the boat to the branches of a white
coral rock.
She found the place much larger than it looked from Tele-
graph Point It was an archipelago of coral reef, encrusted
here and there with shells. She could not see all over it,
where she was, so she made for what seemed the highest
part, a bleak, seaweedy mound, with some sandy hillocks
about it. She went up to this, and looked eagerly all
round.
Not a soul.
She called as loud as her sinking heart would let her.
Not a sound.
She felt very sick, and sat down upon the mound.
' 'When she had jdelded awhile to the weakness of her sex,
she got up, j^nd was her father's daughter again. She set to
work to examine every foot of the reef
212
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
It was no easy task. The rocks were rugged and sharp in
places^ slippery in others. Often she had to go about^ and
once she fell and hurt her pretty hands^ and made them
bleed ; she never looked at them, nor heeded, but got up
and sighed at the interruption, then patiently persisted. It
took her two hours to examine thus, in detail, one-half the
island: but at last she discovered something. She saw at
the eastern side of the reef a wooden figure of a woman, and
making her way to it, found the figure-head, and a piece of
the bow of the ship, with a sail on it, and a yard on that.
This fragment was wedged into an angle of the reef, and
the seaward edge of it shattered in a way that struck terror
to Helen, for it showed her how omnipotent the sea had
been. On the reef itself she found a cask with its head
stove in, also a little keg, a ship's lantern, and two wooden
chests or cases. But what was all this to her ?
She sat down again, for her knees failed her. Presently
there was a sort of moan near her, and a seal splashed into
the water, and dived out of her sight. She put her hands on
her heart, and bowed her head down, utterly desolate. She
sat thus for a long time indeed, until she was interrupted by
a most unexpected visitor. Something came sniffing up to
her and put a cold nose to her hand. She started violently,
and both her hands were in the air in a moment.
It was a dog, a pointer. He whimpered and tried to
gambol, but coidd not manage it he was too weak. How-
ever, he contrived to let her see with the wagging of his
tail, and a certain contemporaneous twist of his emaciated
body, that she was welcome. But, having performed this
ceremony, he trotted feebly away, leaving her very much
startled, and not knowing what to think ; indeed, this inci-
dent set her trembling all over.
A dog saved from the wreck ! Then why not a man I
And why not that life ? Oh, thought she, would God save
that creature, and not pity my poor angel and me ?
She got up, animated with hope, and recommenced her
researches. She now kept at the outward edge of the island,
and so went all round till she reached her boat again. The
shark was swimming to and fro, waiting for her with horrible
pertinacity. She tried to eat a mouthful, but, though she
was fiunt, she could not eat. She drank a mouthful of water,
and then went to search the very small portion that remained
of the reef, and to take the poor dog home with her, because
be she had lost was so good to animals. Only his example is
21S* ^ r
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
left me, she said; and with that came another burst of
sorrow. But she got up and did the rest of her work, crying
as she went. After some severe travelling she got near the
north-east limit, and in a sort of gully she saw the dog,
quietly seated high on his tail. She called him; but he
never moved. So, then, she went to him, and when she got
near him, she saw why he would not come. He was watch-
ing. Close by him lay the form of a man nearly covered
with sea-weed. The feet were visible, and so was the face,
the latter deadly pale. It was he. In a moment she was by
him, and leaning over him with both hands quivering. Was
he dead ^ No ; his eyes were closed ; he was fast asleep.
Her hands flew to his face to feel him alive, and then
grasped both his hands and drew them up towards her panting
bosom ; and the tears of joy streamed from her eyes, as she
sobbed and murmured over him, she knew not what. At
that he awoke and stared at her. He uttered a loud ejacula-
tion of joy and wonder, then taking it all in, burst into tears
himself, and fell to kissing her hands and blessing her. The
poor soul had almost given himself up for lost. And to be
saved all in a moment^ and by her !
They could neither of them speak, but only mingled tears
of joy and gratitude.
Hazel recovered himself first, and rising somewhat stiffly,
lent her his arm. Her father s spirit went out of her in the
moment of victory, and she was all woman, sweet, loving,
clinging woman. She got hold of his hand as well as Ids
arm, and clutched it so tight, her little grasp seemed velvet
and steel.
'^ Let me feel you," said she : " but no words ! no words ! "
He supported his preserver tenderly to the boat, then,
hoisting the sail, he fetched the east side in two tacks,
shipped the sail and yard, and also the cask, keg, and boxes.
He then put a great quantity of loose oysters on board, each
as large as a plate. She looked at him with amazement.
"What," said she, when he had quite loaded the boat,
'' only just out of the jaws of death, and yet you can trouble
your head about oysters and tilings."
'^ Wait till you see what I shall do with them," said he.
'' These are pearl oysters. I gathered them for you, when I
had little hope I should ever see you again to give them
you."
This was an unlucky speech. The act, that seemed so
small and natural a thing to him, the woman's heart measured
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
more correctly. Something rose in her throat ; she tried to
laugh instead of crying, and so she did both, and went into
a violent fit of hysterics, that showed how thoroughly her
nature had been stirred to its depths. She quite frightened
Hazel ; and indeed the strength of an excited woman's weak-
ness is sometimes alarming to manly natures.
He did all he could to soothe her, without much success.
As soon as she was better he set sail, thinking home was the
best place for her. She leant back exhausted, and, after a
while, seemed to be asleep. We don't believe she was, but
Hazel did ; and sat, cold and aching in body, but warm at
heart, worshipping her with all his eyes.
At last they got ashore ; and he sat by her fire and told
her all, while she cooked his supper and warmed clothes at
the fire for him.
"The ship," said he, "was a Dutch vessel, bound from
Batavia to Callao, that had probably gone on her beam ends,
for she was full of water. Her crew had abandoned her ; I
think they underrated the buoyancy of the ship and cargo.
They left the poor dog on board. Her helm was lashed
a-weather a couple of turns: but why, I am not seaman
enough to say. I boarded her; unshipped my mast, and
moored the boat to the ship ; fed the poor dog ; rummaged
in the hold, and contrived to hoist up a small cask of salted
beef, and a keg of rum, and some cases of grain and seeds.
I managed to slide these on to the reef by means of the mast
and oar lashed together. But a roller ground the wreck
further on to the reef, and the sudden snap broke the rope,
as I suppose, and the boat went to sea. I never knew the
misfortune till I saw her adrift. I could have got over that
by making a raft ; but the gale from the north brought such
a sea on us. I saw she must break up, so I got ashore how
I could. Ah, I little thought to see your face again^ stiU less
that I should owe my life to you."
" Spare me," said Helen faintly.
" What, must not I thank you even for my life ? "
" No. The account is Jar from even yet"
" You are no arithmetician to say so. What astonishes me
most is that you have never once scolded me for all the
trouble and anxiety "
"I am too happy to see you sitting there to scold you.
But still I do ask you to leave the sea alone after this. The
treacherous monster ! Oh, think what you and I have
suffered on it."
2U
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
She seemed quite worn out He saw that, and retired for
the night, casting one more wistful glance on her. But at
that moment she was afraid to look at him. Her heart was
welling over with tenderness for the dear friend whose life
she had saved.
Next morning Hazel rose at daybreak as usual, but found
himself stiff in the joints, and with a pain in his back. The
mat that hung at the opening of Helen's cave was not
removed as usual. She was on her bed with a violent
headache.
Hazel fed Ponto, and corrected him. He was at present a
civilised dog; so he made a weak rush at the boobies and
noddies directly.
He also smelt Tommy inquisitively, to learn was he an
eatable. Tommy somehow divined the end of this sinister
curiosity, and showed his teeth.
Then Hazel got a rope, and tied one end round his own
waist, and one round Ponto's neck, and at every outbreak
of civilisation, jerked him sharply on to his back. The
effect of this discipline was rapid ; Ponto soon found that he
must not make war on the inhabitants of the island. He
was a docile animal ; and, in a venr short time, consented to
make one of " the happy family,' as Hazel called the mis-
cellaneous crew that beset him.
Helen and Hazel did not meet till past noon ; and, when
they did meet, it was plain she had been thinking a great
deal, for her greeting was so shy and restrained as to
appear cold and distant to Hazel. He thought to himself, I
was too happy yesterday, and she too kind. Of course it
could not last.
This change in her seemed to grow rather than diminish.
She carried it so far as to go and almost hide during the
working hours. She made off to the jungle, and spent an
unreasonable time there. She professed to be collecting
cotton, and it must be admitted she brought a good deal
home with her. But Hazel could not accept cotton as the
only motive for this sudden separation.
He lost the light of her face till the evening. Then
matters took another turn: she was too polite. Ceremony
and courtesy appeared to be gradually encroaching upon
tender ^endship and familiarity; yet, now and then, her
soft hazel eyes seemed to turn on him in silence, and say.
Forgive me all this. Then at those sweet looks, love and
^^ n I
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
forgiveness poured out of his eyes. And then hers sought
the ground. And this was generally followed by a certain
mixture of stifiness^ timidity, and formality, too subtle to
describe.
The much-enduring man began to lose patience.
^' This is caprice," said he. " Cruel caprice."
Our female readers will probably take a deeper view of it
than that ! Whatever it was, another change was at hand.
Since he was so exposed to the weather on the reef. Hazel
had never been free from pain ; but he had done his best to
work it off. He had coUected all the valuables fix)m the
wreck, made a new mast, set up a rude capstan to draw the
boat ashore, and cut a little dock for her at low water, and
clayed it in the full heat of the sun; and, having accom-
plished this drudgery, he got at last to his labour of love ; he
opened a quantity of pearl oysters, fed Tommy and the duck
with them, and began the great work of lining the cavern
with them. The said cavern was somewhat shell-shaped, and
his idea was to make it out of a gloomy cavern into a vast
shell, lined entirely, roof and sides, with glorious, sweet,
prismatic mother-of-pearl, fresh from ocean. Well, one
morning, while Helen was in the jungle, he made a cement
of guano, sand, clay, and water, nipped some shells to a shape
with the pincers, and cemented them neatly, like mosaic
almost ; but in the middle of his work he was cut down by
the disorder he had combated so stoutly. He fisdrly gave in,
and sat down groaning with pain. And in this state Helen
found him.
"Oh, what is the matter?" said she.
He told her the truth, and said he had violent pains in
the back and head. She did not say much, but she turned
pale. She bustled and lighted a great fire, and made him
lie down by it She propped his head up ; she set water on
to boil for him, and would not let him move for anything ;
and all the time her features were brimful of the liveliest
concern. He could not help thinking how much better it
was to be ill and in pain, and have her so kind, than to be
well, and see her cold and distant. Towards evening he got
better, or rather he mistook an intermission for cure, and re-
tired to his boat ; but she made him take her rug with him ;
and, when he was gone, she could not sleep for anxiety; and
it cut her to the heart to think how poorly he was lodged,
compared with her.
Of all the changes fate could bring, this she had never
^^'^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
dreamed of^ that she should be so robust^ and he should be
sick and in pain.
She passed an uneasy^ restless nighty and long before morn-
ing she awoke for the sixth or seventh time ; and she awoke
with a misgiving in her mind^ and some sound ringing in her
ears. She listened and heard nothing ; but in a few minutes
it began again.
It was Hazel talking^ talking in a manner so fast^ so strange^
so loud^ that it made her blood run cold. It was the voice of
Hazel, but not his mind.
She drew near, and, to her dismay, found him fever-stricken,
and pouring out words with Uttle sequence. She came close
to him and tried to soothe him, but he answered her quite at
random, and went on flinging out the strangest things in
stranger order. She trembled and waited for a lull, hoping
then to soothe him with soft words and tones of tender pity.
"Dens and caves/" he roared, answering an imaginary de-
tractor. ''Well, never mind, love shall make that hole in
the rock a palace for a queen ; for a queen ? For the queen."
Here he suddenly changed characters, and fancied he was
interpreting the (fiscourse of another. " He means the Queen
of the Fairies," said he patronisingly ; then, resuming his
own character with loud defiance, " I say her chamber shall
outshine the glories of the Alhambra, as far as the lilies
outshone the artificial glories of King Solomon. Oh, mighty
Nature, let others rely on the painter, the gold-beater, the
carver of marble ; come you and help me adorn the temple of
my beloved. Amen."
(The poor soul thought, by the sound of his own words, it
must be a prayer he had uttered.)
And now Helen, with streaming eyes, tried to put in a*
word, but he stopped her with a wild hush ! and went off
into a series of mysterious whisperings. "Make no noise,
please, or we shall frighten her. There that is her window
^no noise, please ! I've watched and waited four hours,
just to see her sweet, darling shadow on the blinds, and shall
I lose it for your small talk ? all paradoxes and platitudes :
excuse my plain speaking Hush ! here it comes ^her shadow
^hush how my heart beats. It is gone. So now " (speak-
ing out), " good night, base world ! Do you hear ? you
company of liars, thieves, and traitors, called the world, go
and sleep if you can. I shall sleep : because my conscience
is clear. False acctisations / Who can help them.'* They
are the act of others. Read of Job, and Paul, and Joan of
^^^ - d by Google
Digitized t
FOUL PLAY
Arc. No^ no, no, no ; I didn't say read 'em mit with those
stentorian lungs. I must be allowed a little sleep, a man that
wastes the midnight oil, yet brushes the early dew. Good
night."
He turned round and slept ^for several hours as he sup-
posed ; but in reality he was silent for just three seconds.
^*Well," said he, '^and is a gardener a man to be looked
down upon by upstarts } When Adam delved and Eve span,
where was then the gentleman ? Why, where the spade was.
Yet r went through the Heralds' College, and not one of our
mushroom aristocracy (' bloated ' I object to ; they don't eat
half as much as their footmen) had a spade for a crest.
There's nothing ancient west of the Caspian. Well, all the
better. For there's no fool like an old fool. A spade's a
spade for a' that, an' a' that, an' a' that, an' a' that, an' a'
that, an' a' that Hallo ! Stop that man ; he's gone off on
his cork leg, of a' that, on a' that, and it's my wish to be
quiet Allow me respectfully to observe," said he, striking
off suddenly into an air of vast poUteness, '^that man requires
change. I've done a jolly good day's work with the spade
for this old Buffer, and now the intellect claims its turn. The
mind retires above the noisy world to its Acropolis, and there
discusses the great problem of the day, the Insular Enigma.
To be or not to be, that is the question, I believe. No, it is
not. That is fully discussed elsewhere. Hum ! To diffuse
intelligence from a fixed island over one hundred leagues
of water.
'^ It's a stinger. But I can't complain. I had read Lem-
priere, and Smith, and Bryant, and mythology in general;
yet I must go and fall in love with the Sphinx. Men are so
vain. Vanity whispered she will set you a light one. Why
is a cobbler hke a king, for instance ? She is not in love with
you, ye fool, if you are with her. The harder the riddle the
higher the compliment the Sphinx pays you. That is the
way all sensible men look at it. She is not the Sphinx : she
is lui angel, and I call her my Lady Caprice. Hate her for
behig Caprice ? You incorrigible muddlehead. Why, I love
Capisce for being her shadow. Poor impotent love that can't
solve a problem ^the only one she ever set me. I've ^ne
about it like a fool. What is the use of putting up little bits
of telegraphs on the island ? I'll make a kite a hundred feet
high, get five miles of rope ready against the next hurricane ;
and then I'll rub it with ph&sphorus and fly it But what
can I fasten it to ? No tree could hold it Dunce ! To the
2^9 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
island itself^ of course. And now go to Stantle^ Magg^ Milton,
and Copestake for one thousand yards of silk Money!
money ! money ! Well^ give them a mortgage on the island
and a draft on the galleon. Now stop the pitch fountain,
and bore a hole near it ; fill fifty balloons with gas, inscribe
them with the latitude and longitude, fly them, and bring
all the world about our ears.
^* The problem is solved. It is solved, and I am destroyed.
She leaves me ; she thinks no more of me. Her heart is in
England."
Then he muttered for a long time unintelligibly, and
Helen ventured near, and actually laid her hand on his brow
to soothe him. But suddenly his muttering ceased, and he
seemed to be puzzling hard over something.
The result came out in a clear, articulate sentence, that
made Helen recoil, and holding by the mast, cast an inde-
scribable look of wonder and dismay on the speaker.
The words that so staggered her were these, to the letter
^^She says she hates reptHes. Yet she marries Arthur
Wardlaw."
CHAPTER XXXVI
The very name of Arthur Wardlaw startled Helen, and
made her realise how completely her thoughts had been
occupied with another.
But add to that the strange and bitter epigram ! Or was
it a mere fortuitous concourse of words ?
She was startled, amazed, confounded, puzzled. And, ere
she could recover her composure. Hazel was back to his pro-
blem again, but no longer with the same energy. He said
in a faint and sleepy voice: ^*^He maketh the winds His
messengers, and flames of fire His ministers.' Ah ! if I could
do that ! Well, why not ? I can do anything she bids me
" * Grseculiis esarienflcoelum jusseris ibit.* "
And soon after this doughty declaration he dozed off, and
forgot all his troubles for awhile.
The sun rose, and still he slept, and Helen watched him
with undisguised tenderness in her face, undisguised now
that he could not see it.
Ere long she had companions in her care. Ponto came
^^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
out of his den^ and sniffed about the boat ; and then began
to scratch it^ and whimper for his friend. Tommy swam out
of the sea, came to the boat, discovered. Heaven knows how,
that his friend was there; and in the way of noises, did
everjrthing but speak. The sea-birds followed and fluttered
here and there in their erratic way, with now and then a
peck at each other. All animated nature seemed to be
uneasy at this eclipse of their Hazel.
At last Tommy raised himself quite perpendicular, in a
vain endeavour to look into the boat, and invented a whine
in the minor key, which tells on dogs : it set Ponto off in
a moment; he sat upon his tail, and delivered a long and
most deplorable howL
'^ Everything loves him," thought Helen.
With Ponto's music Hazel awoke, and found her watching
him ; he said softly : *^ Miss Rolleston ! There is nothing
the matter,! hope. Why am I not up and getting things
for your breakfast } "
*'Dear friend," said she, **why you are not doing things
for me and forgetting yourself, as usual, is because you have
been very ill. And I am your nurse. Now tell me what I
shall get you. Is there nothing you could fancy ? "
No ; he had no appetite ; she was not to trouble about
him. And then he tried to get up ; but that gave him such a
pain in his loins, he was fain to lie down again. So then he
felt that he had got rheumatic fever. He told her so ; but
seeing her sweet anxious face, begged her not to be alarmed
^he knew what to take for it. Would she be kind enough
to go to his arsenal and fetch some specimens of bark she
would find there, and also the keg of rum } She flew at the
word, and soon made him an infusion of the barks in boiling
water, to which the rum was added. His sweet nurse ad-
ministered this from time to time. The barks used were of
the cassia tree, and a wild citron tree. Cinchona did not exist
in this island, unfortunately. But with these inferior barks
they held the fever in check. Still the pain was obstinate,
and cost Helen many a sigh ; for if she came softly, she could
often hear him moan; and the moment he heard her foot,
he set-to and whistled for a blind, with what success may be
imagined. She would have bought those pains, or a portion
of them ; ay, and paid a heavy price for them.
But pain, like everything, intermits, and in those blessed
intervals his mind was more active than ever, and ran a great
deal upon what he called the Problem.
221 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
But she^ who had set it him^ gave him little encourage-
ment now to puzzle over it.
The following may serve as a specimen of their conversa-
tion on that head.
''The air of this island," said he, "gives one a sort of
vague sense of mental power. It leads to no result in my
case : still it is an agreeable sensation to have it floating
across my mind that some day I shall solve the Great Pro-
blem. Ah ! if I was only an inventor 1 "
*' And so you are."
''No, no," said Hazel, disclaiming as earnestly as some
people claim ; " I do things that look like acts of invention,
but they are acts of memory. I could show you plates and
engravings of all the things I have seemed to invent. A
man who studies books instead of skimming them, can cut
a dash in a desert island, until the fatal word goes forth
invent ! and then you find him out."
" I am sure I wish I had never said the fetal word. You
will never get well if you puzzle your brain over impossi-
bilities."
" Impossibilities ! But is not that begging the question ?
The measure of impossibilities is lost in the present age. I
propose a test. Let us go back a century, and suppose that
three problems were laid before the men of that day, and
they were asked to decide which is the most impossible:
1st, to difliise intelligence from a fixed island over a hundred
leagues of water : 2nd, to make the sun take in thirty seconds
likenesses more exact than any portrait-painter ever took
likenesses that can be sold for a shilling at fifty per cent,
profit: Srd, for New York and London to exchange words
by wire so much faster than the earth can turn, that London
shall tell New York at ten on Monday morning what was the
price of Consols at one o'clock Monday afternoon."
"That is a story," said Helen, with a look of angelic
reproach.
" I accept that reply," said Hazel. " As for me, I have
got a smattering of so many subjects, all full of incredible
truths, that my faith in the impossibility of anything is gone.
Ah ! if James Watt was only here instead of John Hazel
James Watt from the Abbey with a head as big as a pumpkin
^he would not have gone groping about the island, writing
on rocks, and erecting signals. No ; he would have had some
grand and bold idea worthy of the proposition."
"Well, so I think," said Helen archly; "that great man
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
with a great head would have begun by making a kite a
hundred yards high."
'' Would he ? Well, he was quite capable."
*' Yes ; and rubbed it with phosphorus^ and flown it in the
first tempest, and made the string fast to the island itself."
" Well, that is an idea," said Hazel, staring ; ^'rather hyper-
bolical, I fear. But, after all, it is an idea."
" Or else," continued Helen, *^ he would weave a thousand
yards of some light fabric, and make balloons; then he would
stop the pitch-fountain, bore a hole in the rock near it, and
so get the gas, fill the balloons, inscribe them with our sad
story, and our latitude and longitude, and send them flying
all over the ocean there I "
Hazel was amazed.
'' I resign my functions to you," said he. " What imagi-
nation ! What invention ! "
" Oh dear, no," said Helen slily ; '^ acts of memory some-
times pass for invention, you know. Shall I tell you ? When
first you fell ill, you were rather light-headed, and uttered
the strangest things. They would have made me laugh
heartily, only I couldn't for crying. And you said that
about kites and balloons, every word."
'* Did I ? Then I have most brains when I have least
reason."
"Ay," said Helen, '^and other strange things ^very strange
and bitter things. One I should like to ask you about, what
on earth you could mean by it ; but perhaps you meant
nothing after all."
'^rU soon tell you," said Hazel ; but he took the pre-
caution to add, " provided I know what it means myself."
She looked at him steadily, and was on the point of seek-
ing the explanation so boldly ofiered ; but her own courage
failed her. She coloured and hesitated.
" I shall wait," said she, ^' till you are quite, quite well.
That will be soon, I hope ; only you must be good, and obey
my prescriptions. Cultivate patience; it is a wholesome
plant ; bow the pride of that intellect, which you see a fever
can lay low in an hour: aspire no more beyond the powers of
man. Here we shall stay unless Providence sends us a ship.
I have ceased to repine, and don't you begin. Dismiss that
problem altogether; see how hot it has made your poor
brow. Be good now, and dismiss it ; or else do as I do
fold it up, put it quietly away in a comer of your mind, and,
when you least expect, it will pop out solved."
223 ^ ,
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
[Oh, comfortable doctrine ! But how about Jamie Watt's
headaches? And why are the signs of hard thought so
much stronger in his brow and face than in Shakespeare's ?
Mercy on us, there is another problem.]
Hazel smiled, well-pleased, and leaned back, soothed,
silenced, subdued, by her soft voice, and the exquisite touch
of her velvet hand on his hot brow ; for, woman-like, she
laid her hand like down on that burning brow to aid her
words in soothing it Nor did it occur to him just then
that this admonition, delivered with a kind maternal hand,
maternal voice, came from the same young lady who had
flown at him like a wild cat with this very problem in her
mouth. She mesmerised him, problem and all ; he subsided
into a complacent languor, and at last went to sleep, think-
ing only of her. But the topic had entered his mind too
deeply to be finally dismissed. It returned next day, though
in a different form. You must know that Hazel, as he lay
on his back in the boat, had often, in a half drowsy way,
watched the effect of the sun upon the boat's mast : it now
stood a bare pole, and at certain hours acted like the needle of
a dial, by casting a shadow on the sands. Above all, he could
see pretty well by means of this pole and its shadow when
the sun attained its greatest elevation. He now asked Miss
RoUeston to assist him in making this observation exactly^
She obeyed his instructions, and the moment the shadow
reached its highest angle, and showed the minutest symptom
of declension, she said, " Now," and Hazel called out in a
loud voice
"Noon!"
*'And forty-nine minutes past eight at Sydney," said
Helen, holding out her chronometer ; for she had been sharp
enough to get it ready of her own accord.
Hazel looked at her and at the watch with amazement and
incredulity.
'^What?" said he. "Impossible. f'You can't have kept
Sydney time all this while."
" And pray why not ? " said Helen. " Have you forgotten
that once somebody praised me for keeping Sydney time ; it
helped you, somehow or other, to know where we were ? "
"And so it will now," cried Hazel exultingly. "But no !
it is impossible. We have gone through scenes that ^you
can't have wound that watch up without missing a day."
" Indeed, but I have," said Helen. " Not wind my watch
up ! Why, if I was dying I should wind my watch up. See,
224 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
it ifequires no key ; a touch or two of the fingers and it is
done. Oh, I am remarkably constant in all my habits ; and
this is an old friend I never neglect. Do you remember that
terrible night in the boat, when neither of us expected to see
the morning oh ! how good and brave you were. Well, I re-
member winding it up that night. I kissed it, and bade it
good-bye ; but I never dreamed of not winding it up, because
I was going to be killed. What ! am I not to be praised again,
as I was on board ship ? Stingy ! can't afford to praise one
twice for the same thing."
" Praised ! " cried Hazel excitedly ; '* worshipped, you mean.
Why, we have got the longitude by means' of your chrono-
meter. It is wonderful ! It is providential. It is the finger
of Heaven ! Pen and iidc, and let me work it out,"
In his excitement he got up without assistance, and was
soon busy calculating the longitude of Godsend Isle.
CHAPTER XXXVII
''Ther5,'* said he. ''Now the latitude I must guess at by
certain combinations. In the first place the slight variation
in the length of the days. Then I must try and make a
rough calculation of the sun's parallax. And then my botany
will help me a little ; spices furnish a clue there are one or
two that will not grow outside the tropic. It was the longi-
tude that beat me, and now we have conquered it. Hurradh !
Now I know what to diffuse, and in what direction east,
south-east ; the ducks have shown me that much. So there's
the first step towards the impossible problem."
''Very weU," said Helen; "and I am sure one step is enough
for one day. I forbid you the topic for twelve hours at least.
I detest it, because it idways makes your poor head so hot."
"What on earth does that matter?" said Hazel impetu-
ously, and almost crossly.
" Come, corae, come, sir," said Helen authoritatively ; " it
matters to me."
But when she saw that he could think of nothing else, and
that opposition irritated him, she had the tact and good sense
not to strain her authority, nor to irritate her subject.
Hazel spliced a long, fine-pointed stick to the mast-head.
Digitized
^^* byiSoogle
FOUL PLAY
and set a plank painted white with guano at right angles to
the base of the mast ; and so whenever the sun attained his
meridian altitude^ went into a difficult and subtle calculation
to arrive at the latitude^ or as near it as he could without
proper instruments ; and he brooded and brooded over his dis-
covery of the longitude, but unfortunately he could not
advance. In some problems the first step once gained leads,
or at least points, to the next ; but to know whereabouts they
were, and to let others know it, were two difficulties hetero-
geneous and distinct.
Having thought and thought till his head was dizzy, at last
he took Helen's advice and put it by for awhile. He set
himself to fit and number a quantity of pearl caster shells,
so that he might be able to place them at once, when he
should be able to recommence his labour of love in the
cavern.
One day Helen had left him so employed, and was busy
cooking the dinner at her own place, but, mind you, with one
eye on the dinner and another on her patient, when suddenly
she heard him shouting very loud, and ran out to see what
was the matter.
He was roaring like mad, and whirling his arms over his
head like a demented windmill.
She ran to him.
'^ Eureka ! Eureka ! " he shouted, in furious excitement.
"Oh, dear!" cried Helen; ''never mind." She was all
against her patient exciting himself.
But he was exalted beyond even her control. " Crown me
with laurel," he cried; ''I have solved the problem;" and
up went his arms.
" Oh, is that all ^ " said she calmly.
" Get me two squares of my parchment," cried he ; '* and
some of the finest gut."
WiU not after dinner do ? "
" No ; certainly not," said Hazel, in a voice of command.
" I wouldn't wait a moment for all the flesh-pots of Egypt."
Then she went like the wind and fetched them.
'' Oh, thank you, thank you. Now I want ^let me see
ah ! there's an old rusty hoop that was washed ashore, on one
of that ship's casks. I put it carefully away ; how the un-
likeliest things come in useful soon or late ! "
She went for the hoop, but not so rapidly, for here it was
that the first faint doubt of his sanity came in. However,
she brought it, and he thanked her.
226
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
''And now," said he, '* while I prepare the intelligence,
will yoRi be so kind as to fetch me the rushes ? "
" The what ? " said Helen, in growing dismay.
" The rushes ! I'll tell you where to find some."
Helen thought the best thing was to temporise. Perhaps
he would be better after eating some wholesome food. '* FU
fetch them directly after dinner," said she. ^ But it wiH be
spoiled if I leave it for long ; and I do so want it to be nice
for you to-day."
"Dinner.^" cried Hazel. ''What do I care for dinner
now. I am solving my problem. Vd rather go without
dinner for years than interrupt a great idea. Pray let dinner
take its chance, and obey me for once."
" For once ? " saLd Helen, and turned her mild hazel eyes
on him with such a look of gentle reproach.
" Forgive me ! But don't take me for a child, asking you
for a toy ; I'm a poor crippled inventor, who sees daylight.
Oh, I am on fire ; and, if you want me not to go into a fever,
why, get me my rushes."
"Where shall I find them.^" said Helen, catching fire at him.
" Go to where your old hut stood, and follow the river
about a furlong ; you will find a bed of high rushes : cut me
a good bundle, cut them below the water, choose the stoutest.
Here is a pair of shears I found in the ship."
She took the shears and went swiftly across the sands and
up the slope. He watched her with an admiring eye ; and
well he might, for it was the very poetry of motion. Hazel
in his hours of health had almost given up walking ; he ran
from point to point, without fatigue or shortness of breath.
Helen, equally pressed for time, did not run ; but she went
almost as fast By rising with the dawn, by three meals a
day of animal food, by constant work and heavenly air, she
was in a condition women rarely attain to. She was trained.
Ten miles was no more to her than ten yards. And, when
she was in a hurry, she got over the ground by a grand but
feminine motion not easy to describe. It was a series of
smooth undulations, not vulgar strides but swift rushes, in
which the loins seemed to propel the whole body, and the
feet scarcely to touch the ground : it was the vigour and free-
dom of a savage, with the grace of a lady.
And so it was she swept across the sands and up the slope,
'' Et vera incessn patuit Dea."
^ While she was gone. Hazel cut two little squares of seals'
^^'^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
bladder^ one larger than the other. On the smaller he
wrote : " An English lady wrecked on an island. W. Longi-
tude 103 deg. 30 min. S. Latitude between the 33rd and
26th parallek. Haste to her rescue." Then he folded this
small, and enclosed it in the larger slip, which he made into a
little bag, and tied the neck extremely tight with fine gut,
leaving a long piece of the gut free.
And now Helen came gliding back, as she went, and
brought him a large bundle of rushes.
Then he asked her to help him fasten these rushes round
the iron hoop.
^^ It must not be done too regularly," said he, '^ but so as
to look as much like a little bed of rushes as possible."
Helen was puzzled still, but interested. So she set to
work, and, between them, they listened rushes all round the
hoop, although it was a large one.
But, when it was done. Hazel said they were too bare.
''Then we will fasten another row," said Helen good-
humouredly. And without more ado, she was off to the river
again.
When she came back, she found him up, and he said
the great excitement had cured him such power has
the brain over the body. This convinced her he had really
hit upon some great idea. And, when she had made him
eat his dinner by her fire, she asked him to tell her all
about it.
But, by a natural reaction, the glorious and glowing excite-
ment of mind, that had battled his very rheumatic pains, was
now followed by doubt and dejection.
''Don't ask me yet," he sighed. "Theory is one thing;
practice is another. We count without our antagonists. I
forgot they will set their wits against mine ; and they are
many I am but one. And I have been so often defeated.
And, do you know, I have observed that whenever I say
beforehand now I am going to do something clever, I am
always defeated. Pride really goes before destruction, and
vanity before a fisilL"
The female mind, rejecting all else, went like a needle's
point at one thing in this explanation. " Our antagonists ?
why, what antagonists have we ? "
"The messengers," said Hazel, with a groan. "The aerial
messengers."
That did the business. Helen dropped the subject with
almost ludicrous haste ; and, after a few commonplace obser-
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
vations^ made a nice comfortable dose of grog and bark for
him. This she administered as an independent transaction,
and not at all by way of comment on his antagonists, the
aerial messengers.
It operated unkindly for her purpose : it did him so much
good, that he hfted up his dejected head, and his eyes
sparkled again, and he set to work, and, by sunset, prepared
two more bags of bladder with inscriptions inside, and long
tails of fine gut hanging. He then set to work, and, with
fingers Eur less adroit tiian hers, u5tened another set of
rushes round the hoop. He set them less evenly, and some
of them not quite perpendicular ; and, while he was fumbling
over this, and examining the effect with paternal glances,
Helen's haasel eye dwelt on him with furtive pity; for, to
her, this girdle of rushes was now an instrument, that bore
an ugly likeness to the sceptre of straw, with which vanity
run to seed sways imaginary kingdoms in Bedlam or
Bicetre.
And yet he was better. He walked about the cavern and
conversed charmingly ; he was dictionary, essayist, raconteur,
anything she liked; and, as she prudently avoided and
ignored the one fatal topic, it was a delightful evening : her
fingers were as busy as his tongue; and, when he retired,
she presented him the fruits of a fortnight's work, a glorious
wrapper made of fleecy cotton enclosed in a plaited web of
flexible and silky grasses. He thanked her, and blessed her,
and retired for the night.
About midnight she awoke and felt uneasy: so she did
what since his illness she had done a score of times
without his knowledge, she stole from her lair to watch
him.
She found him wrapped in her present, which gave her
great pleasure ; and sleeping like an inuit, which gave her
joy. She eyed him eloquently for a long time; and then
very timidly put out her hand, and, in her quality of nurse,
laid it lighter than down upon his brow.
The brow was cool, and a very slight moisture on it showed
the fever was going, or gone.
She folded her arms and stood looking at him ; and she
thought of all they two had done and suffered together. Her
eyes absorbed him, devoured him. The time flew by un-
heeded. It was so sweet to be able to set her &ce free
from its restraint, and let all its sunshine beam on him : and,
even when she retired at last, those light hazel eyes, that
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
. could flash iire at times, but were all dove-like now, hung and
lingered on him as if they could never look at him enough.
Half-an-hour before daybreak she was awakened by the
dog howling piteously. She felt a little uneasy at that : not
much. However, she got up, and issued from her cavern,
just as the sun showed his red eye above the hmzon. She
went towards the boat as a matter of course. She found
Ponto tied to the helm: the boat was empty, and Hazel
nowhere to be seen.
She uttered a scream of dismay.
The dog bowled and whined louder than ever.
CHAPTER XXXVni
Wardu^w s^or was not what you would call a tender-
hearted man; but he was thoroughly moved by Gceaeral
Rolleston's distress, and by his fortitude. The gallant old
man ! Landing in England one weekj and going back to
the Pacific the next ! . Like goes with like ; and Wardlaw
senior, energetic and resolute himself, though he < for his
son, stricken down by grief, gave his heart to the more
valiant distress of his cotemporary. He manned and vic-
tualled the Springbok for a long voyage, ordered her to
Plymouth, and took his friend down to her by train.
They went out to her in a boat. She was a screw steamer,
that could sail nine knots an hour without burning a coaL
As she came down the Channel, the General's trouble got to
be well known on board her ; and, when he came out of the
harbour, the sailors, by an honest, hearty impulse, that did
them credit, waited for no orders, but manned the yards to
receive him with the respect due to his services, and his
sacred calamity.
On getting on board, he saluted the captain and the ship's
company with sad dignity, and retired to his cabin with
Mr. Wardlaw. There the old merchant forced on him by
way of loan seven hundred pounds, chiefly in gold and silver,,
telling him there was nothing like money, go where you will.
He then gave him a number of notices he had printed, and a
paper of advice and instructions : it was written in his own
large, clear, formal hand.
230
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
General Rolleston tried to falter out his thanks. John
Wardlaw interrupted him.
" Next to you I am her father ; am I not } "
'* You have proved it."
" Well, then. However, if you do find her, as I pray to God
you may, I claim the second kiss, mind that : not for myself,
though ; for my poor Arthur, that lies on a sick bed for her."
General Rolleston assented to that in a broken voice. He
could hardly speak.
And so they parted : and that sad parent went out to the
Pacific.
To him it was indeed a sad and gloomy voyage ; and the
hope with which he went on board oozed gradually away as
the ship traversed the vast tracts of ocean. One inmiensity
oi water to be passed before that other immensity could be
reached, on whose vast, uniform surface the search was to
be made.
To abridge this gloomy and monotonous part of our tale,
suffice it to say that he endured two months of water and
infinity ere the vessel, fast as she was, reached Valparaiso.
Their progress, however, had been more than once inter-
rupted to carry out Wardlaw 's instructions. The poor General
himself had but one idea to go and search the Pacific with
his own eyes ; but Wardlaw, more experienced, directed him
to overhaul every whaler and coasting vessel he could, and
deliver printed notices, telling the sad story, and ofiering a
reward for any positive information, good or bad, that should
be brought in to his agent at Valparaiso. Acting on these
instructions, they had overhauled two or three coasting vessels
as they steamed up from the Horn. They now placarded the
port of Valparaiso, and put the notices on board all vessels
bound westward ; and the captain of the Springbok spoke to
the skippers in the port. But they all shook their heads,
and could hardly be got to give their minds seriously to the
inquiry when they heard in what water the cutter was last
seen, and on what course.
One old skipper said, '' Look on Juan Fernandez, and then
at the bottom of the Pacific ; but the sooner you look there
the less time you will lose."
From Valparaiso they ran to Juan Fernandez, which indeed
seemed the likeliest place, if she was alive.
When the larger island of that group, the island dear alike
to you who read, and to us who write, this tale, came in
sight, the father's heart began to beat higher.
231
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
The ship anchored and took in coal, which was furnished
at a wickedly high price by Mr. Joshua Fullalove, who had
virtually purchased the island from Chili, having got it on
lease for longer than the earth itself is to last, we hear.
And now Rolleston found the value of Wairdlaw's loan ; it
enabled him to prosecute his search through the whole group
of islands ; and he did hear at last of three persons who had
been wrecked on Masa Fuero, one of them a female. He
followed this up, and at last discovered the parties. He found
them to be Spaniards, and the woman smoking a pipe.
After this bitter disappointment he went back to the ship^
and she was to weigh her anchor next morning.
But while General Rolleston was at Masa Fuero, a small
coasting vessel had come in^ and brought a strange report at
second-hand, that in some degree unsettled Captain More-
land's mind; and, being hotly discussed on the forecastlCj
set the ship's company in a ferment.
CHAPTER XXXIX
Hazel had risen an hour before dawn, for reasons well known
to himself. He put on his worst clothes, and a leathern
belt, his little bags round his neck, and took his bundle of
rushes in his hand. He also provided himself with some
pieces of raw fish and fresh oyster; and, thus equipped, went
up through Terrapin Wood, and got to the neighbourhood
of the lagoons before daybreak.
