RICHARD CARVEL

By Winston Churchill

CONTENTS

 Volume 1. I. Lionel Carvel, of Carvel Hall II. Some Memories of Childhood III. Caught by the Tide IV. Grafton would heal an Old Breach V. "If Ladies be but Young and Fair" VI. I first suffer for the Cause VII. Grafton has his Chance

 Volume 2. VIII. Over the Wall IX. Under False Colours X. The Red in the Carvel Blood XI. A Festival and a Parting XII. News from a Far Country

 Volume 3. XIII. Mr. Allen shows his Hand XIV. The Volte Coupe XV. Of which the Rector has the Worst XVI. In which Some Things are made Clear XVII. South River XVIII. The Black Moll

 Volume 4. XIX. A Man of Destiny XX. A Sad Home-coming XXI. The Gardener's Cottage XXII. On the Road XXIII. London Town XXIV. Castle Yard XXV. The Rescue

 Volume 5. XXVI. The Part Horatio played XXVII. In which I am sore tempted XXVIII. Arlington Street XXIX. I meet a very Great Young Man XXX. A Conspiracy XXXI. "Upstairs into the World" XXXII. Lady Tankerville's Drum-major XXXIII. Drury Lane

 Volume 6. XXXIV. His Grace makes Advances XXXV. In which my Lord Baltimore appears XXXVI. A Glimpse of Mr. Garrick XXXVII. The Serpentine XXXVIII. In which I am roundly brought to task XXXIX. Holland House XL. Vauxhall XLI. The Wilderness

 Volume 7. XLII. My Friends are proven XLIII. Annapolis once more XLIV. Noblesse Oblige XLV. The House of Memories XLVI. Gordon's Pride XLVII. Visitors XLVIII. Multum in Parvo XLIX. Liberty loses a Friend

 Volume 8. L. Farewell to Gordon's LI. How an Idle Prophecy came to pass LII. How the Gardener's Son fought the Serapis LIII. In which I make Some Discoveries LIV. More Discoveries. LV. The Love of a Maid for a Man LVI. How Good came out of Evil LVII. I come to my Own again

FOREWORD

My sons and daughters have tried to persuade me to remodel these memoirsof my grandfather into a latter-day romance. But I have thought it wiserto leave them as he wrote them. Albeit they contain some details not ofinterest to the general public, to my notion it is such imperfectionsas these which lend to them the reality they bear. Certain it is, whenreading them, I live his life over again. 

Needless to say, Mr. Richard Carvel never intended them for publication. His first apology would be for his Scotch, and his only defence is thathe was not a Scotchman. 

The lively capital which once reflected the wit and fashion of Europehas fallen into decay. The silent streets no more echo with the rumbleof coaches and gay chariots, and grass grows where busy merchants trod. Stately ball-rooms, where beauty once reigned, are cold and empty andmildewed, and halls, where laughter rang, are silent. Time was whenevery wide-throated chimney poured forth its cloud of smoke, when everyandiron held a generous log, --andirons which are now gone to decorateMr. Centennial's home in New York or lie with a tag in the window ofsome curio shop. The mantel, carved in delicate wreaths, is boarded up, and an unsightly stove mocks the gilded ceiling. Children romp in thatroom with the silver door-knobs, where my master and his lady were wontto sit at cards in silk and brocade, while liveried blacks enteredon tiptoe. No marble Cupids or tall Dianas fill the niches in thestaircase, and the mahogany board, round which has been gathered many afamous toast and wit, is gone from the dining room. 

But Mr. Carvel's town house in Annapolis stands to-day, with itsneighbours, a mournful relic of a glory that is past. 

DANIEL CLAPSADDLE CARVEL. 

CALVERT HOUSE, PENNSYLVANIA, December 21, 1876. 

RICHARD CARVEL

Volume 1. 

CHAPTER I. LIONEL CARVEL, OF CARVEL HALL

Lionel Carvel, Esq. , of Carvel Hall, in the county of Queen Anne, was noinconsiderable man in his Lordship's province of Maryland, and indeedhe was not unknown in the colonial capitals from Williamsburg to Boston. When his ships arrived out, in May or June, they made a goodly showingat the wharves, and his captains were ever shrewd men of judgment whosniffed a Frenchman on the horizon, so that none of the Carvel tobaccoever went, in that way, to gladden a Gallic heart. Mr. Carvel's acreswere both rich and broad, and his house wide for the stranger who mightseek its shelter, as with God's help so it ever shall be. It has yet tobe said of the Carvels that their guests are hurried away, or that one, by reason of his worldly goods or position, shall be more welcome thananother. 

I take no shame in the pride with which I write of my grandfather, albeit he took the part of his Majesty and Parliament against theColonies. He was no palavering turncoat, like my Uncle Grafton, to cry"God save the King!" again when an English fleet sailed up the bay. Mr. Carvel's hand was large and his heart was large, and he was respectedand even loved by the patriots as a man above paltry subterfuge. He wasborn at Carvel Hall in the year of our Lord 1696, when the house was, I am told, but a small dwelling. It was his father, George Carvel, mygreat-grandsire, reared the present house in the year 1720, of brickbrought from England as ballast for the empty ships; he added on, inthe years following, the wide wings containing the ball-room, and thebanquet-hall, and the large library at the eastern end, and the offices. But it was my grandfather who built the great stables and the kennelswhere he kept his beagles and his fleeter hounds. He dearly loved thesaddle and the chase, and taught me to love them too. Many the sharpwinter day I have followed the fox with him over two counties, and lainthat night, and a week after, forsooth, at the plantation of some kindfriend who was only too glad to receive us. Often, too, have we stoodtogether from early morning until dark night, waist deep, on the duckpoints, I with a fowling-piece I was all but too young to carry, andbrought back a hundred red-heads or canvas-backs in our bags. He wentwith unfailing regularity to the races at Annapolis or Chestertown orMarlborough, often to see his own horses run, where the coaches ofthe gentry were fifty and sixty around the course; where a negro, or ahogshead of tobacco, or a pipe of Madeira was often staked at a singlethrow. Those times, my children, are not ours, and I thought it notstrange that Mr. Carvel should delight in a good main between two cocks, or a bull-baiting, or a breaking of heads at the Chestertown fair, wherehe went to show his cattle and fling a guinea into the ring for thewinner. 

But it must not be thought that Lionel Carvel, your ancestor, was whollyunlettered because he was a sportsman, though it must be confessed thatbooks occupied him only when the weather compelled, or when on his backwith the gout. At times he would fain have me read to him as he layin his great four-post bed with the flowered counterpane, from theSpectator, stopping me now and anon at some awakened memory of hisyouth. He never forgave Mr. Addison for killing stout, old Sir Roger deCoverley, and would never listen to the butler's account of his death. Mr. Carvel, too, had walked in Gray's Inn Gardens and met adventure atFox Hall, and seen the great Marlborough himself. He had a fondnessfor Mr. Congreve's Comedies, many of which he had seen acted; and waspartial to Mr. Gay's Trivia, which brought him many a recollection. Hewould also listen to Pope. But of the more modern poetry I think Mr. Gray's Elegy pleased him best. He would laugh over Swift's gall andwormwood, and would never be brought by my mother to acknowledge thedefects in the Dean's character. Why? He had once met the Dean in aLondon drawing-room, when my grandfather was a young spark at ChristChurch, Oxford. He never tired of relating that interview. The hostesswas a very great lady indeed, and actually stood waiting for a word withhis Reverence, whose whim it was rather to talk to the young provincial. He was a forbidding figure, in his black gown and periwig, so mygrandfather said, with a piercing blue eye and shaggy brow. He made themighty to come to him, while young Carvel stood between laughter andfear of the great lady's displeasure. 

"I knew of your father, " said the Dean, "before he went to the colonies. He had done better at home, sir. He was a man of parts. "

"He has done indifferently well in Maryland, sir, " said Mr. Carvel, making his bow. 

"He hath gained wealth, forsooth, " says the Dean, wrathfully, "and mighthave had both wealth and fame had his love for King James not turnedhis head. I have heard much of the colonies, and have read that doggerel'Sot Weed Factor' which tells of the gluttonous life of ease you lead inyour own province. You can have no men of mark from such conditions, Mr. Carvel. Tell me, " he adds contemptuously, "is genius honoured amongyou?"

"Faith, it is honoured, your Reverence, " said my grandfather, "but neverencouraged. "

This answer so pleased the Dean that he bade Mr. Carvel dine with himnext day at Button's Coffee House, where they drank mulled wine and oldsack, for which young Mr. Carvel paid. On which occasion his Reverenceendeavoured to persuade the young man to remain in England, and evenwent so far as to promise his influence to obtain him preferment. ButMr. Carvel chose rather (wisely or not, who can judge?) to come back toCarvel Hall and to the lands of which he was to be master, and to playthe country squire and provincial magnate rather than follow the varyingfortunes of a political party at home. And he was a man much looked upto in the province before the Revolution, and sat at the council boardof his Excellency the Governor, as his father had done before him, and represented the crown in more matters than one when the French andsavages were upon our frontiers. 

Although a lover of good cheer, Mr. Carvel was never intemperate. To theend of his days he enjoyed his bottle after dinner, nay, could scarceget along without it; and mixed a punch or a posset as well as any inour colony. He chose a good London-brewed ale or porter, and his shipsbrought Madeira from that island by the pipe, and sack from Spain andPortugal, and red wine from France when there was peace. And puncheonsof rum from Jamaica and the Indies for his people, holding that nogentleman ever drank rum in the raw, though fairly supportable as punch. 

Mr. Carvel's house stands in Marlborough Street, a dreary mansionenough. Praised be Heaven that those who inherit it are not obliged tolive there on the memory of what was in days gone by. The heavy greenshutters are closed; the high steps, though stoutly built, are shakyafter these years of disuse; the host of faithful servants who kept itsstate are nearly all laid side by side at Carvel Hall. Harvey andChess and Scipio are no more. The kitchen, whither a boyish hunger oftdirected my eyes at twilight, shines not with the welcoming gleamof yore. Chess no longer prepares the dainties which astonished Mr. Carvel's guests, and which he alone could cook. The coach stillstands in the stables where Harvey left it, a lumbering relic of thoselumbering times when methinks there was more of goodwill and less ofhaste in the world. The great brass knocker, once resplendent fromScipio's careful hand, no longer fantastically reflects the guest ashe beats his tattoo, and Mr. Peale's portrait of my grandfather is gonefrom the dining-room wall, adorning, as you know, our own drawing-roomat Calvert House. 

I shut my eyes, and there comes to me unbidden that dining-room inMarlborough Street of a gray winter's afternoon, when I was but a lad. I see my dear grandfather in his wig and silver-laced waistcoat andhis blue velvet coat, seated at the head of the table, and the preciseScipio has put down the dumb-waiter filled with shining cut-glass at hisleft hand, and his wine chest at his right, and with solemn pomp drivenhis black assistants from the room. Scipio was Mr. Carvel's butler. He was forbid to light the candles after dinner. As dark grew on, Mr. Carvel liked the blazing logs for light, and presently sets the decanteron the corner of the table and draws nearer the fire, his guestsfollowing. I recall well how jolly Governor Sharpe, who was a frequentvisitor with us, was wont to display a comely calf in silk stocking; andhow Captain Daniel Clapsaddle would spread his feet with his toes out, and settle his long pipe between his teeth. And there were besidesa host of others who sat at that fire whose names have passed intoMaryland's history, --Whig and Tory alike. And I remember a tall slipof a lad who sat listening by the deep-recessed windows on the street, which somehow are always covered in these pictures with a fine rain. Then a coach passes, --a mahogany coach emblazoned with the Manners'scoat of arms, and Mistress Dorothy and her mother within. And my younglady gives me one of those demure bows which ever set my heart agoinglike a smith's hammer of a Monday. 

CHAPTER II. SOME MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD

A traveller who has all but gained the last height of the greatmist-covered mountain looks back over the painful crags he has masteredto where a light is shining on the first easy slope. That light is evervisible, for it is Youth. 

After nigh fourscore and ten years of life that Youth is nearer to menow than many things which befell me later. I recall as yesterday theday Captain Clapsaddle rode to the Hall, his horse covered with sweat, and the reluctant tidings of Captain Jack Carvel's death on his lips. And strangely enough that day sticks in my memory as of delightrather than sadness. When my poor mother had gone up the stairs on mygrandfather's arm the strong soldier took me on his knee, and drawinghis pistol from his holster bade me snap the lock, which I was barelyable to do. And he told me wonderful tales of the woods beyond themountains, and of the painted men who tracked them; much wilder andfiercer they were than those stray Nanticokes I had seen from time totime near Carvel Hall. And when at last he would go I clung to him, so he swung me to the back of his great horse Ronald, and I seized thebridle in my small hands. The noble beast, like his master, loved achild well, and he cantered off lightly at the captain's whistle, whocried "bravo" and ran by my side lest I should fall. Lifting me off atlength he kissed me and bade me not to annoy my mother, the tears in hiseyes again. And leaping on Ronald was away for the ferry with never somuch as a look behind, leaving me standing in the road. 

And from that time I saw more of him and loved him better than any mansave my grandfather. He gave me a pony on my next birthday, and a littlehogskin saddle made especially by Master Wythe, the London saddler inthe town, with a silver-mounted bridle. Indeed, rarely did the captainreturn from one of his long journeys without something for me and ahandsome present for my mother. Mr. Carvel would have had him make hishome with us when we were in town, but this he would not do. He lodgedin Church Street, over against the Coffee House, dining at that hostelrywhen not bidden out, or when not with us. He was much sought after. I believe there was scarce a man of note in any of the colonies notnumbered among his friends. 'Twas said he loved my mother, and couldnever come to care for any other woman, and he promised my father in theforests to look after her welfare and mine. This promise, you shall see, he faithfully kept. 

Though you have often heard from my lips the story of my mother, I mustfor the sake of those who are to come after you, set it down hereas briefly as I may. My grandfather's bark 'Charming Sally', CaptainStanwix, having set out from Bristol on the 15th of April, 1736, witha fair wind astern and a full cargo of English goods below, near theMadeiras fell in with foul weather, which increased as she entered thetrades. Captain Stanwix being a prudent man, shortened sail, knowing theharbour of Funchal to be but a shallow bight in the rock, and worse thanthe open sea in a southeaster. The third day he hove the Sally to; beinga stout craft and not overladen she weathered the gale with the loss ofa jib, and was about making topsails again when a full-rigged ship wasdescried in the offing giving signals of distress. Night was coming onvery fast, and the sea was yet running too high for a boat to live, butthe gallant captain furled his topsails once more to await the morning. It could be seen from her signals that the ship was living throughoutthe night, but at dawn she foundered before the Sally's boats could beput in the water; one of them was ground to pieces on the falls. Out ofthe ship's company and passengers they picked up but five souls, foursailors and a little girl of two years or thereabouts. The men knewnothing more of her than that she had come aboard at Brest withher mother, a quiet, delicate lady who spoke little with the otherpassengers. The ship was 'La Favourite du Roy', bound for the FrenchIndies. 

Captain Stanwix's wife, who was a good, motherly person, took chargeof the little orphan, and arriving at Carvel Hall delivered her to mygrandfather, who brought her up as his own daughter. You may be sure theemblem of Catholicism found upon her was destroyed, and she was baptizedstraightway by Doctor Hilliard, my grandfather's chaplain, into theEstablished Church. Her clothes were of the finest quality, and herlittle handkerchief had worked into the corner of it a coronet, with theinitials "E de T" beside it. Around her neck was that locket with thegold chain which I have so often shown you, on one side of which is theminiature of the young officer in his most Christian Majesty's uniform, and on the other a yellow-faded slip of paper with these words: "Elleest la mienne, quoiqu'elle ne porte pas mou nom. " "She is mine, althoughshe does not bear my name. "

My grandfather wrote to the owners of 'La Favourite du Roy', andlikewise directed his English agent to spare nothing in the search forsome clew to the child's identity. All that he found was that the motherhad been entered on the passenger-list as Madame la Farge, of Paris, andwas bound for Martinico. Of the father there was no trace whatever. The name "la Farge" the agent, Mr. Dix, knew almost to a certainty wasassumed, and the coronet on the handkerchief implied that the child wasof noble parentage. The meaning conveyed by the paper in the locket, which was plainly a clipping from a letter, was such that Mr. Carvelnever showed it to my mother, and would have destroyed it had he notfelt that some day it might aid in solving the mystery. So he kept it inhis strongbox, where he thought it safe from prying eyes. But my UncleGrafton, ever a deceitful lad, at length discovered the key and read thepaper, and afterwards used the knowledge he thus obtained as a reproachand a taunt against my mother. I cannot even now write his name withoutrepulsion. 

This new member of the household was renamed Elizabeth Carvel, thoughthey called her Bess, and of a course she was greatly petted andspoiled, and ruled all those about her. As she grew from childhood towomanhood her beauty became talked about, and afterwards, when MistressCarvel went to the Assembly, a dozen young sparks would crowd about thedoor of her coach, and older and more serious men lost their heads onher account. 

Her devotion to Mr. Carvel was such, however, that she seemed to carebut little for the attention she received, and she continued to gracehis board and entertain his company. He fairly worshipped her. It washis delight to surprise her with presents from England, with rich silksand brocades for gowns, for he loved to see her bravely dressed. Thespinet he gave her, inlaid with ivory, we have still. And he caused achariot to be made for her in London, and she had her own horses and hergroom in the Carvel livery. 

People said it was but natural that she should fall in love with CaptainJack, my father. He was the soldier of the family, tall and straight anddashing. He differed from his younger brother Grafton as day fromnight. Captain Jack was open and generous, though a little given to rashenterprise and madcap adventure. He loved my mother from a child. Hisfriend Captain Clapsaddle loved her too, and likewise Grafton, but itsoon became evident that she would marry Captain Jack or nobody. He wasmy grandfather's favourite, and though Mr. Carvel had wished him moreserious, his joy when Bess blushingly told him the news was a pleasureto see. And Grafton turned to revenge; he went to Mr. Carvel with thepaper he had taken from the strong-box and claimed that my mother was ofspurious birth and not fit to marry a Carvel. He afterwards spread thestory secretly among the friends of the family. By good fortune littleharm arose therefrom, since all who knew my mother loved her, and werewilling to give her credit for the doubt; many, indeed, thought thestory sprang from Grafton's jealousy and hatred. Then it was that Mr. Carvel gave to Grafton the estate in Kent County and bade him shift forhimself, saying that he washed his hands of a son who had acted such apart. 

But Captain Clapsaddle came to the wedding in the long drawing-room atthe Hall and stood by Captain Jack when he was married, and kissed thebride heartily. And my mother cried about this afterwards, and said thatit grieved her sorely that she should have given pain to such a nobleman. 

After the blow which left her a widow, she continued to keep Mr. Carvel's home. I recall her well, chiefly as a sad and beautiful woman, stately save when she kissed me with passion and said that I bore myfather's look. She drooped like the flower she was, and one spring daymy grandfather led me to receive her blessing and to be folded forthe last time in those dear arms. With a smile on her lips she roseto heaven to meet my father. And she lies buried with the rest of theCarvels at the Hall, next to the brave captain, her husband. 

And so I grew up with my grandfather, spending the winters in town andthe long summers on the Eastern Shore. I loved the country best, and theold house with its hundred feet of front standing on the gentle sloperising from the river's mouth, the green vines Mr. Carvel had fetchedfrom England all but hiding the brick, and climbing to the angledroof; and the velvet green lawn of silvery grass brought from England, descending gently terrace by terrace to the waterside, where lay ourpungies and barges. There was then a tiny pillared porch framing thefront door, for our ancestors never could be got to realize the Marylandclimate, and would rarely build themselves wide verandas suitable tothat colony. At Carvel Hall we had, to be sure, the cool spring houseunder the willows for sultry days, with its pool dished out for bathing;and a trellised arbour, and octagonal summer house with seats wheremy mother was wont to sit sewing while my grandfather dreamed over hispipe. On the lawn stood the oaks and walnuts and sycamores which stillcast their shade over it, and under them of a summer's evening Mr. Carvel would have his tea alone; save oftentimes when a barge would comeswinging up the river with ten velvet-capped blacks at the oars, andone of our friendly neighbours--Mr. Lloyd or Mr. Bordley, or perchancelittle Mr. Manners--would stop for a long evening with him. They seldomcame without their ladies and children. What romps we youngsters hadabout the old place whilst our elders talked their politics. 

In childhood the season which delighted me the most was spring. I wouldcount the days until St. Taminas, which, as you knew, falls on the firstof May. And the old custom was for the young men to deck themselves outas Indian bucks and sweep down on the festivities around the Maypole onthe town green, or at night to surprise the guests at a ball and forcethe gentlemen to pay down a shilling, and sometimes a crown apiece, andthe host to give them a bowl of punch. Then came June. My grandfathercelebrated his Majesty's birthday in his own jolly fashion, and I had myown birthday party on the tenth. And on the fifteenth, unless it chancedupon a Sunday, my grandfather never failed to embark in his pinnace atthe Annapolis dock for the Hall. Once seated in the stern between Mr. Carvel's knees, what rapture when at last we shot out into the bluewaters of the bay and I thought of the long summer of joy before me. Scipio was generalissimo of these arrangements, and was always at thedock punctually at ten to hand my grandfather in, a ceremony in which hetook great pride, and to look his disapproval should we be late. As heturned over the key of the town house he would walk away with a sterndignity to marshal the other servants in the horse-boat. 

One fifteenth of June two children sat with bated breath in thepinnace, --Dorothy Manners and myself. Mistress Dolly was then asmischievous a little baggage as ever she proved afterwards. She wascoming to pass a week at the Hall, her parents, whose place was next toours, having gone to Philadelphia on a visit. We rounded Kent Island, which lay green and beautiful in the flashing waters, and at lengthcaught sight of the old windmill, with its great arms majesticallyturning, and the cupola of Carvel House shining white among the trees;and of the upper spars of the shipping, with sails neatly furled, lyingat the long wharves, where the English wares Mr. Carvel had commandedfor the return trips were unloading. Scarce was the pinnace brought intothe wind before I had leaped ashore and greeted with a shout the Hallservants drawn up in a line on the green, grinning a welcome. Dorothyand I scampered over the grass and into the cool, wide house, restingawhile on the easy sloping steps within, hand in hand. And then away forthat grand tour of inspection we had been so long planning together. Howwell I recall that sunny afternoon, when the shadows of the great oakswere just beginning to lengthen. Through the greenhouses we marched, monarchs of all we surveyed, old Porphery, the gardener, presentingMistress Dolly with a crown of orange blossoms, for which she thankedhim with a pretty courtesy her governess had taught her. Were we notking and queen returned to our summer palace? And Spot and Silver andSong and Knipe, the wolf-hound, were our train, though not as decorousas rigid etiquette demanded, since they were forever running after thebutterflies. On we went through the stiff, box-bordered walks of thegarden, past the weather-beaten sundial and the spinning-house and thesmoke-house to the stables. Here old Harvey, who had taught me toride Captain Daniel's pony, is equerry, and young Harvey our personalattendant; old Harvey smiles as we go in and out of the stalls rubbingthe noses of our trusted friends, and gives a gruff but kindly warningas to Cassandra's heels. He recalls my father at the same age. 

Jonas Tree, the carpenter, sits sunning himself on his bench before theshop, but mysteriously disappears when he sees us, and returns presentlywith a little ship he has fashioned for me that winter, all completewith spars and sails, for Jonas was a shipwright on the Severn in theold country before he came as a king's passenger to the new. Dolly andI are off directly to the backwaters of the river, where the new boatis launched with due ceremony as the Conqueror, his Majesty's latestship-of-the-line. Jonas himself trims her sails, and she sets off rightgallantly across the shallows, heeling to the breeze for all the worldlike a real man-o'-war. Then the King would fain cruise at once againstthe French, but Queen Dorothy must needs go with him. His Majesty pointsout that when fighting is to be done, a ship of war is no place for awoman, whereat her Majesty stamps her little foot and throws her crownof orange blossoms from her, and starts off for the milk-house in highdudgeon, vowing she will play no more. 

And it ends as it ever will end, be the children young or old, for theFrench pass from his Majesty's mind and he runs after his consort toimplore forgiveness, leaving poor Jonas to take care of the Conqueror. 

How short those summer days? All too short for the girl and boy who hadso much to do in them. The sun rising over the forest often found uspeeping through the blinds, and when he sank into the bay at night wewere still running, tired but happy, and begging patient Hester for halfan hour more. 

"Lawd, Marse Dick, " I can hear her say, "you an' Miss Dolly's been onyo' feet since de dawn. And so's I, honey. "

And so we had. We would spend whole days on the wharves, all bustle andexcitement, sometimes seated on the capstan of the Sprightly Bess orperched in the nettings of the Oriole, of which ship old Stanwix wasnow captain. He had grown gray in Mr. Carvel's service, and good Mrs. Stanwix was long since dead. Often we would mount together on the littlehorse Captain Daniel had given me, Dorothy on a pillion behind, to gowith my grandfather to inspect the farm. Mr. Starkie, the overseer, would ride beside us, his fowling-piece slung over his shoulder and hisholster on his hip; a kind man and capable, and unlike Mr. Evans, myUncle Grafton's overseer, was seldom known to use his firearms or therawhide slung across his saddle. The negroes in their linsey-woolseyjackets and checked trousers would stand among the hills grinning at uschildren as we passed; and there was not one of them, nor of the whiteservants for that matter, that I could not call by name. 

And all this time I was busily wooing Mistress Dolly; but she, littleminx, would give me no satisfaction. I see her standing among thestrawberries, her black hair waving in the wind, and her red lips redderstill from the stain. And the sound of her childish voice comes back tome now after all these years. And this was my first proposal:

"Dorothy, when you grow up and I grow up, you will marry me, and I shallgive you all these strawberries. "

"I will marry none but a soldier, " says she, "and a great man. "

"Then will I be a soldier, " I cried, "and greater than the Governorhimself. " And I believed it. 

"Papa says I shall marry an earl, " retorts Dorothy, with a toss of herpretty head. 

"There are no earls among us, " I exclaimed hotly, for even then I hadsome of that sturdy republican spirit which prevailed among the youngergeneration. "Our earls are those who have made their own way, like mygrandfather. " For I had lately heard Captain Clapsaddle say this andmuch more on the subject. But Dorothy turned up her nose. 

"I shall go home when I am eighteen, "--she said, "and I shall meet hisMajesty the King. "

And to such an argument I found no logical answer. 

Mr. Marmaduke Manners and his lady came to fetch Dorothy home. He wasa foppish little gentleman who thought more of the cut of his waistcoatthan of the affairs of the province, and would rather have been biddento lead the assembly ball than to sit in council with his Excellencythe Governor. My first recollection of him is of contempt. He must needshave his morning punch just so, and complained whiningly of Scipio ifsome perchance were spilled on the glass. He must needs be taken abroadin a chair when it rained. And though in the course of a summer he wasoften at Carvel Hall he never tarried long, and came to see Mr. Carvel's guests rather than Mr. Carvel. He had little in common with mygrandfather, whose chief business and pleasure was to promote industryon his farm. Mr. Marmaduke was wont to rise at noon, and knew not wheatfrom barley, or good leaf from bad; his hands he kept like a lady's, rendering them almost useless by the long lace on the sleeves, and hischief pastime was card-playing. It was but reasonable therefore, whenthe troubles with the mother country began, that he chose the King'sside alike from indolence and contempt for things republican. 

Of Mrs. Manners I shall say more by and by. 

I took a mischievous delight in giving Mr. Manners every annoyancemy boyish fancy could conceive. The evening of his arrival he and Mr. Carvel set out for a stroll about the house, Mr. Marmaduke mincing hissteps, for it had rained that morning. And presently they came uponthe windmill with its long arms moving lazily in the light breeze, neartouching the ground as they passed, for the mill was built in the Dutchfashion. I know not what moved me, but hearing Mr. Manners carelesslyhumming a minuet while my grandfather explained the usefulness of themill, I seized hold of one of the long arms as it swung by, andbefore the gentlemen could prevent was carried slowly upwards. Dorothyscreamed, and her father stood stock still with amazement and fear, Mr. Carvel being the only one who kept his presence of mind. "Hold on tight, Richard!" I heard him cry. It was dizzy riding, though the motion wasnot great, and before I had reached the right angle I regretted myrashness. I caught a glimpse of the Bay with the red sun on it, and asI turned saw far below me the white figure of Ivie Rawlinson, theScotch miller, who had run out. "O haith!" he shouted. "Hand fast, Mr. Richard!"--And so I clung tightly and came down without muchinconvenience, though indifferently glad to feel the ground again. 

Mr. Marmaduke, as I expected, was in a great temper, and swore he hadnot had such a fright for years. He looked for Mr. Carvel to cane mestoutly: But Ivie laughed heartily, and said: "I wad yell gang far foranither laddie wi' the spunk, Mr. Manners, " and with a sly look at mygrandfather, "Ilka day we hae some sic whigmeleery. "

I think Mr. Carvel was not ill pleased with the feat, or with Mr. Marmaduke's way of taking it. For afterwards I overheard him telling thestory to Colonel Lloyd, and both gentlemen laughing over Mr. Manners'sdiscomfiture. 

CHAPTER III. CAUGHT BY THE TIDE

It is a nigh impossible task on the memory to trace those influences bywhich a lad is led to form his life's opinions, and for my part I holdthat such things are bred into the bone, and that events only serve tostrengthen them. In this way only can I account for my bitterness, ata very early age, against that King whom my seeming environment shouldhave made me love. For my grandfather was as stanch a royalist as everheld a cup to majesty's health. And children are most apt before theycan reason for themselves to take the note from those of their elderswho surround them. It is true that many of Mr. Carvel's guests were ofthe opposite persuasion from him: Mr. Chase and Mr. Carroll, Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Bordley, and many others, including our friend CaptainClapsaddle. And these gentlemen were frequently in argument, butpolitical discussion is Greek to a lad. 

Mr. Carvel, as I have said, was most of his life a member of theCouncil, a man from whom both Governor Sharpe and Governor Eden wereglad to take advice because of his temperate judgment and deep knowledgeof the people of the province. At times, when his Council was scattered, Governor Sharpe would consult Mr. Carvel alone, and often have I knownmy grandfather to embark in haste from the Hall in response to a callfrom his Excellency. 

'Twas in the latter part of August, in the year 1765, made memorable bythe Stamp Act, that I first came in touch with the deep-set feelings ofthe times then beginning, and I count from that year the awakening ofthe sympathy which determined my career. One sultry day I was wading inthe shallows after crabs, when the Governor's messenger came driftingin, all impatience at the lack of wind. He ran to the house to seek Mr. Carvel, and I after him, with all a boy's curiosity, as fast as my smalllegs would carry me. My grandfather hurried out to order his barge tobe got ready at once, so that I knew something important was at hand. Atfirst he refused me permission to go, but afterwards relented, and abouteleven in the morning we pulled away strongly, the ten blacks bending tothe oars as if their lives were at stake. 

A wind arose before we sighted Greensbury Point, and I saw a barksailing in, but thought nothing of this until Mr. Carvel, who had beensilent and preoccupied, called for his glass and swept her decks. Shesoon shortened sail, and went so leisurely that presently our lightbarge drew alongside, and I perceived Mr. Zachariah Hood, a merchantof the town, returning from London, hanging over her rail. Mr. Hood wasvery pale in spite of his sea-voyage; he flung up his cap at our boat, but Mr. Carvel's salute in return was colder than he looked for. Aswe came in view of the dock, a fine rain was setting in, and to myastonishment I beheld such a mass of people assembled as I had neverseen, and scarce standing-room on the wharves. We were to have goneto the Governor's wharf in the Severn, but my grandfather changed hisintention at once. Many of the crowd greeted him as we drew near them, and, having landed, respectfully made room for him to pass through. Ifollowed him a-tremble with excitement and delight over such an unwontedexperience. We had barely gone ten paces, however, before Mr. Carvelstopped abreast of Mr. Claude, mine host of the Coffee House, who cried:

"Hast seen his Majesty's newest representative, Mr. Carvel?"

"Mr. Hood is on board the bark, sir, " replied my grandfather. "I take ityou mean Mr. Hood. "

"Ay, that I do; Mr. Zachariah Hood, come to lick stamps for hisbrother-colonists. "

"After licking his Majesty's boots, " says a wag near by, which brings alaugh from those about us. I remembered that I had heard some talk asto how Mr. Hood had sought and obtained from King George the office ofStamp Distributor for the province. Now, my grandfather, God rest him!was as doughty an old gentleman as might well be, and would not listenwithout protest to remarks which bordered sedition. He had little fearof things below, and none of a mob. 

"My masters, " he shouted, with a flourish of his stick, so stoutly thatpeople fell back from him, "know that ye are met against the law, andendanger the peace of his Lordship's government. "

"Good enough, Mr. Carvel, " said Claude, who seemed to be the spokesman. "But how if we are stamped against law and his Lordship's government?How then, sir? Your honour well knows we have naught against either, andare as peaceful a mob as ever assembled. "

This brought on a great laugh, and they shouted from all sides, "Howthen, Mr. Carvel?" And my grandfather, perceiving that he would losedignity by argument, and having done his duty by a protest, was wiselycontent with that. They opened wider the lane for him to pass through, and he made his way, erect and somewhat defiant, to Mr. Pryse's, thecoachmaker opposite, holding me by the hand. The second storey ofPryse's shop had a little balcony standing out in front, and here weestablished ourselves, that we might watch what was going forward. 

The crowd below grew strangely silent as the bark came nearer andnearer, until Mr. Hood showed himself on the poop, when there rose astorm of hisses, mingled with shouts of derision. "How goes it at St. James, Mr. Hood?" and "Have you tasted his Majesty's barley?" And someasked him if he was come as their member of Parliament. Mr. Hood droppeda bow, though what he said was drowned. The bark came in prettilyenough, men in the crowd even catching her lines and making them fastto the piles. A gang-plank was thrown over. "Come out, Mr. Hood, " theycried; "we are here to do you honour, and to welcome you home again. "There were leather breeches with staves a-plenty around that plank, andfaces that meant no trifling. "McNeir, the rogue, " exclaimed Mr. Carvel, "and that hulk of a tanner, Brown. And I would know those smith'sshoulders in a thousand. " "Right, sir, " says Pryse, "and 'twill servethem proper. When the King's troops come among them for quartering. "Pryse being the gentry's patron, shaped his politics according to thecompany he was in: he could ill be expected to seize one of his own ashspokes and join the resistance. Just then I caught a glimpse of CaptainClapsaddle on the skirts of the crowd, and with him Mr. Swain and someof the dissenting gentry. And my boyish wrath burst forth against thatman smirking and smiling on the decks of the bark, so that I shoutedshrilly: "Mr. Hood will be cudgelled and tarred as he deserves, " andshook my little fist at him, so that many under us laughed and cheeredme. Mr. Carvel pushed me back into the window and out of their sight. 

The crew of the bark had assembled on the quarterdeck, stout Englishtars every man of them, armed with pikes and belaying-pins; and ata word from the mate they rushed in a body over the plank. Some werethrust off into the water, but so fierce was their onset that othersgained the wharf, laying sharply about them in all directions, butgetting full as many knocks as they gave. For a space there was avery bedlam of cries and broken heads, those behind in the mob surgingforward to reach the scrimmage, forcing their own comrades over theedge. McNeir had his thigh broken by a pike, and was dragged back afterthe first rush was over; and the mate of the bark was near to drowning, being rescued, indeed, by Graham, the tanner. Mr. Hood stood white inthe gangway, dodging a missile now and then, waiting his chance, whichnever came. For many of the sailors were captured and carried bodilyto the "Rose and Crown" and the "Three Blue Balls, " where they becameproperly drunk on Jamaica rum; others made good their escape on board. And at length the bark cast off again, amidst jeers and threats, andone-third of her crew missing, and drifted slowly back to the roads. 

From the dock, after all was quiet, Mr. Carvel stepped into his bargeand rowed to the Governor's, whose house was prettily situated nearHanover Street, with ground running down to the Severn. His Excellencyappeared much relieved to see my grandfather; Mr. Daniel Dulany waswith him, and the three gentlemen at once repaired to the Governor'swriting-closet for consultation. 

Mr. Carvel's town house being closed, we stopped with his Excellency. There were, indeed, scarce any of the gentry in town at that season savea few of the Whig persuasion. Excitement ran very high; farmersflocked in every day from the country round about to take part in thedemonstration against the Act. Mr. Hood's storehouse was burned to theground. Mr. Hood getting ashore by stealth, came, however, unmolested toAnnapolis and offered at a low price the goods he had brought out in thebark, thinking thus to propitiate his enemies. This step but inflamedthem the more. 

My grandfather having much business to look to, I was left to my owndevices, and the devices of an impetuous lad of twelve are not alwayssuch as his elders would choose for him. I was continually burning witha desire to see what was proceeding in the town, and hearing one day agreat clamour and tolling of bells, I ran out of the Governor's gate anddown Northwest Street to the Circle, where a strange sight met my eyes. A crowd like that I had seen on the dock had collected there, Mr. Swainand Mr. Hammond and other barristers holding them in check. Mounted ona one-horse cart was a stuffed figure of the detested Mr. Hood. Mr. Hammond made a speech, but for the laughter and cheering I could notcatch a word of it. I pushed through the people, as a boy will, divingbetween legs to get a better view, when I felt a hand upon my shoulder, bringing me up suddenly. And I recognized Mr. Matthias Tilghman, andwith him was Mr. Samuel Chase. 

"Does your grandfather know you are here, lad?" said Mr. Tilghman. 

I paused a moment for breath before I answered: "He attended the rallyat the dock himself, sir, and I believe enjoyed it. "

Both gentlemen smiled, and Mr. Chase remarked that if all the otherparty were like Mr. Carvel, troubles would soon cease. "I mean notGrafton, " says he, with a wink at Mr. Tilghman. 

"I'll warrant, Richard, your uncle would be but ill pleased to see youin such company. "

"Nay, sir, " I replied, for I never feared to speak up, "there are youwrong. I think it would please my uncle mightily. "

"The lad hath indifferent penetration, " said Mr, Tilghman, laughing, andadding more soberly: "If you never do worse than this, Richard, Marylandmay some day be proud of you. "

Mr. Hammond having finished his speech, a paper was placed in the handof the effigy, and the crowd bore it shouting and singing to the hill, where Mr. John Shaw, the city carpenter, had made a gibbet. There nineand thirty lashes were bestowed on the unfortunate image, the peoplecrying out that this was the Mosaic Law. And I cried as loud as any, though I knew not the meaning of the words. They hung Mr. Hood to thegibbet and set fire to a tar barrel under him, and so left him. 

The town wore a holiday look that day, and I was loth to go back tothe Governor's house. Good patriots' shops were closed, their ownersparading as on Sunday in their best, pausing in knots at every cornerto discuss the affair with which the town simmered. I encountered oldFarris, the clockmaker, in his brown coat besprinkled behind with powderfrom his queue. "How now, Master Richard?" says he, merrily. "This is noplace for young gentlemen of your persuasion. "

Next I came upon young Dr. Courtenay, the wit of the Tuesday Club, ofwhom I shall have more to say hereafter. He was taking the air with Mr. James Fotheringay, Will's eldest brother, but lately back from Oxfordand the Temple. 

The doctor wore five-pound ruffles and a ten-pound wig, was dressed incherry silk, and carried a long, clouded cane. His hat had the latestcock, for he was our macaroni of Annapolis. 

"Egad, Richard, " he cries, "you are the only other loyalist I have seenabroad to-day. "

I remember swelling with indignation at the affront. "I call themTories, sir, " I flashed back, "and I am none such. " "No Tory!" says he, nudging Mr. Fotheringay, who was with him; "I had as lief believe yourgrandfather hated King George. " I astonished them both by retorting thatMr. Carvel might think as he pleased, that being every man's right; butthat I chose to be a Whig. "I would tell you as a friend, young man, "replied the doctor, "that thy politics are not over politic. " And theyleft me puzzling, laughing with much relish over some catch in thedoctor's words. As for me, I could perceive no humour in them. 

It was now near six of the clock, but instead of going direct to theGovernor's I made my way down Church Street toward the water. Near thedock I saw many people gathered in the street in front of the "Ship"tavern, a time-honoured resort much patronized by sailors. My curiosityled me to halt there also. The "Ship" had stood in that place nigh onto three-score years, it was said. Its latticed windows were swung open, and from within came snatches of "Tom Bowling, " "Rule Britannia, " andmany songs scarce fit for a child to hear. Now and anon some one in thestreet would throw back a taunt to these British sentiments, which wentunheeded. "They be drunk as lords, " said Weld, the butcher's apprentice, "and when they comes out we'll hev more than one broken head in thisstreet. " The songs continuing, he cried again, "Come out, d-n ye. " Weldhad had more than his own portion of rum that day. Spying me seated onthe gate-post opposite, he shouted: "So ho, Master Carvel, the streetsare not for his Majesty's supporters to-day. " Other artisans who werethere bade him leave me in peace, saying that my grandfather was a goodfriend of the people. The matter might have ended there had I been olderand wiser, but the excitement of the day had gone to my head like wine. "I am as stout a patriot as you, Weld, " I shouted back, and flushed atthe cheering that followed. And Weld ran up to me, and though I was agood piece of a lad, swung me lightly onto his shoulder. "Harkee, MasterRichard, " he said, "I can get nothing out of the poltroons by shouting. Do you go in and say that Weld will fight any mother's son of themsingle-handed. "

"For shame, to send a lad into a tavern, " said old Bobbins, who hadknown my grandfather these many years. But the desire for a row was sogreat among the rest that they silenced him. Weld set me down, and I, nothing loth, ran through the open door. 

I had never before been in the "Ship, " nor, indeed, in any tavern savethat of Master Dingley, near Carvel Hall. The "Ship" was a bare placeenough, with low black beams and sanded floor, and rough tables andchairs set about. On that September evening it was stifling hot; and theodours from the men, and the spilled rum and tobacco smoke, well-nighoverpowered me. The room was filled with a motley gang of sailors, mostly from the bark Mr. Hood had come on, and some from H. M. S. Hawk, then lying in the harbour. 

A strapping man-o'-war's-man sat near the door, his jacket thrown openand his great chest bared, and when he perceived me he was in the act ofproposing a catch; 'twas "The Great Bell o' Lincoln, " I believe; andhe held a brimming cup of bumbo in his hand. In his surprise he set itawkwardly down again, thereby spilling full half of it. "Avast, " sayshe, with an oath, "what's this come among us?" and he looked me overwith a comical eye. "A d-d provincial, " he went on scornfully, "but agentleman's son, or Jack Ball's a liar. " Whereupon his companions rosefrom their seats and crowded round me. More than one reeled againstme. And though I was somewhat awed by the strangeness of that dark, ill-smelling room, and by the rough company in which I found myself, Iheld my ground, and spoke up as strongly as I might. 

"Weld, the butcher's apprentice, bids me say he will fight any man amongyou single-handed. "

"So ho, my little gamecock, my little schooner with a swivel, " said hewho had called himself Jack Ball, "and where can this valiant butcher befound?"

"He waits in the street, " I answered more boldly. 

"Split me fore and aft if he waits long, " said Jack, draining the restof his rum. And picking me up as easily as did Weld he rushed out ofthe door, and after him as many of his mates as could walk or staggerthither. 

In the meantime the news had got abroad in the street that the butcher'sapprentice was to fight one of the Hawk's men, and when I emerged fromthe tavern the crowd had doubled, and people were running hither in allhaste from both directions. But that fight was never to be. Big JackBall had scarce set me down and shouted a loud defiance, shaking hisfist at Weld, who stood out opposite, when a soldierly man on a greathorse turned the corner and wheeled between the combatants. I knew ata glance it was Captain Clapsaddle, and guiltily wished myself at theGovernor's. The townspeople knew him likewise, and many were slinkingaway even before he spoke, as his charger stood pawing the ground. 

"What's this I hear, you villain, " said he to Weld, in his deep, ringingvoice, "that you have not only provoked a row with one of the King'ssailors, but have dared send a child into that tavern with your fool'smessage?"

Weld was awkward and sullen enough, and no words came to him. 

"Your tongue, you sot, " the captain went on, drawing his sword in hisanger, "is it true you have made use of a gentleman's son for your lowpurposes?"

But Weld was still silent, and not a sound came from either side untilold Robbins spoke up. 

"There are many here can say I warned him, your honour, " he said. 

"Warned him!" cried the captain. "Mr. Carvel has just given you twentypounds for your wife, and you warned him!"

Robbins said no more; and the butcher's apprentice, hanging his head, as well he might before the captain, I was much moved to pity for him, seeing that my forwardness had in some sense led him on. 

"Twas in truth my fault, captain, " I cried out. The captain looked atme, and said nothing. After that the butcher made bold to take up hisman's defence. 

"Master Carvel was indeed somewhat to blame, sir, " said he, "and Weld isin liquor. "

"And I'll have him to pay for his drunkenness, " said Captain Clapsaddle, hotly. "Get to your homes, " he cried. "Ye are a lot of idle hounds, whowould make liberty the excuse for riot. " He waved his sword at the packof them, and they scattered like sheep until none but Weld was left. "And as for you, Weld, " he continued, "you'll rue this pretty business, or Daniel Clapsaddle never punished a cut-throat. " And turning to JackBall, he bade him lift me to the saddle, and so I rode with him to theGovernor's without a word; for I knew better than to talk when he was inthat mood. 

The captain was made to tarry and sup with his Excellency and mygrandfather, and I sat perforce a fourth at the table, scarce daring toconjecture as to the outcome of my escapade. But as luck would haveit, the Governor had been that day in such worry and perplexity, and mygrandfather also, that my absence had passed unnoticed. Nor did my goodfriend the captain utter a word to them of what he knew. But afterwardshe called me to him and set me upon his knee. How big, and kind, andstrong he was, and how I loved his bluff soldier's face and blunt ways. And when at last he spoke, his words burnt deep in my memory, so thateven now I can repeat them. 

"Richard, " he said, "I perceive you are like your father. I love yourspirit greatly, but you have been overrash to-day. Remember this, lad, that you are a gentleman, the son of the bravest and truest gentlemanI have ever known, save one; and he is destined to high things. " I knownow that he spoke of Colonel Washington. "And that your mother, " herehis voice trembled, --"your mother was a lady, every inch of her, and toogood for this world. Remember, and seek no company, therefore, beyondthat circle in which you were born. Fear not to be kind and generous, asI know you ever will be, but choose not intimates from the tavern. " Herethe captain cleared his throat, and seemed to seek for words. "I fearthere are times coming, my lad, " he went on presently, "when every manmust choose his side, and stand arrayed in his own colours. It is notfor me to shape your way of thinking. Decide in your own mind that whichis right, and when you have so decided, "--he drew his sword, as was hishabit when greatly moved, and placed his broad hand upon my head, --"knowthen that God is with you, and swerve not from thy course the width ofthis blade for any man. "

We sat upon a little bench in the Governor's garden, in front of us thewide Severn merging into the bay, and glowing like molten gold in thesetting sun. And I was thrilled with a strange reverence such as I havesometimes since felt in the presence of heroes. 

CHAPTER IV. GRAFTON WOULD HEAL AN OLD BREACH

Doctor Hilliard, my grandfather's chaplain, was as holy a man as everwore a gown, but I can remember none of his discourses which moved meas much by half as those simple words Captain Clapsaddle had used. Theworthy doctor, who had baptized both my mother and father, died suddenlyat Carvel Hall the spring following, of a cold contracted while visitinga poor man who dwelt across the river. He would have lacked but threeyears of fourscore come Whitsuntide. He was universally loved andrespected in that district where he had lived so long and ably, byrich and poor alike, and those of many creeds saw him to his lastresting-place. Mr. Carroll, of Carrollton, who was an ardent Catholic, stood bareheaded beside the grave. 

Doctor Hilliard was indeed a beacon in a time when his profession amongus was all but darkness, and when many of the scandals of the communitymight be laid at the door of those whose duty it was to prevent them. The fault lay without doubt in his Lordship's charter, which gave to theparishioners no voice in the choosing of their pastors. This matter wasleft to Lord Baltimore's whim. Hence it was that he sent among usso many fox-hunting and gaming parsons who read the service ill andpreached drowsy and illiterate sermons. Gaming and fox-hunting, didI say? These are but charitable words to cover the real characters ofthose impostors in holy orders, whose doings would often bring theblush of shame to your cheeks. Nay, I have seen a clergyman drunk in thepulpit, and even in those freer days their laxity and immoralitywere such that many flocked to hear the parsons of the Methodists andLutherans, whose simple and eloquent words and simpler lives were worthyof their cloth. Small wonder was it, when every strolling adventurer andsoldier out of employment took orders and found favour in his Lordship'seyes, and were given the fattest livings in place of worthier men, thatthe Established Church fell somewhat into disrepute. Far be it from meto say that there were not good men and true in that Church, but the wagwho writ this verse, which became a common saying in Maryland, was notfar wrong for the great body of them:--

 "Who is a monster of the first renown? A lettered sot, a drunkard in a gown. "

My grandfather did not replace Dr. Hilliard at the Hall, afterwardssaying the prayers himself. The doctor had been my tutor, and in spiteof my waywardness and lack of love for the classics had taught meno little Latin and Greek, and early instilled into my mind thoseprinciples necessary for the soul's salvation. I have often thought withregret on the pranks I played him. More than once at lesson-time have Igone off with Hugo and young Harvey for a rabbit hunt, stealing two dogsfrom the pack, and thus committing a double offence. You may be sureI was well thrashed by Mr. Carvel, who thought the more of the lattermisdoing, though obliged to emphasize the former. The doctor would neverraise his hand against me. His study, where I recited my daily tasks, was that small sunny room on the water side of the east wing; and I wellrecall him as he sat behind his desk of a morning after prayers, hishorn spectacles perched on his high nose and his quill over his ear, and his ink-powder and pewter stand beside him. His face would grow moreserious as I scanned my Virgil in a faltering voice, and as he descantedon a passage my eye would wander out over the green trees and fields tothe glistening water. What cared I for "Arma virumque" at such a time? Iwas watching Nebo a-fishing beyond the point, and as he waded ashorethe burden on his shoulders had a much keener interest for me than thatAEneas carried out of Troy. 

My Uncle Grafton came to Dr. Hilliard's funeral, choosing thisopportunity to become reconciled to my grandfather, who he feared hadnot much longer to live. Albeit Mr. Carvel was as stout and hale asever. None of the mourners at the doctor's grave showed more sorrow thandid Grafton. A thousand remembrances of the good old man returned tohim, and I heard him telling Mr. Carroll and some other gentlemen, withmuch emotion, how he had loved his reverend preceptor, from whom he hadlearned nothing but what was good. "How fortunate are you, Richard, "he once said, "to have had such a spiritual and intellectual teacher inyour youth. Would that Philip might have learned from such a one. AndI trust you can say, my lad, that you have made the best of youradvantages, though I fear you are of a wild nature, as your father wasbefore you. " And my uncle sighed and crossed his hands behind his back. "'Tis perhaps better that poor John is in his grave, " he said. Graftonhad a word and a smile for every one about the old place, but littleelse, being, as he said, but a younger son and a poor man. I was nearto forgetting the shilling he gave Scipio. 'Twas not so unostentatiouslydone but that Mr. Carvel and I marked it. And afterwards I made Scipiogive me the coin, replacing it with another, and flung it as far intothe river as ever I could throw. 

As was but proper to show his sorrow at the death of the old chaplain hehad loved so much, Grafton came to the Hall drest entirely in black. Hewould have had his lady and Philip, a lad near my own age, clad likewisein sombre colours. But my Aunt Caroline would none of them, holding itto be the right of her sex to dress as became its charms. Her silks andlaces went but ill with the low estate my uncle claimed for his purse, and Master Philip's wardrobe was twice the size of mine. And the familytravelled in a coach as grand as Mr. Carvel's own, with panels wreathedin flowers and a footman and outrider in livery, from which my auntdescended like a duchess. She embraced my grandfather with much warmth, and kissed me effusively on both cheeks. 

"And this is dear Richard?" she cried. "Philip, come at once and greetyour cousin. He has not the look of the Carvels, " she continued volubly, "but more resembles his mother, as I recall her. "

"Indeed, madam, " my grandfather answered somewhat testily, "he hasthe Carvel nose and mouth, though his chin is more pronounced. He hasElizabeth's eyes. "

But my aunt was a woman who flew from one subject to another, and shehad already ceased to think of me. She was in the hall. "The dear oldhome?" she cries, though she had been in it but once before, regardinglovingly each object as her eye rested upon it, nay, caressingly whenshe came to the great punch-bowl and the carved mahogany dresser, andthe Peter Lely over the broad fireplace. "What memories they must bringto your mind, my dear, " she remarks to her husband. "'Tis cruel, as Ionce said to dear papa, that we cannot always live under the old rafterswe loved so well as children. " And the good lady brushes away a tearwith her embroidered pocket-napkin. Tears that will come in spite ofus all. But she brightens instantly and smiles at the line of servantsdrawn up to welcome them. "This is Scipio, my son, who was with yourgrandfather when your father was born, and before. " Master Philip nodsgraciously in response to Scipio's delighted bow. "And Harvey, " myaunt rattles on. "Have you any new mares to surprise us with this year, Harvey?" Harvey not being as overcome with Mrs. Grafton's condescensionas was proper, she turns again to Mr. Carvel. 

"Ah, father, I see you are in sore need of a woman's hand about the oldhouse. What a difference a touch makes, to be sure. " And she takes offher gloves and attacks the morning room, setting an ornament here andanother there, and drawing back for the effect. "Such a bachelor's hallas you are keeping!"

"We still have Willis, Caroline, " remonstrates my grandfather, gravely. "I have no fault to find with her housekeeping. "

"Of course not, father; men never notice, " Aunt Caroline replies in anaggrieved tone. And when Willis herself comes in, auguring no good fromthis visit, my aunt gives her the tips of her fingers. And I imagine Isee a spark fly between them. 

As for Grafton, he was more than willing to let bygones be bygonesbetween his father and himself. Aunt Caroline said with feeling thatDr. Hilliard's death was a blessing, after all, since it brought along-separated father and son together once more. Grafton had beenmisjudged and ill-used, and he called Heaven to witness that the quarrelhad never been of his seeking, --a statement which Mr. Carvel was at nopains to prove perjury. How attentive was Mr. Grafton to his father'severy want. He read his Gazette to him of a Thursday, though the oldgentleman's eyes are as good as ever. If Mr. Carvel walks out of anevening, Grafton's arm is ever ready, and my uncle and his worthy ladyare eager to take a hand at cards before supper. "Philip, my dear, "says my aunt, "thy grandfather's slippers, " or, "Philip, my love, thygrandfather's hat and cane. " But it is plain that Master Philip has notbeen brought up to wait on his elders. He is curled with a novel in hisgrandfather's easy chair by the window. "There is Dio, mamma, who hasnaught to do but serve grandpapa, " says he, and gives a pull at the cordover his head which rings the bell about the servants' ears in the hallbelow. And Dio, the whites of his eyes showing, comes running into theroom. 

"It is nothing, Diomedes, " says Mr. Carvel. "Master Philip will fetchwhat I need. ". Master Philip's papa and mamma stare at each other ina surprise mingled with no little alarm, Master Philip being to allappearances intent upon his book. 

"Philip, " says my grandfather, gently. I had more than once heard himspeak thus, and well knew what was coming. 

"Sir, " replies my cousin, without looking up. "Follow me, sir, " said Mr. Carvel, in a voice so different that Philip drops his book. They went upthe stairs together, and what occurred there I leave to the imagination. But when next Philip was bidden to do an errand for Mr. Carvel mygrandfather said quietly: "I prefer that Richard should go, Caroline. "And though my aunt and uncle, much mortified, begged him to give Philipanother chance, he would never permit it. 

Nevertheless, a great effort was made to restore Philip to hisgrandfather's good graces. At breakfast one morning, after my aunt hadpoured Mr. Carvel's tea and made her customary compliment to the blueand gold breakfast china, my Uncle Grafton spoke up. 

"Now that Dr. Hilliard is gone, father, what do you purpose concerningRichard's schooling?"

"He shall go to King William's school in the autumn, " Mr. Carvelreplied. 

"In the autumn!" cried my uncle. "I do not give Philip even the shortholiday of this visit. He has his Greek and his Virgil every day. "

"And can repeat the best passages, " my aunt chimes in. "Philip, my dear, recite that one your father so delights in. "

However unwilling Master Philip had been to disturb himself for errands, he was nothing loth to show his knowledge, and recited glibly enoughseveral lines of his Virgil verbatim; thereby pleasing his fond parentsgreatly and my grandfather not a little. 

"I will add a crown to your savings, Philip, " says his father. 

"And here is a pistole to spend as you will, " says Mr. Carvel, tossinghim the piece. 

"Nay, father, I do not encourage the lad to be a spendthrift, " saysGrafton, taking the pistole himself. "I will place this token of yourappreciation in his strong-box. You know we have a prodigal strain inthe family, sir. " And my uncle looks at me significantly. 

"Let it be as I say, Grafton, " persists Mr. Carvel, who liked not to bebalked in any matter, and was not over-pleased at this reference to myfather. And he gave Philip forthwith another pistole, telling his fatherto add the first to his saving if he would. 

"And Richard must have his chance, " says my Aunt Caroline, sweetly, asshe rises to leave the room. 

"Ay, here is a crown for you, Richard, " says my uncle, smiling. "Let ushear your Latin, which should be purer than Philip's. "

My grandfather glanced uneasily at me across the table; he saw clearlythe trick Grafton had played me, I think. But for once I was equal tomy uncle, and haply remembered a line Dr. Hilliard had expounded, whichfitted the present case marvellously well. With little ceremony I tossedback the crown, and slowly repeated those words used to warn the Trojansagainst accepting the Grecian horse:

 "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. "

"Egad, " cried Mr. Carvel, slapping his knee, "the lad bath beaten you onyour own ground, Grafton. " And he laughed as my grandfather only couldlaugh, until the dishes rattled on the table. But my uncle thought it nomatter for jesting. 

Philip was also well versed in politics for a lad of his age, and coulddiscuss glibly the right of Parliament to tax the colonies. He denouncedthe seditious doings in Annapolis and Boston Town with an air of easyfamiliarity, for Philip had the memory of a parrot, and 'twas easy toperceive whence his knowledge sprang. But when my fine master spokedisparagingly of the tradesmen as at the bottom of the trouble, mygrandfather's patience came to an end. 

"And what think you lies beneath the wealth and power of England, Philip?" he asked. 

"Her nobility, sir, and the riches she draws from her colonies, " retortsMaster Philip, readily enough. 

"Not so, " Mr. Carvel said gravely. "She owes her greatness to hermerchants, or tradesmen, as you choose to call them. And commerce mustbe at the backbone of every great nation. Tradesmen!" exclaimed mygrandfather. "Where would any of us be were it not for trade? We sellour tobacco and our wheat, and get money in return. And your fathermakes a deal here and a deal there, and so gets rich in spite of hispittance. "

My Uncle Grafton raised his hand to protest, but Mr. Carvel continued:"I know you, Grafton, I know you. When a lad it was your habit to layaside the money I gave you, and so pretend you had none. "

"And 'twas well I learned then to be careful, " said my uncle, losingfor the instant his control, "for you loved the spend-thrift best, and Ishould be but a beggar now without my wisdom. "

"I loved not John's carelessness with money, but other qualities in himwhich you lacked, " answered Mr. Carvel. 

Grafton shot a swift glance at me; and so much of malice and of hatredwas conveyed in that look that with a sense of prophecy I shudderedto think that some day I should have to cope with such craft. For hedetested me threefold, and combined the hate he bore my dead father andmother with the ill-will he bore me for standing in his way and Philip'swith my grandfather's property. But so deftly could he hide his feelingsthat he was smiling again instantly. To see once, however, the whitebelly of the shark flash on the surface of the blue water is sufficient. 

"I beg of you not to jest of me before the lads, father, " said Grafton. 

"God knows there was little jest in what I said, " replied Mr. Carvellsoberly, "and I care not who hears it. Your own son will one day knowyou well enough, if he does not now. Do not imagine, because I am old, that I am grown so foolish as to believe that a black sheep can becomewhite save by dye. And dye will never deceive such as me. And Philip, "the shrewd old gentleman went on, turning to my cousin, "do not let thyfather or any other make thee believe there cannot be two sides to everyquestion. I recognize in your arguments that which smacks of his tongue, despite what he says of your reading the public prints and of formingyour own opinions. And do not condemn the Whigs, many of whom are worthymen and true, because they quarrel with what they deem an unjust methodof taxation. "

Grafton had given many of the old servants cause to remember him. Harveyin particular, who had come from England early in the century with mygrandfather, spoke with bitterness of him. On the subject of my uncle, the old coachman's taciturnity gave way to torrents of reproach. "Bewareof him as has no use for horses, Master Richard, " he would say; for thistrait in Grafton in Harvey's mind lay at the bottom of all others. Atmy uncle's approach he would retire into his shell like an oyster, nor could he be got to utter more than a monosyllable in his presence. Harvey's face would twitch, and his fingers clench of themselves ashe touched his cap. And with my Aunt Caroline he was the same. Hevouchsafed but a curt reply to all her questions, nor did her rapturesover the stud soften him in the least. She would come tripping into thestable yard, daintily holding up her skirts, and crying, "Oh, Harvey, I have heard so much of Tanglefoot. I must see him before I go. "Tanglefoot is led out begrudgingly enough, and Aunt Caroline goes overhis points, missing the greater part of them, and remarking on the depthof chest, which is nothing notable in Tanglefoot. Harvey winks slylyat me the while, and never so much as offers a word of correction. "Youmust take Philip to ride, Richard, my dear, " says my aunt. "His fatherwas never as fond of it as I could have wished. I hold that everygentleman should ride to hounds. "

"Humph!" grunts Harvey, when she is gone to the house. 

"Master Philip to hunt, indeed! Foxes to hunt foxes!" And he gives ventto a dry laugh over his joke, in which I cannot but join. "Horsemengrows. Eh, Master Richard? There was Captain Jack, who jumped from thecradle into the saddle, and I never once seen a horse get the bettero' him. And that's God's truth. " And he smooths out Tanglefoot's mane, adding reflectively, "And you be just like him. But there was scarce ahorse in the stables what wouldn't lay back his ears at Mr. Grafton, andsmall blame to 'em, say I. He never dared go near 'em. Oh, MasterPhilip comes by it honestly enough. She thinks old Harvey don't know athoroughbred when he sees one, sir. But Mrs. Grafton's no thoroughbred;I tell 'ee that, though I'm saying nothing as to her points, mark ye. I've seen her sort in the old country, and I've seen 'em here, and it'sthe same the world over, in Injy and Chiny, too. Fine trappings don'tmake the horse, and they don't take thoroughbreds from a grocer's cart. A Philadelphy grocer, " sniffs this old aristocrat. "I'd knowed herfather was a grocer had I seen her in Pall Mall with a Royal Highness, by her gait, I may say. Thy mother was a thoroughbred, Master Richard, and I'll tell 'ee another, " he goes on with a chuckle, "Mistress DorothyManners is such another; you don't mistake 'em with their high headsand patreeshan ways, though her father be one of them accidents as willoccur in every stock. She's one to tame, sir, and I don't envy no younggentleman the task. But this I knows, " says Harvey, not heeding my redcheeks, "that Master Philip, with all his satin small-clothes, willnever do it. "

Indeed, it was no secret that my Aunt Caroline had been a Miss Flaven, of Philadelphia, though she would have had the fashion of our provinceto believe that she belonged to the Governor's set there; and she spokein terms of easy familiarity of the first families of her native city, deceiving no one save herself, poor lady. How fondly do we believe, withthe ostrich, that our body is hidden when our head is tucked underour wing! Not a visitor in Philadelphia but knew Terence Flaven, Mrs. Grafton Carvel's father, who not many years since sold tea and spicesand soap and glazed teapots over his own counter, and still advertisedhis cargoes in the public prints. He was a broad and charitable-mindedman enough, and unassuming, but gave way at last to the pressure broughtupon him by his wife and daughter, and bought a mansion in Front Street. Terence Flaven never could be got to stay there save to sleep, andpreferred to spend his time in his shop, which was grown greatly, chatting with his customers, and bowing the ladies to their chariots. I need hardly say that this worthy man was on far better terms thanhis family with those personages whose society they strove so hard toattain. 

At the time of Miss Flaven's marriage to my uncle 'twas a piece ofgossip in every month that he had taken her for her dower, which was notinconsiderable; though to hear Mr. And Mrs. Grafton talk they knew notwhence the next month's provender was to come. They went to live in KentCounty, as I have said, spending some winters in Philadelphia, whereMr. Grafton was thought to have interests, though it never could bediscovered what his investments were. On hearing of his marriage, whichtook place shortly before my father's, Mr. Carvel expressed neitherdispleasure nor surprise. But he would not hear of my mother's requestto settle a portion upon his younger son. 

"He has the Kent estate, Bess, " said he, "which is by far too good forhim. Never doubt but that the rogue can feather his own nest far betterthan can I, as indeed he hath already done. And by the Lord, " cried Mr. Carvel, bringing his fist down upon the card-table where they sat, "he shall never get another farthing of my money while I live, norafterwards, if I can help it! I would rather give it over to Mr. Carrollto found a nunnery. "

And so that matter ended, for Mr. Carvel could not be moved from apurpose he had once made. Nor would he make any advances whatsoever toGrafton, or receive those hints which my uncle was forever dropping, until at length he begged to be allowed to come to Dr. Hilliard'sfuneral, a request my grandfather could not in decency refuse. 'Twas apathetic letter in truth, and served its purpose well, though it was notas dust in the old gentleman's eyes. He called me into his bedroom andtold me that my Uncle Grafton was coming at last. And seeing that Isaid nothing thereto, he gave me a queer look and bade me treat them ascivilly as I knew how. "I well know thy temper, Richard, " said he, "andI fear 'twill bring thee trouble enough in life. Try to control it, mylad; take an old man's advice and try to control it. " He was in one ofhis gentler moods, and passed his arm about me, and together we stoodlooking silently through the square panes out into the rain, at theducks paddling in the puddles until the darkness hid them. 

And God knows, lad that I was, I tried to be civil to them. But mytongue rebelled at the very sight of my uncle ('twas bred into me, Isuppose), and his fairest words seemed to me to contain a hidden sting. Once, when he spoke in his innuendo of my father, I ran from the room torestrain some act of violence; I know not what I should have done. AndWillis found me in the deserted, study of the doctor, where my hot tearshad stained the flowered paper on the wall. She did her best to calmme, good soul, though she had her own troubles with my Lady Caroline tothink about at the time. 

I had one experience with Master Philip before our visitors betookthemselves back to Kent, which, unfortunate as it was, I cannot butrelate here. My cousin would enter into none of those rough amusementsin which I passed my time, for fear, I took it, of spoiling his finebroadcloths or of losing a gold buckle. He never could be got towrestle, though I challenged him more than once. And he was a well-builtlad, and might, with a little practice, have become skilled in thatsport. He laughed at the homespun I wore about the farm, saying itwas no costume for a gentleman's son, and begged me sneeringly to donleather breeches. He would have none of the company of those lads withwhom I found pleasure, young Harvey, and Willis's son, who was beingtrained as Mr. Starkie's assistant. Nor indeed did I disdain to join ina game with Hugo, who had been given to me, and other negro lads. Philipsaw no sport in a wrestle or a fight between two of the boys from thequarters, and marvelled that I could lower myself to bet with Harvey theyounger. He took not a spark of interest in the gaming cocks we raisedtogether to compete at the local contests and at the fair, and knewnot a gaff from a cockspur. Being one day at my wits' end to amusemy cousin, I proposed to him a game of quoits on the green beside thespring-house, and thither we repaired, followed by Hugo, and youngHarvey come to look on. Master Philip, not casting as well as he might, cries out suddenly to Hugo: "Begone, you black dog! What business haveyou here watching a game between gentlemen?"

"He is my servant, cousin, " I said quietly, "and no dog, if you please. And he is under my orders, not yours. "

But Philip, having scarcely scored a point, was in a rage. "And I'llnot have him here, " he shouted, giving poor Hugo a cuff which sent himstumbling over the stake. And turning to me; continued insolently: "Eversince we came here I have marked your manner toward us, as though myfather had no right in my grandfather's house. "

Then could I no longer contain myself. I heard young Harvey laugh, andremark: "'Tis all up with Master Philip now. " But Philip, whatever elsehe may have been, was no coward, and had squared off to face me by thetime I had run the distance between the stakes. He was heavier than I, though not so tall; and he parried my first blow and my second, and manymore; having lively work of it, however, for I hit him as often as I wasable. To speak truth, I had not looked for such resistance, and seeingthat I could not knock him down, out of hand, I grew more cool and beganto study what I was doing. 

"Take off your macaroni coat, " said I. "I have no wish to ruin yourclothes. "

But he only jeered in return: "Take off thy wool-sack. " And Hugo, getting to his feet, cried out to me not to hurt Marse Philip, that hehad meant no harm. But this only enraged Philip the more, and he sworea round oath at Hugo and another at me, and dealt a vicious blow at mystomach, whereat Harvey called out to him to fight fair. He was moreskilful at the science of boxing than I, though I was the betterfighter, having, I am sorry to say, fought but too often before. Andpresently, when I had closed one of his eyes, his skill went all topieces, and he made a mad rush at me. As he went by I struck him so hardthat he fell heavily and lay motionless. 

Young Harvey ran into the spring-house and filled his hat as I bent overmy cousin. I unbuttoned his waistcoat and felt his heart, and rejoicedto find it beating; we poured cold water over his face and wrists. Bythen, Hugo, who was badly frightened, had told the news in the house, and I saw my Aunt Caroline come running over the green as fast as hertight stays would permit, crying out that I had killed her boy, her dearPhilip. And after her came my Uncle Grafton and my grandfather, with allthe servants who had been in hearing. I was near to crying myself at thethought that I should grieve my grandfather. And my aunt, as she kneltover Philip, pushed me away, and bade me not touch him. But my cousinopened one of his eyes, and raised his hand to his head. 

"Thank Heaven he is not killed!" exclaims Aunt Caroline, fervently. 

"Thank God, indeed!" echoes my uncle, and gives me a look as much as tosay that I am not to be thanked for it. "I have often warned you, sir, "he says to Mr. Carvel, "that we do not inherit from stocks and stones. And so much has come of our charity. "

I knew, lad that I was; that he spoke of my mother; and my blood boiledwithin me. 

"Have a care, sir, with your veiled insults, " I cried, "or I will serveyou as I have served your son. "

Grafton threw up his hands. 

"What have we harboured, father?" says he. But Mr. Carvel seized him bythe shoulder. "Peace, Grafton, before the servants, " he said, "and ceasethy crying, Caroline. The lad is not hurt. " And being a tall man, sixfeet in his stockings, and strong despite his age, he raised Philip fromthe grass, and sternly bade him walk to the house, which he did, leaningon his mother's arm. "As for you, Richard, " my grandfather went on, "youwill go into my study. "

Into his study I went, where presently he came also, and I told himthe affair in as few words as I might. And he, knowing my hatred offalsehood, questioned me not at all, but paced to and fro, I followinghim with my eyes, and truly sorry that I had given him pain. And finallyhe dismissed me, bidding me make it up with my cousin, which I wasnothing loth to do. What he said to Philip and his father I know not. That evening we shook hands, though Philip's face was much swollen, andmy uncle smiled, and was even pleasanter than before, saying that boyswould be boys. But I think my Aunt Caroline could never wholly hide themalice she bore me for what I had done that day. 

When at last the visitors were gone, every face on the plantation worea brighter look. Harvey said: "God bless their backs, which is the onlypart I ever care to see of their honours. " And Willis gave us a supperfit for a king. Mr. Lloyd and his lady were with us, and Mr. Carvel toldhis old stories of the time of the First George, many of which I caneven now repeat: how he and two other collegians fought half a dozenMohocks in Norfolk Street, and fairly beat them; and how he discoveredby chance a Jacobite refugee in Greenwich, and what came of it; nor didhe forget that oft-told episode with Dean Swift. And these he rehearsedin such merry spirit and new guise that we scarce recognized them, andColonel Lloyd so choked with laughter that more than once he had to behit between the shoulders. 

CHAPTER V. "IF LADIES BE BUT YOUNG AND FAIR"

No boyhood could have been happier than mine, and throughout it, everpresent with me, were a shadow and a light. The shadow was my UncleGrafton. I know not what strange intuition of the child made me thinkof him so constantly after that visit he paid us, but often I would wakefrom my sleep with his name upon my lips, and a dread at my heart. Thelight--need I say?--was Miss Dorothy Manners. Little Miss Dolly wasoften at the Hall after that happy week we spent together; and herhome, Wilmot House, was scarce three miles across wood and field by ourplantation roads. I was a stout little fellow enough, and before I wastwelve I had learned to follow to hounds my grandfather's guests on mypony; and Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Carvel when they shot on the duck points. Ay, and what may surprise you, my dears, I was given a weak littletoddy off the noggin at night, while the gentlemen stretched their limbsbefore the fire, or played at whist or loo Mr. Carvel would have nomilksop, so he said. But he early impressed upon me that moderation wasthe mark of a true man, even as excess was that of a weak one. 

And so it was no wonder that I frequently found my way to Wilmot Housealone. There I often stayed the whole day long, romping with Dolly atgames of our own invention, and many the time I was sent home after darkby Mrs. Manners with Jim, the groom. About once in the week Mr. And Mrs. Manners would bring Dorothy over for dinner or tea at the Hall. She grewquickly--so quickly that I scarce realized--into a tall slip of a girl, who could be wilful and cruel, laughing or forgiving, shy or impudent, in a breath. She had as many moods as the sea. I have heard herentertain Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Bordley and the ladies, and my grandfather, by the hour, while I sat by silent and miserable, but proud of her allthe same. Boylike, I had grown to think of her as my possession, tho'she gave me no reason whatever. I believe I had held my hand over firefor her, at a word. And, indeed, I did many of her biddings to make mewonder, now, that I was not killed. It used to please her, Ivie too, tosee me go the round of the windmill, tho' she would cry out after I leftthe ground. And once, when it was turning faster than common and Ivienot there to prevent, I near lost my hold at the top, and was thrownat the bottom with such force that I lay stunned for a full minute. Iopened my eyes to find her bending over me with such a look of frightand remorse upon her face as I shall never forget. Again, walking out onthe bowsprit of the 'Oriole' while she stood watching me from the dock, I lost my balance and fell into the water. On another occasion I foughtWill Fotheringay, whose parents had come for a visit, because he daredsay he would marry her. 

"She is to marry an earl, " I cried, tho' I had thrashed another lad forsaying so. "Mr. Manners is to take her home when she is grown, to marryher to an earl. "

"At least she will not marry you, Master Richard, " sneered Will. Andthen I hit him. 

Indeed, even at that early day the girl's beauty was enough to make hertalked about. And that foolish little fop, her father, had more thanonce declared before a company in our dining room that it was high timeanother title came into his family, and that he meant to take Dollyabroad when she was sixteen. Lad that I was, I would mark with pain theblush on Mrs. Manners's cheek, and clinch my fists as she tried to passthis off as a joke of her husband's. But Dolly, who sat next me at aside table, would make a wry little face at my angry one. 

"You shall call me 'my lady, ' Richard. And sometimes, if you are good, you shall ride inside my coroneted coach when you come home. "

Ah, that was the worst of it! The vixen was conscious of her beauty. Buther airs were so natural that young and old bowed before her. Nothingbut worship had she had from the cradle. I would that Mr. Peale hadpainted her in her girlhood as a type of our Maryland lady of quality. Harvey was right when he called her a thoroughbred. Her nose wasof patrician straightness, and the curves of her mouth came fromgenerations of proud ancestors. And she had blue eyes to conquer andsubdue; with long lashes to hide them under when she chose, and blackhair with blue gloss upon it in the slanting lights. I believe I lovedher best in the riding-habit that was the colour of the red holly in ourMaryland woods. At Christmas-tide, when we came to the eastern shore, wewould gallop together through miles of country, the farmers and servantstipping and staring after her as she laid her silver-handled whip uponher pony. She knew not the meaning of fear, and would take a fence or aditch that a man might pause at. And so I fell into the habit of leadingher the easy way round, for dread that she would be hurt. 

How those Christmas times of childhood come sweeping back on my memory!Often, and without warning, my grandfather would say to me: "Richard, we shall celebrate at the Hall this year. " And it rarely turned out thatarrangements had not been made with the Lloyds and the Bordleys and theManners, and other neighbours, to go to the country for the holidays. Ihave no occasion in these pages to mention my intimacy with the sons anddaughters of those good friends of the Carvels', Colonel Lloyd and Mr. Bordley. Some of them are dead now, and the rest can thank God andlook back upon worthy and useful lives. And if any of these, my oldplaymates, could read this manuscript, perchance they might feel atingle of recollection of Children's Day, when Maryland was a province. We rarely had snow; sometimes a crust upon the ground that was meltedinto paste by the noonday sun, but more frequently, so it seems to me, afoggy, drizzly Christmas, with the fires crackling in saloon and lady'schamber. And when my grandfather and the ladies and gentlemen, hisguests, came down the curving stairs, there were the broadly smilingservants drawn up in the wide hall, --all who could gather there, --andthe rest on the lawn outside, to wish "Merry Chris'mas" to "de quality. "The redemptioners in front, headed by Ivie and Jonas Tree, tho' they hadlong served their terms, and with them old Harvey and his son; next thehouse blacks and the outside liveries, and then the oldest slaves fromthe quarters. This line reached the door, which Scipio would throw openat "de quality's" appearance, disclosing the rest of the field servants, in bright-coloured gowns, and the little negroes on the green. Then Mr. Carvel would make them a little speech of thanks and of good-will, and white-haired Johnson of the senior quarters, who had been with mygreat-grandfather, would start the carol in a quaver. How clear andsweet the melody of those negro voices comes back to me throughthe generations! And the picture of the hall, loaded with holly andmistletoe even to the great arch that spanned it, with the generousbowls of egg-nog and punch on the mahogany by the wall! And the ladiesour guests, in cap and apron, joining in the swelling hymn; ay, and themen, too. And then, after the breakfast of sweet ham and venison, andhot bread and sausage, made under Mrs. Willis, and tea and coffee andchocolate steaming in the silver, and ale for the gentlemen if theypreferred, came the prayers and more carols in the big drawing-room. And then music in the big house, or perhaps a ride afield to greet theneighbours, and fiddling and dancing in the two big quarters, Hank's andJohnson's, when the tables were cleared after the bountiful feast Mr. Carvel was wont to give them. There was no stint, my dears, --naught butgood cheer and praising God in sheer happiness at Carvel Hall. 

At night there was always a ball, sometimes at Wilmot House, sometimesat Colonel Lloyd's or Mr. Bordley's, and sometimes at Carvel Hall, formy grandfather dearly loved the company of the young. He himself wouldlead off the minuet, --save when once or twice his Excellency GovernorSharpe chanced to be present, --and would draw his sword with the younggallants that the ladies might pass under. And I have seen him joinmerrily in the country dances too, to the clapping of hands of thecompany. That was before Dolly and I were let upon the floor. We satwith the other children, our mammies at our sides, in the narrow gallerywith the tiny rail that ran around the ball-room, where the sweet odourof the green myrtleberry candles mixed with that of the powder andperfume of the dancers. And when the beauty of the evening was ledout, Dolly would lean over the rail, and pout and smile by turns. Themischievous little baggage could hardly wait for the conquering years tocome. 

They came soon enough, alack! The season Dorothy was fourteen, we had aball at the Hall the last day of the year. When she was that age she hadnear arrived at her growth, and was full as tall as many young ladiesof twenty. I had cantered with her that morning from Wilmot House to Mr. Lloyd's, and thence to Carvel Hall, where she was to stay to dinner. Thesun was shining warmly, and after young Harvey had taken our horses westrayed through the house, where the servants were busy decorating, andout into my grandfather's old English flower garden, and took the seatby the sundial. I remember that it gave no shadow. We sat silent fora while, Dorothy toying with old Knipe, lying at our feet, and humminggayly the burden of a minuet. She had been flighty on the ride, withscarce a word to say to me, for the prospect of the dance had gone toher head. 

"Have you a new suit to wear to-night, to see the New Year in, MasterSober?" she asked presently, looking up. "I am to wear a brocade thatcame out this autumn from London, and papa says I look like a duchesswhen I have my grandmother's pearls. "

"Always the ball!" cried I, slapping my boots in a temper. "Is it, then, such a matter of importance? I am sure you have danced before--at mybirthdays in Marlboro' Street and at your own, and Will Fotheringay's, and I know not how many others. "

"Of course, " replies Dolly, sweetly; "but never with a real man. Boyslike you and Will and the Lloyds do not count. Dr. Courtenay is atWilmot House, and is coming to-night; and he has asked me out. Think ofit, Richard! Dr. Courtenay!"

"A plague upon him! He is a fop!"

"A fop!" exclaimed Dolly, her humour bettering as mine went down. "Oh, no; you are jealous. He is more sought after than any gentleman at theassemblies, and Miss Dulany vows his steps are ravishing. There's foryou, my lad! He may not be able to keep pace with you in the chase, buthe has writ the most delicate verses ever printed in Maryland, and noother man in the colony can turn a compliment with his grace. Shall Itell you more? He sat with me for over an hour last night, until mammasent me off to bed, and was very angry at you because I had engaged toride with you to-day. "

"And I suppose you wish you had stayed with him, " I flung back, hotly. "He had spun you a score of fine speeches and a hundred emptycompliments by now. "

"He had been better company than you, sir, " she laughed provokingly. "I never heard you turn a compliment in your life, and you are nowseventeen. What headway do you expect to make at the assemblies?"

"None, " I answered, rather sadly than otherwise. For she had touched meupon a sore spot. "But if I cannot win a woman save by compliments, " Iadded, flaring up, "then may I pay a bachelor's tax!"

My lady drew her whip across my knee. 

"You must tell us we are beautiful, Richard, " said she, in another tone. 

"You have but to look in a pier-glass, " I retorted. "And, besides, thatis not sufficient. You will want some rhyming couplet out of a mythologybefore you are content. "

She laughed again. 

"Sir, " answered she, "but you have wit, if you can but be got angry. "

She leaned over the dial's face, and began to draw the Latin numeralswith her finger. So arch, withal, that I forgot my ill-humour. 

"If you would but agree to stay angry for a day, " she went on, in a lowtone, "perhaps--"

"Perhaps?"

"Perhaps you would be better company, " said Dorothy. "You would surelybe more entertaining. "

"Dorothy, I love you, " I said. 

"To be sure. I know that, " she replied. "I think you have said thatbefore. "

I admitted it sadly. "But I should be a better husband than Dr. Courtenay. "

"La!" cried she; "I am not thinking of husbands. I shall have a goodtime, sir, I promise you, before I marry. And then I should never marryyou. You are much too rough, and too masterful. And you would requireobedience. I shall never obey any man. You would be too strict a master, sir. I can see it with your dogs and your servants. And your friends, too. For you thrash any boy who does not agree with you. I want no roughsquire for a husband. And then, you are a Whig. I could never marrya Whig. You behaved disgracefully at King William's School last year. Don't deny it!"

"Deny it!" I cried warmly; "I would as soon deny that you are an arrantflirt, Dorothy Manners, and will be a worse one. "

"Yes, I shall have my fling, " said the minx. "I shall begin to-night, with you for an audience. I shall make the doctor look to himself. Butthere is the dressing-bell. " And as we went into the house, "I believemy mother is a Whig, Richard. All the Brices are. "

"And yet you are a Tory?"

"I am a loyalist, " says my lady, tossing her head proudly; "and we areone day to kiss her Majesty's hand, and tell her so. And if I were theQueen, " she finished in a flash, "I would teach you surly gentlemen notto meddle. "

And she swept up the stairs so stately, that Scipio was moved to sayslyly: "Dem's de kind of ladies, Marse Richard, I jes dotes t' wait on!"

Of the affair at King William's School I shall tell later. 

We had some dozen guests staying at the Hall for the ball. At dinner mygrandfather and the gentlemen twitted her, and laughed heartily at herapt retorts, and even toasted her when she was gone. The ladies shooktheir heads and nudged one another, and no doubt each of the mothershad her notion of what she would do in Mrs. Manners's place. But when mylady came down dressed for the ball in her pink brocade with the pearlsaround her neck, fresh from the hands of Nester and those of her owntremulous mammy, Mr. Carvel must needs go up to her and hold her atarm's length in admiration, and then kiss her on both her cheeks. Whereat she blushed right prettily. 

"Bless me!" says he; "and can this be Richard's little playmate grown?Upon my word, Miss Dolly, you'll be the belle of the ball. Eh, Lloyd?Bless me, bless me, you must not mind a kiss from an old man. The youngones may have their turn after a while. " He laughed as my grandfatheronly could laugh, and turned to me, who had reddened to my forehead. "And so, Richard, she has outstripped you, fair and square. You are onlyan awkward lad, and she--why, i' faith, in two years she'll be beyondmy protection. Come, Miss Dolly, " says he; "I'll show you the mistletoe, that you may beware of it. "

And he led her off on his arm. "The old year and the new, gentlemen!"he cried merrily, as he passed the door, with Dolly's mammy and Nestersimpering with pride on the landing. 

The company arrived in coach and saddle, many having come so far thatthey were to stay the night. Young Mr. Beall carried his bride on apillion behind him, her red riding-cloak flung over her ball dress. Mr. Bordley and family came in his barge, Mr. Marmaduke and his wife incoach and four. With them was Dr. Courtenay, arrayed in peach-colouredcoat and waistcoat, with black satin breeches and white silk stockings, and pinchbeck buckles a-sparkle on his shoes. How I envied him as hedescended the stairs, stroking his ruffles and greeting the company withthe indifferent ease that was then the fashion. I fancied I saw his eyeswander among the ladies, and not marking her he crossed over to where Istood disconsolate before the fireplace. 

"Why, Richard, my lad, " says he, "you are quite grown since I saw you. And the little girl that was your playmate, --Miss Dolly, I mean, --hasoutstripped me, egad. She has become suddenly une belle demoiselle, likea rose that blooms in a night. "

I answered nothing at all. But I had given much to know whether mystolid manner disconcerted him. Unconsciously I sought the bluff faceabove the chimney, depicted in all its ruggedness by the painter of KingCharles's day, and contrasted with the bundle of finery at my side. Dr. Courtenay certainly caught the look. He opened his snuff-box, took apinch, turned on his heel, and sauntered off. 

"What did you say, Richard?" asked Mr. Lloyd, coming up to me, laughing, for he had seen the incident. 

"I looked merely at the man of Marston Moor, sir, and said nothing. "

"Faith, 'twas a better answer than if you had used your tongue, Ithink, " answered my friend. But he teased me a deal that night whenDolly danced with the doctor, and my grandfather bade me look to myhonours. My young lady flung her head higher than ever, and made aminuet as well as any dame upon the floor, while I stood very glum atthe thought of the prize slipping from my grasp. Now and then, in themidst of a figure, she would shoot me an arch glance, as much as to saythat her pinions were strong now. But when it came to the country dancesmy lady comes up to me ever so prettily and asks the favour. 

"Tis a monstrous state, indeed, when I have to beg you for a reel!" saysshe. 

And so was I made happy. 

CHAPTER VI. I FIRST SUFFER FOR THE CAUSE

In the eighteenth century the march of public events was much moreeagerly followed than now by men and women of all stations, and evenchildren. Each citizen was ready, nay, forward, in taking an active partin all political movements, and the children mimicked their elders. OldWilliam Farris read his news of a morning before he began the mending ofhis watches, and by evening had so well digested them that he was primedfor discussion with Pryse, of the opposite persuasion, at the Rose andCrown. Sol Mogg, the sexton of St. Anne's, had his beloved Gazette inhis pocket as he tolled the church bell of a Thursday, and would holdforth on the rights and liberties of man with the carpenter who mendedthe steeple. Mrs. Willard could talk of Grenville and Townshend asknowingly as her husband, the rich factor, and Francie Willard made manya speech to us younger Sons of Liberty on the steps of King William'sSchool. We younger sons, indeed, declared bitter war against themother-country long before our conservative old province ever dreamed ofsecession. For Maryland was well pleased with his Lordship's government. 

I fear that I got at King William's School learning of a far differentsort than pleased my grandfather. In those days the school stood uponthe Stadt House hill near School Street, not having moved to its presentlarger quarters. Mr. Isaac Daaken was then Master, and had under himsome eighty scholars. After all these years, Mr. Daaken stands before mea prominent figure of the past in an ill-fitting suit of snuff colour. How well I recall that schoolroom of a bright morning, the sun's raysshot hither and thither, and split violet, green, and red by the bulgingglass panes of the windows. And by a strange irony it so chanced thatwhere the dominie sat--and he moved not the whole morning long save toreach for his birches--the crimson ray would often rest on the end ofhis long nose, and the word "rum" be passed tittering along the benches. For some men are born to the mill, and others to the mitre, and stillothers to the sceptre; but Mr. Daaken was born to the birch. His long, lanky legs were made for striding after culprits, and his arms forcaning them. He taught, among other things, the classics, of course, the English language grammatically, arithmetic in all its branches, book-keeping in the Italian manner, and the elements of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry with their applications to surveying andnavigation. He also wrote various sorts of hands, fearful and marvellousto the uninitiated, with which he was wont to decorate my monthlyreports to my grandfather. I can shut my eyes and see now that wonderfulhyperbola in the C in Carvel, which, after travelling around the paper, ended in intricate curves and a flourish which surely must have brokenthe quill. 

The last day of every month would I fetch that scrolled note to Mr. Carvel, and he laid it beside his plate until dinner was over. And then, as sure as the sun rose that morning, my flogging would come before itset. This done with, and another promised next month provided Mr. Daaken wrote no better of me, my grandfather and I renewed our customaryfooting of love and companionship. 

But Mr. Daaken, unwittingly or designedly, taught other things thanthose I have mentioned above. And though I never once heard a word ofpolitics fall from his lips, his school shortly became known to all goodTories as a nursery of conspiracy and sedition. There are other ways ofteaching besides preaching, and of that which the dominie taught best hespoke not a word. He was credited, you may well believe, with calumniesagainst King George, and once my Uncle Grafton and Mr. Dulany were forclapping him in jail, avowing that he taught treason to the young. I canaccount for the tone of King William's School in no other way than tosay that patriotism was in the very atmosphere, and seemed to exudein some mysterious way from Mr. Daaken's person. And most of us becameinfected with it. 

The dominie lived outside the town, in a lonely little hamlet on theborders of the Spa. At two of the clock every afternoon he would divethrough School Street to the Coffee House, where the hostler would havehis bony mare saddled and waiting. Mr. Daaken by no chance ever enteredthe tavern. I recall one bright day in April when I played truant andhad the temerity to go afishing on Spa Creek with Will Fotheringay, thebass being plentiful there. We had royal sport of it that morning, andtwo o'clock came and went with never a thought, you may be sure. Andpresently I get a pull which bends my English rod near to double, andin my excitement plunge waist deep into the water, Will crying outdirections from the shore, when suddenly the head of Mr. Daaken's mareis thrust through the bushes, followed by Mr. Daaken himself. Will stoodstock still from fright, and I was for dropping my rod and cutting, whenI was arrested by the dominie calling out:

"Have a care, Master Carvel; have a care, sir. You will lose him. Playhim, sir; let him run a bit. "

And down he leaps from his horse and into the water after me, and together we landed a three-pound bass, thereby drenching hissnuff-coloured suit. When the big fish lay shining in the basket, thedominie smiled grimly at William and me as we stood sheepishly by, andwithout a word he drew his clasp knife and cut a stout switch fromthe willow near, and then and there he gave us such a thrashing as weremembered for many a day after. And we both had another when we reachedhome. 

"Mr. Carvel, " said Mr. Dulany to my grandfather, "I would stronglycounsel you to take Richard from that school. Pernicious doctrines, sir, are in the air, and like diseases are early caught by the young. 'Twasbut yesterday I saw Richard at the head of a rabble of the sons ofriff-raff, in Green Street, and their treatment of Mr. Fairbrother hathset the whole town by the ears. "

What Mr. Dulany had said was true. The lads of Mr. Fairbrother's schoolbeing mostly of the unpopular party, we of King William's had organizedour cohorts and led them on to a signal victory. We fell upon the enemyeven as they were emerging from their stronghold, the schoolhouse, andsmote them hip and thigh, with the sheriff of Anne Arundel County alaughing spectator. Some of the Tories (for such we were pleased to callthem) took refuge behind Mr. Fairbrother's skirts, who shook his caneangrily enough, but without avail. Others of the Tory brood foughtstoutly, calling out: "God save the King!" and "Down with the traitors!"On our side Francie Willard fell, and Archie Dennison raised a lump onmy head the size of a goose egg. But we fairly beat them, and afterwardsmust needs attack the Tory dominie himself. He cried out lustily to thesheriff and spectators, of whom there were many by this time, for help, but got little but laughter for his effort. Young Lloyd and I, beinglarge lads for our age, fairly pinioned the screeching master, whocried out that he was being murdered, and keeping his cane for a trophy, thrust him bodily into his house of learning, turned the great keyupon him, and so left him. He made his escape by a window and soughtmy grandfather in the Duke of Marlboro' Street as fast as ever hisindignant legs would carry him. 

Of his interview with Mr. Carvel I know nothing save that Scipio wasrequested presently to show him the door, and conclude therefrom thathis language was but ill-chosen. Scipio's patrician blood was wont torise in the presence of those whom he deemed outside the pale of goodsociety, and I fear he ushered Mr. Fairbrother to the street withlittle of that superior manner he used to the first families. As for Mr. Daaken, I feel sure he was not ill-pleased at the discomfiture of hisrival, though it cost him five of his scholars. 

Our schoolboy battle, though lightly undertaken, was fraught withno inconsiderable consequences for me. I was duly chided and soundlywhipped by my grandfather for the part I had played; but he was inclinedto pass the matter after that, and set it down to the desire forfighting common to most boyish natures. And he would have gone nofarther than this had it not been that Mr. Green, of the MarylandGazette, could not refrain from printing the story in his paper. Thatgentleman, being a stout Whig, took great delight in pointing out thata grandson of Mr. Carvel was a ringleader in the affair. The story wasindeed laughable enough, and many a barrister's wig nodded over it atthe Coffee House that day. When I came home from school I found Scipiobeside my grandfather's empty seat in the dining-room, and I learnedthat Mr. Carvel was in the garden with my Uncle Grafton and the ReverendBennett Allen, rector of St. Anne's. I well knew that something out ofthe common was in the wind to disturb my grandfather's dinner. Intothe garden I went, and under the black walnut tree I beheld Mr. Carvelpacing up and down in great unrest, his Gazette in his hand, while onthe bench sat my uncle and the rector of St. Anne's. So occupied waseach in his own thought that my coming was unperceived; and I paused inmy steps, seized suddenly by an instinctive dread, I know not of what. The fear of Mr. Carvel's displeasure passed from my mind so that I carednot how soundly he thrashed me, and my heart filled with a yearning, born of the instant, for that simple and brave old gentleman. For thelad is nearer to nature than the man, and the animal oft scents a dangerthe master cannot see. I read plainly in Mr. Allen's handsome face, flushed red with wine as it ever was, and in my Uncle Grafton's looksa snare to which I knew my grandfather was blind. I never rightlyunderstood how it was that Mr. Carvel was deceived in Mr. Allen;perchance the secret lay in his bold manner and in the appearance ofdignity and piety he wore as a cloak when on his guard. I caught mybreath sharply and took my way toward them, resolved to make as brave afront as I might. It was my uncle, whose ear was ever open, that firstheard my footstep and turned upon me. 

"Here is Richard, now, father, " he said. 

I gave him so square a look that he bent his head to the ground. Mygrandfather stopped in his pacing and his eye rested upon me, in sorrowrather than in anger, I thought. 

"Richard, " he began, and paused. For the first time in my life I saw himirresolute. He looked appealingly at the rector, who rose. Mr. Allenwas a man of good height and broad shoulders, with piercing black eyes, reminding one more of the smallsword than aught else I can think of. Andhe spoke solemnly, in a deep voice, as though from the pulpit. 

"I fear it is my duty, Richard, to say what Mr. Carvel cannot. Itgrieves me to tell you, sir, that young as you are you have been guiltyof treason against the King, and of grave offence against his Lordship'sgovernment. I cannot mitigate my words, sir. By your rashness, Richard, and I pray it is such, you have brought grief to your grandfather in hisage, and ridicule and reproach upon a family whose loyalty has hithertobeen unstained. "

I scarce waited for him to finish. His pompous words stung me like thelash of a whip, and I gave no heed to his cloth as I answered:

"If I have grieved my grandfather, sir, I am heartily sorry, and willanswer to him for what I have done. And I would have you know, Mr. Allen, that I am as able as any to care for the Carvel honour. "

I spoke with a vehemence, for the thought carried me beyond myself, that this upstart parson his Lordship had but a year since sent among usshould question our family reputation. 

"Remember that Mr. Allen is of the Church, Richard, " said mygrandfather, severely. 

"I fear he has little respect for Church or State, sir, " Grafton put in. "You are now reaping the fruits of your indulgence. "

I turned to my grandfather. 

"You are my protector, sir, " I cried. "And if it please you to tellme what I now stand accused of, I submit most dutifully to yourchastisement. "

"Very fair words, indeed, nephew Richard, " said my uncle, "and Idraw from them that you have yet to hear of your beating an honestschoolmaster without other provocation than that he was a loyal servantto the King, and wantonly injuring the children of his school. " He drewfrom his pocket a copy of that Gazette Mr. Carvel held in his hand, andadded ironically: "Here, then, are news which will doubtless surpriseyou, sir. And knowing you for a peaceful lad, never having entertainedsuch heresies as those with which it pleases Mr. Green to credit you, Idare swear he has drawn on his imagination. "

I took the paper in amaze, not knowing why my grandfather, who had everbeen so jealous of others taking me to task, should permit the rectorand my uncle to chide me in his presence. The account was in the maintrue enough, and made sad sport of Mr. Fairbrother. 

"Have I not been caned for this, sir?" said I to my grandfather. 

These words seemed to touch Mr. Carvel, and I saw a tear glisten in hiseye as he answered:

"You have, Richard, and stoutly. But your uncle and Mr. Allen seem tothink that your offence warrants more than a caning, and to deem thatyou have been actuated by bad principles rather than by boyish spirits. "He paused to steady his voice, and I realized then for the first timehow sacred he held allegiance to the King. "Tell me, my lad, " said he, "tell me, as you love God and the truth, whether they are right. "

For the moment I shrank from speaking, perceiving what a sad blow toMr. Carvel my words must be. And then I spoke up boldly, catchingthe exulting sneer on my Uncle Grafton's face and the note of triumphreflected in Mr. Allen's. 

"I have never deceived you, sir, " I said, "and will not now hide fromyou that I believe the colonies to have a just cause against his Majestyand Parliament. " The words came ready to my lips: "We are none the lessEnglishmen because we claim the rights of Englishmen, and, saving yourpresence, sir, are as loyal as those who do not. And if these principlesbe bad, " I added to my uncle, "then should we think with shame upon theMagna Charta. "

My grandfather stood astonished at such a speech from me, whom he hadthought a lad yet without a formed knowledge of public affairs. But Iwas, in fact, supersaturated with that of which I spoke, and couldhave given my hearers many able Whig arguments to surprise them had theseason befitted. There was silence for a space after I had finished, andthen Mr. Carvel sank right heavily upon the bench. 

"A Carvel against the King!" was all he said. 

Had I been alone with him I should have cast myself at his feet, for ithurt me sorely to see him so. As it was, I held my head high. 

"The Carvels ever did what they believed right, sir, " I answered. "Youwould not have me to go against my conscience?"

To this he replied nothing. 

"The evil has been done, as I feared, father, " said Grafton, presently;"we must now seek for the remedy. "

"Let me question the lad, " Mr. Allen softly interposed. "Tell me, Richard, who has influenced you to this way of thinking?"

I saw his ruse, and was not to be duped by it. 

"Men who have not feared to act bravely against oppression, sir, " Isaid. 

"Thank God, " exclaimed my uncle, with fervour, "that I have been morecareful of Philip's associations, and that he has not caught in thestreets and taverns this noxious creed!"

"There is no danger from Philip; he remembers his family name, " said therector. 

"No, " quoth Mr. Carvel, bitterly, "there is no danger from Philip. Likehis father, he will ever believe that which best serves him. "

Grafton, needless to say, did not pursue such an argument, but rising, remarked that this deplorable affair had kept him long past his dinnerhour, and that his services were as ever at his father's disposal. Herefused to stay, though my grandfather pressed him of course, and with alow bow of filial respect and duty and a single glance at the rector, my uncle was gone. And then we walked slowly to the house and into thedining room, Mr. Carvel leading the procession, and I an unwillingrear, knowing that my fate would be decided between them. I thought Mr. Allen's grace would never end, and the meal likewise; I ate but little, while the two gentlemen discussed parish matters. And when at lastScipio had retired, and the rector of St. Anne's sat sipping the oldMadeira, his countenance all gravity, but with a relish he could nothide, my grandfather spoke up. And though he addressed himself to theguest, I knew full well what he said was meant for me. 

"As you see, sir, " said he, "I am sore perplexed and troubled. WeCarvels, Mr. Allen, have ever been stanch to Church and King. Mygreat-grandsire fought at Naseby and Marston Moor for Charles, andsuffered exile in his name. 'Twas love for King James that sent myfather hither, though he swore allegiance to Anne and the First George. I can say with pride that he was no indifferent servant to either, refusing honours from the Pretender in '15, when he chanced to be athome. An oath is an oath, sir, and we have yet to be false to ours. Andthe King, say I, should, next to God, be loved and loyally served by hissubjects. And so I have served this George, and his grandfather beforehim, according to the talents which were given me. "

"And ably, sir, permit me to say, " echoed the rector, heartily. Tooheartily, methought. And he carefully filled his pipe with choice leafout of Mr. Carvel's inlaid box. 

"Be that as it may, I have done my best, as we must all do. Pardonme, sir, for speaking of myself. But I have brought up this lad from achild, Mr. Allen, " said Mr. Carvel, his words coming slowly, as if eachgave him pain, "and have striven to be an example to him in all things. He has few of those faults which I most fear; God be thanked that heloves the truth, for there is yet a chance of his correction. A chance, said I?" he cried, his speech coming more rapid, "nay, he shall becured! I little thought, fool that I was, that he would get this pox. His father fought and died for the King; and should trouble come, whichGod forbid, to know that Richard stood against his Majesty would killme. "

"And well it might, Mr. Carvel, " said the divine. He was for themoment sobered, as weak men must be in the presence of those of strongconvictions. My grandfather had half risen in his chair, and the linesof his smooth-shaven face deepened visibly with the pain of the feelingsto which he gave utterance. As for me, I was well-nigh swept away by abigness within me, and torn between love and duty, between pity and thereason left me, and sadly tried to know whether my dear parent's lifeand happiness should be weighed against what I felt to be right. Istrove to speak, but could say nothing. 

"He must be removed from the influences, " the rector ventured, after ahalt. 

"That he must indeed, " said my grandfather. "Why did I not send him toEton last fall? But it is hard, Mr. Allen, to part with the child of ourold age. I would take passage and go myself with him to-morrow were itnot for my duties in the Council. "

"Eton! I would have sooner, I believe, wrought by the side of anyrascally redemptioner in the iron mines of the Patapsco than have goneto Eton. 

"But for the present, sir, I would counsel you to put the lad's studiesin the charge of some able and learned man, that his mind may be turnedfrom the disease which has fed upon it. Some one whose loyalty is beyondquestion. "

"And who so fit as yourself, Mr. Allen?" returned my grandfather, reliefplain in his voice. "You have his Lordship's friendship and confidence, and never has rector of St. Anne's or of any other parish broughtletters to his Excellency to compare with yours. And so I crave yourhelp in this time of need. "

Mr. Allen showed becoming hesitation. 

"I fear you do me greater honour than I deserve, Mr. Carvel, " heanswered, a strain of the pomp coming back, "though my gracious patronis disposed to think well of me, and I shall strive to hold his goodopinion. But I have duties of parish and glebe to attend, and MasterPhilip Carvel likewise in my charge. "

I held my breath for my grandfather's reply. The rector, however, hadread him, and well knew that a show of reluctance would but inflame himthe more. 

"How now, sir?" he exclaimed. "Surely, as you love the King, you willnot refuse me in this strait. "

Mr. Allen rose and grasped him by the hand. 

"Nay, sir, " said he, "and you put it thus, I cannot refuse you. "

The thought of it was too much. I ran to my grandfather crying: "NotMr. Allen, sir, not Mr. Allen. Any one else you please, --Mr. Fairbrothereven. "

The rector drew back haughtily. "It is clear, Mr. Carvel, " he said, "that Richard has other preferences. "

"And be damned to them!" shouted my grandfather. "Am I to be ruled bythis headstrong boy? He has beat Mr. Fairbrother, and shall have noskimmed-milk supervision if I can help it. "

And so it was settled that I should be tutored by the rector of St. Anne's, and I took my seat beside my cousin Philip in his study the verynext day. 

CHAPTER VII. GRAFTON HAS HIS CHANCE

To add to my troubles my grandfather was shortly taken very ill with thefirst severe sickness he had ever in his life endured. Dr. Leiden cameand went sometimes thrice daily, and for a week he bore a look so graveas to frighten me. Dr. Evarts arrived by horse from Philadelphia, andthe two physicians held long conversations in the morning room, while Ilistened at the door and comprehended not a word of their talk save whenthey spoke of bleeding. And after a very few consultations, as is oftenthe way in their profession, they disagreed and quarrelled, and Dr. Evarts packed himself back to Philadelphia in high dudgeon. Then Mr. Carvel began to mend. 

There were many who came regularly to inquire of him, and each afternoonI would see the broad shoulders and genial face of Governor Sharpe inthe gateway, completing his walk by way of Marlboro' Street. I loved andadmired him, for he had been a soldier himself before he came out to us, and had known and esteemed my father. His Excellency should surely havebeen knighted for his services in the French war. Once he spied me atthe window and shook his cane pleasantly, and in he walks to the roomwhere I sat reading of the victories of Blenheim and Malplaquet, forchronicles of this sort I delighted in. 

"Aha, Richard, " says he, taking up the book, "'tis plain whither yourtastes lead you. Marlboro was a great general, and as sorry a scoundrelas ever led troops to battle. Truly, " says he, musing, "the Lord oftenmakes queer choice in his instruments for good. " And he lowered himselfinto the easy chair and crossed his legs, regarding me very comically. "What's this I hear of your joining the burghers and barristers, andtrouncing poor Mr. Fairbrother and his flock, and crying 'Libertyforever!' in the very ears of the law?" he asks. "His Majesty will haveneed of such lads as you, I make no doubt, and should such proceedingscome to his ears I would not give a pipe for your chances. "

I could not but laugh, confused as I was, at his Excellency's rally. Andthis I may say, that had it pleased Providence to give me dealingwith such men of the King's side as he, perchance my fortunes had beenaltered. 

"And in any good cause, sir, " I replied, "I would willingly give my lifeto his Majesty. "

"So, " said his Excellency, raising his eyebrows, "I see clearly you areof the rascals. But a lad must have his fancies, and when your age I washot for the exiled Prince. I acquired more sense as I grew older. Andbetter an active mind, say I, than a sluggard partisan. "

At this stage of our talk came in my Uncle Grafton, and bowing low tothe Governor made apology that some of the elders of the family had notbeen there to entertain him. He told his Excellency that he had neverleft the house save for necessary business, which was true for once, my uncle having taken up his abode with us during that week. But now, thanking Heaven and Dr. Leiden and his own poor effort, he could reporthis dear father to be out of danger. 

Governor Sharpe answered shortly that he had been happy to hear the goodnews from Scipio. "Faith, " says he, "I was well enough entertained, forI have a liking for this lad, and to speak truth I saw him here as Icame up the walk. "

My uncle smiled deprecatingly, and hid any vexation he might have hadfrom this remark. 

"I fear that Richard lacks wisdom as yet, your Excellency, " said he, "and has many of his father's headstrong qualities. "

"Which you most providentially escaped, " his Excellency put in. 

Grafton bit his lip. "Necessity makes us all careful, sir, " said he. 

"Necessity does more than that, Mr. Carvel, " returned the Governor, whowas something of a wit; "necessity often makes us fools, if we be notcareful. But give me ever a wanton fool rather than him of necessity'shandiwork. And as for the lad, " says he, "let him not trouble you. Suchas he, if twisted a little in the growth, come out straight enough inthe end. "

I think the Governor little knew what wormwood was this to my uncle. 

"'Tis heartily to be hoped, sir, " he said, "for his folly has broughttrouble enough behind it to those who have his education and his welfarein hand, and I make no doubt is at the bottom of my father's illness. "

At this injustice I could not but cry out, for all the town knew, andmy grandfather himself best of all, that the trouble from which henow suffered sprang from his gout. And yet my heart was smitten atthe thought that I might have hastened or aggravated the attack. TheGovernor rose. He seized his stick aggressively and looked sharply atGrafton. 

"Nonsense, " he exclaimed; "my friend Mr. Carvel is far too wise to beupset by a boyish prank which deserves no notice save a caning. Andthat, my lad, " he added lightly, "I dare swear you got with interest. "And he called for a glass of the old Madeira when Scipio came withthe tray, and departed with a polite inquiry after my Aunt Caroline'shealth, and a prophecy that Mr. Carvel would soon be taking the airagain. 

There had been high doings indeed in Marlboro' Street that miserableweek. My grandfather took to his bed of a Saturday afternoon, and bademe go down to Mr. Aikman's, the bookseller, and fetch him the latestbooks and plays. That night I became so alarmed that I sent Diomedes forDr. Leiden, who remained the night through. Sunday was well gone beforethe news reached York Street, when my Aunt Caroline came hurrying overin her chair, and my uncle on foot. They brushed past Scipio at thedoor, and were pushing up the long flight when they were stopped on thelanding by Dr. Leiden. 

"How is my father, sir?" Grafton cried, "and why was I not informed atonce of his illness? I must see him. "

"Your vater can see no one, Mr. Carvel, " said the doctor, quietly. 

"What, " says my uncle, "you dare to refuse me?"

"Not so lout, I bray you, " says the doctor; "I tare any ting vere lifeis concerned. "

"But I will see him, " says Grafton, in a sort of helpless rage, for thedoctor's manner baffled him. "I will see him before he dies, and no manalive shall say me nay. "

Then my Aunt Caroline gathered up her skirt, and made shift to pass thedoctor. 

"I have come to nurse him, " said she, imperiously, and, turning to whereI stood near, she added: "Bid a servant fetch from York Street what Ishall have need of. "

The doctor smiled, but stood firm. He cared little for aught in heavenor earth, did Dr. Leiden, and nothing whatever for Mr. And Mrs. GraftonCarvel. 