There was a heavy steam on the water, and nothing else
to be seen. He put the hoop over his head and walked
into the water, not without an internal shudder ^it looked
so cold.
But, instead of that, it was very warm, unaccountably
warm. He walked in up to his middle, and tied his iron
hoop to his belt, so as to prevent it sinking too deep. This
done, he waited motionless, and seemed a little bed of rushes.
The sun rose, and the steam gradually cleared away, and
Hazel, peering through a hole or two he had made expressly
in his bed of rushes, saw several ducks floating about, and
one in particular, all purple, without a speck but his amber
eye. He contrived to detach a piece of fish that soon floated
to the surface near him. But no duck moved towards it.
232
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
He tried another^ and another ; then a mallard he had not
observed swam up from behind him^ and was soon busy
peeking at it within a yard of him. His heart beat; he
glided slowly and cautiously forward till the bird was close
to the rushes.
Hazel stretched out his hand with the utmost care^ caught
hold of the bird's feet^ and dragged him sharply under the
water^ and brought him up within the circle of the rushes.
He quacked and struggled. Hazel soused him under directly^
and so quenched the sound; then he glided slowly to the
bank^ so slowly that the rushes merely seemed to drin ashore.
This he did not to create suspicion^ and so spoil the next
attempt. As he glided^ he gave his duck air every now and
then^ and soon got on ierra Jirma. By this time he had
taught the duck not to quack^ or he would get soused and
held under. He now took the long gut-end^ and tied it tight
round the bird's leg, and so fastened the bag to him. Even
while he was effecting this, a posse of ducks rose at the west
end of the marsh, and took their flight from the island. As
they passed. Hazel threw his captive up in the air ; and such
was the force of example, aided, perhaps, by the fright the
captive had received, that Hazel's bird instantly joined these
travellers, rose with them into the high currents, and away,
bearing the news eastward upon the wings of the wind. Then
Hazel returned to the pool, and twice more he was so for-
tunate as to secure a bird, and launch him into space.
So hard is it to meaisure the wit of man, and to define his
resources. The problem was solved : the aerial messengers
were on the wing, diffusing over hundreds of leagues of
water the intelligence that an English lady had been wrecked
on an unknown island, in longitude 103 deg. 30 min. west,
and between the 33rd and 26th parallels of south latitude ;
and calling good men and ships to her rescue for the love of
God.
CHAPTER XL
And now for the strange report that landed at Juan Fer-
nandez while General RoUeston was searching Masa Fuero.
The coaster who brought it ashore had been in company,
at Valparaiso, with a whaler from Nantucket, who told him
he had fallen in with a Dutch whaler out at sea, and dis-
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
tressed for water : he had supplied the said Dutchman^ who
had thanked him^ and given him a runlet of Hollands^ and
had told him in conversation that he had seen land and a
river reflected on the sky in waters where no land was
marked on the chart ; namely, somewhere between Juan
Fernandez and Norfolk Island ; and that, believing this to be
the reflection of a part of some island near at himd, and his
water being low, though not at that time run out, he had
gone considerably out of his course in hopes of finding this
watered island, but could see nothing of it. Nevertheless, as
his grandfather, who had been sixty years at sea, and logged
many wonderful things, had told him the sky had been
known to reflect both ships and land at a great distance, he
fully believed there was an island somewhere in that longi-
tude, not down on any chart, an Island wooded and watered.
Hiis tale soon boaorded the Springbok, and was hotly dis-
cussed on the forecastle. It came to Captain Moreland's
ears, and he examined the skipper of the coasting smack.
But this examination elicited nothing new, inasmudi as the
skipper had the tale only at third hand. Captain Moreland,
however, communicated it to General RoUeston on his arrival,
and asked him whether he thought it worth while to deviate
from their instructions upon information of such a Character.
RoUeston shook his head. ''An island reflected in the
*y!"
" No, sir : a portion of an island containing a river."
" It is clearly a fable," said RoUeston, wit a sigh.
" What is a fable, general ? "
''That the sky can reflect terrestrial objects."
"Oh, there I can't go with you. The phenomenon is
rare, but it is well establi^ed. Suppose we catechise the
forecastle. Hy ! Fok'sel \ "
"Sir!"
" Send a man aft : the oldest seaman aboard."
"Ay, ay, sir."
There was some little delay : and then a sMlor of about
sixty slouched aft, made a sea scrape, and, removing his cap,
entirely awaited the captain's commands.
" My man," said the captain, " I want you to answe^
question. Do you believe land and ships have ever hi
seen in the sky, reflected ? "
"A many good seamen holds to that, sir," said the sai-
cautiously.
"Is it the general opinion of seamen before the ma '
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Come^ tell us. Jack's as good as his master in these
matters."
'^ Couldn't say for boys and lubbers, sir. But I never met
a full grown seaman as denied that there. Sartainly few has
seen it ; but all of 'em has seen them as has seen it ; ships,
and land, too; but mostly ships, Hows'ever, I had a mess-
mate once as was sailing past a rock they called Ailsa Craig,
and saw a regiment of soldiers marching in the sky. Logged
it, did the mate ; and them soldiers was a marching between
two towns in Ireland at that very time."
" There, you see, general," said Captain Moreland.
" But this is all second-hand," said General Rolleston, with
a sigh ; ** and I have learned how everything gets distorted
in passing from one to another."'
''Ah," said the captain, ''we can't help that; the thing is
rare. I never saw it for one ; and I suppose you never saw
a phenomenon of the kind, Isaac ? "
" Han't I ! " said Isaac grimly. Then, with sudden, and
not very reasonable, heat^ "D my eyes and limbs if I
han't seen the Peak o' Teneriffe in the sky topsy-turvy, and
as plain as I see that there cloud there " (pointing upwards).
" Come," said Moreland ; " now we are getting to it. Tell
us all about that."
" Well, sir," said the seaman, " I don't care to lam them
as laughs at ever3rthing they han't seen in maybe a dozen
voyages at most; but you knows me, and I knows you,
though you command the ship, and I work before the mast.
Now I axes you, sir, should you say Isaac Aiken was the
man to take a sugar loaf, or a cocked hat, for the Peak o'
Teneriffe "
" As little likely as I am myself, Isaac."
" No commander can say fairer nor that," said Isaac, with
dignity. "Well, then, your honour, I'll tell ye the truth,
and no lie : We was bound for Teneriffe with a fair wind,
though not so much of it as we wanted, by reason she was
a good sea-boat, but broad in the bows. The Peak hove in
sight in the sky, and all the glasses was at her. She lay a
point or two on our weather-quarter, full two hours, and then
she just melted away like a lump o' sugar. We kept on our
course a day and a half, and at last we sighted the real
Peak, and anchored off the port ; whereby, when we saw
Teneriffe Peak in the sky to winnard, she lay a hundred
leagues to looard, s'help me God."
" That is wonderful," said General Rolleston.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
''That will do, Isaac/' said the captain. "Mr. Butt,
double his grog for a week, for having seen more than
I have."
The captain and General RoUeston had a long discussion ;
but the result was, they determined to go to Easter Island
first, for General Rolleston was a soldier, and had learned to
obey as well as command. He saw no sufficient ground for
deviating from Wardlaw's positive instructions.
This decision soon became known throughout the ship ; and
she was to weigh anchor at 11 a.m. next day, by high water.
At eight next morning. Captain Moreland and General
Rolleston being on deck, one of the ship's bojrs, a regular pet,
with rosy cheeks and black eyes, comes up to the gentlemen,
takes off his cap, and, panting audibly at his own audacity,
shoves a paper into General Rolleston's hand, and scuds away
for his Ufe.
'' This won't do," said the captain sternly.
The high-bred soldier handed the paper to him un-
opened.
The captain opened it, looked a little vexed, but more
amused, and handed it back to the General
It was a Round Robin.
Round Robins are not ingratiating as a rule. But this
one came from some rough but honest fellows, who had
already shown that kindliness and tact may reside in a coarse
envelope. The sailors of the Springbok, when they first
boarded her in the Thames, looked on themselves as men
bound on an empty cruise ; and nothing but the pay, which
was five shillings per month above the average, reconciled
them to it ; for a sailor does not like going to sea for nothing,
any more than a true sportsman likes to ride to hounds that
are hunting a red herring trailed.
But the sight of the general had touched them afiir ofi^.
His grey hair and pale face, seen as he rowed out oif
Plymouth Harbour, had sent them to the yards by a gallant
impulse ; and all through the voyage the game had been to
put on an air of alacrity and hope, whenever they passed the
general or came under his eye.
If hypocrisy is always a crime, this was a very criminal
ship ; for the men, and even the boys, were hjrpocrites, who,
feeling quite sure that the daughter was dead at sea months
ago, did, nevertheless, make up their faces to encourage the
236 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
X
fo.
\
%
1
I
/
/
f
v
*&.
'SSii,
*^*
'HsyUmfJ
i^'
IVe who sign ^^
About this line, ,J^
hope none offence and mean none*
We think Easter Island is out of her
"^^ course. Such of us as can be spared are
ready and willing to take the old cutter y that
Res for sale^ to Easter Island if needs be ; but to
waste the Steamer it is a Pity, We are all agreed
the Dutch skipper saw land and water aloft
sailing between Juan Femande% and Norfolk Isle^
and what a Dutchman can see on the sky *we
think an Englishman can find it in the sea,
God willing. Whereby we pray our good
Captain to follow the Dutchman's course
with a good heart and a willing crew,
And so say we ^,
Whose names hire be.
^da*^
s)*i'
tViU.,
Sharp.
*^
-46-
.oV^
/
^
^
%
"%
^6s
#
^
%
^
\
The " Round Robin."
Pt^ 236.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
father into thinking she was alive^ and he was going to find
her. But people who pursue this game too long, and keep
up the hopes of another, get infected at last themselves ; and
the crew of the Springbok arrived at Valparaiso infected with
a little hope. Then came the Dutchman's tale, and the dis-
cussion, which ended adversely to their views; and this
elicited the circular we have the honour to lay before our
readers.
General Rolleston and Captain Moreland returned to the
cabin and discussed this document. They came on deck
again, and the meii were piped aft. General Rolleston
touched his cap, and with the Round Robin in his hand,
addressed them thus :
'' My men, I thank you for taking my trouble to heart as
you do. . But it would be a bad return to send any of you to
Easter Island in that cutter, for she is not seaworthy: so
the captain tells me. I will not consent to throw away your
lives in trying to save a life that is dear to me ; but, as to
the Dutchman's story about an unknown island, our captain
seems to think that is possible ; and you tell us you are of
the same opinion. Well, then, I give up my own judgment,
and yield to yours. Yes, we will go westward with a good
heart (he sighed), and a willing crew."
The men cheered. The boatswain piped ; the anchor was
heaved, and the Springbok went out on a course that bade
fair to carry her within a hundred miles of Godsend Island.
She ran fast. On the second day some ducks passed over
her head, one of which was observed to have something
attached to its leg.
She passed within sixty miles of Mount Lookout, but never
saw Godsend Island, and so pursued her way to the Society
Islands; sent out her boats; made every inquiry around
about the islands, but with no success; and, at last, after
losing a couple of months there, brought the heart-sick father
back on much the same course, but rather more northerly.
287
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER XLI
Hazel returned homewards in a glow of triumph, and for
once felt disposed to brag to Helen of his victory a victory
by which she was to profit, not he.
They met in the wood ; for she had tracked him by his
footsteps. She seemed pale and disturbed, and speedily
interrupted his exclamations of triumph, by one of delight,
which was soon, however, followed by one of distress.
^'Oh, look at you!" she said. ^*^You have been in the
water : it is wicked, wicked."
'^ But I have solved the problem. I caught three ducks
one after the other, and tied the intelligence to their legs ;
they are at this moment careering over the ocean, with our
story and our longitude, and a guess at our latitude. Crown
me with bays."
^'With foolscap, more likely," said Helen: ^'only just
getting well of rheumatic fever, and to go and stand in water
up to the middle."
** Why, you don't listen to me," cried Hazel in amazementt
" I tell you I have solved the problem."
"It is you that don't listen to common-sense," retorted
Helen. '' If you go and make yourself ill, all the problems
in the world will not compensate me. And I must say I
think it was not very kind of you to run off so without warn-
ing : why give me hours of anxiety for want of a word ? But,
there, it is useless to argue with a boy : yes, sir, a boy. The
fact is, I have been too easy with you of late. One indulges
sick children. But then they must not slip away and stand
in the water, or there is an end of indulgence ; and one is
driven to severity. You must be ruled with a rod of iron.
Go home this moment, sir, and change your clothes; and
don't you presume to come into the presence of the nurse you
have offended, till there's not a wet thread about you."
And so she ordered him off. The inventor in his moment
of victory slunk away crestfallen to change his clothes.
So far Helen Rolleston was a tjp^ of her sex in its treat-
ment of inventors. At breakfast she became a brilliant ex-
ception. The moment she saw Hazel seated by her fire in
dry clothes she changed her key, and made him relate the
whole business, and expressed the warmest admiration and
sympathy.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
'' But/' said she, '' I do aSk you not to repeat this exploit
too often ; now, don't do it again for a fortnight. The island
will not run away. Ducks come and go every day, and your
health is very, very precious."
He coloured with pleasure, and made the promise at
once. But during this fortnight events occurred. In the
first place, he improved his invention. He remembered how
a duck, over-weighted by a crab, which was fast to her leg,
had come on board the boat. Memory dwelling on this, and
invention digesting it, he resolved to weight his next batch of
ducks ; for he argued thus : '* Probably our ducks go straight
from this to the great American Continent. Then it may be
long ere one of them falls into the hands of a man ; and
perhaps that man will not know English. But, if I could
impede the flight of my ducks, they might alight on ships :
and three ships out of four know English."
Accordingly he now inserted stones of various sizes into
the little bags. It was a matter of nice calculation : the
problem was to weight the birds just so much that they
might be able to fly three or four hundred miles, or about
half as far as their unencumbered companions. .
But in the midst of all this, a circumstance occun-ed that
would have made a vain man, or, indeed most men, fling
the whole thing away. Helen and he came to a rupture.
It began by her fault, and continued by his. She did
not choose to know her own mind, and in spite of secret
warnings from her better judgment, she was driven by
curiosi^, or by the unhappy restlessness to which her sex
are peculiarly subject at odd times, to sound Hazel as to the
meaning of a certain epigram that rankled in her. And
she did it in the most feminine way, that is to say, in the
least direct: whereas the safest way would have been to
grasp the nettle, if she could not let it alone.
Said she one day, quietly, though with a deep blush,
" Do you know Mr. Arthur Wardlaw ? "
Hazel gave a shiver, and said, '^ I do."
" Do you know anything about him ? "
'ado."
*' Nothing to his discredit, I am sure."
*' If you are sure, why ask me ? Do I ever mention his
name ? "
" Perhaps you do, sometimes, without intending it."
'^ You are mistaken. He is in your thoughts, no doubt^
but not in mine."
239
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
''Ought I to forget people entirely, and what I owe them?'*
" That is a question I decline to go into."
''How harshly you speak to me. Is that fair? You
know my engagement, and that honour and duty draw
me to England; yet I am happy here. You, who are so
good and strong, might pity me at least; for I am torn
this way and that:" and here the voice ceased, and the
tears began to flow.
" I do pity you," said Hazel : " I must pity any one
who is obliged to mention honour and duty in the same
breath as Arthur Wardlaw."
At this time Helen drew back, offended bitterly. " That
pity I reject and scorn," said she. "No, I plighted my
faith with my eyes open, and to a worthy object. I never
knew him blacken any person who was not there to speak
for himself; and that is a very worthy trait, in my opinion.
The absent are like children; they are helpless to defend
themselves."
Hazel, racked with jealousy, and irritated at this galling
comparison, lost his temper for once, and said those who
lay traps must not complain if others fall into them.
" Traps ! Who lays them ? "
"You did. Miss Rolleston. Did I ever condescend to
mention that man's name since we have been on the island ?
It is you make me talk of him."
"Condescend?"
"That is the word. Nor will I ever deign to mention
him again. If my love had touched your heart, I should
have been obliged to mention him, for then I should have
been bound to tell you a story in which he is mixed my
own miserable story my blood boils against the human
race when I think of it. But, no, I see I am nothing to
you ; and I will be silent."
" It is very cruel of you to say that," replied Helen, with
tears in her eyes; "tell me your story, and you will see
whether you are nothing to me."
"Not one word of it" said Hazel slowly, "until you
have forgotten that that man exists."
"Oh, thank you, sir; this is plain speaking. I am to
forget honour and plighted faith; and then you will trust
me with your secrets, when I have shown myself un-
worthy to be trusted with anything. Keep your secrets,
and ril try and keep faith; ay, and I shall keep it too
as long as Ihere's life in my body."
240
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
" Can't you keep faith without torturing me, who love
Helen's bosom began to heave at this, but she fought
bravely. "Love me less, and respect me more/' said she,
panting; ''you affront me, you frighten me. I looked on
you as a brother, a dear brother. But now I am afraid of
you I am afraid "
He was so injudicious as to interrupt her. ''You have
nothing to fear," said he ; " keep this side of the island, and
ril Hve on the other, rather than hear the name of Arthur
Wardlaw."
Helen's courage failed her at that spirited proposal, and
she made no reply at all, but turned her back haughtily, and
went away from him, only when she had got a little way her
proud head drooped and she went crying.
A coolness sprang up between them, and neither of them
knew how to end it. Hazel saw no way to serve her now,
except by flying weighted ducks; and he gave his mind so
to this that one day he told her he had twenty-seven ducks
in the air, all charged, and two-thirds of them weighted. He
thought that must please her now. To his surprise and
annoyance, she received the intelligence coldly, and asked
him whether it was not cruel to the birds.
Hazel coloured with mortification at his great act of self-
denial being so received.
He said, "I don't think my worst enemy can say I am
wantonly cruel to God's creatures."
Helen threw in deftly, " And I am not your worst enemy."
"But what other way is there to liberate you from this
island, where you have nobody to speak to but me ? Well,
selfishness is the best course. Think only of others, and you
are sure not to please them."
" If you want to please people, you must begin by under-
standing them," said the lady, not ill-naturedly.
" But if they don't understand themselves ? '
" Then pity them ; you can, for you are a man."
"What hurts me," said Hazel, "is that you really seem to
think I fly these ducks for my pleasure. Why, if I had my
wish, you and I should never leave this island, nor any other
person set a foot on it. I am frank, you see."
" Rather too frank."
"What does it matter, since I do my duty all the same,
and fly the ducks ? But sometimes I do yearn for^a word of
praise for it 5 and that word never comes."
m
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
''It is a praiseworthy act/' said Helen^ but so icily that it
is a wonder he ever flew another duck after that
''No matter^" said he^ and his hand involuntarily sought
his heart ; " you read me a sharp but wholesome lesson^ that
we should do our duty for our duty's sake. And as I am
quite sure it is my duty to liberate you and restore you to
those you 1*11 fly three ducks to-morrow morning instead
of two."
" It is not done by my advice/' said Helen. " You will
certainly make yourself ill."
'' Oh, that is all nonsense," said Hazel.
'' You are rude to me/' said Helen, '' and I don't deserve
it."
" Rude, am I } Then I'll say no more," said Hazel, half
humbly, half doggedly.
His parchment was exhausted, and he was driven to
another expedient He obtained alcohol by distillation from
rum, and having found dragon's blood in its pure state, little
ruby drops, made a deep red varnish that defied water ; he
got slips of bark, white inside, cut his inscription deep on
the inner side, and filled the incised letters with this red
varnish. He had forty-eight ducks in the air, and was rising
before daybreak to catch another couple, when he was seized
with a pain in the right hip and knee, and found he could
hardly walk ; so he gave in that morning, and kept about the
premises. But he got worse, and he had hardly any use in
his right side, from the waist downwards, and was in great
pain.
As the day wore on, the pain and loss of power increased,
and resisted all his remedies. There was no fever to speak of;
but Nature was grimly revenging herself for many a gentler
warning neglected. When he realised his condition, he was
terribly cut up, and sat on the sand with his head in his
hands for nearly two hours. But, after that period of de-
spondency, he got up, took his boat-hook, and using it as a
staff, hobbled to his arsenal, aiid set to work.
Amongst his materials was a young tree he had pulled up :
the roots ran at right angles to the stem. He just sawed
off the ends of the roots, and then proceeded to shorten
the stem.
But meantime, Helen, who had always a secret eye aa
him and his movements, had seen there was something
wrong, and came timidly and asked what was the matter,
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
''Nothing/' said he doggedly.
'' Then why did you sit so long on the sand ? I never saw
you like that."
" I was ruminating."
'* What upon ? Not that I have any right to ask."
" On the arrogance and folly of men ; they attempt more
than they can do, and despise the petty prudence and common-
sense of women, and smart for it ; as I am smarting now for
being wiser than you."
" Oh ! " said Helen ; '^ why, what is the matter : and what
is that you have made ? It looks like oh ! dear."
''It is a crutch," said Hazel, with forced calmness; ''and
I am a cripple."
Helen clasped her hands and stood trembling.
Hazel lost his self-control for a moment, and cried out in
a voice of agony, "A useless cripple. I wish I was dead
and out of the way."
Then, ashamed of having given way before ker, he seized
his crutch, placed the crook under his arm, and turned sullenly
away from her.
Four steps he took with his crutch.
She caught him with two movements of her supple and
vigorous frame.
She just laid her left hand gently on his shoulder, and
with her right she stole the crutch softly away, and let it
fall upon the sand. She took his right hand, and put it to
her lips Hke a subject paying homage to her sovereign;
and then she put her strong arm under his shoulder, still
holding his right hand in hers, and looked in his face.
''No wooden crutches when I am by," said she in a low
voice, full of devotion.
He stood surprised, and his eyes began to fill.
" Come," said she, in a voice of music. And, thus aided,
he went with her to her cavern. As they went, she asked
him tenderly where the pain was.
"It rvas in my hip and knee," he said: "but now it is
nowhere ; for joy has come back to my heart."
"And to mine too," said Helen; "except for this."
The quarrel dispersed like a cloud under this calamity.
There was no formal reconciliation ; no discussion : and tlds
was the wisest course: for the unhappy situation remained
unchanged ; and the friendliest discussion could only fan the
ambers of discord and misery gently, instead of fiercdy.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
The pair so strangely thrown together commenced a new
chapter of their existence. It was not patient and nurse over
again ; Hazel^ though very lame^ had too much spirit left
to accept that position. But still the sexes became in a
measure reversed Helen the fisherman and forager. Hazel
the cook and domestic.
He was as busy as ever^ but in a narrow circle ; he found
pearl oysters near the sunk galleon, and ere he had been
lame many weeks, he had entirely lined the sides of the
cavern with mother-of-pearl set in cement, and close as
mosaic.
Every day he passed an hour in paradise; for his living
crutch made him take a little walk with her ; her hand held
his; her arm supported his shoulder; her sweet face was near
his, full of tender solicitude : they seemed to be one ; and
spoke in whispers to each other, like thinking aloud. The
causes of happiness were ever present : the causes of unhappi-
ness were out of sight, and showed no signs of approach.
And of the two, Helen was the happiest. Before a creature
so pure as this marries and has children, the great maternal
instinct is still there, but feeds on what it can get ^first a
doll, and then some helpless creature or other. Too often
she wastes her heart's milk on something grown up, but as
selfish as a child. Helen was more fortunate ; her child was
her hero, now so lame that he must lean on her to walk.
The days passed by, and the island was fast becoming the
world to those two, and as bright a world as ever shone on
two mortal creatures.
It was a happy dream.
What a pity that dreams dissolve so soon ! This had
lasted for nearly two months, and Hazel was getting better,
though still not well enough, or not fool enough, to dismiss
his live crutch, when one afternoon Helen, who had been up
on the heights, observed a dark cloud in the blue sky
towards the west. There was not another cloud visible,
and the air marvellously clear ; time, about three quarters of
an hour before sunset She told Hazel about this solitary
cloud, and asked him, with some anxiety, if it portended
another storm. He told her to be under no alarm there
were no tempests in that latitude except at the coming in
and going out of the rains ^but he should like to go round
the Point and look at her cloud.
She. lent him her arm, and they went round the Point ;
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
and there they saw a cloud entirely different from anything
they had ever seen since they were on the island. It was
like an enormous dark ribbon stretched along the sky, at
some little height above the horizon. Notwithstanding its
prodigious length it got larger before their very eyes.
Hazel started.
Helen felt him start, and asked him, with some surprise,
what was the matter.
" Qoud ! " said he, '' that is no cloud. That is smoke."
'' Smoke ! " echoed Helen, becoming agitated in her turn.
*' Yes ; the breeze is northerly, and carries the smoke nearer
to us ; it is the smoke of a steamboat"
CHAPTER XLII
Both were greatly moved ; and after one swift glance Helen
stole at him, neither looked at the other. They spoke in
flurried whispers.
*' Can they see the island ? "
" I don't know ; it depends on how far the boat is to wind-
ward of her smoke."
'^ How shall we know ? "
^' If she sees the island, she will make for it that moment"
** Why ? do ships never pass an imknown island ? "
" Yes. But that steamer will not pass us."
" But why ? "
At this question Hazel hung his head and his lip quivered.
He answered her at last *' Because she is looking for
ycu."
Helen was struck dumb at this.
He gave his reasons. " Steamers never visits these waters.
Love has brought that steamer out, love that will not go un-
rewarded. Arthur Wardlaw is on board that ship."
" Have they seen us yet ? "
Hazel forced on a kind of dogged fortitude. He said,
"When the smoke ceases to elongate, you will know they
have changed their course, and they will change their course
the moment the man at the masthead sees us."
"Oh ! But how do you know they have a man at the
masthead } "
^*^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
'' I know by myself. I should have a man at the mast-
head night and day."
And now the situation was beyond words. They both
watched^ and watched^ to see the line of smoke cease.
It continued to increase^ and spread eastward; and that
proved the steamer was continuing her course.
The sun drew close to the horizon.
'' They don't see us," said Helen faintly
No/' said Hazel ; '' not yet"
" And the sun is just setting. It is all over."
She put her handkerchief to her eyes a moment, and then,
after a sob or two, she said almost cheerfully, " Well, dear
friend, we were happy till that smoke came to disturb us :
let us try and be as happy now it is gone. Don't smile like
that ^it makes me shudder."
*' Did I smile ? It must have been at your simplicity in
thinking we have seen the last of that steamer."
" And so we have."
''Not so. In three hours she will be at anchor in that bay."
'' Why, what wiU bring her ? "
'a shall bring her."
''You? How?"
"By lighting my bonfire."
CHAPTER XLIII
Helen had forgotten all about the bonfire. She now asked
whether he was sure those on board the steamer could see
the bonfire. Then Hazel told her that it was now of pro-
digious size and height. Some six months before he was
crippled he had added and added to it.
"That bonfire," said he, "will throw a ruddy glare over
the heavens, that they can't help seeing on board the steamer.
Then, as they are not on a course, but on a search, they will
certainly run a few miles southward to see what it is. They
will say it is either a beacon or a ship on fire ; and, in either
case, they will turn the boat's head this way. Well, before
they have run southward half-a-dozen miles, their look-out
will see the bonfire, and the island in its light Let us get
to the boat ^my lucifers are there."
246
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
She lent him her arm to the boat, and stood by while he
made his preparations. They were very simple. He took a
pine torch and smeared it all over with pitch ; then put his
lucifer-box in his bosom, and took his crutch. His face was
drawn pitiably, but his closed lips betrayed unshaken and un-
shakable resolution. He shouldered his crutch, and hobbled
up as far as the cavern. Here Helen interposed.
" Don't you go toiling up the hill," said she. " Give me
the lucifers and the torch, and let me light the beacon. I
shall be there in half the time you will."
" Thank you ! thank you ! " said Hazel eagerly, not to say
violently.
He wanted it done ; but it killed him to do it. He then
gave her his instructions.
" It is as big as a haystack," said he, '^ and as dry as a
chip ; and there are eight bundles of straw placed expressly.
Light the bundles to windward first, then the others ; it wUl
soon be all in a blaze."
"Meanwhile," said Helen, "you prepare our supper. I
feel quite faint ^for want of it."
Hazel assented.
" It is the last we shall " He was going to say it was
the last they would eat together ; but his voice failed him,
and he hobbled into the cavern, and tried to smother his
emotion in work. He lighted the fire, and blew it into a
flame with a palmetto-leaf, and then he sat down a while,
very sick at heart; then he got up and did the cooking,
sighing all the time; and, just when he was beginning to
wonder why Helen was so long lighting eight bundles of
straw, she came in, looking pale.
"Is it all right?" said he.
"Go and look," said she. "No, let us have our supper
first."
Neither had any appetite: they sat and kept casting
strange looks at one another.
To divert this anyhow Hazel looked up at the roof, and
said fiuntly, " If I had known, I would have made more
haste, and set pearl there as well."
" What does that matter ? " said Helen, looking down.
" Not much, indeed," replied he sadly. " I am a fool to
utter such childish regrets; and, more than that, I am a mean
selfish cur to have a regret. Come, come, we can't eat ; let us
go round the Point and see the waves reddened by the beacon,
that gives you back to the world you were bom to embellish."
247
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
tOUL PLAY
Helen said she would go directly. And her languid reply
contrasted strangely with his excitement. She played with
her supper^ and he could wait no longer, he must go and see
how the beacon was burning.
" Oh, very well," said she ; and they went down to the
beach.
She took his crutch and gave it to him. This little thing"
cut him to the heart. It was the first time she had accom-
panied him so far as that without oflTering herself to be his
crutch. He sighed deeply, as he put the crutch under his
arm ; but he was too proud to complain, only he laid it all on
the approaching steamboat.
The subtle creature by his side heard the sigh and smiled
sadly at being misunderstood ^but what man could under-
stand her ? They hardly spoke till they reached the Point.
The waves glittered in the moonlight: there was no red light
on the water.
^^Why, what is this?" said Hazel. '^You can't have
lighted the bonfire in eight places, as I told you."
She folded her arms and stood before him in an attitude of
defiance : all but her melting eye.
'^ I have not lighted it at all," said she.
Hazel stood aghast. '^What have I done?" he cried.
^^Duty, manhood, everything demanded that I should Hght
that beacon, and I trusted it to you."
Helen's attitude of defiance melted away; she began to
cower, and hid her blushing face in her hands. Then she
looked up imploringly. Then she uttered a wild and elo-
quent cry, and fled from him like the wind.
CHAPTER XLIV
That cloud was really the smoke of the Springbok; which
had mounted into air so thin that it could rise no higher.
The boat herself was many miles to the northward, returning
full of heavy hearts from a fruitless search. She came back
in a higher parallel of latitude, intending afterwards to steer
NW. to Easter Island. The life was gone out of the ship ;
the father was deeply dejected, and the crew could no
longer feign the hope they did not feel. Having pursued
the above course to within four hundred miles of Juan Fer-
248
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAT
nandez^ General RoUeston begged the captain to make a
bold deviation to the SW., and then see if they could find
nothing there before going to Easter Island.
Captain Moreland was very unwilhng to go to the SW.,
the more so as coal was getting short. However, he had not
the heart to refuse General RoUeston anything. There was
a northerly breeze; he had the fires put out, and, covering
the ship with canvas, sailed three hundred miles SW., but
found nothing. Then he took in sail, got up steam again,
and away for Easter Island. The ship ran so fast that
she had got into latitude thirty-two by ten a.m. next
morning.
At lOh. 15m. the dreary monotony of this cruise was
broken by the man at the masthead.
'' On deck, there ! "
^^ Hallo!"
" The schooner on our weather-bow ! "
^' Well, what of her?"
"She has luffed."
" Well, what o' that?"
" She has altered her course."
^^ How many points ? "
" She was sailing SE., and now her head is NE."
"That is curious."
General RoUeston, who had come and listened with a
grain of hope, now sighed and turned away.
The captain explained kindly that the man was quite
right to draw his captain's attention to the fact of a trad-
ing vessel altering her course. "There is a sea-grammar,
general," said he ; " and when one seaman sees another violate
it, he concludes there is some reason or other. Now, Jack,
what d'ye make of her ? "
" I can't make much of her : she don't seem to know her
own mind, that is all. At ten o'clock she was bound for
Valparaiso or the island. But now she has come about and
beating to windward."
" Bound for Easter Island ? "
" I dunno."
" Keep your eye on her."
" Ay, ay, sir."
Captain Moreland told General RoUeston that very few
ships went to Easter Island, which Hes in a lovely climate,
but is a miserable place ; and he was telling the general that
it is inhabited by savages of a low order, who half worship
249 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
the relics of masonry left by their more civilised predecessors,
when Jack hailed the deck again.
'' Well/' said the captam,
*' I think she is bound for the Springbok.*'
The soldier received this conjecture with astonishment and
incredulity^ not to be wondered at.
The steamboat headed NW,, right in the wind's eye.
Sixteen miles off at least a ship was sailing NK So that
the two courses might be represented with tolerable accuracy
by the following dUagram^ in which a represents the course
of the steamer^ and b that of the schooner. And there hung
in the air^ like a black mark against the blue sky^ a fellow,
whose oracular voice came down and said b was endeavouring
to intercept a.
Nevertheless time confirmed the conjecture ; the schooner,
having made a short board to the N., came about and made
a long board due west, which was as near as she could lie to
the wind. On this Captain Moreland laid the steamboat's
head due north. This brought the vessels rapidly together.
When they were about two miles distant, the stranger
slackened sail and hove-to, hoisting Stars and Stripes at her
mizen. The Union Jack went up the shrouds of the Spring"
hok directly, and she pursued her course, but gradually
slackened her steam.
General Rolleston walked the deck in great agitation, and
now indulged in wild hopes, which Captain Moreland thought
it best to discourage at once.
" Ah, sir," he said ; " don't you run into the other extreme,
and imagine he has come on our business. It is at sea as it
is ashore : if a man goes out of his course to speak to you, it
is for his own sake, not yours. This Yankee has got men
sick with scurvy, and is come for lime-juice. Or his water is
out. Or hallo, savages aboard.
It was too true. The schooner had a cargo of savages, male
and female ; the males were nearly naked, but the females,
strange to say, were dressed to the throat in ample robes with
broad and flowing skirts, and had little coronets on their
250.
Digitized by VjOOQLC
FOUL PLAY
heads. As soon as the schooner hove-to^ the fiddle had
struck up^ and the savages were now dancing in parties of
four ; the men doing a sort of monkey hornpipe in quick pace
with their hands nearly touching the ground ; the women, on
the contrary, erect and queenly, swept about in slow rhythm,
with most graceful and coquettish movements of the arms
and hands, and bewitching smiles.
The steamboat came alongside, but at a certain distance, to
avoid all chance of collision ; and the crew clustered at the
side and cheered the savages dancing. The poor general
was forgotten at the merry sight.
Presently a negro in white cotton, with a face blacker than
the savages, stepped forward and hoisted a board, on which
was printed very large Are you
Having allowed this a moment to sink into the mind, he
reversed the board, and showed these words, also printed
large. The Springbok ?
There was a thriUing murmur on board ; and afler a pause
of surprise, the question was answered by a loud cheer and
waving of hats.
The reply was perfectly understood ; almost immediately a
boat was lowered by some novel machinery, and pulled towards
the steamer. There were two men in it, the skipper and the
negro. The skipper came up the side of the. Springbok, He
was loosely dressed in some light drab-coloured stuff and a
huge straw hat ; a man with a long Puritanical head, a nose
inclined to be aquiline, a face bronzed by weather and heat,
thin resolute lips, and a square chin. But for a certain breadth
between his keen grey eyes, which revealed more intellect than
Cromweirs Ironsides were encumbered with, he might have
passed for one of that hard-praying, harder-hitting fiitemity.
He came on deck, just touched his hat, as if to brush away
a ifly, and, removing an enormous cigar from his mouth, said,
'* Wal, and so this is the Springbok. Spry little boat she is ;
how many knots can ye get out of her now ? Not that I am
curious."
''About twelve knots."
''And when the steam's off the bile, how many can you
sail ? not that it is my business."
" Eight or nine. What is your business ? "
" Hum ! You have been over some water looking for that
gal. Where do ye hail from last ? "
" The Society Islands, Did you board me to hear me my
catechism ? "
251
Digitized
by Google
TOUL PLAY
''No, I am not one of your prying sort Where are ye
bound for now ? "
" I am bound for Easter Island."
" Have you heard anythmg of the gal ? "
"No."
" And when do ye expect to go back to England as wise as
ye came ? "
" Never while the ship can swim," cried Moreland angrily,
to hide his despondency from this stranger. '' And now it is
my turn, I think. What schooner is this? by whom com-
manded, and whither bound ? "
" The Julia Dodd ; Joshua FuUalove ; bound for Juan Fer-
nandez with the raw material of civilisation ^look at the
varmint skippin' and a printing-press ; an' that's the instru-
ment of civilisation, I ratther tWnk."
"Well, sir; and why in Heaven's name did you change
your course."
" Wal, I reckon I changed it to tell you a lie."
"To tell us a he."
"Ay; the damdest etamal lie that ever came out of a
man's mouth. Fust, there's an unknown island somewheres
about. That's a kinder flourish beforehand. On that island
there's an English gal wrecked."
Exclamations burst forth on every side at this.
"And she's so tarnation 'cute, she's flying ducks all over
creation with a writing tied to their legs, telling the tale, and
setting down the longitude. There, if that isn't a buster I
hope I may never live to tell another."
" God bless you, sir," cried the general. " Where is the
island.?"
"What island.?"
" The island where my child is wrecked."
"What, are you the gal's father.?" said Joshua, with a
sudden touch of feeling.
" I am, sir. Pray withhold nothing from me you know."
" Why, Cunnle," said the Yankee soothingly, " don't I tell
you it's a buster. However, the lie is none o mine. It's
that old cuss Skinflint set it afloat; he is always pisoning
these peaceful waters."
Rolleston asked eagerly who Skinflint was, and where he
could be found.
"Wal, he's a sorter sea Jack-of-all-trades, etamally cruis-
ing about to buy gratis, those he buys of call it stealing.
Got a rotten old cutter, manned by his wife and fam'ly.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
They get coal out of me for fur, and sell the coal at double
my price ; they kill seals and dress, the skins aboard ; kill fish
and salt 'em aboard. Ye know when that fam'ly is at sea
by the smell that pervades the briny deep an' heralds their
approach. Yesterday the air smelt awful: so I said to
Vespasian here, ' I think that sea-skunk is out, for there's
something a pisoning the cerulean waves an' succumambient
air.' We hadn't sailed not fifty miles more before we run
agin him. Their clothes were drying all abotd the rigging.
Hails me the varmint does. Vesp. and I. we work the
printing-press together, an' so order him to looward, not to
taint our Otaheitans, that stink of ile at home, but I had 'em
biled before I'd buy 'em, an' now their vilets. * Wal, now.
Skinflint,' says I ; 'I reckon you're come to bring me that
harpoon o' mine you stole last time you was at my island } '
' I never saw your harpoon,' says he ; ' I want to know, have
you come across the Springbok f ' ^ Mebbe I have,' says I ;
^ why do you ask ? ' ' Got news for her,' says he ; ^ and can't
find her nowheres.' So then we set to and fenced a bit ; and
this old varmint, to put me oflT the truth, told me the buster.
A month ago or more he was boarded by a duck. And this
'ere duck had a writing tied to his leg, and this 'ere writing
said an English gal was wrecked on an island, and put down
the very longitude. 'Show me that duck,' ses I, ironical.
' D'ye take us for fools ? ' ses he ; 'we ate the duck for
supper.' 'That was like ye,' says I; 'if an angel brought
your pardon down from heights celestial, you'd roast him and
sell his feathers for swan's down ; mebbe you ate the writ-
ing ? I know you're a hungry lot.' ' The writing is in my
cabin,' says he. ' Show it me,' says I, * an' mebbe I'll believe
ye.' No, the cuss would only show it to the Springbok;
'There's a reward,' says he. 'What's the price of a soid
aboard your cutter ? ' I asked him. ' Have you parted with
yours as you wants to buy one.'^' says he. 'Not one as
would carry me right slick away to everlasting blazes,' says
i. So then we said good morning, and he bore away K)r
Valparaiso. Presently I saw your smoke, and that you
would never overhaul old Stinkamalee on that track : so I
came about. Now I tell you that old cuss knows where the
gal is, and mebbe has got her tied hand and fut in his cabin.
An' I'm kinder sot on English gals : they put me in mind of
butter and honey. Why, my schooner is named after one.
So, now, Cunnle, clap on steam for Valparaiso, and you'll
soon overhaul the old stink-pot ; you may know him by the
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
brown patch in his jibsail^ the ontidy varmint Pull out your
purse and bind him to drop lying about ducks and geese^
and tell you the truth ; he knows where your gal is, I swan.
Wal, ye needn't smother me." For by this time he was
the centre of a throng, all pushing and driving to catch
his words.
Captain Moreland begged him to step down into his cabin,
and there the general thanked him with great warmth and
agitation for his humanity. " We will follow your advice at
once," he said. " Is there anything I can oflTer you, without
oflTence } *'
" Wal," drawled the Yankee, ^' I guess not Business and
sentiment won't mix nohow. Business took me to the island,
sentiment brought me here. I'll take a shake-hand all
round : and if y'have got Uve fowls to spare I'll be obliged to
you for a couple. Ye see I'm colonising that darned island :
an' sowing it with grain, an' apples, an' Otaheitans, an'
niggers, an' Irishmen, an' all the other cream o' creation;
an* I'd be glad of a couple o' Dorkins' to crow the lazy
varmint up."
This very moderate request was very readily complied with,
and the acclamations and cheers of the crew followed this
strange character to his schooner, at which his eye glistened
and twinkled with quiet satisfaction, but he made it a point
of honour not to move a muscle.
Before he could get under way the Springbok took a circuit,
and passing within a hundred yards of 1dm, fired a gun to
leeward by way of compliment, set a cloud of canvas, and
tore through the water at her highest speed. Outside the
port of Valparaiso she fell in with Skinflint, and found him
not quite so black as he was painted. The old fellow showed
some parental feeling, produced the bag at once to General
Rolleston, and assured him a wearied duck had come on
board, and his wife had detached the writing.
They took in coal: and then ran westward once more^
every heart beating high with confident hope.
254 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER XLV
Helen's act was strange^ and demands a word of explanation.
If she had thought the steamboat was a strange vessel^ she
would have Hghted the bonfire : if she had known her father
was on board, she would have lighted it with joy. But
Hazel, whose every word now was gospel, had said it was
Arthur Wardlaw in that boat, searching for her.
Still, so strong is the impulse in all civilised beings to get
back to civilisation, that she went up that hill as honestly
intending to light the bonfire, as Hazel intended it should be
lighted. But, as she went, her courage cooled, and her feet
began to go slowly, as her mind ran swiftly forward to con-
sequence upon consequence. To Ught that bonfire was to
bring Arthur Wardlaw down upon herself and Hazel living
alone and on intimate terms. Arthur would come and claim
her to his face. Could she disallow his claim ? Gratitude
would now be on his side as well as good faith. What a
shock to Arthur ! What torture for Hazel ! torture that he
foresaw, or why the face of anguish, that dragged even now
at her heart-strings ? And then it could end only in one
way ; she and Hazel would leave the island in Arthur's ship.
What a voyage for all three ! She stood transfixed by shame:
her whole body blushed at what she saw coming. Then
once more Hazel's face rose before her, poor crippled Hazel,
her hero and her patient. She sat down and sighed, and
could no more light the fire, than she could have put it out
if another had lighted it.
She was a girl that could show you at times she had a father
as well as a mother : but that evening she was all woman.
They met no more that night.
In the morning his face was haggard, and showed a mental
struggle ; but hers was placid and quietly beaming, for the
very reason that she had made a great sacrifice. She was
one of that sort
And this difference between them was a foretaste.
His tender conscience pricked him sore. To see her sit
beaming there, when, if he had done his own duty with his
own hands, she would be on her way to England ! Yet his
remorse was dumb: for, if he gave it vent, then he must
seem ungrateful to her for her sacrifice.
She saw his deep and silent compunction, approved it
255 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
secretly, said nothing, but smiled and beamed and soothed.
He could not resist this, and wild thrills of joy and hope
passed through him, visions of unbroken bliss far from the
world.
But this sweet dehrium was followed by misgivings of
another kind. And here she was at fault. What could
they be ?
It was the voice of conscience telling him that he was
really winning her love, once inaccessible; and if so, was
bound to tell her his whole story, and let her judge between
him and the world, before she made any more sacrifices for
him. But it is hard to stop great happiness : harder to stop
it and ruin it. Every night as he lay alone he said, '* To-
morrow I will tell her all, and make her the judge." But
in the morning her bright face crushed his purpose by the
fear of clouding it. His Hmbs got strong and his heart got
weak ; and they used to take walks : and her head came near
his shoulder, and the path of duty began to be set thicker
than ever with thorns ; and the path of love with prim-
roses. One day she made him sit to her for his portrait;
arid under cover of artistic enthusiasm, told him his beard
was god-like, and nothing in the world could equal it for
beauty ; she never saw but one at all like it, poor Mr. Seaton's ;
but even that was very inferior to his : and then she dismissed
the sitter. ^^Poor thing," said she, "you are pale and tired."
And she began to use ornaments ; took her bracelets out of
her bag; and picked pearls out of her walls, and made a
coronet, under which her eyes flashed at night with super-
lative beauty, conscious beauty, admired and looked at by the
eye she desired to please.
She revered him. He had improved her character, and
she knew it, and often told him so. " Call me Hazelia,"
she said; "make me Hker you still."
One day he came suddenly through the jungle and found
her reading her Prayer Book.
He took it from her, not meaning to be rude neither, but
inquisitive.
It was open at the marriage-service, and her cheeks were
dyed scarlet.
His heart panted. He was a clergyman : he could read
that service over them both.
Would it be a marriage }
Not in England; but in some countries it would. Why
not in this ? This, was not England.
856 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
He looked up. Her head was averted ; she was downright
distressed.
He was sorry to have made her blush ; so he took her
hand and kissed it tenderly, so tenderly that his heart
seemed to go into his lips. She thrilled under it, and her
white brow sank upon his shoulder.
The sky was a vault of purple, with a flaming topaz in the
centre; the sea a heavenly blue; the warm air breathed
heavenly odours ; flaming macaws wheeled overhead ; hum-
ming birds, more gorgeous than any flower, buzzed round
their heads, and amazed the eye with delight, then cooled it
with the deep green of the jungle into which they dived.
It was a Paradise, with the sun smiling down on it, and the
ocean smiling up, and the air impregnated with love. Here
they were both content now to spend the rest of their dajrs
" The world forgetting ; by the world forgot."
CHAPTER XLVI
. The Springbok arrived in due course at longitude 103 deg.
SO min., but saw no island. This was dispiriting ; but still
Captain Moreland did not despair.
He asked General RoUeston to examine the writing care-
fully, and tell him was that Miss RoUeston's handwriting.
The general shook his head sorrowfully.
" No," said he ; "it is nothing like my child's hand."
" Why, all the better," said Captain Moreland ; " the lady
has got somebody about her who knows a thing or two. The
man that could catch wild ducks and turn 'em into postmen,
could hit on the longitude somehow ; and he doesn't pretend
to be exact in the latitude."
Upon this he ran northward 400 miles; which took him
three days, for they stopped at ni^t.
No island.
He then ran south 500 miles ; stopping at night.
No island.
Then he took the vessel zigzag.
Just before sunset, one lovely day, the man at the mast-
head sang out
I ''On deck there!"
|\ ^^"^ Digitized by SoOgle
FOUL PLAY
^' Hullo!"
" Something in sight : on our weather-bow."
''What is it?"
'' Looks like a mast No. Don't know what it is."
" Point"
The sailor pointed with his finger.
Captain Moreland ordered the ship's course to be altered
aceoitlingly. By this time General Rolleston was on deck.
The ship ran two miles on the new course ; and all this time
the topman's glass was levelled^ and the crew climbed about
the riggings all eyes and ears.
At last the clear hail came down.
'' I can make it out now, sir."
"What is it?"
'' It is a palm-tree."
The captain jumped on a gun, and waved his hat grandly,
and instantly the vessel rang with a lusty cheer; and, for
once, sailors gabbled like washerwomen.
They ran till they saw the island in the moonUght, and
the giant palm, black, and sculptured out of the violet sky ;
then they set the lead going, and it warned them not to
come too close. They anchored off the west coast
At daybreak they moved slowly on, still sounding as they
went ; and, rounding the West Point, General Rolleston saw
written on the guanoed rocks in large letters
AN ENGLISH LADY WRECKED HERE.
HASTE TO HER RESCUE.
He and Moreland shook hands; and how their eyes
glistened !
Presently there was a stranger inscription still upon the
rocks a rough outline of the island on an enormous scale,
showing the coast-line, the reefs, the shallow water, and the
deep water.
''Ease her I Stop her!"
The captain studied this original chart with his glass, and
crept slowly on for the west passage.
But warned by the soundings marked on the rock, he did
not attempt to go through the passage, but came to an anchor
and lowered his boat
The sailors were all on the qui vive to land; but the captain,
to their infinite surprise, told them only three persons would
land that morning ^himself, his son, and General Rolleston.
258
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
The fact is, this honest captain had got a misgiving,
founded on a general view of human nature. He expected
to find the girl with two or three sailors, one of them united
to her by some nautical ceremony, duly witnessed, but such
as a ndUtary officer of distinction could hardly be expected to
approve. He got into the boat in a curious state of delight,
dashed with uncomfortable suspense ; and they rowed gently
for the west passage.
As for General RoUeston, now it was he needed all his
fortitude. Suppose the lady was not Helen ! After all, the
chances were against her being there. Suppose she was
dead and buried in that island ! Suppose that fatal disease,
with which she had sailed, had been accelerated by hard-
ships, and Providence permitted him only to receive her
last sigh. All these misgivings crowded on him the moment
he drew so near the object, which had looked all brightness,
so long as it was unattainable. He sat, pale and grave, in
the boat ; but his doubts and fears were greater than his
hope.
They rounded Telegraph Point, and in a moment Paradise
Bay burst on them, and Hazel's boat within a hundred yards
of them. It was half tide. They beached the boat, and
General Rolleston landed. Captain Moreland grasped his
hand, and said, " Call us if it is all right."
General Rolleston returned the pressure of that honest
hand, and marched up the beach just as if he were going
into action.
He came to the boat It had an awning over the stem,
and was clearly used as a sleeping-place. A series of wooden
pipes standing on uprights led from this up to the cliff. The
pipes were in feet mere sections of the sago tree with the
soft pith driven out. As this was manifestly a tube of com-
munication. General Rolleston followed it until he came to
a sort of verandah with a cave opening on it ; he entered
the cave, and was dazzled by its most unexpected beauty.
He seemed to be in a gigantic nautilus. Roof and sides, and
the very chimney, were one blaze of mother-of-pearl. But,
after the first start, brighter to him was an old shawl he saw
on a nail ; for that showed it was a woman's abode. He tore
down the old shawl and carried it to the light. He recog-
nised it as Helen's. Her rugs were in a comer ; he rushed
in and felt them all over with trembUag hand^. They were
still warm, though she had left her bed some time. He
came out wild with joy, and shouted to Moreland, *^ She is
^^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
alive ! She is alive ! She is alive ! " Then fell on his
knees, and thanked God.
A cry came down to him from above ; he looked up as he
knelt, and there was a female figure dressed in white, stretch-
ing out its hands as if it would fly down to him. Its eyes
gleamed ; he knew them all that way off. He stretched out
his hands as eloquently, and then he got up to meet her ; but
the stout soldier's limbs were stiffer than of old ; and he got
up so slowly, that, ere he could take a step, there came flying
to him with little screams and inarticulate cries, no living
skeleton, nor consumptive young lady, but a grand creature,
tanned here and there, rosy as the mom, and full of lusty
vigour; a body all health, strength, and beauty, a soul aU
love. She flung herself all over him, in a moment, with cries
of love unspeakable, and then it was, " Oh, my darling ! my
darling ! Oh, my own, own ! Ha ! ha ! ha ! ha ! Oh ! oh !
oh ! oh ! Is it you ? is it ? can it ? Papa ! papa ! " then
little convulsive hands patting him and feeling his beard
and shoulders ; then a sudden hail of violent kisses on his
head, his eyes, his arms, his hands, his knees. Then a stout
soldier, broken down by this, and sobbing for joy. " Oh,
my child ! My flesh and blood ! Oh ! oh ! oh ! " Then
all manhood melted away, except paternity; and a father
turned mother, and clinging, kissdng, and rocking to and fro
with his child, and both crying for joy as if their hearts would
burst.
A sight for angels to look down at and rejoice.
But what mortal pen could paint it ?
CHAPTER XLVII
They gave a long time to pure joy before either of them
cared to put questions or compare notes. But at last he
asked her, " Wlio was on the island besides her ? "
^'Oh," said she, ^'only my guardian angel. Poor Mr.
Welch died the first week we were here."
He parted the hair on her brow and kissed it tenderly.
" And who is your guardian angel ? "
^* Why, you are now, my own papa : and well you have
proved it. To think of your being the one to come at your
age!"
260 n ^'
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
"Well, never mind me. Who has taken such care of
my child ? ^this the sick girl they frightened me about ! "
" Indeed, papa, I was a dying girl. My very hand was
wasted. Look at it now ; brown as a berry, but so plump ;
you owe that to him : and, papa, I can widk twenty miles
without fatigue : and so strong ; I could take you up in my
arms and carry you, I know. But I am content to eat you."
(A shower of kisses.) "I hope you will like him."
'^ My own Helen. Ah ! I am a happy old man this day.
What is his name ? "
" Mr. Hazel. He is a clergyman. Oh, papa, I hope you
will like him, for he has saved my life more than once : and
then he has been so generous, so delicate, so patient ; for I
used him very ill at first : and you will find my character as
much improved as my ^health : and all owing to Mr. Hazel.
He is a clergyman ; and, oh ! so good, so humble, so clever, so
self-denying ! Ah ! how can I ever repay him ? "
^^ Well, I shall be glad to see this paragon, and shake him
by the hand. You may imagine what I feel to any one that
is kind to my darling. Aju old gentleman? About my
age?"
^' Oh no, papa."
"Hum!"
" If he had been old I should not be here ; for he has had
to fight for me against cruel men with knives, and work like
a horse. He built me a hut, and made me this cave, and
almost killed himself in my service. Poor Mr. Hazel ! "
"How old is he?"
" Dearest papa, I never asked him that : but I think he
is four or five years older than me, and a hundred years
better than I shall ever be, I am afraid. What is the
matter, darling ? "
" Nothing, child, nothing."
" Don't tell me. Can't I read your dear face ? "
" Come, let me read yours. Look me in the face, now :
full."
He took her by the shoulders firmly, but not the least
roughly, and looked straight into her hazel eyes. She
blushed at this ordeal, blushed scarlet ; but her eyes, pure
as heaven, faced his fairly, though with a puzzled look.
He concluded this paternal inspection by kissing her on
the brow. " I was an old fool," he muttered.
" What do you say, dear papa ? "
"Nothing, nothing. Kiss me again. Well, love, you
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
had better find this guardian angel of yours, that I may
take him by the hand and give hhn a father's blessing, and
make him some little return by carrying him home to
England along with my darling."
'^ I'll call him, papa. Where can he be gone, I wonder."
She ran out to the terrace and called
'^ Mr. Hazel ! Mr. Hazel ! I don't see him ; but he can't
be far off. Mr. Hazel!"
Then she came back and made her father sit down ; and
she sat at his knee, beaming with delight.
" Ah, papa," said she, '' it was you who loved me best in
England. It was you that came to look for me."
" No," said he, " there are others there that love you as
well in their way. Poor Wardlaw ! on his sick bed for you,
cut like a flower the moment he heard you were lost in the
Proserpine. Ah, and I have broken faith."
"That is a story," said Helen ; "you couldn't"
*^ For a moment, I mean ; I promised the dear old ^lan
^he furnished the ship, the men, and the money, to find
you. He says you are as much his daughter as mine."
"Well, but what did you promise him?" said Helen,
blushing and interrupting hastily, for she could not bear the
turn matters were now taking.
" Oh, only to give you the second kiss from Arthur. Come,
better late than never." She knelt before him and put out
her forehead instead of her lips. " There," said the general,
" that kiss is from Arthur Wardlaw, your intended. Why,
who the deuce is this ? "
A young man was standing wonderstruck at the entrance,
and had heard the general's last words ; they went through
him like a knife. General RoUeston stared at him.
Helen uttered an ejaculation of pleasure, and said, " This
is my dear father, and he wants to thank you **
" I don't understand this," said the general. " I thought
you told me there was nobody on the island but you and
your guardian angeL Did you count this poor fellow for
nobody ? Why, he did you a good turn once."
"Oh, papa," said Helen reproachfully. "Why, this is
my guarduui angel. This is Mr. Hazel."
The general looked from one to another in amazement, then
he said to Helen, " This your Mr. Hazel ? "
"Yes, papa."
"Why, you don't mean to tell me you don't know this
man?"
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
" Know him, papa ! why, of course I know Mr. Hazel ; know
him and revere him, beyond all the world, except you."
The general lost patience. " Are you out of your senses ? "
said he ; " this man here is no Hazel. Why, this is James
Seaton our gardener a ticket-of-leave man."
CHAPTER XLVIII
At this fearful insult Helen drew back from her father with
a cry of dismay, and then moved towards Hazel with her
hands extended, as if to guard him from another blow, and at
the same time deprecate his resentment. But then she saw
his dejected attitude ; and she stood confounded, looking from
one to the other.
^^ I knew him in a moment by his beard," said the general
coolly.
" Ah 1 " cried Helen, and stood transfixed. She glared at
Hazel and his beard with dilating eyes, and began to tremble.
Then she crept back to her father and held him tight, but
still looked over her shoulder at Hazel with dilating eyes and
paling cheek.
As for Hazel, his deportment all this time went far towards
convicting him ; he leaned against the side of the cave, and
hung his head in silence : and his face was ashy pale. When
General Rolleston saw his deep distress, and the sudden
terror and repugnance the revelation seemed to create in
his daughter's mind, he felt sorry he had gone so far, and
said, " Well, well ; it is not for me to judge you harshly ; for
you have laid me under a deep obligation ; and, after all, I
can see good reasons why you should conceal your name from
other people. But you ought to have told my daughter the
truth.'^
Helen interrupted him ; or rather, she seemed unconscious
he was speaking. She had never for an instant taken her
eye off the culprit ; and now she spoke to him :
^' Who, and what are you, sir ? "
" My name is Robert Penfold."
" Penfold ! Seaton ! " cried Helen. " Alias upon alias I "
And she turned to her father in despair. Then to Hazel
again, " Are you what papa says ? "
"lam."
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
' FOUL PLAY
" Oh, papa, papa/' cried Helen, " then there is no truth
nor honesty in all the world." And she turned her back on
Robert Penfold, and cried and sobbed upon her father s
breast.
Oh, the amazement and anguish of that hour ! The pure
affection and reverence, that would have blest a worthy man,
wasted on a convict ! Her heart's best treasures flung on a
dunghill ! This is a woman's greatest loss on earth. And
Helen sank, and sobbed under it.
General RoUeston, whose own heart was fortified, took a
shallow view of the situation ; and, moreover, Helen's face
was hidden on his bosom; and what he saw was Hazel's
manly and intelligent countenance, pale, and dragged with
agony and shame.
"Come, come," he said gently, '^ don't cry about it ; it is
not your fault: and don't be too hard on the man; you
told me he had saved your life."
'* Would he had not," said the sobbing girl.
" There, Seaton," said the general. " Now you see the
consequences of deceit : it wipes out the deepest obligations."
He resumed, in a different tone : ^' But not with me. This is
a woman : but I am a man, and know how a bad man could
have abused the situation in which I found you two."
^^ Not worse than he has done," cried Helen.
" What do you tell me, girl ! " said General Rolleston,
beginning to tremble in his turn.
'^ What could he do worse than steal my esteem and vene-
ration, and drag my heart's best feelings in the dirt ? Oh,
where ^where can I ever look for a guide, instructor, and
faithful friend after this ? He seemed all truth ; and he is
all a lie : the world is all a lie ; would I could leave it this
moment."
''This is all romantic nonsense," said General Rolleston,
beginning to be angry. '' You are a little fool, and, in your
ignorance and innocence, have no idea how well this young
fellow has behaved on the whole. I tell you what in spite
of this one fault, I should like to shake him by the hand. I
will, too : and then admonish him afterwards."
" You shall not. You shall not," cried Helen, seizing him
almost violently by the arm. '' You take him by the hand !
A monster ! How dare you steal into my esteem ! How dare
you be a miracle of goodness, self-denial, learning, and every
virtue that a lady might worship, and thank God for, when
all the time you are a vile, convicted "
264
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
" rU thank you not to say that word/' said Hazel firmly.
'^1*11 call you what you are, if I choose/* said Helen
defiantly. But for all that she did not do it. She said
piteously, " What offence had I ever given you ? What crime
had I ever committed, that you must make me the victim of
this diabolical deceit .?* Oh, sir, what powers of mind you
have wasted to achieve this victory over a poor unoffending
girl ! What was your motive } What good could come of it
to you ? He won't speak to me. He is not even penitent*
Sullen and obstinate ! He shall be taken to England, and
well punished for it Papa, it is your duty."
" Helen," said the general, ^'you ladies are rather too fond
of hitting a man when he is down. And you speak daggers,
as the saying is ; and then wish you had bitten your tongue
off sooner. You are my child, but you are also a British sub-
ject ; and, if you charge me on my. duty to take this man to
England and have him imprisoned, I must. But, before you
go that length, you had better hear the whole story."
"Sir," said Robert Penfold quietly, "1 will go back to
prison this minute, if she wishes it."
''How dare you interrupt papa," said Helen haughtily,
but with a great sob.
''Come, come," said the general, be quiet, both of you,
and let me say my say. (To Robert.) You had better turn
your head away, for I am a straightforward man, and Fm
going to show her you are not a villain, but a madman.
This Robert Penfold wrote me a letter, imploring me to find
him some honest employment, however menial. That looked
well; and I made him my gardener. He was a capital
gardener ; but one fine day he caught sight of you. You are
a very lovely girl, though you don't seem to know it ; and he
is a madman ; and he fell in love with you." Helen uttered
an ejaculation of great surprise. The general resumed : " He
can only have seen you at a distance, or you would recognise
him ; but (really it is laughable) he saw you somehow, though
you did not see him, and Well, his insanity hurt him-
self, and did not hurt you. You remember how he suspected
burglars, and watched night after night under your window.
That was out of love for you. His insanity took the form of
fidelity and humble devotion. He got a wound for his pains,
poor fellow ! and you made Arthur Wardlaw get him a clerk's
place."
"Arthur Wardlaw!" cried Seaton. "Was it to him I
owed it ? " and he groaned aloud.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Said Helen, ''He hates poor Arthur, his benefactor."
Then to Penfold, " If you are that James Seaton, you received
a letter from me."
'^ I did^" said Penfold ; and putting his hand in his bosom,
he drew out a letter and showed it to her.
'^ Let me see it," said Helen.
'* Oh no ; don't take this from me too," said he piteously.
General RoUeston continued. *' The day you sailed he dis-
appeared, and I am afraid not without some wild idea of
being in the same ship with you. This was very reprehensible.
Do you hear, young man? But what is the consequence?
You get shipwrecked together, and the young madman takes
such care of you that I find you well and hearty, and calling
him your guardian angel. And, another thing to his credit,
he has set his wits to work to restore you to the world.
These ducks, one of which brings me here ! Of course it was
he who contrived that, not you. Young man, you must learn
to look things in the face; this young lady is not of your
sphere, to begin ; and, in the next place, she is engaged to
Mr. Arthur Wardlaw ; and I am come out in his steamboat
to take her to him. And as for you, Helen, take my advice ;
think what most convicts are compared to this one. Shut
your eyes entirely to his folly, as I shall ; and let you and me
think only of his good deeds, and so make him all the return
we can. You and I will go on board the steamboat directly ;
and, when we are there, we can tell Moreland there is some-
body else on the island." He then turned to Penfold, and
said, " My daughter and I will keep in the after-part of the
vessel, and anybody that Hkes can leave the ship at Valparaiso.
Helen, I know it is wrong ; but what can I do ? I am so
happy. You are alive and well : how can I punish or afflict
a human creature to-day? and, above all, how can I crush
this unhappy young man, without whom I should never have
seen you again in this world ? My daughter ! my dear lost
child ! " and he held her at arm's length and gazed at her,
and then drew her to his bosom ; and for him Robert Penfold
ceased to exist, except as a man that had saved his daughter.
'' Papa," said Helen, after a long pause, ''just make him
tell me why he could not trust to me. Why he passed him-
self off to me for a clergyman."
" I am a clergyman," said Robert Penfold.
''Oh," said Helen, shocked to find him so hardened, as
she thought. She lifted her hands to heaven, and the tears
streamed from her eyes. " Well, sir," said she faintly. " I
266 ^ ,
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
see I cannot reach your conscience. One question more, and
then I have done with you for ever. Why, in all these
months that we have been alone, and that you have shown
me the nature I don't say of an honest man, but of an angel
^yes, papa, of an angel ^why could you not show me one
humble virtue, sincerity ? It belongs to a man. Why could
you not say, ^I have committed one crime in my life, but
repented for ever ; judge by this confession, and by what you
have seen of me, whether I shall ever commit another.
Take me as I am, and esteem me as a penitent and more
worthy man ; but I will not deceive you and pass for a
paragon.' Why could you not say as much as this to me ?
If you loved me, why deceive me so cruelly ? "
These words, uttered no longer harshly, but in a mournful,
faint, despairing voice, produced an effect the speaker little
expected. Robert Penfold made two attempts to speak, but,
though he opened his mouth, and his lips quivered, he could
get no word out. He began to choke with emotion ; and,
though he shed no tears, the convulsion, that goes vdth
weeping in weaker natures, overpowered him in a way that
was almost terrible.
'^ Confound it ! " said General RoUeston ; " this is mon-
strous of you, Helen ^it is barbarous. You are not like your
poor mother."
She was pale and trembling, and the tears flowing; but
she showed her native obstinacy. She said hoarsely, " Papa,
you are blind. He mtist answer me. He knows he must ! "
"I must," said Robert Penfold, gasping still. Then he
manned himself by a mighty effort, and repeated with
dignity, '^ will."
There was a pause while the young man still struggled
for composure and self-command.
'^ Was I not often on the point of telling you my sad story ?
Then is it fair to say that I should never have told it you ?
But, oh ! Miss Rolleston, you don't know what agony it may
be to an unfortunate man to tell the truth. There are
accusations so terrible, so defiling, that, when a man has
proved them false, they still stick to him and soil him.
Such an accusation I labour under, and a judge and jury
have branded me. If they had called me a murderer, I
would have told you ; but tkiU is such a dirty crime. I
feared the prejudices of the world. I dreaded to see your
&ce alter to me. Yes, I trembled, and hesitated, and asked
267
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
myself whether a man is bound to repeat a foul slander
against himself^ even when thirteen shallow men have said
it^ and made the lie law."
" There," said General RoUeston, " I thought how it would
be, Helen ; you have tormented him into defending himself,
tooth and nail ; so now we shall have the old story. He is
innocent ; I never knew a convict that wasn't, if he found a
fool to listen to him. I decline to hear another word : you
needn't excuse yourself for changing your name ; I excuse it,
and that is enough. But the boat is waiting, and we can't
stay to hear you justify a felony."
"I AM NOT A FELON. I AM A MARTYR."
CHAPTER XLIX
Robert Penfold drew himself up to his full height, and
uttered these strange words with a sad majesty that was very
imposing. But General RoUeston, steeled by experience of
convicts, their plausibiHty, and their histrionic powers, was
staggered only for a moment. He deigned no reply; but
told Helen that Captain Moreland was waiting for her, and
she had better go on board at once.
She stood like a statue.
''No, papa, I'll not turn my back on him till I know
whether he is a felon or a martyr."
*' My poor child, has he caught you at once with a clever
phrase ? A judge and a jury have settled that."
''They settled it as you would settle it, by refusing to
hear me."
" Have I refused to hear you } " said Helen. " What do
I care for steamboats and captains. If I stay here to all
eternity, I'll know from your own lips and your own face
whether you are a felon or a martyr. It is no phrase, papa.
He is a felon, or a martyr ; and I am a most unfortunate girl,
or else a base, disloyal one."
" Fiddle-dee," said General RoUeston angrily. Then look-
ing at his watch : " I give you ^vq minutes to humbug us in
if you can."
Robert Penfold sighed patiently. But from that moment
he ignored General RoUeston, and looked to Helen only.
And she fixed her eyes upon his face with a tenacity and
268 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
an intensity of observation that surpassed anything he had
ever seen in his life. It dazzled him ; but it did not
dismay him.
" Miss RoUeston/' said he, " my history can be told in the
time my prejudiced judge allows me. I am a clerg3n[nan, and
a private tutor at Oxford. One of my pupils was Arthur
Wardlaw. I took an interest in him because my father,
Michael Penfold, was in Wardlaw's employ. This Arthur
Wardlaw had a talent for mimicry ; he mimicked one of the
college officers publicly and offensively, and that would have
ruined his inmiediate prospects; for his father is just, but
stem. I fought hard for him, and, being myself popular with
the authorities, I got him off. He was grateful, or seemed to
be, and we became greater friends than ever. We confided in
each other ; he told me he was in debt in Oxford, and much
alarmed lest it should reach his father's ears, and lose him
the promised partnership ; I told him I was desirous to buy a
small living near Oxford, which was then vacant ; but I had
only saved 400, and the price was 1000 ; I had no means
of raising the balance. Then he said, ' Borrow 2000 of my
father ; give me fourteen hundred of it, and take your own
time to repay the 600. I shall be my father's partner in a
month or two,' said he ; ' you can pay us back by instalments.'
I thought this very kind of him. I did not want the living
for myself, but to give my dear father certain comforts, and
country air every week. He needed it ; he was bom in the
country. Well, I came to London about this business : and
a stranger called on me, and said he came from Mr. Arthur
Wardlaw, who was not well enough to come himself. He
produced a note of hand for 2000, signed John Wardlaw,
and made me indorse it, and told me where to get it cashed ;
he would come next day for Arthur Wardlaw's share of the
money. Well, I suspected no iU ; would you ? I went and
got the note discounted, and locked the money up : it was
not my money; the greater part was Arthur Wardlaw's.
That same evening a policeman called, and asked several
questi(Mis, which of course I answered. He then got me
out of the house on some pretence, and arrested me as a
forger."
^^Oh!" cried Helen.
" I forgot the clergyman. I was a gentleman, and a man,
insulted, and I knocked the officer down directly. But his
mjmmdons overpowered me. I was tried at the Central
Criminal Court on two charges. First, the Crown (as they
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
call the attorney that draws the indictment) charged me with
forging the note of hand ; and then with not forging it, but
passing it, well knowing that somebody else had forged it.
Well, UnderclifT, the expert, swore positively that the forged
note was not written by me; and the Crown, as they call it,
was defeated on that charge. But being proved a liar in a
court of justice did not abash my accuser ; tiie second charge
was pressed with equal confidence. The note, you are to
understand, was forged ^that admits of no doubt; and I
passed it. The question was whether I passed it knowing it to
he forged. How was that to be determined? And here it
was that my own uniliar friend, in whom I trusted, destroyed
me. Of course, as soon as I was put in prison, I ivrote and
sent to Arthur Wardlaw. Would you believe it ? ^he would
not come to me. He would not even write. Then as the
time drew near, I feared he was a traitor. I treated him
like one. I told my solicitor to drag him into court as my
ritness, and make him tell the truth. The clerk went down
accordingly, and found he kept his door always locked ; but
the clerk outwitted him, and served him with the subpoena
in his bedroom, before he could crawl under the bed. But
he baffled us at last : he never appeared in the ritness-box ;
and, when my counsel asked the court to imprison him, his
father swore he could not come : he was dying, and all out
of S3nnpathy vrith me. Fine sympathy ! that closed the lips,
and concesded the truth ; one syllable of which would have
saved his friend and benefactor from a calamity worse than
death. Is the truth poison, that to tell it makes a sick man
die ? Is the truth hell, that a d3dng man refuses to speak
it? How can a man die better than speaking the truth?
How can he die worse than withholding it ? I believe his
sickness and his death were lies like himself. For want of
one word from Arthur Wardlaw, to explain that I had every
reason to expect a note of hand from him, the jury condemned
me. They were twelve honest but shallow men invited to
go inside another man's bosom and guess what was there.
They guessed that I knew and understood a thing, which to
this hour I neither know nor understand, by God."
He paused a moment, then resumed
"I believe they founded their conjecture on my knock-
ing down the officer. There was a reason for you ! Why,
forgers and their confederates are reptiles, and have no
fight in them. Experience proves this. But these twelve
men did not go by experience. They guessed like babies,
270 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
and^ after much hesitation^ condemned me^ but recommended
me to mercy, Mercy I What mercy did I deserve ? Either
I was innocent^ or hanging was too good for me. No; in
their hearts they doubted my guilt ; and their doubt took
that timid form^ instead of acquitting me. I was amazed at
the verdict, and asked leave to tell the judge why Arthur
Wardlaw had defied the court, and absented himself as my
witness. Had the judge listened for one minute, he would
have seen I was innocent. But no. I was in England,
where the mouth of the accused is stopped, if he is fool
enough to employ counsel. The judge stopped my mouth,
as your father just now tried to stop it ; and they branded
me as a felon.
'' Up to that moment my life was honourable and worthy.
Since that moment I have never wronged a human creature.
Men pass from virtue to vice, from vice to crime ; this is the
ladder a soul goes down ; but you are invited to believe that
I jumped from innocence into a lthy felony, and then
jumped back again none the worse, and was a gardener that
fought for his employer, and a lover that controlled his
passion. It is a lie a lie that ought not to take in a child.
But prejudice degrades a man below the level of a child,
m say no more : my patience is exhausted by wrongs and
insults. I am as honest a man as ever breathed, and the
place where we stand is mine, for I made it. Leave it and
me this moment Go to England, and leave me where the
animals, more reasonable than you, have the sense to see my
real character. I'll not sail in the same ship with any man,
nor any woman either, who can look me in the &ce, and
take me for a felon."
He swelled and towered with the just wrath of an honest
man driven to bay; and his eye shot black lighning. He
was sublime.
Helen cowered ; but her spirited old father turned red,
and said haughtily, '^We take you at your word, and leave
you, you insolent vagabond. Follow me this instant, Helen!"
And he marched out of the cavern in a fuiy.
But, instead of following him, Helen stood stock-still and
cowered, and cowered till she seemed sinking forward to
the ground, and she got hold of Robert Penfold's hand, and
kissed it, and moaned over it.
"Martjnr! Martyr!" she whispered, and still kissed his
hand, like a slave offering her master pity, and asking pardon.
^' Martjrr ! Martyr ! Every word is true true as my love/'
271
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
In this attitude^ and with these words on her lips^ they
were surprised by General RoUeston, who came back^ asto-
nished at his daughter not following him. Judge of his
amazement now.
'^What does this mean?" he cried, turning pale with
anger.
" It means that he has spoken the truths and that I shall
imitate him. He is my martyr, and my love. When others
cast shame on you, then it is time for me to show my heart.
James Seaton, I love you for your madness, and your devo-
tion to her, whom you had only seen at a distance. Ah !
that was love. John Hazel, I love you for all that has
passed between us. What can any other man be to me ?
or woman to you ? But most of all, I love you, Robert Pen-
fold ^my hero and my martyr. When I am told to your
face that you are a felon, then to your face I say you are my
idol, my hero, and my martyr. Love 1 the word is too tame,
too common. I worship you ; I adore you. How beautiful
you are when you are angry. How noble you are now you
fwgive me ; for you do forgive me, Robert ; you must, you
shall. No; you will not send your Helen away from you,
for her one fault so soon repented. Show me you forgive
me; show me you love me still, almost as much as I love
you. He is crying. Oh, my darling ! my darling ! my
darling ! " And she was round his neck in a moment, with
tears and tender kisses, the first she had ever given him.
Ask yourself whether they were returned.
A groan, or rather we might say, a snort of fory, inter-
rupted the most blissful moment either of these young
creatures had ever known. It came from General RoUeston,
now white with wrath and horror.
" You villain 1 " he cried.
Helen threw herself upon him, and put her hand before
his mouth.
^' Not a word more, or I shjJl forget I am your daughtei.
No one is to blame but I. I love him. I made him love me.
He has been trying hard not to love me so much. But I am
a woman ; and could not deny myself the glory and the joy of
being loved better than woman was ever loved before. And
so I am ; I am. Kill me, if you Hke ; insult me, if you will :
but not a word against him, or I give him my hand, and we
live and die together on this island. Oh, papa ! he has often
saved that life you value so ; and I have saved his. He is
272 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
all the world to me. Have pity on your child ! Have pity
on him who carries my heart in his bosom ! "
She flung herself on her knees^ and strained him tight^ and
implored him, with head thrown back, and little clutching
hands, and eloquent eyes.
Ah, it is hard to resist the voice and look and clinging of
a man's own flesh and blood. Children are so strong upon
their knees : their dear faces, bright copies of our own, are
just the height of our hearts then.
The old man was staggered, was almost melted. ''Give
me a moment to think," said he, in a broken voice. '' This
blow takes my breath away."
Helen rose and laid her head upon her father's shoulder,
and still pleaded for her love by her soft touch and her tears,
that now flowed freely.
He turned to Penfold with all the dignity of age and
station. ''Mr. Penfold," said he, with grave politeness,
" after what my daughter has said, I must treat you as a man
of honour, or I must insult her. Well, then, I expect you to
show me you are what she thinks you, and are not what a
court of justice has proclaimed you. Sir, this young lady is
engaged with her own free will to a gentleman, who is uni-
versidiy esteemed, and has never been accused to his face of
an unworthy act. Relying on her plighted word, the Ward-
laws have fitted out a steamer, and searched the Pacific, and
found her. Can you, as a man of honour, advise her to stay
here and compromise her own honour in every way ? Ought
she to break faith with her betrothed on account of vague
accusations made behind his back ? "
" It was only in self-defence I accused Mr. Arthur Ward-
law," said Robert Penfold.
General Rolleston resumed.
"You said just now there are accusations which soil a man.
If you were in my place, would you let your daughter marry
a man of honour, who had unfortunately been found guilty of
a felony?"
Robert groaned and hesitated, but he said " No."
"Then what is to be done? She must either keep her
plighted word, or else break it For whom ? For a gentle-
man she esteems and loves, but cannot marry. A leper may
be a saint ; but I would rather bury my child than marry her
to a leper. A convict may be a saint, but Til kill her with
my own hand sooner than she shall marry a convict ; and in
273
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
your heart and conscience you cannot blame me. Were you
a father, you would do the same. What then remams for her
and me but to keep faith ; and what can you do better than
leave her, and carry away her everlasting esteem and her
father's gratitude ? It is no use being good by halves, or bad
by halves. You must either be a selfish villain, and urge her
to abandon all shame, and live here on this island with you for
ever, or you must be a brave and honest man, and bow to a
parting that is inevitable. Consider, sir ; your eloquence and
her pity have betrayed this young lady into a confession that
separates you. Her enforced residence here with you has
been innocent. It would be innocent no longer, now she has
been so mad as to own she loves you. And I tell you fi:ankly,
if after that confession you insist on going on board the
steamer with her, I must take you ^humanity requires it ; but
if I do, I shall hand you over to the law as a convict escaped
before his time. Perhaps I ought to do so as it is ; but that is
not certain : I don't know to what country this island belongs ;
I may have no right to capture you in strange dominions ; but
an English ship is England ^and if you set your foot on the
Springbok you are lost. Now, then, you are a man of honour ;
you love my child truly, and not selfishly ; you have behaved
nobly until to-day. Go one step farther on the right road :
call worldly honour, and the God whose vows you have taken,
sir, to your aid, and do your duty."