"I peg you, matam, do not disturp yourself, " said he. "Mr. Carvel isaply attended by an excellent voman, Mrs. Villis, and he has no neet ofyou. "

"What, " cried my aunt; "this is too much, sir, that I am thrust out ofmy father-in-law's house, and my place taken by a menial. That womanable!" she fumed, dropping suddenly her cloak of dignity; "Mr. Carvel'scharity is all that keeps her here. "

Then my uncle drew himself up. "Dr. Leiden, " says he, "kindly oblige meby leaving my father's house, and consider your services here at an end. And Richard, " he goes on to me, "send my compliments to Dr. Drake, andrequest him to come at once. "

I was stepping forward to say that I would do nothing of the kind, whenthe doctor stopped me by a signal, as much as to say that the quarrelwas wide enough without me. He stood with his back against the greatarched window flooded with the yellow light of the setting sun, a littleblack figure in high relief, with a face of parchment. And he took apinch of snuff before he spoke. 

"I am here py Mr. Carvel's orters, sir, " said he, "and py tose alonevill I leaf. "

And this is how the Chippendale piece was broke, which you, my children, and especially Bess, admire so extravagantly. It stood that day behindthe doctor, and my uncle, making a violent move to get by, struck it, and so it fell with a great crash lengthwise on the landing; and thewonderful vases Mr. Carroll had given my grandfather rolled down thestairs and lay crushed at the bottom. Withal he had spoken so quietly, Dr. Leiden possessed a temper drawn from his Teutonic ancestors. Withhis little face all puckered, he swore so roundly at my uncle in somelingo he had got from his father, --High German or Low German, --I knownot what, that Grafton and his wife were glad enough to pick theirway amongst the broken bits of glass and china, to the hall again. Dr. Leiden shook his fist at their retreating persons, saying that theSabbath was no day to do murder. 

I followed them with the pretence of picking up what was left of theornaments. What between anger against the doctor and Mrs. Willis, andfright and chagrin at the fall of the Chippendale piece, my aunt was insuch a state of nervous flurry that she bade the ashy Scipio call herchairmen, and vowed, in a trembling voice, she would never again entera house where that low-bred German was to be found. But my Uncle Graftonwas of a different nature. He deemed defeat but a postponement of theobject he wished to gain, and settled himself in the library with acopy of "Miller on the Distinction of Ranks in Society. " He appeared atsupper suave as ever, gravely concerned as to his father's health, whichformed the chief topic between us. He gave me to understand that hewould take the green room until the old gentleman was past danger. Nota word, mind you, of Dr. Leiden, nor did my uncle express a wish to gointo the sick-room, from which even I was forbid. Nay, the next morninghe met the doctor in the hall and conversed with him at some length overthe case as though nothing had occurred between them. 

While my Uncle Grafton was in the house I had opportunity of markingthe intimacy which existed between him and the rector of St. Anne's. Thelatter swung each evening the muffled knocker, and was ushered on tiptoeacross the polished floor to the library where my uncle sat in state. Itwas often after supper before the rector left, and coming in upon themonce I found wine between them and empty decanters on the board, andthey fell silent as I passed the doorway. 

Our dear friend Captain Clapsaddle was away when my grandfather fellsick, having been North for three months or more on some business knownto few. 'Twas generally supposed he went to Massachusetts to confer withthe patriots of that colony. Hearing the news as he rode into town, he came booted and spurred to Marlboro' Street before going to hislodgings. I ran out to meet him, and he threw his arms about me on thestreet so that those who were passing smiled, for all knew the captain. And Harvey, who always came to take the captain's horse, swore that hewas glad to see a friend of the family once again. I told the captainvery freely of my doings, and showed him the clipping from the Gazette, which made him laugh heartily. But a shade came upon his face when Irehearsed the scene we had with my uncle and Mr. Allen in the garden. 

"What, " says he, "Mr. Carvel hath sent you to Mr. Allen on your uncle'sadvice?"

"No, " I answered, "to do my uncle justice, he said not a word to Mr. Carvel about it. "

The captain turned the subject. He asked me much concerning the rectorand what he taught me, and appeared but ill-pleased at that I hadto tell him. But he left me without so much as a word of comment orcounsel. For it was a principle with Captain Clapsaddle not to influencein any way the minds of the young, and he would have deemed it unfair toMr. Carvel had he attempted to win my sympathies to his. CaptainDaniel was the first the old gentleman asked to see when visitors werepermitted him, and you may be sure the faithful soldier was below stairswaiting for the summons. 

I was some three weeks with my new tutor, the rector, before mygrandfather's illness, and went back again as soon as he began to mend. I was not altogether unhappy, owing to a certain grim pleasure I hadin debating with him, which I shall presently relate. There was muchto annoy and anger me, too. My cousin Philip was forever carping andcriticising my Greek and Latin, and it was impossible not to feel hissneer at my back when I construed. He had pat replies ready to correctme when called upon, and 'twas only out of consideration for Mr. Carvelthat I kept my hands from him when we were dismissed. 

I think the rector disliked Philip in his way as much as did I in mine. The Reverend Bennett Allen, indeed, might have been a very good fellowhad Providence placed him in a different setting; he was one of thosewhom his Excellency dubbed "fools from necessity. " He should have beenborn with a fortune, though I can think of none he would not have runthrough in a year or so. But nature had given him aristocratic tastes, with no other means toward their gratification than good looks, convincing ways, and a certain bold, half-defiant manner, which went farwith his Lordship and those like him, who thought Mr. Allen excellentgood company. With the rector, as with too many others, holy orders werebut a means to an end. It was a sealed story what he had been before hecame to Governor Sharpe with Baltimore's directions to give him the bestin the colony. But our rakes and wits, and even our solid men, likemy grandfather, received him with open arms. He had ever a tale on histongue's end tempered to the ear of his listener. 

Who had most influenced my way of thinking, Mr. Allen had well demanded. The gentleman was none other than Mr. Henry Swain, Patty's father. Ofher I shall speak later. He was a rising barrister and man of note amongour patriots, and member of the Lower House; a diffident man in public, with dark, soulful eyes, and a wide, white brow, who had declineda nomination to the Congress of '65. At his fireside, unknown to mygrandfather and to Mr. Allen, I had learned the true principles ofgovernment. Before the House Mr. Swain spoke only under extraordinaryemotion, and then he gained every ear. He had been my friend sincechildhood, but I never knew the meaning and the fire of oratory untilcuriosity brought me to the gallery of the Assembly chamber in the StadtHouse, where the barrister was on his feet at the time. I well rememberthe tingle in my chest as I looked and listened. And I went again andagain, until the House sat behind closed doors. 

And so, when Mr. Allen brought forth for my benefit those arguments ofthe King's party which were deemed their strength, I would confront himwith Mr. Swain's logic. He had in me a tough subject for conversion. I was put to very small pains to rout my instructor out of all hispositions, because indolence, and lack of interest in the question, andcontempt for the Americans, had made him neglect the study of it. AndPhilip, who entered at first glibly enough at the rector's side, wassoon drawn into depths far beyond him. Many a time was Mr. Allen fainto laugh at his blunders. I doubt not my cousin had the facts straightenough when he rose from the breakfast table at home; but by the time hereached the rectory they were shaken up like so many parts of a puzzlein a bag, and past all straightening. 

The rector was especially bitter toward the good people of Boston Town, whom he dubbed Puritan fanatics. To him Mr. Otis was but a meddlingfool, and Mr. Adams a traitor whose head only remained on his shouldersby grace of the extreme clemency of his Majesty, which Mr. Allen was ata loss to understand. When beaten in argument, he would laugh out somesneer that would set my blood simmering. One morning he came in late forthe lesson, smelling strongly of wine, and bade us bring our books outunder the fruit trees in the garden. He threw back his gown andtilted his cap, and lighting his pipe began to speak of that act ofTownshend's, passed but the year before, which afterwards proved theKing's folly and England's ruin. 

"Principle!" exclaimed my fine clergyman at length, blowing a greatwhiff among the white blossoms. "Oons! your Americans worship hisMajesty stamped upon a golden coin. And though he saved their tillsfrom plunder from the French, the miserly rogues are loth to pay for theservice. "

I rose, and taking a guinea-piece from my pocket, held it up before him. 

"They care this much for gold, sir, and less for his Majesty, who caresnothing for them, " I said. And walking to the well near by, I droppedthe piece carelessly into the clear water. He was beside me before itleft my hand, and Philip also, in time to see the yellow coin edgingthis way and that toward the bottom. The rector turned to me with asmile of cynical amusement playing over his features. 

"Such a spirit has brought more than one brave fellow to Tyburn, MasterCarvel, " he said. And then he added reflectively, "But if there weremore like you, we might well have cause for alarm. "

Volume 2. 

CHAPTER VIII. OVER THE WALL

Dorothy treated me ill enough that spring. Since the minx had tastedpower at Carvel Hall, there was no accounting for her. On returning totown Dr. Courtenay had begged her mother to allow her at the assemblies, a request which Mrs. Manners most sensibly refused. Mr. Marmaduke hadgiven his consent, I believe, for he was more impatient than Dolly forthe days when she would become the toast of the province. But the doctorcontrived to see her in spite of difficulties, and Will Fotheringay wasforever at her house, and half a dozen other lads. And many gentlemen offashion like the doctor called ostensibly to visit Mrs. Manners, but inreality to see Miss Dorothy. And my lady knew it. She would be lingeringin the drawing-room in her best bib and tucker, or strolling in thegarden as Dr. Courtenay passed, and I got but scant attention indeed. Iwas but an awkward lad, and an old playmate, with no novelty about me. 

"Why, Richard, " she would say to me as I rode or walked beside her, orsat at dinner in Prince George Street, "I know every twist and turn ofyour nature. There is nothing you could do to surprise me. And so, sir, you are very tiresome. "

"You once found me useful enough to fetch and carry, and amusing when Iwalked the Oriole's bowsprit, " I replied ruefully. 

"Why don't you make me jealous?" says she, stamping her foot. "A scoreof pretty girls are languishing for a glimpse of you, --Jennie and BessFotheringay, and Betty Tayloe, and Heaven knows how many others. Theyare actually accusing me of keeping you trailing. 'La, girls!' saidI, 'if you will but rid me of him for a day, you shall have my lastinggratitude. '"

And she turned to the spinet and began a lively air. But the tauntstruck deeper than she had any notion of. That spring arrived out fromLondon on the Belle of the Wye a box of fine clothes my grandfather hadcommanded for me from his own tailor; and a word from a maid of fifteendid more to make me wear them than any amount of coaxing from Mr. Allenand my Uncle Grafton. My uncle seemed in particular anxious that Ishould make a good appearance, and reminded me that I should dress asbecame the heir of the Carvel house. I took counsel with Patty Swain, and then went to see Betty Tayloe, and the Fotheringay girls, andthe Dulany girls, near the Governor's. And (fie upon me!) I was notill-pleased with the brave appearance I made. I would show my mistresshow little I cared. But the worst of it was, the baggage seemed totrouble less than I, and had the effrontery to tell me how happy she wasI had come out of my shell, and broken loose from her apron-strings. 

"Indeed, they would soon begin to think I meant to marry you, Richard, "says she at supper one Sunday before a tableful, and laughed with therest. 

"They do not credit you with such good sense, my dear, " says her mother, smiling kindly at me. 

And Dolly bit her lip, and did not join in that part of the merriment. 

I fled to Patty Swain for counsel, nor was it the first time in my lifeI had done so. Some good women seem to have been put into this selfishworld to comfort and advise. After Prince George Street with its giltand marbles and stately hedged gardens, the low-beamed, vine-coveredhouse in the Duke of Gloucester Street was a home and a rest. In my eyesthere was not its equal in Annapolis for beauty within and without. Mr. Swain had bought the dwelling from an aged man with a history, deadsome nine years back. Its furniture, for the most part, was of theRestoration, of simple and massive oak blackened by age, which I everfancied better than the Frenchy baubles of tables and chairs withspindle legs, and cabinets of glass and gold lacquer which were thenmaking their way into the fine mansions of our town. The house was fullof twists and turns, and steps up and down, and nooks and passages andqueer hiding-places which we children knew, and in parts queer leadedwindows of bulging glass set high in the wall, and older than the reignof Hanover. Here was the shrine of cleanliness, whose high-priestess wasPatty herself. Her floors were like satin-wood, and her brasses lightsin themselves. She had come honestly enough by her gifts, her fatherhaving married the daughter of an able townsman of Salem, in theMassachusetts colony, when he had gone north after his first greatsuccess in court. Now the poor lady sat in a padded armchair frommorning to night, beside the hearth in winter, and under the trees insummer, by reason of a fall she had had. There she knitted all the daylong. Her placid face and quiet way come before me as I write. 

My friendship with Patty had begun early. One autumn day when I was alittle lad of eight or nine, my grandfather and I were driving back fromWhitehall in the big coach, when we spied a little maid of six bythe Severn's bank, with her apron full of chestnuts. She was trudgingbravely through the dead leaves toward the town. Mr. Carvel pulledthe cord to stop, and asked her name. "Patty Swain, and it pleaseyour honour, " the child answered, without fear. "So you are theyoung barrister's daughter?" says he, smiling at something I did notunderstand. She nodded. "And how is it you are so far from home, andalone, my little one?" asked Mr. Carvel again. For some time he couldget nothing out of her; but at length she explained, with much coaxing, that her big brother Tom had deserted her. My grandfather wished thatTom were his brother, that he might be punished as he deserved. Hecommanded young Harvey to lift the child into the coach, chestnutsand all, and there she sat primly between us. She was not as pretty asDorothy, so I thought, but her clear gray eyes and simple ways impressedme by their very honesty, as they did Mr. Carvel. What must he do butdrive her home to Green Street, where Mr. Swain then lived in a littlecottage. Mr. Carvel himself lifted her out and kissed her, andhanded her to her mother at the gate, who was vastly overcome by thecircumstance. The good lady had not then received that fall which madeher a cripple for life. "And will you not have my chestnuts, sir, foryour kindness?" says little Patty. Whereat my grandfather laughed andkissed her again, for he loved children, and wished to know if she wouldnot be his daughter, and come to live in Marlboro' Street; and told thestory of Tom, for fear she would not. He was silent as we drove away, and I knew he was thinking of my own mother at that age. 

Not long after this Mr. Swain bought the house in the Duke of GloucesterStreet. This, as you know, is back to back with Marlboro. To reachPatty's garden I had but to climb the brick wall at the rear of ourgrounds, and to make my way along the narrow green lane left there forperhaps a hundred paces of a lad, to come to the gate in the woodenpaling. In return I used to hoist Patty over the wall, and we would playat children's games under the fruit trees that skirted it. Some instinctkept her away from the house. I often caught her gazing wistfully at itswings and gables. She was not born to a mansion, so she said. 

"But your father is now rich, " I objected. I had heard Captain Danielsay so. "He may have a mansion of his own and he chooses. He can betterafford it than many who are in debt for the fine show they make. " I wasbut repeating gossip. 

"I should like to see the grand company come in, when your grandfatherhas them to dine, " said the girl. "Sometimes we have grand gentlemencome to see father in their coaches, but they talk of nothing butpolitics. We never have any fine ladies like--like your Aunt Caroline. "

I startled her by laughing derisively. 

"And I pray you never may, Patty, " was all I said. 

I never told Dolly of my intimacy with the barrister's little girl overthe wall. This was not because I was ashamed of the friendship, butarose from a fear-well-founded enough--that she would make sport of it. At twelve Dolly had notions concerning the walks of life that mostother children never dream of. They were derived, of course, from Mr. Marmaduke. But the day of reckoning arrived. Patty and I were rompingbeside the back wall when suddenly a stiff little figure in a starchedfrock appeared through the trees in the direction of the house, followedby Master Will Fotheringay in his visiting clothes. I laugh now when Ithink of that formal meeting between the two little ladies. There wasno time to hoist Miss Swain over the wall, or to drive Miss Manners backupon the house. Patty stood blushing as though caught in a guilty act, while she of the Generations came proudly on, Will sniggering behindher. 

"Who is this, Richard?" asks Miss Manners, pointing a small forefinger. 

"Patty Swain, if you must know!" I cried, and added boylike: "And she isjust as good as you or me, and better. " I was quite red in the face, and angry because of it. "This is Dorothy Manners, Patty, and WillFotheringay. "

The moment was a pregnant one. But I was resolved to carry the matterout with a bold front. "Will you join us at catch and swing?" I asked. 

Will promptly declared that he would join, for Patty was good to lookupon. Dolly glanced at her dress, tossed her head, and marched backalone. 

"Oh, Richard!" cried Patty; "I shall never forgive myself! I have madeyou quarrel with--"

"His sweetheart, " said Will, wickedly. 

"I don't care, " said I. Which was not so. 

Patty felt no resentment for my miss's haughty conduct, but only atearful penitence for having been the cause of a strife between us. Will's arguments and mine availed nothing. I must lift her over thewall again, and she went home. When we reached the garden we foundDolly seated beside her mother on my grandfather's bench, from whichstronghold our combined tactics were powerless to drag her. 

When Dolly was gone, I asked my grandfather in great indignation whyPatty did not play with the children I knew, with Dorothy and theFotheringays. He shook his head dubiously. "When you are older, Richard, you will understand that our social ranks are cropped close. Mr. Swainis an honest and an able man, though he believes in things I do not. I hear he is becoming wealthy. And I have no doubt, " the shrewd oldgentleman added, "that when Patty grows up she will be going to theassemblies, though it was not so in my time. " So liberal was he thathe used to laugh at my lifting her across the wall, and in his leisuredelight to listen to my accounts of her childish housekeeping. Her lifewas indeed a contrast to Dorothy's. She had all the solid qualities thatmy lady lacked in early years. And yet I never wavered in my likingto the more brilliant and wayward of the two. The week before my nextbirthday, when Mr. Carvel drew me to him and asked me what I wished fora present that year, as was his custom, I said promptly:

"I should like to have Patty Swain at my party, sir. "

"So you shall, my lad, " he cried, taking his snuff and eying mewith pleasure. "I am glad to see, Richard, that you have none of Mr. Marmaduke's nonsense about you. She is a good girl, i' faith, and moreof a lady now than many who call themselves such. And you shall haveyour present to boot. Hark'ee, Daniel, " said he to the captain; "ifthe child comes to my house, the poll-parrots and follow-me-ups will bewanting her, too. "

But the getting her to go was a matter of five days. For Patty wassensitive, like her father, and dreaded a slight. Not so with MasterTom, who must, needs be invited, too. He arrived half an hour aheadof time, arrayed like Solomon, and without his sister! I had to go forPatty, indeed, after the party had begun, and to get the key to thewicket in the wall to take her in that way, so shy was she. My deargrandfather showed her particular attention. And Miss Dolly herself, being in the humour, taught her a minuet. 

After that she came to all my birthdays, and lost some of her shyness. And was invited to other great houses, even as Mr. Carvel had predicted. But her chief pleasure seemed ever her duty. Whether or no suchcharacters make them one and the same, who can tell? She became thelight of her father's house, and used even to copy out his briefs, atwhich task I often found her of an evening. 

As for Tom, that graceless scamp, I never could stomach him. I wonderedthen, as I have since, how he was the brother of such a sister. He couldscarce bide his time until Mr. Swain should have a coach and a seat inthe country with the gentry. "A barrister, " quoth he, "is as good as anyone else. And if my father came out a redemptioner, and worked his way, so had old Mr. Dulany. Our family at home was the equal of his. " All ofwhich was true, and more. He would deride Patty for sewing and baking, vowing that they had servants enough now to do the work twice over. Shebore with him with a patience to be marvelled at; and I could never getit through my head why Mr. Swain indulged him, though he was theelder, and his mother's favourite. Tom began to dress early. His openadmiration was Dr. Courtenay, his confessed hope to wear five-poundruffles and gold sword knots. He clung to Will Fotheringay with atenacity that became proverbial among us boys, and his boasts at KingWilliam's School were his father's growing wealth and intimacy with thegreat men of the province. 

As I grew older, I took the cue of political knowledge, as I have said, from Mr. Swain rather than Captain Daniel, who would tell me nothing. Ifell into the habit of taking supper in Gloucester Street. The meal wasearly there. And when the dishes were cleared away, and the barrister'spipe lit, and Patty and her mother had got their sewing, he would talkby the hour on the legality of our resistance to the King, and discussthe march of affairs in England and the other colonies. He found me aready listener, and took pains to teach me clearly the right and wrongof the situation. 'Twas his religion, even as loyalty to the King was mygrandfather's, and he did not think it wrong to spread it. He likewiseinstilled into me in that way more of history than Mr. Allen had evertaught me, using it to throw light upon this point or that. But I neverknew his true power and eloquence until I followed him to the StadtHouse. 

Patty was grown a girl of fifteen then, glowing with health, and hadample good looks of her own. 'Tis odd enough that I did not fall inlove with her when Dolly began to use me so outrageously. But a lad ofeighteen is scarce a rational creature. I went and sat before myoracle upon the vine-covered porch under the eaves, and poured out mycomplaint. She laid down her needlework and laughed. 

"You silly boy, " said she, "can't you see that she herself hasprescribed for you? She was right when she told you to show attentionto Jenny. And if you dangle about Miss Dolly now, you are in danger oflosing her. She knows it better than you. "

I had Jenny to ride the very next day. Result: my lady smiled on me moresweetly than ever when I went to Prince George Street, and vowed Jennyhad never looked prettier than when she went past the house. This leftmy victory in such considerable doubt that I climbed the back wallforthwith in my new top-boots. 

"So you looked for her to be angry?" said Patty. 

"Most certainly, " said I. 

"Unreasoning vanity!" she cried, for she knew how to speak plain. "Byyour confession to me you have done this to please her, for she warnedyou at the beginning it would please her. And now you complain of it. Ibelieve I know your Dorothy better than you. "

And so I got but little comfort out of Patty that time. 

CHAPTER IX. UNDER FALSE COLOURS

And now I come to a circumstance in my life I would rather pass overquickly. Had I steered the straight course of my impulse I need neverhave deceived that dear gentleman whom I loved and honoured above any inthis world, and with whom I had always lived and dealt openly. After mygrandfather was pronounced to be mending, I went back to Mr. Allen untilsuch time as we should be able to go to the country. Philip no longershared my studies, his hours having been changed from morning toafternoon. I thought nothing of this, being content with the rector'sexplanation that my uncle had a task for Philip in the morning, nowthat Mr. Carvel was better. And I was well content to be rid of Philip'scompany. But as the days passed I began to mark an absence stillstranger. I had my Horace and my Ovid still: but the two hours fromeleven to one, which he was wont to give up to history and what he waspleased to call instruction in loyalty, were filled with other matter. Not a word now of politics from Mr. Allen. Not even a comment from himconcerning the spirited doings of our Assembly, with which the townwas ringing. That body had met but a while before, primed to act on thecircular drawn up by Mr. Adams of Massachusetts. The Governor's messagehad not been so prompt as to forestall them, and I am occupied scarcethe time in the writing of this that it took our brave members to adoptthe petition to his Majesty and to pass resolutions of support to oursister colony of the North. This being done, and a most tart replypenned to his Excellency, they ended that sitting and passed inprocession to the Governor's mansion to deliver it, Mr. Speaker Lloydat their head, and a vast concourse of cheering people at their heels. Shutters were barred on the Tory houses we passed. And though Mr. Allenspied me in the crowd, he never mentioned the circumstance. More thanonce I essayed to draw from him an opinion of Mr. Adams's petition, which was deemed a work of great moderation and merit, and got nothingbut evasion from my tutor. That he had become suddenly an American inprinciple I could not believe. At length I made bold to ask him whyour discussions were now omitted. He looked up from the new play he wasreading on the study lounge, with a glance of dark meaning I could notfathom. 

"You are learning more than I can teach you in Gloucester Street, and atthe Stadt House, " he said. 

In truth I was at a loss to understand his attitude until the day inJune my grandfather and I went to Carvel Hall. 

The old gentleman was weak still, so feeble that he had to be carriedto his barge in a chair, a vehicle he had ever held in scorn. But hewas cheerful, and his spirit remained the same as of old: but for thatspirit I believe he had never again risen from his bed in Marlboro'Street. My uncle and the rector were among those who walked by his sideto the dock, and would have gone to the Hall with him had he permittedthem. He was kind enough to say that my arm was sufficient to lean on. 

What peace there was sitting once again under the rustling trees on thelawn with the green river and the blue bay spread out before us, andScipio standing by with my grandfather's punch. Mr. Carvel would have merehearse again all that had passed in town and colony since his illness, which I did with as much moderation as I was able. And as we talked hereached out and took my hand, for I sat near him, and said:

"Richard, I have heard tidings of you that gladden my heart, and theyhave done more than Dr. Leiden's physic for this old frame of mine. Iwell knew a Carvel could never go a wrong course, lad, and you least ofany. "

"Tidings, sir?" I said. 

"Ay, tidings, " answered Mr. Carvel. Such a note of relief and gladnessthere was in the words as I had not heard for months from him, and avague fear came upon me. 

"Scipio, " he said merrily, "a punch for Mr. Richard. " And when the glasswas brought my grandfather added: "May it be ever thus!"

I drained the toast, not falling into his humour or comprehending hisreference, but dreading that aught I might say would disturb him, heldmy peace. And yet my apprehension increased. He set down his glass andcontinued:

"I had no hope of this yet, Richard, for you were ever slow to change. Your conversion does credit to Mr. Allen as well as to you. In short, sir, the rector gives me an excellent good account of your studies, andadds that the King hath gained another loyal servant, for which I thankGod. "

I have no words to write of my feelings then. My head swam and my handtrembled on my grandfather's, and I saw dimly the old gentleman's faceaglow with joy and pride, and knew not what to say or do. The answer Iframed, alas, remained unspoken. From his own lips I had heard howmuch the news had mended him, and for once I lacked the heart, nay, thecourage, to speak the truth. But Mr. Carvel took no heed of my silence, setting it down to another cause. 

"And so, my son, " he said, "there is no need of sending you to Eton nextfall. I am not much longer for this earth, and can ill spare you: andMr. Allen kindly consents to prepare you for Oxford. "

"Mr. Allen consents to that, sir?" I gasped. I think, could I have laidhands on the rector then, I would have thrashed him, cloth and all, within an inch of his life. 

And as if to crown my misery Mr. Carvel rose, and bearing heavily on myshoulder led me to the stable where Harvey and one of the black groomsstood in livery to receive us. Harvey held by the bridle a blooded bayhunter, and her like could scarce be found in the colony. As she stoodarching her neck and pawing the ground, I all confusion and shame, mygrandfather said simply:

"Richard, this is Firefly. I have got her for you from Mr. Randolph, ofVirginia, for you are now old enough to have a good mount of your own. "

All that night I lay awake, trying to sift some motive for Mr. Allen'sdeceit. For the life of me I could see no farther than a desire to keepme as his pupil, since he was well paid for his tuition. Still, the gamedid not seem worth the candle. However, he was safe in his lie. Shrewdrogue that he was, he well knew that I would not risk the attack adisappointment might bring my grandfather. 

What troubled me most of all was the fear that Grafton had reaped theadvantage of the opportunity the illness gave him, and by his insidiousarts had worked himself back into the good graces of his father. Youmust not draw from this, my dears, that I feared for the inheritance. Praised be God, I never thought of that! But I came by nature to hateand to fear my uncle, as I hated and feared the devil. I saw him with myfather's eyes, and with my mother's, and as my grandfather had seen himin the old days when he was strong. Instinct and reason alike made meloathe him. As the months passed, and letters in Grafton's scrollhand came from the Kent estate or from Annapolis, my misgivings wereconfirmed by odd remarks that dropped from Mr. Carvel's lips. At lengtharrived the revelation itself. 

"I fear, Richard, " he had said querulously, "I fear that all these yearsI have done your uncle an injustice. Dear Elizabeth was wont to pleadfor him before she died, but I would never listen to her. I was heartyand strong then, and my heart was hard. And a remembrance of many thingswas fresh in my mind. " He paused for breath, as was his habit now. AndI said nothing. "But Grafton has striven to wipe out the past. Sicknessteaches us that we must condone, and not condemn. He has lived areputable life, and made the most of the little start I gave him. Hehas supported his Majesty and my Lord in most trying times. And hisExcellency tells me that the coming governor, Eden, will surely rewardhim with a seat in the Council. "

I thought of Governor Sharpe's biting words to Grafton. The Governorknew my uncle well, and I was sure he had never sat at his Council. 

"A son is a son, Richard, " continued Mr. Carvel. "You will one dayfind that out. Your uncle has atoned. He hath been faithful during myillness, despite my cold treatment. And he hath convinced me that yourwelfare is at his heart. I believe he is fond of you, my lad. "

No greater sign of breaking health did I need than this, that Mr. Carvelshould become blind to Grafton's hypocrisy; forget his attempts toprevent my father's marriage, and to throw doubt upon my mother's birth. The agony it gave me, coming as it did on top of the cruel deception, I shall not dwell upon. And the thought bursting within me remainedunspoken. 

I saw less of Dorothy then than I had in any summer of my life before. In spite of Mrs. Manners, the chrysalis had burst into the butterfly, and Wilmot House had never been so gay. It must be remembered thatthere were times when young ladies made their entrance into the world atsixteen, and for a beauty to be unmarried at twenty-two was rare indeed. When I went to Wilmot House to dine, the table would be always full, andMr. Marmaduke simpering at the head of it, his air of importance doubledby his reflected glory. 

"We see nothing of you, my lad, " he would say; "you must not let theseyoung gallants get ahead of you. How does your grandfather? I must paymy compliments to-morrow. "

Of gallants there were enough, to be sure. Dr. Courtenay, of course, with a nosegay on his coat, striving to catch the beauty's eye. And Mr. Worthington and Mr. Dulany, and Mr. Fitzhugh and Mr. Paca, and Iknow not how many other young bachelors of birth and means. And WillFotheringay, who spent some of his time with me at the Hall. Silver andChina, with the Manners coat-of-arms, were laid out that had not seenthe light for many along day. And there were picnics, and sailingparties, and dances galore, some of which I attended, but heard of more. It seemed to me that my lady was tiring of the doctor's compliments, andhad transferred her fickle favour to young Mr. Fitzhugh, who was muchmore worthy, by the way. As for me, I had troubles enough then, and hadbecome used in some sort to being shelved. 

One night in July, --'twas the very day Mr. Carvel had spoken to me ofGrafton, --I had ridden over to Wilmot House to supper. I had littleheart for going, but good Mrs. Manners herself had made me promise, andI could: not break my word. I must have sat very silent and preoccupiedat the table, where all was wit and merriment. And more than once I sawthe laughter leave Dorothy's face, and caught her eyes upon; me withsuch a look as set my beast throbbing. They would not meet my own, butwould turn away instantly. I was heavy indeed that night, and didnot follow the company into the ballroom, but made my excuses to Mrs. Manners. 

The lawn lay bathed in moonlight; and as I picked, my way over it towardthe stables for Firefly, I paused to look back at the house aglow, withlight, the music of the fiddles and the sound of laughter floating outof the open windows. Even as I gaped a white figure was framed in thedoorway, paused a moment on the low stone step, and then came on untilit stood beside me. 

"Are you not well, Richard?"

"Yes, I am well, " I answered. I scarcely knew my own voice. 

"Is your grandfather worse?"

"No, Dorothy; he seems better to-day. "

She stood seemingly irresolute, her eyes new lifted, now falling beforemine. Her slender arms bare, save for the little puff at the shoulders;her simple dress drawn a little above the waist, then falling straightto the white slipper. How real the ecstasy of that moment, and the painof it!

"Why do you not coarse over, as you used to?" she asked, in a low tone. 

"I am very busy, " I replied evasively; "Mr. Carvel cannot attend to hisaffairs. " I longed to tell her the whole truth, but the words would notcome. 

"I hear you are managing the estate all alone, " she said. 

"There is no one else to do it. "

"Richard, " she cried, drawing closer; "you are in trouble. I--I haveseen it. You are so silent, and--and you seem to have become older. Tellme, is it your Uncle Grafton?"

So astonished was I at the question, and because she had divined so, surely, that I did not answer. 

"Is it?" she asked again. 

"Yes, " I said; "yes, in part. "

And then came voices calling from the house. They had missed her. 

"I am so sorry, Richard. I shall tell no one. "

She laid her hand ever so lightly upon mine and was gone. I stoodstaring after her until she disappeared in the door. All the way home Imarvelled, my thoughts tumultuous, my hopes rising and falling. 

But when next I saw her, I thought she had forgotten. 

We had little company at the Hall that year, on account of Mr. Carvel. And I had been busy indeed. I sought with all my might to mastera business for which I had but little taste, and my grandfathercomplimented me, before the season was done, upon my management. Iwas wont to ride that summer at four of a morning to canter besideMr. Starkie afield, and I came to know the yield of every patch to ahogshead and the pound price to a farthing. I grew to understand as wellas another the methods of curing the leaf. And the wheat pest appearingthat year, I had the good fortune to discover some of the clusters inthe sheaves, and ground our oyster-shells in time to save the crop. Manya long evening I spent on the wharves with old Stanwix, now toothlessand living on his pension, with my eye on the glow of his pipe and myear bent to his stories of the sea. It was his fancy that the gift ofprophecy had come to him with the years; and at times, when his lookwould wander to the black rigging in the twilight, he would speakstrangely enough. 

"Faith, Mr. Richard, " he would say; "tho' your father was a soldierafore ye, ye were born to the deck of a ship-o'-war. Mark an old man'swords, sir. "

"Can you see the frigate, Stanwix?" I laughed once, when he had repeatedthis with more than common solemnity. 

His reply rose above the singing of the locusts. 

"Ay, sir, that I can. But she's no frigate, sir. Devil knows what sheis. She looks like a big merchantman to me, such as I've seed in theInjy trade, with a high poop in the old style. And her piercin's be notlike a frigate. " He said this with a readiness to startle me, and littleenough superstition I had. A light was on his seared face, and his pipelay neglected on the boards. "Ay, sir, and there be a flag astern of hernever yet seed on earth, nor on the waters under the earth. The tide issettin' in, the tide is settin' in. "

These were words to set me thinking. And many a time they came back tome when the old man was laid away in the spot reserved for those whosailed the seas for Mr. Carvel. 

Every week I drew up a report for my grandfather, and thus I strove byshouldering labour and responsibility to ease my conscience of that loadwhich troubled it. For often, as we walked together through the yellowfields of an evening, it had been on my tongue to confess the lie Mr. Allen had led me into. But the sight of the old man, trembling andtremulous, aged by a single stroke, his childlike trust in my strengthand beliefs, and above all his faith in a political creed which he nighdeemed needful for the soul's salvation, --these things still held meback. Was it worth while now, I asked myself, to disturb the peace ofthat mind?

Thus the summer wore on to early autumn. And one day I was standingbooted and spurred in the stables, Harvey putting the bridle uponFirefly, when my boy Hugo comes running in. 

"Marse Dick!" he cries, "Marse Satan he come in the pinnace, and youngMarse Satan and Missis Satan, and Marse Satan's pastor!"

"What the devil do you mean, Hugo?"

"Young ebony's right, sir, " chuckled Harvey; "'tis the devil and hisfollowing. "

"Do you mean Mr. Grafton, fellow?" I demanded, the unwelcome truthcoming over me. 

"That he does, " remarked Harvey, laconically. "You won't be wanting hernow, your honour?"

"Hold my stirrup, " I cried, for the news had put me in anger. "Hold mystirrup, sirrah!"

I believe I took Firefly the best of thirty miles that afternoon andbrought her back in the half-light, my saddle discoloured with hersweat. I clanked into the hall like a captain of horse. The night wassharp with the first touch of autumn, and a huge backlog lay on theirons. Around it, in a comfortable half-circle sat our guests, Graftonand Mr. Allen and Philip smoking and drinking for a whet against supper, and Mrs. Grafton in my grandfather's chair. There was an easy air ofpossession about the party of them that they had never before assumed, and the sight made me rattle again, the big door behind me. 

"A surprise for you, my dear nephew, " Grafton said gayly, "I'll, lay apuncheon you did, not, expect us. "

Mr. Carvel woke with a start at the sound of the door and saidquerulously, "Guests, my lord, and I have done my poor best to make themwelcome in your absence. "

The sense of change in him stung me. How different would his tone havebeen a year ago!

He tattooed with his cane, which was the sign he generally made when hewas ready for bed. Toward night his speech would hurt him. I assistedhim up, the stairs, my uncle taking his arm on the other side. Andtogether, with Diomedes help; we undressed him, Grafton talking in lowtomes the while: Since this was, an office I was wont to perform, mytemper was now overwhelming me. But I kept my month closed. At lasthe had had the simple meal Dr. Leiden allowed him, his candles weresnuffed, and my uncle and I made our way to the hall together: There myaunt and Mr. Allen were at picquet. 

"Supper is insupportably late, " says she; with a yawn, and rings thehand-bell. "Scipio, " she cries, "why are we not served?"

I took a stride forward. But my uncle raised a restraining hand. 

"Caroline, remember that this is not our house, " says he, reprovingly. 

There fell a deep silence; the log cracking; and just then the doorswung on its hinges, and Mr. Starkie entered with the great bunch ofkeys in his hand. 

"The buildings are all secure; Mr. Richard, " he said. 

"Very good, Starkie, " I replied. I turned to Scipio, standing by thelow-boy, his teeth, going like a castanet. 

"You may serve at the usual hour, Scipio, " said I. 

Supper began stiff as a state banquet. My uncle was conciliatory, withthe manners of a Crichton. My aunt, not having come from generations ofsilver and self-control, flatly in a bad humour. Mr. Allen talkedfrom force of habit, being used to pay in such kind for his meals. Butpresently the madeira, warmed these two into a better spirit. I feltthat I had victory on my side, and was nothing loth to join them atwhist, Philip and I against the rector and my aunt, and won somethinglike two pounds apiece from them. Grafton made it a rule never to play. 

The next morning, when I returned from my inspection, I found the rectorand Philip had decamped with two of our choice horses, and that my uncleand aunt had commanded the barge, and gone to Mr. Lloyd's. I sent forScipio. 

"Fore de Lawd, Marse Richard, " he wailed, "'twan't Scipio's fault. MarseGrafton is dry fambly!" This was Scipio's strongest argument. "I jes'can't refuse one of de fambly, Marse Dick; and old Marse he say he tooold now for quarrellin'. "

I saw that resistance was useless. There was nothing for it but to bideany time. And I busied myself with bills of cargo until I heard thehorses on the drive. Mr. Allen and Philip came swaggering in, flushedwith the exercise, and calling for punch, and I met them in the hall. 

"A word with you, Mr. Allen!" I called out. 

"A thousand, Mr. Richard, if you like, " he said gayly, "as soon as thisthirst of mine be quenched. "

I waited while he drained two glasses, when he followed me into thelibrary, closing the door behind him. 

"Now, sir, " I began, "though by a chance you are my mental and spiritualadviser, I intend speaking plain. For I know you to be one of thegreatest rogues in the colony. "

I watched him narrowly the while, for I had some notion he might run methrough. But I had misjudged him. 

"Speak plain, by all means, " he replied; "but first let me ask for sometobacco. "

He filled the bowl of his pipe, and sat him down by the window. For themoment I was silent with sheer surprise. 

"You know I can't call you out, " he went on, surrounding himself withclouds of smoke, "a lad of eighteen or so. And even if I could, Idoubt whether I should. I like you, Richard, " said he. "You arestraight-spoken and commanding. In brief, sir, you are the kind of ladI should have been had not fate pushed me into a corner, and made mesquirm for life's luxuries. I hate squirming as much as another. This isprime tobacco, Richard. "

He had come near disarming me; I was on the edge of a dangerousadmiration for this man of the world, and for the life of me, I couldnot help liking him then. He had a fine presence, was undeniablyhandsome, and his riding clothes were of the latest London cut. 

"Are there not better methods for obtaining what you wish than those youpractise?" I asked curiously. 

"No doubt, " he answered carelessly; "but these are well enough, andshorter. You were about to do me the honour of a communication?"

This brought me to my senses. I had, however, lost much of my heat inthe interval. 

"I should like to know why you lied to Mr. Carvel about my convictions, Mr. Allen, " I said. "I am not of the King's party now, and never shallbe. And you know this better than another. "

"Those are strong words, Richard, my lad, " said he, bringing hiseyebrows together. 

"They are true words, " I retorted. "Why did you lie, I say?"

He said nothing for a while, but his breath came heavily. 

"I will pass it, I will pass it, " he said at length, "but, by God! itis more than I have had to swallow in all my life before. Look at yourgrandfather, sir!" he cried; "behold him on the very brink of the grave, and ask me again why I lied to him! His hope of heaven is scarce lesssacred to him than his love of the King, and both are so tightly wrappedabout his heart that this knowledge of you would break it. Yes, breakhis heart, I say" (and he got to his legs), "and you would kill him forthe sake of a boyish fancy!"

I knew he was acting, as well as though he had climbed upon the tableand said it. And yet he had struck the very note of my own fears, andhit upon the one reason why I had not confessed lung ago. 

"There is more you might have said, Mr. Allen, " I remarked presently;"you have a cause for keeping me under your instruction, and that isbehind all. "

He gave me a strange look. 

"You are too acute by far, " said he; "your imagination runs with you. Ihave said I like you, and I can teach you classics as well as another. Is it not enough to admit that the money I get for your instructionkeeps me in champagne?"

"No, it is not enough, " I said stoutly. 

"Then you must guess again, my lad, " he answered with a laugh, and leftthe room with the easy grace that distinguished him. 

There was armed peace the rest of my uncle's visit. They departed on thethird day. My Aunt Caroline, when she was not at picquet with Mr. Allenor quarrelling with Mrs. Willis or with Grafton himself, yawned withoutcessation. She declared in one of her altercations with her lord andmaster that she would lose her wits were they to remain another day, athreat that did not seem to move Grafton greatly. Philip ever maintainedthe right to pitch it on the side of his own convenience, and he chosein this instance to come to the rescue of his dear mamma, and turnedthe scales in her favour. He was pleased to characterize the Hall asinsupportable, and vowed that his clothes would be out of fashionbefore they reached Rousby Hall, their next stopping-place. To do Philipjustice, he was more honest a rascal than his father, though I am of theopinion that he had not the brain for great craft. And he had drawn fromhis mother a love of baubles which kept his mind from scheming. He hadlittle to say to me, and I less to him. 

Grafton, as may be supposed, made me distinct advances before hisdeparture, perceiving the unwisdom of antagonizing me unnecessarily. He had the imprudence once to ask of me the facts and figures of theestate; and tho' 'twas skilfully done by contrasting his own crops inKent, you may be sure I was on my guard, and that he got nothing. 

I was near forgetting an incident of their visit which I afterwards hadgood cause to remember. The morning of my talk with Mr. Allen I went tothe stables to see how he had used Cynthia, and found old Harvey wipingher down, and rumbling the while like a crater. 

"What think you of the rector as a representative of heaven, Harvey?" Iasked. 

"Him a representative of heaven!" he snorted; "I've heard tell of rottenboroughs, and I'm thinking Mr. Allen will be standing for one. What behim and Mr. Grafton a-doing here, sir, plotting all kinds o' crime whilethe old gentleman's nigh on his back?"

"Plotting?" I said, catching at the word. 

"Ay, plotting, " repeated Harvey, casting his cloth away; "murder and allthe crimes in the calendar, I take it. I hear him and Mr. Grafton amongthe stalls this morning, and when they sees me they look like Knipe, here, caught with a fowl. "

"And what were they saying?" I demanded. 

"Saying! God only knows their wickedness. I got the words 'UpperMarlboro' and 'South River' and 'next voyage, ' and that profligaterector wanted to know as to how 'Griggs was reliable. '"

I thought no more of it at the time, believing it to be some of thesmall rascalities they were forever at. But that name of Griggs (why, the powers only know) stuck in my mind to turn up again. 

CHAPTER X. THE RED IN THE CARVEL BLOOD

After that, when we went back to Annapolis for the winter, there was nolonger any disguise between my tutor and myself. I was not of a mind tofeign a situation that did not exist, nor to permit him to do so. I gavehim to understand that tho' I went to him for instruction, 'twas throughno fault of mine. That I would learn what I pleased and do what pleasedme. And the rector, a curse upon him, seemed well content with that; norcould I come at his devil's reason far wanting me, save for the money, as he had declared. There were days when he and I never touched a hook, both being out of humour for study, when he told me yarns of Frederickof Prussia and his giant guard, of Florence and of Venice, and of thecourt of his Holiness of Rome. For he had drifted about the earth like alog-end in the Atlantic, before his Lordship gave him his present berth. We passed, too, whole mornings at picquet, I learning enough of Horaceto quote at the routs we both attended, but a deal more of kings anddeuces. And as I may add, that he got no more of my money than did I ofhis. 

The wonder of it was that we never became friends. He was two men, thisrector of St. Anne's, half of him as lovable as any I ever encountered. But trust him I never would, always meeting him on the middle ground;and there were times, after his talks with Grafton, when his eyes werelike a cat's, and I was conscious of a sinister note in his dealingwhich put me on my guard. 

You will say, my dears, that some change had come over me, that I was nolonger the same lad I have been telling you of. 

Those days were not these, yet I make no show of hiding or ofpalliation. Was it Dorothy's conduct that drove me? Not wholly. A wildred was ever in the Carvel blood, in Captain Jack, in Lionel, in theancestor of King Charles's day, who fought and bled and even gambledfor his king. And my grandfather knew this; he warned me, but he paid mydebts. And I thank Heaven he felt that my heart was right. 

I was grown now, certainly in stature. And having managed one of thelargest plantations in the province, I felt the man, as lads are wontafter their first responsibilities. I commanded my wine at the CoffeeHouse with the best of the bucks, and was made a member of the SouthRiver and Jockey clubs. I wore the clothes that came out to me fromLondon, and vied in fashion with Dr. Courtenay and other macaronies. AndI drove a carriage of mine own, the Carvel arms emblazoned thereon, andHugo in the family livery. 

After a deal of thought upon the subject, I decided, for a while atleast, to show no political leanings at all. And this was easier ofaccomplishment than you may believe, for at that time in Maryland Toryand Whig were amiable enough, and the young gentlemen of the firstfamilies dressed alike and talked alike at the parties they bothattended. The non-importation association had scarce made itself felt inthe dress of society. Gentlemen of degree discussed differences amicablyover their decanters. And only on such occasions as Mr. Hood's return, and the procession of the Lower House through the streets, and thearrival of the Good Intent, did high words arise among the quality. Andit was because class distinctions were so strongly marked that it tookso long to bring loyalists and patriots of high rank to the sword'spoint. 

I found time to manage such business affairs of Mr. Carvel's as he couldnot attend to himself. Grafton and his family dined in Marlboro' Streettwice in the week; my uncle's conduct toward me was the very soul ofconsideration, and he compelled that likewise from his wife and his son. So circumspect was he that he would have fooled one who knew him awhit less than I. He questioned me closely upon my studies, and in mygrandfather's presence I was forced to answer. And when the rector cameto dine and read to Mr. Carvel, my uncle catechised him so searchinglyon my progress that he was pushed to the last source of his ingenuityfor replies. More than once was I tempted to blurt out the wholewretched business, for I well understood there was some deep gamebetween him and Grafton. In my uncle's absence, my aunt never lost achance for an ill-natured remark upon Patty, whom she had seen thatwinter at the assemblies and elsewhere. And she deplored the state ourpeople of fashion were coming to, that they allowed young girls withoutfamily to attend their balls. 

"But we can expect little else, father, " she would say to Mr. Carvelnodding in his chair, "when some of our best families openly espouse thepernicious doctrines of republicanism. They are gone half mad over thatWilkes who should have been hung before this. Philip, dear, pour thewine for your grandfather. "

Miss Patty had been well received. I took her to her first assembly, where her simple and unassuming ways had made her an instant favourite;and her face, which had the beauty of dignity and repose even so earlyin life, gained her ample attention. I think she would have gone butlittle had not her father laughed her out of some of her domesticity. No longer at Sunday night supper in Gloucester Street was the guest seatempty. There was more than one guest seat now, and the honest barristerhimself was the most pleased at the change. As I took my accustomedplace on the settle cushion, --Patty's first embroidery, --he would cry:

"Heigho, Richard, our little Miss Prim hath become a belle. And I musthave another clerk now to copy out my briefs, and a housekeeper soon, i'faith. "

Patty would never fail to flush up at the words, and run to perch on herfather's knee and put her hand over his mouth. 

"How can you, Mr. Swain?" says she; "how can you, when 'tis you andmother, and Richard here, who make me go into the world? You know Iwould a thousand times rather bake your cakes and clean your silver! Butyou will not hear of it. "

"Fie!" says the barrister. "Listen to her, Richard! And yet she will flyup the stairs to don a fine gown at the first rap of the knocker. Oh, the wenches, the wenches! Are they not all alike, mother?"

"They have changed none since I was a lass, " replies the quiet invalid, with a smile. "And you should know what I was, Henry. "

"I know!" cries he; "none better. Well I recall the salmon and whiteyour mother gave you before I came to Salem. " He sighed and then laughedat the recollection. "And when this strapping young Singleton comes, Richard, 'twould do you good to be hiding there in that cupboard, --andit would hold you, --and count the seconds until Miss Prim has her skirtin her hand and her foot on the lower step. And yet how innocent is shenow before you and me. "

Here he would invariably be smothered. 

"Percy Singleton!" says Patty, with a fine scorn; "'twill be Mr. Eglinton, the curate, next. "

"This I know, " says her father, slapping me on the shoulder, "this Iknow, that you are content to see Richard without primping. "

"But I have known Richard since I was six, " says she. "Richard is one ofthe family. There is no need of disguise from him. "

I thought, ruefully enough, that it seemed my fate to be one of thefamily everywhere I went. 

And just then, as if in judgment, the gate snapped and the knockersounded, and Patty leaped down with a blush. "What said I say?" criesthe barrister. "I have not seen human nature in court for naught. Run, now, " says he, pinching her cheek as she stood hesitating whether to flyor stay; "run and put on the new dress I have bought you. And Richardand I will have a cup of ale in the study. "

The visitor chanced to be Will Fotheringay that time. He was not theonly one worn out with the mad chase in Prince George Street, andpreferred a quiet evening with a quiet beauty to the crowded lists ofMiss Manners. Will declared that the other gallants were fools over therare touch of blue in the black hair: give him Miss Swain's, quoth he, lifting his glass, --hers was; the colour of a new sovereign. Will wasnot, the only one. But I think Percy Singleton was the best of them all, tho' Patty ridiculed him--every chance she got, and even to his face. So will: the best-hearted and soberest of women play the coquette. Singleton was rather a reserved young Englishman of four and twenty, who owned a large estate in Talbot which he was laying out with greatsuccess. Of a Whig family in the old country, he had been drawn to thatparty in the new, and so, had made Mr. Swain's acquaintance. The nextstep in his fortunes was to fall in love with Patty, which was naturalenough. Many a night that winter I walked with him from GloucesterStreet to the Coffee House, to sit an hour over, a battle. And thereMaster Tom and Dr. Hamilton, and other gay macaronies would sometimesjoin us. Singleton had a greater contempt for Tom than I, but bore withhim for his sister's sake. For Tom, in addition to his other follies, was become an open loyalist, and never missed his Majesty's health, though he knew no better than my Hugo the question at issue. 'Twasnot zeal for King George, however, that made him drunk at one of theassemblies, and forced his sister to leave in the midst of a dance forvery shame. 

"Oh, Richard, is, there not something you can do?" she cried, when, Ihad got her back in the little parlour in Gloucester Street; "fatherhas argued and, pleaded and threatened in vain. I thought, --I thoughtperhaps you might help him. "

"I think I am not one to preach, or to boast, " I replied soberly. 

"Yes, " said she, looking grave; "I know you are wilder than you used tobe; that you play more than you ought, and higher than you ought. "

I was silent. 

"And I suspect at whose door it lies, " said she. 

"'Tis in the blood, Patty, " I answered. 

She glanced at me quickly. 

"I know you better than you think, " she said. "But Tom has not yourexcuse. And if he had only your faults I would say nothing. He does notcare for those he should, and he is forever in the green-room of thetheatre. "

I made haste to change the subject, and to give her what comfort Imight; for she was sobbing before she finished. And the next day I gaveTom a round talking-to for having so little regard for his sister, thehem of whose skirt he was not worthy to touch. He took it meekly enough, with a barrel of pat excuses to come after. And he asked me to lendhim my phaeton, that he might go a-driving with Miss Crane, of thetheatrical company, to Round Bay!

Meanwhile I saw Miss Manners more frequently than was good for my peaceof mind, and had my turn as her partner at the balls. But I could notbring myself to take third or fourth rank in the army that attended her. I, who had been her playmate, would not become her courtier. Besides, Ihad not the wit. 

Was it strange that Dr. Courtenay should pride himself upon thediscovery of a new beauty? And in the Coffee House, and in everydrawing-room in town, prophesy for her a career of conquest such as fewcould boast? She was already launched upon that career. And rumourhad it that Mr. Marmaduke was even then considering taking her hometo London, where the stage was larger and the triumph greater. Was itsurprising that the Gazette should contain a poem with the doctor'swell-known ear-marks upon it? It set the town a-wagging, and left noroom for doubt as to who had inspired it. 

 "Sweet Pandora, tho' formed of Clay, Was fairer than the Light of Day. By Venus learned in Beauty's Arts, And destined thus to conquer Hearts. A Goddess of this Town, I ween, Fair as Pandora, scarce Sixteen, Is destined, e'en by Jove's Command, To conquer all of Maryland. Oh, Bachelors, play have a Care, For She will all your Hearts ensnare. "

So it ran. I think, if dear Mrs. Manners could have had her way, Dollywould have passed that year at a certain young ladies' school in NewYork. But Mr. Marmaduke's pride in his daughter's beauty got the betterof her. The strut in his gait became more marked the day that poemappeared, and he went to the Coffee House both morning and evening, taking snuff to hide his emotions when Miss Manners was spoken of; andhe was perceived by many in Church Street arm in arm with Dr. Courtenayhimself. 

As you may have imagined before now, the doctor's profession wasleisure, not medicine. He had known ambition once, it was said, and withreason, for he had studied surgery in Germany for the mere love of thescience. After which, making the grand tour in France and Italy, he hadtaken up that art of being a gentleman in which men became so proficientin my young days. He had learned to speak French like a Parisian, hadhobnobbed with wit and wickedness from Versailles to Rome, and then hadcome back to Annapolis to set the fashions and to spend the fortunehis uncle lately had left him. He was our censor of beauty, and passedjudgment upon all young ladies as they stepped into the arena. To benoticed by him meant success; to be honoured in the Gazette was to becrowned at once a reigning belle. The chord of his approval once seta-vibrating, all minor chords sang in harmony. And it was the doctor whoraised the first public toast to Miss Manners. Alas! I might have knownit would be so!

But Miss Dorothy was not of a nature to remain dependent upon a censor'sfavour. The minx deported herself like any London belle of experience, as tho' she had known the world from her cradle. She was not tobe deceived by the face value of the ladies' praises, nor rebuffedunmercifully by my Aunt Caroline, who had held the sceptre in theabsence of a younger aspirant. The first time these ladies clashed, which was not long in coming, my aunt met with a wit as sharp again asher own, and never afterwards essayed an open tilt. The homage of menDolly took as Caesar received tribute, as a matter of course. The doctorhimself rode to the races beside the Manners coach, leaning gallantlyover the door. My lady held court in her father's box, receivedand dismissed, smiled and frowned, with Courtenay as her master ofceremonies. Mr. Dulany was one of the presidents of the Jockey Clubthat year, and his horse winning the honours he presented her with hiscolours, scarlet and white, which she graciously wore. The doctor sworehe would import a horse the next season on the chance of the privilege. My aunt was furious. I have never mentioned her beauty because I nevercould see it. 'Twas a coarser type than attracted me. She was then notgreatly above six and thirty, appearing young for that age, and she knewthe value of lead in judicious quantity. At that meet gentlemen came toher box only to tally of Miss Manners, to marvel that one so young couldhave the 'bel air', to praise her beauty and addresse, or to remarkhow well Mr. Durlany's red and white became her. With all of which Mrs. Grafton was fain to agree, and must even excel, until her small stock ofpatience was exhausted. To add to her chagrin my aunt lost a prettysum to the rector by Mr. Dulany's horse. I came upon her after the racetrying to coax her head-dress, through her coach door, Mr. Allen havingtight hold of her hand the while. 

"And so he thinks he has found a divinity, does: he?" I overheard hersaying: "I, for one, am heartily sick of Dr. Courtenay's motions. Werehe, to choose, a wench out of the King's passengers I'd warrantour macaronies to compose odes to her eyebrows. " And at that momentperceiving me she added, "Why so disconsolate, my dear nephew? MissDolly is the craze now, and will last about as long as another of thedoctor's whims. And then you shall have her to yourself. "

"A pretty woman is ever the fashion, Aunt Caroline, " I said. 

"Hoity-toity, " returned my aunt, who had by then succeeded in gettingher head-gear safe within; "the fashion, yes until a prettier comesalong. "

"There is small danger of that for the present, " I said, smiling:"Surely you can find no fault with this choice!"

"Gadzooks! If I were blind, sir, I think I might!" she criedunguardedly. 

"I will not dispute that, Aunt Caroline, " I answered. 

And as I rode off I heard her giving directions in no mild tone to thecoachman through Mr. Allen. 

Perchance you did not know, my dears, that Annapolis had the firsttheatre in all the colonies. And if you care to search through the heapof Maryland Gazettes in the garret, I make no doubt you will come acrossthis announcement for a certain night in the spring of the year 1769:

 By Permission of his Excellency, the Governor, at the New Theatre in Annapolis, by the American Company of Comedians, on Monday next, being the 22nd of this Instant, will be performed

 ROMEO AND JULIET. 

 (Romeo by a young Gentleman for his Diversion. ) Likewise the Farce called

 MISS IN HER TEENS. 

 To begin precisely at Seven of the Clock. Tickets to be had at the Printing Office. Box 10s. Pit 1s 6d. No Person to be admitted behind the Scenes. 

The gentleman to perform Romeo was none other than Dr. Courtenayhimself. He had a gentlemanly passion for the stage, as was the fashionin those days, and had organized many private theatricals. The town wasin a ferment over the event, boxes being taken a week ahead. The doctorhimself writ the epilogue, to be recited by the beautiful Mrs. Hallam, who had inspired him the year before to compose that famous poembeginning:

 "Around her see the Graces play, See Venus' Wanton doves, And in her Eye's Pellucid Ray See little Laughing Loves. Ye gods! 'Tis Cytherea's Face. "

You may find that likewise in Mr. Green's newspaper. 

The new theatre was finished in West Street that spring, the old onehaving proven too small for our gay capital. 'Twas then the best inthe New World, the censor having pronounced it far above any provincialplayhouse he had seen abroad. The scenes were very fine, the boxescarved and gilded in excellent good taste, and both pit and gallerycommodious. And we, too, had our "Fops' Alley, " where our macaroniesogled the fair and passed from box to box. 

For that night of nights when the doctor acted I received an invitationfrom Dolly to Mr. Marmaduke's box, and to supper afterward in PrinceGeorge Street. When I arrived, the playhouse was lit with myriadcandles, --to be snuffed save the footlights presently, --and the tierswere all brilliant with the costumes of ladies and gentlemen. MissTayloe and Miss Dulany were of our party, with Fitzhugh and Worthington, and Mr. Manners for propriety. The little fop spent his evening, by theway, in a box opposite, where my Aunt Caroline gabbled to him and Mr. Allen during the whole performance. My lady got more looks than any inthe house. She always drew admiration; indeed, but there had been muchspeculation of late whether she favoured Dr. Courtenay or Fitzhugh, andsome had it that the doctor's acting would decide between the two. 

When Romeo came upon the stage he was received with loud applause. But my lady showed no interest, --not she, while the doctor ferventlyrecited, "Out of her favour, where I am in love. " In the first orchardscene, with the boldness of a practised lover, he almost ignored Mrs. Hallam in the balcony. It seemed as though he cast his burning words andlanguishing glances at my lady in the box, whereupon there was a deal ofnudging round about. Miss asked for her smelling salts, and declared theplace was stifling. But I think if the doctor had cherished a hope ofher affections he lost it when he arrived at the lines, "She speaks, yet she says nothing. " At that unhappy moment Miss Dorothy was deep inconversation with Fitzhugh, the audible titter in the audience arousingher. How she reddened when she perceived the faces turned her way!

"What was it, Betty?" she demanded quickly. 

But Betty was not spiteful, and would not tell. Fitzhugh himselfexplained, and to his sorrow, for during the rest of the evening shewould have nothing to do with him. Presently she turned to me. Glancingupward to where Patty leaned on the rail between Will Fotheringay andSingleton, she whispered:

"I wonder you can sit here so quiet, Richard. You are showing a deal ofself-denial. "

"I am happy enough, " I answered, surprised. 

"I hear you have a rival, " says she. 

"I know I have a dozen, " I answered. 

"I saw Percy Singleton walking with her in Mr. Galloway's fields butyesterday, " said Dolly, "and as they came out upon the road they lookedas guilty as if I had surprised them arm in arm. "

Now that she should think I cared for Patty never entered my head. I wasthrown all in a heap. 

"You need not be so disturbed, " whispers my lady. "Singleton has acrooked mouth, and I credit Patty with ample sense to choose betweenyou. I adore her, Richard. I wish I had her sweet ways. "

"But, " I interrupted, when I was somewhat recovered, "why should youthink me in love with Patty? I have never been accused of that before. "

"Oh, fie! You deny her?" says Dolly. "I did not think that of you, Richard. "

"You should know better, " I replied, with some bitterness. 

We were talking in low tones, Dolly with her head turned from the stage, whence the doctor was flinging his impassioned speeches in vain. Andthough the light fell not upon her face, I seemed to feel her looking methrough and through. 

"You do not care for Patty?" she whispered. And I thought a quiver ofearnestness was in her voice. Her face was so close to mine that herbreath fanned my cheek. 

"No, " I said. "Why do you ask me? Have I ever been one to makepretences?"

She turned away. 

"But you, " I said, bending to her ear, "is it Fitzhugh, Dorothy?"

I heard her laugh softly. 

"No, " said she, "I thought you might divine, sir. "

Was it possible? And yet she had played so much with me that I darednot risk the fire. She had too many accomplished gallants at her feetto think of Richard, who had no novelty and no wit. I sat still, barelyconscious of the rising and falling voices beyond the footlights, feeling only her living presence at my side. She spoke not another worduntil the playhouse servants had relighted the chandeliers, and Dr. Courtenay came in, flushed with triumph, for his mead of praise. 

"And how went it, Miss Manners?" says he, very confident. 

"Why, you fell over the orchard wall, doctor, " retorts my lady. "La! Ibelieve I could have climbed it better myself. "

And all he got was a hearty laugh for his pains, Mr. Marmaduke joiningin from the back of the box. And the story was at the Coffee House earlyon the morrow. 

CHAPTER XI. A FESTIVAL AND A PARTING

My grandfather and I were seated at table together. It was early June, the birds were singing in the garden, and the sweet odours of theflowers were wafted into the room. 

"Richard, " says he, when Scipio had poured his claret, "my illnesscheated you out of your festival last year. I dare swear you deemyourself too old for birthdays now. "

I laughed. 

"So it is with lads, " said Mr. Carvel; "they will rush into manhood asheedless as you please. Take my counsel, boy, and remain young. Do notcross the bridge before you have to. And I have been thinking that weshall have your fete this year, albeit you are grown, and Miss Dolly isthe belle of the province. 'Tis like sunshine into my old heart to seethe lads and lasses again, and to hear the merry, merry fiddling. I willhave his new Excellency, who seems a good and a kindly man, and Lloydand Tilghman and Dulany and the rest, with their ladies, to sit with me. And there will be plenty of punch and syllabub and sangaree, I warrant;and tarts and jellies and custards, too, for the misses. Ring for Mrs. Willis, my son. "

Willis came with her curtsey to the old gentleman, who gave his orderthen and there. He never waited for a fancy of this kind to grow cold. 

"We shall all be children again, on that day, Mrs. Willis, " says he. "And I catch any old people about, they shall be thrust straight in thetown stocks, i' faith. "

Willis made another curtsey. 

"We missed it sorely, last year, please your honour, " says she, anddeparts smiling. 

"And you shall have your Patty Swain, Richard, " Mr. Carvel continued. "Do you mind how you once asked the favour of inviting her in the placeof a present? Oons! I loved you for that, boy. 'Twas like a Carvel. And I love that lass, Whig or no Whig. 'Pon my soul, I do. She hathdemureness and dignity, and suits me better than yon whimsical baggageyou are all mad over. I'll have Mr. Swain beside me, too. I'll warrantI'd teach his daughter loyalty in a day, and I had again your years andyour spirit!"

I have but to close my eyes, and my fancy takes me back to that birthdayfestival. Think of it, my dears! Near threescore years are gonesince then, when this old man you call grandfather, and some--blessme!--great-grandfather, was a lusty lad like Comyn here. But his hand issteady as he writes these words and his head clear, because he hath notgreatly disabused that life which God has given him. 

How can I, tho' her face and form are painted on my memory, tell youwhat fair, pert Miss Dorothy was at that time'! Ay, I know what youwould say: that Sir Joshua's portrait hangs above, executed but the yearafter, and hung at the second exhibition of the Royal Academy. As I lookupon it now, I say that no whit of its colour is overcharged. And thereis likewise Mr. Peale's portrait, done much later. I answer that thesegreat masters have accomplished what poor, human art can do. But Naturehath given us a better picture. "Come hither, Bess! Yes, truly, you haveDolly's hair, with the very gloss upon it. But fashions have changed, my child, and that is not as Dolly wore it. " Whereupon Bess goes to theportrait, and presently comes back to give me a start. And then we gohand in hand up the stairs of Calvert House even to the garret, where anold cedar chest is laid away under the eaves. Bess, the minx, well knowsit, and takes out a prim little gown with the white fading yellow, andwhite silk mits without fingers, and white stockings with clocks, anda gauze cap, with wings and streamers, that sits saucily on the blacklocks; and the lawn-embroidered apron; and such dainty, high-heeledslippers with the pearls still a-glisten upon the buckles. Away sheflies to put them on. And then my heart gives a leap to see my Dorothyback again, --back again as she was that June afternoon we went togetherto my last birthday party, her girlish arms bare to the elbow, and thelace about her slender throat. Yes, Bess hath the very tilt of her chin, the regal grace of that slim figure, and the deep blue eyes. 

"Grandfather, dear, you are crushing the gown!"

And so the fire is not yet gone out of this old frame. 

Ah, yes, there they are again, those unpaved streets of old Annapolisarched with great trees on either side. And here is Dolly, holding herskirt in one hand and her fan in the other, and I in a brave blue coat, and pumps with gold buttons, and a cocked hat of the newest fashion. Ihad met her leaning over the gate in Prince George Street. And, whatwas strange for her, so deep in thought that she jumped when I spoke hername. 

"Dorothy, I have come for you to walk to the party, as we used when wewere children. "

"As we used when we were children!" cried she. And flinging wide thegate, stretched out her hand for me to take. "And you are eighteen yearsto-day! It seems but last year when we skipped hand in hand to Marlboro'Street with Mammy Lucy behind us. Are you coming, mammy?" she called. 

"Yes, mistis, I'se comin', " said a voice from behind the golden-rosebushes, and out stepped Aunt Lucy in a new turban, making a curtsey tome. "La, Marse Richard!" said she, "to think you'se growed to be afine gemman! 'Taint but t'other day you was kissin' Miss Dolly on deplantation. "

"It seems longer than that to me, Aunt Lucy, " I answered, laughing atDolly's blushes. 

"You have too good a memory, mammy, " said my lady, withdrawing herfingers from mine. 

"Bress you, honey! De ole woman doan't forgit some things. "

And she fell back to a respectful six paces. 

"Those were happy times, " said Dorothy. Then the little sigh became alaugh. "I mean to enjoy myself to-day, Richard. But I fear I shall notsee as much of you as I used. You are old enough to play the host, now. "

"You shall see as much as you will. "

"Where have you been of late, sir? In Gloucester Street?"

"'Tis your own fault, Dolly. You are changeable as the sky, --to-daysunny, and to-morrow cold. I am sure of my welcome in GloucesterStreet. "

She tripped a step as we turned the corner, and came closer to my side. 

"You must learn to take me as you find me, dear Richard. To-day I am ina holiday humour. "

Some odd note in her tone troubled me, and I glanced at her quickly. Shewas a constant wonder and puzzle to me. After that night at the theatremy hopes had risen for the hundredth time, but I had gone to PrinceGeorge Street on the morrow to meet another rebuff--and Fitzhugh. So Ihad learned to interpret her by other means than words, and now her moodseemed reckless rather than merry. 

"Are you not happy, Dolly?" I asked abruptly. 

She laughed. "What a silly question!" she said. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I believe you are not. "

In surprise she looked up at me, and then down at the pearls upon hersatin slippers. 

"I am going with you to your birthday festival, Richard. Could we wishfor more? I am as happy as you. "

"That may well be, for I might be happier. "

Again her eyes met mine, and she hummed an air. So we came to the gate, beside which stood Diomedes and Hugo in the family claret-red. A coachwas drawn up, and another behind it, and we went down the leafy walk inthe midst of a bevy of guests. 

We have no such places nowadays, my dears, as was my grandfather's. Theground between the street and the brick wall in the rear was a greatstretch, as ample in acreage as many a small country-place we have inthese times. The house was on the high land in front, hedged in by oldtrees, and thence you descended by stately tiers until you came to thelevel which held the dancers. Beyond that, and lower still, alilied pond widened out of the sluggish brook with a cool and rusticspring-house at one end. The spring-house was thatched, with windowslooking out upon the water. Long after, when I went to France, I wasreminded of the shy beauty of this part of my old home by the secludedpond of the Little Trianon. So was it that King Louis's Versailles hadspread its influence a thousand leagues to our youthful continent. 

My grandfather sat in his great chair on the sward beside the fiddlers, his old friends gathering around him, as in former years. 

"And this is the miss that hath already broken half the bachelor heartsin town!" said he, gayly. "What was my prediction, Miss Dolly, when youstepped your first dance at Carvel Hall?"

"Indeed, you do me wrong, Mr. Carvel!"

"And I were a buck, you would not break mine, I warrant, unless it weretit for tat, " said my grandfather; thereby putting me to more confusionthan Dolly, who laughed with the rest. 

"'Tis well to boast, Mr. Carvel, when we are out of the battle, " criedMr. Lloyd. 

Dolly was carried off immediately, as I expected. The doctor andWorthington and Fitzhugh were already there, and waiting. I stood by Mr. Carvel's chair, receiving the guests, and presently came Mr. Swain andPatty. 

"Heigho!" called Mr. Carvel, when he saw her; "here is the young ladythat hath my old affections. You are right welcome, Mr. Swain. Scipio, another chair! 'Tis not over the wall any more, Miss Patty, with ourflowered India silk. But I vow I love you best with your etui. "

Patty, too, was carried off, for you may be sure that Will Fotheringayand Singleton were standing on one foot and then the other, waiting forMr. Carvel to have done. Next arrived my aunt, in a wide calash and awider hoop, her stays laced so that she limped, and her hair wonderfullyand fearfully arranged by her Frenchman. Neither she nor Grafton wasslow to shower congratulations upon my grandfather and myself. Mr. Marmaduke went through the ceremony after them. Dorothy's mother drew measide. As long as I could remember her face had been one that revealed alife's disappointment. But to-day I thought it bore a trace of a deeperanxiety. 

"How well I recall this day, eighteen years ago, Richard, " she said. "And how proud your dear mother was that she had given a son to CaptainJack. She had prayed for a son. I hope you will always do your parentscredit, my dear boy. They were both dear, dear friends of mine. "

My Aunt Caroline's harsher voice interrupted her. 

"Gadzooks, ma'am!" she cried, as she approached us, "I have never inmy life laid eyes upon such beauty as your daughter's. You will have totake her home, Mrs. Manners, to do her justice. You owe it her, ma'am. Come, nephew, off with you, and head the minuet with Miss Dolly!"

My grandfather was giving the word to the fiddlers. But whether a desireto cross my aunt held me back, or a sense of duty to greet the guestsnot already come, or a vague intuition of some impending news drawn fromMrs. Manners and Dorothy, I know not. Mr. Fitzhugh was easily persuadedto take my place, and presently I slipped unnoticed into a shadedseat on the side of the upper terrace, whence I could see the changingfigures on the green. And I thought of the birthday festivals Dolly andI had spent here, almost since we were of an age to walk. Wet June days, when the broad wings of the house rang with the sound of silver laughterand pattering feet, and echoed with music from the hall; and merryJune days, when the laughter rippled among the lilacs, and pansies andpoppies and sweet peas were outshone by bright gowns and brighter faces. And then, as if to complete the picture of the past, my eye fell uponour mammies modestly seated behind the group of older people, AuntHester and Aunt Lucy, their honest, black faces aglow with suchunselfish enjoyment as they alone could feel. 

How easily I marked Dorothy among the throng!

Other girls found it hard to compress the spirits of youth within thedignity of a minuet, and thought of the childish romp of former years. Not so my lady. Long afterwards I saw her lead a ball with the firstsoldier and gentleman of the land, but on that Tuesday she carriedherself full as well, so well that his Excellency and the gentlemenabout him applauded heartily. As the strains died away and the couplesmoved off among the privet-lined paths, I went slowly down the terrace. Dorothy had come up to speak to her mother, Dr. Courtenay lingeringimpatient at her side. And though her colour glowed deeper, and the windhad loosed a wisp of her hair, she took his Excellency's complimentsundisturbed. Colonel Sharpe, our former governor, who now made his homein the province, sat beside him. 

"Now where a-deuce were you, Richard?" said he. "You have missed aspleasing a sight as comes to a man in a lifetime. Why were you not hereto see Miss Manners tread a minuet? My word! Terpsichore herself couldscarce have made it go better. "

"I saw the dance, sir, from a safe distance, " I replied. 

"I'll warrant!" said he, laughing, while Dolly shot me a wayward glancefrom under her long lashes. "I'll warrant your eyes were fast on herfrom beginning to end. Come, sir, confess!"

His big frame shook with the fun of it, for none in the colony couldbe jollier than he on holiday occasions: and the group of ladies andgentlemen beside him caught the infection, so that I was sore put to it. 

"Will your Excellency confess likewise?" I demanded. 

"So I will, Richard, and make patent to all the world that she hath theremains of that shuttlecock, my heart. "

Up gets his Excellency (for so we still called him) and makes Dolly alow reverence, kissing the tips of her white fingers. My lady drops amock curtsey in return. 

"Your Excellency can do no less than sue for a dance, " drawled Dr. Courtenay. 

"And no more, I fear, sir, not being so nimble as I once was. I resignin your favour, doctor, " said Colonel Sharpe. 

Dr. Courtenay made his bow, his hat tucked under his arm. But he hadmuch to learn of Miss Manners if he thought that even one who had beengovernor of the province could command her. The music was just begunagain, and I making off in the direction of Patty Swain, when I wasbrought up as suddenly as by a rope. A curl was upon Dorothy's lips. 

"The dance belongs to Richard, doctor, " she said. 

"Egad, Courtenay, there you have a buffer!" cried Colonel Sharpe, asthe much-discomfited doctor bowed with a very ill grace; while I, in nosmall bewilderment, walked off with Dorothy. And a parting shot of thedelighted colonel brought the crimson to my face. Like the wind or Aprilweather was my lady, and her ways far beyond such a great simpleton asI. 

"So I am ever forced to ask you to dance!" said Dolly. 

"What were you about, moping off alone, with a party in your honour, sir?"

"I was watching you, as I told his Excellency. "

"Oh, fie!" she cried. "Why don't you assert yourself, Richard? There wasa time when you gave me no peace. "

"And then you rebuked me for dangling, " I retorted. 

Up started the music, the fiddlers bending over their bows with flushedfaces, having dipped into the cool punch in the interval. Away flungmy lady to meet Singleton, while I swung Patty, who squeezed my hand inreturn. And soon we were in the heat of it, --sober minuet no longer, butromp and riot, the screams of the lasses a-mingle with our own laughter, as we spun them until they were dizzy. My brain was a-whirl as well, andpresently I awoke to find Dolly pinching my arm. 

"Have you forgotten me, Richard?" she whispered. "My other hand, sir. Itis I down the middle. "

Down we flew between the laughing lines, Dolly tripping with her headhigh, and then back under the clasped hands in the midst of a fireof raillery. Then the music stopped. Some strange exhilaration was inDorothy. 

"Do you remember the place where I used to play fairy godmother, andwind the flowers into my hair?" said she. 

What need to ask?

"Come!" she commanded decisively. 

"With all my heart!" I exclaimed, wondering at this new caprice. 

"If we can but slip away unnoticed, they will never find us there, " shesaid. And led the way herself, silent. At length we came to the dampshade where the brook dived under the corner of the wall. I stooped togather the lilies of the valley, and she wove them into her hair as ofold. Suddenly she stopped, the bunch poised in her hand. 

"Would you miss me if I went away, Richard?" she asked, in a low voice. 

"What do you mean, Dolly?" I cried, my voice failing. "Just that, " saidshe. 

"I would miss you, and sorely, tho' you give me trouble enough. "

"Soon I shall not be here to trouble you, Richard. Papa has decided thatwe sail next week, on the Annapolis, for home. "

"Home!" I gasped. "England?"

"I am going to make my bow to royalty, " replied she, dropping a deepcurtsey. "Your Majesty, this is Miss Manners, of the province ofMaryland!"

"But next week!" I repeated, with a blank face. "Surely you cannot beready for the Annapolis!"

"McAndrews has instructions to send our things after, " said she. "There!You are the first person I have told. You should feel honoured, sir. "

I sat down upon the grass by the brook, and for the moment the sapof life seemed to have left me. Dolly continued to twine the flowers. Through the trees sifted the voices and the music, sounds of happinessfar away. When I looked up again, she was gazing into the water. 

"Are you glad to go?" I asked. 

"Of course, " answered the minx, readily. "I shall see the world, andmeet people of consequence. "

"So you are going to England to meet people of consequence!" I criedbitterly. 

"How provincial you are, Richard! What people of consequence have wehere? The Governor and the honourable members of his Council, forsooth!There is not a title save his Excellency's in our whole colony, andVirginia is scarce better provided. "

"In spite of my feeling I was fain to laugh at this, knowing well thatshe had culled it all from little Mr. Marmaduke himself. 

"All in good time, " said I. "We shall have no lack of noted menpresently. "

"Mere two-penny heroes, " she retorted. "I know your great men, such asMr. Henry and Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams. "

I began pulling up the grass savagely by the roots. 

"I'll lay a hundred guineas you have no regrets at leaving any of us, myfine miss!" I cried, getting to my feet. "You would rather be a lady offashion than have the love of an honest man, --you who have the hearts oftoo many as it is. "

Her eyes lighted, but with mirth. Laughing, she chose a little bunch ofthe lilies and worked them into my coat. 

"Richard, you silly goose!" she said; "I dote upon seeing you in atemper. "

I stood between anger and God knows what other feelings, now startingaway, now coming back to her. But I always came back. 

"You have ever said you would marry an earl, Dolly, " I said sadly. "Ibelieve you do not care for any of us one little bit. "

She turned away, so that for the moment I could not see her face, thenlooked at me with exquisite archness over her shoulder. The low tones ofher voice were of a richness indescribable. 'Twas seldom she made use ofthem. 

"You will be coming to Oxford, Richard. "

"I fear not, Dolly, " I replied soberly. "I fear not, now. Mr. Carvel istoo feeble for me to leave him. "

At that she turned to me, another mood coming like a gust of wind on theChesapeake. 

"Oh, how I wish they were all like you!" she cried, with a stamp of herfoot. "Sometimes I despise gallantry. I hate the smooth compliments ofyour macaronies. I thank Heaven you are big and honest and clumsy and--"

"And what, Dorothy?" I asked, bewildered. 

"And stupid, " said she. "Now take me back, sir. "

We had not gone thirty paces before we heard a hearty bass voicesinging:

 "'It was a lover and his lass, With a hey, with a ho, with a hey nonino. '"

And there was Colonel Sharpe, straying along among the privet hedges. 

And so the morning of her sailing came, so full of sadness for me. Whynot confess, after nigh threescore years, that break of day found mepacing the deserted dock. At my back, across the open space, was theirregular line of quaint, top-heavy shops since passed away, theirsightless windows barred by solid shutters of oak. The good shipAnnapolis, which was to carry my playmate to broader scenes, lay amongthe shipping, in the gray roads just quickening with returning light. How my heart ached that morning none shall ever know. But, as the sunshot a burning line across the water, a new salt breeze sprang up andfanned a hope into flame. 'Twas the very breeze that was to blow Dorothydown the bay. Sleepy apprentices took down the shutters, and polishedthe windows until they shone again; and chipper Mr. Denton Jacques, whodid such a thriving business opposite, presently appeared to wish me abright good morning. 

I knew that Captain Waring proposed to sail at ten of the clock; butafter breakfasting, I was of two minds whether to see the last of MissDorothy, foreseeing a levee in her honour upon the ship. And so itproved. I had scarce set out in a pungy from the dock, when I perceiveda dozen boats about the packet; and when I thrust my shoulders throughthe gangway, there was the company gathered at the mainmast. They madea gay bit of colour, --Dr. Courtenay in a green coat laced with fineMechlin, Fitzhugh in claret and silk stockings of a Quaker gray, and theother gentlemen as smartly drest. The Dulany girls and the Fotheringaygirls, and I know not how many others, were there to see their friendoff for home. 

In the midst of them was Dorothy, in a crimson silk capuchin, for wehad had one of our changes of weather. It was she who spied me as I wasdrawing down the ladder again. 

"It is Richard!" I heard her cry. "He has come at last. "

I gripped the rope tightly, sprang to the deck, and faced her as shecame out of the group, her lips parted, and the red of her cheeks vyingwith the hood she wore. I took her hand silently. 

"I had given you over, Richard, " she said, her eyes lookingreproachfully into mine. "Another ten minutes, and I should not haveseen you. "

Indeed, the topsails were already off the caps, the captain on deck, andthe men gathered at the capstan. 

"Have you not enough to wish you good-by, Dolly?" I asked. 

"There must be a score of them, " said my lady, making a face. "But Iwish to talk to you. "

Mr. Marmaduke, however, had no notion of allowing a gathering in hisdaughter's honour to be broken up. It had been wickedly said of him, when the news of his coming departure got around, that he feared Dorothywould fall in love with some provincial beau before he could get herwithin reach of a title. When he observed me talking to her, he hurriedaway from the friends come to see his wife (he had none himself), and seizing me by the arm implored me to take good care of my deargrandfather, and to write them occasionally of the state of his health, and likewise how I fared. 

"I think Dorothy will miss you more than any of them, Richard, " said he. "Will you not, my dear?"

But she was gone. I, too, left him without ceremony, to speak to Mrs. Manners, who was standing apart, looking shoreward. She started when Ispoke, and I saw that tears were in her eyes. 

"Are you coming back soon, Mrs. Manners?" I asked. 

"Oh, Richard! I don't know, " she answered, with a little choke in hervoice. "I hope it will be no longer than a year, for we are leaving allwe hold dear for a very doubtful pleasure. "

She bade me write to them, as Mr. Marmaduke had, only she was sincere. Then the mate came, with his hand to his cap, respectfully to informvisitors that the anchor was up and down. Albeit my spirits were low, 'twas no small entertainment to watch the doctor and his rivals at theiradieus. Courtenay had at his command an hundred subterfuges to outwithis fellows, and so manoeuvred that he was the last of them over theside. As for me, luckily, I was not worth a thought. But as the doctorleaned over her hand, I vowed in my heart that if Dorothy was to begained only in such a way I would not stoop to it. And in my heart Idoubted it. I heard Dr. Courtenay hint, looking meaningly at her cloak, that some of his flowers would not have appeared amiss there. 

"Why, doctor, " says my lady aloud, with a side glance at me, "the wisdomof Solomon might not choose out of twenty baskets. "

And this was all the thanks he got for near a boat-load of roses! Whenat length the impatient mate had hurried him off, Dolly turned to me. Itwas not in me to say more than:

"Good-by, Dorothy. And do not forget your old playmate. He will neverforget you. "

We stood within the gangway. With a quick movement she threw open hercloak, and pinned to her gown I saw a faded bunch of lilies of thevalley. 

I had but the time to press her hand. The boatswain's pipe whistled, andthe big ship was already sliding in the water as I leaped into my pungy, which Hugo was holding to the ladder. We pulled off to where the otherswaited. 

But the Annapolis sailed away down the bay, and never another glimpse wecaught of my lady. 

CHAPTER XII. NEWS FROM A FAR COUNTRY

If perchance, my dears, there creeps into this chronicle too much of anold man's heart, I know he will be forgiven. What life ever worth livinghas been without its tender attachment? Because, forsooth, my hair iswhite now, does Bess flatter herself I do not know her secret? Or doesComyn believe that these old eyes can see no farther than the spectaclesbefore them? Were it not for the lovers, my son, satins and broadclothshad never been invented. And were it not for the lovers, what joys andsorrows would we lack in our lives!

That was a long summer indeed. And tho' Wilmot House was closed, I oftenrode over of a morning when the dew was on the grass. It cheered me tosmoke a pipe with old McAndrews, Mr. Manners's factor, who loved to talkof Miss Dorothy near as much as I. He had served her grandfather, andpeople said that had it not been for McAndrews, the Manners fortune hadlong since been scattered, since Mr. Marmaduke knew nothing of anythingthat he should. I could not hear from my lady until near the first ofOctober, and so I was fain to be content with memories--memories andhard work. For I had complete charge of the plantation now. 

My Uncle Grafton came twice or thrice, but without his family, AuntCaroline and Philip having declared their independence. My uncle'smanner to me was now of studied kindness, and he was at greater painsthan before to give me no excuse for offence. I had little to say tohim. He spent his visits reading to Mr. Carvel, who sat in his chair allthe day long. Mr. Allen came likewise, to perform the same office. 

My contempt for the rector was grown more than ever. On my grandfather'saccount, however, I refrained from quarrelling with him. And, when wewere alone, my plain speaking did not seem to anger him, or affecthim in any way. Others came, too. Such was the affection Mr. Carvel'sfriends bore him that they did not desert him when he was no longerthe companion he had been in former years. We had more company than thesummer before. 

In the autumn a strange thing happened. When we had taken my grandfatherto the Hall in June, his dotage seemed to settle upon him. He became atrembling old man, at times so peevish that we were obliged to summonwith an effort what he had been. He was suspicious and fault-findingwith Scipio and the other servants, though they were never so busy forhis wants. Mrs. Willis's dainties were often untouched, and he wouldfrequently sit for hours between slumber and waking, or mumble tohimself as I read the prints. But about the time of the equinoctial agreat gale came out of the south so strongly that the water rose inthe river over the boat landing; and the roof was torn from one of thecuring-sheds. The next morning dawned clear, and brittle, and blue. Tomy great surprise, Mr. Carvel sent for me to walk with him about theplace, that he might see the damage with his own eyes. A huge walnut hadfallen across the drive, and when he came upon it he stopped abruptly. 

"Old friend!" he cried, "have you succumbed? After all these years haveyou dropped from the weight of a blow?" He passed his hand caressinglyalong the trunk, and scarce ever had I seen him so affected. In truth, for the instant I thought him deranged. He raised his cane above hisshoulder and struck the bark so heavily that the silver head sunk deepinto the wood. "Look you, Richard, " he said, the water coming into hiseyes, "look you, the heart of it is gone, lad; and when the heart isrotten 'tis time for us to go. That walnut was a life friend, my son. We have grown together, " he continued, turning from me to the giant andbrushing his cheeks, "but by God's good will we shall not die so, for myheart is still as young as the days when you were sprouting. "

And he walked back to the house more briskly than he had come, refusing, for the first time, my arm. And from that day, I say, he began to mend. The lacing of red came again to his cheeks, and before we went back totown he had walked with me to Master Dingley's tavern on the highroad, and back. 

We moved into Marlboro' Street the first part of November. I had seen mylady off for England, wearing my faded flowers, the panniers of the finegentleman in a neglected pile at her cabin door. But not once had shedeigned to write me. It was McAndrews who told me of her safe arrival. In Annapolis rumours were a-flying of conquests she had already made. Ifound Betty Tayloe had had a letter, filled with the fashion in caps andgowns, and the mention of more than one noble name. All of this being, for unknown reasons, sacred, I was read only part of the postscript, inwhich I figured: "The London Season was done almost before we arrived, "so it ran. "We had but the Opportunity to pay our Humble Respects totheir Majesties; and appear at a few Drum-Majors and Garden Fetes. Nowwe are off to Brighthelmstone, and thence, so Papa says, to Spa and theContinent until the end of January. I am pining for news of Maryland, dearest Betty. Address me in care of Mr. Ripley, Barrister, of Lincoln'sInn, and bid Richard Carvel write me. "

"Which does not look as if she were coming back within the year, " saidBetty, as she poured me a dish of tea. 

Alas, no! But I did not write. I tried and failed. And then I tried toforget. I was constant at all the gayeties, gave every miss in town ashare of my attention, rode to hounds once a week at Whitehall or theSouth River Club with a dozen young beauties. But cantering through thewinter mists 'twas Dolly, in her red riding-cloak and white beaver, Isaw beside me. None of them had her seat in the saddle, and none of themher light hand on the reins. And tho' they lacked not fire and skill, they had not my lady's dash and daring to follow over field and fallow, stream and searing, and be in at the death with heightened colour, butnever a look away. 

Then came the first assembly of the year. I got back from Bentley Manor, where I had been a-visiting the Fotheringays, just in time to call forPatty in Gloucester Street. 

"Have you heard the news from abroad, Richard?" she asked, as I handedher into my chariot. 

"Never a line, " I replied. 

"Pho!" exclaimed Patty; "you tell me that! Where have you been hiding?Then you shall not have it from me. "

I had little trouble, however, in persuading her. For news was a rareluxury in those days, and Patty was plainly uncomfortable until sheshould have it out. 

"I would not give you the vapours to-night for all the world, Richard, "she exclaimed. "But if you must, --Dr. Courtenay has had a letter fromMr. Manners, who says that Dolly is to marry his Grace of Chartersea. There now!"

"And I am not greatly disturbed, " I answered, with a fine, careless air. 

The lanthorn on the chariot was burning bright. And I saw Patty look atme, and laugh. 

"Indeed!" says she; "what a sex is that to which you belong. How readyare men to deny us at the first whisper! And I thought you the mostconstant of all. For my part, I credit not a word of it. 'Tis one of Mr. Marmaduke's lies and vanities. "

"And for my part, I think it true as gospel, " I cried. "Dolly alwaysheld a coronet above her colony, and all her life has dreamed of aduke. "

"Nay, " answered Patty, more soberly; "nay, you do her wrong. You willdiscover one day that she is loyal to the core, tho' she has a fop of afather who would serve his Grace's chocolate. We are all apt to talk, mydear, and to say what we do not mean, as you are doing. "

"Were I to die to-morrow, I would repeat it, " I exclaimed. But I likedPatty the better for what she had said. 

"And there is more news, of less import, " she continued, as I wassilent. "The Thunderer dropped anchor in the roads to-day, and herofficers will be at the assembly. And Betty tells me there is a younglord among them, --la! I have clean forgot the string of adjectives sheused, --but she would have had me know he was as handsome as Apollo, andso dashing and diverting as to put Courtenay and all our wits to shame. She dined with him at the Governor's. "

I barely heard her, tho' I had seen the man-o'-war in the harbour as Isailed in that afternoon. 

The assembly hall was filled when we arrived, aglow with candles anda-tremble with music, the powder already flying, and the tables in therecesses at either end surrounded by those at the cards. A lively scene, those dances at the old Stadt House, but one I love best to recall witha presence that endeared it to me. The ladies in flowered aprons andcaps and brocades and trains, and the gentlemen in brilliant coats, trimmed with lace and stiffened with buckram. That night, as Patty hadpredicted, there was a smart sprinkling of uniforms from the Thunderer. One of those officers held my eye. He was as well-formed a lad, or man(for he was both), as it had ever been my lot to see. He was neithertall nor short, but of a good breadth. His fair skin was tanned by theweather, and he wore his own wavy hair powdered, as was just become thefashion, and tied with a ribbon behind. 

"Mercy, Richard, that must be his Lordship. Why, his good looks are allBetty claimed for them!" exclaimed Patty. Mr. Lloyd, who was standingby, overheard her, and was vastly amused at her downright way. 

"I will fetch him directly, Miss Swain, " said he, "as I have done for adozen ladies before you. " And fetch him he did. 

"Miss Swain, this is my Lord Comyn, " said he. "Your Lordship, one of theboasts of our province. "

Patty grew red as the scarlet with which his Lordship's coat was lined. She curtseyed, while he made a profound bow. 

"What! Another boast, Mr. Lloyd!" he cried. "Miss Swain is the tenth Ihave met. But I vow they excel as they proceed. "

"Then you must meet no more, my Lord, " said Patty, laughing at Mr. Lloyd's predicament. 

"Egad, then, I will not, " declared Comyn. "I protest I am satisfied. "

Then I was presented. He had won me on the instant with his open smileand frank, boyish manner. 

"And this is young Mr. Carvel, whom I hear wins every hunt in thecolony?" said he. 

"I fear you have been misinformed, my Lord, " I replied, flashing withpleasure nevertheless. 

"Nay, my Lord, " Mr. Lloyd struck in; "Richard could ride down the devilhimself, and he were a fox. You will see for yourself to-morrow. "

"I pray we may not start the devil, " said his Lordship; "or I shall becontent to let Mr. Carvel run him down. "

This Comyn was a man after my own fancy, as, indeed, he took the fancyof every one at the ball. Though a viscount in his own right, hegave himself not half the airs over us provincials as did many of hismessmates. Even Mr. Jacques, who was sour as last year's cider over thedoings of Parliament, lost his heart, and asked why we were not favouredin America with more of his sort. 

By a great mischance Lord Comyn had fallen into the tender clutchesof my Aunt Caroline. It seemed she had known his uncle, the HonourableArthur Comyn, in New York; and now she undertook to be responsible forhis Lordship's pleasure at Annapolis, that he might meet only those ofthe first fashion. Seeing him talking to Patty, my aunt rose abruptlyfrom her loo and made toward us, all paint and powder and patches, herchin in the air, which barely enabled her to look over Miss Swain'shead. 

"My Lord, " she cries, "I will show you our colonial reel, which is aboutto begin, and I warrant you is gayer than any dance you have at home. "

"Your very devoted, Mrs. Carvel, " says his Lordship, with a bow, "butMiss Swain has done me the honour. "

"O Lud!" cries my aunt, sweeping the room, "I vow I cannot keep pacewith the misses nowadays. Is she here?"

"She was but a moment since, ma'am, " replied Comyn, instantly, witha mischievous look at me, while poor Patty stood blushing not a yarddistant. 

There were many who overheard, and who used their fans and their napkinsto hide their laughter at the very just snub Mrs. Grafton had received. And I wondered at the readiness with which he had read her character, liking him all the better. But my aunt was not to be disabled bythis, --not she. After the dance she got hold of him, keeping him untilcertain designing ladies with daughters took him away; their namescharity forbids me to mention. But in spite of them all he contrived toget Patty for supper, when I took Betty Tayloe, and we were very merryat table together. His Lordship proved more than able to take care ofhimself, and contrived to send Philip about his business when he pulledup a chair beside us. He drank a health to Miss Swain, and another toMiss Tayloe, and was on the point of filling a third glass to the ladiesof Maryland, when he caught himself and brought his hand down on thetable. 

"Gad's life!" cried he, "but I think she's from Maryland, too!"

"Who?" demanded the young ladies, in a breath. 

But I knew. 

"Who!" exclaimed Comyn. "Who but Miss Dorothy Manners! Isn't she fromMaryland?" And marking our astonished nods, he continued: "Why, shedescended upon Mayfair when they were so weary for something to worship, and they went mad over her in a s'ennight. I give you Miss Manners!"

"And you know her!" exclaimed Patty, her voice quivering withexcitement. 

"Faith!" said his Lordship, laughing. "For a whole month I was her mostdevoted, as were we all at Almack's. I stayed until the last minute fora word with her, --which I never got, by the way, --and paid near a guineaa mile for a chaise to Portsmouth as a consequence. Already she has hadher choice from a thousand a year up, and I tell you our English ladiesare green with envy. "

I was stunned, you may be sure. And yet, I might have expected it. 

"If your Lordship has left your heart in England, " said Betty, with asmile, "I give you warning you must not tell our ladies here of it. "

"I care not who knows it, Miss Tayloe, " he cried. That fustian, insincerity, was certainly not one of his faults. "I care not who knowsit. To pass her chariot is to have your heart stolen, and you must needsrun after and beg mercy. But, ladies, " he added, his eye twinkling;"having seen the women of your colony, I marvel no longer at MissManners's beauty. "

He set us all a-laughing. 

"I fear you were not born a diplomat, sir, " says Patty. "You agreethat we are beautiful, yet to hear that one of us is more so is smallconsolation. "

"We men turn as naturally to Miss Manners as plants to the sun, ma'am, "he replied impulsively. "Yet none of us dare hope for alliance withso brilliant and distant an object. I make small doubt those are Mr. Carvel's sentiments, and still he seems popular enough with the ladies. How now, sir? How now, Mr. Carvel? You have yet to speak on so tender asubject. "

My eyes met Patty's. 

"I will be no more politic than you, my Lord, " I said boldly, "nor willI make a secret of it that I adore Miss Manners full as much. "

"Bravo, Richard!" cries Patty; and "Good!" cries his Lordship, whileBetty claps her hands. And then Comyn swung suddenly round in his chair. 

"Richard Carvel!" says he. "By the seven chimes I have heard her mentionyour name. The devil fetch my memory!"

"My name!" I exclaimed, in surprise, and prodigiously upset. 

"Yes, " he answered, with his hand to his head; "some such thought was inmy mind this afternoon when I heard of your riding. Stay! I have it! Iwas at Ampthill, Ossory's place, just before I left. Some insupportablecoxcomb was boasting a marvellous run with the hounds nigh acrossHertfordshire, and Miss Manners brought him up with a round turn and ahalf hitch by relating one of your exploits, Richard Carvel. And take myword on't she got no small applause. She told how you had followed afox over one of your rough provincial counties, which means three ofHertfordshire, with your arm broken, by Heaven! and how they lifted youoff at the death. And, Mr. Carvel, " said my Lord, generously, looking atmy flushed face, "you must give me your hand for that. "

So Dorothy in England had thought of me at least. But what booted it ifshe were to marry a duke! My thoughts began to whirl over all Comyn hadsaid of her so that I scarce heard a question Miss Tayloe had put. 

"Marry Chartersea! That profligate pig!" Comyn was saying. "She would assoon marry a chairman or a chimneysweep, I'm thinking. Why, Miss Tayloe, Sir Charles Grandison himself would scarce suit her!"

"Good lack!" said Betty, "I think Sir Charles would be the very last forDorothy. "

Volume 3. 

CHAPTER XIII. MR. ALLEN SHOWS HIS HAND

So Dorothy's beauty had taken London by storm, even as it had conqueredAnnapolis! However, 'twas small consolation to me to hear his Grace ofChartersea called a pig and a profligate while better men danced herattendance in Mayfair. Nor, in spite of what his Lordship had said, wasI quite easy on the score of the duke. It was in truth no small honourto become a duchess. If Mr. Marmaduke had aught to say, there was anend to hope. She would have her coronet. But in that hour of darkness Icounted upon my lady's spirit. 

Dr. Courtenay came to the assembly very late, with a new fashion ofpinchbeck buckles on his pumps and a new manner of taking snuff. (Icaught Fotheringay practising this by the stairs shortly after. ) Alwaysan important man, the doctor's prominence had been increased that dayby the letter he had received. He was too thorough a courtier to professany grief over Miss Manners's match, and went about avowing that he hadalways predicted a duke for Miss Dorothy. And he drew a deal of pleasurefrom the curiosity of those who begged but one look at the letter. Show it, indeed! For no consideration. A private communication fromone gentleman to another must be respected. Will Fotheringay swore thedoctor was a sly dog, and had his own reasons for keeping it to himself. 

The doctor paid his compliment to the captain of the Thunderer, and tohis Lordship; hoped that he would see them at the meet on the morrow, tho' his gout forbade his riding to hounds. He saluted me in the mostfriendly way, for I played billiards with him at the Coffee Housenow, and he won my money. He had pronounced my phaeton to be as wellappointed as any equipage in town, and had done me the honour todrive out with me on several occasions. It was Betty that brought himhumiliation that evening. 

"What do you think of the soar our Pandora hath taken, Miss Betty?" sayshe. "From a Maryland manor to a ducal palace. 'Tis a fable, egad! Noless!"

"Indeed, I think it is, " retorted Betty. "Mark me, doctor, Dorothy willnot put up an instant with a roue and a brute. "

"A roue!" cries he, "and a brute! What the plague, Miss Tayloe! I vow Ido not understand you. "

"Then ask my Lord Comyn, who knows your Duke of Chartersea, " said Betty. 

Dr. Courtenay's expression was worth a pistole. 

"Comyn know him!" he repeated. 

"That he does, " replied Betty, laughing. "His Lordship says Charterseais a pig and a profligate, and I remember not what else. And that Dollywill not look at him. And so little Mr. Marmaduke may go a-hunting foranother title. "

No wonder I had little desire for dancing that night! I wandered out ofthe assembly-room and through the silent corridors of the Stadt House, turning over and over again what I had heard, and picturing Dorothyreigning over the macaronies of St. James's Street. She had said nothingof this in her letter to Betty, and had asked me to write to her. Butnow, with a duke to refuse or accept, could she care to hear fromher old playmate? I took no thought of the time, until suddenly myconscience told me I had neglected Patty. 

As I entered the hall I saw her at the far end of it talking to Mr. Allen. This I thought strange, for I knew she disliked him. LordComyn and Mr. Carroll, the barrister, and Singleton, were standing by, listening. By the time I was halfway across to them the rector turnedaway. I remember thinking afterwards that he changed colour when hesaid: "Your servant, Mr. Richard. " But I thought nothing of it at thetime, and went on to Patty. 

"I have come for a country dance, before we go, Patty, " I said. 

Then something in her mien struck me. Her eyes expressed a pain I hadremarked in them before only when she spoke to me of Tom, and her lipswere closed tightly. She flushed, and paled, and looked from Singletonto Mr. Carroll. They and his Lordship remained silent. 

"I--I cannot, Richard. I am going home, " she said, in a low voice. 

"I will see if the chariot is here, " I answered, surprised, but thinkingof Tom. 

She stopped me. 

"I am going with Mr. Carroll, " she said. 

I hope a Carvel never has to be rebuffed twice, nor to be humbled bycraving an explanation before a company. I was confounded that Pattyshould treat me thus, when I had done nothing to deserve it. As I madefor the door, burning and indignant, I felt as tho' every eye in theroom was upon me. ' Young Harvey drove me that night. 

"Marlboro' Street, Mr. Richard?" said he. 

"Coffee House, " replied I, that place coming first into my head. 

Young Harvey seldom took liberties; but he looked down from the box. 

"Better home, sir; your pardon, sir. "

"D--n it!" I cried, "drive where I bid you!"

I pulled down the fore-glass, though the night was cold, and began tocast about for the cause of Patty's action. And then it was the rectorcame to my mind. Yes, he had been with her just before I came up, and Imade sure on the instant that my worthy instructor was responsible forthe trouble. I remembered that I had quarrelled with him the morningbefore I had gone to Bentley Manor, and threatened to confess hisvillany and my deceit to Mr. Carvel. He had answered me with a sneer anda dare. I knew than Patty put honour and honesty before all else in theworld, and that she would not have suffered my friendship for a day hadshe believed me to lack either. But she, who knew me so well, was notlikely to believe anything he might say without giving me the chance toclear myself. And what could he have told her?

I felt my anger growing big within me, until I grew afraid of what Iwould do if I were tempted. I had a long score and a heavy score againstthis rector of St. Anne's, --a score that had been gathering these years. And I felt that my uncle was somewhere behind him; that the two of themwere plotters against me, even as Harvey had declared; albeit my UncleGrafton was little seen in his company now. And finally, in a sinisterflash of revelation, came the thought that Grafton himself was at theback of this deception of my grandfather, as to my principles. Fool thatI was, it had never occurred to me before. But how was he to gain by it?Did he hope that Mr. Carvel, in a fit of anger, would disinherit me whenhe found I had deceived him? Yes. And so had left the matter in abeyancenear these two years, that the shock might be the greater when itcame. I recalled now, with a shudder, that never since the spring of mygrandfather's illness had my uncle questioned me upon my politics. I wasseized with a fit of fury. I suspected that Mr. Allen would be at theCoffee House after the assembly. And I determined to seize the chance atonce and have it out with him then and there. 

The inn was ablaze, but as yet deserted; Mr. Claude expectant. He bowedme from my chariot door, and would know what took me from the ball. Ithrew him some short answer, bade Harvey go home, saying that I wouldhave some fellow light me to Marlboro' Street when I thought proper. And coming into the long room I flung aside my greatcoat and commanded aflask of Mr. Stephen Bordley's old sherry, some of which Mr. Claude hadobtained at that bachelor's demise. 

The wine was scarce opened before I heard some sort of stir at thefront, and two servants in a riding livery of scarlet and white hurriedin to seek Mr. Claude. The sight of them sufficed mine host, for he wentout as fast as his legs would go, giving the bell a sharp pull as hepassed the door; and presently I heard him complimenting two gentlemeninto the house. The voice of one I knew, --being no other than CaptainClapsaddle's; and him I had not seen for the past six months. I was justrisen to my feet when they came in at the door beside me. 

"Richard!" cried the captain, and grasped my hand in both his own. I returned his pressure, too much pleased to speak. Then his eye wascaught by my finery. 

"So ho!" says he, shaking his head at me for a sad rogue. "Wine andwomen and fine clothes, and not nineteen, or I mistake me. It was sowith Captain Jack, who blossomed in a week; and few could vie with him, I warrant you, after he made his decision. But bless me!" he went on, drawing back, "the lad looks mature, and a fair two inches broader thanlast spring. But why are you not at the assembly, Richard?"

"I have but now come from there, sir, " I replied, not caring in thepresence of a stranger to enter into reasons. 

At my answer the captain turned from me to the gentleman behind him, whohad been regarding us both as we talked. There are some few men in theworld, I thank God for it, who bear their value on their countenance;who stand unmistakably for qualities which command respect andadmiration and love! We seem to recognize such men, and to wonder wherewe have seen them before. In reality we recognize the virtues theyrepresent. So it was with him I saw in front of me, and by his air andcarriage I marked him then and there as a man born to great things. Youall know his face, my dears, and I pray God it may live in the sight ofthose who come after you, for generation upon generation!

"Colonel Washington, " said the captain, "this is Mr. Richard Carvel, theson of Captain Carvel. "

Mr. Washington did not speak at once. He stood regarding me a fullminute, his eye seeming to penetrate the secrets of my life. And I takepride in saying it was an eye I could meet without flinching. 

"Your father was a brave man, sir, " he said soberly, "and it seems youfavour him. I am happy in knowing the son. "

For a moment he stood debating whether he would go to the house of oneof his many friends in Annapolis, knowing that they would be offendedwhen they learned he had stopped at the inn. He often came to town, indeed, but seldom tarried long; and it had never been my fortune tosee him. Being arrived unexpectedly, and obliged to be away early on themorrow, he decided to order rooms of Mr. Claude, sat down with me at thetable, and commenced supper. They had ridden from Alexandria. I gatheredfrom their conversation that they were on their way to Philadelphia uponsome private business, the nature of which, knowing Captain Daniel'ssentiments and those of Colonel Washington, I went not far to guess. Thecountry was in a stir about the Townshend duties; and there being somerumour that all these were to be discharged save only that on tea, anxiety prevailed in our middle colonies that the merchants of New Yorkwould abandon the association formed and begin importation. It was ofsome mission to these merchants that I suspected them. 

As I sat beside Colonel Washington, I found myself growing calmer, and ashamed of my lack of self-control. Unconsciously, when we comein contact with the great of character, we mould our minds to theirqualities. His very person seemed to exhale, not sanctity, but virility. I felt that this man could command himself and others. In his presenceself-command came to me, as a virtue gone out of him. 'Twas not hisspeech, I would have you know, that took hold of me. He was by no meansa brilliant talker, and I had the good fortune to see him at his ease, since he and the captain were old friends. As they argued upon thequestions of the day, the colonel did not seek to impress by words, or to fascinate by manner. His opinions were calm and moderate, andappeared to me so just as to admit of no appeal. He scrupled not to usea forceful word when occasion demanded. And yet, now and then, he hada lively way about him with all his dignity. When he had finished hissupper he bade Mr. Claude bring another bottle of Mr. Bordley's sherry, having tested mine, and addressed himself to me. 

He would know what my pursuits had been; for my father's sake, what weremy ambitions? He questioned me about Mr. Carvel's plantation, of whichhe had heard, and appeared pleased with the answers I gave as to itsmanagement and methods. Captain Daniel was no less so. Mr. Washingtonhad agriculture at his finger ends, and gave me some advice which he hadfound serviceable at Mount Vernon. 

"'Tis a pity, Richard, " said he, smiling thoughtfully at the captain, "'tis a pity we have no service afield open to our young men. One ofyour spirit and bearing should be of that profession. Captain Jack wasas brave and dashing an officer as I ever laid eyes on. "

I hesitated, the tingling at the compliment. 

"I begin to think I was born for the sea, sir, " I answered, at length. 

"What!" cried the captain; "what news is this, Richard? 'Slife! how hasthis come about?"

My anger subdued by Mr. Washington's presence, a curious mood had takenits place. A foolish mood, I thought it, but one of feeling things tocome. 

"I believe I shall one day take part in a great sea-fight, " I said. And, tho' ashamed to speak of it, I told him of Stanwix's prophecy that Ishould pace the decks of a man-o'-war. 

"A pox on Stanwix!" said the captain, "an artful old seadog! I neveryet knew one who did not think the sun rises and sets from poop toforecastle, who did not wheedle with all the young blood to get them tofollow a bow-legged profession. "

Colonel Washington laughed. 

"Judge not, Clapsaddle, " said he; "here are two of us trying to get thelad for our own bow-legged profession. We are as hot as Methodists toconvert. "

"Small conversion he needed when I was here to watch him, colonel. Andhe rides with any trooper I ever laid eyes on. Why, sir, I myself threwhim on a saddle before he could well-nigh walk, and 'twere a waste ofmaterial to put him in the navy. "

"But what this old man said of a flag not yet seen in heaven or earthinterests me, " said Colonel Washington. "Tell me, " he added with apenetration we both remarked, "tell me, does your Captain Stanwix followthe times? Is he a man to read his prints and pamphlets? In other words, is he a man who might predict out of his own heated imagination?"

"Nay, sir, " I answered, "he nods over his tobacco the day long. And Iwill make bold to swear, he has never heard of the Stamp Act. "

"'Tis strange, " said the colonel, musing; "I have heard of this secondsight--have seen it among my own negroes. But I heartily pray that thismay be but the childish fancy of an old mariner. How do you interpretit, sir?" he added, addressing himself to me. 

"If a prophecy, I can interpret it in but one way, " I began, and there Istopped. 

"To be sure, " said Mr. Washington. He studied me awhile as thoughweighing my judgment, and went on: "Needless to say, Richard, that sucha service, if it comes, will not be that of his Majesty. "

"And it were, colonel, I would not embark in it a step, " I cried. 

He laughed. 

"The lad has his father's impulse, " he said to Captain Daniel. "ButI thought old Mr. Carvel to be one of the warmest loyalists in thecolonies. "

I bit my lip; for, since that unhappy deception of Mr. Carvel, I hadnot meant to be drawn into an avowal of my sentiments. But I had, alas, inherited a hasty tongue. 

"Mr. Washington, " said the captain, "old Mr. Carvel has ever been a goodfriend to me. And, though I could not but perceive which way the lad wastending, I had held it but a poor return for friendship had I soughtby word or deed to bring him to my way of thinking. Nor have I eversuffered his views in my presence. "

"My dear sir, I honour you for it, " put in the colonel, warmly. 

"It is naught to my credit, " returned the captain. "I would not, for thesake of my party and beliefs, embitter what remains of my old friend'slife. "

I drew a long breath and drained the full glass before me. 

"Captain Daniel!" I cried, "you must hear me now. I have been waitingyour coming these months. And if Colonel Washington gives me leave, Iwill speak before him. "

The colonel bade me proceed, avowing that Captain Carvel's son shouldhave his best assistance. 

With that I told them the whole story of Mr. Allen's villany. How I hadbeen sent to him because of my Whig sentiments, and for thrashing a Toryschoolmaster and his flock. This made the gentlemen laugh, tho' CaptainDaniel had heard it before. I went on to explain how Mr. Carvel hadfallen ill, and was like to die; and how Mr. Allen, taking advantage ofhis weakness when he rose from his bed, had gone to him with the lie ofhaving converted me. But when I told of the scene between my grandfatherand me at Carvel Hall, of the tears of joy that the old gentleman shed, and of how he had given me Firefly as a reward, the captain rose fromhis chair and looked out of the window into the blackness, and sworea great oath all to himself. And the expression I saw come into thecolonel's eyes I shall never forget. 

"And you feared the consequences upon your grandfather's health?" heasked gravely. 

"So help me God!" I answered, "I truly believe that to have undeceivedhim would have proved fatal. "

"And so, for the sake of the sum he receives for teaching you, " criedthe captain, with another oath, "this scoundrelly clergyman has betrayedyou into a lie. A scheme, by God's life! worthy of a Machiavelli!"

"I have seen too many of his type in our parishes, " said Mr. Washington;"and yet the bishop of London seems powerless. And so used have webecome in these Southern colonies to tippling and gaming parsons, that Iwarrant his people accept him as nothing out of the common. "

"He is more discreet than the run of them, sir. His parishioners dislikehim, not because of his irregularities, but because he is attempting toobtain All Saints from his Lordship, in addition to St. Anne's. He isthought too greedy. "

He was silent, his brow a little furrowed, and drummed with his fingersupon the table. 

"But this I cannot reconcile, " said he, presently, "that the reward isout of all proportion to the risk. Such a clever rascal must play forhigher stakes. "

I was amazed at his insight. And for the moment was impelled to makea clean breast of my suspicions, --nay, of my convictions of the wholedevil's plot. But I had no proofs. I remembered that to the colonel myuncle was a gentleman of respectability and of wealth, and a memberof his Excellency's Council. That to accuse him of scheming for myinheritance would gain me nothing in Mr. Washington's esteem. AndI caught myself before I had said aught of Mr. Allen's conduct thatevening. 

"Have you confronted this rector with his perfidy, Richard?" he asked. 

"I have, colonel, at my first opportunity. " And I related how Mr. Allen had come to the Hall, and what I had said to him, and how he hadbehaved. And finally told of the picquet we now had during lessons, notcaring to shield myself. Both listened intently, until the captain brokeout. Mr. Washington's indignation was the stronger for being repressed. 

"I will call him out!" cried Captain Daniel, fingering his sword, as washis wont when angered; "I will call him out despite his gown, or elsehorse him publicly!"

"No, my dear sir, you will do nothing of the kind, " said the colonel. "You would gain nothing by it for the lad, and lose much. Such rascalswalk in water, and are not to be tracked. He cannot be approached savethrough Mr. Lionel Carvel himself, and that channel, for Mr. Carvel'ssake, must be closed. "

"But he must be shown up!" cried the captain. 

"What good will you accomplish?" said Mr. Washington; "Lord Baltimore isnotorious, and will not remove him. Nay, sir, you must find a way to getthe lad from his influence. " And he asked me how was my grandfather'shealth at present. 

I said that he had mended beyond my hopes. 

"And does he seem to rejoice that you are of the King's party?"

"Nay, sir. Concerning politics he seems strangely apathetic, whichmakes me fear he is not so well as he appears. All his life he has feltstrongly. "

"Then I beg you, Richard, take pains to keep neutral. Nor let anypassing event, however great, move you to speech or action. "

The captain shook his head doubtfully, as tho' questioning the abilityof one of my temper to do this. 

"I do not trust myself, sir, " I answered. 

He rose, declaring it was past his hour for bed, and added some kindthings which I shall cherish in my memory. As he was leaving he laid hishand on my shoulder. 

"One word of advice, my lad, " he said. "If by any chance yourconvictions are to come to your grandfather's ears, let him have themfrom your own lips. " And he bade me good night. 

The captain tarried but a moment longer. 

"I have a notion who is to blame for this, Richard, " he said. "When Icome back from New York, we shall see what we shall see. "

"I fear he is too slippery for a soldier to catch, " I answered. 

He went away to bed, telling me to be prudent, and mind the colonel'scounsel until he returned from the North. 

CHAPTER XIV. THE VOLTE COUPE

I was of a serious mind to take the advice. To prove this I called formy wrap-rascal and cane, and for a fellow with a flambeau to light me. But just then the party arrived from the assembly. I was tempted, andI sat down again in a corner of the room, resolved to keep a check uponmyself, but to stay awhile. 

The rector was the first in, humming a song, and spied me. 

"Ho!" he cried, "will you drink, Richard? Or do I drink with you?"

He was already purple with wine. 

"God save me from you and your kind!" I replied. 

"'Sblood! what a devil's nest of fireworks!" he exclaimed, as he wentoff down the room, still humming, to where the rest were gathered. Andthey were soon between bottle and stopper, and quips a-coursing. Therewas the captain of the Thunderer, Collinson by name, Lord Comyn and twobrother officers, Will Fotheringay, my cousin Philip, openly pleasedto be found in such a company, and some dozen other toadeaters whohad followed my Lord a-chair and a-foot from the ball, and would havetracked him to perdition had he chosen to go; and lastly Tom Swain, leering and hiccoughing at the jokes, in such a beastly state ofdrunkenness as I had rarely seen him. His Lordship recognized me andsmiled, and was pushing his chair back, when something Collinson saidseemed to restrain him. 

I believe I was the butt of more than one jest for my aloofness, thoughI could not hear distinctly for the noise they made. I commanded someFrench cognac, and kept my eye on the rector, and the sight of him wasmaking me dangerous. 

I forgot the advice I had received, and remembered only the months hehad goaded me. And I was even beginning to speculate how I could bestpick a quarrel with him on any issue but politics, when an unexpectedincident diverted me. Of a sudden the tall, ungainly form of PercySingleton filled the doorway, wrapped in a greatcoat. He swept the roomat a glance, and then strode rapidly toward the corner where I sat. 

"I had thought to find you here, " he said, and dropped into a chairbeside me. I offered him wine, but he refused. 

"Now, " he went on, "what has Patty done?"

"What have I done that I should be publicly insulted?" I cried. 

"Insulted!" says he, "and did she insult you? She said nothing of that. "

"What brings you here, then?" I demanded. 

"Not to talk, Richard, " he said quietly, "'tis no time tonight. I cameto fetch you home. Patty sent me. "

Patty sent him! Why had Patty sent him? But this I did not ask, for Ifelt the devil within me. 

"We must first finish this bottle, " said I, offhand, "and then I have alittle something to be done which I have set my heart upon. After that Iwill go with you. "

"Richard, Richard, will you never learn prudence? What is it you speakof?"

I drew my sword and laid it upon the table. 

"I mean to spit that eel of a rector, " said I, "or he will bear a slapin the face. And you must see fair play. "

Singleton seized my coat, at the same time grasping the hilt of mysword with the other hand. But neither my words nor my action had goneunnoticed by the other end of the room. The company there fell silentawhile, and then we heard Captain Collinson talking in even, drawlingtones. 

"'Tis strange, " said he, "what hot sparks a man meets in these colonies. They should be stamped out. His Majesty pampers these d--d Americans, is too lenient by far. Gentlemen, this is how I would indulge them!" Heraised a closed fist and brought it down on the board. 

He spoke to Tories, but he forgot that Tories were Americans. In thosedays only the meanest of the King's party would listen to such withoutprotest from an Englishman. But some of the meaner sort were there:Philip and Tom laughed, and Mr. Allen, and my Lord's sycophants. Fotheringay and some others of sense shook their heads one to another, comprehending that Captain Collinson was somewhat gone in wine. For, indeed, he had not strayed far from the sideboard at the assembly. Comynmade a motion to rise. 

"It is already past three bells, sir, and a hunt to-morrow, " he said. 

"From bottle to saddle, and from saddle to bottle, my Lord. We must haveour pleasure ashore, and sleep at sea, " and the captain tipped his flaskwith a leer. He turned his eye uncertainly first on me, then on my Lord. "We are lately from Boston, gentlemen, that charnel-house of treason, and before we leave, my Lord, I must tell them how Mr. Robinson of thecustoms served that dog Otis, in the British Coffee House. God's word, 'twas as good as a play. "

I know not how many got to their feet at that, for the story of thecowardly beating of Mr. Otis by Robinson and the army officers had sweptover the colonies, burning like a flame all true-hearted men, Tory andWhig alike. I wrested my sword from Singleton's hold, and in a triceI had reached the captain over chairs and table, tearing myself fromFotheringay on the way. I struck a blow that measured a man on thefloor. Then I drew back, amazed. 

I had hit Lord Comyn instead! The captain stood a yard beyond me. 

The thing had been so deftly done by the rector of St. Anne's--Comynjostled at the proper moment between me and Collinson--that none save meguessed beyond an accident; least of all my Lord Comyn himself. He wasup again directly and his sword drawn, addressing me. 

"Bear witness, my Lord, that I have no desire to fight with you, " saidI, with what coolness I could muster. "But there is one here I wouldgive much for a chance to run through. "

And I made a step toward Mr. Allen with such a purpose in my face andmovements that he could not mistake. I saw the blood go from his face;yet he was no coward to physical violence. But he (or I?) was saved bythe Satan's luck that followed him, for my Lord stepped in between uswith a bow, his cheek red where I had struck him. 

"It is my quarrel now, Mr. Carvel, " he cried. 

"As you please, my Lord, " said I. 

"It boots not who crosses with him, " Captain Collinson put in. "HisLordship uses the sword better than any here. But it boots not so thathe is opposed by a loyal servant of the King. "

I wheeled on him for this. 

"I would have you know that loyalty does not consist in outrage andmurder, sir, " I answered, "nor in the ridiculing of them. And brutescannot be loyal save through interest. "

He was angered, as I had desired. I had hopes then of shouldering thequarrel on to him, for I had near as soon drawn against my own brotheras against Comyn. I protest I loved him then as one with whom I had beenreared. 

"Let me deal with this young gamecock, Comyn, " cried the captain, withan oath. "He seems to think his importance sufficient. "

But Comyn would brook no interference. He swore that no man shouldstrike him with impunity, and in this I could not but allow he wasright. 

"You shall hear from me, Mr. Carvel, " he said. 

"Nay, " I answered, "and fighting is to be done, sir, let us be throughwith it at once. A large room upstairs is at our disposal; and there isa hunt to-morrow which one of us may like to attend. "

There was a laugh at this, in which his Lordship joined. 

"I would to God, Mr. Carvel, " he said, "that I had no quarrel with you!"

"Amen to that, my Lord, " I replied; "there are others here I wouldrather fight. " And I gave a meaning look at Mr. Allen. I was of twominds to announce the scurvy trick he had played, but saw that I wouldlose rather than gain by the attempt. Up to that time the wretch had notspoken a word; now he pushed himself forward, though well clear of me. 

"I think it my duty as Mr. Carvel's tutor, gentlemen, to protest againstthis matter proceeding, " he said, a sneer creeping into his voice. "Norcan I be present at it. Mr. Carvel is young and, besides, is not himselfwith liquor. And, in the choice of politics, he knows not which leg hestands upon. My Lord and gentlemen, your most humble and devoted. "

He made a bow and, before the retort on my lips could be spoken, leftthe tavern. My cousin Philip left with him. Tom Swain had fallen asleepin his chair. 

Captain Collinson and Mr. Furness, of the Thunderer, offered to servehis Lordship, which made me bethink that I, too, would have need of someone. 'Twas then I remembered Singleton, who had passed from my mind. 

He was standing close behind me, and nodded simply when I asked him. AndWill Fotheringay came forward. 

"I will act, Richard, if you allow me, " he said. "I would have you knowI am in no wise hostile to you, my Lord, and I am of the King's party. But I admire Mr. Carvel, and I may say I am not wholly out of sympathywith that which prompted his act. "

It was a noble speech, and changed Will in my eyes; and I thankedhim with warmth. He of all that company had the courage to oppose hisLordship!

Mr. Claude was called in and, as is the custom in such cases, was toldthat some of us would play awhile above. He was asked for his privateroom. The good man had his suspicions, but could not refuse a partyof such distinction, and sent a drawer thither with wine and cards. Presently we followed, leaving the pack of toadies in sad disappointmentbelow. 

We gathered about the table and made shift at loo until the fellow hadretired, when the seconds proceeded to clear the room of furniture, andLord Comyn and I stripped off our coats and waistcoats. I had lost myanger, but felt no fear, only a kind of pity that blood should be shedbetween two so united in spirit as we. Yes, my dears, I thought ofDorothy. If I died, she would hear that it was like a man--like aCarvel. But the thought of my old grandfather tightened my heart. Thenthe clock on the inn stairs struck two, and the noise of harsh laughterfloated up to us from below. 

And Comyn, --of what was he thinking? Of some fair home set upon thedowns across the sea, of some heroic English mother who had kept hertears until he was gone? Her image rose in dumb entreaty, invoked bythe lad before me. What a picture was he in his spotless shirt with theruffles, his handsome boyish face all that was good and honest!

I had scarce felt his Lordship's wrist than I knew I had to deal with apupil of Angelo. At first his attacks were all simple, without feintor trickery, as were mine. Collinson cursed and cried out that it wasbuffoonery, and called on my Lord not to let me off so easily; sworethat I fenced like a mercer, that he could have stuck me like apin-cushion twenty and twenty times. Often have I seen two animalsthrust into a pit with nothing but good-will between them, and thosewithout force them into anger and a deadly battle. And so it was, unconsciously, between Comyn and me. I forgot presently that I was notdealing with Captain Collinson, and my feelings went into my sword. Comyn began to press me, nor did I give back. And then, before it cameover me that we had to do with life and death, he was upon me with avolte coupe, feinting in high carte and thrusting in low tierce, hispoint passing through a fold in my shirt. And I were not alive to writethese words had I not leaped out of his measure. 

"Bravo, Richard!" cried Fotheringay. 

"Well made, gads life!" from Mr. Furness. 

We engaged again, our faces hot. Now I knew that if I did not carry thematter against him I should be killed out of hand, and Heaven knowsI was not used to play a passive part. I began to go carefully, butfiercely; tried one attack after another that my grandfather and CaptainDaniel had taught me, --flanconnades, beats, and lunges. Comyn held meeven, and in truth I had much to do to defend myself. Once I thought Ihad him in the sword-arm, after a circular parry, but he was too quickfor me. We were sweating freely by now, and by reason of the buzzing inmy ears I could scarce hear the applause of the seconds. 

What unlucky chance it was I know not that impelled Comyn to essay againthe trick by which he had come so near to spitting me; but try ithe did, this time in prime and seconde. I had come by nature to thatintuition which a true swordsman must have, gleaned from the eyes ofhis adversary. Long ago Captain Daniel had taught me the remedy for thiscoupe. I parried, circled, and straightened, my body in swift motion andmy point at Comyn's heart, when Heaven brought me recollection in thespace of a second. My sword rang clattering on the floor. 

His Lordship understood, but too late. Despairing his life, he made onewild lunge at me that had never gone home had I held to my hilt. But therattle of the blade had scarce reached my ears when there came a sharppain at my throat, and the room faded before me. I heard the clockstriking the half-hour. 

I was blessed with a sturdy health such as few men enjoy, and came tomyself sooner than had been looked for, with a dash of cold water. Andthe first face I beheld was that of Colonel Washington. I heard himspeaking in a voice that was calm, yet urgent and commanding. 

"I pray you, gentlemen, give back. He is coming to, and must have air. Fetch some linen!"

"Now God be praised!" I heard Captain Daniel cry. 

With that his Lordship began to tear his own shirt into strips, and thecaptain bringing a bowl and napkin, the colonel himself washed the woundand bound it deftly, Singleton and Captain Daniel assisting. When Mr. Washington had finished, he turned to Comyn, who stood, anxious anddishevelled, at my feet. 

"You may be thankful that you missed the artery, my Lord, " he said. 

"With all my heart, Colonel Washington!" cried his Lordship. "I owe mylife to his generosity. "

"What's that, sir?"

Mr. Carvel dropped his sword, rather than run me through. "

"I'll warrant!" Captain Daniel put in; "'Od's heart! The lad has skillto point the eye of a button. I taught him myself. "

Colonel Washington stood up and laid his hand on the captain's arm. 

"He is Jack Carvel over again, " I heard him say, in a low voice. 

I tried to struggle to my feet, to speak, but he restrained me. Andsending for his servants, he ordered them to have his baggage removedfrom the Roebuck, which was the best bed in the house. At this momentthe door opened, and Mr. Swain came in hurriedly. 

"I pray you, gentlemen, " he cried, "and he is fit to be moved, you willlet me take him to Marlboro' Street. I have a chariot at the door. "

CHAPTER XV. OF WHICH THE RECTOR HAS THE WORST

'Twas late when I awoke the next day with something of a dull ache inmy neck, and a prodigious stiffness, studying the pleatings of the bedcanopy over my head. And I know not how long I lay idly thus when Iperceived Mrs. Willis moving quietly about, and my grandfather sittingin the armchair by the window, looking into Freshwater Lane. As my eyesfell upon him my memory came surging back, --first of the duel, thenof its cause. And finally, like a leaden weight, the thought of thedeception I had practised upon him, of which he must have learned erethis. Nay, I was sure from the troubled look of his face that he knew ofit. 

"Mr. Carvel, " I said. 

At the sound of my voice he got hastily from his chair and hurried to myside. 

"Richard, " he answered, taking my hand, "Richard!"

I opened my mouth to speak, to confess. But he prevented me, the tearsfilling the wrinkles around his eyes. 

"Nay, lad, nay. We will not talk of it. I know all. "

"Mr. Allen has been here--" I began. 

"And be d--d to him! Be d--d to him for a wolf in sheep's clothing!"shouted my grandfather, his manner shifting so suddenly to anger thatI was taken back. "So help me God I will never set foot in St. Anne'swhile he is rector. Nor shall he come to this house!"

And he took three or four disorderly turns about the room. 

"Ah!" he continued more quietly, with something of a sigh, "I might haveknown how stubborn your mind should be. That you was never one to blowfrom the north one day and from the south the next. I deny not thatthere be good men and able of your way of thinking: Colonel Washington, for one, whom I admire and honour; and our friend Captain Daniel. Theyhave been here to-day, Richard, and I promise you were good advocates. "

Then I knew that I was forgiven. And I could have thrown myself at Mr. Carvel's feet for happiness. 

"Has Colonel Washington spoken in my favour, sir?"

"That he has. He is upon some urgent business for the North, I believe, which he delayed for your sake. Both he and the captain were in mydressing-room before I was up, ahead of that scurrilous clergyman, whowas for pushing his way to my bed-curtains. Ay, the two of them werehere at nigh dawn this morning, and Mr. Allen close after them. And Iown that Captain Daniel can swear with such a consuming violence as toput any rogue out of countenance. 'Twas all Mr. Washington could do torestrain Clapsaddle from booting his Reverence over the balustrade anddown two runs of the stairs, the captain declaring he would do for everycur's son of the whelps. 'Diomedes, ' says I, waking up, 'what's thisdamnable racket on the landing? Is Mr. Richard home?' For I had somenotion it was you, sir, after an over-night brawl. And I profess I wouldhave caned you soundly. The fellow answered that Captain Clapsaddle'shonour was killing Mr. Allen, and went out; and came back presently tosay that some tall gentleman had the captain by the neck, and that Mr. Allen was picking his way down the ice on the steps outside. With that Iwent in to them in my dressing-gown. 

"'What's all this to-do, gentlemen?' said I. 

"'I'd have finished that son of a dog, ' says the captain, 'and ColonelWashington had let me. '

"'What, what!' said I. 'How now? What! Drive a clergyman from my housegentlemen?'

"'What's Richard been at now?'

"Mr. Washington asked me to dress, saying that they had something veryparticular to speak about; that they would stay to breakfast with me, tho' they were in haste to be gone to New York. I made my complimentsto the colonel and had them shown to the library fire, and hurrieddown after them. Then they told me of this affair last night, and theycleared you, sir. 'Faith, ' cried I, 'and I would have fought, too. The lad was in the right of it, though I would have him a little lesshasty. ' D--n me if I don't wish you had knocked that sea captain's teethinto his throat, and his brains with them. I like your spirit, sir. Apox on such men as he, who disgrace his Majesty's name and set bettermen against him. "

"And they told you nothing else, sir?" I asked, with misgiving. 

"That they did. Mr. Washington repeated the confession you made tothem, sir, in a manner that did you credit. He made me compliments onyou, --said that you were a man, sir, though a trifle hasty: in the whichI agreed. Yes, d--n me, a trifle hasty like your father. I rejoice thatyou did not kill his Lordship, my son. "

The twilight was beginning; and the old gentleman going back to hischair was set amusing, gazing out across the bare trees and gablesfalling gray after the sunset. 

What amazed me was that he did not seem to be shocked by the revelationnear as much as I had feared. So this matter had brought me happinesswhere I looked for nothing but sorrow. 

"And the gentlemen are gone north, sir?" said I, after a while. 

"Yes, Richard, these four hours. I commanded an early dinner for them, since the colonel was pleased to tarry long enough for a little politicsand to spin a glass. And I profess, was I to live neighbours with sucha man, I might come to his way of thinking, despite myself. Though I sayit that shouldn't, some of his Majesty's ministers are d--d rascals. "

I laughed. As I live, I never hoped to hear such words from mygrandfather's lips. 

"He did not seek to convince, like so many of your hotheadedknow-it-alls, " said Mr. Carvel; "he leaves a man to convince himself. Hehas great parts, Richard, and few can stand before him. " He paused. Andthen his smooth-shaven face became creased in a roguish smile whichI had often seen upon it. "What baggage is this I hear of that youquarrelled over at the assembly? Ah, Sir, I fear you are become but asad rake!" says he. 

But by great good fortune Dr. Leiden was shown in at this instant. Andthe candles being lighted, he examined my neck, haranguing the while inhis vile English against the practice of duelling. He bade me keep mybed for two days, thereby giving me no great pleasure. 

"As I hope to live, " said Mr. Carvel when the doctor was gone, "onewould have thought his Excellency himself had been pinked instead of awhip of a lad, for the people who have been here. His Lordship and Dr. Courtenay came before the hunt, and young Mr. Fotheringay, and half ascore of others. Mr. Swain is but now left to go to Baltimore on somebarrister's business. "

I was burning to learn what the rector had said to Patty, but it wasplain Mr. Carvel knew nothing of this part of the story. He had notmentioned Grafton among the callers. I wondered what course my unclewould now pursue, that his plans to alienate me from my grandfather hadfailed. And I began debating whether or not to lay the whole plot beforeMr. Carvel. Prudence bade me wait, since Grafton had not consorted withthe rector openly, at least--for more than a year. And yet I spoke. 

"Mr. Carvel!"

He stirred in his chair. 

"Yes, my son. "

He had to repeat, and still I held my tongue. Even as I hesitated therecame a knock at the door, and Scipio entered, bearing candles. 

"Massa Grafton, suh, " he said. 

My uncle was close at his heels. He was soberly dressed in dark brownsilk, and his face wore that expression of sorrow and concern heknew how to assume at will. After greeting his father with his usualceremony, he came to my bedside and asked gravely how I did. 

"How now, Grafton!" cried Mr. Carvel; "this is no funeral. The lad hasonly a scratch, thank God!"

My uncle looked at me and forced a smile. 

"Indeed I am rejoiced to find you are not worried over this matter, father, " said he. "I am but just back from Kent to learn of it, andlooked to find you in bed. "

"Why, no, sir, I am not worried. I fought a duel in my own day, --over alass, it was. "

This time Grafton's smile was not forced. 

"Over a lass, was it?" he asked, and added in a tone of relief, "and howdo you, nephew?"

Mr. Carvel saved me from replying. 

"'Od's life!" he cried; "no, I did not say this was over a lass. I haveheard the whole matter; how Captain Collinson, who is a disgrace to theservice, brought shame upon his Majesty's supporters, and how Richardfelled the young lord instead. I'll be sworn, and I had been there, Imyself would have run the brute through. "

My uncle did not ask for further particulars, but took a chair, and adish of tea from Scipio. His smug look told me plainer than words thathe thought my grandfather still ignorant of my Whig sentiments. 

"I often wish that this deplorable practice of duelling might belegislated against, " he remarked. "Was there no one at the Coffee Housewith character enough to stop the lads?"

Here was my chance. 

"Mr. Allen was there, " I said. 

"A devil's plague upon him!" shouted my grandfather, beating the floorwith his stick. "And the lying hypocrite ever crosses my path, by gad'slife! I'll tear his gown from his back!"

I watched Grafton narrowly. Such as he never turn pale, but he set downhis tea so hastily as to spill the most of it on the dresser. 

"Why, you astound me, my dear father!" he faltered; "Mr. Allen a lyinghypocrite? What can he have done?"

"Done!" cried my grandfather, sputtering and red as a cherry withindignation. "He is as rotten within as a pricked pear, I tell you, sir!For the sake of retaining the lad in his tuition he came to me and lied, sir, just after I had escaped death, and said that by his influenceRichard had become loyal, and set dependence upon Richard's fear ofthe shock 'twould give me if he confessed--Richard, who never told mea falsehood in his life! And instead of teaching him, he has gamed withthe lad at the rectory. I dare make oath he has treated your son to alike instruction. 'Slife, sir, and he had his deserts, he would hangfrom a gibbet at the Town Gate. "

I raised up in bed to see the effect of this on my uncle. But howeverthe wind veered, Grafton could steer a course. He got up and beganpacing the room, and his agitation my grandfather took for indignationsuch as his own. 

"The dog!" he cried fiercely. "The villain! Philip shall leave himto-morrow. And to think that it was I who moved you to put Richard tohim!"

His distress seemed so real that Mr. Carvel replied:

"No, Grafton, 'twas not your fault. You were deceived as much as I. Youhave put your own son to him. But if I live another twelve hours I shallwrite his Lordship to remove him. What! You shake your head, sir!"

"It will not do, " said my uncle. "Lord Baltimore has had his reasons forsending such a scoundrel--he knew what he was, you may be sure, father. His Lordship, sir, is the most abandoned rake in London, and thatunmentionable crime of his but lately in the magazines--"

"Yes, yes, " my grandfather interrupted; "I have seen it. But I willpublish him in Annapolis. "

My uncle's answer startled me, so like was it to the argument ColonelWashington himself had used. 

"What would you publish, sir? Mr. Allen will reply that what he didwas for the lad's good, and your own. He may swear that since Richardmentioned politics no more he had taken his conversion for granted. "

My grandfather groaned, and did not speak, and I saw the futility ofattempting to bring Grafton to earth for a while yet. 

My uncle had recovered his confidence. He had hoped, so he said, thatI had become a good loyalist: perchance as I grew older I would see thefolly of those who called themselves Patriots. But my grandfather criedout to him not to bother me then. And when at last he was gone, of myown volition I proposed to promise Mr. Carvel that, while he lived, Iwould take no active part in any troubles that might come. He stopped mewith some vehemence. 

"I pray God there may be no troubles, lad, " he answered; "but you needgive me no promise. I would rather see you in the Whig ranks than atrimmer, for the Carvels have ever been partisans. "

I tried to express my gratitude. But he sighed and wished me good night, bidding me get some rest. 

I had scarce finished my breakfast the next morning when I heard a loudrat-tat-tat upon the street door-surely the footman of some person ofconsequence. And Scipio was in the act of announcing the names when, greatly to his disgust, the visitors themselves rushed into my bedroomand curtailed the ceremony. They were none other than Dr. Courtenay andmy Lord Comyn himself. His Lordship had no sooner seen me than he ranto the bed, grasped both my hands and asked me how I did, declaring hewould not have gone to yesterday's hunt had he been permitted to visitme. 

"Richard, " cried the doctor, "your fame has sprung up like Jonah'sgourd. The Gazette is but just distributed. Here's for you! 'Twill setthe wags a-going, I'll warrant. "

He drew the newspaper from his pocket and began to read, stopping nowand anon to laugh:

"Rumour hath it that a Young Gentleman of Quality of this Town, who ispossessed of more Valour than Discretion, and whose Skill at Fence andin the Field is beyond his Years, crossed Swords on Wednesday Nightwith a Young Nobleman from the Thunderer. The Cause of this DeplorableQuarrel, which had its Origin at the Ball, is purported to have beena Young Lady of Wit and Beauty. (& we doubt it not; for, alas! the Sexhath Much to answer for of this Kind. )

"The Gentlemen, with their Seconds, repaired after the Assembly to theCoffee House. 'Tis said upon Authority that H-s L-dsh-p owes his Life tothe Noble Spirit of our Young American, who cast down his Blade ratherthan sheathe it in his Adversary's Body, thereby himself receiving aGrievous, the' happily not Mortal, Wound. Our Young Gentleman is becomethe Hero of the Town, and the Subject of Prodigious Anxiety of all theLadies thereof. "

"There's for you, my lad!" says he; "Mr. Green has done for you bothcleverly. "

"Upon my soul, " I cried, raising up in bed, "he should be put in thegatehouse for his impudence! My Lord, --"

"Don't 'My Lord' me, " says Comyn; "plain 'Jack' will do. "

There was no resisting such a man: and I said as much. And took his handand called him 'Jack, ' the doctor posing before the mirror the while, stroking his rues. "Out upon you both, " says he, "for a brace ofsentimental fools!"

"Richard, " said Comyn, presently, with a roguish glance at the doctor, "there were some reason in our fighting had it been over a favour ofMiss Manners. Eh? Come, doctor, " he cried, "you will break your necklooking for the reflection of wrinkles. Come, now, we must have littleFinery's letter. I give you my word Chartersea is as ugly as all threeheads of Cerberus, and as foul as a ship's barrel of grease. I tell youMiss Dorothy would sooner marry you. "

"And she might do worse, my Lord, " the doctor flung back, with a strut. 

"Ay, and better. But I promise you Richard and I are not such fools asto think she will marry his Grace. We must have the little coxcomb'sletter. "

"Well, have it you must, I suppose, " returns the doctor. And with thathe draws it from his pocket, where he has it buttoned in. Then he took apinch of Holland and began. 

The first two pages had to deal with Miss Dorothy's triumph, to whichher father made full justice. Mr. Manners world have the doctor (and allthe province) to know that peers of the realm, soldiers, and statesmenwere at her feet. Orders were as plentiful in his drawing-room as thecandles. And he had taken a house in Arlington Street, where HorryWalpole lived when not at Strawberry, and their entrance was crowdednight and day with the footmen and chairmen of the grand monde. LordComyn broke in more than once upon the reading, crying, --"Hear, hear!"and, --"My word, Mr. Manners has not perjured himself thus far. He hasnot done her justice by half. " And I smiled at the thought that I hadaspired to such a beauty!

"'Entre noes, mon cher Courtenay, ' Mr. Manners writes, 'entre noes, our Dorothy hath had many offers of great advantage since she hath beenhere. And but yesterday comes a chariot with a ducal coronet to ourdoor. His Grace of Chartersea, if you please, to request a privatetalk with me. And I rode with him straightway to his house in HanoverSquare. '"

"'Egad! And would gladly have ridden straightway to Newgate, in a ducalchariot!" cried his Lordship, in a fit of laughter. 

"'I rode to Hanover Square, ' the doctor continued, 'where we discussedthe matter over a bottle. His Grace's generosity was such that I couldnot but cry out at it, for he left me to name any settlement I pleased. He must have Dorothy at any price, said he. And I give you my honour, mon cher Courtenay, that I lost no time in getting back to ArlingtonStreet, and called Dorothy down to tell her. '"

"Now may I be flayed, " said Comyn, "if ever there was such another ass!"

The doctor took more snuff and fell a-laughing. 

"But hark to this, " said he, "here's the cream of it all:

"You will scarce believe me when I say that the baggage was near besideherself with anger at what I had to tell her. 'Marry that misshapenduke!' cries she, 'I would quicker marry Doctor Johnson!' And truly, Ibegin to fear she hath formed an affection for some like, foul-linenedbeggar. That his Grace is misshapen I cannot deny; but I tried reasonupon her. 'Think of the coronet, my dear, and of the ancient name towhich it belongs. ' She only stamps her foot and cries out:

"'Coronet fiddlesticks! And are you not content with the name you bear, sir?" 'Our name is good as any in the three kingdoms, ' said I, withtruth. 'Then you would have me, for the sake of the coronet, joined toa wretch who is steeped in debauchery. Yes, debauchery, sir! You mightthen talk, forsooth, to the macaronies of Maryland, of your daughter theDuchess. '"

"There's spirit for you, my lad!" Comyn shouted; "I give you MissDorothy. " And he drained a glass of punch Scipio had brought in, DoctorCourtenay and I joining him with a will. 

"I pray you go on, sir, " I said to the doctor. 

"A pest on your impatience!" replied he; "I begin to think you are inlove with her yourself. "

"To be sure he is, " said Comyn; "he had lost my esteem and he were not. "

The doctor gave me an odd look. I was red enough, indeed. 

"'I could say naught, my dear Courtenay, to induce her to believe thathis Grace's indiscretions arose from the wildness of youth. And I passover the injustice she hath unwittingly done me, whose only efforts arefor her bettering. The end of it all was that I must needs post backto the duke, who was stamping with impatience up and down, and drinkingBurgundy. I am sure I meant him no offence, but told him in as manywords, that my daughter had refused him. And, will you believe me, sir? He took occasion to insult me (I cannot with propriety repeat hisspeech), and he flung a bottle after me as I passed out the door. Was henot far gone in wine at the time, I assure you I had called him out forit. '"

"And, gentlemen, " said the doctor, when our merriment was somewhatspent, "I'll lay a pipe of the best Madeira, that our little fool neverknows the figure he has cut with his Grace. "

CHAPTER XVI. IN WHICH SOME THINGS ARE MADE CLEAR

The Thunderer weighed the next day, Saturday, while I was still uponmy back, and Comyn sailed with her. Not, however, before I had seenhim again. Our affection was such as comes not often to those who drifttogether to part. And he left me that sword with the jewelled hilt, thathangs above my study fire, which he had bought in Toledo. He told methat he was heartily sick of the navy; that he had entered only inrespect for a wish of his father's, the late Admiral Lord Comyn, andthat the Thunderer was to sail for New York, where he looked for arelease from his commission, and whence he would return to England. Hewould carry any messages to Miss Manners that I chose to send. ButI could think of none, save to beg him to remind her that she wasconstantly in my thoughts. He promised me, roguishly enough, that hewould have thought of a better than that by the time he sighted CapeClear. And were I ever to come to London he would put me up at Brooks'sClub, and warrant me a better time and more friends than ever had aCaribbee who came home on a visit. 

My grandfather kept his word in regard to Mr. Allen, and on Sundaycommanded the coach at eight. We drove over bad roads to the church atSouth River. And he afterwards declined the voluntary aid he hithertohad been used to give to St. Anne's. In the meantime, good Mr. Swain hadcalled again, bringing some jelly and cake of Patty's own making; anda letter writ out of the sincerity of her heart, full of tender concernand of penitence. She would never cease to blame herself for the wrongshe now knew she had done me. 

Though still somewhat weak from my wound and confinement, after dinnerthat Sunday I repaired to Gloucester Street. From the window she sawme coming, and, bare-headed, ran out in the cold to meet me. Her eyesrested first on the linen around my throat, and she seemed all in a fireof anxiety. 

"I had thought you would come to-day, when I heard you had been to SouthRiver, " she said. 

I was struck all of a sudden with her looks. Her face was pale, and Isaw that she had suffered as much again as I. Troubled, I followed herinto the little library. The day was fading fast, and the leaping flamesbehind the andirons threw fantastic shadows across the beams of theceiling. We sat together in the deep window. 

"And you have forgiven me, Richard?" she asked. 

"An hundred times, " I replied. "I deserved all I got, and more. "

"If I had not wronged and insulted you--"

"You did neither, Patty, " I broke in; "I have played a double part forthe first and last time in my life, and I have been justly punished forit. "

"'Twas I sent you to the Coffee House, " she cried, "where you might havebeen killed. How I despise myself for listening to Mr. Allen's tales!"

"Then it was Mr. Allen!" I exclaimed, fetching a long breath. 

"Yes, yes; I will tell you all. "

"No, " said I, alarmed at her agitation; "another time. "

"I must, " she answered more calmly; "it has burned me enough. You recallthat we were at supper together, with Betty Tayloe and Lord Comyn, and how merry we were, altho' 'twas nothing but 'Dorothy' with yougentlemen. Then you left me. Afterwards, as I was talking with Mr. Singleton, the rector came up. I never have liked the man, Richard, butI little knew his character. He began by twitting me for a Whig, andpresently he said: 'But we have gained one convert, Miss Swain, who seesthe error of his ways. Scarce a year since young Richard Carvel promisedto be one of those with whom his Majesty will have to reckon. And heis now become, '--laughing, --'the King's most loyal and devoted. ' I wasbeside myself. 'That is no subject for jest, Mr. Allen, ' I cried; Iwill never believe it of him!' 'Jest!' said he; I give you my word I wasnever soberer in my life. ' Then it all came to me of a sudden that yousat no longer by the hour with my father, as you used, and you denouncedthe King's measures and ministers no more. My father had spoken of it. 'Tell me why he has changed?' I asked, faltering with doubt of you, which I never before had felt. 'Indeed, I know not, ' replied the rector, with his most cynical smile; unless it is because old Mr. Carvel mightdisinherit a Whig. But I see you doubt my word, Miss Swain. Here is Mr. Carroll, and you may ask him. ' God forgive me, Richard! I stopped Mr. Carroll, who seemed mightily surprised. And he told me yes, that yourgrandfather had said but a few days before, and with joy, that you werenow of his Majesty's party. "

"Alas! I might have foreseen this consequence, " I exclaimed. "Nor do Iblame you, Patty. "

"But my father has explained all, " Patty continued, brightening. "Hisadmiration for you is increased tenfold, Richard. Your grandfather toldhim of the rector's treachery, which he says is sufficient to make himturn Methodist or Lutheran. We went to the curate's service to-day. And--will you hear more, sir? Or do your ears burn? That patriots andloyalists are singing your praises from Town Gate to the dock, andregretting that you did not kill that detestable Captain Collinson--butI have something else, and of more importance, to tell you, Richard, "she continued, lowering her voice. 

"What Mr. Carroll had told me stunned me like a blow, such had been myfaith in you. And when Mr. Allen moved off, I stood talking toPercy Singleton and his Lordship without understanding a word of theconversation. I could scarce have been in my right mind. It was not yourgoing over to the other side that pained me so, for all your people areTories. But I had rather seen you dead than a pretender and a hypocrite, selling yourself for an inheritance. Then you came. My natural impulseshould have been to draw you aside and there accuse you. But this wasbeyond my strength. And when I saw you go away without a word I knewthat I had been unjust. I could have wept before them all. Mr. Carrollwent for his coach, and was a full half an hour in getting it. But thisis what I would tell you in particular, Richard. I have not spoken of itto a soul, and it troubles me above all else: While Maria was getting mycardinal I heard voices on the other side of the dressing-room door. Thesupper-room is next, you know. I listened, and recognized the rector'sdeep tones: 'He has gone to the Coffee House, ' he was saying; Collinsondeclares that his Lordship is our man, if we can but contrive it. He isthe best foil in the service, and was taught by--there! I have forgotthe name. "

"Angelo!" I cried. 

"Yes, yes, Angelo it was. How did you know?" she demanded, rising in herexcitement. 

"Angelo is the great fencing-master of London, " I replied. 

"When I heard that, " she said, "I had no doubt of your innocence. I ranout into the assembly room as I was, in my hood, and tried to find Tom. But he--" She paused, ashamed. 

"Yes, I know, " I said hurriedly; "you could not find him. "

She glanced at me in gratitude. 

"How everybody stared at me! But little I cared! 'Twas that gave rise toMr. Green's report. I thought of Percy Singleton, and stopped him in themidst of a dance to bid him run as fast as his legs would carry him tothe Coffee House, and to see that no harm befell you. 'I shall hold youresponsible for Richard, ' I whispered. 'You must get him away from Mr. Claude's, or I shall never speak to you again. ' He did not wait to askquestions, but went at once, like the good fellow he is. Then I rodehome with Maria. I would not have Mr. Carroll come with me, though hebegged hard. Father was in here, writing his brief. But I was all inpieces, Richard, and so shaken with sobbing that I could tell him nomore than that you had gone to the Coffee House, where they meant todraw you into a duel. He took me up to my own room, and I heard himgoing out to wake Limbo to harness, and at last heard him driving awayin our coach. I hope I may never in my life spend such another hour as Ipassed then. "

The light in the sky had gone out. I looked up at the girl before me asshe stood gazing into the flame, her features in strong relief, herlips parted, her hair red-gold, and the rounded outlines of her figuresoftened. I wondered why I had never before known her beauty. Perchanceit was because, until that night, I had never seen her heart. 

I leaped to my feet and seized her hands. For a second she looked at me, startled. Then she tore them away and ran behind the dipping chair inthe corner. 

"Richard, Richard!" she exclaimed. "Did Dorothy but know!"

"Dorothy is occupied with titles, " I said. 

Patty's lip quivered. And I knew, blundering fool that I was, that I hadhurt her. 

"Oh, you wrong her!" she cried; "believe me when I say that she lovesyou, and you only, Richard. "

"Loves me!" I retorted bitterly, --brutally, I fear. "No. She may haveonce, long ago. But now her head is turned. "

"She loves you now, " answered Patty, earnestly; "and I think ever will, if you but deserve her. "

And with that she went away, leaving me to stare after her in perplexityand consternation. 

CHAPTER XVII. SOUTH RIVER

My grandfather's defection from St. Anne's called forth a deal ofcomment in Annapolis. His Excellency came to remonstrate, but to noavail, and Mr. Carvel denounced the rector in such terms that theGovernor was glad to turn the subject. My Uncle Grafton acted withsuch quickness and force as would have served to lull the sharpestsuspicions. He forbid the rector his house, attended the curate'sservice, and took Philip from his care. It was decided that both mycousin and I were to go to King's College after Christmas. Grafton'sconduct greatly pleased my grandfather. "He has behaved very loyally inthis matter, Richard. " he said to me. "I grow to reproach myself moreevery day for the injustice I once did him. He is heaping coals of fireupon my old head. But, faith! I cannot stomach your Aunt Caroline. Youdo not seem to like your uncle, lad. "

I answered that I did not. 

"It was ever the Carvel way not to forget, " he went on. "Nevertheless, Grafton hath your welfare at heart, I think. His affection for you ashis brother's son is great. "

O that I had spoken the words that burned my tongue!

Christmas fell upon Monday of that year, 1769. There was to be a ball atUpper Marlboro on the Friday before, to which many of us were invited. Though the morning came in with a blinding snowstorm from the north, thefirst of that winter, about ten of the clock we set out from Annapolisan exceeding merry party, the ladies in four coaches-and-six, thegentlemen and their servants riding at the wheels. We laughed and jokeddespite the storm, and exchanged signals with the fair ones behind theglasses. 

But we had scarce got two miles beyond the town gate when a messengerovertook us with a note for Mr. Carvel, writ upon an odd slip of paper, and with great apparent hurry:

HONOURED SIR, "I have but just come to Annapolis from New York, with Instructionsto put into your Hands, & no Others, a Message of the greatest Import. Hearing you are but now set out for Upper Marlboro I beg of you toreturn for half an Hour to the Coffee House. By so doing you will beof service to a Friend, and confer a Favour upon y'r most ob'd't HumbleServant, "SILAS RIDGEWAY. "

Our cavalcade had halted while I read, the ladies letting down theglasses and leaning out in their concern lest some trouble had befallenme or my grandfather. I answered them and bade them ride on, vowing thatI would overtake the coaches before they reached the Patuxent. Then Iturned Cynthia's head for town, with Hugo at my heels. 

Patty, leaning from the window of the last coach, called out to me as Ipassed. I waved my hand in return, and did not remember until long afterthe anxiety in her eyes. 

As I rode, and I rode hard, I pondered over the words of this letter. Iknew not this Mr. Ridgeway from the Lord Mayor of London; but I came tothe conclusion before I had reprised the gate that his message was fromCaptain Daniel. And I greatly feared that some evil had befallen my goodfriend. So I came to the Coffee House, and throwing my bridle to Hugo, Iran in. 

I found Mr. Ridgeway neither in the long room nor in the billiard roomnor the bar. Mr. Claude told me that indeed a man had arrived thatmorning from the North, a spare person with a hooked nose and scanthair, in a brown greatcoat with a torn cape. He had gone forth afoothalf an hour since. His messenger, a negro lad whose face I knew, wasin the stables with Hugo. He had never seen the stranger till he methim that morning in State House Circle inquiring for Mr. Carvel, and hadbeen given a shilling to gallop after me. Impatient as I was to be gone, I sat me down in the coffee room, thinking every minute the man mustreturn, and strongly apprehensive that Captain Daniel must be in somegrave predicament. That the favour he asked was of such a nature as I, and not my grandfather, could best fulfil. 

At length, about a quarter after noon, my man comes in with Mr. Claudeclose behind him. I liked his looks less than his description, and themoment I clapped eyes on him I knew that Captain Daniel had never chosesuch a messenger. 

"This is Mr. Richard Carvel, " said Mr. Claude. 

The fellow made me a low bow, which I scarcely returned. 

"I am sure, 'sir, " he began in a whining voice, "that I crave yourforbearance for this prodigious, stupid mistake I have made. "

"Mistake!" I exclaimed hotly; "you mean to say, sir, that you havebrought me back for nothing?"

The man's eye shifted, and he made me another bow. 

"I scarce know what to say, Mr. Carvel, " he answered with much humility;"to speak truth, 'twas zeal to my employers, and methought to you, thatcaused you to retrace your steps in this pestiferous storm. I travel, "he proceeded with some importance, "I travel for Messrs. Rinnell andRunn, Barristers of the town of New York, and carry letters to men ofmark all over these middle and southern colonies. And my instructions, sir, were to come to Annapolis with all reasonable speed with thisdouble-sealed enclosure for Mr. Carvel: and to deliver it to him, andhim only, the very moment I arrived. As I came through your town I madeinquiries, and was told by a black fellow in the Circle that Mr. Carvel was but just left for Upper Marlboro with a cavalcade of fourcoaches-and-six and some dozen gentlemen with their servants. I am suremy mistake was pardonable, Mr. Carvel, " he concluded with a smirk; "thisgentleman was plainly of the first quality, as was he to whom I wasdirected. And as he was about to leave town for I knew not how long, Ihope I was in the right in bidding the black ride after him, for Igive you my word the business was most pressing for him. I crave yourforgiveness, and the pleasure of drinking your honour's health. "

I barely heard the fellow through, and was turning on my heel indisgust, when it struck me to ask him what Mr. Carvel he sought, for Ifeared lest my grandfather had got into some lawsuit. 

"And it please your honour, Mr. Grafton Carvel, " said he; "your uncle, I understand. Unfortunately he has gone to his estate in Kent County, whither I must now follow him. "

I bade Mr. Claude summon my servant, not stopping to question the manfurther, such was my resentment against him. And in ten minutes we wereout of the town again, galloping between the nearly filled tracks of thecoaches, now three hours ahead of us. The storm was increasing, and thewind cutting, but I dug into Cynthia so that poor Hugo was put to it tohold the pace, and, tho' he had a pint of rum in him, was near perishedwith the cold. As my anger cooled somewhat I began to wonder how Mr. Silas Ridgeway, whoever he was, could have been such a simpleton as hisstory made him out. Indeed, he looked more the rogue than the ass; norcould I conceive how reliable barristers could hire such a one. I wishedheartily that I had exhausted him further, and a suspicion crossed mybrain that he might have come to Mr. Allen, who had persuaded him todeliver a letter to Grafton intended for me. Some foreboding besetme, and I was once close to a full mind for going back, and slackedCynthia's pace to a trot. But the thought of the pleasures at UpperMarlboro' and the hope of overtaking the party at Mr. Dorsey's place, over the Patuxent, where they looked to dine, decided me in pushing on. And thus we came to South River, with the snow so thick that we couldscarce see ten yards in front of us. 

Beyond, the road winds up the hill'around the end of Mr. Wiley'splantation and plunges shortly into the woods, gray and cold indeedto-day. At their skirt a trail branches off which leads to Mr. Whey'swarehouses, on the water's edge a mile or so below. And I marked thatthis path was freshly trodden. I recall a small shock of surprise atthis, for the way was used only in the early autumn to connect withsome fields beyond the hill. And then I heard a sharp cry from Hugo andpulled Cynthia short. He was some ten paces behind me. 

"Marse Dick!" he shouted, the whites of his eyes rolled up. "We'se gwineto be robbed, Marse Dick. " And he pointed to the footprints in the snow;"somefin done tole Hugo not come to-day. "

"Nonsense!" I cried; "Mr. Wiley is making his lazy beggars cut woodagainst Christmas. "

When in this temper the poor fellow had more fear of me than of aughtelse, and he closed up to my horse's flank, glancing apprehensively tothe right and left, his teeth rattling. We went at a brisk trot. We knownot, indeed, how to account for many things in this world, for with. Each beat of Cynthia's feet I found myself repeating the words SouthRiver and Marlboro, and seeking in my mind a connection to somethinggone before. Then, like a sudden gust of wind, comes to me that strangetalk between Grafton and the rector, overheard by old Harvey in thestables at Carvel Hall. And Cynthia's ears were pointing forward. 

With a quick impulse I loosed the lower frogs of my coat, for my swordwas buckled beneath, and was reaching for one of the brace of pistolsin my saddle-bags. I had but released them when Hugo cried out: "Gawd, Marse Dick, run for yo' life!" and I caught a glimpse of him flying downthe road. As I turned a shot rang out, Cynthia reared high with a roughbrute of a fellow clinging to her bridle. I sent my charge full into hischest, and as he tumbled in the snow I dug my spurs to the rowels. 

What happened then is still a blurred picture in my brain. I know thatCynthia was shot from under me before she had taken her leap, and wefell heavily together. And I was scarcely up again and my sword drawn, when the villains were pressing me from all sides. I remember spittingbut one, and then I heard a great seafaring oath, the first word out oftheir mouths, and I was felled from behind with a mighty blow. 

CHAPTER XVIII. THE "BLACK MOLL"

I have no intention, my dears, of dwelling upon that part of myadventures which must be as painful to you as to me, the veryrecollection of which, after all these years, suffices to cause theblood within me to run cold. In my youth men whose natures shrank notfrom encounter with their enemies lacked not, I warrant you, a checkeredexperience. Those of us who are wound the tightest go the farthest andstrike the hardest. Nor is it difficult for one, the last of whose lifeis being recorded, to review the outspread roll of it, and trace theunerring forces which have drawn for themselves. 

Some, indeed, traverse this world weighing, before they partake, pleasure and business alike. But I am not sure, my children, that theybetter themselves; or that God, in His all-wise judgment, prefers themto such as are guided by the divine impulse with which He has endowedthem. Far be it from me to advise rashness or imprudence, as such; nordo I believe you will take me so. But I say unto you: do that which isright, and let God, not man, be your interpreter. 

My narrative awaits me. 

I came to my wits with an immoderate feeling of faintness and sickness, with no more remembrance of things past than has a man bereft ofreason. And for some time I swung between sense and oblivion before anoverpowering stench forced itself upon my nostrils, accompanied by acreaking, straining sound and sweeping motion. I could see nothing forthe pitchy blackness. Then I recalled what had befallen me, and criedaloud to God in my anguish, for I well knew I had been carried aboardship, and was at sea. I had oftentimes heard of the notorious press-gangwhich supplied the need of the King's navy, and my first thought wasthat I had fallen in their clutches. But I wondered that they had daredattack a person of my consequence. 

I had no pain. I lay in a bunk that felt gritty and greasy to the touch, and my hair was matted behind by a clot of blood. I had been stripped ofmy clothes, and put into some coarse and rough material, the colour andcondition of which I could not see for want of light. I began to castabout me, to examine the size of the bunk, which I found to be narrow, and plainly at some distance from the deck, for I laid hold upon one ofthe rough beams above me. By its curvature I knew it to be a knee, andthus I came to the caulked sides of the vessel, and for the first timeheard the rattling thud and swish of water on the far side of it. I hadno sooner made this discovery, which drew from me an involuntary groan, when a ship's lanthorn was of a sudden thrust over me, and I perceivedbehind it a head covered with shaggy hair and beard, and beetling brows. Never had I been in such a terrifying presence. 

"Damn my blood and bones, life signals at last! Another three bellsgone, my silks and laces, and we had given you to the sharks. "

The man hung his lanthorn to a hook on the beam, and thrust acase-bottle of rum toward me, at the same time biting off a great quidof tobacco. For all my alarm I saw that his manner was not unkindly, andas I was conscious of a consuming thirst I seized and tipped it eagerly. 

"'Tis no fine Madeira, my blood, " said he, "such as I fancy your palateis acquainted with. Yet 'tis as fair a Jamaica as ever Griggs put ashorei' the dark. "

"Griggs!" I cried, the whole affair coming to me: Griggs, UpperMarlboro', South River, Grafton and the rector plotting in the stalls, and Mr. Silas Ridgeway the accomplice. 

"Ay, Griggs, " replied he; "ye may well repeat it, the-------, I'll lay apuncheon he'll be hailing you shortly. Guinea Griggs, Gold-Coast Griggs, Smuggler Griggs, Skull-and-Bones Griggs. Damn his soul and eyes, he hathsent to damnation many a ship's company. "

He drained what remained of the bottle, took down the lanthorn, and leftme sufficiently terrified to reflect upon my situation, which I founddesperate enough, my dears. I have no words to describe what I wentthrough in that vile, foul-smelling place. My tears flowed fast when Ithought of my grandfather and of the dear friends I had left behind, andof Dorothy, whom I never hoped to see again. And then, perchance 'twasthe rum put heart into me, I vowed I would face the matter show thiscut-throat of a Griggs a bold front. Had he meant to murder me, Ireflected, he had done the business long since. Then I fell asleep. 

I awoke, I know not how soon, to discover the same shaggy countenance, and the lanthorn. 

"Canst walk, Mechlin?" says he. 

"I can try, at least, " I answered. 

He seemed pleased at this. 

"You have courage a-plenty, and, by G--, you will have need of it allwith that of a Griggs!" He gave me his bottle again, and assisted medown, and I found that my legs, save for the rocking of the ship, weresteady enough. I followed him out of the hole in which I had lain on toa deck, which, in the half light, I saw covered with slush and filth. It was small, and but dimly illuminated by a hatchway, up the which Ipushed after him, and then another. And so we came to the light of day, which near blinded me: so that I was fain to clap my hand to mine eyes, and stood for a space looking about me like a man dazed. The wind, tho'blowing stiff, was mild, and league after league of the green sea dancedand foamed in the morning sunlight, and I perceived that I was on alarge schooner under full sail, the crew of which were littered aboutat different occupations. Some gaming and some drinking, while on theforecastle two men were settling a dispute at fisticuffs. And they gaveme no more notice, nor as much, than I had been a baboon thrust amongthem. From this indifference to a captive I augured no good. Then myconductor, whom I rightly judged to be the mate of this devil's crew, took me roughly by the shoulder and bade me accompany him to the cabin. 

As we drew near the topgallant poop there sounded in my ears a noiselike a tempest, which I soon became aware was a man swearing with aprodigious vehemence in a fog-horn of a voice. "Sdeath and wounds! Whereis that dog-fish of a Cockle? Damn his entrails, and he is not comesoon, I'll mast-head him naked, by the seven holy spritsails!" Andmuch more and worse to the same tune until we passed the door and stoodbefore him, when he let out an oath like the death-cry of a monster. 

He was a short, lean man with a leathery face and long, black ropy hair, and beady black eyes that caught the light like a cat's. His looks, indeed, would have scared a timid person into a fit; but I resolved Iwould die rather than show the fear with which he inspired me. He wasdressed in an old navy uniform with dirty lace. His cabin was bareenough, being scattered about with pistols and muskets and cutlasses, with a ragged pallet in one corner, and he sat behind an oaken tablecovered with greasy charts and spilled liquor and tobacco. 

"So ho, you are risen from the dead, are you, my fine buck? Mr. What-do-they-call-you?" cried the captain, with a word as foul as anyhe had yet uttered. "By the Lord, you shall pay for running my bosunthrough!"

"And by the Lord, Captain What's-your-name, " I cried back, for the rum Ihad taken had heated me, "you and your fellow-rascals shall pay in bloodfor this villanous injury!"

Griggs got to his feet and seized his hanger, his face like livid marbleseamed with blue. And from force of habit I made motion for my sword, to make the shameful discovery that I was clothed from head to foot inlinsey-woolsey. 

"G-d---my soul, " he roared, "if I don't slit you like a herring! Thedevil burn me to a cinder if I don't give your guts to the sharks!" Andhe made at me in such a fury that I would certainly have been cut topieces had I not grasped a cutlass and parried his blow, Cockle lookingon with his jaw dropped like a peak without haulyards. With a stroke ofmy weapon I disarmed Captain Griggs, his sword flying through the cabinwindow. For I made up my mind I would better die fighting than expire ata hideous torture, which I doubted not he would inflict, and so I tookup a posture of defence, with one eye on the mate; despite the kindoffices of the latter below I knew not whether he were disposed tobefriend me before the captain. What was my astonishment, therefore, tobehold Griggs's truculent manner change. 

"Avast, my man-o-war, " he cried; "blood and wounds! I had more than aneye when they brought thee aboard, else I would have killed thee likea sucking-pig under the forecastle, as I have given oath to do. By theGhost, you are worth seven of that Roger Spratt whom you sent to hell inhis boots. "

Wherewith Cockle, who for all his terrible appearance stood in a mightyawe of his captain, set up a loud laugh, and vowed that Griggs knew aman when he spared me, and was cursed for his pains. 

"So you were contracted to murder me, Captain Griggs?" said I. 

"Ay, " he replied, a devilish gleam coming into his eye, "but I have nowgot you and the money to boot. But harkye, I'll stand by my half of thebargain, by G--. If ever you reach Maryland alive, they may hang me tothe yardarm of a ship-of-the-line. "

And I live long enough, my dears, I hope some day to write for you theaccount of all that befell me on this slaver, Black Moll, for so she wascalled. 'Twould but delay my story now. Suffice it to say that we sailedfor a fortnight or so in the West India seas. From some observationsthat fell from the mouth of Griggs I gathered that he was searching foran island which evaded him; and each day added to his vexation at notfinding it. At times he was drunk for forty hours at a stretch, whenhe would shut himself in his cabin and leave his ship to the care ofCockle, who navigated with the sober portion of the crew. And such alousy, brawling lot of convicts I had never clapped eyes upon. As forme, I was treated indifferently well, though 'twas in truth punishmentenough to live in that filthy ship, to eat their shins of beef and brinypork and wormy biscuit, to wear rough clothes that chafed my skin. Ishared Cockle's cabin, in every way as dirty a place as the den I hadleft, but with the advantage of air, for which I fervently thanked God. 

I think the mate had some little friendship for me, though he was toohardened by the life he had led to care a deal what became of me. Heencouraged me secretly to continue to beard Griggs as I had begun, saying that it was my sole chance of a whole skin, and vowing that if hehad had the courage to pursue the same course his own back had not beencheckered like a grating. He told me stories of the captain's crueltywhich I dare not repeat for their very horror, and indeed I lacked notfor instances to substantiate what he said; men with their backs beatento a pulp, and others with ears cut off, and mouths slit, and toesmissing. So that I lived in hourly fear lest in some drunken fitGriggs might command me to be tortured. But, fortunately, he held smallconverse with me, and when sober busied himself in trying to find theisland and in cursing the fate by which it eluded him. 

So I existed, and prayed daily for deliverance. I plied Cockle withquestions as to what they purposed doing with me, but he was wont toturn sulky, and would answer me not a word. But once, when he was deeperin his cups than common, he let me know that Griggs was to sell me to acertain planter. You may well believe that this did not serve to livenmy spirits. 

At length, one morning, Captain Griggs came out of his cabin and climbedupon the poop, calling all hands aft to the quarterdeck. Whereupon heproceeded to make them a speech that for vileness exceeded aught I haveever heard before or since. He finished by reminding them that this wasthe anniversary of the scuttling of the sloop Jane, which had made themall rich a year before, off the Canaries; the day that he had sent threeand twenty men over the plank to hell. Wherefore he decreed a holiday, as the weather was bright and the trades light, and would servequadruple portions of rum to every man jack aboard; and they set up acheer that started the Mother Careys astern. 

I have no language to depict the bestiality of that day; and if I had Iwould think it sin to write of it. The helm was lashed on the port tack, the haulyards set taut, and all hands down to the lad who was the cook'sscullion proceeded to get drunk. I took the precaution to have a hangerat my side and to slip one of Cockle's pistols within the band of mybreeches. I was in an exquisite' agony of indecision as to what mannerto act and how to defend myself from their drunken brutality, for I wellknew that if I refused to imbibe with them I should probably be murderedfor my abstemiousness; and, if I drank, the stuff was so near to alcoholthat I could not hope to keep my senses. While in this predicament Ireceived a polite invitation to partake in the captain's company, which I did not see my way clear to refuse, and repaired to the cabinaccordingly. 

There I found Griggs and Cockle seated, and a fair-sized barrel of rumbetween them that the captain had just moved thither. By way of welcomehe shot at me a volley of curses and bade me to fill up, and throughfear of offending him I took down my first mug with a fair good grace. Then, in his own particular language, he began the account of thecapture of the Jane, taking care in the pauses to see that my mug wasfull. But, as luck would have it, he got no farther than the boarding bythe Black Moll's crew, when he fell to squabbling with Cockle as to whohad been the first man over the side; and while they were settling thisdifference I grasped the opportunity to escape. 

The maudlin scene that met my eyes on deck defies description; somewere fighting, others grinning with a hideous laughter, and still othersshouting tavern jokes unspeakable. And suddenly, whilst I was observingthese things from a niche behind the cabin door, I heard the captaincry from within, "The ensign, the ensign!" Forgetting his dispute withCockle, he bumped past me and made his way with some trouble to thepoop. I climbed the ladder after him, and to my horror beheld him ina drunken frenzy drag a black flag with a rudely painted skull andcross-bones from the signal-chest, and with uncertain fingers toggle itto the ensign haulyards and hoist to the peak, where it fluttered grimlyin the light wind like an evil augur on a fair day. At sight of it thewretches on deck fell to shouting and huzzaing, Griggs standing leeringup at it. Then he gravely pulled off his hat and made it a bow, andturned upon me. 

"Salute it, ye lubberly! Ye are no first-rate here, " he thundered. "Salute the flag!"

Unless fear had kept me sober, 'tis past my understanding why I was notas drunk as he. Be that as it may, I was near as quarrelsome, and wouldas soon have worshipped the golden calf as saluted that rag. I flungback some reply, and he lugged out and came at me with a spring like awild beast; and his men below, seeing us fall out, made a rush for thepoop with knives and cutlasses drawn. Betwixt them all I should soonhave been in slivers had not the main shrouds offered themselves handy. And up them I sprung, the captain cutting at my legs as I leftthe sheer-pole, and I stopped not until I reached the schooner'scross-trees, where I drew my cutlass. They pranced around the mast andshowered me with oaths, for all the world like a lot of howling dogswhich had treed a cat. 

I began to feel somewhat easier, and cried aloud that the first ofthem who came up after me would go down again in two pieces. Despite mywarning a brace essayed to climb the ratlines, as pitiable an attempt asever I witnessed, and fell to the deck again. 'Twas a miracle that theymissed falling into the sea. And after a while, becoming convincedthat they could not get at me, and being too far gone to shoot with anyaccuracy, they tumbled off the poop swearing to serve me in a hundredhorrible ways when they caught me, and fell again to drinking andquarrelling amongst themselves. I was indeed in an unenviable plight, by no means sure that I would not be slain out of hand when they becamesufficiently sober to capture me. As I marked the progress of theirdamnable orgy I cast about for some plan to take advantage of theircondition. I observed that a stupor was already beginning to overcome afew of them. Then suddenly an incident happened to drive all else frommy mind. 

Nothing less, my dears, than a white speck of sail gleaming on thesouthern horizon!

For an hour I watched it, now in a shiver of apprehension lest it passus by, now weeping in an ecstasy of joy over a possible deliverance. Butit grew steadily larger, and when about three miles on our port bow Isaw that the ship was a brigantine. Though she had long been in sightfrom our deck, 'twas not until now that she was made out by a man on theforecastle, who set up a cry that brought about him all who could reelthither, Griggs staggering out of his cabin and to the nettings. Thesight sobered him somewhat, for he immediately shouted orders to castloose the guns, himself tearing the breeching from the nine-pounder nexthim and taking out the tompion. About half the crew were in a liquorishstupor from which the trump itself could scarce have aroused them;the rest responded with savage oaths, swore that they would boil theirsuppers in the blood of the brigantine's men and give their corpses tothe sea. They fell to work on the port battery in so ludicrous a mannerthat I was fain to laugh despite the gravity of the situation. But whenthey came to rig the powderhoist and a couple of them descended intothe magazine with pipes lighted, I was in imminent expectation of beingblown as high as a kite. 

So absorbed had I been in these preparations that I neglected to watchthe brigantine, which I discovered to be standing on and off in a veryundecided manner, as though hesitating to attack. My spirits fell againat this, for with all my inexperience I knew her to be a better sailerthan the Black Moll. Her master, as Griggs remarked, "was no d--dslouching lubber, and knew a yardarm from a rattan cane. "

Finally, about six bells of the watch, the stranger wore ship and boredown across our bows, hoisting English colours, at sight of which Icould scarce forbear a cheer. At this instant, Captain Griggs woke tothe fact that his helm was still lashed, and bestowing a hearty kick onhis prostrate quartermaster stuck fast to the pitchy seams of the deck, took the wheel himself, and easing off before the wind to bring thevessels broadside to broadside, commanded that the guns be shooed tothe muzzle, an order that was barely executed before the brigantine camewithin close range. Aboard her was all order and readiness; the men ather guns fuse in hand, an erect and pompous figure of a man, in a cockedhat, on the break of her poop. He raised his hand, two puffs of whitesmoke darted out, and I heard first the shrieking of shot, the broadsidecame crashing round us, one tearing through the mainsail below me, another mangling two men in the waist of our schooner, and Griggs gavethe order to touch off. But two of his guns answered, one of which hadbeen so gorged with shot that it burst in a hundred pieces and sentthe fellow with the swab to perdition, and such a hell of blood andconfusion as resulted is indescribable. I saw Griggs in a wild fit ofrage force the helm down, the schooner flying into the wind. And by thistime, the brigantine having got round and presented her port battery, raked us at a bare hundred yards, and I was the first to guess by thetilting forward of the mast that our hull was hit between wind andwater, and was fast settling by the bow. 

The schooner was sinking like a gallipot. 

That day, with the sea flashing blue and white in the sun, I saw men goto death with a curse upon their lips and a fever in their eyes, withmurder and defiance of God's holy will in their hearts. Overtaken inbestiality, like the judgment of Nineveh, five and twenty disappearedfrom beneath me, and I had scarce the time to throw off my cutlassbefore I, too, was engulfed. So expired the Black Moll. 

Volume 4. 

CHAPTER XIX. A MAN OF DESTINY

I was picked up and thrown into the brigantine's long-boat with a headand stomach full of salt water, and a heart as light as spray with thejoy of it all. A big, red-bearded man lifted my heels to drain me. 

"The mon's deid, " said he. 

"Dead!" cried I, from the bottom-board. "No more dead than you!"

I turned over so lustily that he dropped my feet, and I sat up, something to his consternation. And they had scarce hooked the ship'sside when I sprang up the sea-ladder, to the great gaping of the boat'screw, and stood with the water running off me in rivulets beforethe captain himself. I shall never forget the look of his face as heregarded my sorry figure. 

"Now by Saint Andrew, " exclaimed he, "are ye kelpie or pirate?"

"Neither, captain, " I replied, smiling as the comical end of it came upto me, "but a young gentleman in misfortune. "

"Hoots!" says he, frowning at the grinning half-circle about us, "it'sdaft ye are--"

But there he paused, and took of me a second sizing. How he got at mybirth behind my tangled mat of hair and wringing linsey-woolsey Iknow not to this day. But he dropped his Scotch and merchant-captain'smanner, and was suddenly a French courtier, making me a bow that haddone credit to a Richelieu. 

"Your servant, Mr. --"

"Richard Carvel, of Carvel Hall, in his Majesty's province of Maryland. "

He seemed sufficiently impressed. 

"Your very humble servant, Mr. Carvel. 'Tis in faith a privilege to beable to serve a gentleman. "

He bowed me toward his cabin, and then in sharp, quick tones he gavean order to his mate to get under way, and I saw the men turning to thebraces with wonder in their eyes. My own astonishment was as great. Andso, with my clothes sucking to my body and a trail of water behind melike that of a wet walrus, I accompanied the captain aft. His quarterswere indeed a contrast to those of Griggs, being so neat that I pausedat the door for fear of profaning them; but was so courteously bid toenter that I came on again. He summoned a boy from the round house. 

"William, " said he, "a bottle of my French brandy. And my complimentsto Mr. MacMuir, and ask him for a suit of clothes. You are a larger manthan I, Mr. Carvel, " he said to me, "or I would fit you out according toyour station. "

I was too overwhelmed to speak. He poured out a liberal three fingersof brandy, and pledged me as handsomely as I had been an admiralcome thither in mine own barge, instead of a ragged lad picked off apiratical slaver, with nothing save my bare word and address. 'Twas thenI had space to note him more particularly. His skin was the rich colourof a well-seasoned ship's bell, and he was of the middle height, owneda slight, graceful figure, tapering down at the waist like a top, whichhad set off a silk coat to perfection and soured the beaus with envy. His movements, however, had all the decision of a man of action and offorce. But his eye it was took possession of me--an unfathomable, darkeye, which bore more toward melancholy than sternness, and yet hadsomething of both. He wore a clean, ruffled shirt, an exceeding neatcoat and breeches of blue broadcloth, with plate burnished buttons, andwhite cotton stockings. Truly, this was a person to make one look twice, and think oftener. Then, as I went to pledge him, I, too, was caught forhis name. 

"Paul, " said he; "John Paul, of the brigantine John, of Kirkcudbright, in the West India trade. "

"Captain Paul--" I began. But my gratitude stuck fast in my throat andflowed out of my eyes. For the thought of the horrors from which hehad saved me for the first time swept over me; his own kind treatmentovercame me, and I blubbered like a child. With that he turned his back. 

"Hoots, " says he, again, "dinna ye thank me. 'Tis naething to scuttle anest of vermin, but the duty of ilka man who sails the seas. " By this, having got the better of his emotion, he added: "And if it has been mygood fortune to save a gentleman, Mr. Carvel, I thank God for it, as youmust. "

Save for a slackness inside the leg and in the hips, Macbluir's clothesfitted me well enough, and presently I reappeared in the captain's cabinrigged out in the mate's shore suit of purplish drab, and brass-buckledshoes that came high over the instep, with my hair combed clear andtied with a ribbon behind. I felt at last that I might lay some claim torespectability. And what was my surprise to find Captain Paul buried tohis middle in a great chest, and the place strewn about with laced andbroidered coats and waistcoats, frocks and Newmarkets, like any tailor'sshop in Church Street. So strange they looked in those tropical seasthat he was near to catching me in a laugh as he straightened up. 'Twasthen I noted that he was a younger man than I had taken him for. 

"You gentlemen from the southern colonies are too well nourished, byfar, " says he; "you are apt to be large of chest and limb. 'Odds bods, Mr. Carvel, it grieves me to see you apparelled like a barber surgeon. If the good Lord had but made you smaller, now, " and he sighed, "howwell this skyblue frock had set you off. "

"Indeed, I am content, and more, captain, " I replied with a smile, "andthankful to be safe amongst friends. Never, I assure you, have I hadless desire for finery. "

"Ay, " said he, "you may well say that, you who have worn silk all yourlife, and will the rest of it, and we get safe to port. But believe me, sir, the pleasure of seeing one of your face and figure in such a coatas that would not be a small one. "

And disregarding my blushes and protests, he held up the watchet bluefrock against me, and it was near fitting me but for my breadth, --theskirts being prodigiously long. I wondered mightily what tailor hadthrust this garment upon him; its fashion was of the old king's time, the cuffs slashed like a sea-officer's uniform, and the shoulders madecarefully round. But other thoughts were running within me then. 

"Captain, " I cut in, "you are sailing eastward. "

"Yes, yes, " he answered absently, fingering some Point d'Espagne. 

"There is no chance of touching in the colonies?" I persisted. 

"Colonies! No, " said he, in the same abstraction; "I am making for theSolway, being long overdue. But what think you of this, Mr. Carvel?"

And he held up a wondrous vellum-hole waistcoat of a gone-by vintage, and I saw how futile it were to attempt to lead him, while in thatstate of absorption, to topics which touched my affair. Of a suddenthe significance of what he had said crept over me, the word Solwayrepeating itself in my mind. That firth bordered England itself, and Dorothy was in London! I became reconciled. I had no particle ofobjection to the Solway save the uneasiness my grandfather would comethrough, which was beyond helping. Fate had ordered things well. 

Then I fell to applauding, while the captain tried on (for he was notcontent with holding up) another frock of white drab, which, cuffs andpockets, I'll take my oath mounted no less than twenty-four: anotherplain one of pink cut-velvet; tail-coats of silk, heavily broidered withflowers, and satin waistcoats with narrow lace. He took an inconceivableenjoyment out of this parade, discoursing the while, like a noblemanwith nothing but dress in his head, or, perhaps, like a mastercutter, about the turn of this or that lapel, the length from armpit to fold, and the number of button-holes that was proper. And finally he exhibitedwith evident pride a pair of doeskins that buttoned over the calf to beworn with high shoes, which I make sure he would have tried on likewisehad he been offered the slightest encouragement. So he exploited thewhole of his wardrobe, such an unlucky assortment of finery as I neverwish to see again; all of which, however, became him marvellously, though I think he had looked well in anything. I hope I may be forgiventhe perjury I did that day. I wondered greatly that such a foible shouldcrop out in a man of otherwise sound sense and plain ability. 

At length, when the last chest was shut again and locked, and I hadexhausted my ingenuity at commendation, and my patience also, he turnedto me as a man come out of a trance. 

"Od's fish, Mr. Carvel, " he cried, "you will be starved. I had forgotyour state. "

I owned that hunger had nigh overcome me, whereupon he became verysolicitous, bade the boy bring in supper at once, and in a short timewe sat down together to the best meal I had seen for a month. It seemedlike a year. Porridge, and bacon nicely done, and duff and ale, with thesea rushing past the cabin windows as we ate, touched into colour by thesetting sun. Captain Paul did not mess with his mates, not he, andhe gave me to understand that I was to share his cabin, apologizingprofusely for what he was pleased to call poor fare. He would have itthat he, and not I, were receiving favour. 

"My dear sir, " he said once, "you cannot know what a bit of finery isto me, who has so little chance for the wearing of it. To discuss witha gentleman, a connoisseur (I know a bit of French, Mr. Carvel), is apleasure I do not often come at. "

His simplicity in this touched me; it was pathetic. 

"How know you I am a gentleman, Captain Paul?" I asked curiously. 

"I should lack discernment, sir, " he retorted, with some heat, "ifI could not see as much. Breeding shines through sack-cloth, sir. Besides, " he continued, in a milder tone, "the look of you is candouritself. Though I have not greatly the advantage of you in age, I haveseen many men, and I know that such a face as yours cannot lie. "

Here Mr. Lowrie, the second mate, came in with a report; and I remarkedthat he stood up hat in hand whilst making it, very much as if CaptainPaul commanded a frigate. The captain went to a locker and broughtforth some mellow Madeira, and after the mate had taken a glass of itstanding, he withdrew. Then we lighted pipes and sat very cosey with alanthorn swung between us, and Captain Paul expressed a wish to hear mystory. 

I gave him my early history briefly, dwelling but casually uponthe position enjoyed in Maryland by my family; but I spoke of mygrandfather, now turning seventy, gray-haired in the service of Kingand province. The captain was indeed a most sympathetic listener, nowthrowing in a question showing keen Scotch penetration, and anon makinga most ludicrous inquiry as to the dress livery our footmen wore, andwhether Mr. Carvel used outriders when he travelled abroad. This was theother side of the man. As the wine warmed and the pipe soothed, I spokeat length of Grafton and the rector; and when I came to the wretchedcontrivance by which they got me aboard the Black Moll, he was stalkinghither and thither about the cabin, his fists clenched and his voicethick, breaking into Scotch again and vowing that hell were too good forsuch as they. 

His indignation, which seemed real and generous, transformed him intoanother man. He showered question after question upon me concerning myuncle and Mr. Allen; declared that he had known many villains, but hadyet to hear of their equals; and finally, cooling a little, gave it ashis judgment that the crime could never be brought home to them. Thiswas my own opinion. He advised me, before we turned in, to "gie theparson a Grunt" as soon as ever I could lay hands upon him. 

The John made a good voyage for that season, with fair winds and clearskies for the most part. 'Twas a stout ship and a steady, with generousbreadth of beam, and kept by the master as clean and bright as hisporringer. He was Emperor aboard her. He spelt Command with a large C, and when he inspected, his jacks stood to attention like man-o'-war'smen. The John mounting only four guns, and but two of them ninepounders, I expressed my astonishment that he had dared attack a pirate craft likethe Black Moll, without knowing her condition and armament. 

"Richard, " says he, impressively, for we had become very friendly, "Iwould close with a thirty-two and she flew that flag. Why, sir, a boldfront is half the battle, using circumspection, of a course. A prettywoman, whatever her airs and quality, is to be carried the same way, anda man ought never to be frightened by appearances. "

Sometimes, at our meals, we discussed politics. But he seemed lukewarmupon this subject. He had told me that he had a brother William inVirginia, who was a hot Patriot. The American quarrel seemed to interesthim very little. I should like to underscore this last sentence, mydears, in view of what comes after. What he said on the topic leanedperhaps to the King's side, tho' he was careful to say nothing thatwould give me offence. I was not surprised, for I had made a fairguess of his ambitions. It is only honest to declare that in my soberermoments my estimate of his character suffered. But he was a strangeman, --a genius, as I soon discovered, to rouse the most sluggish natureto enthusiasm. 

The joy of sailing is born into some men, and those who are marked forthe sea go down thither like the very streams, to be salted. Whateverthe sign, old Stanwix was not far wrong when he read it upon me, and'twas no great while before I was part and parcel of the ship beneathmy feet, breathing deep with her every motion. What feeling can comparewith that I tasted when the brigantine lay on her side, the silver sprayhurling over the bulwarks and stinging me to life! Or, in the watches, to hear the sea lashing along her strakes in never ending music! Igave MacMuir his shore suit again, and hugely delighted and astonishedCaptain Paul by donning a jacket of Scotch wool and a pair of seaman'sboots, and so became a sailor myself. I had no mind to sit idle thepassage, and the love of it, as I have said, was in me. In a fortnightI went aloft with the best of the watch to reef topsails, and trod afoot-rope without losing head or balance, bent an easing, and could layhand on any lift, brace, sheet, or haulyards in the racks. John Paulhimself taught me to tack and wear ship, and MacMuir to stow a headsail. The craft came to me, as it were, in a hand-gallop. 

At first I could make nothing of the crew, not being able to understanda word of their Scotch; but I remarked, from the first, that they weresour and sulky, and given to gathering in knots when the captain orMacMuir had not the deck. For Mr. Lowrie, poor man, they had littlerespect. But they plainly feared the first mate, and John Paul most ofall. Of me their suspicion knew no bounds, and they would give megruff answers, or none, when I spoke to them. These things roused bothcuriosity and foreboding within me. 

Many a watch I paced thro' with MacMuir, big and red and kindly, and Iwas not long in letting him know of the interest which Captain Paulhad inspired within me. His own feeling for him was little short ofidolatry. I had surmised much as to the rank of life from which thecaptain had sprung, but my astonishment was great when I was told thatJohn Paul was the son of a poor gardener. 

"A gardener's son, Mr. MacMuir!" I repeated. 

"Just that, " said he, solemnly, "a guid man an' haly' was auld Paul. Unco puir, by reason o' seven bairns. I kennt the daddie weel. I maksma' doubt the captain'll tak ye hame wi' him, syne the mither an'sisters still be i' the cot i' Mr. Craik's croft. "

"Tell me, MacMuir, " said I, "is not the captain in some trouble?"

For I knew that something, whatever it was, hung heavy on John Paul'smind as we drew nearer Scotland. At times his brow would cloud and hewould fall silent in the midst of a jest. And that night, with the starsjumping and the air biting cold (for we were up in the 40's), and theJohn wish-washing through the seas at three leagues the hour, MacMuirtold me the story of Mungo Maxwell. You may read it for yourselves, mydears, in the life of John Paul Jones. 

"Wae's me!" he said, with a heave of his big chest, "I reca' as yestreenthe night Maxwell cam aboord. The sun gaed loon a' bluidy, an' belyvethe morn rose unco mirk an' dreary, wi' bullers (rollers) frae the westlike muckle sowthers (soldiers) wi' white plumes. I tauld the captain'twas a' the faut o' Maxwell. I ne'er cad bide the blellum. Dour an' dinhe was, wi' ae girn like th' auld hornie. But the captain wadna hark tomy rede when I tauld him naught but dool wad cooin o' taking Mungo. "

It seemed that John Paul, contrary to MacMuir's advice, had shipped ascarpenter on the voyage out--near seven months since--a man by the nameof Mungo Maxwell. The captain's motive had nothing in it but kindness, and a laudable desire to do a good turn to a playmate of his boyhood. AsMacMuir said, "they had gaed barefit thegither amang the braes. " Theman hailed from Kirkbean, John Paul's own parish. But he had withinhim little of the milk of kindness, being in truth a sour and mutinousdevil; and instead of the gratitude he might have shown, he cursed thefate that had placed him under the gardener's son, whom he deemed nobetter than himself. The John had scarce cleared the Solway beforeMaxwell showed signs of impudence and rebellion. 

The crew was three-fourths made of Kirkcudbright men who had known themaster from childhood, many of them, indeed, being older than he; theywere mostly jealous of Paul, envious of the command he had attainedto over them, and impatient under the discipline he was ever ready toinflict. 'Tis no light task to enforce obedience from those with whomone has birdnested. But, having more than once felt the weight of hishand, they feared him. 

Dissatisfaction among such spreads apace, if a leader is but given; andMaxwell was such a one. His hatred for John Paul knew no bounds, and, having once tasted of his displeasure, he lay awake o' nights schemingto ruin him. And this was the plot: when the Azores should be in thewake, Captain Paul was to be murdered as he paced his quarterdeck in themorning, the two mates clapt into irons, and so brought to submission. And Maxwell, who had no more notion of navigation than a carpentershould, was to take the John to God knows where, --the Guinea coast, most probably. He would have no more navy regulations on a merchantbrigantine, he promised them, nor banyan days, for the matter o' that. 

Happily, MacMuir himself discovered the affair on the eve of itsperpetration, overhearing two men talking in the breadroom, and heran to the cabin with the sweat standing out on his forehead. But thecaptain would have none of the precautions he urged; declared he wouldwalk the deck as usual, and vowed he could cope single-handed with adozen cowards like Maxwell. Sure enough, at crowdie-time, the men wereseen coming aft, with Maxwell in the van carrying a bowl, on the pretextof a complaint against the cook. 

"John Paul, " said MacMuir, with admiration in his voice and gesture, "John Paul wasna feart a pickle, but gaed to the mast, whyles I stanntchittering i' my claes, fearfu' for his life. He teuk the horns fromMungo, priet (tasted) a soup o' the crowdie, an' wi' that he seiz't hauto' the man by baith shouthers ere the blastie (scoundrel) raught for 'sknife. My aith upo't, sir, the lave (rest) o' the batch cowert frae hise'e for a' the wand like thumpit tykes. '"

So ended that mutiny, by the brave act of a brave man. The carpenterwas clapt into irons himself, and given no less of the cat-o'-nine-tailsthan was good for him, and properly discharged at Tobago with such ashad supported him. But he brought Captain Paul before the vice-admiraltycourt of that place, charging him with gross cruelty, and thisproceeding had delayed the brigantine six months from her homewardvoyage, to the great loss of her owners. And tho' at length the captainwas handsomely acquitted, his character suffered unjustly, for therelacked not those who put their own interpretation upon the affair. Hewould most probably lose the brigantine. "He expected as much, " saidMacMuir. 

"There be mony aboord, " he concluded, with a sigh, "as'll muckle gash(gossip) when we win to Kirkcudbright. "

CHAPTER XX. A SAD HOME-COMING

Mr. Lowrie and Auctherlonnie, the Dumfries bo'sun, both of whom wouldhave died for the captain, assured me of the truth of MacMuir's story, and shook their heads gravely as to the probable outcome. The peculiarwater-mark of greatness that is woven into some men is often enoughto set their own community bitter against them. Sandie, the ploddingpeasant, finds it a hard matter to forgive Jamie, who is taken from theplough next to his, and ends in Parliament. The affair of Mungo Maxwell, altered to suit, had already made its way on more than one vessel toScotland. For according to Lowrie, there was scarce a man or woman inKirkcudbrightshire who did not know that John Paul was master of theJohn, and (in their hearts) that he would be master of more in days tocome. Human nature is such that they resented it, and cried out aloudagainst his cruelty. 

On the voyage I had many sober thoughts of my own to occupy me of theterrible fate, from which, by Divine inter position, I had been rescued;of the home I had left behind. I was all that remained to Mr. Carvel inthe world, and I was sure that he had given me up for dead. How had hesustained the shock? I saw him heavily mounting the stairs upon Scipicksarm when first the news was brought to him. Next Grafton would comehurrying in from Kent to Marlboro Street, disavowing all knowledge ofthe messenger from New York, and intent only upon comforting his father. And when I pictured my uncle soothing him to his face, and grinningbehind his bed-curtains, my anger would scald me, and the realization ofmy helplessness bring tears of very bitterness. 

What would I not have given then for one word with that honest andfaithful friend of our family, Captain Daniel! I knew that he suspectedGrafton: he had told me as much that night at the Coffee House. Perhapsthe greatest of my fears was that my uncle would deny him access to Mr. Carvel when he returned from the North. 

In the evening, when the sun settled red upon the horizon, I would thinkof Patty and my friends in Gloucester Street. For I knew they missed mesadly of a Sunday at the supper-table. But it has ever been my natureto turn forward instead of back, and to accept the twists and flings offortune with hope rather than with discouragement. And so, as we leftleague after, league of the blue ocean behind us, I would set my face tothe forecastle. For Dorothy was in England. 

On a dazzling morning in March, with the brigantine running like abeagle in full cry before a heaping sea that swayed her body, --so Ibeheld for the first time the misty green of the high shores of Ireland. Ah! of what heroes' deeds was I capable as I watched the lines comeout in bold relief from a wonderland of cloud! With what eternal life Iseemed to tingle! 'Twas as though I, Richard Carvel, had discovered allthis colour; and when a tiny white speck of a cottage came out on theedge of the cliff, I thought irresistibly of the joy to live there theyear round with Dorothy, with the wind whistling about our gables, andthe sea thundering on the rocks far below. Youth is in truth a mystery. 

How long I was gazing at the shifting coast I know not, for a strangewildness was within me that made me forget all else, until suddenlyI became conscious of a presence at my side, and turned to behold thecaptain. 

"'Tis a braw sight, Richard, " said he, "but no sae bonnie as auldScotland. An' the wind hands, we shall see her shores the morn. "

His voice broke, and I looked again to see two great tears rolling uponhis cheeks. 

"Ah, Scotland!" he pressed on, heedless of them, "God aboon kens whatshe is to me! But she hasna' been ower guid to me, laddie. " And hewalked to the taffrail, and stood looking astern that two men whohad come aft to splice a haulyard might not perceive his disorder. Ifollowed him, emboldened to speak at last what was in me. 

"Captain Paul, " said I, "MacMuir has told me of your trouble. Mygrandfather is rich, and not lacking in gratitude, "--here I paused forsuitable words, as I could not solve his expression, --"you, sir, whosebravery and charity will have restored me to him, shall not want forfriends and money. "

He heard me through. 

"Mr. Carvel, " he replied with an impressiveness that took me aback, "reward is a thing that should not be spoken of between gentlemen. "

And thus he left me, upbraiding myself that I should have mentionedmoney. And yet, I reflected secondly, why not? He was no more nor lessthan a master of a merchantman, and surely nothing was out of the commonin such a one accepting what he had honestly come by. Had my affectionfor him been less sincere, had I not been racked with sympathy, I hadlaughed over his notions of gentility. I resolved, however, that whenI had reached London and seen Mr. Dix, Mr. Carvel's agent, he should berewarded despite his scruples. And if he lost his ship, he should haveone of my grandfather's. 

But at dinner he had plainly forgot any offence, and I had morecause than ever to be puzzled over his odd mixture of confidence andaloofness. He talked gayly on a score of subjects, --on dress, of whichhe was never tired, and described ports in the Indies and South America, in a fashion that betrayed prodigious powers of acute observation; nordid he lack for wit when he spoke of the rich planters who had winedhim, and had me much in laughter. We fell into a merry mood, in Booth, jingling the glasses in many toasts, for he had a list of healths tomake me gasp, near as long as the brigantine's articles, --Inez in Havanaand Maraquita in Cartagena, and Clotilde, the Creole, of Martinico, eachhad her separate charm. Then there was Bess, in Kingston, the relictof a customs official, Captain Paul relating with ingenuous gusto amidnight brush with a lieutenant of his Majesty, in which the fairwidow figured, and showed her preference, too. But his adoration for theladies of the more northern colonies, he would have me to understand, was unbounded. For example, Miss Arabella Pope of Norfolk, inVirginia, --and did I know her? No, I had not that pleasure, though Iassured him the Popes of Virginia were famed. Miss Pope danced divinelyas any sylph, and the very memory of her tripping at the NorfolkAssembly roused the captain to such a pitch of enthusiasm as I had neverseen in him. Marvellous to say, his own words failed him, and he hadrecourse to the poets:

 "Her feet beneath her petticoat Like little mice stole in and out, As if they feared the light; But, oh, she dances such a way! No sun upon an Easter-day Is half so fine a sight. "

The lines, he told me, were Sir John Suckling's; and he gave themstanding, in excellent voice and elegant gesture. 

He was in particular partial to the poets, could quote at will from Gayand Thomson and Goldsmith and Gray, and even from Shakespeare, muchto my own astonishment and humiliation. Saving only Dr. Courtenayof Annapolis I had never met his equal for versatility of speech andcommand of fine language; and, having heard that he had been at seasince the age of twelve, I made bold to ask him at what school he hadgot his knowledge. 

"At none, Richard, " he answered with pride, "saving the rudiments at theParish School at Kirkbean. Why, sir, I hold it to be within everyman's province to make himself what he will, and I early recognized inLearning the only guide for such as me. I may say that I married her forthe furtherance of my fortunes, and have come to love her for her ownsake. Many and many the 'tween-watch have I passed in a coil of rope inthe tops, a volume of the classics in my hand. And 'my happiest days, when not at sea, have been spent in my brother William's little library. He hath a modest estate near Fredericksburg, in Virginia, and none holdshigher than he the worth of an education. Ah, Richard, " he added, witha certain sadness, "I fear you little know the value of that which hathbeen so lavishly bestowed upon you. There is no creation in the world toequal your fine gentleman!"

It struck me indeed as strange that a man of his powers should set storeby such trumpery, and, too, that these notions had not impaired hisability as a seaman. I did not reply. He gave no heed, however, but drewfrom a case a number of odes and compositions, which he told me werehis own. They were addressed to various of his enamouritas, abounded inorrery, and were all, I make no doubt, incredibly fine, tho' not somuch as one sticks in my mind. To speak truth I listened with a very illgrace, longing the while to be on deck, for we were about to sight theIsle of Man. The wine and the air of the cabin had made my eyes heavy. But presently, when he had run through with some dozen or more, he putthem by, and with a quick motion got from his chair, a light coming intohis dark eyes that startled me to attention. And I forgot the merchantcaptain, and seemed to be looking forward into the years. 

"Mark you, Richard, " said he, "mark well when I say that my time willcome, and a day when the best of them will bow to me. And every ell ofthat triumph shall be mine, sir, -ay, every inch!"

Such was his force, which sprang from some hidden fire within him, thatI believed his words as firmly as they had been writ down in the Book ofIsaiah. Brimming over with enthusiasm, I pledged his coming greatness ina reaming glass of Malaga. 

"Alack, " he cried, "an' they all had your faith, laddie, a fig for theprophecy! Ya maun ken th' incentive's the maist o' the battle. "

There was more of wisdom in this than I dreamed of then. Here lay hidthe very keynote of that ambitious character: he stooped to nothing lessthan greatness for a triumph over his slanderers. 

I rose betimes the next morning to find the sun peeping above thewavy line of the Scottish hills far up the. Solway, and the brigantinesliding smoothly along in the lee of the Galloway Rhinns. And, thoughthe month was March, the slopes of Burrow Head were green as the lawn ofCarvel Hall in May, and the slanting rays danced on the ruffed water. Byeight of the clock we had crept into Kirkcudbright Bay and anchored offSt. Mary's Isle, the tide running ebb, and leaving a wide brown belt ofsand behind it. 

St. Mary's Isle! As we looked upon it that day, John Paul and I, andit lay low against the bright water with its bare oaks and chestnutsagainst the dark pines, 'twas perhaps as well that the future was sealedto us. 

Captain Paul had conned the brigantine hither with a master's hand; butnow that the anchor was on the ground, he became palpably nervous. I haddonned again good MacMuir's shore suit, and was standing by the gangwaywhen the captain approached me. 

"What'll ye be doing now, Dickie lad?" he asked kindly. 

What indeed! I was without money in a foreign port, still dependent uponmy benefactor. And since he had declared his unwillingness to accept anyreturn I was of no mind to go farther into his debt. I thanked him againfor his goodness in what sincere terms I could choose, and told him Ishould be obliged if he would put me in the way of working my passage toLondon upon some coasting vessel. But my voice was thick, my affectionfor him having grown-past my understanding. 

"Hoots!" he replied, moved in his turn, "whyles I hae siller ye shallnalack. Ye maun gae post-chaise to London, as befits yere station. "

And scouting my expostulations, he commanded the longboat, bidding me beready to go ashore with him. I had nothing to do but to say farewellto MacMuir and Lowrie and Auctherlonnie, which was hard enough. For thehonest first mate I had a great liking, and was touched beyond speechwhen he enjoined me to keep his shore suit as long as I had want of it. 

"But you will be needing it, MacMuir, " I said, suspecting he had noother. 

"Haith! I am but a plain man, Mr. Carvel, and ye can sen' back the clawfrae London, wi' this geordie. "

He slipped a guinea into my hand, but this I positively refused to take;and to hide my feelings I climbed quickly over the side and into thestern of the boat, beside the captain, and was rowed away through thelittle fleet of cobles gathering about the ship. Twisting my neck fora parting look at the John, I caught a glimpse of MacMuir's ungainlyshoulders over the fokesle rail, and I was near to tears as he shouted ahearty "God speed" after me. 

As we drew near the town of Kirkcudbright, which lies very low at themouth of the river Dee, I made out a group of men and women on thewharves. The captain was silent, regarding them. When we had got withintwenty feet or so of the landing, a dame in a red woollen kerchiefcalled out:

"What hae ye done wi' Mungo, John Paul?"

"CAPTAIN John Paul, Mither Birkie, " spoke up a coarse fellow with arough beard. And a laugh went round. 

"Ay, captain! I'll captain him!" screamed the carlin, pushing tothe front as the oars were tossed, "I'll tak aith Mr. Currie'll becaptaining him for his towmond voyage o' piratin'. He be leukin' for yenoo, John Paul. " With that some of the men on the thwarts, perceivingthat matters were likely to go ill with the captain, began to chaffwith their friends above. The respect with which he had inspired them, however, prevented any overt insult on their part. As for me, my temperhad flared up like the burning of a loose charge of powder, and byinstinct my right hand sought the handle of the mate's hanger. Thebeldame saw the motion. 

"An' hae ye murder't MacMuir, John Paul, an' gien's claw to a Buckskingowk?"

The knot stirred with an angry murmur: in truth they meantviolence, --nothing less. But they had counted without their man, forPaul was born to ride greater crises. With his lips set in a line hestepped lightly out of the boat into their very midst, and they lookedinto his eyes to forget time and place. MacMuir had told me how thoseeyes could conquer mutiny, but I had not believed had I trot beenthereto see the pack of them give back in sullen wonder. And so wewalked through and on to the little street beyond, and never a word fromthe captain until we came opposite the sign of the Hurcheon. "

"Do you await me here, Richard, " he said quite calmly; "I mast seek Mr. Currie, and make my report. "

I have still the remembrance of that pitiful day in the clean littlevillage. I went into the inn and sat down upon an oak settle in a cornerof the bar, under the high lattice, and thought of the bitterness ofthis home-coming. If I was amongst strangers, he was amongst worse:verily, to have one's own people set against one is heaviness of heartto a man whose love of Scotland was great as John Paul's. After a whilethe place began to fill, Willie and Robbie and Jamie arriving to discussPaul's return over their nappy. The little I could make of their talkwas not to my liking, but for the captain's sake I kept my anger underas best I could, for I had the sense to know that brawling with a lotof alehouse frequenters would not advance his cause. At length, however, came in the same sneering fellow I had marked on the wharf, callingloudly for swats. "Ay, Captain Paul was noo at Mr. Curries, syne banieAlan seed him gang forbye the kirk. " The speaker's name, I learned, wasDavie, and he had been talking with each and every man in the long-boat. Yes, Mungo Maxwell had been cat-o'-ninetailed within an inch of hislife; and that was the truth; for a trifling offence, too; and cruellydischarged at some outlandish port because, forsooth, he would notaccept the gospel of the divinity of Captain Paul. He would as soon signpapers with the devil. 

This Davie was gifted with a dangerous kind of humour which I haveheard called innuendo, and he soon had the bar packed with listeners wholaughed and cursed turn about, filling the room to a closeness scarcesupportable. And what between the foul air and my resentment, andapprehension lest John Paul would come hither after me, I was inprodigious discomfort of body and mind. But there was no pushing my waythrough them unnoticed, wedged as I was in a far corner; so I sat stilluntil unfortunately, or fortunately, the eye of Davie chanced to fallupon me, and immediately his yellow face lighted malignantly. 

"Oh! here be the gentleman the captain's brocht hame!" he cried, emphasizing the two words; "as braw a gentleman as eer taen fraepirates, an' nae doubt sin to ae bien Buckskin bonnet-laird. "

I saw through his game of getting satisfaction out of John Paul thro'goading me, and determined he should have his fill of it. For, all inall, he had me mad enough to fight three times over. 

"Set aside the gentleman, " said I, standing up and taking off MacMuir'scoat, "and call me a lubberly clout like yourself, and we will see whichis the better clout. " I put off the longsleeved jacket, and faced himwith my fists doubled, crying: "I'll teach you, you spawn of a dunghill, to speak ill of a good man!"

A clamour of "Fecht! fecht!" arose, and some of them applauded me, calling me a "swankie, " which I believe is a compliment. A certain senseof fairness is often to be found where least expected. They capsizedthe fat, protesting browsterwife over her own stool, and were pullingJamie's coat from his back, when I began to suspect that a fight was notto the sniveller's liking. Indeed, the very look of him made me laughout--'twas now as mild as a summer's morn. 

"Wow, " says Jamie, "ye maun fecht wi' a man o' yere ain size. "

"I'll lay a guinea that we weigh even, " said I; and suddenly rememberedthat I had not so much as tuppence to bless me. 

Happily he did not accept the wager. In huge disgust they hustled himfrom the inn and put forward the blacksmith, who was standing at thedoor in his leather apron. Now I had not bargained with the smith, whoseemed a well-natured enough man, and grinned broadly at the prospect. But they made a ring on the floor, I going over it at one end, and heat the other, when a cry came from the street, those about the entranceparted, and in walked John Paul himself. At sight of him my newadversary, who was preparing to deal me out a blow to fell an ox, dropped his arms in surprise, and held out his big hand. 

"Haith! John Paul, " he shouted heartily, forgetting me, "'tis blythe Iam to see yere bonnie face ance mair!

"An' wha are ye, Jamie Darrell, " said the captain, "to be bangin' yerebetters? Dinna ye ken gentry when ye see't?"

A puzzled look spread over the smith's grimy face. 

"Gentry!" says he; "nae gentry that I ken, John Paul. Th' fecht be but abit o' fun, an' nane o' my seekin'. "

"What quarrel is this, Richard?" says John Paul to me. 

"In truth I have no quarrel with this honest man, " I replied; "I desiredbut the pleasure of beating a certain evil-tongued Davie, who seems tohave no stomach for blows, and hath taken his lies elsewhere. "

So quiet was the place that the tinkle of the guidwife's needle, whichshe had dropped to the flags, sounded clear to all. John Paul stood inthe middle of the ring, erect, like a man inspired, and the same strangesense of prophecy that had stirred my blood crept over him and awed therest, as tho' 'twere suddenly given to see him, not as he was, but as hewould be. Then he spoke. 

"You, who are my countrymen, who should be my oldest and best friends, are become my enemies. You who were companions of my childhood arerevilers of my manhood; you have robbed me of my good name and myhonour, of my ship, of my very means of livelihood, and you are notcontent; you would rob me of my country, which I hold dearer than all. And I have never done you evil, nor spoken aught against you. As forthe man Maxwell, whose part you take, his child is starving in your verymidst, and you have not lifted your hands. 'Twas for her sake I shippedhim, and none other. May God forgive you! He alone sees the bitternessin my heart this day. He alone knows my love for Scotland, and what itcosts me to renounce her. "

He had said so much with an infinite sadness, and I read a response inthe eyes of more than one of his listeners, the guidwife weeping aloud. But now his voice rose, and he ended with a fiery vigour. 

"Renounce her I do, " he cried, "now and forevermore! Henceforth I amno countryman of yours. And if a day of repentance should come for thisevil, remember well what I have said to you. "

They stood for a moment when he had finished, shifting uneasily, theirtongues gone, like lads caught in a lie. I think they felt his greatnessthen, and had any one of them possessed the nobility to come forwardwith an honest word, John Paul might yet have been saved to Scotland. As it was, they slunk away in twos and threes, leaving at last only thegood smith with us. He was not a man of talk, and the tears had washedthe soot from his face in two white furrows. 

"Ye'll hae a waught wi' me afore ye gang, John, " he said clumsily, "forth' morns we've paddl' 't thegither i' th' Nith. "

The ale was brought by the guidwife, who paused, as she put it down, towipe her eyes with her apron. She gave John Paul one furtive glance andbetook herself again to her knitting with a sigh, speech having failedher likewise. The captain grasped up his mug. 

"May God bless you, Jamie, " he said. 

"Ye'll be gaen noo to see the mither, " said Jamie, after a long space. 

"Ay, for the last time. An', Jamie, ye'll see that nae harm cams to herwhen I'm far awa'?"

The smith promised, and also agreed to have John Paul's chests sent bywagon, that very day, to Dumfries. And we left him at his forge, hishonest breast torn with emotion, looking after us. 

CHAPTER XXI. THE GARDENER'S COTTAGE

So we walked out of the village, with many a head craned after us andmany an eye peeping from behind a shutter, and on into the open highway. The day was heavenly bright, the wind humming around us and playing madpranks with the white cotton clouds, and I forgot awhile the pity withinme to wonder at the orderly look of the country, the hedges with never astone out of place, and the bars always up. The ground was parcelled offin such bits as to make me smile when I remembered our own wide tractsin the New World. Here waste was sin: with us part and parcel of acreed. I marvelled, too, at the primness and solidity of the housesalong the road, and remarked how their lines belonged rather to thelandscape than to themselves. But I was conscious ever of a strange wishto expand, for I felt as tho' I were in the land of the Liliputians, and the thought of a gallop of forty miles or so over these honeycombedfields brought me to a laugh. But I was yet to see some estates of thegentry. 

I had it on my tongue's tip to ask the captain whither he was takingme, yet dared not intrude on the sorrow that still gripped him. Timeand time we met people plodding along, some of them nodding uncertainly, others abruptly taking the far side of the pike, and every encounterdrove the poison deeper into his soul. But after we had travelled someway, up hill and down dale, he vouchsafed the intelligence that we weremaking for Arbigland, Mr. Craik's seat near Dumfries, which lies on theNith twenty miles or so up the Solway from Kirkcudbright. On that estatestood the cottage where John Paul was born, and where his mother andsisters still dwelt. 

"I'll juist be saying guidbye, Richard, " he said; "and leave them abit siller I hae saved, an' syne we'll be aff to London thegither, forScotland's no but a cauld kintra. "

"You are going to London with me?" I cried. 

"Ay, " answered he; "this is hame nae mair for John Paul. "

I made bold to ask how the John's owners had treated him. 

"I have naught to complain of, laddie, " he answered; "both Mr. Beck andMr. Currie bore the matter of the admiralty court and the delay like thegentlemen they are. They well know that I am hard driven when I resortto the lash. They were both sore at losing me, and says Mr. Beck: IWe'll not soon get another to keep the brigantine like a man-o'-war, asdid you, John Paul. ' I thanked him, and told him I had sworn never totake another merchantman out of the Solway. And I will keep that oath. "

He sighed, and added that he never hoped for better owners. In tokenof which he drew a certificate of service from his pocket, signed byMessrs. Currie and Beck, proclaiming him the best master and supercargothey had ever had in their service. I perceived that talk lightened him, and led him on. I inquired how he had got the 'John'. 

"I took passage on her from Kingston, laddie. On the trip both CaptainMacadam and the chief mate died of the fever. And it was I, thepassenger, who sailed her into Kirkcudbright, tho' I had never been morethan a chief mate before. That is scarce three years gone, when I wasjust turned one and twenty. And old Mr. Currie, who had known my father, was so pleased that he gave me the ship. I had been chief mate of the'Two Friends', a slaver out of Kingston. "

"And so you were in that trade!" I exclaimed. 

He seemed to hesitate. 

"Yes, " he replied, "and sorry I am to say it. But a man must live. Itwas no place for a gentleman, and I left of my own accord. Before that, I was on a slaver out of Whitehaven. "

"You must know Whitehaven, then. "

I said it only to keep the talk going, but I remembered the remark longafter. 

"I do, " said he. "'Tis a fair sample of an English coast town. And Ihave often thought, in the event of war with France, how easy 'twouldbe for Louis's cruisers to harry the place, and an hundred like it, andraise such a terror as to keep the British navy at home. "

I did not know at the time that this was the inspiration of an admiraland of a genius. The subject waned. And as familiar scenes jogged hismemory, he launched into Scotch and reminiscence. Every barn he knew, and cairn and croft and steeple recalled stories of his boyhood. 

We had long been in sight of Criffel, towering ahead of us, whose summithad beckoned for cycles to Helvellyn and Saddleback looming up to thesouthward, marking the wonderland of the English lakes. And at length, after some five hours of stiff walking, we saw the brown Nith belowus going down to meet the Solway, and so came to the entrance of Mr. Craik's place. The old porter recognized Paul by a mere shake of thehead and the words, "Yere back, are ye?" and a lowering of his bushywhite eyebrows. We took a by-way to avoid the manor-house, which stoodon the rising ground twixt us and the mountain, I walking close to JohnPaul's shoulder and feeling for him at every step. Presently, at a turnof the path, we were brought face to face with an elderly gentleman inblack, and John Paul stopped. 

"Mr. Craik!" he said, removing his hat. 

But the gentleman only whistled to his dogs and went on. 

"My God, even he!" exclaimed the captain, bitterly; "even he, whothought so highly of my father!"

A hundred yards more and we came to the little cottage nigh hid amongthe trees. John Paul paused a moment, his hand upon the latch of thegate, his eyes drinking in the familiar picture. The light of day wasdying behind Criffel, and the tiny panes of the cottage windows pulsedwith the rosy flame on the hearth within, now flaring, and againdeepening. He sighed. He walked with unsteady step to the door andpushed it open. I followed, scarce knowing what I did, halted at thethreshold and drew back, for I had been upon holy ground. 

John Paul was kneeling upon the flags by the ingleside, his face buriedon the open Bible in his mother's lap. Her snowy-white head was bentupon his, her tears running fast, and her lips moving in silent prayerto Him who giveth and taketh away. Verily, here in this humble placedwelt a love that defied the hard usage of a hard world!

After a space he came to the door and called, and took me by the hand, and I went in with him. Though his eyes were wet, he bore himself like acavalier. 

"Mother, this is Mr. Richard Carvell heir to Carvel Hall in Maryland, --ayoung gentleman whom I have had the honour to rescue from a slaver. "

I bowed low, such was my respect for Dame Paul, and she rose andcurtseyed. She wore a widow's cap and a black gown, and I saw in herdeep-lined face a resemblance to her son. 

"Madam, " I said, the title coming naturally, "I owe Captain Paul a debtI can never repay. "

"An' him but a laddie!" she cried. "I'm thankful, John, I'm thankful forhis mither that ye saved him. "

"I have no mother, Madam Paul, " said I, "and my father was killed in theFrench war. But I have a grandfather who loves me dearly as I love him. "

Some impulse brought her forward, and she took both my hands in her own. 

"Ye'll forgive an auld woman, sir, " she said, with a dignity thatmatched her son's, "but ye're sae young, an' ye hae sic a leuk in yerebonny gray e'e that I ken yell aye be a true friend o' John's. He's beena guid sin to me, an' ye maunna reek what they say o' him. "

When now I think of the triumph John Paul has achieved, of the scoffingworld he has brought to his feet, I cannot but recall that sorrowfulevening in the gardener's cottage, when a son was restored but tobe torn away. The sisters came in from their day's work, --bothwell-favoured lasses, with John's eyes and hair, --and cooked the simplemeal of broth and porridge, and the fowl they had kept so long againstthe captain's home-coming. He carved with many a light word that costhim dear. Did Janet reca' the simmer nights they had supped here, wi'the bumclocks bizzin' ower the candles? And was Nancy, the cow, stilli' the byre? And did the bees still give the same bonnie hiney, and werethe red apples still in the far orchard? Ay, Meg had thocht o' him thatautumn, and ran to fetch them with her apron to her face, to come backsmiling through her tears. So it went; and often a lump would rise inmy throat that I could not eat, famished as I was, and the mother andsisters scarce touched a morsel of the feast. 