'' Oh, man ! man ! " cried Robert Penfold, " you ask more
of me than flesh and blood can bear. What shall I say ?
What shall I do?"
Helen replied calmly: "Take my hand, and let us die
together, since we cannot live together with honour."
General Rolleston groaned. " For this, then, I have
traversed one ocean, and searched another, and found my
child. I am nothing to her ^nothing. Oh, who would
be a father ! " He sat down oppressed with shame and
grief, and bowed his stately head in manly but pathetic
silence.
" Oh, papa i papa ! " cried Helen, " forgive your ungrateful
child ! " And she kneeled and sobbed, with her for^ead on
his knees.
Then Robert Penfold, in the midst of his own agony, found
room in that great suffering heart of his for pity. He knelt
down himself, and prayed for help in this bitter taiaL He
rose haggard with the struggle, but languid and resigned^
like one whose death-warrant has been read.
274
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
" Sir/* said he, " there is but one way. You must take her
home, and I shall stay here."
'* Leave you all alone on this island ! " said Helen. " Never !
If you stay here, I shall stay to comfort you."
'' I dechne that offer. I am beyond the reach of comfort"
" Think what you do, Robert," said Helen, with unnatural
calmness. " If you have no pity on yourself, have pity on us.
Would you rob me of the very life you have taken such pains
to save ? My poor father will carry nothing to England but
my dead body. Long before we reach that country I loved
so well, and now hate it for its stupidity and cruelty to you,
my soul will have flown back to this island to watch over you,
Robert You bid me abandon you to solitude and despair.
Neither of you two love me half as much as I love you both."
General Rolleston sighed deeply. ''If I thought that,"
said he ^then in a faint voice, '' my own courage fails me
now. I look into my heart, and I see my child's life is
dearer to me than all the world. She was dying, they say.
Suppose I send Moreland to the continent for a clergyman,
and marry you. Then you can live on this island for ever.
Only you must let me Hve here too ; for I could never show
my face again in England after acting so dishonourably. It
will be a miserable end of a life passed in honour; but I
suppose it will not be for long. Shame can kill as quickly as
disappointed love."
'' Robert ! Robert ! " cried Helen in agony.
The martyr saw that he was master of the situation, and
must be either base or very noble there was no middle way.
He leaned his head on his hands, and thought with all his
might.
" Hush ! " said Helen ; '' he is wiser than we are. Let him
speak."
" If I thought you would pine and die upon the voyage, no
power should part us. But you are not such a coward. If
my life depended on yours, would you not live ! "
'' You know I would."
" When I was wrecked on White-Water Island, you played
the man. Not one woman in a thousand could have launched
a boat, and sailed it with a boat-hook for a mast, and "
HeleA interrupted him. ''It was nothing; I loved you.
I love you better now."
" I beUeve it, and therefore I ask you to rise above your
sex once more, and play the man for me. This time it is not
275 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
my life you are to rescue^ but that which is more precious
still, my good name."
" Ah, that would be worth living for/' cried Helen,
" You will find it very hard to do ; but not harder for a
woman than to launch a boat, and sail her without a mast.
See my fisither, Michael Penfold. See Undercliff, the expert
See the solicitor the counsel. Sift the whole story; and,
above all, find out why Arthur Wardlaw dared not enter the
witness-box. Be obstinate as a man ; be supple as a woman ;
and don't talk of dying, when there is a fiiend to be rescued
from dishonour by living and working."
" Die ! while I can rescue you from death or dishonour !
I will not be so base. Ah, Robert, Robert, how well you
know me."
" Yes, I do know you, Helen. I believe that great soul of
yours will keep your body strong to do this great work for
him you love, and who loves you. And as for me, I am
man enough to live for years upon this island, if you will
only promise me two things."
" I promise, then."
" Never to die, and never to marry Arthur Wardlaw, until
you have reversed that lying sentence which has blasted
me. Lay your hand on your father's head, and promise me
that."
Helen laid her hand upon her father's head, and said, ^' I
pledge my honour not to die, if life is possible, and never to
marry any man until I have reversed that lying sentence,
which has blasted the angel I love."
"And I pledge mysefr to help her," said General Rol-
leston warmly, '^for now I knorv you are a man of honour.
I have too often been deceived by eloquence to listen much
to that. But now you have proved by your actions what
you are. You pass a forged cheque knowing it to be forged :
I'd stake my salvation it's a lie. There's my hand. God
comfort you ! God reward you, my noble fellow ! "
'^ I hope He will, sir," sobbed Robert Penfold. " You are
her father; and you take my hand; perhaps that will be
sweet to think of by-and-by ; but no joy can enter my heart
now; it is broken. Take her away at once, sir. Flesh is
weak. My powers of endurance are exhausted."
General Rolleston acted promptly on this advice. He
rolled up her rugs, and the things she had made, and Robert
had the courage to take them down to the boat. Then he
came back, and the general took her bag to the boat.
^"^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
All this time the girl herself sat wringing her hands in
anguish^ and not a tear. It was beyond that now.
As he passed Robert, the general said, " Take leave of her
alone. I will come for her in five minutes. You see how
sure I feel you are a man of honour."
When Robert went in, she rose and tottered to him, and
fell on his neck. She saw it was the deathbed of their love,
and she kissed his eyes, and clung to him. They moaned
over each other, and clung to each other, in mute despair.
The general came back, and he and Robert took Helen,
shivering and fainting, to the boat. As the boat put off, she
awoke from her stupor, and put out her hands to Robert
with one piercing cry.
They were parted.
CHAPTER L
In that curious compound the human heart, a respectable
motive is sometimes connected with a criminal act. And it
was so with Joseph Wylie ; he had formed an attachment to
Nancy Rouse, and her price was two thousand pounds.
This Nancy Rouse was a character. She was General
RoUeston's servant for many years; her place was the kit-
chen ; but she was a woman of such restless activity, and so
wanting in the proper pride of a servant, that she would help
a housemaid, or a lady's maid, or do anything almost, except
be idle. To use her own words, she was one as couldn't
abide to sit mumchance. That fatal foe to domestic in-
dustry, the London Journal, fluttered in vain down her area,
for she could not read. She supported a sick mother out of
her wages, aided by a few presents of money and clothes
from Helen Rolleston, who had a great regard for Nancy,
and knew what a hard fight she had to keep a sick woman
out of her twenty pounds a year.
In love, Nancy was unfortunate; her buxom looks and
sterling virtues were balanced by a provoking sagacity, and
an irritating habit of speaking her mind. She humbled her
lovers' vanity one after anotiber, and they fled. Her heart
smarted more than once.
Nancy was ambitious ; and her first rise in life took place
as follows : When the Rollestons went to Australia, she had
a good cry at parting with Helen ; but there was no help for
Digitized by VjOOQLC
FOUL PLAY
it: she could not leave her mother. However, she told
Helen she could not stomach any other service, and, since
she must be parted, was resolved to better herself. This
phrase is sometimes droUy applied by servants, because they
throw independence into the scale. In Nancy's case it
meant setting up as a washerwoman. Helen opened her
hazel eyes with astonishment at this, the first round in the
ladder of Nancy's ambition; however, she gave her ten
pounds, and thirty introductions, twenty-five of which missed
fire, and with the odd five Nancy set up her tub in the
suburbs, and by her industry, geniality, and frugality, got on
tolerably well. In due course she rented a smaU house,
backed by a small green, and advertised for a gentleman
lodger. She soon got one ; and soon got rid of him. How-
ever, she was never long without one.
Nancy met Joseph Wylie in company ; and, as sailors are
brisk wooers, he soon became her acknowledged suitor, and
made some inroad into her heart, though she kept on the
defensive, warned by past experience.
Wylie's love-making had a droll feature about it ; it was
most of it carried on in the presence of three washerwomen,
because Nancy had no time to spare from her work, and
Wylie had no time to lose in his wooing, being on shore for
a limited period. And this absence of superfluous delicacy
on his part gave him an unur advantage over the tallow-
chandler's foreman, his only rival at present. Many a sly
thrust, and many a hearty laugh, from his female auditors,
greeted his amorous eloquence ; but, for all that, they sided
with him, and Nancy felt her importance, and brightened
along with her mates at the sailor's approach, which was
generally announced by a cheerfrd hail. He was good
company, to use Nancy's own phrase, and she accepted
him as a sweetheart on probation. But, when Mr. Wylie
urged her to marry him, she demurred, and gave a string
of reasons, all of which the sailor and his allies, the subordi-
nate washerwomen, combated in full conclave.
Then she spoke out : " My lad, the wash-tub is a saddle as
won't carry double. I've seen poverty enough in my mother's
house ; it shan't come in at my door to drive love out of
window. Two comes together with just enough for two;
next year instead of two they are three, and one of the
three can't work and wants a servant extra, and by-and-by
there is half-a-dozen, and the money coming in at the spigot
and going out at the bung-hole."
278 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
One day, in the middle of his wooing, she laid down her
iron, and said, " You come along with me. And I wonder
how much work will be done whilst my back is turned, for
you three gabbling and wondering whatever I'm going to do
with this here sailor."
She took Wylie a few yards down the street, and showed
him a large house with most of the windows broken.
"There," said she, "there's a sight for a seafaring man.
That's in Chancery."
"Well, it's better to be there than in H ," said Wylie,
meaning to be sharp.
"Wait till you've tried *em both," said Nancy.
Then she took him to the back of the house, and showed
him a large garden attached to it.
"Now, Joseph," said she, ^^I've showed you a lodging-
house and a drying-ground; and I'm a cook and a clear
starcher, and I'm wild to keep lodgers and do for 'em, wash-
ing and all. Then, if their foul linen goes out, they follows
it: the same if they has their meat from the cook-shop.
Four hundred pounds a year lies there a-waiting for me. I've
been at them often to let me them premises ; but they says
no, we have got no border from the court to let Which the
court would rather see 'em go to rack and ruin for nothings
than let 'em to an honest woman as would pay the rent
punctual, and make her penny out of 'em, and nobody none
the worse. And to sell them, the price is two thousand
pounds, and if I had it I'd give it this minnit ; but where are
the likes of you and me to get two thousand pounds ? But
the lawyer he says, 'Miss Rouse, from you one thousand
down, and the rest on mortgage at JB45 the year,' which it is
dirt cheap, I say. So now, my man, when that house is
mine, I'm yours. I'm putting by for it o' my side. If you
means all you say, why not save a bit o' yours } Once I get
that house and garden, you needn't go to sea no more : nor
you shan't. If I am to be bothered with a man, let me know
where to put my finger on him at all hours, and not lie
shivering and shaking at every window as creaks, and him
out at sea. And if you are too proud to drive the linen in a
light cart, why, I could pay a man." In short, she told him
plainly she would not marry till she was above the world ;
and the road to above the world was through that great
battered house and seedy garden, in Chancery.
Now it may appear a strange coincidence that Nancy's price
to Wyhe was two thousand pounds, and Wylie's to Wardlaw
279 n T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
was two thousand pounds: but the fact is it was a forced
coincidence. Wylie, bargaining with Wardlaw, stood out for
two thousand pounds^ because that was the price of the house
and garden and Nancy.
Now when Wylie returned to England safe after -his crime
and his perils^ he comforted himself with the reflection that
Nancy would have her house and garden^ and he should have
Nancy.
But young Wardlaw lay on his sick bed; his father was
about to return to the office^ and the gold disguised as
copper was ordered up to the cellars in Fenchurch Street
There, in all probability, the contents would be examined
ere long, the fraud exposed, and other unpleasant con-
sequences might follow over and above the loss of the
promised JB2000.
Wylie felt very disconsolate, and went down to Nancy
Rouse depressed in spirits. To his surprise she received him
with more affection than ever, and, reading his face in a
moment, told him not to fret. '
"It will be so in your way of Ufe," said this homely
comforter; "your sort comes home empty-handed one day,
and money in both pockets the next. I'm glad to see you
home at all, for I've been in care about you. You're very
welcome, Joe. If you are come home honest and sober, why,
that is the next best thing to coming home rich."
Wylie hung his head and ponder^ these words ; and well
he might, for he had not come home either so sober or so
honest as he went out, but quite as poor.
However, his elastic spirits soon revived in Nancy's sun-
shine ; and he became more in love with her than ever.
But when, presuming upon her affection, he urged her to
marry him, and trust to Providence, she laughed in his
face.
" Trust to himprovidence you mean," said she ; *' no, no,
Joseph. If you are unlucky, I must be lucky before you and
me can come together."
Then Wylie resolved to have his 2000 at all risks. He
had one great advantage over a landsman who has committed
a crime: he could always go to sea, and find employment,
first in one ship, and then in another. Terra Jtrma was not
one of the necessaries of life to him.
He came to Wardlaw's office to feel his way, and talked
guardedly to Michael Penfold about the loss of the Proser-
pine, His apparent object was to give information ; his real
280
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
object was to gather it. He learned that old Wardlaw was
very much occupied with fitting out a steamer ; that the forty
chests of copper had actually come up from the Shannon, and
were under their feet at that moment ; and that young Ward-
law was desperately ill and never came to the office. Michael
had not at that time learned the true cause of young Ward-
law's illness. Yet Wylie detected that young Wardlaw's
continued absence from the office gave Michael singular un-
easiness. The old man fidgeted^ and washed the air with his
hands^ and with simple cunning urged Wylie to go and see
him about the Proserpine^ and get him to the office, if it was
only for an hour or two. '^Tell him we are all sixes and
sevens, Mr. Wylie ; all at sixes and sevens."
"Well/' said Wylie, affecting a desire to oblige, "give
me a line to him: for I've been twice and could never
get in."
Michael wrote an earnest line to say that Wardlaw senior
had been hitherto much occupied in fitting out the Springbok^
but that he was going into the books next week. What was
to be done }
The note was received; but Arthur declined to see the
bearer. Then Wylie told the servant it was Joseph Wylie,
on a matter of life and death. " Tell him I must stand on
the staircase and hallo it out, if he won't hear it any other
way."
This threat obtained his admission to Arthur Wardlaw.
The sailor found him on a sofisi in a darkened room, pale and
worn to a shadow.
" Mr. Wardlaw," said Wylie firmly, " you mustn't think I
don't feel for you ; but, sir, we are gone too far to stop, you
and me. There are two sides to this business ; it is iB 150,000
for you, and 2000 for me, or it is "
"What do I care for money now?" groaned Wardlaw.
" Let it all go to the devil, who tempted me to destroy her
I loved better than money, better than all the world."
" Well, but hear me out," said Wylie. " I say it is l 50,000
to you, and i^SOOO to me, or else it is twenty years' penal
servitude to both on us."
" Penal servitude ! " And the words roused the merchant
from his lethargy like a shower-bath.
" You know that well enough," said Wylie. " Why, 'twas
a hanging matter a few years ago. G)me, come, there are no
two ways ; you must be a man, or we are undone."
Fear prevailed in that timorous breast, which even love of
281 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
money had failed to rouse. Wardlaw sat up^ staring wildly^
and asked Wylie what he was to do.
'^ First let me ring for a bottle of that old brandy of yours."
The brandy was got. Wylie induced him to drink a wine-
glassful neat, and then to sit at the table and examine the
sailors' declaration, and the log. ''I'm no great scholard,"
said he. '' I wam't a going to lay these before the under-
writers, till you had overhauled them. There, take another
drop now, 'twill do you good, while I draw up this thun-
dering bhnd."
Thus encouraged and urged, the broken-hearted schemer
languidly compared the seamen's declaration with the log;
and, even in his feeble state of mind and body, made an
awkward discovery at once.
" Why, they don't correspond," said he.
" What don't correspond } "
''Your men's statement and the ship's log. The men
speak of one heavy gale after another, in January, and the
pumps going ; but the log says, ' A puff of wind from the
NR' And here, again, the entry exposes your exaggeration ;
one branch of our evidence contradicts the other ; this comes
of trying to prove too much. You must say the log was lost,
went down with the ship."
^' How can I ? " cried Wylie. " I have told too many I had
got it safe at home."
" Why did you say that } What madness ! "
"Why were you away from your office at such a time.^
How can I know everything, and do everything ? I counted
on you for the head-work ashore. Can't ye think of any way
to square the log to that part of our tale might paste in a
leaf or two, eh . "
"That would be discovered at once. You have com-
mitted an irremediable error. What broad strokes this
Hudson makes. He must have written with the stump of a
quill."
Wylie received this last observation with a look of contempt
for the mind that could put so trivial a question in so great an
emergency.
" Are you quite sure poor Hudson is dead } " asked Ward-
law, in a low voice.
" Dead ! Don't I tell you I saw him die ! " said Wyhe,
trembling all of a sudden.
He took a glass of brandy, and sent it flying down his
throat,
^^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
" Leave the paper with me," said Arthur languidly, ^' and
tell Penfold I'll crawl to the office to-monow. You can meet
me there ; I shall see nobody else."
Wylie called next day at the office, and was received by
Penfold, who had now learned the cause of Arthur's grief,
and ushered the visitor in to him with looks of benevolent
concern. Arthur was seated like a lunatic, pale and motion-
less : on the table before him was a roast fowl and a salad,
which he had forgotten to eat. His mind appeared to alter-
nate between love and fraud, for, as soon as he saw Wylie, he
gave himself a sort of a shake, and handed Wylie the log and
Sie papers.
'^ Examine them; they agree better with each other now."
Wylie examined the log, and started with surprise and
superstitious terror. '' Why, Hiram's ghost has been here at
work ! " said he. '^ It is his very handwriting."
'' Hush," said Wardlaw ; '' not so loud. Will it do ? "
" The writing will do, first rate ; but any one can see this
log has never been to sea."
Inspired by the other s ingenuity, he then, after a moment's
reflection, emptied the salt-cellar into a plate, and poured a
little water over it. He wetted the leaves of the log with
this salt water, and dog's-eared the whole book.
Wardlaw sighed. ''See what expedients we are driven
to," said he. He then took a little soot from the chimney,
and mixed it with salad oil. He applied some of this mixture
to the parchment cover, rubbed it off, and by much manipula-
tion gave it a certain mellow look, as if it had been used by
working hands.
Wylie was armed with these materials, and furnished with
money to keep his sailors to their tale, in case of their being
examined.
Arthur begged, in his present affliction, to be excused from
going personally into the matter of the Proserpine ; and said
that Penfold had the ship's log, and the declaration of the
survivors, which the insurers coidd inspect, previously to their
being deposited at Lloyd's.
The whole thing wore an excellent face, and nobody found
a peg to hang suspicion on so far.
After this preliminary, and the deposit of the papers,
nothing was hurried; the merchant, absorbed in his grief,
seemed to be forgetting to ask for his money. Wylie re-
monstrated ; but Arthur convinced him they were still on too
ticklish ground to show any hurry without exciting suspicion.
^^^ - :i by Google
Digitized t
FOUL PLAY
And so passed two weary months^ during which Wylie fell
out of Nancy Rouse's good graces^ for idling about doing
nothing.
'^ Be you a waiting for the plum to fall into your mouth,
young man ? " said she.
The demand was made on the underwriters, and Arthur
contrived that it should come from his father. The firm was
of excellent repute, and had paid hundreds of insurances with-
out a loss to the underwriters. The Proserpine had foundered
at sea ; several lives had been lost, and of the survivors, one
had since died, owing to the hardships he had endured. All
this betokened a genuine calamity. Nevertheless, one ray of
suspicion rested on the case, at first. The captain of the
Proserpine had lost a great many ships; and, on the first
announcement, one or two were resolved to sift the matter
on that ground alone. But, when five eye-witnesses, sup-
pressing all mention of the word ^' drink," declared that
Captain Hudson had refused to leave the vessel, and de-
scribed his going down with the ship, from an obstinate and
too exalted sense of duty, every chink was closed ; and, to
cut the matter short, the insurance money was paid to the
last shilling, and Benson, one of the small underwriters,
ruined. Nancy Rouse, who worked for Mrs. Benson, lost
18s. 6d., and was dreadfully put out about it.
Wylie heard her lamentations, and grinned; for now his
2000 was as good as in his pocket, he thought. Great was
his consternation when Arthur told him that every shilling
of the money was forestalled, and that the entire profit of
the transaction was yet to come, viz., by the sale of the
gold-dust.
^'Then sell it," said Wylie.
"I dare not. The affair must cool down before I can
appear as a seller of gold ; and, even then, I must dribble it
out with great caution. Thank Heaven, it is no longer in
those cellars."
^' Where is it, then?"
'' That is my secret. You will get your two thousand all
in good time ; and, if it makes you one-tenth part as wretched
as it has made me, you will thank me for all these delays."
At last Wylie lost all patience, and began to show his
teeth ; and then Arthur Wardlaw paid him his 2000 in
forty crisp notes.
He crammed them into a side pocket, and went down
triumphant to Nancy Rouse. Through her parlour window
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
he saw the benign countenance of Michael Penfold. He
then remembered Penfold had told him, some time before,
that he was going to lodge with her, as soon as the present
lodger should go.
This, however, rather interrupted Wylie's design of walking
in and chucking the two thousand pounds into Nancy's lap.
On the contrary, he shoved them deeper down in his pocket,
and resolved to see the old gentleman to bed, and then pro-
duce his pelf, and fix the wedding-day with Nancy.
He came in, and found her cr3ring, and Penfold making
weak efforts to console her. The tea-things were on the
table, and Nancy's cup half emptied.
Wylie came in and said, '^Why, what is the matter now?"
He said this mighty cheerfully, as one who carried the
panacea for all ills in his pocket, and a medicine peculiarly
suited to Nancy Rouse's constitution. Biit he had not quite
fathomed her yet.
As soon as ever she saw him she wiped her eyes and
asked him grimly what he wanted there. Wylie stared at
the reception, but rephed stoutly that it was pretty well
known by this time what he wanted in that quarter.
*^Well, then," said Nancy, ''want will. be your master.
Why did you never tell me Miss Helen was in that ship ?
my sweet, dear mistress as was, that I feel for like a mother.
You left her to dtown, and saved your own great useless
carcass, and drownded she is, poor dear. Get out o* my
sight, do."
''It wasn't my fault, Nancy," said Wyhe earnestly. "I
didn't know who she was, and I advised her to come with
us ; but she would go with that parson chap."
" What parson chap ? What a liar you be ! She is Ward-
law's sweetheart, and don't care for no parsons. If you didn't
know who was to blame, why didn't you tell me a word of
your own accord } You kept dark. Do you call yourself a
man, to leave my poor young lady to shift for herself.'^ "
" She had as good a chance to live as I had," said Wyhe
sullenly.
" No, she hadn't ; you took care o' yourself. Well, since
you are so fond of yourself, keep yourself to yourself, and
don't come here no more. After this, I hate the sight on
ye. You are like the black dog in my eyes, and always will
be. Poor, dear Miss Helen ! Ah, I cried when she left
my mind misgave me ; but little I thought she would perish
in the salt seas, and all for want of a man in the ship. If you
^^^ - d by Google
Digitized t
FOUL PLAY
bad gone out again after in the steamboat Mr. Penfold
have told me all about it Vd believe you weren't so much to
blame. But^ no; lolloping and looking about all day for
months. There's my door, Joe Wylie ; I can't cry comfort-
able before you, as had a hand in drownding of her. You
and me is parted for ever. I'll die as I am, or I'll many a
man; which you ain't one, nor nothing like one. Is he
waiting for you to hold the door open, Mr. Penfolds? or
don't I spe^ plain enough? Them as I gave the sack to
afore you didn't want so much telling."
''Well, I'm going," said Wylie sullenly; then, with con-
siderable feeling, '' This is hard lines."
But Nancy was inexorable, and turned him out, with the
^2000 in his pocket.
He took the notes out, and flung them furiously down in
the dirt
Then he did what everybody does under similar circum-
stances ; he picked them up again, and pocketed them along
with the other dirt they had gathered.
Next day he went down to the docks, and looked out for
a ship : he soon got one, and signed as second mate. She
was to sail in a fortnight.
But, before a week was out, the bank-notes had told so
upon him, that he was no longer game to go to sea. But
the captain he had signed with was a tartar, and not to be
trifled with. He consulted a knowing friend, and that friend
advised him to disguise himself till the ship had sailed.
Accordingly he rigged himself out with a long coat, and a
beard, and spectacles, and hid his sea-slouch as well as he
could, and changed his lodgings. Finding he succeeded so
well, he thought he might as well have the pleasure of look-
ing at Nancy Rouse, if he could not talk to her. So he
actually had the hardihood to take the parlour next door;
and by this means he heard her move about in her room,
and caught a sight of her at work on her little green ; and
he was shrewd enough to observe she did not sing and
whistle as she used to do. The dog chuckled at that
His bank-notes worried him night and day. He was
afraid to put them in a bank, afraid to take them about with
him into his haunts ; afraid to leave them at home ; and out
of his perplexity arose some incidents worth relating in their
proper order.
Arthur Wardlaw returned to business; but he was a
Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
changed man. All zest in the thing was gone. His fraud
set him above the world ; and that was now enough for him,
in whom ambition was dead, and, indeed, nothing left alive
in him but deep regrets.
He drew in the horns of speculation, and went on in the
old safe routine ; and to the restless activity that had jeopar-
dised the firm, succeeded a strange torpidity. He wore black
for Helen; and sorrowed without hope. He felt he had
offended Heaven, and had met his punishment in Helen's
death.
Wardlaw senior retired to Elmtrees, and seldom saw his
son. When they did meet, the old man sometimes whispered
hope, but the whisper was faint and unheeded.
One day Wardlaw senior came up express, to communicate
a letter to Arthur from General Rolleston, written at Valpa-
raiso. In this letter General Rolleston deplored his unsuc-
cessful search; but said he was going westward, upon the
report of a Dutch whaler, who had seen an island reflected
in the sky, while sailing between Juan Fernandez and
Norfolk Isle.
Arthur only shook his head with a ghastly smile. " She
is in heaven," said he, ''and I shall never see her again,
neither here nor hereafter."
Wardlaw senior was shocked at this speech ; but he made
no reply. He pitied his son too much to criticise the ex-
pressions into which his bitter grief betrayed him. He was
old, and had seen the triumphs of time over all things human,
sorrow included. These, however, as yet, had done nothing
for Arthur Wardlaw. At the end of six months his grief was
as sombre and as deadly as the first week.
But one day, as this pale figure in deep mourning sat at
his table, going listlessly and mechanically through the
business of scraping money together for others to enjoy,
whose hearts, unlike his, might not be in the grave, his
father burst in upon him, with a telegram in his hand, and
waved it over his head in triumph. '' She is found ! she is
found!" he roared; "read that," and thrust the telegram
into his hands.
Those hands trembled, and the languid voice rose into
shrieks of astonishment and delight, as Arthur read the
words, '' We have got her alive and well : shall be at Charing
Cross Hotel, 8 p.m."
287 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER LI
Whilst the boat was going to the Springbok, General Rolles-
ton whispered to Captain Moreland ; and what he said may
be almost guessed from what occurred on board the steamer
soon afterwards. Helen was carried trembling to the cabin^
and the order was given to heave the anchor and get under
weigh. A groan of disappointment ran through the ship ;
Captain Moreland expressed the general's regret to the
men^ and divided j200 upon the capstan; and the groan
ended in a cheer.
As for Helen's condition^ that was at first mistaken for ill-
health. She buried herself for two whole days in her cabin ;
and from that place faint moans were heard now and then.
The sailors called her the sick lady.
Heaven knows what she went through in that forty-eight
hours.
She came upon deck at last in a strange state of mind
and body : restless, strung up, absorbed. The rare vigour she
had acquired on the island came out now with a vengeance.
She walked the deck with a briskness, and a pertinacity that
awakened admiration in the crew at first, but by-and-by
superstitious awe. For, while the untiring feet went briskly
to and fro over leagues and leagues of plank every day, the
great hazel eyes were turned inwards, and the mind, absorbed
with one idea, skimmed the men and things about her
Hstlessly.
She had a mission to fulfil, and her whole nature was
stringing itself up to do the work.
She walked so many miles a day, partly from excitement,
partly with a deliberate resolve to cherish her health and
strength : ^' I may want them both," said she, '^ to clear
Robert Penfold." Thought and high purpose shone through
her so, that after a while nobody dared trouble her much
with commonplaces. To her father she was always sweet
and filial, but sadly cold compared with what she had
always been hitherto. He was taking her body to England,
but her heart stayed behind upon that island : he saw this,
and said it
" Forgive me," said she coldly, and that was all her reply.
Sometimes she had violent passions of weeping ; and then
he would endeavour to console her, but in vain. They ran
288 ^ T
Digitized by VjrOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
their course^ and were succeeded by the bodily activity and
concentration of purpose they had interrupted for a little
while.
At last, after a rapid voyage, they drew near the English
coast ; and then General Rolleston, who had hitherto spared
her feelings, and been most indulgent and considerate, felt
it was high time to come to an understanding as to the course
they should both pursue.
'^ Now, Helen," said he, " about the Wardlaws ! "
Helen gave a slight shudder. But she said, after a slight
hesitation, ^' Let me know your wishes."
'^ Oh, mine are, not to be too ungrateful to the father, and
not to deceive the son."
"I will not be ungrateful to the father, nor deceive the
son," said Helen firmly.
The general kissed her on the brow, and called her his
brave girl. ''But," said he, ''on the other hand, it must
not be published that you have been for eight months on
an island alone with a convict. Anjrthing socmer than that.
You know the malice of your own sex ; if one of the ladies,
who kiss you at every visit, gets hold of that, you will be an
outcast fit)m society."
Helen blushed and trembled. " Nobody need be told that
but Arthur ; and I am sure he loves me well enough not to
injure me with the world."
" But he would be justified in declining your hand, after
such a revelation."
" Quite. And I hope he will decline it, when he knows I
love another, however hopelessly."
" You are going to tell Arthur Wardlaw all that ? "
"lam."
" Then all I can say is, you are not like other women."
" I have been brought up by a man."
" If I were Arthur Wardlaw it would be the last word you
should ever speak to me."
"If you were Arthur Wardlaw I should be on that dear
island now."
" Well, suppose his love should be greater than his spirit,
and "
" If he does not go back, when he hears of my hopeless
love, I don't see how I can. I shall marry him, and try with
all my soul to love him. I'll open every door in London to
Robert Penfold, except one my husband's. And that door,
while I live, he shall never enter. Oh, my heart ! my heart ! "
289 Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY.
She burst out sobbing desperately ; and her father laid her
head upon his bosom^ and sighed deeply^ and asked himself
how all this would end.
Before they landed^ her fortitude seemed to return ; and of
her own accord she begged her father to telegraph to the
Wardlaws.
" Would you not like a day to compose yourself, and prepare
for this trying interview ? " said he.
" I should ; but it is mere weakness. And I must cure
myself of weakness, or I shall never clear Robert Penfold.
And then, papa, I think of you. If old Mr. Wardlaw heard
you had been a day in town, you might suffer in his good
opinion. We shall be in London at seven. Ask them at
eight. That will be one hour's respite. God help me ! "
Long before eight o'clock that day, Arthur Wardlaw had
passed firom a state of sombre misery and remorse to one of
joy, exultation, and unmixed happiness. He no longer re-
gretted his crime, nor the loss of the Proserpine ; Helen was
alive and well, and attributed not her danger but only her
preservation to the Wardlaws.
Wardlaw senior kept his carriage in town, and precisely at
eight o'clock they drove up to the door of the hoteL
They followed the servant with bounding hearts, and rushed
into the room where the general and Helen stood ready to
receive them. Old Wardlaw went to the general with both
hands out, and so the general met him, and between these
two it was almost an embrace. Arthur ran to Helen with
cries of joy and admiration, and kissed her hands again and
again, and shed such genuine tears of joy over them that she
trembled all over, and was obliged to sit down. He kneeled
at her feet, and still imprisoned one hand, and mumbled it,
while she turned her head away and held her other hand
before her face to hide its real expression, which was a mix-
ture of pity and repugnance. But, as her face was hidden,
and her eloquent body quivered, and her hand was not with-
drawn, it seemed a sweet picture of feminine affection, to
those who had not the key.
At last she was relieved from a most embarrassing situation
by old Wardlaw ; he cried out on this monopoly, and Helen
instantly darted out of her chair, and went to him, and put
up her cheek to him, which he kissed ; and then she thanked
him warmly for his courage in not despairing of her life, and
his goodness in sending out a ship for her.
Now, the fact is, she could not feel grateful ; but she knew
290 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
she ought to be grateful, and she was ashamed to show no
feeling at all in return for so much ; so she was eloquent, and
the old gentleman was naturally very much pleased at first ;
but he caught an expression of pain on Arthur s face, and
then he stopped her. ''My dear," said he, "you ought to
thank Arthur, not me ; it is his love for you which was the
cause of my zeal. If you owe me an3i:hing, pay it to him,
for he deserves it best He nearly died for you, my sweet
girL No, no, you mustn't hang your head for that, neither.
What a fool I am to revive our sorrows ! Here we are, the
happiest four in England." Then he whispered to her, '' Be
kind to poor Arthur that is all I ask. His very life depends
on you."
Helen obeyed this order, and went slowly back to Arthur ;
she sat, cold as ice, on the sofa beside him, and he made love
to her. She scarcely heard what he said; she was asking
herself how she could end this intolerable interview, and
escape her fstther's looks, who knew the real state of her
heart.
At last she rose and went and whispered to him : '' My
courage has failed me. Have pity on me, and get me away.
It is the old man ; he kills me."
General Rolleston took the hint, and acted with more tact
than one would have given him credit for. He got up and
rang the bell for tea; then he said to Helen, ''You don't
drink tea now, and I see you are excited more than is good
for you. You had better go to bed."
" Yes, papa," said Helen.
She took her candle, and as she passed young Wardlaw
she told him, in a low voice, she would be glad to speak to
him alone to-morrow.
" At what hour ? " said he eagerly.
"When you like. At one."
And so she retired, leaving him in ecstasies. This was the
first downright assignation she had ever made with him.
They met at one o'clock ; he radiant as the sun, and with a
rose in his button-hole ; she sad and sombre, and with her
very skin twitching at the thought of the explanation she
had to go through.
He began with amorous commonplaces ; she stopped him
gravely "Arthur," said she, "you and I are alone now,
and I have a confession to make. Unfortunately, I must
cause you pain ^terrible pain. Oh I my heart flinches at the
291
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
wound I am going to give you ; but it is my fate, either to
wound you or to deceive you."
During this preamble, Arthur sat amazed rather than
alarmed. He did not interrupt her, though she paused, and
would gladly have been interrupted, since an interruption is
an assistance in perplexities.
^* Arthur, we suffered great hardships in the boat, and you
would have lost me but for one person. He saved my life
again and again ; I saved his upon the island. My constancy
was subject to trials oh 1 such trials. So great an example
of every manly virtue for ever before my eyes I My grati-
tude and my pity eternally pleading! England and you
seemed gone for ever. Make excuses for me if you can.
Arthur I I have formed an attachment."
In making this strange avowal she hung her head and
blushed, and the tears ran down her cheeks. But we suspect
they ran for him, and not for Arthur.
Arthur turned deadly sick at this tremendous blow, dealt
with so soft a hand. At last he gasped out, " If you marry
him you will bury me."
''No, Arthur," said Helen gently; "I could not many
him, even if you were to permit me. When you know more,
you will see that, of us three unhappy ones, you are the least
unhappy. But, since this is so, am I wrong to tell you the
truth, and leave you to decide whether our engagement ought
to continue ? Of course, what I have owned to you releases
you."
" Releases me ! But it does not unbind my heart from
yours," cried Arthur, in despair.
Then his hysterical nature came out, and he was so near
fainting away, that Helen sprinkled water on his temples, and
applied eau-de-cologne to his nostrils, and murmured, " Poor,
poor Arthur ; oh ! was I bom only to afflict those I esteem ? "
He saw her with the tears of pity in her eyes, and he
caught her hand, and said, ''You were always the soul of
honour ; keep faith with me, and I will cure you of that un-
happy attachment."
" What ? Do you hold me to my engagement after what I
have told you ? "
" Cruel Helen ! you know I have not the power to hold
you."
" I am not cruel ; and you have the power. But, oh ! think.
For your own sake, not mine."
" I have thought ; and this attachment to a man you cannot
^^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
marry is a mere misfortune^ yours as well as mine. Give me
your esteem until your love comes back^ and let our engage-
ment continue."
^'It was for you to decide/' said Helen coldly, "and
you have decided. There is one condition I must ask you to
submit to."
''I submit to it."
' What, before you hear it } "
" Helen, you don't know what a year of misery I have
endured, ever since the report came of your death. My
happiness is cruelly dashed now; but still it is great hap-
piness by comparison. Make your conditions. You are my
queen, as well as my love and my life."
Helen hesitated. It shocked her delicacy to lower the man
she had consented to marry.
'' Oh, Helen," said Arthur, " anything but secrets between
you and me. Go on as you have begun, and let me know
the worst at once."
" Can you be very generous, Arthur ? generous to him who
has caused you so much pain } "
" I'll try," said Arthur, with a groan.
'^ I would not marry him, unless you gave me up ; for I
am your betrothed, and your are true to me. I could not
marry him, even if 1 were not pledged to you ; but it so
happens, I can do him one great service without injustice to
you; and this service I have vowed to do before I marry.
I shall keep that vow, as I keep faith with you. He has
been driven from society by a foul slander ; that slander I am
to sift and confute. It will be long and difficult ; but I shall
do it ; and you could help me if you chose. But that I will
not be so cruel as to ask.'
Arthur bit his lip with jealous rage ; but he was naturally
cunning, and his cunning showed him there was at present
but one road to Helen's heart He quelled his torture as
well as he could, and resolved to take that road. He reflected
a moment, and then he said
^' If you succeed in that, will you marry me next day ? "
" I will, upon my honour."
"Then, I will help you."
'* Arthur, think what you say. Women have loved as un-
selfishly as this ; but no man, that ever I heard of."
" No man ever did love a woman as 1 love you. Yes, I
would rather help you, though with a sore hearty than hold
aloof from you. What have we to do together ? "
293
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
"Did I not tell you? To clear his character of a foul
stigma^ and restore him to England^ and to the world which
he is so fitted to adorn."
^' Yes, yes/' said Arthur ; " but who is it ? Why do I ask,
though ? He must be a stranger to me."
'' No stranger at all/' said Helen ; '* but one who is almost
as unjust to you as the world has been to him ; " then, fixing
her eyes full on him, she said, " Arthur, it is your old friend
and tutor, Robert Penfold."
CHAPTER LII
Arthur Wardlaw was thunderstruck; and, for some time,
sat stupidly staring at her. And to this blank gaze suc-
ceeded a look of abject terror, which seemed strange to her,
and beyond the occasion. But this was not all; for, after
glaring at her with scared eyes and ashy cheeks a moment or
two, he got up and literally staggered out of the room without
a word.
He had been taken by surprise, and, for once, all his arts
had failed him.