The one never failing test of a son, my dears, lies in his treatment ofhis mother, and from that hour forth I had not a doubt of John Paul. Hewas a man who had seen the world and become, in more than one meaning ofthe word, a gentleman. Whatever foibles he may have had, he brought noconscious airs and graces to this lowly place, but was again the humblegardener's boy. 

But time pressed, as it ever does. The hour came for us to leave, JohnPaul firmly refusing to remain the night in a house that belonged to Mr. Craik. Of the tenderness, nay, of the pity and cruelty of that parting, I have no power to write. We knelt with bowed heads while the motherprayed for the son, expatriated, whom she never hoped to see again onthis earth. She gave us bannocks of her own baking, and her last wordswere to implore me always to be a friend to John Paul. 

Then we went out into the night and walked all the way to Dumfries insilence. 

We lay that night at the sign of the "Twa Naigs, " where Bonnie PrinceCharlie had rested in the Mars year(1715). Before I went to bed I calledfor pen and paper, and by the light of a tallow dip sat down to composea letter to my grandfather, telling him that I was alive and well, andrecounting as much of my adventures as I could. I said that I was goingto London, where I would see Mr. Dix, and would take passage thence forAmerica. I prayed that he had been able to bear up against the ordeal ofmy disappearance. I dwelt upon the obligations I was under to JohnPaul, relating the misfortunes of that worthy seaman (which he so littledeserved!). And said that it was my purpose to bring him to Marylandwith me, where I knew Mr. Carvel would reward him with one of his ships, explaining that he would accept no money. But when it came to accusingGrafton and the rector, I thought twice, and bit the end of the feather. The chances were so great that my grandfather would be in bed and underthe guardianship of my uncle that I forbore, and resolved instead towrite it to Captain Daniel at my first opportunity. 

I arose early to discover a morning gray and drear, with a mist fallingto chill the bones. News travels apace the world over, and that of JohnPaul's home-coming and of his public renunciation of Scotland at the"Hurcheon" had reached Dumfries in good time, substantiated by thearrival of the teamster with the chests the night before. I descendedinto the courtyard in time to catch the captain in his watchet-bluefrock haggling with the landlord for a chaise, the two of themsurrounded by a muttering crowd anxious for a glimpse of Mr. Craik'sgardener's son, for he had become a nine-day sensation to the countryround about. But John Paul minded them not so much as a swarm of flies, and the teamster's account of the happenings at Kirkcudbright had giventhem so wholesome a fear of his speech and presence as to cause them tomisdoubt their own wit, which is saying a deal of Scotchmen. But whenthe bargain had been struck and John Paul gone with the 'ostler to seeto his chests, mine host thought it a pity not to have a fall out of me. 

"So ye be the Buckskin laud, " he said, with a wink at a leering group offarmers; "ye hae braw gentles in America. "

He was a man of sixty or thereabout, with a shrewd but not unkindly facethat had something familiar in it. 

"You have discernment indeed to recognize a gentleman in Scotchclothes, " I replied, turning the laugh on him. 

"Dinna raise ae Buckskin, Mr. Rawlinson, " said a man in corduroy. 

"Rawlinson!" I exclaimed at random, "there is one of your name in thecolonies who knows his station better. "

"Trowkt!" cried mine host, "ye ken Ivie o' Maryland, Ivie my brither?"

"He is my grandfather's miller at Carvel Hall, " I said. 

"Syne ye maun be nane ither than Mr. Richard Carvel. Yere servan', Mr. Carvel, " and he made me a low bow, to the great dropping of jaws roundabout, and led me into the inn. With trembling hands he took a packetfrom his cabinet and showed me the letters, twenty-three in all, whichIvie had written home since he had gone out as the King's passenger in'45. The sight of them brought tears to my eyes and carried me outof the Scotch mist back to dear old Maryland. I had no trouble inconvincing mine host that I was the lad eulogized in the scrawls, andhe put hand on the very sheet which announced my birth, nineteen yearssince, --the fourth generation of Carvels Ivie had known. 

So it came that the captain and I got the best chaise and pair in placeof the worst, and sat down to a breakfast such as was prepared only formy Lord Selkirk when he passed that way, while I told the landlord ofhis brother; and as I talked I remembered the day I had caught the armof the mill and gone the round, to find that Ivie had written of that, too!

After that our landlord would not hear of a reckoning. I might stay amonth, a year, at the "Twa Naigs" if I wished. As for John Paul, whoseemed my friend, he would say nothing, only to advise me privately thatthe man was queer company, shaking his head when I defended him. He cameto me with ten guineas, which he pressed me to take for Ivies sake, andrepay when occasion offered. I thanked him, but was of no mind to acceptmoney from one who thought ill of my benefactor. 

The refusal of these recalled the chaise, and I took the trouble toexpostulate with the captain on that score, pointing out as delicatelyas I might that, as he had brought me to Scotland, I held it within myright to incur the expense of the trip to London, and that I intendedto reimburse him when I saw Mr. Dix. For I knew that his wallet was notover full, since he had left the half of his savings with his mother. Much to my secret delight, he agreed to this as within the compass of agentleman's acceptance. Had he not, I had the full intention of leavinghim to post it alone, and of offering myself to the master of the firstschooner. 

Despite the rain, and the painful scenes gone through but yesterday, andthe sour-looking ring of men and women gathered to see the start, Iwas in high spirits as we went spinning down the Carlisle road, with myheart leaping to the crack of the postilion's whip. 

I was going to London and to Dorothy!

CHAPTER XXII. ON THE ROAD

Many were the ludicrous incidents we encountered on our journey toLondon. As long as I live, I shall never forget John Paul's alightingupon the bridge of the Sark to rid himself of a mighty farewell addressto Scotland he had been composing upon the road. And this he deliveredwith such appalling voice and gesture as to frighten to a standstill achaise on the English side of the stream, containing a young gentlemanin a scarlet coat and a laced hat, and a young lady who sobbed as wepassed them. They were, no doubt, running to Gretna Green to be married. 

Captain Paul, as I have said, was a man of moods, and strangely affectedby ridicule. And this we had in plenty upon the road. Landlords, grooms, and'ostlers, and even our own post-boys, laughed and jested coarselyat his sky-blue frock, and their sallies angered him beyond all reason, while they afforded me so great an amusement that more than once I wason the edge of a serious falling-out with him as a consequence of mymerriment. Usually, when we alighted from our vehicle, the expressionof mine host would sour, and his sir would shift to a master; while hisservants would go trooping in again, with many a coarse fling that theywould get no vails from such as we. And once we were invited into thekitchen. He would be soar for half a day at a spell after a piece ofinsolence out of the common, and then deliver me a solemn lecture uponthe advantages of birth in a manor. Then his natural buoyancy wouldlift him again, and he would be in childish ecstasies at the prospect ofgetting to London, and seeing the great world; and I began to think thathe secretly cherished the hope of meeting some of its votaries. ForI had told him, casually as possible, that I had friends in ArlingtonStreet, where I remembered the Manners were established. 

"Arlington Street!" he repeated, rolling the words over his tongue; "ithas a fine sound, laddie, a fine sound. That street must be the veryacme of fashion. "

I laughed, and replied that I did not know. And at the ordinary of thenext inn we came to, he took occasion to mention to me, in a loudervoice than was necessary, that I would do well to call in ArlingtonStreet as we went into town. So far as I could see, the remark did notcompel any increase of respect from our fellow-diners. 

Upon more than one point I was worried. Often and often I reflected thatsome hitch might occur to prevent my getting money promptly from Mr. Dix. Days would perchance elapse before I could find the man in sucha great city as London; he might be out of town at this season, Easterbeing less than a se'nnight away. For I had heard my grandfather saythat the elder Mr. Dix had a house in some merchant's suburb, and lovedto play at being a squire before he died. Again (my heart stood atthe thought), the Manners might be gone back to America. I cursed thestubborn pride which had led the captain to hire a post-chaise, whenthe wagon had served us so much better, and besides relieved him ofthe fusillade of ridicule he got travelling as a gentleman. But suchreflections always ended in my upbraiding myself for blaming him whosegenerosity had rescued me from perhaps a life-long misery. 

But, on the whole, we rolled southward happily, between high walls andhedges, past trim gardens and fields and meadows, and I marvelled atthe regular, park-like look of the country, as though stamped from onedesign continually recurring, like our butter at Carvel Hall. The roadswere sometimes good, and sometimes as execrable as a colonial byway inwinter, with mud up to the axles. And yet, my heart went out to thiscountry, the home of my ancestors. Spring was at hand; the ploughboyswhistled between the furrows, the larks circled overhead, and the lilacswere cautiously pushing forth their noses. The air was heavy with theperfume of living things. 

The welcome we got at our various stopping-places was often scantyindeed, and more than once we were told to go farther down the street, that the inn was full. And I may as well confess that my mind wastroubled about John Paul. Despite all I could say, he would go to thebest hotels in the larger towns, declaring that there we should meet thepeople of fashion. Nor was his eagerness damped when he discovered thatsuch people never came to the ordinary, but were served in their ownrooms by their own servants. 

"I shall know them yet, " he would vow, as we started off of a morning, after having seen no more of my Lord than his liveries below stairs. "AmI not a gentleman in all but birth, Richard? And that is a difficultymany before me have overcome. I have the classics, and the history, andthe poets. And the French language, though I have never made the grandtour. I flatter myself that my tone might be worse. By the help of yourfriends, I shall have a title or two for acquaintances before I leaveLondon; and when my money is gone, there is a shipowner I know of whowill give me employment, if I have not obtained preferment. "

The desire to meet persons of birth was near to a mania with him. And Ihad not the courage to dampen his hopes. But, inexperienced as I was, I knew the kind better than he, and understood that it was easier fora camel to enter the eye of a needle, than for John Paul to cross thethresholds of the great houses of London. The way of adventurers ishard, and he could scarce lay claim then to a better name. 

"We shall go to Maryland together, Captain Paul, " I said, "and waste notime upon London save to see Vauxhall, and the opera, and St. James'sand the Queen's House and the Tower, and Parliament, and perchancehis Majesty himself, " I added, attempting merriment, for the notionof seeing Dolly only to leave her gave me a pang. And the captain knewnothing of Dolly. 

"So, Richard, you fear I shall disgrace you, " he said reproachfully. "Know, sir, that I have pride enough and to spare. That I can makefriends without going to Arlington Street. "

I was ready to cry with vexation at this childish speech. 

"And a time will come when they shall know me, " he went on. "If theyinsult me now they shall pay dearly for it. "

"My dear captain, " I cried; "nobody will insult you, and least of all myfriends, the Manners. " I had my misgivings about little Mr. Marmaduke. "But we are, neither of us, equipped for a London season. I am but anunknown provincial, and you--" I paused for words. 

For a sudden realization had come upon me that our positions were nowreversed. It seemed strange that I should be interpreting the world tothis man of power. 

"And I?" he repeated bitterly. 

"You have first to become an admiral, " I replied, with inspiration;"Drake was once a common seaman. "

He did not answer. But that evening as we came into Windsor, I perceivedthat he had not abandoned his intentions. The long light flashed onthe peaceful Thames, and the great, grim castle was gilded all over itswestern side. 

The captain leaned out of the window. 

"Postilion, " he called, "which inn here is most favoured by gentlemen?"

"The Castle, " said the boy, turning in his saddle to grin at me. "But ifI might be so bold as to advise your honour, the 'Swan' is a comfortablehouse, and well attended. "

"Know your place, sirrah, " shouted the captain, angrily, "and drive usto the 'Castle. '"

The boy snapped his whip disdainfully, and presently pulled us up at theinn, our chaise covered with the mud of three particular showers we hadrun through that day. And, as usual, the landlord, thinking he was aboutto receive quality, came scraping to the chaise door, only to turn witha gesture of disgust when he perceived John Paul's sea-boxes tied onbehind, and the costume of that hero, as well as my own. 

The captain demanded a room. But mine host had turned his back, whensuddenly a thought must have struck him, for he wheeled again. 

"Stay, " he cried, glancing suspiciously at the sky-blue frock; "if youare Mr. Dyson's courier, I have reserved a suite. "

This same John Paul, who was like iron with mob and mutiny, was pitiablyhelpless before such a prop of the aristocracy. He flew into a rage, and rated the landlord in Scotch and English, and I was fain to put mytongue in my cheek and turn my back that my laughter might not anger himthe more. 

And so I came face to face with another smile, behind a spying-glass, --asmile so cynical and unpleasant withal that my own was smothered. Atall and thin gentleman, who had come out of the inn without a hat, wassurveying the dispute with a keen delight. He was past the middle age. His clothes bore that mark which distinguishes his world from the other, but his features were so striking as to hold my attention unwittingly. 

After a while he withdrew his glass, cast one look at me which mighthave meant anything, and spoke up. 

"Pray, my good Goble, why all this fol-de-rol about admitting agentleman to your house?"

I scarce know which was the more astonished, the landlord, John Paul, orI. Goble bowed at the speaker. 

"A gentleman, your honour!" he gasped. "Your honour is joking again. Surely this trumpery Scotchman in Jews' finery is no gentleman, nor thelongshore lout he has got with him. They may go to the 'Swan. '"

"Jews' finery!" shouted the captain, with his fingers on his sword. 

But the stranger held up a hand deprecatingly. 

"'Pon my oath, Goble, I gave you credit for more penetration, " hedrawled; "you may be right about the Scotchman, but your longshore louthas had both birth and breeding, or I know nothing. "

John Paul, who was in the act of bowing to the speaker, remainedpetrified with his hand upon his heart, entirely discomfited. Thelandlord forsook him instantly for me, then stole a glance at his guestto test his seriousness, and looked at my face to see how greatly itwere at variance with my clothes. The temptation to lay hands on thecringing little toadeater grew too strong for me, and I picked him upby the scruff of the collar, --he was all skin and bones, --and spun himround like a corpse upon a gibbet, while he cried mercy in a voice towake the dead. The slim gentleman under the sign laughed until he heldhis sides, with a heartiness that jarred upon me. It did not seem to fithim. 

"By Hercules and Vulcan, " he cried, when at last I had set the landlorddown, "what an arm and back the lad has! He must have the best in thehouse, Goble, and sup with me. "

Goble pulled himself together. 

"And he is your honour's friend, " he began, with a scowl. 

"Ay, he is my friend, I tell you, " retorted the important personage, impatiently. 

The innkeeper, sulky, half-satisfied, yet fearing to offend, welcomed uswith what grace he could muster, and we were shown to "The Fox and theGrapes, " a large room in the rear of the house. 

John Paul had not spoken since the slim gentleman had drawn thedistinction between us, and I knew that the affront was rankling in hisbreast. He cast himself into a chair with such an air of dejection asmade me pity him from my heart. But I had no consolation to offer. Hisfirst words, far from being the torrent of protest I looked for, almoststartled me into laughter. 

"He can be nothing less than a duke, " said the captain. "Ah, Richard, see what it is to be a gentleman!"

"Fiddlesticks! I had rather own your powers than the best title inEngland, " I retorted sharply. 

He shook his head sorrowfully, which made me wonder the more that a manof his ability should be unhappy without this one bauble attainment. 

"I shall begin to believe the philosophers have the right of it, " heremarked presently. "Have you ever read anything of Monsieur Rousseau's, Richard?"

The words were scarce out of his mouth when we heard a loud rap on thedoor, which I opened to discover a Swiss fellow in a private livery, come to say that his master begged the young gentleman would sup withhim. The man stood immovable while he delivered this message, and put animpudent emphasis upon the gentleman. 

"Say to your master, whoever he may be, " I replied, in some heat atthe man's sneer, "that I am travelling with Captain Paul. That anyinvitation to me must include him. "

The lackey stood astounded at my answer, as though he had not heardaright. Then he retired with less assurance than he had come, and JohnPaul sprang to his feet and laid his hands upon my shoulders, as was hiswont when affected. He reproached himself for having misjudged me, andadded a deal more that I have forgotten. 

"And to think, " he cried, "that you have forgone supping with a noblemanon my account!"

"Pish, captain, 'tis no great denial. His Lordship--if Lordship heis--is stranded in an inn, overcome with ennui, and must be amused. Thatis all. "

Nevertheless I think the good captain was distinctly disappointed, notalone because I gave up what in his opinion was a great advantage, butlikewise because I could have regaled him on my return with an accountof the meal. For it must be borne in mind, my dears, that those daysare not these, nor that country this one. And in judging Captain Paulit must be remembered that rank inspired a vast respect when King Georgecame to the throne. It can never be said of John Paul that he lackedeither independence or spirit. But a nobleman was a nobleman then. 

So when presently the gentleman himself appeared smiling at our door, which his servant had left open, we both of us rose up in astonishmentand bowed very respectfully, and my face burned at the thought of themessage I had sent him. For, after all, the captain was but twenty-oneand I nineteen, and the distinguished unknown at least fifty. He took apinch of snuff and brushed his waistcoat before he spoke. 

"Egad, " said he, with good nature, looking up at me, "Mohammed was aphilosopher, and so am I, and come to the mountain. 'Tis worth crossingan inn in these times to see a young man whose strength has not beenwasted upon foppery. May I ask your name, sir?"

"Richard Carvel, " I answered, much put aback. 

"Ah, Carvel, " he repeated; "I know three or four of that name. Perhapsyou are Robert Carvel's son, of Yorkshire. But what the devil do you doin such clothes? I was resolved to have you though I am forced to take adozen watchet-blue mountebanks in the bargain. "

"Sir, I warn you not to insult my friend, " I cried, in a temper again. 

"There, there, not so loud, I beg you, " said he, with a gesture. "Hot aspounded pepper, --but all things are the better for a touch of it. I hadno intention of insulting the worthy man, I give my word. I must have myjoke, sir. No harm meant. " And he nodded at John Paul, who looked as ifhe would sink through the floor. "Robert Carvel is as testy as the devilwith the gout, and you are not unlike him in feature. "

"He is no relation of mine, " I replied, undecided whether to laugh orbe angry. And then I added, for I was very young, "I am an American, andheir to Carvel Hall in Maryland. "

"Lord, lord, I might have known, " exclaimed he. "Once I had the honourof dining with your Dr. Franklin, from Pennsylvania. He dresses for allthe world like you, only worse, and wears a hat I would not be caughtunder at Bagnigge Wells, were I so imprudent as to go there. "

"Dr. Franklin has weightier matters than hats to occupy him, sir, " Iretorted. For I was determined to hold my own. 

He made a French gesture, a shrug of his thin shoulders, which caused meto suspect he was not always so good-natured. 

"Dr. Franklin would better have stuck to his newspaper, my youngfriend, " said he. "But I like your appearance too well to quarrel withyou, and we'll have no politics before eating. Come, gentlemen, come!Let us see what Goble has left after his shaking. "

He struck off with something of a painful gait, which he explained wasfrom the gout. And presently we arrived at his parlour, where supper wasset out for us. I had not tasted its equal since I left Maryland. We satdown to a capon stuffed with eggs, and dainty sausages, and hot rolls, such as we had at home; and a wine which had cobwebbed and mellowedunder the Castle Inn for better than twenty years. The personage did notdrink wine. He sent his servant to quarrel with Goble because he had notbeen given iced water. While he was tapping on the table I took occasionto observe him. His was a physiognomy to strike the stranger, not byreason of its nobility, but because of its oddity. He had a prodigiouslength of face, the nose long in proportion, but not prominent. The eyeswere dark, very bright, and wide apart, with little eyebrows dabbed overthem at a slanting angle. The thin-lipped mouth rather pursed up, whichmade his smile the contradiction it was. In short, my dears, while Ido not lay claim to the reading of character, it required no greatastuteness to perceive the scholar, the man of the world, and theascetic--and all affected. His conversation bore out the summary. Itastonished us. It encircled the earth, embraced history and letterssince the world began. And added to all this, he had a thousandanecdotes on his tongue's tip. His words he chose with too great anicety; his sentences were of a foreign formation, twisted around; andhis stories were illustrated with French gesticulations. He threw inquotations galore, in Latin, and French, and English, until the captainbegan casting me odd, uncomfortable looks, as though he wished himselfwell out of the entertainment. Indeed, poor John Paul's perturbationamused me more than the gentleman's anecdotes. To be ill at ease isdiscouraging to any one, but it was peculiarly fatal with the captain. This arch-aristocrat dazzled him. When he attempted to follow in thesame vein he would get lost. And his really considerable learningcounted for nothing. He reached the height of his mortification whenthe slim gentleman dropped his eyelids and began to yawn. I was wickedlydelighted. He could not have been better met. Another such encounter, and I would warrant the captain's illusions concerning the gentry to goup in smoke. Then he might come to some notion of his own true powers. As for me, I enjoyed the supper which our host had insisted upon ourpartaking, drank his wine, and paid him very little attention. 

"May I make so bold as to ask, sir, whether you are a patron ofliterature?" said the captain, at length. 

"A very poor patron, my dear man, " was the answer. "Merely a humbleworshipper at the shrine. And I might say that I partake of its benefitsas much as a gentleman may. And yet, " he added, with a laugh and acough, "those silly newspapers and magazines insist on calling me aliterary man. "

"And now that you have indulged in a question, and the claret is comingon, " said he, "perhaps you will tell me something of yourself, Mr. Carvel, and of your friend, Captain Paul. And how you come to be so farfrom home. " And he settled himself comfortably to listen, as a man whohas bought his right to an opera box. 

Here was my chance. And I resolved that if I did not further enlightenJohn Paul, it would be no fault of mine. 

"Sir, " I replied, in as dry a monotone as I could assume, "I waskidnapped by the connivance of some unscrupulous persons in my colony, who had designs upon my grandfather's fortune. I was taken abroad in aslaver and carried down to the Caribbean seas, when I soon discoveredthat the captain and his crew were nothing less than pirates. For oneday all hands got into a beastly state of drunkenness, and the captainraised the skull and cross-bones, which he had handy in his chest. Iwas forced to climb the main rigging in order to escape being hacked topieces. "

He sat bolt upright, those little eyebrows of his gone up full half aninch, and he raised his thin hands with an air of incredulity. John Paulwas no less astonished at my little ruse. 

"Holy Saint Clement!" exclaimed our host; "pirates! This begins tohave a flavour indeed. And yet you do not seem to be a lad with animagination. Egad, Mr. Carvel, I had put you down for one who might say, with Alceste: 'Etre franc et sincere est mon plus grand talent. ' Butpray go on, sir. You have but to call for pen and ink to rival Mr. Fielding. "

With that I pushed back my chair, got up from the table, and made him abow. And the captain, at last seeing my drift, did the same. 

"I am not used at home to have my word doubted, sir, " I said. "Sir, yourhumble servant. I wish you a very good evening. " He rose precipitately, crying out from his gout, and laid a hand upon my arm. 

"Pray, Mr. Carvel, pray, sir, be seated, " he said, in some agitation. "Remember that the story is unusual, and that I have never clapped eyeson you until to-night. Are all young gentlemen from Maryland so fiery?But I should have known from your face that you are incapable of deceit. Pray be seated, captain. "

I was persuaded to go on, not a little delighted that I had scored mypoint, and broken down his mask of affectation and careless cynicism. Itold my story, leaving out the family history involved, and he listenedwith every mark of attention and interest. Indeed, to my surprise, hebegan to show some enthusiasm, of which sensation I had not believed himcapable. 

"What a find! what a find!" he continued to exclaim, when I hadfinished. "And true. You say it is true, Mr. Carvel?"

"Sir!" I replied, "I thought we had thrashed that out. "

"Yes, yes, to be sure. I beg pardon, " said he. And then to his servant:"Colomb, is my writing-tablet unpacked?"

I was more mystified than ever as to his identity. Was he going to putthe story in a magazine?

After that he seemed plainly anxious to be rid of us. I bade him goodnight, and he grasped my hand warmly enough. Then he turned to thecaptain in his most condescending manner. But a great change had comeover John Paul. He was ever quick to see and to learn, and I rejoicedto remark that he did not bow over the hand, as he might have done twohours since. He was again Captain Paul, the man, who fought his way onhis own merits. He held himself as tho' he was once more pacing the deckof the John. 

The slim gentleman poured the width of a finger of claret in his glass, soused it with water, and held it up. 

"Here's to your future, my good captain, " he said, "and to Mr. Carvel'ssafe arrival home again. When you get to town, Mr. Carvel, don't fail togo to Davenport, who makes clothes for most of us at Almack's, and lethim remodel you. I wish to God he might get hold of your doctor. And putup at the Star and Garter in Pall Mall: I take it that you have friendsin London. "

I replied that I had. But he did not push the inquiry. 

"You should write out this history for your grandchildren, Mr. Carvel, "he added, as he bade his Swiss light us to our room. "A strange yarnindeed, captain. "

"And therefore, " said the captain, coolly, "as a stranger give itwelcome. 

 "'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. '"

Had a meteor struck at the gentleman's feet, he could not have been moretaken aback. 

"What! What's this?" he cried. "You quote Hamlet! And who the devil areyou, sir, that you know my name?"

"Your name, sir!" exclaims the captain, in astonishment. 

"Well, well, " he said, stepping back and eying us closely, "'tis nomatter. Good night, gentlemen, good night. "

And we went to bed with many a laugh over the incident. 

"His name must be Horatio. We'll discover it in the morning, " said JohnPaul. 

CHAPTER XXIII. LONDON TOWN

But he had not risen when we set out, nor would the illnatured landlordreveal his name. It mattered little to me, since I desired to forget himas quickly as possible. For here was one of my own people of quality, agentleman who professed to believe what I told him, and yet would dono more for me than recommend me an inn and a tailor; while a poorsea-captain, driven from his employment and his home, with no betterreason to put faith in my story, was sharing with me his last penny. Goble, in truth, had made us pay dearly for our fun with him, and thehum of the vast unknown fell upon our ears with the question of lodgingstill unsettled. The captain was for going to the Star and Garter, the inn the gentleman had mentioned. I was in favour of seeking a moremodest and less fashionable hostelry. 

"Remember that you must keep up your condition, Richard, " said JohnPaul. 

"And if all English gentlemen are like our late friend, " I said, "Iwould rather stay in a city coffee-house. Remember that you have onlytwo guineas left after paying for the chaise, and that Mr. Dix may beout of town. "

"And your friends in Arlington Street?" said he. 

"May be back in Maryland, " said I; and added inwardly, "God forbid!"

"We shall have twice the chance at the Star and Garter. They will wanta show of gold at a humbler place, and at the Star we may carry matterswith a high hand. Pick out the biggest frigate, " he cried, for the tenthtime, at least, "or the most beautiful lady, and it will surprise you, my lad, to find out how many times you will win. "

I know of no feeling of awe to equal that of a stranger approaching forthe first time a huge city. The thought of a human multitude is everappalling as that of infinity itself, a human multitude with itsinfinity of despairs and joys, disgraces and honours, each small unitwith all the world in its own brain, and all the world out of it! Eachintent upon his own business or pleasure, and striving the while by hookor crook to keep the ground from slipping beneath his feet. For, if hefalls, God help him!

Yes, here was London, great and pitiless, and the fear of it was uponour souls as we rode into it that day. 

Holland House with its shaded gardens, Kensington Palace with the broadgreen acres of parks in front of it stitched by the silver Serpentine, and Buckingham House, which lay to the south over the hill, --all wereone to us in wonder as they loomed through the glittering mist thatsoftened all. We met with a stream of countless wagons that spoke ofa trade beyond knowledge, sprinkled with the equipages of the gentryfloating upon it; coach and chaise, cabriolet and chariot, gorgeouslybedecked with heraldry and wreaths; their numbers astonished me, forto my mind the best of them were no better than we could boast inAnnapolis. One matter, which brings a laugh as I recall it, was theoddity to me of seeing white coachmen and footmen. 

We clattered down St. James's Street, of which I had often heard mygrandfather speak, and at length we drew up before the Star and Garterin Pall Mall, over against the palace. The servants came hurrying out, headed by a chamberlain clad in magnificent livery, a functionary we hadnot before encountered. John Paul alighted to face this personage, who, the moment he perceived us, shifted his welcoming look to one of suchwithering scorn as would have daunted a more timid man than the captain. Without the formality of a sir he demanded our business, which startedthe inn people and our own boy to snickering, and made the passers-bypause and stare. Dandies who were taking the air stopped to ogle us withtheir spying-glasses and to offer quips, and behind them gatheredthe flunkies and chairmen awaiting their masters at the clubs andcoffee-houses near by. What was my astonishment, therefore, to see achange in the captain's demeanour. Truly for quick learning and theapplication of it I have never known his equal. His air became the oneof careless ease habitual to the little gentleman we had met at Windsor, and he drew from his pocket one of his guineas, which he tossed in theman's palm. 

"Here, my man, " said he, snapping his fingers; "an apartment at once, oryou shall pay for this nonsense, I promise you. " And walked in with hischin in the air, so grandly as to dissolve ridicule into speculation. 

For an instant the chamberlain wavered, and I trembled, for I dreaded adisgrace in Pall Mall, where the Manners might hear of it. Then fear, orhope of gain, or something else got the better of him, for he led usto a snug, well-furnished suite of a parlour and bedroom on thefirst floor, and stood bowing in the doorway for his honour's furthercommands. They were of a sort to bring the sweat to my forehead. 

"Have a fellow run to bid Davenport, the tailor, come hither as fastas his legs will carry him. And you may make it known that this younggentleman desires a servant, a good man, mind you, with references, whoknows a gentleman's wants. He will be well paid. "

That name of Davenport was a charm, --the mention of a servant wasits finishing touch. The chamberlain bent almost double, and retired, closing the door softly behind him. And so great had been my surpriseover these last acquirements of the captain that until now I had had nobreath to expostulate. 

"I must have my fling, Richard, " he answered, laughing; "I shall not bea gentleman long. I must know how it feels to take your ease, and strokeyour velvet, and order lackeys about. And when my money is gone I shallbe content to go to sea again, and think about it o' stormy nights. "

This feeling was so far beyond my intelligence that I made no comment. And I could not for the life of me chide him, but prayed that all wouldcome right in the end. 

In less than an hour Davenport himself arrived, bristling withimportance, followed by his man carrying such a variety of silks andsatins, flowered and plain, and broadcloths and velvets, to fill thefurniture. And close behind the tailor came a tall haberdasher fromBond Street, who had got wind of a customer, with a bewildering lot ofruffles and handkerchiefs and neckerchiefs, and bows of lawn and lacewhich (so he informed us) gentlemen now wore in the place of solitaires. Then came a hosier and a bootmaker and a hatter; nay, I was forgettinga jeweller from Temple Bar. And so imposing a front did the captain wearas he picked this and recommended the other that he got credit forme for all he chose, and might have had more besides. For himself heordered merely a modest street suit of purple, the sword to be thrustthrough the pocket, Davenport promising it with mine for the nextafternoon. For so much discredit had been cast upon his taste on theroad to London that he was resolved to remain indoors until he couldappear with decency. He learned quickly, as I have said. 

By the time we had done with these matters, which I wished to perdition, some score of applicants was in waiting for me. And out of them Ihired one who had been valet to the young Lord Rereby, and whoserecommendation was excellent. His name was Banks, his face open andingenuous, his stature a little above the ordinary, and his mannerrespectful. I had Davenport measure him at once for a suit of the Carvellivery, and bade him report on the morrow. 

All this while, my dears, I was aching to be off to Arlington Street, but a foolish pride held me back. I had heard so much of the fashionin which the Manners moved that I feared to bring ridicule upon them inpoor MacMuir's clothes. But presently the desire to see Dolly tooksuch hold upon me that I set out before dinner, fought my way past thechairmen and chaisemen at the door, and asked my way of the first civilperson I encountered. 'Twas only a little rise up the steps of St. James's Street, Arlington Street being but a small pocket of Piccadilly, but it seemed a dull English mile; and my heart thumped when I reachedthe corner, and the houses danced before my eyes. I steadied myself by apost and looked again. At last, after a thousand leagues of wandering, I was near her! But how to choose between fifty severe and imposingmansions? I walked on toward that endless race of affairs and fashion, Piccadilly, scanning every door, nay, every window, in the hope that Imight behold my lady's face framed therein. Here a chair was set down, there a chariot or a coach pulled up, and a clocked flunky bowing alady in. But no Dorothy. Finally, when I had near made the round ofeach side, I summoned courage and asked a butcher's lad, whistling as hepassed me, whether he could point out the residence of Mr. Manners. 

"Ay, " he replied, looking me over out of the corner of his eye, "that Ican. But y'ell not get a glimpse o' the beauty this day, for she's butjust off to Kensington with a coachful o' quality. "

And he led me, all in a tremble over his answer, to a large stonedwelling with arched windows, and pillared portico with lanthornsand link extinguishers, an area and railing beside it. The flavour ofgenerations of aristocracy hung about the place, and the big knocker onthe carved door seemed to regard with such a forbidding frown my shabbyclothes that I took but the one glance (enough to fix it forever in mymemory), and hurried on. Alas, what hope had I of Dorothy now!

"What cheer, Richard?" cried the captain when I returned; "have you seenyour friends?"

I told him that I had feared to disgrace them, and so refrained fromknocking--a decision which he commended as the very essence of wisdom. Though a desire to meet and talk with quality pushed him hard, he wouldnot go a step to the ordinary, and gave orders to be served in our room, thus fostering the mystery which had enveloped us since our arrival. Dinner at the Star and Garter being at the fashionable hour of halfafter four, I was forced to give over for that day the task of findingMr. Dix. 

That evening--shall I confess it?--I spent between the Green Park andArlington Street, hoping for a glimpse of Miss Dolly returning fromKensington. 

The next morning I proclaimed my intention of going to Mr. Dix. 

"Send for him, " said the captain. "Gentlemen never seek their men ofaffairs. "

"No, " I cried; "I can contain myself in this place no longer. I must bemoving. "

"As you will, Richard, " he replied, and giving me a queer, puzzled lookhe settled himself between the Morning Post and the Chronicle. 

As I passed the servants in the lower hall, I could not but remark analtered treatment. My friend the chamberlain, more pompous than ever, stood erect in the door with a stony stare, which melted the moment heperceived a young gentleman who descended behind me. I heard him cry out"A chaise for his Lordship!" at which command two of his assistantsran out together. Suspicion had plainly gripped his soul overnight, andthis, added to mortified vanity at having been duped, was sufficient forhim to allow me to leave the inn unattended. Nor could I greatly blamehim, for you must know, my dears, that at that time London was filledwith adventurers of all types. 

I felt a deal like an impostor, in truth, as I stepped into the street, disdaining to inquire of any of the people of the Star and Garter wherean American agent might be found. The day was gray and cheerless, thecolour of my own spirits as I walked toward the east, knowing that thecity lay that way. But I soon found plenty to distract me. 

To a lad such as I, bred in a quiet tho' prosperous colonial town, awalk through London was a revelation. Here in the Pall Mall the day wasnot yet begun, tho' for some scarce ended. I had not gone fifty pacesfrom the hotel before I came upon a stout gentleman with twelve hoursof claret inside him, brought out of a coffee-house and put with vastdifficulty into his chair; and I stopped to watch the men stagger offwith their load to St. James's Street. Next I met a squad of redcoatedguards going to the palace, and after them a grand coach and six rattledover the Scotch granite, swaying to a degree that threatened to shakeoff the footmen clinging behind. Within, a man with an eagle nose satimpassive, and I set him down for one of the king's ministers. 

Presently I came out into a wide space, which I knew to be Charing Crossby the statue of Charles the First which stood in the centre of it, andthe throat of a street which was just in front of me must be the Strand. Here all was life and bustle. On one hand was Golden's Hotel, and acrowded mail-coach was dashing out from the arch beneath it, the hornblowing merrily; on the other hand, so I was told by a friendly man inbrown, was Northumberland House, the gloomy grandeur whereof held myeyes for a time. And I made bold to ask in what district were those whohad dealings with the colonies. He scanned me with a puzzling look ofcommiseration. 

"Ye're not a-going to sell yereself for seven year, my lad?" said he. "Iwas near that myself when I was young, and I thank God' to this day thatI talked first to an honest man, even as you are doing. They'll giveye a pretty tale, --the factors, --of a land of milk and honey, when it'snaught but stripes and curses yell get. "

And he was about to rebuke me hotly, when I told him I had come fromMaryland, where I was born. 

"Why, ye speak like a gentleman!" he exclaimed. "I was informed that alltalk like naygurs over there. And is it not so of your redemptioners?"

I said that depended upon the master they got. 

"Then I take it ye are looking for the lawyers, who mostly represent theplanters. And y e'll find them at the Temple or Lincoln's Inn. "

I replied that he I sought was not an attorney, but a man of business. Whereupon he said that I should find all those in a batch about theNorth and South American Coffee House, in Threadneedle Street. And hepointed me into the Strand, adding that I had but to follow my nose toSt. Paul's, and there inquire. 

I would I might give you some notion of the great artery of London inthose days, for it has changed much since I went down it that heavymorning in April, 1770, fighting my way. Ay, truly, fighting my way, forthe street then was no place for the weak and timid, when bullocks ranthrough it in droves on the way to market, when it was often jammed fromwall to wall with wagons, and carmen and truckmen and coachmen swungtheir whips and cursed one another to the extent of their lungs. NearSt. Clement Danes I was packed in a crowd for ten minutes while two ofthese fellows formed a ring and fought for the right of way, stoppingthe traffic as far as I could see. Dustmen, and sweeps, and evenbeggars, jostled you on the corners, bullies tried to push you againstthe posts or into the kennels; and once, in Butchers' Row, I was stoppedby a flashy, soft-tongued fellow who would have lured me into a tavernnear by. 

The noises were bedlam ten times over. Shopmen stood at their doors andcried, "Rally up, rally up, buy, buy, buy!" venders shouted saloopand barley, furmity, Shrewsbury cakes and hot peascods, rosemaryand lavender, small coal and sealing-wax, and others bawled "Pots tosolder!" and "Knives to grind!" Then there was the incessant roar ofthe heavy wheels over the rough stones, and the rasp and shriek of thebrewers' sledges as they moved clumsily along. As for the odours, fromthat of the roasted coffee and food of the taverns, to the stale fish onthe stalls, and worse, I can say nothing. They surpassed imagination. 

At length, upon emerging from Butchers' Row, I came upon some stocksstanding in the street, and beheld ahead of me a great gatewaystretching across the Strand from house to house. 

Its stone was stained with age, and the stern front of it seemed to mockthe unseemly and impetuous haste of the tide rushing through its arches. I stood and gazed, nor needed one to tell me that those two grinningskulls above it, swinging to the wind on the pikes, were rebel heads. Bare and bleached now, and exposed to a cruel view, but once caressedby loving hands, was the last of those whose devotion to the house ofStuart had brought from their homes to Temple Bar. 

I halted by the Fleet Market, nor could I resist the desire to go intoSt. Paul's, to feel like a pebble in a bell under its mighty dome; andit lacked but half an hour of noon when I had come out at the Poultryand finished gaping at the Mansion House. I missed Threadneedle Streetand went down Cornhill, in my ignorance mistaking the Royal Exchange, with its long piazza and high tower, for the coffeehouse I sought: inthe great hall I begged a gentleman to direct me to Mr. Dix, if he knewsuch a person. He shrugged his shoulders, which mystified me somewhat, but answered with a ready good-nature that he was likely to be found atthat time at Tom's Coffee House, in Birchin Lane near by, whither I wentwith him. He climbed the stairs ahead of me and directed me, puffing, tothe news room, which I found filled with men, some writing, some talkingeagerly, and others turning over newspapers. The servant there looked meover with no great favour, but on telling him my business he went off, and returned with a young man of a pink and white complexion, in a greenriding-frock, leather breeches, and top boots, who said:

"Well, my man, I am Mr. Dix. "

There was a look about him, added to his tone and manner, set me strongagainst him. I knew his father had not been of this stamp. 

"And I am Mr. Richard Carvel, grandson to Mr. Lionel Carvel, of CarvelHall, in Maryland, " I replied, much in the same way. 

He thrust his hands into his breeches and stared very hard. 

"You?" he said finally, with something very near a laugh. 

"Sir, a gentleman's word usually suffices!" I cried. 

He changed his tone a little. 

"Your pardon, Mr. Carvel, " he said, "but we men of business have needto be careful. Let us sit, and I will examine your letters. Yourdetermination must have been suddenly taken, " he added, "for I havenothing from Mr. Carvel on the subject of your coming. "

"Letters! You have heard nothing!" I gasped, and there stopped shortand clinched the table. "Has not my grandfather written of mydisappearance?"

Immediately his expression went back to the one he had met me with. "Pardon me, " he said again. 

I composed myself as best I could in the face of his incredulity, swallowing with an effort the aversion I felt to giving him my story. 

"I think it strange he has not informed you, " I said; "I was kidnappednear Annapolis last Christmas-time, and put on board of a slaver, fromwhich I was rescued by great good fortune, and brought to Scotland. AndI have but just made my way to London. "

"The thing is not likely, Mr. --, Mr. --, " he said, drumming impatientlyon the board. 

Then I lost control of myself. 

"As sure as I am heir to Carvel Hall, Mr. Dix, " I cried, rising, "youshall pay for your insolence by forfeiting your agency!"

Now the roan was a natural coward, with a sneer for some and a smirk forothers. He went to the smirk. 

"I am but looking to Mr. Carvel's interests the best I know how, " hereplied; "and if indeed you be Mr. Richard Carvel, then you must applaudmy caution, sir, in seeking proofs. "

"Proofs I have none, " I cried; "the very clothes on my back are borrowedfrom a Scotch seaman. My God, Mr. Dix, do I look like a rogue?"

"Were I to advance money upon appearances, sir, I should be insolventin a fortnight. But stay, " he cried uneasily, as I flung back my chair, "stay, sir. Is there no one of your province in the town to attest youridentity?"

"Ay, that there is, " I said bitterly; "you shall hear from Mr. Mannerssoon, I promise you. "

"Pray, Mr. Carvel, " he said, overtaking me on the stairs, "you willsurely allow the situation to be--extraordinary, you will surely commendmy discretion. Permit me, sir, to go with you to Arlington Street. " Andhe sent a lad in haste to the Exchange for a hackney-chaise, which wassoon brought around. 

I got in, somewhat mollified, and ashamed of my heat: still dislikingthe man, but acknowledging he had the better right on his side. Trueto his kind he gave me every mark of politeness now, asked particularlyafter Mr. Carvel's health, and encouraged me to give him as much of myadventure as I thought proper. But what with the rattle of the carriageand the street noises and my disgust, I did not care to talk, andpresently told him as much very curtly. He persisted, how: ever, inpointing out the sights, the Fleet prison, and where the Ludgate stoodsix years gone; and the Devil's Tavern, of old Ben Jonson's time, andthe Mitre and the Cheshire Cheese and the Cock, where Dr. Johnson mightbe found near the end of the week at his dinner. He showed me the King'sMews above Charing Cross, and the famous theatre in the Haymarket, andwe had but turned the corner into Piccadilly when he cried excitedly ata passing chariot:

"There, Mr. Carvel, there go my Lord North and Mr. Rigby!"

"The devil take them, Mr. Dix!" I exclaimed. 

He was silent after that, glancing at me covertly from while to whileuntil we swung into Arlington Street. Before I knew we were stoppedin front of the house, but as I set foot on the step I found myselfconfronted by a footman in the Manners livery, who cried out angrily toour man: "Make way, make way for his Grace of Chartersea!" Turning, Isaw a coach behind, the horses dancing at the rear wheels of the chaise. We alighted hastily, and I stood motionless, my heart jumping quick andhard in the hope and fear that Dorothy was within, my eye fixed on thecoach door. But when the footman pulled it open and lowered the step, out lolled a very broad man with a bloated face and little, beady eyeswithout a spark of meaning, and something very like a hump was on thetop of his back. He wore a yellow top-coat, and red-heeled shoes of thelatest fashion, and I settled at once he was the Duke of Chartersea. 

Next came little Mr. Manners, stepping daintily as ever; and then, as the door closed with a bang, I remembered my errand. They had gothalfway to the portico. 

"Mr. Manners!" I cried. 

He faced about, and his Grace also, and both stared in wellbredsurprise. As I live, Mr. Manners looked into my face, into my veryeyes, and gave no sign of recognition. And what between astonishment andanger, and a contempt that arose within me, I could not speak. 

"Give the man a shilling, Manners, " said his Grace; "we can't stay hereforever. "

"Ay, give the man a shilling, " lisped Mr. Manners to the footman. Andthey passed into the house, and the door eras shut. 

Then I heard Mr. Dix at my elbow, saying in a soft voice: "Now, myfine gentleman, is there any good reason why you should not ride to BowStreet with me?"

"As there is a God in heaven. Mr. Dix, " I answered, very low, "if youattempt to lay hands on me, you shall answer for it! And you shall hearfrom me yet, at the Star and Garter hotel. "

I spun on my heel and left him, nor did he follow; and a great lump wasin my throat and tears welling in my eyes. 

What would John Paul say?

CHAPTER XXIV. CASTLE YARD

But I did not go direct to the Star and Garter. No, I lacked the courageto say to John Paul: "You have trusted me, and this is how I haverewarded your faith. " And the thought that Dorothy's father, of allmen, had served me thus, after what I had gone through, filled me witha bitterness I had never before conceived. And when my brain becameclearer I reflected that Mr. Manners had had ample time to learn of mydisappearance from Maryland, and that his action had been one of design, and of cold blood. But I gave to Dorothy or her mother no part in it. Mr. Manners never had had cause to hate me, and the only reason I couldassign was connected with his Grace of Chartersea, which I dismissed asabsurd. 

A few drops of rain warned me to seek shelter. I knew not where I was, nor how long I had been walking the streets at a furious pace. But ahuckster told me I was in Chelsea; and kindly directed me back to PallMall. The usual bunch of chairmen was around the hotel entrance, butI noticed a couple of men at the door, of sharp features and unkemptdress, and heard a laugh as I went in. My head swam as I stumbled up thestairs and fumbled at the knob, when I heard voices raised inside, andthe door was suddenly and violently thrown open. Across the sill stood abig, rough-looking man with his hands on his hips. 

"Oho! Here be the other fine bird a-homing, I'll warrant, " he cried. 

The place was full. I caught sight of Davenport, the tailor, with awry face, talking against the noise; of Banks, the man I had hired, resplendent in my livery. One of the hotel servants was in thecorner perspiring over John Paul's chests, and beside him stood a mandisdainfully turning over with his foot the contents, as they werethrown on the floor. I saw him kick the precious vellum-hole waistcoatacross the room in wrath and disgust, and heard him shout above therest: "The lot of them would not bring a guinea from any Jew in St. Martin's Lane!"

In the other corner, by the writing-desk, stood the hatter and thehaberdasher with their heads together. And in the very centre of theconfusion was the captain himself. He was drest in his new clothesDavenport had brought, and surprised me by his changed appearance, andlooked as fine a gentleman as any I have ever seen. His face lightedwith relief at sight of me. 

"Now may I tell these rogues begone, Richard?" he cried. And turningto the man confronting me, he added, "This gentleman will settle theirbeggarly accounts. "

Then I knew we had to do with bailiffs, and my heart failed me. 

"Likely, " laughed the big man; "I'll stake my oath he has not a groat topay their beggarly accounts, as year honour is pleased to call them. "

They ceased jabbering and straightened to attention, awaiting my reply. But I forgot them all, and thought only of the captain, and of thetrouble I had brought him. He began to show some consternation as I wentup to him. 

"My dear friend, " I said, vainly trying to steady my voice, "I beg, Ipray that you will not lose faith in me, --that you will not think anydeceit of mine has brought you to these straits. Mr. Dix did not knowme, and has had no word from my grandfather of my disappearance. And Mr. Manners, whom I thought my friend, spurned me in the street before theDuke of Chartersea. "

And no longer master of myself, I sat down at the table and hid my face, shaken by great sobs, to think that this was my return for his kindness. 

"What, " I heard him cry, "Mr. Manners spurned you, Richard! By allthe law in Coke and Littleton, he shall answer for it to me. Yourfairweather fowl shall have the chance to run me through!"

I sat up in bewilderment, doubting my senses. 

"You believe me, captain, " I said, overcome by the man's faith; "youbelieve me when I tell you that one I have known from childhood refusedto recognize me to-day?"

He raised me in his arms as tenderly as a woman might. 

"And the whole world denied you, lad, I would not. I believe you--" andhe repeated it again and again, unable to get farther. 

And if his words brought tears to my eyes, my strength came with them. 

"Then I care not, " I replied; "I only to live to reward you. "

"Mr. Manners shall answer for it to me!" cried John Paul again, and madea pace toward the door. 

"Not so fast, not so fast, captain, or admiral, or whatever you are, "said the bailiff, stepping in his way, for he was used to such scenes;"as God reigns, the owners of all these fierce titles be fire-eaters, who would spit you if you spilt snuff upon 'em. Come, come, gentlemen, your swords, and we shall see the sights o' London. "

This was the signal for another uproar, the tailor shrieking that JohnPaul must take off the suit, and Banks the livery; asking the man in thecorner by the sea-chests (who proved to be the landlord) who was to payhim for his work and his lost cloth. And the landlord shook his fistat us and shouted back, who was to pay him his four pounds odd, whichincluded two ten-shilling dinners and a flask of his best wine? Theother tradesmen seized what was theirs and made off with remarksappropriate to the occasion. And when John Paul and my man were divestedof their plumes, we were marched downstairs and out through a jeeringline of people to a hackney coach. 

"Now, sirs, whereaway?" said the bailiff when we were got in beside oneof his men, and burning with the shame of it; "to the prison? Or I has avery pleasant hotel for gentlemen in Castle Yard. "

The frightful stories my dear grandfather had told me of the Fleet cameflooding into my head, and I shuddered and turned sick. I glanced atJohn Paul. 

"A guinea will not go far in a sponging-house, " said he, and thebailiff's man laughed. 

The bailiff gave a direction we did not hear, and we drove off. Heproved a bluff fellow with a bloat yet not unkindly humour, and despitehis calling seemed to have something that was human in him. Hepassed many a joke on that pitiful journey in an attempt to break ourdespondency, urging us not to be downcast, and reminding us that thelast gentleman he had taken from Pall Mall was in over a thousandpounds, and that our amount was a bagatelle. And when we had gonethrough Temple Bar, instead of keeping on down Fleet Street, we joltedinto Chancery Lane. This roused me. 

"My friend has warned you that he has no money, " I said, "and no morehave I. "

The bailiff regarded me shrewdly. 

"Ay, " he replied, "I know. But I has seen many stripes o' men in mytime, my masters, and I know them to trust, and them whose silver I mustfeel or send to the Fleet. "

I told him unreservedly my case, and that he must take his chance ofbeing paid; that I could not hear from America for three months atleast. He listened without much show of attention, shaking his head fromside to side. 

"If you ever cheated a man, or the admiral here either, then I beginover again, " he broke in with decision; "it is the fine sparks from theclubs I has to watch. You'll not worry, sir, about me. Take my oath I'llget interest out of you on my money. "

Unwilling as we both were to be beholden to a bailiff, the alternativeof the Fleet was too terrible to be thought of. And so we alighted afterhim with a shiver at the sight of the ugly, grimy face of the house, andthe dirty windows all barred with double iron. In answer to a knock wewere presently admitted by a turnkey to a vestibule as black as a tomb, and the heavy outer door was locked behind us. Then, as the man cursedand groped for the keyhole of the inner door, despair laid hold of me. 

Once inside, in the half light of a narrow hallway, a variety of noisesgreeted our ears, --laughter from above and below, interspersed withoaths; the click of billiard balls, and the occasional hammering ofa pack of cards on a bare table before the shuffle. The air was closealmost to suffocation, and out of the coffee room, into which I glanced, came a heavy cloud of tobacco smoke. 

"Why, my masters, why so glum?" said the bailiff; "my inn is not such abad place, and you'll find ample good company here, I promise you. "

And he led us into a dingy antechamber littered with papers, on everyone of which, I daresay, was written a tragedy. Then he inscribedour names, ages, descriptions, and the like in a great book, when wefollowed him up three flights to a low room under the eaves, having butone small window, and bare of furniture save two narrow cots for beds, abroken chair, and a cracked mirror. He explained that cash boarders gotbetter, and added that we might be happy we were not in the Fleet. 

"We dine at two here, gentlemen, and sup at eight. This is not the Starand Garter, " said he as he left us. 

It was the captain who spoke first, though he swallowed twice before thewords came out. 

"Come, Richard, come, laddie, " he said, "'tis no so bad it micht-na bewaur. We'll mak the maist o' it. "

"I care not for myself, Captain Paul, " I replied, marvelling the more athim, "but to think that I have landed you here, that this is my returnfor your sacrifice. "

"Hoots! How was ye to foresee Mr. Manners was a blellum?" And he brokeinto threats which, if Mr. Marmaduke had heard and comprehended, wouldhave driven him into the seventh state of fear. "Have you no otherfriends in London?" he asked, regaining his English. 

I shook my head. Then came--a question I dreaded. 

"And Mr. Manners's family?"

"I would rather remain here for life, " I said, "than to them now. "

For pride is often selfish, my dears, and I did not reflect that if Iremained, the captain would remain likewise. 

"Are they all like Mr. Manners?"

"That they are not, " I returned with more heat than was necessary; "hiswife is goodness itself, and his daughter--" Words failed me, and Ireddened. 

"Ah, he has a daughter, you say, " said the captain, casting asignificant look at me and beginning to pace the little room. He waskeener than I thought, this John Paul. 

If it were not so painful a task, my dears, I would give you here somenotion of what a London sponging-house was in the last century. Comynhas heard me tell of it, and I have seen Bess cry over the story. Gaming was the king-vice of that age, and it filled these placesto overflowing. Heaven help a man who came into the world with thatpropensity in the early days of King George the Third. Many, alas, acquired it before they were come to years of discretion. Next me, atthe long table where we were all thrown in together, --all who could notpay for private meals, --sat a poor fellow who had flung away a patrimonyof three thousand a year. Another had even mortgaged to a Jew hisprospects on the death of his mother, and had been seized by thebailiffs outside of St. James's palace, coming to Castle Yard directfrom his Majesty's levee. Yet another, with such a look of dead hopein his eyes as haunts me yet, would talk to us by the hour of theDevonshire house where he was born, of the green valley and the peacefulstream, and of the old tower-room, caressed by trees, where Queen Besshad once lain under the carved oak rafters. Here he had taken his youngwife, and they used to sit together, so he said, in the sunny oriel overthe water, and he had sworn to give up the cards. That was but threeyears since, and then all had gone across the green cloth in one madnight in St. James's Street. Their friends had deserted them, and thepoor little woman was lodged in Holborn near by, and came every morningwith some little dainty to the bailiff's, for her liege lord who had soused her. He pressed me to share a fowl with him one day, but it wouldhave choked me. God knows where she got the money to buy it. I saw heronce hanging on his neck in the hall, he trying to shield her from theimpudent gaze of his fellow-lodgers. 

But some of them lived like lords in luxury, with never a seemingregret; and had apartments on the first floor, and had their tea andpaper in bed, and lounged out the morning in a flowered nightgown, andthe rest of the day in a laced coat. These drank the bailiff's best portand champagne, and had nothing better than a frown or haughty look forus, when we passed them at the landing. Whence the piper was paid I knewnot, and the bailiff cared not. But the bulk of the poor gentlemen werea merry crew withal, and had their wit and their wine at table, and kneweach other's histories (and soon enough ours) by heart. They betted awaythe week at billiards or whist or picquet or loo, and sometimes measuredswords for diversion, tho' this pastime the bailiff was greatly setagainst; as calculated to deprive him of a lodger. 

Although we had no money for gaming, and little for wine or tobacco, thecaptain and I were received very heartily into the fraternity. Afterone afternoon of despondency we both voted it the worst of bad policyto remain aloof and nurse our misfortune, and spent our first eveningin making acquaintances over a deal of very thin "debtor's claret. " Itossed long that night on the hard cot, listening to the scurrying ratsamong the roof-timbers. They ran like the thoughts in my brain. Andbefore I slept I prayed again and again that God would put it in mypower to reward him whom charity for a friendless foundling had broughtto a debtor's prison. 

Not so much as a single complaint or reproach had passed his lips!

CHAPTER XXV. THE RESCUE

Perchance, my dears, if John Paul and I had not been cast by accidentin a debtor's prison, this great man might never have bestowed uponour country those glorious services which contributed so largely toits liberty. And I might never have comprehended that the AmericanRevolution was brought on and fought by a headstrong king, backed byunscrupulous followers who held wealth above patriotism. It is oftendifficult to lay finger upon the causes which change the drift of aman's opinions, and so I never wholly knew why John Paul abandoned hisdeep-rooted purpose to obtain advancement in London by grace of theaccomplishments he had laboured so hard to attain. But I believe thebeginning was at the meeting at Windsor with the slim and cynicalgentleman who had treated him to something between patronage andcontempt. Then my experience with Mr. Manners had so embedded itselfin his mind that he could never speak of it but with impatience anddisgust. And, lastly, the bailiff's hotel contained many born gentlemenwho had been left here to rot out the rest of their dreary lives byfriends who were still in power and opulence. More than once when Iclimbed to our garret I found the captain seated on the three-leggedchair, with his head between his hands, sunk in reflection. 

"You were right, Richard, " said he; "your great world is a hard worldfor those in the shadow of it. I see now that it must not be enteredfrom below, but from the cabin window. A man may climb around it, lad, and when he is above may scourge it. "

"And you will scourge it, captain!" I had no doubt of his ability oneday to do it. 

"Ay, and snap my fingers at it. 'Tis a pretty organization, thissociety, which kicks the man who falls to the dogs. None of your finegentlemen for me!"

And he would descend to talk politics with our fellow-guests. We shouldhave been unhappy indeed had it not been for this pastime. It seemsto me strange that these debtors took such a keen interest in outsideaffairs, even tho' it was a time of great agitation. We read witheagerness the cast-off newspapers of the first-floor gentlemen. One poordevil who had waddled (failed) in Change Alley had collected under hismattress the letters of Junius, then selling the Public Advertiser asfew publications had ever sold before. John Paul devoured these attacksupon his Majesty and his ministry in a single afternoon, and ere longhe had on the tip of his tongue the name and value of every man inParliament and out of it. He learned, almost by heart, the history ofthe astonishing fight made by Mr. Wilkes for the liberties of England, and speedily was as good a Whig and a better than the member fromMiddlesex himself. 

The most of our companions were Tories, for, odd as it may appear, theyretained their principles even in Castle Yard. And in those days to be aTory was to be the friend of the King, and to be the friend of the Kingwas to have some hope of advancement and reward at his hand. They hadnone. The captain joined forces with the speculator from the Alley, whohad hitherto contended against mighty odds, and together they bore downupon the enemy--ay, and rooted him, too. For John Paul had an air abouthim and a natural gift of oratory to command attention, and shortly thedining room after dinner became the scene of such contests as to callup in the minds of the old stagers a field night in the good days ofMr. Pitt and the second George. The bailiff often sat by the door, aninterested spectator, and the macaroni lodgers condescended to comedownstairs and listen. The captain attained to fame in our littleworld from his maiden address, in which he very shrewdly separatedthe political character of Mr. Wilkes from his character as a privategentleman, and so refuted a charge of profligacy against the people'schampion. 

Altho' I never had sufficient confidence in my powers to join in thesediscussions, I followed them zealously, especially when they touchedAmerican questions, as they frequently did. This subject of the wrongsof the colonies was the only one I could ever be got to study at KingWilliam's School, and I believe that my intimate knowledge of it gavethe captain a surprise. He fell into the habit of seating himself onthe edge of my bed after we had retired for the night, and would holdme talking until the small hours upon the injustice of taxing a peoplewithout their consent, and upon the multitude of measures of coercionwhich the King had pressed upon us to punish our resistance. Hedeclaimed so loudly against the tyranny of quartering troops upon apeaceable state that our exhausted neighbours were driven to poundingtheir walls and ceilings for peace. The news of the Boston massacre hadnot then reached England. 

I was not, therefore, wholly taken by surprise when he said to me onenight:

"I am resolved to try my fortune in America, lad. That is the land forsuch as I, where a man may stand upon his own merits. "

"Indeed, we shall go together, captain, " I answered heartily, "if we areever free of this cursed house. And you shall taste of our hospitalityat Carvel Hall, and choose that career which pleases you. Faith, I couldpoint you a dozen examples in Annapolis of men who have made their waywithout influence. But you shall have influence, " I cried, glowingat the notion of rewarding him; "you shall experience Mr. Carvel'sgratitude and mine. You shall have the best of our ships, and you will. "

He was a man to take fire easily, and embraced me. And, strange to say, neither he nor I saw the humour, nor the pity, of the situation. Howmany another would long before have become sceptical of my promises! Andjustly. For I had led him to London, spent all his savings, and thengot him into a miserable prison, and yet he had faith remaining, and tospare!

It occurred to me to notify Mr. Dix of my residence in Castle Yard, not from any hope that he would turn his hand to my rescue, but thathe might know where to find me if he heard from Maryland. And I pennedanother letter to Mr. Carvel, but a feeling I took no pains to definecompelled me to withhold an account of Mr. Manners's conduct. AndI refrained from telling him that I was in a debtor's prison. For Ibelieve the thought of a Carvel in a debtor's prison would have killedhim. I said only that we were comfortably lodged in a modest part ofLondon; that the Manners were inaccessible (for I could not bring myselfto write that they were out of town). Just then a thought struck me withsuch force that I got up with a cheer and hit the astonished captainbetween the shoulders. 

"How now!" he cried, ruefully rubbing himself. "If these are thyamenities, Richard, Heaven spare me thy blows. "

"Why, I have been a fool, and worse, " I shouted. "My grandfather's ship, the Sprightly Bess, is overhauling this winter in the Severn. And unlessshe has sailed, which I think unlikely, I have but to despatch a line toBristol to summon Captain Bell, the master, to London. I think he willbring the worthy Mr. Dix to terms. "

"Whether he will or no, " said John Paul, hope lighting his face, "Bellmust have command of the twenty pounds to free us, and will take usback to America. For I must own, Richard, that I have no great love forLondon. "

No more had I. I composed this letter to Bell in such haste that my handshook, and sent it off with a shilling to the bailiff's servant, that itmight catch the post. And that afternoon we had a two-shilling bottle ofport for dinner, which we shared with a broken-down parson who had beenchaplain in ordinary to my Lord Wortley, and who had preached us anEaster sermon the day before. For it was Easter Monday. Our talk wasbroken into by the bailiff, who informed me that a man awaited me in thepassage, and my heart leaped into my, throat. 

There was Banks. Thinking he had come to reproach me; I asked him rathersharply what he wanted. He shifted his hat from one hand to the otherand looked sheepish. 

"Your pardon, sir, " said he, "but your honour must be very ill-servedhere. "

"Better than I should be, Banks, for I have no money, " I said, wonderingif he thought me a first-floor lodger. 

He made no immediate reply to that, either, but seemed more uneasystill. And I took occasion to note his appearance. He was exceeding neatin a livery of his old master, which he had stripped of the trimmings. Then, before I had guessed at his drift, he thrust his hand inside hiscoat and drew forth a pile of carefully folded bank notes. 

"I be a single man, sir, and has small need of this. And and I knowsyour honour will pay me when your letter comes from America. "

And he handed me five Bank of England notes of ten pounds apiece. I tookthem mechanically, without knowing what I did. The generosity of theact benumbed my senses, and for the instant I was inclined to accept theoffer upon the impulse of it. 

"How do you know you would get your money again, Banks?" I askedcuriously. 

"No fear, sir, " he replied promptly, actually brightening at theprospect. "I knows gentlemen, sir, them that are such, sir. And I willgo to America with you, and you say the word, sir. "

I was more touched than I cared to show over his offer, which I scarceknew how to refuse. In truth it was a difficult task, for he pressed meagain and again, and when he saw me firm, turned away to wipe his eyesupon his sleeve. Then he begged me to let him remain and serve me in thesponginghouse, saying that he would pay his own way. The very thought ofa servant in the bailiff's garret made me laugh, and so I put him off, first getting his address, and promising him employment on the day of myrelease. 

On Wednesday we looked for a reply from Bristol, if not for theappearance of Bell himself, and when neither came apprehension seized uslest he had already sailed for Maryland. The slender bag of Thursday'sletters contained none for me. Nevertheless, we both did our best tokeep in humour, forbearing to mention to one another the hope that hadgone. Friday seemed the beginning of eternity; the day dragged through Iknow not how, and toward evening we climbed back to our little room, not daring to speak of what we knew in our hearts to be so, --that theSprightly Bess had sailed. We sat silently looking out over the drearystretch of roofs and down into a dingy court of Bernard's Inn below, when suddenly there arose a commotion on the stairs, as of a manmounting hastily. The door was almost flung from its hinges, some onecaught me by the shoulders, gazed eagerly into my face, and drew back. For a space I thought myself dreaming. I searched my memory, and thename came. Had it been Dorothy, or Mr. Carvel himself, I could not havebeen more astonished, and my knees weakened under me. 

"Jack!" I exclaimed; "Lord Comyn!"

He seized my hand. "Yes; Jack, whose life you saved, and no other, " hecried, with a sailor's impetuosity. "My God, Richard! it was true, then;and you have been in this place for three weeks!"

"For three weeks, " I repeated. 

He looked at me, at John Paul, who was standing by in bewilderment, and then about the grimy, cobwebbed walls of the dark garret, and thenturned his back to hide his emotion, and so met the bailiff, who wascoming in. 

"For how much are these gentlemen in your books?" he demanded hotly. 

"A small matter, your Lordship, --a mere trifle, " said the man, bowing. 

"How much, I say?"

"Twenty-two guineas, five shillings, and eight pence, my Lord, countingdebts, and board, --and interest, " the bailiff glibly replied; for he hadno doubt taken off the account when he spied his Lordship's coach. "AndI was very good to Mr. Carvel and the captain, as your Lordship willdiscover--"

"D--n your goodness!" said my Lord, cutting him short. 

And he pulled out a wallet and threw some pieces at the bailiff, biddinghim get change with all haste. "And now, Richard, " he added, with aglance of disgust about him, "pack up, and we'll out of this cursedhole!"

"I have nothing to pack, my Lord, " I said. 

"My Lord! Jack, I have told you, or I leave you here. "

"Well, then, Jack, and you will, " said I, overflowing with thankfulnessto God for the friends He had bestowed upon me. "But before we go astep, Jack, you must know the man but for whose bravery I should longago have been dead of fever and ill-treatment in the Indies, and whosegenerosity has brought him hither. My Lord Comyn, this is Captain JohnPaul. "

The captain, who had been quite overwhelmed by this sudden arrival of areal lord to our rescue at the very moment when we had sunk to despair, and no less astonished by the intimacy that seemed to exist between thenewcomer and myself, had the presence of mind to bend his head, and thatwas all. Comyn shook his hand heartily. 

"You shall not lack reward for this, captain, I promise you, " cried he. "What you have done for Mr. Carvel, you have done for me. Captain, Ithank you. You shall have my interest. "

I flushed, seeing John Paul draw his lips together. But how was hisLordship to know that he was dealing with no common sea-captain?

"I have sought no reward, my Lord, " said he. "What I have done was outof friendship for Mr. Carvel, solely. "

Comyn was completely taken by surprise by these words, and by thehaughty tone in which they were spoken. He had not looked for agentleman, and no wonder. He took a quizzical sizing of the sky-bluecoat. Such a man in such a station was out of his experience. 

"Egad, I believe you, captain, " he answered, in a voice which saidplainly that he did not. "But he shall be rewarded nevertheless, eh, Richard? I'll see Charles Fox in this matter to-morrow. Come, come, "he added impatiently, "the bailiff must have his change by now. Come, Richard!" and he led the way down the winding stairs. 

"You must not take offence at his ways, " I whispered to the captain. ForI well knew that a year before I should have taken the same tone withone not of my class. "His Lordship is all kindness. "

"I have learned a bit since I came into England, Richard, " was his soberreply. 

"'Twas a pitiful sight to see gathered on the landings the poor fellowswe had come to know in Castle Yard, whose horizons were then as gray asours was bright. But they each had a cheery word of congratulation forus as we passed, and the unhappy gentleman from Devonshire pressed myhand and begged that I would sometime think of him when I was out underthe sky. I promised even more, and am happy to be able to say, my dears, that I saw both him and his wife off for America before I left London. Our eyes were wet when we reached the lower hall, and I was making forthe door in an agony to leave the place, when the bailiff came out ofhis little office. 

"One moment, sir, " he said, getting in front of me; "there is a littleform yet to be gone through. The haste of gentlemen to leave us is notflattering. "

He glanced slyly at Comyn, and his Lordship laughed a little. I steppedunsuspectingly into the office. 

"Richard!"

I stopped across the threshold as tho' I had been struck. The latesunlight filtering through the dirt of the window fell upon thetall figure of a girl and lighted an upturned face, and I saw tearsglistening on the long lashes. 

It was Dorothy. Her hands were stretched out in welcome, and then I hadthem pressed in my own. And I could only look and look again, for I wasdumb with joy. 

"Thank God you are alive!" she cried; "alive and well, when we fearedyou dead. Oh, Richard, we have been miserable indeed since we had newsof your disappearance. "

"This is worth it all, Dolly, " I said, only brokenly. 

She dropped her eyes, which had searched me through in wonder andpity, --those eyes I had so often likened to the deep blue of thesea, --and her breast rose and fell quickly with I knew not whatemotions. How the mind runs, and the heart runs, at such a time! Herewas the same Dorothy I had known in Maryland, and yet not the same. Forshe was a woman now, who had seen the great world, who had refused bothtitles and estates, --and perchance accepted them. She drew her handsfrom mine. 

"And how came you in such a place?" she asked, turning with a shudder. "Did you not know you had friends in London, sir?"

Not for so much again would I have told her of Mr. Manners's conduct. SoI stood confused, casting about for a reply with truth in it, when Comynbroke in upon us. 

"I'll warrant you did not look for her here, Richard. Faith, but you area lucky dog, " said my Lord, shaking his head in mock dolefulness; "forthere is no man in London, in the world, for whom she would descend aflight of steps, save you. And now she has driven the length of the townwhen she heard you were in a sponging-house, nor all the dowagers inMayfair could stop her. "

"Fie, Comyn, " said my lady, blushing and gathering up her skirts; "thattongue of yours had hung you long since had it not been for your peer'sprivilege. Richard and I were brought up as brother and sister, and youknow you were full as keen for his rescue as I. "

His Lordship pinched me playfully. 

"I vow I would pass a year in the Fleet to have her do as much for me, "said he. 

"But where is the gallant seaman who saved you, Richard?" asked Dolly, stamping her foot. 

"What, " I exclaimed; "you know the story?"

"Never mind, " said she; "bring him here. "

My conscience smote me, for I had not so much as thought of John Paulsince I came into that room. I found him waiting in the passage, andtook him by the hand. 

"A lady wishes to know you, captain, " I said. 

"A lady!" he cried. "Here? Impossible!" And he looked at his clothes. 

"Who cares more for your heart than your appearance, " I answered gayly, and led him into the office. 

At sight of Dorothy he stopped abruptly, confounded, as a man who sees adiamond in a dust-heap. And a glow came over me as I said:

"Miss Manners, here is Captain Paul, to whose courage and unselfishnessI owe everything. "

"Captain, " said Dorothy, graciously extending her hand, "Richard hasmany friends. You have put us all in your debt, and none deeper than hisold playmate. "

The captain fairly devoured her with his eyes as she made him acurtsey. But he was never lacking in gallantry, and was as brave on suchoccasions as when all the dangers of the deep threatened him. With anelaborate movement he took Miss Manners's fingers and kissed them, andthen swept the floor with a bow. 

"To have such a divinity in my debt, madam, is too much happiness forone man, " he said. "I have done nothing to merit it. A lifetime were alltoo short to pay for such a favour. "

I had almost forgotten Miss Dolly the wayward, the mischievous. But shewas before me now, her eyes sparkling, and biting her lips to keep downher laughter. Comyn turned to fleck the window with his handkerchief, while I was not a little put out at their mirth. But if John Paulobserved it, he gave no sign. 

"Captain, I vow your manners are worthy of a Frenchman, " said my Lord;"and yet I am given to understand you are a Scotchman. "

A shadow crossed the captain's face. 

"I was, sir, " he said. 

"You were!" exclaimed Comyn, astonished; "and pray, what are you now, sir?"

"Henceforth, my Lord, " John Paul replied with vast ceremony: "I am anAmerican, the compatriot of the beautiful Miss Manners!"

"One thing I'll warrant, captain, " said his Lordship, "that you are awit. "

Volume 5. 

CHAPTER XXVI. THE PART HORATIO PLAYED

The bailiff's business was quickly settled. I heard the heavy doorsclose at our backs, and drew a deep draught of the air God has made forall His creatures alike. Both the captain and I turned to the windowsto wave a farewell to the sad ones we were leaving behind, who gatheredabout the bars for a last view of us, for strange as it may seem, themere sight of happiness is often a pleasure for those who are sad. Acoach in private arms and livery was in waiting, surrounded by a crowd. They made a lane for us to pass, and stared at the young lady of queenlybeauty coming out of the sponging-house until the coachman snapped hiswhip in their faces and the footman jostled them back. When we weregot in, Dolly and I on the back seat, Comyn told the man to go to Mr. Manners's. 

"Oh, no!" I cried, scarce knowing what I said; "no, not there!" For thethought of entering the house in Arlington Street was unbearable. 

Both Comyn and Dorothy gazed at me in astonishment. 

"And pray, Richard, why not'?" she asked. "Have not your old friends theright to receive you. "

It was my Lord who saved me, for I was in agony what to say. 

"He is still proud, and won't go to Arlington Street dressed like abargeman. He must needs plume, Miss Manners. "

I glanced anxiously at Dorothy, and saw that she was neither satisfiednor appeased. Well I remembered every turn of her head, and every curveof her lip! In the meantime we were off through Cursitor Street at agallop, nearly causing the death of a ragged urchin at the corner ofChancery Lane. I had forgotten my eagerness to know whence they hadheard of my plight, when some words from Comyn aroused me. 

"The carriage is Mr. Horace Walpole's, Richard. He has taken a greatfancy to you. "

"But I have never so much as clapped eyes upon him!" I exclaimed inperplexity. 

"How about his honour with whom you supped at Windsor? how about thelandlord you spun by the neck? You should have heard the company laughwhen Horry told us that! And Miss Dolly cried out that she was sure itmust be Richard, and none other. Is it not so, Miss Manners?"

"Really, my Lord, I can't remember, " replied Dolly, looking out of thecoach window. "Who put those frightful skulls upon Temple Bar?"

Then the mystery of their coming was clear to me, and the superiorgentleman at the Castle Inn had been the fashionable dabbler in arts andletters and architecture of Strawberry Hill, of whom I rememberedhaving heard Dr. Courtenay speak, Horace Walpole. But I was then fartoo concerned about Dorothy to listen to more. Her face was still turnedaway from me, and she was silent. I could have cut out my tongue for myblunder. Presently, when we were nearly out of the Strand, she turnedupon me abruptly. 

"We have not yet heard, Richard, " she said, "how you got into such apredicament. "

"Indeed, I don't know myself, Dolly. Some scoundrel bribed the captainof the slaver. For I take it Mr. Walpole has told you I was carried offon a slaver, if he recalled that much of the story. "

"I don't mean that, " answered Dolly, impatiently. "There is somethingstrange about all this. How is it that you were in prison?"

"Mr. Dix, my grandfather's agent, took me for an impostor and wouldadvance me no money, " I answered, hard pushed. 

But Dorothy had a woman's instinct, which is often the best ofunderstanding. And I was beginning to think that a suspicion was at thebottom of her questions. She gave her head an impatient fling, and, as Ifeared, appealed to John Paul. 

"Perhaps you can tell me, captain, why he did not come to his friends inhis trouble. "

And despite my signals to him he replied: "In truth, my dear lady, hehaunted the place for a sight of you, from the moment he set foot inLondon. "

Comyn laughed, and I felt the blood rise to my face, and kicked JohnPaul viciously. Dolly retained her self-possession. 

"Pho!" says she; "for a sight of me! You seamen are all alike. Fora sight of me! And had you not strength enough to lift a knocker, sir, --you who can raise a man from the ground with one hand?"

"'Twas before his tailor had prepared him, madam, and he feared todisgrace you, " the captain gravely continued, and I perceived how futileit were to attempt to stop him. "And afterward--"

"And afterward?" repeated Dorothy, leaning forward. 

"And afterward he went to Arlington Street with Mr. Dix to seekMr. Manners, that he might be identified before that gentleman. Heencountered Mr. Manners and his Grace of Something. "

"Chartersea, " put in Comyn, who had been listening eagerly. "Getting outof a coach, " said the captain. 

"When was this?" demanded Dorothy of me, interrupting him. Her voice wassteady, but the colour had left her face. 

"About three weeks ago. "

"Please be exact, Richard. "

"Well, if you must, " said I, "the day was Tuesday, and the time abouthalf an hour after two. "

She said nothing for a while, trying to put down an agitation which wasbeginning to show itself in spite of her effort. As for me, I was almostwishing myself back in the sponginghouse. 

"Are you sure my father saw you?" she asked presently. 

"As clearly as you do now, Dolly, " I said. 

"But your clothes? He might have gone by you in such. "

"I pray that he did, Dorothy, " I replied. But I was wholly convincedthat Mr. Manners had recognized me. 

"And--and what did he say?" she asked. 

For she had the rare courage that never shrinks from the truth. I thinkI have never admired and pitied her as at that moment. 

"He said to the footman, " I answered, resolved to go through with itnow, "'Give the man a shilling. ' That was his Grace's suggestion. "

My Lord uttered something very near an oath. And she spoke not a wordmore until I handed her out in Arlington Street. The rest of us weresilent, too, Comyn now and again giving me eloquent glances expressiveof what he would say if she were not present; the captain watching herwith a furtive praise, and he vowed to me afterward she was never sobeautiful as when angry, that he loved her as an avenging Diana. But Iwas uneasy, and when I stood alone with her before the house I beggedher not to speak to her father of the episode. 

"Nay, he must be cleared of such an imputation, Richard, " she answeredproudly. "He may have made mistakes, but I feel sure he would never turnyou away when you came to him in trouble--you, the grandson of his oldfriend, Lionel Carvel. "

"Why bother over matters that are past and gone? I would have borne anhundred such trials to have you come to me as you came to-day, Dorothy. And I shall surely see you again, " I said, trying to speak lightly; "andyour mother, to whom you will present my respects, before I sail forAmerica. "

She looked up at me, startled. 

"Before you sail for America!" she exclaimed, in a tone that made methrill at once with joy and sadness. "And are you not, then, to seeLondon now you are here?"

"Are you never coming back, Dolly?" I whispered; for I feared Mr. Marmaduke might appear at any moment; "or do you wish to remain inEngland always?"

For an instant I felt her pressure on my hand, and then she had fledinto the house, leaving me standing by the steps looking after her. Comyn's voice aroused me. 

"To the Star and Garter!" I heard him command, and on the way to PallMall he ceased not to rate Mr. Manners with more vigour than propriety. "I never liked the little cur, d--n him! No one likes him, Richard, " hedeclared. "All the town knows how Chartersea threw a bottle at him, andwere it not for his daughter he had long since been put out of White's. Were it not for Miss Dolly I would call him out for this cowardly trick, and then publish him. "

"Nay, my Lord, I had held that as my privilege, " interrupted thecaptain, "were it not, as you say, for Miss Manners. "

His Lordship shot a glance at John Paul somewhat divided betweensurprise, resentment, and amusement. 

"Now you have seen the daughter, captain, you perceive it isimpossible, " I hastened to interpose. 

"How in the name of lineage did she come to have such a father?" Comynwent on. "I thank Heaven he's not mine. He's not fit to be her lackey. Iwould sooner twenty times have a profligate like my Lord Sandwich fora parent than a milk and water sop like Manners, who will risk nothingover a crown piece at play or a guinea at Newmarket. By G--, Richard, "said his Lordship, bringing his fist against the glass with near forceenough to break the pane, "I have a notion why he did not choose to seeyou that day. Why, he has no more blood than a louse!"

I had come to the guess as soon as he, but I dared not give it voice, nor anything but ridicule. And so we came to the hotel, the red ofdeparting day fading in the sky above the ragged house-line in St. James's Street. 

It was a very different reception we got than when we had first comethere. You, my dears, who live in this Republic can have no notion ofthe stir and bustle caused by the arrival of Horace Walpole's carriageat a fashionable hotel, at a time when every innkeeper was versed inthe arms of every family of note in the three kingdoms. Our friend thechamberlain was now humility itself, and fairly ran in his eagerness toanticipate Comyn's demands. It was "Yes, my Lord, " and "To be sure, yourLordship, " every other second, and he seized the first occasion to makeme an elaborate apology for his former cold conduct, assuring me thathad our honours been pleased to divulge the fact that we had friendsin London, such friends as my Lord Comyn and Mr. Walpole, whose greatfather he had once had the distinction to serve as linkman, all wouldhave been well. And he was desiring me particularly to comprehend thathe had been acting under most disagreeable orders when he sent for thebailiff, before I cut him short. 

We were soon comfortably installed in our old rooms; Comyn had sentpost-haste for Davenport, who chanced to be his own tailor, and for thewhole army of auxiliaries indispensable to a gentleman's make-up; andMr. Dix was notified that his Lordship would receive him at eleven onthe following morning, in my rooms. I remembered the faithful Banks witha twinge of gratitude, and sent for him. And John Paul and I, havingbeen duly installed in the clothes made for us, all three of us sat downmerrily to such a supper as only the cook of the Star and Garter, whohad been chef to the Comte de Maurepas, could prepare. Then I beggedComyn to relate the story of our rescue, which I burned to hear. 

"Why, Richard, " said he, filling his glass, "had you run afoul anyother man in London, save perchance Selwyn, you'd have been drinking thebailiff's triple-diluted for a month to come. I never knew such a braceof fools as he and Horry for getting hold of strange yarns and makingthem stranger; the wonder was that Horry told this as straight as hedid. He has written it to all his friends on the Continent, and had henot been in dock with the gout ever since he reached town, he wouldhave told it at the opera, and at a dozen routs and suppers. Beg pardon, captain, " said he, turning to John Paul, "but I think 'twas your peacockcoat that saved you both, for it caught Horry's eye through the window, as you got out of the chaise, and down he came as fast as he couldhobble. 

"Horry had a little dinner to-day in Arlington Street, where he lives, and Miss Dorothy was there. I have told you, Richard, there has beenno sensation in town equal to that of your Maryland beauty, since LadySarah Lennox. You may have some notion of the old beau Horry can be whenhe tries, and he is over-fond of Miss Dolly--she puts him in mind ofsome canvas or other of Sir Peter's. He vowed he had been saving thispiece de resistance, as he was pleased to call it, expressly for her, since it had to do somewhat with Maryland. 'What d'ye think I met atWindsor, Miss Manners?' he cries, before we had begun the second course. 

"'Perhaps a repulse from his Majesty, ' says Dolly, promptly. 

"'Nay, ' says Mr. Walpole, making a face, for he hates a laugh at hiscost; nothing less than a young American giant, with the attire of Dr. Benjamin Franklin and the manner of the Fauxbourg Saint Germain. But hehad a whiff of deer leather about him, and shoulders and back and legsto make his fortune at Hockley in the Hole, had he lived two generationssince. And he had with him a strange, Scotch sea-captain, who hadrescued him from pirates, bless you, no less. That is, he said he wasa sea-captain; but he talked French like a Parisian, and quotedShakespeare like Mr. Burke or Dr. Johnson. He may have been M. Caron deBeaumarchais, for I never saw him, or a soothsayer, or Cagliostro themagician, for he guessed my name. '

"'Guessed your name!' we cried, for the story was out of the ordinary. 

"'Just that, ' answered he, and repeated some damned verse I never heard, with Horatio in it, and made them all laugh. "

John Paul and I looked at each other in astonishment, and we, too, laughed heartily. It was indeed an odd coincidence. 

His Lordship continued: "'Well, be that as it may, ' said Horry, 'he wasan able man of sagacity, this sea-captain, and, like many another, hada penchant for being a gentleman. But he was more of an oddity thanHertford's beast of Gevaudan, and was dressed like Salvinio, the monkeymy Lord Holland brought back from his last Italian tour. '"

I have laughed over this description since, my dears, and so has JohnPaul. But at that time I saw nothing funny in it, and winced with himwhen Comyn repeated it with such brutal unconsciousness. However, youngEnglishmen of birth and wealth of that day were not apt to consider thefeelings of those they deemed below them. 

"Come to your story. Comyn, " I cut in testily. 

But his Lordship missed entirely the cause of my displeasure. 

"Listen to him!" he exclaimed good-naturedly. "He will hear of nothingbut Miss Dolly. Well, Richard, my lad, you should have seen her as Horrywent on to tell that you had been taken from Maryland, with her headforward and her lips parted, and a light in those eyes of hers to makea man fall down and worship. For Mr. Lloyd, or some one in your Colony, had written of your disappearance, and I vow bliss Dorothy has not beenthe same since. Nor have I been the only one to remark it, " said he, waving off my natural protest at such extravagance. "We have talked ofyou more than once, she and I, and mourned you for dead. But I am offmy course again, as we sailors say, captain. Horry was describing howRichard lifted little Goble by one hand and spun all the dignity outof him, when Miss Manners broke in, being able to contain herself nolonger. 

"'An American, Mr. Walpole, and from Maryland?' she demanded. And theway she said it made them all look at her. 

"'Assurement, mademoiselle, ' replied Horry, in his cursed French;and perhaps you know him. He would gladden the heart of Frederick ofPrussia, for he stands six and three if an inch. I took such a fancy tothe lad that I invited him to sup with me, and he gave me back a messagefit for Mr. Wilkes to send to his Majesty, as haughty as you choose, that if I desired him I must have his friend in the bargain. YouAmericans are the very devil for independence, Miss Manners! 'Odsfish, I liked his spirit so much I had his friend, Captain something orother--'and there he stopped, caught by Miss Manners's appearance, forshe was very white. 

"'The name is Richard Carvel!' she cried. 

"'I'll lay a thousand it was!' I shouted, rising in my chair. And thecompany stared, and Lady Pembroke vowed I had gone mad. 

"'Bless me, bless me, here's a romance for certain!' cried Horry; 'itthrows my "Castle of Otranto" in the shade' ("that's some damned book hehas written, " Comyn interjected). 

"You may not believe me, Richard, when I say that Miss Dolly ate butlittle after that, and her colour came and went like the red of a stormysunset at sea. 'Here's this dog Richard come to spill all our chances, 'I swore to myself. The company had been prodigiously entertained by thetale, and clamoured for more, and when Horry had done I told how you hadfought me at Annapolis, and had saved my life. But Miss Manners sat verystill, biting her lip, and I knew she was sadly vexed that you had notgone to her in Arlington Street. For a woman will reason thus, " said hisLordship, winking wisely. "But I more than suspected something to havehappened, so I asked Horry to send his fellow Favre over to the Star andGarter to see if you were there, tho' I was of three minds to let yougo to the devil. You should have seen her face when he came back to saythat you had been for three weeks in a Castle Yard sponging-house! ThenHorry said he would lend me his coach, and when it was brought aroundMiss Manners took our breaths by walking downstairs and into it, norwould she listen to a word of the objections cried by my Lady Pembrokeand the rest. You must know there is no stopping the beauty when she hasmade her mind. And while they were all chattering on the steps I jumpedin, and off we drove, and you will be the most talked-of man in Londonto-morrow. I give you Miss Manners!" cried his Lordship, as he ended. 

We all stood to the toast, I with my blood a-tingle and my brain awhirl, so that I scarce knew what I did. 

CHAPTER XXVII. IN WHICH I AM SORE TEMPTED

"Who the devil is this John Paul, and what is to become of him?" askedComyn, as I escorted him downstairs to a chair. "You must give him twohundred pounds, or a thousand, if you like, and let him get out. Hecan't be coming to the clubs with you. "

And he pulled me into the coffee room after him. 

"You don't understand the man, Comyn, " said I; "he isn't that kind, Itell you. What he has done for me is out of friendship, as he says, andhe wouldn't touch a farthing save what I owe him. "

"Cursed if he isn't a rum sea-captain, " he answered, shrugging hisshoulders; "cursed if I ever ran foul of one yet who would refuse acouple of hundred and call quits. What's he to do? Is he to live like aLord of the Treasury upon a master's savings?"

"Jack, " said I, soberly, resolved not to be angry, "I would willingly becast back in Castle Yard to-night rather than desert him, who might havedeserted me twenty times to his advantage. Mr. Carvel has not wealthenough, nor I gratitude enough, to reward him. But if our family canmake his fortune, it shall be made. And I am determined to go with himto America by the first packet I can secure. "

He clutched my arm with an earnestness to startle me. 

"You must not leave England now, " he said. 

"And why?"

"Because she will marry Chartersea if you do. And take my oath upon it, you alone can save her from that. "

"Nonsense!" I exclaimed, but my breath caught sharply. 

"Listen, Richard. Mr. Manners's manoeuvres are the talk of the town, andthe beast of a duke is forever wining and dining in Arlington Street. At first people ridiculed, now they are giving credit. It is said, " hewhispered fearfully, "it is said that his Grace has got Mr. Manners inhis power, --some question of honour, you understand, which willruin him, --and that even now the duke is in a position to force themarriage. "

He leaned forward and searched me with his keen gray eyes, as tho'watching the effect of the intelligence upon me. I was, indeed, stunned. 

"Now, had she refused me fifty times instead of only twice, " my Lordcontinued, "I could not wish her such a fate as that vicious scoundrel. And since she will not have me, I would rather it were you than any manalive. For she loves you, Richard, as surely as the world is turning. "

"Oh, no!" I replied passionately; "you are deceived by the old likingshe has always had for me since we were children together. " I was deeplytouched by his friendship. "But tell me how that could affect thismarriage with Chartersea. I believe her pride capable of any sacrificefor the family honour. "

He made a gesture of impatience that knocked over a candlestick. 

"There, curse you, there you are again!" he said, "showing how littleyou know of women and of their pride. If she were sure that you lovedher, she would never marry Chartersea or any one else. She has had nearthe whole of London at her feet, and toyed with it. Now she has beenamusing herself with Charles Fox, but I vow she cares for none of them. Titles, fame, estates, will not move her. "

"If she were sure that I loved her!" I repeated, dazed by what he wassaying. "How you are talking, Comyn!"

"Just that. Ah, how I know her, Richard! She can be reckless beyondnotion. And if it were proved to her that you were in love with MissSwain, the barrister's daughter, over whom we were said to have fought, she would as soon marry Chartersea, or March, or the devil, to show youhow little she cared. "

"With Patty Swain!" I exclaimed. 

"But if she knew you did not care a rope's end for Patty, Mr. Marmadukeand his reputation might go into exile together, " he continued, withoutheeding. "So much for a woman's pride, I say. The day the news of yourdisappearance arrived, Richard, she was starting out with a party tovisit Lord Carlisle's seat, Castle Howard. Not a step would she stir, though Mr. Marmaduke whined and coaxed and threatened. And I swear toyou she has never been the same since, though few but I know why. Imight tell you more, my lad, were it not a breach of confidence. "

"Then don't, " I said; for I would not let my feelings run. 

"Egad, then, I will!" he cried impetuously, "for the end justifies it. You must know that after the letter came from Mr. Lloyd, we thought youdead. I could never get her to speak of you until a fortnight ago. Weboth had gone with a party to see Wanstead and dine at the Spread Eagleupon the Forest, and I stole her away from the company and led her outunder the trees. My God, Richard, how beautiful she was in the woodwith the red in her cheeks and the wind blowing her black hair! For thesecond time I begged her to be Lady Comyn. Fool that I was, I thoughtshe wavered, and my heart beat as it never will again. Then, as sheturned away, from her hand slipped a little gold-bound purse, and as Ipicked it up a clipping from a newspaper fluttered out. 'Pon my soul, itwas that very scandalous squib of the Maryland Gazette about our duel!I handed it back with a bow. I dared not look up at her face, but stoodwith my eyes on the ground, waiting. 

"'Lord Comyn, ' says she, presently, with a quiver in her voice, 'beforeI give you a reply you must first answer, on your word as a gentleman, what I ask you. '

"I bowed again. 

"'Is it true that Richard Carvel was in love with Miss Swain?' sheasked. "

"And you said, Comyn, " I broke in, unable longer to contain myself, "yousaid--"

"I said: 'Dorothy, if I were to die to-morrow, I would swear RichardCarvel loved you, and you only. '"

His Lordship had spoken with that lightness which hides only the deepestemotion. 

"And she refused you?" I cried. "Oh, surely not for that!"

"And she did well, " said my Lord. 

I bowed my head on my arms, for I had gone through a great deal thatday, and this final example of Comyn's generosity overwhelmed me. ThenI felt his hand laid kindly on my shoulder, and I rose up and seized it. His eyes were dim, as were mine. 

"And now, will you go to Maryland and be a fool?" asked his Lordship. 

I hesitated, sadly torn between duty and inclination. John Paul could, indeed, go to America without me. Next the thought came over me in aflash that my grandfather might be ill, or even dead, and there wouldbe no one to receive the captain. I knew he would never consent to spendthe season at the Star and Garter at my expense. And then the image ofthe man rose before me, of him who had given me all he owned, and gonewith me so cheerfully to prison, though he knew me not from the veriestadventurer and impostor. I was undecided no longer. 

"I must go, Jack, " I said sadly; "as God judges, I must. "

He looked at me queerly, as if I were beyond his comprehension, pickedup his hat, called out that he would see me in the morning, and wasgone. 

I went slowly upstairs, threw off my clothes mechanically, and tumbledinto bed. The captain had long been asleep. By the exertion of all thewill power I could command, I was able gradually to think more and moresoberly, and the more I thought, the more absurd, impossible, it seemedthat I, a rough provincial not yet of age, should possess the heart ofa beauty who had but to choose from the best of all England. An hundredtimes I went over the scene of poor Comyn's proposal, nay, saw itvividly, as though the whole of it had been acted before me: and as Ibecame calmer, the plainer I perceived that Dorothy, thinking me dead, was willing to let Comyn believe that she had loved me, and had so easedthe soreness of her refusal. Perhaps, in truth, a sentiment had sprungup in her breast when she heard of my disappearance, which she mistookfor love. But surely the impulse that sent her to Castle Yard was notthe same as that Comyn had depicted: it was merely the survival of thefancy of a little girl in a grass-stained frock, who had romped on thelawn at Carvel Hall. I sighed as I remembered the sun and the flowersand the blue Chesapeake, and recalled the very toss of her head when shehad said she would marry nothing less than a duke. 

Alas, Dolly, perchance it was to be nothing more than a duke! Thebloated face and beady eyes and the broad crooked back I had seen thatday in Arlington Street rose before me, --I should know his Grace ofChartersea again were I to meet him in purgatory. Was it, indeed, possible that I could prevent her marriage with this man? I fell asleep, repeating the query, as the dawn was sifting through the blinds. 

I awakened late. Banks was already there to dress me, to congratulate meas discreetly as a well-trained servant should; nor did he remind meof the fact that he had offered to lend me money, for which omissionI liked him the better. In the parlour I found the captain sipping hischocolate and reading his morning Chronicle, as though all his life hehad done nothing else. 

"Good morning, captain. " And fetching him a lick on the back that nearlyupset his bowl, I cried as heartily as I could:

"Egad, if our luck holds, we'll be sailing before the week is out. "

But he looked troubled. He hemmed and hawed, and finally broke out intoScotch:

"Indeed, laddie, y'ell no be leaving Miss Dorothy for me. "

"What nonsense has Comyn put into your head?" I demanded, with a stitchin my side; I am no more to Miss Manners than--"

"Than John Paul! Faith, y'ell not make me believe that. Ah, Richard, "said he, "ye're a sly dog. You and I have been as thick these twa monthsas men can well live, and never a word out of you of the most sublimecreature that walks. I have seen women in many countries, lad, beautiesto set thoughts afire and swords a-play, --and 'tis not her beauty alone. She hath a spirit for a queen to covet, and air and carriage, too. "

This eloquent harangue left me purple. 

"I grant it all, captain. She has but to choose her title and estate. "

"Ay, and I have a notion which she'll be choosing. "

"The knowledge is worth a thousand pounds at the least, " I replied. "Iwill lend you the sum, and warrant no lack of takers. "

"Now the devil fly off with such temperament! And I had half theencouragement she has given you, I would cast anchor on the spot, andthey might hang and quarter me to move me. But I know you well, " heexclaimed, his manner changing, "you are making this great sacrificeon my account. And I will not be a drag on your pleasures, Richard, orstand in the way of your prospects. "

"Captain Paul, " I said, sitting down beside him, "have I deserved thisfrom you? Have I shown a desire to desert you now that my fortunes havechanged? I have said that you shall taste of our cheer at Carvel Hall, and have looked forward this long while to the time when I shall takeyou to my grandfather and say: 'Mr. Carvel, this is he whose courageand charity have restored you to me, and me to you. ' And he will havechanged mightily if you do not have the best in Maryland. Should youwish to continue on the sea, you shall have the Belle of the Wye, launched last year. 'Tis time Captain Elliott took to his pension. "

The captain sighed, and a gleam I did not understand came into his darkeyes. 

"I would that God had given me your character and your heart, Richard, "he said, "in place of this striving thing I have within me. But 'tiswritten that a leopard cannot change his spots. "

"The passage shall be booked this day, " I said. 

That morning was an eventful one. Comyn arrived first, dressed in a suitof mauve French cloth that set off his fine figure to great advantage. He regarded me keenly as he entered, as if to discover whether I hadchanged my mind over night. And I saw he was not in the best of tempers. 

"And when do you sail?" he cried. "I have no doubt you have sent outalready to get passage. "

"I have been trying to persuade Mr. Carvel to remain in London, myLord, " said the captain. "I tell him he is leaving his best interestsbehind him. "

"I fear that for once you have undertaken a task beyond your ability, Captain Paul, " was the rather tart reply. 

"The captain has a ridiculous idea that he is the cause of my going, " Isaid quickly. 

John Paul rose somewhat abruptly, seized his hat and bowed to hisLordship, and in the face of a rain sallied out, remarking that he hadas yet seen nothing of the city. 

"Jack, you must do me the favour not to talk of this in John Paul'spresence, " I said, when the door had closed. 

"If he doesn't suspect why you are going, he has more stupidity than Igave him credit for, " Comyn answered gruffly. 

"I fear he does suspect, " I said. 

His Lordship went to the table and began to write, leaving me to theChronicle, the pages of which I did not see. Then came Mr. Dix, andsuch a change I had never beheld in mortal man. In place of the would-besquire I had encountered in Threadneedle Street, here was an unctuousperson of business in sober gray; but he still wore the hypocriticalsmirk with no joy in it. His bow was now all respectful obedience. Comynacknowledged it with a curt nod. 

Mr. Dix began smoothly, where a man of more honesty would have found thegoing difficult. 

"Mr. Carvel, " he said, rubbing his hands, "I wish first to express myprofound regrets for what has happened. "

"Curse your regrets, " said Comyn, bluntly. "You come here on business. Mr. Carvel does not stand in need of regrets at present. "

"I was but on the safe side of Mr. Carvel's money, my Lord. "

"Ay, I'll warrant you are always on the safe side of money, " repliedComyn, with a laugh. "What I wish to know, Mr. Dix, " he continued, "iswhether you are willing to take my word that this is Mr. Richard Carvel, the grandson and heir of Lionel Carvel, Esquire, of Carvel Hall inMaryland?"

"I am your Lordship's most obedient servant, " said Mr. Dix. 

"Confound you, sir! Can you or can you not answer a simple question?"

Mr. Dix straightened. He may have spoken elsewhere of asserting hisdignity. 

"I would not presume to doubt your Lordship's word. "

"Then, if I were to be personally responsible for such sums as Mr. Carvel may need, I suppose you would be willing to advance them to him. "

"Willingly, willingly, my Lord, " said Mr. Dix, and added immediately:"Your Lordship will not object to putting that in writing? Merely amatter of form, as your Lordship knows, but we men of affairs are heldto a strict accountability. "

Comyn made a movement of disgust, took up a pen and wrote out theindorsement. 

"There, " he said. "You men of affairs will at least never die ofstarvation. "

Mr. Dix took the paper with a low bow, began to shower me withprotestations of his fidelity to my grandfather's interests, whichwere one day to be my own, --he hoped, with me, not soon, --drew from hispocket more than sufficient for my immediate wants, said that I shouldhave more by a trusty messenger, and was going on to clear himself ofhis former neglect and indifference, when Banks announced:

"His honour, Mr. Manners!"

Comyn and I exchanged glances, and his Lordship gave a low whistle. Norwas the circumstance without its effect upon Mr. Dix. With my knowledgeof the character of Dorothy's father I might have foreseen this visit, which came, nevertheless, as a complete surprise. For a moment Ihesitated, and then made a motion to show him up. Comyn voiced mydecision. 

"Why let the little cur stand in the way?" he said; "he counts fornothing. "

Mr. Marmaduke was not long in ascending, and tripped into the room asMr. Dix backed out of it, as gayly as tho' he had never sent me aboutmy business in the street. His clothes, of a cherry cut velvet, were asever a little beyond the fashion, and he carried something I had neverbefore seen, then used by the extreme dandies in London, --an umbrella. 

"What! Richard Carvel! Is it possible?" he screamed in his piping voice. "We mourned you for dead, and here you turn up in London alive and well, and bigger and stronger than ever. Oons! one need not go to Scripturefor miracles. I shall write my congratulations to Mr. Carvel this day, sir. " And he pushed his fingers into my waistcoat, so that Comyn andI were near to laughing in his face. For it was impossible to be angrywith a little coxcomb of such pitiful intelligence. 

"Ah, good morning, my Lord. I see your Lordship has risen early inthe same good cause, I myself am up two hours before my time. You willpardon the fuss I am making over the lad, Comyn, but his grandfatheris my very dear friend, and Richard was brought up with my daughterDorothy. They were like brother and sister. What, Richard, you will nottake my hand! Surely you are not so unreasonable as to hold againstme that unfortunate circumstance in Arlington Street! Yes, Dorothy hasshocked me. She has told me of it. "

Comyn winked at me as I replied:--

"We shan't mention it, Mr. Manners. I have had my three weeks in prison, and perhaps know the world all the better for them. "

He held up his umbrella in mock dismay, and stumbled abruptly into achair. There he sat looking at me, a whimsical uneasiness on his face. "We shall indeed mention it, sir. Three weeks in prison, to think ofit! And you would not so much as send me a line. Ah, Richard, pride is agood thing, but I sometimes think we from Maryland have too much ofit. We shall indeed speak of the matter. Out of justice to me youmust understand how it occurred. You must know that I am deucedlyabsentminded, and positively lost without my glass. And I had somebodywith me, so Dorothy said. Chartersea, I believe. And his Grace made methink you were a cursed beggar. I make a point never to have to do with'em. "

"You are right, Mr. Manners, " Comyn cut in dryly; "for I have known themto be so persistently troublesome, when once encouraged, as to interfereseriously with our arrangements. "

"Eh!" Mr. Manners ejaculated, and then came to an abrupt pause, while Iwondered whether the shot had told. To relieve him I inquired after Mrs. Manners's health. 

"Ah, to be sure, " he replied, beginning to fumble in his skirts; "Londonagrees with her remarkably, and she is better than she has been foryears. And she is overjoyed at your most wonderful escape, Richard, asare we all. "

And he gave me a note. I concealed my eagerness as I took it and brokethe seal, to discover that it was not from Dorothy, but from Mrs. Manners herself. 

 "My dear Richard" (so it ran), "I thank God with your dear Grandfather over y'r Deliverance, & you must bring y'r Deliverer, whom Dorothy describes as Courtly and Gentlemanly despite his Calling, to dine with us this very Day, that we may express to him our Gratitude. I know you are far too Sensible not to come to Arlington Street. I subscribe myself, Richard, y'r sincere Friend, "MARGARET MANNERS. "

There was not so much as a postscript from Dolly, as I had hoped. But the letter was whole-souled, like Mrs. Manners, and breathed theaffection she had always had for me. I honoured her the more that shehad not attempted to excuse Mr. Manners's conduct. 

"You will come, Richard?" cried Mr. Marmaduke, with an attempt atheartiness. "You must come, and the captain, too. For I hear, withregret, that you are not to be long with us. "

I caught another significant look from Comyn from between the windowcurtains. But I accepted for myself, and conditionally for John Paul. Mr. Manners rose to take his leave. 

"Dorothy will be glad to see you, " he said. "I often think, Richard, that she tires of these generals and King's ministers, and longs fora romp at Wilmot House again. Alas, " he sighed, offering us a pinch ofsnuff (which he said was the famous Number 37), "alas, she has had adeal too much of attention, with his Grace of Chartersea and a dozenothers would to marry her. I fear she will go soon, " and he sighedagain. "Upon my soul I cannot make her out. I'll lay something handsome, my Lord, that the madcap adventure with you after Richard sets thegossips going. One day she is like a schoolgirl, and I blame myself fornot taking her mother's advice to send her to Mrs. Terry, at CampdenHouse; and the next, egad, she is as difficult to approach as a crownedhead. Well, gentlemen, I give you good day, I have an appointment atWhite's. I am happy to see you have fallen in good hands, Richard. MyLord, your most obedient!"

"He'll lay something handsome!" said my Lord, when the door had closedbehind him. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. ARLINGTON STREET

The sun having come out, and John Paul not returning by two, --beingogling, I supposed, the ladies in Hyde Park, --I left him a message andbetook myself with as great trepidation as ever to Dorothy's house. Thedoor was opened by the identical footman who had so insolently offeredme money, and I think he recognized me, for he backed away as he toldme the ladies were not at home. But I had not gone a dozen paces in mydisappointment when I heard him running after me, asking if my honourwere Mr. Richard Carvel. 

"The ladies will see your honour, " he said, and conducted me back intothe house and up the wide stairs. I had heard that Arlington Street wasknown as the street of the King's ministers, and I surmised that Mr. Manners had rented this house, and its furniture, from some great manwho had gone out of office, plainly a person of means and taste. Thehall, like that of many of the great town-houses, was in semi-darkness, but I remarked that the stair railing was of costly iron-work andpolished brass; and, as I went up, that the stone niches in the wallwere filled with the busts of statesmen, and I recognized among these, that of the great Walpole. A great copper gilt chandelier hung above. But the picture of the drawing-room I was led into, with all itscolours, remains in the eye of my mind to this day. It was a large room, the like of which I had never seen in any private residence of the NewWorld, situated in the back of the house. Its balcony overlooked thefresh expanse of the Green Park. Upon its high ceiling floated Venus andthe graces, by Zucchi; and the mantel, upon which ticked an antique andcurious French clock, was carved marble. 

On the gilt panels of the walls were wreaths of red roses. At leasta half-dozen tall mirrors, framed in rococos, were placed about, thelargest taking the space between the two high windows on the park side. And underneath it stood a gold cabinet, lacquered by Martin's inimitablehand, in the centre of which was set a medallion of porcelain, withthe head in dark blue of his Majesty, Charles the First. The chairs andlounges were marquetry, --satin-wood and mahogany, --with seats and backsof blue brocade. The floor was polished to the degree of danger, andon the walls hung a portrait by Van Dycke, another, of a young girl, byRichardson, a landscape by the Dutch artist Ruysdael, and a water-colourby Zaccarelli. 

I had lived for four months the roughest of lives, and the room broughtbefore me so sharply the contrast between my estate and the grandeur andelegance in which Dorothy lived, that my spirits fell as I looked aboutme. In front of me was a vase of flowers, and beside them on the tablelay a note "To Miss Manners, in Arlington Street, " and sealed witha ducal crest. I was unconsciously turning it over, when somethingimpelled me to look around. There, erect in the doorway, stood Dolly, her eyes so earnestly fixed upon me that I dropped the letter with astart. A faint colour mounted to her crown of black hair. 

"And so you have come, Richard, " she said. Her voice was low, and tho'there was no anger in it, the tone seemed that of reproach. I wonderedwhether she thought the less of me for coming. 

"Can you blame me for wishing to see you before I leave, Dolly?" Icried, and crossed quickly over to her. 

But she drew a step backward. 

"Then it is true that you are going, " said she, this time with a plainnote of coldness. 

"I must, Dorothy. "

"When?"

"As soon as I can get passage. "

She passed me and seated herself on the lounge, leaving me to stand likea lout before her, ashamed of my youth and of the clumsiness of my greatbody. 

"Ah, Richard, " she laughed, "confess to your old play mate! I shouldlike to know how many young men of wealth and family would give upthe pleasures of a London season were there not a strong attraction inMaryland. "

How I longed to tell her that I would give ten years of my life toremain in England: that duty to John Paul took me home. But I was dumb. 

"We should make a macaroni of you to amaze our colony, " said Dolly, lightly, as I sat down a great distance away; "to accept my schoolingwere to double your chances when you return, Richard. You should havecards to everything, and my Lord Comyn or Mr. Fox or some one wouldintroduce you at the clubs. I vow you would be a sensation, with yourheight and figure. You should meet all the beauties of England, andperchance, " she added mischievously, "perchance you might be taking onehome with you. "

"Nay, Dolly, " I answered; "I am not your match in jesting. "

"Jesting!" she exclaimed, "I was never more sober. But where is yourcaptain?"

I said that I hoped that John Paul would be there shortly. 

"How fanciful he is! And his conversation, --one might think he hadacquired the art at Marly or in the Fauxbourg. In truth, he should havebeen born on the far side of the Channel. And he has the air of thegreat man, " said she, glancing up at ms, covertly. "For my part, Iprefer a little more bluntness. "

I was nettled at the speech. Dorothy had ever been quick to seize uponand ridicule the vulnerable oddities of a character, and she had allthe contempt of the great lady for those who tried to scale by pleasingarts. I perceived with regret that she had taken a prejudice. 

"There, Dorothy, " I cried, "not even you shall talk so of the captain. For you have seen him at his worst. There are not many, I warrant you, born like him a poor gardener's son who rise by character and abilityto be a captain at three and twenty. And he will be higher yet. Hehas never attended any but a parish school, and still has learning toastonish Mr. Walpole, learning which he got under vast difficulties. Heis a gentleman, I say, far above many I have known, and he is a man. If you would know a master, you should see him on his own ship. If youwould know a gentleman, you have been with me in his mother's cottage. "And, warming as I talked, I told her of that saddest of all homecomingsto the little cabin under Criffel's height. 

Small wonder that I adored Dorothy!

Would that I could paint her moods, that I might describe the strangelight in her eyes when I had finished, that I might tell how in aninstant she was another woman. She rose impulsively and took a chair atmy side, and said:--

"'Tis so I love to hear you speak, Richard, when you uphold the absent. For I feel it is so you must champion me when I am far away. My dear oldplaymate is ever the same, strong to resent, and seeing ever the best inhis friends. Forgive me, Richard, I have been worse than silly. And willyou tell me that story of your adventures which I long to learn?"

Ay, that I would. I told it her, and she listened silently, save onlynow and then a cry of wonder or of sympathy that sounded sweet to myears, --just as I had dreamed of her listening when I used to pace thedeck of the brigantine John, at sea. And when at length I had finished, she sat looking out over the Green Park, as tho' she had forgot mypresence. 

And so Mrs. Manners came in and found us. 

It had ever pleased me to imagine that Dorothy's mother had been in heryouth like Dorothy. She had the same tall figure, grace in its everymotion, and the same eyes of deep blue, and the generous but well-formedmouth. A man may pity, but cannot conceive the heroism that a woman ofsuch a mould must have gone through who has been married since earlygirlhood to a man like Mr. Manners. Some women would have been drivenquickly to frivolity, and worse, but this one had struggled year afteryear to maintain an outward serenity to a critical world, and hadsucceeded, tho' success had cost her dear. Each trial had deepened aline of that face, had done its share to subdue the voice which had oncerung like Dorothy's; and in the depths of her eyes lingered a sadnessindefinable. 

She gazed upon me with that kindness and tenderness I had alwaysreceived since the days when, younger and more beautiful than now, shewas the companion of my mother. And the unbidden shadow of a thoughtcame to me that these two sweet women had had some sadness incommon. Many a summer's day I remembered them sewing together in thespring-house, talking in subdued voices which were hushed when I camerunning in. And lo! the same memory was on Dorothy's mother then, halfexpressed as she laid her hands upon my shoulders. 

"Poor Elizabeth!" she said, --not to me, nor yet to Dorothy; "I wish thatshe might have lived to see you now. It is Captain Jack again. "

She sighed, and kissed me. And I felt at last that I had come home aftermany wanderings. We sat down, mother and daughter on the sofa with theirfingers locked. She did not speak of Mr. Manners's conduct, or of mystay in the sponging-house. And for this I was thankful. 

"I have had a letter from Mr. Lloyd, Richard, " she said. 

"And my grandfather?" I faltered, a thickness in my throat. 

"My dear boy, " answered Mrs. Manners, gently, "he thinks you dead. Butyou have written him?" she added hurriedly. 

I nodded. "From Dumfries. "

"He will have the letter soon, " she said cheerfully. "I thank HeavenI am able to tell you that his health is remarkable under thecircumstances. But he will not quit the house, and sees no one exceptyour uncle, who is with him constantly. "

It was what I expected. But the confirmation of it brought me to my feetin a torrent of indignation, exclaiming:

"The villain! You tell me he will allow Mr. Carvel to see no one?"

She started forward, laying her hand on my arm, and Dorothy gave alittle cry. 

"What are you saying, Richard? What are you saying?"

"Mrs. Manners, " I answered, collecting myself, "I must tell you thatI believe it is Grafton Carvel himself that is responsible for myabduction. He meant that I should be murdered. "

Then Dorothy rose, her eyes flashing and her head high. 

"He would have murdered you--you, Richard?" she cried, in such a stormof anger as I had never seen her. "Oh, he should hang for the thought ofit! I have always suspected Grafton Carvel capable of any crime!"

"Hush, Dorothy, " said her mother; "it is not seemly for a young girl totalk so. "

"Seemly!" said Dorothy. "If I were a man I would bring him to justice, and it took me a lifetime. Nay, if I were a man and could use a sword--"

"Dorothy! Dorothy!" interrupted Mrs. Manners. 

Dorothy sat down, the light lingering in her eyes. She had revealed moreof herself in that instant than in all her life before. 

"It is a grave charge, Richard, " said Mrs. Manners, at length. "And youruncle is a man of the best standing in Annapolis. "

"You must remember his behaviour before my mother's marriage, Mrs. Manners. "

"I do, I do, Richard, " she said sadly. "And I have never trusted himsince. I suppose you are not making your accusation without cause?"

"I have cause enough, " I answered bitterly. 

"And proof?" she added. She should have been the man in her family. 

I told her how Harvey had overheard the bits of the plot at Carvel Hallnear two years gone; and now that I had begun, I was going through withMr. Allen's part in the conspiracy, when Dorothy startled us both bycrying:

"Oh, there is so much wickedness in the world, I wish I had never beenborn!"

She flung herself from the room in a passion of tears to shock me. As ifin answer to my troubled look, Mrs. Manners said, with a sigh:

"She has not been at all well, lately, Richard. I fear the gayetyof this place is too much for her. Indeed, I am sorry we ever leftMaryland. "

I was greatly disturbed, and thought involuntarily of Comyn's words. Could it be that Mr. Manners was forcing her to marry Chartersea?

"And has Mr. Lloyd said nothing of my uncle?" I asked after a while. 

"I will not deny that ugly rumours are afloat, " she answered. "Grafton, as you know, is not liked in Annapolis, especially by the Patriot party. But there is not the slightest ground for suspicion. The messenger--"

"Yes?"

"Your uncle denies all knowledge of. He was taken to be the tool ofthe captain of the slaver, and he disappeared so completely that it wassupposed he had escaped to the ship. The story goes that you were seizedfor a ransom, and killed in the struggle. Your black ran all the way totown, crying the news to those he met on the Circle and in West Street, but by the mercy of God he was stopped by Mr. Swain and some othersbefore he had reached your grandfather. In ten minutes a score of menwere galloping out of the Town Gate, Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Singleton ahead. They found your horse dead, and the road through the woods all trampleddown, and they spurred after the tracks down to the water's edge. Singleton recalled a slaver, the crew of which had been brawling at theShip tavern a few nights before. But the storm was so thick they couldnot see the ship's length out into the river. They started two fastsloops from the town wharves in chase, and your uncle has been movingheaven and earth to obtain some clew of you. He has put notices in thenewspapers of Charlestown, Philadelphia, New York, and even Boston, andoffered a thousand pounds reward. "

CHAPTER XXIX. I MEET A VERY GREAT YOUNG MAN

The French clock had struck four, and I was beginning to fear that, despite my note, the captain's pride forbade his coming to Mr. Manners'shouse, when in he walked, as tho' 'twere no novelty to have his nameannounced. And so straight and handsome was he, his dark eye flashingwith the self-confidence born in the man, that the look of uneasiness Ihad detected upon Mrs. Manners's face quickly changed to one of surpriseand pleasure. Of course the good lady had anticipated a sea-captain ofa far different mould. He kissed her hand with a respectful grace, andthen her daughter's, for Dorothy had come back to us, calmer. And I wasfilled with joy over his fine appearance. Even Dorothy was struck bythe change the clothes had made in him. Mrs. Manners thanked him verytactfully for restoring me to them, as she was pleased to put it, towhich John Paul modestly replied that he had done no more than anotherwould under the same circumstances. And he soon had them both charmed byhis address. 

"Why, Richard, " said Dorothy's mother aside to me, "surely this cannotbe your sea-captain!"

I nodded merrily. But John Paul's greatest triumph was yet to come. Forpresently Mr. Marmaduke arrived from White's, and when he had greeted mewith effusion he levelled his glass at the corner of the room. 

"Ahem!" he exclaimed. "Pray, my dear, whom have you invited to-day?" Andwithout awaiting her reply, as was frequently his habit, he turned tome and said: "I had hoped we were to have the pleasure of Captain Paul'scompany, Richard. For I must have the chance before you go of claspingthe hand of your benefactor. "

"You shall have the chance, at least, sir, " I replied, a fieryexultation in my breast. "Mr. Manners, this is my friend, Captain Paul. "

The captain stood up and bowed gravely at the little gentleman's blanklyamazed countenance. 

"Ahem, " said he; "dear me, is it possible!" and advanced a step, butthe captain remained immovable. Mr. Marmaduke fumbled for his snuff-box, failed to find it, halted, and began again, for he never was knownto lack words for long: "Captain, as one of the oldest friends of Mr. Lionel Carvel, I claim the right to thank you in his name for yourgallant conduct. I hear that you are soon to see him, and to receive hisobligations from him in person. You will not find him lacking, sir, I'llwarrant. "

Such was Mr. Marmaduke's feline ingenuity! I had a retort ready, and Isaw that Mrs. Manners, long tried in such occasions, was about to pouroil on the waters. But it was Dorothy who exclaimed:

"What captain! are you, too, going to Maryland?"

John Paul reddened. 

"Ay, that he is, Dolly, " I cut in hurriedly. "Did you imagine I wouldlet him escape so easily? Henceforth as he has said, he is to be anAmerican. "

She flashed at me such a look as might have had a dozen differentmeanings, and in a trice it was gone again under her dark lashes. 

Dinner was got through I know not how. Mr. Manners led the talk, andspoke more than was needful concerning our approaching voyage. He was atgreat pains to recommend the Virginia packet, which had made the fastestpassage from the Capes; and she sailed, as was no doubt most convenient, the Saturday following. I should find her a comfortable vessel, and hewould oblige me with a letter to Captain Alsop. Did Captain Paul knowhim? But the captain was describing West Indian life to Mrs. Manners. Dorothy had little to say; and as for me, I was in no very pleasanthumour. 

I gave a deaf ear to Mr. Marmaduke's sallies, to speculate on the natureof the disgrace which Chartersea was said to hold over his head. Andtwenty times, as I looked upon Dolly's beauty, I ground my teeth atthe notion of returning home. I have ever been slow of suspicion, butsuddenly it struck me sharply that Mr. Manners's tactics must have adeeper significance than I had thought. Why was it that he feared mypresence in London?

As we made our way back to the drawing-room, I was hoping for a talkwith Dolly (alas! I should not have many more), when I heard a voicewhich sounded strangely familiar. 

"You know, Comyn, " it was saying, "you know I should be at thePrincess's were I not so completely worn out. I was up near all of lastnight with Rosette. "

Mr. Marmaduke, entering before us, cried:--

"The dear creature! I trust you have had medical attendance, Mr. Walpole. "

"Egad!" quoth Horry (for it was he), "I sent Favre to Hampstead to fetchDr. Pratt, where he was attending some mercer's wife. It seems thatRosette had got into the street and eaten something horrible out of thekennel. I discharged the footman, of course. "

"A plague on your dog, Horry, " said my Lord, yawning, and was about toadd something worse, when he caught sight of Dorothy. 

Mr. Walpole bowed over her hand. 

"And have you forgotten so soon your Windsor acquaintances, Mr. Walpole?" she asked, laughing. 

"Bless me, " said Horry, looking very hard at me, "so it is, so itis. Your hand, Mr. Carvel. You have only to remain in London, sir, todiscover that your reputation is ready-made. I contributed my mite. Foryou must know that I am a sort of circulating library of odd news whichthose devils, the printers, contrive to get sooner or later--Heavenknows how! And Miss Manners herself has completed your fame. Yes, thestory of your gallant rescue is in all the clubs to-day. Egad, sir, youcome down heads up, like a loaded coin. You will soon be a factor inChange Alley. " And glancing slyly at the blushing Dolly, he continued:

"I have been many things, Miss Manners, but never before an instrumentof Providence. And so you discovered your rough diamond yesterday, andhave polished him in a day. O that Dr. Franklin had profited as wellby our London tailors! The rogue never told me, when he was ordering meabout in his swan-skin, that he had a friend in Arlington Street, and areigning beauty. But I like him the better for it. "

"And I the worse, " said Dolly. 

"I perceive that he still retains his body-guard, " said Mr. Walpole;"Captain--"

"Paul, " said Dolly, seeing that we would not help him out. 

"Ah, yes. These young princes from the New World must have their suites. You must bring them both some day to my little castle at StrawberryHill. "

"Unfortunately, Mr. Walpole, Mr. Carvel finds that he must return toAmerica, " Mr. Marmaduke interjected. He had been waiting to get in thisword. 

Comyn nudged me. And I took the opportunity, in the awkward silence thatfollowed, to thank Mr. Walpole for sending his coach after us. 

"And pray where did you get your learning?" he demanded abruptly of thecaptain, in his most patronizing way. "Your talents are wasted at sea, sir. You should try your fortune in London, where you shall be undermy protection, sir. They shall not accuse me again of stifling younggenius. Stay, " he cried, warming with generous enthusiasm, "stay, I havean opening. 'Twas but yesterday Lady Cretherton told me that shestood in need of a tutor for her youngest son, and you shall have theposition. "

"Pardon me, sir, but I shall not have the position, " said John Paul, coolly. And Horry might have heeded the danger signal. I had seen itmore than once on board the brigantine John, and knew what was coming. 

"Faith, and why not, sir? If I recommend you, why not, sir?"

"Because I shall not take it, " he said. "I have my profession, Mr. Walpole, and it is an honourable one. And I would not exchange it, sir, were it in your power to make me a Gibbon or a Hume, or tutor to hisRoyal Highness, which it is not. "

Thus, for the second time, the weapon of the renowned master ofStrawberry was knocked from his hand at a single stroke of hisstrange adversary. I should like to describe John Paul as he made thatspeech, --for 'twas not so much the speech as the atmosphere of it. Thosewho heard and saw were stirred with wonder, for Destiny lay bare thatinstant, just as the powers above are sometimes revealed at a singlelightning-bolt. Mr. Walpole made a reply that strove hard to beindifferent; Mr. Marmaduke stuttered, for he was frightened, as littlesouls are apt to be at such times. But my Lord Comyn, forever natural, forever generous, cried out heartily:--

"Egad, captain, there you are a true sailor! Which would you rather havebeen, I say, William Shakespeare or Sir Francis?"

"Which would you rather be, Richard, " said Dolly to me, under herbreath, "Horace Walpole or Captain John Paul? I begin to like yourcaptain better. "

Willy nilly, Mr. Walpole was forever doing me a service. Now, in orderto ignore the captain more completely, he sat him down to engage Mr. And Mrs. Manners. Comyn was soon hot in an argument with John Paulconcerning the seagoing qualities of a certain frigate, every rope andspar of which they seemed to know. And so I stole a few moments withDorothy. 

"You are going to take the captain to Maryland, Richard?" she asked, playing with her fan. 

"I intend to get him the Belle of the Tye. 'Tis the least I can do. ForI am at my wits' end how to reward him, Dolly. And when are you comingback?" I whispered earnestly, seeing her silent. 

"I would that I knew, Richard, " she replied, with a certain sadness thatwent to my heart, as tho' the choice lay beyond her. Then she changed. "Richard, there was more in Mr. Lloyd's letter than mamma told you of. There was ill news of one of your friends. "

"News!"

She looked at me fixedly, and then continued, her voice so low that Iwas forced to bend over:

"Yes. You were not told that Patty Swain fell in a faint when she heardof your disappearance. You were not told that the girl was ill for aweek afterwards. Ah, Richard, I fear you are a sad flirt. Nay, you maybenefit by the doubt, --perchance you are going home to be married. "

You may be sure that this intelligence, from Dorothy's lips, onlyincreased my trouble and perplexity. 

"You say that Patty has been ill?"

"Very ill, " says she, with her lips tight closed. 

"Indeed, I grieve to hear of it, " I replied; "but I cannot think that myaccident had anything to do with the matter. "

"Young ladies do not send their fathers to coffee-houses to preventduels unless their feelings are engaged, " she flung back. 

"You have heard the story of that affair, Dorothy. At least enough of itto do me justice. "

She was plainly agitated. 

"Has Lord Comyn--"

"Lord Comyn has told you the truth, " I said; "so much I know. "

Alas for the exits and entrances of life! Here comes the footman. 

"Mr. Fox, " said he, rolling the name, for it was a great one. 

Confound Mr. Fox! He might have waited five short minutes. 

It was, in truth, none other than that precocious marvel of England whobut a year before had taken the breath from the House of Commons, andhad sent his fame flying over the Channel and across the wide Atlantic;the talk of London, who set the fashions, cringed not before whitehairs, or royalty, or customs, or institutions, and was now, at one andtwenty, Junior Lord of the Admiralty--Charles James Fox. His face wasdark, forbidding, even harsh--until he smiled. His eyebrows were heavyand shaggy, and his features of a rounded, almost Jewish mould. He putme in mind of the Stuarts, and I was soon to learn that he was descendedfrom them. 

As he entered the room I recall remarking that he was possessed of thesupremest confidence of any man I had ever met. Mrs. Manners he greetedin one way, Mr. Marmaduke in another, and Mr. Walpole in still another. To Comyn it was "Hello, Jack, " as he walked by him. Each, as it were, had been tagged with a particular value. 

Chagrined as I was at the interruption, I was struck with admiration. For the smallest actions of these rare men of master passions so compelus. He came to Dorothy, whom he seemed not to have perceived at first, and there passed between them such a look of complete understanding thatI suddenly remembered Comyn's speech of the night before, "Now it isCharles Fox. " Here, indeed, was the man who might have won her. And yetI did not hate him. Nay, I loved him from the first time he addressedme. It was Dorothy who introduced us. 

"I think I have heard of you, Mr. Carvel, " he said, making a barelyperceptible wink at Comyn. 

"And I think I have heard of you, Mr. Fox, " I replied. 

"The deuce you have, Mr. Carvel!" said he, and laughed. And Comynlaughed, and Dorothy laughed, and I laughed. We were friends from thatmoment. 

"Richard has appeared amongst us like a comet, " put in the ubiquitousMr. Manners, "and, I fear, intends to disappear in like manner. "

"And where is the tail of this comet?" demanded Fox, instantly; "for Iunderstood there was a tail. "

John Paul was brought up, and the Junior Lord of the Admiralty lookedhim over from head to toe. And what, my dears, do you think he said tohim?

"Have you ever acted, Captain Paul?"

The captain started back in surprise. 

"Acted!" he exclaimed; "really, sir, I do not know. I have never beenupon the boards. "

Mr. Fox vowed that he could act: that he was sure of it, from thecaptain's appearance. 

"And I, too, am sure of it, Mr. Fox, " cried Dorothy; clapping her hands. "Persuade him to stay awhile in London, that you may have him at yournext theatricals at Holland House. Why, he knows Shakespeare and Popeand--and Chaucer by heart, and Ovid and Horace, --is it not so, Mr. Walpole?"

"Is not what so, my dear young lady?" asked Mr. Walpole, pretending notto have heard. 

"There!" exclaimed Dolly, pouting, when the laughter had subsided; "youmake believe to care something about me, and yet will not listen to whatI say. "

I had seen at her feet our own Maryland gallants, the longest of whosereputations stretched barely from the James to the Schuylkill; but herein London men were hanging on her words whose names were familiarlyspoken in Paris, and Rome, and Geneva. Not a topic was broached by Mr. Walpole or Mr. Fox, from the remonstrance of the Archbishop againstmasquerades and the coming marriage of my Lord Albemarle to the rightsand wrongs of Mr. Wilkes, but my lady had her say. Mrs. Manners seemedmore than content that she should play the hostess, which she didto perfection. She contrived to throw poisoned darts at the owner ofStrawberry that started little Mr. Marmaduke to fidgeting in his seat, and he came to the rescue with all the town-talk at his command. He knewlittle else. Could Mr. Walpole tell him of this club of both sexes juststarted at Almack's? Mr. Walpole could tell a deal, tho' he took thepains first to explain that he was becoming too old for such frivolousand fashionable society. He could not, for the life of him, say why hewas included. But, in spite of Mr. Walpole, John Paul was led out in thepaces that best suited him, and finally, to the undisguised delightof Mr. Fox, managed to trip Horry upon an obscure point in Athenianliterature. And this broke up the company. 

As we took our leave Dorothy and Mr. Fox were talking together withlowered voices. 

"I shall see you before I go, " I said to her. 

She laughed, and glanced at Mr. Fox. 

"You are not going, Richard Carvel, " said she. 

"That you are not, Richard Carvel, " said Mr. Fox. 

I smiled, rather lamely, I fear, and said good night. 

CHAPTER XXX. A CONSPIRACY

"Banks, where is the captain?" I asked, as I entered the parlour thenext morning. 

"Gone, sir, since seven o'clock, " was the reply. "Gone!" I exclaimed;"gone where?"

"Faith, I did not ask his honour, sir. "

I thought it strange, but reflected that John Paul was given to whims. Having so little time before him, he had probably gone to see the sightshe had missed yesterday: the Pantheon, which was building, an accountof which had appeared in all the colonial papers; or the new BlackfriarsBridge; or the Tower; or perhaps to see his Majesty ride out. Thewonders of London might go hang, for all I cared. Who would gaze at theKing when he might look upon Dorothy! I sighed. I bade Banks dress me inthe new suit Davenport had brought that morning, and then sent him offto seek the shipping agent of the Virginia packet to get us a cabin. Iwould go to Arlington Street as soon as propriety admitted. 

But I had scarce finished my chocolate and begun to smoke in a pleasantrevery, when I was startled by the arrival of two gentlemen. One wasComyn, and the other none less than Mr. Charles Fox. 

"Now where the devil has your captain flown to?" said my Lord, tossinghis whip on the table. 

"I believe he must be sight-seeing, " I said. "I dare swear he has takena hackney coach to the Tower. "

"To see the liberation of the idol of the people, I'll lay ten guineas. But they say the great Mr. Wilkes is to come out quietly, and wishes nodemonstration, " said Mr. Fox. "I believe the beggar has some sense, if the--Greek--would only let him have his way. So your captain is aWilkite, Mr. Carvel?" he demanded. 

"I fear you run very fast to conclusions, Mr. Fox, " I answered, laughing, tho' I thought his guess was not far from wrong. 

"I'll lay you the ten guineas he has been to the Tower, " said Mr. Fox, promptly. 

"Done, sir, " said I. 

"Hark ye, Richard, " said Comyn, stretching himself in an arm-chair; "weare come to take the wind out of your sails, and leave you without anexcuse for going home. And we want your captain, alive or dead. Charles, here, is to give him a commission in his Majesty's Navy. "

Then I knew why Dorothy had laughed when I had spoken of seeing heragain. Comyn--bless him!--had told her of his little scheme. 

"Egad, Charles!" cried his Lordship, "to look at his glum face, onemight think we were a couple of Jews who had cornered him. "

Alas for the perversity of the heart! Instead of leaping for joy, asno doubt they had both confidently expected, I was both troubled andperplexed by this unlooked-for news. Oak, when bent, is even harderto bend back again. And so it has ever been with me. I had determined, after a bitter struggle, to go to Maryland, and had now become usedto that prospect. I was anxious to see my grandfather, and to confrontGrafton Carvel with his villany. And there was John Paul. What would hethink?

"What ails you, Richard?" Comyn demanded somewhat testily. 

"Nothing, Jack, " I replied. "I thank you from my heart, and you, Mr. Fox. I know that commissions are not to be had for the asking, and Irejoice with the captain over his good fortune. But, gentlemen, " Isaid soberly, "I had most selfishly hoped that I might be able to doa service to John Paul in return for his charity to me. You offer himsomething nearer his deserts, something beyond my power to give him. "

Fox's eyes kindled. 

"You speak like a man, Mr. Carvel, " said he. "But you are too modest. Damn it, sir, don't you see that it is you, and no one else, who hasprocured this commission? Had I not been taken with you, sir, I shouldscarce have promised it to your friend Comyn, through whose interest youobtain it for your protege. "

I remembered what Mr. Fox's enemies said of him, and smiled at theplausible twist he had given the facts. 

"No, " I said; "no, Mr. Fox; never that. The captain must not think thatI wish to be rid of him. I will not stand in the way, though if it isto be offered him, he must comprehend that I had naught to do with thematter. But, sir, " I continued curiously, "what do you know of JohnPaul's abilities as an officer?"

Mr. Fox and Comyn laughed so immoderately as to bring the blood to myface. 

"Damme!" cried the Junior Lord, "but you Americans have odd consciences!Do you suppose Rigby was appointed Paymaster of the Forces becauseof his fitness? Why was North himself made Prime Minister? For hisabilities?" And he broke down again. "Ask Jack, here, how he got intothe service, and how much seamanship he knows. "

"Faith, " answered Jack, unblushingly, "Admiral Lord Comyn, my father, wished me to serve awhile. And so I have taken two cruises, deliveredsome score of commands, and scarce know a supple jack from a can offlip. Cursed if I see the fun of it in these piping times o' peace, so Ihave given it up, Richard. For Charles says this Falkland business withSpain will blow out of the touch-hole. "

I could see little to laugh over. For the very rottenness of the servicewas due to the miserable and servile Ministry and Parliament of hisMajesty, by means of which instruments he was forcing the colonies tothe wall. Verily, that was a time when the greatness of England hungin the balance! How little I suspected that the young man then seatedbeside me, who had cast so unthinkingly his mighty powers on the side ofcorruption, was to be one of the chief instruments of her salvation! Wewere to fight George the Third across the seas. He was to wage no lesscourageous a battle at home, in the King's own capital. And the cause?Yes, the cause was to be the same as that of the Mr. Wilkes he reviled, who obtained his liberty that day. 

At length John Paul came in, calling my name. He broke off abruptly atsight of the visitors. 

"Now we shall decide, " said Mr. Fox. "Captain, I have bet Mr. Carvel tenguineas you have been to the Tower to see Squinting Jack (John Wilkes)get his liberty at last. "

The captain looked astonished. 

"Anan, then, you have lost, Richard, " said he. "For I have been justthere. "

"And helped, no doubt, to carry off the champion on your shoulders, "said Mr. Fox, sarcastically, as I paid the debt. 

"Mr. Wilkes knows full well the value of moderation, sir, " replied thecaptain, in the same tone. 

"Well, damn the odds!" exclaimed the Junior Lord, laughing. "You mayhave the magic number tattooed all over your back, for all I care. Youshall have the commission. "

"The commission?"

"Yes, " said Fox, carelessly; "I intend making you a lieutenant, sir, inthe Royal Navy. "

The moment the words were out I was a-tremble as to how he would takethe offer. For he had a certain puzzling pride, which flew hither andthither. But there was surely no comparison between the situations ofthe master of the Belle of the Wye and an officer in the Royal Navy. There, his talents would make him an admiral, and doubtless give him thesocial position he secretly coveted. He confounded us all by his answer. 

"I thank you, Mr. Fox. But I cannot accept your kindness. "

"Slife!" said Fox, "you refuse? And you know what you are doing?"

"I know usually, sir. "

Comyn swore. My exclamation had something of relief in it. 

"Captain, " I said, "I felt that I could not stand in the way of this. It has been my hope that you will come with me, and I have sent thismorning after a cabin on the Virginia. You must know that Mr. Fox'soffer is his own, and Lord Comyn's. "

"I know it well, Richard. I have not lived these three months with youfor nothing. " His voice seemed to fail him. He drew near me and took myhand. "But did you think I would require of you the sacrifice of leavingLondon now?"

"It is my pleasure as well as my duty, captain. "

"No, " he said, "I am not like that. Yesterday I went to the city to seea shipowner whose acquaintance I made when he was a master in the WestIndia trade. He has had some reason to know that I can handle a ship. Never mind what. And he has given me the bark 'Betsy', whose formermaster is lately dead of the small-pox. Richard, I sail to-morrow. "

In Dorothy's coach to Whitehall Stairs, by the grim old palace out ofwhose window Charles the Martyr had walked to his death. For Dorothy hadvowed it was her pleasure to see John Paul off, and who could standin her way? Surely not Mr. Marmaduke! and Mrs. Manners laughinglyacquiesced. Our spirits were such that we might have been some honestmercer's apprentice and his sweetheart away for an outing. 

"If we should take a wherry, Richard, " said Dolly, "who would know ofit? I have longed to be in a wherry ever since I came to London. "

The river was smiling as she tripped gayly down to the water, and thered-coated watermen were smiling, too, and nudging one another. Butlittle cared we! Dolly in holiday humour stopped for naught. "Boat, yourhonour! Boat, boat! To Rotherhithe--Redriff? Two and six apiece, sir. "For that intricate puzzle called human nature was solved out of hand bythe Thames watermen. Here was a young gentleman who never heard of theLord Mayor's scale of charges. And what was a shilling to such as he!Intricate puzzle, indeed! Any booby might have read upon the young man'sface that secret which is written for all, --high and low, rich and pooralike. 

My new lace handkerchief was down upon the seat, lest Dolly soil herbright pink lutestring. She should have worn nothing else but the hue ofroses. How the bargemen stared, and the passengers craned their necks, and the longshoremen stopped their work as we shot past them! On heraccount a barrister on the Temple Stairs was near to letting fallhis bag in the water. A lady in a wherry! Where were the whims of thequality to lead them next? Past the tall water-tower and York Stairs, the idlers under the straight row of trees leaning over the high riverwall; past Adelphi Terrace, where the great Garrick lived; past thewhite columns of Somerset House, with its courts and fountains andalleys and architecture of all ages, and its river gate where many agilded royal barge had lain, and many a fine ambassador had arrived instate over the great highway of England; past the ancient trees in theTemple Gardens. And then under the new Blackfriars Bridge to Southwark, dingy with its docks and breweries and huddled houses, but foreverfamous, --the Southwark of Shakespeare and Jonson and Beaumont andFletcher. And the shelf upon which they stood in the library at CarvelHall was before my eyes. 

"Yes, " said Dolly; "and I recall your mother's name written in faded inkupon the fly-leaves. "

Ah, London Town, by what subtleties are you tied to the hearts of thoseborn across the sea? That is one of the mysteries of race. 

Under the pointed arches of old London Bridge, with its hooded sheltersfor the weary, to where the massive Tower had frowned for ages upon thefoolish river. And then the forest of ships, and the officious throng oflittle wherries and lighters that pressed around them, seeming to say, "You clumsy giants, how helpless would you be without us!" Soon our ownwherry was dodging among them, ships brought hither by the four windsof the seas; many discharging in the stream, some in the docks thenbeginning to be built, and hugging the huge warehouses. Hides fromfrozen Russia were piled high beside barrels of sugar and rum from themoist island cane-fields of the Indies, and pipes of wine from the sunnyhillsides of France, and big boxes of tea bearing the hall-mark of themysterious East. Dolly gazed in wonder. And I was commanded to show hera schooner like the Black Moll, and a brigantine like the John. 

"And Captain Paul told me you climbed the masts, Richard, and workedlike a common seaman. Tell me, " says she, pointing at the royal yard ofa tall East Indiaman, "did you go as high as that when it was rough?"

And, hugely to the boatman's delight, the minx must needs put herfingers on the hard welts on my hands, and vow she would be a sailorand she were a man. But at length we came to a trim-built bark lying offRedriff Stairs, with the words "Betsy, of London, " painted across herstern. In no time at all, Captain Paul was down the gangway ladder andat the water-side, too hand Dorothy out. 

"This honour overwhelms me, Miss Manners, " he said; "but I know whom tothank for it. " And he glanced slyly at me. 

Dorothy stepped aboard with the air of Queen Elizabeth come to inspectLord Howard's flagship. 

"Then you will thank me, " said she. "Why, I could eat my dinner off yourdeck, captain! Are all merchantmen so clean?"

John Paul smiled. 

"Not all, Miss Manners, " he said. 

"And you are still sailing at the ebb?" I asked. 

"In an hour, Richard, if the wind holds good. "

With what pride he showed us over his ship, the sailors gaping at thefine young lady. It had taken him just a day to institute his navydiscipline. And Dolly went about exclaiming, and asking an hundredquestions, and merrily catechising me upon the run of the ropes. All wasorder and readiness for dropping down the stream when he led us intohis cabin, where he had a bottle of wine and some refreshments laid outagainst my coming. 

"Had I presumed to anticipate your visit, Miss Manners, I should havehad something more suitable for a lady, " he said. "What, you will noteat, either, Richard?"

I could not, so downcast had I become at the thought of parting. Ihad sat up half the night before with him in restless argument andindecision, and even when he had left for Rotherhithe, early thatmorning, my mind had not been made. My conscience had insisted that Ishould sail with John Paul; that I might never see my deaf grandfatheron earth again. I had gone to Arlington Street that morning resolved tosay farewell to Dorothy. I will not recount the history of that defeat, my dears. Nay, to this day I know not how she accomplished the matter. Not once had she asked me to remain, or referred to my going. Nor hadI spoken of it, weakling that I was. She had come down in the pinklutestring, smiling but pale; and traces of tears in her eyes, Ithought. From that moment I knew that I was defeated. It was she herselfwho had proposed going with me to see the Betsy sail. 

"I will drink some Madeira to wish you Godspeed, captain, " I said. 

"What is the matter with you, Richard?" Dolly cried; "you are as souras my Lord Sandwich after a bad Newmarket. Why, captain, " said she, "Ireally believe he wants to go, too. The swain pines for his provincialbeauty. "

Poor John Paul! He had not yet learned that good society is seldomliteral. 

"Upon my soul, Miss Manners, there you do him wrong, " he retorted, withludicrous heat; "you, above all, should know for whom he pines. "

"He has misled you by praising me. This Richard, despite his frankexterior, is most secretive. "

"There you have hit him, Miss Manners, " he declared; "there you have hithim! We were together night and day, on the sea and on the road, and, while I poured out my life to him, the rogue never once let fall a hintof the divine Miss Dorothy. 'Twas not till I got to London that I knewof her existence, and then only by a chance. You astonish me. You speakof a young lady in Maryland?"

Dorothy swept aside my protest. 

"Captain, " says she, gravely, "I leave you to judge. What is yourinference, when he fights a duel about a Miss with my Lord Comyn?"

"A duel!" cried the captain, astounded. 

"Miss Manners persists in her view of the affair, despite my word to thecontrary, " I put in rather coldly. 

"But a duel!" cried the captain again; "and with Lord Comyn! MissManners, I fondly thought I had discovered a constant man, but you makeme fear he has had as many flames as I. And yet, Richard, " he addedmeaningly, "I should think shame on my conduct and I had had such asubject for constancy as you. "

Dorothy's armour was pierced, and my ill-humour broken down, by thischaracteristic speech. We both laughed, greatly to his discomfiture. 

"You had best go home with him, Richard, " said Dolly. "I can find my wayback to Arlington Street alone. "

"Nay; gallantry forbids his going with me now, " answered John Paul; "andI have my sailing orders. But had I known of this, I should never havewasted my breath in persuading him to remain. "

"And did he stand in need of much persuasion, captain?" asked Dolly, archly. 

Time was pressing, and the owner came aboard, puffing, --a round-faced, vociferous, jolly merchant, who had no sooner got his breath than helost it again upon catching sight of Dolly. 

While the captain was giving the mate his final orders, Mr. Orchardson, for such was his name, regaled us with a part of his life's history. Hehad been a master himself, and mangled and clipped King George's Englishas only a true master might. 

"I like your own captain better than ever, Richard, " whispered Dolly, while Mr. Orchardson relieved himself of his quid over the other side;"how commanding he is! Were I to take passage in the Betsy, I know Ishould be in love with him long before we got to Norfolk. "

I took it upon myself to tell Mr. Orchardson, briefly and clearly as Icould, the lamentable story of John Paul's last cruise. For I feared itmight sooner or later reach his ears from prejudiced mouths. And I endedby relating how the captain had refused a commission in the navy becausehe had promised to take the Betsy. This appeared vastly to impress him, and he forgot Dorothy's presence. 

"Passion o' my 'eart, Mr. Carvel, " cried he, excitedly, "John Paul's too big a man, an' too good a seaman, to go into the navywithout hinflooence. If flag horfocers I roots of is booted haside torankle like a lump o' salt butter in a gallipot, 'ow will a poor Scotchlieutenant win hadvancement an' he be not o' the King's friends? 'Wilkesan' Liberty, ' say I; 'forever, ' say I. An' w'en I see 'im goin' to theTower to be'old the Champion, 'Captain Paul, ' says I, 'yere a man arftermy hown 'eart. ' My heye, sir, didn't I see 'im, w'n a mere lad, take theJohn into Kingston 'arbour in the face o' the worst gale I hever seedblowed in the Caribbees? An' I says, 'Bill Horchardson, an' ye Never'ave ships o' yere own, w'ich I 'ope will be, y'ell know were to lookfor a marster. ' An' I tells 'im that same, Mr. Carvel. I means nodisrespect to the dead, sir, but an' John Paul 'ad discharged the Betsy, I'd not 'a' been out twenty barrels or more this day by Thames mudlarksan' scuffle hunters. 'Eave me flat, if 'e'll be two blocks wi' liquoran' dischargin' cargo. An' ye may rest heasy, Mr. Carvel, I'll not dowrong by 'im, neither. "

He told me that if I would honour him in Maid Lane, Southwark, I shouldhave as many pounds as I liked of the best tobacco ever cured in Cuba. And so he left me to see that the mate had signed all his lighter bills, shouting to the captain not to forget his cockets at Gravesend. Dollyand I stood silent while the men hove short, singing a jolly song tothe step. With a friendly wave the round figure of Mr. Orchardsondisappeared over the side, and I knew that the time had come to sayfarewell. I fumbled in my waistcoat for the repeater I had bought thatmorning over against Temple Bar, in Fleet Street, and I thrust it intoJohn Paul's hand as he came up. 

"Take this in remembrance of what you have suffered so unselfishly formy sake, Captain Paul, " I said, my voice breaking. "And whatever befallsyou, do not forget that Carvel Hall is your home as well as mine. "

He seemed as greatly affected as was I. Tears forced themselves to hiseyes as he held the watch, which he opened absently to read the simpleinscription I had put there. 

"Oh, Dickie lad!" he cried, "I'll be missing ye sair three hourshence, and thinking of ye for months to come in the night watches. Butsomething tells me I'll see ye again. "

And he took me in his arms, embracing me with such fervour that therewas no doubting the sincerity of his feelings. 

"Miss Dorothy, " said he, when he was calmer, "I give ye Richard for aleal and a true heart. Few men are born with the gift of keeping theaffections warm despite absence, and years, and interest. But have nofear of Richard Carvel. "

Dorothy stood a little apart, watching us, her eyes that faraway blue ofthe deepening skies at twilight. 

"Indeed, I have no fear of him, captain, " she said gently. Then, with aquick movement, impulsive and womanly, she unpinned a little gold broochat her throat, and gave it to him, saying: "In token of my gratitude forbringing him back to us. "

John Paul raised it to his lips. 

"I shall treasure it, Miss Manners, as a memento of the greatest joy ofmy life. And that has been, " gracefully taking her hand and mine, "thebringing you two together again. "

Dorothy grew scarlet as she curtseyed. As for me, I could speak never aword. He stepped over the side to hand her into the wherry, and embracedme once again. And as we rowed away he waved his hat in a last good-byfrom the taffrail. Then the Betsy floated down the Thames. 

CHAPTER XXXI. "UPSTAIRS INTO THE WORLD"

It will be difficult, my dears, without bulging this history out of allproportion, to give you a just notion of the society into which I fellafter John Paul left London. It was, above all, a gaming society. From that prying and all-powerful God of Chance none, great or small, escaped. Guineas were staked and won upon frugal King George and hisbeef and barley-water; Charles Fox and his debts; the intrigues ofChoiseul and the Du Barry and the sensational marriage of the Dued'Orleans with Madame de Montesson (for your macaroni knew his Parisas well as his London); Lord March and his opera singer; and eventhe doings of Betty, the apple-woman of St. James's Street, and thebeautiful barmaid of Nando's in whom my Lord Thurlow was said to beinterested. All these, and much more not to be repeated, were duly setdown in the betting-books at White's and Brooks's. 

Then the luxury of the life was something to startle a provincial, eventho' he came, as did I, from one of the two most luxurious coloniesof the thirteen. Annapolis might be said to be London on a smallscale, --but on a very small scale. The historian of the future need lookno farther than our houses (if any remain), to be satisfied that we hadmore than the necessities of existence. The Maryland aristocrat with histown place and his country place was indeed a parallel of the patricianat home. He wore his English clothes, drove and rode his English horses, and his coaches were built in Long Acre. His heavy silver service camefrom Fleet Street, and his claret and Champagne and Lisbon and Madeirawere the best that could be bought or smuggled. His sons were ofteneducated at home, at Eton or Westminster and Oxford or Cambridge. So would I have been if circumstances had permitted. So was JamesFotheringay, the eldest of the family, and later the Dulany boys, andhalf a dozen others I might mention. And then our ladies! 'Tis butnecessary to cite my Aunt Caroline as an extreme dame of fashion, whohad her French hairdresser, Piton. 

As was my aunt to the Duchess of Kingston, so was Annapolis to London. To depict the life of Mayfair and of St. James's Street during a seasonabout the year of grace 1770 demands a mightier pen than wields thewriter of these simple memoirs. 

And who was responsible for all this luxury and laxity? Who but thegreat Mr. Pitt, then the Earl of Chatham, whose wise policy had madeBritain the ruler of the world, and rich beyond compare. From allcorners of the earth her wealth poured in upon her. Nabob and Caribbeecame from East and West to spend their money in the capital. Andfortunes near as great were acquired by the City merchants themselves. One by one these were admitted within that charmed circle, whose mottofor ages had been "No Trade, " to leaven it with their gold. And to keepthe pace, --nay, to set it, the nobility and landed gentry were sorepressed. As far back as good Queen Anne, and farther, their ancestorshad gamed and tippled away the acres; and now that John and William, whose forebears had been good tenants for centuries, were setting theirfaces to Liverpool and Birmingham and Leeds, their cottages were empty. So Lord and Squire went to London to recuperate, and to get their shareof the game running. St. James's Street and St. Stephen's became theirpreserves. My Lord wormed himself into a berth in the Treasury, robbedthe country systematically for a dozen of years, and sold the placesand reversions under him to the highest bidder. Boroughs were to behad somewhat dearer than a pair of colours. And my Lord spent hisspare time--he had plenty of it--in fleecing the pigeons at White'sand Almack's. Here there was no honour, even amongst thieves. And younggentlemen were hurried through Eton and Oxford, where they learnedto drink and swear and to call a main as well as to play tennis andbilliards and to write Latin, and were thrust into Brooks's beforethey knew the difference in value between a farthing and a banknote: atnineteen they were hardened rake, or accomplished men of the world, orboth. Dissipated noblemen of middle age like March and Sandwich, witsand beaus and fine gentlemen like Selwyn and Chesterfield and Walpole, were familiarly called by their first names by youngsters like Fox andCarlisle and Comyn. Difference of age was no difference. Young LordCarlisle was the intimate of Mr. Selwyn, born thirty years before him. 

And whilst I am speaking of intimacies, that short one which sprangup between me and the renowned Charles Fox has always seemed the mostunaccountable: not on my part, for I fell a victim to him at once. Penand paper, brush and canvas, are wholly inadequate to describe thecharm of the man. When he desired to please, his conversation and theexpression of his face must have moved a temperament of stone itself. None ever had more devoted friends or more ardent admirers. They saw hisfaults, which he laid bare before them, but they settled his debts againand again, vast sums which he lost at Newmarket and at Brooks's. And notmany years after the time of which I now write Lord Carlisle was payingfifteen hundred a year on the sum he had loaned him, cheerfully denyinghimself the pleasures of London as a consequence. 

It was Mr. Fox who discovered for me my lodgings in Dover Street, vowingthat I could not be so out of fashion as to live at an inn. The briefhistory of these rooms, as given by him, was this: "A young cub hadowned them, whose mamma had come up from Berkshire on Thursday, beat himsoundly on Friday, paid his debts on Saturday, and had taken him backon Sunday to hunt with Sir Henry the rest of his life. " Dorothy came oneday with her mother and swept through my apartments, commanded all thefurniture to be moved about, ordered me to get pictures for the walls, and by one fell decree abolished all the ornaments before the landlady, used as she was to the ways of quality, had time to gasp. 

"Why, Richard, " says my lady, "you will be wanting no end of prettythings to take back to Maryland when you go. You shall come with meto-morrow to Mr. Josiah Wedgwood's, to choose some of them. "

"Dorothy!" says her mother, reprovingly. 

"And he must have the Chippendale table I saw yesterday at theexhibition, and chairs to match. And every bachelor should have a punchbowl--Josiah has such a beauty!"

But I am running far ahead. Among the notes with which my table wasladen, Banks had found a scrawl. This I made out with difficulty toconvey that Mr. Fox was not attending Parliament that day. If Mr. Carvelwould do him the honour of calling at his lodging, over Mackie's ItalianWarehouse in Piccadilly, at four o'clock, he would take great pleasurein introducing him at Brooks's Club. In those days 'twas far better fora young gentleman of any pretensions to remain at home than go to Londonand be denied that inner sanctuary, --the younger club at Almack's. Manythe rich brewer's son has embittered his life because it was not givenhim to see more than the front of the house from the far side of PallMall. But to be taken there by Charles Fox was an honour falling to few. I made sure that Dolly was at the bottom of it. 

Promptly at four I climbed the stairs and knocked at Mr. Fox's door. The Swiss who opened it shook his head dubiously when I asked for hismaster, and said he had not been at home that day. 

"But I had an appointment to meet him, " I said, thinking it verystrange. 

The man's expression changed. 

"An appointment, sir! Ah, sir, then you are to step in here. " And to myvast astonishment he admitted me into a small room at one side ofthe entrance. It was bare as poverty, and furnished with benches, andnothing more. On one of these was seated a person with an unmistakablenose and an odour of St. Giles's, who sprang to his feet and then satdown again dejectedly. I also sat down, wondering what it could mean, and debating whether to go or stay. 

"Exguse me, your honour, " said the person, "but haf you seen MisterFox?"

I said that I, too, was waiting for him, whereat he cast at me acunning look beyond my comprehension. Surely, I thought, a man of Fox'sinherited wealth and position could not be living in such a place!Before the truth and humour of the situation had dawned upon me, I hearda ringing voice without, swearing in most forcible English, and the doorwas thrown open, admitting a tall young gentleman, as striking as I haveever seen. He paid not the smallest attention to the Jew, who was bowingand muttering behind me. 

"Mr. Richard Carvel?" said he, with a merry twinkle in his eye. 

I bowed. 

"Gad's life, Mr. Carvel, I'm deuced sorry this should have happened. Will you come with me?"

"Exguse me, your honour!" cried the other visitor. 

"Now, what the plague, Aaron!" says he; "you wear out the stairs. Cometo-morrow, or the day after. "

"Ay, 'tis always 'to-morrow' with you fine gentlemen. But I vill bringthe bailiffs, so help me--"

"Damn 'em!" says the tall young gentleman, as he slammed the door and soshut off the wail. "Damn 'em, they worry Charles to death. If he wouldonly stick to quinze and picquet, and keep clear of the hounds*, he neednever go near a broker. "

 [*"The "hounds, " it appears, were the gentlemen of sharp practices at White's and Almack's. --D. C. C. ]

"Do you have Jews in America, Mr. Carvel?" Without waiting foran answer, he led me through a parlour, hung with pictures, andbewilderingly furnished with French and Italian things, and Japan andChina ware and bronzes, and cups and trophies. "My name is Fitzpatrick, Mr. Carvel, --yours to command, and Charles's. I am his ally for offenceand defence. We went to school together, " he explained simply. 

His manner was so free, and yet so dignified, as to charm me completely. For I heartily despised all that fustian trumpery of the age. Then camea voice from beyond, calling:--

"That you, Carvel? Damn that fellow Eiffel, and did he thrust you intothe Jerusalem Chamber?"

"The Jerusalem Chamber!" I exclaimed. 

"Where I keep my Israelites, " said he; "but, by Gad's life! I think theyare one and all descended from Job, and not father Abraham at all. Hemust have thought me cursed ascetic, eh, Fitz? Did you find the bencheshard? I had 'em made hard as the devil. But if they were of stone, I vowthe flock could find their own straw to sit on. "

"Curse it, Charles, " cut in Mr. Fitzpatrick, in some temper, "can't yoube serious for once! He would behave this way, Mr. Carvel, if he werebeing shriven by the Newgate ordinary before a last carting to Tyburn. Charles, Charles, it was Aaron again, and the dog is like to snap atlast. He is talking of bailiffs. Take my advice and settle with him. Hold Cavendish off another fortnight and settle with him. "

Mr. Fox's reply was partly a laugh, and the rest of it is not to beprinted. He did not seem in the least to mind this wholesale disclosureof his somewhat awkward affairs. And he continued to dress, or to bedressed, alternately swearing at his valet and talking to Fitzpatrickand to me. 

"You are both of a name, " said he. "Let a man but be called Richard, andI seem to take to him. I' faith, I like the hunchback king, and believeour friend Horry Walpole is right in defending him, despite Davie Hume. I vow I shall like you, Mr. Carvel. "

I replied that I certainly hoped so. 

"Egad, you come well enough recommended, " he said, pulling on hisbreeches. "No, Eiffel, cursed if I go en petit maitre to-day. How doesthat strike you for a demi saison, Mr. Buckskin? I wore three of 'emthrough the customs last year, and March's worked olive nightgown tuckedunder my greatcoat, and near a dozen pairs of shirts and stockings. Andeach of my servants had on near as much. O Lud, we were amazing-likebeef-eaters or blower pigeons. Sorry you won't meet my brother, --he thatwill have the title. He's out of town. "

Going on in this discursory haphazard way while he dressed, he made mefeel much at home. For the young dictator--so Mr. Fitzpatrick informedme afterward--either took to you or else he did not, and stood upon noceremony. After he had chosen a coat with a small pattern and his feethad been thrust into the little red shoes with the high heels, importedby him from France, he sent for a hackney-chaise. And the three of usdrove together to Pall Mall. Mr. Brooks was at the door, and bowed fromhis hips as we entered. 

"A dozen vin de Graves, Brooks!" cries Mr. Fox, and ushers me intoa dining room, with high curtained windows and painted ceiling, andchandeliers throwing a glitter of light. There, at a long table, surrounded by powdered lackeys, sat a bevy of wits, mostly in blue andsilver, with point ruffles, to match Mr. Fox's costume. They greetedmy companions uproariously. It was "Here's Charles at last!" "Howdy, Charles!" "Hello, Richard!" and "What have you there? a new Caribbee?"They made way for Mr. Fox at the head of the table, and he took the seatas though it were his right. 

"This is Mr. Richard Carvel, gentlemen, of Carvel Hall, in Maryland. "

They stirred with interest when my name was called, and most of themturned in their chairs to look at me. I knew well the reason, and feltmy face grow hot. Although you may read much of the courtesy of thatage, there was a deal of brutal frankness among young men of fashion. 

"Egad, Charles, is this he the Beauty rescued from Castle Yard?"

A familiar voice relieved my embarrassment. 

"Give the devil his due, Bully. You forget that I had a hand in that. "

"Faith, Jack Comyn, " retorted the gentleman addressed, "you're alreadyfamous for clinging to her skirt. "

"But cling to mine, Bully, and we'll all enter the temple together. ButI bid you welcome, Richard, " said his Lordship; "you come with two ofthe most delightful vagabonds in the world. "

Mr. Fox introduced me in succession to Colonel St. John, known in St. James's Street as the Baptist; to my Lord Bolingbroke, ColonelSt. John's brother, who was more familiarly called Bully; to Mr. Fitzpatrick's brother, the Earl of Upper Ossory, who had come up toLondon, so he said, to see a little Italian dance at the Garden; toGilly Williams; to Sir Charles Bunbury, who had married Lady SarahLennox, Fox's cousin, the beauty who had come so near to being queen ofall England; to Mr. Storer, who was at once a Caribbee and a Crichton;to Mr. Uvedale Price. These I remember, but there are more that escapeme. Most good-naturedly they drank my health in Charles's vin de grave, at four shillings the bottle; and soon I was astonished to find myselflaunched upon the story of my adventures, which they had besought meto tell them. When I had done, they pledged me again, and, beginning tofeel at home, I pledged them handsomely in return. Then the conversationbegan. The like of it I have never heard anywhere else in the world. There was a deal that might not be written here, and a deal more thatmight, to make these pages sparkle. They went through the meetings, ofcourse, and thrashed over the list of horses entered at Ipswich, andYork, and Newmarket, and how many were thought to be pulled. Thenfollowed the recent gains and losses of each and every individual ofthe company. After that there was a roar of merriment over Mr. Storer cracking mottoes with a certain Lady Jane; and how youngLord Stavordale, on a wager, tilted the candles and set fire to thedrawing-room at Lady Julia's drum, the day before. Mr. Price told of therage Topham Beauclerk had got Dr. Johnson into, by setting down a markfor each oyster the sage had eaten, and showing him the count. But Mr. Fox, who was the soul of the club, had the best array of any. He relatedhow he had gone post from Paris to Lyons, to order, among other things, an embroidered canary waistcoat for George Selwyn from Jabot. "' Etquel dessin, monsieur?' 'Beetles and frogs, in green. ' 'Escargots!grenouilles!' he cries, with a shriek; 'Et pour Monsieur Selwyn!Monsieur Fox badine!' It came yesterday, by Crawford, and I sent it toChesterfield Street in time for George to wear to the Duchess's. He hasbeen twice to Piccadilly after me, and twice here, and swears he willhave my heart. And I believe he is now gone to Matson in a funk. "

After that they fell upon politics. I knew that Mr. Fox was alreadynear the head of the King's party, and that he had just received asubstantial reward at his Majesty's hands; and I went not far to guessthat every one of these easy-going, devil-may-care macaronies was afollower or sympathizer with Lord North's policy. But what I heard wasa revelation indeed. I have dignified it by calling it politics. All wasfrankness here amongst friends. There was no attempt made to gloss overugly transactions with a veneer of morality. For this much I honouredthem. But irresistibly there came into my mind the grand and simplecharacters of our own public men in America, and it made me shudder tothink that, while they strove honestly for our rights, this was the typewhich opposed them. Motives of personal spite and of personal gain werelaid bare, and even the barter and sale of offices of trust took placebefore my very eyes. I was silent, though my tongue burned me, until oneof the gentlemen, thinking me neglected, said:

"What a-deuce is to be done with those unruly countrymen of yours, Mr. Carvel? Are they likely to be pacified now that we have taken off allexcept the tea? You who are of our party must lead a sorry life amongthem. Tell me, do they really mean to go as far as rebellion?"

The blood rushed to my face. 

"It is not a question of tea, sir, " I answered hotly; "nor yet oftuppence. It is a question of principle, which means more to Englishmenthan life itself. And we are Englishmen. "

I believe I spoke louder than I intended, for a silence followed mywords. Fox glanced at Comyn, who of all of them at the table was notsmiling, and said:

"I thought you came of a loyalist family, Mr. Carvel. "

"King George has no more loyal servants than the Americans, Mr. Fox, bethey Tory or Whig. And he has but to read our petitions to discover it, "I said. 

I spoke calmly, but my heart was thumping with excitement andresentment. The apprehension of the untried is apt to be sharp atsuch moments, and I looked for them to turn their backs upon me for animpertinent provincial. Indeed, I think they would have, all save Comyn, had it not been for Fox himself. He lighted a pipe, smiled, and beganeasily, quite dispassionately, to address me. 

"I wish you would favour us with your point of view, Mr. Carvel, " saidhe; "for, upon my soul, I know little about the subject. "

"You know little about the subject, and you in Parliament!"

I cried. 

This started them all to laughing. Why, I did not then understand. But Iwas angry enough. 

"Come, let's have it!" said he. 

They drew their chairs closer, some wearing that smile of superioritywhich to us is the Englishman's most maddening trait. I did not stopto think twice, or to remember that I was pitted against the greatestdebater in all England. I was to speak that of which I was full, and theheart's argument needs no logic to defend it. If it were my last word, Iwould pronounce it. 

I began by telling them that the Americans had paid their share of theFrench war, in blood and money, twice over. And I had the figures in mymemory. Mr. Fox interrupted. For ten minutes at a space he spoke, andin all my life I have never talked to a man who had the English of KingJames's Bible, of Shakespeare, and Milton so wholly at his command. And his knowledge of history, his classical citations, confounded me. I forgot myself in wondering how one who had lived so fast had acquiredsuch learning. Afterward, when I tried to recall what he said, I laughedat his surprising ignorance of the question at issue, and wondered wheremy wits could have gone that I allowed myself to be dazzled and turnedaside at every corner. As his speech came faster he twisted fact intofiction and fiction into fact, until I must needs close my mind and boltthe shutters of it, or he had betrayed me into confessing the rightof Parliament to quarter troops among us. Though my head swam, I clungdoggedly to my text. And that was my salvation. He grew more excited, and they applauded him. In truth, I myself felt near to clapping. Andthen, as I stared him in the eye, marvelling how a man of such vastpower and ability could stand for such rotten practices, the thoughtcame to me (I know not whence) of Saint Paul the Apostle. 

"Mr. Fox, " I said, when he had paused, "before God, do you believe whatyou are saying?"

I saw them smiling at my earnestness and simplicity. Fox seemedsurprised, and laughed evasively, --not heartily as was his wont. 

"My dear Mr. Carvel, " he said, glancing around the circle, politicalprinciples are not to be swallowed like religion, but taken rather likemedicine, experimentally. If they agree with you, very good. If not, drop them and try others. We are always ready to listen to remedies, here. "

"Ay, if they agree with you!" I exclaimed. "But food for one is poisonfor another. Do you know what you are doing? You are pushing homeinjustice and tyranny to the millions, for the benefit of the thousands. For is it not true, gentlemen, that the great masses of England areagainst the measures you impose upon us? Their fight is our fight. Theyare no longer represented in Parliament; we have never been. Taxationwithout representation is true of your rotten boroughs as well as ofyour vast colonies. You are helping the King to crush freedom abroad inorder that he may the more easily break it at home. You are committing acrime. 

"I tell you we would give up all we own were the glory or honour ofEngland at stake. And yet you call us rebels, and accuse us of meannessand of parsimony. If you wish money, leave the matter to our colonialassemblies, and see how readily you will get it. But if you wish war, persist in trying to grind the spirit from a people who have in themthe pride of your own ancestors. Yes, you are estranging the colonies, gentlemen. A greater man than I has warned you"

And with that I rose, believing that I had given them all mortaloffence. To my astonishment several got to their feet in front of me, huzzaing, and Comyn and Lord Ossory grasped my hands. And Charles Foxreached out over the corner of the table and pulled me back into mychair. 

"Bravo, Richard Carvel!" he cried. "Cursed if I don't love a man whowill put up a fight against odds. Who will stand bluff to what hebelieves, and won't be talked out of his boots. We won't quarrel withany such here, my buckskin, I can tell you. "

And that is the simple story, my dears, of the beginning of myfriendship with one who may rightly be called the Saint Paul of Englishpolitics. He had yet some distance to go, alas, ere he was to beginthat sturdy battle for the right for which his countrymen and ours willalways bless him. I gave him my hand with a better will than I had everdone anything, and we pressed our fingers numb. And his was not the onlyhand I clasped. And honest Jack Comyn ordered more wine, that they mightdrink to a speedy reconciliation with America. 

"A pint bumper to Richard Carvel!" said Mr. Fitzpatrick. 

I pledged Brooks's Club in another pint. Upon which they swore thatI was a good fellow, and that if all American Whigs were like me, allcause of quarrel was at an end. Of this I was not so sure, nor couldI see that the question had been settled one way or another. And thatnight I had reason to thank the Reverend Mr. Allen, for the first andlast time in my life, that I could stand a deal of liquor, and yet notroll bottom upward. 

The dinner was settled on the Baptist, who paid for it without amurmur. And then we adjourned to the business of the evening. The greatdrawing-room, lighted by an hundred candles, was filled with gaylydressed macaronies, and the sound of their laughter and voices incontention mingled with the pounding of the packs on the mahogany andthe rattle of the dice and the ring of the gold pieces. The sight wasdazzling, and the noise distracting. Fox had me under his especial care, and I was presented to young gentlemen who bore names that had been theboast of England through the centuries. Lands their forebears had won bylance and sword, they were squandering away as fast as ever they could. I, too, was known. All had heard the romance of the Beauty and CastleYard, and some had listened to Horry Walpole tell that foolish story ofGoble at Windsor, on which he seemed to set such store. They guessed atmy weight. They betted upon it. And they wished to know if I could spinMr. Brooks, who was scraping his way from table to table. They gave mechoice of whist, or picquet, or quinze, or hazard. I was carried away. Nay, I make no excuse. Tho' the times were drinking and gaming ones, Ihad been brought up that a gentleman should do both in moderation. Wemounted, some dozen of us, to the floor above, and passed along to aroom of which Fox had the key; and he swung me in on his arm, the otherspressing after. And the door was scarce closed and locked again, beforethey began stripping off their clothes. 

To my astonishment, Fox handed me a great frieze coat, which he bade medon, as the others were doing. Some were turning their coats inside out;for luck, said they; and putting on footman's leather guards to savetheir ruffles. And they gave me a hat with a high crown, and a broadbrim to save my eyes from the candle glare. We were as grotesque a setas ever I laid my eyes upon. But I hasten over the scene; which has longbecome distasteful to me. I mention it only to show to what heights offolly the young men had gone. I recall a gasp when they told me theyplayed for rouleaux of ten pounds each, but I took out my pocket-book asboldly as tho' I had never played for less, and laid my stake upon theboard. Fox lost, again and again; but he treated his ill-luck withsuch a raillery of contemptuous wit, that we must needs laugh with him. Comyn, too, lost, and at supper excused himself, saying that he hadpromised his mother, the dowager countess, not to lose more than aquarter's income at a sitting. But I won and won, until the fever of itgot into my blood, and as the first faint light of that morning creptinto the empty streets, we were still at it, Fox vowing that he neverwaked up until daylight. That the best things he said in the House cameto him at dawn. 

CHAPTER XXXII. LADY TANKERVILLE'S DRUM-MAJOR

The rising sun, as he came through the little panes of the windows, etched a picture of that room into my brain. I can see the twistedcandles with their wax smearing the sticks, the chairs awry, the tableslittered with blackened pipes, and bottles, and spilled wine and tobaccoamong the dice; and the few that were left of my companions, some withdark lines under their eyes, all pale, but all gay, unconcerned, witty, and cynical; smoothing their ruffles, and brushing the ashes and snufffrom the pattern of their waistcoats. As we went downstairs, singing asong Mr. Foote had put upon the stage that week, they were good enoughto declare that I should never be permitted to go back to Maryland. Thatmy grandfather should buy me a certain borough, which might be had forsix thousand pounds. 

The drawing-room made a dismal scene, too, after the riot and disorderof the night. Sleepy servants were cleaning up, but Fox vowed that theyshould bring us yet another bottle before going home. So down we satabout the famous old round table, Fox fingering the dents the gold hadmade in the board, and philosophizing; and reciting Orlando Furioso inthe Italian, and Herodotus in the original Greek. Suddenly casting hiseyes about, they fell upon an ungainly form stretched on a lounge, thatmade us all start. 

"Bully!" he cried; "I'll lay you fifty guineas that Mr. Carvel gets theBeauty, against Chartersea. "

This roused me. 

"Nay, Mr. Fox, I beg of you, " I protested, with all the vehemence Icould muster. "Miss Manners must not be writ down in such a way. "

For answer he snapped his fingers at the drowsy Brooks, who brought thebetting book. 

"There!" says he; "and there, and there, " turning over the pages; "hername adorns a dozen leaves, my fine buckskin. And it will be well tohave some truth about her. Enter the wager, Brooks. "

"Hold!" shouts Bolingbroke; "I haven't accepted. "

You may be sure I was in an agony over this desecration, which I was sopowerless to prevent. But as I was thanking my stars that the matter hadblown over with Bolingbroke's rejection, there occurred a most singularthing. 

The figure on the lounge, with vast difficulty, sat up. To our amazementwe beheld the bloated face of the Duke of Chartersea staring stupidly. 

"Damme, Bully, you refushe bet like tha'!" he said. "I'll take doshen of'em-doshen, egad. Gimme the book, Brooksh. Cursh Fox--lay thousand d--dprovinshial never getsh 'er--I know--"

I sat very still, seized with a loathing beyond my power to describe tothick that this was the man Mr. Manners was forcing her to marry. Foxlaughed. 

"Help his Grace to his coach, " he said to two of the footmen. 

"Kill fellow firsht!" cried his Grace, with his hand on his sword, andinstantly fell over, and went sound asleep. 

"His Grace has sent his coach home, your honour, " said one of the men, respectfully. "The duke is very quarrelsome, sir. "

"Put him in a chair, then, " said Charles. 

So they fearfully lifted his Grace, who was too far gone to resist, andcarried him to a chair. And Mr. Fox bribed the chairmen with two guineasapiece, which he borrowed from me, to set his Grace down amongst themarketwomen at Covent Garden. 

The next morning Banks found in my pockets something over seven hundredpounds more than I had had the day before. 

I rose late, my head swimming with mains and nicks, and combinationsof all the numbers under the dozen; debated whether or no I would go toArlington Street, and decided that I had not the courage. Comyn settledit by coming in his cabriolet, proposed that we should get the airin the park, dine at the Cocoa Tree, and go afterwards to LadyTankerville's drum-major, where Dolly would undoubtedly be. 

"Now you are here, Richard, " said his Lordship, with his accustomedbluntness, "and your sea-captain has relieved your Quixotic conscience, what the deuce do you intend to do?

"Win a thousand pounds every night at Brooks's, or improve your timeand do your duty, and get Miss Manners out of his Grace's clutches? I'llwarrant something will come of that matter this morning. "

"I hope so, " I said shortly. 

Comyn looked at me sharply. 

"Would you fight him?" he asked. 

"If he gave me the chance. "

His Lordship whistled. "Egad, then, " said he, "I shall want to be thereto see. In spite of his pudding-bag shape he handles the sword as wellas any man in England. I have crossed with him at Angelo's. And he has adevilish tricky record, Richard. "

I said nothing to that. 

"Hope you do--kill him, " Comyn continued. "He deserves it richly. But that will be a cursed unpleasant way of settling thebusiness, --unpleasant for you, unpleasant for her, and cursed unpleasantfor him, too, I suppose. Can't you think of any other way of gettingher? Ask Charles to give you a plan of campaign. You haven't any sense, and neither have I. "

"Hang you, Jack, I have no hopes of getting her, " I replied, for I wasout of humour with myself that day. "In spite of what you say, I knowshe doesn't care a brass farthing to marry me. So let's drop that. "

Comyn made a comic gesture of deprecation. I went on: "But I am goingto stay here and find out the truth, though it may be a foolishundertaking. And if he is intimidating Mr. Manners--"

"You may count on me, and on Charles, " said my Lord, generously; "andthere are some others I know of. Gad! You made a dozen of friends andadmirers by what you said last night, Richard. And his Grace has a fewenemies. You will not lack support. "

We dined very comfortably at the Cocoa Tree, where Comyn had made anappointment for me with two as diverting gentlemen as had ever been mylot to meet. My Lord Carlisle was the poet and scholar of the littleclique which had been to Eton with Charles Fox, any member of which (so'twas said) would have died for him. His Lordship, be it remarked inpassing, was as lively a poet and scholar as can well be imagined. He had been recently sobered, so Comyn confided; which I afterwardsdiscovered meant married. Charles Fox's word for the same was fallen. And I remembered that Jack had told me it was to visit Lady Carlisle atCastle Howard that Dorothy was going when she heard of my disappearance. Comyn's other guest was Mr. Topham Beauclerk, the macaroni friend ofDr. Johnson. He, too, had been recently married, but appeared no moresobered than his Lordship. Mr. Beauclerk's wife, by the way, wasthe beautiful Lady Diana Spencer, who had been divorced from LordBolingbroke, the Bully I had met the night before. These gentlemenseemed both well acquainted with Miss Manners, and vowed that none butAmerican beauties would ever be the fashion in London more. Then we alldrove to Lady Tankerville's drum-major near Chesterfield House. 

"You will be wanting a word with her when she comes in, " said Comyn, slyly divining. Poor fellow! I fear that I scarcely appreciated hisfeelings as to Dorothy, or the noble unselfishness of his friendship forme. 

We sat aside in a recess of the lower hall, watching the throng as theypassed: haughty dowagers, distorted in lead and disfigured in silk andfeathers nodding at the ceiling; accomplished beaus of threescore ormore, carefully mended for the night by their Frenchmen at home; youngladies in gay brocades with round skirts and stiff, pear-shaped bodices;and youngsters just learning to ogle and to handle their snuff-boxes. One by one their names were sent up and solemnly mouthed by the footmanon the landing. At length, when we had all but given her up, Dorothyarrived. A hood of lavender silk heightened the oval of her face, andout from under it crept rebellious wisps of her dark hair. But she wasvery pale, and I noticed for the first time a worn expression that gaveme a twinge of uneasiness. 'Twas then I caught sight of the duke, asurly stamp on his leaden features. And after him danced Mr. Manners. Dolly gave a little cry when she saw me. 

"Oh! Richard, I am so glad you are here. I was wondering what had becomeof you. And Comyn, too. " Whispering to me, "Mamma has had a letter fromMrs. Brice; your grandfather has been to walk in the garden. "

"And Grafton?"

"She said nothing of your uncle, " she replied, with a little shudder atthe name; "but wrote that Mr. Carvel was said to be better. So there!your conscience need not trouble you for remaining. I am sure he wouldwish you to pay a visit home. 

"And I have to scold you, sir. You have not been to Arlington Street forthree whole days. "

It struck me suddenly that her gayety was the same as that she had wornto my birthday party, scarce a year agone. 

"Dolly, you are not well!" I said anxiously. 

She flung her head saucily for answer. In the meantime his Grace, talking coldly to Comyn, had been looking unutterable thunders at me. I thought of him awaking in the dew at Covent Garden, and could scarcekeep from laughing in his face. Mr. Marmaduke squirmed to the front. 

"Morning, Richard, " he said, with a marked cordiality. "Have you metthe Duke of Chartersea? No! Your Grace, this is Mr. Richard Carvel. Hisfamily are dear friends of ours in the colonies. "

To my great surprise, the duke saluted me quite civilly. But I had thefeeling of facing a treacherous bull which would gore me as soon as evermy back was turned. He was always putting me in mind of a bull, with hisshort neck and heavy, hunched shoulders, --and with the ugly tinge of redin the whites of his eyes. 

"Mr. Manners tells me you are to remain awhile in London, Mr. Carvel, "he said, in his thick voice. 

I took his meaning instantly, and replied in kind. 

"Yes, your Grace, I have some business to attend to here. "

"Ah, " he answered; "then I shall see you again. "

"Probably, sir, " said I. 

His Lordship watched this thrust and parry with an ill-concealeddelight. Dorothy's face was impassive, expressionless. As the duketurned to mount the stairs, he stumbled clumsily across a young mancoming to pay his respects to Miss Manners, and his Grace went sprawlingagainst the wall. 

"Confound you, sir!" he cried. 

For the ducal temper was no respecter of presences. Then a title was atitle to those born lower, and the young man plainly had a vast honourfor a coronet. 

"I beg your Grace's pardon, " said he. 

"Who the deuce is he?" demanded the duke petulantly of Mr. Manners, thereby setting the poor little man all a-tremble. 

"Why, why, --" he replied, searching for his spyglass. 

For an instant Dolly's eyes shot scorn. Chartersea had clearly seen andheeded that signal before. 

"The gentleman is a friend of mine, " she said. 

Tho' I were put out of the Garden of Eden as a consequence, I itched tohave it out with his Grace then and there. I knew that I was boundto come into collision with him sooner or later. Such, indeed, was mymission in London. But Dorothy led the way upstairs, a spot of colourburning each of her cheeks. The stream of guests had been arrested untilthe hall was packed, and the curious were peering over the rail above. 

"Lord, wasn't she superb!" exclaimed Comyn, exultingly, as we followed. In the drawing-room the buzzing about the card tables was hushed amoment as she went in. But I soon lost sight of her, thanks to Comyn. Hedrew me on from group to group, and I was duly presented to a scoreof Lady So-and-sos and honourable misses, most of whom had titles, butlittle else. Mammas searched their memories, and suddenly discoveredthat they had heard their parents speak of my grandfather. But, as itwas a fair presumption that most colonial gentlemen made a visit home atleast once in their lives, I did not allow the dust to get into my eyes. I was invited to dinners, and fairly showered with invitations to ballsand drums and garden parties. I was twitted about the Beauty, most oftenwith only a thin coating of amiability covering the spite of the remark. In short, if my head had not been so heavily laden with other matters, it might well have become light under the strain. Had I been ambitiousto enter the arena I should have had but little trouble, sinceeligibility then might be reduced to guineas and another element notmoral. I was the only heir of one of the richest men in the colony, vouched for by the Manners and taken up by Mr. Fox and my Lord Comyn. Inquiries are not pushed farther. I could not help seeing the hardnessof it all, or refrain from contrasting my situation with that of thepenniless outcast I had been but a little time before. The gilded rooms, the hundred yellow candles multiplied by the mirrors, the powder, theperfume, the jewels, --all put me in mind of the poor devils I had leftwasting away their lives in Castle Yard. They, too, had had their timesof prosperity, their friends who had faded with the first waning offortune. Some of them had known what it was to be fawned over. And howmany of these careless, flitting men of fashion I looked upon could feelthe ground firm beneath their feet; or could say with certainty whata change of ministers, or one wild night at White's or Almack's, wouldbring forth? Verily, one must have seen the under side of life to knowthe upper!

Presently I was sought out by Mr. Topham Beauclerk, who had heard of theepisode below and wished to hear more. He swore at the duke. 

"He will be run through some day, and serve him jolly right, " said he. "Bet you twenty pounds Charles Fox does it! His Grace knows he has thecourage to fight him. "

"The courage!" I repeated. 

"Yes. Angelo says the duke has diabolical skill. And then he won't fightfair. He killed young Atwater on a foul, you know. Slipped on the wetgrass, and Chartersea had him pinned before he caught his guard. Butthere is Lady Di a-calling, a-calling. "

"Do all the women cheat in America too?" asked Topham, as we approached. 

I thought of my Aunt Caroline, and laughed. 

"Some, " I answered. 

"They will game, d--n 'em, " said Topham, as tho' he had never gamed inhis life. "And they will cheat, till a man has to close his eyes tokeep from seeing their pretty hands. And they will cry, egad, oh sotouchingly, if the luck goes against them in spite of it all. Only lastweek I had to forgive Mrs Farnham an hundred guineas. She said she'dlost her pin-money twice over, and was like to have wept her eyes out. "

Thus primed in Topham's frank terms, I knew what to expect. And I foundto my amusement he had not overrun the truth. I lost like a stoic, sawnothing, and discovered the straight road to popularity. 

"The dear things expect us to make it up at the clubs, " whispered he. 

I discovered how he had fallen in love with his wife, Lady Diana, andpitied poor Bolingbroke heartily for having lost her. She was thenin her prime, --a beauty, a wit, and a great lady, with a dash of thehumanities about her that brought both men and women to her feet. 

"You must come to see me, Mr. Carvel, " said she. "I wish to talk to youof Dorothy. "

"Your Ladyship believes me versed in no other subject?" I asked. 

"None other worth the mention, " she replied instantly; "Topham tells meyou can talk horses, and that mystery of mysteries, American politics. But look at Miss Manners Dow. I'll warrant she is making Sir Charles seeto his laurels, and young Stavordale is struck dumb. "

I looked up quickly and beheld Dolly surrounded by a circle of admirers. 

"Mark the shot strike!" Lady Di continued, between the deals; "that timeChartersea went down. I fancy he is bowled over rather often, " she saidslyly. "What a brute it is. And they say that that little woman she hasfor a father imagines a union with the duke will redound to his glory. "

"They say, " remarked Mrs. Meynel, sitting next me, "that the duke hasthumbscrews of some kind on Mr. Manners. "

"Miss Manners is able to take care of herself, " said Topham. 

"'On dit', that she has already refused as many dukes as did her Graceof Argyle, " said Mrs. Meynel. 

I had lost track of the cards, and knew I was losing prodigiously. Butmy eyes went back again and again to the group by the doorway, whereDolly was holding court and dispensing justice, and perchance injustice. The circle increased. Ribands, generals whose chests were covered withmedals of valour, French noblemen, and foreign ambassadors stopped fora word with the Beauty and passed on their way, some smiling, somereflecting, to make room for others. I overheard from the neighbouringtables a spiteful protest that a young upstart from the coloniesshould turn Lady Tankerville's drum into a levee. My ears tingled as Ilistened. But not a feathered parrot in the carping lot of them coulddeny that Miss Manners had beauty and wit enough to keep them all atbay. Hers was not an English beauty: every line of her face and pose ofher body proclaimed her of that noble type of Maryland women, distinctlyAmerican, over which many Englishmen before and since have lost theirheads and hearts. 

"Egad!" exclaimed Mr. Storer, who was looking on; "she's alreadydefeated some of the Treasury Bench, and bless me if she isn't ratingNorth himself. "

Half the heads in the room were turned toward Miss Manners, who wasexchanging jokes with the Prime Minister of Great Britain. I saw acorpulent man, ludicrously like the King's pictures, with bulging grayeyes that seemed to take in nothing. And this was North, upon whoseconduct with the King depended the fate of our America. Good-natured hewas, and his laziness was painfully apparent. He had the reputation ofgoing to sleep standing, like a horse. 

"But the Beauty contrives to keep him awake, " said Storer. 

"If you stay among us, Mr. Carvel, " said Topham, "she will get you acommissionership for the asking. "

"Look, " cried Lady Di, "there comes Mr. Fox, the precocious, theirresistible. Were he in the Bible, we should read of him passing thetime of day with King Solomon. "

"Or instructing Daniel in the art of lion-taming, " put in Mrs. Meynel. 

There was Mr. Fox in truth, and the Beauty's face lighted up at sight ofhim. And presently, when Lord North had made his bow and passed on, he was seen to lead her out of the room, leaving her circle to go topieces, like an empire without a head. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. DRURY LANE

After a night spent in making resolutions, I set out for ArlingtonStreet, my heart beating a march, as it had when I went thither on myarrival in London. Such was my excitement that I was near to being runover in Piccadilly like many another country gentleman, and roundlycursed by a wagoner for my stupidity. I had a hollow bigness withinme, half of joy, half of pain, that sent me onward with ever increasingsteps and a whirling storm of contradictions in my head. Now it was:Dolly loved me in spite of all the great men in England. Why, otherwise, had she come to the sponging-house? Berating myself: had her affectionbeen other than that of a life-long friendship she would not have comean inch. But why had she made me stay in London? Why had she spoken soto Comyn? What interpretation might be put upon a score of little actsof hers that came a-flooding to mind, each a sacred treasure of memory?A lover's interpretation, forsooth. Fie, Richard! what presumption tothink that you, a raw lad, should have a chance in such a field! Youhave yet, by dint of hard knocks and buffets, to learn the world. 

By this I had come in sight of her house, and suddenly I trembled like agreen horse before a cannon. My courage ran out so fast that I wassoon left without any, and my legs had carried me as far as St. James'sChurch before I could bring them up. Then I was sure, for the firsttime, that she did not love me. In front of the church I halted, reflecting that I had not remained in England with any hope of it, butrather to discover the truth about Chartersea's actions, and to saveher, if it were possible. I turned back once more, and now got as far asthe knocker, and lifted it as a belfry was striking the hour of noon. Ithink I would have fled again had not the door been immediately opened. 

Once more I found myself in the room looking out over the Park, theFrench windows open to the balcony, the sunlight flowing in with thespring-scented air. On the table was lying a little leather book, stamped with gold, --her prayerbook. Well I remembered it! I opened it, to read: "Dorothy, from her Mother. Annapolis, Christmas, 1768. " Thesweet vista of the past stretched before my eyes. I saw her, on such a, Mayday as this, walking to St. Anne's under the grand old trees, theirbudding leaves casting a delicate tracery at her feet. I followed her upthe aisle until she disappeared in the high pew, and then I sat besidemy grandfather and thought of her, nor listened to a word of Mr. Allen'ssermon. Why had they ever taken her to London?

When she came in I sought her face anxiously. She was still pale; andI thought, despite her smile, that a trace of sadness lingered in hereyes. 

"At last, sir, you have come, " she said severely. "Sit down and give anaccount of yourself at once. You have been behaving very badly. "

"Dorothy--"

"Pray don't 'Dorothy' me, sir. But explain where you have been for thisweek past. "

"But, Dolly--"

"You pretend to have some affection for your old playmate, but you donot trouble yourself to come to see her. "

"Indeed, you do me wrong. "

"Do you wrong! You prefer to gallivant about town with Comyn and CharlesFox, and with all those wild gentlemen who go to Brooks's. Nay, I haveheard of your goings-on. I shall write to Mr. Carvel to-day, and advisehim to send for you. And tell him that you won a thousand pounds in onenight--"

"It was only seven hundred, " I interrupted sheepishly. I thought shesmiled faintly. 

And will probably lose twenty thousand before you have done. And I shallsay to him that you have dared to make bold rebel speeches to a Lord ofthe Admiralty and to some of the King's supporters. I shall tell yourgrandfather you are disgracing him. "

"Rebel speeches!" I cried. 

"Yes, rebel speeches at Almack's. Who ever heard of such a thing! Nodoubt I shall hear next of your going to a drawing-room and instructinghis Majesty how to subdue the colonies. And then, sir, you will be sentto the Tower, and I shan't move a finger to get you out. "

"Who told you of this, Dolly?" I demanded. 

"Mr. Fox, himself, for one. He thought it so good, --or so bad, --that hetook me aside last night at Lady Tankerville's, asked me why I had letyou out of Castle Yard, and told me I must manage to curb your tongue. I replied that I had about as much influence with you as I have with Dr. Franklin. "

I laughed. 

"I saw Fox lead you off, " I said. 

"Oh, you did, did you!" she retorted. "But you never once came near meyourself, save when I chanced to meet you in the hall, tho' I was therea full three hours. "

"How could I!" I exclaimed. "You were surrounded by prime ministers andambassadors, and Heaven knows how many other great people. "

"When you wish to do anything, Richard, you usually find a way. "

"Nay, " I answered, despairing, "I can never explain anything to you, Dolly. Your tongue is too quick for mine. "

"Why didn't you go home with your captain?" she asked mockingly. 

"Do you know why I stayed?"

"I suppose because you want to be a gay spark and taste of the pleasuresof London. That is, what you men are pleased to call pleasures. I canthink of no other season. "

"There is another, " I said desperately. 

"Ah, " said Dolly. And in her old aggravating way she got up and stood inthe window, looking out over the park. I rose and stood beside her, myvery temples throbbing. 

"We have no such springs at home, " she said. "But oh, I wish I were atWilmot House to-day!"

"There is another reason, " I repeated. My voice sounded far away, likethat of another. I saw the colour come into her cheeks again, slowly. The southwest wind, with a whiff of the channel salt in it, blew thecurtains at our backs. 

"You have a conscience, Richard, " she said gently, without turning. "Sofew of us have. "

I was surprised. Nor did I know what to make of that there were so manymeanings. 

"You are wild, " she continued, "and impulsive, as they say your fatherwas. But he was a man I should have honoured. He stood firm beside hisfriends. He made his enemies fear him. All strong men must have enemies, I suppose. They must make them. "

I looked at her, troubled, puzzled, but burning at her praise of CaptainJack. 

"Dolly, " I cried, "you are not well. Why won't you come back toMaryland?"

She did not reply to that. Then she faced me suddenly. 

"Richard, I know now why you insisted upon going back. It was becauseyou would not desert your sea-captain. Comyn and Mr. Fox have told me, and they admire you for it as much as I. "

What language is worthy to describe her as she was then in that pose, with her head high, as she was wont to ride over the field afterthe hounds. Hers was in truth no beauty of stone, but the beauty offorce, --of life itself. 

"Dorothy, " I cried; "Dorothy, I stayed because I love you. There, I havesaid it again, what has not passed my lips since we were children. Whathas been in my heart ever since. "

I stopped, awed. For she had stepped back, out on the balcony. Shehid her head in her hands, and I saw her breast shaken as with sobs. Iwaited what seemed a day, --a year. Then she raised her face and lookedat me through the tears shining in her eyes. 

"Richard, " she said sadly, "why, why did you ever tell me? Why can wenot always be playmates?"

The words I tried to say choked me. I could not speak for sorrow, forvery bitterness. And yet I might have known! I dared not look at heragain. 

"Dear Richard, " I heard her say, "God alone understands how it hurts meto give you pain. Had I only foreseen--"

"Had you only foreseen, " I said quickly. 

"I should never have let you speak. "

Her words came steadily, but painfully. And when I raised my eyes shemet them bravely. 

"You must have seen, " I cried. "These years I have loved you, nor couldI have hidden it if I had wished. But I have little--to offer you, " Iwent on cruelly, for I knew not what I said; "you who may have Englishlands and titles for the consenting. I was a fool. "

Her tears started again. And at sight of them I was seized with suchremorse that I could have bitten my tongue in two. 

"Forgive me, Dorothy, if you can, " I implored. "I did not mean it. Nordid I presume to think you loved me. I have adored, --I shall be contentto adore from far below. And I stayed, --I stayed that I might save youif a danger threatened. "

"Danger!" she exclaimed, catching her breath. 

"I will come to the point, " I said. "I stayed to save you from the Dukeof Chartersea. "

She grasped the balcony rail, and I think would have fallen but for myarm. Then she straightened, and only the quiver of her lip marked theeffort. 

"To save me from the Duke of Chartersea?" she said, so coldly that myconviction was shaken. "Explain yourself, sir. "

"You cannot love him!" I cried, amazed. 

She flashed upon me a glance I shall never forget. 

"Richard Carvel, " she said, "you have gone too far. Though you have beenmy friend all my life, there are some things which even you cannot sayto me. "

And she left me abruptly and went into the house, her head flung back. And I followed in a tumult of mortification and wounded pride, in sucha state of dejection that I wished I had never been born. But hers was anature of surprises, and impulsive, like my own. Beside the cabinet sheturned, calm again, all trace of anger vanished from her face. Drawinga hawthorn sprig from a porcelain vase I had given her, she put it in myhand. 

"Let us forget this, Richard, " said she; "we have both been veryfoolish. "

Forget, indeed! Unless Heaven had robbed me of reason, had torn the pastfrom me at a single stroke. I could not have forgotten. When I reachedmy lodgings I sent the anxious Banks about his business and threw myselfin a great chair before the window, the chair she had chosen. Strange tosay, I had no sensation save numbness. The time must have been abouttwo of the clock: I took no account of it. I recall Banks coming timidlyback with the news that two gentlemen had called. I bade him sendthem away. Would my honour not have Mrs. Marble cook my dinner, and bedressed for Lady Pembroke's ball? I sent him off again, harshly. 

After a long while the slamming of a coach door roused me, and I wasstraightway seized with such an agony of mind that I could have criedaloud. 'Twas like the pain of blood flowing back into a frozen limb. Darkness was fast gathering as I reached the street and began to walkmadly. Word by word I rehearsed the scene in the drawing-room over thePark, but I could not think calmly, for the pain of it. Little by littleI probed, writhing, until far back in my boyhood I was tearing at thedead roots of that cherished plant, which was the Hope of Her Love. Ithad grown with my own life, and now with its death to-day I felt thatI had lost all that was dear to me. Then, in the midst of this abjectself-pity, I was stricken with shame. I thought of Comyn, who had bornethe same misfortune as a man should. Had his pain been the less becausehe had not loved her from childhood? Like Comyn, I resolved to labourfor her happiness. 

What hour of the night it was I know not when a man touched me on theshoulder, and I came to myself with a start. I was in a narrow streetlined by hideous houses, their windows glaring with light. Each seemeda skull, with rays darting from its grinning eye-holes. Within I caughtglimpses of debauchery that turned me sick. Ten paces away three womenand a man were brawling, the low angry tones of his voice mingling withthe screeches of their Billingsgate. Muffled figures were passing andrepassing unconcernedly, some entering the houses, others coming out, and a handsome coach, without arms and with a footman in plain livery, lumbered along and stopped farther on. All this I remarked before I tooknotice of him who had intercepted me, and demanded what he wanted. 

"Hey, Bill!" he cried with an oath to a man who stood on the stepsopposite; "'ere's a soft un as has put 'is gill in. "

The man responded, and behind him came two more of the same feather, andsuddenly I found myself surrounded by an ill-smelling crowd of flashymen and tawdry women. They jostled me, and I reached for my sword, tomake the discovery that I had forgotten it. Regaining my full senses, Istruck the man nearest me a blow that sent him sprawling in the dirt. Ablade gleamed under the sickly light of the fish-oil lamp overhead, buta man crashed through from behind and caught the ruffian's sword-arm andflung him back in the kennel. 

"The watch!" he cried, "the watch!"

They vanished like rats into their holes at the shout, leaving mestanding alone with him. The affair had come and gone so quickly that Iscarce caught my breath. 

"Pardon, sir, " he said, knuckling, "but I followed you. "

It was Banks. For a second time he had given me an affecting example ofhis faithfulness. I forgot that he was my servant, and I caught his handand pressed it. 

"You have saved my life at the risk of your own, " I said; "I shall notforget it. "

But Banks had been too well trained to lose sight of his position. Hemerely tipped his hat again and said imperturbably:

"Best get out of here, your honour. They'll be coming again directly. "

"Where are we?" I asked. 

"Drury Lane, sir, " he replied, giving me just the corner of a glance;"shall I fetch a coach, sir?" No, I preferred to walk. Before we hadturned into Long Acre I had seen all of this Sodom of London that itshould be given a man to see, if indeed we must behold some of thebestiality of this world. Here alone, in the great city, high and lowwere met equal. Sin levels rank. The devil makes no choice between mylord and his kitchen wench who has gone astray. Here, in Sodom, paintedvice had lain for an hundred years and bred half the crime of a century. How many souls had gone hence in that time to meet their Maker! Someof these brazen creatures who leered at me had known how long ago!--apeaceful home and a mother's love; had been lured in their innocenceto this place of horrors, never to leave it until death mercifullyovertakes them. Others, having fallen, had been driven hither by a cruelworld that shelters all save the helpless, that forgives all save thetruly penitent. I shuddered as I thought of Mr. Hogarth's prints, which, in the library in Marlboro' Street at home, had had so little meaningfor me. Verily he had painted no worse than the reality. As I strodehomeward, my own sorrow subdued by the greater sorrow I had looked upon, the craving I had had to be alone was gone, and I would have lockedarms with a turnspit. I called to Banks, who was behind at a respectfuldistance, and bade him come talk to me. His presence of mind in callingon the watch had made even a greater impression upon me than hisbravery. I told him that he should have ten pounds, and an increase ofwages. And I asked him where I had gone after leaving Dover Street, andwhy he had followed me. He answered this latter question first. He hadseen gentlemen in the same state, or something like it, before: hisLordship, his late master, after he had fought with Mr. Onslow, of theGuards, and Sir Edward Minturn, when he had lost an inheritance and areversion at Brooks's, and was forced to give over his engagement tomarry the Honourable Miss Swift. "Lord, sir, " he said, "but that wasa sad case, as set all London agog. And Sir Edward shot hisself atPortsmouth not a se'nnight after. "

And he relapsed into silence, no doubt longing to ask the cause of myown affliction. Presently he surprised me by saying:

"And I might make so bold, Mr. Carvel, I would like to tell your honoursomething. "

I nodded. And he hawed awhile and then burst out:

"Your honour must know then that I belongs to the footman's club inBerkeley Square, where I meets all the servants o' quality--"

"Yes, " I said, wondering what footman's tale he had to tell. 

"And Whipple, he's a hintimate o' mine, sir. " He stopped again. 

"And who may Whipple be?"

"With submission, sir. Whipple's his Grace o' Chartersea's man--and, you'll forgive me, sir--Whipple owns his Grace is prodigious ugly, an'killed young Mr. Atwater unfair, some think. Whipple says he would givenotice had he not promised the old duke--"

"Drat Whipple!" I cried. 

"Yes, sir. To be sure, sir. His Grace was in a bloody rage when he foundhisself in a fruit bin at Covent Carding. An' two redbreasts had carriedhim to the round house, sir, afore they discovered his title. An' sincehis Grace ha' said time an' time afore Whipple, that he'll ha' Mr. Carvel's heart for that, and has called you most disgustin' bad names, sir. An' Whipple he says to me: 'Banks, drop your marster a word, an'you get the chance. His Grace'll speak him fair to's face, but let himlook behind him. '"

"I thank you again, Banks. I shall bear in mind your devotion, " Ireplied. "But I had nothing to do with sending the duke to CoventGarden. "

"Ay, sir, so I tells Whipple. "

"Pray, how did you know?" I demanded curiously. 

"Lord, sir! All the servants at Almack's is friends o' mine, " says he. "But Whipple declares his Grace will be sworn you did it, sir, tho' theLord Mayor hisself made deposition 'twas not. "

"Then mark me, Banks, you are not to talk of this. "

"Oh, Lord, no, your honour, " he said, as he fell back. But I was not sosure of his discretion as of his loyalty. 

And so I was led to perceive that I was not to be the only aggressor inthe struggle that was to come. That his Grace did me the honour tolook upon me as an obstacle. And that he intended to seize the firstopportunity to make way with me, by fair means or foul. 

Volume 6. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. HIS GRACE MAKES ADVANCES

The next morning I began casting about as to what I should do next. There was no longer any chance of getting at the secret from Dorothy, ifsecret there were. Whilst I am ruminating comes a great battling atthe street door, and Jack Comyn blew in like a gust of wind, rating mesoundly for being a lout and a blockhead. 

"Zooks!" he cried, "I danced the soles off my shoes trying to get inhere yesterday, and I hear you were moping all the time, and paid me nomore attention than I had been a dog scratching at the door. What! andhave you fallen out with my lady?"

I confessed the whole matter to him. He was not to be resisted. Hecalled to Banks for a cogue of Nantsey, and swore amazingly at what hewas pleased to term the inscrutability of woman, offering up consolationby the wholesale. The incident, he said, but strengthened his convictionthat Mr. Manners had appealed to Dorothy to save him. "And then, " addedhis Lordship, facing me with absolute fierceness, "and then, Richard, why the devil did she weep? There were no tears when I made my avowal. I tell you, man, that the whole thing points but the one way. She lovesyou. I swear it by the rood. "

I could not help laughing, and he stood looking at me with such awhimsical expression that I rose and flung my arms around him. 

"Jack, Jack!" I cried, "what a fraud you are! Do you remember theargument you used when you had got me out of the sponging-house? Quotingyou, all I had to do was to put Dorothy to the proof, and she would tossMr. Marmaduke and his honour broadcast. Now I have confessed myself, andwhat is the result? Nay, your theory is gone up in vapour. "

"Then why, " cried his Lordship, hotly, "why before refusing me did shedemand to know whether you had been in love with Patty Swain? 'Sdeath!you put me in mind of a woman upon stilts--a man has always to bewalking alongside her with encouragement handy. And when a proudcreature such as our young lady breaks down as she hath done, 'tisclear as skylight there is something wrong. And as for Mr. Manners, Hareoverheard a part of a pow-wow 'twixt him and the duke at the BedfordArms, --and Chartersea has all but owned in some of his drunken fits thatour little fop is in his power. "

"Then she is in love with some one else, " I said. 

"I tell you she is not, " said Comyn, still more emphatically; "and youcan write that down in red in your table book. Gossip has never beenable to connect her name with that of any man save yours, when she wentfor you in Castle Yard. And, gemini, gossip is like water, and will getin if a crack shows. When the Marquis of Wells was going to ArlingtonStreet once every day, she sent him about his business in a fortnight. "

Despite Comyn's most unselfish optimism, I could see no light. And inthe recklessness that so often besets youngsters of my temper, onlike occasions, I went off to Newmarket next day with Mr. Fox and LordOssory, in his Lordship's travelling-chaise and four. I spent a very gayweek trying to forget Miss Dolly. I was the loser by some three hundredpounds, in addition to what I expended and loaned to Mr. Fox. This younggentleman was then beginning to accumulate at Newmarket a most execrablestud. He lost prodigiously, but seemed in no wise disturbed thereby. I have never known a man who took his ill-luck with such a stoicalnonchalance. Not so while the heat was on. As I write, a most ridiculousrecollection rises of Charles dragging his Lordship and me and all whowere with him to that part of the course where the race was highest, where he would act like a madman; blowing and perspiring, and whippingand swearing all at a time, and rising up and down as if the horse wasthrowing him. 

At Newmarket I had the good--or ill-fortune to meet that incorrigiblerake and profligate, my Lord of March and Ruglen. For him the goddessof Chance had smiled, and he was in the most complaisant humour. I waspresented to his Grace, the Duke of Grafton, whose name I had no reasonto love, and invited to Wakefield Lodge. We went instead, Mr. Fox andI, to Ampthill, Lord Ossory's seat, with a merry troop. And then we hadmore racing; and whist and quinze and pharaoh and hazard, until I wasobliged to write another draft upon Mr. Dix to settle the wails: andpicquet in the travelling-chaise all the way to London. Dining atBrooks's, we encountered Fitzpatrick and Comyn and my Lord Carlisle. 

"Now how much has Charles borrowed of you, Mr. Carvel?" demandedFitzpatrick, as we took our seats. 

"I'll lay ten guineas that Charles has him mortgaged this day month, though he owns as much land as William Penn, and is as rich as Fordyce. "

Comyn demanded where the devil I had been, though he knew perfectly. Hewas uncommonly silent during dinner, and then asked me if I had heardthe news. I told him I had heard none. He took me by the sleeve, to thequiet amusement of the company, and led me aside. 

"Curse you, Richard, " says be; "you have put me in such a temper that Ivow I'll fling you over. You profess to love her, and yet you go bettingto Newmarket and carousing to Ampthill when she is ill. "

"Ill!" I said, catching my breath. 

"Ay! That hurts, does it? Yes, ill, I say. She was missed at LadyPembroke's that Friday you had the scene with her, and at LadyAilesbury's on Saturday. On Monday morning, when I come to you fortidings, you are off watching Charles make an ass of himself atNewmarket. "

"And how is she now, Comyn?" I asked, catching him by the arm. 

"You may go yourself and see, and be cursed, Richard Carvel. She is introuble, and you are pleasure-seeking in the country. Damme! you deserverichly to lose her. "

Calling for my greatcoat, and paying no heed to the jeers of the companyfor leaving before the toasts and the play, I fairly ran to ArlingtonStreet. I was in a passion of remorse. Comyn had been but just. Granting, indeed, that she had refused to marry me, was that any reasonwhy I should desert my life-long friend and playmate? A hundred littletokens of her affection for me rose to mind, and last of all thatrescue from Castle Yard in the face of all Mayfair. And in that hour ofdarkness the conviction that something was wrong came back upon mewith redoubled force. Her lack of colour, her feverish actions, and thegrowing slightness of her figure, all gave me a pang, as I connectedthem with that scene on the balcony over the Park. 

The house was darkened, and a coach was in front of it. 

"Yessir, " said the footman, "Miss Manners has been quite ill. She is nowsome better, and Dr. James is with her. Mrs. Manners begs company willexcuse her. "

And Mr. Marmaduke? The man said, with as near a grin as he ever got, that the marster was gone to Mrs. Cornelys's assembly. As I turned away, sick at heart, the physician, in his tie-wig and scarlet cloak, cameout, and I stopped him. He was a testy man, and struck the stone animpatient blow with his staff. 

"'Od's life, sir. I am besieged day and night by you young gentlemen. Ibegin to think of sending a daily card to Almack's. "

"Sir, I am an old friend of Miss Manners, " I replied, "having grown upwith her in Maryland--"

"Are you Mr. Carvel?" he demanded abruptly, taking his hat from his arm. 

"Yes, " I answered, surprised. In the gleam of the portico lanthorn hescrutinized me for several seconds. 

"There are some troubles of the mind which are beyond the power ofphysic to remedy, Mr. Carvel, " said he. "She has mentioned your name, sir, and you are to judge of my meaning. Your most obedient, sir. Goodnight, sir. "

And he got into his coach, leaving me standing where I was, bewildered. 

That same fear of being alone, which has driven many a man to his cups, sent me back to Brooks's for company. I found Fox and Comyn seated ata table in the corner of the drawing-room, for once not playing, buttalking earnestly. Their expressions when they saw me betrayed what myown face must have been. 

"What is it?" cried Comyn, half rising; "is she--is she--"

"No, she is better, " I said. 

He looked relieved. 

"You must have frightened him badly, Jack, " said Fox. 

I flung myself into a chair, and Fox proposed whist, something unusualfor him. Comyn called for cards, and was about to go in search of afourth, when we all three caught sight of the Duke of Chartersea in thedoor, surveying the room with a cold leisure. His eye paused when inline with us, and we were seized with astonishment to behold him makingin our direction. 

"Squints!" exclaimed Mr. Fox, "now what the devil can the hound want?"

"To pull your nose for sending him to market, " my Lord suggested. 

Fox laughed coolly. 

"Lay you twenty he doesn't, Jack, " he said. 

His Grace plainly had some business with us, and I hoped he was comingto force the fighting. The pieces had ceased to rattle on the roundmahogany table, and every head in the room seemed turned our way, forthe Covent Garden story was well known. Chartersea laid his hand onthe back of our fourth chair, greeted us with some ceremony, and saidsomething which, under the circumstances, was almost unheard of inthat day: "If you stand in need of one, gentlemen, I should deem it anhonour. "

The situation had in it enough spice for all of us. We welcomed him withalacrity. The cards were cut, and it fell to his Grace to deal, whichhe did very prettily, despite his heavy hands. He drew Charles Fox, andthey won steadily. The conversation between deals was anywhere; on thevirtue of Morello cherries for the gout, to which his Grace was alreadysubject; on Mr. Fox's Ariel, and why he had not carried Sandwich's cupat Newmarket; on the advisability of putting three-year-olds on thetrack; in short, on a dozen small topics of the kind. At length, whenComyn and I had lost some fifty pounds between us, Chartersea threw downthe cards. 

"My coach waits to-night, gentlemen, " said he, with some sort of anaccent that did not escape us. "It would give me the greatest pleasureand you will sup with me in Hanover Square. "

CHAPTER XXXV. IN WHICH MY LORD BALTIMORE APPEARS

His Grace's offer was accepted with a readiness he could scarce haveexpected, and we all left the room in the midst of a buzz of comment. We knew well that the matter was not so haphazard as it appeared, and onthe way to Hanover Square Comyn more than once stepped on my toe, andI answered the pressure. Our coats and canes were taken by the duke'slackeys when we arrived. We were shown over the house. Until now--so hisGrace informed us--it had not been changed since the time of the fourthduke, who, as we doubtless knew, had been an ardent supporter of theHanoverian succession. The rooms were high-panelled and furnished inthe German style, as was the fashion when the Square was built. But somewere stripped and littered with scaffolding and plaster, new and costlymarble mantels were replacing the wood, and an Italian of some renownwas decorating the ceilings. His Grace appeared to be at some pains thatthe significance of these improvements should not be lost upon us; wasconstantly appealing to Mr. Fox's taste on this or that feature. Butthose fishy eyes of his were so alert that we had not even opportunityto wink. It was wholly patent, in brief, that the Duke of Charterseameant to be married, and had brought Charles and Comyn hither with apurpose. For me he would have put himself out not an inch had he notunderstood that my support came from those quarters. 

He tempered off this exhibition by showing us a collection of potteryfamous in England, that had belonged to the fifth duke, his father. Every piece of it, by the way, afterwards brought an enormous sum atauction. Supper was served in a warm little room of oak. The game wasfrom Derresley Manor, the duke's Nottinghamshire seat, and the wine, sohe told us, was some of fifty bottles of rare Chinon he had inherited. Melted rubies it was indeed, of the sort which had quickened the bloodof many a royal gathering at Blois and Amboise and Chenonceaux, --thedistilled peasant song of the Loire valley. In it many a careworn clownhad tasted the purer happiness of the lowly. Our restraint gave wayunder its influence. His Grace lost for the moment his deformities, andMr. Fox made us laugh until our sides ached again. His Lordshiptold many a capital yarn, and my own wit was afterwards said to beastonishing, though I can recall none of it to support the affirmation. 

Not a word or even a hint of Dorothy had been uttered, nor didChartersea so much as refer to his Covent Garden experience. At length, when some half dozen of the wine was gone, and the big oak clock hadstruck two, the talk lapsed. It was Charles Fox, of course, who threwthe spark into the powder box. 

"We were speaking of hunting, Chartersea, " he said. "Did you ever knowGeorge Wrottlesey, of the Suffolk branch?"

"No, " said his Grace, very innocent. 

"No! 'Od's whips and spurs, I'll be sworn I never saw a man to beat himfor reckless riding. He would take five bars any time, egad, and sit anycolt that was ever foaled. The Wrottleseys were poor as weavers then, with the Jews coming down in the wagon from London and hanging roundthe hall gates. But the old squire had plenty of good hunters in thestables, and haunches on the board, and a cellar that was like thewidow's cruse of oil, or barrel of meal--or whatever she had. All theold man had to do to lose a guinea was to lay it on a card. He nevernicked in his life, so they say. Well, young George got after a richtea-merchant's daughter who had come into the country near by. 'Slife!she was a saucy jade, and devilish pretty. Such a face! so Stavordalevowed, and such a neck! and such eyes! so innocent, so ravishinglyinnocent. But she knew cursed well George was after the bank deposit, and kept him galloping. And when he got a view, halloa, egad! she wasstole away again, and no scent. 

"One morning George was out after the hounds with Stavordale, who toldme the story, and a lot of fellows who had come over from Newmarket. Hewas upon Aftermath, the horse that Foley bought for five hundred poundsand was a colt then. Of course he left the field out of sight behind. Hemade for a gap in the park wall (faith! there was no lack of 'em), butthe colt refused, and over went George and plumped into a cart of winterapples some farmer's sot was taking to Bury Saint Edmunds to market. Thefall knocked the sense out of George, for he hasn't much, and Stavordalethinks he must have struck a stake as he went in. Anyway, the applesrolled over on top of him, and the drunkard on the seat never woke up, i' faith. And so they came to town. 

"It so chanced, egad, that the devil sent Miss Tea Merchant to Bury tobuy apples. She amused herself at playing country gentlewoman while papaworked all week in the city. She saw the cart in the market, and atethree (for she had the health of a barmaid), and bid in the load, andGeorge with it. 'Pon my soul! she did. They found his boots first. Andthe lady said, before all the grinning Johns and Willums, that sinceshe had bought him she supposed she would have to keep him. And, by Gadslife! she has got him yet, which is a deal stranger. "

Even the duke laughed. For, as Fox told it, the story was irresistible. But it came as near to being a wanton insult as a reference to hisGrace's own episode might. The red came slowly back into his eye. Foxstared vacantly, as was his habit when he had done or said somethingespecially daring. And Comyn and I waited, straining and expectant, likeboys who have prodded a wild beast and stand ready for the spring. Therewas a metallic ring in the duke's voice as he spoke. 

"I have heard, Mr. Carvel, that you can ride any mount offered you. "

"Od's, and so he can!" cried Jack. "I'll take oath on that. "

"I will lay you an hundred guineas, my Lord, " says his Grace, veryoff-hand, "that Mr. Carvel does not sit Baltimore's Pollux above twentyminutes. "

"Done!" says Jack, before I could draw breath. 

"I'll take your Grace for another hundred, " calmly added Mr. Fox. 

"It seems to me, your Grace, " I cried, angry all at once, "it seems tome that I am the one to whom you should address your wagers. I am nota jockey, to be put up at your whim, and to give you the chance to losemoney. "

Chartersea swung around my way. 

"Your pardon, Mr. Carvel, " said he, very coolly, very politely; "yoursis the choice of the wager. And you reject it, the others must be calledoff. "

"Slife! I double it!" I said hotly, "provided the horse is alive, andwill stand up. "

"Devilish well put, Richard!" Mr. Fox exclaimed, casting off hisrestraint. 

"I give you my word the horse is alive, sir, " he answered, with a mockbow; "'twas only yesterday that he killed his groom, at Hampstead. "

A few moments of silence followed this revelation. It was Charles Foxwho spoke first. 

"I make no doubt that your Grace, as a man of honour, "--he emphasizedthe word forcibly, --"will not refuse to ride the horse for anothertwenty minutes, provided Mr. Carvel is successful. And I will lay yourGrace another hundred that you are thrown, or run away with. "

Truly, to cope with a wit like Mr. Fox's, the duke had need for a longerhead. He grew livid as he perceived how neatly he had been snared in hisown trap. 

"Done!" he cried loudly; "done, gentlemen. It only remains to hit upontime and place for the contest. I go to York to-morrow, to be backthis day fortnight. And if you will do me the favour of arrangingwith Baltimore for the horse, I shall be obliged. I believe he intendsselling it to Astley, the showman. "

"And are we to keep it?" asks Mr. Fox. 

"I am dealing with men of honour, " says the duke, with a bow: "I needhave no better assurance that the horse will not be ridden in theinterval. "

"'Od so!" said Comyn, when we were out; "very handsome of him. But Iwould not say as much for his Grace. "

And Mr. Fox declared that the duke was no coward, but all other epithetsknown might be called him. "A very diverting evening, Richard, " said he;"let's to your apartments and have a bowl, and talk it over. "

And thither we went. 

I did not sleep much that night, but 'twas of Dolly I thought ratherthan of Chartersea. I was abroad early, and over to inquire in ArlingtonStreet, where I found she had passed a good night. And I sent Banksa-hooting for some violets to send her, for I knew she loved thatflower. 

Between ten and eleven Mr. Fox and Comyn and I set out for BaltimoreHouse. When you go to London, my dears, you will find a vast differencein the neighbourhood of Bloomsbury from what it was that May morningin 1770. Great Russell Street was all a sweet fragrance of gardens, mingling with the smell of the fields from the open country to thenorth. We drove past red Montagu House with its stone facings and dome, like a French hotel, and the cluster of buildings at its great gate. Ithad been then for over a decade the British Museum. The ground behindit was a great resort for Londoners of that day. Many a sad affair wasfought there, but on that morning we saw a merry party on their way toplay prisoner's base. 

Then we came to the gardens in front of Bedford House, which are nowBloomsbury Square. For my part I preferred this latter mansion to theFrench creation by its side, and admired its long and graceful lines. Its windows commanded a sweep from Holborn on the south to Highgate onthe north. To the east of it, along Southampton Row, a few great houseshad gone up or were building; and at the far end of that was Baltimorehouse, overlooking her Grace of Bedford's gardens. Beyond Lamb's ConduitFields stretched away to the countryside. 

I own I had a lively curiosity to see that lordly ruler, the proprietorof our province, whose birthday we celebrated after his Majesty's. HadI not been in a great measure prepared, I should have had a revulsionindeed. 

When he heard that Mr. Fox and my Lord Comyn were below stairs hegave orders to show them up to his bedroom, where he received us in anight-gown embroidered with oranges. My Lord Baltimore, alas! was notmuch to see. He did not make the figure a ruler should as he sat in hiseasy chair, and whined and cursed his Swiss. He was scarce a year overforty, and he had all but run his race. Dissipation and corrosion hadset their seal upon him, had stamped his yellow face with crows' feetand blotted it with pimples. But then the glimpse of a fine gentlemanjust out of bed of a morning, before he is made for the day, is unfair. 

"Morning, Charles! Howdy, Jack!" said his Lordship, apathetically. "Gladto know you, Mr. Carvel. Heard of your family. 'Slife! Wish there weremore like 'em in the province. "

This sentiment not sitting very well upon his Lordship, I bowed, andsaid nothing. 

"By the bye, " he continued, pouring out his chocolate into the dish, "I sent a damned rake of a parson out there some years gone. Handsomedevil, too. Never seen his match with the women, egad. 'Od's fish--"he leered. And then added with an oath and a nod and a vile remark:"Married three times to my knowledge. Carried off dozen or so more. Someof 'em for me. Many a good night I've had with him. Drank between us oneevening at Essex's gallon and half Champagne and Burgundy apiece. He gotto know too much, y' know, " he concluded, with a wicked wink. "Had tobuy him up pack him off. "

"His name, Fred?" said Comyn, with a smile at me. 