Helen, whose eyes had never left his face, and had followed
his retiring figure, was frightened at the weight of the blow
she had struck ; and strange thoughts and conjectures filled
her mind. Hitherto, she had felt sure Robert Penfold was
under a delusion as to Arthur Wardlaw, and that his suspi-
cions were as unjust as they certainly were vague. Yet,
now, at the name of Robert Penfold, Arthur tumi pale and
fled like a guilty thing. This was a coincidence that con-
firmed her good opinion of Robert Penfold, and gave her ugly
thoughts of Arthur. Still, she was one very slow to condemn
a friend, and too generous and candid to condemn on sus-
picion ; so she resolved as far as possible to suspend her un-
favourable judgment of Arthur, until she should have asked
him why this great emotion, and heard his reply.
Moreover, she was no female detective, but a pure creature
bent on clearing innocence. The object of her life was not
to discover the &ults of Arthur Wardlaw, or any other person,
but to clear Robert Penfold of a crime. Yet Arthur's strange
behaviour was a great shock to her; for here, at the very
outset, he had somehow made her feel she must hope for
294 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
no assistance from Mm. She sighed at this check, and asked
herself to whom she should apply first for aid. Robert had
told her to see his counsel, his sohcitor, his father, and Mr.
Undercliff, an expert, and to sift the whole matter.
Not knowing exactly where to begin, she thought she
would, after all, wait a day or two to give Arthur time to
recover himself, and decide calmly whether he would co-
operate with her or not
In this trying interval, she set up a diary for the first
time in her life ; for she was no egotist : and she noted down
what we have just related, only in a very condensed form,
and wrote at the margin Mvsteriotis.
Arthur never came near her for two whole days. This
looked grave. On the third day she said to General Rol-
leston
" Papa, vou will help me in the good cause, will you not ?"
He replied that he would do what he could, but feared
that would be little.
" Will you take me down to Elmtrees this morning ? "
'^With all my heart."
He took her down to Elmtrees. On the way she said:
''Papa, you must let me get a word with Mr. Wardlaw,
alone."
" Oh, certainly. But, of course, you will not say a word to
hurt his feelings."
''Oh, papa!"
" Excuse me : but, when a person of your age is absorbed
with one idea, she sometimes forgets that other people have
any feelings at all."
Helen kissed him meekly, and said that was too true ; and
she would be upon her guard.
To General Rolleston's surprise, his daughter no sooner
saw old Wardlaw than she went or seemed to go ^into high
spirits, and was infinitely agreeable.
But at last she got him all to herself, and then she turned
suddenly grave, and said
" Mr. Wardlaw, I want to ask you a question. It is some-
thing about Robert Penfold."
Wardlaw shook his head. " That is a painful subject, my
dear. But what do you wish to know about that unhappy
young man ? "
"Can you tell me the name of the counsel who defended
him at the trial ? "
" No, indeed, I cannot."
295
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
" But perhaps you can tell me where I could learn that"
" His &ther is in our office still ; no doubt he could tell
you."
Now, for obvious reasons, Helen did not like to go to the
office; so she asked &intly if there was nobody else who
could tell her.
^* I suppose the solicitor could."
"But I don't know who was the solicitor," said Helen,
with a sigh.
"Hum!" said the merchant. "Try the bill-broker. I'll
give you his address ; " and he wrote it down for her.
Helen did not like to be too importunate, and she could
not bear to let Wardlaw senior know she loved anybody
better than his son ; and yet some explanation was necessary :
so she told him as calmly as she could that her father and
herself were both well acquainted with Robert Penfold, and
knew many things to his credit.
"I am glad to hear that," said Wardlaw; "and 1 can
believe it. He bore an excellent character here, till, in an
evil hour, a strong temptation came, and he fell."
" What ! You think he was guilty ? "
" I do. Arthur, I believe, has his doubts still. But he is
naturally prejudiced in his friend's fstvour : and, besides, he
was not at the trial ; I was."
"Thank you, Mr. Wardlaw," said Helen coldly; and,
within five minutes, she was on her way home.
"Arthur prejudiced in Robert Penfold's favour!" That
puzzled her extremely.
She put down the whole conversation whUe her memory
was fresh. She added this comment: "What darkness I
am groping in 1 "
Next day she went to the bill-broker, and told him Mr.
Wardlaw, senior, had referred her to him for certain informa-
tion. Wardlaw's name was evidently a passport. Mr. Adams
said obsequiously, " Anjrthing in the world I can do, madam .^"
"It is about Mr. Robert Penfold. 1 wish to know the
name of the counsel he had at his trial."
" Robert Penfold I What, the forger } "
" He was accused of that crime," said Helen, turning red.
" Accused, madam ! He was convicted. I ought to know ;
for it was my partner he tried the game on. But I was too
sharp for him. I had him arrested before he had time to
melt the notes ; indicted him, and sent him across the herring
pond, in spite of his parson's coat, the rascal."
296
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Helen drew back^ as if a serpent had stung her.
" It was you who had him transported ! " cried she, turning
her eyes on him with horror.
^^ Of course it was me," said Mr. Adams, firing up ; *' and
I did the country good service. I look upon a forger as
worse than a murderer. What is the matter.^ You are
ill."
The poor girl was half fainting at the sight of the man
who had destroyed her Robert, and owned it.
"No, no," she cried hastily; "let me get away ^let me
get away fifom here you cruel, cruel man."
She tottered to the door, and got to her carriage, she
scarcely knew how, without the information she went for.
The bill-broker was no fool ; he saw now how the land
lay ; he followed her down the stairs, and tried to stammer
excuses.
" Charing Cross Hotel," said she feintly, and hid her face
against the cushion to avoid the sight of him.
When she got home, she cried bitterly at her feminine
weakness, and her incapacity ; and she entered this pitiable
failure in her journal with a severity our male readers will
hardly, we think, be disposed to imitate ; and she added,
by way of comment "Is this how I carry out my poor
Robert's precept: Be obstinate as a man; be supple as a
woman ? "
That night she consulted her father on this difficulty,
so slight to any but an inexperienced girl. He told her
there must be a report of the trial in the newspapers, and the
report would probably mention the counsel ; she had better
consult a file.
Then the thing was where to find a file. After one or two
^lilures, the British Museum was suggested. She went
thither, and could not get in to read without certain for-
mahties. While these were being compUed with, she was at
a standstill.
That same evening came a line fi^m Arthur Wardlaw :
" Dearest Helen, I hear from Mr. Adams that you desire
to know the name of the counsel who defended Robert Pen-
fold. It was Mr. ToUemache. He has chambers in Lincoln's
Inn. Ever devotedly yours, Arthur Wardlaw."
Helen was touched with this letter, and put it away,
endorsed with a few words of gratitude and esteem; and
297
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
copied it into her diaiy^ and remarked^ ''This is one more
warning not to judge hastily. Arthur's agitation was pro-
bably only great emotion at the sudden mention of one whose
innocence he believes^ and whose sad fate distressess him."
She wrote back and thanked him sweetly^ and in terms that
encouraged a visit Next day she went to Mr. Tollemache.
A seedy man followed her at a distance. Mr. Tollemache
was not at his chambers^ not expected till four o'clock. He
was in court She left her card, and wrote on it in pencil
that she would call at four.
She went at ten minutes after four. Mr. Tollemache de-
clined through his clerk to see her if she was a client; he
could only be approached by her soUcitor. She felt inclined
to go away and cry ; but this time she remembered she was
to be obstinate as a man, and supple as a woman. She wrote
on a card, " I am not a client of Mr. Tollemache, but a lady
deeply interested in obtaining some information, which
Mr. Tollemache can with perfect propriety give me. I trust
to his courtesy as a gentleman not to refuse me a short
interview."
^' Admit the lady," said a sharp, little voice.
She was ushered in, and found Mr. Tollemache standing
before the fire.
'' Now, madam, what can I do for you ? "
'^Some years ago you defended Mr. Robert Penfold; he
was accused of forgery."
'' Oh, was he ? I think I remember something about it
A banker's clerk, wasn't he ? "
'^ Oh no, sir. A clergjnman."
"A clergyman.^ I remember it perfectly. He was con-
victed."
" Do you think he was guilty, sir ? "
^' There was a strong case against him."
" I wish to sift that case."
, ** Indeed. And you want to go through the papers."
" What papers, sir ? "
"The brief for the defence."
"Yes," said Helen boldly; "would you trust me with
that, sir. Oh, if you know how deeply I am interested ! "
The tears were in her lovely eyes.
" The brief has gone back to the solicitor, of course. I dare
say he will let you read it upon a proper representation."
"Thank you, sir. Will you tell me who is the solicitor,
and where he lives ? "
'298
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
" Oh, I can't remember who was the solicitor. That is the
very first thing you ought to have ascertained. It was no
use coming to me."
" Forgive me for troubling you, sir/' said Helen, with a
deep sigh.
^' Not at all, madam ; I am only sorry I cannot be of more
service. But do let me advise you to employ your solicitor
to make these preliminary inquiries. Happy to consult with
him, and re-open the matter, should he discover any fresh
evidence." He bowed her out, and sat down to a brief while
she was yet in sight.
She turned away heart-sick. The advice she had received
was good; but she shrank firom baring her heart to her
father's solicitor.
She sat disconsolate a while, then ordered another cab, and
drove to Wardlaw's office. It was late, and Arthur was gone
home; so, indeed, was everybody, except one young subor-
dinate, who was putting up the shutters. *'Sir," said she,
" can you tell me where old Mr. Penfold lives ? "
'' Somewhere in the subbubs, miss."
" Yes, sir, but where ? "
" I think it is out Pimlico way."
^' Could you not give me the street ? I would beg you to
accept a present if you could."
This sharpened the young gentleman's wits; he went in
and groped here and there, 1^1 he found the address; and
gave it her : No. 3 Fairfield Cottages, Primrose Lane, Pim-
hco. She gave him a sovereign, to his infinite surprise and
delight, and told the cabman to drive to the hoteL
The next moment the man who had followed her was
chatting famiUarly with the subordinate, and helping him
put up the shutters.
^' I say, Dick," said the youngster, " Penfolds is up in the
market ; a duchess was here just now, and gave me a sov. to
tell her where he lived. Wait a moment tSl I spit on it for
luck."
The agent, however, did not wait to witness this interesting
ceremony. He went back to his hansom round the comer,
and drove at once to Arthur Wardlaw's house with the
information.
Helen noted down Michael Penfold's address in her diary,
and would have gone to him that evening, but she was to
dine tite-d-tite with her father.
Next day she went down to 3 Fairfield Cottages, at half-
299 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
past four. On the way her heart palpitated, for this was a
very important interview. Here at least she might hope to
find some clue by following out which she would sooner or
later establish Robert's innocence. But then came a fearful
thought ^^ Why had not his father done this already, if it
was possible to do it ? His &ther must love him. His fether
must have heard his own story and tested it in every way.
Yet his &ther remained the servant of a firm, the senior
partner of which had told her to her face Robert was guilty."
It was a strange and terrible enigma. Yet she clung to the
belief that some new light would come to her from Michael
Penfold. Then came bashful fears. ^^How should she
account to Mr. Penfold for the interest she took in Ms son,
she who was affianced to Mr. Penfold's employer." She
arrived at 3 Fairfield Gttages, with her cheeks burning, and
repeating to herself, '^Now is the time to be supple as a
woman, but obstinate as a man."
She sent the cabman in to inquire for Mr. Penfold ; a sharp
girl of about thirteen cam^ out to her, and told her Mr.
Penfold was not at home.
" Can you tell me when he will be at home ? "
" No, miss. He have gone to Scotland. A telegraphum
came rom Wardlaws' last night, as he was to go to Scotland,
first thing this morning ; and he went at six o'clock."
" Oh, dear ! How unfortunate ! "
*^Who shall I say called, miss.?"
'^ Thank you, I will write. What time did the telegram
come?"
''Between five and six last evening, miss."
She returned to the hotel. Fate seemed to be against her.
Baffled at the very threshold! At the hotel she found
Arthur Wardlaw's card, and a beautiful bouquet.
She sat down directly, and wrote to him affectionately^ and
asked him in the postscript if he could send her a report of
the trial. She received a reply directly, that he had inquired
in the office, for one of the clerks had reports of it ; but this
clerk was unfortunately out, and had locked up his desk.
Helen sighed. Her feet seemed to be clogged at every
step in this inquiry.
Next morning, however, a large envelope came for her, and
a Mr. Hand wrote to her thus :
" Madam, Having being requested by Mr. Arthur Ward-
law to send you my extracts of a trial, the Queen v. Penfold,
300
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
I herewith forward the same^ and would feel obliged by
your returning them at your convenience. Your obedient
servant^ James Hand."
Helen took the enclosed extracts to her bedroom^ and
there read them over many times.
In both these reports the case for the Crown was neat^
clear^ cogent^ straightforward^ and supported by evidence.
The defence was chiefly argument of counsel to prove the
improbabihty of a clergjnman and a man of good character
passing a forged note. One of the reports stated that Mr.
Arthur Wardlaw, a son of the principal witness^ had taken the
accusation so much to heart that he was now dangerously ill
at Oxford. The other report did not contain this^ but^ on
the other hand^ it stated that the prisoner after conviction
had endeavoured to lay the blame on Mr. Arthur Wardlaw,
but that the judge had stopped him, and said he could only
aggravate his offence by endeavouring to cast a slur upon the
Wardlaws, who had both shown a manifest desire to shield
him, but were powerless for want of evidence.
In both reports the summing up of the judge was moderate
in expression, but leaned against the prisoner on every point,
and corrected the sophistical reasoning of his counsel very
sensibly. Both the reports said an expert was called for
the prisoner, whose ingenuity made the court smile, but did
not counterbalance the evidence. Helen sat cold as ice with
the extracts in her hand.
Not that her sublime faith was shaken; but that poor
Robert appeared to have been so calmly and fairly dealt
with by everybody. Even Mr. Hennessy, the counsel for
the Crown, had opened the case with humane regret, and
confined himself to facts, and said nobody would be more
pleased than he would, if this evidence could be contradicted,
or explained in a manner consistent with the prisoner s
innocence.
What a stone she had undertaken to roll up what a hill !
What was to be her next step ? Gro to the Museum, which
was now open to her, and read more reports ? She shrank
from that
" The newspapers are all against him," said she ; ^' and I
don't want to be told he is guilty, when I know he is
innocent."
She now re-examined the extracts with a view to names,
and found the only names mentioned were those of the
SOI ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
counsel The expert's name was not given in either. How-
ever, she knew that from Robert She resolved to speak
to Mr. Hennessy first, and try and get at the defendant's
solicitor through him.
She found him out by the -Law Directory, and called at a
few minutes past four.
Hennessy was almost the opposite to Tollemache. He
was about the size of a gentleman's wardrobe ; and, like most
enormous men, good-natured. He received her, saw with
his practised eye that she was no common person, and, after
a slight hesitation on professional grounds, heard her request.
He sent for his note-book, found the case in one moment,
re-mastered it in another, and told her the solicitor for the
Crown in that case was Freshfield.
" Now," said he, " you want to know who was the defen-
dant's solicitor ? Jenkins, a stamped envelope. Write your
name and address on that."
While she was doing it, he scratched a line to Mr. Fresh-
field, asking him to send the required information to the
enclosed address.
She thanked Mr. Hennessy with the tears in her eyes.
*' I dare not ask you whether you think him guilty," she
said.
Hennessy shook his head with an air of good-natured
rebuke.
^'You must not cross-examine counsel," said he; '^but, if
it will be any comfort to you, I'll say Uiis much, there was
just a shadow of doubt, and Tollemache certainly let a
chance slip. If I had defended your friend, I woidd have
insisted on a postponement of the trial, until this Arthur
Wardlaw" (looking at his note-book) ''could be examined,
either in court or otherwise, if he was really dying. Is he
dead, do you know ? "
''No."
" I thought not. Sick witnesses are often at death's door;
but I never knew one pass the threshold. Ha ! ha ! The
trial ought to have been postponed till he got well. If a
judge refused me a postponement in such a case, I would
make him so odious to the jury, that the prisoner would get
a verdict in spite of his teeth."
"Then you think he was badly defended ? "
"No; that is saying a great deal more than I could
justify. But there are counsel, who trust too much to their
powers of reasoning, and underrate a chink in the evidence
302 r-^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
pro or con. Practice, and a few backfalls^ cure them of
that."
Mr. Hennessy uttered this general observation with a
certain change of tone, which showed he thought he had
said as much or more than his visitor had any right to expect
from him ; and she, therefore, left him, repeating her thanks.
She went home, pondering on every word he had said, and
entered it all in her journal, with the remark, '^ How strange !
the first doubt of Robert's guilt comes to me from the lawyer
who caused him to be found guilty. He calls it the shadow
of a doubt."
That very evening, Mr. Freshfield had the courtesy to send
her by messenger the name and address of the solicitcN* who
had defended Robert Penfold Lovejoy & James, Lincoln's
Inn Fields. She called on them, and sent in her card. She
was kept waiting a long time in the outer office, and felt
ashamed, and sick at heart, seated among young clerks. At
last she was admitted, and told Mr. Lovejoy she and her
father. General Rolleston, were much interested in a late client
of his, Mr. Robert Penfold, and would he be kind enough to
let her see the brief for the defence ?
" Are you a relation of the Penfolds, madam ? "
^' No, sir," said Helen, blushing.
^^ Humph !" said Lovejoy.
He touched a hand-bell. A clerk appeared.
^* Ask Mr. Upton to come to me."
Mr. Upton, the managing clerk, came in due course, and
Mr. Lovejoy asked him
'^ Who instructed us in the Queen v, Penfold ? "
^^ It was Mr. Michael Penfold, sir."
Mr. Lovejoy then told Helen that she must just get a line
from Mr. Michael Penfold, and then the papers should be
submitted to her.
" Yes ; but, sir," said Helen, " Mr. Penfold is in Scotland."
" Well, but you can write to him."
*' No ; I don't know in what part of Scotland he is."
" Then you are not very intimate with him ? "
" No, sir ; my acquaintance is with Mr. Robert Penfold"
^^ Have you a line from him ? "
*^ I have no written authority from him ; but will you not
take my word that I act by his desire ? "
" My dear madam," said the lawyer, ^' we go by rule.
There are certain forms to be observed in these things. I am
sure your own good sense will tell you it would be cruel and
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
improper of me to submit those papers without an order from
Robert or Michael Penfold. Pray consider this as a delay^
not a refusal."
"Yes, sir/' said Helen; '^but I meet with nothing but
delays, and my heart is breaking under them."
The solicitor looked sorry, but would not act irregularly.
She went home sighing, and condemned to wait the return
of Michael Penfold.
The cab-door was opened for her by a seedy man she
fancied she had seen before.
Baffled thus, and crippled in every movement she made,
however slight, in favour of Robert Penfold, she was seduced
on the other hand into all the innocent pleasures of the town.
Her adventure had transpired somehow or other, and all
General RoUeston's acquaintances hunted him up ; and both
father and daughter were courted by people of ton as lions.
A shipwrecked beauty is not offered to society every day.
Even her own sex raved about her, and about the chain of
beautiful pearls she had picked up somehow on her desolate
island. She always wore them; they linked her to that
sacred purpose she seemed to be forgetting. Her father drew
her with him into the vortex, hiding fix)m her that he
embarked in it principally for her sake, and she went down
the current with him out of filial duty. Thus unfathomable
difficulties thrust her back from her uphill task; and the
world, with soft but powerful hand, drew her away to it.
Arthur brought her a choice bouquet, or sent her a choice
bouquet, every evening, but otherwise did not intrude much
upon her; and though she was sure he would assist her if
she asked him, gratitude and delicacy forbade her to call him
again to her assistance. She preferred to await the return of
Michael Penfold. She had written to him at the office to tell
him she had news of his son, and begged him to give her
instant notice of his return from Scotland.
Day after day passed, and he did not write to her. She
began to chafe, and then to pine. Her father saw, and came
to a conclusion that her marriage with Arthur ought to be
hastened. He resolved to act quietly but firmly towards
that end.
304
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER LIII
Up to this time Helen's sex, and its attributes, had been a
great disadvantage to her. She had been stopped on the
very threshold of her inquiry by petty difficulties, which a
man would have soon surmounted. But one fine day the
scale gsnrfe a little turn, and she made a little discovery, thanks
to her sex. Women^ whether it is that they are bom to be
followed, or are accustomed to be followed, seem to have eyes
in the backs of their heads, and instinct to divine when some-
body is after them. This inexperienced girl, who had missed
seeing many things our readers have seen, observed in merely
passing her window a seedy man in the courtyard of the
hotel. Would you believe it, she instantly recognised the
man who had opened her cab-door for her in Lincoln's Inn
Fields. Quick as lightning it passed through her mind,
" Why do I see the same figure in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and
at Charing Cross." At various intervals she passed the
window ; and twice she saw the man again. She pondered,
and determined to try a little experiment. Robert Penfold,
it may be remembered, had mentioned an expert as one of
the persons she was to see. She had looked for his name in
the Directory; but experts were not down in the book.
Another fatsdity! But at last she had found Undercliff, a
lithographer, and she fancied that he must be the same
person. She did not hope to learn much from him ; the news-
papers said his evidence had caused a smile. She had a
distinct object in visiting him, the nature of which will
appear. She ordered a cab, and dressed herself. She came
down and entered the cab ; but instead of telling the man
where to drive, she gave him a slip of paper, containing the
addre^ of the lithographer. " Drive there," said she, a little
mysteriously. The cabman winked, suspecting an intrigue,
and went off to the place. There she learned that Mr.
Undercliff had moved to Frith Street, Soho, number not
known. She told the cabman to drive slowly up and down
the street, but could not find the name. At last she observed
some lithographs in a window. She let the cabman go all
down the street, then stopped him and paid him off. She
had no sooner done this than she walked very briskly back,
and entered the little shop, and inquired for Mr. Undercliff.
He was out, and not expected back for an hour. ''I will
305 Digitized by @OOgle
FOUL PLAY
wait," said Helen ; and she sat down with her head upon her
white hand. A seedy man passed the window rapidly with a
busy air ; and if his eye shot a glance into the shop, it was so
slight and careless that nobody could suspect he was a spy,
and had done his work effectually as be flashed by. In that
moment the young lady, through the chink of her fingers,
which she had opened for that purpose, not only recognised
the man, but noticed his sice, his hat, his waistcoat, his dirty
linen, and the pin in his neck-tie.
'' Ah ! " said she, and flushed to the brow.
She lifted up her head and became conscious of a formid-
able old woman, who was standing behind the counter at a
side door, eyeing her with the severest scrutiny. This old
woman was tall and thin, and had a fine face, the lower part
of which was feminine enough ; but the forehead and brows
were alarming. Though \ier hair was silvery, the brows
were black and shaggy, and the forehead was divided by a
vertical furrow into two temples. Under those shaggy eye-
brows shone dark grey eyes that passed for bla( with
most people ; and those eyes were fixed on Helen, reading
her. Helen s light hazel eyes returned their gaze. She
blushed, and still looking, said, ''Pray, madam, can I see
Mr. UndercHff"?"
'' My son is out for the day, miss," said the old lady civilly.
"Oh, dear! how unfortunate I*am," said Helen, with a
sigh.
'' He comes back to-night. You can see him to-morrow at
ten o'clock. A questioi^ of hajud writing ? "
" Not exactly," said Helen ; '' but he was witness in favour
of a person I know was innocent."
''But he was found guilty," said the other, with cool
keenness.
" Yes, madam ; and he has no friend to clear him but me,
a poor weak girl, baffled and defeated whichever way I turn."
She began to cry.
The old woman looked at her crpng, with that steady
composure which marks her sex on these occasions, and when
she was better, said quietly, " You are not so weak as you
think." She added after a while, "If you wish to retain
my son, you had better leave a fee."
" With pleasure, madam. What is the fee ? "
"One guinea. Of course there is a separate charge for
any work he may do for you."
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
^' That is but reasonable, madam." And with this she paid
the fee and rose to go,
" Shall I send any one home with you ? "
'* No, thank you/' said Helen. '* Why ? "
** Because you are followed, and because you are not used
to be followed."
" Why, how did you find that out ? "
" By your face, when a man passed the window, a shabby
genteel fellow; he was employed by some gentleman, no
doubt. Such faces as yours will be followed in London.
If you feel uneasy, miss, I will put on my bonnet and see
you home."
Helen was surprised at this act of substantial civility from
the Gorgon. " Oh, thank you, Mrs. Undercliff," said she.
^^ No, I am not the least afraid. Let them follow me ; I am
doing nothing that I am ashamed of. Indeed, I am glad I
am thought worth the trouble of following. It shows me I
am not so thoroughly contemptible. Good-bye; and many
thanks. Ten o'clock to-morrow."
And she walked home without looking once behind her
till the hotel was in sight; then she stopped at a shop-
window, and in a moment her swifr eye embraced the whole
landscape. But the shabby genteel man was nowhere in
sight
CHAPTER LIV
When Joseph Wylie disappeared frova the scene, Nancy
Rouse made a discovery which very often follows the dis-
missal of a suitor, that she was considerably more attached
to him than she had thought The house became dull, the
subordinate washerwomen languid ; their taciturnity irritated
and depressed Nancy by turns.
In the midst of tMs, Michael Penfold discovered that
Helen had come back safe. He came into Nancy's parlour,
beaming with satisfaction, and told her of the good news.
It gave her immense delight at first. But when she had
got used to her joy on that score, she began to think she
had used Joe Wylie very ill. Now that Helen was saved,
she could no longer realise that Wylie was so very much
to blame.
She even persuaded herself that his disappearance was the
307
/' ^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
act of a justly offended man ; and as he belonged to a class
of whose good sense she had a poor opmion^ she was tor-
mented with fears that he would do some desperate act
drown himself, or go to sea; or, worst of all, many some
trollop. She became very anxious and unhappy. Before
this misfortune she used to go about singing the first verse
of a song, and whistling the next, like any ploughboy an
eccentric performance, but it made the house gay. Now
both song and whistle were suspended; and instead it was
all hard work and hard crying, turn about.
She attached herself to Michael Penfold, because he had
known trouble, and was sympathetic ; and these two opened
their hearts to one another, and formed a friendship that was
very honest and touching.
The scene of their conversation and mutual consolation
was Nancy's parlour, a Httle mite of a room she had par-
titioned off from her business. '^For," said she, "a lady
m be after my work is done ^if it is only in a cup-
board." The room had a remarkably large fireplace, which
had originally warmed the whole floor, but now was used
as a ventilator only. The gas would have been stifling
without it. As for hghting a fire in it, that was out of
the question.
On a certain evening, soon after Mr. Penfold's return from
Scotland, the pair sat over their tea, and the conversation fell
on the missing sweetheart. Michael had been thinking it
over, and was full of encouragement. He said
" Miss Rouse, something tells me that if poor Mr. WyHe
could only know your heart, he would turn up again directly.
What we ought to do is to send somebody to look for him in
all the sailors' haunts : some sharp fellow dear me, what a
knocking they keep up next door I "
*' Oh, that is always the way when one wants a quiet chat
Drat the woman ; I'll have her indicted."
^^ No, you won't. Miss Rouse : she is a poor soul, and has
got no business, except letting lodgings ; she is not like you.
But I do hope she wiU be so considerate as not to come quite
through the wall."
" Dear heart," said Nancy, *' go on, and never mind her
noise. Which it is worse than a horgan-grinder."
'^Well, then, if you can't find him that way, I say
Advertise,"
" Me ! " cried Nancy, turning very red. '^ Do I look like
a woman as would advertise for a man ? "
308
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
'^No, ma'am: quite the reverse. But what I mean is,
you might put in something not too plain. For instance :
If J. W. will return to N. R. all will be forgotten and
forgiven."
*^ He'd have the upper hand of me for life," said
Nancy. ^^No, no; I won't advertise for the fooL What
right had he to run off at the first word? He ought to
know my bark is worse than my bite by this time. You
can, though."
'' Me bite, ma'am } " said the old gentleman.
^' Bite ? no ; advertise, since you're so fond of it. Come,
you sit down and write one ; and I'll pay for it, for that
matter."
Michael sat down, and drew up the following : *' If Mr.
Joseph Wylie will call on Michael Penfold, at No. 3 F. C,
he will hear of something to his advantage."
*'To his advantage?" said Nancy doubtfully. "Why not
tell him the truth ? "
" Why, that is the truth, ma'am. Isn't it to his advantage
to be reconciled to an honest, virtuous, painstaking lady, that
honours him with her affection and me with her friendship ?
Besides, it is the common form ; and there is nothing like
sticking to form."
^'Mr. Penfolds," said Nancy, '^any one can see you was
bom a gentleman ; and I am a deal prouder to have you, and
your dirty linen, as I should him as pays you your wages :
pale eyes pale hair pale eyelashes. I wouldn't trust him
to mangle a duster."
" Oh, Miss Rouse ! Pray don't disparage my good master
to me."
"\ can't help it, sir; thought is free, especially in
this here compartment. Better speak one's mind than
die o' the sulks. So shut your ear, when my music
jars. But one every other day is enough : if he won't
come back for that, why, he must go, and I must look
out for another; there's as good fish in the sea as ever
came out of it. Still, I'll not deny I have a great re-
spect for poor Joe. Oh, Mr. Penfolds, what shaJl I do !
Oh! oh! oh!"
^' There, there," said Michael, '^I'U put this into the Times
every day."
"You are a good soul, Mr. Penfolds. Oh oh oh !"
When he had finished the advertisement in a clerkly
hand, and she had finished her cry, she felt compara-
309
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
tively comfortable, and favoured Mr. Penfold with some
reflections.
'^ Dear heart, Mr. Penfolds, how you and I do take to one
another, to be sure. But so we ought ; for we are honest
folk, the pair, and has had a h^d time. Don't it never strike
you rather curious that two thousand pounds was at the
bottom of both our troubles, youm and mine } I might have
married Joe and been a happy woman with him; but the
devil puts in my head There you go again hammering !
Life ain't worth having next door to that lodging-house.
Drat the woman, if she must peck, why don't she go in the
churchyard and peck her own grave ; which we shall never
be quiet till she is there ; and these here gimcrack houses they
won't stand no more pecking at than a soapsud. Ay, that's
what hurts me, Mr. Penfolds : the Lord had given him and me
health, and strength, and honesty; our betters had wed
for love and wrought for money, as the saying is ; but I must
go again Nature, that cried, ^ Come, couple ; ' and must bar-
gain for two thousand pounds. So now I've lost the man,
and not got the money ; nor never shall : and, if I had, I'd
bum Ah ah ah ah ah ! "
This tirade ended in stifled screams of terror, caused by
the sudden appearance of a human hand, in a place and in
a manner weU adapted to shake the stoutest laundress's
nerves.
This hand came through the brick-work of the chimney-
piece, and there remained a moment or two; then slowly
retired, and as it retired, something was heard to fall upon
the shavings and tinsel of the flreplace.
Nancy, by a feminine impulse, put her hands before her
sice to hide this supernatural hand; and, when she found
courage to withdraw them, and glare at the place, there was
no aperture whatever in the brick-work ; and consequently,
the hand appeared to have traversed the solid material, both
coming and going.
"Oh, Mr. Penfolds," cried Nancy; "I'm a sinful woman ;
this comes of talking of the devil arter sunset ; " and she
Bat trembling so that the very floor shook.
Mr. Penfold's nerves were not strong. He and Nancy
both huddled together for mutual protection, and their faces
had not a vestige of colour left in them.
However, after a period of general paralysis, Penfold
whispered
*^ I heard it drop something on the shavings."
310 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
'' Then we shall be all in a blaze o* brimstone/' shrieked
Nancy, wringing her hands.
And they waited to see.
Then, as no conflagra*;ion took place, Mr. Penfold got
up, and said he must go and see what it was the hand had
dropped.
Nancy, in whom curiosity was beginning to battle with
terror, let him go to the fireplace without a word of objec-
tion, and then cried out
^^ Don't go anigh it, sir; it will do you a mischief; don't
touch it whatever. Take the tongs,"
He took the tongs, and presently Hung into the middle of
the room a small oilskin packet. This, as it lay on the
ground, they both eyed like two deer glowering at a piece of
red cloth, and ready to leap back again over the moon if it
should show signs of biting. But oilskin is not preternatural,
nor has tradition connected it, however remotely, with the
enemy of man.
Consequently, a great revulsion took place in Nancy, and
she passed from fear to indignation at having been fiight-
ened so.
She ran to the fireplace, and putting her head up the
chimney, screamed ^^ Heave your dirt where you heave your
love, ye brazen."
While she was objurgating her neighbour, whom, with
feminine justice, she held responsible for every act done in
her house, JPenfold undid the packet, and Nancy returned to
her seat, with her mind more at ease, to examine the
contents.
" Bank-notes ! " cried Penfold.
'^ Ay," said Nancy incredulously, " they do look like bank-
notes, and feel like 'em; but they ain't wrote like them.
Bank-notes ain't wrote black like that in the left-hand
comer."
Penfold explained.
" Ten pound notes are not, nor fives ; but large notes are.
These are all fifties."
^' Fifty whats.?"
^' Fifty pounds."
^* What, each of them bits of paper worth fifty pounds f "
''Yes. Let us count them; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, oh. Lord ! 40. Why,
it is two thousand pounds just two thousand pounds. It is
the very sum that ruined me ; it did not belong to me, and
sn
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
its being in the house ruined my poor Robert. And this does
not belong to you. Lock all the doors^ bar all the windows^
and bum them before the police come."
^^ Wait a bit/' said Nancy, ^^wait a bit**
They sat on each side of the notes, Penfold agitated and
terrified, Nancy confounded and perplexed.
CHAPTER LV
Punctually at ten o'clock Helen returned to Frith Street,
and found Mr. Undercliff behind a sort of counter, employed
in tracing ; a workman was seated at some little distance from
him, both bent on their work.
^'Mr. Underdifi*?" said Helen.
He rose and turned towards her politely: a pale, fair
man, with a keen grey eye, and a pleasant voice and
manner. ^^I am Edward Undercliff. You come by ap-
pointment ? "
"Yes, sir."
" A question of handwriting ? "
" Not entirely, sir. Do you remember giving witness in
favour of a young clergjnman, Mr. Robert Penfold, who was
accused of forgery ? "
'' I remember the circumstance, but not the details."
'^ Oh, dear, that is unfortunate," said Helen, with a deep
sigh ; she often had to sigh now.
'^ Why, you see," said the expert, ^' I am called on such a
multitude of trials. However, I take notes of the principal
ones. What year was it in ? "
"In 1864."
Mr. Undercliff went to a set of drawers arranged chrono-
logically, and found his notes directly. " It was a forged bill,
madam, endorsed and presented by Penfold. I was called to
prove that the bill was not in the handwriting of Penfold.
Here is my facsimile of the Robert Penfold endorsed upon
the bill by the prisoner." He handed it to her, and she
examined it with interest. "And here are facsimiles of
genuine writing, by John Wardlaw; and here is a copy of
the forged note."
He laid it on the table before her. She started, and eyed
it with horror. It was a long time before she could speak.
312
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
At length she said, *'And that wicked piece of paper destroyed
Robert Penfold."
" Not that piece of paper, but the original ; this is a fee-
simile, so far as the writing is concerned. It was not necessary
in this case to imitate paper and colour. Stay, here is a sheet
on which I have lithographed the three sfyles; that will
enable you to follow my comparison. But perhaps that
would not interest you?" Helen had the tact to say it
would. Thus encouraged, the expert showed her that
Robert Penfold's writing had nothing in common with the
forged note. He added, " I also detected in the forged note
habits which were entirely absent from the true writing of
John Wardlaw. You will understand there were plenty of
undoubted specimens in court to go by."
''Then, oh! sir," said Helen, "Robert Penfold was not
guilty."
'' Certainly not, of writing the forged note. I swore that,
and I'll swear it again. But, when it came to questions,
whether he had passed the note, and whether he knew it
was forged, that was quite out of my province."
'' I can understand that," said Helen ; '' but you heard
the trial ; you are very intelligent, sir; you must have formed
some opinion as to whether he was guilty or not."
The expert shook his head. "Madam," said he, "mine
is a profound and difficult art, which aims at certainties.
Very early in my career I found that to master that art I
must be single-minded, and not allow my ear to influence
my eye. By purposely avoiding all reasoning from external
circumstances, I have distanced my competitors in exper-
tise; but I sometimes think I have rather weakened my
powers of conjecture through disuse. Now, if my mother
had been at the trial, she would give you an opinion of
some value on the outside facts. But that is not my line.
If you feel sure he was innocent, and want me to aid you,
you must get hold of the handwriting of every person who
was likely to know old Wardlaw's handwriting, and so might
have imitated it ; all the clerks in his office, to begin with.
Nail the forger ; that is your only chance."
" What, sir ! " said Helen, with surprise, " if you saw the
true handwriting of the person who wrote that forged note,
should you recognise it ? "
" Why not ? It is difficult ; but I have done it hundreds
of times."
" Oh, is forgery so common ? "
313
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
^' No : but I am in all the cases ; and, besides, I do a great
deal in a business that requires the same sort of expertise
anonymous letters. I detect assassins of that kind by the
score. A gentleman or lady, down in the country, gets a
poisoned arrow by the .post, or perhaps a shower of them.
They are always in disguised handwriting ; those who receive
them send them up to me, with writings of all the people
they suspect The disguise is generally more or less super-
ficial ; dye or six unconscious habits remain below it, and
often these undisguised habits are the true characteristics
of the writer. And I'll tell you something curious, madam ;
it is quite common for all the suspected people to be innocent ;
and then I write back, ^Send me the handwriting of the
people you suspect the least ; ' and amongst them I often find
the assassin."
^^Oh, Mr. Undercliff," said Helen, ''you make my heart
sick."
"It is a vile world, for that matter," said the expert;
'' and the country no better than the town, for all it looks so
sweet with its green fields and purling rills. There they sow
anonymous letters like barley; the very girls write anony-
mous letters, that make my hair stand on end. Yes, it is a
vile world."
''Dont you believe him, miss," said Mrs. Undercliff,
appearing suddenly. Then, turning to her son, '' How can
you measure the world .^ You live in a little one of your
own, a world of forgers and anonymous writes; you see
so many of these, you fancy they are common as dirt ; but
they are only common to you, because they all come your
way."
'^ Oh, that is it, is it ? " said the expert doubtfully.
"Yes, that is it, Ned," said the old lady quietly; then,
after a pause, she said, " I want you to do your very best for
this young lady."
"I always do," said the artist. "But how can I judge
without materials } And she brings me none."
Mrs. Undercliff turned to Helen, and said, "Have you
brought him nothing at all, no handwritings in your
hag}"
Then Helen sighed again. "I have no handwriting
except Mr. Penfold's; but I have two printed reports of
the trial."
" Printed reports," said the expert, " they are of no use to
me. Ah ! here is an outline I took of the prisoner during
.314 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
the trial. You can read faces : tell the lady whether he is
guilty or not ; " and he handed the profile to his mother with
an ironical look ; not that he doubted her proficiency in the
rival art of reading faces, but that he doubted the existence
of the art.
Mrs. Undercliff took the profile, and colouring slightly, said
to Miss Rolleston, ^' It is living faces I profess to read : there
I can see the movement of the eyes and other things that my
son here has not studied." Then she scrutinised the profile.
'' It is a very handsome face," said she.
The expert chuckled. ^^ There's a woman's judgment,"
said he. '^ Handsome ! the fellow I got transported for life
down at Exeter was an Adonis, and forged wills, bonds, and
powers of attorney by the dozen."
"There's something noble about this face," said Mrs.
Underclifi*, ignoring the interruption; ''and yet something
simple. I think him more likely to be a catspaw than a
felon." Having delivered this with a certain modest dignity,
she laid the profile on the counter before Helen.
The expert had a wonderful eye and hand ; it was a good
thing for society he had elected to be gamekeeper, instead of
poacher ; detector of forgery instead of forger. No photo-
graph was ever t' at than this outline. Helen started, and
bowed her head over the sketch to conceal the strong and
various emotions that swelled at the sight of the portrait of
her mart3nr. In vain; if the eyes were hidden the tender
bosom heavfed, the graceful body quivered, and the tears fell
fast upon the counter.