"'Sdeath! That's it. Trouble to remember. Damned if I can think. " And herepeated this remark over and over. 

"Allen?" said Comyn. 

"Yes, " said Baltimore; "Allen. And egad I think he'll find hell a hotterplace than me. You know him, Mr. Carvel?"

"Yes, " I replied. I said no more. I make no reservations when I avow Iwas never so disgusted in my life. But as I looked upon him, haggardand worn, with retribution so neat at hand, I had no words to protest orcondemn. 

Baltimore gave a hollow mirthless laugh, stopped short, and looked atCharles Fox. 

"Curse you, Charles! I suppose you are after that little matter I oweyou for quinze. "

"Damn the little matter!" said Fox. "Come, get you perfumed and dressed, and order up some of your Tokay while we wait. I have to go to St. Stephens. Mr. Carvel has come to buy your horse Pollux. He has betChartersea two hundred guineas he rides him for twenty minutes. "

"The devil he has!" cried his Lordship, jaded no longer. "Why, you mustknow, Mr. Carvel, there was no groom in my stables who would sit himuntil Foley made me a present of his man, Miller, who started to ridehim to Hyde Park. As he came out of Great Russell Street, by gads life!the horse broke and ran out the Tottenham Court Road all the way toHampstead. And the fiend picked out a big stone water trough and tossedMiller against it. Then they gathered up the fragments. Damme if I liketo see suicide, Mr. Carvel. If Chartersea wants to kill you, let him tryit in the fields behind Montagu House here. "

I told his Lordship that I had made the wager, and could not in honourwithdraw, though the horse had killed a dozen grooms. But already heseemed to have lost interest. He gave a languid pull at the velvettassel on his bell-rope, ordered the wine; and, being informed thathis anteroom below was full of people, had them all dismissed with themessage that he was engaged upon important affairs. He told Mr. Foxhe had heard of the Jerusalem Chamber, and vowed he would have a likeinstitution. He told me he wished the colony of Maryland in hell; thathe was worn out with the quarrels of Governor Eden and his Assembly, andoffered to lay a guinea that the Governor's agent would get to him thatday, --will-he, nill-he. I did not think it worth while to argue withsuch a man. 

My Lord took three-quarters of an hour to dress, and swore he had notaccomplished the feat so quickly in a year. He washed his hands and facein a silver basin, and the scent of the soap filled the room. He ratedhis Swiss for putting cinnamon upon his ruffles in place of attar ofroses, and attempted to regale us the while with some of his choicestadventures. In more than one of these, by the way, his Grace ofChartersea figured. It was Fox who brought him up. 

"See here, Baltimore, " he said, "I'm not squeamish. But I'm cursed if Ilike to hear a man who may die any time between bottles talk so. "

His Lordship took the rebuke with an oath, and presently hobbled downthe stairs of the great and silent house to the stable court, wheretwo grooms were in waiting with the horse. He was an animal of amazingpower, about sixteen hands, and dapple gray in colour. And it requiredno special knowledge to see that he had a devil inside him. It gleamedwickedly out of his eye. 

"'Od's life, Richard!" cried Charles, "he has a Jew nose; by all theseven tribes I bid you 'ware of him. "

"You have but to ride him with a gold bit, Richard, " said Comyn, "and heis a kitten, I'll warrant. "

At that moment Pollux began to rear and kick, so that it took both the'ostlers to hold him. 

"Show him a sovereign, " suggested Fox. "How do you feel, Richard?"

"I never feared a horse yet, " I said with perfect truth, "nor do I fearthis one, though I know he may kill me. "

"I'll lay you twenty pounds you have at least one bone broken, and tenthat you are killed, " Baltimore puts in querulously, from the doorway. 

"I'll do this, my Lord, " I answered. "If I ride him, he is mine. If hethrows me, I give you twenty pounds for him. "

The gentlemen laughed, and Baltimore vowed he could sell the horse toAstley for fifty; that Pollux was the son of Renown, of the Dukeof Kingston's stud, and much more. But Charles rallied him out bya reference to the debt at quinze, and an appeal to his honour as asportsman. And swore he was discouraging one of the prettiest encountersthat would take place in England for many a long day. And so the horsewas sent to the stables of the White Horse Cellar, in Piccadilly, andleft there at my order. 

CHAPTER XXXVI. A GLIMPSE OF MR. GARRICK

Day after day I went to Arlington Street, each time to be turned awaywith the same answer: that Miss Manners was a shade better, but stillconfined to her bed. You will scarce believe me, my dears, when I saythat Mr. Marmaduke had gone at this crisis with his Grace to the Yorkraces. On the fourth morning, I think, I saw Mrs. Manners. She was muchworn with the vigil she had kept, and received me with an apathy tofrighten me. Her way with me had hitherto always been one of kindnessand warmth. In answer to the dozen questions I showered upon her, shereplied that Dorothy's malady was in no wise dangerous, so Dr. James hadsaid, and undoubtedly arose out of the excitement of a London season. AsI knew, Dorothy was of the kind that must run and run until she dropped. She had no notion of the measure of her own strength. Mrs. Manners hopedthat, in a fortnight, she would be recovered sufficiently to be removedto one of the baths. 

"She wishes me to thank you for the flowers, Richard. She has themconstantly by her. And bids me tell you how sorry she is that she iscompelled to miss so much of your visit to England. Are you enjoyingLondon, Richard? I hear that you are well liked by the best of company. "

I left, prodigiously cast down, and went directly to Mr. Wedgwood's, tochoose the prettiest set of tea-cups and dishes I could find there. Ipitied Mrs. Manners from my heart, and made every allowance for her talkwith me, knowing the sorrow of her life. Here was yet another linkin the chain of the Chartersea evidence. And I made no doubt thatMr. Manner's brutal desertion at such a time must be hard to bear. Icontinued my visits of inquiry, nearly always meeting some person ofconsequence, or the footman of such, come on the same errand as myself. And once I encountered the young man she had championed against hisGrace at Lady Tankerville's. 

Rather than face the array of anxieties that beset me, I plungedrecklessly into the gayeties--nay, the excesses--of Mr. Charles Fox andhis associates. I paid, in truth, a very high price for my friendshipwith Mr. Fox. But, since it did not quite ruin me, I look back uponit as cheaply bought. To know the man well, to be the subject of hisregard, was to feel an infatuation in common with the little band ofworshippers which had come with him from Eton. They remained faithful tohim all his days, nor adversity nor change of opinion could shake theirattachment. They knew his faults, deplored them, and paid for them. Andthis was not beyond my comprehension, tho' many have wondered at it. Didhe ask me for five hundred pounds, --which he did, --I gave it freely, andwould gladly have given more, tho' I saw it all wasted in a night whenthe dice rolled against him. For those honoured few of whom I speaklikewise knew his virtues, which were quite as large as the faults, albeit so mingled with them that all might not distinguish. 

I attended some of the routs and parties, to all of which, as a youngcolonial gentleman of wealth and family, I was made welcome. I went toa ball at Lord Stanley's, a mixture of French horns and clarionets andcoloured glass lanthorns and candles in gilt vases, and young ladiespouring tea in white, and musicians in red, and draperies and flowers adlibitum. There I met Mr. Walpole, looking on very critically. He wasthe essence of friendliness, asked after my equerry, and said I haddone well to ship him to America. At the opera, with Lord Ossory andMr. Fitzpatrick, I talked through the round of the boxes, from LadyPembroke's on the right to Lady Hervey's on the left, where Dolly'sillness and Lady Harrington's snuffing gabble were the topics ratherthan Giardini's fiddling. Mr. Storer took me to Foote's dressing-roomat the Haymarket, where we found the Duke of Cumberland lounging. I waspresented, and thought his Royal Highness had far less dignity than themonkey-comedian we had come to see. 

I must not forget the visit I made to Drury Lane Playhouse with my LordsCarlisle and Grantham and Comyn. The great actor received me graciouslyin such a company, you may be sure. He appeared much smaller off theboards than on, and his actions and speech were quick and nervous. Gast, his hairdresser, was making him up for the character of Richard III. 

"'Ods!" said Mr. Garrick, "your Lordships come five minutes too late. Goldsmith is but just gone hence, fresh from his tailor, Filby, of WaterLane. The most gorgeous creature in London, gentlemen, I'll be sworn. He is even now, so he would have me know, gone by invitation to my LordDenbigh's box, to ogle the ladies. "

"And have you seen your latest lampoon, Mr. Garrick?" asks Comyn, winking at me. 

Up leaps Mr. Garrick, so suddenly as to knock the paint-pot from Gast'shand. 

"Nay, your Lordship jests, surely!" he cried, his voice shaking. 

"Jests!" says my Lord, very serious; "do I jest, Carlisle?" And turningto Mr. Cross, the prompter, who stood by, "Fetch me the St. James'sEvening Post, " says he. 

"'Ods my life!" continues poor Garrick, almost in tears; "I have loanedFoote upwards of two thousand pounds. And last year, as your Lordshipremembers, took charge of his theatre when his leg was cut off. 'Pon mysoul, I cannot account for his ingratitude. "

"'Tis not Foote, " says Carlisle, biting his lip; "I know Foote's mark. "

"Then Johnson, " says the actor, "because I would not let him have myfine books in his dirty den to be kicked about the floor, but put mylibrary at his disposal--"

"Nay, nor Johnson. Nor yet Macklin nor Murphy. "

"Surely not--" cries Mr. Garrick, turning white under the rouge. Thename remained unpronounced. 

"Ay, ay, Junius, in the Evening Post. He has fastened upon you at last, "answers Comyn, taking the paper. 

"'Sdeath! Garrick, " Carlisle puts in, very solemn, "what have youdone to offend the Terrible Unknown? Talebearing to his Majesty, I'llwarrant! I gave you credit for more discretion. "

At these words Mr. Garrick seized the chair for support, and swungheavily into it. Whereat the young lords burst into such a tempest oflaughter that I could not refrain from joining them. As for Mr. Garrick, he was so pleased to have escaped that he laughed too, though with apalpable nervousness. 

 [Note by the editor. It was not long after this that Mr. Garrick's punishment came, and for the self-same offence. ]

"By the bye, Garrick, " Carlisle remarked slyly, when he had recovered, "Mrs. Crewe was vastly taken with the last 'vers' you left on herdressing-table. "

"Was she, now, my Lord?" said the great actor, delighted, but scarceover his fright. "You must know that I have writ one to my LadyCarlisle, on the occasion of her dropping her fan in Piccadilly. "Whereupon he proceeded to recite it, and my Lord Carlisle, beingsomething of a poet himself, pronounced it excellent. 

Mr. Garrick asked me many questions concerning American life andmanners, having a play in his repertory the scene of which was laid inNew York. In the midst of this we were interrupted by a dirty fellow whoran in, crying excitedly:

"Sir, the Archbishop of York is getting drunk at the Bear, and swearshe'll be d--d if he'll act to-night. "

"The archbishop may go to the devil!" snapped Mr. Garrick. "I do notknow a greater rascal, except yourself. "

I was little short of thunderstruck. But presently Mr. Garrick addedcomplainingly:

"I paid a guinea for the archbishop, but the fellow got me threemurderers to-day and the best alderman I ever clapped eyes upon. So weare square. "

After the play we supped with him at his new house in Adelphi Terrace, next Topham Beauclerk's. 'Twas handsomely built in the Italian style, and newly furnished throughout, for Mr. Garrick travelled now with acoach and six and four menservants, forsooth. And amongst other thingshe took pride in showing us that night was a handsome snuffbox which theKing of Denmark had given him the year before, his Majesty's portraitset in jewels thereon. 

Presently the news of the trial of Lord Baltimore's horse began to benoised about, and was followed by a deluge of wagers at Brooks's andWhite's and elsewhere. Comyn and Fox, my chief supporters, laid largesums upon me, despite all my persuasion. But the most unpleasant partof the publicity was the rumour that the match was connected with thestruggle for Miss Manners's hand. I was pressed with invitations togo into the country to ride this or that horse. His Grace the Duke ofGrafton had a mount he would have me try at Wakefield Lodge, and was farfrom pleasant over my refusal of his invitation. I was besieged by youngnoblemen like Lord Derby and Lord Foley, until I was heartily sick ofnotoriety, and cursed the indiscretion of the person who let out thenews, and my own likewise. My Lord March, who did me the honour to layone hundred pounds upon my skill, insisted that I should make one of aparty to the famous amphitheatre near Lambeth. Mr. Astley, the showman, being informed of his Lordship's intention, met us on Westminster Bridgedressed in his uniform as sergeant major of the Royal Light Dragoonsand mounted on a white charger. He escorted us to one of the large boxesunder the pent-house reserved for the gentry. And when the show was overand the place cleared, begged, that I would ride his Indian Chief. Irefused; but March pressed me, and Comyn declared he had staked hisreputation upon my horsemanship. Astley was a large man, about my build, and I donned a pair of his leather breeches and boots, and put IndianChief to his paces around the ring. I found him no more restive, nor asmuch so, as Firefly. The gentlemen were good enough to clap me roundly, and Astley vowed (no doubt because of the noble patrons present) that hehad never seen a better seat. 

We all repaired afterwards for supper to Don Saltero's Coffee House andMuseum in Chelsea. And I remembered having heard my grandfather speak ofthe place, and tell how he had seen Sir Richard Steele there, listeningto the Don scraping away at the "Merry Christ Church Bells" on hisfiddle. The Don was since dead, but King James's coronation sword andKing Henry VIII. 's coat of mail still hung on the walls. 

The remembrance of that fortnight has ever been an appalling one. Mr. Carvel had never attempted to teach me the value of money. Mygrandfather, indeed, held but four things essential to the conduct oflife; namely, to fear God, love the King, pay your debts, and pursueyour enemies. There was no one in London to advise me, Comyn being but awild lad like myself. But my Lord Carlisle gave me a friendly warning:

"Have a care, Carvel, " said he, kindly, "or you will run yourgrandfather through, and all your relations beside. I little realizedthe danger of it when I first came up. " (He was not above two and twentythen. ) "And now I have a wife, am more crippled than I care to be, thanks to this devilish high play. Will you dine with Lady Carlisle inSt. James's Place next Friday?"

My heart went out to this young nobleman. Handsome he was, as a picture. And he knew better than most of your fine gentlemen how to put a checkon his inclinations. As a friend he had few equals, his purse being everat the command of those he loved. And his privations on Fox's accountwere already greater than many knew. 

I had a call, too, from Mr. Dix. I found him in my parlour one morning, cringing and smiling, and, as usual, half an hour away from his point. 

"I warrant you, Mr. Carvel, " says he, "there are few young gentlemen notborn among the elect that make the great friends you are blessed with. "

"I have been fortunate, Mr. Dix, " I replied dryly. 

"Fortunate!" he cried; "good Lord, sir! I hear of you everywhere withMr. Fox, and you have been to Astley's with my Lord March. And I have adraft from you at Ampthill. "

"Vastly well manoeuvred, Mr. Dix, " I said, laughing at the guilty changein his pink complexion. "And hence you are here. "

He fidgeted, and seeing that I paid him no attention, but went on withmy chocolate, he drew a paper from his pocket and opened it. 

"You have spent a prodigious sum, sir, for so short a time, " said he, unsteadily. "'Tis very well for you, Mr. Carvel, but I have to rememberthat you are heir only. I am advancing you money without advices fromhis Worship, your grandfather. A most irregular proceeding, sir, and onelikely to lead me to trouble. I know not what your allowance may be. "

"Nor I, Mr. Dix, " I replied, unreasonably enough. "To speak truth, Ihave never had one. You have my Lord Comyn's signature to protect you, "I went on ill-naturedly, for I had not had enough sleep. "And in caseMr. Carvel protests, which is unlikely and preposterous, you shall haveten percentum on your money until I can pay you. That should be no poorinvestment. "

He apologized. But he smoothed out the paper on his knee. 

"It is only right to tell you, Mr. Carvel, that you have spent onethousand eight hundred and thirty-seven odd pounds, in home money, whichis worth more than your colonial. Your grandfather's balance with mewas something less than one thousand five hundred, as I made him aremittance in December last. I have advanced the rest. And yesterday, "he went on, resolutely for him, "yesterday I got an order for fivehundred more. "

And he handed me the paper. I must own that the figures startled me. Ilaid it down with a fine show of indifference. 

"And so you wish me to stop drawing? Very good, Mr. Dix. "

He must have seen some threat implied, though I meant none. He was myvery humble servant at once, and declared he had called only to let meknow where I stood. Then he bowed himself out, wishing me luck with thehorse he had heard of, and I lighted my pipe with his accompt. 

CHAPTER XXXVII. THE SERPENTINE

Whether it was Mr. Dix. That started me reflecting, or my LordCarlisle's warning, or a few discreet words from young Lady Carlisleherself, I know not. At all events, I made a resolution to stophigh play, and confine myself to whist and quinze and picquet. ForI conceived a notion, enlarged by Mr. Fox, that I had more than oncefallen into the tender clutches of the hounds. I was so reflectingthe morning following Lord Carlisle's dinner, when Banks announced afootman. 

"Mr. Manners's man, sir, " he added significantly, and handed me a littlenote. I seized it, and, to hide my emotion, told him to give the man hisbeer. 

The writing was Dorothy's, and some time passed after I had torn off thewrapper before I could compose myself to read it. 

"So, Sir, the Moment I am too ill to watch you you must needs lapse intoWilde & Flity Doings, for thus y'rs are call'd even in London. NeverMind how y'r Extravigancies are come to my Ears Sir. One Matter I haveherd that I am Most Concerned about, & I pray you, my Dear Richard donot allow y'r Recklessness & Contemt for Danger to betray you into aStil more Amazing Follie or I shall be very Miserable Indeed. I haveHopes that the Report is at Best a Rumour & you must sit down & write methat it is Sir that my Minde may be set at Rest. I fear for you Vastly& I beg you not Riske y'r Life Foolishly & this for the Sake of one whosubscribes herself y'r Old Playmate & Well-Wisher Dolly. 

"P. S. I have writ Sir Jon Fielding to put you in the Marshallsee or NewGate until Mr. Carvel can be tolde. I am Better & hope soon to see youagen & have been informed of y'r Dayly Visitts & y'r Flowers are besideme. D. M. "

In about an hour and a half, Mr. Marmaduke's footman was on his way backto Arlington Street in a condition not to be lightly spoken of. Duringthat period I had committed an hundred silly acts, and incidentallylearned the letter by heart. I was much distressed to think that she hadheard of the affair of the horse, and more so to surmise that the gossipwhich clung to it must also have reached her. But I fear I thought mostof her anxiety concerning me, which reflection caused my hand to shakefrom very happiness. "Y'r Flowers are beside me, " and, "I beg you notRiske y'r Life Foolishly, " and "I shall be very Miserable Indeed" Butthen: "Y'r Old Plamate & Well Wisher"! Nay, she was inscrutable as ever. 

And my reply, --what was that to be? How I composed it in the state ofmind I was in, I have no conception to this day. The chimney was cloggedwith papers ere (in a spelling to vie with Dolly's) I had set down mydevotion, my undying devotion, to her interests. I asked forgiveness formy cruelty on that memorable morning I had last seen her. But evento allude to the bet with Chartersea was beyond my powers; and as forrenouncing it, though for her sake, --that was not to be thought of. The high play I readily promised to avoid in the future, and I signedmyself, --well, it matters not after seventy years. 

The same day, Tuesday, I received a letter from his Grace of Charterseasaying that he looked to reach London that night, but very late. Hebegged that Mr. Fox and Lord Comyn and I would sup with him at the Starand Garter at eleven, to fix matters for the trial on the morrow. Mr. Fox could not go, but Comyn and I went to the inn, having first attended"The Tempest" at Drury Lane with Lady Di and Mr. Beauclerk. 

We found his Grace awaiting us in a private room, with Captain Lewis, of the 60th Foot, who had figured as a second in the duel with youngAtwater. The captain was a rake and a bully and a toadeater, of course, with a loud and profane tongue, and he had had a bottle too many in theduke's travelling-coach. There was likewise a Sir John Brooke, a countryneighbour of his Grace in Nottinghamshire. Sir John apparently had nobusiness in such company. He was a hearty, fox-hunting squire who hadseen little of London; a three-bottle man who told a foul story and wentasleep immediately afterwards. Much to my disappointment, Mr. Mannershad gone to Arlington Street direct. I had longed for a chance to speaka little of my mind to him. 

This meeting, which I shall not take the time to recount, was near toending in an open breach of negotiations. His Grace had lost moneyat York, and more to Lewis on the way to London. He was in one of hisvicious humours. He insisted that Hyde Park should be the place of thecontest. In vain did Comyn and I plead for some less public spot onaccount of the disagreeable advertisement the matter had received. HisGrace would be damned before he would yield; and Lewis, adding a moreforcible contingency, hinted that our side feared a public trial. Comynpresently shut him up. 

"Do you ride the horse after his Grace is thrown, " says he, "and Iagree to get on after and he does not kill you. 'Sdeath! I am not of thearmy, " adds my Lord, cuttingly; "I am a seaman, and not supposed to knowa stirrup from a snaffle. "

"'Od's blood!" yelled the captain, "you question my horsemanship, myLord? Do I understand your Lordship to question my courage?"

"After I am thrown!" cries his Grace, very ugly, and fingering thejewels on his hilt. 

Sir John was awakened by the noise, and turning heavily spilled thewhole of a pint of port on the duke's satin waist coat and breeches. Whereat Chartersea in a rage flung the bottle at his head with a curse, which it seems was a habit with his Grace. But the servants coming in, headed by my old friend the chamberlain, they quieted down. And it waspresently agreed that the horse was to be at noon in the King's OldRoad, or Rotten Row (as it was then beginning to be called), in HydePark. 

I shall carry to the grave the memory of the next day. I was up betimes, and over to the White Horse Cellar to see Pollux groomed, where I founda crowd about the opening into the stable court. "The young American!"called some one, and to my astonishment and no small annoyance I wasgreeted with a "Huzzay for you, sir!" "My groat's on your honour!"

This good-will was owing wholly to the duke's unpopularity with allclasses. Inside, sporting gentlemen in hunting-frocks of red and green, and velvet visored caps, were shouldering favoured 'ostlers from thedifferent noblemen's stables; and there was a liberal sprinkling of thecharacters who attended the cock mains in Drury Lane and at Newmarket. At the moment of my arrival the head 'ostler was rubbing down thestallion's flank. 

"Here's ten pounds to ride him, Saunders!" called one of thehunting-frocks. 

"Umph!" sniffed the 'ostler; "ride 'im is it, yere honour? Two hunnerbeast eno', an' a Portugal crown i' th' boot. Sooner take me chaunces o'Tyburn on 'Ounslow 'Eath. An' Miller waurna able to sit 'im, 'tis no forth' likes o' me to try. Th' bloody devil took th' shirt off Teddy's backthis morn. I adwises th' young Buckskin t' order 's coffin. " Justthen he perceived me, and touched his cap, something abashed. "Withsubmission, sir, y'r honour'll take an old man's adwise an' not go near'im. "

Pollux's appearance, indeed, was not calculated to reassure me. Helooked ugly to exaggeration, his ears laid back and his nostrils as bigas crowns, and his teeth bared time and time. Now and anon an impatientfling of his hoof would make the grooms start away from him. Sincecoming to the inn he had been walked a couple of miles each day, withtwo men with loaded whips to control him. I was being offered a dealof counsel, when big Mr. Astley came in from Lambeth, and silenced themall. 

"These grooms, Mr. Carvel, " he said to me, as we took a bottle inprivate inside, "these grooms are the very devil for superstition. Andonce a horse gets a bad name with them, good-by to him. Miller knewhow to ride, of course, but like many another of them, was too damnedover-confident. I warned him more than once for getting young horsesinto a fret, and I'm willing to lay a ten-pound note that he angeredPollux. 'Od's life! He is a vicious beast. So was his father, Culloden, before him. But here's luck to you, sir!" says Mr. Astley, tippinghis glass; "having seen you ride, egad! I have put all the money I canafford in your favour. "

Before I left him he had given me several valuable hints as to themanner of managing that kind of a horse: not to auger him with the spursunless it became plain that he meant to kill me; to try persuasionfirst and force afterwards; and secondly, he taught me a little trick oftwisting the bit which I have since found very useful. 

Leaving the White Horse, I was followed into Piccadilly by the crowd, until I was forced to take refuge in a hackney chaise. The noise of theaffair had got around town, and I was heartily sorry I had not taken theother and better method of trying conclusions with the duke, and slappedhis face. I found Jack Comyn in Dover Street, and presently Mr. Fox camefor us with his chestnuts in his chaise, Fitzpatrick with him. At HydePark Corner there was quite a jam of coaches, chaises, and cabrioletsand beribboned phaetons, which made way for us, but kept us busy bowingas we passed among them. It seemed as if everybody of consequence thatI had met in London was gathered there. One face I missed, and rejoicedthat she was absent, for I had a degraded feeling like that of being thefavourite in a cudgel-bout. And the thought that her name was connectedwith all this made my face twitch. I heard the people clapping and sawthem waving in the carriages as we passed, and some stood forward beforethe rest in a haphazard way, without rhyme or reason. Mr. Walpole withLady Di Beauclerk, and Mr. Storer and Mr. Price and Colonel St. John, and Lord and Lady Carlisle and Lady Ossory. These I recognized. Inside, the railing along the row was lined with people. And there stood Pollux, bridled, with a blanket thrown over his great back and chest, surroundedstill by the hunting-frocks, who had followed him from the White Horse. Mixed in with these, swearing, conjecturing, and betting, were some tosurprise me, whose names were connected with every track in England: theDuke of Grafton and my Lords Sandwich and March and Bolingbroke, andSir Charles Bunbury, and young Lords Derby and Foley, who, afterestablishing separate names for folly on the tracks, went intopartnership. My Lord Baltimore descended listlessly from his cabrioletto join the group. They all sang out when they caught sight of ourparty, and greeted me with a zeal to carry me off my feet. And my LordSandwich, having done me the honour to lay something very handsome uponme, had his chief jockey on hand to give me some final advice. I believeI was the coolest of any of them. And at that time of all others thefact came up to me with irresistible humour that I, a young colonialWhig, who had grown up to detest these people, should be rubbing noseswith them. 

The duke put in an appearance five minutes before the hour, upon a baygelding, and attended by Lewis and Sir John Brooke, both mounted. Asa most particular evidence of the detestation in which Chartersea washeld, he could find nothing in common with such notorious rakes as Marchand Sandwich. And it fell to me to champion these. After some discussionbetween Fox and Captain Lewis, March was chosen umpire. His Lordshiptook his post in the middle of the Row, drew forth an enamelled repeaterfrom his waistcoat, and mouthed out the conditions of the match, --theterms, as he said, being private. 

"Are you ready, Mr. Carvel?" he asked. 

"I am, my Lord, " I answered. The bells were pealing noon. 

"Then mount, sir, " said he. 

The voices of the people dropped to a hum that brought to mind the longforgotten sound of the bees swarming in the garden by the Chesapeake. Mybreath began to come quickly. Through the sunny haze I saw the cowsand deer grazing by the Serpentine, and out of the back of my eyehandkerchiefs floated from the carriages banked at the gate. They tookthe blanket off the stallion. Stall-fed, and excited by the crowd, helooked brutal indeed. The faithful Banks, in a new suit of the Carvellivery, held the stirrup, and whispered a husky "God keep you, sir!"Suddenly I was up. The murmur was hushed, and the Park became still as apeaceful farm in Devonshire. The grooms let go of the stallion's head. 

He stood trembling like the throes of death. I gripped my knees asCaptain Daniel had taught me, years ago, when some invisible forceimpelled me to look aside. From between the broad and hunching shouldersof Chartersea I met such a venomous stare as a cattle-fish might use tofreeze his prey. Cattle--fish! The word kept running over my tongue. I thought of the snaky arms that had already caught Mr. Marmaduke, andwere soon, perhaps, to entangle Dorothy. She had begged me not to ride, and I was risking a life which might save hers. 

The wind rushing in my ears and beating against my face awoke me all atonce. The trees ran madly past, and the water at my right was a silverblur. The beast beneath me snorted as he rose and fell. Fainter andfainter dropped the clamour behind me, which had risen as I started, and the leaps grew longer and longer. Then my head was cleared like asteamed window-pane in a cold blast. I saw the road curve in front ofme, I put all my strength into the curb, and heeling at a fearful anglewas swept into the busy Kensington Road. For the first time I knew whatit was to fear a horse. The stallion's neck was stretched, his shoesrang on the cobbles, and my eyes were fixed on a narrow space betweencarriages coming together. In a flash I understood why the duke hadinsisted upon Hyde Park, and that nerved me some. I saw the frightenedcoachmen pulling their horses this way and that, I heard the cries ofthe foot-passengers, and then I was through, I know not how. Once moreI summoned all my power, recalled the twist Astley had spoken of, andtried it. I bent his neck for an inch of rein. Next I got another inch, and then came a taste--the smallest taste--of mastery like elixir. Themotion changed with it, became rougher, and the hoof-beats a fractionless frequent. He steered like a ship with sail reduced. In and out wedodged among the wagons, and I was beginning to think I had him, whensuddenly, without a move of warning, he came down rigid with his feetplanted together, and only a miracle and my tight grip restrained mefrom shooting over his head. There he stood shaking and snorting, norany persuasion would move him. I resorted at last to the spurs. 

He was up in the air in an instant, and came down across the road. AgainI dug in to the rowels, and clung the tighter, and this time he landedwith his head to London. A little knot of people had collected to watchme, and out stepped a strapping fellow in the King's scarlet, from theGuard's Horse near by. 

"Hold him, sir!" he said, tipping. "Better dismount, sir. He meansmurder, y'r honour. "

"Keep clear, curse you!" I cried, waving him off. "What time is it?"

He stepped back, no doubt thinking me mad. Some one spoke up and said itwas five minutes past noon. I had the grace to thank him, I believe. To my astonishment I had been gone but four minutes; they had seemedtwenty. Looking about me, I found I was in the open space before oldKensington Church, over against the archway there. Once more I dug inthe spurs, this time with success. Almost at a jump the beast took meinto the angle of posts to the east of the churchyard gate and tore upthe footpath of Church Lane, terrified men and women ahead of me takingto the kennel. He ran irregularly, now on the side of the posts, nowagainst the bricks, and then I gave myself up. 

Heaven put a last expedient into my head, that I had once heard Mr. Dulany speak of. I braced myself for a pull that should have broken thestallion's jaw and released his mouth altogether. Incredible as it mayseem, he jarred into a trot, and presently came down to a walk, tossinghis head like fury, and sweating at every pore. I leaned over and pattedhim, speaking him fair, and (marvel of marvels!) when we had got to thedogs that guard the entrance of Camden House I had coaxed him around andinto the street, and cantered back at easy speed to the church. Withoutpausing to speak to the bunch that stood at the throat of the lane, Istarted toward London, thankfulness and relief swelling within me. Iunderstood the beast, and spoke to him when he danced aside at a wagonwith bells or a rattling load of coals, and checked him with a word anda light hand. 

Before I gained the Life Guard's House I met a dozen horsemen, amongstthem Banks on a mount of Mr. Fox's. They shouted when they saw me, Colonel St. John calling out that he had won another hundred that Iwas not dead. Sir John Brooke puffed and swore he did not begrudge hislosses to see me safe, despite Captain Lewis's sourness. Storey vowedhe would give a dinner in my honour, and, riding up beside me, whisperedthat he was damned sorry the horse was now broken, and his Grace'schance of being killed taken away. And thus escorted, I came in by theKing's New Road to avoid the people running in the Row, and so down toHyde Park Corner, and in among the chaises and the phaetons, where therewas enough cheering and waving of hats and handkerchiefs to please themost exacting of successful generals. I rode up to my Lord March, andfinding there was a minute yet to run I went up the Row a distance andback again amidst more huzzaing, Pollux prancing and quivering, andfrothing his bit, but never once attempting to break. 

When I had got down, they pressed around me until I could scarcebreathe, crying congratulations, Comyn embracing me openly. Mr. Foxvowed he had never seen so fine a sight, and said many impolitic thingswhich the duke must have overheard. .. . Lady Carlisle sent me a red rosefor my buttonhole by his Lordship. Mr. Warner, the lively parson with myLord March, desired to press my hand, declaring that he had won a dozenof port upon me, which he had set his best cassock against. My LordSandwich offered me snuff, and invited me to Hichinbroke. Indeed, Ishould never be through were I to continue. But I must not forget my oldacquaintance Mr. Walpole, who protested that he must get permission topresent me to Princess Amelia: that her Royal Highness would not restcontent now, until she had seen me. I did not then know her Highness'ssporting propensity. 

Then my Lord March called upon the duke, who stood in the midst ofan army of his toadeaters. I almost pitied him then, tho' I could notaccount for the feeling. I think it was because a nobleman with so greata title should be so cordially hated and despised. There were high wordsalong the railing among the duke's supporters, Captain Lewis, in hisanger, going above an inference that the stallion had been brokenprivately. Chartersea came forward with an indifferent swagger, as if tosay as much: and, in truth, no one looked for more sport, and somewere even turning away. He had scarce put foot to the stirrup, whenthe surprise came. Two minutes were up before he was got in the saddle, Pollux rearing and plunging and dancing in a circle, the grooms shoutingand dodging, and his Grace cursing in a voice to wake the dead and Mr. Fox laughing, and making small wagers that he would never be mounted. But at last the duke was up and gripped, his face bloody red, givingvent to his fury with the spurs. 

Then something happened, and so quickly that it cannot be writ fastenough. Pollux bolted like a shot out of a sling, vaulted the railing aseasily as you or I would hop over a stick, and galloping across the lawnand down the embankment flung his Grace into the Serpentine. Precisely, as Mr. Fox afterwards remarked, as the swine with the evil spirits randown the slope into the sea. 

An indescribable bedlam of confusion followed, lords and gentlemen, tradesmen and grooms, hostlers and apprentices, all tumbling after, manycrying with laughter. My Lord Sandwich's jockey pulled his Grace fromthe water in a most pitiable state of rage and humiliation. His sidecurls gone, the powder and pomatum washed from his hair, bedraggled andmuddy and sputtering oaths, he made his way to Lord March, swearing byall divine that a trick was put on him, that he would ride the stallionto Land's End. His Lordship, pulling his face straight, gravely informedthe duke that the match was over. With this his Grace fell flatlysullen, was pushed into a coach by Sir John and the captain, and droverapidly off Kensington way, to avoid the people at the corner. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. IN WHICH I AM ROUNDLY BROUGHT TO TASK

I would have gone to Arlington Street direct, but my friends had nonotion of letting me escape. They carried me off to Brooks's Club, wherea bowl of punch was brewed directly, and my health was drunk to threetimes three. Mr. Storer commanded a turtle dinner in my honour. We werenot many, fortunately, --only Mr. Fox's little coterie. And it was noneother than Mr. Fox who made the speech of the evening. "May I be strungas high as Haman, " said he, amid a tempest of laughter, "if ever I sawhalf so edifying a sight as his Grace pitching into the Serpentine, unless it were his Grace dragged out again. Mr. Carvel's advent has beena Godsend to us narrow ignoramuses of this island, gentlemen. To theEnglishmen of our colonies, sirs, and that we may never underrate ormisunderstand them more!"

"Nay, Charles, " cried my Lord Comyn. "Where is our gallantry? I give youfirst the Englishwomen of our colonies, and in particular the pride ofMaryland, who has brought back to the old country all the graces of thenew, --Miss Manners. "

His voice was drowned by a deafening shout, and we charged our glassesto drain them brimming. And then we all went to Drury Lane to see Mrs. Clive romp through 'The Wonder' in the spirit of the "immortal Peg. " Shespoke an epilogue that Mr. Walpole had writ especial for her, andmade some witty and sarcastic remarks directed at the gentlemen in ourstagebox. We topped off a very full day by a supper at the Bedford Arms, where I must draw the certain. 

The next morning I was abed at an hour which the sobriety of old agemakes me blush abed think of. Banks had just concluded a discreetdiscourse upon my accomplishment of the day before, and had left formy newspapers, when he came running back with the information that MissManners would see my honour that day. There was no note. Between uswe made my toilet in a jiffy, and presently I was walking in at theManners's door in an amazing hurry, and scarcely waited for a direction. But as I ran up the stairs, I heard the tinkle of the spinet, and thenotes of an old, familiar tune fell upon my ears. The words rose in myhead with the cadence. 

 "Love me little, love me long, Is the burthen of my song, Love that is too hot and strong Runneth soon to waste. "

That simple air, already mellowed by an hundred years, had always beenher favourite. She used to sing it softly to herself as we roamed thewoods and fields of the Eastern Shore. Instinctively I paused at thedressing-room door. Nay, my dears, you need not cry out, such was thecustom of the times. A dainty bower it was, filled with the perfume offlowers, and rosy cupids disporting on the ceiling; and china and silverand gold filigree strewn about, with my tea-cups on the table. Thesunlight fell like a halo round Dorothy's head, her hands strayed overthe keys, and her eyes were far away. She had not heard me. I rememberher dress, --a silk with blue cornflowers on a light ground, and theflimsiest of lace caps resting on her hair. I thought her face paler;but beyond that she did not show her illness. 

She looked up, and perceived me, I thought, with a start. "So it isyou!" she said demurely enough; "you are come at last to give an accountof yourself. "

"Are you better, Dorothy?" I asked earnestly. 

"Why should you think that I have been ill?" she replied, her fingersgoing back to the spinet. "It is a mistake, sir. Dr. James has givenme near a gross of his infamous powders, and is now exploiting anothercure. I have been resting from the fatigues of London, while you havebeen wearing yourself out. "

"Dr. James himself told me your condition was serious, " I said. 

"Of course, " said she; "the worse the disease, the more remarkable thecure, the more sought after the physician. When will you get over yourprovincial simplicity?"

I saw there was nothing to be got out of her while in this bafflinghumour. I wondered what devil impelled a woman to write one way and talkanother. In her note to me she had confessed her illness. The wordsI had formed to say to her were tied on my tongue. But on the whole Icongratulated myself. She knew how to step better than I, and there weremany awkward things between us of late best not spoken of. But she keptme standing an unconscionable time without a word, which on the wholewas cruelty, while she played over some of Dibdin's ballads. 

"Are you in a hurry, sir, " she asked at length, turning on me witha smile, "are you in a hurry to join my Lord March or his Grace ofGrafton? And have you writ Captain Clapsaddle and your Whig friends athome of your new intimacies, of Mr. Fox and my Lord Sandwich?"

I was dumb. 

"Yes, you must be wishing to get away, " she continued cruelly, pickingup the newspaper. "I had forgotten this notice. When I saw it thismorning I thought of you, and despaired of a glimpse of you to-day. "(Reading. ) "At the Three Hats, Islington, this day, the 10th of May, will be played a grand match at that ancient and much renowned manlydiversion called Double Stick by a sect of chosen young men at thatexercise from different parts of the West Country, for two guineas givenfree; those who break the most heads to bear away the prize. Before theabove-mentioned diversion begins, Mr. Sampson and his young German willdisplay alternately on one, two, and three horses, various surprisingand curious feats of famous horsemanship in like manner as at the GrandJubilee at Stratford-upon-Avon. Admittance one shilling each person. 'Before you leave, Mr. Richard, " she continued, with her eyes still onthe sheet, "I should like to talk over one or two little matters. "

"Dolly--!"

"Will you sit, sir?"

I sat down uneasily, expecting the worst. She disappointed me, as usual. 

"What an unspeakable place must you keep in Dover Street! I cannot sendeven a footman there but what he comes back reeling. "

I had to laugh at this. But there was no smile out of my lady. 

"It took me near an hour and a half to answer your note, " I replied. 

"And 'twas a masterpiece!" exclaimed Dolly, with withering sarcasm;"oh, a most amazing masterpiece, I'll be bound! His worship the FrenchAmbassador is a kitten at diplomacy beside you, sir. An hour and a half, did you say, sir? Gemini, the Secretary of State and his whole corpscould not have composed the like in a day. "

"Faith!" I cried, with feeling enough; "and if that is diplomacy, Iwould rather make leather breeches than be given an embassy. "

She fixed her eyes upon me so disconcertingly that mine fell. 

"There was a time, " she said, with a change of tone, "there was a timewhen a request of mine, and it were not granted outright, would havereceived some attention. This is my first experience at being ignored. "

"I had made a wager, " said I, "and could not retract with honour. "

"So you had made a wager! Now we are to have some news at last. Howstupid of you, Richard, not to tell me before. I confess I wonder whatthese wits find in your company. Here am I who have seen naught but dullwomen for a fortnight, and you have failed to say anything amusing in aquarter of an hour. Let us hear about the wager. "

"Where is little to tell, " I answered shortly, considerably piqued. "Ibet your friend, the Duke of Chartersea, some hundreds of pounds I couldride Lord Baltimore's Pollux for twenty minutes, after which his Gracewas to get on and ride twenty more. "

"Where did you see the duke?" Dolly interrupted, without much show ofinterest. 

I explained how we had met him at Brooks's, and had gone to his house. 

"You went to his house?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows a trifle;"and Comyn and Mr. Fox? And pray, how did this pretty subject come up?"

I related, very badly, I fear, Fox's story of young Wrottlesey and thetea-merchant's daughter. And what does my lady do but get up and turnher back, arranging some pinks in the window. I could have sworn she waslaughing, had I not known better. 

"Well?"

"Well, that was a reference to a little pleasantry Mr. Fox had put upon him some time before. His Grace flared, but tried not to show it. Hesaid he had heard I could do something with a horse (I believe he madeit up), and Comyn gave oath that I could; and then he offered to betComyn that I could not ride this Pollux, who had killed his groom. That made me angry, and I told the duke I was no jockey to be put up todecide wagers, and that he must make his offers to me. "

"La!" said Dolly, "you fell in head over heels. "

"What do you mean by that?" I demanded. 

"Nothing, " said she, biting her lip. "Come, you are as ponderous as Dr. Johnson. "

"Then Mr. Fox proposed that his Grace should ride after me. "

Here Dolly laughed in her handkerchief. 

"I'll be bound, " said she. 

"Then the duke went to York, " I continued hurriedly; and when he cameback we met him at the Star and Garter. He insisted that the matchshould come off in Hyde Park. I should have preferred the open roadsnorth of Bedford House. "

"Where there is no Serpentine, " she interrupted, with the faintestsuspicion of a twinkle about her eyes. "On, sir, on! You are asreluctant as our pump at Wilmot House in the dry season. I see you werenot killed, as you richly deserved. Let us have the rest of your tale. "

"There is very little more to it, save that I contrived to master thebeast, and his Grace--"

"--Was disgraced. A vastly fine achievement, surely. But where are youto stop? You will be shaming the King next by outwalking him. Pray, howdid the duke appear as he was going into the Serpentine?"

"You have heard?" I exclaimed, the trick she had played me dawning uponme. 

"Upon my word, Richard, you are more of a simpleton than I thought you. Have you not seen your newspaper this morning?"

I explained how it was that I had not. She took up the Chronicle. 

"'This Mr. Carvel has made no inconsiderable noise since his arrivalin town, and yesterday crowned his performances by defeating publiclya noble duke at a riding match in Hyde Park, before half the quality ofthe kingdom. His Lordship of March and Ruglen acted as umpire. ' There, sir, was I not right to beg Sir John Fielding to put you in safe keepinguntil your grandfather can send for you?"

I made to seize the paper, but she held it from me. 

"'If Mr. Carvel remains long enough in England, he bids fair to sharethe talk of Mayfair with a certain honourable young gentleman ofBrooks's and the Admiralty, whose debts and doings now furnish mostof the gossip for the clubs and the card tables. Their names are bothconnected with this contest. 'Tis whispered that the wager upon whichthe match was ridden arose--'" here Dolly stopped shortly, her colourmounting, and cried out with a stamp of her foot. "You are not contentto bring publicity upon yourself, who deserve it, but must needs draginnocent names into the newspapers. "

"What have they said?" I demanded, ready to roll every printer in Londonin the kennel. 

"Nay, you may read for yourself, " said she. And, flinging the paper inmy lap, left the room. 

They had not said much more, Heaven be praised. But I was angry andmortified as I had never been before, realizing for the first timewhat a botch I had made of my stay in London. In great dejection, I waspicking up my hat to leave the house, when Mrs. Manners came in uponme, and insisted that I should stay for dinner. She was very white, andseemed troubled and preoccupied, and said that Mr. Manners had come backfrom York with a cold on his chest, but would insist upon joining theparty to Vauxhall on Monday. I asked her when she was going to thebaths, and suggested that the change would do her good. Indeed, shelooked badly. 

"We are not going, Richard, " she replied; "Dorothy will not hear ofit. In spite of the doctor she says she is not ill, and must attend atVauxhall, too. You are asked?"

I said that Mr. Storer had included me. I am sure, from the way shelooked at me, that she did not heed my answer. She appeared to hesitateon the verge of a speech, and glanced once or twice at the doors. 

"Richard, I suppose you are old enough to take care of yourself, tho'you seem still a child to me. I pray you will be careful, my boy, " shesaid, with something of the affection she had always borne me, "for yourgrandfather's sake, I pray you will run into no more danger. I--we areyour old friends, and the only ones here to advise you. "

She stopped, seemingly, to weigh the wisdom of what was to come next, while I leaned forward with an eagerness I could not hide. Was she tospeak of the Duke of Chartersea? Alas, I was not to know. For at thatmoment Dorothy came back to inquire why I was not gone to the cudgellingat the Three Hats. I said I had been invited to stay to dinner. 

"Why, I have writ a note asking Comyn, " said she. "Do you think thehouse will hold you both?"

His Lordship came in as we were sitting down, bursting with some news, and he could hardly wait to congratulate Dolly on her recovery before hedelivered it. 

"Why, Richard, " says the dog, "what do you think some wag has done now?They believe at Brooks's 'twas that jackanapes of a parson, Dr. Warner, who was there yesterday with March. " He drew a clipping from his pocket. "Listen, Miss Dolly:

 "On Wednesday did a carter see His Grace, the Duke of Ch-rt--s-a, As plump and helpless as a bag, A-straddle of a big-boned nag. "Lord, Sam!" the carter loudly yelled, On by this wondrous sight impelled, "We'll run and watch this noble gander Master a steed, like Alexander. " But, when the carter reached the Row, His Grace had left it, long ago. Bucephalus had leaped the green, The duke was in the Serpentine. The fervent wish of all good men That he may ne'er come out again!'"

Comyn's impudence took my breath, tho' the experiment interested me nota little. My lady was pleased to laugh at the doggerel, and even Mrs. Manners. Its effect upon Mr. Marmaduke was not so spontaneous. His smilewas half-hearted. Indeed, the little gentleman seemed to have lost hisspirits, and said so little (for him), that I was encouraged to cornerhim that very evening and force him to a confession. But I might haveknown he was not to be caught. It appeared almost as if he guessed mypurpose, for as soon as ever the claret was come on, he excused himself, saying he was promised to Lady Harrington, who wanted one. 

Comyn and I departed early on account of Dorothy. She had denied a dozenwho had left cards upon her. 

"Egad, Richard, " said my Lord, when we had got to my lodgings, "I madehim change colour, did I not? Do you know how the little fool looks tome? 'Od's life, he looks hunted, and cursed near brought to earth. We must fetch this thing to a point, Richard. And I am wondering whatChartersea's next move will be, " he added thoughtfully. 

CHAPTER XXXIX. HOLLAND HOUSE

On the morrow, as I was setting out to dine at Brooks's, I received thefollowing on a torn slip of paper: "Dear Richard, we shall have a goodshow to-day you may care to see. " It was signed "Fox, " and dated atSt. Stephen's. I lost no time in riding to Westminster, where I found aflock of excited people in Parliament Street and in the Palace Yard. Andon climbing the wide stone steps outside and a narrower flight within Iwas admitted directly into the august presence of the representatives ofthe English people. They were in a most prodigious and unseemly state ofuproar. 

What a place is old St. Stephen's Chapel, over St. Mary's in the Vaults, for the great Commons of England to gather! It is scarce larger or moreimposing than our own assembly room in the Stadt House in Annapolis. St. Stephen's measures but ten yards by thirty, with a narrow galleryrunning along each side for visitors. In one of these, by the rail, Isat down suffocated, bewildered, and deafened. And my first impressionout of the confusion was of the bewigged speaker enthroned under theroyal arms, sore put to restore order. On the table in front of him laythe great mace of the Restoration. Three chandeliers threw down theirlight upon the mob of honourable members, and I wondered what had putthem into this state of uproar. 

Presently, with the help of a kind stranger on my right, who wasoccasionally making shorthand notes, I got a few bearings. That was theTreasury Bench, where Lord North sat (he was wide awake, now). And therewas the Government side. He pointed out Barrington and Weymouth andJerry Dyson and Sandwich, and Rigby in the court suit of purple velvetwith the sword thrust through the pocket. I took them all in, as some ofthe worst enemies my country had in Britain. Then my informant seemedto hesitate, and made bold to ask my persuasion. When I told him I was aWhig, and an American, he begged the favour of my hand. 

"There, sir, " he cried excitedly, "that stout young gentleman with theblack face and eyebrows, and the blacker heart, I may say, --the onedressed in the fantastical costume called by a French name, --is Mr. Charles Fox. He has been sent by the devil himself, I believe, to ruinthis country. 'Ods, sir, that devil Lord Holland begot him. He is butone and twenty, but his detestable arts have saved North's neck fromBurke and Wedderburn on two occasions this year. "

"And what has happened to-day?" I asked, smiling. 

The stranger smiled, too. 

"Why, sir, " he answered, raising his voice above the noise; "if you havebeen in London any length of time, you will have read the account, withcomment, of the Duke of Grafton's speech in the Lords, signed Domitian. Their Lordships well know it should have been over a greater signature. This afternoon his Grace of Manchester was talking in the Upper Houseabout the Spanish troubles, when Lord Gower arose and desired that theplace might be cleared of strangers, lest some Castilian spy might lurkunder the gallery. That was directed against us of the press, sir, andtheir Lordships knew it. 'Ad's heart, sir, there was a riot, the houseservants tumbling everybody out, and Mr. Burke and Mr. Dunning in theboot, who were gone there on the business of this house to present abill. Those gentlemen are but just back, calling upon the commonsto revenge them and vindicate their honour. And my Lord North lookstroubled, as you will mark, for the matter is like to go hard againsthis Majesty's friends. But hush, Mr. Burke is to speak. "

The horse fell quiet to listen, and my friend began to ply his shorthandindustriously. I leaned forward with a sharp curiosity to see this greatfriend of America. He was dressed in a well-worn suit of brown, andI recall a decided Irish face, and a more decided Irish accent, whichpresently I forgot under the spell of his eloquence. I have heard itsaid he had many defects of delivery. He had none that day, or else Iwas too little experienced to note them. Afire with indignation, he toldhow the deputy black rod had hustled him like a vagabond or a thief, andhe called the House of Lords a bear garden. He was followed by Dunning, in a still more inflammatory mood, until it seemed as if all the King'sfriends in the Lower House must desert their confederates in theUpper. No less important a retainer than Mr. Onslow moved a policy ofretaliation, and those that were left began to act like the Egyptianswhen they felt the Red Sea under them. They nodded and whispered intheir consternation. 

It was then that Mr. Fox got calmly up before the pack of frightenedmercenaries and argued (God save the mark!) for moderation. He had theear of the house in a second, and he spoke with all the confidence--thisyoungster who had just reached his majority--he had used with me beforehis intimates. I gaped with astonishment and admiration. The Lords, saidhe, had plainly meant no insult to this honourable house, nor yet tothe honourable members. They had aimed at the common enemies of man, theprinters. And for this their heat was more than pardonable. My friend atmy side stopped his writing to swear under his breath. "Look at 'em!"he cried; "they are turning already. He could argue Swedenborg intopopery!"

The deserters were coming back to the ranks, indeed, and North and Dysonand Weymouth had ceased to look haggard, and were wreathed in smiles. Invain did Mr. Burke harangue them in polished phrase. It was a languageNorth and Company did not understand, and cared not to learn. Theiryoung champion spoke the more worldly and cynical tongue of White's andBrooks's, with its shorter sentences and absence of formality. And evenas the devil can quote Scripture to his purpose, Mr. Fox quoted historyand the classics, with plenty more that was not above the heads of thebooted and spurred country squires. And thus, for the third time, heearned the gratitude of his gracious Majesty. 

"Well, Richard, " said he, slipping his arm through mine as we came outinto Parliament Street, "I promised you some sport. Have you enjoyedit?"

I was forced to admit that I had. 

"Let us to the 'Thatched House, ' and have supper privately, " hesuggested. "I do not feel like a company to-night. " We walked on forsome time in silence. Presently he said:

"You must not leave us, Richard. You may go home to see your grandfatherdie, and when you come back I will see about getting you a littleborough for what my father paid for mine. And you shall marry Dorothy, and perchance return in ten years as governor of a principality. Thatis, after we've ruined you at the club. How does that prospect sit?"

I wondered at the mood he was in, that made him choose me rather thanthe adulation and applause he was sure to receive at Brooks's for thepart he had played that night. After we had satisfied our hunger, --forneither of us had dined, --and poured out a bottle of claret, he lookedup at me quizzically. 

"I have not heard you congratulate me, " he said. 

"Nor will you, " I replied, laughing. 

"I like you the better for it, Richard. 'Twas a damned poor performance, and that's truth. "

"I thought the performance remarkable, " I said honestly. 

"Oh, but it was not, " he answered scornfully. "The moment thatdun-coloured Irishman gets up, the whole government pack begins to whineand shiver. There are men I went to school with I fear more than Burke. But you don't like to see the champion of America come off second best. Is that what you're thinking?"

"No. But I was wondering why you have devoted your talents to thedevil, " I said, amazed at my boldness. 

He glanced at me, and half laughed again. 

"You are cursed frank, " said he; "damned frank. "

"But you invited it. "

"Yes, " he replied, "so I did. Give me a man who is honest. Fill upagain, " said he; "and spit out all you would like to say, Richard. "

"Then, " said I, "why do you waste your time and your breath in defendinga crew of political brigands and placemen, and a king who knows not themeaning of the word gratitude, and who has no use for a man of ability?You have honoured me with your friendship, Charles Fox, and I may takethe liberty to add that you seem to love power more than spoils. Youhave originality. You are honest enough to think and act upon your ownimpulses. And pardon me if I say you have very little chance on thatside of the house where you have put yourself. "

"You seem to have picked up a trifle since you came into England, " hesaid. "A damned shrewd estimate, I'll be sworn. And for a colonial! But, as for power, " he added a little doggedly, "I have it in plenty, andthe kind I like. The King and North hate and fear me already more thanWilkes. "

"And with more cause, " I replied warmly. "His Majesty perhaps knowsthat you understand him better, and foresees the time when a man of yourcharacter will give him cause to fear indeed. "

He did not answer that, but called for a reckoning; and taking my armagain, we walked out past the sleeping houses. 

"Have you ever thought much of the men we have in the colonies?" Iasked. 

"No, " he replied; "Chatham stands for 'em, and I hate Chatham on myfather's account. That is reason enough for me. "

"You should come back to America with me, " I said. "And when you hadrested awhile at Carvel Hall, I would ride with you through the lengthof the provinces from Massachusetts to North Carolina. You will seelittle besides hard-working, self-respecting Englishmen, loyal to a kingwho deserves loyalty as little as Louis of France. But with their eyesopen, and despite the course he has taken. They are men whose measure ofresolution is not guessed at. "

He was silent again until we had got into Piccadilly and opposite hislodgings. 

"Are they all like you?" he demanded. 

"Who?" said I. For I had forgotten my words. 

"The Americans. "

"The greater part feel as I do. "

"I suppose you are for bed, " he remarked abruptly. 

"The night is not yet begun, " I answered, repeating his favourite words, and pointing at the glint of the sun on the windows. 

"What do you say to a drive behind those chestnuts of mine, for a breathof air? I have just got my new cabriolet Selwyn ordered in Paris. "

Soon we were rattling over the stones in Piccadilly, wrapped ingreatcoats, for the morning wind was cold. We saw the Earl of March andRuglen getting out of a chair before his house, opposite the Green Park, and he stopped swearing at the chairmen to wave at us. 

"Hello, March!" Mr. Fox said affably, "you're drunk. "

His Lordship smiled, bowed graciously if unsteadily to me, and did notappear to resent the pleasantry. Then he sighed. 

"What a pair of cubs it is, " said he; "I wish to God I was young again. I hear you astonished the world again last night, Charles. "

We left him being assisted into his residence by a sleepy footman, paidour toll at Hyde Park Corner, and rolled onward toward Kensington, Fox laughing as we passed the empty park at the thought of what had solately occurred there. After the close night of St. Stephen's, natureseemed doubly beautiful. The sun slanted over the water in the gardensin bars of green and gold. The bright new leaves were on the trees, andthe morning dew had brought with it the smell of the living earth. Wepassed the stream of market wagons lumbering along, pulled by sturdy, patient farm-horses, driven by smocked countrymen, who touched theircaps to the fine gentlemen of the court end of town; who shook theirheads and exchanged deep tones over the whims of quality, unaccountableas the weather. But one big-chested fellow arrested his salute, a scowlcame over his face, and he shouted back to the wagoner whose horses weremunching his hay:

"Hi, Jeems, keep down yere hands. Mr. Fox is noo friend of we. "

This brought a hard smile on Mr. Fox's face. 

"I believe, Richard, " he said, "I have become more detested than any manin Parliament. "

"And justly, " I replied; "for you have fought all that is good in you. "

"I was mobbed once, in Parliament Street. I thought they would kill me. Have you ever been mobbed, Richard?" he asked indifferently. 

"Never, I thank Heaven, " I answered fervently. 

"I think I would rather be mobbed than indulge in any amusement I knowof, " he continued. "Than confound Wedderburn, or drive a measure againstBurke, --which is no bad sport, my word on't. I would rather be mobbedthan have my horse win at Newmarket. There is a keen pleasure you wotnot of, my lad, in listening to Billingsgate and Spitalfields howlmaledictions upon you. And no sensation I know of is equal to that ofthe moment when the mud and sticks and oranges are coming through thewindows of your coach, when the dirty weavers are clutching at yourruffles and shaking their filthy fists under your nose. "

"It is, at any rate, strictly an aristocratic pleasure, " I assented, laughing. 

So we came to Holland House. Its wide fields of sprouting corn, itswoods and pastures and orchards in blossom, were smiling that morning, as though Leviathan, the town, were not rolling onward to swallowthem. Lord Holland had bought the place from the Warwicks, with allits associations and memories. The capped towers and quaint facades andprojecting windows were plain to be seen from where we halted in theshaded park, and to the south was that Kensington Road we had left, overwhich all the glory and royalty of England at one time or another hadrolled. Under these majestic oaks and cedars Cromwell and Ireton hadstood while the beaten Royalists lashed their horses on to Brentford. Nor did I forget that the renowned Addison had lived here after hisunhappy marriage with Lady Warwick, and had often ridden hence toButton's Coffee House in town, where my grandfather had had his dinnerwith Dean Swift. 

We sat gazing at the building, which was bathed in the early sun, at thedeer and sheep grazing in the park, at the changing colours of the youngleaves as the breeze swayed them. The market wagons had almost ceasednow, and there was little to break the stillness. 

"You love the place?" I said. 

He started, as though I had awakened him out of a sleep. And he was nolonger the Fox of the clubs, the cynical, the reckless. He was no longerthe best-dressed man in St. James's Street, or the aggressive youngsterof St. Stephen's. 

"Love it!" he cried. "Ay, Richard, and few guess how well. You will notlaugh when I tell you that my happiest days have been passed here, whenI was but a chit, in the long room where Addison used to walk up anddown composing his Spectators: or trotting after my father through thesewoods and gardens. A kinder parent does not breathe than he. WellI remember how he tossed me in his arms under that tree when I hadthrashed another lad for speaking ill of him. He called me his knight. In all my life he has never broken faith with me. When they wereblasting down a wall where those palings now stand, he promised me Ishould see it done, and had it rebuilt and blown down again because Ihad missed the sight. All he ever exacted of me was that I should treathim as an elder brother. He had his own notion of the world I was goinginto, and prepared me accordingly. He took me from Eton to Spa, where Ilearned gaming instead of Greek, and gave me so much a night to risk atplay. "

I looked at him in astonishment. To say that I thought these relationsstrange would have been a waste of words. 

"To be sure, " Charles continued, "I was bound to learn, and couldacquire no younger. " He flicked the glossy red backs of his horses withhis whip. "You are thinking it an extraordinary education, I know, " headded rather sadly. "I hav a-told you this--God knows why! Yes, becauseI like you damnably, and you would have heard worse elsewhere, both ofhim and of me. I fear you have listened to the world's opinion of LordHolland. "

Indeed, I had heard a deal of that nobleman's peculations of the publicfunds. But in this he was no worse than the bulk of his colleagues. Hisdesertion of William Pitt I found hard to forgive. 

"The best father in the world, Richard!" cried Charles. "If his formerfriends could but look into his kind heart, and see him in his home, they would not have turned their backs upon him. I do not mean suchscoundrels as Rigby. And now my father is in exile half the year inNice, and the other half at King's Gate. The King and Jack Bute usedhim for a tool, and then cast him out. You wonder why I am of the King'sparty?" said he, with something sinister in his smile; "I will tell you. When I got my borough I cared not a fig for parties or principles. Ihad only the one definite ambition, to revenge Lord Holland. Nay, " heexclaimed, stopping my protest, "I was not too young to know rottennessas well as another. The times are rotten in England. You may have virtuein America, amongst a people which is fresh from a struggle with theearth and its savages. We have cursed little at home, in faith. TheKing, with his barley water and rising at six, and shivering in chapel, and his middle-class table, is rottener than the rest. The money hesaves in his damned beggarly court goes to buy men's souls. His word isgood with none. For my part I prefer a man who is drunk six days out ofthe seven to one who takes his pleasure so. And I am not so great a foolthat I cannot distinguish justice from injustice. I know the wrongs ofthe colonies, which you yourself have put as clear as I wish to hear, despite Mr. Burke and his eloquence. 

 [My grandfather has made a note here, which in justice should be added, that he was not deceived by Mr. Fox's partiality. --D. C. C. ]

And perhaps, Richard, " he concluded, with a last lingering look at theold pile as he turned his horses, "perhaps some day, I shall rememberwhat you told us at Brooks's. "

It was thus, boyishly, that Mr. Fox chose to take me into hisconfidence, an honour which I shall remember with a thrill to my dyingday. So did he reveal to me the impulses of his early life, hiddenforever from his detractors. How little does the censure of this worldcount, which cannot see the heart behind the embroidered waistcoat! WhenCharles Fox began his career he was a thoughtless lad, but steadfast tosuch principles as he had formed for himself. They were not many, but, compared to those of the arena which he entered, they were noble. Hestrove to serve his friends, to lift the name of a father from whom hehad received nothing but kindness, however misguided. And when he saw atlength the error of his ways, what a mighty blow did he strike for theright!

"Here is a man, " said Dr. Johnson, many years afterwards, "who hasdivided his kingdom with Caesar; so that it was a doubt whether thenation should be ruled by the sceptre of George the Third or the tongueof Fox. "

CHAPTER XL. VAUXHALL

Matters had come to a pretty pickle indeed. I was openly warned atBrooks's and elsewhere to beware of the duke, who was said upon variousauthority to be sulking in Hanover Square, his rage all the moredangerous because it was smouldering. I saw Dolly only casually beforethe party to Vauxhall. Needless to say, she flew in the face of Dr. James's authority, and went everywhere. She was at Lady Bunbury's drum, whither I had gone in another fruitless chase after Mr. Marmaduke. Dr. Warner's verse was the laughter of the company. And, greatly to myannoyance, --in the circumstances, --I was made a hero of, and showeredwith three times as many invitations as I could accept. 

The whole story got abroad, even to the awakening of the duke in CoventGarden. And that clownish Mr. Foote, of the Haymarket, had added somelines to a silly popular song entitled 'The Sights o' Lunnun', withwhich I was hailed at Mrs. Betty's fruit-stall in St. James's Street. Here is one of the verses:

 "In Maryland, he hunts the Fox From dewy Morn till Day grows dim; At Home he finds a Paradox, From Noon till Dawn the Fox hunts him. "

Charles Fox laughed when he heard it. But he was serious when he came tospeak of Chartersea, and bade me look out for assassination. I had Banksfollow me abroad at night with a brace of pistols under his coat, albeitI feared nothing save that I should not have an opportunity to meet theduke in a fair fight. And I resolved at all hazards to run Mr. Marmadukedown with despatch, if I had to waylay him. 

Mr. Storer, who was forever giving parties, was responsible for thisone at Vauxhall. We went in three coaches, and besides Dorothy and Mr. Marmaduke, the company included Lord and Lady Carlisle, Sir Charles andLady Sarah Bunbury, Lady Ossory and Lady Julia Howard, two Miss Stanleysand Miss Poole, and Comyn, and Hare, and Price, and Fitzpatrick, thelatter feeling very glum over a sum he had dropped that afternoon toLord Harrington. Fox had been called to St. Stephen's on more printer'sbusiness. 

Dolly was in glowing pink, as I loved best to see her, and lookeddivine. Comyn and I were in Mr. Manners's coach. The evening wasfine and warm, and my lady in very lively spirits. As we rattled overWestminster Bridge, the music of the Vauxhall band came "throbbingthrough the still night, " and the sky was bright with the reflectionof the lights. It was the fashion with the quality to go late; andso eleven o'clock had struck before we had pulled up between Vauxhallstairs, crowded with watermen and rough mudlarks, and the veryordinary-looking house which forms the entrance of the great garden. Leaving the servants outside, single-file we trailed through the darkpassage guarded by the wicketgate. 

"Prepare to be ravished, Richard, " said my lady, with fine sarcasm. 

"You were yourself born in the colonies, miss, " I retorted. "I confessto a thrill, and will not pretend that I have seen such sights oftenenough to be sated. "

"La!" exclaimed Lady Sarah, who had overheard; "I vow this isrefreshing. Behold a new heaven and a new earth, Mr. Carvel?"

Indeed, much to the amusement of the company, I took no pains to hide myenthusiasm at the brilliancy of the scene which burst upon me. A greatorchestra rose in the midst of a stately grove lined on all four sideswith supper-boxes of brave colours, which ran in straight tiers orswept around in circles. These were filled with people of all sorts andconditions, supping and making merry. Other people were sauntering underthe trees, keeping step with the music. Lamps of white and blue and redand green hung like luminous fruit from the branches, or clustered instars and crescents upon the buildings. 

"Why, Richard, you are as bad as Farmer Colin. "

 "'O Patty! Soft in feature, I've been at dear Vauxhall; No paradise is sweeter, Not that they Eden call. '"

whispered Dolly, paraphrasing. 

At that instant came hurrying Mr. Tom Tyers, who was one of thebrothers, proprietors of the gardens. He was a very lively young fellowwho seemed to know everybody, and he desired to know if we would walkabout a little before being shown to the boxes reserved for us. 

"They are on the right side, Mr. Tyers?" demanded Mr. Storer. 

"Oh, to be sure, sir. Your man was most particular to stipulate the pinkand blue flowered brocades, next the Prince of Wales's. "

"But you must have the band stop that piece, Mr. Tyers, " cried LadySarah. "I declare, it is too much for my nerves. Let them play Dibbin'sEphesian Matron. "

"As your Ladyship wishes, " responded the obliging Mr. Tyers, and sentoff an uniformed warder to the band-master. 

As he led us into the Rotunda, my Lady Dolly, being in one of herwhimsical humours, began to recite in the manner of the guide-book, tothe vast diversion of our party and the honest citizens gaping at us. 

"This, my lords, ladies, and gentlemen, " says the minx, "is thatmarvellous Rotunda commonly known as the 'umbrella, ' where the musicplays on wet nights, and where we have our masquerades and ridottos. Their Royal Highnesses are very commonly seen here on such occasions. As you see, it is decorated with mirrors and scenes and busts, and withgilded festoons. That picture was painted by the famous Hogarth. Theorgan in the orchestra cost--you must supply the figure, Mr. Tyers, --andthe ceiling is at least two hundred feet high. Gentlemen from thecolonies and the country take notice. "

By this time we were surrounded. Mr. Marmaduke was scandalized andcrushed, but Mr. Tyers, used to the vagaries of his fashionable patrons, was wholly convulsed. 

"Faith, Miss Manners, and you would consent to do this two nights more, we should have to open another gate, " he declared. Followed by the mob, which it seems was part of the excitement, he led us out of the buildinginto the Grand Walk; and offered to turn on the waterfall and mill, which (so Lady Sarah explained to me) the farmers and merchants felldown and worshipped every night at nine, to the tinkling of bells. Shetold Mr. Tyers there was diversion enough without "tin cascades. " Whenwe got to the Grand Cross Walk he pointed out the black "Wilderness" oftall elms and cedars looming ahead of us. And--so we came to theSouth Walk, with its three triumphal arches framing a noble view ofarchitecture at the far end. Our gentlemen sauntered ahead, with theirspy-glasses, staring the citizens' pretty daughters out of countenance, and making cynical remarks. 

"Why, egad!" I heard Sir Charles say, "the wig-makers have no cause topetition his Majesty for work. I'll be sworn the false hair this goodstaymaker has on cost a guinea. "

A remark which caused the staymaker (if such he was) such hugediscomfort that he made off with his wife in the opposite direction, tothe time of jeers and cock-crows from the bevy of Vauxhall bucks walkingabreast. 

"You must show us the famous 'dark walks, ' Mr. Tyers, " says Dorothy. 

"Surely you will not care to see those, Miss Manners. "

"O lud, of course you must, " chimed in the Miss Stanleys; "there is nospice in these flaps and flies. "

He led us accordingly into Druid's Walk, overarched with elms, and darkas the shades, our gentlemen singing, "'Ods! Lovers will contrive, '" inchorus, the ladies exclaiming and drawing together. Then I felt a soft, restraining hold on my arm, and fell back instinctively, vibrating tothe touch. 

"Could you not see that I have been trying to get a word with you forever so long?"

"I trust you to find a way, Dolly, if you but wish, " I replied, admiringher stratagem. 

"I am serious to-night. " Indeed, her voice betrayed as much. How wellI recall those rich and low tones! "I said I wished you shut up in theMarshalsea, and I meant it. I have been worrying about you. "

"You make me very happy, " said I; which was no lie. 

"Richard, you are every bit as reckless and indifferent of danger asthey say your father was. And I am afraid--"

"Of what?" I asked quickly. 

"You once mentioned a name to me--"

"Yes?" I was breathing deep. 

"I have forgiven you, " she said gently. "I never meant to have referredto that incident more. You will understand whom I mean. You must knowthat he is a dangerous man, and a treacherous. Oh!" she exclaimed, "Ihave been in hourly terror ever since you rode against him in Hyde Park. There! I have said it. "

The tense sweetness of that moment none will ever know. 

"But you have more reason to fear him than I, Dorothy. "

"Hush!" she whispered, catching her breath; "what are you saying?"

"That he has more cause to fear me than I to dread him. "

She came a little closer. 

"You stayed in London for me, Richard. Why did you? There was no need, "she exclaimed; "there was no need, do you hear? Oh, I shall neverforgive Comyn for his meddling! I am sure 'twas he who told you someridiculous story. He had no foundation for it. "

"Dorothy, " I demanded, my voice shaking with earnestness, "will youtell me honestly there is no foundation for the report that the duke isintriguing to marry you?"

That question was not answered, and regret came the instant it had leftmy lips--regret and conviction both. Dorothy joined Lady Carlisle beforeour absence had been noted, and began to banter Fitzpatrick upon hislosings. 

We were in the lighted Grove again, and sitting down to a supper ofVauxhall fare: transparent slices of ham (which had been a Vauxhall jokefor ages), and chickens and cheese cakes and champagne and claret, and arrack punch. Mr. Tyers extended the concert in our favour. Mrs. Weichsell and the beautiful Baddeley trilled sentimental ballads whichour ladies chose; and Mr. Vernon, the celebrated tenor, sang Cupid'sRecruiting Sergeant so happily that Storer sent him a bottle ofchampagne. After which we amused ourselves with catches until the spacebetween our boxes and the orchestra was filled. In the midst of thisComyn came quietly in from the other box and took a seat beside me. 

"Chartersea is here to-night, " said he. 

I started. "How do you know?"

"Tyers told me he turned up half an hour since. Tom asked his Grace tojoin our party, " his Lordship laughed. "Duke said no--he was to be hereonly half an hour, and Tom did not push him. He told me as a joke, andthinks Chartersea came to meet some petite. "

"Any one with him?" I asked. 

"Yes. Tall, dark man, one eye cast, --that's Lewis. They have come onsome dirty work, Richard. Watch little Marmaduke. He has been fidgety asa cat all night. "

"That's true, " said I. Looking up, I caught Dorothy's eyes upon us, her lips parted, uneasiness and apprehension plain upon her face. Comyndropped his voice still lower. 

"I believe she suspects something, " he said, rising. "Chartersea isgone off toward the Wilderness, so Tom says. You must not let littleMarmaduke see him. If Manners gets up to go, I will tune up Black-ekedSusan, and do you follow on some pretext. If you are not back in areasonable time, I'll after you. "

He had been gone scant three minutes before I heard his clear voicesinging, "in the Downs", and up I got, with a precipitation far frompolitic, and stepped out of the box. Our company stared in surprise. But Dorothy rose clear from her chair. The terror I saw stamped upon herface haunts me yet, and I heard her call my name. 

I waited for nothing. Gaining the Grand Walk, I saw Mr. Marmaduke'sinsignificant figure dodging fearfully among the roughs, whose hour itwas. He traversed the Cross Walk, and twenty yards farther on dived intoan opening in the high hedge bounding the Wilderness. Before he had madesix paces I had him by the shoulder, and he let out a shriek of frightlike a woman's. 

"It is I, Richard Carvel, Mr. Manners, " I said shortly. I could not keepout the contempt from my tone. "I beg a word with you. "

In his condition then words were impossible. His teeth rattled again, and he trembled like a hare caught alive. I kept my hold of him, andemployed the time until he should be more composed peering into thedarkness. For all I knew Chartersea might be within ear-shot. But Icould see nothing but black trunks of trees. 

"What is it, Richard?"

"You are going to meet Chartersea, " I said. 

He must have seen the futility of a lie, or else was scared out of allcontrivance. "Yes, " he said weakly. 

"You have allowed it to become the talk of London that this filthynobleman is blackmailing you for your daughter, " I went on, withoutwasting words. "Tell me, is it, or is it not, true?"

As he did not answer, I retained a handful of the grained silk on hisshoulder as a measure of precaution. 

"Is this so?" I repeated. 

"You must know, I suppose, " he said, under his breath, and with a noteof sullenness. 

"I must, " I said firmly. "The knowledge is the weapon need, for I, too, am going to meet Chartersea. "

He ceased quivering all at once. 

"You are going to meet him!" he cried, in another voice. "Yes, yes, itis so, --it is so. I will tell you all. "

"Keep it to yourself, Mr. Manners, " I replied, with repugnance, "I haveheard all I wish. Where is he?" I demanded. 

"Hold the path until you come to him. And God bless--"

I shook my head. 

"No, not that! Do you go back to the company and make some excuse forme. Do not alarm them. And if you get the chance, tell Lord Comyn whereto come. "

I waited until I saw him under the lights of the Grand Walk, and fairlyrunning. Then I swung on my heel. I was of two minds whether to waitfor Comyn, by far the wiser course. The unthinking recklessness I hadinherited drove me on. 

CHAPTER XLI. THE WILDERNESS

My eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, and presently I made outa bench ahead, with two black figures starting from it. One I shouldhave known on the banks of the Styx. From each came a separate oath as Istopped abreast them, and called the duke by name. 

"Mr. Carvel!" he cried; "what the devil do you here, sir?"

"I am come to keep an appointment for Mr. Manners, " I said. "May I speakto your Grace alone?"

He made a peculiar sound by sucking in his breath, meant for a sneeringlaugh. 

"No, " says he, "damned if you shall! I have nothing in common with you, sir. So love for Miss Manners has driven you mad, my young upstart. Andhe is not the first, Lewis. "

"Nor the last, by G--, " says the captain. 

"I have a score to settle with you, d--n you!" cried Chartersea. 

"That is why I am here, your Grace, " I replied; "only you have twistedthe words. There has been foul play enough. I have come to tell you, " Icried, boiling with anger, "I have come to tell you there has been foulplay enough with a weakling that cannot protect himself, and to put anend to your blackmail. "

In the place of an oath, a hoarse laugh of derision came out of him. ButI was too angry then to note its significance. I slapped his face--nay, boxed it so that my palm stung. I heard his sword scraping out of thescabbard, and drew mine, stepping back to distance at the same instant. Then, with something of a shudder, I remembered young Atwater, and a 380brace of other instances of his villany. I looked for the captain. Hewas gone. 

Our blades, the duke's and mine, came together with a ring, and I feltthe strength of his wrist behind his, and of his short, powerful arm. The steel sung with our quick changes from 'quarte' to 'tierce'. 'Twasall by the feeling, without light to go by, and hatred between us leftlittle space for skill. Our lunges were furious. 'Twas not long beforeI felt his point at my chest, but his reach was scant. All at oncethe music swelled up voices and laughter were wafted faintly fromthe pleasure world of lights beyond. But my head was filled, to theexclusion of all else, with a hatred and fury. And (God forgive me!)from between my teeth came a prayer that if I might kill this monster, Iwould die willingly. 

Suddenly, as I pressed him, he shifted ground, and there was Lewisstanding within range of my eye. His hands were nowhere--they werebehind his back! God alone knows why he had not murdered me. To keepChartersea between him and me I swung another quarter. The duke seemedto see my game, struggled against it, tried to rush in under my guard, made a vicious lunge that would have ended me then and there had he notslipped. We were both panting like wild beasts. When next I raised myeyes Lewis had faded into the darkness. Then I felt my head as wet asfrom a plunge, the water running on my brow, and my back twitching. Every second I thought the sting of his sword was between my ribs. Butto forsake the duke would have been the maddest of follies. 

In that moment of agony came footsteps beating on the path, and by tacitconsent our swords were still. We listened. 

"Richard! Richard Carvel!"

For the second time in my life I thanked Heaven for that brave and loyalEnglish heart. I called back, but my throat was dry and choked. 

"So they are at their d--d assassins' tricks again! You need have nofear of one murderer. "

With that their steels rang out behind me, like broadswords, Lewiswasting his breath in curses and blasphemies. I began to push Charterseawith all my might, and the wonder of it was that we did not fight withour fingers on each other's necks. His attacks, too, redoubled. TwiceI felt the stings of his point, once in the hand, and once in the body, but I minded them as little as pinpricks. I was sure I had touched him, too. I heard him blowing distressedly. The casks of wine he had drunkin his short life were telling now, and his thrusts grew weaker. Thatfiercest of all joys--of killing an enemy--was in me, when I heard a crythat rang in my ears for many a year afterward, and the thud of a bodyon the ground. 

"I have done for him, your Grace, " says Lewis, with an oath; and addedimmediately, "I think I hear people. "

Before I had reached my Lord the captain repeated this, and excitedlybegged the duke, I believe, to fly. Chartersea hissed out that he wouldnot move a step until he had finished me, and as I bent over the bodyhis point popped through my coat, and the pain shot under my shoulder. Istaggered, and fell. A second of silence ensued, when the duke said witha laugh that was a cackle:

"He won't marry her, d--n him!" (panting). "He had me cursed nearkilled, Lewis. Best give him another for luck. "

I felt his heavy hand on the sword, and it tearing out of me. Next camethe single word "Dover, " and they were gone. I had not lost my senses, and was on my knees again immediately, ripping open Comyn's waistcoatwith my left hand, and murmuring his name in an agony of sorrow. I wassearching under his shirt, wet with blood, when I became aware of voicesat my side. "A duel! A murder! Call the warders! Warders, ho!"

"A surgeon!" I cried. "A surgeon first of all!"

Some one had wrenched a lamp from the Grand Walk and held it, flickeringin the wind, before his Lordship's face. Guided by its light, morepeople came running through the wood, then the warders with lanthorns, headed by Mr. Tyers, and on top of him Mr. Fitzpatrick and my LordCarlisle. We carried poor Jack to the house at the gate, and closed thedoors against the crowd. 

By the grace of Heaven Sir Charles Blicke was walking in the gardensthat night, and, battering at the door, was admitted along with theconstable and the watch. Assisted by a young apothecary, Sir Charleswashed and dressed the wound, which was in the left groin, and to ouranxious questions replied that there was a chance of recovery. 

"But you, too, are hurt, sir, " he said, turning his clear eyes uponme. Indeed, the blood had been dripping from my hand and arm during thewhole of the operation, and I began to be weak from the loss of it. Bygreat good fortune Chartersea's thrust, which he thought had ended mylife, passed under my armpit from behind and, stitching the skin, lodgeddeep in my right nipple. This wound the surgeon bound carefully, andlikewise two smaller ones. 

The constable was for carrying me to the Marshalsea. And so I was forcedto tell that I had quarrelled with Chartersea; and the watch, goingout to the scene of the fight, discovered the duke's sword which hehad pulled out of me, and Lewis's laced hat; and also a trail of bloodleading from the spot. Mr. Tyers testified that he had seen Charterseathat night, and Lord Carlisle and Fitzpatrick to the grudge the dukebore me. I was given my liberty. 

Comyn was taken to his house in Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, in SirCharles's coach, whither I insisted upon preceding him. 'Twas on the waythere that Fitzpatrick told me Dorothy had fainted when she heard thealarm--a piece of news which added to my anxiety. We called up thedowager countess, Comyn's mother, and Carlisle broke the news to her, mercifully lightening me of a share of the blame. Her Ladyship receivedthe tidings with great fortitude; and instead of the torrent ofreproaches I looked for, and deserved, she implored me to go home andcare for my injuries lest I get the fever. I believe that I burst intotears. 

His Lordship was carried up the stairs with never a word or a groan fromhis lips, and his heart beating out slowly. 

We reached my lodgings as the watchman was crying: "Past two o'clock, and a windy morning!"

Mr. Fitzpatrick stayed with me that night. And the next morning, savefor the soreness of the cuts I had got, I found myself well as ever. Iwas again to thank the robustness of my health. Despite the protestsof Banks and Fitzpatrick, and of Mr. Fox (who arrived early, not havingbeen to bed at all), I jumped into a chaise and drove to Brook Street. There I had the good fortune to get the greatest load from my mind. Comyn was resting so much easier that the surgeon had left, and herLadyship retired two hours since. 

The day was misting and dark, but so vast was my relief that I imaginedthe sun was out as I rattled toward Arlington Street. If only Dolly werenot ill again from the shock, I should be happy indeed. She must haveheard, ere then, that I was not killed; and I had still better news totell her than that of Lord Comyn's condition. Mr. Fox, who got everyrumour that ran, had shouted after me that the duke and Lewis were setout for France. How he knew I had not waited to inquire. But the reporttallied with my own surmise, for they had used the word "Dover" whenthey left us for dead in the Wilderness. 

I dismissed my chaise at the door. 

"Mr. Manners waits on you, sir, in the drawing-room, " said the footman. "Your honour is here sooner than he looked for, " he added gratuitously. 

"Sooner than he looked for?"

"Yes, sir. James is gone to you but quarter of an hour since with amessage, sir. "

I was puzzled. 

"And Miss Manners? Is she well?"

The man smiled. 

"Very well, sir, thank your honour. "

To add to my surprise, Mr. Marmaduke was pacing the drawing-room in ayellow night-gown. He met me with an expression I failed to fathom, andthen my eye was held by a letter in his hand. He cleared his throat. 

"Good morning, Richard, " said he, very serious, --very pompous, Ithought. "I am pleased to see that you are so well out of the deplorableaffair of last night. "

I had not looked for gratitude. In truth, I had done nothing for him, and Chartersea might have exposed him a highwayman for all I cared, --Ihad fought for Dolly. But this attitude astonished me. I was about tomake a tart reply, and then thought better of it. 

"Walter, a decanter of wine for Mr. Carvel, " says he to the footman. Then to me: "I am rejoiced to hear that Lord Comyn is out of danger. "

I merely stared at him. 

"Will you sit?" he continued. "To speak truth, the Annapolis packet camein last night with news for you. Knowing that you have not had time tohear from Maryland, I sent for you. "

My brain was in such a state that for the moment I took no meaning fromthis introduction. I was conscious only of indignation against him forsending for me, when for all he knew I might have been unable to leavemy bed. Suddenly I jumped from the chair. 

"You have heard from Maryland?" I cried. "Is Mr. Carvel dead? Oh, tellme, is Mr. Carvel dead?" And I clutched his arm to make him wince. 

He nodded, and turned away. "My dear old friend is no more, " he said. "Your grandfather passed away on the seventh of last month. "

I sank into a chair and bowed my face, a flood of recollectionsoverwhelming me, a thousand kindnesses of my grandfather coming to mind. One comfort alone stood forth, even had I gone home with John Paul, Ihad missed him. But that he should have died alone with Grafton broughtthe tears brimming to my eyes. I had thought to be there to receive hislast words and blessing, to watch over him, and to Smooth his pillow. Who had he else in the world to bear him affection on his death-bed? Theimagination of that scene drove me mad. 

Mr. Manners aroused me by a touch, and I looked up quickly. So quicklythat I surprised the trace of a smile about his weak mouth. Were I todie to-morrow, I would swear to this on the Evangels. Nor was it thesmile which compels itself upon the weak in serious moments. Nay, therewas in it something malicious. And Mr. Manners could not even act. 

"There is more, Richard, " he was saying; "there is worse to come. Canyou bear it?"

His words and look roused me from my sorrow. I have ever been short oftemper with those I disliked, and (alas!) with my friends also. And nowall my pent-up wrath against this little man broke forth. I divined hismeaning, and forgot that he was Dorothy's father. 

"Worse?" I shouted, while he gave back in his alarm. "Do you mean thatGrafton has got possession of the estate? Is that what you mean, sir?"

"Yes, " he gasped, "yes. I pray you be calm. "

"And you call that worse than losing my dearest friend on earth?" Icried. There must have been an infinite scorn in my voice. "Then yourstandards and mine are different, Mr. Manners. Your ways and mine aredifferent, and I thank God for it. You have played more than one doublepart with me. You looked me in the face and denied me, and left me to goto a prison. I shall not repeat my grandfather's kindnesses to you, sir. Though you may not recall them, I do. And if your treatment of me wasknown in Maryland, you would be drummed out of the colony even as Mr. Hood was, and hung in effigy"

"As God hears me, Richard--"

"Do not add perjury to it, " I said. "And have no uneasiness that I shallpublish you. Your wife and daughter have saved you before, --they willsave you now. "

I paused, struck speechless by a suspicion that suddenly flashed into myhead. A glance at the contemptible form cowering within the folds of theflowered gown clinched it to a conviction. In two strides I had seizedhim by the skin over his ribs, and he shrieked with pain and fright. 

"You--you snake!" I cried, in uncontrollable anger. "You well knewDorothy's spirit, which she has not got from you, and you lied to her. Yes, lied, I say. To force her to marry Chartersea you made her believethat your precious honour was in danger. And you lied to me last night, and sent me in the dark to fight two of the most treacherous villains inEngland. You wish they had killed me. The plot was between you and hisGrace. You, who have not a cat's courage, commit an indiscretion! Younever made one in your life, Tell me, " I cried, shaking him until histeeth smote together, "was it not put up between you?"

"Let me go! Let me go, and I will tell!" he wailed in the agony of mygrip. I tightened it the more. 

"You shall confess it first, " I said, from between my teeth. 

Scarce had his lips formed the word yes, when I had flung him halfacross the room. He tripped on his gown, and fell sprawling on hishands. So the servant found us when he came back with the tray. Thelackey went out again hastily. 

"My God!" I exclaimed, in bitterness and disgust; "you are a father, andwould sell both your daughter and your honour for a title, and to thefilthiest wretch in the kingdom?"

Without bestowing upon him another look, I turned on my heel and leftthe room. I had set my foot on the stair, when I heard the rustle of adress, and the low voice which I knew so well calling my name. 

"Richard. "

There at my side was Dorothy, even taller in her paleness, with sorrowand agitation in her blue eyes. 

"Richard, I have heard all. --I listened. Are you going away without aword for me?" Her breath came fast, and mine, as she laid a hand uponmy arm. "Richard, I do not care whether you are poor. What am I saying?"she cried wildly. "Am I false to my own father? Richard, what have youdone?"

And then, while I stood dazed, she tore open her gown, and drawing fortha little gold locket, pressed it in my palm. "The flowers you gave meon your birthday, --the lilies of the valley, do you remember? They arehere, Richard. I have worn them upon my heart ever since. "

I raised the locket to my lips. 

"I shall treasure it for your sake, Dorothy, " I said, "for the sake ofthe old days. God keep you!"

For a moment I looked into the depths of her eyes. Then she was gone, and I went down the stairs alone. Outside, the rain fell unheeded onmy new coat. My steps bent southward, past Whitehall, where the martyrCharles had met death so nobly: past the stairs to the river, where shehad tripped with me so gayly not a month since. Death was in my soulthat day, --death and love, which is the mystery of life. God guided meinto the great Abbey near by, where I fell on my knees before Him andbefore England's dead. He had raised them and cast them down, even as Hewas casting me, that I might come to know the glory of His holy name. 

Volume 7. 

CHAPTER XLII. MY FRIENDS ARE PROVEN

At the door of my lodgings I was confronted by Banks, red withindignation and fidgety from uneasiness. 

"O Lord, Mr. Carvel, what has happened, sir?" he cried. "Your honour'sagent 'as been here since noon. Must I take orders from the likes o'him, sir?"

Mr. Dix was indeed in possession of my rooms, lounging in the chairDolly had chosen, smoking my tobacco. I stared at him from thethreshold. Something in my appearance, or force of habit, or bothbrought him to his feet, and wiped away the smirk from his face. He putdown the pipe guiltily. I told him shortly that I had heard the newswhich he must have got by the packet: and that he should have his money, tho' it took the rest of my life: and the ten per cent I had promisedhim provided he would not press my Lord Comyn. He hesitated, and drummedon the table. He was the man of business again. 

"What security am I to have, Mr. Carvel?" he asked. 

"My word, " I said. "It has never yet been broken, I thank God, nor myfather's before me. And hark ye, Mr. Dix, you shall not be able to saythat of Grafton. " Truly I thought the principal and agent were now wellmatched. 

"Very good, Mr. Carvel, " he said; "ten per cent. I shall call with thepapers on Monday morning. "

"I shall not run away before that, " I replied. 

He got out, with a poor attempt at a swagger, without his customaryprotestations of duty and humble offers of service. And I thanked Heavenhe had not made a scene, which in my state of mind I could not haveborne, but must have laid hands upon him. Perhaps he believed Graftonnot yet secure in his title. I did not wonder then, in the heat of myyouth, that he should have accepted my honour as security. But since Ihave marvelled not a little at this. The fine gentlemen at Brooks'swith whom I had been associating were none too scrupulous, and regardedmoney-lenders as legitimate prey. Debts of honour they paid but tardily, if at all. A certain nobleman had been owing my Lord Carlisle thirteenthousand pounds for a couple of years, that his Lordship had won athazard. And tho' I blush to write it, Mr. Fox himself was notorious insuch matters, and was in debt to each of the coterie of fashionables ofwhich he was the devoted chief. 

The faithful Banks vowed, with tears in his eyes, that he would neverdesert me. And in that moment of dejection the poor fellow's devotionbrought me no little comfort. At such times the heart is bitter. We lookaskance at our friends, and make the task of comfort doubly hard forthose that remain true. I had a great affection for the man, and hadbecome so used to his ways and unwearying service that I had not thecourage to refuse his prayers to go with me to America. I had not afarthing of my own--he would serve me for nothing--nay, work for me. "Sure, " he said, taking off my coat and bringing me my gown, --"Sure, your honour was not made to work. " To cheer me he went on with somefoolish footman's gossip that there lacked not ladies with jointures whowould marry me, and be thankful. I smiled sadly. 

"That was when I was Mr. Carvel's heir, Banks. "

"And your face and figure, sir, and masterful ways! Faith, and what morewould a lady want!" Banks's notions of morality were vague enough, andhe would have had me sink what I had left at hazard at Almack's. Hehad lived in this atmosphere. Alas! there was little chance of myever regaining the position I had held but yesterday. I thought of thesponging-house, and my brow was moist. England was no place, in thosedays, for fallen gentlemen. With us in the Colonies the law offereditself. Mr. Swain, and other barristers of Annapolis, came to my mind, for God had given me courage. I would try the law. For I had small hopesof defeating my Uncle Grafton. 

The Sunday morning dawned brightly, and the church bells ringing broughtme to my feet, and out into Piccadilly, in the forlorn hope that I mightsee my lady on her way to morning service, --see her for the last time inlife, perhaps. Her locket I wore over my heart. It had lain upon hers. To see her was the most exquisite agony in the world. But not to seeher, and to feel that she was scarce quarter of a mile away, was beyondendurance. I stood beside an area at the entrance to Arlington Street, and waited for an hour, quite in vain; watching every face that passed, townsmen in their ill-fitting Sunday clothes, and fine ladies with thefootmen carrying velvet prayerbooks. And some that I knew only stared, and others gave me distant bows from their coach windows. For those thatfall from fashion are dead to fashion. 

Dorothy did not go to church that day. 

It is a pleasure, my dears, when writing of that hour of bitterness, torecord the moments of sweetness which lightened it. As I climbed up tomy rooms in Dover Street, I heard merry sounds above, and a cloud ofsmoke blew out of the door when I opened it. 

"Here he is, " cried Mr. Fox. "You see, Richard, we have not deserted youwhen we can win no more of your money. "

"Why, egad! the man looks as if he had had a calamity, " said Mr. Fitzpatrick. 

"And there is not a Jew here, " Fox continued. "Tho' it is Sunday, the air in my Jerusalem chamber is as bad as in any crimps den inSt. Giles's. 'Slife, and I live to be forty, I shall have as manyunderground avenues as his Majesty Louis the Eleventh. "

"He must have a place, " put in my Lord Carlisle. 

"We must do something for him, " said Fox, "albeit he is an American anda Whig, and all the rest of the execrations. Thou wilt have to swallowthy golden opinions, my buckskin, when we put thee in office. "

I was too overwhelmed even to protest. 

"You are not in such a cursed bad way, when all is said, Richard, " saidFitzpatrick. "Charles, when he loses a fortune, immediately borrowsanother. "

"If you stick to whist and quinze, " said Charles, solemnly, giving methe advice they were forever thrusting upon him, "and play with system, you may make as much as four thousand a year, sir. "

And this was how I was treated by those heathen and cynical macaronies, Mr. Fox's friends. I may not say the same for the whole of Brooks'sClub, tho' I never darkened its doors afterwards. But I encountered myLord March that afternoon, and got only a blank stare in place of a bow. 

Charles had collected (Heaven knows how!) the thousand pounds which hestood in my debt, and Mr. Storer and Lord Carlisle offered to lend meas much as I chose. I had some difficulty in refusing, and more still indenying Charles when he pressed me to go with them to Richmond, where hehad rooms for play over Sunday. 

Banks brought me the news that Lord Comyn was sitting up, and had beenasking for me that day; that he was recovering beyond belief. But I wasresolved not to go to Brook Street until the money affairs were settledon Monday with Mr. Dix, for I knew well that his Lordship would insistupon carrying out with the agent the contract he had so generously andhastily made, rather than let me pay an abnormal interest. 

On Monday I rose early, and went out for a bit of air before the scenewith Mr. Dix. Returning, I saw a coach with his Lordship's arms on thepanels, and there was Comyn himself in my great chair at the window, where he had been deposited by Banks and his footman. I stared as on onerisen from the dead. 

"Why, Jack, what are you doing here?" I cried. 

He replied very offhand, as was his manner at such times:

"Blicke vows that Chartersea and Lewis have qualified for the College ofSurgeons, " says he. "They are both born anatomists. Your job under thearm was the worst bungle of the two, egad, for Lewis put his sword, patas you please, between two of my organs (cursed if I know their names), and not so much as scratched one. "

"Look you, Jack, " said I, "I am not deceived. You have no right to behere, and you know it. "

"Tush!" answered his Lordship; "I am as well as you. " And he took snuffto prove the assertion. "Why the devil was you not in Brook Streetyesterday to tell me that your uncle had swindled you? I thought I wasyour friend, " says he, "and I learn of your misfortune through others. "

"It is because you are my friend, and my best friend, that I would notworry you when you lay next door to death on my account, " I said, withemotion. 

And just then Banks announced Mr. Dix. 

"Let him wait, " said I, greatly disturbed. 

"Show him up!" said my Lord, peremptorily. 

"No, no!" I protested; "he can wait. We shall have no business now. "

But Banks was gone. And I found out, long afterward, that it was put upbetween them. 

The agent swaggered in with that easy assurance he assumed whenever hegot the upper hand. He was the would-be squire once again, in top-bootsand a frock. I have rarely seen a man put out of countenance so easilyas was Mr. Dix that morning when he met his Lordship's fixed gaze fromthe arm-chair. 

"And so you are turned Jew?" says he, tapping his snuffbox. "Before yougo ahead so fast again, you will please to remember, d--n you, that Mr. Carvel is the kind that does not lose his friends with his fortune. "

Mr. Dix made a salaam, which was so ludicrous in a squire that my Lordroared with laughter, and I feared for his wound. 

"A man must live, my Lord, " sputtered the agent. His discomfiture waspainful. 

"At the expense of another, " says Comyn, dryly. "That is your motto inChange Alley. "

"If you will permit, Jack, I must have a few words in private with Mr. Dix, " I cut in uneasily. 

His Lordship would be damned first. "I am not accustomed to be thwarted, Richard, I tell you. Ask the dowager if I have not always had my way. Iam not going to stand by and see a man who saved my life fall into theclutches of an usurer. Yes, I said usurer, Mr. Dix. My attorney, Mr. Kennett, of Lincoln's Inn, has instructions to settle with you. "

And, despite all I could say, he would not budge an inch. At last Isubmitted under the threat that he would never after have a word to sayto me. By good luck, when I had paid into Mr. Dix's hand the thousandpounds I had received from Charles Fox, and cleared my outstandingbills, the sum I remained in Comyn's debt was not greatly above sevenhundred pounds. And that was the end of Mr. Dix for me; when he hadbacked himself out in chagrin at having lost his ten per centum, myfeelings got the better of me. The water rushed to my eyes, and Iturned my back upon his Lordship. To conceal his own emotions he fell toswearing like mad. 

"Fox will get you something, " he said at length, when he was a littlecalmed. 

I told him, sadly, that my duty took me to America. 

"And Dorothy?" he said; "you will leave her?"

I related the whole miserable story (all save the part of the locket), for I felt that I owed it him. His excitement grew as he listened, untilI had to threaten to stop to keep him quiet. But when I had done, he sawnothing but good to come of it. 

"'Od's life! Richard, lad, come here!" he cried. "Give me your hand. Why, you ass, you have won a thousand times over what you lost. Sheloves you! Did I not say so? And as for that intriguing little puppy, her father, you have pulled his teeth, egad. She heard what you said tohim, you tell me. Then he will never deceive her again, my word on't. And Chartersea may come back to London, and be damned. "

CHAPTER XLIII. ANNAPOLIS ONCE MORE

Three days after that I was at sea, in the Norfolk packet, with thefarewells of my loyal English friends ringing in my ears. CaptainGraham, the master of the packet, and his passengers found me but a poorcompanion. But they had heard of my misfortune, and vied with each otherin heaping kindnesses upon me. Nor did they intrude on my walks in thenight watches, to see me slipping a locket from under my waistcoat--ay, and raising it to my lips. 'Twas no doubt a blessing that I had lessermisfortunes to share my attention. God had put me in the way of lookingforward rather than behind, and I was sure that my friends in Annapoliswould help me to an honest living, and fight my cause against Grafton. 

Banks was with me. The devoted soul did his best to cheer me, tho'downcast himself at leaving England. To know what to do with him gaveme many an anxious moment. I doubted not that I could get him intoa service, but when I spoke of such a thing he burst into tears, anddemanded whether I meant to throw him off. Nor was any argument of mineof use. 

After a fair and uneventful voyage of six weeks, I beheld again mynative shores in the low spits of the Virginia capes. The sand was veryhot and white, and the waters of the Chesapeake rolled like oil underthe July sun. We were all day getting over to Yorktown, the ship'sdestination. A schooner was sailing for Annapolis early the nextmorning, and I barely had time to get off my baggage and catch her. Wewent up the bay with a fresh wind astern, which died down at night. 

The heat was terrific after England and the sea-voyage, and we slept onthe deck. And Banks sat, most of the day, exclaiming at the vast scaleon which this new country was laid out, and wondering at the myriadislands we passed, some of them fair with grain and tobacco; and at thelow-lying shores clothed with forests, and broken by the salt marshes, with now and then the manor-house of some gentleman-planter visible oneither side. Late on the second day I beheld again the cliffs that markthe mouth of the Severn, then the sail-dotted roads and the roofs ofAnnapolis. 

We landed, Banks and I, in a pinnace from the schooner, and so full wasmy heart at the sight of the old objects that I could only gulp now andthen, and utter never a word. There was the dock where I had paced upand down near the whole night, when Dolly had sailed away; and Pryse thecoachmaker's shop, and the little balcony upon which I had stood withmy grandfather, and railed in a boyish tenor at Mr. Hood. The sun castsharp, black shadows. And it being the middle of the dull season, whenthe quality were at their seats, and the dinner-hour besides, thetown might have been a deserted one for its stillness, as tho' theinhabitants had walked out of it, and left it so. I made my way, Banksbehind me, into Church Street, past the "Ship" tavern, which broughtmemories of the brawl there, and of Captain Clapsaddle forcing themob, like chaff, before his sword. The bees were humming idly over thesweet-scented gardens, and Farris, the clock-maker, sat at his door, andnodded. He jerked his head as I went by with a cry of "Lord, it is Mr. Richard back!" and I must needs pause, to let him bow over my hand. Farther up the street I came to mine host of the Coffee House standingon his steps, with his hands behind his back. 

"Mr. Claude, " I said. 

He looked at me as tho' I had risen from the dead. 

"God save us!" he shouted, in a voice that echoed through the narrowstreet. "God save us!"

He seemed to go all to pieces. To my bated questions he replied atlength, when he had got his breath, that Captain Clapsaddle had cometo town but the day before, and was even then in the coffee-room at hisdinner. Alone? Yes, alone. Almost tottering, I mounted the steps, andturned in at the coffee-room door, and stopped. There sat the captain ata table, the roast and wine untouched before him, his waistcoat thrownopen. He was staring out of the open window into the inn garden beyond, with its shade of cherry trees. Mr. Claude's cry had not disturbed hisreveries, nor our talk after it. I went forward. I touched him on theshoulder, and he sprang up, and looked once into my face, and by sometrick of the mind uttered the very words Mr. Claude had used. 

"God save us! Richard!" And he opened his arms and strained me to hisgreat chest, calling my name again and again, while the tears courseddown the furrows of his cheeks. For I marked the furrows for the firsttime, and the wrinkles settling in his forehead and around his eyes. What he said when he released me, nor my replies, can I remember now, but at last he called, in his ringing voice, to mine host:

"A bottle from your choicest bin, Claude! Some of Mr. Bordley's. For hethat was lost is found. "

The hundred questions I had longed to ask were forgotten. A peace stoleupon me that I had not felt since I had looked upon his face before. The wine was brought by Mr. Claude, and opened, and it was mine host whobroke the silence, and the spell. 

"Your very good health, Mr. Richard, " he said; "and may you come to yourown again!"

"I drink it with all my heart, Richard, " replied Captain Daniel. But heglanced at me sadly, and his honest nature could put no hope into histone. "We have got him back again, Mr. Claude. And God has answered ourprayers. So let us be thankful. " And he sat down in silence, gazing atme in pity and tenderness, while Mr. Claude withdrew. "I can give youbut a sad welcome home, my lad, " he said presently, with a hesitationstrange to him. "'Tis not the first bad news I have had to break in mylife to your family, but I pray it may be the last. " He paused. I knewhe was thinking of the black tidings he had once brought my mother. "Richard, your grandfather is dead, " he ended abruptly. 

I nodded wonderingly. 

"What!" he exclaimed; "you have heard already?"

"Mr. Manners told me, in London, " I said, completely mystified. 

"London!" he cried, starting forward. "London and Mr. Manners! Have youbeen to London?"

"You had my letters to Mr. Carvel?" I demanded, turning suddenly sick. 

His eye flashed. 

"Never a letter. We mourned you for dead, Richard. This is Grafton'swork!" he cried, springing to his feet and striking the table with hisgreat fist, so that the dishes jumped. "Grafton Carvel, the prettiestvillain in these thirteen colonies! Oh, we shall hang him some day. "

"Then Mr. Carvel died without knowing that I was safe?" I interrupted. 

"On that I'll lay all my worldly goods, " replied Captain Daniel, emphatically. "If any letters came to Marlboro' Street from you, Mr. Carvel never dropped eyes on 'em. "

"What a fool was I not to have written you!" I groaned. 

He drew his chair around the table, and close to mine. 

"Had the news that you escaped death been cried aloud in the streets, my lad, 'twould never have got to your grandfather's ear, " he said, inlower tones. "I will tell you what happened, tho' I have it at secondhand, being in the North, as you may remember. Grafton came in from Kentand invested Marlboro' Street. He himself broke the news to Mr. Carvel, who took to his bed. Leiden was not in attendance, you may be sure, butthat quack-doctor Drake. Swain sent me a message, and I killed a horsegetting here from New York. But I could no more gain admittance to yourgrandfather, Richard, than to King George the Third. I was met in thehall by that crocodile, who told me with too many fair words that Icould not see my old friend; that for the present Dr. Drake denied himeverybody. Then I damned Dr. Drake, and Grafton too. And I let him knowmy suspicions. He ordered me off, Richard--from that house which hasbeen my only home for these twenty years. " His voice broke. 

"Mr. Carvel thought me dead, then. "

"And most mercifully. Your black Hugo, when he was somewhat recovered, swore he had seen you killed and carried off. Sooth, they say there wasblood enough on the place. But we spared no pains to obtain a clew ofyou. I went north to Boston, and Lloyd's factor south to Charleston. Butno trace of the messenger who came to the Coffee House after you couldwe find. Hell had opened and swallowed him. And mark this for consummatevillany: Grafton himself spent no less than five hundred pounds inadvertising and the like. "

"And he is not suspected?" I asked. This was the same question I had putto Mrs. Manners. It caused the captain to flare up again. 

"'Tis incredible how a rogue may impose upon men of worth and integrityif he but know how to smirk piously, and never miss a service. And thenhe is an exceeding rich man. Riches cover a multitude of sins in themost virtuous community in the world. Your Aunt Caroline brought hima pretty fortune, you know. We had ominous times this spring, with theassociations forming, and the 'Good Intent' and the rest being sentback to England. His Excellency was at his wits' end for support. It wasGrafton Carvel who helped him most, and spent money like tobacco for theKing's cause, which, being interpreted, was for his own advancement. ButI believe Colonel Lloyd suspects him, tho' he has never said as much tome. I have told Mr. Swain, under secrecy, what I think. He is one ofthe ablest lawyers that the colony owns, Richard, and a stanch friendof yours. He took your case of his own accord. But he says we have nofoothold as yet. "

When I asked if there was a will the captain rapped out an oath. 

"'Sdeath! yes, " he cried, "a will in favour of Grafton and his heirs, witnessed by Dr. Drake, they say, and another scoundrel. Your name doesnot occur throughout the length and breadth of it. You were dead. Butyou will have to ask Mr. Swain for those particulars. My dear old friendwas sadly gone when he wrote it, I fear. For he never lacked shrewdnessin his best days. Nor, " added Captain Daniel, with force, "nor did hewant for a proper estimation of Grafton. "

"He has never been the same since that first sickness, " I answeredsadly. 

When the captain came to speak of Mr. Carvel's death, the son anddaughter he loved, and the child of his old age in the grave beforehim, he proceeded brokenly, and the tears blinded him. Mr. Carvel's lastwords will never be known, my dears. They sounded in the unfeeling earsof the serpent Grafton. 'Twas said that he was seen coming out of hisfather's house an hour after the demise, a smile on his face which hestrove to hide with a pucker of sorrow. But by God's grace Mr. Allen hadnot read the prayers. The rector was at last removed from Annapolis, andhad obtained the fat living of Frederick which he coveted. 

"As I hope for salvation, " the captain concluded, "I will swear there isnot such another villain in the world as Grafton. The imagination of afiend alone could have conceived and brought to execution the crime hehas committed. And the Borgias were children to him. 'Twas not only thelove of money that urged him, but hatred of you and of your father. Thatwas his strongest motive, I believe. However, the days are coming, lad, when he shall have his reward, unless all signs fail. And we have hadenough of sober talk, " said he, pressing me to eat. "Faith, but justnow, when you came in, I was thinking of you, Richard. And--God forgiveme! complaining against the lot of my life. And thinking, now that youwere taken out of it, and your father and mother and grandfather gone, how little I had to live for. Now you are home again, " says he, his eyeslighting on me with affection, "I count the gray hairs as nothing. Letus have your story, and be merry. Nay, I might have guessed you had beenin London, with your fine clothes and your English servant. "

'Twas a long story, as you know, my dears. He lighted his pipe and laidhis big hand over mine, and filled my glass, and I told him most of thatwhich had happened to me. But I left out the whole of that concerningMr. Manners and the Duke of Chartersea, nor did I speak of thesponging-house. I believe my only motive for this omittance was areluctance to dwell upon Dorothy, and a desire to shield her father forher sake. He dropped many a vigorous exclamation into my pauses, butwhen I came to speak of my friendship with Mr. Fox, his brow cloudedover. 

"'Ad's heart!" he cried, "'Ad's heart! And so you are turned Tory, andhave at last been perverted from those principles for which I loved youmost. In the old days my conscience would not allow me to advise you, Richard, and now that I am free to speak, you are past advice. "

I laughed aloud. 

"And what if I tell you that I made friends with his Grace of Grafton, and Lord Sandwich, and was invited to Hichinbroke, his Lordship's seat?"said I. 

His honest face was a picture of consternation. 

"Now the good Lord deliver us!" he exclaimed fervently. "Sandwich!Grafton! The devil!"

I gave myself over to the first real merriment I had had since I hadheard of Mr. Carvel's death. 

"And when Mr. Fox learned that I had lost my fortune, " I went on, "heoffered me a position under Government. "

"Have you not friends enough at home to care for you, sir?" he said, his face getting purple. "Are you Jack Carvel's son, or are you animpostor?"

"I am Jack Carvel's son, dear Captain Daniel, and that is why I amhere, " I replied. "I am a stouter Whig than ever, and I believe I mighthave converted Mr. Fox himself had I remained at home sufficientlylong, " I added, with a solemn face. And, for my own edification, Irelated how I had bearded his Majesty's friends at Brooks's, whereat hegave a great, joyful laugh, and thumped me on the back. 

"You dog, Richard! You sly rogue!" And he called to Mr. Claude foranother bottle on the strength of that, and we pledged the Association. He peppered me with questions concerning Junius, and Mr. Wilkes, and Mr. Franklin of Philadelphia. Had I seen him in London? "I would not doubta Carvel's word, " says the captain, "(always excepting Grafton and hisline, as usual), but you may duck me on the stool and I comprehend whyMr. Fox and his friends took up with such a young rebel rapscallion asyou--and after the speech you made 'em. "

I astonished him vastly by pointing out that Mr. Fox and his friendscared a deal for place, and not a fig for principle; that my franknesshad entertained rather than offended them; and that, having a taste fora bit of wild life and the money to gratify it, and being of a tolerant, easy nature withal, I had contrived to make many friends in that set, without aiming at influence. Whereat he gave me another lick between theshoulders. 

"It was so with Jack, " he cried; "thou art a replica. He would have madefriends with the devil himself. In the French war, when all the rest ofus Royal Americans were squabbling with his Majesty's officers out ofEngland, and cursing them at mess, they could never be got to fight withJack, tho' he gave them ample provocation. There was Tetherington, of the 22d foot, --who jeered us for damned provincials, and swaggeredthrough three duels in a week, --would enter no quarrel with him. I canhear him say: 'Damn you, Carvel, you may slap my face and you will, orwalk in ahead of me at the general's dinner and you will, but I like youtoo well to draw at you. I would not miss your company at table for allthe world. ' And when he was killed, " Captain Daniel continued, loweringhis voice, "some of them cried like women, Tetherington among 'em, --andswore they would rather have lost their commissions at high play. "

We sat talking until the summer's dusk grew on apace, and one thing thisdevoted lover of my family told me, which lightened my spirits of thegreatest burden that had rested upon them since my calamity befell me. I had dwelt at length upon my Lord Comyn, and upon the weight of hisservices to me, and touched upon the sum which I stood in his debt. Thecaptain interrupted me. 

"One day, before your mother died, she sent for me, " said he, "andI came to Carvel Hall. You were too young to remember. It was inSeptember, and she was sitting on the seat under the oak she loved sowell, --by Dr. Hilliard's study. 

"The lace shawl your father had given her was around her shoulders, and upon her face was the smile that gave me a pang to see. For it hadsomething of heaven in it, Richard. She called me 'Daniel' then for thesecond time in her life. She bade me be seated beside her. 'Daniel, ' shesaid, 'when I am gone, and father is gone, it is you who will take careof Richard. I sometimes believe all may not be well then, and that hewill need you. ' I knew she was thinking of Grafton, " said the captain. "'I have a little money of my own, Daniel, which I have saved latelywith this in view. I give it into your charge, and if trouble comes tohim, my old friend, you will use it as you see fit. '

"It was a bit under a thousand pounds, Richard. And when she died I putit out under Mr. Carroll's direction at safe interest. So that youhave enough to discharge your debt, and something saved against anotheremergency. "

He fell silent, sunk into one of those reveries which the memory of mymother awoke in him. My own thoughts drifted across the sea. I was againat the top of the stairs in Arlington Street, and feeling the dearestpresence in the world. The pale oval of Dorothy's face rose before meand the troubled depths of her blue eyes. And I heard once more thetremble in her voice as she confessed, in words of which she took noheed, that love for which I had sought in vain. 

The summer dusk was gathering. Outside, under the cherry trees, Isaw Banks holding forth to an admiring circle of negro 'ostlers. Andpresently Mr. Claude came in to say that Shaw, the town carpenter, andSol Mogg, the ancient sexton of St. Anne's, and several more of my oldacquaintances were without, and begged the honour of greeting me. 

CHAPTER XLIV. NOBLESSE OBLIGE

I lay that night in Captain Clapsaddle's lodgings opposite, and sleptsoundly. Banks was on hand in the morning to assist at my toilet, andwas greatly downcast when I refused him this privilege, for the firsttime. Captain Daniel was highly pleased with the honest fellow'sdevotion in following me to America. To cheer him he began to questionhim as to my doings in London, and the first thing of which Banks musttell was of the riding-contest in Hyde Park, which I had omitted. It iseasy to imagine how this should have tickled the captain, who always hadmy horsemanship at heart; and when it came to Chartersea's descent intothe Serpentine, I thought he would go into apoplexy. For he had put onflesh with the years. 

The news of my return had spread all over town, so that I had a dealmore handshaking to do when we went to the Coffee House for breakfast. All the quality were in the country, of course, save only four gentlemenof the local Patriots' committee, of which Captain Daniel was a member, and with whom he had an appointment at ten. It was Mr. Swain who arrivedfirst of the four. 

This old friend of my childhood was a quiet man (I may not havespecified), thin, and a little under stature, with a receding butthoughtful forehead. But he could express as much of joy and welcome inhis face and manner as could Captain Daniel with his heartier ways. 

"It does me good to see you, lad, " he said, pressing my hand. "I heardyou were home, and sent off an express to Patty and the mother lastnight. "

"And are they not here?" I asked, with disappointment. 

Mr. Swain smiled. 

"I have done a rash thing since I saw you, Richard, and bought a littleplantation in Talbot, next to Singleton's. It will be my ruin, " headded. "A lawyer has no business with landed ambitions. "

"A little plantation!" echoed the captain. "'Od's life, he has boughtone of his Lordship's own manors--as good an estate as there is in theprovince. "

"You overdo it, Daniel, " said he, reprovingly. 

At that moment there was a stir in the doorway, and in came Mr. Carroll, the barrister, and Mr. Bordley and Colonel Lloyd. These gentlemen gaveme such a welcome as those warm-hearted planters and lawyers knew how tobestow. 

"What, he!" cried Mr. Lloyd, "I'm stamped and taxed if it isn't youngRichard Carvel himself. Well, " says he, "I know one who will sleepeasier o' nights now, --one Clapsaddle. The gray hairs are forgot, Daniel. We had more to-do over your disappearance than when Mr. Worthington lost his musical nigger. Where a deuce have you been, sir?"

"He shall tell us when we come back, " said Mr. Bordley. "He has broughtour worthy association to a standstill once, and now we must proceedabout our business. Will you come, Richard? I believe you have provedyourself a sufficiently good patriot, and in this very house. "

We went down Church Street, I walking behind with Colonel Lloyd, and soproud to be in such company that I cared not a groat whether Graftonhad my acres or not. I remembered that the committee all wore plain andsober clothes, and carried no swords. Mr. Swain alone had a wig. I hadbeen away but seven months, and yet here was a perceptible change. Inthese dignified and determined gentlemen England had more to fear thanin all the mobs at Mr. Wilkes's back. How I wished that Charles Foxmight have been with me. 

The sun beat down upon the street. The shopkeepers were gathered attheir doors, but their chattering was hushed as the dreaded committeepassed. More than one, apparently, had tasted of its discipline. ColonelLloyd whispered to me to keep my countenance, that they were notafter very large game that morning, --only Chipchase, the butcher. And presently we came upon the rascal putting up his shutters in muchprecipitation, although it was noon. He had shed his blood-stained smockand breeches, and donned his Sunday best, --a white, thick-set coat, country cloth jacket, blue broadcloth breeches, and white shirt. Agrizzled cut wig sat somewhat awry under his bearskin hat. When heperceived Mr. Carroll at his shoulder, he dropped his shutter againstthe wall, and began bowing frantically. 

"You keep good hours, Master Chipchase, " remarked Colonel Lloyd. 

"And lose good customers, " Mr. Swain added laconically. 

The butcher wriggled. 

"Your honours must know there be little selling when the gentry beout of town. And I was to take a holiday to-day, to see my daughtermarried. "

"You will have a feast, my good man?" Captain Daniel asked. 

"To be sure, your honour, a feast. "

"And any little ewe-lambs?" says Mr. Bordley, very innocent. 

Master Chipchase turned the colour of his meat, and his wit failed him. 

"'Fourthly, '" recited Mr. Carroll, with an exceeding sober face, "'Fourthly, that we will not kill, or suffer to be killed, or sell, ordispose to any person whom we have reason to believe intends to kill, any ewe-lamb that shall be weaned before the first day of May, in anyyear during the time aforesaid. ' Have you ever heard anything of thatsound, Mr. Chipchase?"

Mr. Chipchase had. And if their honours pleased, he had a defence tomake, if their honours would but listen. And if their honours but knew, he was as good a patriot as any in the province, and sold his wool toPeter Psalter, and he wore the homespun in winter. Then Mr. Carrolldrew a paper from his pocket, and began to read: "Mr. Thomas Hincks, personally known to me, deposeth and saith, --"

Master Chipchase's knees gave from under him. 

"And your honours please, " he cried piteously, "I killed the lamb, but 'twas at Mr. Grafton Carvel's order, who was in town with hisExcellency. " (Here Mr. Swain and the captain glanced significantly atme. ) "And I lose Mr. Carvel's custom, there is twelve pounds odd gone ayear, your honours. And I am a poor man, sirs. "

"Who is it owns your shop, my man?" asks Mr. Bordley, very sternly. 

"Oh, I beg your honours will not have me put out--"

The wailing of his voice had drawn a crowd of idlers and brothershopkeepers, who seemed vastly to enjoy the knave's discomfiture. Amongst them I recognized my old acquaintance, Weld, now a rivalbutcher. He pushed forward boldly. 

"And your honours please, " said he, "he has sold lamb to half the Torygentry in Annapolis. "

"A lie!" cried Chipchase; "a lie, as God hears me!"

Now Captain Clapsaddle was one who carried his loves and his hatreds tothe grave, and he had never liked Weld since the day, six years gone by, he had sent me into the Ship tavern. And when Weld heard the captain'svoice he slunk away without a word. 

"Have a care, Master Weld, " says he, in a quiet tone that boded no good;"there is more evidence against you than you will like. "

Master Chipchase, after being frightened almost out of his senses, waspardoned this once by Captain Daniel's influence. We went thence to Mr. Hildreth's shop; he was suspected of having got tea out of a South Riversnow; then to Mr. Jackson's; and so on. 'Twas after two when we gotback to the Coffee House, and sat down to as good a dinner as Mr. Claudecould prepare. "And now, " cried Colonel Lloyd, "we shall have youradventures, Richard. I would that your uncle were here to listen tothem, " he added dryly. 

I recited them very much as I had done the night before, and I warrantyou, my dears, that they listened with more zest and eagerness than didMr. Walpole. But they were all shrewd men, and kept their suspicions, if they had any, to themselves. Captain Daniel would have me omitnothing, --my intimacy with Mr. Fox, the speech at Brooks's Club, and theriding-match at Hyde Park. 

"What say you to that, gentlemen?" he cried. "Egad, I'll be sworn hedeserves credit, --an arrant young spark out of the Colonies, scarceturned nineteen, defeating a duke of the realm on horseback, andpreaching the gospel of 'no taxation' at Brooks's Club! Nor the favourof Sandwich or March could turn him from his principles. "

Modesty, my dears, does not permit me to picture the enthusiasm of thesegood gentlemen, who bore the responsibility of the colony of Marylandupon their shoulders. They made more of me than I deserved. In vain didI seek to explain that if a young man was but well-born, and had a fullpurse and a turn for high play, his principles might go hang, for allMr. Fox cared. Colonel Lloyd commanded that the famous rose punch-bowlbe filled to the brim with Mr. Claude's best summer brew, and they drankmy health and my grandfather's memory. It mattered little to them that Iwas poor. They vowed I should not lose by my choice. Mr. Bordley offeredme a home, and added that I should have employment enough in the daysto come. Mr. Carroll pressed me likewise. And big-hearted Colonel Lloyddesired to send me to King's College, as was my grandfather's wish, where Will Fotheringay and my cousin Philip had been for a term. I mightmake a barrister of myself. Mr. Swain alone was silent and thoughtful, but I did not for an instant doubt that he would have done as much forme. 

Before we broke up for the evening the gentlemen plied me with questionsconcerning the state of affairs in England, and the temper of hisMajesty and Parliament. I say without vanity that I was able toenlighten them not a little, for I had learned a deeper lesson from theset into which I had fallen in London than if I had become the confidantof Rockingham himself. America was a long way from England in thosedays. I regretted that I had not arrived in London in time to witnessLord Chatham's dramatic return to politics in January, when he hadcompleted the work of Junius, and broken up the Grafton ministry. ButI told them of the debate I had heard in St. Stephen's, and made themlaugh over Mr. Fox's rescue of the King's friends, and the hustling ofMr. Burke from the Lords. 

They were very curious, too, about Mr. Manners; and I was put to muchingenuity to answer their queries and not reveal my own connection withhim. They wished to know if it were true that some nobleman had flung abottle at his head in a rage because Dorothy would not marry him, as Dr. Courtenay's letter had stated. I replied that it was so. I did not addthat it was the same nobleman who had been pitched into the Serpentine. Nor did I mention the fight at Vauxhall. I made no doubt these thingswould come to their ears, but I did not choose to be the one to tellthem. Mr. Swain remained after the other gentlemen, and asked me if Iwould come with him to Gloucester Street; that he had something to sayto me. We went the long way thither, and I was very grateful to himfor avoiding Marlboro' Street, which must needs bring me painfulrecollections. He said little on the way. 

I almost expected to see Patty come tripping down from the vine-coveredporch with her needlework in her hand, and the house seemed strangelyempty without her. Mr. Swain had his negro, Romney, place chairs forus under the apple tree, and bring out pipes and sangaree. The air wasstill, and heavy with the flowers' scent, and the sun was dipping behindthe low eaves of the house. It was so natural to be there that I scarcerealized all that had happened since last I saw the back gate in thepicket fence. Alas! little Patty would never more be smuggled through itand over the wall to Marlboro' Street. Mr. Swain recalled my thoughts. 

"Captain Clapsaddle has asked me to look into this matter of the will, Richard, " he began abruptly. "Altho' we thought never to see you again, we have hoped against hope. I fear you have little chance for yourproperty, my lad. "

I replied that Captain Daniel had so led me to believe, and thanked himfor his kindness and his trouble. 

"'Twas no trouble, " he replied quickly. "Indeed, I wish it might havebeen. I shall always think of your grandfather with reverence and withsorrow. He was a noble man, and was a friend to me, in spite of mypolitics, when other gentlemen of position would not invite me to theirhouses. It would be the greatest happiness of my life if I could restorehis property to you, where he would have had it go, and deprive thatvillain, your uncle, of the fruits of his crime. "

"Then there is nothing to be got by contesting the will?" I asked. 

He shook his head soberly. 

"I fear not at present, " said he, "nor can I with honesty hold out anyhope to you, Richard. Your uncle, by reason of his wealth, is a man ofundue influence with the powers of the colony. Even if he were not so, Idoubt greatly whether we should be the gainers. The will is undoubtedlygenuine. Mr. Carvel thought you dead, and we cannot prove undueinfluence by Grafton unless we also prove that it was he who caused yourabduction. Do you think you can prove that?"

"There is one witness, " I exclaimed, "who overheard my uncle and Mr. Allen talking of South River and Griggs, the master of the slaver, inthe stables at Carvel Hall. "

"And who is that?" demanded Mr. Swain, with more excitement than Ibelieved him capable of. 

"Old Harvey. "

Your grandfather's coachman? Alas, he died the day after Mr. Carvel, andwas buried the same afternoon. Have you spoken of this?"

"Not to a soul, " said I. 

"Then I would not. You will have to be very careful and say nothing, Richard. Let me hear what other reasons you have for believing that youruncle tried to do away with you. "

I told him, lucidly as possible, everything I have related in thesepages, and the admission of Griggs. He listened intently, shaking hishead now and then, but not a word out of him. 

"No, " he said at length, "nothing is there which will be admitted, butenough to damn him if you yourself might be a witness. I will give youthe law, briefly: descendible estates among us are of two kinds, estatesin fee simple and estates in fee tail. Had your grandfather died withouta will, his estate, which we suppose to be in fee simple, would havedescended to you as the son of his eldest son, according to the fourthof the canons of descent in Blackstone. But with us fee simple estatesare devisable, and Mr. Carvel was wholly within his right in cutting offthe line of his eldest son. Do you follow me?"

I nodded. 

"There is one chance, " he continued, "and that is a very slim one. Isaid that Mr. Carvel's estate was supposed to be in fee simple. Estates tail are not devisable. Our system of registration is far frominfallible, and sometimes an old family settlement turns up to provethat a property which has been willed out of the direct line, as infee simple, is in reality entailed. Is there a possibility of any suchdocument?"

I replied that I did not know. My grandfather had never brought up thesubject. 

"We must bend our efforts in that direction, " said the barrister. "Ishall have my clerks make a systematic search. "

He ceased talking, and sat sipping his sangaree in the abstracted mannercommon to him. I took the opportunity to ask about his family, thinkingabout what Dolly had said of Patty's illness. 

"The mother is as well as can be expected, Richard, and Patty veryrosy with the country air. Your disappearance was a great shock to themboth. "

"And Tom?"

He went behind his reserve. "Tom is a d--d rake, " he exclaimed, withsome vehemence. "I have given him over. He has taken up with thatmacaroni Courtenay, who wins his money, --or rather my money, --and yourcousin Philip, when he is home from King's College. How Tom can be sonof mine is beyond me, in faith. I see him about once in two months, whenhe comes here with a bill for his satins and his ruffles, and along faceof repentance, and a lot of gaming debts to involve my honour. And thatreminds me, Richard, " said he, looking straight at me with his clear, dark eyes: "have you made any plans for your future?"

I ventured to ask his advice as to entering the law. 

"As the only profession open to a gentleman, " he replied, smiling alittle. "No, you were no more cut out for an attorney, or a barrister, or a judge, than was I for a macaroni doctor. The time is not far away, my lad, " he went on, seeing my shame and confusion, "when an Americanmay amass money in any way he chooses, and still be a gentleman, behinda counter, if he will. "

"I do not fear work, Mr. Swain, " I remarked, with some pride. 

"That is what I have been thinking, " he said shortly. "And I am not aman to make up my mind while you count three, Richard. I have the placein Talbot, and no one to look after it. And--and in short I think youare the man. "

He paused to watch the effect of this upon me. But I was so taken abackby this new act of kindness that I could not say a word. 

"Tom is fast going to the devil, as I told you, " he continued. "Hecannot be trusted. If I die, that estate shall be Patty's, and he maynever squander it. Captain Daniel tells me, and Mr. Bordley also, thatyou managed at Carvel Hall with sense and ability. I know you are veryyoung, but I think I may rely upon you. "

Again he hesitated, eying me fixedly. 

"Ah, " said he, with his quiet smile, "it is the old noblesse oblige. Howmany careers has it ruined since the world began!"

CHAPTER XLV. THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES

I was greatly touched, and made Mr. Swain many awkward acknowledgments, which he mercifully cut short. I asked him for a while to think overhis offer. This seemed to please rather than displease him. And my firstimpulse on reaching the inn was to ask the captain's advice. I thoughtbetter of it however, and at length resolved to thrash out the matterfor myself. 

The next morning, as I sat reflecting, an overwhelming desire seized meto go to Marlboro' Street. Hitherto I could not have borne the sight ofthe old place. I gulped down my emotion as the gate creaked behind me, and made my way slowly to the white seat under the big chestnut behindthe house, where my grandfather had been wont to sit reading his prints, in the warm weather. The flowers and the hedges had grown to a certainwildness; and the smell of the American roses carried me back-as odourswill-to long-forgotten and trivial scenes. Here I had been caned many aday for Mr. Daaken's reports, and for earlier offences. And I recalledmy mother as she once ran out at the sound of my cries to beg me off. Sovivid was that picture that I could hear Mr. Carvel say: "He is yours, madam, not mine. Take him!"

I started up. The house was still, the sun blistering the green paint ofthe shutters. My eye was caught by those on the room that had been hers, and which, by my grandfather's decree, had lain closed since she leftit. The image of it grew in my mind: the mahogany bed with its poppycounterpane and creamy curtains, and the steps at the side by whichshe was wont to enter it; and the 'prie-dieu', whence her soul had beenlifted up to God. And the dresser with her china and silver upon it, covered by years of dust. For I had once stolen the key from Willis'sbunch, crept in, and crept out again, awed. That chamber would beprofaned, now, and those dear ornaments, which were mine, violated. Theimagination choked me. 

I would have them. I must. Nothing easier than to pry open a door orwindow in the north wing, by the ball-room. When I saw Grafton I wouldtell him. Nay, I would write him that day. I was even casting about mefor an implement, when I heard a step on the gravel beside me. 

I swung around, and came face to face with my uncle. 

He must have perceived me. And after the first shock of my surprise hadpassed, I remarked a bearing on him that I had not seen before. He wasmaster of the situation at last, --so it read. The realization gave himan easier speech than ever. 

"I thought I might find you here, Richard, " he said, "since you were notat the Coffee House. "

He did not offer me his hand. I could only stare at him, for I hadexpected anything but this. 

"I came from Carvel Hall to get you, " he proceeded smoothly enough. "I heard but yesterday of your return, and some of your miraculousadventures. Your recklessness has caused us many a trying day, Richard, and I believe killed your grandfather. You have paid dearly, and havemade us pay dearly, for your mad frolic of fighting cut-throats on thehighroad. "

The wonder was that I did not kill him on the spot. I cannot think whatpossessed the man, --he must have known me better. 

"My recklessness!" I shouted, fairly hoarse with anger. I paid no heedto Mr. Swain's warning. "You d--d scoundrel!" I cried, "it was youkilled him, and you know it. When you had put me out of the way andhe was in your power, you tortured him to death. You forced him to diealone with your sneering face, while your shrew of a wife counted cardsdownstairs. Grafton Carvel, God knows you better than I, who know youtwo well. And He will punish you as sure as the crack of doom. "

He heard me through, giving back as I came forward, his face blanchingonly a little, and wearing all the time that yellow smile which sofitted it. 

"You have finished?" says he. 

"Ay, I have finished. And now you may order me from this ground youhave robbed me of. But there are some things in that house you shall notsteal, for they are mine despite you. "

"Name them, Richard, " he said, very sorrowful. 

"The articles in my mother's room, which were hers. "

"You shall have them this day, " he answered. 

It was his way never to lose his temper, tho' he were called by thevilest name in the language. He must always assume this pious griefwhich made me long to throttle him. He had the best of me, even now, ashe took the great key from his pocket. 

"Will you look at them before you go?" he asked. 

At first I was for refusing. Then I nodded. He led the way silentlyaround by the front; and after he had turned the lock he stepped asidewith a bow to let me pass in ahead of him. Once more I was in thefamiliar hall with the stairs dividing at the back. It was cool afterthe heat, and musty, and a touch of death hung in the prisoned air. We paused for a moment on the landing, beside the high, triple-archedwindow which the branches tapped on windy winter days, while Graftontook down the bunch of keys from beside the clock. I thought of my deargrandfather winding it every Sunday, and his ruddy face and large figureas he stood glancing sidewise down at me. Then the sound of Grafton'sfeet upon the bare steps recalled the present. 

We passed Mr. Carvel's room and went down the little corridor over theball-room, until we came to the full-storied wing. My uncle flung openthe window and shutters opposite and gave me the key. A delicacy notforeign to him held him where he was. Time had sealed the door, and whenat last it gave before my strength, a shower of dust quivered in theray of sunlight from the window. I entered reverently. I took onlythe silverbound prayer-book, cast a lingering look at the old familiarobjects dimly defined, and came out and locked the door again. I saidvery quietly that I would send for the things that afternoon, for myanger was hushed by what I had seen. 

We halted together on the uncovered porch in front of the house, thathad a seat set on each side of it. Marlboro' Street was still, the widetrees which flanked it spreading their shade over walk and roadway. Nota soul was abroad in the midday heat, and the windows of the long houseopposite were sightless. 

"Richard, " said my uncle, staring ahead of him, "I came to offer you ahome, and you insult me brutally, as you have done unreproved all yourlife. And yet no one shall say of me that I shirk my duty. But first Imust ask you if there is aught else you desire of me. "

"The black boy, Hugo, is mine, " I said. I had no great love for Hugo, save for association's sake, and I had one too many servants as it was;but to rescue one slave from Grafton's clutches was charity. 

"You shall have him, " he replied, "and your chaise, and your wardrobe, and your horses, and whatever else I have that belongs to you. As I wassaying, I will not shirk my duty. The memory of my dear father, and ofwhat he would have wished, will not permit me to let you go a-begging. You shall be provided for out of the estate, despite what you have saidand done. "

This was surely the quintessence of a rogue's imagination. InstinctivelyI shrank from him. With a show of piety that 'turned me sick hecontinued:

"Let God witness that I carry out my father's will!"

"Stop there, Grafton Carvel!" I cried; "you shall not take His name invain. Under this guise of holiness you and your accomplice have done thedevil's own work, and the devil will reward you. "

This reference to Mr. Allen, I believe, frightened him. For a secondonly did he show it. 

"My--my accomplice, sir!" he stammered. And then righting himself: "Youwill have to explain this, by Heaven. "

"In ample time your plot shall be laid bare, and you and his Reverenceshall hang, or lie in chains. "

"You threaten, Mr. Carvel?" he shouted, nearly stepping off the porch inhis excitement. 

"Nay, I predict, " I replied calmly. And I went down the steps and outof the gate, he looking after me. Before I had turned the corner ofFreshwater Lane, he was in the seat, and fanning himself with his hat. 

I went straight to Mr. Swain's chambers in the Circle, where I found thegood barrister and Captain Daniel in their shirt-sleeves, seated betweenthe windows in the back room. Mr. Swain was grave enough when he heardof my talk with Grafton, but the captain swore I was my father's son(for the fiftieth time since I had come back), and that a man could nomore help flying at Grafton's face than Knipe could resist his legs; orCynthia his back, if he went into her stall. I had scarce finished myrecital, when Mr. Renwick, the barrister's clerk, announced Mr. Tucker, which caused Mr. Swain to let out a whistle of surprise. 

"So the wind blows from that quarter, Daniel, " said he. "I thought so. "

Mr. Tucker proved to be the pettifogger into whose hands Grafton had puthis affairs, taking them from Mr. Dulany at Mr. Carvel's death. The manwas all in a sweat, and had hardly got in the door before he began totalk. He had no less astonishing a proposition to make than this, whichhe enunciated with much mouthing of the honour and sense of duty ofMr. Grafton Carvel. His client offered to Mr. Richard Carvel the estatelying in Kent County, embracing thirty-three hundred acres more or lessof arable land and woodland, with a fine new house, together with theindented servants and negroes and other chattels thereon. Mr. RichardCarvel would observe that in making this generous offer for the welfareof his nephew, Mr. Tucker's client was far beyond the letter of hisobligations; wherefore Mr. Grafton Carvel made it contingent upon theacceptance of the estate that his nephew should sign a paper renouncingforever any claims upon the properties of the late Mr. Lionel Carvel. This condition was so deftly rolled up in law-Latin that I did notunderstand a word of it until Mr. Swain stated it very briefly inEnglish. His quiet laugh prodigiously disconcerted the pettifogger, whohad before been sufficiently ill at ease in the presence of the greatlawyer. Mr. Tucker blew his nose loudly to hide his confusion. 

"And what say you, Richard?" said Mr. Swain, without a shade of accentin his voice. 

I bowed my head. I knew that the honest barrister had read my heartwhen he spoke of noblesse oblige. That senseless pride of cast, sodeep-rooted in those born in our province, had made itself felt. To bea factor (so I thought, for I was young) was to renounce my birth. Untilthat moment of travail the doctrine of equality had seemed very prettyto me. Your fine gentleman may talk as nobly as he pleases over hisMadeira, and yet would patronize Monsieur Rousseau if he met him; and hetakes never a thought of those who knuckle to him every day, and cleanhis boots and collect his rents. But when he is tried in the fire, and told suddenly to collect some one else's rents and curse another'snegroes, he is fainthearted for the experiment. So it was with me whenI had to meet the issue. I might take Grafton's offer, and the chanceto marry Dorothy was come again. For by industry the owner of the Kentlands would become rich. 

The room was hot, and still save for the buzzing of the flies. When Ilooked up I discovered the eyes of all three upon me. 

"You may tell your client, Mr. Tucker, that I refuse his offer, " I said. 

He got to his feet, and with the customary declaration of humbleservitude bowed himself out. 

The door was scarce closed on him when the captain had me by the hands. 

"What said I, Henry?" he cried. "Did I not know the lad?"

Mr. Swain did not stir from his seat. He was still gazing at me with acurious expression. And then I saw the world in truer colour. This goodSamaritan was not only taking me into his home, but would fight formy rights with the strong brain that had lifted him out of poverty andobscurity. I stood, humbled before him. 

"I would accept your kindness, Mr. Swain, " I said, vainly trying tosteady my voice, "but I have the faithful fellow, Banks, who followedme here from England, dependant on me, and Hugo, whom I rescued from myuncle. I will make over the black to you and you will have him. "

He rose, brushed his eyes with his shirt, and took me by the arm. "Youand the captain dine with me to-day, " says he. "And as for Banks, Ithink that can be arranged. Now I have an estate, I shall need a trainedbutler, egad. I have some affairs to keep me in town to-day, Richard. But we'll be off for Cordon's Pride in the morning, and I know of onelittle girl will be glad to see us. "

We dined out under the apple tree in Gloucester Street. And the captainargued, in his hopeful way, that Tucker's visit betrayed a weak pointin Grafton's position. But the barrister shook his head and said thatGrafton was too shrewd a rogue to tender me an estate if he fearedme. It was Mr. Swain's opinion that the motive of my uncle was to puthimself in a good light; and perhaps, he added, there was a littlerevenge mixed therein, as the Kent estate was the one Mr. Carvel hadgiven him when he cast him off. 

A southerly wind was sending great rolls of fog before it as Mr. Swainand I, with Banks, crossed over to Kent Island on the ferry the nextmorning. We traversed the island, and were landed by the other ferry onthe soil of my native county, Queen Anne's. In due time we cantered pastMaster Dingley's tavern, the sight of which gave me a sharp pang, forit is there that the by-road turns over the bridge to Carvel Hall andWilmot House; and force of habit drew my reins to the right across thehorse's neck, so that I swerved into it. The barrister had no word ofcomment when I overtook him again. 

'Twas about two o'clock when we came to the gate Mr. Swain had erectedat the entrance to his place; the land was a little rolling, and partlywooded, like that on the Wye. But the fields were prodigiously unkempt. He drew up, and glanced at me. 

"You will see there is much to be done with such fallows as these, "said he. "The lessees from his Lordship were sportsmen rather thanhusbandmen, and had an antipathy to a constable or a sheriff like arat to a boar cat. That is the curse of some of your Eastern Shoregentlemen, especially in Dorchester, " he added; "they get to befishmongers. "

Presently we came in sight of the house, long and low, like the one inGloucester Street, with a new and unpainted wing just completed. Thatday the mist softened its outline and blurred the trees which clusteredabout it. Even as we swung into the circle of the drive a rounded andyouthful figure appeared in the doorway, gave a little cry, and stoodimmovable. It was Patty, in a striped dimity gown with the sleevesrolled up, and her face fairly shone with joy as I leaped from my horseand took her hands. 

"So you like my surprise, girl?" said her father, as he kissed herblushing face. 

For answer she tore herself away, and ran through the hall to the broadporch in front. 

"Our barrister is come, mother, " we heard her exclaiming, "and whom doyou think he has brought?"

"Is it Richard?" asked the gentler voice, more hastily than usual. 

I stepped out on the porch, where the invalid sat in her armchair. Shewas smiling with joy, too, and she held out her wasted hands and drew metoward her, kissing me on both cheeks. 

"I thank God for His goodness, " said she. 

"And the boy has come to stay, mother, " said her husband, as he stoopedover her. 

"To stay!" cries Patty. 

"Gordon's Pride is henceforth his home, " replied the barrister. "And nowI can return in peace to my musty law, and know that my plantation willbe well looked after. "

Patty gasped. 

"Oh, I am so glad!" said she, "I could almost rejoice that his unclecheated him out of his property. He is to be factor of Gordon's Pride?"

"He is to be master of Gordon's Pride, my dear, " says her father, smiling and tilting her chin; "we shall have no such persons as factorshere. "

At that the tears forced themselves into my own eyes. I turned away, and then I perceived for the first time the tall form of my old friend, Percy Singleton. 

"May I, too, bid you welcome, Richard, " said he, in his manly way; "andrejoice that I have got such a neighbour?"

"Thank you, Percy, " I answered. I was not in a state to say much more. 

"And now, " exclaims Patty, "what a dinner we shall have in theprodigal's honour! I shall make you all some of the Naples biscuit Mrs. Brice told me of. "

She flew into the house, and presently we heard her clear voice singingin the kitchen. 

CHAPTER XLVI. GORDON'S PRIDE

The years of a man's life that count the most are often those which maybe passed quickest in the story of it. And so I may hurry over the firstyears I spent as Mr. Swain's factor at Gordon's Pride. The task thatcame to my hand was heaven-sent. 

That manor-house, I am sure, was the tidiest in all Maryland, thanks toPatty's New England blood. She was astir with the birds of a morning, and near the last to retire at night, and happy as the days were long. She was ever up to her elbows in some dish, and her butter and herbiscuits were the best in the province. Little she cared to worksamplers, or peacocks in pretty wools, tho' in some way she foundthe time to learn the spinet. As the troubles with the mother countrythickened, she took to a foot-wheel, and often in the crisp autumnevenings I would hear the bumping of it as I walked to the house, andturn the knob to come upon her spinning by the twilight. She would haveno English-made linen in that household. "If mine scratch your back, Richard, " she would say, "you must grin and bear, and console yourselfwith your virtue. " It was I saw to the flax, and learned from IvieRawlinson (who had come to us from Carvel Hall) the best manner toripple and break and swingle it. And Mr. Swain, in imitation of thehigh example set by Mr. Bordley, had buildings put up for wheels and thelooms, and in due time kept his own sheep. 

If man or woman, white or black, fell sick on the place, it was Pattyherself who tended them. She knew the virtue of every herb in the bigchest in the storeroom. And at table she presided over her father'sguests with a womanliness that won her more admiration than mine. Nowthat the barrister was become a man of weight, the house was as crowdedas ever was Carvel Hall. Carrolls and Pacas and Dulanys and Johnsons, and Lloyds and Bordleys and Brices and Scotts and Jennings and Ridouts, and Colonel Sharpe, who remained in the province, and many more familiesof prominence which I have not space to mention, all came to Gordon'sPride. Some of these, as their names proclaim, were of the King's side;but the bulk of Mr. Swain's company were stanch patriots, and toastedMiss Patty instead of his Majesty. By this I do not mean that theylacked loyalty, for it is a matter of note that our colony loved KingGeorge. 

I must not omit from the list above the name of my good friend, CaptainClapsaddle. 

Nor was there lack of younger company. Betty Tayloe, who plied mewith questions concerning Dorothy and London, but especially about thedashing and handsome Lord Comyn; and the Dulany girls, and I know nothow many others. Will Fotheringay, when he was home from college, andArchie Brice, and Francis Willard (whose father was now in the Assembly)and half a dozen more to court Patty, who would not so much as look atthem. And when I twitted her with this she would redden and reply: "Iwas created for a housewife, sir, and not to make eyes from behind afan. " Indeed, she was at her prettiest and best in the dimity frock, with the sleeves rolled up. 

'Twas a very merry place, the manor of Gordon's Pride. A generous bowlof punch always stood in the cool hall, through which the south windsswept from off the water, and fruit and sangaree and lemonade were onthe table there. The manor had no ball-room, but the negro fiddlersplayed in the big parlour. And the young folks danced till supper time. In three months Patty's suppers grew famous in a colony where there wasno lack of good cooks. 

The sweet-natured invalid enjoyed these festivities in her quiet way, and often pressed me to partake. So did Patty beg me, and Mr. Swain. Perhaps a false sense of pride restrained me, but my duties held me allday in the field, and often into the night when there was curing to bedone, or some other matters of necessity. And for the rest, I thought Idetected a change in the tone of Mr. Fotheringay, and some others, tho'it may have been due to sensibility on my part. I would put up with nopatronage. 

There was no change of tone, at least, with the elder gentlemen. Theyplainly showed me an added respect. And so I fell into the habit, aftermy work was over, of joining them in their suppers rather than the sonsand daughters. There I was made right welcome. The serious conversationspiced with the wit of trained barristers and men of affairs bettersuited my changed condition of life. The times were sober, and for thosewho could see, a black cloud was on each horizon. 'Twas only a matterof months when the thunder-clap was to come-indeed, enough was going onwithin our own province to forebode a revolution. The Assembly to whichmany of these gentlemen belonged was in a righteous state of oppositionto the Proprietary and the Council concerning the emoluments of colonialofficers and of clergymen. Honest Governor Eden had the misfortune tosee the justice of our side, and was driven into a seventh state by hisattempts to square his conscience. Bitter controversies were wagingin the Gazette, and names were called and duels fought weekly. Forour cause "The First Citizen" led the van, and the able arguments andmoderate language of his letters soon identified him as Mr. CharlesCarroll of Carrollton, one of the greatest men Maryland has ever known. But even at Mr. Swain's, amongst his few intimate friends, Mr. Carrollcould never be got to admit his 'nom de guerre' until long after'Antilon' had been beaten. 

I write it with pride, that at these suppers I was sometimes asked tospeak; and, having been but lately to England, to give my opinion uponthe state of affairs there. Mr. Carroll honoured me upon two occasionswith his confidence, and I was made clerk to a little club they had, andkept the minutes in my own hand. 

I went about in homespun, which, if good enough for Mr. Bordley, wasgood enough for me. I rode with him over the estate. This gentlemanwas the most accomplished and scientific farmer we had in the province. Having inherited his plantation on Wye Island, near Carvel Hall, heresigned his duties as judge, and a lucrative practice, to turn all hisenergies to the cultivation of the soil. His wheat was as eagerly soughtafter as was Colonel Washington's tobacco. 

It was to Mr. Bordley's counsel that the greater part of my successwas due. He taught me the folly of ploughing with a fluke, --a custom towhich the Eastern Shore was wedded, pointing out that a double surfacewas thus exposed to the sun's rays; and explained at length why therewas more profit in small grain in that district than heavy tobacco. Hegave me Dr. Eliot's "Essays on Field Husbandry, " and Mill's "Husby, "which I read from cover to cover. And I went from time to time to visithim at Wye Island, when he would canter with me over that magnificentplantation, and show me with pride the finished outcome of hisexperiments. 

Mr. Swain's affairs kept him in town the greater part of the twelvemonths, and Mrs. Swain and Patty moved to Annapolis in the autumn. Butfor three years I was at Cordon's Pride winter and summer alike. Atthe end of that time I was fortunate enough to show my employer suchsubstantial results as to earn his commendation--ay, and his confidence, which was the highest token of that man's esteem. The moneys of theestate he left entirely at my order. And in the spring of '73, when theopportunity was suddenly offered to buy a thousand acres of excellentwheat land adjoining, I made the purchase for him while he was atWilliamsburg, and upon my own responsibility. 

This connected the plantation on the east with Singleton's. It had beenmy secret hope that the two estates might one day be joined in marriage. For of all those who came a-courting Patty, Percy was by far the best. He was but a diffident suitor; he would sit with me on the lawn eveningafter evening, when company was there, while Fotheringay and FrancisWillard made their compliments within, --silly flatteries, at which Pattylaughed. 

Percy kept his hounds, and many a run we had together' in the sparklingdays that followed the busy summer, when the crops were safe in thebottoms; or a quiet pipe and bottle in his bachelor's hall, after asoaking on the duck points. 

And this brings me to a subject on which I am loth to write. Where Mr. Singleton was concerned, Patty, the kindest of creatures, was crueltyitself. Once, when I had the effrontery to venture a word in his behalf, I had been silenced so effectively as to make my ears tingle. A thousandlittle signs led me to a conclusion which pained me more than I canexpress. Heaven is my witness that no baser feeling leads me to hint ofit here. Every day while the garden lasted flowers were in my room, andit was Banks who told me that she would allow no other hands than herown to place them by my bed. He got a round rating from me for violatingthe pledge of secrecy he had given her. It was Patty who made my shirts, and on Christmas knitted me something of comfort; who stood on thehorse-block in the early morning waving after me as I rode away, and atmy coming her eyes would kindle with a light not to be mistaken. 

None of these things were lost upon Percy Singleton, and I oftenwondered why he did not hate me. He was of the kind that never shows ahurt. Force of habit still sent him to Gordon's Pride, but for days hewould have nothing to say to the mistress of it, or she to him. 

CHAPTER XLVII. VISITORS

It was not often that Mr. Thomas Swain honoured Gordon's Pride with hispresence. He vowed that the sober Whig company his father brought theregave him the vapours. He snapped his fingers at the articles of thePatriots' Association, and still had his cocked hats and his Brusselslace and his spyglass, and his top boots when he rode abroad, like anyother Tory buck. His intimates were all of the King's side, --of theworst of the King's side, I should say, for I would not be thought tocast any slur on the great number of conscientious men of that party. But, being the son of one of the main props of the Whigs, Mr. Tom wentunpunished for his father's sake. He was not uncondemned. 

Up to 1774, the times that Mr. Swain mentioned his son to me mightbe counted on the fingers of one hand. It took not a great deal ofshrewdness to guess that he had paid out many a pretty sum to keep Tom'shonour bright: as bright, at least, as such doubtful metal would polish. Tho' the barrister sought my ear in many matters, I never heard awhimper out of him on this score. 

Master Tom had no ambition beyond that of being a macaroni; hiseasy-going nature led him to avoid alike trouble and responsibility. Hence he did not bother his head concerning my position. He appearedwell content that I should make money out of the plantation for him tospend. His visits to Gordon's Pride were generally in the late autumn, and he brought his own company with him. I recall vividly his thirdor fourth appearance, in October of '73. Well I may! The family waspreparing to go to town, and this year I was to follow them, and takefrom Mr. Swain's shoulders some of his private business, for he had beenailing a little of late from overwork. 

The day of which I have spoken a storm had set in, the rain falling insheets. I had been in the saddle since breakfast, seeing to an hundredrepairs that had to be made before the cold weather. 'Twas near themiddle of the afternoon when I pulled up before the weaving house. Thelooms were still, and Patty met me at the door with a grave look, whichI knew portended something. But her first words were of my comfort. 

"Richard, will you ever learn sense? You have been wet all day long, andhave missed your dinner. Go at once and change your clothes, sir!" shecommanded severely. 

"I have first to look at the warehouse, where the roof is leaking, " Iexpostulated. 

"You shall do no such thing, " replied she, "but dry yourself, and marchinto the dining room. We have had the ducks you shot yesterday, and someof your experimental hominy; but they are all gone. "

I knew well she had laid aside for me some dainty, as was her habit. I dismounted. She gave me a quick, troubled glance, and said in a lowvoice:

"Tom is come. And oh, I dare not tell you whom he has with him now!"

"Courtenay?" I asked. 

"Yes, of coarse. I hate the sight of the man. But your cousin, PhilipCarvel, is here, Richard. Father will be very angry. And they are makinga drinking-tavern of the house. "

I gave Firefly a slap that sent her trotting stable-ward, and walkedrapidly to the house. I found the three of them drinking in the hall, the punch spilled over the table, and staining the cards. 

"Gad's life!" cries Tom, "here comes Puritan Richard, in his broad rim. How goes the crop, Richard? 'Twill have to go well, egad, for I lost anhundred at the South River Club last week!"

Next him sat Philip, whom I had not seen since before I was carried off. He was lately come home from King's College; and very mysteriously, hisfather giving out that his health was not all it should be. He had notgained Grafton's height, but he was broader, and his face had somethingin it of his father. He had his mother's under lip and complexion. Grafton was sallow; Philip was a peculiar pink, --not the ruddy pink ofheartier natures, like my grandfather's, nor yet had he the peach-likeskin of Mr. Dix. Philip's was a darker and more solid colour, and I havenever seen man or woman with it and not mistrusted them. He wore a redvelvet coat embroidered with gold, and as costly ruffles as I had everseen in London. But for all this my cousin had a coarse look, and hispolished blue flints of eyes were those of a coarse man. 

He got to his feet as Tom spoke, looking anywhere but at me, and cameforward slowly. He was loyal to no one, was Philip, not even to hisfather. When he was got within three paces he halted. 

"How do you, cousin?" says he. 

"A little wet, as you perceive, Philip, " I replied. 

I left him and stood before the fire, my rough wool steaming in theheat. He sat down again, a little awkwardly; and the situation began toplease me better. 

"How do you?" I asked presently. 

"I have got a devilish cold, " said he. "Faith, I'll warrant the doctorwill be sworn I have been but indifferent company since we left theHall. Eh, doctor?"

Courtenay, with his feet stretched out, bestowed an amiable but languidwink upon me, as much as to say that I knew what Mr. Philip's companywas at best. When I came out after my dinner, they were still sittingthere, Courtenay yawning, and Tom and Philip wrangling over last night'splay. 

"Come, my man of affairs, join us a hand!" says the doctor to me. "Ihave known the time when you would sit from noon until supper. "

"I had money then, " said I. 

"And you have a little now, or I am cursed badly mistook. Oons! what doyou fear?" he exclaimed, "you that have played with March and Fox?"

"I fear nothing, doctor, " I answered, smiling. "But a man must have asorry honour when he will win fifty pounds with but ten of capital. "

"One of Dr. Franklin's maxims, I presume, " says he, with sarcasm. 

"And if it were, it could scarce be more pat, " I retorted. "'Tis PoorRichard's maxim. "

"O lud! O my soul!" cries Tom, with a hiccup and a snigger; "'tis timeyou made another grand tour, Courtenay. Here's the second Whig has gotin on you within the week!"

"Thank God they have not got me down to osnabrig and bumbo yet, " repliesthe doctor. Coming over to me by the fire, he tapped my sleeve and addedin a low tone: "Forbearance with such a pair of asses is enough to makea man shed bitter tears. But a little of it is necessary to keep out ofdebt. You and I will play together, against both the lambs, Richard. Oneof them is not far from maudlin now. "

"Thank you, doctor, " I answered politely, "but I have a better way tomake my living. " In three years I had learned a little to control mytemper. 

He shrugged his thin shoulders. "Eh bien, mon bon, " says he, "I dareswear you know your own game better than do I. " And he cast a look upthe stairs, of which I quite missed the meaning. Indeed, I was whollyindifferent. The doctor and his like had passed out of my life, and Ibelieved they were soon to disappear from our Western Hemisphere. Thereport I had heard was now confirmed, that his fortune was dissipated, and that he lived entirely off these young rakes who aspired to bemacaronies. 

"Since your factor is become a damned Lutheran, Tom, " said he, returningto the table and stripping a pack, "it will have to be picquet. Youpromised me we could count on a fourth, or I had never left Inman's. "

It was Tom, as I had feared, who sat down unsteadily opposite. Philiplounged and watched them sulkily, snuffing and wheezing and dipping intothe bowl, and cursing the house for a draughty barn. I took a pipeon the settle to see what would come of it. I was not surprised thatCourtenay lost at first, and that Tom drank the most of the punch. Norwas it above half an hour before the stakes were raised and the tidebegan to turn in the doctor's favour. 

"A plague of you, Courtenay!" cries Mr. Tom, at length, flinging downthe cards. His voice was thick, while the Selwyn of Annapolis was neversoberer in his life. Tom appealed first to Philip for the twenty poundshe owed him. 

"You know how damned stingy my father is, curse you, " whined my cousin, in return. "I told you I should not have it till the first of themonth. "

Tom swore back. He thrust his hands deep in his pockets and sank intothat attitude of dejection common to drunkards. Suddenly he pulledhimself up. 

"'Shblood! Here's Richard t' draw from. Lemme have fifty pounds, Richard. "

"Not a farthing, " I said, unmoved. 

"You say wha' shall be done with my father's money!" he cried. "I calltha' damned cool--Gad's life! I do. Eh, Courtenay?"

Courtenay had the sense not to interfere. 

"I'll have you dishcharged, Gads death! so I will!" he shouted. "Nodamned airs wi' me, Mr. Carvel. I'll have you know you're not wha' youonce were, but, only a cursht oversheer. "

He struggled to his feet, forgot his wrath on the instant, and began tosing drunkenly the words of a ribald air. I took him by both shouldersand pushed him back into his chair. 

"Be quiet, " I said sternly; "while your mother and sister are here youshall not insult them with such a song. " He ceased, astonished. "And asfor you, gentlemen, " I continued, "you should know better than to make aplace of resort out of a gentleman's house. "

Courtenay's voice broke the silence that followed. 

"Of all the cursed impertinences I ever saw, egad!" he drawled. "Is thisyour manor, Mr. Carvel? Or have you a seat in Kent?"

I would not have it in black and white that I am an advocate offighting. But a that moment I was in the mood when it does not mattermuch one way or the other. The drunken man carried us past the point. 

"The damned in--intriguing rogue'sh worked himself into my father'sgrashes, " he said, counting out his words. "He'sh no more Whig than me. I know'sh game, Courtenay--he wants t' marry Patty. Thish place'll behers. "

The effect upon me of these words, with all their hideous implication ofgossip and scandal, was for an instant benumbing. The interpretationof the doctor's innuendo struck me then. I was starting forward, witha hand open to clap over Tom's mouth, when I saw the laugh die onCourtenay's face, and him come bowing to his legs. I turned with astart. 

On the stairs stood Patty herself, pale as marble. 

"Come with me, Tom, " she said. 

He had obeyed her from childhood. This time he tried, and failedmiserably. 

"Beg pardon, Patty, " he stammered, "no offensh meant. Thish factorthinks h' ownsh Gordon's now. I say, not'll h' marries you. Good fellow, Richard, but infernal forward. Eh, Courtenay?"

Philip turned away, while the doctor pretended to examine the silverpunch-ladle. As for me, I could only stare. It was Patty who kept herhead, and made us a stately curtsey. 

"Will you do me the kindness, gentlemen, " said she, "to leave me with mybrother?"

We walked silently into the parlour, and I closed the door. 

"Slife!" cried Courtenay, "she's a vision. What say you, Philip? And Imight see her in that guise again, egad, I would forgive Tom his fivehundred crowns!"

"A buxom vision, " agreed my cousin, "but I vow I like 'em so. " He hadforgotten his cold. 

"This conversation is all of a piece with the rest of your conduct, "said I, hotly. 

The candles were burning brightly in the sconces. The doctor walked tothe glass, took snuff, and burnished his waistcoat before he answered. 

"Sure, a fortune lies under every virtue we assume, " he recited. "Butshe is not for you, Richard, " says he, tapping his box. 

"Mr. Carvel, if you please, " I replied. I felt the demon within me. ButI had the sense to realize that a quarrel with Dr. Courtenay, underthe circumstances, would be far from wise. He had no intention ofquarrelling, however. He made me a grand bow. 

"Mr. Carvel, your very obedient. Hereafter I shall know better than toforget myself with an overseer. " And he gave me his back. "What say youto a game of billiards, Philip?"

Philip seemed glad to escape. And soon I heard their voices, minglingwith the click of the balls. There followed for me one of the bitteresthalf hours I have had in my life. Then Patty opened the hall door. 

"Will you come in for a moment, Richard?" she said, quite calmly. 

I followed her, wondering at the masterful spirit she had shown. Forthere was Tom all askew in his chair, his feet one way and his handsanother, totally subdued. What was most to the point, he made me anelaborate apology. How she had sobered his mind I know not. His body wasas helpless as the day he was born. 

Long before the guests thought of rising the next morning, Patty came tome as I was having the mare saddled. The sun was up, and the clouds werebeing chased, like miscreants who have played their prank, and were nowrunning for it. The sharp air brought the red into her cheeks. And forthe first time in her life with me she showed shyness. She glanced upinto my face, and then down at the leaves running on the ground. 

"I hope they will go to-day, " said she, when I was ready to mount. 

I began to tighten the girths, venting my feelings on Firefly until theanimal swung around and made a vicious pass at my arm. 

"Richard!"

"Yes. "

"You will not worry over that senseless speech of Tom's?"

"I see it in a properer light now, Patty, " I replied. "I usually do--inthe morning. "

She sighed. 

"You are so--high-strung, " she said, "I was afraid you would--"

"I would--?"

She did not answer until I had repeated. 

"I was very silly, " she said slowly, her colour mounting even higher, " Iwas afraid that you would--leave us. " Stroking the mare's neck, and witha little halt in her voice, "I do not know what we should do withoutyou. "

Indeed, I was beginning to think I would better leave, though where Ishould go was more than I could say. With a quick intuition she caughtmy hand as I put foot in the stirrup. 

"You will not go away!" she cried. "Say you will not! What would poorfather do? He is not so well as he used to be. "

The wild appeal in her eyes frightened me. It was beyond resisting. Ingreat agitation I put my foot to the ground again. 

"Patty, I should be a graceless scamp in truth, " I exclaimed. "I do notforget that your father gave me a home when mine was taken away, and hasmade me one of his family. I shall thank God if I can but lighten someof his burdens. "

But they did not depart that day, nor the next; nor, indeed, for a weekafter. For Philip's cold brought on a high fever. He stuck to his bed, and Patty herself made broth and dainties for him, and prescribed himmedicine out of the oak chest whence had come so much comfort. At firstPhilip thought he would die, and forswore wine and cards, and some otherthings the taste for which he had cultivated, and likewise worse vicesthat had come to him by nature. 

I am greatly pleased to write that the stay profited the gallant Dr. Courtenay nothing. Patty's mature beauty and her manner of carrying offthe episode in the hall had made a deep impression upon the Censor. Iread the man's mind in his eye; here was a match to mend his fortunes, and do him credit besides. However, his wit and his languishingglances and double meanings fell on barren ground. No tire-woman on theplantation was busier than Patty during the first few days of his stay. After that he grew sulky and vented his spleen on poor Tom, winning moremoney from him at billiards and picquet. Since the doctor was too muchthe macaroni to ride to hounds and to shoot ducks, time began to hangexceeding heavy on his hands. 

Patty and I had many a quiet laugh over his predicament. And, to addzest to the situation, I informed Singleton of what was going forward. He came over every night for supper, and to my delight the bluffEnglishman was received in a fashion to make the doctor writhe and snortwith mortification. Never in his life had he been so insignificant aperson. And he, whose conversation was so sought after in the gay seasonin town, was thrown for companionship upon a scarce-grown boy whosetalk was about as salted, and whose intellect as great, as those of thecockerouse in our fable. He stood it about a se'nnight, at the end ofwhich space Philip was put on his horse, will-he-nill-he, and made toride northward. 

I sat with my cousin of an evening as he lay in bed. Not, I own, fromany charity on my part, but from other motives which do me no credit. The first night he confessed his sins, and they edified me not a little. On the second he was well enough to sit up and swear, and to vow thatMiss Swain was an angel; that he would marry her the very next week andhis father Grafton were not such a stickler for family. 

"Curse him, " says his dutiful and loyal son, "he is so bally stingy withmy stipend that I am in debt to half the province. And I say it myself, Richard, he has been a blackguard to you, tho' I allow him some littleexcuse. You were faring better now, my dear cousin, and you had notgiven him every reason to hate you. For I have heard him declare morethan once 'pon my soul, I have--that he would rather you were his friendthan his enemy. "

My contempt for Philip kept me silent here. I might quarrel withGrafton, who had sense enough to feel pain at a well deserved thrust. Philip had not the intelligence to recognize insult from compliment. Itwas but natural he should mistake my attitude now. He leaned forward inhis bed. 

"Hark you, Richard, " whispers he, with a glance at the door, "I mighttell you some things and I chose, and--and it were worth my while. "

"Worth your while?" I repeated vaguely. 

He traced nervously the figures on the counterpane. Next came a rush ofanger to redden his face. 

"By Gad, I will tell you. Swear to Gad I will. " Then, the littlecunning inherited from his father asserting itself, he added, "Look you, Richard, I am the son of one of the richest men in the colony, and Iget the pittance of a backwoods pastor. I tell you 'tis not to be bornewith. And I am not of as much consideration at the Hall as Brady, theIrish convict, who has become overseer. "

I little wondered at this. Philip sank back, and for some moments eyedme between narrowed lids. He continued presently with shortened breath:

"I have evidence--I have evidence to get you back a good share of theestate, which my father will never miss. And I will do it, " he cries, suddenly bold, "I will do it for three thousand pounds down when youreceive it. "

This was why he had come with Tom to Talbot! I was so dumfounded thatmy speech was quite taken away. Then I got up and began pacing the room. Was it not fair to fight a scoundrel with his own weapons? Here at lastwas the witness Mr. Swain had been seeking so long, come of his own freewill. Then--Heaven help me!--my mind flew on. As time had passed I hadmore than once regretted refusing the Kent plantation, which had puther from whom my thought never wandered within my reach again. Good Mr. Swain had erred for once. 'Twas foolish, indeed, not to accept a portionof what was rightfully mine, when no more could be got. And now, if whatPhilip said was true (and I doubted it not), here at last was the chancecome again to win her without whom I should never be happy. I glanced atmy cousin. 

"Gad's life!" says he, "it is cheap enough. I might have asked youdouble. "

"So you might, and have been refused, " I cried hotly. For I believe thatspeech of his recalled me to my senses. It has ever been an instinctwith me that no real prosperity comes out of double-dealing. Andcommerce with such a sneak sickened me. "Go back to your father, Philip, and threaten him, and he may make you rich. Such as he live byblackmail. And you may add, and you will, that the day of retribution iscoming for him. "

CHAPTER XLVIII. MULTUM IN PARVO

I lost no time after getting to Annapolis in confiding to Mr. Swain theconversation I had had with my cousin Philip. And I noticed, as he satlistening to my account in the library in Gloucester Street, that thebarrister looked very worn. He had never been a strong man, andthe severe strain he had been under with the patriots' business wasbeginning to tell. 

He was very thoughtful when I had finished, and then told me brieflythat I had done well not to take the offer. "Tucker would have madebut short work of such evidence, my lad, " said he, "and I think MasterPhilip would have lied himself in and out a dozen times. I cannot thinkwhat witness he would have introduced save Mr. Allen. And there isscarcely a doubt that your uncle pays him for his silence, for I am toldhe is living in Frederick in a manner far above what he gets from theparish. However, Philip has given us something more to work on. It maybe that he can put hands on the messenger. "

I rose to go. 

"We shall bring them to earth yet, Richard, and I live, " he added. "AndI have always meant to ask you whether you ever regretted your decisionin taking Gordon's Pride. "

"And you live, sir!" I exclaimed, not heeding the question. 

He smiled somewhat sadly. 

"Of one thing I am sure, my lad, " he continued, "which is that I havehad no regrets about taking you. Mr. Bordley has just been here, andtells me you are the ablest young man in the province. You see that moreeyes than mine are upon you. You have proved yourself a man, Richard, and there are very few macaronies would have done as you did. I amresolved to add another little mite to your salary. "

The "little mite" was of such a substantial nature that I protestedstrongly against it. I thought of Tom's demands upon him. 

"I could afford to give you double for what you have made off theplace, " he interrupted. "But I do not believe in young men having toomuch. " He sighed, and turned to his work. 

I hesitated. "You have spent time and labour upon my case, sir, and haveasked no fee. "

"I shall speak of the fee when I win it, " he said dryly, "and notbefore. How would you like to be clerk this winter to the Committee ofCorrespondence?"

I suppose my pleasure was expressed in my face. 

"Well, " said he, "I have got you the appointment without muchdifficulty. There are many ways in which you can be useful to the partywhen not helping me with my affairs. "

This conversation gave me food for reflection during a week. I wastroubled about Mr. Swain, and what he had said as to not living keptrunning in my head as I wrote or figured. For I had enough to hold mebusy. 

In the meantime, the clouds fast gathering on both sides of the Atlanticgrew blacker, and blacker still. I saw a great change in Annapolis. Menof affairs went about with grave faces, while gay and sober alike weretouched by the spell. The Tory gentry, to be sure, rattled about intheir gilded mahogany coaches, in spite of jeers and sour looks. My AuntCaroline wore jewelled stomachers to the assemblies, --now become dry andshrivelled entertainments. She kept her hairdresser, had three men inlivery to her chair, and a little negro in Turk's costume to wait onher. I often met her in the streets, and took a fierce joy in staringher, in the eye. And Grafton! By a sort of fate I was continuallyrunning against him. He was a very busy man, was my uncle, and had akind of dignified run, which he used between Marlboro' Street and theCouncil Chamber in the Stadt House, or the Governor's mansion. Henever did me the honour to glance at me. The Rev. Mr. Allen, too, camea-visiting from Frederick, where he had grown stout as an alderman uponthe living and its perquisites and Grafton's additional bounty. Thegossips were busy with his doings, for he had his travelling-coach andservant now. He went to the Tory balls with my aunt. Once I all butencountered him on the Circle, but he ran into Northeast Street to avoidme. 

Yes, that was the winter when the wise foresaw the inevitable, and thefirst sharp split occurred between men who had been brothers. The oldorder of things had plainly passed, and I was truly thankful that mygrandfather had not lived to witness those scenes. The greater part ofour gentry stood firm for America's rights, and they had behind them thebest lawyers in America. After the lawyers came the small plantersand most of the mechanics. The shopkeepers formed the backbone of KingGeorge's adherents; the Tory gentry, the clergy, and those holdingoffice under the proprietor made the rest. 

And it was all about tea, a word which, since '67, had been steadilybecoming the most vexed in the language. The East India Company had putforth a complaint. They had Heaven knows how many tons getting stalein London warehouses, all by reason of our stubbornness, and so it wasenacted that all tea paying the small American tax should have a rebateof the English duties. That was truly a master-stroke, for Parliament togive it us cheaper than it could be had at home! To cause his Majesty'sgovernment to lose revenues for the sake of being able to say they hadcaught and taxed us at last! The happy result is now history, my dears. And this is not a history, tho' I wish it were. What occurred at Boston, at Philadelphia, and Charleston, has since caused Englishmen, as wellas Americans, to feel proud. The chief incident in Annapolis I shallmention in another chapter. 

When it became known with us that several cargoes were on their wayto the colonies, excitement and indignation gained a pitch not reachedsince the Stamp Act. Business came to a standstill, plantations layidle, and gentry and farmers flocked to Annapolis, and held meetings andmade resolutions anew. On my way of a morning from Mr. Swain's houseto his chambers in the Circle I would meet as many as a dozen knots ofpeople. Mr. Claude was one of the few patriots who reaped reward out ofthe disturbance, for his inn was crowded. The Assembly met, appointedcommittees to correspond with the other colonies, and was proroguedonce and again. Many a night I sat up until the small hours copyingout letters to the committees of Virginia, and Pennsylvania, andMassachusetts. The gentlemen were wont to dine at the Coffee House, andI would sit near the foot of the table, taking notes of their plans. 'Twas so I met many men of distinction from the other colonies. ColonelWashington came once. He was grown a greater man than ever, and Ithought him graver than when I had last seen him. I believe a trait ofthis gentleman was never to forget a face. 

"How do you, Richard?" said he. How I reddened when he called me sobefore all the committee. "I have heard your story, and it does you vastcredit. And the gentlemen tell me you are earning laurels, sir. "

That first winter of the tea troubles was cold and wet with us, and thesun, as if in sympathy with the times, rarely showed his face. Early inFebruary our apprehensions concerning Mr. Swain's health were realized. One day, without a word to any one, he went to his bed, where Pattyfound him. And I ran all the way to Dr. Leiden's. The doctor looked athim, felt his pulse and his chest, and said nothing. But he did not restthat night, nor did Patty or I. 

Thus I came to have to do with the good barrister's private affairs. Iknew that he was a rich man, as riches went in our province, but I hadnever tried to guess at his estate. I confess the sums he had paid outin Tom's behalf frightened me. With the advice of Mr. Bordley andMr. Lloyd I managed his money as best I could, but by reason ofthe non-importation resolutions there was little chance for goodinvestments, --no cargoes coming and few going. I saw, indeed, thatbuying the Talbot estate had been a fortunate step, since the quantitiesof wheat we grew there might be disposed of in America. 

When Dr. Leiden was still coming twice a day to Gloucester Street, Mr. Tom must needs get into a scrape with one of the ladies of the theatre, and come to me in the Circle chambers for one hundred pounds. I toldhim, in despair, that I had no authority to pay out his father's money. "And so you have become master, sure enough!" he cried, in a passion. For he was desperate. "You have worked your way in vastly well, egad, with your Whig committee meetings and speeches. And now he is on hisback, and you have possession, you choose to cut me off. 'Slife, I knowwhat will be coming next!"

I pulled him into Mr. Swain's private room, where we would be free ofthe clerks. "Yes, I am master here, " I replied, sadly enough, as hestood sullenly before me. "I should think you would be ashamed to ownit. When I came to your father I was content to be overseer in Talbot, and thankful for his bounty. 'Tis no fault of mine, but your disgrace, that his son is not managing his business, and supporting him in therights of his country. I am not very old, Tom. A year older than you, Ibelieve. But I have seen enough of life to prophesy your end and you donot reform. "

"We are turned preacher, " he says, with a sneer. 

"God forbid! But I have been in a sponging-house, and tasted the lowestdregs. And if this country becomes free, as I think it will some day, such as you will be driven to England, and die in the Fleet. "

"Not while my father lives, " retorts he, and throws aside the oiledsilk cape with a London name upon it. The day was rainy. I groaned. Myresponsibility lay heavy upon me. And this was not my first scene withhim. He continued doggedly:--"You have no right to deny me what is notyours. 'Twill be mine one day. "

"You have no right to accuse me of thoughts that do not occur to men ofhonour, " I replied. "I am slower to anger than I once was, but I giveyou warning now. Do you know that you will ruin your father in anotheryear and you continue?"

He gave me no answer. I reached for the ledger, and turning the pages, called off to him the sums he had spent. 

"Oh, have done, d--n it!" he cried, when I was not a third through. "Areyou or are you not to give me the money?"

"And you are to spend it upon an actress?" I should have called her by aworse name. 

"Actress!" he shouted. "Have you seen her in The Orphan? My soul, sheis a divinity!" Then he shifted suddenly to whining and cringing. "I amruined outright, Richard, if I do not get it. "

Abjectly he confessed the situation, which had in it enough materialfor a scandal to set the town wagging for a month. And the weight of itwould fall; as I well knew, upon those who deserved it least. 

"I will lend you the money, or, rather, will pay it for you, " I said, atlast. For I was not so foolish as to put it into his hands. "You shallhave the sum under certain conditions. "

He agreed to them before they were out of my mouth, and swore in a dozenways that he would repay me every farthing. He was heartily tired of thecreature, and, true to his nature, afraid of her. That night when theplay was over I went to her lodging, and after a scene too distressingto dwell upon, bought her off. 

I sat with Mr. Swain many an hour that spring, with Patty sewing at thewindow open to the garden. Often, as we talked, unnoticed by her fathershe would drop her work and the tears glisten in her eyes. For thebarrister's voice was not as strong as it once was, and the cold wouldnot seem to lift from his chest. So this able man, who might have satin the seats of Maryland's high reward, was stricken when he was neededmost. 

He was permitted two visitors a day: now 'twas Mr. Carroll and ColonelLloyd, again Colonel Tilghman and Captain Clapsaddle, or Mr. Yaca andMr. Bordley. The gentlemen took turns, and never was their business sopressing that they missed their hour. Mr. Swain read all the prints, andin his easier days would dictate to me his views for the committee, ora letter signed Brutes for Mr. Green to put in the Gazette. So I becamehis mouthpiece at the meetings, and learned to formulate my thoughts andto speak clearly. 

For fear of confusing this narrative, my dears, I have referred butlittle to her who was in my thoughts night and day, and whose locket Iwore, throughout all those years, next my heart. I used to sit out underthe stars at Gordon's Pride, with the river lapping at my feet, andpicture her the shining centre of all the brilliant scenes I had left, and wonder if she still thought of me. 

Nor have I mentioned that faithful correspondent, and more faithfulfriend, Lord Comyn. As soon as ever I had obtained from Captain Danielmy mother's little inheritance, I sent off the debt I owed his Lordship. 'Twas a year before I got him to receive it; he despatched the moneyback once, saying that I had more need of it than he. I smiled at this, for my Lord was never within his income, and I made no doubt he hadsigned a note to cover my indebtedness. 

Every letter Comyn writ me was nine parts Dolly, and the rest of hissheet usually taken up with Mr. Fox and his calamities: these had fallenupon him very thick of late. Lord Holland had been forced to pay out ahundred thousand pounds for Charles, and even this enormous sum did notentirely free Mr. Fox from the discounters and the hounds. The reasonfor this sudden onslaught was the birth of a boy to his brother Stephen, who was heir to the title. "When they told Charles of it, " Comyn wrote, "said he, coolly: 'My brother Ste's son is a second Messiah, born forthe destruction of the Jews. '"

I saw no definite signs, as yet, of the conversion of this prodigy, which I so earnestly hoped for. He had quarrelled with North, lost hisplace on the Admiralty, and presently the King had made him a Lord ofthe Treasury, tho' more out of fear than love. Once in a while, when hesaw Comyn at Almack's, he would desire to be remembered to me, and healways spoke of me with affection. But he could be got to write to noone, said my Lord, with kind exaggeration; nor will he receive letters, for fear he may get a dun. 

Alas, I got no message from Dorothy! Nor had she ever mentioned my nameto Comyn. He had not seen her for eight months after I left England, as she had been taken to the Continent for her health. She came back toLondon more ravishing than before, and (I use his Lordship's somewhatextravagant language) her suffering had stamped upon her face even moreof character and power. She had lost much of her levity, likewise. Inshort, my Lord declared, she was more of the queen than ever, and themystery which hung over the Vauxhall duel had served only to add to herfame. 

Dorothy having become cognizant of Mr. Marmaduke's trickery, Charterseaseemed to have dropped out of the race. He now spent his time veryevenly between Spa and Derresley and Paris. Hence I had so much tobe thankful for, --that with all my blunders, I had saved her from hisGrace. My Lord the Marquis of Wells was now most conspicuous amongst hersuitors. Comyn had nothing particular against this nobleman, saying thathe was a good fellow, with a pretty fortune. And here is a letter, my dears, in which he figures, that I brought to Cordon's Pride thatspring:

 "10 SOUTH PARADE, BATH, "March 12, 1774. 

 "DEAR RICHARD:--Miss Manners has come to Bath, with a train behind her longer than that which followed good Queen Anne hither, when she made this Gehenna the fashion. Her triumphal entry last Wednesday was announced by such a peal of the abbey bells as must have cracked the metal (for they have not rung since) and started Beau Nash a-cursing where he lies under the floor. Next came her serenade by the band. Mr. Marmaduke swore they would never have done, and squirmed and grinned like Punch when he thought of the fee, for he had hoped to get off with a crown, I warrant you. You should have seen his face when they would accept no fee at all for the beauty! Some wag has writ a verse about it, which was printed, and has set the whole pump-room laughing this morning. 

 "She was led out by Wells in the Seasons last night. As Spring she is too bewildering for my pen, --all primrose and white, with the flowers in her blue-black hair. Had Sir Joshua seen her, he would never rest content till he should have another portrait. The Duc de Lauzun, who contrived to get two dances, might give you a description in a more suitable language than English. And there was a prodigious deal of jealousy among the fair ones on the benches, you may be sure, and much jaundiced comment. 

 "Some half dozen of us adorers have a mess at the Bear, and have offered up a prize for the most appropriate toast on the beauty. This is in competition with Mrs. Miller. Have you not heard of her among your tobacco-hills? Horry calls her Mrs. 'Calliope' Miller. At her place near here, Bath Easton Villa, she has set up a Roman vase bedecked with myrtle, and into this we drop our bouts-rimes. Mrs. Calliope has a ball every Thursday, when the victors are crowned. T'other day the theme was 'A Buttered Muffin, ' and her Grace of Northumberland was graciously awarded the prize. In faith, that theme taxed our wits at the Bear, --how to weave Miss Dolly's charms into a verse on a buttered muffin. I shall not tire you with mine. Storer's deserved to win, and we whisper that Mrs. Calliope ruled it out through spite. 'When Phyllis eats, ' so it began, and I vow 'twas devilish ingenious. 

 "We do nothing but play lasquenet and tennis, and go to the assembly, and follow Miss Dolly into Gill's, the pastry-cook's, where she goes every morning to take a jelly. The ubiquitous Wells does not give us much chance. He writes 'vers de societe' with the rest, is high in Mr. Marmaduke's favour, which alone is enough to damn his progress. I think she is ill of the sight of him. 

 "Albeit she does not mourn herself into a tree, I'll take oath your Phyllis is true to you, Richard, and would live with you gladly in a thatched hut and you asked her. Write me more news of yourself. 

 "Your ever affectionate "COMYN

 "P. S. I have had news of you through Mr. Worthington, of your colony, who is just arrived here. He tells me that you have gained a vast reputation for your plantation, and likewise that you are thought much of by the Whig wiseacres, and that you hold many seditious offices. He does not call them so. Since your modesty will not permit you to write me any of these things, I have been imagining you driving slaves with a rawhide, and seeding runaway convicts to the mines. Mr. W. Is even now paying his respects to Miss Manners, and I doubt not trumpeting your praises there, for he seems to like you. So I have asked him to join the Bear mess. One more unfortunate!

 "P. S. I was near forgetting the news about Charles Fox. He sends you his love, and tells me to let you know that he has been turned out of North's house for good and all. He is sure you will be cursed happy over it, and says that you predicted he would go over to the Whigs. I can scarce believe that he will. North took a whole week to screw up His courage, h-s M-j-sty pricking him every day. And then he wrote this:

 "'Sir, his Majesty has thought proper to order a new Commission of the Treasury to be made out, in which I do not see your name. ' Poor Charles! He is now without money or place, but as usual appears to worry least of all of us, and still reads his damned Tasso for amusement. "C. "

Perchance he was to be the Saint Paul of English politics, after all. 

CHAPTER XLIX. LIBERTY LOSES A FRIEND

Mr. Bordley's sloop took Mr. Swain to Gordon's Pride in May, and placedhim in the big room overlooking the widening river. There he would lieall day long, staring through the leaves at the water, or listening tothe sweet music of his daughter's voice as she read from the pompousprints of the time. Gentlemen continued to come to the plantation, forthe barrister's wisdom was sorely missed at the councils. One day, asI rode in from the field, I found Colonel Lloyd just arrived fromPhiladelphia, sipping sangaree on the lawn and mopping himself with hishandkerchief. His jolly face was troubled. He waved his hand at me. 

"Well, Richard, " says he, "we children are to have our first whipping. At least one of us. And the rest are resolved to defy our parent. "

"Boston, Mr. Lloyd?" I asked. 

"Yes, Boston, " he replied; "her port is closed, and we are forbid anyintercourse with her until she comes to her senses. And her citizensmust receive his gracious Majesty's troopers into their houses. And if aman kill one of them by any chance, he is to go to England to be tried. And there is more quite as bad. "

"'Tis bad enough!" I cried, flinging myself down. And Patty gave me aglass in silence. 

"Ay, but you must hear all, " said he; "our masters are of a mind todo the thing thoroughly. Canada is given some score of privileges. HerFrench Roman Catholics, whom we fought not long since, are thrown asop, and those vast territories between the lakes and the Ohio andMississippi are given to Quebec as a price for her fidelity. And so, ifthe worst comes to worst, George's regiments will have a place to landagainst us. "

Such was the news, and though we were some hundreds of miles fromMassachusetts, we felt their cause as our own. There was no need ofthe appeal which came by smoking horses from Philadelphia, for theindignation of our people was roused to the highest pitch. Now Mr. Swainhad to take to his bed from the excitement. 

This is not a history, my dears, as I have said. And time is growingshort. I shall pass over that dreary summer of '74. It required no verykeen eye to see the breakers ahead, and Mr. Bordley's advice to provideagainst seven years of famine did not go unheeded. War was the lastthing we desired. We should have been satisfied with so little, wecolonies! And would have voted the duties ten times over had our rightsbeen respected. Should any of you doubt this, you have but to read the"Address to the King" of our Congress, then sitting in Philadelphia. The quarrel was so petty, and so easy of mending, that you of thisgeneration may wonder why it was allowed to run. I have tried to tellyou that the head of a stubborn, selfish, and wilful monarch blocked theway to reconciliation. King George the Third is alone to blame for thathatred of race against race which already hath done so much evil. AndI pray God that a great historian may arise whose pen will reveal thetruth, and reconcile at length those who are, and should be, brothers. 

By October, that most beautiful month of all the year in Maryland, wewere again in Annapolis: One balmy day 'twas a Friday, I believe, and agold and blue haze hung over the Severn--Mr. Chase called in GloucesterStreet to give the barrister news of the Congress, which he had latelyleft. As he came down the stairs he paused for a word with me in thelibrary, and remarked sadly upon Mr. Swain's condition. "He looks like adying man, Richard, " said he, "and we can ill afford to lose him. "

Even as we sat talking in subdued tones, the noise of a distantcommotion arose. We had scarce started to our feet, Mr. Chase and I, when the brass knocker resounded, and Mr. Hammond was let in. His wigwas awry, and his face was flushed. 

"I thought to find you here, " he said to Mr. Chase. "The Anne ArundelCommittee is to meet at once, and we desire to have you with us. "Perceiving our blank faces, he added: "The 'Peggy Stewart' is in thismorning with over a ton of tea aboard, consigned to the Williams's. "

The two jumped into a chaise, and I followed afoot, stopped at everycorner by some excited acquaintance; so that I had the whole story, and more, ere I reached Church Street. The way was blocked before thecommittee rooms, and 'twas said that the merchants, Messrs. Williams, and Captain Jackson of the brig, were within, pleading their cause. 

Presently the news leaked abroad that Mr. Anthony Stewart, the brig'sowner, had himself paid the duty on the detested plant. Some hundreds ofpeople were elbowing each other in the street, for the most part quietand anxious, until Mr. Hammond appeared and whispered to a man at thedoor. In all my life before I had never heard the hum of an angry crowd. The sound had something ominous in it, like the first meanings of a windthat is to break off great trees at their trunks. Then some one shouted:"To Hanover Street! To Hanover Street! We'll have him tarred andfeathered before the sun is down!" The voice sounded strangely likeWeld's. They charged at this cry like a herd of mad buffalo, the weakerones trampled under foot or thrust against the wall. The windows of Mr. Aikman's shop were shattered. I ran with the leaders, my stature andstrength standing me in good stead more than once, and as we twistedinto Northwest Street I took a glance at the mob behind me, and greatwas my anxiety at not being able to descry one responsible person. 

Mr. Stewart's house stood, and stands to-day, amid trim gardens, inplain sight of the Severn. Arriving there, the crowd massed in front ofit, some of the boldest pressing in at the gate and spreading over thecircle of lawn enclosed by the driveway. They began to shout hoarsely, with what voices they had left, for Mr. Stewart to come out, calling himnames not to be spoken, and swearing they would show him how traitorswere to be served. I understood then the terror of numbers, andshuddered. A chandler, a bold and violent man, whose leather was coveredwith grease, already had his foot on the steps, when the frightenedservants slammed the door in his face, and closed the lower windows. Invain I strained my eyes for some one who might have authority with them. They began to pick up stones, though none were thrown. 

Suddenly a figure appeared at an upper window, --a thin and wasted womandressed in white, with sad, sweet features. It was Mrs. Stewart. Withoutflinching she looked down upon the upturned faces; but a mob of thatkind has no pity. Their leaders were the worst class in our province, being mostly convicts who had served their terms of indenture. Theycontinued to call sullenly for "the traitor. " Then the house dooropened, and the master himself appeared. He was pale and nervous, andno wonder; and his voice shook as he strove to make himself heard. Hiswords were drowned immediately by shouts of "Seize him! Seize the d--dtraitor!" "A pot and a coat of hot tar!"

Those who were nearest started forward, and I with them. With me 'twasthe decision of an instant. I beat the chandler up the steps, and tookstand in front of the merchant, and I called out to them to fall back. 

To my astonishment they halted. The skirts of the crowd were now come tothe foot of the little porch. I faced them with my hand on Mr. Stewart'sarm, without a thought of what to do next, and expecting violence. Therewas a second's hush. Then some one cried out:

"Three cheers for Richard Carvel!"

They gave them with a will that dumfounded me. 

"My friends, " said I, when I had got my wits, "this is neither thejustice nor the moderation for which our province is noted. You haveelected your committee of your free wills, and they have claims beforeyou. "

"Ay, ay, the committee!" they shouted. "Mr. Carvel is right. Take him tothe Committee!"

Mr. Stewart raised his hand. 

"My friends, " he began, as I had done, "when you have learned thetruth, you will not be so hasty to blame me for an offence of which I aminnocent. The tea was not for me. The brig was in a leaky and dangerousstate and had fifty souls aboard her. I paid the duty out of humanity--"

He had come so far, when they stopped him. 

"Oh, a vile Tory!" they shouted. "He is conniving with the Council. 'Twas put up between them. " And they followed this with another volleyof hard names, until I feared that his chance was gone. 

"You would best go before the Committee, Mr. Stewart, " I said. 

"I will go with Mr. Carvel, my friends, " he cried at once. And heinvited me into the house whilst he ordered his coach. I preferred toremain outside. 

I asked them if they would trust me with Mr. Stewart to Church Street. 

"Yes, yes, Mr. Carvel, we know you, " said several. "He has good cause tohate Tories, " called another, with a laugh. I knew the voice. 

"For shame, Weld, " I cried. And I saw McNeir, who was a stanch friend ofmine, give him a cuff to send him spinning. 

To my vast satisfaction they melted away, save only a few of the idlestspirits, who hung about the gate, and cheered as we drove off. Mr. Stewart was very nervous, and profuse in his gratitude. I replied thatI had acted only as would have any other responsible citizen. On the wayhe told me enough of his case to convince me that there was much tobe said on his side, but I thought it the better part of wisdom not tocommit myself. The street in front of the committee rooms was empty, andI was informed that a town meeting had been called immediately at thetheatre in West Street. And I advised Mr. Stewart to attend. But throughanxiety or anger, or both, he was determined not to go, and drove backto his house without me. 

I had got as far as St. Anne's, halfway to the theatre, when it suddenlystruck me that Mr. Swain must be waiting for news. With a twinge Iremembered what Mr. Chase had said about the barrister's condition, andI hurried back to Gloucester Street, much to the surprise of those I meton their way to the meeting. I was greatly relieved, when I arrived, tofind Patty on the porch. I knew she had never been there were her fatherworse. After a word with her and her mother, I went up the stairs. 

It was the hour for the barrister's nap. But he was awake, lying backon the pillows, with his eyes half closed. He was looking out into thegarden, which was part orchard, now beginning to shrivel and to brownwith the first touch of frosts. 

"That is you, Richard?" he inquired, without moving. "What is goingforward to-day?"

I toned down the news, so as not to excite him, and left out theoccurrence in Hanover Street. He listened with his accustomed interest, but when I had done he asked no questions, and lay for a long timesilent. Then he begged me to bring my chair nearer. 

"Richard, --my son, " said he, with an evident effort, "I have neverthanked you for your devotion to me and mine through the best years ofyour life. It shall not go unrewarded, my lad. "

It seemed as if my heart stood still with the presage of what was tocome. 

"May God reward you, sir!" I said. 

"I have wished to speak to you, " he continued, "and I may not haveanother chance. I have arranged with Mr. Carroll, the barrister, to takeyour cause against your uncle, so that you will lose nothing when I amgone. And you will see, in my table in the library, that I have leftmy property in your hands, with every confidence in your integrity, andability to care for my family, even as I should have done. "

I could not speak at once. A lump rose in my throat, for I had come tolook upon him as a father. His honest dealings, his charity, of whichthe world knew nothing, and his plain and unassuming ways had inspiredin me a kind of worship. I answered, as steadily as I might:

"I believe I am too inexperienced for such a responsibility, Mr. Swain. Would it not be better that Mr. Bordley or Mr. Lloyd should act?"

"No, no, " he said; "I am not a man to do things unadvisedly, or to letaffection get the better of my judgment, where others dear to me areconcerned. I know you, Richard Carvel. Scarce an action of yours hasescaped my eye, though I have said nothing. You have been through thefire, and are of the kind which comes out untouched. You will have JudgeBordley's advice, and Mr. Carroll's. And they are too busy with theaffairs of the province to be burdened as my executors. But, " he addeda little more strongly, "if what I fear is coming, Mr. Bordley willtake the trust in your absence. If we have war, Richard, you will not becontent to remain at home, nor would I wish it. "

I did not reply. 

"You will do what I ask?" he said. 

"I would refuse you nothing, Mr. Swain, " I answered. "But I have heavymisgivings. "

He sighed. "And now, if it were not for Tom, I might die content, " hesaid. 

If it were not for Tom! The full burden of the trust began to dawn uponme then. Presently I heard him speaking, but in so low a voice that Ihardly caught the words. 

"In our youth, Richard, " he was saying, "the wrath of the Almighty isbut so many words to most of us. When I was little more than a lad, Icommitted a sin of which I tremble now to think. And I was the fool toimagine, when I amended my life, that God had forgotten. His punishmentis no heavier than I deserve. But He alone knows what He has made mesuffer. "

I felt that I had no right to be there. 

"That is why I have paid Tom's debts, " he continued; "I cannot castoff my son. I have reasoned, implored, and appealed in vain. He is likeReuben, --his resolutions melt in an hour. And I have pondered day andnight what is to be done for him. "

"Is he to have his portion?" I asked. Indeed, the thought of theresponsibility of Tom Swain overwhelmed me. 

"Yes, he is to have it, " cried Mr. Swain, with a violence to bring on afit of coughing. "Were I to leave it in trust for a time, he would haveit mortgaged within a year. He is to have his portion, but not a pennyadditional. "

He lay for a long time breathing deeply, I watching him. Then, as hereached out and took my hand, I knew by some instinct what was tocome. I summoned all my self-command to meet his eye. I knew that themalicious and unthinking gossip of the town had reached him, and that hehad received it in the simple faith of his hopes. 

"One thing more, my lad, " he said, "the dearest wish of all--that youwill marry Patty. She is a good girl, Richard. And I have thought, " headded with hesitation, "I have thought that she loves you, though herlips have never opened on that subject. "

So the blow fell. I turned away, for to save my life the words would notcome. He missed the reason of my silence. 

"I understand and honour your scruples, " he went on. His kindness waslike a knife. 

"No, I have had none, Mr. Swain, " I exclaimed. For I would not bethought a hypocrite. 

There I stopped. A light step sounded in the hall, and Patty came inupon us. Her colour at once betrayed her understanding. To my infiniterelief her father dropped my fingers, and asked cheerily if there wasany news from the town meeting. 

On the following Wednesday, with her flag flying and her sails set, thePeggy Stewart was run ashore on Windmill Point. She rose, a sacrifice toLiberty, in smoke to heaven, before the assembled patriots of our city. 

That very night a dear friend to Liberty passed away. He failed sosuddenly that Patty had no time to call for aid, and when the motherhad been carried in, his spirit was flown. We laid him high on the hillabove the creek, in the new lot he had bought and fenced around. Thestone remains:

 HERE LIETH

 HENRY SWAIN, BARRISTER. BORN MAY 13, 1730 (O. S. ); DIED OCTOBER 19, 1774. Fidus Amicis atque Patrice. 

The simple inscription, which speaks volumes to those who knew him, wascut after the Revolution. He was buried with the honours of a statesman, which he would have been had God spared him to serve the New Countrywhich was born so soon after his death. 

Volume 8. 

CHAPTER L. FAREWELL TO GORDON'S

I cannot bear to recall my misery of mind after Mr. Swain's death. Onehope had lightened all the years of my servitude. For, when I examinedmy soul, I knew that it was for Dorothy I had laboured. And every letterthat came from Comyn telling me she was still free gave me new heartfor my work. By some mystic communion--I know not what--I felt that sheloved me yet, and despite distance and degree. I would wake of a morningwith the knowledge of it, and be silent for half the day with someparticle of a dream in my head, lingering like the burden of a song withits train of memories. 

So, in the days that followed, I scarce knew myself. For a while (Ishame to write it) I avoided that sweet woman who had made my comforther care, whose father had taken me when I was homeless. The good in mecried out, but the flesh rebelled. 

Poor Patty! Her grief for her father was pathetic to see. Weeks passedin which she scarcely spoke a word. And I remember her as she sat inchurch Sundays, the whiteness of her face enhanced by the crape shewore, and a piteous appeal in her gray eyes. My own agony was nighbeyond endurance, my will swinging like a pendulum from right to wrong, and back again. Argue as I might that I had made the barrister nopromise, conscience allowed no difference. I was in despair at the trickfate had played me; at the decree that of all women I must love herwhose sphere was now so far removed from mine. For Patty had characterand beauty, and every gift which goes to make man's happiness and tokindle his affections. 

Her sorrow left her more womanly than ever. And after the first sharpsting of it was deadened, I noticed a marked reserve in her intercoursewith me. I knew then that she must have strong suspicions of herfather's request. Speak I could not soon after the sad event, but Istrove hard that she should see no change in my conduct. 

Before Christmas we went to the Eastern Shore. In Annapolis fife anddrum had taken the place of fiddle and clarion; militia companies weredrilling in the empty streets; despatches were arriving daily from theNorth; and grave gentlemen were hurrying to meetings. But if the war wasto come, I must settle what was to be done at Gordon's Pride with allpossible speed. It was only a few days after our going there, that Irode into Oxford with a black cockade in my hat Patty had made me, andthe army sword Captain Jack had given Captain Daniel at my side. ForI had been elected a lieutenant in the Oxford company, of which PercySingleton was captain. 

So passed that winter, the darkest of my life. One soft spring day, whenthe birds were twittering amid new-born leaves, and the hyacinths andtulips in Patty's garden were coming to their glory, Master Tom rodeleisurely down the drive at Gordon's Pride. That was a Saturday, the29th of April, 1775. The news which had flown southward, night and dayalike, was in no hurry to run off his tongue; he had been lolling on theporch for half an hour before he told us of the bloodshed between theminute-men of Massachusetts and the British regulars, of the rout ofPercy's panting redcoats from Concord to Boston. Tom added, with thebrutal nonchalance which characterized his dealings with his mother andsister, that he was on his way to Philadelphia to join a company. 

The poor invalid was carried up the stairs in a faint by Banks andRomney. Patty, with pale face and lips compressed, ran to fetch thehartshorn. But Master Tom remained undisturbed. 

"I suppose you are going, Richard, " he remarked affably. For he treatedme with more consideration than his family. "We shall ride together, "said he. 

"We ride different ways, and to different destinations, " I replieddryly. "I go to serve my country, and you to fight against it. "

"I think the King is right, " he answered sullenly. 

"Oh, I beg your pardon, " I remarked, and rose. "Then you have studiedthe question since last I saw you. "

"No, by G-d!" he cried, "and I never will. I do not want to know yourd--d principles--or grievances, or whatever they are. We were living aneasy life, in the plenty of money, and nothing to complain of. You takeit all away, with your cursed cant--"

I left him railing and swearing. And that was the last I saw of TomSwain. When I returned from a final survey of the plantation; and a talkwith Percy Singleton, he had ridden North again. 

I found Patty alone in the parlour. Her work (one of my own stockingsshe was darning) lay idle in her lap, and in her eyes were the unshedtears which are the greatest suffering of women. I sat down beside herand called her name. She did not seem to hear me. 

"Patty!"

She started. And my courage ebbed. 

"Are you going to the war--to leave us, Richard?" she faltered. 

"I fear there is no choice, Patty, " I answered, striving hard to keep myown voice steady. "But you will be well looked after. Ivie Rawlinson isto be trusted, and Mr. Bordley has promised to keep an eye upon you. "

She took up the darning mechanically. 

"I shall not speak a word to keep you, Richard. He would have wishedit, " she said softly. "And every strong arm in the colonies will beneeded. We shall think of you, and pray for you daily. "

I cast about for a cheerful reply. 

"I think when they discover how determined we are, they will revoketheir measures in a hurry. Before you know it, Patty, I shall be backagain making the rounds in my broad rim, and reading to you out ofCaptain Cook. "

It was a pitiful attempt. She shook her head sadly. The tears were comenow, and she was smiling through them. The sorrow of that smile!

"I have something to say to you before I go, Patty, " I said. The wordsstuck. I knew that there must be no pretence in that speech. It must betrue as my life after, the consequence of it. "I have something toask you, and I do not speak without your father's consent. Patty, if Ireturn, will you be my wife?"

The stocking slipped unheeded to the floor. For a moment she sattransfixed, save for the tumultuous swelling of her breast. Then sheturned and gazed earnestly into my face, and the honesty of her eyessmote me. For the first time I could not meet them honestly with my own. 

"Richard, do you love me?" she asked. 

I bowed my head. I could not answer that. And for a while there was nosound save that of the singing of the frogs in the distant marsh. 

Presently I knew that she was standing at my side. I felt her hand laidupon my shoulder. 

"Is--is it Dorothy?" she said gently. 

Still I could not answer. Truly, the bitterness of life, as the joy ofit, is distilled in strong drops. 

"I knew, " she continued, "I have known ever since that autumn morningwhen I went to you as you saddled--when I dreaded that you would leaveus. Father asked you to marry me, the day you took Mr. Stewart from themob. How could you so have misunderstood me, Richard?"

I looked up in wonder. The sweet cadence in her tone sprang from apurity not of this earth. They alone who have consecrated their days toothers may utter it. And the light upon her face was of the same source. It was no will of mine brought me to my feet. But I was not worthy totouch her. 

"I shall make another prayer, beside that for your safety, Richard, " shesaid. 

In the morning she waved me a brave farewell from the block where shehad stood so often as I rode afield, when the dawn was in the sky. The invalid mother sat in her chair within the door; the servants weregathered on the lawn, and Ivie Rawlinson and Banks lingered where theyhad held my stirrup. That picture is washed with my own tears. 

The earth was praising God that Sunday as I rode to Mr. Bordley's. Andas it is sorrow which lifts us nearest to heaven, I felt as if I were inchurch. 

I arrived at Wye Island in season to dine with the good judge and hisfamily, and there I made over to his charge the property of Patty andher mother. The afternoon we spent in sober talk, Mr. Bordley giving memuch sound advice, and writing me several letters of recommendation togentlemen in Congress. His conduct was distinguished by even more ofkindness and consideration than he had been wont to show me. 

In the evening I walked out alone, skirting the acres of Carvel Hall, each familiar landmark touching the quick of some memory of other days. Childhood habit drew me into the path to Wilmot House. I came upon itjust as the sunlight was stretching level across the Chesapeake, andburning its windows molten red. I had been sitting long on the stonesteps, when the gaunt figure of McAndrews strode toward me out of thedusk. 

"God be gude to us, it is Mr. Richard!" he cried. "I hae na seen ye'rebonny face these muckle years, sir, sync ye cam' back frae ae sight o'the young mistress. " (I had met him in Annapolis then. ) "An' will ye beaff to the wars?"

I told him yes. That I had come for a last look at the old place beforeI left. 

He sighed. "Ye're vera welcome, sir. " Then he added: "Mr. Bordley'sgi'en me a fair notion o' yere management at Gordon's. The judge isthinking there'll be nane ither lad t' hand a candle to ye. "

"And what news do you hear from London?" I asked, cutting him short. 

"Ill uncos, sir, " he answered, shaking his head with violence. He hadindeed but a sorry tale for my ear, and one to make my heart heavierthan it was. McAndrews opened his mind to me, and seemed the better forit. How Mr. Marmaduke was living with the establishment they wrote ofwas more than the honest Scotchman could imagine. There was a countryplace in Sussex now, said he, that was the latest. And drafts werecoming in before the wheat was in the ear; and the plantations oftobacco on the Western Shore had been idle since the non-exportation, and were mortgaged to their limit to Mr. Willard. Money was even loanedon the Wilmot House estate. McAndrews had a shrewd suspicion thatneither Mrs. Manners nor Miss Dorothy knew aught of this state ofaffairs. 

"Mr. Richard, " he said earnestly, as he bade me good-by, "I kennt Mr. Manners's mind when he lea'd here. There was a laird in't, sir, an' afortune. An' unless these come soon, I'm thinking I can spae th' en'. "

In truth, a much greater fool than McAndrews might have predicted thatend. 

On Monday Judge Bordley accompanied me as far as Dingley's tavern, andshowed much emotion at parting. 

"You need have no fears for your friends at Gordon's Pride, Richard, "said he. "And when the General comes back, I shall try to give him agood account of my stewardship. "

The General! That title brought old Stanwix's cobwebbed prophecy into myhead again. Here, surely, was the war which he had foretold, and I readyto embark in it. 

Why not the sea, indeed?

CHAPTER LI. HOW AN IDLE PROPHECY CAME TO PASS

Captain Clapsaddle not being at his lodgings, I rode on to the CoffeeHouse to put up my horse. I was stopped by Mr. Claude. 

"Why, Mr. Carvel, " says he, "I thought you on the Eastern Shore. Thereis a gentleman within will be mightily tickled to see you, or else hisprotestations are lies, which they may very well be. His name? Now, 'Ponmy faith, it was Jones--no more. "

This thing of being called for at the Coffee House stirred up unpleasantassociations. 

"What appearance does the man make?" I demanded. 

"Merciful gad!" mine host exclaimed; "once seen, never forgotten, andonce heard, never forgotten. He quotes me Thomson, and he tells me ofhis estate in Virginia. "

The answer was not of a sort to allay my suspicions. 

"Then he appears to be a landowner?" said I. 

"'Ods! Blest if I know what he is, " says Mr. Claude. "He may beanything, an impostor or a high-mightiness. But he's something tostrike the eye and hold it, for all his Quaker clothes. He is swarth andthickset, and some five feet eight inches--full six inches under yourown height. And he comes asking for you as if you owned the town betweenyou. 'Send a fellow to Marlboro' Street for Mr. Richard Carvel, my goodhost!' says he, with a snap of his fingers. And when I tell him the newsof you, he is prodigiously affected, and cries--but here's my gentlemannow!"

I jerked my head around. Coming down the steps I beheld my old friendand benefactor, Captain John Paul!

"Ahoy, ahoy!" cries he. "Now Heaven be praised, I have found you atlast. "

Out of the saddle I leaped, and straight into his arms. 

"Hold, hold, Richard!" he gasped. "My ribs, man! Leave me some breaththat I may tell you how glad I am to see you. "

"Mr. Jones!" I said, holding him out, "now where the devil got youthat?"

"Why, I am become a gentleman since I saw you, " he answered, smiling. "My poor brother left me his estate in Virginia. And a gentleman musthave three names at the least. "

I dropped his shoulders and shook with laughter. 

"But Jones!" I cried. "'Ad's heart! could you go no higher? Has yourimagination left you, captain?"

"Republican simplicity, sir, " says he, looking a trifle hurt. But Ilaughed the more. 

"Well, you have contrived to mix oil and vinegar, " said I. "A landedgentleman and republican simplicity. I'll warrant you wear silk-knitunder that gray homespun, and have a cameo in your pocket. "

He shook his head, looking up at me with affection. 

"You might have guessed better, " he answered. "All of quality I haveabout me are an enamelled repeater and a gold brooch. "

This made me suddenly grave, for McAndrews's words had been ringingin my ears ever since he had spoken them. I hitched my arm into thecaptain's and pulled him toward the Coffee House door. 

"Come, " I said, "you have not dined, and neither have I. We shallbe merry to-day, and you shall have some of the best Madeira in thecolonies. " I commanded a room, that we might have privacy. As hetook his seat opposite me I marked that he had grown heavier and morebrowned. But his eye had the same unfathomable mystery in it as of yore. And first I upbraided him for not having writ me. 

"I took you for one who glories in correspondence, captain, " said I;"and I did not think you could be so unfaithful. I directed twice to youin Mr. Orchardson's care. "

"Orchardson died before I had made one voyage, " he replied, "andthe Betsy changed owners. But I did not forget you, Richard, and wasresolved but now not to leave Maryland until I had seen you. But I burnto hear of you, " he added. "I have had an inkling of your story from thelandlord. So your grandfather is dead, and that blastie, your uncle, ofwhom you told me on the John, is in possession. "

He listened to my narrative keenly, but with many interruptions. Andwhen I was done, he sighed. 

"You are always finding friends, Richard, " said he; "no matter whatyour misfortunes, they are ever double discounted. As for me; I am likeFulmer in Mr. Cumberland's 'West Indian': 'I have beat through everyquarter of the compass; I have bellowed for freedom; I have offered toserve my country; I have'--I am engaging to betray it. No, Scotlandis no longer my country, and so I cannot betray her. It is she who hasbetrayed me. "

He fell into a short mood of dejection. And, indeed, I could not butreflect that much of the character fitted him like a jacket. Not thebetrayal of his country. He never did that, no matter how roundly theyaccused him of it afterward. 

To lift him, I cried:

"You were one of my first friends, Captain Paul" (I could not stomachthe Jones); "but for you I should now be a West Indian, and a miserableone, the slave of some unmerciful hidalgo. Here's that I may live torepay you!"

"And while we are upon toasts, " says he, bracing immediately, "I giveyou the immortal Miss Manners! Her beauty has dwelt unfaded in my memorysince I last beheld her, aboard the Betsy. " Remarking the pain in myface, he added, with a concern which may have been comical: "And she isnot married?"

"Unless she is lately gone to Gretna, she is not, " I replied, trying tospeak lightly. 

"Alack! I knew it, " he exclaimed. "And if there's any prophecy in mybones, she'll be Mrs. Carvel one of these days. "

"Well captain, " I said abruptly, "the wheel has gone around since I sawyou. Now it is you who are the gentleman, while I am a factor. Is it thebliss you pictured?"

I suspected that his acres were not as broad, nor his produce assalable, as those of Mount Vernon. 

"To speak truth, I am heartily tired of that life, " said he. "There islittle glory in raising nicotia, and sipping bumbo, and cursing negroes. Ho for the sea!" he cried. "The salt sea, and the British prizes. Giveme a tight frigate that leaves a singing wake. Mark me, Richard, " hesaid, a restless gleam coning into his dark eyes, "stirring times arehere, and a chance for all of us to make a name. " For so it seemed everto be with him. 

"They are black times, I fear, " I answered. 

"Black!" he said. "No, glorious is your word. And we are to have anupheaval to throw many of us to the top. "

"I would rather the quarrel were peacefully settled, " said I, gravely. "For my part, I want no distinction that is to come out of strife andmisery. "

He regarded me quizzically. 

"You are grown an hundred years old since I pulled you out of the sea, "says he. "But we shall have to fight for our liberties. Here is a glassto the prospect!"

"And so you are now an American?" I said curiously. 

"Ay, strake and keelson, --as good a one as though I had got my sap inthe Maine forests. A plague of monarchs, say I. They are a blotch uponmodern civilization. And I have here, " he continued, tapping his pocket, "some letters writ to the Virginia printers, signed Demosthenes, whichMr. Randolph and Mr. Henry have commended. To speak truth, Richard, Iam off to Congress with a portmanteau full of recommendations. And I wasresolved to stop here even till I secured your company. We shall sweepthe seas together, and so let George beware!"

I smiled. But my blood ran faster at the thought of sailing under sucha captain. However, I made the remark that Congress had as yet no army, let alone a navy. 

"And think you that gentlemen of such spirit and resources will lackeither for long?" he demanded, his eye flashing. 

"Then I know nothing of a ship save the little I learned on the John, " Isaid. 

"You were born for the sea, Richard, " he exclaimed, raising his glasshigh. "And I would rather have one of your brains and strength andhandiness than any merchant's mate I ever sailed with. The moregentlemen get commissions, the better will be our new service. "

At that instant came a knock at the door, and one of the inn negroesto say that Captain Clapsaddle was below, and desired to see me. Ipersuaded John Paul to descend with me. We found Captain Daniel seatedwith Mr. Carroll, the barrister, and Mr. Chase. 

"Captain, " I said to my old friend, "I have a rare joy this day inmaking known to you Mr. John Paul Jones, of whom I have spoken to youa score of times. He it is whose bravery sank the Black Moll, whosecharity took me to London, and who got no other reward for his faiththan three weeks in a debtors' prison. For his honour, as I have toldyou, would allow him to accept none, nor his principles to take thecommission in the Royal Navy which Mr. Fox offered him. "

Captain Daniel rose, his honest face flushing with pleasure. "Faith, Mr. Jones, " he cried, when John Paul had finished one of his elaborate bows, "this is well met, indeed. I have been longing these many years for achance to press your hand, and in the names of those who are dead andgone to express my gratitude. "

"I have my reward now, captain, " replied John Paul; "a sight of you isto have Richard's whole life revealed. And what says Mr. Congreve?

 "'For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds, And tho' a late, a sure reward succeeds. '

"Tho' I would not have you believe that my deed was virtuous. And you, who know Richard, may form some notion of the pleasure I had out of hiscompanionship. "

I hastened to present my friend to the other gentlemen, who welcomed himwith warmth, though they could not keep their amusement wholly out oftheir faces. 

"Mr. Jones is now the possessor of an estate in Virginia, sirs, " Iexplained. 

"And do you find it more to your taste than seafaring, Mr. Jones?"inquired Mr. Chase. 

This brought forth a most vehement protest, and another quotation. 

"Why, sir, " he cried, "to be

 'Fixed like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot, '

is an animal's existence. I have thrown it over, sir, with a right goodwill, and am now on my way to Philadelphia to obtain a commission in thenavy soon to be born. "

Mr. Chase smiled. John Paul little suspected that he was a member of theCongress. 

"This is news indeed, Mr. Jones, " he said. "I have yet to hear of thebirth of this infant navy, for which we have not yet begun to makeswaddling clothes. "

"We are not yet an infant state, sir, " Mr. Carroll put in, with a shadeof rebuke. For Maryland was well content with the government shehad enjoyed, and her best patriots long after shunned the length ofsecession. "I believe and pray that the King will come to his senses. And as for the navy, it is folly. How can we hope to compete withEngland on the sea?"

"All great things must have a beginning sir, " replied John Paul, launching forth at once, nothing daunted by such cold conservatism. "What Israelite brickmaker of Pharaoh's dreamed of Solomon's temple?Nay, Moses himself had no conception of it. And God will send usour pillars of cloud and of fire. We must be reconciled to our greatdestiny, Mr. Carroll. No fight ever was won by man or nation contentwith half a victory. We have forests to build an hundred armadas, and Iwill command a fleet and it is given me. "

The gentlemen listened in astonishment. 

"I' faith, I believe you, sir, " cried Captain Daniel, with admiration. 

The others, too, were somehow fallen under the spell of this remarkableindividuality. "What plan would you pursue, sir?" asked Mr. Chase, betraying more interest than he cared to show. 

"What plan, sir!" said Captain John Paul, those wonderful eyes of hisalight. "In the first place, we Americans build the fastest ships in theworld, --yours of the Chesapeake are as fleet as any. Here, if I am notmistaken, one hundred and eighty-two were built in the year '71. They are idle now. To them I would issue letters of marque, to harryEngland's trade. From Carolina to Maine we have the wood and iron tobuild cruisers, in harbours that may not easily be got at. And skilledmasters and seamen to elude the enemy. "

"But a navy must be organized, sir. It must be an unit, " objectedMr. Carroll. "And you would not for many years have force enough, ordiscipline enough, to meet England's navy. "

"I would never meet it, sir, " he replied instantly. "That would be theheight of folly. I would divide our forces into small, swift-sailingsquadrons, of strength sufficient to repel his cruisers. And I wouldcarry the war straight into his unprotected ports of trade. I can namea score of such defenceless places, and I know every shoal of theirharbours. For example, Whitehaven might be entered. That is a town offifty thousand inhabitants. The fleet of merchantmen might with thegreatest ease be destroyed, a contribution levied, and Ireland's coalcut off for a winter. The whole of the shipping might be swept out ofthe Clyde. Newcastle is another likely place, and in almost any of theIrish ports valuable vessels may be found. The Baltic and West Indianfleets are to be intercepted. I have reflected upon these matters foryears, gentlemen. They are perfectly feasible. And I'll warrant youcannot conceive the havoc and consternation their fulfilment wouldspread in England. "

If the divine power of genius ever made itself felt, 'twas on that Mayevening, at candle-light, in the Annapolis Coffee House. With my owneyes I witnessed two able and cautious statesmen of a cautious provincethrilled to the pitch of enthusiasm by this strange young man of eightand twenty. As for good Captain Daniel, enthusiasm is but a poor word toexpress his feelings. A map was sent for and spread out upon thetable. And it was a late hour when Mr. Chase and Mr. Carroll wenthome, profoundly impressed. Mr. Chase charged John Paul look him up inCongress. 

The next morning I bade Captain Daniel a solemn good-by, and rode awaywith John Paul to Baltimore. Thence we took stage to New Castle onthe Delaware, and were eventually landed by Mr. Tatlow's stage-boat atCrooked Billet wharf, Philadelphia. 

 A BRIEF SUMMARY, WHICH BRINGS THIS BIOGRAPHY TO THE FAMOUS FIGHT OF THE BON HOMME RICHARD AND THE SERAPIS

 BY DANIEL CLAPSADDLE CARVEL

Mr. Richard Carvel refers here to the narrative of his experiences inthe War of the Revolution, which he had written in the year 1805 or1806. The insertion of that account would swell this book, alreadytoo long, out of all proportion. Hence I take it upon myself, withapologies, to compress it. 

Not until October of that year, 1775, was the infant navy born. Mr. Carvel was occupied in the interval in the acquirement of practicalseamanship and the theory of maritime warfare under the most competentof instructors, John Paul Jones. An interesting side light is thrownupon the character of that hero by the fact that, with all his supremeconfidence in his ability, he applied to Congress only for a firstlieutenancy. This was in deference to the older men before that body. "Ihoped, " said he, "in that rank to gain much useful knowledge from thoseof more experience than myself. " His lack of assertion for once cost himdear. He sailed on the New Providence expedition under Commodore Hopkinsas first lieutenant of the Alfred, thirty; and he soon discovered that, instead of gaining information, he was obliged to inform others. Hetrained the men so thoroughly in the use of the great guns "that theywent through the motions of broadsides and rounds exactly as soldiersgenerally perform the manual exercise. "

Captain Jones was not long in fixing the attention and earning thegratitude of the nation, and of its Commander-in-Chief, GeneralWashington. While in command of the Providence, twelve four-pounders, his successful elusions of the 'Cerberus', which hounded him, andhis escape from the 'Solebay', are too famous to be dwelt upon here. Obtaining the Alfred, he captured and brought into Boston ten thousandsuits of uniform for Washington's shivering army. Then, by the bunglingof Congress, thirteen officers were promoted over his head. Thebitterness this act engendered in the soul of one whose thirst fordistinction was as great as Captain Jones's may be imagined. To hiseverlasting credit be it recorded that he remained true to the countryto which he had dedicated his life and his talents. And it was not until1781 that he got the justice due him. 

That the rough and bluff captains of the American service should haveregarded a man of Paul Jones's type with suspicion is not surprising. They resented his polish and accomplishments, and could not understandhis language. Perhaps it was for this reason, as well as a reward forhis brilliant services, that he was always given a separate command. Inthe summer of 1777 he was singled out for the highest gift in the powerof the United States, nothing less than that of the magnificent frigate'Indien', then building at Amsterdam. And he was ordered to France incommand of the 'Ranger', a new ship then fitting at Portsmouth. CaptainJones was the admiration of all the young officers in the navy, and wasimmediately flooded with requests to sail with him. One of his firstacts, after receiving his command, was to apply to the Marine Committeefor Mr. Carvel. The favour was granted. 

My grandfather had earned much commendation from his superiors. He hadsailed two cruises as master's mate of the Cabot, and was then servingas master of the Trumbull, Captain Saltonstall. This was shortly afterthat frigate had captured the two British transports off New York. 