Mrs. Undercliff was womanly enough, though she looked
like the late Lord Thurlow in petticoats ; and she instantly
aided the girl to hide her beating heart from the man,
though that man was her son. She distracted his attention.
"Give me all your notes, Ned," said she, "and let me see
whether I can make something of them ; but first, perhaps.
Miss Rolleston will empty her bag on the counter. Go
back to your work a moment, for I know you have enough
to do."
The expert was secretly glad to be released from a case in
which there were no materials ; and so Helen escaped un-
observed, except by one of her own sex. She saw directly
what Mrs. Undercliff had done for her, and lifted her sweet
eyes, thick with tears, to thank her. Mrs. Undercliff smiled
maternally, and next these two ladies did a stroke of business
in the twinkling of an eye, and without a word spoken;
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
whereof anon. Helen being once more composed, Mrs.
Undercliff took up the Prayer-Book, and asked her with
some curiosity what could be in that.
"Oh/' said Helen, "only some writing of Mr. Penfold.
Mr. Undercliff does not want to see that ; he is already
sure Robert Penfold never wrote that wicked thing."
"Yes, but I should like to see some more of his hand-
writing for all that/' said the expert, looking suddenly up.
" But it is only in pencil."
" Never mind ; you need not fear I shall alter my
opinion."
Helen coloured high. "You are right; and I should
disgrace my good cause by withholding anything from
your inspection. There, sir." And she opened the Prayer-
Book and laid Cooper's dying words before the expert ; he
glanced over them with an eye like a bird, and compared
them with his notes.
" Yes," said he, " that is Robert Penfold's writing ; and I
say again, that hand never wrote the forged note."
" I^t me see that," said Mrs. Undercl&
" Oh yes," said Helen, rather irresolutely, " but you look
into the things as well as the writing, and I promised
papa "
" Can't you trust me ? " said Mrs. Undercliff, turning
suddenly cold and a little suspicious.
^' Oh yes, madam ; and indeed I have nothing to reproach
myself with. But my papa is anxious. However, I am sure
you are my friend ; and all I ask is that you will never
mention to a soul what you read there."
" I promise that," said the elder lady, and instantly bent
her black brows upon the writing. And, as she did so,
Helen observed her countenance rise, as a face is very apt to
do when its owner enters on congenial work.
" You would have made a great mistake to keep this from
me,*' said she gravely. Then she pondered profoundly;
then she turned to her son and said, ^' Why, Edward, this is
the very young lady who was wrecked in the Pacific Ocean,
and cast on a desolate island. We have all read about you
in the papers, miss ; and I felt for you, for one, but, of course,
not as I do now I have seen you. You must let me go into
this with you."
"Ah, if you would," said Helen. "Oh, madam, I have
gone through tortures already for want of somebody of my
own sex to keep me in countenance. Oh, if you could have
316
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
seen how I have been received ! with what cold looks, and
sometimes with impertinent stares before I could even pene-
trate into the region of those cold looks, and petty formali-
ties. Any miserable straw was excuse enough to stop me on
my errand of justice, and mercy, and gratitude."
"Gratitude?"
" Oh yes, madam. The papers have only told you that I
was shipwrecked and cast away. They don't tell you that
Robert Penfold warned me the ship was to be destroyed, and
I disbeheved and affronted him in return ; and he never re-
proached me, not even by a look. And we were in a boat
with the sailors, all starved ^not hungry : starved and mad
Mdth thirst, and yet in his own agony he hid something for
me to eat. All his thought, all his fear, was for me. Such
things are not done in those great extremities of the poor,
vulgar, suffering body, except by angels, in whom the soul
rises above the flesh. And he is such an angel. I have had
a knife Ufted over me to kill me, madam ^yes : and again it
was he who saved me. I owe my life to him on the island
over and over again ; and in return I have promised to give
him back his honour, that he values far more than life, as
all such noble spirits do. Ah, my poor mart3nr, how feebly I
plead your cause. Oh, help me ! pray, pray, help me ! All
is so dark, and I so weak, so weak." Again the loving
eyes streamed, and this time not an eye was dry in the little
shop.
The expert flung down his tracing with something be-
tween a groan and a curse. '* Who can do that drudgery,"
he cried, " whilst the poor young lady ^mother, you take it
in hand ; find me some material, though it is no bigger than
a fly's foot ; give me but a clue no thicker than a spider's
web, and I'll follow it through the whole labyrinth. But
you see I'm impotent ; there's no basis for me. It is a case
for you. It wants a shrewd sagacious body that can read
fects and faces ; and I won't jest any more. Miss RoUeston,
for you are deeply in earnest ^Well, then, she really is a
woman with a wonderful insight into facts and faces. She
has got a way of reading them as I read handwriting ; and
she must have taken a great fancy to you, for as a rule she
never does us the honour to meddle."
"Have you taken a fancy to me, madam .^" said Helen,
modestly and tenderly, yet half archly.
"That I have," said the other. "Those eyes of yours
went straight into my heart last night, or I should not be
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
here this morning. That is partly owing to my own eyes
being so dark and yours the loveliest hazel. It is. twenty
years since eyes like yours have gazed into mine. . Diamonds
are not half so rare, nor a tenth part so lovely, to my
fancy."
She turned her head away, melted probably by some tender
reminiscence. It was only for a moment. She turned round
again, and said quietly, " Yes, Ned, I should like to try what
I can do; I think you said these are reports of his trial.
I'll begin by reading them."
She read them both very slowly and carefully, and her
face grew like a judge's, and Helen watched each shade of
expression with deep anxiety.
That powerful countenance showed alacrity and hope at
first ; then doubt, and difficulty, and at last dejection. Helen's
heart turned cold, and for the first time she began to despair.
For now, a shrewd person with a plain prejudice in her favour
and Robert's was staggered by the simple facts of the trial.
CHAPTER LVI
Mrs. Undercliff, having read the reports, avoided Helen's
eye (another bad sign). She turned to Mr. Undercliff, and
probably because the perusal of the reports had disappointed
her, said almost angrily, *^ Edward, what did you say to make
them laugh at that trial .^ Both these papers say that 'an
expert was called, whose ingenuity made the court smile,
but did not counterbalance the evidence.' "
"Why, that is a falsehood on the face of it," said the
expert, turning red. *'l was called simply and solely to
prove Penfold did not write the forged note ! I proved it
to the judge's satisfaction, and he directed the prisoner to be
acquitted on that count. Miss Rolleston, the lawyers often
do sneer at experts ; but, then, four experts out of five are
rank impostors : a set of theorists, who go by arbitrary rules
framed in the closet, and not by large and laborious com-
parison with indisputable documents. These charlatans are
not aware that five thousand cramped and tremulous, but
genuine signatures, are written every day by honest men, and
so they denounce every cramped or tremulous writing as a
forgery. The varieties in a man's writing, caused by his
318
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
writing with his glove on, or off, with a quill or a bad steel
pen, drunk or sober, calm or agitated, in fuU daylight or
dusk, &c., &c., all this is a dead letter to them ; and they
have a bias towards suspicion of forgery; and a banker's
clerk, witk his mere general impression, is better evidence
than they are. But I am an artist of a very different stamp.
I never reason d priori. I compare ; and I have no bias.
I never will have. The judges know this, and the pains and
labour I take to be right, and they treat me with courtesy.
At Penfold's trial the matter was easy ; I showed the court
he had hot written the note, and my evidence crushed
the indictment so far. How could they have laughed at
my testimony? Why, they acted upon it. Those reports
are not worth a straw. What journals were they cut
out of?" ^
" I don't know," said Helen.
'' Is there nothing on the upper margin to show ? "
" No."
" What, not on either of them ? "
"No."
*' Show them me, please. This is a respectable paper too,
the Daili^ News"
*^ Oh, Mr. Undercliff, how can you know that ? "
"I don't know it; but I think so, because the type and
paper are like that journal ; the conductors are fond of clean
ty^\ so am L Why, here is another misstatement: the
judge never said he aggravated his offence by tr3dng to cast a
slur upon the Wardlaws. I'll swear the judge never said a
syUable of the kind. What he said was, ' You can speak in
arrest of judgment on grounds of law, but you must not
impugn the verdict with facts." That was the only time he
spoke to the prisoner at all. These reports are not worth a
button."
Helen lifted up her hands and eyes in despair. " Where
shall I find the truth ? " said she. " The world is a quick-
sand."
*' My dear young lady," said Mrs. Undercliff, " don't you
be discouraged : there must be a correct report in some paper
or other."
" I am not so sure of that," said Undercliff. " I believe the
reporters trundle off to the nearest public-house together,
and light their pipes with their notes, and settle something
or other by memory. Indeed, they have reached a pitch of
inaccuracy that could not be attained without co-operation.
19 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Independent liars contradict each other; but these chaps
follow one another in falsehood^ like geese toddling after one
another across a common."
^'Gme, come/' said Mrs. Undercliff, ''if you cant help us,
don't hurt us. We don't want a man to talk yellow jaundice
to us. Miss RoUeston must employ somebody to read all the
other papers, and compare the reports with these."
" ril employ nobody but myself/' said Helen. '* I'll go to
the British Museum directly."
"The Museum!" cried Mr. Undercliff, looking up with
surprise. ''Why, they will be half-an-hour groping for a
copy of the Times. No, no, go to Peele's Coffee House."
He directed her where to find that place ; and she was so
eager to do something for Robert, however small, that she
took up her bag directly, and put up the Prayer-Book, and
was going to ask for her extracts, when she observed Mr.
Undercliff was scrutinising them with great interest, so she
thought she would leave them with him; but, on looking
more closely, she found that he was examining, not the
reports, but the advertisements and miscellanea on the re-
verse side.
She waited out of politeness, but she coloured and bit her
lip. She could not help feeliag hurt and indignant " Any
trash is more interesting to people than poor Robert's case,"
she thought And at last she said bitterly
"Those advertisements seem to interest you, sir; shall I
leave them with you ? "
" If you please," said the expert, over whose head, bent in
dogged scrutiny, this small thunderbolt of feminine wrath
passed unconscious.
Helen drove away to Peele's Coffee House.
Mrs. Undercliff pondered over the facts that had been
elicited in this conversation ; the expert remained absorbed
in the advertisements at the back of Helen's reports.
When he had examined every one of them minutely, he
held the entire extracts up to the light, and looked through
them ; then he stuck a double magnifier in his eye, and looked
through them with that. Then he took two pieces of card,
wrote on them Re Penfold, and looked about for his other
itiaterials, to put them all neatly together. Lo ! the profile
of Robert Penfold was gone.
" Now that is too bad," said he. " So much for her dove-
like eyes, that you admired so. Miss Innocence has stolen
that profile."
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
'' Stolen ! she bought it of me."
" Why, she never said a word."
" No ; but she looked a look. She, asked me with those
sweet imploring eyes, might she have it ; and I looked yes :
then she glanced towards you, and put down a note. Here
it is."
" Why, you beat the telegraph, you two. Ten pounds for
that thing ! I must make it up to her somehow."
''I wish you could. Poor girl, she is a lady every inch.
But she is in love with that Penfold. I am afraid it is a
hopeless case."
^' I have seen a plainer. But hopeless it is not. However,
you work your way, and I'll work mine."
" But you can't ; you have no materials."
'' No ; but I have found a door that may lead to materials."
Having delivered himself thus mysteriously, he shut him-
self up in obstinate silence, until Helen Rolleston cidled
again, two days afterwards. She brought a bag full of manu-
script this time; to wit, copies in her own handwriting of
eight reports, the Queen v. Penfold. She was in good
spirits, and told Mrs. Undercliff that all the reports were
somewhat more ^eivourable than the two she had left; and
she was beginning to tell Mr. Undercliff he was quite right
in his recollection, when he interrupted her and said, " All
that is secondary now. Have you any objection to answer
me a question ? "
She coloured ; but said, " Oh no. Ask me anything you
like ; " then she blushed deeper.
" How did you become possessed of those two reports you
left with me the other day ? "
At this question, so different from what she feared, Helen
cleared up and smiled, and said, '^ From a Mr. Hand, a clerk
in Mr. Wardlaw's office ; they were sent me at my request"
The expert seemed pleased at this reply ; his brow cleared,
and he said, ^^Then I don't mind telling you that those two
reports will bring Penfold's case within my province. To
speak plainly. Miss Rolleston, your newspaper extracts ^are
Forgeries."
321
Digitized
byoogk
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER LVII
" Forgeries ! " cried Helen, with innocent horror.
'* Rank forgeries," repeated the expert coolly.
'* Forgeries ! *' cried Helen. " Why, how can printed things
be that?"
" That is what I should like to know," said the old lady.
''Why, what else can you call them," said the expert
''They are got up to look like extracts firom newspapers.
But they were printed as they are, and were never in any
journal. Shall I tell you how I found that out ? "
If you please, sir," said Helen.
vVell, then, I looked at the reverse side, and I found
seven misprints in one slip, and five in the other. That was
;. vt number to creep into printed slips of that length.
iht . .ial part did not show a single erratum. ' Hullo ! ' said
1 to myself; 'why, one side is printed more carefully than
the other.' And that was not natural The printing of
advertisements is looked after quite as sharply as any other
part in a journal. Why, the advertisers themselves cry out
if they are misprinted."
" Oh, how shrewd ! " cried Helen.
"Child's play," said the expert "Well from that blot
I went on. I looked at the c^iges, and they were cut too
clean. A gentleman with a pair of scissors can't cut slips out
of a paper like this. They were cut in the printer's office.
Lastly, on holding them to the light, I found they had not
been machined upon the plan now adopted by all newspapers,
but worked by hand. In one word ^forgeries ! "
"Oh," said Helen. "To think I ^ould have handled
forgeries, and shown them to you for real Ah, I'm so glad ;
for now I have committed the same crime as Robert Penfold ;
I have uttered a forged document. Take me up and have me
put in prison, for I am as guilty as ever he was." Her face
shone with rapture at sharing Robert's guHt.
The expert was a little puzzled by sentiments so high-
flown and unpractical.
"I think," said he, "you are hardly aware what a valuable
discovery this may prove to you. However, the next step is
to get me a specimen of the person's handwriting who fur-
nished you with these. The chances are he is the writer of
the forged note."
322
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Heleji uttered an exclamation that was almost a scream.
The inference took her quite by surprise. She looked at
TMrs. UndercHff.
'' He is right, I think," said the old lady.
^^ Right or wrong," said the expert, " the next step in the
inquiry is to do what I said. But that demands great caution.
You must write a short, civil note to Mr. Hand, and just ask
him some question. Let me see ; ask him what newspapers
his extracts are from, and whether he has got any more.
He will not tell you the truth ; but, no matter, we shall get
hold of his handwriting."
" But, sir," said Helen, " there is no need for that Mr.
Hand sent me a note along with the extracts."
" The deuce he did. AU the better. Any words in it that
are in the forged note ? Is Penfold in it, or Wardlaw? "
Helen reflected a moment, and then said she thought both
those names were in it.
^^ Fetch me that note," said Underclifl^, and his eyes
sparkled. He was on a hot scent now.
" And let me study the genuine reports, and compare what
they say with the forged ones," said Mrs. Undercliff.
" Oh, what friends I have found at last I " cried Helen,
She thanked them both warmly, and hurried home, for it
was getting late.
Next day she brought Hand's letter to Mr. Undercliff, and
devoured his countenance while he inspected it keenly, and
compared it with the forged note.
T^e comparison was long and careful, but unsatisfactory.
Mr. Undercliff could not conscientiously say whether Hand
had written the forged note or not There were pros and
cons.
" We are in deeper water than I thought," said he. " The
comparison must be enlarged. You must write as I sug-
gested, and get another note out of Mr. Hand."
" And leave the Prayer-Book with me," said Mrs. Under-
cliff.
Helen complied with these instructions, and in due course
received a civil line from Mr. Hand, to say that the extracts
had been sent him firom the country by one of his fellow
clerks, and he had locked them up, lest Mr. Michael Penfold,
who was much respected in the office, should see them. He
could not say where they came from ; perhaps firom some
provincial paper. If of any value to Miss KoUeston, she
was quite at liberty to keep them. He added there was a
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
cofTee-house in the city where she could read all the London
papers of that date. This letter^ which contained a great
many more words than the other, was submitted to Under-
cliff. It puzzled him so that he set to work, and dis-
sected every curve the writer's pen had made ; but he could
come to no positive conclusion, and he refused to utter his
conjectures.
" We are in a deep water," said he.
Finally, he told his mother he was at a standstill for the
present
^^ But I am not," said Mrs. Undercliff. She added, after a
while, " I think there's felony at the bottom of this."
*' Smells like it to me," said the expert.
" Then I want you to do something very clever for me."
"What is that?"
" I want you to forge something."
" Come ! I say."
" Quite innocent, I assure you."
" Well, but it is a bad habit to commence."
" All depends on the object This is to take in a forger ;
that is all."
The expert's eyes sparkled. He had always been sadly
discontented with the efforts of forgers, and thought he
could do better.
" I'll do it," said he gaily.
CHAPTER LVIII
General Rolleston and his daughter sat at breakfast in
the hotel. General Rolleston was reading the Times, and his
eye lighted on something that made him start He looked
towards Helen^ and his first impulse was to communicate
it to her; but, on second thoughts, he preferred to put a .
question to her first.
"You have never told the Wardlaws what those sailors
said?"
" No, papa. I think they ought to have been told ; but
you know you positively forbade me."
"Of course I did. Why a9ict the old gentleman with
such a tale ? A couple of common sailors, who chose to
fancy the ship was destroyed ! "
824
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
^' Who are better judges of such a thing than sailors ? "
^' Well, my child, if you think so, I can't help it. All
I say, spare the old gentleman such a report. As for
Arthur, to tell you the truth, I have mentioned the matter
to him."
'^Oh, papa! Then why forbid me to tell him? What
did he say ? "
^^He was very much distressed. 'Destroy the ship my
Helen was in I ' said he : ' if I thought Wylie had done that,
rd kill him with my own hand, though I was hanged for it
next minute.' I never saw the young fellow fire up so
before. But when he came to think calmly over it a little
while, he said, 'I hope this slander will never reach my
father's ears; it would grieve him deeply. I only laugh
at it' "
'' Laugh at it I and yet talk of killing ? "
''Oh, people say they laugh at a thing when they are
very angry all the time. However, as you are a good girl,
and mind what you are told, I'll read you an advertise-
ment that will make you stare. Here is Joseph WyHe,
who, you say, wrecked the Proserpine, actually invited by
Michael Penfold to call on him and hear of something to
his advantage."
" Dear me ! " said Helen ; " how strange ! Surely Mr. Pen-
fold cannot know the character of that man. Stop a minute !
Advertise for him } Then nobody knows where he lives ?
There, papa ; you see he is afraid to go near Arthur Ward-
law : he knows he destroyed the ship. What a mystery it all
is ! And so Mr. Penfold is at home, after all ; and not to
send me a single Une. I never met so much unkindness and
discourtesy in all my life."
"Ah, my dear," said the general, "you never defied the
world before, as you are doing now."
Helen sighed; but, presently recovering her spirit, said
she had done without the world on her dear island, and she
would not be its slave now.
As she was always as good as her word, she declined an
invitation to play the Hon, and, dressing herself in plain
merino, went down that very evening to Michael Penfold's
cottage.
We run thither a Httle before her, to relate briefly what
had taken place there.
Nancy Bouse, as may well be imagined, was not the
woman to bum two thousand pounds She locked the notes
325
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
up ; and, after that nighty became very reserved on that head,
so much so, that at ]ast Mr. Penfold saw it was an interdicted
topic, and dropped it in much wonder.
When Nancy came to think of it in daylight, she could not
help suspecting Wylie had some hand in it ; and it occurred
to her that the old gentleman who lodged next door might
be an agent of Wylie's and a spy on her. Wylie must have
told him to push the 2000 into her room : but what a strange
thing to do ! To be sure, he was a sailor, and sailors had
been known to make sandwiches of bank-notes, and eat
them. Still her good sense revolted against this theory, and
she was sore puzzled ; for, after all, there was the money,
and she had seen it come through the wall. One thing
appeared certain Joe had not forgotten her ; he was think-
ing of her as much as ever, or more than ever ; so her spirits
rose, she began singing and whistling again, and waited
cunningly till Joe should reappear and explain his conduct.
Hostage for his reappearance she held the 2000. She felt
so strong and saucy she was half sorry she had allowed Mr.
Penfold to advertise ; but, after all, it did not much matter ;
she could always declare to Joe she had never missed him,
for her part, and the advertising was a foUy of poor Mr.
Penfold's.
Matters were in this condition when the little servant
came up one evening to Mr. Penfold, and said there was a
young lady to see him.
^^ A young lady for mef" said he.
" Oh, she won't eat you, while I am by," said the sharp
little girl. " It is a lady, and the same what come before."
" Perhaps she will oblige me with her name," said Michael
timidly.
^'I won't show her up till she do," said this mite of a
servant, who had been scolded by Nancy for not extracting
that information on Helen's last visit
''Of course I must receive her," said Michael, half con-
sulting the mite. It belonged to a sex which promptly
assumes the control of such gentle creatures as he was.
" Is Miss Rouse in the way ? " said he.
The mite laughed, and said
'' She is only gone down the street I'll send her in to
take care on you."
With this she went off, and in due course led Helen up the
stairs. She ran in, and whispered in Michael's ear
''It is Miss Helen RoUeston."
326 r^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Thus they announced a lady at No. 3,
Michael stared with wonder at so great a personage visit-
ing him ; and the next moment Helen glided into the room^
blushing a little^ and even panting inaudibly^ but all on her
guard. She saw before her a rather stately figure, and a face
truly venerable, benignant, and beautiful, though deficient
in strength. She cast a devouring glance on him as she
curtsied to him ; and it instantly flashed across her, " But for
you there would be no Robert Penfold." There was an
unconscious tenderness in her voice as she spoke to him, for
she had to open the interview.
'^Mr. Penfold, I fear my visit may surprise you, as you
did not write to me. But, when you hear what I am
come about, I think you will not be displeased with me for
coming."
^' Displeased, madam ! I am highly honoured by your
visit a lady who, I understand, is to be married to my
worthy employer, Mr. Arthur. Pray be seated, madam."
"Thank you, sir."
Helen began in a low, thrilling voice, to which, however,
she gave firmness by a resolute effort of her wilL
^' I am come to speak to you of one who is very dear to you,
and to all who really know him."
^' Dear to me ? It is my son. The rest are gone. It is
Robert"
And he began to tremble.
"Yes, it is Robert," said she, very softly; then, turning
her eyes away from him, lest his emotion should overcome
her, she said
'' He has laid me and my father under deep obligations."
She dragged her Neither in, for it was essential not to show
Mr. Penfold she was in love with Robert
" Obligations to my Robert } Ah, madam, it is very kind
of you to say that, and cheer a desolate father's heart with
praise of his lost son. But how could a poor unfortunate
man in his position serve a lady like you ? "
" He defended me against robbers single-handed."
^* Ah," said the old man, glowing with pride, and looking
more beautiful than ever, "he was always as brave as a
lion."
"That is nothing; he saved my life again, and again, and
again."
" God bless him for it ! and God bless you for coming and
327
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
telling me of it. Oh^ madam, he was always brave^ and
gentle^ and just^ and good ; so noble so unfortunate."
And the old man began to cry.
Helen's bosom heaved^ and it cost her a bitter struggle
not to throw her arms round the dear old man's neck and
cry with him. But she came prepared for a sore trial of her
feelings, and she clenched her hands and teeth, and would
not give way an inch.
" Tell me how he saved your Ufe, madam."
" He was in the ship, and in the boat with me."
'' Ay, madam," said Michael, ^^ that must have been some
other Robert Penfold, not my son. He could not come
home. His time was not up, you know."
** It was Robert Penfold, son of Michael Penfold."
*' Excuse me a moment," said Michael ; and he went to a
drawer, and brought her a photograph of Robert " Was it
this Robert Penfold ? "
The girl took the photograph, and eyed it, and lowered
her head over it.
''Yes," she murmured.
''And he was coming home in the ship with you. Is he
mad ? More trouble ! more trouble ! "
" Do not alarm yourself," said Helen ; " he will not land
in England for years " ^here she stifled a sob " and long
ere that we shall have restored him to society."
Michael stared at that, and shook his head.
" Never," said he ; " that is impossible."
" Why impossible ?"
" They all say he is a felon."
" They all shall say that he is a martyr."
" And so he is ; but how can that ever be proved ? "
" I don't know. But I am sure the truth can alwa3rs be
proved, if people have patience and perseverance."
"My sweet young lady," said Michael sadly, "you don't
know the world."
"I am learning it fast, though. It may take me a few
years perhaps to make powerful friends, to grope my way
among forgers, and spies, and wicked, dishonest people of all
sorts, but so surely as you sit there, I'll clear Robert Penfold
before I die."
The good feeble old man gazed on her with admiration
and astonishment.
She subdued her flashing eye, and said with a smile^ '' And
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
you shall help me. Mr. Penfold, let me ask you a ques-
tion. I called here before; but you were gone to Edin-
burgh. Then I wrote to you at the office, begging you to
let me know the moment you returned. Now, do not think
I am angry ; but pray tell me why you woidd not answer my
letter."
Michael Penfold was not burdened with amour propre ;
but who has not got a little of it in some comer of his heart ?
*^Miss RoUeston," said he, '^I was bom a gentleman, and
was a man of fortune once, till false friends ruined me. I
am in business now, but still a gentleman ; and neither as a
gentleman nor as a man of business could I leave a lady's
letter unanswered. I never did such a thing in all my life.
I never got your letter," he said, quite put out, and his wrath
was so like a dove's, that Helen smiled, and said
" But I posted it myself. And my address was in it : yet
it was not returned."
"Well, madam, it was not delivered, I assure you."
" It was intercepted, then."
He looked at her. She blushed, and said, "Yes, I am
getting suspicious; ever since I found I was followed and
watched. Excuse me a moment." She went to the window
and peered through the curtains. She saw a man walking
slowly by; he quickened his pace the moment she opened
tlie curtain.
" Yes," said she, " it was intercepted, and I am watched
wherever I go."
Before she could say any more a bustle was heard on the
stairs, and in bounced Nancy Rouse, talking as she came.
" Excuse me, Mr. Penfolds, but I can't wait no longer with
my heart a bursting \ it is! it is I Oh, my dear, sweet young
lady; the Lord be praised. You really are here alive and
weU. Kiss you I must and shall : come back firom the dead ;
there ^there there 1 "
"Nancy! my good, kind Nancy," cried Helen, and re-
turned her embrace warmly.
Then followed a burst of broken explanations ; and at last
Helen made out that Nancy was the landlady, and had
left Lambeth long ago."
" But, dear heart," said she, " Mr. Penfolds, I'm properly
jealous of you. To think of her coming here to see you, and
not me."
"But I didn't know you were here, Nancy." Then
followed a stream of inquiries, and such warm-hearted
8d9
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
S3rmpathy with all her dangers and troubles, that Helen was
led into revealing the cause of it all.
''Nancy," said she solemnly, ''the ship was wilfully cast
away ; there was a villain on board that made holes in her
on purpose, and sunk her."
Nancy lifted up her hands in astonishment. But Mr. Pen-
fold was far more surprised and agitated.
" For Heaven's sake, don't say that ! " he cried.
" Why not, sir ? " said Helen ; " it is the truth ; and I have
got the testimony of dying men to prove it."
" I am sorry for it Pray don't let anybody know. Why,
Wardlaws would lose the insurance of l 60,000."
" Arthur Wardlaw knows it : my father told him."
"And he never told me," said Penfold, with growing
surprise.
" Goodness me ! what a world it is," cried Nancy. " Why,
that was murder, and no less. It is a wonder she wasn't
drownded, and another friend into the bargain that I had in
that very ship. Oh, I wish I had the villain here that done
it, Fd tear his eyes out."
Here the mite of a servant bounded in, radiant and gig-
gling, gave Nancy a triumphant glance, and popped out
again, holding the door open, through which in slouched a
seafaring man, drawn by Penfold's advertisement, and de-
coyed into Nancy's presence by the imp of a girl, who thought
to please her mistress.
Nancy, who for some days had secretly expected this visit,
merely gave a little squeak; but Helen uttered a violent
scream ; and, upon that, WyUe recognised her,*'and Hterally
staggered back a step or two, and these words fell out of his
mouth
"The sick girl!"
Helen caught them.
" Ay ! " cried she ; " but she is alive in spite of you : alive
to denounce you and to punish you."
She darted forward, and her eyes flashed Ughtning.
" Look at this man, all of you," she cried. " Look at him
well : THIS IS THE WRETCH THAT SCUTTLED THE ' PrOSERPINE ' ! "
880 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER UX
'^Oh, Miss Helen, how can you say that?" cried Nancy,
in utter dismay. 'Til lay my life poor Joe never did no
such wickedness."
But Helen waved her off without looking at her, and
pointed at Wylie.
" Are you blind } Why does he cringe and cower at sight
of me ? I tell you he scuttled the Proserpme, and the great
auger he did it with I have seen and handled. Yes, sir,
you destroyed a ship, and the lives of many innocent persons,
whose blood now cries to Heaven against you ; and if / am
alive to tell the cruel tale, it is no thanks to you ; for you did
your best to kill me, and, what is worse, to kill Robert Pen-
fold, this gentleman's son; for he was on board the ship.
You are no better than an assassin."
''I am a man that's down," said Wylie, in a low and
broken voice, hanging his head. ''Don't hit me any more.
I didn't mean to take anybody's life : I took my chance with
the rest. Lady, as I'm a man, I have lain in my bed many's
the night, crying like a child, with thinking you were dead.
And now I am glad you are alive, to be revenged on me.
Well, you see, it is your turn now; you have lost me my
sweetheart there ; she'll never speak to me again after this.
Ah, the poor man gets all the blame. You don't ask who
tempted me ; and if I was to tell you, you'd hate me worse
than ever, so I'll delay. If I'm a sinner, I'm a sufferer:
England's too hot to hold me ; I've only to go to sea, and
get drowned the quickest way." And with this he vented
a deep sigh, and slouched out of the room.
Nancy sank into a seat, and threw her apron over her
head, and rocked and sobbed as if her heart would break.
As for Helen Rolleston, she still stood in the middle of
the room, burning with excitement.
Then poor old Michael came to her, and said almost in a
whisper: "It is a bad business; he is her sweetheart, and
she had the highest opinion of him."
This softened Helen in a great measure. She turned and
looked at Nancy, and said, "Oh, dear, what a miserable
thing. But I couldn't know that."
After a while she drew a chair, and sat down by Nancy,
and said : " I won't punish him, Nancy."
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Nancy burst out sobbing afi*esh.
'^You have punished him," said she brusquely, '^and me
too, as never did you no harm. You have driven him out of
the country, you have."
At this piece of feminine justice Helen's anger revived.
'^ So, then," said she, " ships are to be destroyed, and ladies
and gentlemen murdered, and nobody is to complain, nor
say an angry word, if the wretch happens to be paying his
addresses to you : that makes up for all the crimes in the
world. What ! Can an honest woman like you lose all sense
of right and wrong for a man ? And such a man ! "
" Why, he is as well made a fellow as ever I saw," sobbed
Nancy.
" Oh, is he ? " said Helen ironically her views of manly
beauty were different, and black eyes a sine qud non with her
^' then it is a pity his soid is not made to correspond. I
hope by my next visit you will have learned to despise him
as you ought. Why, if I loved a man ever so, I'd tear him
out of my heart if he committed a crime ; ay, though I tore
my soul out of my body to do it."
'^No, you woiddn't," said Nancy, recovering some of her
natural pugnacity; ^^for we are all tarred with the same
stick, gentle or simple."
^' But I assure you I would," said Helen ; ^' and so ought
you."
" Well, miss, you begin," cried Nancy, suddenly firing up
through her tears. " If the Proserpine was scuttled, which
I've your word for it. Miss Helen, and I never knew you
tell a lie, why, your sweetheart is more to blame for it than
mine." ^
Helen rose with dignity.
''You are in grief," said she. ''I leave you to consider
whether you have done well to afiront me in your own house."
And she was moving to the door with great dignity, when
Nancy ran and stopped her.
" Oh, don't leave me so. Miss Helen," she cried ; " don't
you go to quarrel with me for speaking the truth too plain
and rude, as is a plaiif-spoken body at tiie best ; and in such
grief myself, I scarce know what I do say. But, indeed, and
in truth, you mustn't go and put it abroad that the ship was
scuttled; if you do, you won't hurt Joe Wylie; he'll get a
ship, and fly the country. Who you'll hurt will be your own
husband as is to be Wardlaws."
''ShaU I, Mr. Penfold ? " asked Helen disdainfully.
332
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
''Well, madam, certainly it might create some miworthy
suspicion."
''Suspicion?" cried Nancy. "Don't you think to throw
dust in my eyes. What had poor Joe to gain by destroy-
ing that there ship, and risking his own Hfe? ^you know
very well he was bribed to do it. And who bribed
him } Who should bribe him but the man as owned the
ship?"
"Miss Rouse," said Mr. Penfold. "I sympathise with
your grief, and make great allowance ; but I will not sit here
and hear my worthy employers blackened with such terrible
insinuations. The great house of Wardlaw bribe a sailor to
scuttle their own ship, with Miss RoUeston and one hundred
and sixty thousand pounds' worth of gold on board ! Monstrous
^monstrous ! "
" Then what did Joe WyHe mean ? " repHed Nancy. " Says
he, ' The poor man gets all the blame. If I was to tell you
who tempted me,* says he, ' you'd hate me worse.' Then I
Say why should she hate him worse ? Because it's her sweet-
heart tempted mine. I stands to that."
This inference, thus worded, struck Helen as so droll, that
she turned her head aside to giggle a little. But old Penfold
repUed loftily
" Who cares what a Wylie says against a great old mercantile
house of London City ? '
"Very well, Mr. Penfolds," said Nancy, with one great
final sob, and dried her eyes with her apron ; and she did it
with sach an air, they both saw she was not going to shed
another tear about the matter, "Very well; you be both
against me ; then I'll say no more. But I know what I
know."
" And what do you know ? " inquired Helen.
"Time will show," said Nancy, turning suddenly very
dogged. " Time will show."
Nothing more was to be got out of her after that ; and
Helen, soon after, made her a civil, though stiff Uttle speech ;
regretted the pain she had inadvertently caused her, and went
away, after leaving Mr. Penfold her address.
On her return home she entered the whole adventure in
her diary. She made a separate entry to this effect :
" Mysterious, My letter to Mr. Penfold at the office, inter-
cepted.
" Wylie hints that he was bribed by Messrs. Wardlaw.
ass
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
'' Nancy Rouse suspects that it was Arthur^ and says time
will show,
" As for me, I can neither see why Wylie should scuttle the
ship unless he was bribed by somebody, nor what Arthur or
his father could gain by destroying that ship. This is all as
dark as that more cruel mystery, which alone I care to
solve."
CHAPTER LX
Next morning, after a sleepless night, Nancy Rouse said to
Mr. Penfold, " Haven't I heard you say as bank-notes could
be traced to folk?"
'^Certainly, madam," said Michael ; *'but it is necessary to
take the numbers of them."
" Oh I And how do you do that ? "
'^ Why, every note has its own number."
" La / ye don't say so ; then them fifties are all numbered,
belike."
^' Certainly, and if you wish me to take down the numbers,
I will do so."
^^Well, sir, some other day you shall. I could not bear
the sight of them, just yet : for it is them as has been the
ruin of poor Joe Wylie, I do think."
Michael could not follow this: but, the question having
been raised, he advised her, on grounds of common prudence,
not to keep them in the house, without taking down their
numbers.
" We will talk about that in the evening," said Nancy.
Accordingly, at night, Nancy produced the notes, and
Michael took down the numbers and descriptions in his
pocket-book. They ran from 16,444 to 16,483. And he
promised her to try and ascertain through what hands they
had passed. He said he had a friend in the Bank of England,
who might perhaps be able to discover to what private bank
they had been issued in the first instance, and then those
baiters, on a strong representation, might perhaps examine
their books and say to whom they had paid them. He told
her the notes were quite new, and evidently had not been
separated since their first issue.
Nancy caught a glimpse of his meaning, and set herself
doggedly to watch until the person who had passed the
334
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
notes through the chimney should come for them. ^'He
will miss them," said she "you mark my words."
Thus Helen, though reduced to a standstill herself, had set
an inquiry on foot, which was alive and ramifying.
In the course of a few days she received a visit from Mrs.
Undercliff. That lady came in, and laid a Prayer-Book on
the table, saying, " I have brought it you back, miss ; and I
want you to do something for my satisfaction."
'' Oh, certainly," said Helen. What is it } "
^^ Well, miss, first examine the book and the writing. Is it
all right.?"
Helen examined it, and said it was. '' Indeed," said she,
*' the binding looks fresher, if anything."
"You have a good eye," said Mrs. Undercliff. "Well,
what I want you to do is of course Mr. Wardlaw is a
good deal about you } "
"Yes."
" Does he go to church with you ever ? "
"No."
" But he would, if you were to ask him."
" I have no doubt he would ; but why ? "
" Manage matters so that he shall go to church with you,
and then put the book down for him to see the writing, all
in a moment. Watch his face and tell me."
Helen coloured up and said, "No; I can't do that.
Why, it would be turning God's temple into a trap. Be-
sides "
" The real reason first, if you don't mind," said this hor-
ribly shrewd old woman.
" Well, Mr. Arthur Wardlaw is the gentleman I am going
to marry."
"Good heavens I" cried Mrs. Undercliff, taken utterly
aback by this most unexpected turn. " Why, you never told
me that!"
" No," said Helen blushingly. " I did not think it neces-
sary to go into that. WeU, of course it is not in human
nature that Mr. Wardlaw should be zealous in my good work,
or put himself forward ; but he has never refused to lend me
any help that was in his power ; and it is repugnant to my
nature to suspect him of a crime, and to my feelings to lay a
trap for him."
"Quite right," said Mrs. Undercliff; "of course I had no
idea you were going to marry Mr. Wardlaw. I made sure
Mr. Penfold was the man."
335 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Helen blushed higher stilly but made no reply.
Mrs. UnderclifF turned the conversation directly. "My
son has given many hours to Mr. Hand's two letters^ and he
told me to say he is beginning to doubt whether Mr. Hand
is a real person, with a real handwriting at all."
"Oh, Mrs. Undercliff! Why, he wrote me two letters.
However, I will ask Mr. Penfold whether Mr. Hand exists
or not. When shall I have the pleasure of seeing you
again?"
" Whenever you like, my dear young lady ; but not upon
this business of Penfold and Wardlaw. I have done with it
for ever ; and my advice to you, miss, is not to stir the mud
any more." And with these mysterious words the old lady
retired, leaving Helen deeply discouraged at her desertion.
However, she noted down the conversation in her diary,
and made this comment : People find no pleasure in proving
an accused person innocent; the charm is to detect guilt.
This day a good, kind friend abandons me because I will not
turn aside from my charitable mission to suspect another
person who is as wrongfully suspected as he I love has
been.
" Mem. ^to see, or make inquiries about Mr. Hand."
General Rolleston had taken a furnished house in Hanover
Square. He now moved into it, and Helen was compelled
to busy herself in household arrangements.
She made the house charming, but unfortunately stood in
a draught whilst heated, and caught a chill, which a year ago
would very likely have gone to her lungs and killed her, but
now settled on her limbs in violent neuralgic pains, and
confined her to her bed for a fortnight
She suffered severely, but had the consolation of finding
she was tenderly beloved. Arthur sent flowers every day, and
affectionate notes twice a day. And her father was constantly
by her bedside.