Captain Jones has been at pains to mention in his letters the servicesrendered him by Mr. Carvel in fitting out the Ranger. And my grandfathergives a striking picture of the captain. At that time the privateers, with the larger inducements of profit they offered, were getting all thebest seamen. John Paul had but to take two turns with a man across thedock, and he would sign papers. 

Captain Jones was the first to raise the new flag of the stars andstripes over a man-o'-war. They got away on November 14, 1777, with afair crew and a poor lot of officers. Mr. Carvel had many a brush withthe mutinous first lieutenant Simpson. Family influence deterred thecaptain from placing this man under arrest, and even Dr. Franklin foundtrouble, some years after, in bringing about his dismissal fromthe service. To add to the troubles, the Ranger proved crank andslow-sailing; and she had only one barrel of rum aboard, which made themen discontented. 

Bringing the official news of Burgoyne's surrender, which was to causeKing Louis to acknowledge the independence of the United States, theRanger arrived at Nantes, December 2. Mr. Carvel accompanied CaptainJones to Paris, where a serious blow awaited him. The AmericanCommissioners informed him that the Indien had been transferred toFrance to prevent her confiscation. That winter John Paul spentstriving in vain for a better ship, and imbibing tactics from the Frenchadmirals. Incidentally, he obtained a salute for the American flag. The cruise of the Ranger in English waters the following spring was astriking fulfilment, with an absurdly poor and inadequate force, of theplan set forth by John Paul Jones in the Annapolis Coffee House. Hisdescent upon Whitehaven spread terror and consternation broadcastthrough England, and he was branded as a pirate and a traitor. Mr. Carvel was fortunately not of the landing party on St. Mary's Isle, which place he had last beheld in John Paul's company, on the brigantineJohn, when entering Kirkcudbright. The object of that expedition, as iswell known, was to obtain the person of the Earl of Selkirk, in order tobring about the rescue of the unfortunate Americans suffering in Britishprisons. After the celebrated capture of the sloop-of-war Drake, PaulJones returned to France a hero. 

If Captain Jones was ambitious of personal glory, he may never, atleast, be accused of mercenary motives. The ragged crew of the Rangerwas paid in part out of his own pocket, and for a whole month hesupported the Drake's officers and men, no provision having been madefor prisoners. He was at large expense in fitting out the Ranger, and hebought back at twice what it was worth the plate taken from St. Mary'sIsle, getting but a tardy recognition from the Earl of Selkirk for sucha noble and unheard-of action. And, I take pride in writing it, Mr. Carvel spent much of what he had earned at Gordon's Pride in a likehonourable manner. 

Mr. Carvel's description of the hero's reception at Versailles isgraphic and very humorous. For all his republican principles John Paulnever got over his love of courts, and no man was ever a more thoroughcourtier. He exchanged compliments with Queen Marie Antoinette, who wasthen in the bloom of her beauty, and declared that she was a "good girl, and deserved to be happy. "

The unruly Simpson sailed for America in the Ranger in July, CaptainJones being retained in France "for a particular enterprise. " Andthrough the kindness of Dr. Franklin, Mr. Carvel remained with him. Thenfollowed another period of heartrending disappointment. The fine shipthe French government promised him was not forthcoming, though CaptainJones wrote a volume of beautiful letters to every one of importance, from her Royal Highness the Duchess of Chartres to his Most ChristianMajesty, Louis, King of France and Navarre. At length, when he wassitting one day in unusual dejection and railing at the vanity of courtsand kings, Mr. Carvel approached him with a book in his hand. 

"What have you there, Richard?" the captain demanded. 

"Dr. Franklin's Maxims, " replied my grandfather. They were greatfavourites with him. The captain took the book and began mechanically toturn over the pages. Suddenly he closed it with a bang, jumped up, andput on his coat and hat. Mr. Carvel looked on in astonishment. 

"Where are you going, sir?" says he. 

"To Paris, sir, " says the captain. "Dr. Franklin has taught me morewisdom in a second than I had in all my life before. 'If you wish tohave any business faithfully and expeditiously performed, go and do ityourself; otherwise, send. '"

As a result of that trip he got the Duras, which he renamed the 'Bonhomme Richard' in honour of Dr. Franklin. The Duras was an ancientIndiaman with a high poop, which made my grandfather exclaim, when hesaw her, at the remarkable fulfilment of old Stanwix's prophecy. She wasperfectly rotten, and in the constructor's opinion not worth refitting. Her lowest deck (too low for the purpose) was pierced aft with threeports on a side, and six worn-out eighteen-pounders mounted there. Someof them burst in the action, killing their people. The main battery, on the deck above, was composed of twenty-eight twelve-pounders. On theuncovered deck eight nine-pounders were mounted. Captain Jones againshowed his desire to serve the cause by taking such a ship, and notwaiting for something better. 

In the meantime the American frigate 'Alliance' had brought Lafayette toFrance, and was added to the little squadron that was to sail with the'Bon homme Richard'. One of the most fatal mistakes Congress ever madewas to put Captain Pierre Landais in command of her, out of complimentto the French allies. He was a man whose temper and vagaries hadfailed to get him a command in his own navy. His insulting conduct andtreachery to Captain Jones are strongly attested to in Mr. Carvel'smanuscript: they were amply proved by the written statements of otherofficers. 

The squadron sailed from L'Orient in June, but owing to a collisionbetween the Bon homme Richard and the Alliance it was forced to put backinto the Groix roads for repairs. Nails and rivets were with difficultygot to hold in the sides of the old Indianian. On August 14th John PaulJones again set sail for English waters, with the following vessels:Alliance, thirty-six; Pallas, thirty; Cerf, eighteen; Vengeance, twelve;and two French privateers. Owing to the humiliating conditions imposedupon him by the French Minister of Marine, Commodore Jones did not haveabsolute command. In a gale on the 26th the two privateers and the Cerfparted company, never to return. After the most outrageous conduct offthe coast of Ireland, Landais, in the 'Alliance', left the squadronon September 6th, and did not reappear until the 23d, the day of thebattle. 

Mr. Carvel was the third lieutenant of the 'Bon homme Richard', tho'he served as second in the action. Her first lieutenant (afterwards thecelebrated Commodore Richard Dale) was a magnificent man, one worthy inevery respect of the captain he served. When the hour of battle arrived, these two and the sailing master, and a number of raw midshipmen, werethe only line-officers left, and two French officers of marines. 

The rest had been lost in various ways. And the crew of the 'Bon hommeRichard' was as sorry a lot as ever trod a deck. Less than threescore of the seamen were American born; near four score were British, inclusive of sixteen Irish; one hundred and thirty-seven were Frenchsoldiers, who acted as marines; and the rest of the three hundred oddsouls to fight her were from all over the earth, --Malays and Malteseand Portuguese. In the hold were more than one hundred and fifty Englishprisoners. 

This was a vessel and a force, truly, with which to conquer a fifty-gunship of the latest type, and with a picked crew. 

Mr. Carvel's chapter opens with Landais's sudden reappearance on themorning of the day the battle was fought. He shows the resentment andanger against the Frenchman felt by all on board, from cabin-boyto commodore. But none went so far as to accuse the captain of the'Alliance' of such supreme treachery as he was to show during theaction. Cowardice may have been in part responsible for his holdingaloof from the two duels in which the Richard and the Pallas engaged. But the fact that he poured broadsides into the Richard, and intoher off side, makes it seem probable that his motive was to sink thecommodore's ship, and so get the credit of saving the day, to thedetriment of the hero who won it despite all disasters. To account forthe cry that was raised when first she attacked the Richard, it must beborne in mind that the crew of the 'Alliance' was largely composed ofEnglishmen. It was thought that these had mutinied and taken her. 

CHAPTER LII. HOW THE GARDENER'S SON FOUGHT THE "SERAPIS"

When I came on deck the next morning our yards were a-drip with a clammyfog, and under it the sea was roughed by a southwest breeze. We werestanding to the northward before it. I remember reflecting as I pausedin the gangway that the day was Thursday, September the 23d, and that wewere near two months out of Groix with this tub of an Indiaman. Inall that time we had not so much as got a whiff of an English frigate, though we had almost put a belt around the British Isles. Then strainingmy eyes through the mist, I made out two white blurs of sails on ourstarboard beam. 

Honest Jack Pearce, one of the few good seamen we had aboard, wasrubbing down one of the nines beside me. 

"Why, Jack, " said I, "what have we there? Another prize?" For thatquestion had become a joke on board the 'Bon homme Richard' since theprisoners had reached an hundred and fifty, and half our crew was goneto man the ships. 

"Bless your 'art, no, sir, " said he. "'Tis that damned Frenchy Landaisin th' Alliance. She turns up with the Pallas at six bells o' the middlewatch. "

"So he's back, is he?"

"Ay, he's back, " he returned, with a grunt that was half a growl; "arterthree weeks breakin' o' liberty. I tell 'ee what, sir, them Frenchies istreecherous devils, an' not to be trusted the len'th of a lead line. An'they beant seamen eno' to keep a full an' by with all their 'takteek'. Ez fer that Landais, I hearn him whinin' at the commodore in the roundhouse when we was off Clear, an' sayin' as how he would tell Sartin onus when he gets back to Paree. An' jabberin to th'other Frenchmen aswas there that this here butter-cask was er King's ship, an' that thecommodore weren't no commodore nohow. They say as how Cap'n Jones bebound up in a hard knot by some articles of agreement, an' daresn'tpunish him. Be that so, Mr. Carvel?"

I said that it was. 

"Shiver my bulkheads!" cried Jack, "I gave my oath to that same, sir. For I knowed the commodore was the lad t' string 'em to the yard-arman' he had the say on it. Oh, the devil take the Frenchies, " said Jack, rolling his quid to show his pleasure of the topic, "they sits on theirbottoms in Brest and L'Oriong an' talks takteek wi' their han's andmouths, and daresn't as much as show the noses o' their three-deckers inth' Bay o' Biscay, while Cap'n Jones pokes his bowsprit into everyport in England with a hulk the rats have left. I've had my bellyful o'Frenchies, Mr. Carvell save it be to fight 'em. An' I tell 'ee 'twouldgive me the greatest joy in life t' leave loose 'Scolding Sairy' at thatthere Landais. Th' gal ain't had a match on her this here cruise, an' t'my mind she couldn't be christened better, sir. "

I left him patting the gun with a tender affection. 

The scene on board was quiet and peaceful enough that morning. A knotof midshipmen on the forecastle were discussing Landais's conduct, andcursing the concordat which prevented our commodore from bringing himup short. Mr. Stacey, the sailing-master, had the deck, and the coastingpilot was conning; now and anon the boatswain's whistle piped forGarrett or Quito or Fogg to lay aft to the mast, where the firstlieutenant stood talking to Colonel de Chamillard, of the Frenchmarines. The scavengers were sweeping down, and part of the after guardwas bending a new bolt-rope on a storm staysail. 

Then the--fore-topmast crosstrees reports a sail on the weather quarter, the Richard is brought around on the wind, and away we go aftera brigantine, "flying like a snow laden with English bricks, " asMidshipman Coram jokingly remarks. A chase is not such a novelty with usthat we crane our necks to windward. 

At noon, when I relieved Mr. Stacey of the deck, the sun had eaten upthe fog, and the shores of England stood out boldly. Spurn Head waslooming up across our bows, while that of Flamborough jutted into thesea behind us. I had the starboard watch piped to dinner, and reportedtwelve o'clock to the commodore. And had just got permission to "makeit, " according to a time-honoured custom at sea, when another "Sail, ho!" came down from aloft. 

"Where away?" called back Mr. Linthwaite, who was midshipman of theforecastle. 

"Starboard quarter, rounding Flamborough Head, sir. Looks like afull-rigged ship, sir. "

I sent the messenger into the great cabin to report. He was barelyout of sight before a second cry came from the masthead: "Another sailrounding Flamborough, sir!"

The officers on deck hurried to the taffrail. I had my glass, but nota dot was visible above the sea-line. The messenger was scarcely backagain when there came a third hail: "Two more rounding the head, sir!Four in all, sir!"

Here was excitement indeed. Without waiting for instructions, I gave thecommand:

"Up royal yards! Royal yardmen in the tops!"

We were already swaying out of the chains, when Lieutenant Dale appearedand asked the coasting pilot what fleet it was. He answered that it wasthe Baltic fleet, under convoy of the Countess of Scarborough, twentyguns, and the Serapis, forty-four. 

"Forty-four, " repeated Mr. Dale, smiling; "that means fifty, as Englishfrigates are rated. We shall have our hands full this day, my lads, "said he. "You have done well to get the royals on her, Mr. Carvel. "

While he was yet speaking, three more sail were reported from aloft. Then there was a hush on deck, and the commodore himself appeared. As hereached the poop we saluted him and informed him of what had happened. 

"The Baltic fleet, " said he, promptly. "Call away the pilotboat with Mr. Lunt to follow the brigantine, sir, and ease off before the wind. Signal'General Chase' to the squadron, Mr. Mayrant. "

The men had jumped to the weather braces before I gave the command, andall the while more sail were counting from the crosstrees, untiltheir number had reached forty-one. The news spread over the ship; thestarboard watch trooped up with their dinners half eaten. Then a faintbooming of guns drifted down upon our ears. 

"They've got sight of us, sir, " shouted the lookout. "They be firingguns to windward, an' letting fly their topgallant sheets. "

At that the commodore hurried forward, the men falling back to thebulwarks respectfully, and he mounted the fore-rigging as agile as anytopman, followed by his aide with a glass. From the masthead he sung outto me to set our stu'nsails, and he remained aloft till near seven bellsof the watch. At that hour the merchantmen had all scuttled to safetybehind the head, and from the deck a great yellow King's frigate couldbe plainly seen standing south to meet us, followed by her smallerconsort. Presently she hove to, and through our glasses we discerneda small boat making for her side, and then a man clambering up hersea-ladder. 

"That be the bailiff of Scarborough, sir, " said the coasting pilot, "come to tell her cap'n 'tis Paul Jones he has to fight. "

At that moment the commodore lay down from aloft, and our hearts beathigh as he walked swiftly aft to the quarterdeck, where he paused fora word with Mr. Dale. Meanwhile Mr. Mayrant hove out the signal for thesquadron to form line of battle. 

"Recall the pilot-boat, Mr. Carvel, " said the commodore, quietly. "Thenyou may beat to quarters, and I will take the ship, sir. "

"Ay, ay, sir. " I raised my trumpet. "All hands clear ship for action!"

It makes me sigh now to think of the cheer which burst from thattatterdemalion crew. Who were they to fight the bone and sinew of theKing's navy in a rotten ship of an age gone by? And who was he, thatstood so straight upon the quarter-deck, to instil this scum with loveand worship and fervour to blind them to such odds? But the bo'sunspiped and sang out the command in fog-horn voices, the drums beat thelong roll and the fifes whistled, and the decks became suddenly alive. Breechings were loosed and gun-tackles unlashed, rammer and sponge laidout, and pike and pistol and cutlass placed where they would be handywhen the time came to rush the enemy's decks. The powder-monkeys tumbledover each other in their hurry to provide cartridges, and grape andcanister and doubleheaded shot were hoisted up from below. The trimmersrigged the splinter nettings, got out spare spars and blocks and ropesagainst those that were sure to be shot away, and rolled up casks ofwater to put out the fires. Tubs were filled with sand, for blood isslippery upon the boards. The French marines, their scarlet and whitevery natty in contrast to most of our ragged wharf-rats at the guns, were mustered on poop and forecastle, and some were sent aloft tothe tops to assist the tars there to sweep the British decks withhandgrenade and musket. And, lastly, the surgeon and his mates wentbelow to cockpit and steerage, to make ready for the grimmest work ofall. 

My own duties took me to the dark lower deck, a vile place indeed, andreeking with the smell of tar and stale victuals. There I had charge ofthe battery of old eighteens, while Mr. Dale commanded the twelves onthe middle deck. We loaded our guns with two shots apiece, though I hadmy doubts about their standing such a charge, and then the men strippeduntil they stood naked to the waist, waiting for the fight to begin. For we could see nothing of what was going forward. I was pacing up anddown, for it was a task to quiet the nerves in that dingy place withthe gun-ports closed, when about three bells of the dog, Mr. Mease, thepurser, appeared on the ladder. 

"Lunt has not come back with the pilot-boat, Carvel, " said he. "I havevolunteered for a battery, and am assigned to this. You are to report tothe commodore. "

I thanked him, and climbed quickly to the quarterdeck. The 'Bon hommeRichard' was lumbering like a leaden ship before the wind, swayingponderously, her topsails flapping and her heavy blocks whacking againstthe yards. And there was the commodore, erect, and with fire in his eye, giving sharp commands to the men at the wheel. I knew at once that notrifle had disturbed him. He wore a brand-new uniform; a blue coat withred lapels and yellow buttons, and slashed cuffs and stand-up collar, ared waistcoat with tawny lace, blue breeches, white silk stockings, anda cocked hat and a sword. Into his belt were stuck two brace of pistols. 

It took some effort to realize, as I waited silently for his attention, that this was the man of whose innermost life I had had so intimatea view. Who had taken me to the humble cottage under Criffel, who hadpoured into my ear his ambitions and his wrongs when we had sat togetherin the dingy room of the Castle Yard sponging-house. Then some of thoseludicrous scenes on the road to London came up to me, for which thesky-blue frock was responsible. And yet this commodore was not greatlyremoved from him I had first beheld on the brigantine John. Hisconfidence in his future had not so much as wavered since that day. Thatfuture was now not so far distant as the horizon, and he was ready tomeet it. 

"You will take charge of the battery of nines on this deck, Mr. Carvel, "said he, at length. 

"Very good, sir, " I replied, and was making my way down the poop ladder, when I heard him calling me, in a low voice, by the old name: "Richard!"

I turned and followed him aft to the taffrail, where we were clear ofthe French soldiers. The sun was hanging red over the Yorkshire Wolds, the Head of Flamborough was in the blue shadow, and the clouds were likerose leaves in the sky. The enemy had tacked and was standing west, withensign and jack and pennant flying, the level light washing his sailsto the whiteness of paper. 'Twas then I first remarked that the Alliancehad left her place in line and was sailing swiftly ahead toward theSerapis. The commodore seemed to read my exclamation. 

"Landais means to ruin me yet, by hook or crook, " said he. 

"But he can't intend to close with them, " I replied. "He has not thecourage. "

"God knows what he intends, " said the commodore, bitterly. "It is nogood, at all events. "

My heart bled for him. Some minutes passed that he did not speak, makingshift to raise his glass now and again, and I knew that he was grippedby a strong emotion. "'Twas so he ever behaved when the stress wasgreatest. Presently he lays down the glass on the signal-chest, fumblesin his coat, and brings out the little gold brooch I had not set eyes onsince Dolly and he and I had stood together on the Betsy's deck. 

"When you see her, Richard, tell her that I have kept it as sacred asher memory, " he said thickly. "She will recall what I spoke of you whenshe gave it me. You have been leal and true to me indeed, and many ablack hour have you tided me over since this war' began. Do you know howshe may be directed to?" he concluded, with abruptness. 

I glanced at him, surprised at the question. He was staring at theEnglish shore. 

"Mr. Ripley, of Lincoln's Inn, used to be Mr. Manners's lawyer, " Ianswered. 

He took out a little note-book and wrote that down carefully. "And now, "he continued, "God keep you, my friend. We must win, for we fight with arope around our necks. "

"But you, Captain Paul, " I said, "is--is there no one?"

His face took on the look of melancholy it had worn so often of late, despite his triumphs. That look was the stamp of fate. 

"Richard, " replied he, with an ineffable sadness, "I am naught but awanderer upon the face of the earth. I have no ties, no kindred, --noreal friends, save you and Dale, and some of these honest fellows whom Ilead to slaughter. My ambition is seamed with a flaw. And all my lifeI must be striving, striving, until I am laid in the grave. I know thatnow, and it is you yourself who have taught me. For I have violentlybroken forth from those bounds which God in His wisdom did set. "

I pressed his hand, and with bowed head went back to my station, profoundly struck by the truth of what he had spoken. Though he foughtunder the flag of freedom, the curse of the expatriated was upon hishead. 

Shortly afterward he appeared at the poop rail, straight and alert, hiseye piercing each man as it fell on him. He was the commodore once more. 

The twilight deepened, until you scarce could see your hands. There wasno sound save the cracking of the cabins and the tumbling of the blocks, and from time to time a muttered command. An age went by before thetrimmers were sent to the lee braces, and the Richard rounded lazily to. And a great frigate loomed out of the night beside us, half a pistolshotaway. 

"What ship is that?" came the hail, intense out of the silence. 

"I don't hear you, " replied our commodore, for he had not yet got hisdistance. 

Again came the hail: "What ship is that?"

John Paul Jones leaned forward over the rail. 

"Pass the word below to the first lieutenant to begin the action, sir. "

Hardly were the words out of my mouth before the deck gave a mightyleap, a hot wind that seemed half of flame blew across my face, andthe roar started the pain throbbing in my ears. At the same instant thescreech of shot sounded overhead, we heard the sharp crack-crack ofwood rending and splitting, --as with a great broadaxe, --and a medleyof blocks and ropes rattled to the deck with the 'thud of the fallingbodies. Then, instead of stillness, moans and shrieks from above andbelow, oaths and prayers in English and French and Portuguese, and inthe heathen gibberish of the East. As the men were sponging and ramminghome in the first fury of hatred, the carpenter jumped out under thebattle-lanthorn at the main hatch, crying in a wild voice that the oldeighteens had burst, killing half their crews and blowing up the gundeckabove them. At this many of our men broke and ran for the hatches. 

"Back, back to your quarters! The first man to desert will be shotdown!"

It was the same strange voice that had quelled the mutiny on the John, that had awed the men of Kirkcudbright. The tackles were seized andthe guns run out once more, and fired, and served again in an agony ofhaste. In the darkness shot shrieked hither and thither about us likedemons, striking everywhere, sometimes sending casks of salt water overthe nettings. Incessantly the quartermaster walked to and fro scatteringsand over the black pools that kept running, running together as theminutes were tolled out, and the red flashes from the guns revealedfaces in a hideous contortion. One little fellow, with whom I had hadmany a lively word at mess, had his arm taken off at the shoulder as hewent skipping past me with the charge under his coat, and I have but tolisten now to hear the patter of the blood on the boards as they carriedhim away to the cockpit below. Out of the main hatch, from that charnelhouse, rose one continuous cry. It was an odd trick of the mind or soulthat put a hymn on my lips in that dreadful hour of carnage and humanmisery, when men were calling the name of their Maker in vain. But asI ran from crew to crew, I sang over and over again a long-forgottenChristmas carol, and with it came a fleeting memory of my mother on thestairs at Carvel Hall, and of the negroes gathered on the lawn without. 

Suddenly, glancing up at the dim cloud of sails above, I saw that wewere aback and making sternway. We might have tossed a biscuit aboardthe big Serapis as she glided ahead of us. The broadsides thundered, andgreat ragged scantlings brake from our bulwarks and flew as high as themizzen-top; and the shrieks and groans redoubled. Involuntarily myeyes sought the poop, and I gave a sigh of relief at the sight of thecommanding figure in the midst of the whirling smoke. We shotted ourguns with double-headed, manned our lee braces, and gathered headway. 

"Stand by to board!"

The boatswains' whistles trilled through the ship, pikes were seized, and pistol and cutlass buckled on. But even as we waited with setteeth, our bows ground into the enemy's weather quarter-gallery. For theRichard's rigging was much cut away, and she was crank at best. Sowe backed and filled once more, passing the Englishman close aboard, himself being aback at the time. Several of his shot crushed through thebulwarks in front of me, shattering a nine-pounder and killing half ofits crew. And it is only a miracle that I stand alive to be able totell the tale. Then I caught a glimpse of the quartermaster whirlingthe spokes of our wheel, and over went our helm to lay us athwart theforefoot of the 'Serapis', where we might rake and rush her decks. Our old Indiaman answered but doggedly; and the huge bowsprit of theSerapis, towering over our heads, snapped off our spanker gaff andfouled our mizzen rigging. 

"A hawser, Mr. Stacey, a hawser!" I heard the commodore shout, and sawthe sailing-master slide down the ladder and grope among the dead andwounded and mass of broken spars and tackles, and finally pick up asmeared rope's end, which I helped him drag to the poop. There we foundthe commodore himself taking skilful turns around the mizzen with thesevered stays and shrouds dangling from the bowsprit, the French marineslooking on. 

"Don't swear, Mr. Stacey, " said he, severely; "in another minute we mayall be in eternity. "

I rushed back to my guns, for the wind was rapidly swinging the sternof the Serapis to our own bow, now bringing her starboard batteries intoplay. Barely had we time to light our snatches and send our broadsideinto her at three fathoms before the huge vessels came crunchingtogether, the disordered riggings locking, and both pointed northward toa leeward tide in a death embrace. The chance had not been given him toshift his crews or to fling open his starboard gun-ports. 

Then ensued a moment's breathless hush, even the cries of those inagony lulling. The pall of smoke rolled a little, and a silver moonlightfiltered through, revealing the weltering bodies twisted upon theboards. A stern call came from beyond the bulwarks. 

"Have you struck, sir?"

The answer sounded clear, and bred hero-worship in our souls. 

"Sir, I have not yet begun to fight. "

Our men raised a hoarse yell, drowned all at once by the popping ofmusketry in the tops and the bursting of grenades here and there aboutthe decks. A mighty muffled blast sent the Bon homme Richard rolling tolarboard, and the smoke eddied from our hatches and lifted out of thespace between the ships. The Englishman had blown off his gun-ports. And next some one shouted that our battery of twelves was fighting themmuzzle to muzzle below, our rammers leaning into the Serapis to sendtheir shot home. No chance then for the thoughts which had tortured usin moments of suspense. That was a fearful hour, when a shot had scarceto leap a cannon's length to find its commission; when the belches ofthe English guns burned the hair of our faces; when Death was sovereign, merciful or cruel at his pleasure. The red flashes disclosed many an actof coolness and of heroism. I saw a French lad whip off his coat when agunner called for a wad, and another, who had been a scavenger, snatchthe rammer from Pearce's hands when he staggered with a grape-shotthrough his chest. Poor Jack Pearce! He did not live to see the work'Scolding Sairy' was to do that night. I had but dragged him beyondreach of the recoil when he was gone. 

Then a cry came floating down from aloft. Thrice did I hear it, likeone waking out of a sleep, ere I grasped its import. "The Alliance! TheAlliance!" But hardly had the name resounded with joy throughout theship, when a hail of grape and canister tore through our sails from aftforward. "She rakes us! She rakes us!" And the French soldiers tumbledheadlong down from the poop with a wail of "Les Anglais font prise!""Her Englishmen have taken her, and turned her guns against us!" Ourcaptain was left standing alone beside the staff where the stars andstripes waved black in the moonlight. 

"The Alliance is hauling off, sir!" called the midshipman of themizzen-top. "She is making for the Pallas and the Countess ofScarborough. "

"Very good, sir, " was all the commodore said. 

To us hearkening for his answer his voice betrayed no sign of dismay. Seven times, I say, was that battle lost, and seven times regainedagain. What was it kept the crews at their quarters and the officersat their posts through that hell of flame and shot, when a madman couldscarce have hoped for victory? What but the knowledge that somewherein the swirl above us was still that unswerving and indomitable man whoswept all obstacles from before him, and into whose mind the thought ofdefeat could not enter. His spirit held us to our task, for flesh andblood might not have endured alone. 

We had now but one of our starboard nine-pounders on its carriage, andword came from below that our battery of twelves was all but knocked toscrap iron, and their ports blown into one yawning gap. Indeed, we didnot have to be told that sides and stanchions had been carried away, forthe deck trembled and teetered under us as we dragged 'Scolding Sairy'from her stand in the larboard waist, clearing a lane for her betweenthe bodies. Our feet slipped and slipped as we hove, and burning bits ofsails and splinters dropping from aloft fell unheeded on our heads andshoulders. With the energy of desperation I was bending to the pull, when the Malay in front of me sank dead across the tackle. But, ere Icould touch him, he was tenderly lifted aside, and a familiar figureseized the rope where the dead man's hands had warmed it. Truly, thecommodore was everywhere that night. 

"Down to the surgeon with you, Richard!" he cried. "I will look to thebattery. "

Dazed, I put my hand to my hair to find it warm and wringing wet. WhenI had been hit, I knew not. But I shook my head, for the very notion ofthat cockpit turned my stomach. The blood was streaming from a gash inhis own temple, to which he gave no heed, and stood encouraging thatpanting line until at last the gun was got across and hooked to thering-bolts of its companion that lay shattered there. "Serve herwith double-headed, my lads, " he shouted, "and every shot into theEnglishman's mainmast!"

"Ay, ay, sir, " came the answer from every man of that little remnant. 

The Serapis, too, was now beginning to blaze aloft, and chokingwood-smoke eddied out of the Richard's hold and mingled with the powderfumes. Then the enemy's fire abreast us seemed to lull, and Mr. Staceymounted the bulwarks, and cried out: "You have cleared their decks, myhearties!" Aloft, a man was seen to clamber from our mainyard into thevery top of the Englishman, where he threw a hand-grenade, as I thought, down her main hatch. An instant after an explosion came like a, clap ofthunder in our faces, and a great quadrant of light flashed as high asthe 'Serapis's' trucks, and through a breach in her bulwarks I saw menrunning with only the collars of their shirts upon their naked bodies. 

'Twas at this critical moment, when that fearful battle once more waswon, another storm of grape brought the spars about our heads, and thatname which we dreaded most of all was spread again. As we halted inconsternation, a dozen round shot ripped through our unengaged side, and a babel of voices hailed the treacherous Landais with oaths andimprecations. We made out the Alliance with a full head of canvas, blackand sharp, between us and the moon. Smoke hung above her rail. Gettingover against the signal fires blazing on Flamborough Head, she wore shipand stood across our bows, the midshipman on the forecastle singing outto her, by the commodore's orders, to lay the enemy by the board. Therewas no response. 

"Do you hear us?" yelled Mr. Linthwaite. 

"Ay, ay, " came the reply; and with it the smoke broke from her and thegrape and canister swept our forecastle. Then the Alliance sailed away, leaving brave Mr. Caswell among the many Landais had murdered. 

The ominous clank of the chain pumps beat a sort of prelude to whathappened next. The gunner burst out of the hatch with blood running downhis face, shouting that the Richard was sinking, and yelling for quarteras he made for the ensign-staff on the poop, for the flag was shot away. Him the commodore felled with a pistol-butt. At the gunner's heels werethe hundred and fifty prisoners we had taken, released by the masterat arms. They swarmed out of the bowels of the ship like a horde ofTartars, unkempt and wild and desperate with fear, until I thought thatthe added weight on the scarce-supported deck would land us all in thebilges. Words fail me when I come to describe the frightful panic ofthese creatures, frenzied by the instinct of self-preservation. Theysurged hither and thither as angry seas driven into a pocket of astorm-swept coast. They trampled rough-shod over the moaning heaps ofwounded and dying, and crowded the crews at the guns, who were powerlessbefore their numbers. Some fought like maniacs, and others flungthemselves into the sea. 

Those of us who had clung to hope lost it then. Standing with my backto the mast, beating them off with a pike, visions of an Englishprison-ship, of an English gallows, came before me. I counted theseconds until the enemy's seamen would be pouring through our raggedports. The seventh and last time, and we were beaten, for we had not menenough left on our two decks to force them down again. Yes, --I shameto confess it--the heart went clean out of me, and with that the painpulsed and leaped in my head like a devil unbound. At a turn of the handI should have sunk to the boards, had not a voice risen strong and clearabove that turmoil, compelling every man to halt trembling in his steps. 

"Cast off, cast off! 'The Serapis' is sinking. To the pumps, ye fools, if you would save your lives!"

That unerring genius of the gardener's son had struck the only chord!

They were like sheep before us as we beat them back into the reekinghatches, and soon the pumps were heard bumping with a renewed and adesperate vigour. Then, all at once, the towering mainmast of theenemy cracked and tottered and swung this way and that on its loosenedshrouds. The first intense silence of the battle followed, in the midstof which came a cry from our top:

"Their captain is hauling down, sir!"

The sound which broke from our men could scarce be called a cheer. Thatwhich they felt as they sank exhausted on the blood of their comradesmay not have been elation. My own feeling was of unmixed wonder as Igazed at a calm profile above me, sharp-cut against the moon. 

I was moved as out of a revery by the sight of Dale swinging across tothe Serapis by the main brace pennant. Calling on some of my boarders, Iscaled our bulwarks and leaped fairly into the middle of the gangway ofthe Serapis. 

Such is nearly all of my remembrance of that momentous occasion. I hadcaught the one glimpse of our first lieutenant in converse with theircaptain and another officer, when a naked seaman came charging at me. Hehad raised a pike above his shoulder ere I knew what he was about, andmy senses left me. 

CHAPTER LIII. IN WHICH I MAKE SOME DISCOVERIES

The room had a prodigious sense of change about it. That came over mewith something of a shock, since the moment before I had it settled thatI was in Marlboro' Street. The bare branches swaying in the wind outsideshould belong to the trees in Freshwater Lane. But beyond the brancheswere houses, the like of which I had no remembrance of in Annapolis. And then my grandfather should be sitting in that window. Surely, hewas there! He moved! He was coming toward me to say: "Richard, you areforgiven, " and to brush his eyes with his ruffles. 

Then there was the bed-canopy, the pleatings of which were gone, and itwas turned white instead of the old blue. And the chimney-place! Thatwas unaccountably smaller, and glowed with a sea-coal fire. And themantel was now but a bit of a shelf, and held many things that seemedscarce at home on the rough and painted wood, --gold filigree; and Chinaand Japan, and a French clock that ought not to have been just there. Ah, the teacups! Here at last was something to touch a fibre of mybrain, but a pain came with the effort of memory. So my eyes wentback to my grandfather in the window. His face was now become black asScipio's, and he wore a red turban and a striped cotton gown that wastoo large for him. And he was sewing. This was monstrous!

I hurried over to the tea-cups, such a twinge did that discovery giveme. But they troubled me near as much, and the sea-coal fire heldstrange images. The fascination in the window was not to be denied, forit stood in line with the houses and the trees. Suddenly there rose upbefore me a gate. Yes, I knew that gate, and the girlish figure leaningover it. They were in Prince George Street. Behind them was a mass ofgolden-rose bushes, and out of these came forth a black face under aturban, saying, "Yes, mistis, I'se comin'. "

"Mammy--Mammy Lucy!"

The figure in the window stirred, and the sewing fell its ample lap. 

"Now Lawd'a mercy!"

I trembled--with a violence unspeakable. Was this but one more of thosethousand voices, harsh and gentle, rough and tender, to which I hadlistened in vain this age past? The black face was hovering over menow, and in an agony of apprehension I reached up and felt its honestroughness. Then I could have wept for joy. 

"Mammy Lucy!"

"Yes, Marse Dick?"

"Where--where is Miss Dolly?"

"Now, Marse Dick, doctah done say you not t' talk, suh. "

"Where is Miss Dolly?" I cried, seizing her arm. 

"Hush, Marse Dick. Miss Dolly'll come terectly, suh. She's lyin' down, suh. "

The door creaked, and in my eagerness I tried to lift myself. 'TwasAunt Lucy's hand that restrained me, and the next face I saw was that ofDorothy's mother. But why did it appear so old and sorrow-lined? And whywas the hair now of a whiteness with the lace of the cap? She took myfingers in her own, and asked me anxiously if I felt any pain. 

"Where am I, Mrs. Manners?"

"You are in London, Richard. "

"In Arlington Street?"

She shook her head sadly. "No, my dear, not in Arlington Street. But youare not to talk. "

"And Dorothy? May I not see Dorothy? Aunt Lucy tells me she is here. "

Mrs. Manners gave the old mammy a glance of reproof, a signal thatalarmed me vastly. 

"Oh, tell me, Mrs. Manners! You will speak the truth. Tell me if she isgone away?"

"My dear boy, she is here, and under this very roof. And you shall seeher as soon as Dr. Barry will permit. Which will not be soon, " she addedwith a smile, "if you persist in this conduct. "

The threat had the desired effect. And Mrs. Manners quietly left theroom, and after a while as quietly came back again and sat down by thefire, whispering to Aunt Lucy. 

Fate, in some inexplicable way, had carried me into the enemy's countryand made me the guest of Mr. Marmaduke Manners. As I lay staringupward, odd little bits of the past came floating to the top of my mind, presently to be pieced together. The injuries Mr. Marmaduke had doneme were the first to collect, since I was searching for the cause ofmy resentment against him. The incidents arrived haphazard as magiclanthorn views, but very vivid. His denial of me before Mr. Dix, and histreachery at Vauxhall, when he had sent me to be murdered. Next I feltmyself clutching the skin over his ribs in Arlington Street, when I hadflung him across the room in his yellow night-gown. That brought me tothe most painful scene of my life, when I had parted with Dorothy at thetop of the stairs. Afterward followed scraps of the years at Gordon'sPride, and on top of them the talk with McAndrews. Here was the secret Isought. The crash had come. And they were no longer in Mayfair, but musthave taken a house in some poorer part of London. This thought cast medown tremendously. 

And Dorothy! Had time changed her? 'Twas with that query on my lips Ifell asleep, to dream of the sun shining down on Carvel Hall and WilmotHouse; of Aunt Hester and Aunt Lucy, and a lass and a lad rompingthrough pleasant fields and gardens. 

When I awoke it was broad day once more. A gentleman sat on the edge ofmy bed. He had a queer, short face, ruddy as the harvest moon, and hesmiled good-humouredly when I opened my eyes. 

"I bid you good morning, Mr. Carvel, for the first time since I havemade your acquaintance, " said he. "And how do you feel, sir?"

"I have never felt better in my life, " I replied, which was the wholetruth. 

"Well, vastly well, " says he, laughing, "prodigious well for a youngman who has as many holes in him as have you. Do you hear him, Mrs. Manners?"

At that last word, I popped up to look about the room, and the doctorcaught hold of me with ludicrous haste. A pain shot through my body. 

"Avast, avast, my hearty, " cries he. "'Tis a miracle you can speak, let alone carry your bed and walk for a while yet. " And he turned toDorothy's mother, whom I beheld smiling at me. "You will give him thephysic, ma'am, at the hours I have chosen. Egad, I begin to think weshall come through. 

"But pray remember, ma'am, if he talks, you are to put a wad in hismouth. "

"He shall have no opportunity to talk, Dr. Barry, " said Mrs. Manners. 

"Save for a favour I have to ask you, doctor, " I cried. 

"'Od's bodkins! Already, sir? And what may that be?"

"That you will allow me to see Miss Manners. "

He shook with laughter, and then winked at me very roguishly. 

"Oh!" says he, "and faith, I should be worse than cruel. First she comesimploring me to see you, and so prettily that a man of oak could notrefuse her. And now it is you begging to see her. Had your eyes beenopened, sir, you might have had many a glimpse of Miss Dolly these threeweeks past. "

"What! She has been watching with me?" I asked, in a rapture not to beexpressed. 

"'Od's, but those are secrets. And the medical profession isclose-mouthed, Mr. Carvel. So you want to see her? No, " cries he, "'tisnot needful to swear it on the Evangels. And I let her come in, will yougive me your honour as a gentleman not to speak more than two words toher?"

"I promise anything, and you will not deny me looking at her, " said I. 

He shook again, all over. "You rascal! You sad dog, sir! No, sir, faith, you must shut your eyes. Eh, madam, must he not shut his eyes?"

"They were playmates, doctor, " answers Mrs. Manners. She was laughing alittle, too. 

"Well, she shall come in. But remember that I shall have my ear to thekeyhole, and you go beyond your promise, out she's whisked. So I cautionyou not to spend rashly those two words, sir. "

And he followed Mrs. Manners out of the room, frowning and shaking hisfist at me in mock fierceness. I would have died for the man. For aspace--a prodigious long space--I lay very still, my heart bumping likea gun-carriage broke loose, and my eyes riveted on the crack of thedoor. Then I caught the sound of a light footstep, the knob turned, andjoy poured into my soul with the sweep of a Fundy tide. 

"Dorothy!" I cried. "Dorothy!"

She put her finger to her lips. 

"There, sir, " said she, "now you have spoken them both at once!"

She closed the door softly behind her, and stood looking down upon mewith such a wondrous love-light in her eyes as no man may describe. My fancy had not lifted me within its compass, my dreams even had notimagined it. And the fire from which it sprang does not burn in humblersouls. So she stood gazing, those lips which once had been the seat ofpride now parted in a smile of infinite tenderness. But her head shestill held high, and her body straight. Down the front of her dressfell a tucked apron of the whitest linen, and in her hand was a cup ofsteaming broth. 

"You are to take this, Richard, " she commanded. And added, with a touchof her old mischief, "Mind, sir, if I hear a sound out of you, I am todisappear like the fairy godmother. "

I knew full well she meant it, and the terror of losing her kept mesilent. She put down the cup, placed another pillow behind my head witha marvellous deftness, and then began feeding me in dainty spoonfulssomething which was surely nectar. And mine eyes, too, had their feast. Never before had I seen my lady in this gentle guise, this task ofnursing the sick, which her doing raised to a queenly art. 

Her face had changed some. Years of trial unknown to me had left anennobling mark upon her features, increasing their power an hundredfold. And the levity of girlish years was gone. How I burned to questionher! But her lips were now tight closed, her glance now and anon seekingmine, and then falling with an exquisite droop to the coverlet. For theold archness, at least, would never be eradicated. Presently, after shehad taken the cup and smoothed my pillow, I reached out for her hand. Itwas a boldness of which I had not believed myself capable; but she didnot resist, and even, as I thought, pressed my fingers with her ownslender ones, the red of our Maryland holly blushing in her cheeks. Andwhat need of words, indeed! Our thoughts, too, flew coursing hand inhand through primrose paths, and the angels themselves were not to beenvied. 

A master might picture my happiness, waking and sleeping, through theshort winter days that came and went like flashes of gray light. Thememory of them is that of a figure tall and lithe, a little more roundedthan of yore, and a chiselled face softened by a power that is oneof the world's mysteries. Dorothy had looked the lady in rags, andhousewife's cap and apron became her as well as silks or brocades. When for any reason she was absent from my side, I moped, to the quietamusement of Mrs. Manners and the more boisterous delight of Aunt Lucy, who took her turn sewing in the window. I was near to forgetting the useof words, until at length, one rare morning when the sun poured in, the jolly doctor dressed my wounds with more despatch than common, andvouchsafed that I might talk awhile that day. 

"Oh!" cries he, putting me as ever to confusion, "but I have a guesswhom my gentleman will be wishing to talk with. But I'll warrant, sir, you have said a deal more than I have any notion of without opening yourlips. "

And he went away, intolerably pleased with his joke. 

Alas for the perversity of maiden natures! It was not my dear nurse whobrought my broth that morning, but Mrs. Manners herself. She smiled atmy fallen face, and took a chair at my bedside. 

"Now, my dear boy, " she said, "you may ask what questions you choose, and I will tell you very briefly how you have come here. "

"I have been thinking, Mrs. Manners, " I replied, "that if it were knownthat you harboured one of John Paul Jones's officers in London, veryserious trouble might follow for you. "

I thought her brow clouded a little. 

"No one knows of it, Richard, or is likely to. Dr. Barry, like so manyin England, is a good Whig and friend to America. And you are in a partof London far removed from Mayfair. " She hesitated, and then continuedin a voice that strove to be lighter: "This little house is in CharlotteStreet, Mary-le-Bone, for the war has made all of us suffer some. Andwe are more fortunate than many, for we are very comfortable here, andthough I say it, happier than in Arlington Street. And the best of ourfriends are still faithful. Mr. Fox, with all his greatness, has neverdeserted us, nor my Lord Comyn. Indeed, we owe them much more than I cantell you of now, " she said, and sighed. "They are here every day of theworld to inquire for you, and it was his Lordship brought you out ofHolland. "

And so I had reason once more to bless this stanch friend!

"Out of Holland?" I cried. 

"Yes. One morning as we sat down to breakfast, Mr. Ripley's clerkbrought in a letter for Dorothy. But I must say first that Mr. Dulany, who is in London, told us that you were with John Paul Jones. Youcan have no conception, Richard, of the fear and hatred that name hasaroused in England. Insurance rates have gone up past belief, and theKing's ships are cruising in every direction after the traitor andpirate, as they call him. We have prayed daily for your safety, andDorothy--well, here is the letter she received. It had been openedby the inspector, and allowed to pass. And it is to be kept as acuriosity. " She drew it from the pocket of her apron and began to read. 

 "THE TEXEL, October 3, 1779

 "MY DEAR Miss DOROTHY: I would not be thought to flutter y'r Gentle Bosom with Needless Alarms, nor do I believe I have misjudged y'r Warm & Generous Nature when I write you that One who is held very High in y'r Esteem lies Exceeding Ill at this Place, who might by Tender Nursing regain his Health. I seize this Opportunity to say, my dear Lady, that I have ever held my too Brief Acquaintance with you in London as one of the Sacred Associations of my Life. From the Little I saw of you then I feel Sure that this Appeal will not pass in Vain. I remain y'r most Humble and Devoted Admirer, "JAMES ORCHARDSON. "

"And she knew it was from Commodore Jones?" I asked, in astonishment. 

"My dear, " replied Mrs. Manners, with a quiet smile, "we women have akeener instinct than men--though I believe your commodore has a woman'sintuition. Yes, Dorothy knew. And I shall never forget the fright shegave me as she rose from the table and handed me the sheet to read, crying but the one word. She sent off to Brook Street for Lord Comyn, who came at once, and, in half an hour the dear fellow was set out forDover. He waited for nothing, since war with Holland was looked forat any day. And his Lordship himself will tell you about that rescue. Within the week he had brought you to us. Your skull had been trepanned, you had this great hole in your thigh, and your heart was beating butslowly. By Mr. Fox's advice we sent for Dr. Barry, who is a skilledsurgeon, and a discreet man despite his manner. And you have been herefor better than three weeks, Richard, hanging between life and death. "

"And I owe my life to you and to Dorothy, " I said. 

"To Lord Comyn and Dr. Barry, rather, " she replied quickly. "We havedone little but keep the life they saved. And I thank God it was givenme to do it for the son of your mother and father. "

Something of the debt I owed them was forced upon me. 

They were poor, doubtless driven to make ends meet, and yet they hadtaken me in, called upon near the undivided services of an able surgeon, and worn themselves out with nursing me. Nor did I forget the riskthey ran with such a guest. For the first time in many years my heartrelented toward Mr. Marmaduke. For their sakes I forgave him over andover what I had suffered, and my treatment of him lay like a weight uponme. And how was I to repay them? They needed the money I had cost them, of that I was sure. After the sums I had expended to aid the commodorewith the 'Ranger' and the 'Bon homme Richard', I had scarce a farthingto my name. With such leaden reflections was I occupied when I heardMrs. Manners speaking to me. 

"Richard, I have some news for you which the doctor thinks you can bearto-day. Mr. Dulany, who is exiled like the rest of us, brought them. Itis a great happiness to be able to tell you, my dear, that you are nowthe master of Carvel Hall, and like to stay so. "

The tears stole into her eyes as she spoke. And the enormity of thosetidings, coming as they did on the top of my dejection, benumbed me. Allthey meant was yet far away from my grasp, but the one supreme resultthat was first up to me brought me near to fainting in my weakness. 

"I would not raise your hopes unduly, Richard, " the good lady wassaying, "but the best informed here seem to think that England cannotpush the war much farther. If the Colonies win, you are secure in yourtitle. "

"But how is it come about, Mrs. Manners?" I demanded, with my firstbreath. 

"You doubtless have heard that before the Declaration was signed atPhiladelphia your Uncle Grafton went to the committee at Annapolis andcontributed to the patriot cause, and took very promptly the oath of theAssociated Freemen of Maryland, thus forsaking the loyalist party--"

"Yes, yes, " I interrupted, "I heard of it when I was on the Cabot. Hethought his property in danger. "

"Just so, " said Mrs. Manners, laughing; "he became the best and mostexemplary of patriots, even as he had been the best of Tories. He sentwheat and money to the army, and went about bemoaning that his only sonfought under the English flag. But very little fighting has Philip done, my dear. Well, when the big British fleet sailed up the bay in '77, your precious uncle made the first false step in his long career ofrascality. He began to correspond with the British at Philadelphia, andone of his letters was captured near the Head of Elk. A squad was sentto the Kent estate, where he had been living, to arrest him, but he madehis escape to New York. And his lands were at once confiscated by thestate. "

"'Then they belong to the state, " I said, with misgiving. 

"Not so fast, Richard. At the last session of the Maryland Legislature abill was introduced, through the influence of Mr. Bordley and others, torestore them to you, their rightful owner. And insomuch as you were eventhen serving the country faithfully and bravely, and had a clean andhonourable record of service, the whole of the lands were given to you. And now, my dear, you have had excitement enough for one day. "

CHAPTER LIV. MORE DISCOVERIES

All that morning I pondered over the devious lane of my life, which hadled up to so fair a garden. And one thing above all kept turning andturning in my head, until I thought I should die of waiting for itsfulfilment. Now was I free to ask Dorothy to marry me, to promise herthe ease and comfort that had once been hers, should God bring us safeback to Maryland. The change in her was little less than a marvel tome, when I remembered the wilful miss who had come to London bent uponpleasure alone. Truly, she was of that rare metal which refines, andthen outshines all others. And there was much I could not understand. A miracle had saved her from the Duke of Chartersea, but why she hadrefused so many great men and good was beyond my comprehension. Not aglimpse of her did I get that day, though my eyes wandered little fromthe knob of the door. And even from Aunt Lucy no satisfaction was to behad as to the cause of her absence. 

"'Clare to goodness, Marse Dick, " said she, with great solemnity, "'clare to goodness, I'se nursed Miss Dolly since she was dat high, andneber one minnit obher life is I knowed what de Chile gwine t' do denext. She ain't neber yit done what I calcelated on. "

The next morning, after the doctor had dressed my wounds and bantered meto his heart's content, enters Mr. Marmaduke Manners. I was prodigiouslystruck by the change in him, and pitied him then near as much as I hadonce despised him. He was arrayed in finery, as of old. But the finerywas some thing shabby; the lace was frayed at the edges, there was aneat but obvious patch in his small-clothes, and two more in his coat. His air was what distressed me most of all, being that of a man whospends his days seeking favours and getting none. I had seen too many ofthe type not to know the sign of it. 

He ran forward and gave me his hand, which I grasped as heartily as myweakness would permit. 

"They would not let me see you until to-day, my dear Richard, " heexclaimed. "I bid you welcome to what is left of our home. 'Tis notArlington Street, my lad. "

"But more of a home than was that grander house, Mr. Manners. "

He sighed heavily. 

"Alas!" said he, "poverty is a bitter draught, and we have drunk deep ofit since last we beheld you. My great friends know me no more, and willnot take my note for a shilling. They do not remember the dinners andsuppers I gave them. Faith, this war has brought nothing but misery, andhow we are to get through it, God knows!"

Now I understood it was not the war, but Mr. Marmaduke himself, whichhad carried his family to this pass. And some of my old resentmentrekindled. 

"I know that I have brought you great additional anxiety and expense, Mr. Manners, " I answered somewhat testily. "The care I have been to Mrs. Manners and Dorothy I may never repay. But it gives me pleasure to feel, sir, that I am in a position to reimburse you, and likewise to loan yousomething until your lands begin to pay again. "

"There the Carvel speaks, " he cried, "and the true son of our generousprovince. You can have no conception of the misfortunes come to me outof this quarrel. The mortgages on my Western Shore tobacco lands areforeclosed, and Wilmot House itself is all but gone. You well know, ofcourse, that I would do the same by you, Richard. "

I smiled, but more in sadness than amusement. Hardship had only degradedMr. Marmaduke the more, and even in trouble his memory was convenientas is that of most people in prosperity. I was of no mind to jog hisrecollection. But I wanted badly to ask about his Grace. Where had myfine nobleman been at the critical point of his friend's misfortunes?For I had had many a wakeful night over that same query since my talkwith McAndrews. 

"So you have come to your own again, Richard, my lad, " said Mr. Marmaduke, breaking in upon my train. "I have felt for you deeply, andtalked many a night with Margaret and Dorothy over the wrong done you. Between you and me, " he whispered, "that uncle of yours is an arrantknave, whom the patriots have served with justice. To speak truth, sir, I begin myself to have a little leaning to that cause which you have sobravely espoused. "

This time I was close to laughing outright. But he was far too seriousto remark my mirth. He commenced once more, with an ahem, which gave mea better inkling than frankness of what bothered him. 

"You will have an agent here, Richard, I take it, " said he. "Yourgrandfather had one. Ahem! Doubtless this agent will advance you allyou shall have need of, when you are well enough to see him. Fact is, hemight come here. "

"You forget, Mr. Manners, that I am a pirate and an outlaw, and that youare the shielder of such. "

That thought shook the pinch of Holland he held all over him. But herecovered. 

"My dear Richard, men of business are of no faction and of no nation. Their motto is discretion. And to obtain the factorship in London of alike estate to yours one of them would wear a plaster over his mouth, I'll warrant you. You have but to summon one of the rascals, promise hima bit of war interest, and he will leave you as much as you desire, andnothing spoken. "

"To talk plainly, Mr. Manners, " I replied, "I think 'twould be theheight of folly to resort to such means. When I am better, we shall seewhat can be done. "

His face plainly showed his disappointment. 

"To be sure, " he said, in a whining tone, "I had forgotten your friends, Lord Comyn and Mr. Fox. They may do something for you, now you ownyour estate. My dear sir, I dislike to say aught against any man. Mrs. Manners will tell you of their kindness to us, but I vow I have not beenable to see it. With all the money at their command they will not loanme a penny in my pressing need. And I shame to say it, my own daughterprevents me from obtaining the money to keep us out of the Fleet. I knowshe has spoken to Dulany. Think of it, Richard, my own daughter, uponwhom I lavished all when I had it, who might have made a score of grandmatches when I gave her the opportunity, and now we had all been rollingin wealth. I'll be sworn I don't comprehend her, nor her mother either, who abets her. For they prefer to cook Maryland dainties for a living, to put in the hands of the footmen of the ladies whose houses they oncevisited. And how much of that money do you suppose I get, sir? Will youbelieve it that I--" (he was shrieking now), "that I, the man of thefamily, am allowed only my simple meals, a farthing for snuff, and not agroat for chaise-hire? At my age I am obliged to walk to and from theirlordships' side entrances in patched clothes, egad, when a new suitmight obtain us a handsome year's income!"

I turned my face to the wall, completely overcome, and the tearsscalding in my eyes, at the thought of Dorothy and her mother bendingover the stove cooking delicacies for their livelihood, and watching atmy bedside night and day despite their weariness of body. And not aword out of these noble women of their sacrifice, nor of the shame andtrouble and labour of their lives, who always had been used to everyluxury! Nothing but cheer had they brought to the sickroom, and not asign of their poverty and hardship, for they knew that their brothsand biscuit and jellies must have choked me. No. It remained for thiscontemptible cur of a husband and father to open my eyes. 

He had risen when I had brought myself to look at him. And as I hope forheaven he took my emotion for pity of himself. 

"I have worried you enough for one day with my troubles, my lad, " saidhe. "But they are very hard to bear, and once in a while it does me goodto speak of them. "

I did not trust myself to reply. 

It was Aunt Lucy who spent the morning with me, and Mrs. Manners broughtmy dinner. I observed a questioning glance as she entered, which I tookfor an attempt to read whether Mr. Marmaduke had spoke more than heought. But I would have bitten off my tongue rather than tell her of mydiscoveries, though perhaps my voice may have betrayed an added concern. She stayed to talk on the progress of the war, relating the gallantstorming of Stony Point by Mad Anthony in July, and the latest Toryinsurrection on our own Eastern Shore. She passed from these matters toa discussion of General Washington's new policy of the defensive, for Mrs. Manners had always been at heart a patriot. And whilst I laylistening with a deep interest, in comes my lady herself. So was itever, when you least expected her, even as Mammy had said. She curtseyedvery prettily, with her chin tilted back and her cheeks red, and askedme how I did. 

"And where have you been these days gone, Miss Will-o'the-Wisp, sincethe doctor has given me back my tongue?" I cried. 

"I like you better when you are asleep, " says she. "For then you aresometimes witty, though I doubt not the wit is other people's. "

So I saw that she had tricked me, and taken her watch at night. For Islept like a trooper after a day's forage. As to what I might have saidin my dreams--that thought made me red as an apple. 

"Dorothy, Dorothy, " says her mother, smiling, "you would provoke asaint. "

"Which would be better fun than teasing a sinner, " replies the minx, with a little face at me. "Mr. Carvel, a gentleman craves the honour ofan audience from your Excellency. "

"A gentleman!"

"Even so. He presents a warrant from your Excellency's physician. "

With that she disappeared, Mrs. Manners going after her. And who shouldcome bursting in at the door but my Lord Comyn? He made one rush at me, and despite my weakness bestowed upon me a bear's hug. 

"Oh, Richard, " cried he, when he had released me, "I give you my oaththat I never hoped to see you rise from that bed when we laid you there. But they say that love works wondrous cures, and, egad, I believe thatnow. 'Tis love is curing you, my lad. "

He held me off at arm's length, the old-time affection beaming from hishandsome face. 

"What am I to say to you, Jack?" I answered. And my voice was all butgone, for the sight of him revived the memory of every separate debt ofthe legion I owed him. "How am I to piece words enough together to thankyou for this supreme act of charity?"

"'Od's, you may thank your own devilish thick head, " said my Lord Comyn. "I should never have bothered my own about you were it not for her. Hadit not been for her happiness do you imagine I would have picked you outof that crew of half-dead pirates in the Texel fort?"

I must needs brush my cheek, then, with the sleeve of my night-rail. 

"And will you give me some account of this last prodigious turn you havedone her?" I said. 

He laughed, and pinched me playfully. 

"Now are you coming to your senses, " said he. "There was cursed littleto the enterprise, Richard, and that's the truth. I got down to Dover, and persuaded the master of a schooner to carry me to Rotterdam. Thatwas not so difficult, since your Terror of the Seas was locked up safeenough in the Texel. In Rotterdam I had a travelling-chaise stripped, and set off at the devil's pace for the Texel. You must know that thewhole Dutch nation was in an uproar--as much of an uproar as those boorsever reach--over the arrival of your infamous squadron. The Court Partyand our ambassador were for having you kicked out, and the Republicansfor making you at home. I heard that their High Mightinesses had givenPaul Jones the use of the Texel fort for his wounded and his prisoners, and thither I ran. And I was even cursing the French sentry at thedrawbridge in his own tongue, when up comes your commodore himself. You may quarter me if wasn't knocked off my feet when I recognized theidentical peacock of a sea-captain we had pulled out of Castle Yardalong with you, and offered a commission in the Royal Navy. "

"Dolly hadn't told you?"

"Dolly tell me!" exclaimed his Lordship, scornfully. "She was in a stateto tell me nothing the morning I left, save only to bring you to Englandalive, and repeat it over and over. But to return to your captain, --he, too, was taken all aback. But presently he whipt out my name, and I his, without the Jones. And when I told him my errand, he wept on my neck, and said he had obtained unlimited leave of absence for you from theParis commissioners. He took me up into a private room in the fort, where you were; and the surgeon, who was there at the time, said thatyour chances were as slim as any man's he had ever seen. Faith, youlooked it, my lad. At sight of your face I took one big gulp, for I hadno notion of getting you back to her. And rather than come without you, and look into her eyes, I would have drowned myself in the Straits ofDover. 

"Despite the host of troubles he had on his hands, your commodorehimself came with us to Rotterdam. Now I protest I love that man, whohas more humanity in him than most of the virtuous people in England whocall him hard names. If you could have seen him leaning over you, andspeaking to you, and feeling every minute for your heart-beats, egad, you would have cried. And when I took you off to the schooner, he gaveme an hundred directions how to care for you, and then his sorrow bowledhim all in a heap. "

"And is the commodore still at the Texel?" I asked, after a space. 

"Ay, that he is, with our English cruisers thick as gulls outside'waiting for a dead fish. But he has spurned the French commission theyhave offered him, saying that of the Congress is good enough for him. And he declares openly that when he gets ready he will sail out in theAlliance under the Stars and Stripes. And for this I honour him, " addedhe, "and Charles honours him, and so must all Englishmen honour himwhen they come to their senses. And by Gads life, I believe he will getclear, for he is a marvel at seamanship. "

"I pray with all my heart that he may, " said I, fervently. 

"God help him if they catch him!" my Lord exclaimed. "You should see thebloody piratical portraits they are scattering over London. "

"Has the risk you ran getting me into England ever occurred to you, Jack?" I asked, with some curiosity. 

"Faith, not until the day after we got back, Richard, " says he, "whenI met Mr. Attorney General on the street. 'Sdeath, I turned and ranthe other way like the devil was after me. For Charles Fox vows thatconscience makes cowards of the best of us. "

"So that is some of Charles's wisdom!" I cried, and laughed until I wasforced to stop from pain. 

"Come, my hearty, " says Jack, "you owe me nothing for fishing you outof Holland--that is her debt. But I declare that you must one day payme for saving her for you. What! have I not always sworn that she lovedyou? Did I not pull you into the coffee-room of the Star and Garteryears ago, and tell you that same?"

My face warmed, though I said nothing. 

"Oh, you sly dog! I'll warrant there has been many a tender talk justwhere I'm sitting. "

"Not one, " said I. 

"'Slife, then, what have you been doing, " he cries, "seeing her everyday and not asking her to marry you, my master of Carvel Hall?"

"Since I am permitted to use my tongue, she has not come near me, savewhen I slept, " I answered ruefully. 

"Nor will she, I'll be sworn, " says he, shaken with laughter. 

"'Ods, have you no invention? Egad, you must feign sleep, and seize herunawares. "

I did not inform his Lordship how excellent this plan seemed to me. 

"And I possessed the love of such a woman, Richard, " he said, in anothertone, "I think I should die of happiness. She will never tell you howthese weeks past she has scarce left your side. The threats combined ofher mother and the doctor, and Charles and me, would not induce herto take any sleep. And time and time have I walked from here to BrookStreet without recognizing a step of the way, lifted clear out of myselfby the sight of her devotion. "

What was my life, indeed, that such a blessing should come into it!

"When the crash came, " he continued, "'twas she took command, and 'tisGod's pity she had not done so long before. Mr. Marmaduke was pushedto the bottom of the family, where he belongs, and was given onlysnuff-money. She would give him no opportunity to contract anotherdebt, and even charged Charles and me to loan him nothing. Nor would shereceive aught from us, but" (he glanced at me uneasily)--"but she andMrs. Manners must take to cooking delicacies--"

"Yes, yes, I know, " I faltered. 

"What! has the puppy told you?" cried he. 

I nodded. "He was in here this morning, with his woes. "

"And did he speak of the bargain he tried to make with our old friend, his Grace of Chartersea?"

"He tried to sell her again?" I cried, my breath catching. "I havefeared as much since I heard of their misfortunes. "

"Yes, " replied Comyn, "that was the first of it. 'Twas while they werestill in Arlington Street, and before Mrs. Manners and Dorothy knew. Mr. Marmaduke goes posting off to Nottinghamshire, and comes back inside theduke's own carriage. And his Grace goes to dine in Arlington Street forthe first time in years. Dorothy had wind of the trouble then, Charleshaving warned her. And not a word would she speak to Chartersea thewhole of the dinner, nor look to the right or left of her plate. Andwhen the servants are gone, up gets my lady with a sweep and confrontshim. 

"'Will your Grace spare me a minute in the drawing-room?' says she. 

"He blinked at her in vast astonishment, and pushed back his chair. Whenshe was come to the door, she turns with another sweep on Mr. Marmaduke, who was trotting after. 

"'You will please to remain here, father, ' she said; 'what I am to sayis for his Grace's ear alone. '

"Of what she spoke to the duke I can form only an estimate, Richard, " myLord concluded, "but I'll lay a fortune 'twas greatly to the point. Forin a little while Chartersea comes stumbling down the steps. And hehas never darkened the door since. And the cream of it is, " said Comyn, "that her father gave me this himself, with a face a foot long, for meto sympathize. The little beast has strange bursts of confidence. "

"And stranger confidants, " I ejaculated, thinking of the morning, and ofCourtenay's letter, long ago. 

But the story had made my blood leap again with pride of her. Thepicture in my mind had followed his every sentence, and even the verywords she must have used were ringing in my ears. 

Then, as we sat talking in low tones, the door opened, and a heartyvoice cried out:

"Now where is this rebel, this traitor? They tell me one lies hid inthis house. 'Slife, I must have at him!"

"Mr. Fox!" I exclaimed. 

He took my hands in his, and stood regarding me. 

"For the convenience of my friends, I was christened Charles, " said he. 

I stared at him in amazement. He was grown a deal stouter, but my eyewas caught and held by the blue coat and buff waistcoat he wore. Theywere frayed and stained and shabby, yet they seemed all of a piece withsome new grandeur come upon the man. 

"Is all the world turning virtuous? Is the millennium arrived?" I cried. 

He smiled, with his old boyish smile. 

"You think me changed some since that morning we drove together toHolland House--do you remember it after the night at St. Stephen's?"

"Remember it!" I repeated, with emphasis, "I'll warrant I can give youevery bit of our talk. "

"I have seen many men since, but never have I met your equal for a mostdamnable frankness, Richard Carvel. Even Jack, here, is not half soblunt and uncompromising. But you took my fancy--God knows why!--thatfirst night I clapped eyes on you in Arlington Street, and I loved youwhen your simplicity made us that speech at Brooks's Club. So you havenot forgotten that morning under the trees, when the dew was on thegrass. Faith, I am glad of it. What children we were!" he said, andsighed. 

"And yet you were a Junior Lord, " I said. 

"Which is more than I am now, " he answered. "Somehow--you maylaugh--somehow I have never been able to shake off the influence of yourwords, Richard. Your cursed earnestness scared me. "

"Scared you?" I cried, in astonishment. 

"Just that, " said Charles. "Jack will bear witness that I have saidso to Dolly a score of times. For I had never imagined such a singlecharacter as yours. You know we were all of us rakes at fifteen, towhom everything good in the universe was a joke. And do you recall theteamster we met by the Park, and how he arrested his salute when he sawwho it was? At another time I should have laughed over that, but it cutme to have it happen when you were along. "

"And I'll lay an hundred guineas to a farthing the fellow would put hishead on the block for Charles now, " cut in his Lordship, with his handon Mr. Fox's shoulder. "Behold, O Prophet, " he cried, "one who is becomethe champion of the People he reviled! Behold the friend of Rebellionand 'Lese Majeste', the viper in Britannia's bosom!"

"Oh, have done, Jack, " said Mr. Fox, impatiently, "you have no moremusic in your soul than a cow. Damned little virtue attaches to it, Richard, " he went on. "North threw me out, and the king would havenothing to do with me, so I had to pick up with you rebels andtraitors. "

"You will not believe him, Richard, " cried my Lord; "you have only tolook at him to see that he lies. Take note of the ragged uniform of therebel army he carries, and then think of him 'en petite maitre', withhis cabriolet and his chestnuts. Egad, he might be as rich as Rigby wereit not for those principles which he chooses to deride. And I have seenhim reduced to a crown for them. I tell you, Richard, " said my Lord, "byespousing your cause Charles is become greater than the King. For hehas the hearts of the English people, which George has not, and theallegiance of you Americans, which George will never have. And if youonce heard him, in Parliament, you should hear him now, and see theSpeaker wagging his wig like a man bewitched, and hear friends andenemies calling out for him to go on whenever he gives the sign of apause. "

This speech of his Lordship's may seem cold in the writing, my dears, and you who did not know him may wonder at it. It had its birth in anadmiration few men receive, and which in Charles Fox's devoted coteriewas dangerously near to idolatry. During the recital of it Charleswalked to the window, and there stood looking out upon the grayprospect, seemingly paying but little attention. But when Comyn hadfinished, he wheeled on us with a smile. 

"Egad, he will be telling you next that I have renounced the devil andall his works, Richard, " said he. 

"'Oohs, that I will not, " his Lordship made haste to declare. "For theywere born in him, and will die with him. "

"And you, Jack, " I asked, "how is it that you are not in arms for theKing, and commanding one of his frigates?"

"Why, it is Charles's fault, " said my Lord, smiling. "Were it not forhim I should be helping Sir George Collier lay waste to your coasttowns. "

CHAPTER LV. "THE LOVE OF A MAID FOR A MAN"

The next morning, when Dr. Barry had gone, Mrs. Manners propped me up inbed and left me for a little, so she said. Then who should come inwith my breakfast on a tray but my lady herself, looking so fresh andbeautiful that she startled me vastly. 

"A penny for your thoughts, Richard, " she cried. "Why, you are as graveas a screech-owl this brave morning. "

"To speak truth, Dolly, " said I, "I was wondering how the commodore isto get away from the Texel, with half the British navy lying in waitoutside. "

"Do not worry your head about that, " said she, setting down the tray;"it will be mere child's play to him. Oh but I should like to see yourcommodore again, and tell him how much I love him. 

"I pray that you may have the chance, " I replied. 

With a marvellous quickness she had tied the napkin beneath my chin, notso much as looking at the knot. Then she stepped to the mantel and tookdown one of Mr. Wedgwood's cups and dishes, and wiping them with herapron, filled the cup with fragrant tea, which she tendered me with hereyes sparkling. 

"Your Excellency is the first to be honoured with this service, " saysshe, with a curtsey. 

I was as a man without a tongue, my hunger gone from sheerhappiness--and fright. And yet eating the breakfast with a relishbecause she had made it. She busied herself about the room, dusting hereand tidying there, and anon throwing a glance at me to see if I neededanything. My eyes followed her hither and thither. When I had finished, she undid the napkin, and brushed the crumbs from the coverlet. 

"You are not going?" I said, with dismay. 

"Did you wish anything more, sir?" she asked. 

"Oh, Dorothy, " I cried, "it is you I want, and you will not come nearme. "

For an instant she stood irresolute. Then she put down the tray and cameover beside me. 

"Do you really want me, sir?"

"Dorothy, " I began, "I must first tell you that I have some guess atthe sacrifice you are making for my sake, and of the trouble and dangerwhich I bring you. "

Without more ado she put her hand over my mouth. 

"No, " she said, reddening, "you shall tell me nothing of the sort. "

I seized her hand, however it struggled, and holding it fast, continued:

"And I have learned that you have been watching with me by night, andworking by day, when you never should have worked at all. To think thatyou should be reduced to that, and I not know it!"

Her eyes sought mine for a fleeting second. 

"Why, you silly boy, I have made a fortune out of my cookery. And fame, too, for now am I known from Mary-le-bone to Chelsea, while before myname was unheard of out of little Mayfair. Indeed, I would not havemissed the experience for a lady-in-waiting-ship. I have learned a dealsince I saw you last, sir. I know that the world, like our Continentalmoney, must not be taken for the price that is stamped upon it. And asfor the watching with you, " said my lady, "that had to be borne withas cheerfully as might be. Since I had sent off for you, I was in dutybound to do my share toward your recovery. I was even going to addthat this watching was a pleasure, --our curate says the sense of dutyperformed is sure to be. But you used to cry out the most terrifyingthings to frighten me: the pattering of blood and the bumping of bodieson the decks, and the black rivulets that ran and ran and ran and neverstopped; and strange, rough commands I could not understand; and thename of your commodore whom you love so much. And often you would repeatover and over: 'I have not yet begun, to fight, I have not yet begun tofight!'"

"Yes, 'twas that he answered when they asked him if he had struck, " Iexclaimed. 

"It must have been an awful scene, " she said, and her shouldersquivered. "When you were at your worst you would talk of it, andsometimes of what happened to you in London, of that ride in Hyde Park, or--or of Vauxhall, " she continued hurriedly. "And when I could bear itno longer, I would take your hand and call you by name, and often quietyou thus. "

"And did I speak of aught else?" I asked eagerly. 

"Oh, yes. When you were caliper, it would be of your childhood, of yourgrandfather and your birthdays, of Captain Clapsaddle, and of Patty andher father. "

"And never of Dolly, I suppose. "

She turned away her head. 

"And never of Dolly?"

"I will tell you what you said once, Richard, " she answered, her voicedropping very low. "I was sitting by the window there, and the dawn wascoming. And suddenly I heard you cry: 'Patty, when I return will you bemy wife?' I got up and came to your side, and you said it again, twice. "

The room was very still. And the vision of Patty in the parlour ofGordon's Pride, knitting my woollen stocking, rose before me. 

"Yes, " I said at length, "I asked her that the day before I left for thewar. God bless her! She has the warmest heart in the world, and the mostgenerous nature. Do you know what her answer was, Dorothy?"

"No. " 'Twas only her lips moving that formed the word. She was twistingabsently the tassel of the bed curtain. 

"She asked me if I loved her. "

My lady glanced up with a start, then looked me searchingly through andthrough. 

"And you?" she said, in the same inaudible way. 

"I could answer nothing. 'Twas because of her father's dying wish Iasked her, and she guessed that same. I would not tell her a lie, foronly the one woman lives whom I love, and whom I have loved ever sincewe were children together among the strawberries. Need I say that thatwoman is you, Dorothy? I loved you before we sailed to Carvel Hallbetween my grandfather's knees, and I will love you till death claimsme. "

Then it seemed as if my heart had stopped beating. But the snowy apronupon her breast fluttered like a sail stirring in the wind, her head washigh, and her eyes were far away. Even my voice sounded in the distanceas I continued:

"Will you be the mistress of Carvel Hall, Dorothy? Hallowed is the daythat I can ask it. "

What of this earth may excel in sweetness the surrender of that proudand noble nature! And her words, my dears, shall be sacred to you, too, who are descended from her. She bent forward a little, those deep blueeyes gazing full into my own with a fondness to make me tremble. 

"Dear Richard, " she said, "I believe I have loved you always. If I havebeen wilful and wicked, I have suffered more than you know--even as Ihave made you suffer. "

"And now our suffering is over, Dorothy. "

"Oh, don't say that, my dear!" she cried, "but let us rather make aprayer to God. "

Down she got on her knees close beside me, and I took both of her handsbetween my own. But presently I sought for a riband that was around myneck, and drew out a locket. Within it were pressed those lilies of thevalley I had picked for her long years gone by on my birthday. And shesmiled, though the tears shone like dewdrops on her lashes. 

"When Jack brought you to us for dead, we did not take it off, dear, "she said gently. "I wept with sorrow and joy at sight of it, for Iremembered you as you were when you picked those flowers, and howlightly I had thought of leaving you as I wound them into my hair. Andthen, when I had gone aboard the 'Annapolis', I knew all at once thatI would have given anything to stay, and I thought my heart would breakwhen we left the Severn cliffs behind. But that, sir, has been a secretuntil this day, " she added, smiling archly through her tears. 

She took out one of the withered flowers, and then as caressingly put itback beside the others, and closed the locket. 

"I forbade Dr. Barry to take it off, Richard, when you lay so whiteand still. I knew then that you had been true to me, despite what I hadheard. And if you were to die--" her voice broke a little as she passedher hand over my brow, "if you were to die, my single comfort would havebeen that you wore it then. "

"And you heard rumours of me, Dorothy?"

"George Worthington and others told me how ably you managed Mr. Swain'saffairs, and that you had become of some weight with the thinking men ofthe province. Richard, I was proud to think that you had the courage tolaugh at disaster and to become a factor. I believe, " she said shyly, "twas that put the cooking into my head, and gave me courage. And when Iheard that Patty was to marry you, Heaven is my witness that I tried tobe reconciled and think it for the best. Through my own fault I had lostyou, and I knew well she would make you a better wife than I. "

"And you would not even let Jack speak for me!"

"Dear Jack!" she cried; "were it not for Jack we should not be here, Richard. "

"Indeed, Dolly, two people could scarce fall deeper in debt to anotherthan are you and I to my Lord Viscount, " I answered, with feeling. "Hishonesty and loyalty to us both saved you for me at the very outset. "

"Yes, " she replied thoughtfully, "I believed you dead. And I should havemarried him, I think. For Dr. Courtenay had sent me that piece from theGazette telling of the duel between you over Patty Swain--"

"Dr. Courtenay sent you that!" I interrupted. 

"I was a wild young creature then, my dear, with little beside vanityunder my cap. And the notion that you could admire and love any girl butme was beyond endurance. Then his Lordship arrived in England, brimmingwith praise of you, to assure me that the affair was not about Pattyat all. This was far from making me satisfied that you were not inlove with her, and I may say now that I was miserable. Then, as we weresetting out for Castle Howard, came the news of your death on the roadto Upper Marlboro. I could not go a step. Poor Jack, he was very honestwhen he proposed, " she added, with a sigh. 

"He loved you, Dorothy. "

She did not hear me, so deep was she in thought. 

"'Twas he who gave me news of you, when I was starving at Gordon's. "

"And I--I starved, too, Richard, " she answered softly. "Dearest, I slidvery wrong. There are some matters that must be spoken of between us, whatever the pain they give. And my heart aches now when I think of thatdark day in Arlington Street when I gave you the locket, and you wentout of my life. I knew that I had done wrong then, Richard, as soon asever the door closed behind you. I should have gone with you, for betterfor worse, for richer for poorer. I should have run after you in therain and thrown myself at your feet. And that would have been best formy father and for me. "

She covered her face with her hands, and her words were stifled by asob. 

"Dorothy, Dorothy!" I cried, drawing her to me. "Another time. Not now, when we are so happy. "

"Now, and never again, dear, " she said. "Yes, I saw and heard all thatpassed in the drawing-room. And I did not blame, but praised you forit. I have never spoken a word beyond necessity to my father since. Godforgive me!" she cried, "but I have despised him from that hour. WhenI knew that he had plotted to sell me to that detestable brute, workingupon me to save his honour, of which he has not the smallest spark; thathe had recognized and denied you, friendless before our house, and sentyou into the darkness at Vauxhall to be murdered, then he was no fatherof mine. I would that you might know what my mother has suffered fromsuch a man, Richard. "

"My dear, I have often pitied her from my soul, " I said. 

"And now I shall tell you something of the story of the Duke ofChartersea, " she went on, and I felt her tremble as she spoke that name. "I think of all we have Lord Comyn to thank for, next to saving yourlife twice, was his telling you of the danger I ran. And, Richard, afterrefusing you that day on the balcony over the Park, I had no hope left. You may thank your own nobility and courage that you remained in Londonafter that. Richard, " she said, "do you recall my asking you in thecoach, on the way from Castle Yard, for the exact day you met my fatherin Arlington Street?"

"Yes, " I replied, in some excitement, "yes. " For I was at last to comeat the bottom of this affair. 

"The duke had made a formal offer for me when first we came to London. I think my father wrote of that to Dr. Courtenay. " (I smiled atthe recollection, now. ) "Then his Grace persisted in following meeverywhere, and vowed publicly that he would marry me. I ordered himfrom our house, since my father would not. At last one afternoon he cameback to dine with us, insolent to excess. I left the table. He sat withmy father two hours or more, drinking and singing, and giving orders tothe servants. I shut my door, that I might not hear. After a while mymother came up to me, crying, saying that Mr. Manners would be brandedwith dishonour and I did not consent to marry his Grace, --a mostterrible dishonour, of which she could not speak. That the duke hadgiven my father a month to win my consent. And that month was up, Richard, the very afternoon you appeared with Mr. Dix in ArlingtonStreet. "

"And you agreed to marry him, Dolly?" I asked breathlessly. 

"By the grace of Heaven, I did not, " she answered quickly. "The utmostthat I would consent to was a two months' respite, promising to givemy hand to no one in that interval. And so I was forced to refuse you, Richard. You must have seen even then that I loved you, dear, thoughI was so cruel when you spoke of saving me from his Grace. I could notbear to think that you knew of any stain upon our family. I think--Ithink I would rather have died, or have married him. That day I threwChartersea's presents out of the window, but my father made theservants gather them all which escaped breaking, and put them in thedrawing-room. Then I fell ill. "

She was silent, I clinging to her, and shuddering to think how near Ihad been to losing her. 

"It was Jack who came to cheer me, " I said presently. 

"His faith in you was never shaken, sweetheart. But I went to Newmarketand Ampthill, and behaved like the ingrate I was. I richly deserved thescolding he had for me when I got back to town, which sent me runningto Arlington Street. There I met Dr. James coming out, who asked me if Iwas Mr. Carvel, and told me that you had called my name. "

"And, you goose, you never suspected, " says she, smiling. 

"How was I to suspect that you loved a provincial booby like me, whenyou had the choice of so many accomplished gentlemen with titles andestates?"

"How were you to perceive, indeed, that you had qualities which theylacked?"

"And you were forever vowing that you would marry a nobleman, my lady. For you said to me once that I should call you so, and ride in the coachwith the coroneted panels when I came home on a visit. "

"And I said, too, " retorted Dolly, with mischief in her eyes, "do youremember what I told you the New Year's eve when we sat out by thesundial at Carvel Hall, when I was so proud of having fixed Dr. Courtenay's attentions? I said that I should never marry you, sir, whowas so rough and masterful, and thrashed every lad that did not agreewith you. "

"Alas, so you did, and a deal more!" I exclaimed. 

With that she broke away from me and, getting to her feet, made me a lowcurtsey with the grace that was hers alone. 

"You are my Lord and my King, sir, " she said, "and my rough Patriotsquire, all in one. "

"Are you happy, Dolly?" I asked, tremulous from my own joy. 

"I have never been happy in all my life before, Richard dear, " she said. 

In truth, she was a being transformed, and more wondrous fair than ever. And even then I pictured her in the brave gowns and jewels I would buyher when times were mended, when our dear country would be free. All atonce, ere I could draw a breath, she had stooped and kissed me ever solightly on the forehead. 

The door opened upon Aunt Lucy. She had but to look at us, and her blackface beamed at our blushes. My lady threw her arms about her neck, andhid her face in the ample bosom. 

"Now praise de good Lawd!" cried Mammy; "I knowed it dis longest time. What's I done tole you, Miss Dolly? What's I done tole you, honey?"

But my lady flew from the room. Presently I heard the spinet playingsoftly, and the words of that air came out of my heart from long ago. 

 "Love me little, love me long, Is the burthen of my song. Love that is too hot and strong Burneth soon to waste. Still, I would not have thee cold, Nor too backward, nor too bold. Love that lasteth till 'tis old Fadeth not in haste. "

CHAPTER LVI. HOW GOOD CAME OUT OF EVIL

'Twas about candlelight when I awoke, and Dorothy was sitting alonebeside me. Her fingers were resting upon my arm, and she greeted me witha smile all tenderness. 

"And does my Lord feel better after--after his excitement to-day?" sheasked. 

"Dorothy, you have made me a whole man again. I could walk to Windsorand back. "

"You must have your dinner, or your supper first, sir, " she answeredgayly, "and do you rest quiet until I come back to feed you. Oh, Richarddear, " she cried, "how delightful that you should be the helpless one, and dependent on me!"

As I lay listening for the rustle of her gown, the minutes draggedeternally. Every word and gesture of the morning passed before my mind, and the touch of her lips still burned on my forehead. At last, whenI was getting fairly restless, the distant tones of a voice, deep andreverberating, smote upon my ear, jarring painfully some long-forgottenchord. That voice belonged to but one man alive, and yet I could notname him. Even as I strained, the tones drew nearer, and they were mixedwith sweeter ones I knew well, and Dorothy's mother's voice. Whilst Iwas still searching, the door opened, the voices fell calm, and Dorothycame in bearing a candle in each hand. As she set them down on thetable, I saw an agitation in her face, which she strove to hide as sheaddressed me. 

"Will you see a visitor, Richard?"

"A visitor!" I repeated, with misgiving. 'Twas not so she had announcedComyn. 

"Will you see Mr. Allen?"--

"Mr. Allen, who was the rector of St. Anne's? Mr. Allen in London, andhere?"

"Yes. " Her breath seemed to catch at the word. "He says he must see you, dear, and will not be denied. How he discovered you were with us I knownot. "

"See him!" I cried. "And I had but the half of my strength I wouldfling him downstairs, and into the kennel. Will you tell him so for me, Dorothy?"

And I raised up in bed, shaken with anger against the man. In a triceshe was holding me, fearfully. 

"Richard, Richard, you will open your wound. I pray you be quiet. "

"And Mr. Allen has the impudence to ask to see me!"

"Listen, Richard. Your anger makes you forget many things. Remember thathe is a dangerous man, and now that he knows you are in London he holdsyour liberty, perhaps your life, in his hands. "

It was true. And not mine alone, but the lives and liberty of others. 

"Do you know what he wishes, Dorothy?"

"No, he will not tell us. But he is greatly excited, and says he mustsee you at once, for your own good. For your own good, Richard!"

"I do not trust the villain, but he may come in, " I said, at length. 

She gave me the one lingering, anxious look, and opened the door. 

Never had I beheld such a change in mortal man as there was in Mr. Allen, my old tutor, and rector of St. Anne's. And 'twas a baffling, intangible change. 'Twas as if the mask bad been torn from his face, for he was now just a plain adventurer that need not have imposed upona soul. The coarse wine and coarse food of the lower coffee-houses ofLondon had replaced the rich and abundant fare of Maryland. The nextday was become one of the terrors of his life. His clothes were of poorstuff, but aimed at the fashion. And yet--and yet, as I looked uponhim, a something was in his face to puzzle me entirely. I had seen manystamps of men, but this thing I could not recognize. 

He stepped forward with all of his old confidence, and did not regard afarthing my cold stare. 

"'Tis like gone days to see you again, Richard, " he cried. "And Iperceive you have as ever fallen into the best of hands. "

"I am Mr. Carvel to my enemies, if they must speak to me at all, " Isaid. 

"But, my dear fellow, I am not your enemy, or I should not be here thisday. And presently I shall prove that same. " He took snuff. "But firstI must congratulate you on coming alive out of that great battle offFlamborough. You look as though you had been very near to death, my lad. A deal nearer than I should care to get. "

What to say to the man! What to do save to knock him down, and I couldnot do that. 

"There can be no passing the time of day between you and me, Mr. Allen, "I answered hotly. "You, whose machinations have come as near to ruiningme as a man's can. "

"And that was your own fault, my dear sir, " said he, as he brushedhimself. "You never showed me a whit of consideration, which is verydear to men in my position. "

My head swam. Then I saw Dolly by the door regarding me curiously, withsomething of a smile upon her lips, but anxiety still in her eyes. Witha "by your leave, ma'am, " to her, Mr. Allen took the chair abreast me. 

"You have but to call me when you wish, Richard, " said she. 

"Nay, Dorothy, Mr. Allen can have nothing to say to me that you may nothear, " I said instantly. "And you will do me a favour to remain. "

She sat down without a word, where I could look at her. Mr. Allen raisedhis eyebrows at the revelation in our talk, but by the grace of God hekept his mouth shut. 

"And now, Mr. Allen, " I said, "to what do I owe the pain of this visit?"

"The pain!" he exclaimed, and threw back his head and gave way to a fitof laughter. "By the mass! your politeness drowns me. But I likeyou, Richard, as I have said more than once. I believe your brutalstraight-dealing has more to do with my predilection than aught else. For I have seen a deal of rogues in my day. "

"And they have seen a deal of you, Mr. Allen. "

"So they have, " he cried, and laughed the more. "Egad, Miss Dorothy, you have saved all of him, I think. " Then he swung round upon me, verycareless. "Has your Uncle Grafton called to express his sympathies, Richard?" he asked. 

That name brought a cry out of my head, Dolly seizing the arm of herchair. 

"Grafton Carvel in London?" I exclaimed. 

"Ay, in very pretty lodgings in Jermyn Street, for he has put by enough, I'll warrant you, despite the loss of his lands. Your aunt is with him, and his dutiful son, Philip, now broken of his rank in the English army. They arrived, before yesterday, from New York. "

"And to what is this an introduction?" I demanded. 

"I merely thought it strange, " said Mr. Allen, imperturbably, "that hehad not called to inquire after his nephew's health. "

Dolly was staring at him, with eyes wide open. 

"And pray, how did he discover I was in London, sir?" I said. "I wasabout to ask how you knew of it, but that is one and the same thing. "

He shot at me a look not to be solved. 

"It is not well to bite the hand that lifts you out of the fire, Richard, " said he. 

"You had not gained admission to this house were I not on my back, Mr. Allen. "

"And that same circumstance is a blessing for you, " he cried. 

'Twas then I saw Dorothy making me mute signals of appeal. 

"I cannot think why you are here, Mr. Allen, " I said. "When you considerall the harm you have done me, and all the double-dealing I may lay atyour door, can you blame me for my feelings?"

"No, " he answered, with more soberness than he had yet used; "I honouryou for them. And perchance I am here to atone for some of that harm. For I like you, my lad, and that's God's truth. "

"All this is neither here nor there, Mr. Allen, " I exclaimed, wholly outof patience. "If you have come with a message, let me have it. If not, Ibeg you get out of my sight, for I have neither the will nor the desirefor palavering. "

"Oh, Richard, do keep your temper!" implored Dorothy. "Can you not seethat Mr. Allen desires to do us--to do you--a service?"

"Of that I am not so sure, " I replied. 

"It is his way, Miss Manners, " said the rector, "and I hold it notagainst him. To speak truth, I looked for a worse reception, and camesteeled to withstand it. And had my skin been thin, I had left erenow. " He took more snuff. "It was Mr. Dix, " he said to me slowly, "whoinformed Mr. Carvel of your presence in London. "

"And how the devil did Mr. Dix know?"

He did not reply, but glanced apprehensively at Dorothy. 

And I have wondered since at his consideration. 

"Miss Manners may not wish to hear, " he said uneasily. 

"Miss Manners hears all that concerns me, " I answered. 

He shrugged his shoulders in comprehension. 

"It was Mr. Manners, then, who went to Mr. Dix, and told him under thepledge of secrecy. "

Not a sound came from Dorothy, nor did I dare to look at her face. Thewhole matter was clear to me now. After his conversation with me, Mr. Marmaduke had lost no time in seeing Mr. Dix, in order to raise money onmy prospects. And the man of business had gone straight to Grafton withthe intelligence. The suspicion flashed through me that Mr. Allen hadbeen sent to spy, but his very next words disarmed it. 

"And now, Richard, " he continued, "before I say what I have come tosay, and since you cannot now prosecute me, I mean to confess to yousomething which you probably know almost to a certainty. I was in theplot to carry you off and deprive you of your fortune. I have been paidfor it, though not very handsomely. Fears for my own safety alone keptme from telling you and Mr. Swain. And I swear to you that I was sorryfor the venture almost before I had embarked, and ere I had received ashilling. The scheme was laid out before I took you for a pupil; indeed, that was part of it, as you no doubt have guessed. As God hears me, Ilearned to love you, Richard, in those days at the rectory. You were allof a man, and such an one as I might have hoped to be had I been bornlike you. You said what you chose, and spoke from your own convictions, and catered to no one. You did not whine when the luck went against you, but lost like a gentleman, and thought no more of it. You had no fearof the devil himself. Why should you? While your cousin Philip, with hisparrot talk and sneaking ways, turned my stomach. I was sick of him, andsick of Grafton, I tell you. But dread of your uncle drove me on, and Ihad debts to frighten me. "

He paused. "Twas with a strange medley of emotions I looked at him. AndDorothy, too, was leaning forward, her lips parted and her eyes rivetedupon his face. 

"Oh, I am speaking the truth, " he said bitterly. "And I assume no virtuefor the little justice it remains in my power to do. It is the lot of mylife that I must be false to some one always, and even now I am false toyour uncle. Yes, I am come to do justice, and 'tis a strange errandfor me. I know that estates have been restored to you by the MarylandLegislature, Richard, and I believe in my heart that you will win thiswar. " Here he fetched a memorandum from his pocket. "But to make yousecure, " said he, "in the year 1710, and on the 9th of March, old style, your great-grandfather, Mr. George Carvel, drew up a document entailingthe lands of Carvel Hall. By this they legally pass to you. "

"The family settlement Mr. Swain suspected!" I exclaimed. 

"Just so, " he answered. 

"And what am I to pay for this information?" I asked. 

Hardly were the words spoken, when Dorothy ran to my bedside, andseizing my hand, faced him. 

"He--he is not well, Mr. Allen, " she cried. 

The rector had risen, and stood gazing down at us with the whole of hislife written on his face. That look was fearful to see, and all ofhell was expressed therein. For what is hell if it is not hope dead andburied, and galling regret for what might have been? With mine own greathappiness so contrasted against his torture, my heart melted. 

"I am not well, indeed, Mr. Allen, " I said. "God knows how hard it isfor me to forgive, but I forgive you this night. "

One brief instant he stared at me, and then tumbled suddenly down intohis chair, his head falling forward on his arms. And the long sobsby which his frame was shaken awed our very souls. Dorothy drew backagainst me, clasping my shoulder, the tears wet upon her cheeks. What welooked on, there in the candlelight, was the Revelation itself. 

How long it, endured none of us might say. And when at last he raisedhis face, it was haggard and worn in truth, but the evil of it seemed tohave fled. Again and again he strove to speak. The words would not obey. And when he had mastered himself, his voice was shattered and gone. 

"Richard, I have sinned heavily in my time, and preached God's holy wordwith a sneer and unbelief in my heart. He knows what I have suffered, and what I shall yet suffer before His judgment comes for us all. But Ibeg it is no sin to pray to Him for your happiness and Miss Dorothy's. "

He stumbled there, and paused, and then continued with more steadiness:

"I came here to-night to betray you, and might have gone hence to youruncle to claim my pieces of silver. I remain to tell you that Graftonhas an appointment at nine with his Majesty's chief Secretary of State. I need not mention his motives, nor dwell upon your peril. For theKing's sentiments toward Paul Jones are well known. You must leaveLondon without delay, and so must Mr. Manners and his family. "

Is it the generations which decide? When I remember bow Dorothy behavedthat night, I think so. Scarce had the rector ceased when she hadreleased me and was standing erect before him. Pity was in her eyes, butin her face that courage which danger itself begets in heroic women. 

"You have acted a noble part this day, Mr. Allen, " she said, "to atonefor the wrongs you have done Richard. May God forgive you, and make youhappier than you have been!"

He struggled to his feet, listening as to a benediction. Then, witha single glance to give me confidence, she was gone. And for a minutethere was silence between us. 

"How may you be directed to?" I asked. 

He leaped as out of a trance. 

"Just 'the world, ' Richard, " said he. "For I am adrift again, and notvery like to find a harbour, now. "

"You were to have been paid for this, Mr. Allen, " I replied. "And a manmust live. "

"A man must live!" he cried. "The devil coined that line, and made itsome men's history. "

"I have you on my conscience, Mr. Allen, " I went on, "for I have been atfault as well as you. I might have treated you better, even as you havesaid. And I command you to assign a place in London whence you may bereached. "

"A letter to the Mitre coffee-house will be delivered, " he said. 

"You shall receive it, " I answered. "And now I bid you good-by, andthank you. "

He seized and held my hand. Then walked blindly to the door and turnedabruptly. 

"I do not tell you that I shall change my life, Richard, for I have saidthat too many times before. Indeed, I warn you that any money you maysend will be spent in drink, and--and worse. I will be no hypocrite toyou. But I believe that I am better this hour than I have been sincelast I knelt at my mother's knee in the little Oxfordshire cottage whereI was born. "

When Dorothy returned to me, there was neither haste in her step norexcitement in her voice. Her very coolness inspired me. 

"Do you feel strong enough for a journey, Richard?" she asked. 

"To the world's end, Dolly, if you will but go with me. "

She smiled faintly. "I have sent off for my Lord and Mr. Fox, and praythat one of them may be here presently. "

Scarcely greater were the visible signs of apprehension upon Mrs. Manners. Her first care, and Dorothy's, was to catechise me mostparticularly on my state. And whilst they were so occupied Mr. Marmadukeentered, wholly frenzied from fright, and utterly oblivious to his ownblame in the matter. He was sent out again directly. After that, withAunt Lucy to assist, they hurriedly packed what few things might betaken. The costly relics of Arlington Street were untouched, and theFrench clock was left on the mantel to tick all the night, and for daysto come, in a silent and forsaken room; or perhaps to greet impassivelythe King's officers when they broke in at the door. But I caught my ladyin the act of wrapping up the Wedgwood cups and dishes. 

In the midst of these preparations Mr. Fox was heard without, and wasmet at the door by Dorothy. Two sentences sufficed her to tell himwhat had occurred, and two seconds for this man of action to make hisdecision. 

"In an hour you shall have travelling chaises here, Dorothy, " he said. "You must go to Portsmouth, and take ship for Lisbon. And if Jack doesnot arrive, I will go with you. "

"No, Charles, you must not!" she cried, her emotion conquering her forthe nonce. "That might be to ruin your career, and perchance to loseyour life. And suppose we were to escape, what would they say of you!"

"Fish!" Charles retorted, to hide some feelings of his own; "once ourrebel is out of the country, they may speak their minds. They have neverlacked for names to call me, and I have been dubbed a traitor beforenow, my dear lady. "

He stepped hastily to the bed, and laid his hand on me with affection. 

"Charles, " I said, "this is all of a piece with your old recklessness. You were ever one to take any risk, but I will not hear of such aventure as this. Do you think I will allow the hope of all England to bestaked for a pirate? And would you break our commander of her rank? Allthat Dorothy need do at Portsmouth is to curtsey to the first skippershe meets, and I'll warrant he will carry us all to the antipodes. "

"Egad, but that is more practical than it sounds, " he replied, with aglance of admiration at my lady, as she stood so tall before us. "Shehas a cool head, Richard Carvel, and a long head, and--and I'm thinkingyou are to come out of this the best of all of us. You cannot get faroff your course, my lad, with her at the helm. "

It was there his voice belied the jest in his words, and he left us withprecipitation. 

They lifted me out of my sheets (I was appalled to discover myweakness), and bundled me with tender care in a dozen shawls andblankets. My feet were thrust into two pairs of heavy woollen stockings, and Dorothy bound her own silk kerchief at my throat, whispering anxiousquestions the while. And when her mother and mammy went from the room, her arms flew around my neck in a passion of solicitude. Then she ranaway to dress for the journey, and in a surprising short time was backagain, with her muff and her heavy cloak, and bending over me to see ifI gave any signs of failure. 

Fifty and five minutes had been registered by the French clock, when therattle of wheels and the clatter of hoofs sounded below, and Charles Foxpanted up the stairs, muffled in a huge wrap-rascal. 'Twas he and AuntLucy carried me down to the street, Dorothy walking at my side, andpropped me up in the padded corner of one of the two vehicles inwaiting. This was an ample travelling-carriage with a lamp hanging fromits top, by the light of which my lady tucked me in from head to foot, and then took her place next me. Aunt Lucy filled most of the seatopposite. The baggage was hoisted up behind, and Charles was about toslam the door, when a hackney-chaise turned the corner at a gallop andpulled up in the narrow street abreast, and the figure of my LordComyn suddenly leaped within the compass of the lanthorn's rays. He wasdressed as for a ball, with only a thin rain-cloak over his shoulders, for the night was thick with mist. He threw at us a startled look thatwas a question. 

"Jack, Richard is to be betrayed to-night by his uncle, " said Charles, shortly. "And I am taking them to Portsmouth to get them off forLisbon. "

"Charles, " said his Lordship, sternly, "give me that greatcoat. "

It was just the one time that ever I saw uncertainty on Mr. Fox's face. He threw an uneasy glance into the chaise. 

"I have brought money, " his Lordship went on rapidly; "'Twas that keptme, for I guessed at something of this kind. Give me the coat, I say. "

Mr. Fox wriggled out of it, and took the oiled cape in return. 

"Thank you, Jack, " he said simply, and stepped into the carriage. "Whois to mend my waistcoats now?" he cried. "Faith, I shall treasure thisagainst you, Richard. Good-by, my lad, and obey your rebel general. Alas! I must even ask your permission to salute her. "

And he kissed the unresisting Dorothy on both her cheeks. "God keep thetwo of you, " he said, "for I love you with all my heart. "

Before we could answer he was gone into the night; and my Lord, standingwithout, had closed the carriage door. And that was the last I saw ofthis noble man, the true friend of America, who devoted his glorioustalents and his life to fighting the corruption that was rotting thegreatness of England. He who was followed by the prayers of the Englishrace was ever remembered in our own humble ones. 

CHAPTER LVII. I COME TO MY OWN AGAIN

'Twas a rough, wild journey we made to Portsmouth, my dears, and Ithink it must have killed me had not my lady been at my side. We were nosooner started than she pulled the curtains and opened her portmanteau, which I saw was near filled with things for my aid and comfort. And Iwas made to take a spoonful of something. Never, I believe, was medicineswallowed with a greater willingness. Talk was impossible, so I lay backin the corner and looked at her; and now and anon she would glance atmy face, with a troubled guess in her own as to how I might stand thenight. For we were still in London. That I knew by the trot of ourhorses, and by the granite we traversed from time to time. But at lengthwe rumbled over a bridge, there was a sharp call back from our post-boyto him of the chaise behind, and then began that rocking and pitchingand swaying and creaking, which was to last the whole night long, savefor the brief stops at the post-houses. 

After an hour of it, I was holding my breath against the lurches, likea sea-sick man against that bottomless fall of the ship's bows on theocean. I had no pain, --only an over whelming exhaustion, --but the joyof her touch and her presence kept me from failing. And though Aunt Lucydozed, not a wink of sleep did my lady get through all of those wearytwelve hours. Always alert was she, solicitous beyond belief, scanningever the dial of her watch to know when to give me brandy and physic;or reaching across to feel my temples for the fever. The womanliness ofthat last motion was a thing for a man to wonder at. But mostmarvellous of all was the instinct which told her of my chief sickeningdiscomfort, --of the leathery, travelled smell of the carriage. As arelief for this she charged her pocket-napkin with a most delicateperfume, and held it to my face. 

When we drew up to shift horses, Jack would come to the door to inquireif there was aught she wanted, and to know how I was bearing up. Andoften Mrs. Manners likewise. At first I was for talking with them, butthis Dorothy would not allow. Presently, indeed, it was beyond my power, and I could only smile feebly at my Lord when I heard Dolly asking himthat the hostlers might be more quiet. Toward morning a lethargy fellupon me. Once I awoke when the lamp had burned low, to perceive thecurtains drawn back, a black blotch of trees without, and the moonlightstreaming in on my lady's features. With the crack of a whip I was offagain. 

When next consciousness came, the tarry, salt smell of a ship was in mynostrils, and I knew that we were embarked. I lay in a clean bunk in afair-sized and sun-washed cabin, and I heard the scraping of ropesand the tramp of feet on the deck above my head. Framed against theirregular glass of the cabin window, which was greened by the waterbeyond, Dorothy and my Lord stood talking in whispers. 

"Jack!" I said. 

At the sound they turned and ran toward me, asking how I felt. 

"I feel that words are very empty, Jack, to express such a gratitude asmine, " I answered. "Twice you have saved me from death, you have paidmy debts, and have been stanch to us both in our troubles. And--" Theeffort was beyond me, and I glanced appealingly at Dolly. 

"And it is to you, dear Jack, " she finished, "it is to you alone that weowe the great joy of our lives. "

Her eyes were shining through her tears, and her smile was like the sunout of a rain-swept sky. His Lordship took one of her hands in his own, and one of mine. He scanned our faces in a long, lingering look. 

"You will cherish her, Richard, " he said brokenly, "for her like isnot to be found in this world. I knew her worth when first she came toLondon, as arrant a baggage as ever led man a dance. I saw then thata great love alone was needed to make her the highest among women, andfrom the night I fought with you at the Coffee House I have felt uponwhom that love would fall. O thou of little faith, " he cried, "whatlittle I may have done has been for her. No, Richard, you do not deserveher, but I would rather think of her as your wife than that of any manliving. "

I shall not dwell upon that painful farewell which wrung our hearts, andmade us silent for a long, long while after the ship was tossing in theshort seas of the Channel. 

Nor is it my purpose to tell you of that long voyage across theAtlantic. We reached Lisbon in safety, and after a week of lodgings inthat city by the best of fortune got passage in a swift bark bound forBaltimore. For the Chesapeake commerce continued throughout the war, andkept alive the credit of the young nation. There were many excitementsere we sighted the sand-spits of Virginia, and off the Azores we werechased for a day and a night by a British sloop of war. Our captain, however, was a cool man and a seaman, and slipped through the cruiserslying in wait off the Capes very triumphantly. 

But the remembrance of those fair days at sea fills my soul withlonging. The weather was mild and bright for the season, and morningupon morning two stout topmen would carry me out to a sheltered spoton the deck, always chosen by my lady herself. There I sat by the hour, swathed in many layers of wool, and tended by her hands alone. Everynook and cranny of our lives were revealed to the other. She loved tohear of Patty and my years at Gordon's, and would listen with batedbreath to the stories of the Ranger and the Bonhomme Richard, and ofthat strange man whom we both loved, whose genius had made those cruisesfamous. Sometimes, in low voices, we talked of our future; but often, when the wind blew and the deck rocked and the sun flashed uponthe waters, a silence would fall between us that needed no word tointerpret. 

Mrs. Manners yielded to my wish for us all to go to Carvel Hall. It wason a sparkling morning in February that we sighted the familiar toe ofKent Island, and the good-natured skipper put about and made for themouth of our river. Then, as of old, the white cupola of Carvel Housegleamed a signal of greeting, to which our full hearts beat a silentresponse. Once again the great windmill waved its welcome, and the samememory was upon us both as we gazed. Of a hale old gentleman in thesheets of a sailing pinnace, of a boy and a girl on his knees quiveringwith excitement of the days to come. Dorothy gently pressed my hand asthe bark came into the wind, and the boat was dropped into the greenwater. Slowly they lowered me into it, for I was still helpless, Dorothyand her mother and Aunt Lucy were got down, and finally Mr. Marmadukestepped gingerly from the sea-ladder over the gunwale. The cutter leapedunder the strong strokes up the river with the tide. Then, as we roundedthe bend, we were suddenly astonished to see people gathered on thelanding at the foot of the lawn, where they had run, no doubt, in aflurry at sight of the ship below. In the front of the group stood out astrangely familiar figure. 

"Why, " exclaimed Dolly, "it is Ivie Rawlinson!"

Ivie it was, sure enough. And presently, when we drew a little closer, he gave one big shout and whipped off the hat from his head; and off, too, came the caps from the white heads of Scipio and Chess and Johnsonbehind him. Our oars were tossed, Ivie caught our bows, and reached hishand to Dorothy. It was fitting that she should be the first to land atCarvel Hall. 

"'Twas yere bonny face I seed first, Miss Dolly, " he cried, the tearscoursing down the scars of his cheeks. "An' syne I kennt weel theyoung master was here. Noo God be praised for this blythe day, that Mr. Richard's cam to his ain at last!"

But Scipio and Chess could only blubber as they helped him to liftme out, Dolly begging them to be careful. As they carried me up thefamiliar path to the pillared porch, the first I asked Ivie was ofPatty, and next why he had left Gordon's. She was safe and well, despitethe Tories, and herself had sent him to take charge of Carvel Hall assoon as ever Judge Bordley had brought her the news of its restorationto me. He had supplied her with another overseer. Thanks to the goodjudge and to Colonel Lloyd, who had looked to my interests since Graftonwas fled, Ivie had found the old place in good order, all the negroesquiet, and impatient with joy against my arrival. 

It is time, my children, to bring this story to a close. I would I mightwrite of those delicious spring days I spent with Dorothy at CarvelHall, waited on by the old servants of my grandfather. At our whim mychair would be moved from one to another of the childhood haunts; oncool days we sat in the sun by the dial, where the flowers mingled theirodours with the salt breezes off the Chesapeake; or anon, when it waswarmer, in the summer-house my mother loved, or under the shade of thegreat trees on the lawn, looking out over the river. And once my ladywent off very mysteriously, her eyes brimful of mischief, to come backwith the first strawberries of the year staining her apron. 

We were married on the fifteenth of June, already an anniversary for usboth, in the long drawing-room. General Clapsaddle was there from thearmy to take Dorothy in his arms, even as he had embraced another brideon the same spot in years gone by. She wore the wedding gown that washer mother's, but when the hour was come to dress her Aunt Lucy and AuntHester failed in their task, and it was Patty who performed the most ofthat office, and hung the necklace of pearls about her neck. 

Dear Patty! She hath often been with us since. You have heard yourmothers and fathers speak of Aunt Patty, my dears, and they will tellyou how she spoiled them when they went a-visiting to Gordon's Pride. 

Ere I had regained my health, the war for Independence was won. I prayGod that time may soften the bitterness it caused, and heal the breachin that noble race whose motto is Freedom. That the Stars and Stripesand the Union Jack may one day float together to cleanse this world oftyranny!

AFTERWORD

The author makes most humble apologies to any who have, or think theyhave, an ancestor in this book. He has drawn the foregoing with a veryfree hand, and in the Maryland scenes has made use of names rather thanof actual personages. His purpose, however poorly accomplished, was togive some semblance of reality to this part of the story. Hence he hasintroduced those names in the setting, choosing them entirely at randomfrom the many prominent families of the colony. 

No one may read the annals of these men, who were at once brave andcourtly, and of these women, who were ladies by nature as well as bybirth, and not love them. The fascination of that free and hospitablelife has been so strong on the writer of this novel that he closes itwith a genuine regret and the hope that its perusal may lead others tothe pleasure he has derived from the history of Maryland. 

As few liberties as possible have been taken with the lives of CharlesJames Fox and of John Paul Jones. The latter hero actually made a voyagein the brigantine 'John' about the time he picked up Richard Carvelfrom the Black Moll, after the episode with Mungo Maxwell at Tobago. TheScotch scene, of course, is purely imaginary. Accuracy has been aimedat in the account of the fight between the 'Bonhomme Richard' and the'Serapis', while a little different arrangement might have been betterfor the medium of the narrative. To be sure, it was Mr. Mease, the purser, instead of Richard Carvel, who so bravely fought thequarter-deck guns; and in reality Midshipman Mayrant, Commodore Jones'saide, was wounded by a pike in the thigh after the surrender. Noinjustice is done to the second and third lieutenants, who were absentfrom the ship during the action. 

The author must acknowledge that the only good anecdote in the book andthe only verse worth printing are stolen. The story on page concerningMr. Garrick and the Archbishop of York may be found in Fitzgerald'slife of the actor, much better told. The verse (in Chapter X) is by anunknown author in the Annapolis Gazette, and is republished in Mr. ElihuRiley's excellent "History of Annapolis. "

 PG EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

 A bold front is half the battle A man ought never to be frightened by appearances Affections warm despite absence, and years, and interest Ever been my nature to turn forward instead of back Genius honored but never encouraged God bless their backs, which is the only part I ever care to see He was our macaroni of Annapolis Human multitude with its infinity of despairs and joys It is sorrow which lifts us nearest to heaven No real prosperity comes out of double-dealing Shaped his politics according to the company he was in Sight of happiness is often a pleasure for those who are sad Sir, I have not yet begun to fight The worse the disease, the more remarkable the cure Their lines belonged rather to the landscape (cottages) Thy politics are not over politic Tis no so bad it micht-na be waur Within every man's province to make himself what he will Ya maun ken th' incentive's the maist o' the battle Youth is in truth a mystery