At last she came down to the drawing-room, but lay on the
sofa, well wrapped up, and received only her most intimate
friends. The neuralgia had now settled on her right arm
and hand, so that she could not write a letter ; and she said
to herself, with a sigh, " Oh, how unfit a girl is to do anything
great We always fall ill, just when health and strength are
most needed."
* Nevertheless, during this period of illness and inacticm,
circumstances occurred that gave her joy.
336
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Old Wardlaw had long been exerting himself in influential
channels to obtain what he called justice for his friend Rol-
leston^ and had received some very encouraging promises^
for the general's services were indisputable; and while he
was stirring the matter, Helen was unconsciously co-operating
by her beauty, and the noise her adventure made in society.
At last a gentleman, whose wife was about the queen,
promised old Wardlaw one day that, if a fair opportunity
should occur, that lady should tell Helen's adventure, and
how the gallant old general, when everybody else despaired,
had gone out to the Pacific, and found his daughter, and
brought her home. This lady was a courtier of ten years'
standing, and waited her opportunity ; but, when it did come,
she took it, and she soon found that no great tact or skill was
necessary on such an occasion as this. She was listened to
with ready sympathy, and the very next day some inquiries
were made, the result of which was that the Horse-Guards
offered Lieutenant-General RoUeston the command of a crack
regiment and a full generalship. At the same time, it was
intimated to him from another official quarter that a baronetcy
was at his service, if he felt disposed to accept it. The tears
came into the stout old warrior's eyes at this sudden sunshine
of royal favour, and Helen kissed old Wardlaw of her own
accoid ; and the star of the Wardlaws rose into the ascendant,
and for a time Robert Penfold seemed to be quite forgotten.
The very day General RoUeston became Sir Edward, a man
and a woman called at the Charing Cross Hotel, and asked
for Miss Helen RoUeston.
The answer was, she had left the hotel about ten days.
" Where is she gone, if you please ? "
'^We don't know."
" Why, hasn't she left her new address ? "
" No. The footman came for letters several times."
No information was to be got here, and Mr. Penfold and
Nancy Rouse went home greatly puzzled what to do.
At first sight it might appear easy for Mr. Penfold to learn
the new address of Miss RoUeston. He had only to ask
Arthur Wardlaw. But, to tell the truth, during the last
fortnight, Nancy Rouse had impressed her views steadUy and
persistently on his mind, and he had also made a discovery
that co-operated with her influence and arguments to under-
mine his confidence in his employer. What that discovery
was we must leave him to relate.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Looking, then, at matters with a less unsuspicious eye than
heretofore, he could not help observing that Arthur Wardlaw
never put into the office letter-box a single letter for his
sweetheart. " He must write to her," thought Michael ;
''but I am not to know her address. Suppose after all he
did intercept that letter."
And now, like other simple credulous men, whose con-
fidence has been shaken, he was literally brimfiil of sus-
picions, some of them reasonable, some of them rather
absurd.
He had too little art to conceal his change of mind, and
so, very soon after his vain attempt to see Helen Rolleston
at the inn, he was bundled oBT to Scotland on business of
the office.
Nancy missed him sorely. She felt quite alcme in the
world. She managed to get through the day ^work helped
her ; but at night she sat disconsolate and bewildered, and
she was now beginning to doubt her own theory. For cer-
tainly, if all that money had been Joe WyHe's, he would
hardly have left the country without it
Now, the second evening after Michael's departure, she was
seated in his room, brooding, when suddeidy she heard a
peculiar knocking next door.
She listened a little while, and then stole softiy downstairs
to her own little room.
Her suspicions were correct. It was the same sort of
knocking that had preceded the phenomenon of the hand and
bank-notes. She peeped into the kitchen and whispered^
" Jenny Polly come here."
A stout washerwoman and the mite of a servant came
wondering. ''Now you stand there," said Nancy, "and
do as I bid you. Hold your tongues now. I know all
about it."
The myrmidons stood silent, but with panting bosoms ; for
the mysterious knocking now concluded, and a brick in the
chimney began to move.
It came out, and immediately a hand, with a ring on it,
came through the aperture and felt about
The mite stood firm, but the big washerwoman gave signs
of agitation that promised to end in a scream.
Nancy put her hand roughly before the woman's mouth.
" Hold your tongue, ye great soft " And without finish-
ing her sentence, she darted to the chimney, and seized the
hand with both her own, and pulled it with such violence
338 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
that the wrist followed it through the masonry^ and a muffled
roar was heard.
''Hold on to my waist, Polly/' she cried. ''Jenny, take
the poker, and that string, and tie his hand to it while we
hold on. Quick ! quick ! Are ye asleep ? "
Thus adjured, the mite got the poker against the wall, and
tried to tie the wrist to it.
This, however, was not so easy: the hand struggled so
desperately.
However, pulling is a matter of weight rather that muscle :
and the weight of the two women pulling downwards over-
powered the violent struggles of the man ; and the mite con-
trived to tie the poker to the wrist, and repeat the ligatures
a dozen times in a figure of eight.
Then the owner of the hand, who had hitherto shown
violent strength taken at a disadvantage, now showed intelli-
gence. Convinced that skill as well as force were against him,
he ceased to struggle, and became quite quiet.
The women contemplated their feat with flushed cheeks and
sparkling eyes.
When they had feasted a reasonable time on the imprisoned
hand, and two of them, true to their sex, had scrutinised a
green stone upon one of the fingers to see whether it was real
or false, Nancy took them by the shoulders and bundled them
good-humouredly out of the room.
She then lowered the gas and came out, and locked the
room up, and put the key in her pocket.
" ril have my supper with you," said she. " Come, Jenny,
Fm cook ; and you make the kitchen as a body could eat off
it, for I expecs visitors."
" La, ma'am," said the mite ; " he can't get out of the
chimbly to visit hus through the street door."
" No, girl," said Nancy. " But he can send a hambassador :
so Show her heyes and plague her art, as the play says, for of
all the dirty kitchens give me hers. I never was there but
once, and my slipper came off for the muck, a sticking to a
body like birdhme."
There was a knock at Nancy's street door : the little
servant, full of curiosity, was for running to it on the instant.
But Nancy checked her.
" Take your time," said she. " It is only a lodging-house
keeper."
$39
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER LXI
Sir Edward Rolleston could not but feel his obligations
to the Wardlaws, and, when his daughter got better, he
spoke warmly on the subject, and asked her to consider
seriously whether she had not tried Arthur's affection suf-
ficiently.
^' He does not complain to you, I know," said he ; " but
he feels it very hard, that you should punish him for an act
of injustice which has already so deeply afflicted him. He
says he believes some fool or villain heard him say that two
thousand pounds was to be borrowed between them, and
went and imposed on Robert Penfold's credulity; meaning,
perhaps, to call again after the note had been cashed, and
get Arthur's share of the money."
" But why did not Arthur come forward ? "
" He declares he did not know when the trial was till a
month after : and his father bears him out says he was
actually delirious, and his life in danger. I myself can testify
that he was cut down just in this way, when he heard the
Proserpine was lost, and you on board her. Why not give
him credit for the same genuine distress at young Penfold's
misfortune ? Come, Helen, is it fair to afflict and punish
this gentleman for the misfortune of another, whom he never
speaks of but with affection and pity ? He says that if you
would marry him at once, he thinks he should feel strong
enough to throw himself into the case with you, and would
spare neither money nor labour to clear Robert Penfold; but,
as it is, he says he feels so wretched, and so tortured with
jealousy, that he can't co-operate warmly with you, though
his conscience reproaches him every day. Poor young man !
His is really a very hard case. For you promised him your
hand before you ever saw Robert Penfold."
" I did," said Helen ; '^ but I did not say when. Let me
have one year foi? my good work, before I devote my whole
life to Arthur."
''Well, it will be a year wasted. Why postpone your
marriage for that ? "
" I promised."
" Yes, but he chose to fancy young Wardlaw is his enemy.
You might relax that, now Arthur teUs you he will co-operate
with you as your husband. Now, Helen, tell the truth ^is
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
it a woman's work ? Have you found it so ? Will not Arthur
do it better than you ? "
Helen, weakened already by days of suffering, began to
cry, and say, ''What shall I do ? what shall I do ?"
^' If you have any doubt, my dear," said Sir Edward,
"then think of what I owe to the Wardlaws/*
And with that he kissed her, and left her in tears; and,
soon after, sent Arthur himself up to plead his own cause.
It was a fine summer afternoon ; the long French case-
ments looking on the garden of the square, were open, and
the balmy air came in and wooed the beautiftil girl's cheek,
and just stirred her hair at times.
Arthur Wardlaw came softly in, and gazed at her as she
lay ; her loveliness filled his heart and soul : he came and
knelt by her sofa, and took her hand, and kissed it, and his
own eyes glistened with tenderness.
He had one thing in his favour. He loved her.
Her knowledge of this had more than once befriended
him, and made her refuse to suspect him of any great ill ;
it befriended him now. She turned a look of angelic pity
on him.
" Poor Arthur ! " she said. " You and I are both un-
happy."
" But we shall be happy ere long, I hope,'* said Arthur.
Helen shook her head.
Then he petted her, and coaxed her, and said he would
be her servant as well as her husband, and no wish of her
heart should go ungratified.
" None } " said she, fixing her eyes on him.
" Not one," said he ; " upon my honour."
Then he was so soft and persuasive, and alluded so deli-
cately to her plighted faith, that she felt like a poor bird
caught in a silken net.
"Sir Edward is very good," said he; "he feels for me."
At that moment a note was sent up.
'^Mr. Wardlaw is here, and has asked me when the
marriage is to be. I can't tell him ; I look like a fool."
Helen sighed deeply, and began to shed those tears that
weaken a woman. She glanced despairingly to and fro, and
saw no escape. Then, Heaven knows why or wherefore
probably with no clear design at all but a woman's weak
desire to cause a momentary diversion ^to put off the in-
evitable for five minutes she said to Arthur, "Please give
me that Prayer-Book. Thank you. It is right you should
S41 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
know this." And she put Cooper's deposition and Welch's
into his hands.
He devoured them, and started up in great indignation.
'^ It is an abominable slander," said he. '* We have lost ten
thousand pounds by the wreck of that ship, and Wylie's life
was saved by a miracle as well as your own. It is a foul
slander. I hurl it from me." And he made his words good
by whirling the Prayer-Book out of the window.
Helen uttered a scream. '^My mother's Prayer-Book!"
she cried.
^^ Oh ! I beg pardon," said he.
"And well you may," said she. "Ring and send George
after it"
"No, I'll go myself," said he. "Pray forgive me: you
don't know what a terrible slander they have desecrated
your Prayer-Book with."
He ran out, and was a long time gone. He came back
at last, looking terrified.
"I can't find it," said he; "somebody has carried it off.
Oh, how unfortunate I am ! "
" Not find it ! " said Helen. " But it mtist be found."
"Of course it must be found," said Arthur. "A pretty
scandal to go into the hands of Heaven knows who. I shall
offer twenty guineas reward for it at once. I'll go down to
the Times this moment. Was ever anything so udiucky ? "
"Yes, go at once," said Helen; "and I'll send the ser-
vants into the square. I don't want to say anything unkind,
Arthur, but you ought not to have thrown my Prayer-Book
into the pubHc street"
" I know I ought not I am ashamed of it myself."
"Well, let me see the advertisement."
^^ You shall. I have no doubt we shall recover it"
Next morning the Times contained an advertisment offer-
ing twenty guineas for a Prayer-Book lost in Hanover Square,
and valuable not in itself, but as a relic of a deceased parent
In the afternoon, Arthur called to know if anybody had
brought the Prayer-Book back.
Helen shook her head sadlv, and said, " No."
He seemed very sorry, and so penitent, that Helen said,
" Do not despair. And if it is gone, why, I must remember
you have forgiven me something, and I must forgive you."
The footman came in.
^' If you please, miss, here is a woman wishes to speak to
you ; says she has brought a Prayer-Book."
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
" Oh, show her up at once/' cried Helen.
Arthur turned away his head to hide a cynical smile. He
had good reasons for thinking it was not the one he had
flung out of the window yesterday.
A tall woman came in, wearing a thick veil, that con-
cealed her features.
She entered on her business at once.
'^ You lost a Prayer-Book in this square yesterday, madam."
"Yes."
" You offer twenty guineas reward for it."
"Yes."
" Please to look at this one."
Helen examined it, and said with joy it was hers.
Arthur was thunderstruck. He could not believe his
senses.
'^ Let me look at it," said he.
His eyes went at once to the writing. He turned as pale
as death, and stood petrified.
The woman took the Prayer-Book out of his unresisting
hand, and said
"You'll excuse me, sir; but it is a large reward, and
gentlefolks sometimes go from their word when the article
is found."
Helen, who was delighted at getting back her book, and
rather tickled at Arthur having to pay twenty guineas for
losing it, burst out laughing, and said, " Give her the re-
ward, Arthur ; I am not going to pay for your misdeeds."
"With all my heart," said Arthur, struggling for com-
posure.
He sat down to draw a cheque.
" What name shall I put ? "
"Hum! Edith Hesket."
"Twot's?"
" No, only one."
"There."
" Thank you, ar."
She put the cheque into her purse, and brought the Prayer-
Book to Helen.
'^Lock it up at once," said she, in a voice so low that
Arthur heard a murmur, but not the words ; and she retired,
leaving Helen staring with amazement, and Arthur in a cold
perspiration.
343
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER LXII
When the Springbok weighed anchor and left the island^ a
solitary form was seen on Telegraph Hill.
When she passed eastward^ out of sight of that pointy a
solitary figure was seen on the cliffs.
When her course brought the island dead astern of her, a
solitary figure stood on the east bluff of the island^ and was
the last object seen from the boat as she left those waters for
ever.
What words can tell the sickening sorrow and utter deso-
lation that possessed that yearning bosom !
When the boat that had carried Helen away was out of
sight, he came back with uneven steps to the cave, and looked
at all the familiar objects with stony eyes, and scarce recog-
nised them, for the sunshine of her presence was there no
more. He wandered to and fro in a heavy stupor, broken
every now and then by sharp pangs of agony that almost
made him scream. And so the poor, bereaved creature
wandered about all day. He could not eat, he could not
sleep, his misery was more than he could bear. One day of
desolation succeeded another. And what men say so hastily
was true for once. " His life was a burden." He dragged it
about with him he scarce knew how.
He began to hate all the things he had loved whilst she
was there. The beautiful cave, all glorious with pearl, that
he had made for her, he could not enter it the sight killed
him, and she not there.
He left Paradise Bay altogether at' last, and anchored his
boat in a nook of Seal Bay. And there he slept in general
But sometimes he would lie down, wherever he happened to
be, and sleep as long as he could.
To him to wake was a calamity. And, when he did wake,
it was always with a dire sense of reviving misery, and a deep
sigh at the dark day he knew awaited him.
His flesh wasted on his bones, and his clothes hung loosely
about him. The sorrow of the mind reduced him almost
to that miserable condition in which he had landed on the
island.
The dog and the seal were faithful to him: used to lie
beside him, and often whimpered ; their minds, accustomed
344
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
to communicate without the aid of speech, found out. Heaven
knows how, that he was in grief or in sickness.
These two creatures, perhaps, saved his life or his reason.
They came between his bereaved heart and utter solitude.
Thus passed a month of wretchedness unspeakable.
Then his grief took a less sullen form.
He came back to Paradise Bay, and at sight of it burst into
a passion of weeping.
These were his first tears, and inaugurated a grief more
tender than ever, but less akin to madness and despair.
Now he used to go about and cry her name aloud, passion-
ately, by night and day.
"Oh, Helen! Helen!"
And next his mind changed in one respect, and he clung to
every reminiscence of her. Every morning he went round
her haunts, and kissed every place, where he had seen her put
her hand.
Only the cave he could not yet face.
He tried, too. He went to the mouth of it again and again
and looked in ; but go into it and face it, empty of her he
could not.
He prayed often.
One night he saw her in a dream.
She bent a look of angelic pity on him, and said but these
words, " Live in my cave," then vanished.
Alone on an island in the vast Pacific, who can escape
superstition ? It fills the air. He took this communication
as a command, and the next night he slept in the cave.
But he entered it in the dark and left it before dawn.
By degrees, however, he plucked up courage, and faced it
in daylight. But it was a sad trial; he came out crying
bitterly after a few minutes.
Still he persevered, because her image had bade him, and
at last one evening he even lighted the lamp, and sat there
looking at the glorious walls and roof his hapless love had
made.
Getting stronger by degrees, he searched about and found
little rehcs of her a glove, a needle, a great hat she had
made out of some large leaves. And all these he wept over
and cherished.
But one day he found at the very back of the cave a relic
that made him start as if a viper had stung his loving heart.
It was a letter.
345 ^ .
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
He knew it in a moment. It had already caused him many
a pang ; but now it almost drove him mad Arthur Wardlaw's
letter.
He recoiled from it and let it lie. He went out of the
cave^ and cursed his hard fate. But he came back. It was
one of those horrible things a man abhors^ yet cannot keep
away from. He took it up, and dashed it down with rage
many times; but it all ended in his lighting the lamp at
night, and torturing himself with every word of that loving
letter.
And she was going home to the writer of that letter,
and he was left prisoner on the island. He cursed his
generous folly, and writhed in agony at the thought. He
raged with jealousy, so that his very grief was blunted for a
time.
He felt as if he must go mad.
Then he prayed ^prayed fervently. And at last, worn
out with such fierce and contending emotions, he fell into
a deep sleep, and did not wake till the sun was high in
heaven.
He woke ; and the first thing he saw was the fisttal letter
l3dng at his feet in a narrow stream of sunshine that came
peering in.
He eyed it with horror. This then was to haunt him by
night and day.
He eyed it, and eyed it. Then turned his face from it.
But could not help eyeing it again.
And at last certain words in this letter seemed to him to
bear an affinity to another piece of writing that had also
caused him a great woe. Memory by its subtle links con-
nected these two enemies of his together. He eyed it still
more keenly, and that impression became strengthened. He
took the letter and looked at it close, and held it at arm's
length, and devoured it, and the effect of this keen examina-
tion was very remarkable. It seemed to restore the man to
energy and to something like hope. His eyes sparkled, and
a triumphant ah ! burst from his bosom.
He became once more a man of action. He rose, and
bathed, and walked rapidly to and fro upon the sands, work-
ing himself up to a daring enterprise. He took his saw into
the jungle, and cut down a tree of a kind common enough
there. It was wonderfully soft, and almost as light as cork.
The wood of this tree was literally useless for any other pur-
pose than that to which Penfold destined it. He cut a great
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
many blocks of this wood, and drilled holes in them, and,
having hundreds of yards of good line, attached these quasi-
corks to the gunwale, so as to make a life-boat. This work
took him several days, during which time an event occurred
that encouraged him.
One morning he saw about a million birds very busy in
the bay, and it proved to be a spermaceti whale come ashore.
He went out to her directly with all his tools, for he wanted
oil for his enterprise, and the seal oil was exhausted.
When he got near the whale in his boat, he observed a
harpoon sticking in the animal's back. He cut steps with
his axe in the slippery carcass, and got up to it as well as he
could, extracted it by cutting and pulling, and threw it down
into his boat, but not till he had taken the precaution to stick
a great piece of blubber on the barbed point. He then sawed
and hacked under difficulties, being buffeted and bothered
with thousands of birds, so eager' for slices, that it was as
much as he could do to avoid the making of minced fowl ; but
true to his gentle creed, he contrived to get three hundred-
weight of blubber without downright kiUing any of these
greedy competitors, though he buffeted some of them, and
nearly knocked out what little sense they had. He came
ashore with his blubber and harpoon, and, when he came
to examine the latter, he found that the name of the owner
was cut deeply in the steeL '^ Josh. FuUalove, J. Fernandez."
This inscription had a great effect on Robert Penfold's mind.
It seemed to bring the island of Juan Fernandez, and
humanity in general, nearer to him.
He boiled down the blubber, and put a barrel of oil on
board his life-boat. He had a ship's lantern to bum it in.
He also pitched her bottom as far as he could get at it, and
provisioned her for a long voyage; taking care to lash the
water-cask and beef-cask to the fore thwart and foremast, in
case of rough water.
When he had done all this, it occurred to him suddenly,
that should he ever escape the winds and waves, and get to
England, he would then have to encounter difficulties and
dangers of another class, and lose the battle by his poverty.
" I play my last stake now," said he. " I will throw no
chance away."
He reflected, with great bitterness, on the misery that
want of money had already brought on him, and he vowed
to reach England rich, or go to the bottom of the Pacific
This may seem a strange vow for a man to make on an
347
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
unknown island ; but Robert Penfold had a powerful under-
standings sharpened by adversity^ and his judgment told him
truly that he possessed wealth on this island^ both directly
and indirectly. In the first place knowledge is sometimes
wealth, and die knowledge of this island was a thing he could
sell to the American merchants on the coast of Chili; and
with this view he put on board his boat specimens of the
cassia and other woods, fruit, spices, pitch, guano, pink and red
coral, pearl oysters, shells, cochineal, quartz, cotton, &c., &c.
Then he took his chisel and struck all the larger pearls off
the shells that lined Helen's cave. The walls and roof
yielded nine enormous pearls, thirty large ones, and a great
many of the usual size.
He made a pocket inside his waistcoat to hold the pearls
safe.
Then he took his spade and dug into the Spanish ship for
treasure. But this was terrible work. The sand returned upon
the spade and trebled his labour.
The condition to which time and long submersion had
reduced this ship and cargo was truly remarkable. Nothing
to be seen of the deck but a thin brown streak that mingled
with the sand in patches; of the timbers nothing but the
uprights, and of those the larger half eaten and dissolved.
He dug five days and found nothing solid.
On the sixth, being now at the bottom of the ship, he
struck his spade against something hard and heavy.
On inspection it looked like ore, but of what metal he could
not tell ; it was as black as a coal. He threw this on one
side, and found nothing more ; but the next day he turned up
some smaller ^gments, which he took home and cleaned
with lime juice.
348 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
They came out bright in places like silver, and the preced-
ing is a fair representation of their appearance.
One piece was evidently a conglomeration of several silver
coins, and the other was a single coin encrusted with some
marine growth or other.
This discovery threw light on the other. The piece of
black ore, weighing about seven pounds, was in reality silver
coin that a century of submersion had reduced to the very
appearance it wore before it ever went into the furnace.
He dug with fresh energy on this discovery, but found
nothing more in the ship that day.
Then it occurred to him to carry off a few hundredweight
of pink coral.
He got some fine specimens ; and, while he was at that
work, he fell in with a piece that looked very solid at the
root, and unnaturally heavy. On a nearer examination this
proved to be a foreign substance encrusted with coral. It
had twined and twisted and curled over the thing in a most
unheard-of way. Robert took it home, and by rubbing here
and there with lemon juice, at last satisfied himself that this
object was a silver box about the size of an octavo volume.
It had no key-hole, had evidently been soldered up for
greater security ; and Robert was left to conjecture how it
had come there. We subjoin a representation of this curious
object.
He connected it at once with the ship, and felt assured
that some attempt had been made to save it. There it had
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
lain by the side of the vessel all these years, but falling clear
of the sand, had been embraced by the growing coral, and was
now a curiosity, if not a treasure. *^
He would not break the coral, but put it on board his life-
boat just as it was.
And now he dug no more. He thought he could sell the
galleon as well as the island, by sample, and he was impatient
to be gone.
He reproached himself, a little unjustly, for allowing a
woman to undertake the task of clearing him.
"To what annoyances, and perhaps affronts, have I ex-
posed her ! " said he. " No, it is a man's business to defend,
not to be defended."
To conclude. At high tide one fine afternoon, he went on
board with Ponto, and, hoisting his foresail only, crossed the
bay, ranging along the island till he reached the bluff. He
got under this, and by means of his compass and previous
observations, set the boat's head exactly on the line the ducks
used to take. Then he set his mainsail too, and stretched
boldly out across the great Pacific Ocean.
Time seems to wear out everything, even bad luck. It ran
strong against Robert Penfold for years; but, when it had
struck its worst blow, and parted him and Helen RoUeston, it
relaxed, and a tide of good luck set in, which, unfortunately,
the broken-hearted m^ could not appreciate at the time.
However, so it was. He wanted oil ; and a whale came
ashore. He wanted treasure, and the sea gave him a little
back of all it had swallowed; and now he wanted fine
weather ; and the ocean for days and nights was like peach-
coloured glass, dimpled here and there : and soft westerly
airs fanned him along by night and day.
To be sure he was on the true Pacific Ocean, at a period
when it is really free from storms. Still, even for that
latitude, he had wonderful weather for six days, and on tKe
seventh he fell in with a schooner, the skipper and crew
of which looked over the bulwarks at him with wonder
and cordiality, and, casting out a rope astern, took him in
tow.
The skipper had been eyeing him with amazement for some
hours through his telescope ; but he was a man that had seen
a great many strange things, and it was also a point of
honour with him never to allow that he was astonished, or
taken by surprise, or greatly moved.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
^* Wal, stranger," said he, " what craft is that ? "
"TheHeZcn."
* Where d'ye hail from ? not that I am curious."
^* From an unknown island."
" Do tell. What another ! Is it any ways nigh ? "
^' Not within seven hundred miles."
** Je ^rusalem ! Have you sailed all that in a cockle
shell?"
''Yes."
''Why, what are ye? the Wandering Jew afloat, or the
Ancient Mariner ? or only a kinder nautilus ? "
" I'm a landsman."
" A landsman ! then so is Neptune. What is your name,
when you are ashore ? "
" Robert Penfold. The Reverend Robert Penfold."
" The Reverend ! Je rusalem ! "
" May I ask what is your name, sir ? "
" Wal, I reckon you may, stranger. I'm Joshua Fullalove
from the States, at present located on the island of Juan
Fernandez."
" Joshua Fullalove ! That is luck. I've got something
that belongs to you."
He looked about, and found the harpoon, and handed it up
in a mighty straightforward, simple way.
Joshua stared at him incredulously at first, but afterwards
with amazement. He handled the harpoon, and inquired
where Robert had fallen in with it RoTbert told him.
"You're an honest man," said Fullalove, "you air. Come
aboard." He was then pleased to congratulate himself on his
strange luck in having drifted across an honest man in the
middle of the ocean. " I've heerd," said he, " of an old chap
as groped about all his Hfe with a lantern and couldn't find
one. Let's Hquor."
He had some celestial mixture or other made, including
rum, mint, and snow from the Andes, and then began his
interrogatories again, disclaiming curiosity at set intervals.
" Whither bound, honest man ? "
" The coast of Chili."
"What for?"
" Trade."
" D'ye bye or sell ? Not that it is my business."
" I wish to sell."
" What's the merchandise ? "
" Knowledge : and treasure."
351
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Fullalove scratched his head. *' Han't ye got a few co^unl
drums to swap for gold dust as well ?" i^:.
Robert smiled faintly : the first time this six weeks. '-^
*^ I have to sell the knowledge of an island^ with rich prci
ducts ; and I have to sell the contents of a Spanish treasuar"
ship^ that I found buried in the sand of that island.
The Yankee's eyes glistened. '^
"Wal/* said he, ''I do business in islands myself. I'vf
leased this Juan Fernandez. But one of them is enough atf
time. I'm monarch of all I survey ; but then what I survey i
a mixallaneous bilin' of Irish and Otaheitans, that it's pison ix
be monarch of. And now them darned Irish has taken to
'converting the heathens to superstition and the worship of
images, and breaks their heads if they won't: and the
heathens are all smiles and sweetness and immorality. No,
islands is no bait to me."
^^ I never asked you," said Robert. " What I do ask you
is to land me at Valparaiso. There I'll find a purchaser^ and
will pay you handsomely for your kindness."
^'That is fair," said Fullalove drily. "What will you
pay me ? "
'^ I'll show you," said Robert. He took out of his pocket
the smaller conglomeration of Spanish coin, and put it into
Fullalove's hand. " That," said he, " is silver coin I dug out
of the galleon."
Fullalove inspected it keenly, and trembled slightly.
Robert then went lightly over the tafirail, and sljd down the
low rope into his boat. He held up the black mass we have
described.
''This is solid silver. I will give it you, and my best
thanks, to land me at Valparaiso."
'' Heave it aboard," said the Yankee.
Robert steadied himself, and hove it on board. The
Yankee caught it, heavy as it was, and subjected it to some
chemical test directly.
'' Wal," said he, "that is a bargain. I'll land ye at Val-
paraiso for this. Jack, lay her head SSE. and by E."
Having given this order, he leaned over the tafirail and
asked for more samples. Robert showed him the fruits,
woods, and shells, and the pink coral, and bade him observe
that the boat was ballasted with pearl oysters. He threw
him up one, and a bunch of pink coral. He then shinned uu
the rope again, and the interrogatories recommenced. But
this time he was questioned closely as to who he was, andi
352
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
'low he came on the island? and the questions wei^e so
wd and penetrating that his fortitude gave way^ and he
cried out in anguish^ "Man, man! do not torture me so.
Oh, do not make me talk of my grief, and my wrongs;
'hey are more than I can bear."
Fullalove forebore directly, and offered him a cigar. He
took it, and it soothed him a little ; it was long since he had
smoked one. His agitation subsided, and a quiet tear or two
oiled down his haggard cheek.
The Yankee saw, and kept silence.
But when the cigar was nearly smoked out, he said he was
afraid Robert would not find a customer for his island, and
what a pity Joshua Fullalove was cool on islands just now.
" Oh I " said Robert, " I know there are enterprising
Americans on the coast who will give me money for what
I have to sell."
Fullalove was silent a minute, then he got a piece of wood
and a knife, and said, with an air of resignation
*' I reckon we'll hev to deal."
Need we say that to deal had been his eager desire from
the first ? *
He now began to whittle a peg, and awaited the attack.
" What will you give me, sir ? "
'^ What, money down ? And you got nothing to sell but
chances. Why, there's an old cuss about, that knows i/^here
the island is as well as you do."
'^Then of course you will treat with him," said Robert
sadly.
"Darned if I do," said the Yankee. " You are in trouble,
and he is not, nor never will be till he dies, and then he'll
get it hot, I calc'late. He is a thief, and stole my harpoon ;
you are an honest man, and brought it back. I reckon I'll
deal with you and not with that old cuss, not by a jugfuU !
But it must be on a percentage. You tell me the bearings of
that there island, and I'll work it and pay five per cent, on
the gross."
"Would you mind throwing that piece of wood into the
sea, Mr. Fullalove } " said Robert.
" Caen't be done, nohow. I caen't deal without whittlin'."
" You mean you can't take an unfair advantage without it.
Come, Mr. Fullalove, let us cut this short. I am, as you say,
in honest and most unfortunate man. Sir, I was falsely
accused of a crime and banished my coimtry. I can prove
mj innocence now if I can but get home with a great deal of
^5^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
money. So much for me. You are a member of the vainest
and most generous nation in the world."
" Wal, now that's kinder honey and vinegar mixed," said
FuUalove ; " pretty good for a Britisher, though."
" You are a man of that nation, which in all the agonies
and unparalleled expenses of civil war, smarting, too, under
anonymous taunts from England, did yet send over a large
sum to relieve the distresses of certain poor Englishmen who
were indirect victims of that same calamity. The act, the
time, the misery relieved, the taimts overlooked, prove your
nation superior to all others in generosity. At least my read-
ing, which is very large, affords no parallel to it either in
ancient or modern history. Mr. FuUalove, please to recollect
that you are a member of that nation, and that I am very
unhappy and helpless, and want money to undo cruel wrongs,
but have no heart to chaffer much. Take the island and the
treasure, and give me half the profits you make. Is not that
fair?"
FuUalove wore a rueful countenance.
"Dam the critter," said he, '^ he'll take the skin off my
bones if I don't mind. Fust Britisher ever I met as had the
sense to see that 'Twas rather handsome, wam't it ? Wal,
human nature is deep; every man you tackle in business
lams ye something. What with picking ye out o' the sea,
and you giving me back the harpoon the cuss stole, and your
face like a young calf, when you are the cutest fox out, and
you giving the great Z/nited States their due, I'm no more
fit to deal than mashed potatoes. Now I cave : it is only for
once. Next time don't you try to palaver me. Draw me a
map of our island, Britisher, and mark where the Spaniard
lies : I tell y(m I know her name, and the year she was
lost in : lamed that at Lima one day. Kinder startled me,
you did, when you showed me the coin out of her. Wal,
there's my hand on haelf profits, and if I'm keen, I'm
squar'."
Soon after this he led Robert to his cabin, and Robert drew
a large map from his models ; and FuUalove, being himself
an excellent draughtsman, and provided with proper instru-
ments, aided him to finish it.
Nexf day they sighted Valparaiso, and hove-to outside the
port.
All the specimens of insular wealth were put on board the
schooner and secreted, for Fullalove's first move was to get a
lease of the island from the Chilian Government, and it was
354
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
no part of his plan to trumpet the article he was going to
buy.
After a moment's hesitation, he declined to take the seven
pounds of silver. He gave as a reason, that having made a
bargain which compelled him to go to Valparaiso at once, he
did not feel like charging his partner a fancy price for towing
his boat thither. At the same time he hinted that, after all
this, the next customer would find him a very difficult Yankee
to get the better of.
With this understanding, he gave Robert a draft for JB80
on accoimt of profits ; and this enabled him to take a passage
for England with all his belongings.
He arrived at Southampton very soon after the events last
related, and thence went to London, fully aUve to the danger
of his position.
He had a friend in his long beard, but he dared not rely
on that alone. Like a mole, he worked at night.
CHAPTER LXni
Helen asked Arthur Wardlaw why he was so surprised at
the Prayer-Book being brought back. Was it worth twenty
pounds to any one except herself?
Arthur looked keenly at her to see whether she intended
more than met the ear, and then said that he was surprised at
the rapid effect of his advertisement that was all.
^' Now you have got the book," said he, " I do hope you
will erase that cruel slander on one whom you mean to
honour with your hand."
This proposal made Helen blush, and feel very miserable.
Of the obnoxious lines some were written by Robert Penfold,
and she had so little of his dear handwriting. " I feel you
are right, Arthur," said she ; " but you must give me time.
They shall meet no eye but mine ; and on our wedding-day
of course all memorials of one " Tears completed the
sentence.
Arthur Wardlaw, raging with jealousy at the abseiht Pen-
fold as heretofore Penfold had raged at him, heaved a deep
sigh and hurried away, while Helen was locking up the
Prayer-Book in her dei^ By this means he retained Helen's
pity.
355 ^ T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
He went home directly^ mounted to his bedroom^ milocked
a safe^ and plmiged his hand into it. His hand encomitered
a book ; he drew it out with a shiver^ and gazed at it with
terror and amazement.
It was the Prayer-Book he had picked up in the square and
locked up in that safe. Yet that very Prayer-Book had been
restored to Helen before his eyes, and was now. locked up in
her desk. He sat down with the book in his hand, and a
great dread came over him.
Hitherto Candour and Credulity only had been opposed to
him, but now Cunning had entered the field against him ; a
master-hand was co-operating with Helen.
Yet, strange to say, she seemed unconscious of that co-
operation. Had Robert Penfold found his way home by some
strange means ? Was he watching over her in secret ?
He had the woman he loved watched night and day, but
no Robert Penfold was detected.
He puzzled his brains night and day, and at last he con-
ceived a plan of deceit which is common enough in the East,
where lying is one of the fine arts, but was new in this
country, we believe, and we hope to Heaven we shall not be
the means of importing it.
An old clerk of his father s, now superannuated and pen-
sioned off, had a son upon the stage in a very mean position.
Once a year, however, and of course in the dog-days, he had
a kind of benefit at his suburban theatre ; that is to say, the
manager allowed him to sell tickets, and take half the price
of them. He persuaded Arthur to take some, and even to
go to the theatre for an hoiur. The man played a little part
of a pompous sneak, with some approach to Nature. He
seemed at home.
Arthur found this man out ; visited him at his own place.
He was very poor, and mingled pomposity with obsequious-
ness, so that Arthur felt convinced he was to be bought body
and soul, what there was of him.
He sounded him accordingly, and the result was that the
man agreed to perform a part for him.
Arthur wrote it, and they rehearsed it together. As to
the dialogue, that was so construdted, that it could be varied
considerably according to the cues, which could be foreseen
to a certain extent ; but not precisely, since they were to be
given by Helen RoUeston, who was not in the secret.
But whilst this plot was fermenting, other events happened^
with rather a contrary tendency, and these will be more in-
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
telligible if we go back to Nancy Rouse's cottage^ where
indeed we have kept Joseph Wylie in an uncomfortable
position a very long time.
Mrs. James^ fKm next door, was at last admitted into
Nancy's kitchen^ and her first word was, "I suppose you
know what I'm come aboul^ ma'am."
'* Which it is to return me the sass-pan you borrowed, no
doubt/' was Nancy's ing^iious r^ly.
'^No, ma'am. But I'll send my girl in with it as soon as
she have cleaned it, you may depd."
^' Thank ye^ I shall be glad to see it again."
** You're not afeard I shall steal it, I hope ? "
'^ La, bless the woman, don't fly out at a body like that. I
can't afford to give away my sass-paa."
^' Sass-pans is not in my head."
*^ Nor in your hand neither."
''I'm come about my lodger, a most respectable gentle-
man, which he have met with an accident He did but go
to put something away in the chimbley, which he is a curious
gent, and has traveUed a good deal^ and learned the foreign
custonas, when his hand was caught in the brickwork, some-
hows, imd there he is hard and fest."
'* I know nothing about it, Mrs. James," said Nancy. '* Do
you, girl. i^"
'^No," said the mitCi with a countenance of polished
granite.
" La, bless me ! " said Nancy, with a sudden start . " Why,
is she talking about the thief as you and I catched putting
his hand through the wall into my room, and made him fast
again the policeman comes round ? "
'' Thief? " cried Mrs. James : ^'no more a thief than I am.
Why, sure you wouldn't ever be so cruel ! Oh, dear ! oh,
dear ! Spite goes a far length. There, take an* (^ me,
do ; and then you'll be easy in your mind. Ah, lit^ my
poor father thought as ever I should come down to letting
lodgings, and being maltreated this way. I am ~'
^'Who is a maltreating of ye? Why, you're dreaming.
Have a drop o' gin."
" With them as takes the police to my lodger ? It would
choke me."
'' Well, have a drop, and we'll see about it"
''You're very kind, ma'am, I'm sure. Heaven knows I
need it Here's wishing you a good husband ; and towards
burying all imkindness."
357 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
*' Which you means drownding of it"
" Ah, you're never at a loss for a word, ma'am, and alwa3rs
in good spirits. But your troubles is to come. Fm a widdy.
You will let me see what is the matter with my lodger,
ma'am ? "
*' Why not ? We'll all go and have a look at him."
Accordingly, the three women and the mite proceeded to
the little room. Nancy turned the gas on, and they inspected
the imprisoned hand. Mrs. James screamed with dismay^
and Nancy asked her drily whether she was to blame for
seizing a hand which had committed a manifest trespass.
''You have got the rest of his body," said she, ''but this
here hand belongs to me."
" Lord, ma'am, what could he take out of yoiur chimbley,
without 'twas a handful of soot ? Do pray let me loose him."
" Not till I have said two words to him."
"But how can you? He isn't here to speak to; only a
morsel of him."
" I can go into your house and speak to him."
Mrs. James demurred to that ; but Nancy stood firm : Mrs.
James yielded. Nancy whispered her m3rrmidons, and in a
few minutes was standing by the prisoner, a reverend person
in dark spectacles, and a grey beard, that created com-
miseration, or would have done so, but that this stroke of
ill-fortune had apparently fallen upon a great philosopher.
He had contrived to get a seat under him, and was smoking
a pipe with admirable sangfroid.
At sight of Nancy, however, he made a slight motion, as
if he would not object to follow his imprisoned hand through
the party wall. It was only for a moment, though ; the next,
he smoked imperturbably.
"Well, sir," said Nancy, "I hopes you are comfortable."
"Thank ye, miss; yes. I am at double sheet anchor,"
" Why do you call me miss ? "
" I don't Imow. Because you are so young and pretty."
" That will do. I only wanted to hear the sound of your
voice, Joe Wylie." And with the word she snatched his wig
off with one hand, and his beard with the other, and revealed
his true features to his astonished landlady.
" There, mum," said she, " I wish you joy of your lodger."
She tapped the chimney three times with the poker, and
telling Mr. Wylie she had a few words to say to him in
private, retired for the present. Mrs. James sat down and
mourned the wickedness of mankind, the loss of her lodger
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
(who would now go bodily next door instead of sending his
hand)^ and the better days she had by iteration brought
herself to believe she had seen.
WyHe soon entered Nancy's house^ and her first question
was "The 2000, how did you get them ? "
^' No matter how I got them/' said Wylie sulkily. *' What
have you done with them ? "
"Put them away."
"That is all right I'm blest if I didn't think they were
gone for ever."
"I wish they had never come. Ill-gotten money is a
curse." Then she taxed him with scuttling the Proserpine^
and asked him whether that money had not been the bribe.
But Joe was obdurate. " I never split on a friend," said he.
" And you have nobody to blame but yourself; you wouldn't
splice without 2000. I loved you: and I got it how I
could. D'ye think a poor fellow like me can make 2000
in a voyage by hauling on ropes, and tying true lovers' knots
in the foretop ? "
Nancy had her answer ready; but this remembrance
pricked her own conscience and paved the way to a recon-
ciliation.
Nancy had no high-flown notions. She loved money, but
it must be got without palpable dishonesty ; per contra, she
was not going to denounce her sweetheart, but then again
she would not marry him so long as he differed with her
about the meaning of the eighth commandment
This led to many arguments, some of them warm, some
affectionate, and so we leave Mr. Wylie under the slow but
salutary influence of love and unpretending probity.
He continued to lodge next door. Nancy would only
receive him as a visitor. " No," said she, *' a little snapping
and snarling is good for the health : but I don't care to take
the bread out of a neighbour s mouth as keeps saying she
have seen better days.'
359
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
CHAPTER LXIV
Helen had complained to Arthur, of all people^ that she
was watched and followed; she ev^i asked him whether
that was not the act of some enemy. Arthur smiled, aad
said^ " Take my word for it^ it is only some foolish admirer of
your beauty; he wants to know your habits^ in hopes of
falling in with you ; you had better let me go out wth you
for the next month or so; that sort of thing will soon die
away/'
Aa a necessary oonsequenoe of this injudicious revelatioB,
Helen was watched inth greater skill and subtlety^ and upon
a plan well ealculated to disarm suspicion: a spy watched
the door, and by a signal, unintelligible to any but his con-
federate, whom Helen could not possibly see, set the latter
on her track.
They kept this game up unobserved for several days ; but
learned nothing, for Helen was at a standstill
At last they got caught^ and by a truly feminine stroIi^
of observation.
A showily dressed man peeped into a sbc^ where Helen
was buying gloves.
With one glance of her woman's eye she recognised a
large breast-pin in the worst possible taste ; thence her eye
went up and reoognised the features of her seedy follower,
though he was now dressed up to the nine.
She withdrew her eye directly, completed her purchasCj
and went home, brooding defence and vengeance.
That evening she dined with a lady, who had a large
acquaintance with lawyers, and it so happened that Mr.
Tollemache and Mr. Hennessy were both of the party.
Now, when these gentlemen saw Helen in full costume, a
queen in form as well as face, coroneted with her island
pearls, environed with a halo of romance, and courted by
women as well as men, they looked up to her with astonish-
ment, and made up to her in a very different style from that
in which they had received her visit Tollemache she re-
ceived coldly ; he had defended Robert Penfold feebly, and
she hated him for it. Hennessy she received graciously, and
remembering Robert's precept, to be supple as a woman,
bewitched him. He was good-natured, able, and vain. By
eleven o'clock she had enlisted him in her service. When
360
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
she had conquered him^ she said slily, ^' But I ought not to
speak of these things to you except through a solicitor."
''That is the general rule," said the learned counsel, "but
in this case no dark body must come between me and the
sun*"
In i^rt be entered into Penfold s case with such well-
feigned warmth, to please the beauteous ghrl^ that at last she
took him by the horns and ccmsolted.
'' I am followed," said she.
*'l have no doubt you are; luad on a large scale: if
there is room tor aaothejr I should be gkd to j(Hn the
train."
''Ha! ha! I'll save you the tarouble. I'll meet you half
way. But, to be serious, I am watched, spied, and followed
by some enemy to that good friend whose sacred cause we
have undertaken. Forgive me for saying ' we.' "
"I am too proud of the companionship to let you off.
'We' is the word."
"Then advise me what to do. I want to retaliate. I
want to discover who is watdbing me and why. Can you
advise me ? Will you ? "
The counsel reflected a moment, and Helen, who watched
him, remarked the power that suddenly came into his coun-
tenance and brow.
"You must watch the spies. I have influence in Scotland
Yard, and will get it done for you. If you went there your-
self they would cross-examine you and decline to interfere.
I'll go myself for you, and put it in a certain light An able
detective wUl call on you : give him ten guineas, and let him
into your views in confidence ; then he will work the public
machinery for you."
" Oh, Mr. Hennessy, how can I thank you ? "
"By succeeding. I hate to fail: and now your cause is
mine."
Next day a man with a hooked nose, a keen black eye,
and a solitary foible (Mosaic), called on Helen Rolleston, and
told her he was to take her instructions. She told him she
was watched, and thought it was done to baffle a mission she
had undertaken : but, having got so far, she blushed and
hesitated.
" The more you tell me, miss, the more use I can be," said
Mt. Burt.
Thus encouraged, and also remembering Mr. Hennessy's
advice, she gave Mr. Burt, as coldly as she could, an outline
361
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
of Robert Penfold's case and of the exertions she had made,
and the small result.
Burt listened keenly, and took a note or two, and when
she had done, he told her something in return.
*^ Miss RoUeston," said he, *' I am the officer that arrested
Robert Penfold. It cost me a grinder that he knocked out."
" Oh dear 1 " said Helen, '* how unfortunate ! Then I fear
I cannot reckon on your services."
''Why not, miss? What, do you think I hold spite
against a poor fellow for defending himself? Besides, Mr.
Penfold wrote me a very proper note ; certainly, for a parson,
the gent is a very quick hitter ; but he wrote very square
said he hoped I would allow for the surprise and the agita-
tion of an innocent man, sent me two guineas too, and said
he would make it twenty ; but he was poor as well as unfor-
tunate. That letter has stuck in my gizzard ever since ;
can't see the colour of felony in it. Your felon is never in
a fault ; and, if he wears a good coat, he isn't given to show
fight."
" It was very improper of him to strike you," said Helen,
''and very noble of you to forgive it. Make him still more
ashamed of it ; lay him under a deep obligation."
" If he is innocent, Fll try and prove it," said the detec-
tive. He then asked her if she had taken notes. She said
she had a diary. He begged to see it. She felt inclined to
withhold it, because of the comments; but, remembering
that this was womanish, and that Robert's orders to her
were to be manly on such occasions, she produced her diary.
Mr. Burt read it very carefully, and told her it was a very
promising case. "You have done a great deal more than
you thought," he said. " You have netted thejlsh,**
CHAPTER LXV
" I ! NETTED the fish ! what fish ? "
" The man who forged the promissory note."
"Oh, Mr. Burt!"
"The same man that forged the newspaper extracts to
deceive you, forged the promissory note years ago, and the
man who is setting spies on you is the man who forged tho$e
extracts ; so we are sure to nail him. He is in the net, and
362
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
very much to your credit Leave the rest to me. I'll tell
you more about it to-morrow. You must order your carriage
at one o'clock to-morrow, and drive down to Scotland Yard :
go into the Yard and you will see me ; follow me without a
word. When you go back the other spies will be so fright-
ened^ they will go off to their employer, and so we shall nail
him."
Helen compUed with these instructions strictly, and then
returned home, leaving Mr. Burt to work. She had been
home about half-an-hour, when the servant brought her up
a message saying that a man wanted to speak to her.
''Admit him," said Helen.
*' He is dressed very poor, miss."
Never mind ; send him to me."
She was afraid to reject anybody now, lest she might turn
her back on information.
A man presented himself in well-worn clothes, with a
wash-leather face and close-shaven chin ; a little of his fore-
head was also shaven.
" Madam, my name is Hand."
Helen started.
'* I have already had the honour of writing to you."
'' Yes, sir," said Helen, eyeing him with fear and aversicm.
** Madam, I am come " {he hesitated) " I am an unfor-
tunate man. Weighed down by remorse for a thoughtless act
that has ruined an innocent man, and nearly cost my worthy
employer his life, Tcome to expiate as far as in me lies. But
let me be brief, and hurry over a tale of shame. I was a
clerk at Wardlaw's office. A bill broker called Adams was
talking to me and my fellow-clerks^ and boasting that no-
body could take him in with a feigned signature. Bets were
laid ; our vanity was irritated by his pretension. It was my
fortune to overhear my young master and his friend Robert
Penfold speak about a loan of two thousand pounds. In an
evil hour I listened to the tempter, and wrote a forged note
for that amount. I took it to Mr. Penfold ; he presented it
to Adams, and it was cashed. I intended, of course, to call
next day, and tell Mr. Penfold, and take him to Adams, and
restore the money, and get back the note. It was not due
for three months. Alas ! that very day it fell under sus-
picion. Mr. Penfold was arrested. My young master was
struck down with illness at his friend's guilt, though he
never could be quite got to believe it; and I, miserable
coward, dared not tell the truth. Ever since that day I
363 n T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
have been a miserable man. The other day I came into
money^ smd left Wardlaw'g service. But I cany my remorse
with me. Madam^ I am come to tell the truth. I dare not
tell it to Mr. Wardlaw ; I think he would kill me. But I
will tell it to you^ and yoa ean tdil it to him; ay^ tell it
to all the world. Let my diame be as public as hb whom
I have injured so deeply^ but^ Heaven knows^ imintentionally,
Mr. Hand sank all in a heap^ where he Bat, and could say
no more.
Helen's flesh crawled at this confession, and at the sight
of this reptile, who owned that he had destroyed Robert
Penfold in fear and cowardice. For a long time her wrath
so overpowered all sense c^ pity, that he sat trembling ;
and if eyes could kill, Mr. HaiMl would not have outUved
his confession.
At last she contrived to speak, ^e turned her head away
not to see the wretch, and said, sternly-*^
^^Are you prepared to make this statement on paper if
called on ? "
Mr. Hand hesitated, but said, '^ Yes."
*' Then write down that Robert Penfold was innocaiit, and
you are ready to prove it whenever yu are mailed upon.*'
Write that down ? " said Hand.
'^ Unless your penitence is feigned, you wiD.*'
'^ Sooner than that should be added to my crime, J will
avow all."
He then wrote the few Hnes she required.
'^ Now your address, that I may know where to find you at
. a moment's notice."
He then wrote, '^ J. Hand, 1 1 Warwick Street, Pimlico.*'
Helen then dismissed him, and wept bitterly. In tlwit
cMidition she was found by Arthur Wardlaw, who comforted
her, and, on bearing her report of Hand's confettsion, burst
out into triumph, and reminded her he had always said
Robert Penfold was innocent. " My father," said he, '' must
yield to this evidence, and we will lay it before the Seearetary
of State, and get his pardon/'
*^ His pardon ! when he is innocent ! "
" Oh, that is the form ; the only form. The rest must be
done by the warm reception of his friends. I, for one, who
all these years have maintained his innocence, will be the
first to welcome him to xof house, an honoured guest. What
am I saying? Can I ? dare I ? ought I ? when my wife
364
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
Ah ! I am more to be pitied than my poor friend is : my
^end^ my rival. Well, I leave it to you whether he can
come into your husband's house."
'' Never."
'' But, at least I can send the Springbok out, and bring him
home : and that I will do without one day's delay."
'^ Oh, Arthur ! " cried Helen, '' you set me an example of
unselfishness."
'' I do what I can," said Arthur. " I am no saint I hope
for a reward."
Helen sighed. What shall I do ? "
" Have pity on me ! your faithful lover, and to whom your
faith was plighted before ever you saw or knew my unhappy
friend. What can I do or suffer more than I have done and
suffered for you ? My sweet Helen, have pity on me, and be-
my wife."
'' I will ; some day."
^' Bless you : bless you. One effort more : what day ? "
" I can't. I can't. My heart is dead."
"This day fortnight. Let me speak to your father: let
him name the day." *
As she made no reply, he kissed her hand devotedly, and
did speak to her father.
Sir Edward, meaning all for the best, said, "This day
fortnight."
CHAPTER LXVI
The next morning came the first wedding presents from the
jubilant bridegroom, who was determined to advance step
by step and give no breathing time.
When Helen saw them laid out by her maid, she trembled
at the consequences of not giving a plump negative to so
brisk a wooer.
The second post brought two letters : one of them from
Mrs. Undercliff; the other contained no words, but only a
peaii of uncommon size and pear-shaped.
Helen received this at first as another wedding present,
and an attempt on Arthur's part to give her a pearl as large
as those she had gathered on her dear island. But looking
narrowly at the address, she saw it was not written by Arthur ;
and presently she was struck by the likeness of this jjearl in
365 Digitized by LjOOg IC
FOUL PLAY
shape to some of her own. She got out her pearls, laid them
side by side, and began to be moved exceedingly. Slie liad
one of her instincts, and it set every fibre quivering* Tvitli
excitement. It was some time before she could take lier
eyes off the pearls, and it was with a trembling hand she
opened Mrs. LFndercliff's letter.
^' My dear Young Lady, A person called here last night
and suppUed the clue. If you have the courage to kno^iv
the truth, you have only to come here, and to bring" your
diary, and all the letters you have received from any
person or persons since you landed in England. I am^
yours obediently, Jane Undercliff."
The courage to know the truth !
This mysterious sentence affected Helen considerably ; but
her faith in Robert was too great to be shaken. She -would
not wait for the canonical hour at which young ladies go
out, but put on her bonnet directly after breakfast.
Early as she was, a visitor came before she could start
Mr. Burt, the detective. She received him in the library.
Mr. Burt looked at her dress and her little bag, and said^
'^ I'm very glad I made bold to call so early."
" You have got information of importance to communicate
to me ? "
" I think so, miss ; " and he took out his note-book, " The
person you are watched by is Mr. Arthur Wardlaw."
The girl stared at him.
^'Both spies report to him twice a day at his house in
Russell Square."
'' Be careful, Mr. Burt ; this is a serious thing to say, and
may have serious consequences."
''Well, miss, you told me you wanted to know the truth."
'' Of course I want to know the truth."
''Then the truth is that you are watched by order of
Mr. Wardlaw."
Burt continued his report.
" A shabby-like man called on you yesterday."
" Yes ; it was Mr. Hand, Mr. Wardlaw's clerk. And, oh I
Mr. Burt, that wretched creature came and confessed the
truth. It was he who forged the note, out of sport, and
for a bet, and then was too cowardly to own it."
She then detailed Hand's confession. t
366
Digitized by VjOO^ IC
FOUL PLAY
" His penitence comes too late," said she, with a deep sigh.
"It hasn't come yet," said Burt drily. "Of course my
lambs followed the man. He went first to his employer, and
then he went home. His name is not Hand. He is not a
clerk at all, but a little actor at the Corinthian Saloon.
Hand is in America ; went three months ago. I ascertained
that from another quarter."
- '^ Oh, goodness ! " cried Helen ; " what a wretched world.
I can t see my way a yard for stories."
" How should you, miss ? It is clear enough for all that.
Mr. Wardlaw hired this actor to pass for Hand, and tell you
a lie, that he thought would please you."
Helen put her hand to her brow, and thought; but her
candid soul got sadly in the way of her brain.
"Mr. Burt," said she, "wiU you go with me to Mr.
Undercliff, the expert ? "
"With pleasure, ma'am; but let me finish my report.
Last night there was something new. Your house was
watched by six persons. Two were Wardlaw's, three were
Burt's, but the sixth man was there on his own hook ; and
my men could not make him out at all ; but they think one
of Wardlaw's men knew him; for he went off to Russell
Square like the wind, and brought Mr. Wardlaw here in
disguise. Now, miss, that is all ; and shall I call a cab, and
we'll hear Underclirs tale ? "
The cab was called, and they went to Undercliff. On the
way Helen brooded ; but the detective eyed every man and
everything on the road with the utmost keenness.
Edward Undercliff was at work at lithographing. He
received Helen cordially, nodded to Burt, and said she could
not have a better assistant
He then laid his facsimile of the forged note on the table
with John Wardlaw's genuine writing and Penfold's endorse-
ment.
"Look at that, Mr. Burt."
Burt inspected the papers keenly.
" You know, Burt, I swore at Robert Penfold's trial that
he never wrote that forged note."
" I remember," said Burt
'^Tlie other day this lady entrusted me to discover, if I
could, who did write the forged note. But, unfortunately,
the materials she gave me were not sufficient. But, last
night, a young man dropped from the clouds, that I made
367 r- T
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
sure was an agent of yours^ Miss Rolleston. Under that in
pression I was rather unguarded^ and I let him know how f
we had got^ and could get no farther. ^ I think I can he^
you/ says this young man^ and puts a letter on the tab!
Well, Mr. Burt, a glance at that letter was enough for m
It was written by the man who forged the note."
"A letter!" said Helen.
" Yes. I'll put the letter by the side of the forged note
and, if you have any eye for writing at all, you'll see at one
that one hand wrote the forged note and this letter. I ai
also prepared to swear that the letters signed Hand ar
forgeries by the same person."
He then coolly put upon the table the letter from Arthu
Wardlaw that Helen had received on board the Proserpim
and was proceeding to point out the many points of resem
blance between the letter and the document, when he wa
interrupted by a scream from Helen.
'* Ah ! " she cried. " He is here. Only one man in th
world could have brought that letter. I left it on the island.
Robert is here : he gave you that letter.'*
*' You are right," said the expert, ** and what a fool I must
be. I have no eye except for handwriting. He had a beard :
and such a beard ! "
'* It is Robert ! " cried Helen, in raptures. " He is come
just in time."
" In time to be arrested," said Burt. '' Why, his time is
not out. He'll get into a trouble again."
*' Oh, Heaven forbid ! " cried Helen, and turned so faint,
she had to be laid back on a chair, and salts applied to her
nostrils.
She soon came to, and cried and trembled, but prepared to
defend her Robert with all a woman's wit.
Burt and Undercliff were conversing in a low voice, and
Burt was saying he felt sure Wardlaw's spies had detected
Robert Penfold, and that Robert would be arrested and put
into prison as a runaway convict.
'^ Go to Scotland Yard this minute, Mr. Burt," said Helen
eagerly.
"What for?"
^' Why, you must take the commission to arrest him. You
are our friend."
Burt slapped his thig^ with delight
" That is first-rate, miss," said he ; '^ I'll take the real felon
first, you may depend. Now, Mr. tlndercUff, write your re-
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
port, and hand it to Miss Helen, with facsimiles. It will do
no harm if you make a declaration to the same effect before
a magistrate. You, Miss RoUeston, keep yourself disengaged,
and please don't go out. You will very likely hear from me
again to-day."
He drove off, and Helen, though still greatly agitated by
Robert's danger, and the sense of his presence, now sat down,
trembling a httle, and compared Arthur's letter with the
forged document. The effect of this comparison was irre-
sistible. The expert, however, aske^ her for some letter of
Arthur's, that had never passed thraugh Robert Penfold's
hands. She gave him the short note in which he used the
very words, Robert Penfold. Hq said he would make that
note the basis of his report.
While he was writing it, Mrs. Undercliff came in, and
Helen told her all. She said, '^ I came to the same conclu-
sion long ago; but when you said he was to be your
husband "
^^ Ah," said Helen, ^' we women are poor creatures ; we
can always find some reason for running away from the truth.
Now explain about the Prayer-Book."
''Well, miss, I felt sure he would steal it, so I made Ned
produce a facsimile. And he did steal it. What you got
back was your mother's Prayer-Book. Of course I took care
of that."
" Oh, Mrs. Undercliff," cried Helen, " do let me kiss you."
Then they had a nice httle cry together, and, by the time
they had done, the report was ready in dupHcate.
''I'll declare this before a magistrate," said the expert,
"and then I'll send it to you."
At four o'clock of this eventful day, Helen got a message
from Burt to say that he had orders to arrest Robert Penfold,
and that she must wear a mask and ask Mr. Wardlaw to
meet her at old Mr. Penfold's at nine o'clock. But she her-
self must be there at half-past eight, without fail, and bring
Undercliffs declaration and report with her, and the Prayer-
Book, &c.
Accordingly, Helen went down to old Mr. Penfold's at
half-past eight, and was received by Nancy Rouse, and
ushered into Mr. Penfold's room ; that is to say, Nancy held
the door open, and, on her entering the room, shut it sharply
and ran downstairs.
Helen entered the room ; a man rose directly and came to
her; but it was not Michael Penfold ^it was Robert. A
Digitized by VjOOQLC
FOUL PLAY
fiiint scream, a heavenly sigh, and her head was on li
shoulder, and her arm round his neck, and both their hear
panting as they gased, and then dung to each other, and the
gazed again witi^ love unutterable. After a while they gr
sufficient composure to sit down hand in hand and compai
note^ And Helen showed him their weapons of defence, th
Prayer-Book, the expert's report, &c.
A discreet tap was heanl at the door. It was Nanc
Rouse. On being invited to enter, she came in, and saia,
" Oh, Miss Helen, I've got a penitent outside, which he done
it for love of me, and now he'll make a dean breast, and
the fault was partly mine. Come in, Joe, and speak for
yourself."
On this, Joe Wyhe came in, hanging his head piteously.
'^ She is right, sir," said he ; '^ I'm come to ask your par-
don and the lady's. Not as I ever meant you any harm ; but
to destroy the ship, it was a bad act, and I've never throve
since. Nance, she have got the money. I'll give it back to
the underwriters ; and, if you and the lady will forgive a poor
fellow that was tempted with love and money, why, I'll stand
to the truth for you, though it's a bitter pilL"
" I forgive you," said Robert ; '' and I accept your offer to
serve me."
" And so do I," said Helen. ^' Indeed, it is not us you
have wronged. But, oh ! I am glad, for Nancy's sake, tiiat
you repent."
*' Miss, I'll go through fire and water for you," said Wylie,
lifting up his head.
Here old Michael came in to say that Arthur Wardlaw was
at the door, with a policeman.
^' Show him in," said Robert
*' Oh no, Robert," said Helen. '' He fills me with horror."
''Show him in," said Robert gently. '*Sit down, all of
you."
Now Burt had not told Arthur who was in the house, so he
came, rather uneasy in his mind, but still expecting only to
see Helen.
Robert Penfold told Helen to fiu;e the door, and the rest
to sit back ; and this arrangement had not been effected one
second, when Arthur came in, with a lover's look, and, taking
two steps into the room, saw the three men waiting to reed ve
him. At sight of Penfold he started, and tuiOMMl pale as
ashes ; but, recovering himsdf, said
'' My dearest Hden, this is indeed an unexpected pleasure.
370
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
You will reconcile me to one whose worth and innocence I
never doubted, and tell him I have had some little hand in
clearing him/'
His effrontery was received in dead silence. This struck
cold to his bones, and, being naturally weak, he got violent.
He said
" Allow me to send a message to my servant.*
He then tore a leaf out of his memorandum-book, wrote
on it : " Robert Penfold is here ; arrest him directly, and
take him away." And, enclosing this in an envelope, sent it
out to Burt by Nancy.
Helen seated herself quietly, and said
'' Mr, Wardlaw, when did Mr. Hand go to America ? "
Arthur stammered out, " I don't know the exact date.**
^' Two or three months ago ? "
''Yes."
'' Then the person you sent to me to tell me that falsehood
was not Mr. Hand ? "
*' I sent nobody."
'' Oh, for shame ! ^for shame ! Why have you set spies ?
Why did you make away with my Prayer-Book ; or what
you thought was my Prayer-Book ? Here is my Prayer-Book,
that proves you had the Proserpine destroyed ; and I should
have lost my life but for another, whom you had done your
best to destroy. Look Robert Penfold in the face if you can."
Arthur's eyes began to waver.
''I can," said he. ''I never wronged him. I always
lamented his misfortune."
'' You were not the cause ? "
*' Never ! so help me Heaven ! "
" Monster ! " said Helen, turning away in contempt and
horror.
" Oh, that is it, is it } " said Arthur wildly. ^ You break
fciith with me for him 9 You insult me for him ? I must
bear anything from you, for I love you ; but, at least,, I will
sweep him out of the path."
He ran to the door, opened it, and there was Burt,
listening.
*' Are ^ou an officer ? "
''Yes."
" Then arrest that man this moment : he is Robert Penfold,
a convict returned before his time."
Burt came into the room, locked the door, and put the key
in his pocket.
^"^^ Digitized by Google
/
FOUL PLAY
"Well, sir/* said Burt to Robert, ''I know you are a
quick hitter. Don't let us have a row over it this time. If
you have got anything to say, say it quiet and comfortable.'*
''I will go with you on one condition," said Robert.
^^ You must take the felon as well as the martjqr. This is the
felon ; " and he laid his hand on Arthur's shoulder, who
cowered under the touch at first, but soon began to act
violent indignation.
" Take the ruffian away at once," he cried.
'^ What ! before I hear what he has got to say ? ".
" Would you Hsten to him against a merchant of the city
of London, a man of unblemished reputation ? "
" Well, sir, you see we have got a hint that you were con-
cerned in scuttling a ship : and that is a felony. So I think
1*11 just hear what he has got to say. You need not^ear any
man's tongue if you are innocent"
*' Sit down, if you please, and examine these documents,"
said Robert Penfold. " As to the scuttling of the ship, here
is the deposition of two seamen, taken on their death-bed,
and witnessed by Miss Rolleston and myself"
'' And that book he tried to steal," said Helen.
Robert continued : '' And here is Undercliff 's facsimile of
the forged note. Here are specimens of Arthur Wardlaw's
handwriting, and here is UndercliflTs report"
The detective ran his eye hastily over the report, which
we slightly condense.
On comparing the forged note with genuine specimens of
John Wardlaw's handwriting, no less than twelve deviations
from his habits of writing strike the eye : and every one of
these twelve deviations is a deviation into a habit of Arthur
Wardlaw, which is an amount of demonstration rarely attained
in cases of forgery.
1. The capital L. Compare in London (forged note)
with the same letter in London in Wardlaw's letter.
2. The capital D. Compare this letter in " Date " with
the same letter in " Dearest"
3. The capital T. Compare it in '^Two" and "ToUe-
mache." -t
4. The word " To ; " see '^ To pay," in forged note and
third line of letter.
5. Small ^' o " formed with a loop in the upstroke.
6. The maimer of finishing the letter " v."
7. Ditto the letter ^'w."
372 r^ 1
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
uuny /d^/(f64r
Page 372.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
Y
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
(Copy.)
^^^^'S^^t^ /&/^ yy^^^ o^^cA^
Page 373.
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
8. The imperfect formation of the small ^^a." This and
the looped "o" run through the forged note and Arthur
Wardlaw's letter, and are habits entirely foreign to the style
of John Wardlaw.
9. See the '' th " in connection.
10. Ditto the "of" in connection.
11. The incautious use of the Greek c. John Wardlaw
never uses this e. Arthur Wardlaw never uses any other
apparently. The writer of the forged note began right, but
at the word Robert Penfold glided insensibly into his Greek e,
and maintained it to the end of the forgery. This looks as if
he was in the habit of writing those two words.
12. Compare the words Robert Penfold in the forged docu-
ment with the same words in the letter. The similarity is so
striking that, on these two words alone, the writer could be
identified beyond a doubt.
13. Great pains were taken with the signature, and it is
like John Wardlaw's writing* on the surface : but go below
the surface and it is all Arthur Wardlaw.
The looped 0, the small r, the / dropping below the d, the
open fl, are all Arthur Wardlaw's. The open loop of the final
w is a still bolder deviation into A. W.'s own hand. The
final flourish is a curious mistake. It is executed with skill
and freedom; but the writer has made the lower line the
thick one. Yet John Wardlaw never does this.
How was the deviation caused ? Examine the final flourish
in Arthur Wardlaw's signature. It contains one stroke only :
but then that stroke is a thick one. He thought he had only
to prolong his own stroke and bring it round. He did this
extremely well, but missed the deeper characteristic ^the
thick upper stroke. This is proof of a high character ; and
altogether I am quite prepared to testify upon oath, that the
writer of the letter to Miss RoUeston, who signs himself Arthur
Wardlaw, is the person who forged the promissory note.
To enable the reader to follow all this, we reproduce the
materials of Mr. Underclifi^s judgment. To these twelve
proofs one more was now added.
Arthur Wardlaw rose, and with his knees knocking to-
gether, said, *' Don't arrest him, Burt ; let him go."
"Don't let him go," cried old Penfold. "A villain! I
have got the number of the notes from Benson. I can prove
he bribed this poor man to destroy the ship. Don't let him
go. He has ruined my poor boy."
^73
Digitized
by Google
FOUL PLAY
At this Arthur Wardlaw began to shriek for mercy.
" Oh, Mr. Pfenfold/' said he, '' you are a father, and hate
me. But think of my father. I'll say anything, do any-
thing. I'U clear Robert Penfold at my own expense. I
have lost her. She loathes me now. Have mercy on me,
and let me leave the country."
He cringed and crawled so that he disanned anger, and
substituted contempt.
''Ay," said Burt ''He don't hit Bke yoa, Mr. Penfdd;
this is a chap that ought to have been in Newgate long ago.
But take my advice ; make him clear you on paper and then
let him go. I'll go downstairs awhile. I mustn't take part
in compounding a felony."
" Oh yes, Robert," said Helen, "for his &ther^s sake."
''Very well," said Robert ''Now then, reptile, take the
pen and write in your own hand, if you can."
He took the pen and wrote to dictation :
" I, Arthur Wardlaw, confess that I forged the promissory
note for 2000, and sent it to Robert Penfold, and that
1400 of it was to be for my own use, and to pay my Oxford
debts. And I confess that I bribed Wylie to scuttle the ship
Proserpine in order to cheat the underwriters.**
Penfold then turned to Wylie and asked him the true
motive of this fraud.
"Why the gold was aboard the Shanmon^" said Wylie;
" I played hanky-panky with the metals in White's store.'*
" Put that down," said Penfold. " Now go on."
"Make a clean breast," said Wylie. "I have. Say as
how you cooked the Proserpine's log, and forged Hiram
Hudson's writing."
" And the newspaper extracts you sent me," said Helen,
" and the letters from Mr. Hand."
Arthur groaned. " Must I tell all that I " said he.
" Every word, or be indicted," said Robert Penfold sternly.
He wrote it all down, and then sat staring stupidly.
And the next thing was, he gave a loud shriek, and fell on
the floor in a fit
They sprinkled water over him, and Burt ccmveyed him
home in a cab, advising him to leave the country, at the
same time promising him not to exasperate those he had
wronged so deeply, but rather to moderate them, if required.
Then he gave Burt fifty guineas.
Robert Penfold, at Helen's request, went with her to Mr*
Hennessy, and with the proofs of Arthur's guilt and Robert's
^''^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
innocence ; and he undertook that the matter should go in
proper form before the Secretary of State. But, somehow, it
transjnred that the Proserpine had been scuttled, and several
of the underwriters wrote to the Wardlaws to threaten pro-
ceedings. Wardlaw senior returned but one answer to these
gentlemen : '^ Bring your proofs to me at my place of busi-
ness next Monday at twelve, and let me judge the case^
before you go elsewhere."
^'That is high and mighty," said one or two; but they
conferred and agreed to these terms, so high stood the old
merchant's name.
They came ; they were received with stiff courtesy. The
deposition of Cooper and Welch was produced, and Wylie,
kept up to the mark by Nancy, told the truth, and laid his
two thousand pounds intact down on the table.
^^ Now that is off my stomachy" said he, ** and I'm a man
again."
*' Ay, and I'll marry you next week," said Nancy,
" Well, gentlemen," said old Wardlaw, " my course seems
very clear. I will undo the whole transaction, and return
you your money less the premiums, but plus five per cent,
interest.
And this he did on the spot, for the firm was richer than
ever.
When they were gone^ Robert Penfold came in, and
said
'^ I hear, sir, you devote this day to repairing the wrongs
done by your firm : what can you do for me ?"
He laid a copy of Arthur's confession before him.
The old man winced a moment where he sat, and the iron
passed through his soul.
It was a long time before he could speak. At last he
said
**This wrong is irreparable, I fear.**
Robert said nothing. Sore as his own heart was, he was
not the one to strike a grand old man, struggling so bravely
against dishonour.
Wardlaw senior touched his hand-bell.
*' Request Mr. Penfold to step this way."
Michael Penfold came.
'Gentlemen," said the old merchant, ''the house of Ward-
law exists no more. It was built en honesty, and cannot
survive a fraud. Wardlaw & Son were partners at wilL
I had decided to dissolve that partnership, wind up the
^"^^ Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
accounts, and put up the shutters. But now, if you like, I
will value the effects, and hand the business over to Penfold
and Son, on easy terms. Robert Penfold has been accused of
forcing John Wardlaw's name ; to prove this was a calumny,
I put Penfold over my door instead of Wardlaw. The city
of London will understand that, gentlemen, believe me."
"Mr. Wardlaw," said Robert, "you are a just, a noble "
He could say no more.
"Ah, sir," said Michael; "if the young gentleman had
only been like you."
" Mention his name no more to me. His crime and his
punishment have killed me."
" Oh," said Robert hastily, " he shall not be punished for
your sake."
"Not be punished? It is not in your hands to decide.
God has punished him. He is insane."
" Good heavens ! "
"Quite mad; quite mad. Gentlemen, I can no longer
support this interview. Send me your solicitors address;
the deeds shall be prepared. I wish the new firm success.
Probity is the road to it. Good day."
He wound up the affairs, had his name and Arthur's*
painted out at his own expense, and directed the painters to
paint the Penfolds' in at theirs ; went home to Elmtrees, and
died in three days. He died lamented and honoured, and
Robert Penfold was much affected. He got it into his head
that he had killed him with Arthur's confession, putting it
before him so suddenly.
"I have forgotten who said 'Vengeance is Mine,'" said
Robert Penfold.
The merchant priest left the office to be conducted by his
father ; he used the credit of the new firm to purchase a
living in the Vale of Kent, and thither he retired ; grateful
to Providence, but not easy in his conscience. He now
accused himself of having often distrusted God, and seen his
fellow-creatures in too dark a light He turned towards
religion and the care of souls.
Past suffering enlightens a man, and makes him tender;
and people soon began to walk and drive considerable dis-
tances to hear the new vicar. He had a lake with a new
peninsula, the shape of which he altered, at a great expense,
as soon as he came there.
He wrote to Helen every day, and she to him. Neitt^^
could do anything con amore till the post came in.
376
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
FOUL PLAY
One afternoon, as he was preaching with great unction, he
saw a long puritanical face looking up at him with a droll
expression of amazement and half irony. The stranger called
on him, and began at once.
"Wal, parson, you are a Buster, you air. You ginn it
us hot, you did. I'm darned if I ain't kinder ashamed to
talk of this world's goods to a saint upon airth like you.
But I never knowed a parson yet as couldn't collar the
doUars."
After this preamble he announced that he had got a lease
of the island from Chili, dug a lot of silver plate out of the
galleon, sold ten tons of choice coral, and a ship-load of cassia
and cocoa-nuts. He had then disposed of his lease to a
Califomian Company for a large sum. And his partner's
share of net profits came to 17,247, 13s. 3jd., which sum he
had paid to Michael, for Robert Penfold, in drafts on Baring,
at thirty days after sight.
Robert shook his hand, and thanked him sincerely for his
ability and probity. He stayed that night at the Vicarage,
and by that means fell in with another acquaintance. General
Rolleston and his daughter drove down to see the Parsonage.
Helen wanted to surprise Robert ; and, as often happens, she
surprised herself. She made him show her everything ; and
so he took her on to his peninsula. Lo ! the edges of it had
been cut and altered, so that it presented a miniature copy of
Godsend Island.
As soon as she saw this, Helen turned round with a sudden
cry of love
'^ Oh, Robert ! " and the lovers were in each other's arms.
'^ What could any other man ever be to me ? "
'^ And what could any other woman ever be to me } "
They knew that before. But this miniature island made
them speak out and say it. The wedding-day was fixed
before she left.
Her Majesty pardoned this scholar, hero, and worthy, the
crime he had never committed.
Nancy Rouse took the penitent Wylie without the 2000.
But old Penfold, who knew the whole story, lent the money
at three per cent. ; so the Wylies pay a ground rent of 60
a year for a property which, by Mrs. Wylie's industry and
judgment, is worth as least 400. She pays this very cheer-
fully, and appeals to Joe whether that is not better dian the
other way.
Why, Joe," says she, '^to a woman like me that's a foot
^'' Digitized by Google
FOUL PLAY
all day, 'tis worth sixtj pounds a year to be a good sleeper;
and I shouldn't be that if I had wronged my neighbour."
Arthur Wardlaw is in a private lunatic asylum, and is
taken great care o In his lucid intervals, he suffers horrible
distress of mind ; but, though sad to see, these agonies furnish
the one hope of his ultimate recovery. When not troubled by
these returns of reason, he is contented enough. His favourite
employment is to get Mr. Underchff's Mimiles, and to write
love-letters to Helen Rolleston, which are duly deposited in
the post office of the establiskment. These letters are in the
handwriting of Charles L, Paoli, Lord Bacon, Alexander Pope,
Lord Chesterfield, Nelson, Lord Shaftesbury, Addison, ihe
late Duke of Wellington, and so on ; and, strange to say, the
Greek e never appears in any of them. They are admirably
like, though of course the matter is not always equally con-
sistent wiUi the characters of those personages.
Helen Rolleston married Robert Pen^old. On the wed-
ding-day the presents were laid out, and, amongst them,
there was a silver box encrusted with coral.
Female curiosity demanded that this box should be opened.
Helen objected; but her bridesmaids rebelled; the whole
company sided with them, and Robert smiled a careless
assent
A blacksmith and carpenter were both enlisted, and with
infinite difficulty the poor box was riven open.
Inside was another box, locked, but with no key. That
was opened with comparative ease, and then handed to the
bride. It contained nothing but Papal indulgences and
rough stones, and fair throats were opened in some disap-
pointment.
A lady, however, of more experience, examined the con-
tents, and said, that, in her opinion, many of them were
uncut gems of great price ; there were certainly a quantity of
jaspers and bloodstones, and others of no value at all. '^ But
look at these two pearl-shaped diamonds," said she ; '^ wl^,
they are a little fortune ; and, oh ! "
The stone that struck this ^r creature dumb was a rough
ruby as big as a blackbird's egg, and of amazing depth and
fire.
''No lady in England," said she, ''has such a rubf to
compare with this."
The information proved correct. The box furnished Helen
with diamonds and emeralds of great thickness and quality.
But the huge ruby placed her on a level with sovereigns.
She wears it now and then in London^ but not often. It
attracts too much attention^ blazing on her fair forehead like
a star^ and eclipses everything.
Well, what her ruby is amongst stones, she is amongst
wives. And he is worthy of her.
Through much suffering, injustice, danger, and trouble,
they have passed to health, happiness, and peace, and that
entire union of two noble hearts, in loyal friendship and
wedded love, which is the truest bliss this earth affords.